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Chapter Seven:

Vincent was at school, hanging out with Cloud. "And she even came to the shop because she had a problem with her car," Vincent told him. Cloud smiled, shaking his head. "You really like her, don't you?" he asked. Vincent shrugged, taking a quick sip of beer that he had sneaked past the school. "She's so nice though. And her smile... It's broken, but still beautiful, you know? But I know something is wrong with her. Her boyfriend is.." Vincent cringed.

"Hojo. He seems like a bastard fuck. I saw a scratch on the back of her neck, too."

"Why don't you go talk to her? Talk about something other than having to fix her car."

"That's the thing! It was Hojo's car, too!" Vincent growled. Cloud smiled. "I've never seen you so worked up about anything before, Vincent. Never really heard you talk so much," he said. Vincent sighed. "I want to know her, you know? It's really weird. I feel like theres something there. Or there could be. But, she'd never go for a guy like me..."

"Sure she would, Vincent! It's just a matter of whether you talk to her or not."

"That bastard is standing in the way! Cloud, I think he... I think he like, hits her.."

"How do you know?"

"What else would explain that gash on her neck? And I've seen how she looks away from him when he whispers something to her. A-And the way she pulls her arm away when he grabs her wrist. If I could, I would punch him every single time he did that."

"She does seem kind of reluctant towards him..."

"Aw, who am I kidding? She wouldn't want me even if she wasn't with Hojo. That's that."

"Vincent, don't say that." Just then, Yuffie bounced up next to Vincent. "Hi, guys!" she said. Vincent sighed. "You don't look too roughed up," she said to him.

"Not usually roughed up, Yuffie," he replied, walking back into school.

Professor Tseng was going to assign partners for the science project that they were supposed to do. 'Please don't be Hojo, PLEASE don't be Hojo!' Vincent thought to himself. Professor Tseng called out names. "Hojo, you're going to be assigned with Mr. Gast over there," Tseng said. Hojo raised his hand. "Do you think I can do this project by myself?" he asked.

Tseng shrugged. "Sure," he said. Vincent glared secretively at Hojo. "Vincent Valentine, you're going to be with Lucrecia Crescent. Hopefully she can get you on track because you're not doing too wel-"

'I'M GONNA BE WITH LUCRECIA!' Vincent thought. He felt as though his brains just exploded. He then heard Hojo sneer. When he looked to him, he saw that Hojo was glaring at Lucrecia. "You bastard fuck," Vincent muttered under his breath. "Excuse me?" he heard Lucrecia say.

He nearly jumped out of his chair. Everyone had already started working. Lucrecia smiled. "Why are you so suprised? Is my face that hideous?" she asked jokingly.

"Oh, n-no! I just hadn't realized that we started working yet.." he replied. Lucrecia smiled. "Come on, let's go start," she said. Vincent got up, and followed her to the table in the back. He could feel the hot glare of Hojo's eyes as they walked.

"And my partner is Lucrecia!" Vincent told Cloud as they sat on the steps outside for lunch. "You should have been there! I was like, really nervous though, felt like I needed a cigarette or something. But she was so nice. Like an angel, Cloud!"

Cloud smiled, shaking his head. "I've never seen you so hyped up about ANYTHING before!" he said.

"When I found out she was gonna be my partner for the next two weeks, I nearly died! I kept thinking about what if I messed up or something like tha-"

"Okay, Vincent. I think you're talking more than you ever have the whole 18 years you've been alive. You're actually starting to freak me out."

"Sorry, Cloud. Hmm... I need a smoke." He stood up, and walked out to the alleyway near the school. He lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth. 'Don't fuck things up, Valentine. This might be your one and only chance,' he thought to himself as he inhaled the smoke. He closed his eyes.

"Why are you so suprised? Is my face THAT hideous?"

'No, it's beautiful...'

He tried to shake those thoughts from his mind, but he couldn't. It was so hard just forget her voice. He wondered what she thought of him. As soon as he knew it, he could swear that he heard her voice..

"Vinc..."

"...ent..."

"Vincent?"

"Vincent!" He nearly jumped up. He looked, and Cloud was calling him from outside the alleyway. "Come on, class is about to start. I don't want you skipping class again," he said. Vincent smiled slightly and put out his cigarette.

Vincent walked slowly to work, rewinding the whole day in his head. All he could think about was Lucrecia. How she smiled whenever he seemed to slack off, how she tapped her pencil nervously when she was thinking. He smiled to himself. 'Pull it together, Valentine! You're not yourself!' he said to himself. He walked into the office, to see Reeve standing up. "Valentine, glad you're here," he said. Vincent put his stuff down. "I'll get to work," Vincent said, sounding annoyed.

"Wait a second, I need to ask you a favor." He touched Vincent's shoulder, provoking him to turn around. "I need you to work this Saturday and Sunday. Actually, I think you might need to work on Saturdays and Sundays for a few weeks," said Reeve.

"What? Why?"

"One of the other workers got sick, and we're having an inspection. Things need to be in shape, and I have a quota. So do you."

"I know we have quotas, I'm making mine just fine! Whether you're making your quota okay is a different story."

"My quota has been raised, so you need to start working on Saturdays and Sundays for the next few weeks."

"But that means I'll be working like, 5 or 6 times a week!"

"Exactly."

"...Do I at least get more money?"

"You'll continue to get paid what you are being paid now."

"What? That's not fair! Working twice as hard for the exact same pay? I need to make a fucking living off of this, I don't even know if I can pay for my apartment anymore!"

"Don't use that language, Valentine. Maybe if I see a minor change in your progress, I can give you a raise. But until then, it's staying where it is now."

"But, Reeve.."

"Look, we have a tight schedule. I don't want to get hard on you Vincent, because I'm not like that. But I will if I have to. You need to work weekends, or... I guess you'll be fired."

"Fired..? But I need to make money.."

"Exactly why you need to work weekends. I suggest that you do. You can get to work now. We already have a customer waiting." Vincent sighed, and walked out to meet the customer.

Vincent was walking home. It was raining, the sky was gray. Cars and motorcycles flew by on the road. The rain started pouring harder. Vincent didn't care. He allowed himself to get soaked up by the rain. The streetlights came on, lighting the darkened area slightly. He sighed. He didn't want to get fired from his job. He didn't want to work weekends, either. He needed more drugs, but didn't really have the money. It was all stressful to him. But he forced himself to think about other things.

He thought about Lucrecia.

That was all he could think about. That was the only thing keeping him from going absolutely insane. That was the thought that kept him from grabbing his handgun and ending it with one bullet. He wanted to know more about her. They were partners for science, they would talk then.

He smiled slightly to himself as he came up to his apartment door, even though the rain was pouring harder every second.