"Excuse me?" Mr. Even asked.
"What did you just say?" she asked again, looking intensely at his reaction to see if he was lying or not.
She didn't really get wiser of that so he was either very good at hiding when he was lying, or he was simply telling her the truth.
"Excuse me," he repeated, lifting his eyebrows at her.
"No, I mean before that."
"What?"
"What did you say before 'excuse me?'" she asked again, now slightly irritable because he just wouldn't get it.
"I just told you; I said 'what?'" the teacher replied, perplexed by now.
Hailey sighed. Both were growing impatient with each other now. That much was obvious. This was going to be a very long day. Was it that hard to understand her?
"What did you say between 'what' and 'excuse me' and after you asked Riku if I was speaking the truth?'" she tried once again, but to no avail.
Everyone was looking weird at her by now, too.
She even thought that she heard someone say, Wow, what the hell? What's the heck's wrong with the new girl?
Not that she cared about what they were thinking right now.
"I said nothing. I was just... thinking. Are you alright, Hailey? You look a little confused," the teacher noted.
Huh? Why didn't anyone hear what he said? I'm not going to believe that I actually heard what he was thinking! That's far too weird. Maybe it's a new trick of the Organization... she pondered.
"It's nothing. Just a headache," she swiftly replied, so he wouldn't get suspicious.
"Ah yes, I understand. It's probably because you're new here," the teacher said.
What did the fact that she was new here have to do with her having a headache? It just didn't make sense to her. He really was weird. No, scratch that. They were all acting weird here, from the headmaster and teachers to students like Kairi.
Okay, now this was just great. She was hearing voices in her head! It was probably because of what happened today... or that was what she guessed.
"So... what have you decided, Sir?" Hailey asked him.
The teacher looked questioning at her. She sighed, wondering if everyone was that slow today, or was she simply too fast for them?
"The punishment," she reminded him, with a voice that almost said 'duh.'
"Oh! Of course." Mr. Even looked at Riku and said, "It seems that you're lucky, because this time I'll believe you. But next time you will visit the headmaster, no matter what! Is that clear, young man?"
"Yes, Sir!" the boy replied, but everyone could hear how sarcastic he was actually being.
Some students chuckled again.
Hailey just couldn't believe it. Mr. Even actually believed her lie. How stupid could people be? For a moment, she had really thought he would send her to Xehanort as well for being so annoying.
"But I think it's better for you to sit somewhere else, Hailey, so that you can read the things I write on the board. We don't want you to get bad notes, no do we?" the teacher said, "how about… next to the young man who helped you before?"
Okay... She just lied in his face and her "punishment" was the best thing that had happened to her today. How weird sounded that? Not that she had any reasons to complain. She didn't mind this at all.
"Okay, that's fine," she said, once again cheering in silence and trying not to sound too happy about this idea, just in case he would change his mind by seeing her in such a good mood.
She didn't want that to happen, of course.
Hailey did what the teacher suggested and got up from her place, leaving a perplexed Selphie behind.
"But that's not fair! What about Nick? He always sits over there!" Selphie asked all of a sudden.
Hey, just shut up, will ya? So you're not that nice as I thought you would be to me. Why is she trying to ruin everything? Is it because she's jealous? Hailey thought, slowly getting mad at her now.
"Now he's sitting right next to you. That's his punishment because he's always late. I'm wondering what's happened now to him. Which excuse would he use today? Did he get attacked by talking ducks and dogs or did his cat die... for the 1000th time?" the teacher wondered, the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. "And here I thought that cats have only nine lives."
Hailey sighed, relieved. That was a close one.
"But... I can't see the board either from here," Selphie whined, probably ignoring the fact that the teacher just insinuated it was a punishment to sit next to her.
"That's also why Nick is going to sit next to you from now on. Nick has glasses, so if you can't read what I write on the board, you can ask him quietly."
"But I hate-" Selphie started again.
"-That's enough already! I want to continue my class now."
Haha, good for you, girl. That's what you get for trying to get in my way.
When the teacher continued his class, the boy next to her whispered in her ear, "Hey, thanks for saving me from that monster. What an action."
"No problem. It was the least I could do," she smiled, blushing slightly.
The boy smiled back. At once, her heart started beating faster than ever. If she had the chance to look a little bit longer in those beautiful eyes, then she was sure she would have melted away like chocolate in the sun. At least now she could make good use of her time; daydreaming about him! That teacher really had to practice his writing. She couldn't even read it from here, but hey, he didn't have to know that, she was sitting great here.
Whoa, she saved me! I can't believe it. But it looks like she still hasn't recognized me. What a pity, she heard.
It was the boy next to her. But the strangest thing was that his lips didn't move. She had really heard his voice saying that, though.
What was happening to her? Who did she constantly hear voices? Was she ill? She put her hand against her forehead to check that, but her temperature seemed to be normal. How weird...
After seventeen extraordinarily long minutes the bell finally rang.
"Pff, finally. I thought I was dying of boredom here. Saved by the bell," the boy mumbled.
Hailey chuckled. He had a good sense of humour.
"Believe me, you were not the only one," she noted.
He laughed softly at that, a soft, melodious sound. All the students tried to get out of the class, as soon as they could. There even was a blockage by the door for a short while, because four students wanted to walk out of the door at the same time.
Wow, some popular teacher that is...
When Hailey finally was outside, she saw Sora coming her way, but he hadn't seen her yet. She waved at him to get his attention.
When he saw Hailey, his usual goofy smile appeared on his face. "Hey! So how was your first class? Did you like it? Was the teacher nice to you?" he asked her.
She sighed. "Want to hear the truth? The teacher was surprisingly nice to me, but it was terrible. Mr Dilan is so boring!"
"Oh, thanks... I've got him next," Sora laughed.
"Oh, poor you. You'd better not fall asleep in his class, otherwise he probably won't spare you," she warned.
Sora smiled. "Don't you worry. I won't. Besides, I wouldn't dare! Who does anyways?"
"I do."
They both turned around, just in time to see the silver-haired wonder calmly walk out of the class.
"Yeah, but you're an exception, like always," Sora countered, with a cross of his arms.
"No, you're just a pussy," the boy said playfully.
Sora stack his tongue out to his best friend.
"Looks like that's the only thing you can do, sticking out your tongue. Anyway, what are you doing here on your own? It almost looks like you've dumped Kairi somewhere and now you're looking for a new girl," the boy asked curiously.
"No, not really. I would never do that to her, even if she wouldn't kill me for it," Sora said laughing.
Hailey smiled, remembering her first encounter with the redheaded beauty.
"Pussy," he said, teasing Sora.
"Am not!" Sora yelled.
"Are too," his friend teased again.
"Am not!"
"Are too."
Sora sighed. "Yeah, right. Whatever."
"By the way, what's your name?"
Sora yelped. Some students, who walked past them, looked astonished at him, wondering what was wrong with him now.
"Eh... are you okay, Sora?" the boy asked, quirking an eyebrow and not sounding worried at all.
"What do you think? Of course I'm not okay! You've had a class with her, she's probably the prettiest girl of your class, beside Kairi of course, and you didn't even tell her your name? And then people wonder why you don't have a girlfriend. Sheesh, what kind of a human being are you actually? How do you want to get a girl then, huh? Huh?"
"Shut up. You're so immature," he mumbled, punching Sora lightly in his ribs.
"Ow, that hurts! Not everyone can be just as grown up as you, y'know?" Sora said, with a painful face.
He punched him back, but the boy didn't even move, like he didn't feel the blow at all.
"The name's Riku. Nice meeting you," the silver haired boy said, smiling a small smile at Hailey.
She blushed again. "Nice meeting you too."
"Eh, don't wanna break the conversation between you two lovebirds, but we're getting late. We've got exactly two minutes to get into the right class, before the teachers get angry," Sora began, teasing them.
Hailey blushed some more shades.
Riku saw it and said, threatening his best friend, "Stop it, Sora, or I'll go and call for Kairi. I'm sure she wants to see you again. Especially because of what you did to her..."
Sora became really pale after these words.
He gulped. "No, no. That's not necessary."
"I knew you would say that. So, Hailey. What've you got next?" Riku wanted to know.
"Um..." Hailey looked at her schedule, which she was still holding in her hands, before she replied with, "Economics with... Mr Braig. Hmm... it can't be that bad, right?"
"I really admire your courage, but don't be so sure. From now on, things can only get worse here. Keep that in mind," Riku said with an ominous voice.
"Thanks. That's… reassuring," Hailey said and she sighed.
Then how was she supposed to survive this year after hearing that?
"Sorry..."
"Look; even my hands are shaking. Well, I better get going. See ya!" Sora called.
He turned around. The door of Mr Dilan's classroom was still open. It looked inviting in a very scary way.
"Good luck, Sora."
"Yeah. Believe me: you'll need it," Riku continued.
"Thanks guys."
He shut the door. There was only silence now in the hallways. Hailey and Riku were the only one who were standing there, like they had nothing else to do.
"So... what've you got next, Riku?"
"The same..." he replied.
"The same?" she repeated, not understanding what he meant.
"As you..." he continued. "We must hurry up, though, 'cause we're kinda late, thanks to Sora and his chatting habit."
"Oh, okay," Hailey said.
They continued walking, in silence now.
Man, first too late for maths and now for economics too. I don't think I made such a good start...
After a short while, Riku stopped in front of a door.
"Watch this," he whispered with a smirk on his face.
He does look cute, even with that smirk on his beautiful face. I'm wondering what he wants to show me.
He opened the door with a huge sweep and run inside. She could hear a muffled boom in the background, yet very near them.
"Huh? Where's the teacher? Did you all throw him out of the window?" he cried, in a very entertainingly surprised way.
The class was silent for a moment. Just for a short moment. Then, as if on cue, they all started to laugh hysterically.
"Wait, what's wrong? Why are you laughing? I'm not that funny... am I?" Riku asked surprised.
"Just look behind the door, dude," a boy with short, spiky, blond hair said, while he laughed even harder.
Riku listened to his hint. He looked behind the door and saw the teacher. He was holding his nose with both of his hands. According to that muffled boom, it was probably broken, too.
"Huh? Mr. Braig, what - what are you doing there?" Riku asked in an amazed way.
But Hailey knew he was not amazed at all. She could tell that he was actually hoping that a small accident like this one would happen.
"M'leavin'," the teacher growled.
Hailey tried not to die of laughter. Her stomach began to hurt. He looked silly. Especially with that blinder, which reminded her of a pirate. The fact that his long, black, greying hair was tied to the back, only added more to that effect.
"But what about the new girl? Who's gonna introduce her then?" Riku asked.
"You. I'll be back by then," was the growling answer.
He walked out of the class and shut the door, still holding onto his nose. It was a wonder that Riku had understood him.
"Man, that was awesome. I've always wanted to do that. I'll never forget that look on his face. That's what you get when you tell me that I look at him like he drowned my goldfish," Riku laughed.
"Wow, talk about revenge," Hailey commented, laughing lightly.
The whole class was immediately silent, all looking at her, as if it was a wonder that she could talk. Oh, she and her big mouth again... Maybe she should say nothing anymore.
"Eh... did I say something?" Hailey asked.
"Say Riku, who have you brought with you?" the boy who gave Riku the hint asked, looking from him to Hailey and back again.
"I'll tell you, if you stop staring at her like that. She's a girl, not one or another exotic animal in the zoo."
The boy blushed a little bit and looked at the floor. He said nothing anymore, probably feeling more embarrassed than ever.
"That's much better, right?" Riku asked.
Hailey nodded. She tried to look calm, but from the inside, she was the opposite way. It was unbelievable, really, his bluntness actually worked.
"This is Hailey. And for everyone who still doesn't know yet, after staring at her for ages: she's new here. Be nice at her, otherwise that old Dilan will punish you all. Is that clear?"
The students laughed again.
"According to me, Hailey is a great person. She's also a lifesaver, 'cause she saved me from that evil monster, called Dilan. That means I owe her. So if anyone harms her, he or she doesn't only have a problem with Dilan, but also with me. Got it?"
The class was silent for a short moment. Then they all said at the same time, "Yes, sir!"
Hailey was amazed by these words, but she did not want that other students would notice it.
"Say Hailey, would you like to sit next to me again?" Riku asked softly, so that only she could hear him now.
She blushed madly, as another rush of adrenaline rushed through her body. Honestly, which girl wouldn't like that?
"I'd love to," she replied, following him to a group of four tables.
A/N: Sorry if Riku's so OOC sometimes... Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. ^-^