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Prussia x Hungary: Liza, Chapter 9

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CHAPTER NINE_
I remember the month of October to be the site of many exciting events in high school, for example Halloween or school dances.  During the weeks leading up to the Fall Dance that year, Bella and I prepared everything from what we were going to wear to who we were going to hang out with afterwards.  I was less enthusiastic, of course, but this year was going to be different—I could feel it.  My main goal for now was to drive Bella away from asking Antonio to the dance; after all, it was on Friday night and today was Wednesday, two days after my visit to Gilbert's house.
"I think he's already going with someone," I told her awkwardly as we sifted through sparkly dresses in the department store.  "Besides, I don't want you to abandon me with him.  We should hang out as one big group."  Bella eyed me critically.
"Toni doesn't have a girlfriend."  
Oh, how right she was.  I pulled out a pretty pink dress with a rhinestone-studded skirt.  "Yes, but I think it would be more fun if we didn't split off into pairs.  So call me old-fashioned."  I didn't want a repeat of Toni's party.  I swallowed hard nervously and said: "This would look so great on you!"  
"What about you and Gil?"  Bella asked casually, taking the dress from me and running her hands along it.  
"What about me and Gil?  It doesn't matter.  Are you going to try the dress on?"  I was desperate to change the subject.
"You realize that there's a very high possibility he might ask you to the Fall Dance?"  Bella looked up at me.  
"Of course I realize that.  It's not like I'm not aware of it."  I could feel my cheeks burning up.  That possibility had been on my mind for the past two days.  In fact, I'd spent every last waking moment wondering if that was what Gilbert was really planning to do.  There was still a grain of doubt at the back of my mind though.  "But Bella…Gilbert is way too proud to ask a girl to a cheesy school dance.  The idea is silly—he would never do it."
"I don't know," said Bella mysteriously with a shrug of her shoulders.  "He looks at you different than he looks at other people."
My heartbeat picked up.  The thought of it captivated me, but I could never be sure if Bella was seeing what she thought she was seeing.  I went back to searching through dresses.
"I am so tired of this.  Are you girls almost done?"  We both turned at the voice of Bella's older brother Adriaan as he approached us wearily through the racks and racks of dresses.  He was still carrying the array of clothes his sister had picked out earlier, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him.  Adriaan, as I've mentioned, was adopted from the Netherlands when he was ten so he had a very heavy Dutch accent.  He was about nineteen at the time, and he was tall with broad shoulders and impressive blonde hair that I'd wanted to run my fingers through since I was a little girl.  He had a curious scar above his right eye, which I always tried not to stare at.  I never asked him how he got it.
"I think I will go try this on," Bella said dismissively, examining the dress I'd given her.  "Be right back, okay, mijn lievelingen?"
Adriaan sighed heavily as his younger sister disappeared into the dressing rooms.  "I should have expected this of her."
"I'm sorry," I told him.  "She gets very excited around dresses."
"I know."  I could tell he was trying very hard not to sound grumpy, but it wasn't working.  I needed a way to distract him.  Since he was like a big brother to me, I decided to tell him what was on my mind.  "Adriaan, I need advice," I said conversationally, still pulling apart dresses on the rack.  "Let's say you like someone, and they may or may not like you back—"
"Do not tell me, I can see where this is heading," interrupted Adriaan sharply, holding up his hand.  "You are worried about the Fall Dance.  You want this guy to ask you out desperately, but at the same time you are afraid of what will happen if he does.  Am I right?"
I exhaled, baffled.  "Yes."
Adriaan lowered his eyebrows at me understandingly.  "Is this guy Gilbert?"
My jaw almost dropped to the floor when he said this.  "How—how do you know?!  I didn't give
any hints, did I?"
Adriaan chuckled and patted my shoulder lovingly.  "No, not a hint.  Do not worry yourself, Elizabeta…you will be all right."  I stared up at him, completely dumbfounded.  "Now, will you please get my sister to shut up about that Spanish idiot?" said Adriaan darkly.  "I have grown tired of her talking about him in every single moment.  It is bad enough that I have to suffer him coming over to our house all the time."
"I'm working on it, trust me," I replied.  It was well known among his peers that Adriaan hated Antonio for no particular reason.  Bella told me it had something to do with Spain beating the Netherlands in FIFA that one year, but I never believed her.
But how could Adriaan be so confident about the Fall Dance?  It was starting to bother me how much I didn't know.   
***
A few hours later, I arrived back at my house empty-handed.  While Bella had ended up buying the pink dress I'd picked out for her (along with a few hundred dollars' worth of other clothes), I had had no such success.  I tossed my purse onto the counter and sat down at the dinner table.  My mom wasn't home; she must still be at work.  My stomach rumbled—I would have to cook myself something for dinner because my mom usually didn't get home until late at night on Wednesdays.  I went into the kitchen and got out a skillet in preparation to make paprika chicken, one of my favorite meals from Hungary.  I was just putting the pan on the stove when I heard three even knocks at my back door before it creaked open.
Freaked, I spun around and swung my skillet over my head, ready to hit whatever enemy was intruding.  I barely had time to yell when I realized that it was Roderich, stepping into my house through the backdoor and looking sheepish.  
"Holy crap, Rod!  I was about to hit you!"  I lowered the skillet back onto the stove and tried to calm my heart rate.  "Next time, please knock.  I do not want to be sent to jail for killing you with a frying pan."
"I'm sorry, Elizabeta.  I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a moment?"  As I looked at him in surprise, all the color went out of Roderich's face.  "It's just—"
"What?"  I wondered if he was here to apologize for being so rude to me on Monday.  I put my hands on my hips in order to emphasize that I was still kind of mad at him.  "Go on, I am listening."
Roderich adjusted his glasses and shuffled his feet, his purple eyes darting all over the room.  "I just came to ask—in person, I don't like texting—if you will go…to the Fall Dance?  With me?" He added quickly, and my heart picked up immediately.
"Really?" I asked, a smile spreading over my face.  "I thought you hated that kind of stuff!"  He'd looked completely out of his element at Toni's party.  I also didn't know he felt that way about me…
Rod's face turned a ghostly white color as he stared at my tiled kitchen floor.  "If you don't want to go with me, I understand—"
"No!  I would love to go with you," I smiled kindly at him.   For a split second, my mind flashed back to what Adriaan had said and then to Gilbert and the way he smiled at me.  I felt a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I realized soon after that there really was no harm in going to the dance with Roderich.  Gilbert probably would never have asked me anyway; like I'd said, school dances weren't his thing.  He was not the jealous type, as far as I knew.  
Roderich pulled me in for a hug, which surprised me.  He wasn't usually one to ask for a hug, but I took advantage of the opportunity and clutched him to me tightly.  I smiled into his sweater.  "I am happy," he told me.  "Now I will have something to look forward to this Friday.  Thank you, Elizabeta."
"Of course."  I pulled away first and looked firmly up at him.  "But just because we're going to the Fall Dance together does not mean I will stop hanging out with Gilbert."
Roderich's eyebrows furrowed.  "I understand," he said stiffly.  "I am—sorry I said that to you the other day.  You—have a right to be friends with whomever you like."  It obviously pained him to say that, and I didn't completely buy his sincerity.  At least he was trying to be empathetic.
"I'm glad you see it my way," I said calmly, turning back to the stove.  I added: "You should consider yourself the winner of this battle in the 'war' you and Gil have got going on."  The competition between them had been brutal since we were all first-graders.
"What do you mean, winner?"
"Well, you were the one who asked me to the dance, weren't you?"  
"Yes—I was!"  Roderich sounded happy now.  I lowered my eyes and turned the heat on under my skillet.  It kind of hurt to say that Rod was the winner of this particular battle, but it was true.  It's not like I wasn't hoping Gilbert would ask me first, but I loved Roderich too.  He was my friend and he deserved this, after plucking up the courage to come here and ask me.  Besides, if I didn't say yes, the poor guy would never get a date.  
I began unloading vegetables and chicken from the refrigerator.  "Do you want to stay for dinner?  My mom will not be home until eleven," I offered.  
"Yes, I think I will.  I will help you make it," smiled Roderich.  "I can also play you some piano—I have a piece that I've been working on that I think has turned out really well."
So we went to work—Rod helped me chop vegetables and I cooked the chicken.  It felt nice to prepare a meal with him.  We worked in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable; it had always been that way between us.
Sitting with Rod at the dinner table that evening, I began to feel a lot better.  I had not had time like this with my best friend since the summer, and talking to him over paprika chicken made up for that.  We discussed everything we'd needed to catch up on, from the classes we were taking in school to Roderich's new piano piece.  
I was happy.  I felt fulfilled.  I'd kind of forgotten the feeling that Rod gave me—one of contentedness and safety.  I did not get a flutter in my stomach when I looked at him though.
You cannot feel that way with everyone.
Chapter Nine of Liza!

Hetalia (c) :iconhimaruyaplz:
Story (c) me :3

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crillablu's avatar
FRYING PAN HUNGARY! :iconprussiaplz: I'D BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR HER APPEARANCE!