Chapter 3: Rainy Day
Quistis pushed the cart through the supermarket. She needed to get some food incase she won't get the time to rush out to the cafeteria before her classes. She had been so relieved when she found out that Seifer had plans for the other nights, and Quistis haven't seen him – and won't have to – for a few days. She didn't know what to say to him anyway, not after their first lesson, and she had smashed him with tomatoes. That had been 4 days ago, yet, it seemed like it happened yesterday. She could still remember his angry face, and how he actually managed to yank the chair out of its place. Hiding a giggle, she felt a bit sorry for him, maybe she was being too harsh…
Quistis stopped at the pasta and rice aisle, where there were boxes of pasta and rice with packages of seasoning and sauce inside. 'Ah! The dump- in-a-pot-and-let-it-boil aisle! My lifesaver!' She smiled and pushed the empty cart up the lane. She studied box after box, looking for something she would like. She remembered that the Matron never used these things when they were kids; she opposed them because of all the preservatives inside.
'Oh well,' Quistis thought, 'I don't have time to cook, and I'm sure that I'm not going to die from packaged seasoning.'
She pushed her cart smoothly forward, staring at the boxes. Suddenly she bumped into someone. Quistis looked up. "I'm sor – "
Her eyes widened. "Oh! It's you!! What are you doing here?"
Seifer smirked. "What? No sorry? I believed you were going to apologize?"
Quistis narrowed her eyes. "No! Why would I? You bumped into _me_ first!"
"Really? I was so sure that you were think differently before you saw that it was me."
"Why would I do that just because I know it's _you_?!"
"Oh… I dunno…. maybe because you always preferred Squall instead… or maybe because you just don't like some people."
"I don't discriminate against anybody! Leave me alone Seifer!"
Seifer stared at her blankly. "Why?"
"Just go away! What do you need anyways?"
"Can't a former student talk to his Instructor?"
"Not when the former student is rude!" Quistis exclaimed, exasperated by his smirk and his attitude. "And you're not my former student! You _are_ my student! And I don't really want to talk to you! Infact! I don't even want to _see_ you!"
"Aw… c'mon baby, you know you don't mean it." Seifer leaned on his cart, making Quistis angrier.
"Excuse me young lady!" A woman said behind Quistis. Quistis turned around. "You're holding up the line!"
Quistis blushed when she saw the people behind the woman muttering angrily.
"Why don't you talk to your boyfriend somewhere else?" The woman suggested, clearly irritated.
"He is _not!_ My boyfriend!" Quistis cried, then turned around and pushed her cart out of the way, while purposely bumping into Seifer.
He watched as she went, a bit surprised at her outburst, and a bit more surprised that the woman had thought of them as a couple, especially with her yelling like that. He stood by his cart and watched her petite figure walking farther down the aisle, stopping now and then to pick something off the shelf. Completely blocking out the loud protests of the people in front of him, Seifer pushed his cart around towards Quistis' direction and left, while the other customers stared at his retreating back.
~*~
Quistis sighed and sat down in her small table at the café. She hoped Seifer had left; she didn't want to see him again. The two of them, she realized, couldn't stand in the same room without having a fight of some sort. It wasn't like that before; sure, he got on her nerves, but never enough to provoke an argument. Quistis slowly sipped her tea, staring at the busy streets outside the café windows. The sky was gray, as if it was going to rain. Quistis frowned, she hadn't thought of bringing an umbrella, and there was no way she could make it back without getting wet, and her groceries would probably get spoiled too.
'With my luck today though,' Quistis thought, 'it'd probably rain just about – '
A loud clap of thunder broke through the noises of the street, and the rain fell down at its command, drenching the surprised pedestrians outside. A lightning bolt cut through the sky, and people started to make a run for the buildings.
' -- now.' Quistis finished her thought and sighed again. Just her luck, now she'd never get back in time. At least it was a small, smooth drizzle, and if it got any worst, she'd just make a dash across the street to the store for an umbrella. Quistis took another sip of her tea and watched in dismay as the rain fell down harder, almost in buckets.
'No way now that I can get anywhere without getting wet. I'd probably need a raincoat.' Quistis hated raincoats. They were stuffy and smelly and they dripped water into your shoes if you didn't have boots and onto your face if the hood wasn't big enough
Quistis continued to stare outside, watching people run this way and that, as if they were being chased by an invisible enemy. Her eyes widened when she saw a blonde man with a gray trenchcoat making ran for the café. She turned around and stared as she saw him come into the café. He stood up and look around for a table. He caught her eye and came over. Quistis groaned inwardly.
"Hello there Instructor" He grinned, enjoying the fact that Quistis looked like she wanted to kill him for being there.
"What are you doing here Seifer?" Quistis demanded.
Seifer ignored her and shook off the water as if he was a dog, spraying Quistis. She yelped and got up, standing still in shock as Seifer smirked at her. She gave him a glare as he sat down opposite her.
"What's wrong Instructor? Don't like getting wet?"
"Actually no!" Quistis exclaimed as she sat back down. "If I did, I would have gone outside, now go get your own table Seifer."
"No, I like it here." Seifer stretched and grinned at her.
Quistis took a deep breath and picked up her cup. She stood up and splashed it over Seifer, who blinked in surprise. Quistis' heart leaped. She had no idea why she did that.
"Why you little bitch!" Seifer stood up quickly and gasped, almost turning the table over.
"What did you call me?!" Quistis' mouth gaped open as she stared at the taller man.
"I said bitch! What the fuck's wrong with you? Do you have a thing against people sitting with you?"
"No! I just prefer it if _you_ didn't sit with me!" Quistis exclaimed and picked up her coat. She walked over to him and poked him. "It's worst enough that we live at practically the same place, but do you have to follow me everywhere?!" She gave him one more poke and stormed out of the café.
Everyone stared at Seifer. He turned to the café and yelled: "What are you people looking at?!!"
Everyone stared back up at him. One little girl who sat in front of them blinked at him, frowning. "You should go back to your wife and cheer her up! You were being mean!"
Seifer's eyes almost popped out of its sockets. "I. AM. NOT. HER. HUSBAND. SHE. IS. NOT. MY. WIFE!" He shouted, and stormed out. When he got to the door, he turned back and picked up the grocery bags, then started out again. He stopped halfway, and dropped the bags in the trash, thinking that they'd get wet anyways, and walked out of the café. Suddenly, he came back in again, picked up the purse Quistis had left, and headed for the door once more. Everyone kept their eyes glued to the man and watched as the door slammed shut.
~*~
Seifer blinked, trying to keep the water of his eyes. He hadn't seen Quistis anywhere, and he had been looking for about an hour. The storm was pretty big, it was cold, and it was blowing wind, making the rain feel like ice as it hit his face. He figured she couldn't be back at the garden, since she left her money. There was no way she could walk that far.
'Dammit Trepe. I don't play hide-and-seek.' Seifer grimaced as the wind picked up again, blowing directly at his face. He held his arm up to block it, and started walking again when it softened. His coat was wet, so was his pants, and his hair; the water was dripping inside his coat, and he was starting to get a headache. The streets were almost empty now, and the sky was extremely dark for 6 P.M.
He picked up his pace and started off again.
~*~
Quistis sat down on her bed and dried off her hair. It was a good thing she had met Squall and Rinoa out and had gotten a ride from them. She would have never made it back in this weather. A hurricane was nearby, and was bringing up a storm. If she had heard about it earlier, she wouldn't have gone out.
On the way back she had decieded to get some medicine incase she catches a small fever from being out in the rain, it was then when she realized she forgot her purse and groceries. Good thing there was only about 83 Gils in the purse, and nothing else. She could afford to lose 83 Gils, but she had been afraid she had put some of her ID cards or credit cards in there.
She watched the rain splatter against her window as if someone was constantly spraying a hose directly on it. She couldn't see anything outside, and she had heard on the radio that there had been a few minor mudslides in the woods part of Balamb. More than ever now, she was glad she had gotten back.
'But I don't hear Seifer.'
Quistis frowned. She was sure that Seifer would have been back by now. He wouldn't be dumb enough to go out like this; she hoped he had stayed at the café.
Quistis dropped her towel on the bed. She had no idea why she was even thinking about him. Seifer was a big guy, he could take care of himself.
'Yea, he's probably at a bar right now, drinking his ass off or something. He's always like that. Or maybe he took my purse and rented a room at a hotel and paid for a chick or something…' she thought, 'Yea, sounds like something he would do.'
She sat up in bed Indian style and stayed in that position for about 15 minutes, listening to the clock.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock…..
'Who am I kidding? I'm actually worried about him.' She groaned and fell onto the bed, lying there as she stared up at the ceiling. 'Stupid Seifer, always making people worry about him. He doesn't deserve it.'
Quistis heaved another sigh and got up. She grabbed a thin jacket and shrugged it on. She shoved the keys into her pockets and went out for the snack machine. She closed the door and smiled faintly at a Trepie who waved. She slowly made her way to the lounge and saw Selphie, eating a chocolate bar while Zell shuffled his deck of cards over and over again. They looked up when they saw her.
"Quisty!" Selphie squealed and pounced on her. Quistis smiled but backed away from the hyper girl's sticky hands.
"Hey Quistis." Zell grinned up at her, putting his cards aside. "What are you doing here so late? It's almost 10:30."
"I had too much on my mind." Quistis replied as she inserted the bill into the machine. "What are _you_ two doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep either." Selphie sniffled, and took another bite out of her candy. "I was scared of the thunder, and Zell was so nice and he agreed to wait with me here!" She gave Zell a tiny pat on the cheek. Zell made a face and wiped the chocolate off.
"What are you waiting for?" Quistis asked, licking her lips as she tried to feed the machine the bill, but it kept spitting it back out.
"I dunno." Zell shrugged. "I didn't want to go to bed yet anyways."
"Uh um…" Quistis murmured, not really paying attention. She frowned at the machine as it spit the bill back out again.
"Need help?" Zell asked.
"Nah." She gave up and turned around, putting the bill back in her jacket. "Oh well, candy isn't exactly healthy anyways. I might as well – " Quistis' eyes broadened and she cried. "Seifer!"
Zell and Selphie turned around and saw him, wet, and staggering. He draged himself along while leaning on the wall. He moaned and slid down.
Quistis rushed forward and helped him up. He stared at her with a blank look, and leaned comfortably on her. Quistis slipped and they both fell. Zell came up and peeled him off.
"Oh man. He's burning up like a bonfire." Zell grunted and dragged one of Seifer's arms over his shoulder.
Seifer stirred and looked over to Quistis, who got up and tried to strip his trenchcoat off. "Quistis?"
"Yea?" Quistis replied and swung the whole coat off. It was soaked and weighed a ton. "Selphie, go get Dr. Kadowaki and tell her to come to my room, ok?"
Selphie nodded and rushed off. Zell made a noise at the back of his throat, trying to keep Seifer from falling. Seifer sleepily took something out of his pockets and handed it to Quistis. It was her purse. Quistis stared at the man in bewilderment and took the purse from him.
"Had to give it to you…" he slurred, " … didn't think you could get anywhere without the money…"
Quistis took a deep breath and shook her head. "I can't believe you Seifer. You do the most pointless things…"
Quistis pushed the cart through the supermarket. She needed to get some food incase she won't get the time to rush out to the cafeteria before her classes. She had been so relieved when she found out that Seifer had plans for the other nights, and Quistis haven't seen him – and won't have to – for a few days. She didn't know what to say to him anyway, not after their first lesson, and she had smashed him with tomatoes. That had been 4 days ago, yet, it seemed like it happened yesterday. She could still remember his angry face, and how he actually managed to yank the chair out of its place. Hiding a giggle, she felt a bit sorry for him, maybe she was being too harsh…
Quistis stopped at the pasta and rice aisle, where there were boxes of pasta and rice with packages of seasoning and sauce inside. 'Ah! The dump- in-a-pot-and-let-it-boil aisle! My lifesaver!' She smiled and pushed the empty cart up the lane. She studied box after box, looking for something she would like. She remembered that the Matron never used these things when they were kids; she opposed them because of all the preservatives inside.
'Oh well,' Quistis thought, 'I don't have time to cook, and I'm sure that I'm not going to die from packaged seasoning.'
She pushed her cart smoothly forward, staring at the boxes. Suddenly she bumped into someone. Quistis looked up. "I'm sor – "
Her eyes widened. "Oh! It's you!! What are you doing here?"
Seifer smirked. "What? No sorry? I believed you were going to apologize?"
Quistis narrowed her eyes. "No! Why would I? You bumped into _me_ first!"
"Really? I was so sure that you were think differently before you saw that it was me."
"Why would I do that just because I know it's _you_?!"
"Oh… I dunno…. maybe because you always preferred Squall instead… or maybe because you just don't like some people."
"I don't discriminate against anybody! Leave me alone Seifer!"
Seifer stared at her blankly. "Why?"
"Just go away! What do you need anyways?"
"Can't a former student talk to his Instructor?"
"Not when the former student is rude!" Quistis exclaimed, exasperated by his smirk and his attitude. "And you're not my former student! You _are_ my student! And I don't really want to talk to you! Infact! I don't even want to _see_ you!"
"Aw… c'mon baby, you know you don't mean it." Seifer leaned on his cart, making Quistis angrier.
"Excuse me young lady!" A woman said behind Quistis. Quistis turned around. "You're holding up the line!"
Quistis blushed when she saw the people behind the woman muttering angrily.
"Why don't you talk to your boyfriend somewhere else?" The woman suggested, clearly irritated.
"He is _not!_ My boyfriend!" Quistis cried, then turned around and pushed her cart out of the way, while purposely bumping into Seifer.
He watched as she went, a bit surprised at her outburst, and a bit more surprised that the woman had thought of them as a couple, especially with her yelling like that. He stood by his cart and watched her petite figure walking farther down the aisle, stopping now and then to pick something off the shelf. Completely blocking out the loud protests of the people in front of him, Seifer pushed his cart around towards Quistis' direction and left, while the other customers stared at his retreating back.
~*~
Quistis sighed and sat down in her small table at the café. She hoped Seifer had left; she didn't want to see him again. The two of them, she realized, couldn't stand in the same room without having a fight of some sort. It wasn't like that before; sure, he got on her nerves, but never enough to provoke an argument. Quistis slowly sipped her tea, staring at the busy streets outside the café windows. The sky was gray, as if it was going to rain. Quistis frowned, she hadn't thought of bringing an umbrella, and there was no way she could make it back without getting wet, and her groceries would probably get spoiled too.
'With my luck today though,' Quistis thought, 'it'd probably rain just about – '
A loud clap of thunder broke through the noises of the street, and the rain fell down at its command, drenching the surprised pedestrians outside. A lightning bolt cut through the sky, and people started to make a run for the buildings.
' -- now.' Quistis finished her thought and sighed again. Just her luck, now she'd never get back in time. At least it was a small, smooth drizzle, and if it got any worst, she'd just make a dash across the street to the store for an umbrella. Quistis took another sip of her tea and watched in dismay as the rain fell down harder, almost in buckets.
'No way now that I can get anywhere without getting wet. I'd probably need a raincoat.' Quistis hated raincoats. They were stuffy and smelly and they dripped water into your shoes if you didn't have boots and onto your face if the hood wasn't big enough
Quistis continued to stare outside, watching people run this way and that, as if they were being chased by an invisible enemy. Her eyes widened when she saw a blonde man with a gray trenchcoat making ran for the café. She turned around and stared as she saw him come into the café. He stood up and look around for a table. He caught her eye and came over. Quistis groaned inwardly.
"Hello there Instructor" He grinned, enjoying the fact that Quistis looked like she wanted to kill him for being there.
"What are you doing here Seifer?" Quistis demanded.
Seifer ignored her and shook off the water as if he was a dog, spraying Quistis. She yelped and got up, standing still in shock as Seifer smirked at her. She gave him a glare as he sat down opposite her.
"What's wrong Instructor? Don't like getting wet?"
"Actually no!" Quistis exclaimed as she sat back down. "If I did, I would have gone outside, now go get your own table Seifer."
"No, I like it here." Seifer stretched and grinned at her.
Quistis took a deep breath and picked up her cup. She stood up and splashed it over Seifer, who blinked in surprise. Quistis' heart leaped. She had no idea why she did that.
"Why you little bitch!" Seifer stood up quickly and gasped, almost turning the table over.
"What did you call me?!" Quistis' mouth gaped open as she stared at the taller man.
"I said bitch! What the fuck's wrong with you? Do you have a thing against people sitting with you?"
"No! I just prefer it if _you_ didn't sit with me!" Quistis exclaimed and picked up her coat. She walked over to him and poked him. "It's worst enough that we live at practically the same place, but do you have to follow me everywhere?!" She gave him one more poke and stormed out of the café.
Everyone stared at Seifer. He turned to the café and yelled: "What are you people looking at?!!"
Everyone stared back up at him. One little girl who sat in front of them blinked at him, frowning. "You should go back to your wife and cheer her up! You were being mean!"
Seifer's eyes almost popped out of its sockets. "I. AM. NOT. HER. HUSBAND. SHE. IS. NOT. MY. WIFE!" He shouted, and stormed out. When he got to the door, he turned back and picked up the grocery bags, then started out again. He stopped halfway, and dropped the bags in the trash, thinking that they'd get wet anyways, and walked out of the café. Suddenly, he came back in again, picked up the purse Quistis had left, and headed for the door once more. Everyone kept their eyes glued to the man and watched as the door slammed shut.
~*~
Seifer blinked, trying to keep the water of his eyes. He hadn't seen Quistis anywhere, and he had been looking for about an hour. The storm was pretty big, it was cold, and it was blowing wind, making the rain feel like ice as it hit his face. He figured she couldn't be back at the garden, since she left her money. There was no way she could walk that far.
'Dammit Trepe. I don't play hide-and-seek.' Seifer grimaced as the wind picked up again, blowing directly at his face. He held his arm up to block it, and started walking again when it softened. His coat was wet, so was his pants, and his hair; the water was dripping inside his coat, and he was starting to get a headache. The streets were almost empty now, and the sky was extremely dark for 6 P.M.
He picked up his pace and started off again.
~*~
Quistis sat down on her bed and dried off her hair. It was a good thing she had met Squall and Rinoa out and had gotten a ride from them. She would have never made it back in this weather. A hurricane was nearby, and was bringing up a storm. If she had heard about it earlier, she wouldn't have gone out.
On the way back she had decieded to get some medicine incase she catches a small fever from being out in the rain, it was then when she realized she forgot her purse and groceries. Good thing there was only about 83 Gils in the purse, and nothing else. She could afford to lose 83 Gils, but she had been afraid she had put some of her ID cards or credit cards in there.
She watched the rain splatter against her window as if someone was constantly spraying a hose directly on it. She couldn't see anything outside, and she had heard on the radio that there had been a few minor mudslides in the woods part of Balamb. More than ever now, she was glad she had gotten back.
'But I don't hear Seifer.'
Quistis frowned. She was sure that Seifer would have been back by now. He wouldn't be dumb enough to go out like this; she hoped he had stayed at the café.
Quistis dropped her towel on the bed. She had no idea why she was even thinking about him. Seifer was a big guy, he could take care of himself.
'Yea, he's probably at a bar right now, drinking his ass off or something. He's always like that. Or maybe he took my purse and rented a room at a hotel and paid for a chick or something…' she thought, 'Yea, sounds like something he would do.'
She sat up in bed Indian style and stayed in that position for about 15 minutes, listening to the clock.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock…..
'Who am I kidding? I'm actually worried about him.' She groaned and fell onto the bed, lying there as she stared up at the ceiling. 'Stupid Seifer, always making people worry about him. He doesn't deserve it.'
Quistis heaved another sigh and got up. She grabbed a thin jacket and shrugged it on. She shoved the keys into her pockets and went out for the snack machine. She closed the door and smiled faintly at a Trepie who waved. She slowly made her way to the lounge and saw Selphie, eating a chocolate bar while Zell shuffled his deck of cards over and over again. They looked up when they saw her.
"Quisty!" Selphie squealed and pounced on her. Quistis smiled but backed away from the hyper girl's sticky hands.
"Hey Quistis." Zell grinned up at her, putting his cards aside. "What are you doing here so late? It's almost 10:30."
"I had too much on my mind." Quistis replied as she inserted the bill into the machine. "What are _you_ two doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep either." Selphie sniffled, and took another bite out of her candy. "I was scared of the thunder, and Zell was so nice and he agreed to wait with me here!" She gave Zell a tiny pat on the cheek. Zell made a face and wiped the chocolate off.
"What are you waiting for?" Quistis asked, licking her lips as she tried to feed the machine the bill, but it kept spitting it back out.
"I dunno." Zell shrugged. "I didn't want to go to bed yet anyways."
"Uh um…" Quistis murmured, not really paying attention. She frowned at the machine as it spit the bill back out again.
"Need help?" Zell asked.
"Nah." She gave up and turned around, putting the bill back in her jacket. "Oh well, candy isn't exactly healthy anyways. I might as well – " Quistis' eyes broadened and she cried. "Seifer!"
Zell and Selphie turned around and saw him, wet, and staggering. He draged himself along while leaning on the wall. He moaned and slid down.
Quistis rushed forward and helped him up. He stared at her with a blank look, and leaned comfortably on her. Quistis slipped and they both fell. Zell came up and peeled him off.
"Oh man. He's burning up like a bonfire." Zell grunted and dragged one of Seifer's arms over his shoulder.
Seifer stirred and looked over to Quistis, who got up and tried to strip his trenchcoat off. "Quistis?"
"Yea?" Quistis replied and swung the whole coat off. It was soaked and weighed a ton. "Selphie, go get Dr. Kadowaki and tell her to come to my room, ok?"
Selphie nodded and rushed off. Zell made a noise at the back of his throat, trying to keep Seifer from falling. Seifer sleepily took something out of his pockets and handed it to Quistis. It was her purse. Quistis stared at the man in bewilderment and took the purse from him.
"Had to give it to you…" he slurred, " … didn't think you could get anywhere without the money…"
Quistis took a deep breath and shook her head. "I can't believe you Seifer. You do the most pointless things…"