Name
The math teacher droned on and on. At Trabia Academy we had been three chapters ahead in the book, so I already knew this and instead of taking notes furiously like everyone else was, I was writing in my diary.
Irvine is really cute. I wonder why he doesn't have a girlfriend yet. You know, I really hate this stupid feud. I wish I were just a normal teenager like the other kids around here are. My first day has gone pretty well so far, it should be time for lunch soon. I have a feeling that something might happen then.
The bell rang just as I finished a sentence and I quickly slammed my book shut and stood up. Quistis was sitting directly behind me so I waited for her at the door.
She met me with a grimace. "Did you understand any of that? Usually math is my best subject, but this teacher is really confusing."
I grinned. "I already know this stuff. Trabia Academy is way ahead of you guys. I can help you if you want," I offered.
Quistis's eyes lit up. "Really! That would be wonderful. You see, I want to be a teacher and I need to go to college for that, but I have to get a scholarship. I need perfect marks for a scholarship, and lately I've been worried that I'll mess up."
"Sure! I'll help you." I said. "After all, you helped me."
"Yeah, I guess I did. So, what class do you have next?"
"Lunch."
"Me too. Ellone, Fujin, and Seifer have the same lunch as we do, too. Let's go, I'll show you the way."
I walked down the hall next to her. "Quistis?"
"Hmm?"
"What's it like here? I mean, everyone was polite to me today, or else they ignored me, but what's it like here most of the time?"
She thought for a minute. "Well, it's generally pretty normal. Your cousin has his group of followers and Irvine has his group. Squall Loire, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, and Seifer sometimes hangs out with them, too. So do Fujin and I."
"Do people take the feud seriously?"
"Not really. Sometimes one of Irvine's friends, Zell, usually," she added with a laugh, "Sometimes, they'll say something to get Taren started." Taren was my cousin. He lived with my mother and father because his parents were dead. I was an only child. He was nice to me, but he could be downright mean if he wanted to. I didn't like him very much, but I was nice to him to keep up appearances when I went home for holidays, and now, I'd be living there again. He was a sophomore, so I hadn't seen him at all except for passing him in the hall once or twice. He'd smile and wave, but that was all.
"Like what?"
"Oh, just a little remark. Taren gets mad, and then of course they get into a fight. It's usually broken up before anything major starts, but, they've been warned an awful lot. Next time the two who start the fight will probably get suspended."
"Wow." I said. "But...Now that we're friends, does that mean you won't be able to hang out with Irvine and the others anymore?"
"I don't know, really. It's such a big crowd, I don't think anyone will notice you. With Seifer and Zell arguing, no one really pays attention to any one else. We'll just sit down at the end of the table and if someone says something, we'll move. Seifer and Fujin'll keep the attention away from us. Ellone is going to help to. We like you, and we want you to get along with everyone. It's not your fault your father has problems."
"Yeah. It's stupid, really. He doesn't like Mr. Kinneas just because the poor guy inherited money that he thought he was going to inherit. They both knew this one guy, and he got really sick. Mr. Kinneas was taking care of him, just to be nice, and then my dad discovered that the older man was very rich. He offered to help so that he would have a chance to inherit the money. When the sick man died, his will said that everything he owned was left to Mr. Kinneas. He and his wife gave the money to start a home for sick animals, and my father has hated him ever since."
"Are you serious?" Quistis asked.
"One hundred percent. Mr. Kinneas seems like a very nice man. I wish Father could learn from him."
"He is a good man. Mrs. Kinneas is very nice, too. We all go over there sometimes, for parties and stuff, just the nine of us, and she always makes sure we're having fun and we have food and stuff. They're rich, but they don't let it make them snobs." She looked at me appraisingly. "Like you, actually. You're richer than they are and you're still one of the nicest people I've ever met."
I blushed a little. "Thank you."
While we had been talking, we'd gotten to the cafeteria. I felt butterflies in my stomach as we walked over to a round table that was already pretty full. Quistis and I had both brought our lunches so we sat down. I saw Fujin, and two guys I didn't know. One of them had dark hair and blue eyes, the other was blond.
Quistis poked my shoulder. "That's Squall and Zell. Zell's the blond guy and Squall's the other one, obviously."
They looked up. "Hey, Quisty." Squall said with a smile.
"Hi! Who's the new girl?" Zell wanted to know.
"Her name's Selphie." Quistis said. I tensed. I had seen Irvine talking to a girl over by the door. I didn't know how long he'd be there.
"Nice to-wait a minute. Selphie Tilmitt?" Squall asked. At my nod, he smiled. "Elle told me about you. She said you were nice and not to let my low opinion of your father cloud my judgment of you."
"This is Squall." Quistis said. "He talks like a dictionary."
"Oh, shut up, Quiz." he said without rancor. She stuck out her tongue at him, which was something I would never have expected her to do.
Zell looked at me. "Yo, you know Irvine Kinneas sits here, right?"
"Quistis told me." I said carefully.
"And you don't care?"
"Just because my father is a pompous windbag doesn't mean I share his opinions." I said. All four of them laughed and I offered a smile.
Ellone sat down next, followed by Seifer. Then a girl came up to the table. She was the one I had seen talking to Irvine at the doorway. She was wearing a blue flowered sundress and her dark hair was combed to perfection. She sat down next to Squall, giving him a kiss on the cheek. I felt Quistis tense a little next to me and I patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"Hey, everyone! Irvine says he'll be here in just a minute." She looked over at me then. "Hi!" Leaning over the table, she stuck out her hand for me to shake. I took the offer. "I'm Rinoa. I haven't seen you before."
"I'm Selphie."
"Nice to meetcha." She said, smiling. I instantly decided I liked this girl.
I didn't have time to think anything else, because just then Irvine walked up. He set a soda down at the one empty place. A bag of chips followed it.
"Finally." He said. "This has been one long day."
"Irvine, it's only noon." Ellone pointed out.
"Yeah, so? It's still been a long day." There was a collective sigh, and he looked over at me.
We were all sitting at the largest table in the cafeteria. It was round, and even though it was big it probably wouldn't have seated anyone else. As it was, we were all pretty crowded.
"Well, hello." He said with a grin. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of your acquaintance yet."
"Irvine..." Squall began, and trailed off at a Look from Quistis. Ellone stepped in. I guessed she was the 'diplomat' of the group.
"Irvy, don't get upset. This is Selphie Tilmitt. She's not like her dad at all, really. She's nice. We're all friends with her already."
Irvine looked at me for a long minute, calculating. I shrunk a little under his gaze.
"I don't know how you wound up friends with this lot." He said with a grin. Another collective sigh went around the table, but this one was of relief. There was something in his smile, though, that made me think I was on trial.
Talk changed to other things after that. I was pretty quiet until Rinoa asked me what I thought about something or other.
"Yeah, don't be shy." Ellone chimed in. "We're all friends here. Say whatever you want and no one'll think any less of you for it. We might all jump down your throat, but we won't think any less of you." She finished with a grin. Everyone laughed.
Over the course of the lunch hour, I saw Irvine watching me. Each time I noticed him, he switched his gaze to either Quistis or Fujin, who were on either side of me, and said something to them. He did this so smoothly that I was sure it was coincidence until Quistis poked me. "Don't look" she whispered, "But Irvine's watching you." Of course, I looked and she sighed in disgust.
"What did I say?" She asked me, exasperated as he asked Fujin a question. "He's been watching you all lunch."
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't know. I'll find out though. Squall is Irvine's best friend and Irvine tells him everything. Squall tells his mom everything; they're really close. Raine, that's his mom, tells Ellone what she wants to know if she asks. She's got a really good memory. Ellone'll find out what he's up to, and then she'll tell me because I'm her best friend." Quistis grinned.
"Wow," I said, impressed. "Nice system."
"Yeah, we've got others, too. If you want to know what Seifer or Fujin is up to, ask the other twin. Rinoa usually has the scoop on what Squall is doing, but she won't always spill." She frowned in mock-anger. "She's no fun."
I giggled. The lunch bell rang then. "It was nice meeting you, Selphie." Rinoa said, and everyone agreed, except Irvine.
When the other's voices had died down, he said, "You're welcome to sit here whenever you want to, Selphie, as long as your cousin doesn't give us trouble. If he starts a fight again, whoever's involved will be suspended, and maybe expelled. Some of us," he looked at Zell, "aren't too great at keeping our tempers under control, and I'd like to avoid any situations if possible. I don't hold my low opinion of your father against you, and I won't unless you give me reason to. Ellone, Fujin, Seifer and Quistis all seem to like you, and I trust their judgment. So, unless you change your mind, you're one of us. We'll look out for you. Some people at this school don't take well to the feud, and they might try to make it miserable here for you. If anything happens, tell one of us and we'll take care of it." Everyone nodded and got up, leaving to their next class. When it was just me, Ellone and Quistis left with Irvine, Quistis turned to me.
"What's your next class?" She asked. I checked my schedule.
"Literature in room 115."
"Irvine's in that class too. He'll show you where it is." Ellone left. I looked pleadingly at Quistis.
"What if Taren sees? Irvine just said he didn't want trouble!" I pointed out.
Irvine grinned. "Now I know you're alright. Don't worry about it. I can handle him. Come on." He said.
"Irvine's a good guy, Selphie. It'll be okay. I've got to go. I looked at your schedule and you have gym next. We're all in that class except for Ellone, so it'll be fun." She smiled encouragingly and I slowly put on my backpack.
Irvine led me out into the hallway. I was pretty short so in the sea of people I wasn't easily noticed.
"So, where're you from?" Irvine asked me.
"I transferred from Trabia Academy. I didn't like it there."
"Not good enough for you?" He asked. I looked at him and saw that he was teasing.
"Heey!" I said. "That's not very nice." I smiled, though. "Actually, everyone there was so snobby. They really got on my nerves. I only had one friend there, Michia." I felt a little sad as I remembered her. "I miss her." I pulled a Triple Triad card out of my pocket. "She made me this, though. It was a good-bye present." I showed Irvine my best card.
"Wow! It looks just like you."
"Really? I'll tell Michia. I told her the same thing, but, I'm her best friend so she didn't really believe me."
'You play?" Irvine asked me.
"Yeah." I said in surprise. "I heard it wasn't popular here, though."
"Oh, it is with us. Squall and Quisty have an ongoing battle. They're each great players, and neither one has ever been able to beat the other. Ellone's good, too. Seifer and Fujin don't play, they just watch usually. Zell plays, but he's not too great at it. Rinoa doesn't like to play, but when she does she's really good at it."
"How good are you?" I asked.
"Oh, I play pretty good." He grinned. "I just thought of something. Today in Literature we have a free period. The teacher isn't there and we have a substitute. Our normal teacher will be back tomorrow, and she'll get you settled in. But today you won't have anything to do. Wanna play a game?"
"Sure!" I said. We walked in silence for another minute or so.
"Here we are." He told me outside the classroom door.
*
True to his prediction, the substitute just told me to sit anywhere I could find a seat. I took an empty desk behind Irvine and as soon as the teacher took roll, everyone turned to their friends and started talking. No one paid any attention to me until Irvine turned around.
"Hi!" He said.
"Hey."
"So, do you want to play?"
"Yeah, sure." I pulled my cards out of my bag. I had some good cards, but the card Michia had made for me was the best one I owned.
Irvine set up the board. "How about Sudden Death, Same, and Trade Rule: One for the rules?"
"That's fine." I agreed.
"You can go first." He told me. I pulled out a Trauma card and set it down.
"Not bad." He said. Then he took out a Snow Lion card and flipped over my Trauma. I sighed.
He won the battle. Of course, he took my best card, the one with me on it.
"I don't have to take this card if you don't want me to." He said.
"No, go ahead. It's all right." I assured him. "I'll win it back from you sometime or another."
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Positive." I promised. He put my card into his deck and pocketed the small box. I made a face when his back was turned. Oh well. What Michi didn't know wouldn't hurt her. I really didn't mind him having my card.
-End chapter two
Author's Note: So maybe a Snow Lion can't flip over Trauma. *shrugs* I don't remember.
