Hey everyone, hope you didn't forget about this story! It's been a while since I update and I'm sorry but I have been so busy with exams recently, I'm not quite finished yet though. Anyway I hope you'll forgive the delay.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story last time.
Again beta read by the wonderful Auto, I'd like to say thanks for her hard work correcting my, often dumb, mistakes.
So now on with the story.
Chapter 8
Ed sprinted down the hall, and skidded round a corner. He was late. He'd tried to be early, but ended up getting his timetable mixed up and headed to the wrong classroom. He also knew no teacher would accept that excuse this far into the school year.
As he rounded the corner he crashed right into a teacher, knocking his papers everywhere.
"Sorry," he mumbled picking up the papers for the teacher.
"Thank you," the teacher said taking them from Ed and gave him with a stern glare. "Now Mr. Elric, care to tell me why you were running down the corridor? Do you have class now?"
"Yes, so I need to go," Ed replied with his usual rudeness. The teacher raised an eyebrow, but let it slide
"Alright, but walk." The teacher watched Ed as he moved down the corridor and slipped into one of the classrooms.
"Edward, you're late again."
"Yes but-"
"I don't want to hear any more excuses. Just sit down."
"But-"
"Sit down. I'll speak to you after class." The teacher looked exasperated as Ed sighed and slumped down in his seat next to Winry. She ignored him completely, concentrating on her work.
After class finished, Ed tried to talk to Winry, but the teacher called him to the front. He shoved some paper into his bag as he watched Winry walk away. She turned back as she reached the door and gave him a wave and a sympathetic look. Ed smiled back at her and watched her leave. He slung his bag over his shoulder and stuffed his hand in his trouser pocket, wrapping and closing it around the flyer. He moved to the front of the class.
"Edward, what's going on with you?" his teacher began gently. She was trying to be sympathetic. She'd taught him in his first year and she'd been his favorite teacher when he'd first come to Central High.
"Nothing, look I'm sorry I was late I went to the wrong class."
"Really Ed, you think I'm going to believe someone as smart as you made that kind of mistake half way through the school year?"
"It's the truth, honest."
"Ok but that isn't the real reason I wanted to talk to you. Your attendance has been awful and when you do show up you're usually late and as for your grades, you're only getting C's. It isn't just this class either; from what your other teachers say this is a general thing."
"C's aren't bad."
"But you were getting A's last year and I know you still can."
"What if I can't?"
"You can. Look I know you've had a hard childhood, but you can't use that as an excuse when your brother is doing so well."
"I'm not using it as an excuse; maybe I just don't give a damn about school anymore," Ed said loudly on the verge of yelling.
"Getting angry isn't going to solve anything Edward. School is important and you know that. What do you want to do with your life?"
"I want to have fun and live my life the way I want to, not the way adults think I should. I want people to get off my back about things and most of all, I want people to leave me alone and stop trying to fix things that can never be fixed." Ed was actually yelling by the end of his speech and he ignored the teacher calling after him as he stormed out of the room to come face to face with the blue eyed blonde.
Winry's eyes were wide and slightly scared.
"Erm, I waited for you," she said quietly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, alright," he snapped and walked off.
"Hey that's no way to speak to someone who waited," She called after him.
"Well, no one asked you to wait." He almost snarled at her unable to stop himself taking his anger out on the one person he didn't want to hurt again.
"Fine, I won't bother in the future." Winry's voice sounded on the verge of tears. By the time guilt had cut through Ed's anger enough for him to turn around and face her, she'd run off.
Winry sat at the table picking at a salad. No one had said anything about Ed's absence apart from Al who, once he'd heard the story from Winry, had abandoned his lunch to look for Ed.
As lunch finished, Winry started to make her way to the library to study during her free period. Riza caught up with her.
"So what's going on?" she asked.
"Huh?"
"With Ed?"
"I don't know. I heard a little of what the teacher was saying at the beginning. It was about him being late all the time and getting bad grades. Then, a teacher came down the corridor, so I moved away and the next thing I heard was Ed yelling. I don't know why, though."
"He's always been a bit like that; he has quite a temper and the only person I've ever seen calm him down is Al."
"Yeah, but Al wasn't there. I just wanted to help, but he yelled at me, too."
"Don't take it to heart."
"Oh man, why'd I have to fall for him? Why couldn't I fall for a nice, sensitive guy with no issues?"
"Sometimes we can't help who we fall for with."
"Are we talking about me or you now?"
"Both," Riza said smiling.
Winry had biology last and she reached the classroom early enough to have to wait outside for the previous class to file out, which to her surprise included Al.
"Hey Al, is Ed okay?" she asked catching his arm.
"He's fine, don't worry about it," Al said before departing with a quick wave.
"Checking up on me?" Ed asked appearing at Winry's side making her jump. "Sorry, about earlier. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I seem to spend a lot of time apologising to you, don't I."
"Well, maybe you should stop doing things you have to apologise for," Winry muttered.
"Look, there is something I wanted to ask you-"
"Wow, is that Ed actually on time to class; shall I call a doctor?" Havoc said loudly from half way down the corridor. He reached Ed quickly and flung an arm around his neck in a loose headlock.
"Ow, get off me, freak," Ed mumbled, aiming a light punch into Havoc's stomach.
"Ooh, harsh and uncalled for Ed," he said trying to sound hurt while grinning.
"Can your question wait till after class?" Winry asked, heading into the room.
"Guess so," Ed said, watching Winry walk into class. He followed her in.
During class the Principal's secretary walked in and quietly spoke to Ed, telling him to go to the Principal's office after class.
Al was so focused on his work he didn't even see the secretary walk into the room; he didn't look up until the teacher called his name for a second time.
"Alphonse."
"Huh, yeah," he said finally looking up. With his attention gained the secretary walked up to him and bent down so she was on a similar level to him.
"Please come to the Principal's office after class." She caught the look of concern and confusion on his face. "Don't worry you haven't done anything wrong." She gave him a comforting smile before she left. Though Al wasn't comforted, he didn't think he was going to see the Principal for a commendation.
Al pushed open the door to the waiting room just outside the Principal's office. The secretary smiled at him and indicated he should take a seat. He perched on a chair nervously wondering what this could be about. He didn't have a clue until Ed flung the door open, making it crash into the wall. The secretary jumped, Al just gave Ed a glare that said 'this is all your fault'. Ed slumped down on the seat next to Al.
"That explains a lot," Al muttered.
"What?"
"You're in trouble again and you're dragging me into it."
"Not on purpose. Look, I don't know what this is about and it's really annoying. I promised I'd talk to Winry."
"Oh great, now you're making her wait too?"
"No I'm not. Riza is taking her home. Guess it'll have to wait till tomorrow."
The door to the Principal's office opened and the Principal himself stepped out.
"Ah, Edward, Alphonse. Nice to see you both," a man with a stern voice walked over to them and shook their hands.
"Principal Bradley," Al said.
"So what's this about?" Ed asked rudely.
"Step into my office and we'll have a chat."
Ed and Al followed the Principal into his office, took seats in front of his desk, and he sat behind it.
"I have both of your reports for the first half of the year. Alphonse you made a very good start at this school, well done. Edward, your grades have fallen and your teachers tell me your attendance and punctuality has left a lot to be desired. Now my normal procedure would be to contact your parents, but neither letters nor phone calls have been answered. You two lost your mother didn't you?" The question was not asked either harshly or kindly, but instead as if it were just a mere fact to be discovered.
"Yes sir," Al said sadly. He was looking at the Principal, but was completely focused on Ed, who was incredibly tense and not liking the direction of this conversation.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Ed said through clenched teeth.
"Is everything okay at home, with your father?" the Principal asked ignoring Ed's question. Out of the corner of his eye, Al could see Ed's knuckles turn white as he gripped the arms of the chair. He was barely controlling his temper. Sensing the situation was about to go downhill rapidly, Al spoke up, hoping the conversation would end before Ed lost control completely.
"Sure, everything's fine," he smiled. The Principal raised a skeptical eyebrow. Al's heart sank. He was a terrible liar and he knew it.
"Yep, everything's fine. I mean he's real busy and he gets loads of mail, so the letters are probably at the bottom of a pile unopened somewhere. And as for the phone calls, our message machine is playing up," Ed lied smoothly, looking slightly too innocent.
"Hmm, well I would really like to speak with your father, so please will you tell him to get in contact with me?" the Principal directed his last comment more at Al than Ed.
"Sure," Ed said, standing up. "Can we go?"
"Yes, have a good weekend boys."
"Thank you sir," Al said as he followed Ed out of the office.
It was still early for a Saturday when Al got up the next morning. He stepped out of his room quietly and peered through the slightly open door of the room next to his. He could see Ed was still asleep; he was on his back with his limbs splayed out and the cover lay on the floor. Al sighed and quietly padded across the soft carpet and picked up the cover, placing it over Ed.
He walked down stairs pondering on the conversation with the Principal. Ed was making bad decisions and Al knew he had to help but it's hard to help someone who doesn't want it. Al had a thought and acted on it before he could change his mind. Picking up the phone, he dialled a number and waited. It rang a few times then went to voicemail. It was the recorded message that came with the phone.
"Hi Dad, it's Al, I..." he paused. He felt like he was betraying Ed and he couldn't do that "you know what, it's fine. Forget it." He put the phone down, he didn't really expect to get a reply, but he found himself hoping his Dad might call back.
The post came through the letter box then. He quickly gathered it up and sorted it. A usual the majority of it was for his Dad, but there was a letter addressed to Ed and him. He put it aside, before taking his Dad's post to his study. He flicked through them and saw an envelope with the school crest on it. He kept it in his hand as he deposited the other letters. If Ed found it, he'd destroy it before their Dad ever got near it, like every other letter they received from school. Al was no longer sure that was the best thing and left the study still holding the letter.
Ed wandered into his kitchen close to midday and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Morning, how long have you been up?"
"Ages. We got a letter from Teacher by the way."
"We did? What's wrong with the phone, or just dropping by? She doesn't live that far away."
"Just read it."
"Have you?"
"Yes," Al held the letter out for Ed to take. He read the letter quickly.
"Great, it's an invitation to dinner. What's so amazing about that?"
"I didn't say anything was amazing about it. I just told you to read it."
"Great, I read it. Now I'm going out."
"I'll call her and say we're coming then? Hey wait, where are you going?"
"There's someone I need to see," Ed appeared back round the door. "Trust me; I might actually be doing something right for once."
"So you admit you're wrong most of the time."
"Wait, that's not what I meant," Ed stomped off realising Al had talked him into a corner.
Winry was in her garage. It was small, but it was hers. Her tools were laid out beside her on a work bench as she tried to fix the engine in her car. It had been a long project, but one she thoroughly enjoyed. The hot weather meant she'd tied her mechanics overalls round her waist revealing a small top which showed a lot of her flat stomach. Her long hair was held back under a bandana. The radio was on which meant she didn't hear the truck pull up, or someone coming up the drive. A shadow fell over her and instinctively spun round holding her wrench out. It caught the figure on the side of his head and he stumbled back, hitting the floor as a stream of curses came out of his mouth.
Winry was shocked as she looked down at the figure.
"Ed? You shouldn't creep up on people."
"I didn't. I just walked up. Now I know to be more careful of the crazy lady with the wrench."
"Sorry," Winry held her hand out and helped pull Ed to his feet. He gently poked his head.
"Ow, that's going to bruise," he whined. Winry indicated he should sit on some boxes, then she lifted his hair away from where she'd hit him. It was slightly red, but she hadn't broken skin.
"It'll be fine you big baby. So why are you here anyway?"
"I'm a masochist, apparently."
"Seriously, I said I was sorry," Winry hefted her wrench in a way that said she wouldn't be sorry a second time.
"Okay, sorry about yesterday. It wasn't my fault honest."
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Winry smiled down at him. Ed couldn't help but stare. She was beautiful, somehow even more so with a smudge of oil on her nose. Ed could feel blood rushing to his cheeks, and he could see an answering blush on Winry's cheeks.
"Here, have you heard about this?" Ed handed her the folded flyer he'd got the day before.
"A school dance, what about it?"
"I... I thought you should know, Roy usually drags everyone to these things, though I don't know maybe you want to go, or maybe you've already been asked to go with someone else."
"No one's asked me. I never really went to school dances at my old school, but it'd be nice to see what a dance at Central is like."
"Great," Ed frowned and looked down for a second. When he looked back up, there was resolve in his eyes. "Winry I'd really like you to come to the dance with me."
"What?"
"Will you be my date to the dance?"
"Ed I-"
"Oh come on I thought every girl wanted to get taken to a dance," Ed said breaking the mood completely.
"Don't lump all girls together, Ed."
"Fine, forget I asked," he turned to leave, but Winry caught his arm.
"Wait, why did you ask me?"
"What?"
"Why did you ask me?"
"Because I wanted to."
"That's not an answer."
"Because, I've never actually cared about a girl before. I mean, I've never really regretted upsetting anyone, the way I regretted upsetting you. Somehow without even meaning to, you got closer to me than I've let anyone aside from Al get in a long time. You were right; I don't want to lose someone again, but maybe having no one to lose is worse. I understand if I've already pushed you too far away. I just-" Ed was cut off when Winry pressed her figures over his lips.
"I think that's probably the truest thing you've ever said to me, Ed."
"That was kind of the point," he replied when she moved her hand away. "I'll be going now."
"Wait, don't you want to hear my answer."
"What?"
"Ed, I'd love to go to the dance with you."
"You would?"
"Yes. I think I just found a dream I never knew I had."
Thanks for reading, next chapter, they'll finally go to the dance... I'll try to update quicker but sometimes the real world has other things planned for us so we'll see how we go. Thanks for being patient, dear readers. Now if you'd care to drop me a review I'll much appreciate it.
