Chapter Three: Rumor

Kairi was sitting outside on a bench waiting for the bus. Because she lived on the other island, the school bus couldn't pick her up and drop her off. So she had to wait for the local bus to bring her to the ferry station then take the ferry to her island. From there she could walk home, it was only a few blocks away.

She was so immersed in her book, drinking her coffee that she hadn't heard the car pull up to the curb a few yards from her. She did however hear a car door slam and looked up to see Sora making his way towards her.

"Great," she muttered to herself, "Just who I wanted to see."

"What are you doing out here? So eager to get back into school you just wait out here all night?" Sora teased, standing a few feet in front of her.

"I'm waiting for the bus."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I need it to get home."

"Why not take the school bus?"

"Because I live on the other island. I have to take the bus then the ferry and walk home."

"You live on the other island?" Sora asked. He had no idea she lived there.

"Yes why? Going to start stalking me at home too?"

"Yes." Sora said dryly. "That's exactly what I plan to do."

There was a brief moment of silence before, "You want a ride?"

"What?" Kairi said, looking up at him once more.

"Do. You. Want. A. Ride?" He said slower.

"To where?" Kairi asked, perplexed why he was asking her this.

"To the ferry station. Beats having to wait here fifteen minutes for the bus and another twenty to get to the station. And that's with no traffic."

"Me ride in a car with you?" Kairi said, disbelief on her face. "Uh… No thanks, I value my life way too much."

"What? I'm a safe driver."

She laughed, "Yeah, the way you zip in and out of the school parking lot has safety first plastered all over you."

He smirked, running his hand through his hair.

"So I take that as a no?"

"Yes."

"So you do want the ride?"

"No."

"But you just said yes."

"Oh my god." Kairi said, getting irritated at his relentless talking. "No. I don't want the ride. Thanks anyways. I'd much rather wait and take the bus."

Sora shrugged. "Okay, your loss. Have fun waiting forever." With that he walked inside the building, disappearing from her sight.

"Finally." She sighed, engaging herself once again in her book.

A half an hour later Kairi checked her watch for the twelfth time. Where was the bus? She sat tapping her foot on the pavement when Sora came strolling out of the building.

"You're still here? Didn't want to leave me huh? Had to see me again before you go?"

"Hardly," She scoffed. "I'm waiting for the bus."

"Still? Bet my offer's looking pretty nice right about now."

"No." She said shortly, glaring at him.

"Okay, well see you tomorrow."

She watched him walk away from her, opening his car door and getting in. Hearing him start the engine she checked her watch. 3:20. Her mom will be wondering where she is soon. She bit her lip and sighed. Just as the car started moving she jumped up.

"Daniels!" She yelled over the noise.

He rolled down the window and looked at her questioningly.

"I'll take the ride."

He smirked and she saw him pat the passenger seat. "Come on in."

She reluctantly opened the car door and got in, preparing herself for the uncomfortable ride to begin.

--

They sat in silence the whole way to the station, Kairi sitting awkwardly in her seat, wishing the car would move faster, while Sora drove, trying to think of something to say… but nothing came. Nothing that wouldn't make her mad at least.

He pulled up to the ferry station and turned off the car.

They sat in another silence for a few moments.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?" Sora joked, smiling a true smile at her. Not a grin, not a smirk but a real smile that caught Kairi off guard.

"Err no. I suppose not."

They sat for a few more moments before Kairi opened the door.

"Uh, thanks for the ride."

"Anytime." Sora said as she got out of the car. He winked at her and sped out of the parking lot, the noise of his tires screeching loudly into the quiet air.

Staring at his retreating car, she pulled out her boating pass and headed towards the booth.

--

She trudged into her house, dropping her bag in the entryway before making her way into the living room and plopping onto the couch.

"Hey I was just about to call you, we've you been?" Her mother asked, joining her on the couch.

"Oh umm, the bus didn't show up."

"So how'd you get here?" Jayna asked, baffled.

"Oh, uh… I got a ride."

"From who?"

She sighed, knowing her mother would bombard her with questions.

"Sora."

Her mother's eyes widened.

"Really? He gave you a ride?"

"Yes." Kairi said simply before grabbing the remote and turning on the T.V.

"No way." Jayna said, grabbing the remote and turning the T.V. off, "We so have to talk about this."

"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about."

"Uh-huh." Her mother said, an excited smile on her face. "So what, are you two dating now?"

"No!" Kairi said, turning to face her mother, "It was just a ride. I was sitting there, he offered, it was late, so I took it. There's nothing more to it than that."

"Oh." Jayna said a bit disappointed before she continued, "So he was actually being nice?"

"Surprisingly yes. I mean of course he still joked and flirted a bit but not as heavily as he normally does."

"Huh. Weird."

"Yeah, the whole ride there was nothing but awkward."

Her mother grinned at her, a devilish glint in her eye. "So when's the wedding?"

"Ugh, mom!"

"No really I mean, what are you going to name your kids?"

"Stop." Kairi pouted, heading towards her room.

"No I'm being serious. What if it's a girl huh? You'll name her after me of course right? Oh! If it's a boy will you name him Sora Jr.?" She snickered following Kairi.

"You're enjoying this way too much."

By now they had reached Kairi's doorway.

"Bye mother." Kairi said, sending a fake glare at her laughing mother before shutting the door.

--

She just opened the door to the school when Selphie came rushing up to her.

"Oh my God. I just heard. When where you playing on telling me?"

"Telling you what?"

"You know. About you and Sora." Selphie said, nearly bouncing with excitement.

"What about me and Sora?"

Selphie ignored her, "Oh I just knew you two would be totally perfect together."

"Selphie!" Kairi said louder to gain her friend's attention.

"What about me and Sora?"

"You're together!"

"What!?" Kairi yelled, causing a few students to look at them.

"The whole schools talking about it. You finally caved!"

"Selphie," Kairi said, confused and angry. "I'm not with Sora."

"What do you mean? You two went out last night."

Kairi was about to answer when Roxas came up to them.

"Hey I just heard. You're actually dating him? What happened to hating him?"

"There's a fine line between love and hate Roxas." Selphie gushed.

"Hey!" Kairi exclaimed, causing both of her friends to look at her. "I am not dating Sora Daniels. Where is this coming from?"

"I heard you two went out last night. On a date or something."

"I got a ride from him to the ferry station? That's a far cry from a date. "

"Oh, well, that's not what I heard." Selphie said in a sing song voice, not really believing Kairi.

Kairi's face turned instantly red as she stomped her foot and took off down the hall but not before hearing Selphie's last words to Roxas.

"She's in denial."

Kairi made her way through the people in the halls, embarrassed by the way everyone was staring at her. She hated being the center of attention. She looked through the crowd and found Sora, standing with a few of his buddies laughing.

"Daniels!" She called, jogging over to him before grabbing his arm and yanking him away from his friends.

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed, pulling his arm out of her grasp, "What gives?"

"What the hell did you do!?"

He was stunned momentarily at her language before being snapped out of it by her punch to his arm.

"Hey! What are you going on about? I didn't do anything."

"Right." Kairi laughed coldly, furious with him. "Just been telling the entire school we're dating."

"Kairi…" Sora started but she didn't let him finish.

"It was a ride for Christ's sake Sora! It wasn't a date. The only reason I took it was because I didn't want my mom to worry."

"Kairi…"

"And now you go on and tell people we're dating, it's all around the damn school…" She whispered angrily, trying her hardest to restrain herself from strangling him.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled.

"What!?" She yelled back.

"I didn't tell anyone we're dating."

"Right." She spat.

"I didn't. Someone must have seen us or maybe word got out that I gave you a ride there and I don't know, it must have gotten out of control. I mean, come on Kairi, we're in high school. Rumors start all the time."

"And you're telling me you had nothing to do with it?" She asked skeptically, folding her arms across her chest.

"Yes."

Kairi stood glaring at him for a full minute, searching for any signs of lying but finding none.

"Err, okay." She said, glancing at all of the onlookers. "Well, I'll see you in class." She blushed profusely before bolting from the hall.

--

She sat in her desk, scribbling on her notebook while the other groups worked with their partners. Hers, however, wasn't there. 'Probably for the best.' She thought, chewing on her pen for a moment, thinking of what to write. 'He wouldn't have helped much anyways.' Just as she was about to ask Mr. Hobart a question, Sora came waltzing over, casually sitting in his seat.

"Where have you been?"

"In the hall."

"Class started nearly twenty minutes ago. We're partners Sora, you have to work too, you said you would."

"Chill Kairi," Sora said, holding up his hands, "We have four weeks to do this project, twenty minutes isn't going to make or break us."

"Well unlike you, I want to get a good grade."

"So do I. It's just not as important to me as it is to you. I don't like spending all of my time working, I like having fun too."

"I have fun." Kairi said indignantly.

"Sure you do, reading all those books must be just thrilling."

She glared at him, "Some of us are actually smart enough to enjoy picking up a book to read Daniels."

"Wow, tiger, retract the claws, I was just joking… sort of." At her glare he said, "You just read a lot of books. It must get boring sometimes."

"That's when I go out with my friends or watch movies or hang out with my mom. Just because I don't do the idiotic things you do to have fun, like going to parties all the time, egging the headmaster's car, racing my parents speedboat and having the police on my tail doesn't mean I don't have fun.

He wisely chose to say nothing in his defense, judging by how angry she was at him. "Well I know something you could do that would be fun."

"What?"

"Go out with me." He said, sending her a dazzling grin.

"You're unbelievable." She said, shaking her head in incredulity.

"I know I get that all the time. But probably not in the way you're meaning it."

She merely shook her head.

"Come on Kairi, go out with me. I promise you it would be a night you'll never forget." He said in a low, seductive voice, giving her a saucy grin.

"Daniels," Kairi began, looking at him, "We're two completely different people. The day I date you is the day hell will freeze over."

As Kairi went back to work, Sora frowned wondering how he could ever get the feisty redhead to go out with him.

--

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Kairi made her way down the hall towards her locker. As she approached it, she saw two people leaning against her locker making out.

"Nice." Kairi said, before uncomfortably making her way towards the two.

'Sora and Yuffie, just fantastic. Yuck, out of all of the lockers in the school, why right on mine?'

She stood next to the couple, seeing and hearing them swap spit before she cleared her throat.

She cleared it again.

And again…

"Excuse me?" She said loudly, making them break apart.

Sora looked at her irritated, "What? We're kind of busy."

"Yeah, on my locker."

"What?"

"You're on my locker." She said, pointing to the locker they were leaning against.

"Well can't you just come back in a few minutes?"

"It's my locker, can't you go round third base somewhere else? Maybe, your locker?" She snapped.

Yuffie nibbled on Sora's neck for a moment, causing Kairi to make a sickened face. "Let's go Sory." She took his hand and dragged him off. Sora looked back at Kairi once more before following Yuffie to a janitor's closet.

Kairi turned away from the pair and shuttered. That was something she could have lived without seeing. She looked at her locker, slightly repulsed by it now. Gingerly touching it like you would holding a baby's diaper, she undid the lock, threw her homework in her bag and took off down the hall to find Roxas and Selphie. Maybe she could convince one of them to trade lockers.

--

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thanks a ton for all of the reviews, they help me get more motivated with my story, which in turn helps me update faster. Review and tell me how you like the story so far.