Disclaimer: Do not own the show, the characters, or YGO merchandise. If I did the world would be a better place now. (Just kidding.)

Italic : means that the person is thinking to him or herself.

P.S.- Italic is for a song too.

To Reader: Thank you so much for reviewing!!!! I'm so glad that you like the story so far. I hope this chapter is as good, or better, than the first chappie. Oh...and to warn everyone, this romance might take a long time to blossom....so please be patient and sit back and enjoy.

Chapter Two: Love Stinks

"Yes, I'll marry you Duke." Tea said softly as she hugged her pillow.

As she spoke those words, her smile enlarged. She sighed deeply and continued to trick her mind into thinking that she was in a state of happiness by constructing a dream. A dream that consisted of only Duke and her watching a beautiful sunset while holding hands.

She felt that she was in utter bliss, that is until........

"Yes, we are here with the top hits of the day on your favorite Domino radio station, Q104!"

.....Her radio went off.

Tea looked up from her pillow to look at the time. She shook her head, thinking that it was too early, and hit the snooze button repeatedly until it shut off. She yawned loudly and placed her head back on the pillow. "Stupid alarm," she thought as she fell back asleep.

She finally woke up again feeling refreshed. She sat up and looked at the clock. Her mouth dropped open.

"School starts in fifteen minutes!" She yelled as she ran into the bathroom to take a shower.

After guzzling down her breakfast and throwing some crackers in her book bag for lunch, Tea ran at full speed toward the school building. Once inside, she collected some books from her locker and ran to homeroom, which was on the other side of the building. As she rushed past the different hallways and floors, her spirits lifted. "I'm actually going to make it!" She thought as she turned the corner, only to bump into an unsuspecting being. The collision made her loose all the books that she was lagging around.

"I'm sorry, I-" She looked at the boy in front of her.

"Of all people, why you!?" Tea yelled in her head as she looked at him.

"Don't be, I know you did it on purpose." Duke said as her face turned red.

"Dream on....." Tea said angrily as she picked up her books.

"Hmph!" He said as he brushed himself off.

"I don't need this, I have to get to class before the bell rings." Tea said hastily.

*Ring!*

"Oh no..." Tea said as she raced to her homeroom.

As Tea turned the knob to her homeroom, she saw the teacher look up and frown.

"You are late, Ms. Gardner." The teacher said furiously.

"Yes I know, but I can explain-" Tea said as the teacher interrupted rudely.

"There is no explanation," the teacher said coldly. "Detention."

"What? But, it's not my fault-"

"Detention." The teacher said again.

"I-"

"Would you like to get detention for the week?" The teacher said with annoyance in her voice.

"No," Tea said softly.

"Then find your seat," the teacher said as Tea slowly walked to her seat.

As she walked to her seat, she could hear snickering from behind. She knew it was Joey. She clenched her teeth tightly and plopped into her seat carelessly. "Why me?" Tea asked softly as she placed her head on the desk. Once she did that, a soft voice whispered to her from behind.

"Don't worry Tea, I'm sure the day will get better." Yugi said cheerfully.

Tea smiled softly. Yugi was the only one that made her feel better, even during the worst of times. Her smile soon turned into a frown once she thought about the person that used to cheer her up as well. Duke.

"Or worse....." Tea whispered back as she thought about the incident with Duke.

"It only gets worse before the sun shines again." Yugi said softly.

"That means that I am going to be in the dark for a long time...." Tea said as the bell sounded loudly.

~After School~

Finally school was over. Tea breathed a sigh of relief once she dropped some of her heavy books in her locker. As she made her way to detention, she couldn't help but take a glance at Duke. He was talking to the same blonde they had a fight over. She closed her eyes tightly and told herself to hold back the tears that were trying to escape her eyelids. She couldn't take it anymore! Seeing Duke with another girl was like poison. She just wished that it would kill her soon.

As she made her way toward the bathroom, she felt Duke staring at her. "Don't turn around, it will only make matters worse!" A voice yelled in her head as she touched the bathroom door slowly. "Come on Tea, don't look...." She screamed as she turned her head slightly. "You're better than him, you don't need him to control your life." She couldn't take it any longer. She rushed into the bathroom and ran into an empty stall, crying out all the tears that she had held back.

After a good three minutes of crying, Tea brushed away the excess tears and walked out the stall to wash her face. She turned on the cold water and starting washing her face of her sorrows. She slowly looked into the mirror to make sure she looked presentable to the rest of the world. She sighed, not liking what

she saw in the mirror. "A pathetic girl who can't get over a pushy boyfriend." She said to herself as she looked away from the mirror and walked toward the detention room.

~After Detention~

"Finally we're free.....I couldn't take the smell of that old bag." Mai said, referring to the detention teacher. "I mean what kind of women wears cheap men's cologne?"

Tea laughed. It was the first time she heard herself laugh in awhile. They walked side by side until they were pushed apart by Tristan and Joey who were scrambling out of the school.

"They are going to get into so much trouble," Yami said from behind.

Mai and Tea turned around to look at Yami. He smiled and squeezed in between the two.

"Why do you say that Yami?" Tea asked as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, they skipped detention in order to go to the gym to see the women play volleyball after school." Yami said as Tea rolled her eyes.

"Isn't Serenity in volleyball?" Mai asked as Yami nodded.

"Yeah, that's why I stayed after-school." Yami said as the two girls nodded.

As they exited the building, they saw an exhausted Tristan and Joey waiting outside the school.

"You guys are gonna get in so much trouble!" Tea exclaimed as Tristan shrugged his shoulders.

"It was worth it." Joey said as Tristan fake-drooled.

They all started laughing. Tea stopped and looked at all of them together again. She smiled and cherished the moment, especially since these were rare.

Ever since the Battle City Tournament, Yugi and Yami received their own bodies and Serenity came home to live with Joey. It was nice at first, but when Yami and Serenity started going out and Duke asked her out.....things have never been the same. The only thing that kept her together was....Duke. Duke always helped her out with her problems and tried to be there when she needed him. It was great, but then things started to go downhill. Duke started lacking behind in schoolwork because he was working at his shop. He started spending less and less time with her, and even used her as an answer sheet for his homework. Seeing Duke with that blonde was the last straw. She had to get away.

But, was it the right thing to do?

"Tea?" Yami asked as she shook her head lightly.

"Oh sorry.....yes?" She asked as she looked into his violet eyes.

"Nothing, it just looked like you were in another world for a second." Yami replied.

"I do that sometimes." Tea admitted as Joey smiled at her. "Especially now, with all the things I have to deal with." She added as they all nodded sympathetically.

"How about a song?" Joey asked as Tea looked at him oddly. "To cheer ya up, I mean."

"Yeah!" Tristan said as they walked up behind her.

"No that's okay....really!" Tea said as they started singing the chorus to the BSB song, "Everybody!"

"Am I original?" Joey yelled as Tristan joined in.

"Yeah!"

"Am I the only one?" Joey yelled out again.

"Yeah!"

"Am I sexual?" He whispered in Tea's ear as Yami started laughing. Tea smacked him with her history book and walked past him.

"You are so lame!" She said as Joey smiled.

"What's wrong Tea? To sexual for you?" Joey asked.

"Oh yeah Joey!" Tea exclaimed as she sighed. "I must resist temptation!" She said sarcastically.

"That's the spirit, I'm glad you got that out in the open." Joey said as she rolled her eyes.

After a brief silence, Yami looked at the three. "Wanna go to the Game Shop?"

"Sure." They all replied in unison as they turned the corner and headed for the Game Shop.

"Fun, fun!" Tea said to herself as they passed Duke's shop.

~To be continued.......~

Sorry for the wait. I broke my foot four days ago and couldn't make it downstairs to type the rest of this chapter. Well, I hope you guys liked it. Please stick by me! I know this sounds like a Duke/Tea, but it's not. She is just trying to get over Duke and move on. Anyway, again, thanks for reviewing!!!!!!

Jelly