Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts...
Chapter 7: Without Orchestra
Kairi shakily walked into the counselor's office the Monday morning, to get a course change request. Was she making the right decision? Yes... she assured herself that she was; she couldn't deal with Sora's short temper or critisism any longer.
"Good Morning... you're Kairi, right? You wanted to get a course change?"
Kairi gave a nod.
"Okay, here's the slip. You need to get the signature of the teacher of the class you're switching out of, and return it to me by Wednesday. We'll try to get your new schedule to you by Thursday, but don't be surprised if you have to wait another day."
"Okay."
"You're lucky, Kairi. If you had waited another week, we couldn't have let you switch- It would have been too late in the semester by then. I'll let you run along so you can do whatever you do before school now."
"Thank you." Kairi gave a small smile.
"Good luck with your new class!" The counselor waved as Kairi walked out the door.
Namine was waiting outside the door for Kairi. She hadn't had a chance yet to tell Yuffie or Selphie, nor was she ready for the reaction that she was afraid they'd have. She feared being mobbed day and night by Selphie... but then, who wasn't? Yuffie would be equally upset, but she would let it go... after about a month.
"So, how was it?" Namine asked.
"It worked out fine. I'm going to take Spanish instead of Orchestra."
"That's a good choice. Hopefully your schedule won't be severely changed... that would be awful!"
"Yeah, I know..."
They walked in silence toward the English hall for a little bit, only to meet up with Yuffie and Selphie.
"KAIRI! I can't wait to get our new music today!"
"Ha, nice joke there, Selphie. Mr. Leonhart is going to give us one huge lecture about how bad we did first." Yuffie grumbled.
"Don't be such a pessimist, Yuff!" Selphie put her hands on her hips. "We didn't do that bad..."
"I'm just telling the truth..."
"So that's why we need a third opinion! Kairi, what do you think?"
"I don't know. I'm quitting anyway," she blurted out a little too fast.
"WHAT?" Looks of horror rested on her friends' faces.
"Why? When?" Selphie now resembled a bull that was seeing red.
"I'd rather not say why, and next week."
Selphie sighed. Yuffie, on the other hand, looked at Namine. "Do you know why?"
Namine shook her head. "She won't tell me, either. I still think you guys did good at festival, though." She changed the subject.
"SEE! She agrees with me, Yuffie!"
"Whatever." Yuffie rolled her eyes.
-
Kairi walked into the orchestra room after lunch that day. She went over to the cello rack, like she normally did. She walked over to the folders, and pulled hers out, just like she normally did. And then, she went to her chair, just like she normally did.
Except today wasn't normal. She knew that, her friends knew that, and, well, we could say that Sora knew that.
After she sat put her cello down to the side and lay her folder on the stand, she walked right over to Mr. Leonhart's office. THIS was the part of the day that was not supposed to be normal. And it was the part that would change everything.
The door seemed to be a mile away, at the speed that Kairi was walking. Oh... hurry up, she whined to her legs. A few minutes later, her hand was touching the silver knob of the door with the plaque that said, "Squall Leonhart." She nervously turned the handle, and walked in.
"Hi." The teacher seemed to be cheerier than usual today, despite what had happened on Saturday. "What can I help you with?"
He seemed so cheery that Kairi felt heartless ruining his good mood. She regrettably and slowly pulled out the sheet that the counselor had given her. His face suddenly turned grim at the the sight of it.
"Kairi... don't tell me you're quitting so soon."
"Well..." she found her voice. "I realized on Saturday that this is not my thing." She gave him a slight look of pity.
He held his forehead in his hands. "Kairi, does the whole summer of learning the cello mean nothing to you? I can tell you right now that you're more talented than half of the kids in that room." He pointed over to the orchestra room.
Was this something that he told everyone that was quitting? "Well... the summer did mean something to me... it was a brand new experience. But now, it's not so brand new... and it's not something that I want to do for the rest of my high school years." Could he tell that she was lying? She felt the exact opposite of what she was saying; but she couldn't tell him the truth- that she simply did not want to be around most of the people in the room. Mostly, the first chair cello player. And possibly the second.
He seemed to honor that answer, but still didn't completely give up. "Okay. I'll let you off the hook. But," he paused as he neatly signed the line on the paper. "promise me that this will just be a trial period of quitting. Please come back and tell me if you really want to stay out of orchestra after this month- I promise I won't bite your head off. If you really like your life better without us, I can't make you come back."
Easy enough condition, Kairi thought. "Sure. Thanks, Mr. Leonhart. I'll be gone... after this week."
"Okay. Until then, you still have to play with us, okay?"
"Okay."
Kairi walked quickly out the door with relief washing over her. He hadn't been as upset as she thought that he would be; and he had let her go fairly quickly.
Sora's arm brushed passed hers as she walked to toward her seat. "Sorry." he grinned.
She glared as he walked in the other direction. He had some nerve approaching her after what he said Saturday... she scowled as she sat in her seat.
Her stand partner smirked as she sat down. "Quitting so soon?" she asked, having seen the paper in Kairi's hand.
"What's it to you?" She shot back.
"I'd just be happier if you stayed- so I wouldn't be last chair, you know." The smirk seemed to grow a bit wider.
"Right..." Kairi had no other comeback.
Their little squabble was interrupted as class started the same way it always did- with Mr. Leonhart tapping the stand loudly for everyone to SHUT UP. Except, instead of putting on the A tone the way he usually did, he waited for everyone to settle down and he started a his miniature speech.
"Okay, I don't know how to say it to you guys, but... you disapointed me on Saturday. You really did. And it wasn't just the music part of it; it was the fact that about two-thirds of you were at least 5 minutes late to watching the groups before us, also. And after all of my begging... I really canNOT believe that Mr. Strife had to talk to you like that on Saturday. You guys deserve so much more... and I think that everyone, including Mr. Strife, knew that. So, this time... I'm going to be testing harder on chair auditions, I'm NOT going to tolerate this talking before class, and if you're late, sorry, you lose ten percent of your concert grade."
Moans and groans flooded through the classroom- everyone was upset. How did this happen? Now, the image they had shown the Islands was now scarred.
"Well... for now, I'm going to give you easier music; you taught me that you obviously aren't ready for that kind of level. Everyone, please get your music together and pass it up."
A huge rustle of papers followed his commands. A few minutes later, the stack was neatly in his arms, and he walked into the office to get the music for the upcoming concert. He briskly walked back out, with another stack of papers in his arms.
He handed a chunk of the stack to the basses that he passed by. When he approached his own conductor's stand, he handed another stash to Sora, and then to Yuffie, Selphie, and the principal 2nd violinist. The last stack was soon passed down to Kairi, who guiltily put it away.
-
Thursday was the first day of Kairi's new schedule. Just as she had hoped, only one class had been changed- Orchestra to Spanish.
It was an awkward day, no doubt about it. Kairi would be thinking about and looking foreward to orchestra... only to glace and the freshly printed sheet to see that it wasn't on there anymore.
Selphie and Yuffie seemed to be ignoring her, and although Selphie was usually unnaturally happy... today she was unnaturally sad. Yuffie wasn't her usually talkative self- she was grouchy, and a bit snappy... not only to Selphie.
Namine had seemed to be the only cheerful one of the group. She was chatting a little bit more than usual, and was proudly holding the blue ribbon that she had recived from the art contest she entered.
In English, the grouchy old teacher was convinced that her class was talking too much, and once again, rearranged the seats that everyone was in. And now, she had thought of an actual arrangement- one that was boy-girl. Guess who Namine was put next to? Yuffie had begged the teacher to be put behind her, but Namine had said no, she'd take care of it herself.
Lunch had finally came. The usual roar of giggles and talking were ceased today. It was like back when Yuffie and Selphie were fighting- everything was so quiet that it seemed that the world would end if you made the slightest sound.
Finally, after thirty minutes of silence at the table, Yuffie spoke.
"Kairi, fess up. WHY did you quit orchestra? Everyone's been wondering that, and it's our job to know."
Kairi decided to use the same lie that she had fooled Mr. Leonhart with. "It wasn't for me."
"It was just because we did so bad at the festival, wasn't it?"
"No, it was because I realized that cello was a huge pain in the ass so I quit."
Selphie popped into the arguement with sad eyes. "Kairi, that's not it. I know that it's not. We all know you better than that. Please tell us... we won't tell Mr. Leonhart or anyone else in orchestra." Her voice softened a bit.
"It was..." she took a deep breath. "Everyone in that class was such a jerk to me! They all treated me as if I was just the sore thumb that stuck out, and I just couldn't STAND how half of them acted like they were better than most of the school!" she sighed.
Namine patted her back. "It's okay, Kairi... I feel just like that in English... especially now since I have to sit next to," she scowled, "Roxas."
"Kairi," Yuffie's expression changed. "I'm so sorry... I guess it's just something that we all do, since we're like... a clique, you know?"
"But it's wrong! You all know it is..." Kairi felt sudden anger towards Yuffie.
"She's right." Selphie agreed with Kairi. "I understand why you quit now, Kai. I still think you're making a wrong decision, though."
Just to comfort her orchestra friends, Kairi added, "When I was talking to Mr. Leonhart, he told me to think of it as a trial period of quitting... I guess you guys can think of it like that, too, and I'll make my final decision after this month." Although I'm going to stay out of orchestra... she told herself.
Selphie and Yuffie suddenly had an evil glint in their eyes. "Okay!"
Namine smiled. "You guys are so cute. I think that's what my next art project is going to be about."
-
Kairi and Namine walked into the Foreign Language hallway. Kairi's new class was just a few doors down from Namine's. She had reviewed the little Spanish that she had known last night, and hoped for the best in this class today.
"Wish me luck," Kairi said.
"Good luck." Namine let out a small giggle, then the two of them separated into their classrooms.
When Kairi entered the classroom, there was just something about it that completely hit her in the face. Maybe it was the huge noise level. Maybe it was the odd smell of spices in the room. Or maybe it was just that she didn't know one face in the room, not even the teacher.
Everyone in the room seemed to look at her, just like someone would to a new kid at school. Well, technically... Kairi WAS the new kid, but not at the school. She walked over to the teacher, and handed her the schedule that Kairi was given this morning. The teacher glanced at it and wrote her name in her gradebook. She then handed it back to Kairi.
When the bell rang for class to start, the teacher came up to the front of the classroom to take roll. After, she started to speak in Spanish, obviously talking about their plan for today.
Kairi listened intently to what the teacher was saying. She didn't understand all of it, but a good chunk she already knew and tried to figure out the rest. This class was going to keep her on her toes. At least it would be better than orchestra.
The teacher was now handing out worksheets to everyone in the class. Kairi was now staring into a thousand words that she knew nothing of. The teacher noticed this, and she told Kairi in a heavy Spanish accent, "Don't worry. I'll help you with it so you can catch up. The most of this class isn't too bright anyway." She grinned.
Kairi grinned back. This class was going to be fun, even though she didn't know anyone. She made the right decision- she was sure of it.
The class passed by quickly, with Kairi taking note of everything the teacher had said. It was mostly review of what they had learned in eighth grade, just pushed onto her shoulders quicklier and with less instruction.
As much as Kairi had learned to like the Spanish class within the first day, she was relieved when the bell rang. The class was overwelming- always people chiming in when the teacher was talking, even though some of the comments WERE a bit funny. The constant hum of whispering in the background was also annoying beyond belief. Especially since Kairi was seated in the back and she could barely hear the teacher over the talking.
But as much as she felt like whining, she felt content. This was better than orchestra ANY DAY.
-
Meanwhile, fifth hour in the orchestra room was total chaos. Mr. Leonhart had no time to stop the group from talking, since he was busy looking for the music that Kairi had supposedly returned to him on Friday. He had urged the kids to practice on their own, but his urging was totally and completely useless.
Sora was bugged, too. He wasn't on top of his game the way he usually was, and missed his entrance about three times. There was something about the sound of the cellos that used to be there, but wasn't anymore. He never bothered to look behind him to see who wasn't here- which was usually the case when the sound was different.
Finally, when class was almost over, he realized what was wrong- there was no stumbling or out-of-tune-ness. Kairi was gone. But she wasn't absent today, was she? Not that he'd been stalking her, but his sensitive ears would have sworn that he had heard her voice this morning.
He recalled what she had said after their portion of the festival was over. Something along the lines of them all being stuck up... something about... quitting? Wait, she was serious? He groaned to himself- it was his fault, completely his fault...
-
Kairi smiled to herself when she got home. She was free; free from practice, free from the monthly rent, and most of all, free from Sora.
Tommorow she would return her cello. And then, soon after, she'd be able to use her pay check for what she wanted.
The days of happiness had begun.
-
Review! Thank you guys for the reviews on the last chapter!
