Cafeteria Encounter
Squall looked around the Garden cafeteria, and sighed,
spotting one of his ‘fellow’ comrades Zell stuffing yet another hotdog into
the gaping maw he called a face. He hid his laugh under one gloved hand as Zell
began choking on his oversized mouthful and was backslapped by the nameless
“library girl” in an effort to release the huge amounts of food in his
throat. Zell coughed, spitting out the food onto the student sitting across from
him, who unfortunately was Seifer. Enraged, Seifer jumped to his feet, trying to
shake off the remains of Zell’s lunch, which had become lodged onto his trench
coat.
“Hey punk, look at this crap you got on my trench coat! You ugly tattooed
freak!” Seifer, fully enraged now, pulled his gunblade free from its sheath
and held it before him. Zell crouched into fighter’s stance, and the other
students scrambled to get out of the way. Fujinn stepped forward and put a
restraining hand on Seifers shoulder, motioning towards the crowd gathered
around them.
“STOP. TROUBLE. DETENTION.” Raijin, standing behind her, gasped as Fujinn
smirked, but the smile disappeared before he could remark on it. Siefer looked
back at her for a moment, then gruffly stepped forward, releasing her of her
grip on him.
“This little punk got crap all over my trench. He’s going to pay. I’m
going to carve that stupid tattoo right off your face…”Siefer
characteristically loaded the gunblade, then pointed it steadily at Zell, who
crouched lower, ready to strike as the library girl screeched and ducked behind
him.
Finally able to sit and watch any longer, Squall stood up and pulled out his
gunblade and stepped in front of Zell all in one swift motion. Seifer looked
surprised for a moment, then resumed his normal expression.
“How unlike you, Squall to defend that little Chicken Wuss. Well. Looks like
I’m going to be late for class. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen?” Seifer
and his posse left the cafeteria in a dead silence. Zell gave a sigh of relief,
then looked at Squall. And offered out his hand.
“Thanks man. Looks like we were about to have it out right here. Zell Dnicht.
You’re that Squall guy that everyone’s always talking about, right?”
He ginned enthusiastically, then frowned a little when Squall didn’t shake his
preferred hand. Squall re-sheathed his sword, and suddenly the commotion was
back in the cafeteria. The small crowd that had gathered finally dispersed,
leaving Squall, Zell, and the terrified library girl.
“Man, you wouldn’t believe how the girls in this school talk about you!
Squall this, Squall that.. you’re lucky man. How do you do it?”
Squall didn’t answer, but merely nodded politely at the library girl as she
proceeded to elbow Zell in the stomach, doubling him over. Squall took that as
his cue to leave and grabbed his tray, heading for the exit.
As he walked towards his dorm, he thought about the upcoming SeeD test, and
decided to make a detour towards the training center…