Chapter 2: A Boy Thing

"What's taking those two knuckle-heads so long?" Riley huffed, slightly annoyed by the delay. He exhaled in frustration and crossed his arms across his chest. "We don't have time to wait on them. I'm going to leave without them if they don't get here soon."

"No you won't, Riley. You wouldn't leave them behind." Kaycee assured him. "I won't leave them and you and I both know you certainly would never leave me behind to wait for them alone. They'll be here any minute. Don't get yourself all worked up, there's time." She smiled, getting up out of her seat. She walked across the dusty floor and playfully punched him in the arm. "Why are you so impatient for anyway? It's not like you to let something like this bug you."

"It's nothing, I'm fine." He brushed off her comments like they didn't exist.

Kaycee gave him a look that said 'yeah right' and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Captain." She teased, poking him in the center of the chest. He rolled his eyes and sighed, trying to ease up a bit.

Then suddenly, Noah burst through the makeshift, wooden screen door of the fort, followed soon after by Jack. "Ha, ha! I beat you again!" Noah shouted in triumph. He was panting heavily as he doubled over onto the sandy floor.

Jack was completely out of breath as well, bent over with his hands on his knees to keep himself up. "…You…got…lucky…" He said through each exasperated breath.

"Hooray! They're here!" Kaycee cheered, throwing her arms up then giggling at the two boys out of breath.

"Good, now we can go." Riley said as he grabbed his pack and keys.

Noah and Jack both whined as they were still trying to steady their breathing enough to get up. "Oh come on you lazy bums!" Kaycee giggled, helping Noah up off the floor. "Now look what you've done, silly. You're all dusty." She pointed out and reprimanded him half-jokingly then brushed him off.

Noah smiled, finally catching his breath. "Thanks Kace." He responded, also brushing himself off.

"Let's go guys!" Riley called as he walked out the fort door.

The fort was a rather large shack they all built out of scrap metal and wood on the deserted street at the northwest edge of town. Nobody really knew why it was abandoned, but all the cement buildings were empty and condemned. It wasn't a creepy street or anything. In fact, it stood on the second highest peak of the town and got a ton of sunlight. They built their fort between two of the buildings, in the shade so the metal wouldn't heat up too much in the summer. The fort didn't have a floor so it was just light brown dust, but they didn't mind it. It was surprisingly cozy, being pretty decently insulated. They had dug out a trench around the front of the fort so that rain wouldn't get inside and make it muddy and also created a simple drain system. They also built the roof of metal, with its own little gutter system. Inside they had two battery-powered lamps hanging on hooks in opposite corners of the ceiling to illuminate the entire inside. Over the years they had accumulated a bunch of old furniture from the townspeople to fill the shack comfortably. And they also brought some of their own stuff. They were all thoroughly satisfied with the results of their fort. It's held up for years. Even the storm door remained that they had to re-seal each year and bolt shut so that nothing could get in. They each had their own key to the place too.

"Hey, wait for us!" Jack called, quickly following him out the door.

"I guess we'd better go too." Kaycee said to Noah with shrug and a smile. She then turned and ran out the door. "Coming!"

Noah grabbed his pack from one of the hooks on the wall and turned to leave. He stopped dead in his tracks though, being confronted by yet another black cloaked figure with its hood up. Remembering precisely what had happened earlier that morning, Noah braced himself and clenched the strap of the pack in one of his fists. "What do you want?" He demanded to know of the mysterious figure.

"The door, Noah. The door is open." The hooded figure spoke, although his voice was not the same as the one from his dream or even the same as the imposter Noah he had encountered.

"What door? What are you talking about?" Noah questioned the figure calmly, holding his ground.

"The door to the light. Kingdom Hearts is in peril." The figure replied, unmoving and emotionless.

"Kingdom Hearts? The brown haired boy and those odd characters were talking about that in one of my dreams. I don't know who they are but I can't stop having the dreams." Noah spoke aloud; his gaze was on the floor before the figure.

"Yes. Sora is the boys' name. His counterpart is Roxas…they need your help, Noah." The figure's tone was low and slightly ominous. Noah was a little intimidated by him, considering all that he had gone through just that very night.

"Roxas? Then he's the boy that looks just like me? Why? Who are they?" Noah asked the figure, taking a step towards him.

"Don't be afraid Noah. All will become clear soon. You are the one that holds the key to the door." The figure reassured Noah.

"The key? Like the one from my dream?"

"……………….." The figure began to fade. "Don't be afraid…" He said before he vanished completely

"Wait!" Noah ran towards the figure but he didn't make it in time. The figure was gone and Noah was standing in the very spot where he had disappeared.

"Well come on then. You don't want to be left behind, do you Noah?" Kaycee poked her head in through the door.

"Noah looked a bit flustered when she popped in. He quickly drew his eyes and attention to her though as she spoke. "Wait. You didn't just hear anything, did you?" He asked her in confusion.

She raised a brow at him suspiciously. "No, hear what?"

He sighed. "Nothing, never mind."

"Are you okay Noah?" She asked him, concerned about his sudden change in behavior. "You seem tense all of a sudden."

"I'm fine, great... Just great…" He muttered, peering around the room. He then turned to her and proceeded out the door past her.

"Oh. Okay then…" She uttered in disappointment of his dismissive attitude. She then followed after him, gazing at him in wonder.

"Jeez! You two are so slow. Hurry up or we'll miss the train!" Jack yelled back at them impatiently. Riley was in agreement with Jack's impatient behavior, tapping his foot on the ground with his arms folded across his chest. He huffed in annoyance.

"We're taking the train?" Noah stupidly asked.

"Well, duh! How else are we supposed to get to the park?" Jack responded rather rudely.

Noah shot him a glare, but Jack didn't seem to notice. Kaycee pushed Jack a bit. "You don't have to be rude about it Jack. Boys! Ugh." She exclaimed with a groan.

Noah chuckled a little. Riley nudged Kaycee's shoulder with his fist, repaying her for earlier. She turned to him in slight surprise. He smiled, and she too smiled in return and giggled. "Now there's the Riley I know. I was beginning to think he'd left me."

"Never." Riley stated with a firm nod.

"So did you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning then Mr. Cranky-pants?" She teased, sticking her tongue out at him playfully as they waited for the train to arrive.

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh." Riley mocked.

Jack was sitting on the bench that was welded into the floor of the platform. He was bouncing his knees, anxiously awaiting the train's arrival. "Man, how long until the train gets here?" He complained.

"Stop whining you big baby. It'll be here soon." Riley told him, speaking to him as if he were five.

Jack sprang up and turned towards Riley with a sneer on his face. "I am not a baby! Don't call me that, you jerk!" He yelled at Riley angrily.

"Then stop acting like one and I won't call you one." Riley scolded.

"Boys, enough." Kaycee butted in, placing herself between the two. Whenever they started arguing, it always got ugly.

Noah just shook his head and sighed, flopping onto another nearby bench. "Here we go…" He murmured to himself, leaning back in the bench. He let his head rest on the back of the bench and gazed at the high ceiling, trying to drown out his friends and their quarrel.

"Whatcha looking at Noah?" Kaycee's face came into view before Noah's eyes as she stood over him from behind the bench, smiling cutely at him. She then turned her head to look up at the ceiling curiously.

"!" Noah shot forward to the edge of the bench in alarm, immediately contorting his body so that he could see Kaycee. "I was, uh…nothing!" He laughed nervously, having been so startled by her. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and then clear his throat and laughed a bit. "Nothing, I was just thinking." He assured her.

Kaycee giggled at the display. Noah was so strange sometimes and she was amused by that. She loved to play games with him. "What about?" She asked, tilting her head at him.

"It's nothing. I promise." He said with a smile. He then stood up, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants.

Kaycee made a sort of frown on her face then shrugged it away. "Alright." She responded, disappointment slightly plaguing her tone. "Summer's almost over…" She changed the subject, staring across the terminal with saddened eyes. "We'll all be in different classes this year." She sighed, looking gloomy.

"What? Why?" Noah asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Haven't you been paying attention in class at all? We're moving into our profession classes this year. We'll be taking the classes that are the most closely related to the professions we're thinking of going into. That's why we all took those surveys." She replied unhappily.

"Oh…I must've forgotten." He lied, remembering exactly what she was talking about since she mentioned the surveys. "But we'll still see each other at lunch, won't we?" He asked her, trying to find some hope in the matter.

"I guess we'll see…" She sighed, leaning forward on the back of the bench, placing her elbows on the back rest, and laying her chin down in her hands. Noah had never seen her that genuinely sad before. It actually hurt to see her that way. She was always so cheerful and optimistic.

"I guess so…" Noah absent-mindedly replied, also gazing across the terminal. It was very well lit. Sunlight poured in through the skylights of the tall ceiling.

"Cheer up you two! We'll still see each other a lot!" Jack and Riley both agreed, finally letting the previous argument go. Jack approached the two and put an arm around each one's shoulder, pulling them against him. "Don't sweat it. They'll never tear us apart, right?"

"Right!" Riley chimed in, ruffling Noah's hair and then tickling Kaycee's sides a bit.

Both Noah and Kaycee laughed then turned to face their friends. "Thanks." They both responded with bright smiles.

"Here comes the train!" Jack shouted excitedly as he bounced over to the edge of the platform, gazing down the track at the oncoming train.

"Watch it dummy!" Riley called and followed after him.

Jack growled. "Hey! Who are you calling a dummy!? I'm FINE!" He yelled angrily, turning his back to the tracks to face Riley.

But before anything more was said, Riley grabbed Jack by the front of his shirt and jerked him away from the edge of the tracks, just as the train bellowed past. "You're welcome, dummy." Riley smiled, offering a hand to Jack to help him off the metal floor of the platform.

Jack took Riley's offer and grabbed his hand, pulling himself to his feet. He brushed himself off with a grunt. "Thanks…" He muttered, following Riley and the rest onto the train.

"That was a close one Jack." Noah exclaimed, nearly scared to death for his best friend's safety. As obnoxious and cocky as Jack was, he was still Noah's best friend of the group—though he loved them all very much. He didn't know what he'd do without them.

"Yeah, you need to be more careful!" Kaycee reprimanded him with a tight squeeze.

They all sat down as the train doors shut and the train slowly started to make its way down the track, picking up speed as it went. They all gazed out the windows in awe at all the different sights. There was vast open field off in every direction with mountains jutting out in the far-off distance. The sky was as blue as could be, not a cloud in sight, just the sun shining down. Silvervale's sandy colored walls and buildings slowly faded into the background as they got further and further from it. The park was a good forty minute ride.