Author's Note: It's a miracle, I know. Two updates so far in one week. Now if only we had people reading our story and reviewing! Oh well, we'll just keep writing chapters while snuggled in bed with hot water bottles and cookies. The husband was hard put to complete this chapter, he had a significant biscuit requirement and refused to write anything but nonsense until he got his required ratio. For once the bloopers were so bad that they all had to be deleted! Rest assured the word "penis" and copious amounts of Rebecca Black lyrics were involved. We we we so excited to bring you the next chapter. Maybe by the end of the week for the next one, if you're lucky. Cookies for reviewers, provided the husband hasn't eaten them all!
Chapter Seven
Emily's holiday passed swiftly but well. Kaiba was a lot busier during the second week of the holidays, but they managed to have lunch together once more, and to see a movie later on in the week (a thriller based upon the concept of a computer-virus transferring to humans - Kaiba poked holes in the plot ruthlessly). Apart from seeing Kaiba, she spent most of the holidays painting and reading. She also managed to coerce David, who played Duel Monsters, to teach her how to play. He was slightly bemused at her suddenly changed opinion of the game, but was quite pleased to have someone friendly to play with. While he admitted to being only an amateur himself, Emily's understanding of the rules flourished under his guidance. It was certainly nice having a common interest with David, who was turning out to be a more interesting friend than she had thought. Before this, she had never even visited his house!
The first week back at school was quite uneventful, apart from the announcement of the school ball in the morning notices, which made Emily whoop quite loudly, much to the amused surprise of her form teacher. She spent the rest of the week drawing costume designs furiously and discussing the theme with her friends (which this year was masquerade). Wigs and masks were going to be very prominent, it was decided, as well as massive skirts. Emily spent a considerable amount of art class on Thursday surreptitiously sketching her latest concept, a dress with a corseted top and layered full skirt that would surround her legs like a cloud. David was quite impressed with her design. Jo wanted to wear something similar, but didn't have the time to sew it herself. When asked what he would be wearing to the ball, Kaiba merely grunted.
The following Monday ended with an assembly. Emily was sitting high on the bleachers, with her girl friends on her left, who were giggling and passing around an origami fortune-teller, and Kaiba sitting slightly apart from everyone else on the right. Emily wasn't quite sure how he managed to find such a roomy position, given the cramped conditions on the rest of the seating. After a few dull introductions and some Maori songs by the school's Kapa Haka group, Emily's favourite teacher, Greg, who taught Art History, had an announcement to make. Emily put aside the fortune-teller and sat up to listen.
"I know you're all looking forward to going home for the weekend, so I'll keep this short and sweet. The Australasian English and Maths competitions are coming up in a few weeks. So all of you who are interested should grab the sign-up sheets from the table on your way out. We came 30th last year out of all the schools in New Zealand, so let's keep aiming high and see if we can improve on last year's great effort!"
There was a mild amount of applause. A well-dressed businessman came onto the stage and began to speak, but Emily was already whispering fiercely to her friend Jo. It was always worth seeing how good you were compared to the rest of the country! Emily had taken part in the maths competition last year and had gotten a score of 98% - which put her in the top 500 of entries. Kaiba nodded towards the stage.
"Interested?" he asked.
Emily nodded happily, already dreaming of smugly revealing a competition award and prize to her enormously impressed family.
A few weeks passed, and Emily saw very little of Kaiba. He seemed to be working a lot more than usual; barely attending classes and disappearing at lunchtimes. Even amidst the ball-fever, Emily missed him, especially in Infotech class, where they had been putting together a new computer with Malcolm. On the other hand, it made it easier for her to focus on studying for the Australasian English and Maths competitions.
On the morning of the day when the Australasian maths exam was to take place, Emily arrived early to school to take advantage of a quiet classroom to do some last-minute cramming. It was raining quite heavily. As she was passing the car-park on her way there, she noticed a dark car dropping off a tall suited figure. She called out:
"Seto!"
And indeed, it was Kaiba. Given his attendance record lately, it was particularly bizarre to see him at school, let alone early.
"Morning. What brings you here so early?"
"I was about to ask the same question. Studying!" she smiled. "You?"
"I'm helping out with the Phoenix Technologies presentation. It's happening at lunch time. You're coming, right?"
"Well, I have the Australasian Maths Competition in fourth period," said Emily. "I know it extends somewhat into lunchtime... but I'll do my best!"
"Room A4. Be there!" said Kaiba briskly, striding off into the sheeting rain.
She wasn't quite sure if he'd actually heard her or not. The rain continued to pour endlessly.
The test was delayed by twenty minutes because the testing official had had a breakdown in the bad weather on his way to the school. Emily was highly strung by the time the test began; her usual test nerves frayed by impatience and wondering if she'd get out in time to see whatever Kaiba wanted to show her. However, after some bad starts, she got into her examination mindset and set about answering the questions. Maths was always an exercise in reverse engineering for Emily. The answers swiftly arrived in her head, but to score points she had to figure out how she'd arrived at the answer and note down her working out. The constant hammering of the storm against the roof and windows muffled any noise that students nearby were making. Emily finished checking and doublechecking her work, and then triplechecked her work just to be sure. She had finished ten minutes early but had to stay in the room as part of the rules (because nothing distracts one from working on a test quite like the sight of someone smugly handing in their test sheet and walking out into the freedom of the outside world). Finally, after possibly the longest ten minutes of her life, the examiner called out:
"Alright everybody, pens down. Please bring your test sheets to the front. Make sure you have put your name and ID number on the front or you will not receive a mark!"
There was a general shuffling of chairs as the students laboriously scraped up their papers and took them to the front of the room. Lightyears ahead of them, Emily had already slapped her test in front of the bemused examiner and had dashed out of the room.
She arrived outside room A4 in time to see a large cluster of boys and a smattering of girls emerging from it, all gabbling loudly. Emily tried to wade through them to see what had been going on inside the room, but she couldn't quite get past the surge of people, and she was too short to see over their heads. A gap in the crowd heralded the exit of Kaiba from the room. He looked elated and slightly flushed, and very pleased with himself. A shadow passed over his face when he saw Emily.
"You missed it," he said quietly.
"The test ran late – I finished early but you're not allowed to leave until the time is up," she explained breathlessly. "I did try, Seto."
"Don't call me Seto," he said in monotone. He began walking away, his long strides sucking him into the distance rapidly.
"Seto?" she called. "Kaiba? Where are you going?"
The bell rang. Emily didn't move, suddenly alone. And it rained on.
