Chapter Twenty-Eight: Im Not The Jerk For Once

A Chapter by Emunah June.

But, as we all know, I woke up.

I actually woke up to the sound of the telephone ringing downstairs. It rung for awhile, and when it was obvious that Alfons was waiting for me to go get it, I stood up.

Luckily, my arm didnt give me any trouble this morning, so I was able to move much faster.

I picked up the phone and groggily answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Alfons?"

"Um...no. This is Edward."

"Oh good! Just the person I wanted to talk to!"

I stood quietly, trying to decide if the man on the other line was being serious or not.

"Yes, you friend....I've chosen her to be helping the town out with a project. Do you mind?"

I froze, gripping onto the telephone cord. What? Koda already found something else to do? But she just got here! LIKE YESTERDAY! I sighed. "She'll come back soon, right?" I asked, hoping that maybe it was only a day thing and that I'd get to see her tonight. "Yes, she'll be back, the latest by tomorrow," said the voice on the other line.

My feelings were hurt, but I had no choice but to agree with him. Koda could go and do the stupid project, and then she'd be back and I could lecture her then. But for now, she wanted to do something else...

...other than be with me.

"You take care of her," I said sternly. The man mumbled a "of course" before talking again. "Alright, she's here, if you want to talk to her," he offered. My knee jerk reaction was to say "yes" and talk to her. However, my heart ached too much to talk to her right now, so I simply said "No thanks."

"No? Alright, well, thank you. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone, still bewildered of what was going on. I made my way over to the sofa, where I sat and fought the urge to cry. I covered my eyes with my hands and tried to get my thoughts straight.

It's not like you care about me anyways, so why stay?

I jumped, this thought hitting me harder than a wrench when my friend Winry hits me with a wrench (she's got issues...need I point this out?). Koda had said that 2 years ago...to me.

I was in the middle of a life-or-death battle then, with Koda's life on the line. Needless to say, I had my AutoMail then, so I was doing much more damage then as I would now. The enemy, Envy, was something we call a "hommuculus"--in other words, a doll that has super mutant powers and feelings. And Envy, as you may have guessed, only felt anger and jealousy towards me. So, in order to get to me, he took Koda and locked her up in this giant glass tube suspended from the ceiling. The game was just that: a game.

And games have rules.

My rules were this: everytime I fell down, Koda's tube filled higher with water. If I fell too much, Koda would be completely submerged and (duh) drown. So I was trying my best to keep my balance when, suddenly, Koda burst out that saying. Her eyes were filled with hurt then, and it was obvious she was fighting some inner demons. But I was a jerky 16 year old boy who didn't really care much. I had only just self-confessed my love for her then, so I was still new at the topic of "being nice". It's still something I struggle with today. The battle ended with Envy cutting Koda open, thus her dying.

And then she jumped bodies.

Then her body (a gypsy named Noah) was burned at the stake, so her soul was thrust back to our world, and she got off scott free.

And here I was, a trapped bird in a German cage.

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