The Sun & The Moon
R o x a s • N a m i n é
Embarrassed by her lifestyle, Naminé was incredibly unpopular and insecure. But upon getting a makeover, people suddenly start liking her. Has she really changed? She never thought that he'd be the only one to notice that she hasn't...
Chapter One: Look at Her
She relaxed her tense shoulders. Relieved, she exhaled, and dared to take one last glimpse at the crowd of popular girls as they retreated down the hall. She stared after them with envy. Not exactly jealously, but envy.
She envied the popular girls for their outgoingness. She longed to be able to have a normal conversation with someone without choking up.
She shook her head lightly, and laughed at her own silliness.
Oh Naminé, you'll never be like them.
Of course she couldn't be like them. She was too shy. She was too awkward. She was too unpopular.
The warning bell rang and the blond sprung to her feet. She quickly shoved her sketchbook in her backpack, slung it over one shoulder, then darted down the hall. She wouldn't want to be late for her first class of the year.
Naminé peeked down at her watch. 8:15!? She stopped in her tracks, then looked up at the school's clock which was hanging on the wall. Her eyes widened.
I'm late? How am I late? Without thinking twice she sprinted down the hall, her side bag slapping against her hip as she did so. And then slam. Right into someone.
Naminé fell right onto her backside, her backpack flying open and papers scattering everywhere. "Ouch." she rubbed her head, her eyelids shut. As soon as she opened her blue orbs, she nearly had a heart attack. Her sketchbook was laying wide open on the ground, and before she could snatch it, someone knelt down and picked it up. Naminé felt a lump form in her throat as she peeked up.
A tall, very attractive boy was standing there, staring and flipping through the pages of Naminé sketchbook. "Uhm," Naminé peeped, jumping to her feet. "C-Can I have that back?" she stuttered nervously, fiddling with her own fingers. She couldn't meet the boys eyes as he stared down at her curiously. "Please." she added.
"Yeah, of course." he closed it and handed it to the small blond. "You have some good drawings." he complimented, and Naminé could feel her already red face get redder.
"Um, thank you." she said quickly, before kneeling down to gather up her papers. To her surprise, the boy knelt down as well and helped her. She barely peeked over at him. They both stood, and he handed her a stack of papers.
"Sorry about that." he shot her a smile, but she didn't see. She was too busy staring at her feet. He frowned slightly, and wondered why she wasn't looking at him. "Uh... yeah..." She's too weird. He thought, then half smiled. "I'm Roxas." he extended his hand out to her, and she jumped when she saw it.
"Naminé." she said, then hesitantly took his hand, still not meeting his eyes. I'm holding hands with him...! "I've got to go. Bye." she said quickly, before racing down the hall. Roxas stared after her with confused eyes.
"Um, bye." he finished, even though she could not hear him.
He didn't have to tell Naminé his name for her to know who he was. He was, of course Roxas Taiyou. He was only one of the most popular guys in school. Only Mr. Soccer Star, who Naminé had only been secretly crushing on him for the past three years. But Mr. Soccer Star also happened to be Mr. I'm-Too-Cool-For-You. Obviously too good to even pay much attention to Miss. Nerdy Naminé.
Naminé ran through the halls, her face as red as beets. That was so embarrassing. She thought, never stopping, until she arrived at the english room. She gulped when she saw the door was closed. She knew what that meant...
"Miss. Tsuki, you're late!" Mr. Vollick shouted, and Naminé felt all eyes on her. She just wanted to dig herself a little hole right there, crawl in it, and never come out. Oh, how she hated Mr. Vollick.
"S-Sorry... Sir..." she stammered, quietly walking over to an empty desk.
"Not a good start." he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "Not a good start at all."
"I'm sorry." she apologized again, sinking into her seat.
"Detention after school." he said. "Don't let it happen again."
"O-Okay..."
"Wow, what a loser." someone nearby snorted, and Naminé felt even more humiliated. One would think that she would be used to being called a 'loser', 'nerd','geek', 'joke', and so on... but it hurt Naminé every time to hear their words. Now, maybe if she weren't so shy, people actually wouldn't talk about her... But that wasn't the case. Naminé Tsuki was shy, too shy for her own good.
There was a knock at the door, and as an instinct Naminé looked over, just to see Roxas, casually standing there.
"Decided to join us, Mr. Taiyou?"
Roxas shrugged. "Apparently."
Mr. Vollick frowned. "Then I guess you'll also be joining Naminé in detention after school."
"Who?" Roxas asked, and almost everyone in the class snickered. Naminé's face flushed... again. It didn't surprise her that he didn't remember who she was. After all, she was invisible.
Mr. Vollick only rolled his eyes. "Have a seat, Roxas." he said, and Roxas obeyed, taking a seat that one of his friends had saved him at the back. "Well class, welcome to grade ten english."
"Boo!" The boys at the back called out. The teacher ignored them, and continued on.
"If you've had me in the past, you'll know that I'm not too great with names, so until I learn everyones, I'd like you to sit in alphabetical order." the class groaned, and even Naminé did. She wondered what kind of horrible person she would be sitting next to this time around. The teacher went around the room, telling students where to sit. Naminé stopped paying attention, and dreaded sitting beside someone she didn't know. This always happened to her... The person she usually sat beside was a jerk. Some stupid, popular jerk.
"Roxas, you'll be sitting here." Mr. Vollick said, pointing to the seat next to Naminé. "You can stay where you are, Naminé." he told her.
Her heart sank. Roxas casually pulled out the chair at the desk next to Naminé's and sat down. He was so close she could hear his breathing. Help me. Naminé mentally whimpered. She absolutely hated sitting beside boys. She hated talking to boys. She was way too awkward, and always just ended up making a fool of herself. And now, beside a cute boy like Roxas? Who only minutes before she had smashed into? Now this was Naminé's definition of humiliating.
Naminé sighed, and only prayed that he wouldn't talk to her, and would talk to Hayner, who was on the other side of him.
"Hey." his soft voice sounded. So apparently its opposite day... Naminé thought, glancing over at Roxas for only a moment.
"Hey." she replied quietly.
He smiled. "I remember you..."
"Oh." Then why did you ask 'who' when Mr. Vollick said my name?
"So, you crash into every person you meet?" he asked with a grin, and Naminé's face immediately heated up, and she didn't know how to answer. So, as she always did when she had no reply, she didn't. She only say there quietly, eyes glued to the front of the room. "Alright." Roxas smirked. "You don't have to reply."
"Sorry." Naminé murmured.
Roxas shot her a quizzical look. "For what?"
"Uhm... Nothing, I guess." What the hell are you talking about? Her conscience asked.
I don't know! She mentally replied.
"Okay." He chuckled, surprisingly not in a way that mocked or intimidated the insecure blond.
Naminé wasn't like other girls. No, not at all. Most girls wanted their crushes to talk to them. Naminé, on the other hand, didn't want to be anywhere near him. This was only because she always embarrassed herself. Every time she even saw Roxas... She'd do something stupid, and she hated it.
Much to Naminé thankfulness, Roxas didn't talk to her for the rest of the period.
--
RxN
--
"Naminé, wait up!" the sweet sounding voice belonging to a brunette girl chimed, and Naminé turned on her heel to face her friend.
"Hey Olette." she smiled. Olette jumped to Naminé's side and smiled. Olette Summers, evidently, was one of Naminé's best friends. Like her, she wasn't exactly 'popular', but Naminé admired Olette for her other skills. She was a journalist on the school's newspaper, and a great photographer.
"How's your day been?" Olette inquired.
"Completely dreadful." Naminé replied dryly.
She sighed. "Same here." the two friends continued down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria. There, they met up with a girl with red hair.
"Hey." she greeted, and the girls smiled in response.
"So, how's your day been so far, Kairi?" Olette asked darkly.
She chuckled. "I take it you two haven't been having fun?" Olette and Naminé nodded. She shrugged. "Mine hasn't been that bad."
"See? Here's the difference." Naminé began, and looked to Kairi. "You're outgoing. You make friends easily and everyone likes you. Me? I can't even talk to-- Oof!" Naminé found herself, body to body with another person. Slowly, she looked up, into the ocean blue eyes of none other than Roxas Taiyou. She automatically took a step back. "Oh, I-I'm sorry!" she apologized, taking anther hasty step back, embarrased... again. Also a little uncomfortable with the fact that her face had just been buried in Roxas' chest.
"Its okay." Roxas laughed with good nature, before continuing to walk.
"You should watch where you're going, loser." a girl with light brunette hair, Selphie scoffed, only receiving a dirty look from Kairi and Olette.
"Hey Kai." Roxas said, high-fiving the redhead as he passed, Selphie trailing behind him.
"Hey Roxas." Kairi said casually, high-fiving him back with a smile.
Olette rolled her eyes and looked to Naminé, who's face couldn't have been any redder. "Come on, Nam..." Olette took her friend by the arm, and lightly tugged her into the cafeteria, Kairi following close behind. "Lets get some lunch."
--
RxN
--
"Hey Rox." A boy with spiky brunet hair greeted his friend, swiftly sitting across from him in the cafeteria.
"Hey." Roxas said.
"I saw you crash into that girl." he smirked. "That was pretty graceful of you."
"Oh, shut up." Roxas laughed a little, trying to cover his embarrassment, but Sora knew him too well.
"Do you like her?" he queried.
Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Me, like her?" He laughed. "Now I know you're crazy, Sora."
Sora laughed softly. "Whatever you say, Roxas, whatever you say."
"Man, I don't even know her." Roxas retorted.
"Really? By the way you smiled at her, I'd say you do."
"I didn't even smile!"
Sora nodded. "Yep, you did."
"You know what?" Roxas stood to his feet, and stared down at his best friend. "You're annoying." he turned to walk away, slightly irritated. Sora chuckled to himself, watching Roxas' retreating figure, just to notice the same redhead girl that had been with the blonde that Roxas had crashed into. His gaze lingered for a few moments, before he snapped out of it.
Get a hold of yourself, Sora.
--
RxN
--
"I swear, Sora was just looking at you." Olette said to Kairi.
She shook her head. "No way, he was definitely looking at you, Olette." Naminé rolled her eyes.
Olette shot Kairi an 'oh please' look. "Kai, you know I'm not interested in him."
Kairi pouted innocently. "I'm not either!" she insisted. Both Olette and Naminé looked at their friend sarcastically, and Kairi kept that innocent look in her eye. "Seriously!" she exclaimed.
"Whatever you say." Olette laughed, receiving a glare.
"Ou, Naminé..." Kairi started in a sing-song voice. "Roxas just looked over here."
"Yeah!" Olette exclaimed, then leaned in and whispered: "How was it?"
Naminé stared dumbly. "How was what?"
"Crashing into Roxas!"
"Yeah..." Kairi began. "Feeling his body against yours..." she laughed at Naminé completely embarrassed expression.
Naminé flushed a bright red. "Uhm-- Shut up you guys!"
"You should totally go talk to him." Kairi said with a smile.
"No way!"
"Aw, come on."
"No. I never want to talk to him again... not after this morning. I always always make a fool of myself in front of him. He probably thinks I'm the weirdest girl he's ever met... If he even remembers me."
"Aw, Nam..." Kairi cooed. "You're in love."
"I am not in love with Roxas!" she stood up accidently shouted... loud. Really loud. Suddenly, the entire cafeteria went silent, and all eyes were on the blond. She quickly sat down, but people were still staring. "Please... do not get me worked up like that ever again." she said slowly. Olette and Kairi couldn't help but snicker. "Its not funny!"
"Okay, I'm sorry." Kairi apologized.
"Yeah, you better be." she groaned. "I hope none of his friends heard that..." her expression turned grim. "I hope he didn't hear it!"
"Relax!" Olette said. "No one heard."
"Yeah, yeah no one heard, Olette. Thats why everything went silent and all eyes were on me. Yeah, perfect signs that no one heard!"
"Okay, okay I'm sorry!"
"Yeah, whatever." Naminé muttered.
--
RxN
--
Naminé had never really had detention before, except maybe a few times during elementary school. The detention room was in the school's basement, the very last room. It was like a dungeon. Naminé stood in front of the door, taking deep breaths, preparing herself for the worst. She didn't even hear Roxas creep up behind her.
"You uh, gonna open that?" he said, and she let out a small scream as she turned around to face him. Roxas laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
Naminé exhaled in slight relief. She wondered if she'd rather have an axe murderer creep up on her, or Roxas.
...
Definitely the axe murderer.
"So...?"
"Oh, right." Naminé turned to the door and opened it. Inside, there were quite a few very unfriendly looking people, and Naminé felt anything but safe. Now she was feeling the opposite of how she felt earlier in the day. She wanted Roxas to talk to her. She wanted him to stay close to her... Because the people in that room scared her. They all stared with mean yet curious expressions, and Naminé felt completely out of place.
A dork like me really doesn't belong here. She thought, gulping.
"So, even had detention before?" Roxas asked, walking to an empty desk.
"No." she replied, standing there awkwardly.
"You can sit down, you know."
"Oh, right." she quickly took the spot next to Roxas to avoid sitting next to some thug.
Roxas nodded. "Yeah, you don't really seem like the type that gets in trouble a lot." Is that a nerd comment?
She just sat quietly. Roxas leaned back in his desk and put up his feet.
"Detention isn't that bad." he said through a yawn. Naminé stared at him questioningly. Yes, it is that bad. Roxas looked over and read her expression immediately, then shrugged. "Well yeah, its pretty bad."
"Yes." Naminé nodded, observing the grimy state of the desk she was seated in.
"But hey, you'll be alright." he faced her and smiled, and she sent him a quizzical look, meeting his eyes for the first real time. He leaned in close to her face, and she could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. "Just don't get on any of their bad sides."
"Roxas, hey man!" Naminé cringed at the sound of a very obnoxious, cocky voice. She looked over to a tall, skinny boy with dirty blond hair and chocolate eyes. He strode over to Roxas, not even glancing at Naminé.
"Hayner," Roxas greeted, "Why am I not surprised to see you here?"
Hayner shrugged and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "I could say the same thing about you."
"Hey, I don't get detention nearly as much as you."
"True." Hayner then noticed Naminé's presence, and eyed her suspiciously. "Hey..." he whispered to Roxas, as if Naminé couldn't still hear him. "Are you with her...?"
Of course. Naminé thought. She couldn't hold back the feeling of tears, but she wouldn't let them escape. It would only distract Roxas from answering.
Roxas hesitated to answer. "Well...?" Hayner urged.
"...No."
Hayner chuckled. "Yeah I didn't think so. Come on man, lets go sit at the back."
"Uhm... Okay." he stood up and walked after Hayner, taking only one last look at the clearly upset Naminé. Her eyes were glassy with tears. As usual, she was humiliated. This time, it hurt more than ever.
As soon as the bell rang Naminé stood up and left, never looking back. She walked quickly, still resisting the urge to cry. Tears were already escaping her eyes.
Why does everyone hate me so much!? She asked herself, picking up the pace. She wanted to get home so she could cry freely. Naminé never cried in front of people... ever.
She wiped the lose tears with the sleeve of her turtleneck sweater and practically ran out of the doors of the school. She could still hear the laughter of Roxas and Hayner ringing in her ears. Probably laughing at her.
She was so sick of this. People making fun of her, treating her like dirt... People would take one look at Naminé, her brown itchy turtleneck sweater, her black, green and blue long plaid skirt, and those damned glasses, and automatically think nerd or loser or even social reject. To them, Naminé was just one big joke.
She practically ran home to the orphanage.
--
RxN
--
The orphanage Naminé lived at was simply called Twilight Town Orphanage. Naminé didn't find it a very happy place. Not anymore, at least. She shared a room with three other girls. There was a girl named Lorena, who was pretty nice, a stuck up girl named Zee, and a loud, rather annoying one named Kris. They all got along (for the most part), since they had so much in common. Like most children (and young adults, in their cases) living in orphanages, their parents abbandoned them. Unlike them, Naminé didn't know what happened to her parents. They may have died, or they may have just not loved her. All she knew was that no one wanted to adopt her or the others.
Actually, not many people got adopted... Sometimes really young kids, babies and toddles, but no one wanted teenagers.
With a sigh, Naminé entered her room. It was untidy and not very cozy... She didn't really hate it, but there was room for improvement.
"Hey, Nam!" Kris exclaimed with a smile, as she noticed the blonde enter.
"Hey." Naminé smiled warmly.
"How are you?"
"I've been better."
"Awe, what happened? Boy troubles? Did your boyfriend break up with you?"
Naminé laughed a little. "Yes, boy troubles. And no, Kris, you know I don't have a boyfriend."
"What about Roxas?" Zee's voice sounded, as she entered the room. Obviously, she was listening in. Naminé blushed.
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Bet you wish he was." Zee smirked, and Naminé blushed even harder.
"Leave her alone." Lorena said, pulling out her headphones and sitting up from her position on the bed. Out of all the girl's, Lorena was the oldest, being sixteen, then Naminé and Zee at fifteen, and Kris at thirteen.
"Thanks..." Naminé said through a shy smile. She admired Lorena so much... She was so mature, and overall was just an admirable person. She was beautiful and smart; everyone liked her. She was like Kairi, only less superficial. Lorena and Zee went to a different high school than Naminé, one closer down the street. Naminé chose to go to ATW (named after its founder, Ansem the Wise) High because all of her friends from elementary were going there. Kris went to the local public school for grade eight students only.
Naminé looked over to the clock... 4:15. She had to go to work. Once one turned fifteen at the orphanage, they were forced to get a job so they could provide their own clothing. There were a lot of kids there... And they couldn't afford to be paying for everyone. Naminé wished they would... She hated her job with a strong passion.
Time for another lovely shift at the Chicken Shack. Naminé thought, groaning inwardly. It was going to be a long night.
--
RxN
--
It was around 8:30, and Naminé was scrubbing down the tables. She shuddered in disgust at the old chicken bones and other nasty things laying about. Thank god it was almost closing. 9:30, and she would be free... until the next day. She heard the bell at the front ding as someone entered the resturant, and looked over. They didn't usually get much service at this time.
Naminé's jaw automatically dropped, and she could already feel her face flushing.
What is he doing here!?
Author's note: Alright... now I know what you're thinking. Another story from Homely? Yeah, yeah... I know. *Shrug*, What can I say? I have a lot of ideas, and this one just wouldn't leave me alone. Feedback, please! Good? Bad? Just plain stupid? Btw, I had another story up before by the same title, but I lost interest and deleted it.
Fun fact: Taiyou means sun, and Tsuki means moon. :)
Next chapter: Naminé tried to imagine herself looking 'hot', but her mind drew a blank. Without any more objections, Kairi went over to her closet and opened it, revealing a vast variety of expensive designer clothing. "Now..." she began. "Lets do this."
Review please! Tell me if I should continue. :)