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Jemmea

I clutched the strap of my bag as I nervously approached the school. It was the first day of the new semester, but that was not why I was nervous. It was the first day that I would have to face the school with my terrible secret exposed, hopefully still minimally. It was also the first day that I would see or speak to Seto since I had spent the night. And I would see him first.

A few classes lasted throughout the year, like science and math, but others, like English, were only semester classes, so my schedule had been slightly altered. Instead of starting the day with Mrs. Dobson I now had a lab for my science class. I would start today with two full periods of Seto.

I still knew too little about him to know how he felt about me. I dared not read into it in case it was a one, or rather now, two-time thing. But I had never had feelings for anyone before or done anything like this. And I didn't know what to do. For now, all I could do was feel it out and not let my emotions get the best of me.

I pushed through those damned doors again and headed for the science wing. Our room had changed to a lab room since the class was no longer simply a lecture. I had arrived early today in an attempt to avoid more people, and my strategy seemed to have worked as I walked through the empty halls.

I found the lab room. Though no other students were there, I knew that I was in the right place as the teacher brushed his chalk along the board. I tried to go unnoticed, but he heard the click of my heels and turned to look.

"Miss Lee," he greeted to my relief, for though I would have preferred he not say anything at all, he at least addressed me the same. "How was your break?" he asked just as I reached my desired seat. In comparison to the room before, this would have been Seto's seat, all the way up front but off in the corner. Since I could claim being pushed aside more, I went for it. I didn't think he would mind, it seemed less important to him than it did to me.

I set my bag down next to the counter-desk with stools for two. "It was good," I chose, seeing the standard answer as the safest. Not that I would have cared to discuss my break anyway.

As I said this he was setting the chalk down and brushing a white streak over his pant leg. He turned to his counter-desk for modeling and displays, and seemingly also where he kept his papers. "You left a couple of days early and owe me a test." He began to flip through the sheets, looking up to me. "Are you up to it now? You won't have as much time as the rest of the class, but I'm guessing you won't need it should you choose to do it now. Otherwise, we'll decide on a make-up date."

I shrugged. "Now is fine," I answered gingerly.

"Excellent," he responded, finding the test and coming to drop it on my desk. He turned around swiftly to return to his board and I dug a pencil out from my bag.

Name: Jemmea Lee , I reinforced before working through the pages.

I finished about ten minutes before the bell, quietly going to drop it on his pile of papers. Then I simply went with my original plan, pulling out my book while I waited for class to start.

Once the bell rang, the others began to come in. One of the first was a boy who sat in the same seat as me at the other front counter-desk. He set an arm on the counter and leaned forward, and I could feel him looking at me. It was only made that much worse when I heard him say, "Hey, you're still here." My eyes shot up at this, but I did not turn or acknowledge him.

Perhaps thinking I had not heard him, he tried again: "Hey, do you want a new lab partner? I'm much nicer than Kaiba. We kinda feel bad that you got stuck with him. Besides, you're kinda cute-"

My stress levels rose with his words. Just as I started to try to figure out what to do about this, I heard a heavy thud next to me. The shiny silver in my peripheral made me brave enough to look.

As I suspected, it was Seto.

He had set his briefcase down more forcefully than was necessary, and he set it in a way that blocked me from view of this boy as much as it could. I turned my head slightly to look at Seto. His cold eyes were on the boy, who eased back with this notion. Again, I felt safe.

Having successfully gotten the boy to back off, Seto flipped his briefcase to rest on its side as he sat down. He had told me back at the castle that he wanted me as a lab partner, I didn't let myself think anything more of this.

Not wanting to make anything more of this, I turned back to my book as if nothing had happened. Once the second bell rang, I stooped down to trade my literature for my notebook.

Class resumed as though nothing had happened. It wasn't until the bell finally rang that Seto said something to me, only to disguise it in the rustle of the class.

"Are you free tonight?" he asked.

I was taken aback and didn't answer.

He must have been pressed for time because he added, "Never mind, I'll ask you at lunch."


Seto's comment made my third-period math class almost unbearable as I watched the minutes creep by. I couldn't stop thinking about what he might want to ask me. Did he want to spend time with me? I mean, what else could it be? After some time of worrying, the bell rang and I was quick to collect my things.

When I opened the big double doors, I saw that he had beaten me. He was one of few in the cafeteria. He sat, as always, working away. He faced the wall of windows, mostly providing a view of shrubbery, but allowing several rays of sunlight to sneak through and fall upon him.

I felt a fluttering in my stomach when I saw him. This feeling, this must be what they mean by butterflies. I had read of butterflies before, but it wasn't until that moment that I understood what it meant.

I tried to sit quietly, still observing him. I knew he would say something to me when he was ready, and I didn't want to interrupt his work. So I took out my book, and I read.

After a few minutes, without acknowledging me otherwise, he said, "I want you to come by my office tonight at 8:30." It was stern. Before he had asked me if I was free, now it had changed to more of a demand.

"Yeah, I can do that," I replied, looking to him. He was so intent on his work, and I watched him, feeling unnoticed. Then briefly, I saw his eyes flash over to me. When he saw I was looking, they dashed back to the screen, seeming to deny they had ever left.


Kaiba

The new semester was annoying with classes switching and starting, and I more than expected this next class to be as well. It was a literature class, the most irritating kind of all because of all the frivolous things I had to read and respond to. It was a waste of my time.

I entered the standard classroom consisting of rows of desks and walls that were haphazardly covered. The lights were off, but the windows provided more than enough light. And there she was again. She sat in the back corner of the classroom, immersed in her book as usual. The sunlight streamed over her, brightening her features. I paused, not expecting to see her again, then caught myself and continued as if nothing had happened.

I did continue to the back, though and had a moment where I considered where I wanted to sit. My first thought was next to her, as I could tolerate her and liked looking at her. Besides, sometimes teachers thought it was a good idea to prompt partner discussions, and I would prefer her. At the same time, she was a distraction. I considered separating us by a seat, but that gave another the opportunity to get between us. I didn't like that. I remembered that boy from this morning, trying to steal her. I caught myself at this thought. I knew I was tormented on what I wanted from her but knew for certain that I didn't want anyone else to have her. Just the idea of her finding preference to someone aside from me made my stomach churn.

My feelings for her had only grown since I met her and it tormented me. I slept too well that night. It had been just over a week since then, and I had spent several nights lying awake, haunted by how much I liked it, missing it, and furiously trying to find a way to make it go away. I could come up with none that satisfied me and knew there were only more of those nights to come. Burying myself in Battle City preparations helped, but when I was alone in bed I couldn't escape it. Until I could rid myself of these feelings for her, I couldn't let her fall into anyone else's hands. Based on my prior thoughts I clearly was getting possessive of her. Combining that with my jealous and competitive nature would only make me more obsessive and probably compulsive if she developed a fondness or even tolerance for someone else.

She didn't notice as I took my seat beside her, and that was fine. I didn't need her to. I had not chosen this seat because I wanted to interact with her, but rather to keep her nearby.

The bell rang and the rustle began to settle. Jem lingered in her book just a moment, no doubt racing to the end of a line. Then she marked it and closed it, twisting down familiarly to dig out her notebook and stow away her novel. I kept her in my peripheral, as usual. When she was down reaching into her bag, she noticed my silver briefcase and lifted her head just a bit more. Knowing her, she had done her best to ignore whoever had come to sit next to her, but now noticed an identifying factor in the mess of uniforms.

Nothing was made of it, though, and she sat up. From there, I narrowed my focus to my most important tasks. I would see her later.


So onwards, here's what's going to happen. I will note at the end where I am done updating. Everything after that will be old.

Enjoy and please give feedback, I love it!