When Monday rolled around, Serene woke Zexion up at six, and told him to take a shower and get dressed while she made breakfast.
When he came out, dressed in a black V-necked t-shirt that fit him loosely and tight black jeans, he was not prepared for the onslaught of "aww"s that erupted from Libi and Serene as soon as he stepped into the kitchen. He doubled back, panic rising in him.
"You look so adorable, like a wet kitten, Zexion," Libi finally explained, brown eyes lit up.
"Er, thank you?" He had replied, unsure of whether he should accept the complement or take an insult. He took the plate Serene held out to him with a small smile, and sat down across from Libi, shoveling the scrambled egg-and-ham into his mouth. He felt...antsy.
Nervous.
"Are you ready for your first day of school, Zexion?"
He shook his head. "But don't worry, I will endure," he said, with a slight smile itching to form. He didn't let it. He'd been smiling too much lately.

He was dropped off at the large, gray building at seven. He spent the extra twenty five minutes locating his locker, tossing his backpack in, and going to his first class, -which he noted with a sigh- was locked. He sat outside the door and read his book, waiting for the teacher to arrive.
The bell rang, and a group of teenagers had crowded around in front of the door, talking idly amongst each other. Zexion went back to his book.
"Hey, aren't you a bit...young to be in this class?" A smooth baritone asked.
Zexion looked up in annoyance. "They have placed me in the twelfth grade. It was not my decision."
"Whoa, whoa, didn't mean to offend, geez. Say, what's your name? My name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" A boy with long, red spiked hair and bright green eyes said, tapping his temples.
"Yes, Axel," he said, blankly. "My name is Zexion."
"You sure you're not like...a freshman? I've never seen you here before."
"I was placed in the senior year, this is my first time attending school."
"Whoa, you were home schooled, eh?"
Zexion stared at the red head. "I do not remember."
Axel blinked, and rubbed at his neck. "Well, uh... I'll show you around the place. What lunch do you have?"
"A."
"Oh cool, same lunch. Awesome. Um, you can sit with me and the group. That is...if you don't mind?"
Zexion glanced back up from his book. "I would not mind," he said. "As long as I am allowed to read."
"Uh, sure, if you wanna," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Though I'm not sure why you'd want to."
"I prefer reading to idle chatter."
"Oh."
Zexion continued reading, fully aware that the redhead was watching him. After ten minutes, Zexion growled out a "What?"
Green eyes widened. "I was just, uh, you're kinda cute, is all."
Zexion narrowed his eyes and went back to reading.
"Uh, I don't mean that in a weird way or anything, it was just an observation..."
Zexion waved his hand, dismissing it before standing up. As soon as he did, a middle-aged woman walked up and unlocked the door, herding them all in.
She allowed them to sit wherever, then left. He sat in the middle, and considered moving when Axel sat next to him, but decided against it so as not to draw attention to himself.
A blond boy with a mullet-like hairstyle walked in, froze, looked around and then scampered to the last empty seat-which happened to be on Zexion's other side.
The blond boy turned to him, and grinned. "You're pretty!" He said, blue-green eyes seemingly dancing.
"Dude, Demyx, that's a guy. Don't call Zex pretty."
Demyx gaped, looking between Axel and Zexion. Zexion flinched when suddenly the blond was sitting on his desk, staring intently at him. He continued, however, to read.
"Say, how would you like a lolipop?" The blond suddenly asked.
Zexion stared at him in disbelief. "Get away from me," he scoffed.
"Hey! No need to be rude. I was just asking if you wanted one, 'cause I have a few..." The blond pulled out a few Dum-Dums from his pocket, and handed the bluenette one. "Blue raspberry. Just like your hair."
"No thank you," Zexion said, ignoring the boy.
And then suddenly the blond was attacking him, and shoved something into his mouth. Zexion's eyes widened at the sweetness of whatever the blond had shove in his mouth. "There, see? That's not so bad, is it?"
Zexion blinked. The blond was squatting on his desk, smirking. He pulled the blue thing out of his mouth. "I suppose it isn't so bad."
"I'm Demyx," he said, sticking out a hand.
"Zexion."
"You're supposed to shake my hand," Demyx said, in a whisper.
Zexion winced and shook the boy's hand lightly, only to have the blond jump down and straddle him in order to hug him. Zexion wasn't sure what to do-he'd never been hugged before.
So, naturally, he decided it was an attack and shoved the blond off of him, slapping him across the face before returning to his beloved book. The blond whimpered, clutching his face and flew into Axel's arms for comfort.
"There, there, Demyx," he cooed into the blond's ear. "I'm sure he didn't mean it, I mean, look at him... he's just scared," Axel grinned. "You mustn't be so forward, young grasshopper."
Demyx's eyes shone with awe. "You're so cool, Axel!" He said, hugging onto the red-head and squealing.
A blond girl with antennae-like hair whipped around and slapped Demyx and Axel upside the head. Zexion smirked. He had a feeling that he would enjoy her presence, as Demyx cowered in fear and Axel simply looked away. She smirked at Zexion and turned to the man with pink hair in front of him. "Marluxia, what did you do to poor Vexen?"
The man seemed to smirk at this. "What ever do you mean, dear Larxene?"
Larxene smiled, though the act looked more sinister than anything.
Just then, a man with long, long blond hair walked into the classroom, looking rather annoyed. He stared at the class with dark green eyes. His face was sunken in, giving him a botox-ed look. "My name is Professor Even. You shall call me this, or you will be thrown out. That being said, welcome to Genetics."
This was an optional class, Zexion learned, and he deducted that it would be a simple one, as well. He vaguely remembered most of the names of the units on the syllabus he'd been given, though he couldn't recall where he had learned about them. Class was soon over, and Professor Even, or Vexen, as Marluxia and Larxene called him, handed out a small evaluation test to be turned in the next day.
"Hey buddy, what's your next class?" Axel said, wrapping his arm around Zexion's shoulders, making him stumble slightly.
"Intro to Poetry."
"Aw man, that sounds boring."
"I enjoy literature in all forms."
Axel raised an eyebrow. "I would never have guessed," he said, gesturing to Zexion's book; a thick paperback that he was reading while he walked through the crowded halls. The sensation of weaving through the crowded halls gave him a sense of nostalgia, though he couldn't place that, either.
"This is my classroom," he said, shrugging Axel off and walking into the classroom. This class had a seating chart, as it was displayed on the overhead. Zexion quickly found his seat, which was between a brunette and a blond who he deduced must have been Sora and Roxas Strife respectively.
The brunette was practically bouncing in his seat, and almost immediately introduced himself to Zexion. "Hi I'm Sora, and I like pie!" He said, grinning. "What's your name?"
"Zexion."
"Hi, Zexion! It's nice to meet you! The blond kid next to you is my twin brother, Roxas! Don't worry about him, though, he's just shy."
"I see," he said, nodding. He looked back at his book. The bell rang, and he looked up as the teacher stood up and addressed the class enthusiastically. He was given yet another syllabus, which the teacher read aloud to the class, and then was asked to write about himself in a poem using any style he wanted.
I don't remember much about
Where I came from
Or who I am
I simply woke up
Confused
I went to see the dancers
And they took me as their own
Even though my history
Had yet to be shown
They called me Zexion.
He turned the paper with his 'poem' into the tray at the end of the hour as instructed, and left to his next class, Photoshop. He was again, given a choice on where he sat, and so he sat in the back at a computer.
Soon after, he heard his name called and looked up to see none other than Demyx walking into the room. The blond slumped down into the seat next to him. "Hey man, I'm sorry if I freaked you out or something back there," he said, grinning apologetically. "I guess I'm just used to people being down with it, you know?"
Zexion shook his head. "No, I do not know."
Demyx sighed. "I'm annoying you, aren't I?"
"Yes."
The blond winced and went to turn on his computer, but it didn't turn on. Zexion rolled his eyes and turned on Demyx's monitor.
And then realized he had never used a computer before, and stopped, biting his lip.
"What's wrong, Zexy?"
"What did you call me?"
"Zexy! It's a nickname. Do you like it?"
"No. Don't call me that."
Demyx's face fell. "Sorry..."
"It is alright."

"You talk funny, Zexion."

"Do I?"

"Yeah...all, proper and stuff. C'mon, loosen up! It's your senior year, buddy. You gotta have fun."

"I...don't know what you mean."

The look on Demyx's face could only be described as one of horror. "You...you don't know what fun is? No wonder you're so uptight! You poor thing," he said, and took the boy's head into his arms, burying it into his chest.

At first, Zexion was scared, thinking the blond was trying to tear his head from his body, but then he realized that it was a sign of affection-an innocent embrace, like the ones Libi shared with some of her fellow dancers. He relaxed and allowed his arms to wrap around the blond's waist, inhaling deeply.

Zexion decided then that he liked hugs. He wasn't sure if it was just because Demyx smelled rather delightful- like chlorine and mint, he presumed-or if it was the warmth of the embrace.

Then Demyx let him go, so Zexion pulled away, looking at the computer screen in order to hide the redness of his cheeks. "So..." Demyx started, trailing off.

"Yes?"

"Uh, where are you from?"

Zexion squinted, unsure of how to answer the question. "Two years ago, a man found me lying in a gutter, half dead. I do not remember anything before that, nor do I remember the event. I lived in an orphanage for a week before being adopted."

Demyx let out a weird noise. "So you just got a name and nothing else to remember?"

"My adoptive mothers gave me this name."

"Oh," he said, quietly. "Wait, what? Mothers? As in...lesbians?"

Zexion raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with that, Demyx?"

"Uh, no...it's just...unusual," Demyx said, wide eyed. "Listen, I don't have anything against lesbians, I mean...it'd be really weird if I did, considering I'm gay myself, but, uh, no, it's totally cool that you have two moms, I'm happy for you and uh-"

"You can shut up now, genius," Zexion said, smirking.

"That was...oh my god, you actually sounded normal! My little Zexy's growing up!" Demyx shouted, pulling the slate-haired boy out of his chair and spinning him around.

"Boy, shit yo ass down," someone said from the front of the room. Demyx put Zexion back into his chair and sat down muttering a sorry under his breath.

The teacher took roll and went over a syllabus, and at this point Zexion was sick of them, and just ignored it.

Hey, Zexion, what're you doing after school? Demyx wrote on his syllabus, putting it between them and discreetly nudging the other boy.

Walking home, why? Zexion wrote back.

I was wondering if you'd want to go do something.

I would have to check in with Libi.

Libi?

My mom.

Oh. Well, I can give you a ride home. If you, uh, want me to, anyways.

I'm not getting in a car with an imbecile like you.

Not a car! A bicycle... you know what that is, right?

I'm not stupid.

Er, sorry... but seriously, how about it? We could get ice cream or go to an arcade, or something...

Sure.

Really?

Yes.

Demyx shouted out a triumphant 'yes!', gaining a few strange looks from the kids around him.

"Mr... Emyd, is there something you'd like to share with us?"

Zexion smirked. Water turtle? How befitting.

Demyx stared blankly and shook his head. "No sir, I was just excited for this trimester."

The teacher shook his head, but smiled all the same, obviously seeing through the blond's lie.

._. ._. ._.

A/N: I hope you guys like this story so far. I'm sorry the chapters have been so short, but the original stands at...21 pages. So I'm trying to divide it up and make it more tolerable.

Thanks for reading! :3