Chapter 4: New Friends
For Naminé, school days never seemed to end. The clock that whispered ticks above her head felt like it was nowhere near hitting noon, and the annoying droning of her chemistry teacher only served to further her boredom. Yet, the slow clock wasn't the only thing that bothered her. What really irritated her was the fact that she had not caught even a glimpse of Roxas since they met in the hallway that morning.
The blonde girl had expected to find him at least one of her classes so far, but alas, the object of her affections was absent in every single class she had endured thus far. Sighing, Naminé brought out her sketch book and hid it behind her chemistry text book. If she had to be tortured, she might as well use the time draw. Naminé loved to draw after all. Time always flew by when she grazed her pencil across the paper. Yet, this was the one gift nobody at school knew about.
Everyone at Twilight High was well aware that Naminé was the hottest and most popular girl in school, but no one ever knew anything about Naminé the artist. Not that she minded. It was best to play it safe. All of the art people she knew were labeled as weird or freaks, and Naminé did NOT want to be a freak. To be a freak would mean the loss of her status and that was something not worth losing over any circumstance.
Naminé forced those disgusting thoughts away, continuing to draw silently until the bell finally rang and released her from her seemingly perceptual prison.
"About time," Naminé muttered under her breath as she hastily gathered her things and started towards the door. She would need to find the girls before going into the cafeteria.
"Miss Misaki, would you mind staying after for a minute?" Mr. Varner asked, gesturing Naminé over to his desk. Naminé didn't reply but inwardly rolled her eyes as she walked over to the large metal desk. The students that filed out of the classroom all stole glances as they left, each whispering to the others around them. Nothing unexpected of course.
"Now Naminé, I wanted to discuss your previous test score," Mr. Varner's voice went down an octave, his wire glasses slinking down to the tip of his nose.
"What about it?" Naminé responded, pretending to be clueless. She knew her grades weren't the best, but seriously, who wanted to be a nerd anyway? She was an heiress and therefore didn't even need to worry herself with school.
"It's not good," Mr. Varner stated dryly.
"Oh," Naminé shook back some of her hair, lips pulling into a concerned frown," I promise I'll try harder." Not. Naminé then casually edged towards the door, hoping that Mr. Varner would realize that what he was saying was pointless. But of course, her teacher being as lame as he was just wouldn't let it go. He knew her antics very well by now.
"Naminé, you need to start taking your grades seriously," Mr. Varner warned, his dark cobalt eyes staring into her cerulean ones. Naminé didn't care though.
"I will, don't worry Mr. Varner," Naminé assured with a fake smile and readjusted the strap of her new Gucci purse that hung loosely on her shoulder.
Naminé couldn't help but fidget slightly as Mr. Varner gave her one last hard look. She was just itching to get out of this bug infested torture chamber and go find her friends. Not to mention Roxas. She was beyond eager to catch sight of the blond boy and his heart melting smile. She also needed to have a little talk with her dearest friend Olette about knowing her Roxas. As well as the fact that Olette had hugged him, something that was classified as a big Don't in Naminé's book.
Mr. Varner rolled his eyes in exasperation, knowing his attempt was in vain. So instead of making another sure-to-fail-attempt at getting through to the student, he sighed and put one calloused hand over his face while using the other to dismiss the blond girl.
Naminé didn't hesitate once her eyes caught the gesture and triumphantly she waltzed out of the bug infested room without a single glance back.
'Now to find the girls'
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Tap. Tap. Tap. The fingers of an annoyed blond boy drummed as he continued to listen to the overly enthusiastic teacher before him. How had he, a straight A student, end up here with this insane woman? The boy would have been perfectly content to sit alone with his brail text books and teach himself the lesson. It would be a hell of a lot easier too. Instead of being forced to listen to the shrill voice of his teacher all morning. A teacher who just couldn't accept that her new pupil could do the lessons all by himself.
So whether out of some sort of twisted spite or just her own insanity, she had snatched away his text books and went into an extensive verbal lesson of...ugh...the human anatomy.
After a few more minutes of listening to her babbling, Roxas just decided to ignore her entirely and put his focus, instead, on the ticking clock that loomed above and the various thoughts that roamed through his head.
Naminé, however, was the one thing…err person that dominated his thoughts. Roxas couldn't help but feel a slight pang of sorrow at the fact that she really didn't remember him. At first, he ignored his cousin's words, thinking they were out of prejudice and nothing more, but his hopes and exuberance had slowly dwindled when she made no hint that she recognized him…at all.
That didn't mean he wouldn't still try and help her. Not at all. It was just...he was hoping for something. Some sort of sign that she saw him and knew who he was. The friend that he had been to her. All those hopes dashed, but he would persevere. He had to. For her.
Then, there was Olette. One of the few friends he hadn't seen since his accident. The blond was glad that his green eyed friend still seemed to be herself. Admittedly, Roxas had been worried that she would be a completely different person. This was high school after all, the place where change was a common theme in a student's life. Roxas himself had changed during the first couple years of his high school years but lucky for him, it was for the better.
"So, all I want you to do is do questions one to four on page three hundred," Roxas' overly perky teacher chirped as she finally finished her instructions to her pupil who, at this point, had no inkling as to what said teacher had even been talking about. Roxas did, however, nod his head compliantly. He had learned that it was best to keep his mouth shut—that way she would hopefully stop talking.
She clasped her hands together eagerly and beamed, "Good, but remember if you have any troubles don't hesitate to call me, kay?" Roxas resisted the urge the roll his eyes but instead gave a small smile and another nod.
The bell finally sounded and Roxas, along with his other classmates eagerly sprung up from their seats and made a great exodus towards the door.
"Alright!" the teacher called to her students, "I'll see you tomorrow!" She then gave her young wards another big smile before finally turning her attention to the arriving victims who could barely hide their expressions of annoyance and slight fear at the woman's overly white grin.
Once the sound of her perky voice and high heels had faded, Roxas released a tremendous sigh. Somehow he had made it through class with his sanity intact (though he wasn't entirely sure how). Now, it was time for his next brail infused class and Roxas quickly dispelled his previous annoyance to grope for the array of items he had splayed haphazardly on his desk.
"You're new, aren't you?" A soft feminine voice abruptly sounded from behind him.
Roxas trying to find the voice cautiously turned around; his clouded irises picking up nothing but the same black abyss they always did.
"Yes, I'm Roxas Strife," Roxas answered with a cordial smile.
The girl giggled and Roxas could sense the smile hidden in her own voice, "Hello Roxas, I'm Aqua."
"It's nice to meet you Aqua," Roxas' formal smile melted into a crooked grin. For whatever reason, he felt at ease with Aqua even though he just met her. Maybe it was the maternal vibe she seemed to radiate?
"Likewise," Aqua beamed and clasped her hands together, "and just so you know, I am especially glad that you're here because that means I won't be the only one anymore!"
Roxas' easy smile faded into confusion. "Only…what?"
"You know," Aqua explained with an eye roll, "the only blind one."
Roxas froze. "W-What?"
"You are blind, right?" Aqua pressed with growing lump in her throat. Ms. Connaway had said Roxas Strife, hadn't she? She hadn't just been shoved over to somebody who had no idea of what she was talking about, right?
No words left Roxas' mouth as his mind tried its best to register what the blue haired girl had just said. How could she possibly know? The teachers weren't supposed to say anything, right? Roxas inhaled sharply at the thought, ignorant of how thick the air around them had become.
"Yes... I am," Roxas replied in a whisper so soft that, if it weren't for Aqua's increased hearing capabilities, she wouldn't have been able to catch his words.
Aqua's lips trembled as her apology spilled from her lips. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just t-thought it would have been nice to have another blind person around, but I understand if you're still having issues coping with it or something." Her tone remained light even as her voice quavered, but Roxas easily saw through her mask and instantly felt guilty for upsetting her.
"No, I'm sorry," Roxas shook his head, "I didn't mean to be rude or anything, it's just I thought no one knew about my...condition."
"Why wouldn't you want people to know?" Aqua asked, blinking her grey tinted orbs curiously.
Roxas inhaled sharply, "It's...complicated."
"I think I can keep up."
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"There you are" Naminé exclaimed with annoyance. After relentless searching, the blonde girl had finally been able to locate her friends. The unfortunate part of her discovery (at least for her friends) was that Naminé was not in the best of moods. Not only was she forced to stay after class and listen to Mr. Varner's endless drivel, but in order to find her friends, Naminé had to ask the biggest and most obsessive nerd in all of Twilight High (and possibly the world) for the whereabouts of her friends.
Normally, Naminé would have simply asked some superhot jock or cheerleader for help and all would be fine and dandy in the blonde's world, but of course, everyone cool was already in the cafeteria—the –place where she and her friends should be reigning. Thus, Naminé was forced to wander into the puke scented science lab and ask the only person who actually would skip lunch for his precious beakers and test tubes. Ronald Lionheart—the carrot top boy adorned with too many freckles, zits and a pair of thick framed glasses covering his brown eyes.
The little nerd had been anything but unhappy when Naminé sauntered into his beloved room of wonders. At first, he had hoped that this would be the day his unrequited love would be returned when the blonde goddess had entered the room, but unfortunately for him, she only wanted directions—and to get the hell out of there as fast as she could.
Once Naminé had fled out of the chemical scented room, finding her friends was easy since they were all waiting directly outside the cafeteria doors for their leader's arrival. Although, sadly, this did nothing to derail Naminé's annoyance.
"Hey Naminé," the girls greeted in unison. Selphie trotted up to Naminé and encased the blond in a hug, but Naminé just stood with her body rigid and eyes blazing ice.
Selphie backed up and her lips pulled down in confusion. "What?"
"Do you have any idea where I just was?" Naminé inquired sharply.
The three girls exchanged worried and befuddled glances. None of them wanted to be the scapegoat by answering Naminé's question. Even the gossip hungry Selphie didn't dare ask the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue. Selphie wanted, needed to stay on top and having Naminé mad at her wouldn't be useful in that quest.
When Naminé continued regardless of their silence, each girl let out an inward sigh of relief.
"I had to go to Ronald Lionheart for directions! The grossest, weirdest freak to ever come into existence!" Naminé nearly screeched, but stopped herself abruptly and looked down at the bland tiled floors and unfettered a deep breath from her lips before bringing her head back up and placing a hand on her hip sternly. "Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?"
Olette refused to lift her head, fighting back her tears by biting her lower lip. The brunette hated being so feeble and weak, but she hated confrontation even more. Selphie kept her own lips silent, preventing herself from potentially upsetting Naminé and lose all she had worked so hard for. Kairi on the other hand was a different case. Yes, she was afraid that Naminé would be angry if she managed to say the wrong thing, but the red head did know Naminé well enough to say that she had something that would take Naminé's mind off this crisis instantly.
"Sorry Nami," Kairi apologized, "it's just that we saw Roxas—" As Kairi predicted, Naminé lit up eagerly and her bad mood dissipated.
"You saw him! Where?" Naminé pressed impatiently as a bubbly smile captured her lips. She had finally found him. Her glorious Adonis.
"In the hallway." Selphie piped up—conveniently when Naminé had perked up—of course. "He was with that geek Ven and his friends," Selphie said the last bit with a look of disgust.
Naminé's nose crinkled. "Ew! Why would my Roxas ever want to associate with those losers?"
"I don't even know. I bet they like brainwashed him or something because like they even walked into the cafeteria together," Selphie replied and gagged.
"Ugh, I bet he felt sorry for them, "Naminé reasoned, yet the disgust still lingered in her voice. Why would Roxas ever want to hang around with those freak shows anyway? Especially when he had her? Really, why choose the class president and his loser fan club when he could be dining with High School royalty. Clearly, he was just confused.
Selphie nodded her head, and Kairi followed Selphie's actions guiltily. Olette was the only one who couldn't conjure up even a weak nod. Although, she knew this was only due to the set of brown eyes burning invisible holes into her back. Luckily for her, Naminé didn't notice her friend's lack of response being much too occupied with the thought of seeing Roxas again.
Abruptly, Naminé turned around to face the doorway, determination sparkling in her cerulean blue eyes as she flicked a stray strand of blond hair away from her porcelain face. "Why don't we go on in, ladies."
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"You're planning to help, Naminé Misaki?" Terra repeated once the group of teens had settled down at a table near the back of the cafeteria.
Roxas smiled and nodded his head. "That's the plan."
"That's a pretty tall order to fill," Ven commented quietly. The class president, who strangely enough looked almost identical to Roxas, adjusted his black framed glasses all the while studying his new blond friend curiously.
Roxas shrugged nonchalantly. "We were childhood friends, and besides, I think she's a good person."
"Yeah, she's quite the angel," Terra said with a loud snort, "especially after what she had her muscle headed minions do to Ven last semester."
Roxas blinked, a frown beginning to form on his face, "What did she do?"
"Well," Terra explained sarcastically, "after Ven refused to use the extra school funds to add another very expensive vending machine of her special protein bars to the cafeteria, her and her cronies decided to spread a nasty rumor about Ven that caused the entire football team to stuff Ven in his locker for three hours." The dark haired senior remembered that day very well. He remembered that day very well. The day he found his best friend crammed inside his locker with faint tear streaks still visible on his face. That was also the day, Terra remembered with a satisfied smirk, he had kicked several of the jocks' arrogant asses.
Roxas shook his head, unable to believe a single word uttered by his new friend. The Naminé he knew would never hurt someone like that. She was kind, loving and shy. She may be popular now, but she would never do something like that. She was plenty kind to him, after all.
"I don't believe you," Roxas whispered quietly.
"What, because she's all sweet on you?" Terra asked, sneering. Roxas opened his mouth to speak but Terra continued his verbal diatribe. "Get a clue! All you are to her is some new eye candy. She'll get bored of you soon enough and then rip your heart out until all you want to do is slap that pretty little face of hers!" Terra slammed his fist down onto the table, shaking everyone's trays. Feelings of anger, hurt and frustration flickering across his face. He had been played by Naminé once and he wasn't about to let it happen to his new friend. Terra was aware that right now he had practically the whole school's attention, but didn't care. Hell, he'd even finish up this little side show for them! Terra slammed his fist on the table again, harder this time, "She'll-"
"Terra stop."
The attention of the student body suddenly refocused on the blue haired girl. Aqua's grey tinted eyes closed, and Terra held his breath in anticipation for his friend to speak. Ven tilted his face upwards in admiration at his blue haired crush. Roxas didn't do anything but sat with a vacant stare as he too waited for the blue haired girl to speak.
Aqua's blind eyes narrowed as she shifted her empty gaze across the room. Kids knew she couldn't really look at them, but ice in her blind eyes made them quickly avert their gazes from the spectacle before them. The only eyes that didn't find something new to fixate on were sitting at a table in the far right corner.
"Terra, I know you've been hurt by her but what Roxas is doing is his own business and we shouldn't interfere. I personally think what he's doing is very noble," Aqua stated in a neutral, calm tone.
"I think it's a nice gesture too," Ven mumbled casting his eyes downwards, but occasionally stealing glances at Aqua through his lashes. Terra rolled his eyes and grunted knowing fully well just why his best friend was agreeing.
"Yeah, well when he gets hurt, I get to say I told you so," Terra muttered bitterly.
Roxas' face was stoic. "I can assure you I won't get hurt. I will save her."
"Good luck," Terra said dryly as he took a large bite out of his sandwich.
"Thanks," Roxas retorted coldly.
Aqua sighed.
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'There he is,' Naminé thought as she observed her crush from the other end of the cafeteria.
He was so close, yet it felt as though there was this invisible chasm that separated them. She had never been this nervous to talk to a boy before. Ever. Though maybe it was just the fact that he hadn't complimented her yet that made her feel uneasy.
That was it, Naminé assured herself. That's all it was. Sucking in a sharp breath of air, Naminé stood up from her chair. The action causing a domino like effect as her subject's eyes relocated to her moving form.
"Where are you going Naminé?" Riku inquired, a curious smirk on his lips.
"Oh, nothing just going to say hi to my new friend," Naminé responded, not paying much attention to the senior. Her attention was solely on the blond at the table across the cafeteria. Naminé began her saunter coolly down the aisles of the cafeteria, absentmindedly pulling random strands of hair behind her ear. She was close now. Mere steps away.
Naminé's heart was pounding, but not because of the multitude of eyes following her every move. No. She was accustomed to that. It was that she was mere steps away from her totally gorgeous crush. Naminé stopped herself momentarily. What was she doing?! The erratic drum of her heartbeat shouldn't be there. She shouldn't be nervous.
I mean hello she was Naminé Misaki, the hottest and most popular girl in the school! She didn't have time to doubt herself.
Without another thought, Naminé then finished her march, and with a commercial white smile, came up to the table.
"Hello Roxas."
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A/N Update 2013: Editing this chapter was such a pain. I didn't think it would be, but there were so many little things that needed to be fixed. Though, as you can see the story keeps developing as Roxas makes more friends and even shares his plan to save Naminé.
Story Fact #4: This chapter was originally called Long Way To Happy for P!nk's song of the same name, but I changed the title because it seemed to ambiguous and awkward while New Friends was more straightforward and gave a better idea of what the chapter is about.
Review Replies:
Kit-Kat-Wafer-I know I feel bad for her myself. I know, but I'm glad she's believable and not just a Mary Sue. I'll have to consider that, cause I like the idea:) Yeah, this chapter really doesn't put too much focus on them together but the next should be more about them together. Though I do that so their relationship doesn't go too fast and also to establish other connections and relationships that tie into the story. Yeah, I wanna have Haynette and Kaiora too:) That's my goal:) Thanx:D
Ayumu-chan-Thanx, personally liked the idea because of how it was different myself:) And thanx:D Cool! I've officially decided to do that!:D