Lost Memories of My Love

Chapter 5 – Day Three

"So how was your day today?" asked Sera at dinner that night. "Did you two have fun?"

"I guess," said Ashleigh.

"Hmm," mumbled Rinoa in response. She didn't exactly have fun…

"What about you Seifer?" asked Caraway.

Rinoa noticed that he's been home a lot of the time ever since Sera moved in. What a coincidence…

Seifer didn't answer and just kept picking at his food.

Caraway decided not to pursue asking him. "Are my angel wings doing anything tomorrow?"

I thought I was the only angel wing, thought Rinoa.

"No," answered Rinoa.

Ashleigh shook her head.

"Great," said Caraway, "Because I've reserved us a table at the finest restaurant in Deling."

"Ooh, finest?" said Ashleigh excitedly.

"The best in the area," said Caraway, nodding with pride. "It's really hard to make a booking there, but I got one easily. But they didn't have a table of just five left, so we had to go with the table of eight instead. You can bring your little friends, if you like. One friend each."

The first person that popped into Rinoa's head was Squall.

"Oh, only one?" said Ashleigh, disappointed. "But I made three new friends today."

So what, thought Rinoa bitterly.

"Oh ... well isn't that a pity," said Caraway. "I know, you can take all your new friends, then. Rinoa, you don't mind, do you? Since Ashleigh is new and she should start to get to know her new friends..."

Oh yeah, it's absolutely fine that she can have exactly what she wants, thought Rinoa sarcastically.

"I don't mind," Rinoa heard herself say, looking down at her plate.

What on earth possessed me to say that?

"Oh, wait, what about you, Seifer?" asked Caraway.

Seifer didn't say anything. He didn't really care. He didn't even want to go to the stupid restaurant, let alone bring any friends.

Sera narrowed her eyes down at him.

"I don't think he's made any new friends yet," said Sera for him.

All of a sudden, Seifer toppled off his chair and landed on the floor with a loud thud on his backside. He blinked long and hard, trying to refocus his hazy vision.

"Seifer?" said Caraway, worried, getting out of his seat and rushing towards his side.

Sera gasped and also rushed to his side. Rinoa and Ashleigh just gazed at them in curiosity.

"Seifer? Are you all right?" said Caraway.

Sera picked up Seifer's glass and sniffed it. "This isn't soda, it's wine!"

"And he's had like, eight refills!" cried Ashleigh.

Rinoa just turned around and began eating again. She was beginning to not care anymore.

---

As Rinoa brushed her teeth the next morning, she thought about what she would've worn that night. She was going to show up to this fancy family dinner, even if she didn't want to.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

Rinoa jumped and twirled around. Seifer had rushed in and started throwing up in the toilet.

She quickly abandoned her toothbrush and rushed outside of the bathroom, slamming the door shut and leaning against the wall, eyes widened. Is he blind or something? I was in there! She waited for the throwing up to stop, then heard water running.

As the door opened, Seifer walked out, looking like a mess. He stopped and looked at Rinoa.

Rinoa blinked and just stared at him, without a word.

Seifer turned around and just began walking away, without saying anything.

Okay, that guy is just beginning to scare me, thought Rinoa, as she walked back into the bathroom and resumed freshening up.

When Rinoa was finished in the bathroom, she headed out and into her room, feeling clean. Her cell phone began to ring at that moment.

Rinoa rushed to her bed and picked up her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rinoa, it's me, Squall."

"Oh, hey Squall!" said Rinoa brightly.

"So, are you doing anything tonight?" asked Squall.

Rinoa frowned. "Y-Yeah, I am, actually. I'm going out to dinner with my family."

"Oh, okay then," said Squall, sounding slightly disappointed.

"I'm so sorry!" cried Rinoa apologetically.

"It's okay," said Squall. "So, what time do you finish? Maybe afterwards we can go somewhere with the others."

Rinoa's frown turned into a smile. "We'll finish around eight maybe. We'll be at some fancy restaurant in Deling."

"Okay, I think I know what you're talking about," said Squall. "I'll see you then."

"Bye!" said Rinoa happily. She hung up and put her phone down. Her day wasn't going to be so bad after all.

---

"I'm going for a walk," Rinoa said to her father at six that night.

"Are you going to make it back in time for dinner?" asked Caraway.

"Yeah, and if not you can just go on ahead without me," said Rinoa, "I'll walk there later."

"Are you sure?" asked Caraway.

"Positive," said Rinoa, "It's not even that far..."

"That's my strong little girl," said Caraway with a smile.

Rinoa shook her head with a smile and headed out the door, closing it on the way out. She smiled out at the open world in front of her and snuggled closer into her jacket. As she headed out, she noticed that Seifer was sitting out on the porch, watching the world go by.

"Aren't you a bit ... bored, just sitting there?" asked Rinoa.

Seifer eyed her, but didn't say anything.

"Why not come for a walk with me?" asked Rinoa happily. "I'm sure it's better than just sitting here."

Seifer just glared at her, not even having to say anything to pin his point across.

Rinoa pursed her lips together nervously, but then smiled. "Okay, I'll just go on my own..."

Seifer kept on glaring at her until she walked away. As Rinoa walked, she could feel his eyes on her, following her … it was almost scary.

---

"It was so nice of you and your family to let us come," said one of Ashleigh's friends. The four of them were hanging out in Rinoa's room, gossiping and chatting about Garden and other things like that.

"Yeah, my big sis kept on insisting that she brought her friends," said Ashleigh, "I let her, even though I wanted to bring you guys ... but daddy thought she was being selfish and let me bring you guys."

"Oh, you're so nice!" squealed Ashleigh's friend.

"Oh, and did you manage to get a hold of that hot guy we saw yesterday?" asked another one of Ashleigh's friends.

Ashleigh frowned. "No ... but I will. He just doesn't know exactly who I am, but when he does, he'll be all over me."

"Yeah, who wouldn't?"

---

It began to rain again and Rinoa was caught right in the storm. She didn't bring an umbrella, and she was quite far from home. The cold raindrops fell from the sky, making Rinoa flinch. She was somewhat drenched, and wanted to take cover somewhere.

She ran into one of the nearby stores to get out of the rain. She didn't want to catch a cold. As she walked in, she could feel the shop owner's prying eyes on her as she left a drippy trail behind her.

"Buy something and get out," grumbled the shopkeeper.

Rinoa twirled around. "Oh, sir, is it okay if I just stay in here until the rain—"

"Buy something and get out," the shopkeeper repeated grouchily.

Rinoa bit her bottom lip nervously to hold back any arguments or nasty words she had in mind. She glanced at her watch. She was already late for the dinner...

She began to pretend to browse around the shop, avoiding the suspicious death stares from the shopkeeper. As soon as the rain began to slow down, she picked out a random greeting card, quickly paid for it, and ran outside.

The pouring rain had died down to a mere drizzle, but Rinoa was still getting wetter by the second. She glanced at her watch and noticed that she was already half an hour late.

Rinoa kept running as fast as she could, pushing past all the pedestrians and madly pressing the buttons at the traffic lights. She slipped once or twice but she would pick herself up and keep running until she got home.

As soon as she got into the house, she realised that all her family members had left already. Rinoa ran up the stairs and dried herself off, tending to all the wounds she acquired when she had slipped. She considered taking a shower, but found that she was already late enough without one. Instead, she quickly blow-dried her hair and decided to get changed.

She rushed into her room and dove under her bed, looking for the dress Squall had given her. She decided to wear it that night, since she was going to see Squall anyway.

But all she found was an empty box. She felt around to see if it could've fallen out, but it wasn't under her bed.

She bolted to her wardrobe and began furiously flipping through the clothes that were on the rack. Maybe she had hung it up and forgotten about it. But still, she couldn't find that angelic white dress.

After ten minutes of searching for the dress, she gave up. She didn't know where it was.

Oh well, it was meant for the opening dance anyway ... Squall wouldn't mind if I don't wear it today, thought Rinoa

Rinoa grabbed the shimmering golden dress that she usually wore on special occasions. She grabbed a long coat to protect her from the rain and the cold, her handbag and rushed out the door. She signaled for a passing cab on the road.

She hopped into the backseat and told the driver where she wanted to go. She looked at her watch and she was forty-five minutes late...

When Rinoa arrived at the restaurant, she paid the driver, and got out of the cab, shielding herself from the light drizzle with her handbag. She rushed to the door of the restaurant, where a staff member with a checklist stood.

"Name?" asked the man.

"I'm Rinoa, my father is General Caraway—"

"Have you got any proof of that, miss?" asked the staff member.

"Isn't my face proof enough?" asked Rinoa, annoyed.

"She's with me."

Rinoa looked over the man's shoulder to find Caraway standing there, not looking very pleased.

The man looked at Caraway, whom nodded, and moved out of the way as Rinoa passed through.

"You're late, Rinoa," said Caraway.

"I-I'm sorry, I got caught in the storm—"

"You shouldn't have gone for a walk then," said Caraway. "You should've just stayed and come with the rest of the family."

Rinoa quickly tried to think up an argument, even though she knew her father was right. "Well, how was I supposed to know it was going to rain? I'm not some walking weather bureau…"

Caraway just shook his head as if it were nothing, not wanting to start an argument with his daughter, and led her to where they were sitting.

Rinoa's mouth dropped open to see Ashleigh. It wasn't Ashleigh that surprised her; it was what she was wearing. She was wearing the very dress Squall gave her.

Ashleigh stopped talking with her friends and looked at Rinoa.

"Why so late, big sister?" asked Ashleigh innocently.

Rinoa glared at Ashleigh with pure poison in her eyes.

"Isn't what she's wearing so gorgeous?" said one of Ashleigh's friends dreamily.

Rinoa's glare died down to just a stare. It wasn't a dirty stare; it was just a stare of disappointment.

"Where'd you get it from, Ashleigh?"

Ashleigh looked at Rinoa, and then looked back at the friend who asked her. She just smiled and didn't say anything.

"Ashleigh ... can I talk to you?" asked Rinoa.

Ashleigh smiled up at Rinoa, and then looked back at her friends. "Excuse me for a second."

Ashleigh got up. Rinoa grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the bathroom.

"Why are you wearing my dress?" asked Rinoa.

"Why can't I?" said Ashleigh, almost carelessly.

"Because it's mine," said Rinoa firmly.

"So what?" said Ashleigh, "You were the one in the first place who said I can wear your clothes whenever I wanted."

Rinoa just stared at Ashleigh blankly. I cannot believe this girl, thought Rinoa.

"But this dress means something to me," said Rinoa, "A friend of mine gave it to me..."

"What makes you think I care?" snapped Ashleigh. "You said I can wear your clothes whenever I wanted, and now you get angry when I didn't even break any of your rules?"

"I know, but—"

"Listen to me," interrupted Ashleigh, "Haven't you realised? I don't like you, okay? So don't give me any of your bull crap and don't try and act nice to me. Because I know you're just pretending. In fact, I bet you're always pretending to be nice so everyone can like you. Well, guess what? I don't."

Rinoa's blood began to stir. "How would you know? You don't know me. Don't act like you know me, because you don't."

"Maybe I don't know you, but I can see right through you," snarled Ashleigh.

Rinoa wanted to throw something at her stepsister in frustration. She was about to yell back in response, but didn't want to cause any trouble.

"Just give back that dress when you're done with it," Rinoa said simply. She walked out of the bathroom and sat back down with the rest of the family.

Stupid girl…