Hello everyone. Yay for writing a lot lately! :D

So, thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, and helps me with this story, you are all super awesome. :) Oh, and thanks a lot for everyone who voted for my story for Best AU. It got second but I don't really mind because it at least means people love it. :)

This chapter will start off the first day of school! Woo-hoo! But there really isn't that much schooling envolved in this chap, more in the next chapter.

But, without anymore rambles, here's the next chapter!

"So, what do you think?"

Winry twirled in front of her computer and listened with happiness at her parents positive comments. She had finally managed to get her Skype working and now her parents were watching her in her new school uniform on her first day of school. Winry was happy that even though they were on different continents, they had still managed to do this. Her parents had always been there on her first day of the new school year, -to help remind her everything would be fine, to wish her luck- and they still were in a way.

"You look beautiful darling," Sara said with a smile.

"A little too beautiful if you ask me," Urey said, looking suddenly stern. "Don't those skirts come in any longer sizes? Maybe one that could go to your ankles?" (1)

"Dad," Winry growled, folding her arms over her chest. "Quit freaking out. I've worn skirts shorter than this before."

"Yeah, I know," he said grumpily.

"Well, I hope you have a good day, honey," Sara said, blue eyes shinning a little with tears. "I'm just sorry we could be there."

"It's alright," Winry said, trying her best not to get over emotional. She didn't want to make it obvious she was crying.

There was a knock at the door and Sheska popped her head in.

"Um, we should be getting down to the cafeteria, Win," Sheska said, looking a little apologetic. "We need to be at the ceremony in about a half an hour; we'll need something to eat."

Sheska had gone across the hall to Rebecca and Riza's room so that Winry could be alone with her parents. Winry was touched by this offer and greatly accepted.

"Come on, Win," Rebecca yelled as she shoved past Sheska and moved into the room.

"Oh, honey, are those your little friends?" Sara asked, looking suddenly very eager.

Without further ado, Rebecca ran forwards and nearly pushed Winry out of the viewing range of the screen.

"Hi Mrs. Rockbell, Mr. Rockbell. I'm Rebecca. Nice to meet you," Rebecca said loudly with a large smile.

She then reached out and pulled Riza and Sheska into their view.

"And this is Riza and Sheska."

Winry could see on her parent's face that they were not expecting someone as loud and bold as Rebecca. But both of them smiled once they got over the initial shock, probably both glad to see proof that Winry had indeed made friends. They had already been introduced to Riza when Winry was first dropped off at the Academy but they said hello to everyone.

"Hello everyone," Sara said with a smile.

"Uh, which one of you is Win's roommate?" Urey asked.

"Um, I am," Sheska said quietly.

"Hey, guys?"

The four girls turned and saw Roy's head sticking into the room. He was fully dressed in his uniform and Winry had to admit he looked rather handsome in it.

"If you guys want anything to eat, you better get your butts down to the cafeteria. Maes is holding us a table but who knows how long that could last," Roy said.

"Err, right," Winry said with a nod before turning back to the screen. "I'll call you later, alright?"

"Of course. We don't want you to be late for your first day of school," Sara said.

"Bye, Win," Urey said with a wave.

"Bye," Winry said with a wide smile before she closed out the window and turned off her computer.

"Got your bag?" Sheska asked.

"Oh! No, thanks for reminding me," Winry said as she rushed back into the room and picked up her blue school bag before running back to her friends.

"Ugh, where are they?" Maes growled as he stared over the heads of the students as they walked around the East dorm cafeteria. With everyone in the full uniform, it was hard to tell where his friends were; everyone looked alike.

"Dey'll 'ee 'ere," Jean chocked out through a mouth filled with pancakes; there was syrup running down his chin. "'Top 'orryin'."

Maes stared at his friend for a moment as he tried to shove a strip of bacon into his already overcrowded mouth.

"I can't understand why you're single," Maes sighed sarcastically.

Jean continued to gorge himself, not really caring about anything at the moment that didn't involve his breakfast.

"Hey."

Maes turned and saw Ed pulling a seat out from the table before he sat down in it. He carried a stack of books in one arm and was balancing a large cup of coffee on an overfilled breakfast plate. He took gave Jean an exasperated and somewhat tired look but didn't comment.

"Ready for another year?" Maes asked with a grin as Edward downed at least half of the cup of black coffee. Maes wrinkled his nose slightly at the sight of it. "I don't know how you can drink that stuff straight up."

"I hate milk," Edward muttered, exhaling a little heat that came from the steaming coffee. "We have to get up to north campus first, right?"

"Yup. I don't know where those idiots are," Maes muttered as he glanced over his shoulder. "If they show up late, I'm going to have to hear them whining all during the assembly."

"Maybe they're eating in," Ed suggested. "Al is. That kid overslept. Again. He just said he'd eat something around the room and then meet us at the assembly."

"Well they promised us they'd be here," Maes grumbled as he stared at his orange juice.

"Hey! Maes! Where are you?"

Maes stood up and located Roy and the girls within a second.

"Over here!"

The five teens slowly maneuvered through the crowds, caring trays of food as they walked. Finally, they arrived at their destination and gratefully sat down.

"Hey, where are the others?" Rebecca asked as she drizzled an obscene amount of syrup over her pancakes. "I expected Gracia to be lounging in your lap right about now."

"She came down here early with me," Maes said. "We both got here at about seven and then she had to leave because she left all her things back in her room."

"And why are you still here?" Sheska asked. "I expected you to be joined at the hip today."

Maes's clam expression crumpled into miserable one so fast it was almost comical.

"It's her roommate! She hates me!" Maes wailed, alerting some of the surrounding students to stare.

"Maybe she wouldn't hate you so much if you didn't keep trying to nail Gracia everyday," Ed sighed.

"What? I would never do anything to my dear flower of a girlfriend!"

"But still, she's probably more annoyed at you than anything," Riza said, sipping her tea. "Maybe if you backed off a bit, she wouldn't be as annoyed."

Fifteen minutes later, the group left the cafeteria and walked towards the large sports stadium for the annual assembly to start off the new school year. While Sheska explained to Winry the dreadfully boring assembly, their group of friends grew.

Al had caught up with them almost as soon as they exited the cafeteria, along with Russell and Fletcher. And when they passed by Central dorm, Gracia met up with them, much to Maes's pleasure.

Once they arrived at the stadium, which was located by South dorm, they walked inside and made there was up the bleachers. Winry had never been inside the stadium before and now saw that is was humungous. There were two sets of enormous bleachers on either side of the stadium. In the center of the stadium was a large oval of grass and at opposite sides of the field were football goal posts, pushed slightly to the side were some soccer nets. Wrapping around the field was a large track that had several lanes painted on it. It was rather impressive.

The only thing that seemed out of place was the large white stage that stood in the center of the field. On it were several chairs, most of them occupied by people Winry had to assumed were on the school board or something important, and a small podium to speak. Banners with the Academy's school colors decorated the stadium, making it look festive.

The group found seats in an empty spot near the top of the stadium and slumped around in their spots, looking very unserious. Winry could see some Patrol people wandering around the stands, admonishing students for having their phones out and for being too rowdy, and could only imagine it would be moments before one of them came over to them and told them off for doing something wrong.

"Ugh, this is so boring!" Jean cried, throwing his head back and yelling at the sky.

Many students turned and looked at them. A few turned away when they saw who it was but a few, perhaps new students, looked a little worried and moved away from them.

"Go! Run away!" Jean yelled at a group of younger students, who immediately got up and ran away, screaming.

"What's your problem?" Winry asked, swatting him on the head, which earned a hearty laugh from most of the group.

"I hate this dumb ceremony," Jean grumbled, massaging his head. "And I hate starting school again. And waking up early too. All of this pisses me off. And of course, I could feel better with a little cigarette but no! I swear, these teachers were taught to smell out smoke or something."

Winry was completely surprised by Jean's attitude today. She had never seen him this worked up before and usually, the relaxed teen wore a lazy smile, not this deep frown.

"Oh quit whining," Al sighed. "You shouldn't be smoking all day anyhow. It's good for you to have to take a break."

"No it's not!" Jean screamed.

"I'll buy you some nicotine patches for your birthday, how about that?" Al said with a smile.

Before Jean could get his chance to retort, a commotion by the steps took the groups attention to another place.

"What's going on down there?" Ed asked, looking up from the pages of the book he had been reading.

"Who knows, maybe a fight?" Russell suggested.

"Someone would have to be pretty stupid to pick a fight with all the school's administration down there," Rebecca said.

"Wait," Maes said, standing up. "Look."

The others stood up and squinted their eyes to where Maes was pointing his finger. It took them all a moment to see what everyone was staring at, but eventually, crowds parted and they were all able to see. Walking up the steps, giving off such a regal air that it reached the group at the top of the stairs, were the three foreign exchanges students.

"Look at them," Gracia said softly. "They look so… perfect."

Winry watched in slight awe as the three slowly ascending the stairs with their head held high. The boy stood farther away from the group but the small girl was clearly visible to her. She had to admit that the small girl looked so precious in the tiny uniform. The older girl led the group, looking more serious than anyone Winry had seen in a long time. She looked breathtakingly beautiful in her uniform and made whatever confidence Winry had had this morning when her parents were complimenting her disappear completely. The trio took their seats near the very top but were still several yards away from Winry and her friends. Winry noticed that the small girl seemed to sit several feet away from the two, which seemed a little strange. Almost all the students were staring up at them in awe and interest. The boy, Winry could see, seemed to enjoy it greatly, as did the little girl, but the older girl seemed to have her concentration somewhere else entirely.

Before Winry could dwell on the foreigners anymore, the loud crackle of the ancient speaker system broke up her thoughts and brought her attention to the stage.

"Good morning, students and faculty," Headmaster Grumman spoke cheerfully into the microphone. "And welcome back to Amestris Academy for another year of learning."

There was polite clapping from the audience and faculty while Grumman paused.

"Now, I'd like to start off the school year by welcoming all of our new students to our lovely school." Another round of polite applause in which everyone around Winry slapped, poked, or hugged her for being a new student. "And of course, I'd like to welcome back all of our returning students, and hope that they have a better year that they had before." This round of applause was a bit more intense and lasted longer than any before.

"Now, before we get too wrapped up with the excitement of the first day of term, I'd like to remind everyone of the school rules, which you can find a copy of in the common room of each dormitory."

Winry leaned over to Jean whispered, "This list is where you must get your ideas for things to do when you're bored, huh?"

Jean grinned widely at this before he whispered back, "You could say we glance at the list when we need some inspiring."

"It is a reminder that the out-of-bounds areas include the non-roped off areas of the lake, the forest after sunset, and anywhere past the school grounds unless given permission otherwise. Curfews for different years are as follows: Seniors: Eleven o'clock; Juniors: Half-past ten o'clock; Sophomores: Ten o'clock; Freshman and anyone below 9th grade: Half-past nine o'clock. Penalties will be given to any student caught after their curfew has expired."

"Love how he say's 'to any student who's caught'," Roy muttered to Maes. "He's totally trying to get people to be more daring and sneak away from lame Patrol people and not surrender to them like the wimps."

"You're logic is astounding," Riza sighed with a shake of her head.

"Curfew also is in effect for what goes on in the dormitories as well," Grumman said sternly. "As a word of warning to our newer students, every night, a trusted student on your floor will inspect your room to make sure that you are not only inside after curfew but to make sure you have no one of the opposite sex in your room."

A chorus of immature giggles and whispers erupted momentarily after this. Winry had been wondering why they allowed boys and girls to be in the same dormitory and on the same floor. She wondered who their person to do room checks was.

"Score!" Jean cried in a whisper. "Riza, Maes, aren't you doing room checks this year?"

"And what's the importance of it to you?" Rebecca scoffed. "Because you're getting so much action after hours."

Jean glared at her while she ignored it.

"We are doing some, Jean," Maes said. "But not all of them. There will be a few others doing them too."

"Weren't you asked to do them, Ed?" Sheska asked the reading teen.

"Yeah but I said that I didn't want to. It's a waste of time," Edward grumbled, never looking up from his book.

"And of course, there will be no illegal substances on grounds of the school at any time," Grumman said in an unnaturally stern voice as his eyes scanned the crowds. "Anyone caught with an illegal substance will have their case reviewed by the board and a group of their peers and may result in the students expulsion if it's a repeated offence."

Winry could see a few of her friends shift uneasily in their seats. She was pretty sure none of them had ever been caught, something that probably would have been said on the way to the island or something, but they all seemed to know it was probably only a matter of time. Luck only got you so far.

"Now, I would like to speak of how this school was made almost seventy years ago."

There was a chorus of groans and moans from the friends around Winry and a number of students sitting in other areas of the stands. It appeared no one liked to hear this apparent customary speech on how the Academy was made… and about fifteen minutes later, Winry knew why as well. The speech was horribly boring.

Finally, they were all dismissed to go to classes. Once they had left the stands and the stadium, the group slip up to go to their respective classes: Winry, Riza, Gracia, Roy, Maes, and Ed to North Campus for Honors English III; the rest went back to East Campus for their own respective math classes. They had ten minutes to get to class.

"Ugh, this sucks," Winry sighed as the group jogged up the slight incline by Central Campus. "And after this I'm going to have to run all the way back to South for my next class."

"Well at least you'll get a great work out every day," Roy said. "I'm so happy I have a free period next."

"Lucky bastard," Winry muttered, causing Roy to laugh.

"Come on guys, quit whining," Ed said as he moved quickly next to the group, not seeming out of breath at all. "We've got five more minutes to get there. And Mr. Kerrick will probably give us detention if we're more than a second late."

"Oh great, when will that old geezer just keel over?" Maes growled.

"Maes!" Gracia cried. "Don't say such awful things. What if he did die?"

"Well… come on, Gracia! You hate him too."

"Yeah, Gracia. I'm usually one to stop the teacher bashing around here but really, Kerrick is a sexist, egotistical pig who's stuck in his ways," Riza said bluntly. "It would make my year if he left."

"Well I guess you've got a point," Gracia sighed.

The group managed to get to North Campus with two minutes to spare. They walked over to the building on the right of North Campus and walked inside. The class building had four rooms devoted to the requited high school level English classes. A small jammed hallway ran down the middle of the building. English one and two were at the back end while English three and four were at the front. The group walked into the room at the left along with a few other Juniors and thankfully found a cluster of empty seats at the end of the room.

"Wonder where Kerrick is?" Roy asked, looking around the crowded room of Juniors for the hook-nosed, balding and liver-spotted old man. "He's usually at the door timing all the students arrival times."

"Maybe he had to go get some more of that awful stuff he drinks," Riza suggested with a sigh.

"Or maybe he left," Maes said hopefully to Roy, causing the two dark-haired boys to cross their fingers tightly and grin at each other.

"God I hope so," Roy sighed, closing his eyes. "I don't think I could stand another year with that ass."

"How long have you had him?" Winry asked as she organized her notebooks, binders, and pencils.

"Two years!" Ed growled, his gold eyes sharpen as he stared at the pages of his book.

"But, it thought he only taught English III," Winry said, confused.

"No, he used to only teacher English I," Roy growled. "And then last year he was like 'oh hey, I loved torturing this group of kids the most in my ninety years of teaching, I think I'll change it up and teach English II!'."

"And then last year he said because the other English III teacher had to leave for Maternity leave, he would be taking over next year," Riza said.

"I swear, I almost cried when I heard that," Roy said quietly.

"What do you mean 'almost'?" Ed scoffed. "You were totally balling when we left class."

"Shut up, Elric," Roy growled.

The loud school wide bell rung loudly, effectively shutting everyone up for a moment in the classroom. All the students returned to their seats and talked quietly while they waited for their awful English teacher to arrive through the door, swearing and yelling about small children getting in his way while waving his cane in one hand and holding a mug of very strong-smelling tea in the other. But a minute passed, and then another, making everyone wonder what was going on. If Mr. Kerrick was ever late, it was by no more than thirty seconds and he was never late on the first day of a new semester. Ever.

"What's going on?" Gracia whispered to Winry, who shrugged.

"Maybe his walking got worse over the summer and he takes even longer to get here," a girl across the room whispered to her friend.

"Maybe the old fart finally kicked it," sighed a boy near the front of the class.

"Yeah, and now he's in Hell, screaming at Hitler for trying to kill him in WWI," said a boy near him with a large smile on his face, earning a high five from a friend.

"Ugh, it's was WWII, you moron," sighed a girl who didn't look very pleased to be sitting near the boy.

"Oh who cares?"

Suddenly, the door opened and everyone went quiet. If Mr. Kerrick had heard a single word of it, they would all be spending an hour after school with him for a week at the least. It appeared as if everyone was collectively holding their breath as they waited for the sound of Mr. Kerrick's cane to hit the wood floors before his own shuffling. But they never heard any of it. Instead, they heard a younger male voice as he spoke quietly to an older woman's voice that they all recognized as Mrs. Colona, the head of the English department.

Mrs. Colona stepped forward, dressed in her usual crisp grey pant-suit with her chestnut colored hair pulled back in a lose bun. She looked to be in late forties and there was a hard air that came with her. But she smiled warmly at the class after a moment of hushed silence, removing some of the harsh edge that seemed to come with her.

"Hello everyone," she said brightly.

"Hello Mrs. Colona," muttered back a few students.

"Now, I have some news for you. Unfortunately, over the summer Mr. Kerrick fell and fractured his hip."

She watched, not very surprised, as a few hopeful smiles came onto the faces of a few students. The woman could even see a few students in the back cross their fingers.

"He's alright but unfortunately, he has decided to retire-"

The loud chorus of cheers and shouts of happiness cut her off. Mrs. Colona let out an exasperated sigh and didn't look the least bit surprised. In fact, many of the teaching staff reacted the exact same way when they heard the news.

"But as I was saying," she said loudly, stopping the miniature celebration before her, "since he has retired, you'll be getting a new teacher. Class, please welcome Mr. Huston."

Before anyone in the class could ever begin worrying about what kind of teacher they'd get, Mr. Huston walked forwards…

… and he was nothing like they expected.

"Hello everyone," he said warmly.

His dark hair was long and cut stylishly like a few kids had it. He was tall and a little gangly but he was defiantly infinitely times more attractive than Mr. Kerrick ever was. Looking at his clean-shaving face, many of the students thought of how if he put on a school uniform, no one would think twice about him being too old to go to school.

"Damn," a girl whispered to her giggling friend near the back.

"As Mrs. Colona explained, I'll be your knew English teacher for the year."

Winry's eyes widened a little at his handsome face, Gracia smiled demurely before looking innocently at Maes, who instantly seemed to understand and became obviously jealous and protective. Even Riza let out a small low whistle of appreciation when he bent down to grab something out of his brief case, revealing a glimpse of his wonderful ass to most of the class, which caused a crease to form in-between Roy's eyebrows.

Yes, this year was going to be different.

Uh-huh, hot teacher alert! Been there, done that, and it's AWESOME. I love my hot teacher... *drewl* Why'd you have to leave? Okay, done. :P

But yeah, next chapter will show some classes and shit but no one ever does anything on the first day so there will not be that much learning envolved.

So, please review and I'm sure I will have the next chapter up really soon... mainly because I have 90% of it done already.

BYE!

-FSK