By the time Rinoa made through the front door to the Caraway residence, her heart was pounding so hard, she felt as though it could burst at any moment. She had run all the way from the diner back home again after a rather unpleasant meet up with Quistis.

He got inside and slammed the door behind her, panting for each breath as she leaned against the doorframe.

Oh hyne, what have I done!…me and my big mouth…Why!? The last thing I want to to ruin my relationship with Quistis…

"What's going on, young lady?" a stern voice interrupted her moment of haziness.

By the stairway, stood Rinoa's very angry looking father, his arms folded across his chest and frown lines creasing his forehead.

"Uh…Nothing daddy, I just…Um…" Rinoa couldn't find the words. She hoped a story would pop into her head, but she was a terrible liar. Before she could say another word, her father simply raised his hand, and as soon as she did, she knew it was time to close her mouth and whatever was about to come next wasn't going to be pretty.

"I've heard enough Rinoa" he began, "I don't know what is going on with you, but I don't like the changes that I'm seeing, you are always out with those felonious juveniles doing hyne knows what, when you should be home studying for your future."

"I'm sorry, I'll start studying more often again…I know I've been sluggish lately…I promise I'll do better" she offered, hopeful that his rant would end with a saccharine-sweet apology.

"You certainly will, young lady. From this moment, you are grounded and not to leave this house, for any other purpose than going to school" he said.

Rinoa felt her heart sink and her stomach flip at the thought of being jailed in this house and not being able to see Squall! Not being able to resolve things with Quistis! Not being able to meet up with the gang in general!

"That's not fair! It's summer! I should be able to see my friends! I promised I would things up with my studies! But you can't trap me here! I won't let you!" she protested, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

Her father chuckled, "Oh sweetheart, what do you honestly think you can do about it? I've already put measures into place to ensure that there's no way you'll be leaving this house without my consent, and arguing with me about it is going to lengthen the period of time you'll be grounded for"

I can't believe this! Can things honestly get any worse than this!

"Why are you doing this to me!? I'm finally making friends and fitting into this town and you are going to ruin everything if you do this!" she sobbed miserably, feeling the tears starting to gather in her eyes.

"You have made friends with a bunch of local minorities, they are clearly a bad influence on you Rinoa, and even your choices in clothing have changed. I don't care to see you traipsing around town in ripped up stockings, short skirts showing inappropriate amounts of skin" he sneered.

Her father was a strong man, and she knew that once his mind was made up, there could be nothing done to change it.

"Fine" she said, using her sleeve she pushed the tears away from her eyes, deciding that she wasn't going to allow him to see her cry over his cruel punishment. She brushed past him and began pacing up the stairs heading for her room.

Selphie closed her eyes and sighed, throwing her phone down against the mattress.

"That's the 6th time I've tried calling" she groaned "AND IT'S THE LAST! The house maid told me that if I called the number again, she was going to tell and he wouldn't be pleased about it" she pouted.

Irvine and Selphie both exchanged worried glances, recalling the time they had innocently tried to visit Rinoa at her house, and ended up drenched and cold water at the hands of the menacing .

Irvine scratched the back of his neck, and looked at Squall:

"Look buddy, there's no way we can go to her house…Remember what happened to me and Selph last time we tried callin' on Rin. It seems dear ol' daddy doesn't really like visitors droppin' by" he spoke.

Irvine, Selphie, Squall sat around in Zell's room, much to Zell's dismay. He hated having friends in his room, but after Squall had attempted to call Rinoa to retry the beach thing, and been told that she was 'unavailable to see friends' he had gathered the whole group together to plot a way to see her. Both Quistis and Seifer had refused to come, Quistis said she was studying and Seifer was playing his bass with his band.

"I'm not scared of some old man throwing water at me, I've got the damn mind to kick his ass" Squall said.

Everyone looked at him. They knew he was sooking, he would never admit it, but he was being a cry baby because he couldn't see Rinoa. Who would have ever though the mighty Squall Leonhart could turn to mush so easily over a pretty girl?

"Kicking her dads ass won't do you any favours Squall" Zell spoke, eyeing Selphie as she removed her stripey rainbow socks and threw them beside his pillow.

Oh Hyne…I'll never be able to sleep in my bed again… he thought to himself, keeping in mind that Selphie was well known for her horrible foot odour.

"Rinoa comes from a different kind up upbringing to us, ya'know? She's like…high-class or something. I'm telling ya, if you go around to her house, there's a good chance you'll never see her again man, her dad will probably have you arrested or something" Zell went on.

"Zell's right!" Selphie chimed in, "Her house is the biggest mansion I've ever seen! I thought the rose bushes outside her house were fake they looked so perfect! Her old man is rich as all hell! It's no wonder he doesn't want his daughter hanging around with a bunch of freaks like us!" she exclaimed.

"Speak for yourself" Irvine retorted, he swished his long shiny hair behind his shoulders and gleamed.

"I'm no freak. I'm the biggest gentleman I know of around this town, in fact-" he was unable to finish his sentence, Selphie had come quickly from behind him and gagged him using one of her smelly socks. She held it against his mouth with such force, that his face quickly began to turn an awful shade of purple and red.

"Shut your mouth! YOU'RE THE BIGGEST UNSOPHISTICATED TWIT OUT OF ALL OF US!" she bellowed before releasing him from her deathly grip.

Poor Irvine almost collapsed on the floor. "Oh my…the stench…can't…breathe…"

"YOU WANT SOME MORE!?" she threatened. Irvine lay silent on the floor; he certainly did not want another round of inhaling her rotten sock stink.

Squall rolled his eyes. He knew his friends were right. But he ached inside to see her, which annoyed him. It irritated him so badly that he wanted to hit something! Break something! He couldn't believe how desperate he felt to see this girl.

What the hell is wrong with me!? Since when do I need a girl so much anyway!? Since when was I even NICE to girls!? ARGH!

"Fine, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens at school tomorrow" he spoke, his tone void of emotion.

Authors Notes: Thank you to all who have reviewed since my last post. I know the time between my updates is horribly long, and I am sorry for that! I promise I haven't forgotten about this story, I am still striving towards finishing it, but I feel as though it has quite a way to go and many more chapters to come! I work full time, and it's so hard to find the time to just sit down and write these days, as soon as I get home from work, I eat dinner, shower, then I have to tend to my 4 guinea pigs O_O and god, do they make a mess. Haha! Anyway, thank you for sticking with me! And please continue to read and review, your feedback does mean a lot to me, what more can I say! I love you all! Take care until next time heheh