Alright folks. Seeing as I've had an account here for years, I figured I'd finally do it justice by actually writing a story. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed actually having the continual motivation to write it. ;) Oh, and to add the mandatory, I do not own 'Yu-gi-oh!'. There, I said it. Have fun!
The Tutor
Chapter 1
It was a dreary day, with rain pelting the ground as well as any unfortunate commuters who happened to be without a ride. Now soaked completely, Joey Wheeler was no different as his sneakers skid across the slippery concrete sidewalk while turning a corner. He'd been running a good five blocks since he overslept and missed the bus. It didn't help that he also had to avoid the beer bottles thrown harshly by his drunken father as he ran out the front door of their apartment, thereby missing any chance at breakfast. At this point, he only had one choice – sprinting like hell – if he wanted any chance of making it to school on time. He'd been tardy before, that was nothing new to him, but at least the weather up until recently had been more cooperative.
'Goddamnit!' Apparently all luck had abandoned him when one wrong step met with a puddle up to his ankle. As a stream of curses made their way through his mind, Joey was at least thankful to see the bell tower of his school. He was close now.
Ripping open the front door of the school and nearly slipping as his wet sneakers met the slippery tile floor, Joey finally reached his classroom and stood outside the door for a few seconds in an attempt to catch his breath.
Slowly opening the door and stepping in purposefully, Joey slapped a look of indifference on his face as he stared straight ahead.
"Mr. Wheeler! This is the third time this week you have been tardy!" Joey tried not to flinch at the sharp voice of his math teacher, a woman of short stature well past her prime. "That's another detention!"
Quickly spinning around to face her, water droplets flying from the ends of his damp hair, Joey flashed one of his signature grins, "Oh come now Ms. Lancy, you know how much I love staying here after school with you. I was just telling myself how great it is that the rain kept me away so that I could spend the precious time I have after school with a great teacher such as yourself."
"Yeah, yeah enough of your excuses" Ms. Lancy waved him away as the class snickered quietly.
Joey plopped down into his seat, glancing toward his best friend Yugi and giving him a thumbs-up. Yugi grinned back and both turned towards the front to listen to Ms. Lancy drone on about quadratic equations and standard deviations.
'Stupid mutt. I don't see why he even comes at all.' Seto Kaiba sat in the back of the classroom, typing away on his laptop. He was the smartest person in the room, he knew it, so he didn't feel the need to waste his attention to math problems he could do with ease. He had more important things to think about.
After the class ended, Seto watched with boredom as Joey and friends gathered up their books and headed to the cafeteria for lunch.
"A moment, Mr. Wheeler." Joey paused mid-step, leaning back into the classroom to look at the teacher.
"Yeah? What's up?" He walked back into the room, already tuning out the older woman's monotone voice.
"It seems Mr. Wheeler," Ms. Lancy began while pushing her glasses up further on the bridge of her nose, "that your grade in this class has fallen dramatically this semester. I hate to tell you this but unless you bring it back up, you'll have no choice but to repeat senior year."
"What!?" Joey whipped his head around, his attention fully returning to the woman sitting before him. 'Repeat senior year??' The words echoed in his mind. He knew his grades weren't great, but he was actually excited about graduating and leaving the hell-hole that was his apartment. His dad had always given him trouble, and the last thing Joey wanted was to have to spend another whole year enduring his father's drunken abuse.
"I'm sorry Mr. Wheeler, but passing this class is a requirement for graduation. At this point the only thing I can suggest is that you find a tutor and raise your grade as soon as possible." Joey wordlessly turned to leave the classroom, walking quickly out the door. His eyes focused on nothing in particular as thoughts were racing through his mind.
'A tutor? Don't you pay for those?? Like I can afford a goddamn tutor!'
'Shit!!' Joey cursed inwardly as he realized he'd run into something…rather someone.
"Something troubling you mutt?" Seto asked innocently. He already knew exactly what it was…having stood outside the classroom door whilst eavesdropping unnoticed. He always enjoyed watching the shorter man squirm, and saw this as another opportunity to do so.
"None of your goddamn business!"
"Oh, testy today I see. The mutt's got some bite in him after all." Seto smirked at the angry look in Joey's eyes, which only intensified the glare he was receiving from the blond.
"Get out of my way! I don't need this right now." Joey harshly pushed the tall brunet aside as he made his way down the hall.
"Mr. Kaiba, may I speak to you for a moment?" Seto turned away from the blond's retreating figure to face Ms. Lancy.
"Yes?" Seto's amused smirk was quickly replaced with an annoyed frown.
"Mr. Wheeler seems to be slipping in my class. As you have the highest average, I will be assigning you to be his tutor."
Seto's frown deepened. "I don't have time to waste on that second-rate, lower class mongrel. I have a company to run."
"A company, I might add, that you seem to find more important than my class. I have let you get away with a lot Mr. Kaiba," Ms. Lancy continued, "but unless you show some actual interest in the subject by helping out a fellow classmate, I will have no choice but to question you interest in actually passing my class."
"You can't fail me." Icy blue eyes narrowed in contempt. If looks could kill, the old math teacher would already be dead on the spot.
"Watch me." Despite having to crane her neck back to look at him, Ms. Lancy wasn't backing down. Seto was surprised, his glares brought even the most powerful business men to their knees, but he kept his emotions in check. He could only narrow his eyes at the teacher. He didn't think the old woman was capable of blackmail.
"I will allow Mr. Wheeler to miss detention today so that you two may meet to begin his tutoring, but should I discover that you're not taking this seriously, I will fail you Mr. Kaiba. Don't think you can get out of this one with your high status in the business world." Had this been anyone other than one of his teachers, Seto was sure he would have knocked them out cold before they even got through the last sentence.
"Fine, I'll tutor him." he spit out bitterly. With one last glare, Kaiba quickly turned away towards the library.
"Damnit. I'm never gonna get this." Joey sat in the back of the library, trying intently to make some sense of the numbers and symbols swimming across his textbook page.
"They say talking to yourself is a sign of insanity, mutt." Seto stood over the seated blond, smirking at actually seeing the shorter man attempting to study.
"I already told ya to leave me alone!"
"Careful mutt, we are in a library after all. I must say I'm surprised you're here. I thought pets weren't allowed."
Joey felt his temper rising. He was really not in the mood for Kaiba's insults.
"Look, we ain't all geniuses like you with money coming out of our ears. Now if you'll excuse me, I actually have some studying to do."
Seto raised one elegant eyebrow in annoyance. He was ready for Wheeler to completely lose it. He wasn't expecting to be unceremoniously dismissed by the low life.
"Well, I hate to disappoint you mutt, but it seems I've been assigned to tutor you."
Joey turned around quickly. "Well I hate to disappoint you, but I don't need your help!"
"You do realize of course that if you fail, you won't graduate." Seto smirked at the growing rage within the blond. As much as he hated the prospect of having to be around the mutt, let alone wasting valuable time tutoring him, the anger he incited within him was almost worth it. Almost.
"Look Wheeler, I don't want to be in this situation any more than you do, but the sooner you raise your pathetic grade the sooner you can get out of my hair."
Joey rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the encouragement."
"Fine, then meet me after school. I'm not going to wait for you, so don't be late."