I really don't like this chapter... you'll see why in my A/N.
Chapter 8! Hey, has anyone noticed that I've been updating this one story more often than I have any other story? It's weird, isn't it? Well, I can safely say that I'll be able to update all my stories now that school is out. Yep, I'm done and I'm now a junior! Isn't that so exciting! Okay, here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII. All characters, places, and ideas belong to Square.
Life Less OrdinaryChapter Eight
"The Truth"Rinoa's drive home gave her a good opportunity to think alone. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something was different. Was the change in her? Was it in someone else? Had her environment changed? Something had, but she was unsure of what.
When she pulled into her driveway, she just turned off her car and sat there, not wanting to get out or do anything. She needed to clear out her thoughts. There was just too much crowding within her head.
What had really happened? There had been a break somewhere. Someone had given in. That would explain the strange things that had been happening lately. Her emotions had been all over the place. One minute she was fine, and the next she was either crying a river or screaming her lungs out, and it all seemed to happen when she was around Squall or thinking about him. What was he doing to her? Was he the one causing all these odd things to happen to her? Or maybe it was because of her past events.
She was surprised the first time she saw him again. He looked so much older with his hair grown out and how he had gotten taller. She used to be a few inches taller than him, and he would tease her about it, making her mad. He was also buff now, and sometimes when he wore a tight tee shirt, she found herself staring at his rippling muscles. There was just something sexy about a buff guy.
And his scar! The first time Rinoa saw that scar, it scared her to death. She wondered and wondered how he had gotten it and finally noticed that Seifer had the exact same scar only mirrored. She remembered Seifer telling her one time that he had gotten the scar in an accident with a friend. She asked him about Squall's scar and if he had gotten it the same way. Seifer had told her yes but said nothing more about the subject. So that left Rinoa to wonder about the nature of the accident. At any rate, she had feared that scar. It did nothing but actually add to his features, and yet it still scared her. He was good-looking, there was no doubt about that, and he could get any girl in school that he chose, but he didn't even try. It was as if he didn't even care. Maybe Seifer had been right when he said that Squall was picky.
Figuring that it was pointless to just sit there, Rinoa sighed and finally got out of the car. She saw her mother's car and continued into the house.
"Mom?" She called, closing the front door behind her. The smell of roast, potatoes, and vanilla smacked her right in the face, and she followed her nose into the kitchen. Rinoa found her mother working diligently over the stove. The dining table was set out with her mother's best china and the extra leaves for the table were put in as well. There were candles and the silk tablecloth. She hadn't seen the table, or the dining room for that matter; this dressed up in a long time.
"Mom? What's the occasion?" Rinoa asked her mother while stealing glances at the dining room.
"Oh! Hi, honey!" Julia whipped past her daughter to the fridge. She kissed her quickly and dove into the fridge. "We're going to have a whole lot of company tonight. I'm thinking about ten people and then some. Ronnie and Christy Trepe are back from Shumi, My editor, John, will be here, too, and I think he may be bringing his nephews. The two little ones. You remember them, right? And my lawyer, Sandra, will be joining us as well, and then a few more people. Honey, it's going to be hectic tonight Can you give me a hand?" She nearly dropped some of the food in her arms, trying to get to the counter. Rinoa grabbed some of the things to relieve her mother and set them on the table for her.
"He's bringing the really little ones?" Rinoa asked, immediately dreading the fact that she knew that she would be the one stuck babysitting.
"Yes, honey. They're coming with John and spending the weekend. From what John has told me they're extremely excited to see you. They think you're just so fun, and you're so good with them, dear." Julia smiled and grabbed a knife and the bag of carrots. She began chopping them like there was no tomorrow.
"Yeah, I guess. Is there anything I can do, mom?" Rinoa asked, thinking about all the times those two had gotten her into trouble, running off and getting into things.
"No, honey. I think I have it covered. Why don't you go wash up?" Julia dropped her carrot and knife and ushered Rinoa out of the kitchen. She stood there for a few minutes, a little shocked that her mother had practically thrown her out of the kitchen. She had only asked to help. She smiled and headed up stairs with her stuff. The least she could do was put on something nice and look presentable. So, she searched her closet for something, anything that would be nice. This dinner obviously meant a lot to her mother, and so she could at least try to make the evening pleasant enough. So far, nothing suited her. There were things that were too dressy or not dressy enough. She just couldn't find anything in between. She wasn't trying to be picky; she just wanted to make this evening special for her mom.
"Ugh!" She sighed, dropping down onto her bed. She stared into the closet and the dresser. She had already ruled out any jeans. Jeans weren't appropriate for a fancy dinner, and neither were tee shirts. She finally, after a long debate, went with a pair of pin stripped slacks and a white blouse.
Going back downstairs, she found her mother in the entrance hall with Ronnie and Christy Trepe, taking their coats from them. Quistis was behind them, looking positively miserable. She looked up and saw Rinoa standing at the base of the stairs.
"Rinoa! Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed. "I have a major crisis!" She ran past her parents and grabbed her arm and the two proceeded up to Rinoa's room.
"What's the problem?" Rinoa asked the blonde.
"Seifer agreed to go on a date with me next Friday, and I have nothing to wear! I am in so much trouble!" Quistis exclaimed.
So Rinoa found herself once again staring at her closet from her bed, while Quistis searched her closet in vain for something to wear to impress Seifer. The blonde was so worried about what Seifer would think or act, and it made Rinoa wonder if Quistis knew that if Seifer liked her, really truly liked her, then he wouldn't care how she looked or what she wore. He should be flattered that Quistis wanted to impress him, but he shouldn't care that she wanted to look perfect. There is no one who is perfect. Rinoa wished that the human race could accept and respect that factor. Rinoa, for one, knew she wasn't perfect and wasn't trying to be.
Quistis went through Rinoa's entire closet, occasionally pulling things and suggesting them to Rinoa. Some of the things she suggested were good and some were positively hideous on Quistis. She wanted to tell her exactly how some of those looked but didn't have the heart to. She didn't want to be mean, so all she did was nod or shake her head.
"So, what's going on with you and Squall? Drag said that you've been with Squall since you left Joe's." Quistis asked while looking through an assortment of Rinoa's blouses and tee shirts. "Are you two still mortal enemies or what?" She wouldn't look at Rinoa for fear as to how the girl would react to her questioning. Instead she continued her search in the closet, hoping that she was getting one step closer to a perfect outfit.
Surprisingly, Rinoa wasn't mad by the questions Quistis had asked her. She just sighed and tried to find an appropriate answer for her. Unfortunately, there wasn't one.
"I don't know." She sighed again and lay back in her bed. "Things have just been so weird. I don't know what's going on between us. He tells me he wants to be friends again like we were six years ago, but then he goes and kisses me and the I don't know what to think anymore." Rinoa answered, staring up at the white ceiling.
Quistis whipped around suddenly. "Whoa! Wait! He kissed you?" Quistis demanded. "Leonhart actually kissed you? When did this happen?"
Rinoa raised her head, blushing. "Yeah. He did."
"When did this happen? Details! Details! Come on!" Quistis exclaimed, suddenly finding this more exciting than her clothing search. She went over to Rinoa and jumped onto the bed next to Rinoa.
Rinoa laughed. "What's there to tell? And which kiss? He's kissed me on the cheek several times, but earlier today he kissed me before I left." She blushed and looked away.
"Kissed you as in kissed you, kissed you?" Quistis asked. She was acting like a little kid in a candy shop and being more juvenile than anything.
"Why am I telling you this, anyway? You're supposed to be searching for the perfect outfit to impress Seifer, not wondering about my whatever it is with Squall. That's not important anyway." Rinoa couldn't make eye contact with her and the blonde noticing that immediately.
"Oh, it's not, is it? Wee, I beg to differ. Tell me, are you guys friends or is there something more?" She asked, tauntingly. Rinoa glared at her but couldn't keep it up.
"It's not important, so don't worry about it. Go find you outfit." She pointed to the closet menacingly.
"Oh, I think it is. You just don't want to admit it. You like staying in denial, don't you?" The blonde laughed and slid off the bed and made her way back over to the closet where she began her search again. Rinoa lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to convince herself that she didn't like him and that the kiss had meant nothing. But she knew that was a lie. The kiss did have a meaning, and unfortunately for Rinoa, it was a meaning that scared her considerably.
"Wow! This is perfect!" Quistis exclaimed just out of thin air. Rinoa sat up quickly and saw that Quistis was holding up a midnight blue silk dress with thin straps that went to about the knees in the front but had a tail to the ankle. It was a simple yet beautiful dress, and Quistis had most definitely fallen in love with it. "Oh my gosh! Rinoa, can I borrow this one? Please, please, please!" She ran over to Rinoa holding up the dress.
"Yes, but please take good care of it. That was a present from someone special." Rinoa found herself smiling at Quistis' fascination with the dress. It was a great dress, no argument there.
"Oh, I will! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed, hugging Rinoa. "This is sooooo perfect!" She let her fingers roam lightly over the hem of the dress.
They stood in silence for a few minutes. Quistis was absorbed in her "million dollar find" and Rinoa was caught up in her thoughts. She just couldn't get him out of her mind. She was beginning to question her feelings for him and was afraid that she was in love with him, which she feared the most of all possibilities.
Quistis looked over at Rinoa, who now sat on the edge of the bed. The look on her face was distraught and it worried Quistis.
"Rinny?" She asked. Rinoa snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to her. "You okay/"
"I don't know." She whispered. "I feel like I'm being haunted by him. All my thoughts keep finding their way back to him, and it's confusing me. I don't know if I hate him, like him, or love him. My emotions are just everywhere and I can't decide which one I'm supposed to be listening to or following. Is this supposed to be happening, Quistis?" Rinoa asked her friend nervously.
"Well, it could be. Right after I met Seifer I began to have mixed feelings about him. It was just like every time I saw him or talked to him, I'd get this feeling like my head would explode. And then, sometimes if I said hi to him and for whatever reason he didn't here me, I'd get really offended. It took a while to get used to my emotions, but everything is back to normal…somewhat." Quistis smiled and rejoined her friend on the bed.
"Yeah, but I've known Squall for years. Why am I getting these emotions now? I've never felt this way before about him." She sighed. "I've always been just friends with him. Nothing more, nothing less."
"But you've hated him for the past few weeks." Quistis pointed out to her.
"Yes, but I had a good reason for that, so you can't use that." Rinoa frowned trying to keep her slate clean.
"But you still did. And Rinoa, you've heard the saying that 'best friends make the best couples' right? Have you ever considered that maybe?" Quistis asked her.
"Quis, I haven't seen him in six years and we were childhood friends. I thought of him as my friend. I promise!" Rinoa insisted.
"Yes, but now you're having these crazy feelings about him, aren't you?" Quistis asked. Rinoa sighed and nodded. "Rinoa! Have you considered that maybe you actually do like him?"
"I certainly hope not, but I don't think I'm going to be that lucky." Rinoa stood up off the bed and went to the door. "We should probably go down. Mom should have dinner ready soon."
"Rinoa, wait!" Quistis jumped up and hurried over to the other girl. "You do like him, don't know?" Rinoa neither said nor did anything to acknowledge that, so Quistis went on, assuming. "Well, remember what you said to me about Seifer? You told me to grab paradise while I can still see it. That was the best piece of advice that anyone has ever given me. Why don't you follow your own advice?"
"Because usually my own advice doesn't work for me. It's perfect for everyone else but me." Rinoa leaned against her door sadly.
"Now that can't be true! Every piece of advice works on everyone, whether or not it was their own. C'mon, Rinoa! Just try it! Just see what happens. Who knows? It could be the best thing you've ever done."
"Where have I heard that before?" Rinoa asked leaving the room. Quistis turned off the light, closed the door and followed her downstairs.
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When Quistis got home, she said goodnight to her parents and then headed upstairs to her room. She spent a few minutes admiring the beautiful dress that Rinoa had let her borrow. It was such a pretty dress, but she had work to do.
"Seifer? Hey, it's Quistis." She spoke into her cell phone quietly, not wanting her parents to hear her. "I have an idea and I need your help."
"Okay, then, what is it?" Seifer asked.
"Well…" She smiled mischievously.
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Squall stared up at the ceiling for a long time that night. He couldn't push Rinoa's image out of his mind. He was hearing her voice everywhere within his head. He could hear and picture her the first time he met her all those years ago, when he lost her and then found her again. He had spent many hours wondering what had happened to her when he was in Esthar. She had been something of his best friend, maybe even more and it nearly broke him when she left. He remembered clearly the first summer that she wasn't there. He was thirteen, almost fourteen and he and his mother were going back to Winhill to see his grandparents like they did every summer. He had been excited to see his grandparents, of course, but he was more excited about seeing Rinoa. Summer was the only time when he got to see her. But when he got to Winhill, she wasn't there. That turned out to be the worst summer ever, and he never went back.
He continued to lay in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling. He'd been awake now for hours, listening and thinking. What time was it now? He didn't know and didn't care. He was never going to fall asleep. It just wouldn't happen. Not only was he wide-awake, but he also had too much on his mind that couldn't be pushed away. So he would stay awake, lost by these thoughts until the sun rose or until he could be free from them.
Some time later, he heard a car pull into the driveway and the muffled sounds of voices. He wondered who could be out there at this time of night, but remained in bed. He didn't feel like getting up or doing anything but lay there. The front door slammed and three sets of footsteps traveled overhead. He tried to listen for the distinction of the voices but they moved to another room. If he wanted to be nosey and let his curiosity get the better of him, he could've crept out to the game room and gone to the vent and listened, but he decided against it. He preferred to stay right where he was.
As he drifted in and out of unconsciousness, footsteps were heard coming down the steps. His door opened and light suddenly flooded his pitch-black room.
"Ugh!" Squall moaned, rolling over and burying his head beneath his pillows.
"Hi, son." A deep voice said to him. "Just wanted to say hi. I'll let you get back to sleep now." The figure retreated and darkness filled his room again, making it easy on his eyes.
Squall sat up and stared at his door, listening. What was his dad doing here? He was supposed to be in Esthar running a country! It was too dangerous for him to be out here! Okay, so maybe it wasn't that dangerous but still. He was curious but didn't want to go upstairs. He might have just stopped in to drop something off or staying for the weekend. But that didn't make any sense either. What would he be dropping off? And why would he be staying for the weekend? That made no sense.
He shrugged and rolled back over, attempting to go back to sleep. The key word there was attempt. He was still out of it and still burdened by many thoughts. He needed to talk to someone, preferably Rinoa, but didn't want to scare her. He needed some answers. He needed her to explain things for him. He couldn't handle this confusion anymore.
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"I don't know if that'll work." Seifer sounded doubtful.
"Oh, come on! It'll work! It has to! They're in love with each other but they're both too stubborn to say anything to each other! So someone's got to give them a little push! They're a match made in heaven! We'd be doing everyone a huge favor!" Quistis tried to talk him into helping her little scheme.
"Since when have you become little Miss Matchmaker, Quistis? Dang!" Seifer couldn't help but laugh at her. She just sounded so funny, wanting to "help" Rinoa and Squall like that.
"Oh, please. I've always been little Miss Matchmaker. Why do you think there are so many couple, happy couples I might add, in our school? That would be the result of my work, thank you." She replied, sassily.
"Okay, okay, okay! Geez! Don't get offended! And what makes you think that Squall and Rinoa actually want to be together? You could just be picking up bad vibes."
"Bad vibes? Seifer! They are obsessed with each other! Of course they want to be together! I think I know what I am doing, Seifer! But I do need your help, considering he's your best friend. I mean, you know him better than anyone, right?"
"I suppose, but I really don't think it's going to work. They've been friends for so long, I just don't think it'all work."
"Ugh! I'm telling you it will, but to boost your enthusiasm how about we put a little wager on it. 50 bucks says they'll go out."
'I can't believe you! You're willing to place a bet on your best friend over a guy! I can't decided if that's low or just plain crazy. You can't be serious. Please tell me you're not serious!" He begged her.
"Oh, I'm serious. I want them together, and I know they want to be together. I can feel it. Come on, help me! Please, Seifer?" She was the one begging now. She had been sure that the money would draw him in.
"Okay, fine. But if it doesn't work, you owe me 50 bucks, got it?"
"Aye, aye Capt'n!" She exclaimed happily.
"Okay, so what's your plan for this beautiful disaster?" He sighed. Why on Earth did he agree to help her? Why, oh why?
"Oh, something I like to call accidental occurrence." She grinned and he could hear it, too.
"Oh, boy. Why am I scared?"
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Rinoa sat at her desk, working on her picture for art, but she wasn't putting her mind or heart into it. Her hands were working on their own while her thoughts drifted off to the dark corners of her mind. She felt so restless and confused. Everywhere she turned there was another door with another set of questions but no answers. She was all alone in an internal struggle with herself, fighting her past nightmares, haunting her. She began to fear all that was around her, seeing her face or the face of someone who had harmed her, and the nightmares would gather around her, pulling her into darkness. She wanted nothing more than for the past to leave her alone. She wanted nothing more than to believe that she had never been to Deling City, that she was born in Balamb and had been living there all her life. She wanted to believe that lie, make it a reality. She had fought so hard to free herself from her own demons and was failing at that.
Maybe what she need was to go over the whole story of her life once more. She was old enough to face it and mature enough to accept it. And maybe un-bottling the past will essentially keep it form haunting her until the end of her life. What all could it do?
It all happened in Deling City. That was the source of al her torment. And her biological father just happened to be the one who made her torment happen. It probably started the day she was born. General Caraway had wanted a boy. He already had an older son but had a thing against girls. He claimed that they were useless and did nothing. He was furious when the doctor announced that it was a girl, and he demanded that Julia put her up for adoption. Of course, Julia refused. So for the first few years of her life, General Caraway denied having a daughter. He kept her at the mansion when it came time for Rinoa to go to school. He hired the best home-schooling tutor available, on Julia's orders, and kept her at home. By the time she was nine, she was working ahead of the others her age. He kept her confined to the house, never allowing her to go out or anything.
Finally, her mother had enough of the abuse that he pushed upon her and Rinoa. She filed for divorce and left him, but the torment wasn't over for Rinoa. General Caraway began to take all his rage out on Rinoa whenever he saw her. He said that he hated her and that she was no child of his. When her mother moved her to Timber, the real problems started. She began to see her brother's friends and when she was sixteen, the worst happened ever. One of her brother's friends hurt her completely. And it was someone who had meant a whole lot to her. He was in Timber for the fall break, and he didn't recognize her. As a sick joke, he and another guy, named Sling, decided to find two girls and use them for a meaningless, low pleasure. They had been both very drunk, and Rinoa just happened to be one of those girls because her brother wasn't there to protect her. After it happened, everyone told her that Squall had done it.
She had been appalled when she was told and couldn't believe that had been what happened. She had trusted Squall. She had thought that he knew her better than that, but obviously, she had been wrong. Very wrong. And she was hurt so badly by him, by what he had done to her. She hated him after that. She had trusted him, and he betrayed her. He cut her in a thousand pieces, shredding their friendship along with it. That was why she hated him when he came to Balamb. She wanted to hate him forever, keep him far away to protect herself from anymore pain.
But what made her feel even worse was that he had no idea what he had done. He kept denying that he had done anything wrong, and it made her wonder if maybe he hadn't. Maybe it was all in her head, but she knew that couldn't be true. It had been too real, too hurtful to be imagined. Or so she thought, anyway.
And now she felt so strange. He had no idea of what he had done to her. He didn't know. He had used her and didn't even know, and for whatever reason, she believed him. He sounded sincere enough, and something inside her was telling her to trust him just like she used to. Something was telling her to give him another chance. He had been close to her before, had been her friend before and there was no reason why he still couldn't be. She was just afraid of being used again.
So what should she do? That was the issue in question at the moment. She needed an answer, and there was no one there to tell her what to do. No one to give her a clue as to which door to take, which one was the right one. There was no one there for her. She was on her own. She was all alone in a world of darkness.
And needed help.
A/N: Well, there you go. There's the "truth." You'll understand the quotations later. I know that sounds a little weird for Squall, but there's another surprise in store for you guys, so before you yell at me for Squall's bad, out of character behavior know that there's more to come. And I was a little skeptical about posting this one chapter because I went back and reread that part about Squall and Rinoa. I wasn't sure if it fit right, but I guess it does. Don't yell at me too much. I'm still sensitive. Later Days!
And by "low pleasure" that was meant by humiliation, not sex. They were drunk. Think about it for a second. Two drunk teenagers…horny teenagers. But it was emotional enough since he was her best friend, but anyway. This was one of the chapters I wasn't too thrilled with, so it still needs some kinks worked out on it. I'm leaving now. Goodnight!