Chapter 7: Characterization

Part II: Don't judge me before you know me

I decided to catch the bus over to Garnet's place. Her house was a nice size. A modern two story house with a basement. Of course, the outside was just a cover for what was inside. Inside, it was like walking into some medieval, fairytale castle or something. Knight's crests hung on the walls, javelins and other old time weaponry decorated the main room, and the main color scheme was royal blue.. I couldn't help but feel that I got the better deal. Everyone else was too busy watching our Blitzball team lose while I got to step through a time machine.

Garnet descended the stairs, dressed casually in modern day jeans and a tee. Now if her clothing wasn't an anachronism for the rest of the place I must not have been as well educated as I originally thought.

"Hello," she greeted. I smiled.

"Hi. Uh… nice place." Garnet actually blushed from my compliment and smiled uncertainly.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Uh… I didn't get to eat lunch so… I'm kinda hungry…"

"Right. Follow me to the kitchen." She glided gracefully and easily through the living room and led us to the kitchen. She opted to warm up some left over pizza and poured two glasses of soda. I watched in awe. I didn't know Garnet ate that kind of stuff. Given, what teenager wouldn't pig out on junk foods? She was always so proper. I bet she ate the pizza with a fork and knife. After the food was warmed up and sizzling hot, she offered me some cheesy breadsticks with sauce. Yuum. I then followed her to her room.

Wow. Her room was niiiiiiiiiiice. She had a wide screen, HD, plasma TV that came with surround sound and a built in DVD/ CD Rom player. There was large glass case next to the TV and inside were countless CD's. The CD's looked like books at first, but the books were on a book case near her canopy bed and there weren't nearly as many books as CD's. So Garnet was a music junky? I walked around, sitting my food on a nearby table that stood in the middle of the room, in favor of studying her large closet that had a million different clothes in it along with shoes. Posters of fantasy creatures or famous celebrities decorated her baby blue walls and I saw that she had a couple of Zidane posters. He was a famous movie star. On her desk where her laptop sat, was a framed autographed photo of her and Zidane. I picked it up and studied it. Garnet had a blush on her cheeks and goofy smile as Zidane wrapped a muscular arm around her, giving the peace sign to the camera. Behind them was what looked like the set of his latest movie called, Pirates. Hmm.

"Do you know Zidane Tribal?" I asked, sitting the picture back on her desk. Garnet had bit off a large piece of pizza and put a finger up as she hurried to swallow. Guess she wasn't as proper as I originally thought.

"Yes!" She said finally, "I have known him since before he was famous." My mouth dropped at her sudden confession.

"Seriously?? How so?" Blushing a little in her modesty, Garnet dismissed the question with a wave of the hand.

"It is not that big of a deal really. I mean, the story is not too important." I sat down beside her and proceeded to shake her by the shoulders.

"Telllll meeeeeeeee!" After I stopped shaking her, Garnet sighed and giving in said, "Well… We both are originally from Alexandria. We were neighbors and our parents used to work together. After my mother got transferred here, Zidane's father passed away and then he was adopted by his godfather, the famous movie director Baku. After that, he became a star, but we always kept in touch." I saw that a distant look had come into Garnet's eyes and grinned.

"You like him huh?" Her face reddened.

"Uh… What? What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Just how close are you two anyway?"

"You are getting a little personal. I mean…"

"So you do like him? How come you two haven't hit it off yet?" Garnet began poking her pointer fingers together.

"… He is… famous… I mean… how do you even know that he feels the same way?"

"Well, have you told him how you feel yet?" She shook her head.

"Anyway, you came over here to help me finish our project. Now come on, the computer is over here." She grabbed her food and sat down at her desk. Sighing, I went and got my own plate and then joined her.

The next few hours, wecompleted our project and were just surfing the net. We went to an online dating service and chatted with this really perverted old thirty-six year old. When we told him were two underage high school girls playing a prank, he cussed us out and threatened to find out where we lived. We laughed for a long time about that one because we didn't give him our address, plus he was millions of miles away. After that we listened to some music and started dancing around like retards trying our best to sing like the originals; we used the bed as our stage and her cordless phone as a mike. Personally, I think our singing wasn't even fit enough for a karaoke bar. Then, after we completely tired ourselves out, we pigged out on chips and I played with her cell phone. As I lay lazily on her bed, I scrolled through the address book and found Zidane's number. Without thinking, I called it.

"Hello?" A young man's voice said after a couple of rings. My heart started racing.

"Uh…uh…uh… is…is this… Zidane Tribal?" Garnet gave me a shocked look and the voice answered, "Yes. Who's this?" I sat up and looked at Garnet for help. She started laughing.

"Uh… this is Kairi Trepe. I'm a friend of Garnet's," I answered. Garnet's mouth dropped and she threw a potato chip at my head.

"Really? I was wondering how you got this number. It's a private line," he said.

"Oh really? Sorry…. I was just playing with Garnet's phone and found it. So, you must really like Garnet to give her access to your private line…" Garnet's face heated up once more and she got up from her beanbag chair threateningly.

"Get off the phone right now!" She mouthed. I turned my head and ignored her.

"Uh… we go way back," he stated. I heard rushing water and asked, "Working on another movie? Did I call at a bad time?"

"Actually, I'm cleaning out my pool. I don't start shooting the movie for another week or so. Listen, is Garnet there? I want to talk with her." Turning back to my friend, I grinned, "Yea, she's here, pigging out on chips." Garnet tackled me and started pinching me.

"Ow! Ow! Quit it Garnet!!"

"Hello?"

"Why did you tell him that!!?"

"So you like to eat, so what? He wants to talk to you! Here! Here!" Garnet snatched the phone and clearing her voice said, "H… Hey Zidane." I watched her and laughed.

"Put it on speaker!" I mouthed. Garnet obliged and put the phone on speaker.

"Hey, I haven't talked with you in a while Garnet. I'm kinda glad you leave your phone where random people can get a hold of it. Otherwise we wouldn't be talking right now." Garnet giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I am a responsible person. Kairi is just a little meddlesome," Garnet stated. I slapped her arm and she cried out.

"Hello? What was that?"

"I am in an abusive friendship! That is what that was!" She kicked me and I fell off the bed with a big fwomp! We busted out laughing and Zidane was silent on the other end.

"Anyway, sorry Zidane. Are you still there?"

"Yea. So, uh… I want to talk to you about somethin'…," the actor said hesitantly. Garnet didn't miss the drop in his pitch. She stared hard at the phone.

"What is it?" There was silence on the other end, it didn't last long but it seemed like forever.

"I wanted to tell you before it got out in the tabloids and entertainment shows… Uh… Wow. This is a lot harder then I thought it was gonna be… Garnet. I… I… I've got cancer. Leukemia, like my dad had." My mouth dropped and I looked at Garnet. Her eyes filled with tears and she grabbed the phone and put it to her ear.

"Oh my God! How long have you known?"

"A few weeks now."

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better. Um… they've started treatment. Right now, they're looking for matching marrow. I'm gonna get a transfusion…"

"When is the surgery?"

"As soon as they find a match… Garnet. I… don't want to die."

"…You will not. You cannot."

"Heh. You don't know that… oh God…"

"Zidane. It is going to be okay. I am here." More silence.

"Zidane?"

"… I want to see you. When's the soonest you can get to Daguerreo?"

"Uh… I do not know. I will have to see…"

"Well, let me know soon alright? You never know after all. Anyway, I gotta go now. Bye."

"…Bye. I will talk to you later."

"Hopefully." With that said, he hung up and Garnet did so as well. She looked at me and I looked at my hands, wanting to avoid her gaze. I was so embarrassed. I only called as a prank. I didn't think he'd pick up. Was she mad at me?

"I cannot believe it," she whispered, "Zidane… The last time I saw him he was okay. He was happy and over zealous because of his new movie… I should have known something was wrong when he had not talked to me in a while. Oh man… To think… he would have died and I would not have known anything about it… He can be so selfish!! What was he thinking not telling me until now?? I bet it has been so hard for him,"

"So… you're gonna go?" Garnet looked at me and nodded with determination.

"Yes. I have to. He needs me…"

"Man. This is so unfair. But, you need to tell him how you feel. What if he…" Garnet looked at her ceiling as though finding it more interesting than the conversation at hand.

"…Do you need a ride home? I've got my mother's other car. I can drive you."

"Yea… okay

"Alright. Come on." She rolled off her bed and left the room. I followed after her.

The ride home was smooth and quiet. She played the radio but only slow songs were playing. The music did nothing to improve our moods. My father and Namine were home when we pulled into the driveway. Feeling like I should say something before I left, I turned to Garnet and said, "I'm glad we finished our project. This has probably been the most work I've done since school started. Thanks to your pushing me, I actually did something constructive. Thanks."

"Kairi, you have to have the will to want to do something in order to accomplish anything. So, thank yourself. But I am grateful that you came over. If not, I probably would have found out about Zidane on the TV or in some crap magazine."

"I hope he gets better."

"Me too."

"I had fun. Let's hang out again sometime, okay?"

"Yea. Most definitely. Good-bye Kairi."

"Bye." I got out the car and waved bye to her as she pulled out the driveway and drove away. Then I went into the house.

Rikku was home along with Namine, Sora, Riku, and the rest of the Blitzball Team who were all in the kitchen making a mess. Well, it looked like a mess, but in fact, it was a party. They saw me and cornered me.

"Oh my gosh! Kairi you missed it! Our blitz team won by a landslide!! It was amazing!! I've never seen blitzball playing that good since… never!!" Rikku exclaimed. Sora ruffled my hair and handed me a Suicide (a concoction of mixed beverages).

"Yea! Damn, man, we were totally in the zone!! We kicked their asses!! Now you gotta eat your own words Kairi!" He cried. I pushed him away.

"You guys just got lucky! Let's see how you do in the tournaments."

"We'll be bringing home that fine ass trophy that's how we'll do and then they are gonna hafta bow down cuz we will become the kings of everyone of those bitches!!!!!!! Whooooooooo!! Bow down bitches!!!" Wakka exclaimed. Everyone went crazy and started doing the game cheer. I rolled my eyes.

"Yea. Right. Lick your own shoes. I've got better things to do with my time." No one heard me because everyone had started doing all kinds of stuff, such as going over the highlights of the game. I didn't care to listen; instead I went to my room where I proceeded to take off my clothes to change into my pajamas. I was unbuttoning my shirt when I heard something. Turning around, I saw Demyx on my bed. He was watching me intently and I quickly buttoned my top back up, blushing furiously.

"Geez Demyx! What the hell are you doing in my room? And then just sitting there watching me strip to my underwear…" He smiled.

"Oh come on babe. It's not that big a deal. I'm sorry though. I only came up here because I missed you at school and at the game. Where'd you go anyway?" I shrugged.

"I went to Garnet's place so we could finish our project for first hour."

"Really? How was it?"

"Huh? Uh. It was pretty fun. Garnet's a cool girl. And guess what! She knows Zidane Tribal! His private number is in her cell phone! Can you believe it??" I couldn't contain myself and jumped on Demyx in my excitement. He laughed and said, "No. I can't. How exactly did she come to know someone as famous as he?"

"Well, they grew up together. I got to talk to him and everything!!" I strayed from the subject of his cancer since no one knew yet but Garnet and I. That was special and I was sure he wasn't ready for people knowing just yet as sad as it was. I felt Demyx's hand on the small of my back and I was brought out of my reveries. I looked at him and he looked back at me. There was something weird about his look. I tried to play it off and started a new conversation.

"And anyway, as for school, after you and Seifer left, we went to Olette's house but no one was home and then we decided to go shopping to get her something to make her feel better. We couldn't find anything of course so we went back to school for the last couple of hours."

"Mm hm…" His hand began to snake its way up my shirt. A tingling sensation crawl up my spine. I got up off of him and went to my vanity in an attempt to keep space between us.

"So, I heard that the game was a big success. Did you get to play?" I didn't care much for the game, but as a member of the team I knew that it was something that Demyx cared strongly about. By bringing it up, I was hoping that he'd focus on the discussion and not the fact that we were in my bedroom. All alone. That thought was bothering me a little. But I had more self control then Demyx had. My boyfriend got up from the bed and came up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and started kissing my neck.

"Uh… Demyx…," I mumbled. I turned and looked at him. Looking into his eyes at that point was like looking into some void. They were so blank like he was in some kind of trance. He didn't even hear my voice, but he just took me into his arms and kissed me gently. My heart thumped painfully in my chest. Slowly, his hands worked their ways up my shirt and then traveled along my thighs. I inhaled a sharp breath, which he took as permission to continue. Forcefully, he pushed me onto the bed and spread my legs. He Frenched me as his hands maneuvered around the contours of my body.

"D…Demyx… my father's home… he's… right down the hall…" The words were hard to come to my mind and even harder to say because I was so distracted by all the things he was doing to me.

"Hmm…then we better not make a lot of noise," he said. He ripped my shirt open and I gasped.

"B…but Demyx… I'm… I'm not ready…." His hand went down my pants. I jumped and let out a whine. He smiled.

"Seems like you're ready to me," he murmured.

"No… st…stop…" He popped my bra off and he threw his own shirt to the ground in less than a second. My brain was fuzzy as he sucked one of my nipples like a hungry baby while he massaged the other between his thumb and index finger. I was entranced. His body was warm against mine. His mouth worked its way to my navel and his hands traveled downwards as well. He was proceeding to strip off my pants when the door opened and I heard, "Oh!" Demyx turned around and cussed under his breath. He got off me and I sat up to see Sora standing in the doorway. I blushed and snatched up some of my covers to cover my exposed torso. Sora just stared at us and a long, tense noiselessness ensued.

"Geez Sora. Don't you know how to knock?" Demyx questioned. I heard the bitterness in his voice and looked at Sora to see how he'd react. I could tell he was pissed despite his calm expression. Grinning, he said, "Right. Sorry about that man. I'll just let you guys get back to doing whatever it is you were doing…" He looked at me and I felt my stomach flop.

"Don't forget to use protection kiddies!" Demyx laughed.

"Yea man. Whatever." Sora lingered a moment or two longer before slowly closing the door behind him. After I recomposed myself, I looked at Demyx and said, "Uh… maybe… maybe you should go…"

"What the hell are you talking about Kairi? Don't be embarrassed or anything. It's just Sora… oh. Don't tell me that you still…"

"Demyx. We've only been dating a few days, alright? You can't just erase four years of affection that fast!"

"Tell me about it! I've been liking you since middle school! Man… damn! I don't get it Kairi! He goes out with Namine! He'll probably never care about you the same way and yet you still like him! What the hell!?" I frowned.

"Oh you're just upset because I won't sleep with you. Well, why don't you go find one of those little bimbos who worship you? I'm sure they'll gladly put out. Since sex is all you seem to want I'm guessing it doesn't matter who the hell you get it from!" I didn't mean to piss him off. I just wanted to prove my point, but I guess I had angered him because he took me by the wrists and pushed me down under him. He kept my arms above my head and angrily glared down at me.

"Dammit Kairi! I don't just want sex! I told you before that I'm not that kind of guy! You're too busy chasin' after Sora that you can't see it but I've got such strong feelings for you that I don't know how else to express them! I wouldn't do this with any other girl Kairi. You're the only one I want…" I stared at his eyes and saw that he was truly sincere. My heart started beating really fast and I looked away.

"…Maybe… Maybe I'm not the one for you Demyx…," I whispered. I heard him laugh softly.

"I disagree… You can't tell me you weren't feelin' it before Sora walked in…" I felt myself blush. Demyx lowered his face down next to mine and he whispered, "I'll wait as long as I need to… and then…" He parted my legs with his own and started to move his hips. The pleasurable sensation he caused was enough to make me groan and he kissed me more passionately than before. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his lower body started moving more rapidly.

"Oh Demyx…Demyx…" My breathy reply to his actions just made him stop his tantalizing attack on my body and he pulled away from me.

"One day… One day I'll have you to myself Kairi… One day…" My breathing had picked up and I looked back at him hungrily. He got up, put on his shirt and looking at me one final time, opened the door and exited my room. I lay there unmoving. Many thoughts entered my mind. But of all them, my memory of Sora walking in on me and Demyx was the one I focused on the most. I felt so shitty.

I didn't go back down stairs. The party ended early since it was a school night and the next game was tomorrow. The team wanted to be well rested and ready. I sat in my room. I had changed into my pajamas but I couldn't get rid of the feeling of Demyx's naked flesh against my own. Given, it was just the top of his body but still… He was well toned and… Anyway, I couldn't understand how he made me act that way when Sora was the one who I loved. I kept asking myself questions. Did I just keep Demyx around because I knew he worshipped me? Or because I knew that he wanted me, and I secretly wanted him back? Was I turned on because I knew I was only using him as a temporary substitute until Sora and I could be together? Or did I actually want Demyx? Was it lust or love? How could someone tell the difference? I fell asleep with such thoughts circling around my mind.