Chapter 8: Rival

Previoulsy: Although, there was one problem with Namine's plan. One big problem that stood in her way. And that problem came in the form of a raven haired girl named Xion Yamazaki the theater freak. The very girl whom Roxas Hikari, Namine's Roxas Hikari took a seat right next too in the very front row of the classroom. The same girl he was smiling brightly at and talking to as though he had known her for years.

Namine's eyes narrowed at the sight, her fists clenched. She felt angry...helpless. For once in her life she felt jealous.

Namine's eyes narrowed into icy slits at the raven haired girl, hoping that her burning gaze would somehow create a chasm between Roxas and Xion. A chasm so deep and so wide that Xion would fall into it and never find her way out, but her gaze didn't seem to have any affect on the raven haired girl. Not even a glance back or some sort of acknowledgment to signify any discomfort. Xion's face never left Roxas' for a second, her body perfectly positioned so that her and Roxas' knees just barely touched. An innocent enough position unless you knew the true intentions of the person, and Xion was a girl.

Sure she was a bit homely, Namine's hands tightened, a typical one of the guys type girls but--But she was a girl none the less and just like any girl in high school Xion too had ways of luring boys like her sweet Roxas into deceptive traps. It was one of the sad truths of life, but one that seemed almost unaviodable. Yet, even when Namine knew she wasn't the only one attracted to the blond's greyish blue eyes it, for some reason, truly bothered her that girls like Xion would try and go after him. It made her...jealous.

Namine inwardly cringed at the word. Since when was she jealous? She was Namine Misaki, people were supposed to be jealous of her. The girls were supposed to feel jealous of her supermodel looks, her popularity. The guys were supposed to drool over her looks and be jealous when she paid attention to other guys. But...Namine herself was never supposed to jealous of anything. She was especially not supposed to be jealous of some homely theater freak attempting to flirt with her crush. Yet, the way her blood boiled did nothing to convince Namine that this helpless anger was attributed to anything but jealousy. It was simply a fact. She was jealous. She didn't like Xion talking to Roxas. She didn't like Roxas talking to Xion.

Which, to Namine, meant that she would have to devise some sort of scheme that either got her in Xion's seat, or Roxas in a seat beside her. The latter, of course was preferable, but if she had to Namine would sit in the front with her blond crush. He was after all worth it.

*__*_*_*_*_*_*__*

"Wow, you just moved here from Destiny Islands?"

Roxas rubbed the back his neck, eyes barely flickering upward, "More of moving back, actually."

Xion blinked, curious, "Oh, so how long did you live here before, then?"

Roxas chews his lip for a moment in thought, unaware of his new companion's admiring gaze, "Thirteen maybe fourteen years."

Xion's eyes widened in surprise, "Seriously? Then, why did you move back so quickly?"

Roxas' own eyes bulged slightly, panic rising, threatening to taint his entire body. He pushed it down almost instantly, the lie coming out smoothly and a tad rehearsed, "My dad got transferred back."

Xion smiled her voice kind and understanding. The sound made Roxas' own heart lurch. She trusted him. He lied and she trusted him.

"Well whatever, I'm just glad you're here."

Roxas smiled in return, internally shoving the guilt to the back of his mind, "Uh..Thanks."

"Your welcome," Xion returned with a broader smile as she proceeded to open the lock on her music case. Roxas remained silent, not sure of what else he could say to his new companion whose smile had faded as she seemed to fumble with the small latch of her case. Xion's frustrated grunt, caused the blond boy to reflexively reach a hand towards the girl, but almost instantly was his hand drawn back.

What help would he be? It's not like he could see the latch. He was useless. The thought brought the end to Roxas' smile as his veiled eyes lowered. Xion didn't seem to notice though as she let out a triumphant cry. The very cry that earned her a round of snickers, whispered jeers and a dose of loudly expressed ridicule. Xion shot back down into her chair, cheeks flushing. It wasn't that she wasn't used to the mockery, it was more that she had just embarrassed herself in front of a guy. And it wasn't like this was just Axel or Demyx. This was Roxas.

"I can't believe I did that, I'm such a dork," Xion grinned cheekily, hoping Roxas wasn't thinking the worst of her quite yet. She knew he could probably hear the whispers of their classmates. Their snide remarks. Their scornful insults. The only thing Xion could hope for was that Roxas wasn't like the rest of the brainwashed idiots in their school. Xion knew it was a silly thing to hope for but she still hoped none the less.

Roxas smiled in a sort amused yet understanding way, "I can't believe it either, but I honestly can't say I've never done it before."

Xion's eyebrows arched, "You? I always thought the stupid over the top triumphant cries were restricted solely for the actors of this school."

"And who says I'm not an actor?" Roxas inquired teasingly.

Xion blushed, "You..You're into theater?"

"I don't see why it's so hard to believe."

"Well it's just....," Xion shook her head suddenly elated, "Never mind. This is great! You should totally join the drama club! I could show you the ropes and everything!"

"I-I c-can't," Roxas stuttered, the same feeling of panic he had felt before suddenly building in his heart again.

The glimmer of hope in Xion's eyes faded and her face fell, crestfallen, "Why?"

Roxas' breathing became shallow. The sound of his heartbeat now pounding in his ears as he tried to find a rational answer. Roxas bit his lip. There was no easy answer. No simple truth. Only lies. Though, lying was easy enough right? Just say you're doing something else. Say you're apart of something else and BAM! You're out of the woods!

It was so easy yet the words wouldn't come out. The lies refused to spin. Roxas was stuck.

Silence encompassed the two for a few seemingly endless moments before Xion's lips parted, ready to speak--

"You do know that you're supposed to be working on your music, right?"

Roxas jumped slightly,surprised at the sudden, but in his case wanted, intrusion before smiling slightly, "Namine."

Namine smiled coyly in return, "At your service."

Xion sneered, clearly annoyed at the blonde's arrival, "Really? Then do you mind riding one of your brooms back to your castle so we can practice?"

Namine's lips pursed, desperately trying to hold back the onslaught of insults that begged to be released from her lips. Yet, she knew she couldn't, or rather shouldn't say them aloud. Roxas was here and she didn't want him to think of her as a horrible person. Even though before him, that never mattered. Namine had insulted whoever she wanted whenever she wanted. Her old boyfriends never cared. In fact, they often joined her. But Roxas....She just couldn't act like this in front of him.

Namine inwardly released a deep breath, reassembling her mask into a plastic smile, "I just wanted to ask Roxas something."

Xion snorted, "Oh really, and what was that?"

"I don't think that's any of your business," Namine shot back stiffly. Again attempting to squelch her boiling anger, as her fists tightened and her perfectly done French manicure made small indents in her palms.

Both girl's eyes locked. Ice meeting ice in a look so fierce. So terrifyingly cold that it felt like the thick veil of tension surrounding them was suffocating the entire room.

Roxas fidgeted nervously, attempting to maneuver his body so that he was somewhat facing Namine. The smell of vanilla that wafted from her body told Roxas to position his body a little to the right. Although neither Namine nor Xion even took note of the blond, their blonde's, sudden movement. They were far too absorbed in their stare down to notice anything. Each wanting to win the battle at hand. The battle that determined who was superior.

Roxas cleared his throat hesitantly, as if afraid of even attempting to break their narrowed gazes. Yet, nothing happened. Nether girl noticed. It was as if they hadn't even heard him. Roxas tried again, but this time managed to use his voice and speak.

"Y-you needed to tell me something....Namine?"

Both girl's gazes broke at the abrupt sound, their faces turned toward Roxas' full of confusion. Almost as though woken from some sort of trance.

Namine blinked a few times, still shaking the haze from her mind, "Um...yeah."

Xion's scowled at Roxas' interest in what Namine had to say. Why the hell would he even want to talk to that overly made up barbie doll in the first place? The thoughts plagued Xion's mind almost relentlessly as she watched the exchange between the two blonds, her blue eyes slits.

"So...." Roxas began.

Namine let out a small sigh, "So?"

"What did you need to ask me?"

Namine's eyes widened, a faint blush of embarrassment suddenly painted on her cheeks, as she let out a nervous giggle, "Oh...um actually...I can't quite..erm..remember." Namine mentally slapped herself once the words came out of her mouth. How pathetic was she? Stuttering like that. She wasn't the little frightened girl she used to be. She was strong, independent and completely in charge of her life. Or at least she was supposed to be.

Xion rolled her eyes, "That's a shocker."

Namine placed her hands on her hips, the shyness that had overcome her again dispersed. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, barbie," Xion shot back snidely.

Namine inhaled sharply, about ready to grind Xion's face against the concrete in the next three seconds if she didn't shut the hell up. Roxas seemed to feel the tension between the two girls begin to brew again and quickly intervened, with a lighter tone which he hoped would help to lift the tension.

"Hey, it's fine honestly. You can tell me later Nam."

Namine's blushed again. Nam. He called her Nam, as in a cute little nickname that showed he liked her. The very thought made Namine's stomach flip and her mouth try to stretch into a happy smile. But of course, Namine had her limits. She couldn't show him how elated she was at such a small gesture. He would think she was a freak. An overly giddy, hormonal freak. And with that in mind, Namine only let out a small amused smile and a quick triumphant glance towards Xion who unlike Namine did not bother containing her emotions.

"Well then, when should we meet up again?"

Roxas' mouth twisted while he thought for moment, "How bout'....tomorrow before school?"

Namine heart thumped, but she kept her voice even and smooth, "I think I can fit a quick meeting into my schedule."

Xion rolled her eyes, as the bell rung signaling the end of class. "C'mon Roxas, we better get going to our next class." Xion securely gripped onto the blonde's arm and began to drag him out the class room. Roxas made no objections, he figured it was probably easier not to anyways, but right as his figure began to fade into the noisy swarm of students the boy waved his hand to Namine who stood fuming at the doorway of the classroom.

"See you tomorrow morning Nam!"

"Yeah see you tomorrow," Namine muttered, watching as the duo's figures finally disappeared around the corner. Namine's eyes narrowed. She really would have to do something about that Xion girl.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Well I'm not dead. And I feel horrible about leaving for so long. Things have been hectic. My school work had been the main source of my problems. In this week alone I had about 5 quizzes, a math quiz, Ws', and I have three papers coming up which means extra fun for me as you can all imagine.

The bright side: I have a quite a bit of the next chapter already planned including the part where we'll all start feeling bad for Namine:)

Anyway, hope you still like this story and are still willing to

READ AND REVIEW!

Reviews=love and COOKIES!

nobody-Hey thanx for the review! I'm glad you like my story so much:) I'm sorry I don't update fast-er. But I'm flattered to hear you say that:)

Artism-Hey thanx! I appreciate your review TONS!:D And *claps for you* I'm glad you get one the main points in the story(blindness being a new way to see:) Yeah, I'm still not quite sure the cause of his blindness, and really? Hmm that's interesting, I just go by what I see in movies/tv lol

Kit-Kat-Wafer-Hehe thanx:) I know it's not her 'usual' self but hey I have to for the story's sake. Lol I'm really hoping to have the feeling bad for her if not chapter 9 at the latest chapter 10. Thanx, I'm not always the best with endings but glad you liked it:) Lol I agree bad pasts make characters that aren't the nicest seem a little better. Yeah Oc's aren't my favorites to add in but I was like ??? on what character would fit since I've used a fair majority already. Agreed! Crooked smiles are the best! And thanx:) I'm glad you like the style I'm writing in:) I'm never sure while writing this(cuz it's in 3rd person) how well I'm doing with thoughts. Aww thanx:)