Joey
waited at the school doors the following morning, trying to avoid
being seen by any of Diesel Kane's minions. Since the incident last
night, everyone knew that Diesel was not on best terms with Joey. He
scanned the crowd for Yugi, and when he finally spotted him coming
through the school gates, Joey pushed his way towards him. "Hey,
Yugi!" Joey shouted, calling him over to a space at the side of the
moving crowd.
Yugi smiled as he saw Joey and made his way –
with difficulty – towards him.
As Yugi finally emerged from
the crowd, Joey grinned as he ran over in his head what he was going
to say.
"Hey, Joey. What's up?"
"I want to
apologise, Yugi. I've been acting like a real jerk." Joey said,
shrugging slightly. He was truly sorry, but the last thing he
expected was for Yugi to forgive him.
"Oh, were you acting?"
Yugi said, with a hint of sarcasm.
Joey laughed at Yugi's
remark. "I guess I deserved that one. If you ask me, I think
Tristan and I may have underestimated you."
"Huh?" Yugi
blinked up at Joey, wondering what he meant.
"You know,
Yugi, you're a tougher kid than I ever gave you credit for. Maybe
we should hang out more often. What do you say?" Joey looked at
Yugi, gauging his reaction, expecting him to laugh in his face.
Yugi
remained blank for a moment, registering what Joey had said, then he
smiled and nodded.
"Oh..." Joey started rummaging around
in his pocket. He grinned as he pulled out the piece of Yugi's
Puzzle and held it out to him. "I think this belongs to
you."
Yugi's face lit up as he saw the gold piece in
Joey's hand. He reached out to get it, a little unsurely, wondering
if this whole speech of Joey's was just another act to get one over
on him.
But as Yugi took the Puzzle piece in his hand, he knew
that Joey was serious.
Joey smiled to Yugi as he watched him
take it.
"Wow, thanks Joey." Yugi said, beaming, and
slipping the Puzzle piece in his pocket.
Joey was wondering
what to say next, when the school bell rang. "Shall we go in?"
Joey said, pointing towards the school doors.
Yugi nodded, and
then the two began to walk inside.
Something inside Joey told
him that he had made a friend for life.
