The Last Traces of Childhood
Chapter 7 – The Betrayers Appear
Dear Diary,
With only four weeks left until school is out, the pressure's really on! Teachers are grilling us with tests, and counselors have been talking to all of us about graduation requirements and colleges. Sheesh, we knew all that from eighth grade in middle school! Anyway, I got a real surprise at school this Tuesday. After the events that happened at the dance last Friday; I actually thought that things might have calmed down! Unfortunately, my surprise got dear Cloud all riled upand me? I was still revealing in the shock. Whoever knew that particular event would have ever occurred? Oh yeah, Tifa is a really mean witch! I can't believe what she's doing to poor Cid!
Her vision was darkened as two warm objects covered her eyes. Aeris giggled, temporarily distracted from the task of shoving her heavy textbooks into her locker after sixth period had ended. The emerald-eyed girl sighed in a playful pout, then said, "Hi Cloud."
Her boyfriend's hands left her eyes and slipped around her slim waist; Aeris grinned and put her World History book into the locker.
"Hey Rissy," Cloud greeted as he leaned his head down and tenderly nuzzled her neck. She smiled and bent her hand back to cup his cheek.
"What'cha doin'?" He asked.
Slamming her locker door shut, the teenage girl turned around and replied, "Nothing much, just can't wait to get home."
Cloud smiled at her and said, "Let's get going then,"
"Sure."
Aeris grabbed her backpack up from the ground and slipped the strap up her shoulder. The couple walked hand-in-hand down the hallway, and stepped out into the school's front yard. They watched Yuffie and Vincent wave good-bye to them as the two slowly went down the sidewalk, heading for Junon Harbor, Aeris and Cloud waved back. Aeris was about to start heading to her house, when her boyfriend suddenly stopped her and pulled her over to the bench.
"Is something wrong?" She asked as the two sat down.
Cloud grinned. "Nah, I just wanted to be alone with you for a few minutes."
"You could have asked me for a date," The flower girl told him, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I didn't wanna wait" He whispered, just before their lips met.
The couple stayed intertwined for a long, slow moment, feeling as if they were in their own little universe, barely paying attention as a figure silently approached them. The person cleared their throat, startling Aeris and Cloud out of their embrace. When Aeris saw who had interrupted them, she gasped.
"Zack?" She whispered.
Cloud immediately reached for her hand, glaring at the dark-haired boy standing in front of them.
"Aeris" Zack murmured hoarsely, a mourning sorrow flashing in his hazy blue eyes.
"What do you want?" Cloud demanded to know, looking at him suspiciously.
"Aeris, pleasetake me back" Zack pleaded, ignoring the blonde teenager's question.
The teenage girl placed her free hand over her mouth in shock.
"W-what did you say?" She asked.
Her boyfriend snarled at her ex. "Haven't you done enough to her?!"
"Stay out of this," Zack said to him with a hard look, finally acknowledging Cloud's existence. "This ain't any of your business."
"She's my girlfriend and I care about her a lot, so I'm making it my business." Cloud shot back.
Aeris just sat in silence, as the two boys argued, unsure of what she should say or do. Finally, she said softly, "Zack, I think you better go"
His jaw hardened but his expression turned sad. "Aeris, give me another chance, please"
She shot up from her seat all of sudden, surprising both her boyfriend and her ex. Her lavender backpack made a loud "thud" as it dropped onto the hard, concrete ground.
"Leave, now." The teenage girl ordered, tears starting to glisten in her clear green eyes.
"Just let me explain" Zack pleaded.
"In case you didn't hear her, Aeris told you to go away." Cloud reminded him angrily.
Zack glared at him and said, "You wanna keep your mouth shut? This is for Aeris and I to work out."
"Say what's on your mind, then go away." Aeris demanded.
"I'm not sure that your new beau will wanna hear this," Her former boyfriend replied, keeping a nervous eye on Cloud.
"Not unless it's inappropriate," She shot back automatically.
"Aeris, I made a mistake," Zack said. "You were away, I was lonely, and Brittany was just"
"That's not an excuse to cheat on me," Aeris told him coldly. "Go away!"
"Can't you just give me another chance?" He pleaded.
"No! Leave!" She shouted.
"Don't do thisI love you"
Aeris gasped while Cloud clenched his fists and stood by her side. The teenage girl recovered and shook her head firmly, reaching her arm out to push her ex further away from her.
"Zack, you can't say stuff like that!" She said. "I have a boyfriend, and things between us have changed!"
"But Aeris-" Zack started to persist.
Cloud interrupted him by stepping foreword and raising a fist. His normally cool blue eyes now glimmered with sparks of anger and he gave Zack a long, cold glare.
"Leave her alone or I'll kick your ass." He threatened, leaving no room for argument.
Zack glanced at him warily, and he reluctantly backed away. The dark-haired boy looked longingly at Aeris one last time, then darted off. After he was gone, Aeris sighed heavily and sat back down onto the bench, one of her hands gripping her forehead; she felt a little stressed.
I should have been stronger Aeris silently scolded herself, then frowned. Damn Zack!
"I can't believe he had the nerve" She started to say, then trailed off. Someone sat down next to her, and she raised her head, suddenly remembering Cloud.
"I'm sorry you had to listen to that" Aeris apologized.
Her boyfriend gently tilted her chin up and said, "I'm only sorry you had to go through it."
"I-I wanna go home now," She requested.
Aeris stood back up, and retrieved her backpack from the floor. Cloud looked at her, compassion in his eyes, before he took her hand. Silently, the couple trailed down the dirt path heading to Kalm Town. As they walked, haunting thoughts preoccupied the both of them, leaving no room for any conversation between the two.
When they arrived at Kalm, Cloud gave Aeris a quick hug, then went to his house. Aeris smiled faintly at his retreating figure, then started toward her own home. She was placing her key into the keyhole, when the teenage girl suddenly heard a high, squeaky laugh. The flower girl shook her head, assuming it was a figment of her imagination, and unlocked the door.
"Teehee! Hey now, be careful, we can't get caught by Cid" A giggling voice playfully scolded from around the corner. Aeris' ears perked up curiously at the mention of her schoolmate.
Cid? She thought to herself. Wait a minute, is that Tifa's voice?
Cautiously, Aeris tiptoed to the side of her house and carefully poked her head around. Surprisingly, she saw two figures lying near each other in the grassy, dry field nearby Kalm. The flower girl silently took a step closer to them, and strained her eyes to see who they were. She couldn't identify the male, but she squinted and identified the female next to him as Tifa!
What's Tifa doing with another guy? Aeris wondered. Oh man, is she fooling around?
The guy that Tifa was with whispered something in her ear, and she laughed cheerfully.
"Oh Rude, you're such a bad boy!" Aeris could hear her tease.
Tifa locked her arms around his neck and they leaned in toward each other. Aeris grimaced, then ducked back around the corner. The teenage girl sighed heavily and shook her head in pity as she turned and watched Cid and his gang over at the skating park.
Tifa's such a rotten girlfriend Aeris thought, a disgusted look forming over her pleasant facial features. Poor Cid Argh, this is a really crappy daythe betrayers appear God, I need some sleep.
The young scholar sighed again, and stepped into her house.
Preview of chapter 8:
Dear Diary,
Hehe, whoever said that carnivals were for kids? The countdown continues: only 4 more days left! I'm excited about getting out of school on Friday, but at the same time, I feel sad I think it really sucks that Yuffie doesn't live in Kalm with Cloud and I Hope we'll get to see her in the summer! Maybe we'll be going to the same college, so that's something to look foreword to. Anyway, there was a carnival that settled in Kalm Town, only temporarily, of course. Mom and Dad went to it with Cloud's parents (they're becoming pretty good friends, I guess) and they said they loved it. Mom suggested for Cloud and me to go, and coincidentally, Cloud called just a few seconds after she said that, and asked me if I wanted to go there with him! Boy, parentsjust when you think they're weird and totally out of touch, they go and un-expectantly do something like this! Well anyways, the carnival was fun; I wish we had seen Yuffie and Vincent though, but they went on date somewhere. Cloud and I only stayed at that amusement park for about an hour, since we went there pretty late. But, we still got to go on rides, play a couple of games, and just hang out