A/N: Well, I'm hoping this isn't too terrible for my first Hetalia fanfiction. Let's see, it's not that sad yet. But it includes bullying, gay rights, etc., because bullying about stuff like that makes me freak out. People can be so stupid and ignorant. The whole world needs to work harder a being nicer. Yeah, that's just my little rant before you start. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

"Class, this is our new student, Elizabeta. She comes from…" The teacher stopped to think.

"Hungary," I replied with a smile. Most people would be mad about people forgetting them, but I wasn't. I was fine with people not really remembering who I was. I always forget who other people are too, so I didn't have a right to be angry, anyway. What I didn't like, however, were the looks of astonishment that swept over the other students faces when they heard my accent.

"That's right!" the teacher said, gesticulating her embarrassment by putting her face in her hand. "I should have known, Elizabeta, I'm very sorry. But you can have a seat anywhere you like so we can get started." I instantly heard the sounds of desks scooting around to make room for me. Why were they treating me like some sort of foreign prize? I didn't want to be worshiped and examined.

I decided to sit next to a boy in the back who looked a little lonesome. His desk hadn't moved, so I felt like I could trust him. As soon as I touched that chair, however, notes and whispers were being passed throughout the class. I only caught a few fragments:

"Him?!"

"She doesn't know-"

"But that's –"

Had I made the wrong decision? I hoped not. I looked over at the person I had sat next to. He was engrossed with the math lesson that was going on – it was something I had already learned in Hungary, so I wasn't really paying attention – and was amusing his hands by doodling on his paper. His hair was a dirty blonde that almost looked brown, and it had an awkward little curl sticking straight up. It was kind of funny looking, to tell you the truth, but I liked it.

He seemed to sense my stare and turned to face me. "'Sup," he said.

Sup? What was that supposed to mean?

"Um, hello," I replied.

"Oh, that's right," he said, putting his pencil down with exaggeration. "You're not really very fluent in English yet, are you?"

"I'm fluent," I said quietly, trying not to attract attention from the teacher, "but I just don't know all of the little slang words like… Zup, is it?"

"'Sup," he repeated. "It's short for 'What's up?'"

"Oh, I see. Well then, not much is up. So, what's your name?"

"My name's Alfred. Alfred Jones. And your name's Elizabeta, right?"

"Yes, it is. It's nice to meet you."

"I could say the same about yourself! If you need any help with this, feel free to ask. Helping people is what I do best!" he said, a little too loudly. The teacher shot him a glare that said something like "If you don't be quiet right now I'll come over there and superglue your mouth shut." He closed his mouth tightly and looked back at his math.

I couldn't help but laugh a little at his expression. "I'll be sure to ask," I whispered.

The bell finally rung and I was released from class. I was still wondering what all of the whispers were about. Alfred seemed like a perfectly nice boy, so why was everyone so worried about him?

The answer came faster than I wanted.

"Hey!" I heard a shrill voice behind me in the hall.

I turned to look at whoever was calling me.

"Hey, you're that new girl from Hungary, right? Elizabeth or something?" A girl with perfectly straightened hair, pulled back by a thick hair band, and enough makeup to give all of the women and men of the world a makeover began blabbering to me.

"Elizabeta…" I said, smiling widely.

"Whatever. It is sooooo cool that you're from Hungary! I looooove meeting people from new countries! It must be soooooo hard for you to have moved, huh?"

"Um, no, not really," I said, probably a little too coolly.

"Well anyway, I'm just letting you know that we're always here for you, Elizabeta! We being my friends and I. I'm Ellie, by the way."

Oh God. She was one of those people I hate who obsess over the new kid. "Well, it's nice to meet you, but I should be going…" I said, walking a little faster.

"No, wait! I just have some advice to give you, okay?"

I don't freaking need advice. "Okay, what is it?"

"Don't keep sitting with that one kid you sat with this morning."

I cocked my head to the side. "What, Alfred? Why?"

Ellie looked around and leaned in close to me, as though what she were about to say were earth-shattering and could change the course of history forever.

"He's… well… you know… one of those different people who… well, people say he's… gay."

She spat out the last word like it was toxic. I smirked at her ignorance. "Look, thanks for trying to 'help,' but I don't see anything wrong with it. It's probably just a rumor anyway."

Ellie looked dumbfounded, then gave a scoff and walked away. "Well, then," she whispered with sarcastic anger under her breath. I shrugged. Some people were so stupid.

I stepped into my gym class after a quick stop at my locker to be welcomed by a loud "Hey Lizzie!" I saw Alfred coming towards me at a slow jog. He held up his hand as he got closer and ran right past me.

He looked disappointed. "You were supposed to high five me," he said with false sadness. I laughed and held up my hand. He struck it hard. Very hard. I found myself nearly falling over as I grabbed my stinging fingers.

"My God, Alfred, why did you –"

"Please, call me Al. And I'll call you Lizzie if that works, okay?"

"Fine," I said standing up from my crouched position. "Wow, you high five hard…" I was tall, so I was a little surprised that a guy the same height as I was could overpower me so easily.

"Yeah, that happens. Sorry about that. I'm going to head to the locker room now, so see ya in about five minutes!"

"Okay," I said, hugging my gym uniform tightly to my chest as I walked into the locker room, instinctively wrinkling my nose at the overpowering smell of perfume and hair products. I stood over in the very far corner to avoid the mob of girls who looked as though they would enjoy giving me a "makeover," which is to say painting my face with way too much mascara and spraying my body with a crazy orange spray tan. I had no intention of becoming an oompa loompa while living in America, so being as antisocial as possible in the locker room moved to the very top of my list of important things to do.

When I was finally done changing I made it out to the gym and looked around for Al. He was nowhere to be seen for the first few minutes, but then screams could be heard from the boy's locker room.

"Give them back!" I heard Alfred shouting. "Seriously dude, this isn't cool!"

"It's not like you can't see anything, so stop over exaggerating," a nasal voice interjected. It sounded as though the person was from a different country, too.

"Cut this out! What did I ever do to you, Gil?"

"Psh, you're so gay, that's what," I heard as both came out of the locker room. The one who I assumed was Gil was taller than both Al and I, with pure white hair and… red eyes? Those had to have been color contacts. He held Al's glasses just above his head and out of his reach. A crowd began to gather as my friend struggled to reach his glasses, jumping while Gil taunted and jumped with him.

I had a habit of clenching my fist too tightly when I was angry. Blood welled from the little scrapes in my palm where my nails dug into my skin. I marched over to the cheering mob of students, not caring about my blending in any more. Pushing right through them, I stood right up to Gil's nose. "Give the glasses back," I said, trying to act a little more tough than I was.

"Well, nice to meet you, too," he said, followed by an annoying nasal laugh. "How about you try to get them back, girl? I would hate to be so rude to someone from a new country, but I'll just have to be now…"

I jumped for those glasses, but it was impossible. How did this guy get so tall? After about five minutes, I gave up. He laughed again, his smile curling to the side in this really sickening and devilish way.

"You should have seen yourself, girl! That was just hilarious! Oh Gott, how about your friend here? Wasn't his face just priceless? He probably just wanted to make out with me the whole time, though. He just can't help himself. How about you? You probably can't resist me either." God, he wouldn't stop doing that annoying, sick laugh… I hated it.

So I punched him in the face.

A/N: Wow… this is going to be one interesting story. I actually can't wait to see what I do with this. Ultra proud moments! Ellie isn't supposed to represent a country, in case you were wondering. She's just there to be a snarky mean girl. This took about two week to write because I'm really busy with other writing right now, so don't be surprised if it's a while until the next chapter. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading, guys!