What had happened was that, while driving in the ocean, Selphie, Cody, and Diehard met up with Jaquel, Samuel, and Rachel in a similar speed boat. Once they talked for a little but, Jaquel, driving the boat, challenged Diehard to a race. Diehard accepted, and the two boats began to race. The soon broke 50 mph, then 60, and 70, making it increasingly hard to see. Many on board confessed there were times they couldn't see at all. None had the aid of glasses to help them against the wind, so seeing was virtually impossible to see anything, especially since it was night time. Eventually, Diehard had ignored the buoys and went into shallow territory, eventually hitting a sandbar and sending Cody flying into the water. Selphie had not fallen into the water because she had been in front of a panel on the boat which she rammed into when the boat stopped short. Other than minor injuries, Cody and Selphie were ok. Selphie complained from a bruised leg and needed to be on crutches for a month or two and Cody received a nasty slash on his face. Seifer had missed all of those things when he saw them, but now he realized the gravity of their situation.
Rachel, Jaquel, and Samuel had hit a smaller sandbar which made the boat tip over when it stopped short, sending Jaquel and Samuel into the water. Jaquel hit his head on a large rock and had gone into a coma, sending Rachel in tears. He was to be the father of her baby, which Rachel had just realized she was having. Samuel pledged to be the baby's father and take the responsibilities to the baby when and if Jaquel survived the attack.
Diehard was taken to a hospital away from Balamb for immediate treatment. He had been thrusted into the steering wheel and one of the levers on the boat was jammed into his stomach and had ruptured an artery, causing severe bleeding. Seifer was told he was in critical condition, but would survive.
Seifer, now, sat in his dorm room by himself. He didn't want to be with Summer at the moment, and she understood and kept her distance. Selphie and Cody were in the infirmary being treated for their minor injuries. The gift Seifer had gotten was on his counter under a small towel, drying. It filled up with water, but that didn't ruin the mechanism of it. Seifer started to hate it because it was a memento of what happened, but he kept it anyway.
At about three A.M. there was a knock on Seifer's door. He opened it to see Rachel Becker at his door. She had on a shirt that was too small on her (different from the one she had on when he had seen her at the pier). It had rumored that Rachel had gone under the knife and received a breast augmentation job with money she received from her rich parents who lived in some distant city Seifer couldn't remember the name of. Her breasts definitely looked bigger, Seifer hadn't noticed until that moment. He hadn't seen her since he went off with Edea. Her dark makeup was off, giving her a sensual look that most girls would envy. He let her in without speaking, and she walked over to his desk chair and sat down.
"I'm really sorry for what happened out there tonight, Seifer," Rachel said pleadingly, leaning in towards him. She had dragged the chair near the foot of Seifer's bed, where Seifer said with his head in his hands, "You've got to believe none of us wanted to see anyone hurt."
"Why are you apologizing, you weren't driving." Seifer said without looking up.
"Jaquel was," Rachel continued, "And he can't speak for himself."
"So you decided to make it better?" Seifer asked sternly, still looking down, "If you haven't noticed, Jaquel and I weren't exactly the best of friends."
"But I've always liked you, Seifer." Rachel said. Seifer looked up and stared at her. Her eyes were purple from her contact lenses.
"Not that way," Rachel said quickly, "I mean, as a friend and person. I think you're a good guy."
"Then why are you apologizing about Selphie, Cody, and Diehard?" Seifer asked.
"Mason and I were friends," She said, looking down, "Good friends." Seifer didn't realized Diehard even knew Rachel, but he supposed he did. He also figured that the two had sex, for most of Rachel's friends did. Jaquel and Samuel both had, many times, but Jaquel was the one who claimed to be her boyfriend. Seifer flashed a look at her finger, which had what looked like an engagement ring.
"A gift from my father," she said quickly, noticing Seifer's stare, "He thinks that if he sends me expensive presents ever so often it makes us close. She examined the ring for a second, reminiscing about her relationship with her father. After a short silence, Rachel spoke again.
"Mason told me how he felt about you," Rachel said, "That's why I'm here. I know you were close."
"We are," Seifer said, "But not in the way you're thinking."
"I didn't mean to sound like he already went." She said calmly, "The doctors said he probably won't."
"I know." Seifer replied listlessly. Rachel looked like she was suffering, but Seifer didn't move to comfort her. He was very angry at her, even though his anger was unfairly directed. She was there, so he was taking his anger out on her.
"I know you probably just think I'm a stupid whore, but I felt for him, too," Rachel said, "And I just wanted to apologize for putting his life in jeopardy, even if I didn't do it. I was involved some way, so I guess that makes me responsible, also." She was on the verge of tears and her lip began to quiver. Seifer looked up at her unmoved.
"And I hope when he comes back to Garden he can forgive us all, but I want your forgiveness most of all." She said, tears streaming down her face.
"I won't give it." Seifer said monotonously.
"Please," she begged, "Why can't you forgive me?"
"Not you," Seifer said, "Jaquel."
"He's dead!" She said loudly through her tears, "My baby will never know its father, and Jaquel won't see him grow up! I know somewhere up where he is he'd value your forgiveness."
"And it wasn't all his fault, you know," Rachel continued, wiping her tears and calming down a bit, "We were all involved." Seifer went over to Rachel and looked at her in the eyes. Her contacts blocked her eyes from showing any emotion. With a sudden effusive emotion, Seifer embraced the girl in his arms, crying softly on her shoulder. She hugged him back, a little shocked.
"I loved him," Rachel said, "And I know that you did, too."
"Damn that Mason." Seifer said through tears.
Selphie's sleepover "Return to Normalcy" was now in vain. The school swarmed with reporters asking about the death of Jaquel, the condition of Diehard, and the condition of Cody and Selphie. Other rumors went around, like there was a hijacking that caused the boat to crash, there was a missing student that had drowned and was forgotten, etc. The reporters thrived of Selphie, who was willing to tell just about anything to make them leave. At one point she took out her knumchuks and was threatening to strike if the reporters didn't leave. The Garden was in a state that was nothing but normal.
"This is insane," Summer remarked, who was seated in detention for insulting Quistis' teaching methods. Seifer sat with her, though he did nothing wrong. He played up the "in a fragile state of mind" card so he wasn't told much about what to do.
"Yes it is." Seifer said, imitating the same blank stare that summer had. After the whole ordeal, Summer had went and gone to dye her hair black. Her new blonde highlights reminded her of the night, so she dyed it so that the entire blonde was away. She looked very attractive with her hair dark, but she looked a lot like Rinoa.
"Do you hate everything about that night?" Seifer asked her.
"Yes." She replied coldly.
"Really?" Seifer asked, almost weakly.
"Yes." She replied with the same bitterness, her stare not fading.
Rachel and Seifer started to talk more frequently than normal after the whole incident. She was a very quirky girl, which made her interesting to talk to. Seifer and she had grown up the same kind of way; parents who seemed like their children were just a side product of sex and were appeased with money most of the time. Seifer's mother adopted him, but she died during a car accident (which made this incident even more horrific for Seifer). Seifer's father never wanted any children, so he was basically kicked to the curb most of the time as a child. Other than paying for the school each year, Seifer and his father barely even spoke.
Rachel had gone back to calling herself Kelly and didn't wear the make up anymore. Samuel kept accusing her of being disloyal to Jaquel, but she ignored him most of the time. She often mourned his death, but Seifer was there to comfort her and she was more times than none comforted by Seifer. Anytime Seifer would ask her why she wasn't upset about Jaquel, she insisted that he would want her to be happy.
Seifer's newfound relationship with Rachel, though, was realized by Selphie and Cody, who had been spending less and less time with Seifer. Things seemed to be shifting back to the ways they were in the beginning where Seifer didn't acknowledge their existence.
"Seifer, what's going on with you?" Cody said, one day when he confronted Seifer, "You never hang with me and the Slephster anymore!"
"I'm not allowed to have other friends?" Seifer asked, busy looking at the music box he had bought as it played the soft music.
"Have, yes," Cody said, demonstrating with his hands, "But you like traded up to that girl Rahcel. Or should I said traded down."
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's pregnant."
"So?"
"You wanna be the dad?"
"Not necessarily."
"Then don't hang with her dude, I hear she's bad news."
"From who?"
"I have friends other than you, you know."
Seifer spend up the box until the music stopped. He then went over to Cody and planted to hands on his shoulders. He moved his face very close to Cody's, to the point where he couldn't see clearly.
"What's bothering you, paisan?" Seifer asked with a smile.
"Paywhat?" Cody asked, pushing Seifer off of him, "You've been acting weird since you started talking to that girl. Everyone says it, even Quistis!"
"Quistis, eh?" Seifer asked, intrigued, "What does she say."
"She used some word 'revert'," Cody said, digging some candy out of his pocket, "I'm not sure what it means."
"It means I'm going back to how I used to act." Seifer said softly, his voice deep.
"Really?" Cody asked, "So does that mean you and Squall are enemies again?"
"Since when were we friends?" Seifer asked, pushing past Cody and walking out of the dorm. Cody knelt down and began to raid Seifer's minifridge.
"What are you saying about me?" Seifer asked sternly, pushing open Quistis' office door.
"Excuse me?" Quistis asked.
"Cody said you were saying something about me reverting." Seifer said, letting himself in and sitting at a chair.
"Cody says many things," Quistis said, "And what would you be reverting back to?"
"Cut the bullshit," Seifer said angrily, slamming his hands down on Quistis' desk, "Why are you talking about me."
"Because you are turning back to your old self again." She replied, standing up and sternly facing him.
"I don't need your analysis of me," Seifer said, staring at her, "So if you don't mind I'd like you to keep your observations to a minimum, and to yourself."
"You're changing," Quistis said, "And I thought you were doing so well."
"Was." Seifer said, getting out of the office and slamming the door.
That night, Seifer tried to phone Summer, but she didn't answer her cell phone. She had gotten a new one and Seifer had found out the number from Selphie. The whole night that Seifer thought Summer had begun to like him has turned out to be a lie. Summer showed little to no interest in Seifer at all and, in fact, chose every chance to ignore him or point out something he'd done wrong. Despite Seifer's best wishes, Summer made it painfully obvious that she had no interest in Seifer whatsoever.
Rachel came over a little later, sensing that Seifer was a little on edge since Summer had shunned him.
"Is everything ok, Seifer?" She asked, pulling down her shirt, which kept on rolling up on her hips.
"Just girl trouble," Seifer said, "Nothing to get alarmed about."
"Which girl?" Rachel asked with a smile on her face. She went on top of Seifer's bed and laid down on her back.
"Summer." Seifer said, fidgeting with his computer. Rachel frowned.
"That girl?" Rachel asked with disgust in her voice, "What do you like about her anyways?"
"I don't know," Seifer said, continuing to type, "I guess she's just on my mind."
"Forget about her," Rachel said, "She's moody that way. At one point it seems like she likes you and then she turns on you."
"You talk to her?" Seifer asked softly.
"Used to. I tired to be a friend, but she just hated on me." Rachel said. Seifer then shut off his computer and laid on his bed next to Rachel.
"I guess she's just that kind of girl that grows on you." Seifer said softly, looking at Rachel in her eyes. Her contacts were out and Seifer noticed she had deep brown eyes.
"Yeah," Rachel said softly. Seifer looked into the woman's eyes, looking for something. He wasn't sure what he was looking for in her eyes, but whatever it was, he couldn't find it.
"What are you looking at?" Rachel whispered, smiling.
"You." Seifer responded softly. He placed a finger to her face, stroking her face. Rachel's eyes then turned sad and she turned away from Seifer.
"I can't." She said sadly, looking up at Seifer's ceiling. She couldn't move much away from Seifer on a twin sized bed.
"Why not?" Seifer asked, looking down at his lap.
"Because I'm pregnant," she said, "It'd be too much of a burden on you. And besides, you're in love." Seifer looked up in surprise. He turned over to Rachel and placed a hand on her face. Rachel looked at him sadly, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Does this feel like the kiss of a man in love?" Seifer asked with a smile, kissing the woman softly on her lips. Rachel closed her eyes tight, not reacting to Seifer's kiss. Seifer moved his lips away with a small sound.
"I know you love her." Rachel said softly, wiping her eyes, "I can tell. You don't kiss like you love her but I know you do."
"Rachel, please?" Seifer asked softly, grabbing her hand. He inhaled deeply. "If your baby needs a father, I'd be happy to be the man." Rachel sat up in surprise, placing a hand to her face. She closed her eyes and cried into her arms. Her hair fell in front of her shoulders, curled prettily at the ends. Her bangs were messy in front of her forehead. Seifer sat up and placed an arm around her shoulders.
"I want to love you," Seifer said, "Please let me."
"You're just hurt," Rachel cried, "You don't really love me. You just want someone and I'm here."
"I promise I will love you." Seifer said, taking a hand from Rachel, "I will love you if you let me." Rachel got off the bed and looked at Seifer with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I can't let you make the biggest mistake of your life by taking me into yours," Rachel cried, "Did you just think we'd make a big happy family?" Seifer was silent. He let himself fall back on his bed. Rachel closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I don't want to make you ruin your life." Rachel repeated desperately.
"My life is already ruined if you walk out that door." Seifer said, looking at the ceiling. Rachel put her hands at her side, her large breast showing through her shirt.
"I can't." Rachel cried, rushing out the door.