Sorry for the delay guys! I worked hard on this chapter. Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom Hearts or the characters, nor the Iliad.

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Breakup

I pulled away, keeping my eyes on the framed picture of Roxas and Sora on the soccer field behind his head. Roxas still hadn't moved. He seemed shocked, the controller still pinched in his hands as he stared at me.

I heard the front door open and a moment later, Roxas's older brother, Sora, entered the room, followed by his girlfriend of three years, Kairi Robbins, and his friend Titus, who was also on the Traverse soccer team.

"I'm not done talking to you, Sora," Kairi said, her hands on her hips.

"Well I'm done listening Kairi." Sora plopped onto the couch between Roxas and me. Taking the controller out of my hands, "Who wants to play me?"

I glanced at Roxas from the corner of my eye. He was still frozen in place.

Sora waved his hand in front of his brother's face, "What's up with you? Playing or not?"

Roxas snapped back out of his stupor and tossed his controller to the floor, "No way, you cheat."

"Aw is little Roxy-poo scared of a little challenge?" Sora asked, poking out his lower lip.

"I'll play," Tidus said, scooping the controller off the floor and sitting on the other side of the couch.

Kairi glared down at Sora with her cobalt blue eyes, "If you have nothing better to do than play video games, I'm going home."

"See ya," Sora called, not looking away from the TV.

I glanced at Kairi to distract myself from the fact that I had just kissed my best friend. Kairi was a sophomore, like me, while Sora and his friends were juniors.

Two things made the Traverse-Twilight rivalry even more heated this year: One, my brother Cloud had brought down the star of Traverse's offence – a wild card named Leon – in a game between our two schools the year before. Not only did that secure the win for Twilight in that particular game, but also since it was early season and Leon had twisted his ankle pretty badly, he was unable to play in any of Traverse's remaining games that year. Therefore, Traverse had no chance at winning the regional championship. Traverse held Cloud responsible. And they were out to get him.

The second reason the rivalry had grown so huge this year was that over summer the board of education had redrawn the school district lines to help ease overcrowding at Traverse. This meant that some of the Traverse students would now be attending Twilight High, starting tomorrow.

And the most beautiful girl at Traverse, Kairi Robbins, was one of those students.

My stomach twisted just a little at the thought of Kairi being set loose among the guys at Twilight High. That couldn't lead to anything good. She was the kind of girl who could really drive guys crazy.

Kairi looked over at me. "I don't know how you do it Namine. How do you stand being around these immature little boys all day while they play video games?"

None of the guys seemed to hear her. Or they were probably just ignoring her.

"Uh…" I said, removing myself from the couch and Roxas's presence, "I'm…going to get something to eat."

"Bring me a sea-salt ice cream," Sora said.

"Me too," Tidus piped in as his fingers flew over the game controller.

Roxas stared at the screen, his face a slight tinge of pink, and didn't say a word.

I jumped up from the couch and practically dashed into the kitchen. I leaned on the counter for a moment, and took a long, deep breath.

What had I done? I had to be the stupidest, most insane –

"Can you believe what a jerk Sora can be?" said a voice behind me.

I turned to see Kairi had followed me into the kitchen. She stood with her arms crossed and her face creased into a dark scowl. She was even more gorgeous when she was angry.

I busied myself by getting a sea-salt ice cream. After licking it, I said, "Why are you with him if he's a jerk?"

Kairi snorted, "Good question." She sighed and flicked her red hair over her shoulder. "Take it from me Namine. Guys are nothing but giant pains. At least you got the nice Trenton brother."

I nearly dropped my ice cream on the floor and choked on a bite I had taken, "W-what! I don't….Roxas isn't…"

"I had hoped that Sora might one day grow up and stop being such a self-centered baby, but apparently that'll never happen," Kairi went on, as if she didn't hear my stammering, "I could dump him right now and he'd never notice because he's too busy playing video games." She raised her fists in front of her and shook them, and gave a growl of frustration.

I followed her back into the den, where the boys still sat in front of the TV.

"I'm leaving," Kairi announced in a loud voice.

No one seemed to hear her. Sora's and Tidus's rockers battled on screen, and Roxas still stared blankly at the screen.

Kairi glared at Sora a moment longer, but he didn't seem to notice the death-ray look she shot him. Finally, Kairi gave an aggravated groan, spun on her heel, and stomped out of the room. I heard the front door slam shut behind her.

The guys still sat on the couch, oblivious.

"You are so dead," Sora said. He was an active player, tilting and strumming the controller while he punched the buttons and bounced in his seat.

I sneaked a few glances at Roxas while Tidus and Sora battled it out. What was Roxas thinking? Was he thinking about the fact that we had just kissed? Was he ever going to speak to me again? Was he going to pretend nothing happened?

I had to get out of there before I drove myself insane. Greg obviously thought it was a huge mistake. I could take the hint.

"I'll see you guys later," I said, standing up. "I'm going home."

"You want me to ride with you?" Roxas asked.

I knew he would have gone with me if I had said yes, but I didn't want the ride to be a long, uncomfortable moment of silence.

"No it's okay. See you later."

"Bye!" Roxas and Owen called as I left the room. I didn't think Sora even noticed what went on outside of the video game.

I lifted my face toward the late summer sun as I rode my bike away from Roxas's house. I couldn't believe how fast the summer had disappeared and how it was time to go back to school already.

School was not my favorite place in the world. Sure, I was in the Twilight High color-guard team and I really did enjoy dancing with the flags and making up routines. But the rest of high-school – the cliques, the popularity contests, and the gossip – I was not a fan of.

Halfway home, a car horn beeped behind me. I turned and watched the silver Toyota slow to a stop.

"Need a ride?" my brother Cloud asked, leaning out the passenger window.

I looked in the backseat, surprised to see in empty. Riku and Cloud usually had a carload of their friends riding around town with them. Or at least, as many as could fit into the beat-up car that they shared.

"Sure," I said.

Cloud got out and helped me put my bike into the trunk. Then just as I reached out to grab the door handle to get in, the car moved forward two feet.

"Riku, stop it," I said. I reached for the handle again, but once more Riku let off the brake and made the car lurch forward.

"Seriously, stop," Cloud said.

"I'm just playing," Riku insisted. He grinned at me as I climbed into the backseat. "Namine knows that. Don't you, Nami?"

"Yeah, you're so hilarious," I muttered.

As we rode toward home, Riku and Cloud talked about the game coming up that weekend about Destiny High. I watched them as they spoke, studied their hand gestures and facial expressions. They both looked casual and relaxed, as if being cool came naturally to them. And maybe it did. Maybe they got all the genes that made people popular, so there were none left for me when I came along.

How could I be the younger sister of the two most popular guys at Twilight High and yet be a complete social outcast?

"So Nami," riku said, looking at me in the rearview mirror, "Been at the Keyblade's house again?"

I refused to meet his gaze and instead looked out at the passing houses. "He has a name."

"I hope he doesn't have any crazy ideas about Traverse beating us this season," Riku said, ignoring my response. "We'll fertilize the field with Keyblade remains, just like we did last year. Right, Cloud?"

Cloud grunted in response.

"Actually, I've heard the Keyblades have a pretty good team this year," I said, just to annoy Riku. He talked big before every game. "Leon's ankle is good as new, and it sounds like he's out for blood after what happened last year."

Riku scowled and his knuckles tightened around the steering wheel. "Just wait and see. We'll destroy the Keyblades, especially your little boyfriend."

My neck flamed and I snapped, "He's not my boyfriend! And Roxas doesn't even play sports!"

"Lay off her Riku," Cloud told him. "Save it for the soccer field."

"Oh. I will," Riku said. "The Keyblades will never forget us."