Anyway, I gave everyone who was a part of it a different person, so the names will be unknown (alas I am in it as someone else). Please also be aware this is not based on the characteristics of the show: I needed to change the people's personality to fit my idea. I am simply using the YuGiOh people to write this.
Note: It's not called FlipSide for no good reason. The first part is basically what happened, and the second part isn't real. Of course, it's up to you to find the borderline.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot/idea. On with the story!
Flip/ediS
School's just started; after taking a long break not doing much, I guess school was invented to make sure kids don't die from boredom.
Instead they die from homework.
But we always have our friends to look forward to, right?
Yug's the same as always; my best bud since Duelist Kingdom. It seems he grew an inch this summer.
Tea's as perky as ever. Since we haven't gone on crazy adventures, she likes going to dance lessons every week.
Tristan and Duke are ALWAYS hanging with each other. They should get a "Best Buddies in the World" award.
But let's cut to the chase: Over the summer, me and Kaiba actually became friends.
I bet all of you are looking at me and saying, "You must be insane. Joey Wheeler would NEVER be friends with that spoiled rich-boy."
I even told that to myself in the mirror.
Am I insane?
Most people would say, yes, I am.
Tristan says I should back out of it. He hates his guts and curses the land he walks on.
It made it easier for Yugi and Tea to be friends with him, but they don't actually TALK with him. He's just there, pretty much following our little group cuz I'm in it.
So, beside his brother, I'm the only friend he's got.
Not too wierd, right?
He does sometimes talk about things I would never know: how the damn stock market never stays in one direction, the fact that one of his supercomputers overheated. I mean, seriously, does a supercomputer have superpowers or what?
He'll just talk to me, and I wouldn't really care. I would nod at some instances, but he seems pretty happy when he's yapping away about this or the other.
Well, after today, I don't know what to call him.
Right now, I'm headed back home, and I'm as mad as hell, kicking every rock I see out in the street. Hah! Got that one across the road.
Did summer make all these bad things happen?
First of all, our homeroom teacher for this year, who taught us English last year, left. Man, I was looking forward to it. She always showed movies and let us play games when we weren't knee-deep in homework. But instead, we got a new person. The principal stayed for a week and some days to watch our progress and not too long ago, left us alone with Mrs. Cronshile.
Four words: All hell broke loose.
And with it, torture.
Our P.E. teacher, the same Mr. Klondike we've had forever, is destroying us.
Okay, so maybe the class deserved it. We are quite the talkers, but it makes no sense to make us run in 105 degree weather; not a single one of those days had a cloud to give us a crumb of shade.
And trust me, we aren't the best runners in the world.
He'd make us run from where we lined up to the fence and back, timing us. If we didn't make it, we'd have to do it again. My goodness, what's wrong with him?
Tristan and Kaiba seem to always be at the back, but at reasonable paces. And I don't even know how Yugi runs so fast with those short legs. It must be all those pyramid work-outs we've had the past few years.
But today was the worst.
Kaiba wouldn't run.
I swear, the first few ones were fine, but he just broke down around number six. We had to do 20 today.
His face was redder than the times I used to get on his nerves, and that's saying something. The coach would tell him to run and he would shout back, "No! You can't make me!"
I guess it's his way of 'sticking it to the man'.
And the less HE would run, the more WE did.
It's when I realized I should've never been friends with him.
"Run faster, you dweeb!" Mai would shout at him. Mai and Seto hated each other, and Kaiba almost punched her, but she moved pretty fast even with all the running we've done!
"And you wonder why I was never friends with him," Tristan told me. It was more of an 'I told you so', but he's right.
What the hell was I thinking?
He has the worst attitude problem in the world!
He thinks he's all that, but he can't even run like the rest of us!
Who does he think he is, some mutli-millionaire spoiled brat?
Well, he's still just a kid anyway! Who cares if he's older? He'll never change, no matter what I do!
If Mokuba was watching, I bet not even HE would want to talk to Kaiba for a month or two.
It may have just been in P.E., but your friends are judged by their character when they aren't with you, and his ain't no pretty rose in bloom.
Finnaly, I thought I'd never get home.
"Hi, Joey!"
"Hey, Serenity."
I slammed the door and instantly, she knew something was wrong.
"What happened at school?"
"Damned Kaiba was being an ass today," I said frankly. I couldn't lie to her, she would know if I did.
"Aren't you friends?"
"Not for long."
She sighed deeply. "Have you told him you don't wanna be his friend anymore? Or is that the problem? You must have told him and he got all mad at you."
"Actually, I haven't told him and he thinks we're still friends." But how am I suposed to tell him, I wanted to say. But I think Serenity knows that already.
"Well, it's up to you to tell him or not," she said. "I have to go somewhere, alright?"
So she left, and now I alone, mulling about what's happened today.
How will I tell him?
Maybe I shouldn't.
But I have to.
This would be a lot easier if someone would help me!
I know. Move out of the country, shave my head, give myself a new name, and get married. Okay, maybe not.
But I'm gonna have to do something.
The next thing I remember was waking up on the couch. I'm late for school!
I ran to school today, and Yugi obviously was late too, since we caught each other on the way. We saw Tea and Tristan waiting for us.
"Hey, sorry guys, we woke up late," Yugi explained.
"What, at each other's house?" Tea joked.
"Very funny," I replied sarcastically.
And then, the worst thing in the world happened.
"Ass at four o'clock," Tristan said.
It was Kaiba right behind me.
"Hey, Joey!"
I pretended to not hear him.
"Hey, man!"
Still, I kept my head low.
"JOEY!"
I had to look. I gave him the blankest expression I could.
"You will never believe what I got yeserday!"
"Sorry." Here it comes.
"About what?"
"I...I don't think we can be friends anymore."
"What? Why?"
"After yesterday..." Is this the right thing? "I don't think I can be friends with someone that has a bad attitude, and it might get in our friendship."
He just looked at me, completely shocked.
The only thing that saved me was that the teacher came in and we had to sit down.
After that, I didn't talk to him. Turns out, Mrs. Cronshile was 'replaced' by a new teacher for some reason. The problems are never gonna end.
Good thing we didn't have P.E. today.
I didn't even see Kaiba at lunch, not even after school.
So here I am again, walking back home. Serenity wasn't here.
The best thing I thought of doing was my homework and falling asleep on that couch.
Walking back to school in the morning, things looked desolate.
Everyone was murmering about something.
And...Mokuba's here? I was pretty sure he isn't in high school yet.
Mokuba caught sight of me as I walked by him. He was talking to Yugi.
"I know you didn't like him, Joey," Mokuba said, "But it means so much you came."
"What? What happened?"
Mokuba looked away and whispered, "Seto's in the hospital."
"What?"
"He...he got in an accident. A...car hit him. The driver was drunk."
No! How could that happen? I tell him I'm not friends anymore, and he lands in the hospital?
"Serves him right," Tristan said after Mokuba left. "That's what he gets." He walked away.
I had to get to the hospital!
I gave my bookbag to Yugi; he almost collapsed. I had to get there fast!
It took me a few minutes. I guess P.E. really has paid off.
"Hey!" I shouted at the woman at the counter.
She was startled but answered me. "Yes?"
"I need to see Seto Kaiba!"
She pressed a button on her headphone and spoke into it. "Doctor? A visitor."
I was by the man I assumed was the doctor to a door.
669.
Kaiba's room.
The doctor finally said something. "Seto...died this morning."
I couldn't believe him. I CAN'T.
The doctor continued. "We don't know why. He was on life preserve, but it seemed as if he didn't care if he died. He had no will to live and he just...seemed to have given up on himself."
I ran inside and there he was. Unmoving.
Pale. Unbreathing.
...Dead.
When I got back to school, no one seemed to notice. First time for everything, I guess.
Well, someone did.
First period was P.E. with Klondike bar. People are running so much, they probaly lost sense of time.
But Tristan caught me after, thinking I was running too since I was panting to death...Bad choice of words.
"Yo, buddy, what's up? Brutal class, huh?"
"Uh, yeah. Totally."
The rest of the guys caught up. Tea had different classes, and I don't remember where she was. Right now, there is way too much on my mind.
When we were going to our next class, I blurted, "What would you say if Kaiba died?" My gosh. I'm insane.
Tristan was first to answer. "I wouldn't know. I damn the man to hell, but it isn't as if I want him to die or anything."
"Yeah," Yugi agreed. "He was just never really...as nice as he should have been."
"Why do you bring that up?" Duke asked.
"No, nothing, nothing." What if they found out?
Then Tristan asked the million dollar question. "Well, speaking of him, what would you say if the spoiled brat died?"
...What am I supposed to say about someone who used to my friend? I mean, the last thing I said to the guy was 'I don't think we can be friends anymore'! If I had never had said that, maybe he wouldn't be in this position! This is so screwed up!
I guess this is how it's like to be on the flipside of the story. If you recall, I said most kids die from boredom and homework.
But Seto died from having no friends.
And that's my story.