WARNING FOR FUJIN LOVERS!!!
Squall and Rinoa stood before the large test score sheet outside their math room. It was before school started so there weren't a lot of people hustling and bustling about on the second floor.
The sheet read the scores plain and simple. Rinoa Heartily: 100%. Her name was at the top of the list for obvious reasons. Squall's however... was third from the last, getting the grade of 60%.
"It's still passing." Rinoa observed with an optimistic smile.
"Barely." Squall mumbled as depression set in.
"Even though it was the first assignment worth points, it was still only the first. And it wasn't worth very many points anyways. You have lots of chances to bring your grade up." She reminded him. His mood brightened, a bit. Even though her words were helpful, they didn't cure depression. "Don't worry about it!" She insisted, seeing his still sad face.
"If you got this bad of a grade on this, what would you be thinking?" He asked. He wasn't challenging her, he was simply wondering.
"I'd be depressed, like you." She said.
"Exactly." Squall stated, seeing his chance to back his point.
"However! I wouldn't let it get me down. Even if it rains, the clouds eventually diverge and in comes the sun. Rain doesn't stay." She reminded him. He remained silent for a bit, unsure how to respond.
"Awkward silence..." He mumbled after a minute. "Oh!" Squall exclaimed, thinking of something to talk about. "You were really good on Time Crisis on Friday." He complimented with a smile.
"Thanks. I imagined every person as Selphie... even the civilians. Bang bang!" Rinoa exclaimed with a smile as her hand formed the style of a gun.
"Are you still mad at her?" Squall asked as they began to make their way down to the entrance of the school to meet with their friends.
"No, not really. We patched things up on Saturday and Sunday." She told him. He sighed with relief afraid of confrontation on school grounds.
"Thank god." He whispered.
"What?" She asked, she had heard him, he knew it.
"Hehe... I just didn't want a cat fight on school grounds." He told her with a sheepish smile.
"Thanks for the 'concern', but we're fine." Rinoa told him as they pushed open the double doors, revealing the sunlit outside. They found their friends chatting aimlessly on the grass.
"Hey gu-" Squall was about to finish his sentence until a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders. He stumbled forward a bit and Rinoa looked to him, totally surprised. She saw what had clung on to him. It was a girl, dressed in a standard school uniform. Her hair was a remarkable silver and her stature was short. She just gave Rinoa a deep glare that could cause the prettiest of flowers to catch on fire and turn to ash. Rinoa just gave her a startled look. "What the!?" Squall cried as he finally stopped stumbling.
"Hi!" The girl answered in a sweet voice.
"Oh! Hey Fujin!" Squall greeted with a cheerful smile. She jumped off his back and gave him a hug. Her head nestled into his chest and a smile of pure serenity showed on her face.
'Fujin? Is that his girlfriend?' Rinoa thought, a bit confused. 'Who is she? I've never seen her before... Whoever she is... she's very pretty. To pretty. She must have gotten plastic surgery. Geez, I didn't know we had someone like THAT at your school.' She thought, totally amazed.
"How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long, Lil' Fuji!" Squall exclaimed with a smile as he pulled away from the embrace and looked her over.
"I've been great!" She said with a smile as she flicked her shoulder length hair seductively. Squall's eye's followed the seductive whip of hair closely.
"And who is this, fine young women? What grade are you in honey? 6th?" Zell asked as he bent down close to her face. He was being totally serious.
"Oh god Zell..." Selphie mumbled as she slapped her forward in light of his ignorance. Fujin glared... and glared then finally scratched his face.
"I'm in 10th grade you ass!" She screamed. Zell held his face in pain as he mumbled an apology and hid behind Selphie. "Same grade as you!" She screamed, drawing the attention of everyone around them.
"Still have quite the pair of lungs on you." Squall joked. Fujin laughed along with him. The laugh was totally fake but Squall either didn't care didn't notice. Once the laughter subsided, she spun her head over to Rinoa as her eyes scanned her over slowly.
"Who's she?" She asked in a scrutinizing tone. "Your girlfriend?" She questioned harshly as she turned to him. He laughed at her comment.
"She's not my girlfriend." He insisted with a blush. "She's a friend. Her name's Rinoa." He told her. "Rinoa this is Fujin." He greeted for them.
"Hello." Rinoa greeted and extended a hand to shake. Fujin took the hand and clamped down hard and glared evilly, unbeknownst to the rest of the group. Her eyes said it all: 'I'm gonna kill you!'. The pressure on Rinoa's hand was causing it to turn red. She tried to resist the need to scream out and she bit her lip. Fujin finally let go and Rinoa sighed with relief as the pressure was lifted.
The bell rang just as she let go and another sigh of relief escaped Rinoa's lips.
"See you at lunch?" Fujin questioned to Squall as she turned to him.
"Sure. Will Raijin sit with us?" He asked. "Where is Raijin anyways?" He asked, becoming curious.
"He just needs to talk with his teacher this morning." Fujin admitted. Her tone said that she wasn't sure of something and Rinoa looked at her skeptically. "And yes... he'll eat lunch with us." She said. "Now, I have to go to Gym." She said and ran around the side of the school, where the lockers were located.
"Nice, isn't she?" Squall asked, elbowing Rinoa lightly in the shoulder.
"Charming." Rinoa lied with a precious smile. 'What the hell is her problem?' She thought, totally perplexed.
Chapter FOUR: The Seed Has Told This Tale
"What the hell is the Summer Festival?" Rinoa asked as she held up the flyer that Zell had given her. She dropped the top of the flyer a bit to see Zell's beaming face.
"It's the Festival just after the Second Semester ends and marks the middle of the Summer season." He told her, his face still smiling.
"That's great." Rinoa said, not knowing what else to say.
"Oh. I guess I didn't specify." Zell apologized as he rubbed his neck. "The Festival is when students get to put on performances, shows, throw dinner parties, anything. It lets people express themselves!" He said with a smile.
"You're starting a group... aren't you?" Rinoa asked, reading him like a book. He nodded vigorously.
"Would you like to be in it?" He asked, leaning close to her face. She pushed him away with a strong hand and thought a moment.
"What would you be doing?" She asked, making sure.
"Don't know. You can help decide." He said, trying to make it sound inviting.
"No thanks." She apologized as she handed the flyer back to him.
"Really? Are you sure?" He asked, sounding desperate.
"Sorry Zell. Clubs just aren't my thing." She told him.
"At least sleep on it." He pleaded.
"Fine." She said, giving in. "But why do you want me so badly? There are plenty of other people." She reminded him.
"You'd be the only girl I know in it, besides Selphie."
"Who else is in it?"
"Selphie, me." He answered with a tiny mumble.
"Oh geez." Rinoa whispered as she shook her head. "I'll think about it Zell. Lets just go eat lunch, okay?" She pleaded as she felt her stomach rumble. Zell sighed, but nodded none the less.
They walked out to the front of the school where, sitting on the grass, was everyone. They had eaten there since the beginning of the second semester.
"Finally!" Squall called out in annoyance. Rinoa looked to him and found Fujin resting her head against his knee. She scowled at the closeness they shared while Fujin only smirked right back, knowing the jealousy that was racking Rinoa's head. An extremely tanned boy sat next to Fujin. He was tall, she could even see that from when he was sitting. She couldn't quite see his face as it was turned around very awkwardly, almost like he was avoiding her gaze.
"Hey everyone." Rinoa and Zell greeted.
"Jinx." Zell called. Rinoa stared at him like he was nothing more than a silly 5 year old.
"Shut up." She demanded.
"Still sore after what happened on Friday?" Selphie asked.
"Never ever speak of that again!" Rinoa demanded, pointing her fork menacingly at Selphie.
"Woah, sorry Rinny." She apologized.
"What happened?" Fujin asked in a sugar sweet voice.
"Nothing." Rinoa said shortly and all to quickly.
"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" Fujin asked. Her words were coated with honey but at the core they were heartless and filled with spite.
"Rinoa." She answered, clenching her first tightly behind her. The tanned man turned his head toward her just the tiniest bit.
"Anyways. What happened, Squall?" She asked pushing an intense emphasis on his name.
"I don't think Rinoa really wants to talk about it." He told her with a small blush as he looked to Rinoa who only smiled back.
"Why not?" Fujin asked, sounding almost hurt.
"So what school did you come from?" Rinoa asked, breaking the topic at hand for good reasons.
"We were home schooled." The tanned man answered abruptly as he turned his entire attention to her. He was remarkably attractive and Rinoa couldn't help comparing him and Squall. She also couldn't help but get a sense of nostalgia as she looked at him. "Our parents finally decided to send us to public school." He finished. Rinoa looked on at him intently, almost as if she didn't hear anything of the things he said.
There was utter silence amongst the group as the pairs eye's interlocked. Squall's eyes began to switch back and forth from Rinoa and Raijin.
"Have we met?" She finally asked.
"No." He answered.
"Really? You just seem very familiar." She ended as she settled down. "So? You were home schooled?" She asked, looking to Fujin.
"Yeah." Raijin answered. There was more awkward silence.
"Wanna join my Summer Festival group?" Zell asked as he gave a flyer to each of them.
"I'll join!" Fujin cried out in a happy tone. She obviously knew what the 'Summer Festival' was. Zell signed her name down on his little paper.
"You're joining, right Squall?" She asked, looking up to him.
"No way!" He said with a laugh. Her face fell instantly.
"Take me off the list." She demanded.
"No." Zell answered stiffly. He wasn't going to lose a member just because she wanted to be with some guy.
"Do it." She demanded.
"No." He said with tight resolve.
'Why does she care so much about what Squall's doing or not?' Rinoa thought irritated. 'Would I join if he was joining? That's silly. I've made my decision. Geez... is her life ruled by Squall? Or more importantly... is mine? I might have not wanted to join in the beginning but why do I not want to join even more? Because she's in it? Or because Squall's not. I don't know anymore.' Rinoa concluded as the bickering continued.
The bickering went for a bit more until Irvine finally stood and walked away with a mumble.
"What'd he say?" Quistis asked as the bickering stopped.
"I don't know." Rinoa said. "I'm gonna go see what's wrong." She said, got up and walked away. "... and to get away from you yah little bitch." She mumbled as she stepped inside. The halls were empty. No one spent their lunches eating inside when it was a beautiful day outside, plus they wanted to get as far away from school as they could.
She looked down both directions, hoping Irvine would still be in the hall. He wasn't. She looked down both sides and tried to decide which way he had gone. Using her powers of psychology, she took the right path considering that one: it was most likely the hand he wrote and two: It was the side we drove on and three: Since he seemed to be in such a hurry, he would have went with instinct, which was the right.
She walked down away and found his head inside his locker. '... that was probably the most logical place he would be. Wasted my life with that stupid psycho babble.' she thought with a sigh. She walked steadily to him.
"Umm... Irvine?" She began. In a startle, Irvine smashed his head against the top of his locker and pulled himself out in a hectic state and ended up falling onto his butt.
"Ow." He mumbled as he rubbed his head.
"Are you okay?" She asked as she knelt down and rubbed his head gingerly where he had hit it.
"Yeah. Fine." He admitted.
"Sounded like you hit your head pretty hard." Rinoa noted as she began to feel for a bump or bruise.
"I did.." He mumbled. There was silence for a bit.
"You've been pretty quiet lately." She commented as she pulled back from Irvine. They both stood and Irvine seemingly towered over her.
"I guess." He mumbled. The sudden change in attitude only caused Rinoa to pursue things further.
"Why did you leave suddenly?" She asked.
"Just needed to get some stuff." He admitted.
"Really?" She questioned.
"Really."
"Then you wouldn't mind if I..." She quickly opened his locker entirely, but he quickly slammed it shut causing Rinoa to smash her fingers.
"OOOWWW!!" She screamed as she sucked on her fingers delicately.
"Oh my god! Are you alright!?" Irvine asked, totally worried. She pushed the locker open with her elbow and stuck her upper body in, making sure he didn't close it. Still sucking on her fingers, she looked around his locker. There was a red rose taped to the back of his locker with lots of pictures of a girl and him around it. The girl was pretty, very pretty and Irvine looked so happy with her.
"Is... is this your girlfriend?" Rinoa asked as she pulled herself slowly out from the locker. He glared at her and when she was finally out, he slammed the locker shut. The sound boomed down through the empty halls.
"Never do that again." He warned. He tried to walk past, but she got in his way.
"Is she?" She asked.
"Is she what?" He asked, pretending to forget her last question.
"Is she your girlfriend?" She asked again.
"Yeah." He finally said, giving in.
"She's pretty." Rinoa admitted.
"You a lesbian?" Irvine asked, totally serious. Rinoa only shook her head in distaste.
"Girls can call each other pretty." She told him.
"Oh..." He mumbled. "But yeah, she's very pretty, and kind." He confessed.
"Perfect?" She asked with a smile as she rubbed her swollen fingers a bit.
"Definitely. She's just so... great." He admitted. "That feels so clichéd." He admitted with a laugh.
"It is, but that's no reason to stop you from saying it." She reminded him.
"True." He admitted. There was silence between the two for a long moment.
"Do... do you love her?" Rinoa asked, looking to her feet, afraid that Irvine would get mad and something else she couldn't put her finger on...
"I think I do... that's why I've been sorta out of it lately." He admitted. He grabbed Rinoa's shoulder's and sank to his knees. "What is love, Rinoa?" He asked, pleading in agony.
"I don't know." She answered, a bit confused by the situation.
"Does anyone know? Does it even really exist? Or is it something that has-been poets talk about? And what do you do if you're in love? Do you get married? Do you make love to them?" He asked. The barrage of questions was catching Rinoa off guard.
"Irvine..." She began soothingly, bringing him up to his feet. "Love isn't a universal thing. While the word itself might be, the feeling people get when they exclaim 'I'm in love' is different from person to person. For one person it might be when they get butter flies in their stomach when they look at that person. For some it might be a lust for sex. For some it might be when they like someone they feel it's love. I'm not saying any of those are wrong. I'm just giving examples. Everyone feels love." She said with a tender smile. "And when you do finally figure out that you're in love. You don't have to do anything special. Be yourself. That's what got you so far. You could have had sex before you even thought you loved her. And well, marriage is a whole different subject all together." She said as she finished. Irvine had watched her intently the whole time, taking in every word.
"You're brilliant." He whispered. He wrapped her up in a big bear hug, squeezing her tightly. "I'd be glad to have you as Squall's girlfriend!" He said and began to shake her about with a smile.
"Irvine." She began as he put her down. "I don't think Squall and I are going to be dating." She assured him. He frowned.
"But you two look so cute together." He mumbled sheepishly. She blushed deeply.
"I wouldn't tell Squall that." Rinoa said with a smile as she patted him on the head. Irvine laughed as they went back out to eat with everyone...
After school, Rinoa had to stay extra late in her English class because of a test that took far to long. When she finally finished. She slammed her pencil down in annoyance, snatched her paper up and handed it to the teacher. The teacher smiled at her and she gave him a smile, though it was fake to the very core. When she turned around for her desk, her smile fell and a menacingly 'I'm gonna rip your organs out' look flashed across her face.
She packed her stuff up in a hurry and looked out the window to see if Quistis and Selphie were waiting for her. They were... but along with Squall and the little munchkin Fujin. Rinoa gritted her teeth so hard she thought she could hear them screech. She flipped her hair with a steady hand as if she didn't care and walked out of the classroom and out of the school.
"Finally Rinny!" Selphie called with annoyance as Rinoa came running for them.
"Sorry. Had to finish taking a test in English." She admitted with a little laugh.
"It's alright." Squall insisted.
"Not to be rude, but what are you doing here? Don't you take the bus home?" Rinoa asked, pointing to the bus behind him. She saw Zell and Irvine waving like idiots, smashing their faces against the window and basically being asses of themselves.
"I asked if he could walk me home. We live right next door." Fujin stated as she pushed her self deeper into his arm as she clung onto it. Rinoa's anger rose and so did her jealousy.
'What the hell is she trying to do? We're not dating! She sees me as competition probably... Well, let me tell you. This is no way to beat the competition you ass. Your little games are only lighting my fire for a fight. Unless, that's what she's trying to do. She's good... Wait, I don't even know what her motives are! Is it to start fight? Is it to win a fight? Is it... to make me jealous.' A thought suddenly dawned on Rinoa. It came like a ton of bricks to the side of her face. 'I'm... I'm jealous of Fujin!'
"Hello? Rin!" Selphie called out as she waved in front of her face.
"Huh? Oh..." She mumbled in embarrassment. Squall laughed a bit and Fujin laughed along with him.
"Hey... wait a second." Quistis began. "If you two live next door to each other then why don't you both just take the bus?" Quistis suggested.
"Ummm..." Fujin began. Rinoa smirked evilly as she saw Fujin in a rut she couldn't get out of. Fujin turned around and saw the bus leave. "To late! No use crying over spilled milk!" She said in a rush with a tiny giggle. She glared at Quistis who only gave her an 'I'm innocent' look. Now Rinoa and Quistis were on her hit lists.
"Where's Raijin?" Selphie asked, looking back towards the school as they walked away.
"He had to leave in a hurry." Fujin told them as she snuggled deeper into Squall. She turned her back to Rinoa and gave her a dark glare with an evil smile. She turned to Squall's arm and pretended to lick it. Rinoa picked up a rock next to her and fell behind a bit so no one could see her. Fujin looked at her curiously. Rinoa began to toss the rock up and down in the same hand, tauntingly. She pretended to take aim at Fujin and then pretended to throw it. Fujin screamed in terror until she saw that Rinoa was still holding the rock.
Everyone turned to Fujin.
"You alright?" Squall asked, worried.
"Rinoa tried to throw a rock at me!" She exclaimed as she forced herself to cry fake tears. Squall turned to Rinoa cross. She just shrugged as she held out her hands, showing no rock.
"Rinoa really wouldn't do that." Squall told her. Fujin glared at her with an intense rage. Rinoa just stuck her tongue out at her. Squall turned around just as Fujin turned her head and he mouthed a 'Sorry'. Rinoa gave him a quizzical look, wondering what the sorry was for, but it was to late as he had already turned his head. She fell back in line with everyone, as she saw no more point in battling with Fujin.
Rinoa walked along in total silence as the others chatted amongst themselves.
'Why am I feeling jealous? Do I like Squall? God, what the hell is 'like' anyways. How do I know when I've fallen for him... I wish love, or like or whatever the hell, was a universal feeling. Why did I even give Irvine that advise? I don't know if I was right... I've never been in love. I'm so hopeless.' She thought. She looked up as she woke herself from her thoughts and looked down to Squall who was smiling from a comment that Fujin made. 'What does Squall think of Fujin? Are they dating? What's going on with them? They're probably dating, Fujin just wants to make me jealous. There! There it is again! Me being jealous! Stop it! You're not jealous. You're just confused... stop lying to yourself dammit!' Rinoa thought as her fists clenched at her own stupidity. She looked down to Squall again and she found his eyes locked with hers. 'I've finally realized...' She thought as a smile began to grow on her face. 'I like him.'
Author's Break: We're moving into the second portion of the chapter... This is the reason for my delay about this chapter. I've decided to make two parts to every chapter meaning that upcoming chapters are going to have about close to 6,000 words in them. Tee hee! Enjoy the second part.
Now... Go Get Some Food/Drink and Come Right Back!
Chapter FOUR Part2: Eye to Eye and Face to Face
Rinoa lay on her bed as the sunlight of mid day streamed through the open window. The birds chirped to themselves as the sky was a blissful blue.
She had changed into her casual summer clothes after she returned from school. She was wearing a white dress that ended at her knees and the sunflowers all over it we're a nice touch. It showed off just the hint of cleavage. Rinoa found it her good luck dress as it had helped in times of need before, and now she needed help more than ever...
She rolled herself over, off of her back, and onto her side facing her phone.
'Just call him... Irvine will know his address.' She said, calming herself. She picked up the phone and punched in Irvine's number but stopped at the last number. Her hand quivered lightly as more thoughts rushed through her head. 'But if he asks why I wanted to know? What should I say? 'Oh, uhh... I just came to confess my feelings... that's all!' No! That just won't fly. I'll make something up on the spot... I'm good at that.' She quickly snatched the phone and punched the numbers in as fast as she could so she couldn't change her mind as she sat up. Her fingers new the number by now as they had punched in the number, save for the last number, in so many times.
"Hello?" Irvine's voice greeted. Rinoa immediately slammed the phone into the holder, causing it to hang up on him.
"Oh...." Rinoa whined as she hit herself on the head a few times. "You're such a coward." She complained as she placed her head in her hands. The telephone rang just as she was about to call herself and idiot again. She picked it up, hoping that it wasn't Irvine.
"Hello?" She began.
"Rinoa. Why did you hang up like that?" Irvine's voice asked. Rinoa cursed lightly and she bit her lip.
"Umm... no reason." She lied. 'What kind of lie was that!?' She scolded herself as she hit her head again.
"Don't lie Rinny." Irvine scolded with a cheery voice. "You can trust me." He insisted. Her thoughts came back to earlier that day when he had confessed to her.
"Okay." Rinoa said with a sigh. "I was wondering..." She paused a bit.
"Yes?" He questioned, wanting her to continue.
"... if you had Squall's address." She answered meekly.
"Huh?" He asked, totally confused. "Why? You're not going to egg him or anything, right?" He asked, thinking he had caught onto Rinoa's terrible plans.
"No!" She scolded with a laugh as she lied down on her bed.
"Then why?"
"Just 'cause..." She mumbled.
"'Cause... why?" He asked, wanting her to continue.
"I wanna tell him something." She said.
"Oh! OH!" He exclaimed.
"What?" She asked, ready to get on the defensive side.
"You LIKE him!" He exclaimed with a sing-song voice.
"It's not like that!" Rinoa exclaimed, now on the defensive side.
"Yes it is." Irvine insisted.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"Fine!" She screamed into the phone. Irvine suddenly became quiet, knowing he had hit something. "So what if I do!?" She asked, anger filling her emotions.
"Sorry Rin. I was just playing." He admitted shyly.
"I didn't 'play' with you when you told me about that girl!" She reminded him, hurt.
"I didn't mean anything bad by it." He insisted. "Please, let me make it up, I didn't mean to hurt you." Irvine pleaded. Rinoa smirked evilly, her plan had worked.
"Fine..." She said, sounding like she was hurt again. "I have to favor to ask of you." She began.
"What?" He asked, unsure if 'let me make it up' was the best thing to say.
"Find out what Squall thinks about me..." She began but she was interupted by a two beeps which meant that someone else was trying to call. "Can you hold on a second, Irvine? I have another call." She said and flashed to the other line.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Hi. Is Rinoa there?" A deep voice asked.
"This is she..." Rinoa said, beginning to understand who it was.
"Oh! Sorry... this is Squall, from school." He told her.
"You're the only Squall I know." She told him as her heart began to beat a bit faster.
"Whatever. In any case... I was wondering if you could come over and help me with my math crap." He said. "I kind of need help with the material." He said, sounding a bit sheepish.
"Ummm..." Rinoa began, not sure what to say as she was a bit flustered by the whole situation.
"You could have dinner here if you wanted. My mom's cooking is pretty good." He said with a laugh. She smiled at his good humor.
"Sure. When should I come?" She asked, becoming excited all to quickly.
"Right now is fine. But whenever you want." He said. "My address is..." He gave her the address and directions and she took them all down carefully.
"Thanks. I'll be over in 10 minutes." She said.
"Thanks so much! Bye." Squall said and hung up. Rinoa giggled like an idiot, she was so excited about seeing his house and family... and room. She flashed back over to Irvine who was singing the Mario theme song.
"Irvine." Rinoa began. He just kept singing. "IRVINE!" She screamed. That woke Irvine from his ballad as the scramble of phone could be heard.
"What!?" He asked, a bit shocked.
"Is Squall's house cool looking?" She asked.
"Yeah, why? You're not going over there now are you!?" He exclaimed.
"Yep. He invited me." She said proudly.
"Use protection." Irvine warned with a serious tone.
"Shut the hell up." Rinoa demanded. "And remember... when you see him, ask him about me, 'kay?" She asked.
"Fine, fine." He mumbled.
"Bye."
"Bye."
She hung up the phone and smiled a gigantic smile. She ran to her back pack, pulled out her math books and notes and dropped them into another pack nearby that read 'Save the Trees, Wipe Your Ass With An Owl'. She slung the bag over her shoulder, slipped on her sandals and skipped down stairs.
"Going to tutor! Going to have dinner there! Call me in my mobile if you need me!" Rinoa called as she grabbed her mobile phone off the front table and slipped it in her bag.
"Okay! Bye!" Her mom called from the kitchen as Rinoa left.
"Hum de dum de dum!" Rinoa sang as she skipped to the side walk for Squall's house in a merry way. She could see Squall's house. It was pretty frickin' big. Two stories and looked pretty spacious.
"Where are YOU going!?" A disgusted voice asked from behind her. Rinoa's mood soured, she knew who it was. She turned around to face the culprit with an annoyed face. It was Fujin.
"Squall's." She answered with a big, proud smile.
"Why?"
"I was invited." Rinoa said with a laugh and a smile seeing jealousy race through Fujin. However, she wasn't so jealous when she caught sight of her book bag on her hip. She read the sign and laughed rudely.
"What a stupid joke. And you're even more stupid for trying to make me jealous when you're just going over there to study! He'd invite me over not to study, but to party." She said with an evil smirk.
"Well, that's cause you're an idiot. Why would he want a complete dumb ass teaching him when he could have me?" Rinoa asked as she pointed to herself.
"See? That's all you are! A smart girl. You'll never be anything more to him then a 'friend' who helps him with his homework." She countered. "You think you can date him? Never. He sees nothing in you. I can see it." She told her, anger accompanying spiteful words.
"Do you think you can date him?" Rinoa asked, totally serious.
"Of course." She said, over confident in herself.
"You can't. I'm telling you here and now! He doesn't want you, okay? No matter how much you hate to admit it." Rinoa warned.
"Why not!?" Fujin cried, angry. "I'm the perfect girl!" She reminded her.
"No, you're not. If you were he'd be all over you in a flash. But things are obviously switched, you're all over him. You cling to him like he's your lifeline." She told her, becoming cross.
"Well... do you think he wants you?" Fujin asked.
"I don't know. You can't be sure that he doesn't like you either." Rinoa said, turning away from her and the conflict. "I'm going. I'll give my regards to Squall for you." She said, leaving Fujin behind.
"Bitch." Fujin said quietly as she watched Rinoa walk away.
Rinoa stepped in front of Squall's house's gate. She looked about for a switch or intercom, anything to call attention to her. She found a speaker box next to the gate, it was hard to see as it blended in with the shadow behind it.
"Hello?" Rinoa questioned into the phone as she held a button down to talk.
"Hello." A young male voice answered.
"Ummm... is Squall there?" She asked.
"Maybe." He answered.
"I've got candy..." Rinoa said temptingly. There was hesitation from the boy.
"What kind?" The boy asked.
"Oh my god Kurt! Give me that!" Squall's voice boomed from the background. Kurt screamed and the rustling of the microphone could be heard.
"Hey you little bitch!" Came a muffled cry from Squall as the rustling continued.
"Fuck you!" Kurt called as the rustling continued.
"Take that, bitch." Squall finally said as the rustling stopped and the gate opened. "Enter please." He said to Rinoa. She laughed and entered.
She was about to place her hand against the door to knock but the door was flung open before she could. Squall was standing there in his casual clothes. Rinoa was mesmerized by him. He wore a plain white t-shirt, black pants with a chain hanging from his belt loops to his pocket and black shoes with black socks. Rinoa became even more attracted him, there was something sexy about him like this.
"What?" He asked with a nervous laugh after a minute of silence as she scanned his body. He brought up a hand to his hand and she noticed he had a black spiked bracelet on both wrists.
"Just..." She muttered, still looking him over.
"Surprised?" He finished for her.
"Yeah." She said as she blushed. He stepped aside to let her in and she did so. He closed the door behind her and led her up stairs to his room.
"Most people are when they see me without my school uniform on." He said, trying to make her feel not so bad. "Most people don't like it." He finished as he opened his door and stepped in, her following and she closed it behind her.
"I like it, a lot." She admitted with a tiny blush.
"Really?" He asked totally surprised.
"Yeah." She said again with a smile. After a few seconds of silence, Squall realized he was blocking the way into the rest of his room. He quickly moved and gave a quiet apology. She looked around his room. She practically began to drool at everything in his room. super cool looking stereo, TV, computer, a full book shelf worth of music and DVDs and posters adorned his room. The posters were a whole 'nother story. He had a South Park poster, a Godzilla poster, a few anime posters, and one bizarre one of an animated penguin hugging another animated penguin with a real backdrop.
"Oh... my... god..." Rinoa whispered in disbelief. "Your room is amazing. My room is so plain and boring and... ooohh yeah... TV." She said with lust as she hugged the TV. He just stared on, confused. "Oh sorry..." She apologized. "Studying, right!" She said, pointing to his math book on the floor. It was surrounded by paper and pencils. He took a seat on one side of the books and she the other.
He opened his book up to where they were learning from in class and Rinoa took out her own book. Squall read her bag and laughed.
"Cute." He said as he reached out and tapped the bag lightly.
"Oh thanks. Selphie got it for me for my birthday." She told him as she put it on her lap. "She thinks I'm a tree hugger." She said with a little laugh.
"Are you?" He asked.
"Not really. I mean, I care about the environment and all... does that make me a tree hugger?" She asked, curious.
"Not really." He answered as he leaned back on his arms.
"Oh... I'm sorry. Studying, right." Rinoa apologized as she pushed her bag off her, causing her dress to lift up a little, revealing more leg then she intended. She didn't notice, but Squall did. He just stared on at the new area of beautiful skin.
"Squall?" She asked as she looked up to him. She was talking the whole time while he was totally mesmerized with her body. He immediately looked to her with a blush. "You all right?" She asked. He nodded with a laugh.
"Hey... uhh..." He began not knowing what to really say. "Do you really want to study?" He asked as he looked to a drawer that was next to him.
"Why?" She asked. "I thought you needed help." Rinoa reminded him.
"It's just that... I don't know." He said with a crafty smile as he pulled out the drawer he was staring at. Inside was a PS2.
"No friggin way!" Rinoa cried with excitement as she scrambled to see it.
"Wanna play?" He asked, knowing he had won her over.
"Yes, yes, yes yes!" She cried with excitement as she grabbed the second player controller.
A few hours later and after some embarrassing losses from both Squall and Rinoa, dinner was ready.
"That game is so addictive." Rinoa said, amazed as she stood from her position on the floor, controller in hand. She placed the controller down in the drawer which hinted at her cleavage. Squall's cheeks reddened as he saw it. She bent up and walked for the closed door.
She turned back to him with a smile as she stood on the hinge side of the door. The door suddenly flung open, smashing itself into Rinoa's face.
"OW! My nose!" Rinoa cried out as she grabbed her nose in pain. She pulled herself out from behind the door and Squall rushed to her.
"Holy crap! Are you okay?" He asked worried and afraid.
"Shorta." Rinoa said, her nose slightly plugged by her hands.
"You're not bleeding are you?" He asked. He gently took her hand in his and pulled it away from her nose. It was bleeding, but just a bit. "You're bleeding." Squall answered for her.
"I hate blood." Rinoa mumbled. He led her to his bed and she took a seat on the edge of it.
"Here... hold your head up like this..." Squall directed as he lightly took her chin his hands and tilted it up. Rinoa's breathing quickened as this was like a position for a romantic kiss, like in those romance novels/fan fiction. She gulped lightly as his face came close to hers as he continued his instructions. "Plug your nose..." He instructed as he gently took her hand again and placed it up against her nose.
"I know where my nose is." Rinoa scolded.
"Sorry." Squall blushed and it almost seemed like he just wanted an excuse to touch her. "Anyways... just pinch down on your nostrils." He finished as he stood back from Rinoa. She did as he told and she held it like that as Squall turned around to confront the person who had thrown his door open.
"Ahehe..." His younger brother, Kurt giggled sheepishly. Squall dashed forward, grabbed the wrist and pulled him in with a sweep. Squall slammed the door behind him and stood before Kurt with an angry face.
"Never EVER throw my door open again." Squall demanded. Kurt just sank deeper into the bowls of Squall's room as he stalked him.
"I just came to tell you that dinner was ready." He said with a little smile.
"We already know that." Squall said as he crossed his arms.
"We? She's staying for dinner?" Kurt questioned, sounding almost disgusted as he nodded towards Rinoa, her head still turned up.
"Her name is Rinoa. I suggest you apologize considering you slammed the door into her face." He said with a deep glare.
"Sorry Rinoa." Kurt apologized. Rinoa unsteadily let go of her, now, not bleeding nose.
"It's alright. You can't see threw walls, you didn't know I was there. Unless you can see threw walls then I would have to hurt you." Rinoa warned with a smile. Kurt rolled his eyes and whispered in Squall's ear.
"You've got one crazy ass girlfriend on your ass there, Squall." Kurt said, knowing that would piss Squall off to the very core.
"You little..." Squall glared. There was total silence as Rinoa stared on, confused. Squall suddenly grabbed Kurt waist, lifted him over his head and was about to throw him out his door until a man in his late teens stepped in the way of it.
"Mom's getting annoyed. Come now." He demanded in a deep and rough voice. His eyes diverted to Rinoa. "Company? Does Mom know?" He asked, looking to Squall. He nodded as he tossed Kurt onto the floor with a thud. He stepped into the room and Rinoa received a better view of him. He was tall, dark and handsome. The perfect dreamboat. It was like in those romance movies, the person is so good looking but with a tortured past and a mean spirit.
"Hello. I'm Rinoa Heartily." Rinoa greeted in a friendly manner as she stood, offering her hand to him. He shook it with a strong grip. "I'm one of Squall's friends." She told him, averting her eyes to Squall who was trying to fend off Kurt from his scratching fingers while simultaneously listening to their conversation.
"I thought as much. I'm Wes, their older brother." He answered, releasing her hand from his.
"Hello!?! It's called dinner!" A feminine voice screamed from down stairs.
"Now she's pissed." Squall mumbled everyone raced out the door but Squall stayed behind to wait for Rinoa. She stood and walked out with him.
"You like them?" He whispered into her ear.
"They're funny." She commented. "My family is nothing like this, so this is a treat for me." Rinoa commented with a giggle.
"I'm glad." He said with a smile.
They made their way down stairs and into the kitchen. As they stepped near the table Squall stepped in front of Rinoa and pulled a chair out for her with one quick smooth hand motion.
"Whoo whoo!" Kurt said, muffled behind his napkin. Squall gave him a death glare.
"Mom, Dad." Squall began, looking to both of his parents. Rinoa followed his gaze to both of them. "This is Rinoa Heartily. She's one of the new students at Garden High." He greeted.
"Hello." Rinoa greeted to both of them.
"Hello Rinoa. So you're one of Squall's new classmates?" His father began. He had long hair to his shoulder and didn't look very old at all.
"Yeah. I'm in his math class." She answered as the rest of the family began to eat. Rinoa quickly began to feel uncomfortable in her new setting.
"Math? Maybe you can tutor Squall, Rinoa." His mom chuckled as she pointed a fork to Squall. Rinoa and Squall shared quick glances with a smile.
After dinner Rinoa decided to go home. She thanked his family for letting her stay for dinner and such and walked to the door with Squall.
"Thanks for inviting me. I'm kinda glad I didn't end up tutoring you." Rinoa admitted with a laugh as she pushed her bag's strap further up her shoulder.
"Hehe. Yeah, I'm not sure anyone enjoys tutoring me." He said with a laugh.
"That's not what I meant. I meant... I didn't want to spend time with you just doing school crap." She told him with a smile as she lightly touched his arm to back her point. The touch sent chills down Squall and even Rinoa was a little shocked she had touched him so awkwardly. There was a bit of silence as her hand slowly crept back to her side.
"Okay. I'll be going." She said with a sheepish laugh as she opened the door and was about to let herself out until Squall grabbed the door from moving any further.
"I'll walk you home." He said, stepping out with her. "Be back in a few!" He called back into the house as he closed it behind him.
They walked in silence for quite aways, the crickets, frogs and their breathing was the only thing keeping the silence from being awkward.
"Do you like Garden High?" He asked, abruptly.
"Yeah. It's cool." She admitted, a bit stupefied by the random question.
"What do you like most?"
"The people." She answered with a smile as her eyes gave a quick glance to Squall. The distance between the two began to close as a comfortable feeling accompanied them. The stars shown brighter than ever because of the low amount of light pollution. They came to the front of Rinoa's house and Squall turned to her with a smile.
They stared for a bit into each other's eyes, totally confused and lost. After only seconds of time their faces were closer without them even realizing it. She could feel his hands brush against hers ever so delicately. Her breasts gently pushed against his chest as their eyes slowly began to close in on themselves, ready for what was to come.
Rinoa wanted this more than anything. His touch. The soft feel of him. The taste of him. She wanted to hold his hand, sleep on his shoulder the stuff that couples do. They weren't a couple though. And kissing was what couples did... They weren't supposed to kiss.
Just as their lips were to touch, Rinoa pulled away abruptly, backing herself into a post by accident.
"I've got to go." She mumbled as she flung the door open and tossed herself inside. Squall stood out there, his eyes on the door. He bit his bottom lip tenderly and turned away, knowing she wasn't going to come out again after that.
"Fuck!" He cursed as he kicked a nearby wall in rage as he walked off.
Rinoa leaned against the front door as she heard him curse loudly. She took a deep breath and placed a hand against her chest. She reached her other hand up and touched her bottom delicately.
"What if I had?" She wondered. '... but I didn't. For the better. That stuff is meant for boyfriend and girlfriend. Not for two lusting 15 year olds...' She proclaimed as she walked up stairs to her bedroom, ready to sleep off the experience....
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Preview of Next Chapter: Yet ANOTHER new student arrives... this time a boy. But will this boy be problematic like the rest? And things haven't been looking to good for Squall and Rinoa lately... but can they work things out? And announcements have been made regarding prizes for the Summer Festival winners... and they're pretty damn good to, will the gang join Zell's group now? And just what are Zell and Selphie planning for their group... something sinisterly embarrassing or something unforgettably brilliant? *shifty eyes*
In The Next Chapter!! The Untouchable Pear and March Towards Victory
IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE tell me what you think of the new chapter design! If you don't like it, I'll go back to the way I was doing it. If you do like it, I'll keep doing it this way.
P.S. The reason for the extra long delay was not just the long chapter. I went to Disneyland for 4 days with my friends. Just needed to clear that up.... oh! The funniest things happened... but I'll save those experiences for another chapter.
Toodles!