Completely Obsessed
Chapter 1: The Beginning
Bulma swung the strap of her book bag over her shoulder and stepped out of her new car. It was used, and had about thirty-thousand miles on it, but it was new for her. The sun was shining behind a few puffy clouds and the temperature was a bit cooler than she would have liked, but she didn't have time to think about such trivial things.
It was her senior year in high school, and it was the first day back from summer. She had a fresh tan and she was ready to get some work done and the best grades of her school career. But still, she had something more important to think about than grades.
She had to memorize her schedule and remember which classes came first. She also had to figure out which classes she had with people that she knew and people that she hated. She didn't want to be stuck in a classroom with the drama queens without backup or an ally to talk to. She also hoped that she and her friends had the same lunch period. She didn't have time to discuss her schedule and compare it with theirs because she just got back from her vacation yesterday.
She completed all of her summer reading assignments, and she'd written three essays for them. Last year, her guidance counselors recommended that she be put on the honors system and enrolled in advanced placement courses, so this year was going to be tough. But still, she'd worked so hard to get here, and it was finally paying off.
But her hard work hadn't been to get a 4.0 GPA average. It hadn't been to get herself on the honor system or into AP classes. It hadn't been for her excellent grades to impress her father, who was now off in some other country, busy with work. It had been for one, sole reason. It was because Vegeta Ouji was the smartest person in the school of over four thousand students. Orange Star High School had students from all over Satan City, and four thousand was only a fraction of the city's actual population count.
All Bulma's hard work for the past three years of high school was to be in some of the same high-ranking classes as Vegeta Ouji, the boy who she had a crush on since junior high. He never noticed her before, but now that she was in the top five percent of the highest-ranking students, he had to notice her this year. She would be in the same classes as him, and it would take a lot of studying and hard work to keep up her grades and prove that she deserved to be in those classes.
It was silly that she'd worked so hard just to have him notice her in the final year of high school, but she felt that it was worth all her time and effort. She didn't care that he'd probably move on to an Ivy League college next year, and she'd probably wind up in a community college because of her lack of money. All that truly mattered was the here and now.
The only classes she'd ever had with Vegeta in the past were lunch and gym, since they were requirements. But with everything else, he was way out of her league. Until now.
She glanced over her schedule one last time. First period was AP English IV, for which she had her summer reading assignments and three perfectly written essays. Last year, she was only able to get into Honors English, and every day she would watch Vegeta Ouji walk by her without noticing her, on his way to AP English III. Her grades hadn't been high enough, and her guidance counselors even recommended that she be dropped to English Lv. 2, which was one step below Honors. But she fought her way through, and she got nearly a perfect score in her junior's English class. And her hard work was now going to be paid for in full.
Bulma Briefs walked through the familiar double doors of Orange Star High School, happy to be back for the first time in her life, and made her way to her English class. She tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. Would he notice her as soon as she walked into the room? Would he be late and have to choose an empty seat next to her? Would he offer her a seat next to him? She had so many doubts and hopes for her first class, and it was killing her to have to wait through the walk down the hallway just to find out.
The first time she saw him was in her first year of junior high. He had been a loner back then, just like she had always been. That was the first thing that drew her to him. But after the first week of school, it seemed like everyone wanted to be around him. It was never just her that was drawn to him, but she always believed that she had been the first to notice him. But it didn't make her feel better when he never noticed her in return.
That first year was the worst. Her grades plummeted and she knew it was because she was always distracted by him. He always smelled so perfect when he passed her in the hallway. Her heart always raced when she thought he caught her staring at him from across the lunchroom. She felt better about herself when she ordered the same lunch as him, or wore the same color shirt to school on certain days. She loved it when she would overhear him talking to his group of friends, and she had an interest in what he was talking about. She felt like she wasn't so far away from him when she realized that they both liked some of the same things.
But that wasn't the worst part about the first year. The most horrible thing in her life happened that year. It was the year her mother was murdered, and it shattered her whole world. It changed her as a person and she could never go back to the way things had been.
She lived with her father ever since then, but he was always away for his work as an artisan. He had to travel a lot, so he usually left her home, by herself. She hated it in the beginning, but eventually, she got used to it. Her father wasn't the same since then, either.
She had taken almost three weeks off of school to grieve for her mother, and the day she came back, she was showered with apologies and pity that she didn't want to hear. That was also the only time Vegeta Ouji ever truly acknowledged her. She sat alone during that day's lunch period. Not even the sight of her crush could make her happy at that time. But when she looked up, he had been looking at her. Her heart stopped beating for a moment as he gave her a quick nod. It was his way of saying that he was sorry for her loss, and it made her grow even more attached to him.
The rest of her first year had been alone. She didn't want to talk to anyone, and she spent most of her time watching Vegeta Ouji from a distance. He never looked at her again during that school year.
The second and final year of junior high, Bulma met her current group of friends. She had put on a show of being over the death of her mother, and so people thought that it was alright to approach her again. She made friends and she never sat alone at lunch again. Chichi, Launch and Juuhachi were the three friends that she never lost. They stayed together throughout the good and the bad times, and they endured. They were also the only people in the world who knew about her crush on Vegeta Ouji.
Her freshman year in high school was the second worst year of her life. When her crush entered the Orange Star High School building, it was as if he was worshiped as a god. Senior girls wanted to date him, and every boy of every grade wanted to be part of his group of friends. Vegeta Ouji became the center of attention. He developed a large cluster of people who called themselves his best friends, followed him everywhere, and obeyed his every command. But that wasn't the worst part.
Every girl wanted the chance to date him. Every single one wanted him to choose her. It became so expected that every girl went through a time in her life that came to be known as the "Vegeta Phase". The term was coined, and then it stuck, and every teenage girl in Orange Star High knew what it meant by heart. Bulma's friends joked with her, saying that she was the person who invented it, and she knew that she had her eyes on him before all the older girls even knew he was in the same school. It made her feel like she stood more of a chance against the obviously more popular and prettier girls in the higher grades. But still, all she could do was look on from afar at the boy she spent most of her time thinking about.
Her sophomore year in high school was a bit more fun. Vegeta was convinced into joining Orange Star High's soccer team. It took him only two weeks to become known as the school's single best offensive soccer player in decades. Bulma enjoyed the fall season because she could go to each game and watch her crush without being embarrassed about people seeing her staring at him. And he was amazing. He was amazing at everything he did, but it was even more fun when she could watch him from the crowd and shout and cheer for him without standing out, because everyone else was doing it, too.
But after autumn was over, so was the sports season. And Bulma was back to looking at him from across the cafeteria during lunchtime. But it wasn't the end of the world for her. Sophomore year was the first time she and her crush had the same gym period together, and in the winter, when it was too cold to have gym outside, the class played volleyball. Quite a few times, she was placed on the same team as Vegeta, but she wasn't very good, so it wasn't her moment to shine for him.
One time, she had been placed on the opposing team, and he spiked the ball on her. She had been too jumpy and embarrassed to retaliate in any way, but he barely noticed that she had been right in front of him. The other boys on his team, and even some that were across the gymnasium, hooted and cheered for him, slapped him on the back, and congratulated him for winning the game, as usual. She'd barely been noticed, but she remembered how close he'd been to her, and the sound of a grunt when he'd hit the ball had almost made her blush.
The cheerleaders fell in love with him, as well. Each top sport player got their own cheerleader, but after the playing season was over, it seemed like they were all Vegeta's cheerleaders. Their coaches had to remind them that the school also had a football team with plenty of other players. But they were always in his shadow, ready and waiting for their chance to get him alone. Bulma didn't try and kid herself, though. She knew that Vegeta sometimes took a girl or two home with him. With all that attention, who wouldn't? So, she could hardly blame him. In fact, she hoped that one day, he'd ask her to go home with him. She'd made up her fantasies, just like everyone else, and she would dream about them at night, but deep down, she knew that she would probably chicken out. But deep down, she knew she had nothing to worry about. He would never ask her anyway.
Between sophomore and junior year, she learned about his above-outstanding performance in school, and realized that was the reason she never had many classes with him. So, for the second half of her sophomore year and all of her junior year, Bulma Briefs focused on getting the best grades of her life. She didn't want to leave high school with the fantasies of a boy she never even got the chance to talk to throughout her six years in Orange Star.
So, this was the year she'd been waiting for. This was the year where everything would change for the better. She was determined to have Vegeta Ouji finally notice her. The concept was quite simpleā¦
Bulma Briefs was completely obsessed.
