Author's Note: So I haven't written any type of fanfiction since I was about 14, back in 2009. Even then, I don't believe I was a very good writer. I only meant to try writing one-shots, but some content for this story was just eating at my brain so I'm attempting at a multi-chaptered fic. It should be a relatively simple plot, but I hope to bring interesting relationships and characterization.
Long author's note, sorry. Reviews, flames, criticism, compliments, anything is welcome! Feel free to ask me to review your own story also, I'd be happy to!
Warning: If it wasn't clear, there WILL be shounen-ai in this fic. Also, expect underage drinking, recreational drug use, etc. Rating may go up.
Salad Days / Mac Demarco
Wake me up, before you go-go! Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo!
Puffy cerulean eyes shot open and shot the buzzing phone a look that could very well melt it. Roxas hissed not only because summer was over and he was back to waking up at seven in the morning, but because his standard alarm was suddenly changed into some obnoxious song. There was no doubt that either Hayner or Sora had something to do with this, and Roxas mentally swore vengeance as he reached out to his phone and shut off the alarm. Gripping his phone tighter than necessary, Roxas growled at the fact that his first thought as a junior was bodily harm over whoever thought it was funny to wake him up in such a way.
After grumbling incoherent curses on his way to the bathroom and almost falling asleep in the shower, Roxas was ready half an hour later. Putting on a Sublime shirt and dark cargo pants, Roxas headed downstairs and was prepared for a quiet morning with some food ready on the table. As he walked into the kitchen, his guesses were only half true. It was indeed quiet, but there was no food on the table. Eggs, cereal boxes, and the orange juice were all placed on the counter besides the fridge but nothing was opened. On the kitchen table sat his older brother, mom, and dad.
"Uh?" Roxas asked, raising a brow at the weird scene.
His parents were both facing his brother, and no one was saying a word. Cloud's brows were furrowed in thought while Ventus had his arms crossed and Tifa had a forced smile on.
After a few moments of the weird silence and staring contests against Ventus, someone finally noticed Roxas.
"Oh, morning Roxy!" Tifa exclaimed, shooting out of her seat to begin breakfast.
"What's going on?" Roxas asked, after waving weakly to his mom. At this, Cloud and Ventus finally looked at him and the blonde soon realized that Cloud didn't look happy. Cloud never looked happy, but those who knew him well could tell when he really wasn't happy.
After turning on the stove, Tifa turned back to her younger son. "Roxas, Ven has some…exciting news." Nothing about her tone sounded excited.
Once Ventus realized that Tifa had turned to him expectantly, did the older blonde shoot his younger brother a weak smile. "I'm moving out." Despite his discomfort, Ventus really did seem happy about moving out, apparently.
Roxas leaned against the fridge and ignored the way his dad was brooding. "Oh yeah?" Ventus was 21, so moving out wasn't that big of a deal. Why was there so much tension then?
"Mmh," Ventus nodded, attempting to ignore his father's glare by unnecessarily moving random objects around the table. "Vanitas and I found an apartment to live in together."
Oh.
Oh.
At first, Roxas didn't know if his confusion was due to the fact that he was up at seven in the morning after waking up at noon all summer. Yet, now everything made perfect sense.
At the mention of Vanitas' name, Cloud looked about ready to shoot off into an angry rant only to close his mouth shut after sensing Tifa's glare. Roxas would've laughed at the whole thing if only Ventus didn't look so sad all of a sudden, probably realizing that his parents weren't as happy as he was. Then again, Ventus was always a little too happy, or so Roxas thought.
Ventus had been dating Sora's older brother for a while already, but Cloud and Tifa never really got around to fully trusting Vanitas. Yet, Vanitas never went around to making himself seem like a trustworthy person, quite the opposite actually. Absolutely no one understood how someone as happy, friendly, and outgoing as Ventus could possibly be with someone like Vanitas who was almost infamous for being rude, arrogant, and cruel. Despite everything, Ventus seemed very happy in his relationship and Vanitas actually seemed pleased with being with someone who not only treated him better than most people but was also not afraid to keep him in line.
Even though Cloud and Tifa were close friends with Leon and Yuffie, they could never get around to fully trusting Vanitas and his intentions. Their oldest son was level-headed when he wanted to be, and a good kid (too good, in Roxas' opinion) but he was a little too trusting.
The smell of fried bacon wafted through the air, and Roxas realized that a discussion had been going on.
"Is this about getting away for some alone time?" Tifa was saying, paying minimal attention to the bacon frying. Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose and Ventus slowly began to look horrified. "Because if that's it, Cloud and I will be happy to give you guys more privacy so you two can—"
Roxas didn't hear the rest of it because he quickly grabbed his board by the couch in the living room and ran out the door.
x x x
"At least Ven had the decency to tell your parents," Sora was saying, shrugging nonchalantly. "Van said he's just gonna pack his things and get out once the whole thing is finalized and let mom and dad 'figure it out'. And that he'll kick my ass if I tell them." The brunette made little air quotes with his fingers and a bad impersonation of his older brother.
Hayner choked on his pizza slice upon hearing the impersonation and Roxas briefly glanced to see Pence slapping on the blonde's back harshly. Olette was giggling at the whole thing and junior year was pretty weird so far.
Roxas caught up with Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Sora (it wasn't really catching up because he spent most of his summer with them), and having some meaningful talks (Hayner was complaining about how the tree beside them was trimmed and their spot no longer had shade), until Sora spotted Riku and Kairi coming out of the cafeteria with food in hand.
"See ya!" Sora shouted over his shoulder, almost dropping his pizza out of excitement as he bounced over to his friends across the grassy quad.
Once Sora was gone, the four friends looked over their schedules to see if they had any more classes together. They all had at least one of them in a class and Roxas groaned internally when he saw Hayner was in his gym class. Hayner was that guy who got a little too competitive for it being a high school class.
"So there's a party this Friday," Hayner grinned, gulping down his chocolate milk.
At this, Pence raised a brow. "Already?" He asked as he fiddled around with his camera lens.
"Yeah, let's go? We need a break from school anyways!"
Roxas, who had been quiet as usual, couldn't help but chuckle at Hayner's excitement. "We just go back from not doing shit for three months."
Even though Roxas was amused at his friend, Olette took it as Roxas automatically siding with her tendency to be an overachiever as a student. She nodded enthusiastically. "Roxas is right, Hayner. You can't go partying when we'll probably have homework by then!"
"Um, I didn't say—"
"Look," Hayner cut off Roxas with a dismissive hand. "This is the year before we worry about college and all that crap. This is our last chance to ignore responsibilities!" Random students began to cheer at the statement and one kid went as far as to grab his backpack (which seemed to signify education or something) and chuck it across the quad.
Roxas and Pence were doubled over with laughter, Hayner was grinning in triumph, and Olette's groan was muted as the lunch bell rang.
x x x
Having gym class with Hayner was as bad as Roxas had thought. It was probably even worse, actually. The first day back was meant to "take it easy" as their teacher had said, yet Hayner took the whole thing as an Olympic event. Hayner was a complete alpha male, which Roxas usually doesn't mind (ignores) and everything would've been fine until it turned out that Seifer Almasy was also in their class.
Even though there were girls in the class, Roxas felt like he was choking on the amount of testosterone that was going on in that gym class. After thinking of the many ways in which he could kill himself inside the gym, Roxas briefly considered joining cross country with Sora and Riku.
Fifth period was uneventful, and Roxas looked at his phone after class (where he'd taken a picture of his schedule) and began a leisurely walk towards the last class of the day. The first day so far was a little weird, yet uneventful. Roxas cynically thought that junior year would probably be boring and unexciting as the rest of his school years and didn't get to sigh dramatically because he was suddenly a hundred plus pounds heavier.
"Roxas! Roxas!" Of course it was Hayner who suddenly latched onto his back, causing a scene.
Roxas sputtered-choked in response.
Hayner ignored his friend's pain and got off, running over to face him with a horrified look on his face. "Dude," He urged, placing his hands on Roxas' shoulders and shaking lightly. "I heard they're having searches in Building G for sixth period!"
After rubbing his sore neck, Roxas scowled at Hayner. "Already? Wait, who cares?" There was a mental clock in Roxas' mind telling him that he was going to be late to class soon.
Hayner didn't seem to be listening to anything, though. Without warning, he pulled out a small baggie with noticeable contents inside. Roxas' eyes bulged out like saucers. "I'm in Building G next period!" Hayner exclaimed, scowling at those who stared at them even though he was the one bringing attention to himself. "I need you to hide this until afterschool." He urged, pushing the baggie towards Roxas' chest. The confused blonde began sputtering again.
"What? No!"
"Roxas, come on!"
"Why do you even have this right now?" Roxas hissed, narrowing his eyes at Hayner. Hayner simply shrugged sheepishly and smiled weakly, which made Roxas want to punch his throat.
"Are you gonna hide it or not?" Hayner suddenly snapped, which was a little unreasonable. Roxas almost wanted to deny him just to get back at him but the warning bell rang and there really wasn't time.
"Fine," Roxas grumbled, sticking the baggie into one of the pockets of his cargo pants. Before running off to class, Roxas swung his fist back and punched Hayner in the shoulder.
"What the fuck?!" Hayner exclaimed, looking like a kicked puppy.
"I don't want wake up before I go-go." Roxas hissed with a deadly glare. The last thing he heard before running off to class was Hayner cackling.
Roxas made it to class with one second to spare, literally. The final bell rang at the exact moment that he ran in. Briefly glancing over the class, the only empty seat was one beside the door. The tables weren't for a single person, but for two. The art or theater classes always had a weird layout so Roxas shrugged and sat down, putting his board under the table.
"Roxas?" The blonde turned and saw who was sitting next to him. A small, petite blonde was giving him an amused smile at his flushed face from running. She giggled at Roxas' attempt to slow down his breathing.
The girls pretty blue eyes seemed familiar and Roxas racked his brain trying to figure out where he's seen them. "Oh! Namine, right?" The girl nodded and before Roxas could say something else, the teacher began to talk.
Their art teacher turned out to be a sweet old lady who was a slight pushover with a maniacal yet endearing laugh. Like most first day assignments, she handed out a "get to know your partner" sheet. The sheet had some weird questions such as hopes and dreams and favorite hobbies. It sounded like a dating site more than anything, which Namine found silly. Roxas agreed and they had their own discussion as a way to get to know each other.
When the bell rang, Roxas actually learned things about the cute blonde. She liked to draw (hence why she chose the class), Radiohead was her favorite band, her twin sister (Kairi) was her best friend, she was obsessed with memory games as a kid, and she prefers to go to the park at night than in the day.
Roxas wanted to keep on talking to Namine, but she meekly told him that she had cheerleading practice after school. So Roxas offered to walk her to the gym, and Namine agreed immediately.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay Roxas?" She smiled, pulling on the strap of her duffel bag with the school logo.
Atfer the two went separate ways, his phone buzzed into his pocket.
Hayner: Got detention for being late. Go on without me .
Roxas shrugged and headed over to the school gates. Once he was no longer in school property, he hopped on his board and skated over to a liquor store to buy an apple and then walked over to the donut shop right beside it and grabbed a plastic spoon.
The walk from Radiant Garden High to the train station wasn't that far, but Roxas decided to take the scenic (discreet) route. Hayner was a pain in the ass during gym and almost made him late all in one day, so Roxas didn't feel bad about carving a piece out of the apple and smoking some of Hayner's weed.
When Roxas got to the train station, he threw the apple in the trash and slumped down onto one of the benches to wait for his train. Twilight Town could basically be considered a part of Radiant Garden since the two were only a very short train ride away, but no one questioned this. Twilight Town had quiet neighborhoods, small shops, and was an overall sleepy town while Radiant Garden was the busy city in which housed everything. The local schools, universities, malls, and more was there.
It actually wasn't bad, and the commute from Twilight Town to Radiant Garden was short. Roxas often found the train ride relaxing, especially in his current state of mind. Three trains went by until Roxas finally realized he was supposed to be getting on one of them. He grinned lazily as he stepped into the open train doors.
x x x
Right after stepping into his house, Roxas immediately set his board in its usual crook and headed over to the kitchen. After making a grilled cheese sandwich and ignoring the questionable noises coming from Ven's room, Roxas decided his junior year might not be so bad.
I didn't mean to make the first chapter so short (I prefer 3,000-5,000 words per chapter) but I'm still figuring out how this story will play out so here it is. Some feedback will be GREATLY appreciated! BTW, anyone know how to get the accent mark in Namine's name?