DISCLAIMER - Nov. 23rd 2010
I have written this fan-fiction in my spare time. I hardly think it necessary by now, but let's have the disclaimer here. I don't own Final Fantasy or any sub sequential part thereof. I'll never pretend any of the content is mine. I write fan-fiction for fun, not for profit. Please understand!
Autor's Notes:
It's my first time ever trying to write a fanfiction like this, please be gentle ^_^
Honest, of course, though~
I can't stand you!
You probably know about what happened during the Balamb Garden dance. When Squall was leaning against the wall, – avoiding contact with other people – Rinoa came up to him for a chat. No, not just a chat, was it? She was planning to make a move on him. And so she did. Despite her transparency, Squall didn't seem to realize he was being hit on. No, it barely even fazed him when he was pulled onto the dance-floor. More than anything else, he felt insecure and unhappy with the fact.
"Oh, princess, won't you find some other boy to play with?", Quistis would've thought. It aggravated her to no end when Rinoa popped her spoiled little head around the corner, just when she wanted to talk to him, herself. "Not her, again!" she cursed under her breath.
"You're going to like me, you're going to like me!"
Ugh! Quistis rolled her eyes to Rinoa being so horribly obvious. Well, it's simply not like her to barge in and ruin the party, so she decided to wait until he was free again. Of course, she was right, he would be free again that night – right after the dance, in fact. Even the way she left Squall on the dance-floor to go speak with some friends was just rude! Selfish brat! Despite all of this, it's not like Quistis actually hated her, but she definitely was her number one rival!
During the dancing, Quistis had asked one of her students to have Squall come over to the balcony. Just as expected, he showed up. She told him to go change into his casual clothes and meet him at the training center's secret spot. But, the conversation didn't go as well as she would've liked it to have. Not at all, in fact, he got annoyed with her and left her there. Of course, she couldn't take herself very seriously if she just decided to give up right there and then, even if she felt hurt at Squalls words.
Quistis thought it might be a bad idea to ask him to go with her right after that night, so she waited for a week. Rinoa must've thought the same thing, since Squall had been training on his own for the greater part of that week. Then, one morning, Squall found a note on his classroom computer.
Meet me in at the gate.
I want to talk to you. Dress casually.
When he read it, he shrugged and decided he'd better go and do as she asked. There was no sender described, but the only one capable of accessing his terminal and account would be a teacher. He looked at Quistis when he read it - her slight nod confirmed his suspicions.
"Fine," he thought, "let's just get this over with."
He didn't dislike Quistis at all; it's just that she was a teacher and he a student. It feels strange to him talking to her one-on-one in a place where they're alone, no less. She figured he would think like that; after all, he was like an open book to him. It was so easy to read him, for her. She had made all sorts of plans. They could go to Balamb and just take a walk by the harbor, or they could go to Deling City and explore the town – maybe, just maybe, they could stay at the hotel there! Just thinking about it gave her butterflies. She had everything planned out for today! When Squall arrived, she was already waiting for him – although, at that particular moment she was daydreaming about the day to come.
"Ah, Squall! You're here!" she wanted to say, "Come with me?" but when she opened her mouth, a familiar voice came running from behind him.
"Squall! Wait for me!" Of course, who other than Rinoa would tag along and screw everything up for her. "Hey now, you weren't planning on skipping out on our date, were you?"
Squall shook his head, "Teach wanted to talk to me about something." He turned his gaze over to her. "So, what is it about?"
Quistis couldn't possibly tell him about her plans, and certainly not now. She felt like she was shot down and dejectedly answered, "No, it's, it can wait. Have fun on your date, you two."
Rinoa might be a spoiled brat, but that doesn't mean she's entirely stupid. Especially for her, it's natural that she would notice them wearing their casual apparel. "Huh, what's this? Were you going to ask him out or something..?" she boldly asks, pointing at her clothes. "Omigod, don't tell me!
You like teachers that much, Squall?"
Squall could only cough at this remark, "Don't be ridiculous!" he started walking right then, "Let's go." Rinoa glanced over at Quistis once more, who seemed to have stopped paying attention to the two, before she chased after Squall. The only thing she could catch was their voices trailing off on the path to Balamb.
"C'mon, it was just a joke!"
"I'm not angry."
"You so are!"
"You'd know it if I were angry."
Two days after the fact, Quistis sent him another invitation, this time in the teachers' lounge.
Selphie had been asking around for people to help her with the ball. Many people were going to be there! The students of Balamb Garden, the SeeDs – well, those who weren't on a mission at that time – and even people from other towns. It was going to be a blast, but apparently Selphie fell short in the people-management department, since she had been doing most of the work on her own. Despite her popularity, most other students couldn't help her out because of extra-curricular activities and the like. So, Quistis conveniently arranged for Rinoa to help her out. She protested for a little bit, because of 'romantic reasons' as she called them, but of course Quistis wouldn't have any of her excuses. She couldn't help her smirking when Rinoa dragged her feet over to Mess Hall, where Selphie was supposedly arranging the menu with the cooks.
Despite her sputtering, Rinoa actually had a nice time helping out Selphie. Selphie is a cute and funny girl, after all. They made sure there were flowers embellishing the stage and had some guys fix the décor where it had been broken by the Galbadian invasion. All of the guys seemed to be a little distracted by Selphie's vigor, though. Even though she enjoyed ordering boys around, it's not like she didn't help out with the hammering, herself.
"Check check, aaaand check!" Selphie exclaimed. "All that's left to do now is getting a music band on stage here. I mean, there must be music! Or we can't dance!" That would actually be a serious problem at a party, Rinoa had to agree. "Could you go and check with the teachers?" Selphie asked and promptly held out a clipboard with the appropriate papers. Nobody could resist a disarming smile like hers, not even the female students.
She gave a soft sigh, taking the papers from her. "Alright, I'll go check. You can take it from here?" she answered, but it seemed Selphie had already gotten back to work, yelling instructions at people on the other side of the plaza.
Knock, knock.
That could only be Squall. This is her chance. When the door opened, she thought her heart might just stop beating out of sheer nervousness! He stepped into the office, leaving the door cracked.
"You wanted to see me again, Teach?" he asked. The way he was always aloof about these matters made her feel insecure, but also excited. Because that's one of the things that made Squall Squall, the thing that made him so… cool. Since he hadn't moved an inch from the time he came in, she advanced on him instead.
"Yes, there is something important I need to discuss with you, Squall." She answered. It should be obvious to anybody but Squall what was going on there. He put his hand to his forehead, thinking the situation over. What could possibly be wrong with his studies?
"Listen, I don't know what Irvine has been telling you, but I am not chasing skirts, I—", before he could finish his sentence, he felt something soft pushed against his lips. Something soft and warm. Sensual. When Quistis pulled away, a big blush adorned her face.
"I know, you're not one to chase skirts." She answered. "No, you're one to not realize he's being chased after by a girl unless she kissed you on the lips!" She giggled a little at her own silliness. She did what she wanted to do for so long now, so even if he'd refuse her, she could live with it. At least now he knew her true feelings. Squall was still recovering from what had just happened, uncertain if he's still dreaming or if this is actually happening. To him, it's not so much like a dream come true, but it sure was surreal. "I needed you to know, Squall. You didn't seem to realize how I felt about you even in the slightest." She sighed. "I had to show you."
From the other side of the door, a soft gasp could be heard. Their eyes widened with shock, all sorts of rumors could come from this! Squall hastily opened the door and saw… nobody there. There were some papers on the floor, though. With some water on them?
"School Band Admission Form"
