Balamb Garden's Yuletide Vacation

Chapter Three

Sunday, December the Third

It was almost noon, and Quistis' stomach was reminding her of this fact. Quistis, weighed down with Selphie's purchases, followed her tiny friend through the Balamb Mall. It was a small mall, but big enough to pick up the odds and ends they'd forgotten at their last shopping excursion in Deling.

Wincing in pain and annoyance as she was shoved from behind by a hurrying shopper, Quistis asked, "Don't you think you're overdoing it a little?" Selphie turned from paying for her purchase and looped another shopping bag over Quistis' arm. Since when am I the designated pack-Chocobo? wondered Quistis.

"Don't be silly! When's the last time I overdid anything?" Selphie said in a cheerful voice. Quistis opened her mouth to speak but Selphie commanded, "Don't answer that!" Both young women burst into laughter. Selphie was quite aware that she tended to get fanatical about things.

Selphie and Quistis continued to wander from store to store picking up random gifts and stocking stuffers for their friends. When Quistis sighed for the tenth time in fifteen minutes, Selphie finally demanded, "Quistis, what is wrong with you?"

Deciding to be honest for once, Quistis said, "I'm just not having that great of a holiday season."

"So I noticed," Selphie declared while examining yet another reindeer snow globe.

"I'm sorry I've been so down, Selphie."

Selphie sighed. "What seems to be the problem?"

Quistis took a deep breath then asked, "What is this all about? What are we doing?"

"Huh? We're shopping."

Quistis rolled her eyes. "I know that, but why? Why are we running ourselves ragged and getting so worked up over this holiday?"

"Because that's what the holidays are all about!"

"I thought they were about having fun."

Selphie patted Quistis' back patronizingly. "Don't be silly Quistis! Everyone knows Winterfest is all about the presents and the parties! That's why we are all working to make this the most perfect holiday season ever!"

Quistis wrinkled her brow as she mulled over what Selphie had just said. She didn't totally agree with Selphie, but Quistis had no desire to argue further.

A short while later, Quistis asked, "Why doesn't anyone want to talk about Seifer?"

"Oh no!" Selphie stomped her foot and turned to glare at Quistis. "Don't start on this again, Quisty! Please?"

"What?"

"I thought we agreed you were joking about that!"

Noticing that some other shoppers were listening in, Quistis lowered her voice. "No, Selphie, YOU agreed I was joking. I didn't say anything, remember?"

Selphie said nothing, but instead began to examine a store window with feigned interest.

Quistis shook her head in frustration. "Selphie, I thought I could count on at least you to be honest about this."

Selphie leaned back against the glass of the display window and gazed up at Quistis with a frown. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe we just don't want to talk about him?"

"But it's not just that! The new lesson plans for next semester came out the other day… and they are finally allowing us to talk about the war."

"So?"

"So?" Quistis shifted her load of shopping bags around to ease the pain in her arms. "Selphie, Seifer isn't mentioned at all!"

"Good!" the bouncy haired SeeD stalked off, and Quistis followed quickly behind. "If I ever hear his name again, it'll be too soon!"

Quistis couldn't believe what she was hearing from her normally forgiving friend. When Matron had returned to Garden to live she had explained that Ultimecia had used Seifer's weaknesses to brainwash him. He'd been a pawn of the sorceress from the future just as much as Edea had.

"Damn it," muttered Quistis. "I just don't understand why Seifer Almasy has become a scandal to be covered up or a bogeyman to be feared."

"What is your obsession with him, Quisty?"

Quistis cheeks took on a petal pink hue. "I'm not obsessed."

"Yes, you are," Selphie accused, "ever since you followed him to Timber you've mentioned him at least twice a day."

The flush spread its way over Quistis' pretty face. "I have not!"

"Yes-huh," said Selphie. "What did happen on that train, Quistis? There are all sorts of rumors still flying around about it."

"N-nothing," stuttered Quistis, doing her best to maintain her calm demeanor. "Thh-There has never been anything b-between me and Seifer Almasy! Really! I swear!" When Selphie said nothing and maintained her suspicious expression, Quistis hurriedly suggested, "Hey, why don't we find Irvine and get some lunch, I'm starved."

When Selphie reluctantly agreed, the two young women hurried off to find Selphie's boyfriend.

~*~

Irvine wandered through Frederick's of Esthar searching for the perfect gift for Selphie. He wanted something perfect that would hopefully get the point across to her that he was ready to take their relationship to the next level.

He meandered between the racks of lingerie examining what caught his eye, but unable to make a decision of what would look good on Selphie. As pretty as he thought Selphie was, Irvine just could not picture his tiny girlfriend in any of the items he found interesting.

"How may I help you?"

Irvine turned around to find himself looking into the cleavage of a very tall salesgirl. "Whoa." His eyes followed an imaginary line from the salesgirl's chest to her very blue eyes, which were obviously enhanced by colored contacts. She gave Irvine a red-painted smile and looked him up and down slowly.

"How may I help you?" the girl repeated, obviously pleased that Irvine found her attractive.

"Uhhhh…" responded Irvine before erupting into a wave of nervous chuckles. Then, regaining his poise said, "Whoa… what was that?" –chuckle- "Is it hot in here?"

The girl winked at Irvine, coyly tossing her blonde curls. "Well, you have your coat on."

Irvine looked down at his body. "Whoa," he repeated, "so I do… how'd that happen?"

"Because it's cold outside," she told Irvine, thrusting back her shoulders to bring Irvine's attention back to her Phenomenon Bra-enhanced bust line. 

"Yeah," agreed Irvine, "it is a bit nipply –I mean nippy out." –nervous chuckle- "Nipples?" -chuckle- "What am I saying?"

Seeing that Irvine was perhaps a bit more innocent than she'd originally surmised, the girl decided to be a bit subtler in her flirtations. She didn't want his head to explode after all. Then, gesturing to the higher priced items that were hung near the ceiling, she said. "Can I take something down for you?"

Irvine looked at her chest again and began to laugh in a way that sounded more like a wheeze. The girl was becoming seriously alarmed. When he had first walked into the store the girl had thought this cowboy type was the kind of guy who knew how to handle girls like her. Now she saw that he was probably still a virgin since he obviously collapsed under the pressure.

Feeling sorry for him, she asked sweetly, "Would you like me to model something for you?"

"What?"

Without elaborating further, the salesgirl picked a few random items of lingerie and led Irvine into the back stockroom and pulled the curtain shut after giving a knowing wink to the other salesgirl on the floor. Selphie entered the store just then with Quistis in tow.

"Selphie," complained Quistis, "I thought we were looking for Irvine. I'm really hungry."

"We are! This'll only take a minute."

Quistis examined a red silk negligee, briefly wondering if Matt would like to see her in it. What am I thinking? She replaced the nightgown the to the rack in a huff. Matt wants to wait until we are married. She shuddered. How would she possible explain to someone as prudish as he that her first time had come and gone a while ago.

Quistis returned to Selphie, who was looking at a display of corsets. "You don't even wear this kind of stuff. What are we doing here?"

Before Selphie could answer a high-pitched giggle emerged from the direction of the stockroom. "Oh, you are so naughty!" the voice warbled.

Quistis and Selphie looked at each other with wide eyes. "Oh dear," murmured Quistis.

Selphie hurried to a nearby rack, which displayed several similar styles of baby doll nighties. Selecting a powder blue one in her size, Selphie held it up and asked, "Do you think Irvine will like this?" She winced and blushed redder as another squeal assaulted them.

"Yes, it's lovely," chirped Quistis.

"Great!"

Selphie was just signing the charge card receipt when the female voice cried out, "Oh Irvine! You are so silly! Do you really like it?"

Selphie stared at the curtain, a suspicious glaze covering her eyes as she absently looped the bag over Quistis' wrist. Realizing what was possible happening Quistis said, "Uh Selphie… maybe we should…"

"Oh yeah!" Irvine's voice rang out.

Puffing herself up as large as she could, Selphie marched over to the curtain and flung it aside. She crossed her arms tightly as she glowered at the scene before her. Irvine was sitting on a box with a large smile on his face while the pretty blonde salesgirl pranced before him in a leopard print teddy.

Irvine's smile fell as he made contact with Selphie's glare. Before he could react, Selphie screamed, "I hate you!" and ran out of the store. Quistis, almost as angry as Selphie, gave Irvine the dirtiest look she could muster and ran after her sobbing friend.

Finally coming to his senses, Irvine forgot all about the salesgirl and ran after Selphie.

~*~

Luckily for Irvine while fruitlessly chasing after Quistis and Selphie, who were long gone, he had run into Matt, who was also involved in doing his holiday shopping. After Irvine explained to him what had happened between he and Selphie, Matt promised him a ride back to Garden, but explained he needed to go look at some items at 'Circuit Town.' Having nothing better to do at that point, Irvine decided to tag along with him.

Holding a pack of blank CDs, Matt stated, "I'm going to 'burn' Quissy a CD of all our favorite love songs as a holiday present."

"Oh, that's nice," Irvine replied distractedly, as he was currently checking out the blonde sales clerk on the other side of the store and wondering if he should make a move on her. He really needed to distract himself from his problems with Selphie. "What else are you going to give her?"

"What else?" Matt exclaimed. "Nothing else. I'm not made of money, you know."

This insensitive statement suddenly drew all of Irvine's attention. If fact, the longhaired cowboy stood stunned for a second. "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

When Matt nodded in the affirmative, Irvine responded, "Don't be such a chump. A woman as classy as Quistis deserves a lot more than that for the holidays."

"Well, if my fiancée is as classy as you say she is, she will certainly understand that I am living on an English instructor's salary and that I can't afford more than that right now," Matt answered in an supercilious tone. "Besides, the way your relationship stands presently, I don't understand how you can offer advice to other people concerning theirs."

This enraged the normally placid Irvine, who didn't want to say anything that would jeopardize his ride back to Garden. He muttered that he would meet Matt at the front of the store when they was ready to leave and stalked off. The young cowboy moved to the other side of the store where he decided his first impression of the sales clerk was correct and she was indeed a beauty. But right when he was ready to make his move, Irvine noticed Matt waiting in line at the front sales counter.

Hurrying up to him, Irvine couldn't help but notice that Matt had a number of expensive computer games in his hand. Matt saw that Irvine was staring at his potential purchases and exclaimed, "I'm so lucky. I've been waiting and waiting for these games to come out and they have all five of them here."

Irvine just stood and stared. He didn't know how to respond to such hypocrisy. Man, Quistis sure has herself a winner here, he thought sarcastically. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep," Matt answered, "Just as soon as I pay for these."

"Okay, I'll wait out front," Irvine said, suddenly feeling the need to get away before he said something that would cause him to have to walk back to Garden.