Eyedrops
Small remaining hills composed of snow were starting to melt away due to the extremely warm temperature that hung in the air on this bright Tuesday morning. First day of spring. Bye bye, winter. No more having to endure those classes where there was no heat, no more having to shovel through the heavy coat of snow, no more below sub-zero temperatures that freezes even time itself.
Finally, spring.
Usually, people associate the season with sunny days, birds singing and April showers. A season which brings a new dawn, and maybe even a few blossoming romances. Well, that was all in the old movies. Nothing more than a thin veil of deception that conceals the facts which made this part of the year just plain horrible. And that was allergies.
Eww, allergies. Pollen. That nasty stuff that makes your nose run like waterfalls and turn your eyes red and swollen. The outcomes of being exposed to these tiny nuisances ranges from small sneezes to annoying rashes that can stretch as long as your arm.
It's just unfortunate for a certain brunette who happened to fall victim to such little subjects of matter unrecognizable to the naked eye. Poor, unlucky Orette. She despised spring. She was a summer child, a surfer girl, a beach chick. Never a lover of the first warm season. She didn't even believe in all those cliché sayings about spring.
What a pain, having to live without immunity to pollen.
It must have looked awkward. Going to school with a mask that covered the bottom half of her face from her nose to the bottom of her chin. However, she was more concerned about actually breathing through the rough material.
"Y'know? You look like one of those biker girls," was what her scarlet-haired friend remarked when she first started wearing the mask.
"Biker girls?"
"Y'know, those girls in groups who just ride around on their motorcycles all the time and occasionally pick a fight or two with another girl gang? I think they're called "Yanki" in Japanese."
Orette rolled her eyes. The topic of these girl gangs were especially popular for reasons unknown. Some of these "Yanki" dye their hair blonde, shave their eyebrows and wear "kamikaze" coats just plastered with big kanji letters that said 'demon' or some other tough phrase suitable for a thug. But she had to admit, they were pretty interesting.
"You don't look so well," Kairi said, glancing at the brunette's half-closed eyes and yelped when she gave a huge sneeze.
"Ugh…disgusting…" Orette pulled off her mask and wiped her nose with a tissue. "I just wish spring would be over!" she half-yelled, pulling the mask over her face again. She had to suppress the urge to scratch her eyes – the itchiness was killing her. Honestly, she didn't even want to come to school today. Why did her mother have to literally pull her out of bed by the legs? And since when did mothers ever pull their kids out of bed like that?
Kairi gave her a sheepish grin, enough to say that she can't do more than provide the materials that Orette desperately needs. Orette never asks for anything more. Because Orette was the number one ranked student in their grade. The future student council president. The valedictorian at their graduation. She emits this sense of superiority wherever she goes, which is why everyone would want to have some acquaintance with her. It was almost annoying as her allergies.
She finds all of this strange because she only transferred in as a sophomore, starting out with zero friends and always being jeered at as "the new kid." Not even her closest friend Kairi, who was already considered popular by that year, took notice of her. How the tables turned were beyond her knowledge. Yes, beyond the high intelligence that was Orette's.
Someone tapped her shoulder and she spun around to meet bright green eyes, a shade slightly lighter than her own.
"Hey, Or-HOLY CRAP!" Selphie jumped back as if she's received an electrical shock from the contact her index finger made with Orette's shoulder.
"Chill, Selph. Just because Orette's turned baddie doesn't mean she's going to beat us up with an iron pipe, ya?"
"You guys honestly watch too much TV," came her muffled voice through the thread-like material.
"It's not TV, Orette. It's called 'manga.' And Furuba is so awesome." The petite girl was giggling madly, the up-turned ends of her hair bouncing with every step she took as they resumed walking to school. She was obviously on hyper sugar rush as usual. Orette always wondered if one day all that excitement housed in the younger girl would be unable to maintain its self-control and finally explode, leaving her in a state of drunkenness from the overflow of caffeine. The thought made Orette shudder.
Wakka, on the other hand, was probably the most laid-back person Orette has ever met. He wasn't concerned about studies as long as he can keep that grade at a C. He made friends easily due to his upbeat and positive attitude. He wasn't one of those guys who mocked you behind your back because that just wasn't his style. Oh, and he is a major blitzball fanatic.
Blitzball is his life. His only purpose in life, as Wakka so proudly says it. If anyone spoke badly about blitzball, it would probably be the only time that he would witness Wakka morph into a total demon god bent on destruction of the earth…well, maybe not the earth. Maybe just Destiny Islands, but it's a start.
"So, Retty. You got allergies, ya?"
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have this mask over my face, Wakka."
The carrot-top shrugged, not at all affected by the sarcasm that dripped from her voice. "Tough luck, kid. You'd have more trouble breathing through that thing than the allergies itself."
"You love making my life difficult, don't you?"
He shot her a toothy grin. A smile that promised ruin. "But I love you more."
………
This might sound crazy, but Orette never really much liked lunch. It was not the food, because she had to eat. She can't resist food after four long hours of note-taking and listening to the teachers' dull speeches droning away like a wasted bumblebee. It's just that lunch…was almost as boring. She doesn't know why people call it their 'favorite' subject because it wasn't a subject.
So what if people get an hour to catch up with all the latest gossip and rumors that were probably only half-true? The "Ha! I told you so!" only leaves the person with an empty satisfaction that he was right. You can easily counter it with a "So what?" and be done with it.
Nah, lunches were never fun unless there were food fights. Yes, she had to admit she would dearly love for a food fight to happen at least once in the four-year span of her high school career. But all these small secrets she kept to herself. Because, oh my god, what would the other council members think when they discover that their leader would be a person to take part in a food fight?
People were so silly.
"So Yuffie told me…" This and that. And So-and-So did this when she wasn't suppose to but since when did she ever followed by the rules. "I mean, really." And such-and-such got postponed till next week. It was all "blah, blah, blah" to Orette's ears.
The only thing that startled her out of her half-drowsed state was when she heard the scraping of a chair in front of her and she looked to meet deep cerulean eyes. The cerulean eyes that belonged to a certain boy with spiky hair that shot off in all directions.
"Yo, Sora, mon. Whassup?" Wakka slapped the teen's shoulder as he sat down.
The boy smiled. She liked his smile. It only held a simple message. Like "Hey, I'm Sora. How are ya?" or just "I don't have any care in the world right now so throw whatever you want at me. Give me a reason not to smile." Well, that's what she thought. His smile was genuine and meant nothing more than that.
"Hey, guys. Nothing much. You?" Sora replied casually.
"Uh…oh, did you hear that Tidus and Hayner got suspended for skipping school to go to IHOP?"
"…No way."
"Yes way."
"Nuh-uh, I saw them this morning."
"They got sent home, mon. Apparently, it was National Pancake Day that day and IHOP were letting their customers eat for free, ya."
Selphie folded her arms over her chest and pouted. "I wanted to go to IHOP for free pancakes. Why didn't they take me along?"
Sora smirked and sat back, pillowing his head with his hands. "Because if they did, Selph, then everyone would know that they were skipping and then you'd ruin all the fun." He enjoyed poking fun at Selphie. Everybody knew that. And most of what he said was true…since it was Selphie they were talking about.
It amused Orette to see the little war that always sparked between those two. They'd get into arguments just for the sake of having some fun.
"Well, at least I'm not as bad as you, Sora."
Sora raised his arms, pretending to be offended. "Me? But I'm an angel compared to you."
"Yeah, Mama's little innocent boy."
Wakka sputtered on his drink, his eyes growing wide. Selphie may have gone too far by using that comment too soon. Sora's mother was the school nurse. Orette can sympathize with him. Her mother was an English teacher who taught fourth graders and she would never stop telling embarrassing stories of what Orette did when she was just a wee little babe.
Sora's smile dropped for an instant but quickly came back. He wasn't the type to let such a remark bring him down. "Hey, I'm not the one who's willing to skip school. Skip class, maybe, but not school. So I'm not at all innocent. Unlike you, who wants to drop school altogether."
"That is so not true!" she fired back, outraged. Orette choked on her drink from laughing. It was at that moment, Sora turned to her and their gaze met. Emerald clashed with azure. She was quite taken by the light of those cobalt orbs that she didn't realize she was staring until Wakka whacked her on the back, knocking all the air out of her lungs.
"Retty, you okay?"
She coughed and nodded. "Yea…Yeah. I'm fine."
"Look what you did, Sora! You nearly suffocated her!" Selphie pointed an accusing finger at the smirking brunette.
"Selphie, you're not making any sense." He quickly turned to Orette and gave her an apologetic smile. "By the way, sorry about that, Orette." And resumed to his task of infuriating Selphie. "Why would what I say suffocate Orette when it's you they are aiming for?"
"Well, cuz…cuz…you're such a…Sora!"
"Perfect comeback, Selph," Wakka said with a flat expression.
"Shaddup, I wasn't asking you."
Orette giggled as the hyper girl turned her attention to the blitzball player and started scolding him severely, sometimes rendering him speechless at how much information she had acquired about him (some of which that even she wasn't suppose to know) from very reliable sources. Orette then glanced at the boy sitting in front of her and found him eyeing Selphie's tray. His eyes met hers for just a moment and she swore she could have seen a mischievous glint that flared in those blue depths. He placed a finger to his lips, wordlessly telling her not to say anything as he reached for the plastic container and brought into his possession.
Selphie didn't notice since she was too occupied trying to smear Wakka's face with lip gloss. The carrot-top had covered his features with both his hands so tightly that it surprised Orette when he suddenly yelled out, "Selph! Sora's stealing your yogurt!"
"What!"
Too late. Sora had already had his first large scoop of the tangy substance, leaving the container half-empty. Selphie wailed.
"My yogurt! Sora, you ass! Give me back my yogurt!" And she did the most hilarious thing. She practically dived across the table only to have him slip away from her grasp. Sora licked his lips and pointed his spoon at her.
"I'll consider forgiving you if you give me all the yogurt."
"Nooooooo! It's mine! It's mine!"
Sora shrugged and finished it. All of it. He grinned at his friend's devastated look and placed the empty container into her hands. "I love strawberry. Thanks, Selph. You're forgiven. Later, guys!" He jumped up and ran off.
"…Cheer up, Selph. There are plenty of yogurt in the world, ya."
Selphie glared at him. "This is all your fault!"
………
Kairi had burst into giggles when she read the note Orette had handed to her during Anatomy about what happened at lunch. So loud that their teacher had called on Orette to be the skeleton for the day.
"Stand still, Orette. Anyway, as I was saying the frontal bone is your forehead bone and-"
Orette wrinkled her nose when he pointed to her forehead. She could smell the lasting scent of algae and dirty water from his hands, even after he washed them when he finished tending to the fish tank in the room. He then pointed to her eye and then her nose. 'Please let the bell ring…please let the bell ring…'
Within a few moments it did. Orette frowned at Kairi, who cringed. "I'm sorry, Orette. I couldn't help it. Haha, I can't believe I missed the entire thing because of a math test. Well, anyway, I'm going to gym. See ya later."
Orette sighed. This day couldn't go by fast enough. Her eyes and nose were bothering her more than ever. And she had refused to wear the mask. It was too stuffy for her to even breathe.
When she arrived at her English room, the burning sensation that plagued her eyes caused them to water. She couldn't help it any longer and rubbed her eyes a little to give them so relief, which lasted for no more than a few seconds.
"Hey…Hey, Orette, you okay?"
Orette picked her head up and turned to her right to see Sora with a concerned look that instantly changed to a shocked one. She reached up to touch her skin and felt small sags under each of her eyes.
"Orette, your eyes are turning purple."
Her vision blurred and clouded up until she couldn't look at the light. "I…I can't see!"
"What's going here?" A voice that obviously belonged to the teacher. "Oh my god, Orette, what happened to your eyes?"
"I think…it's my allergies…" she replied, rubbing her eyes even harder.
"Sora, can you take Orette to the nurse?"
"Sure." She felt his grip on her arm as he pulled her up and led her out into the hallway. "Orette, what happened? You were fine when you came in, then you started scratching them and…you really have to see this for yourself."
She had covered them with her hands, trying to avoid being hit by any source of light. "I probably look terrible."
"It's not that bad…but it is purple."
"Wow, that just makes me feel so much better."
He chuckled so quietly to himself, she wondered if the sight of her was that bad. It made her face grow warm, listening to his voice. "Hey, I try, y'know? Would you stop scratching them! You're making it worst!"
She scowled at him. "I'm not scratching them. I'm rubbing them."
"Scratch. Rub. Same difference."
"Why do you care any way?"
"Uh…cuz you're my friend? Whoa, watch your step." He caught her before she lost her footing on a step. They were so close. His arms held her firmly in place, to be sure that they don't let her fall. She blushed and wanted so desperately to hide her face from him, so he wouldn't notice.
A friend, huh? She guessed they were. Not like close friends, but close enough to be called friends. Yet…hearing him say those words made her feel uneasy and she didn't know why.
"Are we there yet?" she asked when she took her hand away from the railing and walked back into the corridor. "Hey, Sora?" He didn't answer. He had let her go when she reached the bottom step, probably thinking she can walk fine if he just directed her the right way. "Sora? Sora, this isn't funny!"
But she didn't hear laughing. With a sigh of frustration, she blindly searched for something to hold on to with her free hand.
'Wait till I get my hands on you, Sora. Just wait.'
"Orette?"
She gave a small scream and turned around, catching a glimpse of blurred brown with two round blue dots protruding right in the center of its head. "Sora! Don't you ever scare me like that again!"
Sora blinked and gave a nervous laugh. "I thought you were right behind me. I'm sorry."
The brunette eased the tension from her shoulders. "You know I can't see."
"I know. I know. C'mon, give me your arm."
She obediently held it out and he took it before leading her to his mother's office.
Orette felt that her body temperature was much higher than Sora's. His hand's grasp was gentle but still felt strong. Relentless. The thoughts of him taking her by the hand instead of her arm made her bow her head. She didn't want to let him see that how uncomfortable she was around him or let him take it the wrong way.
"Huh, my mom's not here…"
She suddenly felt him let go and place his hand on her shoulder, making her sit down on the bed.
"Wait here. I'll go to the office to ask where she is."
"Ok." The sound of his footsteps led away into the hall. She slowly took her hand away from her eyes but her vision was still terribly clouded, though she could faintly make out the outlines of the room. She looked around for a mirror or a bathroom, wanting to see how her eyes must have looked. Her science teacher must have been messing with flowers with her students from the class before and that's what probably caused such a volatile reaction.
Orette stood and steadily made her way to the door she assumed must have been the bathroom and was right. She turned on the switch and was horrified at the sight that met her distorted gaze. She brought her face closer to the mirror and gasped. The area under her eyes was greatly swollen like balloons. The once flawless skin seemed to have been inked by a deep bluish-purple color. She looked like she got into a fist fight and had lost badly to her opponent.
"Orette?" Sora peeked in. "Oh, there you are. I just called my mom and she said she'll be here soon. She told me to use this bottle of eye drops so your eyes won't feel so itchy for a while."
Orette paid him the lease attention, more concerned with the sickening bruised blotches marked under those emerald orbs. "…Aww, damn. It is horrible!"
"Huh? Oh…quit fussing about that. It will be gone in a day or two."
But she remained obstinate and refused to move from her spot or to have him take a look. So he had to pull her away from the mirror and make her sit back down. Orette covered her face with her hands and shook her head like a little child. There was no way she would let him see. Not until the nurse came back and he's left.
"Orette, quit acting like a baby and just let me give you the eye drops."
"Fine, but you have to look away."
He rolled his eyes, dropped the tiny bottle onto her lap and turned around. "Alright. I'm not looking."
She opened one eye and saw his back turned to her, with his arms folded so that his elbows were toward her. "You better not turn around." He muttered that he wouldn't and told her to hurry up. Sadly, in cases such like these, her arms were not the most stable when it came to applying eye drops and found them missing target either by shaking too much or wincing from the small pain for having her eyes opened too long.
"…Can't do it, can you?"
"Oh, be quiet. Of course, I can."
The boy laughed to himself and she narrowed her eyes. "Then why are you taking so long?" Orette didn't like the way how his tone was. Sure it might have been playful teasing but she knew he thought that she wasn't able to handle it by herself. "Orette, just let me do it for you. It's no big deal."
"No."
"I'm going to turn around…"
"You better not or I'll make you regret it."
"Too late." He spun around and her hands immediately shot up to cover her features. In doing so, the bottle dropped with a thunk onto the tiled floor. "Oh, c'mon, Orette. I don't think it's that bad," he commented, bending to pick up the bottle. "Lay back and relax. Now." She felt him grab her wrist and without effort, succeeded in pulling her hand away. Sora blinked, the light of his own cerulean orbs dancing with amusement. He smiled, not in a way that it was mocking but a kind one. "And you were freaking out over nothing. Lay your head back."
She wanted nothing more than to not be here in the same room with him. Most of what she was feeling was anger and embarrassment because of a guy no older than her who claimed to be her friend. He was almost as stubborn as she was! But it was no use trying to hide it from him now, since he insists he'll be the one to do it for her. She tipped her head back and stared up at the ceiling but her gaze kept flicking back to him.
Sora's expression was just plain priceless. He had one eye tightly close while the other one seemed to bulge out of its socket. But what really got her giggling mad was the way he stuck his tongue out between his lips. She shook uncontrollably, letting more clear droplets fall onto her face instead of into her eye.
"Orette, stop moving!"
The brunette failed miserably and broke into mirth. Sora growled in frustration and grabbed her shoulder to steady her, finally managing to get at least one drop into the left. By now, she was laughing so hard, she accidentally kicked his foot and he lost his balance because his legs tangled in hers and ended up falling on top of her into the bed. Immediately, she stopped and started to push him away. "Sora, get-" But she didn't get to finish as their gaze met. Her vision seemed to have cleared and found them staring into those beautiful azure hues. She was mesmerized, unable to move. She wasn't prepared for happened next because his lips placed themselves softly on her own.
And all she felt was heat.
Her eyelids fluttered closed and she melted into the kiss. His hand came up to caress her cheek and then toy with a few strands of her brown hair. She gave a small moan of pleasure when she allowed his tongue passage into her mouth. …And then he pulled away, leaving a vague strawberry taste in her mouth.
She opened her eyes, somewhat confused. Something wet fell into her right socket and it shut itself. She blinked a few times and found herself staring at Sora again. He grinned and shook the eye drop bottle in between them. "You took the last drop." With that, he moved himself off of her, allowing her sit up.
The soreness was no longer bugging her. She could only feel the numbness of her lips. It finally dawned on her. 'I…did not…just kiss Sora…'
Flashes of how they ended up in that position a few seconds ago raced through her mind, her face getting redder than a tomato. He was on top of her and….and he kissed her!
Sora looked as equally as uncomfortable as he just stood there scratching his head, looking at anything in the room except Orette. "Well…I, um…I…"
"…"
"Maybe, I should-"
"Why'd you kiss me?" she blurted out before realizing what she said. She stared at him, forgetting about how terrible she must have looked. Forgetting that the door was open and that anybody, and it could have been anybody, could have walked in on them right then and there.
Sora scratched his head so hard, it began to hurt. "Um…would an "I like you" be a good start?"
She was a little taken aback by this answer, which was silly because it was so straightforward. He seemed sincere…she hoped. "…Oh."
"…I…um…"
Orette frowned. "Would you please stop stuttering?"
He glared at her, which caused her to draw back. "Well, what do you expect me to say? I've never kissed a girl before…especially not in my mother's office!"
She blinked a few times before her mouth formed a smile and then emitted a laugh. Sora soon joined her, trying hard not to laugh so hard because his side began to hurt. Eventually, they stopped and Orette looked up, merriment gleaming in her emerald orbs.
"You mean you never ever kissed anyone before?"
"Nope."
"…Well…that makes the two of us, I guess."
"Yeah…" There was that goddamn silence that followed. "…That was a good kiss, by the way."
The brunette blushed at this statement, causing Sora to chuckle.
"But it wasn't that great."
"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?" He didn't answer and pretended to be interested in his shoelaces. Orette inwardly giggled and got up to chase him around the room. It was childish, she knew. She had forgotten how to be childish and getting that feeling back…was great. "Sora! I asked you a question!"
But Sora ran to the door before she could catch him. He stuck his tongue out playfully before laughing. "See ya, Orette."
"Wait, Sora!"
He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. She smiled and placed her arms behind her back. "Just wanted you to know. I like you, too."
Sora smiled, placed his index and middle fingers on his lips and blew her a kiss. "Later." He left.
Orette smiled knowingly to herself as she sat herself down. This crappy day had turned out better than she thought it would. Perhaps for once, spring was not such a bad thing. And that her allergies did have its unexpected benefits. She guessed she could give it a chance…
End
SD: I'm eating yogurt as I edit this. :)
Haha, Sora would make a terrible doctor if he chooses to be one. xD Or maybe not. Who knows?
So fun to write this. I've wanted to write a Sorette for so long. Oh, and if you're curious, there is such a day as National Pancake Day (over here, anyways) and IHOP does serve pancakes for free. And this all happened on the same day I got an eye infection on the bus ride home. Three kids got suspended for skipping class to go to Target and they spent that day at IHOP. Fwah, there's my inspiration. Bite me.
Anyways, wow, I haven't written a kiss scene in like…maybe a year. I have no experience whatsoever and my only source is other fics. No, I don't read Hentai/M-rated…much. I liked it. Cuz I'm an idiot. xP
Right…tell me what you think. Please?
