"Seifer."
"Instructor Trepe."
"It's Quistis, Seifer. Not Instructor Trepe, especially not Instructor." She hated being reminded about how she lost her job of being an instructor.
"Sure... whatever you
say."
"What are you doing here?" Quistis asked him.
He paused and she wondered what he really was doing here.
"Well...?" She asked impatiently.
"I... just want to. Not a crime is it? This place seems like a good quiet place to think."
What... what does he think about? He always seems to be of somewhere doing something without a care in the world. I wonder why he's here now. He always likes being in places there a lot of people.
"And, also I know what you're thinking, Trepe, it's that I don't usually think seriously, but I can too you know. I am a human being." He shocked her with this remark. She was ashamed that it was so obvious that she thought that way of him.
"Oh, well... Sorry. And I already told you, it's Quistis." She said without looking at him in the eye.
"Yeah, yeah.... Quistis." He said, not thinking anything of it. "So why are you here? Don't tell me you just want to, Quistis, you always have a reason for everything."
She really didn't want to talk about her feelings with him… especially not with him.
"I just need a nice place to read my book and think about things." She said quietly.
They were silent for the longest time, until Quistis noticed Seifer staring off into the distance again like he did the other night.
"What the hell... what are you looking at...?" Her voice trailed off and she saw what he was looking at. She was staring at Squall and Rinoa. Well, mostly Rinoa. They were holding hands again and they were laughing about something, she couldn't tell what. She shook her head.
Rinoa... I should've known. I guess he still misses her. I... I... actually feel sorry for him... strange. Maybe because I know how it feels. Maybe he's not so bad after all.
"So..." She said loudly and Seifer snapped back to reality. "It's Rinoa, isn't it? That's who you're thinking about. In case you didn't notice, you weren't really hiding the fact that you were staring at her." She said her voice becoming softer.
Seifer looked at her for a while, deciding if he should tell her.
"You wouldn't understand. So just, forget it." He said to Quistis, harshly. Then turned away quickly.
Me… Not understand the frustrations of life? No… Impossible… Hearing him say that… That hurt…"Now that's… That's a laugh." Quistis said quietly. She felt something about his words hit her, hard.
"What is?" He turned around to face her because her voice really sounded sad.
"Me of all people, not to understand disappointment." She shook her head. "You should know by now, Seifer, that I am probably the one supposed to say 'you wouldn't understand' to other people because I am probably one who has gone through the most in life. I don't always show it, but boy, can I feel it." Quistis almost couldn't believe she opened up a little bit about her to Seifer.
She shocked him with her outburst.
He really didn't think that Quistis would feel, depressed. She never really showed it. Sure, he knew that she used to like Squall, or maybe still did, but that didn't seem too bad... she never seemed truly disappointed when she found out Squall liked Rinoa.
"Oh, fine. You're right. You happy?" He said to Quistis loudly.
"Not really. Now tell me." She sat down on the grass again. "Tell me more about how you feel."
"Why would you actually care?" He asked, he meant to say it sarcastically but found himself saying them sincerely.
"I would actually care." Quistis said as-a-matter-of-factly. She knew she meant it.
They talked for the longest
time. Not necessarily all about how they felt but even about the dumbest things
and they just ended up making each other laugh.
"Hey, you know what I remember?" Quistis asked Seifer in a teasing
manner after they talked the 'Orphanage Gang'.
"What?" He asked.
"I remember before in the orphanage, once you got mad at me for spilling my food on you or something, I got mad at you back and punched you. You cried so hard and I got in a lot of trouble." Quistis said, giggling at the memory. Seifer laughed sheepishly with her.
"Hey, go easy on me. I was four!" He said and that only made Quistis giggle louder.
"I guess you always were a little troublemaker." He said to Quistis.
"Me, a troublemaker?" She said innocently.
"Yeah, you..." He said menacingly.
"Quistis! Where are you?" Selphie's voice rang out.
"Oops. We must've been talking a lot. It's already late!" She said. Seifer started to reply but then Selphie appeared.
"Hi! There you are! I've been- Oh! Uh... Hi, Seifer!" Selphie said uncertainly.
"Hi..." He said.
Selphie turned back to Quistis. "I've been looking all over for you! What have you been doing all this time?" She asked mischievously.
Seifer turned red and Quistis said quickly, "Nothing. I mean… we were just talking. Come on, let's go. Bye, Seifer!" Quistis said.
"Bye, Quistis." He said.
Wow, of all people… I wouldn't have expected Seifer to help me feel better. I feel so much happier. I feel like… I mean… A certain person out there understands me. I… I guess I'm not alone after all. I didn't think Seifer felt like me… strange what you could find out about someone in just one conversation. But… Why…? Why am I thinking about him so much?