Studying was pretty uneventful except for the few times when Bakura would lean over Alex's paper and say, "That's wrong."
"Shut up," she would reply. But she'd always go back and fix it.
On one problem Bakura had to actually show her step by step how to do it in order to get the right answer. That was after he didn't let her get her calculator.
"You suck," she had said. He only grinned.
A little while later, Alex's door burst open. Both she and Bakura snapped their heads up to see a young boy come bounding in.
"Hey Alex!" he said, coming over to her and giving her a hug. "Who's this guy?"
"What'd I tell you about knocking you little twerp?" she asked with a smile as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and tousled his brown hair.
"Hey! Cut it out!" the boy said, laughing and pushing her away.
"Bakura, this is my little brother, David," Alex said.
"Nice to meet you, Bakura," David said, extending a hand.
"Nice to meet you too," he replied, shaking the younger boy's hand.
"Now, get outa' my room before I come after you!" Alex said, grinning.
David laughed and backed up a bit. "You're in a really good mood! Was your math teacher fired?"
Bakura and Alex both laughed. "I wish I could say that was it!" she said. She made a face at the thought of her teacher.
"I've got tons of math homework to do," David groaned.
"Hey, we should start an anti-math club," Alex said.
"Yeah!" her brother exclaimed. Bakura grinned as they hi-fived.
"Go get started with your homework, okay?" Alex said.
David made a face. "Yeah, okay." With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
"He's a cool little kid," Alex said, going back to her math.
Bakura nodded, though she couldn't see him. He was seeing a whole new side to her and he was glad.
*******************************************************************************************************************
"Jade! Jade, you'll never guess what!" David exclaimed, plopping onto the couch next to his mother.
"Then tell me," Jade replied with a smile.
"Alex is /laughing/!" he cried.
A new look came over Jade's face. "W-what?" she asked.
"Yeah! She's studying with some guy... uh... Bakoda I think," he said. He was practically jumping on the couch in happiness and a wide smile was on his face.
Jade put a hand over her mouth and ran up the stairs. She stood outside Alex's door and listened.
"Teachers suck! I can't stand any of them! It's beyond me how preps can have crushes on some of them." Jade could almost feel Alex's shudder.
She heard a boy laugh. "They're even worse when they go on and on about things you never even wanted to know in the first place!" he said in a British accent.
"Yeah, like math!" They both laughed and Jade pressed her hand harder against her mouth to keep from crying. It didn't help much, though. Soon, tears of joy were streaming down her face.
It had been three years since Alex had even smiled let alone laughed. The only one she didn't snap at had been David. Now she was laughing like nothing had ever happened. It was such a wonderful sound to Jade's ears. She had been trying for years to get Alex to smile, but all she would do was throw insults and snap. But now she wasn't.
Jade quickly wiped the tears off her cheeks and opened the door. The smile was off Alex's face a second after she saw Jade. Her mother felt her heart break, but ignored it.
"What do /you/ want?" Alex asked, glaring over Bakura's shoulder. He turned and smiled at Jade.
She gave him a grateful smile in return, then spoke. "So, who's your friend?" she asked.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Bakura. Bakura, this is my mother."
"Call me Jade," she said, shaking Bakura's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," he said.
"Yeah, okay /mom/, now you know who he is. Don't freak, we're just studying, okay? Will you leave now?" Alex said with a fake smile.
"Why doesn't Bakura stay for dinner?" Jade asked, looking at him.
Bakura looked surprised, then looked at Alex. She shrugged.
"Whatever. What are we having?" she grumbled, glaring at Jade.
"Is pizza all right?" she asked happily despite Alex's attitude.
"Sure," Bakura said with a smile. "Thanks."
"Yeah, fine," Alex replied.
"Great. I'll call you when it's here, okay?" Jade said, leaving and, like David, closing the door behind her.
Alex made a face at the door before going back to her homework.
"You don't get along with her well, do you?" Bakura asked.
"What was your first clue?" she said.
"She seems nice," he said.
"That's because you don't know her. She's a control freak and loves to humiliate me in front of my friends. Trust me, she's awful," Alex said, looking at him briefly.
They didn't say anything more until Jade called them for dinner.
"Well, it's about time!" Alex said, slamming her book shut and pulling her bedroom door open. She jumped onto the banister and slid down, her foot stopping her from hitting the knob at the end. Bakura grinned and walked down the stairs.
Jade had just come into the room and looked away to hide her own grin. She had only seen Alex do that a few times. She had stopped after her foot slipped and she slid into the knob. She had to stifle a laugh when she remembered Alex's face.
She had sat on the banister for a few seconds, face screwed up in pain. Jade had rushed over and asked her if she was all right and her daughter's reply had been, "I'm cool. It doesn't hurt, really." She had barely gotten the words out because her throat had been so tight. But she didn't cry. In fact Jade couldn't remember the last time she had seen Alex cry. It was something she didn't do often.
Soon they were all seated at the table helping themselves to pizza.
"How's it coming with your homework, Alex?" Jade asked in an attempt to strike a conversation.
"Fine. It's math. I hate math," she growled.
Bakura nearly choked on his glass of water and Alex glared at him.
"Well, maybe if you tried harder at it you'd find it isn't as hard as it looks," Jade said and Bakura could practically feel Alex's anger.
She was about to respond, but because Bakura was there, she didn't. She took a bite of her pizza and glared at Jade.
"So, how long have you two known each other?" Jade tried again.
Alex gave an exasperated sigh. "Since I started at Domino High," she snarled.
"Oh! Is he the one you came home complaining about?" Jade asked, then realized she had said the wrong thing. "I... I mean..."
Alex glared daggers at her, then looked quizzically at Bakura, who was laughing. "What are you laughing at?" she asked, confused.
"Yes, that was me," he said. "I was assigned to show her around and she wasn't exactly thrilled."
Jade breathed in relief that she hadn't insulted him. "So when did you start hanging out?"
Alex and Bakura looked at each other. "Today," he said.
"Oh," Jade said. "You're the first friend Alex has had in a while."
Before he could respond, Alex stood up. Fire blazed in her eyes as she spoke. "Jade, why don't I help you with the dishes?" she snarled.
"There's really not many, but thanks for offering," Jade replied.
"Now," Alex said. Jade stood as her daughter began to come around the table to her.
"All right," she said, following her daughter into the kitchen.
As soon as they made it into the other room, Alex rounded on Jade.
"What do you think you're doing?" she cried.
Bakura heard her and turned around in his seat. Why was Alex yelling? As far as he could see, Jade hadn't done anything wrong.
He couldn't hear Jade's words, but Alex's were crystal clear.
"You know full well what I mean! You want to know why I don't have friends, it's because of you!"
Bakura's eyes widened. He turned to David, who was sitting across from him. "Do they do this often?" he asked.
"Every minute of the day," David replied while folding his arms on the table and leaning his forehead against them.
Puzzled, Bakura turned back around as Jade's voice sounded.
"Now wait just a minute!" she cried. "Don't go blaming me for your mistakes!"
"Why don't you just stay out of my life? You are always trying to tell me what to do! Well, it's my life, so deal with it!" Alex said.
"I'm aware it's your life Alexandra!"
"Then why don't you leave me alone?"
"Fine. Go off with your boyfriend and I'll leave you alone." Bakura felt his face flush at Jade's words. But he went an even deeper red at Alex's reply.
"/What/ did you say? He is /not/ my boyfriend! I'd /never/ date /him/! That is so gross!" She screeched.
Bakura frowned slightly, a bit insulted. Then Jade's voice sounded.
"Don't you hit me Alexandra! I am /not/ a prep, do you understand?"
"Well, you sure act like one!" Alex screamed.
Bakura turned to see David slide out of his seat and go into the kitchen.
David ran into the kitchen to find Jade holding onto Alex's arms to stop her from hitting her. He went over to Jade and pulled on her sleeve.
"You're ruining my life!" Alex screamed.
"Jade!" David said urgently, tugging harder.
"What, David?" Jade snapped looking at him. Alex wrenched herself from her mother's grip and glared at her.
"Bakura and I can hear you in the other room!" David hissed.
"Now look what you've done!" Bakura heard Alex cry. He watched her storm out of the kitchen, through the dining room and up the stairs. He stood up to follow her, slightly nervous. If she'd try to hit her own mother, what would she do to him?
He began up the steps when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Jade with a solemn look on her face.
"Y-yes?" he asked, trying to slink away from her.
"At least you can make her smile," Jade said, taking her hand away and looking at the floor.
Bakura stared at her for a second, unsure of what to do. Luckily, Alex saved him.
"Well, are you coming?" she snapped from the top of the stairs.
He nodded hurriedly and practically ran up the stairs with one look back at Jade before disappearing into Alex's room.
Jade walked over to the couch slowly and sat down. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.
#########################################################################################
Alex slammed the door behind Bakura and he jumped slightly. She kicked the door hard, then got even madder when her foot started to sear with pain.
"I can't believe her! She makes me want to hit something!" Alex cried.
Bakura stumbled backwards a few steps and held up his hands. "N-not me!" he stuttered.
Alex looked up at him and gave a small laugh. "What makes you think I'd hit you?" she asked with a smug look.
He felt color surge through his face as he tried to make his throat form words. "Uh... well, n-no," he tried and was relieved when she laughed.
"You are so weird," she said, dropping onto the bed, her arms folded. "I don't know why I'm hanging with you."
"Uh... I don't know either," Bakura said, thinking about it for a second. He sat down on the bed, but couldn't bring himself to look at her.
Alex sighed and picked up her schoolbook again. But she quickly closed it again and threw it to the side. "I can finish that in English," she said.
Bakura grinned and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He watched her flop back on the bed and he found himself wondering what she'd look like without all her black makeup.
Alex turned her head and saw him looking at her. "What?" she asked giving him an odd look.
"N-nothing," he said, turning his head away, feeling a blush come over him.
Alex rolled her eyes and sat up. "God. Look. How much did you hear between me and Jade?"
"Pretty much all of it," he replied, looking at her.
She ran a hand over her face and sighed. "That's how it always is with us. We're always going at it. Sorry I got you in the middle. You never should have come over. That was a mistake." She stood up and started to gather her books together.
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, confused.
Alex sighed again and looked at him. "Look. My house is real confusing." She opened her mouth to say more, but then closed it again.
"Yes?" he asked.
Alex walked over to her window and leaned on the sill. "Jade was right. When she said... that I haven't had a friend in a long time."
Bakura got to his feet and stood beside her. "That's all right. It's actually sort of an honor for me."
"Huh?" Alex said, genuinely confused. "You mean you... don't mind hanging with me?"
Bakura looked shocked at her question. "Of course not!"
Alex looked back out the window to hide a smile. "You doing anything on Saturday?" she asked.
He looked at her, a bit surprised. "Uh, no."
"You wanna' hang at the mall? We have /got/ to get you a new wardrobe," she said, eyeing his outfit.
"What's wrong with my clothes?" he asked indignantly.
She snorted. "What /isn't/ wrong with them?"
He considered it a moment. "All right. You can choose my outfit on Saturday, if I can choose yours."
This time she laughed outright. "Yeah, right. I'm not wearing anything a guy tells me to."
Bakura felt color come into his face. "No, that's not what I meant. I figure what you're going to pick for me, so I thought maybe we could switch places or something."
"What, you mean me dress like you and you dress like me?" she asked.
"Uh, sort of."
"I guess so. As long as I don't have to buy anything," she said with a shrug.
"Deal," he said, extending his hand.
She shook it and said, "But so help me, if you try to put me in lingerie, that'll be the last thing you ever do."
"R-right," he said, trying to push the mental image out of his mind. - I really didn't need that, - he thought.
She didn't notice his blush as they headed downstairs.
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a/n: Okay, next chapter, next Saturday... so review and I'll post.
"Shut up," she would reply. But she'd always go back and fix it.
On one problem Bakura had to actually show her step by step how to do it in order to get the right answer. That was after he didn't let her get her calculator.
"You suck," she had said. He only grinned.
A little while later, Alex's door burst open. Both she and Bakura snapped their heads up to see a young boy come bounding in.
"Hey Alex!" he said, coming over to her and giving her a hug. "Who's this guy?"
"What'd I tell you about knocking you little twerp?" she asked with a smile as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and tousled his brown hair.
"Hey! Cut it out!" the boy said, laughing and pushing her away.
"Bakura, this is my little brother, David," Alex said.
"Nice to meet you, Bakura," David said, extending a hand.
"Nice to meet you too," he replied, shaking the younger boy's hand.
"Now, get outa' my room before I come after you!" Alex said, grinning.
David laughed and backed up a bit. "You're in a really good mood! Was your math teacher fired?"
Bakura and Alex both laughed. "I wish I could say that was it!" she said. She made a face at the thought of her teacher.
"I've got tons of math homework to do," David groaned.
"Hey, we should start an anti-math club," Alex said.
"Yeah!" her brother exclaimed. Bakura grinned as they hi-fived.
"Go get started with your homework, okay?" Alex said.
David made a face. "Yeah, okay." With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
"He's a cool little kid," Alex said, going back to her math.
Bakura nodded, though she couldn't see him. He was seeing a whole new side to her and he was glad.
*******************************************************************************************************************
"Jade! Jade, you'll never guess what!" David exclaimed, plopping onto the couch next to his mother.
"Then tell me," Jade replied with a smile.
"Alex is /laughing/!" he cried.
A new look came over Jade's face. "W-what?" she asked.
"Yeah! She's studying with some guy... uh... Bakoda I think," he said. He was practically jumping on the couch in happiness and a wide smile was on his face.
Jade put a hand over her mouth and ran up the stairs. She stood outside Alex's door and listened.
"Teachers suck! I can't stand any of them! It's beyond me how preps can have crushes on some of them." Jade could almost feel Alex's shudder.
She heard a boy laugh. "They're even worse when they go on and on about things you never even wanted to know in the first place!" he said in a British accent.
"Yeah, like math!" They both laughed and Jade pressed her hand harder against her mouth to keep from crying. It didn't help much, though. Soon, tears of joy were streaming down her face.
It had been three years since Alex had even smiled let alone laughed. The only one she didn't snap at had been David. Now she was laughing like nothing had ever happened. It was such a wonderful sound to Jade's ears. She had been trying for years to get Alex to smile, but all she would do was throw insults and snap. But now she wasn't.
Jade quickly wiped the tears off her cheeks and opened the door. The smile was off Alex's face a second after she saw Jade. Her mother felt her heart break, but ignored it.
"What do /you/ want?" Alex asked, glaring over Bakura's shoulder. He turned and smiled at Jade.
She gave him a grateful smile in return, then spoke. "So, who's your friend?" she asked.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Bakura. Bakura, this is my mother."
"Call me Jade," she said, shaking Bakura's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," he said.
"Yeah, okay /mom/, now you know who he is. Don't freak, we're just studying, okay? Will you leave now?" Alex said with a fake smile.
"Why doesn't Bakura stay for dinner?" Jade asked, looking at him.
Bakura looked surprised, then looked at Alex. She shrugged.
"Whatever. What are we having?" she grumbled, glaring at Jade.
"Is pizza all right?" she asked happily despite Alex's attitude.
"Sure," Bakura said with a smile. "Thanks."
"Yeah, fine," Alex replied.
"Great. I'll call you when it's here, okay?" Jade said, leaving and, like David, closing the door behind her.
Alex made a face at the door before going back to her homework.
"You don't get along with her well, do you?" Bakura asked.
"What was your first clue?" she said.
"She seems nice," he said.
"That's because you don't know her. She's a control freak and loves to humiliate me in front of my friends. Trust me, she's awful," Alex said, looking at him briefly.
They didn't say anything more until Jade called them for dinner.
"Well, it's about time!" Alex said, slamming her book shut and pulling her bedroom door open. She jumped onto the banister and slid down, her foot stopping her from hitting the knob at the end. Bakura grinned and walked down the stairs.
Jade had just come into the room and looked away to hide her own grin. She had only seen Alex do that a few times. She had stopped after her foot slipped and she slid into the knob. She had to stifle a laugh when she remembered Alex's face.
She had sat on the banister for a few seconds, face screwed up in pain. Jade had rushed over and asked her if she was all right and her daughter's reply had been, "I'm cool. It doesn't hurt, really." She had barely gotten the words out because her throat had been so tight. But she didn't cry. In fact Jade couldn't remember the last time she had seen Alex cry. It was something she didn't do often.
Soon they were all seated at the table helping themselves to pizza.
"How's it coming with your homework, Alex?" Jade asked in an attempt to strike a conversation.
"Fine. It's math. I hate math," she growled.
Bakura nearly choked on his glass of water and Alex glared at him.
"Well, maybe if you tried harder at it you'd find it isn't as hard as it looks," Jade said and Bakura could practically feel Alex's anger.
She was about to respond, but because Bakura was there, she didn't. She took a bite of her pizza and glared at Jade.
"So, how long have you two known each other?" Jade tried again.
Alex gave an exasperated sigh. "Since I started at Domino High," she snarled.
"Oh! Is he the one you came home complaining about?" Jade asked, then realized she had said the wrong thing. "I... I mean..."
Alex glared daggers at her, then looked quizzically at Bakura, who was laughing. "What are you laughing at?" she asked, confused.
"Yes, that was me," he said. "I was assigned to show her around and she wasn't exactly thrilled."
Jade breathed in relief that she hadn't insulted him. "So when did you start hanging out?"
Alex and Bakura looked at each other. "Today," he said.
"Oh," Jade said. "You're the first friend Alex has had in a while."
Before he could respond, Alex stood up. Fire blazed in her eyes as she spoke. "Jade, why don't I help you with the dishes?" she snarled.
"There's really not many, but thanks for offering," Jade replied.
"Now," Alex said. Jade stood as her daughter began to come around the table to her.
"All right," she said, following her daughter into the kitchen.
As soon as they made it into the other room, Alex rounded on Jade.
"What do you think you're doing?" she cried.
Bakura heard her and turned around in his seat. Why was Alex yelling? As far as he could see, Jade hadn't done anything wrong.
He couldn't hear Jade's words, but Alex's were crystal clear.
"You know full well what I mean! You want to know why I don't have friends, it's because of you!"
Bakura's eyes widened. He turned to David, who was sitting across from him. "Do they do this often?" he asked.
"Every minute of the day," David replied while folding his arms on the table and leaning his forehead against them.
Puzzled, Bakura turned back around as Jade's voice sounded.
"Now wait just a minute!" she cried. "Don't go blaming me for your mistakes!"
"Why don't you just stay out of my life? You are always trying to tell me what to do! Well, it's my life, so deal with it!" Alex said.
"I'm aware it's your life Alexandra!"
"Then why don't you leave me alone?"
"Fine. Go off with your boyfriend and I'll leave you alone." Bakura felt his face flush at Jade's words. But he went an even deeper red at Alex's reply.
"/What/ did you say? He is /not/ my boyfriend! I'd /never/ date /him/! That is so gross!" She screeched.
Bakura frowned slightly, a bit insulted. Then Jade's voice sounded.
"Don't you hit me Alexandra! I am /not/ a prep, do you understand?"
"Well, you sure act like one!" Alex screamed.
Bakura turned to see David slide out of his seat and go into the kitchen.
David ran into the kitchen to find Jade holding onto Alex's arms to stop her from hitting her. He went over to Jade and pulled on her sleeve.
"You're ruining my life!" Alex screamed.
"Jade!" David said urgently, tugging harder.
"What, David?" Jade snapped looking at him. Alex wrenched herself from her mother's grip and glared at her.
"Bakura and I can hear you in the other room!" David hissed.
"Now look what you've done!" Bakura heard Alex cry. He watched her storm out of the kitchen, through the dining room and up the stairs. He stood up to follow her, slightly nervous. If she'd try to hit her own mother, what would she do to him?
He began up the steps when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Jade with a solemn look on her face.
"Y-yes?" he asked, trying to slink away from her.
"At least you can make her smile," Jade said, taking her hand away and looking at the floor.
Bakura stared at her for a second, unsure of what to do. Luckily, Alex saved him.
"Well, are you coming?" she snapped from the top of the stairs.
He nodded hurriedly and practically ran up the stairs with one look back at Jade before disappearing into Alex's room.
Jade walked over to the couch slowly and sat down. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.
#########################################################################################
Alex slammed the door behind Bakura and he jumped slightly. She kicked the door hard, then got even madder when her foot started to sear with pain.
"I can't believe her! She makes me want to hit something!" Alex cried.
Bakura stumbled backwards a few steps and held up his hands. "N-not me!" he stuttered.
Alex looked up at him and gave a small laugh. "What makes you think I'd hit you?" she asked with a smug look.
He felt color surge through his face as he tried to make his throat form words. "Uh... well, n-no," he tried and was relieved when she laughed.
"You are so weird," she said, dropping onto the bed, her arms folded. "I don't know why I'm hanging with you."
"Uh... I don't know either," Bakura said, thinking about it for a second. He sat down on the bed, but couldn't bring himself to look at her.
Alex sighed and picked up her schoolbook again. But she quickly closed it again and threw it to the side. "I can finish that in English," she said.
Bakura grinned and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He watched her flop back on the bed and he found himself wondering what she'd look like without all her black makeup.
Alex turned her head and saw him looking at her. "What?" she asked giving him an odd look.
"N-nothing," he said, turning his head away, feeling a blush come over him.
Alex rolled her eyes and sat up. "God. Look. How much did you hear between me and Jade?"
"Pretty much all of it," he replied, looking at her.
She ran a hand over her face and sighed. "That's how it always is with us. We're always going at it. Sorry I got you in the middle. You never should have come over. That was a mistake." She stood up and started to gather her books together.
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, confused.
Alex sighed again and looked at him. "Look. My house is real confusing." She opened her mouth to say more, but then closed it again.
"Yes?" he asked.
Alex walked over to her window and leaned on the sill. "Jade was right. When she said... that I haven't had a friend in a long time."
Bakura got to his feet and stood beside her. "That's all right. It's actually sort of an honor for me."
"Huh?" Alex said, genuinely confused. "You mean you... don't mind hanging with me?"
Bakura looked shocked at her question. "Of course not!"
Alex looked back out the window to hide a smile. "You doing anything on Saturday?" she asked.
He looked at her, a bit surprised. "Uh, no."
"You wanna' hang at the mall? We have /got/ to get you a new wardrobe," she said, eyeing his outfit.
"What's wrong with my clothes?" he asked indignantly.
She snorted. "What /isn't/ wrong with them?"
He considered it a moment. "All right. You can choose my outfit on Saturday, if I can choose yours."
This time she laughed outright. "Yeah, right. I'm not wearing anything a guy tells me to."
Bakura felt color come into his face. "No, that's not what I meant. I figure what you're going to pick for me, so I thought maybe we could switch places or something."
"What, you mean me dress like you and you dress like me?" she asked.
"Uh, sort of."
"I guess so. As long as I don't have to buy anything," she said with a shrug.
"Deal," he said, extending his hand.
She shook it and said, "But so help me, if you try to put me in lingerie, that'll be the last thing you ever do."
"R-right," he said, trying to push the mental image out of his mind. - I really didn't need that, - he thought.
She didn't notice his blush as they headed downstairs.
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a/n: Okay, next chapter, next Saturday... so review and I'll post.