Chapter 1 Irvine
Chapter 1i
There was a certain spring to Irvine's step on this pretty much normal Thursday morning. Today he has decided that it has been long enough hinting his feelings for Selphie and if he was going to get anywhere he was going to have to tell her his feelings over a romantic picnic. Of course he was nervous but he did not admit it to himself. 'All I have to do was turn on my sly charm and look deep into her eyes and she is guaranteed to be mine. Absolutely nothing could resist my one of a kind charm. I could give lessons on how to get a woman I am so irresistible. By the time the sun sets, Selphie will be in my arms. Nothing will go wrong this time.' "This time" is right. Lately Irvine has been trying to tell Selphie his feelings so she would be his. But ever time he was about to tell her something always came up and ruined the moment. But today was different. Irvine came up with a full proof plan that could not fail. He was going to ask her over a picnic lunch just for the two of them. Nobody to interrupt and nothing to interfere.
When he was heading for the cafeteria to order the lunch later that day he saw Zell heading for the door.
"Hey Zell where are you off to?"
"I am going to visit my mom... Hey what's with the grin?"
"Today is the day, my friend!"
"Didn't you say that yesterday?"
"Yeah but... It's different, today I have a full proof plan."
"Sure" Zell said flatly "Good luck, yet again."
"Anyway" said Irvine sternly "Why are you going to visit your mother?" Irvine tried to change the subject off of his previous failures.
"She said she had something to discuss."
"That does not sound good. Nothing good ever comes out of a discussion."
"That is funny coming from you. You have not been able to talk to Selphie for some time now, that I am beginning to think you don't have the ba- Hello Quistis." Zell stopped just in time to see Quistis walking up behind Irvine.
Quistis spoke up, "Let me guess Irvine, you are going to try again to talk to Selphie. Are you not?"
Irvine took to the defensive, "And what?s wrong with that?!"
"Well, Irvine, don?t you think that it would be easier to have Selphie come to you when the time is right? It seems that the harder you try the quicker you fail. And fail you have!"
"Not today, Quisty. I have a full proof plan."
"Sure you do. Just like yesterday and the days before that." Quistis said dryly, "Let me give you some advise from a woman?s point of view. Find a special occasion to celebrate, and throw a nice party filled with allot of friends. Once she realizes that you went through allot of trouble to make this time possible she will want to find you and thank you. You will be somewhere alone so when she finds you the setting will be right. Now that she is in high spirits you can tell her your true feelings. Don?t butter you feelings up or anything, just tell her how you feel."
"Look, Quistis, I know what I am doing. And thanks for the advise and all but I am sticking to my plan. Now I must be off."
Irvine pretty much spent the day keeping track of Selphie and of private places he could. He wanted to be far away from other people because they have interrupted before. Selphie was spending her day in one of the classrooms working on the Garden Festival page. His plan was to convince her to join him for a picnicked lunch to enjoy the wonderful weather and perhaps discuss next years plans for the Committee. And when the fated hour had come for him to profess his love for Selphie, he exited the elevator and skipped down the hallway basket in arm. When he entered the room, Selphie did not look up so he thought that he would quietly walk over to see what she was working on. He walked over quietly and looked over her shoulder to find out why she was snickering about. The page in front of her was entitled Garden's Gossip and Rumors that has a photo of Irvine dancing at the party last week. Irvine began to think to himself ?Wow! she must like me if she makes a page all about me.? As he began to read the artical he jaw completely dropped. ?Reports and rumors gathered for Galbadia Garden tell us that I am a HORRIBLE DRUNK!!! No No No that cannot be right!?
"You know a bug could fly right in there?" Selphie spoke up.
"How did you know I was here?... Wh.. WHAT IS THIS!?" Irvine asked Selphie as he pointing to a byline.
"Keep reading" Selphie said with smile. Irvine kept mumbling the words to himself and stammering along the way. His eyes got wider and wider as he started to turn pale. When he read the last lines which read "Got Ya Irvy Kinneas! Next times don?t rudely read over my shoulder. If you wanna read just ask!"
He felt so relieved and though he should take this joke with humor or else Selphie would think bad of him. So he chuckled as best as he could and said, "I..I knew it from the start that you were just pulling my leg."
"Sure you did" said Selphie trying to keep a strait face. With a few touches of the screen she deleted the fake page and brought up the real one. "Now what did you come here for?"
Irvine knew that he had to turn on the charm to get Selphie to dine with him. "I came to ask if you wanted to take a break from that computer to enjoy a picnic I had made up for us so we could enjoy the beautiful day." Irvine turned around and walked to the windows. He pulled the blinds to look outside at the beautiful weather.
"Is everyone else going?" Selphie asked.
"Everyone?" said Irvine.
"Yeah, Squall, Rinoa, Quistis and Zell?"
Irvine had to think fast to have a plausible excuse to be alone. "Well,... You see, Selphie... Squall and Rinoa are having some problems. I saw Zell leave this morning to visit his mother, and Quistis... I couldn't find her so it's just you and me." he move back to Selphie and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Common, it's beautiful out there and it would be such a waste to sit inside all day." Irvine guided Selphie to the window to see the beautiful scenery.
"Well,... okay. Where are we going?"
He noticed that they were all alone and it might be too risky to walk through the garden and bump into someone else. "Why not here? Everywhere else is so crowded. We probably would not get a table even if we tried in the cafeteria."
Selphie though for a moment. "I thought you wanted to go 'enjoy the outdoors'? Plus it is against the rules to eat in the classrooms... I know what! Let's eat in the main hall. It is not crowded and the running water is peaceful. An if we run into one of our friends they will be able to join us. Get the basket and let's go!" Selphie left before Irvine could say no.
"Damn it," Irvine said to himself, "the full proof plan isn?t so full proof any more." He picked up the basket and started to catch up to Selphie but something on the screen caught his attention. The line read: The Garden Festival Committee will hold the first meeting to talk about next year on July 15.
"July 15... isn?t that Selphie?s birthday? Hmm... maybe I should take Quistis? advice."
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