I am. so. tired. right now. This chapter took forever to finish. I literally finished half of it two weeks ago, and ive been writing and revising since. So i really hope there is minimal mistakes. Other than that, this was pretty fun to write. Note that this story will be much lighter in mood than my past story. Although no less entertaining or decrease in quality. God. I forgot how much revising sucks balls. This was literally 17 pages on my Word. SO LONG MAN. I just had so much to fit in here...i hope i never have to write such a long one again ahahaha. Ok. I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. If you notice some characters were switched around from last chapter its because they were. Too tired to explain. Gah. Hope you enjoy :)
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[ Of Snow, Winter Wonder, and Relentless Boys ]
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Chapter Two
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Kairi was beyond excited.
For every Christmas she could remember, Kairi has gone to her winter house up in the mountains.
Unfortunately, it is a long trip. And many hours were spend just getting there. Which is understandable considering they had to go from tropic to frigid in a day. From their house they had to drive about an hour toward the main Destiny Island ports. From there they took one of those car ferries where you can put your car in the boat. This proceeded for about two hours until they reached the mainland. And then from there they had to drive about seven and a half hours to reach the family house at Yukiyama Mountain.
There was a formal resort and hotel on the mountain, with fabulous facilities and a shopping town center as well, and when she was really young, that is where they stayed. But after a couple of years, her family realized that they were going to come back repeatedly, so they bought a house along the side one of the high slopes. It ended up being one of the best investments they'd made. It was perfectly placed; an easy exit to the slopes that was conveniently near a lift, and road access with a drive-way and everything, so travel wasn't a problem.
The little town center was probably the most popular spot in the area. There were of course overpriced winter-wear shops and cheesy tourist stands lining the wide sidewalk, but there were some really great cafes, restaurants, and general, chill lounge spots for her age group that were quite popular. The town center also had a useful tab system for the residents or long staying hotel visitors. Meaning, that wherever you went and whatever you spent, you could add it to your universal tab, and then pay it weekly so that there was no need for carrying around money. Which was profoundly useful for a forgetful seventeen-year old girl like Kairi.
Near the mountain was the famous Town of Mokuzai. It was basically a very pish-posh, polished town where the richest of the rich lived. It had absolutely amazing restaurants and high-end stores. It was a popular vacation spot for numerous celebrities, and Kairi had had the blessed opportunity to see two celebrities during her many years: Oliver Bloomy, the famous heartthrob from that one pirate movie, and Dita Bambi, the world's first playboy bunny (needless to say she wasn't much of a looker any more).
So really, Mokuzai could be really ridiculous sometimes. So Kairi, her family, and her friends usually stuck within the confines of Yukiyama and its more humble and refreshing atmosphere. Nevertheless, Mokuzai was fun to go to every once in a while to do some splurging, but generally, Kairi wasn't tempted. Especially when every item was at least $100 plus, and fur coat stores with hanging dead mink just chillin were at every corner. But for all it was worth, Kairi was excited. And nothing would ruin this winter. Absolutely nothing.
Kairi sighed as she sat in the backseat of the car, a smile of contentment playing at her lips. She looked out the window as her parents traditionally fought over the same directions as diplomatically as possible, just like every other year. It was snowing a brilliant snow at the moment. The trees looked sugar-coated and crafted as if by hand; fit to look as if it were in Hollywood, a fairytale, or anything of that manner. The un-shielded sun made the snow sparkle and dazzle even at the speed her father was driving.
They were winding around the mountains now, meaning that they were gaining mayor altitude. Every year Kairi took about a week to adjust to the climate, altitude, and air pressure. It was a lot to take in at once if you really thought about it.
There is something called altitude sickness in which you have headaches and general feeling of fatigue. Not going to lie, it really sucks; even for a ski veteran like Kairi. It feels as if you have a mild fever, when really, there's nothing wrong with you. It is hard to shake, too. And then there is the bitter cold; quite a change from the toasty weather of Destiny Islands. And probably worst of all is the air pressure. Because there was a substantial drop in oxygen, it is incredibly hard to breath with any sort of physical activity. During the first few days, walking up the steps will result in shortness of breath, no matter how good of shape you think you're in. It's horrible. But you get used to it.
Kairi smiled again as they rounded yet another turn, showcasing the splendid scenery of the snow-crested mountains and the frozen river below. The sky was a rich blue with few clouds in the sky to cover the low sun.
Nothing could ruin this trip. Absolutely nothing. Not even her annoying little brother Axel or his stupid geeky friend Ventus, who by chance, were squished right next to her.
Of course, being the adorable favorite child, Axel got to bring a friend to the annual winter trip. Lovely right? Axel had originally asked a bunch of his little seventh grade friends, but all their parents said no. Which was understandable. Like, who would want to spend a little less than a month with this family? Oh wait, Ven would, because technically, he was family.
Ven was one of our cousins that for some unimaginable reason, Axel was absolutely in infatuated with. How that was possible is unfathomable. Maybe it was because of his genius IQ and whatnot, and how he could built rocket ships or any of that other science crap that fueled Axel's growing pyromania condition. But I mean, whichever.
And also, Ven was like, two years older than him. Making him in the ninth grade and an extremely annoying freshman. Kairi found him extremely irritating, especially with his stupid little crush he had on her. Being an eleventh grader and all, having a stupid freshman drool and follow you around like a puppy really hurt the rep. Especially when you have to own up to the fact that he is your cousin.
And that was exactly what he was doing right now; drooling. Ven was sitting in the middle seat between her brother and herself, and was conspicuously staring at her. Which was really awkward. All Kairi really wanted to do was punch him in his little pimply face and break those stupid, thick-rimmed glasses that he always wore.
Dear lord. It would have to be a true battle to make this winter a good one. The odds were against her right now. But Kairi was determined to make this the best winter ever! Not even geeky little second cousins and stupid brothers could ruin it.
Just as she was thinking this, Axel had sneezed into his hand, and was now waving his bacteria around for everyone to see. And one queue, Ven blessed him with a "Gesundheit!", which irked Kairi greatly.
"Axel, keep you nasty hands to yourself." Kairi shot, leaning forward around Ven so she could glare at her brother. Ven was looking a little uncomfortable.
"You want a taste?" Axel asked, smiling his little stupid seventh grade smile, showing her his gooey palms. Kairi snorted and returned to her place; arms folding and steady, muttering something about idiotic seventh graders ruining her winter.
"We're almost there, so stop fighting, young ones. And Kairi? Be a little more mature when it comes to your brother, ok? Rolling your eyes wont do anything. It unhealthy." her mother said, turning around so she could scold her with eye contact.
"Yeah Kairi, be more mature." Her brother echoed, snickering.
As per usual, her parents always sided with the little green-eyed back stabber, "Are you for serious right now? That thing is waving his amebas everywhere and you calling me immature?"
"Don't refer to your brother as an inanimate object, Kairi. It's rude." Her dad tried to ad, squinting at the road as he turned the wheel to wrap the car around another bend. Kairi could tell he felt satisfied with his input for the day. Probably because now he knew for sure her mother wasn't going to yell at him later for not reinforcing the parent side of the argument.
"Rude?! Axel's mocking me now! Now, that's rude!" Kairi retorted, getting more passionate by the minute, her finger pointing at her stupid little brother.
"Kairi, you know what they say about pointing fingers: there are always three pointed back at you, and another pointing at God." he took a breath and closed his eyes as if he were deeply saddened, "Kairi, how does it feel to have God see through your lies?" Axel said, shaking his head wisely, waiting for his parent's approval. In which they complied with a disgustingly fast speed.
"Good reasoning, son." their father complimented. Wow, he was going to get bonus points tonight. Kairi felt a simultaneous need to both rip her hair out of their follicles, and vomit shamelessly.
"Why don't you go squeeze some more gel into your hair, squirt?" Kairi remarked snidely, turning her head to look at him again. Ventus was breaking out in a cold sweat from all this confrontation by now. He wasn't used to all this banter and fighting, especially when he was in the middle of it. Literally. Axel stuck out his tongue and made a very disrespectful hand gesture.
"Okay, okay, done. Just everyone breathe for a second, we're almost home." Kairi's mom said, making breathing hand motions as she spoke. Kairi's mother was a yoga instructor at this one wellness clinic back home. And she was really into it. Like, really into it. She wore all this natural and organic clothing from random bohemian stores and was always the one to whip out the essence that reeked like soaked herbs. She refused to buy any manufactured food, making Kairi's snackage very difficult back home. Their house was always full of whole grain crackers, tofu bars, and fresh spinach from the garden out back. Oh yes, they had a garden out back.
To put it plainly, her mother was a flower-child clinging vicariously to her 1970s hippie roots.
Her dad was more normal in a sense. Football, beer, cookouts every week, distracted most of the time. That sort of thing. Kairi got more of his normal genes, yet received her mother's taste in music; Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary. Her mother was so thrilled at her music choice, she nearly cried. Axel on the other hand, was a sick twist of both. Like, what normal human being was a developing pyro yet still had lots of little seventh grade cult friends? Axel, apparently.
So basically, her family was fucked up. And clearly Kairi was the only sane one.
She sighed again and looked back outside. Soon…very soon…
"Oh Kairi, by the way, we signed you up for this program for the next two weeks." Kairi's mother said, making a hemp bracelet against the dashboard ( really, who does that anymore? ). She had heard these words before; many years ago. But she still knew their significance. Needless to say, Kairi was skeptical.
She decided to approach this carefully, "What kind of program?"
Her mother continued in a nonchalant voice, half focused on her hemp bracelet that was half finished, "Well, basically you're with a group of skiers of your age group and skill level, and go ski together every morning until the afternoon." Kairi's mind was going into overdrive. Shit. Shit. Shit. She knew exactly what this meant.
"Wait," Kairi started, narrowing her eyes only slightly, "How early are we talking? And for how long?"
"Oh, at like 7:30 for about two weeks."
Okay. Hair was getting ripped out now.
But Kairi didn't have a chance to express her frustrations, because she partially fainted. Cool, right?
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So after the fainting incident, which really only lasted a few moments in reality, things got a little better. Although Ventus jumping on top of her claiming he knew CPR was not the brightest part of her day, it miraculously revived her before he could place a scaly little finger anywhere near her chest. But lets rewind and give Kairi a chance to justify her inexplicable actions:
Clearly she was taken by surprise. She was planning on hanging out with Yuffie and Rikku all break just like every other winter. That means waking up when she wanted, doing whatever she wanted, and skiing whenever she wanted, and stay as far away form her family as possible. Was it too much for a girl to ask? Yuffie and Rikku were her two best friends in Yukiyama, and considering she only saw them a month every year due to the great distances between each other, this whole situation was unreasonable. The three of them actually first became friends in ski school five years beforehand when they were in sixth grade. The three of them were the best skiers in the group, and greatly enjoyed passing, knocking, and racing both each other and the flustered instructor. Rebellious, right? Well it wasn't like they asked to be in ski school, so why should they conform?
Another justification: what gives her mother the right to sign her up for something behind her back? Especially when she hadn't been part of the establishment since that fateful winter? ( Minus a three-day program in eighth grade that was forced upon her, and didn't end up being so bad for reasons discussed later. ) She was practically an adult! She could take care of herself! And the last thing she needed was more rules and laws to tie her down.
And this is why when Kairi found out that both Yuffie and Rikku's mothers signed them up for the same program, much thanks to Kairi's mother's fearfully manipulative organization skills, she immediately texted them to meet up.
They decided to meet at Coffee Mania -- please excuse the cheesy tourist title, the founders of Yukiyama were clearly flawed --which was a popular spot to warm up. So after unpacking with a velocity that rivaled Selphie's speed dates, Kairi skied down, with the lovely new skies her parents gave her as an early Christmas present, toward the town center. It was already dark then, meaning she would have to be home in a few hours. Kairi was all keyed up from the anticipation to see her friends. This is what she had been looking forward to all year. God, she missed these girls. Like, Selphie is great and everything. But she had less difficulty keeping her legs closed than being a faithful friend, so Kairi really considered these girls the best of the best.
She awkwardly trotted along the town center in her bulky ski boots and soaked in the brilliance of the town center that she missed so much. The stone floor was covered with tightly-packed snow and beautiful trees and evergreens that were lit up by a variety of white Christmas lights. Teens and families mingled and strolled along. Shops lined the route that resembled a modest street more than a conventional sidewalk. Of course they all had tacky names like Bart's Bookshop -- which was actually decently stocked, considering-- and a cabin-esque atmosphere. But Kairi didn't really mind. It was all part of the charm.
But what Kairi loved most was that distinct smell. It was an extremely fresh, cold scent that almost smelled minty, mixed with an inexplicable smell of evergreen, wood, and clay. It was positively invigorating.
Finally she made it to the Coffee Mania, and Kairi could simply not stop smiling. She was about to see her best friends. She was about to see the people she loved more than life itself. And suddenly, all this tragic nonsense seemed fleeting and irreverent. Because nothing could ruin this.
Of course before she could reach out to open the front door, she heard two loud shrieks that probably caused unnecessary attention. It was hard not to recognize them. Practically shaking with excitement, Kairi turned around to see her two best friends hugging each other and jumping simultaneous. Well, they weren't exactly a quiet bunch.
They had not noticed her presence yet, so Kairi took the initiative to tackle them. More shrieks followed, and after a blur of happiness, smiles, and questions, the three of them found themselves in Coffee Mania, sitting in their favorite booth near the back, where the air was thick and toasty warm, and the two chefs in the back were accessible to conversation. (You see the name Coffee Mania is misleading. They do not only sell coffee, but a variety of lovely goodies and the best sandwiches known to man).
"Shit man, I cant believe we're all here." Yuffie said thoughtfully, taking a sip of her hot cocoa. They were all huddled together in their little booth, warm mugs in hand, the kitchen door swinging open and closed with constant swooshes. Kairi smiled at this.
"I know. I've been waiting all year for this…" she said, smiling to herself as she stared at her mug. God, she felt so happy right then. She wanted to keep this image to herself forever, just the three of them huddled together like they were back in the sixth grade. She wanted to remember it until the day she died. So she promised herself she would. Because this was going to be the best winter break yet.
"So what is it with this bullshit program that our parents signed us all up for?" Rikku mentioned, frowning deeply, stirring her hot chocolate with her finger. Kairi sighed.
"I know. I already had my freak out about it." Kairi frowned at the unpleasant memory, "So I guess we just have to deal with it." Rikku frowned at this. She was never one to conform.
"C'mon Kairi! We cant stand for this! I say, time for a revolution!" she exclaimed, her finger pointed toward the ceiling to punctuate her point, her infamously pursed, concentrated expression evident on her face.
"Agreed. I really don't want to be waking up at 7:00 for the next two weeks. I apologize, but no way!" Yuffie said bitterly, smashing her fist on the table for emphasis. Kairi sighed.
"That's great and everything, and you know I would do the same, but the bottom line is our parents already paid for it. As much as I hate to admit." Yuffie and Rikku frowned simultaneously.
"Man I wish I were eighteen already. Because, then, legally, I could do whatever I want." Rikku declared, finishing the last of her cocoa, her wild blond hair swaying with every shake of her head.
"Yeah that'd be great and everything except for the fact that you just turned seventeen and you have a whole, agonizing year of being a minor left." Yuffie teased, knowing that she was the oldest out of all of them, and would be eighteen this summer. Kairi was in the middle, making Rikku the youngest, much to her displeasure. In her mind, she was already twenty and fully independent. If only they all were.
"Well on the bright side, when we come back next year, we'll all be eighteen together." Kairi mused, proud that she had found the only positive thing out this mess. The reaction was immediate. Both Rikku and Yuffie, who were on the opposite side of the booth than Kairi, wrinkled their nose and looked in another direction. Rikku bit her lip. This was not good. This was not good.
After a few moments of thick silence, "What." it was more of a statement than a question.
Yuffie took the initiative, realizing that Rikku was looking down at her lap, and was not going to say a word, "Rikku and I aren't sure if we're coming back next year."
Suddenly, a heavy weight thrust itself into Kairi's abdominal. Her mouth got dry, and it took her a moment to realize she needed to breathe. This could not be happening. This could not be happening. They had planned this next winter as the best they would ever have; even better than this one. Because it was to be their last. They were to be adults, legal to do whatever, finally receiving the independence they had so fervently fought for since adolescence. It was supposed to be the last hoorah before college, where the future was not set and absolutely unpredictable. Rikku wanted to go to school out in California where she could surf and study archeology. Yuffie wanted to go somewhere way up north in Canada for school, and research marine biology and help the arctic animals. Kairi wasn't sure what she wanted to do really, but it wasn't near either of them, as if she could even choose between them. Her eyes stung. Didn't they know what this meant for them. Didn't they know what this meant for her?
They both saw her face and immediately regretted telling her. They were planning on mentioning it to her later, when part of the break had already gone by and Kairi was in a better mood. Rikku spoke first, "We're so sorry Kairi. Our parents, well, they don't really want to come back next year. " she took a breath, "We're both the youngest in our families, and our parents are over the whole family vacation thing when its only with one of their kids. And this damn recession, you know? It's just a big combination of things that we can't control. Trust me, Yuffie and I have fought and fought for this shit, but I'm not sure if it's going to happen." Kairi took in a breath. Rikku didn't live in a nice, big house like Yuffie and she did. She rented a room in one of the hotels in the town center with her parents every year. They couldn't really afford a house like Yuffie's and mine. Not that she was poor or anything like that; just not as well off.
"I'm sorry, Kairi." Yuffie said, visibly swallowing as she played with her hands.
"So I guess all our talks as kids will lead to nothing?" Kairi asked, not able to take her eyes off her empty mug.
"That's not true though. We still have three and a half weeks in front of us, Kairi. And things could change, you never know." Rikku offered.
"Yeah! Stop being so down! We still have this great break in front of us. And I heard we're going to get a foot of snow tonight. Which equals ridiculous skiing tomorrow morning." Yuffie continued, clearly getting excited now, her hands in fists of excitement. As sad as Kairi felt, she couldn't help but smile; Yuffie was just too easy to make happy.
"Yeah, I guess."
"That's the spirit!" Yuffie said.
"And anyway, this gives us a chance to take down this whole establishment down from the inside." Rikku offered, her eye brow raised in the way Kairi was so accustomed to; her planning face. Kairi smiled widened.
"We're not Charlie's Angel's for nothing, right?" Yuffie said, clearly excited by this whole prospect. Kairi wrinkled her eyebrow.
"We've never said that before."
"Yeah, well, it makes sense, right? So from now on we're Yukiyama's Angels! Secret Agents for the will of the people!"
"Yeah ok, Yuffie. We'll go with that." Rikku teased.
"Okay, okay…its getting late guys. We should go." Kairi offered, glancing at her phone for the time. Adding it to their tab, the three girls left Coffee Mania and went their separate ways; Rikku toward her hotel, and Yuffie and Kairi toward their neighboring houses up the slope. They took the late-night ski lift up and then skied to their houses', said their goodbyes, and went inside their respective homes. Kairi closed the heavy wood door behind her, an odd mix of excitement and sadness molding together within her brain. But then, Kairi thought, this would just mean this winter break had to be the best yet. Because there could very well not be another one. Kairi knew she had thought this before, but now she was even more determined.
So determined and confident, in fact, that she whipped out her cell phone and did something she had been secretly contemplating to do all day; text Sora, the boy who she hooked up with only the night before. He hadn't texted today yet, putting her on edge, so she decided to do the Kairi thing to do: take initiative. She looked up Sora's name, misspelled from the drunken weariness of the night, and opened up the blank note. Satisfied with what she typed, Kairi sent it before she reconsider. She stowed her phone in her pocket and headed up stairs to her individual room. She changed into her warm winter pajamas, and slipped into her hand-made quilted bed that her mother made. She would never admit it, but she secretly loved this quilt. It was full of a bunch of difference patterns and images atop a big, fluffy comforter. It was her absolute favorite. Each stitch, each patch, she treasured. Each of them inexplicable gave her a memory of her years here. Well, not exactly a memory, because a memory was too precise a term. More like an emotion, a feeling she could compare each image to some point that had passed. And to her, it was more powerful that any other quilt in the world.
Sighing, Kairi checked her phone for the sixteenth time, anxious to receive a text back. God, why was she so worked up?, she thought as she nestled deeper into the confines of her life and memories that was her bed. She felt unnecessarily frustrated. And this would simply not do.
This is stupid.
With these thoughts she finally drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
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The morning sun peeked through her curtains, and on queue, the alarm clock went off. Kairi woke up with a start, feeling like that sleep was ten minutes instead of ten hours. Much unlike herself, she went to bed quite early the past night. But hopefully it would give her whatever enthusiasm, or better yet, hateful energy, she needed to endure through the morning. Sighing, Kairi slowly slid out of bed and stumbled toward her hastily unpacked drawer to withdraw her heavy winter gear. She then dragged herself to breakfast, in which her stupid brother was already awake with Ventus sitting beside him on the breakfast high-chairs, staring at her. Ignoring her unwanted admirer, Kairi sat down and waited for her mom to serve her food.
"Now Kairi, I don't want any drama with this program." she said, eyeing Kairi with her special mom eye before she handed her the cereal, "I mean it."
"Okay, okay, okay, mother. Don't have a cow."
Slightly glaring, she handed her the bowl and turned to finish the dishes. For a hippie, her mother was pretty thorough when it came to mothering. Axel of course was jabbering away about some stupid seventh grade stuff, evoking a deep frown on Kairi's face.
"You know Kairi, if you keep frowning like that, you're face will stick." Axel chastised. Turning her head very slowly and deliberately, Kairi unleashed the full wrath of her devilish eyes on the boy, resulted in a slight twitch.
"You should know, at age two you got stuck to the ugly expression that is now your face."
"Mom, Kairi's threatening me indirectly with her eyes again."
"Kairi."
Right on queue, the doorbell rang, signaling Yuffie's ludicrous internal clock that believed waking up early was somehow beneficial. She should be BFF's with her mom. Feeling a little more cheerful, Kairi skipped to the door and let Yuffie in. Kairi quickly ran upstairs to grab her coat, gloves, phone, helmet, and goggles, and dashed out the door with Yuffie. It was five minutes until 7:30. They were running a little behind, thanks to Kairi of course, so they mounted their skis and skied down to the school area. She could already see a pattern forming.
The day was absolutely spectacular. It was a clear blue sky, all the trees were topped with fresh blankets of snow, and for the first time since she'd gotten here, Kairi could see the surrounding mountains in all their glory. To put it lightly, the scenery was fabulous. Each crevasse and valley of each mountain was distinct and beautiful and dotted with snow. Kairi sighed with content. Maybe today wouldn't be too bad.
Just then she heard Axel's cackling laughter behind her, eager to pass her. Smirking to herself, Kairi slowed down, much to the confusion of Axel, and once he had come close, grabbed his helmet and threw him face-down in the snow. Laughing hysterically, Kairi skied away with Axel yelling and cursing seventh grade curses behind her.
Yuffie and Kairi made it to the school center, which was just a little clearing that had a bunch of flags signaling each group. They spotted Rikku's yellow and white jacket, bright orange scarf, blue bandana, and matching orange ski pants easily, and skied toward where she was standing. Rikku could go absolutely nowhere without her orange scarf and blue bandana that she tied around her forehead. Nor could Yuffie leave her house without her yellow bandana that she also tied around her forehead. Kairi never really followed this apparent trend, though. But she did love Yuffie's classic black coat with white ski pants that contained black, Hawaiian-like flowers all along them.
Kairi's own jacket was also something she loved. Two years ago for Christmas she received it; ditching her old purple and white one that was way too childish for her liking. Hers was now a celery-green coat with white and pink here and there, with light gray snow pants and white helmet. Kairi always wore a helmet. There have been way too many times where she had wiped out and would probably have hurt herself further had it not been for her trusty helmet.
The group that Rikku was with were already there. They were nine in total; five girls and four boys. The two other girls Kairi did not recognize underneath all the snow gear, and she could only identify one of the four boys, although not by name. He was sort of bigger and rotund than the other three, and she thought they might have been in a class a few years back. This was difficult, however, because everyone had their hats and goggles on, especially because it was very cold, so Kairi couldn't tell for sure if the others were actually strangers. Most of them were already talking comfortably, sharing jokes and boys shoving each other boyishly. But Kairi didn't really pay attention to them; she was too determined to be in a bad mood. So naturally, Kairi clustered with her two friends, grumbling and muttering about how much they really didn't want to be there. All was going according to plan (looking and acting angry) until a booming voice came from behind them, and Kairi's stomach dropped in an unpleasantly pleasant way.
"What's up guys, I'm you instructor, Reno."
Holy shit. She knew him. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. She hastily turned around to take in all the gorgeousness that was Reno Marivali and surely, she was not disappointed. He didn't have his helmet or goggles on, leaving his oddly appealing red hair to blow in the winter chill. His green eyes were more prominent then ever with the white winter backdrop and mandatory neon green coat that all staff had to wear. He was tall and beautiful, with a handsome smirk beset on his fair face. He was the hottest creature on this earth.
Okay. So Kairi has basically had a crush on this guy for about forever. He was about four years older than herself, but I mean, who's counting? They had been in a three day ski group together when she was in the eighth grade, and was put with the eleventh and twelfth graders because of her advanced skill. Unfortunately, Yuffie and Rikku were not in that group with her, for Kairi had come four days earlier than usual, leaving her mother to feel obligated to stick her in a group to pass the time. It was embarrassing at first, being with all upperclassmen. But miraculously, they were nice to her. Like Reno, especially Reno. And it really helped that he was a Senior at her school at the time. Oh, yes.
Of course they never invited her to the parties or get togethers during that winter break. Which was understandable now that she was close to that age. It would have been the same as inviting her little brother Axel to her usual gatherings a year from now. Exactly.
Well, they didn't invite her to any; except for one.
Which if you think about it, it really doesn't count, because the instructor of the time was there, and made the arrangements. Making it mandatory for her to go. But Kairi liked to leave that part out of her gushing memory.
It was the last night after the third day of the lessons, meaning that the next morning, they would not meet again. Kairi had been eager to show signs of courage, to act like the cool upperclassman she wanted to be. So she took extra care that night to straighten her hair to perfection (back when she did straighten her hair; oh, Middle School), and moisturize her lips with cherry Carmex. The night ended up being pretty fun, but she was nervous as hell. The older kids, she suspected, had pre-gamed before this meeting, leaving them a little tipsy and a tad giggly. She suspected this mostly because when they sat around the outdoor fire that was typical in Yukiyama, Reno came and sat next to her. To her pleasant, eighth grade surprise, he put his arm around her frame and asked how she was doing. The feeling in her stomach then was absolutely incomparable. A high school senior hitting on a insignificant eighth grader? It was a drunken miracle! And she was quite sure he was drunk because A) if he weren't, she wasn't sure if he would hit on her, and B) his breath smelled like gin. But hey, who was complaining.
"It's pretty funny that we go to the same high school." he had said. In their school, the Middle and High School shared the same building. Lucky her, right? At the time that's what she thought. Until her brother graduated from sixth grade.
"Yeah I know." was all she could muster. Stupid, stupid Kairi! Why couldn't she think of something more clever, flirty, and high school-like?
"I've always seen you in school, though, you always hang out with that Selphie chick. I don't know why I never said hi." he had said, his crooked grin unleashing its full power upon her. For some reason she could not form a coherent sentence. Did he say that he wished they knew each other at school? Jackpot!
"It's too bad you never did… I would have liked to talk to you." She bit her lip in thought and took a breath, "But I guess that's what this next semester is for, right?" Okay, so this may have sounded really smooth and witty, but Kairi was not about to give herself credit for something she did not make up. Thank god for the segment in 16 Magazine, "What if the hot Senior talked to you?" that she had read only an hour before she came here. She would have to write a letter to the editor about her success story thanks to the article, she would be posted in the magazine, and --
"Ha ha. I like you, Kairi. You're not like other girls in your grade." Overload! Overload! And then he bent a little closer, barely inches away, allowing her to get a good whiff of his breath, "And I'll take you up on that offer, yeah?"
Fast forward a couple of weeks of suspense, paranoia, and predictions with Yuffie and Rikku, and you'll find Kairi at the teen New Years Eve party that Yukiyama always hosts for the teenage residents. Of course she knew he was going to be there, and although they had seen each other in passing, this was going to be the day Kairi went up to him and talked to him again. Of course, this was thanks to much goading on Yuffie and Rikku's part, who were so excited they could wet themselves. He was leaning against the snack table, his previous companion walked away just in time for her to approach him. The room was well decorated with faux icicles and white ribbons and frilly stuff. There was a dance floor placed right in front of the immensely large window that looked out toward the mountains and distant slopes.
She had an extremely hard time breathing when she approached him, but once they made eye contact, and he did his beautiful halfway smirk thing, she swore her soul was on a high. "What's up, Kairi? Haven't seen you around the slopes too much; I would have recognized your coat." Ohmygawd!
"Well maybe you've been hanging around the Greens too much. I myself take on the Black Diamonds. But maybe its too advanced for you…" she said, being purposefully dismissive. Clever, Kairi, right?
He laughed at this, took a step closer, and put his hands on her hip seemingly casually. Kairi could practically hear Yuffie and Rikku squealing on the other side of the room, let alone herself. "Quite the opposite, actually. You're the eighth grader, remember?" Okay, so she was hoping he would not mention this little obstacle. He seemed to notice this, "But I kinda do believe it when you say you've been down the blacks." This part is true. She's quite a pro. Although she basically wet herself whenever she went down one at that age.
The place where his hand was was burning like no other. She felt some sort of charge within herself that she had not felt with any other boy, especially when he looked at her like that. It was a feeling that made everything slow down, heightened her senses, and made her feel, well, to put it lightly, good. The word for it, looking back, was that she felt sexy for the first time in a sense. Or at least turned on. Thank-you puberty.
It wasn't long before he offered her her first drink, and suddenly, everything was gooey and warm, and now the countdown started, and the fireworks went off outside, and everyone was cheering, and his lips on hers were loft and light until they became strong and excited. He was her first French kiss.
The rest of the year was a blur to Kairi. Whenever they crossed paths in school he would give her that heart melting smile, but nothing more, and nothing less. And every time he did she felt a tiny jolt in her heart.
But nothing ever really progressed after that. And she really couldn't blame him. She was a stupid eighth grader after all.
But even with this information, knowing that he was a Junior in college somewhere, her heart quickened and her pulse elevated. She quickly removed her goggles to get a better, non-orange tinted view of him, with the group and Yuffie and Rikku to her back. And once she did, and their eyes met, he did that same crooked grin. So she smiled back.
Now, she didn't want to get too ahead of herself and start picturing future romantic scenarios like she always did, and had done before with him. Because usually this jinxed her chances. And right now, she did not want to jinx her chances. He diverted his gaze after a good long moment of looking at her toward the rest of the group. He introduced the co-councilor Tifa, who made an introduction that Kairi paid no attention to whatsoever; she was too dazzled by Reno's beauty to really look at anything else. Oh my god, those eyes!
Dear lord. She really had to learn how to control herself.
She would have to come up with a game plan this time, and not base everything on wishful thinking, luck, and his own will. No. She was not a stupid eighth grader anymore. She was practically a women. And god as her witness, Kairi Hirazora was going to hook up with him one more time before this winter break ended! She could already feel the excitement, the suspense, and most of all the suggestive poking she received from both Yuffie and Rikku on her back. But she could not look back now, not with all this in her future. She would have to text him later -- wait, did she still have his number? -- and speaking of texting…
Just then, Kairi had a thought.
Her phone!
Forgetting all that had just happened, Kairi hastily took off her gloves and reached into her frigid pocket to pull out her cell phone. And behold, she had on text message. For some reason unknown to Kairi, her mind went a little dizzy and an odd, heavy sensation built its way into her stomach. She didn't even have time to tell herself to calm down and say, this is stupid, like she normally would. She had already opened up the text that, Kairi took in a breath, was indeed from Sora, dated to only an hour before. It read:
"Oh, hey. Listen, I just wrote back to tell you that I was really drunk the other night and I didn't really mean to hook up with you. So yeah. Bye."
Kairi's stomach dropped, an initial reaction. Her throat felt strained and tight. How foolish and stupid she was! God, she really hated herself sometimes. She unconsciously got her hopes up, just like every other god damned time. Why did she have to do this? Why did she always have to be so stupid? This pattern was getting ridiculously repetitive. She is interested in a guy, they hook up, she gets ignored. God damnit.
And really, what the fuck was that?!? What an ass hole!
Anger replaced embarrassment at that moment, firing up her veins and blood and brains and guts and suddenly, Kairi just wanted to scream. Or kick something. Yeah. Kicking would be good. She could see Yuffie look at her. The fluctuation of moods was certainly not healthy.
"You ok?" Yuffie asked, looking at her oddly through her goggles. This anger must have seemed weird, especially after two seconds ago she was ogling at her future lover. So Kairi snapped her goggles back on, turned around, and said, "Yeah, we'll talk about it later."
"Does is have to do with…?"
"No." Okay, perhaps a little bit too snippy. She really shouldn't let this stupid-ass boy get in the way of her future happiness with her friends, future lover…
"Oooh, this should be a good one!" Leave it to Yuffie to get excited over Kairi's anger.
"Okay, so before we all get to know each other, we're going to do a few preliminary rounds down some tricky Blue's and then maybe a few Blacks if we have enough time before lunch. Sound good? Good, so follow me. I trust you guys know what to do." Tifa said, snapping he goggles on and making her way toward the nearest ski lift. In skiing, there were different levels of difficulty: Green being the easiest, Blue being intermediate to hard, Black Diamond being extremely hard, and Double Black Diamond being extremely, are-you-out-of-your-mind? hard. Kairi herself did not find too much enjoyment in Double D's ( that's what she said ), but found that hard Blues and challenging Blacks were her favorite. It all kind of depended on her mood. If she felt like going easier but really fast, she went Blue. If she felt being challenged and ready for exercise, Black was the way to go. She only went on Double Blacks if someone talked her into it, or was somehow forced.
But anyway, back to being pissed off, Kairi sat between Yuffie and Rikku, with some other girl from their group beside Yuffie that she did not recognize. As pissed and keyed up as she was, Kairi couldn't help but wish she were sitting next to Reno on the ski lift. That's what she should do: focus her thoughts on Reno, and Reno alone. She needed to calm down. So she focused on his amazing red hair that was longer and more gorgeous than it had been in high school, and his emerald eyes, and his tall, muscular frame…
But soon they had to get off the lift, and her anger returned. God. Why did this kid have to ruin everything. She and her friends skied to where the group was gathered together.
"We'll meet you guys at Longfellow Lift to take us up to some higher blues. Just remember to take a right at the fork and don't get on until we're all there. But its totally cool if you guys get in front of us. Nothing wrong with a little speed." Reno said to the group, his smirk evident behind his gear. For a second she swore he made eye contact with her, and she felt once again that deadly pang inside her chest. Maybe she was reading a little too much into this, but was that a direct challenge? Still fueled by her anger, Kairi was ready to take it on.
So once Tifa and Reno took off, she and the rest of the class was close behind them. Reno and Tifa's neon green jackets were impossible to miss within the large blankets of sugary snow. Kairi sped up; the wind howling in her ears, just the way she liked it. For a second, she was free. This is why she loved skiing so much. This is the feeling she felt.
But she had to speed up even more if she wanted to catch him; and damn he was fast. So she decided to take a tiny shortcut that sort of paralleled the main slope through the trees. This was one of her favorite things to do; tiny paths within the trees. This way she didn't have to make the wide turn around this specific group of trees, but treck right through them. She was going to get him. She was going to catch him. She could already see the blissfully surprised look on his face…
Her skis cutting against the snow, she tucked her poles at her sides so that they didn't hit any of the close trees, Kairi finally shot out of the forest like a speeding bullet, noting that she was barely behind Reno. She was nearly there, so close, she was just about to poke Reno with her pole --
WHAM!
Suddenly, Kairi was knocked off her skis. Snow was in her face, then in the air again, and then snow once more. Her legs twisted oddly, and she finally landed with a last thud on her side. There was great silence as she lay there. The silence of the snow. After several long, patient moments, Kairi took a large breath and wiggled all parts of her body. Good. Nothing broken. Not that she would have broken anything so easily. It would have had to be a tree of something to break her bones. But nonetheless, it was painful. And it was especially great because when she shook off the initial dizziness of the impact, she realized a large pile of snow was on top of her.
Okay, whichever stranger slammed into her was gonna pay big time. She finally sat upright and tried to wipe the cold wetness from her face, but it was hard. So she took off her goggles and gloves and tried to wipe it away with her neck warmer. Her skis were a few feet uphill, and she groaned when Rikku and Yuffie passed by her laughing. Great. First day and she already wiped out.
"Oh shit, I'm really sorry. It was totally my fault." a guy said from behind her uphill. She sighed and said, "It's okay." He was one of the guys from her class, so she didn't feel like freaking out at him and making any enemies so early in the break. He was walked toward her, also covered in snow, and holding his skis in his hands. They must have been blown off too when he hit her.
"You shot out of that forest pretty fast. Didn't see you coming." he laughed, finally reaching her. "My name's Sora; really sorry about that." he said, taking off his helmet and goggles to shake off the snow, and then reach out to give her his hand. He had brown, spiky, yet shaggy hair. Blue eyes. Bright white teeth. A soft, good looking face.
Just then his expression changed, noticing her removed goggles and unclasped helmet that had just fallen off her head in astonishment.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
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review. or the next wont be speedy quick. plus its almost Christmas. present maybe?