Fade Away My Memories Chapter 12

Lise: that last chapter was sad…

ME: sorry! I am saying that a lot…Anyway, I meant for it to be like that…

Yusei: I thought it was good…and pretty awkward near the end…

ME: it gets better! Then worse…than better again!

Yusei and Lise: what?

ME: you'll see

Yusei: okay…

Lise: all right…

ME: okay, I do NOT own 5Ds! This is for fun!

/

December break was coming up. It'd been almost a month since the library incident and Lise still hadn't said a word to me. I'm dead serious. It was like I'd broken something inside her that refused to heal…Maybe I hadn't broken anything but there was definitely a change.

Lise had been pretty excited when Mayoko announced at dinner last night we were spending Christmas break in Hawaii. Now that was going to be fun. I'd never been to America but both Lise and Mayoko could speak English just as well as Japanese. Nobody knew how to speak Hawaiian…Oh, and when Mayoko says 'everyone' she means everyone; so Akiza, Fish, Leo, Luna, Jack, Kalin, Crow and maybe a few others are coming too. Mayoko said the trip had something to do with work…

That day the lunch room was just as packed as it usually is. I was late to join the crowd because…well…apparently I'm failing Language Arts…I had to talk with my teacher about the whole thing and I still have no idea how to pass the class. I can tell my teacher's worried though. She's bothered that I've gone through almost the entire first semester without any assignment grading higher than a C.

Anyway, I joined the very, very long lines to snag a lunch. By the time I got through the lines and paid, lunch was half over. That and my stomach was most likely eating itself.

With a quick scan of the room, I spotted Lise's group of friends and headed towards them. The second I was close enough to sit down Hiro came out of nowhere and latched onto my arm.

"Hi Yusei!" she chirped, flashing me a bubble gum and lipstick grin. I showed no interest in Hiro's hello. She squeezed my arm tighter as Fish and Akiza shot her death glares. Hiro ignored them; "Wanna sit with me and my friends instead? Sometimes it gets tiring to sit by losers…" At her last comment she directed a nasty smile to the side of Lise's face. Lise had never looked up throughout the whole ordeal as she hurriedly twirled her chopsticks in her food.

"Um…" I muttered, looking to Lise for any sign that she wanted me to stay. "Is that okay?"

Finally, she said something. "Just do what you want…I'm not your mom…I don't care…"

My bad mood just fell lower. "Okay…" I said and let Hiro lead me away.

Hiro smirked triumphantly and set me down next to another guy in her exclusive group. The only other boy was blond and had dark brown arrogant looking eyes. He smirked at me too. "Sup?" he greeted.

"Hi," I said shortly. There was nothing I wanted to talk about right now.

The guy didn't seem to get the message. "You're Yusei right? I'm Maro Danno. Hiro's my girlfriend. You got a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Maybe Hiro can set you up with a girl. There's plenty here," Maro gestured to the table full of Hiro's robots.

"No," I repeated and ate my lunch to avoid further conversation.

Maro shrugged. "Suit yourself. Hey, are you good at math?"

I nodded and finished off what was left of my quickly disappearing lunch.

"Can you help me with my math stuff? I'm failing Math, and so is Hiro." He smirked again. "We're in the same Math class."

"Look, I don't have time for this," I cut in. I frowned angrily, stood up and dumped my empty tray in the nearby garbage before getting out of there as fast as I could.

"Dude, chill wouldja?" Maro shouted after me as I walked out of the lunchroom. I ignored him.

/

"I can't believe her," Fish growled. She eyed her chocolate chip cookie like it was a rather disgusting piece of crap she'd found stuck to her shoe.

"I wonder if Hiro knows Yusei isn't interested in her," Akiza said, one of her eyebrows raised curiously.

I already knew the answer to that. Hiro's mind wasn't hard to read and right now she was pretty happy. Happy isn't exactly the right word…I'd say…hmmm…Haughty maybe…

"One day I really wanna freeze the insides of that bitch…" Fish declared. She bit a large piece out of her cookie and chewed it thoughtfully.

Akiza laughed. "That'll be the day, huh?"

I stared at my lunch. My Mom had packed me beef fried rice today…one of my favorites…and she'd even remembered to leave out the crummy vegetables…If only my life was like that. I could pick out all the dumb, stupid, parts and just be with the great parts…

"Earth to Lise!"

"Hello? Is there anybody in there?" Fish tapped on my head.

I smiled half-heartedly and pushed her hand away. "I'm here. Did I miss something?"

"Are you okay? You seem…I dunno…sad?" Akiza's big soft brown eyes were filled with concern.

"I know you're a space cadet but this is too much," Fish joked.

"I just have a lot on my mind…" I said vaguely.

Automatically my two best friends knew I wasn't telling them the whole story. Now they were in detective mode.

"Oh really…"

"Like?"

I felt my face getting hotter. "Um…"

"Cuz if it's juicy, you better spill…"

"Because we have ways of making you talk…"

I laughed and shook my head. "If I tell you guys will you promise not to tell anybody else?" My hands started to feel sweaty. Was I really going to tell them this?

"Promise," both girls said in unison. Their faces had no traces of silliness left in them.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. My face was boiling now. "I…um…last night…no! last month…um…I…no…Yusei…Yusei told me he loved me…" I blurted.

"HE WHAT!" Fish exploded.

"No way!" Akiza's mouth was wide open.

"Guys, be quiet!" I told them.

"Okay, okay, but…really? Wow…lucky you!" Akiza grinned and gave me the thumbs up.

Fish remained silent and glared over at Hiro's table.

"I don't feel very lucky…" I admitted. "I sorta…freaked out…and ran away…"

"So that's why you two haven't been talking," Akiza realized.

"Should I beat him up?" Fish suggested.

I shook my head no again. There was NO way I could tell them he was actually living with me too!

"Well…I think it all comes down to one question."

"It does?" I asked just as Fish said "There is?"

Akiza nodded. "The question is; 'do you love him back?'"

I stared at my friends; my BEST friends. Akiza looked serene and encouraging. Fish appeared suspicious and protective. I sighed and twirled my hair through my fingers. "I…I don't know…"

My red-haired friend nodded. "Then you need to find that out for yourself. Hawaii should help with that!" Her big smile made it seem so much simpler than my complicated feelings were making it… I watched Yusei's retreating back as walked out of the lunchroom ten minutes before the bell was supposed to ring…