Roxas stared at the red-haired girl. She turned away, looking at her father. She requested alone time with Roxas. Roxas then followed Kairi to her room. They sat on the bed.
"Is this some kind of joke?" they asked each other in unison.
They was a bit of awkward silence that followed. Kairi then spoke.
"Honestly, you're that 'amazing woman's son'? She's always telling us how handsome, charming, and nice he is. Boy, was she wrong," she muttered.
"You're one to talk. How the hell can this be your house?" Roxas asked.
"Things look different with the fifty or so drunk teens, messy counters, and dark lighting. You should have recognized this was my house the moment you walked in."
"It looks different..."
They sat in uncomfortable silence.
Thousands things ran through Roxas's mind. If this was really happening, if this house always looked like this, how he wished Namine were there...
What if Ryoki and his mother got married? That would mean Kairi would be his sister. No way. Relationships his mother had never lasted long. The longest one was the one with his father, but that ended in divorce. Now his father is off in Radiant Garden with some blue-haired chick. Ryoki would never make it to marriage. Roxas wouldn't allow it.
Roxas decided there was no possible way his mother and Ryoki's relationship would become something too serious.
"What happened?"
Roxas whipped his head toward Kairi. "Huh?"
"Your arm...there's a burn mark," she said, pointing to it.
Roxas shrugged. "Let's say I can feel your anger at me from my dreams."
She raised an eyebrow. "What nonsense are you spitting out?"
"So you didn't really do this? You sure you didn't sneak into my house and hurt me in my sleep?"
"I AM NOT A STALKER."
Roxas held his hands up. "Sorry!"
Kairi glared at Roxas. He sweatdropped and looked the other way, hoping the party would end sooner.
The next day at school, Roxas sat in homeroom as his class began deciding who would play what role in the play. Roxas had read over the script. He would admit it wasn't bad. The story seemed to be a bit dark and gruesome at some times. Nevertheless, the teacher approved of it. The class representative stood at the white board and began writing down the names of the characters. She then dug into a box of slips of papers. Each paper had a name of the student in there. She would randomly pick a name out and write it on the board. The ending result surprised Roxas.
Josh: Roxas
Jess: Olette
"Can we redo that?" Roxas asked, raising his hand.
The class representative shook her head, "No. This is final. You'll be playing Josh, the solider. Olette will be playing your lover."
"Can we at least change the script? Josh and Jess 'do it' at least three times," Roxas pointed out.
"It's simply implied. Others can think they did something else. Roxas, you haven't been active in class at all lately. You really should participate and take this seriously. No changes will be made."
"I've been participating and all!" Roxas said defensively.
"Really? Then, what's my name?" the class representative asked.
Roxas froze, trying to remember. He looked around at his other classmates. They stared at him, curious if he knew their names. He looked at all of them, trying to conjure up one name. His eyes finally lay on Olette. She was the only one he knew in this class. Had he really not cared enough to learn the name of anyone else?
"You really don't know, do you?" the class representative said with a sigh. "Use this play to interact with more people Roxas. Meeting others is a big part of life."
Roxas sunk back in his chair, as his classmates turned away from him. Olette gave him one last glare before turning her attention back to the board.
At lunch, Roxas hesitated before walking toward the staircase to the roof. He took a deep breath. Instead, he went to where Hayner, Olette, and Pence usually sat during lunch. All had looked surprised upon seeing him. They exchanged glances at one another, trying to decide whether to speak to him or not.
"Hey guys," Roxas greeted. "It's been a while."
"So you remember us?" Hayner retorted.
"Hayner, shut up," Roxas groaned.
"Don't tell him to shut up!" Olette shouted. "What's with you? I can't believe I have to play your 'lover' in the play..."
"It's okay, Olette. You'll make it alive," Pence reassured.
Roxas sweatdropped, "Why am I being treated like some sort of virus?"
Hayner stood up to leave. Olette tried to get Hayner to stay, grabbing onto his shirt. Time seemed to have slowed down for a second. Hayner turned around to look at Olette. She fell over a bit. Hayner caught her and helped her up. She thanked him quietly. Roxas stared at the scene before him.
"Geez, why have you been so clumsy lately?" Hayner asked Olette. "Your face seems to get red a lot too. Have you been taking any medicine? I can't have one of my friends sick."
"She likes you."
Hayner and Olette both turned to Roxas, who recently spoke. Olette stared at him, horrified. Hayner had a look of confusion. Pence watched this from the sidelines, interested to see what would happen next. Olette became flustered, unable to speak.
"Olette likes you, Hayner. In a crush way. I don't see why can't you see it. It'll make sense once you think about it. It's true too. Ask Olette. She told me at Kairi's party," Roxas stated bluntly. "How can you not know this Hayner? You must be really be dense. That's true stupidity there."
The sound of Olette's hand slapping Roxas's cheek filled the air immediately. Olette's hands clenched into fists as she glared at Roxas. She seemed at the verge of tears. Roxas stared at the girl, realizing what he had just done.
"You're so cruel!" she yelled. "It's one thing to betray the trust I put into when I told you about me liking Hayner, but you went as far as to insult Hayner. You're acting like you're so high above us. You don't know us enough to judge us. Do you know why you don't know us -- why you don't know ANYONE? Because you're secluding yourself. I don't know why, but that's exactly what you're doing. Maybe you're afraid of accepting something new. Maybe you're afraid of all the responsibilities you'll have if you have more than a few friends."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! That's bullshit! You don't know me enough to say all of that. None of that shit is true!" Roxas shouted quickly. "I'm not afraid of anything like that!"
Roxas ran away from them.
Roxas and Namine drove home quietly after school. Roxas's mind was still on what Olette had said. Namine seemed to be able to tell he was upset.
"I didn't see you on the roof today," she said quietly.
"Shit happened."
"I see," Namine replied. "Roxas, what are you afraid of?"
Roxas became confused, "Why are you asking?"
Namine shrugged, "I feel like it. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
More silence followed for the next minute. Namine turned away and stared out the window, watching the familiar buildings disappear as quickly as they came in view.
"Remember when we were kids? We played a lot together, didn't we?" Roxas spoke quietly. "We had so much fun. I didn't have a care in the world back then. I could be oblivious to all the bad in the world. In my eyes, the world was amazing. I think I got lonely in that big world though. My dad started coming home later and I rarely got to see him. My mom always looked sad. She couldn't play with me as much as she used to."
"We met around that time."
Roxas glanced at Namine, "Really?
She nodded, still not looking at him, "I remember everything. The first conversation we had was you crying about your mom and dad."
Roxas's face became red. He stuttered, "Y-you don't have to remember that part!"
Namine laughed. She turned to face Roxas, smiling slightly. Roxas relaxed. He wondered why he felt so calm suddenly. Namine seemed to be the only one who makes him happy and stays with him. She was like that in the past too, as he remembered. She was always there.
"You were my light. When the divorce came, you got me the smile again," Roxas recalled. "I want to go back. To before I found out about the divorce. When I met you. Everything seemed so much more simpler and happy then. Ignorance is really bliss, isn't it? I don't want to leave this town anymore."
"You'll have to leave eventually, Roxas. Next year, you'll graduate high school and go to college. There are no colleges near by either. You'll have to say goodbye. You're going to become an adult and meet new people. You'll find success and happiness."
"No!" Roxas shouted. "I don't want to! I'd flunk high school if I have to to stay. I'll...!"
Roxas and Namine's eyes met in a stare. Her eyes pierced through his head. Roxas froze. He shook his head, deciding to not finish that thought and to focus on the road more. The rest of the car ride was in silence. Once Roxas reached his home, Namine got out of the car as usual and walked toward her home. Roxas still had no idea where she lived. She would always just walk to his house everyday.
"I hope things turn out alright you, Olette, Hayner, and Pence," she whispered to him before leaving.
Roxas thanked her. As he watched he go, he then realized he never told her about his fight with Hayner, Olette, and Pence.
A young Roxas looked up at her, smiling.
"Wow, you are smart!" he told her.
Ms. Nozomu then came into the living room, seeing the TV on and various papers on the floor. Many of the papers had drawings of a blonde or simple addition problems. She looked toward her son with a sigh. Roxas grinned upon seeing his mother.
"What are you doing?" she asked him.
"I'm drawing with Namine. She's also teaching me math and stuff," Roxas explained to his mother.
Ms. Nozomu shook her head, "She can't help you with math. She doesn't know much of it herself."
"Mom! Don't say that in front of her!"
Ms. Nozomu let out a sigh, "She's not going to talk back or anything. She's always so quiet, isn't she?"
Roxas looked back at her and then back at his mom. He nodded, with a smile.
"She's really shy with people she doesn't know very well," Roxas told his mother. "But she's never shy with me. We're the best of friends."
"Closer friends than you and Kairi? When was the last time you talked to Kairi?"
Roxas nodded, "Of course she's closer to me than Kairi. I saw Kairi at the park yesterday. I asked her if me and Namine could play with her, and we did. But Kairi looked sad when we played and asked if Namine could leave. I told her that I go wherever Namine goes, so she was like 'you go too then' and made a angry face. I don't get her."
Ms. Nozomu frowned and patted her son on the head, "Please play with Kairi more often. Maybe always being with Namine isn't the greatest idea."
"How can you say that?! She's my friend! I really, really, REALLY like her!" Roxas yelled. He then turned away from his mother and walked toward her. "Come on, Namine! Let's go. My mommy is being a meanie."
Ms. Nozomu watched as they disappeared into the other room. She sighed, thinking about her days of bliss.
"Ignorance is bliss."
A/N: I had a longer author's note but it got erased. Don't know what to say now.
I found out this guy I've been talking to online has been threatening one of my best friends D: I got so upset, but she told me to pretend not to know anything about it so he won't bother me. But I think he can tell I know -__-
On lighter news, I plan on asking my parents how they met for story ideas 8DD
Review Replies:
Sato Tadashi: Haha, really? I just got the idea while listening to "Losing Innocence" by Nevertheless :) From what I typed up of the play scene, Josh acts way more emotional than Roxas in Days. He screams twice and has a breakdown o-O
See ya folks!
