The Masquerade

Chapter 9 - The Dinner

After Canada left, I had to make a decision. A quick glance at my clock told me I only had about half an hour before dinner, and I needed to decide whether or not I was going to go.

In the end I made up my mind to go, not because I particularly wanted to see anyone, but more just because I hadn't eaten anything all day and I was starting to get hungry.

I slipped into some more reasonable clothes, knowing if I was going to see my father it had better be at least somewhat respectable, and quietly left my room.

I walked to the dining hall in silence. I didn't feel like talking much, and I knew if I was with someone they would try to force the story out of me like Mexico and Canada had done.

When I got to the door of the dining hall, I peeked in, realizing it was the last chance for me to leave if I wanted to.

"Amérique! What are you doing, mon fils?" Mother asked, and I knew the opening was gone. I took a deep breath and walked into the room.

I avoided looking at Britain. Instead I looked at the ground, as I walked toward my seat at the table.

"Mate, what's wrong? We haven't seen you all day!" Aussie exclaimed as I sat down. "You missed all the ruckus when Melbourne jumped on Mexico! She grabbed her shoe and was almost about to murder him!"

"What else was I going to do? Of course I had to pull out the chancla." Mexico responded in a voice that was eerily calm.

I shuddered thinking of Mexico's chancla. Anyone in their right mind would be scared of that thing.

"Anyway," Australia continued, bringing the attention back to him. "Luckily I was able to save Melbourne, and he's alright now."

Personally, I don't think anyone besides Australia and possibly Brazil would miss that spider if it died. I know I wouldn't.

"But enough about the spider." New Zealand cut his twin off, trying to refocus the conversation. "Ame, what have you been doing? No one's seen you."

"Uh..." I looked up from the table, glanced at my father, and then immediately regretted it and looked back down. "Not much, nothing too interesting. Honestly, hearing about how Mexico almost killed Melbourne is much more entertaining than what I've been up to."

New Zealand raised an eyebrow, clearly suspicious, but he didn't press.

The rest of the dinner passed rather uneventfully. People talked about their doings while I was away in hiding,

I didn't add much to the conversation, I mostly just listened and stirred the food around my plate, occasionally eating a small bite before continuing to stir the food around. Suddenly being in the presence of my father made me lose my appetite all over again.

I started to zone out for a bit, and I only zoned back in when I heard my name being called.

"Hm?" I tried to refocus.

"Are you okay?" Mexico asked from the seat next to me. "You don't seem to be doing that great."

I sat up a little straighter in my chair. "I'm fine, I can finish dinner. I'm just a little tired is all."

I caught a glance from Canada, saying 'you've been in bed all day, you shouldn't be tired,' and I promptly ignored it.

Mexico looked at me doubtfully. "Alright, if you say so..."

The dinner turned awkward, as no one really knew what to say. I was fine with that. It meant I didn't have to talk.

There were some failed attempts at starting conversation from Aussie and Kiwi, but eventually they both gave up.

I kept looking up at my father, who would just give me a glare and I would instantly look back down.

At one point I was considering asking if I could be excused from the table to go hide in my room again, but one look at Britain shot down all hopes of that.

I knew his strategy. He was going to wait until everyone else left the room, and then confront and punish me. I knew the punishment was coming, and I wanted to delay it as long as possible.

Australia cleared his throat, clearly attempting to start conversation again. "So, are there any more events that are coming up soon, stuff we need to plan for?"

For a second we all went quiet. Then Mexico spoke up. "Well, it is Canada y America's birthdays coming up. Are you planning anything for that, Tio y Tia?"

"I don't think we have anything planned, no." Mother admitted.

"We could hold another ball!" New Zealand suggested out of nowhere. That one we just had was really fun, and we used to hold balls for our birthdays a couple years ago. I don't know why we stopped, those were great!"

I, knowing full well why we stopped, didn't respond, but clearly Britain noticed my lack of comment and looked my way.

"What do you think, America. It is your birthday." Britain spoke calmly.

I didn't say anything. But Britain wasn't done.

"After all, what about what happened two years ago? Have you finally put that behind you?" My father's tone became more mocking, and yet again I stayed quiet.

"What exactly happened two years ago?" Australia asked. "You keep mentioning it, but you never say what actually went down."

I sighed. Australia and New Zealand had a right to know, no matter how much embarrassment it caused me. Mexico was one of my closest friends, and she probably wanted to know just as much as anyone else. Canada already knew of course all but the last part, the part that terrified me the most. Britain...knew about as much as he was willing to hear.

And then there was Phil, not in the room with us, but I could feel him, almost like he wanted the story to be out there, not kept inside a little box never to be opened or shown to anyone.

So I took a deep breath.

"It's a long story."