______________________________________________ YOUTH OF THE NATION _______________________
_____________________________________________________________________ Rhapsody~* _________
______________________________________PROLOUGE
She hadn't wanted to do it.
The sight of that unfortunate girl's face, exaggeratedly shocked and terrifed at the same time, continuously haunted both her dreams and her everyday thoughts. She was sure that upon her first glimpse of his body, her face had been as ashen and sallow as hers had been. While her flawless face had returned to its usual glowing state, hers would remain that way for eternity.
It had been a mistake, they had said. A freak accident--could have happened to anybody, even her. Even her, the Homecoming Queen, the Prom Queen, the Queen Bee. Anybody, they had said, like she was some kind of child, too immature to look at the facts and glean that for herself. Truthfully, at the moment of realization, she had been exactly that. But since then, she had grown and matured. Nothing could shake her now, dammit, she was invincible!
She was Bulma Briefs, and that unfortuante girl had been her best friend.
She and Mariah hadn't always been as distant as they had been in the months leading up to Mariah's death. They had been childhood friends--the best of. Every weekend, every spare moment, they had spent together, strolling down Mariah's winding dirt road into the countryside, watching the brightly colored leaves as they floated down from the ancient maple trees lining the picturesque road. Occasionally they would shop like normal preteen girls, but it hardly mattered in the scheme of things because above all, they had each other. Until Yamcha.
Yamcha had been Bulma's link into the elusive 'in crowd'. He had been what every fourteen-year-old girl dreamed of--classically handsome in a preppy sort of way. Looking back on him now, she realized that he had put a little too much gel in his hair, and he had been completely fake. But around here, who wasn't?
Fake or not, both Bulma and Mariah had obsessed over him for weeks. The obsessing, for Bulma at least, had ended when Yamcha began to notice the fledging beauty and slowly but surely introduced her into his world of parties and expensive clothes, of pseudo superiority and make-out sessions in the janitor's closet between classes. Mariah, somehow, had gotten left behind.
It was plain to everybody that she had given up on Bulma. The girl who had once lived in Bulma's bolder shadow began to come into her own, to become a confident person. But the scar of Bulma's rejection never healed, and she began to grow troubled, to dress in dark colors and watch her best friend turned social butterfly and 'it' girl from afar, wallowing in her unhappy memories. Bulma, of course, was far too busy to notice, and Mariah's meltdown went unnoticed. Until Krillen's party, that is.
It had been the summer between their sophomore and junior year, and naturally Krillen had wanted to invite EVERYBODY to his infamous pool party. Including Mariah. To Bulma, the entire night was a blur of string bikinis, secret caresses in the pool, and various trips to the woods for a joint or two. Until the dare.
Truth or dare was the usual time-filler at their parties. The dares usually consisted of seven minutes in heaven and the like, but somehow this particular had gotten out of hand. Perhaps it was because of the enormous keg that had rolled its way to the poolside, but at any rate the game went on recklessly. After several playful yet harmless dares, the mother of them all came up first as a whisper, then gradually slid its way into the minds of the wasted teenagers.
"Ice..." was the word floating around. "Ice on the driveway..."
Mariah, not wanting to encounter Bulma, had carefully avoided the game, along with several other misfits and the occasional Goth or two. As soon as the group playing the ridiculous game broke up and people, she assumed, had started to leave, she decided to ditch the party in favor of spending yet another long night alone. She couldn't have possibly known that her former best friend had received the horrendous dare.
She got into her old, rusty car and sighed, disappointed over how the party had gone. She had gone hoping that maybe, just maybe, Bulma would open up her pretty blue eyes and turn things around. She had thought that maybe there was still some happiness left for her. What had she ever done do deserve such a fate? She angrily turned the keys in the ignition and began to back out of the driveway, unbeknowest to the peril awaiting her.
The ice had been distributed on the driveway thickly, and the most elite members of the 'in crowd' lied in wait behind some bushes, not knowing how serious a danger they had created until Mariah's car began to spin out of control.
Yamcha had been the first one to reach the totaled car. He pulled on the mangled door and stepped back at the sight of the twisted body inside. Bulma, thinking he was joking around, pushed her way through to get a looksee.
Goku was the only one quick enough to catch her as she collapsed into a dead faint, her eyes wide open and unseeing.
*********************************************************************************
(A/N): I have decided to post this to just give you all a taste of what's coming. I just couldn't hold it back any longer. The remainder of this story is forthcoming, to be posted after the completion of "Little Black Dress". Trust me, it will be soon, so no need to fret--the wait will not be nearly as long as you think. Please review and give me some thoughts on how you would like this story to go, maybe some constructive critism, or perhaps even a kind review... ;-) ... The rest of the story won't be so dark, I'm just trying to get some backround information in, and yes, this WILL be a B/V. This WILL be a high school fic also, so don't you worry about that! With that said, ja ne, and please review!
*********************************************************************************
_____________________________________________________________________ Rhapsody~* _________
______________________________________PROLOUGE
She hadn't wanted to do it.
The sight of that unfortunate girl's face, exaggeratedly shocked and terrifed at the same time, continuously haunted both her dreams and her everyday thoughts. She was sure that upon her first glimpse of his body, her face had been as ashen and sallow as hers had been. While her flawless face had returned to its usual glowing state, hers would remain that way for eternity.
It had been a mistake, they had said. A freak accident--could have happened to anybody, even her. Even her, the Homecoming Queen, the Prom Queen, the Queen Bee. Anybody, they had said, like she was some kind of child, too immature to look at the facts and glean that for herself. Truthfully, at the moment of realization, she had been exactly that. But since then, she had grown and matured. Nothing could shake her now, dammit, she was invincible!
She was Bulma Briefs, and that unfortuante girl had been her best friend.
She and Mariah hadn't always been as distant as they had been in the months leading up to Mariah's death. They had been childhood friends--the best of. Every weekend, every spare moment, they had spent together, strolling down Mariah's winding dirt road into the countryside, watching the brightly colored leaves as they floated down from the ancient maple trees lining the picturesque road. Occasionally they would shop like normal preteen girls, but it hardly mattered in the scheme of things because above all, they had each other. Until Yamcha.
Yamcha had been Bulma's link into the elusive 'in crowd'. He had been what every fourteen-year-old girl dreamed of--classically handsome in a preppy sort of way. Looking back on him now, she realized that he had put a little too much gel in his hair, and he had been completely fake. But around here, who wasn't?
Fake or not, both Bulma and Mariah had obsessed over him for weeks. The obsessing, for Bulma at least, had ended when Yamcha began to notice the fledging beauty and slowly but surely introduced her into his world of parties and expensive clothes, of pseudo superiority and make-out sessions in the janitor's closet between classes. Mariah, somehow, had gotten left behind.
It was plain to everybody that she had given up on Bulma. The girl who had once lived in Bulma's bolder shadow began to come into her own, to become a confident person. But the scar of Bulma's rejection never healed, and she began to grow troubled, to dress in dark colors and watch her best friend turned social butterfly and 'it' girl from afar, wallowing in her unhappy memories. Bulma, of course, was far too busy to notice, and Mariah's meltdown went unnoticed. Until Krillen's party, that is.
It had been the summer between their sophomore and junior year, and naturally Krillen had wanted to invite EVERYBODY to his infamous pool party. Including Mariah. To Bulma, the entire night was a blur of string bikinis, secret caresses in the pool, and various trips to the woods for a joint or two. Until the dare.
Truth or dare was the usual time-filler at their parties. The dares usually consisted of seven minutes in heaven and the like, but somehow this particular had gotten out of hand. Perhaps it was because of the enormous keg that had rolled its way to the poolside, but at any rate the game went on recklessly. After several playful yet harmless dares, the mother of them all came up first as a whisper, then gradually slid its way into the minds of the wasted teenagers.
"Ice..." was the word floating around. "Ice on the driveway..."
Mariah, not wanting to encounter Bulma, had carefully avoided the game, along with several other misfits and the occasional Goth or two. As soon as the group playing the ridiculous game broke up and people, she assumed, had started to leave, she decided to ditch the party in favor of spending yet another long night alone. She couldn't have possibly known that her former best friend had received the horrendous dare.
She got into her old, rusty car and sighed, disappointed over how the party had gone. She had gone hoping that maybe, just maybe, Bulma would open up her pretty blue eyes and turn things around. She had thought that maybe there was still some happiness left for her. What had she ever done do deserve such a fate? She angrily turned the keys in the ignition and began to back out of the driveway, unbeknowest to the peril awaiting her.
The ice had been distributed on the driveway thickly, and the most elite members of the 'in crowd' lied in wait behind some bushes, not knowing how serious a danger they had created until Mariah's car began to spin out of control.
Yamcha had been the first one to reach the totaled car. He pulled on the mangled door and stepped back at the sight of the twisted body inside. Bulma, thinking he was joking around, pushed her way through to get a looksee.
Goku was the only one quick enough to catch her as she collapsed into a dead faint, her eyes wide open and unseeing.
*********************************************************************************
(A/N): I have decided to post this to just give you all a taste of what's coming. I just couldn't hold it back any longer. The remainder of this story is forthcoming, to be posted after the completion of "Little Black Dress". Trust me, it will be soon, so no need to fret--the wait will not be nearly as long as you think. Please review and give me some thoughts on how you would like this story to go, maybe some constructive critism, or perhaps even a kind review... ;-) ... The rest of the story won't be so dark, I'm just trying to get some backround information in, and yes, this WILL be a B/V. This WILL be a high school fic also, so don't you worry about that! With that said, ja ne, and please review!
*********************************************************************************