Two important things. But first, I have to say I'm so sorry it's been 12 days. I get distracted with things like makeup, and Bohemian Rhapsody :] I've been out, I've been lazy, I've been procrastinating, but I love writing this, it's just hard to kinda get started before I set off after about 5 minutes. :) Oh my god there's a bug in my room. It's on my computer screen. Ope, now it's gone. I never really liked bugs except for this cockroach I used to have, and it freaked me out whenever I had to feed it. OK. I have to tell you guys something so awesome. Two things, actually. I'll start with the more boring one. So, I was watching Phineas and Ferb (I know, I'm 15 and I watch PnF, don't judge me lol) and I was watching this incredibly awesome episode about how they all are in this story, and there's like a ton of Lord of the Rings references (Baljeet was dressed as Legolas and Buford was like Aragorn lol) and guess what. You guys will not believe it. They altered the names of the characters, and they made Isabella's name changed to Isabelle. Oh my gosh. My mom heard Phineas all like, "So, Isabelle…" And she was like "Did they just say Isabelle?" Yeah, freakin awesome.
Second thing. I was supposed to go to Disneyland right when I got pneumonia, and now that I'm better, I can go! So me and my family all drove like 45 minutes to get there, so I decided that I was totally gonna go all out on it. I went on California Screamin and Tower of Terror. Oh yeah, I'm kinda sick right now cause a lot of times when you get pneumonia, you can have some sort of sickness just as a normal recovery kinda thing, and that's what I have right now. ANYWAY, I have been movie obsessed. Lord of the Rings extended edition is almost 4 hrs 40 min. Phew. It never ended but it's SO GOOD. Ok, let's write this baby! I'm putting a quote from AATB in here :)
Oh, by the way I got so many reviews the last time I uploaded my last chapter. A lot more than I usually do. Pretty cool, huh? It was all perfect and 50 reviews and then it turned to 51. Love/hate situation. I have 30000 hits as well, and I am going to start spazzing out if I keep talking about it.
I really love you guys ;)
"How about this? Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, intelligent. Actually, who are you not to be? We are born to make manifests, and the glory of God that is within us, and as our own light shines, we unconsciously give other people a mission to do the same."
"Hope... sniff... that was beautiful…"
"Oh, I didn't right that. Some professor did. I'm thinking of cheating and using it in my English essay."
"Hope, you probably can think of something more original than that. You don't want to sound too much like some old professor."
"Serah, I'm tired. I'm bored. I don't want to take English anymore, okay? I don't know what to write."
"What's your topic supposed to be?"
"It has to be a life experience, something that had an affect on your life and permanently changed it." Serah laughed out loud at Hope, tossing one of the oranges on the ground in the air and turning off the TV.
"Hope. That's like, the best topic ever! Write about your experience when you died, write about your experience when you died again! Or how you're going to college with a ton of old people!"
"Psh, I know, I just, I don't know…"
"You could write about your parents?" Hope immediately looked up at her, horrified.
"No."
"I know, it's kinda hard, but you could let it out! My parents are dead, you know. They were police officers, and… they lost a battle during a burglary when I was five. Your parents died in a car crash and-"
"They didn't die in a car crash."
"But you told me…"
"It's called lying." Serah was taken aback for a moment. She really never imagined Hope to lie, to be honest, but what was really bugging her was why he was keeping their real reason for their deaths a secret.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Why would I want to talk about it if I don't want to write about it?"
"Ok, ok, I get it... I just wanted to know why… Snow said he's heard you cry at night," she saw Hope stiffen, still not looking up from his laptop.
"And… we could help you get over it if you'd be willing to tell us. I know how you feel…"
"Serah, it's ok, really. I… never really want to talk about it. And I don't think I ever will want to talk about it."
"Why not? You can-"
"For the love of Etro, Serah, can you please shut up! I said I don't want to talk about it right now…" Serah tensed up and breathed shakily as she saw a tear drip from Hope's face.
"Wait!" Serah cried when Hope got up and started making his way down the hallway. She flung her arms around him, feeling guilty when he didn't hug back.
"I'm sorry, Hope… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just… I don't know…"
"Sniff… Serah, it's all right. Do you really want to know?" Serah nodded.
"They were murdered. My dad was part of a big business and… some other company didn't like what he was doing. And, they came to our house…"
"And…"
"They killed my mom, then my dad, and then they went to kill me before the police finally came, and so I grabbed my suitcase and ran away, to here."
"Hope…"
"Uh huh?"
"Why did you have a suitcase ready?" She heard Hope's heart starting to race.
"I was going to run away anyway."
"What? Why?"
"I had already got into the school without my parents knowing and I was going to run away… and now everyone in my city thinks we're all dead…" she saw Hope quickly swipe his hand up under his eye.
"But if they think you're dead… wouldn't it have been on the news or something?"
"It was, and it was in last month's newspaper. I had to run and grab every single one in the school one morning so people didn't know. Cause it said that I was dead and they couldn't find the body… and my parents were dead, too. So, sniff, I can't go back there… ever."
"Hope… you didn't have to hide yourself from the city, why does anyone care if you're dead? Don't people want you to be alive? Think of all the people who knew you back there-"
"I've never really had any friends…"
"That's not really my point, I'm saying why do you care if people think you're alive?"
"Because they'd take me away."
"What do you mean?"
"They'd take me away Serah! I'd be put up for adoption, and… my life would be different… and I don't want to…" Serah wrapped her arms around Hope tighter and put his head in her shoulder.
"It's all too much Serah! Hic – why is life so hard? Why…" Serah closed her eyes to prevent tears from falling, and didn't start again until Hope's sobbing quieted.
"Well, you don't have to write about that if you don't want to… I get that it's not the happiest subject…" Hope giggled slightly and finally pulled his arms around Serah.
"Don't tell anyone about this, okay? I don't really want anyone to know."
"Trust me, I won't," Serah said, smiling softly and kissing Hope on his forehead.
"TURN IT UP! I LOVE THIS SONG!" Snow screamed, his friend Isabelle laughing and turning up the radio. Vanille screamed yanked open a bottle of champagne, letting it explode all over kitchen floor.
"Eeek! It exploded!"
"Really? I didn't notice!" Lightning yelled sarcastically, pouring some in a glass and swallowing it in one gulp, pulling her hand out for more.
"I thought you said this was going to be a small party?" Lightning yelled, picking up the entire bottle of champagne and drinking it from there instead.
"This is a small party!" Isabelle screamed, motioning to groups of people, at least 60, all running and dancing throughout the dorm room.
Lightning ran over to Snow, who was leaning against a wall, talking to his friends.
"How long have we been here?"
"Almost 4 hours now!"
"That's it? Well, we should stay LONGER!"
"Lightning, I think you've had a little too much to drink. I'd suggest you stop now…" Snow said grinning, yanking the two bottles out of her hand, leaving Lightning with a childish pout on her face.
A girl ran up to Snow, yanking him by his shirt and shoving her lips against his, making his eyes widen and drop the bottles, letting them crash on the floor. Lightning yelled out and yanked her from Snow's shocked face, snapping out of her drunken state.
"WOAH. Rikku, I think you've had enough of certain beverages." Light yelled over the music, yanking her by her shoulder to the other side of the room. Vanille skipped over to Snow, waving her hand in front of his face.
"Cocoon to Snow? Hellooo?"
"I feel like I'm gonna barf."
"Calm down, Snow, you didn't kiss back. You know she gets at parties!" Vanille said, laughing, putting her arm around his shoulder.
"Come one, big guy, let's find Light and get back to the dorm room." Snow nodded and ran around the room.
"Light!" Vanille called, wandering around the dorm.
"Oh! There you are! We're gonna go back now, are you ready?" Snow said, Lightning nodding to him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah…"
"Mmhhhmmm…" Lightning said, pushing in front of him and making her way towards the door, the two following behind them. They opened the door and met Fang on the other side.
"Fang?"
"Hey."
"What are you doing here?"
"What, I can't go to a party?" Lightning waited a second before stepping around her and making her way towards the elevator.
"What are all these oranges doing here anyway?" Serah asked. Hope smiled, sniffling and picking one of them up, a couple still lying around on the floor.
"We got them from the cafeteria downstairs. Lightning was throwing them at me this morning. Or, yesterday, technically. What time is it?"
"Almost 3:00… you sure you're okay?" Serah asked, noticing a tear falling from Hope's eye every once in a while.
"Yeah… I'm okay. Are you okay?" Hope asked, tilting his head.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, you always seem so quiet and sad all the time, so… know, I kinda feel the urge to ask." Serah sighed, finally getting off the floor and pulling Hope up, both of them moving over to the couch.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a lot of crazy stuff has happened super fast, and… you know, it's been pretty crazy, you know? But it's pretty much all over now, right?"
Hope nodded, quickly swiping another tear that fell uncontrollably from his eye.
"Who knows what happens next," Serah added, pulling herself up and grabbing her phone. She sat back down and began to flip through contacts.
"Maybe I should text Snow, ask him when they're gonna come back…"
The two of them jumped from their relaxed state and looked up, Serah smiling slightly.
"Hey guys, we're back! And not too drunk either! We left when the party started to get a little out of hand," Vanille said, running to their refrigerator. Serah ran up to Snow and wrapped her arms around him.
"Hey babe. Did Hope treat you all right?" she nodded, holding her boyfriend closer.
Lightning looked at Hope, who remained quiet. She saw him smile at her, but tried to ignore how puffy his eyes were.
"Hey," she mouthed. Hope raised his hand slightly and waved at her. Lightning casually walked over to Hope and sat down on the couch next to him.
"Are you ok?" she asked, ignoring all the loud conversation around her.
"Yeah, why?" Lightning wiped a tear that slipped past his eye and he looked at her embarrassed, wiping away anything that may have been left.
"It's ok, you can keep it to yourself," she whispered, quickly pulling her arms around him and letting go before anyone noticed.
"What day is it today?"
"Friday."
"Really, I thought it was Saturday…"
"Aw, well, that kinda sucks. Go, get ready for school before you're late."
Hope dragged his way back to his room, shutting the door and leaning his back against it. He sighed and hid his face in his hands. What was he going to do… he didn't even know what do get her! It was Lightning's birthday, what should he get the girl who has done so much for him in such a short amount of time?
"I could just ask her," Hope whispered aloud, standing up and staring at the doorknob. He stalled by putting on his uniform and slowly getting his books ready, and finally managed to get himself out of his room.
He walked out and was face to face with Lightning, who had just stepped out of her room across from him.
"Uh…" Hope stared in shock for a moment. Just ask her, all you have to do is ask.
Lightning smiled slightly in the corner of her mouth and began to walk around Hope towards the door.
"Do you wanna come with me or do you need more time?"
"Oh… you don't need to wait for me."
"I wasn't planning on it."
"Oh… I…"
"You coming or not? I'm gonna be late." Hope stiffened slightly at the stress in her voice.
Lightning noticed how flushed Hope's face looked and how he was shaking slightly. She stepped over to him and put her hand on his forehead.
"Are you getting sick again? You feel hot…" Lightning mumbled, awkwardly dropping her backpack and kneeling down his level.
"You look like you're gonna throw up, are you all right? Hope, why aren't you answering me?" Lightning's expression became more worried as Hope just stared at her, his mouth slightly open.
"Uhm," Hope whispered, sitting down on the carpet. Lightning did the same after, still not taking her concerned eyes off of him. Why does his face get so red whenever he's near Lightning? What's making him have such and awkward feeling? It makes his eyes all hazy and his heart beat faster, his breathing increase and his cheeks get all red.
He had to think of something to say, since he had no clue what this weird emotion he was feeling was.
"I – I think I'm just tired. Go to class. I'll… meet you back here at noon and then I'll go to class with you." Hope smiled weakly, not out of sickness, but pure embarrassment. Lightning nodded hesitantly before slowly standing up and making her way out the door.
"Lightning! WAIT!" Hope cried, causing Lightning to immediately stop and turn around, closing the door behind her.
"What?" she asked worryingly.
"Happy birthday." Lightning nodded, preventing herself from smiling to big at his innocent expression. He looked almost scared to tell her that.
"You sure you're gonna be all right here until I come back?"
"Of course… I, I don't want to be a burden or anything…"
"Ok… and thanks you. You're the first one to say happy birthday to me today." Lightning turned around, trying to make Hope not see her little grin as she made her way out the door, Hope not saying a word.
"So, if you add these to integers and square it, you're going to end up with a new integer to work with, which is the one you're going to add to your formula…"
Lightning lied on her desk with one cheek pressed against the wood and her eyes planted towards the teacher. Her mind was completely ignoring the words her teacher was saying and proceeded to think about things she didn't ever imagine she would think about. She imagined going out somewhere for one on her birthday, talking to people and thanking them for wishing her a happy birthday. She imagined going with Hope, Snow, Hope Serah, Vanille, and Hope to go get ice cream and go laser tagging. Did she mention she wanted to take Hope with her? She couldn't remember.
She wanted to go to an amusement park, and go on roller coasters, and see how terrified Hope's expression was. Or would he terrified? There was only one way to find out. Maybe she would just stay at home like she always does, and forget about her birthday-
"-Hope?"
"I wasn't saying anything!" Lightning cried out when she heard Hope's name, snapping out of her thoughts, letting them crumble on the floor. She watched in slight anger at all the people staring at her around the classroom.
"No, Lighting, I mean have you seen Hope? Why isn't he at class this morning?"
"How should I know?" Lightning yelled out nervously, wanting to jump out the window and fall three stories and die. Why the hell am I freaking out?
"You're his room mate…" One girl said out of the corner of the class, scooting her chair back slightly when she received a death glare from Light.
"He wst fling wl…" Lightning mumbled to the ground.
"What?"
"He-wasn't-feeling-well-so-I-made-him-stay-at-the-dorm-room." Lightning shot out, letting everyone stare at her strangely for what felt like years before the bell suddenly rang. The entire room looked at the clock, and when they looked back at Lightning, she was gone.
Lightning flung herself into the bathroom and closed the main door, locking it so no one could come in. She sprinted into a stall, locking the door and sliding to the ground and banged her fists against the wall, crying out in anger.
"Why do I keep feeling so STUPID?" Lightning screamed, running out of the stall and kicking the stall door behind her.
"People are gonna think I'm CRAZY!" Lightning screamed again and threw her backpack to the other side of the room, letting it skid until it hit the wall.
"Or am I crazy?" She whispered, falling to the tile beneath her and wiping away a random tear she never expected to cry.
Her stomach jolted slightly, and Lightning wrapped her arms around herself to prevent herself from vomiting. The nauseous feeling died away and turned to butterflies, causing Lightning to feel more self conscious. She didn't know why in such a situation like this, where she overreacted and locked herself in a bathroom, she would call Hope. Why she wanted to talk to him she didn't know. She figured Hope would be there for her…
"Shut up." Lightning said out loud, her voice coming out monotone but shaky. Her voice echoed off the walls and vibrated back into her heart, silencing herself once again. She waited a couple moments and heard nobody outside, then finally realized something that she dare not say aloud.
The answer to everything that was happening to her.
No.
"I'm not in love with Hope. I'm not in love with Hope. I'm not in love with Hope." Lightning chanted to herself, rocking back and forth on the bathroom floor.
"I'm lot in love with Hope. I just met him a month ago. He's only 14. He's not even attractive. He's not even nice. He's - he's stupid. I'm not in love with Hope. I said I wasn't going to date anyone. Ever. I'm not in love with Hope. I'm not in love with Hope." Lightning lied to herself, suddenly stopping when she heard giggling outside the door. She heard it coming closer; she froze and wished she had a gun with her. Not so she could shoot the girls.
So she could shoot herself.
"Hey. The door's locked!" A girl echoed from outside the building.
"Is someone in there?" Another voice rang from behind the locked door. Lightning fearfully raised her voice a couple of octaves higher and look in a shaky breath.
"Oh, I'm just cleaning the bathroom. I'll be out in a couple of minutes." Lightning waited anxiously for a response, finding relief in the girls' answers.
"Ok! We'll go to the bathroom across the way!" She heard the clanking of their heels fade away. Lightning unlocked the door immediately after, then ran towards the window, climbing out of it without difficulty and trying to casually go to her next class.
Hope sat at his desk, leaning on his left elbow and staring at his laptop screen. He finally waited for what felt like an hour, maybe it was an hour, until he finally clicked on the search bar. He put his hands on the keyboard and looked around as if he was being watched.
Lightning Farron
The search bar came up with more than he expected it would be. He looked at her bio and read through it. Apparently she was in the Guardian Corps from when she was 16 until she was 20, and that's when she quit and went to college, being one of the first girls to go to the college without attending a prestigious high school. She had one of the highest grades last year, and this year she seems to slack more. She was going to get engaged to a guy then one day he mysteriously disappeared. She collects throwing knives and golden necklaces, and one day wants to travel the world. The rest of her life is completely private, and she says she wants to keep it that way.
"Ok," Hope said to himself, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms.
"I can buy her a throwing knife, or a necklace." He exclaimed, giggling to himself.
He looked up at the clock nearest him and counted out the time.
I've still got four hours.
He climbed into his closet and pulled out a tiny cardboard box. He smiled slightly and pulled out the entire lot of Gil he had and stepped out of the dorm.
"I need a knife."
"What?"
"You said you sell throwing knives here, and, I would like to buy one." Hope smiled politely and threw a mountain of Gil on the counter.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but you need a permit-" The saleswoman looked slightly concerned when he put down a permit. It was Lightning's permit, but it was a permit. No one would know the difference. She gave it back to him and reluctantly showed him to the row of knives. Hope had looked at all the knives Lightning owned and noticed one that she didn't have. He picked it up and looked up at the woman, who still looked slightly terrified.
"It's a gift for a friend in the Guardian Corps, not me," Hope finally put out there, causing the woman to slightly look less tense.
"Oh, well, ok. Here you go honey. Thank you." Hope nodded and took his leftover Gil and the knife and left the store, ignoring the little butterflies in his stomach.
Lightning ran out of her next class, realized someone whispered her name.
"She seems different now." Lightning kept her eyes on her locker, trying to listen in.
"Yeah, she seems nicer."
"Maybe it's Hope."
"What?"
"Ever since that little boy with the silver hair came, she's been nicer. Not necessarily to me, but just her personality in general if you don't set her off, I mean."
"Well, I think that the kid is really cute, and she was in the hospital with him when he got sick, so maybe she's kinda like his mom!"
"I guess so." Lightning didn't want to hear anymore. She was just glad people didn't expect them as lovers. She slammed her locker causing them to jump next to her.
"Oh, hi Lightning! We weren't talking about you!" The other girl hit her when she said that, and Lightning just tried to smile slightly and walk around them. She really didn't feel like fighting at the moment. She wanted to go check on Hope anyway.
Hope stuck the knife in the crevice of the couch and he sat next to it, turning on the TV and trying not to be nervous. Why was he nervous? He still didn't know. He just wanted to make sure Lightning would like it.
He wanted to thank her for everything he did for him.
She was the one who paid for his hospital bill, she was the one who let him stay in the dorm room, she was the one who helped him with math homework, she was the one who bought him food; she was the one who did everything for him.
And he thought he would never be able to repay it.
"Hope? I'm back," Lightning said, looking around for him. She jumped when he immediately stood up when she came, his mouth slightly open as if he was about to speak. He didn't really look that sick anymore, which was a good thing for her.
"Happy birthday."
"You already said that."
"Oh, I know, I thought it would be good introduction when people get birthday presents, but-"
"You got me a birthday present?" Lightning asked quietly.
Hope's heart filled with elation when her eyes softened. She actually looked somewhat pleasant to be around at the moment. Hope nodded; Lightning put her hand in front her mouth, pretending to bite her nails when she smiled at his sparkling eyes.
Hope pulled something out of the couch. It was in a plastic shopping bag.
"It looks so festive." Lightning said sarcastically, taking it from Hope playfully, watching him laugh at her comment.
She pulled it out of the bag and Hope felt more butterflies explode in his stomach when he heard Light's sharp intake of breath.
"Hope."
"Do – do you like it?"
"It's beautiful." She whispered, holding the knife up to the light and watching it reflect off the sun from the window.
"I- I wanted to thank you for everything you do for me. Cause, you're really nice to me, and… I'm sorry I thought you were mean when I first met you. I really like you a lot."
Lightning walked over to Hope and kneeled down to him, wrapping his arms around him, taking in a deep breath to prevent her tears.
"Thanks, kid. There's something I've needed to tell you about, too." Hope pulled back, a curious expression on his face.
"I – I've been thinking what would be best for you, and… I was wondering…"
She knew she would have to keep talking; she saw Hope getting nervous.
"Would you like it if I adopted you?"
I had a heck of a time writing this! I mean, this chapter probably sucked, but, that's ok, because I loved writing it! Hehe, I REALLY have to go now cause I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and I need to pack for vacation. Badly. SO, I will see you guys soon and I will message you all. I hope you like the chapter, and I will see you all soon! I really tried hard on this one, but I may not be 100% happy with it, but oh well! I love you guys! :D
3 Always, TWS