A/N: Hahaha, I took my updating break. Break. Yeah.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons."
Chapter 12: Moneyless
Kairi grumbled as she wiped down the counter at the pretzel store. The manager had yelled at her for being about twenty seconds late to work, according to "his time." It wasn't her fault! It was such a busy day at the mall, and she couldn't exactly squeeze through everyone and their bulky shopping bags.
For being late, the manager had cut some money off her paycheck. Why did it work that way for her? Everytime someone else was late by about twenty seconds, they didn't get money cut off of theirs! It was ageism... they were discriminating against her just because she was the youngest person working there!
She wanted to go to the music store to re-rent her cello, although she was, most definitely, not looking forward to meeting with Sora's "friend" who worked there. Personally, she scared Kairi... a lot. Was it normal for an adult to be just as hyper as Selphie?
The lady wasn't the only barrier between her and getting her cello back. Because of her "substantial" cut in income, she wasn't sure if she could still pay for the rent. And there was no way that she would burden her mother further with asking for more money. She stopped doing that once she had gotten her job. Although Kairi could deal with the lady, she could not deal with the money problems.
"Kairi!" A grouchy old worker came out, and saw her mindlessly wiping the counter. "Stop wasting your time wiping that thing when it's already clean! Knowing you, you'll probably get it dirty all over again!"
Kairi rolled her eyes. She had a full day's work ahead of her, and it was not going to be a pleasant experience. Not that work ever really was.
She went back behind the counter and put the rag away. She was first up to be the cashier.
-
"Yuffie, which one should I get?" Selphie held up to scores of music, one being "Spring" and the other "Winter"- both from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
Yuffie, who was busy flipping through the books of viola music, lost grip of the books she was holding and the music flew everywhere. "Selphie! Look at what you made me do!" She came today because she was over the trauma that she had faced last week, and needed to have a little bit of fun. Sadly, this WAS their idea, as orch-dorks, of fun- going on a shopping spree for sheet music.
"Sorry!" Selphie giggled, and put down her two books of music to help Yuffie pick up what she had dropped. When they had finished picking up the scattered books, Selphie turned to look at her friend again. "Well?"
"Hmm..." Yuffie brought her hand to her chin, pretending to be thinking intently. A second later, she grabbed "Winter" and put it back on the shelf. "Spring. Because it suits you better."
"Okies! What were you planning to get, Yuffie?"
"I don't know. No one likes to write solo viola music."
"Then I'll help you look!" Selphie ran over to the stack that Yuffie was looking at earlier. She flipped through the books, putting them aside as she decided that they weren't right. "You should play Vivaldi with me, Yuffie." She was disappointed when she found that the store didn't have Vivaldi music for viola. "Ah, poop. Let's look at what else they have." She continued to flip through the pile as Yuffie looked over her shoulder. "AH-HAH! You should play this!" She held up a book. "Elegies are pretty!"
Yuffie flipped through the book. She was satisfied. "Let's go pay, then. Wait, I need to get a new set of strings first."
"I thought you had a set?"
"Well, it's that time of year again..." She meant it was the time every year when she changed all of the strings of her viola.
Selphie giggled. "Okay. Want me to wait in line for you?" This Saturday was busy at the store, and there was a pretty long line to the single cashier.
"Okay."
Selphie impatiently waited in line. "Grr..." She stomped her foot. "Why must everyone come the same day we do? And why must there only be one cashier?"
"Because it's Saturday, and everyone loves to come to the music store on Saturday. And because the rest of the workers help with the instrument rentals." She heard a voice. She turned to see a familiar brunette.
"HI, SORA!" She jumped up.
"Hi." He thought that approaching the girl might have been a mistake, and backed away a little bit. He was relieved when Yuffie came.
"What are you doing here, Sora?" The other girl asked.
"Nothing, really."
"Hey, Yuffie?" The smaller girl turned to the other one and whispered something in her ear. They both giggled.
"Since you're not doing anything, wanna come to the mall with us?" Selphie giggled.
It was now their turn to pay in line. They quickly did so, and then looked at Sora again for an answer to their question.
He wasn't sure what the two were up to... and he wasn't sure if he could trust Selphie with her crazy antics. But hey, he had absolutely nothing else to do, so why not? "Sure..." he answered, a bit warily.
"Okay!" Selphie grabbed Yuffie and Sora's arms and dragged them out the door. It wasn't until they were outside when she let go of their grip. When she did, there were red marks on both of their arms.
"Selphie... I think I can follow you on my own." Sora said, examining the mark on his arm. "You don't exactly need to lead us around like dogs."
"Yeah. Let's go." Yuffie agreed, also staring at the red marks on her own arm. The three of them walked inside, and told Sora about their plans.
"We're going to see your love." Selphie giggled and smirked.
"My love?" He was confused. Very confused.
"Kairi?" Yuffie said, as if everyone knew.
"She's not my love..." He managed to sputter out in a very passive tone.
"Riight..." both girls said at the same time. They had reached the pretzel shop where Kairi was working at the counter, and both ran off into the store next to it.
"Huh?" It took him a second to realize that both of them had run off- he thought that they just wanted to be quiet for a change.
-
Kairi moodily rested her head on her arm as she waited for the next customer. Business was going well today, and everyone seemed to be a bit happier- except for her. She wished that she could be running around with her friends at the mall the same way most girls and guys were.
Another person came up to her, and ordered. And then another, and another. They soon formed a long line. Kairi was busily pressing the buttons on the machine and putting the receipts aside while half-screaming what the person in front of her ordered.
She had seen several people from school today, and she felt even grouchier about that. They didn't tease her- most people who went to Destiny High were fairly respectable- but she couldn't help but feel jealous.
As much as she tried to cheer herself up saying that this would be going into buying a new cello, and no longer renting.
When the line disappeared, Kairi let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, the rush is over."
She looked around a little bit more for possibly customers, but her eyes landed on a boy with spiky brown hair. He had his back turned to her, so she couldn't be sure that it was who she thought it was.
Was it him? She couldn't completely tell... not until he turned around and his eyes locked with hers. Her heart jumped, and butterflies gathered in her stomach. She would've rather had ANYONE but him come see her where she was working. And, well, it was a bit odd to see him here, realizing that he practically lived at the music store right in front of the mall. Why'd he come here today? She asked herself.
He moved, and her heart took another leap. He was walked towards her, at the counter. "Hey," he said. Was his voice a little bit shaky?
"Hi... what would you like to order?" She kept her job in her mind.
"Nothing. Why are you working here, anyway?"
She didn't want to answer. She'd rather die a horrible death and burn in hell than embarrass herself with the answer to that question.
But she wasn't in control of what was coming out of her mouth anymore. Maybe she was angered inside, but she hadn't been in good control of her feelings lately. As she opened her mouth to speak, neither she nor Sora was ready for what was to come out of her mouth.
"I don't have money, okay? And there's nothing that I can do about it except for get a job at the only place that will accept someone so young- and I'm taunted on the weekends, where I see so many people at school from here, and they're all having fun and spending money, while I'm struggling to even pay RENT for a cello which I haven't been able to re-rent ever since I started orchestra again!"
She took in a big breath, and felt as if tears were going to come out of her eyes. She waited to feel them on her face, but she didn't. She knew they were coming out... wait...
She opened her eyes to see Sora's hand underneath them, wiping her tears away. Oh, this was embarrassing beyond belief! She prayed to God that her co-workers weren't paying attention...
"It's okay to cry, Kairi. Just hang in there, things will get better soon." He looked at his watch, then back at her. "Hey, when does your shift end?"
She looked at the clock inside the shop. "3 o'clock. In two hours."
"Come meet me by the movie theater then."
She didn't know what to say, but she had to agree. Something just told her to, plus her heart was doing somersaults inside her ribcage. "Okay..."
"Hey, Kairi! Stop flirting with that guy at the counter!"
She felt a deep blush crawl to her face. So they had been paying attention. Now, all she could hope for was that they didn't see her crying like an idiot.
"So I'll see you later?" Sora smiled at her.
She tried to smile back. "Yeah."
-
"OHMIGOD! Yuffie, did you see that?" Selphie squealed as she peeked through the door where Sora was.
"Yeah, Selphie, calm down."
"It worked! It worked it worked it worked it worked!"
Yuffie tried not to laugh, but she cracked a small smile. "Maybe they're just going as friends."
"NUH-UH!" Selphie shook her head. "Did you see the way he looked at her when she was crying?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean..."
"They're in love!" Selphie finished her sentence for her.
"It's not like you're going to get Kairi to admit that to you now." Yuffie argued in her usual teasing tone of voice.
"Oh, I'll get her to. Don't worry."
-
Sora mindlessly wandered around the mall. He did it- he actually asked her out. Sort of.
He had never asked a girl out to anywhere. And why he felt so compelled to ask Kairi was a mystery to him.
It wasn't pity, because he had felt just as strongly about her even before her outbreak about working. Maybe it was just because she looked so beautiful, even when she was crying. But wasn't that a little shallow for such deep feelings?
Well, he was still a little bit confused about his feelings for her. He could have kicked himself for thinking that she might come before his cello one day, but for some reason... he felt it was the complete truth- such a solid truth that his mind couldn't argue with it.
He couldn't wait for her to come with him to the movies... but he still wasn't too sure of himself. Which one would they watch? Of course, he'd pay for her, and not mind...
He was confusing himself again. How could a crush be so confusing and complicated?
He mentally punched himself. He had just admitted that he liked her... in that way. He didn't want to; and he didn't want the day that he had to give her up for cello to come.
"Hey, Sora." Her voice seemed to make him want to melt to the ground.
Why was it like that? If he had told Riku how he felt... man, he would never hear the end of it.
"Umm... Sora?" She waved a hand in front of his face. "I thought I was the one that always spaced out, not you." He could hardly believe that she was the one girl crying at the counter two hours earlier.
"Oh..." he chuckled, and rubbed the back of his head."Hey."
There was that feeling again- the feeling of being nauseous, that feeling that she was going to throw up. Except now, she should add in that her heart was racing at about two hundred beats per minute.
"Which movie do you want to see?" He thought that maybe talking about something would break the tension that he could sense between both of them.
"Umm... I don't really care. You choose." She commanded.
"Okay, let's go see an R rated one, then." He teased. "One with lots of blood and gore and sex."
"Eww... no." She lightly punched him, and giggled, hoping he wasn't serious.
"Then... what do you want to watch?"
She thought about it. There was no movie that she really wanted to see, so she decided to be bold and suggest something else. "Let's not watch a movie. We can walk around and um..."
"Talk?" He finished for her.
She nodded. Her heart was still thumping fast, but it slowed down, just a little. Maybe to about 180 beats.
-
"So that's why you didn't go to Julliard this year?" Kairi asked curiously. They were sitting at a little table inside the food court, eating ice cream. Kairi was nervous about eating in front of a guy- but once the conversation started flowing, all of the nervousness flew away.
"Yeah... I really didn't want to leave my mom at home by herself..."
"Aww, that's so sweet."
Sora smiled. He was kind of glad that they weren't sitting in the movie theater together, with the awkwardness growing in between them. He still didn't understand the feeling... and now that he had told her so much, he felt it grow deeper.
He didn't know what it was- really. It felt deeper than a crush, but not by much. He barely even knew her; he just knew her music.
"I guess you miss your dad a lot, huh?"
"Yeah... I don't know how I've managed without him. He played cello, too... he used to teach me, until I got better than him."
"Aren't we a little full of ourselves?" Kairi teased.
"Hey, it was the truth! My dad was amazing, though... even though he wasn't the best cello player; he'd play his favorite piece at a Christmas Benefit concert every year..."
"Wow... that's really nice of him."
They had finished their ice cream by then, so Sora said, "Hey, you wanna go look at the cellos at the music store?" As soon as her expression changed, he thought he had said something wrong. "I..."
"Sure!" Kairi grinned, and grabbed his hand. "Let's go!"
"Why are girls dragging me everywhere today?" He noticed that she had his hand in hers and thought; At least this is better than having Selphie's death grip on my arm...
When they had reached the store where Sora had started the day, Kairi looked at him and smiled again. "Come on, let's go in!" She had yet to notice that she was still holding Sora's hand.
Once they had walked in, Kairi looked down, and noticed that her hand was still gripping Sora's. She blushed. "Oops... sorry." She let go quickly, but Sora was a little bit upset that she did so soon.
They walked over to the cellos being displayed. Kairi looked over each of them, but there was one that she had her eye on. It was a shiny red-orange, and it looked like it was just polished.
"Sora, look at that one!" She sounded like a little kid watching fireworks. She pointed at the cello that had caught her eye.
"You wanna try it out?" He asked.
She stared back dumbly. "What?"
"You can try it out."
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah." He beckoned to a clerk. "Could I see that cello, please?"
The clerk smiled. "Sure." She carefully brought down the cello and handed it to Sora, along with a bow.
"Here." He handed it to Kairi, who was sitting down nearby in a chair.
It took her a few moments for her to get the feel of how to hold this new cello. After she did, she set her bow on the string and played a few notes. The sound that was produced had a beautiful ring, and the other people in the store turned to look at the source of the sound.
"Wow," she giggled. "I love it." She turned to the clerk. "How much is it?"
"Two thousand dollars."
Kairi's eyes widened. She would never, ever in her life be able to afford a cello of that cost- well, at least not until she was about sixty.
The clerk grouchily drummed her fingers on the counter. "Do you want it?"
Kairi looked ashamed. "No... it's a little too much..." She put in the endpin and loosened the bow, and handed the beautiful instrument back to the clerk.
Sora watched the sadness grow in Kairi's eyes. The devastated look made his heart break, and looking at her with that look made him want to do something special for her. Something more special than just taking her out.
And he looked back at the cello. It wasn't an amazingly high class cello, compared to some of the other ones that were up, and the ones that the store could not afford to put up. And yet, she played it with her whole heart and soul- with never ending music, and never ending passion.
As he thought of the way she played, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew what he would do now.
-
You know what I think you should do so I don't go on a longer updating break?
REVIEW!
