Reinventing Me

by Emerald-Latias

After enduring a major ordeal, Rinoa gets a fresh start when she transfers to a new school. But when people don’t see her for who she is, she enlists the help of a reluctant teenager to reinvent herself. However, more will unravel than she ever expected.

35. Chapter XXXIV – The Obvious Secrets

Author's Notes – Nothing really to say, other than I hope that this updating streak sticks. Well, I guess there's nothing left to do except...write!

Oops, never mind. I forgot something.

...I'm accepting anonymous reviews again. I realized that it was a little harsh to block them all because of that one person, but consider it a warning. If you're gonna do a review anonymously, make sure it has to do with the story and only the story. If you need to talk about something else, my e-mail is in my profile. So is the option to PM. Anything I consider irrelevant or a random plea to update (outside of the tagline of a review) will be deleted. I don't want to reach 300 reviews when it hasn't been earned.

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Chapter XXXIV – The Obvious Secrets

-

I'm going all the way,
Just give me a half a chance,
From throwing it all away,
Run to the place that hides the pain you have inside,
Cover my chain, it hides the strain,
Only to glide.

-Stone Temple Pilots, Glide.

-

A safe distance away from the now-closed door, Rinoa was finally able to spill what she wanted to say the very instant she'd heard his last mocking words come from his mouth.

"Nice job back there Squall. I don't think we could have pulled this off any better." she divulged. When he turned his head, Rinoa made sure to flash him a smile to make sure that he didn't take her compliment as sarcastic. He looked ahead again and sighed.

"I...have no patience for this kind of crap today. None whatsoever."

"That's okay. I would have done the same thing. She was being really rude to you." she agreed. "It almost makes me miss Instructor Kolp. Almost."

"...Whatever. Let's just go the office."

Rinoa almost did a double-take. "You're not seriously going to do what she said, are you?"

He shook his head. "I doubt the bat knows how to work the intercom but it's still going to show on the attendance sheet. We need to explain our case to Cid." he elaborated. "Otherwise we might get into the trouble you wanted to avoid."

She nodded. "Alright. Let's go...whoa—"

It felt as if a metaphorical hammer nailed her on the head as she suddenly began to dizzily stagger in a zigzag pattern before she almost hit the floor butt-first. Squall had caught her by the arm to make sure it was an 'almost'. A blink of an eye later and Rinoa was beet-red.

'That hasn't happened in awhile,' she thought, '...well, if yesterday doesn't count.'

As fast as he'd caught her, Squall let her go as gingerly; he furrowed his eyebrows in the process. Rinoa rubbed the crook of her left elbow where he'd awkwardly caught her. They gave each other identical uneasy stares. She couldn't take it after a few seconds' worth; she knew what he was thinking. She had to diffuse the situation. Now.

"...I'm fine Squall." she lied. "The whole...thing back there made me a bundle of nerves."

"...You were fine not even a minute ago." he skeptically replied. "What you had yesterday might still be causing problems."

...Maybe she didn't know what he was thinking after all—

Rinoa shook her head rather feverishly. "No, it...wasn't anything to do with...the flu. I...was just run down with...all the stuff that was...Hyne..."

-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-

Waking up from felt like a hazy dream, Rinoa groggily opened her eyes to have someone or something flash a retina-burning light in them.

"...Looks like your eyes are focusing. You should be fine." It was Kadowaki. Huh? "Say your name for me."

Rinoa blinked her eyes a couple of times after the light went away. "...You mean me?"

"No, I was talking to Squall." she dryly answered. "—I'm only kidding. Of course I meant you."

The teenager shifted her eyes warily. "Uh...Rinoa?"

The doctor smirked and pocketed the small flashlight. "You should say that with a more confident tone of voice the next time. Or else I might not believe you then."

Rinoa weakly smiled, "...I'll try to remember that."

"Actually, I'd prefer it if you didn't. I'd rather see you healthy." the older woman quipped. The bed-dwelling adolescent's smile grew a little wider.

"Okay. I'll try to remember that instead, Doctor Kadowaki."

Within a single second, the good doctor's expression turned from light-hearted to serious.

"I'm not going to lie to you Rinoa. I have my reservations about today's incident." she stated, going straight for the jugular. "And I doubt that they're as simple as the possible explanation that Squall has given me."

His name immediately served as a trigger. "...Squall? Where is he?"

"Sitting outside of the infirmary, waiting for you." the doctor answered. "I told him that he could go back to class, but he refused. And like I told you yesterday, if that boy had it in his mind to do something, nothing will get him to change his mind."

"So you...aren't going to call Cid for skipping?"

She shook her head. "He explained the situation with your second period class, and I can't say that I don't agree with your actions." the older woman admitted. "But you didn't hear that from me, alright?"

Rinoa nodded before resuming the line of questions. "So...he's waiting for me?"

"More or less." she explained. "I was under the impression that he would have preferred to stay in here, but I felt the need for privacy, given the circumstances — which conveniently brings me to my next point."

All the teenager could do was gulp and wait for the impending verbal bomb in three...two...one...

"I know of your past medical history Rinoa and," The doctor paused, taking a moment to push her glasses back to their proper spot with her index finger. "...it is my duty as a doctor to report back to your parents or the said facility you attended if I feel that there's been a relapse. Yesterday's circumstances were suspicious, but after seeing Squall carry you in here so effortlessly, full backpack and all, I have my doubts. Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

"I..." Her eyes started to glaze over. "...I don't want to want to go back. Please...give me a chance, please don't report me."

"Do you have an idea of what the first thing that boy said," The doctor pointed in the direction of the hallway, where Squall was supposedly waiting. "-when I asked him what happened?"

Rinoa quietly bit her lip and shook her head.

"He said, and I quote, 'when she started to wobble, I stopped her from falling by grabbing the crook of her arm but I almost dropped her. I've never felt such a bony arm in my life,' then he had paused for a moment and said, 'she might be sick.' And even though the guess he made afterwards couldn't have been the cause, I still agree with the fact that you are sick. "

Rinoa bit the inside of her lip harder. The doctor sat down at the side of the bed, placing the most weight on her right arm. She continued then.

"Regardless of what you told me yesterday, he seems to have taken quite a shine to you. Don't let the idea of perfection get in the way if there is something between the two of you. Perfection is for paintings, not people. I'll let you off the hook this time, but consider it your final warning. You are to report to me every Wednesday for a check-up. If you faint again, skip the appointments without a valid reason or if I notice that you aren't making an effort to gain some weight over time, that will be your third strike and it'll be game over."

"Sure...okay..."

"That leaves us two things to attend to then."

"...Which is, um, what Doctor Kadowaki?" she meekly asked.

"A mandatory weigh-in and brunch." the doctor answered. "I take it that you haven't had anything to eat after noticing the extra saliva in the corners of your mouth when I was checking your throat for any blockages. Now can I trust your companion to make sure you eat what I give you, or should I pull up a table for you here?"

"Oh." Cue the reddening cheeks. "Um...I'll be fine with Squall to eat somewhere else."

And with that, Rinoa slowly dipped her feet downward, off to the side of the bed and to the ground. She stood there and the doctor directed her to the infirmary's scale, towards the back of the room. Not even a minute later, the teenager had her eyes closed as the doctor was adjusting the scale measure down the numbered slider. Once the precise number was found, the quick scratches of the doctor's pen onto a medical record sheet burned into her mind. Someone else knew of her two digits, someone else would be judging. The food she'd be given later would have been easier to swallow.

In that very instant, Rinoa decided to change her mind and eat in the infirmary instead. He doesn't need to know of this, he doesn't need to be burdened with this. All he'd need to know would be the lie she'd feed him later, that it was just some lingering symptoms from yesterday. Life will be a little simpler that way, she reasoned.

-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-

When she had left the infirmary, Squall had effectively put the last nail in the coffin for whatever suspicions the doctor had about a budding 'relationship' developing between the pair. He was as close and attentive as he could be without saying a word. Although Rinoa had always known that he has never been much of a linguist, she had no idea that he was so good with conveying things so effortlessly with body language. She'd have to ask him later. Right now, they were walking to Cid's office to do what they'd been meaning to do earlier. Judging by the time, the period was just about halfway done.

Waiting for the elevator to come down to the main floor, Squall started shuffling his feet before looking her way when things were taking longer than expected.

"What...did she say to you?"

"Oh, Kadowaki?" she said with a bit of surprise in her tone. She hadn't expected him to bring it up; she'd assumed that the level of concern the doctor had talked about was just for show. "She just said that I should make sure to eat regularly to make sure my energy levels don't fall down like they did this morning. The flu kinda trashed my strength."

He turned to look at the elevator door. "Hm."

"Well, it kind of gets better."

The teenager turned back, sporting a deeply cynical look. "...I doubt that very much." he sardonically replied.

"No, no. It is good." Now, Rinoa couldn't resist smiling. "Doctor Kadowaki is convinced you've got the hots for me. So that's good news for this whole faking business."

He raised an eyebrow. "...Nice phrasing."

"I try, you know." She had to laugh a little. "Well, she phrased it like, 'he's taken a shine to you,' but I think this packs more of a punch, don't you think?"

Squall shrugged. "I guess so. She made you sound like a shoe I'm polishing."

"Hey...I thought you didn't do jokes?"

He shrugged again. "Someone could be around. I have to stay out of character." he deadpanned.

Rinoa tossed him a casual look of mildly disbelieving look. She wasn't quite sold. "No, people don't usually pop up when nothing earth-shattering is happening. Normally that only happens when you're either, A – in the middle, or about to get, uh, involved with someone, B – about to reveal some kind of big secret, or C – when whatever you're saying will sound so wrong because they walk in at the worst time ever. There's practically no in between."

"...Involved?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, what do you want me to say?"

"What it is." he said dryly. "I'm eighteen; it won't scar me for life."

"Fine, if you want me to be more specific..." Rinoa took a deep breath and...instead of saying it aloud, like it looked like she was going to do, she made a few crude gestures with her fingers to interpret what she meant by 'involved'. She cracked into another smile afterwards. "Sorry, I couldn't say it out loud. I kept on thinking about 'option C'. The last thing we need is—"

Oops.

In a knee-jerk reaction, Rinoa brushed her cheeks with the tips of her fingertips. The elevator finally came and her face felt like it was ablaze. After they'd walked into it, Squall pressed the button for the floor Cid's office was on. The door closed before anyone else could get in. It was only them.

"I still have to get used to this...I've got to stop caring if people think that. It's a part of what couples do after all—"

"-Rinoa," he said pointedly, cutting her off altogether. "I was trying to get you to say it because someone was passing by right before you stopped. Your theory's...accurate."

Rinoa's cheeks felt even hotter. "...Remind me never to make any more theories." she mumbled before going on a tangent. "Hyne, you're being very persistent when it comes to trying to get people to 'find' out."

Squall shrugged. "...It was an opportunity to take, nothing more."

"True." Rinoa agreed. "So, what about Cid? Are you going to try to take an opportunity there so he'll know and spread the word?"

He shook his head. "The headmaster might blame our carelessness on it instead of focusing on the substitute's attitude. We can't chance it."

Nodding, Rinoa added one last comment before the elevator doors opened, "But what he assumes something because we've both been in trouble together first?"

-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-

Apparently, Instructor Kolp's substitute did know how to use the intercom. Not to mention, she was also, allegedly, good friends with Cid from way back. Put the two and two together and it was the student's attitude to blame here. Rinoa quickly learned that there was a zero tolerance policy when it came to these things. She also learned that in spite of being wronged, students were still punished for the wrongs they did as a result of other's actions. She was still written up for wandering around the halls and not taking the 'appropriate method of action' by reporting to the gym immediately and informing the teacher about her bag. He didn't even mention anything about Nat.

Life sure did suck at times but it went on as she and Squall were waiting for Gym class, their official punishment not being until a little later. It consisted of a date in the headmaster's office during their cancelled fourth period History class. The bag incident saddled her with a shared after-school detention with Squall on Thursday. Evidently, the Garden didn't believe in missing school as a part of the punishment.

...Damn.

Blowing the hair out of her face as she lazily sat down near the Training Center's doors, Rinoa waited to be told where to go for today's Gym class like everyone else, clad in full Phys. Ed. regalia. She heard the familiar 'thump' noise of someone sitting down. This time, it was beside her and not somewhere else.

Thankfully, it wasn't Squall, as her head was still in a tizzy to properly fake stuff. The person in question was a certain dark-haired friend of hers.

The aforementioned friend's aquamarine eyes held a fair amount of curiosity when Rinoa exchanged glances with her. Conveniently enough, the others seemed to either be preoccupied with their only discussions or at least appeared to be out of earshot. And boy was this was going to fun, her stomach was already in pre-emptive knots.

"You know, I honestly can't remember the last time I got to say hi to you." Adrienne joked. "I swear that you're becoming a magnet for bad luck."

"I know what you mean." Rinoa softly chuckled. "But I think you managed to squeak a 'hi' in yesterday if I'm not mistaken."

"True. I did manage to scare you with a 'Hey,' didn't I?" she light-heartedly added before swiftly changing topics, "So, are you in a fair amount of trouble for 'antagonizing' that horrible sub we had for Lit?"

Rinoa blinked...she wasn't giving her the third degree about Squall?

'Maybe that'll come later.' the teenager mused. '...Hyne, what's with all of ticking time bombs today?—Oh crap, Squall's coming this way...no, no, no... Stay calm, Rinoa. Maybe he won't come and sit beside you...'

She immediately directed all of her to her friend. "Yeah, we couldn't plead our case to Cid because she was an old friend of his. And you know how it's always the teenager's fault when friends are involved?"

Adrienne nodded. "Don't get me started on that. It's happened so many times to Ryan that I could write a whole book on it. Then again, he's such a klutz so it's pretty much justified."

Rinoa laughed a little, ignoring the fact that Squall was coming closer and closer. "So he just so happens to be a klutz around Headmaster Cid's friends?"

"More or less—" Thump. All of a sudden, Adrienne had a peculiar look on her face, before looking past her. "Well, this sure is a surprise."

Oh damn. It happened already. What was it about his extremely fast way of walking that always her off guard? Rinoa turned to look the other way.

Oops. Wasn't him again, she'd just saw him sit somewhere else on the other wall out of the corner of her eye. It was Ivy who was on the other side of her. Interestingly enough, she was wearing the gym outfit and not her regular clothes. The white shirt was evidently an older one from before she was pregnant; the swell of her stomach was clearly testing the limits of the hem of the shirt.

"I went ahead and asked what we were doing today and Instructor Reiyn said that I'd be able to participate since it's a low impact activity we're doing today."

"Oh, so what are we doing Ivy?" Adrienne asked.

She lightly smirked. "Apparently, he's under the impression that I can play badminton at four-and-a-half months along. I don't think I'll be able to dive for any birdie that goes below this-" Ivy poked her stomach for emphasis. Now she was looking straight at Rinoa. "I swear it started growing tenfold like since I last talked to you Rinoa. I had to hop around like mad to even get into this shirt. And at this rate, I'll need scissors to cut my way out of it after class is done."

Rinoa nearly did a double take. "Hyne, was Alexis's birthday the last time I talked to you?" The brunette nodded. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I've been running around like a Chocobo with its head cut off lately. Being sick didn't help either."

"It's okay, Rinoa. You don't have to apologize to me. This is new for you; I can understand why you've been busier with other things."

"...Other things?" Rinoa confusedly repeated, "I'm not sure if I'm following you."

Adrienne tapped her on the shoulder and Rinoa looked the other way at her. She started to talk at whisper-level. "...She's talking about what we found out about this morning Rinoa."

What came out of Rinoa's mouth next could have been anyone's guess but her own. All she had in her head was a series of half-thoughts and fragmented words floating around there. Was it bad that her first instinct was to deny all of this?

'Stay calm Rinoa. Don't blow it. They're not mad at you.'

'...I think.'

Using her peripheral vision, Rinoa saw Squall get up from where he was sitting. Watching where he went wasn't an option though. Plenty of people were blocking her line of sight at the moment. And so, she stuck to the conversation at hand. "Actually...I think it was just being sick for the past couple of days that's been taking up my time, I mean, between that and the Lit work, I had virtually no time for anyone."

"Ok, we'll forgive you this one time Rinoa." Adrienne amicably joshed. "It'll be your 'I'm in the love-struck phase' freebie, kay? Just remember that we like knowing what you look like once in awhile."

Rinoa was utterly flabbergasted at this point. "Seriously...you guys aren't going to make fun of me or anything?"

When she looked at both friends, she caught the mildly disgusted and disbelieving look on Ivy's face.

"Rinoa, I don't know what's gotten into your head but we're not like the others, we're not going to make fun of you. And I honestly don't see a reason to. Dating someone's whose reserved isn't a reason to make fun of them."

Rinoa looked at Adrienne's way. She gave her a warm, yet mildly hurt look. It was as if she was withholding a small grimace.

"I don't really have an opinion on him yet, but...I really wished you would have told us instead of making us find out at the same time as the others." she admitted. "But, I have to admit that after the whole Tyler thing...I can, well, I can see why you'd want to wait it out."

Against her will, Rinoa flinched a little at the mention of his name. Was she talking about in general, or did she actually know about the specific event which led to the break-up? With Alexis in the picture, it was possible that she knew more if she'd told her sister about the one time he mixed the two of them up. Either way, Rinoa was going to pretend that she was talking in general terms.

"Thanks...for understanding. But you're right. It was stupid of me to not keep you in the loop when I should have. I guess I really was the headless Chocobo I was describing myself as."

Adrienne finally had a smirk on her face. "More like a beheaded and wobbly Chocobo, I think. That spill you had yesterday looked like it hurt."

Rinoa flinched again. God, how many times was her stupidity over the last few days going to show? It was starting to look like she was really trying to make it seem like she'd cut everyone out of her life as of late. She may have not been given the third degree, but this was definitely a slow burn nonetheless.

"I was fine. I just woke up a couple of minutes later though, I was wondering why I was moving when my legs were just drifting along. Well, that and why I didn't see any nasty bruises when I looked in the mirror a couple of hours later."

Adrienne's smirk grew wider. "You know, it's a shame that Instructor Kolp made Squall and Seifer carry you if you said that you woke up while they were still on the way there."

In response, all Rinoa could seem do was blankly stare at her.

'Wow...that was a bad. Hyne, I can't believe I just did that. That's going to either make me look naive, like I don't know what she's implying or surprised that she bought it up...'

"Sorry," Rinoa quickly interjected, "I know what you meant, it's just that I'm still kind of shell-shocked that you guys are talking to me as if he's any other guy. I guess I'm not used to being treated like I haven't lost my head because of the last few days."

"You should trust your judgement more Rinoa." Ivy chided. "We know that you're not the kind of person who clings onto anyone who asks you out. There's obviously a reason why you're with him and we respect that and are willing to give him a chance. The people who treat you as if you've lost your head...they're the ones who don't look past what they see on the outside."

After taking a small breath, she continued. "Trust me; I'm going through the same thing. When some people take one look at my stomach, they assume that I'm irresponsible, stupid and reckless when that's the furthest thing from the truth. Those people don't know a thing about who I am and I know better than to let their opinions get to me."

"She's right Rinoa," Adrienne's own words made Rinoa's face gravitate to the other side. "-you don't have to settle with the idea that being with him is wrong, weird or whatever they're making you think. If you believe that this is worth it, don't give them a second thought. They're wrong and they don't know the whole picture. So as long as he isn't making you miserable, count on us to stick up for you."

"Wow, I...really don't know what to say. Thank you."

Rinoa was on the verge of trembling. With Ivy and Adrienne's words in mind, her brain went rather numb. She'd undergone a revelation.

'...I don't think I've ever had friends like this before.'

After a moment or two of silence, Rinoa heard some footsteps behind her and the three girls turned towards the source of the noise. And once and for all, it was actually Squall this time.

"Hey...you." Rinoa softly greeted. She took a quick look of their surroundings. The starkness of the hallway forced her to ask a question. "By any chance...was the class cancelled? I don't see anybody around here."

He shook his head. "...They're setting up nets in the ballroom."

Adrienne got up with her duffel bag. "Well, I guess we should get going before someone notices. Thanks for the heads up."

When Ivy slowly got up afterwards and said a brief thanks as well, the four of them headed towards the aforementioned room with Squall in front of them with Rinoa half-a-step behind and Ivy and Adrienne bringing up the rear. After few minutes down the line, this was reason enough for the latter to lightly jog up to Rinoa and whisper something in her ear.

"Hyne...does he always walk this fast?" Rinoa smiled and nodded to her. For some reason, a smile crept on her friend's face. "So I guess it wouldn't have really mattered if he was the only one to carry you. The speed-walking would have killed any kind of romantic moment you two could have had."

Rinoa light-heartedly punched her in the arm. "...You're bad Adrienne."

'...But I wouldn't have you any other way.'

-—-—--—-—--—-—--—-—-

End of Chapter Comments – Aah, I know, I'm a little late, but I have a good excuse this time! Last week I was working 10-6 from Tuesday to Friday, 10-5 on Saturday and I was away the whole day on Sunday so I either didn't have much time to write or was too tired to do it.

Either way, enjoy! :D

-Emerald-Latias

Random Tidbits – I know I forgot last chapter's tidbits but I was in a hurry. I'll get around to it another time, I'm too brain dead to do it now since there were a couple of things, I think. Hm. The only thing I can think of for this chapter is that a piece of in-game dialogue is being mocked here. If there's more, I'll get around to that too.