Chapter 2:
"I think you were a little more starstruck than I was Kadima!" Mai laughed as they walked back into the school, "I think I acted pretty natural! Usually he doesn't give autographs.."
Kadima didn't reply, for she was lost in thought—she had never met someone who had had that kind of effect on her, and the eye contact was so similar to that of her dream. She finally shook her head-
"It's so weird- Seto Kaiba was in my dream just last night. In Egypt of course."
"Of course it was, Dima," Bakura chuckled, "It's always Egypt with you—and you've never even been there!"
"Don't remind me, Bakura—If anyone should be into Egypt it's you. You've actually been." She grabbed his arm excitedly. "But yeah—Kaiba was in my dream. It was definitely him, he had the same eyes."
"Everyone know's those eyes." Mai sighed.
At school the next day her excitement over the unusual event of the past twenty-four hours had subsided, and the constant rain had begun to remind her of the math test coming up that week. She, Mai and Bakura had stayed up late drinking at her apartment in celebration of meeting someone famous, and she had a bit of a hangover that morning.
"Shit!" she thought a few minutes after she sat in her seat- "my textbook!" She ran out of the classroom and into the hall to her teacher's dismay. As she turned a corner quickly she accidentally ran face first into a tall figure who while trying to watch his way, dropped a stack of papers on the concrete floor.
"Woah! Sorry lady!" He said excitedly.
Kadima laughed, "It's totally my fault—I'm already late." She bended down to help him pick up the scattered papers. He stood up and she looked up to survey the new figure before her. He was a tall boy with dark brown hair, brown eyes and an attractive face. A new student, the realization hit her. And cute!
"I'm Kadima," She handed him the rest of the stack,
"Tristan—Nice to meet you!" he smiled a crooked smile, "wow! I already met someone cool. Joey and I have a bet."
"A bet?" Kadima smiled as they started walking towards the lockers, "is Joey new too?"
"Yeah! Joey's my friend who got transferred too—Hey- you know where Parker's English class is?"
"That's the class I'm in." Kadima smiled, "You can just come with me!"
"Nice! I'm really glad I met you."
After school Kadima got her stuff together and looked around for her best friends. She realized however, that Mai had a meeting and Bakura had left early. Damn.
Disappointedly, she took her book bag and walked outside, only to be met with turrets of rain pouring from the sky. Damn.
All of the sudden she heard a loud whirring sound and a flash of black flew by until it screeched into an alarming halt in front of her. It was a vintage, all black motorcycle with a very cool looking Tristan pulling off his helmet before her.
"Kadima! It's pourring rain, what are you doing out here?"
"Tristan! Wha—Wow! Can I please ride?" she squealed excitedly not trying to conceal how very impressed she was.
"Hop on!" He said in his coolest voice. "It won't help much with the rain! But it'll make it quicker."
They whizzed around in the different areas of Domino City for a good twenty minutes during which Kadima realized she definitely wanted Tristan as a friend—not just because of his motorcycle, but it didn't hurt. They finally pulled up to a popular coffee shop after they began to feel as though they were swimming in a lake, and Tristan helped Kadima off the bike,
"I want you to meet some of my friends, Kadima." He said as they walked inside.
"Joey that has to be the most idiotic thing I've ever heard," a pretty girl with short brown hair and big blue eyes said in an exasperated tone to a blonde guy who's back was toward Kadima.
"Are you kiddin? Tea I'm tellin you!"
"Hey guys!" Tristan interrupted their conversation without a second thought. They all turned around smiling.
"Tristan! Who's this?" A short boy with spiked hair sitting next to the one named Joey asked smiling up at her.
"I'm Kadima, nice to meet all of you."
"I met her at school today—see Joey! I told you I'd win." Tristan said gloatingly.
"How'd ya manage to meet her!" Joey jumped up, "I'm Joey, and don't listen to anything this guy says about me."
Kadima laughed and further introductions were made; she found out that Yugi was the name of the sweet short guy and Tea was the pretty dark haired girl and fortunately she decided she liked all of them. For the rest of the afternoon Kadima got to know her new friends. She found out that Yugi and Tea had been friends for a long time—in fact, at their old school, Joey used to bully Yugi. Then after Yugi helped Joey out one day, Joey changed his ways and the two became the best of friends—Tristan being one of Joey's childhood friends joined their group too. They also found out about Kadima and she told them all about Domino City High and her two best friends. She promised she would introduce them all soon.
That night Kadima immediatley called Mai to tell her all about the exciting day she had had.
"And then he finally drove me home on his motorcycle!" she finished sighing.
"Shit! Kadima—introduce me! We need to add some friends to our group. Especially Tristan—he sounds cute! Are you into him?" Mai's voice slowed down.
"I mean I barely know him—but definitely into him." Kadima laughed.
"This is so exciting, you haven't had a crush on anyone since Duke." Mai said knowingly.
"It's not like you've noticed anyone at Domino High either!" Kadima replied wrapping the chord around her finger. "I mean maybe one of the new students?"
"What would Bakura do? We would have a fit if he dated someone, Dima,"
The conversation went on as such for a while as the two best friends continued to talk about what could possibly happen to their friend group with the addition of these new arrivals.
Mai and Bakura were finally introduced to Tristan's friends and so the group continued to grow. Everyone got along great with the exception of Mai and Tea, but only because the two were both similar in very different ways. During this time Kadima felt as though she was definitely making her intentions known to Tristan, but somehow it wasn't coming across as well as she planned. In fact, she realized that it wasn't Tristan who began to capture her fancy, but Joey—and it was in the way he acted that she could tell he too felt a similar attraction. It made it a bit awkward however, because she felt in a sense, bound to Tristan since she had originally met him first. Joey was so adorable with his mop of blonde hair and his bright hazel eyes—he was always eager for an adventure or to defend a friend, but how could Kadima suddenly change the perception about herself and Tristan? She had flirted with him more than she would like to admit.
It was on a long day in October when she and Joey found themselves hanging out just the two of them. She had been walking from class with Duke (which was an occasional occurrence when Ali decided to skip class) when Joey intercepted her by slyly stealing his arm around her waist and making up an excuse that he needed to borrow her for a minute.
"Kadima," he said his hand still around her waist after Duke had said his goodbye, "I have this book on Egyptology at my house that I found, and I knew you just had to see it. And I needed to get you away from Duke."
Kadima laughed, "No way! Joey, that's awesome—of course I'll come." she felt a little guilty over her excitement. What if Tristan finds out!
Once at Joey's apartment, she realized his life was in certain ways similar to her own. Joey lived with his dad who was almost never home—his apartment was a bit shabbier than hers and she could tell they weren't living on much, but it felt homey, and she liked that.
Joey did indeed have a book on Egyptology to show her—in fact Kadima's mind felt strangely alert in recognition as she turned the pages of a chapter entitled, 'Ancient and important artifacts.'
"So Bakura has this crazy artifact he got when he was in Thebes, it has this symbol on it." she finally said looking up in excitement.
"Actually, Kadima," Joey replied, "Yugi has a similar one. His grandpa used to go on digs in Egypt. It must be an important symbol in the ancient society."
Kadima's heart skipped a beat as Joey sat close to her on the couch. She was impressed that he had noticed and thought about the symbol for some reason. She turned her violet eyes up towards his own as he slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.
"Joey-" she tried to say as their lips almost touched. "
"What is it, Kadima," Joey breathed
"Tristan," she pulled away a little, "I know we don't have anything, but I'm afraid I gave him the wrong impression."
"Is that it!?' he smiled looking relieved, "But do you like me?"
"Of course!"
With an intense movement, Joey kissed Kadima and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Tristan is in love with my sister—I know, it took me a while to be okay with it, but as long as there's no competition for you—I think it'll be okay."
"Your sister? Tristan?"
"Yeah, my little sister Serenity. We all used to hang out all the time before my parents split. He's head over heels for her. He doesn't talk about it a lot because she lives a few hours away and he doesn't get to see her."
Kadima smiled-"I like you, Joey." and pulled him close again. "I'll have to meet your sister sometime."
When Joey dropped Kadima off at her apartment, she couldn't stop smiling. Joey was something different—someone she could be herself around but who was also adorable. She began to get herself ready for bed and drew herself a hot bath. Before she had the chance to get undressed there was a knock at the door. Who the hell? She suspiciously walked down the stairs and approached the door with caution.
As she opened the henges she heard a voice and looked into a sullen face, familiar, but with a strange expression in a pair of hollow eyes.
"ISSSsshhTar- Give me the keys IsshTAR."
"Bakura!?"
