I had done it. I had called the number.

Unfortunately, it was the direct number to one of my dad's closest business officials.

The beginning of the phone conversation was my asking to talk to Rinoa. He wasn't too happy that I couldn't get the idea through my head that there was no Rinoa. The rest of the conversation was… well… It wasn't pretty. Let's just say it contained unsuitable material for ages 18 and under.

Of course, I too was saddened by the thought that my father really was a bonehead and I didn't have anything to look forward to when I turned his age, because I would probably be just like him. The fruitcake really did lose Rinoa's phone number, either that or he didn't even bother to write it down.

I had stayed in my room for most of the day, pouting and acting like a regular asshole. You know, my usual self. After the incident with the car and the go-kart, I was pissed enough… But finding out that the 'mysterious' number belonged to a slime ball angered me even more.

My dad tried futile attempts at getting me to open my bedroom door. Like I said, they were futile. I finally summed up the courage to come out of my lovely hiding spot and venture outside. I didn't exactly know where I was going, but I was going to get far away from that place.

So I found my way into the backyard.

My sights set upon a small red vehicle, one that a six year old would be proud of. I sat on the grass for some time, just staring at my new go-kart. Obviously, one that my father enjoyed and thought that I would too.

I let out a deep sigh and clambered into the metal machine. I pressed the ignition button and listened to it start up. Hey… not a bad motor…

After revving the engine a couple of times, I got my satisfaction. I decided to try my new ability as a go-kart driver. Can't be much different than driving a car, right? Boy, was I wrong…

I pressed my foot on the gas and took off sliding down the freshly watered grass. I had forgotten that our grass gets watered everyday for healthy, green grass. My foot kept stomping on the brake, trying to get the go-kart to halt to a stop. After useless pressing, my calf ached from trying to stop the senseless machine.

After a few minutes of sliding around and tilting, I began to get bored of the thrill ride. Yeah, we have a big backyard, that's why it's taking me so long. My eyes closed as my right eye had caught sight of a tree. I didn't even want to know what was going to happen to my little go-kart, and me, I feared for the worst.

My neck jerked sideways as the red go-kart slammed into the tree, knocking me clean out of the racing machine. I opened my eyes to discover that I was currently in the air, flying a few feet off the land. I tried to put my hands down to break my fall, which didn't help me any. I plunged hard into the ground, and heard one of my arms pop. I lay there for a while, wondering what had happened.

I sat up and felt a string of pain shoot through my arm. Great, I had a bruise on my arm.

I looked at the go-kart and found it twisted around the unholy tree. Some of the go-kart's parts were strung about the yard. I looked to my left and found one of its tires. I shook my head and stood.

"This is just great, the only car I ever own and I wreck it… I don't even have insurance yet!!" I screamed at myself. The only witness that saw my horrible incident was the gardener. He didn't really matter much; he would keep his mouth shut anyway.

I marched back into the house and found that my father was eating lunch with a smirk on his face. I sat down at the table. "What's with you, happy boy?" I said, grimacing.

Laguna shrugged and kept his smile. I pondered over his actions and blew it off. I grabbed the plate that was sitting across from me and decided to eat whoever's food that was.

"So… Have you tested out your new car, yet?" he said, laughing to himself.

I quickly swallowed a piece of chicken and almost choked. "I um—no, not yet…" Did he know? Had he seen me the whole time?! Nah… Laguna would probably just think that I was 'wrestling' with the go-kart instead of smashing its brains out.

"Oh, I thought I seen you go out to the backyard," he said sneakily.

"Well, I-I um, did! But I just took a walk, nothing more." I figured if he did find out that I wrecked his pride and joy that I would be kicked out of the Presidential Palace and disowned. So I decided to cover up as much as possible. However, I'm a horrible liar.

He snickered into his green beans. I looked at him awkwardly and continued to slowly devour my chicken.

He paused in his eating, "One of your friends is coming over."

I dropped my fork. The last time one of them came by; the palace was in chaos for three weeks. Not to mention, I was arrested, put in the newspapers, and almost eaten by piranhas. I had never wanted any of them to come back ever again. I told them I would visit them. I guess they didn't hear me quite clearly…

"That's nice," I said. I'm such a dork.

Laguna nodded, "It's a girl."

Oh, hyne no! Please don't let it be Selphie, anyone but Selphie!! "Um, is it Selphie?" I said stupidly.

He shook his head.

Thank you god! Wait, Quistis? If she came, her pointless jibber jabber would hammer me!! And she would be after me like white on rice! Oh, man, she'd badger me until I swept this palace clean. Not to mention she'd make me do work!!

As if he was reading my mind, he calmly said, "It's not Quistis."

"Oh…"

I stared at my food until realizing the only girl left was… "Rinoa!?"

"That's the one? It must be, she mentioned her name but I just can't remember," he scratched his head. I stood up from my chair and clasped my hands on his shoulders. I started to shake him wildly, temporarily forgetting that everyone in the entire palace was staring at me. As soon as they had torn me away from the process of giving my father a seizure, they sent me upstairs to prepare for our guest. Which would be Rinoa, by the way.

Three hours had passed and still no Rinoa. My father had probably gotten the date wrong.

"You're sure she said today?" I asked.

Laguna hesitated and scratched his chin. "Yes, I believe she did. She should be arriving anytime." He turned his head to look at the grandfather clock.

The doorbell gave a shrill ring and I pounced out of my chair. The next thing I saw surprised me, even more than the go-kart and the fact that I wrecked it. I opened the door, expecting to see a dazzling Rinoa.

Well, one part of my suspicion was right. She was dazzling. She had on a small jacket that fit her curves and a red top that hugged every inch of her body. I glanced down at her legs; she had a pair of little shorts on that would make any guy drool. One other thing I noticed was that her arm was connected to something. A guy.

Heat rose up in my cheeks like a flame tracing a line of gasoline. It wasn't embarrassment… It was anger. Even though Rinoa and I were broken up, only because of my cowardly attitude, and me, I was still angered by the sight of her with another guy. She smiled at me, the same smile she used to give me when we first met. "Hey…"

I looked at her friend, or so I was hoping and nodded. I turned back to her. "Hey."

Laguna was watching from his chair, motioning at me. "Invite them in, Squall."

I allowed them in and showed them to the living room. "Um, so do you guys want anything to drink?" I kept my eyes focused on Rinoa, even though I was having trouble retaining my temper with that macho man standing in the same room.

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with admiration. "Do you want anything, hun?"

She had called him hun! I was furious, with every ounce of my temper I tried to control my anger. My dad knew I was mad, and he tapped my arm to remind me that they were our guests.

He looked around at my house and tilted his head at me. "Whatcha got?" he said smiling.

Whatcha? What the hell… Can't the guy talk!?

I put my hands in my pockets, "Uh, drinks."

"Okay, how 'bout… Lemonade?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at Rinoa. "Sure thing… We have lemonade…" My dad glanced at me weirdly, he knew what I was up to, but he wasn't going to say anything.

She watched me, "Squall, would you like some help?" I think she was pretty aware that I had something up my sleeve also.

This would be a good opportunity to talk to her. "Yeah, I could use some help. Never know when I might need someone else to pour the lemonade." I said coldly.

She let go of her boyfriend and followed me into the kitchen. She took a seat on a bar stool and stayed quiet. After I had gotten a cup out of a cabinet, she cleared her throat.

"I tried to get a hold of you, but your father answered… I left a number, but you didn't call back," Rinoa said timidly.

"Laguna forgot to write it down."

She nodded, a few strands of hair falling around her face. "I'm sorry I didn't call and tell you before…"

I looked at her, studying her face and taking in the changes that had taken place over the past two years. Her face had thinned, her cheekbones more defined, her body with curves that would make any man get down on his knees. I was about to hover down myself and start bowing to her. But I couldn't, I was angry after all. Not quite at her, though.

"Well, we're over… What does it matter?" I enquired without sincerity. My voice wavered, giving hint that I was upset.

She looked down at her hands, "Squall, I'm sorry. I know you're upset…"

"I'm not upset. What gave you that idea?"

"The look on your face," she said plainly.

Dammit! That girl knew me too well. I used to be able to hide my emotions well. After Rinoa came, I couldn't do it anymore, she forced me to reveal my feelings to her. Damn her. I still get frustrated when I think about how much I've changed. I must say though, a part of me is glad that she opened me up.

"Well, you can't really expect me to be happy about it. Especially after what happened between us, I didn't think you'd get over us that quickly…" I took a pitcher off the counter and headed towards the bathroom.

Rinoa stood up quickly and grabbed my hand. I stopped. "Just where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"To… fill up the pitcher," I smiled slyly.

She shook her head. "There better be a flowing fountain of lemonade in the other room. You better not be doing what I think you're doing, Squall."

I put my hand to my chest as if I was hurt. "Me? Not me, I would never do that…" I walked off calmly to the bathroom and shut the door. Matter of fact, I would do that.

I grinned as I set the empty pitcher on the bathroom sink.

Well, if you didn't guess by now, you know exactly what I'm doing at this moment. I was shall we say, filling up the pitcher with my 'own' lemonade. I smirked to myself and zipped my pants back up. Well, time to serve Rinoa's little boyfriend some fresh lemonade…

I took the pitcher back out to the kitchen and poured some into the glass. I deposited some ice cubs into the yellowed substance, which came from something known as my pissing system.

"Mmm, this lemonade is good!" Rinoa's friend cried.

I watched him and almost burst into laughter, I glanced at Rinoa and she was giving me the death glare. "Uh, anyway… Rinoa, aren't you going to introduce your friend?"

She nodded and patted his leg, "This is Tye, and he's my boyfriend." She looked at his lemonade and gave a repulsive look. "Tye…" He turned to her.

"Yeah?" he asked while sipping my lemonade.

Rinoa bit her lower lip, "Please brush your teeth when we get back to the hotel…"

Tye shrugged it off and continued his drinking. "Squall, damn, who made this?"

I rolled my eyes. "I did."

"Seriously?! Whoa… This is some good lemonade!" Tye grinned.

"Gee, thanks. It's homemade," I laughed at my remark and got my father to snort too.

My dad was being pretty quiet throughout the conversation, but he couldn't resist when I made that last comment. "Squall, my boy… Why don't you offer Tye some more lemonade? I'm sure he would like some." Laguna said mischievously.

I smiled at my dad and looked at Tye. "Yeah, would you like some more lemonade? There's still at least half a pitcher left…"

Rinoa shook her head and stood up to catch Tye's attention. "It's actually getting pretty late! I didn't realize the time…" she said, looking at her watch. "We should go, Tye."

He set his empty glass on the table. "But, we just got here 10 minutes ago…"

"Tye! It's been long enough!" she exclaimed.

Tye hurriedly stood up and headed toward the door. He opened the door and went outside like a dog with its tail between its legs. I waved at the door, smiling to myself.

"Rinoa you have to leave so soon?" Laguna enquired.

She turned and hastily walked towards the door in Tye's footsteps. "Afraid so… Your son can't seem to handle his childish ways. One reason why we broke up," she said, glaring at me. I sunk back into my chair.

"I'll see you later, maybe…?" I said, looking at her in a cowardly way.

Rinoa sighed and nodded her head. "I'll call you, maybe we can talk."

And that was that.

Two weeks had passed and I began to think that Rinoa had forgotten all about me. No phone call, no visit, not even a letter. I let out an exasperated sigh and played with my shirt. I picked up the remote and flicked on the TV in my room.

"Boring…" I said to myself. I finally rested on a channel. It was Esthar's Funniest Home Videos. Hyne, I loved that show! It's hilarious to watch some stupid ass people beat the shit out of their dogs with a canoe, or something on that order. I laughed, watching one of the movies that had just played.

Some moron was driving his go-kart and twisted it around the tree. Not to mention the guy was flying like six feet in the air! I laughed again. Suddenly all my humor was gone when I recognized the scene. That was me on the TV screen!!

I heard faint laughter from downstairs and pulled myself off the bed. I ran downstairs and found my father pointing his finger at the TV and laughing like a mental patient. He was watching the same exact thing I was.

"Squall, look at you!" he said through laughter. He knew it was me all along? Who was the reject that sent me in!! How did they even capture me on tape?! No one was there!!!

"Dad, how did you know!??" I screamed.

He smiled to himself and pointed up to a camera resting in the corner of the wall. "Security cameras! There was one in the backyard and when I saw this, I couldn't resist!!" he said, giddy with delight.

Oh, that little rat bastard!! He turned me in! My own father turned me into some bozo ass 30-minute video segment! I could have killed him!!

"Looky, looky!!" he said pointing at the screen. "They're playing it again!!"

I took the remote and smashed it against his head. He gave a small laugh and collapsed on the couch. "That shows you, you monkey ass moronic idiot!!" I ran upstairs in a heap of anger.

My father was taking it easy the next few days, the doctor said he had a concussion and should rest up. This was bad news to me of course; I thought I had killed him. But no! I only gave him a concussion!! The result could have at least been amnesia! Did I get that? No, I got a lame concussion!!

I sat on the couch with my woozy dad and stared out the window. He was proudly holding my video tape recording in his hands and kept glancing at me to make sure I didn't smash anything else over his head.

Laguna howled in laughter. "I'm having some friends over and I thought it would be a great idea to show them your Academy Award winning video tape!" he held the tape up proudly. I grabbed it from him and shoved it into his mouth.

"Oh, look at that… It's ruined, guess you can't show it anymore!"

My dad pulled the tape from his mouth and looked at it. Saliva was dripping off the corners. "Ah, ah.  I made a copy!" he said proudly. He resumed in laughing and pulled the copy out from under the couch. I quickly snatched the copy and threw it out the window.

"Too bad. No more copy. I'll see you later dad, I'm going out."

I walked solemnly down the streets, glancing up every so often at an unfamiliar face. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, so I bumped into a few people. Did I care? Nope, I was in a bad mood. Rinoa never called.

She was probably out of town by now and was too busy with 'Tye' to even remember that I existed. I stuck my hands into my pockets and kept walking at a brisk pace.

I had walked until I was on a strange street, which didn't look even slightly familiar to me. I closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them, I would be back home. Well, that plan backfired. I wasn't home. I was lost.

I looked around. Great…

I jogged down the street a few feet before slamming into someone hard. I stumbled back and caught sight of the person I had run into. "R-Rinoa…?"

Okay, there's the second chapter! Enjoy and please review! Thanks for the reviews last time you little reviewers! Heh, sorry, I'll stop. Please urge me on with reviews it helps! Adios…