Chapter 1
First Day in Balamb Garden
The wind blew hard against a young girl's face. She had long brunette hair that reached down to her mid-back. Her eyes were so dark they were almost black. She walked down a road that had a sign saying Balamb Garden was up ahead. This was the school she was to attend. From the outside she looked fine, but on the inside she was all nerves.
About ten minutes later she found herself standing in front of a very large building. It looked like it just kept on going up, like it never ended. "Here goes nothing." She thought quietly to herself as she opened the door to the entrance.
It was beautiful. The entrance was lit by hundreds of lights and the furniture was elegant in design with flowers beside each piece. She walked over to the front desk where a young woman stood going through papers. "Excuse me. I'm a new transfer student from Timber and I'm supposed to pick my schedule and books up here….you know." The woman looked up at her for a moment and then began to ask her for information.
"Your name and ID number please?" She asked politely.
"It's Rinoa Heartilly. Oh, and umm…..I don't know what my ID number is."
"Yes, of course. My mistake. Here it is. You're number 152. The schedule of all your classes are located in this notebook." The woman handed her a black notebook and then told her to head for the Headmaster's office on the third floor.
Walking away from the desk, Rinoa looked around at the building. The ceiling was so high and the hallways seemed endless. "I hope I don't get lost." The elevator door slid open when she got near it. She walked inside and pressed the button with a three on it.
The ride seemed to last forever. Finally, it stopped and she stepped out into a room with red carpet and a large door. Rinoa walked to the large door and knocked. She heard some shuffling in the room beyond, followed up by footsteps. The door opened, but it was not the Headmaster. Instead it was a young girl about Rinoa's age with blonde hair pulled into a tight bun with bangs on either side of her face, and green eyes and glasses.
"May I help you?" She asked with an exasperated sigh.
"I'm a new student here and I was told to come see the headmaster."
"Ah, I remember him saying something about you. He left about fifteen minutes ago. I'm sorry. All he was going to do was show you to your room."
"Oh, all right. I'll just go and look for it on my own then."
"There's no need for that. I'll take you there. My name's Quistis Trepe."
"Hi, I'm Rinoa. Thank you so much. I don't know how I'll ever make this up to you."
"Don't worry about it. It'll be my pleasure." They both walked into the elevator and down to the first floor. Along the way they talked about themselves.
"My father got some new job so we moved here. I guess it won't be too bad though, right? I mean I'm sure I'll make lots of new friends, I hope."
"This place is great. I used to be an instructor here but now I'm just a student again and a SeeD. I also help out the Headmaster as his assistant at times."
"Really? Wow!"
"Oh, and just to let you know. You've made your first friend." Quistis smiled. Rinoa smiled back.
"Thanks. Hey, when will I see you again?"
"I'll be at lunch. I'll see you then okay?"
"Okay!"
Quistis stopped walking. "This is your room. You just go straight through this hallway and yours is the last room on the left. Got it?"
"Got it!"
"I'll see you later then!"
"Bye!" Rinoa waved to her new friend as she ran back up to the elevator.
Rinoa walked towards her door and took her key out. She stuck it in the lock and turned it until there was a loud click. She walked in the room and looked around. Her bed was a Queen size with an elaborate, rich blue and silver comforter, her own large bathroom, and a huge closet. "Oh my gosh, this is awesome!" She threw her suitcase down and ran into her bathroom. "This tub is huge! It's like a mini pool!" A grin came across her face. "I might as well try it out!" She turned the knobs till nice hot water filled up the tub. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and folded her clothes neatly on the floor. She put her foot in the water and immediately put in the other and sat down in the steaming water. "Ah, this feels great. After finding my way around, this is the perfect reward." She looked over at her mirror and saw it fogging up. "It's like my own little steam room." She said to herself.
The next morning, Rinoa was rudely awakened by the sound of her alarm clock. She threw her hand out from under her comforter and groped around for the annoying device. At last she found a button and pressed it to turn it off. She slowly climbed out of bed. "It's six in the morning…uh. I don't want to wake up yet." She forced herself to get up anyway and took a shower. After she had dried off she opened her closet door to look at her outfits. "Well, since it's the first day of school, I think I'll wear my school uniform." They weren't required to wear them, but were usually asked to for special occasions.
Rinoa walked down the hallway of the dormitory twenty minutes later, observing everything around her. As she walked past a bench she saw a magazine. She walked towards it and picked it up. "Weapons Monthly…" She read. On the cover were the words, "Special Inside Scoop on the Gunblade!" Suddenly she was startled by whistling behind her. A tall guy with blonde hair and green eyes was looking at her with a large grin.
"Hey there, the names Seifer. You are?" He paused, waiting for her reply.
"Rinoa…Rinoa Heartilly."
"You must be new. How old are you? I've never seen you around here before."
"Yeah, I just got here yesterday. I'm seventeen."
"Really?" An even bigger smile was coming over his face now. "Well, I guess you'll need someone to show you around then."
"That would be great!" Rinoa jumped up at the opportunity to get to know the school and at the possibility of having a new friend.
"Right this way." Seifer motioned for her to follow him. They walked off together side by side. He showed her the infirmary, parking lot, library, cafeteria, Quad, and then took her to the training center. As they began walking through the area some trees rustled nearby. Suddenly a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex jumped out. It's tail had smacked into Seifer and thrown him somewhere in the trees. Rinoa took out her weapon, the Shooting Star. She knew she was not ready for a tough battle like this one. Looking for an escape she ran toward the right, but the monster was too fast. It clawed her leg as she tried to run. She fell to the ground. Her ankle was twisted and bleeding pretty bad.
"What do I do?" Rinoa thought to herself. "I can't get up in this condition. Someone please help me!"
