Title: The Game of Life
Author: Tigergirl
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I claim ownership of the original character, Joel.
Summary: Everyone is busy this summer, leaving Joey all to his lonesome. That is until a cousin comes to town and turns his life upside down. It becomes even worse when the cousin befriends a younger sibling of a certain CEO and rival. Life will never be the same.
WARNING: THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING A YU-GI-OH FAN FIC. THE AMOUNT OF FEEDBACK I GET AND THE QUALITY OF SAID FEEDBACK WILL DETERMINE IF I CONTINUE.
CHAPTER ONE
Joey groaned for about the hundredth time in the last five minutes. Summer had just started so he should be overjoyed that he was free from school. Unfortunately, all of his friends were busy for most of the summer. Even Tristan was busy as Hell with a full-time summer job. This would be another summer where he would not be working which gave him almost nothing to do.
The blonde duelist entered the park where he found a bench to plop down on. Rather than sitting down, Joey chose to just lay out on it. He stared up at the sky watching the clouds pass by.
"This summer is gonna suck. Even Yugi is gonna be gone for most of the summer," Joey groaned.
He was still trying to figure out what he was going to do for two months off of school. He could volunteer down at the animal shelter again, but that would get old after two weeks. Joey closed his eyes with a groan.
He heard footsteps walking along the sidewalk and fully expected them to keep on walking. However, he was surprised when the footsteps got louder as they approached the bench he was on. Suddenly, he felt someone standing over him. He let out a rough grunt.
"Move along, won't ya?" Joey growled.
"Your manners suck, Joey," stated a familiar voice.
Joey's eyes bolted open and his gaze flew up to the person standing next to him. The teenager standing there was a short female with short blonde hair and bright green eyes. She wore an old pair of dark blue jeans torn at the knees, a white shirt streaked with several lines of color, and a dark green military jacket. There was a pair of dog tags hanging low around her neck.
Joey was on his feet in a flash and pulled the younger girl into his arms.
"Cousin Joel!" Joey exclaimed, lifting the lithe body up off the ground in a tight hug.
"Joey…can't…breathe!" the girl gasped.
Joey quickly placed her back down and let go. He reached up and ruffled the other teen's hair which earned him a slap to his hand.
"Whatcha doin' here, Joel?" Joey asked, a big grin plastered on his face.
Joel shook her head with a laugh.
"Looking for you, Joey. You know this is the fifth place I've looked. I was about ready to go back to home base and say screw this," Joel replied.
Joey let out a laugh.
"I mean whatcha doin' here in Domino. Shouldn't you be in the good ol' US of A?" Joey asked.
Joel shook her head again with a big grin on her face.
"Dude, I'm working here for the summer!" Joel exclaimed.
It might have been a mistake to tell her taller and much stronger cousin that. He swept her off her feet again and swung her around before finally placing her back down.
"That's awesome, cuz! Where are ya gonna be stayin'?" Joey asked.
"The condo, duh. And you're staying with me," she replied.
"Huh?"
Joel motioned for him to follow her as she began walking away. Joey jogged to catch up so he could walk beside her. If anyone were to spot them, they would have thought the two were twins.
"After I grabbed my stuff and the rental car from the airport, I went straight to your place. I made sure it was cool with Uncle J first. He said everything is good. So your stuff is packed and in the trunk," Joel explained, stopping by a car parked on the side of the street.
Joey let out a low whistle when he got a good look at the car. It was a gorgeous, light green Toyota Prius C with a sleek body and four doors. Joel chuckled as she jogged around to the driver side.
"Like it?"
"It may be a chick car, but Hell yes!"
Shooting the male a look, Joel unlocked the doors and the two teens clambered in. Joel put on her seatbelt, started up the car, and ripped out into traffic. Joey barely had time to put on his seatbelt. He lurched forward to grasp the steering wheel and jerk it so Joel was forced into the other lane.
"Left side of the road, left side of the road, left side of the road!" Joey quickly exclaimed.
Joel rolled her eyes as she pried her cousin's hand off the steering wheel.
"I know. By the love of your Red Eyes, I know which side of the road to drive on," Joel said, exasperated.
"Then why da Hell did ya start in da wrong lane for?!" Joey exclaimed.
Joel turned her head away from the road to look at her cousin.
"Maybe I was checking to see if you were awake!" Joel exclaimed back.
"Eyes on the road!" Joey shouted.
He grasped the bar above him and prayed to every god he could think of. He knew his cousin had been taught by her father and had out been driving countless amounts of time, but he also knew she had only had her license for a month now.
I can't remember why I was bummed about a boring summer, Joey thought.
Joey briefly wondered if he would survive a tuck and roll if he dove out of the car. Glancing at the speedometer on the dashboard, he came to the conclusion that the broken bones wouldn't be worth it.
"So what's up, cousin? You have a good school year?" Joel asked, breaking Joey out of his thoughts.
"U-uh…It was…uh…o-okay, I guess. School was rough, but I got to duel a lot with Yugi," Joey said, his grip starting to loosen on the bar.
Joel rolled her eyes.
"Good old cousin Joey. Hey, what about that jerk you been mentioning in your letters?" Joel asked, turning the wheel to head down another street.
Joey groaned. Did she really have to remind him of the brunette? It was bad enough the other male had been in most of his classes and sat near him in all of them.
"Ya know I really don't wanna talk about dat jerk Kaiba."
THUD! SCREECH! Joey was jerked forward in his seat and was thankful for the seatbelt which yanked him back into it. Joel knew she could have made the light, but her cousin's response had been quite the surprise. She shifted her head to the side to stare at her cousin.
"Kaiba? THE Kaiba? Seto Kaiba? Duel Monsters Kaiba with the Blue Eyes White Dragons?" Joel asked.
With his heart still pounding rapidly, he could only nod his head weakly at her. Joel threw her head back and laughed. She laughed until there were tears coming to her eyes.
"Oh, cousin! Boy, you sure know how to pick 'em," Joel said, reaching up to wipe a tear from her eye.
Joey waited until his heartbeat had slowed down to give her a response.
"The jerk says I win duels by luck," he grumbled low.
Joel sighed. Would her cousin never learn?
"Don't let him get to you, Joey," Joel said, tapping her finger impatiently on the steering wheel.
Joey groaned. "Easier said den done."
The light went green and the teens were off again. As the teenage girl drove them through town, Joey relaxed and started to speak more.
"So your job has ya workin' here dis summer? Where at?" Joey asked.
"All over town! There are a few select places that the company wants me to do some masterpieces with. They got it contracted with the City for me to have free reign on what I want to do at each location. I also convinced the company to pay you to work with me for any hours you help me out with the projects," Joel explained.
She went swerving over into the other lane, nearly cutting off another car, when Joey leaped across the seat to hug her.
"Joey!"
"Sorry!"
"The Hell, you are!"
In no time at all, they were pulling up to a security gate where Joel reached up to punch in a code. The box beeped and the gate started opening. Joel drove through the gate and pulled up to a building within the complex. She parked and cut the engine.
Joey unbuckled his seat belt and followed his cousin into the building. They wandered over to an elevator where Joel smacked the top button. The doors slid shut. As they waited, Joey heard a squealing sound.
He tapped his cousin on the shoulder and waited until she was looking at him to point at his ear. Joel frowned before bringing her hand up. She moved her long hair behind her ears to reveal something in her ear. It was a deep green and had a small, clear tube that extended from it and disappeared behind her ear.
She pushed on the green object, but the squealing didn't stop. She sighed in frustration before reaching behind her ear to reveal a hearing aid. Joel pulled the deep green earmold out of her ear carefully. She detached the battery door at the bottom of the hearing aid and removed the battery.
Without saying a word, Joel dropped the tiny battery into the chest pocket of Joey's green jacket. Then she closed the battery door and slipped the hearing aid into her jeans pocket. Joey brought his hands up and started making big, defined gestures with his hands.
[[[Italics – sign only, Bold & Italics – sign and speech]]]
"What's wrong?" Joey asked.
Without speaking, Joel brought her hands up and spoke back to him.
"That hearing aid has been giving me trouble. I'm concerned it's broken. I need to send it out to be looked at," Joel explained.
Joey smiled big.
"That means I'll have to sign more with you," Joey pointed out.
Joel formed a fist with her right hand and bobbed it up and down like a head nodding. Joey let out a whoop and pulled his cousin to him with an arm around her shoulders. Joel laughed as her older cousin gave her a noogie. She pushed him off and signed, but with her voice on.
"What's up?" Joel asked.
Like his cousin, Joey turned his voice back on, too.
"I never get to practice except for when I'm talking to you," he answered.
"What? No deaf students at your school?"
Joey held up the thumb, index finger and middle finger on his right hand. He brought them together like a bird's mouth closing. Joel frowned again. The elevator beeped loudly, causing Joey to startle. Joel laughed and dodged a punch in the arm from the male as the elevator doors opened.
Joel led him to a door which she unlocked with a small, gold-colored key. As he stepped into the entrance passage, Joey realized that it had been a while since Joel's last visit. To his immediate left was the guest bedroom and bathroom.
As he ventured further into the large space, he found the dining room to his right, the kitchen to the left, and a large living room space to his diagonal right. From where he stood, he could see the other bedroom where he knew another bathroom and the master (king) bedroom lay. There was a balcony outside the living room and a longer one that stretched from the first bedroom to the second.
The condo was designed modestly with light, earth tone colors. The walls were decorated with familiar paintings and photographs. Joel turned around in the middle of the condo to repeat her question.
"Nah. We don't have any deaf students," Joey answered.
"That's not normal!" Joel exclaimed.
Joey shrugged in response as he pulled the hearing aid battery out and placed it on the kitchen bar counter. Joel did the same with her hearing aid and took out the one in her other ear as well.
"I'm thinking we call for pizza and then chat about some ideas for what to paint at each spot," Joel suggested.
Joey was all for that idea and flashed a thumbs up to his cousin.
"Good. Phone is over there. You order the pizza while I go back down and start bringing up the stuff."
Joey agreed as he went in search of the phone while Joel headed for the front door. He knew just what type of pizza he was going to order.
"No green peppers, Joey!"
And then again maybe not. One thing was for sure. His summer was no longer going to be boring.
END OF CHAPTER ONE
Note: This link is what I have envisioned the condo looking like:
/floor_
Author's Note: Oookay! So seeing as this is my first time attempting to write a Yu-Gi-Oh fan fic I am going to need some feedback. The biggest feedback I want is about Joel's name. I think the spelling may be confusing because it's one letter difference from Joey. I can change the spelling if that is confusing, but I plan to keep the name Joel. Some other spellings I've thought of are Jol, Joelle, Joell, etc. Let me know, people!
