"Grow a pair, man! Do it!"

"Yeah, c'mon Hope! You made a bet!"

Ah, friends. They're such a finer luxury in life whenever one is so secluded like I am. Of course, these two just kind of latched onto me when we were treated as outcasts. We were nerds in the eyes of the general school pyramid of popularity—the support base of it, in other words. Yes, the three of us tended to dwell at the bottom of the totem pole and never really spiked up past it (with the exception of me being accepted into the minors of preps at times, if only to do their homework or to do something completely ridiculous for the sake of embarrassing me). I couldn't ever speak for the entire trio, but I was appreciating the wonderful world of disenfranchisement.

One of them, Tristan, had popularity at one point in time. It was back in the sixth grade when he still played football. He was the quarterback and respectable leader of the entire team. He gave his pregame speeches with so much confidence in his voice and it always got the squad pumped up that it usually resulted in a win for them. He stayed out of the lower class up until the championship game when he got injured. When he tried to come back in his first year as a junior high student, he just didn't perform as well as he used to be able to. He was cut and nobody wanted anything to do with him since, y'know, he wasn't playing a sport.

Then on a totally different story was Wesley. He was never very athletic and, unfortunately, there was a perfect reason for it. When he was five, he was in a car crash with his parents. His mother was killed on impact but his father managed to survive the accident. Wes (the shortened name we adopted to call him) was put in limbo on the entire ordeal. During his time in the hospital, it was explained to him that he was paralyzed from the waist down. When he arrived back to school a few weeks later in a wheelchair, most of the children made fun of him and went on accusing him of being a robot. That sparked a barrage of unoriginal nicknames that still haunt him to this very day.

Each one of them was limited by a disability or injury of some kind, but they somehow seemed better off than me. They were always a lot happier and elated than me. I wasn't being held back by anything either. Anything, that is, except for my own ineptitude at anything socially involving.

"I don't think so guys." I responded to them casually. "It's bad enough that you dragged me to this godforsaken event." I poured some punch out of a ladle into my glass cup and proceeded to lean against one of the pillars in the gymnasium.

"You don't have any, do you Estheim?" Tristan grabbed himself between his legs.

"At least I have enough dignity not to do…that." I nodded at him as I took a sip from the cup.

Tristan was exasperated by my all-of-a-sudden insubordination. "Well if you have some dignity, then why don't you just commit to what you started?"

Wes tagged onto the bombardment of words. "He does have a point, Hope. You've got nothing to lose besides your place in a functioning society. And then even after that it's not much of a loss considering you don't have any normal place in a functioning society anyway."

The two of them snickered at their sheer stupidity. I sighed with a very heavy puff of wind. "So what is it that I've gotta do?"

"Just go up and ask one of the girls to dance. It'll be the first time that we'll have a sighting of Hope Estheim talking to a woman let alone asking a favor of her." Wes amusingly waved his arms as if he was creating a magical rainbow before our eyes.

"Can it, Wes." I bitterly took another gulp of the sweet-tasting punch. I shivered as the sugar rush hit me. "Damn, that's sweet."

"So are you going to live up to your bet or not?" Tristan said, reminding me of why I was forced into this situation in the first place. I'll forever curse those easy exams that the teachers hand out. If he hadn't gotten that freaking A….

"Fine." I swigged down the rest of my drink and put it back on the table for the concession monitors to wash. "What're the stipulations?"

"We pick the girl, you agree on the choice, and then you just ask her for a dance. Simple as that." Wes said this with all too much eagerness in his tone.

"This is so stupid."

"So is life, but we all have to go through with it anyway. Now let's start scouting the crowd, Wes." Tristan stared on deeply into the student body that was compiled of freshmen and upper grades past that. Wes joined him quickly after in the search efforts except for him being at a disadvantage with height only being slightly a factor. He had to just go along the outside ring of the dancers on the floor.

I hate dances. I hate them with such a fiery and burning passion that I wouldn't mind going to prison for arson if I had to. Any type of social convention was such a huge waste of time in my eyes. I could be using that time for something useful! Studying, sleeping….studying. Okay, I'll admit that my life isn't really much after my education, but that's beside the point. "Oh Hope, go to the dance! You'll love it, trust me!" My mom always says to me. Yes, if the equivalent of loving a dance is a soul loving spending their eternity in Hell, then I agree with her.

"Got one!" Wes suddenly snapped me out of my train of thought. "What about her?"

I gazed at the blonde-hair woman that my disabled compatriot pointed out to me. "Rebecca Sonners? Hell no, man. She's too preppy."

"Okay, Hope doesn't like the bitchy types." Tristan teased me. "How about her?" He nodded his head at a pink-haired woman in a tight little dress as he downed a can of soda.

As soon as I caught eye of the girl, I slapped Tristan on the back of the head causing him to choke. "Are you crazy?! Serah's my friend, you buffoon!"

"I didn't know that you actually had a friend who was of the opposite sex." Wes inquired quizzically.

"She's the only one, thank goodness. We've only been friends since I was three and she was five. I think of our relationship leaning more towards the brother to sister deal. Not to mention, Snow is her boyfriend, remember?"

Snow Villiers is the captain of the varsity football team. Strange enough, he isn't the quarterback. He is just a linebacker rather, but a good one at that, leading the state in tackles, interceptions, and returns for touchdowns. I could tell as I said his name that a feeling of scorn came over Tristan.

"Alright Hope." Tristan pressed on and impatiently started tapping his foot as he looked towards the ground, ignoring my comment. "You aren't going to just stand around here and turn down every option that we bring up."

"Oh really? I was a little hopeful that you guys wouldn't notice." I said sarcastically. Truth be told, that was exactly my plan. It probably wouldn't have gotten far if someone as dense as Tristan noticed it almost right out the gate.

"C'mon, Hope." Wes shook his head. "You've gotta do this eventually. Might as well man up now and get it over with."

"Why don't you guys do it?"

"Doctors won't let me. They say it might reinjure my leg." Tristan answered bluntly.

"Do I even have to explain my predicament?" Wes told me sternly.

"Alright alright! I get it!" I made a duckbill with my lips and let out some strange noises. "So who then?"

"Next one we pick, no matter who it is." Tristan told me.

"Deal."

"Alright…see any potential dancing mates for Hope, Wes?" They peered on into the happy rioters who were tearing up the gym floor with their gratuitous dancing. It was such a gaudy display and I couldn't ever see myself getting involved in it. Thankfully I was so disliked by the group that no matter who I ended up asking would turn me down anyway.

"Umm…" Wes rubbed his chin in wonderment. I think they were trying to get me scared by picking one of the more beautiful types. "Now that I think about it, is that new girl in that mess anywhere?"

"Oh, good idea!" Tristan snapped his fingers. "What was her name?"

"I never caught it, but I know that she has red hair and is only a bit shorter than our good ole platinum-blonde here." Wes punched me in the side playfully.

"Shouldn't be that hard to find then. She thicker or skinny?"

"Apparently she's like a stick."

"Okay, we're doing good. Let's just keep on following the process of elimination." Tristan went onwards with their silly little game. "How's her voice? Some of these girls are screaming in this mess and I bet we could distinguish some from the others."

"I think she has some weird accent; Oerbian or something to that tune. It's also high and shrill."

"Alright. Make sure to listen for those yells." Tristan pointed out. "I think we'll just have to rely on our own intellect and keen eyesight to find her from now on."

"Looks that way." Wes agreed.

If that's the case, you're going to be here for a while. I rubbed my eyes, perplexed by what was unfolding before me. It disturbs me a lot, watching these two whittle away. They're always very devilish in whatever project they're doing at any particular time. The strange thing is that whatever they do always ends up in the positive for me by the end of it all. I can't comprehend how with how idiotic their solutions usually are, but it just tends to happen.

"Got her!" Tristan slapped me on the back and fixed by head to look in the direction where the woman in question was located. Sure enough, she was there. And by the Maker she was gorgeous. Those red pigtails bouncing up and down as she danced gaily with many of the other girls. She was caught in-between the popular and unpopular group, obviously making quick friends on both sides. The Oerbian woman would swiftly make her way up the food chain.

"Alright, it's your time to shine Hope!" Wes smiled at me.

"Go in there swingin', buddy!" Tristan pushed me forward a little bit, to which I just stood my ground all wide-eyed. I felt star struck and nervous. Butterflies swarmed about in my stomach as I clutched my heart which pounded away like a deep bass metronome. I could feel my knees wanting to buckle beneath me, but I stayed strong.

"Hope?" Tristan waved his hands in front of my face. "You alright man?"

I started to breathe very heavily. I couldn't stand the tension that was encompassing me. I turned back to the column I was formerly leaning against and supported myself with it. These were all obvious symptoms of a panic attack, and right now wasn't the best time to make a scene out of it. I desperately needed one of them to try and calm me down.

"Whoa, Hope! Jesus man, calm down!" Tristan shook me. "C'mon, man! Get a grip!"

"I…I…c-c-can't d-do it…I j-just…just…" I stumbled over my words. I felt like I was going to vomit.

Then I felt a sharp pain all at once in my stomach, replacing the former fuzziness that lye there before. I gagged and looked downwards to see Wes' fist shoved deep enough into my person. He removed it and shook it off while I did my best to regain myself.

"Lord, what'd you do that for Wes?" Tristan asked my friend.

"Shaking him out of that panic attack wasn't really working, now was it? It was the only way to get him to come to his senses."

"Th-Thanks, Wes." I slowly bent back upwards as air reentered my lungs.

"Anytime."

I coughed. "You have a strong arm for a guy in a wheelchair."

"It's my legs that are useless, not my arms." He supported his head with his hand as he leaned on the arm of the chair.

Tristan was completely shocked by what had just taken place. "Hope, what the hell just happened there? Even an antisocial mess like you shouldn't freak out that much over a little playful bet!"

"I've told you before, haven't I? I can't talk to women. I become a freak of nature if I even attempt it."

"We've seen you try before Hope. We just don't understand why you're going especially wacko now when you haven't in the past. Usually you're just reduced to a bumbling idiot who can't fathom a single sentence." Wes explained to me.

"I…I don't know." I looked back in the general direction of the woman who was my target. "There's just something about her and I can't put my finger on it."

"Who knows? It could be just about anything." Then I saw it: an evil smile spread across Tristan's face. He let out a chuckle when he put his hand under his chin to support his head.

I raised an eyebrow wondering what could possibly have him smiling. "What is it?"

"Could it be plausible that Hope Estheim, the man we know who has never approached a woman with the exception for his mother and teachers and respectively thought nothing of them, has a crush on that foxy redhead?" Tristan asked aloud.

I instantly felt my gut wrench at the thought. Wes patted me on the back, trying to restrain me from going into another panic attack.

"Let's not push it." I told Tristan while doing my best to fight back my blushing.

"Hope, listen to me." He grabbed onto my shoulders and had me look him in his blue eyes. "You've been too chickenshit around women your entire life. You spend too much time around all this geeky science stuff in the school's laboratory and not enough time with anybody to commit to something special. Now I'm not saying that this will turn into anything of value, but it sure as hell will be a big leap forward in your case. I want you to march out there with your chin held up on high, be able to look that girl in the eye and just to tell her to dance with you. Don't even ask her; grab onto her hand and she'll oblige to whatever task you have assigned! You are going to have to dance with a woman eventually, so what better time than the present?"

Astounded is what I was by Tristan's outburst. Usually he can't string together an intellectual sentence let alone an entire speech centered on just one subject without straying off into something else entirely. Even Wesley had that surprised look on his face.

"So I gotta go out there, huh?" I scratched the back of my head uncomfortably. Really, I do not want to go through with this.

"At the very least you could find out her name if it doesn't end well for you." Wes was once again there for the positive reinforcement.

"Thanks, I guess." I took in a gigantic breath of air. "Well, here I go."

I began walking out into the open. It felt so cold and bare and I thought I heard behind me some type of wagering on whether I'll go through with it or I'll chicken out. Tristan had some confidence in me which says almost nothing of my efforts—especially if he only bet twenty Gil. Am I really only worth that much as a friend? But I guess that isn't that important right now. I need to focus on my destination before I faint from pure exhaustion. The woman in question had mingled even deeper into the crowd making me have to work not just emotionally but physically now. Lord, how many people actually go to this school? I swear, sometimes I question my bets that I make. I normally win when it comes betting on things academically, but did they give Tristan the hard test? No, they gave him the wimpy little kindergarten-level test. I don't care if I'm in an honors class and he's just among the regular students, it is ridiculous that our tests are that drastically different. By golly, I'm going to have a complaint for the school board by the end of this.

I was interrupted by a soft hand on my shoulder. "Hope? What are you doing out here?"

I froze in place. I slowly turned around and, to my relief, it was just Serah. I let out a contented sigh. "Oh thank the Goddess. You scared me there…"

She smiled innocently. "I didn't really expect you out here in…"

"Public?" I finished for her.

"Well I was trying to phrase it a bit nicer."

"It's alright. I understand." I put my hand up to settle her thoughts.

She hesitated before she blurted out, "So what are you doing here?"

I scratched the back of my head. "I kind of made a bet with my friends and…well, long story short: I lost."

"Oh. So what do you have to do?" She clasped her hands together.

"Ask for a dance with a girl that they chose. They being Wesley and Tristan." I pointed their way, where they were wondering what the heck I was doing talking to Serah rather than that certain redheaded girl.

"Ah, Hope! That's kind of sweet, actually! You're never social, so perhaps this will push your boundaries!"

That one kind of stung, but I played it off. "Wow, thanks for calling me antisocial." I kidded with the pink-haired woman.

Serah covered her mouth and giggled while looking up to me. She then uncovered her mouth and curled her hand into a fist and pounded her other hand with it as if she just got an idea of what she wanted to ask next.

"Who is this lucky girl?"

"I don't know her name. She's the new girl here, y'know her?" I prayed to the Goddess that she didn't know so I could play it off like I couldn't find her; she probably left, I would say.

"Oh yeah! Vanille Dia!" Well, I have a name now. Serah shot me this strange and happy look. "Hope, I think you may actually have some good grace with that girl!"

I could feel my cheeks burning. "S-Serah, don't say that!" I told her in a hushed tone. There were already a few people looking towards the two of us.

"It's true though! She so nice and pretty and, best of all for you, single!" She didn't get the hint to quiet down, so there were even more sets of eyes beaming our way.

"L-Look, could you just tell me where she is? I want to get this over with and soon."

"I thought she told me she was heading for some food. I don't know if she realized there were concessions because she started off towards the vending machines." Serah told me with so much ease behind her voice.

"Th-Thanks." I started to make my way slowly towards the direction she told me until her voice stopped me again.

"Hey Hope."

"Yeah?"

"Good luck, tiger." She jokingly made a purring sound at me and used her hand as if it was a paw. I blushed deeply and turned back to my prime place of choice. Serah always knew how to embarrass me. I heard her laugh at my profuse rush of blood to my cheeks as she returned to dancing with her friends.

The information that Serah had relayed to me turned out to be correct. I saw the girl named Vanille carefully browsing the selection in the snack machine, wondering what ever to get with that precious Gil in her hands. A Chocobo Chocolate Bar? Behemoth Jerky? The possibilities were totally unending to her hungry eyes (which, oddly enough, was the song that started bellowing through the gym speakers; I heard cackling from Tristan and Wes' end of the gym when it came on).

Okay, don't freak out. Just whatever you do, keep calm and get through the question. That's all that's important. That's all you have to worry about. I pounded my head incisively. I could feel all the eyeballs of my friends pinned on me, keeping a wary eye of what I was doing. Even Serah, who is always kind enough to keep out of a person's business unless they want her to be involved, kept a careful lookout on me.

I managed to make it about ten feet away from her and then made a sharp turn to the right, heading towards the door to enter the hallway outside the gym. I quickly exited and shut the door behind me, letting out a giant breath and trying to steady my breathing. What the heck happened to me back there? I could feel the perspiration running across my forehead as I collapsed, sitting up against the door. I reached up and hit the door in a specific place, causing it to lock. I didn't need to worry about it; they were double doors, so those wanting to go in and out could use the other one. As long as they don't bother me, I'll be alright.

I felt a vibration in my pocket. I looked at the contact information and saw it was Serah. I guess I should answer it, I thought. So I put the cellular device up to my ear and instantly pulled away to get adjusted to the loud music in the background that echoed behind me. After my ear had gotten used to the sound level, I carefully put the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked politely of the caller.

"Hope? Hope, are you there?" Serah was having a hard time hearing me.

"Yeah, I'm here." I started to hear wind pick up outside. It didn't sound like anything too serious, but it was still loud enough to make a high-pitched squealing noise against the building.

"What happened? I turned around for a few seconds and when I turned back around I saw that you were gone! Did you ask Vanille for a dance?"

"Y-Yeah!" I lied. I didn't want to get dragged back out there.

The only problem was that I'm not a very good liar. "Don't lie to me, Estheim."

"….no."

"That's what I thought. Why didn't you go through with it?"

"I…I just couldn't!" I rubbed the temples on my forehead. "She…She was just there and I couldn't do anything! I was about to speak up and then my mouth went completely dry!"

"Hope…do you like this girl?" She asked of me honestly.

"Well…I think I may. I haven't actually gotten to know her yet. You may think she's nice, but Vanille may just end up being an annoyance to me."

I could hear her squeal of excitement over the phone. "Awww, Hope! That is so damn cute of you! Is she your first crush?"

"Could we not talk about this?"

"No, I want to know! This is a big step forward for you! It's like you're finally becoming a man!"

I smacked my face. I'm sixteen and she thinks that I'm just now a man? "Wow, thanks."

"Well you haven't done anything to prove me wrong otherwise."

"If you don't have any good reason for calling me except for making fun of my lack of masculinity, I think I'll hang up now."

"I just want to point out that you should really give yourself another chance with Vanille. I think that you guys could fit really well together and-"

She was cut off by a high-pitched voice. "Hey Serah! Who're you talking to?"

Serah responded nervously. "Oh, hey Vanille! I'm, uh…just talking to a friend. He's out of town right now and we like to keep in touch."

Wow, she has lame excuses. "Okay, to save you from any further trepidation, I'm hanging up now."

"I'll see you soon then! Bye!" She said to me with certain fakeness to it. I heard the dial tone on the other end of the line and then finally snapped my phone shut.

Almost as soon I was about to put it back in my pocket, I heard my ringtone and answered it. I, again, waited for my ears to become adjusted to the sound coming through. Not as much as before, as I heard a shout out of the other end.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" The boastful voice of Tristan came over the speakers on my phone.

"Jeez, calm down!" I told him. "What're you so upset about?!"

"You aren't keeping to your bet, Hope. Not to mention, we've been planning this for God-knows-how-long and you decide to run out on us?"

I caught that last sentence as it was still up in the air. "What do you mean you've been planning this out?"

"You sure as hell weren't going to get a girl otherwise." He told me.

"That's why you made the bet?!" I yelled at him. "You were trying to hook me up?!"

"Not hook up, per say. Let's call it 'forcing you into a relationship.'"

"And who was 'we' anyway? Was there anyone else involved besides you and Wes?" I automatically assumed that he was in on the entire mission.

"No!" He answered abruptly. There was a long pause before he restated his answer. "Okay, maybe we mentioned the plan to Serah along the way."

I groaned heavily. "Why can't you guys ever just leave me alone to do what I think is best for once?"

"You wouldn't be getting anywhere if we just let you be."

"I'm not going back out there." I folded my arms, annoyed with the facts that were presented to me. I listened to the wind howling outside. Man, it is blowing out there! Probably even harder than before!

"C'mon, Hope! You actually have a chance!" Tristan persisted.

"Look, Tristan. I'll be blatantly honest: I don't want a relationship right now. I'm not interested in going out on dates or dances or even just the simplest thing of kissing a girl. I'm too busy trying to keep up my studies anyway and I don't need any distractions."

"Hope, you're the top of our class right now and you'll graduate valedictorian. We both know that."

"The point is that I don't want anything to do with a woman—especially one that I don't even know yet. That'd just be beyond impossible for me."

"Don't give me that crap."

"Just leave it be, Tristan. You and Wes both."

"But-"

"That's enough. I'm not going back out there."

Just about as I was going to snap the phone shut, it happened: the music stopped. It just quit. Why did it quit? To answer my question, I heard a screeching noise over the loudspeakers and then a human voice to replace them.

It was our principle's voice. I guess he decided to be a monitor at our dance. "Uh, um…yes. Is this thing on? Check check; 1 2, 1 2…" I could hear both the faculty and the students in the gym kind of chuckle at the older man's timid voice. "Well um, this seems to be working so…yes, the announcement! That's it! Okay, we have just received word that due to a massive snowstorm that has been blowing across the city, there has been a driving restriction put on all roads. What that simply means is-"

"Are you trying to tell us we can't leave?!" One of the angrier students shouted. It sounded vaguely like Snow, but I couldn't really tell.

"Unfortunately, yes. That is indeed the case. Until the ban has been lifted, all students are to remain inside the building. We are not sure how long this will last and if it goes past the dance's allotted amount of time, then we will allow it to go over until however long this ridiculous restriction has been lifted."

A loud sound of groans was the initial response until the students realized just what that meant: with the possibility of the dance going past it's ending time at midnight (it is currently eleven o'clock), they had even more of a chance to spend time with their friends. Some even had more chances to go off on their pursuits for romance and potentially succeed. The jeering was eventually replaced by cheering, and the music was turned up even louder than before. The speakers could probably burst with the sound of some type of techno music booming on through the gymnasium, causing the floor to shake rather violently.

Tristan had to increase his voice to a yell. "Did you hear that?!"

"Yeah!" I responded at the same level. "Yeah, that sucks!"

"I know! But if you use it right, you could get along better with Vani-"

I quickly ran my thumb up to the 'End' button and pressed it, not wanting to hear him going on more about my unloving lifestyle. I covered my ears. I didn't even want to be here in the first place! Why do I have to stay even longer?! The term may be overused, but this is total bullshit! Just because it was amusing to my friends to see me suffer doesn't mean I have to go on through with it!

Muttering words that I would have to wash my mouth for just to kiss my mother again, I sat there up against the door. God, they can't turn down the music just a smidgen? I decided to get away from it, at least far enough so that way I didn't have to hear some of this new…what was it called? Dubstep? I can't remember for the life of me. Either way, it made me miserable.

So there I decided to plant myself down, having my back against the wall just outside the bathrooms and next to the water fountains. It wasn't ideal by any standards, but it was better than anything that went inside that gym. I can imagine that some of the guys have gotten tired by now and have broken out some basketballs and put down one of the rims. Sure, it may be disruptive to the rest of the dancegoers, but they need something else other than a bunch of nerdy dancing to keep them occupied. That was the only thing that I understood the entire evening. So instead of trying to ponder on the situation any further, I broke out a book: A History of Pulsian Cultures & Languages, and went on to my dog-eared page to continue reading.

About forty or so minutes later, I heard the door to the hallway slam open with two girls giggling as they moseyed their way into the narrow passageway lined with lockers.

"It's kind of gotten out of control now, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but with the restriction and the fact that they've had to start replaying songs, you'd kind of expect people to start getting bored."

One of those voices belonged to Serah, I knew. There was no question about that. I only wondered who in the world the voice of the other girl belonged to. It was strange but very likeable. It felt more like music to me rather than whatever they were playing.

I got my answer soon enough as they passed by the small little break in the hallway that led to the bathrooms—where I was sitting, in other words. I pretended to ignore them, trying to become more interested in the words on my page than the words that were expelled from the mouths of the bantering women.

Unfortunately Serah saw me and just had to acknowledge me. "Well at least it's gotten- oh hey, Hope!"

I mumbled and replied with a wave back at her without lifting my eyes up from the book. I didn't know that she would see it as an opportunity to take a hold of my hand and lift me off the ground.

"Wai- Serah!" I protested to her as she made me stand up, dropping my book out of my hand. I turned to confront her. "Why did you do that?! I was reading!"

"Oh, you big baby! You need to quit stop paying attention to words on paper and start paying attention to those coming from here!" She pointed to her lips.

I let out a grumpy and frustrated sound and just about as I was to say my comeback, I noticed the girl standing behind her who was giggling rather sweetly at our little argument. I stopped midsentence, surprised by the stunning appearance of the girl.

It just had to be Vanille. Of course it did; Serah wouldn't have it any other way with me. But now that I got a good look at her, she was even more beautiful than I thought. Her hair was a fiery red that was a brighter red than my burning cheeks. She had a very nice and complementing svelte figure. At least she didn't bother dressing all formally, instead choosing a purple gown that was not too sparkly yet not too dull. As I saw her at school, she usually wore her hair up in two pigtails, but here she restyled herself and instead let in flow down to its full length down past her shoulders. I didn't see what shoes she was wearing, but by the sound that she made while walking, they sounded like sandals which I didn't understand why she wore those on a brisk winter night like this one. On her wrists she wore bracelets and I only saw this because she used both of her hands to try and cover her wonderfully bright smile that rested just beneath those deep emerald green eyes.

"Uh…um…" I tried to continue rather dumbly.

"Oh Hope! This is Vanille Dia! Vanille, this is Hope Estheim, the guy I was telling you about earlier!" Serah introduced the two of us to each other.

Serah, what did you tell her? I swear, if you so much as texted a word of the bet I lost to her I will kill you! I had no time to worry about this, as Vanille had extended her hand for a shake with me.

"Nice to meet you!" Vanille said enthusiastically.

It took me a few seconds to respond when Serah finally nudged me in the back. "Oh, um, yeah!" I looked away shyly as I shook her hand. I must look like such an idiot! "N-Nice to meet you…too." I quickly retracted my hand as soon as the friendly handshake was over.

Serah sighed. "I'm sorry about my friend here." She put both her hands on my shoulders and hung on there. "Outside of me, he can't really talk to women."

"Serah!"

"It's true, isn't it?" She said with the smile of mischievousness.

Vanille giggled again. "Aw, that's kind of cute!"

I blushed hard enough that I thought my head was going to burst off and splatter blood everywhere. I scratched my left bicep uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I'm sure he could be quite the lady's man if he didn't have this silly little fear of his." Serah continued with the ultimatum of trying to embarrass me at the maximum level at the front of her mind.

"I'm surprised he's not anyway! He's cute!" Vanille said without fazing or any regret in her tone. First it was just Serah teasing me and now Vanille had to jump on the train along with her, riding it out to whatever extent there is. At this point, it doesn't feel like there could be an ending.

"D-Did you guys, uh…come out here for something important or um…did you just uh, come to embarrass me?" I stumbled over my words very clumsily.

"Actually, I have to freshen up." Serah said. "Vanille just tagged along because she needed to get away from the mass hysteria. Mind if she hangs out here with you?" She didn't even give me a chance to speak up. "Thanks! You're a great guy, Hope!" She then skipped along her devilish way, leaving me dumbstruck with my hand up and my mouth agape. I returned my muscles to their respective positions and sighed.

Vanille came up beside me. "Kind of abrupt, huh?"

I staggered once again. "Uh, y-yeah…I guess so." I still didn't have the courage to look her in the eyes.

"Here." She handed over a rectangular object to me, which I took without hesitation. It was my book. "I saw it on the floor and I didn't want it to get trampled or anything. It looks really interesting!" She mused.

"Y-Yeah. It is." I answered in a monotone voice.

"Hope, if this is uncomfortable for you, you don't have to talk. I understand."

I shook my head. "N-NO! I mean, uh…n-n-no, it's alright." Smooth, Hope. Smooth.

She decided to sit down where I formally had been and patted the floor right next to her, signaling for me to sit down beside her. I obeyed, albeit slowly, and made my way to the ground. As soon as I did this, I did nothing but just look down at my unopened book in my lap nervously. Then Vanille decided it would be a good idea for her to rest her head on the shoulder of the boy with a phobia of women.

As I sat there with a head full of blood, she looked at me. "Aren't you going to keep reading?"

"Huh? O-Oh yeah…I guess so." I carefully opened it up to the page that I remembered being on last before Serah rudely pulled me from it. Strangely enough, it was about Oerba.

"Oh!" She instantly lit up, leaning closer in to get a good look at the page. "That's my hometown!"

"Really?" Although I heard that she was probably from Oerba due to her accent, I never guessed such a thing as it was such a small Pulsian village filled mostly with various clans and tribes.

"Yeah! My entire family is from there! Well, most of them anyway; I was told to come and live with my auntie here so I wouldn't have to follow tradition and go into an arranged marriage."

So a little bit about her past, huh? I thought to myself as I struggled my best to build myself up to be competent for an answer. "S-So that's why you…uh, moved here." It was getting a little easier.

She giggled at my uneasiness. "Hope, I have a question." I nodded my head to allow her to ask it. "Why are you so scared of talking to women?"

I gulped down a lump in my throat and thought about it. I never really actually knew, but I gave it my best shot. "I uh, I guess i-it stems from my antisocial te-te-tendencies." I wiped a tiny sweat bead that was forming on my forehead away. "I-I'm sorry, I c-c-c…can't! I can't, uh…say much more."

"It's alright, Hope." She continued resting her head on my shoulder and started reading the book along with me. Every time I was about to turn the page and she wasn't finished, she'd pop her hand out and stop me until she took it back and gave me a nod. It was pretty cute, actually. She kept on telling me all these different stories of her times back in Oerba, ranging from when she was a little girl and her and an older female friend of hers—I think the name was Fang—bludgeoning a Behemoth to death on their own to her current age, where she helped refurbish the living quarters that the women of the village all shared together. Everything that she said to me was beyond remarkable.

"S-Say Vanille?" I began.

Vanille was shocked that I actually initiated the start of a conversation. "What is it Hope?" She asked eagerly.

"I-I'm sorry for…uh, being rude to you. I-I don't mean to be this way to people. I w-was just…protected, you could say, at an early age." I let out a slight laugh. "I don't even know you that well a-a-and I'm being a total jerk. Guess I'll j-just have to face the music on that damn bet…" I tried saying that last part under my breath as silently as I possibly could, but I accidentally let it slip.

"What bet?"

"Um, uh…well, I-I suppose I should explain." I took a deep breath and closed the book with a solid thud. I closed my eyes and then told her as hurriedly as I possibly could, "I made a bet with my friends that I would ask a girl for a dance and they decided to choose you for it and I chickened out at the last second and have been sitting out here avoiding you ever since!" I took in a giant gasp of air and then let it all rush back out. When I opened my eyes at a turtle-like pace, I saw the expression on Vanille's face had changed dramatically. She put on a harmless little giggle though.

"Is that all? Why didn't you just come up and ask me?"

"I…" I pushed my palm against my forehead. I felt so vulnerable. Now or never, though. Let's get this done and over with Hope. "I g-guess…" I felt dizzy. "I'm s-sorry, I'm not that g-g-good at things like this."

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Don't rush it. Take your time."

I shifted my body around to get myself comfortable enough to actually say what I was thinking. "I…I like you, Vanille. I like you…as…as more than a friend! I knew that I would from the very instant that I got a look at you! Y-Y-You looked so…enthusiastic and beautiful and…and…well…everything about you is just…pe…pe…perfect." I let out a relentless breath of air.

I felt Vanille's face begin to burn up against my shoulder. I slowly put my hand up to her head to confirm this. I was genuinely worried.

"A-Are you alright?"

She suddenly sat up and turned back towards me. "Um, uh, yeah! Yeah, I'm okay! I'm okay!" She cupped her face in her hands with a flustered look. I think I may've gone too far.

"V-Vanille, I'm sorry. I di-didn't mean to-"

The Oerbian woman closed her eyes and put her index finger up to my lips while still holding her embarrassed look in her other hand. I could feel my heartbeat pick up when I saw that look on my red-haired crush's face.

"Hope, I…I…" She tried to calm herself down. It's almost like this was the first time she's ever gotten asked to a dance before. Somehow I highly doubted it. "Oh my…" She shook her head. "I think I'm going to go back in the gym. I'll see you around!" She got up and ran down the hallway and through the doors. This wasn't some little fast walk; this was her running away from me. I could only sit there, satisfied enough that I think I did my part.

"Didn't go so well, did it?"

I looked up to see Serah standing just outside the bathroom door now. She looked down at me in concern.

"How long have you been listening?"

"How long have you thought that I actually had to use the bathroom?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Touché."

She walked over to me gingerly and leaned down next to me. "So tell me what happened." She curled up into a ball, holding her knees up against her chest.

I could feel my hair rustle as I shrugged. "I came clean and told her about the bet. She didn't say anything and just got up and ran away."

"That's disappointing." She told me simply. "Now tell me the rest."

I groaned. "Oh come on; you already know!"

"C'mon, Hope. You know that this will be easier for the both of us if you just tell me the truth now." Serah smiled as my misfortune.

I scratched the back of my head. "I…I told her that I like her, alright? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"You betcha." She was so proud of her bullying techniques. "Well you can't give up now, can you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hope, if you really like Vanille, then you need to be able to get through it all: the rain, the shine, the muck and the grime. What was her reaction when you told her?"

I looked upwards at the ceiling in thought. "Well, she turned a deep shade of red, started speaking almost like I do whenever I talk to a girl, and then ran off without another word."

I felt a sharp pain on my forehead and then saw Serah's hand moving back to her side. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Just how dense are you?! You know what?" She stood up suddenly with a sour look split across her face. "You're a smart guy, Hope! Why can't you figure out simple signs that a girl likes you?!"

Lord, is that what that was about? "Wh-What do you-"

"Hope, you've been my friend since we were little. I'm being honest when I say this." She leaned down to my ears and told me in a hushed tone "Wake the fuck up. Pay attention before the good things are all gone, alright? They won't always be there and you need to start figuring that out." Serah straightened back up and arched her back, stretching out. "I'm going back to the dance. I'll text you if she says anything, okay?"

I was too shocked to respond with words, so I just nodded at her. She then turned her back and headed through the doors. I didn't check my phone for the rest of the night despite a few buzzes coming from my pocket.

It was the next day that I realized that they didn't clean up the gymnasium. Even from my best efforts, I still was enlisted to help on clean-up duty (I guess being part of your school's National Honors Society chapter does have its bad sides). I was left in charge of the ordeal, giving out assignments to other students of the organization. Serah showed up with the group of thirteen and gave me a look of pure and utter distaste, as if something completely awful had rested on her tongue. I shook my head and moved on, scribbling down assignments on my clipboard. With a dance held just so unrealistically close to the last one—about one every other week and the school makes some great money off of it—the Society has decided to keep a template of the checklist we made at the beginning of the year so we could go through cleanup much more efficiently.

About an hour in, I decided to go around and make sure everything was proceeding smoothly. Wesley (a member of the club as opposed to Tristan's absence) was doing his best to help take down streamers along the bleachers and was obviously in a cheery mood. I guess he was happy about getting twenty Gil. After I gave him a quick pat on the back, I went on to—may the Goddess help me—Serah's location. I was just about to assume she was going along just fine with ripping the fliers off the walls until I was grabbed by the collar.

"Hold it right there Hope." She felt a firm grip on me. Let the interrogation begin. "Why didn't you respond to any of the texts I shot your way?"

"Ummm…"

"You didn't look at them, did you? Have you looked at them?"

"Ummm…" I twiddled around with my thumbs.

"You are impossible! Hope, we're doing something good for not only you, but for Vanille too!"

I was caught off-guard. "What do you mean? I thought this bet was…"

"Hope, if we knew your chances of getting heartbroken were somewhere above a percentage of seventy-five, do you think we really would've done this? I helped Tristan study for that test just so he would get an A! Vanille told me about this 'platinum-blonde boy that looked really cute' that she liked long before the dance; probably about a week before! Sure, she had no idea about the bet, but we made sure to make her the prime target whenever the time came!"

I wasted no time. This wasn't a time to think things over; it was a time to act. I grabbed a good hold onto Serah's shoulders. "Where is she?"

Serah was taken aback by my rejuvenated self. "I…don't think she's here today. She was on the absent list this morning."

I sighed. "Any idea where she lives?"

"All I know is that she lives in one of the houses on Palamecia Drive."

Without hesitation, I ran past my pink-haired friend. She turned to watch me and stopped me with a yell. "Hope, wait! You can't just skip school!"

I peddled backwards when I turned to face her, making sure not to stop for anything, and put on a grin. "Don't worry." I pointed my thumb as myself. "I am going to graduate valedictorian, after all."

Her look of wariness turned to one of delight. "God, you're turning just as arrogant as Snow is."

I wheeled back around, still having an unexpected smile on my face. Right now, I had someone I needed to find.

….but goodness, who knew she'd be this hard to find! I've never seen so many houses lined up on one street in my entire life! Even for living in a city, this is way too crowded!

Whatever. I need to find her and quickly. I had no choice but to go from doorstep to doorstep, knocking on each one and asking if Vanille was there. Most of the responses that I received ended up with a door slamming in my face or for whoever answered the door to feel sorry for me, probably thinking I was a 'special' child that didn't know what I was really saying.

I felt like giving up after the tenth house. I felt like it was no use trying to find her; besides, it wasn't such a big deal. I could find her at school and then we could talk. No, that wouldn't work. There wouldn't be enough time for me to truly convey my feelings to her. I needed this to be a legitimate talk with her that didn't force me to condense it down to three minutes and then a bell ringing throughout my ears. I went back down to the sidewalk and went on until my quest was at an end—quite suddenly, too.

"Hope? Hope, what're you doing here?"

Wait a minute…that voice. Vanille? I whipped my head around and was stunned by the glorious sight. She was wearing a thin white tank top and it didn't look like she was wearing a bra. I felt around my upper lip just to make sure my nose wasn't bleeding. To go along with it she was wearing a pair of black short shorts—very short shorts. Still no nosebleed. She didn't wear any shoes with this attire as it looked like she was just stepping outside into the sun for the first time of the day. Strangely I think she has been more than ready for it because she had her hair up into pigtails, held up by some yellow bands. I was too busy gawking at her beauty to really care about her sleeping habits.

I slapped myself back into reality. Pull it together, Hope! "Oh, uh…hi, Vanille." I cautiously made my way towards her and, upon being face to face with her, I noticed that she didn't look as feverish as she did last night.

"You…um….look better." I began.

"I'm not wearing makeup, Hope."

"That's not what I meant. Even then, I wouldn't care."

Her face turned back to that hue of red that I have become familiar with. "You made it through a sentence without stuttering."

I chuckled. "So why are you home?"

She twisted her upper body uncomfortably. "I'm…I'm sick."

I put my hand to her forehead and pulled it back almost as quickly. "No you're not."

Vanille stood there and rubbed her arm. "Well…" She looked away in embarrassment.

I decided to be the gentlemen with the current situation that was presented. I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into a hug. I didn't know how she would react. To my pleasure, she didn't do anything at first. But then I felt something coming through my shirt: tears. Vanille was crying her heart out.

"Vanille, I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't saying anything earlier."

"Please Hope. Don't…"

"I need to say this." I gulped down something heavy. "Would...would you like…to dance?"

Vanille looked up into my eyes with a gorgeous smile. She giggled rather sweetly through her now-joyous tears. The Oerbian woman nodded her head at me while saying, "Yes, Hope. Yes I would."

I smirked. "Alright then." It may've been corny of me, but I dug out my MP3 player and unraveled the ear buds wrapped around it. She was confused by what I was doing until I put one of the red buds into her ear and the other one into mine. I went through song after song, trying to find the right one. Then it just kind of hit me all at once and it was then so clear. I happily pushed the play button, and we saw each other's look of wonder on the other's face. We did our best, holding each other tightly and quietly sashaying from one foot to another. Call it what you like, but we danced, not having a damn care in the world. Our other half was holding the other and nothing could ever be as perfect as I caught myself mouthing words that just couldn't do the moment justice.

Hey all! Trapex here with a very, VERY long one-shot! I can't tell you how long it really took me to write this and I mean actually writing this! Not taking time to myself or anything, this probably would've taken an entire day's time if I didn't take any breaks. Now for all you wondering "Where the hell is the next chapter of Cellmates?!" Don't worry, I'm going to get it out to you very soon! I need just a little bit more time to edit it to what I think will be acceptable at best. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this read and look forward to my next chapter of Cellmates and my next one-shot! Damn though, this is tiring...

Oh, and props to the first person who can guess what song I was thinking of when writing that last paragraph in the story.