one-shot;; namixas
I do not own.
enjoy.
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D E F I N I T I O N
O P P O S I T I O N
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Main entry: Popular – pop-u-lar(pop-yuh-ler)
-adjective
1. Regarded with great favour, approval, or affection especially by the general public; "a popular tourist attraction"; "a popular girl"
"a popular girl" – you could say that was the perfect description of her. What with her brains, looks and personality, who wouldn't want to be her? Easy. She didn't want to be herself.
That's right. Naminé Sasaki didn't want to be "a popular girl". Or rather, the popular girl. At least, at the end. At first, she loved it. For Naminé was the queen bee of Twilight High. She always had been, and probably always would be.
Ever since she was young, she'd had a knack for making fast friends. She was funny, sweet, caring, and everyone loved her; everyone wanted to be her friend. And she wanted to be everyone's friend.
She loved being surrounded by a large group of friends. She loved the constant compliments she was bombarded with. She loved the attention she got. But most of all, she loved the guys that this brought.
There was no denying that Naminé was a beautiful girl. Her light, crystal blue eyes entranced people, held boys captive with one look. Her fair, flawless skin and petite stature were enough to turn girls green with envy. Her long, radiating, light blonde hair was softer to the touch than any angel's wings.
Most described her as just that: an angel. For not only did she resemble one in appearance, but also in personality. She had a heart of pure gold: she helped out anyone who needed it, and wouldn't hurt a fly. She was the most generous, unselfish, loving person you could ever meet. That was in junior school.
But when she started high school, she fell victim to the ol' devil called 'popularity'. Whereas in junior school, popularity meant who people turned to for help, who got the biggest cookie at break; high school changed it's definition to a much harsher, venomous one. One that changed the whole definition of Naminé.
She was totally unprepared for what was coming. She was young, naïve, and didn't realize what sort of a person you had to become in order to be "popular". But she still craved having that large group of friends and followers, having all those people look up to her.
As a freshman, her beautiful looks immediately caused resentment to ooze out of the other girls, pure hatred all directed at her. It had a completely different affect with the boys, though – they all loved her, all wanted to have her. This only caused the hatred to deepen.
Her kindness also became a thing of resentment. People thought she was being a stupid "show-off" who thought everyone else was below her. This confused Naminé – all she wanted was to make others around her happy. Why was she being so hated for it?
She grew lonely. And so soon, she dropped her old habits. She toughened up, treated others the way they treated her, no longer picked up every piece of litter on the floor that she passed. And she dropped her innocent school-girl clothing, and picked up the fashion that other's around her wore. Slowly, she began to fit in more.
Determined, she rounded up a group of the prettiest girls in school (none of whom were as beautiful as her, of course), and quickly befriended them. Even through dropping her lovingness, she still oozed that air that made those close to her want to be like her. And so that's how Naminé Sasaki became the leader of her group of friends – Kairi, Selphie, Olette, Rikku and Yuna.
These six girls quickly reached the top of the school's food chain. They charmed people with their alluring looks, managed to control those around them with a glance of the eye. But Naminé Sasaki was always on top – she became the queen bee, just like she'd always wanted. Once again, she had the friends, the compliments, the attention, and the guys. And she loved it more than ever.
And just like the girls had their group, the boys had also formed different groups, with different popularity ratings. There were the jocks (the sport-obsessed hotties), the skaters (the rebelling outcasts), the nerds (the unsociable geeks)…the list went on.
When they were in their Sophomore year, the boys and girls groups slowly merged. The queen-bee's and the jocks (Sora, Riku, Tidus, Wakka and Hayner) formed one, large posse, who had control over the entire student body. And Naminé Sasaki was the one who was in charge of them all.
Heck, even the Seniors knew who the populars were. Cloud, Leon, Axel, Larxene, Aerith and Yuffie, who were the ex queen bees and heartthrobs, befriended the new populars. And this only made all of their popularity ratings soar even higher.
And then came Sora Tanaka – the star Blitzball player, the guy who had grown from a cheesy-grinning cutie to a suave, seductive heart-throb. The guy the entire female population would die for. Sora also had a knack for controlling people the way Naminé did, and quickly found himself on the highest step of the social ladder, right beside Naminé.
Main entry: Heartthrob – heart-throb (hahrt-throb)
-noun
1. Infatuation; a sweetheart; object of one's affection.
Sora Tanaka sure was a heartthrob alright. But he wasn't just the object of one's affection. He was the object of many's affection. How could he not be? He was the sort of guy that girls fell for on the spot; that turned girls to melted puddles on the floor with one look of those twinkling blue eyes. His spiky brown hair was the object of many girls affections and his wide smile was proclaimed "too cute for words".
At first, Naminé was jealous. Jealous that she was no longer receiving all the attention; some of it was instead directed at Sora. But she quickly came to see that together, they could have a lot more attention.
In the second year of high school, Naminé and Sora started dating. They were the best known couple in the whole school – everyone knew who they were and what they did. And everyone was jealous of them. Especially Naminé's best friend Kairi – it was a well known fact that she'd had a major crush on Sora since forever.
However, even though Naminé didn't have those strong feelings for Sora, she still thought they were better together than him and Kairi. They belonged, they were right. He was the King, she was the Queen. Kairi was more like the princess. And thus, she belonged with the school's prince – Sora's best friend Riku. That was how Naminé thought it, anyway.
And so Naminé lived in bliss. She found that being the most popular girl in school made her life so much easier. She was the first one invited to all the parties, she was the one with first dibs on where to sit, she was the one who always had a partner, she was the one who's friends practically begged to do her homework for her.
Likewise, Sora was also as happy as could be. He won all the sports awards, was favourited by the coach, had all the guys trailing behind him, had all the girls begging for him to take them to the dance. And his girlfriend was the hottest girl in school.
Similarly to Naminé, Sora didn't exactly like Naminé that much – he was more with her for status. He didn't see that they had any sort of chemistry – actually, he sort of had a soft spot for that red-head friend of Naminé's, Kairi. Not that he'd ever admit to it though. Sure, Kairi was popular. But not popular enough.
Naminé knew that Sora wasn't "The One" or anything. She thought he was hot, but that was about it. He didn't make her heart flutter every time she went near him, didn't turn her legs to jelly and her brain to mush. But she'd never felt that way before. And anyway, Sora and Naminé were just meant to be together. Who cared about true love and all that nonsense, when everybody idolised them?
They were happy. Well, they thought they were. They lived in a perfect little bubble, unscathed by the hardships others around them were forced to endure, oblivious to the pain many went through. They thought that as long as everybody else had the two of them to look up to, they would be perfectly content.
What they didn't seem to realize was that it was the two of them that actually caused the hardships of many around them. Friendships and relationships shattered as people tried and failed to get close to the queen bees and jocks; people were under risk of a minor beating up if they dared say the edge of a wrong word about the amazing Naminé Sasaki or Sora Tanaka.
One person in particular was affected by these two, both of whom were entirely oblivious to his existent. This boy went by the name of Roxas, popularity ranking: minus one hundred, social status: geek.
Main entry: Geek (slang)
-noun
1. A peculiar or otherwise dislikeable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
Roxas Takahashi had no friends. Didn't have them, didn't want them, didn't need them. He was content on his own – it was the way he liked it. He didn't want anyone who would drag him down, keep him behind. He only needed himself for company.
He had never been a loud sort of person. He was quiet, reserved, and shy. He didn't feel comfortable when around others. And others didn't feel comfortable around him.
He was clever. Very clever. And, like Naminé's beauty and kindness had done, this aroused hatred from his felloe pupils. But Roxas wasn't like Naminé – he didn't want to be surrounded by friends; he wasn't brave enough to do anything about the people who mocked him.
Roxas's cleverness made him a great favourite amongst the teachers; naturally, his ability to answer a question with only a second thought and the way he could never get into trouble only made him even more hated. He became known as the "big-headed dork", even though this wasn't true at all. Roxas didn't show off about his knowledge; it was merely there.
And so Roxas shunned away those who even attempted becoming his friends, shunned away any chance of not being alone. Slowly, he became a loner, infamous for being the school's outcast.
And it didn't help that Sora and his little posse bullied him every opportunity they got. They didn't beat him up or anything – merely made his life a sort of silent hell, doing things that nobody would be able to blame them for – not like anyone would blame them anyway. It was the small things like knocking over his books, "accidentally" spilling soda on his homework, spreading rumours that did him no justice at all with the female population.
As for Naminé and the queen bees…well, it would be safe to say that they didn't know of Roxas's existence. Sure, they'd all heard of the big-headed dork who never got detentions and showed off in class, but none of them actually knew anything about him. And quite frankly, they didn't even care.
Roxas, however, was certainly very aware of Naminé. Who wasn't? But no, Roxas Takahashi was especially aware of her. And he hated himself for it. Hated himself because he knew that they could never be together. They were worlds apart.
He thought she was the most beautiful girl in the whole school. Sure, all the guys did, but Roxas saw more to her – he could see the kindness that would forever be hidden deep down somewhere seep out through her new skin, radiating a soft glow, making her all the more angelically beautiful to him.
Of course, he didn't stand a chance with her. Not only were they on polar ends of the popularity scale, but if he so much as looked at her, Roxas knew that Sora would be on him like a hound. And Roxas was actually pretty fond of the way his face looked at the moment, thank you very much.
And so he let his crush fade away. But fade was one thing it didn't do – if anything, it grew stronger and stronger and stronger. And he hated it, because the more he liked her the more pain he would eventually be forced to face.
And so, like many of the student body, Roxas was profoundly jealous of Sora and insanely in love with Naminé.
He wasn't too different then, really. You know, overlooking his way above-average IQ score.
It was only in her second year of dating Sora, when she was a Junior of seventeen, that Naminé began to see things a little differently. She had begun to get bored of the same old routine, and had started to see outside the bubble. That, and Sora's cockiness was really beginning to bug her.
She found that parties didn't interest her as much anymore. She would much rather stay in with a group of close friends; it was a shame that none of her friends agreed with her on this. And she began to realize that even though she was admired by many, and had a tight circle of friends, there wasn't one of them she could really talk to, excluding on the occasion Kairi.
She actually found herself more interested in education. She had decided that she wanted to become an artist slash writer when she was older, and wanted to make the most of her high school career by learning as much as she could and getting the best marks she could.
Naminé Sasaki had finally matured and moved on from her childhood phase.
Which is why she wasn't at all bummed when she was partnered with that what's-his-name the geek for her English literature assignment.
The teacher picked partners at random. Naminé was vaguely surprised when she heard her name followed by a "Roxas Takahashi", wondering slightly who it was, but her questions were answered when she saw a spiky-haired blonde nervously making his way over to where she sat.
Sora and Kairi and the rest of the populars had made faces at him, telling Naminé how sorry they were that she was paired with such a loser. For once, Naminé ignored them, throwing Roxas a kindly smile, not responding to any of her friends' comments, and not knowing what to say.
It was very unlike Naminé, to say the least. And what had brought about this change of character? Maybe it was because suddenly her heart had begun to flutter, her legs turned to jelly and her brain to mush; the way in which they never had done before.
And a few metres away, the very boy who was making her feel like this was feeling like this himself.
The first project they had to work on was a poem. And it turned out that they worked together very well. Naminé was surprised at how sweet and funny Roxas actually was – he was so different to the geek he was classified as.
Roxas, however, wasn't at all surprised to see how nice and smart Naminé was. Having been in her class for years, all through elementary school, he'd seen what sort of a person she originally was. And he knew that she was still hiding somewhere deep down. It just took a person like Roxas to bring her out.
The two achieved top marks in the poem. They'd come out of the project as much happier people – not only because of their grades, but also because of the blossoming friendship they now held. The two had grown ever closer, and even sat together sometimes at lunch. This hadn't brought down Naminé's popularity status at all, but for some reason had brought Roxas's down. It seemed that people were jealous of Naminé's attention towards him. But he didn't mind – Naminé was the only thing that mattered to him.
Naminé broke up with Sora a few months after befriending Roxas. It was a quiet mutual agreement, but Naminé had to admit that it was slightly upsetting that Sora began dating Kairi the next day. But she didn't mind – so long as she had Roxas. Because even though she would never admit it, she had actually grown pretty fond of the blue-eyed kid. And she found it simply adorable the way he blushed every time she so much as looked at him.
Roxas gave Naminé the attention she yearned for, looked up to her in the way that she loved, but still held that respect for her that most didn't. He still thought of her as a human being, and treated her similarly to others; it was this that eventually caused her to love him.
No-one understood why Naminé was suddenly spending time with this complete loser. She was way too good for him. People became intrigued, they wanted to find out more about this Roxas Takahashi. So that they did.
Girls began giving him second glances in hallways. And when they did, they realized that he wasn't as unattractive as they thought. His blue eyes were bright and mysterious, sparkling with intelligence, and his spiky blonde hair was just as hot as Sora's brunette locks.
And so slowly, he began to climb the social ladder. By then, nearly all of the populars had paired off into couples – with the person matching their social status. Sora was now with Kairi (even though he technically belonged with Naminé), Selphie was with Wakka, Yuna was with Tidus, Olette was with Hayner, Rikku was with Riku.
The only one left single was Naminé. But by now, no-one was high enough on the social ladder to be with her. Because, even though his popularity had drastically increased, Roxas was no way near good enough to date Naminé Sasaki yet. She needed to make him popular in order to date him.
So that she did. She began spreading rumours that increased Roxas's popularity with the girls, and with everyone in general, contradictory to the ones Sora had first started. She took him shopping with her, buying him a whole new wardrobe. She got him to try out for the baseball team, and he succeeded. Roxas kept a straight face throughout this, letting her mould his life. But when she told him to flunk the next test, he finally snapped.
"No, Naminé!" He told her angrily after she had approached him at his locker at the end of the day, asking him to get no higher than a C in the math test. "I'm not going to ruin my education for stupid popularity!"
Naminé pouted, her blue eyes going wide as she attempted to persuade him. "But Roxy," she whined through pursed lips, "Don't you want to be popular?"
Roxas quirked an eyebrow at her, tilting his head to the side as he observed her in silence for a few moments. "Not really, no. I was fine they way I was when I had no friends."
"So…you don't want me to be your friend?" Naminé asked, hurt slicing through her tone.
"No, that's not what I'm saying! I like having you as a friend. I just…don't need to have loads. And I don't need everyone to like me and know me," Roxas explained as they walked through the hallways to the exit.
"But…why?"
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Because that's just not me, okay? Never has been, never will be! I'm sorry, but my education is too important for me to dismiss over something so trivial. Why do you even care anyway?"
Naminé blushed slightly over this, her real reason being kept hidden. She wanted him to be popular so that they could date – not like she could ever admit it to him though; at least, until he was popular too.
"Just that…I think you would be happier if you were popular," Naminé shrugged.
Roxas gave her a slightly disgusted look. "Naminé, can you hear yourself? You sound like Sora and his cronies. I thought you were different…not all popular obsessed. But here you are, taking me on as a little project to see if you can make me popular because 'it'll make me happier'. Kind of pathetic, if you ask me."
Naminé was taken aback; no-one had ever spoken to her like this before. And she didn't like it.
"Who are you to say something like that? You're just jealous that you'll never be as popular as me! And I bet the only reason you're hanging out with me is because you want to steal my popularity. And pfft, like I could ever change you even if I wanted to! Nothing could make you popular. You're a good for nothing geek, a loner, a loser. Always have been, always will be!"
Naminé looked up at Roxas anxiously, expecting him to make some smart-ass remark, but he never did. He merely shook his head at her, looking down at her with sad eyes, before turning and walking the opposite direction, towards his house. Naminé could do nothing but watch him go as she regretted letting the words that she didn't even mean slip out of her mouth.
The two barely conversed over the next few months. Roxas's popularity ranking slowly went back to how it had originally been, and he was happy about that. He couldn't, however, say that he was entirely happy at not spending any time with Naminé anymore.
Naminé, too, missed having Roxas around. He was sweet, funny, kind, caring, respectful, honest…all the things she'd ever wanted in a guy. But she'd made a mistake, and didn't know how to fix it. And now, she feared it was too late.
The second English project came in the midst of their argument. They were once again partners, as they were told to stick with the same people, and the atmosphere surrounding them was awkward, to say the least. Neither of them new what to do, what to say, how to act…it was too much for Naminé.
"Look, I'm sorry!" she blurted out. "I didn't mean any of that stuff! I don't care about popularity that much…you're right, it's not as great as it looks. It's not what makes a person happy. It's not what makes me happy. The only reason I was so happy back then was because I had you. You're what makes me happy, Roxas. And the reason I don't want to change you is because…you're perfect. Just the way you are. I don't ever want you to be anything different. I'm sorry…"
Naminé kept her unfocused eyes on her fidgeting hands, tears threatening to spill out. After a few moments silence, she looked up at Roxas, to see him absent-mindedly gazing at the teacher. At first glance it appeared as if he hadn't heard anything she'd said, but she could tell from the crease in his eyebrows that he had.
"Roxas?" Naminé whispered timidly.
"Shh," the older boy replied, holding up a hand as he continued listening to the teacher drone on. "I'm listening to what the project is."
Naminé slumped back in her seat, fiddling with the pen in her hands as she observed the blonde boy with curiosity. He was such an enigma; she could never work out what he was thinking. When she was horrible to him he didn't even say anything to her; now that she was apologizing to him, he still said nothing.
A few minutes passed before the teacher ended her blabbing, this being the cue for Roxas to turn to Naminé. Upon him doing so, the petite blonde glanced up at him, blue meeting blue as their eyes met.
Naminé quickly glanced away, unsure of what was going to happen. Disappointed by Roxas's lack of reply, she quickly stammered a question.
"S-so what's the, um, project?"
Roxas glanced at her, before reading quickly off the sheet that he held in his hand.
"Write an essay on feelings, focusing on one main feeling throughout, preferably one that you have both strongly experienced. This may be written in the form of a short story, dialogue, or simply an essay. It should be approximately 3000 to 6000 words long, and should…Naminé, are you even listening?"
Naminé shot a look at Roxas, who was looking at her curiously. She blushed, realizing that she had barely listened to him, captivated by his beautiful face. "Y-yeah. We have to write an essay on, um, feelings."
Roxas nodded in affirmative. "Yeah."
Naminé gulped. "But, Roxas, before we start…I was wondering if you, um, heard w-what I said before?"
Roxas brought his gaze towards the table, a pink hue grazing his cheeks. "Yeah," he replied softly.
"A-and?"
Roxas inhaled deeply, shutting his eyes briefly. "And…and I – I think I know the perfect feeling to write the essay on."
"Oh, yeah?" Naminé asked, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Roxas looked into her eyes, a smile growing on his face. "And what might that be?" Naminé thought she knew, and had regained her confidence, now smirking broadly at him.
Roxas bit his lip. "Um…" Reaching over to his black messenger bag, Roxas pulled out a dictionary, quickly flicking through it. Upon finding the desired page, he pulled out a maker pen, circling something on the page, before handing the hefty book to Naminé.
Glancing at the page, her eyes were drawn to the circled definition. Her eyes moving over it, she softly read the words aloud.
"Love: noun. 'A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.'"
Naminé glanced over at Roxas, whose face was now a deep shade of red. She smiled at him, reaching over to pluck the pen out of his hand.
"W-what are you doing?" Roxas asked, leaning over to see what changed Naminé was making in the dictionary. Naminé brought the book closer to her, shielding it from Roxas's vision.
"This," Naminé stated, "Is nothing to what I feel for you. I could come up with a better definition for love any day."
"But," Roxas started, "That's a dictionary. It wouldn't be in there if it wasn't correct."
"If all definitions were right, then you and I wouldn't be together right now," Naminé stated. "What's wrong with bending the rules now and again?"
Roxas stuttered, unable to find a suitable answer. Naminé grinned at him triumphantly, her face lighting up as for once, she had outsmarted him.
"So…what's your definition of love then?" Roxas merely asked, holding his hand out for the dictionary. Naminé eagerly passed it over to him, a childish smile on her glowing face.
Roxas glanced down at the dictionary, where Naminé had scribbled out the previous definition, and written in her own in small, curly penmanship:
Love: Naminé Sasaki and Roxas Takahashi.
Roxas blushed as he reread the words over and over and over, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. He stole a glance at Naminé, who was still grinning widely, her skin tone matching his.
There was silence for a few moments, before Roxas spoke up. "But…if you were to look up the definition of 'Roxas', it would be under 'geek' - a peculiar or otherwise dislikeable person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual."
Naminé snorted. "And I suppose if you were to look up 'Naminé', it would be under 'popular' - regarded with great favour, approval, or affection especially by the general public." (She had to look through the dictionary to find this definition, though, causing Roxas to smile.)
"Well, yeah…"
Naminé rolled her eyes. "Those are just silly words," she dismissed. "Since when do you care about things like that? And anyway, I don't need a stupid dictionary to tell me who I am, who you are, or what my feelings for you are. I know that myself, thank you very much."
"Okay, then. If in your dictionary, love's definition is 'Naminé Sasaki and Roxas Takahashi', what's your definition for 'Naminé' and 'Roxas'?" Roxas queried.
Naminé put her finger to her chin. "Hmm…I think, 'Naminé – the beautiful girl that Roxas is oh so in love with' works," she teased. Roxas blushed.
"Ha, ha," he laughed dryly. "Okay, fine, what about 'Roxas'?"
"How about, 'Roxas – gorgeous, sweet, kind, funny, amazing boy that Naminé is in love with'?" Naminé smiled angelically, "Oh, and 'biggest geek of the century'!" she added light-heartedly.
Roxas pouted. "Hey! I thought we weren't doing anymore stereotyping!"
Naminé giggled sweetly. "I know, I know. But who cares? 'Cause you're my geek," she commented.
"Well, Ms. Queen Bee, you are the bee in my bonnet, the bees knees, my honey-boo…" Roxas laughed, stating the cliché lines. "Oh," he added, quietly, "Everything that you said before – I mean it too. You are what makes me happy."
A love-sick smile on her face, Naminé was about to give her stuttering reply when the teacher walked over to their desk. "Excuse me, but why haven't you done any work? A believable excuse, please."
"Sorry, Miss," Naminé chirped up, "We were just rewriting the dictionary."
The teacher quirked an eyebrow at the two. "Right…well, whilst you're doing that, please could you check up the real definition of 'believable'?"
"But I know what believable means…" Naminé mumbled, a bemused expression on her face, obviously not understanding the teachers joke/mock/argument.
Roxas laughed as the teacher walked away. "I think we need to add something to the definition of 'Naminé'. How about 'biggest dimwit of the century?'", he commented jokily, poking Naminé's small nose, which she wrinkled slightly, causing Roxas's heart to leap.
And then, all too soon, the bell rang, signifying the end of the lesson, snapping the two lovers back to reality. They stood, collecting their books in their hands, and made their way out of the classroom, side by side.
In the hall, Naminé's group of friends stood to one side, whilst Roxas's lonely locker beckoned from the other. Roxas sighed, realizing that things would probably go back to normal now that they were back with everyone else. He knew things were too good to be true.
But Naminé surprised him by leaning over and whispering softly into his ear, "Let's stir things up a bit, baby."
Main entry: Kiss
1. Method used by Naminé Sasaki on Roxas Takahashi in order to arouse shock from students. (Successful).
2. The method used to bring about the collapse of the social ladder, used by Naminé Sasaki on Roxas Takahashi. (Successful)
3. Used by Roxas Takahashi on girlfriend, Naminé Sasaki, in order to show love for her. (Successful).
4. Used by Naminé Sasaki on boyfriend, Roxas Takahashi, in order to make him shut up about definitions. (Successful)
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end.
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hugs and kisses xoxo