"Hey, Bakura!" Joey called.
Bakura looked across the cafeteria the next day and waved. He headed over to the table where his friends sat. "Hi," he said.
"Is everything okay with Alex? She looked kind of mad at you yesterday," Tea said.
"Well, she was sort of. But everything's okay now," he said, looking over his shoulder briefly at Alex. She sat at her usual table alone. He felt sort of guilty for not being there with her, but turned back around to his friends.
"What happened?" Yugi asked.
"I wouldn't let her beat up the preps," Bakura replied with a chuckle.
Joey gawked at him. "Why not? They could use a good beating!" he said.
The gang laughed. "If Alex got to them, she'd probably kill them," Bakura said.
"So, let her go!" Tristan said, earning laughs.
"She'd get expelled if she killed them and then I wouldn't get to see her anymore," Bakura said. He realized exactly what he had said when Joey snickered. He went a violent shade of red and stared at the table.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want that to happen," Tristan teased. Tea elbowed him as they saw Bakura shrink down in his seat.
"Sorry," she said. "But it's really funny."
"Well, not to me!" Bakura said. "I'm perfectly happy if she's clueless. Even if everyone else /does/ know. What?" he asked as the gang started snickering.
"Who's clueless?"
Bakura's heart stopped as he spun around so fast he was in danger of falling off the seat. Alex stood behind him with her arms folded and an eyebrow raised. "Um..." he stammered as his friends snickered.
"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you?" she asked, sitting down next to him.
"No," he said quickly, blushing.
She gave him a skeptical look. "I was kidding," she said dryly. "But maybe I hit it on the nose?"
"No, we were talking... um..." Yugi tried.
"About a girl who likes /him/. But he doesn't like her back and he doesn't want to hurt her feelings," Tea finished.
Alex gave them weird looks and kept her eyebrow up. "Ah," she said. "Anyway, I'm going to the arcade later. Are you coming?" she asked, directing her attention to Bakura, who was bright red.
"Uh... yeah. Okay," he said, his heart racing at the close call.
"Good. I'll see you at four. Don't be late, all right?" Alex said, getting up from the table. Bakura watched as she walked across the cafeteria and left.
"Thank you," he said, turning to Tea.
"It's what friends are for," she said with a smile.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not sure she completely fell for it though," Tristan said, making Bakura blush.
"What do you mean? Why?" Bakura asked.
"Well, she seemed kind of skeptical about it," Tristan replied.
"But I don't think she knows. If she did, I don't think she'd continue hanging out with you," Yugi said.
"Oh, great!" Bakura said, putting his face in his hand.
"What he /means/ is..." Tea said, elbowing Yugi. "That if she found out, she'd either go out with you, or..."
"Or?" Bakura asked, looking at her.
"Or... well, she'd probably stop hanging out with you like Yugi said. But if she doesn't recognize it, she probably likes you back, but doesn't realize it on either end," Tea finished.
"Oh..." Bakura said, unsure of whether he was relieved or not. "How do I get her to recognize it on her end without her knocking me out?"
"Um, well you could always kiss her," Tristan said.
"I've thought of that, but somehow I don't think I'd come out of it alive," he said, blushing as the gang laughed.
"You could actually ask her out," Tea suggested.
"I can't see her reacting well to that either," Bakura said.
"How do you think she'd take it?" Yugi asked.
"Um..." Bakura said, thinking about it. "She'd probably stare at me like I'm an alien or laugh or something. Any which way it'd be embarrassing," he said.
"Well, you have to do something," Tea said.
"Yeah, if you don't, you'll be the laughing stock of the entire school," Joey said.
Bakura blushed. "What do I say?" he muttered.
"I don't know, from what you've said, you have to do it carefully around Alex or she'll knock you out. But I suggest something casual like 'Do you want to see a movie with me' or something," Tristan said.
"And try not to stutter," Joey added, making Bakura go a bright shade of red.
"R-right," he said.
"No, /don't/ stutter," Joey said.
"Well, it's easy for you to say!" Bakura said.
"Why don't you give it a shot when you're walking her home? That way it doesn't mess up your day at the arcade," Tea suggested.
Bakura nodded, nervous at the idea. "If I don't come to school tomorrow, you'll remember to visit me in the hospital, right?" he asked and the gang laughed.
"I don't think she'll beat you up for liking her. She may be... socially challenged... but I don't think she's quite /that/ messed up," Tristan said.
"Right. Um... well, I suppose I'll give it a shot," Bakura said. "After the arcade. I can't believe I'm going to do this."
"Good luck, Bakura," Yugi said.
"Thanks. I think I'm going to need it," Bakura replied, blushing a vivid shade of red.
"Nah, you'll be fine," Tristan said.
Bakura took a deep breath and stood up. "Well, I suppose I'd better get to class."
"Say hello to Alex for us," Joey teased, making Bakura turn away in embarrassment. He heard Joey mutter "Ow," as Tea elbowed him in the ribs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ I'm tuggin' at my hair.
~ I'm pullin' at my clothes.
~ I'm tryin' to keep my cool,
~ I know it shows.
"So, Alex... no, that's awful." Bakura walked slowly down the sidewalk, kicking the pebbles as he went. Half of him couldn't wait to see Alex, the other half wanted to delay it as long as possible.
~ I'm starin' at my feet.
~ My cheeks are turnin' red.
~ I'm searchin' for the words inside my head.
"What are you doing tomorrow? Besides school... oh, what am I going to do? She'll laugh for certain if I keep this up!" he moaned, pressing a hand to his face. "Um... no, I can't start like that..."
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.
~ Be with you every night.
~ Am I squeezing you too tight?
Bakura took a deep breath and tried again. "Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" He imagined Alex's answer... -"No, why?" - "Do you want to see a movie with me then? No... do you want to have dinner with me then? Yeah... okay, that sounds pretty good," he muttered, feeling his face flush at the image of asking her out.
~ If I could say what I wanna' see,
~ I wanna' see you go down -- on one knee.
~ Marry me today.
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,
~ with these things I'll never say.
As he walked, he muttered his lines over and over to himself, trying to keep words like 'um' and 'uh' out of his sentences. He reached the traffic light where the arcade was and he saw Alex leaning against the wall across the street, waiting for him. His heart leapt at the sight of her and all thoughts of asking her out were temporarily driven from his mind.
"Alex!" he called excitedly, waving at her.
Alex looked up across the street to see him waving energetically at her. "Well it's about time," she muttered, looking up at the traffic light.
She watched as it turned yellow, then looked back at Bakura. Her heart stopped as she saw him start across the street. The car was just slowing down as Bakura stepped in front of it.
"Bakura!" she screamed, pushing off the wall, her eyes wide in fear. "No!"
The sound of her voice startled him and he stopped. He realized what was happening as he turned and saw the truck. He cried out, but was unable to move in time.
"Bakura!" Alex screamed. As cars stopped for the red light, she weaved between them until she reached her friend. "Oh my God," she whispered fearfully as she knelt over him. She heard the car door open but she didn't look up.
"Oh my God, I didn't see him I swear! Oh God, oh my God..." the woman moaned, putting a hand to her mouth.
"Call an ambulance you moron!" Alex cried and the woman obediently whipped out her cell phone. Alex redirected her attention to Bakura, who wasn't moving. "Bakura..." she choked, shaking his shoulder. When he didn't move, her heart started to race in panic. "No... wake up. Look at me! Come on, open your eyes!" she cried, feeling her breath start to catch in her throat.
She heard the woman giving a panicked review of what had happened over the phone, but what she was saying wasn't registering in Alex's mind.
"Bakura... come on! You idiot, open your eyes! Come on! Don't do this to me!" she exclaimed, shaking him. His head merely rolled to the side, his eyes remaining closed. "Please... wake up..." she choked, her vision starting to blur.
Breathing heavily, she rested her forehead on his chest. She lifted her head a few seconds later, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "Bakura wake up! Come on! Don't you dare die!" she cried, shaking his shoulders. "If you die I swear to God I'll never forgive you! Wake /up/! Please..." She choked out the last word as tears suddenly started to fall from her eyes.
She tried to sniff them back and wipe them away, but she couldn't keep them from falling. "Please..." she whispered, terrified. "Don't leave me alone here... I... I need you, Bakura... I need you..." She rested her head back down on his chest, letting tears fall.
Suddenly, she was ripped from him and pushed away. She stumbled backwards as men lifted Bakura onto a stretcher. She watched them push the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. As it pulled out, Alex took off to her house, tears still streaming down her face in panic. She didn't stop running until she reached her front door.
Alex ripped it open and burst inside. She groped for the car keys on the wall, but they weren't there. She leaned out of the doorway to see the car sitting in the driveway. She wiped her face dry and spun around to see Jade.
"Give me the keys," Alex said, holding out a shaking hand.
Jade stared at her. "Alex, I need the car. I'm meeting Rick at..."
"Give me the keys now!" her sister interrupted.
"Alex, what's wrong with you?" Jade asked, noting her sister's bloodshot eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Jade!" Alex cried, panic flooding through her again.
"No, I need the car sometimes too," Jade said, pushing her red hair over her ear.
"Jade! Bakura's in the hospital! Give me the keys!" Alex screamed, her breathing becoming rapid again.
Her sister stared at her with wide eyes. "Oh my God... all... all right..." Jade stammered, handing Alex the keys. As her sister dashed out of the house, Jade put a hand over her mouth in shock. - Oh my God, what happened? - She had never Alex move so fast in her life. The teen had already backed out of the driveway and was headed down the road. - Oh... I hope she doesn't put /herself/ in the hospital... -
Jade ran to the phone and dialed Rick's number. She crossed her fingers in hope that he hadn't left yet. She breathed in relief when he picked up.
"Rick... Bakura's in the hospital..." she said, feeling her own heart start to pound.
"What? Why?" Rick asked, concern in his voice.
"I don't know, but Alex just took off with the car. She's so upset... Rick, you have to pick me up... I have to go to the hospital," Jade said.
"Yeah, okay. I'll be there in a minute, all right?" Rick said.
"Yeah, bye." They hung up, but Jade picked up the phone again. She dialed Bakura's number and hoped someone answered. She breathed in relief when a man picked up.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Is this Mr. Ryou?" she asked, panicky.
"Yes, who's this?" he asked quizzically.
"Jade Moore... you met me at Victoria's," she replied.
"That's right! How are you?" Mr. Ryou asked cheerfully.
"Not so good... Alex just came in here demanding the car keys because Bakura's in the hospital," Jade said, running her hand nervously through her hair.
"What?" Mr. Ryou asked, his tone changing dramatically. "What happened? Do you mean my son?"
"Yes... I don't think Alex would give a crap if it happened to anyone else. I don't know what happened, she didn't tell me. But I don't think it's good... she looked like she had been crying and Alex doesn't cry," Jade said, fear flooding through her.
"Oh my God," Mr. Ryou said. Jade heard him hang up without another word and she did the same. At that moment, she heard a car horn blare from outside.
Jade dashed outside, grabbing her purse on her way. She quickly got into the passenger side of Rick's car and he pulled out.
"I'm sure everything's okay," he said, trying to calm her down.
"You don't get it! Alex was /crying/! Oh my God... if something happens to him Alex will never be the same..." Jade said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Jade... calm down. Alex will be fine as will Bakura I'm sure. I don't need you panicking here; I'm sure Alex will do that enough for the both of us," Rick said.
"Yeah..." Jade said, drying her eyes quickly. "God, I hope he's all right..."
#########################################################################################
a/n: What? You actually thought I'd tell you in /this/ chapter? ROTFL Review and I'll tell you in the /next/ one. XD
Bakura looked across the cafeteria the next day and waved. He headed over to the table where his friends sat. "Hi," he said.
"Is everything okay with Alex? She looked kind of mad at you yesterday," Tea said.
"Well, she was sort of. But everything's okay now," he said, looking over his shoulder briefly at Alex. She sat at her usual table alone. He felt sort of guilty for not being there with her, but turned back around to his friends.
"What happened?" Yugi asked.
"I wouldn't let her beat up the preps," Bakura replied with a chuckle.
Joey gawked at him. "Why not? They could use a good beating!" he said.
The gang laughed. "If Alex got to them, she'd probably kill them," Bakura said.
"So, let her go!" Tristan said, earning laughs.
"She'd get expelled if she killed them and then I wouldn't get to see her anymore," Bakura said. He realized exactly what he had said when Joey snickered. He went a violent shade of red and stared at the table.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want that to happen," Tristan teased. Tea elbowed him as they saw Bakura shrink down in his seat.
"Sorry," she said. "But it's really funny."
"Well, not to me!" Bakura said. "I'm perfectly happy if she's clueless. Even if everyone else /does/ know. What?" he asked as the gang started snickering.
"Who's clueless?"
Bakura's heart stopped as he spun around so fast he was in danger of falling off the seat. Alex stood behind him with her arms folded and an eyebrow raised. "Um..." he stammered as his friends snickered.
"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you?" she asked, sitting down next to him.
"No," he said quickly, blushing.
She gave him a skeptical look. "I was kidding," she said dryly. "But maybe I hit it on the nose?"
"No, we were talking... um..." Yugi tried.
"About a girl who likes /him/. But he doesn't like her back and he doesn't want to hurt her feelings," Tea finished.
Alex gave them weird looks and kept her eyebrow up. "Ah," she said. "Anyway, I'm going to the arcade later. Are you coming?" she asked, directing her attention to Bakura, who was bright red.
"Uh... yeah. Okay," he said, his heart racing at the close call.
"Good. I'll see you at four. Don't be late, all right?" Alex said, getting up from the table. Bakura watched as she walked across the cafeteria and left.
"Thank you," he said, turning to Tea.
"It's what friends are for," she said with a smile.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not sure she completely fell for it though," Tristan said, making Bakura blush.
"What do you mean? Why?" Bakura asked.
"Well, she seemed kind of skeptical about it," Tristan replied.
"But I don't think she knows. If she did, I don't think she'd continue hanging out with you," Yugi said.
"Oh, great!" Bakura said, putting his face in his hand.
"What he /means/ is..." Tea said, elbowing Yugi. "That if she found out, she'd either go out with you, or..."
"Or?" Bakura asked, looking at her.
"Or... well, she'd probably stop hanging out with you like Yugi said. But if she doesn't recognize it, she probably likes you back, but doesn't realize it on either end," Tea finished.
"Oh..." Bakura said, unsure of whether he was relieved or not. "How do I get her to recognize it on her end without her knocking me out?"
"Um, well you could always kiss her," Tristan said.
"I've thought of that, but somehow I don't think I'd come out of it alive," he said, blushing as the gang laughed.
"You could actually ask her out," Tea suggested.
"I can't see her reacting well to that either," Bakura said.
"How do you think she'd take it?" Yugi asked.
"Um..." Bakura said, thinking about it. "She'd probably stare at me like I'm an alien or laugh or something. Any which way it'd be embarrassing," he said.
"Well, you have to do something," Tea said.
"Yeah, if you don't, you'll be the laughing stock of the entire school," Joey said.
Bakura blushed. "What do I say?" he muttered.
"I don't know, from what you've said, you have to do it carefully around Alex or she'll knock you out. But I suggest something casual like 'Do you want to see a movie with me' or something," Tristan said.
"And try not to stutter," Joey added, making Bakura go a bright shade of red.
"R-right," he said.
"No, /don't/ stutter," Joey said.
"Well, it's easy for you to say!" Bakura said.
"Why don't you give it a shot when you're walking her home? That way it doesn't mess up your day at the arcade," Tea suggested.
Bakura nodded, nervous at the idea. "If I don't come to school tomorrow, you'll remember to visit me in the hospital, right?" he asked and the gang laughed.
"I don't think she'll beat you up for liking her. She may be... socially challenged... but I don't think she's quite /that/ messed up," Tristan said.
"Right. Um... well, I suppose I'll give it a shot," Bakura said. "After the arcade. I can't believe I'm going to do this."
"Good luck, Bakura," Yugi said.
"Thanks. I think I'm going to need it," Bakura replied, blushing a vivid shade of red.
"Nah, you'll be fine," Tristan said.
Bakura took a deep breath and stood up. "Well, I suppose I'd better get to class."
"Say hello to Alex for us," Joey teased, making Bakura turn away in embarrassment. He heard Joey mutter "Ow," as Tea elbowed him in the ribs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ I'm tuggin' at my hair.
~ I'm pullin' at my clothes.
~ I'm tryin' to keep my cool,
~ I know it shows.
"So, Alex... no, that's awful." Bakura walked slowly down the sidewalk, kicking the pebbles as he went. Half of him couldn't wait to see Alex, the other half wanted to delay it as long as possible.
~ I'm starin' at my feet.
~ My cheeks are turnin' red.
~ I'm searchin' for the words inside my head.
"What are you doing tomorrow? Besides school... oh, what am I going to do? She'll laugh for certain if I keep this up!" he moaned, pressing a hand to his face. "Um... no, I can't start like that..."
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.
~ Be with you every night.
~ Am I squeezing you too tight?
Bakura took a deep breath and tried again. "Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" He imagined Alex's answer... -"No, why?" - "Do you want to see a movie with me then? No... do you want to have dinner with me then? Yeah... okay, that sounds pretty good," he muttered, feeling his face flush at the image of asking her out.
~ If I could say what I wanna' see,
~ I wanna' see you go down -- on one knee.
~ Marry me today.
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,
~ with these things I'll never say.
As he walked, he muttered his lines over and over to himself, trying to keep words like 'um' and 'uh' out of his sentences. He reached the traffic light where the arcade was and he saw Alex leaning against the wall across the street, waiting for him. His heart leapt at the sight of her and all thoughts of asking her out were temporarily driven from his mind.
"Alex!" he called excitedly, waving at her.
Alex looked up across the street to see him waving energetically at her. "Well it's about time," she muttered, looking up at the traffic light.
She watched as it turned yellow, then looked back at Bakura. Her heart stopped as she saw him start across the street. The car was just slowing down as Bakura stepped in front of it.
"Bakura!" she screamed, pushing off the wall, her eyes wide in fear. "No!"
The sound of her voice startled him and he stopped. He realized what was happening as he turned and saw the truck. He cried out, but was unable to move in time.
"Bakura!" Alex screamed. As cars stopped for the red light, she weaved between them until she reached her friend. "Oh my God," she whispered fearfully as she knelt over him. She heard the car door open but she didn't look up.
"Oh my God, I didn't see him I swear! Oh God, oh my God..." the woman moaned, putting a hand to her mouth.
"Call an ambulance you moron!" Alex cried and the woman obediently whipped out her cell phone. Alex redirected her attention to Bakura, who wasn't moving. "Bakura..." she choked, shaking his shoulder. When he didn't move, her heart started to race in panic. "No... wake up. Look at me! Come on, open your eyes!" she cried, feeling her breath start to catch in her throat.
She heard the woman giving a panicked review of what had happened over the phone, but what she was saying wasn't registering in Alex's mind.
"Bakura... come on! You idiot, open your eyes! Come on! Don't do this to me!" she exclaimed, shaking him. His head merely rolled to the side, his eyes remaining closed. "Please... wake up..." she choked, her vision starting to blur.
Breathing heavily, she rested her forehead on his chest. She lifted her head a few seconds later, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "Bakura wake up! Come on! Don't you dare die!" she cried, shaking his shoulders. "If you die I swear to God I'll never forgive you! Wake /up/! Please..." She choked out the last word as tears suddenly started to fall from her eyes.
She tried to sniff them back and wipe them away, but she couldn't keep them from falling. "Please..." she whispered, terrified. "Don't leave me alone here... I... I need you, Bakura... I need you..." She rested her head back down on his chest, letting tears fall.
Suddenly, she was ripped from him and pushed away. She stumbled backwards as men lifted Bakura onto a stretcher. She watched them push the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. As it pulled out, Alex took off to her house, tears still streaming down her face in panic. She didn't stop running until she reached her front door.
Alex ripped it open and burst inside. She groped for the car keys on the wall, but they weren't there. She leaned out of the doorway to see the car sitting in the driveway. She wiped her face dry and spun around to see Jade.
"Give me the keys," Alex said, holding out a shaking hand.
Jade stared at her. "Alex, I need the car. I'm meeting Rick at..."
"Give me the keys now!" her sister interrupted.
"Alex, what's wrong with you?" Jade asked, noting her sister's bloodshot eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Jade!" Alex cried, panic flooding through her again.
"No, I need the car sometimes too," Jade said, pushing her red hair over her ear.
"Jade! Bakura's in the hospital! Give me the keys!" Alex screamed, her breathing becoming rapid again.
Her sister stared at her with wide eyes. "Oh my God... all... all right..." Jade stammered, handing Alex the keys. As her sister dashed out of the house, Jade put a hand over her mouth in shock. - Oh my God, what happened? - She had never Alex move so fast in her life. The teen had already backed out of the driveway and was headed down the road. - Oh... I hope she doesn't put /herself/ in the hospital... -
Jade ran to the phone and dialed Rick's number. She crossed her fingers in hope that he hadn't left yet. She breathed in relief when he picked up.
"Rick... Bakura's in the hospital..." she said, feeling her own heart start to pound.
"What? Why?" Rick asked, concern in his voice.
"I don't know, but Alex just took off with the car. She's so upset... Rick, you have to pick me up... I have to go to the hospital," Jade said.
"Yeah, okay. I'll be there in a minute, all right?" Rick said.
"Yeah, bye." They hung up, but Jade picked up the phone again. She dialed Bakura's number and hoped someone answered. She breathed in relief when a man picked up.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Is this Mr. Ryou?" she asked, panicky.
"Yes, who's this?" he asked quizzically.
"Jade Moore... you met me at Victoria's," she replied.
"That's right! How are you?" Mr. Ryou asked cheerfully.
"Not so good... Alex just came in here demanding the car keys because Bakura's in the hospital," Jade said, running her hand nervously through her hair.
"What?" Mr. Ryou asked, his tone changing dramatically. "What happened? Do you mean my son?"
"Yes... I don't think Alex would give a crap if it happened to anyone else. I don't know what happened, she didn't tell me. But I don't think it's good... she looked like she had been crying and Alex doesn't cry," Jade said, fear flooding through her.
"Oh my God," Mr. Ryou said. Jade heard him hang up without another word and she did the same. At that moment, she heard a car horn blare from outside.
Jade dashed outside, grabbing her purse on her way. She quickly got into the passenger side of Rick's car and he pulled out.
"I'm sure everything's okay," he said, trying to calm her down.
"You don't get it! Alex was /crying/! Oh my God... if something happens to him Alex will never be the same..." Jade said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Jade... calm down. Alex will be fine as will Bakura I'm sure. I don't need you panicking here; I'm sure Alex will do that enough for the both of us," Rick said.
"Yeah..." Jade said, drying her eyes quickly. "God, I hope he's all right..."
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a/n: What? You actually thought I'd tell you in /this/ chapter? ROTFL Review and I'll tell you in the /next/ one. XD