Chappie Trois! :P

Looking back on it, Willard had really bad grammar in his last sentence, 'You're a good drawer.' It should have been 'You draw well' or something like that. But oh, well. Let's just say that he was really shocked or something.

And I forgot to mention in the last chapter that while element 116 and 114 are real, there was not a Marie Dallas on the research team, and element 116 DOES NOT have the properties I'm giving it. So- don't take anything regarding it as fact.

I'm attempting to work out more of the story in my head at the moment, and I have really good ideas- I want to skip ahead and write those parts! But I can't . . .

I'm sorry if I don't update more often, but I'm currently working on a non- FFN Fullmetal Alchemist project, which will take the better part of a year or more . . . But I can't tell you what it is yet! I'll probably spill in about a year . . .

ONTO THE STORY!

-o-O-o-

September 1, 2011

"Hey, Mom?"

Karmyn sat at the kitchen table, eating a more leisurely breakfast of cereal rather than the Pop-Tart of the morning before. Her mother, having no classes to teach until that afternoon, sat across from her, typing on her laptop computer.

"Yes, Karmyn?"

Karmyn smiled softly at that. Unlike most other moms, her mother had never called her 'Honey' or 'Sweetheart' or anything else like that. Personally, she preferred it that way.

"How's the research going?"

For the past few years, 'research' automatically meant 'Element 116' in the Dallas household. Hearing the question, the older woman pursed her lips before looking up at her daughter.

"You're not going to believe me on this one, but yesterday, as we were testing, one of my colleagues just . . . disappeared. It was the strangest thing. He was there one minute, took one step forward to get a closer look, and poof! He was gone."

"Are you sure the Gate didn't take him?" Karmyn asked. It was a running joke between the two of them. Karmyn was next to obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist, and had explained it in great detail to her mother on more than one occasion. It had come to be that whenever something disappeared in their household without explanation, the common excuse was 'the Gate claimed it.' It was rather ridiculous sometimes. They had yet to figure out what Truth wanted a teaspoon measure for. . .

Marie Dallas smiled and shook her head. "No, Karmyn. This is no joke. I don't think the Gate took him."

"Darn. I wanted proof that Amestris was real! You just have to go dashing my hopes, don't you?" She turned a joking glare onto her mother. Her mother just laughed.

"I'm afraid so. Now go on, you're going to miss the bus at this rate!"

-o-O-o-

Once again, the bus ride wasn't special. Katherine accused Karmyn of being an otaku, and Karmyn called Katherine a hopeless Potterhead. It was no different than any other day.

And, once again, Karmyn nearly fell asleep in English class. No big surprise there, really.

On the plus side, she thought as she sat at the table she had claimed yesterday in the Chemistry classroom, I haven't run into those people again yet.

She was so deep in thought that Mr. Mason had to call her name twice before she acknowledged it. Hearing snickers from behind her, she refused to turn around. She wouldn't give that jerk the satisfaction of her irritation.

Mr. Mason began the lesson after attendance. Starting everyone on the lab that they would be doing that day, he quietly walked over to where Karmyn was sitting.

"Karmyn," he spoke quietly, "I assume you already know this already?"

Karmyn nodded. She had already gotten the lab half completed, while everyone else, as far as she could tell, was still on the first step.

"Okay, here," Mr. Mason offered, putting another paper in front of her. "This goes a little further into the lab than what the others have. I think you'll find this to be more to your level."

She looked at the paper in front of her. Indeed, this one was certainly more complicated, but still pretty easy. Her mother had taught her more. Still, she had to be polite. "Thank you, Mr. Mason."

As soon as the teacher left, Willard was quick to speak up.

"So- you get special treatment, huh?"

Karmyn couldn't take it anymore. She whirled around, glaring Willard in the face.

"Well sor-ry. It's just that I grew up with this material, so this lab was slightly unhelpful to me. This one-" here she held the paper up in front of her- "Is still under my level, but not quite so much."

Willard snatched the paper out of her hands. "Let me see that!"

Holding the paper in front of him, he began to read it over. Alfred, who was sitting next to him, leaned over and studied it as well. Their eyes widened.

"You find this easy?" Alfred asked. "Most people would be scratching their heads."

"Not that it's hard, by any stretch of the truth. We've been doing stuff like this for a while now. We just didn't think anyone else our age could." Willard explained, scrutinizing the paper. He and Alfred exchanged glances.

Karmyn grabbed her paper back. Even though the process was easy, it was still time consuming. If she didn't start soon, she wouldn't finish by the end of class. Surprisingly, Willard let it go.

Turning back to the materials in front of her, she started. She barely paid attention when Mr. Mason walked by her table, concentrating whole-heartedly on her work. When she felt the presence of someone sitting in the chair beside her, she started.

When she looked up, Willard was there next to her, quietly laughing at her small jump.

"Wh- What are you doing here?" She asked, flustered. He shrugged.

"We asked Mr. Mason if we could work with you. We already finished the other lab." He waved his hand toward the table behind them, where he and Alfred had been sitting.

Alfred was sitting at the end of the table, having pulled up a chair. "You were right- that lab was really easy. So, we've come to work with you. This one looks more interesting."

Karmyn sighed, resigned. "Okay. We can work together." It's not like I have a choice, she thought bitterly.

-o-O-o-

The rest of Chem class went well. The Cirle brothers, she found out, weren't nearly as bad as she had made them out to be, though Willard could still be extremely annoying at times.

As the three of them stood to leave, Karmyn accidentally knocked one of Willard's binders off of the table, causing various papers to spill out. Mortified, she began to pick them up.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, frantically gathering papers. She attempted to get them in some sort of order.

Willard sighed tiredly. "It's okay. It's partially my fault for leaving it on the edge of the table like that."

As soon as she had the papers re-organized, she stuffed them back in the binder. About to close it, she paused, her eyes landing on something that caught her attention. She looked at it for a minute before closing the binder and handing it back to Willard.

As the three of them walked down the hall away from the Chem room, she asked him about it.

"You have a friend that cosplays?"

Startled, Willard turned to look at her, before looking at Alfred, who was walking on the other side of her. Karmyn couldn't understand his expression. What's with the deer-in-the-headlights look? she wondered.

"Uhm, yeah," Willard responded. "We do."

"That's okay. I understand completely."

"You do?"

Karmyn could've sworn that Willard's voice squeaked on those words. Why was he so panicked?

"Yeah, I do," she told him. "I'm a manga fan too. I don't usually cosplay, but still."

"Oh, okay." Willard sounded relieved, which confused Karmyn even further.

"Can I meet her sometime?"

"That . . . might not be possible." It was Alfred that spoke that time.

"Why not?" Karmyn asked him, "I'm a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist too! I'm sure we would be great friends!"

Seeing the looks on their faces, she dropped the subject. What's with the sad face? she wondered. Something didn't seem right with these people . . .

-o-O-o-

Chapter complete! Sorry if it was cruddy in the beginning, it took me a while to warm up. Also, I apologize that Alfred hasn't had all that big of a part . . . I'll try to work on that.

So, reviews? What's wrong with these two boys? HELP KARMYN FIGURE IT OUT! Oh, and I update faster with reviews. And I want to update faster, because I LOVE WRITING THIS STORY! But I lose motivation if no one is actually reading it. SO PLEASE REVIEW!

So- press that magical blue hyperlink of awesomeness AND RAINBOWS?

V