While I was thinking about what I should do about Connected by Music, I suddenly got the idea to write this fanfic. And, yeah, the title's kinda weird for a high school love story. You'll learn why in the future chapters. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters, and the song used in this chapter. I never will…

Naminé

CHAPTER ONE: JUST FRIENDS, THAT AND NOTHING ELSE

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," I heard a man's voice say. "Wake up!"

The voice belonged to my dad. I groaned as I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the back of our car's driver's seat. I rubbed my eyes, forcing my sleepiness to vanish. Gee, that History research project really tired me out. I slept very late and, to make matters worse, woke up early to prepare for school. I'm used to it, especially since I'm finally in my senior and last year in high school, meaning our teachers give us lots of stuff to do. It's probably some kind of preparation for us when we're already in college.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I'm an honor student, so my teachers expect a lot from me, and I have to try my best to maintain my grades. Hard, yeah, but as always, I'm already used to it. It happens to me every year.

Mom watched me as I checked my bag again to see if I forgot something else. "You really look tired, dear," she told me. "Why don't you just pass that project of yours then go back home to get some sleep?"

"I'm okay, Mom," I assured her. "I'll be back in full energy when I finally see my friends."

"Alright, then," she said kindly with a smile. She looked at my hair and frowned. "Just comb your hair before you get out of the car."

"Aye, aye, ma'am," I teased as I pull a comb out of my pocket. Mom's really concerned when it comes to my appearance, but she's more concerned to her own appearance.

I finished combing my hair, picked up my bag, and got out of the car. "We'll see you later," I heard my dad say.

"Okay, see ya," I called as I closed the car's door. I stood and watched as our car left. I saw Mom waving goodbye at me and I waved back. When they were finally out of sight, I began to walk inside the school premises and towards our classroom.

Destiny Islands Academy (or DIA for short), as always, was really crowded. Lots of students chatted around me. I waved, smiled, or said hi to my old friends and classmates as I walked. I finally reached our room. Before I could enter, I heard someone call my name.

"Hey, Naminé!" a voice called. "Naminé Davies!"

I instantly knew the owner of the voice. I turned around and saw Hayner with his friends, Pence and Olette. "Morning, Hayner," I greeted him politely as I watched him approach me.

"Can you give this back to Roxas?" he said as he gave me a red notebook. I took it from him and looked at the cover. SONG NOTEBOOK NUMBER ONE, the title read. Roxas' name was also written. "And don't peek in it, okay? Rox and I have a big secret hidden inside." He suddenly smiled. A very mysterious smile.

"Don't worry, I won't," I assured him. "I'm not the type of person who meddles with other people's business."

"I know about that," Hayner said. "That's why I gave it to you, right?" He began to walk back to his friends, who were standing outside the classroom beside ours. "Thanks a bunch, Nami!"

"Okay," I muttered as I stepped inside our room.

The moment I entered, I saw my classmates doing their own "business": talking to each other, doing nothing at all, and, most of all, copying their homework from their friends, or maybe even our research project. I smiled to myself and shook my head in amusement while walking to my own seat and watching them. Cramming has always been a part of student life, I guess. I admit, I cram sometimes, too… It sounds funny, right? Especially since I'm an honor student.

Like what I expected, my friends sat with their seats forming a circle. I joined them shortly after I put down my bag. "Hey, guys," I said, looking at each and every one of them. "How's your night?"

"Not good at all," Kairi mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I hardly got any sleep. I think I'm beginning to have insomnia because of all our schoolwork."

That surprised me a bit. Kairi was my best girl friend, and I knew her as someone who doesn't complain about things. Among us, she's the most girly, but she's still modest and kind.

"Maybe you should take a nap, Kai," Sora told my red-haired friend in concern. I smiled when I heard this. Kairi liked Sora for a very long time, and it's pretty obvious that he liked her back.

"I'm okay, don't worry about me," Kairi insisted, blushing a bit.

I heard a giggle. There's no doubt it came from Xion, my other girl friend. Unlike Kairi, she's a bit of a tomboy. She's really smart too, and a part of the High School and College Council (HSCC). It's some kind of group made up of some high school and college students of DIA. Roxas was a member of the Council too, so he and Xion always had meetings after classes. He and I rarely walk home together because of that.

"They look cute, don't they?" she whispered to me. I nodded in agreement.

I saw Riku staring at the two. Actually, he's my crush, but he doesn't know about it… And I don't have any plan to let him know. He's Sora's best friend, but I think he liked Kairi, too. Poor guy… I tried hard not to feel shy around him. So far, so good.

"What about you, Riku?" I asked him just to change the mood a bit.

"Huh?" Riku said in surprise, looking away from Sora and Kairi and shifting his aqua eyes to me. I hoped I was not blushing. "Well, just like you guys, I'm kinda tired, too."

"No doubt about that," Xion responded. "The questions were really so hard to find."

"Yeah," Riku said, nodding in agreement and smiling at Xion. Anyway, Riku and Xion were best friends too, so they agree in a lot of things.

I noticed that Roxas was not yet with us. I looked at my watch. "What's taking him so long?" I said out loud, starting to feel impatient. "He should be here before I even arrive." Roxas and I lived in the same street, so our houses were near each other's. Actually, his house was nearer to school than mine, so he really should have arrived before me.

Like an answer, I heard loud footsteps from outside. The person seemed to be running. Fast. I recognized its sounds. "Speak of the devil," I muttered to myself as I turned around from my seat to wait for the person to enter.

In a second or two, a boy with golden brown hair, blue eyes, and eyeglasses appeared right outside the door, panting really hard. "Man!" he exclaimed loudly. "I thought I'm gonna be late!"

"Will you be quiet?" I told him, annoyed. "You're always like this early in the morning. Can't you see some people are working in here?"

He seemed to ignore me because he just continued talking in a loud voice. "Gee, I woke up really early just to finish that stupid research," he said as he walked towards our group.

I became more annoyed and rolled my eyes. "Jerk," I muttered.

He put down his bag and sat on an empty armchair between me and Xion. "And when I say 'really early', it means earlier than my usual 'wake up hour,'" he continued with a proud smile.

"Okay, okay, we got it," I said. "You don't have to be so proud about it. It's not something to be proud about, anyway. Now, just shut up."

"Yes, Madame Principal," he teased with his usual silly smile.

I have had it! I stepped on his foot. Hard.

Roxas howled in pain. "What the heck?!" he exclaimed, clutching his foot.

I huffed. Roxas Morgan was a real jerk. He and I were childhood friends and he had been like that ever since! Can you believe that? He didn't change at all. Even one bit. Well, except his height and weight. But, mentally, NOT AT ALL. He's always been a big jerk.

But, still, we're the best of friends. We're rivals too. Like me, he's an honor student. He's probably smarter than me and Xion. So if I'm nerdy, he's nerdier than me. And he really looked like one because of his glasses. Trust me, when you see him, you'll think he looked funny too. A nerdy jerk… I know he's just acting stupid, but sometimes, I find him funny or completely annoying at all.

One more thing: he's always in "hyper-mode", which explains why he's sooo loud every morning. Gee, when will that guy become serious, anyway?

"Anyway," I said, changing the subject while Roxas continued clutching his foot. I gave him the red notebook Hayner gave me. "Hayner wanted me to give this back to you."

"Finally!" Roxas exclaimed once again as he took the notebook from me. I winced at the sound of his voice. "I've been waiting for a very long time for him to return this to me!"

I began to become annoyed again. "You don't have to shout," I demanded. "I'm just right here beside you."

"What are you saying?" he asked loudly, moving his ear to me as if he's deaf.

I frowned as I stepped on his foot again. He clutched it while shouting in pain and apologizing. I smirked as I watched him.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he whined. "I won't do it again. Really."

"You're always saying that, but you just won't stop," I countered. "You're doing it everyday."

Roxas opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. I smirked even more. "Well," I announced happily. "Looks like I won this time."

"Hmph," Roxas replied stubbornly and a bit annoyed. "Whatever." But I could see that he was smiling a bit.

To change the topic, Roxas just opened his red notebook and looked at me suspiciously. I was confused for a while, wondering why he's giving me that look. Then, I remembered what Hayner said. "Don't worry," I said. "I didn't peek inside of it. Hayner said you guys had a secret inside that notebook."

This time, Roxas was the one who's confused. "Huh?" he asked. "No, we don't."

I raised my brow, even more confused than before. "Then why did you look at me like I did something to it?" I asked. Okay, what's going on? Maybe he's just pretending...

"Oh," he said, slowly smiling. "I just thought maybe you tore a page from my beloved notebook."

"What?" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"I know you really like 'Because You Live', so I just thought that maybe you tore the page without me knowing about it."

I gaped at him in disbelief. "Excuse me, I won't ever do that. Why would I even care about that 'beloved notebook' of yours, anyway?"

He ignored me again, making me more annoyed. Before I knew it, he opened his mouth and took a deep breathe.

Oh, no, I thought, raising my hands to my ears. Here we go again!

Another thing you should know about Roxas: he loved singing. The only problem? He's always out of tune.

"Saw you from the distance," Roxas sang. I winced and completely covered my ears. I knew it. He's still out of tune. "Saw you from the stage / Something 'bout the look in your eyes / Something 'bout your beautiful face."

I saw Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Xion cover their own ears. I laughed when I saw this. Looks like I'm not the only one who's sick of Roxas' "talent" in singing!

Roxas didn't seem to be bothered by our action. "In a sea of people, there is only you," he continued. "I never knew what this song was about / But suddenly now I do."

"For goodness' sake, Roxas!" I exclaimed over his singing. "Are you trying to call a storm?"

Finally, he stopped (for a while) to answer me. "Let me think about it. Yes." He replied, flipping through the pages of the notebook. I rolled my eyes as he started singing again. "Tryin' to reach out to you, touch my hand / Reach out as far as you can / Only me, only you, and the band / Tryin' to reach out to you, touch my hand."

He sang on and on while flipping the pages. When he finally reached the last page, he stopped singing all of a sudden and stared at it. His blue eyes grew wide and drew the notebook closer to his face, like he saw something shocking and want to make sure if it's not an illusion.

When Roxas uncovered his face again, I saw annoyance on it. I thought he muttered something like "I'm gonna kill Hayner." "Hey," I finally said, making Roxas jump a bit. "Something wrong?"

"Huh?" Roxas answered, closing the notebook really fast. "Nope. Nothing at all."

I looked at him suspiciously. I observed him even more. He looked kinda tense. "Really?" I asked. He just nodded, but I was not satisfied about his answer. I shifted my eyes on the red notebook he was holding. "Then, can I see what's inside that?" I asked as I reached for it.

Unfortunately, Roxas was faster. He instantly moved it away from me. "What?" he exclaimed. "No way!"

"You're hiding something, aren't you?" I continued, raising my brow and crossing my arms.

"I'm not," Roxas answered, clutching the notebook tighter.

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"I don't believe you."

"Oh, come on!"

"Show it to me first before I believe you."

"But… It's guy stuff!"

I held out my hand to him. "It's a Principal's order."

Roxas was silent for a while, looking surprised. Our friends looked surprised, too. They knew I didn't want to be called "Principal" by anybody, especially Roxas. But this was the only way to convince him (and probably make him happy too).

After a moment of hesitation, I thought I saw a small smile on Roxas' lips. He finally spoke up. "Just a sec," he said, opening the notebook at the last page. He began writing on it. At first I thought that he was erasing whatever's written on it, but as I observed him more, I slowly realized that he really was writing. My friends and I just watched him.

After a few seconds, Roxas put his pen back in his jeans' pocket and slammed the notebook shut. "I need to go to the comfort room," he announced, standing up and tossing the notebook at me.

It barely hit my face. Good thing I caught it in time. "What's your problem?" I asked, becoming annoyed once again. "I just want to know what's going on."

Like always, Roxas ignored me. He began to walk out of the room. I thought I saw him biting his lower lip. Being his best childhood friend, I knew what that means. He's nervous about something. But what?

After a few seconds, Sora and Riku stood up too. "We'll go after him," Riku told us.

"Hey, wait up, Roxas!" I heard Sora shout as they followed Roxas out of the room.

I stared at the open door for a while and shifted my eyes to the notebook in my hands. I slowly opened the back cover and read what's on the back page. I was surprised when I read the first three words which, I noticed, were written by Hayner.

Roxy loves Nami!

I finally knew what was going on. So this was the reason why Roxas looked annoyed. Well, I'm a bit annoyed, too. I couldn't believe that Hayner wrote this. Roxas and I were just friends. We didn't have any special feelings for each other. Plus, I know he liked Xion because they spend more time together now because of the Council. And, duh! He's not my type. He'll never be my type. Sure, he's smart, but he's still acting like a big jerk.

But, wait a sec, I thought, reading the note again. Maybe it was also because of "Roxy". Roxas hated that nickname very much because he said it made him sound like a girl. "I'm not a gay, and I'm definitely not a girl!" I remembered Roxas say, making me chuckle a bit.

So, there were two options why he was annoyed: because of the note itself, and the nickname "Roxy". I finally decided to just ask him later so I won't be confused anymore.

Below Hayner's note was an arrow pointing down, and below it was some kind of reply written by none other than Roxas himself:

Excuse me?! Why the heck am I going to fall for a principal like her?! We're just friends, that and nothing else…

P.S. For Nami: Happy now? You'd better be! :D Just kidding. But, really, there's no way I'm gonna fall for you, so don't worry! Friends forever, right, Madame Principal? :D

From: The "big jerk" you always love. Haha! Just kidding!

I couldn't help but smile when I read this. "Jerk," I muttered as read it again and again.

Roxas was right. There's no way we're gonna fall for each other. I always loved him, but only as a friend. And we will stay that way. Just as friends, that and nothing else…

Song used: Touch My Hand by David Archuleta

It's a crappy start, for me T_T… I was not satisfied with the beginning at all. And I'm not really that good in English… But I really hope you liked it.

Hmm… Roxas singing out of tune… Just imagining about it really makes me laugh. His voice actor is a singer, after all (and one of my favorite ones, too)! Oh well. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review, okay? :D