The streets of Deling were crowded and noisy with the people excited about
the upcoming festival. Citizens were rushing through traffic to get to
their hotel; others were simply wandering about, checking out the different
sites and shops. I however was busy trying to write a song for this damn
festival. Last year, I sat in for a band as a lead guitarist because theirs
was sick, this year I actually get to perform solo on stage.
I'm nervous, who wouldn't be? The fact of the matter is my song is based off my relationship with Rinoa. After I seen her on the television, I couldn't help but drift my thoughts off towards her every time I tried to write. It's clearly not good that I'm writing a song about her, for Maria will be there listening to my first solo performance. Trust me, I'm glad she supports me but I wish she would go shopping at the booths they have set up with her friends, rather than watch me perform my sickening love song to Rinoa.
I don't think she'll realize it's about Rinoa, since she never knew about my past with her, or my history with her. If she wonders about the song, or my inspiration, I'll just tell her a friend broke up with his girlfriend he had been seeing for three years or something and say that I wrote it for him.
It's a good excuse.
I feel bad for lying to Maria, but what else can I do? She doesn't need to know about Rinoa, especially since Rinoa isn't in my near future. The only place I'm going to see her is on a television or on the back of some award winning novel. There's no chance in hell I would ever meet her again, so it really is a thing of my past. And the past is the past, correct?
Well, nonetheless, the festival was coming up in two days, which didn't give me much time to finish the song. I still have to plan the music to it, I haven't written that yet, either. Let's face it... I'm going to be a house bum for the next two days, working my ass off on these lyrics and the music that goes with it.
"Hey, babe. Whatcha doing?" she asked from the door. I jumped a little and looked back at my girlfriend.
I shook my head, "Just working on this song," I gave my best attempt at a smile.
She sighed lightly and gently started massaging my shoulders. "You're working awful hard on this. Don't get too stressed out, ok babe?" I appreciated her concerns, but at the moment I just wanted her to go away. She patted my shoulder and kissed my cheek quickly. "I'll go fix you some lunch."
"I'm not hungry, thanks though," came my somewhat frustrated reply.
Maria raised her eyebrows and set a hand on her waist. "Okay, well... I guess I'll head to the store for a little while; we could use some more groceries. Love you, babe," with that last, cringing sentence, she exited my office and went off to go shopping, I suppose.
I leaned back in my chair and tried to relax a little until a knock came at the front door. "Dammit," I cursed. Slowly arising from my comfortable position, I went to answer the annoying visitor.
There stood my beloved friend, Zell Dincht. Not exactly the person I wanted to see right now. I groaned, "Zell, what do you want?"
He grinned and leaned against the doorframe, "I got some news for you, Leonhart."
"Yeah, and what's that?" I figured it was some stupid news, something about how the mini-mart started getting hot dogs in stock or how his mom baked a cake that was four layers tall or some stuff like that.
"Rinoa's in town."
What...?
I stared hard at his grinning face. He waved his hand in front of my dazed eyes, "Squall, did you hear me? I said Rinoa's in town."
Am I hearing things...? Is she really here...?
"S-she is?" I managed to stutter out. He kept smiling and nodded. "How do you know?" I questioned.
He jerked his thumb behind him to point in the direction of the street. "She stopped by my place earlier this morning."
To fill you in, Zell was one of my best friends in high school, he knew about my relationship with Rinoa and how sickened I was by my attitude.
"Do you think she'll come by here?" I asked with a quivering voice.
The blonde shook his head, "Pfft, no, are you nuts? She doesn't even know you live in this town, anymore. Especially not in this house... Well, she was talking to me, you know? Supposedly she's contracted to sign her latest book at the festival."
I nodded slowly, retaining all this new information and trying to keep down the feeling I was going to vomit. "Zell, do you have a copy of her book?" I asked nicely.
"Yeah, actually, I do. Why? ... No! Squall you are not going to get Rinoa to sign that, not on her big night. You'd probably make her break down and cry! Don't go near her, it's for the best," he warned.
It may be for the best, but I wasn't listening to a word he was saying.
The night of the festival was finally here! Deling was as packed as ever and the festival was sprawled out in all parts of the city. I was performing in front of the General's mansion. The stage was set up with strobe lights, smoke machines, and speakers everywhere you looked. I would be the only one performing on that stage tonight; a different band would be performing on it tomorrow, to close out the festival. I however, am the starting kick-off to the festival.
The General told me that everyone that was supposed to be attending the festival or everyone that was part of the festival would be crowded around the stage since every other part of the activities would be closed off until I made my performance.
He told me to welcome everyone, make my performance, and cut the line of tape that was blocking the crowd off from the rest of the festival.
My stomach was in complete knots, turning over and over again, making me feel queasy. I've performed in front of people, just never sang or performed in front of this large of an audience. The boss at my recording studio said it could be a big break for me, and get me used to the feel of having an audience of this size.
The General introduced me from the stage and I came out, with my acoustic guitar strapped around my shoulder. I looked around at the audience, spotting Maria close by. She gave me thumbs up and started clapping with everyone else. I knew Rinoa was there, she had to be, and she was in the festival after all. I tried searching for her face, not finding anything that looked similar to her beauty.
"Squall, if you would?" the General handed me the microphone. I took it and smiled.
"Hey everyone, welcome to the 23rd Annual Deling City Festival!" the audience cheered. A seat was positioned where I would sit and sing my song; basically I'm going to pour my emotions out in front of this large crowd. It was embarrassing, yes, but something I have to do.
I took a seat on the stool and positioned the microphone near my mouth. I got comfortable and nodded at the audience. "Well, this is the first song I've written and it's dedicated to someone very close to me, here," I seen Maria grin and turn to one of her friends in excitement.
Sorry, Maria... not this time...
"I've worked hard on it, so even if it sucks, please applaud me," I smiled slightly and the audience gave a slight chuckle. I heard a few whistles in the back as I started playing the melody on my guitar.
One of the lights beamed down on me and the rest of the stage went dark, I couldn't really see the audience then, since the festival took place at night. My nerves settled and I leaned closer to the microphone, getting ready to sing.
"Hello there, the angel from my nightmare..."
"The shadow in the background of the morgue"
"The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley, We can live like Jack and Sally if we want, Where you can always find me"
"We'll have Halloween on Christmas, And in the night we'll wish this never ends... We'll wish this never ends..."
"Don't waste your time on me, You're already the voice inside my head... I miss you, I miss you..."
"Where are you? And I'm so sorry, I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight, I need somebody and always, this sick strange darkness comes creeping down,
So haunting every time..."
"And as I stared, I counted, Webs from all the spiders, catching things and eating their insides, Like indecision to call you and hear your voice of treason..."
"Will you come home and stop this pain tonight? Stop this pain tonight..."
"Don't waste your time on me, You're already the voice inside my head... I miss you, I miss you..."
"Don't waste your time on me, You're already the voice inside my head... I miss you, I miss you..."
"I miss you, I miss you..."
"I miss you, I miss you..."
I slowed down the strumming on my guitar and opened my eyes, finally stopping the melody and my singing. I stood and waved to the audience. "Everyone, enjoy your time at the festival!!"
The audience erupted in applause and cheer, and by this time I was grinning like a mad man. I jumped from the stage and got several pats on the back and several whistles from different people. I took the scissors the General gave me and cut the tape that blocked the crowd. I continued getting cheers and whistles as they left for other parts of the festival; there were a few people who were hanging back, chattering amongst themselves. I didn't spot Maria anywhere, so I figured she must have went shopping with the rest of the crowd.
Zell came up and gave me a high-five, please at my performance. "Dude, that was awesome! That was a kick-ass song, my friend. I am now your faithful servant," he said with a laugh.
I smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Zell. Do you know if Rinoa seen it?"
"I'm sure she did, she had to be here, after all. Was it for her?" he asked.
I crossed my arms and gave a slight nod, indicating it was. He gave me a hard pat on the back, "Not to worry, man. Maybe you'll spot her here, or something. Come on, let's go check out the festival."
Turns out, I haven't spotted her after three hours of wandering around aimlessly. I've seen Maria at least four different times and dodged her incoming figure on each occasion; I hadn't talked to her since this morning. I shook my head at my horrific attitude as I continued searching for the angel of my past.
"Squall!" my friend tapped me on the back of the shoulder and tugged on my jacket sleeve.
"What, what?" I stumbled out, through his tugging. I looked around and seen nothing out of the ordinary and wondered of his behavior.
Zell pointed towards the Deling Hotel, which had been a famous spot for all sorts of celebrities to stay at. "Maybe Rinoa is doing her book signing in there," he said.
I shrugged and jerked my sleeve out of his grip. "Maybe." I didn't want to sound too eager, but unfortunately I couldn't hide it. I sighed and sent a nod, "Alright, let's go check it out."
After all, we had been through each section of the festival and still hadn't found a single hint of a book signing. We strolled into the hotel, which was packed with people getting free drinks at the reservation counter for agreeing to rent a room at the hotel.
The two of us headed downstairs to the more quiet, and not as crowded bar only to find an empty stage and a bunch of empty booths. My chest singed with heartache, and I know it sounds corny but it does. My disappointment had no equal emotion at that point in time.
Zell threw his arms up in the air, "Well, hell. We looked all over the place."
"Yeah. Maybe she's not signing until tomorrow."
He shook his head, "She said she would be here both days of the festival," he put his hand up to his chin in a thinking manner, as if to recall the events of the past few days and his conversation with her. "I don't even know why I'm helping you look for her, you don't need to see her again."
I glared at him, "I have to make sure she gets my apology, even if it is after all these years. I still feel terrible about it, Zell."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he waved his hand about in the air. "Let's sit down and have a couple of drinks."
I followed him to a booth in the corner where a young, geek looking waiter with glasses the size of shot glasses took our orders. Zell started up a conversation, something about a football game, however I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking about her... The drinks came and snapped me out of my longing daze. I took a sip and felt a weird sensation in the pit of my stomach.
"What the hell? What's in these drinks, cyanide?"
Zell gulped his down, "I don't know, but they're good."
I stared awkwardly at the reddish drink. "You didn't feel that queasiness in your stomach?"
"Nope."
I raised an eyebrow and took another sip, looking up towards the stairway through my glass. I seen a blurry, black object descending the stairs and lowered my glass to see who or what it was. The shattering sound I heard in the back of my mind signaled to me that I had dropped my glass on the tile floor. I saw the faint image of the waiter rushing over with a towel and a broom.
Zell lightly kept hitting me in the arm, trying to catch my attention at the being I was already looking at. She stared right back at me, her startled brown eyes meeting my surprised ones. I stood up, scooting the table along with me, which made a large, white scratch in the middle of the floor.
A whisper escaped my lips, "Rinoa...?"
Her angelic face slowly lost its confused look and went to a calmer, more relaxed state. She started over towards us, her heels clicking on the tile floor, her hips swaying gently from side to side.
"Hey, Rinoa!" chirped Zell, "We've been looking for you!"
She smiled a little at him and turned her eyes back to me. "You have?"
Zell nodded, "Squall wanted to say hi while you were in town."
Rinoa shifted her weight onto her left foot and put her hands behind her back, a habit she always did when she was nervous, I remember it well from high school.
I wanted to say something, anything, even a greeting would work. But nothing would come out; I was at a loss for words. The thing was, I had my whole speech planned out for her and now I can't remember a word of it.
She lifted her face a little, giving me a better view of her eyes. "It's great to see you again, Squall."
I slid my hands into my jacket pockets and nodded. "You too..."
Zell looked off to the side and pointed towards the stairs, "Oops, that's my girlfriend! Gotta run, see ya guys!" he called while he was halfway up the stairs, even though he had no girlfriend at all.
Rinoa looked down at the floor, which still had a few glass pieces around it and a big white mark, spreading up the middle. She smiled that gorgeous smile that I have been longing to see for so long. "It looks like you've made a bit of a mess," she pointed out, hesitantly.
"I-I was surprised to see you."
She nodded and looked at the clock on the nearby wall, biting her lower lip. "Well, I'm only on a 10 minute break, so I better hurry and get that water before I dehydrate," she said with a little laugh.
I smiled and led her over to the bar, "Allow me?"
Rinoa paused and gave a slight nod. "Sure."
I bought her water and followed her up the stairs, out of the hotel. She stayed silent most of the way, taking a few sips of her water here and there. "I um, seen you on the TV the other day. You did well."
She smiled slightly, "Thank you. Did you hear the news?" she asked, looking up at me with a curiosity in her eyes.
"I did. You're getting married?"
"Yep. Do you remember Seifer Almasy? The one that was in our English 2 class."
I shuddered at the thought of the guy; he was a real big loser back then. He made friends with Rinoa by tutoring her in English; supposedly he's that kind of genius. Back then he wore big, red glasses and braces, one of the things I got a kick out of. I picked on him a lot, although now I wish I wouldn't have, he was a nice guy.
"Yeah, yeah... I remember. How is he?" I asked nicely.
She arrived at her book-signing stand, which was located just off to the side of the General's Mansion. No wonder I couldn't find it, my stage was only a few feet from it. "He's good, he's my editor. Things are working out really nicely," she said quietly.
I nodded and looked at the line of people that had formed over her break. "It looks like you're doing well," I added.
"Yeah, you too. I heard your song, I didn't know you were so talented in the music department," she said, with a slight grin on her face.
"I didn't either," I grimaced, "I wasn't until I started practicing."
"Well, Squall, it was great seeing you again! I have to go back to work now, see you later," she said, hurrying off to her seat. I knew she was uncomfortable around me, I could sense it.
"Rinoa!" I called. She turned and looked at me sadly. I clenched my jaw, "That song, it was about you."
A/N: Can I get more reviews please? 1 wasn't enough to help! Ok, until chapter 3, sayonara. Oh, and "I miss you" is copyright of Blink 182.
I'm nervous, who wouldn't be? The fact of the matter is my song is based off my relationship with Rinoa. After I seen her on the television, I couldn't help but drift my thoughts off towards her every time I tried to write. It's clearly not good that I'm writing a song about her, for Maria will be there listening to my first solo performance. Trust me, I'm glad she supports me but I wish she would go shopping at the booths they have set up with her friends, rather than watch me perform my sickening love song to Rinoa.
I don't think she'll realize it's about Rinoa, since she never knew about my past with her, or my history with her. If she wonders about the song, or my inspiration, I'll just tell her a friend broke up with his girlfriend he had been seeing for three years or something and say that I wrote it for him.
It's a good excuse.
I feel bad for lying to Maria, but what else can I do? She doesn't need to know about Rinoa, especially since Rinoa isn't in my near future. The only place I'm going to see her is on a television or on the back of some award winning novel. There's no chance in hell I would ever meet her again, so it really is a thing of my past. And the past is the past, correct?
Well, nonetheless, the festival was coming up in two days, which didn't give me much time to finish the song. I still have to plan the music to it, I haven't written that yet, either. Let's face it... I'm going to be a house bum for the next two days, working my ass off on these lyrics and the music that goes with it.
"Hey, babe. Whatcha doing?" she asked from the door. I jumped a little and looked back at my girlfriend.
I shook my head, "Just working on this song," I gave my best attempt at a smile.
She sighed lightly and gently started massaging my shoulders. "You're working awful hard on this. Don't get too stressed out, ok babe?" I appreciated her concerns, but at the moment I just wanted her to go away. She patted my shoulder and kissed my cheek quickly. "I'll go fix you some lunch."
"I'm not hungry, thanks though," came my somewhat frustrated reply.
Maria raised her eyebrows and set a hand on her waist. "Okay, well... I guess I'll head to the store for a little while; we could use some more groceries. Love you, babe," with that last, cringing sentence, she exited my office and went off to go shopping, I suppose.
I leaned back in my chair and tried to relax a little until a knock came at the front door. "Dammit," I cursed. Slowly arising from my comfortable position, I went to answer the annoying visitor.
There stood my beloved friend, Zell Dincht. Not exactly the person I wanted to see right now. I groaned, "Zell, what do you want?"
He grinned and leaned against the doorframe, "I got some news for you, Leonhart."
"Yeah, and what's that?" I figured it was some stupid news, something about how the mini-mart started getting hot dogs in stock or how his mom baked a cake that was four layers tall or some stuff like that.
"Rinoa's in town."
What...?
I stared hard at his grinning face. He waved his hand in front of my dazed eyes, "Squall, did you hear me? I said Rinoa's in town."
Am I hearing things...? Is she really here...?
"S-she is?" I managed to stutter out. He kept smiling and nodded. "How do you know?" I questioned.
He jerked his thumb behind him to point in the direction of the street. "She stopped by my place earlier this morning."
To fill you in, Zell was one of my best friends in high school, he knew about my relationship with Rinoa and how sickened I was by my attitude.
"Do you think she'll come by here?" I asked with a quivering voice.
The blonde shook his head, "Pfft, no, are you nuts? She doesn't even know you live in this town, anymore. Especially not in this house... Well, she was talking to me, you know? Supposedly she's contracted to sign her latest book at the festival."
I nodded slowly, retaining all this new information and trying to keep down the feeling I was going to vomit. "Zell, do you have a copy of her book?" I asked nicely.
"Yeah, actually, I do. Why? ... No! Squall you are not going to get Rinoa to sign that, not on her big night. You'd probably make her break down and cry! Don't go near her, it's for the best," he warned.
It may be for the best, but I wasn't listening to a word he was saying.
The night of the festival was finally here! Deling was as packed as ever and the festival was sprawled out in all parts of the city. I was performing in front of the General's mansion. The stage was set up with strobe lights, smoke machines, and speakers everywhere you looked. I would be the only one performing on that stage tonight; a different band would be performing on it tomorrow, to close out the festival. I however, am the starting kick-off to the festival.
The General told me that everyone that was supposed to be attending the festival or everyone that was part of the festival would be crowded around the stage since every other part of the activities would be closed off until I made my performance.
He told me to welcome everyone, make my performance, and cut the line of tape that was blocking the crowd off from the rest of the festival.
My stomach was in complete knots, turning over and over again, making me feel queasy. I've performed in front of people, just never sang or performed in front of this large of an audience. The boss at my recording studio said it could be a big break for me, and get me used to the feel of having an audience of this size.
The General introduced me from the stage and I came out, with my acoustic guitar strapped around my shoulder. I looked around at the audience, spotting Maria close by. She gave me thumbs up and started clapping with everyone else. I knew Rinoa was there, she had to be, and she was in the festival after all. I tried searching for her face, not finding anything that looked similar to her beauty.
"Squall, if you would?" the General handed me the microphone. I took it and smiled.
"Hey everyone, welcome to the 23rd Annual Deling City Festival!" the audience cheered. A seat was positioned where I would sit and sing my song; basically I'm going to pour my emotions out in front of this large crowd. It was embarrassing, yes, but something I have to do.
I took a seat on the stool and positioned the microphone near my mouth. I got comfortable and nodded at the audience. "Well, this is the first song I've written and it's dedicated to someone very close to me, here," I seen Maria grin and turn to one of her friends in excitement.
Sorry, Maria... not this time...
"I've worked hard on it, so even if it sucks, please applaud me," I smiled slightly and the audience gave a slight chuckle. I heard a few whistles in the back as I started playing the melody on my guitar.
One of the lights beamed down on me and the rest of the stage went dark, I couldn't really see the audience then, since the festival took place at night. My nerves settled and I leaned closer to the microphone, getting ready to sing.
"Hello there, the angel from my nightmare..."
"The shadow in the background of the morgue"
"The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley, We can live like Jack and Sally if we want, Where you can always find me"
"We'll have Halloween on Christmas, And in the night we'll wish this never ends... We'll wish this never ends..."
"Don't waste your time on me, You're already the voice inside my head... I miss you, I miss you..."
"Where are you? And I'm so sorry, I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight, I need somebody and always, this sick strange darkness comes creeping down,
So haunting every time..."
"And as I stared, I counted, Webs from all the spiders, catching things and eating their insides, Like indecision to call you and hear your voice of treason..."
"Will you come home and stop this pain tonight? Stop this pain tonight..."
"Don't waste your time on me, You're already the voice inside my head... I miss you, I miss you..."
"Don't waste your time on me, You're already the voice inside my head... I miss you, I miss you..."
"I miss you, I miss you..."
"I miss you, I miss you..."
I slowed down the strumming on my guitar and opened my eyes, finally stopping the melody and my singing. I stood and waved to the audience. "Everyone, enjoy your time at the festival!!"
The audience erupted in applause and cheer, and by this time I was grinning like a mad man. I jumped from the stage and got several pats on the back and several whistles from different people. I took the scissors the General gave me and cut the tape that blocked the crowd. I continued getting cheers and whistles as they left for other parts of the festival; there were a few people who were hanging back, chattering amongst themselves. I didn't spot Maria anywhere, so I figured she must have went shopping with the rest of the crowd.
Zell came up and gave me a high-five, please at my performance. "Dude, that was awesome! That was a kick-ass song, my friend. I am now your faithful servant," he said with a laugh.
I smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Zell. Do you know if Rinoa seen it?"
"I'm sure she did, she had to be here, after all. Was it for her?" he asked.
I crossed my arms and gave a slight nod, indicating it was. He gave me a hard pat on the back, "Not to worry, man. Maybe you'll spot her here, or something. Come on, let's go check out the festival."
Turns out, I haven't spotted her after three hours of wandering around aimlessly. I've seen Maria at least four different times and dodged her incoming figure on each occasion; I hadn't talked to her since this morning. I shook my head at my horrific attitude as I continued searching for the angel of my past.
"Squall!" my friend tapped me on the back of the shoulder and tugged on my jacket sleeve.
"What, what?" I stumbled out, through his tugging. I looked around and seen nothing out of the ordinary and wondered of his behavior.
Zell pointed towards the Deling Hotel, which had been a famous spot for all sorts of celebrities to stay at. "Maybe Rinoa is doing her book signing in there," he said.
I shrugged and jerked my sleeve out of his grip. "Maybe." I didn't want to sound too eager, but unfortunately I couldn't hide it. I sighed and sent a nod, "Alright, let's go check it out."
After all, we had been through each section of the festival and still hadn't found a single hint of a book signing. We strolled into the hotel, which was packed with people getting free drinks at the reservation counter for agreeing to rent a room at the hotel.
The two of us headed downstairs to the more quiet, and not as crowded bar only to find an empty stage and a bunch of empty booths. My chest singed with heartache, and I know it sounds corny but it does. My disappointment had no equal emotion at that point in time.
Zell threw his arms up in the air, "Well, hell. We looked all over the place."
"Yeah. Maybe she's not signing until tomorrow."
He shook his head, "She said she would be here both days of the festival," he put his hand up to his chin in a thinking manner, as if to recall the events of the past few days and his conversation with her. "I don't even know why I'm helping you look for her, you don't need to see her again."
I glared at him, "I have to make sure she gets my apology, even if it is after all these years. I still feel terrible about it, Zell."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he waved his hand about in the air. "Let's sit down and have a couple of drinks."
I followed him to a booth in the corner where a young, geek looking waiter with glasses the size of shot glasses took our orders. Zell started up a conversation, something about a football game, however I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking about her... The drinks came and snapped me out of my longing daze. I took a sip and felt a weird sensation in the pit of my stomach.
"What the hell? What's in these drinks, cyanide?"
Zell gulped his down, "I don't know, but they're good."
I stared awkwardly at the reddish drink. "You didn't feel that queasiness in your stomach?"
"Nope."
I raised an eyebrow and took another sip, looking up towards the stairway through my glass. I seen a blurry, black object descending the stairs and lowered my glass to see who or what it was. The shattering sound I heard in the back of my mind signaled to me that I had dropped my glass on the tile floor. I saw the faint image of the waiter rushing over with a towel and a broom.
Zell lightly kept hitting me in the arm, trying to catch my attention at the being I was already looking at. She stared right back at me, her startled brown eyes meeting my surprised ones. I stood up, scooting the table along with me, which made a large, white scratch in the middle of the floor.
A whisper escaped my lips, "Rinoa...?"
Her angelic face slowly lost its confused look and went to a calmer, more relaxed state. She started over towards us, her heels clicking on the tile floor, her hips swaying gently from side to side.
"Hey, Rinoa!" chirped Zell, "We've been looking for you!"
She smiled a little at him and turned her eyes back to me. "You have?"
Zell nodded, "Squall wanted to say hi while you were in town."
Rinoa shifted her weight onto her left foot and put her hands behind her back, a habit she always did when she was nervous, I remember it well from high school.
I wanted to say something, anything, even a greeting would work. But nothing would come out; I was at a loss for words. The thing was, I had my whole speech planned out for her and now I can't remember a word of it.
She lifted her face a little, giving me a better view of her eyes. "It's great to see you again, Squall."
I slid my hands into my jacket pockets and nodded. "You too..."
Zell looked off to the side and pointed towards the stairs, "Oops, that's my girlfriend! Gotta run, see ya guys!" he called while he was halfway up the stairs, even though he had no girlfriend at all.
Rinoa looked down at the floor, which still had a few glass pieces around it and a big white mark, spreading up the middle. She smiled that gorgeous smile that I have been longing to see for so long. "It looks like you've made a bit of a mess," she pointed out, hesitantly.
"I-I was surprised to see you."
She nodded and looked at the clock on the nearby wall, biting her lower lip. "Well, I'm only on a 10 minute break, so I better hurry and get that water before I dehydrate," she said with a little laugh.
I smiled and led her over to the bar, "Allow me?"
Rinoa paused and gave a slight nod. "Sure."
I bought her water and followed her up the stairs, out of the hotel. She stayed silent most of the way, taking a few sips of her water here and there. "I um, seen you on the TV the other day. You did well."
She smiled slightly, "Thank you. Did you hear the news?" she asked, looking up at me with a curiosity in her eyes.
"I did. You're getting married?"
"Yep. Do you remember Seifer Almasy? The one that was in our English 2 class."
I shuddered at the thought of the guy; he was a real big loser back then. He made friends with Rinoa by tutoring her in English; supposedly he's that kind of genius. Back then he wore big, red glasses and braces, one of the things I got a kick out of. I picked on him a lot, although now I wish I wouldn't have, he was a nice guy.
"Yeah, yeah... I remember. How is he?" I asked nicely.
She arrived at her book-signing stand, which was located just off to the side of the General's Mansion. No wonder I couldn't find it, my stage was only a few feet from it. "He's good, he's my editor. Things are working out really nicely," she said quietly.
I nodded and looked at the line of people that had formed over her break. "It looks like you're doing well," I added.
"Yeah, you too. I heard your song, I didn't know you were so talented in the music department," she said, with a slight grin on her face.
"I didn't either," I grimaced, "I wasn't until I started practicing."
"Well, Squall, it was great seeing you again! I have to go back to work now, see you later," she said, hurrying off to her seat. I knew she was uncomfortable around me, I could sense it.
"Rinoa!" I called. She turned and looked at me sadly. I clenched my jaw, "That song, it was about you."
A/N: Can I get more reviews please? 1 wasn't enough to help! Ok, until chapter 3, sayonara. Oh, and "I miss you" is copyright of Blink 182.