I know, I know, two chapters in a single day? Well I was on a roll and didn't feel like stopping. I do like this chapter better than the last one. I hope my writing muse for my other stories returns soon.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all related characters belongs to Disney and Square Enix. Plot and all original characters belong to me.
Chapter Four
What happened earlier that morning still bothered Gail. All through her first two periods she couldn't stop thinking about what Coach Leon had said to Dartin. Why was he being so hard on him and what did he mean by weapons and training? Trying to figure it out made her head hurt.
By the time lunch came around she was still lost in thought. Storm and Kaze exchanged looks, obviously concerned. It was Kaze who tried first.
"Helllooo~, is Gail home?" he asked waving his hand in front of her face.
"Huh?" she asked, blinking at them as if noticing them for the first time.
"You okay?" Storm asked. "You're not still upset about yesterday are you?"
"Yesterday? What happened?" Kaze asked.
"Just the jerk brothers being their usual selves," he replied, "though, they picked the wrong people to mess with last time." Storm glanced over at the two sitting across the lunchroom. Jax was wearing a white stripe of gauze covering his nose while Antony glared back at Storm.
Kaze followed Storm's gaze as it dawned on him. "Whoa, you did that?" He whistled in surprise. "Man, remind me not to get on your bad side."
"Relax," replied Storm as he leaned back in his chair, "I wouldn't hit one of my pals, besides I've got a thing for red heads."
Kaze let out a sigh of relief. "Well that's good, I-hey What?!" Panic filled the green-eyed boy's face.
Storm caught what his friend had thought he meant and became equally as frantic. "I-I didn't mean it like that!"
Gail held her sides as she leaned forward, her laughter echoing throughout the lunchroom.
Kaze and Storm smiled back at her before catching her infectious laughter. When Gail could stop long enough to take a much-needed deep breath he explained. "Storm's got a crush on the girl from my English class. She's got red curly hair and is around the same age."
Kaze smirked, "Well that's a relief, and here I thought he had a thing for me all this time."
"Don't flatter yourself, I'm sure you'll find someone who can put up with that lame hair style," replied Storm.
"Oh give me a break, spikes are totally in!"
"Oh yeah? Point out one other person in this lunchroom who has spiky hair and I'll shut up."
"Okay, you asked for it!" Kaze looked around before pointing right at Abigail. "Bingo."
"Sorry, Kaze. This hair's natural. The spikes are an inherited gift from my dad," she replied with a sympathetic grin.
"Okay, well then,. . . a-hah! That guy over there." Kaze was pointing tot he kid who had just entered the lunchroom. Abigail noticed the black-spiky hair right away.
"Dartin."
"Ain't that the kid we played against yesterday?" asked Kaze, "Eh, it doesn't matter. I win, now pay up Storm and zip it!"
Storm pouted a bit before taking a sip of his milk.
As Dartin walked up to get in line the lunch lady had just put the last lid over what was left of the lunches. "Sorry, no seconds." Was all she replied, assuming he had already eaten. Dartin sighed before leaving his tray when Abigail approached.
"Hey, Dartin. You okay?"
"Y-yeah," he replied, "just not hungry." He glanced over at the table where Jax and Antony were sitting, noticing that they were giving him a look like a lion would glare at its prey. He quickly looked the other way.
Abigail wanted to cheer him up somehow. "Why don't you join me and my friends? There's room for four."
"Thanks, but I need to, uh, get in some practice." He tried to walk away quickly, but Abigail wouldn't hear of it.
"Nuh-uh. You're coming with me."
"D-hey wait!" His protests fell on deaf ears as she pulled him by the arm over to her table and plopped him down in the empty seat sitting across from Storm.
"Kaze, you remember Dartin right?" Abigail asked.
"S'up?" he replied.
"And this is my best friend, Storm."
The silver-haired teen nodded a greeting. "He can't talk right now, cuz' he lost a bet," Kaze added with a smirk. This earned a glare from Storm.
Dartin was feeling a bit nervous, he didn't want to draw a crowd and he could feel Jax and Antony staring at him from behind. He tried catching a glance from the corner of his eye, he dared not chance letting them know that he could sense their intense gaze.
"Dude, relax! Don't be so uptight."
Dartin looked over at Kaze who was smiling. "It's not healthy to frown so much."
"Yeah, a good laugh cures any bad mood," added Gail.
As the next fifteen minutes ticked by the gang got to know more about each other. They even managed to make Dartin laugh, of course, the whole table was busting a gut thanks to Kaze who had two plastic forks sticking out of his nose.
"Now how can I hold up my end of the bet when you keep making me laugh?" asked Storm.
"Hah!" Kaze took the forks from his nose as he gave his friend a mischievous grin. "I said shut up about my hair, not shut up for the rest of lunch. You need to get your ears checked."
This earned another pout from Storm and a giggle from Abigail.
Looking over at Dartin, she caught him glancing over his shoulder again. "Ignore them. They love intimidating people and only keep at it if they know it bugs you."
"Wish someone would have told me that earlier today," he replied.
Something in Gail's mind clicked. "Wait, are you saying those bruises are from them?"
Dartin tried to hide the one on his face, but there was only so much he could do. "It's nothing. I need to toughen up anyways."
"Toughen up? Dude, no one deserves a slug in the face, except for those two." Kaze's temper was building. He never liked the brothers, but ganging up on someone was beyond cowardly in his book.
"Please, it's no big deal. I shouldn't have told them to get out of my way. That's why I got hit."
"No, it's my fault."
Both boys looked over at Storm. "I taught them a pretty painful lesson yesterday and they took out their anger on someone else."
Kaze looked over at Gail who was lost in thought. Her mind was replaying the scene she saw earlier by the gym. It wasn't Coach Leon that had beaten Dartin, it was Jax and Antony! Leon probably broke up the fighting which was why he was getting onto Dartin's case. Oh, she was such an idiot for not realizing it sooner.
"Hey, you okay?" Dartin asked.
"Uh, yeah, um. . ." she looked over at him as a look of determination flashed in her eyes. "Would you like to come to my birthday party this weekend?"
Dartin blinked in surprise. "But, we just met. won't that be weird?"
This earned a laugh from Kaze and a smirk from storm. "Dude, look at us. We're not your normal posse."
"You're comparing us to a western now?" Storm asked flatly, rolling his eyes. "Last week you declared us a pirate crew.
"What-ever!" Kaze replied sticking out his tongue.
"Come on, it'll be fun. And you can rest assure, those two won't be invited," Gail replied jerking a thumb over to the brothers who had their backs turned for once.
"Pwease?" Gail fluttered her cutest kitten face. It was a bit childish, but her mother used it on her dad all the time and it worked. She hoped it would bring her the same results."
Dartin sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll come, but you'll have to give me directions."
The bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Everyone stood up to head to their next class. "I'll give you the address during gym." Gail told him as she headed in the opposite direction of her friends.
Coach Leon had been sitting at the teacher's lunch table by himself looking over some student files. during lunch he had watched a certain cheerful table while reading. He couldn't help but wear a knowing smile. "Talk about Déjà vu."
Dartin is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters to write for, heck I may make him an official KH OC. By that I mean include him in more stories than just this one. Then again, he doesn't even have to be limited to KH, considering who his parents are. And NO, I'm not tellin' who they are, yet. You'll just have to guess for yourselves. Makes it more fun that way. ;3
