The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret

--Grind--

Bra couldn't think straight throughout the next few classes. Her mind was on other things. Things like how she could let Goten basically date his ex-girlfriend again. Things like why she didn't stop all of this once their families found out. Things like why she suggested such an off-the-wall plan in the first place. Things like why Goten would continue with this charade even after their families found out.

She would have to straighten all of this out. Of course, that was easier said than done. There was no way she would be able to change what had already been done. So there was only one alternative left. Ruin their date. And who better to ask about ruining things than Pan. She was Prankster of the Year two years running at their school. Maybe if she let her in on what was going on, she would be able to help. Sure, she had her doubts about whether Pan could keep her mouth shut, but Pan WAS her only friend. She was the only person Bra could turn to at times like these. And wasn't that what friendship meant? Being able to go to that person whenever things looked their bleakest?

It was now her favorite time of the day. Lunchtime. A time when she was able to listen to her music in peace. Today she'd chosen to listen to Gov't Mule's song, 'Painted Silver Light.' Soulful vocals that touched listeners in a way they never thought they'd be touched. Of course, what else could be expected from former Allman Brothers Band members? Only the best from the best.

Why she always chose to roam the halls during lunch instead of eat with the normal people was hard to say. Her appetite was certainly big enough to stick around and eat anything that wasn't moving. Maybe it was simply because she was who she was--the antisocial Saiyan princess. Maybe it was because she was an outcast.

Or maybe she was just stalking Goten and she didn't know it. She found herself standing outside his classroom door once again. This man had quickly become a celebrity during the first two weeks of school. The same four girls who were with him the other day were with him again, only this time, one had been added to the group. The five girls were giggling as he sat atop his desk talking to them.

Bra was furious. She really shouldn't let things like that get to her, but she had a tendency to be quick-tempered when she shouldn't be. Going into that classroom and blasting those little hens to oblivion would have been fine in Bra's book. Unfortunately, life didn't work that way. She had to remind herself that violence was never the answer.

Then again, violence seemed to get her father the things HE wanted. It wasn't fair that the rule worked in one situation and it didn't work in another. It wasn't fair at all. Of course, when she thought about it, Vegeta was NOT, in fact, getting what he wanted because Bra was still going to see plenty of Goten whether he liked it or not.

So, she decided that violence truly wasn't the answer whether your name was Bra or Vegeta. But just because she had decided not to use violence didn't mean that she wouldn't break up their little gathering.

Bra opened the door and everyone in the room looked over at her. The five girls were both shocked and frightened. Ah, how wonderful it was to be feared.

Goten smiled at her. "Hey, Bra. We were just discussing Ancient Egypt. It seems one of your classmates would like to study Egyptology when she goes to college."

Bra frowned. "Actually, I came to call your attention to a different matter." She looked at the other girls in the classroom and they scampered away like a bunch of frightened mice.

Goten looked confused. "No one seems to want to stick around when you show up."

"What can I say? I'm a legend at this school," Bra told him. She shrugged. "But that's not what I'm here to discuss." She went over and leaned against Goten's desk next to where he was sitting.

"Oh? What is it?" Goten asked with a look of concern on his face.

Was it right to tell Goten that he shouldn't see Paris anymore? He'd already gone to the trouble of asking her out again. And with the amount of flip-flopping that had been going on lately, it probably wasn't a good idea to cancel.

Bra sighed. Keeping their relationship from the students and faculty should have been the easy part, yet it was giving Bra a headache. "I was just going to say that...keeping your date with Paris is the right thing to do...." Did she really say that? Wasn't there something else she was supposed to say?

Goten frowned. That obviously wasn't something he wanted to hear. "I guess so. I hope you don't mind, but I kinda promised her that we'd spend the whole afternoon together. So you and I won't be able to have tutoring today."

Oh, boy. He'd cancelled their tutoring session. It was really the only chance they had to be together. Especially since they wouldn't be able to spar together anymore. If her father felt their energies while they were fighting, he would hunt them down and tear them both limb from limb.

Bra felt a change in her heart rate. It's true that she was angry, but she really had no right to be. She took a deep breath and nodded. "That's fine," she managed to say calmly. She could feel the last of her nerves snapping. She tried to keep telling herself that it wouldn't be so bad. It was just one afternoon.

"Whew!" Goten exhaled. "I thought you might be upset." As he said that, the bell for the next class rang. "Hey, I'm glad you're being so understanding about this."

Why shouldn't she be understanding? He was only spending the entire afternoon with his ex-girlfriend. No big deal. NO BIG FREAKIN' DEAL!! She took another deep breath. "Mm hm," she muttered. "I'll see you tomorrow." With that she was gone. She didn't even wait for a good-bye from Goten. If she had stayed any longer she may have self-destructed.

--later that afternoon--

Bra couldn't believe that her tutoring session had been cancelled. And all because of Goten's "date" with the red-head. Just because he stood her up last time didn't mean he should put off THEIR time together. Bra was furious. She was furious with herself most of all. She should have ended it. Killing school faculty wasn't so unusual....

She sat at one of the picnic tables in front of the school wondering what she would do for the next few hours. She hated to go home so soon. Her mother would want to "talk" and Bra really didn't need that. Her mom was always trying to get close to her with that whole "talking" thing. If she didn't realize that Bra wasn't interested in "talking," then how could her mother ever be close to her? She didn't even understand her own daughter's state of mind. Which brought her back to the ever-elusive question: How did her mother and father ever get together and stay together for so long? They were so different it wasn't even funny. She'd asked herself that question at least a thousand times. It made no sense....

"Looks like you've got a lot on your mind," someone said from behind her.

Bra immediately recognized the voice as her only friend's. She turned to face the smiling Pan. A true Son at heart. It may have been the only reason she'd remained friends with Pan for so long. Even though the quarter Saiyan was quite the troublemaker when she wanted to be, she had the sincere kindness and sometimes utter brainlessness of the males on the Son side. Not that the Sons weren't intelligent. They just tended to...how could she put it? Lean more toward the instinctual. They lived their lives on instinct and the bare essentials. They rarely thought plans through before carrying them out. And if they did think a plan through, it was probably something that revolved around fighting. So in the case with Pan, it mostly revolved around pranks.

Pan waved her hand in front of Bra's face. "This is ground control calling all space cadets. Do you copy? Over."

She grabbed Pan's hand and cast it aside playfully. "I copy, you clown. I was just thinking about something." It was enough to make Bra smile.

"You didn't say 'over,'" Pan reminded her. She laughed. "You've been weird all day. Does this have something to do with what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Great. She had to remind her of THAT. She'd stopped thinking about THAT for the moment. Why, oh, why did she ever agree to talk to Pan about this huge mess...? Oh, yeah! In order for her to help her get out of it. It made so much more sense when you added it up.

"Actually, no. Totally unrelated matter," Bra told her.

"Sooooooo, what did you want to talk to me about?" Pan asked. She raised an eyebrow.

Bra looked around. Would now be a good time to tell Pan about Paris and Goten? There weren't many students around. Most of them took the bus home. It would definitely kill some time and she wouldn't have to go home early. But telling her about it AND devising a plan of action would take some time....

"Do you think your mom and dad would mind if I came over this afternoon?" Bra asked.

"You know they don't care. You're always welcome in our home," Pan replied. "That's what Mom and Dad would say."

"Good. Because we have a lot of work to do," Bra said.

--End Grind--

--Oops. It seems that the wait on this particular part has been the longest of them all. I'm really sorry about that. And I hate to say it, but it's not a very good chapter at that. Maybe there'll be more fun to come.

--Thank you for reading this episode of Versus 2. To be honest with you, I thought I'd never get back to it. But working back to back 12 hour shifts leaves little time for fun. And you know what they say. All work and no play makes SludgeMetal666...something--something....

--Thanks for past reviews. I appreciate those of you who are sticking with me through these hard times. I hope things will get better.