Hey, what's up everyone? Yay for updating!

But seriously, I have a small job where I have to watch a bunch of five-year-olds and they wear me out. But after this week, I'll be done and then I can update more, so yay!

Um, thank you, everyone who took the few seconds to write me a review and big thank you to my editor, awesome Dani, for dealing with my sleepy writing. It can be a mess sometimes. :P

So here's the chapter, it's a little filery but there's stuff that's needed to be said.

Enjoy!

Edward stared at Ling for a moment, slightly baffled; he had never gotten any job offers from kids his own age before. After spending a minute of trying to think of how to respond to this, he gave up.

"What?" he asked. "What do you mean work for you?"

"Be a body guard for me," Ling said. "Like Lan Fan is. I'd play you. Rather generously too."

"What?" Ed exclaimed.

"Yeah. From what I saw, you stood up to Lan Fan, and she's one tough fighter. You see, back home, I had another body guard and we thought it best not to bring him here since he wouldn't blend in with the students as well as Lan Fan does. But anyways, I've started to miss having two, even if she is magnificent."

"Oh yes, the girl just blends perfectly with the rest of us," Ed said, rolling his eyes and his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Pulling a knife on another student doesn't seem off at all."

Lan Fan's eyes sharpened and she took a step forwards.

"You were a clear threat to his life. I was doing my job, you insolent brat," she growled before turning to look at Ling. "Master, I advise you to reconsider this offer. The boy is brash and how can you possibly trust him? You don't even know him. I'm all the guard you need!"

"Lan Fan, I will do what I think is wise for me."

"But-"

"There's nothing to reconsider because I'm not taking the job," Ed huffed. "I don't care how much you paid me, I have plenty of money. Work takes too much of my spare time."

"And what could possibly be more important than helping someone and getting paid generously in return?" Ling asked, grinning his wolfish grin.

"Plenty," Ed said, turning away from the two. "Plenty that I don't have to tell you about."

Edward then walked the rest of the way down the steps and started walking towards East Dorm. Ling and Lan Fan stayed behind, watching him walk away.

"Should I follow him?" Lan Fan asked.

"No need," Ling said, waving her away. "We'll be seeing him again. He can't avoid us forever."

Ed rushed back to his dorm after the odd meeting, very much wanting to lay down in his air-conditioned room with a good book. He also had to tell Al about his call earlier from their mother. He had been relieved when he heard how healthy and normal she sounded but the sound of her voice only strengthened his resolve to find a cure for her.

He entered his dorm building a few minutes later and saw and heard immediately how crowded the common room was. Ed ran up the stairs of East Dorm two at a time until he reached the third floor, hardly out of breath. It was understatement if he said that the halls were crowded: Kids running and screaming from their room to their friends, loud music pouring out from every other room with noises from televisions from the others. It was horrible. Everyone packed inside to escape the sweltering heat.

I guess I won't be reading here, Ed thought as he fought his way through a crowd of much younger kids to get to his room. I'll just grab a book or two and get to the library.

Edward ran into his room, grabbed a book at random that was sitting on his desk, and ran out, fighting his way through the crowds of kids until he reached the stairwell again. He needed a place to hide and right now he couldn't go onto the awning or the roof, both being hot and one being too obvious.

Where can I go?

"Library, duh," Ed muttered as he ran back down the stairs.

The library was one of the best places to be on the first few days back. No one was there using the books or the space and it was just as cool as the other buildings with a lot less noise. Ed braced himself for the sweltering heat as he pushed open the emergency exit and ran towards the safe-haven that was the library.

"I did it! I did it! I. Am. Amazing."

Jean, Maes, Gracia, Sheska, and Winry looked up at the sight of Roy standing in the doorway of his room, looking as if he had just found the cure for cancer; Rebecca chose to ignore him and decided to concentrate on the video game she was playing.

"And why are you so amazing?" Maes asked as he lounged on his bed with his arm slung around Gracia.

"Because I just sealed a date for tomorrow night with Lacey Smith," Roy said with a victorious nod.

Winry looked around the room, confused and out of the loop having no idea who this girl was. Winry had to guess this Lacey girl was impressive or else Roy wouldn't be gloating and by her friend's faces, she felt she was right: some nodded in approval; Jean looked absolutely heart-broken.

"What's so special about Lacey?"

"She's a big-time slut who'll go out with anyone half-way decent looking so that she can try and validate herself," Rebecca answered harshly as she jammed her fingers hard on some buttons on the controller.

"Why Rebecca, I didn't know you thought of me as 'half-way decent looking'. That's quite a step above how I thought you thought of me," Roy said with a large smirk.

"So you're not denying that she's a huge slut?" she asked, pausing the game.

"That is irrelevant to the conversation," Roy snapped back, causing Rebecca to cackle madly. But it was not the usual laugh she had, one that was filled with warmth, this one seemed like it was filled with hatred. It confused Winry.

"Whatever. You two sluts belong together," Rebecca sighed, getting up from her seat and moving towards the door. "If you're just going to stroke your ego for getting the chance to feel up a girl who's easier to get than water in the middle of the ocean, than I'm leaving."

Rebecca closed the door with a snap; Winry could hear her feet pounding down the hall for much longer than usual. Winry didn't know why Rebecca was so pissed at Roy, they had always seemed to fight more than normal but it always seemed in jest, but she felt now wasn't the right time. So instead, she did what Rebecca detested and listened to Roy bragging about an apparently very easy Senior.

"Man, you always try and steal what I'm gunning for," Jean muttered sadly into his comforter after listening to Roy brag for several minutes.

"Well it's not my fault if you don't have the balls and ask them straight out," Roy said. "Girls like to be the ones asked out, you gotta be more aggressive or else you get no where."

Jean furrowed his brow before burying his face deeper into his blankets and muttering something Winry thought was along the lines of 'not wanting his sloppy seconds'.

An hour later, Winry left with Sheska and Gracia to go get an early start on dinner, hoping for a chance to clarify Rebecca's storm out earlier.

"Just go and ask. I know you're dying to know," Gracia said once they were out of ear shot from the boys' room.

"What's up with Rebecca and Roy?" Winry asked quickly.

"It's a long and messy story," Sheska said.

"Yes it is and since I don't believe in talking behind my friends backs, I think it would be best if you go and ask Rebecca directly," Gracia said.

"What?" Winry asked, feeling let down.

"She'll probably tell you," Sheska said. "You just have to man up and do it."

"Oh, but just don't do it around Riza," Gracia warned.

"Wait, why?"

"Because it involves her and it'll just cause problems if she hears it."

"But I thought you didn't like to talk behind your friend's backs," Winry said, giving the gentle-looking girl a stern look.

"Well in this case, it's a necessary evil."

"Yes, not much else can be more complicated than the relationship between Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye," Sheska said with a nod.

Winry woke up the next morning to the sound of chirping alarm which she quickly slapped, shutting it off and knocking it to the floor, before she curled into a ball under her blankets. She was exhausted and she didn't want to wake up and go to school. Her mind had been sent into frenzy with all the possibilities that could have gone on between Roy and Riza that would make it complicated. It was nuts! There never seemed to be anything complicated between Roy and Riza. They had such effortless give and take, as many best friends do, and never once did Winry feel even a shred of awkwardness when around the duo.

Something had to have happened though, Winry thought as she opened her eyes under her covers. They wouldn't just make shit up.

"Wake up, Winry!" Sheska chirped happily from somewhere near the bathroom. "You need to move it if you want to get to class on time."

Winry let out the most whiny and annoyed groan she could manage before she pushed her blankets off of her and glared at Sheska's smiling and awake face.

"Please tell me it's almost summer vacation," Winry begged, feeling ungodly exhausted.

"Nope," Sheska said with a nod and smile before she jabbed her at the calander they had fixed to the wall. "We've got another 288 days and 170 days of school left."

This caused Winry to groan even louder.

"You counted?"

"I always count," Sheska said with a shrug as she drew an X over September 1, which had the two large numbers marked in the corners.

"Ugh! All those days added up seem like forever!"

"Don't worry, soon the days will be just slipping by," Sheska said. "But to have that happen, you have to get out of bed, Win."

Winry scowled before she forced herself to sit up and brush back her untamed hair from her face.

"You sound just like my mother."

"Hey Russ! Fletcher! Open up!" Ed yelled as he banged obnoxiously loud on the boys room door.

Ed knew that the two brothers were still asleep, since they always seemed to get ready in less than a minute and never woke up before seven and it was now six-forty-nine, but he needed to check their room, damn it, and he wasn't in the mood to break and enter this early in the morning.

"Open up you, lazy asses!" Ed bellowed as he continued to pound on the door, earning more than a few annoyed looks and shouts from people in the neighboring rooms.

Ten seconds later, the door opened to reveal an extremely disheveled and annoyed-looking Russell who happened to be clad in only a pair of boxers. Ed didn't seem to care because he pushed right past his friend and into their room.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen my copy of-"

"No. I haven't. I haven't seen anything so piss off if you know what's good for you," Russell growled before he yawned and climbed back into his bed. "You didn't come in here yesterday and if I saw a book that you might need, I would have given it to you. Check the libraries. Leave. Me. Alone."

"But I already checked them," Ed growled impatiently.

"Maybe you left it in one of your crazy hiding spots, like in a broom closet or maybe a veni-machine," Russell growled from under his covers. "Just get out of here."

"But-"

Russell pushed his covers off of him and glared at Ed with all of the energy he had this early in the morning.

"I haven't seen whatever it is. Leave me alone. If you're that desperate to check in here, do it once we're awake because God help you if you wake up Fletcher with your temper tantrum."

Ed turned his eyes towards the small, sleeping boy, hidden beneath his mountain of blankets and pillows. Fletcher was the definition of mild-mannered and polite but if you woke him before he wanted you to, there had better be a national emergency or you'd on the receiving end of the devil reincarnated. Edward gave the boy another look before he decided he was no in the mood for something like that and would just have to wait for Fletcher to wake up. Sure, he needed that book but Hell knew no fury like a cranky Fletcher Tringham.

Even though she had been crabby before, Mr. Huston did do something to help brighten up Winry's day. Mainly because one, he was hot, and two, because he had gone to the front of the class and declared that as it was Friday and the second day of school, he didn't feel like doing anything. Winry noticed instantly that Ed made a face of disgust before falling back into one of the many books he had been carrying.

Even though she had been saved from doing anything for fifty minutes, Winry still felt annoyed. She needed to talk to Rebecca. She hadn't been able to get the necessary time this morning while they waited in line for breakfast and Winry wouldn't see Rebecca again until lunch and even then she felt that her odds of getting a moment alone with her were slim.

Maybe I could wait for her outside of her fourth period class since I have it free and then ask her while we walk to lunch, Winry thought as she stared into space.

Winry snapped out of her thoughts when she thought she felt someone's eyes on her. She looked wildly around for a moment and found no one.

"What's wrong?" Gracia asked.

"Oh nothing," Winry said with a smile.

Winry turned her head and glanced at Roy and Riza as they effortlessly talked about some elective they had together. Not a single smile, laugh, eye roll, or punch seemed forced or off at all. How could their relationship be difficult?

"Jean, are you alright?" Winry asked as they sat at their seats in the metal shop.

Jean was bent over his desk, upper body resting on his folded arms, his face lacking its usual spark. He could have been just tired but Winry had a feeling he was hung up about Roy and his date with Tracey or whoever it was. Jean was never this quiet though, even when tired.

"I guess…" Jean mumbled.

"Are you upset about Roy and what's-her-face?"

"Not that upset," Jean admitted. "But yeah, I'm kinda annoyed with Roy. He always just seems to gravitate to the same girl I'm crushing on at the moment. I know he doesn't mean to it's just that… it's hard not to get pissed off by it."

"Well… what's so great about Roy? He's not like, an Adonis or anything. You're just as attractive as he is," Winry said.

"You think?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod.

"Because with the way some girls act around him you'd think he was Brad-fucking-Pitt."

"Well he's not. Girls just like him because he's got confidence and confidence it hot," Winry said, poking him hard in the arm.

"Whatever… the others have told me that before too," Jean sighed.

"So… what do people do for dates here?" Winry asked after a pause. "I mean, we can only go into town on certain days right? Where's there to go?"

A wide grin slide onto Jean's face before he let out a small laugh.

"Well, people who are actually doing the whole dating process would probably go to one of the cafes and then walk around campus maybe."

"And what do people who aren't actually dating do?" Winry asked, smiling slightly.

"They go to the forest," Jean said with an even wider grin and a nod of the head.

"Huh?"

"You know that huge-ass forest on the west side of campus?"

"Yeah."

"Well not all of that is out of bounds. There are trails to walk around too. So you kinda… well, hook up pretty much."

"Ahh."

Winry let out a small laugh before she focused on the front of class, where Mr. Jacobs, the teacher, was standing, getting ready for class. Winry turned back to Jean, opened her mouth, about to ask about Roy and Riza, hoping to maybe get the information without having to wait for Rebecca, but she was cut off by Mr. Jacobs as he tried to start class. Winry sunk down in her seat, annoyed, and listened to the teacher talk about safety precautions. It seemed like she'd just have to wait.

Winry tapped her feet as she waited outside the languages building at Central for Rebecca to come out. By her phone, the bell should be ringing in less than a minute and her heart was pounding slightly in anticipation. She jumped as the bell rung and waited patiently away from the slew of students rushing to lunch while searching for Rebecca's dark locks amid all the bobbing heads.

"Winry?"

Winry jumped and turned around. Rebecca was standing behind her, looking curious but also happy to see her friend.

"Why are you over here? Don't you have a break?"

"Uh, yeah, I do," she said quietly before clearing her throat and forcing herself to sound louder. "But I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Alright, well, shoot," she said, smiling, as they started walking towards East Dorm.

Winry took a deep breath before she began talking and talking fast.

"Well… obviously you were kinda upset yesterday when Roy said he was going out with what's-her-face and Sheska kinda mentioned that there was some sort of drama or something between Roy and Riza and she just said I should talk to you or something."

Rebecca continued walk with her face forwards and mouth shut tight. Winry's heart began to pound harder and harder as she watch Rebecca and knew that there were gears working fast in the girl's head. It was a full two minutes before Rebecca spoke, effectively killing the time Winry wanted to use to talk.

"I'll talk to you about it after school," Rebecca said once East Dorm began to come into view.

"Uh, alright."

"Meet me in East Library," Rebecca said before she quickly changed the topic of wondering what was for lunch.

She wasn't intentionally stalking, he just happened to be there when she walked into the library after school, which was a plus. Winry saw Ed sitting at a table covered in books near the back of the library with Al, Russell, and Fletcher. The other three boys talked quietly while Ed paid attention to only the book.

Winry glanced around the library, seeing if Rebecca was there, which she didn't seem to be, before she quickly and quietly moved down the rows until she was right behind Ed. She just hoped that none of the boys would see her eyes. After a moment's consideration, Winry quietly removed another smaller books to create a large gap to better see him. She could see his face better now. It was still obscured by his long bands but now Winry could make out the line of concentration on his forehead.

"Boo!"

Winry jumped a foot in the air at the sound behind her. Turning around she saw Rebecca, laughing with her hands pressed over her mouth in an attempt to quiet the laughter that was bound to get someone's attention.

"Rebecca!" Winry hissed in annoyance.

"Were you stalking?" Rebecca asked after a moment, grinning madly.

"No!"

"You were totally stalking. It's fine!" Rebecca said, rather loudly. "I sometimes partake in that sport as well. There's no shame."

"Just shut up!" Winry growled as quietly as she could managed.

"Alright, alright. Come on," Rebecca said, motioning over to the corner where Winry could see a couple couches that were unoccupied.

The two walked over to the blue couches and sat down. No one was around them, which was good. This didn't seem like the kind of thing that should be overheard by some stranger.

"So, I wasn't there since I came here in ninth grade, but I've gotten the story from Jean, who was there," Rebecca started. "But back in eight grade, Roy and Jean were set up as roommates and Riza was already at the school. On like, the second day the boys were there, they had already become total friends by then, they saw Riza and they both thought that she was kinda hot."

Winry thought for a moment about the boys thinking that Riza was hot but Winry doubted either of them had a crush on her still. They didn't know her and yeah, Riza was attractive so it made sense that hormone infested Jean and Roy would have a crush on her.

"So, like you could guess by what you've seen, Roy kinda pounced on her while Jean didn't. And Riza, being all in denial about her being pretty, thought he was joking and ignored him. But them Roy really persisted and Riza agreed to go on a date with him."

Winry nodded, a little surprised about the idea of the two close friends dating.

"But like, you know that when little kids go out, or say they're dating, it'll last for like, five seconds or will be really lame and nothing will happen," Rebecca said with a wave of her hand. "And so I think Roy tried to get frisky with her or something, Jean was never too sure on the facts on that one but I'm sure you can totally see that happening, but whatever. So, like, because Riza was all awkward and Roy was kinda crazy, they didn't talk to each other after that for like, over a month or something and then when they decided to become friends, they just pretended like it never happened."

"Is that why you were mad at Roy?" Winry asked.

"Not really. Because really, the image of little Roy trying to make out with little Riza is kinda fucking entertaining," Rebecca said with a smile. "But I'm mad at him because Roy is a complete asshole and doesn't seem to give a shit."

"Huh?"

"He always gloats about how he got this skank and this ho when he knows how Riza feels about him."

"Huh?" Winry asked again, confused.

"Well, maybe not since he's dense and an idiot but Riza totally has a crush on him. Everyone jokes about it but I know that she does… even if she won't admit it."

"What?"

"Riza's too sensible to admit that she has a crush on that douche bag, which I understand because if I had a crush on someone like Roy Mustang, I would probably not tell a soul. But Riza's my best friend and even if she won't admit it, I can see that when she hears about Roy and one of his ho's she's upset. And it makes me so mad!"

"Well… if Roy is dense, he may not do it on purpose," Winry said with a shrug.

"Yeah well, he might and it pisses me off," Rebecca grumbled. "Cocky bastard."

"Room check!"

Winry, Gracia, and Sheska turned and saw Riza and Rebecca standing in the doorway of Winry and Sheska's dorm room.

"Rebecca, you're not actually supposed to be doing the checks with me," Riza said with a sigh.

"But you said I could be in charge of yelling 'room check'!"

"I was kidding, dumbass."

"Well too bad because I'm gonna be yelling it every time you do checks!" Rebecca declared with a smile.

"Doing room checks, Riza?" Sheska asked with a smile.

"Not yet. I've got another hour before I need to go around but Bec over here felt the need to yell that. We just came over to hang out."

"Come on in!" Winry said cheerfully, tossing Rebecca a soda.

"So Roy's out with his skank of the night?" Ed asked as he played video games in Jean, Maes, and Roy's room, which was a once in a blue moon occasion.

"Yeah. He's gonna come back smelling like cheep liquor, bad perfume, and sweat and I'm gonna have to smell it all night," Maes grumbled from his bed.

"How bad could it be?" Al asked before he jerked a thumb towards Jean. "I've smelled this one's dirty socks before and I gotta say, there isn't much else that could smell that much worse. At least, I hope not."

"Ehh… I'd rate Roy's after-date smell as a five with my socks being a ten," Jean said. "Not really bad but definitely unpleasant to have to deal with."

"Hey, Maes, don't you have room checks you have to do?" Al asked, looking at his watch and see it was nine-thirty.

"Balls," Maes groaned. "Yeah. I gotta go."

"Have fun yelling at twelve year olds to stop trying to feel each other up!" Ed yelled cheerfully with a wave.

"Oh piss off," Maes growled as he walked out of the room.

Everything on the campus of Amestris Academy seemed perfect as the sun went down on the summer day. Good students were checking rooms. Boys were leaving girls rooms and vice versa. Bad students were sneaking about, trying to stay unnoticed. Laughter, music, and other miscellaneous noises floated about the campus through open doors and windows. Nothing seemed out of place.

But unfortunately, there was one person who was very out of place at the perfect school. Someone who should not be at the school at all but unfortunately was supposed to be trusted by all. No one would suspect them but hopefully, they could be stopped before it was too late.

Dun-dun-DUN! Yeah, this story isn't just happy fun times at awesome school, shit goes down. But yeah... :P

Please send a review my way and I'll try and get this story updated ASAP! :D

Happy longest Day of the year!

-FSK