Author's note: Hey guys! Yeah, I'm not dead. Sorry it has been so long since I've updated! I'm back in school which means I have zero free time. I actually wrote most of this chapter over the Summer, but I haven't had time to finish it. Anyways, here is chapter 11!

Chapter 11:

I.

Orihime practically skipped off the bus once it arrived at

Karakura High School. She waved merrily at the bus driver as the bus departed. The beauty queen readjusted her 'Miss Teen Karakura' sash over her bright yellow dress for the millionth time before heading toward the parking lot.

Orihime approached the high school students nervously. Since her mother had pulled her out of school two years ago, she didn't spend a lot of time around people her age and she wasn't sure she would fit in. Once she reached the students, who were all clad in their bathing suits, no one acknowledged her since they were preoccupied with their group meeting.

"….and make sure you try to up-sell. All right guys, I think that's everything. Let's go make some money! Karakura High School on three, one, two, three!"

"Karakura High School!" The students chorused before breaking apart from their circle. As the students headed for their respective work stations, Orihime managed to make eye contact with several students who smiled welcomingly at her. The beauty queen visibly relaxed as the students welcomed her.

"Hime!" Orihime spun around at the sudden yell of her name.

"Tatsuki-chan!" The two girls embraced as if they hadn't seen each other in months despite the fact that it had only been a few days.

Tatsuki pulled back from the hug first. "Congratulations Orihime! I knew you could do it. Are you excited about being Miss Teen Karakura?"

Before the beauty queen could answer her friend's question, a new voice entered the conversation. "Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but as ASB president I have business with Inoue."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes at Senna. "You're not in charge of this car wash Senna. I'm senior class president and I can handle the business side just as well as you can."

"Sorry to break it to you Arisawa, but ASB president trumps senior class president." Senna said snottily.

Tatsuki cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Yeah? Well, as president of the karate club-" Orihime rested a comforting hand on her friend's tense shoulder.

"It's okay Tatsuki-chan. What do you need to talk to me about Senna?"

Senna smiled sweetly, too sweetly, as Tatsuki scowled. "Well, since it is business related, I'd rather we talk in private."

Orihime followed Senna until they were standing far enough away from the other students that they would not be overheard. The two girls stared each other down for a few moments before Senna broke the awkward silence.

"So, we've decided you'll get 5% of the profits from today's car wash." Senna stated, prepared to barter since Orihime would obviously want a bigger cut of the profits.

"Okay." Orihime replied. Senna blinked confusingly.

'She's really not going to demand more? What is she playing at? That sweet act may work on Ichigo but it is not going to work on me.' The ASB president thought. She managed to keep the suspicion out of her voice as she addressed the beauty queen again. "Alright then. Your main job is going to be getting people in here. So I need you to change into your bathing suit and go stand near the intersection."

Orihime nodded cheerfully. "Okay. I'll get right on it." The auburn haired beauty queen carefully removed her sash and then pulled her yellow dress over her head. After adjusting her lime green bikini to make sure she wasn't exposing too much cleavage, she put her 'Miss Teen Karakura' sash back on. She carefully folded her dress and then vainly searched for someplace to leave her dress.

Senna's arms quickly shot out. "Oh, I can take care of that."

Orihime handed Senna the dress. "Thank you." The beauty queen chimed before turning away.

Orihime missed the malicious look Senna gave her before she replied "No problem."

II.

"Soooo…. I think I'm in love with you."

Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably and tried to reposition the 'Karakura Car Wash' poster she was carrying to cover her body. 'Thank you?" She replied.

"I'm serious. You're absolutely beautiful. Perfect. You should be Miss Universe!" The teenage boy continued his unwanted praise.

Moments after Orihime had arrived at the intersection, a freshman on his way to class had pulled up on his bicycle and started talking to her. Now, 25 minutes later, he was still talking. Orihime checked the clock as she absentmindedly nodded at whatever her admirer was talking about. 8:00. School would probably be starting soon so hopefully he would go away.

Suddenly, cars were streaming into the high school parking lot. Orihime watched several students as they walked into the school, laughing and joking with their friends. The pretty teenager sighed sadly. 'I'm really missing out on a lot by not going to high school. Will I even be able to get into college? I think I used to be smart, but I haven't learned anything in the last two years.'

Orihime was pulled out of her worrisome thoughts when she spotted a familiar green motorcycle. Ichigo screeched to a stop once he was right beside the sidewalk where Orihime was waving in traffic. He removed his helmet before glaring menacingly at Orihime's freshman admirer.

"What are you looking at?"

The freshman, who had been admiring how well Orihime filled her bikini top, finally noticed the new arrival. He glared right back at Ichigo. "What's it to you?"

"I don't like the way you're looking at her."

The freshman must have heard the unsaid threat in Ichigo's voice, because he quickly pedaled away from the red headed couple.

Ichigo continued to glare after the freshman until he was out of sight. His angry demeanor dissolved immediately once he turned to face his girlfriend. "Hey beautiful."

Orihime blushed before softly replying "Hi."

Ichigo glanced at her from head to toe, causing her to blush once again. "Is that the same bikini from the pageant?"

Orihime glanced down at her lime green bikini. "It is. I thought it would be a good idea since I'm here as Miss Teen Karakura and all."

Ichigo nodded. "Makes sense. And you look really good. Almost too good considering how many guys are going to be driving by here." Both teens were suddenly startled by the sound of the five-minute warning bell.

Ichigo waited for the bell to stop ringing before speaking again. "So, are you excited we're finally going to be able to spend some time together soon?"

"Ichigo-kun, as much as I want to talk to you, I don't want you to be late for class because of me. What if you got kicked out of school for truancy? Without a high school degree, you wouldn't be able to get a job or make a living. Then your father would be so disappointed he would kick you out of the house. Of course, all this being my fault, you would resent me and plot with all the other homeless people to get revenge and…"

"Orihime, you're rambling again." Ichigo interrupted with a fond smirk aimed in her direction. "I'll see you later." He put his helmet on again and revved his engine before leaving to search for a parking space.

III.

Three and a half hours later, the car wash was finally drawing to a close. For Orihime, it had been a long and exhausting day and the only thing that was keeping her going was the knowledge that she would get to spend some quality time with Ichigo. Senna had been on a power trip all day and the ASB president seemed to take particular delight out of torturing Orihime.

First, Senna had decided Orihime should wear heels instead of her comfortable flip-flops because 'it presented more of a beauty queen image'. Next, Senna had decided that simply holding the car wash sign and smiling by the intersection wasn't enough. She instructed Orihime to bounce and be enthusiastic in order to attract more attention. This had definitely worked, and there had been several near car accidents caused by distracted male drivers.

Toward the end of the car wash, Tatsuki had finally rescued her from the intersection and Orihime began to wash the cars with the other students. This had been a lot of fun at first because she got to hang out with Tatsuki and meet some of the other students. The beauty queen's fun was over when Senna came over and asked Orihime to help her count the money.

For the last hour, the two girls had been sitting at a picnic table outside the school in an uncomfortable silence as they counted the car wash profits. Orihime hated awkward silences, and she would have made an attempt to ease the awkwardness if it wasn't for the hostile looks Senna kept giving her.

'I don't get it. Is this about Ichigo-kun? From what Tatsuki said, Senna is the one that broke up with him. I guess some girls are just really possessive.' Orihime thought.

Moments later, Senna finally broke the silence. "It's not going to work."

Orihime stopped counting and looked up at Senna. "Excuse me?"

"You and Ichigo. It's not going to work."

"Well, I don't want to be rude, but it's really none of your business." Orihime countered angrily.

Senna continued on as if Orihime hadn't said anything. "At first, he is really sweet and everything is going great. But eventually, his true nature takes over. He's super jealous, possessive, and he honestly thrives on conflict."

Orihime really wanted to ignore Senna, but some of the things she was saying were ringing too close to home.

"Do you know why I broke up with him? He cheated on me."

Orihime couldn't hide her startled gasp.

"Everything was going great, at least I thought it was going great, and then all of a sudden I found out he was seeing someone else behind my back. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Your days are numbered." Senna concluded with a smug smile. Senna went back to counting the money as if nothing had happened.

"Hime! Are you done yet? Lunch is about to start and I was about to go meet the gang." Tatsuki said as she approached the two girls.

Orihime quickly finished counting her stack of money. She really needed to see Ichigo. "Yeah, I'm done. Let me just put on my dress and then we can go." Orihime began looking around for her dress before she remembered she had given it to Senna. "Senna, do you know what happened to my dress?"

Senna feigned surprise. "I left your dress right here at this table. You don't see it anywhere?"

"Really Senna? Are you really this immature? Give Orihime her dress back." Tatsuki demanded.

"I just said I don't have it." Senna insisted.

Orihime crossed her arms over her bikini top in an attempt to cover herself up. "I can't walk into the school like this."

Tatsuki gripped her friend's arm and led her toward the school. "We'll find you something to wear."

IV.

Orihime gleefully skipped through the halls of the school building as Tatsuki walked beside her. Students glanced at the beauty queen curiously as they hurried outside to meet their groups for lunch.

"Don't look too happy Orihime. People might get suspicious. It is the first day back to school since Spring Break. No one else is going to be skipping through the halls." Tatsuki explained.

Orihime stopped her skipping but there was still a happy bounce in her step. "I can't help it. I'm so excited to see everyone! And I really like this school uniform! It's cute!"

"I can't believe they actually had a uniform in your size. You are pretty top heavy." Tatsuki commented.

"I'm just glad the administrators were nice enough to let me borrow it!" Orihime said.

The beauty queen felt great. She was surrounded by people her age, she was about to see her boyfriend, and wearing the school uniform made her feel as if she belonged. Orihime hadn't realized how much she missed school before stepping into the building. It was just so great to be able to pretend that she was a normal Japanese teenager.

"Hime!" Orihime spun around at the sudden yell of her name.

Tatsuki was pointing to a staircase. "We always eat on the roof."

V.

"You know Inoue, I've been going to this school for over two years now and I've never seen that uniform look better on anyone else. Ever." Keigo claimed as he blatantly undressed Orihime with his eyes.

Before Orihime could formulate a response, Ichigo had socked Keigo in the jaw. As Keigo crumbled to the ground and groaned in pain, everyone went back to their previous conversations as if nothing had happened.

The newly reunited group had been enjoying lunch for the last 20 minutes. Rukia, Renji, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Ishida and of course Ichigo were all happy to see Orihime. Everyone had congratulated her on her win before they got back to their normal everyday lunch topics.

As much as Orihime was enjoying being around her friends again and feeling like she was a part of the group, she was extremely bothered by what Senna had said. If Ichigo cheated on Senna, would he cheat on her? With all her pageant commitments, they would be long distance most of the time and she would have to be able to trust him. Could she trust him?

VI.

Ichigo had been watching Orihime closely since she arrived on the rooftop. Actually, he had been watching her all day. His assigned seat was right beside the window so he had a prime view of the parking lot. At first, he had been watching her because he wanted to make sure none of the male students got too close to her. Many guys did approach her, but she always managed to get rid of them fairly quickly.

Once he realized he didn't have to worry about her, he continued to watch her just because he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. His ever-present scowl melted from his face as he watched his girlfriend start a water fight with Tatsuki as they washed the cars. What had he ever done to deserve someone so wonderful? His scowl returned full force once he saw Senna approach the girls and lead Orihime away. They went around the building and Ichigo lost sight of the two girls. Although he couldn't see anything, he knew this was definitely bad news.

Now as he watched Orihime talk with Rukia and Ishida as they all enjoyed lunch, his bad feelings about her conversation with Senna were completely validated. He could tell she was having a good time with her new friends, but whenever she thought no one was watching her, the smile would immediately leave her face and she would become lost in her own thoughts. Something was obviously bothering her and he was definitely going to get to the bottom of it.

The bell signaling that it was time to go back to class rung all too soon. Orihime looked especially disappointed since this meant the end of her reunion with the people she now considered close friends.

"Do you think the teacher would mind if Orihime sat in on the class?" Rukia asked after noticing the disappointed look on Orihime's face.

"I doubt it. Besides, we could tell her education is part of your pageant platform so you have to observe the typical Japanese classroom environment." Renji commented.

"So it's decided then! You can sit next to me Inoue. There aren't any open desks around me, but you are more than welcome to sit on my lap. " Keigo suggested.

"Not a chance in hell." Ichigo replied threateningly.

VII.

Orihime ended up sitting in a vacant desk beside Tatsuki. While all the other students seemed to be bored out of their minds as they listened to the teacher drone on and on about WWII, Orihime was fascinated. The beauty queen hadn't realized how much she honestly missed learning.

The time seemed to fly by and before she knew it the bell signaling the end of the school day rang and the students streamed out of class. Soon, Orihime, Ichigo, and the teacher were the only people left in the classroom.

Ichigo tentatively approached his girlfriend and intertwined their fingers. She jumped at the sudden contact but tried to hide her uneasiness. But he definitely noticed. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze and tried to ignore how painful it was that she was clearly so uncomfortable around him.

"Ready to go?" He asked. She nodded meekly and allowed him to guide her out of the classroom and to his motorcycle.

Ichigo drove in silence and concentrated on the road as Orihime contemplated Senna's words and kept a tight grip on Ichigo as he swerved in and out of traffic. Eventually, the red headed couple reached their destination but the awkward silence persisted.

The beauty queen took off her helmet and handed it to her boyfriend who secured both helmets to the motorcycle before reaching for her hand.

"So, where are we?" Orihime finally asked in order to soothe the tension that was quickly mounting between them.

"Karakura Fair. It's in town for the next few weeks and I figured that you've probably never been." Ichigo answered.

"A fair! How exciting! I actually have been to the Karakura Fair before. My brother took me once when I was 4 or 5. I remember it being so much fun!"

Ichigo smiled at his girlfriend's enthusiasm and the fact that she seemed to be forgetting about whatever was bothering her earlier. Now all he could hope was that the date would continue to go well.

A/N: Sorry the ending of the chapter is so abrupt, I meant to add more but it could take forever for me to get around to it so I'm just going to upload what I have. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted! It really inspired me to find time to finish this chapter just because I don't want to keep you guys waiting! Also, if 3 more people favorite this, it will be my most favorited story ever! So please review and favorite! Until next time...