Part 1: Falling Again, Might Need a Pick-Me-Up…
I
I met Roxas the day I moved in, freshman year – almost a year ago today.
I'll admit, I wasn't exactly in the best of places emotionally or mentally then. There was a lot of stuff going on back home on the Islands – the gist of that is basically a huge falling out with friends. And not just any old acquaintances, but my absolute best friends that I'd had for as long as I can remember… I don't think it's too important to get into the details, I'm over it now…or, I think I am, but anyway, like I said, I won't bore you with that. As can probably imagine, I was feeling pretty stressed and extremely lonely. A part of me was relieved to leave all that behind in coming here, but I was still hurt and insecure over what happened. Naturally, I was also a little nervous, meeting new people and letting them into my life. I wasn't sure I was ready; I didn't want to set myself up for more pain, you know?
Naturally, I hesitated when Zack – you remember my roommate last year, right? – asked me to go out and chill that first night at some party in some upperclassman's apartment down the street. I was planning on just staying in for the night, maybe catching up on some shows or my laptop or something; you know, being a total recluse. But that was what I'd been doing basically all throughout summer break, and my conscience was telling me that it was time for a change. I also just had a feeling that something was going to happen. Whether good or bad, I couldn't tell, but you know that feeling when you know you're about to walk into some sort of important life change? And the only way I would be able to discover that, I knew in my gut, was to go with Zack, and so I did.
As you know, Zack and I never really got too close. I thought we would. Most movies and books always set it up so that your college roommate ends up being your best friend for life, but I guess that's the stuff of fairy tales. Oh well. We had some pretty good conversation on the way over to the party, but once we set foot into the apartment (which was absolutely packed), he whisked over through the sea of people to a bunch of friends he already had, leaving me behind in the dust.
I mean, what was I to expect? Zack was from Radiant Garden, he already knew a lot of people. As a newbie from Destiny Islands, I was going to have to work to build a new network of friends here. The problem with being in once place with the same people all my life, however, was that I wasn't too sure how to do that. The atmosphere of this party wasn't helping too much, either. It was extremely congested; I'm pretty sure hundreds of fire codes were being broken. People split up in their cliques, dancing and getting wasted, with the lights dimmed down and the music blaring so loudly you couldn't really have a conversation even if you wanted to. So, not knowing what else to do, I just ended up doing what we all do to avoid awkward social situations: plop myself onto the floor in the corner and browse my phone 'til it's over.
At least, I intended to do that, until someone decided to join me.
"Too cool for the party?" I heard him say loudly over the music. I looked over to see a guy with a smirk on his face – or at least, that's what I think it was. It was too dark to see clearly.
"More like not cool enough," I blurted out with a nervous chuckle. He laughed at my response, probably thinking I was pretty slick, but I was just being honest…I was just taken aback that someone actually came out of their way to talk to me, especially with me hiding in the corner.
"Well, I know I don't know you, but I can definitely tell you're not having fun here," he said, rather amused. Another awkward chuckle from me confirmed his observation. "I was about to head out myself. Wanna come with?"
To be honest, my mind was completely blown. Was the universe really just handing me a potential friend? Was it really supposed to be this easy?
Well, I couldn't let the opportunity slip away. I glanced over towards where Zack was, having a good, care-free time with all the friends he was surrounded by…I knew he wouldn't miss me too much if I bailed. So, I got right up and followed this stranger who, at that point, might as well have just been sent from the heavens as my savior.
Even though I was in that crowded apartment for only a matter of minutes, I almost forgot what the fresh air felt like.
"If that's all there is to college parties, I'm not sure I'm interested," the stranger remarked. Now that my senses weren't so overwhelmed by the noise, crowd, and darkness, I could actually take a good, clear look at him. I couldn't help but notice he was a pretty good-looking dude, definitely more put-together than I was. His blond hair was about as messy as mine is, but while I felt mine made me look kind of untidy (could never fix it no matter how hard I try, man), his just gave him this air of cool nonchalance.
The snapshot: he was confident and collected, but still approachable, and I couldn't help but like him right away.
"I only went 'cause some girl in my building invited me along," he explained. "I thought it might be a fun experience, since they glamorize it so much and all, but I don't think getting drunk and grinding on people I barely know is my style. Who knows, though? Maybe when I get to know more people it'll be more fun."
"Maybe," I agreed.
"So what's your story? Didn't seem like you were having the grandest time of your life, either."
I was taken aback by his interest in me. "Oh, uh, pretty similar situation. My roommate invited me along, but he kind of disappeared with his friends when he got there."
"Huh, that's kind of rude."
I totally agreed, but I still felt obliged to justify Zack's behavior a little bit. After all, I was going to have to live with the guy for the next year. "It's cool, I get it. Besides, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it even if I did hang out with him over there."
"I guess," Roxas shrugged, unconvinced. "By the way, I didn't catch your name."
"Oh, I'm Sora!"
"Roxas," he introduced himself. "Hey, I don't know if you're busy or not, but if you want, I'm heading over to my friends Pence and Hayner's place. Wanna come with? It won't be anything like that –" he pointed over to the apartment, " – just chilling with a couple of friends who finally got their stuff moved in."
Was this real? This guy not only saved me from that party, but was actually inviting me to chill with him? Not that Zack hadn't earlier, but he kind of kicked me to the curb right away. I didn't know Roxas at all at this point, but something just told me he wouldn't do the same. At least, I really hoped he wouldn't.
People don't pick a lost puppy out of a box only to leave it in the middle of the street, right?
"I'm down – I mean, if it's not a problem. I definitely wouldn't want to intrude…"
"Not at all, man! This is what college is all about, right? Meeting new people? Come through!"
"O-okay!" It's not like I had anything better to do. And I was basically being handed a pass to make some new friends – how could I turn it down? All I needed to do now was be cool, since it was apparently my lack of ability to do that that lost me my old friends in the first place…
Ahem, anyway, without hesitation, Roxas began leading me down the street. "Hayner and Pence are two of my best friends from back in Twilight Town," he explained.
"Oh, is that where you're from?" I asked. I hadn't heard of it before.
"Yeah, it's actually pretty close to here – well, far enough that I can dorm here, but not too far that I can't go home on the weekends if I wanted to. It's nothing too special, though. What about you? Where you from?"
"Much further away," I chuckled. "Have you heard of Destiny Islands?"
Roxas' face lit up right away. "Have I?! It's only one of the top vacation spots in the world! That's awesome, dude! What's it like to live there?"
"It's alright," I shrugged. While I was happy that I got Roxas excited, like I said before, I still had a sour taste in my mouth from all the events that had transpired over the summer.
"Just alright?! Summer 24/7, amazing food from what I've heard, beaches all around…I can't imagine why you'd want to leave, man!"
"Well, it kind of gets old after a while. I guess I needed a change."
"I see." He didn't prod any further at that point. Honestly, though, if he had asked at that point, I wouldn't have minded explaining to him – he seemed like the guy you could tell just about anything to. "Well, Radiant Garden isn't too bad of a place to be at all. Really cool history behind this place. Lots of sights to see and people to meet, too, from what I've heard so far."
"That's what I'm hoping for!"
"Yeah. It's proving to be way better than old Twilight Town is, anyway. That place is a total dump in comparison."
"Really?"
"Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. I guess I'm just bored of the same-old, too," he chuckled. I couldn't help but smile. It's lame when I think back on it now, but a guy this cool drawing parallels with me was definitely helping my confidence. Kind of naïve, though, too, since I didn't realize that he was speaking about as cryptically as I was at that point.
"Hayner and the gang probably wouldn't agree with me, though," Roxas continued.
By that time, we'd reached Hayner and Pence's dorm, which was actually the same building as mine and, as I ended up finding out later, yours was. Balamb Hall was the freshman dormitory, after all.
"Do you live here, too?" I asked Roxas, at this point sincerely hoping the answer was yes.
"Nah, I'm in one of the specialty dorms," he explained. "Everyone I know lives here, and I'm sure the bulk of the people I'm going to meet are, too, but I'd rather be able to just retreat to a place that's a little cut off, you know? Besides, I'm sure Hayner, Pence, or Olette will let me crash if I ever need to."
"Makes sense." The two of us boarded the elevator and took it to the tenth floor, two above mine and one below yours, if I remember correctly! Anyway, after venturing up and down the meandering hallway, we finally found the room. I was pretty apprehensive while we waited for someone to open the door after knocking. Like, I was excited at the prospect of new friends, but at the same time, I was afraid I might be made to feel awkward. After all, everyone in this group already knew each other; I didn't want to be an alienated intruder.
Didn't have too much time to dwell on that, though, since the door opened pretty quickly.
"HEY!" the guy who opened it greeted us enthusiastically. His gaze shifted quickly from Roxas over to me, and his excitement suddenly fizzed out into befuddlement.
"This is Sora," Roxas explained. "I met him over at the party I was just at."
"Hey." I waved awkwardly – I wasn't too sure if this guy actually wanted me there, judging from the body language.
"Oh, that's cool," he responded, to my relief. He still seemed a little reserved, but at least I wasn't unwelcome. "I'm Hayner. Come on in." I walked into a dorm that was set up identical to mine; small and narrow. This one felt a little homier though – probably because of all the Struggle posters and the photos that decorated all the otherwise stark, white walls.
"Hey guys!" Roxas greeted the room. There were only two other people in there, both sitting on one of the beds. They waved back excitedly. "This is Sora. Sora, these are my friends Pence and Olette."
"Nice to meet ya!" Pence saluted. Olette nodded in agreement.
"You guys, too," I responded. Roxas and Hayner sat themselves down on the other bed across, and I was just kind of left to stand there awkwardly.
"You gonna sit down?" Hayner asked. His tone wasn't very inviting, but I assumed he meant well. Roxas gestured for me to sit next to him, and so I did.
I stayed relatively quiet as the four of them talked about the move-in process. Unless I was asked a question, I hesitated to jump in on the conversation. Didn't want to throw myself at them or make some sort of wrong move, you know?
From the conversations we had, I was able to surmise a bit of each of their personalities. Looking back, first impressions are really interesting – most of the time, they're only a brief snapshot, not riddled by the complexities of the various layers and experiences that really make a person who he or she is.
Olette was a total sweetheart, as you'd now come to expect. She did her best to make me feel included, constantly asking for my opinions on the things she'd bring up, and really engaging while she was listening to what I had to say. I liked her right away. As for Pence, I felt kind of bad for him right off the bat – he was the butt of all the jokes. Admittedly, he was a pretty easy target, and he seemed pretty accustomed to taking it. I was sure that he was cool with it, since it was coming from his closest friends.
Hayner interested me the most. He was hard to read – or at least, he tried to be. He was extremely loud and open amongst his friends, almost irritatingly so, but when I would open my mouth, he seemed uninterested. I couldn't tell if he didn't like me, or he was just trying to size me up, but the difference was pretty obvious. By the end of it, I wasn't too sure if he was someone worth trying to prove myself to.
One year later, and I can pretty confidently say that he wasn't.
Roxas was awesome about everything. Like Olette, he was constantly trying to get me into the conversation by asking questions on whatever subject we were going on about. If there was some inside joke I wasn't getting, he'd make sure to make me privy to it. He was the person who brought me there, and he definitely made it worth staying. It was the first time in a while I'd really felt included in something.
The hours flew by; it was like 3 in the morning by the time we decided to leave! Olette, Roxas, and I bade goodbye to Hayner and Pence as we made our way to the elevator. Olette lived on the same floor, so she left us on the way.
"Thanks a lot for chilling with us tonight, man," Roxas said graciously as we waited for the elevator to arrive. It dinged as the doors opened to let us inside.
"Are you kidding me? Thank you for inviting me, it really means a lot!" I was beyond grateful, as you can probably imagine. Roxas grinned widely in return.
"Well, hit me up, man, we should do this again soon."
"Definitely, I'll text you!" I promised, stepping out of the elevator and on to my floor. "Good night, man."
"Night." He waved as the elevator doors shut once more to take him down to the lobby.
I arrived at RGU a total sad sack, but here I was, less than 24 hours later, heading back to my dorm with the biggest grin on my face. I opened the door to my room, only to find Zack on his bed huddled under the sheets with some brunette girl – who I later learned to be Aerith – fast asleep. Little I did know, those two's shenanigans would keep me away from that bedroom a lot.
What I did know, as I climbed into bed that night, was that for the first time in months, I could confidently look forward to a future with a friend by my side.
A/N: *rises back from the dead* HI GUYS! I'm so sorry it's been so long T^T College and personal life had me swamped these past few months, and fanfiction had to go on the back burner...But I'm back! :)
Sorry to have taken such a long break only to give you guys an expository chapter. I've actually rewritten this chapter several times over the past few months since I wasn't exactly sure how to approach the set-up lolol. BUT I think I've got it down, so I'll let y'all in on it. This story will be divided into two parts, with the first being Sora's retelling of what's happened over the past year to Riku, and the second part back in the present, where Sora proceeds to figure out what to do with his situation.
This chapter was challenging to write only because I was trying to balance out how much exposition I wanted without making it too boring, so I hope I went into detail/skimmed over in the right places! Because of that, this chapter ended up being relatively short, but they should be longer as things get a little more interesting. Let me know what you think in a review! Hopefully there will be another update soon :D
P.S. The album 'Wiped Out!' by The Neighbourhood is awesome background music to this fic ;) (The titles of each Part is taken from the song "The Beach")