A/N: Well...here's chapter 18. Hehehe...Also, new contest is up! The same rules apply to CONTEST : RARE as it did for CONTEST : LOVE. PLEASE NOTE: the contest stories are one shots. If you want me to continue them...then I need reviews. Simply put as that. Umm...CONTEST : RARE is basically the 'rare' couples' of FF8. Vote for your favorite. Each chapter of ANY STORY counts as a vote, as does e-mailing. You can only e-mail once and review each chapter of each story ONCE. Here are the couples: Squall/Fuujin, Squall/Xu, Irvine/Xu, Zell/Fuujin, Seifer/Xu, Quistis/Nida, Quistis/Raijen (my personal fave.), Selphie/Nida, Rinoa/Nida

Chapter 18

Quistis curled her legs up to her chest, the tears still falling down. She breathed in and looked around. Sure enough, there was his ring on the chain he had given her on her nightstand table. She reached for it, her arm stretching out, but she couldn't reach it. She let out a sigh. "Just what my life has always been...I never could get the stuff I wanted..."

She sighed and let her arm drop. She coiled her arm back to her, hugging herself tightly. There was a soft 'ding' sound and the speakers went off. "Quistis Trepe, please report to the Headmaster's office."

She sighed again. "No," she mumbled out. She was sick of running around doing stupid little things. She stayed curled up in a tight ball, letting the minutes pass on by. She rested her head on her knees, staring at nothing.

The same noise was made and Nida's voice was heard this time. "Quistis Trepe, please report to the Headmaster's office, immediately."

She shook her head, despite the fact that no one was around. "Why the hell should I?" she whispered out.

ooooo

Squall listened to the page and blinked, staring at a depressed Selphie and a confused Zell. "Quistis...that was the girl that came in here right?" he asked them.

Selphie nodded her head, looking helplessly at Squall. "You really don't remember her? I mean...this isn't some sick joke, right?"

Squall sighed and held his head. "I have a vague memory of her as my instructor...but, nothing else..."

Zell shrugged and looked at Squall. "We all grew up in the orphanage...you don't remember her then?" he asked. Squall shook his head. "We all defeated Ultimecia."

"No...I remember Seifer, and how he turned into the Sorceress' knight...I remember Rinoa becoming a Sorceress, I remember Trabia being bombed, I remember Balamb almost being bombed, I remember the Galbadia Garden attacking us, I remember everything...but...Quistis," he said with an almost uncertainty, "doesn't come into any of those parts."

Selphie sighed and reached for his files, browsing through them. She pulled out his first mission, the field exam. "Read this."

"Quistis Trepe! Report to the Headmaster's office, immediately!" Nida's voice rung out. Selphie looked worriedly towards the speakers, her heart breaking apart, trying to understand how Quistis feels.

ooooo

"Sir," Irvine said.

"Where is she?" Cid was angry at the fact that she was late. She was always on time...ALWAYS. He knew that even if she was in the bathroom taking a shower, she'd stop and come running.

"...she must be hurt to find out that Squall doesn't remember her."

Nida looked worriedly at Cid. He was pacing...and when Cid paced, he was angry. "And she ignores orders because of that? No, Irvine...she's not like that."

Cid looked over at Nida, nodding his head. Nida pressed the small blue button, speaking once again. "Quistis, please...come to the Headmaster's office!"

He released the button and looked at Irvine. Selphie had consoled in Nida everything about the three of them. Irvine sighed and looked down at the ground. "Want me to go and get her?"

Cid stood there, sighing softly.

ooooo

Quistis was now standing up, looking in the mirror at herself. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks stained with tears. He didn't remember her...She inhaled and sighed. "He doesn't remember me," she announced to the mirror. She looked in it, seeing the tears streaking down her eyes. A soft buzzer caused her to turn and look outside the bathroom door. She raised the wet washcloth to her face, wiping her face gently.

The buzzer rang again as she wiped off her face one last time, the puffiness dropping, the redness clearing, and the stained cheeks gone. She raised a dry washcloth to her face, getting rid of the small droplets of water. The buzzer rang again.

She turned her head, screaming now, "FUCK OFF!"

The buzzer rang again.

"For the love of..." She walked over to the door, pressing the button to open it. She stared at Irvine who only frowned at her. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Nida has been paging you."

She spun around, her blonde hair fanning out. He noticed that it was down then. "Why should I go?"

"Cause...Cid's concerned about it."

She let out a small grunt and waved her hand. "Well, tell him that I'm fine."

Irvine frowned and pressed the button to close the door. "No, your not." She walked in the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

The 'ding' sound was made again. Instead of Nida's voice, it was Cid's own voice. "QUISTIS LYNN TREPE! GET TO MY OFFICE NOW!"

Quistis opened the door and stared at the speaker in her room. Irvine looked over at her and frowned. "Will you come with me?"

"...whatever."

ooooo

Squall stood up, walking around. He grabbed a muffin and looked at Selphie, her face still hung down. She had refused to even look at him. Zell was babbling about nothing important. Then the page went off. It was her name, again. "Cid sounds angry," he announced to them.

Selphie sniffled softly and both of the boys turned and looked at her. "Well, Quistis is always on time..."

Squall nodded his head, taking a bite out of the muffin and swallowing after chewing. "...so, where is Rinoa again? I would like to see her..."

ooooo

Quistis stormed through the crowd of people, her blonde hair floating towards Irvine as he followed her close behind. The students looked at her, noting that she did look different. Quistis walked to the elevator, pressing the button. Irvine walked behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She twitched and turned to face him, her sapphire eyes a cobalt blue now. Irvine slowly moved his hand away and shook his head. The elevator reached the third floor and Quistis stepped off and directly into the chest of Cid. "Just what exactly took you so long?" he asked.

She backed away, backing into Irvine. She hung her head, her blonde hair covering her face. "I'm sorry."

He sighed and shook his head, shaking a steady finger at her. "Now, you listen to me, Quistis...You're stressing yourself out. Irvine came to me and told me that Squall seems to have forgotten you." She blinked, not even bothering to stare at the Headmaster. "I know you must be very upset, considering he is a childhood friend. So, I am sending you and Irvine on a little vacation."

Her face shot up. "Irvine? Why Irvine?" she asked. Irvine rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall.

Cid began to walk away. Nida watched intently from the doors to the office. "He was concerned about your well-being."

She hung her head again, hearing the door slam shut. She turned and looked at Irvine, glaring intensely at him. He glared right back at her and entered the elevator, pulling her in with him. "You're not gonna mope around the Garden until Squall remembers you. It's just to relax you, get your mind off of him. Cid is gonna tell Selphie and Zell to get him to remember you, ok?"

Her glare softened. "Why are you doing this?"

He sighed and grasped his hat, pulling it off and rubbing his head with his other hand. "Because I like you, a lot!" He placed his hat back on. "We leave in two days...pack for a month."

"A month?" she exclaimed. The doors opened and Irvine left the elevator. "Where?"

He turned around, smiling. "Winhill."

ooooo

The sound of a twig snapping, perked the sniper's ears. He turned in the direction of the sound, raising his finger to his mouth. "Sh!"

"Sorry!" the male voice responded. He walked into the light, his spikey blonde hair pointing up into the air. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I got a favor to ask you," Irvine replied.

Zell blinked. "No more fireworks...I almost got in so much trouble last time!"

"No. What I need you to do is keep a huge secret and do something very important for me..."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, first...keep Squall away from Rinoa, ok?" Zell nodded his head. "Second...you tell NO ONE that Quistis and I are going to Shumi Village."

"But...Cid told us it was Winhill."

"I decided to change it. It got okayed by Cid...and I told him I want to keep it a secret so no one bothers Quistis. You're gonna be driving the Ragnarok there so tell NO ONE, ok?"

"Sure sure...Hey," Zell said, "are you going to get her to finally go out with you?" he asked, curious of his friends' happiness.

Irvine chuckled lightly. "Gonna try!"