Summary: All your favorite characters from FFVIII as they would be had they gone to a typical high school. Classes, crushes, bullies, jocks...yep, just your typical high school experience.

CHAPTER FOUR: DITZ, PRICKS, AND MOORE

Class had been underway for a good five minutes before Seifer finally decided to grace them with his presence. Stupid prick, Squall thought to himself as his lab partner, who just happened to be the 'stupid prick' he had been referring to (How the hell did I get stuck with him?) came striding nonchalantly up to the bench Squall was working at. Bench number 13 (definitely an unlucky number, at least in this case), the one the two of them had been assigned to for the remainder of the year. Just shoot me now.

"You're late," Squall commented coldly, not even bothering to look up from the chemicals he was mixing. He could hear Seifer scoff at that and could imagine the smirk that had most assuredly crossed his face.

"Yeah, what're you gonna do about it, Leonhart?" the cocky bastard asked rhetorically. Maybe a good punch in the nose would shut you up, Squall muttered angrily to himself, watching as his mixture let off a miniature explosion and released a small cloud of hydrogen gas. I wish that was you exploding, Almasy, he thought viciously, turning to record the results of his experiment on his lab sheets.

"In case you haven't noticed, we have a lab today," Squall announced harshly, knowing that Seifer couldn't care less. Before Seifer could cut in with some smart-aleck reply, he continued, "We have to turn in separate lab papers this time. You want a good grade, you earn it yourself." There, maybe that will wipe that annoying, overly confident smirk off his face.

"Tch...doesn't matter. It's not like Moore would notice one way or the other. She didn't even notice that I was late today, stupid blind bitch," was Seifer's offhand reply, seemingly unconcerned with the class or his grade in it. Well, at least we agree on one thing: that stupid, idiotic, excuse for a teacher that we have has no clue what in the world she's talking about.

"Does that mean you're not taking the AP exam (1), then?" Squall wondered aloud, deciding to try being a bit more civil (and talkative) than he usually was (especially when it came to Almasy.)

Seifer seemed a bit taken aback by the display of emotion (or what passed for emotion when it came to Squall), but he recovered quickly, giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know. It's not like I'm going to learn anything with Moore teaching the class, anyways; why bother taking the damn examination?" Seifer remarked, also being uncharacteristically nice. Until his last comment, that was. "Of course, you are going to take the exam, aren't you, Leonhart? Yes, you wouldn't miss that. It's probably the highlight of your whole fucking year; you probably get off on taking exams like these; and it's not like you ever do anything besides studying anyway. Some of us do have a life, you know?"

Wow, that was harsh. Wonder what the hell could be eating him...not that I really care. Probably had another run-in with that ditzy cheerleader—what's her name?—Rina? No, Riona. That wasn't right, well, whatever. It didn't really matter what her name was, anyway. Maybe she asked Seifer to the dance as well...poor bastard.

"You're including yourself among those that have a life? Funny, I would never have thought; after all, you're only 'friends' are those two lackeys that follow you around everywhere," Squall responded to Seifer's barb; it's not like he could just let it slide by.

"What would you know about friends, loner? It's not like you actually have any to speak of," Seifer snarled, returning more to his usual self. He sat down heavily on one of the bench's high stools, leaning back and using the raised lab countertop as a support for his back.

There was a slight tension growing in the air as the two surreptitiously cast heated glances at each other—that is, until Selphie came bounding over from the adjacent work bench. "Do you think that I can borrow your lighter thingy real quick?" the energetic girl asked politely, tilting her head slightly in question.

Seifer was the nearest to the 'lighter thingy'; he picked it up and tossed it somewhat roughly in Selphie's direction. She caught it, barely. "There. It's not like I'm going to use it or anything," he said in reply. Selphie smiled happily in thanks as she skipped back to her own bench where her lab partner, a quiet boy named Nida, was waiting.

"I was using that you know," Squall remarked icily, glaring at Seifer in annoyance.

Seifer smirked and gave a small, amused snort before replying, "Why do you think I lent it to her?" he asked, making it clear that he was purposefully trying to piss Squall off—and enjoying himself immensely in the process.

"Asshole," Squall declared, giving Seifer one more glare before returning to his work, futilely attempting to ignore the annoying bastard seated beside him. He was actually doing a pretty good job—at not paying attention to Almasy that is—until the prick started to hum quite loudly and obnoxiously. "Nock it off, you prick," Squall finally growled out in frustrated when Seifer's purposeful behavior became too much for him to bear. Why does he always have to make it a point to get on my nerves?!

"Oh, does that bother you?" Seifer asked innocently—well, innocent is what he was going for, but anyone who knew Seifer could easily see through the act—pissing Squall off to no end, though he couldn't precisely put his finger on why it got under his skin so much.

"Yes," he ground out in reply to Almasy's question, not able to think up a more suitable retort as he gave Seifer a leave-me-alone-or-die glare, which he had perfected over many years of practice in front of the mirror and on many an unsuspecting middle schooler.

"Oh," was Seifer's only remark and Squall almost believed for a brief second that Almasy was, miraculously, going to leave him alone for once. Then the humming started up again, even louder this time.

Knowing there was nothing he could do about it, aside from punching the stupid fucker in the nose, Squall chanced a glance at the clock, hoping that the hell also known as AP chemistry would soon be over. Only seven minutes left to go...I can do this. Soon school will be out and I can go home and crash for the rest of the day without a stupid, ditzy cheerleader or an annoying, gets-on-my-nerves football player to worry about.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Notes: Yay! Another chapter finished. And Squall and Selphie were in this one as promised (though Selphie only made a brief appearance.) Next chapter will be in...hmm...whose point of view should I do? Let's see, I've done Irvine, Seifer, and Squall so far, maybe Selphie next? Anyways, let me know how this chapter was; I hope I did an okay job of characterizing Squall. Hope you liked it.

(1) In case you don't know what the AP exam is, here's a quick explanation. AP stands for Advanced Placement, which is, basically, a high school class that you can get college credit for. But to get the credit for college (and not just the high school credit), you have to take a standardized exam at the end of the year to test your knowledge. It doesn't matter what grade you got in the class for the college credits. The way the scoring goes is you can get from 1-5, one being the worst and five being the best. If you get a 3 or above then you can receive college credits for the class (at most colleges, at least.) Hope that helped. ;)