Hello there! Here's my new story, a high school AU about... Well, you'll see ^^

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Rain. Not the rain, like water, but Rain, the person.


"Rain! It's time to get up!"

The shriek pierces my ears and rouses my drowsy brain. I groan and pull the pillow over my ears. "Five more minutes," I mumble, sliding further under the covers. Ah, soft covers. I am able to enjoy their comfort for only a few more precious seconds before they are oh-so-rudely yanked from off of me. "Zexion!" The pillow is grabbed next, and I can hear the soft thump it makes as it hits the floor. I groan louder and curl up into a ball. It's way too cold to wake up.

"Come on Rain." A pause, and then, in a tempting voice, "It's Wednesday."

I shoot into a sitting position and scramble out of bed. Wednesday, of course! I had forgotten! It was the best day, the greatest day, the coffee day. I rush into the kitchen and eagerly await my morning treat. My alarm clock follows, chuckling softly to himself. "Coffee is your drug, you know that Rain?"

"Oh, shove it Zexion." I scowl at my twin, ignoring his laughing blue eyes. Eyes that I have a perfect copy of... Though they are currently narrowed in annoyance, not sparkling in jest. decide to ignore the stupidity of my brother and focus instead on inhaling the cup of coffee said brother gives me. "Man, I need more sleep," I complain, talking more to myself than Zexion.

"Did you stay up late again?" Oh no, the stern voice. Zexion is not pleased with me.

I yawn and nod. "But you should be grateful. I was finishing your report."

His tone softens. "Oh, thanks." I see a travel mug slide towards me. "Want my cup?"

"That's yours, Zexion. You should have it." Even as I refuse, I bite my lip and glance at my own now empty coffee mug.

This action is not unnoticed by my nearly psychic twin. With another chuckle, he leaves the table, tossing over his shoulder, "Take it."

What can I do? Coffee really is my drug. As I sip the delicious drink, I slowly walk back to my room to get ready for school. I set my mug down momentarily and quickly change into worn-out jeans and a black t-shirt. Yeah, I'm wearing black. It lets my long, unusual silvery-purply-whatever-the-heck-it-is hair shine. And it's also one of the only shirts I own. I return to clutching my coffee as I return to the kitchen, catching Zexion as he is about to head out the door.

"Hey," I say, picking up an apple and tossing it to him. "At least take this. You didn't even have coffee today." He nods and turns towards the door. "Oh, and Zexion? Have a good day at work."

He smiles and slides outside, leaving me alone in the house. Where was I? Ah, yes. School. School that my brother is again escaping. Well, I suppose he has a legitimate reason, but still. I could take on the money-making if I really wanted to! It's probably because he's technically older... He was born the year before I was, although we were born only 12 minutes apart. We're those special twins born on New Years Eve, the twins that inevitably get split up. And I got the short end of the stick.

With a sigh, I head out the door as well, turning towards my dreaded destination - Traverse Town High School. I would have to fill in for Zexion again. He was off at Barnes and Noble, working for both of us. I would soon be sitting in class, doing schoolwork for both of us. It was a tough arrangement for everyone, but it kept food - and coffee - on the table.

The delightful sound of the early bell greets me just as I slip through the doors. That meant I still had three minutes before class... Great! It was still the first week of the second semester, and I was determined to make perfect attendance this half of the year.

I glance at my schedule. Wednesdays meant I had math class in the morning. Inwardly sighing, I pull the two sheets of math homework out of my bag. One neatly printed with my name, one semi-neatly labeled with his. I slide both papers onto the stack on the teacher's desk and sit in the back of the now busy room. One advantage of a busy school is that it's easy to hide behind laughing tables of friends and enemies alike.

Roll call begins before I know it, and I lower my head to the desk, allowing my long hair to obscure my face. I pretend to be studying, waiting for my name.

"Reina Lorait."

"Present!" I call, keeping my voice to a higher tone.

"Zexion Lorait."

"Here," I mumble, hoping no one notices me.

"Kairi Minoe."

I sigh in relief. It always worked, but it still made me nervous every day. The rest of the morning was a breeze, and I made it to lunch with no problems. I wove between tables of loudly chattering students and went to the library, like always. The other assistant greets me with a smile.

"Hey Rain!" She sets her stack of books down to wave at me, short-cropped black hair moving from side to side.

"Hey Xion," I return, helping her with her load. "What are we doing today?"

"Oh, just cleaning up. Some kids came in here and took a bunch of books and dumped on the tables." She pauses to flick a bang out of her eye. "This is half. The rest are on the back tables." I nod and start putting everything in its proper place, chatting with Xion all the while. She was my friend, my only friend, and I enjoyed spending time with her. Of course, I had to lie to her too. I hated that.

"So, did you already have lunch?" An innocent question on her part, the kind of question idly asked between friends.

"Of course. You?" A lie. I hadn't had anything since the coffee this morning.

"Yeah, I eat fast. Plus, I love volunteering here. My parents made me do it at first, but then I got into it." Xion laughed briefly. "Sometimes, I swear that my parents are psychic! Are yours?"

"Probably. Stuff like that happens with me all the time." Another lie. My parents died last year, in a car accident.

"Ha, really? All parents are the same... Hey, is Zexion at school today?"

"Yeah, he's at the vending machines." Double lie. Zexion was not at school, and even if he was, he'd never be at the vending machines. They're way too expensive.

"Oh, cool. Just wonderin'. I wanted to return the book he loaned me."

"I'll bring it to him." My first truthful statement to Xion today. Pathetic, isn't it? And to think I call her my friend...

"Thanks!" Xion finishes her work and hands a worn book to me. "Here you go."

"Thank you." I glance at the clock. Five minutes until lunch period ended. "I should go, my next class is history and I want to double-check my homework."

"Okay, bye! See you tomorrow!" Xion is so nice... Lying to her kills me. But I do it every day. Every single day. It's become a necessary evil ever since my parents died and I ran away with Zexion to another town. We were going to be put into foster care, and we were totally fine with that. Until, of course, I overheard Zexion's foster parents say that they would only take one child. After that, we just ran. Literally. Traverse Town had to records of us and no painful memories, so it was the perfect place to stay. Zexion bought an apartment with our parent's money and took on several jobs to pay the rent. I took on one job and the task of filling in at school for the both of us. No one else knew. It was our little secret.

My history class is about to begin and the teacher is already sitting at his desk. I frown inwardly but put on a smile. As I approach my favorite teacher's desk, he glances up. "Oh, hello Rain." He was the only adult to call me Rain instead of Reina. "Is that your report?"

"Yes, and my brother's. He was too lazy to turn it in himself." Does that sound believable? Are most brothers lazy?

"That's fine," the professor says, smiling slightly. "I notice that your essays are always done with opposite points of view."

I know he's just trying to make friendly conversation, but I begin to majorly stress out. I did both reports, and I wrote them on opposite topics so they wouldn't seem similar. Forcing a smile, I say, "We always talk about it at dinner, and, well... siblings argue. So we always try to outdo each other with our reports." I pray for him to buy it.

He just chuckles and smiles wider. "Understandable." I am able to escape to my seat as he begins the lesson and focus on taking spectacular notes. After all, I have to teach this to Zexion once I got home. The bell rings sooner than expected, and I realize that my usual schedule is going to be broken. Today was the first day of my music class. It was supposed to start at the beginning of the semester, but the teacher was sick or something. I was fine with it, because it gave me a free period for homework. Now, however, was the first thing I was excited over since Xion's birthday three months ago - a chance to practice my instrument.

I glance into the classroom and find that I'm early, as usual. What's unusual is the fact that there's someone already in there who was earlier than me. I've seen him before, but I don't really know his name. As I set my book bag down by the door, he turns and smiles at me.

"Hey! Are you in music class too?" Man, he's happy. I don't quite understand how he could be so cheerful... Then again, maybe that's just because I haven't been truly happy in a long while.

"Yeah," I answer, carefully moving my case over to an empty seat.

"What do you play?" And he's talkative, too. Cool. Just what I needed - another person to lie too. Luckily, though, I won't have to lie just yet.

"I play the violin. You?" I take my precious violin out from its case and begin tuning it. It was my mother's before the accident. I held onto it and kept playing.

"I play the guitar, but the really cool thing is that my family has this kinda-old sitar that looks like a guitar, kinda, and I'm learning to play that too!" He begins to mess around with his very bright blue guitar (I might go blind, just saying), and then stops abruptly, asking, "Hey, what's your name?"

"I'm Reina, but everyone calls me Rain."

"I'm Demyx! Your name is really cool."

Without knowing why, I begin blushing. "No, it's not. Yours is cooler."

"I guess so. Oh, I think everyone's finally coming in!" Sure enough, about ten other students file into the room and take out their respective instruments. I follow the lesson and enjoy the one class I don't have to take notes in. For the last few minutes of class, the teacher gives everyone a chance to perform a small solo, and I step forward. Normally I try to stay invisible, but this one time couldn't hurt. At the end of my piece, among the respectful applause of my peers, I can hear particularly loud clapping. It's Demyx, grinning broadly and clapping like mad. Demyx plays after me, and he's really good. At the end of his piece, I do the only thing I can do...

Smile broadly and clap like mad.

As I'm packing up my violin, everyone else moves past me out of the room. My mind refocuses on life. This was fun, but it was time for work again. A familiar voice interrupts my thoughts. "Bye Rain! I'll see you tomorrow!" It was Demyx, of course. He rushes out of the room, waving at me. I smile to myself and walk out myself. For the first time in months, I felt truly happy.

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"I'd like an iced mocha with extra cream and sugar." I take the customer's money and get to work making the drink. The smell of coffee surrounds me, and I revel in its wonderful aroma.

"Rain! Hurry up!" As usual, my evil co-worker interrupts my peace.

Well, maybe not evil, but still.

"Hurrying!" I call back, pouring chocolate and coffee into a blender.

"You better be," She pushes her stupid-looking bang things out of her eyes. "I don't want people to get impatient."

You're impatient, Larxene! I think, while wisely keeping my mouth shut. The sad fact of the matter was that Larxene was technically my boss. And oh, how I hated it. I take some time to remind myself why I took this job in the first place.

1. I needed the money.

2. I love coffee.

3. This shop is right next to the bookstore where Zexion works.

4. Did I mention that I needed the money?

I spray some whipped cream on the drink and shove it on the counter. "Iced mocha for Yuffie," I read off the cup.

A teenager quickly comes up, grabs the coffee, and leaves just as quickly. I return to the register for the next order. "Okay, a caramel machiatto?"

"Hurry up, Rain!"

I sigh. This was going to be one long afternoon shift.

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I make it home around 7 o' clock and begin my usual routine. Greet Zexion, give him my notes, go to the library to do homework on the computers, come home, answer Zexion's questions about the lessons, have him copy off of my math homework, and make dinner. I start to heat some instant noodles and make pleasant conversation. "So, how was your day?"

"The usual." I place the noodles on the table and hand my brother a spoon with a flourish.

"Bon appetit."

Dinner is silent, as usual. After scarfing down some food, I retreat to my cozy little bedroom. It was a storage room, but I really didn't want to share a bedroom with Zexion. No offense to him, or anything. I'm a 15-year-old girl, I need my privacy. I pull the covers around me and glance at the clock. 1:23. We rarely ate before midnight anymore, and we always woke up early. It probably wasn't good for our bodies, but...

I close my eyes and evaluate my life. How did I get here? Just last year I was a normal girl with everything but now I have nothing. Well, nothing but Zexion. I'm glad for the comfort of my twin, but I hate the life we live. Everyday I have to lie and pretend. I don't want to do this anymore. But there's no choice. I finger a thin white scar on my arm, the sole mark of the car crash that killed my parents. I feel like I'm running in circles, trying to get away from a past that will always remain. I abruptly stop my thoughts and start trying to sleep. The cycle of my life has to be reset again.


Yay! I finished! And with my longest chapter of any story... Over 2,700 words! ^^

Thanks for reading, and I do wish to know your thoughts. Questions, complaints, comments, they're all welcome! Just warning you, however, flames will be used roast marshmallows. XP