D O N T P A N I C ;

Chapter two; a place like this

- RxN -

For me, the next day of came just a little too quickly. I was exhausted- Likely because it had been after one in the morning when I'd fallen asleep, and I had way too much on my mind. I only wanted to lay in bed and sit with my thoughts, but sadly that was impossible.

Cloud would be taking my sister's and I to our first day of the ninth grade. He was two years older than us, a grade eleven, so he knew his way around the school.

I was very nervous for my first day. More nervous than the eccentric Kairi, and definitely more nervous than the careless Xion. I was terrified about what people might think about me, if they would bully me and how hard it would be to deal with. I decided that my best bet was to just blend with the crowd-- So, I borrowed Kairi's white Abercrombie hoodie, and a simple pair of jeans. I hoped that I would at least look normal, and not so much like the dork I not-so-covertly was.

I made a plan for the day: One, no eye contact. Two, no talking. And three, no embarrassing myself. I was simply going to get through the day, just like every other normal teenager attending ATW High. (And yes, my uncle Ansem is the founder of my high school, Ansem the Wise High.)

I kept my eyes glued to the ground as my siblings and I walked to school. I could hear Xion and Kairi bickering, as always, and Cloud trying to break it up.

"At least I'm not a complete social reject, like you." Kairi slurred. I could practically sense that she'd added a hair flip, likely for dramatic effect.

"Pfft, whatever." Xion scoffed. "I'd rather be a so called 'social reject' than a shallow bitch."

"What?" My redheaded sister gaped. If Kairi could only hate one thing (never gonna happen), it would be people insulting her. Especially apparent 'losers' (though I disagree with that, for Xion had friends, and I didn't) like her.

"You heard me." Xion smirked slyly-- A perfect opening for Kairi to launch. In a matter of seconds, Kairi began to shove Xion and Xion happily shoved her back. And naturally, it wasn't long before a cat fight had unfolded. I stopped and watched the scene going on before me, and rolled my eyes. I looked over to Cloud, who did the same thing. He, however, was the one to intercept.

"Would you two knock it off?" He said, shoving himself between them.

"She started it!" They screeched simultaneously, pointing at one another. Cloud exhaled in annoyance.

"Its the first day of fucking school." He said. "Try and get along, its pissing me off."

"Whatever..." Kairi muttered, walking ahead of everyone. Xion laughed at her, but Cloud sent her a warning glare. The fight then stopped there, finally...

I was very used to this type of behavior from my family. Kairi and Xion were total opposites, rivals and I think they even hated each other. Cloud was somewhat mature, at least more mature than them. He did swear a lot, though...

And as usual, I was just kind of lingering. I said nothing, did nothing, and acted as nothing. I might as well have not even been there, but unfortunately I had to be. So there I was, walking to school in complete silence. I wanted to keep on walking in peace, enjoying my thoughts, but as he always did, Cloud talked to me. I was somewhat thankful for this. since no one else talked to me, but at the same time I wanted to be left alone. Of course, I didn't have the guts to say that to him.

"What's up Nam?" He asked, slowing down so he could walk beside me at my very unhurried pace.

"Erm, nothing." I said quietly, still looking down. Even though it didn't seem like it, I was sometimes comfortable around Cloud. I felt that he was the only one who didn't judge me in the family, other than uncle Ansem of course.

"Nervous for your first day?"

I nodded, and laughed lightly. "Very."

"Ah, don't be. Its not so bad, once you get used to it." As much as I wanted to, I evidently didn't believe him. Maybe for him it wasn't so bad... But for me? It could only be terrible.

"Thanks..." I peeped, trying to sound sincere-- Fail.

"Don't be so scared." Cloud chuckled, an attempt at being comforting. "If any bullies threaten you, just tell me, and your big bro is on the job!"

"Cloud!" I whined. "Please don't..."

"Aw why not? Can't I stand up for my little sis?"

"No." Xion said, butting into our conversation. I was a little shocked that she wasn't tuned out in some music or something... "Naminé doesn't want you to stand up for her, because its friggen embarrassing. Like really, how weak do you look when you have to get your big brother to stand up for you?"

That wasn't actually the reason I didn't want Cloud standing up for me, but it did make sense. The real reason, was because I didn't want any attention from anyone. If people were going to bully me, the best I could do was ignore them. I didn't want Cloud drawing unwanted attention towards me by picking fights with other kids. I didn't really care about looking 'weak'-- I was weak.

"Thats all bull." Cloud said defiantly. "I'll kick anyone's ass who threatens Naminé, or either of you for that matter." He pointed Xion, and then to Kairi, who was walking ahead.

"Don't need to for me!" She exclaimed, turning around and walking backwards. "Sora says that he'll back me up if anyone has a problem with me! Unlike Naminé and Xion, I have my own friends to stand up for me."

"Oh whatever Kairi." Xion uttered. "Actually, I met this guy during summer, he's in grade eleven-- Much more effective than Sora, a niner just like you and me."

"Grade eleven?" Cloud interrupted. "What's his name? I might know him."

"Uh, Axel."

And as soon as Xion mentioned that name, a certain memory flooded in from the night before.

"Axel."

"What?"

"Should we take her?"

At that moment, I could practically feel my jaw hit the floor. Axel-- Xion was friends with someone like that?

No, that wasn't possible. This guy was bad; I knew that, because him and his little gang had tried to kidnap me. It must have been a different Axel Xion knew. Then again, she was going through a phase...

As I stood there, eyes wide and mouth agape, Cloud happened to notice my expression. He snapped his fingers in my face, pulling me out of my frightened trance.

"Hm?"

"You okay?" He asked, showing some signs of genuine concern.

"Uh, yeah." I told. "I'm fine..."

"Okay. Can we keep going then?"

We all nodded, and continued on our way.

* * *

I'd never been inside of ATW High, but Cloud promised that he'd show me where all my classes were. Sadly, Kairi, Xion and I all had the exact same schedules (I'm sure uncle Ansem arranged that), so I would have to see them every second of every day. Except for lunch, where they would presumably go off and do their own thing. I didn't know what I would do when that time came.

I had to give uncle Ansem credit; He certainly designed the place nicely. The halls were tinted Orange, Twilight Town's official color, and it was decorated pretty well. I enjoyed the statue/fountain of my uncle out front.

My homeroom was Math-- My worst subject. After that I got to 'enjoy' science (second worst), then lunch (which I was sure I would hate), and then gym (that ones a no-brainer), and then finally, a class I could agree on; Art. I had never really tried my best at drawing, painting or any of that... But at least I could tolerate it. I was, however, embarrassed of my art work. It was never very good, so I didn't ever show anybody my work.

And so began my grade nine school year.

Two months passed and nothing exciting ever happened, but at least I was getting used to the idea of high school. I began to know where everything was, like the cafeteria, the gym (the tennis courts and football field were located outside the building), and where all my classes were. I started to get used to all of the unfamiliar faces and deal with the fact that everybody else in the school had friends except me. It was fine, I was used to it.

Naturally, Kairi became the stereotypical 'popular' type. Everybody loved her (nothing ever changes) and she smuggled her way onto the cheerleading squad. Xion hung around with this mystery group of grade eleven and twelves, so I suppose she would be considered popular by their standards. Cloud was just the same, always popular and athletic. He was also planning on running for student body president.

And just like them, my life stayed pretty much the same. Nobody noticed me, so there wasn't much ridicule. There was this one stairwell in the school, where I spent my lunches alone. It was a little isolated, so not many people passed through it. But the few that did, always snickered and laughed at me. Couldn't they at least try to hide the fact that they were making fun of me? Apparently not. After all, they were Kairi's friends. Just as shallow and predictable as she was...

It was October 29th, the day right before Halloween. I hadn't gone trick-or-treating in god knows how long, and this year was likely to be no different. I remember, for some odd reason Kairi and a group of her friends passed by. She barely looked at me, of course. She had rules; I was not allowed to talk to her during school. She couldn't be seen with a loser like me.

They were just going through to get to the side of the school. Everybody snickered and gossiped, and even in the small amount of time they passed by I could hear their words.

"The new kid? I hear he's super hot." Selphie Tilmitt, the girl I would forever hold a grudge against, squealed.

"Deff!" Kairi exclaimed. "Yuffie said that he looks kinda like Sora with blond hair, only ten times hotter!"

"Hey, I heard that..." Sora grunted. Kairi laughed and playfully smacked him on the arm.

"We just have to see this guy for ourselves." Selphie demanded, picking up the pace towards the doors.

"Ah, I can't wait!"

They then pooled out of the stairwell, leaving me wondering only slightly who exactly this new guy was. I brushed it off quickly; He was probably just another shallow, conceited jerk that would hang around Kairi's group. As if anyone Kairi found attractive could actually be down to earth...

But boy, was I wrong. I never expected to run into him in a place like this...

Author's note: Hey everyone! Oh god, I am SO SORRY that this is moving so slow! I hope I didn't lose any readers because of the lack of Roxas and Naminé together. As of the next chapter, you're going to be seeing a lot of them together. So bare with me, please! XD

I'm throwing together a soundtrack for this story, which I will post later on. I love doing those :)

Review please! Let me know if I'm being too boring with this D: