Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, Atticus would be one of the protagonists. And not just a poor minor character.

Day 2

"Rise and shine, Jay," a blue blob said, shaking said brunette awake.

"Wha?" Jaden rubbed his eyes lazily as his eyes tried to focus. Teal colored hair? Right. Jesse. Jaden vaguely recalled the memory of the duo heading back to the Slifer dorm. He closed one eye and mumbled, "But why? Jess, it's spring break. There's no reason why we should get up this early..." He turned away and closed his other eye.

"I came during spring break so I could enjoy the campus while avoiding your meaningless classes with Crowler and Banner." Jesse heaved a quiet sigh. He looked around the room, and fortunately, Syrus and Hassleberry were coming to his rescue.

"Come on, Sarge! It's time to wake up-saurus!" Hassleberry declared, shaking Jaden vigorously like there was no tomorrow as the bluenette gaped.

"That's right!" Syrus added (not-so) menacingly.

"Mmph!" was their only reply.

Hassleberry sighed. "Drastic measure time." He held up the bucket of water he and Syrus dragged in not too long ago.

"You always get to do it! I'll pour it on him this time," Syrus protested as he yanked the pail from Hassleberry...

...only to lose balance and accidentally tipping the whole bucket onto Jesse.

"Ack!" Jesse's startled cry echoed throughout the Slifer Red dorm.

"Cut it out, new kid!" a certain Princeton yelled from the other room.

Jaden jolted awake. "Jess? What's wrong?" He narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the bluenette carefully. "And why are you drenched?"

"Just a small accident." Jesse had water droplets dripping off his hair, and his face glistened with water.

"Blame Truesdale, Sarge," Hassleberry added, shooting Syrus a victorious glance, causing said shorter brunette to shrivel up against one corner.

"Let me wipe it off for you," Jaden said with concern, as he reached out to wipe Jesse's face with his bed sheet. "Sorry for that great beginning you went through here."

Jesse blushed. "No problem..." he stuttered as Jaden's fingertips brushed his cheek.

"Hey Sarge, you're embarrassing Anderson here," Hassleberry said, concerned. "I'll do it for him." He tugged at Jaden's bed sheet and attempted to wipe Jesse's face.

"No, I'll do it," snapped Jaden.

Jesse recoiled just before Jaden's sheet reached his face and blushed deeper. His turquoise orbs widened. "It's okay, I can take care of myself," he whispered shyly, then quickly flashed Jaden and Hassleberry a reassuring smile. The brunette felt his heart melt.

"Fine," replied Hassleberry.

Jaden looked hesitant. And... Jesse scrutinized his open face. A little disappointed? Jaden turned away. "Right," he muttered, not locking eyes with the confused bluenette.

There was a knock at the door. After receiving no response, the knocks became more frequent and became louder.

"WHAT IS IT?" an irritated screech came out of Chazz's side of the room. "Open it, Slackers!"

"Only if you say please."

"PRETTY PLEASE WITH AN OJAMA ON TOP!"

Sighing, Jaden headed over to the door and flung it open.

"Why hello there, Jaden." Leaning against the doorframe, Adrian gave him a small smile.

"What brings you here?" Jaden asked directly, as Jesse, Hassleberry and Syrus joined him at the door.

"Yeah, you missed the expedition we had with Jess, Axel and Jim yesterday," added Hassleberry.

"I'm sure it was very enjoyable," Adrian replied. "That's why I'm here. I want to tag along with you all during my stay."

"Why not?" Jaden grinned. "The more the merrier."

Jesse glanced at Adrian uncertainly. He seemed nice enough, he supposed. But his gut feeling was urging him to run away, far far away, out of the redhead's reach. Squinting, he examined Adrian closer. Nothing fishy. Shaking his head to clear the thought, he managed a smile.

"I'd like to join too." Aster stepped out behind Adrian, looking impeccable as always.

Adrian immediately perceived Aster joining the group as a wonderful opportunity to separate Jesse and Jaden. "Sure, why not?"

"But that makes six of us!" Jaden retorted hastily. "That practically makes us a cult!"

"And obviously, since I'm always making sure you slackers don't get into trouble, I'm the cult leader." interrupted the drowsy Chazz as he joined the group.

"Now that'd make us seven!" Jaden spluttered, and turned to - yes, you guessed it - Aster. "Besides, it was already hard enough having you and I at the same place without arguing over every single petty thing all the time!"

"The more the merrier," the viridian eyed boy mock-repeated.

Jaden didn't know how to react. "Sure, you can join," he grumbled, shooting another look at Aster, who fluffed and swept his hair behind his shoulders in response.

"Hey Lexi." Alexis almost fainted from a potential heart attack as she heard the voice coming from behind her. "Why're ya spying on the Slifer dorm?"

"Atticus!" Alexis hissed, venom seeping out from her voice.

The brunette flashed her a killer grin, the one he often used on fangirls. "Hey sissy, you could at least pronounce my name more lovingly."

"Sheesh! Alright." Alexis knew there was no point in arguing with her brother. "Fancy meeting you, Lord Atticus Rhodes, Champion of Surfers, Wearer of Hawaiian Shirts, Strummer of Ukeleles, and Master of Love." A roguish smile edged up Atticus's lips as he felt his sister's icy stare bore into him.

"Welcoming remarks accepted... But that doesn't mean you can avoid my first question. Who are you spying on?" Atticus reiterated.

Before the blonde could answer him, Atticus peeked inside the dorm. He let out a low whistle. "Spying on the new transfer eh? I heard he's called Jesse Anderson?"

"Er, yeah." Alexis admitted after a moment of hesitation.

"You've got the hots for him, sissy?" the brunette inquired with a suggestive wink while he quickly scanned the European boy from head to toe. "Well, he IS kinda adorable. Never fear. As the Master of Love, I'm sure I can hook the two of y-"

"What in the name of Cyber Blader? Don't bother," snapped the blonde. "As cute as he is, I'm not checking him out. Look at Jesse and Jaden." Atticus diverted his eyesight to focus on the duo, who happened to be standing at the door hand-in-hand.

"I think they like each other."

"It's so odd," Jaden mused in the afternoon as he and Jesse sat below the Duel Academy flag, which happened to be the meeting location.

"Ain't that right," Jesse agreed, and took another swig of water, exhaling as the cool liquid was swallowed. "Chazz, Syrus and Hassleberry all told us that they weren't free this afternoon to hang out..."

"...right after Atticus approached them and secretly told them something." Jaden finished.

"Weird." They said in unison, and immediately slapped each other a high five. "Jinx."

Jesse leaned against the flagpole. "Who IS Atticus, anyway?" he prompted.

"Atticus Rhodes is the elder brother of Alexis Rhodes," Jaden said matter-of-factly. "He is an extreme flirt who has managed to captivate the hearts of many girls." He paused. "And boys." He drew another breath. "He is also a talented surfer, and often strums the ukelele while wearing Hawaiian shirts. As the self-proclaimed Master of Love-"

"MASTER OF LOVE?" Jesse choked on his water.

Jaden nodded. "Oh, yes. He's the ultimate matchmaker." the brunette leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Rumor has it that he can detect relationships within a one meter radius."

"That's really close," Jesse drawled drily.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Adrian ran over to the duo.

"No problem, you're not the latest to arrive," Jaden said with an accusing tone. "Mr. High and Mighty Aster Phoenix still hasn't arrived yet."

On second thought, wouldn't it be better if there were less witnesses? Adrian's mind whirred. "He said he was occupied," the redhead lied plainly.

Jaden perked up. "Is that so? How wonderf- I mean..." he cleared his throat. "How unfortunate."

Briskly, Adrian nodded. "We can head off."

"Where to?" Jesse asked, smiling at the brunette.

"Since we didn't manage to go to the beach yesterday, let's head over today!" Jaden declared. And with that, they set off.

Atticus peered behind his binoculars and saw the trio head off. Shoving it back into his pocket, he headed after them.

"It's beautiful..." Jesse's voice almost sounded like he was in a trance. The beach was so clean that the sand seemed to sparkle under the rays of the warm sun. He headed down to the beach and sifted his hand through the soft sand. "Eh?" After all the sand had trickled away between the gaps of his fingers, he saw a small shell resting in the palm of his hand.

Jaden followed suit, digging up another shell. "Hey Jess, you could bring these back to North Academy. As souvenirs," he suggested.

Jesse's emerald eyes sparkled like the sand. "I'll do it!" Plopping himself on the sand, he continued sifting.

Jaden didn't respond, and the two lapsed into silence. But as Jesse continued to search for shells, he still felt Jaden's presense emanating from behind him. "I'll be on the other side," Jaden finally said, and walked off.

The warm wind gently blew in his face as the brunette gazed at Jesse, who was still sitting tranquilly. Sitting apart was a good idea, he finally decided, since it gave him the opportunity to stalk - uh, watch over - his Jesse without him noticing.

Wait, did he say his Jesse? Jaden shook his head. No, they were friends. Really good friends, if you would put it at that. A small sigh of pleasure escaped Jaden's lips as he continued to watch the bluenette. Yeah. Best friends.

While Jaden was busy watching Jesse, Adrian had already sat himself down by the brunette. "Jaden."

"Mm?"

"I've got something I need to tell you," Adrian finally managed after some hesitation.

"What?"

"Well, I don't know how to put it bluntly but..." the redhead paused. "I like you."

There was a long moment of silence. Adrian snuck a look at Jaden, who, to his frustration, was still staring at Jesse, oblivious.

"Not like, but LIKE like," the redhead added. "I love you."

Jaden decided against saying anything, and awkward silence fell among the two. The waves crashing against the shore and the clunks from Jesss's shells were the only sounds that could be heard.

"I'm done!" Jesse's excited voice rang out from the other side of the beach. "I'm coming over!"

Now's the time, Adrian thought. He took a deep breath, and proclaimed at the top of his voice...

"All I wanna do, is end up right next to you. Jaden... I love you very much... You were frustrated today and that made me sad too... I can actually feel your mood..." Ignoring Jaden's bewildered face, Adrian glanced towards Jesse and saw him walking over, his face full of hurt. He heard me, Adrian secretly cheered inside his mind.

"And when you go back to East Academy with me..." Jesse's crystalline eyes widened as he overheard them. "It'll be sayonara to your memories at Duel Academy. I'll make it as if it almost never occurred. You'll just have to void it, and turn it into a gap in time." Jaden opened his mouth to protest but the redhead continued. "I know you don't want or need the memories. So let it be nobody's memories."

"Now wait a se-" Jaden was cut off as his felt Adrian lean over. And in that second, he felt the redhead's lips crash onto his. Forcefully.

After finally breaking away from Adrian, Jaden turned around to gaze at Jesse. The European boy had a huge smile on his face. "How cute," Jesse remarked.

Jaden flinched as Adrian draped his arm over his shoulder. "Hey Jess, everything is not what it seems..." the brunette managed.

"Oh, no. I know what happened," Jesse said, playfully shooting a wink. "I'll head back over to the other side... Enjoy your time together, okay?" he added nonchalantly as he walked away.

Once his back was faced again Jaden, Jesse's face erupted into an array of emotions. Pain. Disbelief. Confusion. And even... Betrayal? "He's my best friend. I should be happy that he's found his partner..." he murmured quietly as a single tear silently fell down his soft cheek. With his emerald eyes still brimming with tears, Jesse forced himself to walk in a jubilant way, skipping rhythmically, in order not to arouse Jaden's suspicion.

Atticus, still in hiding, dropped the granola bar he was snacking on and choked down a startled cry when he saw the pained expression on the bluenette.

Jesse casually slid all his shells into his pocket, ignoring the intense stare emitted from a certain brunette. "Show everyone some positivity, Jesse," he whispered to himself, stretching a huge smile on his face. Then it crumpled. "Oh, who am I kidding."

Making sure he was turned away from Jaden, Jesse waddled into the water, feeling the cool waves splash against him as his tears became drops in the sea.