A/N: I was thinking again (I seem to do that a lot these days) and I decided that-due to a request I received- in order to make the chapter a little longer, I'll write half the chapter in Squall's POV and the other in someone else's. Now that I got that out of the way, when you reach the end, please direct your attention to the 'Go' button at the bottom and let me know what you think about this chapter. Anyways, That's all for now. So, on with the figment of my imagination!
~ 4: Breakfast ~
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Squall's POVSo maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. The hotel room wasn't all that bad. Who am I trying to kid? The hotel room was awful! There was one room, two beds, no wall and I was sharing it with a girl. The racers had their own room, the technicians went two to a room and mechanics their own.
I never have and still don't see the difference between a mechanic and a technician. All that I know is that you can't mix the two of them up because they take it quite personally. They end up saying that it's like saying that Galbadia and Esthar are the same place. Right…. I looked up the definition of both in the dictionary and found the same definition for both words. Sure… Whatever they say. Some of them still live with their mothers… I guess that this is just a trip for them to get away.
Anyways, last night was probably one of the worst nights of my life. I don't even know how I survived the night.
It all started when Selphie and I got our rooms. We received the word from the receptionist that there was only one room registered for both of our names. I got really mad but took the keys anyways. We walked to the elevator only to discover that it was out of use due to repairs. Great. We had to haul our suitcases all the way to the tenth floor.
When we got there, we saw that the floor was wet because the janitor decided to pass the mop. Great. Just great. We slowly made our way across the floor single file when, all of a sudden; Selphie slipped and fell on top of me. The crash was painful and all she could do was laugh while she sat there, on top of me. No apologies, just pure laughter. I failed to see what was so funny in such a situation.
"Get off of me." I growled. I wasn't amused. The only time that I was somewhat happy yesterday was when Selphie told me about Caraway's daughter.
She stopped laughing and got off of me at once. We walked to the room and saw the taste-less decorations. This wasn't happening to me. There was one bathroom, two beds, a T.V and no wall. Great. Just great.
Before I could drop my bags, Selphie ran out from behind me and jumped on the bed closest to the bathroom. Damn. I didn't want the one with a view; I wanted the one closest to the john! Whatever. It wasn't much of a deal when you think about it. I dropped my bags beside the bed and crashed down on the stiffest bed ever. Great, I was going to have a stiff back the whole tournament. I think that I would have been better off camping out in the tour bus.
"Jump on it. It'll make it softer." Selphie suggested, "Or, if you want, I'll jump on it for you."
"No, it's all right. I'll jump on it myself." I said as I got up and began to jump on the bed. It wasn't half bad. It was somewhat oddly amusing… Before the mattress crashed through the frame.
"That can't be a good thing." Selphie said as she stopped jumping. She got off the bed and came over to see what went wrong. She lifted the covers only to discover that the mattress had shifted towards the left while I was jumping.
So I picked up the mattress and replaced it on the frame. I then walked over to my bag and pulled out a pair of flannel pajama pants and my traveling kit containing my entire essentials for hygiene and walked into the bathroom. I closed the door and I heard Selphie yell at me not to come out until she said so.
I smirked and got changed. I then proceeded to brush my teeth only to discover that I had forgot my toothbrush. Great.
I called out to Selphie if she had and extra toothbrush. I heard her laugh hysterically and yell out that she did. The muffled sounds of her rummaging through her bag and running over could be heard through the thin wall of the bathroom. She knocked on the door and I opened it slightly and stuck my hand out for it. I felt the slim cardboard box in my hand and closed the door while I muttered "Thanks" I brushed my teeth and walked out the bathroom, clothes in hand and shirtless.
I heard her gasped and I wondered why. I mean, I am a guy after all and we are allowed to walk around shirtless… Aren't we? She turned beet red and began to giggle.
"What?" I asked.
"You're not shy, are you?" she said as she pointed at me.
"No. I'm going to sleep. Good night." I said as I hoped in the bed, threw the blankets over myself and closed my eyes.
My trip into slumber was disturbed by the voice from the TV. She had turned on the TV began to watch some sitcom or another.
I tried to drown the voices out by thinking about the bliss of sleep. My attempts were in vain because she began to laugh at the jokes that seemed to never end. Great. I wasn't going to be able to sleep until she turned that damned thing off.
About an hour later, she turned the TV off and went to sleep. Finally! I was beginning to think that she ran on batteries or something like that.
It didn't take her long to fall asleep. I knew that because very soon, she began to snore. This caught me off guard because snoring mainly occurs when you're either old or obese. She was neither… Unless there was a minor detail that I was never told about. Great. Just great.
I knocked on the wall to pass the time and to try to wake her up. It half worked. Time passed and soon it was midnight. At that time, she stopped snoring. This was my time to fall asleep.
I fell asleep and that's what brings us to today. Late. The welcome meeting was going to start in an hour and the place was downtown. Plus, we had no clue where it was. To make things worse, Selphie was still in the bathroom taking her sweet precious time applying her make up. Good Hyne, why are you doing this to me? All the karma in the universe couldn't help me now.
We went downstairs and saw a sign that said that the welcome ceremony was going to be here, in the hotel, at the reception hall to the left of the elevators. Ok. We weren't late; we were half an hour early. The doors wouldn't open until ten minutes before and I was starving. Great. Just great.
"Did you know that it was downstairs?" I asked Selphie. After all, she did read the program three times n the bus yesterday.
"Yeah. That's why I took my time." She replied with a huge grin. We took a seat in the waiting area and began to talk.
***
Rinoa's POVAnother year, another race. Life went on and this vicious cycle never ends. Last year, there was an entire army of stuck up pricks called drivers and this year, there was more. Every year, they seem to multiply. Great. That's just what I need.
I learned my lesson: never date a driver. What a great lesson to learn the hard way. I still hate Seifer for what he did and he thinks that if he wins the race again this year, he can win my heart as well. What a stupid theory.
I still don't know why my father requires my presence there anyways.
"To improve my image." He told me. And what image was that? One that says that we're all close in this family? Yeah right! My mother's dead, my father's too busy to even take the time to talk to me about personal issues. He thinks that if he hires me as his consultant, it'd make up for all those years he spent late at work, breaking promises.
The worst part is that my mom died in a car accident- racing accident- and he's still planning races. I mean, sure the cars are all really nice, but they only made me develop a craving to drive behind the wheel of a car someday.
Late at night, I go out to the track and take one of the cars that my dad keeps as a trophy prize and take it out for a drive. The guards at night know me pretty well and usually greet me with a line like, "Back again, huh? Have fun." Or "Yesterday wasn't enough?". They're such sweethearts. They don't agree with the idea about me racing other drivers, but are fine with me behind the wheel during the after-hours. They too know that everyone needs an adrenaline rush… Just others need it more often.
I thought about last night's drive while I get ready to go. Then the notion of seeing Seifer once more pops in my head and takes out all thoughts of bliss. Damn him!
As I walked out, I plastered a fake smile and walk to the porch, taking a light coat and put my shoes on. Nothing fancy. Just a lilac skirt and a baby blue T-shirt.
My dad walks in the porch and greets me with a stiff "Good Morning." Two whole words. Wow!
"Don't say it." He says to me.
I look at him with mock confusion and ask, "Say what, Dad?"
"Whatever it is that you were thinking." He says as he walks out the door, "Coming?"
I follow him out the door and we drive to the hotel in silence. Not a single comment about the other drivers on the road, nothing on the weather… Nothing.
We get to the hotel and see that the waiting area is full of drivers. We walk in and dad greets the drivers in a cheerful manner. Why can't he be like that with me?
Suddenly, someone catches my eye. It's a girl seated across a guy with the nicest eyes I have ever seen. There's a girl driver? Cool! I casually walk over to the seated couple but halfway there, someone grabs my arm rather roughly.
I turn around to see the person that I least wanted to see… Seifer. I glared at him and told him to get off of me.
"Aww… No happy welcome? I feel so unloved." He whines.
"You should because I hate you." I said gruffly as I pulled my arm away and began to walk once more towards the girl. Once again, I feel him grab onto my arm.
"Look, I'm really sorry for what I did. Promise it won't happen again. Please, just give me another chance. Please?" He says as he gives me the "Sad Puppy Dog" face.
"Fat chance. You were seeing her for a month! I asked you many times before if you were seeing someone else and all those times you said you weren't! You lied to me! Besides, if I gave you a second chance, you would probably break my heart again. Just leave me alone." I said as I turned again and walk towards the girl again.
"But, I love you." I heard Seifer say. I didn't stop. I just kept walking, pretending that he wasn't there.
I finally made my way to the girl and the guy with the nice eyes.
"Hi, my name is Rinoa Heartilly." I said as I extended my arm to her. "Are you another driver here?"
"Hi. My name's Selphie Tilmitt. Yeah, I'm a driver." She said as she shook my hand.
I saw the guy look up at me and blink a few times. What? Did I suddenly sprout a third eye? I hate it when that happens! (That was a joke, by the way)
"Is there something on my face?" I asked the guy.
"No. It's just that you're really gorgeous." He said. I blushed.
Just then, someone called out the word "Breakfast" and they got up and we made our way to the reception hall.
"I'll talk to you guys later." I said as I made my way to the front and took a seat near the podium.
My father walked up to the podium and began his speech. Great. Another one to listen to.
"Welcome, gentlemen to-" He started but someone cut him off and pointed to Selphie. "Oh right. Sorry. Gentlemen and ladies to the Tourista 300. This year, the track is even harder than last year's and longer too. I hope that you all enjoy the race and have a great time. Oh! And one last word before you all attack the buffet table: Drive your car like you stole it. Don't worry about the paint job or you'll lose. So, enjoy!" he said as he left the podium.
Wow! That was shorter than last year's. I smiled as I remember how one of the drivers last year fell asleep.
Oh well. I got up and walked to the back of the room to dig in.
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A/N: Well, there you are. Hope you liked it. Please review!