Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII. All Final Fantasy VIII characters belong to SQUARESOFT.
Chapter VI
"Brian can be such an asshole, Selphie, so don't complain about Irvine." Quistis waved her hand around. How we got in this conversation, I don't know.
"But Irvine is a freaking playboy!" Selphie countered. Arguing about whose boyfriend was the worst? I could beat them any day, any time, anywhere.
"Yeah, well Brian is a self-absorbed prick!"
"Well, so are you!" I retorted; goddamn, they were such pissoffs at times.
She sort of gawked at me, "I… Am?"
I grinned; she was ever so the gullible one, "No. But can't we just cut to a new topic?" I stretched out, taking the whole basement couch to myself. My friends, Selphie and Quistis, sat leisurely on the two Lazy Boys that were available. It was a Saturday and I promised myself to enjoy every moment of it.
To forget the upcoming biology test, to forget the task of cleaning my room, to forget the guilt that nibbled at my mind for snapping at Squall the other night. Yeah, I did feel bad but he just doesn't pick the greatest moments. I don't know when I had started to actually care about his feelings… But hey, I considered him a friend. Yeah, that's it… A friend. Let's not get into it…
"So… Uh, where's Squall?" Quistis smirked, "Is he… Out somewhere… Or…"
"He's at the indoor pool with my brothers." I rolled my eyes, "Why do you want to know?" I knew the answer only too well.
"He is so good-looking…" Quistis giggled and I had to roll my eyes again. Every time she came over she had to point that out, as if I couldn't figure it out for myself.
"I agree." Selphie clapped her hands together excitedly. Both of them were starting to scare me. "Don't you think so?"
Was this a trick question? Uh-oh… I
could only expect the worse, right?
Well… I didn't have to be honest… But how could I lie to my best
friends? The phone rang. Saved by the bell… Uh, ring.
"Hello?" I picked it up on the end table near the couch.
"Miss Heartilly, please." The serious voice at the end asked. Actually, he wasn't asking he was giving out an order.
"Speaking…" I replied.
"This is Mr. Rolan from Dawson's College. Normally, the school wouldn't do such a thing but you're quite an exceptional student. Why haven't you called to reserve your place here?"
My blood froze. Was he bitching at me? First off, it was kind of hard to reserve a spot when they never gave news that you passed the fucking entrance exam… And I was about to let him know that, "I never received a call or a letter telling me I had passed the exam. I was still waiting for the results."
"We called, one week ago. I was the one who personally left a message and the young man at the other end seemed to comprehend that."
"The young man? You spoke to a young man?" I was just making sure. After all, I didn't want to kill him with a wrong motive.
"Yes, a young man. Didn't get his name."
"I'm very sorry, sir. I didn't get the message. Is it too late to reserve?"
I heard an annoyed sigh at the other end, "We'll make a special case out of you. You're place at the college is reserved. Good day."
"Thank you so much!" I hung up and turned to my friends, trying to mask a certain amount of rising anger, "You guys stay here. I'll be right back."
I ran up the basement stairs to the main floor and into the kitchen. I grabbed the pile of envelopes on the counter and flipped through them. Electricity bill, phone bill, taxes… A letter from Balamb Garden. Bingo!
I took off with it and ran to the other side of the house, near the garage… there was the indoor pool. I opened glass double doors and let myself in. I felt the change of atmosphere… so much more humidity in this room.
He was sitting on the edge, his feet dangling in the water. Tossing the beach ball back and forth with Stu. No one seemed to notice me… Good. Even better… Squall wasn't wearing a swimming wear. He was wearing jeans and a t-shit… Bonus!
I walked up right behind him and gave him a good kick on the back. His ass completely slipped off the edge and he crashed into the pool. The intended effect. He surfaced and even Stu and Mikey were surprised at my sudden appearance.
"What the hell was that for?" He seemed quite pissed on the spur of the moment.
He wanted to know? He would know… The little stupid bastard! "Oh I don't know…" I started off sarcastically, "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you didn't tell me Dawson College called! But… I'm sure you would have told me before the reservation limit date… That was yesterday!"
He grinned. He actually had the nerve to grin, "I was busy, and you got fucked. Have a nice life."
Of all the nerve! I was going to kill the stupid prick! I kicked the nearby soccer ball right in his face, "You find that funny? Huh, mofo? You stupid bastard!" At this point, Mikey and Stu were just staring in awe at us but I really couldn't give less of a shit.
"Funny? Nah!" His face was red, not from anger but from the impact of the ball, "I find this hilarious!"
"Hilarious? Ok, let's see how hilarious this is!" I waved around the letter from Balamb Garden, "Would Mr. Leonheart like his mail?"
His face fell. I went on, "I guess so, huh? Well, go fetch you moron!" I walked over the other side of the pool. He tried swimming towards me as fast as he could but I dropped the letter in.
"Oops… Hope the ink doesn't smudge!" I walked back to the glass doors and left the pool. That had felt so good. Releasing anger… Hyne, it felt so relieving.
I walked back downstairs into the basement, as calmly as it was humanly possible. There, Quistis and Selphie awaited me with bewildered expressions.
"Where did you go?" Quistis asked.
"Went to give Squall his mail." I sneered proudly.
"Why do you sound so evil?" Selphie gave me a suspicious look.
"Nah, Rinoa's not evil. She just has her 'I'm Possessed By Satan' moments." A deep voice explained. How did he recover and plot his next move so quickly?
I gave him my best 'What The Hell Are You Doing Here' glare and he seemed to receive it one on one. He smirked; his black t-shirt was so wet it was like a second skin. His navy jeans seemed to drip from his knees where he had them pulled up to before the fatal fall. And his hair… Oh, his hair. Messy, drippy, wet… So… Sexy. It had the same effect on me as it did the first morning he came down with wet hair.
"Squall, what happened to your
clothes?" Quistis screeched.
"Screw the clothes! What's with your face?" His face was still bright red from the smack of the soccer ball.
"Nothing important…" He smiled and sat next to me on the couch, I moved away instantly… The guy was drenching everything he touched. "Hey Quistis, you look hot today!"
My eyes went wide. Was he going to start flirting with my friends? The question was answered, "You want to go out some time?"
I glared at him sending him a telepathic message 'Fuck you!' He wouldn't receive it… I knew that. Luckily for me, Quistis replied, "No, sorry. I've got a boyfriend."
"That's right!" I replied, "Now get out."
He ignored me, "Aw come on! Just this once." He made a puppy dog look. I was ready to kill him.
"Squall!" I grabbed him by the ear and pulled him towards me, "Get out!" I screamed, hoping that his auditory canals were cleaned and ready to receive the sound waves that I was transmitting.
"Rinoa, hey! Didn't even notice you. How've you been?" He smirked. I was going to shoot him in the kneecaps and elbows, then throw him in the ocean!
I slapped him in the back of the head, "What do you want?"
"For you to help me with my exams." He seemed to have gotten what he wanted, "Biology, geography, history…" He seemed to hesitate for a while and then said, "And a sanity test."
"Fine, done. You give me my messages; I'll give you your mail. You stop pissing me off; I'll stop pissing you off. Plus, you owe me a favor!"
"Deal." He grinned and tapped his wet hand on my shoulder. I scowled, shoved him off the couch and he finally left.
"What was that all about?" My two friends gaped at me.
I rolled my eyes, "A mutual understanding."
Sammy-Chan: NOW things are getting somewhere! Review, will ya? Pretty please? I will update … really soon!
