Boys

It was a usual day in Twilight

Town, fairly quiet and calm, except the people training for the upcoming Struggle tournament. There was always an upcoming Struggle tournament. It was their one big form of entertainment. Twilight Town wasn't big on ball sports. It was a little strange to outsiders because it was a young person based sport. The age limit was 12-25, but the crown ate it up. It also provided the kids with confidence. Although in some cases too much confidence. Like Seifer.

Seifer and his three lackeys were hanging out at the Sandlot as usual. The so-called head of the so-called disciplinary committee was currently acting at a theatrical death scene as Vivi laughed over his "dying" body. Fuu and Rai already lay "dead" over the lot. They were doing a movie project for school. It was a group thing, but since Olette was the only one in class with a camcorder she was roped into filming for all the groups. She herself didn't have to do a project, and was getting full credit for just filming. Although secretly she'd been helping Hanyer, Pence, and Roxas come up with their movie idea.

"I can't…UGH…die yet….!" Seifer acted clutching at his chest.

"Ahahahaha! Give it up silly mortal boy. You can never defeat the Black Mage King," Vivi shouted, brandishing the large stick that was supposed to act as his staff.

Olette quickly changed angles. She loved doing this kind of thing, and as much as it was an annoyance to have to do it for five different groups, it was interesting to see their ideas come to life. She couldn't wait for this weekend when Hayner's plan came into fruition. From what she had heard of it, it sounded like it was going to be good, action filled, but that's what you got in a group of three boys. Last she heard they were working on how they were going to end it, but it was supposed to be a secret from her.

From beside her, out of the camera's range, Fuu gave her the signal to end it. Ending it involved moving the camera upward to catch the blue sky. She was even lucky enough to catch a dove flying by, though it had a letter in its talons. Fuu came up beside her and finished off their movie by saying, "The End." Olette shut the camera off.

"That was great you guys!" she told them.

Olette was fairly neutral, compared to the rest of her group. She got along with Seifer's gang all right. She certainly didn't dislike them, although she did think that they could be a little unfair. Especially toward her and her friends, but it was mostly because of Seifer and Hayner's clashing personalities. They both had attitude problems and liked to be in charge of things. It had led to some pretty interesting clashes in the past.

"Of course it was. Our movie's going to be the best." Seifer replied with his usual smirk. "You remember to tell that to Hayner. We have a little bet going on."

She laughed, "I'll be sure to tell him." She was about to add that they'd be filming this weekend, but decided against it. As much as she didn't mind Seifer, she knew he would do something like try to sabotage their movie. Even if this wasn't a competition, the boys had to make it that way.

"That was awesome y'know! We're totally gonna own!" Rai added.

Fuu nodded placing a hand on Vivi's shoulder and only saying, "Vivi." Olette got it. Vivi had been their movie. Seifer would disagree, but the little guy had done a spectacular acting job. He was supposed to be the Black Mage king of the Flaming Black Mage Village, that had been wreaking havoc on the lands. Seifer and his lackeys, or comrades for move purposes were sent to stop him. In a surprise ending the Black Mage king defeats the hero and his friends. Vivi had truly played the part well, even creeping Olette out in some cases.

"Well I'll see you guys later. I'm going to see if I can find Pence, and get him to go shopping with me. I need some more film to finish everyone's up. Bye." Olette waved, running off.

--

She emerged in the Back Alley stretching her arms over her head the camera strapped around her wrist. It was late afternoon by now and she just wanted to flop into her chair at the Usual Spot and sit down for a little while before getting back up on her feet. Moving the curtain aside at the entrance to their hangout she saw Hayner sitting there, a book open on his lap and throwing a hackey-sack in the air.

She laughed, "Procrastinating as usual?"

He looked up and gave her a momentary dirty look, which quickly softened. "Oh give me a break Olette. It's a nice day, I don't want to be reading some boring old book."

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing. Pence around?" She flopped in her spot, setting the camera on the makeshift table next to her.

Hayner frowned slightly but his friend thankfully didn't notice. "No, his parents are running him ragged with chores today. Oh, that reminds me, you got any munny?"

She replied, "I have some. I was planning on spending it on more film though so I can film your movie this weekend." She fixed him with a suspicious stare.

"All right, we can work around it." he sighed. He had a troubled expression on his face.

"Something wrong Hayner?"

"No. It's cool. Just a little hitch in plans, it'll be fixed no problemo." He smirked.

"Ohh, if it's because I don't have money I can try to do something to get it. I'll work for some of the people around here."

"Hey! I said it's cool. Don't worry about it. Save your money for the things you need. Jeez, getting all worked up." He threw the book off to the side and the hackey-sack at the wall. "Agh! It's too damn nice to do anything today! I just want it to be summer already."

Olette laughed. "Yeah. This summer's going to be great too, I can tell."

He gave her a rare, warm smile. He liked hanging out with all his friends sure, but he really enjoyed the time when it was just the two of them. It was nice when she would talk to him and only him and not be bothered to speak with Pence or Roxas as well. Not that he minded exactly, but a lot of the times he'd prefer she only pay attention to him. He felt like an ass for it too. They were all friends.

He stood up and stretched, glancing at her. An almost familiar feeling washed over him as he watched her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. If there was one thing Hayner hated about growing up it was the tide of hormones ever ebbing and ever flowing that went through him. It was a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but it liked to make up for it, by giving him guilty pleasures. This was one of them. He hated dragging Olette into it but he also somehow thought that she didn't completely mind. She had her own ocean of hormones after all, right?

Leaning down he moved so his face was within an inch or so of hers. At first she pulled back slightly as anyone would when someone gets up in your personal space. She did however get that tug of—emotion was it? Her heartbeat quickened considerably and she drew in a sharp breath. They both knew what came next. It wasn't the first time they'd been caught in this position. It was still new to her, and she wasn't sure what to think of it.

They kissed. Not for the first time, and probably not the last. Hayner placed a hand on the side of her face and tried to lean in a bit more, deepen it. She allowed it for a second then pulled away suddenly as she realized exactly what they were doing. The blonde boy sighed. She always did this. Stupid women sending mixed signals. He pulled back slightly giving her a slightly annoyed look. She was looking off to the side a light blush covering her cheeks.

"Olette…"

"Sorry. It's just weird…"

"Only because you make it weird."

"Hayner…"

"Just don't think about us having been friends for years. Live in the now Olette. Carpe diem, seize the day, take a damn chance for once. It's not exactly easy for me."

She blinked. So he'd been thinking about it, it seemed. And she had been trying not to think about it. On most days it was easy enough. When it was just the two of them though, it became more difficult. Sometimes, she noticed, he would just watch her. She pretended like she didn't see it, and tried to carry on like normal, but it didn't always work.

It excited her a little. She enjoyed it when he would lean in close and kiss her, or pull her in some corner and kiss her. Then she would think about everything else and it would get awkward. It frustrated him she could tell, and she felt bad for it, but she didn't know what to do. This must have been weird for him too, she now realized. Hayner was always an adapter though. He rolled with whatever situation was thrown at him.

Olette stared at her hands in her lap, she didn't know what to say. 'Sorry' came to mind, but that would just upset him. He hated when she apologized a lot. Instead she did something, which probably was worse. "I should go. I have shopping to do, maybe Pence will be done with his chores."

The atmosphere changed tangibly, almost like the temperature had dropped. "Right, shopping with Pence, of course."

"Hanyer…"

"No. Go on. Get out of here and do your damn shopping. Guess I'll do this damn homework." He picked the book back up and pretended to immerse himself in it.

She sighed, "See you later."

--

When she arrived at Pence's house she was feeling much better. It was all a matter of not dwelling on it. Unfortunately Olette knew that wouldn't last long. She would have to face the facts eventually, but first she would have to figure them out. It was obvious that Hayner liked her. There was a big fat "DUH!" written all over that tidbit. But the big question was, did she like him? That's where things got blurry.

Hayner had been her friend ever since third grade. It wasn't kindergarten only because he used to pick on her all the time for being a goody two-shoes. He had taken the stance back then, though, that he was the only one allowed to pick on her. So in third grade when a group of older girls were making fun of the new dress her mother had gotten her Hayner had taken up in her defense.

She remembered the crush she had on him back then for months after that incident. He had been her knight in shining armor, and he couldn't get rid of her. He was kind of mean at first, but she didn't listen to his insults and his explanations of "I only did it because I'm the only guy allowed to make fun you. Geesh". It hadn't mattered to her why he did it, just that he had. Things eventually relaxed and they had somehow become friends. She had loosened up a little and he learned to tolerate her.

Besides that initial schoolgirl crush she hadn't thought of him as anything more than a friend ever since. They were a group. Hanyer, Pence, Olette, and Roxas, friends forever. They didn't have any cool name for themselves like Seifer's gang, but they didn't need one. Things were changing now however and she did not know what to make of it.

There was also another matter that she was coming to terms with. Pence. He'd been a friend of Hayner's before her. Something along the lines of, "Hey you, I need someone to be my sidekick. Follow me around." Those two really had been buddies since kindergarten, before even as their mother's had sent them to the same pre-school.

She didn't want to say that she had a crush on him. She wasn't sure about that, but she was aware that all she wanted to do recently was spend time with him just talking, laughing, and hanging out like normal, but without Hayner there to get in the way, or Roxas even. Pence could be a lot of fun, but with the other two boys around he usually got outdone and cast aside. They didn't not include him or anything like that, but since Pence was quieter his ideas were usually last heard and dismissed.

So to spend time with him without the others around Olette usually dragged him shopping with her. She sometimes got the feeling that he didn't quite enjoy it, but he never seemed to protest. Often times they made it worthwhile though. She remembered the time Pence was messing around on the skateboard. He wasn't a boarder by any means but he'd been like "Watch this" and got on one that was lying around and started skating. Not being any good he had ended up running into one of the shop owners carrying a large box of merchandise to his shop. The box had fallen spilling an assortment of jewelry all over the ground, and Pence and the owner had both hit the ground the board went careening through the air landing in the middle of the road. The two of them had laughed for hours it seemed as the man raged at them. They then kindly, but gigglingly, offered to help pick up all the stuff. Afterwards back at the Usual Spot Pence had presented her a simple silver bracelet that he had managed to grab with a sheepish look.

At the moment she was watching Pence roll a wheelbarrow full of leaves and grass that had been raked up across the lawn toward the compost heap. His father was mowing the other half of the lawn and his mother was planting flowers in the garden. She liked Pence's family, they were incredibly nice and homely. Pence's mother was the type of woman who liked to invite all his friends in and give them a slice of pie. There was some always some sort of baked goods fresh and ready at his house. Roxas often stopped by for a cookie and a greeting. He got along with Pence's mother well.

The heavyset boy hadn't noticed her at first. He dumped the wheelbarrow contents into the compost heap and turned back to collect more grass. It was then that he saw her and he dropped the wheelbarrow out of surprise. She laughed.

"Olette! What are you doing here? I thought you were filming for Seifer and them today."

"I did. We finished a little while ago."

"Oh. Cool then. Er… did you come to help me to chores?'

"Well I wanted to see if you would come shopping with me. I need to pick up some film for shooting with you guys this weekend and some other stuff." She looked at him and the yard work. "If you're busy though we can do it some other time and I'll help you out with what you're doing."

Pence looked caught in a trap. While shopping was not his favorite pastime he would rather be doing that than the annoying chores. But he did need the money. Hayner would kill him if he didn't earn enough. But he also didn't want to make Olette help him with his work, and he certainly wouldn't mind spending time with her. Hayner's scheme to earn money had kept them all kind of apart the last couple days.

"Hmm, I think we can let Pence go, whaddya say dear? He's certainly done a lot today. Certainly earned what he asked for I think." His mother looked at the two kids from the flower bed.

"Really?" Pence asked, a bit surprised.

His father studied him carefully, after shutting of the mower. His eyes narrowed and then he broke out into a grin, "Go on kiddo, get out of here. I'll get you yer money tomorrow. Go enjoy the rest of the day."

Their son's face lit up. "Really. Thanks mom, dad! You guys rock." He let go of the wheel barrow and hurried over to Olette. "C'mon before they realize they're being nice and change their minds."

"Pence! Your parents are wonderful!"

"You should listen to that girl. She's got a good head on her shoulders there." His father said.

The two kids gave the older pair a grin and walked off toward the train station. Arriving back in the shopping district Olette dragged him toward the Tram Common. She told him all about her day. He had plenty of comments to say about Seifer that mostly made her roll her eye. Seifer and his gang were their long time rivals and it didn't look like it was going to change anytime soon. She did leave out the part with Hayner, only saying she talked to him briefly. It was strange but she felt like she couldn't tell anyone what was going on between the two of them. She had the feeling Pence would be disappointed in her. Roxas probably wouldn't care and she had considered telling him on occasion but always chickened out.

After shopping and then chasing birds she bought themselves some Sea-salt Ice cream, and they stood outside the train station eating it. She was looking over the little wall that over looked most of the town. Most people took the beauty of Twilight Town for granted especially at sunset. She was always a little surprised that this area wasn't flooded with people wanting to see the sunset over the town. It was breathtaking.

Olette was feeling much better after her incident with Hayner. Hanging out with Pence could do that. At moments like these too, you couldn't help but feel great. Glancing over at him she watched as he stared out over the town licking his ice cream. He looked content and that made her happy. The boy had a tendency to get overly stressed about things sometimes.

A brief thought flashed through her head. What if she kissed him right now? What would happen? Would he reciprocate? She felt her heart speed up. Pence was certainly no Hayner. If she did want to kiss him she would have to be the one to take initiative. She stared at him contemplating the consequences of such an action. Somehow she had the feeling that it would be more awkward than anything with Hayner would be. The boy with her now didn't seem like he'd handle any sort of romantic relationship very well at all.

"Hey Olette?" His voice was quiet and he wasn't looking at her.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I don't want things to ever change. Everything's just so perfect the way it is. We'll be friends forever and nothing will come between us, right?"

She looked over the wall a bit sadly. It would be nice if things could remain as they were. Or were a year ago maybe, when there weren't all these crazy feelings to deal with. When it was just the four of them hanging out at the Usual Spot, talking and laughing, having a world of fun with just them. Facing off against the disciplinary committee when they riled up trouble and just being kids. But they wouldn't be kids much longer. Things would change, she knew. They always did.

She wouldn't tell him that though. He knew the truth as much as she did. They could both tell that by the end of this summer everything would be different. Some things would remain the same, but change was in the air. Olette just hoped it was good change. And of course they'd all be friends that wouldn't change ever. Although, it seemed, the nature of some of their friendships might change.

She said, "We'll always be friends Pence. The four of us. Forever and ever."

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used in this story except for Pence's parents. I only used them for entertainment purposes.

Author's Note: This was just a little bit that popped into my head while playing the beginning of Kingdom Hearts . I actuall planned to do more, but when I actually wrote it this seemed like a good stopping place. If there is anyone who would like me to do more, I'd be glad to, and make it a sequeal or second chapter or something. SO review and tell me what you liked and if you want to see more.