Disclaimer: The only thing that I own is my oc
My first attempt at a one shot. Sorry if it's bad but with Valentine's Day I just couldn't help myself. As for those who are reading or have checked out my story Thankful for Misfortune then you must know who Vira is, if you haven't then you may like her anyway. This story takes place after the events of Thankful for Misfortune but I won't give away any details of the story that I have already planned, especially since the story isn't even finished yet.
Flowers Suck Ass
'Kill me now.' I thought as I looked at myself in the mirror. 'End my suffering, I beg of you.'
I couldn't believe it, I was wearing a dress. A damn dress, granted it was way better than the other dresses that were presented to me. They were all light colors like baby blue and a very frilly pink. Looking at them made feel like my lunch was going to make a reappearance. I had finally gotten my mother to let me get a simple strapless black dress that reached my knees. All the other ones made me look sleazy or like I was trying to keep my skin color a mystery with how much it covered up.
The black dress was a great choice, mainly because it didn't stand out. It was the most basic one in the store so naturally it caught my attention immediately. It was also the only one I would dare step out of the changing room in. There was just one thing that was still embarrassing. It was the fact that I was wearing a dress. No matter how many complements I received from my mother she failed to realize one thing, the more she complimented me the less it seemed to suite me.
Mom had tried to lasso a pearl necklace around my neck but I managed to avoid it thanks to my idea to wear necklace that I had gotten the other day. The necklace was a thin silver chain with a heart at the end, I had originally hated it but it had kind of grown on me after a few days of wearing it.
After staring at my reflection for a few more minutes I think my confidence went down even lower than it was originally. It had been over a year since my time as an l'cie and I was still short. I grew a centimeter since the adventure Hope and I along with the others went through but my body still refused to grow. The dress made me look like a ten year old trying to look like a twenty year old. The heels I was wearing made me look a bit taller but even with them on I still wasn't average height for my age. The bottom line was it didn't work for me.
"Why am I doing this again?" I asked my reflection with a frown. My chestnut hair was getting in the way of my right eye like always. I didn't bother removing it this time, it covered up most of my reflection from my view. I was considering taking my dress off and putting on an oversized tee shirt and a pair of sweat pants instead when the doorbell chimed from downstairs. "Oh right, that's why."
After a deep breath I walked out my door with my head held high and my anxiety higher. The little bit of confidence I had left got lower with every step I took and by the time I reached the door I my self esteem was in the negatives.
"No one's home!" I yelled from my side of the door. The door bell was rung again. "No one is here at the moment." I shouted.
The doorbell continued to ring over and over again and by the tenth time I could feel the vain in my forehead ready to burst. "Stop ringing the damn-!" I was interrupted by a bouquet of flowers being shoved in my face.
I shoved bush if sweet smelling plants out of my face and saw the person I had to blame for making me dress so out of place. Hope Estheim was standing on my door step. He was wearing a tuxedo that looked great on him, especially compared to the dress on me. He also had his hair neatly combed and I could smell the cologne he was wearing. I had never known Hope to wear cologne; at least he didn't smell like he took a bath in it like other guy's at my school. He had the typical sparkle in his eyes like he always did but I noticed a light blush on his cheeks.
"You look great Vira." he said with a nervous smile. He must have felt just as awkward as I did because I noted he was shuffling his feet a little. "I think the necklace looks great with your dress."
I looked up at him. "Liar," I said with a frown. "At least your clothes actually suit you." I put my hand to the necklace that Hope had given me a little over a week ago.
Hope had changed a little over the past year. For one he was easily the smartest student the school had since he had managed to skip two grades. It was a little odd having him be a senior and me be a sophomore but we still saw each other at lunch and we also met up after school every day. He, unlike me, had grown over the past year and was a several inches taller. I had originally been mad at him for being so much taller than me now but eventually I got over it. So long as glaring at him whenever I had to crane my neck to look at him counted as getting over it.
"I'm not lying Vira. You really do look amazing." Hope said, his smile looking completely genuine.
I could feel my face get warm and I hated it. I hated how easily he could make me blush with the simplest of words or the smallest of smiles. I looked back down at the flowers and said "First you say I look great now I look amazing? Make up your damn mind."
Instead of getting flustered or offended Hope laughed, just like he always did. He had no idea how much I loved that laugh of his.
'Damn it, I hate being soft.' I though, my scowl getting deeper,
"Your skin is going to wrinkle if you keep glaring like that." Hope said with a smile. He handed me the bouquet and I picked it up and was immediately surprised. There were even more flowers than I originally thought. There were roses mixed with carnations and all kinds of other flowers I couldn't name.
"Shut up." I said smelling the flowers. "There had better not be a bee in here or something."
"There shouldn't be." Hope said taking my hand and leading me to his dad's car. We had both agreed it would be better that Hope's dad drives us rather than my mom. I would sooner walk than have her drive us.
Now I bet you guessed why Hope was wearing a tux and I was wearing a dress, it was because we were going to a school dance. It was to celebrate the opening of the school after all the chaos. It took people a while to get things back in order so school took a while to get back in order. Parents and guardians had decided to tutor their kids in their free time while thing were getting back in order. Hope managed to skip the two grades he skipped by taking several tests sent by the people trying to get the education back in order.
"Hello Vira." Hope's dad said as we entered his car.
"Hello Mr. Esthiem." I said sitting next to Hope in the car with the flowers on my lap.
"Vira, like I said before, please call me Bartholomew." Mr. Esthiem said looking at me in the rearview mirror as he started to pull out of the drive way.
"And like I said before, no way," I said smirking at him. Mr. Esthiem, alright, Bartholomew and I had gotten quite used to each other almost as soon as Hope and I had started dating. Despite how strict he seemed he was actually a great guy.
Bartholomew laughed and started to pick up speed in order to match the speed limit. Neither Hope nor I said anything at first so Bartholomew decided to play a love song on his radio.
"Dad!" Hope shouted his ears turning red.
I would have felt embarrassed too but Hope's embarrassment made me feel better. I laughed instead which caused Hope to get even redder. I loved to tease Hope because his reactions were the best. Unfortunately he would get back at me by teasing me at almost every opportunity he got.
But when we weren't teasing each other he was very sweet. He accepted me for who I was and I knew that must have been hard at times. Lord knows how often I gave him hell with my attitude and smart ass remarks. At least he found it funny most times.
Before we knew it we were parked in front of the school and Hope was opening his door to get out. I was hesitant at first but I sucked it up and stepped out. I was Vira Tatem, the girl that was just as vicious as she was short. I didn't take crap from anyone and wasn't afraid to fight back if someone fought me first.
'I have nothing to worry about.' I thought as I stepped out of the care and immediately caught the eyes of a few students in my class. I saw a few guys' jaws drop and some girls blink in surprise. I gave them a poker face and stepped back into the car.
"Get out here." Hope said pulling me back out. "You have nothing to worry about. No one in the right mind would mess with you."
That made me feel a bit better but I still had a hard time just standing there. How was I going to manage to dance if I could barely stand in front of people, even when one of those people was my boyfriend?"
The people from my class had walked into the building and I let out a breath I was holding in.
"Why are you so nervous anyway?" Hope asked me as we walked to the door.
"Do you really need to ask?" I said stopping at the door. Thankfully no one was there at the moment. "Dances aren't my thing, and wearing a dress certainly isn't. I just feel so out of place and vulnerable if I'm not in my casual stuff." It was embarrassing to admit it to Hope but it was the truth. The great and powerful Vira Tatem was embarrassed just because she was wearing a dress.
"Should I find it strange that you faced countless enemies and saved the world but you get locked up over a school dance?" Hope asked with a grin. "Your fine Vira,"
I rattled though my brain for a good comeback. "Shut up." I said. Nailed it.
Hope smiled at walked me into the school. We paid for admission at the front desk and went inside the gymnasium. Lights of all colors were flashing all over the gym and dance music was bursting through the speakers. I looked around and saw so many people dancing around and having fun even though their version of dancing was jumping around.
"How the hell are girls dancing like that in heels?" I asked right before a girl wearing eight inch heels fall on her ass.
"Apparently they can't." Hope said and we both shared a laugh. "How about we get some punch?" Hope suggested pointing over at the snack bar.
"Sound good." I said. I would have jogged over there but I knew that would be a disaster while wearing heels. I wasn't thirsty but I was desperate for anything to keep me off the dance floor.
Hope and I got to the table and my jaw hit the floor when I who was working at the stand. "Taylor?!"
"What's up Vira?" Taylor asked with a grin. Taylor had been my best friend since kindergarten and to see her in a long navy blue dress made me feel even worse about myself, mainly because she looked amazing. He long black hair was wonderfully curled while main was straight like always and she had nice diamond earrings. Her bright blue eyes had their typical shine to them while her perfect white teeth shined in the party lights. The only characteristic we shared was that I had had great teeth, other than that we looked nothing alike. She was average height and I was short was a good example.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. "I thought you had a date."
"I did." she said with a slight frown as she looked behind her at a boy that was getting a slice of pizza for someone else. "He failed to mention we would be working the snack bar before we could dance."
"I'm sorry to hear that." I said smirking at her.
Taylor rolled her eyes and looked over at Hope. "How do you put up with her?" she asked him.
"Aspirin," Hope said. "Lots and lots of aspirin."
"Hey!" I yelled as Hope and Taylor laughed. It was a relief that my boyfriend and best friend got along so well, I just hated it when the teamed up on me. It wasn't fair damn it!
"Just get us some punch like a good little servant." I said crossing my arms.
"Oh I'll give you a punch all right." Taylor said lightly punching me in the arm. "Two drinks coming right up."
Taylor gave us our punch and said "Now don't have too much fun out there."
I felt myself blushing and I looked over at Hope to see he was blushing too. We practically ran away from Taylor and ended up trying to avoid getting separated amongst the crowd of people. We managed to get to the other side of the gym where were enjoyed out punch. Well, I tried to enjoy my punch but I was so nervous I didn't even taste it. Damn emotions.
Before I knew it my cup was empty and Hope took it from me. "I'll get us a refill." Hope said walking back through the crowd. I sighed as he vanished from my sight. What was I doing here anyway? I only felt insecure and out of place. I was like a human baby with chest hair, out of the ordinary.
"Well well well, would you look who it is?" I heard a girl's voice say.
I turned around and saw a few boys and girls from my class. Some of them were the ones that saw me outside.
"Do you need something?" I asked, already knowing this was going to get ugly.
"Just a little bit of advice little girl," the girl said, who was apparently the leader of this bitch herd. She was one of those popular girls who I never wanted to go near. I wasn't afraid of her but I didn't want to be around someone who thought there face was a coloring book for makeup. "You should try hanging out somewhere else. You defiantly don't belong here."
"I'm pretty sure I can show up at a school dance if I want to." I said glaring at her. Apparently saving the planet and everyone on it wasn't enough to get on peoples good side.
"Don't think your all hot stuff just because people view you as a hero." one of the boys said. "You ruined everything!"
"And what did I ruin exactly?" I asked folding my arms.
"You and your group of creeps ruined our lives!" Queen Bitch said with a sneer. "If it wasn't for you scum bags we would still have the fal'cie!"
It took every fiber of my body to not rip this girl to pieces. "Are you saying you want the fal'cie to come back and have everything go back to what it used to be?"
"Yes! We have to live like rats because you took away what we needed most! Do you realize how much work it took everyone to clean up your mess?!"
I snapped right there and then. "Do you realize you and tons of other innocent people would have died if you kept being a lazy ass?!" I yelled. Even over the music a lot of people heard me and a bunch of people were looking over in my direction.
"It's not like it would have happened in our time." Queen Bitch said with a flip of her long blonde hair. "Why should we care for people that aren't even alive yet?"
"If you won't care about people other than yourself then why should I care if you die?" I asked her giving a glare that would cut through steal. I really wish I had my gunblade right about now. "Why don't I just give you the fal'cie back like you asked but make you an l'cie like everyone else could become. Why don't I make sure you are the first one to be sacrificed?" I was standing right in front of her and my heels gave me just enough leverage to look her in the eye.
Fear immediately covered her face and she stepped back. "B-but that wouldn't happen!"
"I didn't think that would happen to me either but guess what?" I asked her pulling the front of her dress so she was nose to nose with me. "It can and probably will happen if those damn fal'cie come back." I released her and she staggered backward, rage now written all over her face.
"Just go die already!" She said. "If you belong anywhere it's in a hole!"
"As long as we are talking about where people belong shouldn't you be in the bathroom throwing up your last meal?" I asked her giving her my best cheeky grin.
"You bitch!" one of the guys shouted grabbing my arm.
"Let go of her!" a voice said from nearby.
I looked over and saw Hope running in my direction. He dropped the punch he was carrying all over a girls shoes but he didn't notice.
"Well if it isn't the school genius." The guys who had a hold of my arm said with a smirk. "Don't tell me your actually here with her."
"I am and you should let go of her, now." I had never seen Hope so angry before, even when we were fighting for our lives he still wasn't quite this mad.
"Why don't you make me?" he asked with a smirk.
I took the opportunity to kick him in his man hood while he was distracted. Cursing in pain and going red in the face he fell to his knees while holding his most prized appendage.
"Hey!" another yelled getting ready to through a punch at me. I was getting ready to kick him in the groin when a fist flew pass my shoulder and into the guy's face. He fell down hold his nose, tears welling up in his eyes. "Damn it!" I turned and saw Hope standing beside me, him being the one who had punched the guy.
Queen Bitch turned to me, now red from anger. "You bitch!" she shouted raising her fist to slap me. I would have stopped her easily but a cup of punch came out of nowhere and het the girl right in the face, giving her white dress a new shade of red.
I turned around to see Taylor standing beside Hope with a confident smirk on her face. Her date was right behind, grinning like a very proud date indeed.
"What is going around here?!" a teacher yelled from a little ways away.
"Run or stay?" I asked Hope and Taylor.
"Run." they said in perfect harmony and Hope grabbed my hand while Taylor grabbed her date's hand. We all bolted from the gym out to the side of the school.
"Well that was fun." I said smirking.
"I think you broke that guy's nose Hope." Taylor said smiling.
"I don't know what came over me." Hope smiling nervously. "I punched him before I even thought about it."
"It's called protecting your territory." Taylor said grinning at me.
I felt my face grow warm and I choked out. "I'm no one's property!"
"Duh," Taylor said grabbing her date's hand. "We're going to get out of here."
"Alright," I said standing on my tip toes and got as close to her date's ear as possible. "If you do anything bad to Taylor you are going to wake up tied to a bag of bricks under water." I said and walked back next to Hope while taking in the boy's terrified expression.
He practically ran with Taylor as they walked over to Taylor's mom's car.
"What did you say to him?" Hope asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just some words of wisdom." I said smirking.
He smiled and then frowned with a sigh. "Well today was a complete disaster." he said sitting on top of the stairs.
"Hey I got to drink some punch, hang out with you and Taylor, and I got to kick a guy in the baby maker. That seems pretty good to me." I said smiling and we both burst out laughing.
"We didn't get to dance though." Hope said looking back at the school.
"Good." I said scooting a bit closer. "I would have messed up anyway."
Hope was silent at first, but then he stood up and gave me his hand. "Care to dance?" he asked.
"What the hell are you doing Esthiem?" I asked taking his hand anyway.
"We might as well dance a little bit." he said placing his hands on my shoulders.
"No," I said simply. "I don't know how to dance."
"Me neither." Hope admitted with a nervous smile.
"Then we aren't dancing." I said trying to avoid his eyes.
"Please?" he asked his smile turning more sincere.
Damn it, I couldn't say to that smile of his. I tried my best to wrap my arms around his neck but it was a struggle. I finally reached his neck but sadly I only managed to reach his neck because he leaned in closer so I could reach.
We didn't really have music but I wouldn't have paid it attention to it anyway. I was too busy worrying about everything else. Was my hair messed up? Was my dressed wrinkled? Were my hands sweaty? Did I smell bad?
"You're really tense." Hope said with a chuckle.
"Silence," I said looking down.
"Vira." Hope said.
"What is-?" I was interrupted by the feeling of Hope's lips against mine.
I didn't kiss back at first out of pure shock. We had kissed before but this had no warning at all so I was caught off guard. The kiss wasn't hesitant but it wasn't forceful either. It was nice and calming, suddenly I wasn't nervous anymore. However, as soon as the kiss ended I was self conscious again. I immediately looked away from his eyes but I noticed his ears were red.
I decided to tease him so I would feel less embarrassed. "It looks like you finally did something right."
"That was the only thing I did right?" Hope asked a chuckle in his voice.
"Yes, yes it was." I said looking at him now.
"Well did you at least like the flowers?" Hope asked.
I smiled at him and I knew he must have thought I looked cute, who knows why, because he immediately turned even redder. "Flowers suck ass."
That is my first one shot people. What did you think? If anything happens in the original story that will somehow change something in this story I will do a remake of it. Anyway I hope you liked it. I hope you guys had a happy valentine's day!
