Alright. Well, some of you are probably going to look down and read, all anxiousy and stuff, and I'm going to kick back and laugh at you, Cuz your gonna come back up to this authors note and be like, WTF?
Yes, this is On The Outside Looking In, my first ever fanfic. As Some might know, *cough* Experienced Keyblade Master *cough* I deleted the original version cuz I swear, I absoluetly HATED, DESPISED, ABHORED that damn story. But, Since many of you seemed to like it, I'm reposting, making small changes here and there, just to make you, (and me) a little bit happier inside.
Enjoy the crap I lay out before you.
Chapter One — First Day
I sighed as the wind blew my golden blond hair out of my face. I wore a plain school outfit, complete with a matching tie and a plain white blouse with the school emblem on the chest pocket. It was freshman year at Twilight Town High and I was beyond nervous. I took one last breath as an eighth grader, and opened the doors to the large, clean, white high school.
I was a bit of a loner, (okay, I'm lying to myself, I WAS a loner,) and dubbed a freak at my old middle school for keeping to myself. I didn't mind. I was perfectly fine with who I was, and I was happy with what I had. All I needed to survive in this personal hell known as school was a schedule and my sketch pad.
I loved to draw. But the things I drew… well, I wasn't a freak for wanting to be alone. I had what my mother called a "special gift". I could draw the past, present, and future memories of others. I didn't know how, I just did. When people learned my secret, my social life went downhill from there. People stayed away from me. I locked myself up, and I told myself never to get close to anyone, because it would only end in pain. High school was just another four years of sitting alone, at the "freak" table, drawing people's memories alone.
As I walked down the halls, freshmen from my old middle school were scowling and whispering to each other. I knew it was about me, but I didn't care, I was so used to it. I was immune. I just kept on walking, head held high. As I passed a couple of benches, set up around a table like a lounge, I heard whistling. I looked up, alarmed by the noise, and saw four senior boys gawking at me and winking.
"Hey there gorgeous! You want to hang with us? The name's Seifer," one said, trying to flirt.
I blushed, but quickly recovered.
"Leave me alone," I mumbled, storming off. My mother always said I was a beautiful young girl, and that I would have boys drooling all over me in seconds. I had shoulder length, deep golden hair parted to one side, cerulean blue eyes, and a very lean figure. My mom says I'm "eye candy". The only flaw with my having good looks was that I never wanted attention in the first place. Everyone will just dub me a freak again anyways.
I checked my schedule one more time and headed for my locker, number 382. I dumped my cheap, worn out books inside, leaving me with my Algebra I book, my Biology book, and my trusty sketchpad. I sighed again, as a girl from my middle school walked by, knocking my things all over the floor as she yelled "Freak!"
Oh, I hated those low life wannabes.
I took another deep breath, ignoring the laughter bouncing off the hallway walls. I knelt down to the ground, colored pencils and erasers scattered everywhere, and slowly started the process of picking my things up.
"Here, let me help you," an attractive male voice said out of nowhere, and I saw a figure crouch down and help me gather my things. I noticed that the laughter died down as soon as he spoke, which I found odd. He gathered up my textbooks, stacked them in a nice pile, and handed them to me. I continued picking up my colored pencils, snatching my sketchpad before someone else did.
"Thanks…" I mumbled, taking the books he held out to me. I didn't bother looking at him. Why? Two reasons.
One: If he was from that drab middle school I went to last year, he would recognize me as the freak and dump my things again, forcing me to pick them up again. I only had five minutes before first period started, and I had a perfect attendance record to maintain, even if it was the first day of school.
Two: If he was from a different middle school, he would just try to score a date with me, like all of the other boys my age, learn my secret, and then I'm a freak again.
Life sucks, doesn't it?
"No problem!" he replied, I could almost hear the smile spread on his face. "Well, then I'll see you around then!" I stayed silent as he walked away. He didn't mean what he just said. I felt the feeling of being fake and guilty wash through his memory. Just like normal, a fake smile, a vain attempt to help the freshman.
As I looked up, everyone was staring at me.
"What?" I asked, irritated, waiting for the insults to be slung at me.
Yuna, one of the first taunters to ever be introduced into my messed up life, spoke first.
"Did you know who that was?" she asked, her jaw dropped open in disbelief.
"No," I said. "I didn't even look at him."
"You are a freak! That was the Roxas Hikari of the Destiny Islands Blitzball team! One of the four youngest Blitzball superstars ever!" she half shrieked, bewildered. "That means that they chose this school to go to!" she shrieked again, but this time overjoyed.
"But he talked to you. The Freak."
Yuna's back.
"Oh," was all I said. I've heard of them before on a TV program.
Hello, this is breaking news live from the Blitzball championship. It seems that our four young superstars are going to settle down and choose one high school in the area! Young girls, be ready for these four hot boys to invade your school!
"So Riku, Why are you deciding to return to the average boring life of a teenager?"
The taller, slightly older platinum haired one stepped forward. "Well, speaking for the team, we all needed a break from the sport. We've been playing since we were little, and we haven't really had that great of a teenage lifestyle. So we're hoping to make some friends and just live life."
"Sora, Roxas, Hayner, do you agree?"
"Totally," a spiky headed brunette chirped. "We heard that some of our childhood friends are all clustered together in one school, so we're going to go surprise them."
"So, you know who you are, look out!" the messy blonde shouted, snaking an arm around the last blonde, who stood broody and silent.
"Well, you've heard it from the source. I'm Quistis Trepe, Dateline, TLT news."
Hayner, Sora, Roxas, and Riku. The four amazing Blitzball team championship winners. Big whoop. I've never seen any of them before, I never took interest in these sort of things.
This one little incident started a rumor, and that rumor spread like wildfire through the entire school. I couldn't walk three steps without someone whispering cruel things about how I hate Blitzball, Roxas, blah, blah, blah. Like I said before, it never bothered me. I just kept my head held high, and rushed to Algebra, where I could hide away in a far corner.
As I rushed into the Algebra classroom, I was shot murderous glares from all the girls. Wow. Rumors spread fast.
"It's that weird girl who actually talked to the Roxas Hikari and didn't even care!" they whispered amongst themselves. It was too easy to get what I wanted. I smiled at the girls, who flinched and burst into angry whispers again.
I just ignored everything, walked to the very back of the classroom, and plopped down in the desk closest to the window. The teacher walked in, Mr. Uchida, and explained the basic rules of the classroom. No note passing, no talking when the teacher is talking, et cetera. It was all the same. He gave us some free time for the rest of the period, but still rambled on about nonsense.
As Mr. Uchida dragged on, I took out my sketchpad and flipped through my drawings. The beach, the large clock tower in the center of town, some of Yuna's embarrassing memories, (I 'm saving those for the perfect time,) and of course, my favorite picture. A boy, about my age, fifteen years old. I knew that he was just a face, a drawing, but I loved him. He had gravity defying dirty blond spiky hair, pointing mostly towards the left, deep, deep, ocean blue eyes that you could get lost in, and he looks so sad, so confused. It's a future memory of my own. How do I know this? Well, I just turn the page. He's smiling now, the cutest smile you ever will see, but next to him is a happy, smiling, me. I know for a fact that it's in my future, but I will never know when it will happen.
I hope soon, I thought, staring out the window.
My trance was broken by a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see what this person wanted from me, and saw a bright happy redhead smiling at me.
"Hi! I'm Kairi! I transferred here from Radiant Garden," she said, holding her hand out for me to shake. She had auburn hair, and had blue-violet eyes. She was pretty.
She wasn't scowling at me like the others were; maybe she was immune to the rumors. I couldn't help but smile back at her, her positive attitude was like a virus.
"Hello Kairi, my name's Naminé," I said and shook her hand. As soon as I let go, I went back to staring out the window. I can't get close to anyone, I thought.
"Hey, why are all the girls glaring at you?" Kairi pressed, poking my shoulder. I turned to face the class, catching about four people turning around at the last second. I sighed, smiling sadly towards Kairi.
"Nothing, just a middle school grudge," I answered her. Her eyesbrows furrowed up in disgust as she shot a murderous look at everyone's back.
"Well that's stupid. What are they holding a grudge about?" she asked. I was starting to think of escape plans, my thought train dissecting blueprints for excuses. When nothing came, I just shrugged.
"I'm not too sure, but I guess I did something that made them mad," I answered coolly, an obvious lie. Kairi bought it, shaking her head and mentally calling them all idiots.
I was starting to like this Kairi character. She was slightly air-headed, oblivious, and all in all wonderfully kind. Her memories consisted of nothing brutal, menacing or frightening, all just happy feelings of love and joy. Her smile was true, her eyes sparkling, and the message continuously running through her head was this: "I hope I can be friends with her…"
"Well then, I guess they're just jealous of how adorable you are," she joked, giving me a lopsided grin and a giggle as a blush spread across my face. Maybe I could let her get close, just her… Maybe I could have my first friend since kindergarten. "Do you want to sit with me at lunch?"
I thought about it. There was a chance that such a nice girl like Kairi would accept me for who I was, but there was also the chance that she would be disgusted by my very presence, sinking into the group of chanting, rumor-spreading witches that wanted me to die. After some minutes of thinking, I nodded me head to myself and smiled.
"Sure," I answered her softly. Kairi's mouth opened a little in happiness, and she grinned broadly.
"Awesome! You can meet my sister Xion," she chirped, just as the bell rang. Kairi gathered her belongings in a rush, turning to send a wave.
"Bye, Naminé! I'll see you at lunch!" she called before dissolving into the crowd. A small smile spread across my face without permission as I stuffed my notebook back into my bag.
Chapter edited by Lycoris Calantha, (my new beta reader, :D) as of Saturday, May 29, 2010.