Authors Note:
Okay so I'm extremely sorry about this over extended absence. A lot of things have been going on in my life that I would rather not share but just to name a few so you guys don't totally despise me, I have been being stalked by some psycho to the point of getting a restraining order, not to mention how my hubby's idiot ex is constantly harassing me and threatening to kill me. Plus my internet has been off since the end of October and I have been out of a job and unable to pay my bills so we were living in a bad situation barely able to survive. But now things seem to have calmed down quite a bit so I am back in business. Also I am going to be mass posting because I wrote so much while I didn't have internet so have no fear, there will be MUCH MUCH more. So much more in fact that you are totally going to hate me. Oh and I changed my writing style up a little bit so I'm doing it in first person for a little bit, don't hate me kay? -Hides-
Also I would really love to thank all of you people who reviewed and all the alerts and stuff because it made my heart explode with joy and made me continue to write this story. I sincerely appreciate it and I won't fail you guys and provide you with a soap opera worthy fic mauahahaha. (: Love you all!
FMA/FMAB is not mine sadly, It is owned to Arakawa. HOWEVER, I watched another anime by this manga artist and it's called Hero Tales. I HIGHLY recommend this anime. It is not only a tear jerker, it is full of awesome fast paced action, hilarious comedy, and engaging and unique storyline makes this for an interesting watch. Trust me, You will adore it.
Chapter 4:New Friends
To say that Mr. Falman's class was boring would have to definitely be the hugest understatement of the year. Seriously this man was so long winded and deliberate with his slow talking and Ben Stein-esque voice that I was praying to God to let this hour pass with utmost quickness. I wasn't the only one who was watching the circular wall clock like we were being released from a 25 year sentence in jail.
Edward had sat next to me and to my left was Sheska and Kain, smiling and chatting about this new anime that they were watching calling 'Hero Tales'. Thankfully Mr. Falman had allowed us to have the last 20 minutes as free time to get to know all the students in the class while he read his Kindle fire. Heck, every student in his class let out a collective sigh of relief of that because there wasn't one open eye in that whole room.
Ed twisted in his seat to straddle the chair while facing Sheska and Kain, much like I had done so we all could chat about nerdy stuff like anime and video games. Hell, I was a self proclaimed tomboy and auto-mail nerd...which was the cause of a lot of ridicule for me and to add fuel to the fire, I enjoyed Video Games and Anime like it was religion in my other free time. I had no friends so it's not like I had anything else to do.
"Hey Winry, isn't this that kid who was alone this morning that got all snippy?" Sheska asked with an eyebrow quirked. I nodded with a smile on my lips, a laugh bubbling in my chest at how I protected Ed from those Goth bullies...speaking of those jerks...that long haired kid was in this class with us. He was chatting with some chubby and shaved head kid and some dark short haired kid, all of whom were decked out in the same overly goth type clothing.
"Yep, but we're cool now, right Ed?" Ed stuck his tongue out at me momentarily before introducing himself. "Yea, I guess she's okay. My names Edward Elric but you guys can just call me Ed."
"So you guys like anime?" Kain asked, as he used on finger to push up his glasses like the classic class nerd and pervert in anime with the swirly glasses. I chuckled at the thought, noticing that Ed had snickered at the same time that I did. Weird...if we just had the same though. We exchanged weird glances and then looked back at Sheska.
"Of course! My all time two favorites are Rurouni Kenshin and Fushigi Yugi. I just love those steamy and eternal love stories with the added action!" I swooned, earning a laugh from Ed,Sheska and Kain. "Eh', I'm more of a Love Hina and Golden Boy fan..." Kain muttered. We all had wide eyes and looked at him because at that moment we knew our suspicions were true. He was a perv. "I wish I was Keitaro or Tenchi living in a house full of busty and beautiful women!"
"Pffft that crap is lame and for perverts. Gundam,Trigun,Dragon Ball Z and Saiyuki. That's whats up."Ed nodded like he knew his stuff was the best ever, which I couldn't deny that I loved them all as well...but they still weren't better than Fushigi Yugi! Never!
"Nooooo~ What about Sailor Moon and Full Moon O Sagashite? And Inuyasha!" Sheska interjected, throwing out some of my other favorite animes, oh hell, might as well say that everything is my favorite.
"Puuuhllease. Those are waaaaaay too girly. Now how about some Baki the Grappler and Berserk!"Ed rebuttled quickly but then Kain interrupted." No way, Ranma ½ is waaaaaay better. NOTHING and I mean NOTHING beats the sheer hilarity of that anime. I have never laughed so hard at an anime as I did with that. C'mooon you know I'm right!"
In unison all four of us started laughing, knowing that Kain had a point. Ranma took the cake, hands down.
"Am I not Blue Thunder?" Ed and I exclaimed in unison, mocking what Kuno had said to Nabiki. We all busted out into uncontrollable laughter at that point, earning weird looks from everybody else in the class and hate glares of evil from the wannabe goth kids in the corner.
"Yea you guys are pretty cool." Ed said with a hearty smile, his golden hues twinkling in amusement and I nodded in agreement, my platinum locks bobbing with my head. I was so elated that I had finally found some friends that wouldn't make fun of me or ridicule me for liking anime and auto-mail and not dressing like some girly girl. For the very first time in my life I felt as if I was actually wanted and belonged, like am able to be myself.
Looking at Edward smile his lazy smile and conversate with Sheska and Kain, I didn't see that broken boy that was on the phone with me who wanted so desperately to commit suicide and just end this endless cycle of suffering that he described to me. No. What I saw was a very personable and friendly guy who just needed somebody to be genuinely kind to him for him to reciprocate. Some real friends. Ed and I weren't so different.
The four us were all smiles until the shrill ring of the bell indicated that Mr. Falman's class was over, much to my dismay. I was having an awesome time with my new friends Sheska and Kain and my not so new friend Edward.
"Well, Off to Mr. Garfiel next..." I sighed heavily at having to end our conversation and to head to my next class alone. Oh wait, Ed has his class to didn't he? "Well lunch is after third block so meet us at the same table that we were-"Sheska was cut short by the chubby goth guy bumping into her rather hard, causing her to completely fall over and drop her books and glasses with a loud "OOMPH"
We turned to see that same long haired jerk from gym class, along with his flunkies,the large shaved head guy who looked like he was a major mouth breather, and the short dark haired kid who literally looked like a he should be in elementary school. They were just standing there cackling at Sheska who was blindly looking for her glasses, which had skittered under a nearby desk.
"Hey, watch out you fat jerk!" Ed was fuming, his amber depths were so alight with rage that I'm surprised that he didn't punch those guys right there. Kain was at Sheska's side, helping her to get her glasses and collect her books before we were all late to the next class. I stood there dumbfounded and bewildered as to why they even did that to her in the first place.
"Who you calling fat?" He responded in his nasally sounding voice, confirming my initial thoughts of wondering if he was some mouth breather. The worst part was that he had Doritos crumbs on his black band tee, which also indicated that he was indeed a fat jerk like Ed had said. No surprise there, I thought with an exasperated eye roll.
"Who the hell else in this room weighs a metric ton, you fat ass? You bump into her and knock all her crap on the floor and don't even apologize nor do you even help her. But I guess I can't exactly blame you...I guess we technically can't clear all the desks in the room just so you can pass."
I couldn't help but snicker at Ed's mean remark, nor could Kain and Sheska who laughed as they hurriedly called their goodbyes and high-tailed it out of the classroom and onto their next classes respectively. I swear there was a little dust cloud behind them because they hauled ass so fast at the sight of eminent danger.
"Silence, you miniscule peon." The elementary goth snarled, his coal hues were solely focused on Ed, holding up a petite hand to silence the big guy before he said something stupid that would ruin his whole condescending, pompous attitude. Wow, Jean was definitely right on the mark when he pegged them for weirdos.
Instead of inciting more of an argument with them, Ed shocked me by taking a firm hold on my arm with his Auto-mail hand, the cool metal stinging my warm skin lightly due to the temperature difference, and hauling me towards the door.
"I have no interest in losers like you guys." Ed then turned to look at me. "C'mon, Win, We're gonna be late if we don't hurry."
I was stunned to silence that Ed had handled that situation so...maturely and calm. Al had told me many times that Ed had an explosive and short temper, which tended to get him into a heap of trouble when it came down to it, but he displayed a nonchalance that I wish I could when it came to bullies like them. Honestly, I wanted to hit that fat jerk right in his bowling ball head but Ed was right, we did have somewhere to be...in less than 2 minutes.
I heaved an exasperated sigh, allowing Ed to partially drag me to our next class. This is definitely going to be an interesting year...
…
"Holy hell..." Ed whispered to me, nudging me with his elbow. "What?" I snapped in a hushed whisper, my clear blue hues glancing from Ed to our teacher, just hoping he didn't see me chatting with Ed while he was trying to introduce the course and himself...er...herself? Or maybe itself?
"Is he a cross dresser? Look at that make-up he has on...and not to mention that shameless dress that he's wearing! At least his legs are shaved...yuck...I sure hope that he doesn't seriously think that he can teach us welding and woodwork with that crap on."
Ed was obviously grossed out, I got that much, his endless rambling about how weird Mr. Garfiel was didn't go unnoticed by the rest of our class, not by a long shot. We were sat 5 to a large wood table in the most uncomfortable chairs I swear I ever sat on. Besides me and Ed, There was A Chinese looking guy with jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail with a front bang, a yellow and white long sleeved over shirt with a black undershirt underneath and white pants, A cute girl with jet black hair pulled into a loose bun atop her head, a long sleeve back shirt and skinny jeans, and lastly a cute blond guy with short hair and striking green eyes with a white Volcom shirt and baggy jeans.
"Yea...Mr. Garfiel is a weirdo." The blonde guy whispered to us, an amused smirk on his face as he smiled flirtatiously at me. His smile was sort of coy, like he used this on girls all the time and instead of flirting back like I wanted to, I looked away with a look of disinterest on my face. Those playboy guys really got on my nerves. However, my brushing him off did nothing to deter him from continuing to smile at me. "I heard Mr. Garfiel works at a gay bar and dresses in drag." The dark haired guy with his eyes oddly closed whispered, making all of us at the table crack up a little bit. "Oh shush, Lin, maybe he's just having a midlife crisis or something..." The other girl smacked the one she just named as Lin upside his head playfully while looking completely serious, which made all five of us laugh.
"Whats so funny over there? Hmm?" Mr. Garfiel strode over to us in a very drag queen-esque manner, stopping at our table, causing everyone in the class to avert their attention to us with amused eyes. Ed deadpanned as the Teacher raised his perfectly manicured eyebrows at us, awaiting some kind of response from at least one of us. Thankfully Edward spoke up, a drop dead serious look on his face as he proceeded to speak.
"Well this guy over here farted and we couldn't help but laugh."
Ed jutted his finger at the guy named Lin, whose jaw had dropped to the table while everyone in the class laughed at him, including Mr. Garfiel. Lin looked to have a martyred look on his face with us all laughing but eventually everything calmed down and Mr. Garfiel was finally done giving us our syllabus for the class and thoroughly introducing himself and the class. We were thankfully allowed about 25 minutes of free time to 'mingle and jingle' with our classmates as Mr. Garfiel liked to put it.
"So thanks for ratting me out back there." Lin pointed an accusatory finger at Ed, who was leaning back in the chair with his foot propped on the edge of the table for balance. Edward looked like the vision of nonchalance as his eyes were closed, a slight amused grin tugging at his lips.
"So you did fart?" Ed asked with a laugh in his voice. Lin seemed to be aghast with Eds line of questioning but me and the other two at the table just kept laughing at their exchange. I think I might like this class even better than the last one.
"Well...it wasn't really a fart...more like a toot..." He was contemplating the differences in farts now and that was just ridiculous, so I decided to change the subject and introduce myself to my new friends at the table.
"AHEM. Anyway...my name is Winry Rockbell and this is my friend Edward Elric."
The blond guy spoke up first, his smile lazy and his voice sounding as if he wasn't very interested...but yet he still smiled at me in that same flirty manner. "My name is Russell Tringham, please to meet you, Winry." His voice was like velvet or something when he spoke to me,his emerald eyes lit up in a very pretty manner.
"My name is Lan Fan, pleased to meet you all." She introduced formally, her long side bangs brushing against her cheeks as she spoke. "I am Lin Yao, the twelfth prince of Xing." Lin stood abruptly with a serious face that didn't suit him at all and...a prince...really?
"Seriously? A Prince? Are you high?" Russell eyed him like he was a bit soft in the head or something. I was sure meeting some strange people today, Gran would think I was insane when I told her about some of these people.
"No he is not high, you fool! He really is a prince." Lan snapped at Russell, her dark eyes smoldering and glaring daggers of hate at him, to which Russell merely shrugged off and looked to his Iphone in boredom. "Yes, I chose to come to public school here." Lin replied with an aloof attitude, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well it's nice to meet you all. Why did you guys decide to take this class?" I was curious because I took this class because even though our teacher seemed like a complete and utter freak, he was apparently one of the best Auto-mail mechanics in the world and he retired at an early age to be a high school teacher. I wanted so badly to learn from him, I was so happy when I got accepted into this class, so I only hoped that the other had a somewhat similar reason.
"Well, I had an extra elective spot and this was the only class available at the last minute so I took it." Russell shrugged like he couldn't care less about this class, which was obvious that he didn't. I looked on with dismay, hoping I wasn't the only one who was as enamored with auto-mail as I was.
"I love working with wood and metal so I figured I would." Lin smiled a friendly smile to me, which instantly warmed me. I could tell already that there was just something about Lin that was innately comforting and drew people to him, like a moth to a flame. He was funny and friendly, what more could anyone ask for in a friend? "And I figured that since Lin was in this class, I could help him."
I peered at Lan for a moment, instantly noticing that she was very overprotective of Lin and that she seemed to have some kind of feelings for him. I made a mental note to get a little more history between the two of them so maybe I could help get them together.
"I figured that I should at least learn how to repair my own auto-mail...so here I am." Ed sighed, sitting up with his pretty golden eyes now open. "You have auto-mail too?" Lan asked, her eyes widened in disbelief. Ed merely nodded and lifted the arm of his red hoodie and the leg of his pants to show them off. "Not like I want it."
"Yea I know how you feel..."Lan exhaled as well, showing her own auto-mail arm to us with a gloomy look on her face. "Hey I think Auto-mail is cool, there's no need for you guys to hate it so much." Russell was trying to be nice, I was sure, because the once playful mood at the table was now subdued and rather depressing. "Yea, He's right guys. I love working on Auto-mail, it's actually my favorite thing to do." I beamed a smile in their direction just to assure them that they weren't ghastly and horrid freaks like most other people painted them out to be. I happen to adore the rare people I meet with Auto-mail. "I think you guys are amazing and beautiful just the way you are, don't let these jerks make fun of you."
"Yea, Lan, there's nothing to be sad about."Lin assured her with a kind smile and with that, the bell rang. We stood and gave our byes as Edward and I headed to meet with our new found friends at the same table that I sat at this morning.
That was until I felt myself being knocked to the floor with a force so hard that the wind was knocked right out of me. For a moment everything went black, hearing yelling and chatter all around me, my eyes slid closed and the only thing I felt was the throbbing in my head.
