Alphonse

I yawned as I woke up and made my way into the kitchen. I could Pinaka and Winry in there making breakfast, brother wouldn't get up till noon at the earliest. I slowly walked into the kitchen keep very quiet. I wanted to make sure they weren't talking about something important, I didn't want to be rude and mess up the conversation.

"I think I'll see if Al wants to go as well. Paninya said she'll be here soon and that we'll be back before dark." I heard Winry say, since it didn't seem to be a private conversation I walked in. "Good morning Pinaka, good morning Winry." I said taking a seat and smiling at them both as they looked over at me.

They both smiled and said good morning. "Al I'm going into town today, to the mall. Paninya said that the electronics store is having a big sale, along with the hardware departments in several of the big stores. I could use some more scraps and tools for my work. Do you want to come along with us?" Winry asked bringing over a plate of eggs and bacon. I smiled and started eating before I answered.

"I'd love to Winry, while your getting your stuff I can look in the book store and pick up a few things. Brothers birthday is coming up and I want to get him a gift so if your alright with me coming along I'd like to." Winry ruffled my hair and started eating like she was starving. "Of course I'm alright with it Al! And Paninya is too! She's the one that thought to invite you. I figured you'd have plans with Mei." I blushed at her words but shook my head.

"No Mei's family is going over to Seline Bradleys today. We'd planned on going to catch some frogs and tadpoles for a science project, but her parents wouldn't let her out of the trip." I said poking my eggs a little. I didn't like Seline and he didn't like me, and his best friend Wrath was even worse. Seline and Wrath were the biggest bullies in my grade. And they bossed the other bullies in the school around.

Ever since we were kids Seline, Wrath, and I hadn't gotten along. I think it was because I always beat them in the science fair, and the history fair, and all our classes. It's not that they're stupid or anything I'm just really good in school. Seline and I have always been neck and neck for the top spot in our class, and I always win by a small margin.

Because Seline and Wrath hated me so much most of the other kids stayed away from me. Mei was one of the only ones that hung out with me, she didn't really care about Seline or Wrath so being friends with me didn't bother her at all. Which meant I had at least one friend in school. But Mei's family was tied to Seline's so she was always having to go do things with him.

Luckily when Mei wasn't around Winry was here to keep m company, and me her since brother had turned into a complete idiot. I mean he was dumb before but then Rose happened and he became a full idiot. But that's my brother for you! As unobservant as the day is long! I mean he is a good brother and all, but sometimes I wish I wasn't in braces so I could give him a swift kick in the pants.

After we ate Winry and I got ready, luckily Paninya knew I might take a bit and had called early so that they wouldn't have to wait for me. But things might change soon because the doctors say I might be able to get my braces off soon! I've been keeping my muscles extra strong just in case I could get them off. Lifting weights and stuff is hard but I think It might pay off.

I'd read in this medical book that people in my case loose muscle and that when they take the braces off they're week. But some some trial studies showed that rigorous workouts and special muscles rub downs could help, theoretically. Obviously I couldn't give myself a rub down so work out it was. So every morning for an hour and every evening for two I spent locked in my room making a lot of loud noises as I attempted to work out.

I didn't really care for the mall, there were so many people I'd always get bumped and jostled. It didn't really hurt anymore to get pushed around, I mean once you've gone through it for years you lose some sensitivity to pain. But I did like to go for the book stores. There were three one of each level of the mall, and each one had a different selection of books that I liked to go through. The first one on the ground floor had a well stocked fiction section, I liked to go there when I needed to escape for a while.

The second floor store had a wide variety of text books and biographies they were great for research on big school projects; plus the ladies that work there were always really helpful and nice to me. The last store was on the top floor, which was really hard for me to get to so if I went there I stayed all day just to make it worth my while.

But it was the top floor store I liked going to the most, it had the widest variety of books over all. From medical journals to books on all kinds of mythology. I could literally spend days in there looking through all the information stored on the shelves. And the owner was really great she let me help out there when I came in and always gave me a book as a thank you. I think she feels sorry for me because of my braces but it's still really nice.

Today I needed to go there, they had an awesome book of chemical reactions I wanted to get my brother for his birthday. Plus they had this medical journal I'd been dieing to get; it had a big article on muscle dystrophy I wanted to go over more thoroughly and take notes on. It took me an hour or so but I made it up to the store and walked in and took a deep breath.

"Alponse! Good to see you again my boy what are you after today?!" Cried Miss Sciezka as I walked in. I smiled and waved a hand in greeting. "I'm here for that chemistry book Miss Sciezka and for that medical journal I've been browsing." I said going to the shelves that held the books and picking them up. Miss Sciezka smiled and shook her head. "Alphonse you're always getting such intense books. Wouldn't you like a simple fun novel?" She asked playfully as she checked me out.

I laughed and shook my head as I tucked the books into my bag. "No I don't really like nofiction books all the time. I mean they're great for a bit of a break but I prefer to spend my time gaining as much information as I can on every subject I can." I said taking a seat and smiling at. There weren't a lot of people in the store and the other emploies were helping them so that meant Miss Sciezka could sit with me.

"That's what I like about you Alphonse! You're a good boy who has a thrist for knowledge. As soon as you get those braces off you've a get real job here. I'll even let you borrow books here and there so you don't buy me out." She said with a laugh. I smiled and nodded excited, I couldn't wait to work here. A couple hours later I made my way down to the food court to meet Winry and Paninya; unfortunately someone else was at the mall now too, and Winry was ready to blow.