Running Away

Chapter Eight

About Rikku ...

Yuna rushed across a busy street, smock tucked carefully under her fair arms. Today would be the fourth day in a row that she was late; Ms. Dona wouldn't be pleased. No, not at all. The brunette always had a reasonable excuse, also. Everyday after school the girl would have to run to work in order to make it on time, and some days, she would meet Tidus on the way or she would have to stop at her dormatory for a moment. Sometimes Yuna's boss was completely unfair and this afternoon was no different. The senior clamoured into the store a few minutes too late and Ms. Dona had lost her temper.

"Yuuuna! Do you realize what time it is?" The scantily clad proprietor tutted at her young employee and turned to the back room. "Barthello?! Where is my damn latte? I asked for it hours ago!"

A bulky, muscular man stepped out from behind a curtain wearing a little blue smock similar to Yuna's and carried a tray with a steaming cup of coffee. "I'm sorry, Dona. I couldn't figure out how to work the machine. The instructions were in a weird language." Dona shook her head and sighed, shooing him away.

"You just owe me another massage, you oaf." She turned to the student. "I'm docking your pay for the afternoon. The next time this happens," she started in a deadly sweet voice, "I won't be so lenient. You should be glad I knew your father." Dona walked into the back, screaming her lover's, Barthello, name at the top of her lungs.

Yuna slumped and moved to behind the counter, adjusting the cash register to her needs and clocking in. Barthello wailed Dona's name from the back, followed by an angry huff by the woman herself. The brunette giggled to herself and gathered up a clipboard, checking off various items in the store for inventory while she waited for a customer. Yuna couldn't say she hated her job, but she also wouldn't lie. After checking off the third color of the same nail polish, the bell above the door rang. Finally, someone.

"Hello, welcome to --" The girl nearly dropped her clipboard. "Gippal? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Yuna. We need to talk." The blond said, carrying his school bag over his shoulder. He was still dressed in a sports uniform, maybe that of lacrosse? The male caught Yuna staring at his attired and winced. "Uh, sorry. I need to get back to school for soccer practice right after this, but it can wait if you're willing to talk."

"Um, yes. That's fine. Just as long as Dona doesn't notice." She looked nervously over her shoulder, then after hearing a moan, decided that they had a few minutes to dicuss whatever was so important as to permit a visit from the popular Al Bhed. Before he even said a word, Yuna knew it was about her cousin.

"I need to talk to you about Rikku," Gippal said seriously. He crossed the room to a chair beside a coffee table full of girly magazines. "It's shocking, I know. I also know that you really don't approve and I need to know why. Honestly, I can't see what is so wrong with me talking to her and eventually asking her out. Don't forget that she kissed me first. That night you found me and ... uh, Marza in the hall. She started it. And I even helped her out, taking her away from the prying eyes of the idiotic girls at your school. They would have ridiculed her until she died from embarrassment, literally."

"So, you take her to your dorm and then leave her there that morning? That isn't helping. Tidus ran into her, half-naked that afternoon. She looked a mess. What if anyone noticed her coming out of your room? What then? She would have been insulted and called horrible names. And, my eyes didn't decieve me that night. I saw you sitting in the hallway, Marza's hand dangerously close to your ... well, you know as well as I do that both of your intentions weren't innocent." Yuna raved in a low voice, trying to keep Dona and Barthello unaware. "I don't want you hurting her, she's been through enough."

"You can't control her, she has to learn to live sometime. Between you and what I've heard from Cid -- my ears are still ringing -- she hasn't had the opportunity to have a life. Everyone grows up, Yuna. And I was drunk, what did you want me to do, tell Marza to go fuck herself?" Gippal's voice rose. "I took her to my room and fell asleep again moments after I made her comfortable on my bed, while I slept on the floor. When I woke up in the morning, I went to go find her aspirin and some food. By the time that I got back to the room with aspirin in hand, I remembered that I didn't go by the mess hall. Don't even suggest that I wasn't doing the right thing for her. I knew I fucked up when I came over and saw Marza, the idiot who has been after me for ages, waiting there. It's like that psychotic bitch is stalking me. It isn't my fault that Rikku freaked out and chose to drink more than the both of us combined. I would have had it under control if there wasn't alcohol in play."

"So you say! But life isn't that simple. She thinks you're on her side, but how can I trust you after the mess you've made of Paine? And Baralai?" The girl was nearly in tears. "They trusted you and you betrayed them both. Paine is in major trouble now and she refuses my help. I'm scared for her and it's your fault."

"You can't blame that on me. All I did was suggest to Baralai that Paine was interested in helping Nooj. How the fuck was I supposed to know that she would go to such extremes?"

"Because she has been your friend for years, you know her better than anyone else. You knew she would pull drugs into this and you went against that anyway." Yuna sighed and bit her bottom lip. "I can't refuse Rikku to see you, but if you come anywhere near her, I will have to inform Cid. He'll put a stop to this. It's for the best of everyone."

"The best for your state of mind, Yuna. You need to learn that mistakes are always going to be made, regardless of your preventive measures. That life is something that is full of pain and the only way to relieve this is to live for the moment, not the dangers. Tidus tells you the same thing every day to you and you don't listen. I'm not saying that I haven't made mistakes, and that I won't make them with Rikku. But you can't stop either of us from doing anything. Even Cid won't change that. He can try, but if it's meant to be, it will happen." Gippal stood and turned to leave.

"You talk like you're in love with her." The brunette said, playing with her pen.

"I won't know until I'm given the opportunity to find out." The male responded, shrugging slightly. "Just have faith in her, she's a smart kid and won't get into trouble." The bell rang again, and as quickly as he came, Hurricane Gippal was out of sight. Yuna sighed.

"No, she won't get herself into trouble. She'll run away before the fact." Shaking her head, the girl returned to her clipboard. But all the while, she thought of the boy.

Who, unbeknownst to her, stood outside the door and just beyond eye sight, shaking. Gippal had never before been so nervous in his life. And this was Gippal, so that's saying quite a bit. Ever since the infamous weekend, he knew he would have to go to Yuna if he ever wanted anything to happen with Rikku. It was an inescapable fact, and now that it was over, he wish he hadn't done it. Nerves took over when he opened the door and just getting through his speech without hemoraging was a miracle. The blond stood upright and shook it off, though it felt as if his entire body was numb. He hated his weak moments. The times where despite his own mentality, fear overtook him. It happened the night that Yuna saw Marza and himself making out in the hallway, her hand down his pants, and then again when Rikku kissed him when she felt it was safe. The truth was that he had never fallen asleep that night, though he had desperately wanted to. The memory of the kiss refused entirely to leave, not that it wasn't unwelcome.

Gippal started running up the block and back to school. The thought lingered with him, 'What if she didn't remember and the kiss was simply because she was so wasted?' Something nagged at him, if it were so innocently written off as drunken behavior, then why had Yuna been so against any relationship betweent the two Al Bheds? Sure, the boy was partly to blame for the state Paine was in and Baralai's out of character depression, but... Ah, of course she would blame him for everything. The bad blood between them started when the whole debocale began. It was only natural. Annoyingly so, but still natural.

The girl's school came into sight as Gippal looked up. More importantly, so did the wonder that was Rikku. Her lovely, long blond hair hung straight on her back, ending just below the end of the hideous blazer on the beautiful girl. Gippal had been attracted from the moment he saw her and intrigued since she so playfully countered his banter. Rarely was there a girl who didn't fall all over herself to flirt shamelessly or become brain-dead, let alone one who wanted absolutely nothing -- and yet, everything -- to do with him. Gippal always had an affinity for challenges, it seems. And since then, as he grew to knew her, he actually did find her to be a person he could like. The fact that Yuna forbid it only added to the excitement for him. Call him perverse, but it was what got the job done.

As Rikku walked across the courtyard, Gippal picked up his pace. He had to catch her before she was out of view without drawing too much unnecessary attention. "Hey, Rikku!" He screamed as loudly as possible. Or not...

The girl turned around, smiling warmly. "Hi." Rikku's face fell for a moment when she saw him, but then something truly miraculous happened. "I was wondering when you would show up." The girl said brightly, hitching her bag further up on her arm.

"Really?"

"Really." She repeated, eyes earnest.

OMGZ, y'all! I looked back on my previous chapters and realized that I can improve them GREATLY! So, I'm going back to either rewrite them into third-person -- which, by the way, MOST of my future chapters will be in -- or just a general revision. I'm not quite sure yet.
Well, as always, READ&REVIEW! Kthxbai. -- I'm not sure if there are errors or not ... UH ... I sort of can't remember if I spell checked this or not. Open Office is a pain to open on my computer. -excuses excuses- Bleh. REVIEW PEAS. :D