Academy of Lies and Love
The fire was devastating, leaving Roxas orphaned and with nothing. His wealthy aunt and uncle took him in, since they had no son of their own. They send him off to the most prestigious boarding school, KH Prep. There, Roxas wants nothing more than to fit in. He doesn't want people to know he's nothing more than a gutter rat dressed up in nice clothes. But despite his best efforts, he ends up being the focus of a mysterious admirer named Lea.
He opened his eyes and exhaled, his breath fogging up the window of the taxicab. His eyes followed the racing raindrops down the window in their tiny streams. Beyond the raindrops was nothing but a green blur, the only colour in the grey gloom. Heavy forest lined the winding road that was taking him to his new life, a life he had never imagined for himself. He was sure this was all just a dream. Any minute now he would wake up. Any minute…
Closing his eyes again, he repeated the internal chat of "any minute" as if he might actually wake up from this nightmare that had become his life.
The taxi finally came to a stop in front of Iron Gate behind which stood several large buildings all built out of stone. It looked like a castle, or at least the closest thing he'd ever seen to a castle in his life. Above the gates was sign which announced the place to be Kingdom Hearts Preparatory School. Beyond those gates, the campus stretched as far as the eye could see. The campus was like a scene out of a fairy tale or something, with the large castle sitting in the middle of what looked like a picturesque mountain paradise, complete with lake and forest.
Roxas stepped out of the car and stood on the cobblestone walk-way which led towards the main doors of the school. Other students and their parents where dragging their trunks towards the school on carts under black umbrellas, side stepping puddles to avoid getting their shiny black shoes wet. Roxas wiggled his toes and looked down at his own feet, hoping no one would notice his beat up Converse high tops with broken laces. He didn't belong here anymore than an rat in a fancy restaurant. People were already looking at him like he was vermin.
"Well, that's everything," the taxi driver announced, lowering Roxas' trunk on the walk-way beside him. Everything Roxas owned was in that trunk, most of it was stuff his aunt and uncle had supplied him with since he had moved in with them. Most everything else had been lost in the fire. The fire that had claimed the lives of both his parents and stolen his reality.
Roxas tried to ignore the image of their small apartment burning to the ground that was swimming before his eyes as he thanked the cabbie. He handed the man his wares and picked up his trunk by the handle in order to make his way towards his future.
"Hope you have a great semester, son," the man said with a smile, and slid back into his taxi, and driving off, leaving Roxas even more alone than he already was.
"Me too," he whispered as he took the first step towards the school.
Roxas' life had been turned upside down only a few months ago. Everything he'd known had been taken away from him in an instant. As he continued to walk through the rain, splashing the back of his tattered jeans as he walked through puddles, he found himself wishing for his old life. Wishing to wake up.
It wasn't like he'd grown up under the best circumstances, or in the best part of town. It wasn't like his parents had really made enough money to support the three of them, but they had always managed to make ends meet. That life may not have been ideal, but it was all that he knew, and he'd give anything to have it back.
When the fire hit, no one could believe it. No evidence could be discerned from the wreckage, the fire had burned to hot, destroying everything it had come in contact with. No one could fathom how the fire had even started. The police said it was a freak accident. But who really knew. It wasn't like they lived in the best part of town after all. It could have been anything. Or anyone. The fire took everything, including Roxas' parents. He had nothing.
And so he'd been sent to his father's brother and his wife. His aunt and uncle were extremely wealthy, his uncle being the CEO of a very powerful oil and gas company. They'd had no children of their own. They took Roxas in after fire, because his father and his uncle had been extremely close. His father had also been far too prideful to accept help in any way from his wealthy brother. It would probably have caused him great grief if he knew that his brother had adopted his son.
His aunt and uncle were great. Some of the kindest people Roxas had ever met. He never could have believed people actually lived the way he was with them. They'd buy him clothing and shoes and computers and iPods and cell phones and video games with out even batting an eyelash. Roxas would come home from a day of work and find a brand new computer sitting on his desk.
"Why?" he had asked. They had never answered, but Roxas thought it was probably because his uncle felt guilty for his brother's death. He probably felt that if he had just insisted on helping him, things might not have ended the way they had.
Now, here was Roxas. Standing at the gates to one of the world's most prestigious boarding schools.
Roxas refuses most of the gifts, insiting on wearing his old sneakers most of the time, or his old clothing when he could. He had also refused to let them bring him to the school. He didn't want to be a burden on his aunt and uncle, so he tried to make his own way in their life. Not that they really ever gave him a choice.
Pulling out his acceptance letter, Roxas scanned the print in hopes of figuring out where he was supposed to go from here. He couldn't very well continue standing like an idiot in the entrance of the school. He was already attracting stares from the other students and their parents.
Upon your arrival, please make you way to the dormitories located in the building on the east side of the campus. Once you have checked in there, your room assignment will be given to you.
After that there was a list of things students might find helpful to have in their dorm room.
Roxas unfolded the map which had been included in the letter and scanned it quickly. His eyes landed on a building on the map labeled Dormitory. It appeared to be a separate building form the rest of the school. He lifted his eyes from the paper, and found the school building in front of him. He was still in awe by the sheer size of the building. He then let his gaze move to the east, where he expected to find the dormitories. If he thought the school was big, it was nothing compared to the dorms. It was five stories high and made up of two large wings. It was connected in the center by a large tower.
"Well, at least I can't get lost on the campus," Roxas muttered to himself, and made his way towards the dorms. He walked along the cobbled walk-way, dragging his heavy trunk behind him.
With his blonde hair plastered to his forehead, and his sweater soaked right through, Roxas leaned against the French doors of the Dorm building, pushing them open. The entrance to building was packed with students and their belongings checking into their rooms with the parents anxiously running through lists to make sure their child hadn't forgotten anything. The chatter was over whelming, particularly after the relative silence outdoors in the rain, with nothing but pitter-patter of rain drops hitting the stone walk-way and the slapping of feet hitting the wet ground as people ran for cover. Roxas pretended he didn't notice the slight decrease in noise level when he walked in as people turned and stared at him. Soaking wet, he made his way to the check in counter which was manned by two students with a clipboard.
"Roxas Strife," Roxas grunted as the girl looked up at him with a kind smile.
"Strife… Strife…" she ran her slender finger down the list. He watched her blue eyes scan the words in front of her once, then twice. "I'm sorry, I'm not seeing you here."
"Uhh?" Roxas blinked, he couldn't fathom why he wouldn't be on the list.
"You're a Freshman, right?" the boy sitting next to her asked.
"No," Roxas replied, confused.
"Oh? But you're new right? I thought I knew most of the students here," the girl said, giving Roxas a quick once over with those enchanting blue eyes.
"I am new. I just transferred in this year. I'm a Junior." He wasn't going to explain his life story to this girl he didn't even know. If it was so hard for her to understand that he was a transfer student, then the next two years of his life were going to be a lot harder than he had even begun to imagine.
"Oh! I'm really sorry! We usually don't get transfer students!" she said, her face turning bright red as she flipped to another page on her clipboard. "Here you are!" Roxas let out a sigh of relief, although his heart was still pounding in his chest. He hadn't realized how nervous he had gotten when she couldn't find his name. It was like the world was telling him he really didn't belong here. He really was an outsider. "You're in room 413." She handed him a set of keys with a tag that had in large print "Strife, Roxas. Room 413"
"Thanks," he grunted, taking the keys from the girl.
"The elevators are to your left, your room is on the 4th floor. When you get off the elevator, turn right. It should be pretty easy to find. Orientation starts at 1600 in the first floor common room."
"Thanks," he said again, and picked up his trunk to move out of the way. He dragged it in the direction the girl had indicated, towards the elevators. He was eager to get out of the curious gaze of the other students and into his own space where he could finally be alone.
He depressed the button for the elevator, he seemed to be one of the only students interested in clearing out of the first floor, not having any parents to say good bye to. He waited silently in front of the stainless steel doors, trying to tune out the world around him. When the door slid open, he hauled his heavy trunk through the open door and pressed the button for the 4th floor. The button lit up, and the doors were just starting to close once again, when a hand flew in between the two doors and forced them open again. A body followed the hand, pulling a trunk similar to Roxas'.
"Yo!" the guy said with a crooked smile. Roxas had never seen anyone quite like this boy. He was tall and slender, at first glance, you'd almost expect him to snap in half, but once you looked closer you could see his tight shirt clinging to his mucles. It wasn;t so much the tall, skinny part about the boy that surprised Roxas, it was more his hair. His flaming red hair. His spikey flaming red hair. It was messy and spikey and looked plain dangerous, yet oddly enough, Roxas couldn't stop looking at it. Roxas couldn't help but stare and wonder what that hair felt like. He wanted to reach out and touch it, but thought better of it. Instead, Roxas nodded in greeting and turned his eyes towards his feet, trying to ignore the other guy's black bike boots that were scuffed and dirty. There was only one word Roxas could think of to describe this boy: Attractive. "Sorry about that dramatic entrance. Crazy ex, you know?"
Roxas just nodded. He didn't really know. He'd never really dated anyone he could consider crazy. None of his exs had really even become crazy after they broke up either. Most of his relationships had ended on good enough terms, and none of his exs insisted on stalking him, or whatever it was that 'Crazy Exs' did.
"Sorry! I didn't even introduce myself!" the boy said with a laugh, and held out his hand. Roxas took it and felt the callouses and scars that covered it. His breath caught in his throat. He tried to find it, yet no matter how hard he looked, it seemed to escape him. "The name's Axel. Junior. Campus bad boy and Track and Field champ!" Wow. Thought Roxas, a little high on himself, isn't he?
"Roxas," he answered, not interested in making small talk with this attractive self-proclaimed bad-boy.
"You a Freshman?" Axel asked, looking Roxas up and down.
"No,"
"Really? How have I never seen you before? You'd think I'd remember beautiful eyes like those!" Axel took a hold of Roxas' chin and tilted his face towards him looking right into Roxas' eyes. Roxas tried to look away from Axel's sparkling green eyes, and yet, he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away. He could hear his pulse pounding in his ears and his face growing red.
"Transfer student," Roxas finally squeezed out. Why did he feel this way? This guy was obviously a self righteous bastard. There was no way Roxas could find him attractive, even if he were gay.
"Transfer student, eh?" Axel said under his breath, that twinkle in his eye growing brighter, "you ever need anything Roxy, just give me a shout, kay?" Yeah right. Like I'm asking you for help. And whom are you calling Roxy? Nevertheless, he nodded. Axel released his face and the door to the elevator opened once more revealing the 4th floor. "Home sweet home," Axel said with a sigh, and dragged his trunk out of the elevator. Roxas followed and made his way to his room, trying not to make note of the fact that Axel lived in room 408. Not that he cared or anything.
"See you around, Roxy!" he called from his door after he pushed it open. Roxas just nodded, and pushed open the door to his future.
A/N: Hey. So I'm sort of abandoning Suitors in favour of this idea. I've decided to include elements of Suitors in this plot, but this one will be a little bit more school based, and kind of Cinderella Story –esque. I hope you guys enjoy it! I know this chapter was sort of slow… but I promise it will get better! At least I hope it will!
3 Nobody-RXIII