Edward Elric looked up at the huge building before him. A large, towering, old building built out red brick and was currently covered in teenagers.
Perhaps that wasn't the right term, per say, it wasn't completely covered. The steps and walkways were crowded with students. Students whom were hugging, talking, laughing and doing various activities. Edward walked past them hurriedly. He had heard the rumors of what happened to high school freshmen; the last thing he needed was a black eye and his mother running down to the school to 'save' him.
Ed pushed open the heavy glass doors and stared at the enormity of the hallways. Students were crowded everywhere and if it was even possible, they were louder than they were outside. Granted, Ed wasn't much of a people person, but even this seemed to be too much. He walked quickly, keeping his head down and while trying to keep his eyes on the lockers so he could find it without much trouble.
'243, 243, it can't be too hard to find, Ed.' Ed told himself, it was just high school, nothing too petrifying, and after all, Ed had been through much, much worse. Ed glanced up at the lockers and thankfully, after a few more steps, the locker that he was looking for came into vision. There was only one problem, Ed noticed:
There were two very tall and very preoccupied students making out right next to it.
Ed blushed softly, but continued onto the locker. He tried his hardest to ignore the couple next to him as he fiddled with the lock, and tried to remember his combination. It was hard, however, due to the simple fact that the couple refused to be quiet and kept moaning things like: 'I've missed you so much,' and 'Ooh, baby, I love you.' Ed silently put his books in his locker hastily, his eyes locked on the back of his locker.
The couple broke away for a moment, or so Ed assumed, since there was no more moaning, and started to whisper to one another. Ed could care less about what they were saying, and cared a hell of a lot more on getting away from that spot. Ed stepped back from the locker once his books were tightly packed in there, and a moment later, his locker slammed shut.
The male of the couple, the one who had the very voluptuous brunette pinned to the locker just moments ago, was smirking like a cat that had just caught dinner, and stared down at Ed.
"Well, well…what do we have here?" The boy leered (although, considering his height and stature, Ed considered him more of a man than anything), and Ed averted his eyes to the floor. "A freshman, who was lucky enough to get a locker right next to mine,"
"Are you sure he's a freshman and not just a lost eighth grader? He's pretty tiny," The brunette said smoothly, and Ed felt his face go red. There were plenty of things you didn't say to Edward Elric, and jokes about his, abet small, height was one of them. Ed resisted shouting over it, due to the fact that he was pretty sure that the tall boy could pummel his face in.
"I dunno-he is pretty puny though." The boy looked Ed over and scoffed, "Come on, shrimp, we're talking to you. Are you an eighth grader or just a really short freshman?"
Ed mumbled something under his breath, but the older boy didn't seem to hear.
"What was that? I can't hear you from all the way up-"The ebony hair boy started, until Ed cut him off.
"I SAID: DON'T CALL ME SHORT, GODDAMMIT!" Ed looked into the eyes of the taller boy, who seemed shocked at this outburst. After a moment, the boy's shock faded into a smirk, and Ed noticed that the hallways were deathly silent. The older boy took a step forward until he was looking down at Ed with playful, almost evil eyes. Ed realized with much chagrin on his part that he was only up to the taller boy's chest, forcing him to look up at his new 'friend'.
"You don't like being called short, huh?" The boy's smirk widened, "Huh, well how will you feel when I shove you in your locker and you get to sit there for the next couple of days? I'm sure you'll fit, don't you?" Ed shook his head, looking around for an escape, but to no avail. The older boy went to open the locker, but then luckily for Ed, his attention was quickly diverted.
"Hey! Roy!" A voice sounded from down the hall, the older boy, Roy, Ed assumed, looked over and grinned.
"Hey Maes," Roy glanced at Ed one more time, quirked his eyebrows, and then walked off to go greet his friend. The halls resumed their previous banter, and Ed breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe, for the time being. He made a quick note to avoid a tall, good looking (Good looking? Where did that one come from?), bastard by the name of Roy. Ed walked off to his first class, avoiding everyone's eyes and trying to become invisible.
Ed settled into the class quite nicely. Since the bell had yet to ring, and the teacher was nowhere in sight, Ed happily found a seat in the back of the classroom, pulled yet another book out of his bag and began to read. Ed was quite a reader, due to the fact that he had nearly no friends, so instead he found his solace in the pages of books.
It was only a few minutes later until the bell rang. Ed didn't even look up until he saw someone out of the corner of his eye sit next to him. Ed glanced over and saw a light blonde boy sitting in the seat next to him. Ed looked him over and realized that the boy looked almost like his brother Al, although his hair was lighter, and his eyes were a bright blue, instead of a light brown.
Ed looked through his blond bangs at the boy, watching him unload his notebooks, pens, and books. He seemed just as prepared and ready for high school as Ed seemed lost, and Ed envied him slightly. The second bell rang and the teacher walked in, pulling Ed's eyes up to the front of the room, looking the teacher over.
She was a tall woman, with light blonde, graying hair and a dress with shoulder pads wider than Ed was tall. She had an air of arrogance about her, and already Ed didn't like her.
"Guten Tag, class," She said with a thick German accent, the class was silent in reply, except for a few whispers from the back. "I am your teacher, Frau Eckhart, and I will be your German teacher for the year." She smiled tightly, and Ed realized how badly he didn't want to be in this class.
"I should've taken French," Ed mumbled, and the boy next to him looked over.
"Hm?" The boy's blue eyes were wide and Ed glanced over and shrugged.
"I should've taken French, German's not really my thing." Ed replied, and the boy smiled softly.
"Oh, well, I've been raised knowing the German language all my life," The boy said lightly, with an accent thicker than the teacher's. "I'm Alfons Heidrich, nice to meet you," Alfons held his hand out to Ed, who shook it, smiling.
"Nice to meet you Alfons, I'm-"
"Edward Elric?" The teacher called from the front and Ed looked up, eyes wide and startled.
"Oh, h-here!" Ed realized that he was still holding Alfons' hand. Ed pulled away and sat back at his desk, staring at the front of the room.
"Ah, gut, gut." The teacher mumbled and wrote something down on the clipboard that she was holding. Ed nodded nervously, trying to get his face to cool down. 'Stop being such a freak, Ed. You're never going to make friends like this.' Ed thought to himself, shaking his head.
The rest of the class was pretty uneventful. All of the students introduced themselves, and Ed found out that Alfons was 14 years old and had transferred from Germany to go to Central High School for the remainder of the year. Ed was also introduced to Solf Kimblee, who had long black hair down his back and narrow blue eyes that made Ed want to sink into the ground beneath him, Solf was a senior and he had expressed his love for fireworks for to the entire class before Frau Eckhart made him sit back down.
Ed's introduction was less than perfect. He stumbled over his words and could hardly get out the fact that he had a little brother named Al and that Ed loved to study chemistry before Ed was so embarrassed that he forced himself to quickly finish up his introduction and hurry off to the back of the classroom.
When the bell rang, Ed ran out into the hall, eager to forget the last hour. Ed dug his schedule out of his backpack and read it, trying to figure out where to go. 'Gym…where's the gym?' Ed sighed deeply. He could ask a fellow student, but at the risk of asking a senior, Ed would rather search for the place for himself. Ed started walking down the hall, stuffing his schedule in his pocket, when he literally ran into another, taller student. Ed looked up worriedly, afraid that he'd have to face Roy's wrath once again, but instead, he looked into the face of a smiling girl.
"Oh, sorry about that," She smiled softly, tucking a strand of her short, light-brown hair behind her ear. Her blue-green eyes were bright, and Ed didn't feel half as scared as he was a few moments ago.
"N-no, it's my fault," Ed replied, blushing softly, "I wasn't watching where I was going." Ed smiled nervously and the girl chuckled.
"Oh, I know how that goes. I remember when I was a freshman, I was so lost in this place, it was terrible." The girl looked over at the paper which was haphazardly sticking out of Ed's pocket. "What class do you have next, anyways?"
"Oh…um…gym," Ed answered, keeping his eyes on the floor. He didn't need this girl thinking he was a loser, too. "I just…wish I could find it." The girl started laughing, and Ed knew that he had blown it.
"The gym's not too hard to find." The girl patted Ed's shoulder and pointed down the other end of the hall. "It's just down there. Take a left and you'll see two huge doors. Go in there, and the gym's right inside. And the locker rooms are right next to it." She smiled softly again, and Ed could feel his face turning red.
"Oh, th-thank you…" Ed smiled weakly and the girl nodded as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder.
"Anytime, I remember how hard it was being a freshman." She smiled again, "If you need help with anything else, just find me. I'm Gracia, by the way, if you ever need me." Ed nodded and smiled a bit wider.
"I'm Ed-Edward Elric," He looked into Gracia's eyes again, happy that he finally found a friendly face to turn to. "Thanks again,"
"You're very welcome, Ed," She turned and walked down the hallway, leaving Ed to stand there by the German room door, hoping that maybe his day was starting to look up.
Gym was everything that Ed expected it to be. Ed had been going to gym since seventh grade, and it was always the same on the first day. Introductions, silly games that really didn't count as 'Physical Education', locker assignments and trying to get used to the fact that you were going to have to get used to the fact that the boys in your class were more than likely to see you nearly naked by the end of the year.
For Ed's luck, there were no seniors in his class, at least not any that he had to worry about. Most the students were worried freshman just like Ed, but with the occasional sophomore mixed in. Ed didn't mind in the slightest, for him, it was just another excuse to make a friend or two. It didn't help matters though, that the gym teacher just happened to be Ed's father.
It wasn't hard to hide, either. Ed looked strikingly like his father. From the blonde hair to the bright gold eyes, it was obvious to all the students exactly to Edward Elric belonged to. Van Hohenhiem was not only known as one of the worst gym teachers in Central High School history, but he was also one of the biggest perverted teachers in the school. Ed had known this since he was a kid, but now that he was seeing it with his own eyes, it seemed a lot worse than the rumors.
Van's eyes looked over each of the girls' bodies suggestively, eyebrows quirking and a small smile playing on his lips. It was obvious that the girls noticed too, because they would take one look at Van, glance over at his oldest son, and then walk as far away from both of them. Ed sighed heavily, wondering if there was some outside force that was preventing him from easily making friends.
Ed always assumed it was the prosthetic limbs that he had, but so far, no one had really seem them, and Ed didn't plan on making them shown anytime soon. Now it just seemed that Ed was a small fish (a very small fish, for that matter) in a huge pond, and he was different from the other kids. It was just something that he needed to accept. Of course, Ed never made friends easily, usually keeping to himself, and it wasn't like high school was going to be any different.
Gym ended without much trouble. Lockers were assigned, and the class was spent with the students mostly just talking to one another. Ed, of course, took to hanging out in the corner of the gym, reading his book and trying to avoid eye contact with the other students.
Once the bell rang signaling lunchtime, Ed made his way out of the gym into the very crowded, very loud lunchroom. Ed looked around at all the students, trying to find an empty chair, or better yet, a completely empty table, but with no such luck. Ed stood on his tiptoes, searching worriedly, when he saw Alfons sitting next to another blonde boy who Alfons was chatting to joyously. Ed ran over, slipping underneath other students arms and avoiding the freakishly tall bodies. Ed sat next to Alfons, who glanced over and smiled brightly.
"Gute-Hello Ed," Alfons motioned over to the other boy, "This is Russell Tringham. He's in my biology class." Russell flipped his long, scruffy bangs out of his eyes and waved. "We've been talking about our teacher."
"Oh really?" Ed asked as he pulled his lunch out, "What's he like?"
"She, you mean," Russell pointed out as he took a bite of his apple, "Mrs. Dante. She's terrifying,"
"Frau Dante is not terrifying," Alfons retorted, "I think she's a very nice woman." Ed chuckled at the determined look on his friend's face, and Russell rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Right, of course," Russell shrugged and took another huge bite of the apple, "I still say she's terrifying. Going on about the 'circle of life' and how everything must grow old and what-not. It's going to be a great year." Russell said sarcastically, and Alfons sighed.
"So, Edward, how was your class?" Alfons asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"It could've been better, I guess," Ed failed to mention that his father was a perverted teacher who was into young girls and that he had yet to make any other friends, "It was just gym class, re-" Ed was interrupted by a hand coming down from behind him and grabbing his lunch bag.
"Well, well, well," The cold voice of Roy sounded from behind the three blonde boys, "What do we have here? Hm, a sandwich, some chips and couple cookies." Ed turned around and watched as Roy went through the boy's lunch. "Well, this will save me a couple bucks." Roy smirked wickedly, and behind him, Ed saw Solf and another boy with black, spiked up hair watching bemusedly.
"Hey!" Alfons stood up, "Give that back to Edward! That's his lunch!" Alfons was glaring at Roy with all the strength that the small German boy could manage. Roy glanced down at the other boy and started to laugh.
"And what are you going to do if I don't?" Roy looked the boy up and down, and Ed was pretty sure that Roy could crumple up Alfons into a ball and throw him in the garbage can next to the table.
"I'll make you wish you were never born, you-you arschloch." Ed didn't know much German, but it was obvious that Roy did, due to the fact that his pale face turned a dark pink color and his eyes narrowed.
"What did you call me you little brat?" Roy threw Ed's lunch back on the table, and Ed silently begged Alfons to sit down and just forget about it. Alfons' face was turning red, and it was obvious to Ed and all the other spectators that Alfons was not going to come out of this alive.
"You heard what I said, you bastard." And before Ed or Russell could even stop him, Alfons threw his arms out and pushed Roy, who was a good foot taller than the German, down to the floor. Roy's friends stumbled to catch him but it was too late. Roy was on the floor, flat on his ass, with a murderous look on his face.
It only took the freshman boys a second to grab their things and run out of the lunchroom, not looking behind them. They could hear laughter echoing from the large room, and a moment later, in the halls, they could hear the sound of three feet chasing after them.
"Follow me," Russell said, pulling the two others up a staircase quickly. Ed was having a hard time keeping up, due to all the books in his backpack and the leg that simply wasn't made to be running up stairs. Alfons was laughing breathily, a large smile on his face.
"I-I can't believe I did that," Alfons said as they ran, reaching the top of the stairs and following Russell down the nearly empty second floor. "I can't believe I did that."
"Y-yeah," Ed replied, his lungs feeling ready to burst, "I can't believe you did either, you idiot." Russell ushered the others into a classroom and shut the door behind him just as they heard the footsteps reach the top of the stairs. Russell locked the door and peeked out the classroom window.
"They just passed us," Russell said, "but we should stay in here until we're sure that they're not gonna come back," Russell sat on the floor, while Ed and Alfons looked around at the room.
"What classroom is this, exactly?" Ed asked, and Russell laughed softly, mostly out of relief that they were all alive and able to ask such questions. Alfons sat on a desk, still grinning brightly.
"It's one of the health classrooms. They have two. This one isn't really used as much," Russell was breathing heavily, but was smiling softly all the same. "God, I can't believe we're alive."
"Me neither," Ed sat next to Alfons, looking at his lunch bag. "Roy has it in for me. He wants me dead."
"You're a freshman. He wants us all dead." Russell replied, "Don't start thinking that you're so special, short stuff."
"WHO'RE YOU CALLNG SHORT, YOU TALL, OBNOXIOUS FREAK?" Ed yelled, and Russell chuckled softly.
"Well, at least we've gotten you to finally open up. For a while there, I was afraid that you were almost a mute." Alfons said, smiling over at his friend. Ed blushed slightly, turning a lovely shade of pink.
"N-no," Ed struggled to explain himself, "I just…don't make friends easily." Ed shrugged and Alfons smiled wider, if at all possible.
"Well, I guess you have a couple friends now, shrimp," Russell replied from the floor, and Ed glared at him.
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP SO SMALL HE CAN'T MAKE ANY FRIENDS?"