Chapter Twenty: Early Retreat
Bulma sighed and put her hands on her hips. Vegeta was still emanating flashes of golden heat from his body and Sharpner had left them alone over ten minutes ago. Luckily for Goku, and Vegeta and his big secret, no one was around but the two of them.
The bell was about to ring, indicating that lunch would be over. But Vegeta didn't seem to notice anything but himself. He was so absorbed in his own anger. Bulma was beginning to think that he disremembered the simple fact that she was walking behind him as he headed for his locker. She guessed that his lunch was either finished or overlooked because he never even made a move to show that he might go back to the cafeteria.
His fists at his sides, Vegeta stomped up to his locker and turned the lock to put in his combination. Bulma had the urge to check what it was over his shoulder, but didn't dare take the chance that he might snap at her. His anger was in a compressed bottle. All he had to do was unscrew the cap a bit and he would certainly explode. She just had to wait for him to fizzle out.
It had been a surprise to see Vegeta use such force, but the whole Chastity story wasn't making all that much sense to Bulma. She didn't even know who the girl was or what had happened to her. Or, most importantly, what did she mean to Vegeta? Was she an old friend, an ex-girlfriend or just someone who Vegeta met on the street one day? Bulma knew her curiosity had been spiked, but that wasn't good enough. She wanted answers. And the worst part about it was that her answer guru was currently not speaking with her, and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about a possible-ex of Vegeta's with Vegeta. It wasn't just risky. It was suicide.
Vegeta kicked his locker when it didn't open the first time. Bulma jumped and touched her chest with a hand to try and slow her heart down a bit. She watched as her dream boy attempted to put in his combo again.
Then the bell rang and Vegeta let out a low growl. After another few seconds, his locker popped open and Bulma couldn't help but release a quiet sigh of relief for the poor metal door.
She, too, had to go to her locker. It was down the hallway, but then she had to come back to get to her History class. If she wanted to make it on time, she would have to get to her locker sometime soon. She decided that Vegeta wasn't paying any attention to her anyway, so she turned and started off.
The halls instantly began filling with people from classes and from the lunchroom. She didn't see anyone familiar, so she stiffened her shoulders and hoped that she wouldn't get knocked over in the stampede. When she made it to her locker, she felt like slumping to the ground and taking a short snooze, but she didn't have the time for anything like that. She put in her three-number combination, grabbed her books and bags and slammed the locker closed with force. It slammed and she satisfyingly made her way back down the hallway. She noticed Goku's spiky hair up ahead, but he was too far away for her to even try to catch up with him. And she wouldn't want to meet up with Chichi by accident as well, so she wouldn't have made the attempt had he been two steps away.
In one second, Bulma was looking around at all the unfamiliar faces, and in the next second, she was walking next to Vegeta. Or he was walking next to her. But either way, it had still been unexpected on her part. She didn't think he had been paying any attention to where she was.
"I'm sorry about before," she said, getting her apology out of the way before something else happened. And she didn't want to make a scene in History class either. She couldn't wait to be in a class with Vegeta, Sharpner and Yamcha. Ugh. It was going to be the worst part of her entire day. She could just feel it.
"For what?" Vegeta asked, not turning to her. Bulma thought he would have known. It hadn't been that long ago that she had yelled at him. Maybe he thought she had been joking.
"For saying that you couldn't stay at my house anymore. I didn't mean it. I don't want you to have to sleep outside. So I take back what I said."
"All of it?"
Bulma paused. Was there something she wasn't getting? Why would he ask that unless she had said something else during her tirade? She racked her brain for the memory and recalled saying that she didn't want to be anything but friends with him. She had also been confused enough to say that friends was a bit of a stretch. She didn't mean that either. And she knew that this was definitely more difficult for him than it was for her. This planet was her home. She didn't know what she would do if she was in his shoes. It would be rough for her to admit that she would never see her parents or friends again. She felt like she was starting to get where he was coming from. And she knew that the best thing she could do right now was to be gentle with his head.
"Yes," she replied. "All of it." It was a simple enough answer and it got the message across relatively easy.
"I don't want you talking to Sharpner anymore," he said, and Bulma couldn't help but realize that it had come out quickly. It wasn't as fluid as when Vegeta usually spoke to her. It was different and she knew that it wasn't the type of thing he was used to saying.
"Why not?" she asked. Knowing very well that the competition between the two boys was unmistakable, she knew that it was the wrong thing to say. But she couldn't help but take a neutral stance. She wasn't going to favor Vegeta's side of the argument. She didn't even know what happened to the girl. And as far as she was concerned, Sharpner had been very nice to her when no one talked to her and all people did were point and stare at her. Even Vegeta hadn't been there for her.
"Did you hear me, woman?" Vegeta asked. They stopped outside the History classroom. Bulma had paused when she noticed that Vegeta wasn't going to enter until he got what he wanted, and she didn't just want to turn away from him. "I guess you didn't get my point. Don't talk to him anymore. If you can help it, avoid that bastard altogether."
"Vegeta, he never did anything to me. Why are you so defensive? I understand that maybe things between you two aren't all peachy, but that doesn't mean that you have to drag me into it all. I don't want to be involved in your feud with Sharpner. I want to be able to make the decision of whether or not he's a good guy or not on my own. That's not too much to ask."
"Why would you want to find out for yourself if I'm giving you the answer right now?" Vegeta asked sarcastically. Bulma wondered why every conversation they had always involved an argument. And the sardonic expression that was currently on Vegeta's face always seemed to pop up when they spoke with one another. "Think of this as something beneficial for him, then."
"What are you talking about?"
"If you don't stay away from him, then I'll kill him. So think of you obeying my request as protecting his life. Although in this case, I would much rather you try and speak with him again. And I'll even throw in a warning. I'm not giving you second chances, woman. You speak to him once and I'll rip his head off his shoulders. And don't think I can't do it, because you know I can."
"Are you seriously telling me that your alien powers are now blackmailing me?"
"No, I'm telling you that my Saiyan abilities are no match for a pathetic Earthling. And I'm even offering to show you what I mean by ridding myself of the most annoying Earthling on this putrid planet. All you have to do is walk up to him and open that loud mouth of yours."
"Excuse me? I started talking to you to apologize for what I said before and now you're insulting me? You're a joke."
"Maybe I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, woman. Did you ever think of that?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her chin raising ever-so-slightly in rebelliousness.
"You're making both Kakarot and my life a living hell. That's what it means! The fucking raven is going to be the death of us, I swear!"
"Chichi…?" Bulma said, trailing off. Geez, did everyone know about what was going on between them? Was Vegeta aware of why they weren't talking?
But before her face could turn red, as usual, Vegeta shoved her inside the classroom and as she was about to turn around to demand to know what his problem was, the bell rang, signaling the start of their History class. Everyone else in their seats, including Mr. Gohan, were looking at her, awaiting her to take her seat. She sighed in defeat, feeling her face heat up anyway.
Vegeta walked past her with an annoyed look on his face and Bulma put her head down and followed him to two conveniently-placed desks, side-by-side in the middle of the classroom. Bulma just knew that some people were out to get her when Sharpner was sitting in the desk to her right and Yamcha was behind Vegeta, who had taken his seat on the leftmost desk. Bulma placed her notebook and textbook on her tan desk and set her bags down under her blue, metal chair. The metal beams uncomfortably made it so that anyone who sat in the chair wouldn't be able to stretch or move freely.
"Hey, Bulma," Sharpner said quickly and chirpily, but his tone and the way his eyes flicked back and forth proved that he was only trying to taunt Vegeta. Bulma sighed at her own insolence. Vegeta had been right. Vegeta was always right. She looked down at her yellow pencil and didn't respond. Even if he wasn't such a nice guy, she didn't want Vegeta to kill him because of some stupid pronouncement he had made to her. She wouldn't wish death on anyone, not even a boy like Sharpner.
Vegeta didn't even flinch at Sharpner's taunt. It was as if he didn't hear anything.
Mr. Gohan pulled out his chair with a loud squeak from the metal scraping against the tiled floor, stood and walked to the front of the room. He grabbed a piece of chalk and removed his glasses, facing the class.
Bulma wasn't listening as he began to give a lecture on problems in Europe right before America was discovered, but she opened her notebook to give the illusion that his words weren't going in one ear and coming out the other without a second thought. In fact, she didn't even have a first thought about anything he was saying. All she could seem to focus on was the electric pulses going through her because she was between two thunderstorms. Although, she had to admit that Vegeta's electricity was just about tangible while Sharpner's was mostly in her mind, to counter the intoxicating effect Vegeta was having on her. She mentally shook her head with force, unwillingly thinking about testosterone.
"Hey, Erasa," Sharpner said to a blonde girl on his right. "You want to know what I saw last period in the hallway?" Erasa didn't respond, but Bulma was paying full attention to his following words. Sharpner couldn't know about Goku and Vegeta, so he would just be spreading more false rumors… Wouldn't he?
"Last period, Vegeta got a little angry, and I saw those sparks again," he said, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't get caught by Mr. Gohan. "You know, the ones from the party? But these were even flashier. It was like a big light show in the middle of Orange Star High. You should have seen it. It was almost… inhuman. Maybe we could ask Vegeta to do it again for us, huh? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
Bulma listened as more people focused on what Sharpner was saying. They wouldn't believe such things, would they? She would have never believed it in a million years if she hadn't witnessed it on her own. First was when he saved her from the fire in the school. It seemed like forever ago now, but he had ripped the door from its hinges when she couldn't even make it budge. The other times were when he had her against the wall in Chichi's bedroom and when he had her on the couch in her very own living room. If she couldn't feel his power then, then she would have had to be the stupidest person on the planet.
But now that she thought about it, she'd never seen him actually do anything worth mentioning besides opening a door that was stuck. She thought about it all being a lie, but she knew that wasn't true. She could feel his energy when they were alone in her house. She could feel his heat when he got emotionally charged, whether it be anger or excitement that got him going. But either way, she knew.
More people began to look in Vegeta's direction and Bulma felt like lashing out at Sharpner with her sharp nails. She looked down at her hands. Her nails weren't just long, but rough. She had chipped a few earlier in the day, so they were jagged along some of the edges. She was sure she would be able to draw blood from his face with a few of the points and hooks. She felt like she had blades for nails. Or maybe even talons.
The rest of History class had passed by slowly. Bulma had tried taking notes for ten minutes, but she didn't get any of the information other than meaningless letters and words. Mr. Gohan had a tendency to speak with his back to the class, so Bulma didn't try to look like she was paying any attention anyway. It didn't matter anymore.
Most of the girls in the class were whispering to one another about Vegeta being like Superman. One made a bold comment that she would love to introduce him to kryptonite for a night at her house when her parents weren't home. Another even claimed that she was related to a great, great grandmother that was known as the Lois Lane of the century in her hometown. Bulma had even caught Vegeta chuckling after that statement had been made. She threw him a glare to tell him to mind his own business.
Vegeta didn't even have his notebook out. There was nothing on his desk but his elbows, propped up to keep his head from rolling around as he napped through the entire class. Bulma still didn't know how he could do that for the entire day and not get caught by a single teacher.
When the bell rang, Vegeta stood instantaneously and picked up Bulma's bags for her. He handed them to her with a sarcastic smirk. And under his breath, he sarcastically mumbled, "For you, Miss Lane." Bulma rolled her eyes and greedily snatched her bags from him with a snort. Why did he have to listen to other people's conversations anyway?
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During spanish, all Bulma could think about was Chichi. Maybe Vegeta was right. She never even apologized to her raven-haired friend. Out of all the things she could have done, all she did was avoid her and try not to get in her way. But she had been the one to make the rude and uninvited comments, so she was the one at fault.
Sure, Chichi could be a little overdramatic sometimes, but saying that she was hurting Vegeta by having some good-natured fun had been going a little too far. Bulma wanted nothing more than to apologize to her now. She wondered why the idea hadn't come to her before. The only thing she could think about after being so rude to Vegeta like she had was for her to make up for it and say she was sorry. But with Chichi… All she could do now was reprimand herself and prepare to come up with an adequate apology that could also make up for the time she spent not talking with her friend.
The walk to art class seemed like it went on for miles, but when she finally reached the classroom, she silently wished it had been just a little longer. She glanced around. Goku was playing with a piece of wood in the back of the room and only Chichi and a few other unfamiliar groups of girls were in the room. It was the perfect opportunity to say what needed to be said.
She walked up to her raven-haired friend and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said, not waiting for Chichi to even turn around. She was never any good at apologies anyway. So an old-fashioned "sorry" was the best she could have ever come up with. "I know you're upset and I shouldn't have said the things I said. I didn't mean that I know Vegeta better than you or anything like that. I was just upset about what was going on in my day and I thoughtlessly took it out on you. All I really—"
The next thing she knew, Chichi was holding her in a tight embrace. Bulma had nothing left to say, and even if she did, she wouldn't have been able to remember any of it anyway.
"Why did it take you so long?" Chichi replied, and Bulma noticed that her friend seemed almost relieved to finally be able to speak with her again. "And it was my fault too, you know," she said. Chichi leaned closer to whisper the next part in Bulma's ear. "I shouldn't have mentioned anything about you and Vegeta… you know, making love…? …And I'm sorry I even brought it up again," she added, pulling back and rubbing the back of her head with a hand as she nervously laughed. Bulma noticed that it was the same thing Goku did when he was embarrassed. She wondered who had started it and who had taken after the other.
"Finally!" a familiar low voice called. Bulma turned to find Vegeta throwing his hands up as he walked over to Goku and dropped his whopping load of two single-subject notebooks onto the craft table, blowing wood dust out at them. Chichi coughed and Bulma brushed her hand back and forth in front of her face as she shut her eyes. "Now I don't have to deal with both of your stupid girlish drama all fucking day long!"
"Vegeta," Goku said, waggling a finger at his bad language. He turned back to Chichi and motioned to Bulma. "So are you going to tell her now?" he asked. "We wouldn't want to have to leave without her after you two just made up. That would just lead to even more problems." He paused. "And then Vegeta would be even more unenthusiastic about it, if that's even possible."
"Oh, yeah. I completely forgot. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn't reminded me just now? Bulma would have been left behind and Vegeta wouldn't have been happy in the least. What would we do if he came along and you didn't? I know what I'd do. I would just roll over and die."
"I'm with you there," Goku said, laughing. Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and growled.
"Well then I guess everything is fine now that you remembered to bring along your pet's restraint," he snarled, and Chichi laughed.
Bulma tilted her head. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked curiously.
"Well, you're the restraint, if that's what you mean," Goku said, laughing again. Vegeta started walking away from them, his head held high.
"And we're talking about our new hotel times down the shore," Chichi said and then elaborated, "The hotel called and said that they made a mistake in the times and they'll give us one night for free if we get there tonight. But the mistake that they made means that we'll have to be back around Saturday evening, which isn't all that great. At least we'll have time to wind down before school starts up again."
"Yeah," Goku added, tsk-ing the people who made the time mistake at the hotel. "The part about leaving without you is that Chichi might not have told you that we're leaving tonight instead of tomorrow if you hadn't said something like you did. And then Vegeta would be grumpy the entire time and all he'd do would be being a huge pain in our rear ends. Hehe."
"Yeah, yeah," Vegeta grumbled, walking back over to them to take his seat as the teacher took attendance for the class.
"But we get to miss two days of school instead of one, which is nice."
"I'm starting to feel like I shouldn't miss any more days of school," Bulma replied sheepishly. Goku waved a hand in the air as if to swat away any concerns she might have had with a swish of his wrist. Bulma thought it essentially worked when it really made her feel a bit better about her skipping.
"And I wouldn't mind taking your car home for you," Goku added, winking. Bulma glared at him as if to say no, but he quickly looked away so he would have an excuse for not getting the message. "It would be better if your car was left in your garage instead of our tiny driveway. Believe it or not, Satan City is known for having a lot of gang activities, which includes spray-painting on buses and cars. And we'll be gone over the weekend. That's the worst time…" He turned to Vegeta. "So maybe you could drive her home and get her stuff and bring it to our place. I'll drive Chichi home and then fly back here to bring her car to her house. Then I'll meet you there and we can all leave together. How does that sound?"
"Nice try, Kakarot," Vegeta said, folding his arms again and rolling his eyes, "But she can take her car home herself and pack her bags while she's there while we take our own vehicles home. And if you're really worried about all the gangs in this town spray-painting her beautiful white piece of junk, then I can go pick her up at her house with the raven's car, because my motorcycle can't carry luggage."
Goku hung his head in defeat and Bulma learned a valuable piece of information. It appeared that Vegeta knew about their secret plans to get them together. She wondered why he didn't seem to care all that much. The hope that he might agree with it made Bulma's heart do a backflip.
"So you'll pick me up then?" she asked her dream boy. He turned to her and smirked as if he had been expecting her to say something like that. She wouldn't have had it any other way.