Secret Santa Gift Giving Thread 2011

1) First Landing

The first time she came to the islands was when she was 8. She was amazed at how beautiful the landscape was and instantly wanted to remember it like this forever. The fresh breeze, the cooling water, the hot sand, the bright sun, all making her first viewing of it spectacular! The only problem was getting off, and sadly had to have someone push her off in order to explore some more. She didn’t care for that but took the hint anyway (weirdly enough from a boy with spiky blonde hair) and started following her matron to the orphanage house.


2) First Bout of Loneliness

Being an orphan naturally made Namine feel lonely, especially since she just moved to a new place. Sure she just moved a couple of weeks ago, but it was a lot harder for her to get along with people. Her shyness hindered her from meeting all the natives on the island, which made her envy the others. She kept giving herself great excuses: “It was weird out there.”, “I could get hurt.”, “I need an adult to walk around with.”
At least she thought they were great excuses. She then sighs and looks outside her window, seeing the children play.


3) First Meeting

Today was it! Today she was finally going to step out and mingle. Not because she stopped being shy, but only because it was hot and she wanted some ice-cream. With money in her pocket, she wandered around and looking for an ice-cream stand. She finally found a spot and waited in line with the other kids. Finally managing to buy one, she tried to find a place to sit, but suddenly tripped and dropped her treat! Namine cried until another one appeared before her. Shocked and surprised, she turned to look at a smiling boy with brown spiky hair.


4) First Friend

His name was Sora.
A boy with spiky brown hair.
He was lively, outgoing, and always competing (friendly) with a silvered-hair boy. Along with him was a girl with red hair and he always managed to bring all three of them together on the beach. She felt so honored, yet so confused as to why he wanted to play with her! She didn’t even have any parents and they let her within their group. So she decided to ask him one day. Hearing it made him brushed it aside, and told her that he’ll be her friend no matter what.


5) First Drawing

After two years of being friends, Namine decided to draw for Sora. She didn’t draw that much, but once Sora saw past pictures, he instantly asked for something to be drawn. Sadly, she didn’t have a whole lot of drawing utensils and felt awful for it. Sora didn’t mind though, and he gave her a nice kit the next day. Feeling grateful for this, she made sure that her gift to him made use of all the techniques she knew. When the day came to giving him the drawing, he was ecstatic and, to her embarrassment, showed it to everybody.


6) First Swim

As with every island child, learning how to swim was the main priority to having fun. Namine didn’t care for it. She didn’t want people to see her sink easily, she didn’t want to get stung or hurt by questionable items, and by the age of 13 she didn’t want anybody seeing her body. Wearing a bathing suit in front of others? In front of other prettier girls?! ‘There was no need for that’, she thought. But then she saw some small children struggling to swim. Needless to say, she got over it quickly and they now have weekly lessons.


7) First School Year

Correct School Supplies? => Check!
Correct Uniform Attire? => Check!
Correct School Books? => Check!
Namine smiled. She had everything set up within her locker and she was ready for 9th Grade. Now all she needed to do was go to her classes and learn.
She can do this. She-Can-Do-This!
With that chant, she takes a deep breath and quickly goes to her homeroom. Once she sat down, she was immediately introduced to the people that she will see throughout her four years at highschool: Hayner, Olette, and Pence. Looking around shyly, she hopes to gets along easily with them.


8) First Assignment

To say Namine was a perfectionist was an understatement. She loved working hard on her assignments, and this one was no different. Her Biology Teacher assigned her to write about Dinosaurs, something she found fascinating. She didn’t mind going to the library or going to local museums to study. As long as it was peaceful, and quiet, she felt she could finish this fast. But sometimes her perfectionist tendencies hindered her. She re-writes her paragraphs, re-reads her sources, and completes 10 pages of her report. Even when she returns the assignment, she still feels as if something wasn’t done right.


9) First Crush

There he is
There he is, talking to his friends at the lunch table.
And here she is…glancing back at them nervously, trying to get her lunch while holding a very special card.
Today was Sora’s birthday and Namine created a beautiful card for him. She made sure to take extra care into her present, not only because it was all she could afford, but that it was for Sora who was getting it.
He deserves the best after all. He does so much for her and somebody that kind doesn’t deserve anything less. If only she wasn’t so shy…


10) First Bout of Jealousy

Namine hated herself. She hated herself for feeling envious and just thinking awful things about that red-headed girl, Kairi.
She was so popular and pretty, full of perfect snarky comments and kindness towards anybody. She didn’t think those qualities were good enough for her to become so popular in her school, but apparently it was.
Especially to Sora.
No…no, she shouldn’t think this way! This was Sora’s best friend. Kairi always stayed by him and Namine lost count on how much Sora told her of how he admired her pure kind heart!
Still…she can’t help but not care for it.


11) First Project

Wow! Already in her sophomore year and she is already creating her first major art project! To say Namine was happy was an understatement. She was ecstatic about this! Her talented art teacher asking her to make a piece for his gallery! She will not let him down!
She brainstorms in the morning, works on her small sections in the evening, and tirelessly doubles her work at night. She worked nonstop for this and it was showing beautifully. She felt unsure about it, but once her homeroom classmates saw it, they loved it! Namine’s face could not get any redder.


12) First Experimentation

“Namine! Let’s make some cookies!”
Hearing that statement coming from Kairi made Namine feel worried. She has never baked before, and she didn’t want to make nasty cookies. But seeing her eager face along with a few recipes in hand made her want to try anyway.
Looking at a few, they tried following it to a T, until Kairi suggested adding raisins.
And then Namine adding butterscotch chips.
Not to mention mixing up both baking powder and soda together!
Needless to say, the cookies did not turn out very well. She and Kairi didn’t bake anything until after high school.


13) First Fright

Kairi asked Namine to go with her to see a Halloween movie one day. Not just any scary movie though, for it was The Heartless. Namine did NOT like scary movies, and she did NOT like how she was being asked to be with Kairi as she and Sora cuddled during the scary parts. But she liked her friends, and if this is what makes Kairi happy, then so be it. Thankfully Sora also brought his friend Riku and he became a nice base between those two. Especially since he made her laugh with his snarky comments throughout the movie.


14) First Major Injury

This was awful. She didn’t want this, she had too many things to do and yet here she was in the hospital. Namine never felt like such a failure. She felt awful for missing school for weeks, for not helping her guardian with taking care of her fellow orphans, and especially for not being able to draw. Since both her arms are out of commission, all she could do was sit, pout, and watch tv. The only relief she found was that nobody else was hurt. As for how she got hurt? Well that’ll just be her little “embarrassing” secret.


15) First Failure

An F
Her very first F.
Namine couldn’t believe it. She worked so hard, what with making sure every piece of homework stayed within the curriculum, but she still got an awful grade!
To her relief, Riku came by to comfort her, telling her that it’s not really her fault. Sadly, this act did nothing but make her feel like she was an awkward little girl. She did appreciate it, especially since he was the one who brought her her work…
…It just sucked how every time she tried something on her own, she still had someone helping her out.


16) First Errand

“Namine! Namine! Can you please drive us to the park?”
Drive? Park? Now? Namine didn’t want to go now! She wanted to stay in her room and finish a sculpture, but she was still in charge of looking after her “siblings”.
And she was the only one with a license.
So with a defeated mental sigh, she takes the keys and the cheering kids with her to the car.
What-a-disaster.
Slowing down unsuccessfully, zig-zagging away from trees, and ALMOST hitting a familiar blonde haired boy. Thank God they arrived safely and the kids ran out to play.
Namine hated driving.


17) First Rejection

At 5:45 pm, on a Friday afternoon, Namine had finally worked up the courage to confess to Sora.
To tell him how much he meant to her after 8 years of their first meeting. All those memories and words she built over the years finally spilled out. She was sick of waiting, and she wanted to get it over with. She got her wish, but sadly it was bittersweet. He only liked her as a friend. Strangely, she wasn’t too bothered by this. All she was happy about was that it was finally over.
She can finally move on now.


18) First Party

Olette thought that after last week, Namine needed to see some cute new guys, and decided to take her out. When Saturday finally hit, she quickly took her to a fun beach party!
Namine stared enviously of Olette, dancing with others, and tried to work up courage of her own. She then turns to the person sitting next to her on the bench.
“Hello~! I wanted to meet you at least once.”
“Hm?”
‘…Oh my god!’
Embarrassed that she noticed that she hit on someone who resembled Sora a lot, she blushed hard, nervously giggled, and decided to go home.


19) First Drink

After one month of continuous studying, all of her friends decided to celebrate by watching movies at Riku’s house. She didn’t care for some, but she did enjoy herself. Once two movies have past, she decided she wanted something to drink. Seeing Riku fix himself something tasty, she curiously asked if she could have one too. Riku hesitated and asked if she was sure. Wondering why, he finally stated it was alcoholic. Namine thought about it and stated:
“As long as I’m with you, I feel I’ll be ok.”
With them both smiling, she took a swig of his drink.


20) First Love

This was crazy, but she didn’t feel crazy. Namine felt beautiful, bold, and extremely positive on everything she look at in life.
She finally had a boyfriend. And for once she didn’t care what people thought of her or said to her. All she cared about was what he said, did, or thought. In return she felt confident and strong, not weak and shy. Being with him even made her feel like her past mistakes felt minimal at best. Pretty silly, but she just knew that she didn’t want this feeling to stop.
Namine hopes that it will last indefinitely.


21) First Phone

“No way! Riku, are you serious?”
“Well yeah. I thought this would be a perfect birthday and anniversary gift.”
Namine was super surprised. Riku bought her a phone! And it was the latest smartphone, something she knew she couldn’t afford. She instantly gave him lots of loving hugs and kisses. For the rest of the day they both tried setting the phone up and looking over each feature, both for his and her phone; Buying interesting apps, testing the camera phone, even pranking classmates of theirs. Within a few weeks, she started becoming a little more sociable and loved texting.


22) First Break-up

They knew this would happen one day, but after one year? Granted, that year felt long and with graduation nearing soon, they knew that they both couldn’t continue this. Reality was facing them hard. They knew that they didn’t want to hinder each other when it came to their futures.
He wanted to explore the world. She just got accepted into a major art college. This was not going to work.
They were both happy that they could still be friends and depend on each other. They loved each other though and wanted to see them happy no matter what.


23) First Bout of Anger

Namine was starting to hate herself again. She thought she could take her mutual break-up well, but apparently not. Not with her luck anyway.
She kept ruining her art pieces, was procrastinating on her reports, and barely talked to anybody.
Worst of all, she felt down on herself. Was she really that pathetic to act this way after a whole month of being by herself? If so, she never felt so angry with herself until now.
Thankfully, Olette could see this happening and brought her out to go partying.
And eating.
And drinking.
At least she didn’t feel angry anymore.


24) First Hangover

This
Felt
Awful!
What is this pain?
This headache felt like a hammer was banging against her all night long. It would explain why she couldn’t walk in a straight line towards the bathroom at least. Her stomach felt like someone twisted and smushed it together like dough, making her throw up quite easily. Bloodshot eyes, feeling fatigue, and the bright lights just made it all worst.
And then she saw a letter on her nightstand.
“I had a great time last night. We should do it again. Hope to see you soon Namine.”
-R
‘OH.MY.GOD, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!’


25) First Paranoia

Namine sighed and looked at the letter. She’s been staring at it all week. She was also extremely paranoid of any boy she talked to. She immediately thought of Riku, but she knew he would have never done that. Plus there was no need to worry him by bringing it up. He was still very protective of her. Olette didn’t say a word when she was asked; in fact nobody said anything in their homeroom. Then again, everybody was antsy and scared because of graduation coming up. It was still scary to think of everybody you care about leaving you...


26) First Determination

Between these last two months, Namine was getting sick and tired of feeling scared. She wanted to get ready for her first big move and to get her life together. She didn’t want to play immature games or feel paranoid over “What-If’s”.
Then again, this was just her being annoyed. Hayner told her that he wrote that letter as a funny prank on someone else and Olette was right there behind him pissed off. She loved her friends, but saw this as a sign that this was a step they all needed to become adults. For Olette’s sanity at least.


27) First Graduation

This was it! This was the moment everybody was waiting for!
Graduation
All the invitations, all the measurements, and all the seating rehearsals would finally be worth it once they grabbed their diplomas and leave!
Excited, she looked around while everybody was getting ready. Everybody seemed happy, except for one familiar blond haired teen.
Sitting next to him, she found out that he was nervous and upset. Finding out that he was also alphabetically right next to her, she promises to make sure to be right there if he needed it. Smiling, he promises to do the same for her.


28) First Goodbyes

Since the first day she arrived, Namine was scared of what’s to come. This was apparently no different when it comes to her now leaving. Crying immediately when seeing friends leave, hugging them for more than a few minutes, and constant promises to talk online together. This all made her feel depressed, but she was leaving for the better and once she came back, she will still be the same, just improved.
It just sucked that she had to tell that to just newly made friends. Mainly that blonde haired boy.
She even learned his name.
His name was Roxas.


29) First Day Unpacking

What an exciting and nervous day! She just got done getting her room key and a parking permit, and now she was ready to open up her first dorm room! Opening the door, she immediately looked around her room and looked for a nice spot to put her items. She was particularly happy with how the room looked so clean and made a mental note to keep it this way. She also noticed while unpacking that…she didn’t have a whole lot of stuff to fill out her section of the room. It really made her side look plain and lonely.


30) “First” Bout of Loneliness

This campus was HUGE for Namine. She hated feeling alone and lost, not knowing where she was supposed to go. She consulted counselors and students, but it made her feel stupid. Why did she have to go to a special school when she didn’t know anybody? She tried ignoring this feeling and decided to get her dinner before heading home.
Go to a Sandwich shop, pick up sandwich, go to dorm room.
There she was met with silence. Her mysterious roommate was out so here she was…alone. Getting herself settled, she opens up her laptop and quietly eats her sandwich.


31) “First” Meeting