The blonde boy was there the next day, at the soccer field.
Our coach was an eighteen year old man named Squall Leonhart. He lined us up after we showed him our moves, and paced in front of us. I saw Rinoa watch him attentively. I mouthed the words, You like? She winked and nodded. " Ok, here's who I want: Heartilly." Rinoa ran past him, grinning and standing in the spot she was told. " Lockhart." I ran over by her, and saw the blonde boy watching me, smiling slightly. " Ikisha." a girl with bright green eyes and long blonde hair ran up. " Hey, I'm Rikku." she whispered. " Tifa." "Rinoa." we whispered back.
" Strife." The blonde boy came over, carefully, keeping his distance from us. " Dalmasca." he said. A girl came over, a small smile on her face. " Oh shit." Rinoa whispered. " What?" I asked quietly. " That girl is a bitch." " Yeah, but she's a talented bitch." Rikku added in. I sighed. The girl looked okay.
But I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover, can you?
I learned two things that night, The girl's name was Ashe, the boy's name is Cloud.
How perfect is that? Cloud Strife, eyes like the sky, pale skin, blonde hair, plays soccer...wow. Perfection just looked me in the eye.
That afternoon we met up with Yuffie and some other girl. " Hey Yuff." I said. " Hey Teef, this is Garnet." " Hi." the girl muttered, fingering a long strand of hair. Rinoa sat down and the two began talking. Yuffie leaned across the table at me. " So guess what? I like, so have a crush on one of the teachers!" " Ew, which one?" Rinoa asked, looking disgusted. " Valentine." " Ooh.." a few girls cooed. Valentine... " Oh, him? The math teacher?" Rinoa suddenly said, smiling. " Oh, that's who I was thinking of." I muttered. Yuffie and the others started talking about him, so I edged away. A girl with long blonde hair sneered at me. She was nothing like the preppy blonde I'd met earlier. " Scarlet, be nice." Ashe scolded. The girl named Scarlet shrugged and re-applied red lip stick. " I'm Ashe." Ashe said with a smile. " Tifa." I replied. " Tifa..that's a pretty name. You play soccer really well, Tifa." I smiled and felt at ease. " Thanks, you're good too. I'm glad we're on a team together." I replied. Ashe looked down at the other girls, then back at me. " Wanna hang with us for a while? Your friends wont mind, right?" I looked back at the girls. They were so totally absorbed in their conversation I didn't think they'd realized I'd even moved. " No, I don't think so." " Perfect." Ashe said. I smiled at her.
Ashe walked me to my dorm. " Hey, Tifa." " Yeah?" I said, turning back to her. " Look, I'm pretty sure you've heard a load of crap about me. The other girls think I'm a bitch because I don't talk a lot to them. Scarlet grew up on my block, and she, other than you, is the only one I talk to. I just want you to know, I'm a really nice person, I've just had some bad experiences so I'm sorta with-held. I'll tell you when the time is right, k? But I'm trusting you to not tell anybody when you find out." I nodded. " Okay. Don't worry." I replied. She smiled and walked away. As she turned, I saw a glint on her left hand, and realized it was a diamond wedding ring.
What the hell??
Aerith woke me gently the next morning. " Tifa, you have soccer practice." she said softly. I groaned and rolled over, peeking at my clock. It was seven a.m. I dragged myself out of bed and into my soccer uniform, and headed slowly down to the field. Cloud Ashe and Rikku were already there, and Rinoa and Squall walked up behind me. Ashe flashed a small smile in my direction. I grinned back. I noticed Rinoa was giving us odd looks. But I decided to ignore it.
" First stringers!" Squall shouted, and Rinoa, Ashe, Cloud, Rikku,and I walked forward. " Ok, here's the game plan. Our next big game is against Ulaine, and I want you all in top form." Cloud chuckled. Squall frowned. " Something funny, Strife?" Cloud nodded. " I could've sworn we all are in top form. You wouldn't have picked us if we weren't, right?" Rinoa was giving him a dirty look, but I had to agree, even only mentally. Squall cleared his throat. " Get out there and show me what you've got." Cloud chuckled and got back on the field. Rikku grabbed the ball in her hands, stood on it with her hands, then flipped and threw it into the field. " Show-off!" some blonde guy shouted. " Whatev, Tidus!" she yelled back. " He's just jealous that he can't throw!" a red headed guy yelled. The boy named Tidus said, " Shut up Reno!" I laughed. Cloud heard me and turned to look at me. I smiled in his direction, and he smiled back dazzlingly.
I went down to the tennis court later that day, and watched Aerith play. She was actually really athletic. I was slightly surprised. " Surprised much? Don't be. Aerith is a natural. " a voice said. I looked at the girl who had spoken. Her short brown hair was spiked , not up, but outwards, and one of her eyes was green, the other blue. She noticed me staring and laughed. " It's kinda weird, huh? I was born like this. I'm Yuna, by the way." " Tifa. You know Aerith?" I asked. Yuna nodded. " Yep. She's a friend of mine." I smiled. Yuna turned back to the game to watch Aerith play against the black haired boy. " Zack doesn't stand a chance." Yuna laughed. I nodded. The game ended with one last swing of Aerith's racket. Yuna and I cheered for her, and I noticed Cloud talking to Zack. Zack was laughing and gesturing to Aerith. Cloud grinned and punched him in the arm. I waved over at them before heading to my dorm.