Gymnophoria: the sensation that someone is mentally undressing you.

[Roxas's POV]

I had been through this before. New school, new friends, new surroundings. It wasn't that it was a bad thing, it was just really boring. But who was I kidding? It was sort of a lie when I said that I had had new friends, since I had never really had any to start with. My only good friend was one I had made two schools back. His name was Tidus, but we mostly talked over the phone, only seeing each other on important occasions.

When I asked if I could just not change schools, Sora said no, and that he'd help me find some friends, since he had no trouble finding his own. You see, I was staying with him at the moment since my parents had died and they were the closest relatives willing to take me in.

On my first day, I decided that this school wasn't too bad. It was until our research lesson in the computer room where I found my first encounter. I was just doing my usual thing – sitting alone and doing work, when this annoying red head started talking to me. Apparently he thought he was funny, too. Well, he might have been, but to me he was just plain irritating.

He had spent the first ten minutes of the lesson whining about how his computer wasn't working, until I finally rolled my eyes and plugged the AC adapter into the power point. He had a surprised look on his face, and must have taken this as an indicator of our awesome friendship.

"So, computer guy. What's your name?" Computer guy? Thanks, redhead.

"Roxas" I replied, naively hoping he would leave me alone. But no…

"Roxas." He said, narrowing his eyes slightly as if in thought, and then he looked straight at me, and I could see something coming; another one of his annoying jokes. "I think I've heard of you before. You like the name Roxy?"

"No." I replied bluntly, almost surrendering to the thought that he would never let it go.

"Too bad!" He dragged at the 'a' sound in a sing song voice, and I regretted sitting here in the first place. I was mildly satisfied with the long pause that followed, until I was interrupted from my thoughts by another of his outbursts.

"Soooo, Roxy. Why'd you move schools?" That smirk was back again.

"My cousin's here." I tried not to look at him, but I honestly couldn't help it. He had really green eyes. I found myself entranced, but managed to pull my gaze away. Unfortunately, I couldn't cover up the slight blush tainting my cheeks.

"Oh, and who's your cousin? I might know him!"

"Sora…" I hoped he didn't.

"…Now that you mention it, you two do look pretty similar…" Thanks? I wasn't too sure what to say, so I was just silent. I could feel his emerald green eyes burning into me, but I didn't turn to face him. It was awkward, and I wasn't good at awkward. But I figured that if I was going to make friends, I would have to give everyone a chance.

"So um… You know him?" I was surprised at how easily the words slipped out of my mouth; I hadn't even really thought of it.

"'Course I know him! We're sort of friends." Really, now? I hoped this wasn't one of the people who Sora was planning on introducing me to.

"Sort of?"

"Yeah. Well. We talk sometimes. Not often, though." I thought it was impossible to be sort of friends with someone like Sora. He was bubbly and talkative, unlike me.

"Oh." I left it at that.

I kind of missed not talking to him for the rest of the lesson, but I didn't know what else I could say. I didn't feel the green eyes burning into me anymore, and I couldn't see that smirk. The rest of the lesson went longer than it should have, but I was relieved to find that lunch was next. This school was quite a bit smaller than the one I had been to last, and I was grateful for that, having never been good with crowds. Nevertheless, I was surrounded by people in seconds, and I almost gave up searching for my cousin until he somehow found me first.

"Roxassssss!" He elicited a few strange looks but ignored them all, pushing his way through the people and eventually standing in front of me.

"Hey, Sora." I said awkwardly.

"Hi Roxas! How's your first day?"

"Pretty good I guess."

"Good! How'd you like to meet some of my friends?"

"Umm." Pros? I'd have friends. Cons? I wasn't good with friends. He'd find a way eventually, anyway.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Sure, I guess." I had learnt the hard way not to argue with my cousin.

"Good!" He said and dragged me off to an outdoor table with his friends. They all looked pretty cool, but I was feeling self-conscious. I had never had to meet many people, let alone a table full of them at once. But they looked nice enough, I suppose.

"Hey guys! This is my cousin, Roxas." He exclaimed with a goofy grin, pulling me up next to him. I was soon introduced to Riku with the silver hair – silver hair, I thought, that's an odd colour - Namine with the blonde hair, and Kairi – who looked slightly like Namine but with short red hair.

I sat down and listened to them talk about their day, occasionally adding input into the conversation. After what seemed like 5 minutes, two other people came and sat with us – introduced to me as Pence and Olette; they could have been a couple, but I wasn't too sure. It may have been one of those situations where they like each other but think the other doesn't like them. Whatever.

"Hey, is that Hayner?" Sora asked after a while, staring at the distance. I couldn't tell who he was talking about though, and I had no idea who this 'Hayner' guy was. "Where's he been?"

"Probably just got into another fight with Seifer." Pence replied. Seifer? I had heard that name somewhere before…

"I swear, the chemistry!" Olette said out of the blue. Was she using her girly-senses, talking about attraction? Or… no; I doubted it was actual chemistry.

"I still don't see it." Pence replied. I didn't blame him – I could be quite immune to this sort of thing, unless it was obvious and completely in my face. But before anyone could reply, there was an annoyed looking guy with dark blonde hair sitting down with us.

"Seifer again?" Riku asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. Jeez. Why can't he leave me alone for once? Ugh." Olette giggled, but didn't say anything. I think I knew what she meant. I still didn't know who Seifer was, but I'd ask later. "He's so annoying!"

"Hey, don't tell me you don't pick fights with him as an excuse to feel him up." Riku said, eyes lit up in amusement.

"No!" Hayner said indignantly, scowling at everyone's expressions, then mumbling quietly, "maybe…"

"Told you so!" Sora stuck his tongue out at the blonde, who looked as if he was about to crack a guilty smile any moment.

"Roxy~!" I heard the voice call out, and it took me a moment to realise that it was referring to, well, me. Duh. All eyes switched between me and Axel, as he came closer to our table with a friend; I had seen him in my biology class, but hadn't actually talked to him before.

"Hi Axel…" I mumbled nervously, feeling awkward under everyone's stares.

"Oh, Roxas! You met someone? That's great!" Sora exclaimed, and I was grateful for the distraction.

"Sort of. We talked in class."

"Yep. And this is Demyx." He said, motioning to the guy next to him. He had blue eyes and a blonde mullet thing. I wasn't sure what it could be described as, but I was sure that he was the only person who could possibly pass something like that off.

"Hey there!" Mullet-boy said, and I smiled at him in return. He seemed nice and happy enough. "We had biology together."

"Oh, yeah. I saw you there."

"Anyway, ladies. We're off!" The two newcomers left and made their way across the courtyard, disappearing around a corner. And all eyes were on me pretty quickly.

"So, you know Axel, then?" Riku asked.

"Well, sort of, I guess." I knew they'd ask that.

"Ahh, that poor thing." Riku chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"He used to have this crazy ex called Larxene."

"Oh. What happened?"

"No idea. But I heard she's stalking him or something." I know it was cruel, but I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I mean, usually when you hear about a stalker, you think of an old guy, don't you? Unless she was an old man in disguise. Or some kind of evil monster… But before I could contemplate it, he continued.

"I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. She's evil and scary. She used to come to this school actually, but moved after they broke up. You might still see her around, though."

"Why?" I hoped I didn't.

"Told you - the stalker thing. I'm not exaggerating, man." His face was serious, as if declaring this would save my life. Would it? Was she murderous? Manlier than me? Would she tower over me if I ever met her?

Yeah, I didn't want to find out.

"Huh. Really." I said, nodding my head thoughtfully.

The day seemed to go pretty quickly, and I had to admit I was impressed. Not only had I scored a few friends, but I managed to get through the day without feeling terribly bored. Even my new family was proud. Of course, it wouldn't have been possible without Sora's help, but sure, I was stubborn and wasn't going to admit that straight away. But he was the kind of person who I knew would help me with anything, so I mentally noted to pay him back for it all some time.

Hey! So, this is my first fanfiction with more than one chapter. And I really like that word. Just because of what it means haha. But thanks for reading, and I hope you like it! Reviews are very much appreciated! :D