Chapter TWO
Brainstorming for English Paper: The Most Influential Person In My Life
1. Mom & Dad - don't you love how your parents are the perfect excuse for everything? Like: why are you quitting soccer? My parents told me to. / Why can't you come out? My dad won't let me. / Who said sports drinks are bad for you? My MOM, SORA, YEAH TRY TALKING BACK TO HER
2. Tidus: all in all, he's probably the most honest person I know. Like, even with Sora, he'll never stab him in the back just for a win.
3. Naminé, whose saintly patience and kindness I strive to emulate everyday. She's never said a bad thing about anyone, even about, like...Sora.
Some days I wake up with the energy to tackle the day head-on. These are usually days I'm excited about something, or look forward to something, or even worried about something (cause nervous energy is still a form of energy). On these days, I actually wake up without snoozing my alarm, get to leisurely enjoy my breakfast, and arrive at school with time to spare.
Today is not one of those days.
"MOOOOOM!" I'd be more self-conscious about the monstrous quality of my roar if I weren't already late for school. "Where'd you put my keys?"
"They should be on the dining table!" my mom hollers back, also rushing through her morning routine. We usually leave house at around the same time so if I'm late, she must be late too. "Did you put my credit card back in my wallet?"
"Yea - oh, no, not yet." I dash out of the bathroom, passing by my mom and smoothly handing over her credit card. She frowns but is otherwise preoccupied to nag much.
I grab a granola bar, an apple, and a juicebox before deciding to hightail it outta there. "See you later, Mom!" I holler, barely hearing her reply before dashing out the front door. My bag's carelessly tossed into the backseat, and I don't even bother with the audio as I press the pedal. Maybe I can break my record of getting to school in 13 minutes.
For the most part, the stars align in my favor (read: all the traffic lights are green). I have to yield to a pesky pedestrian, but I get to school in 15 minutes. Good enough, I guess.
My plan is to sneak into the classroom through the back door while the teacher's calling attendance. Unfortunately, out of all the days this can happen...the back door's locked! If I go through the front door, I'll directly pass by the teacher's line-of-sight. Choices, choices...or lack thereof, really.
"What are you doing?"
The hairs on my arms stick up, because I assume a teacher's caught me loitering in the halls. School hasn't even started for a month and I'm already getting in trouble? However, with a quick glance over, my stomach stops churning.
"I could ask you the same thing," I return.
How can the universe be so cruel as to add Sora's appearance to a dreadful morning?
He grins, revealing a row of perfectly straight teeth I'm secretly very jealous of. But to his credit, he had to suffer through 2 years of braces.
"I'm going to class," he responds. "You? You're late, aren't you?"
I hate how he's such a know-it-all.
"You're late too," I point out.
"Ah, but I have a pass." He pulls a slip of paper out of his pocket.
I stare at him. "Coach gives them out in bulk to the team, doesn't he?"
Aha, got him! Sora freezes, taking a moment to recover. "Wha - what are you talking about Kairi? Hahaha!" He laughs so nervously that I wonder who he's hoping to deceive. Who has he tricked with that high-pitched giggle?
"You sound like a girl," I bluntly call him out.
"Hey!"
"Still do."
"Well you look like a boy."
"Hey! You know - "
Our argument probably would've continued until a third party intervention, but my eyes settle on his late pass. Suddenly, an idea strikes me.
"Hey Sora." I try to adopt a less contentious tone, even mustering a small grin. Not that he notices. Of course - he's as unobservant as they get.
"What?" he asks.
"You owe me."
"What? No I don't."
Dammit. I thought he's supposed to be dense! "C'mon, Sora...you insulted me yesterday."
"You insulted me too."
"Ugh. Tidus gave you a ride last week."
"Then I owe Tidus."
"Well - you owe me for the BC Hostile Takeover Incident!" I raise a hand, pointing an accusatory finger at him.
"The BC...what?" Sora's brows furrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Remember? At the first home game last year...you stole the broadcaster's mic and..."
"The BC...oh, oh." Sora laughs. "You named the BC...what? You're so weird, Kairi."
"Likewise. So, you owe me."
"I don't owe anyone for that. Jeez, Kairi, stop making stuff up. What do you want?"
Briefly, I wonder how Sora knows I'm asking for a favor. But my mind quickly moves onto the idea of asking Sora for a favor. That means I'll be in his debt, and I don't like being in anyone's debt, much less Sora Hikari.
But right now, it's my pride versus my academic record, the latter of which is more permanent. So I decide my ego can take a blow.
I dig through my bag and hand him a pen.
"What?" He looks at the pen questioningly, wondering what he's supposed to do.
"Just add me to your pass," I propose.
Such a great idea, right? I must be a genius. It's so simple that it's brilliant. Sora's timely appearance is actually a godsend.
"...no."
And then, he shoots down my ingenuity. With one word! Of course, Sora exists to make my life difficult.
"Sora! S'not like you have to do much. Hell, I'll write it if you're so lazy."
"S'not that I'm lazy!" Sora protests, keeping his pass just out of my reach. Damn boys and their late growth spurts - I remember when Sora barely came up to my nose. Good times. "What if you get caught? Then I'll get in trouble too!"
"Jeez, Sora, when'd you become a goody two-shoes?"
"I'm not! This is all-risk zero-return for me. Why should I help you?"
I stare at him for a good few seconds, cause...did those words just come out of his mouth? Maybe he thinks I'm staring at him in awe or something (which is the furthest thing from the truth), cause he goes on to boast about himself. "I learned a lot in that business class over the summer."
"I'm surprised you actually listened."
"Hey! Who's asking for help here?"
I narrow my eyes at him. "When'd you become so petty? Or were you always like this?"
"This is business, Kairi. I have this," he dangles the late pass in his hand, "so what can you bring to the table?"
Sora attempting to practice smart business techniques bothers me more than it should. "...like you said," I finally say. "You do me this favor, I'll owe you one."
He stares at me, and I hold his stare. Honestly, I can't think of anything else Sora might want from me. An IOU for an unspecified date in the future is the best I can do.
"You owe me bigtime."
"What bigtime - this is just a small favor, okay Sora? Literally all you have to do is write down my name next to yours."
"Small favor? Kairi, I'm risking my pristine reputation. This is a big risk I'm taking."
"Okay, okay fine. I'll owe you bigtime, alright?" Seriously. I'm just tired of arguing. Him and his pettiness.
"I'm gonna hold you to that," he says, grabbing the pen from my hand.
Whatever. If it really comes down to it, I can argue what 'bigtime' means. Assuming he remembers this, cause god knows he's got the attention span of a goldfish. And it's not like he'll make me do something horrific. From the years I've known him ('cause yes, regrettably, I've known him for an extraordinarily long time), Sora's about as dangerous as a teddy bear. To my knowledge, he's never intentionally harmed someone before.
Unintentionally, though...that's a story (or 10) for another time.
"Here," he says, returning my pen. "Why're you so worked up about a tardy anyways?" he asks.
"Because! I don't wanna ruin my perfect attendance record!"
"S'not like anyone cares."
"I care!"
"That's stupid."
"You're stupid!" Before Sora can fire back with something else, I cut him off. "Let's just go in before a late pass can't even save us."
"...okay," Sora relents.
He turns the doorknob and steps in with me following right behind him. All eyes in the room turn towards us. We stare at our homeroom teacher, who stares right back.
"...well?" the old man finally prompts.
"Huh?" Sora echoes.
"You're late!" our homeroom teacher exclaims. "Do you have something to say for yourself, or why are you just standing there?"
Jeez, someone didn't have sugar with their coffee this morning.
"I - uh, we have a late pass," Sora amends after I jab him in the rib. I forgot Sora's an abysmal liar. What if he cracks under the pressure? What if he begins laughing nervously again?
Sora hands the pass to our teacher, who narrows his eyes and scrutinizes every letter on that tiny piece of paper. Like, who does that? Just accept the pass, mark us present, and move on! We've all got better things to do than stand around and wait!
"From Mr. Fair...again, huh?" The skepticism in his voice is palpable. Sora just smiles and I decide to mimic his ignorance. Our teacher continues. "I understand why Sora would be speaking with him but...Kairi? Why were you there?"
Why? Why has this become an interrogation? I try to maintain my angelic face of innocence while chirping back, "Coach Fair and I were talking about me becoming team manager!" Oh how easily the lies slip out…
"What?" our teacher says.
"What?" Sora mimics. A good elbow jab reminds him where we are. "I - I mean...woot."
The class laughs at his pitiful attempt. Everyone must know we're bullshitting our asses off. I feel like we're just putting on a show for them.
"I didn't know you wanted to be team manager, Kairi. Don't you have your own sport?"
"Yeah, but I used to play soccer." It's always easier to stick to the truth. "I know Coach Fair from middle school. He came to a lot of my games."
"Coach says it's 'cause he was trying to get your coach's number," Sora snickers. The class laughs, and I smile sweetly while shoving his face aside. No one asked for your existence, Sora.
"Anyways," I continue, "I was chatting with Coach Fair and lost track of time. I'll try not to do that again!"
Our teacher eyes me and Sora suspiciously but ultimately marks us present. I slip into my seat right behind Sora, setting my bag down. When the teacher starts writing stuff on the board, Sora turns around and offers a fistbump.
Well. I suppose this is fistbump worthy.
"You owe me," he reminds me.
Of course. I roll my eyes but nod along. I'm still counting on him to forget that inconvenient fact.
Anyways. My day's barely begun and I think I've filled up my quota of tolerating Sora's existence. I turn towards my side and beam at my seatmate, who's none other than my best friend.
"Naminé! How're you?"
Naminé grins, her fingers dexterously finishing a braid that falls neatly over her shoulder. "I'm good. How are you, Kairi? I was a little worried when the bell rang and you weren't here."
I sigh. My entire story would take forever to tell, so I go with a succinct summary. "Woke up on the wrong side of bed."
"Ah, I see…"
"What's that?" I ask, pointing curiously at an intricate sketch on the corner of her planner. My bestie is quite the artist. Or designer is probably the more accurate term. From what I can tell, it's a landscape of willow trees and a bridge by a lake.
Hastily, my modest bestie flips her notebook over. Did I mention she's incredibly shy about her artistic creations? My brother tried explaining it to me once (believe it or not, he writes poems), but I still don't really understand why artists are so private with their masterpieces. Isn't the point of art to share your view of the world with others? Then again, I'm not an artist so what do I know?
"It's nothing," Naminé says nonchalantly, flipping her braid over her shoulder. "Just got bored waiting for you with nothing to do." Her cheeks then flush pink. Honestly, because she's so pale, the slightest bit of color shows so obviously on Naminé's face. I actually didn't believe people blushed until I saw Naminé's cheeks.
A wide grin stretches across my face. "Aw, you poor thing! Had to suffer through that old man's lecture alone."
Naminé chuckles. "Our homeroom teacher's not that old!"
I shrug. "He's thinning already." I never really liked him.
Naminé chuckles again.
"I was gonna ask," she says, wide-eyed, "I didn't know you were gonna be the boy's soccer team manager?"
I smirk, recalling my improv white lie. I guess I'm just a natural under the spotlight. "Totally. I want to fill their nasty water bottles and watch every mistake they make on the pitch." Slowly, Naminé catches on and her lips stretch into a smile.
Speaking of my acting skills… "You said you're trying out for the drama club's year-end play, right?" I ask.
My best blonde friend (and only blonde friend, I believe) nods. "I...I think so?" she ends up asking me.
"You think? I hope you're thinking," I quip.
Naminé rolls her eyes, pouting while crossing her arms. "I mean...I've always been on the set design team, so I don't know if I can cross over into on-stage acting…"
"Of course you can! You know that stage like the back of your hand!" I encourage. "And I'll try out with you!"
"H - huh?"
"Yeah! I dropped dance, so I thought I could do drama club with you this year. And hey, I plan to own the year-end play with you, Naminé."
I think this is one of my better resolutions for the school year. It had crossed my mind just last week when Naminé mentioned trying out for an acting role this year. Finally! She's been doing behind-the-scenes work for 2 years - she deserves the chance to shine! She's always been the type to fret too much. She just needs some encouragement and a little push in the right direction, which is what this best friend seeks to do!
Plus, maybe drama will also teach me a thing or two. Like about controlling your emotions, public speaking, how to remain calm in any circumstance… Naminé's like the epitome of calm, cool, and collected. She's got social etiquette down to a tee. Meanwhile, I'm here trying to salvage a friendship that ended over...let's just say some unsavory words. Maybe I'll even make some friends along the way. Minus Selphie, my close friends now include Naminé...and Tidus, and my brother.
It's kinda sad when you're only friends with people related to you. Therefore #goals.
Naminé, who's taken her time digesting the news, finally smiles. "I'm happy, Kairi. You'll do great."
"We'll do great!" I'm so excited right now I can barely sit still. Luckily, the homeroom teacher dismisses us and we're free for a few minutes until first period.
"Well, time for English," I say, standing up. That reminds me, I still need to work on my paper. Thinking about my lack of progress makes me frown. "Anyways, I'll see you at lunch, Naminé!"
"Um, Kairi?"
"Huh?"
"Do you wanna practice during lunch?"
I blink. "For...track? No, we never practice during lunchtime. I'd quit if they made us practice during lunch break." For real. There aren't a lot of things that I'd give up food for.
Naminé chuckles. "No, I meant for drama club. I mean, I'm sure you'll pass. You're always really good in all those English classes when we have to act out a scene…"
"...wait, what?"
"The auditions to get in drama club? They're today afterschool. You've signed up...right?"
"...auditions?!"
Like I said, maybe drama club will teach me some stuff. Like how to get a hold of myself. And my life.
A/N: #updategoals. Hey, a biweekly publishing cycle ain't bad, right? Considering I'm a full-time college student...
Anyways, thanks for the follows/favorites for the first chapter! In a sense, I'm sticking to my preferred genre (highschool!AU), but the first-person narration and present tense are an experiment. Let me say, maintaining Kairi's voice is hard. If you have any feedback, please let me know! Will not lie, slightly (just slightly) heartbroken/devastated/crushed that there were no reviews.
Until next time, my lovely readers.