Chapter 1: A New Beginning
Squall laid on his bed in his dorm, trying his best to forget the past few days. It'd only been a few months since the incident with Ultimecia had occurred, but Squall had been facing even bigger challenges lately - particularly with Rinoa. It'd all began with Headmaster Cid and his little idea to have a "Winter Social" for the entire Garden, something he said would "help everything return to normal."
"Yeah, right," Squall thought to himself. The world wouldn't be the same anymore, let alone Garden. Squall didn't mind the idea of the Winter Social, though - he'd managed to be able to integrate into the social order of Garden, especially with the help of Rinoa. It actually sounded like a lot of fun, especially when the Headmaster said uniforms weren't required (only semi-formal civilian wear). Unfortunately, as much as Rinoa helped Squall to socially mature, he couldn't truly feel anything more for her than a strong friendship. When Squall broke up with her a little over a month ago, Rinoa had more than a difficult time accepting this. Rinoa believed that Squall was the one for her, since she'd felt things for Squall she'd never felt for anyone before - she wasn't ready to give that up so quickly.
Believing that being with Squall would fix things between them, she continued to pursue Squall - even further straining their fragile friendship. Her hassling was particularly worse with the Winter Social less than two weeks away. "Come on, Squall…it'll just be like old times!!!" he remembered her saying. Squall really didn't want things to be like the old times, though. He wanted to move on and see what other people were like to be with - he was barely eighteen, not ready to spend all his time with just one person. A knock at his door quickly interrupted his irritated mind…
"Enter!" Squall called out. He was surprised to see cheerful Selphie's face pop in the door. She wasn't exactly one to visit Squall regularly, so he figured it must be something work related. As he stood up, she happily responded, "Chill, Squall! No official business to take care of here!"
"Then," Squall replied, "What's up?"
"W-Well…" she nervously started, "I've heard what Rinoa's been up to…bothering you and all…and we both know she won't leave you alone if you're still single, so…"
"Selphie," Squall interrupted with a hint of humor in his voice. "Are you trying to ask me out?"
"No, no!" she swiftly responded. "It's nothing like that! I just was wondering if you'd like to go to the Winter Social with me, that way Rinoa might ease off you a bit - that's all!"
"Hey," Squall replied, "Aren't you friends with Rinoa? And what about Irvine?"
"Don't worry about Rinoa - I need to make sure she's not going to ruin friendships between us and the others. As for Irvine, who started that 'we're an item' crap anyways? Two childhood friends hang out a lot and everyone gets the idea that we're going out or doin' it or…whatever!"
Squall couldn't help but laugh at how annoyed she was getting. Quickly shifting focus, Squall thought about the whole situation - maybe Rinoa would back off if she figured out that he'd gotten over it all, and she just might do the same.
"Okay, why not?" he finally responded. "I could use a date to the Social anyways."
"Great!!!" Selphie exclaimed, almost jumping up and down. She then quickly tried to conceal her happiness, adding, "Well, why not start the process now? Wanna go get something to eat at the cafeteria? That is if you'd want to…"
"Sure," Squall said, hiding a small smile. "Give me a minute to change, and I'll meet you back at your dorm in a few minutes."
"Great, see you in a bit!" Selphie then bounced out the door. Squall thought again about what he was getting into. Squall wasn't blind about Selphie's feelings - he knew she'd liked him ever since they'd met during the SeeD field exam, but the timing was bad with Ultimecia's scheme coming into play and…meeting Rinoa. This wasn't just a favor for a friend - it was an excuse to chase after him, just in a roundabout way. He'd never seriously thought about getting together with Selphie before, but he couldn't just throw away this chance - she wasn't only attractive with her stunning emerald eyes and beautiful short, brown hair, but fun and exciting to be with. He then decided that everything was worth a try once - even Rinoa had once taught him that…