My Thoughts Exactly

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters in any way.

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I walked outside with my brand-new blue skirt dancing in the breeze. My shirt was plain white with a cute blue bow in the middle. My baby blue sandals looked so clear and sparkly in the light that I could see a small reflection. There was a blue messenger bag hanging from my left arm, which several blue bracelets dangled. My ocean blue eyes shined in the sun, a smile creeping upon my face.

I felt so new, like a brand-new Barbie doll -newly packaged- that was sitting on the top shelf. Instead I wasn't a Barbie doll. No, I was Naminè. Naminè Esukisu.

I was so sure of everything. I was, for the first time of my life, confident.

It was the first day of school. Middle school. I was so nervous, so anxious.

In elementary, I had tons of friends. Though, my best friends were Selphie and Olette, the brunettes. I was the only blonde in the trio, but I didn't mind. I was, after all, a straight-A student, and proud. But, I've been considered a "nerd" by the popular gang.

They consisted of the snobbiest human beings on Earth: Sora, Riku, Axel, Larxene, Kairi and that guy, Roxas.

I've never really liked them, so I hope I don't get any classes with either one of them. If I do, I'm probably going to freak out. They'll probably torture me through the whole period, and think up of new names for me.

I really hope I go from "nerd" to... something else. It just doesn't feel right. For me, anyways.

I took in a deep breath as I reached the front of the school. It was so big, much bigger than my elementary school. Everything was so neat and tidy, and flowers roamed the place. It looked like a learning paradise.

I looked around to see if Selphie or Olette were here. I couldn't see any trace of them. Oh well. We'll probably meet up at lunch, or hopefully, at some period.

As I walked in, I felt a strong push against my left shoulder. I looked at my side and saw Kairi laughing. "And he was all like "I'm too good for you!" and I was all like, "Well, I'm a lot gooder than you, so !" She laughed as everyone else laughed along. Except Roxas and Axel who were busy talking to each other.

I giggled at her illiterate skills of the English language. I didn't even know what she was actually trying to say; though it sounded pretty funny. But it was probably something stupid.

Well, I walked inside –once they were inside, that is- and I saw Olette and Selphie talking to each other. When they saw me, they were waving their hands rapidly up in the air. I guess they were signaling me to come over.

So I did.

I was in total awe with their outfits. Olette was wearing a cute orange tank-top with Hawaiian flowers decorating a corner. And, with her tan shorts and orange flip-flops… I couldn't help but drool all over her!

Now, Selphie was wearing something a lot different, yet it was so cute. She was wearing a forest green summer dress with a giant brown ribbon accenting her hips. She too was wearing flip-flops, but hers were green with a brown bow in the middle, just like her outfit.

I was jealous. All I had was a white-and-blue school outfit. I looked so plain. But, they hardly even noticed. Thank goodness!

"Oh my gosh, Naminè, you won't believe this. When I got the new issue of "Double T Teen 'Zine", they announced that Demyx of the Melodious Nocturnes is going to visit Twilight Town! Isn't that great?" Selphie was shrieking with excitement. She was madly in love with the Melodious Nocturnes, and Demyx was her favorite. I don't really like them. I prefer the duo of Eternal Nobodies: Xemnas and Saïx. Melodious Nocturnes just has a bunch of Demyx clones, but he claims that they are his "brothers".

"Oh, and that's not all." I turned around to see Olette pulling out a colorful magazine. She was shoving it into my face as she was talking. "They said that a new word is added to the dictionary! And it's not something boring like "campylospermous" or "xanthorhamnin". Oh no, it's something for us."

I looked at her in shock. I didn't know she had such a huge vocabulary. Usually, she'd just talk really simple-like.

Anyhow, she started talking again about this so-called "new word". "Okay, so, it's not in an actual dictionary like Merriam-Webster or anything like that, but it's added to the "Teentionary". It's fuoff!"

I soon realized that Kairi had said that. But, what did it exactly mean? It's not that I care, though. I just want to know what's "hot" and what's "not". "Err, umm, Olette? What does fuoff mean?"

Olette opened her locker after putting in her combination. She took out her books and faced me. "Not fuoff. Fuoff! Well, it means fu-" Music started playing as everyone hurried to their classes. That meant that there was three minutes left before class started. "Well, we'll see you later, Naminè!" Olette and Selphie hugged me as they walked down the halls.

Oh no! If I'm tardy on my first day, the teacher probably won't have a very good impression of me. I hurried to my locker, which is #6001, and put in my combination. But it didn't work. I tried it again, but it just ended up the same as my first try. I kept trying over and over again, but I just kept on failing and failing that I lost track of how many times I failed.

The song was on my favorite part, and there's about one minute and forty-seven seconds left, if I calculated it carefully. I need a miracle if I'm ever going to make it in time. I started banging on it, hoping it would open. I just made a loud racket.

I looked around to see if there was anyone who could help me, but the only person that I could see was Larxene, "the Akuma" or "the Devil". She was evil, yes, and very frightening.

But I had no choice but to ask for her help if I was ever to make it in time. I breathed in and out a few times and approached her. I tapped her left shoulder lightly. She looked at me with a serious look. "I, umm, could you help me open my locker?"

Larxene looked at me and, to my surprise, replied a "yes" and smiled. She actually smiled. There were rumors going on that Larxene never –emphasis on never- never smiles. If she does, then that means you're going to suffer the whole grade.

Eek! I hope that's not true!

"So, what's your name? I think I've seen you before, and I definitely heard you from Kairi, but I just couldn't memorize your name with Axel making me memorize these tiny, insignificant details." I handed her a sheet of paper that had my combination written on it. She took it and started unlocking my locker. It opened with a sharp click! She handed me my books –and the piece of paper- and stood up. I decided to answer her question, since there was time to spare. "My name's Naminè."

"Well, Naminè. I'm Larxene. So, since we're in the same class, you should follow me before you get lost." I guess I could follow her. She seemed very nice, but still, I just can't trust her. She is in the "Popular Gang". And I shall always remember the foremost and important rule: never trust the Popular Gang unless you're part of it. At least, that's what my older brother, Marluxia, told me.

As we were walking, I started thinking about what Larxene said. "So, since we're in the ..." What did she mean about that? I thought she was in eighth grade. I decided to ask her. "Larxene, what do you mean we're in the same class?"

She turned to face me, combing through her hair with her hand. "Well, this is Sunset Hills Middle School. Ever since "The Seven Wonders of Sunset Hill" were created there are certain rules like "Sixth through eighth grade has to be in the same classes." Don't worry; you don't have to be with them in all the classes. Just first, third, and fifth period."

"Oh, well, that's some strange rules..." Larxene didn't reply back. But I didn't really care.

After a few turns this way and that, we finally made it with a few seconds to spare. I walked in room 620, AP Math.

Yes, you've heard me right: AP Math. I'm as shocked as, uhh, a person who's been electrocuted. Out of all the students in this school, how could Larxene be able to be in AP Math? She does hang out the Kairi, who hangs out with the dumbest people on Earth. Or, at least, the whole town.

But that's just a rumor, I guess. I don't think it could be true. I mean... Riku's pretty smart, I guess...

When I saw the people who were in the room, I was basically the only smart one. I'm not trying to be rude, but I mean, c'mon! Axel, Lexaeus… Roxas? I don't even think they have half a brain. Actually I'm not sure they even have one.

Oh no, I think Marluxia's personality is growing on me... And trust me; Marluxia definitely doesn't have a very good personality.

Well, I still didn't have anywhere to sit, so I looked around. All the desks were in groups of four. Larxene was sitting with Kairi, Sora, and Riku. In the other group, Zexion, some guy, Lexaeus, and Vexen. And in another group were a few girls and guys I didn't recognize; same with the other table. The last table had Axel, Roxas, and what's-his-face. That was the only group where I could sit. So I did, but I didn't like it.

Axel and Roxas were across from me, chattering about as always. What's-his-face didn't seem to do anything besides stare at his desk. Since the teacher isn't here yet, I decided to talk to him. "Hi! My name's Naminè."

He turned his head around to face me. He glared and snarled at me. I took that as a hint to leave him alone.

I turned around to face Axel, who was, unfortunately, in front of me. He stopped talking to Roxas and looked at me. I don't know why, but he smiled.

This is getting ridiculous. First Larxene, "the Akuma", smiles. Now Axel, "the Pervert", is smiling.

"Naminè, is it? Pretty name for a pretty girl." I was disgusted at his words. It felt so... so wrong. "My sis, Kairi, was talking 'bout you today." His smile grew bigger while he twirled one of his beautiful, red locks.

I was actually surprised that Kairi and Axel were related. Yeah, sure, they both have red hair. But they were different shades.

They have basically nothing in common. Axel has green eyes, Kairi has blue eyes. Axel has, umm... Actually, I stand corrected. They're exactly like twins.

I looked at Axel, who was looking at the front of the room. I looked where he was looking and saw a woman sitting on a wooden chair.

The teacher slowly approached the blackboard and picked up a piece of white chalk. She swiftly and elegantly wrote a few letters across the blackboard. Then, she threw the piece of chalk on the ground. It made such a weird noise that it attracted the whole class' attention. "Now that I've got your attention, let's begin, shall we? I am your teacher, Aderyn Heulwen. But please call me Miss Wen. I am, indeed, Welsh. Divorced, no children, hobbies include gardening and cooking. I'm pretty much your average teacher. Any questions?" Nobody dared raise their hands.

I was almost going to, but she looked so... so scary. She had a strange scar on her right cheek. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. A very messy ponytail. She had square-framed glasses which had a few stains here and there. Her face looked very old and wrinkly, and she had no make-up. But she had red lipstick, I think. Unless if her lips were naturally red. Her clothes were torn and looked so old. Overall, she looked like a mean old lady with no sense of fashion whatsoever who was born in the 1920's.

But I bet she's nice once we get to know her better, I hope.

"No? Good. Now let's begin." People began coughing and shifting their chairs a bit. Some were biting their pencils and pens, and some were passing notes. One note accidentally fell under my chair. It was a light green sticky note with glittery pink words written all over it.

When the teacher turned around and started writing some more stuff on the board, I went and bent down to pick up the note. It wasn't like me to do this, but I was curious, and it was so pretty!

The back of the sticky note stuck on me as I reached for it. I pulled my hand back up quickly and tried to read the words. "Lol, lady looks like a man! LOL!!!!"I felt really bad for Miss Wen.

I crumpled up the paper and threw it on the ground. "Well well, Miss Naminè, what have we got here?" I turned around to see the teacher read the sticky note. I was so afraid of what her reaction might be. Would she hate me forever? Oh no, this cannot be happening to me!

"I look like a man, do I? I'm so offended."

"N-no! This isn't what it looks like. Someone else wrote it!"

"Oh, and now you're trying to get away from your sin? Shame on you, Miss Naminè. I would send you down the principal's office, but I'd rather not. This is the first day of school. People have their opinions; I'll be keeping a sharp eye on you for now on."

I heard a few giggles from the class. I was so embarrassed! I slowly put my head down on the desk, ashamed of myself. As they say, "Curiosity killed the cat." But, in this case, curiosity is going to kill my reputation. Not that I have a good reputation. That means I'm probably going to the lowest state in all of teenage history!

This is bad; very bad. I'm going to have to ask Marluxia for some assistance. How did he pass middle school easily? I must know his secret...

Well, the first period went by fast. I kept seeing Miss Wen staring at me. But I successfully copied down the notes and I think Miss Wen believes me with the whole note thing, I hope. That's a good start, right?

I went down the hall to my locker to find Selphie and Olette looking at me weirdly. I wonder if they knew about the whole incident. If they do, I'm gonna have some explaining to do.

I walked up to them. Selphie's mouth opened up as if she was going to speak, but Olette talked first. "Naminè, there you are! So, uhh, have you heard?"

"Heard what?" I was really curious, but ever since the little incident, I'm careful not to let my curiosity get to the best of me.

Now it was Selphie's turn to talk. "Y'know, about that Roxas guy. I've heard from random people that he wanted to talk to... well, you're going to be surprised."

"Aww, c'mon. It's probably not going to be that bad. So, who's the unlucky person?"

Selphie and Olette both looked at each other and frowned. I had a bad feeling it had something to do with one of us. "Well, he wants to talk to you. Everyone's talking about it, so it must be true. They say to meet him at lunch."

I was speechless. To tell you the truth, I kind of had a small crush on him when we met in kindergarten, but that was all! I've hated him ever since he kicked my poodle, Doodles. He said she was attacking him, but Doodles would never hurt someone. She's a nice dog. And he's a meany. A big, fat meany.

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The rest of the periods went by quickly, especially the third period. Now it was lunch time, unfortunately.

Right now, I just wanted to go home. I wanted to go home and never have to face school ever again. I thought it would be fun, like when I was in kindergarten. But nooo. Everyone has to be all serious and label people. But if they were going to label people, why did I have to be a nerd? I just-so-happen to be a gifted and talented girl. That's not bad.

I looked around the back of the school with my lunchbox held tightly in my right hand. I was hoping to just sit somewhere alone and definitely not see Roxas.

I found a giant tree not far from the benches. I decided to go behind the tree so no one could find me.

I looked at my plain, white lunchbox. My full name was written in a black Sharpie marker on the front. Naminè Esukisu. I opened it and saw a ham sandwich, cute, pink lemonade, and a few chocolate chip cookies. I ate the ham sandwich first, while drinking a bit of the lemonade now and then.

When I was about to finish the sandwich, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see it was Larxene. She had a worry look on her face. I wondered why. She was in the popular gang, and they were always happy as it seems. "Selphie and Olette are trying to find you. Why are you here, Naminè?"

"To be alone."

Larxene looked at me suspiciously. "Uh-huh. And to hide from Roxas, eh?"

I was surprised Larxene knew, but I didn't show it. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"He's my brother." She laughed and sat down next to me. "Along with Vexen and Luxord. Yep, life's pretty harsh for me. But still, it's fun to torture them. Anyways, he just wants a little favor from you since you are the smartest girl in school." Larxene took out a turkey ham sandwich and took a quick bite out of it. "Look, he's coming."

I sat up straight, stuffing my lunch into my lunchbox. Roxas stood in front of me, head down low. "I, umm, Naminè?" I frowned as he said my name. He said it like "name a neigh". He should know how to say my name considering Kairi had been talking about me. Unless... if she says it the same way.

"Okay, I barely passed fifth grade. I'm having a lot of trouble with schoolwork, and I just thought that, uhh, if you could help me? Maybe as a study date or something?"

"I guess so."

Roxas lifted his head up and gave me a faint smile. I liked seeing people happy, so I smiled also. "Thanks. Err, meet me at the front after school."

I nodded my head as he walked off. I took my lunch out again and started munching on a few of my cookies. They were delicious! Mom's homemade cookies always make me want to eat them every day.

Larxene was looking at me weirdly. "What? You're just going to eat like nothing happened? Seriously, he's my brother. And he hangs out with Axel. Are you sure you want to do this?"

I shrugged. "I guess. If he needs help, then I'll help. Besides, you hang out with Kairi." I finished the last bits of my cookie and smiled contently.

"I only hang out with her because Roxas does. I'm a caring type. I'm responsible for him and my other younger brother, you know what I mean? If I actually liked Kairi, I would be so much like her."

"Oh," I grinned at her as I drank a bit more of my pink lemonade. "I'm glad you're not."

XXXXX

After school, I waited at the front of the school just like Roxas said. But I couldn't find any sign of him. I hope this isn't one of his sick tricks. If it is, then I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do, but he's going to pay.

I started pacing left and right, with my messenger bag completely stuffed with books and papers. It was really heavy, but I could manage. It wasn't like it was filled with the heaviest substances on earth.

"Hey." a male voice said. I recognized that voice anywhere: Roxas's. "Okay, umm, walk or ride?"

"I'd rather walk." No, wait, I'd rather ride! But I didn't want to seem like some lazy jerk. Besides, walking is good exercise.

"Okay, fine. Just... follow me." When he passed by, a lot of people were staring at him. I think it was probably because they think I'm stalking him or something. I just hope they don't get any wrong mental images.

Roxas stopped walking. I looked in front of him to see Kairi glaring at me. "What's this thing doing with you? Are you stalking him, Hun?" I made a face. How dare she call me a thing! I'm a human being with feelings. Doesn't she know that? Oh, wait, she doesn't even have feelings.

"Look, Kairi, just leave her alone."

"And what are you going to do, huh, Roxie-poo?" Roxas seemed to act weird and tense when she said that... nickname. But hey, I'd be all tensed too if someone called me Nami-poo. I shivered at the thought.

"Oh my God, just leave us alone you- Ugh!" I could tell Roxas was really frustrated.

Kairi just laughed and walked up to me. Her face was up my face. I could feel her warm, fresh breath breathing onto me. "Nami, Nami, Nami," She walked up closer to me and put her lips close to my left ear. Her breath felt a lot warmer now. "You and Roxas... that'll never happen because I'm his girlfriend." And with that, she walked off to her group, chattering away.

"I have a feeling she might go to my house. She knows me so well..."

"Then why don't we go to my house instead?" I suggested, walking up closer to him. He inched away from me a bit and nodded in agreement.

"You lead the way."

I nodded and started walking. My house wasn't really far away; only about two blocks away from school.

I checked behind me once in a while to check if Roxas was still there. He just stared back at me and I, well, I felt something tingly on my cheeks.

We finally made it after about thirteen minutes. I walked up to our "Welcome" mat and put my hand under it. I was trying to feel for something and I found it! I grabbed it quickly and took my hand out of the mat. I looked at what I managed to find and started screaming. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," I said, chanting "oh my God" over and over again.

I threw it on the ground and it crawled away.

As I did, I heard someone laughing. It was Roxas. His face was flushed pink. His eyes were halfway closed. "That was funny." He said, putting his hand under the mat. When he took out his hand, there were my house keys. I snatched it and unlocked the door.

As we stepped inside, I couldn't help but let out a small giggle. I admit it was funny, but I hate bugs. Especially centipedes.

"Okay, so what do you need help with?"

"Everything."

I bit my lip and sat on the loveseat, putting my messenger bag on the floor. I opened it and took out all the papers and books and supplies out of it. I laid them all out the coffee table. I tried to organize everything, but I failed miserably and all of the papers came flying through the air.

I picked them up quickly and saw Roxas pick them up too. I was happy that he was good at something.

After we piled up all of my papers, I sat on the loveseat again. Roxas sat next to me on the loveseat.

"Okay, I'm not good with Science, so let's start with that."

"Okay. Well, in Science we have a review test from last year. All the stuff we learned last year is going to be on the test. Like, umm, the solar system, trees, nature, and all that stuff."

"Well, are you going to explain anything, or are you really not that smart?" He teased, putting his arm around my neck. He pulled me in closer to him and started laughing. "Look, I was just joking, m'kay?"

I laughed also, though I didn't find it really funny at all, and started teaching him about astronomy and most of the stuff I learned. But as I was doing that, I couldn't help but think that he was being very... not shy-like. It was weird.

We both noticed something pink around the corner of my room.

"Wait, I'll be right back..." I said slowly, walking upstairs to my room. I looked at where the pink thing was and sneaked a small peek. It was Marluxia.

"Hey, Sissy." He pulled me into a one of his oh-so famous "noogies". He hasn't done that to me in a while ever since I was in third grade, so it was a wonderful, yet painful, sensation.

"Marly, look, I have a visitor... Maybe we can do this another time?"

"Oh, I see," He glanced over my shoulder for some reason and nodded his head. "Sure, whatever. Your boyfriend is obviously more important than you're older brother."

"He is not my boyfriend." I whispered to him.

He just laughed. "No, when I say boyfriend I mean a boy that's your friend. Sheesh."

"Oh..." I ran back downstairs to see Roxas gathering up his stuff. His pencil was in his mouth and papers were sticking out of his binders. He muffled a few words to me, but I didn't know what he was trying to say.

He stuffed all of his binders in his backpack and took out the pencil from his mouth. "Thanks, Naminè. I'll see you tomorrow." He shook my hand and walked off, his hands shoved into his deep pockets.

I smiled to him and waved my hand in the air a little.

This day has turned out better than I imagined. I think I made a few new friends, made a "frenemy", and fuoff is in my vocabulary even though I still don't know what it means.

I just hope I can open my locker by myself tomorrow, or else I'm doomed!

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A/N: Okay, I was waiting to post this three days ago, on the first day of school. But, then I forgot and I was busy with papers and such. And then I looked over it a bit. I didn't really check it so there will be a few mistakes... If not, then yay me!

Well, it was longer than I expected. But I guess that's okay. I'm not going to update for a very long time with band and... Yeah, stuff. Oh, and just to let you know this is in Naminè's point of view. Just wanted to let everyone who didn't know... know.

Oh, and another thing: fuoff isn't in the dictionary. Or at least, I think it isn't in there. I just made it up when I was taking a shower. I always have good ideas when I'm not thinking. Weird, isn't it?

Oh, and one last thing, I promise! Since this story is only in Naminè's view, I'm writing this in someone else's view. I'm not telling who until I reach the third chapter or something. I don't know. Or until I finish the first chapter. Okay, that's all. :D