Oh, look! Another update so soon! Wanna know why? It's because the previous chapter had to be split in two because it would have been about ten thousand words, and I decided that you guys did not deserve that kind of torture. Yes, you may proclaim your love for me now: "We love you, Katelyn!" Okay. I feel good now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Final Fantasy VIII, but I do own Bryce, Drag, Zion, and something else but I don't remember what it is, so it can't be that important. By the way, has anyone ever wondered why Drag's name is Drag? If you want to know, I'll tell you. If not, you may not know for a long, long time.

Life Less Ordinary

Chapter Twelve

"Making A Plan"

"So, have you come up with any brilliant plans yet, Sherlock?" Rinoa asked Squall, leaning against the lockers while he got his stuff together. It was Tuesday morning, and this week was not going by fast enough for anyone.

"No," he answered, not even looking at her. He'd been withdrawn all morning long and had said no more than two words at a time.

"Well, are you going to come up with one?" she demanded, noticing the sudden change and not liking it. What had gotten into him?

He shrugged, slamming his locker shut and walking past her. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance and followed him. Why had he suddenly become so cold?

"Well?" she fell into step beside him as they walked down the hall. She wasn't sure if she was asking him a question of "are you going to say something" or "have you come up with anything?" At this point, she'd take either answer.

But all he managed was a muttered "No." Which didn't really answer either question and just further annoyed her. She sighed and figured it was pointless to even try. Instead, she headed to the stairs to first block, not caring if he followed her or not.

He didn't follow her. In fact, he didn't even realize that she had left his side until a few minutes later when he looked beside him to find her gone. A frown tugged at his lips and he headed to class without a word to anyone.

He entered the class and immediately got to work, still speaking not a word. He found it difficult to concentrate and eventually just stopped what he was doing and drifted off to another, calmer place in the back of his mind.

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"Okay, it's November 13th, which means we have exactly 19 days to get this plan rolling." Quistis said, leafing through her daily planner. She had December 2nd marked clearly.

"That's almost three weeks! We have plenty of time! Why are we worrying about this now? What's the rush?" Drag asked. He reached across the table and grabbed the planner from her. He recounted the days and looked up to her.

"Okay, first of all, the Winter Formal is a huge deal here, and the dance committee starts decorating by the 15th of November. This dance is a major school tradition! And it just so happens that the person in charge of decorating is subject numero uno." Quistis smiled her trademark wicked little grin.

"Squall? Since when does Squall care about a dance?" Drag asked her, looking rather confused.

"Not Squall, you moron!" Quistis shrieked, grabbing her daily planner back and smacking him hard with it in absolute fury. Drag yelled back at her to stop and cringed with every blow she dealt.

"Yo!" Seifer yelled, impatiently. He grabbed Quistis and pushed her away from Drag, who looked up at Seifer like he was a god. "Do we really have time for this?"

"Thanks, man! I really owe ya one!" Drag sighed in relief and increased the distance between him and Quistis.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just shut up and listen to what she has to say, okay? The bell is going to ring any minute, so let's make this quick. I've got things to do." Seifer leaned back in his chair and glared at everyone. He was in a real bad mood.

Quistis studied Seifer for a moment or two before going back to everyone else.

"Okay, so we don't have much time." Quistis glared at Drag as he scoffed her comment. "We won't be seeing much of Rinoa from here on out, so Selphie and I have volunteered to help keep an eye on her. While you guys will be watching Squall. Seifer, have you talked to him yet?" she turned to face Seifer who sat at her side, still sour.

"No. I'll get around to it." He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Okay, then, Drag, you and Zion need to watch him at the house. Can you manage that?" she, too, was losing her patience. Drag nodded with a smart remark, which she ignored. "And you also need to make sure that he is still oblivious to what we're doing. If he even finds out that we're trying to do something, he may get mad. I know Rinoa will, so we can't let either of them figure out what's going on. Got it?" she demanded of each of them. They nodded.

"Relax, Quistis. They're not going to find out, and when they become the hottest couple in the school, everyone will know that we were in charge of it. Don't you worry your pretty little head." Drag stood and patted Quistis on the head before leaving the Cafeteria to first block with Zion, Zell, and Selphie followed without a word. Only Seifer remained beside Quistis.

"What?" she asked when she found him staring at her. He shook his head, closing his eyes as he did so. She wasn't convinced. "No, seriously. What? Something's up?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." He sighed and shook his head. Standing, he ignored the urge to ask her what had been sitting in the front of his mind, nagging him. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. He just walked away from her, even though he didn't want to. He wanted to ask her, but for once, he was too shy. Instead, he continued forward out of he Cafeteria.

"That was weird." Quistis whispered as Seifer disappeared out of sight. "Oh, well." She shrugged and gathered her stuff to head to her class.

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"Yo." Seifer muttered, taking a seat next to Squall. The brunette raised his head, looked to Seifer with cloudy, bored eyes and then put his head back down. He said nothing nor made any other notion. Seifer frowned and grabbed his bell work, getting to work. He didn't try to force conversation with Squall. He knew the guy too well to be that stupid. Even though Squall would beg to differ, he knew Squall almost like the back of his hand. They had been "partners in crime" for much too long. They had too much in common, too, and Seifer knew Squall would be completely honest with him, no matter what.

Seifer's eyes lit up at this sudden realization. Squall would tell him anything, wouldn't he? A smile covered the blonde's face as he gently nudged Squall. The other guy raised his head in a matter of sheer annoyance, and he looked at Seifer with the same state of agitation.

"Squall, I need to ask you something, man." He whispered, keeping his voice as low as possible. People were coming into the classroom as the bell would ring any minute. Squall said nothing but continued to almost glare at Seifer, making the situation very uncomfortable for the other guy. "It's about Rinoa."

Squall raised a questioning eyebrow at his companion, who squirmed involuntarily. "What about her?" he matched Seifer's tone but with a little more irritation and what seemed to be warning that Seifer wary of continuing.

"Um, well, I was wondering: do you like her?" He struggled to get those last few words out, feeling so juvenile but somehow managed to succeed in the tiresome task.

At first, Squall said nothing. He didn't even change his facial expression but continued with that mixed look, staring at Seifer like he was a statue, forever frozen in time. His eyes, however, revealed the emotion that he was evidently trying to hide. They focused intently on nothing and all the while, searching it thoroughly. Without even speaking, Seifer knew the answer. It wasn't too hard to pick out.

"You do, don't you?" Seifer asked him. He smirked in a way that could have been described as almost evil.

"As a friend, yes. Nothing more." He tried to be sincere, and Seifer was shocked by his answer. His eyes told him differently than what had just come out of his mouth, so why did he lie to him? He was his best friend, and he had never lied to him before! That didn't make any sense, and it was beginning to annoy him.

Squall looked away briefly, breaking his concentration and determination on keeping his feelings concealed. Seifer saw the weakness and knew he meant more in his answer than he intended to reveal. But it didn't matter, he was still mad that he didn't tell him the truth.

Squall turned back to Seifer with a different look this time. His wall of confidence and denial were gone and replacing it was his own defeat. He knew he couldn't lie to Seifer. He was too close to him. And for whatever reason, he didn't even try to hide his shame. At this point, he didn't care.

Seifer saw him soften and knew immediately that his answer had not been the correct one. He smiled again at his buddy. "What's the real answer?" he asked. He just wanted to hear squall say what he knew he was trying to deny.

"I think you know." He didn't want to say it, he didn't want to admit his won defeat, although he already had.

"I wanna hear you say it, though." He smiled wickedly again, finding the torment highly amusing. There were reasons behind it, but he chose to remain silent on the subject, much like Squall was being with his feelings.

"Why? It's of no importance." He scowled, focusing his gaze in the desk.

"I know you better than that." He laughed and watched Squall, enjoying this. He knew, no matter what, he wouldn't reveal Squall's true feelings to anyone, including Quistis. He would not betray his best friend's trust like that.

"Then why do I have to say it?" Squall countered. He was going to protect himself no matter the consequences.

"Just give me the satisfaction of being right, will ya?" Seifer exclaimed. He looked around briefly as more people filtered into the classroom, the turned his attention back to Squall, who looked slightly irritated yet again.

"Since when have I ever given you the satisfaction of anything?" Squall demanded. Seifer returned the glare and showed an equal amount of irritation.

"Will it kill you to say it, I mean really!" Seifer groaned. All he wanted was a simple "Yes, I like her." That was all he wanted!

Why? So you can go back to Quistis and tell her I want to bang Heartilly? I don't think so, buddy. He thought bitterly. He could feel his blood boiling beneath his skin, threatening to blow his top. He had to control himself, though. He couldn't blow yet. Revenge would take its course in his favor soon enough. After all, he had the upper hand on all of them, even Rinoa. The tricks he had up his sleeve would be his best yet.

Seifer opened his mouth to say something, but the bell rang, interrupting their conversation. Annoyed, Seifer was forced to hold off on this little dispute until later. Unfortunately, this mean Squall had won the battle, but then again, he usually always did. But the outcome of the war wasn't necessarily determined by the battles.

I'll get you, Squall. Mark my words. You may have won the battle, but you are way in over your head in the war. I play dirty; don't forget that.

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By lunchtime, it was raining, a cold, wet, nasty rain. The entire student body acted like the living dead, walking the halls in a groggy fashion. The rain smacked against the building with the help of the wind, threatening to break in and drown everyone.

Rinoa watched the rain all day, observing how it pummeled the ground and bounced back up against the concrete outside. She found the rain more interesting than any of her first three classes and opted to watch nature instead of her professors. In all reality, she really wasn't watching anything. There was too much on her mind for her to concentrate on schoolwork, and the rain gave her a perfect opportunity to escape from it all and get lost in her thoughts.

Her main thought, at the moment, was all the stuff that kept happening between her and Squall. She was so confused, so mixed up, just unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. How could this even be happening? He was the one person she never thought that she would see ever again, and yet, there he was, intruding on her life. She enjoyed his company, of course, but there was a part of her that still feared him. She didn't understand him, either. He was difficult to read, closed like a book that no amount of prying could open. He revealed only bits and pieces of himself and fooled everyone with a façade that he used to cover his thoughts and emotions. She wondered if he was even the same person she thought she knew. Was he hiding something or was he just trying to hide himself to protect himself?

She wanted to know. She wanted to know his secrets, to understand all of him. He wasn't too keen on revealing himself, though. He valued his privacy and kept a lot of things to himself. He had a shell that he was beginning to retreat back into, much to the annoyance of those who knew him well. He was driving her crazy because of his secrets. He was well hidden and it annoyed her.

"Miss Heartilly!" Professor Fitzgerald shrieked, slapping her meter stick across Rinoa's desk. "Would you mind gracing us with your presence and pay attention! I will not repeat myself so I suggest you get with the program!" Rinoa muttered her apologies, but she knew that there was no way she could pay attention. She hadn't all day, so how could she now? Her eyes locked onto the grumpy professor, but her mind was elsewhere again, on a subject that had nothing to do with Pre-Calculus. She wasn't even going to try to pay attention as it was completely hopeless, but that was why she had her two best friends in her class.

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At the lunch table, they all ate in complete silence, groggy and unwelcome. They were ignoring each other openly, almost suspiciously. Each were plotting something of their own that they kept to themselves. It was a conspiracy of different proportions.

Quistis tapped Seifer's leg beneath the table and slipped a note into his hand. He could guess its contents and slipped it into his pocket, hiding it from prying eyes.

Squall looked up and watched the minimal movement between Quistis and Seifer. The suspicions in his mind continued to grow, along with the need to know more of their plan. If only he had an informant, but that was impossible. Quistis would be able to smell a rat 100 miles away. He cursed himself inwardly. Until he knew more, he would have to guess what their next move would be, but that is where his even bigger problem laid waiting. He didn't know Quistis well enough to predict her movements. If it had been Seifer or Drag or Zion in charge of this wily operation, he would be able to pinpoint their next destination, but this was a new enemy, which required him to travel lightly over the minefields. So he had to develop a new strategy. He had to watch Quistis carefully over the next few days and watch the behaviors of his friends closely, as well. After all, he lived under the same roof as Drag and Zion, and he was sure that if he kept a watchful eye over them, he would learn something.

As Squall surveyed Quistis and Seifer, Rinoa watched him. She was still curious about his mysterious, enchanting ways. If she could see into his mind, she was sure that she would find ingenious ideas and pieces of him that no one else has seen. Her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her, but she didn't care. He was fascinating beyond any means, and she still had the overwhelming desire to understand him. But was that really possible? Could one human being so complex be understood by a simpler mind? She knew the answer to that but didn't care. Regardless of the odds, she was still going to try.

A smile curled up at the ends of her lips.

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"Oh! I'm so excited!" Selphie giggled happily, nearly skipping as she, Quistis, and Rinoa walked to the Auditorium for the Winter Formal Committee Meeting. "This year is going to be the total best ever!" she threw her arms out and spun around several times.

"Well, all I have to say is that it had better be an improvement over last year's Winter Formal. The seniors last year really screwed that one over. Oh my gosh!" Quistis scoffed. She was not in a good mood today, but actually, neither was Rinoa. She had been withdrawn nearly all day. Something had to be up with her. She was almost never like this.

"It will be better." Rinoa reassured them quietly.

"It better be. I'd hate to see the repeat of another disaster." Quistis glared almost menacingly at Rinoa, who didn't even seem to notice.

"Who's the teacher in charge this year?" Selphie asked.

"I don't know." Rinoa and Quistis both answered in the same drawled tone. Quistis shifted her glance briefly to Rinoa who stared forward in a trance-like state.

They walked in silence from then on to the Auditorium. Upon reaching their destination, they found the Auditorium occupied with several members of the senior class, all with interests in the success of the Winter Formal.

Rinoa, Selphie, and Quistis' jaws dropped when they saw he teacher who would supervise every move and decision concerning the dance. In all her evil glory, there stood professor Fitzgerald, looking over every individual with laser eyes.

"Oh, Hyne, please tell me I'm seeing things!" Quistis whispered frantically. She closed her eyes and then re-opened them to find the same picture still before her.

"Nope. The witch is overseeing the plans for the dance. Hyne help us all. This is going to be a long three weeks." Selphie sighed and began to trudge forward, and the girls took their seats among the other seniors.

'All right! Ladies and gentlemen quiet down! We have too much business to conduct for you all to be flapping your miserable jaws!" professor Fitzgerald barked at them all. Everyone immediately sat down and waited silently for her to continue. Without a doubt, Professor Fitzgerald was the most feared woman in all of Balamb High School. She smiled with wicked pleasure at their reaction and allowed the silence to linger just a while longer. "All right, ladies and gentlemen. Professor Zigsby, who normally is in charge of this activity will not be participating this year, and after the disaster of last year, I have decided that it is my duty to make sure everything is done correctly." She looked over the some thirty seniors who sat before her with her beady eyes that saw and knew all.

"Oh, please. Like she could make any type of improvement over last year." Quistis scoffed in a low voice to Rinoa and Selphie.

"Now I will introduce the young lady who shall be in charge of the decorating, the announcements, and the music entertainment." Professor Fitzgerald's voice was cold while trying to sound welcoming. The combined effect of the two made her sound even more evil than she already was. "Miss Heartilly, will you kindly come forward?"

Rinoa slowly rose and moved to the front of the Auditorium to stand next to the witchy woman. She smiled weakly at everyone and shivered despite herself.

"Miss Heartilly will be the second-in-command. If you have any questions, see her first. She will conduct the after school meetings that will begin Friday afternoon. Do not approach me until after you have spoken to Miss Heartilly." Everyone nodded in understanding at professor Fitzgerald's instructions. "You will be assigned a specific task, and I will expect this task to be completed at 100 percent, nothing less. Is that understood?" Again, unanimous nods from everyone. "Good. You may return to class." She dismissed them, and they exited the Auditorium faster than fleas escaping a wet dog.

As Rinoa began to walk away, Professor Fitzgerald grabbed her arm. "I would like you to remain behind, Miss Heartilly. We have much to discuss." Rinoa inwardly cringed and cursed herself for being Class President.

Professor Fitzgerald waited until everyone had cleared the Auditorium before turning to Rinoa with a slightly less menacing glance. "Miss Heartilly, we have high expectations for this year's Formal. You and I need to make sure that this one is a success." Professor Fitzgerald and Rinoa discussed a few elements of he Formal before the professor finally released Rinoa back to her class. She was right. They did have high expectations.

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"Music entertainment?" Quistis asked reading over Rinoa's list of things she had to do for the Winter Formal. "You mean we might actually have live entertainment instead of a CD put together by the committee with lame music on it? Wow, that is an improvement."

"Yeah, but who am I going to find in three weeks? Professor Fitzgerald says I can pay the entertainment 200 dollars, but who would want to perform for a bunch of high school kids?" Rinoa frowned, walking out to the parking lot with the other two.

"Oh, believe me, you'd be surprised. A gig is a gig." Quistis told her.

"Hey, Rinny! What about your mom? Do you think she'd do it?" Selphie asked excitedly.

Rinoa stopped. Would mom do it? She figured if she couldn't find anyone else, she would ask her. "I don't know. I can ask her."

"I think it should be a band. Bands always get high ratings at dances." Quistis added. "Maybe you could find a local band from, like, Dollet."

"Or a local band from here in Balamb even!" Selphie exclaimed, bursting with excitement.

"But are there any good local bands? I don't want to make the Formal lame like last year. I'd never be able to live it down." Rinoa opened her car door and threw her stuff in absentmindedly.

Quistis was suddenly hit with a brilliant beyond brilliant idea. She smiled wickedly before turning to Rinoa. "Listen, you take care of the decorating and all that stuff. Let me and Selphie worry about the band issue." Selphie looked at Quistis with wide eyes, wondering what she was planning.

"Really? You'd do that for me? Thanks so much, Quis!" Rinoa blew out a sigh of relief and hugged her friend.

"Absolutely." She smiled wickedly again. It was all too easy.


A/N: I wonder what Quistis has planned? Well, you'll just have to find out, but first, I need everyone's help with a little issue. There will be a chapter concerning the Winter Formal itself, but I need music entertainment. So I want your opinions. Tell me which you would rather have: Julia Heartilly singing, Grimm's Defeat (which is a band consisting of Seifer, Squall, Drag, and Zion), or a real band in our world. Let me know and it will happen, but remember, no matter what the decision, I will add my own twist to it. Lol. Okay? One more thing, you will come to hate Professor Fitzgerald. Trust me. She is evil. And Rinoa's attitude is very inconsistent in this chapter and a few others, but you'll have to deal with it. Sorry! R&R and Later Days!