I really hate coming back to school. I wish they would ease us into it slowly, like have first one day of school, then two, then three, then five. Alas. Not to mention the fact that I have cramps that coulda stopped GODZILLA in his tracks! Okay, enough bitching. Lemmie write.

I own nothing. Those of you who have not yet figured that out should promptly turn around and run from the room in pure terror while I come after you with a meat tenderizer.

                                                                                                         ~*~

Chapter 3:

Blackmailed!

"Yuna Bamarre, you ditched me!" Rikku was in a sour mood and was pacing in front of Yuna, screaming and shaking her fist. Yuna had told Cid a boldfaced lie, and her uncle had bought it. But that didn't mean Rikku would. She was positively enraged.

          "Rikku, please understand," she said softly, "but I had no choice. Don't ask, but please you have to believe me!" She begged.

          "Vey… Yunie, what coulda happened? What would she've done? Forced you at Moomba-point?"

          "No—"

          "Firaga or Thundaga spell?"

          "Rikku—"

          "Did she—"

          "Seymour Guado is stalking me!" She buried her face in her hands after she spilled her secret. Rikku's eyes widened.

          "Mister Seymour? From school?" She knelt down next to her on the floor, putting her arm around her shoulders.

          "Yes," she admitted. She felt her cousin had a right to know this. "He's been stalking me for three years. Since I was in ninth grade. He wants me. And I know what he wants me for. But Rikku, you have to understand, you absolutely cannot let this slip. Understand?" Rikku knew this voice. It was the voice that meant business.

          "Okay, Yunie. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

          "Nobody does. Only Lulu does. She has also been sworn to secrecy." She went to her bedroom door and walked into the room. Ursa was sleeping on her bed. "Night, Rikku."

          That night, Yuna slept fitfully, waking up often in a cold sweat only to have the details of her nightmares slip from her grasp. The only thing she remembered about them was that they featured Seymour and herself. She eventually was too afraid to close her eyes again; too afraid to let herself go back to sleep.

          The next morning, she stumbled downstairs in a groggy, sleepy daze. Cid offered to drive them to a movie or to the mall before he left for work. Rikku accepted but Yuna declined. She felt she needed to stay home today. Instead, she drank black coffee and tried to work on her painting. Eventually, she had to call Lulu and hope that her friend could talk sense into her.

          "I'm serious, Lu, I think I'm going mad!"

          "Yuna, luv, I wish I could tell you to just forget it. You called because you wanted me to talk sense, but I can't right now—not in face of these changes."

          "What changes?" Yuna looked at the telephone funny.

          "Well, look—Kimahri was your guardian, right? No one dared to cross a Ronso, and he protected you for years. That's why Seymour never actually made a pass at you. But now… now he's gone. In Gagazet, which is a fair distance from here. He's got a chance at you that he never had before. He'll be more aggressive, Yuna. Look, you're my friend and I don't want that creep to hurt you. Promise me—promise me you'll tell someone."

          Silence from Yuna's end.

          "Yuna, dammit, promise me!" There was a crack to Lulu's voice.

          "Okay… I promise," Yuna replied meekly.

          "Rikku doesn't count you know."

          Yuna nodded, even though she knew Lulu couldn't see it. "I know," she whispered. "I'll tell. I'll have to… this has gone on long enough."

          "Good," Lulu said, sounding a bid more confident. "And if you break that promise, I'll have your knees broken."

          "Don't be silly," Yuna said, mood lightened. "Where are you gonna get the fifteen-hundred gil to have that done?"

          Usually, after such encounters with Seymour, Yuna would fake sick and stay home from school the following school day. But she didn't this time; as a senior, she couldn't chance it. Instead, she held her head high and assailed her dignity as she entered Symour Guado's classroom.

          "Good morning, Yuna," he said to her. "Are you not warm wearing that?" He pointed to her attire—jeans and a shapeless shirt. It was warm out and inside, but she would never show any skin, for fear of enticing Seymour. Yuna felt anger boil in her stomach, but she forced it down.

          "Good day, sir," she said softly, not looking at him and instead taking her seat and waiting for the rest of the class. She usually paid attention to what he was saying, but today her mind wandered from Ancient Spiran History to the people in her class, specifically one person that she had not noticed there before: Tidus Reina. He fell fast asleep halfway through the class, drooling all over his hand.

          "Tidus Reina!" Seymour snapped. "Is there a reason why you are asleep in my class?" Tidus did not stir. "Somebody wake him up!" He demanded. A few wise guys decided it would be funny to chuck balls of paper and bubblegum wrappers at him. Eventually, the teenager was roused from his nap.

          "I'm up," he grumbled, yawning casually and rubbing his eyes.

          "Tidus Reina."

          "Yo," he leaned back in his chair, obviously not at all frightened by Seymour.

          "I insist you share with the class your reasoning for falling asleep."

          "It's early—I'm tired. Is that reason enough?" He asked, the definition of innocence written in his eyes.

          "I'm afraid that's not a legitimate answer. Can you not give me a legitimate answer, or do you know what a legitimate answer constitutes?" Seymour growled, seemingly quite pleased with himself when Tidus did not answer. "Speak up, boy!"

          "I'm dealing here with a double-bladed sword," Tidus replied confidently. "If I refuse to give you my real answer for falling asleep in class, you'll give me a detention; if I do give it, you'll give me a detention anyway because you'll think I'm a disrespectful little cunt."

          The class gasped at his crude dialect in front of a teacher. Seymour began to fume slightly, and Yuna swore she could see smoke coming out of his ears like when a teapot heats up.

          You will answer the question, boy!" He hissed.

          "Fine. Your class is boring me to death. For a while, I wasn't sure if I had fallen asleep or if it was actually possible to die of boredom!"

          Seymour's already unattractive face twisted, giving the impression that he was suffering from a sudden ruptured appendix. His eyes blazed as he and Tidus had a brief stare-down; icy purple eyes met calm blue.

          "You—get out. Get out of my classroom, this minute!" He pointed to the door.

          "I told you I was playing with a double-edged sword. Well, I caught one edge, and I guess it doesn't matter because I'm outta here. Adios, Mister Seymour!" He left the room with a mock-bow. A few people sniggered softly and others whispered amongst themselves.

          "You find this funny?" He growled at them. Everyone immediately shut up. "Thought so." He turned to the board and went back to his lesson. Yuna, however, was thinking about what had just happened. Tidus stood up to Seymour. No one really ever did. He was a widely respected man, at least in the school. Tidus must have been able to smell the same rotten stench on him that she could. She wanted to ask him, but she was too afraid to talk to him.

          The bell rang, signaling the end of class, and students began to file out of the room.

          "Yuna? May I have a word with you?" He asked sweetly. Ice dripped from the words though. What did he have planned? And why was he smiling? Yuna shuddered but did not have the will nor the authority to refuse, and panic took away her ability to lie and make up very good excuses for not coming. She nodded slowly and sat back down, feeling the sweat forming on her forehead and dripping down her back. Nobody entered the room, so he probably didn't have a class this period. She felt herself trembling violently. She looked down at her hands, trying to distract herself, and then began chewing on her nails out of nervousness, wincing at the distastefulness of clay caked into her nails.

          "Yuna, come sit," he gestured to the seat nearest to his desk. "No need for me to have to talk to you across the room when there is no one but for the two of us in it."

          "All right," she said quietly, sitting on the edge of the chair and avoiding looking at him; even so, she could feel his eyes on her. Suddenly, he got up, closing the classroom door, then turning to face her for a moment or two. Then he came back to his desk and leaned against it, so that he was closer to Yuna than he had been before.

          "Yuna, I have known you a long time. Since you were a freshman at this school," Seymour began.

          "I know, sir," Yuna said, keeping her voice low and her head lower.

          "You've grown and matured into a fine young woman, Yuna Bamarre." His voice had acquired a sort of audible smirk to it. He went on. "You were never truly accepted at this school, as a person. No one ever really truly liked you, did they?" He asked. Yuna stayed deathly still, almost not daring to breathe. What was he getting at? He reached one of his long hands out to touch her arm. This snapped her back into reality and she jerked back as quickly as she could.

          "What are you getting at?" She asked quickly. The bell rang, and she was now late for class. "Damn."

          "I'll write you a pass," he said casually, standing up. "Sit back down."

          She stayed up, keeping a firm grip on her backpack strap. If he made a move, she could defend herself by hitting him with it because the damn thing weighed thirty pounds. Though if she knocked him out she'd have a lawsuit on her hands…

          "You can get away from all of this you know," he said. "You can get away from these people."

          "What do you mean?" She had a feeling she knew what he meant but she wasn't sure.

          "You're old enough, now. You can leave school."

          "Why would I want to?" She backed up an inch at a time. She'd bloody hit him if he made a pass at her here, with just the two of them in this windowless classroom and the door locked behind them…

          "Come and live with me." The words dropped like icicles on the floor.

          "No," Yuna planted her feet firmly. For the first time, she was standing up to him. She was shaken down to her underwear but she was also not about to let him force her into this. It was one thing for him to flirt with and hit on her. It was another to suggest a relationship like that.

          "A shame, then," Seymour said casually. "Would it not be a shame, then, if everyone found out your dirty secret?"

          "What secret? I'm a WhiteMage—everyone knows it."

          "You have a cousin in this school—by the last name of Meinach. I am a Spiran History teacher, Miss Bamarre. I know full well that 'Meinach' is an Al Bhed name. Your cousin is an Al Bhed. And you, Yuna, are a halfblood."

          Yuna froze. Realization hit her like a blitzball to the stomach, much with the same effect. He was blackmailing her! Blackmailing her to move in with him and drop out of school, no less.

          "You… wouldn't," she stuttered.

          "Finish this semester, and then let me know your answer. I trust that is enough time for you to think it through, finish unfinished business?"

          Yuna couldn't take anymore. She up and left the room, running through the door. She hit someone in the hallway a few feet outside of Seymour's classroom but kept going. She made it safely to the girls bathroom on the other side of the school where she promptly threw her guts up and collapsed on her knees on the tile. Thoughts raced through her mind, quickly and erratically. One thing came to mind, however…

          Her promise to Lulu. She had promised to get help. She had promised to tell someone about Seymour and see that he was stopped. She decided that she would have to act fast. People here respected Seymour, but… Lulu knew the truth. So did Rikku. Tidus was new and obviously didn't like Seymour because of the way he acted in class. Would they listen to her? She could only hope…

                                                                                                   ~*~

DUNDUNDUN! Cliffy! I know; bad, bad VL. But at least it'll keep ya reading. I'll have more stuff up probably Tuesday or Wednesday (Mondays are hectic around here!) so keep checking! Now you know what the plot in this story is. I have never seen this done before and I'll admit to reading most of the AU Highschool Story fics around here. I'll have some Yuna+Tidus interaction in the next chapter, as well. I haven't decided, though, whether I should make Tidus A) burn himself or B) cut himself. What do you think? Review and let me know.

STILL TO COME:

The Witches Three have their time in the spotlight with a Halloween gig that makes everyone stop and think a while. Tidus gets to know Yuna better and discovers that you can't believe everything you hear, especially not in public school. Wakka gots the hots for someone—who is it?—and Yuna gathers all the courage she can to confront people about Seymour Guado.