A/N: Welcome to the third chapter and hope you're enjoying the story so far! It's certainly a lot of fun to write! :D A few more characters are introduced this time, and BHK makes a return! ;D Enjoy! And thank you to everyone who has given reviews so far, both encouragement and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and gives me the motivation to continue writing!
"Naminé, get over here and tell us all about this guy!"
"I'm kind of in the middle of work, Selphie."
"No excuses Nam! Come on, sit!"
There was just no getting through to Selphie. It was the Saturday after mine and Olette's first shift, and only our second day of working here, and all would have been fine if I hadn't opened my big mouth and told Kairi about the train guy.
I took a tray over to the bench and Aerith looked over at us. "You and Olette can grab a quick bite with your friends, we're not busy right now."
Curse Aerith for being so kind. Now I had to tell Selphie. Olette and I grabbed a small sample of mudcake and headed over to Kairi and Selphie, who had made it a habit to sit on the comfy couch by the window.
Kairi had her head resting on her hands, a wide smirk across her face. "Come on Nam, tell us everything!"
I rolled my eyes as I sat down. "There's nothing to even tell! So I said hi to this guy on the train…"
"You, Naminé, do not just 'say hi' to guys on trains." Selphie waggled a finger in front of me as-a-matter-of-factly. "You stay away from any guy who isn't a boyfriend of one of your friends."
"Hey!"
"And you certainly don't talk to strangers, let alone cute guys on trains!"
"How do you even know he was-"
"Was he cute?" She interjected before I could speak.
I hung my head and took a bite of my cake. "Yeah…"
"Was he super cute?" Kairi added in, and I just screwed my face in embarrassment and earnt a laugh from the girls.
"Seriously, how did you say hello?" Olette asked, showing a genuine interest in how someone equally as quiet as her could end up talking to a guy.
"Well… I complimented his shirt."
"You did what now!?" Selphie almost stood up in her seat. "Our sweet innocent Naminé is hitting on guys now!"
"You guys…" I sunk even lower in my seat. "I just got excited because he was wearing merchandise for something I liked, so I thought I'd say something… took me about five station stops to finally speak up though. But he got off before I did and he would have no idea who I am."
"Wait, he got off before you… you go to the other campus on Wednesdays, don't you?" Kairi questioned, and I nodded.
"He got off at our station, which means he must go to our uni! But honestly, I doubt I'll ever see him again."
"Never say never, Nam, love often turns up when you least expect it," Kairi winked, earning another eye roll from me. "And when you start going out with this guy, we can double date!"
"Honestly, Kairi…"
"How romantic would that be! Though don't do that thing where you get married the place you met, 'cause getting married on a train is not romantic." Selphie grimaced, and we all giggled.
"I can't believe I missed seeing this guy," Olette said with her brow furrowed. "I'll suss him out for you." Kairi and Selphie nodded vigorously, with Selphie adding a 'give us all the details!', and I just ignored them and ate my cake.
Olette and I soon got back to work, though full of mudcake I had to walk a bit slower. Working at a café may not be good for my waist.
"Hey, Naminé?" Yuffie grabbed my attention as I was taking a tray to a customer. She held up her hand in a thumbs up position and said "You go for it girl!"
Oh, boy. Looks like Yuffie was going to be just as bad as Selphie when it came to my non-existent love life.
…
Although I didn't get my hopes up about seeing blonde haired kid at uni, (we were in week five of uni and I hadn't seen him once before), I was hopeful I would see him at the station again. However, fate had decided to throw an obstacle my way.
"They're doing construction at the station, did you want me to give you a lift to the next one?" Kairi asked me over the phone, and I was relieved she couldn't see the disappointed look on my face.
The next Wednesday Kairi picked me up and we drove to the next nearest station to catch the train, which seemed a bit of a waste, but Kairi insisted it was still cheaper. I looked around just in case I might spot him, but I didn't.
I can't say I was that saddened, because I didn't even know the guy. He could be a creep for all I knew! I decided to not worry about him. The next week was semester break, so even if I was going to see him again it wouldn't be for another two weeks. And as if things like this happen in real life anyway. People only ever meet like that in movies or in Selphie's head.
…
"I'm so glad you could make it!"
Aqua was dressed in a beautiful black and white cocktail dress, her short azure hair framing her smiling face. She welcomed us all in.
It was Aqua's 18th birthday, and she was having the celebrations at her house. I'd never been to her house before since she lived further away from most of us, but boy did her parents make bank! Their house was situated among a hilly landscape, and the view from their living room was magnificent, especially at night, when all the lights from the houses at the bottom of the hill were on. A girl could get used to this kind of living.
The girls and I (and Sora – the poor guy was always lugged around with us girls) stepped onto their patio and said hello to the others. There were a few people we didn't know, but we spotted Terra and Ven already getting into the snacks.
"Hey, save some for me!" Sora raced towards them, which left Kairi with her hands on her hips.
"If our kids inherit his stomach, lord help me," she sighed, following suit.
"Hey, long time no see!" Ven called out to us, and we rushed over to him. Although Ven also went to Radiant Academy, we didn't see him nearly as much as the rest of the guys.
"That's because your timetable is so awful!" I pointed out as if to scold him, and he just rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled.
"I know, sorry… but it suits me great! No breaks and I get to go home early!" He stuck his tongue out, to which I belted him gently over the side of the head.
Olette and Selphie had found some seats and started to chat, so I headed on over to see Terra, who looked much more lively than he ever was at uni, dressed in a light checkered shirt and shorts. Aqua was with him, and they looked really happy. I hoped to have something like that one day.
"Hey you two, how's the happy reunion?" I giggled, and the two of them smiled.
"It feels like it, doesn't it? Uni takes up so much time," Aqua gave a sad little smile, but she turned to Terra and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "Though I can't handle too much of him or he starts to get distracting!"
"You couldn't handle any more of this," He teased, and she poked at him playfully. I wished they could have gone to the same uni, but if they were still happy, it didn't make too much of a difference.
Riku arrived shortly afterwards and most of the guests had arrived. He had decided to bring a surprise for the birthday girl.
"Glowsticks!" He announced, holding up a big box, and everyone rushed to grab some. Aqua just laughed as Selphie and Kairi put a glowstick necklace around her neck. By the time I reached the box there were only blue ones left. I really wasn't fond of the blue ones because they weren't very bright, but they'd have to do. I put one around my wrist.
I headed inside where Aqua's parents were getting more food ready. I swear this family was the sweetest you can ever meet. They offered me a drink and I politely declined, moving towards the giant photo board they had up.
Looking at all these photos, a hit of nostalgia waved over me. Among the baby and childhood photos of our beloved Aqua was a myriad of high school photos. Most of them were photos of Aqua and Terra together. There was one of them at the year 10 formal. I smiled fondly at that one because it was the day after that Terra asked her to be his girlfriend. There were photos of them kissing, smiling and playing around, but in every single one they looked happy. It made me happy to see a high school romance end so well. I was definitely imagining all of us at their wedding. Ven would be the best man, and one of the guys would probably give a drunken speech. Aqua would look so beautiful.
I spotted some photos of me too, as well as Kairi, Sora, Olette, Selphie, Ven and even some of Riku before he graduated. I was so lucky to be part of such a close group of friends. Oh goodness an embarrassing photo of me. Maybe nobody would notice if I took it off…
My sneaky photo-stealing mission was aborted after Selphie called me over excitedly. I noticed Olette next to her looking rather embarrassed.
"Naminé, I just found out Olette has had a boyfriend! Isn't that super cute!?" She shrieked.
"What?" I asked, knowing all throughout high school Olette, like me, had never had a boyfriend.
"I haven't!" She shook her head and waved her hands furiously. "A childhood friend of mine had a crush on me is all!"
"He said he thought you were cute!"
"We were ten!"
"Still counts!"
I shook my head. "Selphie, I don't think that really counts, but nice try."
She giggled like she was in high school again, and Olette just looked away, trying to hide the blush.
"Pence and Olette, it sounds cute!"
"Selphie! It's not like that! We're just good friends," she pouted, and I could see she was being serious. I'd actually heard about Pence before. They grew up together but ended up going to different high schools, but they still kept in touch.
I sat down with the two of them and quickly changed the subject for poor Olette, all the while trying to snap the glowstick on my wrist to make it glow. These darn blue ones just didn'-
"Ahhh!"
"Naminé!?" Selphie looked over just in time to see me squirt the liquid from the glow stick right into my eye. I stood and raced straight for the bathroom, not knowing I had a crowd forming behind me.
Aqua rushed in and helped me wash my eye out. I could feel my skin tingling. This stuff was not kid safe!
"Smooth one, Nam," Kairi said when she entered the bathroom and saw me holding a wet rag to my face. "Remind me not to let you near glowsticks on dates."
"I'm going to kill Riku," I sighed, stepping out of the bathroom to find said perpetrator.
After chasing around Riku and throwing the rag at him, my bloodshot eye wasn't stinging anymore and I could enjoy the party again. That would be one to tell the kids. Poor Aqua's parents were about to call poison control until I pleaded with them that I was okay.
"Time for cake!" Terra called out, carrying a cake out to the table on the balcony. We all followed eagerly (Sora was of course at the front), and Aqua looked delighted as Terra lit the candles for her.
"I'd just like to say something first," Terra called out, and we all hushed, except for the sound of Kairi slapping Sora's hand away from the cake. "Thank you all for coming here today, I don't think there's any better way to celebrate your birthday than with all the people you love most. Thanks for the party supplies Riku, though I don't think Naminé appreciated it!" Everyone laughed, and I sunk back into the crowd to hide my probably glowing face. He turned to his girlfriend with a smile. "I'm so lucky to be able to have spent so much time with the girl I love and help her celebrate her becoming an adult. It's been a great journey growing up with you, and I can't wait to grow old with you. Happy birthday."
All the girls gushed and made girly noises, and all the guys had embarrassed smirks on their faces. Aqua and Terra shared a kiss and we started to sing happy birthday.
"Thank you so much everyone," Aqua said after she had blown out the candles. She would have said more but she was on the verge of tears. I don't blame her after that speech. He was definitely a keeper.
Amidst the birthday fun I was able to forget about the stress of uni, and just enjoy being around my closest friends. It would've been a perfect night were it not for the glowstick incident.
…
I trudged into the station. The winter months were creeping upon us and it was already deathly cold, that or I just couldn't handle sudden weather changes very well. I really didn't like winter.
My coat was so thick I had trouble reaching to validate my ticket. I started to put my ticket away, looking around for Olette, since it was Wednesday morning. It was week seven already… semester break had gone way too fast.
I looked up, but instead of seeing Olette I saw someone I had completely forgotten about until now.
Blonde haired kid.
He noticed me as he validated his ticket and gave a smile. "Hey!"
"H-Hey!" I smiled back, my eyes wide. He finished validating his ticket and headed onto the train. So he did always catch this train! This made me so happy. I mean, that last trip could have easily been a one-off.
I was about to race after him, but I remembered I had to wait for Olette. Or maybe she was already on the train?
I stepped onto the carriage and looked around, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I stepped out again, and I saw her walking outside the station.
I walked back along the platform and waited for her, but just as she was stepping inside the doors to the station, the train started to pull away. On the outside I was calm and casually waiting for Olette, (he could've been looking at me!), but on the inside I was slightly disappointed. But hey, maybe I'd see him again next week? I reminded myself again I didn't know the guy at all, and I had another five weeks of semester to have the chance to meet him anyway.
I smiled as Olette came up to me and validated her ticket.
"So is cute train guy here?" She teased as she stood next to me, waiting for the next train.
"Oh, no." I shook my head, deciding to keep our little run-in to myself. "Oh well, you win some, you lose some."
"Selphie won't be happy," she reminded, and I just laughed, secretly hoping I'd see him again.
…
Preview
"I'm being silly, aren't I?"
"So you go to Radiant Academy too?"
"Don't make any plans with boys."
"Do you usually go this way to uni?"
…
A/N: It's one of those moments you just want to grab them both and smush them together! You'll just have to wait and see how they'll meet again :P I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always don't forget to check out Fiction Café for the chapter analysis! I also have an extra treat for you guys – for certain selected chapters I'll be doing alternate POVs. For Chapter Three, it will be Roxas' POV! Check my blog to check out this extra piece of writing! Thanks for reading!
