A/N: (The whole fic is a w-i-p, bear with me)

Hey guys! This is my first fic! I'm still getting used to this formatting, and until I get home to see how it looks on a desktop; for now, enjoy the (possibly) crappy formatting!

Also, as the name suggests, this FFVIII fic will be about our favorite 3rd wheel, Zell! And no, he won't be paired with Quistis. It'll be mostly Zell POV, and it's a ("cliche") high school setting. If you don't like this, or it's too common for you, well hate comments won't get you anywhere.

For who he is paired with, I made my own character based on who I thought could compliment Zell well and make it interesting- just another student at GHS- Garden High School (soooo original, I know).

Big thanks to Ashbear and Emerald-Latias for giving me a lot of inspiration to write something for the fandom (I mostly just write for friends) and note to Ashbear for giving me the idea to feature Zell as a main character (After the Fall). I also took this chapter's name from a line common to both writers; hope they don't mind.

Without further ado,

Skij Leonhart

Chapter I: The Road to Hell...

The halls were bustling with an abundance of chatter and lively banter; the loud, triple sounding bell's rings echoed throughout and the crowd was eager and excited to get to lunch, post-4th period. Everyone was pushing around to try to get closer to those glass double-doors, but, as usual, all the effort was all in vain as today, the strictest, crabbiest, annoying-est teacher was on guard: Mrs. Crabapple. The name led to a lot of nicknames, mostly unpleasant.

Zell Dincht was usually the liveliest fellow in GHS; nothing stopped the 5'6" blond from going anywhere or getting anything. That, and his excellent repertoire of tae-kwon-doe and karate techniques; but today was a rare exception. He really needed a lot good food to cheer him up, and with most of the teachers he could weasel his way into the lunchroom early, but not with her. Today he'd even felt the need to present his case to her, explaining that he hadn't eaten breakfast and he had a tutorial to get to in a few minutes. She just frowned at him and pointed to the back of the line. Sighing, Zell found himself shuffling to the back of the line, and almost halfway there when a hand grabbed his arm, shocking him out of his stupor.

"Psst!" A voice whispered from the massive "line" to his right; to him, it seemed more like a snake that ate one-too-many-a mouse and then tried to roll over, failing in its endeavors partway through.

He turned back first to see if Mrs. Crabby was watching, then slid next to the mystery person in line without a second thought, much to the dismay of a few concerned students behind him. Hunger brought out the worst in Zell, and as he glared daggers behind him, the students seemed to squirm around as if they were dodging not even daggers, but full length swords.

"Hey, thanks for helpi-" He managed to get out before his voice shrunk to a squeak with the realization of who had let him skip. He blinked a couple times in surprise before resorting to just staring as his jaw hit the proverbial floor.

"Oh, it's not a big deal." Her tone slid down to a whisper with the progression of the sentence, her face turning slightly red as she looked down at her feet. The voice responsible came from a now-blushing, dirty blonde-haired girl, standing at approximately 5'2" and looking even shorter as she kept her head down and her eyes glued to the shoe she was sliding back and forth across the tile floor.

Zell's jaw was now breaking through the proverbial floor, quite possibly reaching Centra at this rate. That, combined with his mind on overdrive, was pushing him out of his usual carefree character.

Zell's mind raced. "She's quite possibly the prettiest girl in the entire class, and she not only helped me cut but she's acting shy around me?" As an afterthought, he added, "Something must be wrong with my face." Zell looked past his partner in crime at the glass that, at the moment, doubled as a mirror. After he was sure that he looked normal, he cleared his throat and regained a bit of his confidence.

"Oh... Hey, I just wanted to thank you for letting me cut, I'm really hungry and I haven't eaten breakfast and if I don't eat I get cranky and I have to go to a tutorial and I- uh, I'm rambling aren't I." Zell finished, his confidence sliding closer to when she had initiated the situation.

Julia had turned to him and was now smiling innocently, humored by his tendancies.

"It's alright. I, uh, kind of get cranky when I haven't eaten, hehe." Her face altered with a twinge of mock seriousness. "But, don't tell anyone, or else I might have to kill you!" She threw on her best angry face and fake-roared at him, sending both into laughter.

"Thanks for understanding. Oh, by the way, my name's Zell. Nice to meet you!" he responded with his usual enthusiasm, sticking out his hand with a grin.

Julia's cheeks tinged with a light pink as she returned the gesture with a rather small hand compared to his larger, knuckle-gloved one.

"The name's Julia. Nice to meet you too!" She answered with her own smile, which almost immediately turned to a frown, confusing Zell.

"What's wrong?" He rose an eyebrow as she dropped the handshake. Her face lit up as if she was remembering something (think cartoon lightbulb moment) and she questioned, "Didn't you say you had to get to a tutorial?"

Zell's eyebrow shifted to a frown, and he nodded. She continued, "You know most teachers stop those at around twelve, right?"

Zell quickly slid out his phone and hit the side, illuminating a large 11:53 on the top. He looked back up with a disappointed face, sliding his phone back in his pocket.

"It's already too late... I wasted too much time arguing with Mrs. 'Crabby' over there." His whole body slumped, and they made their way with the now-moving line, her walking, him dragging his feet. He looked over as she tapped him on his shoulder.

"Maybe I can help? I'm not... too good at math but anything else I should be able to do well." She looked up at him (she's approx half to 3/4 of a head shorter than Zell) hopefully. Zell's demeanor improved as he thought over the new plan.

"Yea, I need help with the English unit; I'm... bad at grammar." He looked at the ground with his latest confession, continuing on in the line and managing to not let his feet drag as much. When he looked up, they had arrived at the front of the line where talking was "extremely frowned upon" by Mrs. Crabmeister.

"That's a new one. I like it." Zell inwardly smiled."

Since he was unable to talk, he looked over at Julia and mouthed a, "Help me?"

She nodded in response, and he smiled. Maybe today wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

With Zell's attitude restored, he marched into the seating area with his two hotdogs in one hand, his phone in the other. He was putting in his recently obtained number when he felt a strong shove from behind him. It was enough to topple him, forcing him to make a split second decision between his phone breaking or going lunch-less, as the lines were closing down. The long term benefits won out, and he reached for his phone, saving it as the pair of his chili-covered friends took a dive for the worst, splattering all over the floor and partially on his white shirt. He looked up at the offending party, which consisted of a tall blonde with his signature white trench coat, and a trailing party of one, consisting of a relatively tall brunette with locks of hair trailing in wavy tresses underneath the backwards baseball cap he had on.

"Oops." The tall blonde remarked with an evil smirk donning his face. The brunette stayed silent, fixing his cap and hair idly.

"Seifer... Now's not the time. I... have somewhere to be." Zell growled, standing to glare up at the taller teenager (these two have the same height difference as Zell and Julia).

"Aww, chicken-wuss trying to avoid a fight? You're not getting away from this one, coward." Seifer spat back, shoving Zell backwards. By now, a decent crowd was forming and encircling the two. While Zell was regaining his footing, Seifer looked back to see his brunette "friend" backing away from a potential fight.

"Irvine! Get back here." Seifer demanded, merely causing Irvine to back up farther.

"Yea, no. You're on your own for this one." Irvine drawled in his southern accent, as he melded into the now-complete circle of onlookers. He had transferred here unexpectedly last year after his old school closed down due to an unexplained fire.

Seifer rolled his eyes and turned back just in time to dodge Zell's first flurry of punches.

"That all you got?" Seifer taunted leaned his face closer to Zell after he stopped throwing punches. Zell growled inhumanly and flung himself at Seifer, who stopped messing around and started throwing punches and kicks back, one catching Zell in the side. Zell crumpled and slid sideways across the cafeteria floor. He looked up in time to catch another fist to the face, and right before Seifer could get on top of him and do real damage, a slightly feminine shout of "Stop!" rang out.

E/N: Heh. I like cliffhangers. Who could it be? Could they get Zell in more trouble? Save him? Injure his pride? Who knows. (except meeee)

Feedback is greatly appreciated and it aids in the writing process! It's also a great confidence booster.

Until next time!

Skij Leonhart