Chapter 11

Sid's smelled like smoke. Lightning was hit by the smell from the moment she opened the door. She scanned the room and instantly spotted her father sipping a beer. There was a woman on top of him. She went over to him and stood in front of him, glaring. She planted her hands on her hips and waited for him to notice. Her father was right in the middle of taking another drink when he noticed her. His eyes widened and he spit out the alcohol. "Claire?" he yelled. He pushed the woman off of him who got up and glared at him and she walked away. Her father, Matt, wiped the beer from his chin.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Lightning continued to glare at him. Her chest heaved as she tried to hold back her anger. After a few seconds she couldn't take it anymore and punched her father in the face. He fell of his chair and landed on the ground. He stood up and sat back down, rubbing his cheek. "I guess I deserve that." he muttered.

"You think?" Lightning sneered.

"What are you doing here, Claire?"

"That's not my name!" she yelled back.

"What?" Matt looked confused.

"My name is Lightning." she said sternly.

"Lightning?" he asked. "Why Ligh- Oh." he knew why she picked that name. "Sweet heart, you don't have to change your name because of me."

"Shut up!" she yelled. Tears started to well up.

"Why are you here?" he asked again. "If you're not here to let me talk then I suppose there's something you want to say to me. So say it. I deserve it."

It was at that moment Lightning realized she didn't know why she was there. She thought she was going to confront her dad, but what was there to say? Matt could see in her eyes that she didn't know what to say. "Claire…" he whispered.

"That's not my name." Lightning cried, tears now following down her cheeks.

Matt got up and looked at her in the eyes. They had the same crystal blue eyes. He pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair gently like he did when she was little. "I always loved you, Claire, even if I didn't always love your mother. I always loved you and Serah. Do you know why I picked the name Claire?"

"No." Lightning whispered.

"It means bright, but not bright like lightning. Bright as in a beautiful mind, which is what you have. You're beautiful, Claire. Inside and out. You don't have to hate yourself because of me."

"I know. Its just-" she started sobbing again.

"Shh. It's alright. I understand." Matt whispered.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" they pulled apart. They looked at each other in the eyes.

"I love you." Lightning said softly. This time it was Matt's turn to cry. He pulled her back into a hug and cried.

Hope arrived at the homecoming game with Serah and Snow. There was already a large amount of people. They found seats toward the top and sat down. The game had already started, but it was only a few minutes in. Snow had painted his face and chest the school colors. He stood up and started cheering. Hope laughed at how excited Snow was. He stood up to and cheered with his good hand. Serah sat in the middle happily. Snow was the only one of them that really cared about football, but this was homecoming. They could be excited for their school.

Snow had apologized to Hope for hurting him while he was drunk. He even fixed the television in Hope's room and bought him a new game for his PlayStation. Hope forgave him much to Snow's surprise on the condition that Snow will stop drinking. Snow had heaved a sigh and compromised that he wouldn't drink much.

The homecoming king and queen would be announced at half time. Serah scanned the crowd for Lightning, but she couldn't find her. Rosch and all the nominees were lining up by the entrance to the field. Lightning came running up to him and stood in line next to him. Music played and they walked out onto the field. The winners were announced and neither Rosch nor Lightning won. In the stands Hope, Snow, and Serah sat angrily and complained about who did win; the captain of the football team and his girlfriend. Of course. After that the players retook the field and the game continued. The game ended with their school, Gran High, losing 37-0. Nothing out of the ordinary.

After the game Snow and Hope went over to Serah's house. Her mom was home and came running up to them as soon as they walked in the door. "Where's Claire?" she asked anxiously.

"She's not home yet?" Serah asked.

"She hasn't been home all day! The school called asking where she was."

"Oh." Serah figured everything was okay since she was at the game. "Well….we saw her at the game."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Just briefly, but it was her. She looked okay." Hope put in. Mrs. Farron gave a sigh of relief. At that moment Light came in looking happy. Well, her definition of happy. She wasn't smiling, but she seemed relaxed. Her mother ran up to her.

"Where have you been?" she cried.

"With Dad." Light replied very matter of fact.

Everyone in the room stared at her. Serah spoke first. "Dad? He's okay then."

Lightning wasn't sure if she should day that he was kicked out of his house. "Yeah he's fine."

"You're okay to then?" Serah asked.

"Yeah." Light brushed past Hope and went to her room.

Later that night Serah poked her head into her sister's room. She was sitting at her desk reading a textbook. "Um…Claire?"

"Hm?"

"Can I come in? I want to talk to you."

"Course." Light closed the book and sat down on her bed. Serah came in and sat next to her.

"I…I called Dad today. It was the first time I had spoken to him in years. He seemed happy."

"Yeah."

"What did you say to him?"

Light ignored the question. "Did I ever tell you why I chose Lightning as my name?"

"Now that you mention it…no."

"When Dad was a kid he was scared of lightning."