Chapter 3: First elective
We entered the rather empty classroom. Since it was almost empty, it didn't take me long to find my little brother. "Heya Al. How was first period?" I said, sitting down next to him. "It was awesome! I'm having a lot of fun. How about you, Nii-san?" he replied. He meant it too, because his eyes were sparkling like diamonds. "Speaking of which, I want you to meet my new friend, Envy. Envy this is my little brother Alphonse." I said, hoping they would get along. Al beamed at him. "I'm so glad Nii-san made a new friend!" he chimed. Envy laughed. "Nice to meet you too." He sat next to me, giving me a weird look. "If he's your little brother, why are you guys in the same grade?" He whispered to me. I puffed out my chest with pride. "My little brother is so smart that he skipped a grade." I said, ruffling Al's hair. "It's not that big of a feat. It's not worth bragging about." Al said, blushing slightly because several people in the class were staring bug-eyed at him. Envy laughed. Just then, Winry came in.
Al didn't see her, but I did. "Are you lost?" I said to her. She gave me an 'If-we-weren't-in-school-right-now-I-would-hit-you' look. "You're in our Algebra class? Awesome!" Al said, smiling. Envy looked rather lost. "Envy, this is Winry. She's a very old friend of mine. And she is not my girlfriend." I said in response to the look on Envy's face. Winry fake laughed. "Nice to meet you." Envy said, shaking Winry's hand. He was very polite. "Have you got any books yet? I have and they weigh a ton." Winry said as she sat down next to Envy. My answer was cut off by the arrival of the teacher.
"Sorry I'm late!" The man said, dashing in the door. He gave me the impression of a nice guy already. He had very short brown hair and square glasses. "I was just showing Roy a picture of my daughter. She's going to be four next week!" He chimed, obviously very proud. All the girls got excited. "Can we see a picture of her?" Winry asked. "Of course!" He said handing her a picture of a cute, young girl. The passing around of the picture greatly delayed things, so I was happy. Sadly, all the girls were all cooing and they were like 'she's so cute!'. It started to get to me after awhile. Finally, the picture was returned to Mr. Hughes. "Roll call time!" He said, pulling out a blue sheet. "Miss Lust was so caught up in things, she didn't take attendance. Think she'll be mad?" Envy said out of the corner of his mouth to me. I nodded, thinking about her punishments.
For some reason, about half the class was gone. "Ah, they're just lost. They'll be here soon enough." was all Mr. Hughes had to say about that. "Ok class, let's see how much you guys know." He said, writing 8 27n2 on the board. "Who can solve that?" Most of the class stared at the board. The girl from this morning's science class raised her hand. "Sir, you can't solve that without knowing what the variable is." He sighed quietly. "How about this one?' He said, writing (100) 1/4 . He sighed at our blank stares and spent the rest of the morning teaching us how to answer that problem.
It was as if he was speaking in Greek. All of these terms and stuff made little to no sense to me. Why can't we just skip this and go to geometry? I like geometry. It makes sense. "Ok, put your stuff away, the bell will ring in a few minuets." He said, finally, erasing the board. I raised my hand. "Mr. Hughes? For my schedule, it says 'open' next. Where do I go?" I said, looking at Envy and Al, who where both silently thanking me for asking. "Oh, I was wondering if someone was going to ask me that. Head up to the main office were you'll see a door marked 'counselor'. Go inside, one at a time. Seska will help you change your schedule." He said, shooing some lost people out of his classroom. "Isn't it, like, illegal to call a teacher by their first name?" Envy asked, slightly embarrassed. Mr. Hughes laughed. "She isn't really a teacher, so it doesn't count. Bye; hope you get in a class you like!" The four of us left the classroom. "I have to go to my next class! See you later!" Winry called over her shoulder as she headed off in a different direction. We headed off for the Counselor's office.
"So, what are you taking Edward?" Envy asked looking rather bored. "Alchemy for a easy grade. I already know more than they could teach us in school anyways." I said, also bored. Al just looked uncomfortable. "Isn't that like cheating?" He said, looking nervous. "Don't sweat it! I also know quite a bit about Alchemy, so I'll join you guys. It will be fun, showing off, getting good grades, getting all the ladies...." Envy said, smiling slyly. Al blushed slightly and I rolled my eyes. "Well, here we are! Who's going in first?" Envy said as we stopped in front of the Counselor's door. "I'll going in first." I said and knocked on the door. No response. I went in anyway.
The room was filled with books, a couple of desks, and a computer. As we looked around, Al froze. "Nii-san, I think there is a person burred under these books." We froze. Sure enough, we heard a muffled voice. "Well, what are we standing around for? Get digging!" Envy said, tossing books in every direction. We joined in. We quickly unburied a young woman with short brown hair and glasses. "Thank you so much! I though I was going to be trapped their forever!" She said, starting to stack the books she was trapped under. "Um...Ma'am? Are you Seska?" Envy asked. "Oh yes, that would be me. Oh! Your students right? Come for your electives?" She said, dashing over to the computer. However, she fell over a small stack of books and went sprawling on the floor. "Are you sure you should be running around like that?" Al asked, helping the woman to her feet. "And how come no one knew that you where trapped under that stack of books? All of us kids have to come here to change our schedules, right?" Envy said, stacking some books together in a neat pile.
She looked over at the clock that was hanging on the wall. "Oh my, that was the longest five minuets of my life..." She said, frowning at the clock. "Huh?" Envy said before dropping a particularly large book on his foot. He hopped up and down holding his foot, trying hard not to cuss in front of a teacher. "I was looking at the clock when the books fell on me, so I know what time it was. And your classes only just got out, so no one would have been here to help me out." Seska said sitting down at her computer. "Um...Seska?" My little brother said, "We were told to come in one at a time. Want all of us to leave but who was going first?" Al said, looking slightly worried. "Yes, if you please." She said, turning on the computer. Envy and Al left.
"Name?" She asked, opening some weird program. "Edward Elric." I said, wondering if she was going to ask my little brother how to spell his name. "Ok, what would you like to take?' She said, her hands poised for some rapid typing. "Alchemy." I said. She sighed. "And so does everyone else. What do you know about Alchemy?" She said in a depressed voice. I recited Equivalent Trade, The laws of Alchemy, and some other basic things. Seska was impressed. "If you know so much, why do you want to take Alchemy?" I blinked. I didn't think anyone would ask me why. So I answered it truthfully. "I'm bored and I might learn something knew." was my reply. I was signed up for the class. I was about to leave when I remembered something. "Hey Seska? Why did Mr. Hughes say that you aren't 'really a teacher'?" It had been bugging me ever since he said it. She smiled. "The school took me in because I remember everything in a book I've read, word for word. So I'm not really a teacher at all, which is why you can call me by my first name." She said, laughing slightly. I, now satisfied, left the room.
"Did you get in the class?" Both Envy and Al asked at the same time when I rejoined them outside. "Yep, it was easy. Just say what Equivalent Trade is, The laws of Alchemy, and some other basic things plus why you want to take the class and your in." I said, sitting down and the short wall near the Counselor's Office. "You're up next, little brother." I said. He looked a bit worried but entered anyway. I told Envy why we could call Seska by her first name. He laughed. Al emerged, a grin on his face. "I'm also in! The class starts tomorrow, by the way." He said, sitting down next to me. "Guess like I'm next. Wish me luck, 'cuz I'm going into the lion's den. Or shall I say the book's den?" He said entering Seska's office.
I laughed. "Do you think he'll get in?" Al asked. "Of course! If we got in on that little bit of info, there is no way that he won't be able to get in." As we waited for Envy to come back from 'The Book's Den', my thoughts drifted back home to the half-full sink and all of my dirty clothes. So far I haven't gotten any homework, so I might be able to get it all done by a reasonable time tonight... I sighed. "What's wrong Nii-san?" Al asked. I told him about all of the work that I would have to do when we got home. I wasn't going to let him help me do the laundry, the last time I did that, he bleached everything white. 'Oh! I forgot to tell you. This is my last clean outfit. Can you do my laundry too?" I groaned. It will take me until fricken one in the morning to get all this housework done. Envy came out of the Counselor's Office. "I'm also in." He said, a triumphant smile on his face. We had no time to celebrate though, because the bell for 4th period rang. The four of us headed off to find our Language Arts class.