Third entry: April 13- April 16

April 13

"These past few days have been so busy and exciting; I've hardly had time for my journal. I'm learning so much already—especially how much there is that I have yet to learn.

I am glad that I started studying alchemy back home, because otherwise I wouldn't have made it through the first three days here. Thankfully I already had sufficient understanding of the concept of equivalent exchange. Hawkeye-sensei didn't say he's satisfied by that, but he finally smiled (which makes him look a lot less like a scarecrow and more like a normal person). And then he said my grasp of the foundational concepts is refreshing, because so many of his former students came to him expecting to be taught how to transmute objects out of thin air. ('Convinced they'd soon be conjuring carbuncles from currants' was his actual phrase).

Afterward, he quizzed me extensively on my knowledge of chemistry and biology. He showed me where the higher-level books on those subjects are kept in his library, and suggested that I spend time studying the more advanced stuff in these subjects, because it would help me later down the line. No arguments here. It would be better to know the exact chemical composition of something before you tried to transmute it, rather than having to stop in the middle of the process to go and look it up. Especially if there is something important that needs to be transmuted right away.

I haven't seen Miss Hawkeye since the first night I got here, and her bedroom door is always closed when I pass. But I know she's around here somewhere, because there is always food left out for me and teacher at mealtimes. I'm still really curious about Miss Hawkeye's relationship to sensei, but I think it'd be too impertinent for me to ask."

April 15

"I finally ran into Miss Hawkeye again this morning. I also found out that she's the one who does all of the housework as well as the cooking. When I walked into the study, there she was dusting the books. She seemed surprised when I greeted her, but she responded with some vague polite words and went back to dusting. For whatever reason, she seemed to be uncomfortable being in the same room as me.

Perhaps she's just shy? Or maybe Hawkeye sensei's students normally ignore her, so she doesn't know how to react to me? Sensei did tell me to leave her alone, but I don't think he meant I shouldn't talk to her at all. And since she's the only other person in the house aside from Hawkeye-sensei, I'd been thinking that I'd try and make friends with Miss Hawkeye.

I wonder now whether she'll let me.

Either way, I don't think I'm off to a very good start. I was trying to make small talk, to sort of draw her out a little. She looked confused when I asked her who normally helped her out with the housework, and then blushed and told me that she did all the work herself.

Then I was afraid I'd offended her—me and my big mouth. I didn't mean to imply anything with my question, but she might've thought that I was mocking her for doing the work of a servant or something. I panicked a little, and said that since she kept everything so clean around here, I'd just assumed there were several professionals around to do all the work. Stupid, I know. But it earned me a little half-smile, which I hoped was an encouraging sign. While I was racking my brain for something else to say, Hawkeye-sensei walked in. Miss Hawkeye said she'd let us get to our studies, and then she was gone before I could blink."

April 16

"I think we've established a pretty solid routine now. Since Hawkeye-sensei hasn't said anything about tossing me out on my ear yet, I'm hopeful that this means he's decided I'm worth teaching—for the time being at least. I still wake up much earlier than sensei, who I assume works late into the night on his own research. I make myself breakfast, since that seems to be the only meal Miss Hawkeye doesn't bother with preparing, and then I go study in the library until it's time for my lesson. Even though I learned a lot from Juliet, my cooking isn't nearly as good as Miss Hawkeye's, so I'm really glad she's around to make the other meals.

Now that we've gone over the essentials together, Hawkeye-sensei has decided to change up how we've been doing lessons. From here on out, he'll set me a task and give me a certain amount of time to figure out how to do it. We'll meet only twice a week now, so I'll have the rest of the time to study on my own and solve my task. I guess this means Hawkeye-sensei's confident that I'm not going to accidentally bring the place down around our heads while doing some amateur alchemic experiment. And at the moment he's just giving me complex equations to solve, nothing practical yet, so there isn't much chance of me blowing the place up anyway.

Since we won't be meeting every day, I'll have a lot more free time on my hands. Normally I'd be thrilled about that, but it's not as though I have any friends in town, and there isn't really much to do around here. I don't know how Miss Hawkeye manages her boredom. I suppose she must go to school during the day, so maybe she has friends from there that she spends time with. They certainly never come here to see her, though. Or if they do, they are as silent and invisible as she seems to be.

I'm really going to try harder to get to know her—it'd be nice to have someone else to talk to in this place. It'll be something of a challenge though, since she seems to be either really shy, or just really good at avoiding me. She's definitely not the outgoing type, anyway.

With the retired life she and sensei live out here, it's no wonder there are so many rumors about Hawkeye-sensei…and I wonder whether Miss Hawkeye has a hard time making friends because of them. I can almost picture a group of her schoolmates sitting around the table in total silence, all of them terrified to make a noise lest they disturb the local alchemist."

Because the townspeople did seem to hold their resident alchemist in particularly high regard, Roy noticed. He'd paid close attention to the whispers and stares directed at him when he dropped off his first packet of letters at the little post office, and he'd gotten the distinct impression that Master Hawkeye was a bit of a celebrity in these parts. His reclusive habits were likely disregarded as the eccentricity that came hand in hand with genius, and his neighbors certainly seemed to admire him for his talent. But still, admiration wasn't the same as real affection and friendship.

As he trotted along the lonely country lane that led back to the Hawkeye estate, Roy tried to ignore the growing pangs of homesickness. It'd probably be a few days before he'd get anything back from the girls…not that he missed them or anything. Course not.

Gregarious by nature, Roy's spirits were beginning to feel the strain of the seclusion his teacher preferred. It had been a whole week, but the only people he'd talked to so far were the two inmates of the Hawkeye residence. Though the people in town had seemed friendly enough, they'd also been very distant towards him. Reminding him, as though he didn't already know it, that he was an outsider and a visitor here, and not someone they'd open up to after a mere week's acquaintance.

And five miles was a long way to walk for the sake of just-this-side-of-civil conversation. Especially when there was someone close to his own age right here in this very house he could talk to. In theory, at least.

His natural curiosity about people in general was fueled by the fact that Miss Hawkeye was so elusive. Roy couldn't figure out how she moved so quickly and quietly through the house, or why he so rarely saw her. Surely she didn't spend all of her time locked in her own room, so where did she go? What did she do, besides cook and clean? Surely she had other interests? Hobbies?

He'd barely seen her since their brief encounter in the library, but he'd unconsciously started to look for her as he went about his day, wondering whether she was at school in town while he sat toiling with his teacher in the library, or imagining what she might be reading or studying while he was writing to his sisters late into the night and pretending he didn't miss their bright chatter and infectious energy. In fact, Roy still wasn't entirely certain whether Miss Hawkeye attended school in town or not. He never saw her during the day when one might expect school to be in session, but then again he never saw her leaving or coming home dressed in a school uniform either. He just plain didn't see her.

Not that she made an effort to call attention to herself when she was present...she moved on silent feet through the house, flitting like a ghost from room to room. Judging from the few glimpses he'd had of the girl, he'd seen how thoughtful she was, and how solicitous of Hawkeye-sensei's health and comfort. More than once, she'd slipped into the room unnoticed by the elder scholar to carry away dishes he'd left out from an earlier meal or to bring in a fresh pot of tea.

Roy watched her every move with bright, curious eyes, eager to say something friendly towards her should she look his way, but so far she'd avoided his gaze and slipped away again in silence. His teacher always seemed vaguely surprised to find a cup of hot tea sitting at his elbow where he'd left an empty cup, but he simply drank it and continued his studies without comment. This just confused Roy further.

Miss Hawkeye's behavior wasn't hostile, and she didn't seem exactly unfriendly, just...cold. Or...shy? Reserved? It was difficult to find an appropriate adjective to describe her. All that he knew for sure was that he was getting lonely in this big old house, and he was ready to make this girl a friend… if only she'd cooperate.

A.N. Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites, everyone! You guys are the best!

xoxo Janie