The really bad day

Bra trudged into school miserable. Her clothes were filthy from having been sprayed with mud by a truck, and she'd been so busy planning for her date that she'd forgotten to do her Social Studies homework.

But her bad day was just beginning. As she stepped into school the bell rang, announcing that anyone who wasn't in class was in serious trouble. Sighing, she heaved her heavy backpack over her shoulder and walked into her first class, Social Studies.

"Well Ms. Briefs, so nice to see you. I'm glad you decided we're worthy of your presence."

"Sorry Mrs. Mibuns. I was on the way to school and-"

"Don't bother. Just hand me your paper, and go get yourself cleaned up. You look like something that's been dragged through the mud."

"Err…Mrs. Mibuns..about my paper…I-"

"Ms. Briefs, do you or do you not have paper?"

Bra sighed. "No Mrs. Mibuns. I don't have your paper. I forgot to do it."

Mrs. Mibuns glared at her through her glasses. "Well Mrs. Briefs, you can just forget about any plans you had this evening. DOUBLE detention!

"But that's not fair!"

"Life's not fair! Grab the bucket and go stand in the hall!"

Sighing, Bra walked to the front of the class, picked up the heavy water bucket and went outside into the hall, ignoring the snickering of her classmates. This just isn't my day. She thought as she stood with her head down in the hallway.

***

By the end of the day, Bra was convinced life hated her. Her mother had threatened that if she got one more detention she'd be grounded for a month, and here she had gotten two in one day. Some of her friends, the popular people in her school, had seen her muddy and filthy in the hallway, and somehow Bra had a feeling she wasn't going to be hanging out with them anytime soon. Even worse, at lunch someone dropped Jell-O down her shirt, and it had landed right in her bra. She had quite a time trying to get it out, and everyone in the girl's bathroom had laughed at her. Today just couldn't get any worse.

Bra ran down the street to meet Goten. They'd had a date after school, and she was an hour late. Luckily, he was still there, and obviously not pleased.

"Glad you could make it Bra." He said frowning.

"Don't blame me! I had detention! It's that stupid Mrs. Mibuns fault! If she'd just let me explain-"

Goten gently took her hand. " Bra, it isn't her fault. It's your fault. I mean, look at you! You're filthy, you have green stains on your shirt-"

"From Jell-O!" She snapped at him.

"-and you keep forgetting to do your homework. Everything that's happened to you lately seems to be your fault."

Bra looked shocked. "Goten-chan… what are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is, I think I'm distracting you from your schoolwork. Maybe we need to stop seeing each other for a while. Until your grades improve a bit. But hey, look on the bright side. Your brain will be around a lot longer than I will."

He flashed her that goofy grin of his, and swinging his coat over his shoulder he started to walk off.

"Goten…" Bra could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she realized the painful truth. He'd dumped her. Plain out dumped her. After they'd been dating for 3 years. Was this how her mother had felt when Yumcha had left her?

She wiped tears from her eyes as she stared at his vanishing sillouhete. It had slowly started to rain, like she was in some bad movie. This was it. Her life had reached an all-time low.

And then, in three words, her entire day was turned around.

"Need a lift?"

Bra turned to see who'd spoken to her and was surprised to see her father smirking at her from behind the wheel. Normally she'd yell at him, but instead she nodded, walked to the car, opened the door, and climbed into the backseat. The two of them drove in silence for a few minutes, before Vegeta finally spoke.

"Have a bad day?"

"You don't know the half of it. I thought I told you not to follow me?"

"Glad I did aren't you? I told you Goten was trash. But nooo, no one ever listens to the psycho father."

Bra smiled faintly. If there was one thing her father could do, it was make her laugh. "I know you were right tousan. I guess I should have seen it sooner." Smiling sadly, she looked out of the window and recognized the familiar buildings and capsule factories she usually passed on her was home from school. But right now, she didn't want to go home and face her mother.

"Tousan…do you think we could just drive around for a while? I don't want to go home right now."

Vegeta adjusted the mirror on the car so he could see her face. Her mascara was running and gray-blue tears ran down her cheeks, her face flushed red with anger and embarrassment.

"Sure." He said, and turning the wheel sharply, he spun the car around and switched lanes without once using a light and ignoring the angry yells of other motorists. They drove around for some time before stopping for dinner, then finally heading home.

On the way home, Bra realized what a great sacrifice her dad had made. Sure, driving her around may not seems like much, but she knew her dad had better things to do than chauffeur her around. For one, he ought to be training. But today, and every time she went on a date for that matter, he'd followed her around to make sure she was safe and happy. Another thing, he'd taken her to her favorite burger joint for dinner, his treat, even though she knew he hated the greasy fast food. And last of all, he'd actually taken out his car, his convertible/sports car that he loved almost as much as training, and driving her around the city, in a rainy day no less, through tons of mud. Her dad had to love her a lot to go through all that for her, and she wanted to make sure his generosity was appreciated.

When they got home, Bra got out of the car and turned to him, expecting him to get out. He sat, staring straight ahead, fingers drumming on the wheel impatiently.

"You getting out?" She asked.

"Nope. I'm going to a bar. I'll be back in a little while."

"Don't go getting yourself drunk, I'd hate to have to have Goku come over and drag you home."

"Ha! You wish! Anyways, I'm leaving now. Bye." He closed the door and started to rev up the engine.

Bra turned suddenly and tapped on the glass. "Wait! Tousan!" The window opened and he frowned at her.

"Yeah?"

"I…I love you too."

Vegeta looked surprised, but smiled and nodded at her. Rolling up the window, the car shot forward, and Bra grinned at it. Today hadn't been such a bad day after all.