You Can Have Manhattan—A SoNami {Sora/Naminé} Fanfiction
Chapter Summary; It's Naminé'sfirst day of public school in over ten years and while some things go completely right, everything else seems to go completely wrong.
Story Rating; T for now, but that may change later on.

You Can Have Manhattan—Chapter One
Something New

I sat quietly in the passenger's seat of my mother's car—a car I was sick and tired of being in. I was sick of the strange, caramel apple smell and I was tired of listening to her unending supply of audiobooks. However, today I seemed to mind a bit less, seeing as it was the first day of school. At least, it was the first day for me. It was my junior year and I would finally be spending some time in a real school with real people. It was all so exciting yet terrifying.

"Remember to give the principal your doctor's note," my mother said as she pulled up to the drop off point near the front of the building. I was hoping the entire ride would be silent.

"Okay," I muttered, grabbing my bag from the floor.

As the car rolled to a stop, I unbuckled my seat belt and threw open the door. Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I noticed that my mother was wiping away a few tears. "Have a great day at school."

"Please don't cry," I begged. "I'll be fine, I promise. You don't have to worry about me."

"Okay, okay. I'll see you later." Cars behind her began to honk, so I shut the door and gave her a reassuring wave. She waved back but I could tell that she wasn't as enthusiastic as I was. Attempting to shake my mother's doubts, I slowly made my way up the lawn and through the front doors of the school.

The main hallway was packed, almost resembling that of trout trying to move upstream. I, of course, was the trout attempting to move against everyone else. As I made my way to the principal's office, I noticed a group of kids who seemed vaguely familiar. It had been so long since I had seen any of them, I could barely remember their faces. Yet, the moment I spotted them standing so strong in the sea of uniformed trout, I knew it was them. I knew it was my friends from so long ago. I wanted to change my course and surprise them, yet the moment didn't feel right. I wasn't ready. So, I struggled my way to the principal's office and received my schedule for the rest of the school year without saying a word to my friends. I had already missed the entire first half of the school year, but that didn't seem to cause too much trouble, mainly because I kept up with my homeschooling. No one believed I was ready to go back to the life I had left behind ten years ago. I was ready to prove them wrong.

By the time I had finished speaking with the principal, the first bell had already rung and I was officially late to my first class. Great. Thankfully, I was given a hall pass as I was shooed out of the now empty office. The halls were quiet and much less claustrophobic now. I made my way to my locker, attempting to memorize the layout of the school as I went. In all honesty, I had no idea where anything was. I was surprised that I found my locker at all. Of course, there was nothing in it but it was a decent starting point.

I looked down at my schedule, unsure of where to go next. My first class was chemistry, a course I couldn't bare to think about. Science was not my forte. Rolling my eyes, I set off to find my first—completely horrid start to the day—class. After wandering around for what seemed like hours, I finally stumbled upon the classroom hidden all the way towards the back of the farthest wing of the entire building. As I opened the door slightly to peak inside I noticed the teacher had already started the lecture, seeing as I was at least twenty minutes late by now.

"Excuse me?"

Startled, I quickly turned around to face the voice. My heart was racing, my chest stung. "I'm sorry, I was just—I don't want to interrupt the class."

The woman raised an eyebrow before looking passed me momentarily. As her eyes made their way back to me I felt as though I was shrinking beneath her gaze. "Why are you out here in the first place? Do you have a hall pass?" I flashed my pass and watched as her entire demeanor changed. Her scowl turned into a rather friendly smile and her stern posture dropped into a more relaxed position. "Sorry, I have to do that sometimes to rattle some fear into those teenage brains."

"Right," I mumbled, still slightly scared of her.

"Look, I need to pull Merlin from his class anyways for a quick talk, so how about you sneak on in as soon as he leaves, alright? No awkward stares or embarrassment required."

Suddenly, I wasn't so scared. "Thank you, Miss—"

"Kisaragi. All my students call me Yuffie though. I teach at a more, personal level." Laughing a bit, she nudged me lightly. I was now officially hoping I'd be in one of her classes. "Chill out here, I'll be right back."

Nodding, I waited outside the classroom as Yuffie went to fetch her fellow colleague. As they exited the classroom, Yuffie made sure to keep Merlin's attention away from me so I could sneak in without detection—from him at least. The moment I stepped into the classroom dozens of eyes found their way to me. I kept my head down and walked as quickly as I possibly could to the first open seat I saw. No one said a word to me, they just went back to their own conversations. However, I still felt one set of eyes on me. I turned around in my chair slightly and noticed him instantly. Towards the back of the classroom sat a boy with spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes—the same bright blue eyes that promised me a trip to the stars.

Sora.

I immediately turned back around, my cheeks flushed. I focused my eyes on the blackboard as Mr. Merlin came strolling back in to continue his lecture. Pulling my notebook and a pen out of my bag I scribbled down everything he had already written on the board. Though I hated chemistry, I focused on it as hard as I could in order to forget the fact that Sora was in the room. What if he wanted to talk to me? No, I wasn't ready. I had planned on going a week before approaching him. My mind wandered from the lecture as my thoughts revolved around getting out of the classroom before Sora could try to talk to me. I'd have to run for the door. Wait, who am I kidding? I can't run.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the bell rang to signal the end of class. I was frozen there for a moment, unsure of what to do. I threw my supplies back into my bag and peered behind me, just to see if he was making his way over to my desk. Yet, to my surprise, he was gone.

Finding my classes for the rest of the morning was tiresome. The amount of times I got lost was on the borderline of embarrassing. By the time lunch came around I was thrilled—I just wanted to rest and not worry about taking notes. Homeschooling was a lot easier and by the time I was sitting at an empty table, I was on the verge of believing that everyone else was right about me not being ready.

My eyes searched the cafeteria as I slowly unpacked my lunch. I didn't recognize any of the faces. My lunch was as usual—a bologna sandwich, a fruit cup and a bag of pretzels. Opening the bag of pretzels, I started to eat.

I watched as a silver-haired boy made his way to my table. He sat directly across from me but didn't bother to start unpacking his lunch. I didn't mind his company, so I kept to myself. He simply stared at me intensely, like he was trying to solve some type of difficult puzzle. It took a moment to realize who it was, "Riku?"

"Bullshit."

"Uh, excuse me?" I was somewhat taken aback by his vulgar response.

"Is that really you?"

He leaned across the table, his eyes locked on mine. He was studying me. Tightening my shoulders, I cleared my throat, "Yes."

"Bullshit."

I rolled my eyes. "Is that all you can say?"

"I can't believe it," he mumbled, trailing off. He started waving, presumably to a group waiting behind me. By the time I had turned around to see who he was motioning to, they were all sitting across from me, staring as intensely as Riku was before. I twisted back around and waved, somewhat nervously, to the small group that was now sitting in front of me. I only recognized a few of them.

"It's really you, Sora wasn't kidding," Kairi said as she rested her elbows on the table.

Both of them looked so much older. Their hair was longer and their faces fuller. Riku's large eyes were followed by dark circles, while Kairi seemed as bright and bubbly as I remembered. The other boys that had followed them to the table were unfamiliar to me, yet they seemed just as fascinated with me as Riku and Kairi were. They both had spiky hair, one blonde and one unnaturally bright red.

"Uh—S-Sora?" I stuttered, looking down.

"Yeah, he said he saw you in chemistry this morning," Riku said, shaking his head, "I thought he was joking."

"Surprise?" I said, shrugging my shoulders.

The red-headed boy hopped over the table to take a seat next to me. "So, you're Naminé? We've heard a lot about you."

"Have you?" I questioned, scooting over a bit to maintain my personal space. "There's not much to tell, really."

"Oh, I forgot—" Kairi chimed in, "that's Axel and this is Roxas." The blonde-haired boy smiled at me as Axel continued to lean closer. "They moved to the islands a few years after you left."

"It's nice to meet you two," I said, trying to smile.

As they continued to stare at me, the warning bell rang. I was feeling rather uncomfortable, so I quickly packed up my lunch and excused myself. The four didn't say anything as I left—they simply continued to gawk as I walked away. It was as if they thought they were looking at a ghost. A ghost that had lost all ability to socially interact with people other than nurses and parents.

I couldn't seem to get out of the cafeteria fast enough. My heart rate had sky-rocketed, leaving me in an overly stressed state. I thought I was ready to at least see them, but I was wrong. Resting against a nearby locker, I tried to concentrate on slowing down my breathing. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe ou—

"Naminé?"

Everything stopped. My eyes rose from the ground to the face of the boy standing in front of me. I felt like a deer in the headlights and I probably looked like one too.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked as he raised an eyebrow.

I took a step back as he started to reach for my shoulder. My back collided with the locker I stood in front of. My mind was in a sheer, unorganized panic. What was I supposed to do? My stomach felt sick and my chest felt heavy. "I—I have to go. Right now."

I didn't dare to look back as I rushed down the hallway. As soon as I felt far enough away, I slowed myself down to a light walk. My head was pounding, my lungs were on fire. I suddenly felt dizzy, disoriented. I started stumbling down the hallway as my legs struggled to support my body. I spotted the nurses office a couple doors down and made my way towards it.

He knew exactly who I was the moment I hobbled in.