[Name]

Away from Home, Part 2

You have decided to give up trying to understand what was happening.

Before you sat a contraption made out of giant colorful blocks that was supposedly capable of flying.  On the drive over, Tifa, your kidnapper, explained that some man named “Cid” was going to fly us to the island the school was on with his “gummi ship”.  You decided to go along with the whole ordeal until you could safely call the cops.

“Hello, darlin’.”

The voice interrupted your thoughts of disbelief and you turned to see a man with blonde hair and a toothpick sticking out of his mouth.

“Um, hello.” You figured this must be the “Cid” Tifa was talking about.

“Cid this is [Name], my cousin,” Tifa said as she introduced the two of you.

“Pleasure to meet ya, [Name].  We’ll be leaving soon so you should go find a seat onboard.”

Tifa quickly grabbed your wrist and dragged you into the “gummi ship”, forcing you into the nearest available seat.

Against everything you have ever learned in your AP Physics class, the “aircraft” started to fly.

“Uh Tifa, where exactly are we going?” you asked nervously, your fear growing every second.

“Kingdom Twilight Destiny Hearts Academy is on Destiny Islands.  It’s really nice there and everyone is excited to meet you!”

“What do you mean ‘everyone’?” you asked a little bit alarmed. “How many more of them are there? Have I been kidnapped by some sort of gang?”

“Oh, well all of our friends of course!”

“Of course,” you muttered.

An idea struck you like lightning.

“Is there a bathroom here?” you asked.

“Yep, just down the hall on the left.”

You quickly rose and made your way to the privacy of the restroom.  If your idea goes according to plan, a S.W.A.T. team will be waiting to escort you home when you land.  You took out your phone, the only connection you have to the sane outside world.

Never before have you been so frustrated to not receive cell service.

When you finally landed, you raced out of the aircraft and frantically tried to find a signal before the others joined you. 

“Sorry darlin’, but the island has the worst reception since I can remember,” Cid said as he exited the ship followed by Tifa.

Your heart sank to the depths of the ocean.

“Here comes Cloud!” Tifa said as a black motorcycle drove up to where the ship landed.

However, you were too busy being on the verge of a mental breakdown to notice.

“How am I going to reach my parents? How am I going to reach anyone I know for that matter?! I’m alone with strangers on a strange island and I have no way of going back home or contacting someone who could help me.”

“Hello, earth to [Name].  I was just introducing you to Cloud.”

You looked up to see  blue eyes and a head of hair that looked like it required at least 2 bottles of heavy duty hair gel.

“Uh, sorry. Nice to meet you.”

“[Name], Cloud will take you over to the house to introduce you to everyone else while Cid and I drive your things to your dorm.” Tifa explained.

There were many things you found wrong with this picture. Firstly, riding a motorcycle made you uncomfortable.  Secondly, riding a motorcycle with someone you just met made you very uncomfortable.  Finally, riding a motorcycle with someone with gravity-defying hair and a strange name was just out of the question.

However, Cloud looked like he could outrun you if you tried to flee, so you climbed on the back of his metal deathtrap and put on the spare helmet.

“Nervous?” Cloud asked as he started the engine.

“HAHAHA WHY WOULD I BE NERVOUS? I AM COMPLETELY OKAY WITH THE EVENTS OF TODAY AND THE FACT THAT I HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED WITH LITTLE TO NO HOPE OF GOING BACK HOME!”

“A bit.”

The terrifying ride ended after about 30 minutes and you and Cloud were standing in front of a house that could be described as “quaint”. Or it could be described as “the inhabitance of strange people that liked to kidnap defenseless girls”, depending on who you asked.

“Don’t worry, they may take some getting used to, but everyone’s glad to meet you.” Cloud said with a small smile.

You nodded.  “The first impression I make with these people is the least of my worries.”

You walked up to the house and braced yourself as you opened the front door.

Inside waiting for you was a room crowded with people. 

“How- how is this… What kind of people… Does this place have a monopoly on hair gel?  There is no way that’s their real hair.  How did they get it dyed so well? Oh my god some of them even wear contacts.  Just what kind of… Is this some sort of fashion cult?”

Your head was spinning as you observed the different strangers.

“Everyone, this is [Name], Tifa’s cousin.” Cloud announced as you wondered when physics decided to stop happening.

What happened next just about caused your brain to short-circuit.

Everyone gathered around you and started introducing themselves.  Normally this is nothing special, but normally people have average names.

“What the- how do you even begin to spell that?  Is that a family name or something? There is no way someone chose to name their child ‘vanity’.  I am 87% sure that is Japanese.  Okay that one’s kinda normal. That one’s not.”

After smiling and going through the motions of being polite, you were whisked away by a perky girl who had introduced herself as “Yuffie”.  What followed was the most energy-draining conversation you have ever had.

“Hiya [Name]!  What do you think of Destiny Islands so far?”

“Well I just got here so….” You trailed off as you shrugged.  Yuffie giggled.

“Don’t worry, I can just tell you’ll love it!  I can’t wait for us to be best friends, too!  We’re having this barbecue tomorrow, you should come!  We’ll have a blast playing volleyball, making sandcastles and joking around! Ya know, best friend stuff!”  Then she started to grill you about what you like to do, your favorite sports, movies, and colors, and how you feel about ninjas of all things.  She did all of this with the hyperactivity of a rabbit on crack.

The 15 minute conversation was interrupted when you felt an arm around your shoulder.  Your head snapped to the perpetrator and saw it was Axel, the guy whose hair kinda reminded you of a porcupine.

“So what brings a cutie like you to a place like this?” he asked with a smirk.

You don’t know what it was.  It could have been the fact that you had been kidnapped, or the fact that nothing made sense to you anymore.  Maybe it was because you were in a strange place with people who looked differently than what you were accustomed to and made you feel uncomfortable.  Maybe it was a combination of all these things.  Whatever it was, it made you leave the arm of the stranger and walk out the front door and keep on walking.  You don’t know where you were headed, but that didn’t matter.  You just had to get away.

Author’s note:

Thanks everyone who read my story!  I’ m still just starting out, so if you have any suggestions at all feel free to share them.  This goes for anything like update length and frequency.  I will try and update more often, too.