Sora sat on the playground, eyes flickering to the swings. He could run for them, but he knew he could easily be outrun by the taller boys. He frowned, lips pressed tightly together. He knew that he could conquer his fear of being around other people. He tip-toed to the swings, and used his stubby legs to push himself up. Six-year-old Sora smiled half-heartedly, waiting for someone to walk up to him.
Then, he was swinging his legs, only to push himself high. He couldn't reach the ground, for his legs were far too short. He grunted and swung his legs spastically, imagining himself looking like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. He sighed and hopped from the swing.
"I can push you, you know," A older boy with silver hair said, pushing his bangs back. "If you need help, I'd be glad to help you."
"Mommy says not to talk to strangers," Sora whispered, gazing at the older boy. He had to be only a year older than him. "I usually listen to mommy, unless it's the cookies. I can't keep my hand out of the jar sometimes. The chocolate, it's so pretty!"
"Whoa, kid, slow down." The silveret said, smirking at the shorter boy. "'Sides, do I really look that strange?"
"What kinda seven year old has silver hair? You must be strange then." Sora said, rolling his eyes playfully.
"Yeah kid, I'm as strange as they come."
"My name isn't 'kid', it's Sora." Sora grinned, holding his fingers up. "And I'm six! I'll be seven soon though, my birthday's in two months!"
Sora jolted awake, shaking his head. First day back to school. He hated coming back from Christmas break. The only upside, was that he could see his friends again. He jumped from the bed, pulling his groggy body into the closet. Then, he sighed.
He had got plenty of clothes for Christmas (He wasn't a kid anymore, so he didn't need thousands of toys). He decided on a blue shirt with a crown on it, with layered white sleeves. He pulled a pair of pants off of the floor and sniffed them, then groaned. He didn't have any clean pants.
"Leon!" Sora hollered, marching down the stairs. Leon was in his usual spot, reading the newspaper with a bowl of fruity pebbles in front of him. Leon looked up and hummed. "Can I borrow some pants? All of mine are dirty.."
"The only clean pants I have are the leather ones, and you hate leather." Leon grinned up at his little brother, shoving a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. He saw the pitiful look on Sora's face. "You know where to find them."
Sora ran to his brother's room (which was downstairs, next to the kitchen), pulling a pair of Leon's pants out of his closet. Sora then grabbed a belt for security, and almost tripped putting them on. He ran his fingers through his messy hair.
He stole a couple of squirts of Leon's cologne, then ran back to the dining room. Sora smiled and sat down, chewing on his toast animatedly. "Are you excited to see Cloud, Tifa, Aerith?"
"Cloud, not so much. But Tifa's my girlfriend, and I'm always happy to see her." Leon dropped it, hoping Sora wouldn't ask.
"What happened? You and Cloud are the best friends! That's your elective, isn't it? You've been friends for so long!"
"Look, Sora, I know. Cloud is having some personal problems right now. He's confused about who he is and all that teenage angsty sh-crap. I can't be around Cloud at the moment, it's just not happening." Leon pushed his now-empty bowl aside, folding the newspaper up. "So, are you excited to see your twits?" Leon asked, grinning.
"They are not twits, Leon! They're amazing. Hayner's bringing me some candy, so I told him I'd meet him in the park. Kairi is avoiding me, and she has been since she started dating some older guy. Which is unfair to me, because Kai's my best friend." Sora paused. "And none of us have really talked to Pence or Olette, 'cause they're together now!"
"When do you have to meet Hayner at the park?"
Sora looked at the clock. "Five minutes. I better go! See you at school." He nodded towards his brother before leaving the house. Sora marched on the sidewalk, watching traffic go by. He crossed over to the park, where Hayner was sitting on a park bench, feeding a pigeon. "Hayner!"
"SORA!" Hayner tackled his best friend, smiling softly. He pushed the candy hearts that Sora requested into his arms. "I haven't seen you since pre-Olence. How've you been?"
"Hey, no excuses, I told you you could come to my house and stay for a week if you wanted. You said 'No, precious family time'. I swear, you're harboring an illegal immigrant in your room that you're hooking up with."
"Nah, not really into anyone these days. Especially Elisá." Sora laughed, and Hayner joined in. "But seriously, my Pops came in from Hollow Bastion. Only a little while until he has to go back." Hayner frowned. "I get so scared that one day someone will show up and say 'Your father has died in battle."
Sora wrapped his arms around Hayner in a comforting way. "Wanna go swing before school starts?" Sora asked, eyes flickering towards the swings. "Race you!"
Sora and Hayner ran for the swings, Sora jumped on it so he landed on his stomach. He giggled as he soared through the air. When the swing stopped again, Sora turned around and pushed the swing so he could get high. Feel the wind through his spikes, against his face.
"Well, isn't this a familiar sight," Said a voice from behind them. Sora and Hayner both stopped their swings to look over their shoulder. "Except he wasn't here last time, glad you finally got some friends, So-ra."
Riku Harrison, Junior at Twilight Town High School. Grade above Sora and Hayner. Only seen hanging out with Roxas Strife, Cloud's little brother. Silver eyes and bright aquamarine orbs.
"What are you doing here, Harrison?" Hayner spat, narrowing his eyes.
"I do believe I was addressing Mr. Leonhart here, not you." Riku smirked, looking at Sora from behind his bangs. "Long time, huh Sora? We stopped meeting here back when we were twelve and thirteen, was it?"
Sora gulped, eyes flickering to Hayner. Sora then shook his head. "Sora, you used to be friends with Riku Harrison?" Hayner asked, baffled.
"So what if I did, Hayner? So what if Riku used to meet here every single school day, and sometimes on the weekends, holidays .." Sora smiled fakely, his eyes closing tightly. "Wasn't my decision to stop coming, though. I just avoided the park after it all ended."
"Sora, you know it wasn't that way!" Riku said.
"I confided in you, and you call me a faggot! What kind of friend does that, Riku? Huh!"
"I was scared, Sora! I didn't want you getting hurt." Riku said, apology in his eyes. "You don't know what I was thinking, Sora."
"You were thinking, 'Oh this boy's a little fag, might as well vocalize my thoughts and then break him in half.'!" Sora shouted, charging towards Riku. He slapped Riku so hard it threw both of them off-balance. Both toppling to the ground. "You hated me, Riku! You made my life hell! You made fun of me." Sora sniffled, chewing on his lip.
"You used to laugh at my jokes!"
"That was before I became the butt of them!"
"Um .." Hayner said awkwardly. "What just happened? .. No. I don't want to know. We have like two minutes to get to school."
"Shit!" Sora said, gathering his things and running off.
"I like the leather, Sora!" Riku screamed after them, smirking.
Sora and Hayner hurried off, followed by Riku, who wasn't rushed. Riku walked most of the way to school.
-0.0-0.0-
Sora and Hayner sat at their lunch table, idly chewing on their fries. Hayner looked back where Riku and Roxas were sitting, smiling at each other. "What was going on this morning, eh?" Hayner asked, eyes flickering back to Riku.
"Which part?" Sora asked.
"The - Just can you tell me the story to save some time?" Hayner asked.
"Fine," Sora said, lowering his voice, "I used to be best friends with Riku Harrison, the jockhead. When I was six, I used to go to the park hoping to meet someone my age, so we could become best friends when we were older. Because my brother and one of his friends were like that. We met up at the park, same time, same swing set. We were friends for years, and I considered Riku to be about the best friend I could have. He came to my house one time, and that was when I told him."
"Told him what?" Hayner asked.
"That I don't like girls, more specifically, I like boys. And even more specifically, I liked Riku." Sora smiled half-heartedly. "You may have mistaken my sighs of love towards Riku as growls of hate." Sora grinned. "Anyway, what's happening between Cloud and Leo-"
"I'm in the same situation; but with Roxas. Oh, surprise, I'm gay too! Roxas doesn't even notice me. And when he does, it isn't good. He calls me a "Goofus". Like a cross between goofy and doofus."
That comment made Sora giggle. "I think I caught that." Sora smiled and leaned his head back. Until the clearing of a throat pulled him down-to-earth.
"Mind if I sit here?"
-0.0-0.0-
Sora and Hayner turned around and looked at Riku, who held his tray out in front of him. His cheek looked pink, and the impression of a hand was left behind. "Got into a argument with my girlfriend, she wasn't too pleased that I was talking about someone more than I was praising her. So I was like 'Kairi, calm the shit down. You're harshing my mood.' And she slapped me."
"Wait.." Sora said as Riku sat down. "You're dating Kairi? Kairi Utada, my best friend?" Sora crossed his arms across his chest. "Why is she keeping everything from me?"
"Probably because you told Kairi fifteen times that you hated me. That, if given the choice, you would hold me down and cut several of my limbs off. I didn't know that .. love was so gruesome, Sora dear." Riku hissed. "Then again, I don't believe in love. So what the hell am I talking about?"
"You don't believe in love?" Hayner asked, looking at Riku.
"How can you not? It's the most magical and irrelevant thing in the universe! Of course, once the one you love returns the feelings, then it's magical. But hell, I've never had someone return it before so I don't even know what the - oh, I'm just rambling now." Sora took a breath. "HEY LOOK, IT'S LEON!" Sora waved his arms at his brother, who walked up to them.
He sat down without a sound. Stared at the table and glared. "Cloud," Was all he had to mutter.
"EVERYONE IS GAY!" Someone from across the cafeteria shouted. The said girl was Naminé, who just stood up and shouted out: "GOOD LORD, EVERYONE HERE IS A CUPCAKE. WHITE AND SPRINKLED WITH RAINBOW. MY GOD!"
Sora and Hayner started laughing, then bumped fists. "I have an idea, Hayner!" Sora toned out Riku and Leon which were now chattering with the people at the table over. "We should date! In a friendly way, maybe you'll make your guy jealous. And maybe, I can win Sam over. I mean, he is gay after all, and all I have to do is make him a little jealous and then he realizes that he's in love with meeee!"
Leon and Riku were now staring at Sora. "You guys must be new." Hayner giggled. "Sora's like this everyday at lunch and break. Pseudoephedrine, right 'Sor?"
"Allergy medicine has stuff in it to keep me awake. Makes me hyper among other things .." Sora stated and blinked at Hayner.
"He's not in love with anyone named Sam. No one here is named Sam. Sam doesn't even go here!" Hayner smiled at Riku. "No worries, Sora's still available."
"Oh, every time I close my eyes, I see my name in shining lights, a different city every NIIIIGHT, Oh, I, I swear .. the world better prepare for when I'm a billionaire!" Sora sang, playing his imaginary guitar.
"Sora, are you okay?" Hayner asked. Then Sora pushed himself out of his seat and walked away. Everyone blinked.
"Now that he's gone, will you tell me what's going on between you and Cloud?" Hayner asked, turning to Leon.
"Cloud's .. well, Cloud's .."
-0.0-0.0-
I love his eyes the most.
I love the way his hair hangs over his shoulders,
I love his odd fascination with the moon,
I love how he smiles at me,
I love the Mickey Mouse birthmark on the inside of his knee,
I love his hitch-hiker thumbs,
but most of all,
I love him.
-Written on the back of a Chéz Lounge napkin, tucked in the holder. Dated November 7th.
