"What are you doing?! Get out the door!"

"But what about our backpacks?"

"Forget it! The last thing I need is another detention!"

Lovino grabbed his brother's navy collar and dragged him out the door.

"My homework!"

"I repeat: Forget it! We're late as it is!" Lovino's little brother, Feliciano, was thrown into the streets. He ran in place for a moment, looking left and right, then finally ran to his left.

"Che palle!" Lovino exclaimed close behind. "Go faster!"

They stumbled across the pavement until they reached their college. Their sneakers echoed on the walls of the empty hallway. They reached their classroom and flung open the door, panting in the doorway.

"Good morning, boys," their teacher, Ms. Moon, said in a bored kind of tone. She didn't even bother to look up from her attendance sheet. "Take your seats."

A few kinds chuckled as Lovino and Feliciano sat at their desks next to each other. The brothers didn't like it at school, but they needed a better education than they had back at Italy. Some kids thought it was cool being from Terni, Italy, and some simply thought their accents sounded funny. But Lovino thought American accents sounded funny too.

The bad thing was that, even if the students didn't want to be mean, Feliciano was embarrassed when his accent was pointed out. As a result, and to Lovino's dismay, he spoke in an American accent when in school and speaking English. However, he preferred Italian while with his brother.

To the brother's luck, Ms. Moon didn't write them up for being late. When they left the school to leave, the brothers gave a sigh of relief.

"I like Ms. Moon," Feliciano commented. "She didn't write us up."

"Huh," Lovino grunted. "She's really uptight."

"Oh, come on!" Feliciano protested. "She even gave us a break on our homework."

Feliciano saw a classmate they passed and waved to her. She blushed and waved back, causing Lovino to react by rolling his dark eyes.

When they were almost home, Feliciano suddenly stopped walking and focused his attention on the corner of a building.

"What's wrong now?" Lovino huffed.

"Oh, uh, nothing," Feliciano stammered. He began walking again, this time faster. Lovino sighed and quickened his pace as well. His brother was so weird. They reached their house and Lovino unlocked the door. When he noticed his brother still staring at the building, he yanked on his curl.

"Hey!" Feliciano said after a yelp. "Wha-"

"Get in, would ya!?" Lovino shouted. He pushed his brother inside.

"I hate school," Feliciano sighed. He rested his chin on the edge of the dinner table at which he sat. "All the kids're so mean. What's wrong with being Italian? That's like asking 'What's wrong with being American?'"

"For one thing," Lovino replied. "You'd have a stupid accent."

"Hey, Lovino?" the younger said. "Don't you ever think… Promise you won't laugh?"

"I won't."

"Don't you ever think we've ever come from somewhere other than Terni?"

"You're such an idiot."

"Hey!"

"I didn't laugh, did I?" Lovino sat down next to his brother and tapped his head a few times. "What would make you think otherwise?"

"Um, I've just been having weird dreams," Feliciano answered. "I can never remember them, but it had people I don't remember but… in a weird way… I do remember."

"That made no sense," Lovino said.

"But it's just that I feel like those people were from where we really came from! I remember you were there too! And I didn't call you Lovino. I called you… Oh, what was it?"

"Be quiet," Lovino ordered, pulling Feliciano's curl again. "You're acting-"

His words were cut off by a small light out his window. He cocked his head. The light got brighter… brighter… brighter.

Until it enveloped his line of sight and he couldn't see a thing.

"Feliciano?!" he said.

No answer.