Chapter 25 – Life after Heartbreak

By Monday, everyone knew of Kairi and Sora's breakup. Some people questioned Kairi, but she merely walked faster to get away from them. The last person she wanted to see or talk about right now was Sora.

Selphie and Namine were pretty sympathetic towards her all day, which is natural since they were her best friends. In English class, Kairi put her head down and tried to avoid getting called on by Mrs. Rogers. However, the teacher always seemed to know when you really didn't want to be called on, and did it anyway.

"Kairi, do you need to go to guidance?" Whispered Mrs. Rogers. Kairi looked up at her and shook her head. She gave her teacher a hopeless look. Namine looked over and sighed. The bell rang.

Namine helped Kairi get to Spanish class without any trouble from their peers. Unfortunately for Kairi, Sora was in her 2nd period. Namine went to her class and 2nd period started. Sora was tardy.

To make matters worse, Kairi forgot about the group work they had to finish up from the previous week. It was her, Selphie and Sora in one group, and she didn't want to deal with him. Mrs. Martinez told them to get into their groups. Sora sat down in front of Kairi. The two girls glared at him. He sighed.

Sora didn't talk much, surprisingly. Every now and then Kairi would catch him staring at her, but he would immediately look away once they made eye contact.

"We have to get this done." Selphie said. They all agreed. Kairi couldn't stand it when Sora would look at her.

"Quit it!" Kairi crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. Every time her eyes met his, a terrible pain ached in her chest. He lied to her. She thought she could trust him. She thought he was the most wonderful person in the world. Now she only saw him as an asshole… that she loved to… hate…

"Pass up your papers," Mrs. Martinez said, "and go back to your seats." Sora stood up. As he walked by, he set his hand on Kairi's shoulder.

"We need to talk later." He went back to his desk. Kairi didn't want to talk to him… yet she did. She was so confused. Selphie gave her an anxious look and sighed.

At lunch, a bunch of girls surrounded Sora just like before. Obviously he wasn't as enthusiastic to see them all like he was before he met Kairi, because… he kept looking over at her. It was rather annoying…

"I just don't understand… the other night we were saying how much we loved each other, and now I can't even stand to see his face…"

"Well…" Selphie started, trying to find the words to say, "love sucks, doesn't it?"

Kairi nodded. She couldn't agree more. "Every heart has its time to break…"

On the way home, Kairi took a different route so Sora wouldn't find her. Unfortunately, he was a pretty good stalker…

"Kairi! Wait up!"

Kairi tried to ignore him. She quickened her pace. However, Sora caught up to her.

"Please… let's just talk about this…"

"What is there to talk about?" She said quietly. Her heart was beating really fast. Sora stood in front of her, making her stop. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't touch me," Kairi pulled away. Sora grabbed her hand.

"Kairi, please… I want to talk to you…"

Kairi had that weak feeling in her knees again. She also knew that she'd be crying before this was over. She was too sensitive. It was best to just try and run away all together.

"Fine, but hurry up." She crossed her arms.

"I'm… truly sorry…" he began, not helping the situation much at all. "I am. I was going to stop by your house today to apologize to you and your little brother, but I wanted to speak with you first… because, well…" He paused, "I really care about you… and before you start saying that I'm lying… I really mean it… after what happened Saturday, I went even deeper into depression…"

Depression? Sora? She didn't want to believe him. She knew he had an abusive father and all… but…

"Kairi, when I said I loved you last Friday, I was serious. I… have never felt this way about anyone…" He scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I smoked… I thought you wouldn't like me anymore. I've actually been smoking for about two years now…"

"Why are you even…" Sora cut her off. He pulled her into a hug. Kairi's stomach twisted. What if this was all an act? She didn't know what to believe anymore…

"Kairi…" his voice sounded a little shaken. Was he… crying?

"I'll tell you anything and everything… just please don't be mad at me anymore… I'll apologize to your brother…" he sobbed, still holding on tightly to her. Kairi didn't know what to say.

"It's hard being popular… everyone expects so much from you, and I know I shouldn't be influenced or care what they think, but… I can't help it sometimes… it's like I'm here to be what they want me to be and I hate it…"

"What?" Kairi let go of him. "You let them boss you around?"

"I wouldn't say… boss…" Sora sniffled.

"Than what? Hmm?" Kairi was getting irritated. She hated people that were influenced badly by others…

"Let's put it this way… there's just so much pressure when you're popular…" Kairi glared at him and started to walk away.

"Hey! Wait!" Sora rushed after her.

"So much pressure, eh?" Kairi could hear herself yelling. She was starting to cry again.

"Kairi… I didn't mean to—"

"There's so much pressure when nobody knows your name… there's so much pressure when everyone thinks you should be just like them… there's so much pressure when you start to believe nobody cares about you and you want to change… there's just too much shit in the air we breathe today!" She screamed. All Sora could do was stare. Kairi wasn't finished.

"Everyone has their own standards… everyone, believe it or not, is afraid of rejection; everyone is afraid to admit fear, everyone wants to be loved for who they are, everyone wants to let others know that they're aren't just some dumb blonde or some brainy nerd… everyone is afraid to be his or herself at one point and time…"

Kairi paused for a moment." But it takes someone to stand up and be who they really are…" She couldn't believe what she was saying. "I'm sick of it. I'm sick of everything…" She walked off without another word, leaving Sora there all alone.

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A/N: Ooo, Sora must've said something wrong… heh…