Hey guys, Julie here. I know, I'm so bad. I haven't updated "Every Action In This World" or "Books, Falls and Not-So-New Friends." I have the chapters written for them, I'm just doing some last minute editing. I decided to submit this to make up for it. This has been kicking around My Documents for a long time, I just never really wanted to post it. I'll get you the next chapter for the other two for Monday. Please don't stone me.

This is one of those "someone from Earth ends up in Amestris" type fictions. Winnifred, or Freddy, knows nothing about Edward Elric, or Fullmetal Alchemist, or even anime. She's just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My Misadventures in Alchemy

Chapter 1: Be Nice to the Babysitter!

"Win! Freddy! Winnifred!"

The sound of my particularly annoying name reached my ears and I bristled, sighing before turning around, watching as my best friend of thirteen years out of my sixteen years of life came running down the hall of our high school. You'd think after her being my best friend of thirteen years Terry would learn that I hate that name. I pulled the earphones from my ears as I watched her catch up to me, shuffling the books in her arms.

"I've been calling you since the History wing, what were you doing?"

"Listening to music and contemplating the meaning of life, reviewing the words of great philosophers and plotting world domination."

"You're such an ass."

"Thank you!"

We fell into step as we walked to the lockers at the opposite end of the school, stopping and collecting whatever we would need for the weekend that was blissfully ahead. The bustle of a Friday afternoon rushed past us and out the door. I heard Terry snap her locker shut and walk over to me as I continued to shove my oversized, outdated, overcomplicated Chemistry textbook into my backpack. I snarled and pointed to it, stamping my foot on the floor as I half sobbed, half shouted.

"See? It's mocking me! It's saying 'Win, you suck! You couldn't do a stonchiometry equation to save your life!'"

"Stoichiometry."

"Oh shut up! I can write poetry, I can speak three languages, I can rattle of facts about the World Wars, but don't ask me to balance an equation..."

Terry laughed her evil little laugh as I finished packing my bag for the weekend, leaning casually against the locker beside mine, checking her nails and sighing that cool as a cucumber sigh she always does before she drops a bombshell. I looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow.

"Mike's throwing a party tonight, all are welcome…"

I straightened and stared at her with my green eyes wide and my mouth open, resembling a gold fish.

"Mike? 'Mike McSteamy' Mike?"

Terry giggled at our code name for my crush for the past three years and nodded. The prospect of showing up in my favourite white dress that didn't make me look shorter than I already am with my red hair curled down my back, looking fantastic and finally wooing him into going on a date made me grin wickedly. But then my eye caught the calendar I had hung in my locker and I frowned, whining pathetically.

"Argh! I have to baby sit tonight! The Robson kids!"

"The ones totally obsessed with Hannah Montana?"

"No, that's the Steinbeck's, the Robson's are completely into anime."

"Oh."

And so I shut my locker, grumbling and hauling my heavy backpack onto my shoulders. Don't get me wrong, I love kids and I love to baby sit, but it was Mike McSteamy! Shuffling out the door, we made our way over to the parking lot, Terry grabbing her car keys from her back pack. She popped open the locks to her ancient Honda and we got in. In a matter of minutes, we were driving down my street and pulling into my driveway.

"Hey, do you think you could drive me to the Robson's?"

"You have two feet and a heartbeat, walk!"

"Have you ever carried one of my baby sitting kits?"

Terry sighed and waved me inside to get my stuff. I ran in, said a hurried hello to my mom and little brother, then ran into my bedroom. I dumped my backpack out, safe for my Chemistry textbook and binder, then grabbed a stuffed animal, my small phonebook with parents' cell phone numbers, my cell phone, my iPod, a kid safe DVD, a travel board game, a flashlight and a bag of sugar free snacks. After grabbing my jacket and my medications, I ran back out to meet Terry. Five minutes later I was standing in front of the Robson's door.

"Hey Winnifred, the kids are downstairs, they just finished eating dinner, there's pizza in the fridge so help yourself! We'll be back at nine, kids in bed by eight."

"Thanks Mrs. Robson."

Ignoring the little slip of my first name, I waited until the parents left, grabbed a slice of pizza and went down to the rec room, where sure enough, little Miley and Leslie Robson were watching some unknown anime show. I smiled and sat down on the floor, leaning my back against the sofa, plunking my baby sitting kit and homework down next to me.

"Hey guys!"

"Hi Winnifred!"

"Call me Freddy."

Miley, the younger of the two at age seven and the girl, sat down next to me on the floor and opened my backpack. I watched as she flipped through my homework. Leslie crawled along the sofa until he was watching over my shoulder, eyes practically swimming at the numbers and equations.

"Is that math?"

"Nope, chemistry."

"Cool. Ed could do that!"

"Who?"

"A character from one of our favourite animes. But he uses circles."

Anime again. I looked up at him with a confused look. Circles? What the heck was this kid on? I took a bite of my pizza and Leslie got up, walking over to a big roll of paper. Mrs. Robson was an art teacher, so the rec room was always full of some art supply or another. I watched as the ten year old boy tore off a meter and a half squared chunk of paper, then set it down. Grabbing a felt pen from the nearby desk, he drew out a rather elaborate looking design. No doubt about it, the kid inherited his mother's talent for art. When he finished, Leslie sat back and pointed.

"Get in the middle of the circle, Freddy! We can try and get you to Amestris to meet him."

"Amestris? Wow. This kid had an imagination. I tilted my head to the side, then decided to humor them. What was the harm in that?

"Okay, but I'm taking my homework with me. If this kid is as good as you say with chemisty, I'm gonna need some help."

Miley giggled and put the books back in my backpack, handing it to me. I took one last bite of my pizza and stood up, brushing the crumbs off my hands with my jeans. Slinging my backpack onto my shoulders, I stepped into the middle of the circle. It was actually a very pretty design, I might get him to draw it out on a smaller piece of paper to put inside my locker. Miley got down on the floor next to her brother and grinned excitedly. Leslie looked around, then up at me.

"Freddy, do you have any batteries?"

"What for?"

"We need energy from somewhere!"

Duh, I was the one in chemistry class, shouldn't I know that? I quirked an eyebrow at him. Did I have batteries? Let's see, DVD, stuffed animal… Oh yeah, I had my flashlight! Slinging my backpack off, I grabbed the flashlight and unscrewed the cap. Handing the two D batteries over, I watched as Leslie gave one to his sister.

"I'm gonna need those when I come back from visiting Eric."

"Ed."

"Right."

I watched in amusement as Miley and Leslie put the batteries on the edge of circle, positioning them exactly across from each other. These kids had watched far too much anime than could be healthy. I smiled as they both clapped in unison, placing their hands down on either side of the batteries, fingertips brushing the polls. Nothing. Just a nervous sense of apprehension and excitement of kids. I waited a moment, then sighed.

"Sorry guys, maybe Ed's busy. Can't take visitors right now."

Leslie sighed and Miley nodded, hands still on the circle. And then it happened. A sickening lurch in my body around my middle. It lasted barely a moment, then it happened again. I looked down at the kids, eyes wide as they stared in disbelief. I opened my mouth to tell them to take their hands off the design, but nothing came out. I was getting dizzy, then everything went black. I was falling as if the ground beneath me had been ripped away. I clawed above me, trying to reach the rec room, trying to grasp onto one of the kids' hands, anything to stay in that one spot. Wind whipped my hair around, chilling me as I fell faster and faster.

I hit ground. Hard and painful ground. Distantly I heard the clatter of two objects landing nearby and I struggled to open my eyes. I felt as though I had been hit by a truck, and having had that very experience in the second grade, I knew what it felt like. I was never eating pizza and playing "Adventures in Anime" again. I was scared to move, but after doing a quick check of my body (Could I wiggle my fingers and toes? OW, yes!) I concluded that it was safer to find out where I was. I opened my eyes and stared in disbelief. Where ever I was, it was the middle of the night. Hadn't it been six o'clock in a May evening back in Vancouver? Why was it dark?

I sat up very slowly, looking around me. I was in what I could only guess was the hallway to an apartment building, or a dorm. There were countless doors down the hall, all numbered. The hall seemed to stretch forever and I had to squint against the dim light to see if it ever ended. There was blue carpet beneath me, much unlike the wooden floor of the Robson's rec room, and the paper with the circle was gone. I saw the two batteries lying nearby and that's when I remembered the kids. Who were nowhere to be seen.

"Miley? Leslie? Kids! Kids, where are you!? Not funny, get over here now!"

I was always the punch line of a good joke. I gingerly stood up, grabbing the batteries and stuffing them in my pocket. I adjusted the backpack that had miraculously staid on my back through the ordeal, looking from one end of the hall to the other, vision still blurring a little. I raised my hand to my forehead and winced, drawing my hand back to see crimson staining my fingers. Those kids were definitely getting a time out, I didn't care how old they were.

"Miley and Leslie Robson, get over here now!"

At my shout, the door directly in front me swung open and I stared in disbelief as a large, glinting suit of armour filled the doorway, towering a good three feet above me. Not hard considering I barely reached 5'2". I didn't see anything in the way of iris and pupil, but the eyes of the helmet glowed red and white, the clanging as it moved forward hollow sounding, a voice echoing through the armour.

"Could you please not shout? It's two in the morning and people are trying to sleep!"

My jaw dropped, my blood covered hand still held in front of me and I stared in shock. Between seeing the real life version of The Iron Giant and a swift blow to the head, something caused my brain to go into overload. The edges of my vision began to swim and I hit the floor for the second time that night.

Uh oh, Freddy's in a sticky mess! I'm sure you can guess who the suit of armour is! Yay, Al Pal! So far, that's it. I'll have the next chapter by the end of the week. "Every Action in this World" will be updated by Monday.