Chapter 2 - Hot dogs? I like hot dogs...

During the time it took to get them to the elevator, six students had greeted Zell, four had nodded to him, two had stared at Ayori's clothes as she walked by, and three girls had burst out laughing when they rounded the corner. Ayori sighed, What am I doing that's making them all go crazy? She looked down at her clothes. What? Cargo pants and a red tank-top. What's wrong with that?

She looked up at the students, who all blended together with their matching uniforms. If I have to get one of those, I'll die. Hey… I can't afford one. Being poor here might be a good thing.

"Hey, Ayo? Are you planning on getting a uniform?" Zell asked her as they stepped onto the elevator. He punched in 3F and turned to look at her.

"Oh… I was just thinking about that. Can you read my mind?" Zell blinked at her and she smirked. "Well, do I really have to? Can't I just wear my normal clothes, like you and Irvine?"

"Heh, normal. You'll probably be required to wear a uniform. All students do, except Seifer. Oh, wait, you don't know Seifer, do you? Well, you will soon. He'll probably be in at least one of your classes." Zell nodded. Ayori was about to ask more, but they'd already arrived at the third floor. They stepped off the elevator, and Ayori watched as it disappeared downwards again.

Ayori looked forward into the room, expecting to see a large platform on a pedestal in the middle of the office. Instead, to her surprise, there was just an office. She glanced up as they entered, and heard someone steering up above. Must be Nida. That strange, strange boy.

"Hey there Squall," Zell called, saluting the figure in the back of the room. Ayori paled.

Salute.. Salute… I have to salute. Ayori turned to face the same direction as Zell, but the figure approaching them caused her to freeze. Her eyes opened wide and she had trouble standing on her own feet.

"This is Ayori. Irvine found her when he was out in the fields. Seems some Bite Bugs ambushed her and Irvine helped her out. She even killed one," Zell grinned at her, which snapped her into reality. "Beat it down with that bag she carries and jumped on it - a lot."

Ayori blushed. Why was she blushing now? She didn't blush with Irvine or Zell. And yet, here she was, in the presence of a character in a game that she saved the world with. She was standing within 10 feet of Squall Leonhart, and it was a sight to see. He was wearing his SeeD uniform, which was a rarity at best, and he looked great. No, scratch great, it did not do him justice. His hair was messy as usual - but it looked like he took hours to set it that way. The sensuality he emitted rolled off him in waves. He was gorgeous.

Squall nodded to Ayori. "Hello. Welcome to Garden."

"I.. uh…" Ayori swallowed hard. C'mon Ayori, don't be a retard. This is just Squall. You've already met Irvine AND Zell. This is no sweat! "Yeah… Hi there, Headmaster!" Ayori beamed at him, mimicking the salute Zell had given him. Squall's stone face softened slightly, and he nodded again.

"I trust you've come to enroll?"

"That was the plan." Ayori fidgeted, then quickly added, "sir."

"You'll need a uniform, and some textbooks. And a room…" Squall sighed. He looked to Zell. "Do you think you can handle getting her settled into her room with classes and a uniform, Zell?"

"Sure thing, Headmaster."

"Good."

"Later Squall." Zell saluted again and Squall nodded in return. Ayori saluted as well, smiling and running after Zell.

Squall sighed and sat back in the chair behind his desk. "I have a weird feeling about that girl," he murmured, eyes narrowing. Moments later he shrugged it off, and continued to sift through the pile of paperwork on his desk.

~~~

"Okay, here's the dorms. Your room is near mine, but yours is a double. You're sharing it with another student. If you have a problem with her at any time, you can submit your name to get moved to a new room. If you graduate and become a SeeD, you get a single room. Okay?"

"Gotcha." Ayori had heard this all before, but figured she should be polite. Until she started blending with the rest of these students, she expected to be exiled and needed whatever friends she could get. Especially the famous "I saved the world" friends, she thought, smiling internally. Those were the best kind.

"Okay, so, you want to go drop your stuff off then go get your class schedule? It's almost lunch time, if we hurry we can be first in line." As if on cue, Zell's stomach started growling. He grinned sheepishly. "And that means we'll get hotdogs for sure."

Ayori grinned. "Sounds great." She put the key in the door of her new room, and opened the door. "Hey Zell, are you going to wait out here?"

"Oh. Yeah, I'll be here." Zell leaned against the wall next to the door.

"All right. I'll be out in like two minutes." Ayori peeked into the room, leaving the door open. She looked at the two rooms inside the room. Both doors were closed, which was strange. Both also had posters of animals on them, which was downright rude. If one of these rooms was hers, where did this girl get off putting her stuff on a room that wasn't hers?

"Hey, is anybody in here? I'm your new roommate, and I'm wondering which room you're actually IN…"

"What? Wait, hold on." The door on the left slid open, and out stepped a girl with long black hair and thick bangs. She was wearing the Garden uniform, sans the jacket. "Uh, who are you? How'd you get into our room?"

Ayori arched an eyebrow. "OUR room? Well, I got into OUR room by this key right here," Ayori held up the key, and heard a rustling from behind the door on the right.

"…Is somebody in there?"

The girl looked confused. "What? No, I can't get a roommate. There's not enough room in here. I have a roommate, and he's sleeping." The girl started to look a little flustered, and waved her hand as she spoke. "You'll have to sleep in the hall or something because there is no way I'm kicking out my boyfriend for some…" The girl glanced at Ayori's clothes. " Some FREAK!" By this time, the girl's face had turned bright red and appeared to be quite angry. This anger was outmatched, however, when Ayori processed these words.

"…Excuse me? ….What the HELL did you just call me?!" Ayori's eyes narrowed as dropped her bag on the ground. She started advancing towards the dark haired girl.

Zell took this exact moment to peek in the door. "Uh, hey, is there a problem?" He saw the two girls beginning to square off, and ran into the room. "Whoa, whoa! What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know…" A voice came from behind the right door, and it slid open to reveal a half-dressed male student. His eyes opened wide when he saw Zell. "Oh… oh shit."

~~~

"Sorry about that Ayo. We'll get you a new room really soon. How about we go get your schedule in the meantime?" Zell glanced at his watch, and frowned.

"My schedule can wait, right? Can we grab lunch first?" Ayori grinned as Zell immediately cheered up.
"Yeah. That's a good plan."

Zell and Ayori made their way to the cafeteria, to find about 5 students in line. Zell grinned, "Hey, we're in luck!" Just as Ayori stepped into the line, about ten more students crammed in behind her, cutting Zell out of the line. Ayori narrowed her eyes.

"Why the hell is everyone in this school such an ASSHOLE?" Ayori growled, staring at the students that stole Zell's spot.

The students stared at her in return. This only made her more upset, and she was about to yell again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Zell, grinning like a toddler. "Don't worry about it Ayori, I'll just wait at the back. No hotdogs today, it's not a big deal."

"But... Zell. I don't have any money." Ayori frowned, realizing they both might have to wait quite awhile for lunch.

"Don't worry about it. Run it off my tab." Zell grinned and went to the back of the line.

Ayori sighed, and eventually reached the counter. The cafeteria lady smiled at her. "You're in luck young lady, there's two hotdogs left. Would you like both?"
Ayori considered this. She WAS pretty hungry… but she didn't want to seem selfish. Selfish? Ha. If you don't take them, then those assholes behind you will get them. And hey, you don't even have to eat them… Ayori grinned. She always felt so smart when she made a plan. "I'll take two hotdogs, an orange juice, and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich please. Zell told me to put it on his tab."

The cafeteria lady nodded. She wrote down a price in a book, and handed Ayori what she'd ordered. She heard a groan from behind her when they realized there weren't any hotdogs left. She walked over to Zell, who was standing patiently in line.

He turned to face her, grinning immediately. "You got the last two? You're lucky, you know. I guess it's a G.C for me.."

Ayori shook her head. "No way. The G.C's for me. The hotdogs," she picked them off her tray and passed them to a shocked Zell. "Are for you."

~~~

After lunch, Zell took Ayori to get her class schedule. They looked for Quistis, and everyone told them the same thing: she was in the 2F classroom.

"Me thinks this means she's in the 2F classroom, Zell." Ayori nodded, smiling slightly. Zell rolled his eyes and they returned to the elevator. He pressed the button for 2F, and they got out when it stopped. Zell waved at a student in the hallway, and the two rounded the corner from the elevator's hallway into a corridor. From there Ayori could see the doorway connecting to the deck.

"Here it is," Zell stopped in front of a door, looking up at it. He knocked a few times, and was answered by a tall woman with blonde hair.

Quistis wasn't wearing her glasses today, which -Ayori assumed- most likely made many students very, very happy. She wasn't wearing her red suit she'd worn during the game, but was wearing an outfit similar to the students'. She also looked slightly annoyed when she saw Zell at the door.

"Ah. Zell," Quistis' soft voice held a hint sarcasm in it. "It's so nice to see you. How can I help you today?"

"Brought you a new student, Quisty. She doesn't have a uniform, books, or even a room anymore. I figured she could sit in class while I go set up some of that." Zell shrugged.

Quistis arched an eyebrow. "A new student? How interesting... Well, come in then. What's your name?"

"Ayori Taro," Ayori answered quickly. She felt nervous, entering a classroom just like that. She nodded to Zell and he ran off, leaving her alone in Garden for the first time since she got there.

"Well," Quistis scanned the room. It was packed with students, and there didn't seem to be any more seats. "Hm… Ah. There's a seat, next to Seifer. You can go sit there." Quistis pointed to a desk near the back, but Ayori couldn't see anyone sitting there. As she made her way to the back of the room -ignoring the stares her clothes got her- she saw that there WAS someone sitting there.
It was Seifer all right. Considering there were few people that didn't wear the uniform, he stood out. That was if he was even awake… Ayori sat next to him quietly, and checked out his clothes. He was wearing that awesome silver coat that she'd always loved. She could barely see his blond hair behind his arm. He obviously didn't feel like being disturbed.

"All right class, turn to page 64 in your texts. Read that and start on the questions. I'll be back in about ten minutes." Quistis' eyes swept across the room, and she left.

Ayori blinked. Great. Uh, miss? Come back! I need a book! …So, what? Do I just sit here? She looked around the room, catching the eyes of random people that were looking at her. She narrowed her eyes, Keep your eyes to yourself, losers. Just because I dress prettier than you… Ayori stopped thinking abruptly when she heard a rustling from Seifer. She froze. Oh… my god. Be... invisible! You can't see me. I won't be killed today. I was put here. I'm invisible…

Seifer started sitting up. Had he fallen asleep again? Must have... he hoped Quistis didn't notice. When he looked up however, Quistis wasn't in the room. Something else that seemed strange was the fact that all the students were glancing back at him. No, not at him… Seifer turned to look at the person sitting next to him. "…..Hi."

Ayori took a deep breath. Okay. Reply, you dumbass! Do you WANT him to maim you? She smiled at Seifer. "Hi."
You are going to die.

~~~