Today was not good. And this girl wasn't in a mood for disagreement.
She knew very well when the days were good or satisfactory or just plain frappucino (disgusting). Today was frappucino. With an overdose of whipped cream and one of those gross artificial cherries on top.
No, it wasn't her time of the month, and no, she hadn't gotten fired from her job (not that she would complain about the latter, but hey, she needed the money). It was much worse than that. Because, you see, she didn't have a boyfriend.
Oh couldn't you taste the angsty dilemma of a typical teenage girl.
Bah. She felt so predictable and vulnerable, and all those things they told you were perfectly normal in those chicken soup novels. Ridiculous. Because normal was boring. And boring was synonymous with a frapp. And the last thing she could be was normal.
What normal girl had to experience strange situations nearly everyday that she had to convince herself were real?
What normal girl knew an ancient spirit and was friends with him?
What normal girl had to battle for her life, and her friends, numerous times over the 17 years of her life?
What normal girl spent more time around guys then going shopping?
What normal girl had to buy gift cards to grocery stores for every occasion, because that's what said boys actually wanted?
What normal girl had almost no female friends?!
If this was a life application, she would check the box that said, "All apply."
This had all seemed to dawn upon her this one morning, waking up in her room instead of a tent in the middle of nowhere, or an abandoned warehouse, or in a flying airship, or tied to a chair. Pushing back the floral coverlet, she stretched and yawned, blinking blearily. This resulted in her nearly being blinded by bright light issuing from her uncurtained windows. She liked her room dark early in the day...stupid curtains. She climbed out of bed half-blinded, fumbled the curtains closed, then glanced at the silent Hello Kitty alarm clock perched on her bedside table. She frowned, rubbing her eyes. 8:30 am. Shouldn't she be…
"Crap!" she yelled suddenly, voice echoing around the apartment. "I'm late for work!"
This realization led to a series of events: running around in pajamas, ripping open closets in search of her uniform, realizing her hair really needed to be washed, and ending in her being sprawled face-flat on the floor from slipping on a sock.
Her nose hurt. Her face hurt. Hell, her brain hurt. Wait. Wasn't today…Sunday? And doesn't she have Sundays…off? She cursed into the carpet. Damn Burger World to the pits of their greasy frying pans. And their overcooked chicken and undercooked fries.
Lifting herself up from the carpet, she sat back on her knees. Her giant Hamtaro plushie seemed to mock her from its place on her bed. Growling, she hurled the sock at the toy. It missed and landed in the trashcan by her desk.
She just knew that she would look back on this day and laugh...not. Today was going to suck.
After a staredown with the giant Hamtaro (and throwing the poor toy in her closet), she had trudged to her bathroom and cleaned herself up (meaning splashed water on her face and run a toothbrush over her teeth), eaten a filling breakfast (meaning cold veggie pizza from the night before) and flopped onto her couch in the living room.
So what was there to do on this so far sucky day? No homework this weekend…and it had been a while since she had gone off on any "adventures" with the gang. That was just fine with her. Well maybe she could go shopping today…for duel monster cards. Yugi's birthday was coming up. And oh yeah, there was that spring cleaning she had been meaning to do. The apartment was a wreck.
Contemplating all this, she ran a hand through her short chocolate hair only to end up getting her fingers tangled in it. Struggling to free her hand, she wondered if she was either going to have to cut off the hair or her fingers.
ring ring.
Still struggling, she let the phone ring twice more before the caller ID spat out a familiar number. She froze, fingers and hair still hopelessly tangled, and turned slowly toward her right where the phone sat.
ring ring.
If he dared to say a word about duel monsters or the fate of the world or yet another competition (how many of the damn things were there anyway?), she just might throw the phone at the wall then lock herself in her house and eat coffee-flavored ice cream from the carton all day while watching a sappy romance movie. Hm. How many calories would she gain? Her dance instructor wouldn't like that…
ring ring.
Slowly, very slowly, she reached out toward the phone with her free hand, and picked it up off the receiver. She bit her lip, then spoke cautiously.
"H-hello?"
"Téa!"
Well someone was perky today. She could practically see him in her mind's eye, probably high on coffee. Wait…why was he even up so early? He usually woke up around 2 on the weekends…unless he was really sleepy… She swallowed before answering.
"Joey…how are you?"
"Bored! Are you doing anything today?"
He sounded awake. This was new. Téa, however, was sorely tempted to lie, hang up, then go back to sleep.
"No."
He paused.
"Are you ok, Téa? You sound kinda down…"
"I'm fine." Not.
"Wanna go out somewhere?"
Eh?
"Um, who else is coming?"
Shuffling on the other line.
"Nobody. They're all busy today."
"Really? Huh."
"Can I come over?"
"Wha-?" That was unexpected.
"Okay, I'll see you in an hour!"
click.
She could've sworn she heard giggling on the line before it was cut. She sighed and hung up. That was...weird.
Then again she was used to Joey being weird. He was a close friend after all, she knew him well enough to know that he prized hot dogs over good grades. And didn't she always say that friendship was the most important thing? Friendship. Ha. Friendship had gotten her running on wild goose chases and finding gorgeous enemies and all that. It had given her three great best friends, and many other friends, but…
Ok. She knew she wasn't half bad looking. Actually, she was sorta good-looking. She was a dancer too, so her figure was in top shape. She didn't find herself annoying, she only ranted on friendship when there was a need to, she was a good student and she could be nice and strong and caring and she could actually cook so...why didn't she have a boyfriend?
And why today of all days to realize this?
"Maybe he shouldn't come over," she muttered grumpily to nobody in particular. She glanced at the door. "I'm in a pretty bad mood today."
But maybe he could cheer her up. Or annoy her even further after cleaning out her fridge and making a "stealthy escape" while yelling some excuse. Hm. Exactly how many times had he done that?
"Oh well," she murmured. "A little company wouldn't hurt."
No, it wouldn't hurt. But it would be turn out to be extremely surprising.
He wasn't quite sure why he had invited himself over.
Usually when girls were upset they liked to be left alone right? That's what Serenity had told him anyway. But didn't they like it when people fawned over them? They always complained about lack of attention and how nobody tried to understand them and…yeah.
He had woken up early that day, surprising even himself, not being able to sleep the previous night. Something had been nagging him for days, but he was too, well yes, even he had to admit, scared to tell anyone. Not even Tristan or Yugi. Instead, he had gotten up from bed and phoned his little sister. When all else failed, only she could save him.
"Joey? What are you doing up so early?" came her sleepy voice on the other end of the phone.
"Serenity, this is important."
"Mhm."
"Are you listening?" he whined.
"Mhm."
She sounded half-asleep, but he quickly spilled out his story, fearful that he would lose the courage he had summed up.
Silence on the other line. Then Serenity spoke up, her tone serious.
"Are you positive?"
"Yeah." Unfortunately.
"Do you know if she knows about this?"
"No." Maybe.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."
"I do." I have no idea.
"Then call her."
"What?"
"Come on now, big brother, this is no time to get scared."
In the end, Serenity hadn't been very consoling, not telling him to come over and eat cookies and discuss this, but instead forcing him to make a three-way call with Téa. There had been an epic struggle (in which Serenity had threatened to tell Téa herself) which was obviously won by younger sister, and Joey found himself with the cordless at his ear listening to the phone ring.
"H-hello?"
He knew instantly that something was up. It was something about Téa that he had always found easy to tell, her emotions, something that the others tended to overlook. Pretending not to notice, he assumed the most cheerful tone of voice he could and asked her what she was doing for the day. She responded lethargically, saying she was free, and Joey wilted.
Why was she free today? No, no, say you're busy, you have to organize socks or color code food in the fridge, or all those normal things girls do-
But then again she wasn't normal. Damn it.
He proceeded to ask her if something was wrong. She said no. He didn't really believe her, but quickly decided that taking her out somewhere might cheer her up. But taking her out might rouse the topic he was dreading…hell, talking to her even longer might surface the issue…
"Um , who else is coming?"
Well bringing others was completely out of the question. He'd never live the experience.
"Nobody. They're all busy today." Liar.
"Really? Huh."
"Can I come over?" Idiot!
"Wha-?"
"Okay, I'll see you in an hour!" No!
He switched lines. Serenity was stifling giggles.
"That was suicide."
"I know," he whimpered.
"The last thing you wanted was to go over to her house. You could accidentally bring up the topic, and knowing you, she'd get the wrong idea, and then you'd die, since she sounded like she was in a bad mood and-"
"I know, I know," he whined. "Serenity, could you come with me? Please?"
"No."
"But-but you're her friend! And you're a girl! She'd listen to you! She'd take you seriously!"
There was yet another epic struggle which resulted in Serenity hanging up and a flustered blonde holding the phone, the dial tone buzzing in his ear.
Crap. I'm screwed.
This was far too important to face alone, but it seemed as though he would have to. Setting the phone back down, he made his way from the disorganized bedroom to the kitchen and grabbed a carton of milk.
He only had an hour. One hour before his day was fantastic or this day was his last. It all depended on his approach. He had to be cool and suave and give nothing away.
That was impossible for Joey Wheeler. He was going to die. What if she…she already knew? And had purposely lured him to her house, where she knew he would confess…
Impossible. He had to think positive. Téa was nice, she was one of his best friends, she would understand. The way she always seemed to know what he was thinking (it wasn't that hard since that was mostly duel monsters and food), how her eyes glinted when she was happy or how they turned down at the corners when she was thinking about…that was all she probably thought about nowadays... and how she would look, dressed in that outfit that plagued his dreams-
No. Stop. Focus.
He had an hour to try and rehearse how he would tell her his feelings. One hour. Though really even one lifetime wouldn't be enough.
He stood up and downed a huge gulp of milk. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he belched. He was ready for rehearsals. Pacing around the kitchen, he thought of how he would tell her.
"Okay…Téa, I have to tell you something important…you see, for a while now, I've noticed that you…"
No. Too obvious. She'd cut him off mid-sentence and then…would she embrace him and say she understood? Or maybe just sit and stare during the initial shock? And she was in a bad mood today…what if it was PMS? Then he'd be killed for sure...
Maybe he should get dressed first.
15 minutes were spent trying to find something to wear; another 15 were spent realizing that he was in need of a shower and then taking one, and 10 minutes were spent stuffing his face with much needed breakfast. 10 more minutes were spent organizing his room, trying to stall for time, and 5 minutes were spent sitting with his cell phone in hand, trying to decide whether or not to cancel.
5 minutes later he was knocking on her door after running to Starbucks, catching a cab and yelling that he didn't care about the damn speed limit, it was a question of life and death here. He had to tell her today. It was now or never.
He could hear footsteps approaching the door. He held his breath.
The door opened.
Téa looked terrible.
She glared at Joey, bracing herself for laughter and comments.
Wow Téa, you look like you just rolled out of bed without putting makeup on, or you look more like a dog than when I had to wear the suit, or some other crap. Go ahead Joey, I'm ready. Don't blame me if you're not alive in a few seconds.
Joey looked terrified.
He flinched under Téa's glare, quickly attempting to regain his composure.
Oh please, dear God in heaven, she didn't know what I was thinking, did she? How could she have found out? She's supposed to be happy and say that she knew it all along, and it was ok, and this is a bad dream.
"So."
"So." he laughed nervously.
Joey took in the bedraggled appearance, the dark circles under her eyes, greasy hair and the carton of mocha-flavored ice cream on her coffee table. The house was a mess. It was just as he feared. She had been expecting him.
"I'm here to cheer you up!"
Téa looked surprised. How had he known? Did I sound that bad over the phone?
"Oh, well, that's very nice of you, Joey. How did you know I-?"
Uh-oh, get away from the topic, get away from the topic...
"Oh, I know very well how the female mind works, I guessed that you were down and you needed a friend, and I brought you coffee, and you look like you need to relax, do you have any new movies?"
Téa blinked, trying to process everything he had just said.
"Uh…"
"Great!"
A while later, they were on the couch next to each other, watching a movie of Téa's choice (which was a very big mistake, Joey thought) in the dimmed living room with the two coffees and a huge bowl of popcorn on the table in front of them. Joey wasn't a very big fan of any movies with the actor Hideki Ryuga, but Téa's eyes were glued to the TV, her lips silently moving with Ryuga's costar onscreen, a raven-haired, busty actress, as she spoke her lines through tears.
"But I love you, and I always will, I don't care if my father doesn't agree, I'll leave everything behind, everything, just for you," the actress cried dramatically before leaping into Ryuga's arms.
There was sniffling on his left, and Joey noticed Téa wiping away tears with both hands. Sighing, he pulled a napkin out of a pocket from his jeans and handed it to Téa. She took it without question, stemming the flow of tears and blowing her nose loudly into it. Why girls actually liked movies that had the plot completely unraveled and about 5 full-blown make-out sessions within the first hour, Joey had no idea. He watched Téa in fascination as she shoved handfuls of popcorn into her mouth, eyes still transfixed by the movie. He personally would have picked a movie involving guns and aliens and near-death situations, but at least Téa looked like she was feeling better. And sufficiently distracted. When the movie was over, he'd turn to face her, confess and she'd say, I know.
About an hour and a half and two boxes of tissues later, Téa felt rejuvenated. The extremely sexy Ryuga was standing in the sunset, his close-up zooming in (to Téa's delight), as he quietly told the busty girl in his arms that he loved no other, that never in his lifetime would he meet someone as wonderful as-
"Téa."
Shut up. Not right now. This is where true love triumphs over uptight fathers and perfect dreamy boyfriends actually exist, and another passionate kiss and-
"Téa."
"Hm."
She wasn't really listening. Her blue eyes had nearly doubled in size as Ryuga pulled the girl closer, their lips meeting, eyes closed-
"Téa," he breathed, as they pulled away, their faces inches apart. "It's been a while since we've been friends, and I've finally found the courage to tell you…"
"What?" she whispered. He flashed a dazzling smile.
"I love you."
Her cheeks flushed.
"Oh, Joey…"
And the sun was setting and there was nothing else, just the two of them on that beach, professing their love through the passionate kisses they shared. And it was perfect, and the credits started rolling-
Téa blinked. Whoa. Back up. Where did that just come from?
She replayed that scene in her head. She replayed it again. And again. Why was she thinking about that sort of thing with…with Joey? The scene was stuck on rerun in her head. But it felt so…right. She stole a look at Joey. She flushed as she realized he was looking at her expectantly.
Distantly, Ryuga was saying something.
"Did you say something?" she asked Joey dazedly.
Great, she didn't hear me. Now I have to make eye contact.
But eye contact wasn't half bad. Téa looked different in the dim light. Now that the tired look had left her face, she looked…quite pretty. Joey had always known that his friend was good looking, and a nice person to top it off, but he had always suppressed the temptation to feel something more for her. However, that temptation had come up more often in his mind, and resisting it seemed to be a bit harder right now…
Her head was tilted to the side, large eyes questioning and dark hair framing her face. They seemed to have drawn closer while Ryuga and the busty actress were declaring their undying love.
Téa noticed the lack of space between them, and blushed, hoping Joey wouldn't notice in the darkness of the room.
She had wanted a boyfriend. Who said he couldn't be one of her best friends? There wasn't a rule against that sort of thing, right? Joey was a goof, but he had a heart of gold and he was rather…hot. She was getting more and more convinced by the second.
We're getting closer, Joey noted hazily, his eyes flickering to Téa's slightly parted lips. Damn. I have to tell her, this could be a trap…
"Téa."
"Hm?"
Her eyes were closing, she could feel his warm breath ghost over her cheek. She could make out a faint blush on his face as well, he was lowering his face to hers, and they were a breath away-
"Téa, I've been meaning to tell you for a while…"
He felt this way too? This isn't just a fantasy?
She had daydreamed about this sort of thing between them before…but never had she thought that it would happen for real.
"What is it?" she whispered.
Joey was panicking inside. He was too close, he didn't know if what was going to happen in the next few seconds was a good idea or not, if she felt the way he did right now, or if she was just delirious from all that ice cream and thought he was Ryuga, or PMS had fried her brain (Serenity had told him it was possible), or maybe he had fallen asleep. If he was dreaming then this was a good dream, because he didn't mind at all that he was going to- no. He couldn't be shaken from his original mission. He had to tell her, or he might forget while they were kissing, as he could hear loudly from the TV-
"I don't want to help you spring clean this year."
Her eyes snapped open.
"What?!"
That was loud, considering they still hadn't pulled away.
"It's true," said Joey, ears ringing. "Last year was, to be honest, a nightmare, Yugi nearly suffocated under all those instant ramen boxes, Tristan got lost in your closet, and Duke pulled a muscle in the bathroom trying to clean everything all up. And I…had to help you sort your underwear."
Oh yeah. That had been interesting.
She had teased him that he'd have to do it in the future anyway, and he had just reddened, picking up the clothing gingerly only when she asked him to hand it to her.
"That's…that's why you came over?"
"I knew that you'd be cleaning sometime soon, and I just didn't want to do that again, and the guys feel the same way, I even tried to get Serenity to come along, but she said no… I was afraid you'd get mad, and kill me for not wanting to help, but really, Téa, I'm just doing this to stay alive a while longer. I'm too young to die..."
Téa was quiet, eyes downcast and hidden by her bangs.
Any second now, she's going to pull out that house-cleaning outfit with that disgusting apron and make me wear it…oh it's just like in my nightmares…this is bad…
She was shaking. Joey feared it might be from anger, but it could also be tears, or-
Téa lifted her head and laughed. It was a nice, unexpected sound: loud, clear laughter and Téa leaned forward and threw her arms around Joey's neck. His back pressed into the sofa from Téa's weight and she hugged him, still laughing.
"Oh, Joey, you…you just…" she gasped before more peals of laughter racked her body.
Joey was quite surprised. No wrath, no tears, just…a very happy Téa.
"Oh my goodness, Joey, I haven't had such a good laugh in ages! Did you really think I'd force you to spring clean for me?" Joey's mouth opened and closed wordlessly. "Well of course not, silly. I don't expect you to remember, but you actually volunteered to help last time. I didn't want to send anyone to the emergency room this year."
"Really?"
She giggled.
"Really."
Joey was, frankly, flabbergasted. Here he was, dreading the day where he would be subject to ammonia, Windex and panties, when a beaming Téa was instead lying on his chest on her sofa. He much preferred the second.
It suddenly dawned on Téa the suggestive position they were in, and she quickly pushed herself off, blushing profusely. Joey straightened, and the two looked away embarrassedly. After a few moment's silence, she spoke up.
"You know, you should come over more." Joey looked up and she smiled shyly. "I'd like that."
He grinned back. "So would I."
The two frappucinos were still untouched on the table.
So! This is my first fanfiction and I hope you all will comment and give advice! Please no flaming if you are not a fan of this couple. Arigato! (by the way, if any of you noticed, Hideki Ryuga is the fictional actor from Death Note, lol)