Rinoa padded into her bedroom's ensuite, shuddering at the cold sensation of the tiles on her feet. She relaxed into the hot torrent of water from the shower and began lathering her favourite vanilla shampoo through her raven hair.

Such feelings of comfort quickly eluded her as she emerged from the shower and began dressing in front of the mirror, preparing herself for the new school day.

Things were not good. She had moved to Balamb and her life had been a whirlwind of sorts ever since. Her former life in Timber had been dull and uninteresting, and she'd never really made any real friends let alone develop a crush on a boy. Boys use to be 'stupid gross nose picking freakers!' now there was Squall… 'Seriously hot-messy-mop-of-brunette-hair dressed in punk'

and even though her adoration for topped the cake, she had to admit, she adored even the others in his little gang of misfits. They really were the best friends she had ever had.

Since moving to a new town she'd gained so much, and now she felt she was ready to lose it all again at the hands of her father Caraway.

Freshly ironed school uniform ensemble, plain navy tights, and new patent leather shoes. She completed her very prim and proper look by fixing her hair back into a long tidy braid.

I bet Squall would probably vomit his chocobo-puffs back into his breakfast bowl if he could see me right now she thought, studying herself in the mirror.

She hurried down the stairs, a churning feeling building in her own stomach about the day ahead.

That fucking bitch! A very annoyed Squall sat thinking to himself.

Squall sat beneath a tall tree in the school yard, his eyes narrowed as he watched Rinoa from a distance, making idle chit-chat with Gwen and the rest of the cheerleading squad. She had avoided him all day, turning away from him when she saw him approaching in the halls, and sitting at the furthest desk possible from him in their morning classes.

"Helloooooooo….! Earth-to-Squally-poo! Are you still among the living or-" Selphie waved her hands in front of him, breaking him from his trance.

Irvine took a bite from his sandwich and shrugged in Squall's direction. "What's up Rin's ass today anyways?" he wondered aloud. It was an unsolved mystery of the damn universe and a major pissoff.

Squall shot him a dead-pan look.

Irvine put up his hands in surrender "Sorry man…was only askin'"

Zell kept his head down, distracted with the task of eating his precious hotdog fresh from the cafeteria.

Squall simply sighed in response. Great. Just fucking great. The first girl I actually let myself fall for and make a total fool out of myself in the process wants nothing to do with me anymore, and now I have deal with these idiots..

"Whatever…if she wants to be like that, I couldn't really give a shit" Squall said, sounding a little more defeated than he had intended to.

Squall looked over at the new 'Quistis Trepe' who hadn't said a single word, much to his surprise. She was usually full of sarcastic spite ridden tongue lashings when it came to these sorts of things, but she just sat quietly flipping through one of her text books, as if she could sense he was staring at her, she looked up him,

"What?" she quizzed through her lips coated in almost-black lipstick. She looked very gothic today, he observed.

"Just wondering what the fuck is up with you these days, that's all" Squall flatly stated.

"Nothing's wrong with me you stupid prick; maybe you should ask your little Miss Heartilly that question. Not me"

"OKAYYYY!" Selphie interrupted them, jumping up from her spot on the grass and making peace signs with both of her hands.

"This needs to stop guys! We are supposed to be friends here! Let's try and be nice to each other! I know we all miss Rinoa, but she'll come back! I know she will!"

"Like HELL I miss that little bitch" Quistis spat, getting up from her spot and onto to her feet, "I'm outta here" she said before trudging off.

"Everyone is so mean these days!" Selphie groaned, pulling a sad puppy dog kind of face. "And where the heck is Seifer!?"

"Like HELL I miss that little bitch" Zell piped up mockingly, earning him a chuckle and a high-five from Irvine.

Squall wondered though, when Seifer would dare showing his face again, it had been a few days now. Things were definitely weird…

Squall lowered his black sunglasses down from his head, over his eyes and lay back on the grass with his hands behind his head. He put his headphones in his ears and tried to drown out the world, listening to some music.

But still his mind kept wandering back to her…

_

Rinoa wasn't at all surprised when she felt as though she were being watched throughout the day. Even though she could never catch him staring, she felt as though Squall was watching her. She could feel the disdain and disappointment that she had seemingly reverted to her old ways. She knew that would be exactly what he and the others were probably thinking.

She straightened her black rimmed reading glasses and resumed doodling in one of her notepads, I should be paying attention… she thought to herself, but the fact that both Quistis and Seifer's desks were both unoccupied made her wonder where they were…

She sighed and closed her notepad, decided it was time to snap out of her stupidity and start paying attention to her calculus class, as soon as she looked up, her eyes were met with his…

Squall.

Eyes so icy blue, and an expression almost like a child. She wanted to get up from her seat and run to him, throw her arms around him and feel the comfort of him being near.

His expression quickly turned to a frown as he turned away.

She thought back to that morning that she had woken up in his arms, watched him sleeping and felt the warmth of his chest pressed against her. It felt like a dream now.

With the way things were now, Rinoa felt as though maybe none of it had ever happened at all.

_

"There you are"

The silence in the girls bathroom was broken from the sound of his voice. Quistis spun around, shocked from out of her daze. She had decided to seek refuge from the whole gang in the bathroom to get her head straight. Her safe haven suddenly no longer existed as Seifer sauntered in.

"You can't be in here jerk, girls only" she spat.

He smirked, inching slowly closer towards her, purposefully like a wolf stalking it's prey.

She swallowed, feeling uneasy and shaken at the look of determination written all over his face. She backed herself against the wall, the cold tiles touching her skin made her shudder. He placed his hands against the wall on either side of her, and smiled again.

She closed her eyes, in hopes to make herself immune to the effects of his brilliant green eyes, but she could feel his breath brushing her cheeks and neck, she could smell him… like sandalwood mixed with cigarettes.

A sigh escaped her. He had her in his trap.

"I'm done with playing these little games with you Quisty" he spoke seductively into her ear, "I can't stop thinking about being with you…"

"Touching you…" he went on as his hand trailed down her side.

She opened her eyes, gasping, out of a force of habit; she tried to shove him away, even though she wanted nothing more than to melt into his caress, but he caught her wrist, and held it tightly in his grasp.

"You will surrender to me!" he hissed pushing her hard against the wall.

"Seifer…Please-"

His mouth hovered inches from hers, "Just go with it" he said, before his lips finally came down upon hers, harsh like crashing waves smashing against the shore. He tasted like cigarettes and cherry cola, and she found herself kissing him back with equal aggression.

His fingers toyed with the lace edging of her bra. His mouth travelled from her lips to her neck, he showered her with fevering bites and caresses, she wrapped her arms around his neck and found herself limp in his arms, unable to fight against the pleasure she felt from his rough advances.

Seifer knew in his mind what she was like. It took everything he had to get her to let her guard down… and then it would take only a second for her to turn back into that gorgeous unforgiving ice queen that she was.

He looked up into her eyes, and she stared back, feeling vulnerable, She liked him. Hyne, she really liked him, that damn self-assured, hot as hell, moron.

It scared her.

"So what now..." she uttered.

"THIS LITTLE PARTY IS OVER!" screamed an angry voice.

It was Mrs Tedderstone, one of the office ladies and she didn't look happy.

"You're both coming with me! RIGHT NOW! Big trouble!"