Disclaimer: KH is not mine, but the OCs mentioned are. They're also up for adoption, so I guess they're not really mine, either.
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-Oink-
"Men are pigs!"
I can hear their disgusted mutters and squeals of fury, the four of them clustered close together and glaring distrustfully at the boy across from them. He isn't bothered by it, of course—not Hayner. Never much of a ladies' man, Hayner. He was more the prankster type, which caused Seifer to crack down on him more often, largely due to the fact that Seifer was a ladies' man.
Pence appears beside him, and the two of them share a little Mission Accomplished moment before darting out of sight of the girls. Hayner's obviously done something to embarrass those pretty little flowers, something that's really their fault due to their frivolousness, but they're going to blame it on him anyway, which is what he wants. Normally, I'd probably be out there with them, but I'm feeling somewhat lethargic and contemplative this afternoon.
I consider the girls again, how they sit back down and exchange grievances, and for a moment try to imagine what it would be like to be with them. The thought disgusts me. You say that men are pigs, girls, but you're far worse. Pigs don't cut your feet out from under you and kick you when you're down—at most, they'll say something insulting or do something vulgar and get away with it, but nothing that'll bother you for more than a day or so. I've been on the inside of your world, girls, and I know what kind of hate and suffering lurks below that glittering surface.
Look at all of them, chatting together like the best of friends. Annathe's the ringleader, blond hair and Barbie blue eyes—eyes which will cloud over with fury once she realizes what her best friend, Kira, said behind her back. Kira had said something to the effect that Annathe was a selfish bitch, which she is, but it's an insult that will meet retribution tenfold. Luelle, little, innocent Luelle, is the one everyone complains to. She's not judgmental, not selfish, will do anything for a friend—but double-cross her, and you'll watch how those innocent brown eyes narrow with hate as she spills everything to the subjects of your little rants. Annathe may be the leader, but Luelle is the one who controls everything behind the scenes. The last one, Una, won't last long; she's just too big and loud and boisterous, and Annathe's eyes betray her thinning patience as Una cuts her off to tell a lewd joke. Kira, who is close with both Annathe and Una and often ends up in the middle, wisely leaves the table to pick up some ice cream, lest blood is shed.
Best of friends, worst of enemies—there's no difference in your world. No one is to be trusted. A word here, a glance there, and all of it can fall apart at the drop of a hat. Once a girl falls into disgrace, everyone who had the slightest bone to pick with her feels obligated to bring out their stories. I've had it happen. I know how it feels to be with a group of girls, feeling safe and secure in their presence, best of friends, always together, one for all and all for one. And I know how it feels when something I do or say offends someone, and when she attacks me for it, and before I know it a friendship is lost. Soon, the whole group finds me disrespectful and undesirable, to fall into disgrace. That's when I finally realized the existence of this undercurrent, this evasive hatred and sly betrayal.
A touch at my arm tells me Hayner's here, and he throws an arm around my shoulders. "What's up, 'Lette?" he greets me. He can't get close to other girls like this, but I'm not like other girls.
"Nothing," I reply simply. Everything is so simple with boys. If they like you, they like you—if they don't, they don't. There's no need to run circles around the subject and stab you in the back, a simple punch to the face will do it, or even a cold farewell and nothing more. "Just watching the sillies," I add, jabbing my thumb at the girls. Even as I do, I hear a shriek of anger, and I know Luelle has spilled the beans. When Kira returns, there will be hell to pay. I can see it happening now, her fall from grace swift and unforgiving. Annathe gives her the cold shoulder for weeks or even months, never telling her what exactly is wrong. She badmouths Kira to everyone she meets, and soon Kira's reputation is in tatters. Perhaps Una will stick by her, or perhaps she will stay with Annathe, despite the way Annathe treats her and how Kira always stood up for her in the past. Kira finally finds out it was Luelle, but Luelle protects her innocence. "She made me tell," perhaps, or "It wasn't me, I swear! Una overheard us!" Una becomes the enemy along with Annathe, and soon Kira starts badmouthing Una. This breaks off the last relationship she has, and marks the end of any involvement with Annathe's group. Luelle floats away from her as she engineers her own group, which will stand in opposition to Annathe's for months or even years to come.
All because of two little words.
"I'm sick of watching the sillies," Hayner says, pulling away. "Let's go pick up Roxas."
"He's still not at the usual spot?" I ask, standing, as Pence joins us.
"Nope, sleeping in," Pence tells me. "You know him. Always kinda sleepy."
"Thinks too much, too," Hayner points out. "That's not good for your eyes, you know? Makes 'em go all out of focus."
"Might grab some ice cream on the way," I point out, looking back at the girls and feeling a sudden craving.
Pence sniggers at that. "Watch out, you're gonna get fat like those bimbos," he remarks, indicating the clearly anorexic Annathe and Luelle.
"No fatter than you," I reply wryly, jabbing him in the shoulder as I pass.
"Hey!"
I grin back at him, and the three of us start for Roxas's, chatting mildly as we go and exchanging the occasional playful punch or noogie. So different from girls, I think, casting one last glance over my shoulder at them. Annathe's makeup is running as she talks to Luelle and Una, and Kira is off in the distance, her expression mystified as Una glares at her. If it had been directed at one of them, my jab at Pence would have resulted in my reputation's swift and painful demise. It's a good thing it wasn't, I think as they look up and see me. My position has given me a kind of immunity—no matter how many girls I offend, I will always find solace with the boys. My behavior can even be excused simply because I hang out with them. I shoot the girls a simpering smirk, and their expressions sour. There goes the tomboy, I can almost hear them thinking. There goes Olette.
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Author's Note: Just a thing I thought of. I was thinking a little bit about the cruelty and acidic betrayal involved in the world of girls (and if you haven't noticed it by the time you're fourteen, you're probably not a girl), and how Olette is sort of exempt. Besides, I prefer thinking of Olette as something of a tomboy, since she hangs out with those three. If you think about it, though, all the girls are (excepting maybe Namine). Kairi and Fuu have their own little boy-littered trinities, so it stands to reason that they'd all be pretty boyish in nature, but they aren't (because Square's heart-breakingly cliché). Since it really doesn't make sense for Namine or Kairi to be tomboys, I figure Olette can be the exception.
Know why? Because she doesn't wear a skirt. XD