Author's Note: Chapter 2 already! Yay! Oh, and I responded to everyone's awesome reviews at the bottom Thanks everyone for the favs, alerts, and reviews!


And she cried and cried
Because everyone swept by in blurs
She wanted back her rusted crown
She wanted her stained dresses
She wanted her crumbled kingdom
But everyone knew she wasn't a princess.

: jerk of the century :

I liked math, I really did.

There were a few things about the subject that really appealed to me. Math was universal. The numbers didn't change like words and pronunciations did or how theories in science morphed magically. I liked how it was always the same, no matter where you went. Then, there was the fact that Pence was there to help me endure any teasing I might receive. Plus, he was one of my best friends. Last, but CERTAINLY not least, there was Sora.

The guy really had a knack of picking out seats.

I sat in middle of the class and Sora sat one empty desk away. All I had to do was peek at him from the side, where that conveniently empty desk sat, and I could watch his profile for the whole forty-five minutes of class. This caused me to fall behind sometimes, but I'd study harder at home to make up for it. At home I couldn't stare at Sora, so I figured nothing great was lost. Plus, I was a real math-whiz.

All of this lumped together made a reasonably likable period.

But then… he came.

I knew Pence had mentioned him at lunch, had said-precisely-that he was in our class, and that I didn't remember seeing him. Apparently, this was so because he went to the very back of the class and slept through the whole thing. So, our teacher, Mrs. Lockhart, decided he was going to move. It was the very back of the class, she reasoned, that made him fall asleep. That if he was in the conveniently empty seat that he would become a math genius and everything would be happy rainbows and bunnies. Oh joy.

I should have known that he would plop down in the seat that I stared across to see my beloved. I should have guessed that my life wasn't miserable enough here at Twilight High, and that something else had to appear to make it worse. Of course.

It was that Roxas kid. He seemed to hate this whole situation as much as I did. He grimaced as he looked to the two that would be sitting next to him. Me, the psycho girl who had defended Sora, and Sora himself, the guy that was on his other side. At least I knew he was suffering as much as I was.

Roxas wasn't a big guy at all (rather, he was the exact opposite), but the moment he sat down Sora was blocked from my vision. I could hear the sirens going off in my head as my heart shattered to little tiny pieces. I was sure my world was ending. For some reason, though, I was still aware of everything.

Pence was leaning on his desk, eyes wide, craning his neck to watch Roxas unceremoniously stare at a blank wall. It was then I noticed it was probably his stupid hair that was blocking Sora so well. I looked down to my blank paper-where notes were supposed to be-and muttered, "You need a haircut."

Pence looked at me, his eyes miraculously growing in size. My own pair did too. I swear I didn't mean to say that out loud. I didn't feel sorry though, probably because it was Roxas and I liked him about as much as I liked Kairi. Pence was shaking his head rapidly, probably thinking about Roxas's alleged gang, and trying to get me NOT to look at him. Too late.

Roxas was staring right at me, eyes curiously glimmering in the faltering light of the room. He looked almost as though he hadn't heard me.

"Excuse me?"

That was his reply. Just that.

There was something funny about Roxas and about how I was around him. Unlike every other person in the entire world I could totally justify getting mad at him. I wasn't afraid of hurting his feelings or of what he might say back. Like I had yesterday, I was already rising to the occasion. I could feel the anger simmering in my veins. He insulted the most wonderful person in the world yesterday. That meant that I didn't have to be nice to him.

I mean, what did Sora do to him anyway?

"I said," I muttered darkly, dropping my eyes in a moment of awkwardness. "That you need a haircut."

Pence let out a soft whimper beside me. Obviously, he thought that Roxas's gang buddies were waiting outside and I was going to be jumped the moment I set a foot out of this building. Roxas laughed a little, softly, so that Mrs. Lockhart didn't stop her lecture about variables. His laugh was mocking, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.

"Oh, I get it," Roxas hissed. "You can't see."

Oh God. I should have leaped from my seat and tackled him to the floor. I already knew what he was implying. He knew I had a big crush on Sora. He knew he was in the way. He knew I blamed his stupid hair. Roxas was smirking and he turned toward Sora and poked his chiseled shoulder. I was mortified that some ungodly creature like Roxas was touching my angel.

"Hey, Sora, can you move?" Roxas asked.

Sora turned unwillingly from the teacher's lecture, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Move? Why would I move?" Sora replied in hushed whispers.

This was the moment I should have stopped him. This was where I jumped up and clamped a hand to his mouth. This is the part where I laughed shrilly to block whatever Roxas was about to say next.

Not.

"The girl next to me can't see you very well anymore. She says my hair is in the way."

I sat, completely and utterly mortified, my face turning thirty shades of red. There was one thing I was sure of though: I was going to kill Roxas. I could already feel my hands curl into uncharacteristic fists. I didn't dare look to Sora to see his expression. Rather, I plotted ways to strangle Roxas without being seen. Surprisingly, there were quite a few.

"C'mon Roxas, pay attention." Sora responded and I could detect the carefree smile in his voice.

That was what I liked about Sora. He was nice. He wasn't just nice to his friends like some people (his girlfriend came to mind), but to every single living creature there ever was. Sora was honestly perfect, maybe a little naïve sometimes, but so strange and sweet it melted any girl's heart. Especially mine. Already I could feel it melting into a puddle, though it was still simmering with anger directed at Roxas. Maybe it would evaporate completely.

I'm not sure what got into me. Usually I was meek and composed, thus making me an easy target for tricks and evil plots. I was always the quiet girl, the over achiever, but at that moment I was everything but. I wanted to seriously hurt Roxas and I couldn't do so sitting down. I did the only rational thing I could-I stood up and slapped the tabletop of my desk. It rang out across the class, but it got Roxas's attention. Sadly, along with everyone else's.

"I. Can't. Believe. You." I hissed between clenched teeth.

Some people were under the impression that I couldn't pack a punch. Wrong. I hung out with two boys every single day; I picked up a few lessons along the way.

Roxas, never one to be a coward, leaped up too and stared at me. Already I could feel the eyes penetrating me, boring holes into my pale skin. Those looking at us alone were enough to bring me to my knees. I was feeling a little dizzy, this was so unlike me that I wanted to throw myself at the teacher's feet and apologize endlessly. Roxas, though, was like a statue. A gargoyle to be precise. He was unmoving and intimidating and if I sat down now that would make me a loser. Today, for once, I didn't want to lose.

"What?" He asked, his voice stupidly innocent while still mocking. "I just asked Sora if he would move. That's helping you, right? I'm just trying to be a helpful guy."

I was going to raise my fist and punch him-I had every intention of doing so-put good old Pence tugged on my arm and I saw his stricken face. He looked so frightened and bewildered he wasn't sure what he should do. This was one side of Olette he didn't see very often… if ever. I felt almost bad. Then, I turned to Roxas and all of that anger swelled up again.

Our teacher couldn't have picked a better time to intervene. She had her ruby eyes wide and had her gloved hands on her hips. Her face looked angry.

"Is there a problem here?" Mrs. Lockhart asked.

I was going to say something, like, 'Oh no Mrs. Lockhart everything is fine.' And then sit down like nothing ever happened. Probably bury myself in shame for disrupting class and then, after class, apologize to Mrs. Lockhart and request Roxas move elsewhere. Like all of my teachers, Mrs. Lockhart adored me and usually did what I asked. I could get the spunky blond to move easily.

However, Roxas beat me.

"Yeah, there is."

Mrs. Lockhart looked quizzical, her eyes lingering on my horror stricken face. She didn't want to implement any punishment on me-I was her favorite student. Already, though, I could see the resolve on her face and she just sighed.

"Then maybe you two should go figure it out in the office," our teacher decided.

My world had to be ending now. I was waiting for the end and I was ready for it. Maybe I wanted the end more than the fact that it was actually coming. Time should have stopped. The scene should have vanished. Everything should have been whisked away.

But it didn't. Actually, I felt my feet dragging me away from desk, away from Pence's grasp. They were traitor feet! Simply taking me to my inevitable doom. Mrs. Lockhart already had two slips of papers, obviously spilling the tale of what had just happened. I could feel Roxas behind me. He was smirking. The office? My mind squeaked. I'd never been to the office before, except for good things. Never had a teacher sent me there because I disrupted the class. The look Mrs. Lockhart gave me was breaking my heart already. Nervously, I slid a hand through my wavy hair draped over my shoulder.

The moment we walked into the hallway I was already blaming Roxas. Stupid Roxas made this whole thing happen! If he hadn't insulted Sora yesterday I wouldn't have even been angry with him for blocking my view! If he hadn't told Sora that I couldn't see him I wouldn't have stood up! It was entirely his fault.

Roxas didn't seem to mind a bit that we were going to the office. Actually, he looked as though he walked this way a lot. For some reason it didn't surprise me. I didn't say a word to him, but I passed him green-eyed glares often. Roxas seemed to prefer the silence too as he sauntered beside me.

The moment we came upon the office door I put my hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath, and glanced back to Roxas.

Only to see that he was walking the other way.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" I cried, giving him a little huff of dismay.

Startled, he turned around.

"You're still there? I thought you would be inside already begging for forgiveness." Roxas stated as though this was pure fact.

I glared at him again. But it did nothing that I wanted. Like turn him to ash or something.

"You'll get in more trouble if you don't come in here," I muttered.

He shrugged. I wondered vaguely why I cared if he got in more trouble. If I was lucky he'd get suspended and I wouldn't have to see him for a few more days. However, I happened to be pretty unlucky. Knowing me he probably wouldn't even get caught.

"You go on in, I'll be hanging out around here," he assured me and then he turned around and walked on.

I lingered in front of the door a moment, watching him go. One part of me said to just go into the office like the good girl I was. Another said to drag Roxas back over here and make him endure this torture with me. And a tiny microscopic piece said to follow him, because I didn't want to go in either.

I walked.

Right into the office and sat on one of their least comfy chairs, being the good girl I was.

And you thought I went with him too.

- - -

The moment I came to my usual lunch table Hayner and Pence stopped talking. They innocently began cramming tatter tots into their mouths so that they didn't have to say anything. Obviously, they had been talking about me. Sighing, I plopped down. I didn't even bother getting a lunch. I had no appetite to speak of. The principle had mercy on me; passing me the usual "if you do this again you'll get punished severely, but sense you're such a good student we won't this time."

I still felt terrible though. It didn't help that both Hayner and Pence felt the need to stare at me as though I had three heads.

"What?"

They both gulped down their food and Hayner leaned forward eagerly.

"Is it true that you punched Roxas and he went and cried like a baby?"

I choked on the air I was breathing. Pence thumped me on the back until I stopped gagging. Finally, once I gained some ounce of my composure, I glared at Pence.

"What did you tell him?!" I demanded, feeling almost as angry as I got whenever Roxas was around.

Pence held up his hands defensively, "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't say anything about it."

Hayner pointed to the table behind him. There I could see Sora pumping his fist in the air and then pantomiming someone crying like, if I was being blunt, a big baby. Those around him looked at his play with awe. Kairi and Selphie, however, snorted in disbelief. Obviously, Sora took it upon himself to spread the story of "Olette and Roxas's Climatic Encounter". It was all wrong though and somehow he had messed up the facts. Which was odd, considering he had been right there. Maybe he hadn't been paying attention?

"But I didn't hit anyone!" I protested quickly.

"You almost did," Pence pointed out sheepishly.

Hayner looked incredulous, as though this was somehow worse than actually hitting Roxas.

I sighed, defeated. My day had been going from good to worse. The only thing that was great so far was my lack of seeing Roxas. Ever since I left the office I hadn't seen him anywhere. Not that I was looking or anything.

Suddenly, Hayner and Pence perked up, their eyes hovering above my head. They grinned brightly and waved, ushering someone over by the looks of it. I wasn't paying too much attention as I pondered the fact that now the whole school thought I hit the new kid. Surely they knew me better than that. Yet, the realization that they didn't crashed into me. Only then did I surface back up to the present to stop thinking about my terrible future.

"Hey man!" Hayner called, gesturing to the seat beside him. "How's it going?"

I think I might have known who was approaching our table, because suddenly I was numb from frustration. The only thing I could do was pray that I was wrong. However, because of the sudden anger pricking at my consciousness I knew I was not.I was rarely ever wrong and I suddenly hated it. Only one thought penetrated my sudden dread: Why me?

Pence didn't seem to falter his happy demeanor, grinning merrily at the newcomer. The boy slid into the seat in front of me, blocking out Sora's face again. Instinctually I glared.

Of course it was Roxas.

"You know guys know each other, right?" Hayner asked, pointing at me. He was smirking and I offered my glare to him too.

"Yeah. You're the girl who went psycho because I got in your way of drooling at Sora-"

"It's Olette." I snapped.

Psycho?! I went "psycho"! The nerve! It really was too bad that looks couldn't kill. It would have made my life considerably more enjoyable. My eyes were hurting from glaring so much today.

Pence and Hayner quickly got into a conversation about the upcoming Struggle Tournament in which Roxas eagerly responded to. I drowned them out. I was starting to think that my whole schedule was going to be hated. Roxas had a fabulous knack of stalking me. I wouldn't be surprised if he had all of the same classes as me.

- -

I shouldn't have thought it. It should have never passed through my mind.

Roxas had every class I had, except for homeroom and French (that period he had Spanish with Hayner). He even had Biology, which I spent comfortably staring at Sora. Though Roxas tried to strike up conversations every period I thoroughly ignored him until he finally gave up. Also, because of the rumors about me allegedly punching Roxas, I was given a wide berth whenever I walked through the hallways. Even Kairi and Selphie left me alone. Not a particularly bad thing, but very odd anyway.

Now I was storming away from the building fuming. If this was how my life was going to be for a whole year I had no idea how I was going to survive. Maybe I could transfer?

That was when Hayner bombarded me, carrying a Spanish textbook in his hand. I was puzzled as to why he had it, considering he had lost his three days after he got it. Panting and tinged red, he held the book out to me. I stared at it.

"O-Olette, you gotta h-help me out!"

"What do you want me to do?" I asked as any good friend would.

He looked up at me timidly, running a hand over the textbook in question. He was nervous. Weird.

"I... um… need you to deliver this to someone…"

"No," was my immediate response.

"What? You don't even know who it's to!" He exclaimed.

Actually, I did. Seeing as how my day was currently going I knew whom it had to be to. It was a Spanish book and Hayner had borrowed it. Hayner wasn't the most popular guy around and so he borrowed it from a friend. What friend? Roxas, of course.

"Oh c'mon Olette, you gotta! Pence has that photography club today and I have basketball practice!" Hayner thrust the book at me again, eyes pleading and lips pouted. "If you don't Roxas is gonna kill me! He's way into getting homework done, you know?"

This mildly surprised me. I didn't think that Roxas had enough brain capacity to get homework done. I was about to object, but Hayner gave me a final look. One that said, 'if you were really my friend you'd do this for me'. He knew I was a sucker for that look. My brain screamed to turn and walk away, but my loyal self assured me that all I had to do was hand it to Roxas and leave. No problem.

Rolling my eyes I took the textbook and sighed.

"Thank you Olette! You're my savior!" Hayner caught me in a friendly bone crushing hug, waved, and rushed off.

As though it was a strike of divine intervention, Roxas exited the building and began walking in the opposite direction of the residential district. I pursued him, and even called out his name, but he didn't even flinch. Suddenly I got very curious. Where was he going anyway?

What I didn't know was that I was about to meet Roxas's little "gang".

All thirteen members if you counted Roxas. Since Roxas didn't exist in my world except as an annoying void of doom...

Make that twelve members.


Review time!

wa r a e nai: Hehe thanks I actually didn't like the beginning all that much diez but now that I look back on it, I like it a little better. Thanks, and expect more Roxette in the upcoming chappy! Oh, and about the Kairi thing: I've got something planned for her, soooo yep. x3 zips mouth shut before she gives everything away

Midnight Hikari: Yo! And I didn't like the letter very much. -.- So, I trashed it. (Plus it was really old when I came and posted this). I'll try to peek at your story! Thanks a lot, though, for the review! huggles

namixasette789: Thanks for liking the story! And, yeah, no one seems to like Kairi in here apparently. xD But, again, I've got something planned for her. I just noticed that no one says anything about Selphie. Poor minor characters... sniff But thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!

And thanks to everyone who read this fanfic, even if you didn't review. D