Sorry for the extended absence, I have been swamped lately. I can make all the excuses in the world, but you probably don't want to hear it. On with the story!
Chapter 2: Confusion
It seemed like it took forever, but class finally ended. Without saying anything to his new neighbor, Roxas stood from his desk and jammed his binder into his nearly empty backpack.
Axel looked over from his own desk, watching the blonde with concern in his vivid green eyes. "Roxas," he murmured softly. "Please can we talk?"
He ignored the redhead, slinging his backpack over his shoulders, not even bothering to acknowledge that he had heard Axel speak. Roxas made his way outside and through the crowded quad, passing by several familiar faces.
"Roxas! Roxas!" a voice yelled from behind, but the blonde ignored the summons and quickened his pace toward his next class.
History, his favorite subject aside from English; the class were one could escape into the past and not worry about the troubling matters of the present. Unfortunately for Roxas, this year, he had landed the weirdest teacher on campus, Mr. Strife. It's not that he was a bad teacher, he was perfectly competent and many of his previous students had raved about their love for his class. No, Mr. Strife was known for his conspiracy theories about the past. He was under the impression that at one point, the world was taken over by the "forces of darkness" and warriors from the "realm of light" were the saviors of the universe. He was also known for being a moody and if you caught him on a bad day, you would be afraid to approach him for a while after.
People often asked Roxas if Mr. Strife was his father, not to belittle him but because—in all honesty— they looked similar. Both were blonde, their hair was spiky, both were well known for their constant pissed off attitude and compared to other males, they were on the short end of the height distribution. However, if hair and demeanor were enough to make two people related, then Olette and the Biology teacher Ms. Gainsborough would be sisters.
Grinning at this thought, Roxas took a seat in one of the empty desks and waited for the second bell to ring.
Just like in his last class, and undoubtedly the classes that followed, students filtered in to the room, girls jumping up and down when they realized they had a class with their friends, hurriedly trying to claim seats next to each other. They guys would nod to one another and make their way over to one another, high-fiving or offer the signature a "bro" hug.
A smile crossed Roxas' face when he saw Pence sidle into the room and take the unoccupied desk to Roxas' right.
"Hey man! I didn't know you were in this class," the dark haired teen said, a grin on his face.
"I didn't know we were going to have this class together," Roxas replied. "Show's how much we paid attention when comparing schedules."
The two boys grinned to each other as the tardy bell rang. The students stopped talking and turned to face the front of the room, however Mr. Strife was talking to one of the Assistant Principals, a young, silver-haired student standing beside them. As he watched, Roxas saw Mr. Strife nod and the Assistant Principal turn and leave. The two males struck up a conversation which was unheard by Roxas' ears. Mr. Strife nodded again and the young man turned to face the room; and sat down in the desk closest to the front, a pair of dark sunglasses adorning his face.
Roxas rolled his eyes as a few girls giggled around him, whispering to one another about the mysterious new kid.
"I wonder why he wears those sunglasses, he hardly needs them inside."
"Maybe doesn't want us to see his eyes."
"Maybe he doesn't have any."
"I think that—"
"That's enough," Mr. Strife said over the mutterings and whispers of the class. "I'm am Mr. Strife, you're history teacher for this school year."
After a few minutes of this, Roxas stopped listening, knowing that he would be hearing the same speech over and over again for the rest of the day. After two years of this, he knew what to expect and he was correct in thinking that nothing was going to change.
Right before the bell rang, the class was assigned their first homework assignment. They were to pick up their books if they hadn't already, and then read the first chapter. "You'll be quizzed to see if you did the reading at the beginning of the next class," called out Mr. Strife as the students bustled around packing up their bags.
Roxas left the classroom, pushing his way through the crowds of people as he made his way toward the cafeteria, Pence jogging to keep up with him. Cursing silently as a group of loud freshman boys passed him, Roxas pushed open the door and spotted Hayner and Olette sitting at their usual table in the corner. He shuffled over to them, Pence moving away toward the freezer, muttering something about Sea Salt Ice Cream. The blonde haired teen sulked over to his friends, unceremoniously tossing his backpack on the floor.
Olette looked up, concern on her face for her friend. "What's bothering you Roxas? You had that same exact look on your face before we had to go to class."
Roxas shrugged, "I dunno, I guess I haven't had the best day is all."
"Yeah, the first day can be a bit of a drag," Hayner nodded. Behind his back, Olette shot him a dirty look.
Silence fell between the three friends, the chattering of the other students fading into the background. Pence arrived a few minutes later, a popsicle in his mouth and three others in his hands, one for each of his friends. Each took the treat, Olette smiling at Pence, Hayner and Roxas muttering a quick thank you.
"So," Pence started between slurps, "how have your classes been so far?"
Both Hayner and Roxas glanced at each other, similar looks of annoyance adorning their faces as Olette began chatting merrily with Pence.
Ten minutes later, the bell rang again, and the dark hair teens bid the other two boys farewell. With a second glance at each other, the two blondes set off toward third period Art.
"So what's up with you?" Roxas asked dully while weaving in and out of the mass of students.
Hayner scowled, "I have my first two classes with Seifer," he took a deep breath then continued, "and he's my lab partner."
"Aww, I feel for you man," Roxas replied, patting his friend on his back.
"Yeah, it sucks," Hayner said as the two boys entered the classroom and sat themselves in the back row. "So what's problem?"
Roxas sighed and pulled out his notebook in a feeble attempt to distract himself, but the doodles from Math proved to do the opposite. Instead of seeing the stick figures wielding key-like weapons inked on the stark white notebook paper, he saw bright red rad hair spiked to perfection and piercing green eyes sparking mischievously.
Roxas dropped his pen, the utensil making a thud as it landed on the notebook with a dull thud.
Hold on.
Bright red hair spiked to perfection.
Where the hell did that come from?
"Roxas… Roxas… Roxas! ROXAS!"
"Huh what?"
"Dude you zoned out on me there. So?"
He blinked at stared at Hayner with a blank expression on his face.
"C'mon man, my question. Re-mem-ber? What's buggin' you man? You seem—"
But he was interrupted by the teacher calling the class to order. With a scowl, Hayner shot him a pointed look that clearly said we're talking about this later.
Roxas groaned.
Today was so not his day.
That be the end of Chapter 2! Sadly enough, the whole schedule thing has happened to me before. My friend and I compared what classes we had before school started, yet we were still shocked to find ourselves in the same history class, yes we're losers.
I also wanted to add that I think it would be best if I take some time off and write a few chapters to have on standby before posting another. That way, I'll have a few in reserve just in case (in the future) I fall behind again. I have summer vacation in a week and I should be able to write a lot more then. Please, please, please, add this story or me as an author to your alerts if you want to see more. And review! Nothing encourages me more as an author and an artist than a good, well rounded review! Yes the one word "awesome" or "cute" reviews are nice, but I love it when people tell me what I did well and what I could do better; it helps me improve my writing.
I am also still looking for a beta reader. If you want the job drop me a PM.
As a side note, I have another plot bunny that I would like to share; one that I will finish (I hope. I'm really excited about it, but then again I was really excited about many of the other potential stories that I never ended up doing. This one is a Final Fantasy VII fic featuring Tseng and Elena titled Ask Me No Questions and I'll Tell you No Lies which of course is hypocritical because Turks are practically paid to lie. But that is a different story for another time.
Much Love,
The Masked Butterfly
