SQUEE! Emi, Scree, you two are DA BEST! :D Thank you both SO much for your encouraging reviews, and for...everything else! xD

And thank YOU, Shadow Mistress-of death! Thank you, thank you for saying this story is awesome :3 I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Okay, so you've been waiting long enough! The moment Emi has been waiting for (but not in the story...) has arrived! (Please don't kill me, Emi! xD)

Enjoy Chapter 3! ^.^

-III. Convinced-

There were a lot of things I was convinced of. Just to name a few...

1. I was positive my mother could convince anyone of anything. She could've convinced Columbus into retracting his statement about the earth being round, not to mention convinced him that he'd actually discovered a new planet rather than a new continent.

2. My father could be convinced of anything. (See #1 for explanation.)

3. Since I was their daughter, I should've been blessed with one or the other. Unfortunately for me, I got my dad's side of it.

4. Serin somehow got my mother's convincing powers. She could've talked Oedipus into leaving home.

5. Kelsey was almost as stubborn as I was. (I had been convinced of this a week after meeting her.)

6. There was one way to convince Kelsey and I of something.

And 7. Serin had found that one way.

;;;;;

After the day when we'd sat out by the fountain and talked, Serin made almost scheduled attempts at getting at least one of us to accompany her to the Host Club. So far, neither Kelsey nor I was ready to give in.

Seems we were both a little stubborn.

Aside from that, our first week passed quite...happily. Kelsey was opening up to us, and us to her. She didn't speak in her formal way to us anymore. She smiled more, and spoke louder. She had almost completely lost the shocked look she got when we asked her questions or said something nice to her (though we still saw a trace of it when the latter happened).

I know, in one week? Guess that's all it takes for some people.

In our days together at school, and the afternoons hanging out at Serin's and my houses, we discovered a few things about Kelsey. Just to name a few...

1. She was just as random and fun-loving as we were.

2. She definitely wasn't shy once you got to know her.

3. She played the guitar.

4. And sang.

5. And wrote.

6. And drew.

7. And claimed she wasn't good at any of them.

8. She said she'd much rather stand out than blend in.

9. She was fluent in French.

10. She loved to read any book she could get her hands on, and was the fastest reader we'd ever seen.

11. She lived alone in a one-bedroom apartment, living off the money her family had given her as a final parting gift, was going to Ouran on scholarship, and driving herself to school in her own car.

And 12. Serin and I were convinced that she was the coolest girl at Ouran, but she would hear none of it.

When I was by myself at night, I often wondered about Kelsey's past. Maybe that was strange, but I felt confused by it all. She was smart, funny, and talented, and yet, when we'd found her, she'd seemed like the most detatched and shy person in the whole school. It was definitely one of life's numerous "Who knew?" situations. I just couldn't understand how she'd been "flying under the radar," as she put it, for so long without someone noticing her. Were people really that absorbed in their own lives, in their own problems?

Then there were the times when we'd compliment Kelsey, or call her cool. She'd blush and just try to deny it, saying she wasn't "all that special." Did she really think she was nothing, even with all the talent she so clearly had? I guess everyone has a little bit of self-loathing in them, but at what point does that become harmful? Yeah, no one's perfect, but still... Was it possible to live every day only finding fault in yourself, and never being able to see the good?

But I'm sure you don't want to read about all these "profound" things that I liked to think about before I went to bed. You want to find out how Serin convinced us, right? Well...I'll tell you, it wasn't easy.

;;;;;

"Serin, for the last time," I said one Wednesday afternoon at lunch, "we don't want to go!"

"But whyyyy?" Serin asked, her voice edging on whiny. "It's so much fun! And I already know who both of you should request," she said excitedly. "Kelsey, you'd be perfect for-"

"Let me stop you right there," Kelsey said through a mouthful of sandwich. She swallowed. "I've had really bad luck in the guy department in the past. Let's not get carried away with this whole Host Club thing."

Serin shook her head. "I just don't see how I haven't been able to convince you..."

"Search me," I said, shrugging. I leaned over to Kelsey. "She can convince anyone of anything."

"Mm..." Kelsey said, nodding. She shrugged as well. "Well, we're only human. We must have some sort of weaknesses that you can find."

She said it so casually, almost without thinking. Little did she know that this had already set the wheels turning in Serin's head.

As if on cue, Serin sat back, leaning against the wall behind her, thinking.

I tried not to tip Kelsey off that I was afraid, but I think she knew because she asked me if I was okay.

"Yeah, fine," I said quickly, poking at my food.

Kelsey looked at me for a moment, then returned to her book, taking a bite out of an apple from her lunch tray. This week, her book selection was a Japanese translation of the English classic, Pride & Prejudice.

Oh, there's another thing we knew about her: Pride & Prejudice was her favorite book. She said she'd read it at least five times in the past year and a half. (Her copy looked ready to fall apart.) Consequently, we found out she was a romantic. And we're talking die-hard.

My eyes widened when I saw Serin grinning. I knew (and Kelsey already knew) that this was a very bad sign.

"Hey, Kelsey..."

"Hmm?" she asked, swallowing a bite of apple and looking up from her book.

"Y'know how I said I already know who you should request?"

She rolled her eyes. "Serin..."

"I know what you said, but don't you at least want to hear about him?"

She exhaled. "Okay, shoot." She closed her book and set it on the table next to her tray. "Lay it on me."

Serin grinned wider. "Well...he's a second-year."

Kelsey blinked at her.

"He's about six feet tall."

Still unfazed.

"He's very romantic."

Her eyes flickered a tiny bit.

"He's the king of the Host Club."

Her eyes faded again. Maybe Serin wouldn't win this fight after all...

"Oh...did I forget to mention he plays the piano?"

I saw Kelsey's jaw tighten as she looked at Serin.

"And that he's fluent in French?" Serin laughed. "What a coincidence, huh?"

Kelsey was biting her lip, staring intently off into space. She turned to fix her gaze on me. "Emi..." Her voice was a cross between pleading and fear.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No, no, no! Kelsey, you have to stay strong!"

"But-!"

"No! N-O!"

"Yay, Emi can spell!" Serin said happily.

"Stop it!" I looked back at Kelsey. "There is no way we're going! There is absolutely, positively, no flippin' way we are going to become guests of the Ouran High School Host Club! No way, no how! Uh-uh! We are NOT going!"

;;;;;

Here's another thing to know about Kelsey: She has the most convincing puppy-dog eyes in the entire world. Fear them. Fear them, I say!

"I can't believe you talked me into this..." I mumbled.

"Talked nothing!" Serin said triumphantly. "It was those puppy-dog eyes that got you."

Kelsey looked at me apologetically, adjsuting her glasses on her nose. "Sorry, Emi..."

I exhaled, annoyed with myself. "How could anyone say no to that face?"

Kelsey and Serin laughed.

As we walked down the hall toward Music Room 3 (a.k.a., our -or perhaps just my- doom), I continually wished for the hallway to become longer. That each of our steps would make our destination that much farther away. My prayers went unanswered, though (either that, or God just said, "Uh, no, I don't think so, Miss EmiShae."), and I found the hallway instead looking shorter and shorter.

I immediately starting wishing that my vision would go blurry and I'd pass out. When that didn't happen either, I turned to conversation.

"Serin, you never said who you paired me up with, host-wise." Not that I really cared... Okay, so I was curious. Sue me.

Serin grinned. "Oh, you'll like him," she assured. "About 5'10", black hair, glasses..."

I didn't listen to the rest of her description. Because I knew who she was talking about. The person I'd been trying to convince myself wasn't the reason I wasn't going to the Host Club.

Now I wasn't so sure that he wasn't the reason.

"How many hosts are there?" Kelsey asked.

"Seven," Serin answered. "There were six, but another one was just added this year. He's an honor student, like you. Haruhi Fujioka?"

Kelsey looked at her for a moment, then furrowed her brow in confusion. "Haruhi Fujioka?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Um...sort of. I guess it's complicated."

"Well, you must've heard of him around school," Serin said. "He's sort of infamous."

"Hmm..." Kelsey said, nodding. "Maybe I should talk to...him then..."

There was something about the way she'd said "him" that almost made Serin and I stop in our tracks. But when Kelsey's steps didn't even falter, we continued on.

Not only did Kelsey not slow down, but she seemed to be speeding up.

I was starting to think she knew this Haruhi Fujioka better than she was letting on.

My own footsteps faltered, though, when we reached Music Room 3. I gulped. Oh, boy, I thought. Never thought I'd be standing here actually intending to go inside. I should've known Serin would find some way to make sure I made good on what I'd said about "working my way up" to the Host Club.

"So..." Kelsey said, looking at the doors and adjusting her glasses. "What exactly do we...do?"

Serin smiled. "You, my friends, don't have to do anything but smile and look pretty." She grinned at us. "You two can do that right?"

We both gave her a look, and she laughed.

"Basically, just...walk inside. The hosts will do the rest."

Sounded simple enough. So why did it seem to get more and more complicated the more I thought about it?

"Just relax, geez," Serin said, putting her hand on the door handle.

With a slightly ominous creek, the door swung open. When the three of us stepped inside (all of us with different looks on our faces), we were greeted by seven voices saying, "Welcome."

I was ready to turn tail and run. Really, I was. So why, instead, did I follow Serin and Kelsey farther into the music room? Mm...curiosity, perhaps?

"First-time guests! First-time guests!" a pair of red-headed twins cheered.

A short blonde giggled happily and cheered, "Yay!"

The tallest one (donning black, spiky hair), stood silently behind him, smiling a half-smile.

A brunette off to the right rolled his eyes at the twins.

The blonde seated in the middle of them all sighed, annoyed, and scolded the twins about "scaring off first-time guests." It didn't sound like the first time he'd told them about it, either.

Then my eyes landed on the seventh host. My heart skipped two beats, and I thought for a moment that it would stop altogether. He was, as Serin had described him, about 5'10", had black hair that was neatly combed and styled, and had silver wire-rimmed glassed perched on his nose. Under his arm, he held a black ledger, a pen poking from the top. He smiled politely at us, but I sensed something...off about it. Nonetheless, my stomach was still doing loop-dee-loops as I looked at him.

I tore my eyes away to see what Kelsey was doing. She clutched her book tightly to her chest, her knuckles beginning to turn white. Her eyes were fixated on the blonde in the middle. Her face was slowly changing from white to pink to red the longer she stood there.

Don't quote me on this, because I am certainly no expert, but I thought I was witnessing the beginnings of love.

Serin smirked triumphantly at our silence, then grinned at the twins. "Hey, Hikaru, Kaoru."

"Hey, Serin," they greeted in unison. They grinned right back. "So you convinced them, huh?"

"Sure did!" She smiled proudly.

"So why don't you come over here and..." "...tell us all about it?" they asked.

"Why not?" And she went off happily with the twins, leaving Kelsey and I behind in our momentary state of stupor.

The shortest and tallest drifted off as well, going back to a table of giggling guests. The brunette glanced at Kelsey, as if he were trying to figure something out, but then went back to his table, too. But the other two stayed, smiling at us.

Never had I been so afraid of boys in my entire life. Okay, wait...there was that one time when Serin and I went to Tokyo...

The blonde chuckled. "You two seem a little culture-shocked."

I knew Kelsey was as surprised as I was when she said, "Uh...well, you might say that." She dropped one arm to her side, seemingly in an attempt to relax.

How had she been able to form words around of nervousness? I don't know, but, somehow, she'd found a way.

The blonde smiled and stood from his seat, walking over to us. Or rather, to Kelsey. He gently took her hand in his, leaning in close to her.

I could practically see the sweat beading up on her forehead, and hear her heart pounding. I didn't blame her one bit.

"What is your name, dear princess?" he asked.

She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, looking something like a bespectacled goldfish. Finally, she said, "Kelsey Okamoto."

The boy smiled sweetly. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He bowed low, still holding her hand. "And my name is Tamaki Suoh. It will be my pleasure to entertain you this afternoon." And then he kissed Kelsey's hand.

I thought her head was going to explode, seriously. Her face was red enough, anyway. Like a strawberry.

Now that she'd been turned into a limp noodle, Kelsey had no objections to being led over to Tamaki's table.

And -you guessed it- that left me alone with the final host.

He smiled at me. "You're EmiShae, right? Nakamura?"

I felt my eyes start to widen, and I struggled to return them to normal size. "You know my name?" I asked.

"Well, I know of your family," he said. "Our families' companies have had business dealings for several years now. But I'm forgetting my manners." He extended his hand toward me. "I'm Kyoya Ohtori."

As if I hadn't already known his name.

Wake up, stupid! I yelled at myself. Shake his hand!

I raised my hand and put it in his, shaking it. "Nice to meet you."

He smiled again. "No, the pleasure is all mine." He glanced over his shoulder, still smiling. "Seems your friend has taken a liking to Tamaki."

I swallowed, trying to repress my nervous instincts. "Well, she's a die-hard romantic, so I guess that makes sense. He seems like quite the charmer."

"I think his 70% request rate speaks for itself on that subject," Kyoya said. "He's the self-proclaimed 'king' of the Host Club."

I just nodded. Way to pick 'em, Kelsey, I thought at her.

"And what about you?"

I looked at Kyoya. "Wh-What about me?" I asked.

He smiled. "Is there a host you'd like to request?"

In my head, I was having one of those Don't you DARE say that out loud! moments. But I kept that all in my head. This time.

Instead, I just shook my head. "I have no idea."

Liar, I scolded myself.

"Well, feel free to wander. There's no pressure on you to make a choice or anything. Just let us know when you've decided on one."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks." Then I scurried off to go "wander."

Why do I feel like I'm looking around a pound for a puppy to adopt? I wondered.

The short blonde one's name was Mitsukuni Haninozuka, or Honey for short. You'll never believe this. He was a third-year. Yeah. Older than Tamaki and Kyoya. And he had to be under five feet tall! I didn't understand it. Though I had to admit that he was pretty cute.

The tall one that never seemed to leave his side was his cousin, Takashi Morinozuka (Mori for short). He was a third-year as well. Talk about difference in looks! And, apparently, Honey was the oldest! Go figure on that one. Mori didn't talk much, just sat silently and watched the goings on. I was interested, but not moved.

The twins were a different story altogether. First of all, they were the definition of identical. The only difference I could see about their physical looks was the way they parted their hair. They said things in unison, finished each other's sentences... It had to be twin telepathy (not that I'd ever put much stock in that mumbo-jumbo). Oh, and did I forget to mention that their niche was "brotherly love"? Yes, that kind of "love." I had no idea how Serin could sit there and put up with it just to talk to them. (Or maybe it was one of them in particular, who could tell with Serin?)

Haruhi -the brunette- seemed to be fast-becoming a favorite, even though Serin had said he'd just joined about a month before. His mother had passed away when he was young, and now he took care of all the household chores for he and his dad. He seemed to be able to relate to the girls well, and seemed to understand how they felt about things. Weird was my first thought. My second was, Gay. But, after seeing the twins, I knew that that thought had to be wrong.

And then there was Tamaki. Serin and Kyoya had pretty much hit the nail on the head in their descriptions of him, and it was clear the moment I approached the table that Kelsey was completely taken by him. But not in the same way as the other girls, who swooned, "Oh, Tamaki!" at his every turn of phrase. Kelsey, instead, sat quitely next to him, her cheeks flushed a perpetual soft pink. She held her book in her lap, watching Tamaki, and then looking away when he looked at her.

He didn't seem to treat her exactly the same, either. With the other girls, he would pull them close, cup their faces in his hands, almost kiss them. With Kelsey, there were subtle -yet significant- differences. If he made any contact at all, it was just to brush his fingertips over the back of her hand. Whereas he made profound, flowery declarations of love to the other girls, he spoke softly and made conversation with Kelsey. It was certainly interesting to watch, especially for a people-watcher like myself.

As I observed the things that were happening around the room, I started to feel some of my nervousness and fear ebb away. Now I was curious about Serin's reasons for sitting with the twins, and about Tamaki's for treating Kelsey just a tad differently.

I was tempted to go back near Tamaki and "just happen" to mention within his earshot that Kelsey was a musician and writer, and spoke French, but I thought that might embarrass her. So I decided to let Tamaki find out the way everyone else had to -he'd have to ask her.

Haruhi stood from his table and started meandering around the room. When he got near Tamaki's, I saw Kelsey look up at him. Their eyes locked, and it looked as if, for a moment, they recognized each other.

Kelsey stood (to Tamaki's surprise), and approached Haruhi. They stared at each other for a few moments. Kelsey trailed her eyes up and down, taking Haruhi in.

Then she spoke, her voice so quiet, even I wasn't sure I'd heard her right.

"What the heck are you doing in a boy's uniform?"