I sat in the train station with my parents and sister, engrossed in one of my dad's books, as usual. My sister was having a rather heated debate with my mom on the merits of using chrome in automail and my father was examining the train schedule with extreme interest. We had been waiting for quite a long time. My aunt and uncle were supposed to come in from Xing today, on the five A.M. train. My sister and I weren't so happy to be waking up so early on the first day of summer vacation, but it was worth it in my eyes. It was always a lot of fun to see Uncle Al and Aunt Mei. They told the coolest stories about Xing, and sometimes Aunt Mei would try to teach me Alkahestry...which usually ended in my failing epically, but it was still cool. They were going to stay for the entire summer, and I couldn't wait. Hearing a train pull in, I put a bookmark on the page I was at and closed my book. The train from Xing was finally here. My sister yawned and got up with my mother. "Come on, Nina, stop reading already," she said. "I don't see how you can be such a bookworm."

"I don't see how you can be such a gearhead, Trisha!" I retorted. If I was a bookworm, then my younger sister was definitely a gearhead.

"Stop fighting, you two!" my mom said good-naturedly. Trisha yawned again. "And Nina, did you clean your room like I told you to?" The question made me think of the mess of books and bits of chalk that had been my room.

"Yes," I sighed, thinking of all the books just waiting to be read. I scanned the platform my aunt and uncle, eager to see them. Two figures, loaded with baggage, emerged from the steam of the train. Uncle Al and Aunt Mei were walking towards us. Smiles lit up all of our faces as everyone took turns hugging each other. I grabbed one of Aunt Mei's suitcases and slung it over my shoulder. Uncle Al noticed the book under my arm and smiled at me.

"Have you been raiding your dad's study again?" he asked, sarcastically wagging a finger at me. I nodded in mock guilt and held up the book, a fat one on alchemy.

Dad put an arm around me and smiled even wider. "Our own personal bookworm!" he declared proudly. I rolled my eyes.

As we walked home, the family seemed to split into two distinct groups: me, Dad, and Uncle Al, and Mom, Aunt Mei, and Trisha. Mom, Aunt Mei, and Trisha fell behind us as Dad, Uncle Al, and I walked ahead, talking about mostly alchemy.

Okay, I guess I should explain the science nerd thing. Ever since I was a little kid, there were books in the house. Lots and lots of books, mostly on alchemy and stuff relating to it. Mom and Dad have pictures of me at the age of three trying to reach shelves in Dad's study to get to the books, because of the "pretty pictures." I learned at the age of six that the "pretty pictures" were actually transmutation circles, and then proceeded to "play" with the bits of metal Mom had left over from her automail projects. Yeah, I've been a geek from the beginning, and I'm proud of it.

We stamped into the house, happy and slightly tired. Plopping the suitcases on the couch for now, we gathered around the breakfast table and ate heartily, all of us hungry. As the adults ate, they talked about how big of a pain in the butt train travel was (this I could agree with-last year, we went to Xing, and it literally was a pain in the butt). Trisha occasionally joined in to the conversation, but mostly busied herself with attacking the pancakes. As for me, I had my book open in my lap and was reading intently. I felt a hand on my head and saw Dad ruffling my bangs. He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

This is going to be a great summer, I thought.