Dedicated to Kiwiwire! Sorry it took so long, =D hope you enjoy!

My life was nothing special. I didn't have the best clothes, most expensive gadgets, or get into the latest craze that was required when you lived under the rule of high school diplomacy. Therefore I was sentenced to face the consequences. I was beaten down to the lowest rank possible on the food chain, and that's where I stayed.

I was content there; I didn't feel like I needed to be anything special. That was, until I met him.

He couldn't have remembered what happened that long ago, when we were still in middle school. It wasn't even something worth remembering.

It was one of those god awful school field trips. To the community pool at that, and I couldn't swim. Yippee for me.

So I resigned myself to sitting under one of the metal canopies, reading a book while all my other classmates had 'fun'. Whatever, let them swim in the five year olds piss and boogers I was fine right here not immersing myself in all that shit.

"Well what do we have here?"

I twitched in annoyance but remained with my eyes focused down to my book, when they got tired of bullying me they would go away and leave me alone.

"Hmm, I don't know Marluxia what do you think it is?"

Ignore them…

A wet and nearly naked body sat down next to me, smelling too much like the chlorine and burning the insides of my nose. I tried not to sneeze, and instead I scooted to the side, refusing to look at her.

"Oh come on, don't be such a buzz kill Zecksiron that is your name right?"

No….

"Larxene…"

She looked to where her companion was standing, his flower covered swim trunks were all that I could see from my position. I could tell she was smiling brightly, her shark like teeth gleaming in the sunlight.

"What? It's not my fault he has a stupid name."

Oh, and Larxene isn't? My mistake.

"I don't believe that the point as to why we are here." Her friend stated coolly.

"Riigghhht," she looked to me and smiled, "We have a question for you Zexreon."

Oh goody, I bet it's a good one too, one that will give you a glimpse inside my 'tortured' soul.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and instead turned my body further away from them hoping to give the subtle message of "fuck off".

"It doesn't look like he's interested now does it?"

"Oh? But we came all this way." Larxene whined exaggeratedly.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

"Which is why we're not leaving without an answer, hey Riku!" the guy called.

One of his buddies must have shown up, because another pair of bare feet now stood in front of me.

"Maybe you can help us answer our question."

"Sure." The new voice added.

Zexion could feel the new boy's eyes bore into him, and he resisted the urge to fidget or get up to run away.

"But he isn't listening to us Marluxia." Larxene added, her tone huffy and overly sarcastic.

"Then we'll make him listen," Marluxia stated simply, "Riku?" He turned to the boy with question, and a moment later a fist grabbed the neck of my hoodie, yanking me up from my seat on the metal bench and making me stand. I grunted, clutching the guy's wrist with one hand while the other still held my book.

I stared into the guy's piercing aqua marine eyes, a tremor going straight through my being.

"I think you have his attention now Marluxia." The boy said.

"I think so too," Marluxia smiled.

He padded over to where I stood, clutched in his friend's grasp, helpless.

Where's a fucking life guard or teacher when you need one?

"Now Zexion, I believe you have an answer to give me."

With those words I was manhandled into his grasp. I dropped my book onto the puddle soaked ground, quickly losing my bearings as I tried to get away from my attackers. Marluxia reached for my torso as his friend bent to grab my ankles. I tried to kick him, but to no avail; Larxene laughed in the background. I struggled against their strong hands as they finally grabbed me under my arms and legs, lifting me straight up into the air and carrying me towards the pools edge. My eyes widened as I realized what they were about to do and I frantically tried to get away. I pulled twisted and turned my body, trying anything that might get them to set me down.

They stopped right before the pools edge, but I knew I wasn't safe. I couldn't stop staring into the rippling surface, I could feel every part of me shaking in fear, my breathing already rapid and heaving for more air. I felt my attackers grip tighten, but it still wasn't enough to pull my attention from the dark blue water below.

"Now here's what we all wanted to know," Marluxia begun, his grip again tightening on my arms, "Let's see if Emo's can swim."

I refused to let myself scream as my body was hurled in the air, my arms and legs flailing before I crashed down into the water. The coolness of the liquid enveloped my body like a blanket, my heavy sweater and pants clung to my thin frame, pulling me down deeper. I breathed in out of reflex, inhaling the chlorinated water, burning my eyes and throat as it filled my lungs and robbed me of my precious oxygen.

I desperately tried to claw my way back to the surface, but my arms and legs wouldn't do what I wanted them to and instead I could only watch as the light started to fade from me and feel the water get colder. I was nearly at the bottom of the pool's deep end, and no one had noticed me yet, like always. So I just closed my eyes, wanting it to be over.

Just when I started to feel like I was going to go unconscious, something grabbed me, a hand? And pulled me closer towards it. Weekly, I tried to struggling against it, but it was stronger than me and held me firmly in its grasp. My head was dizzy and I felt my body being pulled upwards.

What was happening?

I blacked out, waking up when I felt my body being roughly dropped onto hard ground. I didn't know what was going on, and I couldn't open my eyes. I struggled to breath but I couldn't force any air down to my desperately needing lungs. Something heavy was laid on my chest and with two quick pushes, all the water that had been suffocating me was forced out of my body.

I coughed violently, the water spewing out of my mouth and nose as I breathed in air, beautiful chlorinated air. My eyes opened wide, my body convulsing violently as the rest of the water made its way out of me. I grabbed a hold of something, an arm? And held onto it for dear life.

I realized I was shaking, but not from the wetness of my clothes that now clung to my chilled skin, but from the fear of the water. Of what almost had happened.

I almost died.

Whatever I was holding tensed, and I mechanically turned my head to its source.

I gasped.

I was looking into the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen, surrounded by wet, sandy blonde hair. And these eyes were angry. I shrank away from them, and immediately the eyes softened. His mouth opened, but before he could speak a crude voice washed over the crowd.

"Heh, I guess emo's can't swim…how boring."

Those eyes got furious again, and I was relieved to realize they weren't directed at me.

"I'm not one for starting a fight-" The boy said, his eyes going dark and his wet body rising before me, "but, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU ASSHOLES THINKING! ?"

The boy spun on his heel, his whole body a blur as he whipped around, his arm swinging in a large arc before colliding smack dab in the middle of Marluxia's face. A crowd that had gathered gasped. Marluxia feel backwards onto the concrete ground, his nose sputtering with blood. Riku was no longer anywhere near, but Larxene was and promptly went to his aid trying to help him back to his feet.

Finally the sound of a life guard whistle was sounded, and a tanned oily body ran over to the little group that had formed.

"What going on! ?"

"Those Assholes almost drowned him!" the boy yelled furiously, "They should be expelled!"

"Demyx what is going on!" Our teacher pushed her way through the bodies of students, quickly taking in the scene before her.

I sat on the ground, dazed and trembling as the voices of those around me rose and got louder.

But amidst all the chaos, a warm body sat down next to mine. His arms wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. I think he was talking, I couldn't tell and then he must have been told to take me somewhere because he started trying to lift me up.

I stiffly complied, relying on him heavily as he threw my arm over his shoulder and pulled me close to his side.

He whispered reassuring things, kept me moving towards the pools exit and out into the buildings small office like area. To wait for a ride to come take me home.

This is where you expect the story to take that cliché turn, the part where I say that from that day on we were best friends and that boy never left my side.

This is the part where I tell you you're wrong.

I never talked with my saviour again after that day, because shortly after the whole 'near drowning' accident my parents had arrived. Of course they were furious, like any sane parents would be and shortly after the whole episode it was decided that we were moving. I thought that uprooting our whole family and moving to a different location was a bit overboard but I never voiced my opinion to them, once they had their mind's set it was impossible to sway them anyways. My younger sister Xion however, wouldn't stop professing her upmost displeasure and objection to the whole scenario. Figures, the kid finally had a few friends and now my parents were hauling her off to some unknown place, where she would disappear again into the lower ranks of our school's social status. Even in fifth grade, kids knew who was popular and who wasn't.

I was relieved to finally hear her stop whining about the similarity in our names though, which was always brought up some way of another. Apparently it was unfair that her name was just basically mine without the 'Ze' in front of it. I always credited that to the whole surprise pregnancy thing though and the unpreparedness of my parents at having a second child, despite the fact that I never told her that. Telling her she was never supposed to exist whenever she got too annoying for me, which was pretty much always, was nevertheless going a bit overboard.

Two weeks later we found ourselves in a new school, a new house, and new lives. I again confined myself to a solitary existence, staying out of everyone's way and avoiding people who looked like they would try and beat me to a pulp. I suppose I made few 'friends' but normally I just stuck to studying alone and eating my lunch in the library.

My sister was a little more eager to make friends, though her shyness tended to hold her back. But by the time she was a freshman in high school she had made a total of two close buddies. One a short blonde boy who to me, seemed like a sort of whore despite his gender, and the and the other a tall and lanky guy with fire red hair who seemed unamused with my sister's presence but seemed to hang around only for the sole purpose of being near the blonde kid.

I tried to stay away from them as well, but my sister insisted I not be so antisocial and brought them around me, thinking we could all be friends. I wasn't so interested, especially when I figured out the pair we're gay. Not that I had some kind of phobia or hated them or something, it was just weird. They were all loud, hyper, and spastic while I was just- not.

They annoyed me to no end at school, so I was even more distressed when my mother started to let the little blonde boy, known as Roxas to frequently spend the night at our house. On nights like those I would hole up in my room with the door locked, my nose deep in a book with headphone's blasting loud rock music in my ear to ward off any offending girly pop songs like Hannah Montana or Katy Perry…

And that's why I never saw my emerald eyed saviour again. That's why I remained isolated and closed in, no friends, and after awhile that's how I thought I would stay.

That is until my sister forcibly dragged me to our schools swim meet against our old school. Something about getting out and socializing again, couldn't she see I wasn't the social type? Plus my fear of water and drowning was still very much alive, so why the hell would I want to go to a swim meet?

Regardless I was there, my sister and her two annoying friends sitting next to me on the bench, eating ice cream they got from a little vendor near the entrance. I was completely irritated with the whole situation. The loud noise from the overenthusiastic crowd was giving me a headache, the sharp smell from the chlorinated pool only adding to my discomfort.

I closed my eyes, wincing slightly when the loud bell announcing the end of the last race rang out over the loud speakers and reverberated against the walls. The crowd stood and cheered the name of what I presumed to be the winner, raising the volume in the space another notch and making my head pound twice as bad as before.

I had had enough. I flashed my eyes open and was open to give my final words and stomp away to the car outside, when I froze.

Rising from the finish line, removing his goggles and swim cap and turning to wave at the crowd was a strikingly familiar pair of dazzling green eyes, and dirty blonde hair. Without a doubt I knew it was him. I knew it was the boy who saved me from drowning at the pool, and punched Marluxia in the face. It had to be.

This was the boy who carried me away from the scene and stayed with me while I waited for my furious parents to show up and get me. His eye's skimmed the crowd, looking at every face. For a moment his eyes landed on me, I stiffened and felt my cheeks grow hot though I didn't know why. I thought he saw me, I knew he saw me; I swore he recognized me, but he just continued to smile and let his eyes skim the rest of the crowd.

He didn't remember me.

My heart fell, and a smile I didn't know I wore dropped from my face. I felt crushed, I wanted to go home and hide, curled up under my sheets on my bed and I didn't have a clue why. I tried to make my frazzled brain work, tried to make myself understand. People who were rescued by someone from a near death usually formed attachments to those who saved them right? Is that what I was feeling? It was perfectly rational to feel down when the person who saved your life didn't recognize you right?

My sister was tugging at my long sleeve coat, saying something about beating traffic out now that the match was over. I got up, numbly retrieving the keys to my car from my pocket and waited for them to do the same. I let them pass me, Xion babbling happily to Roxas about something and Axel glaring at her like he wished he could set her on fire. As they passed me I glanced up, catching the eye of Roxas.

He was obnoxiously dressed in a pair of my sister's daisy dukes, hot pink fishnets, and a ripped up band T shirt of some kind. A black and white checkered bow adorned his hair, and spiked earrings decorated his ears. A blue eye winked at me, a knowing gaze in his eyes and a smile on his lips as he continued past, arm and arm with my sister.

Roxas ended up staying the night that night, much to my dismay. I wanted to be alone, to think, to come up with some sort of explanation of what happened at the swim meet. And I couldn't do that with high pitched giggles and loud pop music coming from the room next to me.

I had driven home in silence, brooding over the one thing I just couldn't get out of my head. The green eyed boy from the pool. I couldn't even remember his name, the teacher only said it once and that was four years ago. He never offered it either, or at least I didn't remember if he did. I was in so much shock I really couldn't do anything else but shiver and sit in the metal chair I was placed in.

With a groan I deposited my face into one of my bed's pillows, wrapping my arms under the soft material and giving it a firm squeeze.

It was then I heard two knocks coming from my door, followed by the sound of it opening and shutting. I rolled my eyes.

"For the last time Xion I want to be left alone." I grunted into my pillow.

When no response came I grumbled and sat up, looking at her expectantly and blanching when I realized it was definitely not my sister. It was Roxas, complete with fuzzy pink and blue polka dotted pajama shorts, a tan spaghetti strap camisole, pink slippers, and thick purple hair band holding back his obnoxious spiked hair. His face looked bright and shiny.

Makeovers, the guy is letting my sister give him makeovers.

I groaned and placed my head in one of my hands, staring down at my carpet.

"What do you want?"

"To fuck you." Came his simple reply.

My head immediately snapped up from my palm and I looked at the guy standing across from me what I'm sure was the most horrified expression he's ever seen. His seemingly blank face stared back at me, refusing to give anything away.

With silence stretching out between us and no movement from his position at the door, I couldn't help but feel my anxiety rise.

"W-what?" I asked nervously, licking suddenly dry lips as the minutes dragged on.

He shrugged, pushing his skinny frame off the door with his shoulder and giving me an aloof like stare.

"You heard me." He replied cooly, his feet carrying him a few steps closer to my position on the bed.

"Well, I'm not…gay." I said uneasily, watching with wary eyes as he seemed to prowl forward.

His slippered feet came to a halt in front of me, his knees bent, lowering himself to my eye level. A hand skimmed the top of my thigh, I twitched and moved it to the side, a smug smile came to his lips.

"I'm good at this you know, you would have fun." He said teasingly.

"I'm not gay." I repeated, a little more firmly than before.

I was so talking to my mom after this, no more gay sleepover's for him.

"That's what a lot of guys say before they try it." He practically purred.

My cheeks felt hot as his warm breath washed over them, and I turned my face slightly. He smelled like the ice cream he ate so much and the girly perfume my sister must have put on him.

"Can you stop whatever this is please?" I all but growled. I knew it was all a game, despite his flirty behavior with everyone else I knew he was devoted to Axel, the tall lanky guy that made up my sister's trio.

"What is this?" He asked back, his tone light and teasing as his fingers reached out and flicked a piece of my long bangs.

"Uncomfortable." I replied back, my eyes flashing to his in warning.

Roxas smiled, and leaned in closer, his lips a mere inch away from touching mine. I tried to pull back, but I was too late. His lips pressed against mine, and he was kissing me. Immediately I tried to recoil, but a small but firm hand clamped down on the back of my neck, holding me in place.

His lips continued to push against mine, and I continued to try and fight it. My arms gripped his, trying to push him away, but the guy was stronger than he looked and kept me firmly trapped on my bed.

I shut my eyes, searching my mind for anything that I could do to make him get off me. He pushed against me again, softer this time, and suddenly I was picturing something totally different than what I had intended.

The green eyed boy, the one who saved me…kissing me. I relaxed for all of three seconds before I had a burst of strength and threw the small blonde kid away from me.

I quickly wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve, my breath coming in light pants as I refused to look at him. My heart pounded rapidly against my rib cage and I my cheeks burned with embarrassment and anger.

My mind was an even more jumbled mess now than it was before. I needed to be alone, to think things out, why did I think of my savior, why did Roxas kiss me! ?

"I see…that's why…"

The quietness of his voice had me looking up, and I was shocked to see the small smile he had decorating his lips. He said nothing to me, which for some reason made me even angrier.

"Why the hell did you do that! ?" I asked, my voice rising with anger.

His eyes seemed to look past me for a minute, a calculating gaze on his face as he brought a hand up to his chin in thought. I clenched my bed sheets in my fits, willing myself to be my usual calm self before I exploded with rage.

His eyes finally refocused on me, an amused glint to his Sapphire eyes and a sly grin on his lips.

"I did that because I was curious." He said.

My mouth dropped, "C-curious! About what! ?"

He shrugged, "Your sexuality."

I balked, "M-my-"

"I saw the way you lit up today, when that guy won the swim meet?"

"Y-You," I stuttered angrily, my hands quickly becoming fists, "You couldn't have just asked me like a regular person! ?"

A blonde brow rose in question, "So you like him?" He asked.

I looked away from his gaze my cheeks reddening. "No! I mean well- Ugh I don't know! He saved me from drowning when we were in the eighth grade but then we moved and then I never saw him again!"

My voice felt rushed, and I was baffled by the fact that I was practically spilling my guts out to the gay guy who just forced me to share a kiss with him. But his question was now stuck in my mind,

Did I like him? Why did I feel so happy when I saw him? And so sad when he didn't recognize me?

My mind was spinning, and I suddenly felt exhausted.

"Well Zexion, it looks like you're going to need my help." Roxas decided, placing a hand on his furred hip.

"Ugh- with what?" I sighed helplessly, now too tired to protest.

He grinned manically, "Helping you court Demyx."

Not a week later and there I was, sitting on my couch waiting for the doorbell to ring. My foot tapped in a nervous rhythm, shaking my whole leg and bouncing my intertwined fingers that were placed under my chin.

Demyx was coming to my house; Demyx was going to be here, because I was now his language tutor.

Roxas and Xion had come up with the whole plan. To my utter disbelief Xion knew Demyx. Even though he was in the same grade as me, he apparently often played with the younger kids back at our old school and they had come to know each other that way.

For some reason it irritated me that she knew my savior and I didn't, though I knew my anger was pointless. How would she have known the person who saved her brother at the pool was him?

Regardless I was forced into this whole scheme, and now I couldn't help but pray that it would work.

An hour beforehand was spent with Roxas and Xion huddled over me, telling me how to act and to my horror, how to dress. I felt like their giant Barbie as they made me sit on my bed, rifling through my closet and picking out possible outfits for me to wear.

As Roxas had put it my wardrobe was,

"Seriously lacking personality."

How in the hell did clothes have a personality?

After twenty minutes of rummaging through my closet and dresser drawers, and half of my clothes discarded onto the floor, Xion and Roxas agreed on an outfit that would apparently, "Have do to."

I was then forced into an old super tight fitting long sleeved band Panic at the Disco T-shirt, which they said: "emphasized my thin hip and waist", What the hell? And dark washed straight legged jeans, that were way too tight for my liking.

Then came my hair, which I had dyed long ago to a mixture of blue tones and silver highlights. It was cut in a dramatic sort of A-line, with the right side coming down to hang in front of my face and stopping just below my chin. According to them, it had to be straightened, which I didn't understand since my hair was already straight.

"It makes any rebellious flyaway's stay in place." Roxas had informed me.

Whatever fruit pop… Only gay's would have this knowledge, and my sister. I had thought begrudgingly to myself.

The next thirty minutes were spent with all three of us huddled in our cramped hall bathroom, with a hot iron precariously close to my head.

When they were finally satisfied, they gave each other high fives and cheered.

"You look awesome!" My sister said excitedly, her grin widening.

"You may even be hotter than me," Roxas said mockingly, "Demyx better be happy when he see's you."

"I bet he's going to fall in love as soon as he sees you!" Xion giggled excitedly. A few of her long dark bangs fell into her face and she quickly tucked them being her ear before beaming at me with renewed vigor.

Roxas snorted, "He'd better, with all the hard work we just did, Zexion's totally hot now, I might even be into him."

Xion launched into a fit of giggles, as he gave me what I assumed was supposed to be a sexy wink, I shivered. It scared the crap out of me and made me want to punch him in the face all at the same time.

With a few more jests at me, they had left to go get some ice cream and meet Axel at the clock tower; their little hangout. Apparently Roxas was supposed to meet him there and invited Xion to tag along as well. I had a feeling a certain redhead wasn't going to be too excited about that.

After they had left I went back into the bathroom, struggling over what to think of my appearance. I couldn't come to a decision, and my stomach flip flopped with nervousness as I thought about what Demyx would think of me. My hair was straighter now, and lay flat against my scalp. At the last second Roxas had added some hair gel, which he had pulled out of his baggy pants pocket.

I thought he had it with him just for today, if he and my sister had decided my hair would need it. But no, it turned out he carried it with him at all times. Squirting some of the gel in his hands, he applied it to the bottom parts of my hair, and some of the strands in my long bangs.

I shifted my focus, looking over my outfit. My shirt did cling tightly to my hips and waist; I felt my cheeks brighten in embarrassment. Only girls should have a waist like mine. I swallowed a lump forming in my throat and looked further down, the jeans that I thought were too tight clung to my thighs, bringing out their slight curve as they traveled down to meet my lower legs. I wore no shoes, I didnt see the point of it when I was in my own house.

All in all, I felt way too much like a girl. I guess that's the price I paid for allowing my sister and her gay friend to choose my outfit. Though I was uneasy in my current attire, I couldn't bring myself to go back into my room and change.

If this is what Roxas and Xion thought would grab Demyx's attention, then I would force myself to stay in what I was wearing, even if following their advice annoyed me to no end. So I made my feet carry me out of the bathroom and into the living room, where I took a place on the couch and waited patiently for my guest to arrive.

I thought it would give me a chance to calm down and think things through, to sort through my feelings and decide how I felt, but all it did was make me more nervous than I had been previously.

I didn't know how I felt, and that scared me. My whole life I had always comforted myself with the knowledge that I knew my emotions and how to handle them, and now I was at a loss. In the past when I was unsure of how I felt, I would do research, I would read books and I would eventually find my answer.

Now though, I couldn't do that.

Ding Doooonng….

I jumped at the sudden sound of the doorbell, my heart quickly picking up its pace and beating rapidly against my ribs.

Swallowing nervously, I rose from the couch and padded over to the front door. I gripped the handle, pausing to collect a few even breaths.

I can do this, I can do this.

Releasing one final breath, I unlocked the dead bolt and pulled back the door.

A/N: Can anyone say CLIFHANGER! ? =D I Decided to this because I wanted to get it out Asap for Kiwi. So now, you all have another chapter to look forward to! =D It will probably be out later today or tomorrow. I'm forcing myself to finish this one before I tackle my other projects, mainly my chapter story Can I be Happy, because that needs to be written...like now... xD but ahh my mind is so spaztic I cant make it focus!

well...Anyways I'm done with my little rant, hope you enjoy the next little chapter! =D