CHAPTER ONE: SATURDAY NIGHT MISCHIEF
Have you ever noticed how your bedroom windows are always placed in the perfect position for the sun to shine directly into your friggin' eyes?
Yeah, and people wonder why I hate the sun...
On this particular period of morning blindness, I groaned and made the mistake of glaring at the stupid ball of brightness that was behind my lack of dreamland-ness. Ouch. Sun=2. Casey=epic fail.
I shoved my way out from under the nest of blankets and pillows covering me on top of the mess I called a bed, figuring I wouldn't let the sun mock me any further. I made my way over to my beaten up (but still kick ass)j stereo and whacked at the on button until it obeyed me. (It's a wonder the thing still works...) The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny by Lemon Demon immediately began blaring through it's speakers as I waded through my tornado devastation site to my closet, humming along with the lyrics. Kinda doing a retarded, 'I'm-still-half-asleep-and-acting-like-an-idiot' dance, I selected from my clothes hoard at random, pulling out a Suicide Silence band tee and a plain pair of faded black jeans. I threw 'em on, along with my favorite pair of light grey and black checkered knee socks. Ahhh, sweet awesomeness... I didn't bother with shoes. Hey, it was Saturday, why should I go around the house with awkward shoes? Meh, shoes...
Only one thing missing...where was my mp3 player??? Time to dig through my room...greeeaaatttt....
In case you haven't gotten the hint by now, my room's a rather large mess.
It took me about thirty minutes to find my mp3...whoops, guess I shouldn't have left it in my closet...I swear the monster that lives there took off with it!!! It eats all my stuff!!! Anyway, I plugged in my headphones and switched off my stereo, no longer needing it. Thank god for portable music devices...
...Then again, maybe not...thanks to said music thingy, I almost missed my cell phone playing the familiar tune of "This is Halloween" the Marilyn Manson version.
"Hello?" wow, my voice sounded horrible in the morning!
"Hiya, Case." came the voice of my best friend and partner in crime, Alayne, a.k.a Layne. "Is tonight ok?" she continued, "I know you haven't cleaned your room in a millennium or so, but I was hoping your mom would decide to be benevolent....." Damn. Layne and her stupid early morning large word addiction...
"Yeah," I grouched, annoyed at said large word, "you practically live here anyway. It'd be unfair if mom were to deny you access to the place you sleep, now wouldn't it?" Ha, take that! My awesomely compiled sentence! Two could play the 'let's-talk-like-a-bunch-of-genii' game! But then my competitively winning induced joy was spoiled with her next words. "My words were bigger, Case. You know phrases don't count if one of us actually uses it in actual conversation." Damn. woman just couldn't let me have my fun, could she? "Anyway," she said, and I could tell she was moving by the slight change in her breathing pattern, "When I get to your place, don't blame me if I completely crash. My brothers have kept me up all friggin' night watching horror movies. I can quote Saw I word for word now!" She sounded aggravated, though I couldn't see why. It sounded like a fun night to me..."Just a second, Case." Alright....1. It's been a second! But I didn't really feel like playing smartass and pointing that fact out, so...I kept my mouth shut. I could hear some movie playing in the background on her side of the phone...a kinda childish scream...wonder which movie they were watching. huh.
"O ye of whom I'm related to!" she sort of shouted, but still with an indoor voice (heheh, "indoor voice". Sounds like I'm in preschool. "Oh children! Use your indoor voices!!! Stop that horrid shouting!") "I'm going over to Casey's," she continued, "Tell mom and dad I'll be back some time tomorrow." Yeah, more like next week when Spring Break ended... "Don't burn the house down again. seriously, I had to work for God-only-knows how many days of Summer vacation to get the roof repaired. Oh, and Leon, Sky's gerbil got into your room." I could see it now...Leo jumping up to go grab something from his stash of random pointy sharp, 'ow, I just stabbed you in the gut, that had to hurt, let me go get you a band aid' stash to attack the poor fuzzy thing Sky called a gerbil. I still say that thing's a robot sent to destroy all my cookies. It ate them! I could only pray Leo found that damn thing and whacked it's hard drive to smithereens. Go mr. Lion!!!
My insanely random thoughts were interrupted when Layne said, "I'm back, Case. Sorry about that..." Yeah, uh huh. "S'ok," I said, bored. To keep myself entertained, I picked up my trusty pocket knife and began flipping it into the air. "So, anyway, when are you coming? Like, right now, right?" She laughed on her side of the phone connection, but stopped abruptly. "Stop that, Case." Huh? "Stop what?" I heard her sigh. "Your throwing around that stupid knife of yours, aren't you? Stop it. I don't wanna have to bandage your hand again. It's rather annoying to have to do it every three days, seeing as that's how often you're caught with a blade sticking out of your hand.?" What the hell?! Is that woman psychic?!
"Gah. What are you, my mother?" Seriously, she's always looking out for me as if she's my parent. I don't need a mother. I need a half decent father, yes, but my mom is already amazing as is, thankyouverymuch. sigh.
"No. I'm not your mother," she said in an amused tone, "I couldn't be, unless I had you in the womb." ...That would be kinda bad...wouldn't it? "Besides, you're scary enough without having any of my family blood in you." ...She had a point, sadly. "Flattery will get you nowhere," I said, smirking. "Now, you know I hate talking on the phone for any period of time, especially in the mornings. Get off the phone and get your lazy ass over here!"
It's true. I hate talking on the phone for any longer than eight minutes at a time. i prefer to text or email. Maybe that's just 'cuz I love to write so much. Who knows?
"Alright, alright! Jeesh!" Layne griped, "You and your phone phobia!"
"It is not a phobia! I'm not afraid of phones! I just don't like 'em!" Jeesh, did the woman love to screw with me or somethin'?
"Whatever you say," She chuckled. "Anyway, see ya in a bit." with that, the dial tone made its entrance. Stupid annoying buzz noise.
I put my phone down on my end-table again, and reached for my notebook. Might as well pass the time it took her to get here by writing...
I don't know about you guys, but to me, there's nothing else in the world like sitting at my favorite, black painted desk in my comfy chair with my mp3 blaring at top volume through the buds in my ears and a pen held in my hand, furiously pouring out my thoughts and ideas. Nothing in the world. This was my little slice of heaven. Well, this and anime, anyway. But since I was writing an anime fanfic...I guess I got the best of both heavens right here, eh? Heh.
Writing puts me in my own little world. One where my dad isn't a complete jerk-off, and I'm not considered a freak by most of my family along with almost all of the rest of the population of the area Layn and I lived. Yeah, that's right, were' the freaks. So what?
Anyway, writing and music were the two ways I used to forget about anything I didn't like in life. Some people used alcohol, like my father. Some people used drawing, like my mom. I had music and writing. I'm just glad that mine wasn't self-harmful.
I was brought out of the new world I had created (partially created. I owe most of the world's creation to the Manga artist behind the original story...) by the most delicious smell in the entire world. I looked to my left to see a steaming cup of coffee, made the way that made me drool. Mixed with French Vanilla goodness. oooohhh goooooddddddddd.....
I didn't ask questions, like the obvious one of, "How the hell did that get there?!?!" No, I dove for that thing like a cat on a mouse!!! COFFEEE!!!!!!!!
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HOLY SHIT!!! HOT COFFEE!!!
I gagged and began fanning my poor, screaming-in-agony mouth. My eyes were watering beyond belief, it looked like I was full out crying. I was about to run for the kitchen and cool, sweet relief in the form of Dr. Pepper (since I normally wouldn't touch water with a ten foot pole), when a plastic spoon full of something very cold was shoved into my open mouth, immediately calming some of my frantic nerve endings. Oh...that felt nice... and...oddly enough, tasted nice as well. Actually...it tasted like coffee...
I heard laughing from beside me, and finally the question of, "Who the hell just shoved a spoonful of coffee flavored ice-cream down my throat?!" made itself known. Hmmm, nice going, brain, that's a good question! Too bad you thought of it about....3 minutes too late!
Anyway, I turned to see who the hell it was, to see none other than Alayne beside me, trying her damnedest to smother her laughter. I shot her one of my best death glares, to which she replied with a small, amused wave. "Damn it, Layne! That wasn't funny! My tongue wants to come out and bitch-slap you!!!" She chuckled. "How eloquently put, Case. Unfortunately, I don't happen to like you that way."
"Ah, shuddup," I growled. I stole the plastic spoon from her, as well as the small tub of ice cream from her and wolfed some more down to finish quieting the agony coming from behind my teeth.
After the not quite hypothetical flames had died down, I turned off my mp3 and put it in my pocket. I turned my chair to where it faced my bed, where Layne sat. "So, what took you so long?" i asked.
I watched as she popped a spoonful of ice cream from her tub into her mouth. "Well," she said after she swallowed, "Where do you think this stuff came from? My parent's good will?" She snorted. Poor girl...her family's the really busy kind. To tell you the truth, I don't see how Layne managed to stay any semblance of the word 'sane'. Living with four other siblings, plus a dad who's almost never there and a mom who practically breathes her job. I just couldn't see it. I myself have had only two half brothers, both twenty six and out of the house. It's not like I never saw them, Mike lives just a few minutes away, and, while Steve lived an hour in a half away, he came by frequently...but jeesh, come on! two brothers are a headache and a half! Imagine four of 'em!!!
"Nah," she said, "I stopped by Cowboys on the way here. Ooh," she got an excited look on her face. "Guess what else I brought." I stared at her expectantly, eyebrow raised. That was Casey speak for, 'Well? Get to the damn point already!' She didn't buy it. "Seriously, guess." she deadpanned.
"...um...the remains of that furry cyborg your brother was keeping as a pet, the poor fool?" I asked hopefully. Perhaps that beady eyed auto-matron had finally met its mechanic doom?
"Is that what you dream of at night?" Damn. I guess mr. Nuts and Bolts gets to live another day. "Seriously, you just can't get over him attacking your cookies one time? He's a gerbil!" She laughed. I don't know why, I couldn't find anything funny about it... No, I couldn't get over it. I could not forgive something so cruel as to eat my cookies!!!
"Seriously," Layne continued, "forgive the poor thing. Anyway, I got us a case of Monsters for tonight, seeing as the 'rents aren't gonna be here tonight." She grinned, probably thinking about all the crazy shit we'd probably do while hyped up on sugar. Oh dear, I could just see the chaos now.... Yeah, I don't wanna think about that right now...
As to the parents absence thing, my mom had to go fix her best friend Jen's computer, (Which would no doubt take until the wee hours of the morning, since Jen's idiot son Cole likes nothing better than to spend hours on end playing stupid games that are filled to the brim with viruses and trojans that love to screw with the computer...stupid Cole.) and my dad was going to 'help move his business from the old building to the new one.' I say that with quotations because I know for a fact that he's not doing any moving. He's going to a bar with his co-owner Macey and his whore of a wife, Katie. In short, he probably won't be home for a long time.
"Wow. Are you looking for a piece of insanity?" I asked, rolling my eyes at Layne. I hopped out of my chair and moved to sit beside her on the bed, slowly taking another sinful spoonful of ice cream. ahhhhh, heaven in a tub.
"Well, didn't you say we were gonna pull an all-nighter? If you want me up that long you're gonna need to put some caffeine in me. Horror movie marathon, remember?" Oh yeeeaaaahhhh.... Forgot about that... "...but come on!!" oh shit, I hadn't heard all of that! Damn my short attention span!!! "I had a double shift at the VFW!" She stopped for a second, then shot me a sheepish look. "Um....sorry Case. Wasn't paying attention." Ha, that makes two of us.
I eyed her half empty ice cream tub. "weeeeellllllll....if you really want to make it up to me...." Layne proceeded to look at me as if I had two heads and a tail. "Uh, me thinkith not. my ice-cream. But I will get you another tub, if you go with me. How 'bout that?" she grinned and shoveled in a spoonful of icy goodness.
"nah..." I sighed dejectedly "too much effort." I threw myself backward across my bed, my head going over the edge so that I could watch my TV, which was showing iCarly. the episode where Fred and Sam kiss just turned on. Ahhhh, humor... "Hey Case?" Hm? I lifted my head a little so I could see Layne, then cringed a tiny bit as the blood began to rush back to my head. "Can we watch somethi--DON'T DROP THE CAMERA!" aaaannnnndddd he dropped the camera. Heh, Layne says that every time she sees this episode. I laughed. "Can we watch something else?" She asked, "I've seen this episode about four times. And I know that means you've seen it at least three more times, you addict." My eye twitched. "Hey, I resent that! I've seen it five times!" That was meant to make her laugh. I purposely skipped rejecting the addict comment, knowing she'd find that funny. One of my main goals in life is to see her laugh as much as possible, since she didn't laugh very often for a while there.
"Anyway, can we please watch something else? You can pick."
Yeah, as if I couldn't pick in my own house. That's such a big deal. Sigh...oh well. "...Sure," I said, shrugging. "Let's see...." hm...what to watch? "OH! I got it!!!" I jumped up off my bed and hurried over to my bookshelf/movie stand thingy and selected the DVD I wanted. I waved it a bit so Layne would look at it. It was Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conquerer of Shambala. one of my favorite movies ever. "So, how's this?" I asked excitedly. I'd seen this at least a hundred times, and I'll probably see it another three hundred before I hit my seventeenth birthday. I recently turned sixteen, so... Maybe that gives you a little hint as to how much I love it.
Layne grinned. "Of course. Wanna see if you can recite it yet?" Ahh, the infinitely used joke between she and I. We quoted a certain movie back and forth all the time. (coughPhantomoftheOperacough) It was a silly little thing we did when we were bored. "I don't have to see, I know I can." I declared confidently. I knew that movie like the back of my eyelids.
I popped the movie into my playstation 2, which I used in place of a DVD player. Sure, I had a DVD player, just didn't use it. It was packed up and put away, since I figured it was a waste of space since the PS worked perfectly fine. I turned off my light for better movie enjoyment, and took my place beside Layne. Ahh, this was going to be a perfect way to spend the next two hours.
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The credits played, signaling the ending to the place I wish I could be. Oh, to have an adventure like the Fullmetal Alchemist himself...to feel of what be the most wonderful, pleasureful rush of electricity and power when you create or change something with alchemy. To see the character that I loved the most in the flesh...that 'bastard colonel', the Flame Alchemist.
...Sigh.
Most girls my age dream of being swept off their feet into a world of parties and white knights with noble steeds and unimaginable riches, but I dream of being swept into a world of science, adventure, and dark princes with knowing smiles and fox-like cleverness. Yes, badass me daydreams of these sort of things.
I shook my head, trying to throw off such thoughts. Enough daydreaming, I had a movie to put in its place!
I stood, stretching in obedience to my sore muscles, then opened my ps2 to get the movie out carefully. I placed it gently in it's case and moved to set it back on its shelf. I turned to plop myself on the bed again. "Ahhh, that was good," I grinned. "...So, what now?" I turned to look at Layne expectantly.
"Uhh....Light the house on fire? Oh wait, that's been done already." Gah! Why did she always blame me for that?! That was Leon's fault, not mine!!! I threw a pillow at her head, which, unfortunately for me, she dodged somewhat clumsily. "Hey," she cried defensively, "It's not like I'm lying!" She laughed, tossing the pillow back at me. I caught it and replaced it at the head of the bed where it previously lie. "Yeah yeah. You know that wasn't my fault." I leveled her with a glare, then looked around my room. "Hm...what to do..." My gaze landed on a pack of chalk I kept for the hell of it. I kinda it stole from this teacher I hated...the pack was sort of my trophy for avenging myself and my fellow classmates of her torture.
"Hey...Layne, I've got an idea!!!" She shot me a 'huh?' look. I could actually see the look of understanding slowly make its way across her face. "You...want to try that? Seriously?" No, I was joking. "Yes I'm serious. I'm bored, it's something to do, and I've been wanting to draw something on my wall for a while now. C'mon!" Yes, I do random things like drawing on my wall. What can I say? I'm awesome that way.
Without waiting for her reply, I stood again and grabbed a piece of chalk from the box and began twirling it around between my fingers.
I bet you're wondering just what my idea was, right? Or maybe you've already guessed it. Either way, I'm gonna tell you. Deal with it. If you haven't already figured it out, I happen to be obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist. I've actually gone so far as to memorize most of the alchemical arrays used throughout the show. So I figured it'd be cool to draw a couple on the walls. And hey, if I ended up not liking it (which I highly doubted) then at least they would be done in chalk, which could be easily washed off. Ah, logic. it kicks ass.
"So, which one do you think we should do first? I'm thinking either the original transmutation array or the one on Roy Mustang's gloves. So..." I hadn't actually waited for her to say whether or not she would help me do this, I already knew she would. She was just as bored as I was. So without any further ado, I go to work. I figured I'd do both. Hey, my wall was decently large, it could take it.
I finished with Roy's array, and began to work on the transmutation circle, when Layne spoke up, "Um...the original one?" She sounded uncertain...kinda nervous. "Case? ...What if it works?" Ok, what?
I turned to look like her like she'd grown another head. "what...? Layne, you know that's not possible. If it was, there'd be FMA fangirls all over the place popping off the face of the earth, never to be seen again!" Jeesh, I knew the girl was smart, but c'mon! I'm supposed to be the one without any common sense! "And besides," I continued, "I'm just doing it as a bored time-passer that honors my love of all things alchemic and full-metally! Nothing wrong or gate-angering about that!" Haha, I loved my word creations...masterpieces...works of art...take your pick of which name to call them.
"All I'm saying is, what if it could and/or does work? Shouldn't we at least try to see if it works?" ...Sometimes I fear for that poor woman's sanity. She was actually considering the possibility of an anime world existing, and a simple circle with lines and curves being the thing that opens the gateway to said anime world. Wow. Not saying it wasn't something I fantasized about, but... I don't really believe in things like that. I may believe in an invisible, all seeing guy that judged whether your afterlife was fun and happy or painful and terrifying, but I draw the line at a parallel world where alchemy reins. And yet I was supposed to be the eccentric, 'I'll believe in anything, including a bionic rodent-thing' person. Sigh...
"I don't think it'll work, Lay. But...if it makes you feel any better, pack us a duffle bag or something. At least that way if it "does" (I air quoted the does) happen, then at least we'll be somewhat prepared...right? Does that make you feel a little better?" I smiled to show I wasn't trying to patronize her, though I was pretty sure she'd feel like I was no matter what I did. I couldn't exactly help that, though, so whatever.
While she messed with her duffel, I went over to my awesome Roy Mustang book bag (I use it specifically for sleep overs and such) and began to toss random articles of clothing inside. I also shoved in my mp3 charger, my DS and it's charger, my small laptop (recently bought, to my complete and utter joy), and my wallet. (I don't like to carry my wallet in my bag, so it goes in whatever I carry with me. Yeah, I know, I'm weird. Deal with it.) I figured if I was gonna play this game with Layne, I might as well go all out about it. I hefted my bag on one shoulder, then tossed it beside Layne. I waited as patiently as I could for her to sort everything in her bag, then sighed. "Alright, then." I picked the chalk back up and began working again on the circle. "So," I said, trying to make conversation as I worked, "You kind of act as if you want it to be real. Do you? I'd ask why, but I think I'd be a dumbass, since I think I already know the answer to that, so..." If I were in an anime, there'd be about three or four sweatdrops on my forehead right about now... Finished, I set the chalk down and turned, waiting for her answer.
"Well...Don't you think it would be awesome to be there? See what it would look like in real life, meet the people, stay for awhile? Can you really blame me for wanting it?" She looked a little lost, as if in her own little world.
"No..." I said, drawing it out thoughtfully, "I can't. I myself have asked you those questions, do you really think I'd play the role of hypocrite today?" I grinned. "So...um...what? Should we...clap?" I sighed. "Damn, I feel like a dumbass right now..." I chuckled, slightly embarrassed. "Well," she said, "they do in the show, so....yeah, I guess so." Eh, makes sense. "alright then...shall we?" I waited for her to move to stand beside me. "On the count of three...one...two...THREE!!!" At the same time, We clapped our hands and smacked the chalk covered wall.
End Chapter.