Chapter 5 – Locker mates
It was five in the morning and Winry was so pissed off she couldn't even think straight.
"I cannot believe you!" Winry yelled at the phone, her previously sleepy consciousness now in full alert. And in full rage. Kellie poked her head from her room and raised a worried brow, which Winry waved away with a hand.
"How could you do this to me? For four years you kept this from me?! Four fucking years, Granny!" Winry bellowed as she marched back and forth across the living room.
"Watch your mouth, granddaughter." A stern voice warned from the other line. It was that fact that Winry rolled her eyes without having the fear of her grandma pulling her ear.
Besides, she's supposed to be the one pulling her ear right now.
"How could you keep the Lightweight Automail project from me, grandma? You said we were going to make it and install it on a client together!" Winry whined, her hands running through her already disheveled hair.
"Listen now, Winry. That one was a prototype, and the client never came back for maintenance ever since it was installed-"
"Prototype or not, you did it without me!" Knowing her grandmother's skills, her prototype was probably the best one in the market.
"I was planning to tell it to you when-"
"Tell me when? I wouldn't have known about it if I haven't accidentally found it on Pete's desk!" That hurt her the most. Knowing that her granny revealed their promised project to any other mechanic but her. If she hadn't taken the blueprint by mistake during her shift last week, she wouldn't know about this for another couple of years, she bet. Heck, she wouldn't even have known that it was already right under her nose for a few more days if Pete hadn't called her five minutes earlier to check if she took a certain blueprint home by mistake.
"That's a different matter, Winry Rockbell. Pete is-"
Winry did what she hadn't done in her sixteen years of life. She hung up the phone on her fierce grandmother. That was like slamming a door to her face.
Letting herself collapse on the sofa, she stared blankly at the blueprint lying across the coffee table.
'Lightweight Model Prototype' by Rockbell Automail.
Her mouth curled into a thin frown. Whoever that client was, she's going to find him or her.
And take that prototype apart.
Winry stood up with determination and went back to her room to get changed, even though it's a little too early for school yet.
And put it back together, of course. She added to herself.
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Winry opened her locker for the first time since her semester here at Central High started. So much excitement had already happened to her in a span of a school week (including that begrudging phone call with her granny) that she didn't get the time to check it out.
Cutting a tape from her roll, she plastered her weekly schedule on the locker door.
Appointment with Mr. Jenkins every Monday and Wednesday after school then work at Pete's Autoshop on Tuesday and Thursday after school. Free time on Friday to make room for studies. It was a simple schedule, just to make sure that she wouldn't miss anything.
Especially if she suddenly had to go to detention, which actually wasn't a case anymore.
Winry could still remember that time last week when she and Edward Elric managed to immune themselves from detention for the rest of the year by singing in front of the whole campus.
She was glad that she wouldn't have to worry about getting detentions until she graduated, but she wasn't sure about how to deal with the drawback of suddenly becoming campus famous. Winry sighed. Just thinking about the past couple of days was enough to tire her all over again.
Ever since their stage act, people started to dig around her life and incessantly asked her too many questions about her hometown, previous school, and worst of all, her parents, just because she's popular at the moment.
It was kind of flattering at first, with guys suddenly asking her out for dates. Schezka was even jealous of her at one point because of a guy confessing to her whom apparently, she had a crush on.
But as days passed, it definitely became irksome, especially the nosing around her personal life.
Why do they even have to insistently ask about my parents? What the hell does that got to do with their lives?
She wondered how Edward's been holding up. Based on Schezka's stories and the way she saw things with him, he had always been a reserved person, who happens to hate anyone who tried to talk to him, among the lively student body of Central High. So being famous (not notoriously this time) must have been a pain in the ass for him as it is to her. She hasn't really talked to him after their performance. Well, it's not like they have something to talk about. They're not even acquaintances.
They just happen to share the same History class…that's pretty much it.
When she closed her locker door, she almost jumped on her toes since the subject of her most recent thoughts was standing beside her the whole time, arranging something in his locker.
Which was next to her.
So, they're locker mates now, too? Splendid.
Being locker mates didn't even make any sense.
Edward felt an intrusive stare from his left so he did what his temperamental impulses told him to do.
"What?" He glared with all the annoyance he had at the moment. He surprised himself with the familiar face of Winry Rockbell, the Paramore girl, as the whole campus started to call her.
She didn't even look one bit like Hailey Williams. Not even her voice sounded anything like Hailey's. What a stupid nickname.
"Yeah, hey." She greeted, casually brushing off his usual abrasive attitude.
Edward gave her a small, stiff nod before turning back to his locker.
"So, how have you been holding up with your fan girls?" Winry started with a suppressed smirk, which Edward didn't miss even without his eyes on her.
"Says the Paramore girl. And I don't have any fan girls." He spat back venomously. Winry frowned at him. He also wanted his misery to have some company, huh?
He violently pushed something that was stuck inside his locker which to Winry, sounded like metal bumping to another metal.
And oil, she could definitely smell machine oil. She didn't even realize that she was subconsciously getting her face closer to his locker to get a better sniff when he slammed it shut with her face only a few centimeters away.
She looked up at his angry golden eyes blaring down at her.
"Oh really? Then what can you say about that?" She gestured her nose towards the group of girls a few feet behind him, eying his locker for them to put more love letters on.
And of course, ogling at Edward's ever romantic character.
He threw his head over his shoulder to see for himself. Growling under his breath, Edward stomped away from the direction of the girls.
Then all of a sudden, he turned around and glared daggers at them. "If I see one more scrap of your stupid pink letters on my locker again, I'm going to make you bitches eat them. Do I make myself clear?" He threatened with all seriousness that it made one of the first year girls cry in fear.
Satisfied, he continued to make his way on the hallway.
"Charming." Winry commented.
After a few more moments of watching his walking back, she suddenly noticed something.
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"Winry?" Schezka tried to get her friend's attention for the fourth time which was to no avail, drowned by the said girl's obsessive pen tapping.
"Hey!" She hissed right next to her ear which startled Winry off her skin.
"What? What?"
Schezka shot her a look of concern. "You've been spacing out since your trip to your locker. Did something happen?"
"Nothing." Her hurried answer raised her bespectacled friend's suspicion even more.
"Really, it's nothing. Maybe I'm just tired." She stretched away from their pile of calculus notes and fake-yawned.
"We haven't finished this part yet." Schezka insisted a finger on a difficult exercise that they've been working on for an hour already.
"But uh...I have to go now. I have an appointment with Mr. Jenkins after school." Winry excused and proceeded to put her things to her knapsack.
"Alright then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, see you later!" With that, Winry walked towards the library's exit, her head swimming with thoughts.
Why hadn't she noticed that before?
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With a few more curses, Edward finally made it to his locker. Upon opening it, he was relieved to find it void of anything that's colored pink. And smelled like a fucking slut.
Why do girls put perfume on their letters? Was it to disgust him ever further?
After his warning to that group of girls yesterday, the flood of love letters stopped coming for a whole day, which was a big change from having to clean up his locker of said trash every break time.
What he had to get rid of next is that stupid girl who was always following him around and asking him to marry her.
And make lots and lots of babies with her, apparently.
If he knew something like this would happen, he wouldn't have performed in that stupid twinkle town stage.
He would've burned it if he had the chance.
He was about to finish the combination of his lock when he heard running footsteps coming towards him.
She saw Edward standing by his locker as she ran for her dear life. Then she remembered the girls who were also looking for him as they hunt her down.
"Edward! We need to hide! They're coming!" She whispered/shouted at him once she reached his side.
Edward looked at her panicked state, not sure if he would ignore her or mock her first before ignoring her.
"You sure are having fun with your fan boys, Paramore girl." Yep, definitely the second option.
Her lips curled into frown at his gibe. "Well, your fan girls are coming for you so YOU have fun with them." She shot back with a poke on his chest before she made a run for it.
It took Edward a second before he jogged after her. "They're still on to me?!" He asked after her with his wobbly leg.
Goddammit, from all the days this could happen, it just have to be this one.
"Hell yes, handsome!" She mocked with a sweet smile over her shoulder before she made a sharp turn to the left.
"I can hear her footsteps! Over here!" He heard someone declared and it made his forehead break a sweat. He sped up as much as he could and turned to the hallway where Winry went.
He saw her by the janitor's cabinet, picking a lock. She was avoiding the classrooms since they'll surely look inside each of them. Smart.
But would she be fast enough or should he just run and leave her to her madness?
"They have their lockers next to each other! Agh!" A girl screeched, her angry stomp echoed all the way from the other hall. Other girls followed suit with their own despairs.
Edward knew the voice, it was the deranged woman who wanted to be impregnated by him. And she brought new girls he had to deal with! He really should just make a run for it. But with the condition of his leg...
"Are you almost done with that?" He inquired once she reached her, trying to mask his anxiety as subtle as possible.
The door unlocked before her. "Oh so now you need my help?" She announced a little too loud with a triumphant smile on her face before quickly entering the room.
Before she could close the door behind her, Edward held it tight, his face in a tight expression Winry couldn't decipher.
"Help me. I'll owe this to you until the day I die." Winry was about to give him a gibe like what he did earlier when he saw him slightly limping with his left leg.
Without saying another word, she moved out of his way. He let himself in as fast as he could and locked the door shut behind him.
It was a minute later when they heard voices just outside the room.
"Where the hell is she?" A boy's voiced asked with an irritated tone.
"You said you saw her!" A girl blamed.
"I said I heard voices! Why don't you just help me look through the classrooms instead of whining like a little child? She couldn't have gone that far, I'm sure of it." They sounded really close.
"I think I can smell Edward's cologne!" Another girl voice said with a dreamy sigh. Four more girls squealed in delight. "Even his smell is sexy!"
"Don't talk like you're so close to him!" The most obsessed girl amongst them all berated.
Edward felt his heart racing. These fucking girls…I don't even wear cologne. In addition to this unnecessary and ridiculous escapade for his life, he felt his leg twitch, making him grunt involuntarily.
"Shut up." Winry whispered against his chest. He hadn't noticed how close they were in this cramped and dark room until now. And speaking of scents, he could smell a little bit of hers. Fuck, they're too close. He squirmed a little, his shoes scratching against the cement floor.
He could feel Winry's glare through the thick darkness. His eyes adjusted a little so he could see a hue of her fuming blue eyes in the dark. Edward sent a silent scowl down at her.
"She's not in any of the classrooms! She must have evaded us and left the school already. " One of the girls suggested with a sad tone.
That's right. Just give up already. Winry prayed and Edward's thoughts were just about the same.
"We haven't checked the janitor's closet yet." The boy suggested.
Fuck. They thought in unison.
The footsteps were just outside the door.
Edward licked his lips while the doorknob was twirling against his spine. Winry held her breath.
"It's locked." The boy voice confirmed.
"Should we break in?"
Fuck this girl!
"Nah, we'll get into too much trouble for that. The janitor might be here in a few minutes. I saw him cleaning in the next hallway."
"Dammit! I wanted to confirm if she's really with Edward and torture her for it!" The girl whined.
"That Paramore girl does not deserve him!" They all made that annoying girly voice that supposed to mean that they're agreeing with each other.
I don't deserve HIM? They can switch places with me right here, right now! Winry begrudged inside her as she tried to put her arm between her and Edward.
"Hey don't talk about Winry that way! She's a nice person and she wouldn't have run away if you all haven't scared her! Damn, I really wanted to have a scoop with her...she's definitely one of the cuties in the campus."
The two prisoners heard the footsteps and voices fading away.
They waited for a whole five minutes before letting out a long awaited sigh of relief.
"I think they're gone now." Winry whispered and looked up at Edward's face, thanking the darkness for making this situation a little less awkward for them.
Neither of them moved, eyes darting anywhere but one another. Which was quite impossible with the squished position they were in.
If she wouldn't concentrate on a spot on his shoulder, she would definitely be too conscious of his hard abs against her arm. Who was she kidding? This is by far the most awkward situation in her life.
"Hey, um..." Edward started, not sure on how to start thanking her. They haven't started out that well, so it felt a bit weird thanking her all of a sudden.
When he thought about it, she wasn't actually that bad. That incident at the cherry blossom garden wasn't her fault, and unlike other people he had met in his life, she hadn't poked around his life even after that. A few more silent moments passed between the two teens before Winry squirmed.
"I know about your leg." She blurted out, her gaze not meeting his. He searched down at her face, suddenly confused and taken aback.
She wanted to confront him about it since yesterday, since there was obviously a problem with his leg. It's in even worse shape now since she saw him limping with it.
"What are you talking about?" It wasn't a question. It clearly warned her to stay out of his business.
"It's automail. And by the looks of it, it's in need for repairs." She asked all the same. He took back his judgment. Unlocking the door behind him, he threw it open and went outside, moving away from her as far as his leg could.
She's even worse than anyone else. She had the nerve to dig onto his life this far. He kept this secret for four years and no one suspected a thing.
"I can help you! I'm an automail mechanic!" Winry called out to his back. He halted with his shoulders tensed.
"I understand how you feel about it, so I won't pry." She continued on, watching him trying his best to shift more of his weight on his right leg. "There are clients who are proud of having automail and others just want to keep it private for their own reasons-"
"Who in the hell would be proud of having a fake limb?" He cut her off and turned his face full of resentment.
"It's not a fake limb! It's the same as any human arm or leg! It's an extension of a person, another chance to live a normal life." Winry raged, stepping towards him to glare at him eye to eye. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The way he treats automail, it's like...
"Don't talk as if you know how it feels like to need to have automail, because you don't." He said with a sour smile. "You don't know the pain."
He treats it like a curse forcibly put upon him. Winry felt her nose flare.
"I know exactly how painful it is! I saw people survive it and I saw people die from it." She was visible shaking that she had to bite her lip to stop her teeth from clattering in anger.
Edward stopped himself from replying and regarded her with bitter golden eyes. "Seeing is different from actually having your nerves plucked out." The words just kept pouring from him like a wave.
"And those people who died before having them, they're lucky. They lived their lives not having to wear this abomination."
Tears were freely falling from her eyes that it stopped Edward from continuing his next sentence.
The way she hastily wiped them away made it suddenly hard to look at her face.
"Earlier, I felt guilty if I didn't inform you about how dangerous it is to leave automail hurting your leg, so I just told you about it without even thinking. So I won't have-" She cut herself off from going there. From opening up something that was supposed to stay closed and buried in the past.
She faced him with a tear-stained expression hardened with resolve to hate him to the end of his days. "But you know what? Fuck you." She walked past him with a hard shove on his shoulder.
She left him there, fighting with the decision to go after her and apologize. She was just trying to help him, who didn't know anything but shove everyone away.
His pride and cowardice got the better of him, as usual. Pushing people away, that's what he's only been good at.
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. She's right. I should go fuck myself. His leg agreed as it throbbed even more painfully under him.
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Winry was in the middle of telling Schezka a funny story during her gym class when she saw Edward walked pass their table. Their eyes momentarily met before he looked down and sat three tables from them.
Days had passed since their big argument, and they have avoided each other ever since. It wasn't hard since they only shared one class. Well, except for the fact that they happened to have their lockers next to each other, they were not in any way close. And most of all, she just didn't give any shit about him ever since.
So why are you worrying every time you see him limping? Her inner self inquired.
"I'm worried about the automail." She reasoned.
"What did you say?" Schezka said beside her.
"I said I'm still hungry. This cafeteria food isn't enough, as always." She laughed, and thankfully her friend bought it.
Edward turned his head slightly over his shoulder from hearing Winry's laughter and got a peripheral vision of her smiling face. What a fake laugh. Anyone with ears would know.
Why in the world was he still bothered by this?
"You can say that again. We burn too many brain cells as it is..." Schezka's voice trailed off when she caught herself looking at the blond boy's back. It was the first time she noticed a cast over his left leg.
Why in the world was she still bothered by this?
We're not even friends to begin with.
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"Does your leg still hurt?" Winry inquired with a gentle smile to her client. Mr. Jenkins gave her a toothless smile.
"It's all good now, Ms. Winry. All thanks to your magical hands!" He praised, clapping his hands. The old man had become a bit eccentric over the years, especially after he retired from his military service. He was Winry's favorite client and for that she gave one of his weekly check-ups free of charge.
He kind of reminds her of Grandpa Hiller back at Riseembool. Mr. Jenkins was a hundred times livelier to be with though.
"Alright, then. I'll see you again next week. Don't forget to tell your son, ok?" Half the time he forgets, but it was always worth a try. She could always call Henry if ever he did.
"Winry!" Pete called from the receiving area...or that little entrance to their workshop to be more precise. "Are you done with Mr. Jenkins?" Mr. Jenkins was already being led by his son towards the front door.
"Yes, I'm just going to clean up here a bit." She confirmed then started to put back her tools to the toolbox.
"Hurry up! I have a new client for you." She stopped and shot a look at Pete's direction. She could see him talking animatedly with the said client. Winry pulled off her bandana and walked out of the workshop. Another client, huh? Well, more money for her.
Edward heard himself gulp when he saw Winry emerge from the small door with only a black tube and a pair of grease-stained trousers. She works here? So she's really an automail mechanic, huh?
Winry's blue eyes grew in surprise upon seeing Edward Elric sitting in their sorry excuse of a receiving area, talking with Pete. He was only wearing the same outfit he'd always wear at school, plain black shirt and denim pants. He wasn't wearing the cast this time.
They stared at each other, not exactly knowing what to say and feel about this.
They could just ignore each other again, right?
"You can schedule the repairs- Oh Winry! Edward, this is Winry Rockbell, the best mechanic you'll ever find in Central." Pete introduced and stood beside Winry like a proud father.
"Pete!" Winry whined embarrassingly.
"What? I just want to let our client know that we're giving him the best service. Anyway…Winry, this is your new client, Edward Elric. He'll be needing repairs as soon as possible on his-"
"His left leg." Winry finished. Pete looked at her, then at Edward who started scratching his nape nervously.
"You two know each other?" The autoshop owner asked with a smile.
Winry shrugged. "I guess. We're locker mates." It still sounded like nonsense to Winry even with saying it out loud, and that's probably the closest they could get.