»Part Thirteen: Over and Again «

The movie took up almost a quarter of the class, leaving about 15 minutes for us to work on the Q&A sheets. I knew that Ed was smart enough not to mention his reaction to seeing a movie for the first time; he kept quiet for the rest of the class, speaking only when necessary or to answer a question like he was supposed to. But as soon as we had collected our homework and the rest of our belongings and left the class at dismissal, Ed informed me nonstop of his thoughts on the 'moving picture.'

"How do they do that? I mean, having it like the.. with the sound..." It lasted until we got down to my locker, which was crowded as usual. I also had to wait for Ben, whose locker was above mine. In the past, we had always tried to block one another from reaching their locker, but he'd recently become better about hurrying up at the end of the day.

I shoved my homework and some books into my bright orange backpack, zipped it up and threw it over my shoulder. It wasn't as heavy as it'd been on some other days, like in the event I had to take home all 3 of my text books. And as much as I wanted to, I had to resist wearing my black kitty hat from the anime Trigun. Many kids would say that I shouldn't have worn it any day of the week, but I thought it looked cute. Even if I didn't watch the show, or no anything about it, for that matter, I still considered the hat to be a part of my afternoon head wear.

Kicking my locker shut, I motioned for Ed to follow me as I weaved through the end-of-the-day traffic jams that crowded the halls. Michelle's locker was in the same hall as mine, but the three of us always met up at Allison's locker, which was just a quick 20 paces from our own. Each afternoon I would look for the two of them so that we could start our walk home together.

"Hi guys," I said as I approached my friends. Allison greeted me and returned to filling up her own shoulder bag, while Michelle lingered on her welcome and stared shyly at Ed. She giggled as she kept her eyes on him, somehow finding it funny that he was still around. Ed was looking nowhere in particular; up at the ceiling, down at the ground, to the lockers beside him; anywhere but Michelle. He obviously knew that she was watching him, which is why he refused to make eye contact.

"Is he walking home with us, er..." there was a faint hint of interest in Allison's voice as she asked, though she didn't look up or away from her locker.

"Duh, where else would he be going." I replied a little harshly. My friends and I would always say things to each other and make them sound like insults, but that was just the way we communicated. Calling one another 'retard' or 'stupid' was normal for us. We swore at each other occasionally as well.

"Okay," Allison laughed. I could tell that my tone hadn't affected her. She lifted her heavy side bag over her shoulder and slammed her locker, causing a magnet or two to fall off on the inside. Michelle already had her bag with her, like I did, so we were set to go.

Pushing open one of the huge double doors with his back, Ed stepped outside onto the pavement. He winced under the bright sun as it beamed down and hit his face. While keeping a hand sturdily on the open door, Ed's free arm lifted to shield his golden eyes from the harsh rays of the sun. He squeezed his right eye shut, trying to further block out the light. The door swung shut as soon as Allison, Michelle and I exited the building.

"Don't stare at it, stupid," I frowned at Ed. "You'll go blind!"

"I know that!" he barked defensively, lowering his arm. Michelle began to giggle at him again.

"Whatever." I sighed and rolled my eyes, following Allison as she took the lead in our walk home. At first it seemed a little odd; the three of us chattering away and carrying backpacks while Ed dragged his feet behind us, no backpack in sight; so when we got over to the Dunkin Donuts, which was halfway away home, I made him carry mine.

Michelle took the train home since she lived a few towns over from ours. She walked until Dunkin Donuts and then turned off into the downtown area, whereas Allison and I continued heading straight, or 'the back way,' as we called it. Without Michelle, there was room enough for Ed to walk on my left as I walked between him and Allison. I hated the middle, but putting my best friend next to her least favorite anime character was not a good idea. I was just the opposite; I started to giggle and squeal whenever the thought of walking next to him came into mind. He obviously wasn't familiar with ADHD.

"You okay?" Ed asked, quirking an eyebrow. I nodded and squealed again, fighting the urge to scream or burst into laughter. Allison probably wouldn't have cared, since she was so used to it, but I didn't want to freak Ed out. He shook his head and took a deep breath. I tried to explain to him the faults of my hyperactivity. He still looked a little weirded-out, so I decided to drop it and cut the squealing. As long as he didn't notice, I would make my right eye twitch violently or flash Allison a crazed grin, just to show how full of bliss I was.

Before long I was walking normally—minus the occasional hint of laughter in my gleeful humming noises—and Ed was beginning to accept the fact that some people (like me) had a bit of trouble containing themselves when they got excited.

"Sorry." I would giggle whenever I noticed him sighing at my joy. I said 'sorry' to people a lot, even when I hadn't done anything wrong. I wasn't sure if by then he had learned of how self-conscious I was. I eventually stopped making noises, just to be sure he wouldn't think I was a weirdo.

Allison had hardly spoken at all since we had started walking, though I couldn't think of anything to say or ask her. I tried to remember what stuff we would usually talk about, but nothing besides Fullmetal Alchemist came up. When I looked around for ideas, I noticed that we were almost to the end of the street. Allison's house was just around the corner, meaning that she would be leaving us soon. I was rushed, so I asked the first thing that I could think of.

"Why don't you like Ed?" I blurted out, partly whining. Ed breathed out harshly through his nose, even though he disliked Allison just as much as she disliked him. I pretended not to hear him as I awaited Allison's reply.

"Uh, cause he's gay?" Allison muttered in an obvious tone. I should've seen it coming. Now that I think of it, I believe I'd asked her the same question about a week earlier.

"That's mean," I pouted. Ed, startled and slightly offended by Allison's answer, complained in a worried tone that he wasn't gay at all. Of course, not being from this time and having no way of knowing what 'gay' was now slang for, I couldn't blame him for being so defensive. "No, not like that." I sighed.

Ed calmed down a bit as I explained the new slang term of the word, though he still wasn't completely satisfied with Allison's comment. I suggested that he simply ignore her for the time being.

"Okay, I'm going home now." Allison said as she walked up the steps to her house. We waved goodbye to each other before she opened up the big wooden door and went inside. When I turned back around, Ed had taken my backpack off and was holding it out to me.

"Here, I don't want it anymore." he held it up by the strap. I hesitated, but took it from him anyway. I threw it back over my own shoulder with a sigh and began walking again.

The side door to my house creaked as I opened it and walked inside, barely leaving Ed any time to catch the frame before it swung shut. Being careful not to step on any residential ants that came with the springtime weather, I made my way through the kitchen and dropped my bag on the living room floor. It hit hard, making a loud thumping noise.

I had Ed sit and wait for me on the couch while I took Tisdale out to go to the bathroom. It was only a few minutes before he was ready to go in again, not having eaten anything since that morning. After giving the puppy his treat, I followed him out to the living room. Ed was no longer sitting upright or waiting; he had his back on the seat and his legs were resting up on the arm of the couch. In his hands he had a magazine, most likely one of my Nintendo Power or GamePro issues. Ed jumped when he saw me.

"I was... uh..." he looked around, pushing the magazine to the other side of the couch as if it had not just been in his possession.

"It's okay," I giggled, picking up the discarded magazine. "I don't care if you read this." I offered it to him again, but he shook his head and stood up. I shrugged and sat on the opposite side of the couch, tossing the magazine into a pile under the coffee table. Ed walked over to the window and peeked quickly through the curtain, then let it swing shut again as he turned around.

"Now what?" He asked.

"No clue," I said automatically. I really didn't have the slightest idea on how I would get him back to his time, or even if I could do it. Whatever it took—I wasn't exactly up to it. I mean, how often does your favorite anime character just fall into your life like this? All I could do was wait...

THE END