A/N: I am SOOOO sorry for the late update!!! I didn't expect school to overrun ALL of my free time, much less my imagination. Then after I FINALLY got my grades up… all of my friends show up. At once. It's a nightmare if you ask me.

So once again, I apologize, and after the long wait, Chapter 1!!!

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Morning came too quickly on the first day of school. No big surprise there, but what made it worse was that it was senior year. The year that everyone would have to start moving on with their lives and go to collage or get a job.

Normally, that wasn't a big deal, either. The big deal was, I was eighteen and still as pure as the day I was born. Not so much as a peck from a girl, let alone dating one. Though, I guess part of the problem with that is that I've never really found girls… attractive. Throughout all of junior and high school, no girl has ever caught my eye. I had friends who were girls, but never an actual girl.

Another reason to hate senior year was that I got to be in the 800 lockers. Another thing normal people would be okay with. Only, it was down this hall that a kid was bullied to death, and left to rot in locker 825. To this day he wanders that hall as a beautiful, but horrifying fallen angel.

Granted, I have never actually seen him, but I've heard students who would never joke or lie come screaming out of that hall. Yup. He only shows himself to the vulnerable, scaring them away from the dead dangers.

Once again, I wouldn't worry… If I wasn't one of the skinniest, most picked on boys in school. I was usually called a girl; like I can actually help looking like my mom!

So now I stand spiky hair in all its glory with school bag in hand.

"Sora, what have you gotten yourself into, growing up so fast!?" I asked myself as I walked out of my bedroom and down the stairs. Careful not to wake my parents, I shut the front door and headed down the street. It wasn't that I didn't have a car or a license; I just liked to walk when I had extra time.

I passed by Cid's shop and stepped in to get my regular drink

"Jeez, Sora! Seventeen? Now yer makin me feel old! I remember when you walking in here when you were only a youngen…"

"Thanks, Cid. Now I'll definitely have a great day…"

"Sorry, kiddo. Out of habit. You're not the only one, Cloud had been coming here since he was young, too, and he was nearly ten years older then ya, bless the boy…" Hearing my brother's name was another stinger in my heart. He had been the only one brave enough to confront the ghost of locker 825. When I was younger, he would come home and tell me about that day's adventure. The ghost would show him all the secret spots of the school and how to bypass the attendance system, or so he would say.

Few months after graduation, he disappeared completely off the face of the planet. Nobody knows where he went or how he got lost in the first place. I was about seven when it happened, though, so I don't know all the details. I remember shouting, though…

"You better watch yourself, or the ghost might catch you!"

"Old man, don't tell me YOU believe in ghosts, too?"

"Can't say. I've never seen one, so that's not even a yea or no question."

I set the five dollar bill on the counter and headed out the door. Him bringing up my brother wasn't of my best interest at the moment.

I continued down to the high school, vaguely wondering if I should stop by Kairi's… Nah. Her boyfriend would be there, and wherever he was, I wasn't. He was the main reason why I was called a girl in school all the time, and my once best friend always backed him up. The only one who really cared about me anymore was my cousin, Roxas. Speaking of which…

"Hey, Sora!" I heard as I walked onto school grounds. He was waiting for me by te front gate, box in hand. I stared at it before grinning.

"Didn't I tell you my birthday wasn't for another three days?" I told him, wondering is he had forgotten. It wouldn't be the first time…

"No, I know, I'm just going out of town on Thursday."

"On the first week of school? Roxas, how will that look on your permanent record!!" I joked. He punched my arm lightly and we headed towards the cafeteria.

Roxas is going on this trip for his mothers' amusement. She wants him to start looking at a collage- preferably off the islands- that he can start studying law right out of high school with. Her dream has always been to have a son who upheld justice, and as long as he didn't have to become mayor, or even worse president, Roxas was okay with that.

He walked over to the venders and bought two sea salt ice creams from the freeze box. I took one and sat on the usual bench, laying my head on the large table.

"You still haven't been able to find a date, have you?" I shook the spikes on my head and heard a sigh. Here we go again…

"You know, maybe your just not looking hard enough. Have you even tried asking any of the girls out? Look at me and Axel. I started dating him for the same reason I'm going on this trip, now I don't ever want to lose him!"

"Axel is a guy, Rox" I muffled out.

"So what?"

"There is a big difference."

"How so?"

"How would you feel if I said Axel was a girl?"

"Touché…"

I looked up at the clock. Five minutes until class. I sighed and slowly got up, deciding now would be the best time to face my fears… no matter how much I didn't want to…

…What? Is it really that bad to want to bypass a ghost that for all you know could be your great great uncle Thelma who USED to be your great great aunt!? I don't think so!!!

"I'll see you later. I have to go and face uncle Thelma…"

"Umm… ok…" Roxas gave me a you-have-gone-cucu look before walking towards the counseling center. I forced my joints to take my legs in the opposite direction, fighting the urge to grab onto the wall and scream 'DON'T MAKE ME GO IN THERE!'.

I finally came to a halt in the middle of the hallway looking and failing to fin any living beings that could communicate. I gulped and walked over to my locker, 830, as slowly as I possibly could. Only five lockers down was the forbidden one.

I pulled out my combination with shaking hands, and undid the lock as quickly as I could without making the whole row shake.

"31…24…1-"

"Who is there?"

I screamed and dropped all my books. My bag landed about ten feet away from me, and I was certain I was sitting in the fetal position trying my hardest to breathe. I heard chuckling from behind me soon after.

"W-wh-whose t-there?" I asked, looking around before my eyes fell on aquamarine ones.

"Looks like I scared you a little too much." He said, picking up my bag and books before holding out his hand to me.

"I'm Riku."

"S-sora." I said, finally coming to my senses. I took his warm hand and he pulled me up to my feet. Wait… warm? In a freezing building?

"So, where are you from? I haven't seen you around this school…" I asked him on the way to first. He didn't seem the least bit surprised by the outburst I had mere seconds ago.

"I'm from… the northern island. I transferred to this school after a friend of mine told me about it." there was something in his voice that seemed a bit suspicious, but I brushed it off, considering he was an odd guy in the first place. I walked into English, many things on my mind as I bit my tongue. I wanted to know more for no real reason at all.

He sat right behind me in class, which was a little unnerving. He had that sense of mystery that made you want to jump out of your seat and scream bloody murder. It's not that I didn't like having him as a friend, just the feel…

All throughout the next few hours Riku followed me into my classes like a walking zombie puppy.

Lunch wasn't all that great either, though.

"Hey Sora!" Roxas called from behind me. I turned to face him, Riku still where he was all morning long. We walked over to the usual table where Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Axel were already sitting.

I took a seat and Riku sat beside me. Nobody spoke to him, or even looked at him when he sat…

"Hey Sora! How does it feel to finally be an adult? Your mom still treating you like a five-year-old?" Hayner said from across the table. I grinned and shook my head.

"Not really. She figures if she treats me like an adult I'll drive her to the places she needs to go."

"Naturally. Aunt Saki was never the best when it came to moving vehicles." I shook my head and loked to the right of me. Riku had his head on the table, meaning he was either sulking or sleeping. I poked him before turning to my friends.

"Guys, you do know who he is, right?"

"Who?" Pence asked, looking at me like a nutcase out of a loony bin. I tilted my head in confusion before Riku put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's not worth it. They don't really care much about the surrounding out of their lives." I was extremely confused at those words. Riku was a living, breathing human being wasn't he? He should get the same type of respect everyone ge-

And there it is. Saved by the bell.

"I'll see ya after school, Sora." Roxas called before heading upstairs to fifth. I nodded before walking the opposite direction towards the gym.

Gym was never my favorite subject. I went into the locker room, praising the heavens here was curtains to keep other people from seeing me change. I changed and went towards the door before a hand grabbed me.

Riku was pulling me towards one of the locker stalls that I was sure my own before pointing me to a locker that I was assuming was his.

"You really aren't good with hand eye coordination, are you?" I just stared at the words coming out of his mouth before shaking my head. It was true; I had been hit more then once in the face when I was younger.

He pulled out a clear device that I was guessing to be a mouth piece. I eyed it warily with a disgusted look. He sighed.

"I haven't worn it; it's brand new. I sure won't need it, so why don't you take it?"

"Thanks" I told him before popping it in my mouth. It felt weird to say the least, and he started to chuckle. I tried my hardest not to pout, failing in the end.

"Ish lock stuuped!"

"You look fine. Just promise me not to talk with that in your mouth."

"ou rye."

"Good. Now we'd better go before we're late."

I walked out into the gym and watched our coach putting us in our designated spots. It was times like these I was glad my last name was in the S'.

"Sora Sakai?" She called. I went to sit at the spot she pointed at and watched the rest of my classmates be put into rows. I felt really bad for the people who came after me for some unknown reason.

I never did hear Riku's name get called, but I just thought it might be another one of those where I wasn't paying attention at the time. I was watching the ceiling during the X's… which only had one person in. who, I don't know. But when there is a bird hovering your head, you tend to pay attention to that instead.

"Today we re going to be playing lightening… my way" Coach Larxene said. I inwardly groaned. It usually meant that she was going to be the only one throwing the balls while we tried not to get hit, or in this case, shocked. I was more then happy to hav that mouth guard now.

We all had to line up against the wall while the coach went over to the other side of the court. My palms were practically glued to my face.

"Sora, don't tell me your afraid of a little ball?" Riku said, pointing towards Larxene in a fashionable way. I nodded vigorously.

"Sora, all you have to worry about is the ball hitting you dead on. But that won't happen today."

"How do you know I won't get hit? Are you planning on being my personal blocker!?: I asked him. Riku had to be going nuts even to think like that!

"You got it." The world has ended.

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this shall be Chapter 1… I was hoping to get this on earlier, but my aunt took the internet away from me, so I had no choice but to update at my other aunt's house. I hope you all forgive me!!!