Chapter Four

Namine groaned when the girls dragged her over to the Roxas' group. She really didn't want to be here right now, but all her friends did and she really didn't have anything else to do. 'It's not like I have to pay any attention to him anyway.' She told herself. "Hi." She forced herself to say to the group once they had come close enough. The group smiled back except for Roxas who was looking at his feet.

"Hey Sora, I bought this new top. What do you think about it?" Kairi asked.

"Uh...It's nice, I guess..." Sora replied.

Kairi frowned. She expected him to give her dozens of complements. "How does it look on me?" She asked, twirling around.

"umm..Good?" Sora answered.

"You could be a little more lively, you know." Seifer whispered.

Sora shrugged at that, and turned back to Kairi. "So did you hear about the dance?"

Kairi's eyes were the size of a tenis ball when she heard this. "A DANCE?"

"Yeah, Tidus told us about it." Riku replied.

"Hey, where is Tidus?" Selphie asked, scanning the area.

"He had a lovers spat with Yuna." Zexion said.

Selphie grinned at Fuu, who rolled her eyes. "What did I tell ya?" she mouthed.

"Anyways.." Hayner began. "Back to the dance. I was wondering if you would go to the dance with me?" He asked.

"YES! I'll go to the dance with you!" Ollette said, jumping up and down.

"Uh...I was asking Kairi," Hayner said slowly.

"Oh." Ollette stopped jumping abruptly. She looked like a deflated balloon, Namine couldn't help but notice.

"It's okay Ollette, we'll find someone else way hotter for you." Namine whispered. Ollette just nodded, still clearly embarrassed and hurt. Namine knew she liked him, and she could feel her pain. sort of. She knew what it was like to be rejected.

"Um..I'll think about it? I mean, unless anyone else wants to take me?" Kairi said hinting at Sora, who was poking a bug with a stick. When no one else answered, Kairi slouched and nodded at Hayner. "Yeah...I'll go with you."

At this, Ollette let out a small shriek and ran off with tears streaming down her face. Namine was about to follow her, but Fuu grabbed her wrist. "I'll check up on her, you stay here. I think you need to talk to Kairi,"

"Me?" Namine whispered. "Okay.." Namine wasn't sure how she felt about Kairi right now. She was pretty pissed at her for saying yes to the boy Ollette liked, but she also knew that Kairi wouldn't have been able to say no to anybody unless Sora asked.

"What's her problem?" Seifer asked.

Namine shook her head. "Nothing. Just go back to talking about guy stuff." Namine said, taking Kairi aside.

The two walked toward the old oak tree, where no one else could hear them. "What was that?" Namine said in a low voice.

"What was what?" Kairi said innocently.

"THAT! you know Ollette likes Hayner!" Namine growled.

"I know...I didn't mean to hurt her! it was just that...when he asked me, I wanted Sora to take me but he didn't say anything and then I got mad and..and.. I said yes." Kairi said fighting back tears.

"I know you didn't. But I don't think Ollette does. You better talk to her about it." Namine said, giving her a hug.

Kairi smiled at her and said "You're such a good friend. I haven't even known you for a whole day," she laughed. Namine laughed too, and then let her go to confront Ollette.

Kairi began walking towards a crying Ollette, a comforting Selphie and a sympathetic Fuu. Namine headed back to the boys, who were engaged in a conversation about who's hot and who's not.

Sora turned and noticed Namine. "Is everything okay?" He asked, obviosly worried.

'No! everything's not okay! you didn't ask Kairi out!' Namine wanted to say, but instead she said, "Yeah. Everything's cool. So who are you taking to the dance?"

"I don't know. I might just hang with Axel, Zexion, and Larxene if she doesn't change her mind." Sora replied.

"Axel, Zexion, and who?" Namine was unfamiliar with the last one.

"Larxene. You haven't met her yet, but she's been bugging me to introduce her to you all day and don't worry, she's cool too." He assured her.

Riku was deep in the conversation, until he noticed Sora talking and laughing with Namine. He couldn't help but feel a familar pang of emotion. 'I can't let it happen to me again' He thought.

"Hey, Namine," He said walking up to her. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked. "Alone." Sora held up his hands and left the two.

"Um...yeah?" Namine said, motioning for him to talk.

"It's about the dance...Do you want to go with me?" Riku asked.

It took a second for his words to register in her mind. "Yeah.. Yeah, I'll go with you," She nodded, not even realizing that she had accepted his invitation.

"Cool. I'll pick you up at your room then?" He asked, not really knowing what to say.

Namine smiled. "Just meet me at the dance? I don't think there's any point in walking another flight of steps for me." Riku smiled back and returned to the guys with a grin on his face.

"OMG! HE ASKED YOU OUT DIDN'T HE???" Selphie yelled.

Namine jumped back, startled. "HOLY CRAP!" Namine said, holding a hand to her chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry!" Selphie said, locking Namine into one of her bear hugs again. "Whatcha gonna wear to the dance?"

"I dunno, a tank and shorts?" Selphie immediantly let go of Namine to give her a look that said "DID YOU SAY WHAT I THINK YOU SAID?"

"What? don't give me that look!" Namine said, when Selphie scanned her up and down.

"You are not serious, are you?" Selphie asked.

"What's wrong with what I'm going to wear?" Namine asked. It was just a dance, after all.

"A gazzilion things! most importantly, it's Riku were talking about. Mr. Perfect. Mr. Hard to get." Selphie said.

"He's not Mr. Hard to get if he asked me out." Namine said. "I mean, he's probably only asking me to the dance because I'm new. Besides, I don't think he's Mr. Perfect. I'm crazy about him like a bunch of other girls around here"

"Mmmhmm," Selphie said. "Tell me you didn't feel giddy when he asked you out?"

Namine couldn't lie. She did feel like rockets were lifting off in her stomach when he asked her. But then again, she could have just been excited at the fact that she was actually going to a dance with a guy. Namine shook her head. The feeling couldn't have been that strong for just that. "Okay. I did. But so what? I'm not In love with him. I'm just crushing on him right now." Namine smiled.

Selphie grabbed her hands and let out the loudest squeal she had ever heard in her life. Even the guys stopped to see what was going on. "We have got to give you a makeover! To the spa!" She said whisking Namine away.

"Wow...."Seifer said.

"Yeah...Looks like she's going to be looking really nice for you." Axel said.

"Crap." Riku said. "That means, I have to dress up too, don't I?"

The guys nodded. "You know who we have to take you to, right?"

"I wish I didn't," Riku muttered.

Meanwhile

"I said I was sorry, Ollette, what more do you want from me?" Kairi said.

"I want you to get away from me!" Ollette sobbed.

"I won't go away until you forgive me!" Kairi said firmly.

"Fine. Then I'll go!" Ollette got up and stormed away from her friends. Fuu looked at Kairi and shrugged.

"You shouldn't have done it you know.."Fuu said softly.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Kairi growled. She was getting frustrated with the whole thing. She and Ollette had been friends since kindergarten, and it was begginning to look like this was the end of their friendship.

"Well, to me it sorta looked like it was." Fuu replied. Kairi shook her head and walked away. "She doesn't want my apology. That's fine with me cause I'm through with her!" Kairi shouted to no one in particular. She couldn't believe it, she was actually losing Ollette and possibly Fuu as a friend. Kairi was already feeling bad about Sora, and now girlfriend troubles? This couldn't be happening.

"Hey watch out!" Demyx shouted, but it was too late. Demyx was sprawled out onto the floor on top of Kairi. "Shit. Really sorry about that!" He said, offering his hand to help her up.

Kairi pushed it away, and walked off without saying a word to him. "Hey? what's up with you?" Demyx said, running to her side.

"Nothing." Kairi said in a harsh tone. "It's none of your business anyway."

"Well, I'm making it my business so spill." Demyx said firmly. He couldn't be pushed away that easily! If it wasn't for his stuborness, he would have given up on searching for a dance partner.

"Shouldn't you be asking out Tifa?" Kairi asked, though she didn't really care.

"She turned me down. In front of everyone." Demyx replied.

"Ouch." Kairi said, feeling sorry for him.

"Yeah, and everyone was laughing. Even the lunch lady." Demyx cringed.

Kairi smiled, "Hey, atleast you're not having any friend troubles to bring you even more down."

"Is that what's getting you down? Ollette not accepting your apology and Fuu taking her side?" Demyx asked.

"How did you know?" Kairi asked.

"I'm psychic!" Demyx said. Kairi just gave him a look in return. "I overheard you guys talking while I was running away from a group of girls chasing after me."

"Girls chasing you? that's new? Did you win them over or something?" Kairi grinned.

"I almost had them, but then I kinda..sorta injured most of them," Demyx replied. "I hit one girl in the face with my sitar by accident when I swung it around, and I fell on top of a few girls when I was running away from that girl, and then I let out some gas.."

"Ew...and I bet some of them passed out from it?" Kairi said.

"Yup. As soon as they woke up, they came after me. Don't tell the guys about this, they'll think I'm a total loser!" Demyx said, slumping his shoulders.

"My lips are sealed." Kairi said. She was starting to feel better. "Thanks for talking to me. It helped me cheer up a little, if you need help searching for a partner, I could help you out."

"Really? That'd be great, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeves. I'll come to you once I've got nothing." He smiled.

Meanwhile

"Nope. I change my mind, I like it better back there." Marluxia said.

"WHAT? you want us to move this heavy piece of shit back to it's original spot after you told us to move it to the right? That aint happening!" Hayner yelled.

"Fine. I guess you don't want my service then..." Marluxia said, turning his back on them.

"We'll do it." Riku sighed.

"Good. I'll just check on the others." Marluxia announced, heading over to the back yard where Seifer and Wakka were. "So how's my garden - OMG! what did you do!" He shrieked running over to his once flourished bed of roses and daisies that were now all just weeds.

"We got rid of the weeds, like you asked us to." Wakka replied.

Marluxia slapped his forehead. "You idiots! you picked out all the FLOWERS! my garden! my beautiful garden!" He sobbed.

Seifer shrugged and looked at Wakka, "You think he'll still give Riku a makeover?"

Marluxia looked up, with fire in his eyes. "Forget about it! I want all of you out!" He yelled.

"Hey man, you can't blame us for not knowing the difference between a flower and a weed," Seifer said defensively.

"You're right. It's all my fault." Marluxia replied. "I hired a bunch of idiots!"

"Now you're taking it too far! don't ever call us idiots!" Wakka barked.

Riku and the other boys ran to see what was up. "What happened?" Sora asked as soon as he saw the garden. Well, what was once a garden.

Marluxia turned around to face them, still angry and giving them death glares. "Woah! never mind, I don't wanna know." Sora said, hiding behind Axel.

"I want all of you out. Now." He growled.

"Fine. We don't need your help anyway." Riku snapped. He led the group out of Marluxia's house, fuming. "I should have kicked his ass when I had a chance." He muttered.

"Dude, forget about it. We still have one more person to turn to." Seifer said.

"Aww.. not Larxene! she sucks at fashion and trying to look good." Riku groaned.

Roxas shrugged. "What's the big deal? It's just a dance."

"It's not about the dance. It's about who I'm taking to the dance," Riku replied.

"Oh, the she-devil?" Roxas said earning a glare from Riku.

"Why do you hate her so much?" Riku questioned.

"I just don't like her." Roxas said simply.

"Maybe he secretly likes her," Wakka grinned, nudging Roxas.

"No. that's first grade stuff." Roxas replied. He pushed off Wakka who just continued to tease him about liking Namine.

Meanwhile

"HOLY SHIT!"Namine blurted out as the lady yanked out the hot wax from her eyebrows.

Selphie groaned and covered her eyes in embarassment. "Are you going to yell out curses everytime she pulls out the wax?" she asked afraid of the answer.

"I'm trying not to- HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK!" She yelled out. "But it hurts- LIKE A BITCH!"

Selphie rolled his eyes. "At least you'll be pretty after this.."

"Pretty my ass. No amount of beauty is worth going through this!" Namine exclaimed.

"Honey, if you think this is painful, wait till the bikini waxing." Selphie said.

Namine's jaw dropped. "What? NO. That is not happening!"

Selphie laughed at her expression. "Don't worry, you don't have to get it done. But when we do hit the beach, then you do have to!"

Namine groaned, "You're kidding right?"

Selphie just smiled and patted the blond on the back. "Time to do your hair!"

Namine looked at her blond locks and looked up at Selphie, "They're not gonna cut it too short, are they?" she asked wearily. Namine had never been the type of girl who worried about things like her looks, but somehow this was a different story. Besides, she was going to the dance with one of the hottest guys in school.

Namine was seated next to Selphie, who was also getting her hair done. "Who are you going with?" Namine asked.

"I haven't been asked yet. I'm waiting for Tidus though." Selphie smiled.

Namine rolled her eyes at her friend, "I doubt he'll ask you. He's got a girlfriend, remember?"

"Yeah, but they just had a fight so anything goes. Hopefully I'll get lucky and he'll break up with her." Selphie said. "By the way, what's up with Kairi and Ollette?"

"I left them to talk things out. I hope everything's cool between them," Namine said thoughtfully. "Kairi didn't mean to say yes, but with Sora being clueless and all he pushed her to say yes."

Selphie nodded understandingly. "Yeah, Lucky for them, they've been friends forever so I'm sure this won't get in the way of their friendship."

Meanwhile

"That backstabbing bitch! I hate her! I don't know why I was even friends with her in the first place!" Ollette screamed as she kicked a cardboard box filled with all the things that Kairi had given her.

Fuu watched as Ollette rumaged through the room, tearing up pictures of her and Kairi. "Ollette, don't you think that you're taking it too far? She did say sorry." She tried to reason.

"Sorry doesn't fix a broken heart!" Ollette pointed out. She would have forgiven Kairi if she didn't like Hayner so much, but she did.

"You'll get over him. Besides, don't you think that friendship is much more important than a guy?" Fuu asked.

"Easy for you to say, No one's ever stolen you guy!" Ollette retorted.

Fuu shrugged. That was true, no one had ever made a move on her guy. Fuu looked at her watch, it read 6:15. "You still have time to ask someone else out." She announced.

Ollette frowned at the idea but something clicked and a wide grin appeared on her face. "You're right! and I know just the person to ask!"

Meanwhile

"Changed my mind! that outfit does not look good on you!" Larxene announced after checking Riku up and down. He was wearing dress pants and a purple oxford with a black tie.

"Larxene! This is the fifteenth outfit you've made me try out! Make up your mind!" Riku said in aggravation. It was already 6:40, only two hours away from the dance.

"You can't rush beauty!" Larxene snapped.

"Something you don't know about.." Axel murmered.

"What was that?"Larxene growled.

"Nothing, Nothing, just carry on." Axel replied trying to look innocent. He knew better than to get on Larxene's bad side.

The guys watched as Larxene picked out suits for Riku to try on. "Man, I still haven't found a date! They better hurry up, cause I gotta get asking!" Sora said. He knew who he wanted to ask, but she was already going with a certain someone. He was still pretty pissed at Hayner, but as long as he didn't try to kiss her or anything, he'd be okay.

"Tell me about it! I haven't even had time to ask Fuu yet." Seifer replied.

"Fat chance anyone's gonna ask her. You have plenty of time!" Wakka said.

Seifer shrugged, Fuu was sort of the girl next door type. Not a lot of girls saw her like he did.

Roxas slouched in his seat, dying of boredom. "Can we hurry it up!? This place is filled with chicks!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. Great huh?" Wakka said eyeing a red head at the corner.

"No. Did you forget about my allergy?" Roxas asked.

"What allergy? Oh yeah, the girl contact thing." Wakka said in a disembodied voice.

Roxas sighed, the other guys were eyeing the girl too and he was pretty sure that Larxene and Riku would not find the perfect outfit anytime soon. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He could remember the day he had his heart broken. He spent all day writing a letter to the girl he loved. She was leaving the day after, and he had to get it perfect.

Flashback...

A ten year old Roxas sat by his desk scribbling down words on a piece of paper. 'Namine's going to leave tomorrow! I have to get it right!' He thought. If only it were that easy. Letting out his true feelings weren't his strong suit. So far the letter read:

Dear Namine,

Since the day I met you, I couldn't keep my eyes off of you. I was pretty sure that-

Roxas crumpled up the paper and threw it in the garbage bin. "No! she's not like that! she doesn't like mushy gushy stuff!" He groaned in aggravation. Roxas grabbed another piece of paper and peered at the clock beside him. He let out another groan. It read 10:15. He was already past his bedtime and his mom would come up soon and tell him to go to sleep. But he couldn't go to sleep yet! He had a love letter to write!

"Roxas? What are you doing?" His mother asked him.

"I'm writing a letter to someone." He mumbled. "She's leaving tomorrow, and I have to get it perfect!"

"Sweetie, you'll get it right. Just tell her everything you want her to know! who is she anyway? a teacher? a friend?" His mother asked.

"Her name's Namine, and I really really like her. I've never talked to her before, but I know she's amazing." Roxas replied.

His mother smiled, "You stay up as long as you need to. Just make sure that you don't stay up ALL night."

"Thanks mom," He smiled. Roxas turned back to his letter once his mother left and began to write down new words.

It took him a couple of drafts to get it right, but once he was done, the new and improved letter read:

Dear Namine,

I heard that you were moving and I'm really gonna miss you. I know we never talked but before you

go, i really need to see you. I loved you since the day I met you. Now you're leaving, and I didn't even get

a chance to say it. Meet me at the park at 6?

Class began and everyone was putting their stuff away. Roxas' cubby was right next to Namine's which was perfect. He made sure that nobody was watching especially Namine, and slipped the letter into her cubby. He made sure that it was sticking out so she would find it. Roxas sat in his seat, anticipating for the meeting.

It was lunch time and Roxas noticed that Namine wasn't around. He figured that she went to the park to see if someone was there waiting for her. Roxas left school and walked to the park, which was only five blocks away from the school. The park was empty when he got there. 'No worries. Maybe she hasn't got here yet.' he thought. He waited, and waited, and waited for her. He waited through the pouring rain and didn't leave until 9 o clock. He had gone home sick and had a broken heart. He was pretty sure that his illness would go away soon, but he wasn't sure about the heartache. He really loved her, and thanks to her he was suffering some allergy to girls. The doctor explained to it as some type of trauma reaction. Since then, Roxas swore off of love.

"Fuck! what does this kid eat!" Roxas heard Seifer say. He opened his eyes to find himself being lifted by his friends.

"Whoa! put me down!" Roxas yelled. "Seriously, this looks...homo."

Seifer and Riku dropped him not so gently onto the floor. "Yeah, well it was a little more embarrassing having to carry you out of the mall." Seifer muttered. They were now in the parking lot.

"Why didn't you just hit me or something?" Roxas asked.

"We did. A few times actually." Zexion replied. "You didn't react so we HAD to carry you out."

"WE? you mean me and Seifer right?" Riku said. "Man, I didn't know you were that heavy."

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Did you find the perfect suit?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, I gotta hand it ya' Larxene did a good job."

"People forget that I'm a girl." Larxene smiled.

"And you wonder why?" Wakka joked. Larxene slapped him in the face. Hard.

"Ouch. That's going to leave a mark." Hayner announced. "I wonder if Tidus and Yuna ever worked things out?"

With Tidus and Yuna..

"I didn't mean what I said! Please, let me in!" Tidus said, pounding on the door.

Yuna raised the volume on the T.V to drown him out. Yuffie and Rikku looked at each other and turned to Yuna. "Don't you think this is a little...much?" Yuffie asked.

"Nope." Yuna said harshly.

"He is trying to say sorry." Rikku pointed out.

"I don't care. He lied to me." Yuna replied. "I thought he understood my thoughts on sex."

"Baby please! I'm sorry. S-O-R-R-Y!" He shouted.

"See? he's saying sorry. Just forget about it. You two have been going out since the seventh grade. You're not seriously going to let a little arguement tear you two apart, right?" Yuffie asked.

"This isn't a LITTLE arguement. This affects our future. He might pressure me to do something I might not want to do because he can't controll himself!" Yuna snapped.

"Yuna, Tidus is a nice guy. A little weird, but nice. Besides, you've got him whipped!" Rikku said.

"Stop saying that. I don't control him!" Yuna growled.

"You do, actually." Rikku said firmly.

"What have I done that was so controlling?" Yuna asked.

"Take this for instance, you're trying to control the way he thinks. Just cause he doesn't share the same virtues as you doesn't mean that he's going to be a crappy boyfriend." Yuffie pointed out.

"He's not a crappy boyfriend. He's just being an ass right now." Yuna replied.

"Come on!" Tidus graoned. "I need your kisses to get me through the day!"

"Well you can stop whining, cause these lips are off limits!" Yuna shouted.

Tidus sighed and leaned on the door. What else could he do? he tried to bust the door open, but he wasn't strong enough.

"Tidus?" Demyx appeared next to him.

"Yeah, it's me." Tidus said, looking at his feet.

"You got locked out?" Demyx asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Tidus looked at his blond friend.

"I hear things." Demyx replied. "Forget about Yuna. Why should you do the crawling, when it's clearly her fault?"

"Hm?" Tidus asked confused.

"You wouldn't have admitted all those things if she wasn't such a bossy little-" Demyx began.

"Watch it! she's still my girlfriend you know?" Tidus interuppted him.

"Yeah, ok. But if she wasn't being an over controlling robot, you wouldn't have spilled those secrets out." Demyx explained.

"You're right. Hey! how did you know that those were secrets?" Tidus asked.

"I read your diary." Demyx said quickly. "So let's find a date to make her jealous!"

"It's not a diary!" Tidus snapped. "It's a journal, and don't you ever read it again! Find dates? the only one I want to go to the dance with is Yuna."

"And you will dance with her. But you need a bait. Someone she'll get jealous of. When she see's you with another girl, she'll come crawling back to you!" Demyx grinned.

"You're a genius! Thanks a lot Demyx!" Tidus said running towards a group of girls. "I'll see If I can score some chicks over here!"

"Why does everyone think that I'm dumb?" Demyx said to himself.

At the dance

Riku sat in his seat, trying to look calm but he wasn't fooling anyone. He was nervous as hell. "Dude. Chill out." Pence said.

"How can I chill out? I mean, I just asked out the cutest girl in school." Riku said.

"Ahem. The SECOND cutest girl in school. Next to Selphie that is." Pence coughed.

"Whatever. What if she thinks I look like a dweeb?" Riku asked.

"In all your life, has any girl ever think that you were not....how can I put this without sounding homo?....good looking?"Pence asked.

"No." Riku replied.

"Then no worries!" Pence said. "Just calm down and wait. You're cramping my style."

Sora was also a nervous reck. He wasn't able to ask anyone to the dance just yet. All he could think about was how he'd have to suffer from watching Hayner dance with Kairi. And much to his dismay, Hayner and Kairi had just arrived. Kairi wore a blue dress that really made her look even more beautiful. Hayner wore a plain shirt with plain pants. Sora frowned. He would have dressed up for her.

"Hey guys." Hayner said. "So, where's your dates?"

"I'm waiting for Namine to get here." Riku replied.

"I got turned down by Selphie." Pence mumbled.

"I don't have one." Sora said quickly.

"What was that Sora?" Hayner asked even though he heard what he said.

"I. don't. have. one." Sora said through gritted teeth. He knew what Hayner was trying to do. He was trying to get him mad, and it was working.

"Oh. That's too bad." Hayner said. "Wanna go dance, Kairi?"

Kairi nodded. "See you later, Sora!" She said as she made her way through the dance floor.

"He better not try something on her!" Sora growled.

"Hey, it's your loss. You should have asked her while you had the chance." Seifer said sitting next to him.

"Well, where's your date?" Sora snapped.

"She's probably getting dressed up." Seifer replied.

"You didn't even ask Fuu to go with you." Sora pointed out.

"But that's just it. I don't have to ask her cause she knows I'm going to." Seifer replied. "Everyone does."

"She knows?" Pence raised an eyebrow.

"At least I think she does." Seifer muttered.

"What if she doesn't? what are you going to do about that?" Pence asked.

Seifer shrugged. "I'll find a way to make her dance with me."

"What if she comes with someone big and strong?" Sora asked.

"Then I'll pull out my blade." Seifer said as if it were obvious.

"This is upscale twilight town. Not ghetto twilight town, you can't just do that." Pence pointed out.

"For the last time, Seifer does NOT live in the ghetto part of twilight town!" Riku said. "He lives in the northern part of twilight town, with white picket fences, and white houses."

"Not so loud!" Seifer hissed.

"What? Everyone knows you're from a regular neighborhood, not some rough as nails neighborhood." Riku replied.

"Dude, you're killing my rep." Seifer said.

"What rep? you don't have one!" Riku groaned.

"Yes I do. I have a record with the police too!" Seifer retorted.

"How? the baddest thing you've ever done was take more than one candy on holloween when a sign says: PLEASE TAKE ONE BAR ONLY" Riku pointed out.

"Just shut up. You're date's here." Seifer hissed.

Riku turned around to see the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his life. Namine wore a red dress that stopped at her knees, and her hair was all done and looking soft. Roxas noticed the boys staring at Namine and rolled his eyes. "Jesus." He mumbled and got up to get some punch.

Riku stood up and walked towards Namine and Selphie, who was dressed in white high heels and a gold dress. "Hey Namine," He managed to say.

Selphie grinned and nudged Namine forward. "Um..Hi." Namine said shyly. She wasn't really comfortable with all the make up on.

"You look great! I like your dress." Riku commented.

"Thanks. I like your dress too!" Namine bit her lip. "I mean your suit! you look really nice." She blushed.

Riku laughed and took her hand. "Wanna dance?"

Namine nodded and followed him. Suddenly she remembered that she didn't know how to dance. "Uh..I mean, I can't!"She exclaimed.

"Hm? Why not?" Riku asked.

"I...I...I can't dance." She said sheepishly.

Riku just smiled, "So what? You're the prettiest girl in the room," Riku heard Pence shout 'next to selphie!' and rolled his eyes. "Nobody's gonna care. Besides, I'll lead you through the song."

Namine swallowed. 'What did I get myself into...'

Roxas leaned against the wall by the snack bar watching everyone else having fun. "They're cute together, huh?" Yuffie popped up.

"Who?" Roxas asked.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "As if you didn't know! Riku and Namine duh!"

"Them? you've gotta be kidding me. Riku's making a big mistake dancing with that chick. He's making an even bigger mistake for liking her. Trust me, I would know." He mumbled. Yuffie just looked at him. She didn't know what he was talking about. None of his friends knew, even Zexion who was always on top of things.

"C'mon, let's dance!" Yuffie said, grabbing his arm.

"Yuffie!" Roxas exclaimed, yanking his arm away from her. "Did you forget about my allergy!?"

"Oh, right. Well, we can dance an arms length away right?" Yuffie smiled.

Roxas grunted, but followed her into the crowd of dancers anyway. He didn't know why he was doing this, but it beat doing nothing. "You got Roxas to dance!?" Axel exclaimed.

Yuffie nodded. "Yup, I have skillz!" Axel rolled his eyes and looked at Roxas, "Man, I lost twenty bucks thanks to you."

"Suck it up." Roxas grinned.

Sora watched Roxas dance with Yuffie. It wasn't fair that he was stuck here dying of boredom while everyone else was having fun. He didn't even want to look at Kairi and Hayner right now. If he did, he was pretty sure that he would go on a killing spree from seeing them together. "Sora?" A soft voice called. Sora looked up to find Ollette, dressed in red high heels and a black dress. "Hi." Sora said, trying to smile. "I see you don't have a partner.." She said. Sora just nodded. "I don't have one either. Do you want to be my dance partner?" She asked shyly. Sora hesitated before answering. He liked Ollette as a friend, but what would Kairi say if she saw the two of them? He waved that thought off, she probably wouldn't care. "Yeah, sure." Sora smiled getting up to take her hand.

"Alright Sora!" His friends cheered.

Kairi heard the comotion and turned to see Ollette dancing with Sora. A pang of jealousy hit her along with rage. "Come on, Hayner let's get closer to the middle." Kairi said, pulling him closer to where Ollette and Sora were dancing. She could hear the two laughing, making her even more angry. "Oh Hayner!" She said loudly enough for them to hear her. "You're so funny! hahaha ha!" Hayner just looked at her as if she was on drugs or something. "Uh... I didn't say anything.." He said. Kairi stomped on his foot, forcing him to pretend to laugh too.

Ollette turned to see Kairi holding Hayner's hand and laughing with him. "Sora, stop it! stop telling me that I'm so pretty and that I'm the prettiest girl in the whole room!" She giggled. Sora shot her a look.

"What are you doing?" He hissed.

"Nothing." She smiled, and pulled in closer to him. Sora was starting to feel uncomfortable, but he didn't want to pull away from her because he knew she would get her feelings hurt.

Kairi watched and frowned. "Hayner, you're so sweet. Yeah, I'd like to grab some coffee with you sometime later." She smiled.

"What are you talking about!?" Hayner said confused. "I didn't say anything about coffee!"

"Stop it, you're making my sides hurt!" Kairi let out a fake laugh. Hayner shifted uncomfortably and smiled.

At this point, Ollette couldn't take it anymore. She let go of Sora and walked up to Kairi. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She snapped.

"Dancing with my partner." Kairi said icily.

Ollette scowled at Kairi and grabbed her by the arm. Kairi was surprised by her strength, Ollette always seemed so gentle to her. The two were by the snack bar, facing each other. "What do you want?" Kairi asked is an icy tone.

"I want you to lay off my man! you know I liked him and you backstabbed me!" Ollette hissed.

"I didn't mean to hurt you!" Kairi said. "I didn't know what I was doing, I was so mad at.."

"Save it." Ollette said, holding her hand up. "It's always Sora, Sora, Sora! Just because you don't have the guts to tell him how you feel doesn't mean you get to steal the guy you're best friend's been crushing on since forever!" She snapped.

"What best friend?" Kairi snapped back.

"Hey girls!" Demyx stepped in.

"Go Away!" Kairi snapped.

"I just came here to get some food" Demyx said holding his hands up.

"I said Leave!" Kairi screamed.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Demyx muttered under his breath. He walked back to his group of friends who were hanging by the corner.

"What's up with you?" Larxene asked.

"I just got yelled at by Kairi." Demyx replied.

"Was it bad?" Zexion asked.

"She was pretty pissed at something. It's probably that time of year again." Demyx grinned.

Larxene rolled her eyes, "So where's Namine? The girl you were talking about earlier?"

"Over there!" Demyx said, pointing to where Riku and Namine where dancing.

Larxene got up to meet her, but was interrupted by Rikku. "Guess who's here!?" She whispered.

"Him?" Larxene said nervously.

"Yup! C'mon, he's looking hot!" Rikku gushed, taking her arm and dragging her away from the group.

"So much for meeting her." Axel muttered.

"Did you see Namine?" Fuu asked.

Seifer looked up from his drink. "Hm? Yeah, she's over there." He pointed. "About the dance, you wanna.."

"Thanks, bye!" Fuu said quickly, and rushed towards Namine.

Pence bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. "Guess you're not going to get off of that seat any time soon!"

"Shut up! At least I didn't get rejected!" Seifer hissed.

Namine and Riku were dancing a slow dance when Fuu interrupted them. "Namine! Thank god, I have to talk to you!" She said.

Namine looked at Fuu and then back at Riku. Right now she felt like bitch slapping Fuu for barging in on them. "Yeah, what is it?"

"It's about Ollette and Kairi!" Fuu whispered. Namine looked at Riku, who nodded understandingly. Namine allowed herself to be yanked across the dance floor to the snack bar area where Kairi and Ollette were pulling each other's hair and throwing food at each other.

"Take it back!" Kairi shouted, shoving cake in Ollette's face.

"Not until you take what YOU said back!" Ollette yelled, splashing the punch all over Kairi.

"Hold it!" Namine shouted, coming in between the two. Fuu grabbed on to Ollette while Selphie rushed over from the dance floor to grab on to Kairi, who was trying to claw her way out. "You guys are acting like barbarians!"

Kairi and Ollette looked away from each other. "She started it." Kairi mumbled. Ollette just glared at her, and then looked away. Namine sighed. It was her first day, and already it was filled with Drama. "Ollette, she didn't mean to hurt you. Sora just made her do it!" Namine explained.

"So you're taking her side?" Ollette sobbed.

"No!" Namine said rushing to give her a tissue.

"I thought you were on my side!" Kairi cried.

"I'm not choosing sides!" Namine groaned. "You two have to work it out. You've been best friends forever!"

"Not until she apologizes." Kairi hissed.

"Me? what did I do?" Ollette snapped.

"You had to go and get back at me by dancing with Sora! I said sorry, didn't I?" Kairi replied.

Ollette fell silent for a moment. "Yeah, well you didn't have to bring me even more down by flirting with Hayner."

"You both were wrong. Face it!" Fuu sighed. "Just go back to being friends."

Kairi looked at Ollette. "I'm...I..I can't do it." Kairi said.

"See, you don't really mean half the things you say." Ollette said softly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kairi asked.

"Remember the time you and Riku were going out? you told him you loved him, but you didn't. That makes you a.." Ollette was unable to finish her sentence. Kairi came flying at her, yanking her hair.

"You're a horrible friend!" Kairi cried.

"You're a worse friend!" Ollette retorted, pushing her off her. Namine stepped in the middle once more to make them stop, only this time the two didn't. Namine found herself sprawled onto the snack bar table, with salad dressing all over her dress and cake all over her face.

"Namine!" Selphie cried, helping her up.

Fuu blocked Namine from others. "Nothing to see here." She said. Everyone had pulled out their camera's and cell phone to take a picture and there were so few cell phones and camera's Fuu could block. Ollette and Kairi stood in horror. Neither of them could believe what they did. "Oh my god." Kairi said. "I'm so sorry." She said placing a hand over Namine's back.

"I'm fine. I'm okay. I..I just have to..." Namine fled from the dance and rushed outside as fast as she could. 'It's happening all over again!' She thought, 'I'm the laughing stock of this school!'

She hid in the bathroom stalls, like in the movies where the girl gets embarrassed by the whole school and she hides somewhere where "no one will find her". The bathroom was empty, which was perfect. She sobbed, and wished that today never happend. The day had started out great, why did everything always turn out horrible for her? she wondered. Namine heard the door swing open, and she sucked in her breath, hoping that nobody knew she was here.

"I know you're here, so just come out." A voice said. But it wasn't just any voice, it was a guys voice.

"Riku? is that you?" Namine said sheepishly.

There was no answer. Namine figured that he was trying to get her to come out by not answering. She opened the door and cleared the cake from her face so she could see. "Rik-Roxas?" She was surprised to find him here. "What do you want? did you come here to snap pictures of me?"

Roxas shook his head. "I left my cell in my room." He shifted in his shoes, uncomfortably and let out a breath. "Here, You should clean yourself up." He said handing her a towel.

Namine hesitated before accepting the towel. She wiped herself clean and forced herself not to cry. Why was he being so nice to her? "Is this what you came here to do?" She asked.

"Yeah..I wanted to...see if you were..okay." He said looking away.

"Well I'm fine. Here you go." Namine handed him the towel and accidently brushed his bare wrist.

"Shit." He muttered.

"What?" Namine asked.

"You touched me." Roxas said.

"Relax, I don't have cooties." Namine said mockingly.

"No. I'm allergic to girls. You touched me and now I'm going to break out with a hideous rash." Roxas groaned.

Namine laughed. "At least now I won't be the only thing people are going to laugh at."

Roxas frowned at her, fighting back a smile. It didn't work he ended up smiling at what she said, despite himself. "Yeah, I could just see everyone gathering around me with a pitchfork yelling 'Monster!'"

"Well, you're not a monster. Ugly, yes. But not a monster." Namine said.

"Gee, thanks." He said rolling his eyes.

"What time do you think they'll be gone?" Namine asked.

"In thirty minutes." He replied.

"I can't wait for thirty minutes!" Namine exclaimed.

"Me either. Not with you next me!" Roxas grinned.

"Watch it or I'll give you more rashes!" Namine teased.

Roxas jumped back when she reached her hand out to him. "You're going to kill me before everybody leaves!" He said, dodging Namine. Roxas looked up to see a window that was just big enough for them to slide out off. "Hey, you wanna go home?"

"Duh." Namine replied.

"Look over there," He pointed to the old window. "We can shimmy it and get out from there."

"Good idea, except we're too short to reach it." Namine pointed out.

"I got that covered. Get down on fours and give me a lift." Roxas replied.

"What? no!" Namine exclaimed.

"Kidding. Here, I'll give you a lift." Roxas said stepping closer to her.

"What about your allergy?" Namine asked.

"I already broke out in rashes. It doesn't matter if I get more rashes on my face," He said shrugging.

"O-okay. Just don't drop me." Namine said. Roxas let out a fake grunt as he picked her up. "Shut up! I'm not that heavy!" She said, slapping him in face playfully. Once she reached the top, she was able to pop the window open. "What do I do now?" She asked. "Go home." Roxas replied.

Namine crawled through the window slowly so she wouldn't tear her dress. She looked back at Roxas who was still down there. "What about you?" she asked.

"I'll wait the thrity minutes. I just wanted to get rid of you." Roxas replied.

Namine rolled her eyes. "Come here. I'll pull you out." She held out her long, skinny arms.

"You're kidding right?" Roxas said as soon as he saw them.

"Nope. Now jump and I'll yank you out." Namine commanded.

Roxas hesitated. He didn't want to be stuck here, but he didn't want to hurt Namine either. Roxas sprang up and held on to Namine, who tried her hardest to pull him up. Roxas helped take off some weight for Namine by climbing up the wall.

"Damn. I think you bruised me." Namine said.

"Told ya that was going to happen." Roxas replied.

"No you didn't!" Namine shoved him.

"I hinted it." Roxas said.

Namine rolled her eyes. Without even realizing it, the two were side by side, walking back home. They were getting a long and they didn't even know it. "Well, that was nice...for a change." Namine said awkwardly.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, I guess. But after today, things go back to normal."

"Normal? as in you hating me?" Namine didn't know why it bothered her to think that Roxas despised her.

"I don't hate you. I just like having fun with you." That was a lie, Roxas knew, but she didn't have to know. Before this, Roxas would have gone through the whole year disliking her and holding a grudge on her, but now he could forgive her and maybe even like her as a friend.

Namine smiled. "Deal." She waved good bye and ran up the stairs to go to her room.

Roxas didn't know what it was, but when he saw that smile appear on her face, he felt rockets lift off in his stomach. It was a strange feeling, but it was also a familiar one.

That's where I'll leave it to until the next chapter! thanks so much for the reviews =) Stay tuned for the next chapter!