Chapter 34: The Green-Eyed Monster

Six months had already gone by…and Cloud wasn't enjoying any of it.

It hadn't been so bad when his twin sisters, Kalel and Zalel, first showed up. He helped his parents take care of them and found them to be rather cute. But now, he despised them both. They cried and they cried and they cried. It was all they ever did! He knew that's all they pretty much could do for being so young, but it was just how and when they decided to cry their shrill little lungs out.

The first month or two hadn't been so bad, but now it was different. In the following months it seemed that any time Cloud need something, wanted something, or even just wanted some time with either of his parents, his sisters would start their bawling and wouldn't stop either.

If he wanted his mother to look at something he made in school –Bam! There was Kalel. If he needed help with something from his father –Bam! There was Zalel. Then it would be the same 'Sorry sweetheart, in a minute' response over and over and over again. No matter what the issue or the problem was, those twins always stole his parents away from him! Even if it was an emergency!

There had been one time when he got a cut when playing outside and he had run straight to his dad for help. But as soon as his cut was washed, there was one of the twins again –honestly he couldn't remember which one it was then. Then it was the same routine all over again: 'I'll be right back', he'd leave, and then Cloud would just have to sit there by himself.

So, he figured out to just stop asking his parents for things all together. He'd stop asking for help, he'd stop asking to play, he'd stop asking for their attention, and he'd stop asking to be tucked in at night. Even if he was seven already and kept getting bigger, he didn't want the goodnight rituals they'd always done to end.

But now… now that six months had passed, he was getting lonely. The after school greetings were non-existent, dinner was either quiet and tired or much too loud and hectic –the loud nights just made him leave the table without a word, dinner finished or not. Even the nights were cold.

It's not like his parents were ignoring him constantly per say. They had tried to talk with him every now and again, but he'd brush off their responses because he knew it wouldn't be long until one of his two sisters, or sometimes both, would start screaming again.

He still had his school friends –his new ones from the pizza lunch too, but that only helped so much. It's not like he lived with his friends or at school, so they weren't always around to talk to. He was tired of it all. He wanted things to go back to the way they were before: before the twins…before Aerith even…just the way they were when it was only him and Zack. But that was in the past now.

"Cloud? Clo-ud! Hey, are you listening?"

Cloud blinked; his eyes wide and head dazed as he snapped back to reality. (Oh, there goes gravity) He had gotten so lost in his thoughts he had forgotten he was in the middle of a group assignment with some of his classmates.

Tifa had been the one to call out to him and she was giving him both a miffed and a cornered look, her eyebrows gently furrowed and her top lip pursed. Vincent, whom was sitting across from him at their circular table, looked disengaged but troubled by his silence as well, black hair masking one of his red-wine eyes.

"Where'd you go?" Another voice asked.

Cloud glanced over to his left and saw Bartz, one of his newest friends, giving him a soft look of curiosity and empathy as he leaned into the table. Normally, Jessie would be sitting there, but their seating arrangements got switched up a week ago. He figured it was due to the fact that Jessie had become rather chatty with him as of late and always wanted to be around him for some reason.

"Oh, sorry, I was just…lost in thought." Cloud responded with a faraway sounding voice. His hand rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish fashion as he maintained eye contact with the worksheet in front of him.

"Is it the sister 'sitch again?" Bartz hummed as he laid his chin on the table next.

"Yeah…" Cloud sighed as he pulled his distracted eyes away from the paper momentarily.

"Have you actually tried… talking to your parents about it?" Tifa suggested. The way she phrased it made it sound like it was a last-straw option only.

Cloud found himself rolling his eyes and he scoffed, "Every time I try to talk with them those…criers start up again!"

"It can't all be that bad, can it?" Vincent pried, his head cocking to the right gently.

"Oh, it is." Cloud assured with a firm head nod, "They don't even ask me if I have homework when I get home from school!"

The other three let out loud gasps: parents not asking if their kids had homework? Well, that was just simply unheard of!

"You're right… that is bad." Vincent agreed as he placed his hand to his chin in thought.

"Wow! Even my parents ask me that, and I never have homework!" Bartz exclaimed as he threw his hands up into the air.

From the back of the classroom and close to the window, a harsh 'shh' was heard. No doubt it came from Mr. Applegate. But Bartz did have a tendency to be quite loud when he was worked up over something. He quickly slapped his hands over his mouth to keep from shouting again.

But it was true; Bartz was one of the fastest kids in class, especially when it came to their schoolwork. He was always the first one done with almost any given assignment! Unless it was a crossword puzzle based worksheet, then he was the slowest.

"That's not even the worst part!" Cloud whispered as he leaned in close to the center of the table.

The other three leaned in too, not wanting to raise their voice and be shushed again. If students talked to each other too much, then they were moved across the whole classroom to keep them from talking!

"Even if I get hurt, those crybabies always come first!" Cloud whispered.

"No-!" Tifa gasped, quietly whispering as she exhaled. Her hands went to her face from the shock, "Even if it's the worst owie ever?"

Cloud said nothing, but nodded in affirmation. But when he did speak again, everyone listened, "Just last month, I got a really bad cut, like, there was blood all over the place. It was my arm that I cut, look-"

He paused and showed his right arm to the others, and they took notice of a wicked light pink scar trailing down his arm from his elbow and nearly to his wrist. It wasn't very wide, but it did look rather deep.

"-I cut it on a piece of metal when I was playing in the sector five slums. I tripped over something and fell on it. But I went back home crying and bleeding and hurting…" Cloud stressed, moving his arms around for emphasis.

"…And as soon as I walk in through the front door, guess what happened? Dad and Mom were taking care of the criers again. They were screaming so loudly that they didn't even hear me come in!"

"Oh, messed up!" Tifa scoffed as she shook her head.

"Get this, get this…" Cloud continued with urgency, "I go up to dad and I try to tell him what happened, but he doesn't even look my way and guess what he says! He says 'not now, bud, just a sec', like he always does."

"Holy crap!" Bartz wheezed, trying to keep his voice down and making it crack in the process.

"Language!" Vincent puffed quietly.

"Oh! Sorry… I forgot you aren't allowed to say things like that." Bartz apologized sheepishly as a pink blush danced over his cheeks.

Vincent nodded, a silent way of accepting the apology.

"Well, it's not very fair that they don't even pay attention to you anymore." Tifa acknowledged.

"Yeah…but I can't really do anything about it..." Cloud sighed.

He stared at his worksheet again. He had only completed three answers and he was pretty sure that two of them were wrong. There were only ten questions on the paper, but he really didn't feel like finishing it. He hadn't felt like finishing any of his assignments as of late.

For the past month he had stopped doing his homework, and if he didn't finish a timed worksheet, he'd just hand it in unfinished. Mr. Applegate always gave him a stern, but pitied look when he turned in a paper unfinished or homework incomplete. This business at home was really bothering him. But he just scoffed at the paper in front of him. He didn't like reading assignments anyways.

He had trouble reading a lot, but not that his parents noticed. He always made C's on his reading worksheets and when it came to reading in general, the words just never came out of his mouth right. Some of them were hard to understand. Although he was pretty good at word scrambles for some reason.

"Have you tried…I dunno…getting in trouble on purpose?" Bartz brought up.

The other three at the table let loose with a strangled, "What?!"

Cue another sharp shush from Mr. Applegate. They kept quiet for a moment before they leaned in a little closer. This way they could talk a little softer without catching their teacher's attention.

"You know our classmate, Seifer, right?" Bartz reminded as he pointed behind him.

The others glanced beyond where their friend was pointing and caught sight of the boy in question. Oh yeah, they know about Seifer. He was a blond-haired, blue-eyed kid with a crazy scar over his face and he had a hot-tempered disposition. He was in trouble a lot, come to think of it.

He had a brother too, Squall was his name. He wasn't in this class, but he had seen the brown-haired boy at lunch and recess plenty of times. Apparently they didn't get along very well.

"Rumor has it-" Bartz whispered, pulling the attention of the others back to him. When eyes returned, he spoke again, "-Seifer gets in trouble on purpose."

"Why on Gaia would he do that?" Cloud pondered with an arched eyebrow.

"From what I've managed to overhear from Mr. Applegate, apparently at home he's a middle child." Bartz explained, "You know, they aren't the oldest but they aren't the youngest either. They're stuck in the middle. I heard he acts up because it makes him stand out. He definitely gets attention, even if it's the wrong kind."

"Stand out…huh?" Cloud mused, hand on his chin in thought much like how Vincent had done earlier.

"But getting in trouble on purpose? I don't know…it sounds risky." Tifa mumbled, doubt humming in her voice.

"It's not like I have anything to lose." Cloud admitted.

His parents hardly ever spoke with him, and he figured his grades were going to start slipping –if they haven't already. If he couldn't be heard being good, then being bad just might give him a shot. But…was he really that desperate for their time?

He mulled it over for a moment. The others went back to their worksheets after checking the time on the clock above the classroom door. They were almost out of time to finish their assignment.

If he didn't act up, would they ever notice him again? Or would they stay glued to Kalel and Zalel at all times like they already were? Suddenly, a heavy weight settled in his stomach and an equally heavy feeling nestled in his head. An abrupt realization swept over him in that moment.

Maybe they were starting to ignore him because…he wasn't a real part of this family. He had already had these thoughts before, gone through the same song and dance once already. But…what if it really was true?

At one point in time, Zack did tell him that he was a part of the family, but now…he didn't feel like it anymore. Besides, he said that before his sisters were even born. Maybe it changed since then. Who knows? He just felt like a stranger living in a familiar place.

Come to think of it, he had felt like a stranger ever since his sisters arrived. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He was just an orphan, adopted in off the street some odd years ago. But his sisters, no, they were different; they weren't second-hand like he was. They weren't children that ever had to wonder where they were going to lay their head for the night, they weren't children that ever had to steal and fight every day just to survive, but most importantly, they weren't hand-me-down children like him.

Cloud sneered at his partially completed worksheet and slid it away from him, the paper rattling across the table all the way to Vincent's side, who eyed it curiously when it stopped.

"Are you not gonna finish this one either?" Vincent asked behind a thin half-mask of black hair.

"No." Cloud simply stated. He glanced at the floor with a scowl painted across his face. His tongue tasted bitter.

His friends didn't speak much after that. They went back to completing their assignment before time ran out, which there wasn't much of it left. At least Mr. Applegate hadn't gotten on to them for a third time. If he did, then they might be split up, and Cloud didn't like to entertain the idea of that thought.

Aside from the friends at his table, he only had four in the whole class. The odds that he'd be sat with any of them were slim, so he didn't want to muck that up. He'd behave at school so he could still be around his friends, but at home, he was going to do what Seifer did.

"Alright class, time's up!" Mr. Applegate called. He stood up from his desk and continued speaking, "Hand in your papers to your table leader and I'll come by and collect them."

He was already making his way to the first table closest to his desk before he even finished the last part of his sentence. Per usual, all the papers on the table were slid over to Cloud and he took them all up so he could hand them in. Mr. Applegate made his rounds throughout the whole classroom before finally ending his collection with their table.

Cloud offered up the papers to the teacher, whom took them carefully. Just as he did with the others, he did a brief look through of each student's assignments to make sure they were completed. Also as per the norm, he sighed when he flipped to Cloud's paper. He took a moment to look at it before he glanced over his shoulder to face the rest of the class.

"Alright children, go ahead and go to your activity stations. I have your names posted by my desk, so you'll know which station you'll be at today." Mr. Applegate explained.

Ah, the activity stations. They were a lot like the activities Cloud did in kindergarten: like painting, getting computer time, pleasure reading, and so on and so forth. Activity time usually lasted about thirty minutes to an hour; it depended on how long it took the teacher to grade their papers. Sometimes he gave them extra time for, as he said, 'further enrichment'.

The children were all quick to hop out of their chairs and scurry over to the teacher's desk, where their names were posted on the front of his desk on colorful hand-shaped sticky notes. Cloud was about to do the same, just like the rest of his table, but he was quickly stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Woah now, not you." Mr. Applegate informed.

Cloud was about to open his mouth and say something, but the rather pitiful –or was it disappointed– look in Mr. Applegate's eyes had him stop.

"We need to talk about this." He noted as he held up the blond's unfinished paper.

"What about it?" Cloud snipped. The teacher didn't seem to be bothered by his unfinished work before, so why now?

"This makes it a whole month now that you've turned in incomplete assignments…You didn't even put your name on this one."

Okay, Cloud actually forgot to put his name on his paper. But he was in a mood so he was just going to roll with it as if he did that on purpose too. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. He liked Mr. Applegate, but he was still in a sour state of mind, so he didn't really care if some of his attitude came through.

"So?" Cloud countered as he deepened his scowl.

"You were my best student two months ago, and now you're close to the bottom of the barrel, Cloud. Is there something going on that you haven't told me? Maybe a situation at home or here at school?" Mr. Applegate asked with a caring tone of voice.

Blue eyes actually dilated for a moment in surprise. Someone other than his friends was actually noticing his behavior? What if his teacher could actually get through to his parents? After all, they were all adults, and adults actually seemed to listen to one another.

But… maybe they would just brush off his teacher too. If they were brushing him off already, then his teacher would probably just be the same sorry story. They probably didn't care about him anymore. After all, they didn't even ask him if he ever brought homework back home anymore. Even Bartz' parents asked him that and he always finished his work before he got home. S0, maybe it was all true; he was second-hand. It wouldn't be long until they would ignore him completely.

So what was the point of it all then? The thought made Cloud's deep frown return and he snorted out of his nose. He glanced over to the side to avoid eye-contact from his teacher, his sights instead watching a few classmates do the plastic block construction activity at a spare table not too far away from his desk.

"It's nothing!" Cloud spit.

"Are you sure it's nothing? No trouble at home? No trouble with the assignments?" Mr. Applegate pressed, "If they're too hard I can always help you with them after class."

The young boy sat there in silence for a moment with that hard look still molded in his face. His teacher was trying to help him; an adult was willing to reach out and get to the bottom of his apathetic behavior. That was more than his parents had done for him recently.

But if he was being replaced, then it didn't matter anyways.

"Not interested." Cloud dismissively responded as he kept his eyes focused with the block activity across from him.

Mr. Applegate released a long and tired sounding sigh. He took his hand from the boy's shoulder and stood back up, a firm but sad look in his eyes.

"Alright. I'll be calling your parents then." He stated, "Go ahead and go to your activity station; you're pleasure reading today."

Cloud froze on the spot for a moment, not wanting to get in trouble. But the adrenaline was quick to leave when he remembered that it didn't matter anyhow. So the aloof frown was quick to return and he huffed snootily. He only looked ahead of him when he heard his teacher walking away.

He watched as the older man walked across the classroom, sit down at his chair, pick up the phone, then dial a number. But, Cloud still remained set with his demeanor. He stood up from his chair and headed over to the book cubby near the window corner of the classroom. It was against the same wall as the teacher's desk but just a good few feet apart.

But it just had to be pleasure reading, didn't it? It had to be the thing he was the worst at. It made his sour mood spoil even more and he huffed over to the cubby with that same frown still sketched into his face. The other kids reading were already deep into their books and didn't notice him, but that was alright, he didn't really know these four kids anyways.

He plopped into the only spare beanbag chair left and glared at all of the books on the squatty shelves. He already had time to read the easy ones; this wasn't his first time in the pleasure reading activity. Especially considering that it was already April, he only had one more month of first grade left. Of course if his grades had slipped that much in a month, then he might just be in this grade again after the summer.

He figured they hadn't slipped that much, but he really didn't care about that. Like he kept telling himself; it didn't matter. Instead, he picked up a book he figured wouldn't be too hard to read and glanced at the cover; 'Birds of a Feather' was the title. The cover had a tiny black chocobo surrounded by big yellow ones and he looked rather sad. It reminded him of that dwarf chocobo named Volg from the field trip they had while ago. It was a short chapter book, but Cloud didn't know how he felt about that.

He never read a chapter book before and he already had enough trouble reading most picture books. He turned the book over to read the synopsis of it on the back. He squinted at the words and focused as hard as he could. He was able to make out that the black chocobo on the front was the main character and that the yellow chocobos picked on him all the time. Apparently the book was about the chocobo trying to fit in.

He was able to read the description if he focused enough, so maybe reading this chapter book wouldn't be so hard. He opened to the front page of the book and started to read with squinted eyes. He got through a couple of paragraphs before the words seemed to jumble themselves up and made them hard to read.

"…Hello, is this Mr. Fair?" The distant voice of Mr. Applegate asked.

Cloud tore his eyes away from the jumbled book and glanced to his right. He saw that his teacher was on the phone while he was looking over one of the assignments from earlier. If he pushed himself to listen, he could drown out of noise of the other children and focus on the conversation not too far away from him.

"Yes, this is Isaac Applegate, Cloud's teacher… Ah, yes he's alright. I was actually calling you in order to inform you about his performance in school…"

It was at least quiet in the reading section, so Cloud didn't have to struggle too hard to hear the conversation. He knew he should be reading, but he wanted to know what his teacher was saying.

"…For the past month, Cloud has been turning in unfinished assignments, he hasn't ever done any of the homework that was given, and he's become very inattentive in class…"

He wouldn't say inattentive, just very unfocused. He had a lot on his mind as of late and didn't feel like schoolwork was important enough to fret about.

"…I'm a little worried about him. He was my best straight A student just a few months ago, but now he has one of the lowest marks out of all the students. His grades have slipped pretty far and I fear if he doesn't bring them back up by next month… then he'll have to repeat the first grade."

Cloud figured his scores had slipped, but not that much. Then again he had gotten quite a few zeros on a few assignments and even on a test or two. He wasn't sure how much a zero affected his grades before, but now he did.

"…A few months ago he was always asking questions, was very well-behaved, and very attentive. Now I've noticed lately that he spaces out constantly, he's developed a bit of an attitude, and he's started falling asleep in the middle of teaching … I just wanted to know if anything had maybe changed at home?"

Well, he wasn't always asking the questions for himself back then. He always asked them for either Vincent or Bartz. Vincent had troubles speaking up and Bartz never liked admitting he needed help sometimes. So Cloud always helped them out. But they hadn't been asking him to do that as of late, so he stopped.

His attitude, yeah he knew about that. He couldn't help that he was often grumpy these days, his sisters never stopped crying! They kept him up at night, and they woke him up when he tried to take naps, and they also screamed about anything and everything –especially if they weren't getting enough attention.

Cloud figured they got enough attention as is, considering how his parents were always busy with them. He never helped them anymore. After all, why should he? Why should he help the ones that were stealing his family from him, or not letting him get good sleep, or even relax in peace and quiet? It was no wonder he was always spacey and cranky at school; it was the only place where it was relatively quiet.

Which is also why he napped here. It was quiet enough where he actually could get a decent nap in! He mainly snoozed during reading assignments when Mr. Applegate would read a chapter of a book to them while they followed along with their own copies. That might explain why he did so bad at the reading assignments that followed.

"I see, I see…" Mr. Applegate spoke, nodding his head, "Well I hope that'll straighten things out, he was such a good student. Alright, yes… thank you for your time. Goodbye."

And with that, Mr. Applegate hung up the phone and sat stationary in his chair for a moment. It didn't last long because he went right back to grading their papers. Cloud figured he should at least try to look like he was reading. So he stuck his face back into the book and stared at the jumbled looking words on the pages…

The bus-ride home was actually rather enjoyable. He sat with Flaire and Alekaizer again, the two really cool third graders that were also brothers.

He was riding the bus alone for a few days now because the two boys had gotten chicken pox and their mother kept them home for three or four days. They definitely made the ride much more fun because Cloud wasn't hyper-focused on his motion sickness and he was able to vent to them about what happened today.

Alekaizer was quick to agree with him about how sucky it all was. Flaire didn't seem as engaged in the cause, but was definitely sympathetic to Cloud's situation. He actually said he should try and get his grades up at the very least because repeating a grade was no fun. The two boys actually had to repeat kindergarten because they weren't emotionally ready for school.

Apparently their mother had enrolled them right when they turned five and they had trouble focusing and doing the work. From what he was told they also cried a lot and wouldn't have it if they were sat at different tables.

Both Flair and Alekaizer mentioned it was hard to watch the friends they did make move up to the next grade while they stayed behind, because they weren't friends with those kids anymore. They had to get used to all new kids that were younger than them, so it was harder for them to connect.

Although they said it was easy to befriend Cloud because his dad was a freaking SOLDIER and that was super cool which automatically made Cloud himself super cool. Then the bus-ride was over when he was dropped off at his stop and then he started to walk back home from the sector five marketplace.

Cloud thought about Flaire and Alekaizer's words as he made his way back home at a slow but steady pace. Getting held back wouldn't be good; he'd lose all the friends he made. He wouldn't see Tifa, or Vincent, or Bartz or any other of the friends he made ever again. No lunch time together, no recess together. Even if they lived in the same city, the probably wouldn't maintain contact with each other.

Most kids don't keep in contact when one goes or moves away. Something to do with parents maybe, but regardless, he'd barely ever get to see them again. They wouldn't be his friends. Okay, so maybe letting his grades slip was a bad idea. He'd at least bump them back high enough so he could advance to the next grade.

But he wouldn't go back to straight A's. He didn't really care about that. It was his parents that were proud of that, not him. Since they barely acknowledged him, then he didn't care if his marks were perfect or not. His face hardened when he realized he was walking back to a place that didn't much feel like home anymore.

He'd come home to the same thing; Crying, dismissing, ignoring, sleepless, alone. If only Stiltzkin hadn't flown away. He didn't know where that Moogle went or why he left in the first place. One day, he was just gone. It was probably because of his sisters; that's when he noticed the Moogle had disappeared. He probably couldn't stand them either.

But his musings were all but over when he crossed the threshold from sector five and straight into the small area his house was located. No one was outside, of course. His parents were never outside anymore. Aerith would still come out and water the flowers sometimes, but that was rather few and far between these days.

He missed getting picked up from school. He didn't really mind the bus-ride, he at least had some cool company. But lots of things changed when his sisters got here. Zack started going to work earlier so he'd come home sooner; that meant he got off work too early to pick him up after school like he used to.

Aerith never did it either, and even if she did she'd have to bring his crying sisters along with, or at least one of them. He did notice they each took care of one child on their own and traded off every now and then…But that didn't leave any room for him.

He really, really, didn't like his little sisters. They took his whole happiness from him. He once had a family, now he felt like a stray animal; pushed to the side when something new and better comes along.

Cloud stopped walking and stared at the ground. If that's the analogy that fit the best, then it wouldn't be long before they'd…leave him behind. When he looked back up, he was standing just a few feet away from the front door. He felt an overwhelming urge to turn away and never enter that house again.

But it wouldn't be the first time he ran away. If he did, it would be his third time. He didn't want to run away anymore. He didn't want to lose friends, to leave everything behind again, to be on the streets again. But here…he felt like he was on the streets again, except this time with cardboard over his head instead of nothing in the pouring rain.

It felt hard…just existing right now. His head was pulled in eight different directions it seemed: He want to leave, he wanted to stay… he wanted to keep his friends, he wanted to leave them behind… he wanted to live, he wanted to die with his first family. He gnashed his teeth and hardened his eyes. This was all his sisters' fault. If they never showed up then he'd still be happy.

Letting out a small snort, he reached up and pulled the front door open. The first thing he noticed when he stepped inside was how quiet it was. It stunned him enough to have him stop in his tracks and look around the place as if he stepped into the wrong house. He eased into the living room and shut the front door behind him, taking another glance about the room.

He didn't hear Kalel or Zalel crying at all. He could actually hear the clock in the living room tick and tock away. He shrugged off his backpack by the front door and walked over to the couch. No one was in here, and they weren't out in the front. Were his parents outside? Had they gone to run an errand and took the twins with them?

It wouldn't be the first time they've done it –granted they only did that once or twice. It was usually only for a small errand, like they needed milk for dinner or they forgot something somewhere else, whatever it happened to be. Maybe they were just in the backyard or something.

"Cloud, is that you?" a voice called from upstairs.

Cloud glanced to the staircase to find Zack coming down it. For once, neither of the twins was in his arms screaming their lungs out. It was just him and him alone. It was almost a little weird. A smile spread across the older man's face when their eyes met.

"Heya whirlwind, how was school?" Zack asked as he bounded off the steps and closed the distance between them.

Honestly, Cloud felt a little hostile. Why was he being spoken to all of a sudden? Why weren't the twins crying and screaming like they always were when he got home? But most importantly, why was Zack acting like the past six months of nearly no interaction ever happened?

He felt his earlier anger bubble up inside like boiling milk left unchecked for too long. So what if his dad was talking to him now? What stopped him from doing this before these past six months?

"Why do you care?" Cloud accused with narrowed eyes.

"Woah, woah, dial down the look, kiddo." Zack appeased as he stopped walking and stood in front of him. His face went from playful and to a mix of concern and firm at the same time, "Can we talk about something?" He asked.

Cloud shook his head, "Why bother?" he dismissed, "The wonder twins are just going to start screaming their heads off again." He brought up as he took a few steps away from his dad.

"Ah, you don't have to worry about that. I had Aerith take them to Elmyra's, you remember her, right?" Zack said.

Elmyra? Oh, Aerith's mother. She ended up leaving the house to her daughter and moved above the plate somewhere. He hadn't seen her since then and that was quite a while ago.

"Well, I had them go there so you and I could talk about something." Zack reminded as he took a seat on the living room couch.

Cloud was still hesitant. He was finally getting some one on one time with Zack, which was something he had wanted for Gaia knows how long, but why now and why so suddenly?

"Have a sit." Zack invited as he patted the empty cushion next to him.

Cloud remained standing and kept a miffed look of his own on his face. It had the older man look concerned for a moment, but he hummed quietly to himself as if he was connecting the dots to something in his head. What he was connecting, he didn't say aloud.

"Alright, I guess you can stand there too." Zack spoke indifferently. He sighed and then was silent for a moment, something out of character for him. His Mako eyes then glanced back to Cloud and he spoke again, "…I got a call from your teacher today."

So that's what this was about. He wasn't being talked to because Zack wanted to talk to him. He was only being talked to because he was prompted to talk. So, his teacher actually had to remind his dad that he still existed? His metaphorical boiling milk was steaming all over the floor at this point.

"What about it?" Cloud snipped as he tightly locked his arms over his chest.

"Well…" Zack drawled as his eyes got firm, "He explained to me that you haven't been completing your work and how you've developed a bit of an attitude."

"So?" Cloud bit as a scowl settled over his face.

"So? Cloud, listen…" Zack sighed as he slid off the couch and took a knee in front of him instead, "Your teacher says if you don't bump your grades back up then you're going to have to repeat the first grade."

Cloud was unwavering. He still kept his arms crossed and his frown firm. He already knew this, he overheard his teacher's side of the phone conversation.

"When he told me that, I was thinking 'not my Cloud, he's too smart and sweet to act like that'…so, I told him that. Do you know what he asked me after that?" Zack prodded.

Cloud knew what his teacher said, so he recited it, "Has anything changed at home?" He quoted.

Zack looked a little surprised, but faintly shook his head with the tiniest of grins, "So you eavesdropped on the conversation? Skills like that could get you into SOLDIER one day…" He said, momentarily entertaining the thought, but he wiped the smirk off his face and finished, "but, that's not why we're talking."

Cloud just wanted him to get to the point already. He was tired of beating around the bush. He was tired of this, tired of everything, and just downright tired in general. He wanted to go to sleep and pretend like this past half-year had only been a bad dream; then he'd wake up in Zack's old bed in his old apartment where it was only them and no one else. Selfish maybe, but lonely was a better term.

"Cloud… what happened?" Zack asked, the previous hint of concern now fronting the tone of his voice instead.

He wanted to stay mad, he wanted to misbehave, and he wanted to show everyone he was upset and lonely and angry. But his dry anger slipped into wet anger and there were tears in his eyes before he knew it. He hated it, he hated it all. His body was betraying him and he couldn't stand it. His mind was made up, but the rest of him, not so much.

He gnashed his teeth again and steeled his nerve. This was not the time to cave. If he gave in now then nothing would change! If he caved, he'd maybe get one day of peace, but then it would go right back to how it's been. The only way he was going to get acknowledged around here without any prompting from an outside source was by misbehaving.

"Hey, buddy…" Zack eased as he gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

Cloud quickly stepped away from his father's hold and set his eyes ablaze in agitation even more so. Zack looked a little hurt, but he didn't care. This was the only way.

"I'm not the one who changed! You did!" Cloud yelled.

He started to bolt towards the staircase to escape the living room, but Zack was quicker than he was and in the blink of an eye, he was seized and held back to keep from running away.

"Hey, hey, hey! Cool your jets, Cloud!" Zack commanded in a firm but surprised tone, "What on Gaia do you mean I changed?"

"Let me go! I don't wanna talk anymore!" Cloud cried as he fought to escape his father's iron-hard grasp.

"No way! We are going to talk about what's been going on with you, Cloud!" Zack stated in a much tougher tone of voice now that the boy was starting to get defiant.

"Nothing's been going on with me! Let go!"

"If nothing's going on then why aren't you turning in your work? Or paying attention in class? If you're fine, then why are you acting like this?"

"Because!"

"Because isn't a valid reason, Cloud! What is going on?"

"Nothing! Let! Me! Go!"

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me why you haven't been acting like yourself!"

"Let go!"

"What happened to the Cloud I know?"

"He died when the twins were born! Now let go, Zack!" Cloud snarled.

The shock from the words that came out of the blond's mouth was enough to have the older man let go of him completely with almost a blank stare on his face. But Cloud took that opportunity to dash across the living room and bolt up the stairs quickly. When he made it to the second floor, he hurried down the hall and entered his room before he promptly slammed the door behind him as hard as he possibly could.

It was enough to have the pictures on his walls swing and the whole room shake a little just from the vibration. Fresh wetness brewed in his eyes as he slumped to his knees with a sob. This was the only way he could get things to change, the only way to let others know that he still existed. It hurt, but he'd adjust eventually. As long as it got his parents to give him some kind of consideration, he supposed it would be worth it.

It'd be hard; having to sit through all the time-outs, have his parents be angry with him, and all the punishments he'd have to endure, all the while acting like he didn't care. But if it got Zack and Aerith to even look his way, then that would be enough for him. If he didn't start now then nothing would change. The twins would continue to get every last drop of his parents' time.

…Then it wouldn't be long until they forgot about him completely.

A/N: I'll be wrapping this chapter up here for now, but more disobedience and inner turmoil is sure to follow for our raincloud! (To evil laugh or not to evil laugh?)

Sorry about the long disappearance, I don't really have much to say about that, I've kinda been through the wringer lately. (Details for the curious can be found on my profile)

Aside from that, thank you much for reading, old and new readers alike! Thanks for sticking around to read this godawful train-wreck I call a story! .^;)\

Ciao!

PS: If you're curious about what in the ever living eff happened to me these past some odd years, details can be found on my profile because there's too much to say in an A/N XD