I was hoping to keep this short, and it seems to be working. Couple more chapters I think.

Chapter 3

Dana watched furiously through the door, waiting to see if he reached for the case. "Come on..." the wind blew the small crack in the door shut. "Awww..."

"Maybe if the light was low he might need them?" I suggested.

Dana thought that would work, so we trekked off to the supply closet down the hall to grab the lowest voltage bulb we could find. When he left his office again, she would slip in and replace the bulb. Later that day, she would mysteriously show up with another book for him to read. There was already another one she was working on, so she was going to show him that. She would ask him an opinion on the opening of the book so he would more than likely put the glasses on for that.

"Why not just ask him to put them on?" I suggested.

"I'm too shy Genie. If this doesn't work, we'll have to come up with another plan."

"I could ask him for you." I suggested again.

"No! He'll ask you why. I'd be too embarrassed." She blushed deep red.

"Okay-okay. We'll be sneaky." I let out a sigh.

"Don't feel bad. You're good at being sneaky." She smiled and picked up her bag.

I folded my arms, "You say that as if I can brag about it." We ducked quickly into an intersecting hall when we heard Professor Elric get up from his desk. We held each others mouths shut. He walked in the opposite direction, he didn't even pass by. We let out a sigh.

"I think he's gone." Dana peeked out from behind the corner. She saw the top of his head slowly disappearing down the stairs. "Lets go." The plan was going good so far, he left and we swapped the bulbs. He would be in there again after class this evening. We would wait till then. He had class late and Dana was working in the library, so the times worked out well. I loved it when things lined up conveinently.

That evening, when Dana finished in the library, she gave herself twenty minutes after Mr. Elric's last class. She was sure to bring along the story for him to read. As mentioned earlier, she mysteriously happened by and gave him the book. "I was wondering if I could get a quick opinion on the opening of the first chapter. I kind of felt it went unloved."

He went to open it but checked his watch first. "I'm sorry Dana, I have to be at a meeting. Leave it with me and I'll get it to you in the morning."

She kept the smile on her face and said, "Sounds great. Bye then," and turned and left. This time with a look of depression on her face. After finding me in the dining hall (I cleaned every night) she flopped down hard in a chair.

Leaning on my wet-dry broom, I tilted my head, "Did he read it?" asked, almost totally sure of the answer.

"He said he would, but he had to go to a meeting and he'd get to it in the morning, and now I'm sad." she said with regret. "I'll have to try again."

"We," I said with a smile.

Dana smiled back at me, "Thanks...Oh! I brought that romance one you wanted to see." Dana appeared to be writing a million things at once. Once you get the creative bug, it was really hard to shake. "I know you aren't one for romance, but this one is good."

"Great. Toss it in my bag and I'll read it tonight." She said it was short, but the bundle of papers she put in my bag looked so big. Apparently, Dana had no grasp of the word small. After she left, I finished up behind the counter and took a seat to wait for the bus. To kill some time, I took out the gifted reading materials and began on the fist page. "A Drafters Request?" I said aloud. That didn't much sound like a romantic name. Upon further inspection I discovered that this was the material she wanted Mr. Elric to read.

Frantically, I ran back into the school and booted it toward my alchemy professor's office. He had to grade papers till eleven o'clock. I heard him complaining about it earilier that day. Hoping I wasn't too late, I laid a heave fist on the dark wooden frame of his door. "Please be in here..." I said quietly to myself.

He cracked the door and greeted me. I was face to face with this teacher of mine. This amazingly gorgeous teacher. His eyes were gold, particularly iridescent when viewed up close. I was tall, so I was almost the same height as him; it gave me a great view. Not that he was very tall to begin with, average male height. But he didn't have the body of a thirty-five year old, more like twenty-two. I could even make out the defined tone of his muscle beneath his button up shirt and dark brown vest-I snapped to. I was probably blushing so I held up the papers to block it. Hopefully my bangs covered some as well. "I think there's been a mix up."

"Oh, really," he opened his door, "come in. I was just getting ready to pack up."

I drew a deep breath and explained about the reading and apologized profusely for any potential vulgarity he may have been subjected to. He only laughed. "Oh, did you not read it?" I asked hopefully.

"I did. And don't worry, there was nothing tasteless in here. Not quite my style though, I don't understand the vampire appeal. But if that was the wrong one, I'd believe it," he took the papers from my hand and skimmed the fist few lines. "Yes. This seems more up my alley. Thank you."

He smiled, "No problem. Also, could you not tell Dana about this. She's got a bit of a vampire thing, and you could very well could run her into hiding if she found out you read this."

"She does seem shy. No problem. I never read it." He crossed his arms in front and washed his hands of the experience. "Though, I can't help but notice..." he hesitated, "-the similarities in the main character to..."

"What now?" I was confused, similarity to what?

He rotated his right hand at the wrist. "Page six, second paragraph."

I went where instructed and began to read. It was a paragraph introducing the main male character. The way the descriptions went, the man sounded a lot like Edward. Except with glasses. "Oh my...that's...I'm glad there was only a chapter of this." I grievously placed the chapter in my bag.

Mr. Elric laughed out. "Don't worry. You'd be surprised, this isn't the first time this had happened."

Without moving my head, I looked up at him, "Seriously?" I shuffled the pages of the chapter into place.

He nodded, "Oh yeah. Lets just say this one in particular was very well written. And a heck of a lot cleaner than some others I've read. The girls will just drop them off anonymously sometimes. Others will give them to me face to face. I've learned to deal with it."

I smiled a bit, "I can understand why. Some girls get infatuated easily at this age. You're amazingly patient."

"The wife isn't." He admitted.

"I see. Well, I won't keep you."

"Before you go," he began, "The glasses..."

I blushed, "She has a thing for guys in glasses. Wait..." This time, I asked him for one more request. I then left to find Dana. I wanted to let her know what I thought of the chapter. I read it quickly on the way. The chapter had blank pages waiting to be filled. I guess that's why she got them mixed up.

It was about a young woman being whisked away by her uncle from an abusive home. They get run off the road and when the woman wakes up, she's in a mansion all alone. She wanders around to later be greeted by a man she does not know. He is a handsome blond man, a vampire (she mentioned fangs) with a pair of thin framed, oval glasses. I felt embarrassed for her. It wasn't poorly written, it was only her admiring him. But still, mushy. Mushy right in Mr. Elric's face.

I didn't tell her a thing about what happened, but instead, I substituted a plan I confirmed with my professor before leaving his office.

"Is it darker in here today?" Charis asked and looked around the room curiously, giving a twirl. Her dress poofed out. Feeling a lot better today, she was back to her old self.

I nodded in agreement, "I think so." I looked up to the front of the classroom to see Mr. Elric squinting a paper. "Is there something wrong with the light?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yeah. They told me it should be fixed by lunch."

We all sat down for the days lesson. Twenty, or so, minutes into class Edward had to stop on account of a headache. After another comment about the lighting, he begrudgingly put his glasses on. I could hear Dana next to me stop breathing for a moment. They weren't oval like she'd hoped. They were rectangle. Thin frames. silver in color and black for the face. They made him look older. Or maybe more mature. Either way, I kind of saw what Dana was gushing over.

After class she was off like a dress on prom night. She pulled Kandra along with her and I'm sure they left a smoke trail they went so fast. I stayed behind to finish the notes. As much as I loved my research, I hated writing notes.

"That was pretty clever." Mr. Elric commented. "Dim the lights so I have to use the glasses. I like it." He reached behind the bookcase and turned on the remaining two lights. "There we go."

"I would have replaced all the bulbs if I needed to." I joked. That was my initial plan until he told me about the hidden switches.

"She could have asked me to try them on. I have no problem with being seen in them. Again, this isn't the first time this has happened."

"I'd believe it. But if I asked you like that, she would have known."

"Then you could have assumed responsibility for this scheme," he said, referencing the lights.

I shrugged, "I didn't want to have to find an explanation. Plus, if you weren't in on it, you would have known to fix the lights right away."

He nodded again. "True. It's a shame you can't take any credit for this. You're a good friend."

"I try." I departed shortly after. Towards the end of the day, I saw Dana sitting next to Kendra in the lunch room. Kendra was doodling away in her sketchbook.

"A little thicker," Dana instructed.

"What are you two up to?" I asked and sat across from them.

"...there. Good?" she asked as she held up her drawing. It was a sketch of Mr. Elric reading a book and looking up as if he were surprised by something. Of course, he had the glasses on. Kendra scored the page with a blade and removed it carefully from her book. "I'll bring hairspray tomorrow so it won't smudge," she said an put away her supplies.

"Thank you so much," As though she was holding a delicate robins egg, she held the picture delicatly and admired it's penmanship.

Kendra snickered, "I better not see kiss stains on that tomorrow." We laughed.

I was starting to see Kendra's point. About us being diverse an all. It wasn't just in looks, it was in personality and talent. Charis was a sweet, fashion designer in bloom. Dana was a shy, writer on the cusp of being published. Kendra was nothing short of a brilliant artist, tempered with leadership skills. Myself? As I said, I'm a researcher. So I do not create things as my friends do. I find answers and present them, for I am an alchemist, through and through.

Each one of our professions of choice required alchemy at one point or another for one reason or another. All I knew was, that was our bond. We didn't talk about the same things all the time, so we always found each other interesting. I never confirmed with the girls if they felt the same way, but I didn't need to. I could feel it.

After Dana sauntered off with her new picture, I left with Kendra. She was giving me a ride home today.

"So," she began, "It's my turn," she said as we waited for a break to turn out of the driveway of the school.

"Are we lined up for something?" I said. Again, a silly answer to an uninformative question.

"It's my turn to get some help from you. Both Charis and then Dana got it. I want in too."

"Neither of them worked out." I kind of lied. Normally I avoid doing so, but in an instance where I may discourage or hurt someone, I'll bend the truth a bit.

"Still. You seem to be the least interested in Edward. Dana's happy with the picture, Charis is discouraged because she disgraced herself in front of him. That just leaves you and I. Are you with me? Or are you on your own?" she said competitively.

I sighed. It seemed I was doing a lot of that lately. "I'll help you."

"Great. We're going to head to my place for a bit, is that okay?"

I nodded, "My folks are out for the evening, I don't have to make supper tonight."

"Even better." She turned right and traveled down the road further. "This one is going to take some planning. I speculate that by the end of the week, I'll have him."

"Remember, he's married," I said, feeling I shouldn't have had to remind her.

Kendra rolled her eyes. "Like that matters. She's miles away, he's lonely and I'm going to keep him company. I don't care what you think. I'm going for it," she said. I could vaugly hear the similarities between her and a spoiled child. She did get greedy at times, this looked like it was going to be one of them.

"I'm just saying, what if he's not lonely," I processed my words quickly, "or what if he has someone keeping him company already."

Kendra gave me a look of determination, "There hasn't been one thing I've done that's impossible. I'll get him. You'll see." Her smile was evil. I didn't like the feeling of this. Charis and Dana were innocent enough, but I knew that when Kendra got going, she would pull every punch.

I slouched in the passenger seat, "As long as it's nothing illegal."

"Don't worry," she said with a half mouthed smirk, "It's all going to be by the books. Legit."

Now, I was really worried.

A/n: Any thoughts guys?