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09.17.03
kyahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I'm finally done with the first chappie!!!!!!!!! Itz sooo long to type it all ova.. XD hope you guys had the patience to read below..
09.18.03
typing all of this down can be sooo hard.. so bear with me if the succeeding chapters took a while to appear..
09.19.03
finally done with it!!!! Whew!!! Yehey!!!! Hoped ya like it.. cyaz in the next chappie.. please do review!!! ^-^
Dkmagby88-san: Thanks for the comments!!! Wahehehehe… sorry to make a mislead… just hope I dun disappoint.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 8 doesn't belong to me.. but there are other characters that I came up with.. originally.. ^-^VVV
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Ffviii: Sweet Love...
Story Two: New Friends
6:00 am Dorm No. 426, Dormitory Section C
Her alarm clock blared through out the serene room. She woke up from her sleep due to its constant noise. Her pale hand reached out and pushed the button to snooze the alarm off. Yawning, Rinoa proceeded to the bathroom then got dressed in Balamb's official uniform.
"Hmm, let me see… bag, check. Uniform, check." Rinoa counted off as she tied her hair into a ponytail and looked over her table.
"Four math homeworks, check. One five-page essay, here. Two research works.." Her face turned white.
"Only one?! Where's the other?" she then ducked below her bed to see if it was there, but it wasn't. she checked her study table, her dresser and the bathroom. No luck.
She sighed, "Think, Heartilly, think.. Where did you leave it? Where?" Her memory returned. "My laptop!" She scampered towards her luggage where her gray laptop was kept. "Yes, finally!" She smiled as she found the paper and kept it inside her clearbook.
"Good morning, student! Check your time now; it's 6:45 in the morning. The temperature for today is 30.1 degrees Celsius. So it's gonna be hot, hot, hot! Please be reminded that breakfast will be served at the Dining Lounge. Now playing…" The speaker reminded.
"Oh no!" Rinoa grabbed her shoulder bag and books before bolting out the automatic door.
~*~*~*~*~
"Oh, look, Tisha! There she is!"
"She's so beautiful!"
"No wonder there are a myriad of men chasing her!"
"I really can't help but ponder what class she's in.."
"You don't know?! Haven't you heard? She's in Class 2-C!"
"2-C!!!!!?! Seifer IS the class president, right?""
"Yep… I just wonder how he got the position…the position doesn't suit him.. but still, he's good looking. Anyway, Class 2-C's presently famous for having the most elite and finest students of Balamb!"
"Not to mention, that class always win every contest they could participate with, whether interschool or not.."
"Now, I wished I'm her.."
"Yeah right.. get a life, Tish!" Chattering went on.
Rinoa pasted her best smile as she passed by the hallway which led to the Study Hall, hearing the students' conversation. She had noticed that the students in their own groups have been peeking at her then talking back to their own groupings.
She sighed thoughtfully. Am I going to undergo this scene again.. for the third time? Then she felt an unexplainable nervousness as she reached the said class, clutching her belongings tighter.
"Check your time now. It's 7:00 am. Have a nice day."
"7:00 am?! Guys, hasten up! The president's coming here within fifteen minutes. Quick! We got no time to waste!" A voice warned. From Class 2-C, there was a huge explosion of moans, groans, and complaints. In order to maintain peace and order, a whip cracked. A beautiful, petite lady came into view, standing on the platform and was trying to get everybody's attention. Eventually, she succeeded.
"Fellow students, be calm. We can pull this through. Let us group ourselves in fives, and handle the five jobs listed on the board." She instructed, pointing it out simultaneously. Rinoa admired her keen sense of leadership while staying outside the open automatic door. Suddenly, the lady noticed her presence flashing her her best welcoming smile she can come up with while stepping down and walked towards her direction.
"Oh, I didn't see you.. By the way, I'm Quistis Trepe, vice- president of Class 2-C, and you are?"
"I'm Rinoa Heartilly, pleased to meet you.."
"Well, I see that you two finally met." A voice interjected. Both of them spun around to see Selphie smirking as she went closer.
"Oh hi, Selphie." Rinoa greeted. "You're in this class?" Selphie nodded. "That's wonderful."
"So, how's the survey going?" Quistis inquired as the three femme gals went inside.
"Slow progress, I guess."
"Well, wish ya good luck!" Quistis encouraged, patting her back softly. Unbeknownst to the three ladies, more and more males outside their classroom, watching intently the trio's every movement like it was a beauty pageant and to them, indeed it was. Abruptly, the bell rang. The once huge male throng immediately dissolved in thin air. Students scrambled to their seats, preparing for their first class. As always, Seifer strided coolly with Raijin and Fuujin trailing behind, doing once again their daily checks before entering class 2-C. Selphie hinted Rinoa to sit the vacant seat beside Squall and two seats diagonal from Seifer. She obediently followed. As the instructor made his so-called entrance which always made his students turn to look, an Instant Messenger popped into everybody's computer, getting everyone's attention and leaving their instructor unnoticed as he reached his desk.
It noted, "Announcement from Principal Kramer: Attention all SeeD cadets, there will be an exclusive exam on the 28th which is tomorrow. So be sure to try your best. Further announcements will be announced in your SeeD training later on. Thank you."
Quistis sighed, "Reminds me of a horrible past.." Selphie snickered behind her upon hearing. Rinoa turned to the right to look at the two girls who were whispering and snickering, clueless of what is happening to her friends. As expected, deep heavy sighs and murmurs filled the room.
"Now, I know that everybody's too excited when the announcement popped up via IM, but please, will anybody listen to me and my lecture since I scheduled a huge quiz tomorrow?" The instructor snapped as he crossed his arms. Presently, even more complaints rose than those of the first one.
~*~*~*~*~
9:20 am Student Lounge
"That instructor always gives me a terrible headache," Quistis sipped her ice tea from the blue paper cup as she crossed her legs.
"You're absolutely correct." Selphie agreed, munching her bag of chips.
"Um, are instructors here always like that?" Rinoa queried, looking up from her book.
"You bet.. I think White Maple all-girl academy in Galbadia is way much better." Quistis pointed out.
Selphie remembered. "Hey, didn't you just happened to stay there, Rinoa?"
"Really?"
"Yes, but how did you - - "
Selphie winked." Remember the SC Committee.."
"Oh, I see.." Rinoa looked back at her book.
"So, how is it?"
"Well, the instructors there can give us at most three long quizzes on a single day. In that package, also includes an exam."
"Now, I'm beginning to be thankful for being here." Quistis said, putting down her empty cup.
Selphie glanced at the large digital wallclock. "It's already 12:14?!"
"We need to scat now. The Regulation-Obsessed trio are coming!" Quistis uttered as she grabbed her duffel bag and stood up. Selphie followed.
"Whaddyamean.." Rinoa inquired as she rose from her seat, carrying her books. "Regulation-Obsessed?!"
"Halt! You three, stop on your tracks in the name of Balamb's rules…" Rinoa was the first to turn and saw the people whom Selphie and Quistis were running from. A group of three, a thin silvery-haired, boy-cut woman with an eyepatch; a brawny, tanned male; and a blonde guy wearing a distinct gray trenchoat came into view. The trenchcoated guy started mentioning things without even looking at the three ladies.
"As you see.."
"You women violated Regulation No. 17.." The brawny guy interrupted.
"Shut up, Raijin." The blonde person punched Raijin with his elbow at his rear stomach, releasing a soft oof from his lips. "AS I was saying, I am to give you infringement forms.."
"Excuse me, but we could have not violated anything if you people didn't stop us." Rinoa reasoned, trying to control her annoyance on this arrogant male in front of her.
"Oh, is it so?" The blonde male replied quite irritatingly. "the why are you here a minute before 12:!5? You know that we always make our checks five minutes advance.."
"Checks?! Advance?! I don't know what you're talking about.."
"What?! You don't?!" He finally looked up, and his mouth began to speak but stopped when he saw Rinoa, who was impatiently tapping her right foot. His eyebrows met. "Who are you?"
"Rinoa Heartilly, in case you haven't known.. and you?"
"Sefier Almasy." He introduced, trying not to look very much pleased. They continued to give each other fierce stares. Quistis then decided to break the fearsome tensioned silence.
"Oh, it is nice that you two finally met." She began. The silvery-haired woman and the brawny guy sighed in waiting for the little acquaintance event to finish.
Selphie immediately picked up Quistis's signal and decided to play along. "Well, uh, we should be going now. Got a class to catch up!" She then pushed Rinoa away towards the exit.
"Goodbye." Quistis said as she followed behind.
"Wait! We aren't through yet! You come back!" The silvery-haired woman bellowed, starting to run after them. Raijin was about to do the same thing when Seifer held out his hand to stop them.
"No need." This was Seifer felt to say, for he was quite amused at what just occurred.
~*~*~*~*~
2:45 pm Training Grounds
"Assemble!" Quistis firmly ordered as she cracked her whip. All fifty cadets under her ran to their positions.
"Yes, ma'am. Orders, ma'am." They chorused, saluting.
"Hmm, you're only fifty. Where are the other two?" Quistis meticulously observed after doing a roll call. Suddenly, the automatic door opened, and came two people. All heads and eyes turned to their direction, an obvious hint that their commander wasn't very much pleased with their lateness.
"Oops, I guess we're late." Zell grumbled, looking down in embarrassment.
Quistis's footsteps became louder as she approached the two late comers. "Dincht, explain why you're late." Her voice demanded, remaining its coolness, but her eyes looked at the opposite direction, not focusing on the two males.
"Uh, ma'am. We have to - - to pass report - - report paper that is due today, ma'am." The other late comer replied in a cowboy accent. His name is Irvine Kinneas from Class 2-F.
Quistis raised an eyebrow. "I haven't asked you yet."
"Ma'am, what Kinneas said is true." Zell answered nervously.
"Ok, let's not waste time here. You're both excused. Go back to your positions." Quitis turned around to face her arranged cadets. "You all were already informed that tomorrow's our SeeD 4th examination. The venue and time of start of exam are the Fire Cavern at 2:00 pm, but the time for reporting will be at 1:00 pm. So, as a result, preparation is mandatory, which includes practice. I had grouped you temporarily. So better take this exam seriously. Ready?"
"Yes, ma'am!" The fifty two cadet squad immediately and firmed responded in unison.
"So, let's begin."
~*~*~*~*~
6:00 pm Swimming Pool Side
"Oww!" Zell yelped in pain as Selphie puts alcohol on his wound on the face near his tattoo. "Watch it!"
"It's the softest I can manage." Selphie explained as she grabbed another dab of cotton and damps it with brown liquid medicine. "just how did you get those wounds?"
"Hey, hey, careful there! It hurts, ya know!"
"Well?"
"Well what?" Zell asked back.
"I ask you again. I just said that.." Selphie repeated with a frown on her once smiling face.
"You can't expect much from a B10, right?" A voice pointed out.
"Oh, it's you, Quistis." Selphie smiled. "Come and sit down."
Zell's facial expression changed. "She's.."
Quistis rolled her eyes as she took her seat beside Selphie. "Oh, Zell, shut up."
Selphie was trying to get a clue on what was happening. "Err, what's going on?"
Zell answered first. "It's her fault. All are her fault. She's responsible. If only I wasn't grouped with somebody.." He emphasized 'somebody' with disgust.
"So? Who was this 'somebody?"' Selphie was curious as she threw the used cotton ball into the trash can.
"Seifer and Fuujin," Zell solemnly said. "which makes Quistis credible for my wounds."
Quistis quickly jumped on her defense. "Hey, it's not my fault. I picked the groups by lots, all fair and square. So, you should know that you're the one responsible for your very own safety!"
"It's still your fault!"
"Is not."
"It is."
"Is not!"
"It is!"
"Stop! Truce on both sides, will ya?" Selphie screamed after her patience had been tested and fed up by the two warring cadets. They both stared at Selphie, unbelieving what they just heard from their once-neutral friend.
"Time changed her, I guess." Quistis commented. Then both former enemies laughed at Selphie's quick change of attitude, leaving Selphie in further confusion.
~*~*~*~*~
7:00 pm Library
Flip. Flip.
Tick. Tack. Tick. Tack.
Flip. Flip.
Sigh.
Her white hand followed with the words of the book named Spells.
Flip. Yawn. Flop. The thick book was closed.
That SeeD entrance exam really piqued my interest. Rinoa smiled, returning the book back to its original place. Good thing, Uncle informed me via email… Then she gathered her duffel bag, slinging it to her shoulder on her way out. Now, all I need is practice, but I guess this is it for now. I'll just have to search for a spot to practice tomorrow…