Hello readers! Sorry about the wait again but I've been busy with some junk as of late but whatever, excuses, excuses.

I'm kinda sad because last night was the senior night for marching band and it was my last night performing at half time at my stadium and the last time I will ever march up and down my street on the way to the stadium. But it was fun night and my speech made a lot of people cry, so I think that was a rather succesful night. :p

But enough on that. Let's get to the good stuff.

Roy walked up the front steps of the Administrative building slowly, feeling much more nervous than he had moments before. Once inside, the gentle secretary looked up and smiled expectantly at him.

"I'm here for a meeting with Headmaster Grumman," Roy said; he was glad that he sounded calm and casual while inside his gut was wriggling around nervously.

"Yes, yes, you're right on time, Mr. Mustang," she said, nodding her head as she checked something on her computer screen. "Mr. Grumman is waiting for you in his office."

"Thank you."

Roy moved his surprisingly heavy feet down the hall and even though the door leading to Grumman's office was partially opened, he knocked on the door and waited until Grumman told him to enter.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Mustang," Grumman said while smiling pleasantly.

"Good afternoon, Sir," Roy managed to stutter out. He didn't know why he was so nervous; he had been in Grumman's office a million times before. He wasn't even in trouble.

"Come and sit down," Grumman said as he motioned to the small table he had set up in the corner. Grumman waited for Roy to cross the room and sit down before he spoke again. "Would you like some tea? I know not many of you kids drink tea anymore but I figured I should at least offer you some."

"Uh, tea would be fine," Roy said as he attempted to relax; he did actually enjoy tea, especially in this cold weather.

"So, Mr. Mustang," Grumman began as he placed a steaming cup of tea in front of Roy while he held a tattered wooden box under his arm, "Are you ready?"

Roy, who had just taken a scalding sip of tea, forced himself to swallow and coughed roughly while he nodded, his eyes watered.

"Do drink the tea with discretion. I've been known to heat it too much," Grumman added as he took in Roy's pained expression.

"Yeah, I noticed," Roy coughed, feeling mortified.

"Well, let's not let this time go to waste!" he said as he sat down across from Roy. Roy watched with some apprehension as Grumman set down the wooden box in the center of the table before he opened the box, revealing a jumble of white and black pieces. "Let's begin your first lesson."

"So on a scale from one to a million, how awkward were classes today due to JeBecca?" Winry asked as Sheska walked into their shared dorm room after classes.

Sheska kicked off her shoes and let her school bag drop to the ground as she gave Winry a look of unbelievable exhaustion. Winry watched from her desk chair as the brunette dragged her feet to her bed and collapsed on top of it.

"That bad, huh?" Winry muttered as she swiveled in her chair.

"On a scale of one to a million, it was a billion-trillion to the infinite power," Sheska groaned into her pillow.

"Really?"

"I have to sit in between them in four classes," Sheska began with her face lifted from out of her pillow. "And in Government, we're working on a project together, so it's was so horrible! Neither would acknowledge the other and I had to act as a freaking messenger and I was about to kill myself! JeBecca is going to be the death of me, I swear."

JeBecca was the clever name that Gracia had come up with to save time whenever they were talking about the complicated relationship between Jean and Rebecca.

"Well would you rather have them not speaking to each other or screaming at each other like normal?" Winry asked as she fiddled with a wrench that she had accidentally swiped from the metal shop today. "Must be something of a break to not have them screaming in your ears all day long."

"Are you kidding me?" Sheska cried as she squeezed her pillow. "I wish things could just be normal again! They're like freaking zombies! Super awkward and over polite zombies to be exact!"

"Well what are we supposed to do about it?" Winry asked. "If we tried locking them in a closet until they made up they'd probably just end up killing each other…"

"Or pregnant," said an annoyed voice by the door.

Winry turned and saw Riza standing in the doorway still fully dressed in her school clothes, looking both exhausted and exasperated.

"I think Rebecca is the last person who should be pregnant," Sheska grumbled into her pillow.

"Especially if she was having Jean's baby," Winry giggled, completely amused by the idea of Jean and Rebecca's imaginary baby.

Winry watched as Riza rolled her eyes before she crossed the room and collapsed on the edge of Sheska's bed. Winry could not help but notice that her friend's usually calm eyes now screamed of annoyance and possibly thoughts of murder.

"Rebecca come back yet?" Winry asked tentatively so that she would not set off the bomb that was growing right below Riza's skin.

"Yup," Riza snapped. "Came in, blasting music through her headphones so loud I could hear it and now she's holding herself up in the bathroom. So if she's not going to try and fix this shit she got herself into because of her being drunk, I'm not going to force her into fixing it."

"That seems a little harsh, Riza," Winry remarked with a slight frown.

"She's a big girl. If she wants to act all drunk and stupid and doesn't want to face the consequences, that's on her," Riza said as he inspected a cracked nail. "I'm be happy to help her if she asks me for help but until then I'll just be sitting her."

"Hmm…" Winry mumbled as she leaned against the back of her chair.

She thought of today during lunch, when all the girls had chosen to eat at the cafeteria while the boys ate somewhere else, supposedly in the dorms. She remembered how oddly quite lunch had been without the sometimes obnoxious boys there. Not only had she missed the boys, but she had missed seeing a certain golden-haired boy who she had hoped to strike a conversation up with, now that they were sometime of friends. But Winry had a feeling that Ed wasn't there because he was studying instead of because he was choosing sides in this awkward time. Winry hoped that soon the two teens could figure something out so that everyone could be friends again.

Hopefully this doesn't last too long…

Roy stared at the black and white board while his hand hovered over a row of white pieces. He chewed on his lip as he furrowed his brow in concentration; a mess of rules and piece movements ran around his brain right now. Roy flickered his eyes upwards at Grumman for a second, long enough to see the easy smile on the old man's face.

"Don't be afraid to make a move, Mr. Mustang," Grumman said before he took a sip of his tea, looking more relaxed than Roy had ever seen him before. "It's okay to make mistakes. Especially at this point when you are such a novice to the sport."

Roy let his pale hands twitch about the white pieces for another moment or two before he made up his mind and moved a pawn forward a square. In a flash, Grumman had picked up the horse, no, the knight and flicked his pawn aside, causing Roy to scowl. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Roy threw up his arms and sighed.

"That's it. I give up," Roy snapped as he ruffled his black hair in irritation.

Grumman had spent a good half an hour going over each pieces abilities and specified movements, along with the set-up of the game board and the point of the game. The next thirty minutes had been filled with Roy's many failed attempts at chess. Grumman seemed to know his next move before he even knew what he was going to do next. It frustrated Roy to no end.

"Come now, Roy," Grumman said in a slow and careful voice, sounding so much like a grandfather trying to sooth an upset grandchild it was almost scary. "You just can't give up when you've just started."

"I can and I am," Roy growled as he rubbed his face with his hands. "Watch me."

"I know chess is a little difficult at the beginning, but you mustn't give up before you can really begin."

Roy let his hands fall to the ground and stared at the old man. He wished he could just yell at the man and tell him how at this point, he would much rather spend the next month scrubbing dishes in the kitchens as punishment but he somehow kept it inside. However, Grumman seemed to read his mind; Roy could see it by the small fall in his expression.

"How about we call it a day then," Grumman suggested with a slight nod. "It's almost time for dinner and I'm sure you have to study for your exams still."

Roy stood up as Grumman stood up, grateful to be allowed to leave but his head began to ache as he thought of all those study guides he had left unfinished.

"I shall see you same time next week then?" Grumman asked as Roy pushed in his chair.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Roy mumbled, not feeling rather thrilled over next week's meeting.

"And promise me I won't see you in my office again before next week," Grumman added with a small smile when Roy reached the door.

Roy turned and managed a tired smile before he shrugged and said, "I'll do my best, but don't be too surprised if I break the promise."

"There is no way that I am going to pass this exam," Winry mumbled into her arms Tuesday after classes.

She, Gracia, and Riza were sitting in her room as they attempted to study for their exams. Winry would not have to face her hardest class, Pre-Calculus, until Friday but she still felt that even with three more nights of studying, she would not be able to understand what was going on in that class.

"Sure you will, Win," Gracia said in a comforting voice. "You're freaking out for no reason."

"And don't forget that the study guide counts as fifteen percent of your exam grade and it's only graded on completion," Riza added as she chewed on the top of her pencil as she stared at a particularly difficult problem.

"So really, you only need a forty-five percent to pass you exam!" Gracia said brightly. "I'm pretty sure you can get a forty-five, Win."

"I wouldn't put money on that bet if I were you," Winry muttered miserably into her text book.

"Quit being so down on yourself," Riza said as she looked up at Winry. "Here, let me try and help you again. What are you having trouble with? The Trig?"

"Yeah but it doesn't matter how much you help me I just don't understand it!"

"Maybe you should go ask Field for help tomorrow after the exams," Riza suggested as she scribbled down an answer.

"I don't know," Winry sighed as she picked her head up. "I get the feeling that if I didn't get it before, I'm not gonna get it now."

"Hmm… maybe you should go ask Ed for help," Gracia mused as she twirled one of her brightly colored pencils in between her fingers.

Winry turned to look at the short-haired girl and expected to see a smirk on her face or a knowing look in her eyes, but she did not see anything out of the ordinary. After a moment, Winry sighed, picked up her math book and the almost complete study guide, and made for the door.

"Why not," she sighed as she pushed her messy blond hair out of her eyes.

A few feet from Ed's door, Winry realized she was dressed in some crumpled and slightly stained sweats but found after a long moment that she really didn't care how she looked right now. Just as she was about to knock on Ed's door she heard Ed's angry tone break through the door. When she heard no one talking back to him, she had to assume he was talking to someone on the phone. Winry glanced down the hall and back behind her before she leaned forward and pressed her ear to the door.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this but it's not okay to leave her alone for so long!" Ed said, his voice sounding angry and muffled due to the door. "I don't care what she says, she can't be left alone, dad! She's knows that better than anyone else."

He's arguing with his father… but over who?

"Whatever," Edward huffed. "I'll call her in the morning and check up on her, I'm sure you'll be too busy to do it."

Ouch, Winry thought. That seemed a little harsh, Ed.

Suddenly, the doorknob began to twist and Winry jumped back just as Edward opened the door. The two blonds stared at each other for a moment, one looking slightly confused while the other tried to look as innocent as possible. Edward had an overflowing basket of laundry balanced on his hip with a text book under the other arm.

"Uh, hey, Winry," Edward finally said after a slightly awkward pause. "What's up?"

"Uh, um, I wanted to ask you if maybe you could help me with this pre-calc," Winry said, feeling slightly flustered over being almost caught once again. "I'm still not really understanding it and I could use some extra help before the exam Friday. If you're not too busy, that is."

"Oh," Ed said before he glanced at the text book in her arms and shrugged. "I was gonna go do some laundry now but if you wanna come down there with me, I can try to help you while I wait for my clothes."

"Sure, that sounds great," Winry said with a smile and a nod.

"Well, follow me then," Ed said before he pulled the door closed behind him. Together, the blond teens walked down the empty dorm hallway together.

"Where have you been?" Maes asked as Roy walked into the room and tossed his snow-covered jacket to the ground.

"Ah, I got a little mouthy during psych today and I had to clean the classroom as detention," the dark-haired teen grumbled as he kicked his shoes across the room, not caring where they landed. "Where's Gracia? I was sure that you'd be glued together since you were forced to separate again today thanks to dumb and dumber."

"She was here earlier but she's in Win's room now with her and Riza. They're studying for pre-calc."

"That's not until Friday, right?" Roy said while he tried to remember what tests he had tomorrow; he was pretty sure math wasn't tomorrow but he was exactly positive.

"Yeah but Win's always had some trouble with it tomorrow is a bunch of easy exams."

"Hmm… where's the dumb blond?" Roy asked as he collapsed on his bed, feeling completely worn out.

"I think he's in the Tringham's room with Al studying for their Alg II test for tomorrow."

"Harpy's not showing her face for that study session I assume?" Roy asked as he covered his face with his forearms.

"Well based off of today events, I'd assume that no, Rebecca was not joining them for a study session," Maes said in a stern tone.

Today the group had been separated at lunch by gender, a situation that was particularly problematic for him. He was absolutely dying without his Gracia next to him at lunch.

"Hopefully those two will grow up soon and then we can all be one big happy family again," the bespectacled teen muttered as he scanned through a folder of photos he had taken over winter break.

"Dude, you do know that hoping that those two idiots will grow up is like asking for all the hot chicks in the world to drop into this room this second, right?"

"No, not really," Maes said as he spun around in his computer chair so that he could face his best friend. "Because one of those things I want to happen and one of those things I really do not want to happen."

"Why? Because when a super-hot chick comes falls into this room you'll be forced to realize that Gracia is not the hottest chick on the planet?" Roy grumbled, feeling too tired to care about what he was saying.

"How dare you think I would ever not love my wonderful, beautiful darling?!" Maes shouted, sounding legitimately outraged. "She is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I would be lost without her! I would never choose her over some random girl who's dropped from my ceiling! How could I ever pick some random girl over her, for she is the most beautiful-!"

"Jesus Christ, Hughes, it was a fucking expression," Roy snapped as he took his arms off of his face and glared at his friend. "Calm down will you?"

"Sorry… but come on, isn't Gracia like an angle?" Maes asked with misty eyes.

"I give up."

Rebecca stared at her algebra II book and silently willed herself to suddenly comprehend the numerous equations that were written across the pages. Her algebra exam was the first thing next morning but she still hadn't made headway with most things on her study guide. She knew her problems could probably be fixed if she just went down the hall where Al, Russ, and Jean were studying but no way in hell would she willingly go into the same room as Jean Havoc.

Her face burned and her heart twisted as she thought of the blond-haired smoker and Rebecca had the sudden wish to run down the hall and throw her text book into the blonde's face. Instead of listening to her overactive imagination, Rebecca pushed her book away and let her face fall into her pillow.

Stupid Jean…

Rebecca would have loved to blame everything on the tall teenager but she knew that at least half of what had happened at the New Year's party was her fault.

My fault because I'm a stupid drunk… Rebecca thought as she hit her head against the pillow again. Now how are you going to get out of this mess Rebecca?

"So, how was your little study session with Ed?"

Winry turned around and saw Sheska sitting on her bed, smirking widely at Winry, which caused her to pout and her face to flush slightly.

"Helpful," Winry said once her blush had faded as she shut the door behind her.

"In what way?"

"In the pre-calculus way," she said as she set her books down on her desk. "Ed's a pretty good teacher."

"Really? That's all?" she asked with a slight pout.

"Yes."

"Because according to Riza, you've been gone for a good hour and a half. I get the feeling that some things besides math went on between you two."

Annoyance bubbled up inside Winry with anger boiling just below, but she pushed it down. She turned around to face the brunette and threw her hands up in the air.

"That's it! You got me! After Ed helped me with trig functions, he bought me a soda from the vending machine and we shared a bag of chips while we waited for his clothes to finish drying. It was so hot."

"Well it sounds like an improvement over him not knowing you existed," Sheska mused as she kicked Winry's mattress above her.

Anger snapped inside her for the briefest of seconds before it dissipated completely and turned into something Winry didn't know but left her feeling tired.

"Well we both seemed to have had a good time and he's going to help me again tomorrow after school," she added, feeling defensive for reasons she wasn't sure of.

Winry climbed up the ladder to her bunk and crawled under the blankets, feeling exhausted even though it was only a little past dinner time. Just Winry closed her eyes, she heard Sheska mutter to herself, "Maybe I should go to Ed for tutoring…"

Yeah, I know this chapter was kinda filler-ific, but I'm working on the next chapter as I type. I've got two solid pages written now and I'm gonna work on it all day today, since this is the first saturday in two month's that I haven't had something to do. -_-

So I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully I'll get the next installment up soon.

Please send a review my way! It'd make me happy!

-FSK