The Delinquent

I don't own final fantasy 8

Cheer cheer anyone who reviewed my story or read it or thought about it for more than two seconds when skimming through all the stories.

I'm having a moment… I did the unthinkable about two months ago, I sold my copy of ff8 and now I'm craving to play it! I didn't play it in about two years and NOW I choose to want to play it. There's some sort of sick irony in this!

Selphie closed her eyes and let the blowing wind wisp through her hair aggressively. She took in the invigorating feeling, letting it all overcome her as they sped down the old road. It had a few potholes and had she been anyone else she would've told Irvine to slow down, but Selphie loved the more hazardous side of things. She got off on that sort of thing, danger that is.

She finally opened her eyes and looked over at Irvine; he had a large grin set upon his face as he swerved off the road, avoiding a particularly nasty gap in the path. He let out a loud "Yeehaa" as he veered back onto the road.

"See that darlin', that's how real men are sposta drive!" Irvine yelled excitedly.

Selphie squealed and clapped her hands gleefully; nothing made her happier than Irvine being happy. She got her most memorable times when Irvine was excited; this time would be no exception.

This was going to be a day she remembered for a long time and had she known what lay ahead of her, she might've kindly asked Irvine to take her home.

For the time being Selphie was happy with her ignorance to the impending doom, she didn't need to know about hers and everyone else's lives turning upside down and would later find comfort in remembering the simpler times.

Selphie leaned her head out the window and screamed into the wind, the loud roar of the wind around her making her voice sound very meager indeed. She thought about her morning, how hectic it had been, but she loved the drama, it would certainly give Quistis Rinoa and herself more to talk about.

"Do you think they'll be pissed we walked out?" Irvine asked over the howl.

Selphie stuck her head back inside the car and rolled her eyes and rolled up her window.

"Why do you care? They can't tell us what to do. I for one am seventeen years old and if I want to be there, then I'll be there." Selphie said trying to make herself sound as old as her childish voice would allow.

Irvine nodded, his attention taken away from Selphie's explanation to the large building leering ahead of them. He tipped his hat and leaned up against the steering wheel trying to get a better look.

"Selph, look at that." Irvine muttered.

"Holy Hyne!" Selphie exclaimed.

They were soon pulled up outside it, noticing Squall's car parked not too far from them. Irvine got out of the car and slammed the door, Selphie followed suit. You had to slam Irvine's car doors otherwise they wouldn't shut properly.

They approached the building, Selphie standing close to Irvine. The creepiness of this place was everywhere; it hung in the air like a bad smell.

"Irvine," Selphie whispered, "I don't like this place."

There was a rusty old circular thing dangling from what appeared to be some sort of tail. It hung lowly overhead and Selphie was quite scared that it was going to fall when she walked through the doors to go inside. The door was lying on the ground, Irvine deducted that it must've been banged down recently.

"Irvy, are you sure we're supposed to be in here?" Selphie said her voice echoing off the hollow walls.

"Chill out Selph, weren't you just saying that you didn't care about what you were supposed to do?" Irvine exclaimed.

"Where's Squall?" Selphie sighed.

Selphie thought changing the subject would be the best course of action, this was one of those arguments that she just wasn't going to win and she was way too creeped out to bother fighting.

"I dunno, he'll be around here somewhere." Irvine stated.

They heard a car pull up outside and Selphie went back to see who it was. Irvine was way to into checking this place out to care who was there.

Selphie ran outside and back into the light. In there it was so dark, only the light that managed to get through the windows made any light. Windows seemed to be few and far between in there though so it only made the place look older.

Selphie was relieved to see Rinoa and Zell. She wondered how why they were together but figured they must've met up somewhere.

"Rinny! Zell!" Selphie exclaimed as she approached them. "You guys gotta check this place out, it's totally freaky!"

Soon they were all back inside. Rinoa clung onto one of Zell's arms while Selphie hung onto the other. Zell thought they were being stupid until a random Grat appeared out of nowhere and they had to hastily dart through a pair of double doors.

Rinoa looked down at her feet and noticed the plush purple carpet beneath her. It was easy to deduct that this place had definitely been important. What was left intact was unquestionably expensive.

Rinoa walked around the small room they had entered. It was easy to see that this had once been a doctor's clinic of some kind. There was a table covered in rubble that had collapsed on one side, through a small doorway Rinoa saw that there were two beds inside, probably for the injured or sick or something like that. The window above each bed had been smashed and the broken glass still lay shattered on the floor.

"This place has been abandoned for years…" Zell trailed off, picking up a clipboard that still sat on the desk.

"Congratulations Zell, did you work that out on your own?" Seifer said from behind them.

Zell grimaced but didn't say anything, knowing that anything he could or would say would only provoke and fight, one he'd more than likely lose.

"Where's Squall and Irvine?" Quistis enquired as she stepped into the room.

"I dunno, Irvy disappeared about ten minutes ago to have a look around." Selphie replied.

"Well we should find them both. I don't think it's wise to be traveling around here alone, this place looks incredibly old and could collapse or something." Quistis instructed.

The five of them exited the room; it was getting a bit cramped anyway. It obviously wasn't made for too many people to be in at once.

"Irvy! Squall!" Selphie yelled as they ventured around the rubble.

Irvine soon appeared out of nowhere, saying he had been in what he thought was a bunch of bedrooms. There was still no sign of Squall though and everyone was starting to get more than a little worried.

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Squall looked around his surroundings, he was wearing the most peculiar clothes ever and he had a glass of what he assumed to be white wine in his hand. When he noticed Zell come running towards him he relaxed a little, it was nice to see a familiar face.

"Yo!"

Zell came to a halt in front of him, grinning widely as he did so. Squall was glad to see that even though he wore the same dorky clothes as him he was still the same.

"S'up, Squall? I guess we're both SeeD's now, huh?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Squall scoffed.

Zell extended his hand to him, the grin never leaving his face. It was as if he hadn't heard a word Squall had just said.

"Put it there, man." Zell said cheerfully.

"You're fucking mental!" Squall exclaimed.

Zell seemed to falter and then retracted his hand, putting it back on his hip.

"Hah, even as a SeeD your still the same. Well that's typical of you. See ya."

"You're fucked!" Squall called out after him.

Squall watches in astonishment as Selphie approaches Zell and starts ranting on about some festival. His mind was still a flurry with questions about what the hell Zell was talking about and his use of the word "man" that was not a typical word for Zell to say. It sounded kinda gay.

"Hmm." Selphie sighed as she stamped her foot on the ground.

Squall was taken back by the fact that she was wearing the same uniform except femalised. She beamed at him and ran towards him, an excited smile never leaving her face.

"Squall! Hi!"

'Ahhh, sweet dependable Selphie…' Squall thought as she approached.

"We'll be busy with a lot of SeeD stuff, but work hard on the Garden Festival, too. Bye!"

With that she was gone.

"S'cuse me! YOU RIGHT THERE!" Selphie said in a demanding voice.

'Well that proves it, this is a dream.' Squall deducted.

He stares up at the ceiling and it didn't take long till he saw a shooting star. Tearing his eyes away from the sky for reasons he didn't know, he looked across the dance floor and noticed a figure standing in a white thigh his dress. It had a lace overlay and it soon became apparent that it was Rinoa.

She turned to him and smiled her pure smile that even in his dreaming state still managed to give him butterflies. She pointed one of her slender fingers up towards the heavens, reminding Squall of one month ago when she'd done the same.

She began steadily walking towards him and it wasn't long until she stood before him in all her angelic beauty.

"You're the best looking guy here." Rinoa stated confidently. "Dance with me."

"Of course, I'd love to Rin." Squall said, still not realizing that they couldn't hear him.

"Let me guess," Rinoa started her demeanor confident and cool, "You'll only dance with someone you like."

"Hit it right on the button girl! Let's shake it!" Squall exclaimed.

"Ok then… look into my eyes."

Rinoa began to swirl her finger in front of Squall's face and even he couldn't deny that it was slightly annoying. He was beginning to get more and more irritated with this dream.

"You're going to like me… you're going to like me… did it work?" Rinoa enquired innocence in her voice that Squall hadn't noticed before.

"Yes it did already now let's go!"

"You'll be fine. Come on. I'm looking for someone; I can't be on the dance floor alone!"

Just when Squall felt the warm tingle of Rinoa's skin touching his he was sent into darkness again, the dream ending before it really had time to start.

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"C'mon Squall your starting to freak everyone out!" Irvine yelled.

There was still no sign of Squall; they had split up into two teams. Irvine was with Seifer and Selphie while Quistis Rinoa and Zell had gone to check outside.

It sounded like the logical thing to do and they knew he had to be floating around here somewhere, his car was still here. Squall wouldn't abandon his car; he loved that car more than he loved his parents!

"Starting to freak us out!" Selphie exclaimed.

"Shut the fuck up." Seifer hissed.

He was listening for sounds of movement, they had already encountered a few monsters on there way around and didn't really want to come across too many more. So far they hadn't injured any of them but there narrow escapes were starting to get more and more frequent.

"What the fuck was Squall thinking?" Seifer snarled.

"I dunno, why don't you ask him." Selphie said sarcastically.

"Selphie! You're a genius!" Irvine yelled.

Selphie blushed and made a dramatic pose, her ego seemed to boost about a foot out from her head at that complement.

"Why don't we just ring Squall's cellphone?" Irvine suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Seifer commented.

"Glad I thought of it." Selphie said proudly.

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Squall walked up the train hallway, heading towards a door that leaded to Hyne knows what. He entered the room and saw Rinoa lying on the double bed asleep. She stirred and slowly perched herself up on her elbows. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stared up at Squall giving him a what-the-hell-are-you-doing-here look.

"Hey… You're…! You know, from the party… so does that mean you're a SeeD?"

"Again with the SeeD, listen Rin; I have no idea what you're talking about." Squall stated clearly.

Rinoa looked as though she was about to cry before she leapt off her bed and lunged at Squall. He caught her and spun her around before setting her back down on the ground.

"YEEESSSS! SeeD is here!"

"Hyne Rin, take it easy!" Squall exclaimed.

"It's just that… I'm so happy…"

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Seifer, Selphie and Irvine heard the loud, piercing ring of the phone echoing off the walls. They followed the sound, which wasn't an easy task; it seemed to be coming from all directions.

They walked up some stairs and saw the pill of rubble on the ground about two meters in front of them. When the ringing sound started coming from under that Selphie gasped loudly.

Seifer and Irvine immediately took action and started removing the cobble from the ground. Selphie nearly cried when she saw Squall's legs hanging limply out from under the ruins.

"I've gotta go tell the others." Selphie yelled as she started running towards the exit.

She jumped down the stairs and stumbled a bit before sprinting out of the building like she had Hyne herself chasing her.

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Squall saw Rinoa sitting before him literally shaking with fear. She was huddled up and protecting her scratched up body with her arms. Squall rushed to her side, crouching down so that he was almost level with her.

"I was scared…" Rinoa said softly.

She reached up and grabbed Squall's arm, holding onto it like her life depended on it.

"… Really scared."

"It's alright Rin; I won't let anything happen to you." Squall said delicately.

"I was scared… I was really, really scared…"

"Rin…"

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"Squall's hurt!" Selphie screamed as she approached the trio.

Without another word they all took off, following Selphie's lead to where Squall was.

Quistis gasped, much like Selphie had as she saw the body. Seifer and Irvine were sweating considerably and Zell had soon jumped into help them.

Seifer removed a large piece of rubble that hid Squall's head and Quistis ran to him. She lightly tapped the side of his face, begging him to wake up.

"Oh Squall please don't be dead!" Quistis sobbed.

Selphie covered her face with her hands and leaned into Rinoa's awaiting arms. She wept into Rinoa's chest while Rinoa patted her back, still praying for Squall to be safe.

Zell let out a loud moan as he removed the last piece, revealing Squall's body lying flat on the ground. Quistis rolled his over onto his back and placed his head softly on the ground.

"Look! LOOK! He's breathing!" Zell exclaimed excitedly.

Slowly, after minutes that seemed like days, Squall's eyes gradually opened. He seemed dazed and half sleeping, half awake, he smirked.

Rinoa sighed, closing her eyes and thanking Hyne that he was alright. Although she hadn't really showed it, she had been more worried than she had been in a long time.

The prospect of his death just seemed too horrific for her to face. She couldn't bare the thought of living a life without him in it. She'd only known him for such a short time but she felt as though she'd known him all her life. He was a part of her life that she never wanted to take away.

"We better take him to a hospital." Irvine stated.

"No," Squall said suddenly, trying to lift himself up, "I'm fine, I just need rest."

"You might have a concussion." Quistis informed him.

"And what are doctors ganna do about that? Tell me not to sleep and stay away from heavy work, done." Squall continued.

He steadily began to stand, trying to emphasize his point; he stumbled a bit but was otherwise alright.

"That amazing." Selphie said in awe. "You shouldn't be able to walk!"

Squall scoffed and rolled his eyes, trying to make it perfectly clear that he was ok.

"Maybe I had an angel watching me." Squall laughed as he dusted himself off.

He felt a little bit dizzy but for some strange reason not that bad. While he was lightheaded and overly tired, he still didn't feel too banged up.

He slowly edged his way out of the wreckage, Quistis offering him a hand as he did so. She led him out and helped him keep his balance a few times; it appeared he was still very dizzy. This was worrying Quistis to no end but Squall kept insisting that he was fine.

"How did it happen?" Rinoa enquired as they all walked out of the ruins.

Squall stopped and turned to her, thinking hard about the question. He couldn't remember, however it had happened was a mystery to him. He couldn't even remember going inside the building. He remember pulling up outside, getting out of his car, txting everyone and then… nothing.

"I dunno…"

"Squall I don't think it wise for you to drive." Quistis said in a motherly tone.

"Well don't think any of you are driving my car!" Squall exclaimed.

"Tough luck cause I am." Seifer said as he yanked the keys out of Squall's pocket.

Nobody really thought it was the best idea for Seifer to drive; he was one of the more reckless drivers, especially when it wasn't his car he was driving.

Then again, who could really talk Seifer out of it, nothing anyone said was going to make him drop the keys and there wasn't much chance of them being able to get them off him like he did to Squall.

"Don't fuck my car." Squall warned as he sat down in the passenger seat.

"Seifer, take it easy." Quistis warned. "You can't have Squall hit his head again."

Seifer rolled his eyes and turned the key. He grinned when he heard the engine roar, Squall's car didn't purr or anything pussy like that, it roared. Squall's car wasn't exactly flash though so it was probably because of the hole in the muffler

Backing out slowly he did quite a formidable burnout before taking off at high speeds. Everyone winced, imagining Squall's face at a thing like that. Which wasn't to say that Squall didn't do exactly the same thing, it was just that it was a lot different watching someone else do it to your car.

"How did that whole boyfriend thing go Rinny?" Selphie enquired before she got in Irvine's car.

Quistis had already taken off in her car and there was only Rinoa, Selphie, Irvine and Zell there.

"I dunno it's fucked up. I've got no idea where the hell Marcia's gone either. If you see her could you tell her to just head to my house?" Rinoa asked.

"Sure thing." Selphie concluded.

Rinoa didn't notice the embarrassed grin that had settled upon Zell's face, nor the shocked look Irvine had given him. According to legend, Irvine was once the playboy until Selphie came along and ruined that. Once Irvine had settled down Zell took up residency as the local skank.

Exactly how bad of a skank he was no one could be sure, while he "claimed" to have slept with most of the cheerleading team none of them were admitting anything so it was a bit hard to figure out.

Nobody actually took him seriously though so most of them just figured that he was lying.

Once inside the car and on the road Zell turned to Rinoa, waiting for her to give him her attention.

"What?" Rinoa exclaimed.

"Do you wanna go see Squall when we get back in Balamb?" Zell enquired.

Another thank you to my reviewers, credit goes to you all.

Sad ending to a sad chapter, yes there is something wrong with Squall, what, is yet to be decided. My main thoughts are that he has severe concussion which needs medical attention or something harsher. If you have any idea's don't be shy about it because

I'm not 100 sure at this point.

Another thank you to my reviewers, credit goes to you all.

Other than that, what'd ya think?