Masigla says, hey guys! What's happenin'? Haha. I am so happy right now, I can't believe it! No, I didn't get asked out or anything (I wish…), but trimestral exams are finally over, all the papers and projects I had to turn in are… turned in, I didn't sign up for any extracurricular things for spring meaning…… more time for fanfics! Hahaha. Anyways, I won't keep you waiting any longer.

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Awkward Silence
Masigla

Chapter Ten

The next morning was pretty much a blur. I hate to admit it, but I felt real depressed. I remember getting up, eating breakfast with Selphie, Dinah and her parents, watching a movie, taking a shower and watching TV while I waited for Selphie to finish hers so we could go home.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dinah asked me while she brushed her dark, silky hair. I really envied her and her god-given beauty. Sometimes I think she could just walk past any guy and he'd crash into a pole.

I sighed as I gave her my reply. "I guess… I don't know. I'm just out of it."

"Disappointed?"

"Hmm?"

"Well," she put her brush down and sat on the table, "you seemed like you were real disappointed Sora didn't dance with you last night."

"Yeah." There was no use denying the truth when they knew it was head-on right, "But generally, I guess I'm just disappointed no one came to dance with me."

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked. I shrugged. "Do you think you're pretty?"

I turned my head towards her and raised an eyebrow, "No, not really. I mean you… you're just drop-dead gorgeous—I'm not."

"Well pretend I'm ugly." She got off the table, "Now what do you think?"

"It'd hard to imagine you being ugly."

Dinah sighed. Trudging towards me, she had a somewhat dedicated look on her face. She took me by the arm and began to drag me to her full-length mirror.

"Close your eyes," she told me. I did. She stopped and I felt her pushing me gently towards the mirror. "Now open them."

I opened my eyes and I saw myself. "…I see myself."

"Of course you do. But, what do you think of yourself?"

"My eyes are a weird shade of blue… they're like, almost purple."

"And..?"

"My eyelashes are long… and thick."

"See?"

"See what?"

"Your eyes," she smiled, "they're captivating. Even you get captivated by them."

"What do you mean?" I really had no idea where she was getting to. I looked at her, and the bright expression on her face.

"You're not as bad as you think you are. If you only close your eyes, clear your mind and open them again, you'll see how you really are. You're blinded by your comparisons and your lack of self-confidence."

Looking back at the mirror, I closed my eyes again and did what Dinah told me to. I expelled myself of how she looked, how I thought of myself, and all negative feelings.

I opened my eyes.

My eyes stared into each other. Dinah was right—they really were captivating. I took some time to look at the rest of me. My hair, my skin, my hands.

For the first time since I started actually caring about my appearance,

I felt good. I felt good about myself. I don't know exactly what it was that Dinah did—if it was magic or not, but I don't know why I've never even seen myself like I did right then. Before, looking at the mirror, my first thought was that I wasn't as pretty as say, someone I saw on the cover of a magazine. For the first time, I didn't think that. Instead, I saw myself—pretty in my own way.

"So, what do you think now?"

"I look good!" I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Great to know that, Kairi." She laughed softly, "And let me tell you one more thing,"

"What is it?"

"Guys can be afraid, too."

I responded with a puzzled look on my face.

"Sometimes, when a girl like you comes along, someone pretty like you, yet with spunk, they're afraid. They're afraid they're not good enough for you. They're attracted to that spunk you have, Kairi, but at the same time they're afraid of it. Even though you have your moments when you really feel like you're not pretty, they're gone now, aren't they? You can hold your head up high and say, 'hey, if you don't' think you're good enough for me, screw you!' "

I was taken aback a little. Who was this Dinah, speaking of spunk like she didn't have any herself?

"And you may think I'm one of those girls who've dated a million guys, but Sean was really the first. I liked him because he was the first one to come up to me with confidence. But I found that his weakness was that he couldn't handle long-distance." She laughed briefly, "So yes… People are afraid of me too."

"What are you guys talking about?" Selphie came in from the bathroom right at that moment, fully dressed and ready to go and ending the little pep talk I had with Dinah.

"Nothing, Selph." I laughed, "Shall we go—"

My phone completely startled me as it started vibrating in my jeans' pocket, emitting the sound of my ringtone. I jolted up a little from the surprise, then quickly realized it was just my phone and took it out. My mom was calling me.

"Hello?"

"Kairi! Where are you right now?"

"I'm still at Dinah's… we're about to go, though."

"Okay, good! Get back as soon as you can, okay?"

"Are we in a hurry?"

"Well, we forgot to tell you that we accepted Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs' invitation for dinner tonight! So you have to get here so you can start preparing! It's not a formal dinner, but we don't want you to look too sloppy or anything, okay?"

I nearly dropped my phone.

"S…sure… I'll be there right away, mom…….." my thumb slowly made its way to the end call button, cutting of my mom's last words from the call.

That was when I dropped my phone. Fortunately for me, Dinah was rich and her carpeted floors were heavily padded, causing the phone to nearly bounce off the floor.

"What happened?" Selphie picked up the phone from the ground, took my hands and put the phone into them as I stood there, frozen in a state of shock.

"That's right…" I softly said, "The nurse's office, he told me…"

"Hmm? What's that?" Dinah leaned over to try and hear what I was saying. I snapped out of my brief trance and stared at my two friends with eyes wide as they could ever be.

"I'm having dinner with Sora's family tonight."

I swear, if they had phones in their hands when I told them that, they would drop theirs too.

"Are you serious?" Selphie asked, and I replied with a nod. Dinah stayed silent. "Eww. That's not cool!"

"It's going to be so awkward," I sighed, "even more than before because of the dance last night…"

"You'll be fine, Kairi." Dinah tried to reassure me, "Just don't let it be obvious that you're too depressed about it."

"I'll try."

"….so what're we waiting for?" Selphie asked impatiently. "We need to get you home right away so I can pick a totally cute outfit for you!"

I blushed, the thought of Sora seeing me in something cute had crossing my mind.

"I can't come, though." Dinah said, "Mom wants me to stay home and help her out with things."

"That's okay, Dinah." Selphie patted the black-haired girl on the back, "Kairi's going to keep us updated."

"Updated?"

Selphie pointed to the cellphone I had in my hands. "Oh. Right. If I can get away to text you guys."

"I'm pretty sure you will."

"Hopefully." Selphie ran to Dinah's couch, where our bags were piled. She slung her backpack and duffel bag over her shoulders and ran back. "Let's go, already!"

"Okay, okay," I rolled my eyes as I sauntered towards my things, "keep your dress on."

"I have no intention of taking it off, thank you very much." She retorted.

With a heavy load on my shoulders, Dinah led Selphie and I out of her house. Her house was strangely within walking distance from my house and Selphie's, which was strange considering you'd think a mansion would be farther out. Now that I put things into perspective though, her house wasn't all that grand. It was just bigger than average. Maybe I was just exaggerating it because I'd always wanted to live in a house like that.

"Okay, so we totally have to go shopping tomorrow for more cute clothes!"

"…why?"

"Because… you just need to." Selphie eyed the outfit I was currently wearing, "The shirts you have… seriously, Kairi, they're like, twice your actual size. You need something more form-fitting. Trust me, people know that under those baggy clothes, you actually have a nice body."

"Sure, thanks to the swimming unit in P.E. …" I hung my head low, recalling the stares I got from people when I first came out in the school swimsuit. It was awkward. Extremely. Thank God I didn't even know Sora went to my school then!

"So we're going shopping tomorrow?"

"I guess."

"SCORE!" Selphie squeaked.

We arrived at my house with our shoulders on the verge of becoming dislocated. My mom welcomed us in and asked Selphie until when she was going to be there, to which Selphie answered, "Not very long."

She ran up the stairs and into my room, I myself lagging slowly behind her. Did she have to be so hyper? By the time I got to my room, she was in my closet, looking through my wardrobe. I sat on the edge of my bed, watching the brunette wander in my closet and listening to her comments.

"Too big, too old-looking, hmm… maybe… nah, eww, no! Too faded, seen it too many times, not cute enough…" and it went on.

Finally, she came out with a verdict.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you and your comments about my clothes?"

"Oh well. It wasn't that bad.. just not my style. We need to do serious shopping tomorrow, Kairi. But at least I found something for you to wear tonight."

"Which is…?"

She ran back in and came out with an article of clothing on a hanger. I swear I didn't even remember obtaining that… that dress. It was pretty, actually. I probably got it from an aunt and never bothered to wear it. It was a soft shade of pink, with thin straps and a not too revealing neckline. It was simple, but cute, alright. It was like a little black dress type dress… except it was pink.

"And so you don't look like you're dressing up extra special just for this…" She laid the dress down on the bed beside me and went back into the closet and pulled out a white hoodie. She then instructed me on wearing it, but only zipping the zipper an inch up and leaving the rest of it open, which actually looked stylish. As for shoes, she picked out, thankfully not some sort of godforsaken high-heeled sandal, but my favorite pair of converse shoes, which were purple.

"What about my hair?"

"Hmm well," Selphie thought about it for a while, "You should wear it down like you always do."

"Okay then."

"Why don'tcha try it on? I wanna see my masterpiece!" She squealed again. I nodded my head and went into my closet to change. Before coming out, I did what Dinah told me to do back at her house. I closed my eyes and told myself that I was pretty. I came out, strutting over to my mirror.

SHOCK.

"Oh my GOD!" I couldn't help but squeal like Selphie. She squealed along with me.

"You look so CUTE!" She jumped up.

"I KNOW!" We laughed. Selphie then told me not to wear any makeup or else that would be making it too obvious that I was trying to look good just for him, plus she said my eyes were too pretty to put mascara or eyeliner on, which I completely agreed to. I hated applying mascara. Mostly because I poked my eye with a mascara brush once when I tried to do it myself, and I stayed away from it every since.

When Selphie left, there was about half an hour before we had to leave to go to Sora's house. I tried to soothe my nervous self by listening to music, but to no avail. I tried watching but it didn't help, either. Before I even got a chance to try calling Selphie or Dinah to tell them of my nervousness, we had to leave. I nearly fainted when my mom yelled out, "Let's go!" up the stairs.

"Ooh, Kairi! You look adorable!" My mom hugged me and pinched my cheeks as I rolled my eyes internally, since I'd probably get in trouble for actually doing it.

We hopped into our car and drove towards his house. By then I could do nothing but text message my two friends, since if I had been talking to them my parents would find out I secretly had a crush on Sora. Selphie had to do something in the middle of our conversation, so I stuck to talking with Dinah.

"Remember Kairi, your eyes!"
"I know, I know!"
"How near are you to his place?"

"Hey mom, are we there yet?"

"Almost, Kairi."

"She says we're almost there."
"Oh my gosh! Don't pass out!"
"I'm trying hard not to!"
"You'll make it Kairi! Keep me and Selphie updated, kay?"
"Of course! I wonder what he thinks of my outfit!"
"Selphie told me what it looked like! It sounds really cute!"
"Haha thanks, I wish you could see me and my confidence right now!"
"Hahaha, that's great!"

But before I could add or reply to her last message, we had pulled up at their driveway. I nearly dropped my phone again, though I decided not to, because my parents would probably freak if I did. Plus car floors aren't as… bouncy.

We walked towards the door. Breathing proved to be difficult, it seemed. I almost felt as if I could just fall over and not get up and just stay there. When we stood at the porch, my mom told me to ring the doorbell, so I did. From inside I could hear someone's hasty footsteps, then a loud thunk.

"Ah darnit!" I heard from inside. Judging from the voice, I recognized—

The door opened.

Sora was the one behind it. He was wearing a black sweatshirt and beige cargo pants.

"Hello, Sora!" My mom cheerfully greeted as he let us in. My dad greeted him with a "what's up?", to which Sora replied with a "nothing much." I gave him a small wave and he returned it.

It was awkward.

His parents rushed in and greeted us, then his mom told me that I could hang out with Sora and "him" in the living room.

I didn't know who "he" was. I found out soon later.

In the living room, on the couch playing on the PS2 sat a blonde. He had hair spiky like Sora's and eyes I could've sworn were almost identical to Sora's as well.

"Oh yeah," Sora scratched the back of his head, "that's my cousin, Roxas. He's staying over for the weekend. Oy, Roxas, meet my friend Kairi."

"Hey." The blonde said, his eyes still glued to the TV. I couldn't help but laugh a little. Sora went ahead and sat down at the couch and I found myself sitting beside either his apparently video-game immersed cousin Roxas or Sora himself.

I chose to sit beside Roxas. I just felt too awkward sitting with Sora that I'd rather sit with someone who was practically a stranger to me. The two battled it out on a first person shooting game, as I sat back and watched them. My phone suddenly started vibrating in the pocket of my sweatshirt and I took it out.

"Hey, I'm back! Are you there yet?""Yeah, Selph… it's really weird."
"Really? Howwww?"
"His cousin Roxas is here, and he's like a carbon copy of Sora… except blonde."
"Haha wow, that's amazing, I wanna meet him now. Is he going to our school?"
"No, he's like staying here for the weekend or something."
"Aww darn oh well. Hey guess what?"
"What?"
"I saw Riku outside his house today ahaha."
"And…?"
"He was talking to Tidus!"
"Wait, since when were you into Tidus?"
"Since when he danced with me at the dance!"
"He danced with you at the dance?"
"Oh yes he did! Anyways what's going on there?"
"They're playing video games…"
"…ew… what's wrong with them… they're not talking to you?"
"Apparently not."
"ewww…."
"Haha, I know."

As I waited for Selphie's reply, Roxas got up without a word and left. I presumed he went to the bathroom. That left just me and Sora on the couch.

"….so….." he started. "…had fun at the dance last night?"

"Not really." I replied.

"Same here."

"Did you dance with anyone?"

"Actually, no…"

"Neither did I… just with my friends."

"Freakdancing is really weird." Sora said silently.

"Why do you do it then?"

He refused to answer.

"Listen, during the slow dance, where were you? I wa—" Sora was cut off when Roxas reentered the room and sat in between us.

"You guys wanna watch anything on TV?" he asked us.

"Whatever." Sora sighed.

"I don't really care." I added.

"Okay then." Roxas started flipping the channels, leaving me hanging on an edge.

What did Sora want to say to me?