Sora

Alarm. Alarm. Alarm. Alarm.

My eyes twitch open and I swat at the nearest thing to me.

"Ow! Damn, Sora! You tryin' to kill me?" my dad asks, rubbing his cheek.

I sit up in bed and blink slowly, trying to wake up. "Why were you saying 'alarm' in my ear over and over?"

He shrugs, "Dunno. You weren't awake and I was afraid you'd be late for school. It's your first day, you know."

I roll my eyes and scowl, "I'm not stupid, Dad. My alarm is due to go off any minute now."

As if on cue, my clock starts blaring one of my favourite songs. I reach over and slap the "off" button, giving him a look. He just backs out of my room slowly. "Sorry, bud. Get a shower and get ready. I'll have breakfast ready for you."

I sigh and pry myself out of bed, trudging to my bathroom and showering before my first day of high school. I get dressed in one of my typical outfits, a red t-shirt, a dark blue hoodie, and dark blue jeans with blue and yellow Converse.

"Sora! Come to breakfast, you'll be late!" Dad yells up the stairs, and I sigh again. He's being totally over protective and worrying entirely too much. Just because I've never gone to a real school before, he goes into complete Dad-mode. Usually, the dynamic between us is much more relaxed and friend-like. I mean, it's just been the two of us since I was a little kid, living on the island and worrying about nothing but ourselves and each other.

But living on the island year round came with it's penalties. Dad had to home school me, and I never really made friends. Yeah, kids from the mainland would come to the beach all the time, but we lived on the other side of the island, with our own little beach all to ourselves. There was only one person who ever wandered onto our property... a red-haired girl, with the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen... The moment I saw her, my heart nearly stopped. But... I only saw her once, and I know I'll never see her again.

"Whoa..." I comment, looking at the feast that Dad has on the table. "Uhm... you didn't need to do this, Dad..."

"I know... I just feel so bad that we had to move off the island, Sora..." he says, setting a plate down in front of me.

"I've told you before, I totally understand. You had a great opportunity for work, Dad," I assure him. He's a marine biologist, and he's been collecting data on the island's fish since I can remember. Now he has to chance to put that data to use at a lab here in the city. Sometimes it amazes me how much he knows about the ocean.

He nods and smiles, "Aren't you nervous, though? You never really interacted with kids your age before..."

"Way to be reassuring, Dad," I say, chuckling. "I'll be fine. You've made sure I have absolutely everything I need to be fine, including the car that I didn't really want or need."

"I just want you to feel independent. I've occupied so much of your life, I don't want to smother you..."

I've never felt like he smothers me, but I guess I can see what he's saying. His new job is going to keep him away from home a lot, so I'll need a way to get around the city without him.

"Shit... I have to go. I didn't realize what time it was," I say, getting up and grabbing my car keys.

He stands up as well, checking me over, "You have your book bag? Remember how to get there?"

"Yeah, Dad... you drove me there about six times last week," I laugh a little, heading out the door. Getting in my car, it starts to sink in that I'm really going to be starting high school today. It's real now.

"Sora ...Strife? You can take a seat wherever you'd like," my first teacher of the day tells me. There's a few empty seats around the classroom, and I have no clue where to sit.

Suddenly, some small black-haired girl starts waving her arms around, "Psst! Come sit by us!" she says, patting the seat next to her.

I take the seat and smile at her, "Thanks. I'm Sora," I say, extending my hand.

She looks at it a bit weirdly and shakes it, "I'm Xion. This is my sister, Namine, and my friend boyfriend Riku," she introduces her friends to me, a blonde girl that looks exactly like her, and a tall white-haired guy.

"So... are you two twins or something?" I wonder, feeling like I've seen them somewhere before. But, that would be impossible.

"Triplets, actually. Our third sister, Kairi, isn't in this class," Namine says, smiling. "So I hear you come from the island?"

I jump a little, "How did you know that...?"

Xion sighs, "Ugh, don't ask... she thinks she's psychic, but I think she's just insane."

Namine whacks her on the arm and scoffs, "Whatever! See how you like it when I go all Carrie on your ass one day!"

Ohhh... kay...

"Yeah, I lived on the island my whole life until now," I say, trying to brush off the weird conversation between them. Are all the students here this odd?

They start whispering between them, and I sigh and turn to the teacher, waiting for class to begin. It's him, I know it's him! Who else could it be? I hear Namine whisper to Riku, who looks just as confused as me. I turn to say something to her, but the teacher starts class and I decide not to test my luck on my first day.

Roxas

"Mom. Mommmmm," I pry the bottle of vodka out of her fingers and try to wake her. "Mom, come on... you need to take me to school..." I don't know why I try. She's in no shape to drive, and she's not waking up any time soon.

"Uhm... Zack? Could you maybe drive me to school...?" I ask my step-father, peeking my head into his study. Of course, he's already working. That's all he does.

He doesn't even bother to look up from his papers. "Can't. Too busy, I have a big case today. Ask your mother."

Don't you think I tried? "She's passed out again..."

"God damn it, Tifa..." he mutters, then shrugs at me, "Well, you can walk, can't you?"

"It's my first day of school here, Zack... I don't know how to get there."

I can sense the irritation coming from him, and I just sigh and shut the door, pulling out my phone to look up directions. I've only got fifteen minutes to get there, but it looks like it's just around the block. I grab my bag and head out, trying to forget the fact that my mother might not wake up this time.

"I'm Roxas. Roxas Fair," I repeat again. Come on, did they really not tell you I was coming? My dimwit teacher just stares at me, and I point to the room number on my schedule. "This is room 204, right? You're Ms. White?" She nods, and I sigh. "Then this is my class. I'm a new student, we just moved here from Twilight Town. Look, can I just take my seat?"

She nods again and I growl, sliding into a seat in the back row. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I look at it under my desk, smiling at the text from my girlfriend, Olette.

How's your first day going? Miss you.

I grin and tap my fingers across the screen, answering her. Sucks. The teacher didn't even know who I was. Typical. Miss you too.

Haha, aww. Omg, Hayner got in a fight with Seifer this morning and kicked his ass!

This makes me chuckle a little, knowing that my best friend had been working out every day just to be able to stand up to Seifer. That guy had bullied us since we were kids. Awesome! Got what he deserved. Tell Hayner congrats for me.

Will do! Pence says hi, haha.

Tell him hi for me. :P I wish you were here, babe...

Me too. :( Why did you have to move? We only have a year and a half left of school...!

I frown and sigh under my breath. You know why... Zack wanted to expand his law firm, and mom just follows him around like an idiot.

Why do you call him Zack? Isn't he your dad?

You know he isn't, Olette...

There's a pause for a few minutes from her texts, and I nearly fall asleep from the droning of the teacher up front. But my phone vibrates again. But he raised you... You've known him since day one, haven't you?

They got married when I was five... I was old enough to know that he's not my real dad, and never will be. Real dads pay attention to their kids.

:( Sorry Roxy...

I suddenly don't feel like texting her anymore. It's just making me miss home even more, and I don't want to break down in the middle of class.

"Hey," I hear next to me, and I turn to face the voice.

"Yeah?"

The blond mohawked guy grins at me in a weird way. "I'm Demyx. Nice to meet you!"

"Yeah. Roxas," I mumble, not feeling very talkative.

"That's a cool name. I heard you say you're from Twilight Town? I've been there, it's nice."

Does this guy not get it? "Uh... cool."

"Hey, you wanna hang out with my friends at lunch?"

This startles me a little. Why was he so friendly? "Sure, I guess... thanks."

"Just look for the mohawk," he says with a laugh. "Oh, and my best friend Axel has bright red hair. You can look for that too."

Bright red hair? "All right... uh, I guess I'll see you then," I say, standing up right as the bell rings. I look at my schedule and head for my next class, wondering why that guy wanted to be friends with me so bad.

Sora

"Sora!" I hear someone screech from across the art room. "Sora, sit by us!"

I spy the peculiar sisters again, along with Riku and some other girl who's face is covered by her hoodie. I approach them and take a seat at their table, setting my bag on the ground next to me. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"We're all in art together, that's so exciting!" Xion exclaims in her usual hyper way. "Kai, take off your silly hood and say hi to Sora!"

Ah. So this is the third sister. "Shut up, Xion. Leave me alone," the girl snaps, yanking her hood down even farther over her face.

"Come on, Kairi!" Namine begs her, trying to lift the hood up. "He's really nice... just say hi!"

Riku scowls at them and swats Namine's hand away. "Quit bothering her! You guys are ruthless!"

Xion pouts up at Riku and gives him a kiss, making my stomach churn a little. "Sorry baby, we'll leave her alone..."

I briefly wonder if there's something wrong with her, but Namine clears it up very quickly. "Come on, Sora. I'll show you the supply closet," she says, grabbing my arm and dragging me away from the group. Once we're out of earshot, she starts explaining. "Kairi is... well, she's a little bit schizophrenic. When she takes her meds, she's totally fine, but she just doesn't really talk much. She keeps her face hidden a lot of the time, and we don't know if it's because she doesn't want to be seen, or because she doesn't want to see something. Just... bear with it, if you can. We try to get her to come out of her shell, but nothing seems to work lately. She has one friend, Alice, but she's just as ...well, crazy. Thinks she comes from some weird world called Wonderland."

I blink my eyes slowly, trying to take in the information I've just received. "Uhm... wow... So..."

"Just act normal, you don't need to change anything," she says, looking up at me. "You'll still hang out with us, right?"

"Uh... sure, sure. Of course. Sorry, that just shocked me, is all."

We head back over to the table, and I sit back down in my chair across from the cloaked girl. "Hi Kairi," I say, trying to be friendly. "I'm Sora."

I can see her lift her head a little to look at me, but I still can't quite see her face. Suddenly, she gasps and sits straight up, and I can see deep blue eyes staring at me.

"Kai, what's wrong? Did you see something?" Xion asks her, waving her hand in front of her face.

She shakes her head and reaches up, pulling her hood down all the way and revealing the most gorgeous face I've ever seen, framed in beautiful red hair. It's her... It's the girl from the island...

"Sora..." she whispers, startling me a little. I must've been gaping. "Hi, I'm Kairi..." she extends her hand to me.

Namine freaks out as we shake hands, her touch sending electric shocks up my arm. "Oh my gosh... she hadn't let anyone but us touch her in years..." she whispers to Riku, her eyes wide.

I don't want to let go of her hand, but the handshake has gone on a little longer than it probably should've. So instead, I just lace my fingers through hers and rest our hands on the table, ghosting my thumb over hers a little. She doesn't seem to mind at all, and lets me hold her hand.

When I finally look away from her amazing eyes, I notice the looks I'm getting from most of the class. "What?"

"Sora, she doesn't let people touch her. Like... ever. She barely wants us to touch her," Xion tells me. "And I don't think that anyone else in class has ever seen her face before..."

I glance around at the looks of pure shock and shrug. "Well, she doesn't seem to mind now."

When I look back to her, she's grinning at me, and it makes me smile. "I remember you from the island," she says, her voice one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard.

"I remember you too... there's no way I'd forget a face that pretty."

Xion grumbles a little, "You didn't recognize it on us, now did you?"

"I told you he was the guy from the island!" Namine whispers in an I-told-you-so voice.

So that was what she meant...

Roxas

I glance around the lunch room quickly, holding my tray against my body. Lunch smells horrible... some kind of noodle dish that has flakes in it. Fish, maybe? I spot the blond mohawk and relax a little, getting some comfort from knowing that I at least have somewhere to sit.

"Hey Demyx, first one here?" I ask, noticing that the rest of the table is empty.

"Roxas!" he exclaims happily as I sit down across from him. "I didn't think you'd show up!"

I chuckle a little. His enthusiasm is kind of cute. "Yeah... sorry for being kind of a jerk earlier. It's hard to adjust to this school."

"Hey, I totally understand. Ooh, Axel! Come meet Roxas!" he suddenly shouts, and I turn to see a tall, muscular, red-headed man walking towards us.

"Well hey there, Roxas," he says in a slow drawl, sitting down next to Demyx and flashing me a bright white smile. His jade green eyes bear into mine, and I smile back at him.

"Nice to meet you, Axel," I say, unable to take my eyes off of him.

He chuckles a bit, not looking away either. "Demyx didn't do you justice when he told me how attractive you are..."

Demyx squeaks a bit and swats Axel on the arm. "Axel!"

"You know he likes you, right? That's why he crawled up your ass so quickly."

My eyes widen as Demyx freaks out and abuses Axel frantically. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Uhm... should I go...?" I ask, wondering what the hell is going on.

"Nah, stick around. He'll calm down eventually," Axel says, trying to fend off Demyx's attacks. Soon he gets frustrated and switches sides, sitting down next to me instead. His arm brushes mine, and for some reason my breath catches up in my throat.

Suddenly my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I check the message. Of course, it's Olette.

Hey cutie! Hope you aren't mad at me for earlier, sorry! :x

I smile and go to answer her, but then my phone is ripped out of my hands by a certain red-head. "Who's 'Baby Doll?'" he wonders out loud, making Demyx frown a little.

"My girlfriend Olette. Can I have my phone back, please?" I ask, grabbing for it. He lets me take it, and I keep it on the other side.

"Dude, you're keeping a long distance girlfriend? Good luck with that..." Axel says, shaking his head.

Demyx just slumps down in his chair, looking defeated. Did he really think I was gay?

"What do you mean? Of course I'm 'keeping' her," I say, surprised he would even mention that.

He just shrugs. "Whatever, man... long distance doesn't usually work out."

I roll my eyes and answer Olette, ignoring him.

It's fine baby doll. Miss you...