A/N: I haven't watched many Friends re-runs, but few I have seen, I've liked. I especially love the way they titled their episodes, which is why I titled this one like that. Just a random little fact. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's huge again.

Chapter 25: The One with the Big Bash

"I'm throwing a huge party. Mom said it was OK," Sora told me one bitterly cold January day. At this point, we had had two snow days in a row since it dumped eight inches earlier this month. Now you know why I hate winter so much: too much cold and snow.

I accidentally bumped my head against my locker out of shock. "Oh, son of a—what?"

"Yeah, I'm getting the invites out."

"Dude, you know what happened with the last one?" I freaked, definitely not forgetting what I said to Riku at Kairi's party. I still carried quite a bit of regret over that incident, despite the fact that he and I were getting along great. We conversed a lot more in art class, which pleased both Roxas and Yuffie. But, I didn't want a rift due to a different party.

As a therapist (a particularly crappy one) once said to me, if there was a problem, it was best to eventually take what was causing the problem out of the situation. That person got fired a week later, apparently. Still, I figured why not take myself out of a potentially bad situation? So, I told my brother who I loved very much...

"I'm not going."

Now it was his turn to act surprised. "What? You're my sister. You have to go!"

"Hell I won't."

He got pissed. "Fine, don't go! But, Riku's going to be very disappointed."

Actually, Sora wasn't at royally pissed yet, and I discovered I instantly regretted using this crappy tactic. Shouldn't have even remembered the crackpot who told me about it.

"Fine, wait. I'll go, I'll go. I was just worried that I might cause drama again."

My brother was about to storm off when he did wait up for me. His mouth fell off his jaws practically. "Saying you're a drama queen is like saying I'm a genius."

"Unlikely?" I shrugged. "I guess. It's just that I'm not hurting anybody's feelings again. It was bad enough the first time."

Acting brotherly for once, he patted my shoulder. "Don't sweat it. And who says there's gonna be any party drama? 'Sides, it's gonna be a huge bash at the community center."

"That big, huh?" I raised one last doubtful eyebrow before surrendering. "All right, that's too tempting an offer to refuse."

As I walked off to lunch, though, I thought what the heck was that "Riku being disappointed" line about? Riku had absolutely nothing to do with Sora's birthday unless he would be invited, which was probably the case. Even with that, why would my brother assume that the silver haired guy would care if I was there or not? If anything, he'd be relieved. Thank God, no drama. I looked deep inside myself and realized I had subconsciously agreed to be at the party the very instant Riku was brought up.

Sora was a brain ninja, and he didn't even know it.

"Damn it!" I yelled in realization, making Yuna turn around abruptly. Great.

"Watch your mouth," she said, sneering at me like she did.

I checked up the hall and down the hall, my eyes taking in the surroundings. Everyone had gone to lunch, Mr. Harrison would be at the cafeteria, and Mr. Ansem would prowl his lair otherwise known as the foyer. No witnesses.

As roughly as possible, I pushed her against a locker. Her light brown eyes got so ridiculously ginormous, I snickered. Only the one time I would do this, though, just so I could tell posterity. Besides, I didn't plan on a cliché high school rivalry.

I grinned while she started heading out the door. "Rikku told me to say hi!"

What a story I would tell Xion and Selphie, too! Not to mention Rikku and the others over at Destiny.

I wanted to do that for a long time, simply because she was annoying and superficial and represented everything I was against. Just to get it out of my system relieved me. Plus, it also showed how much tougher I got since middle school. I guess you could say middle school hardened me a little. So, I told Selphie and Xion that charming story, and they laughed—the best reaction ever. Talking to them almost made me feel like I could genuinely be a party person. Almost. While I went to middle school, no one asked me to their parties, not one person. My second party in two months, though it was my brother's, made me feel awkward and weird. In high school, I slowly found myself gaining a social life. But, it takes a while for a deep down quiet, shy girl to come out of her shell.

Later, while Sora and Mom shopped for party supplies (I wanted to stay behind, since it was his birthday party), I decided to call Paine on my cellphone. I had to tell her about today.

"Hey, Paine, how's the band been doing since our last practice?" I asked.

"Hey, Tasaki, it's been ages. We're doing well, yeah."

It had been about a week since our last jam session, and we had come up with three new songs. Hopefully, we would have a good variety to pick from by the time the Lobster Festival came around. I was proud of how awesome our band was.

I shrugged, even though Paine couldn't see it. "You know how much I hate talking on the phone."

"True, true. It's too bad that your mom won't let you have a Facebook."

Ugh, she had to go and bring that up! I rolled my eyes from the stupidity of this situation, because I had this feeling that no matter how much Mom lightened up, she would never budge from that Facebook ban. Sometimes, I wanted to secretly create an account just to spite her. But, I guess it was best I avoided online drama—offline drama was nauseating enough.

Stretching out on my bed lazily, I waved a careless hand. "Well, you know, she's Mom. So, anyway, I pushed Yuna against a locker today. She got scared by that."

I heard that vague grin in her voice. "Sweet. About time she got it handed to her. What'd she do?"

"Oh, you know, annoyed the crap out of me. It just felt right to do it."

Paine softly applauded for me and made sure it was audible on my end. I couldn't help but laugh at her...well, not enthusiasm, more like evil joy.

She decided to reach the end of our conversation. "I gotta work on my stupid algebra pretty soon. So, Sora's having a party?"

"Yeah, and it sounds like Riku's going to be invited, too."

"Uh-oh...but, wait, you told me you guys are getting along."

I shifted positions awkwardly. "We are. I hope I don't jinx a fun party again."

She sighed on the other end like my mom would. "Relax, Namine, I have some sort of positive premonition about this guy. And I don't get that many positive feelings."

Our inside joke, which made me laugh again. "I bet. Later, Paine, until our next session."

Saturday was January 21st, the day of Sora's birthday and the party, and I couldn't believe how fast the days had gone by. Even though I was excited, I was also terrified out of my mind, too. It is possible to feel those two things at once. The invites had been passed out ages ago, so I definitely knew who would come. Unfortunately, that stupid Wakka kid was on the list, but I could just ignore him. Besides, my friends got invitations, and that was all they could talk about for a while. Mom would act as supervisor, though she warned us ahead of time Grandma Ronnie would show up.

We groaned. At least she wouldn't stay long, because she would have her eight o'clock bingo game to go to, thank Buddha. She was a very gossipy old lady, that was the problem.

In the mean time, I paced up and down my room at six o'clock later that evening, a half hour before we would leave. My hands were turning purple from cut off circulation, because I kept squeezing them tightly. I had no idea what to wear. It quickly turned me into a nervous wreck. Would people like what I chose to wear as a party outfit?

I checked my closest about the thirtieth time, and it suddenly stood out: my light blue dress. And I had just one pair of black flats that were perfect. I gave up. As much as I didn't want to wear that dress, I figured I shouldn't disappoint Dad.

After I put the dress on and took a look in the mirror (not bad, good enough for a party even), I dared to put make-up on. God, what was with me tonight? I guess I was acting on instincts I had no idea I even had. Scary. All through the ride to the community center, my heart threatened to fly out of my chest. Please don't let it be like last time. Not only did I hate that argument with Riku, I found myself strangely nervous around him. Like he could see through my defenses like through X-ray vision. Of course, he couldn't have known. Girls think it's hard to read guys and vice versa. It's like we were different species to each other rather than different sexes. Maybe the title of that one book Mom has around Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was dead accurate.

We all had to arrive early in order to set up the food tables and the stereo system Sora bought with his Christmas $250—well, partially, Mom paid the rest. It was a good thing we got a cheap one week rental of the center itself, so that we had only tables needing set and of course the stereo system. Kind of a weird thing for a community center to get rented, though—I guess in Kingston, anything's possible. Anyway, our first guest to arrive was none other than Kairi who actually brought a present wrapped in green paper (Sora's favorite color) instead of a card of cash.

"Hey, Kairi, glad you're here early. In fact, the party doesn't start"—I glanced over at the clock—"For another ten minutes yet."

She blushed to the roots of her dark red hair as she tossed the gift onto the table set aside for them. "Oh, I wanted to be...Well, there was nothing else to do at my place. But, oh my God Namine, you look really pretty!"

I grinned shyly. "Well, I got my first dress since grade school for Christmas, so I thought what the heck? Don't ask me why I wore make-up, though. I still don't know myself."

"I think it looks great. The boys will be all over you."

We held back our heads laughing at the same time before I said sincerely, "Let's hope not."

So, group by group, the rest of Sora's forty (yes, forty) guests arrived while the chips and dip was being laid out along with cookies, veggies (Xion could not be forgotten), and a variety of sodas. Some of the popular kids were invited, much to my disgust, but it was my friends who mattered most. I came up to Xion who wore her normal (if you could call her normal anything) hippie clothes and Selphie who wore a gray British flag T-shirt with a black mini skirt. They freaked over how I looked with me wearing an actual dress.

"Wow, Nami, I never thought I'd see you in a dress." Selphie then pretended to cry. "You're finally getting in touch with your girly girl side."

I lightly punched her in the arm. "Come on, it's not like this is the first time."

Xion grinned and messed around with her rainbow peace sign necklace. "Yeah, you look like an angel, Namine. Very pretty. Oh, I saw Zexion and his friends on the way here. Fashionably late as usual, skateboarding all the way here. Oh, music's playing."

After she said this, she practically did interpretive dance to a Green Day song—"Basket Case" of all songs! She did these really weird twirls while the two of us shook our heads.

"She better not have done that at the Warped Tour," I said blankly.

Selphie patted my head. "It's all in her nature, Namine. I've known her for a long time."

I went over to talk to Axel and Roxas, catching up on things, when I saw him walk in.

His silver hair was practically platinum under the lights, and luckily, he wasn't wearing shorts for a change. Maybe he took my advice on avoiding getting laryngitis. I smiled at that memory, and he seemed to catch me staring then, because he smiled back in his shy way. He even lifted a hand in greeting before he leaned against the entrance door.

"Let us in!" I could hear Zexion's voice insist. "And I will use brute force."

"Yeah, Riku!" Demyx joined in. "Don't be such a jackass!"

That moment made me laugh as I noticed Riku grinning evilly before letting his friends in.

Just seeing him there randomly reminded me of his painting that Mom ended up buying at that one festival. I went toward the refreshment table to point him out to her.

"So, that's the artist, huh?" She looked at him very briefly before saying, "Well, like I said, he is one talented guy. But, does his hair have to be so long?"

I groaned, "Moooom, don't judge. I think he's handsome."

Oooh, I did not mean for that to slip out! I clapped my hands over my mouth out of embarrassment before slowly walking away. I was in shock for a while, that's for sure. Managing to recover fairly quickly, though, I joined people doing the Macarena, the one dance I was skilled at. I glanced at Riku staring at me every so often, and I didn't see him dancing. He goofed off with Demyx and Zexion for a bit but otherwise was inactive.

As I noticed Sora coming up to him to talk for a while, I saw blue hair. Uh-oh, Grandma Ronnie dropped in, most likely to criticize Mom's supervising abilities and pinch Sora's not-so-chubby cheeks. She always insists the dimples are still there. I went to warn Sora.

He swore loudly before complaining, "Oh no, the old hag's here!"

"You call your grandma that?" Riku asked us skeptically. For all we knew, he probably had a perfectly nice grandma who baked cookies for him every time he visited.

"Trust me, Grandma Ronnie is very obnoxious and likes finding faults with people. Oh, and she got a lot of money from Vegas," I told him. "In fact, I'd—"

I heard a screechy, heavy smoker female voice. "Namine! Sora! Long time no see!"

And, slapping myself in the face out of shame, I murmured, "Too late," as Grandma Ronnie bustled over to us. Along with the blue wig, she had pink studded glasses, a sequin purse (sadly yes, she does own one), and her usual loud colored clothes. The ever present cigarette was in her mouth. She smooched both of us on the cheeks, which she pinched extra tight.

"Who's you friend?" she immediately inquired, squinting with badly near-sighted eyes at Riku who barely flinched. "He's not one of those doper hippies, is he?"

While I melted into a humiliated, Wicked Witch of the West puddle, Sora replied, "No, Grandma, this is Riku. He's a good friend. And the hippie is over there, but she's vegan."

As though the situation couldn't get any worse, Grandma dared to ask poor, innocent Riku the million dollar question, "Do you ever cut your hair, son?"

"Um...yeah, three times a year."

"Hmph, in my day, young men cut their hair short once a month. I don't understand kids these days, what with their Xphones and I-Boxes."

I very visibly flinched. "Um, Grandma, I think Sora wants his present now."

Sora tried not to hold out his hand for money. "Yeah, you don't want to miss bingo, do you?"

"No, I don't. Gotta beat that Maureen bitch some time. She's a cheat! Well, here you go, Sora, don't spend it all in one place. In my day, we didn't trust these banks—"

"Goodbye, Grandma," my brother and I said at the exact same time.

Distractedly waving at us, she toddled away while continuing her ranting under her breath. I gave a sigh of relief. Finally!

"About time we lost her."

Sora pointed over at Riku who currently slow danced with Selphie. "Looks like it's not the only person we lost. Don't worry."—he must have noticed—"I think he's just being polite. See? Distanced enough to please most strict teachers."

Sure enough, he did hold Selphie like he was at a school dance with mean teacher chaperones trying to separate everybody. Still, the inferiority complex reared up and scolded me for not asking him to dance. No. He won't see me as any more than a friend. Get used to it.

It was a nice song, too: "There You Are" by Martina McBride. I'm not normally a huge country fan, but the melody of the song gets to me. It was so sweet, and I knew it was Mom's idea to have that song be included. I guess there's such a thing as having an eclectic music taste. Meantime, this whole standing here in a pretty dress with nothing to show for it randomly bothered me. So, I took my coat, a cup of Pepsi, and two cookies and got outside in really cold weather. What can I say? Sometimes, I don't think about what I do before I go through with it. This case was a perfect example—I should have remembered I was wearing a dress.

Oh well, while my legs were cold with goosebumps, the rest of me wasn't. I shoved a matching light blue stocking cap over my head. There. The head is the singularly most important body part to be protected. And I didn't learn that from school either. It was just a simple life lesson. Nah, more like tidbit.

"Hey," I heard a quiet male voice behind me.

For some reason, I grinned on impulse. "Hey yourself."

I took this opportunity to look at him. He wore that brown beanie again (though it was practically usual of him to wear it), a black Vans hoodie (with the Vans logo, that's what I meant), and baggy khaki pants. Not even a female friend of his could possibly deny it: he was perfectly handsome. Those teal eyes locked onto mine.

Trying to ignore the instant warm sensation spreading through me, I resolved to act as friend only. Because we were getting close to befriending each other, I felt it.

"Um, you look great," he told me, gesturing toward my dress as he blushed slightly.

Pretending to be casual, I sipped my Pepsi. "Thanks, that's really sweet of you."

Commence awkward silence. Throw all alleged teen flick plot twists out the window. I didn't even know Riku noticed I had gone out for air. He must have asked Sora.

"So...why are you out here? It's cold as hell froze over out here."

I laughed slightly. "To think. I know, stupid reason, but I needed air."

He smiled. "Yeah, I can see that."

Something told me when he wasn't with friends, he could be found someplace outside thinking. It'd be like me and the ocean back at Destiny.

I rubbed my hands together before taking out a cookie. "Cookie?"

"Sure, why not?" he replied after he somewhat hesitated.

So, I got out the other chocolate chip one out of my coat pocket, and we just stood there eating cookies. It might have looked funny to most, but I think we were bonding in our own weird way. You know what they say about great minds? Same thing has to apply to artists. Else, we wouldn't hang out with other artists. We're magnets.

After a while, I got tired of feeling nice ooey-gooey chocolate chips melt in my mouth and wanted to talk about something interesting. Hm, how to get to know someone like Riku? Might as well start off with something easy.

"What's your favorite color?"

He looked at me like I was insane. "Seriously?"

"Ah, yes, the age-old question. Yeah, seriously." I smirked.

"Hm...I gotta say blue."

"Mine too!"

"Really?"

I nodded a little too enthusiastically, but that made Riku chuckle.

Wow, off to a great start with having things in common! Yes! Hm, I decided to ask about music next since I was in a band and all that.

I rocked back and forth on my heels. "What's your favorite band?"

"Nirvana."

"Oooh, I love that band! I have practically two of their three albums on my iPod."

"Cool. What's yours?"

That was a hard question for me, but I answered, "Have to say Led Zeppelin. Oh, and I'm also into metal, but mostly old-school stuff. I like Slipknot and Megadeth, though, among a crapload of other bands. Just don't turn on Jonas Brothers music. I'll die."

Riku snickered, and I could tell I was slowly warming up to him and vice versa. We loved the same genre of music. Awesome. I wondered if we could go three for three with stuff in common, but I thought it was better to save it until another day. In the mean time, we talked about music a lot. I think that's one thing we'll be able to click with. And why not? All teenagers love music. But, I doubt most of them will have the enthusiasm for it like Riku and me.

"I can sing 'That's What You Get' on expert," I bragged, talking about Rock Band 2.

I really can, though I'm nothing compared to Garnet.

Even though I did the bulk of the talking, Riku at least talked back with those soft-spoken words of his. He talked about how he liked music video games, though when he noticed these pathetic Singstar games at the store, he was disgusted. He's a true rocker at heart. When I told him I was in a band, he was impressed—well, beyond impressed.

Staring at me with some sparkle in his eyes, he remarked, "That's really cool. I don't think I've ever met a girl who likes metal and is in a band. What do you play?"

"Bass. By the way, what does Yuffie listen to?"

His smile faded a little but was still there. "Alternative rock, pop-punk—not really big on metal."

Rocker girl but apparently not rocker enough—I then started to remember how cold I was.

"Well, let's go inside. I'm freezing. 'Sides, I think they're gonna cut the cake soon," I told my new friend, and we went back in.

A/N: I know, Namine's grandma was weird. For some reason, I just couldn't see her family be very close-knit apart with her, Sora, and their mom or dad. Simple enough, I guess, but still. Oh, and I also don't get old people's deal with hippies. That always confused me. XD Seriously, though, it did. They're like Cartman off South Park when it comes to that, seriously. Oh, I also hoped you enjoyed Namine knocking Yuna against a locker. Wasn't originally gonna be in the chapter, just happened.

So, yay, Riku and Namine are now friends! Awesomeness. Please review guys. It would make me very happy.