Yay for another story! I just finished writing this whole thing tonight... so updates shouldnt be very far apart since its already written. All I need to do is seperate it in to chapters and edit it.
This will be a really short story. Five chapters probably being the max. This idea came to me last spring, when our school did Into The Woods for our spring musical. I love musicals, so I wanted to write a story involving one.
Even if you havent seen Les Miserables before, you should be okay to read this story. I think, anyway. I don't see why not.
Well, enjoy my new story! Review if you would like :)
Chapter 1
"...To love another person is to see the face of God."
The last sentence was ended with just enough enthusiasm and just enough passion to push any student to think deeply on the matter. After all, the words were true and the speaker was honest, making the speech more than a little effective. The room was nearly still, other than classmates' mingling inhalation and a pencil dropping uselessly to the floor somewhere in the back of the classroom. Witnesses to the oratory were experiencing something akin to shock, their eyes holding wide and their mouths dropping open.
"Th-thank you, Zexion." Even the teacher was awe-struck.
A slate-headed boy mumbled something inaudible and returned to his seat, happy to have the attention off his face. Public speaking was definitely one of his strong points, yet he hated it with every fiber of his soul.
He mentally made a check list (though he was sure he passed the presentation with flying colors): A basic introduction to your speech, check, the middle holds the audience's attention, check, end the entire talk with a quote or lyric to a song, check. Everything seemed to be in order.
"How the hell do you talk so little, but turn around and give bad-ass presentations like that?" Axel whispered as he leaned over in his desk. The rest of the room still sat in silence.
"I don't know." The other shrugged innocently, "I just let the words flow."
"Did you even prepare?" The redhead asked.
"No."
"Jesus Christ!"
"Axel!" Their teacher rose from her desk, "Quit using that name."
He smiled apologetically before righting himself in his seat, "Right, sorry."
"Now, who would like to follow that spectacular performance?" The teacher looked around the classroom before sending Zexion a look of affection, "Nobody? I assumed so."
"I'll go." Some miserable girl up front stood with a wrinkled paper in hand, her eyes staring at the floor, "But don't expect it to be anything like that."
"Oh, we won't." Their teacher rolled her eyes.
"-Yuffie?" The intercom fuzzed.
"Yes?" The teacher kicked back in her chair, settling her feet on the desk.
"Is Zexion there?"
"Why, yes he is." She smiled warmly at her current favorite student.
"Can you send him to Squall's?"
The blond woman suddenly scowled, "Yes... I can."
With a slight 'hmm'ing noise she pointed at the door and gestured for him to leave. She'd never gotten along with Leon.
Shuffling everything in to his arms, Zexion immediately stood to leave with a sigh of relief. The halls were nearly empty, as usual, and the boy quickly made his way to the choir room, glancing inside before fully stepping in. Leon was no where to be found, but he spotted an object on the piano sporting a post-it that read 'Zexion'. Taking the thing in to his hands, he absentmindedly examined it as he left the room. The bell ending first period rang.
"Les Miserables." Zexion repeated the name to himself, examining the paper closely. Written below those words was a quick description of the musical and some background information. The whole thing was taped to a DVD case of the Broadway show itself, and the junior glanced over it carefully.
"You got my message." Leon appeared around the corner, arms swinging closely to his side, "Good, good."
"What is this?" The slate-haired boy held up the package with uncertainty.
"The fall musical. I'd like to start auditions next week, so that means you need to study that DVD and help me pick out the perfect cast." The brunette strode in to the choir room, looking smug.
"But Leon!" He raced after him, catching him just before he could enter his office, "Why do I have to help?
"Because..." The man gave a half-grin (it didn't suite him), "you're my student director."
"Crap." Zexion sighed.
"Start studying!" Leon warned before slamming his office door shut.
"You're kidding me." The junior cursed under his breath, staring down at the movie case once again.
"I'm not, so get the hell home and watch that damn show after school!" The music director shouted through his door, "And don't you dare tell Demyx what the selection is!"
"I won't." He muttered, shuffling out of the room with a look of distress.
"Zexy!" A shout rang through the hallway. The student visibly cringed.
"Hey, wait up!" Demyx scrambled down the hallway, latching on to the slate-headed one once he was near enough. His blond hair had fallen flat throughout the morning and his clothes were wrinkled from sleeping through all his first class, "What were you doing in the choir room? Did you-"
Zexion paused, shaking his head immediately afterwards, "No! No Dem-"
"YOU KNOW WHAT THE FALL MUSICAL IS!" The blond squealed in delight, slapping a hand to his mouth and jumping up and down like a little fairy, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"
"I'm not tellin-"
"This is huge!" Demyx threw his arms up for emphasis, "This is epic! I mean, since I'm going to know the selection, I can research the part I want and-"
"I'm not telling you, Dem."
"You're..." The blond trailed off, his smile fading, "What do you mean you're not telling me?"
Sighing with remorse, Zexion began walking down the hallway, letting his friend follow, "I can't tell you, you know that." The other frowned and stared at his feet as they walked, looking like a kicked puppy.
"Well, do you think I'll get a part?"
"Demyx... you have one of the best voices in the school... you're guaranteed a part."
"True, but Roxas is planning to try out this year, and he has an amazing voice."
"Roxas?" Zexion asked, confused, "The little blond sophomore? Sora's brother?"
"Yup."
"That's one person though. There's a lot of parts in this play."
"Yes!" The blond smiled again, hooking his arm around the other boy's shoulders, "I'm excited!" They continued on until they were walking out in to the school's main foyer, Demyx suddenly releasing him and beginning to skip, "Into the woods! Into the woods! Into the woods and out of the woods and home before dark!" He belted out the lines as he galloped around merrily.
"It's not Into the Woods."
"Oh." The merriment was halted momentarily, before something else was sung, "Fortune favors the brave, oh oh ohhhhhh."
"It's not Aida either."
"Stop spoiling the magic, Zexy!"
With a slight hiss, the shorter boy crossed his arms and continued down a second hallway, making sure to cover the movie with his elbow. The blond followed behind, mouthing words of some song or another to himself.
"Ah!" Zexion gasped as he was suddenly yanked sideways in to an empty classroom, the package striking against the floor, forgotten.
"Dem, what-"
"Sh!" The other whispered, taking the slate-headed boy's face in to his hands and bringing their lips together violently. Zexion never liked being roughed around, which Demyx knew, but sometimes the blond got over excited and jumped him.
There was a sudden creaking of the door, and both boys flew apart instantly, looking breathless and nervous. Zexion scrambled to pick up the case off the ground, pressing it to his chest protectively.
"Oh, hey guys..." Sora's face appeared in the doorway, staring at the boys with suspicion. His eyes traveled to the object in the shorter boy's hands.
"Sora, I didn't-"
"YOU TOLD DEMYX WHAT THE MUSICAL WAS!" The brunette screamed in distress, his eyes opening wide and his chest heaving with astonishment, "I'm telling Leon!"
Zexion stood in stunned silence, one part thankful that the brunette hadn't known what they were really doing, and one part irritated, because he knew the eldest Yangu brother would actually squeal on him. The blond beside him just looked satisfied that their secret was, well, still a secret.
With a loud 'huff' and an angry stomping of his foot, Sora left the room in a determined march towards the choir room.
"That was close." Demyx shook his head, taking an extra step away from Zexion, "We shouldn't have done that."
"You started it." The shorter boy reminded him, completely monotone. The blond stared mutely at him before sliding out the door and leaving him to stand alone.
The slate-haired boy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before following after his best friend. The bell for second period rang. It would be a long day.
X.
"You're late." His teacher announced sternly as he pushed open the closed door. Most of the class gave him looks of warning that clearly said 'Turn-back-NOW!'
"Yeah." Was his only reply. He noticed Sora sitting moodily in the back corner beside Axel, who just looked bored, and Demyx was sitting in his usual seat next to Zexion's empty one, staring dejectedly at the board.
"Do you know what that means?" Mr. Vexen stood from his place at his desk and stomped a few feet closer.
"No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me."
His creepy eyes turned to slits and he looked completely murderous, "Try that angsty little tone with me again."
Vexen and Zexion had never gotten along.
"Go to hell."
The teacher's jaw dropped momentarily before snapping shut with a fierce bite, "One of these days, Zexion," His voice was dripping with malice, "I'm going to get you so good... and Squall will NOT be there to protect you."
Despite not really being afraid, Zexion swallowed a bit. Vexen was a little psycho, and every threat really should be taken seriously. He'd tried to attack the boy once before.
Taking his seat beside his friend, the slate-headed boy rolled his eyes.
"One day..." The older man whispered, turning back to his chalk board.
Zexion glanced warily to his side and noticed Demyx wouldn't look at him. "I'm sorry?" He attempted, though he knew he'd done nothing wrong. The blond stared at him before turning away again.
"Dem, talk to me..."
"Zexion!" Vexen whipped around, chucking an eraser at his least favorite pupil. Zexion dodged it quickly with an annoyed frown.
"I'm this close to sending you to the office!" The teacher warned, holding up his thumb and pointer finger to indicate just how much he meant. The student sat boredly in his seat, waiting for the man to turn again before whispering to Demyx, "Come over tonight."
"OUT!" The man finally lost his cool, racing across the room to flick the office switch.
"-Yes?" One of the bitchy secretaries answered.
"Zexion is on his way." He told her crossly, kicking open the door while said boy gathered his things. As Zexion strode past the furious teacher, Demyx's lip twitched upwards in one corner, alerting the other boy that yes, he would come over tonight.
Once again, Zexion found himself striding down an empty hallway, filtering through the creepy main foyer quickly and taking the steps two at a time to reach the office.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." All three secretaries clicked their tongues as the boy stepped inside the cool office. All three were equally bitchy, took joy in handing out detentions, and had unprofessional crushes on Zexion.
"What happened?" Rikku asked. She leaned forward on to her hand with a dreamy smile.
"Don't know." He dropped his stuff off on the counter, as was custom, and sat in a cushioned chair.
"Well, Xemnas just stepped out, so you'll have to wait a few minutes." Yuna continued to type on her computer before fluttering her eyelashes a little, "Is that alright?"
"S'fine." He answered.
"If you get bored you can come sit over by us." Rikku patted an empty seat by the wall, biting her lip. Zexion nearly grimaced, "No, I'm fine here."
Paine, surprisingly the most normal of them all, rolled her eyes and stood from her seat, "I just got an email from Leon. He's on his way."
"Where are you going?" Rikku asked her.
"Bathroom." She announced before exiting the room. The two remaining girls eyed him up with renewed vigor.
"What's the problem here?" Leon suddenly burst in the room, causing the women to jump.
"Vexen sent him here." Yuna gestured to Zexion.
"Why's there so many people in here?" Xemnas, the principal, growled from the doorway. He pushed his way through the crowd, saw Zexion, and hastily grabbed the boy by the shoulder, "You again. Come on!"
Leon wedged a foot in the door before the principal could close himself and the student inside his own personal office. "Wait just a minute!" The brunette warned, raising an angry finger, "Don't you think I'm not right out here waiting!" He shook his fist, "I'll be listening."
Xemnas stared coldly at the man before sucking in an intense breath through his nose and pushing him out, "Yes, yes, now OUT."
Once the door was shut, voices were hushed, and Xemnas retained his creepy smile, Zexion found himself actually a little nervous. The school was mad (if you couldn't tell), and every time he found himself inside the Principal's office, he also found said man getting closer and closer to him.
"So what was the problem?" Xemnas sat himself on top of his unorganized desk, leaning forward and pushing the boy in to the room's only seat.
"I don't know..." He shrugged, sitting as far back as possible, "Vexen blew up on me."
"Ah, the usual." The man nodded, leaning back casually on to his hands. The back door was yanked open and a calm Saix came inside.
"Well, hello." The vice principal smirked at the some-what frightened boy in the seat, extending his hand in a slight wave, "I heard a commotion."
Xemnas greeted him warmly before returning to stare at Zexion, "It seems Vexen has sent us our favorite student, once again."
"Ah, it does seem that way." Saix nodded, sitting beside the other man.
Oh shit.
"Proper punishment?" They asked each other, grinning enthusiastically. Saix pretended to think, "This does seem to be a rising problem, perhaps I should suggest an in-school suspension, personally supervised by myself?"
Xemnas seemed to consider this before standing and stepping closer to Zexion, "Perhaps..."
They were interrupted as the door opened again and a familiar blond poked in, "There he is! I've received a special request to see Zexion in my office... now."
"Cloud." Xemnas was rude with his tone, stepping away from the student, "Let me guess... Leon sent the request?"
"Of course." Cloud smiled, holding the door open wider, "And from what I've heard, I believe he is in dire need of my help, which means I should see to him immediately."
The rules of Twilight Town High were well known. If a student was thought to be mentally 'strained', the counselor had every right to accept him to his office, no matter where the child happened to be at that moment of the school day.
"Yes, right." Xemnas muttered, crossing his arms with a vexed look.
"Thank you." The blond reached in to the room, pulling Zexion up by the elbow, "Come, come Zexion. We should get started as soon as possible."
Without another word, Cloud drug the student from the office and down the hall to the G.O.
"There he is!" Leon called out as they entered.
"Thank you." The young boy let out a deep breath, "I was actually a bit nervous for a second there." The guys nodded in understanding, shifting to the mini fridge to snatch some soda.
"Want one?" Cloud asked, tossing him a root beer.
Zexion took it willingly, thankful that at least some staff members were normal in this school.
-Jaspen