Chapter One
Rinoa sighed as she pushed open the main doors of West Deling High School, pushing her glasses back up her nose as she made her way down the stairs to the road before turning left and heading for home.
As she made her way down the road she passed numerous students all standing around in their groups, chatting loudly among themselves. From what she could hear as she walked past was that a lot of them were glad that the first day of the school year was over and a few of them were now making plans for the upcoming weekend.
Rinoa just stared straight ahead as she continued walking, trying her best to block out as much of the chatter as she could. She didn't have anyone to hang out with, not at this school anyway. She had left all of her friends behind when her mum had decided to relocate from East Deling a bit over a year ago.
The reason her mum had decided to relocate was because of the death of Rinoa's dad eighteen months ago. Her dad had been a high ranking officer in the Galbadian Army and had been well liked and respected by a lot of his fellow soldiers.
He had been away on a fishing trip at Obel Lake in Timber with a few of his army buddies and had been on the way home when the car they had been travelling in had been been hit by a semi driving in the opposite direction, killing them all on impact. It had later been revealed that the truck driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and had veered onto the wrong side of the road, resulting in the accident.
Rinoa had been absolutely devastated when she had found out about what had happened and had been near inconsolable. Luckily she had a good group of friends who had been there for her, none more so than her boyfriend, Matt, and her best friend, Patricia.
A few months after the funeral her mum had made the decision to relocate to a cheaper part of the city. The reason for this was because they couldn't afford to live where they were on her mums income and were slowly falling behind with their bills.
Rinoa had hated the idea of moving away from her friends, but knew of the situation they were facing and understood why they had to move. Also it wasn't like she couldn't see her friends over the weekends, since she was only moving to the other side of the city.
She had found the idea of going to a new school a little scary, but had also looked at it as an opportunity to meet new people and make some new friends. Boy had she been wrong.
Her first day at West Deling High had been nothing short of hell for her. She had been abused, both verbally and physically. She had been called every name under the sun and generally hated by every student at the school, especially the preppy students, who had made her their main target. She had eventually found out that the people living in the western suburbs had a strong hatred for people living in the wealthier eastern suburbs. She had never dared ask why this was the case, not that she needed to considering someone only needed to walk the streets to realize it was a bad area.
The western suburbs, unlike the more affluent east side of the city, which was full of tree lined boulevards with two story houses down every street, was one of the poorer areas of the city. Drugs and a higher crime rate made it an undesirable area and it was well known among the city's resident as somewhere you avoided unless you had a reason to go there. Rinoa hated living in the area but knew that her and her mum had no choice.
Rinoa was brought out of her thoughts by some rather annoying high pitched chit chat behind her, the type that sounded like the person talking was screeching.
She turned her head slightly to glance behind her and immediately turned her head back to the front, wishing she had resisted the urge to see who the voices belonged to.
Walking about a meter behind her were Molly Jenkins, the head cheerleader, along with three of her fellow cheerleaders, Rebecca Smith, Natasha Dunn and Felicity Bradshaw. Not only were these girls popular they were also a few of the many people that deliberately went out of their way to make Rinoa's life a living hell every day.
The four girls had stopped talking as soon as they had noticed Rinoa looking at them and were now paying full attention to her.
"What are you looking at four eyes?" One of the girls, Molly to be exact, demanded.
Rinoa didn't say anything as she clutched her dads wedding ring, which hung from a necklace around her neck, and quickened her pace slightly in an attempt to get away.
She spotted the small alleyway leading to her street just up ahead and ducked into it, waiting until she was halfway down it before slowing down. She looked behind her to see if she had been followed, which thankfully she hadn't been.
'Thank god for that,' Rinoa thought as she turned back round and continued down the alleyway.
She turned right once she got to the end and made her way down the street, stopping two blocks down in front of a small two bedroom brick home that her and her mum had lived in since they'd moved. The house wasn't very big, but it was enough for the two of them.
Rinoa sighed as she noticed her mums car parked next to her beat up old Pulsar. Her and her mum got along great and she loved her dearly, but she had a habit of fawning over her, which Rinoa found annoying and embarrassing.
Letting her bag drop from her shoulder, Rinoa made her way across the front yard, pushing the front door open and entering the house.
"I'm home," she yelled out as she kicked the door closed behind her.
"Hey Sweetie, can you come into the kitchen please," Her mum called back.
"Great, now what," Rinoa muttered as she slowly made her way down the hall towards the kitchen, not really wanting to have to sit through one of her mums talks right now.
She entered the kitchen to see her mum sitting at the bench in the middle of the room, reading a magazine over a cup of coffee. Rinoa dropped her bag by the doorway, the noise getting her mums attention.
"Hey honey, can you sit down please."
'Uh-oh, this can't be good,' Rinoa thought. The last time she had heard those words was when her dad had died.
Without a word she sat down at the bench next to her mum, watching as she closed the magazine and finished her coffee before turning to face her.
"So, what's up?" Rinoa asked nervously.
She watched as her mum looked at the floor, took a deep breath then looked back up at her, worry written all over her face.
"Mum, what's wrong?"
"Okay," Julia said, taking in another deep breath before continuing, "I'm not sure how you're going to react to this so please don't get angry with me."
"Okay."
"I'm sorry sweetie, but we have to leave Deling."
"What?" Rinoa asked, not sure whether she had heard her mum properly or not.
"I got offered a job overseas, which means we have to leave Deling," Julia repeated said slowly.
'Oh my god she got accepted,' Rinoa thought as she clapped her hands together and pulled her mum into a big hug.
After they had relocated to the western suburbs, her mum had enrolled in a nursing course, deciding that she wanted to do something different with her life after nearly two decades of being a lounge singer.
She had completed the course a month ago and had immediately applied for positions all over the world.
"Okay, not the reaction I was expecting," Julia chuckled as she returned the hug.
"Sorry, it's just that I'm so happy for you. You worked your butt off to get that course done."
"But what about you sweetie? What about all of the new friends you've made since being here?"
'Oh crap,' Rinoa thought, the smile fading from her face. She had never told her mum how bad school really was. She'd always made out that things were going fine just to keep her mum happy and to ensure that she wouldn't feel guilty about it, which she no doubt would.
'Well no time like the present,' she thought as she took in a deep breath.
"Mum, to be completely honest with you, I never made any new friends. No matter how much i tried no one wanted to know me."
"But sweetie, what about all the things you told me about what you and your friends get up to?" Julia asked, shocked at what she was being told.
"I said all of those things so you wouldn't feel guilty about it and start blaming yourself."
"Oh honey, you should've told me about it," Julia said as she pulled Rinoa into a hug.
"Yeah, well i don't have to worry about it anymore," Rinoa replied, returning the hug.
"So where we moving too," Rinoa asked as she pulled away from her mum, curious as to where they were moving too.
"Well, out of all the jobs I applied for, the only reply I got back was from the ones I applied for in Balamb."
"Yes!" Rinoa exclaimed in excitement. She had always liked Balamb and had planned to one day visit, but never in her wildest dreams did she ever think that she would get the chance to live there.
"Where abouts in Balamb is it mum?" Rinoa asked, barely able to contain her excitement.
"The capital, I got offered another position in one of the rural towns but figured you'd rather the city over a small town," Julia replied before adding, "I take it your happy about the move?"
"Hell yes! I'm going to go pack," Rinoa announced as she made her way out of the kitchen.
"Okay, We can only take one checked bag and one carry on bag on the plane tomorrow, so just pack what you can and box the rest, the removalists will take it with them when they come to pick our stuff up tomorrow," Julia yelled after her.
"Okay mum," Rinoa called back.
Rinoa entered her room and dropped her bag on the floor before throwing herself on her bed. She lay spread-eagle on her bed as what her mum had told her finally started to sink in.
'Yes! I finally get to leave this shit hole,' Rinoa thought as she rolled off her bed and went over to her built in wardrobe.
She slid open the door and searched through it for a few minutes until she found what she was looking for, her big black suitcase. She grabbed a hold of it and was about to pull it out when she suddenly stopped, a feeling of realization coming over her.
She let go of the suitcase and clapped a hand over her mouth. In all of the excitement she had forgotten about all of the friends she still had at her old school, Matt and Patricia in particular.
She couldn't help but wonder what their reaction to this was going to be. No doubt they would be upset about it, but then again nothing would really be changing, apart from the fact that she wouldn't be seeing them as much as she was now.
Rinoa didn't know how she was going to tell them. Her first thought had been through email or Facebook, but then decided against it. This wasn't really something you told someone over the computer, or the phone for that matter. She needed to tell them face to face, which would involve having to make a trip to her old school on the other side of the city, which she wasn't sure she would have time to do.
Exiting the room, she headed back to the kitchen to ask her mum if it was okay for her to go see them before they left.
"Hey mum, is it okay if I go and see Matt and Patricia tomorrow?" Rinoa asked as she entered the kitchen, seeing her mum still sitting at the counter.
"I guess so, just as long as you're fully packed tonight, and you need to be back by three so we can organize for your car to be sold."
"Thanks mum," Rinoa replied as she ran back down the hallway.
Running back into her room, she pulled the suitcase out of the wardrobe and lay it on the bed.
She then went back to her wardrobe and grabbed every drawer and emptied them onto her bed, then gathered all of the stuff that was hung up and threw them on the bed as well.
'Okay, blue denim jeans, keep. Old worn out t-shirt, dump,' she said to herself as she started going through her clothing, creating two separate piles on the floor.
Nearly an hour later Rinoa placed the last piece of clothing she was keeping into her suitcase and sat on it in attempt to flatten it a bit so she could do it up.
After successfully doing it up she dragged it off the bed and placed it next to the door. Next she grabbed her school bag and emptied it, proceeding to pack her toiletries and makeup kit in the bag, along with a few personal effects like photo's and a couple of her favourite books so she would have something to do on the flight before putting it on the floor next to her suitcase.
She piled the rest of her clothing into two separate plastic bags, one for stuff she wasn't keeping and the other for stuff she wasn't sure about., figuring she could always go through it again when she got to Balamb.
Tying both bags up she placed the stuff she wasn't sure about next to her bag while throwing the other one over her shoulder and heading down the hallway to the laundry, placing it with other stuff that needed to be taken to lifeline.
Rinoa thought over what she had done so far, deciding that she was all done before heading down the hall to the lounge room.
She flopped onto the couch and started flipping through the channels, looking for anything that would spark her interest. When she couldn't find anything she settled on a documentary about the worlds biggest man made machines, deciding it would do for now.
She watched this for about ten minutes before her mum came into the room and sat in the recliner next to the couch.
"All packed darling?" Julia asked as she grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels, settling on a soap opera that had just started, one that Rinoa didn't actually mind watching every now and again.
"Yep," Rinoa replied as she stifled a yawn.
"That's good, now the removalist will be here at nine o'clock in the morning, so don't be surprised to find the house empty when you get back. Also we have to be at the airport by six for our nine o'clock departure."
"Okay Mum," Rinoa replied as she settled in to watch TV.
An hour later Julia went to get some pizza and they sat in silence watching TV as they ate.
As Rinoa ate thoughts started circling in her head about her new home. What was it like? What were the kids like? She pushed the thoughts aside, telling herself that she would just have to wait and see.
She looked down at the last three pieces and nearly gagged at the thought of trying to eat them. She closed the box and got up from the couch, making her way out of the room and into the kitchen before putting the pizza box in the fridge.
She looked at the clock, seeing that it was just after eight. Even though it was still early she actually felt quite tired and decided that an early night would be good.
"I'm off to bed mum," Rinoa said as she poked her head pack into the lounge room.
"Okay Sweetie, good night,"
"Night mum," Rinoa said before making her way down to her room.
She entered her room, grabbing her pajamas from under her pillow, which consisted of a pair of light blue satin boxer shorts and a plain white t-shirt.
She then exited the room and headed across the hall to the bathroom. She quickly got changed and brushed her teeth before making her way back to her bedroom.
She jumped into bed and pulled the sheet up around her chin before letting her body relax.
She suddenly felt extremely wired about tomorrow. She couldn't believe how much her luck had changed since school had ended that afternoon.
'No more bullying. No more Molly Jenkins and her fellow cheerleaders giving me a hard time,' Rinoa thought to herself, a smile spreading across her face.
Closing her eyes, she rolled onto her side and snuggled into her pillow. Despite having all the thoughts about tomorrow going through her head, she found herself drifting off to sleep in a matter of minutes.
A/N: So What did you guys think.