Chapter 2

Good Girl

I ran.

I ran as fast I could.

I didn't know where I was going, or what I was trying to get away from, but I ran. A path of hot tears trailing behind me. Were those tears...mine? Why was I crying? Why was there a burst of pain where my heart should be? What happened?

I thought back, trying to remember something, anything to explain what was happening. The final breath I could manage escaped my lungs, and I collapsed I held myself tightly, hoping to shield myself from the world of pain. My breath was choppy, as I was sucking in air between my tears. "Please.." I called into the dark. I felt surprise to hear my own voice. "Please make it stop!" What? Make what stop? What was I talking about? "No more!" I cried. I tried to look around, hoping to catch a glimpse of something. Something other than this darkness. I noticed a figure move. Part of me was relieve that I wasn't alone. The other part, though, was terrified.

"No!" A sudden shock overcame me. Intense pain filled my stomach. I looked, and saw puddles of blood forming around me. Burning tears escaped my eyes. "pl-please..." I managed to say. The darkness somehow got even darker. My thoughts seemed to escape. I felt dizzy.

"I..I love you." I said. Who did I say that to? I tried to get one last look. The last thing I could see was a pair of bright yellow eyes looking at me.

Everything went dark.

I shot up, my heart pounding. I stared at my surroundings, and everything made sense. At least. more so than before. I had gone to sleep, I had a nightmare. End of story.

I wanted to forget the nightmare. But one thing stayed in my mind, no matter how hard I tried to forget. I had said 'I love you' It could only be directed to the set of yellow eyes. But who's eyes were they? And why did I say 'I love you' to someone who murdered me? Damn, I must be out of my mind.

I checked my watch. It was 11:20, I'd been asleep for hours. I yawned, then smiled to myself. Halfway through with the day...Damn it! I realized that lunch would be starting soon. I didn't want to see anyone yet. I knew some of them would be worried about me, and I knew that others would laugh. I hate pity, I hate being laughed at. But I needed to talk to Riku. I sighed and clutched my bag to my chest. 10 minutes to go...better make a choice now. I thought. Or...I could wait and act on instinct. I liked the other plan better, so I pulled out a book and waited.

10 minutes went by faster than I thought it would. Various footsteps marched up and down the stairs, a collection of voices began screaming and laughing. I quickly picked up on Kairi's voice as she walked by.

"So, you think she's okay?"

I heard Sora's voice respond...at least, it sounded like Sora. "Meh. Hard to tell. I haven't seen her since this morning...Vanitas can be such a jerk sometimes. I think it's cute if she has a crush- even if it is on a freak like him." Yup, it was defiantly Sora talking. He and Kairi were the only ones I knew who were too lost in each other to listen. I've said countless times: "I like Riku" Do either of them understand that? No.

I sighed and placed my hands over my face. I sat like that for a while until I felt a gentle hand touch my shoulder. "You ready to come out now?" I nodded and took the outstretched hand.

"Thanks...Riku." I said, unsure whether I should look at him or not. He led me to the space between our two tables. I guess he expected me to join my friends.

I looked at Riku's table. I saw Hayner glaring at me, Roxas looking worried, Kairi looking sorry, Sora looking...well I couldn't see his face. But I saw no Vanitas. So, I sat next to Riku, and quietly placed an arm around him.

"So, the princess has the guts to show her ugly face around here" Hayner said. He received a glare from nearly everyone else. I don't see why Riku, Roxas, Sora and sometimes even Ventus decide to sit with the few jerks in this school: Vanitas, Hayner, Seifer... I sighed. I've never understood boys- people in general. They're too confusing Too hard to figure out.

Like I'm one to talk. I can be pretty much the most confusing girl in the world. Even in my yearbook from last year: A classmate wrote: Dear girl who confuses me, you confuse me.I smiled to myself, but Hayner must've caught it.

"What, you thinking about Vanitas again?" He asked me. So, I moved to sit next to him, (sadly, though, that meant I had to leave Riku) Hayner looked at me with disgust and I smiled sweetly. At that moment, however, Vanitas walked up with his lunch tray.

"Move it, nerd, or I'll sit on you."

I shrugged "Whatever." He glared at me for a moment, then sat next to me; purposely squishing me between himself and Hayner. I simply peeled a slice of cheese away from my sandwich and nibbled on it. Vanitas used this opportunity to take the rest of my sandwich...I took his pizza.

Kairi, clearly oblivious to what I was trying to do, interrupted by asking "You aren't mad at me, are you?" I grabbed a cracker from Roxas's lunchable and threw it at her.

"Nah, it's fine. I'm more annoyed than mad." Meanwhile, Roxas was scowling at me for steeling part of his lunch. He rolled his eyes.

Kairi looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry." She begged. I smiled at her.

"I told you, it's fine."

"Really? Cause you're basically the laughing stock of the school now." I raised an eyebrow at Vanitas.

"Oh? Then how come There's no-one laughing at me?" Just then, Hayner decided to laugh like a madman. I pushed him. He fell. I was surprised because I'm not really that strong. For his sake, I hope I just caught him off-guard.

"What the fuck, Xema?" I took over his used-to-be seat so that there was a more comfortable distance between me and Vanitas. He seemed relieved that I'd moved; so I rested on his arm as if he were a couch cushion.

"Hey, Kai. You're bubber's here." I said, motioning to Axel who was walking towards us. His twin brother, Lea, came soon after. Personally, I liked Lea better than Axe. He was much less annoying. "Hola, Lisa." I said. "Why weren't you on the bus this morning?"

"I told you not to call me that." He shook his head. "Isa picked me up this morning."

"Ah. Well, if you don't want to be called Lisa, I suggest you get your name changed to something cooler...more masculine."

"We can't do that!" Axel cried. "We have this special name thing going on...My name is an anagram of Lea with an x. If he changed it, we won't have that anymore!"

"He could change into Ale or something. A.L.E? It could still work." Lea glanced at his slightly older brother.

"No! My little brother is Lea. No changing!" Axel finally took a seat next to Roxas, and Lea sat next to me- once again pushing me uncomfortably close to Vanitas.

"Damn it, Vani, do you have to sit here? I was here first! Plus, you smell!" My commentary received an expected glare from him. To be honest, he actually smelled kind of nice today. Not that I would let him think that. I just wanted to irk him more so.

"Not like you smell like roses either, Xema." He said, eating his cookie. I pulled it out of his grasp, then broke off the part he bit off. I flung it into the trash. "Thank you." He said sarcastically. I smiled and said: "You're welcome!" Just like a good girl should.