Chapter Eight

"Are we there yet?" Demyx called from the backseat. They were driving up to Sora's house to spend New Years there. Tidus was driving which meant that everyone HAD to wear their seatbelts. Anyone who had ever been in the same car as Tidus would know that he was a dangerous and speedy driver. He stomped on the gas as soon as the light turned green, and when it was yellow he sped up, thinking that he could make it.

"For the last time, NO!" Larxene yelled. She rubbed her temples, she was getting a big head ache from him. "How much longer do we have to put up with him?" She asked Sora.

"Just thirty more minutes." He said.

"Thirty fucking minutes? you're kidding right?" Larxene said.

"Fraid not." Sora smiled weakly.

"I swear, if Demyx says-" She started to say.

"Are we there yet?" Demyx yelled.

"Agh!!" Larxene cried in aggravation.

"Poor Larx." Yuna said. "Here, take this." She handed Larxene ear plugs.

"Thanks." Larxene smiled and shoved them in her ears happily.

"You know what would pass the time?" Selphie asked.

"Oh no." Seifer groaned. "Not that!"

"Let's have a sing along!" She cried.

"Good idea selph!" Pence smiled.

"What song?" Ollette asked. She was in a much better mood than yesterday, however her heart was not fully pieced back together quite yet.

"how about the wheel's on the bus?" She asked. "I mean, I know were in a car but they're the same thing right?"

Namine shrugged. She didn't like singing at all. What she didn't like even more was that Roxas was sitting right behind her. Every so often he kept kicking her seat. "Would you knock it off?" She snapped turning around to face him.

Roxas just smiled. "Are you annoyed?"

"Yeah." She hissed.

"Good." He grinned, kicking her chair again.

Namine let out an scream of aggravation and slumped back in her seat. Fuu smiled and whispered to Selphie, "Nows a good time to start singing."

Selphie nodded and inhaled. "THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND ROUND AND ROUND!" she sang.

Selphie sang so horribly, Tidus had to halt to a stop. "Stop the noise!" He yelled. "It's making my ears bleed!"

"Keep singing." Yuna encouraged her.

"She better not or else we won't be able to get to Sora's house any time soon and we'll have to put up with THAT" Tidus said pointing to Demyx.

"Fine." Selphie pouted. "Whatever you say, Teddy!"

Tidus groaned. He hated being called Teddy. Wakka smirked at him from the passenger seat. "Shut up," He muttered and started up the car again.

They had only 4 more miles to go before they reached Sora's house. He lived all the way in the middle class section of Twilight Town, whereas Axel lived in the richer more glamorous side. Though he didn't act snobby or dress like one would expect, he always bought the finest cars every year.

"Hey Demyx, I think you broke a record." Axel said. "You haven't opened your mouth in 5 minutes."

He notice Demyx grabbing his crotch and squirming in his seat. "I told you to use the bathroom!" He snapped.

"I thought I could hold it!" He squeaked.

Axel groaned, "Guys, we have to make a stop."

"Huh? why?" Sora asked.

"Dumbass over here thought that he could hold it until we got there and now he's on the brink of peeing in his pants." He explained.

"There's no rest stop anywhere near." Tidus pointed out.

"Guess you'll have to pee in the bushes." Axel snickered.

Tidus pulled over and Demyx rushed out into the woods. Tidus looked at the mirror and met Yuna's gaze. Wakka noticed and snapped him out of it. "Hey man what do you think you're doing!?" He asked.

"Nothing! What's wrong with you?" Tidus responded.

"For a second there I thought you were staring at Yuna." He whispered.

"Don't be silly. I've moved on from her." He scoffed.

"Mmkay. You better be telling the truth man." Wakka said slinking back to his seat.

Tidus tried telling himself over and over again, but somehow he couldn't believe it. Did he really still Love Yuna?

Demyx hurried back in pleased that he didn't feel like his penis would burst. "Let's go!" He exclaimed. "I wanna get there soon!"

Tidus started up the car and checked the mirror to see if Yuna was still gazing at him. She was now turned to Ollette and Kairi.

Hayner watched Ollette from the corner of his eyes. 'Stop it!' he scolded himself. She's been your friend since pre-k. Nothing is ever going to happen between her and me. 'But I wish something would' He slapped himself.

Zexion noticed and asked, "What did you do that for?"

"Oh." He blushed. "Uh...There was a bug on me."

Zexion stared at him hard. He didn't believe it, but he shrugged it off and continued writing in the journal Rikku had given him.

Roxas sat in between Pence and Seifer so that they wouldn't bicker over something stupid. "Hey, were almost here." Pence said.

"No duh, captain obvious." Seifer said. "Were in Sora's driveway."

"Why do you always have to do that? Why do you have to always put me down?" Pence snapped.

"I'm not putting you down. I just like to point out your mistakes." Seifer said.

"Well it's getting annoying." Pence grumbled.

"Whine whine whine! That's all I ever hear from you!" Seifer exclaimed.

"Me Me Me! don't you ever stop to think about MY feelings?" Pence cried dramatically.

"Quit it you guys! Save it for CLASS DEBATES." Roxas said. The group exited from the hummer and walked along the path that led to the Patio.

Sora jingled the keys in his hands and unlocked the door. He motioned for Kairi and the rest to go before him. After everyone was inside, he locked the door.

"Cozy." Axel said, scanning the room.

"Not bad." Roxas commented. He looked at his watch. "Wow. It's still too early to party."

"That's okay. We still need to get the stuff anyway. Come on Wakka, were going to get you the perfect disguise!" Yuffie giggled, dragging him out the door.

Seifer made himself at home and sank into the couch beside Sora. "Are you gonna tell her yet?" He asked.

"Soon. If I don't chicken out that is." Sora whispered back.

"I'm not gonna let you wuss out on this one." Seifer grinned.

"What're you guys talking about?" Selphie asked.

"None of your business!" Seifer hissed.

"Let me guess, Sora is going to tell Kairi today?" Selphie guessed.

"How'd you know?" Sora asked.

"Puh-lease. It's written all over your face, plus I read your diary." She said quickly.

Sora blushed. He had to find a better hiding place for his journal. "Just don't say anything to her okay?" He pleaded.

"I won't." Selphie smiled.

"You seriously trust her?" Seifer asked.

"Well...yeah." Sora said unsure of himself.

"She's got the biggest mouth in all of Twilight Town I tell ya." Seifer informed him.

Meanwhile

Wakka stared at himself in the mirror. He was dressed in a tight black shirt and dark blue jeans. His hair was slicked back, and Yuffie had added a fake orange mustache on to his face. He was also heavily covered in Make up. "You sure this will work?" He asked.

"Yeah, make up always makes a person look older." Yuffie replied.

"If you say so." Wakka said, pulling a cap on and entering the store. He rummaged through the place looking for coors and some vodka.

Once he had picked up enough for his friends, he lifted them onto the counter to pay. "How much?" He said in a gruff voice.

The cashier just stared at him. "twenty dollars"

"twenty dollars for all this? I don't have that much with me!" Wakka cried forgetting his deep, gruff voice.

"Well, you bought quite a lot of stuff." The cashier replied.

"Bull shit. I'll give you ten dollars and a piece of gum." Wakka tried his hand at bargaining.

Yuffie watched in horror. She ran in to check on him. "Way to act like a mature adult!" She whispered.

"I'm just playin!" He quickly added. "Gimme some munny." He said to Yuffie.

"How much?" She asked.

"Twenty." He replied.

"What? for this crap!?" She exclaimed.

"Take it or leave it." The cashier said boredly.

"I'll give you twelve dollars for it." Yuffie said.

"Twenty." The man said.

"Thirteen."

"twenty"

"fourteen"

"twenty"

"fifteen"

"twenty"

"sixteen"

"twenty"

"eighteen?"

"twenty"

"twenty. and that's as far as I go!" Yuffie yelled.

"Sold." the cashier said bagging the items.

"Sucker." Yuffie said walking out of the store.

"Uh..you realize that you paid for the amount he asked for right?" Wakka said.

Yuffie's face fell. She had just remembred that she was the worst bargainer alive.

Meanwhile

Namine and the girls were huddled in one room and the boys in the other. "Kairi, you're going to be so happy when I tell you this." Selphie smiled.

"Really? tell me!" Kairi pleaded.

"I just heard that Sora is going to confess his love to you." She grinned.

Kairi let out a squeal and started dancing. "Oh my god! I've been waiting for this moment all my life! When's he going to tell me?" She asked.

Selphie shrugged. "I don't know. Just pretend that you don't know about it, okay?"

Kairi felt so giddy inside. She now officially had everything she could ever want. Loyal friends, a Wonderul family, and Sora.

"And I've got good news for you too Ollette." Selphie added.

"Hm? what is it?" Ollette asked.

"I saw Hayner staring all googly eyed at you!" Selphie smiled.

"Ew." She said bitterly.

Fuu raised an eyebrow. "What're you talking about, you like Hayner."

"I LIKED him. I don't know why I did. He's a jerk." Ollette said.

"Was it because of last night?" Yuna asked.

Ollette hesitated before answering. "Yeah."

"He's just trying to hide his emotions. He likes you." Rikku assured her.

"He has a funny way of showing it." Ollette mumbled. "I've moved on. I don't know what I ever liked about that jerk."

"You don't mean that." Namine said.

"I do," Ollette said stubornly. "I've sworn off of love. I don't need it anyway. Right Larxene? we don't need a guy to make us happy!?" She looked at Larxene who looked at her feet sheepishly.

"No...." Ollette groaned.

"I can't help it. Everything he does makes me feel.....giddy." Hearing those words come out of her mouth made her want to gag.

"Who is it!?" Kairi asked excitedly.

"How long have you liked him?" Namine asked, surprised as well.

"It's A-Axel." She forced herself to say his name. "And I've liked him since the beginning of the year." She looked away in shame.

"That's great!" Selphie cried. "You two would look cute together!"

"Please don't say that." Larxene whined.

"Why not?" Namine said. "It's the truth."

Larxene blushed. "Can we move on?" She asked.

"So who do you like?" Selphie asked Yuna. "Now that you and Tidus are over?" She asked, trying to hide her pleasure.

"I'm not ready to date. Me and Tidus have been together since middle school." Yuna replied. "I don't think I'll be dating again until college." She smiled.

"You can't be serious?" Rikku said. "There's plenty of hot guys around!" She cried.

"Thinking about how much history me and Tidus have, it's hard imagining what life would be like with another guy." Yuna replied.

"Fuu, who do you like?" Yuna asked, changing the subject.

"I think we all know." Namine grinned.

"Seifer? You two do hang out a lot." Larxene said.

"So why don't you make a move?" Rikku asked.

"Cause that's the guy's job!" Fuu exclaimed.

"Hate to break it to you, but Seifer's never going to make the move. He's always late. He thinks he has all the time in the world to ask you." Selphie said.

Fuu tried to smile. She knew it was true. "So what? I should ask him out?" She found that weird since she was a traditional type of girl.

"No. You don't HAVE to ask him. I've got a plan that will MAKE him ask you out." Selphie grinned.

"And whats that?" Fuu said with interest.

"You can't wait for him forever right?" Selphie began.

Actually, she could. But for arguments sake, she nodded her head. Selphie continued on saying, "So ask someone out and make sure that he knows that you're taken. He'll get jealous and probably try to scare the guy away and then poof! once he gets the guy to break up with you, he's all yours."

"You sure that will work?" Fuu asked.

"Have my plans ever failed?" Selphie replied.

"A lot of times, actually." Kairi chimed in.

"That was all in the past. Besides, I have a new mind set. I'm more mature and brainier." Selphie smiled.

"A more mature and brainier Selphie?" Kairi scoffed. "That'll be the day when Demyx decides to quit trying to get discovered by an agency."

Meanwhile

The boys camped out in Sora's room, which was neat and tidy thanks to his clean freak mom."So when're you going to ask her out exactly?" Tidus asked.

"At midnight." Sora replied.

"And he's not going to chicken out this time." Seifer added.

"He better not." Axel said.

Roxas wasn't listening much to their conversation, who cared about who dated who anyway? sure he was happy for Sora, but sometimes it seemed like his whole life was wrapped around Kairi and Roxas wasn't so sure he wanted his life to be like that. Besides, he couldn't even date girls because of his stupid allergy.

"Riku, when're you going to ask out Namine?" Zexion asked.

"When the time is right." Riku replied simply. Roxas secretly wished that the "right time" would never happen.

"It seems like everyone's going to be hooking up soon." Pence said. "When are you going to ask Fuu out?" He asked Seifer.

"Soon, I guess." Seifer wasn't sure himself. He liked Fuu. A lot. But he knew she would always be there for him. He didn't need to rush things.

"I think you might lose her, if you don't hurry up and ask." Demyx said.

"I won't lose her," Seifer replied. "She likes me back, and she'll wait for me." He said with confidence.

"How about you Axel? Do you have a girl you've been thinking to ask out?" Zexion asked.

"No. I don't think that I'm ready to tie myself down to just one girl." He replied.

"I think you're scared to fall in love." Riku taunted.

"Me? I'm not scared of anything." Axel said defensively.

"Except for a little thing called love." Riku retorted.

"Just because I don't go around wanting to tie myself to a girl like you guys, does not make me chicken!" Axel snapped.

"It only makes sense. You've never gone out with a girl since Aerith." Riku pointed out.

"That's because I realized how good it was to be free once I broke up with her." Axel replied.

"YOU didn't break up with her. SHE broke up with you." Riku reminded him.

"Whatever." Axel grumbled.

The door bursted open and Yuffie and Wakka walked in to greet them. "We brought the Alcohol, so drink up!" Yuffie smiled thowing everyone cans of beer.

Zexion looked at his watch. "It's five o' clock. I guess it's okay to start the party."

They heard the doorbell ring. "Who could that be?" Sora asked making his way to the door.

"Heard about the party, should be good right?" Leon asked entering into the house. Cloud and a bunch of other kids from their school followed him in.

"What are they doing here?" Yuffie asked.

Sora shrugged. More and more people kept filing in. "How'd you hear about the party?" He asked Leon.

"I heard it from Marluxia. Don't ask me how he knew about it." Leon replied.

Sora looked at his friends and shrugged. "There's room to spare." He said.

While the guys were partying and socializing, Roxas kicked back in the corner drinking punch. Selphie noticed this and walked over to him, remembering not to touch him. "Quit hogging all the punch," Selphie smiled. "Why aren't you enjoying?"

"I am enjoying." Roxas lied. It wasn't much fun watching all his friends dance and flirt. It wasn't fair that he had to have a stupid rash thanks to a certain someone.

"You're lying." Selphie said.

"Is it that obvious?" Roxas asked.

Selphie nodded her head. "Now get your bum up and lets dance at least an arms length away!" Selphie said.

"No thanks. I don't think that's such a good idea." Roxas replied.

"Get up or I'll touch you!" She threatened.

Roxas sighed and got up. "You guys keep using my allergy against me." He muttered.

Namine sat in the corner with Ollette, sipping their drinks. Namine never had alcohol before, but she figured that she would give it a cringed. It wasn't tasty at all. Ollette didn't like it either, so they left their drinks to the side.

"Look at Kairi, she looks like she's going to pee in her pants." Ollette laughed. "She's anxious for Sora to ask her out."

"They're actually going to be an item and on new years eve, that's real special." Namine commented.

"When do you think Riku's going to pop the question?" Ollette asked her.

"I don't know. Sometimes I can't even tell if he likes me or not." She stared at the floor.

"What do you mean?" Ollette asked.

"When he looks at me, it's more like a brotherly type of thing. But the way he acts around me, is something a boyfriend would do." Namine said. "If that makes sense." She added.

"Riku's complex. That's what drew Kairi in." Ollette said.

"Kairi liked Riku?" Namine asked shocked.

Ollette nodded. "He liked her too. But at the same time, she liked Sora. Things got complicated and she wound up choosing Sora over him."

"He must have been heartbroken. I mean, Sora's his best friend." Namine said.

"He ran away from campus that day and didn't come back for three days." Ollette replied.

"That's when he found out about the place." Namine said sofly to herself.

"What?" Ollette asked.

"Oh, nothing." Namine smiled.

Selphie rushed over to the two, Roxas following behind her. "Namine come here!" Selphie pulled her to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Namine asked.

"Dance with Roxas! it's for the new year, new start, new everything!" Selphie explained.

Namine looked at Roxas who looked just as reluctant as she was. "Do we have to? Can't we just toast to each other?" she asked.

"It's not like I want to dance with you. Selphie threatened to trigger my allergy if I didn't." Roxas said.

"Well she can't get to me that easy." Namine said stubornly.

"Oh yes I can." Selphie grinned mischievously. "If you don't, I'll tell Riku about your dream."

"You wouldn't." Namine said with panic in her voice.

"I would." Selphie smiled.

Namine groaned and got up to her feet. "Well come on," Namine said to Roxas. "Let's just get it over with."

Roxas smiled grimly and tried to ease off the tension. The two made their way to the dance floor, trying not to draw attention but it was inevitable. Everyone had their eyes on them. Namine didn't like the attention at all, what if Riku saw her with him?

The song suddenly ended and a slow song came on to their dismay. "Crap." Roxas smiled.

Namine smiled back too. "How are we supposed to dance with your condition?"

"I guess we don't." Roxas said, faking relief. Oddly enough he was actually looking forward to dancing with her.

"Oh." Namine said slightly dissapointed. Okay, a lot dissapointed.

"Oh yes you guys are!" Selphie jumped in. "I don't care if you two have to 'air dance' or whatever, but you have to dance!"

Roxas smiled slightly, and held his arm around her waist. He was careful not to actually hold her. Namine did the same, not actually making contact with him. The two swayed akwardly to the music, laughing at themselves.

"Wow. We look stupid." Namine blurted.

"Yeah. I guess this is another one of those rare things I agree with you on." He chuckled.

The two smiled at each other, cherishing another rare moment that the two didn't fight. Namine noticed how blue his eyes were, and wondered why she'd never noticed that. Maybe it was because she'd never been this close to him. Without noticing it, she rested her head on his chest, and he rested his arm around her waist.

The song had ended, but the two hadn't moved. Riku had to break in. He tapped Roxas' shoulder, "Do you mind if I borrow her?" He asked.

"No. She's all yours." He said with a hint of reluctance in his voice.

Namine smiled, but for some reason she felt irritated that Riku had to interrupt them. Roxas walked over to his friends, who were busy playing beer pong.

It was Zexion vs. Demyx. Zexion had lousy aim, but he was smart and could come up with a strategy easily. Demyx wasn't smart enough to think of a game plan, but he had pretty good aim.

"I'm betting on Demyx." Seifer said.

"I think Zexion has it in the bag." Axel said.

"Wanna make a bet?" Seifer asked. "Forty dollars Demyx wins."

"Okay, I'm in." Axel says with confidence.

Meanwhile

Hayner scanned the room for Ollette. He spotted her sitting alone in the corner. 'God, she looks so pretty.' He thought to himself. Without thinking, he began walking towards her.

Ollette hadn't noticed Hayner at first, but then he asked her in a shaky voice, "Hey Ollette, I uh, noticed that you were sitting alone and I thought that you might be lonely so I came over here to, uh..ask you if you want to maybe dance with me?"

Ollette raised her eyebrow, "Do I look lonely to you?"

"No. No, I just thought that you would want some company." He said nervously.

"Well I don't." She replied.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Did I stutter?" She said rather coldly.

"Okay." Hayner said trying to smile. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and left her alone. He turned around quick enough for her not to see how dissapointed he was.

Ollette noticed that Fuu was watching her. She frowned at her to let her know that she was being mean to Hayner. Ollette shrug it off. Sure she felt bad about waving him off like that, but how many times did HE wave her off like that? She always held his books for him and he didn't even give the slightest notion that he appreciated her for that. There was also the time where she had comforted him in his time of need when his pet ferret had died. After that, he cheered himself up by going on a date with a girl named Xion. Ollette always gave up her seat for him at the subway if there were no seats left because she knew how hard he worked at his job. He repayed her by flirting to the girl next to him. Things weren't all bad with him though. There were some times when he did show her that he cared about her. That he actually knew she existed. There was a time when some kids running around had accidently knocked her over and sprained her leg and Hayner was the one to chase after them and make them apologize to her. Also, he was the one who ditched class to talk to her when she was ill in bed. Hayner wasn't always disregarding her, but that didn't change anything. He had broken her heart and that was that.

"Hayner? What's up with you?" Roxas asked noticing how down he was.

Hayner shrugged and tried to hide his dejection. "Nothing. I'm fine, really."

"You don't look like it." Roxas said.

"I'm smiling. Do I look sad to you?" He asked putting on a fake smile.

"You're faking it," Roxas knew Hayner all too well. "Is it Ollette?"

"No...Maybe....Yeah." He resigned.

"Spill." Roxas ordered. He sat down on the coach and waved him to sit next to him.

Hayner sighed. He didn't LIKE opening up. He felt as though it made him seem weak. "Me and Ollette have been friends since...since forever," Hayner began. "When we kissed, I felt something I shouldn't be feeling. I think I like her."

"Is that it?" Roxas said. "If you like her, ask her out."

"I tried asking her to dance with me and she just turned me down. I think she's mad at me for some reason." Hayner replied.

"Mad at you? What for?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know. I didn't DO anything to piss her off!" Hayner exclaimed.

"Must be that time of year again." Roxas mumbled.

Hayner looked at Roxas with uncertainty. He wasn't sure that that was the case, but it did make feel better to think that she wasn't mad at him for some reason and the only reason why she was acting like that was because she had her period.

Meanwhile

Namine and Riku swayed to the music. Namine felt as though she was walking on air. Being with Riku made always made her feel this way. While they were dancing, Namine had noticed that Roxas was comforting Hayner. Riku noticed her watching them and said, "Roxas is a real nice guy. He's always there for you."

"So I hear." Namine replied."I never thought he was a nice guy, but seeing this made me change my mind. It's weird, I know." She smiled.

"Not as weird as the two of you dancing." Riku grinned.

"Oh that," Namine blushed. "His allergy made it impossible for me to actually make contact with him."

"No, not that. I saw you two holding each other. Like, making contact with each other." Riku replied.

Namine blushed. "..I guess I got lost in the music."

"The weird thing was, Roxas didn't break out in rashes." Riku said. "It's like he's cured or something."

"I hope so." Namine said. "It must suck for him not to be able to get close to a girl because of his condition."

Riku nodded. "I think he'll be happy to know that he's okay now. At least I hope he is."

Meanwhile

Sora looked at the clock. He was so nervous that he had locked himself in his room. He could put this off for another time right? The door opened unexpectedly and Seifer popped up. Sora was surprised, He thought that he had locked it.

"How'd you get in?" He asked.

"I live in the ghetto. lock picking is what I do." Seifer grinned.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. What are you doing in my room? come to make sure that I don't chicken out?"

"Nah, I lost the bet to Axel and I owe him forty bucks. I was going to see if you had some cash hidden in your room," Seifer grinned. "Anyways, how're you holding up?" he asked.

"About that...I think I'll just wait a little longer before I tell her." Sora said avoiding his eyes.

"You're not doing that!" Seifer snapped. "You're going to man up and tell her, even if I have to make you!"

"But she'll be there waiting for me! we've been friends forever. Like you and Fuu. I have plenty of time to tell her!" Sora protested.

"Fuu and Kairi are different. Fuu's not going anywhere, but Kairi? She's waited for you for her whole life. I'm telling you, if you don't tell her now, you'll never have another chance to tell her." Seifer explained.

"And Fuu hasn't been waiting for you for her whole life?" Sora snapped.

"She'll wait for me no matter what. I know for a fact that she's not going anywhere." Seifer said.

"How do you know that?" Sora quipped. "I don't suppose she told you so."

"I just know it. We have something special." Seifer responded. Even when Fuu didn't say a thing, he knew what she was thinking and same went for her. He didn't have to say a thing for her to know what he had on his mind. The bond they had was something not even a millionaire could afford to buy in a friend.

Sora fixed his eyes on the floor, knowing he was right. Fuu and Seifer were one of those couples that didn't have to say or show anything to the world to let them know how much they liked each other. "Okay," He mumbled. "I'll do it."

Seifer beamed, "I knew you could do it."

"Let's hope I can come up with something smooth to say?" Sora smiled weakly.

"That's dreaming too big." Siefer replied.

Meanwhile

Larxene and Tidus watched with envious eyes as their crushes flirted and danced with someone that was not either of them. Axel was drunk and flirting with Tifa and Yuna was sandwhiched between Cloud and Leon.

"I tell you, if I didn't have a record with the cops, I would so strangle that girl!" Larxene proclaimed.

"And if I had the strength of a thousand men, I would totally beat those man whores up." Tidus added.

"What does she have that I don't?" Larxene asked.

"Nice hair, nice legs, nice smile, a perfect nose, oh and boobs." Tidus replied not taking his eyes off of Yuna for one second.

Larxene smacked him upside the head. "That was a rhetorical question!" She snapped, growing conscious of her body.

"I don't get it. She would never dance that way with me!" Tidus exclaimed. "She wouldn't do a lot of things with me, her boyfriend since seventh grade for crying out loud!"

"Funny how things work out." Larxene eyed Axel.

The two sighed. There was no way either of them could compete for their crush. Not when you had miss beauty queen and the two hottest guys in school to compare to.

"We have to do something." Tidus said finally.

"And what do you suppose we do exactly?" Larxene asked.

"We gotta make them jealous somehow." Tidus said.

"How? Do you know what were up against?" Larxene reminded him.

"I know that Yuna still wants me deep down. I saw her looking at me." Tidus replied.

Larxene shrugged. "It could be a look of hate."

"No, she was staring at me like the way she used to when we were still together." Tidus said.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Larxene asked.

"We pretend to....hook up." Tidus said. "I know it's crazy, but it's just crazy enough to work!" He said quickly.

"I can see how it'll work for you, but how will that get me to....Axel." She still couldn't believe that she had told him that she had liked Axel. She blamed it on the alcohol.

"We pretend to be a couple and we barge in on their conversation. You can show her up on how much better you know Axel, and then Axel'll wish he was with you rather than with Tifa." Tidus said.

"It couldn't hurt to try. After all, that skank doesn't know anything about Axel." Larxene said.

Meanwhile

"It's almost midnight and he hasn't asked me yet!" Kairi said frantically.

"Give him more time. I'm sure he'll ask soon." Selphie said.

Rikku nodded. "You know how he is. He gets nervous easily."

"I know, I'm just so..so excited. I WANT him to ask me right NOW!" She said.

"You'll have to wait, princess." Fuu said.

Kairi sighed and flopped on the couch. She had to wait, but god couldn't he speed it up? She couldn't wait to spread the word that she, Kairi, was going out with Sora!

"Hey everybody, it's almost midnight in 3....2.....1!" Yuffie led the countdown.

Sora sucked in a big gulp of air and pushed himself forward. It was now or never, like Seifer told him. "K-Kairi." He said in a shaky voice.

"Hm?" Kairi said, trying to hide how happy she was. She knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"I..uh...I." Sora found it hard to just say it.

"You..?" Kairi motioned for him to go on.

Sora gulped, "I had a good time, what about you?" He said quickly and walked away.

Seifer pulled him by the back of his shirt and dragged him back towards Kairi. "You are not chickening out, you hear me?" He hissed.

Sora sighed and tried to calm down. The jitters were getting the best of him. He faced Kairi again, this time ready to confess. "Kairi, would you be mine?" He asked.

Kairi beamed. "Yes, yes I would!" She gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Finally!" Ollette said. "It took you how many years to get the guts and ask her out?"

"seven years." Sora grinned.

"A toast to the newest couple!" Riku raised his glass.

Meanwhile

Larxene and Tidus walked together hand in hand and sat next to Axel and Tifa. "Oh hi there!" Tidus said.

Tifa waved and Axel nodded. "What are you two doing?" he asked.

"We came here to tell you that Larxene and I hooked up." Tidus replied.

Axel just laughed, "You and Larx? good one."

"No joke. We are going out. How do you feel about that?" Larxene asked.

"Seriously? if you guys are happy." He shrugged.

"Aw..what a nice guy." Tifa cooed.

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Yeah he's a real nice guy. He even robbed a blind man once."

"That was in the past. This is a new year." Tifa sniffed.

"So, what do you two have in common?" Tidus asked.

"I like participating in school activities." Tifa said.

"I don't." Axel replied.

"I like pop music." Tifa said.

"I like rock." Axel countered.

"Well....I like rock too. We like the same things" Tifa lied.

"Really? then what's his favorite band?" Larxene asked.

Tifa coughed and ignored the question. "What do you two have in common?"

"We both don't like the same people." Larxene smiled, hinting at her.

Tifa glared. "You two make a cute couple, right Axie?"

"Axie?" Axel spat out. "I DO pet names."

Larxene smiled, the plan was working out.

"He also doesn't like working and school work. But I bet you knew that." Larxene grinned.

"Of course I did." Tifa snapped. "You know what? I think someone's jealous?" she grinned mockingly.

"J-jealous? of what?" Larxene stammered.

"I think she's on to us!" Tidus mouthed to here.

Larxene kicked him from under the table and mouthed, "no duh!"

"Why don't we go upstairs, so we can have a litte more privacy?" Tifa asked.

"Now!? Can't we do that later?" Axel said.

"I said now!" Tifa snapped.

"No offense, but I really don't feel like going upstairs with you." Axel replied calmly. "But maybe Cloud or Leon would, they're always horny anyway."

Tifa glared at him and then stormed off. Tidus looked at Axel with bewilderment. "Dude. You just turned her down! what's wrong with you?"

Axel shrugged. "She was too demanding."

Larxene smiled, pleased that the plan had worked.

"Okay, well have fun. Me and Larx are going to talk to the trio now." Tidus said pointing to Yuna, Cloud, and Leon.

Axel nodded, and the two left. Yuffie had spotted him alone and sat down next to him. "You really think that they're a pair?" She asked him.

"No they're faking it to make Yuna and Me jealous." Axel replied.

"Did it work?" Yuffie asked.

"Me jealous of them? No. But they got what they wanted. I turned Tifa down." Axel said.

"You know what that means right?" Yuffie grinned and poked him in the shoulder playfully. "Larx likes you!"

Axel snorted. "Chyeah right. She's only looking out for me."

"Okaaaay. Don't say I didn't warn ya!" She smiled.

Axel rolled his eyes but managed to smile. "And here comes Reno."

Yuffie groaned. Reno was her crazy next door neighbor who was obsessed with her. "Hide me." She squeaked sliding under the table.

"Have you seen Yuffie?" Reno asked.

"Yeah, she ran inside the freezer." Axel said.

"Haha, nice try but I'm not falling for that one....again." Reno replied.

"She ran upstairs." Axel lied.

Reno nodded and headed for that direction.

"Thank you!" Yuffie said.

"Yeah whatever. Now you can't say that I never did anything for you." Axel replied.

The party was a success. Sora managed to ask the girl of his dreams to be his girlfriend, Axel was forty dollars richer, Tidus managed to make Yuna jealous, Larxene got Axel to turn Tifa down, and Roxas was able to forgive Namine for what she had done to him in the past. Maybe it was because he had learned to let go of the past that he was officially cured. Everyone was happy, all but two people and that was Ollette and Hayner. Ollette had spent the day wondering what she ever saw in Hayner, and Hayner spent the day wondering why he felt this way about Ollette. But on the bright side, Sora and Kairi were now officially the cutest couple in all of Twilight Town!

so that's it for chapter eight. in the future look out for a valentines day special, a romeo and juliet spin off, tidus' evil twin brother, selphie's plan for seifer to ask out fuu in action, demyx becomes famous, a disastorous date, and heartbreak. i hope you enjoy the story and leave a review!