Chapter 9: Damage
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the FFVIII Characters
Seifer's jaw was swollen. He rubbed it slowly as he walked into the cafeteria, 'Guess it was well-deserved.' He looked around, not seeing the cheery, bouncy girl anywhere. She was usually in the cafeteria eating with Quistis and Zell, but he only saw them.
Zell saw the lump on his face and snickered, "Did you run into a door?"
"Go to hell, chicken-wuss," Seifer roared back. He slumped down into a chair. He wondered how Selphie was doing. He knew she was upset when she left his room, he just wondered how bad it was. 'Maybe I should go talk to her… I just wanted to have some fun.' He sighed to himself, 'Why do girls have to take everything so goddamn seriously?'
Selphie stomped down the hallway as she made her way to the cafeteria. She wasn't feeling upset anymore, just overwhelmingly angry. She hated to leave Squall all alone after everything he did for her last night, but she was feeling courageous and wanted to do something now. She stopped in the doorway and saw Seifer dazing out. Her eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists.
She walked across the room, passing Quistis and Zell, "Hey, Selphie, we saved you a seat," Zell called, but she did not seem to hear him as she made her way towards Seifer. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Quistis, "This can't be good." She shook her head as she turned around to watch.
The small shadow of Selphie appeared over Seifer. She swallowed hard and sent a hard kick into Seifer's shin. He immediately snapped out of his daze and yelled, "OW! What the--" He looked up and saw Selphie. 'Oh, shit,' he thought.
"You think you can just treat me like that, Seifer?" Selphie yelled as she kicked him in the other leg. "Girls are not toys and I know you've probably done the same thing you did to me to a bunch of other girls here." She crossed her arms as a few girls in the room looked over, "Well, it's going to stop right here. You are an asshole and you deserve whatever you get for using me and other girls like that!"
Seifer was speechless. He hadn't expected this. Zell burst out laughing for a moment, but Quistis elbowed him in the side, "Be quiet, Zell, this is serious." He frowned a little and covered his mouth with his hand to stop another outburst.
Squall opened his eyes slowly, a small smile still on his face. He suddenly noticed that he was alone in the room, and his side that Selphie was laying against was no longer warm. He furrowed his eyebrows and sat up slowly. 'Maybe she's in the bathroom…' He looked around and did not hear anything but his own breathing within the room. He sighed loudly and got up, "You're welcome..." He walked out of the room, almost slamming the door behind him.
"Why do I even bother…?" he said to himself as he walked towards the exit of the dorms.
Selphie slapped Seifer across the face and made her way to leave. He stood up violently and ran after her, putting his hands on her arms tightly and spinning her around. "You know, I was going to apologize, but now that you've publicly humiliated me, I don't give a shit what I did to you. You're just a whiny little girl that needs to be taken care of by her mommy and you're definitely not mature enough to do anything with me or any guy or be in any sort of mature adult relationship. Why don't you go back to the orphanage for a while? I'm sure the kids could use a playmate since you act like you're five years old all the time, anyway."
Selphie's mouth hung open for a moment, then she shook her head, "I didn't do anything wrong here, Seifer. You're the person at fault for all this and no matter what you say, it's not going to hurt me. I still have people that care about me, but you seem to have nothing." Seifer glared down at her as she continued, "I hope you know though, that after this, no girl is going to dream of ever dating you. I'm pretty sure everyone knows how much of an asshole you are by now. How many girls have you gone through in the garden?" She rolled her eyes slightly, "And you know, I don't care if you apologize either, but some of the other girls might, so maybe you should think about getting yourself together because most of these girls are intelligent and all you're doing is taking advantage of them. Now, let me go," she pulled her arm away and walked out of the cafeteria. Some of the girls in the back clapped.
This time Seifer did not go after her. Zell uncovered his mouth and let his laughter out. Quistis rolled her eyes slightly, then smiled a little, "Good for her…at least someone came right out and said it. I wonder what happened last night though."
Seifer stared at the entrance to the cafeteria fuming. He felt his fists clench. He wanted to do something, but he couldn't hit a girl. He could get her back in a different way though. He just had to figure out how.
Selphie wiped her forehead, 'That was one of the scariest things I have ever done.' She smiled to herself, 'But, I feel better now that I did it.' She felt the skip in her step come back as she walked to the dorms. She saw Squall coming out from the dorms and smiled wide, "Squall!"
Squall looked up and saw her. He looked down again and briskly walked past her towards the cafeteria. Selphie turned around and watched him, furrowing her eyebrows, 'Did I do something wrong?'
'What is she so happy about?' Squall wondered as he went into the cafeteria, not noticing Seifer, and sat in a chair at Quistis and Zell's table.
"Oh man! Squall, you missed it! It was so great!" Zell said.
"Missed what…?" Squall asked, looking uninterested.
"Selphie came in her and beat the crap out of Seifer and told him off in front of everyone!"
"She didn't really 'beat the crap' out of him. She kicked him a couple times and slapped him once," Quistis corrected. "But, the telling off was quite impressive."
"Impressive? It was amazing!" Zell exclaimed.
"Oh…" Squall said, "That's…nice."
"'That's nice'? Is that all you have to say?" asked Zell with wide eyes.
"Yeah…what am I supposed to say?" Squall replied.
Zell sighed as he fell back in his chair, "You're hopeless!"
'So, that's what she was so happy about,' Squall thought.
"I really wonder what happened last night to spark that outburst though," said Quistis.
"He probably tricked her into a date and tried to do her in his room or something." Quistis made a face, "Way to put it bluntly."
Seifer came over and glared at all of them, "Just shut the hell up about the whole thing already."
"Why? Did a girl make you upset? Oh, boo-hoo! Poor little Seifer!" Zell said and laughed.
Seifer slammed his hand on the table, which thundered throughout the room, "It is not that at all, chicken-wuss, and if I hear one more thing out of you, I will make you wish you never met me."
"I already wish I never met you," Zell said quietly, snickering a little to himself.
Squall didn't look up. He wanted to do something to Seifer because he was still angry about what he did to Selphie. But, he realized enough damage had been done for the day. He got up. "Whoa, where are you going, Commander?" sneered Seifer.
"Away from you."
"Oh, how sad, why is that?" Seifer said.
"Because if I stay near you any longer, I'll put your head through a wall," Squall turned and walked towards the exit of the cafeteria.
Seifer let out a laugh, "Fine, fine, go find your little messenger girl, I'm sure she misses you. Good luck trying to get any, though."
Quistis rolled her eyes and got up as well, "Give it a rest, Seifer." Zell nodded and they followed after Squall.
Seifer watched them and grinned to himself, 'Fine, you can all leave, but I think I just thought of the perfect thing to get back at Selphie…'
Selphie sat on a bench in the Quad, watching as people painted some things for the Garden Festival. She sighed to herself, pushing a stand of hair out of her face.
"I hear you beat the crap out of Seifer earlier…" Squall said quietly as he sat down next to her.
She looked over at him and smiled, "Well, kinda. The telling off part was more fun."
"I bet…" he said, looking forward.
She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, "Look, Squall, I'm sorry I just left you there this morning, but…I just had to do it when I felt I could."
"Whatever, Selphie, I'm not looking for an explanation."
She looked down for a moment, then looked at him sternly, "You're so stupid sometimes, Squall."
Squall was taken aback by her comment and looked over at her, "I'm what..?"
"You're stupid!"
"What? Have you gone insane…?"
"You do realize that I could not have done what I did today without your help last night, right?"
"Well…no," he said quietly.
She sighed a little, "Squall, you helped me not to completely fall apart…you gave me strength. If it wasn't for you, I would probably be in my room moping for the next week or two."
"Oh…"
"You know, I don't know how you felt about last night, but to me--"
"Amazing."
Selphie paused and tilted her head slightly, "Squall…?"
"It was an amazing night…one of the best." He shook head, "I feel like a such a jerk," he said, under his breath. "I know it may not mean that much to you--"
"Squall, believe me, it did."
"Yeah, you say it, but…you were with Seifer because you liked him, I just happened to be there as your friend, nothing more. But, just watching you sleep and holding you--" he shook his head again. "I wouldn't think it would mean that much to you since you were just sleeping."
"I just told you it did. I meant way more than you even realize," she reached over and put her hand gently on his. He looked down for a moment, then at her. She smiled and knew that he was always the right person for her. She had no idea what she even saw in Seifer in the first place. She just wanted to be by Squall's side always.
"What does this mean…?" he asked her.
"I don't really know, but I do know that you care about me from what you did last night …and I care about you."
He nodded, "I do…"
"But, for now, it doesn't really have to mean anything. No pressure," she said with a smile. He put his hand over hers and squeezed it softly. She felt a new feeling of warmth and happiness flow through her all at once.
She looked at him, wanting so badly to tell him the feelings she had for him for so long, "Squall, I--"
"Selphie Tilmitt." The voice of a Garden Master suddenly sounded through the quad. The two immediately let go of each other's hands.
She stood up straight and saluted, "Here."
The Garden Master moved over to her, handing her a slip of paper, "You are to report to the Headmaster's office at once. A fellow student reported that you assaulted him. You must speak to the Headmaster on the grounds of possible expulsion."
To Be Continued…
Well, that chapter took a while to get up because school took over my life the past few months. Sorry about that, everyone! I have time now though, so look for more chapters! Thanks for reading!