By Geminigirlz #1
I don't own FFVIII
Rinoa Heartilly had never been one to help people with problems that she didn't have anything to do with. It wasn't like she was selfish, but they had usually just turned her away. But even Rinoa couldn't understand why Selphie was acting so strangely. She and Quistis were sitting in her dorm room and sighing frequently.
"I don't really feel uncomfortable about this, but seriously, even Zell said something about how Selphie was really distant lately. I don't get it." She put her head into her hands. "I just feel bad that maybe we had something to do with it."
Quistis shrugged.
"I doubt it. I think it's that Irvine fellow. He doesn't seem like some horribly mean person, but after traveling with him for so long, I have my suspicions."
"You're right. He's such a womanizer. But tonight is his date with Selphie, right? You can't exactly hurt somebody by asking them on a date and being super nice to them. And especially in Selphie's case. Usually she would be giggling with us about it."
"Hey! That would almost be worse!"
They laughed meekly together. Rinoa straightened her back and shook her head.
"The other thing is she's so secretive lately. She even has the key to her room hanging around her wrist. I'm not saying we should break into her room or anything! But... I dunno, it's almost like she's insecure. That's just not Selphie."
"I'm not sure..." Quistis began, "But she was acting pretty mad when I was joking about her not wearing the stuff she wanted me to wear. I mean, this can't ALL be because she has a simple little date with Irvine Kinneas, could it?"
That was definitely growing more likely by the minute.
In the meanwhile, Selphie was sitting in her room pulling every outfit she had out of her closet. It all seemed so... plain. She finally sighed in frustration and sat down with a small plop on her floor. Was there anything that she could wear without looking like an idiot?
After a while, Selphie sat up and picked up her clothes from the floor and put them on her bed. The only thing that looked good was a brown miniskirt, but she had no top for it. Rinoa probably had something for it, but... were they the same size?
A knock rang out on from her door.
"Selphie? You in there?"
Selphie bolted up and frowned. It was a strange voice. Well, people were always welcome to talk to her. She opened the door a few inches and gasped.
Irvine was standing there, smiling down at her.
"Hey! I was hoping I would find you here."
"Ahhh... hi."
She fidgeted a little. How humiliating, her room was a complete mess of all her clothes. How would that look? He would obviously know that she was deciding what to wear for their date and it would make her look really desperate.
"So... like, I wanted to ask you something Sephie."
"Alright. Um, you want to talk about this outside? My room's kind of a mess."
"Oh! No problem. Haha, actually I was going to ask if you wanted to take a walk with me."
Selphie's eyes widened.
"Sure... why not. Let's go."
Irvine was still smiling as his and Selphie's hands were clasped together. They were walking around the first floor.
"So Irvy, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing in particular. Just wanted to catch up with you, you know? It almost seems like our paths never cross anymore. I hope you still know that we're good friends, right?" He frowned, and she was taken slightly aback by the fact that he noticed.
"Well-" She started.
"IRVINE!!!" A shrill voice rang out from the other side of the hall. A tall girl in a garden uniform was running over with two of her friends. "Oh my god!!! I haven't seen you in ages! When they told me you had transferred to BALAMB, of all places- well, I just had to come!"
"Ahh..." Irvine was starting to look uncomfortable. "Is it really you... uh..."
"Marie! Remember? Well I guess you might've forgotten, but..." Marie twirled one of her many braids with one finger.
Selphie was standing in the shadows throughout this sudden outburst. She bit her lip in surprise and withdrew her hand from Irvine's, the sudden rush of cold air on her palm startling her. He glanced down and saw her face.
"Sephie-"
"It's okay, you two catch up. I just remembered that I have to meet Rinoa for lunch, anyway." She sprinted away toward the cafeteria.
Marie looked after her and looked at Irvine.
"I guess she's your girlfriend now, huh? However unwillingly, it looks like."
Irvine glared at her, something he rarely did to girls and rolled his eyes.
"Almost." He ran after Selphie.
Rinoa saw Selphie coming into the cafeteria and waved
her over to their table. Selphie skipped over and sat down quickly.
"What's up?" She asked. "I mean, not that
I don't want to have lunch with you, but usually..."
"Selphie... I wanted to talk to you about something important." Rinoa started uncertainly.
"Really? Uh... okay... let's start."
"Um, it's just that ever since you accepted Irvine's offer for a date, you seem really weird. Like, oh I don't know how to say it. I'm worried about you. If the date with him is making you angry or something, then you should probably just tell him."
Neither of them spoke for a while.
"It's not that, Rinoa..." Selphie thought of the encounter with Marie. "I think it's just his personality...lifestyle... thing. I dunno... I always thought my boyfriend was going to be this little innocent boy who liked the same things I did... but now I don't even want that...!" She looked away from Rinoa for a second and gasped.
Irvine rushed into the cafeteria and scoured the place, trying to find her.
Rinoa's eyebrows shot up.
"Oh Rinoa, hide me! This is getting worse than I thought." Selphie groaned and slid deeper in her chair.
"What?!" Rinoa looked at Irvine, who apparently just found them, because he came over quickly, from right behind Selphie. Rinoa winced at this situation where she didn't really belong.
"Sephie! I'm so glad I found you. Listen, I'm really really sorry about what just happened... Sephie?"
Selphie's shoulders were hunched over, almost like she was crying. Rinoa and Irvine went into shock at the sight of Selphie crying... or what it looked to be Selphie crying.
"It's okay." She looked up without any tears in her eyes. Just embarrassment. "I guess it's possible for an ex girlfriend to track you down from another Garden... however desperate that may sound..." Selphie grinned slightly.
"Well, then I guess I'm pretty desperate too, staying here for you." He winked and patted her shoulder. Selphie blushed furiously. "Don't forget we're still on for tonight, right?"
"Y-yeah. Uh, I'll just wear something casual."
"Okay, no fancy restaurants for Sephie, got it!" He gently kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand. "I'll see ya."
Irvine walked out smoothly from the cafeteria.
Selphie was still touching the place on her cheek where Irvine had kissed her.
Rinoa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
And they say Squall and I are the odd couple.
The moon shined through Selphie's window, but all the lights were on in her small dorm room. She had decided to just wear the miniskirt with a T-shirt, and a little lipstick. Selphie had never been one for much makeup.
She sat on her bed and waited for Irvine impatiently. It had really been one weird day. What with Rinoa talking to her about the weirdest ideas ever, and Marie, the little roach (oops!) and Irvine's little kiss.
Selphie blushed at the memory and smiled. It was so weird to have a boy fawning over her like that.
"Sephie?" A muffled voice came from behind the door.
Selphie jumped up and unlocked it, coming face to face once again with Irvine. He was still dressed in cowboy garb, except in his hand was a bouquet of yellow roses. Irvine took her hand and grinned.
"Flowers for the most beautiful girl in the world"
Selphie turned bright red and smiled to herself.
"Thank you, uh, I'll just take the flowers along, I
guess."
She took them and breathed in the scent.
The two of them finally walked from the girl's dorms. Both in very different moods.
Finally... my chance to tell her how I feel.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Feel free to review again, or
for the first time. :) Sorry this chapter is a little shorter, but
there is a reason why. Formatting chapters, of course. Hopefully
the next one should be out by Sunday of this week.
No, actually I'm not from Northern California...haven't even been there!!
Thanks everyone, please review.
-Gem
yp_6441@yahoo.com