Chapter 9: The Real Me

That night Namine walked down into the kitchen to see a cake.

"Mom! The frosting! There's cake under it!" Namine yelled through the house. Her mom walked in with a load of laundry.

"Yeah. I sent Skip home." She said setting down the basket.

"Oh. You know, I'm starting to get this whole "Skip" thing." Namine said as her mom started folding the laundry.

"Look, I know my…relationship stuff affects you. I made some mistakes. But, I would never plan to hurt somebody."

"I-I'm just…I just got so caught up in it. I guess, I was just invisible for so long. It felt good to be noticed." Namine said.

"Namine. You chose to be invisible. You thought it would be easier that way." Her mom said. Namine sighed.

"Well, they're noticing me now. I mean, none of this is me. And now, I don't even know who my real friends are!" Namine said.

"Maybe if you showed them the real Namine you'd find out." Her mom said. She just looked at her mom.

The next thing Namine knew, she was on her way to her "boyfriend's" party. She needed to set things straight. For good. At the party music was playing and everyone was having a good time.

"Happy Birthday, bro." Roxas said patting Riku on the back as he passed. Riku smiled and kept walking.

"Hey! Do you know where Sora is?" Kairi asked Tidus. She, Selphie, and Rikku had already arrived and couldn't to give Riku their present.

"Yeah. He's on the stage by the car!" Tidus yelled over the music as he pointed towards the stage. There was a big SUV and Sora was opening the back doors to reveal bunches of huge speakers. The three ran up to the stage.

"Ok, now everybody gather round! It's Riku Davis toast time!" Sora yelled into the microphone. "C'mon, Riku! Get up here!" Sora yelled. Just then, Namine walked in the back door. "Alright, check this out! A birthday comes once a year…" Sora started. Namine started walking through the crowded room trying to get to Riku. "…and the good Lord you'll be thanking." Sora said as a big cake was rolled onto the stage. Namine continued walking up and passed Roxas. She didn't look at him, but after she passed Roxas glanced up at her. He felt bad for the way he acted. He wished he could take back some of the words he said. "Now, old pal, let's cut this cake. And see who's giving you a spankin'!" Sora yelled as the crowd went wild. Two slutty looking girls in silver bikinis jumped out of the cake. Sora hated the words he had to say, but he didn't write them. The two girls walked over to Riku and he put his arms around them as everyone sang Happy Birthday.

"Sora! Hey, over here!" Kairi said. Sora walked over.

"Hey, baby. Whatcha got for me?" he asked.

"Oh, just a little something extra from the girls at Kodiak." Kairi said.

"Oh, cool. I'm gonna start it right now." he said.

"Ok, perfect!" Kairi said walking back to the other two.

"Whoo, that was hot! Now take a look at hotter!" Sora yelled as a screen came out from the top of the car. A video started playing on the screen.

"He's got mad skills! Boy can slam! Move on back 'cause Davis' our man!" the cheerleaders yelled on the screen. Then there was a medley of girls saying Happy Birthday.

"Namine!" Riku shouted jumping off the stage and walking to her. "You made it. Come on! Come wish me a Happy Birthday." he said pulling her up on stage and handing her a microphone.

"Riku, that's not why I'm here." Namine said quietly. All the people started clapping when they saw the two together. Kairi, Selphie, and Rikku all looked at each other. They had thought that Namine wouldn't show. On the TV was a clip of when Riku asked Namine if she would be his girlfriend. The crowd started cheering and "awww"-ing. Then what Namine saw on the screen terrified her. It was the clip she made real early in the game.

"Riku. There's only one guy out there for me. But you are not-" Namine quickly shut off the video. She came back out of the truck.

"What's going on?" Riku asked her.

"Riku, there's something I need to tell you. This entire time I've been pretending to be a bunch of stuff that I'm not so you would…fall for me." Namine said. Riku just looked at her.

"What? Louder!" Someone from the crowd yelled.

"We were trying to break your heart so you knew what it felt like." Namine said into the microphone.

"We?" Riku asked. Namine looked to Selphie, Rikku, and Kairi. A spotlight flashed to them.

"I get it. Well, hey! You girls pulled it off. Yeah. It worked." Riku said.

"I'm sorry." Namine whispered taking off the watch and holding it out to Riku. Riku took it and put it in his pocket.

"What's the deal? Are you guys breaking up?" someone yelled. Namine turned to the crowd.

"Look, this entire time I've been…I've been lying about who I am. But…I'm done pretending." Namine said. Roxas looked up at her. "This is the real me. This is Namine."

"Hey, Namine?" a guy yelled.

"Yeah?" Namine asked. The guy threw his drink at her. She gasped as the ice cold liquid hit her body. Riku and Roxas' eyes grew wide.

"You're ruining the party!" the guy yelled. People in the crowd started cheering again.

"That is so not fair!" Kairi yelled.

"Oh no!" Rikku said as the three ran on stage.

"This is all our fault! You do not deserve this!" Kairi said.

"We should have never done this to you!" Rikku said.

"Give me that." Kairi said taking the microphone from Namine. "OK. Hey! So big deal, she lied! We all lied!" Kairi yelled into it.

"What, like you've never lied before?" Rikku yelled into the mic.

"Exactly. You should be throwing drinks at each other!" Selphie yelled. Then three people threw their drinks at the girls. They all just gaped. Riku took the microphone.

"OK. Everybody chill! Look…they're right." He said. "Alright, we all do it. I lie. I pretend I'm whatever I need to to get girls." Riku said.

"And it works, dude!" the guy who threw his drink at Namine said.

"You're the man!" two guys yelled. The crowd started cheering again.

"No! No, I'm not saying it's a good thing." Riku said.

"It's a great thing!" one guy yelled.

"Guys…what I'm trying to say is…it's wrong."

"There ain't nothing wrong with hooking up with the finest girls in school!" someone yelled making the entire place erupt with cheering.

"Davis! Davis! Davis! Davis!" the place started screaming. He looked at Namine and just shrugged. She grabbed a bunch of cake and hurled it at his head. It hit him perfectly. Everyone there started throwing food as the five on stage started covering each other in cake.