Chapter Ten

Sweater Weather

Just us, you find out

Nothing that I wouldn't wanna tell you about

For the first time all year, I'm alone after school – Paninya has a parent-teacher conference, Al has a scrimmage, and Ed is still nowhere to be found. That's partly my fault, because after my run-in with creepy Mr. Edger, there was no way I'd be caught out in the hallway by myself again. But I know that I need to uphold my promise to Al, and honestly, I'm starting to get really worried.

I can think of an entire list of places where he could be, especially on a day like today, but all of them aren't at school, and if he had been here this morning, there's no way he could've left. I hesitate next to his locker, wondering if I should just try and call him, but he's notorious for leaving his phone off.

I need help, I realize. I need someone like…

I shake my head. No use going down that street. After all, Roy said it himself – she's gone.

Roy! Of course!

I dash down the hallway, practically praying all the while that Mr. Edger won't be lurking around in the main office, although this seems pretty unlikely.

I skid around the doorframe to the office lobby, where three women and two men sit conversing over the low walls of a four-desk cube farm. The two school security guards – Maria Ross and Denny Brosh – are there, as well as school secretary Rebecca Catalina, head librarian Vato Falman, and someone I don't recognize at all. She stands a little to the side, not quite joining in on the joking and laughter.

Suddenly, Miss Ross notices me lurking in the doorway. "Winry? What are you still doing here?"

"Need – to see – Roy," I pant, trying not to fall over. Boy, am I out of shape.

Miss Ross's face darkens, and Mr. Brosh's last joke falls flat. Even the ever-smiling Miss Catalina wears a frown.

"Sorry, Winry," she says. "He's meeting with someone."

The woman I don't recognize flips her extremely long blond hair over her shoulder and makes a sound that I can only describe as a "harrumph." Her narrowed eyes are frighteningly icy and her full lips are intimidatingly pursed. Despite her sour look, she's very beautiful. She also reminds me greatly of someone I already know, although I can't quite place it.

"It's just the Elric boy. I don't understand why you can't interrupt them. They've been in there all day!"

Elric. Edward. Edward Elric.

"Perfect," I whisper. "Just perfect."

Mr. Falman looks worried beneath his mop of graying hair. "Miss Rockbell–"

I don't even wait for them to let me in; I barge past a spluttering Mr. Brosh and make a run for Roy's office door at the end of the hallway.

I can't see her say it, but I swear that the blond woman says something like, "Now, why didn't I try that?"

I've become a bit of a rebel today, if I do say so myself, so when I reach Roy's door, I don't knock; I practically hurdle in and then slam the door behind me with an impressive crash. I hang onto the interior handle for dear life, trying to calm my racing heart.

"Winry?" Ed's voice comes from behind me, colored with disbelief.

I turn around slowly. "Heeey."

Wait. Someone's missing.

"Where's Roy?" And then–

"Where the hell have you been all day, Edward? Al was looking everywhere for you, and I was to, until that creep Mr. Edger–"

"We meet again, Miss Rockbell."

Like a villain from vaudeville, the new vice principal emerges from my blind spot in the corner of Roy's office.

There's a cautious knock at my door. "Winry?"

I'm lying facedown on my shaggy carpet square, and honestly, I wouldn't even care if the world ended right then and there. So I just shrug.

"Winry. We're coming in."

"Mmmph," I say to the carpet.

A gentle hand is placed on my shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay, Win," says Alphonse.

I grunt.

"It's just one detention."

I groan.

"C'mon, Winry! It's just one little, measly detention. MIT isn't going to care that you were charged with breaking and entering… and disregard of authority figures… and degrading language…"

"Hey, little bro. I'm starting to feel like reassuring people isn't your forte."

"No, it's okay," I try to say, but it comes out more like, "Buh, ess ucky."

I overhear some quiet whispering, and then the hand disappears from my shoulder, only to be replaced by another. This one's intent on lifting me out of my misery, both physically and mentally, but I think I put up a pretty good fight – I go as limp as a rag doll as it attempts to prop me up against the side of my bed.

I slump over, only to be caught by a sturdy shoulder. That's when I freeze, because it fully hits me that Ed's the one who picked me up, and Al has totally vanished.

Ed seems to have realized the exact same thing. I slowly look up towards his face to gauge his reaction, and our eyes meet, only to fly away rapidly from each other.

I sigh. And then I don't think too hard about any potential consequences, because I give into my semi-exhaustion and allow my head to fall straight into his lap.

"Oh," is all he says.

"Is this–"

"No, you're fine, it's just…" He hesitates, and it's like a slap in the face. I sit up wildly, almost banging my forehead against his, and I'm sure that my face has been replaced by a red-hot jalapeño pepper.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I chant, trying my hardest not to think of what my head was on top of just a few seconds ago.

Of course, it doesn't work at all.

A nice-sized blush has settled across Ed's nose and cheeks, which makes him look even cuter than usual – Stop! Stop! Stop!

"No, it's okay, don't worry! Winry, seriously, it's not a big deal." Maybe I'm imagining it, but his voice sounds higher-pitched than usual. Then I notice that his hands have settled on my shoulders from behind, and once more, I feel like the entire world has stopped in its tracks.

"Uh…"

"Right," he begins.

I turn around to face him, very, very slowly. I'm afraid I'll scare him away, somehow, even though, to my knowledge, Ed isn't afraid of anything but milk.

Our faces are very close together then. Neither of us speak, just look at the other. His eyes, turned even lighter by the rays of sun streaming through the window, practically burn into mine.

If I lean in, I think. If I just lean in a little closer…

When he breaks the extraordinarily tense silence, I imagine that it sounds just like the Titanic scraping up against the fatal iceberg – an altogether unwelcome shock heard around the world.

"Here," he says about nothing in particular. He pushes me away to a safer distance, and for a childish moment, it feels even worse than watching little Elicia cry at her father's funeral. I suddenly feel strangely empty.

He won't look at me as he says, "Winry… Al and I came to a decision today."

I swallow drily. "Yeah?" I croak. "What's that?"

"We're going to tell you. About everything. But first…"

I'm stunned into silence. I have nothing to say – I just wait for him to finish.

"First, we need to talk to Roy."

I find my voice once more and ask what I've been wondering all along: "Why are you telling me now?"

"Well, you're in danger."

I laugh with no humor. "You already used that as an excuse not to tell me."

He shakes his head, finally looking back at me, and his eyes are neither afraid nor angry, but sad. His eyes are wide and hollow, and sad.

"Before we were just guessing… But now, we're sure. We're in danger. In fact, everyone's in danger.

"And it's all my fault."