Hello everyone! Well finally I have chapter 8 up…sorry it took so long but it took me forever to type it up…I was really busy. But to make up for it, this chapter is the longest one that I have written so far! Yey! Well, guess I better shut up already and let you guys get to reading…
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8. Encounters with the Strange
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Just having woken up and finding himself on the couch, Joey stretched his arms out wide and gave a huge groan. They he yelled as he opened his eyes to the glaring sunlight that was shining right in his face.
Blinking in an attempt to bring back his vision, he got up and quickly went to close the curtain where the bright light was streaming through.
"Geez, what time is it?" Joey asked, yawning and looking around at the clock. "10:42!" he screamed loudly. "Serenity! Why didn't you wake me up! Now we're both late for school!"
Joey stood up and rubbed his eyes, waiting for her to answer. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'she probably needed the rest. I know I did."
"Serenity!" he called again, then went to the door of her room. Knocking, he called out to her, "Serenity, are you awake?"
When no answer came, he slowly eased open the door. "Serenity?"
Stepping in, he quickly looked around and saw that she was not in the room. Frowning, he left her room and quickly searched through the rest of their small apartment.
'Geez Serenity,' he thought, going through each room, 'Where'd ya run off ta?'
After he was sure that she wasn't in the apartment, he opened the front door, looking out to the parking lot and trying to ignore the nervousness that was beginning to make his stomach crawl.
When he noticed that his car was missing, he frowned in disapprovement but also gave a small sigh of relief.
"Well this is jus' great of her." he muttered to himself, thinking that Serenity had already left for school without him. "Not only did she not wake me up, but she didn't even wait for me either!"
Annoyed at why she would do this, he quickly got his stuff together and proceeded to then run to school.
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"Hmmmm…?" Serenity murmured dreamily, raising her head off of her arm. She blinked a few times and then stretched, having just woken up.
"Oh…I'm sorry," came a young voice from the other side of the bed, "I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just changing Mr. Kaiba's IV."
Serenity looked over and saw the pretty blond-haired nurse who the voice belonged to. "Oh, it's ok." Serenity told her, and then looked down at the bed covers. "And…hey…thanks for not ratting me out."
"Oh, it's no problem." the nurse assured her. "I understand how it can be. My mother was in surgery not too long ago and I thought I would go crazy because they wouldn't let me in to see her." She smiled at Serenity and then winked. "Besides," she continued, "all the hard-ass nurses are gone right now. So don't worry about it."
Serenity smiled at her in response and then looked down at Seto, who was still sleeping. "How's he doing?" she asked the nurse.
"Well, he seems to be coming along just fine." the nurse said in reply. "They should be moving him to a different ward soon."
"Well that's good." Serenity answered. "I'm glad that he's doing much better." Then she looked back down at Seto. "Boy, he sure does sleep an awful lot." she commented.
"Oh, well that's because the doctor ordered that a mild sedative be placed in through his intravenous line." the nurse told her, looking down at Seto. "I'm not sure what he went through, but I guess he needs a lot of rest to recover."
"Yeah…" replied Serenity, looking down to where she still grasped Seto's hand. Then she looked closer. Before she had fallen asleep, she remembered taking his limp hand in hers. But now, after she had woken up, she found that his hand now grasped her own with as much force as she held his.
'Must have done it in his sleep…' she thought absently, and then looked up at the clock. "Oh no! I'm going to be late for school!" she exclaimed, letting go of Seto's hand and quickly standing up.
"Well, then I guess you better get going then." the nurse commented. "When you come back though, I'd suggest that you ask the front lobby what room he is in. His chart says that he is to be moved out of the ER ward today."
"Oh, ok then," said Serenity, grabbing her stuff off of the floor. "Thank you."
"Sure, no problem," said the nurse. "Gee, I hope you don't mind me saying this…but you sure have a cute boyfriend."
Serenity looked up at her, startled, and then slowly smiled. "Oh…he's…he's not…," she looked down at Seto, and then continued, "Yeah…he's not, not that bad looking, is he?" She reached down and ran her hand through his thick brown hair. He didn't even stir.
"You must hear this all the time," the nurse went on, "but you're one lucky girl."
Serenity looked up quickly at her, her face blushing with embarrassment over what she had just made the nurse think. 'What did I do?' she thought, 'This nurse thinks he's my boyfriend!...Oh well…there's no harm in playing along, I guess.' She looked back down at Seto. 'It's not like he'll ever find out.'
"Oh…ummm…yeah, anyway," Serenity said quickly to cover up the embarrassing silence, "do you think he'll be awake when I come back after school today?"
"Yeah," answered the nurse, "He should be. I mean, he can't sleep every moment of the day, now can he?" She smiled at Serenity. "Anyway, all he got was a mild sedative to help him sleep through the initial pain. In a few hours, he should be fine and back to his normal self."
"Ok, great." Serenity said, and then wondered if she really wanted to see Kaiba while he was awake and "back to his normal self". What if he blamed her for everything? And then there were all the bad things that Joey had said about Kaiba…what if he really was like that? She frowned at this thought and then turned to leave. "Well, thanks anyway." she said to the nurse.
"Un-huh." the nurse said in reply as Serenity hurried out of the room. Glancing at her watch, Serenity figured that she had just enough time to make it to school by fourth period.
Rushing out of the hospital's entrance, Serenity suddenly stopped short. "Joey!" she cried breathlessly, suddenly seeing that she still had his car and that it was way past time for them to be getting to school and that he would have missed her by now. 'Oh no! I've been at the hospital all night…' she thought, 'what will I tell Joey?'
Her mind spinning with what she was going to say to her brother, she reached the parking lot and then went to Joey's car. 'Well…I could go home…' she thought, 'who knows, Joey may still be sleeping…it's likely…or…maybe I should just go to school, and when I see Joey just tell that I left for school early…or something…and just didn't want to wake him…'
Standing with the car door open, she frowned. She didn't like the thought of lying to her brother, but what else could she do? He would flip if he knew that she went out in the middle of the night to visit, of all people, Seto Kaiba. Still frowning, she finally got into the car and started the engine.
On her way driving from the hospital to her school, she encountered heavy traffic. 'Great.' she thought, 'Now I'll never make it to school in time for fourth period.' She sighed, but finally reached Domino High. Arriving in the middle of fourth period, she quickly hurried down the hallway to reach her biology class.
Opening the door of the classroom only to see a dozen heads turn in her direction, she felt herself blush and simply stood there in embarrassment.
"Miss Wheeler, I see you've finally made it to class." said Sakamutou-Sensei, stopping her lesson to speak to Serenity.
"Umm…s-sorry, Sensei," Serenity responded, hating to be the center of attention. "I-I woke up late."
"Well, see to it that it doesn't happen again, Serenity, or I'll be forced to give you detention."
"Y-yes, Sensei." Serenity stuttered, then made her way to her seat. As the class began to go back to its lesson, Serenity let out a sigh of relief. 'I sure hope the rest of the day goes smoother then it's been so far.' she thought.
As the lesson droned on about protozoa and their origins, Serenity turned her gaze to the window. It was a clear day and the sun was shining, although she knew that the wind was brisk outside. Soon her mind began to wander and her thoughts turned towards the well known yet still mysterious Seto Kaiba.
Kaiba was…interesting…to her. 'I wonder what he's doing right now…' she thought, 'Ha. Probably sleeping…' A smile made its way across Serenity's face as she thought about the sleeping Seto. 'He looked so…so innocent there…so peaceful. Why can't Joey see this side of him? He always was one sided…' She trailed off in her thoughts, a dreamy look on her face. 'Well I hope that Seto isn't in too much pain when he wakes up…I'll have to go and visit with him again today. See how he is.' She sighed happily, but then her smile faded as she thought about what would happen if he didn't want to see her.
'Does he want to see me?' she thought, worry creeping onto her face. 'I mean, I was the reason why he got shot…' she shook her head to clear the thoughts. 'Still…I would like to see how he is feeling…Maybe I can just…keep him company. I don't think he has many friends…'
Serenity was suddenly startled out of her thoughts by someone who had appeared in front of her desk. Sakamutou-Sensei. "Serenity." she said.
Serenity looked up, and then replied, "Ahh…Y-yes, Sensei?"
Sakamutou-Sensei stared down sternly at her. "I'm glad that you find our homework assignment so thought-provoking."
"Ummm…what do you mean, Sensei?" Serenity asked, confused as to what she was talking about.
"Well, it seemed like you were in deep thought there after I assigned the homework to the class. So, if that's the case,…care to share what you were thinking about?"
Staring up at Sakamutou-Sensei, Serenity could feel the heat rising up to her cheeks. Why was Sensei picking on her today? "Ummm…well…no, Sensei." she finally answered, "Sorry. I was…focused on other things…I'm sorry." She looked down, staring into her hands and wishing that Sensei would just go away already.
"It's alright Serenity," Sensei said, sighing in exasperation, "just…try to pay attention more next time you walk in late, ok?"
"Yes, Sensei." Serenity answered quickly, wondering when the bell would ring so she could finally get out of biology. For not even being there the whole period, the class was sure lasting a long time. As Sakamutou-Sensei walked away, Serenity quickly wrote down the homework assignment and then gathered up her stuff. 'Darn it…so much homework…' she thought, thinking about the three days that she was already behind on, 'I wonder what Seto is doing about his homework…Hey! Maybe I should pick up his homework for him!' Serenity smiled to herself triumphantly. 'Yes! That's a great idea! Then I have an excuse to go and see him…I hope he's not mad…'
Just then the bell rang, interrupting her thoughts. Slinging her backpack onto her shoulder and gathering up her books, Serenity took a deep breath and prepared herself to go and ask for the great Seto Kaiba's homework.
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After the lunch bell had rung, Joey made his way into the crowded cafeteria. Students were milling around everywhere and he had a hard time getting through the crowd. He had reached school just as fourth period was ending and was still out of breath from running the whole way.
Joey finally stopped at roughly the center of the cafeteria and looked around, trying to locate a short girl with long auburn hair. 'Geez,' he thought, 'with all these people in here, I'm never gonna find her!'
He was just about to call it quits after having no luck in finding his sister when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
Turning around in surprise and half-expecting to see his hazel-eyed sibling, he instead found himself staring into the face of a beautiful blond with violet eyes.
"Hey Joey, what's up?" she asked, as she placed her hands on her slim hips. She was wearing a tight white bodice with a matching purple miniskirt and long-sleeve jacket. Her long blond hair flowed down her back as she looked at him coyly and said in a teasing tone, "And what are you doing standing in the middle of the road? Don't you know that there are people trying to get by here?"
Joey looked at her and grinned. "Hey Mai," he said, "well, not that it's any o' your business anyway, but I jus' happen to be lookin for Serenity. I need to talk with her."
"Joseph Wheeler!" Mai exclaimed, "You are the rudest person that I have ever met! I'm only gonna tell you this cause I happen to like Serenity…" Mai paused to cross her arms and then continued, "But if it were up to me, I'd take it to my grave!"
"Come on, Mai, are you goin' anywhere with this?" Joey interrupted, knowing the game that they played back and forth. Although he would never admit it, he had quite the thing for Mai…and yet whenever she came around all he could do was act like a five year old and annoy her. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'She knows the drill.' He looked over at Mai and then crossed his arms. "Come on Mai, spit it out already!"
"Hmmpt." she answered in reply, "Fine." Then under her breath, she muttered "Jackass."
"What was that?" Joey exclaimed, staring hard at Mai.
Mai just looked at him and then rolled her eyes. "I called you a jackass, you dimwit."
As Joey opened his mouth to say something in reply, she raised her hand to silence him and then quickly said, "But before you go off on me, you're a cute jackass." She winked at him and then touched his nose with her fingertip.
Blushing furiously, Joey tried to come up with a quick comeback. "Oh-Oh yeah?" he told her, failing miserably at the attempt.
"Yeah…" Mai answered. "But anyway…what I've been trying to tell you is that I just saw Serenity and she asked me if I had seen you."
"Oh, really?" Joey said, trying to look over Mai's shoulder in an attempt to spot his sister. "Well then, where'd she go?"
"I'm not her keeper, Joseph Wheeler, so how should I know?" Mai replied sarcastically, looking at Joey. With his chocolate brown eyes staring over her shoulder, she took the opportunity to check him out. Not that she would ever tell him, but the way that he kept his messy blond hair and the way that those clothes looked on him…well, let's just say that Joey Wheeler could get Mai excited very easily…which is why she always tried to cover it up by yelling at him. Joey was one heck of a—
"Hey Mai," Joey said suddenly, breaking her thoughts and causing her to look up at him in surprise, "If you ain't gonna help me out here then why don't ya get outta the way already? I need to find Serenity."
"Fine, ya big oaf," said Mai, "but if I were you I would hurry cause the last place I saw her heading was to the library." She shook her head. "But why she'd look for you there is beyond me."
"Yeah? Whatever." Said Joey, walking around Mai. As he was leaving he called back over his shoulder to her. "Hey Mai! Thanks."
Looking after him, Mai smiled and then said quietly, "No problem, ya big lovable jerk."
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While Joey and Mai were having their back-and-forth lover's quarrel, Serenity was walking into the school library. She stopped just inside of the entrance and took a look around. 'Now what section would it be in…?' she thought, her eyes roaming over all of the shelves of books in front of her.
She had come here after briefly looking but not finding Joey in the lunchroom. She figured that he still had not woken up and was still at home, snoring away. Satisfied with this explanation, she quickly had given up her search for Joey and instead went on a search for Seto's homework.
After learning that he had a research paper on the Cold War to write for his history honors class, she had decided to stop by the library and pick him up the materials he would need.
"Let's see…Red Scare…Vietnam…ah, here we go. Cold War Tactics:1955-1960." She looked down at the scrap of paper she held to make sure the year that his history teacher had given her matched this book. "Yeah, 1958. Got it." Taking the book down from the shelf, she turned it over and started reading the summary on the back.
'Hmmm…' she thought to herself, 'Looks kind of interesting…for a history book that is.' Suddenly she jumped as she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder. Startled, she quickly turned around.
"Hey sis! Here ya are!" It was Joey. Serenity smiled and let out a small sigh of relief as Joey continued. "Geez, where ya been? I woke up an you were gone. Ya had me worried…" he looked down at her and frowned. "So where were ya, Serenity? This ain't like you."
"Heehee…yeah…" Serenity replied, trying to think up a quick cover story, "Well…umm…I saw you sleeping there, you looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you up…I don't know what I was thinking Joey…leaving you there like that while I took the car and went to school…I'm sorry." She looked up at him with the biggest and most innocent eyes she could muster and smiled halfway. 'Well…' she thought, 'technically I'm not lying…I just left out most of the stuff in between…'
"Well…" said Joey, squinting his eyes at her, "I guess so…" Then his face broke out in a wide smile. "At least I got out of most of my classes today!" Having chalked up her weird behavior to the episode she had recently gone through, he decided instead to forget it and look at the bright side.
"So whatcha lookin at, anyway?" he asked her, taking the book out of her hand. "The Cold War?"
"Uhhh…yeah…" Serenity answered slowly. Then a thought occurred to her.
"Ummm…Joey?" she asked, looking up at her big brother, "I'm not going to be able to come home until late tonight, so do you think you can manage to make dinner for yourself? I'm sorry, but I've got this project to do with a friend," she motioned towards the book he was holding, "and I'm not sure when we'll be done, so it will probably be rather late when I return…"
"Oh, I gotcha Sis. No problem." He looked at her and winked. "Besides…I do know how to call the pizza man ya know!" He laughed and handed her back the book. "So what's the topic o' ya project anyhow? Maybe your ol' brother here can give ya a few pointers." He grinned and pointed at himself.
Looking down at the book, she answered, "Oh, you know, just stuff on the Cold War. Nothing too exciting, but it's one of those things that has to be done."
Joey nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it. Now you've gone an' reminded me that I've got an english presentation due on Friday. An' lucky me, guess who's my partner…"
"Who's that, Joey?" Serenity asked, grateful that his thoughts had run off on a different tangent and off of her.
"Mai." he answered, "Of all the people in that class, of course I got stuck wit' Mai."
"Joey, she's really not that bad." Serenity told him. "I actually really like her a lot. Her attitude is so…refreshing sometimes. There aren't a lot of people out there in the world who will tell you like it is…maybe that's what I like about Mai so much. She's honest."
"Yeah, honest maybe…" replied Joey, reluctantly. "But she's also mean." Serenity gave him a look and he smiled and finally gave in. "Fine. I guess when she's not calling me names and not acting all stuck-up, well, then I guess that I like her." Seeing Serenity's smirk, he quickly covered it up by saying, "But since she acts that way all the time, guess there ain't no time that I like her! Hahahaha!"
Serenity rolled her eyes while Joey continued laughing at his own joke. "Whatever Joey." she told him. "Don't admit it. But deep down inside, you know you like her."
Joey looked over at her mischievously and then said, "Yeah, well I can agree with that, but it's buried so far deep down inside of me that, thank God, I'll never be able to find it!"
Laughing his head off again while Serenity let out an exasperated sigh, she finally said, "Well Joey, I know you're on a roll here with all these jokes, but I really must be going now. I've got to go pick up a few more things for my project tonight."
Leaving Joey standing there, still giggling to himself, she walked away and then called out to him, "I'll see you later, big bro!"
"Haha…ok Serenity." Joey answered. "See ya later tonight."
Walking out of the school library after having checked out the book, Serenity once again resumed her search for Seto's homework. Smiling at how her brother was denying his feelings for Mai, Serenity shook her head and thought, 'Boys.'
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Alright! Well there is the end of chapter eight…I hope you all liked it! I welcome all reviews…good ones, praises, critiques, whatever! Just tell me what you thought! Remember, the more reviews the more I update! Yey! ^_^ Although of course I like writing this story so much that I'm gonna update anyway…heehee oh well. Well, thank you in advance if you review. Now let me see….what do I have to give away this time? Hmmm….~looks around, digs in trunk, ruffles through papers~ Well, I don't think I really have anything…oh wait! What's this? ~pulls key out of pocket~ Heehee, could it be? ~smiles and brings hand to mouth~ how did this get in my pocket? Let's see, the key has a KC etched on it…hmmm…~goes to Seto's mansion and tries it in the front door~ click! Well, it appears that I have the key to Seto's house…~goes to locksmith and gets it duplicated many times~ Ok my readers! You all now have keys to Seto's very own house! Hahahaha! Have fun! Oh, and here is a BEWD-shaped cake that you can eat…heehee…Oh boy is he going to be mad at me….~starts running now~
~Seren147