Chapter 10

Jealousy

Rinoa was in Squall's room, finishing up their project. She had almost every inch of the poster colored in. "I hope Squall found all the information we needed." As if on cue, the door opened and Squall walked in. "Hey, did you find everything?"

"Yeah, I already typed up the essay."

"Wow! That's great. We're through then. Just in time, too. We have to present it next period."

"Do you want to read it or do you want to do half and half?" Squall asked her.

"Half and half sounds good to me. Come on!" They walked off down the hall to the elevator. They rode up to the second floor and walked into their classroom. All the students were sitting with their partners, discussing what they would say. Silence came over them as the teacher walked in.

"Today we will present our projects starting with….let's see….Rinoa and Squall. Please come to the front of the classroom." They stood up and walked toward the front. Everyone's eyes were on them. Rinoa held the poster up as Squall spoke. Then they switched halfway through it.

"Thank you. That was an excellent report. I can tell you two worked hard. You get an A." Rinoa smiled. Squall didn't seem to think it was a big deal. During the rest of class everyone else presented their assignments. Everyone paid attention until a young girl Rinoa's age walked in. She had long blond hair and blue eyes. Her body was thin and slender with long legs. She spoke to the teacher a moment. The teacher then cleared her throat. "Excuse me class…we have a new student. Her name is Crystal. I expect you all to help her around and be respectful. Why don't you take a seat anywhere you like?"

Rinoa watched the girl. Her hair flowed behind her making all the boys in the class's eyes go hazy with daydreams. A knot filled Rinoa's stomach. She choked. The girl had sat down right next to Squall! She watched as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, crossed her legs, and unbuttoned her jacket.

"Hello there…my name's Crystal. Who are you?" She had turned to face Squall.

"Squall…" He didn't look at her. He just stared ahead.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Squall. Would you mind showing me around the school? I might get lost on my own."

"…………………" Squall didn't answer.

"Someone doesn't like to talk much now do they?" She asked him, a smile forming across her face. "I like a serious guy. It usually means their serious in everything they do."

"Whatever." That was his only reply. The bell for class to end rang. The girl stood up.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around cutie." She stood up slowly and leaned down to grab her jacket. "I'll be looking for you at lunch." She whispered in his ear. Crystal then picked up her books and walked out the door.

Rinoa stood there with her mouth open. She couldn't believe that girl! There she was making a move on the guy she liked! She walked over to Squall as he got up to leave. "Hey Squall. Did that new girl Crystal…did she say anything to you?"

"Yeah."

"I knew it! What did she say?" Rinoa could feel heat building up inside.

"She asked if I would show her around school. Then she said she would be looking for me at lunch." He grabbed his books and started to walk off.

"Wait!" Rinoa called after him. "She's going to look for you at lunch? I don't think so! Not on my watch!" Squall glanced at Rinoa curious at her sudden outburst.

"I never said I would actually be at lunch though…"

"Huh?" Rinoa looked at him quickly. "Oh…never mind then." She laughed a little after that. "Where are you going then?" There was silence.

"I was going to go to the cafeteria first, and then my room to eat. Then she wouldn't be able to sit with me."

"Smart thinking! Mind if I join?" She blinked her eyes up at him and smiled.

"Why not?" He answered. They walked into the cafeteria and grabbed some food. Then they walked down past the infirmary and to the dorms. Squall opened his door and let Rinoa in first. They sat down on the bed and began to eat in silence.

"Squall?" Rinoa asked to break the stillness in the air. "Have you ever had a um…girlfriend?" Squall was startled by this question.

"No…not really. Girls have come on to me, but…I never liked them."

"Hmm." Rinoa felt sort of special. It made her feel as if he liked her because she had had so many different experiences with him. They finished eating and put their plates down. "So…what do you want to do?" She asked him.

"I don't know…how about a walk?"

"Sure!" They stood up off the bed and walked out into the hallway. Rinoa walked next to him. "I wonder if he would let me hold his hand…It's worth a try." She looked around the building and slowly lifted her hand to his. Squall looked at her as she grabbed his hand, but didn't pull away. "It worked! This is awesome!" They continued to walk, side by side, holding hands when they heard laughter.

"Isn't this precious. The little girl has a crush." Rinoa turned around. It was Crystal. "Why don't you just give up already? This guy is way out of your league."

"Shut up! No he's not! Just mind your own business Crystal!"

"Yeah, right…" Crystal walked towards them and came close up to Squall's face. She pulled his chin up with her fingers. "Why don't you leave this little girl and come with a woman?" Squall just stared at her for a moment before replying. Rinoa could feel her insides boiling.

"Okay…you're right!" Squall said, a grin on his face.

"What?" Rinoa said her eyes widening. "Is Squall blowing me off?" She thought to herself in disbelief.

Squall walked towards Crystal and then turned around back to Rinoa and grabbed her hand. They started walking off. Rinoa didn't understand.

"Hey…" Crystal said. Squall turned around to face her.

"What? You told me to go with a woman, so I'm going with one…" Crystal gaped. Rinoa turned around and gave a triumphant smile as they walked off.

"Hey Squall?" Rinoa asked a few minutes later. "Did you really mean what you said?"

"About what?" He looked down at her.

"You know…about me being a woman…"

Squall blushed a little. "Well, yeah……." At this Rinoa couldn't help smiling.

"I knew he liked me! He defended me." Rinoa thought to herself. She held his hand a little tighter. Squall stopped in the hallway as he heard the bell ring.

"It's time for my next class. I should go." Rinoa made a pouting face. Squall did the little smirk she loved so much. Then, without warning, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"He just kissed me. He himself!" Rinoa was so happy. She slowly made her way through the rest of her classes.

As she was walking toward her room for the night, she saw Squall walking the same way. She walked a bit faster to catch up with him. "Hey!" She ran over and grabbed his arm. He smiled.

They continued on down till they reached their separate rooms. Squall was opening his bedroom door when he heard Rinoa gasp. He ran outside to make sure she was okay. She was standing in her doorway, her hand over her mouth. Furniture had been broken, her desk chair askew. Her clothes had been ripped and torn to shreds, her papers in her desk everywhere.

"Who would do this?" Rinoa said in a whisper.

"It looks as if someone was searching for something." Squall said, examining her room. "Is anything missing?"

"I don't know? Let me look…" Rinoa began rummaging around in what was left. Finally she stood back up. "My weapon is gone, but I can just buy another. Some notebook pages have been torn out, too. That's not the worst part…your spare key is gone."

"We'll get them back." Squall said.

"Someone could hurt you though…" Rinoa said worriedly.

"Don't worry." Squall had walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder. He looked around her room one more time. Rinoa looked around, too.

"Where am I supposed to stay? Everything is messed up! Even the bathtub and shower don't work! Not to mention that all my clothes are ruined."

"You…you can stay in my room if you need to…" Squall said in a nervous voice.

"Do you really mean that? That would be great! Thank you so much!" She turned around and hugged him. Squall just stood their nervously. At last she released him and the tension left him a little bit.

"I'll talk to the headmaster about what happened." Squall said. "We'll get to the bottom of this."