Okay, after chapter 3's drama, here's chapter 4, which is a little better…I think. I haven't reread it yet. Anyway, thanks so much for all the great reviews so far. It makes me feel a lot better and more confident that everyone really likes this story. I do, too. It's different for me. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. There ya go!
Life Less Ordinary"Agitated"
Rinoa woke up from the sound of her cell phone going off like crazy. She rubbed her head sleepily and grabbed the cell phone from the desk.
"Hello." She rasped, her throat dry from sleep.
"Rinny? Where are you? It's 5:30!" Selphie's hysteric voice was heard on the other end.
"It is?" She was still groggy.
"Yeah! Are you still coming down here?" Selphie asked her.
"Um, yeah. Just give me some time to wake up. I'll be down there soon enough." Rinoa yawned and hung up.
She staggered into her bathroom and splashed cold water onto her face. It didn't help very much since she was still extremely tired. Her eyes still felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each. She just wanted to crawl back into bed, but she couldn't do that. She had told them she'd be there and had to keep her word, even though she didn't really want to.
Walking downstairs, the house was dark and there was no sign of her mother anywhere. She was probably still helping her friend move in and probably wouldn't be back until later that night. Oh, well. She figured she'd just leave her mother a note and go ahead and go down to Joe's. She grabbed a sweatshirt and her car keys and headed out the door.
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"Selphie, you can relax anytime now, you know!" Quistis stated from the couch where they usually always sat. She was sipping a Diet Coke and watching Selphie squirm and continuously watch the door. The only people who had come through were the ones that Selphie didn't want to see.
"I know. I know. I'm just…worried about her." Selphie sighed and finally took her eyes away from the door.
"Why are you worried?" Zell asked jumping down on the couch beside Quistis. The blonde frowned at him when she almost spilled her soda.
"I don't know. I'm just worried." Selphie shrugged in return.
"Hey, guys!" Quistis exclaimed sweetly as Seifer and his crew came over. She produced a very flirty smile, which was pretty much ignored by three of the guys.
"Yo." Drag said, smiling back at her. She blushed a little and focused on Seifer.
"Hey ladies." Seifer replied. Zell narrowed his eyes at Seifer, sick of that joke. Seifer ignored it and looked around and then turned to Selphie. "Where's Rinoa? It's Saturday! She's usually here!"
"She said she's on her way." Quistis answered, staring right at Seifer, trying to catch his eye and not having much luck. But she did notice that Drag was watching her every move. She glanced over at him briefly to see him wink and find his eyes wandering down her body. She blushed and went back to concentrating on Seifer, still feeling his eyes on her.
"Okay. Good because I want to talk to her about something." Seifer scratched at the back of his neck as if he were nervous.
"For what?" Selphie, Quistis, and Zell all asked him.
He smiled at their curiosity and just shrugged. "No reason. I just want to talk to her."
"Okay. Whatever you say." Zell shrugged and stood, making a B-line for the counter that Joe stood behind. He had one thing on his mind, and that was food. He was so hungry he couldn't stand it.
"I think he's hungry." Selphie giggled as she watched Zell talk to Joe.
Joe Pinalli was such a nice old man, close to his sixties. He'd had Joe's since his own son graduated from Balamb High School eighteen years ago. He was a short stocky man, going bald with white hair circling around his head in fluffs. He knew everybody in Balamb and knew almost everybody's grandmother, too. Joe was the kind of man who everybody invited to their Christmas dinners. His wife of 35 years died several years ago, but Joe was still a happy man. He had already told everyone that he would keep Joe's open until the day he died, and his son, Bryan, had already promised to take it up after him.
"When is he not?" Quistis demanded. Selphie had been semi-lost in her thoughts and almost didn't hear the other girl, but when it registered in her mind what she had said, she started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Seifer asked, obviously missing what had just taken place.
"Nothing. Never mind. You missed it." Quistis waved his question away with her hand. He shrugged and sat down.
"Oh, has anyone seen Irvine?" He asked everyone.
"Oh, he's probably getting close and way too comfortable with the head cheerleader's pillow." Selphie spat out bitterly.
"Okay then." Seifer knew better that to pursue the subject any further when the brown-haired happy girl spoke in that tone of voice. She was still very sore with Irvine and had just about had enough of all his playing around. It also didn't help matters that her plans, every single one of them, had all failed. He just didn't care and it bothered her. It really bothered her.
Quistis saw Selphie's mood change almost instantly and knew that the girl had seen something that made her happy again.
"Rinny!" Selphie exclaimed and jumped up from her seat and ran over to the entrance.
Rinoa had just come through the door and was immediately bomb-barded by a whole bunch of people, mainly cheerleaders. Everyone wanted to know why she had left early the night before, and everyone wanted to know how she knew the new guy. Now see? This was the main reason why she wanted to stay home and avoid everyone for a while! No one seemed to get it that she wanted to be left alone. She pushed her way through the crowd of people who just wanted her attention for the juicy gossip benefits. She suddenly knew how her mother felt when the media attacked her over the stupidest little things. Everyone wanted a piece of her life; they all wanted a look into her private mind. When she thought that they were going to trap her inside this circle forming, a hand found her wrist and pulled her out and away from everyone with amazing strength, and she found herself staring at the one person she didn't want to see…
Squall.
"Thought you might need some help." He smirked at her but still held onto her wrist.
"Thanks." Look away. Look away! She was screaming in her mind, but it wasn't working. She was getting lost in those heavenly blue eyes that he had. Stop thinking like that!
"Rinny!" A shrill, excited scream erupted through her ears, and she cringed. Selphie appeared beside her and she pulled her arm away from Squall's hold. This was the perfect opportunity for her to finally look away.
"Hey, Selphie." She focused her gaze on Selphie and tried not to look at Squall who still stood near her. The head cheerleader, Summer, appeared beside Rinoa on the other side and waited patiently. The rest of the cheerleading squad present waited behind her.
"Hi, Summer." She turned to her nervously.
"Hey, Rinoa!" The bouncy cheerleader exclaimed, and Squall cringed at the sound of her voice. "Just wonderin' if you're still on for the dance practice. After all, you are our best dancer!" The bouncy bleached-blonde chewed away on her gum and flashed Rinoa these vibrant smiles.
"Yeah. I'll be there. I said I would, didn't I?" Rinoa asked her, trying to be as polite as humanly possible. She loved Summer to pieces, but sometimes she was just un bearable.
"Good. Thanks, Rinoa. Glad we can count on you!" Summer smiled and walked away with the rest of the squad behind her. Each girl looked Squall up and down except for Summer who just walked past him, without giving him the time of day.
"Rinny! Rinny! Rinny!" Selphie was jumping up and down now. "We've been so worried about you!" She grabbed her by the same arm that Squall had previously held and started to drag her away. Squall rolled his eyes and followed the two girls over to the rest of the group. He was determined to get Rinoa alone and talk to her, whether or not she wanted to. He needed to know why she had denied knowing him. Why had she told everyone that they had only met briefly? By the looks of it, she didn't tell the rest of her friends the real truth, and it almost pissed him off.
"We?" Rinoa muttered as Selphie dragged her over to everyone else. She was beginning to wonder what was worse, the crowd, Squall, or Selphie?
"Here she is! Here she is! I saved her!" The perky girl announced. A snort came from Squall that made Selphie glare at him. "Okay! Okay! Squall saved her from the human-flesh eating crowd, and then I saved her from him!" She smiled.
"I doubt if she needed saving from me." Squall muttered as he walked over and leaned against a couch where Zion sat stuffing his face.
"You'd be surprised." Rinoa hid behind Selphie and said very, very quietly. She was relieved when she noticed that Squall hadn't heard what she said, but Selphie did and gave her a funny look.
"So, now what are we doing?" Zion asked through an open mouth of food.
"Ugh! You're just as bad as Zell!" Quistis was grossed out by Zion's eating habits. Her parents were total perfectionists and had instilled in her brain that she must have perfect hygiene, perfect manners, perfect everything. She was pretty much grossed out completely.
"Oh, shuddup!" Zion swallowed. "I'm hungry and I could probably out eat him by a mile and a half!"
"Is that a challenge?" Zell demanded, coming over from talking with Joe. "'Cause nobody can out eat the Zellster!" He flexed his muscles and tried to make himself seem more macho.
Zion jumped up and pointed a finger at Zell, trying to act menacingly. "I could tear you up fool! I am the eating master! Nobody eats more than Zion Christopher Grant!" He declared.
Seifer rubbed elbows with Squall. "This could get ugly. I've seen Zell eat. He really can eat the house down. I bet they're going to have an Eat Off."
"Probably." Squall answered back. But he wasn't paying much attention to the two hogs. He was watching Rinoa. She was talking to Selphie and Quistis while glancing occasionally at the "feuding" guys. He watched her in partial hopes of catching her attention, but he watched her for another reason as well. He was searching her for something that would show him the Rinoa he once knew. She was also quite pleasant to look at, but she never returned his gaze. She focused on her conversation and would not look at him, although he was sure that she knew he was looking at her.
"Well, if you think you're so good and so hungry, then why don't we have and eat off?" Zell threw out in the open air.
"Why not? I'll cream you all over this town with a cherry on top, cause you're going down!" Zion accepted, sticking his hand out. "But we've gotta make this good. We need to make this a true challenge!"
"Okay, winner gets fifty bucks!"
"Done." And they shook on it.
"I hope you two know that you are both disgusting! You're so gross!" Quistis exclaimed. She stuck her nose up at both of them and turned away completely, shaking her head.
"I'm putting my money on Zell!" Rinoa called over.
"Well, I'm betting on Zion!" Selphie giggled. Both Zell and Zion looked at the two girls.
"Selphie!" Zell exclaimed. "What about me?"
"What about you? Rinny's already claimed that she's putting her money on you, so I'm going to put my money on Zion. Plus, he probably would beat you. Sorry, Zelly." She tried to smile sweetly at him, but couldn't hide her amusement at torturing him.
"Oh, I can feel the love, Selphie! Just kick me when I'm down!" Zell exclaimed, forgetting about the challenge just between him and Zion.
"Yeah! That's right! Everybody vote for the Zion! Go Zion! Go Zion! You da master! You da master! No one can beat da master!" he gave a bow and lifted his head to produce a cheesy smile.
Squall, Seifer, Drag, and Zell all gave him the same, "What in the Hell are you doing?" look.
Zion laughed nervously as he straightened himself up. "Okay. Let's just leave it at I'm the master, shall we?"
"You know, I can't decide which one of you is the bigger idiot!" Quistis came walking over to the guys and spoke to Zell and Zion. "But I'm beginning to think that maybe, you're exactly the same! Ha!" She laughed this evil little chuckle that made Zell and Zion both flinch.
"And you know what I think?" Squall spoke up, glaring at Quistis. By now, he had already reached the decision that he didn't like her… at all.
"And what's that?" She crossed her arms over her chest and returned the glare.
"That you are, by far, the snobbiest, bitchiest, and meanest girl to walk the Earth since Satan himself. Tell me, were you born that way or were you corrupted by money?" He asked coolly, never losing his composure. Everyone else just stared at him in complete disbelief at what he had just said, but Quistis never even batted an eye.
"Is that so? If I am what you say, then you must be nothing short of Esthar trash. I thought guys from Esthar were supposed to be hot, but I was obviously wrong!" She smirked and turned to Rinoa. "I really truly pity you. I am so sorry that you actually know this filth." Rinoa bit her lower lip to keep from showing any signs of amusement from this.
"Ouch!" Zion muttered. Zell nodded.
"And may I add, I'm proud of it. And she," he pointed to Rinoa after Drag gave him a high five. "Obviously hasn't told you the truth. How long are you going to try and keep it behind you, Rinoa? How long are you going to try and pretend that it never happened? You've got to break sometime." He purposely targeted her, and she definitely didn't like it.
"You were one of my brother's friends. That's it." She whispered, beginning to shake badly. The color was draining from her face, and her palms were beginning to sweat.
"Okay, fine. You keep telling yourself that, Rinoa. Maybe one day, you'll believe it." He turned and began to walk away.
"Why do you do that?" She yelled at him. He stopped and turned only his head to hear her words. "You always walk away! You degrade me and then walk away! Are you trying to humiliate me? Are you trying to make me feel bad on purpose?"
"You did that to yourself." And he walked completely out of earshot.
"Wow. That was pretty cruel." Selphie whispered timidly.
"Can I ask what instigated that?" Zell asked looking from Rinoa to Squall, who now stood next to Joe and talking to him.
"He's being a cocky-ass chicken shit." Rinoa growled. "He's digging up things that are better left buried. But you know, I won't put up with it. He's got another thing coming if he really thinks that I can bend that easily. He should better." She was livid and glared at the back of his head. What game was he playing? If looks could kill…
"Rinoa? Why do I feel like there's more to this than meets the eye?" Selphie asked her angered friend. Yes, she had heard what Squall said very clearly.
"Just drop it, Selphie. He was just trying to make me mad, and it worked." She answered through gritted teeth.
"If you insist." Selphie shrugged and turned back to watch Zell and Zion get back into it over who could eat more.
"You know what? He's actually not that bad of a guy. He's kind of an ass, but other than that, he's not a bad guy." Quistis smiled. She was actually surprised that he had said that to her face. She concluded that he had won her respect and wasn't a conceited bastard after all. Well, not too much anyway.
"You don't know him, just remember that." Rinoa whispered, still glaring at his back. Someone tugged on her sweatshirt sleeve, and she looked away to see Seifer standing there. He pulled to the side a little, away from everyone.
"What's going on? I've never seen you or him act like that before. Did you guys meet more than one time because despite how you're trying to deny it, it still seems that you're both hiding something?" He whispered, keeping his voice down so that only Rinoa could hear him. He wasn't trying to be nosey, but one couldn't help but be curious.
"I can't answer that." Her eyes dropped to the floor in an attempt to seal away her feelings. She didn't want them to know yet. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but she still wasn't ready to dig up that part of her.
"Why not?" he asked.
"I just can't/ I will tell you this, though: It's not that anyone is hiding anything. It's more that the truth has been misplaced." Rinoa told him and them walked away. She decided that she needed some time to be alone.
Rinoa walked outside and shivered through her grey sweatshirt. It wasn't cold; it was just her. She was feeling fifty different emotions, and didn't know which was the best to go with.
She stood outside for a few minutes, watching as more and more cars pulled into the almost completely filled parking lot. She spotted her car and thought about leaving, but figured that would just be running away. He mother had always told her not to run away from her problems, for that wouldn't solve them. They'd still be there when she returned and probably worse.
"Fix it before it gets any worse, Rinny." She could hear her mother saying inside her head. Even when she wasn't around, she was still there. If that made sense.
"I don't think I can." She whispered to the air.
"Can't do what?" A voice spoke from around her.
"I can't fix the mess I made." She answered, not even questioning who was there. She didn't care and had no real reason to find out.
"Yes, you can. You're just too afraid to, aren't you?" Two hands rested on her shoulders, and she felt the heat from his body close in around her.
Yes. I'm terrified. She thought to herself but didn't voice. That was the last thing that he needed to know. If he ever knew her weakness, he'd use it to his advantage. He'd done it before, so why wouldn't he now?
"So tell me, Rin, why'd you lie to them?" He asked her, trying to hide his anger. His hands gripped her shoulders tighter, holding her there, in that spot.
"There are some things people don't need to know. I don't have to tell them anything." She answered, staring forward and speaking without any emotion. "Do I?"
"To a certain extent, but I'm angry. You denied even knowing me. Why?" he demanded, pulling her even closer to him. She closed her eyes and focused on something, anything that would keep her from crying.
She shook her head and fought the tears. Memories were flooding her mind, and she wanted to get away from it. She wanted him to let go of her before she cried.
"No, you know why. You just won't tell me. Do you even remember all the stuff that happened between us? If you don't, I do. I remember it all." He whispered in her ear. She could hear the anger begin to slip out from where it was hiding. How much longer could he last?
"Why are you doing this to me? Why are you trying to hurt me again?" Rinoa pulled away forcibly and turned around to face him.
"I never hurt you. You know I wouldn't." he shook his head in defense.
"You did, though. And if you remember everything that you say you do, then I'm sure you'll remember that. Don't tell me that you never did because I remember, too you know." She hissed bitterly.
"I-." He started but couldn't think of anything to say to her. Where had she gotten this idea that he had hurt her?
"See? You do remember." She dropped her eyes again.
"Do you want me to say something?" He asked. That was all he could say to her. He didn't know what she wanted. He was still trying to figure her out again. She had changed so much that he felt like he had to meet her and get to know her all over again.
"No." She took a step back away from him. She needed to get away again. She felt herself falling into those old, dark times of her past life in Deling City.
"What do you want me to do then?" He took a few steps forward like he was advancing at her, but she never wavered, never moved. He was just an arm's reach away from her now.
"I don't know." She looked away from him. "A part of me wants me to admit everything, but the other part of me wants to make you leave and ignore you. I just don't know." She focused on a spot in the ground and stared at it. She heard him come closer and closer until his body was just a few inches from hers.
"You know I never would hurt you. I may have been stupid when I was younger, but I was never stupid enough to hurt someone I cared about." He touched her cheek gently with two of his fingers and she recoiled at his touch. She was still scared of him.
"Don't say anything." Rinoa whispered as his hands gently rested on her shoulders again. She refused to meet eye contact with him and just stared at the ground. She wanted to run away from him, to pretend that nothing had happened, that they had never seen each other before. She wanted to stay in denial for a long as she could. "What's done is done, and nothing can change it."
"True. But I need to know if our friendship is in danger here." He cupped her cheek in his hands and raised her head so that she was looking at him. "I need to know."
"What friendship?" She pulled away from him. "Our friendship ended six years ago. All hopes of us ever being friends again were shattered when you used me. There is no friendship here anymore." She backed away from him, determined to keep him away, to keep him from hurting her again.
"Rin, I-" he started but she stopped him.
"I don't know you anymore. You're not the person I grew up with and became so close to." She stopped and stared him in the face. " Stay away from me. You've hurt me before, and I won't let you do it again." With that, she walked past him and back inside the building. She was still fighting the tears that threatened to spill. Zion and Zell were still arguing about who could eat more and stood beside Selphie.
"What's wrong?" Selphie looked at her with surprise, seeing the hurt in her face that she was desperately trying to cover up.
"Nothing. I just feel ill, that's all." She lied and focused on Zell and Zion.
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Squall leaned against the brick building and smacked his head with his hand. How many more times was he going to blow it? Was he moving too fast for her?
"I never hurt you." He said out loud. "Did I?"
A/N: And there you have it! Chapter 4. Feeling bad for Rinoa yet? Don't worry, it gets worse, and the it gets better. Oh, let me explain something real fast! From here on out, things will start to get a little weird and Rinoa's behavior will be out of whack. I had to alter it a bit to make the story make more sense, so don't get mad at me. Don't worry, it's not extreme or anything likes that. She's still the same, hopefully. Thanks again for the great reviews so far! Later Days!