Note: Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait! HEY! Where's my 200 reviews!? *sniff* Oh well, at least I still have some of my devoted fans! BTW: Freaker, no it's not possible, I AM exaggerating it a bit, but hey, I like it so I don't really mind, besides….How do we know that all teenagers don't have many problems at the same time? *shrugs* I think we're almost at the end of the chapter here! ^^ Wooh! I can't believe I've written THIS many chapters! I've never really gone over twenty five before! @_@ Oh yes um…this is the FINAL Seiftis chapter ENJOY! ^^
Chapter 33 – Words Not Spoken
That night, he decided to take her home. Travis and Charlotte went ahead, because Charlotte seemed tired from work and Travis needed to get home to finish his homework. Of course, Quistis didn't need to get home right away because she already finished all her homework for tomorrow and the next day. Seifer offered to take the blond girl home safely and as they head for the car, Quistis found herself holding Seifer's hand. The tall blond man didn't seem to mind that she was doing this, and somehow, for the both of them it felt good. It wasn't until they got to the car did they let go of each other. Quistis hopped on to the passenger seat, while Seifer unlocked his side of the door to the driver's seat.
As he let the car drive away from the parking lot, they were silent for those five minutes, until Seifer suddenly mentioned something he never thought he would. "So, the funeral will be held the day after the dance," he announced.
Quistis looked up, staring at the side of his face and nodded. "Oh…"
"So…" Seifer wasn't sure how to approach this. He wasn't really good at inviting people, especially not a girl. "Uh well, you know if you want to come…" He shrugged. "You can come and visit. It's going to be at the Valley View Funeral home. If you want I can pick you up and we can go there together."
The blond girl smiled and nodded. "That would be nice. I would like to meet your mom." Confused by her answer, Seifer glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Quistis must have noticed this because she added, "Even if I never met her, I can still see that she has raised you well, which means I already know what kind of mother she was to you."
Seifer suddenly laughed. "Was that a compliment coming from you?"
Quistis smiled. "I think so, unless you want to call it an insult."
The blond man shook his head. "No, not at all…I really like to hear your voice." Damn! He thought. He wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Okay, change the subject! Change the subject!
The girl beside him blushed.
"Well um…" Seifer cleared his throat and tried to focus his eyes more on the road. "So are you still going to the dance with that Jer-I mean Jacque?" Oh great! Good going with changing the subject, now you're just making it worse!
Quistis nodded. "Yes, I think so, unless there's a reason for me not to." She wanted him to say it. She wanted him to say: "Actually I WANT to go with you, Quistis." But then again….Quistis sighed deeply in her throat so Seifer couldn't hear. She knew it was just a little fantasy of hers.
However, Seifer was thinking of the exact opposite. He wanted to go with her, wanted to dance with her and feel her long, silky blond tresses against his fingers. Maybe tonight was the right moment to tell her how he felt? Maybe….Seifer suddenly pulled over at the side of the road, just in front of McDonald's and turned off the engine. The blond turned his head to her, readied himself to say something and said, "Oh…..okay…." Idiot! Idiot! You get ten points for being a LOSER!
Confused, Quistis just nodded and watched him turn back around and turn the engine back on again. There was silence between them now, one unable to say a word to the other. Quistis hated the silence, even if her whole life has been nothing but silence between her and her father, this was her only chance to finally talk to someone she knew she can trust. Taking a deep breath, as soon as the car turned towards a curb down to Maryland, Quistis turned her head at him. "You know Seifer, I'm sick of this! Tell me how you really feel about me!"
Seifer allowed the car to get to the very front of Charlotte's driveway before turning off the engine and taking a deep breath. When he knew he was ready, he turned to look at the passenger seat where Quistis was sitting. She staring eagerly up at him, her hands rested at her side and her eyes searching for an answer. "I…I don't know how I feel okay!?"
"What do you mean you don't!? What's with the entire holding hands thing when we were leaving the police department? What's with all the jealousy with Jacque!? I know how you feel about me okay?! So just TELL me!!!"
"Oh right, like I would fall for someone like YOU…" 'Bad move pal!' a voice said in his head.
Those words had hit her hard and as soon as she heard them, she knew she had to leave. She had to get out of here. She had enough of his hurtful words. Even if he begs for her to forgive him, she couldn't….she wouldn't. However, as soon as she made a move to open the door to her side, Seifer had reached over to grab her wrist. Quistis screamed for him to let go, but Seifer, the man who would dare try to change who she was in the inside, was very persistent in what he did and didn't listen to her request. She tried to release herself from his grasp, but he had quickly pulled her against him and took her in for a warm embrace. Something she hasn't felt in a long time. Not even her father would dare hug her so she wouldn't cry.
"Dammit! Dammit!" he suddenly hissed. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it! I really…didn't mean it." He pulled her only an inch away from him and lifted her chin up with his hand to make her look at him. "I hate seeing you cry and I hate it even more if I'm the one responsible for making you cry. I'm not really good at expressing my feelings and if I am pressured into expressing my feelings out loud, it comes out rather harsh. I'm sorry…"
Quistis stared into his eyes. She wanted to hate him, wanted to hit him so bad for saying those words that she knew weren't true. She's heard those words before. From her father and usually, she would just let it go, forget about what he said, but from Seifer….she couldn't ignore it. She couldn't take her eyes off of his. Seifer wasn't lying to her. She leaned closer, taking a deep breath and their lips met into a tender kiss.
Everything was erased that night. All the worries that burdened her were washed away with a gentle wave. His kisses were warm and she felt his arms go around her waist, pulling her against him. Then…she quickly pulled herself away from him, allowing both of them some breathing space. Even if she did let go, Quistis wanted to kiss him more, but it was late and they had school tomorrow. Their foreheads met in a gentle touch and they allowed each other to rest their foreheads against one another, their hands intertwined. None of them said a word, because the kiss they shared had already confirmed what they felt about one another.
But for Seifer, there was one question that has been gnawing at his insides that he had to get out. "So…are you still going to the dance with Jacque?"
Quistis smiled. "Well, if you want to go the dance with me, I wouldn't mind trading my date." She gave a heartfelt laugh, one that Seifer has never heard from her and it sounded wonderful in his ears, that he couldn't resist kissing her again. "But you don't have a ticket and it would be rude to turn him down after he asked me."
Seifer, suddenly pulled back again and whispered, "You DO know what he's planning on doing don't you?"
The blond girl nodded. "I can take care of myself." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and opened her door. "But I'll see you tomorrow." With that said she got out of the car and walked to her house. Quistis stopped only a meter away from the front door and turned, waving goodbye as Seifer pulled away from the sidewalk and down the street back to his house.
************************
The day of the dance was the only topic all the students talked about during class, after class, during lunch and after lunch, until it was four more hours to the dance. Seifer was tired of hearing it, knowing he couldn't go, knowing that he was probably the only one NOT going. Quistis and himself walked together in the morning and didn't see each other until he spotted her by the crowd, helping put up the posters for the dance, but that was still enough for the both of them. As long as he could see her smile and getting along well with the other students and not bullied by Brandy and her 'cronies,' it was just enough. For Quistis, as long as she could see Seifer standing tall and handsome in the crowd, with his smirk whenever students whispered some things about him, it made her feel the same; happy and in love. She blushed when she thought about that word….love. Maybe it was love that drove them together.
Quistis sighed as the last poster, which was for the ticket sales up at the large gym door. She took a quick glance at the clock in the hallway and read that there was still three hours left before the big night for her to go home, get ready and wait for Jacque to pick her up. It took her a moment to realize that she was the only one in the hallway and everyone else had probably gone home already to get changed into their formal attire. Sighing, she stepped down from the ladder and snapped it back to its place, before picking it up with both her hands and dragged it just a couple of steps down to the janitor's closet. As soon as she stepped out, a shadow that suddenly appeared behind her, startled Quistis out of her wits and she gasped back in surprise before looking up to see Brandy and two of her friends glaring at her.
"So you're ACTUALLY going to the dance, eh? I thought that maybe if you didn't go with Seifer, you wouldn't be going since you NEED a date to the dance. It was lucky enough Jacque, the French Hottie asked you to the dance. But THAT still won't bring you to the inner circle that you desire." She folded her arms across her chest and smiled evilly at her.
Quistis stood her ground. "Even IF I didn't have a date, I would still go to the dance. And why would I be in your 'inner circle?' I would rather be dead than join your stupid group!" She glared back at Brandy and made to move, but the stubborn young woman with reddish brown hair, slammed a hand to Quistis' right so she couldn't go anywhere and leered down at her.
"Wow, I can't believe you're actually talking back to me! You've got guts! I never thought you had it in you…" Brandy gave her another sneer, before she turned around and left. As she turned the corner, she passed by Seifer, who in turn gave her the coldest look she has ever seen. She paused and glanced at him sideways. "Too bad you won't be there tonight. You would miss out on so many 'good' things at the dance." She gave a snort, before walking away, followed by her two friends.
"She's right…" Seifer said, approaching Quistis, who was just closing the janitor's closet door behind her. "I never thought you had it in you either."
Quistis laughed. "Well, you've taught me a lot of things." She walked back to the ticket sales table and picked up the tape dispenser, the scissors and the large unused white poster board in her arms and it ended up falling on the ground. Seifer picked it up and followed Quistis down to the supplies room.
"I guess I DON'T need to worry about you, after seeing you back there," Seifer said, when they had put all the things back in the supply room and were now walking back down the hallway. "But….what things HAVE I taught you? I don't remember teaching you to bad mouth back to Brandy."
The blond girl shrugged. "Must be your confidence," she replied.
Seifer snorted and stared at her curiously. "My confidence? I don't have that much confidence and if you're talking about me beating up your dad, to tell you the truth, I was freaked out…He was MUCH taller than me you know."
Quistis laughed. "No, it's not that. What I mean is…you have confidence in yourself. You don't care about what other people think about you. That's always been my problem ever since I hit high school. I didn't want to be friends with any of the kids, because I was scared about what they think of me. And when I did that, other kids started talking about me behind my back and rumors began to spread. They didn't like me at all and I grew distant from them."
Seifer rolled his eyes and for some reason, reached out to grab her hand as they walked down the hall. "That's because those kids were morons," he simply said. "They believed in stupid rumors and most of them are JUST rumors anyway! I HATE it when people do that…."
The blond girl squeezed his hand gently and smiled up at him. "So what does this mean?"
"What does what mean?"
"……"
"What?" Seifer stared at her curiously.
Quistis gave him a strange look and lifted up their hands together in front of him. "US you idiot!" she gave a short chuckle, before putting their hands down beside them.
"Oh…" Seifer rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well of course we're dating! What does it look like!?"
"I guess we are!" she laughed, that joyful laugh Seifer loved to hear and let go of his hand. She hopped ahead of him, putting her hands behind her back and skipped down the hallway. "You know, it's quite nice with this school so quiet…without people."
Seifer looked around. Indeed, it felt nice. There was no noise, there was no crowd that usually drove him nuts if he had to go to the other side towards the cafeteria and there was definitely no Brandy and Jacque to stare back at him with their demonic eyes. He glanced ahead of him to see Quistis continually skipping down the hall like an excited child in an amusement park. "Seifer," she suddenly said. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "I'm glad I met you."
"You know, that's very corny," he said, smirking as he caught up to her.
Quistis glared at him, slapping the back of Seifer's head when she finally had the chance. "Hey! Come on! I'm trying to express my feelings here!"
"All right! All right! Geez! You don't have to slap me so hard!" Seifer hissed, rubbing his injured head. "Damn woman, must you be so-!" He was interrupted when Quistis suddenly moved towards him and gave him a kiss.
After a while, she let go, leaving a shocked expression on Seifer's face. "Must I be so what?"
Seifer blinked. "Uh….I forgot."
*****************************
"Hmph! So it IS true! I cannot believe zis! What do we do?" he turned to glance at his companion.
Brandy leaned close to him and curled a strand of his dark hair around her finger. "Don't worry about it! You heard what I found out from Lisa, she's going with you still! She's too nice to turn a handsome guy like you! It won't be long until we get to have our fun!" (A/N: *snicker* nice girl indeed! Wait until the dance! ;))
Jacque turned around to face her and placed his hands around her waist and smiled. "Let me ask you zis. What exactly do you have against zis girl?"
Brandy frowned. "Why are you asking? Are you telling me that this girl is NOT worth getting revenge on!?" She let go of him and planted both her fists on her waist. Brandy pouted, knowing full well that Jacque couldn't resist that look on her face.
"Non, non, of course not…arggh! You are very irresistible!" He leaned down and began kissing her neck, her cheeks and finally, her lips. They were now lost in their own passion to care that Seifer and Quistis had left the building.
********************************
Night time quickly came. He found himself, for some reason, standing behind a tree, watching at the exact moment she came out of the house all dressed up. Seifer's eyes went from a roundness of curiosity to an oval shaped look of shock when he noticed the gown she was wearing. It was dark red, with black designs all around it, a perfect pick for someone as beautiful as Quistis Trepe. Seifer smiled as she stepped out of the house, escorted by….his fists tightened immediately at the sight of Jacque, the man who would be at the dance with HIS woman. "Calm down….calm down….She'll be fine…." Seifer said to himself. Snap! The blond man looked down and noticed that the twig he was holding snapped in two. He sighed, throwing the twig aside and stuffed his clenched fists in his trench coat pocket.
"If you're THAT worried about her…" Startled by the voice behind him, Seifer jerked his whole body around and noticed Charlotte standing there, holding two paper bags full of groceries in her arms.
"Geez, you scared me!" Seifer spoke, taking a deep breath.
"If you're THAT worried about her, then why don't you just go with her?" Charlotte asked, adjusting the stuff in her arms.
Seifer said nothing for a while, as he took one heavy paper bag off of Charlotte's way and put it in his own arms. As soon as he adjusted it in his own arms, the blond man sighed and looked over his shoulder as the car drove away towards Balamb High. "You know I can't," he said.
"Who said you couldn't?" She walked pass him and began walking back inside the house. Seifer followed suit. "I mean it's not like you can't do anything about it. I seriously don't trust that boy she went with." Charlotte unlocked the door and opened it wide, leaving Seifer room to squeeze through. She removed her shoes quickly and walked over to the kitchen to put the groceries down on the counter.
"What do you suggest I do? Follow them and make sure NOTHING happens? There's going to be security guards there anyway. Last year it was so bad that the Principal had to put security guards around the doors and checking around the premises, making sure NO ONE gets through without a ticket." He did the same with his groceries and placed it beside the other one.
Charlotte shrugged, slowly taking out the groceries out of the paper bag one at a time, once in a while, glancing at the worried look on Seifer's face. "Well, aren't you the type of guy who doesn't follow the rules?" She gave Seifer a reassuring smile.
"What's this?" he asked suddenly, putting all the canned tomatoes on the counter. "Is this Charlotte Meyers I'm talking to?"
The dark haired woman shrugged and turned her head away from the blond to continue putting away her groceries inside the cabinet. "Hey I was ONCE a teenager you know. I've….broken rules before. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Besides…" She stopped whatever she was doing and looked up at Seifer. "Even if she says she'll be fine, SOMEONE should be there to support her. And I just don't trust this Jacque fellow. With her mother gone and her father in jail, I'm the only parent in her life now…" She kept his gaze on him, telling him with her eyes that she meant every word she said.
Seifer nodded. "I understand." Yes, he understood every word she said. Even if she doesn't say it, Charlotte was VERY worried for her niece and just by looking at her, brought back memories to the time his mother was still alive and worried and cried over him when he didn't come home after his parents announced they were getting a divorce. She tried her best to keep a straight face when he finally DID come home, but Seifer could tell she was crying a lot with just one glimpse of her red eyes. With that thought out of his mind, Seifer continued to help Charlotte with the groceries and just as he was about to grab the dozen eggs from the paper bag, Charlotte's hand went over his shoulder. He glanced at her and she gave a smile.
"You know even if Quistis doesn't admit it, I know that she is truly happy with you now. When she moved here, I never noticed the smile on her face. I could tell it was all a lie, but when she came home yesterday, there was a real glow on her face." She removed her hand, keeping the smile on her face.
Seifer thought of her smile and nodded. "Yes, when she smiles, it's like the clouds above me had begun to clear, replacing them with sunshine."
Charlotte laughed. "You sound like a poet!"
Seifer just shrugged. "I guess I got the poetic talents from her."
"You should go and catch up to her, make sure that kid doesn't do anything he'll regret." She patted him once more on the shoulder and went back to putting away the groceries. She listened as Seifer mumbled, 'thank you' to her, before turning around and leaving the house.
"No…I should be the one thanking you," she whispered to herself.
~7:03pm Balamb High Spring Dance at the large gymnasium~
"Oh damn! Who is that babe!?"
"I want a piece of her!"
"Oh geez, WHAT is she wearing? Is that like a dress or a cloth!?" A girl with blond braids nudged her friend standing beside her, who seemed quiet than usual. "Do you see that Brandy!? I can't believe she actually showed up!"
Brandy said nothing and shrugged. "So what? It's not like it's going to ruin anything." She turned away and began pouring punch in her glass, hiding the fact that she was grinning from head to toe, knowing of what will become of Quistis Trepe in the middle of the dance. She could feel her friend staring at the back of her head. The red head rolled her eyes. "Maryanne, you should just ignore it and enjoy the dance, all right!?"
Maryanne gave her another knowing look and walked back to where they were seated with their friends. Brandy joined them a few seconds later and watched as Quistis and Jacque made their way to a table across from them. When she had the chance at that moment, Brandy grinned and winked at Jacque from the table. Jacque did so in return, but had to look away when Quistis began talking to him.
"Wow, I've never been in a dance before!" Quistis gasped, looking around quite excitedly, while at the same time, trying to keep her composure.
"Well, you will see soon enough how EXCITING it will be mademoiselle!" Jacque lifted up Quistis' right hand and kissed the back of it gently. The blond smiled, but in the back of her head, she imagined cutting his lips that was basically trying to run his tongue over her hand with a bread knife, but that would be too messy to begin with. She would require something quieter and less revealing so no one will ever know what she's done to him. Then again, she wasn't a murderer….
He kept his lips on her hand.
Yet…
Suddenly, the moment the Principal came into the front to talk in the microphone, everything was quiet. "All right! Good evening everyone! Welcome to the annual Balamb High Spring Dance!" With these words, loud cheers and hoots were heard around the gymnasium from the nicely dressed students. "This dance is for anyone and EVERYONE who goes to this school, but this is a lot more special since it's the last year of our seniors here in Balamb High!"
Again, another cheer and loud claps, but this time, it came from the seniors.
"All I have to say is….good luck seniors and HAVE FUN TONIGHT!" With those last words, he lifted up his hand like a dictator dictating to some of his people, but even then, none of the students cared enough about that little 'fact,' instead, they cheered and hooted and clapped even louder than before. Principal Belaford stepped out of the podium to join the other teachers watching the dance, making sure no one would slip any alcohol into the drinks. The next one to step into the podium was now the DJ, who went into his corner to start the music. "All right dance goers, let's start this night off with a little fast music to get your heart pumpin'!" he spoke, almost kissing the microphone.
Again, more cheers and as soon as the music started many of those sitting down, stood up and joined their partners on the dance floor. Quistis watched students trying to dance, while others (mostly those who were members of the Dance Club and were girls), danced naturally, putting their own style into it. Brandy was dancing with a very familiar face and the blond girl was shocked to realize that it was Travis she was dancing with. She wondered what happened to HIS date, but then again it wasn't really her business. Quistis noticed Selphie and Zell having the time of their lives. Suddenly, Jacque's hand went on top of hers. It lingered there for a while, until he grabbed it around his fingers and grinned at her. "Want to dance?"
In the back of her head, she wanted to refuse, but she couldn't just sit there and make a fool out of herself. Brandy would surely get a kick out of that, so Quistis smiled, nodded and stood up. She was slowly led into the dance floor and by the time they reached a spot, the fast music stopped, followed by a slow one. "Great timing!" Jacque whispered in her ear. He pulled her closer in his arms and led her into the slow beat. Everyone else around them did the same, lost in their own world to see who was dancing around them. Quistis had no choice but to put her head on his shoulder, but as soon as she did, she rolled her eyes, imagining breaking Jacque's neck with her bare hands. It would be interesting to do, but it still wasn't the right time. Jacque really didn't do anything to embarrass her….yet. "Hey," he suddenly whispered in her ear. "Do you want to go outside for a little bit?"
Quistis pulled away slowly and looked at him. "Why?"
Jacque smiled softly and pulled her close again. "I want to show you something wonderful at the football field. It's very beautiful really when you watch it at night."
"Watch what?" Now she was getting curious. It couldn't hurt to risk what he would have in store for her.
"Every night, there is zis how should I say… fireflies that fly around. They are very beautiful."
'Oh yes, fireflies, in the middle of the field,' she thought. 'Very romantic indeed, Jacque. Aren't you such a good little liar?' She smiled and nodded, deciding to play along and wonder where this was going. "All right, let's see these fireflies."
Jacque grinned again, taking her hand in his. 'Yes! She's taking it! HAH! HAH!' He turned around and pulled her with him, leading her to the back entrance of the gymnasium, which quickly led to the football field. He quietly closed the door behind them and smiled again. "You will love it. Now, I want you to close your eyes."
"My eyes? Why?"
"Go on! Close it!" Jacque had a demanding tone on this, but Quistis still played along, to make him believe she didn't know what SURPRISE he had for her, so she closed her eyes. "Good! Now, I want you to follow me!" He led her down somewhere, since Quistis could see nothing but darkness and after a couple more steps, they stopped.
Quistis shivered. "Jacque, it's getting cold, can we go back inside now?" She frowned, her eyes still closed and her patience running out.
"Not yet. Just hang on just a little longer!"
The blond sighed. "Okay."
********************
"I'll kill you if you do anything to her Jacque!!!!" he howled, walking towards the front door of the gym.
"Hey! STOP!" He felt a pair of large hands on his shoulders. Seifer stopped and turned around and noticed a tall, bald headed security guard glaring down at him. "Do you have a ticket, young man?" He stepped in between Seifer and the entrance door to the gymnasium.
"I need to get in there! I lost my ticket, okay!? I can't find it and now someone I care about is in there, probably being groped by another guy that I LOATHED so much! Will you PLEASE let me in!?"
It seemed the man was thinking about what he said, but Seifer wasn't out of the hole yet when the man shook his head, placing his hand in front of him as if expecting for the blond to put the ticket on his hand after all. "Even if it's personal emergency, I still can't let you through. It's school regulations that anyone without the ticket MAY NOT enter!"
"FINE! Forget it then…you lame ass…." He mumbled, as he turned and left. The only entrance now was through the football field, which he knew Principal Belaford wasn't going to have monitored, since the fences were already kept locked to keep anyone out. Seifer was lucky to know the way through the fences without being caught.
*********************
"NOW!" Jacque roared.
"What?" Quistis didn't expect him to yell so loud! She opened her eyes quickly, but the last thing she saw was a flash in front of her, followed by loud laughter around her. Suddenly, she felt cold and as she looked down, her chest was revealed. Three people she never knew were there, had suddenly appeared, one holding a camera in his hand, grinning from head to toe. Jacque was looking at her up and down, standing just behind her. "What a beautiful view!" he said.
"So what does it feel like to be, 'popular' Ms. Math Trepe?" Brandy laughed.
Quistis quickly lifted up her ripped dress up her chest, her face so red that no one can tell now WHICH was redder, her dress, or her face. She turned around, gave Jacque a look of pure hatred and clenched her right fist, while her left hand held the dress tightly over her bare chest. Without knowing it, her clenched fist suddenly connected with Jacque's face. The laughter paused and Quistis watched as Jacque fell unconscious on the ground.
"JACQUE!" Brandy squealed, running to her boyfriend's side. "WHY YOU….!" She stood back up and charged forward towards the blond girl.
"Ouch…" Quistis murmured, rubbing her sore right fist. She looked up just in time to see Brandy charging towards her, but her dress got caught from the heel of her shoes and she fell flat forward with her face on the ground. The blond girl rolled her eyes. "Oh geez…."
"Quistis!" Immediately after that happened, Quistis looked up to find Seifer, followed by Zell and Selphie running up to her. The other two who were there, turned and began to run.
"HEY!" Quistis screamed. "Give me back my pictures you jerks!"
"What?" Seifer asked the moment he got to her. He glanced down at the unconscious Jacque and looked up at her.
"What are you talking about Quisty!?" Selphie wondered, only noticed the two running away.
"They have the pictures of me in there!"
"STOP TH-!" Selphie yelled, but before she could finish her sentence, Zell was already running towards the one holding the camera. Since he was a football player running in the field, it was easy to catch up to the young freshman, even with the wrong type of shoes. The blond tackled the younger man to the ground, the camera falling hard on the newly sprinkled grass.
Quistis sighed and turned around to look at Seifer. "What are you doing here?"
Seifer shrugged. "Um…well I was worried about you and…" He looked around, trying to avoid her eyes, but ended up looking back down at the unconscious French guy. "Did you do that to him?"
The blond girl glared down at Jacque. "Either that or he fell down on the ground himself like that."
Selphie stared at her in shock. "You…punched him!"
"I was mad…You'd be too if he took a picture of my naked chest!"
Seifer's eyes turned into thin slits. "He WHAT!?"
Zell appeared a few seconds later, dragging with him the scared freshman with the camera. "Here's the sneak," he said.
Seifer grabbed the camera from the younger boy's hand and glared at him. "James Haughton…" he mumbled. "I KNEW something was up with you, always following Brandy like a little puppy dog."
Quistis looked at the short freshman in shock. "I was NICE to you! Why did you do that!?" She shivered as wind went down her back. She felt something warm go around her shoulders. The blond girl looked up and noticed that Seifer had put his trench coat over her shoulders and was now buttoning it to make sure no cold wind could go through her bare skin. "Thank you," she whispered to him.
"She….she…SHE THREATENED ME!" His eyes turned into thin slits of fear when he noticed Brandy slowly getting up from the ground, her face now covered in dirt.
"WHO YOU LITTLE-!"
"That's enough! What's going on here!?"
All heads turned to the direction of the voice. Principal Belaford was standing there, with his arms folded across his chest. Two teachers were standing to either side of him, while other students, who had seen the whole thing, watched curiously from behind him. "Principal Belaford, thank God you're here!" Brandy squealed, going up to him and tugging at his shirt. "Seifer came and ATTACKED me and Quistis! So Jacque came to help us, but Seifer was so strong!"
"What!?" Seifer screamed, ready to lunge at her, but Quistis' arm had snaked itself around his arm, calming him down a bit. "That's a lie!"
"YOU'RE THE LIAR! Principal! You should know him better than me! He's ALWAYS had the reputation of being a troublemaker in the school! So…Send him home or something! Put him in jail for attacking me! He's just a psycho who likes to attack people! He should be-!" She was stopped short when Quistis slapped her across the face. Brandy stared at her, while Quistis held her gaze towards the other girl.
"Don't you DARE call him a psycho you selfish, snot-nosed BRAT!" Quistis spat.
Brandy was about to charge again, when Principal Belaford grabbed her by the arm. "All right, that's enough. No more fighting, I've seen enough! Brandy, Quistis, Seifer and James, come to my office right now! Someone…please wake up Mr. Johnson from his sleep there," he spoke, pointing to Jacque.
"What? Who's Mr. Johnson?" Brandy asked.
Belaford looked at her. "Why, it's the one whom you call, Jacque, Ms. McFadden."
Zell kneeled down besides Jacque and slapped his face silly until he opened his eyes groggily. "Hey wake up, Jacque or whoever the hell you are!" He practically pulled him up on his feet.
"Jacque? Baby are you all right?"
Jacque nodded. "Oui my love," he whispered.
Belaford rolled his eyes. "All right, enough with your games Vernon Johnson!" He took Vernon's arm (Jacque) and pulled him back inside, followed by Quistis, Seifer, Brandy and James.
"Wait! Who's Vernon Johnson! Why do you keep calling him that Principal!?"
Belaford looked at her. "Because he IS Vernon Johnson! He moved here a couple of weeks ago from South Carolina."
"What? You mean the guy who practically wears the same underwear over and over again!?" Zell gave Vernon a disgusted look.
"Is not true Bleach!" Suddenly, the French accent was gone, replacing it with a heavy thick southern accent. "I don't wear them over and over agin! I clean 'em too, by hand washing 'em!"
Once those words came out of his mouth, Brandy collapsed on the floor in shock.
***********************
"Well, this has been an interesting night," Principal Belaford spoke, walking around to sit on his chair. He glanced at the five people involved in this some kind of drama that went on in the football field. Even though Zell didn't need to be there, he decided to let the blond stay anyway to keep James from getting away. It seems the boy was terrified out of his mind, as if expected to be tortured or something that at any time now, he was ready to make a break for it. Brandy was still trying to recover from finding out the real truth about her 'Jacque,' trying desperately to hang on to something, while the man himself, seemed overly confident, twitching at every movement of emotions on his face since the hit he got from Quistis still seemed too painful for him. The blond girl calmly clasped her hands in front of her, standing as still as possible. Seifer had his arms folded across his chest, tapping impatiently as Mr. Belaford prepared to talk and holding something in his right hand. "Okay, I don't want to know WHAT personal matters went on tonight, all I want to know is, WHY…" He turned his eyes towards Quistis. He had seen her hit the poor young man.
Quistis was about to say something, when Seifer decided to interfere. "Belaford, that Jacque, or Vernon, or whatever- is in coerced with Brandy and this James guy!"
Belaford lifted a curious eyebrow, his eyes still on the blond girl. "And how is that?"
Again, Seifer interfered, which was driving the middle aged man nuts. "Vernon took her in the middle of the field and-!" He paused when their nicely dressed Principal lifted up a hand to stop him.
"I don't need the exact details, I already know and Mr. Almasy, I was asking Ms. Trepe the question not you. So…" His eyes slipped from Quistis to Brandy, who was once again on the verge or collapsing, but managed to stand on her feet. "Ms. McFadden and Mr. Johnson, you two were somehow…dating is that correct?"
"Oh yes, very much!" Vernon replied, grinning at Brandy.
Brandy rolled her eyes, planting both her fists on her hips. She seemed to have gotten her 'groove' back together. "No, we weren't. We were just….FOOLING around. We weren't really dating."
Vernon's face fell immediately and said nothing. At that moment, Belaford almost felt sorry for the boy, but decided that it wasn't a good idea, since he already knew what Vernon was up to the moment he stepped into his office. He knew Brandy well too, so he didn't need to complain about anything. Brandy McFadden was the only girl he knew from any other girls who never went for a serious relationship. "Okay, this is an interesting input but I won't hold THAT against you both. Where does James fit in all of this?" This time, he glanced at Seifer. "I suppose you already know the answer to that as well, Mr. Almasy?"
Seifer nodded, moving to hand the item from his hand to the Principal. Belaford took it curiously and realized that the item he was holding this whole time was a camera. "Brandy and JACQUE hired James here-" He paused to pull James in front of him, "to take a picture of her naked!" That thought made him cringe in frustration.
Belaford looked at James eye to eye. "Is this true Mr. Haughton?"
James nodded slowly, his eyes sinking down to the bottom. "Yes, Principal," he said softly.
The middle aged man nodded. He was quite surprised really, why James Haughton, an honor student could be involved in something like this. "Well, since we have the camera and there's nothing else Brandy can do anymore to harm you Ms. Trepe, you and James may go back to the dance. Ms. McFadden and Mr. Johnson, you stay here, I need to speak with you some more."
"Principal?" Quistis finally spoke. "What about Seifer, sir?"
"Seifer?" Belaford glanced at the tall blond man, looking at him up and down. He wore a dark shirt and dark blue jeans with black, army boots pants. It was odd really, seeing the tall youth without his trench coat. Quistis was still wearing it over her shoulder, much too big for her. "Well, he's not exactly dressed for the occasion, but I think I can let you join the dance so he can accompany you."
"Thank you, sir," the blond girl said, now glowing. She reached over and grabbed Seifer's hand. Seifer nodded and together they filed out of the room, followed closely behind by Zell, who was standing and listening quietly this whole time. He met Selphie on their way back to the gymnasium. James was the last to leave and without a word, went back inside the gym, guilt still etched in his mind.
There were whispers and some glances the moment Seifer and Quistis stepped back into the gymnasium, but the two blonds, with their fingers intertwined, didn't care much of what the students were doing. A slow music as playing and all Quistis could think about was Seifer. The blond man pulled her into the dance floor and placed his hand around her waist, leading her into a slow dance. Not too long, Zell and Selphie joined them on the dance floor. Garrett, who appeared out of nowhere, began dancing with a pretty senior with long dark hair and chocolate brown eyes. Quistis immediately recognized her as Juliet Yang, Quistis' friend from art class.
"You know, I was impressed by the way you hit Vernon square in the face, right to where it would leave him unconscious," Seifer whispered in her ear. He pulled away and looked down at her, grinning.
Quistis frowned. "It's not funny," she spoke, adjusting her dress again, making sure it wouldn't fall off. "I didn't mean to hit him that hard." She moved her hands to reach behind her in order to fix the zipper, but Seifer's hand found its way there first, reaching underneath his jacket and quickly zipping it up. She blushed at the contact, but it felt quite good since his hands felt warm and inviting. Slowly, Seifer moved his hand up to zip up her dress and his hands found his way back into a dancing position.
"Better?" Seifer whispered again.
Quistis nodded and smiled, wrapping her arm around his neck. "How did you fix my dress like that? I remember Vernon basically ripped the dress off of me."
Seifer winked at her. "Magic," he simply said.
The blond girl laughed. "Oh? So you DO believe in magic? Me, I believe in miracles," she said, closing her eyes again. "It's a miracle that I was able to find someone as good as you."
Seifer snorted. "How am I 'good' exactly?"
"Simple….all good things come from bad people."
That phrase made Seifer laugh as he held her tightly in his arms. Quistis rested her head on his shoulders, wishing that this night will never ever end.
************************
Rain fell heavily upon them, but the quiet taps of the water from the sky was the only noise being made that morning. Everything else was quiet as they listened to Father Grey speaking, while Lynette Almasy's casket was being lowered into the depth of the earth. He felt his hand being squeezed gently by someone and he looked up to see Quistis giving him a reassuring smile. He felt a lot better now that she was here. He somehow felt no fear or sadness whenever she was nearby.
Across from where he was, stood Bryan, his stepsister and his stepmother, who all looked sullen, despite Seifer's stepmother's lack of knowledge about Lynette. And as soon as Father Grey finished talking, he nodded to Seifer and the blond took a step forward, grabbing a handful of dirt from the pile and threw it gently on top of the casket. Quistis did the same, her hand still intertwined with his and followed him as they walked around the casket before stopping to stand again on the same spot they were before. Next, came Bryan, Halle and their daughter, Dominique. Dominique, innocent as ever, tugged at her mother's sleeve. "Mama? Is someone sleeping in there?"
Halle nodded and gently took her daughter's hand, squeezing it ever so gently. "Yes, someone is sleeping in there."
"But why?"
"Well….she had an accident, so she has to sleep in there for a long time."
Dominique gave her mother another curious look. "How long?"
Halle kneeled down until she was up to her daughter's eye level and hugged her. "I don't know how long, but I know she won't ever wake up again."
Seifer listened to these words, but decided to ignore them. He approached Dominique silently and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Hey, kiddo, would you like to have some ice cream after this?"
Dominique's eyes widened in excitement. "Okay!"
Quistis smiled at him.
"Good, then stop asking questions," he said, grinning at his stepsister.
The little blond girl nodded, then suddenly took her big brother's hand. Surprised at this, Seifer glanced up at Halle, who had stood back up. She gave a silent nod and watched as Dominique, holding Seifer's hand tightly, joined her big brother and Quistis to the side.
After Bryan and Halle, no one else came, except for one other person, whom all of them never expected to be there. Seifer immediately recognized Martine as he marched around the casket and grabbed a handful of the dirt and tossed it gently down on the casket. After him, no one else came.
Father Grey left after consoling to the family. It was now Seifer, Quistis, Dominique, Bryan and Halle last to leave. However, as soon as Seifer and Quistis turned to leave, they were stopped by someone calling Seifer's name. The blond man stopped and looked over his shoulder as Martine approached them. "Seifer," he said, nodding.
Seifer nodded back.
Martine took a deep breath, before nodding at Quistis and said, "I just want to tell you that I'm leaving for California tomorrow."
Seifer turned away and said nothing. "That's good to know. I'm not surprised anyway, since you're good at leaving. I don't know why you have to tell me."
"It's because I want to ask you to come with me," Martine suddenly said, surprising Quistis and Seifer.
The young blond man turned to look at him. "What?"
"I want to spend time with you before you move on with your life after high school. I want to know what it feels like to be a father." Martine stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I guess it was lame for me to say that, since I already DID have a chance to be your father and I never stuck around to figure that out for myself. All I'm asking is for a second chance."
Seifer glared at him. "You already HAD your chance, so why should I-!" He paused when he felt Quistis squeezing his hand gently. The blond man took a deep breath and said, "I'm glad that you want to spend your time with me, Dad, but…I don't want to leave. I want to stay right here with the people that I care about." He glanced at Quistis and smiled at her. "And be with the people that care about me." Seifer turned his head towards Bryan and his new family and smiled. Bryan nodded, Halle smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes and Dominique watched innocently at her big brother.
Martine nodded. "I understand. I guess I can't convince you anymore, since you've already moved on with your life. Hah, that's what I get for missing those seventeen years of your life."
He was about to turn and walk away, when Seifer said, "Hey, dad?"
Surprised, Martine stopped and turned around to look at him. "What is it?"
"Why don't you come with us? We're going out to lunch."
Martine blinked and glanced over at Bryan, who nodded reassuringly at him that it was all right. "Well, I don't know…I don't think I should come with you guys. I mean, you're family and- I really need to pack and-!"
"What are you talking about?" Seifer interrupted. "You ARE family. I called you 'dad' didn't I?" He gave an attempt to truly smile, but it ended up into a smirk.
Martine decided to think of that as a good smile and shrugged. "If you want."
"Of course we want you there, Martine," Bryan said. "Families stick together, right?" He gently took Halle's hand in his and squeezed it gently. Dominique approached her big brother and wrapped her little arms around his leg. Seifer placed a hand on her head and smiled up at Martine. "Right," he whispered.
Martine looked at Bryan and gave a smile. "Sure," he finally said, stuffing his hands in his pockets the second time.
GoodGurl: WEEE!! Finished with the Seiftis! Next will be the final Zelphie (which explains why Garrett was at the dance) and Squinoa (which will explain why Rinoa wasn't at the dance either). After that, will the FINAL FINAL chapter! The
Chapter 33 – Words Not Spoken
That night, he decided to take her home. Travis and Charlotte went ahead, because Charlotte seemed tired from work and Travis needed to get home to finish his homework. Of course, Quistis didn't need to get home right away because she already finished all her homework for tomorrow and the next day. Seifer offered to take the blond girl home safely and as they head for the car, Quistis found herself holding Seifer's hand. The tall blond man didn't seem to mind that she was doing this, and somehow, for the both of them it felt good. It wasn't until they got to the car did they let go of each other. Quistis hopped on to the passenger seat, while Seifer unlocked his side of the door to the driver's seat.
As he let the car drive away from the parking lot, they were silent for those five minutes, until Seifer suddenly mentioned something he never thought he would. "So, the funeral will be held the day after the dance," he announced.
Quistis looked up, staring at the side of his face and nodded. "Oh…"
"So…" Seifer wasn't sure how to approach this. He wasn't really good at inviting people, especially not a girl. "Uh well, you know if you want to come…" He shrugged. "You can come and visit. It's going to be at the Valley View Funeral home. If you want I can pick you up and we can go there together."
The blond girl smiled and nodded. "That would be nice. I would like to meet your mom." Confused by her answer, Seifer glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Quistis must have noticed this because she added, "Even if I never met her, I can still see that she has raised you well, which means I already know what kind of mother she was to you."
Seifer suddenly laughed. "Was that a compliment coming from you?"
Quistis smiled. "I think so, unless you want to call it an insult."
The blond man shook his head. "No, not at all…I really like to hear your voice." Damn! He thought. He wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Okay, change the subject! Change the subject!
The girl beside him blushed.
"Well um…" Seifer cleared his throat and tried to focus his eyes more on the road. "So are you still going to the dance with that Jer-I mean Jacque?" Oh great! Good going with changing the subject, now you're just making it worse!
Quistis nodded. "Yes, I think so, unless there's a reason for me not to." She wanted him to say it. She wanted him to say: "Actually I WANT to go with you, Quistis." But then again….Quistis sighed deeply in her throat so Seifer couldn't hear. She knew it was just a little fantasy of hers.
However, Seifer was thinking of the exact opposite. He wanted to go with her, wanted to dance with her and feel her long, silky blond tresses against his fingers. Maybe tonight was the right moment to tell her how he felt? Maybe….Seifer suddenly pulled over at the side of the road, just in front of McDonald's and turned off the engine. The blond turned his head to her, readied himself to say something and said, "Oh…..okay…." Idiot! Idiot! You get ten points for being a LOSER!
Confused, Quistis just nodded and watched him turn back around and turn the engine back on again. There was silence between them now, one unable to say a word to the other. Quistis hated the silence, even if her whole life has been nothing but silence between her and her father, this was her only chance to finally talk to someone she knew she can trust. Taking a deep breath, as soon as the car turned towards a curb down to Maryland, Quistis turned her head at him. "You know Seifer, I'm sick of this! Tell me how you really feel about me!"
Seifer allowed the car to get to the very front of Charlotte's driveway before turning off the engine and taking a deep breath. When he knew he was ready, he turned to look at the passenger seat where Quistis was sitting. She staring eagerly up at him, her hands rested at her side and her eyes searching for an answer. "I…I don't know how I feel okay!?"
"What do you mean you don't!? What's with the entire holding hands thing when we were leaving the police department? What's with all the jealousy with Jacque!? I know how you feel about me okay?! So just TELL me!!!"
"Oh right, like I would fall for someone like YOU…" 'Bad move pal!' a voice said in his head.
Those words had hit her hard and as soon as she heard them, she knew she had to leave. She had to get out of here. She had enough of his hurtful words. Even if he begs for her to forgive him, she couldn't….she wouldn't. However, as soon as she made a move to open the door to her side, Seifer had reached over to grab her wrist. Quistis screamed for him to let go, but Seifer, the man who would dare try to change who she was in the inside, was very persistent in what he did and didn't listen to her request. She tried to release herself from his grasp, but he had quickly pulled her against him and took her in for a warm embrace. Something she hasn't felt in a long time. Not even her father would dare hug her so she wouldn't cry.
"Dammit! Dammit!" he suddenly hissed. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it! I really…didn't mean it." He pulled her only an inch away from him and lifted her chin up with his hand to make her look at him. "I hate seeing you cry and I hate it even more if I'm the one responsible for making you cry. I'm not really good at expressing my feelings and if I am pressured into expressing my feelings out loud, it comes out rather harsh. I'm sorry…"
Quistis stared into his eyes. She wanted to hate him, wanted to hit him so bad for saying those words that she knew weren't true. She's heard those words before. From her father and usually, she would just let it go, forget about what he said, but from Seifer….she couldn't ignore it. She couldn't take her eyes off of his. Seifer wasn't lying to her. She leaned closer, taking a deep breath and their lips met into a tender kiss.
Everything was erased that night. All the worries that burdened her were washed away with a gentle wave. His kisses were warm and she felt his arms go around her waist, pulling her against him. Then…she quickly pulled herself away from him, allowing both of them some breathing space. Even if she did let go, Quistis wanted to kiss him more, but it was late and they had school tomorrow. Their foreheads met in a gentle touch and they allowed each other to rest their foreheads against one another, their hands intertwined. None of them said a word, because the kiss they shared had already confirmed what they felt about one another.
But for Seifer, there was one question that has been gnawing at his insides that he had to get out. "So…are you still going to the dance with Jacque?"
Quistis smiled. "Well, if you want to go the dance with me, I wouldn't mind trading my date." She gave a heartfelt laugh, one that Seifer has never heard from her and it sounded wonderful in his ears, that he couldn't resist kissing her again. "But you don't have a ticket and it would be rude to turn him down after he asked me."
Seifer, suddenly pulled back again and whispered, "You DO know what he's planning on doing don't you?"
The blond girl nodded. "I can take care of myself." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and opened her door. "But I'll see you tomorrow." With that said she got out of the car and walked to her house. Quistis stopped only a meter away from the front door and turned, waving goodbye as Seifer pulled away from the sidewalk and down the street back to his house.
************************
The day of the dance was the only topic all the students talked about during class, after class, during lunch and after lunch, until it was four more hours to the dance. Seifer was tired of hearing it, knowing he couldn't go, knowing that he was probably the only one NOT going. Quistis and himself walked together in the morning and didn't see each other until he spotted her by the crowd, helping put up the posters for the dance, but that was still enough for the both of them. As long as he could see her smile and getting along well with the other students and not bullied by Brandy and her 'cronies,' it was just enough. For Quistis, as long as she could see Seifer standing tall and handsome in the crowd, with his smirk whenever students whispered some things about him, it made her feel the same; happy and in love. She blushed when she thought about that word….love. Maybe it was love that drove them together.
Quistis sighed as the last poster, which was for the ticket sales up at the large gym door. She took a quick glance at the clock in the hallway and read that there was still three hours left before the big night for her to go home, get ready and wait for Jacque to pick her up. It took her a moment to realize that she was the only one in the hallway and everyone else had probably gone home already to get changed into their formal attire. Sighing, she stepped down from the ladder and snapped it back to its place, before picking it up with both her hands and dragged it just a couple of steps down to the janitor's closet. As soon as she stepped out, a shadow that suddenly appeared behind her, startled Quistis out of her wits and she gasped back in surprise before looking up to see Brandy and two of her friends glaring at her.
"So you're ACTUALLY going to the dance, eh? I thought that maybe if you didn't go with Seifer, you wouldn't be going since you NEED a date to the dance. It was lucky enough Jacque, the French Hottie asked you to the dance. But THAT still won't bring you to the inner circle that you desire." She folded her arms across her chest and smiled evilly at her.
Quistis stood her ground. "Even IF I didn't have a date, I would still go to the dance. And why would I be in your 'inner circle?' I would rather be dead than join your stupid group!" She glared back at Brandy and made to move, but the stubborn young woman with reddish brown hair, slammed a hand to Quistis' right so she couldn't go anywhere and leered down at her.
"Wow, I can't believe you're actually talking back to me! You've got guts! I never thought you had it in you…" Brandy gave her another sneer, before she turned around and left. As she turned the corner, she passed by Seifer, who in turn gave her the coldest look she has ever seen. She paused and glanced at him sideways. "Too bad you won't be there tonight. You would miss out on so many 'good' things at the dance." She gave a snort, before walking away, followed by her two friends.
"She's right…" Seifer said, approaching Quistis, who was just closing the janitor's closet door behind her. "I never thought you had it in you either."
Quistis laughed. "Well, you've taught me a lot of things." She walked back to the ticket sales table and picked up the tape dispenser, the scissors and the large unused white poster board in her arms and it ended up falling on the ground. Seifer picked it up and followed Quistis down to the supplies room.
"I guess I DON'T need to worry about you, after seeing you back there," Seifer said, when they had put all the things back in the supply room and were now walking back down the hallway. "But….what things HAVE I taught you? I don't remember teaching you to bad mouth back to Brandy."
The blond girl shrugged. "Must be your confidence," she replied.
Seifer snorted and stared at her curiously. "My confidence? I don't have that much confidence and if you're talking about me beating up your dad, to tell you the truth, I was freaked out…He was MUCH taller than me you know."
Quistis laughed. "No, it's not that. What I mean is…you have confidence in yourself. You don't care about what other people think about you. That's always been my problem ever since I hit high school. I didn't want to be friends with any of the kids, because I was scared about what they think of me. And when I did that, other kids started talking about me behind my back and rumors began to spread. They didn't like me at all and I grew distant from them."
Seifer rolled his eyes and for some reason, reached out to grab her hand as they walked down the hall. "That's because those kids were morons," he simply said. "They believed in stupid rumors and most of them are JUST rumors anyway! I HATE it when people do that…."
The blond girl squeezed his hand gently and smiled up at him. "So what does this mean?"
"What does what mean?"
"……"
"What?" Seifer stared at her curiously.
Quistis gave him a strange look and lifted up their hands together in front of him. "US you idiot!" she gave a short chuckle, before putting their hands down beside them.
"Oh…" Seifer rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well of course we're dating! What does it look like!?"
"I guess we are!" she laughed, that joyful laugh Seifer loved to hear and let go of his hand. She hopped ahead of him, putting her hands behind her back and skipped down the hallway. "You know, it's quite nice with this school so quiet…without people."
Seifer looked around. Indeed, it felt nice. There was no noise, there was no crowd that usually drove him nuts if he had to go to the other side towards the cafeteria and there was definitely no Brandy and Jacque to stare back at him with their demonic eyes. He glanced ahead of him to see Quistis continually skipping down the hall like an excited child in an amusement park. "Seifer," she suddenly said. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "I'm glad I met you."
"You know, that's very corny," he said, smirking as he caught up to her.
Quistis glared at him, slapping the back of Seifer's head when she finally had the chance. "Hey! Come on! I'm trying to express my feelings here!"
"All right! All right! Geez! You don't have to slap me so hard!" Seifer hissed, rubbing his injured head. "Damn woman, must you be so-!" He was interrupted when Quistis suddenly moved towards him and gave him a kiss.
After a while, she let go, leaving a shocked expression on Seifer's face. "Must I be so what?"
Seifer blinked. "Uh….I forgot."
*****************************
"Hmph! So it IS true! I cannot believe zis! What do we do?" he turned to glance at his companion.
Brandy leaned close to him and curled a strand of his dark hair around her finger. "Don't worry about it! You heard what I found out from Lisa, she's going with you still! She's too nice to turn a handsome guy like you! It won't be long until we get to have our fun!" (A/N: *snicker* nice girl indeed! Wait until the dance! ;))
Jacque turned around to face her and placed his hands around her waist and smiled. "Let me ask you zis. What exactly do you have against zis girl?"
Brandy frowned. "Why are you asking? Are you telling me that this girl is NOT worth getting revenge on!?" She let go of him and planted both her fists on her waist. Brandy pouted, knowing full well that Jacque couldn't resist that look on her face.
"Non, non, of course not…arggh! You are very irresistible!" He leaned down and began kissing her neck, her cheeks and finally, her lips. They were now lost in their own passion to care that Seifer and Quistis had left the building.
********************************
Night time quickly came. He found himself, for some reason, standing behind a tree, watching at the exact moment she came out of the house all dressed up. Seifer's eyes went from a roundness of curiosity to an oval shaped look of shock when he noticed the gown she was wearing. It was dark red, with black designs all around it, a perfect pick for someone as beautiful as Quistis Trepe. Seifer smiled as she stepped out of the house, escorted by….his fists tightened immediately at the sight of Jacque, the man who would be at the dance with HIS woman. "Calm down….calm down….She'll be fine…." Seifer said to himself. Snap! The blond man looked down and noticed that the twig he was holding snapped in two. He sighed, throwing the twig aside and stuffed his clenched fists in his trench coat pocket.
"If you're THAT worried about her…" Startled by the voice behind him, Seifer jerked his whole body around and noticed Charlotte standing there, holding two paper bags full of groceries in her arms.
"Geez, you scared me!" Seifer spoke, taking a deep breath.
"If you're THAT worried about her, then why don't you just go with her?" Charlotte asked, adjusting the stuff in her arms.
Seifer said nothing for a while, as he took one heavy paper bag off of Charlotte's way and put it in his own arms. As soon as he adjusted it in his own arms, the blond man sighed and looked over his shoulder as the car drove away towards Balamb High. "You know I can't," he said.
"Who said you couldn't?" She walked pass him and began walking back inside the house. Seifer followed suit. "I mean it's not like you can't do anything about it. I seriously don't trust that boy she went with." Charlotte unlocked the door and opened it wide, leaving Seifer room to squeeze through. She removed her shoes quickly and walked over to the kitchen to put the groceries down on the counter.
"What do you suggest I do? Follow them and make sure NOTHING happens? There's going to be security guards there anyway. Last year it was so bad that the Principal had to put security guards around the doors and checking around the premises, making sure NO ONE gets through without a ticket." He did the same with his groceries and placed it beside the other one.
Charlotte shrugged, slowly taking out the groceries out of the paper bag one at a time, once in a while, glancing at the worried look on Seifer's face. "Well, aren't you the type of guy who doesn't follow the rules?" She gave Seifer a reassuring smile.
"What's this?" he asked suddenly, putting all the canned tomatoes on the counter. "Is this Charlotte Meyers I'm talking to?"
The dark haired woman shrugged and turned her head away from the blond to continue putting away her groceries inside the cabinet. "Hey I was ONCE a teenager you know. I've….broken rules before. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Besides…" She stopped whatever she was doing and looked up at Seifer. "Even if she says she'll be fine, SOMEONE should be there to support her. And I just don't trust this Jacque fellow. With her mother gone and her father in jail, I'm the only parent in her life now…" She kept his gaze on him, telling him with her eyes that she meant every word she said.
Seifer nodded. "I understand." Yes, he understood every word she said. Even if she doesn't say it, Charlotte was VERY worried for her niece and just by looking at her, brought back memories to the time his mother was still alive and worried and cried over him when he didn't come home after his parents announced they were getting a divorce. She tried her best to keep a straight face when he finally DID come home, but Seifer could tell she was crying a lot with just one glimpse of her red eyes. With that thought out of his mind, Seifer continued to help Charlotte with the groceries and just as he was about to grab the dozen eggs from the paper bag, Charlotte's hand went over his shoulder. He glanced at her and she gave a smile.
"You know even if Quistis doesn't admit it, I know that she is truly happy with you now. When she moved here, I never noticed the smile on her face. I could tell it was all a lie, but when she came home yesterday, there was a real glow on her face." She removed her hand, keeping the smile on her face.
Seifer thought of her smile and nodded. "Yes, when she smiles, it's like the clouds above me had begun to clear, replacing them with sunshine."
Charlotte laughed. "You sound like a poet!"
Seifer just shrugged. "I guess I got the poetic talents from her."
"You should go and catch up to her, make sure that kid doesn't do anything he'll regret." She patted him once more on the shoulder and went back to putting away the groceries. She listened as Seifer mumbled, 'thank you' to her, before turning around and leaving the house.
"No…I should be the one thanking you," she whispered to herself.
~7:03pm Balamb High Spring Dance at the large gymnasium~
"Oh damn! Who is that babe!?"
"I want a piece of her!"
"Oh geez, WHAT is she wearing? Is that like a dress or a cloth!?" A girl with blond braids nudged her friend standing beside her, who seemed quiet than usual. "Do you see that Brandy!? I can't believe she actually showed up!"
Brandy said nothing and shrugged. "So what? It's not like it's going to ruin anything." She turned away and began pouring punch in her glass, hiding the fact that she was grinning from head to toe, knowing of what will become of Quistis Trepe in the middle of the dance. She could feel her friend staring at the back of her head. The red head rolled her eyes. "Maryanne, you should just ignore it and enjoy the dance, all right!?"
Maryanne gave her another knowing look and walked back to where they were seated with their friends. Brandy joined them a few seconds later and watched as Quistis and Jacque made their way to a table across from them. When she had the chance at that moment, Brandy grinned and winked at Jacque from the table. Jacque did so in return, but had to look away when Quistis began talking to him.
"Wow, I've never been in a dance before!" Quistis gasped, looking around quite excitedly, while at the same time, trying to keep her composure.
"Well, you will see soon enough how EXCITING it will be mademoiselle!" Jacque lifted up Quistis' right hand and kissed the back of it gently. The blond smiled, but in the back of her head, she imagined cutting his lips that was basically trying to run his tongue over her hand with a bread knife, but that would be too messy to begin with. She would require something quieter and less revealing so no one will ever know what she's done to him. Then again, she wasn't a murderer….
He kept his lips on her hand.
Yet…
Suddenly, the moment the Principal came into the front to talk in the microphone, everything was quiet. "All right! Good evening everyone! Welcome to the annual Balamb High Spring Dance!" With these words, loud cheers and hoots were heard around the gymnasium from the nicely dressed students. "This dance is for anyone and EVERYONE who goes to this school, but this is a lot more special since it's the last year of our seniors here in Balamb High!"
Again, another cheer and loud claps, but this time, it came from the seniors.
"All I have to say is….good luck seniors and HAVE FUN TONIGHT!" With those last words, he lifted up his hand like a dictator dictating to some of his people, but even then, none of the students cared enough about that little 'fact,' instead, they cheered and hooted and clapped even louder than before. Principal Belaford stepped out of the podium to join the other teachers watching the dance, making sure no one would slip any alcohol into the drinks. The next one to step into the podium was now the DJ, who went into his corner to start the music. "All right dance goers, let's start this night off with a little fast music to get your heart pumpin'!" he spoke, almost kissing the microphone.
Again, more cheers and as soon as the music started many of those sitting down, stood up and joined their partners on the dance floor. Quistis watched students trying to dance, while others (mostly those who were members of the Dance Club and were girls), danced naturally, putting their own style into it. Brandy was dancing with a very familiar face and the blond girl was shocked to realize that it was Travis she was dancing with. She wondered what happened to HIS date, but then again it wasn't really her business. Quistis noticed Selphie and Zell having the time of their lives. Suddenly, Jacque's hand went on top of hers. It lingered there for a while, until he grabbed it around his fingers and grinned at her. "Want to dance?"
In the back of her head, she wanted to refuse, but she couldn't just sit there and make a fool out of herself. Brandy would surely get a kick out of that, so Quistis smiled, nodded and stood up. She was slowly led into the dance floor and by the time they reached a spot, the fast music stopped, followed by a slow one. "Great timing!" Jacque whispered in her ear. He pulled her closer in his arms and led her into the slow beat. Everyone else around them did the same, lost in their own world to see who was dancing around them. Quistis had no choice but to put her head on his shoulder, but as soon as she did, she rolled her eyes, imagining breaking Jacque's neck with her bare hands. It would be interesting to do, but it still wasn't the right time. Jacque really didn't do anything to embarrass her….yet. "Hey," he suddenly whispered in her ear. "Do you want to go outside for a little bit?"
Quistis pulled away slowly and looked at him. "Why?"
Jacque smiled softly and pulled her close again. "I want to show you something wonderful at the football field. It's very beautiful really when you watch it at night."
"Watch what?" Now she was getting curious. It couldn't hurt to risk what he would have in store for her.
"Every night, there is zis how should I say… fireflies that fly around. They are very beautiful."
'Oh yes, fireflies, in the middle of the field,' she thought. 'Very romantic indeed, Jacque. Aren't you such a good little liar?' She smiled and nodded, deciding to play along and wonder where this was going. "All right, let's see these fireflies."
Jacque grinned again, taking her hand in his. 'Yes! She's taking it! HAH! HAH!' He turned around and pulled her with him, leading her to the back entrance of the gymnasium, which quickly led to the football field. He quietly closed the door behind them and smiled again. "You will love it. Now, I want you to close your eyes."
"My eyes? Why?"
"Go on! Close it!" Jacque had a demanding tone on this, but Quistis still played along, to make him believe she didn't know what SURPRISE he had for her, so she closed her eyes. "Good! Now, I want you to follow me!" He led her down somewhere, since Quistis could see nothing but darkness and after a couple more steps, they stopped.
Quistis shivered. "Jacque, it's getting cold, can we go back inside now?" She frowned, her eyes still closed and her patience running out.
"Not yet. Just hang on just a little longer!"
The blond sighed. "Okay."
********************
"I'll kill you if you do anything to her Jacque!!!!" he howled, walking towards the front door of the gym.
"Hey! STOP!" He felt a pair of large hands on his shoulders. Seifer stopped and turned around and noticed a tall, bald headed security guard glaring down at him. "Do you have a ticket, young man?" He stepped in between Seifer and the entrance door to the gymnasium.
"I need to get in there! I lost my ticket, okay!? I can't find it and now someone I care about is in there, probably being groped by another guy that I LOATHED so much! Will you PLEASE let me in!?"
It seemed the man was thinking about what he said, but Seifer wasn't out of the hole yet when the man shook his head, placing his hand in front of him as if expecting for the blond to put the ticket on his hand after all. "Even if it's personal emergency, I still can't let you through. It's school regulations that anyone without the ticket MAY NOT enter!"
"FINE! Forget it then…you lame ass…." He mumbled, as he turned and left. The only entrance now was through the football field, which he knew Principal Belaford wasn't going to have monitored, since the fences were already kept locked to keep anyone out. Seifer was lucky to know the way through the fences without being caught.
*********************
"NOW!" Jacque roared.
"What?" Quistis didn't expect him to yell so loud! She opened her eyes quickly, but the last thing she saw was a flash in front of her, followed by loud laughter around her. Suddenly, she felt cold and as she looked down, her chest was revealed. Three people she never knew were there, had suddenly appeared, one holding a camera in his hand, grinning from head to toe. Jacque was looking at her up and down, standing just behind her. "What a beautiful view!" he said.
"So what does it feel like to be, 'popular' Ms. Math Trepe?" Brandy laughed.
Quistis quickly lifted up her ripped dress up her chest, her face so red that no one can tell now WHICH was redder, her dress, or her face. She turned around, gave Jacque a look of pure hatred and clenched her right fist, while her left hand held the dress tightly over her bare chest. Without knowing it, her clenched fist suddenly connected with Jacque's face. The laughter paused and Quistis watched as Jacque fell unconscious on the ground.
"JACQUE!" Brandy squealed, running to her boyfriend's side. "WHY YOU….!" She stood back up and charged forward towards the blond girl.
"Ouch…" Quistis murmured, rubbing her sore right fist. She looked up just in time to see Brandy charging towards her, but her dress got caught from the heel of her shoes and she fell flat forward with her face on the ground. The blond girl rolled her eyes. "Oh geez…."
"Quistis!" Immediately after that happened, Quistis looked up to find Seifer, followed by Zell and Selphie running up to her. The other two who were there, turned and began to run.
"HEY!" Quistis screamed. "Give me back my pictures you jerks!"
"What?" Seifer asked the moment he got to her. He glanced down at the unconscious Jacque and looked up at her.
"What are you talking about Quisty!?" Selphie wondered, only noticed the two running away.
"They have the pictures of me in there!"
"STOP TH-!" Selphie yelled, but before she could finish her sentence, Zell was already running towards the one holding the camera. Since he was a football player running in the field, it was easy to catch up to the young freshman, even with the wrong type of shoes. The blond tackled the younger man to the ground, the camera falling hard on the newly sprinkled grass.
Quistis sighed and turned around to look at Seifer. "What are you doing here?"
Seifer shrugged. "Um…well I was worried about you and…" He looked around, trying to avoid her eyes, but ended up looking back down at the unconscious French guy. "Did you do that to him?"
The blond girl glared down at Jacque. "Either that or he fell down on the ground himself like that."
Selphie stared at her in shock. "You…punched him!"
"I was mad…You'd be too if he took a picture of my naked chest!"
Seifer's eyes turned into thin slits. "He WHAT!?"
Zell appeared a few seconds later, dragging with him the scared freshman with the camera. "Here's the sneak," he said.
Seifer grabbed the camera from the younger boy's hand and glared at him. "James Haughton…" he mumbled. "I KNEW something was up with you, always following Brandy like a little puppy dog."
Quistis looked at the short freshman in shock. "I was NICE to you! Why did you do that!?" She shivered as wind went down her back. She felt something warm go around her shoulders. The blond girl looked up and noticed that Seifer had put his trench coat over her shoulders and was now buttoning it to make sure no cold wind could go through her bare skin. "Thank you," she whispered to him.
"She….she…SHE THREATENED ME!" His eyes turned into thin slits of fear when he noticed Brandy slowly getting up from the ground, her face now covered in dirt.
"WHO YOU LITTLE-!"
"That's enough! What's going on here!?"
All heads turned to the direction of the voice. Principal Belaford was standing there, with his arms folded across his chest. Two teachers were standing to either side of him, while other students, who had seen the whole thing, watched curiously from behind him. "Principal Belaford, thank God you're here!" Brandy squealed, going up to him and tugging at his shirt. "Seifer came and ATTACKED me and Quistis! So Jacque came to help us, but Seifer was so strong!"
"What!?" Seifer screamed, ready to lunge at her, but Quistis' arm had snaked itself around his arm, calming him down a bit. "That's a lie!"
"YOU'RE THE LIAR! Principal! You should know him better than me! He's ALWAYS had the reputation of being a troublemaker in the school! So…Send him home or something! Put him in jail for attacking me! He's just a psycho who likes to attack people! He should be-!" She was stopped short when Quistis slapped her across the face. Brandy stared at her, while Quistis held her gaze towards the other girl.
"Don't you DARE call him a psycho you selfish, snot-nosed BRAT!" Quistis spat.
Brandy was about to charge again, when Principal Belaford grabbed her by the arm. "All right, that's enough. No more fighting, I've seen enough! Brandy, Quistis, Seifer and James, come to my office right now! Someone…please wake up Mr. Johnson from his sleep there," he spoke, pointing to Jacque.
"What? Who's Mr. Johnson?" Brandy asked.
Belaford looked at her. "Why, it's the one whom you call, Jacque, Ms. McFadden."
Zell kneeled down besides Jacque and slapped his face silly until he opened his eyes groggily. "Hey wake up, Jacque or whoever the hell you are!" He practically pulled him up on his feet.
"Jacque? Baby are you all right?"
Jacque nodded. "Oui my love," he whispered.
Belaford rolled his eyes. "All right, enough with your games Vernon Johnson!" He took Vernon's arm (Jacque) and pulled him back inside, followed by Quistis, Seifer, Brandy and James.
"Wait! Who's Vernon Johnson! Why do you keep calling him that Principal!?"
Belaford looked at her. "Because he IS Vernon Johnson! He moved here a couple of weeks ago from South Carolina."
"What? You mean the guy who practically wears the same underwear over and over again!?" Zell gave Vernon a disgusted look.
"Is not true Bleach!" Suddenly, the French accent was gone, replacing it with a heavy thick southern accent. "I don't wear them over and over agin! I clean 'em too, by hand washing 'em!"
Once those words came out of his mouth, Brandy collapsed on the floor in shock.
***********************
"Well, this has been an interesting night," Principal Belaford spoke, walking around to sit on his chair. He glanced at the five people involved in this some kind of drama that went on in the football field. Even though Zell didn't need to be there, he decided to let the blond stay anyway to keep James from getting away. It seems the boy was terrified out of his mind, as if expected to be tortured or something that at any time now, he was ready to make a break for it. Brandy was still trying to recover from finding out the real truth about her 'Jacque,' trying desperately to hang on to something, while the man himself, seemed overly confident, twitching at every movement of emotions on his face since the hit he got from Quistis still seemed too painful for him. The blond girl calmly clasped her hands in front of her, standing as still as possible. Seifer had his arms folded across his chest, tapping impatiently as Mr. Belaford prepared to talk and holding something in his right hand. "Okay, I don't want to know WHAT personal matters went on tonight, all I want to know is, WHY…" He turned his eyes towards Quistis. He had seen her hit the poor young man.
Quistis was about to say something, when Seifer decided to interfere. "Belaford, that Jacque, or Vernon, or whatever- is in coerced with Brandy and this James guy!"
Belaford lifted a curious eyebrow, his eyes still on the blond girl. "And how is that?"
Again, Seifer interfered, which was driving the middle aged man nuts. "Vernon took her in the middle of the field and-!" He paused when their nicely dressed Principal lifted up a hand to stop him.
"I don't need the exact details, I already know and Mr. Almasy, I was asking Ms. Trepe the question not you. So…" His eyes slipped from Quistis to Brandy, who was once again on the verge or collapsing, but managed to stand on her feet. "Ms. McFadden and Mr. Johnson, you two were somehow…dating is that correct?"
"Oh yes, very much!" Vernon replied, grinning at Brandy.
Brandy rolled her eyes, planting both her fists on her hips. She seemed to have gotten her 'groove' back together. "No, we weren't. We were just….FOOLING around. We weren't really dating."
Vernon's face fell immediately and said nothing. At that moment, Belaford almost felt sorry for the boy, but decided that it wasn't a good idea, since he already knew what Vernon was up to the moment he stepped into his office. He knew Brandy well too, so he didn't need to complain about anything. Brandy McFadden was the only girl he knew from any other girls who never went for a serious relationship. "Okay, this is an interesting input but I won't hold THAT against you both. Where does James fit in all of this?" This time, he glanced at Seifer. "I suppose you already know the answer to that as well, Mr. Almasy?"
Seifer nodded, moving to hand the item from his hand to the Principal. Belaford took it curiously and realized that the item he was holding this whole time was a camera. "Brandy and JACQUE hired James here-" He paused to pull James in front of him, "to take a picture of her naked!" That thought made him cringe in frustration.
Belaford looked at James eye to eye. "Is this true Mr. Haughton?"
James nodded slowly, his eyes sinking down to the bottom. "Yes, Principal," he said softly.
The middle aged man nodded. He was quite surprised really, why James Haughton, an honor student could be involved in something like this. "Well, since we have the camera and there's nothing else Brandy can do anymore to harm you Ms. Trepe, you and James may go back to the dance. Ms. McFadden and Mr. Johnson, you stay here, I need to speak with you some more."
"Principal?" Quistis finally spoke. "What about Seifer, sir?"
"Seifer?" Belaford glanced at the tall blond man, looking at him up and down. He wore a dark shirt and dark blue jeans with black, army boots pants. It was odd really, seeing the tall youth without his trench coat. Quistis was still wearing it over her shoulder, much too big for her. "Well, he's not exactly dressed for the occasion, but I think I can let you join the dance so he can accompany you."
"Thank you, sir," the blond girl said, now glowing. She reached over and grabbed Seifer's hand. Seifer nodded and together they filed out of the room, followed closely behind by Zell, who was standing and listening quietly this whole time. He met Selphie on their way back to the gymnasium. James was the last to leave and without a word, went back inside the gym, guilt still etched in his mind.
There were whispers and some glances the moment Seifer and Quistis stepped back into the gymnasium, but the two blonds, with their fingers intertwined, didn't care much of what the students were doing. A slow music as playing and all Quistis could think about was Seifer. The blond man pulled her into the dance floor and placed his hand around her waist, leading her into a slow dance. Not too long, Zell and Selphie joined them on the dance floor. Garrett, who appeared out of nowhere, began dancing with a pretty senior with long dark hair and chocolate brown eyes. Quistis immediately recognized her as Juliet Yang, Quistis' friend from art class.
"You know, I was impressed by the way you hit Vernon square in the face, right to where it would leave him unconscious," Seifer whispered in her ear. He pulled away and looked down at her, grinning.
Quistis frowned. "It's not funny," she spoke, adjusting her dress again, making sure it wouldn't fall off. "I didn't mean to hit him that hard." She moved her hands to reach behind her in order to fix the zipper, but Seifer's hand found its way there first, reaching underneath his jacket and quickly zipping it up. She blushed at the contact, but it felt quite good since his hands felt warm and inviting. Slowly, Seifer moved his hand up to zip up her dress and his hands found his way back into a dancing position.
"Better?" Seifer whispered again.
Quistis nodded and smiled, wrapping her arm around his neck. "How did you fix my dress like that? I remember Vernon basically ripped the dress off of me."
Seifer winked at her. "Magic," he simply said.
The blond girl laughed. "Oh? So you DO believe in magic? Me, I believe in miracles," she said, closing her eyes again. "It's a miracle that I was able to find someone as good as you."
Seifer snorted. "How am I 'good' exactly?"
"Simple….all good things come from bad people."
That phrase made Seifer laugh as he held her tightly in his arms. Quistis rested her head on his shoulders, wishing that this night will never ever end.
************************
Rain fell heavily upon them, but the quiet taps of the water from the sky was the only noise being made that morning. Everything else was quiet as they listened to Father Grey speaking, while Lynette Almasy's casket was being lowered into the depth of the earth. He felt his hand being squeezed gently by someone and he looked up to see Quistis giving him a reassuring smile. He felt a lot better now that she was here. He somehow felt no fear or sadness whenever she was nearby.
Across from where he was, stood Bryan, his stepsister and his stepmother, who all looked sullen, despite Seifer's stepmother's lack of knowledge about Lynette. And as soon as Father Grey finished talking, he nodded to Seifer and the blond took a step forward, grabbing a handful of dirt from the pile and threw it gently on top of the casket. Quistis did the same, her hand still intertwined with his and followed him as they walked around the casket before stopping to stand again on the same spot they were before. Next, came Bryan, Halle and their daughter, Dominique. Dominique, innocent as ever, tugged at her mother's sleeve. "Mama? Is someone sleeping in there?"
Halle nodded and gently took her daughter's hand, squeezing it ever so gently. "Yes, someone is sleeping in there."
"But why?"
"Well….she had an accident, so she has to sleep in there for a long time."
Dominique gave her mother another curious look. "How long?"
Halle kneeled down until she was up to her daughter's eye level and hugged her. "I don't know how long, but I know she won't ever wake up again."
Seifer listened to these words, but decided to ignore them. He approached Dominique silently and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Hey, kiddo, would you like to have some ice cream after this?"
Dominique's eyes widened in excitement. "Okay!"
Quistis smiled at him.
"Good, then stop asking questions," he said, grinning at his stepsister.
The little blond girl nodded, then suddenly took her big brother's hand. Surprised at this, Seifer glanced up at Halle, who had stood back up. She gave a silent nod and watched as Dominique, holding Seifer's hand tightly, joined her big brother and Quistis to the side.
After Bryan and Halle, no one else came, except for one other person, whom all of them never expected to be there. Seifer immediately recognized Martine as he marched around the casket and grabbed a handful of the dirt and tossed it gently down on the casket. After him, no one else came.
Father Grey left after consoling to the family. It was now Seifer, Quistis, Dominique, Bryan and Halle last to leave. However, as soon as Seifer and Quistis turned to leave, they were stopped by someone calling Seifer's name. The blond man stopped and looked over his shoulder as Martine approached them. "Seifer," he said, nodding.
Seifer nodded back.
Martine took a deep breath, before nodding at Quistis and said, "I just want to tell you that I'm leaving for California tomorrow."
Seifer turned away and said nothing. "That's good to know. I'm not surprised anyway, since you're good at leaving. I don't know why you have to tell me."
"It's because I want to ask you to come with me," Martine suddenly said, surprising Quistis and Seifer.
The young blond man turned to look at him. "What?"
"I want to spend time with you before you move on with your life after high school. I want to know what it feels like to be a father." Martine stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I guess it was lame for me to say that, since I already DID have a chance to be your father and I never stuck around to figure that out for myself. All I'm asking is for a second chance."
Seifer glared at him. "You already HAD your chance, so why should I-!" He paused when he felt Quistis squeezing his hand gently. The blond man took a deep breath and said, "I'm glad that you want to spend your time with me, Dad, but…I don't want to leave. I want to stay right here with the people that I care about." He glanced at Quistis and smiled at her. "And be with the people that care about me." Seifer turned his head towards Bryan and his new family and smiled. Bryan nodded, Halle smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes and Dominique watched innocently at her big brother.
Martine nodded. "I understand. I guess I can't convince you anymore, since you've already moved on with your life. Hah, that's what I get for missing those seventeen years of your life."
He was about to turn and walk away, when Seifer said, "Hey, dad?"
Surprised, Martine stopped and turned around to look at him. "What is it?"
"Why don't you come with us? We're going out to lunch."
Martine blinked and glanced over at Bryan, who nodded reassuringly at him that it was all right. "Well, I don't know…I don't think I should come with you guys. I mean, you're family and- I really need to pack and-!"
"What are you talking about?" Seifer interrupted. "You ARE family. I called you 'dad' didn't I?" He gave an attempt to truly smile, but it ended up into a smirk.
Martine decided to think of that as a good smile and shrugged. "If you want."
"Of course we want you there, Martine," Bryan said. "Families stick together, right?" He gently took Halle's hand in his and squeezed it gently. Dominique approached her big brother and wrapped her little arms around his leg. Seifer placed a hand on her head and smiled up at Martine. "Right," he whispered.
Martine looked at Bryan and gave a smile. "Sure," he finally said, stuffing his hands in his pockets the second time.
GoodGurl: WEEE!! Finished with the Seiftis! Next will be the final Zelphie (which explains why Garrett was at the dance) and Squinoa (which will explain why Rinoa wasn't at the dance either). After that, will the FINAL FINAL chapter! The