Selphie's Most Surprising Birthday Ever
July 16th - 5:29 am
Selphie's eyelids fluttered in response to a ray of light sneaking through the closed window blinds. She teetered on the edge of sleep. Her mind had spent several hours being submerged in dreamland and it wanted to rise up and break the surface to start the day. It just needed the teeniest nudge.
"WARK! WARK! WARK!" screeched her yellow chocobo alarm clock as it rattled mechanically.
She bolted upright with a gasp. Her senses were flooded with adrenaline at the shocking yet familiar interruption. Nothing got her going in the morning quite like a burst of adrenaline. She reached out and slapped at it, but she missed the first few times.
"Kweh!" the alarm said cheerfully after she finally smacked the off button with enthusiasm.
The force of her slap rattled the alarm clock, forcing it to nearly skitter off the edge of her headboard, but she quickly turned and grabbed it two handedly.
"Whoops, I don't want to break Mr. Chicky," she said to herself with a smile.
She carefully placed the chocobo alarm clock back in its usual position so it could frighten her awake the following morning with its singing.
She laid back down on her bed and gently stretched out her arms and legs while looking at the warm light increasing in her dorm room. The oranges and pinks of the sunrise transformed her little SeeD dorm into a magical, energetic, and happy place for her. She loved mornings. She loved her dorm room. It caught the most morning light of any of the other dorm rooms on her floor. There wasn't even any shade from an outdoor tree to stop the encroaching morning sunlight in this room. She couldn't imagine why the previous occupant had been so willing to trade rooms with her. She thought this place was the best.
She sat upright again and stretched until she touched her toes. Her hamstrings stretched and loosened nicely. She grabbed her cactuar stuffed animal and placed it back near her pillow.
"Good morning Needles," she said to the stuffed animal.
She stood upright on her bed and gave a few bounces while smiling. The bed springs squeaked loudly with each bounce.
"And good morning to you too, Sir Laguna," she spoke to the Sorceress' Knight poster that hung beside her bed. She kissed her fingertips before reaching out and slapping them on Laguna's glossy and posterized face.
She jumped down onto the hard tile of the floor while giving a little spin.
"It's July 16th today! And it's going to be a great day!" she sang, while ending her twirl with her arms raised in the air.
She immediately dropped down onto the floor like a cat to begin doing pushups and start her daily routine.
"One, two, three," she counted while a light sheen of sweat broke out on her forehead. She hummed the tune of 'Happy Birthday' as the morning sun began to bake the room.
The Balamb Garden cafeteria was only partially filled by the time she got there. She'd arrived even earlier than usual because she couldn't wait to see her friends. She wondered if they would start to do special things for her right away at breakfast or would they surprise her with a big party later in the evening? She decided she'd play it cool and see how the day unfolded.
The sounds of sizzling cook tops, silverware clinking on plates, and the low hum of conversations echoed around the half-filled room. She took a moment to breathe in the delicious scent of cooking. The smells of eggs, sweet pancakes, and greasy potatoes hung heavily in the air, but she needed to focus even if her mouth had begun watering.
She narrowed her eyes and surveyed the room for her usual bunch of friends. She only expected to see the early risers of her group. She quickly saw a gleam of shiny blonde hair bent over a table. It was Quistis. Selphie also noticed the elbow of man from across the table. She couldn't see who it was, but due to the earliness of the day and since the person was hiding behind a large column and a planter, she figured it was Squall. It was just like him to strategically place himself in the one spot of the cafeteria where it wasn't viewable from the entrance.
She started walking briskly towards them with a confident stride.
"Good morning," she said while slapping her hands down on the table. The impact caused Quistis' water glass to nearly slosh liquid onto her breakfast plate.
Quistis turned and smiled towards Selphie while adjusting her eyeglasses.
"Good morning," Quistis responded while Squall gave a shake of his head in acknowledgement. "Shouldn't you go get some breakfast before sitting down with us?"
"Oh silly me," Selphie responded, "I was so excited to see you guys that I forgot. I guess I should go get my regular breakfast... unless you guys think I should have something a little more special today?"
Quistis raised an eyebrow at her and Squall gave a shrug while taking a sip of coffee. Selphie looked around the table to see if there was a tray of cupcakes hidden anywhere. She preferred homemade, but store bought were fine. There wasn't anything there.
Squall and Quistis are healthy types. I guess they wouldn't condone dessert for breakfast. No matter, there's still the entire rest of the day for my friends to be nice to me, she thought to herself hopefully.
"Okay, I guess I'll go have my regular breakfast then," Selphie said while side stepping away from her friends. "Nothing special today, just the usual stuff. Chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and syrup, fruit, eggs cooked sunny side up, and a big glass of orange juice."
A few minutes later Selphie returned to the table and set her over laden breakfast tray down. Quistis was gone and her place was already neatly cleaned without a crumb or even a coffee ring remaining.
"Um, is Quisty coming back?" Selphie asked Squall.
"She has a scheduled meeting over at Galbadia Garden. She's going to be gone for several days, and she wanted to get an early start," he responded.
"Several days?" Selphie asked. "Quistis isn't going to come back by tonight?"
Squall shook his head at her. He'd told Selphie that Quistis was going to be gone for SEVERAL days, why would she be back tonight? Selphie normally was quick with receiving and processing information. He wondered why she was having trouble focusing, but then he looked at her shoveling chocolate chip pancakes into her mouth. Too much sugar. It probably made it hard for her to concentrate in the morning. He made a mental note to talk to Dr. Kadowaki about testing Selphie's blood sugar levels. SeeDs needed to be in top form.
"Uh, okay. She's going to be gone for a few days then," she said quietly.
That sounds pretty fishy to me, Selphie thought. I bet Quistis is helping everybody plan me a surprise party and they made up an excuse to get her out of the way while she prepared stuff. Squall probably doesn't even know about it. They usually spring party obligations on him at the last minute so he doesn't have a chance to say no.
Poor gullible Squall, Selphie thought while tilting her head to the side and looking him straight in the face. He shied away from her brazen attention and pretended like he was very busy looking at his toast while eating it.
"Do you know what Zell and Irvine are up to today?" she asked slyly with her eyes half lidded.
Squall was getting uncomfortable with the way Selphie was eyeing him this morning. He didn't know what she was up to, but it didn't feel right.
"Zell was shipped out on a SeeD mission last night, but Irvine, that's anybody's guess," Squall said with a shrug.
Selphie nodded her head. Irvine came and went as he pleased. Her on-again off-again on-again sorta-boyfriend wasn't what she would describe as reliable. But maybe he was off with Quistis helping set up a party. She could hope couldn't she?
Selphie took a long sip of orange juice before speaking.
"And why isn't Rinoa here eating with us during this early morning hour?" Selphie asked Squall.
They both let out laughter simultaneously. Selphie's giggles went along with Squall's dry snort. Rinoa was not a morning person, and everybody knew it. She somehow even claimed that she wasn't a 'morning person' even when awakened from an afternoon nap.
When they were done laughing Squall said seriously, "she took a trip to visit her father."
"Huh?" Selphie said while swallowing her orange juice badly. She sputtered slightly, orange juice dripped down her chin. Rinoa was going to see her father WILLINGLY? That sounded so made up. Like that was ever going to happen.
Squall saw Selphie's look of shock while she blotted juice off her face.
"I know her relationship with her father is... strained," Squall said. "But for some reason she just wanted to try again." He shook his brown bangs out of his eyes with a sigh. He clearly was viewing this trip pessimistically, or as he would most likely describe it, realistically. He didn't want Rinoa to get her hopes up, just to get them smashed again. Either way, he'd be anxiously waiting for her return.
As Squall was lost in his thoughts, Selphie stayed quiet and thought to herself too. She'd imagined that Rinoa would definitely be there for her birthday party. All these absences were WAY TOO convenient. They HAD to be doing something extra special for her today. She could imagine one or two of them being legitimately gone, that was the reality of SeeD, but ALL of her friends at the same time? That was too much.
She blotted her lips with her paper napkin before taking a small sip of water. They simply had to be doing something extra super duper special for her. This was all too weird. They were just going to make her wait all day before the big surprise. That had to be it.
She nodded her head to herself before lighting up her face with a big smile that she directed at Squall. He shifted uncomfortably and looked away pretending to be interested in something on the wall of the cafeteria.
There's still plenty of time to make this the best day ever! she thought to herself while licking the last bit of chocolate off her fork. Having finished her food she waved bye to Squall, and not waiting for a response, got up and left the cafeteria.
Selphie walked into Balamb Garden's library in the early afternoon. She looked around to see if any of her friends were congregating there. Maybe she could overhear what their party plans were.
She peeked down every aisle and behind every bookshelf, but she didn't see anybody she specifically knew.
Just because they aren't here party planning here doesn't mean that they aren't SOMEWHERE party planning, she thought to herself.
She turned around and started to leave the library when she was stopped suddenly.
"Selphie wait!" a small voice called out behind her in a whispery shout.
Selphie spun around to see Ami the library girl at the front desk. She waved her over.
"I couldn't let you leave without telling you this," Ami said.
Selphie smiled at her and got ready for a cheerful birthday greeting from her favorite library worker.
"You have a big fine and need to pay it," Ami said.
Selphie's left eyebrow raised up. That wasn't what she was expecting.
"The Sorceress' Knight movie is really overdue and you've accumulated a lot of fines. If you get any more fines on it, I'm going to have to block your card privileges... sorry," Ami said. "But I've noticed that you check it out a lot, so maybe if you have trouble remembering to return or renew it, maybe you could just buy your own copy."
"Yea, that would make a really good present for me," Selphie agreed loudly while emphatically tapping her chest. "It would be the perfect choice for somebody who was looking to give me a gift... for some reason." She directed this information towards the book stacks just in case she'd overlooked one of her friends nearby.
Ami just nodded her head with a confused look on her face.
"I'll pay the fine when I return it," Selphie said while waving goodbye to Ami the library girl.
Selphie had the feeling that was going to be a long day.
Selphie had been loitering throughout Garden all day hoping one of her friends would surprise her. So far that had not happened. She needed some comfort, so she decided to go see Dr. Kadowaki.
When she walked into the Infirmary, she was quickly greeted by the doctor.
"What can I do for you today?" Dr. Kadowaki asked her.
"I thought I might be due for my ANNUAL checkup," Selphie emphasized.
"Let me get your chart. Just wait a moment," she told her.
The doctor disappeared into her office to get Selphie's paperwork.
While Selphie was waiting, she was eyeing the jar of colorful lollipop's on Dr. K's desk. She licked her lips while looking at the candy jar.
Dr. Kadowaki bustled back towards Selphie with her chart.
"I don't think you need a full physical today, but I did notice that you need a tetanus booster. Why don't you go take a seat on the examination table in room one?"
Selphie just nodded and went in to get ready for her shot. She was sure at least Dr. Kadowaki would have noticed from her chart that today was her birthday. Oh well, at least she'd be protected from tetanus for several more years.
After her immunization was over, Selphie left the infirmary with a lemon lollipop dangling out of her mouth.
This day isn't what I'd envisioned when I woke up this morning, she mused to herself while walking around the big circular hub of Balamb Garden repeatedly. She looked up at the ceiling and could tell from the angle of light shining into Garden, that the day was progressing into late afternoon.
Selphie laid on her bed in a huff. She was tired of waiting all day for her friends to surprise her. After a lonesome dinner in the cafeteria she'd retired to her dorm room. She wanted to look on the bright side because the day wasn't over yet. There was still time to have a great birthday, but even her optimistic spirit was dampened by the day's events.
If the night went anything like the day, there would be nothing spectacular waiting for her. No party or cake or anything. She hadn't even gotten a card. Sure, she had gotten a few text messages and social media prompts from her Trabia friends, but those barely counted at all. No effort required. She would have loved a homemade card that was stuffed full of glitter and another person's handwriting. That was something more personal.
She tried to look cheerful and like she didn't need anybody, but that wasn't true. Nobody was really like that. Even Squall discovered he needed people, even if only a little bit. And she really needed people. She was a people person.
"How'd this happen? I'm friends with everybody. I'm super friendly all the time."
She turned over and grabbed Needles the cactuar for comfort. She hugged the soft plush cactuar's body close to hers. She wished it was a person, even Irvine. Just somebody would be nice.
"Maybe my friends will come through for me, the day isn't quite over yet. I'm going to hold out hope," she said to herself while giving her cactuar a squeeze.
The chocobo clock above her head ticked on.
Grat guts splashed Selphie in the face. The weird smell of grat mixed with the electric ozone lingering in the air. A thundaga spell was overkill for a grat, but she was ANGRY! She cast triple on herself, so she could do even more unnecessary damage for the next encounter.
It was quarter to midnight on her BIRTHDAY and she was alone in the Training Center working off some of her white hot rage. She'd held out hope ALL day long, but it seemed like all of her friends had forgotten about her special day. She couldn't believe it! She'd hung around Balamb Garden all day hoping she'd run into one of her friends and it had not happened. She felt so hurt. So stupid.
She stomped off further into the humid jungle that was the Balamb Garden Training Center. Technically people were discouraged, or in the case of cadets, prohibited from being alone in the TC, but she had to indulge her need for destruction. She was so upset that she didn't even care if a T-rexaur found her and grabbed her in its giant jaws to shake her like a rag doll.
Tears started flowing down her face and she took the back of her hand and wiped them away. Dirt and guts smeared across her cheeks. Sobs started wracking her body until she quieted herself. Hiccups then started.
"I can't believe all my best friends forgot my birthday today!" she yelled out to the empty air. "I throw everybody parties all the time. Even the big Garden Festival and NOBODY does a single thing for my birthday?" she cried with a choked sob. "Quistis' creepy Trepies wouldn't have let her birthday go by without notice. Zell has his mom. Squall and Rinoa have each other. All I have is a crappy sorta-boyfriend who dresses up like a cowboy and is NEVER around!" she sobbed while kicking a rock up into the lush green foliage of the TC.
The rock tumbled and hit against something leathery sounding in the greenery. Palm trees started shaking and heavy stamps could be heard drawing closer. A T-rexaur head popped into view.
"Booyaka," Selphie said without enthusiasm as she rushed at the snarling animal while twirling her nunchaku.
Squall stood concealed behind a large palm tree. He often came to the TC alone to keep his skills sharp, and since Rinoa was visiting her father, nobody was going to miss his company tonight. It was nearly midnight and there were usually only cadets sneaking to the secret area, so he had been surprised when he'd heard somebody battling monsters. He'd decided to stay hidden and investigate.
He'd crept close enough to have heard Selphie sobbing about her friends forgetting her birthday. He didn't realize that today was her birthday. He didn't care about people's birthdays unless Rinoa forced him to care, and she had been preoccupied with her father lately. It seemed that everybody had really forgotten about Selphie.
Although he personally didn't care about birthdays and parties, it was very clear that parties and celebrations were important to Selphie. He felt conflicted. He just wanted to finish training and then go to bed, but he probably should do something about this.
While he was thinking to himself, he saw a crying Selphie rushing to fight a T-rexaur all by herself. In her distressed state he feared that she would not be able to think clearly. Fighters could easily misjudge a battle situation with heightened emotions and a blinding amount of tears.
I should go help her, he thought. He readied himself to come out of his hiding place when he was blinded by a flash of magic. A refreshing rush of cold air blew his sweaty hair out of his eyes.
Squall watched as Selphie unleashed a triple blizzaga attack on the angry T-rexaur.
She's fine, he thought to himself. Well, she's not emotionally fine, but the T-rexaur is not going to kill her.
"TAKE THAT!" Selphie yelled as she disappeared into thin air and Cactaur appeared and released a furious 1,000 needle attack against the giant lizard.
Squall winced as the T-rexaur was repeatedly struck by the sharp needles.
I should do something. I'm the commander and she's one of my SeeDs, Squall thought as he carefully crept out of the TC, leaving Selphie to her therapeutic destruction session.
Selphie walked towards the dorms and stopped while wiping dirt and sweat away from her face. It was late at night and she hadn't come across anybody on her way out of the TC. Crickets chirped as she walked along the outdoor sidewalk that connected the dorm wing from the main hub of Garden.
"It's 12:30 am, my birthday is now officially over," she whispered to herself with a sigh. "Better luck next year."
She stumbled towards her dorm before flicking on the lights and going inside. She was going to pop into a hot shower and wash away all of the blood, guts, and colossal disappointment from her day. Then she was going to put on her yellow chicabo pajamas and watch The Sorceress' Knight on her laptop in bed until she fell asleep.
As Selphie was towel drying her hair after her shower, she jumped as her dorm phone rang. Its double ring specified that it was an inter-Garden call. She cautiously picked up the phone.
"Drop everything you're doing. You're needed in my office ASAP," Squall's voice said right before he hung up the phone.
Selphie threw her damp towel onto her desk chair and ran out into the hallway, grateful that she was at least already wearing her pajamas.
Squall looked around his office with, not approval, but at least not disgust at what he'd been able to throw together at short notice. The cafeteria had been closed, and he couldn't go out to a bakery in the middle of the night, but he'd raided a vending machine for snacks and drinks and spread them all around his desk.
She seems to be the type of person who'd think that it's the thought that counts.
He started arranging the candy bars in easily viewable rows when Selphie burst through his door in her pajamas. Squall looked at her with concern. When he said to show up ASAP, he didn't think she'd come right away, and with long, wet, and uncurled hair and in her pajamas. He just thought to say that so he wouldn't be sitting in his office all night waiting for her.
"Surprise," he said.
She looked at him with her head cocked to the side.
"Surprise what? Has there been a surprising accident? Did Quistis get surprised on her mission and is in need of rescuing? Is everybody okay?" she asked with her hands clenched at her sides.
Squall cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Surprise! Happy Birthday Selphie!"
Selphie was dumbfounded. She thought everybody forgot her birthday, and she wouldn't have expected Squall to do anything for her in any birthday situation. She looked over at the clock.
"It's technically not my birthday anymore," she said while still confused.
"It's still nighttime, so let's just pretend that it's your birthday until sunrise."
The whole day had been weird for her, and now this was the strangest part. She looked down at the candy bars and drinks from the vending machine he'd gotten for her. He didn't offer her to take a seat or to even eat any of the treats on his desk, but she pulled up a seat and looked over the candy bar selection.
A bright yellow and brown wrapper caught her attention.
"Mmmm, I love Chocobocoa bars!" she said while grabbing one and opening it. A chicabo Triple Triad card fell out of the wrapper and onto his desk. She nibbled at the milk chocolate while staring at Squall with a shy smile.
He reached out and grabbed a candy bar to join her.
"I never thought I'd have a birthday party hosted by Squall Leonhart," she said happily.
"I threw it together on short notice. I didn't realize it was your birthday until a short while ago."
"Well it's the thought that counts," Selphie said.
Squall nodded in agreement. He'd hoped that's what she'd think.
"I have something for you," he said to her while handing her a large manila envelope.
"Ooooh, a present!" she sang while she flipped her straight and drying hair out of her face.
She reached out and grabbed the envelope while opening it. A glossy photograph slipped out gracefully down to Squall's desk. Laguna's happy smile caught her eye.
"Ooooh! A picture of Sir Laguna! Just what I wanted!" she laughed. "How did you know?"
She turned the photo over and noticed it was signed, "to my son."
"And it's even autographed!" she said.
He shrugged.
"Well, treats and a present. That's nearly everything... BUT are you gonna sing to me too?" she said in a giddy voice.
Squall glared down at her. He'd been very generous, but that was too far for him. Selphie backed down from her singing suggestion.
"Well, thanks for this. This was the only acknowledgement I got for my birthday today. Well, I guess I got a few texts from my friends at Trabia, but those barely count," she sighed. "I just thought that since I plan parties for people, that on this ONE day, they'd plan a party for me."
Squall looked down at his desk while chewing his candy bar for a minute.
"Well, maybe that's the problem."
"Huh?" she asked.
"Maybe everybody assumed that you'd want to plan and throw your own party. Or at least tell everybody that your birthday was coming up."
"Throw my own birthday party? Should I bake my own cake and buy my own presents then too?" she whined. "Seriously!"
"I'm just trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for what happened. Maybe nobody thought you'd be quiet about when your birthday was coming up," Squall explained. "Maybe they thought you'd tell everybody about it, plan it, and force... I mean... invite people to it."
Selphie made a loud tsking sound while looking up at the ceiling.
"That's your reasonable explanation? That doesn't sound reasonable to me," she replied. "If they cared about me, they would have just KNOWN."
Squall looked down at his desk while thinking.
"Maybe you can't always hope that people know what you want or need. Maybe you have to tell them," Squall said.
Selphie's eyebrows shot up in response, but then she eventually nodded with a smile.
"That's pretty good advice Squall. Maybe you should take it yourself," she said while getting up and going around his desk to give him an awkward pat on the back. "Thanks."
Squall stayed silent as he watched Selphie leave his office with a wave... and a glossy photograph of his father.
Selphie snuggled deeper into her blankets and looked up at her dorm wall while she laid in her bed. She'd put her new photo of Sir Laguna up next to her Sorceress' Knight poster, and they were dimly illuminated in the amazing nighttime glow of Balamb Garden. No window blind could completely block out that light, but she'd gotten used to it. She could get used to anything that came her way. She was a trooper. She was from the frozen wasteland of Trabia. She was Selphie Tilmitt.
But the next time she saw Irvine, she was really going to let him have it for forgetting her birthday.
BOOM!
The End
The Chocobocoa candy bar was SkribleSkrable's creation. Her illustration is over on tumblr at Timblr-Maniacs. It's really cute, you should go check it out.
I know Squall was kinda OOC, but hey somebody had to do something. I was planning on posting this on her birthday, but then I didn't want to wait that long. Please read and review.