A/N: Well, this is my not-quite infamous FFX fic. Bear with me a bit, because I'm not used to writing the characters or the pairings. I hope this isn't all that bad, and I'll take any suggestions.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the last names (taken from people I actually know) and perhaps the plot. ^_^;;

Question

"Why do we never get an answer…"

The doors to the institution loomed before her. The gray skies did nothing for the décor, and the biting wind whipped through her hair and clothing. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, the petite blond trudged up the stone steps, eager to get out of the weather but at the same time hesitating to enter her imminent prison.

"Hey Wakka!"

The greeting caused a tall tanned redhead to pause in the doorway to his AP Chem class. Looking up, he spotted his friends, Tidus, Yuna, and Lulu as well as his younger twin brother Chappu hanging out near the back of the room. Wakka grinned and greeted the teacher, Mrs. Badger, as he walked quickly towards them, grabbing his journal from the box as he passed it.

Wakka Reck was a Senior at Carlynton High School.* He was about 20th in a class of 300, his brother Chappu at 10th or so. Both brothers were starters on the soccer team and the swim team. Chappu and Wakka would have been identical had not Chappu shaved his head during Freshman year and refused to let it grow out.

Lulu and Yuna were old childhood friends. Chappu had long ago fallen for Lulu, and after a while she for him.. For Wakka, the Goth-like girl was just a friend, as was Yuna. When Tidus had transferred in the previous year, the shy, brown-haired girl with dichromatic eyes had taken a liking to the tan, blond, blue-eyed boy. Wakka was pleased to know that his "little sister" was in good hands. He'd had a long talk with Tidus about that at soccer practice.

After answering the journal topic on the front whiteboard, the first period Chemistry class was just getting underway when there was a knock at the door. Mrs. Badger sighed and went to answer it. A brief discussion ensued at the door before she returned, a petite blond girl following. Consulting her seating chart for a moment, the Chem teacher placed the girl in an empty seat to the left of Wakka and in front of Yuna.

The girl immediately sat down and began digging through her bag for her notebook. "Rikku," Mrs. Badger called from her desk/lab table, "I'll give you a journal at the end of class. I'll need your home phone number and email address to add to the list." The girl nodded and smiled, and the teacher resumed her lesson.

The period passed quickly for the 20-student class, and soon there were scant few minutes until the bell. The new girl was packing up her supplies when she was surprised to feel a tap on her shoulder. The brown-haired girl who sat behind her smiled.

"Hi. I'm Yuna Storey. This is Lulu Young, and behind her is Tidus Kiefer. These two are Wakka and Chappu Reck," she said, speaking for the group around her.

The girl smiled back. "I'm Rikku Stein. Nice to meet you." Yuna and Rikku shook hands. The bell rang before any more words could be exchanged.

Rikku sighed and looked at her schedule once again. 'Fourth period lunch. I'm eating lunch at quarter after ten in the frickin' morning. Lovely.' Scowling as she turned, the petite girl made her way to first her locker and then the cafeteria, praying desperately that there would be an open seat somewhere. Fortunately for Rikku, Tidus spotted her looking slightly lost. A feeling of brotherly protectiveness came over him, and the teen shouted for her. Rikku, upon seeing him, was flooded with relief. 'At least now I don't have to sit alone,' she though, making her way through the crowd.

"Thanks," the girl said as she plopped into an empty seat. "I was a bit lost over there." She smiled her thanks to Tidus, sitting across the table.

The blond boy grinned. "No problem. Lulu, Yuna, Wakka, and Chappu should get here soon." He stood up. "I'm gonna go get my lunch. This is our regular table, so just say that I invited you." With that, he left for the several doors at the far side of the room.

Rikku had barely begun to open her lunchbox when the four friends arrived. As a whole, they seemed only lightly surprised that she was there.

"You're Rikku, right? From Chem?" Wakka asked as he sat down next to her. Yuna sat next to Tidus's chair, and Lulu and Chappu took seats on the other side of Rikku.

The blond girl smiled. "Yeah," she responded. Chappu nodded.

"What other classes are you in?" he asked. Rikku thought for a moment.

"I've got gym second period, and POD third. After lunch is…" She paused for a moment a she looked at her schedule. "Pre-AP English, then Pre-Calc, French 3, and last is Video 101."

"So you're a Junior, ya? Interestin'," Wakka said, almost to himself. The boy's strange accent startled Rikku a bit, seeing how normally his twin spoke. Looking at him, she was at last able to take in his…unique appearance. Wakka was incredibly tan, and his hair a surprising dark orange. It stood, oddly enough, almost straight up in a single, curved-back cowlick of sorts, held in place by a blue bandana. He had dark, warm brown eyes, a bright smile, and Rikku could see some dark stubble on his chin.

Tidus's voice broke through Rikku's concentration. "That makes you the youngest! The rest of us are Seniors."

The new girl grinned. "Great! Now you guys can give me all the dirt on my teachers." Her bright green eyes were alight with an impish delight. Wakka gave a hearty laugh, Yuna giggled, and Lulu smiled a bit. Chappu just smiled and shook his head while Tidus gave Rikku an appraising look. The rest of the period passed in friendly banter and some verbal bashing.

The final bell rang at 2:07, and Rikku picked up her books at her locker. Stepping outside, she shivered in the brisk late-September air before making her way to one of the numerous busses sitting by the curb.

At the same time, Wakka was walking with Chappu and Lulu to the brothers' car, a white '92 Dodge Caravan. It was old, but it ran well and had served for quite a few road trips. Chappu climbed into the driver's seat, Lu sat shotgun, and Wakka climbed into the back. The ride was about 90% quiet, minus the radio. It was Lulu, surprisingly, who started the conversation.

"So, what do you guys think of Rikku?"

"She's certainly… interesting," Chappu responded. I'd nearly say that she's even more chipper than Tidus, and that's saying something." Lulu and Wakka nodded, knowing how damnably perky their friend could be. "What about you, Wakka?"

The redhead stared off into space. That new girl was certainly something else. She was so different from the other girls here, even Lu and Yuna, what with her blond hair pulled up in that spunky, frizzy ponytail and two braids at her neck, her only-slightly-girlish clothing and her immediate initiation to the group. It astounded him that she could do that.

"Wakka?" Lu's voice broke into the young man's thoughts.

"Uh… she sounds neat. I'd like to get to know her a bit better," Wakka answered as he looked out of the window, missing the look that passed between Lu and Chappu. The rest of the ride passed in silence.

"Her name is Lola, she was a showgirl, but that was thirty years ago when they used to have a show…" Barry Manilow sang from the large speakers planted strategically about Rikku's room. The girl herself sat, or rather, reclined upon her bed. Her room was somewhat large, the walls a dark green with an overlay of Anime posters, lighting mellow. The chamber felt lived in, and that was all that mattered to the girl.

"She sits there so refined and drinks herself half-blind. She lost her youth and she lost her Tony, now she's lost her mind!" Rikku sang along in her mellow soprano. Sighing as the song ended, she turned back to the Pre-Calc homework: Trigonomic Functions. Joy. Rather than continuing her work, however, her thoughts turned to her new friends.

They were certainly nice enough. There was a kind of connection in the group that seemed, oddly enough, to have a space just for her. She could almost predict how each would respond to something, as if she had known them all before. It puzzled Rikku to no end how she would know instinctively that Tidus and Yuna would be a couple, as well as Lulu and Chappu, as soon as she was them That Lulu was happier than ever before ('before what?' her mind screamed) when she was with the younger Reck boy. That Wakka had a sports addiction as well as a soft spot for chocolate. It was almost creepy.

"The sky is fallin' all around us, still I'm smilin', lyin' in my shade. I am singin', I am laughin', I am not afraid. I'm sippin' lemonade," the Buzz Poets finally broke through her thoughts. Rikku automatically transferred said thoughts to the back of her mind, to be returned to at a later date, and turned reluctantly back to Trig.

TBC…

*I was going to use another school, but then I realized that I know how mine works best, so…

AN: Woohoo!! I never thought I'd finish typing this. I'm sorry if it seems like a lot, because it is, for me at least. Secondary disclaimer: Songs do not belong to me. First one is "Copa Cabana" and the second one is "Lemonade." Title comes from the Moody Blues song "Question" as do the chapter titles. The CD Rikku's listening to, however, just happens to be the Camp Redwing 2002 Staff Mix. Look for chapter 2 sometime….