The Delinquent

Final fantasy 8 isn't mine, this idea probably isn't mine either but for the next couple of months lets just pretend it does!

Cheer cheer reviewers.

Squall chuckled at the memory as he stepped into his car. That had been about a year ago now but in the minds of the students it was quite fresh. They could've quite easily just kicked the quarterback's ass but public humiliation was much more rewarding.

Squall tapped his fingers on his steering wheel and listened to the intoxicating music. He glanced at his companion for a second to see her doing the same thing. He'd given Quistis a ride to school this morning and naturally was responsible for getting her home as well. He always looked out for his friends, sometimes it didn't really show but it was always there.

In the backseat sat Zell who also got a ride to school, but he always did. Zell wasn't allowed a car and lived a couple of houses down from Squall. Because of this he'd known Zell for quite some time.

"So Squall, who was that girl before?" Zell enquired.

Squall instantly knew who he was talking about and was quite curious as to why he hadn't asked sooner. He knew that Zell was an inquisitive mind and was almost proud of him for staying quiet for so long.

"My neighbor, I already told you that." Squall said casually.

But he knew that Zell wouldn't accept that, nor would Quistis. It was kinda hard to hide things from the two people who know you the best.

"I thought it somewhat unusual that you told us to leave her alone. Why would we do anything to her?" Quistis asked her intelligence and upper society background singing through her voice.

"I dunno!" Squall defended, he was frantically trying to come up with an excuse, he couldn't have a war with the neighbors, his mum would kill him. "Listen… y'know my old lady, she'll kill me if I start antagonizing the neighbors! I try to keep my life outside my home." Squall concluded.

He decided in the end that they were more than likely going to get it out of him in the end so he might as well get it over and done with.

Quistis nodded and Zell was going to continue his interrogation but stayed curiously silent. Squall headed uptown where Quistis lived. She was what one might consider filthy stinking rich. Her father had always been so upset that she went out with Seifer; he wasn't exactly from the richest place on earth.

Her father had inherited about eight casinos when he turned 18 and had never really had to work. They were spread out all along the world but her father loved Balamb and spent most of his time there. Occasionally he'd have to go to another city or continent to attend to business so Quistis had her entire mansion to herself. Or their house boat to herself… or the yacht… or the batch…

The houses started getting a lot fancier and Quistis started looking a little embarrassed. It wasn't that she was in Squall's crappy old convertible and they were middle class citizens it was because she hated the fact that the rich people up there flaunted their wealth. This part of town leered down at the town as if it was looking down upon it. She knew that that wasn't the case but it was always something she'd loathed.

Finally she reached her house and thanked Squall for the ride. She bid them both farewell and told Squall to come back and get her in about three hours. They had things to do tonight and Quistis had to start early.

If it isn't already pretty obvious Squall and co. have quite a disregard for the rules. Well Quistis being the brain that she is was quite useful in helping plan anything coming up. She was also very good and planning various escape routes and had gotten them all out of trouble on several occasions.

Zell jumped over the seats and sat in the front passenger seat. Zell couldn't go back to his house so he was going to Squall's with him. Zell's mother was one of the most feared people in Balamb, she had a very kind nature back she had a very hard backhand and didn't stop herself from applying verbal and physical punishments when needed.

Her motto was "you're never too old for a slapping". Fortunately for Zell she couldn't really hurt him and had never tried to inflict serious harm. After a couple of years her punishments became more of an annoyance than anything but Zell still didn't go out of his way to have them inflicted on him.

Once at Squall's they went inside and Squall made sure that Raine wasn't home. It didn't matter if Laguna was home; he would be too blinded with the excitement that Squall was home to worry about school.

Squall went upstairs to his room and dumped his bag on the floor. He heard Zell turning the TV on and hurried downstairs before Zell could make it to his kitchen. Zell would eat all of the contents in the cupboard if he got half a chance.

Squall heard another car pull up and parted the curtains to see that new girl exiting her car. He found himself watching her and couldn't quite understand why he was so fascinated with her.

She leaned against the car door and held her head up to the sky, obviously in deep thought. Squall saw her wipe away what he thought could be tears before he heard Zell behind him.

"Ow, Squall HAS got a girlfriend!" Zell exclaimed.

Squall groaned and walked away from the window. The last person on earth he wanted to catch him staring at some girl had just witnessed that very thing. Zell could never keep his mouth shut about anything and this would be no exception.

"Why don't you invite her over?" Zell enquired.

Squall groaned again, he fell onto the couch and covered his head with on of the cushions.

"Fine, if you won't then I will!" Zell finally proclaimed.

Before Squall had time to protest Zell was out the door. Squall called out desperately after him but to no avail, Zell was gone. It probably wasn't that Zell couldn't hear Squall it was more than likely that he was turning on his selective hearing and blocking it off.

Squall, for the third time in the last five minutes, groaned. He didn't particularly want her to come around; he didn't want her associating with him and his friends. He was sure that she would've heard about them during the day… found out what they were like and judging by her choice in associates she wasn't going to be another Selphie.

When Selphie had first moved to Balamb she was only fourteen years old. She had a popular girl's attitude with a bad ass temper. It only took two days for her to be officially labeled as one of them.

It was obvious that she had a deep rooted problem with authority of any kind and hated being told what to do. She always said that she was a free spirit and a free spirit can't be held back by rules and regulations. From the first day he'd met Selphie until today she'd always done what she wanted when she wanted.

Rules were just a complication in her life that she tried to ignore, like the fat kid down the road that's really annoying but knows your parents. You can't just beat him up and tell him to "fuck off" you have to just go out of your way to avoid him and ignore him.

From day one Irvine had been overly interested in her. To tell the truth Irvine was overly interested in most girls but she sparked his attention more than most. Since then they'd had an on again off again relationship because Irvine had a wandering eye. Most of the time it ended in the girl and Irvine getting a beating.

Soon Zell was back and it was obvious that he had Rinoa with him. You could hear Zell's obnoxious laugh from a mile away. Squall was surprised that Rinoa hadn't been put off by Zell's tattoo. It quite often gave him a reputation for being tough and staunch.

True as this might be it didn't mean that he wasn't the goofy kind hearted Zell that they'd all gotten to know. Regardless of what his true personality may be, if Quistis was the brains then Zell was the brawn. At least he was the best hand to hand combat fighter.

Zell barged inside like he owned the place, not bothering to knock or even call out that he was back. Squall was used to it by now and it didn't really bother him. In fact should Zell have knocked it would've annoyed him more because then he'd be forced to answer it.

"Nah that's not true! Who told you that?" Zell cried as they entered the living room.

"I dunno, some girl in Science class." Rinoa replied.

"Oh, Rinoa you've met Squall haven't you?" Zell enquired after a couple of seconds.

Rinoa nodded and waved, Squall nodded at her, choosing not to say anything as of yet.

Soon everyone was seated on various chairs around the room. Zell and Rinoa were enthralled in a conversation about what Rinoa had heard about him at school today.

Which apparently was a far bit. Squall found himself wondering if the school had nothing better to talk about.

'Maybe they should just get lives.' Squall thought as he listened.

"Most people actually talk about you." Rinoa said to Squall throwing him out of his daydream.

"Only good things I suspect." Squall said with a grin.

Rinoa bit her bottom lip, apparently not wanting to have to say this at all. She looked quite uncomfortable for a couple of seconds.

"No not really. You're not the most liked person at school." Rinoa stated.

"Coming from the people who go to that school I take it as a compliment." Squall laughed.

They all heard a creaking and all three heads shot towards the door. It slammed open widely and a tall long haired man stood at the doorway. His arms were filled with brown paper bags and he looked quite flushed. He had his long hair tied in a loose ponytail with a huge side fringe that had various grey hairs going through it.

Rinoa stared at the man and almost immediately deducted that he must be Squall's father. The resemblance was striking and Rinoa thought that by looking at Squall's father that Squall was going to be quite a good looking old man.

"Squall, is that you home?" Laguna called out.

"Yeah, we had study for the last two periods so I thought my time would be better spent at home." Squall replied.

"Oh Squall, you know you don't need an excuse to come home."

Rinoa was shocked, did that man just say that Squall didn't need a reason to come home! Her father would kill her if he knew that she was skipping school on her first day. Rinoa as shocked that she had but she didn't think she was ready to meet all these new people that just reminded her of her old friends.

"Laguna." Zell yelled out, "Have you met Rinoa?"

Laguna entered the living room and smiled warmly at Rinoa. She felt completely at ease with the smile on her and felt a wave of happiness going over her from it. She could tell that this guy was generally a happy-go-lucky, relaxed, care-free guy. She envied Squall for having such a laid back father, compared to her general father this guy seemed like a dream.

"No, you're the new neighbor, aren't you?" Rinoa nodded and Laguna smiled, he winked at Zell before continuing. "I'm so pleased that you and Squall are getting along…"

Squall had stood and pushed Laguna out the door before he could continue. It was embarrassing. Why did he have to talk to all his friends? Why did he feel the need to be involved with everything? And most of all, why did he feel the daily urge of embarrassing Squall and threatening his reputation with five year old baby talk!

If it got out that Squall's father talked to him like he was an infant then he'd become the laughing stock of the whole school, he couldn't face anyone if they knew. Except for his friends… and Rinoa now it seemed. But he was pretty sure that she wouldn't say anything, she didn't seem too fazed about it and seeing as she was only new he doubted that she quite understood the full extent of his reputation quite yet.

"Hey Rinoa, you should come with us on our mission tonight and meet the rest of the gang!" Zell blurted out.

Squall's eyes widened and he felt a rush of dread race through him. He didn't want to push her; if she came tonight then he doubted that she'd want anything to do with them after that. He'd known her for half an hour and all of a sudden Zell wanted to bring her on a mission that should she dob them in could result in expulsion or even community service of some kind.

"Oh I dunno. If it's alright?"

Rinoa looked to Squall for an answer; she gave him a wide-eyed look that Squall imagined that she was unaware that she was actually doing. But he couldn't say no. he didn't have the willpower to tell her no. she just affected him in a way that Squall hadn't felt before.

He doubted that it was attraction; he'd seen much better and had been with much better… which wasn't to say that she wasn't attractive it was just that he'd been horrible to girls twice as beautiful as Rinoa but she just affected him. He didn't want to let her down and he actually cared what she thought of him.

"Sure."

Yeah I know, nothing actually happened in that chapter and it was a total waste of time but I'm building up to the actual plot. Hell I haven't even introduced all the characters yet. I have to hurry things along though because its chapter three and I haven't even introduced Rinoa to everyone.

Anyways… what'd ya think?