Can I get a woot? Read Now! No useless author's commentary to be seen here!

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Early September…

Blue eyes carefully scanned their surroundings from a yellow VW bug. Roxas counted the houses, all carefully lined up; almost comically so. He started over several times, forgetting the number he was on.

"Namine, honey, stop fidgeting." Roxas stiffened and lowered his hands to his lap. He still wasn't used to the wig yet, but his mom knew Namine better than the strangers he would have to face at this school, who didn't know her at all. This meant that she would notice when he did things that Namine normally wouldn't, such as playing with her hair. "Sweetie, you'll love it here. Don't be nervous. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends with the other girls, and maybe even a cute boy if you're lucky!"

Like hell. "Mom, if you want me to meet boys so badly, why send me to an all-girl school?" he asked. His voice was sarcastic, almost bitter, when the response came out. His mother was an indescribable airhead who cared for nothing more than the happiness of her family; overbearingly so. He, on the other hand, was a teenager, and the annoyance with his mother was something that wouldn't waver until he was 18 and moved out.

"What, dear? I didn't catch that," his mother asked, innocently.

Rolling his eyes, the boy re-deposited his face into the palm of his hand, looking back out the window.

"Nothing," he replied, tiredly.

Roxas was careful not to lean too far over. The top was down, and he wasn't sure if the wig would stay on if he stuck his head out into the wind. Then, he saw it.

A tall iron gate was opened outward, inviting their car, along with a few others, down the road into the school. Over the top a banner hung saying "WELCOME, NEW STUDENTS!"

'Hmmm… Festive. I bet they wouldn't welcome me if they knew what was under my skirt.'

"Namine, are you alright?" Roxas' mother reached over and felt his forehead as their car crawled through the entrance.

"I'm fine, mom". It was a good thing that after his mom left Roxas wouldn't have to see her again until next summer, since he would be staying at school over holidays. Still, he needed more time to practice being his sister before talking to her wouldn't prove hazardous even over the phone.

The building they approached was the school itself. The dormitory was a mile down the road once outside of the gate, and it was big. According to the brochure they had received, there was a fully equipped sports field behind the building before them. As for the school itself? Three stories of antique brick and sleight shingles with wrought iron window frames. It was nice. There was even a properly groomed lawn in front of the school, with a cement path leading up to the grand oak doors.

The doors were left open for the day. Roxas and his mother walked into the school and were immediately greeted by a cheerful woman with a ridiculous pink bow on her head.

"Hello, my name is Miss Gainsborough. Welcome to our school!" Roxas' mother shook the woman's hand as she eyed her suspiciously. How could someone with such a stupid bow on their head be allowed to teach at such a 'prestigious' school? Hopefully, she wasn't the principle.

"Nice to meet you, Miss. Gainsborough. This is my daughter, Namine." Even though it wasn't really his name, Roxas looked up to find the woman's hand extended towards him now.

"Hello, nice to meet you", Roxas made an effort not to say too much. Namine never said more than she had to without being rude; or at least to everyone besides her brother and a handful of select friends.

After a brief exchange of small talk between his mother and Miss Gainsborough, Roxas learned that she really was too ridiculous to teach after all. She was the school nurse, and apparently, they didn't have enough for their nurses to do, so she doubled as a councilor.

"Namine, aren't you listening?" Roxas looked up from his thinking to find his mother teary-eyed and looking at him expectantly.

"Hmm?"

"I said, I'll miss you!" the boy, small for his age, was wrapped into an overwhelmingly tight hug. If she is going to miss Namine this much, why was she sending the girl to a boarding school?

"Yeah mom, you too." Roxas' mom pulled back with a sigh, patting the wrinkles out of her blue skirt-suit.

"Be good. I love you!" And with that, Roxas was free from his mother until she felt compelled to call him. With luck, she would forget both her children without a second thought. An unlikely outcome, but desirable none the less.

Roxas had already given his bags to the custodian, who would deliver them to his room for him. He walked over to the registration table where Aerith had brought him to fill out some simple paperwork and surveys asking about his transfer. There, he met the principle, Miss Lockhart, and Jesus; she was a piece of work. She seemed friendly enough, of course, until one girl made a rude remark about the size of her chest. She had practically thrown the registration table at the poor thing.

A few more transfer student arrivals later and Aerith stopped pressuring Roxas to fill out anonymous surveys. She left him in favor of the new students, much to his relief, and he took his leave of the school, deciding that the surveys could fill out themselves.

Without anything left to do at the school, Roxas took his leave and began walking over to the dormitory. It was pleasant weather. The sun was out, but there were enough clouds to keep the temperature down. He strolled contently down the narrow one-way street that connected the dorms to the school. He was wearing a white shirt with a botched bra so that he didn't look totally flat, a pair of Namine's jeans and some white flats. Girl's clothes weren't the most comfortable things ever, but Roxas had gotten used to them over the past month or so. The one thing he had refused was a purse. Instead, they compromised with a black and white checkered messenger bag that hung over his shoulder. In it would dwell his phone, wallet, a CD-player, and several sheets of paper the registration lady had given him.

Roxas counted the lines on the sidewalk as he stepped over them, not really paying attention to where he was going. 'I should probably start memorizing my schedule', he thought. With a sigh, Roxas pulled the sheet from his bag and began reading the classes…

Spanish 2, Biology Lab, English Lit., U.S. History, Lunch, Math, P.E., and Music.

Music? He hadn't signed up for that. Maybe it was mandatory? He didn't play ab instrument, so that would be an interesting thing for the teacher to work out.

Roxas continued reading, without looking up, and ran into something.

"Ouch!" a girl yelped, and Roxas' eyes snapped up to find a redhead he didn't recognize. As she was rubbing her forhead, he noticed the schedule in her hand.

"Excuse me, but do you go to the boarding school here?" asked Roxas tentatively; he wasn't terribly embarrassed because the girl had made the same error as him: teenage stupidity, aka, thinking you can multitask while walking and failing. The same applied for driving. But even so, he didn't want to make enemies before school had even started. That was the last thing he needed.

The girl eyed him carefully, lowering her hand from her face. With an affirmative nod, she smiled suddenly and stuck out her hand. "Yeah, my name is Kairi," Roxas returned the gesture, smiling and shaking her hand. Kairi's smile faded into an amused smirk as she continued, "but if you're looking for the dorms, you passed the entrance about a block ago."

Roxas spun around, frantically realizing how stupid he mus. Namine was going to kill him if she heard about any sort of bad impressions he'd made in her place.

Kairi laughed, drawing his attention back to her. "You're weird. You're supposed to tell me your name. You can be embarrassed later."

Roxas' face turned scarlet as he mumbled, "I'm Ro-er-Namine." He mentally punched himself. First student he meets, and he nearly fucks up with the name. He needed to focus. There wasn't any room for error.

Kairi eyed him for a moment. He expected the girl to shrug him off as some strange loser, but instead she latched onto his arm and dragged him back toward the dorm. It was at this moment that he realized he was in way over his head. No amount of preparation could have prepared him for this year. Girls were just too different! Any guy would have ignored him after an encounter like that, but this girl was acting as if they were dating… except he was supposed to be a girl she just met. The situation didn't add up.

Kairi looked up to notice Roxas' perplexed expression and sighed, stopping in front of the dorm's entrance. Roxas peered in, noticing that there were three buildings. His face scrunched up in confusion, how was he supposed know what building to go into? There were two taller ones, and a shorter one. He looked down at his schedule, which was immediately snatched up by Kairi.

"Hey…" he started to protest, but stopped when he saw her scanning between both her schedule and his own. What the hell was she doing?

The boy in disguise stood silently for a long minute before Kairi looked up at him, grinning. She shoved the yellow paper back at him, which he accepted cautiously, and folded her own back up. "I was afraid of who your roommate might be. You seem shy, so I wouldn't want to see you in a room with someone like Paine." 'Paine? Is that supposed to be someone's name?' he fathomed. Kairi explained, pausing to tap a delicate finger to her chin in thought before answering an unasked question, "It's just that she can be a lot to handle for the new girl on campus," grinning she gave Roxas a wink, "Don't worry though, you aren't with her."

"Oh," the blonde said, dumbly. Roxas tilted his head, confused from the fast-talking. They had roommates? How did she know who his roommate was if it wasn't on his schedule? Before he had a chance break down from brain overload, Kairi re-attached herself to his arm, once again dragging him towards the dorms.

"We're both in dorm one. My room is down the hall from yours. I noticed you're a junior, just like me. We have Spanish, Bio-Lab, and Math together. Oh, I can't wait!" she squealed. Roxas' head was spinning. He could definitely wait for school to start, and wasn't sure he could begin to understand why them having classes in common was worth all the excitement. Kairi stopped in front of the dorms and turned the adjacent 'girl' to face herself. A suddenly seriously look on her face, "I can already tell that we're going to get along great."

Roxas blinked a few times. Okay… this was a bit strange. Wasn't it? Maybe it was normal in girl-world to randomly drag around people you just met and tell them about how you'll get along great? He didn't try to figure it out. He'd given up on understanding. Instead, he tried to get his previous question answered. Hesitantly, he asked, "Umm, thanks, Kairi; but how did you know what building we're in? All it said on the schedule was that I was in room 18."

Kairi motioned towards the middle building and then to the one on the left, respectively, "Freshmen and sophomores are in dorm two, juniors and seniors in dorm one." She let her arm drop and faced Roxas cheerily, "First floor is a common room; the nurse's office is in dorm two, etc… The cafeteria is in that short building on the other side of dorm two." Roxas nodded silently. Thankful, if for nothing else, to know where to go for food. Kairi patted him on the back and continued walking towards the front steps of dorm 1, "You're lucky you didn't come here your first two years; dorm two has common showers." The girl wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Gross." Glancing back to Roxas, she tilted her head questioningly, "Speaking of which, where did you go before here?"

Roxas stared at Kairi, taking a moment to soak in all the words that had come out of her mouth. Talking with girls would definitely take some getting used to. And lots of patience. Namine wasn't like this, was she? He couldn't remember any of the girls he knew talking to him this… excessively. He decided to ponder it later.

The small blonde replied as simply as possible, looking towards the building as they got closer to the entrance, "I just went to a public school in twilight town. My parents finally legalized their divorce after 4 years, so we moved to Hollow Bastion over the summer because my mom could finally sell our house."

Kairi sighed, "Oh, I see. So, you got any siblings going here? I have two brothers, and my sister Selphie is a freshman."

Roxas shook his head, sputtering a bit when the hair hit his face, and eventually managing to reply, "No, just my brother; but he's living with my dad."

Kairi halted. She seemed to sort of… appear in front of Roxas. He wasn't sure how she got there, but both her hands were on his shoulders, and he suddenly felt like this conversation had taken a turn towards interrogation. "A brother? How old his he? Is he hot?"

The boy was beginning to feel seriously nervous; maybe he should just avoid talking about his family altogether. And weren't girls supposed to be the ones who care about personality? Why all the demand over whether he was attractive? Was he attractive?

Before Roxas could answer, a voice called down from the steps to the dorm. "Kairi, the school year hasn't even officially started and already you're trying to find someone to cheat on me with?"

Roxas looked up, startled. Boys weren't allowed on campus were they? No they weren't. The voice came from a girl, taller than him, decked out in a short black shirt and black jeans that were very baggy and hung around her hips. Piercings and wristbands decorated her ears and arms. Her hair was in a short, punk-like style that must have been dyed silvery gray. Roxas didn't have to ask to know this was Paine.

"Oh, you're no fun," replied the petite redhead next to him, pouting to prove her point. Roxas jumped back, startled. Hadn't Kairi just established that Paine someone to avoid?

Paine had a bored look on her face as she allowed her eyes to roll down and focus on Kairi, "Says you." The girl, who had been sitting on the railing of the dormitory's stairs, hopped down and stood waiting.

Kairi finally detached herself from Roxas, only to walk up to Paine and pull her down into a forceful kiss. Roxas could feel his jaw dropping. What the hell was this? Luckily, they took their time sucking face, so he was able to regain composure before Kairi looked back over, arm around Paine's waist. They were an odd couple. Kairi, with her natural burgundy hair, blue eyes, and dressed in a white polo with a blue plaid miniskirt; and Paine, who looked like she belonged in a gang. Or a dark alley. But with the look he saw in Kairi's eye, he decided he needed to get to know them better before he judged. He had a hunch that the girl's personality was deeper than first impressions could tell.

"Namine, this is my girlfriend Paine." Paine nodded to him, and he made a weak attempt to smile back. Wasn't Kairi also asking if he had a hot brother not too long ago? Kairi waved, "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow," she looked up to Paine, "I have a feeling that I'll be busy for the rest of the night." Paine's face remained blank and stoic as Kairi pulled her into the dormitory, chatting her up about how summer had been.

Roxas let out a deep breath. This was going to be a long year.

Xxx

The hallway was painted white, and the carpet was some ugly color that had so many grays and beiges that he wasn't sure what to call it. He passed a few girls chatting in the common room, but other than that the place was pretty empty. His phone had told him it was only 5:00, so most of the students were probably out in the city, enjoying their last day of freedom.

Roxas continued to about halfway down the hallway, counting the room numbers under his breath,"14, 16… 18."

He dug out his key, but when he raised it to unlock the door, he noticed it had been left ajar. Roxas swallowed. Hard. He didn't mind Kairi too much, but he really hoped his roommate was a bit less… overwhelming.

He chewed on his lip, ordering himself to be a man and suck it up, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," called a voice from inside the room. Roxas opened the door to find a girl, who he assumed was his roommate, laying on the bottom bunk and reading. The small blonde frowned inwardly as he noticed that Paine, and now this girl, were both significantly taller than him. He was never really self conscious about his height, or lack of it, but the fact that he fit his petite sister's profile so well was a bit unnerving. He was a guy after all, despite the flats and fake bra.

His assumed roommate looked up from her book, which he noticed was in French. The girl had blonde hair cut to her chin and pale green eyes. Her eyes quickly ran him up and down in assessment before she settled on his face and smirked at him. Roxas took a step forward, setting his bag down next to him and noticing his packed suitcases already on the top bunk waiting for him.

"I'm guessing you're my roomie?" asked the girl, her gaze unnervingly steady on him.

Roxas gulped,"Umm, yeah, I'm Namine."

Larxene stood and set her book on one of the two desks, holding her hand out to Roxas. "I'm Larxene."

Roxas shook her hand silently as she seemed to analyze him. It didn't take him long to realize that her smirk was another form of a blank face. She was hiding her thoughts of him behind that mask of a face. It didn't comfort him, knowing that.

Suddenly, the room seemed very small. How was he supposed to live with a girl for a year without getting caught? And thank god they had their own bathroom, because he didn't think dorm-wide showers would do anything but complicate his life.

As if a switch was flipped, Larxene's face relaxed into a curious smile. "Damn. Who have you ran into so far? You look scared to death. And your hands are all clammy."

Roxas, realizing they were still shaking hands, withdrew his nervously. He thought for a moment before audibly reciting the events of the day to Larxene, "I met the school nurse when I registered. And a girl named Kairi. I ran into her on the way ov-"

"That explains it," Larxene interrupted, snapping her fingers in conclusion. She knew Kairi? Her expression changed to a mischievous one as she continued, "That girl will screw anything that moves. I swear, she's an embarrassment to womankind!" Larxene nearly shouted. Roxas cocked his head, unsure whether he had missed the reason why she being unnecessarily loud, or if his roommate was even more psychotic than the girl they were speaking of.

"At least I'm not an over-analytical bitch!" shouted Kairi from down the hall. Roxas jumped from the response, startled. Larxene grinned. What the hell?

"Hey slut! Try not freaking out my roommate before I get a chance to warn her, okay?" By now, Roxas was being completely overlooked. Larxene hadn't moved an inch, but lowered her previously raised hand from her mouth to unveil a satisfied grin.

Kairi's head suddenly appeared in their doorway, her hair was messy and her make-up smeared. She had a menacing grin to match Larxene's. Kairi wasted no time in replying, "Too late. And at least I get some. Honestly Lar, get a boyfriend or something!" the girl turned to Roxas, who was too stunned for words. She offered an apologetic look as she continued, "Sorry Namine, but once I saw your room number I knew you were with miss chastity police and couldn't help myself."

"God, Kairi, at it already?" Roxas jumped out of the way as Larxene brushed past him to lift up strands of Kairi's hair as if they were alive and squirming.

Kairi's face took on an annoyed demeanor as she groaned and replied, "Not at the moment, but I would like to be, so if you'll excuse me…" and then she was gone. Roxas stood, staring at Larxene. Where had this sort of behavior been when he interacted with the girls at his old school?

Xxx

"So does that mean you're friends with her?" Roxas asked as he lifted a blouse from his trunk, forcing himself not to wince at the ruffles.

"With who?" the taller blonde asked, uninterested, as she turned a page in her book. She was back where the boy had found her, reading on her bed; apparently having unpacked before he'd arrived.

"Kairi." Roxas flicked a glance over to watch her reaction.

Larxene smiled, as if she was remembering something pleasant; her eyes lingering on the page in her book, "Yeah, I guess our interactions would confuse most people." The older girl rolled over onto her stomach so that she was looking at Roxas. "Our parents know each other, so we've been friends since we were kids." Roxas mouthed an understanding 'oh' and continued to unpack as Larxene sighed, further explaining, "They don't know it, but Kairi is bi and a total skank. Her parents are important people and it would be bad for their reputation if she came out, so she makes sure to rub it in people's faces whenever she gets the chance." Larxene paused for thought before beginning her words again, slowly, "It's almost as if her goal in life is to have sex with as many people as possible until she gets some weird disease that prevents her from doing so. I wonder what convinces Paine to go steady with her."

Roxas continued unpacking and nodded, not sure he understood, but accepting it. He and Larxene hadn't talked much yet, but she seemed like someone he wouldn't mind having for a roommate.

Glancing at the other girl, and seeing that she was still staring at something he couldn't see, he chanced progressing the comprehension, "So basically, since she can't act that way in front of her parents or their friends, she makes up for it by being over-the-top when they aren't around?" He was curious. Honest. And it sounded like Kairi's life was probably a lot harder than his. But he couldn't deny that he was sort of half-using this topic to open things up between himself and Larxene. He wanted a friend. He needed an ally. Who better than the girl he'd be living with for the next nine months?

Larxene smiled, "Exactly. Therefore, it's actually complimentary for me to call her a whore."

Oh. So that's how it worked. Roxas smiled and shook his head in disbelief; this definitely was not what he had expected, coming to this school.

"What about you?" Larxene retired her book to the desk, and was focused on Roxas.

The boy blinked. "What about me?"

"What way do you swing?" Roxas paused in his unpacking. How should he answer this? If he said he was gay, they would think he liked girls. But being straight wasn't entirely accurate either…

"Umm…" Roxas glanced at Larxene, who had arched an eyebrow at the amount of time it was taking to answer.

Larxene chuckled, "I'm okay with it if you like girls. Its not my thing, but I don't…"

Roxas sat up, waving his hands, "That's not it! It's just…" he frowned, "complicated."

Larxene sat up, a critical look on her face, "It's not a complicated question. Do you like girls, boys or both?"

Roxas looked around, at anything but his roommate. How should he answer? He settled for the truth. "I like guys." He said in a quiet voice. He had never told anyone but his sister that he was gay, but technically this didn't count as coming out of the closet. Still, he felt nervous, let alone embarrassed, saying it.

Larxene, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief and flopped onto her bed. "Well, I can say I'm glad I don't have to worry about you taking advantage of me or something."

Roxas opened his mouth, closed his mouth, and opened it again, "I-I wouldn't…"

Larxene laughed, rolling her eyes to look down at Roxas, who had been sitting on the floor in front of his dresser for the entire conversation.

"I was kidding," she relented.

Roxas blushed. Of course she was. She was friends with Kairi, wasn't she?

Larxene stood up and walked over to Roxas. There was a kind of sparkle in her eye. It was a smirk, but it wasn't her mask of a grin. She was sincerely amused. "I like you, Namine," she commented, mussing with his hair.

Shit. He caught his breath when, for a moment, her eyes narrowed and she held her hand still against his hair a bit longer than necessary. Was the wig loose? Did she feel something? Soon enough she let her hand fall, and he felt a relieved sigh escape him. Larxene returned to grinning.

Crouching down next to him, she spoke again, "Anyway, I'm your roommate for the year, and your upperclassman since I'm a senior." They locked gazes and she put her hand on his shoulder. "If you need anything, feel free to ask me. From where I stand, we are friends at this point, and I look out for my friends." Roxas felt himself smiling. He was growing quite fond of Larxene. Thank the gods that Kairi or Paine weren't his roommate.

"And feel free to talk to me," she said warmly, taking her hand off his shoulder, her face suddenly serious, "As roommates we need to be open with each other." Her serious composure slipped into the blank-faced grin, making his stomach clench. What was she hiding behind it this time? "Don't worry, I can keep a secret."

Roxas held his breath for the second time in the past few minutes, praying that she didn't know anything; but after a few seconds of anticipatory worry, she turned and walked back to her bed, turning off all of the lights except one that was left for the upper bunk. "School starts tomorrow, so don't stay up too late," she called.

Roxas wasn't sure what to make of this. He was in deep shit if someone already knew about his secret. Instead of letting it bother him, he finished unpacking and made use of the bathroom to change. Larxene was asleep when he came back out.

Roxas' feet padded quietly across the floor, over to the ladder, and he began climbing to his bunk, stopping to glance at Larxene. He smiled silently to himself. There was no way she knew already. She would have said something, and probably gotten him kicked out.

Either that, or… she was a more valuable friend than he would have ever imagined someone could be for a kid they'd just met. Roxas turned off the lamp next to his bed, and snuggled under his covers. He looked up into the night sky through the window in the wall above his bunk. The moon was full.

His observations after the encounter with Kairi had been right; he wasn't ready for the world of girls in the least. Hopefully he could learn a few things from rooming with Larxene. Maybe even Kairi; although, he doubted that. Definitely not from Paine.

'Namine, wherever you are now, I hope you're wishing me luck. I need all the help I can get.'

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, thinking of what he was going to tell his sister about his first day. He didn't dream that night, and it felt like no time at all had passed before he felt someone shaking him.

"Uhhgg… What is it?" Roxas rolled towards whoever was shaking him, blinking at the bright light the sun cast on his room. Larxene stood in front of the beds, already showered and changed.

"Namine, wake up! You slept through your alarm while I was in the shower and if you don't book it, you're going to be late!"

Roxas sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Late? For what?" he mumbled, mind foggy.

Larxene rolled her eyes and threw his uniform at him, "School, you idiot; today is the first day of school!"

If you didn't read the last chapter's ending AN then I suggest it. If you're too lazy, then read this: REVIEW, DAMMIT! I wants an feedbacks pleeeze 8D