Chapter Twelve: Storm of Regret
After everyone cleared out from the harbor of Domino City, Penelope's friends headed out to Duke's game shop for an after party, but Penelope wanted to stay behind to see Seto.
She wanted so much to tell him the horrible things that Bakura was making her do, but with the threat of loosing him hanging in the air, she couldn't risk that. He made his way over to her and held her in his arms.
"Nice dueling out there," Penelope said. "I just wish you would've won."
"Hmph. Next time I'll crush Yugi," he said with his usual cockiness. Penelope sighed and brought him towards her and kissed him. It felt good to be back in his arms. Seto deepened the kiss and ran his fingers through her hair, leaving gentle kisses along her jaw line. For a moment they stared into each other's eyes and then Seto held her tighter against him. He was grateful to have her back unharmed (at least he was hoping so) and away from Bakura's evil clutches.
"Are you okay? I almost thought I lost you for good." Penelope looked up at him and smiled faintly, all the things he said to Mokuba rushing through her mind. He had told his brother she meant nothing to him and didn't want to be with her-but hopefully the two of them could sort these things out.
"Yeah," she said softly. Seto's eyes hardened and he tilted her chin so she was looking up into his sapphire eyes.
"Did he hurt you?" he asked her with worry in his expression.
"No. I had to duel against him to get away. But he said he'll be coming back to find me."
"He's not going to lay a finger on you as long as I'm around," he said with reassurance in his voice.
'If only you knew what you were up against,' she thought. But as far as it went, he believed her lie and hoped that she could find a way to get out of working for Bakura.
The two teens walked through the harbor together, the sky beginning to deepen to a dark blue. The area was quiet with the exception of a cars driving down the road nearby.
"So are you going to the party at Duke's game shop?" Penelope asked him.
"I wasn't planning on it. I don't want to sound harsh but I often feel like some of your friends probably wouldn't approve of us."
"So you don't want them to know yet?"
"Let's wait a little bit longer." Penelope sighed.
"I guess you're right. But I have to ask you something."
"Of course."
"Why did you tell Mokuba I meant nothing to you?" Seto was rather surprised she would say such a thing.
"Did I say that?"
"I overheard you two talking and when Mokuba asked if you liked me, you said you didn't want to have anything to do with me."
Seto sighed. Mokuba didn't need to know about every little detail that went on in his life, but he didn't think Penelope actually heard him say that. He didn't mean it that way.
"I never meant it like that."
"Really? Because I'm starting to think that you don't want to tell anyone about us because you don't want to admit that you like me?" Her tone was starting to get more abrasive by the second as the two teens began to argue.
"That I like you? You want me to tell people that I like you is that what this is about?"
"No," she argued back. "I'm just really pissed off that after all that time we spent together during the tournament that you want nothing to do with me!"
"You know it wasn't like that," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Really? Well you did! I'm sorry Seto, but I don't think we should see each other for a while."
"Good. Then I don't have to deal with you," he said turning on his heel and walking away. Penelope went the other way, angry that he wouldn't admit that what he felt for her was real.
'I just hope he wasn't using me.' During the tournament they had gotten very close and if they had stayed together longer then it would only have been a short time before they would decided to have sex. It was possible that he could have been using her, but she didn't think so.
"Tonight I'm just going to forget about him and have fun."
Later that night Penelope met up with Stephanie at her house where they got dressed up for Duke's party. Stephanie had styled her hair into a cute bob and was wearing a neon blue t-shirt with a pair of sunglasses on it and a pair of acid washed jeans and neon colored sneakers that went above her ankles. Penelope put on another one of the outfits Natalie bought her-this one being a one shouldered dark green top with sequins on it and a pair of black shorts that showed a lot of leg. On her feet she wore her black sneakers instead of the high heels her sister suggested. She would feel way to out of place if she put on a pair of shoes that looked like something a stripper would wear.
Tonight her hair was down but instead of being curly it was styled into soft beautiful waves.
"Wow, you look like one of the Kardashians," Stephanie said commenting on Penelope's look.
"Ugh. My sister watches that show. You know I don't watch TV."
"Sorry. I was just saying that you looked pretty. In fact, you look way prettier than they do."
Penelope smiled and the two girls headed out of Stephanie's house and into the front yard where Tristan was waiting to pick them up in his mom's van.
"One part gin, vodka, tequila, white rum, cointreau, some lemon juice, and a little bit of cola. There. That's how you make Long Island Iced Tea," Mai said helping Duke pour the bottles of alcohol into the punch bowl.
"Thanks for buying the alcohol, Mai," Duke said taking the empty bottles and putting them in a trash bag. "No problem, hon. It always pays to have a fake ID," she said with a wink. The infamous Duke Devlin was famous not only for creating Dungeon Dice Monsters, but for throwing the craziest parties-all while his parents are out of town. When Duke wasn't running a game shop he was the DJ at the school dances and even went to a few college frat parties to DJ there as well.
The shelves were moved out of the way to make room for dancing, the tables were covered in food and refreshments, including the "iced tea" that Mai made. There was a booth where Duke's equipment was set up, and there was a disco ball and flashing lights set up around the room.
"So what do you have for tunes?" Mai asked him.
"Let's see, I've got some pop for the ladies, some rock for the guys, and for Serenity-I've got Taylor Swift."
"Still trying to get with Serenity?" Mai said sighing.
"Yeah, why?"
"I'm sorry Duke, but she's just too nice. She's a good girl and she deserves a nice guy."
"I am a nice guy!"
"Preferably someone who hasn't slept with half the girls at school," Mai said making her point even more valid.
"Whatever. I think everyone's coming in now. Time to work my magic," he said leaving the booth and heading outside to greet nearly half the school. Within twenty minutes everyone was already starting mingle, Duke was playing some easy listening and Joey and Tristan were trying the iced tea.
"Hey Steph, you should try this stuff it's really good," Joey said handing her his cup.
"Sure." She took a sip. "Whoa. This is really good. What is this stuff anyway?"
"I think it's iced tea, but I 'aint never tasted no iced tea like this."
"Joey there's alcohol in that!" Tea said alarmed by his stupidity. "You need to be careful or you're going to get sick."
"Aw, chill out Tea. Why don't you have some too?"
"No thanks," she said. "I didn't come here to get drunk off my ass tonight. Besides, we have school on Tuesday. I need to finish my homework tomorrow."
"Tea is right Joey," Yugi said. "Don't have too many of those."
"Don't worry Yugi, I'll keep an eye on him," Tristan said patting Joey on the back.
"Hey Penelope, did you want some?" Stephanie asked her. The cup was held out to her, and Penelope hesitated for a moment.
Then Seto's face flashed in her mind.
Don't do that. You'll regret it.
Penelope ignored his voice in her head and took the cup and chugged the rest of it. Everyone around her cheered and then a loud pulsing beat began to play and she went out to the dance floor and Stephanie quickly followed her out.
"Well, let's go!" Tea said grabbing Yugi and running out towards the dance floor.
"Yes! Let's jerk!" Joey shouted taking Tristan with him and jerking (badly). With all of the excitement going on, Penelope was definitely forgetting all about Kaiba. After a few more drinks, she started to really loosen up to the point that she was dancing with just about anyone. After growing bored of dancing around with some random guy, she made her way over to the DJ booth, where Duke was playing some rap music. Duke looked up and instantly remembered the tall orchid-haired beauty from the tournament.
"Well hey there Penelope. Are you enjoying the party?"
"Hell yes I am," she said loudly. "I am totally loving the iced tea too." Duke raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Well thanks, I made it myself. So are you here to request a song?"
"YouhaveanySevendust?" she said slurring her words together.
"Sevendust? Sure thing." He put one of their songs on and Penelope started cheering loudly and Duke decided to use this opportunity to steal a dance with her.
"Wanna dance?" he asked her.
"Sure!" she said grabbing him. Soon they were dancing really close together, so close that their bodies were touching. Duke couldn't help but stare at her body, taking in her tall frame and her shimmering turquoise eyes. Penelope thought he wasn't too bad looking either. She heard rumors that he was a player, a guy that could get any girl he wanted to do anything for him-but that didn't stop her from having a good time with him. After a couple heavy rock songs, Duke and Penelope hung out in the DJ booth and within a few minutes they were making out.
"Big brother, were are you going?"
"I've got to go do some business," Seto said buttoning up his black button down shirt.
"Isn't it kind of late?" he asked looking at the clock. It read 11 o'clock at night. "Are you going to Duke's party because Penelope is there?"
"I already told you there is nothing going on between us," he insisted.
Mokuba rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say Seto. But like I said before, I think you should give her a chance. You could use a girlfriend."
"I don't have time."
"You had plenty of time in the dining room."
"You saw us?" Seto said with shock. Mokuba blushed.
"Yeah…and I want to meet her. You should invite her over sometime."
"No. Now I'm leaving." He left his room and left the house. He got into his Ferrari and drove to Duke's game shop.
When he walked into the party, everyone was partying hard. Girls were dancing in groups grinding up against the guys, other kids were taking shots or chugging beer, Joey and Tristan were playing beer pong, Yugi was dancing in a crowd of girls, and Tea and Stephanie were taking shots of vodka with Mai Valentine.
"This isn't a party, it's a three-ring circus," he mumbled. He made his way through the crowd and bumped into Bakura and Serenity, Joey's sister. They appeared to be the only ones that were sober among all the partying teenagers.
"Oh hello Kaiba, fancy seeing you here," Bakura said in his usual cheerful demeanor. Serenity gave him a friendly smile. He could tell both of them were very uncomfortable being here, and probably stuck together in hopes of avoiding the pressure of getting drunk like everyone else.
"Have you guys seen Penelope anywhere?"
"Yeah, I think she was hanging out with Duke Devlin a minute ago."
Seto felt his blood begin to boil. What could that pretty boy possibly want with her?
"Thanks," he said. He left the two quiet teens and when he got to the DJ booth he didn't see anyone except for Chris Fulton, Penelope's younger brother playing the music with a cigarette in his mouth.
"Hey Kaiba! What's up my man?"
"Where's your sister?"
"I don't know. I just got here with Natalie. I saw that the DJ booth was unmanned so I decided to crank out some Afroman."
Seto grumbled and decided to continue his search in finding Penelope. It was likely that Duke was probably taking advantage of her at this very moment and he would have to get her out ASAP.
Seto walked through the crowd and eventually bumped into Natalie who was dancing with a pack of girls.
"Natalie, can I talk to you for a minute?" Natalie turned around. She was dressed in a electric blue strapless dress with black high heels that made her look like a runway model.
"Sure. What's the problem?"
"I had a fight with your sister."
"Uh oh. What did you do?"
"She heard me talking to Mokuba. He asked me if I was interested in her and I said no." Natalie glared at him.
"You can't say those things around her, no matter who it is your talking to. Her ex did that to her after she slept with him and next thing you know she quit the cheerleading squad and started dressing in black."
"She quit because of her ex? I thought she quit because she didn't like cheerleading anymore.
""Who told you that?"
"The girls at her old school?"
"They don't know shit. What you need to do now is apologize to her."
"You're kidding right?"
"No I'm not. Listen Kaiba, I've seen what that guy has done to my sister and I don't want you to hurt her either."
"Fine. But I still have to find her first."
"Alright then, let's go find her." Natalie followed him through the game shop and Seto decided to head to the back room. Seto found that it was unlocked and when he opened the door his heart sank and started to break.
Penelope and Duke were heavily making out, half dressed and Duke was straddling her over a table panting heavily. Penelope broke away from Duke and her face turned completely white when she saw Seto and her sister Natalie standing in the doorway.
'How am I going to explain myself now?'
Well there you have it! Chapter twelve is done. The rating is still at T unless I decided to add a lemon later. Not sure yet about that. But all I know is that there is going to be tons more drama coming up. Stay tuned!
(And don't forget to review...come on...you know you want to. I might just put in the lemon if you do...)
