(AN)-- Pandora is slightly dazed where you people get these ideas of couplings, save the Reno/Yuffie factor. It's not that I have a problem with it, but I'm lost as to where these ideas are originated. It's interesting to hear whom you guys like, though. But so far, all of you are wrong. Grin. Ah, for the most part. Also, any theories you get from this chapter regarding couples – most likely half wrong; besides, there lies a hint of another relationship in this chapter, which will soon evolve into a triangle once I have this one other character show up. (Oh, and an extra long chapter for the weeks I missed out on.)
` p a n d o r a
s c h o o l b l u e s
vi. scream for me
Reno parked the car in front of the Lockheart Manor and waited as patiently as he could for the girls to remove themselves from his car. For the whole drive, they had been grilling his nerves – rather, two of them anyway. Tifa, who had been sitting on the passenger seat (it was only reserved for her – best friend privileges), kept silent for the whole drive. Besides, he thought grimly, she already did her share early this afternoon.
Elena and Yuffie filed out of his car and for that he was thankful. At least he didn't have to put up with their unremitting giggling another minute, which was undeniably directed at him. And they say men are insensitive.
"Reno?"
His ears perked up at the sound of his friend's gentle voice that reminded him so much of the former mother he used to know. Reno's green eyes stared into her brown, crimson-flecked depths that shone brightly with concern; a feeling he often saw every night before he drove off after dropping her off at her house.
"Yeah?"
She licked her lips, nervous, carefully choosing her words. She didn't want to make two mistakes in one day.
"You'll…you'll be…" She stammered lightly, her voice failing her. She was worried, plain and simple. "You'll be okay, right?"
"Come here," he prodded gently and pulled her into a friendly embrace. If anyone saw this gesture, it would have been perceived as a passionate act of confessions but no, it was quite different from that. It had come from a special bond that best friends shared, best friends that watched each other grow up.
She pulled away from the hug and stared at him with a grave look in her eye. "You call me if something happens, all right?"
He nodded.
"Good."
Reassured, she stepped out of his car and stood on the graveled pathway that led to her house, as she watched him speed off, smoke drifting away into nothingness from the empty spot the car once vacated.
Tifa sighed and turned around, mildly surprised when she saw Elena standing on the doorstep of her house.
"I told Yuffie to wait in your room." She said and began fidgeting with her fingers, a habit she picked up when she was panicky or if something was bothering her. "Will he be okay?"
"I don't know."
The words that fled from her mouth were indisputable and it scared her. She wanted to know. Tseng, Rude, and Elena wanted to know.
"It's not his fault." Elena said softly, tears threatening her eyes. "Why does his mom inflict pain on her son when it wasn't him who left her in the first place?"
Tifa stood her ground. Anger was beginning to seep in her friend's voice, her calm and cheerful disposition now broken.
"This isn't normal, having to frighteningly worry that one of our friends could be in danger. What happened to the loving Mrs. Talon that I knew?" She asked, shaking her head. By now, Tifa was sure that the blonde was talking more to herself. "It's Reno's goddamn father that she should be taking out her anger on! Not him! Not him, not him…"
Her voice died away before she buried her face in her hands and tried to control the sobs that wracked her frame. It pained Tifa to see people this way, having to constantly worry about something that shouldn't even be happening. It was even worse when you happened to have been fervently close with that someone. She ran up to her friend and hugged her. No one deserved pain like this. No one.
"Let's go, Elena." Tifa softly urged. "And let's get you cleaned up, okay? Act natural. We don't want Yuffie getting any ideas."
Elena sniffled and nodded silently before allowing her friend to take her into the house.
They weren't aware of the window above them close with a gentle thud.
*
Elena rummaged through the items they purchased and pulled out a lavender summer dress with thin straps and a pair of matching sandals, and then arranged them on Tifa's bed. She grinned at her sense of fashion and spun around to face a horrified Yuffie who had been approached by a 'Tifa-with-a-mission.' Yuffie was seated in front of the vanity mirror, darting looks between the two older girls, anticipating their next actions.
Tifa sighed and leaned against her dresser. "Putting this stuff on won't kill you. Trust me, I've done this a million of times and I'm still kicking."
Yuffie blanched. "You don't understand! I'm not a make-up person. I never was, never will be! Yuffie and make-up…a bad combination!"
Elena grinned as she held a box of hair dye in her hands. "Quite passionate about denial, are you? You know, it wouldn't surprise me if you experimented with it at least once."
"Well, I haven't so there!" She sulked and turned away.
Elena and Tifa giggled before dragging her off to the bathroom.
"We'll start with the hair." They giggled in unison.
*
After an hour of hair fixing, Yuffie inspected herself through the large mirrors that danced around her in the bathroom. It was a room of mirrors; there was nothing else to describe it. She was actually satisfied with what they had done. The change wasn't drastic, which was good, they only accentuated her dark hair with light, natural colour of auburn that blended well with her silk tendrils. She smiled shyly; it looked pretty.
"See, she likes it." Elena nodded approvingly to herself.
Tifa nodded also. "Now that wasn't so bad, now was it? The red colour exaggerates the shade of your eyes. It's unique, by the way."
"What is?"
"Your eye colour."
"And yours isn't?"
"Not quite. I know someone else who shares it." She shrugged and paid no heed to the open-mouthed stare Elena was giving her. "I know. It's not that common."
Elena shook her head quickly. "It's not that! Your eye colour is unique, Tifa. The only way someone would find out the shade of your eyes would be if they stood right in front of your face, like really close! And your mom is out of the question, excuse my bluntness, because frankly we all know that."
Tifa raked a hand through her hair. "What exactly are you trying to get at?"
"It's not your mother you're talking about." She emphasized very practically. "In other words, you actually got into the face of a certain someone, and I know who this someone is. And I know for a fact he doesn't let anyone get near him unless-
"Okay, that's enough!" Tifa ended the conversation abruptly and blushed a bright pink, which didn't fail to capture the attention of a very observant Yuffie.
Elena pointed at her, accusingly. "You did, didn't you?"
"We were close, but we didn't!"
"Is he good?" Elena snickered with a perverted leer.
"Gawd!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Who exactly are we talking about here?"
Elena grinned as Tifa hurriedly exited the bathroom. "I really can't say. But I'll be damned, this is most interesting news!"
"Nothing happened!" Tifa squeaked from the other room. "And don't you dare write this in the school newspaper!"
"Why shouldn't I?" Elena teased, dragging Yuffie out of the bathroom with her to the other girl who was deliberately hiding her face. "This is absolute scandal!"
"Hey! Keep out of my private life, will you?"
Yuffie was now very antsy about this newfound secret. She was practically falling off her chair – that is, if she were even sitting on one.
"What are you two talking about?"
Elena sat down on Tifa's bed and began to tell the curious Yuffie exactly what was going on, Tifa being undoubtedly red to her hair roots by now.
"We're talking about Vincent Valentine who, I believe, is attending his third year in the Southern Sphere University of Mideel."
Yuffie's eyes widened as she understood what she was saying, for the most part, but there were other things left unsaid.
"Okay, so he's what, twenty-one, twenty-two? Whose to care?"
"Are you completely dense?" Then Elena muttered something that sounded like 'Your father keeps you bound from society' and shook her head. "The current standings of our world is as follows: it is illegal for two people to be involved when they live in different worlds, so to speak."
Yuffie shook her head, saying, "I don't understand."
"When I say 'different worlds,'" Elena explained, "I mean different standings. Vincent is in college, almost finished with school by the way, while Tifa is in high school. This is frowned upon by society."
"And that's bad?" Yuffie was still confused, who gave a glance in Tifa's direction, who was currently burying her face in a pillow.
"Well, that and Vincent has a reputation for being…uncharacteristically wild; he's usually perceived as a calm, elegant person but really – never judge a book by its cover because this book is damn well hot! And Tifa is perceived as someone quite the opposite. People judge other people; you do the math."
Tifa's head shot up from the pillow. "Do you mind? I'd rather not have my dad listening in on this."
"Oh yeah." Elena grinned. "And the fact her dad doesn't know about this secret relationship."
"We're not in a relationship!"
"She's in denial. Besides, I heard Vincent had taken a liking towards someone. I've always wondered who that person was and now I know! I heard he was quite possessive too…" She trailed off, wriggling her eyebrows.
"Elena, please!"
The blonde merely laughed and fell down in hysterics. "Does anyone know about this?"
"No," she muttered with a frown. "You were the first to figure it out on your own."
"It's a talent us columnist pick up on. It can't be helped and frankly, I think it has its good points."
"Yeah, so you can humiliate me to death! I don't like him! It was a one-day thing."
"And here our conservative Tifa is living up to the affectionate nickname our dear Reno calls her."
Yuffie's brows shot up. "Which would be…?"
"Vixen."
Before another giggle could erupt from her throat, a pillow was flung at her face; the room now ensued in a pillow fight.
The shrill noise of the phone ringing died beneath the girls' laughter.
*
His mom was in a raging frenzy and honestly he was scared. The beer bottle that was thrown beside him shattered into bits and pieces, flying this way and that, nicking his cheeks where blood was currently trickling down. He managed to duck away into his room and tend to his wound that now grazed his cheeks and was now calling the Lockheart residence. No one answered.
Reno sighed and sunk to the floor with a thud. He was crying for help and no one heard him scream. He shook his head. It was typical. He wasn't pointing fingers, of course. Tifa was probably busy with the primping of Yuffie Kisaragi. He leaned his head against the cool surface of the wall behind him.
The night was going to be long.
