A/N: This one kind of got away from me. I am sorry it's so long :/

Rae sat at her desk, staring at the invitation in front of her. A dueling party? Hosted by this new kid? This felt like some Chazz level bragging, but at least Chazz has realized that money can't buy him respect, or friends. She sighed, folded it up, and slipped it into her bag; it was about that time for her to go wake up Jaden. He's got to make at least one class this week.

Jaden was awake when she reached the Slifer dorms. He was out of bed AND dressed for the day, much to her surprise. Rae was really beginning to like having Jesse around; he's been a good influence.

"What? You didn't bring us breakfast?" Jaden complained when Rae walked through the door.

"I can't make you every meal."

"Why not?" He sounded like a little kid getting told by his parents that he can't have that one toy that everyone else has. Rae considered her options. She could, in theory, make him all his meals. Especially if she uses it to get him to study, but she really didn't want to.

"Because you don't pay me." She shrugged. "You can always change that, you know." Jaden reached for his wallet, only to find it was empty.

"Would you take some dryer lint?" He pleaded. "And…" he checked his pockets, "...an old receipt?" She leaned against one of the desks in the room.

"Where's the receipt from?" He searched the faded paper.

"Uh…" His face falls. She takes the receipt from him and scans it.

"I'll contact management and see what they say." She folded it up and slipped it into her back pocket.

"But you're management!"

"Like I said, I'll contact management and see what they say." Jaden groaned, his PDA going off right afterwards. Alexis had sent him a message. She was waiting outside with Syrus.

"You were invited, weren't you?" Syrus held his invite to his chest. "Even I got one."

"'Course he was. Go 'head tell 'em Jay!" Jesse fished out his own invitation from his vest. Jaden looked between his friends, embarrassment starting to show.

"Maybe mine got lost in the mail…"

"Nice try, but they were hand delivered by that new rich kid from East Academy!"

"Jaden, you can have mine, if you want," Rae pulled hers out of her bag and held it out to him. "It kind of feels like he's doing this to compensate for something, and I really don't want to be a part of that."

"I agree!" Syrus added. He still felt anxiety when he was near Rae, but it had been a few days since the incident. She knew to stand back and give him some space, giving him some peace of mind. And he knew that Jesse would stop her if she tried anything. "It's just a pathetic attempt by some loser to make friends." He felt a little upset that he hadn't thought of that himself. Alexis suggests that Adrian only invited Obelisk Blues and Ra Yellows and that's possibly why Jaden hadn't gotten one.

"Big deal. I'm way too cool to 'Duel for Jewels.'" Jaden did not bother to hide his offense. Leaving Jaden out of a dueling competition was one of the meanest things you could do to him. He knew he was more than good enough to duel with Obelisk Blues, why didn't this new kid see that?

"I have an idea! A Slifer slumber party!" This flipped Jaden's mood almost instantly. Jesse was on board with it too.

"We could stay up all night and talk about trap cards and dueling strategies!" Alexis and Syrus shared a look of displeasure. That is not their idea of fun.

"Are you serious?"

"Well, of course he is!" Jesse and Jaden threw their arms around each other's shoulders.

"I don't joke about cards!" The two walked off, excitedly talking about all the things they were going to talk about tonight.

"You better be on your way to class!" Rae called after them, running to catch up. "You have to attend at least one a week!"

Rae was relieved that Jesse pushed Jaden to go to class too so she didn't have to physically drag him there, but he did not encourage Jaden to pay attention. He was actually the main reason Jaden wasn't paying attention. She couldn't even pay attention because the two of them were whispering back and forth, starting their slumber party early. Really can't get between those two.

With her mind unable to focus on the lecture, she let it run on its own. She was caught up with homework and she had already studied the exam material so she didn't really have anything to do that night, but she did not want to stay awake listening to those two go on about dueling strategies. Syrus was the one that suggested the sleepover in the first place so they really should do something he wants too.

"What about bowling?" Rae whispered to them. She could tell they weren't sure what she was talking about. "What if we go bowling for the Slifer slumber party?"

"Y'all have a bowlin' alley?" Jesse asked, his voice getting overpowered as students began to file out of the room.

"Yeah. We got one, what, our first year?" She pulled her bag on to her back, sliding off the bench seat to let the two boys out. "Sy sounded like he really wanted to hang with you two and this might be a good way to include him."

"That sounds like fun!" Jesse's excitement brought a smile to Rae's face. "What do ya say, Jay?"

"I'm down, but," he smiled sheepishly at her, "I don't know where it is."

"That's okay!" There was a small bounce in her step as they made it into the hall. "I can take you there!" Jesse noticed this smile was similar to the one she had the other day when he won her that poster. It was almost impossible for him to believe that someone with a smile this bright was able to cause the damage she did. Something bad must have happened between her and that Obelisk Blue for her to have so much rage.

Jaden tried to slip away so he wouldn't have to go to his next class, but Rae knew what he was doing. When he tried to make a break for it, her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, giving him that 'don't you dare' look.

Jesse had walked with them to their next class, almost like he was corralling Jaden, before heading off to his own. Rae wasn't sure why he had walked with them; she and Jaden were almost late to their class and he's only going to make himself late to his, but she was happy she was able to spend those few extra minutes with him.

If Jaden wasn't the loudest sleeper she had ever known, she could have just let him sleep, but she knew that if she had, the teacher would have yelled at the both of them. She has enough anxiety to deal with after the incident. If that boy rats her out, she's going to get expelled, but she knows that she beat the fear of the gods into that boy. She wasn't afraid of him going to the Chancellor, but she wouldn't put it past his friends. That is, if his ego would let him tell them he got beat up by a girl.

All of Jaden's tiredness suddenly disappeared when class let out. That was the last class of the day; now he was free. He was muttering to himself about all the things he was going to talk to Jesse about.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Rae warned. "You said you'd go bowling first. So we can all have a good time." Jaden did not quite comprehend what she was saying; he was too in his own head. "Are you going to let your friends down?" His head snapped towards her, offended.

"What?! No!" She giggled and ruffled his hair. She was about the same height as Jaden.

"Then don't forget you made plans!" She pulled a small notebook out of her bag. "And read this before I come get you. They're the notes from the unit we're on. We have an exam coming up and you need to at least get a passing grade." He frowned. "There are cookies in it for you." He ripped the notebook out of her hand, opening it immediately and reading it as he walked back to his dorm. It was a little too easy to manipulate Jaden.

Jaden was sitting at one of the desks with his hands tangled in his hair, rereading the same page for the sixth time when Jesse entered the dorm.

"Hey Jay!" He greeted, only to be met by a 'shh.'

"Rae promised him cookies if he were to get through the notes she made him," Syrus whispered to Jesse, "He's been stuck on the same page for the last 20 minutes now."

"It's nice to see, Jaden," a voice startled all three of them, "As long as you remember to attend your exam, you'll probably do better than you have been." Rae was standing in the entry, the door closed behind her. She held out a small container towards him, not wanting to step forward with her shoes still on. "A deal's a deal." Jaden rushed over to her, taking the cookies out of her hand and collapsing on the floor, his headache subsiding.

"You're so cruel," he cried, stuffing cookies in his mouth. "That was terrible!"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before." Rae had changed the dress she was wearing earlier into some dark jeans and a black shirt. Bowling in a dress is tricky. "If y'all are ready, we've got some bowling to do." She tossed a hobo bag on to the floor before shifting the bag that was on her shoulder, letting it slide a little so it rested against her hip, and slipping out of the door without walking into it.

"What's that?" Syrus asked her, staying behind Jaden.

"My bowling bag." She shifted the long rectangular bag to her back. They could see two bowling balls through the clear panel on the side, with space for a third.

"Are you one of those people that has their own shoes and everything?" Jaden closed the door behind him, a cookie in his mouth and a cookie in his hand.

"Absolutely." She started down the stairs, going a little slower than normal. Between the weight of her bag and the sun sitting in the right spot to shine directly into her eyes, it was difficult to get down the stairs.

"How screwed are we?" Jaden joked when they all reached the bottom of the stairs. Rae shrugged.

"Guess you'll find out." She had to shift her bag again, the weight not distributed well. The walk to the bowling alley wouldn't have been difficult if it wasn't for how far she walked from her dorm to Jaden's. Her right shoulder was not having it, the pain starting to travel up her neck, so she went to swing it over to her left shoulder, but the weight disappeared. She jumped, thinking the strap had broken, but when her hand grabbed for it, she ended up grabbing Jesse's hand too. He gave her a smile causing her heart to leap into her throat.

"I got it." She felt her ego take a hit, but she could feel a strange warmth coming up behind it.

"That's okay, I can carry it." He didn't listen, but Rae didn't fight him, feeling a little weak under his gaze. She mustered up a pout as she gave up control.

"You carried this all the way from your dorm?" Jesse commented as he set the bag down when they got a lane.

"Yeah." She sat on the table in front of the screen controls. "It's heavy, isn't it?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him rubbing his shoulder. "You didn't have to do that," she turned her head towards him, her voice softening when he looked back at her, "I could have handled it."

Alexis showed up, changed from her usual school uniform into some jeans and a t-shirt, shortly after they had gotten there. Rae waved as she pulled on her shoes, the boys away to get their rentals from the desk up front.

"I put you up third." She shot Alexis a smirk, "I could put you right after Jaden, if you want." Alexis flushed, but she was unable to retort before the boys had returned.

Jaden was up first and he fell the moment he released the ball, tossing it right in the gutter. Syrus was second and, while he did not fall, he still sent the ball straight to the gutter. Alexis was third and she ended the frame with a spare. Jesse left a 7-10 split; he was not going to be able to convert that.

"Are you going to show us how it's done?" Jaden asked Rae as she stood up from the table.

"You bet," she said, shooting him finger guns, and picking up her ball. She took a long moment to stand and stare at the lane before making her move. The shot looked pretty good, a nice hook at the back end of the lane, but it left a 10 pin.

"Wow! It was really cool!" Syrus exclaimed, but he folded in on himself when Rae looked at him; her smile loosened up some of the tension he held.

"I'm just getting started, Sy." She made a cross lane shot, knocking the 10 pin right into the gutter. She walked back to the table, a smug smile glittering in the blacklights of the bowling alley.

"Man, can you teach me how to do that?" Jaden stood up in his excitement.

"Sure." She stood at the edge of the approach, "Grab your ball, I'll see what I can do." She started slow with Jaden, knowing giving him too much information at one time would overload and frustrate him.

Jaden had a huge smile on his face when he turned around; he had gotten a spare. Rae gave him some praise when he came back to the table, which made his smile bigger. Upon seeing Jaden get that spare, Syrus wanted to do better too, but he was afraid to ask. Even if he wasn't afraid, Jaden was talking way too loud for him to be heard anyway. He had given up trying to ask when he heard Rae's voice.

"Do you want some help, Sy?" His face flushed, shoulders tense. She got up and walked up next to him. "If Jaden can do it, you can too." He gave her a nervous laugh, aware of how close she was. She noticed this too so she took a step back, making sure there was no one using the lane next to them. It was a little difficult for her to point out what she was talking about from so far away, but she did not want to make Syrus any more uncomfortable than he already was.

He managed to keep the ball on the lane, but his anxiety got in the way of him doing better. He knew that before Rae had told him, but hearing it from someone else made it that much more real. He knew he could do better, not just at bowling, if he just managed his anxiety better.

Jaden and Syrus were slowly doing better as the game went on. Alexis had a natural skill at the game, always pulling a little better than the other three, and Jesse was enjoying his time with his friends, not paying attention to his score. Rae was feeling pretty good, starting the tenth frame with a strike, but she started feeling anxious when she got the second one.

"Wow! You just need one more and you'll have a turkey!" Syrus exclaimed, but Rae gave him a nervous laugh.

"Yeah...just one more…"She looked at her friends. "I...I can't get turkeys…" She heard her ball hit against the others. "Something always gets left." She grabbed her towel and took extra time to wipe off her ball, using the time to try to calm herself. Could she make a liar out of herself? It looked good when she released it and it hit the pocket, but it left a 5 pin. That was worse than leaving a 7 or 10.

When she went to start the second game with the keypad, she had knocked her knuckles against the table. She flinched and held her hand close to her chest, pushing the start button with her other hand.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asks, startled by her yelp. She clenched her fist a few times.

"I forget that it's still healing." She looked up at Jesse, giving him a small smile. "I'm okay."

"What happened?" Alexis asked, noticing the bruises for the first time. The boys tensed up, looking between Rae and Alexis, but Rae snorted, a sunny smile on her face. It didn't reach her eyes.

"I wanted to try the new punching bag the rec center has and I went a little too hard." If they didn't know it was a lie, they would've believed her. "I think I'm going to stick to regular means of cardio from now on." Her laugh sounded hollow.

"How are you bowling with that?" That was a good question. The swelling was down a significant amount, but her fingers were still swollen.

"Uh...the way my ball is drilled, I guess." She stood up to get it, grabbing her towel to wipe off the oil before she put it on the table. "I have finger tips in here. I can't put my whole fingers in so it doesn't really put pressure where the bruises are."

"How do you not drop it?" Jaden asked, remembering the first game where he almost lost his ball on his backswing.

"I mean, you just watched me not drop it that whole last game," she laughed. "I've been doing this for a while; it's one of my hobbies. I, actually, come down here at least once a week. It helps me clear my head." She put her ball back on the ball return. "Anyway, Jaden, you're up."

"Is this another one of your guilty pleasures?" Jesse asked when she sat down.

"No. I don't feel guilty about this at all," she grinned at him. "I just like to keep it a surprise. That way, when I convince people to go bowling, they get here and go "oh no. I'm going to lose." It's very fun for me." Her eyes switched to Jaden's throw. "I also like to teach it." She looked back at Jesse. "It's rewarding how excited people get when they start doing better. And it makes them more likely to want to bowl me again." There was a sparkle in her eyes.

"Do ya have any tips for me?"

"Of course!" Rae's face flushed, knowing how that could have come off. "N-not that...uh…" She felt her heart threatening to leave her chest. Jesse couldn't help but smile at her. She took in a breath and tried again, "You have a decent foundation," her face still felt hot, "there are just a few small things that will help."

She was able to give him more information at a time than she would have been able to give Jaden, helping Jesse score higher than Jaden by the end of the second game.

"How long have ya been bowlin'?"

"All my life, I think. There wasn't really a time I wasn't bowling. I had a natural talent for it and my parents knew how much I enjoyed it so they let me keep doing it."

"You are pretty good at it." Alexis told her, coming back from taking her turn.

"When the whole dueling thing doesn't work out, I'd like to do it professionally."

"When?" Alexis raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she began picking at her nails, "I'm not very good at dueling and…" she hesitated, her breath catching in her throat, "...I'm just not...as into it as I used to be." The look that flashed through her eyes reminded Jesse of the night she asked him to walk her to her dorm. "Bowling has always been there for me."

"You're one of the best duelists I know," Alexis looked at her, confused, "What do you mean you aren't good at it?" Rae's leg started to bounce under the table, her hands balling up in fists in her lap.

"I panic. When I start to win, I...I start to panic, and I overthink things." Her words came out rushed.

"Will ya show me how to find a mark again?" Jesse interrupted as he stood up to take his turn. "I don't think I understand." He saw her hands relax.

"Of course." She followed him onto the approach, explaining herself again. "When I struggle to drive through my mark, I always look at the dots." She walked up to the foul line and pointed to them. "It's closer and easier to hit." He nodded in understanding, putting the ball up in front of his face. "No, don't do that," she spoke softly as she placed her hands over his and lowered the ball down to his right hip. "This will help you have a straighter backswing." Jesse remembered, he had been doing it for the last few frames, but she needed the distraction, and he wanted to provide that for her.

"Which one should I aim for?" She pulled back her hands, looked at the lane, and then back at him.

"What one do you think you should aim for?" Did she catch on? He gave her a guilty look, ready to admit what he was doing. "Have a little more faith in yourself." Her hand gently touched one of his, "You know what to do." A small sigh of relief left him.

"How do you know what to do when you mess up?" Syrus felt more comfortable when he was separated from Rae by a table and a Jaden taking off his shoes.

"Well," She sprayed her ball with something from a little bottle. "It's dependent on what needs to be fixed. I didn't have to make that many adjustments tonight because none of you had the same mark as I did. The oil there stayed pretty consistent."

"Oil?" Alexis returned from turning in her shoes.

"Yeah, so, there's oil on the lanes and the pattern of it really changes up what you need to do for a good shot." She took in the confused faces around her when she looked from cleaning her ball. "Here, feel my ball. I just cleaned it." She balanced it on the thumb hole and stepped back so Syrus felt safe enough to move forward. It almost felt sticky as he rubbed his hand against it. "Now, feel this." She balanced one of the house balls on the table. It felt so greasy compared to Rae's. It was pretty gross. "The more oil there is, the harder it is to control. And the same thing happens when there isn't enough. Too much oil and it'll slide. Too little and it's catch and hook too hard or too soon or both."

They decided to eat there at the bowling alley. There were tables and booths available in an area away from the lanes and the blacklights. Even as the food came, Rae was still rambling on about the nitty-gritty of bowling, the only time she would stop would be to take a bite of her food.

Jesse found this side of Rae endearing; he couldn't stop himself from smiling at her. She was so passionate about it that several times, she had spoken for so long that she had to stop to take a breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him staring at her. She slowly came to a stop in her tangent when she turned to face him. He had his elbow resting on the table and his chin in his palm with a look that made her heart skip a beat.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She picked up her drink, hoping it would hide the blush on her cheeks.

"You're adorable." She sputtered her water back into her cup.

~P.S. I am not sure how accurate any of the bowling information is. I was pulling it from memory from WAY back in the day when I knew how things worked (Do not make me think about how long ago that was. It'll give me a crisis)