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The Way She Is
Chapter Three - Making Friends
Selphie lay in her bed with eyes wide open and mind wheeling. Why did they have to come now? Sure, she put on a happy face but she was only acting. She was actually getting used to the town plus she had made a friend, Seifer.
The thought of Seifer made her even more confused. He had something more to say to me but… Why did I mention Rinoa! She thought to herself. Squall had become whiter than usual and only said, "Oh." Irvine had then hastily changed the subject. Stupid.
Stupid. Stupid Selphie. She hit her head with her hand.
"Honey?" A small, timid, musical voice questioned and Selphie looked to see her beloved mother.
She sat up, "Yeah?"
"You okay?" Marie came and sat down on Selphie's bed. She pushed a strand of hair out of Selphie's face with a motherly touch. "I didn't know you were so popular with the guys." The older woman laughed lightly.
"Mom!" Selphie yelled while putting her head under the pillow trying to hide. That made her mother laugh harder.
Marie turned somber, "Hon, you can tell me."
"Please just leave me alone for now," Selphie said from under her pillow. How she wished to tell her mom but it might make Marie feel guilty. Marie smiled and pulled the pillow off Selphie's head and smoothed her daughter's hair before standing up and walking slowly out the door. When Selphie saw the door shut a tier slid down her cheek. Stupid Selphie.
The car ride to the hotel was silent. Irvine had tried several times to engage a conversation. The cowboy shot a glance at his blue-eyed "friend". He was staring strait ahead, barely blinking.
"I wonder who was at the door," Squall suddenly said. Irvine knew he was thinking about Rinoa and said, "I don't think it was her. It was a male's voice."
Squall looked over at Irvine for the first time, "Boyfriend?"
Worry struck the cowboy but he said smoothly, "No, not Selphie. She doesn't date."
"She's changed," Squall stated bluntly.
"Maybe…" Irvine shot another glance at him. "But Selphie never took… Is that…?" Irvine slowed down the car and stared out his window. Squall turned to see what he was looking at. Irvine had now stopped the car completely. Squall eyes saw a tall blond haired man with a scar across his face walking down the street, his hands in his pockets.
Irvine rolled down the window and called out, "Uh, hey! It's been awhile knighty!" Seifer stopped and swung toward them and as he recognized the two a strange expression came on his face, one that neither of them could read.
"Well if it isn't Cowboy and Puberty Boy. It has been a while," Seifer snarled sarcastically. He started walking down the sidewalk again.
Irvine moved the car forward and started to follow along side Seifer. "What's new with you?" Irvine grinned at him, trying to be friendly of course.
"Not much. What about you?" Again his voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Well, we were just visiting Selphie. Have you seen her? Or maybe Rinoa?"
Seifer stopped walking again and turned towards the car and smirked, "Yeah, I've seen them around."
Squall who had been listening quietly asked, "How she doing?"
The blond haired man knew that he was asking about Rinoa and not Selphie. He stared past Irvine to Squall and said, "I think she's been better."
"You think?"
"Yeah. Just saw her this morning," Seifer grimaced as her words came to him, "So… It's over."Did he do the right thing? Yes. He had. His confidence returned and he knew he had done the right thing. Rinoa still loved Squall. "What are two fine SeeDs like yourselves doing here?"
"We're visiting Selphie," Irvine stated for the second time before Squall could retort with something sarcastic. There was a moment of silence before he said, "What are you doing here?"
"Live here," he answered shortly. Suddenly an idea came into his mind. He had nothing left here, certainly not Selphie, not with these guys here. What would stop him from going to garden and becoming a SeeD? Nothing. "When are you going back to Garden?"
Irvine looked over at the icy eyed man besides him but he made no indication so the man with the long brown hair said, "Um, we haven't decided yet. Not too long. I think Cid will need Squall for something."
Too long, he wanted to leave now, "Oh, okay. I better go now. I'll see you soon." Seifer started to strut down the sidewalk towards his apartment a little more happily than usual.
Squall puzzled over Seifer's last words. "I'll see you soon." What did he mean by that? If he had said, "See you around." He could have let it go but the blonde man had said, "See you soon".
Seifer was already finished packing and had just called his landlord. Now he stood staring at the phone. It was time to call Cid. He had the directory in his hand and with his other free hand; he picked up the phone and dialed.
It started ringing, then there was a click and a female's voice said, "Hello this is Balamb Garden. How may I direct your call?"
Despite himself, he smirked. Xu helping him! Like that would ever happen if she knew who he was, but all he said was, "I'd like to speak to the headmaster." He said it as politely as he could and added as an afterthought, "Please."
"Sure." There was another click and then, "Hello, this is Headmaster Cid."
"Hi Headmaster. This is Seifer. I was wondering if--"
"Seifer! Well how are you doing?"
"Uh, I'm fine. But I was wondering if I could, you know, become a SeeD at Balamb…?" He trailed off.
"Well…it's in the middle of the program but you have been through it all before…" Seifer smirked, yes he had and this time he wouldn't fail. "I don't see why not! But Seifer, if you do anything, anything, that warrants my attention, you're out! Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Cid smiled on the phone. "I'll send someone down to… Where do you live?"
Seifer quickly gave Cid the address and thanked him. Then they said goodbye.
One more call, he thought. He pushed the directory aside and dialed the now familiar number. The phone seemed to ring for an eternity before a voice said, "Hello?"
"Hi. Is Selphie there?"
"Can I ask who is calling?"
"Seifer."
"Okay. One minute" He heard Marie put the phone down and call up to Selphie.
"Hello?"
"Hey! This is Seifer."
"Oooh, hi!"
"How was your party?"
"Party? Oh! Oh Seifer don't even talk to me about that! Are you going to tell me what you were going to tell me earlier when you came over?"
Oh yeah. He had almost forgotten about that… He lied, "Yeah. I have made up my mind! I'm going back to Garden!"
Her heart leapt to her throat and all she could think to say was, "Oh."
He seemed disappointed by her reaction and said, "Yeah… I just wanted to tell you. I'm leaving tomorrow…"
Tomorrow! No! She suddenly came to herself with a bang and said with false joy, "Well that's great Seifer! If you make it, I'll come to the ceremony! That will sure be a day for celebrating. Good luck!"
Seifer laughed happily, "Thanks. Well… Later." The line clicked and Selphie was left with the receiver held up to her ear listening to the dial tone.
The only friend she had was now leaving her. She was alone again. It was no fair! She had only had him for a couple days and now he was leaving! Tiers started escaping from her eyes. She had to get out! She ran to the door and ran out it.
She didn't stop running until she was in the city surrounded by strangers, nothing to remind her of anything. All her dreams and ideas seemed to be lost with her tiers and the dark, cold night. She looked up suddenly when she heard her name over the wind.
Squall was standing a few feet away from her. He seemed so familiar and comforting. She ran to him and flung herself into his awaiting arms. As soon as her eyes reached his shirt she started to sob onto his shoulder. He began rubbing her back and whispered soothing things that she couldn't understand but they sounded nice. Her tiers slowly began to stop.
"Sorry," She said pitifully like a child when she had finally stopped crying completely. She had been crying over some other boy. She pulled away from him but he didn't let go of her shoulders.
"What for?"
"Well, you know, crying on you," Crying about Seifer, She answered sheepishly.
"Selphie I'd do anything for you. Whatever it was I'd do it for you. You've done so much for me Selph. I don't know how to repay you," He said sincerely then added as an after thought, "Why were you crying?"
She looked up at him shyly. What would he say if he knew she had been crying for Seifer and her lost…friendship? Was it friendship? He was Squall's foe and plus he dated Rinoa. She searched for an answer in her mind and one came that was truthful, "Because…I'm lonely."
"I know how that feels… Selphie…" His voice was barely above a whisper and made her feel incredibly safe, "I was in love with Rinoa and she left me. Do you know how lonely I was? I even tried to kill myself but I wasn't quite brave enough… You made me less lonely. You made me happy again. I owe you everything Selphie and if you need anything, anything at all, I'm here." He leaned towards her and kissed her softly on the lips.
"Squall," she said breathlessly as she broke away from the kiss. She was feeling unbelievably guilty.
Early the next morning Reyna trudged up the steps of the apartment building, the elevator had apparently broken down. She was not a morning person but Instructor Trepe sent her to pick up a new student for Garden. In doing so she would receive extra credit. She reached the third floor. Before she stepped into the hallway she yawned. It was way too early.
Reyna started looking at the room numbers. 301. 303. 305. She suddenly noticed she was looking on the wrong side. She yawned again and mumbled to herself.
302. That was it. She knocked on the door. Only silence on the other side. She decided to pound on the door. There was no answer again. She tried the knob. It was locked. She looked around the hall making sure no one was there. She backed away a couple of steps. She raised her foot and kicked.
The door came crashing down. She smiled and started looking around again. She heard movement from the room next store and hurried into 302. The apartment looked mostly empty but she didn't give it a second thought. She was in a hurry.
She made her way to what she thought was the bedroom and turned the doorknob. She was right and in the room was a mattress. A duffle bag was lying in the middle of the floor. Good, at least he was ready. On the bed was a blond man that looked about her age or a little older. He was very gorgeous and looked adorable sleeping. The only thing that wasn't cute was the scar across his face. She wondered where he had gotten it…
"Hey! Seifer? Wake up!" She said loudly. Seifer only mumbled something and rolled over. She sighed. Something caught her eye. It was a gun blade. It was beautiful, almost as beautiful as her Sansu-shi. Suddenly she knew how to wake him.
She pulled out Sansu-shi and placed it on his throat. She said, "Wake up or you'll die."
The man's green eyes shot open and Reyna couldn't help but smirk. She looked down at him and removed her gun blade, "Seifer? Hello, I'm Reyna Nation, SeeD trainee. I'm here to pick you up."
He looked over at his digital clock and groaned, "Why this early?"
"Because Instructor Trepe wanted us back in time for her class." He could hear the sarcasm plain on her lips and smirked.
Seifer got out of bed and pulled his pants up over his boxers. The he grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. Last, he put on his coveted trench coat and ran a hand through his blond hair. He grabbed his duffle bag and Hoshi sniffed as she led the way out the door. Once they reached the family room, she heard behind her, "What the hell did you do to my door?"
She laughed and said, "You are a very sound sleeper and it was in my way."
Seifer was seething with anger, "Do you know how much I'll have to pay for this if the manager finds out!"
""Well then, don't tell him. How is he going to find out?"
"I don't know. Maybe he'll notice when the door is on the floor and not in the frame where it's supposed to be!"
Reyna sighed and stepped over the door pulling Seifer with her by the hand. She then pulled the door up and put it back on the frame. "See? Easy. Now come on. We're late."
End of Chapter Three