Chapter 4

The Party

Rinoa sat quietly in the back of her magic class that day. She had not heard one thing her teacher had said except that when you use your magic that you face it at the exact angle needed for it to hit your enemy and not you or your allies. She couldn't concentrate on any of her lessons. The conversation she had with Zell yesterday made her worried. "Did he tell the others?" She wondered.

After class was over she sat down on a bench in the hallway. "I wonder how Squall feels…does he like me?" She was deep in thought when Selphie came running towards her.

"Hey Rinoa! Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"There's going to be a school dance. Everyone gets to dress up and wear lots of jewelry and have a romantic dinner! I'm waiting for Irvine to ask me!"

"A dance, huh?" Rinoa thought quietly to herself.

"So do you have an idea of who you want to ask?" Selphie asked her.

"Oh, no. I still don't know many people yet."

"Oh, well, I'll keep my eye out for you!"

"Thanks." With that Selphie ran off down the hall. "Has Squall heard about it?" She thought. "Maybe I could…no…I…I can't. I'll just go by myself…" Rinoa stood up and ran down the hall to the dormitories. She ran into her room and threw open her closet door. "I don't have anything to wear for that dance. I guess I'll go shopping later. In the mean time…" She grabbed a pair of short shorts and a tank top. Grabbing her weapon, the Shooting Star, she ran off for the training center.

When she got there she killed a couple of grats and then ran to the side of the path. "What should I do? I'm so confused about my feelings. When I'm with Squall, it's like all my worries fly away. I feel safe. What do I do? I've never felt like this before." She could feel a tear fall onto her cheek. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around quickly.

It was Squall. He stood there, with a hint of concern. He looked at her face and saw a tear. "Rinoa…" She quickly wiped at her face and smiled.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me…I just…I…I need to go. See you around." She then ran off. Squall stood there confused.

"I wonder if she's really okay. I wonder if I'm okay, too. Ever since she came here I've been different. I can talk to her. Does that mean that I… that I…no…it can't be."

Rinoa dragged her feet down the road in Balamb city. Suddenly her eyes opened wide as she saw a store with beautiful dresses in the display window. "I can look for a dress in there." She thought to herself. She ran inside.

The store had hundreds of dresses. She grabbed around ten and ran to the dressing rooms. She didn't like any of them till the last one. It was long and cut at the bottom like a salsa skirt, with off the shoulder straps, and a veil to wrap around her arms. The best part was that it was her favorite color, blue. She bought the dress and made her way to her room back at Garden.

As she walked toward her dormitory door she saw Squall's door was open. When she got in front of her room she looked in his. He was standing in front of his mirror, adjusting the bow tie on his tuxedo. "I guess he heard about the dance." Rinoa thought to herself. "I wonder who he asked."

Squall finished his bow tie and saw Rinoa standing in front of her doorway in the reflection of his mirror. He turned around just as she closed her door. "Dang it! I was too late! I knew I should have asked her earlier." He thought.

Rinoa pulled her dress out of the bag. She took off her clothes and put them in her closet. Then she slipped into her exquisite new dress with sequins sparkling in the lights. She went to the bathroom and put her makeup on. Then she curled the ends of her hair and put her chain necklace on. She looked at herself one more time and sighed. "Time to go." She wished she had asked Squall as her date earlier.

She opened her door and stepped outside. When she turned around after locking it, she saw Squall lock his and turn around. Squall's eyes opened wide. There Rinoa was, her hair curled, long blue dress, veil around her arms, and off the shoulder straps. She smiled at him. His voice choked when he tried to speak. Rinoa started to walk off down the hallway.

"Wait!" Squall gained his voice back. Rinoa stopped and turned around to face him. "Rinoa!"

"Yes? What is it Squall?"

"I…I…I uh…" Squall stumbled over his words. "I was wondering if you would…if you would…" He closed his eyes and blurted out, "If you would want to go to the dance with me."

Rinoa had never felt so happy in her entire life. She had got what she wished for. "Yes, of course I will. I would love too!" Squall opened his eyes, surprised at her answer. For the first time since Rinoa had met him, she saw him really smile. He held out his hand for her. Rinoa smiled and took his hand. They walked off down the hallway until they reached the Quad.

As soon as they entered, music had begun to play. Squall led her out onto the dance floor. "Squall…I'm shocked. You dance?"

"Yeah…it's part of training."

"Of course. Isn't everything?" Squall put his hand on her small waist and his other hand took hers. They began doing the famous dance of Balamb Garden. Rinoa was smiling the whole time.

After the music stopped they took a break. Rinoa looked off to the side and saw Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, and Zell standing in a corner of the dance floor talking. "Hey Squall, let's sit over here. We don't want them to see us together. Zell will bother us the whole time." She pointed to where everyone else was standing. Squall shook his head in agreement.

Rinoa sat down at the table with Squall. He gazed at her with a look Rinoa had never seen in his eyes before. "Rinoa…."

"Yeah?"

"You look really… really beautiful…" Squall seemed to blush a little bit.

"That's so cute! He's blushing." Rinoa thought to herself. "Thank you."

They smiled at each other for a few seconds. Rinoa then saw refreshments at the table at the other end of the room. "Hey Squall, do you want some punch?" Squall looked over where she was looking.

"Yeah, sure." Rinoa began to stand up. "Don't worry about it. I'll get you some." Squall said. He was gone for about five minutes. When he returned he was holding two ice cold drinks. They sat down at the table to finish their refreshments until the music started playing again. This time it was a slow song. Rinoa glanced sideways at Squall, wondering if he would slow dance with her. To her surprise he had his hand held out. She took his hand.

Rinoa put her arms around his neck and Squall put his around her waist. Butterflies were racing through her stomach. She never thought this would ever happen. It was like a dream. When she was in his arms she felt so safe and warm. Squall didn't know what to do either. He had never actually slow danced with anyone before. Sure, girls had asked him, but he had always rejected their invitations.

As the music slowly ended again, they separated from one another. They stared into each others eyes. Rinoa was so nervous. "Was Squall going to kiss her?" Her heart sped up. Squall's face got closer to hers when all of a sudden the lights went out!