Roulette Academy Anthology, Chapter I

Prologue

"No, no, no!" Fiona said to herself as she crumpled up yet another sheet of paper. It joined a small colony of similar attempts at the bottom of her garbage bin.

Pushing herself away from her desk, Fiona began to pace aimlessly around her room. What should I do? What should I do? She thought to herself. She tossed herself face-first onto her bed, and buried her face in the blackness of a pillow. Then, it came to her. I know what to say!

"Dream Come True"

It was a warm afternoon, but soft winds carried with them brief moments of cool reprieve. Fiona was leaning against the back wall of the gymnasium – a rare shady spot free of the usual afterschool traffic – alone.

She checked her watch. It was almost four. She'll come. She has to, Fiona thought to herself. She checked her watch again: The minute hand hadn't budged. Running through her head for the thousandth time the things she'd say…

"Hey Fiona!"

It was Allison – the usual smile on her face. In her hand was an envelope, opened, with a familiar-looking letter poking out of it.

"What are you doing back here all by yourself?"

"I, um…" Fiona tried responding, but found the words stuck in her throat.

"Oh, right!" said Allison who, holding up the envelope, continued "I got this letter that said to come here after class. Whoever wrote it said that they had something important to tell me. But it's strange: They didn't sign their name anywhere."

"Well, you s-see" began Fiona, her face turning redder than her hair, "I was the one who… I wrote that letter."

"Oh," replied Allison. "You could have just told me in class or at practise! Why did we have to meet someplace as secluded as this?"

"That's because… well…" Fiona said, looking down at her feet. I can't hold it in any longer, she thought, I have to say it!

"Allison, I like you! Please go out with me!"

An awkward moment of silence ensued, disturbed only by the wind rustling the grass.

"Huh?" Allison was more than a bit dumbfounded.

"I've liked you for a while now, Allison, but I've never been able to tell you" Fiona said, her eyes still firmly fixed pointed at her feet. "If you don't feel the same way, I'll understand…"

"Fiona, I…" began Allison, but she stopped herself. For a moment she thought about what to say: "For a long time, I had thought that two girls dating was a little bit odd. But since I've come to Roulette, and I've seen how well everyone gets along, I started thinking that… maybe… it would be fun to try…"

"Wait," said Fiona, a little bit surprised, "does that mean?"

"Yes! I will go on a date with you!"

Saturday was another sunny day, but Fiona was in too much of a rush to admire the weather. Dammit, I'm going to be late, she thought to herself as she ran along the sidewalk. She was by no means late – in fact she was right on time. But as she arrived at the station she found Allison there waiting for her.

"That looks cute on you" said Allison in reference to Fiona's sleeveless white dress.

"Sorry I was late" replied Fiona between gasps as she caught her breath.

"Oh, you're not late – I only just got here myself" Alison said, smiling as always.

Standing up, Fiona got a good look at Allison's attire. She was wearing a tank-top, covered somewhat by the short cape wrapped around her shoulders, and a pair of denim short shorts. "Wow, Allison… you look amazing!"

"Thanks," said Allison, a bit embarrassed. "Shall we get moving?"

The couple left the station, and began heading downtown walking parallel. Fiona, already blushing hard, turned an even brighter shade of red when Allison reached out and took her hand in her own.

"Hey," Allison said softly, turning to look Fiona in the eyes, "you don't have to be so tense! You won't have as much fun if you're this anxious."

"T-thanks" said Fiona, calming down a bit. Allison smiled, and the two kept on walking.

Along the street were a number of shops. As they walked by the two girls would stop to browse at the things on display in the windows, but they rarely lingered too long. All the while the couple were locked by their hands. Though Fiona found it awkward for the first while, it began to bother her less and less over time.

It was surprisingly not busy for a Saturday as they passed by various boutiques and shops. While Allison would often stop to point out clothes that would look "cute" on Fiona, the latter was reluctant to spend any money on herself. But Allison was persistent, and eventually Fiona found herself the proud owner of a half-jacket, courtesy of the cheery Canadian.

"You didn't have to do this, you know" said Fiona as the couple left the store.

"Nonsense! It looks adorable on you!" Allison spotted a sign for a café: "Say Fiona, you feeling hungry?"

Fiona's stomach answered for her with a growl.

"Let's stop there and eat then, shall we?" Allison said, pointing to the café a couple of doors down from where they were. Not bothering to wait for Fiona to respond, Allison skipped off towards the café dragging her date along behind her.

Although they had finished their lunches Fiona and Allison remained seated at their window-side table exchanging small talk.

"So why did you come to Roulette, Allison?" asked Fiona,

"Well," began Allison, "I wanted to get out and experience other cultures. My dad works for a company that makes parts for slot machines, some of which are used on this ship. I was able to transfer here because of – huh?"

Fiona's eyes followed Allison's to the window. They were greeted by Sakura, standing opposite them with her face pressed right up against the glass. She was staring intently at Fiona and Allison, with shining eyes.

"H-how long has she been there?" asked Fiona.

"I don't know."

"Should we go somewhere else?"

"Probably."

With that, the two girls rushed out of the café and past Sakura. As they ran they could hear her pleading for their return, but they declined the request. Eventually they came to a small park, where they sat down on a bench to catch their breaths.

"That was weird" remarked Allison.

"You can say that again" added Fiona with a slight giggle. Despite the awkwardness of the whole ordeal, she was no longer too worked up about people seeing them out together. And running away with Allison was kind of fun, she thought.

"I don't really feel like sitting in this park all afternoon," said Allison, dragging Fiona away from her thoughts. "Is there something that you want to do?"

"Well, um, actually…" Fiona began to say, opening up her purse. Reaching in, she fished out a pair of tickets. "I've got these tickets to the matinee show at the SA Grand, and I thought that, maybe, we could go together…"

Allison's eyes lit up like a pair of novae. "You mean, that new one that just opened up last week‽ How'd you know I wanted to go to that‽"

"Actually, I asked Yun-" Fiona started, but was interrupted by Allison.

"Wait a second – aren't those tickets expensive? Let me see!" she said, grabbing one of the tickets from Fiona's hand. The price on the ticket was high. "Fiona, how can you afford this? You're a high school student!"

"I've been saving up for a while now, to buy myself something nice. But I thought that this would be more special… and I'd enjoy it more if I went with you…"

"Fiona," said Allison, looking at that girl with puppy-dog eyes.

"It's nothing, real-"

"You're the best!" said Allison as she threw herself onto Fiona in a hug.

It was getting dark when Fiona and Allison left the theatre, the lights of the ship-bound city not yet piercing the twilight.

"That was great, wasn't it‽" exclaimed Allison, her arm wrapped tightly around Fiona's. Her head was resting on Fiona's shoulder, covered by the half-jacket she had bought earlier.

"Yeah, it was" replied Fiona, who despite the public display of affection that was occurring had by now overcome her earlier anxiety. They walked down the main strip this way for a while, walking past most of the dorms, and listening to the commotion of the eventide city. Then, as before, Allison was the first to stop.

"Say… Fiona…" she began. "There's something I'd like to show you…"

"Oh? What is it?"

"You'll see when we get there!"

It was a difficult trek in the waning sunlight, but eventually the two girls made it to their destination. As they stood atop the observation deck – the highest point on the ship – the lights and sounds drifting up from the city below seemed as if they came from another world. The couple stood there in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

"There's a kind of… tranquility… up here…" Allison began, breaking the silence. "You know, this place is supposed to be off-limits after five – they say it's not safe when it's dark. That's why it's always empty.

"When I first came here, to Roulette, I was often homesick. When I came up here, I don't know why, but it made me feel at ease. Because of that, this place is special to me…"

Allison chose carefully her next words, "but I… think that I want to share it with you…

"Fiona," taking a hold of both of Fiona's hands she continued, "after everything you've done for me… I think you're important to me, too. I had so much fun today: I'm glad that you asked me out. To know how you really feel…"

"Allison, I –" Fiona began to say, but Allison gently shushed her.

"You don't have to say anything…"Allison said softly. Blushing, she began to lean towards Fiona, inching closer and closer. Time seemed to slow down to a near standstill. Then, Fiona felt Allison's lips meet hers.