Chapter 13
Rinoa screamed in her mind. (OH HYNE!!!!) Her eyes betrayed the portrait she wanted to appear, calm and in control of the situation.
"Rinoa?" Squall asked as the beautiful girl in front of him stood with her mouth agape.
She blinked after a few seconds. (Breathe, breathe,) she told herself. She'd hate herself for the words that came, uncontrolled, out of her mouth. "I'd love to Squall." The one thing Rinoa was proud of herself for was the fact she didn't drop the flower she was holding.
Squall lifted himself off the ground with his hands. He gave her a half smile and winked, "I'll see you…say eight o'clock?" Rinoa nodded dumbly but managed a weak smile. "You ok?" Squall asked, concerned.
Rinoa shook herself from her dazed and shocked state. "Yeah, I'm fine!" She quipped a little too happily. Squall gave her an amused expression and a slightly raised eyebrow but said nothing. Rinoa realized he was waiting for her answer. "Oh yeah, eight's fine." Angelo sauntered to the door and barked happily, excited to see Squall, who patted her on the head.
Squall leaned over and grazed her cheek with a kiss. He whispered in her ear, "See you then." Rinoa watched the handsome figure turn around and walk back to his room, ignoring all the students who were gawking at him, having seen him ask the mysterious girl to the dance.
Some girls could be seen slightly sad, as Squall had a date to the dance. Others saw it as an opportunity to dance with the cadet who rarely, if ever, attended social events, despite his outgoing demeanor. One girl, named Sally, whispered to her friend, "Finally! I get the chance to feel him up after I get him to dance with me!"
Her friend looked a little disgusted. "Come on Sally. First things first. One, you have to DANCE with him first, seeing if he'll even let you. Then you get to see if he feels as good as he looks." She grinned mischievously.
***Rinoa's room***
"HYNE! Angelo! What am I suppose to do now?!!!" The dog whimpered in response. Rinoa got an idea. She picked up her keys and reminded Angelo to behave while she was gone for a little while. Then she ran out of her room, closing the door, and headed down the hall. Rinoa found the room she was looking for, Selphie Tilmitt. Rinoa rapped on the door, praying that she would be there. A girl in a short yellow dress with mousy brown hair opened the door.
She greeted Rinoa with a wide smile. "Hey! Aren't you the new girl?" Rinoa nodded. "What can I do for you?"
Rinoa looked down at the floor and asked shyly, "You're Squall's friend right?" Selphie nodded. "Can I talk to you for a few minutes? I need your help with something." Selphie lead her in and closed the door behind her.
Rinoa sat down, not knowing how to start the conversation. She wasn't use to asking for help.
Quistis appeared from the closet and Selphie introduced her, hoping to end the silence and this girl's nervousness. "Oh, Rinoa, this is Quistis. Quistis, Rinoa."
Rinoa nodded at Quistis. Then Selphie remembered Rinoa wanted to ask her help for something private it seemed. "You can trust Quistis, Rinoa."
The introverted girl decided to blurt it out. "I need help with Squall and Irvine. I said yes to both of them when they asked me to the Valentine's Day dance."
Both Selphie and Quistis were surprised. "Wow, aren't you Miss Popular?" said Quistis, causing Rinoa to blush. The tall blonde woman was slightly jealous. She had just been dumped by Seifer, who was no longer even remotely interested in her, now that Squall's interests had changed. Quistis caught her attitude and tried extending a more friendly one, "Sorry, I didn't mean that. It's been a hard week. Hmm…Selphie you know Irvine better than I do. How does he handle rejection?"
Selphie laughed. "Pretty well, since he's taken risks with girls that like and don't like him. But, I have a better idea." Rinoa looked at her, curious, and hopeful. "How about, Rinoa go with both of them?" Quistis looked at her like she was crazy. "I can distract Irvine and say that I really want him to take me to the dance, and he can meet you there. Quistis can distract Squall during the dance, as you're dancing with Irvine. Although, I hope you aren't planning to be there too long, cause I'm not sure how long Squall or Irvine will want to dance with other women for half the dance."
Rinoa smiled. "I don't know how to thank you two. Both of you are very kind to do this for me, especially since you don't know me that well."
The girls smiled back at her. Quistis laughed. "Now, we have to find a dress to go in since we weren't planning to go anyways." Quistis realized what she had lost this week, when Seifer had dumped her. She knew what a treasure Squall was and a loser Seifer was. She only regretted that she didn't treat Squall the way she should have, or gone steady with him. She sighed softly. Quistis still had a crush on Squall, but decided that Rinoa deserved a chance to make Squall happy. Squall deserved the chance to be happy. She was genuinely going to help Rinoa.
After Rinoa left the room, Quistis and Selphie talked about dresses to wear. Quistis decided to go in a dress that flaunted her figure very well. It was a strapless, red shimmering, sequin dress that went to the floor. Quistis had glass looking high heels to match the fairy tale look. Selphie decided to go in an elegant ball gown looking white dress, causing her to look very feminine. There were small supports that hung on her shoulders and connected to the dress. She put glitter in her hair to finish the touch. The two women looked amazing. No one would have guessed they were also training to be mercenaries. It was seven forty-five, and time to help Rinoa. Selphie giggled excitedly and nodded at Quistis, who headed to the dance. "Good luck!" said Selphie, heading to the cowboy's room.
***
Irvine opened his door and his jaw dropped. Selphie giggled and said, "It's nice to see you too."
"DAMMMN!!!!" Irvine managed to say.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Selphie said, smiling at her friend. "Irvy," she started, calling him by the nickname she gave him. "Can I ask you for a favor?"
"Sssurre," he stuttered, still amazed by the way his friend looked.
"Can you take me to the dance and have the first dance with me? I wanted the honor." She flashed him a flirtatious smile and batted her eyelashes at him.
Finally Irvine's mind started to work again, and he remembered Rinoa. "Uh…as much as I hate to say this right now…but I was going to the dance with Rinoa. You know, that new girl?" He wanted to kick himself mentally. Sure Rinoa was hot, but he never knew Selphie could look so beautiful. It was more than physical though. He always enjoyed Selphie's companionship, and her continually optimism. He never thought of her as eye candy until now. Suddenly, he couldn't remember why he didn't ask Selphie to the dance instead of Rinoa.
Selphie wasn't fazed. She had an answer ready, "I know silly. The whole Garden knows you asked her to the dance and she accepted. That's why I told her you'd meet her there. Rinoa was happy to give me the honor of having you for the first dance."
Irvine was surprised. "Really? She understands? She didn't seem the type…but ok!" He was overjoyed that he got to be seen with not one beautiful woman at the dance but two! (Tonight's really my night!) Irvine congratulated himself mentally. He extended his arm to Selphie who took it graciously. Then Irvine remembered the corsage he was going to give to Rinoa…but he changed his mind. "Oh wait Selphie, I have something I want you to wear." He fetched the elegant corsage and its matching boutonniere. It had three white roses adorned with white and red ribbons. Now, Selphie was surprised. Irvine gently placed the corsage around Selphie's wrists and offered his arm again. She took it gladly and secretly was relishing the fact that Irvine had given her flowers. Granted, it was a corsage, but still. Selphie adorned Irvine's tuxedo with the boutonniere, then the two walked arm in arm to the dance.
***
Rinoa opened the door to see a very handsome Squall, who was grumbling about the tuxedo he was wearing. When he saw her, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Wow, you looked like an angel." (Geez, how stupid did that sound,) he thought to himself.
She smiled at him. "Well, I'm your angel for the night then Mr. Leonhart. Ready to go?" Rinoa was trying to cover up her nervousness. She was an arresting sight. Her dress matched the color of her hair, and to accentuate the gold streaks in her hair, she wore gold high heels. The dress flowed perfectly with her step, and hinted at her shape beneath.
Squall produced the corsage he had been hiding behind his back. It was an enormous single red rose in the center, covered in sparkly red and gold glitter. It matched the boutonniere he had attached to his outfit. With Rinoa's permission, he slipped the corsage onto her delicate, tiny wrist. He kissed her on the cheek. "Now I'm ready to go." He winked at her, and she slipped her arm through his, closing the door behind them.
Rinoa was curious how Squall knew what color tuxedo he needed to match her. His tuxedo was black, with a black and gold vest on the inside. "How did you know what I was going to wear?"
"Would you hurt me if I said I saw you changing?" Rinoa's eyes were big as saucers. She was about to punch him in the arm when she realized he was kidding. He chuckled and leaned close to her ear. His breath excited Rinoa's body, and she blushed from her reaction. "I saw the dress and shoes on your bed when we were talking earlier today, so I guessed. It was a good thing you didn't change your mind." He grinned at her and resumed his original distance.
She turned her head to look straight ahead of her, thinking about the surprise she was going to give Squall after the dance. He seemed to be reading her mind, because he suddenly dropped the volume of his deep, sexy male voice and whispered to her, "I can't wait to see what your surprise is after the dance." He winked at her, as they finally approached the entrance to the party.