Elaine pinned the last strand of her hair up as she stood in front of her bathroom mirror. She sighed, looking over her makeup, hair, and outfit one more time to make sure everything was in place. After deciding there was nothing more to be done, she walked into her bedroom to check what time it was on the clock.
'Crap,' she thought to herself when she saw that it was 7:48. Her five-year class reunion started in only twelve minutes. She grabbed her purse and quickly got into her small car, checking the invitation she had recieved two weeks ago in the mail to make sure she had the right address. Soon, she was on the road, and on the way to seeing her old friends.
On the way to the hall where the event would be held, Elaine thought of all the fun she had had with her Duel Academy friends, and all that had happened since she had graduated. Most of them had gone into the Pro League, but she had gotten a job with Industrial Illusions designing cards, which had always been her dream. She sighed. The year after graduation, she had met with her friends a couple of times, but for the most part, her job kept her apart from them. She didn't regret the choice she had made, but still wished they hadn't been separated.
She was excited and nervous at the same time to meet back up with everyone. 'I wonder how much they will have changed,' she thought. While she was excited to see Jaden, Bastion, and Chazz, she was the most excited to see Syrus again. She sighed once more. The whole time they'd gone to school together, she'd had a crush on the sweet-natured boy, but he had never seemed to return her affections. With time, her feelings for him had faded somewhat, but now that she was going to see him again, they were beginning to resurface.
Before Elaine knew it, she had reached her destination. After parking her car and looking over her appearance in the drop-down mirror, she took a deep breath and exited the car, smoothing down her dress as she did so. She was eager to make a good impression on these people, since she hadn't seen most of them in so long.
As soon as Elaine had opened the front door to the locale, she was attacked from the side in a hug.
"Elaine!" Jaden yelled happily. She laughed once she realized who it was, and he pulled back.
"Hey, Jaden," she said, unable to stop smiling. He was still the same, spunky guy she had known and loved five years ago. "It's great to see you again," she said as she leaned in to hug her friend again.
"You, too," he said. "So, how've you been?"
Jaden and Elaine soon got to talking just like they had used to. He was now a very successful duelist in the Pro League, which she was happy to hear. He congratulated her on her success at Industrial Illusions, as well. The two visited many of their other friends as they walked around the room. Elaine was relieved to discover that they had changed very little, so they all still got along like they had back at the Academy. After about thirty minutes of chatting, laughing, and drinking punch, Elaine asked the question that had been tugging at the back of her mind all night.
"Hey, Jaden, do you know where Syrus is?" She tried to keep her voice casual, since she had never told anyone about her crush on him.
Jaden furrowed his eyebrows a bit. "I dunno, Elaine. We met for lunch just a couple days ago, and he said he would be here." They both looked around the room to make sure they hadn't missed him.
Suddenly, the people around them went silent. "Huh? What's going on?" Jaden asked. Someone pointed to the glass wall facing the parking lot, so the two of them looked in that direction.
A gorgeous red Porsche had just pulled into the parking lot, and it had quite taken everyone's breath away. "Whose car is that?" Elaine heard someone ask, giving voice to the question that was in everyone's mind.
The mystery owner of the car parked in front of the building and stepped out. 'It can't be...' Elaine thought to herself.
But it was.
Syrus Truesdale pushed open the front door of the building to find everyone in the room staring at him. "Oh, hey guys," he said a little nervously, still not used to all the attention. "How's it going?"
Before Elaine could react, people (particularly girls) were flocking to Syrus with questions about his life and compliments on his car.
For a moment, she only stood and watched from afar as he talked amicably with the crowd that had gathered around him. It was definitely Syrus, the same guy she had fallen for at school, but certain things about him had definitely changed. For one, he was now dressed in a sharp black suit, and he had replaced his previous pair of glasses with a more mature pair. But the biggest change of all was that Syrus Truesdale... wasn't short.
Now, he wasn't tall either, exactly; he looked to be around Elaine's height of 5' 7", but his classmates no longer towered over him. Elaine was surprised by the change, but couldn't keep from smiling; Syrus had always wanted to be taller, and she was happy to see that he had gotten what he wanted.
Just as Elaine was starting to push through the crowd to get to Syrus, she noticed him glancing around the room like he was looking for something. When his eyes fell on her, his expression lit up. 'Was he looking for me?' she wondered. When Syrus waved at her and beckoned for her to join him, she sped up her pace and moved through people a little more roughly, as he started to walk towards her, as well.
"Elaine!" Syrus said happily when they had finally reached each other. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, which she quickly returned. "Syrus, I'm so happy to see you again," she said, looking into his eyes, and thinking how strange it was not to have to look down to do so anymore.
Elaine noticed a couple of the other girls giving her nasty looks, but she couldn't bring herself to care. They hadn't paid Syrus any attention back at school, and only cared about him now because he had clearly become rich.
"Hey," Syrus said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "You wanna go outside for a minute? It's kind of crowded in here."
Elaine smiled at him and nodded, happy for a chance to get out of the crowd. Within a few minutes, she and Syrus had found a door at the back of the building that led out onto a veranda.
Syrus shut the door behind them, effectively cutting off the sound of the crowd and leaving them in silence. "Elaine," Syrus began once they were alone, "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." He smile kindly at her.
She returned his smile when she answered. "I know, it's been way too long." He nodded in agreement.
"So, what's been up since I last saw you?" he asked.
Elaine proceeded to briefly tell Syrus about her job at Industrial Illusions and how she had been moving up the ranks at the company.
"What've you been up too?" she asked after she was done telling him about her life. She was eager to know how he had gotten to be so successful.
Syrus explained to her how, after a short time in the Pro League, he had decided to pursue a job working with the technological side of Duel Monsters. He had gotten a job with a well-known company that manufactured Duel Discs, and basically worked improving their quality so that they could produce better holograms during duels.
As Syrus was explaining all of this to her, she couldn't suppress a huge smile at how happy she was for him. He had found something he honestly loved to do in life, and had become a very handsome and successful man to boot.
"That's wonderful, Syrus." Elaine said when he had finished his story. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Thanks, Elaine." He paused for a moment, then continued. "Ya know, I've really missed you since we left school."
She couldn't help but blush a little at this comment, even though she knew it probably didn't mean anything. "I've missed you a lot too, Syrus," she answered honestly. "More than I've missed anyone else from Duel Academy."
"R-really?" he asked, blushing a little. She nodded in response, forcing herself to be brave and hold his gaze.
He got a nervous look on his face. "Well, I'm glad you said that, Elaine, because there's something I need to tell you."
"Sure, Syrus," she said. "What is it?"
He took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes. "Elaine, I love you. I've loved you ever since we were in school at Duel Academy, but I never told you because I didn't feel worthy of you. Everything I've done for the past five years has been for you, so that maybe one day I could be worth your time. Now that I've become a success instead of a nobody, I felt like it wouldn't be as ridiculous to tell you this, and I was hoping that you would give me a chance."
Elaine couldn't speak for a moment, shocked by what Syrus had said. He had never given her any sign at all before that he had feelings for her, which was why she had never mentioned it to him. When she saw the almost desperate look in his eyes, she came out of her thoughts to answer him.
"Syrus, I love you, too."
He looked stunned. "Y-you do?"
She smiled at him. "Of course I do. I've loved you ever since our sophomore year, Syrus. The only reason I never told you is because I didn't think you liked me."
"Oh," was all he could say. He looked ecstatic, but also like he couldn't believe what she was saying.
She took his silence as an opportunity to continue. "You've always been good enough for me, Syrus. You were never 'unworthy.' I love you for who you are, and your success has nothing to do with it."
He continued to look at her with a happy, yet incredulous, expression, so she decided to take the lead again. She smiled as she walked up to him and placed her arms around his neck. "Here, I'll prove it to you."
She brushed her lips against his lightly for a moment before kissing him with more pressure. He responded a moment later, wrapping his arms gently around her waist as he kissed her back.
She pulled back a moment later and looked across at him, absolutely giddy. "I've been wanting to do that for eight years, Syrus," she told him sincerely.
He nodded at her. "So have I." He was silent for only a moment before he continued, his arms still around her. "I can't believe how this worked out. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought you'd love me, too."
She smiled at him and then rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Well, I do."
"In that case," Syrus said, pulling back from her slightly. "I have something important to ask you."
She nodded for him to continue, but hadn't been prepared for what he did next.
Syrus got down on one knee in front of her, pulling a small black box out of his pocket. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes already starting to water.
"Elaine," Syrus began sincerely, "I know this is crazy, since we haven't seen each other in years, but I don't want another minute to go by without you by my side. You are the only girl I could ever see myself spending the rest of my life with. I want to be able to show you each and every day how much I love you. Elaine Rose Thompson, will you marry me?" He opened the box to reveal a gorgeous, princess-cut diamond ring.
Elaine gasped again when she saw the ring. "Of course I will, Syrus!" she practically squealed with glee. She contained herself just long enough for him to slip the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand, and then she practically tackled him in a hug.
He barely caught his balance in time to keep them both from hitting the ground as she attacked him with kisses all over his face. He couldn't help but laugh happily at her response and action, and when she finally pulled back enough to look into his eyes, he saw that she was crying.
"Don't cry," he said, wiping away her tears as she gave a little sniffle.
"I can't help it," she said. "I'm just so happy. I love you so much."
He smiled and pulled her back close to him for a gentler hug. "I love you, too."
After a moment, she pulled back to smile at him again. "Should we go tell everybody else?" she asked.
He nodded and smiled at her. "Of course. Jaden's gonna flip."
She laughed as he stood and picked her up in his arms. When he walked back in carrying her and they announced the good news, the were met with many congratulations, and the class reunion essentially turned into an engagement party.
For Elaine and Syrus, the night couldn't have been more perfect.