Chapter 6

The Secret Revealed

The next morning when Rinoa woke up, she didn't remember what had happened the night before. Then she saw the burnt dress she was still wearing. "Oh yeah." At the thought of last night she smiled. Squall had asked her to the dance and even danced with her twice. It was awesome. She felt as if she was floating on air. Then, when the lights had gone down, he had pulled her closer to him. She wished she could be there in that moment again. Before the lights had gone out they had been looking at each other. "I still wonder, would he have kissed me if those lights hadn't gone out?"

She walked to her bathroom and turned the shower water on. Then she stepped inside and let the water rush over her face, clearing her thoughts. After she got out she put her makeup on and went to her closet. "I want to where something special today." She rummaged around through her clothes until she found the perfect outfit. It was a pair of light blue jeans, and aqua and yellow shirt that showed her stomach. "It's flirty, but not too outgoing."

She was able to concentrate in all of her classes that day. On her Magic exam she got a B and on her fighting test, an A. Nothing could make her feel bad today. Everything was going her way so far.

At lunch, she found Quistis and the others. "Hey guys, what's up?" Everyone stopped and stared at her.

"Aren't you dressed mighty fine today!" Said Irvine. Selphie punched him in the ribs with that comment. "Come on Selphie. You know you're the only girl for me!"

"I think it's really cute!" Quistis smiled at her.

"Thanks." Rinoa sat down and began eating her ham sandwich. She looked around the table. Everyone else was talking and eating accept for Zell. Instead, he was staring at Rinoa, with a curious expression across his face. Rinoa stopped and gave him the same look back.

"Rinoa…can I talk to you for a second." Zell said as he stood up. Rinoa put her sandwich down.

"Yeah, sure." She stood up and walked to another lunch table in the far corner of the cafeteria. When she reached the table she looked at him with concern. "Is something wrong?"

"No…nothings really wrong…I'm just curious."

"Curious? Curious about what?" Rinoa was totally lost. "What is he talking about? I'm so confused." She thought to herself.

"You know the dance last night?"

"Yeah…what about it?"

"I saw you there…"

"Oh really. That's cool. I don't recall seeing you." Rinoa started to fidget around with her foot nervously. "If he saw me with him, Squall might never come near me again!" She thought.

"Yeah, I did. You were sitting down at a table as if you were, waiting for someone…"

"Really, I didn't go with anyone. Sorry to give you the wrong idea. Umm…Bye!" Without looking back she ran out of the cafeteria.

"Something's fishy here. She's up to something, I know it." Looking to see if his other friends were watching, he ran out of the cafeteria, following Rinoa.

Rinoa ran all the way back to the dormitory hallway. She stopped at her door to catch her breath, her hands on her knees. "At least he didn't see me there with Squall!" She stood back up and turned to face Squall's door. "I haven't talked to him since the dance. In fact I haven't seen him either." She walked to the dark oak door. She knocked twice.

Zell ran down the hallway. As he rounded the final corner, he saw Rinoa. He stopped to watch. "What's she doing? That's Squall's door!" He continued to spy without her knowing.

Rinoa waited. No one answered. She knocked again. Still no answer. "Oh well, I guess I'll check again later." She walked back to her room and closed the door.

Inside her room she cleaned her bathroom and reorganized her closet. She sat on her bed, putting her hand against her face, her elbows on her knees. "What should I do?" I'm so bored. I don't have any homework, we had tests and I passed them all. Maybe I should just take a nap. Just for about thirty minutes."

Zell sat behind the corner of the hallway, still waiting for Rinoa, to see what she was up to. "Man, it's been forty minutes! I could sit here all night!" The minutes ticked by. Zell was beginning to doze off.

Rinoa stretched out on her bed. "Ah, that was a good nap. I should take one more often." She looked over at her clock. "Whoa! I slept for four hours! That definitely wasn't a nap. Great, now I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. It's already nine!" Rinoa sighed. "I wonder if Squall's back now…maybe I should go check." She jumped off her bed and opened her door. The halls were silent. "Everyone must be in their dorm rooms." Rinoa thought to herself. Little did she know, Zell was just around the corner.

Rinoa shut her door quietly, but jammed her toe in the wall. "Ow! That was really stupid!" When she hit the wall it made a loud noise. "I hope I didn't wake anyone up!"

Just around the corner, Zell was awoken by a loud bang on the wall. "Whoa, I must have fallen asleep. What? It's nine ten! I probably slept through everything." Suddenly he heard footsteps in the hall near Rinoa's room. He slowly peered around the corner and saw Rinoa once again standing in front of Squall's doorway. "I'm really lucky. I actually didn't miss anything!" Zell continued to watch and listen as hard as he could for any signs of something suspicious. The first suspicious sign was her wanting to talk to Squall.

Rinoa knocked on Squall's door. She figured he would still be up. He usually didn't go to bed until later. The door opened. Squall stood there in his black pants. His hair was wet from a shower. He didn't have his shirt on at the moment. Rinoa really took notice of his abs and arms. She snapped out of it and said, "Hey!"

"Hey…wanna come in?" Squall asked her in a monotone voice.

"I'd love to, thanks!" Rinoa bounded inside happily. Zell, behind the corner couldn't believe it. Squall had just invited her in his room!

"He's never even let me see his room before! That is cold man, real cold!"

Rinoa sat down on Squall's bed. She watched as he took a towel to dry his hair. "He is so cute…" She thought quietly to herself. He grabbed his white shirt from his closet and slipped it on. "Hey, Squall? Zell talked to me today."

"Really? What did he say?"

"He acted really weird. He said he had seen me at the dance and that I was sitting at a table as if I was waiting for someone. He must've seen me when you went to go get some punch. That's what I think at least."

"Hmm…knowing Zell he'll probably try and spy on you."

"That's ridiculous. Why would he do something like that?" Squall raised his eyebrow.

"You don't know Zell like I do." Rinoa had to admit it. When he made that face it made him look really attractive. "By the way…I uh…I uh…like your outfit."

"Thanks!" Rinoa said. She felt her cheeks go red.

"Well, I guess I better get going. Plus I can see if a certain someone is spying on me."

"Okay. Goodnight Rinoa." Rinoa loved it when he said her name at the end. She smiled and walked closer to him.

"Goodnight Squall." She then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "See you tomorrow." Squall stood there not sure what to do. Rinoa left his room, shutting the door quietly. She peeked around the hall to see if she saw Zell anywhere. Satisfied she went back to her room.

After she had gotten ready for the new day ahead of her, she ran out her door and around the first corner. She continued to run, but stopped. She turned around. "I knew I saw someone!" There was Zell, fast asleep next to a plant, his face in the soil. "Zell! How dare you try and spy on me!" With this loud outburst, Zell jumped up faster than lightning.

"Huh? Oh, hi Rinoa. What's up?" He said with a little laugh.

"Don't 'what's up Rinoa' me!" She yelled back at him. I can't believe you would do this!"

"Well I did so, so, yeah! Besides, I found what I was looking for."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I know you like Squall. I had already suspected you at first, and now I know that you did go to the dance with him!"

"Zell! Please don't tell Squall!"

"Don't worry, I won't tell him…just some others…"

"Others?"

"You know…Quistis, Selphie, and Irvine. They deserve to know."

With that said and done he ran off before Rinoa could say another word. She couldn't tell Squall this! What if stopped liking her, if he did like her. "Now I'm confused again! I hate this!"

At lunch that afternoon, Rinoa walked towards her usual table where her group of friends sat. "Had Zell told them?" She wondered. "If so, what would they say?" She sat down and began to eat her salad. Everyone's eyes were on her. "What?" She asked them.

Quistis spoke up first. "Zell told us about you…you and um…Squall…" Selphie smiled at her.

"I think it's really sweet!" She said. Irvine had started tickling her, making her beg for mercy.

"Is it wrong…for me to like him?" Rinoa asked quietly.

"Of course not. I just wish you had said something to us first." Quistis said, concern in her voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I promise I will next time." The rest of lunch was pretty quiet. No one had much to say except for Selphie's loud giggle fits. Rinoa finished eating and stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Quistis asked.

"I'm gonna go into town and shop for a little bit." Quistis nodded her head in an okay, and Rinoa left.

As she walked out of the Garden she started getting a little frustrated. It felt like everyone was starting to pry into her personal life! It was her's and Squall's business! They needed to stay out of it and leave them alone!