I own nothing.
~Overcome Your Fears~
Chapter 1: A New Life
"We're moving where?" I asked, unhappy with what was happening in my life.
My mother sighed. "It's a small town called Destiny Islands, Lexi. It's just for summer break, and we think this will be good for you."
"You dress too darkly nowadays. You need to get out more," dad advised. I stared down at my clothes.
Ok, so maybe I'm a little dark, and my clothes are a little too black, and I lock myself in my room all the time. And maybe my parents have been worried about me. But you know what? I don't care what they think. It's called independence—freedom of expression, old-timers! Unlike back in the days where dinosaurs and my parents roamed the earth, our laws allow us to express ourselves.
"I'm not going," I said firmly.
"Yes, you are," dad replied, just as strictly. "We have an old friend who you can stay with for a while. He has a daughter about your age, and you can play with her and her friends."
I rolled my eyes. "Dad, I'm fourteen. I don't 'play' anymore. I hang out. Besides, what about my other friends? I have plans with Anna!"
Anna's my best friend. She's a year older than me, and we're exact opposites—she's preppy and cheerful, I'm dark and pretty moody. This was the year that she was finally going to help me get my crush since second grade, Anthony. We weren't going to stalk him or anything, but we were going to ask him to hang out with us or something! There goes my summer vacation!
"Cheer up, sis," a new voice said, walking into the room. I rolled my eyes; my stupid older brother, Broderick, is in my life for the sole purpose of annoying me to death, and he enjoys his job a lot more than he should. He looks pretty average for a fifteen-year-old—he has black hair like me, and his eyes are bright blue, unlike mine, which are a murky brown. "It's just a little sun. It won't hurt you."
Dad shot him a warning glare, but it was too late. "Sun?" I asked, my eyes frantically shifting as if searching for the light. "Not sun. Not a chance. I refuse to go."
See, I have severe photophobia, which is the fear of light. My eyes are very sensitive, and even one glance of the sun will make me scream, which sort of explains my home-schooling and the fact that I only know the kids from my neighborhood. It's also why I don't wear bright colors. I'm not totally sure why I'm scared of light—that's a memory I've long since forgotten. All I know is that, whenever even a hint of brightness comes in, I feel a wave of pure terror and I just want to curl up into a ball. It's been like this as long as I can remember.
"Lexi," dad pleaded, "please see sense." But I was too far gone.
"No…" I whispered, my head between my knees, trying to keep that image of bright light from my head and barely holding back tears. "No light…please…"
Seeing that I was a lost cause, my parents left, ushering Broderick (note to self: must kill my brother) with them and leaving me alone so that I could finally let out a few terrified sobs. I was sure this wasn't the last I'd hear of the trip—they'd probably force me to go. But right then, when I was stifling cries of horror and trying my hardest not to absolutely bawl like a stupid baby, I didn't really care.
"I hate you," I told Broderick as soon as we stepped off the plane.
He just grinned. Unfortunately, he'd been right before; it was very sunny here, and I was forced to wear some very shaded sunglasses and a bright grey fedora over my eyes to stop myself from screaming. Actually, I must have really stood out from the crowd—a girl dressed in a black skull t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and converse with completely straight black hair, skin that's practically white, sunglasses and a fedora to hide my face is bound to be noticeable anywhere, really.
Sighing, I fought my way through the large crowd at the airport. It had been a week since I'd first been told I'd been going on this pointless trip for the rest of the summer, I'd just spent three hours on a plane ride, and I heard people talking about how sunny it was today. Needless to say, I was not happy. And my mood didn't really improve when my baggage didn't show up.
"Where is it?" I grumbled, watching as all of the bags made another revolution. Broderick shrugged, bouncing back and forth on his feet in the most annoying way ever. "Would you stop?" I asked, irritated.
"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p' at the end. And just to annoy me further, he started whistling.
I stood there, agonizing over whether or not to slap him across the face with my carry-on bag, when I heard a voice comment, "Excuse me, are you Broderick and Lexi?"
"That's us," I replied, turning around. Standing there were four people. One of them, this really old guy who just smiled weakly, was the person I assumed was the mayor. The girl next to him had really short red hair, and she was grinning. She looked kind of girly, but having hung out with Anna for most of my life, she wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Standing awkwardly next to her was a boy who light brown hair that stuck out at all angles and bright blue eyes. He was staring at my clothes, awed. And next to him was another boy, one who looked about Broderick's age, which meant that my brother wouldn't bug me as much. He had aquamarine eyes and silver hair that reached his shoulders.
I was thinking, silver hair when he's fifteen? Wow. Either he's really short or really stressed out. But I stayed silent. Te red-head spoke, beaming. "I'm Kairi, and this is Sora and Riku." She motioned to each of them in turn.
I nodded in their general direction. "Lexi," I smiled. "And the idiot standing next to me is my older brother, Broderick."
"Hey!" he protested, but I had already taken off to grab my bag, seeing as to how it had finally appeared. Shouldering it, I sighed.
"Welcome," said the old man, and his voice was crackly. I shuddered; it was hard to imagine being with this guy for a full car ride, much less my entire summer. Sighing, I resigned myself to the fact that it would only get worse from then on.
If I'd known just how much worse, I would've taken a plane back home, right then and there.
I was mostly silent on the car ride home; Kairi and what's-his-name—Sora, I think—chattered animatedly, using their hands a lot. Broderick struck up a conversation with Riku, and I stared at my feet, refusing to stare out the window because of the light.
"Hey, Lexi," Sora said, and I turned to see him leaning against the front of his seat and the back of mine.
"Yes?" I asked, eyebrows raised.
"Why aren't you talking? You look like you're doing some deep thinking."
Maybe because I am, I thought. "No reason," I replied absently. "Just wondering what the islands will be like."
His eyes lit up and he started a rant that felt like it took hours. I was half-asleep by the time we reached the large house that I assumed was Kairi's, and I practically threw myself outside. It was hard not to yell my thanks to God, but not too hard, because that would've involved looking at the sun.
Anyways, after I made my way out of the car, the others followed me, the first being Broderick and the last being Sora. I made my way inside, the entire troupe chatting and laughing behind me, giving me a small headache. I found one of their spare bedrooms and, after shooing everyone out, started to unpack.
The first thing I took out was a picture of Anna grinning while I made a face. I smiled fondly at the memory before sighing unhappily.
This was going to be one heck of a summer vacation.
"You go without me," I exclaimed to Kairi, who was currently lying, upside-down, on my bed.
"Aw," she complained lightly. "Where's the fun in coming to an island if you don't even swim?"
I smiled slightly before shrugging. "The sun just doesn't agree with me. Whenever it's cloudy or rainy out I'll come, OK?"
After pouting for a few more minutes, she gave up and left for the beach, along with my brother, who was making cryptic remarks about how 'am I allergic to light or something?', earning himself a glare from me. Nobody here knew about my aversion to light, and I was going to keep it that way!
When they were gone, I sighed, bored. I wasn't going outside, my cell phone was charging, and stupid me—I'd left my laptop at home. Sighing, I wandered around the house that I would be staying in for the rest of the summer. Grabbing an apple for sustenance, I traveled up the stairs to find an old, worn-out attic—the perfect place for someone to hide a deep, dark secret. Not bothering to contain my grin, I stuck the apple core in my pocket and started searching.
An hour or two later, I was lying on my back, staring at the ceiling. Sure, I'd found some cool stuff up there—there was this awesome antique record player, and these really weird photos of what looked like a UFO—but nothing kept me occupied for more than a few minutes.
In resignation, I trudged downstairs and into my temporary/somewhat permanent guest room. Collapsing onto the bed, I was startled when I heard a somewhat familiar voice comment, "You could always go outside."
I sat up and turned to look at the silverette intruder. "What do you want, Riku?" I asked, tired.
He shrugged. "Nothing. Kairi kept complaining that you were probably lonely, so I came here to make her stop bugging me."
I chuckled. "Anything for girls, right?"
He made a face. "You say that because you've never fallen for their charms!"
We were both laughing by now. "Oh, so I'm supposed to fall for a girl's charms?" I asked, mock offended. "I'm sorry, Riku, but I think that that is out of the question. That would be like you falling for Sora!"
"Oh, please," he complained lightly. "You wouldn't believe how many girls on this island have asked if I'm gay for him."
My eyes widened. "Seriously?" I asked, barely holding back a snort.
He rolled his eyes. "Seriously," he nodded.
I couldn't help myself. I busted out laughing. "Oh…my…gosh!" I gasped out between my giggles. "You must be joking!"
He grinned. "No lie," he replied. "I personally don't see what's so funny about this."
I was holding my side when I stopped for breath. "You don't know?" I asked, disbelieving.
The rest of the evening went in that fashion—we bantered playfully, chatted about random unimportant topics, and somehow, he even found my ticklish spot (which I will never tell you about). When Kairi came back, I was laughing with him at the front door, working to push him out of the house.
"Come on, you big lug! Move!" I grunted. "God, Riku. How much do you weigh?"
"More than you," he challenged, holding his grip on the door frame.
I rolled my eyes. "Help me out here, Kairi," I pleaded. She just chuckled and ducked under his arms. I made a face over my shoulder before, with one final push, his fingers let go and he stumbled outside.
"Bye," I said brightly and slammed the door on his face.
I could see him waving through the window; I waved back before returning to the very dark safety of my new room.
I thought it would be an interesting twist to have someone be scared of the light. This IS a Sora x OC fic, but it includes one-sided Riku x OC. And…yeah.
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