Eleven: Cafeteria Brawl
"So… Stanley. What are we supposed to do here again?"
The lanky kid pushed his glasses up with his long fingers. "Well… normally, the teacher would give up some assignment to do during PE, but since he decided not to for today I guess we can study just about anything."
Edward perked up at that. He grinned. "Anything? Well that's good." Without further ado, he set off to the alchemy section and began searching through the titles to choose one of them. He vaguely registered Stanley following him, but he paid it no heed.
"Alchemy?" Stanley exclaimed.
"I'm interested in it," Edward explained briefly. He took a book and checked the description at the back cover before he shook his head a little and put it back in the shelf.
"Oh." Stanley watched him awkwardly as he took and returned several books, not finding the one he was looking for yet. After a while, Stanley spoke up, "Hey, Edward?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why are you always wearing gloves?"
Edward froze. His mind whirled, trying to remember the cover story he had invented to tell. "There's a nasty scar," he said after a moment. "It's the accident that took my leg. My arm was pretty messed up too, down to the fingers." He tugged the long sleeves of the shirt.
"O… oh. I see."
Finally deciding on the books, Edward took five books at once and carried it back to the reading area. Since he didn't have much time reading, he decided not to bring too many books. "Well, aren't you going to read something?" he called to Stanley.
"Oh. Right." There was a sound of a book being pulled out of its shelf, and soon Stanley was following Edward to one of the tables. Without paying him any heed, Edward opened the book and took a small notebook he purchased for research that he might conduct during the mission. His usual notebook was coded in a travel log, and it might hint someone of his true identity if it were to fall to someone's hand. For this mission, he coded the notes in something akin of a journal, detailing in the boring life of one Edward Mason; wake up, go to school, study, go home, eat, sleep.
"What subject do we have after PE?" Edward asked offhandedly.
"Lunch, actually," Stanley answered. "Afterwards it's Amestrian History."
Edward nodded and muttered a 'thanks', once again burying himself in the books he was currently reading.
Like how it always was whenever he was reading, time passed much too quickly to Edward's liking. He had shut the world out as usual, but then suddenly Stanley was pulling at his sleeve, looking both bewildered and annoyed.
"The bell's rung," he said. "We should go to the cafeteria before they run out of food."
"Let me return these first," Edward motioned towards the heap of books he had brought. It didn't take long for him to do it and catch up to Stanley who waited for him outside of the library.
"What do you think the cafeteria serves today?" Edward asked casually.
"I checked on the menu list earlier, they'll have mashed potatoes with smoked beef and vegetables."
Edward licked his lips. It sounded good enough. He only wished the school could provide him bigger portion of food. Maybe if he asked for more. And he could take a lot of bread, too.
They didn't see their classmates, but they supposed they were still changing anyway. It didn't take very long for them to get in the line and have their share of lunch (Edward's was enough to feed two hungry schoolboys, since he somehow managed to get the lunchlady to give him bigger portion, Stanley was positively impressed) and pick a table for them. Both of them had taken their fork and knife, ready to take the first bite, when a hand suddenly came down between them, ramming the table with a loud bam that was enough to make them jump but not enough to draw attention to them.
Edward looked up and immediately made a face. "Hey, Matt," he greeted without enthusiasm. He was never exactly chummy with the boy but ever since the day he tried to pry out on why he had lost his leg, he had rewritten Matt's status in his mental list from kinda okay to annoying as heck and should either be left alone or be punched repeatedly.
Unfortunately, Roy wanted to draw as little attention towards his more 'barbaric' side as possible and project the whole perfect family of three vibe at all time, so he would have to stick with leave alone option. Which was hard to do considering they were in the same class.
"Hey," Matt greeted back with slightly more enthusiasm, but he turned away from him and stared at Stanley instead, completely ignoring Edward as if he was invisible. "So, Stan." He circled the table and sat next to the lanky boy, putting his own tray on the table and poured himself a glass of water. "You know the drill."
"Yeah, but, um," Stanley squirmed in his chair. "Can you maybe not do it today…? I mean I get that you're hungry after PE but I'm told that I need to eat more and…"
Matt laughed, effectively cutting Stanley off and irked Edward more than he thought possible. "Stan, Stan," he sighed at the end of his laugh. "I understand."
"Really?" Stanley perked up immediately, disbelieving and hopeful at the same time.
"Yep," Matt nodded. "I just don't care."
Edward's antenna twitched.
"Come on, man," Matt chuckled briefly, "consider my point of view for a bit! I've just gone back from PE! You know how ruthless Coach Riley can be, he's an absolute slave driver. Oh wait – you don't." He ignored the glare Edward was openly sending him and focused on Stanley, who was staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights. "Sorry, I forgot you spend your time sitting around in the library doing nothing. That must be a really luxurious time for you, since you get to doze off if you want to. And since you did nothing anyway, there's no way you're as hungry as I am! You get what I'm saying?"
"I guess…" Stanley mumbled weakly.
"Then we're in agreement," his right hand, holding his knife, moved to Stanley's plate.
Unable to hold himself back any longer, Edward's left hand, which was holding a fork, sailed towards Matt's knife. He trapped the knife between the metal bars of the fork and twisted it a little, making it impossible for the other boy to move the knife.
"Hey, what's your deal?!" Matt hissed in annoyance.
Edward's brow twitched. "You already have your own share, there's no need to rob his." His eyes glanced briefly towards his own tray. "If you're really that hungry I can give you some on mine instead."
Matt's ears reddened. "Thanks for your offer, but Stan and I have already reached an agreement, so you can mind your own business." He yanked the knife free.
"Really now? He fu – freaking told you not to right from the get-go, idiot," Edward pulled his hand back, fork gripped angrily. He wanted to cuss so badly, and having to consciously rein his tongue was hard, but since this was a school setting and there was a risk of being overheard he'd rather keep his language swear word free. No sense getting himself in trouble simply for a few so-called bad words.
If this were a military base he'd leave Matt shell shocked just from word choice alone.
"Yes, and after more discussion he agreed to share his lunch with me."
"Are you freaking kidding me? You forced him into it, in case you haven't realized. Can't you just eat your own share and have this done with already?" And maybe go away, because Edward was beginning to lean into the punch repeatedly option. And it was probably a good way to let go of his stress too.
"Shut it. You don't know anything."
"I know enough to tell that you're forcing him to do things against his will. That's pretty messed up in and of itself."
"That's why I said you don't know anything, retard. Stan and I… our relationship is a positive one." Matt smirked. "He gives me his lunch. Maybe do my homework. Basically do whatever I tell him to. And I make sure he won't collapse at school or something."
"Wow," Edward exclaimed after a moment of silence. "Alright, I see. Well here's the thing. I actually have the brain capacity to tell if someone is actually being friends with another or just bullying them. You know what, just go away from here. I don't want to catch your stupid. And I'm sure Stanley doesn't want to, either."
Stanley stared at him with open mouth, looking both awed and horrified.
Matt's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that I'm stupid?"
"Yes. Or are you deaf? You didn't hear me earlier?"
Matt towered above Edward – impressive feat considering he was across the table. "You think you're really that much better? Hmmm? Guy with no leg?"
It struck a chord. Edward snapped towards him, eyes blazing.
"Considering that you didn't want to say anything about that accident of yours, it's probably your own fault you lost your leg. Maybe you even get someone hurt, too. Get off your high horse, you freaking part-robot."
Edward gritted his teeth. After a moment, he finally spoke, "At least I'm not actively trying to hurt someone." Liar. Remember Alphonse? Remember how he lost his body because of you? Some older brother.
"At least I'm still a hundred percent human."
"Unfortunately, you're a pretty shitty human to ever grace the surface of Amestris."
Matt's eyes widened in anger, and his hand moved quickly, grabbing a hold of his full glass of water, and he threw the content to Edward's face. The water slapped his face painfully. As he gasped for air, the action Matt had just done pulled attention from nearby students, as they began to stare in surprise.
Matt smirked in victory and stepped back from his chair, taking his tray and walking away. He turned his head to Edward before he took his third step awat. "Maybe you should cool down a little. Plus, being watered might be the thing you need to grow up a little, short stuff."
"Who are you calling so small he can be mistaken for a beansprout that needs to be constantly watered in order to grow taller?!" Edward roared immediately. His hand swiped the still full pitcher of water sitting innocently on the desk and threw it to Matt. It landed on him in a simply perfect angle, leaving him drenched with water and a guaranteed sore neck. Matt dropped his tray instantly, which clanged on the floor at the same time as the metallic pitcher. The cafeteria was suddenly dead silent. All eyes were on the two dripping boys. Stanley stared at them, eyes darting from one boy to another, clearly wanting to bolt away but afraid that his sudden movement might trigger something from the two boys.
Then, suddenly, Matt roared and jumped over the table, knocking the two remaining trays to the floor and tackling Edward down, reaching for his collar. And suddenly Edward was on the floor, desperately holding his own against Matt who was easily bigger than him. He barely acknowledged the commotion around him, focusing instead to gain the upper hand.
Years of having to fight for his life finally paid off as he quickly used his automail arm to push Matt's neck aside and pinned him to the floor beside him. Matt quickly grabbed the arm to shove it away, but his movements stopped as he suddenly stared at the arm with more interest than necessary.
Edward jumped up and put a distance between himself and Matt as the other boy stood up. The crowd had ended up making a circle around them, staring, and someone suddenly started to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The chant picked up in speed, and one or two people began joining in, but before it escalate further a voice coldly cut through the noise, "That's enough."
And the crowd parted to show Ms. Willard. Her face was stony, and Edward knew immediately that this lady was pissed. He felt color draining from his face. Pissed off ladies was never a good news. He had learned it the hard way. And while he didn't know if Ms. Willard was as scary as Izumi, the fact that she was a vice principal was enough of a threat for him.
"Edward Mason and Matthew Green," she called, voice chilly enough to freeze water. "Follow me."
Ms. Willard led them to her office, where she lectured them both of their action and how their school didn't appreciate such actions. After solid fifteen minutes of such speech, she sent Matt away with a piece of paper detailing on his punishment, telling him to find his homeroom teacher and that he should not try to avoid punishment, because she will know and there will be a more dire consequences. Matt went with a scowl in his face and a glare to Edward.
"What about me, Ms. Willard?" Edward asked, resigned to his fate.
Ms. Willard stared at him for a moment. "Fortunately for you, Edward, our school has a policy that states that the first time you break the rule you can get away with a simple lecture such as this. You do, however, get a note at your report card at the end of the semester. So long as you don't break the rules again I suppose it should be safe for you."
Edward gaped at her, not believing that he had somehow managed to avoid punishment and possibly Roy and Riza's wrath in the most ridiculously convenient way possible. When he realized what he was doing, he snapped his mouth shut. "It won't happen again."
"Then I believe we have nothing to worry about." Ms. Willard handed him a piece of paper. "Take that to your homeroom teacher. Good day, Mr. Mason."
Edward stepped into the house's bakery, where both Roy and Riza were working as usual. The bakery was scarce of any customer, and some of the baskets of bread in display were either nearly empty or totally empty. His stomach growled with hunger, and Edward casually took a piece of bread and started chomping on it.
"Edward, you know that's supposed to be for sale," Riza told him in disagreement.
Edward stared at her innocently. "But if this is our shop, shouldn't it be fine just taking one piece every once in a while."
Riza sighed and shook her head. "Don't make a habit out of it."
"Anyway, how was your day?"
Roy's question stopped him for a second, thinking. Then he shrugged. "Nothing unusual."
A/N: after days of being plagues by a writer's block it has finally left me alone. I am free!
(For a period of time anyway. You know how writer's block never really leave. They might come back again sooner or later. Hopefully later.)
This is a request from Chimongra who wants to see Ed taking down bullies (just one here) verbally or physically and goes home to say that his day was normal. Though, the request actually asks that the bully will come to the house and try to exact revenge only to be screwed by papa and mama bear... Sorry, I'll have another chapter where papa and mama bear goes on a rampage.
Also, Just an avocado wants to see Ed getting into a fight. This isn't exactly a full-blown fight, but I hope that's enough.
Anyway, I have a bit of something to say... some days ago I thought about the abundance of OCs in this story and I suddenly thought, "I want X to die." Which messed me up quite a bit before I thought... well, why not? That'll push the plot about the killings forward, plus I can probably write angsty Ed, and who doesn't like angsty Ed? The problem is that after I thought about it I don't really want the aforementioned X to die and can't decide on who to sacrifice. I can't kill Vera though since I already have an important role for her later on, and same goes to Matt. I'm thinking someone who are a bit closer to Ed, not just some random classmate. So the choices are Ethan, Cara, Sherry, and Stanley (the aforementioned X is here but if you think X can create better angst... then so be it). Maybe Molly and April, though the first four will produce bigger amount of angst, probably. Any ideas?
That's all for now. I still accept request, in case you want to share your ideas. Please share your thoughts, review! Hope you have a great day!
