Chapter 6
crashing waves

We like to think that our lives are perfect. That we have the perfect family, the perfect job, the perfect house with the white picket fence, the perfect friends, the perfect boyfriend, or whatever it may be. It's all just a façade. Everyone has something to hide, something that would shatter the pedestal that everyone places you on.

It's strange how in one day your world can turn upside down. One moment you're riding the perfect wave, and the next it's crashing down upon you. I should have known something major would happen today, the water was way too calm this morning.

When I told them the story of why Squall and I were bandaged up I was expecting the worst. I mean, I had nearly killed their friend. I was expecting an angry mob with pitchforks chasing after me or to be burned at the stakes, but instead they thanked me for what I did. Selphie told me that no one else would ever consider doing something like that for one of them. Strange.

So here I am a couple of hours later in a smoky bar sharing a round of drinks with six…friends, strangers only hours earlier.

"…that's when Squall lost the bet and had to strip down and streak buck naked down Sixth Street!" Irvine exclaimed proudly. The entire table erupted into laughter as they recalled the story. Squall was shooting death glares at Irvine.

I was only partly paying attention to the story but laughed anyway. My thoughts were more preoccupied. I looked across the table at Squall. His wound was still bandaged, but his brown unruly locks hid the bandage well from view. He shook his head slightly at the embarrassment of Irvine's story, obviously not too comfortable with all the attention directed at him. I noticed for the first time tonight that he was wearing a black t-shirt. That's a shame…wait, what?

Sure I've seen plenty of half-naked guys before on the beach, but for some reason seeing Squall was different. His body wasn't overly muscular like most of the guys I've seen before, obviously hawked up on steroids to impress girls. His muscles were toned and well defined. The image of him in his bath towel suddenly entered my mind. He glanced over at me and our eyes met. I felt my cheeks heat up under his intense observation with his piercing blue eyes.

"So Rinoa, are you still with Connor Mathis?" Zell asked. "How long has it been?"

Ah, Connor Mathis, my "perfect" boyfriend, my crashing wave. Yeah we were "together" for a year. Connor is also a surfer, he just so happens to be the one surfer that every girl swoons over. At first we couldn't be separated and the press would hound and follow us, but the last couple of months have just become a routine. We would only appear together to save face in the press because that's what everyone else wants to see, a perfect couple. Our relationship started out too fast and it crashed and burned a while ago. He has been cheating on me and today I caught him in the act.

"Connor? Ah…we're not together any more… as of today." What's the point in trying to deny it anymore. I swirled the contents of my glass around and took a gulp of my drink anticipating the next question to come.

"Oh no, what happened?" Selphie asked. I began to run the tip of my finger around the rim of my glass. Where do I begin?

"It's been over for a while actually. You see, my manager signed me up for the Balamb International this weekend so that is why we are here. I just found out yesterday that my manager, that bloodsucking asshole that he is, has been stealing money from me, so I fired him. He then went and badmouthed me to my sponors and spread some ugly rumors. This morning I was officially dropped from the competition.

"The only reason Connor came here with me is for the face time with the press. Anyway, this morning I thought that I would calm my nerves and catch a few waves. While waiting for the surf to pick up, I looked back to shore and saw Connor with his tongue down some girl's throat."

"What a shitkicker. Do you want us to kick his ass?" Zell asked

"No Zell, that won't be necessary. I already did that." I smiled while taking another gulp of my drink.

"What did you do?" Irvine asked.

"I paddled back to shore, calmly walked up to him with my board under my arm, tapped on his shoulder and said something to the effect of 'you should know it's really puny.' I then smiled at him and knocked him out with my board."

"Damn girl!" Seifer exclaimed. Everyone else was a little taken back by what I had just told them. Squall just looked amused and arched one eyebrow.

"Hell yeah, I would have kicked his balls in!" Selphie proclaimed. I laughed at her and glanced at Irvine who cringed at the thought.

"I then went back to our room, gathered up all of his stuff and tossed them out onto the beach. That's actually when I first met Squall."

Everyone gave me a puzzled look and then slowly shifted their gaze to Squall. He squirmed and looked down at his beer. He coughed and looked up to me.

"Ugh, yeah, we just passed each other in the hall," he said nonchalantly while staring at me. I just nodded in agreement. I guess Squall hadn't told them the truth.

Music began playing as a local band started tuning their instruments. Squall stood up and walked over behind me. He put his hands on the back of my chair and leaned over to my ear.

"Another drink?" he asked, his warm breath sending shivers down my back. The smell of alcohol on his breath flooded my senses. I turned slowly towards him, our mouths inches apart. I looked up into his eyes and couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Sure," I said loud enough for him to hear over the music. H nodded and stood up looking back at the table, everyone else putting in another drink order. He turned and left for the bar.

"Okay I'm going with five minutes," Irvine said.

"No way, he is a fucking walking mummy…fifteen minutes at best," Seifer spat out.

"I'm going to go with Irvine on this one," Selphie chimed.

"Well there's a shocker," Seifer replied.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked in utter confusion.

"We're betting on how long it will be until Squall has a girl clinging to his arm," Zell said.

"See Rinoa, Squall attracts women like a moth to a flame. There's just something about him," Quistis tried to explain.

"He's a ladies man?" I asked in shock.

"No, Hell no!" Irvine shouted in disgust. "Girls just fawn over him. It's sickening really."

"Hey, look at that. Look at that! He's got a huge bandage on his head and yet a girl is already talking to him. How does he do it?" Zell exclaimed.

I turned around and looked towards the bar. Sure enough Squall, with his black t-shirt and baggy cargo shorts, was leaning over the bar waiting for the drinks and some blonde girl was talking to him. After a couple of minutes she moved in closer to him as the music began to pick up and sure enough, began clinging to his arm.

"What did I tell you?" Irvine said proudly, proving his point and winning the bet.

"Fuck up Kinneas," Seifer spouted out while slapping some gil on the table.

I turned back around and finished off the contents of my drink, just as another one was placed down in front of me.

"Thanks," I said while peering over my shoulder at Squall.

"No problem," he replied while sitting down across from me.

"You owe me twenty gil Squall," Siefer said as he grabbed his drink out of Squall's hand.

"Just stop betting against me," he replied in a cocky manner.

Thirty minutes and two beers later…

Everything was going fine, just fine, until she had to walk in the bar and over towards our table. I was in the middle of telling a story when I felt a cold liquid splashed into my face and onto my tank top. This day just keeps getting better.

"Oops! Oh well, by the way, Connor sends his love."

It was her, the girl I had seen Connor with earlier. I slowly stood up and turned around to face her. My anger started to swell inside. I had been waiting for this moment to come for months. Every lie Connor ever told me all culminated to this point. The band stopped playing and the noisy conversations were silenced as everyone focused on us.

"What the fuck!" Squall yelled out. Everyone slowly got up from their seats.

"It's alright, I can handle this," I calmly said to Squall. I was amazed to see that Squall and the others were coming to my aide. In this I found new resolve. I turned back towards her taking a step forward and sizing her up. She was wearing a black halter top and a denim mini skirt. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a tight bun. She had a smug look on her face, a little too smug. I slowly wiped the remaining liquid from my face away with a paper towel.

"So you must be Connor's slut, right?" I asked while pointing at her. She scoffed and didn't respond.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me not to introduce you. Guys, this is Connor's slut," I said while looking over the table. I looked back to her saying, "and you're not important enough to know their names." She just rolled her eyes.

"It's Lisa," she spat out.

"It doesn't matter," I replied with an amused look plastered on my face. I could tell she was starting to get agitated.

"You know he was just using you right? You didn't mean shit to him," she said.

"Oh, and I suppose you do?" I looked her over again. She was sporting a disgusting orange colored fake tan. Her skirt was just short enough to reveal some scarring on her legs, from plastic surgery no doubt. And her breast were practically busting out of her top.

"Let me guess. You'll date him a couple of times, get him to buy you shit, and then ask him to pay for the surgery to correct what's already been done to your lips, because they did a shitty bang-up job on those," I paused to gage her reaction. Her eyes widened in shock.

"I see that nobody had the balls to tell you that, huh?" I asked. "The truth must hurt."

"What…what are you talking about!" she stuttered out.

"I got news for you honey. Connor Mathis is only a five figure surfer which is pretty pathetic in the surfing world. No wonder he was using me, he can barely stand on a surfboard. I bet you didn't know that did you? So he wouldn't be able to pay for any more of your surgeries, yet he could splurge and get you a longer skirt to cover up those hideous scars on your legs."

I couldn't believe what was coming out of my mouth. Everything that was coming to my mind just flew out of my mouth without me ever comprehending them. Must be the alcohol. Everyone in the bar surrounding us was cheering at what I was saying. It was invigorating, finally being able to say whatever the fuck I wanted to say without having to worry about the press. At this point my career is shattered.

Shocked she turned around to a group of her friends that stood behind her while the crowd continued howling and heckling her. Selphie and Quistis were holding their stomachs from laughing so hard. I waited patiently for her response with a smirk on my face. She finally turned around to face me.

"He tells me all the time that he never even cared for you. You were just an easy fuck, the first whore to jump in his bed!" she spat at me with a devilish grin.

In all honesty, that should have hurt me, but her comment didn't even phase me. I was so blinded by my shear hatred for this woman that I just cocked my head to the side and peered at her. Suddenly an idea hit me.

"Have you ever had a nose job?" I asked in all seriousness. Stunned by my sudden change in tactic she just shook her head.

After a second of thought I wound my right arm back and unleashed a devastating right hook at point blank range. My fist smashed into her nose and I heard a cracking noise. She flew back into her group of friends and hit the floor with a loud thud while wailing out in pain. I shook my fist and the bar erupted once again in a thunderous noise drowning out her cries.

"Oh shit," I said while shaking my head, "get up, come on, get her up." I instructed her friends. They finally got her on her feet after a few vain attempts. Her cries became nothing more than pathetic whimpers.

"Now I'm not doing this because I feel sorry for you, but you happened to catch me on a day where I am feeling incredibly helpful. So…" I looked around the room and grabbed the nearest empty glass with ice still in it.

"Hold this up to your nose while you are on your way to the emergency room," I said while thrusting the glass into her shaking and now bloody hands. There was no doubt in my mind that I had broken her nose.

"That one is for free. The next time I see you I will charge. Oh, and send Connor my love for me," I said with narrowed eyes. "Now fuck off before you really anger me," my voice reaching a dangerously low pitch. She scurried out of sight like a wounded animal. I watched her until she left the bar and until I was satisfied. The crowd once again began cheering at my actions and chanting. I looked back at the table and everyone had shocked and awed expressions. Selphie and Zell enveloped me in a bone crushing embrace.

"That was the best thing I've ever seen!"

"Rinoa that was awesome!"

Everyone was saying something to me but the words just all blurred together once they reached my ears. Everything started spinning in front of me and I began feeling lightheaded. I closed my eyes to stop the spinning and the dizziness. My body felt numb as the effects of the alcohol started to kick in, I could barely feel my right hand.

As soon as Selphie and Zell released me my legs lost all power to hold me up and I stumbled back into my chair. I waited a couple of seconds before opening my eyes again. The first thing that I saw was a pair of stunning blue eyes. All of the colors, shapes, and forms in the background began to slowly mesh together, all except those blue eyes. I blinked a couple of times to steady my vision, this time Squall came into view.

He had his arms on the table leaning towards me. He looked at me with raised eyebrows.

Oh shit. Did he just ask me something? Damn alcohol. Come on Rinoa, focus, focus. He has really pretty eyes…gorgeous eyes…and that floppy hair…okay too much focus.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice finally reaching my ears, one of sincerity and concern.

"Yeah…I'm fine," I replied.

We stayed at the bar for a little while longer to finish our drinks. The band resumed playing and the crowds died down a bit. We eventually paid for our drinks and left the bar. The night air was cool and crisp as we stepped outside. Small shivers ran down make back from the instant contact with my bare skin. I was wearing a tank top with some Capri pants that would hide my bandaged leg.

I looked skyward to see thousands of twinkling stars fill the black void of space. Loud music caught my ears and I looked down towards the beach. People were dancing to thumping music around large bonfires. Selphie had tried to drag Irvine out into the dancing crowd of people; her attempts were to no avail. We eventually made it back to Sumet's, Squall and I said our goodnights to the others as we approached their rooms.

"Hey Rinoa, are you gonna teach me how to surf tomorrow?" Zell asked with a sad puppy look on his face. I just chuckled at his antics.

"Yeah Zell, sure."

"Sweet!" he exclaimed while pumping his fists in the air. "I'll see you tomorrow bright and early!" and with that he slammed his door. Bright and early, that's not going to work out for me.

"Unfortunately he really does mean that. Be expecting a wake up call around 7:00 tomorrow morning from him," Squall said as if reading my mind. I turned to look at him noticed that he was a couple of steps ahead of me walking towards our rooms.

"Well then he is going to have to answer to my fist if he thinks I'm waking up that early," I said while trying to catch up to Squall. He didn't respond but kept walking at a brisk pace. We slowed as we came to our rooms and stood outside of our doors. Squall retrieved his key and paused before placing it in the lock. I unlocked and opened my door and was about to walk in when I noticed he had not unlocked his door. He looked up at me and smile in embarrassment, his bangs falling over his eyes.

"Uh…do you think…that uh," Oh hyne, he's going to ask me to join him. Why am I getting butterflies? Whoa, slow down girl, you just met the guy!

"You could unlock my door for me…again?"

I cringed at my petty thoughts of a school girl fantasy. I nodded my head and walked over to him. He held his key out for me and I took it. He kept his hand in place allowing our fingers to touch for a split second longer than necessary. Did he just try to hold my hand? He pulled his hand back and looked away as he realized he had been caught. I took the opportunity to poke fun at his moment of weakness.

"Are you going to hold my hand or let me unlock your door?" I asked with a mischievous grin.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

I unlocked his door and returned his key. An awkward silence soon followed after. I looked up at him and our eyes locked for the umpteenth time that night. I was beginning to realize how incredibly difficult is was to pull away from his eyes.

"Well…goodnight then," I said, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, goodnight," he replied.

I slowly turned around and had to will my legs to move. I smiled one last time at him and entered my room. Once my door closed I leaned against it and closed my eyes. What a fucked up day. I clutched my right fist to my chest as the pain slowly started to ebb its way back into my senses.

I opened my eyes and focused on my bed. In a trans-like state I walked over to the bed and collapsed on top of it. My eyelids slowly started to shut. I should probably try and make arrangements for getting out of Balamb. There is no point in staying here anymore. I was startled out of my thoughts by the knocking at my door. My eyes shot open and I stared at the door. There is only one person this could be; I just wished that I could postpone this confrontation. I got up and moseyed over towards the door.

"Look Connor, its over between us so why don't you just," I said while flinging the door open wildly in frustration. I stopped mid-sentence, surprised at who had actually knocked at my door.

"Squall," I breathed out, "what are you doing here?" I asked while leaning against the doorframe. He stood back from the door with both of his hands behind his back.

"Sorry if you were sleeping or anything…I was just thinking…and," he said nervously while looking at the floor realizing he was standing in a puddle. "Hyne damn it! They really shouldn't mop the walls." I just busted out laughing. I know that it's incredibly rude of me, sense he is trying to be serious, but he seemed so frustrated with the puddle all of a sudden. He looked at me and glared.

"Do I amuse you?"

"No, no, sorry…go on," I said while still chuckling.

"Anyway, I was thinking, and I realized that I never really thanked you…for earlier," he said taking a step closer to me.

"Is that so? Would that be saving you from the evil wooden door?" I asked mischievously.

"Ha ha," he deadpanned, "no…for…saving me today out on the beach," he spoke more softly.

"Look, I don't have a hell of a lot of experience in this, but, thank you," he said and moved one of his arms from behind his back, producing a bag of ice in front of me. Okay, so the bag of ice was not what I was expecting. A flower, a box of chocolates, a note, anything, but not a bag of ice.

"You're thanking me with a bag of ice?" I asked in a confused state. He chuckled and shook his head.

"No, the ice is for your hand. I thought that you could probably use it."

"Oh, well you're welcome, and thanks," I said while taking the bag of ice and placing it gingerly on my right knuckles. I took a sharp breath in as the ice made contact with my skin.

"So…where did you learn to throw a hook like that?" he asked.

"Well, I grew up as an army brat, my father being an army general and all. He taught me how to defend myself," I explained. "Or as I like to put it, 'just kick ass' in general."

He nodded his head and folded his arms across his chest as silence ensued. I suddenly took an interest in the bag of ice now resting on my knuckles.

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

ciao