The next morning Lily woke up late and cranky. As she was putting her cell into her bag, she noticed it said 1 missed call and new voicemail. Curious to what he was going to say, she listened to it. Nothing. Oh, well that's nice. Blank voicemail. Thank you. I don't know what I would do without a blank voicemail. It's just the best thing I could get in the whole world. She started walking to school when the memories of the argument revisited her mind. Drop everything for you because you are just so special?...see you tomorrow. How do you like that? You won't see me today. She felt a tinge of hurt and anger, and she turned around and went back to her apartment and changed out of her uniform. Bored, she did her weekly report to her father via email and then signed on to AIM to chat. Her friends however weren't on, duh, because they were at school, like she was supposed to be. She turned on the TV. Nothing. She'd have to order cable soon. Frustrated, she walked to the mall. The shops weren't open; she'd have to wait two hours until 10:30. No problem. Leaning against the wall, she took out her earphones and cranked up the music.

Meanwhile, Kaiba was thinking about her absence. He figured that she'd just ditch first period and get more sleep, knowing how much she enjoyed Mr. Brown's class. Lunch rolled around and he couldn't find her anywhere. He'd almost resorted to asking Tea, but didn't want to seem like he was worried or cared, after all, he didn't. Of course he didn't. Why would he care if some girl was absent? The idea that he did was just preposterous. What did that matter to him? He had nothing to do with someone choosing to skip school. Of course not. No curiosity whatsoever. He didn't care.

That's why he walked around the school the whole lunch time, not even bothering to eat.

At the mall Lily went on a crazed shopping spree and spent two thousand dollars buying things she didn't even need. Why? She was bored and didn't care. She had so much money, it was worthless to her. If she needed more, her dad would give it to her, no doubt about it. Her father was a billionaire and the thousand dollars was like a blade of grass in a lawn the size of an acre to him. That was why she felt it was pointless for Kaiba to work so much, I mean, it's not like he needed the money. She used to be a spoiled child, getting anything she wanted at the expense of loneliness. Sure, she had friends, but she lacked family, and that's what she needed most. That emptiness broke her down. When everything she knew fell apart, she decided to move, maybe start new. It wasn't as if she had her sight set on Japan. She spun the globe and that's where her finger landed. She figured it was good as any other place.

Back at school, Kaiba accepted the fact that she wasn't coming to school. He wasn't sad. He was angry. Every little thing was building up inside of him and overhearing a kid set him off.

"Did you hear? Lily, that new girl, isn't here today. I bet she was rejected by Kaiba or something and was too humiliated to come to school. Isn't that pathetic?"

"Er..."

"Why aren't you laughing?"

"::points behind him:: that's why."

"Who are you to say what I did or did not say? You have no idea, actually what is really going on. Do you really know why she's not here today? I don't, so why don't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. K-kk-aiba."

"If I hear you spreading these lies again, you'll be sorry you'll never hear the end of it." With that, he stormed off.

The next day went pretty much the same way.

He had thought about her long and hard. This was his chance to escape. He could regain his control by letting come to him. After all, she was the one who decided to ditch class, not him. She was the one who yelled first, not him. She was the one who didn't explain why she wasn't there. It was her fault, but why did he feel so guilty? That argument could have ended any possible relationship if nobody was to say anything. It nipped it in the bud. Calling her now would be the magic fertilizer to cause the plant to bloom out of control. Certainly Kaiba wouldn't, after all, it wasn't his fault, and why would he want to risk losing control again?

That argument could have been the mark of their estrangement. He'd never have to worry about her again if she kept up her absence. He wouldn't need to spend time away from working; he wouldn't need to put up with more rumors, or the overall distraction of girls, the sight of her, the tingly feeling he'd get when they touched on accident, having someone to ease the boredom of school, being able to relax and not worry about keeping up his icy persona...so staying separate was a good thing, of course.

Letting Lily call first was the plan of action. He sat near the phone and thought some more. He was doing the best thing for himself. Why would he want to put himself into the foreign territory of dating? What even possessed him to ask her out? I know! (duh, I'm writing, ok, sorry.) He had been staring at her, thinking about her, admiring how she was so confident and strong, like him. He figured she had a strong family bond to fall back on, to encourage her, that made her who she was. He was all caught up in her vibe that he was taken off guard when she commented about his staring. He panicked, covered it, but panicked nonetheless, and that's why he asked. It seemed like the right response, at that time.

He regretted saying that as he thought about it more. He figured if he didn't do that, they wouldn't be in this mess and he'd be seeing her at school. Wait, he didn't want that, he was supposed to want her out of his life, for things to be solitary and dependable. After all, there's no one you can really count on but yourself.

It was 8:00, Thursday night, and Kaiba paced in front of his telephone. Ten minutes later, he picked it up, and set it back down, and immediately picked it up again. He started to dial...

"Hello?"

"Hey, uh, it's me."

"Oh, uh, okay."

"So, you weren't at school today and yesterday. Are you feeling ill?"

"No."

"Oh, well, that's good to hear, uh..."

"Is there a reason why you called?"

"Oh, yes, well, tomorrow's Friday."

"Naturally, comes after Thursday."

"Yeah, well, that lab is due, and, well, we're partners—"

"And you're concerned that if I don't do my part you'll get a bad grade?"

"No, I just, wanted to know if you were coming..."

"I don't know."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Uhm."

::silence::

"Hello?"

"I'm still here."

"Have you decided yet?"

"Well, I could just not go to school go shopping everyday, get my grades after six weeks showing that I'm flunking and my dad will force me to move somewhere else and I can either do that all over again or actually try."

"Oh."

"Yeah, or there's the possibility that I could actually go to school tomorrow and pass my classes with flying colors and stay."

"Huh."

"So, not that you care, but what do you think I should do? Oh, or am I not special enough to ask for your opinion?"

"Look, I didn't mean—"

"Yeah? A lot of people don't mean to do things, okay? I didn't mean to lose my best friend, but what did I do? I did. I freakin screwed it up. It happened and there's nothing I can do now. It's just too late. A lot of parents don't mean to screw their kids over by hurting them physically or emotionally but does that happen out there? Yeah. It does. So whether or not you meant it Seto Kaiba, you said it, and that's that."

"I didn't call to get yelled at."

"Fine, why did you call?"

"I...just wanted to know why you weren't at school and if you were ok."

"Because I didn't feel like it and yes I'm fine."

"Because I didn't feel like it is not a reason. Was it me?"

"Well, you did hurt me, and I didn't know what I would say to you anyway, so I guess I just wanted to avoid it."

"Oh, well, I...sorry."

"I should be apologizing."

"No—"

"Yes. I get rather bitter and angry at anything...sometimes I'm just as stubborn as you, so I argue a lot. I'm...glad you called."

"Yeah, so you're coming tomorrow?"

"Well, you never answered my question."

"You're not making this easy for me, are you?"

"Well, where's the fun in that?"

"I'll get you back for this."

"Oh, sorry, was that a yes or a no?"

"Yes."

"Oh dear, it seems like I've forgotten the question. Yes what?"

"Come to school tomorrow."

"That's all I wanted to hear."

"::grunt::"

"::laughing:: so that lab is due tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"You want to fill me in?"

"Not really."

"Do you want to help me in any way?"

"Hmm, no."

"Fine. See ya tomorrow."

Lily went to sleep with a smile even though she didn't even bother looking at her lab.

-----

okay, i was feeling very very sarcastic when i wrote this, hehe, so yeah. so even though these first few chapters are a tad bit, ok maybe not just a tad, slow...i've got a great idea for later on, and i'm excited, so bear with me, and review so i dont feel bad...