A/N: Why am I starting a new story? Because I want to. (Insert smiley face here)

o.o.o

Crack Obsession

Summary: Namine was in a lot of trouble. She lost her job, she can’t pay her rent and even her boyfriend just left her for some hostess at a club. Not only that, her next door neighbor is always throwing parties and keeping her up at night. One day she decides to look through the newspaper for job offers. You never know where life will take you.

Genre(s): Romance, Humor, Drama

In Namine’s POV

o.o.o

One

Ring, ring. The phone rang once again.

I was ready to rip my hair out. Why can’t these people just leave me alone?!

The ringing stopped.

Finally…

My answer machine came on.

“Miss Kiyamoto, you’re way overdue in paying your electricity bill. I hope you like candles, because starting tomorrow you won’t have any electricity.”

My answer machine beeped. I felt my heart stop for a second. First my water, now my electricity? I sat there and cried because I didn’t know what else to do. Nobody would listen to me—nobody being the debt collectors. I had lost my job two months ago; been laid off was more like it. Getting a new job in this economy was hard. I went around to every single place but none of them were hiring… or wanted to hire someone like me. You see, I thought I was pretty average looking; a blonde in her early twenties. I wasn’t fat nor did I have any pimples on my face; I was quite pretty. However, they saw past that and could tell I was poor. I was just some desperate girl in need of money.

What was I going to do now?

My cell phone bill was about the only one I could keep up with. I know, before you say something like straighten out your priorities, there was a reason I made sure that was paid for.

So I could talk to my now ex-boyfriend.

Fuck my life.

He was the only one that made me happy in such a cruel world and gave me kind of an escape. After I lost my job though, things went downhill. I only asked him for money once, but that was out of desperation. He stopped calling me because I was depressed all the time and just wanted to get away from me, it seemed. I found him at a hostess club one night fondling one of the hostesses and taking her around back. I don’t need to say what happened there. He found someone else. I got it.

So aside from being financially pitiful, I’m actually a very nice person. I know, bad things happen to good people, blah, blah. I would do anything within reason for someone I care about. I bet you’re wondering why I was let go from my job…

Or not… but I’ll tell you anyway.

My boss needed to cut people so he could give raises to the assholes on top. Or something like that. So he got rid of the weak and all the others got raises.

Nope, I didn’t need the money at all. Note my sarcasm.

So my life officially sucks. Sorry.

I sat there in my small, dark apartment wondering what to do next. I’ve been everywhere in town looking for a job; there seemed to be no hope left for me. Not only that, I was hungry. I didn’t know where to turn. I fell over and laid there on the floor just staring off into the distance.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard what sounded like a ton of people walking down the hallway. I knew exactly what was about to happen. I prepared myself by covering my ears.

‘Hey, Tidus!’ Beer bottles clanked.

My neighbor, Wakka loved throwing loud drinking parties that lasted until morning.

In other words, it was impossible to sleep.

With that stress added, I prepared myself for the night ahead. I decided to turn on my TV for the last time and turn it up as loud as I needed to. I didn’t really watch much TV, so I never knew about any cool shows that people would talk about or anything. The only music I had were old CDs from when I was a teenager that my parents bought me—you could only guess what kind of music a teenage girl in the early 2000’s would listen to.

Yup.

My ignorance made me socially awkward.

I could hear loud music coming from Wakka’s apartment. The party had started.

I wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

o.o.o

The next morning, sure enough, I had no electricity. I already couldn’t take a shower, so I just grabbed my deodorant and put some on. This place was pretty much pointless to live in now; I’m surprised they haven’t kicked me out yet. Good thing the landlady was nice—she was my aunt.

I didn’t want to be alone in my own depressing apartment, so I grabbed my purse and left. I needed some fresh air. I needed to get away.

I got into the elevator and pressed the 1st floor button. I lived up on the 6th floor. The elevator stopped and I got out. An older man that also lived here in the apartment complex was in the lounge watching TV. He was always down here.

“Hey, Vincent.” I said, sitting down on the couch across from him.

“Hello, little lady. What are you doing up so early?”

“I don’t know.”

“You could go get some breakfast, you know. There’s some bagels in the kitchen.”

“This place feels more like a hotel sometimes.” I chuckled. Vincent was really cool… kind of like a father figure to me. “So… what are you watching?”

“The news. Did you know hardcore fans of MJ killed theirselves because they couldn’t stand a world without him?”

“Killing theirselves because their favorite celebrity died? Seriously?”

“Yeah. The dude was cool and all, but… that’s too extreme.”

Vincent would always be up watching the news. That’s really where I get my updates from; when I’m up early enough to talk to him—like now.

“So what are you going to do today, miss?”

“I don’t know… just walk around… aimlessly…”

“Well, be careful. This town can be dangerous. You have my number.”

“Thanks.”

I went outside and walked down the empty street. It was a little chilly, but I at least brought a jacket to cover myself with. Shop owners were opening up and preparing for the day ahead. They smiled at me as I walked by. A local flower shop owner was handing a bouquet to a man in a suit, there were some people sitting outside a small breakfast pub drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. It was a normal, Monday morning.

I decided to be like those normal people and picked up a newspaper. I sat down at a table outside and pretended to read it. Of course, after a few minutes I found myself in the job section.

“Help wanted… dentists needed… no way… hostess… argh…” I had already applied to most of these places, but no one took me. Then I saw it.

HELP WANTED! Great pay. Person willing to try new things and meet new people. On top of that, FUN! Leave your name and number.

There wasn’t a number, but an email underneath. Even though I didn’t have a computer, there was always the online café down the road I would occasionally go to. Something in me just told me to do this. I ripped out the little ad and went there.

Using the internet was free every weekday before nine o’clock in the morning, so it wasn’t a problem for me. I got into my email. Seventy new messages… mostly spam. I deleted them all and composed a new one. I double checked the email to make sure that I got it right and typed my message.

I saw your ad in the newspaper about help wanted. I’m interested. Please call me at…

I put down my number and signed my first name. I hesitated before sending it. I didn’t know who it would go to or what kind of job it would be, but I was desperate. In a split decision, I sent it.

I suddenly felt better for some reason.

Now all I had to do was wait…

o.o.o

The next two hours were long and boring. I kept checking my phone to see if anyone called or if I missed a call by chance. Eventually I just held it in my hand. I went around to different shops to look at stuff I couldn’t have and to keep myself somewhat busy. Finally, it rang. It was an unknown number.

“H-Hello?” I answered.

“Is this Namine?”

“Yes!”

“I got your email.” It was a girl’s voice. “So you want to help me?”

“Um… yes. I really need the money.”

“Hmm…” She sounded kind of strange. “Can we meet?”

I felt a little weird now. “S-sure… where?”

No, this wasn’t dangerous at all.

“By the fountain in town square. I’ll have a red cap on. Let’s say… in thirty minutes?”

“I… I guess so…”

“See you then.” She hung up.

Now I was starting to have second thoughts. I checked the time. Noon…

Should I go? What was with that feeling of certainty I had earlier? This girl just sounded creepy…

Then again, what did I have to lose?

I needed money, no one would hire me and this is the first opportunity in a long time. No matter how crazy it sounded, I had to take my chances.

I made it down to Town Square in twenty minutes. The fountain was in the center. I went over to it and sat by the bench. The only clue I had was some girl in a red cap. Like that was helpful…

There were tons of people around. It gets quite busy around lunchtime, obviously, with people going back and forth from work trying to find something to eat, old ladies looking for a decent man to talk to (yes, that happens) and stitching something on the benches nearby, people walking their dogs, etc. I usually liked to avoid this area. I wasn’t one for crowds…

I saw a girl walking up to the fountain with her hands in her pockets. She wore a long, black coat and dark blue jeans. Her hair was auburn-ish and---she was wearing a red cap. She took out her phone and started playing with it as she sat down next to the fountain. I slowly walked over to her.

“Excuse me… I’m Namine.”

She looked up at me and smiled. “Well, hello.”

“Hi.”

The girl stood up and put out her hand. “The name’s Selphie.”

“Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand. I wondered what kind of job she would have for me…

She didn’t look threatening at all.

“So you want some money, eh?”

“Um… not to sound…”

“Desperate. I know.” She started walking, prompting me to follow her. “It’s okay. We’ve all got our own issues… but for this job, please keep that on the down low.”

“Um…” She was walking so fast I could barely keep up. “What kind of job is it?”

“Kind of like a detective type job.”

“Detective?!”

Selphie smirked. We went back into an alley and came up to a fence. Selphie climbed it and jumped over onto the other side. “Can you do it?”

“Uhh…”

Well, here goes nothing.

It took me a while, but I was able to jump the fence successfully. “Good job.”

Eventually I had lost track of where we were. We kept turning corners and going deeper and deeper into the city. There was a path that led out to a dirt road. Farther down I knew there was a train station.

“Where… exactly are we going?”

She didn’t answer me. Okay, now I was getting a little worried.

“You want the job, don’t you?”

“I… guess?”

Instead, we went off the dirt road and walked through the grass. We were just outside of town, heading towards a woodsy area. We didn’t have to go far before I finally saw a small set of houses.

“This is my home.” Selphie said as we walked up to a small shack.

She opened the door and turned on the light. My eyes widened.

There were posters all over the walls of men… famous men, to be exact. Little fanlike things with a guy’s picture on them were spread out across the floor, CDs, karaoke machines, and magazines too.

“Welcome to my dream land.” Selphie said, tossing herself onto her bed.

“Um… who are these people?”

Selphie sat up. Her eyes widened. “You… you don’t know?!”

I shook my head slowly.

“Well, my friend… let me introduce you to… the loves of my life!”

Oh my god, I had run into a fan girl!!

“THIS,” she picked up one of the fanlike things with the male’s face on it. The boy had pretty blue eyes and long silver hair and kind of a mysterious look to him. “This is Riku Hirukawa. Blood type is B; he was born on October 6th, 1987 and is the mysterious loner of the group. He has a dog named Betsy-chan that he cares for more than anything.”

Um… why was she telling me this?

Selphie picked up another one. This time, the boy had blonde, spiky hair. “This is Roxas Yokoyama. Born on July 17th, 1988, his blood type is AB and he loves ramen noodles. He’s silly yet serious at the same time; kind of childish might I add.”

Selphie went over to the huge poster of the boy with chocolate spiky hair, tanned and that even I thought was decent looking. “And this… this is Sora Nakamura. His name rhymes!”

“O…Okay…”

“Born on March 1st, 1988, Sora is the most popular in the group. His voice is to die for and he’s always sweet to everyone he meets. He’s the calmer one in the group, always coming up with new ways to do things. He writes a lot of the songs and stuff. His blood type is O, same as me!”

I’ve never heard of this band.

Selphie sighed and then came over to me. “Still want that job?”

“What… do I have to do?” I was really nervous now.

“Hehehee!”

It was bad enough having twenty million pairs of eyes staring at me, but this girl was creepier than all of them put together. Still… she said she’d pay me…

“I’m starting my own secret business, you see… but I’m running out of products. I need you to go down to the Tora Entertainment Headquarters and get me some more items. You’d be surprised how much fans will pay for things those boys have used. I’ll give you half the profits—“

“Wait, you want me to steal?!” I yelled.

“Not steal! Just… take things that are laying around. We’ll claim them to be stuff the boys used, sell them and make tons of money!”

“That’s still stealing… and just downright crazy!”

“Namine, my dear… I’ve already done plenty of research on you. You know you need the money.”

“Research? Like what? Just who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Selphie. That’s all you need to know…” She grinned.

This girl was insane.

But yet… I was in a rut.

Argh… what should I do?!

“I will give you a makeover and pay all the bills you need to be paid for the next two months. What do you say?”

Okay, now who’s the desperate one?

Either way, it seemed like a good offer, despite the bad vibe.

I’m going to be working for an obsessed fangirl.

Could my life get any worse?!

o.o.o

A/N: I don’t know where this idea came from. But please Review! And don’t worry, the new chapters to Feels Like Tonight and Maid Service are in the works…

Let me know what you think!