Chapter 2:
She was running down a deserted street; endlessly searching. Her head snapped left and right, causing her raven-coloured hair to flail wildly around her pale face. Her footsteps echoed on the soggy pavement. She must find what she was looking for, even if it took her forever to do so. She sensed she was close. Almost there...a few more steps....she turned a corner....
She gasped and slowly blinked, returning to consciousness.
The dream again.
The same dream she had been having periodically ever since she was nine. The dream where as soon as she was at the end, she would wake up. No matter how hard she tried to stay asleep and find out what she was searching for, she always woke up. Always.
She sighed and pushed sweaty hair off her forehead and sat up too quickly, resulting in a head rush. Covering her face with a sweaty palm, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
The dream...again. She had thought she was rid of the dream, since she hadn't had it in almost two years. The doctors had told her it was because of stress, but ever since it had happened to her mother, she had started having those dreams.
After her mother died she was automatically shipped off to Deling, where her father was the general of the army. She had lived here for eight or nine years now, and had settled in quite nicely. The dreams had eventually stopped, and she had thought it was for good until—
"Good morning, Miss Rinoa."
Rinoa jumped slightly. She had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't heard her maid, Marilyn, come in.
"Oh. G-Good morning..."
Marilyn gave her a concerned look.
"Are you alright, Miss?"
Rinoa realized she must look horrible. She could feel sweat on her forehead and she was shaking slightly. She could tell she was pale.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Rinoa murmured. "Bad dream, that's all."
Marilyn nodded, as if she understood. "Well, breakfast is ready, if you'd like some. Or
would you like me to bring it up to you? I'd go down though, if I were you. Your father is expecting you."
Rinoa forced a smile. "No, tell him I'll be down in a minute."
Marilyn gave a brisk nod and bustled out of the room.
Rinoa swung her legs to the side of the bed and walked shakily across the room into the bathroom that was attached to her bedroom. She stood at the sink and splashed cool water onto her face, then peered at her reflection in the mirror. She looked as bad as she felt, and she could tell why Marilyn was worried. Her large chocolate coloured eyes were bloodshot, and her long hair was pasted to her face and forehead. Black was smudged around her eyes since she hadn't taken off her make-up the night before. Her face was even paler then usual, and the skin was puffy around her eyes, as if she had been crying.
She stripped off her pajamas and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water soothe her nerves. The bathroom was full of steam when she finally got out and dried herself off with the towel. She went back over to the mirror and rubbed the condensation off with one hand. She looked normal now, and the hot water had brought the blood back to her face.
She left the bathroom and went into her huge walk-in closet, which was packed with shirts, pants, skirts, shoes, and anything else you could possibly ever want to wear. Her father seemed to think that the best way to make up for not being in her life before this was to shower her with expensive gifts and ship her off to some snotty expensive school. Well, she didn't mind having new clothes once and a while, since her mother had never had that much money and new clothes weren't always an option, but her father was going a bit overboard. And she had a few close friends at her school.
It was Saturday so she didn't half to wear the usual short skirt and blouse that were mandatory at the all-girls private school she attended. Her father was paranoid about her and boys, so he had sent her to an all-girl's school and always had to know where she was going and who she would be with and when she would be home, and was there going to be alcohol or drugs at the party. The list goes on. She understood where he was coming from, but if he took the time to get to know his daughter, he would know that she wasn't into drinking or smoking pot.
Thank god she was graduating this year.
She ended up picking out a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans before leaving her room and descending the large staircase into the dining room, where her father was reading the paper.
"Morning, Princess," he said as he looked up at her with a smile that ruffled his large moustache.
She gave him what she thought was a winning smile and took a seat at the opposite end of the table.
"Have a good sleep?" he asked, his eyes back down at the newspaper in his hand.
"Oh...yes, it was good."
She didn't know why she lied. She had barely slept at all last night, and then the dream...
"What are your plans for today?"
She reached over and grabbed an orange from the basket in the middle of the table.
"I was thinking about going to the mall with Quistis and Selphie, maybe
do a little shopping."
Her father raised an eyebrow, still looking down at the paper.
"Just Selphie and Quistis?"
"Yes, Daddy," Rinoa said, with more than a bite of impatience in her voice.
"Because if I find out you went off with some...some boy, you're going to be in a whole lot of trouble!"
He was actually looking at her now.
"I know! You've told me a thousand times! No boys, I got it!"
General Caraway nodded and looked down at the paper once more.
"Not till you graduate." His face was slightly red.
She rolled her eyes, and began to peel the orange in her hand.
If she found a guy she liked, her father wasn't going to stop her from dating him. It's only wrong if she gets caught, right? But then again, she probably wouldn't find a guy she liked enough to date this year. It was hard to find nice guys when you went to an all-girls private school.
Rinoa glumly started on her orange.
She laughed, enjoying the feel of the wind through her hair. It was a beautiful afternoon, not too hot but not too cold either. Quistis said something and Selphie laughed loudly, exchanging worthless gossip. Rinoa smiled to herself and changed lanes. Quistis and Selphie had been her best friends ever since the first day of her new school in Deling. They were the best friends she had ever had.
Selphie reached over and clicked on the radio, and some song they both new came on.They started singing loudly, getting strange looks from pedestrians as they sped by.
Quistis was eighteen, like Rinoa and Selphie, and had beautiful long blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She had a tall and willowy frame, and seemed more like an older sister than a best friend at times. She wore thin framed glasses that suited her face perfectly.
Selphie, on the other hand, was almost exactly the opposite, and Rinoa sometimes wondered how they were such good friends; they were so different. She had shoulder-length brown hair, which she flipped up at the sides, and brilliant green eyes. Rinoa realized that she had never seen Selphie upset. She was always cheery and laughing, and her grin was highly infectious. Quistis was more mature and calm, but Rinoa supposed they balanced each other.
Rinoa slowed her car and turned into the mall parking lot.
"Oh man," Quistis groaned. "Why did we have to come to the mall on a Saturday? Look how busy it is!"
Rinoa bit her lip. She was right; there wasn't a parking space in sight.
Selphie grinned.
"Dilemma of the Day!" her voice took on a dramatic edge. "How to find a parking spot!"
"Dun dun dun duuunnn!"
Rinoa giggled.
"Ooh!" Quistis screamed suddenly and pointed. "Look!"
A man was getting into his car ahead of them, and at the opposite end of the parking lot another car was driving over to take his parking space.
"Noooo, you don't!" Rinoa said fiercely. "This means war!"
She slammed her foot on the gas pedal and sped toward the man, who was just backing out of the parking spot. Luckily for them, he backed out facing the opposite car, so it was Rinoa who snuck in and got the space.
"Triumph!" Quistis shrieked with glee.
The opposite car driver was brandishing a fist at them. Rinoa gave him an innocent smile, and she, Quistis, and Selphie walked into the mall.
"Hmm... how about this one?"
Rinoa looked over at Quistis, who was holding up a very revealing, tight shirt.
"Oh, for your night job?" Selphie asked innocently.
Quistis glared and stuck out her tongue, then went back to browsing through the racks that were marked 50 off.
"Aww, Rin, that's such a pretty dress, you should try it on!"
Rinoa looked up at Selphie, then back down at the white flowing dress in her hands.
"I dunno, I mean, what's the point? The only formal occasion I could wear this to would be my dads stuffy political parties..."
"Well, you know," Selphie lowered her voice, and her eyes lit up. "I heard Headmaster Frean talking about a dance coming up. With guys."
Rinoa's eyes widened. A dance...guys would be there. Here father would never let her go.
Selphie seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Rinoa.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him, Rin." She said with a wink.
Rinoa grinned and waved one of the ladies that worked at the store over.
"Yes, I'd like to try this on..."
Well, theres another chapter. Thanks to everybody who reviewed, it means a lot, and I probably wouldn't write any more if people didn't :). Tell me what you think...update comin up...