Red + Red + Rose : Chpt. Eight : The Normal
At seven thirty the next morning Quistis was shoved off of the futon, she blinked open her eyes to stare at Rinoa.
"Are you going to classes today?"
"Oh, Master, you've finally decided to let me out of the apartment?" Quistis asked sarcastically.
"Hurry up and get ready. I figured you'd be safer at school with Squall then stuck in here. You'd probably just leave again."
"Perhaps, perhaps not." Quistis stood up, walked over to Rinoa's bedroom, and helped herself to a few articles of clothing inside her closet. When she emerged, five minutes later, she was dressed, her hair was combed back, and she even had make up on.
Rinoa nodded at her.
"Squall's waiting outside on the bike."
She helped herself to an apple on the table and left, shutting the door behind her.
Zell…Selphie…how long has it been? Only two weeks? It feels longer.
She was still sore from her activities last night but at the moment she had no time to worry about that as she rode the elevator down to the lobby and walked out through the doors. Squall was standing outside beside the bike, keys in hand. She strolled over to him, wearing one of Rinoa's white tank tops underneath one of Rinoa's jackets, since hers got torn last night. She wore tight, flared jeans and a pair of sunglasses.
Confidently sauntering towards Squall, she grabbed the keys right out of his hand and mounted the bike, putting the keys in the ignition and revving up the bike. He got on behind her, expecting that to happen, and watched as she maneuvered the bike through the streets, swerving around cars and pedestrians. It felt good to have the spring breeze ruffling through her hair and feeling the power of an engine underneath her. Whizzing by buildings and taking a few shortcuts, she smiled slightly as she barely made it through a yellow light and sped up even more, thank god for Irvine's quick driving lessons. She hadn't had enough cash to apply for her G2 or license so she was thankful that she had been able to watch him. Making a sharp turn to the right, attempting to go through and alley. Squall placed his hands on her sides, she stiffened a bit, in pain. She had a large bruise there after tumbling to the ground and landing on her side, against a jagged rock when she flung herself away from the man who had kept her in a headlock.
Seeing that it hurt her, he mumbled and apology and took his hands off, almost loosing his balance because of her reckless driving. She took one of hands off the front of the bike for a moment and placed his hands back on, not caring about the bruise anymore.
When they arrived at the school, she parked the bike, crookedly, near the back and got off. Squall didn't take his hands off her though and she turned to look at him, giving him an inquisitive look.
"Don't get into any trouble today." He said, then removed his hands and trotted up ahead of her.
"Okay, dad." She muttered sarcastically, following him into the school. As usual, almost all the guys she saw, waved at her and flashed her smirks or grins. Squall raised an eyebrow at this but continued walking ahead of her.
"See what I have to go through everyday at school…" She whispered to him and then, taking on a more serious tone, "Will you keep them away from me today?"
He stared at her for a moment, wondering what he could do, aside from beating them up, to get them to leave her alone. He understood how she might feel, still not quite over seeing Seifer in such a state last night, sighed, and wrapped his arm around her protectively, making a point to glare at anyone who tried smiling or winking at her. He felt uncomfortable, she guessed, but at least they backed off and got the message.
Upon arriving at her locker, he released her and watched silently as she input her combination and then grabbed her bookbag from inside. He felt uneasy, with a few people staring at him, wondering what happened to Seifer, but ignored that and watched her get her things together. As they walked to her English class, he casually put his arm around her waist, like he would've done with Rinoa, had she been there.
"I'm sorry. You probably don't like this." She said.
"………"
"I mean, you have Rinoa and you don't want to put your hands on me."
"It's fine." He said as they continued walking.
She wondered what he was thinking at that moment. He seemed to be deep in thought as they rounded the corner. Not wanting to bother him, she remained silent as well, keeping in pace with him.
"Woah."
They both turned to look at Zell.
"Seifer's not even gone for a month and already you two are a package. Heh, must've got over him fast, eh?"
Quistis looked at him, partly in amazement and partially a glare. Squall also glared at him. He seemed to back off a bit, scratching his head and he shrugged.
"Hey sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Quistis."
"Forget it." She said, "You have no clue what happened and I don't believe that I want you to know."
She pushed past him and Squall followed her, leaving Zell confused and wondering what was wrong.
"Sorry." He mumbled, heading in the opposite direction.
"Asshole." She said, once he was out of hearing-range.
Squall was silent, not bothering to say anything.
When they walked into the classroom, Selphie jumped up and ran over to Quistis to embrace her in a hug, nearly knocking her over in the process.
"I missed you sooo much!" She practically shouted. She turned her attention to Squall and stuck her tongue out at him, "Don't be trying anything funny with Quisty, she's still in love with Seifer, right Quisty?"
Squall got the hint and backed off, leaving the two to converse before the bell rang and they both sat down.
The two whispered and slipped each other notes during the entire class and lecture, yet Quistis was still able to answer all the professor's questions and complete the pop-quiz perfectly.
"What's been up with you lately? Where've ya been?"
"I've been staying with some friends and skipping class." It was partially true, at least.
"Oooh, I should have known. I wish I could do that."
"It's really not that exciting…"
"So what's up with Squall? He had his arm around you earlier. Are you through with Seifer or something? He only dropped by the school once, and when he did he was with a bunch of guys in dark coats."
Quistis narrowed her eyebrows.
"What did they do?"
"I don't know, he seemed to be pretty nervous though and he was at your locker. When I passed by I heard one of the guys in coats ordering him to open him but he kept on refusing."
"Shit. How long was he here?"
"Only a few minutes, when I passed by I said hi but he seemed to be too scared of something to even look my direction and say hi back."
"Did they hurt him?"
"I didn't see anything…but I'm not sure. He looked pretty worried and Seifer NEVER looks worried or scared. I bet they were gonna beat him up for-"
"Miss. Tilmitt, would you care to fill us in on the enthralling conversation you are engaged in with Miss. Trepe, or can you explain the basic plot of MacBeth?"
Shit, she's never going to get this. I can't stay after school either…That asshole better not give us-
"What about you Miss. Trepe? Can you explain what MacBeth was about? Hmm?"
"It was about a man who had bad luck and everything in his life seemed to take a wrong turn. The imagery and theme was extremely dark and morbid."
The teacher scoffed but didn't question her any further.
"Whew, that was close. Thank." Selphie whispered. They weren't as loud after that.
When the bell finally rang, and it seemd as though it never would, everyone filed out, she lost sight of Squall but she didn't particularly care as she got caught up in a conversation with Selphie before bidding her goodbye.
"See you on the bus!" Selphie shouted and skipped away before Quistis had a chance to tell her that she would not be taking it that night.
Sorry. I'll be busy trying to think of ways to stay alive when sneaking into a penthouse to rescue Seifer, who looked like was on the verge of death yesterday when I was involved in a physical fight and a shooting.
Obviously, she could not tell Selphie that and just forgot about it, hoping her friend wouldn't be too upset.
History seemed to pass by quickly, she answered a few questions and jotted down some notes, it didn't matter if she wouldn't need them again, but it was simply the feeling of being back at school, thing going slightly back to normal, that made her content.
She thought about what Selphie had told her earlier, she wondered why they were hurting him so much, why they didn't just kill her and get it over with?
Would I give up my life for Seifer? How do you measure a life? Would one life taken to save one thousand be just? What about the worth of one's life? Does that matter…if you sacrifice three lives to save one out of love?
Love? I don't love Seifer. I want him, I need him, but I don't love him. Then why did tears come when I saw him like that…so helpless…He wouldn't even give them my locker combination. Those tapes…were they what he was arguing about?
All the thoughts made her head swim, she wanted to get out of the stuffy classroom and into the Cafeteria. The bell rang, signalling it was lunch, she breathed a sigh of relief and began heading for the Caf. Zell met her in the hall and started apologizing once again, she could tell that he honestly felt bad dor what he had said before and realized that he didn't know anything about what she had been through in the past two weeks. She didn't expect him to understand, he would have too many questions and, knowing him, he'd probably blab the whole story to everyone around the school and she'd be dead by dusk. So, she held back, half-listening to him say he was sorry, for the millionth time that day, and walked with him to his locker where he put in the combo and opened it. She only got only a glimpse inside his locker because he conveniently blocked her view, not wanting her to see the pictures of her inside. She dismissed them with an inward smile and turned away, pretending to be gazing into the library so he wasn't so nervous about hiding them from her.
"I heard Seifer was in for a while last week…" She trailed off. Quistis knew her words were probably stinging him, speaking of Seifer like that, but she had to get the full story and find out the full story.
"Yeah." He scratched his head, trying to remember that day's events, "He was in for a while with two big guys. They were at your locker and they were fighting over something. I think it was your combo but I'm not sure. They walked out fast after Seifer kept turning them down so they grabbed onto him and started pulling him outside. He seemed to stiffen up, as one of them leaned toward him and instead of trying to get away from them, he followed them peacefully. I was kinda curious so I followed them outside. When they were out there…"
"Go on." She urged him, wanting to here the rest.
"When they got outside…they started punching him. I…There was two of them there…I was gonna go help him but…a car pulled up and one of htem turned around so I hid behind the door."
He looked embaressed, scared almost, and childlike.
"It's alright." She reassured him, "Those guys were probably double your size and there was even a few people in the car to back them up."
"No…you don't understand. I did follow them outside, I called out to Seifer because I was worried about you after seeing you in tears at the apartment. One of the guys turned around and aimed a gun at my head, nobody else was outside…"
"Zell…" She stared at him, now concerned.
"He said the stay the fuck out of it, pointing the gun at my head, and then they shoved Seifer in the car and drove away before I had a chance to get in my truck to go after them.
She lowered her gaze to the floor, realizing that Zell was uncomfortable with her looking at him like that, and sighed.
"You're an idiot. You shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that."
He perked up, obviously he had assumed she would be depressed or angry.
"I want you to promise me something." She looked into his eyes once again and tilted his chin wit her hand so that he was looking directly into her royal blue eyes, "Don't ever do that again. I know you only wanted to help but I don't want anyone getting hurt. Their Seifer's affairs, so I don't want you getting involved." Her voice had taken on a deadly serious tone, he was a bit frightened.
"O-Okay Quistis, If you want…" He stammered.
She placed her hand on his cheek and playfully slapped him. Recovering from her worry.
"And I'll do it harder next time if you try to play hero again."
She grinned, ear-to-ear, and nodded happily. She was glad that he was so content but made a mental note to talk to him later, when she had the time to phone him. They walked to the Cafeteria together, where Squall was waiting. He had bought her fries and a drink. Zell waved goodbye and went off to join some friends. She trailed after him with her eyes and smiled as he stumbled and fell when he was about to sit down. It made her happy to see him in such a good mood. Squall stood behind her and scowled, remind her that he was still there. She turned around and followed him outside, sitting down on a small brick wall. She carefully balanced the tray on her thighs and opened the drink.
"Were you safe?" He asked, chewing on a few fries.
"Perfectly fine. It's nice to be back."
"Don't get too used to it. We have a mission to do-"
"Don't let school interfere with it." She finished for him, frowning slightly, "Have you always been this serious?"
"………" He shoved a few more fries into his mouth and ignored the question.
"I wish you wouldn't do that. It feels like I'm sitting next to a bloody statue and talking to a damn wall."
"Then why don't you?"
"Forget it."
"Whatever."
"I heard some things about Seifer. Apparently he paid a visit to the school with two other men in trench coats, they worked for Blake."
"I saw him."
"You were here?" She turned to him angrilly.
"I've been attending my normal classes for the past week. We suspected that they would show up here. Which is another reason we didn't want you being at school."
"You know, you act like you're my Godamn superior, are you really eighteen?"
"Age isn't important. You're lucky."
"I'm lucky that he took a beating because he didn't tell them my locker combo? Is that what you're getting at?"
"You're lucky he didn't get into your locker and Seifer was concerned about your safety."
"Which is why we should be focusing more on saving him." She ate a few fries and sipped her drink.
"You and him were close.'
"I suppose. But I guess you know, he used to set up those tapes in my room and he's the one that got me into this entire mess."
"………"
"I don't even think that we were that close. It was more of the need to be bonded with each other, the way people bond during sex. It wasn't love…it didn't seem like love."
He turned away from her, not wanting the hear a few things that she had said.
"I'm sorry. I hardly mean to be bombarding you with the details of my social life."
Squall was silent, again, she wondered what was going on in his mind. Was he just being his normal, cold self or was the thinking of something to say. She found herself hoping it was the latter.
"You enjoyed dancing for him." He finally said.
"For him? I never really thought that I was doing it for him. Although he immensely enjoyed dancing with me and watching me. But after all that's happened…I don't think that I want to get back up on a stage. Bad things seem to happen whenever I dance."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Before…I was in a bad situation with a guy that had paid Seifer. Seifer assumed that the guy had wanted to dance with me and maybe get into some harder grinding, but…" She trailed off, "He wanted a bit more, I suppose."
"Just like Rinoa." Squall mused.
"Huh? That's right, she worked for him at one point, didn't she? What did the jerk do to her?"
"All she wanted to do was dance. Perhaps maybe going as far as taking off a few garments during her dances…" He paused for a moment, "One guy that Seifer set her up with was expecting a bit more. She tried running away from him, he chased her outside, half naked, in the rain. They were running up those pull-down ladders outside of the apartment. He was chasing her around, threatening her and trying to grab her. He had a gun but he couldn't get a clear shot until they were on the roof top. There was a thunderstorm that night, he was standing direclty beside the metal rod he used for getting illegal cable. The man was about to shoot at her, but I was there, on my bike, I saw what was going on and I grabbed her before he could shoot. A few seconds later he got electrocuted and died."
"I never knew." Quistis mumbled, looking away from him, "Seifer is much too dangerous for his own good. I knew…at the back of my mind…it was either going to be him or me that was going to get hurt."
"?"
"I guess I was wrong because now we're both in a bind." She finished up the last of her fries with a sigh.
Squall hopped down, already finished, and motioned for her to jump down too. He held out his hands to catch her and she jumped into them.
"I really am thankful for what you did earlier." His arms were still around her, she didn't know why he let them linger on her abdomen.
"Meet me at the bike after your last class. I have to go to work soon after school so don't take long."
She nodded and followed him inside the school where they split up when the bell rang and she headed to her last class of the day, meeting up with Zell once more and waving to him, not even noticing who was in her science class, she backed into the room. When she turned around she saw her teacher, Mr. Kramer, staring at her, giving her a peculiar look. She said hello to him before taking a seat near the front.
"Welcome back, Miss. Trepe." He said, "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I have to grab some papers." He followed her with his eyes as he left the classroom and he shut the door behind him after seing that all the students were inside.
Bloody pedaphile. She thought, scowling and sighing inwardly. Of course she respected him because he was quite intelligent, but sometimes he acted odd. She was greeted by a few people she knew, they all had questions about where she had been.
"Skipper." Nida accused, giving her a smile.
"Yes, well, I'm sure you were very concerned about my well being and not what I had been up to."
"Exactly," He joked, the 6'0, muscular star of the basketball team leaned closer, from the seat beside her and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
"Of course I missed you."
She pretended to not to see his hand trying to grasp hers and slammed her fifty-pound book bag down on it, making him yowl in pain and making him want to keep his hands to himself.
"Tsk, sorry Nida. I didn't mean to hurt you."
He glared at her and turned around to face another female student behind him who giggled and smiled at him the second he turned around.
It serves him right. Idiot.
Everyone was beginning to get chatty, noticing that the teacher still hadn't return. Quistis put her book bag back down on the floor and stared up on the chalkboard.
Well, I'll bet this class has simply been enthralling lately. How many times can they drill the history of this state into our mind before it becomes dull and rather annoying. The only reason she had taken this class was because she needed a history credit in order to graduate. She knew that Mr. Kramer despised her. Actually, despised wasn't the world, he practically hated her, although she hadn't a clue why. She never did anything to him but apparently if you try to prove him wrong when he teaching about false events, he starts acting like a bitch.
Excuse me for not falling for that shit, I'm not like the other mindless drones in this classroom.
She heard voices coming from outside the door and she sat up, figuring that he was about to come back in. But when he did, he surprised them because he was being followed by three people dressed entirely in black and they were wearing trench coats.
Fucker. I hate you. Why? She stared into the beaming eyes of the her teacher, mentally wondering how he could be so damn cruel.
"Miss. Trepe, these men would like to see you."
"Mr. Kramer, I really need to catch up-"
"It's more important then catching up. Please leave."
"I-"
"You are excused."
She turned to him, with daggers in her eyes, and got up. Walking silently to where the two men stood.
I didn't know that he hated me so much. I always assumed that he disliked me with a passion, but this?
One of the men put their arm on her shoulder, his grip was as strong as steel, cold as ice and it made her want to pull away from them. However, she noted the holster by his waist and made no such attempt. She walked, numbly, as they guided her forward, out of the class rooms and through the corriders.
This is it. I'm not going to put up with it any longer. They hurt Seifer. They hurt me. They're going to pay.
She didn't know what she was doing, rage blinded her as she stopped suddenly in the hall, and in a split second she grabbed the pistol from the man. Time slowed down as she pointed the gun at him, he took a few steps back before pulling out a matching gun from another holster.
Shit. There's two of them and one of me, they have more guns. I have to outrun them.
Surprising them by her speed and agility, she dodged out of the way as a bullet shot through the air, the first man had fired at her. She didn't care about anyone else in the school, or how, as she ran by the classrooms, everyone was crouched on the floor. All she knew was that she had to get away from them or else she would die.
Squall. I can do this myself.
Quistis felt stronger then before, another bullet almost grazed the side of her leg and she pushed open the door to the flight of stairs and climbed up them, two at a time. When she reached the landing she spun around, fueled by adrenaline and fury, she shot at them twice, the first time she missed by a long shot, the second time she knicked one of them in his shoulder. They fired back at her but she had already started running up the other flight and was almost at the top.
This is it. I'm trapped up here. I have to take them out before they can catch me or else I'm fucked.
She bolted, at full speed, down the hallway, running left then right in a vain but successful attempt to dodge the bullets. The flew passed her and her ear drums rang after every shot fired. Her feet pounded on the marble floor and she shoved herself into a row of lockers to narrowly avoid a shot to the head. Spinning around, she saw she had a clear shot at one of them because he was reloading, she fired, aiming for his head, but the bullet went into his neck instead, making him fall and start choking on his own blood. The other man stopped for only a moment, allowing her to regain some distance, before firing out two shots at her. One of them sailed past her temple while the other came closer and closer, until she felt a burning, stinging sensation in her shoulder. She winced but didn't stop running. Her lungs begged for more air and her heart was drumming almost louder then the shots that were being fired at her. But she was hit, she felt the blood rushing to her shoulder and placed her hand on the area to apply pressure and lessen the bleeding.
Turning to the right, she noticed, through the corner of her eye, that her attacker had slammed into the wall. She fired a shot but missed him by a few feet. Silently cursing herself as he regained his composure before she could fire a second shot, Quistis began running again, hoping that she would be able to round the next corner and then sneak up on him. She was running out of space, and fast. She knew that two more hall ways down it was a dead end and she wouldn't be able to back up. Her muscles tensed and her shoulder felt like it was on fire but she kept on running, not slowing down for even a moment for it would give him a clearer shot.
Quists rounded the next hallway and was about to put her plan into action but suddenly the man stumbled and bumped into her, knocking her off balance and throwing her to the floor. He was on top of her and she knew that he had the advantage so instead of trying to get up first, she swung her elbow back and knocked the gun out of his hand, it slid down the hall, out of his reach. He immediately slammed her head against the marble floor and the world began spinning. She tried to violently shake him off and his grip loosened on her, allowing Quistis to punch him in the face before jumping to her feet and running down the hall…to see a dead end. It was too late turn around, the pain in her head had caught up with her and she brought her hand up to feel a trickle of blood running down the side of her temple.
She looked back at the man who had just stood up, he was reaching for his gun, she had a perfect shot of his head in that second and so she pulled down the trigger, expecting the power from the shot to shake her…however it only clicked. There was not enough time to try again because now he had the gun pointed at her and she had her back pressed up against the large, floor to ceiling window that formed the dead end.
She was trapped, the glass was too thick for her to shatter with her elbow and so all she could do was stand there, waiting for the bullet to tear through her flesh and kill her. Her blood would splatter on the window and a small pool would form underneath her cold, dead body. Panic set in and her breath caught in her throat.
The man smiled coldly at her, she saw Squall at the very end of the hallway, running towards him but she knew it was too late. This was it. The end. There was no more running, no more being saved. Her life was about to be extinguished. He took the shot and she heard the glass shatter from behind her before falling backwards. He took another shot, but the trigger only clicked. Throwing down the gun in disgust, Quistis saw as she was flying backwards through the air, he reached for his other one. But Squall was fast enough to get him in a headlock, surprising him by behind and twisted his neck around, breaking it.
She felt her body slam against the slanted brick roof of the school and wondered how long it would be before she fell off the edge and her body connected with the pavement.
Squall.
He came running over to the window but could only watch as her body slid down the roof, she reached out for him but by now she was too far to reach his hand. Thoughts forming rapidly in her mind, she tried to stop herself from sliding, but she was going to fast and the edge was only a few feet away. She clawed at the bricks desperately, only ending up with bloody fingertips.
One last thing. One last hope.
She summoned up all her strength and every ounce of courage she could find as she continued to slip, she focused on the ground, how far of a drop it was, what she would need to do to land without smashing her head against the cement and cracking open her skull or twisitng her neck.
As she sailed off the edge of the roof, she performed several accurately timed flips in the air, a summersault, and a twist before spreading her legs and landing, a bit rougly but still alive and on foot as she reached the pavement.