BREATHE
It has been said that loneliness is but a state of mind. You can be surrounded by many people, and still feel totally alone.For Bulma that is just such the situation, for as many friends as she has around her at school, at home is the complete opposite.
Her parents of course are the founders of Capsule Corp. They spend a lot of time travailing around the world. Even though they are very famous people they still insist that their teen daughter be aloud to live as normally as possible.
Bulma is and has every thing a girl could possible need or want or does she.
She is smart, beautiful, rich and to this point the most popular girl in school; however, she has just moved to a new city and a new school and she is about to receive a very humbling lesson from the most unlikely person. Herself.
The Saturday before school starts:
8:00pm the local swimming pool
Bulma and her friends Chi Chi and Eighteen were about to head to the showers when then ran into an old rival of Bulma's from an old school, Kristy. Some unpleasant words were exchanged and they continued on to the showers, little did any of them know that Kristy and her group had just put a strong irremovable dye in Bulma's conditioner bottle.
That night Bulma got home and was in tears, her once beautiful Azure blue hair was now a very disgusting shade of dull gray/blue/green not at all what it should be. However that was not the only change, the dye also left patches of gray/brown all over her body. And to top it all off they smashed her custom made contact lenses that would take two months to replace considering they had to be made and shipped from a foreign country, so she had to where a pair of thick black frame glasses.
Bulma spent all of Sunday with all the cosmatisions and hair specialists to correct the problems; however, in the end no change could be made. She was told that she had to wait for the natural oils in her skin to remove the patches and let her hair grow out it should take about two months in all.
So here we find her sitting on her bed in tears with her two friends by her side consoling her.
"Bulma it's not that bad you will be back to normal in two months in time for Christmas Holidays and every thing will be ok again then we can get our revenge." Said Eighteen to her long time friend. "And besides no one knows you at school but us and we will make sure that you are all right." added Chi Chi. "You guys don't get it, I have a reputation as the daughter of Dr. Briefs of C.C. that I must uphold at all costs, if this was to get out to the papers my fathers company reputation would be a mockery and so would I." Stated Bulma. "OH! What am I supposed to do? I can't go to school looking like this, I'll be tormented to no end, treated like a geek, I am the most famous girl in the entire world and right now I look like something my dad's cat brought up!" Said Bulma exasperately. "Listen Aoi, we will find some way of keeping this under raps, please don't cry anymore." Said Chi Chi. "Aoi!" Bulma cried excitedly, "That's It!" she continued. "What's it, Bulma you're making no se... OH Of Course," said Eighteen, "a new name, a new identity, no one has to know your real name." "That's right, wow what a great idea, now to just make the changes." Said Chi Chi."I will hack into the school records and change the student files, instead of Bulma Briefs coming she will be delayed by two months and instead another student named Aoi Mau will be attending school for a short amount of time." Said Bulma with a sly grin. "I will be Chi Chi's cousin, and since you two always call me Aoi anyway you won't slip up." finished Bulma.
And so the plans were under way and things were looking up, however things don't always work out the way they are planed and unexpected formalities always find a way to crash even the most perfect of schemes.
Monday morning 8:00 a.m. at school:
Bulma (Aoi), ChiChi & Eighteen walked into their first class together after retrieving Bulma's schedule from the Principal's office. They all found a seat together and sat down to wait for the class to begin.
Most of the days classes went on without incident, that is until gym period.
The girls had gym in the gymnasium and therefore were to ware gym shorts and tank top in navy blue color. Well as I mentioned before the dye left patches of brownish gray that made Bulma look like she had some sort of fungus problem, and as always kids are not the most caring of others, especially those that look different.
"HEY AOI OR SHOULD I CALL YOU SPOT, HERE SPOT, COME HERE GIRL! HA HA HA HA." shouted the other girls in the gym.
"Hey you know her name is not Spot, it's Fungi (Bengie)." said one of the guys from the other side. And so for weeks it went like this but not just in gym, but at lunch, in the halls, after school and even when she and her friends went out to a dance club.
However the worst of it started a few days before the end of the month. Mean tricks pulled by none other than the most popular guy in school (cough 'hunk' cough) Vageta Ouji began.
Vageta decided that pulling mean jokes on the most unpopular girl in school is just too tempting to pass up. The first joke to pull was to silly string the contents of her locker. The next would be to put some black ink on the inside of the handle of her locker door that takes about a week to wash off. However the intensity of the cruelty goes up from there. While Bulma is sitting at the lunch table with Eighteen & ChiChi Vageta and his girl Kristy walk by and pour a cup of soda on her new white T-shirt from Marco Pollo. As she was running out of the lunch room door to the lady's room, she came around the corner and slipped on the well-placed strip of liquid soap and went sliding into a trash bin. The entire hall audience was laughing at her as she continued to slip to the washroom. For all the next week it was nothing but yelling matches, name calling, glaring and dirty looks.
Finally it was Friday two weeks from Christmas vacation. ChiChi, Goku, Eighteen, Krillen & Bulma were all heading out to a new club called 'Club Onyx' to have some fun and forget the stress of school.
They all arrived at 9:00 pm and got a drink, then Goku & ChiChi and Krillen & Eighteen went to dance to Bad Girl by X-Quisite.
Bulma watched as her friends did the most erotic dance ever seen. A black flame caught her attention from the bar as well as short blood red hair near bye, Vageta and Kristy had come in and were headed right for the tables. Just as Kishia Chante's Unpredictable started Kristy grabbed the first blond male she could find and headed to the dance floor. Vageta came up to Bulma with an arrogant smirk "So Sea-serpent, how's the land of loser lately?" "You would know after all that is where the squid head originates from or is it the land of the asshole man ho's?" said Bulma mimicking Vageta's smirk. As the song changed to Digin on you by TLC, Bulma's friends headed off the dance floor and back up to the tables by Bulma. "You should watch how you speak to me you little geek, I wouldn't want something to happen to my favorite laugh." Said Vageta with a sinister smirk. "Are you threatening me you short little troll doll?" asked Bulma with as much malaise as she could muster." "Just a warning Fungi." Replied Vageta with a dark chuckle.
By the time the group got back to the table Vageta had made his way back to Kristy. "What did Vageta want with you this time?" asked Krillen. "Oh you know the usual insult me, threaten me." Replied Bulma in a board tone. "This is getting ridicules, why is he so mean to you all the time?" asked Goku.
"Goku it's the way of the high school, and I'm ashamed to admit, but I was just like him in my old school to a group of girls in the chess club." Explained Bulma. "I guess that I am being repaid for my former deeds, and I have a feeling that it will get worse before it will get better." Said Bulma with a sad smile. It was now 10:00 p.m. and Bulma's evening was pretty much ruined by having to listen to Vageta's Bullshit so Bulma decided to make her exit. After saying her good-byes, she headed out to her brand new C. Escalade to go home for the night. What she didn't notice was the black BMW that was following her since she left the club. When she got home she parked her truck, set the alarm and went inside. A few hours later, two figures got out of the black BMW with a can of grease and a dozen eggs.
The next morning, Bulma had a small breakfast and headed out to her truck to drive to the mall. She had to find a dress for her father's annual C.C. Christmas Party that she was to sing at. She had just closed the front door and looked up to find that her once spotless deep blue C. Escalade truck was now covered in grease and hard eggs. An ear-splitting scream could be heard from several blocks away. Dr. & Mrs. Briefs who were in the kitchen at the time came to the front door after hearing the scream. "Dear what ever is the mat... Oh dear how terrible, who would do such a thing?" asked Mrs. Briefs. "I know exactly who did this, it was Vageta Ouji and Kristy Ross." explained Bulma. "My girl, have you been having trouble at school lately?" asked Dr. Briefs. "You could say that dad, after what Kristy and her group did to my hair and skin at the pool, the last month and a half have been the equivalent of hell in high school form." Explained Bulma. "Well don't worry about cleaning this mess up, you can just drive the Ferrari and I will have your truck in premo condition by the time you return." Said her father with a smile.
A short distance away, two sets of eyes watched as Bulma pulled out in a blue/silver Ferrari and drive away. "I thought that you said her only vehicle was the truck, how could that little rat afford to drive a Ferrari?" asked Vageta.
"Did you not now that that is Bulma Briefs of C.C., of course she has more than one car." Stated Kristy.
"No, her name is Aoi not Bulma." Said Vageta starting to get frustrated.
"She is called Aoi by her friends Eighteen and ChiChi, it's her nickname, but her real name is Bulma." Explained Kristy.
Vageta looked at kristy like she was an alien, then got the most sinister look in his eyes. He smirked and said "Of course."
And drove away, at the same time formulating the perfect form of cruelty and humiliation for his favorite little Sea serpent.
The last day of school before Christmas Vacation:
8:00 am A week before her father's party.
"So Bulma, what are you going to wear tonight for the party?" asked ChiChi. "Oh I picked out a nice long sleeve Azure Blue dress with a straight cut bodies and a shear overlay." Explained Bulma.
"And what about the dress for your father's diner and concert at C.C.?" asked ChiChi.
"Oh I picked out the most gorgeous deep blue floor length form fitting dress. It has a slit that goes up both sides starting from mid thigh, it has small crystal jewels in a snowflake pattern in the center of my chest and follow down the slits to the bottom, and the chest part is cut low, it's pretty revealing." finished Bulma. "Wow you sound like your all set, let me tell you what I will be wearing." Said ChiChi.
ChiChi and Eighteen proceeded to tell Bulma what their dresses looked like to every detail throughout the day. Soon it was time for the dance and every one met at the school gym. Shortly into the dance every one was having a blast and no one noticed the camera or the tabloid journalist that had just entered. Suddenly the music cut off and Vageta was at the Mic. "Attention everyone, I have some very important information to disclose this evening." He paused and the spotlight fell on Bulma. "You see I have discovered the true identity of our school's little sea wench Aoi, it seems that her real name is none other than Miss Bulma Briefs!" said Vageta with the most malaise grin on his face. Just then Bulma had a camera in her face and a reporter in her face asking her a swarm of questions. The entire gym of people was in a total uproar and started to surround Bulma asking her questions as well.
ChiChi, Eighteen, Goku & Krillen all heard and saw what was happening to their friend.
"Goku you need to get her out of here before she passes out from all the pressure, she is very claustrophobic, she could die." Stated ChiChi ecstatically. "Right ChiChi I'm on it, Krillen go get the car with the girls and meet me out front." Replied Goku.
Goku pushed his way through the crowd and grabbed onto Bulma, as she was about to pass out. He ran to the exit and the waiting car, and drove away.
"And in entertainment news, the well known daughter Bulma Briefs of the Famous Capsule Inventor Dr. Grant Briefs and Mrs. Dove Briefs, has been admitted to the Central City Hospital after collapsing at her school dance. Her condition is said to be stable, However she has not regained conscienceness since she was admitted two days ago, it looks like her claustrophobia sent her into a premature caesurae and is the reason for her lose of conscienceness. Dr. & Mrs. Briefs released this statement this afternoon"...
"My wife and I are very concerned for our daughter's state of mind after this whole event than we are of her current state. She is one of the strongest willed girls that the world will ever have the pleasure of getting to know, and I am confident that she will recover at least physically; however mentally she may end up suffering from great with drawl from even her closest friends. I hope that the two young people that are responsible for my daughter's current state will think twice before they ruin or bully someone else."
"Thank you."
"Back to you Lynn."
Bulma regained conscienceness a few hours after the statement was released and was able to go home the next day.
"Can I get you anything dear's?" Dove asked the three girls.
"No Thanks mom, were good." Replied Bulma.
"So Bulma are you still going to sing at your father's Christmas Party in a few days?" asked ChiChi.
"Oh Yes, I did not practice my songs for weeks to not sing them." Replied Bulma confidently.
"Are you sure you haven't lost your nerve?" asked Eighteen jokingly.
"Of course not Eighteen, some short little troll and his psycho bitch of a girl friend is not going to ruin this for me too, I am going to sing." Stated Bulma Persistently.
"So, what happened with your dad's company's reputation anyway, did the little stunt cause you and you father to look like Baka's, or is all well?" asked Eighteen.
"Well, my father had a meeting with his investors this morning and he assures me that they have no ill feelings towards C.C., Dad, Mom Or Me, they see it as a tragic happening and have promised to back us and C.C. 100 percent." Stated Bulma Happily. "They also said that they would share with me some of their more embarrassing stories at the party, 'in confidence of course'." Bulma Giggled. "So there is even more reason for me to attend, I wouldn't miss that dirt for anything." Bulma finished.
"OH BULMA, You have to tell us some of the dirt, please please please!" Eighteen and ChiChi begged.
"Well OK, but you can not repeat anything I tell you it must stay confidential." Stressed Bulma seriously. "Yes, Yes we know how to keep secrets Bulma." said ChiChi & Eighteen.
A few days later, the evening of the Christmas Party 8:45 p.m.:
"HA! HA! HA! HAAA! That is the funniest story I have ever heard." Said Bulma still giggling madly.
"Yes well I can assure you that it did not seem that funny to me when it happened." Stated Roger Wells from Wells Investments.
"Roger, you are going to cause my daughter to hyperventilate if you keep her laughing all night like that." stated Dr. Briefs jokingly.
"Oh Dad, I haven't laughed for two months straight, let me enjoy myself." Said Bulma as she wiped the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard all night.
"Yes my dear however you must perform at 9:00 p.m. and it's not going to help you if you're out of breath." Said her father seriously.
"Yes of course your right dad, I'll go freshen up, will you excuse me Mr. Wells, Daddy."
Bulma went to a bathroom to make sure that her makeup was fine and her hair in place, of course it was. She admired herself in the mirror. Her hair was back to its original Azure color, her skin was once again flawless and her contacts in to show off her matching Azure eyes. With one final look at herself she headed toward the party once again. Just as she was passing the front door, the doorbell rang. Seeing that there was no one around to answer it but her she did. She was not expecting who was on the other side...
"Vageta!"
"What are you doing here, my dad is not in the least impressed with you right now." She stated exasperately.
"May I ..May I come in and speak with you for a minute?" asked Vageta solemnly.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" "HAVE YOU COME TO FINISH HER OFF?!" shouted Dr. Briefs at Vageta.
"DADDY! It is all right, He just wants to speak with me, OK." Said Bulma calmly.
"OK, If you're sure you can handle it, don't be too long, you're on soon." Said Dr. Briefs mildly.
"So, What is it you needed to say to me Vageta?....Vageta? Vageta are you in there?" asked Bulma questioningly.
Vageta shook his head and proceeded to talk again.
"I uh.. you look so different? I uh oh right what I was going to say was that Kristy is not at fault for the gym incident, she only told me who you were after we egged and greased your truck." Said Vageta.
"YOU! YOU were the ones that did that to my truck, OH! I'll kill you! AAHH!" Shouted Bulma as she threw her hands up in the air.
"No, Its OK I didn't have to wash it myself, however you will pay for the damages." Stated Bulma calmly.
"Yes I will see that you are reimbursed for your trouble." Replied Vageta.
"So, is that all you came here to say, or is there more?" asked Bulma.
"No,...Yes I wanted to apologize for putting you in the hospital and through all that grief these past two months, I had no intention of endangering your life in any way, I... My intention was only to embarrass you not to harm you." He said.
"Yes well, as far as your apology is concerned, I accept, However, as far as forgiving you, that is another matter. Perhaps you should ask your girl friend why exactly I had to change my name and all this shit that I had to go through in the first place, I assure you it is entirely her fault." She replied intently.
"Yes, Yes I will do just that, in fact the next time I see her." He stated.
"What do you mean the next time you see her? Don't you see her all the time, she is your girl friend?" asked Bulma.
"No actually, she hasn't been since the night of the dance, we broke up, she wasn't interested anymore." He stated.
"Well I," ..."BULMA YOU'RE ON NOW!" "YES I'll be right there!" she replied.
"What is it? What are you on for?" asked Vageta.
"Oh I must go sing now." She said as she turned to leave but was stopped by a firm hand in hers.
"I was wondering if you would like to go out for a soda or coffee with me tonight, I would like to get to know the real Bulma Briefs?"
"I don't know, I don't really tr... oh all right, I'll go, but I must sing two songs first, will you wait for me?" asked Bulma.
"Yes I will wait." He said smiling.
Bulma left and headed to the stage to set up for her performance. A few seconds later:
"Now without further delay, may I present to you all my daughter, the lovely Bulma Briefs!" said her father with a big smile.
"Thank you daddy", she smiles, "I'm going to sing two songs for you tonight, I have been practicing for weeks just for all of you here tonight. My first song is called 'Suddenly' by Leann Rimes.
It's Independence Day I'm free
And it's a strange place to be
I'm gonna break these chains
Unleash the changes in me
I see an endless road
I feel the restless wind
I've lost the fear inside
Cause I've got no choice
But to live or die
Suddenly you're in this fight
alone
Steppin' out into the great
unknown
And the night's the hardest
time
When the doubts run through
your mind
Cause suddenly you find your
self alone
Suddenly you find yourself
In an empty room
With a suitcase on the floor
It'll be daylight soon
I'm gonna wage my private
war
Who's watchin' over me
Must be a guardian angel
I just need time to breathe
And give my life
The best of me
Chorus
Suddenly you're in this fight
Steppin' out and then
Chorus
Suddenly you're in this fight
alone
Steppin' out into the great
unknown
And the night's the hardest
time
When the doubts run through
your mind
Cause suddenly you find your
self alone
Suddenly you find yourself
Bulma finished her song and was immediately followed by rounds of clapping and shouts of praise and happiness. Vageta hearing all the cheering decided to come farther in to watch her second performance.
Bulma noticed Vageta standing by the back wall just before she was to introduce her last song for the evening.
"My last song for the evening is one of my personal favourites and I would like to sing it for you all this evening. It's called:
Breathe by Michelle Branch.
I've been driving for an hour
Just talking to the rain
You say I've been driving you crazyand its keeping you away
So just give me one good reason
Tell me why I should stay
'Cause I dont wanna waste another moment
in saying things we never meant to say
And I Take it just a little bit
I, hold my breath and count to ten
I, I've been waiting for a chance to let you in
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space in between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
If I just breathe
Well it's all so overrated
In not saying how you feel
So you end up watching chances fade
And wondering what's real
And I Give you just a little time
I, Wonder if you realize
I've been waiting till I see it in your eyes
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe,
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
If I just breathe
Breathe
So I whisper in the dark,
Hoping you hear me
Do you hear me?
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe,
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
I've been drinving for an hour
Just talking to the rain
The Cheers were so loud, Bulma thought she would surly go deaf from all the noise. As Bulma took her final bow her father came onto the stage and gave her the biggest hug she ever received from her father in her life. As the regular music began to again play, Bulma made her way off the stage receiving hugs and handshakes along the way. Finally she made it over to where Vageta was standing.
"Well, what did you think, was I good or do I still need more practice?" she asked Vageta as a small smirk formed on her mouth.
"You are asking me for my opinion? I would think you have had enough of what I had to say for a lifetime?" asked Vageta.
"Well let me think, yes I would like a non bias opinion, and seeing as you don't know me, its only logical for me to ask you." She stated smartly raising her eyebrow slightly.
"Well I thought that you sounded ... perfect, in fact I don't think anyone else could have done any better." He answered.
"Well that really means a lot coming from you who probably has the lowest opinion of me on the face of the planet, and I wish I could believe you but I'm afraid that I don't really trust your opinion on anything....yet." she ended with a wink.
"So shall we get out of here and grab that coffee you promised?" asked Bulma.
"Yes, let me get your coat, it's very cold tonight." He stated.
"Oh Bulma Dear, where are you off to?" asked Dove happily.
"Mom this is Vageta, we are going to go out for a coffee and get to know one another the way we should have in the first place. I won't be out too late. And please assure dad that it's OK." Said Bulma while giving her a short hug and kiss on the cheek.
Just then Vageta came back and helped Bulma on with her coat. They drove to the local StarBucks and sat for three hours just talking and getting to know on another a bit better.
It turns out that Bulma and Vageta have a lot in common.
Two weeks pass, Christmas & New Years are over and the students of Central City High School return to their classes to finish their final year.
The entire scandal has been nearly for gotten and Bulma is living her life again, but not without having learned a very important lesson in the process. She has also become a mentor to the younger students of the joining elementary school.
"...and so you see, that is why you cannot judge a book or person by how they appear on the outside."
"Well that is all the time I have to spend with you all this week and I look forward to coming back and seeing you all soon, have a good weekend everyone."
"Hey Bulma, how's about we get out of here and do something fun? I am seriously in need of a stress reliever." Said ChiChi from the doorway.
Goku, Eighteen, Krillen and of course Vageta were all standing behind her.
Bulma looked up and smiled back at the group.
"Yah, sure sounds good to me, what did you have in mind?' asked Bulma.
"How about we all go out to dinner and then catch that new movie 'Pay Check' at the Cinaplex?" said Eighteen.
Yah, that sounds good to me." Replied Bulma as she stretched her cramped back.
"We'll all meet at Steffino's at 6:30 p.m. that way we have plenty of time to get ready and eat before the show at 9:00 p.m." Explained Krillen assuredly.
"All right."they all answered together.
The others left and Vageta stayed to walk Bulma out to her truck.
"So should I come by about six to pick you up?" asked Vageta as they walked out of the school building.
"Yes that's perfect." Bulma assured.
Bulma got into her truck, she was about to start the engine when Vageta placed a hand on hers and she stopped, and looked at Vageta in the eyes questioningly.
"I just wanted to ask you how you managed to survive all that bullshit I put you through last year?" Vageta asked while looking intently into the beautiful Azure eyes of the girl of his dreams.
"Why Vageta it is really quite simple, I reminded myself, to just Breathe."
THE END