Following the Johnny Depp marathon with Sophie and Riza, Edward no longer spent his lunches hidden in the library alone. Instead, he spent them hidden with the two girls under the bleachers, while Sophie smoked and painted, and Riza read and coughed loudly and pointedly. Ed had been surprised, of course, to see a menthol slim dangling between Sophie's pastel blue fingers, but Riza had been quick to clarify "She smokes when she's stressed. And sad. And stroppy." Needless to say, the straight and narrow Riza clearly didn't approve.
The underside of the bleachers of a large high school proved entirely different from how Ed had pictured. The ground was hard and dry and entirely lacking in hormone-crazed teenagers. In fact, they were largely deserted. On the other hand, the Central High sports pitch was very large, with a lot of seating; it was entirely possible that there were other hiding spots. This particular spot though belonged to the trio during their lunches. Now, however, it was getting quite cold. Halloween was just a week away and the temperature was beginning to drop. None the less, it would seem they had nowhere else to go. Apparently the Art classroom, Sophie's previous sanctuary, was off limits, as it was where she and Envy had hidden in the past.
"Ms Moriarty seems to miss finding me there." Sophie mentioned on one occasion, most absently. "I think she found our company amusing."
Ed found the girls to be excellent company, and he was a little surprised how much fun the two quietest girls he had ever met could be. In the couple of weeks following the marathon, Sophie had opened up a lot towards him, and though she was often nervous to speak, her humour could be wicked. She enjoyed teasing them immensely, and her most recent one was Riza's apparent crush on a boy named Havoc. Riza, on the other hand, had a much sharper tongue and no qualms about making the two blush. Ed often found himself laughing until his ribs hurt. Today, though, seemed to be a more sombre day. Sophie had arrived to their spot beneath the bleachers from Art class hunched and scowling, lighting a cigarette barely under safe cover from prying teacher's eyes. She didn't speak a word to Edward, who chose to re-bury his nose in his book after a nervous hello until the safe companionship of Riza arrived.
When Riza did so, she too seemed a bit flustered. "Was speaking to Ran-Fan," she sighed. "She misses talking to girls." Sophie hung her head at this. Edward closed his book. Riza put her hands on her hips, authorities looking. "We can't avoid them forever, you two." Ed winced. Riza had no reason to avoid the group, or rather, Envy as they did. She stuck it out in the cold under the bleachers out of duty to Sophie and no other reason. "They are our friends and Ran says everyone's worried. Envy has been fretting like a mother chicken and even Ling, oblivious as he is, is wondering if they did something to offend." Sophie bit her lip. "But he did. He did do something to offend. Envy I mean. You know he did. How can I…" She trailed off, biting her lip. She lit another cigarette.
"Yes I know. But he's your best friend Sophie. He loves you. Talk to him, don't torture yourself like this. Don't torture him. As for you Edward; pull yourself together. Acting like a heart broken little puppy will get you no where." Edwards face went red.
"HEY! What are you implying, calling me a – !"
"Aha! It was only a matter of time!"
It was the unmistakeable casual droll of one Roy Mustang from above. The trio looked up to see the rest of their friends peering down through the gaps in the seats above them, notified to their presence by Edward's outraged yelling. Within a couple of minutes they were under the bleachers with them, arms crossed and accusative looking. Hostile was the only word to be used to describe them, other than, of course, highly offended.
"So this is where you've been hiding. How very cliché." Roy smirked, ever the casual bastard. Envy, on the other hand, caught sight of the cigarette still dangling from Sophie's fingers. "Sophie! What? You told me you wouldn't!" Sophie shrugged, avoiding his eyes, instead casting her eyes to her pink boots scuffing the dirt underfoot. Under Envy's accusative eye, she reverted back to the girl Edward had first met rather than the much more open girl he had come to know. At this, Envy faltered, casting a concerned eye to Riza and Edward, who dutifully avoided his gaze, choosing instead to find the bleachers and their fingernails much more interesting. He none the less pushed forward.
"Why are you smoking, Sophie? You haven't in months! You were doing so well!"
Sophie suddenly glared at him and took a long, purposeful drag of the cigarette. Edward's eyes bugged out of his head at her obvious rebellion against her supposed best friend. A glance left showed everyone else's eyes doing the same, including Envy's. He spluttered and everyone else seemed to shrink back, somehow feeling suddenly intrusive on what was definitely going to become a massive fight.
"Sophie, what the hell is going on? You're acting weird, like -"
"How would you know what's weird for me? We haven't talked in weeks!" Sophie cried, her voice significantly louder than usual, and exaggerating for effect. This was admittedly at the volume the rest of them spoke but it was so much louder than Sophie's usual tone she might as well have been yelling for how it affected the group. Envy's face turned red and his eyes took on a nasty glint.
"Who's fu- fault is that? Not mine that's for sure." He hissed, but even in his anger unable to curse at her. Sophie seemed a bit panicked but none the less furious. She slowly and very deliberately dropped her cigarette, smoked to the filter to the ground, crushed it under her foot and pulled her pack from her jacket pocket. Envy watched her with wide eyes until she placed a new slim between her lips before he seemed to return to his senses.
"Sophie stop! Don't you dare!" Her gaze snapped back onto his.
"I'm not a child and you don't own me, Envy Alygeri." Her tone had returned to her usual pitch but held a huge amount of menace that chilled Edward somehow. He suddenly worried that this fight could be much more damaging than anyone anticipated as Envy was once again shocked into silence, this one more of hurt than rage. Sophie lit the cigarette, once again turning her gaze away from Envy. Edward caught Riza's eye and gave her an imploring look. He had to do something. Riza shook her head, giving him a hard look. This was between them. He noted her hand on Roy's arm – she was clearly giving him the same advice, wordlessly as she gave Ed. Envy suddenly looked very sad.
"Sophie… I- " But Sophie had decided she was done with the conversation. She blew out her smoke heavily and dropped the cigarette.
"It's time for class." And without another word, she stalked passed Envy, with her head held higher than Edward had ever seen. Riza now gave Ed another significant look. It was time to choose sides. He risked a glance at Envy and noted the lost look on his face, but he quickly looked away. He knew he couldn't be near Envy right now, no matter how much it hurt to see him upset. His feelings wouldn't go away any time soon and Envy had a boyfriend to take care of him anyway. He nodded to Riza and they both turned without saying a word the entire encounter and followed Sophie to class. The group was now divided and no one knew for how long, or even truly why.
A/N….. Hey guyz. Uhm…. How's it goin'? Been a while huh… So… this story hasn't been abandoned? It's always been here, sitting quietly in the back of my mind. It's taken many different routes, many different turns in terms of plot and devices. I have no excuses that anyone cares to hear for my absence but here it is. I have also decided that not having a preview is a terrible idea in terms of my own encouragement so here she is. I've missed you guys.
If you want more info on this story and what's going on here, pop over to my writing tumblr crushcrushniamhy. tumblr. com
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IM: That's it. You clearly cannot function without me. You never used to have this kind of drama before you moved. I'm coming to visit and I'm sorting all this bullshit out once and for all. You can take me to your Halloween dance. You can't even try to stop me or I swear to god the wrench is coming out!1!1