Chapter NINETEEN
busy week coming up!
-Monday: track meet, second to last one of the season!
^let Sora know I can't make morning practice
-Wednesday: Math test, I'm sooooo screwed
-Thursday: important family dinner idk what that means. Probably just to get on my case about college and grades again.
-Friday: English paper due
Naminé and I sigh as we dally by our lockers, occasionally glancing at each other. I try to avoid her gaze, quickly returning my attention to my phone that remains silent.
Tentatively, Naminé breaks the silence. "We don't have to - I mean, my driver's probably gonna be here soon. You don't have to - "
"AGH!" I exclaim, quickly searching Tidus' number and dialling. "Sorry Naminé, I said I'd give you a ride. That dumbass Tidus just doesn't have any basic sense of respect for taking up other people's time - Tidus?" I shriek into the phone when he finally picks up. "Where the hell are you?"
"What?" comes Tidus' voice, somewhat distant on the other end. "Kairi?"
"I said, where are you?" I repeat evenly. "We're supposed to meet up after practice, my dad has something he wants to give your mom - "
"Oh, shit."
"Goddammit, Tidus, you forgot?"
"No, I didn't!"
"Then?"
"I - I - okay, it just...slipped my mind. Where are you right now? I'll come pick it up."
"I'm at school, by the lockers, where we said we'd meet!"
"Okay, okay...just gimme 20 minutes - okay, 15!" he hastily corrects himself when I growl under my breath. "I'll be there ASAP."
"Well step on it!" I hang up, brooding for a moment before turning towards Naminé with a sheepish smile. "Well...Tidus screwed up, again."
Naminé laughs. "It's okay. I have nothing to do anyways, so I'll just hang out with you till my driver gets here." She smiles sweetly, and I thank the heaven and stars again that I have Naminé as a friend. Who else would be so patient and kind and understanding through everything?
Plus, there's something on my mind that I've been meaning to ask…
"So...how's Ventus doing?" I ask with a cheeky grin.
Of course, as Bestie #1, Naminé quickly catches on that I have an ulterior purpose to asking. She shoots me a confused look. "He's fine...why are you asking about him?"
"No particular reason!" I chirp. "So...you guys hang out a lot recently?"
"Kinda, I mean, not particularly often or anything...where are you going with this?"
I snicker. "Has he asked you to the Snow Ball yet?"
"I - " Naminé cuts herself off and groans. Soon enough, a chuckle escapes her lips. "We're still stuck on this?"
"Cause you're holding out on me! I can't believe you won't even tell me, your number one best friend! C'mon, I can keep a secret!"
Naminé shoots me a look.
"Err, I mean, if I really tried, I swear I can! It's just usually people don't specifically say to keep things a secret, so…" I shrug, cause what can I do? I'm very generous and like sharing things with people.
"Sure, sure," Namimé says dismissively, which I take as an insult. She can't even have faith in me? "Kairi, I'm only not telling you now cause I don't wanna jinx it. I'll definitely tell you if it happens."
"So has anything happened?" I prompt. "Is this Mystery Man making a move or what? Cause if he doesn't, someone else is gonna."
"What?" Naminé rolls her eyes. "Who's gonna make a move?"
Is she kidding or is she joking? Either way, it's not funny. "I've got a line of boys asking me everyday if you're going to the ball with anyone."
Naminé raises a brow. "They asked you if I'm going with someone?"
I shrug nonchalantly. "Getting info from the best friend - I'd do the same."
"Do they also ask if you're going with anyone?"
I open my mouth but then pause. "I - I guess, yeah, cause it'd be too obvious if they only asked about you…"
"So they're checking you out too." Naminé chuckles. "Kairi's got game!"
I laugh at the description. "Yeah, I guess I do. Not as much as you though."
Naminé's eyes flicker towards something behind me but then quickly refocus as she smiles. It all happens too fast for me to think too much, so before I know it, I'm opening my mouth to further our conversation when a loud voice shrieks next to me ear,
"BOO!"
"AHH - shit, goddammit!" I literally jump out of my seat, my hand conveniently landing a hit on whoever just spooked the hell out of me. While trying to calm down my racing heartbeat, I turn around with narrowed eyes and a raised fist.
"What the hell - Sora!"
While clutching his jaw, he's laughing his head off. "Wow, Naminé, you saw her face, right?"
Naminé chuckles with him like the polite young girl she is, which leaves me sulking and Sora laughing without a care in the world. He eventually sobers up a little, but then looking at me makes him crack up again. I stare with a deadpanned expression, glancing at Naminé who smiles and shrugs. Finally, I can't stand it anymore.
"Stop it, or you're gonna die from lack of oxygen," I growl.
Finally, he manages to control himself. "Well, if I had to choose, laughing to death is my preferred way to go."
"Why are you so morbid at...5pm on a Tuesday afternoon? Did you just finish practice?"
"Yup! Time to head home, eat back all the calories I burned off, and start homework. School sucks."
"Someone's awfully cheerful," I note with narrowed eyes. "Did practice go well?"
"Aww yeah!" he cheers. "I scored on Tidus, man!"
"Oh, what? Dude, congrats!" I laugh, offering a hand for him to high-five. He does so eagerly, extending his hand towards Naminé, who also gently touches his palm with hers. "Of course, only soccer would make you this happy."
"Soccer makes you happy too, doesn't it?"
I concede to his point. "Endorphin highs are the best."
"Well, you guys looked pretty cheery when I was walking over. Whatcha doing?" he asks curiously, taking a seat at the table with us.
"Scoot away from Naminé, you're all sweaty." I shoot him a glare, and he does so obediently. "And drink some water so you don't die of dehydration."
As if on cue, he raises his hand that's holding his water bottle and takes a swig. "So, what were you guys talking about?"
"The Snow Ball!" Naminé chirps.
"Oh. That's in a few weeks, right?"
"Yup! You going?" I ask, watching his response carefully.
He shrugs. "Probably? We only have so many dances left in high school, might as well go for the experience."
"That's what I said!" Naminé chirps.
"Then are you going with anyone?" I ask with a sly grin, hoping to dig out some gossip out of him.
He blinks at me and takes a sip of water before responding. "Nah, don't think so."
"What!" I exclaim. "You're just being cheap, aren't you? Cause you'd have to buy your date's tickets as well as yours."
"What? No, I mean, tickets aren't that expensive." On the contrary, Sora, some of us don't have limitless allowances. "I'm just not looking to date or anything now."
"Why do you guys all say the same thing?" Naminé complains. "You can ask someone and go as friends!"
"Don't worry, I'm with you on this, Sora," I say, patting his shoulder. Eww, sweat. "Especially since you'd be asking, don't wanna send the wrong signal to some girl."
"Just clarify you're going as friends!" Naminé points out. "Establish expectations. I just think it'd be fun to go with someone."
"This is how she justifies abandoning me and going with someone," I stage whisper to Sora. He laughs.
"I mean, it's cool if you can establish expectations or whatnot, but it's hard to predict people's feelings. I don't wanna have to worry about something like that at the dance - I just wanna have fun."
"Exactly!" I actually jump out of my chair in glee. "Someone gets what I'm saying! Like, I can still meet the guy or whatever at the dance and have fun! That's actually no expectations, cause you didn't come together!"
I offer Sora another palm to high-five, which he readily meets.
"Well," Naminé begins with a sly grin I'm familiar with, "since you guys think the same, maybe you should go together."
"Naminé!" I exclaim, thoroughly embarrassed by her now. She's actually suggesting that in front of Sora? I sneak a peek at him, and though he's drinking from his bottle, his lips are stretched into a smile. Is he laughing at the thought? I'll have him know, going with me would be his honor -
Hypothetically speaking.
"You have my vote!" she says, quickly turning her attention to her phone. I can only sulk in place, occasionally glancing at Sora to see his response. It feels like he's putting his bottle down, capping it, and wiping his lips with the back of his hand all in slow mo. Finally, he meets my eyes, and I suddenly feel very exposed. He smiles disarmingly, so I glare and turn away to effectively ignore his nonchalant response.
"...maybe you two should go together," Sora suggests with a laugh.
"Huh?"
"You and Naminé," he proposes. "You two have my vote."
"...we'd be the cutest, but nah. Naminé's waiting on someone."
Naminé's head snaps up from her phone, and I slam a hand over my mouth. Okay, maybe she has the right to keep this mystery guy a secret from me. I swear I didn't mean to let that slip on purpose - it just...slipped…
'I'm so sorry!' I mouth to her. She frowns but shakes her head to tell me it's okay. However, I still feel the guilt dwelling in my stomach. Maybe I don't deserve the title of best friend.
"...I feel like I wasn't supposed to hear that," Sora breaks the silence tentatively. "But don't worry, I've got no one to tell. And I'm on your side, Naminé," Sora adds reassuringly. "If you need me to do some subtle prompting, I got you."
Naminé chuckles somewhat nervously. "Ah, thanks Sora...but I should be fine. There's nothing settled at this point yet, so...we'll just see how things go. Maybe I'll end up going with Kairi." She smiles weakly, and I'm still too guilty to look up at her. "Ah, my driver's here. I should get going - bye Sora, bye Kairi! See you tomorrow!"
"Bye Naminé!" Sora chirps, and I echo his words somewhat lacklusterly, waving at her instead. Naminé shoots me one last reassuring grin before turning around and heading off. Once she's out of sight, I sigh and slam my head on the table.
"...oww."
"Wow, that's dumb."
"Excuse me?" I exclaim, looking up to glare at him.
He raises a hand to point at my forehead. "Look, it's red already."
I rub my hand on the bruised area self-consciously. "...I guess I am dumb." I sigh tiredly before realizing I should do some damage control. "I swear to god, if you tell anyone - "
"You'll put those years of practicing goal kicks to very good use, I know," he finishes my words for me, to which I look at him with surprise. "You always use the same threat."
"What? When?"
"In middle school. When that actually meant something cause you played. You haven't touched a soccer ball in years."
"That doesn't mean my feet have forgotten how to kick."
"Okay, okay, threat duly noted. Like I said, I won't tell anyone. If I were Naminé, I'd be more worried about you letting it slip."
I want to argue back but realize I have no counterpoint. I rest my face in my hands, trying to massage the sides of my temple. "Honestly, I don't do it that often. Usually it's only with people I'm close with."
"So I'm on that list?"
I stare at him for a moment. Did I just dig myself a hole? "I - I guess, yeah. You're somewhat trustworthy."
"...was that a compliment, Kairi?"
"I mean, who are you gonna tell? You have like no friends."
"Okay, my bad, I was too quick to speak. And hey, I do have friends. I'm speaking with one right now."
"We're friends?"
"...haha, Kairi, very funny. You said so last time."
Of course he has freakishly good memory. I don't even know exactly what he's talking about but decide to give him the benefit of doubt. "Okay...what's your point?"
"That I do have friends, and I'm trustworthy cause I am."
"Okay, okay. Don't have to be so competitive. Keep that on the field."
"Competitive?" Sora laughs. "You're one to talk. Who's the one who can't ever back down from a dare? That time you - "
"Don't say The Bonfire Incident!"
He stares at me in silence, to which I grow increasingly self-conscious. Seriously, can't he look somewhere else?
"...I wasn't gonna."
...shiiiiit.
We haven't talked about The Bonfire Incident since...said incident itself. And there's a very good reason we didn't, so I'm not gonna open that can of worms now. If I stay quiet, and if Sora does, we can just let the silence slowly lead the conversation in a completely different direction…
"Wait, how do you know about The Bonfire Incident?" I realize.
Sora stares at me. "Kairi, I was there."
"No, I mean, how do you know what The Bonfire Incident refers to? I haven't - haven't told anyone about it."
"Well...I'm just using my deductive reasoning skills here. Freshman year you didn't go to the end-of-year bonfire, and we haven't been to any other bonfires together, so I figured it's probably the bonfire last summer. You know, when we - "
"Zzzp!" I exclaim, mimicking a zipper sound at him. He shoots me a look but takes the cue to shut up. We dwell in silence for awhile till I break it, cause silences have always been my undoing. "You suck."
"What?"
"How come you're always there when I screw up in life?"
"Are you accusing me or something?"
"No! No, just...an observation." I sigh tiredly, placing my chin in the palms of my hands. "I mean, we weren't even friends then. What are the chances that you'd be there when I screw up?"
"...well, I don't know if this counts but you were dating my best friend."
Aaaaand that's enough thinking about The Bonfire Incident for today. Shooting Sora a stern glare, I then turn towards my phone. "I'm waiting for Tidus. What are you still doing here?"
Sora shrugs, checking his phone as well. "Dinner with a family friend later, I don't want my mom to fuss over my shirt for an hour, so I'm heading back right in time to leave with them."
"Ooh, where are you guys gonna eat?"
"A new French place on the other side of town. Traffic's gonna suck."
The small talk makes me gradually grow more comfortable with the situation. Tidus texted me saying he's passing the school gates, so I decide to head in that direction. I'd rather not spend more time with Sora now.
"Gotta go, see ya," I tell Sora, who's occupied with his phone. He doesn't even glance up when he says goodbye. It's just not fair that The Bonfire Incident affects me so much when he doesn't even care. I really don't want to give him something else on me.
"Hey, Kairi."
He calls out to me as I'm turning the corner, almost out of earshot. I could pretend I didn't hear him and just walk off, but what does he want to say? Curiosity wins out in the end, so I pop my head back over and stare at him.
"What?"
He's looking at his phone, and after a beat he looks up. All these looks are getting me confused - like what's he thinking? What does he want? What does he expect from me?
But what gets to me the most is...looking in Sora's eyes has never felt so scary.
C'mon, say something. I'm waiting, you're waiting - what exactly are we waiting for? Say something, anything at this point. Just - let me go.
"Kairi...you left you English textbook."
…
I race over, snatch the heavy hardback from his hands, and dash off. A wayward, "You're welcome!" comes from his direction, but I decide to pretend I didn't hear that. Have I mentioned already?
Sora officially sucks.
A/N: Hello everyone! :)
As you can see, maybe slowly this story is getting somewhere? :o Also, I've recently gotten into emoticons so excuse my liberal usage. Also, work sucks.
:) :) Please review, comment, subscribe - or just read, which is probably what you came here for. To be honest, my outline is slowly being replaced so even I have no idea where this story is going, only where it'll end up. So have faith in the creative process, or at least that's what I'm pinning my hopes on. :o