Author's note: Gomen! I've been having computer issues lately so I would like to apologize for the wait of this chapter! Well, I tried as best I could and at last I was able to type the next chapter for this story. :) Well, here's chapter Four!
Chapter Four: Part II-Rules were Meant to be Broken
"So, get any sleep?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, confused, turning my head to face Hayner walking beside me out of the quickly emptying classroom.
He laughed to himself and nudged my shoulder roughly. "What's up with you getting here late?"
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms behind my head as we continued strolling amongst the mass of black uniforms and shoving backpacks. Hayner always took interest in ticking me off but I gave up arguing back at him about it about a year ago. No matter what I said, he'd just laugh it off and go on teasing me. Like me, he had blonde hair but it wasn't as spiky as mine. He always told me about his plans for the future and, I'd always fear for the worst. He wanted to rush into things all the time that it worried me about where he would end up when he was ready to be by himself. Like I said, seeing him in a clean, proper black uniform made me burst out in laughter. Normally he wore fatigued clothes like camouflage pants and punk-ish t-shirts.
"I didn't hear my alarm until thirty minutes after it started..." I muttered, stopping beside him in front of what I guessed were our lockers.
"Hah. You're such an idiot..." I stared down at him when he stared into the palm of his hand and I raised an eyebrow.
"What're you doing?" I asked, peering over his shoulder at three smudged numbers scribbled on his skin. 3-11-24
"Oh, right!" He exclaimed, standing up to face me again. "Mrs. Lockhart gave us all locker combos when while she took role...I guess she forgot to tell you yours..."
I lowered my arms again and stared down at my plain white shoes. "Great..."
"Maybe if you run, she'll tell it to you!" Hayner bent down again and began fiddling around with the turn lock on his blue locker, scratching the side of his head after each try. "Uh...I might be here a while...what're you waiting for? Go!"
I laughed lightly and nodded, managing to dart away from his punch that was meant for my knee, and slipped into the crowd by myself. I wondered how Sora was doing right now...I sort of felt sorry for him since he was in the same class with Seifer. When I realized I had chuckled to myself, I knew I probably wasn't that sorry.
I didn't expect the hallways to be this noisy on the first day. Normally, the new people were quiet because they were too shy but, seeing as they were already exchanging random conversation, I had a feeling I was wrong. I remembered the eight grade and how we had all ruled the entire middle school, being adored by the new fifth graders. We didn't even have a uniform then. I stared down at my outfit and sighed, knowing I would have to get used to dressing like a business director now.
Scuffing my shoes against the tile and keeping one hand loosely around my backpack strap, I turned the corner to where room number three was...at least, I thought it was there. Suddenly, I stopped to face a dead end where no one in the hallway was bothering to enter. I twitched nervously and took a single step back after noticing that four pairs of eyes were shot in my direction. "Uh..." I said blankly.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't mister sunshine..." I turned to the teen in the center and instantly recognized him as Axel. He was seated with one leg up atop a pile of unopened cardboard boxes while three other teens I didn't know were standing casually around him. I bit my lower lip at an attempt to keep from saying a word.
"Hmm? You know him?" One of the teens asked, turning his body until I had a full view of his profile. He seemed a bit younger than the rest of them and was average built. His eyes were light aqua, reminding me of Sora's, and his hair was a dirty blonde, somewhat spiked. Unlike Axel's voice, his was more cheerful and ditzy.
"Sure do," Axel replied, eying me as he spoke. "We bumped into each other at the store yesterday while he was supply shopping."
"He's Sora's younger brother..." The teen leaning against the wall spoke suddenly. Nearly half of his face was hidden behind his dark silver bangs which gave him that enigma sort of aura. He wasn't smiling and his voice was rather dark for his age.
"You know this how, Zexion?" The first boy asked, turning toward Zexion quickly.
Zexion shut his eyes and shrugged once, saying nothing more.
I eyed them all awkwardly...all except for Axel who I felt uncomfortable looking at. Something about the way he was looking at me made me feel like he was out to kill and I shifted nervously.
"Guys, meet Roxas." Axel stated confidently.
All except for Zexion looked my way again and smirked in a manner I hated.
"Roxas, this is Demyx," Axel added, cocking his head toward the first boy who waved with a wide smile on his face, "Zexion," looking over to the uncaring teen in the corner, "and Marluxia," facing the third teen with the light pink hair and thin eyes.
"Nice...to meet you..." I murmured slowly, already wanting to run to the next class even though I knew I'd meet them all again sometime around. I figured these guys must have been the voices I heard when Axel left the supply store that day and judged that they were just like him, being his friends and all. Demyx, on the other hand, was proving me otherwise as he continued to smile at me as if I was a lost three year old boy.
When my thoughts came to a temporary close, the school bell began ringing and was followed by the hurried noise of students rushing through the hallways to next period. Strangely, I looked up at Axel when he stood from the boxes and began walking toward me, his posse following behind. It wasn't until now that I realized he had decided not to follow the uniform rule and wore his outer shirt halfway unbuttoned to reveal the lightweight white polo underneath. It didn't occur to me that he was so skinny up until now. He probably didn't bother to worry about eating but I had a strange urge to want to demand that he at least try to eat an apple. Why was I staring? "No! Stop it!" I yelled in my head to shake the thoughts away.
""Demyx, stop flirting with him," he called over his shoulder at the blonde who immediately quit smiling at me.
"I was not! Geez..." I watched Demyx scratch the side of his head while Zexion shook his own, walking right passed all of us into the slowly emptying hallway.
"We'll all be late," he muttered and disappeared out of sight.
I wanted to follow Zexion but something in the way Axel was towering over me made me feel trapped. Refusing to look back, I instead turned my head toward Marluxia's direction.
"Think the teacher will go easy on us if we're a bit late?" Axel asked calmly, turning toward Marluxia for an answer.
"Yeah, right. You're in school for a reason, Axel. It's only the first day..."
Axel scoffed. "Always being the smart one..." He sighed and suddenly I felt a hard press against the top my head and I let out a sharp growl as he ruffled up my hair. "Well, looks like I'm stuck here with you."
"That's the last thing I'd ever want...get offa me!" Abrasively, I pushed his hand away and darted for the hall, completely forgetting the fact that I still needed to retrieve a locker combination from Mrs. Lockhart.
"Axel, look what you did!"
"Shut up, Demyx."
I had already passed room number three and my lockers where I had last seen Hayner. As I suspected, he wasn't there. I at least expected him to wait for me and I sighed disappointedly. I felt so confused in this school...one feeling that I didn't want to feel on the first day. When summer ended, I dreamt of nothing but a smooth school year to come. Yeah, that's what I dreamt. Now I was living a nightmare. Enemies, teachers, homework, it all spilled out from my mind into reality. Shrouded in silence, I looked up from the ground to the entrance doors to the school, wanting to run for them and escape to the twilight outside.
"Don't be stupid...don't be stupid, Roxas," I whispered to myself. After all, that was my rule number one. Be stupid, and chances were that you would end up in a situation you didn't want to be trapped in. But, still, as I walked along to next class, which I knew I was already late for, I knew I was breaking that rule no matter what I demanded from myself.
"Roxas! What took you so long?"
As I pushed back the two swinging doors, Hayner's voice instantly came in contact with me and I nearly jumped. "How late am I?" I asked the panting teen standing in front of me.
Hayner paused for a moment to catch his breath and stared at his watch. "Ten minutes. Not too bad." With the back of his hand, he wiped away the drips of sweat from his forehead and cradled the basketball he had been holding under one arm. "Better get dressed before Mrs. Lockhart finds out."
I suddenly panicked, nearly dropping my backpack on the ground. "Is she here!" My yell echoed off the high walls of the gymnasium and I only hoped that Mrs. Lockhart wasn't there to hear it.
"She went out to get her clipboard in her office. Go!" He pushed at my back which almost sent me flat on my face. Cursing to myself, I straightened and ran toward another pair of swinging doors on the other side of the gym which seemed such a far distance away considering the size of the area. I caught sight of Pence slumping forward near the bleachers and I eyed him awkwardly while I still ran.
"Just...re-resting..." he managed to respond through his weak panting.
At last, I reached the doors and pushed my way through, nearly tripping over myself as I stumbled clumsily inside the coolness of the dressing room. Inside, several rows of rusted orange lockers were stacked atop one another only inches from the ceiling while a single, no-back wooden bench rested in the center of the changing area. The floor was hard cement with long cracks randomly scattered along its surface.
Hastily, I tossed my backpack to the side once I picked a locker at random and began to unbutton my uniform while fumbling through my backpack at the same time. "Come on...you've got to be in here! Aha!" I exclaimed, pulling free a pair of black shorts and a white sports shirt from inside the newly created disarray in my backpack. By the time I had my shorts pulled on, a few indistinguishable voices rang in my head and I paused, slowly looking up from the knot I was beginning to tie. I couldn't make out much so I slowed my breathing, attempting to piece out words out of each distance sentence spoken.
"You what? You're not..."
"Why not? He seems pretty trustworthy, doesn't he?"
"...come on! Obviously...hates you!"
"...a way to make him trust me."
"Yeah? How?"
"Think of it, he's got attitude..."
"Nuh-uh. No, way. Even if you ask, he won't agree to it."
"Quit being so negative! At least give him a few days."
"Still doesn't feel right..."
The hushed voices trailed off so suddenly that I thought they had suspected someone was there. When they started up again, I blinked curiously and that curiosity suddenly over powered my mind. I found myself inching toward the direction of the voices, still keeping my breathing to a minimum level. I had reached the corner of one of the rows of lockers and cautiously peered at the dusty mirror nailed to the wall in front of me and gasped lightly. The reflection of both Axel and Demyx came in view through the dust and cracks and I found myself staring at both of them as they continued to engage in conversation.
There was Axel, both shirts off standing in nothing but his black pants that hugged comfortably to his legs while Demyx was already fully clothed in a yellow t-shirt and black shorts. They didn't seem to take notice...just a bit longer. My eyes remained stuck on the side view of Axel without me even realizing it. I could still see the bruise upon his right wrist and I remembered when I had bumped into him. He couldn't have been that badly hurt from that sort of fall? His skin was a light tan now that I could see it...wait, no!
I quickly averted my eyes and backed away from the corner, my mind and body literally jolting off the ground at the sight of Zexion standing above me.
"Z-Zexion...what're you doing here?" I asked weakly, my heart racing.
He eyed me blankly which sent chills down my spine and finally spoke emotionlessly, "I should be the one asking that question."
"O-Ok," I stuttered.
"What are you doing here?" He asked quietly.
"I was just changing for P.E. Aren't you going to?" I implied at the sight of him still in his school uniform.
He scoffed in amusement. "I must have twisted my ankle on my way to class..."
"Oh, I see."
"There's still thirty minutes left of class. Might as well get yourself ready." He took an eerie pause, staring in the direction of the mirror I had been glancing into, and chuckled, something I thought he would never do.
"You seem to fancy him."
I gaped at him and felt my face heat up. "What? Are you insane? I hate his guts!" I retorted, forgetting that I was supposed to be hidden.
"My apologies then," Zexion turned away and started for the door to the gym before saying, "I'm sure he feels the same way, right?"
"What? What'd you mean by that? Hey!" Before I could say anymore, Zexion had disappeared behind the doors and out of the room. "Ugh, forget it." Standing from the cold ground, I sighed in frustration and started for the door as well. Why was I suddenly questioning myself right now? You seem to fancy him...I didn't take a liking to guys, right? Right. Besides, even if I did, I was sure as hell that Axel wouldn't be my obsession. But why had I had looked into the mirror at him...? Why him?
P.E so far was the best class of the day so far. I always liked running because it released so many emotions, something I knew I needed right now. My thoughts from the past were temporarily shut down as I shot hoops with Hayner and laughed at Pence for being shot in the face by one of our classmates.
"Hey, Pence! Nice one that time!" I called, Hayner laughing uncontrollably beside me.
"Shut up, Roxas!" Pence snapped, rubbing his head from the floor where he currently was sitting dejectedly.
"Hey, careful over there, you two!" Mrs. Lockhart yelled from the sidelines, checking something off on her clipboard shortly after.
"Sorry, ma'am!" Hayner quickly stole my basketball away from my grasp and I growled, running after him to steal it back, our sneakers squeaking lightly against the wooden floor.
"And here he goes, Hayner going for the winning point..." He taunted, dribbling swiftly away from my hands toward the basket.
"Haha, NOT!" Quickly, I shot forward and stole the ball from him to which he cussed in a hushed tone. I laughed, continuing to dribble, and ran in the opposite direction to where many of our classmates were passing to each other. I wasn't looking forward while Hayner chased after me. When Hayner suddenly came to a squeaked halt, I assumed he was giving up and kept running.
"Roxas! Watch it!"
"Nice one, Hayner. But not working!" It wasn't until I felt a sharp pain at the side of my head that I knew I should have listened to his precaution. Feeling my body fall limp, I dropped the ball and began to fall backward until I collided with the floor. I released a pained yell and stared up at the ceiling through one eye while my other remained tightly closed due to the sensation of pain spreading across my head.
"Roxas! Oh, my gosh, Roxas!" Mrs. Lockhart's voice called from what felt like a million miles away. The sound of her once soft voice was beginning to pound at the right side of my head that I could barely concentrate anymore.
"Roxas, you ok!" Hayner's voice hurt even worse since he was closer to me. I could barely make out the blurred outlines of my classmates huddling around me as I lay helplessly on the floor.
"Roxas, Roxas, are you ok? Answer me, honey, come on."
"Ah," I said painfully, managing to see Mrs. Lockhart, or at least her outline, directly above.
"Who threw that ball?" She called out to the class, darting her head up to stare around at the growing group of people. "Never mind it, someone go get an ice pack from the gym office! Go!"
"R-Right! I'll get it!" I recognized the frightened voice as Demyx and groaned. I squinted and shut my eyes for a moment while several people suddenly whispered that I had gone unconscious.
I felt Mrs. Lockhart gently sit me up and carefully escort me to the benches, constantly asking if I was alright and if I could count how many fingers she was holding up. When she was finally satisfied after what felt like her fifteenth question, I sighed while she gently patted the cold ice bag against the right side of my forehead. It stung like hell and I clenched my fist to release some of the pain elsewhere.
"Just hold onto it, yeah, that's right. Just sit tight ok?" She cooed and stood, assembling the class together around me in a large circle. I felt strangely uncomfortable with so many people staring at me. I was able to catch Zexion in the corner of my eye; leaning against the locker room door with his arms crossed while glaring at someone in the class that I currently couldn't make out.
"I want the truth now," Mrs. Lockhart demanded, sounding slightly ticked, "Who threw that basketball?"
When no one replied she asked again, this time mentioning that she would inform everyone's parents if no one admitted to injuring 'poor Roxas'. This time, someone spoke up from behind the crowd, the person I recognized as the one Zexion had been keeping a close eye on.
"I did, Mrs. Lockhart," they stated, signaling for her attention with a careless wave.
"Alright, that's all I need. The rest of you, off to next period."
The sound of several voices began whispering amongst themselves while an occasional few turned heads toward the suspect. I caught sight of Hayner and Pence staying behind, worriedly watching me sit upon the bench. I felt my head throb and the right side of my face become numbed by the sharp cold. How could this day get any worse?
"And your name was what again?" Mrs. Lockhart asked sternly.
Once the crowd of students passed, my vision was cleared and I stared directly at him again. Truthfully, if Mrs. Lockhart was gone, I would have delivered once right in his stomach.
"Axel," he replied calmly, glancing over at me once as if pretending to check if I was ok. P.E class: my new hated subject.
Phew! At last things are up and running again. ;) Again, sorry for the wait. See, my hard drive died on me and my dad worked for hours and hours just to recover the files before I had to type things up again. I tip my hat off to him for saving my stories! Well, this story is expected to be updated at least every other day and on the days it isn't updated, my other AkuRoku story will be updated. I hope to recieve at least 10 and I would like to thank those who took the time for the past chapters. Thankies!
kokoro77