OK, now I've taken a leap in time from the other chapter, simply because there is no need to have a chapter or chapters of what is happening in the four weeks upto this chapter. So Rinoa has been in Balamb for over a month now and she's settled in with the group and all.
I also want to apologise for my French, i don't actually speak French, i got someone to translate the parts i wanted but then i couldn't read their handwriting =), so please bear with me and correct me where i am wrong.
Chapter 8 - The Thousand Watt Smile
Quistis parked her car into a bay at the high school parking lot and picked up her brown leather bag off the car floor. She looked over at Rinoa and smacked the girl's arm, "Get up Rinoa." She shouted.
"I'm up, I'm up". Rinoa said groggily. The raven haired girl adjusted her clothes and pulled her sunglasses up briefly squinting into the sunlight before replacing the glasses back onto her eyes.
"How long were you talking to your dad last night?" Quistis asked worried.
"We had some catching up to do" Rinoa replied back tiredly yawning.
"You've been here like four weeks, you've pretty much talked to your dad every night this week and not much has happened. What could you have possibly 'caught' up with?" Quistis further prodded.
"Stuff" was all Rinoa replied and Quistis didn't bother to push it any further. She took her bag and began walking into the main foyer with Rinoa close behind.
Truth was, Rinoa couldn't tell her the conversation she had. Sure Quistis was her cousin and all, but when Rinoa's father meant business he meant exactly that and a Caraway secret meant more than anything else in the world. Four weeks ago her father had updated her with the news of Esthar and Galbadia's current peace treaty and how she was to attend a function with him to meet with the President of Esthar. It was an inside event that meant tabloids wouldn't receive the pictures, but would be officially given the thousand words of the events after it took place.
Rinoa wasn't sure what she was so excited over, the fact that she, a non-Estharian, gets to actually see and meet the President of Esthar, or the fact that Galbadia and Esthar were finally coming together in peace which meant liberation for Timber a place that held her cherished childhood memories. She knew the biggest excitement she had, had to be that she would finally be spending an entire week with her dad, sure it would be in the same house as the President of Esthar, but still, she would be in the company of her father, her only remaining parent.
Feeling all giddy as she walked into the hallway, she realised now would be the time to tell Quistis that General Caraway was coming to pick her up tomorrow and that they would be spending the entire week at Balamb Villas near the hills just off the beach; her father was renting for some father-daughter bonding. That was of course just half of truth but she couldn't risk letting Quistis know the full story.
"Quisty, to be honest my dad told me last night he's coming down tomorrow" Rinoa said cautiously looking at the blonde for any suspicious reactions.
"Really? Cool you'll finally get to spend some time with him alone."
"Yeah about the alone part. My dad found some Balamb resorts up in the hills advertised on the Internet. I think it's the villas just off the beach were he wants us to stay for the week." She replied carefully repeating the words her father had told her to say.
"Wow. Not many people live up there you know? It's kinda like a gated community just without the physical gate" Quistis said matter-of-factly.
"Really?" was all Rinoa could reply.
"Yeah, well actually, I do know Squall lives around that area. Been to his house only a couple of times when I was younger. After his mum died his dad got busy with work and he and his sister sort of just kept to themselves." Quistis explained sympathetic.
"That's sad." Rinoa replied knowing exactly how Squall would've felt. After her mum died there was a period were her father had shut himself up and concentrated solely on the running of Galbadia. A semi-war had started between father and daughter when Caraway made a rash decision to allow Timber to be occupied by the Galbadian Army. Rinoa didn't like to focus too much on that aspect of her life with her father. Truth was, after one of her many arguments with her father she had ran away and got onto the first train to Timber. Of course her father found out and went to get her, where else would she have ran off to?
He had found her sitting on the edge of a cliff looking longingly out onto the plains of Galbadia which could be seen outside the town. The sun was setting in the distant horizon and the last traces of golden light illuminated the young girl's face highlighting the delicate tears that streaked her cheeks.
"Rinoa" He addressed her with his calmest and softest voice. "May I take this seat?"
"Go for it" She replied without looking at him. Her eyes were still focused on the setting sun and occasionally she'd take a deep sniff and wipe a couple of stray tears that gathered at the corners of her mouth.
"Here" Caraway handed her a handkerchief. She took the handkerchief and dried her face and looked up at her father. She could see the sides of his hair were already greying and his eyes were swollen.
"Daddy?" Rinoa asked softly. "You know she's not coming back right?" The young girl chocked out still holding the handkerchief for comfort.
Rinoa broke away from her reflection and looked up at Quistis. They were sitting in the science lab waiting for the bell to ring before the start of lessons. Her cousin was busy scribbling in her notepad and nodding her head along to something she was listening to on her iPod. She remembered back to what Quistis said last and decided to continue the conversation.
"Hey Quisty" Rinoa poked Quistis with the end of her pen. The blonde removed an ear plug and raised an eyebrow. "What does Squall's dad do? I mean like what's his job?" She continued.
"Oh he's a journalist for some magazine in Timber." Quistis replied and tried getting back to her music.
Rinoa quickly grabbed her hand and continued her inquiry. "So does he like work from home?"
"No he travels back to Timber so Ellone, Squall's sister, normally takes care of them." Quistis replied and looked at her cousin waiting for her to be done with her inquisition.
Rinoa knew how Squall would've felt with a 'working father' who was never really emotionally there, it hurt; it felt like you had lost both parents. She wondered if Squall had a nice father or if he was one of those fathers that kind of expected children to take care of themselves.
"No wonder Squall's so recluse, it must be lonely up there in that house just him and his sister." Rinoa thought sadly going off into another contemplation.
"It's not like he's completely alone" Quistis said amused. "When I said they keep to themselves I meant they don't really go out much and when they do it's always with the same group of people. Squall has been friends with Zell and Seifer since pre-school. Well, okay maybe that's exaggerating but they knew each other when they were really young. Now have you seen Squall with anyone else?" Quistis asked.
"No" She replied back thinking hard.
"That's because Squall is only comfortable around certain people. You'd have to have spent years with Squall in order to be fully accepted by him. He stays with Seifer and Zell because he is comfortable around them, Irvine too but even then he made it into the group in the nick of time" Quistis continued going back to her scribbling.
"Nick of time?" Rinoa repeated confused.
"Yeah, before his mum died Squall wasn't so recluse. He was still silent, but not unapproachable. When his mum died a lot of people gave their condolences and stayed clear of him thinking that he'd want the space. That only made him become recluse and uncomfortable around people he doesn't know." The blonde explained.
"So that's why he doesn't hang out with anyone other than you guys?" Rinoa asked.
"Yeah pretty much, we were the ones who stayed by him, for two weeks Zell, Seifer and Irvine practically moved in with Squall because they feared he'd close up into a shell. Selph and I would see him at school and bug him during lunch times." Quistis said her memory still fresh of the vivid the night she got the call from Selphie explaining Raine's death.
"But how did you know he'd become recluse? Sometimes people need their space, everyone handles death in different ways" Rinoa said remembering how in the first week of her own mother's death she locked herself in her room and refused to speak to anyone but her father. She wouldn't of come out ever if it hadn't been for her uncle and cousins that came and forced her to come out, promising to take her to Timber, to where her mother would take her every summer.
"Well we're his friends so obviously we knew what he'd most likely do." Quistis replied back defensively. Sure Squall didn't feel the same way as she did for him, but Rinoa didn't know just how close they were. Before his mother's death Squall and Quistis were very close, often he and Seifer would get into fights and Quistis was the one to separate them reprimanding them both. Squall would tell her to mind her own business and that he already had one Ellone at home he didn't need another one at school. These pastimes proved to Quistis that Squall did appreciate her friendship and the close bond they had. She didn't exactly appreciate the way Rinoa belittled their actions solely because she had gone through something of the same nature. She remembered her aunt Julia's death and how Rinoa wouldn't come out of her room not even to see Quistis when she came over to console her.
"I didn't meant it like that" Rinoa tried to explain, she realised her comment came across quite patronising, but really she just wanted to figure out how much Squall kept to himself.
"Anyways" Quistis continued "Squall hasn't made a single friend since his mum's death, I guess he's quite content with the people that stuck with him and doesn't need anyone else in his life." Quistis harshly spat back and turned back to her notepad just as the bell rang indicating the first period.
Rinoa turned to look at the teacher now, Quistis's last comment really stung, she knew it was a lame attempt to insult and educate her about Squall's lack of social sills. But was he really so uninviting? Does it matter? It's not like I can like him anyways right? She thought to herself. But there was that feeling that even though she planned to make her own friends and leave Quistis with hers, she would of liked to be friends with Squall.
The second period bell had gone off and Rinoa was in the middle of her lab experiment. She had paired up with Selphie and the two were assigned to test metals against different liquid chemicals for their assignment. Rinoa had her head down recording the results when she looked up past the glass door to the lab. She could make out Squall's fur collar and watched as he walked into the opposite lab. With both door's to the lab open she watched as he took a seat and folded his arms on the table with his head down. He looked like a mannequin so still and lifeless. He wasn't too far away and she could make out the redness of the scar that ran across his forehead past the bridge of his nose just before his upper cheek. Even with that scar his face looked angelic.
His head shot up at that moment and he looked directly at her. He blinked a couple of times making sure it was Rinoa that was staring at him.
She felt slightly embarrassed that he caught her staring at him, God knows how long he would have thought she'd been looking at him.
Might as well play the part. Rinoa thought to herself trying to figure out a way to rid herself from the embarrassment. The last time she caught Squall's eyes he completely ignored her, now he was looking directly at her.
Smiling she held up her index finger in gesture of recognition. This only led to Squall narrowing his eyes head bent and looking over at her in confusion.
"I'll be right back Selphie, cover for me ok?" Rinoa asked the bubbly teen next to her who was busy dropping all sorts of metals into the glass beakers.
"Okey dokes!" Selphie answered back.
Rinoa walked past the remaining tables near the doorway and made her way into the next lab where Squall was sitting. The classroom was occupied by only a handful of students that were still preparing for the expected lesson.
Once she reached Squall she smiled up at him. "You're the grumpiest looking guy here" Rinoa tried to joke. Quistis's comment had really affected her, in a way she wanted to show Quistis that she could easily receive Squall's friendship.
Squall merely looked at her with more confusion before turning his head away. Crap she thought. That didn't go too well, maybe she was right. She was about to turn away but decided against it. Squall, you're going to be my friend if it's the last thing I do.
"Let me guess you'll only be friends with people you like?" Rinoa teased but honestly she felt as if what Quistis said was true. Taking a deep breath and psyching herself up, she took Squall's chin into her right hand and drew circles around his eyes with her left. "Well in that case, you're-going-to-like-me, you're-going-to-like-me."
Squall looked up at her and could see a slight fading of hope burn out in her eyes. He didn't understand why she was all of a sudden giving him this attention or why she thought he didn't like her.
"Did it work?" She asked disheartened.
"I like you Rinoa." Squall's hoarse voice replied back and Rinoa could make out the slightest upturn of the corners of his mouth.
Rinoa's smile however was a lot bigger than that, she grinned at the brunette with a thousand watt smile and giggled in reply, "Good, I like you too."
"You know what I'd like?" A voice from behind boomed at Rinoa. The scared girl turned quickly locating the voice to a very annoyed teacher. "If you'd return to your lesson and let me get on with mine!"
Rinoa looked around, and sure enough the classroom that was moderately empty before was filled with students that just sat staring at the two youths in their cheerful banter.
"Sorry" Rinoa attempted weakly and scurried off back into her own lab.
Squall watched the girl go with an amused smile, somehow whenever she was around he felt lighter, he felt happiness surround him. He felt how he felt when his mother was still alive.
The bell rang and Squall hurriedly gathered his belongings hoping to walk alongside Zell to the Cafeteria for break and then his next lesson. Really he wanted to wait outside the other lab to see Rinoa again; it was his secret way of thanking her for making him laugh and brightening up his day.
Just as he swung his backpack over his shoulder Professor Hojo called out to him. Cursing in his head he made his way to the grouch sitting on his stool in front of the white board with pen poised in midair.
"Yes sir?" Squall asked in monotone.
"Ah yes, I wanted to talk to you about a Science research project that is to take place this term. It will mainly focus on wild species and endangered species and will take place in The Deep Sea Research Centre just off Centra." Prof. Hojo explained.
"Okay." Squall acknowledged still not sure what the man was asking of him.
"I was thinking you'd be a good candidate to send and I think it will look very good on your University application, not many people get the chance to study alongside such great scientists." The professor continued.
"Yeah sure I don't mind" Squall said impatiently wanting to just get out before the other group left their lab.
"Good I was hoping for such and answer" The professor replied back, Squall was about to head off when the man spoke again.
"Say Squall what are you planning to study? Er, where are you planning to study exactly?" The man replied scribbling Squall's name on a notepad and handing it over for him to sign.
"I'm not sure, my dad wants to me go into Politics but I don't know what I want to do or where I want to do it." Squall replied truthfully. He knew it was his last year at school and he should have already thought about what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. On a humorous side he'd joke with Ellone, when he'd have this conversation, that he'd end up working for a video game magazine and write reviews. Ellone would just tease him and call him a bum and then go onto the lecture him about how it's 'important to solidify one's education and make something of yourself to help out the community'.
"Well I'd think fast you should already have some ideas of where you'd like to study. If you find me at lunch time I'll hand you some university prospectuses, although it is mainly for studying science." The professor offered.
"Sure." Squall muttered and handed the notepad back with a wave and left the lab.
Making his way to the other lab all he found were the two technicians clearing up the left over equipment from the experiment.
Hurriedly he made his way down to the Cafeteria; he knew Zell would've dragged the gang there to get a hot dog. Once in the Cafeteria he could make out Zell's fidgeting body hopping in the long lunch queue. Squall walked up to the blond and lightly touched his arm to which Zell turned and smiled.
"Sup? You completed all your Bio homework? That woman sets us some hard questions!" Zell complained still looking and the antagonising queue of students.
"Yeah it was simple." was Squall's short reply. Wanting not to lead Zell to any thoughts Squall coolly asked, "So where are Selphie and the others?"
"Waiting in the back." Zell motioned with his head to a far off table at the back of the Cafeteria. Squall could make out Selphie's equally energetic body hopping in front of Irvine and some other students he couldn't recognise from his point of view.
"Safe, I'll see you there." Squall answered and made his way towards the group.
Scanning his group of friends he realised Rinoa was not among them. Feeling a bit upset he wanted to go look for her but had already made his presence aware to the people in front of him.
He'd have to make an excuse if he wanted to go look for her. Why am I in such a rush to see her anyways? Squall thought to himself.
"What's up?" Seifer asked turning to Squall who sat next to him.
Squall merely shook his head and put his hand on his forehead ignoring the volume of noise that came from the other students.
"You just got in now?" Squall asked still looking at the floor.
"Yeah doctor's appointment, had to show them that knee injury from Blitzball, I swear that coach is crazy I should sue him for assault." Seifer complained rubbing his knee.
"It was an accident; he thought you were man enough to actually catch the ball." Squall mocked twirling his ring around his finger.
Quistis looked over at Squall, she saw he looked slightly sad and thought to herself if she should ask if he was alright. Maybe I should just wait for Rinoa to ask him. She thought bitterly to herself. She had watched as Rinoa walked out of the lab during their Chemistry lesson and walk up to Squall. The two were smiling at something she said before the teacher scolded her to return to her own lab. Quistis didn't like that; she felt Rinoa was challenging her in some way. To be honest she had only commented on Squall's unnecessary need of new friends because she felt Rinoa was trying to teach her something about her own friends. Rinoa had only been here for just over a month and already she was analysing her friends and Quistis's lifestyle.
Deciding she gave Squall too much of her time already she turned her attention back to Seifer and poked his stomach. "Bouncy castle, bouncy castle" she teased.
Seifer laughed and looked at Quistis confused. She had never given him this kind of attention and he desperately wanted more of it if not the need to know where it had come from.
"What was that about?" He laughed and moved her hand away.
"You need to stop eating so much, you're getting a fat stomach" Quistis replied cutely and poked her tongue out.
"Hey I like my fat stomach" Seifer joked back and the two continued giggling.
Squall was looking at the table in front of him and smiled at the two blondes sitting next to him flirting. He was shocked at Quistis's forward behaviour with Seifer and hoped it was something that would finally seal he two together.
The rest of the school day went by and Squall and Seifer made their way to the Science Lab so Seifer could sign up for the Deep Sea Research Project Squall and had told him about. The two thought it would be something good for Seifer considering he was going to be heading off from Centra after the year was over and study at Centra University while working alongside his father.
The two boys walked into the lab only to be once again behind a huge queue of students waiting to sign up. Professor Kefka was at the front of the lab trying to get everyone's attention.
"Students! Please!" The professor shouted and finally the budding students quietened down. "Right, the trip can take only up to 70 students, we already have 20 students we thought would benefit from this trip due to career reasons. Although this trip is open to all years those who are in their final year of study will of course have priority". The professor just about finished when a wave of moans and some curses came from lower class men.
Squall scanned the class room as he made his way to the back deciding to wait for Seifer somewhere where he wasn't being shoved around. That's when she saw Rinoa signing her name onto one of the notepads and handing it back to the professor before making her way towards the door. She spotted Squall and made her way towards him.
"Hey friend" Rinoa joked.
"Hi" Squall replied shyly and averted his eyes looking over at Seifer who was giving a demon glare at the blonde girl in front of him talking away noisily into her phone and constantly flipping her hair back which was smacking against Seifer's face.
Deciding he'd had enough he grabbed her phone and threw it to the side of the class. The girl turned to swear at the idiot who had just abruptly ended her conversation only to hold her breath at the huge figure towering over her before running off to find her phone and leave the class room.
"You're not signing up for the project?" Rinoa asked breaking Squall's short tangent.
"Yeah, my professor already signed me up" Squall replied.
"Cool, I guess we'll be spending more time together then huh?" Rinoa smiled her thousand watt smile again. He liked that smile of hers, it was warm and welcoming and made her eyes twinkle.
Before he could reply a buzzing noise came from her bag and she quickly pulled out her phone. Reading a text she looked up at Squall with an apologetic smile.
"I gotta go, I'll see ya later." Rinoa quickly said and hurried off
Squall watched again as she disappeared for the second time, he wished there were some way he could spend some more time with her. He wished today were a Tuesday as that was the day they were in all their lessons together. Realising it just wasn't written for him he impatiently waited for Seifer to reach the end of the line so he could go home and prepare for the next day's big event.
FRIDAY EVENING
"Rinoa!" Quistis called from the bottom of the stairs. She could make out the other girl running from her room down the hallway and finally reach the steps.
"Your dad is here, he's waiting in the living room" Quistis said to the girl waiting at the top of the stairs with her toothbrush still in her mouth.
Rinoa muttered something inaudible and went into the toilet while Quistis went into the lounge to keep her uncle company.
"So Quistis, your father tells me you've decided to take French this year?" Caraway asked the blonde.
Quistis smiled and pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "Oui" She replied testing out her French. She had only taken it to make her father happy as he was constantly complaining how his one and only child did not speak the same language as him, a language that in his opinion was the essence of beauty. Truth was Quistis didn't really care much about beauty of language; she'd speak in HTML code if she could, that was her speciality.
"Qu'est-ce que tu penses du francais?" Caraway asked back in French
"C'est defiant mais je admire la beaute de la langue." Quistis replied acknowledging her father who couldn't look more proud.
"Chaque francais, devrait savoir le francaise langue, c'est une langue magnifique." Jacques said excited at her interest in her heritage.
Rinoa came down at that moment and took her father into a big bear hug. She was really excited about tonight, the plan was to tell Quistis and the family they were having a father-daughter dinner at a nice restaurant in the town. Really it was finally the Friday Caraway had been anticipating. Today he was to meet the President of Esthar and his family and further talk about matters of both their countries.
Rinoa was excited too, she had never been to any of her father's functions, mostly because they seemed boring. This time however, it was a different matter, this was exciting and mysterious.
She decided to wear a gold knee length halter dress with some foundation on her face and small amount of kohl to accent her eyes. She didn't want to be too overboard and decided to go the elegant way of looking plain but pleasing.
Saying their farewells Caraway took Rinoa's weekend bags and put them into the boot of his black Lexus. Father and daughter got into the car and made their way towards the address that was faxed to General Caraway a week ago.
The drive was short and the two talked about the importance of the meeting and what it meant for both countries. Rinoa was informed that the President had two children although the ages Caraway wasn't certain of.
"They're bound to be pre-teens, rumour has it the man became President at a very young age. I hope he doesn't think too old of me?" Caraway chuckled.
They arrived at the large detached house surrounded by birch trees and a neatly cut lawn. The two got out of the car and walked towards the house and rang on the doorbell waiting for an answer.
The door opened revealing a tall man roughly around his forties though he could easily pass for late thirties. His hair was pushed back into a loose ponytail, he wore a clean crisp blue shirt and long dark pants. He held his hand out to the General with a broad smile and welcomed the two into his home.
For some reason the man looked very familiar to Rinoa, she knew she hadn't seen him before but the general look of his face was similar to someone she knew and she had a hard time placing it.
Ellone ran into Squall's room just as he was doing the last button on his black shirt.
"They're here!" Ellone cried in a whisper. Squall just smirked and followed his sister down the stairs.
The guests had moved into the lounge as he could hear the voices of his father and another grown man talking away about how nice it was to finally meet each other. Squall entered as the man was shaking Ellone's hand and muttering sweet greetings. The man was a tall broad man evidence of him being in the army at some point. He wore a black Italian suit with pinstripes and a silk handkerchief fixed into his jacket pocket.
That's when Squall noticed another figure behind bent slightly looking into the showcase that adorned their lounge. Squall could see she was looking at the picture of his late mother. It was an old picture before Squall was even born; it was the night his father proposed to his mother in a field in Winhill where they had met. His mother was smiling, a beam of a thousand watt smile, she looked so happy in the picture.
"Ahh and this is my son." Laguna started to introduce Squall to the General. The General shook his hand and nodded just as Squall was about to introduce himself. The General however turned slightly to get the attention of the young woman behind him.
"Dear, there are people here to meet you." He informed the other guest.
"Sorry" she muttered slowly still engrossed in the picture of the beautiful woman.
"Squall sir, nice to meet you." Squall replied to the General sincerely pleased to meet him.
"SQUALL!" Came a high pitched cry. Squall looked over to the other guest only to see Rinoa's thousand watt smile for the third time.
For once that week Squall dared to return it.
They had a few beverages before dinner, the two men questioning Squall and Rinoa on how they knew each other and if they had the same circle of friends. Once the interest of the two teens died Ellone announced dinner was ready and the five of them sat round the oak dining table. Rinoa was pleased to see a mouth-watering roasted leg of lamb, roast potatoes, steamed vegetables, and other complimentary dishes.
"We thought we'd make a family meal, it's a lot more personal than just serving fish eggs." Ellone humorously explained as Rinoa scanned the table.
"It looks delicious" Rinoa complimented.
The group sat at the table talking about the children's school, Ellone's final year at Balamb and general conversations. Rinoa had learned that prior to Laguna working for Timber Maniacs, the magazine Quistis was talking about, he was in the Galbadian Army. He no longer worked for the magazine company but used it as a decoy from people finding out where he really worked and who he really was.
Squall stayed silent most of the meal and only engaged in conversation when prompted by either his father or the General.
Once dinner was done the two men retired to Laguna's study while Rinoa helped Squall and Ellone clear the table. Neither of the latter allowed Rinoa to help wash or dry the dishes so she remained sitting on a stool keeping the conversation of school going.
At one point Squall excused himself and went upstairs.
"Yeah so I think after I'm done with my Lit degree I'm going to travel like my dad and see if I can write about my experiences." Ellone was saying.
"That'd be cool, I wouldn't mind reading about your travels." Rinoa replied genuinely interested in Ellone's future, she would've liked to take the same path and mentally noted it down.
Rinoa watched Ellone as she wiped up the remaining of the dishes. She wasn't as tall as Squall or Laguna, she was just a bit taller than Rinoa and had short brown hair. Her face was round and was more emphasised by the brown bob cut that hug around her face. Her cute button nose and her dimple made her even more adorable and Rinoa couldn't help but smile at the young woman.
"What?" Ellone asked looking up.
"Oh sorry, I have a staring problem. You're really pretty you know!" She said laughing feeling slightly embarrassed by her rude stare.
"So are you, my brother couldn't keep his eyes of you all evening." Ellone joked raising her left eyebrow.
"What?" Rinoa asked shocked. She couldn't believe Squall would be staring at her all evening; she hadn't really paid much attention when there were all these gorgeous helpings of food in front of her. Could he really have been staring at me?
"Its true, I've never seen him even look at another girl before, come to think of it, apart from Quistis and Selphie he doesn't really converse with any other girls." Ellone elaborated.
So it is true. Rinoa thought, what Quistis said about Squall not making many friends had been true. But then again Squall had confirmed that Rinoa was his friend. She decided to ignore Quistis's words for the evening and concentrate on the girl in front of her.
"You know, you don't look anything like Squall or Mr. Loire. Haha in fact you look more like Rachel Leigh Cook." Rinoa commented finally pinpointing Ellone's exact replica.
Ellone softly smiled and wrapped the dish cloth in her hands. "Oh that's because I'm adopted." She answered sweetly and winked.
"Oh I'm sorry" Rinoa quickly replied feeling stupid and guilty.
"It's no problem, I was really happy with Raine as my mum and I'm still happy to be a part of Laguna and Squall's family." Ellone smiled sincerely happy, she wouldn't have changed her life for anything different, as far as she was concerned Raine and Laguna were her real parents, they brought her up, took care of her and treated her with love and kindness that was the job of a mother and father.
Rinoa only just realised how much her bladder was aching from needing to go to the toilet. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" She asked.
"Sure, it's upstairs on the first floor, down the hall and on the left." Ellone explained and Rinoa soon made her way to the toilet.
Following the raven haired girl Ellone walked upstairs and went in to check on Squall.
She found him lying on his bed one leg crossed over another, one arm underneath his head reading his current novel.
"There you are" Ellone said and sat on Squall's computer swivel chair. Squall's room wasn't anything like a normal teenage boy's room. The walls were painted blood red with only one single poster hanging just above his bed. A lion Squall called Griever - the fiercest lion ever existed. His bed was adjacent to his door in the middle of his room with the window at the other end. Opposite the window near the door was his desk with his school books neatly laid in two piles. At the far end of the room opposite the end of his bed was a double door wardrobe and a chest of draws. Everything was neatly packed away making the room look very spacious.
"Where's Rinoa?" Squall asked putting his book down and slightly getting up to a leaning position against the headrest of his bed.
"In the bathroom. So?" Ellone teased.
"So? What?" Squall asked trying not to follow his sister's lead in where this conversation was heading.
"You keep staring at her." Ellone matter-of-factly stated.
"I don't" Squall replied back rolling his eyes.
"Yeah you do. It's her isn't it? The girl Dad said you kept chanting about, she's Quistis's cousin isn't she?." Ellone gleefully reminded him.
Squall was smooth at talking his way out of things; many times he'd be able to fool people from believing all sorts of things about himself and his family. But if one thing was for certain Squall could at this moment not hide the embarrassment he now felt remembering his behaviour the night he first met Rinoa.
Rinoa walked out of the bathroom closing her handbag after having touched up her makeup and smoothed down her hair. She was about to make her way across the hallway and downstairs when she heard voices coming from the room next to the toilet. The door was slightly ajar and she could hear Ellone and Squall talking in a little more than a whisper. She knew she shouldn't listen but she'd never really heard Squall talk much at school and when he did it was always one sentences. She promised herself she'd hear a bit if it was something boring and then walk in pretending she'd only just gotten out of the bathroom.
"So exactly what is it that's different about her?" Ellone asked.
"I don't know, she's different from other girls. She's smart and… don't laugh?" Squall asked Ellone.
Ellone held her hand out as good gesture. "Promise".
"She's really pretty, no she is beautiful." Squall's voice replied back.
Who is? Rinoa couldn't help but listen more, if the Squall she knew liked someone she wanted to know who it was.
"Quistis is smart and beautiful." Ellone stated.
So he does like her. For some reason Rinoa felt a heave of emotions, she knew all along since the day she made that promise that nothing between her and Squall would ever happen. But this new revelation confirmed that promise, all this time she thought there was some hope that maybe Squall would be interested in someone else. Deep down she wanted a hint that he would have liked her. She really wanted Squall, it wasn't a feeling of envy where she wanted something that belonged to someone else. It was her realisation that since meeting Squall she actually wanted him to like her as much as she grew to liking him.
"I know, she is pretty and smart but there's just something different about her." Squall tried explaining.
"How?" Ellone asked wanting more hoping her brother was serious about this girl. She knew he was, if Squall ever liked a girl, he would go the whole nine yards.
Rinoa stood silently listening very disheartened. She knew she had no right feeling this way since she made that promise to Quistis, since she promised Quistis she would set her up with Squall if it was the last thing she did. But she knew it wasn't Venus envy she was feeling now, she genuinely liked Squall. When they went to the movies she was happy Squall noticed her, she wished she had dressed up like Quistis and was Squall's date for the night. She wished the jokes she shared with Seifer were shared with Squall instead and that she meant more to him than a friend.
"I can't explain it Sis. I just feel like she can see through me, like she knows me the most out of everyone. She reminds me of mum as well." Squall confided.
"Mum? Are you sure you don't like her in some other kind of way?" Ellone asked concerned.
"No, not like that!" Squall replied exasperated. "Like I feel whole when she's around, I feel safe and complete, how mum used to make me feel." Squall replied toying with the Griever accessory that was hanging on his phone.
"Wow. Squall you're really serious about her aren't you?" Ellone asked.
Rinoa couldn't hear Squall's reply but guessed he probably nodded in confirmation.
"I've never felt like this before. I know it's really cliché when people say things like that, but it's true. The day I first saw her I knew there was something about her, when she smiles at me its literally like some force of happiness and euphoria are pushed into my chest and it feels heavy and hard to breathe. When she talks to me, I feel ecstatic by her acknowledging me. When she looks at me it's like she's looking into me rather than the at my appearance. And now I can't stop thinking about her." Squall's soft voice replied still with the hint of shyness that lingered.
"Does she like you back?" Ellone asked trying to hide her huge grin.
Deciding she'd heard enough, and rather not hear the dreaded reply, Rinoa raised her hand towards the bathroom door to pretend to of only just come out slamming the door behind her. She stopped however when she heard Squall's answer.
"I think she likes Seifer." Squall replied displeased. Huh? Rinoa was confused, Why would he think Quistis liked Seifer? It's so obvious she's totally into him. She practically throws herself at him, what would make him think she liked Seifer?
"But Seifer doesn't like her?" Ellone completed Squall's story like completing a puzzle to a very bizarre love triangle.
"No, Seifer is still hooked up on Quistis though he denies now." Squall replied rolling his eyes.
Rinoa was now completely confused. Who are they talking about? She was now slightly less disheartened than before, if Quistis wasn't the one Squall liked than the promise wasn't so binding now, though it still didn't take away the fact that she felt something strong towards him.
"Well I don't see a problem, I know I'm like only three years older than you lot but you guys are really long winded. You tell her you like her, Seifer tells Quistis he likes her and done, either they both say yes or they both say no. What is the point of being so gloomy over something you don't know the answer for?" Ellone ranted now slightly bored of the teen angst that occupied her time.
"No way, I can't tell her." Squall quickly replied in disbelief.
"Why not? What is the worst she can say?" Ellone replied trying to sound convincing.
"Oh yeah Sis, I can really see it, 'Hi Rinoa, sorry to bother you, but I really like you and can't stop thinking about you', yeah great plan" Squall retorted with a mock thumbs up.
Behind the ajar door stood Rinoa in complete shock and excitement. She didn't know what to do or say or even think. Could she really have heard it right? Could Squall really have liked her all along? What would this mean for Quistis? What about the promise she made? All these questions filled her mind but one thing kept coming back. She felt an wave of tranquillity just hearing him say he thought about her, that he liked her. She wanted to be liked by him, she wanted to share those jokes with him and she smiled at the recognition that she reminded him of someone he was safe with and found comfort.
Rinoa's train of thought was cut short by a very loud message sound. Cursing at herself she opened her handbag to stop the sound but she was already sure the two she was spying on had heard.
Squall and Ellone both looked at each other confused and shocked at Rinoa's presence. Squall was immediately filled with embarrassment and a hint of betrayal and annoyance that the raven haired girl would listen in on their conversation.
Brother and sister made their way outside the room to find Rinoa with her head down staring at her phone. Her mouth was slightly ajar and her eyes were focused inwards her eyebrows forming a creased frown.
She invaded my privacy, I'll guess I'll return the favour. Squall thought and gently took the phone off Rinoa's hand. The girl only looked at him hurt in her eyes and a flush of red, it was obviously something embarrassing.
Squall looked down at Rinoa's phone now in his hand; an email was forwarded from Selphie.
Selphie: Babez saw this posted on the forums, thought I should show you, was wondering if it was true? Ignore the comments, people can be such retards! I'll get Sarah to remove it immediately.
At the bottom of the message was an image on the school website of Rinoa and Seifer under the birch tree Squall had seen them under a few weeks ago. Seifer's mouth was close to Rinoa's face, the girl's eyes wide open looking straight at him, his hand on her chin. If Squall hadn't already known the truth behind the picture he would've believed the text written underneath the picture.
King and Queen of BH need a room as they make their relationship exclusive.
Comments:
2hot2btru wrote:Skank! I saw her chattin up Squall yesterday.
-Narutofan: LOL, she gets around
PuPuPrince wrote: Woteva she seems like a nice girl, im sure she's just friends wiv Squall.
- U1tim4_W34p0n: Yeah 'friends', I don't mind being her 'friend' myself, ;)
- PupuPrince: Shut up u retard
- 2hot2btru: dnt b tellin him to shut up, u troll….
Rinoa's was shaking from the anger that was building up inside her, she hated rumours more than anything. People invented rumours about her mother when she was alive in these scenarios and now the same was being done to her. She knew she needed something to calm her, whenever she bottled up anger it would stress her out and lead to her having constant migraines, something she developed after her mother passed away. But the image was still displayed on her phone and she couldn't think of anything that could calm her.
Squall could see the messages were really affecting her; she was literally shaking and gritting her teeth. He looked over to Ellone who smiled sympathetically and nodded her head.
Taking her hand, Rinoa looked up to Squall; he moved her closer to his body and held her shaking figure in a hug. Soon the shaking stopped and she could only feel the calmness of his heartbeat against her own.
A/N: Yay another chapter done and this one was looooong i know. I may not post next week because I've only written up to chapter 11 right now and i like the freedom of editing my scenes. If i post and then change my mind about an idea that'd suck because you'd have to go back and read the new chapter and thats just loooong!
Now some of you may think my Squall is a bit OOC, but he's not. Think of it this way, he's now at the end of disk 2 where he's starting to become very fond of her.
Anyways please review i do appreciate it, seriously i do *nods head*
Teaser:
Sarah saw the group of girls sitting leaned against the wall opposite the couch, she could make out the tallest girl among the group, her shiny dirty blond hair curled loosely falling onto her bare shoulders. She wore a hot pink tank top and dark blue cut off jeans, her feet were adorned in knee-high brown leather cowboy boots.
Sarah made her way towards the group, she wanted to wait for Selphie but figured she could always call on the girl if she saw her walk past; Selphie was bound to be here somewhere.
She reached the group and bent down to face them. Lauren noticed her first as Sarah had moved her head quite close to the blonde's looking at her straight in the eye and raising her left eyebrow questioningly.
"Yes Sarah may I help you?" Lauren asked laughing lightly in mockery.