Popularity

It was a weekday midafternoon. Despite Twilight Town's deceptive aura of children frolicking in the streets at any hour of the day, the actuality was that this only occurred during vacations. Like any other town, education was mandatory, which explained the general lack of activity in the main streets. All those that would cause trouble were still trapped at school.

Roxas yawned and laid his head on the desk, facing the window. It was such a nice day outside, too perfect to spend even a minute indoors. The whole day was being wasted, while he just felt like getting up, and jumping out the--

"Roxas! Step away from the window and sit back down!" the teacher barked.

The boy was shaken out of his reverie. He hadn't realized that his brain had temporarily acted out his whimsical desires. Honestly, that was what happened when you keep a boy like him indoors on such a day. Not to mention that he was seated right next to the window, a permanent temptation teasing him all day. It was a wonder that boys jumping out classroom windows wasn't a regular occurrence.

As he grudgingly took his seat, he noticed that his seatmate was trying to call his attention. If he remembered correctly, the girl's name was Yuna.

"Hey, Roxas?"

"Hm?"

"T-There's something I wanna ask you..."

Roxas gave a casual shrug, motioning for her to continue. But that was when he noticed it. Her somewhat nervous demeanor, restless eyes and a body that wouldn't stop fidgeting. Coupled with the fact that she was not only giving off an aura of a nervous person, she was also clearly embarrassed, judging by the light blush spread across her face.

"T-This person...?! I-Isn't this the profile of someone who's about to confess?? But I already have Naminé! ...Well, not that we're going out or anything but still!"

"C-Could I come with you to see Pence later?"

"...Huh?"

-x-

It was between classes, and Hayner was making his way toward the chemistry lab when he noticed someone standing by Pence's locker... and it wasn't Pence. Nor was it Olette or Roxas trying to borrow one of his textbooks (Pence always took care of his stuff). It was a girl, who he was pretty sure was an upperclassman called Yuffie.

Hayner shrugged off the initial wierd feeling. Just because she was standing in front of Pence's locker didn't mean that she had any particular business with Pence. At least that was what he thought until he saw her glance nervously around, slip a note into Pence's locker, and then rush off.

"...What the heck??"

-x-

The final bell had rung. Many students had already gathered up their things and were already headed out the school gates. Olette herself just needed to drop off a few things at her locker before she met with the boys in front of the school. But then, maybe their meeting place had changed, because she could see Hayner and Roxas standing right outside the doors to the gym, peeking inside.

"What are you two doing?"

"Shhh!"

Olette quirked an eyebrow at their behaviour but decided it would be easier to play along. She creeped over to where they were and after getting a silent approval from the two, she took a quick look inside. All she could see was that Pence and Yuna were talking on the bleachers. Nothing particularly interesting.

"And? What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Are you blind??" Roxas exclaimed. "Pence is there!"

"And not only is he there, he's with a girl!" Hayner added.

"Alone!"

"Okay... so? I still don't see what the commotion is about."

"We've already spelled it out, Olette. Pence is alone with a girl," Hayner repeated.

"Not to mention that it was Yuna who asked to meet Pence! She even asked me to give them a minute!"

"And it's not just that! Yuffie slipped a note into his locker earlier, saying that she wanted to talk to him about something important."

"Wait... you broke into Pence's locker again?!" Olette screeched.

Hayner gave a casual shrug. "Olette, you can't call it breaking in unless I actually break something. I just happened to take a peak one time he was entering his combination, and it just so happens that I have very good memory."

Roxas raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you kidding me? Last week, you forgot how to get to a school you've been going to for years."

"That doesn't count! I spaced out is all! Why are we even talking about this?? We're talking about Pence!"

"And how you invade his privacy by spying on him and breaking into his locker."

"Focus, Olette. Anyway, do you see the problem now?"

Olette frowned, still not understanding the situation the same way the boys saw it. "...Yeah, sorry guys, but I'm still not seeing it."

"The problem is--!" Roxas froze in the middle of his sentence, as if his train of thought had been broken. Then a confused expression appeared on his face. "...Actually, I'm not really sure anymore. Remind me again Hayner?"

"It's a problem because... y-you know..."

Olette smirked, finally figuring it out. "Ohhh, I get it."

"Great! So could you explain it to me? 'Cause I forget," Roxas said.

Olette smiled and complied. "For you Roxas, you're just not used to seeing Pence with another girl other than me. That's why you feel it's so weird."

The boy gave a shrug of partial approval. "Yeah, sounds right."

"But for you Hayner," Olette continued, her smirk reappearing. "You feel threatened."

"Threatened? Me? By Pence??"

"That's right. I know you, and I know how you see yourself," Olette said. "You see, you have quite an ego, probably from proclaiming yourself leader of our little gang. You feel that you're better than any one of us in the things that matter to you. For this particular case, you view yourself as a guy capable of wooing any woman you come across--"

Olette was interrupted by a coughing fit from Roxas. He covered his mouth to hide the smile.

"For your information, that is exactly right. I can woo any woman I meet." This time, Roxas couldn't hold back enough and allowed a few distinguishable laughs pass through between his coughs. "What? I can! I... just choose not to."

Olette spared the two a confused look before continuing, "Anyway, the point is, your whole life, you haven't had a single romantic relationship. And now you see Pence, who actually looks like he's getting ahead of you."

"H-He's not getting ahead of me! In fact, I can show you right now!"

Olette crossed her arms challengingly. "Oh, really? Go on, let's see it then."

Hayner gulped, but the set look on his face showed that he wasn't backing down. He took a step toward Olette.

It looked like it was Olette's turn to be put in an uncomfortable position. Her haughty air had vanished and was now taking a slightly defensive stance. "Wh-what is it? Aren't you going to show me that you don't lose to Pence in getting girls?"

Hayner stayed silent, and took another slow step toward Olette. His face was turning bright red but his expression remained unchanged.

"W-Why are you... I-I mean, wha--"

"What are you guys doing?"

The gym doors were open now, with Pence standing at the doorway. He was staring at them with a peculiar expression, which voiced his question well enough that he really didn't have to ask.

Hayner's momentum being completely thrown off with Pence's arrival, he simply continued his motion and walked toward Olette... and then right past her. He broke into a sprint and didn't even look back as he rounded the gym's corner.

Roxas sighed. "Aww, Pence. You've got awful timing. I was just about to see something good."

Olette finally regained some measure of composure and looked toward where Hayner had run off. "W-Where did he go?"

"Probably went to the track field to blow off some steam," Roxas answered. "He'll be back in a bit."

"So are you guys gonna tell me what you're doing here?"

"That's what we should be asking you," Roxas said.

Olette nodded, remembering what brought them there in the first place. "Yeah, is there something going on between you and Yuna? Or maybe Yuffie?"

"What? Why are you-- Hayner broke into my locker again didn't he?"

"Technically, he didn't break in."

"Stop defending him, Roxas," Olette reprimanded. "You'd call it breaking in if he did it to you."

"Probably," he smirked. "So, you and Yuna...?"

"Are just friends," Pence answered plainly.

"Whaaat??"

Hayner had finally reappeared, coming from the opposite side from where he left. He was sweating and panting heavily, which was completely understandable since the only way to get around the gym was to go almost halfway around the school grounds.

Roxas checked the clock hanging above the gym doors. "Half a minute. Must be a school record."

"Nevermind that! There's nothing between you and Yuna?? Not even Yuffie??" Hayner asked.

Pence gave him an awkward look. "No."

As soon as that single word reached his ears, he simply collapsed onto the ground, practically unconscious. Roxas sighed, walked over, and waved a hand over his face. Hayner gave no reaction.

"I-Is he alright?" Olette asked.

"He'll be fine," Roxas answered, unfazed by the events. He reached into his bag, and pulled out a sea-salt ice cream popsicle.

Olette couldn't help but ask. "...Um, Roxas? You keep... ice cream in your bag?"

"Yeah. My bag's insulated, and I need it for emergencies."

"What kind of emergency would need ice cream?" Pence asked.

"This." Roxas thrust the popsicle into Hayner's mouth almost as if he were driving a sword into the ground. There was a short awkward moment as everyone stared at an unconscious Hayner, with the popsicle lodged into his mouth as far as Roxas could force it in.

Hayner suddenly bolted upright, choking on the ice cream popsicle. He pulled the sweet out of his mouth and took a good long stare at it. Apparently satisfied, he put it back into his mouth.

"So, what is going on between you and those girls?" Hayner asked, getting back on his feet.

"...Sorry, but I'm having trouble taking you seriously after seeing you revived via ice cream."

"Would you just spit it out?"

Pence stopped to wave at a girl passing by before answering Hayner. "I'm telling you, there's nothing."

Hayner paused to look at the girl Pence had just waved to. "Who was that?"

"Who?"

"That girl."

"Oh, that was Ashe, a friend."

"And you meet with her every now and then? To talk to? Alone?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"...How many girls do you do this with?"

"I dunno... eleven, twelve maybe? For the regular ones, I mean."

Hayner, Olette, and Roxas stared dumbfounded at Pence, not only because of the great feat he had achieved, but also because he said it like it was nothing.

Roxas turned to Olette. "I'm not sure... but does this make him a playboy or something?"

She pondered the thought. "Not unless he's dating them all. You aren't, are you?" she asked Pence.

"Of course not! I dunno, I think girls are just comfortable talking to me about their problems and stuff. Sort of like a counselor maybe?"

"Okay. Then he's just a ladies' man," Olette concluded.

Roxas gave a low whistle. "Wow, Pence. Maybe you should give Hayner lessons."

"I don't need lessons! I know plenty of girls!" Hayner argued.

"Your mom and Olette count as plenty?"

"Shut up. And what about you??"

The skater shrugged. "I don't really care about that."

"Besides," Olette added, "Roxas is popular enough with the girls as it is."

"...I am?"

"He is??"

She nodded. "Sure. A lot of girls come to me asking what kind of girl Roxas likes. Then I just point to Naminé."

"You WHAT?!"

"I'm kidding," she smiled. "But I do tell them you're practically taken."

"What about me?" Hayner asked. "Bet you've had your hands full with people asking about me?"

Olette avoided his gaze. "...You could say that..."

Hayner gave her a suspicious look. "What does that mean?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Most of them are teachers who ask what the heck I'm doing hanging around you. Plus my mom."

Roxas sensed something, and raised a hand to stop Hayner from reacting too soon. "Hang on... you're not saying everything. What about the other 'some'?"

"...The very few others are kinda interested in... the two of you," she said, looking at Roxas and Hayner.

Hayner gave her a quizzical look. "The two of us? What does my popularity have to do with him?"

"Well, it's the popularity of the idea of you two... being together..."

Dead silence passed between them as the two boys tried to process the information that was given to them: That there were girls who were hooking the two of them up in their fantasies. Olette was glad that she had only said that little. She had neglected to mention that there were even more people paring up Hayner and Seifer. There would probably be no recovery from that.

"You guys okay?" Pence asked.

Roxas started walking along briskly, at the same time pulling another popsicle from his bag and sticking it into his mouth. He was followed immediately by Hayner. "I'm gonna need a lot more ice cream."

"H-Hey wait up!" Olette called, catching up with them. "What about me?"

Hayner and Roxas were walking at their fastest sustainable pace, and didn't even turn to answer her. "What do you mean 'what about you'?"

Olette twiddled her thumbs shyly. "Well, my popularity. You know, do any guys go to you, asking about me?"

Pence caught up to them from behind. "The truth is, you were pretty popular before."

Olette stopped to face him. "What do you mean before?"

"Well, you probably still are now, but they sure aren't asking us anymore," Roxas called from ahead.

"What? How come?"

"They didn't have the guts to follow through," Hayner answered gruffly. "Bottom line is they probably weren't good enough for you, giving up from that little..."

"Huh?"

"Roxas! I'll race you to the shop!"

"You're on!"

The two boys raced on ahead, leaving before Olette could ask any more questions about her would-be suitors. She puffed her cheeks out in irritation and turned to Pence, the only person left she could squeeze any information out of.

"Seriously, what's going on?"

He avoided her gaze, unsure of how to handle the situation. Then, he thought of the perfect way out.

"You can answer that if you answer this question."

"Okay, what's the question?"

"What do you think Hayner was going to do if I hadn't interrupted earlier?"

Olette immediately blushed a deep red, trying to stutter out an answer. "H-How should I know?! You should be asking Hayner, not me!" She turned her back to Pence. "W-We're getting left behind, so let's hurry up."

Without even waiting for an answer, she started jogging after the two that had gone ahead. Pence smiled. Hopefully, that was worth an inch of progress beween the two.

A/N: This chapter is finally done! Ugh, seriously, I dunno if I just lost my momentum because of the finals or what, but I had serious problems getting this down. And even now, I'm not entirely happy with it. I'm still not comfortable with dialogue dominated writing. Still, feels good to let this out. I'll try to update again before classes start again for me. Please review!