Chapter 1- Penny for your thoughts?

I remember when I first moved to Twilight Town …about a month ago. I remember being so fascinated by the sky; Marmalade orange just kissed the dampened blue above, twinkling with stars that looked…aflame. It was new, it was fresh it was…well, time to start my new life. So that's where I'll start, I think, where my life began again, at the dawn of my twilight.

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I got up that first morning pretty much dreading school. Who wouldn't? New people, new faces, same old awkward stares, right? I was always that weird blond haired kid. I had friends, but nothing real...Nothing like I wanted. But still, I stayed determined; Nothing to it but to try. I walked out of my house a little tentatively, rubbing my shoulders to ward off the cold. The sun confused me by then, obviously it was called Twilight Town for a reason.

Eternal twilight...that's probably gonna get a little confusing

I was wearing my standard clothes then, my white sweatpants and shirt with the black checkered across: My favorite Yin-Yang effect. Anyway, I walked to my bus stop, a little surprised to see someone there already. He was tallish (or at least taller than me) and had a mane of silver hair shooting across his head like a calm wave. He seemed muscular (or at least athletic) and something about him gave off an aura of calmness. He gave me the once over and averted his gaze, same old same old. Then though, something new happened. A good omen, I like to think.

"You new here?" The boy asked slightly interestedly.

"Yeah" I answered confidently. I give off an air of confidence, people generally take that as arrogance; People thought I was a jerk most of the time… -.-

The boy's eyes widened slightly as if he were absorbing my look. I was pretty tired of stares by then, so even though it was probably the wrong move I called him out on it.

"There anything on my shirt, or am I just that pretty" I laughed, trying to loosen some of the attention.

"Don't flatter yourself" He answered shortly. See? People always assume I'm a jerk.

"Hey hey, it was a joke. My name's Roxas, by the way." I held my hand out half expecting not to get anything in return. To my surprise, he shook my hand firmly, saying only

"Riku."

I smiled a little and took my hand back, happy at least that not everyone here was as mean as I expected. Feeling a little brave, I ventured continuing the conversation.

"Hey, how are the people around here…Any of them as welcoming as you?" I said, almost sounding sarcastic (though hoping he wouldn't take it that way).

"Roxas, if you think I'm welcoming, things must have been pretty sucky at whatever school you went to last." He said grimly, though after a bit he cracked a smile at me. Yeah, things were looking good.

The bus arrived in a bit and I got on, hoping I could hop in with my new "friend". No such luck, he went to the back of the bus and sat down to an extremely attractive auburn haired girl. Everyone knows that never when you are at a new school do you go to the back. It's an unwritten code; Just like if you even talk to the football captain's girlfriend you immediately get a swirly (and only that, if you're lucky.) I walked down the aisles taking notice of all the girl's reactions towards me. They all scooted towards the window, making room; as if they wanted me to sit with them. I strode confidently (not arrogantly!) down looking for an empty seat. I got to seat six and stopped, not willing to go further into the back. This was a three seater with one kid snoozin' lightly in the corner, so I fell down with a plop next to him. His brown hair stuck up in odd spikes, a little like mine, and he had a key around his neck; He seemed like a chilled type of guy, so I tried a little conversation.

"Hey there" I said, grinning, my hand extended.

He cracked an eye open and took me in for a second while I examined him a bit more. He had on red pants and bright yellow shoes (which clashed oddly with his black jacket with white short sleeves). His eyes were the same cerulean as mine, and they had a spark of life in them that showed he definitely liked to have fun.

"Hey," He shook my hand tiredly "You're the new kid" He continued, not really to anyone in particular except himself.

"Seems like it" I smiled again, for some reason, I couldn't help it. He groaned and sat up, stretching out his back.

"Well, now that I'm up, my name's Sora" He grinned "What's yours?"

"Roxas" I said, "Man, that Riku kid was right" I said softly to myself afterwords.

"You met Riku?" Sora apparently heard me anyway.

"Heh, yeah, he's at my bus stop."

Sora peeked over our seat and saw Riku in a slightly deep conversation with the gorgeous redhead.

"Damn it, he's sitting with Kairi…" Sora muttered, grumbling back into his seat.

"Kairi?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah, that girl he's with. She's been my best friend for a long time now, but I think…well nevermind." He said, a little too casually.

"If she's your friend, then why didn't she sit down next to you?" I asked, realizing quickly I probably shouldn't have. To my relief, he actually grinned,

"Probably because she didn't want to wake me" He laughed.

"Heh, sorry" I rubbed my head guiltily. I felt the bus lurch to a stop, and looked outside hopefully to see my school.

"Don't get your hopes up, still a ways to go." Sora smiled a bit sheepishly.

I looked up and saw a hint of gold; Her hair fell about her head like a waterfall of honey. She waved happily at Kairi in back, but her mouth tucked into a frown when she saw their two seater was full.

"Hey, Namine!" Sora called out. Her face lit up again when she saw his face, and she ambled towards us slowly (as the bus began to jerk its way towards school again).

"Hey Sora" She smiled a dazzlingly shy smile, a little curve of the mouth. Perfect.

"Hey Nam, this is Roxas" He smiled and gestured towards me.

"Heh..uhh" I felt a nudge in my back. "Oh, hiya. Yeah, I'm Roxas, nice to meet you…"

"Namine" She finished, smiling that same smile. I can remember it perfectly…It was so…mysterious. Mona Lisa mysterious…Just like her eyes…

ANYWAY. She squeezed into the (thank god) small seat next to me. I smelled…Lilacs…and I could tell right away it was her. It always was…

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little caught up in this girl…but she's great. My only worry now is all the little glances she keeps giving Sora. Looking around, I see most of the girls either staring at me or him; I realized then that Sora was pretty popular, guys like him generally are.

After a ways, (just like he said), we got to school; By then I was feeling pretty confident. I jumped out of the bus and stretched widely, ready to start the day. I turned around and saw Kairi walking out with Sora, followed by a slightly disappointed Namine. Riku exited last, yawning widely.

"Mm, hey" He gave me a slight wave.

Ah yes, first day at a new school, hopefully this is the last time I'll feel it. I wasn't sure if this was the first day for everyone else (my old school started a bit earlier) but judging by the look of things (everyone wandering around aimlessly) it was indeed the first day period. I wandered around looking for the familiars I met on the bus, and found them all in a group.

"Hey" I said smiling, waving to them.

"Oh, hey Roxas" Sora welcomed me into the group. "Hey, who do you have for homeroom?" He asked after a moment.

I checked my notebook and read the top name with a little difficulty.

"Ms…Bjor….Buhjo…." I started

"Bjornstad" (pronounced bee-orn-stahd) Namine finished my sentence for me.

"Oh…err, thanks. Wait a minute, how did you know?" I asked, madly curious.

She laughed softly "Because she's my homeroom teacher too"

"Oh, that's cool," I said, trying to be suave. "Who do all of you have?" I asked after reveling in my recent good fortune. Her homeroom.

"Ms. Riker" Riku answered, frowning slightly.

"Hey, why the long face" I asked, laughing.

"He and her have…A bit of a history" Kairi laughed.

Sora grimaced "Ugh, I have her too" He said, checking his pad.

"What about you, Kai?" Riku asked.

"Heeey, I was just goin' to ask that!" I remember Sora almost yelled this.

Kairi blushed as red as an apple "Umm, Bjornstad also…" She smiled uncertainly.

I could have sworn I caught Namine glaring at Kairi, but the moment passed quickly. Could have been a trick of the light, well, at least I thought that then. Either way, we split up into groups and went off in search of our respective homerooms. I felt so self conscious on the way to class, but I had no idea why; At that time, Namine was just another pretty face; albeit a pretty face that I got to hang around with. She seemed so…oblivious of me. Well…maybe that's the wrong word; She noticed me, we were friends (even if we just met eachother…) but…I really don't know. Either way, she and Kairi seemed to be really good friends, (even though at the time I was pretty sure that Namine was jealous of Kairi about something). We got to homeroom and found seats adjoining, and, all in all, I felt like the day had started well. In reality, it did, much better than I expected at least. I met some cute girls, some cool guys, and it was a new day. I sat next to Namine on her left, and Kairi to her right, so I was pretty content at least…

Soon enough, though, Kairi asked to go to the bathroom, leaving me and Namine by ourselves (relatively, the rest of the class was chattering away.) As soon as Kairi turned her back, I saw Namine's face change slightly…yeah, I could see there was definitely something going on…

"Hey…" I said quietly, "A penny for your thoughts?" I smiled a little, encouragingly. I don't know why, but something about her seemed so…inviting.