Prologue:
Okay, so what would you do if you were in my situation? Two of the school's most popular boys have asked me out at the same time but I've just realised that I'm in love with my best friend! To make things worse, I found the weird transfer student sleeping in my bed! Now how did he get there?
I should probably start from the start, right? Here goes...
The Start:
"Naminé, wake up it's time for school!" I heard my Mum's voice call from downstairs. How many times did I have to tell her that I could wake up myself? I was already dressed and stared in to my dressing mirror at my neat uniform. Grabbing my long hair into my palm, I twisted it into a meticulous bun at the back of my head. I skipped the make-up since I never needed it. Acne had been a stressful part of my early teenage years but now my skin has turned into something new thanks to a healthy diet all summer!
I fixed my new books into my school bag eagerly. This was my final year in Traverse Town High School and I desperately wanted to achieve maximum grades to get into the Twilight Town University for arts and crafts.
The fresh scent of pancakes filled my nostrils as I made my way downstairs, passing the many photographs of my family.
"Nam, did you wake you're brother?" Mum asked when I entered the kitchen. I took a seat on our high stools at the counter and poured myself some tea.
"Doesn't Demyx leave early for college?"
"He does? That's strange, I thought he was in bed," my mother sighed and handed me her wonderful pancakes which I gobbled down hungrily. I stared at my mum as she commenced washing the dishes. She turned to catch my eye and gave me a smile.
"Are you missing your father?"
I stared at my black shoes and nodded. Dad was an air-force pilot that worked for the Kingdom Hearts Organisation. He travelled through the skies to ensure that none of the Heartless' were troubling citizens of the many worlds. I missed him often and I feared for his safety when he would be away for long periods of time.
"Balthier is returning this weekend. We'll all catch up on some family time together," Mum reassured. Her words eased my sense of fear. My lips curled into a small smile but I frowned instantly as a mental image of my no-good brother formed in my mind.
"But Mum, do you think Demyx will be here in the weekend? He's never around and you're not even too harsh on him," I said, eating another bite off my pancake.
"Naminé, don't talk with your mouth full!"
Ah, I knew it. She always avoids talking about my older brother's responsibilities because he's too spoiled for his own good. Sometimes I wish my older brother was like Kairi's older brother. Her brother will be starting to teach this year at our school. She was so lucky! Everyone kept complimenting her on it.
I met up with Kairi on my way out. Was it just me or did she grow an inch taller since I've last seen her?
I'm telling you, Kairi was one of the prettiest girls in the whole school yet she refuses to date any of the boys that swoon over her. Her dark red hair was a rare attraction and she chose her make-up professionally. Her sporty life-style had given her a drop-dead-gorgeous body. When I examine my own body, I feel quite inferior towards her because I'm all stick and bones while she's all toned and shapely.
Kairi gave me a tight hug.
"Hey there, Nam!"
I returned the hug and smiled. "Hey Kairi."
We instantly began talking about our summer to catch up on things. Kairi usually goes back to Hollow Bastion to visit her dad every summer so I never get to see her. She returns to Vanille, her young mother once school is about to restart.
You're probably wondering now who I spent my summer with? Well...I'm getting to that part...
"Hi," a sullen voice uttered close-by. We turned to face Roxas, walking over with his hands in his pockets. He wore his usual grim expression.
What could I say? My heart suddenly started banging against my fragile ribcage and I felt my cheeks grow hot. Luckily for me, I had a peachy skin tone so my blushes never showed too easily but that's not the point. It was at that moment, while I was talking to Kairi and turned to stare at my best friend Roxas, I realised something: My hormones had started.
Yeah, sure I was seventeen and my periods began when I was a mere thirteen year old but I was never smitten about a boy like that. I suddenly realised how cute Roxas was with his golden spiky hair and large iceberg-blue ices. He had also grown taller over the summer, standing a head taller than Kairi and I won't even start with me!
"Roxas!" Kairi beamed and embraced him. I would have embraced him there had I not been drooling over his handsomeness. I mean, I seriously needed to snap out of it. Roxas was dating that nerdy kid, Olette.
"Where's Ventus?" I stammered with a shaky voice. Kairi raised an eyebrow with darkness in her eyes. I thought raising a question about Roxa's twin could steer them away from my shameful ogling but I thought wrong.
Roxas shrugged. "Probably still in bed. You know what he's like, always lazing around and ditching classes."
I nodded stupidly, all the while staring at how his lips were moving. A rather stupid mental image flashed through my mind of me kissing my best friend under the moonlight with rose petals flying over us- Snap out of it Naminé, you dope! He's in the swimming club and library club. You're only a geeky kid with a few paintbrushes and awful looks!
"Shall we get going to school?" Kairi suggested.
Everyone was bustling into the classroom when we reached school. Our school wasn't that big since Traverse Town wasn't that huge so classes only had about twenty students per year. It didn't cause a big problem because everyone knew each other well enough.
Just then, Kairi grabbed my arm and a faint red hue that matched her hair danced across her face. I turned to gaze at her object of observation. Riku was sitting not far from us with his usual gang of rugby players. His slivery hair glinted in the falling sunlight and his shiny green eyes were almost glowing. He had the sleeves of his cardigan always rolled up to show off his well toned muscles and there was no other boy that matched his height. In every single girl's point of view; Riku was perfection.
His best friend Hayner was throwing paper planes around the place. Although not as good looking as Riku, Hayner was the second most popular boy among the girls. Unfortunately for their fans, both boys were already dating someone. Riku was dating the raven-haired beauty and diva, Xion Fair and as I expected, she was sitting next to him. Hayner was going out with Selphie Tilmitt, another beauty.
I'm telling you, those girls had everything: The money, the looks, the happy family etc, etc. Their perfect lives seriously wanted to make me cry at most times over my not-so-perfect life. I wasn't too head over heels about their boyfriends though, I mean, sure they were handsome and awesome rugby players but their attitude never really intrigued me.
"Give it up Kairi; Riku and Xion have been dating for two years now. I wouldn't be surprised if they get engaged soon," I said, rolling my eyes. Kairi scowled and folded her arms.
"Geez, Nam, you won't even give me some moral support or say 'Kairi, you should go for it!' or something like that!" she snapped and tapped my head lightly. I fixed a strand of hair that fell out of my bun behind my ear. (Roxas was too busy listening to his brunette girlfriend to notice what we were going on about but I was secretly throwing them painful looks and wishing how Olette's soul would swap places with mine.)
A wandering paper plane made out of card-paper wacked me in the eye quite suddenly. Kairi gasped when I yelped in pain. I curled onto the floor, spraining a palm over my watery eye.
"Hayner, look what you did, you freak! You're not meant to be throwing paper across the classrooms!" I heard Kairi yell. Hayner chuckled above me and I felt strong arms hold me around the waist before pulling me up.
"Let me take a look at that," he said, pulling my hand away from my face. Suddenly, Roxas got off from his chair and pushed him away.
"Don't touch her," he exclaimed. Hayner backed away and glared coldly.
Uh...Did I mention that Roxas and Hayner were best friends a few years ago? No? Okay, I will mention it now. Roxas and Hayner were best friends at one stage but they fell out-badly. Roxas never told us why. Kairi always tried to interrogate him into telling us but he didn't slip a word. They never talked to each other much and preferred not to make contact but I guess, Roxas was angry that I got hurt...Or did he feel jealous that Hayner touched me?-As if Naminé! Dream on!
Both of the boys glared at one another as if they were having a glaring competition. Luckily for the rest of us, Xion and Selphie chided in with their bubbly personalities to end the awkward moment.
"You two stop being such thickheads on the first day back to school!" Xion chuckled while Selphie held Hayner's arm and pulled him back towards his seat.
"You okay?" A short, stout boy named Pence asked. I nodded and wiped away the sore tears that formed in my now red eye. Poor Pence, always so worried for Hayner and Roxas; he doesn't know which group to hang out with since he was caught in the middle of their fight.
"What an absolute jerk," Kairi protested as I dabbed my sore eye with tissue, "Just wait till lunch time while I give him a piece of my mind!"
"Kairi, just leave it, it doesn't matter," I murmured while Olette was busy snogging Roxas in the corner to cheer him up. A monstrous claw twisted the insides of my stomach. Fortunately Mr. Leonhart stepped into the classroom. Leon was a handsome young man who loved wearing a biker jacket. He was the girls' favourite teacher for the obvious reasons.
Looks like he was our tutor for the year? Leon slumped into the teacher's chair and looked through the roll-book, his eyebrows furrowed in fury as usual.
"Seifer Almasy?"
"Yeah!"
"Uh...Naminé Bunansa?"
"Here..."
"Xion Fair?"
"Yeah!"
"Sora Gainsborough?"
"...Here..."
Our heads immediately turned to the corner to face a spiky haired brunette with large periwinkle blue eyes. He was so hidden in the corner and so quiet that we didn't notice him there before. I've never seen Sora around before. I guessed he was a new transfer student. Poor thing had to see Hayner and Roxa's silent enmity.
He caught my eye as Leon kept calling out the rest of the names. I immediately looked away. Kairi smirked beside me.
"He's cute, isn't he?" she whispered.
"Huh? But you hardly know him, Kairi," I whispered back.
Kairi rolled her eyes. "I meant his looks!"
"Kairi Oerba, out of the classroom! I will not tolerate any talking in here! If 's looks matter to you so much then talk to him at lunch time!" Leon yelled, making us both jump. Kairi's face was a red as a tomato as she slowly had to leave her seat in humiliation and follow Leon's pointing finger outside the room.
We clustered out of the classroom when the bell rang. Kairi joined me; her face was still glowing red.
"Oh my gosh...Riku had to see that!" she hissed. I sighed and surveyed my timetable. Faith class and Level Up class were always compulsory. We did meditation exercises to strengthen our hearts in order to escape from the clutches of darkness. The other six subjects I chose were Arts and Crafts (You may guess why), magic, applied magic and science. I frowned when I realised we still had to do sports in our final year.
"Awh, Nam, why didn't you pick History? Zexion teaches that!" Olette said. I rolled my eyes. I was starting to have this weird antipathy towards her. It wasn't right to hate her just because she's Roxa's girlfriend but I couldn't help but despise her! Oh light and darkness...
"Zexion is a creepy guy. He's so passionate about the Keyblade War, it frightens me," Kairi shuddered, wrapping her arms over herself.
"Okay, I'll see you both later," I waved and headed towards my first class which was applied magic. There were very few people in this class, in-fact there were only seven. I sat down on a table and waited for Merlin the wizard to arrive. Soon, the other students made their way to their desks.
Riku and Hayner sat in the back and instantly began making their paper planes again. Xion and Selphie sat in a row in front of them. Xion was reapplying her Georgio Armani foundation. Tidus and Wakka, the school's best swimmers joined there side of the classroom. Selphie looked at me. She whispered something to the others and they all sniggered. I was used to their comments by now. They considered me a nerd and a loner since I got the highest grades for this class and I always finished my homework on time.
"Hey...Could I sit beside you?" A timid voice broke me from my thoughts. I glanced up at the new kid with the spiky hair. His eyes were so large and blue that I was sure anyone would fall into them if they stared for too long. For some reason, his eyes reminded me of Roxas...
I blushed and nodded. He grinned cheerfully and hopped in the seat next to mine.
"I'm Sora," he greeted, extending his hand. I stared at his hand and then his never-ending grin.
"And I'm Naminé, nice to meet you Sora," I smiled back, "So where are you from?"
"Destiny Islands," Sora removed the Applied Magic book from his bag. It had a neat cover of Winnie the Pooh, "I like it here though. My mum was offered a job so we moved out."
"Oh, that's very nice. Do you miss your old home?" I said, turning over a page to examine the next chapter.
"No, I like it here. There's a lot more places to explore," he said turning to me. He eyed me in a strange way that made the hair on the back of my neck tingle. I glanced at him and raised my eyebrow.
"Uh...You have beautiful eyes, Naminé," Sora suddenly blurted. I blushed intensely. How could he suggest something like that? No boy had ever said that to me and he it said so openly! He sure had a lot of guts speaking about my eyes when we only knew each other for two minutes. To make things worse, I heard laughter coming from behind me. Sora turned to the direction of the 'popular kids'.
"They're weird," he whispered.
"You have no idea..." I gritted my teeth. My face and neck were already hot from embarrassment. Thank King Mickey that Merlin arrived.
"Welcome back class! For a few weeks we will be focusing on the concepts of thermodynamics in magic," he said, waving his arms in the air.
"Thermo-what?" Hayner groaned.
"Dynamics!" Merlin chuckled, his smile barely noticeable behind his long, bushy beard. It was my turn to laugh at those behind me.
When the bell rang, I rushed out of the classroom, completely ignoring Sora for the embarrassing situation he left me in earlier. I caught up with Roxas, Kairi and to my irration, Olette.
We sat in the front as usual. Kairi sat next to me while Olette sat beside Roxas. I was surprised to see Roxas' twin brother Ventus arrive. He sat next to Alice Wonderland to avoid Riku's crowd. Ventus looked a lot like Roxas except his eyes were a bit lighter in colour and he had a more genial personality.
Mulan was our teacher for this class. I always admired her intelligent way of teaching. Science was my second favourite subject after Arts and Crafts.
"Okay team listen up!" she said, eyes focused in concentration, "This year, we'll be having a competition of scientific experiments! I will put up the names of partners up on the corridor later on this week."
My heart suddenly skipped a beat. I crossed my fingers under the desk and hoped that Roxas was my partner for this year. Mulan resumed teaching us about the circulatory system.
Today was a half day so after Princess Belle finished our lesson for Faith class, I swung my backpack over my back and walked home with Roxas, Kairi and Ventus. Good for me, Olette takes the train to Twilight Town. She moved there years ago but her heart remained here in Traverse Town and since she's such a daddy's girl, her father couldn't bear to see his baby cry and let her travel by train across the cosmos to go to school here.
"Ventus did you miss your first class?" Kairi chided in. Ventus' eyes grew larger on his face. He quickly ran ahead to avoid talking to us.
"That was weird," I said. I knew that Ventus was a social person just like his brother, but he didn't mind our company.
"Dunno really, he's been acting like that since last week," Roxas grunted, placing his hands into his pockets.
"We should get to the bottom of it!" Kairi did a little jump and curled her fingers into her palm determinately. I glanced at the many houses we passed and spotted my one. It surprised me sometimes how we humans can spot our house even though every house in the estate looked the same.
"Yeah, we can do that but I'll see you both tomorrow at school," I waved goodbye and snatched my keys from my skirt pocket. Mum was probably still at work because her car wasn't at the front lawn.
When I entered the hallway, I froze in my spot. Rustling and the sound of breaking glass came from the kitchen. Was there a thief in my house?
Diary:
So you're probably wondering how my little love story progressed? I'll come to that part later. First I have a few things to tell you about before I talk about the four boys that will change my time in school!
Preview of next chapter:
Kairi and I stopped talking when we heard weeping coming from one of the toilet cubicles. The door of it suddenly opened and we saw Xion stare at us with puffy eyes.
"Riku..."she stammered.