A/n: Ok, so right now this is my story reaching its nearest end. Well, maybe. I realized something, it might be good OR it might be bad. Ok, but read the end note. I don't want to make this too long. Enjoy this chappie!
Warnings: adult situations, adult content, adult language
Disclaimer: Don't own them…
"You will use a no.2 pencil. Place the replacement one on your desk now. You will not have the opportunity to a.) Look around to see if anyone can lend you a pencil or b.) Look inside your bag for a second pencil. All eyes must and will remain on your test at all times. On your scantron sheet you should have already bubbled in your last name, first name and middle initial. Also bubbled in should be your social security number, your gender unless unspecified…" the principal of the school, Mr. Brooks, attempted to crack a joke. Nobody however laughed. The classroom was silent. Everyone was focused on nothing more than what was inside the thick pamphlet, labeled on the outside with big, bold capital letters: PSAT, the most dreadful, standardized test ever designed to define a student's fate regarding their academic progress. Bulma breathed profoundly as the principal walked in between tables set inside the library. The tables could fit six people normally but was carrying four at the moment to avoid any dishonesty code violations. Chichi, 18 and Christine happened to be seating on the same table with Bulma. Chichi breathed profoundly as well lowering her head to whisper to Bulma
"We'll be fine. Don't worry. It's not that hard" lowly. The rest of the girls gave her a small smirk. Their state of nervousness didn't allow them to do much. Bulma looked to the side over to Vegeta's table. The guys happened to be seating together as well: Vegeta, Goku, Yamcha and Raditz. Vegeta lay back on his chair in a fairly comfortable position his hands crossed across his chest. His pencil rested on top of the pamphlet untouched his replacement pencil pinned behind his ear. She narrowed her eyes. How could he not be as nervous as she was? This test was killing her; it was as if her life depended on it. One of the guys apparently cracked a joke on their table producing a small smirk to form at the corner of Vegeta's lips. Bulma breathed in again. Maybe she needed to relax a little. Being this nervous could definitely not be healthy. The principal cleared his throat bringing her attention back to him
"I think it unnecessary to discuss the academic dishonesty codes. You all know the importance of this test. You know how significant the scores of your test are not only for you to be able to choose a university of your liking but for the school, for Madison Brooks High School. This school has been at the top of the league finishing first nine out of thirteen years that I've been the principal. We have never scored below the top five High Schools in the nation and we wouldn't want to start now…."
"Great. Just what I needed to relax" Bulma breathed hard one more time pressing her temples hard with the tip of her index fingers
"We must regain our title at the top of the league again" the principal continued "hopefully, my students, you will have the capacity to share such honor with me and the school before your time is due. Very well, with that said, open your booklets to page one. I will read the instructions carefully and just once. So pay attention. You can start when I say begin. You will have one hour to finish section one, one hour to finish section two and one hour to finish section three. Sections 4, 5, and 6 you must finish in an hour an a half OR in simple math, thirty minutes each. Here we go…"
Fame
The girls were done at least ten minutes before the guys. They decided to go to the lunch area and buy some snacks while they waited for the guys to be done so they could all go eat at a nice restaurant for lunch. Chichi and Bulma sat across 18 and Christine. Bulma sighed opening a bag of baked Lays
"This was such a hard test" she commented putting the topic up for discussion. Chichi scoffed
"You're telling me. I think I failed it. I might have to take it again" she said negatively while taking a bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 18 tsked
"Oh! Come on Chi. I don't think you did badly. I don't think any of us did. Or at least I hope not" she said. Christine sighed
"Well at least I know I got a better grade than last time-"
"You've taken this before!" Chichi interrupted alarmed. Christine nodded
"Yeah, I mean, you know you can take it as soon as you get to the tenth grade, right?" she asked. The girls stared at each other puzzled. Bulma shook her head
"What do you mean?" she asked. Christine slid a strand of her hair behind her ear
"Once you get to the tenth grade you're of legal age to take the PSAT's. So I took it last year for the first time-"
"What did you get?" Bulma asked. She shrugged her shoulders
"Like a 1350" she said. Chichi and 18 exchanged impressed looks. Bulma ran her tongue through the top of her lips raising a brow at her
"Oh..." she started "really? That's pretty good" she said attempting to keep her pride intact. Christine nodded
"It was but I still want better. I still need better. I want to go to an Ivy League school. I've been part of all the major student organizations in school and my grades aren't exceptional but they're great-"
"What's your cumulative GPA" Bulma interrupted again. Christine shrugged
"A 3.87..." she said. Bulma nodded her head once. Chichi and 18 raised a brow now
"A 3.87?" Chichi asked. Christine smiled
"Yeah. It isn't that awesome. That's why I need a good SAT score"
"Not that awesome? Girl with that GPA you can get in anywhere" she assured. Christine's eyes widened
"Really? You think?" she doubted
"Oh. Well" Bulma gave her a short smile "You know. You're more than likely to get in. Your GPA is good and you SAT score is probably not going to be that bad either. You know what schools you want to get into?" she asked. Christine nodded
"Oh yes. I would love to go to Yale, Colombia or Harvard. Those are like my three first choices" she said. Bulma nodded
"Not bad. Those are tough schools to get into. Are you pursuing law as a career-?"
"Political Law. I would love to be a political attorney"
"Well good for you" Bulma said
"Yeah that's great that you have your whole life planned out already" Chichi commented. Christine nodded
"Yeah. I'm hoping it all works out ok. Otherwise I'm screwed. I don't have a contingency plan. Do you know where you're going Bulma?" she asked. Bulma shook her head
"I have no idea. Yale?" she said unsure
"Oh so you're going Ivy League too?" she asked. Bulma held her silence thoughtful
"You know what? I really don't know. Have you guys had the college conversation with your boyfriends?" she referred to all the girls. The girls exchanged looks between each other. Apparently no one really had had the 'talk' with the guys
"Shit I'm glad you mentioned it. I haven't talked to Goku at all" Chichi said. Christine agreed
"I know. Me either. I have all these plans and Yamcha doesn't even know about them"
"So…you and Yamcha…you guys are really together?" Chichi asked being on the topic and all. Christine smiled
"Yes…we've been together for about three months" she said her cheeks turning pink. Chichi squealed
"That's so sweet. I remember when Goku and I first started dating. It was so…" she inhaled and exhaled dazing off to never land. Bulma rolled her eyes. Every time Chichi talked about her and her boyfriend it always had to sound like it was this huge romantic thing. It was really nothing impressive how they met even
"Yes. Yamcha has changed a lot of things. He has stopped drinking for one and he's been a lot better about thinking of his future even though he doesn't have his mind set on anything yet. I can't exactly say I sounded like I had an idea two months ago either" she smiled knowing she was no little angel deep inside. Bulma sighed
"I really have no idea what Vegeta wants to do-" Chichi blew a raspberry interrupting her words
"That's easy hon. Go pro" she said. Bulma furrowed her brows
"He won't go pro. He's too smart plus he has a vague idea regarding a bachelor's and stuff"
"Right. Vegeta has NFL offers already. I don't think college is even going to be an option for him" Chichi stated. Bulma stared at her thoughtfully. What if she was right? To all of this 18 just kept quiet. Her love life wasn't a topic she wanted to discuss with anyone. There were many things that were wrecked, that were messed up, that needed to get fixed. She just didn't want to talk about it
"I need a bottle of water-"
"I'll go with you" both Chichi and Christine stood up. Chichi looked down on her
"Great. Here. We'll go to the vending machines. The line is too long" she said hypocritically both girls disappearing out the door. 18 sighed half smiling at Bulma. Bulma looked at her kindly
"Are you ok?" she asked. 18 sighed
"Well, no. I'm not ok" she smiled gloomily "but I'll be fine. I'm sure this whole drama will end soon" she slid a strand of her hair behind her ear. Bulma nodded
"I'm sure it will too. Aside from that how are things with Radz?" she asked. 18's face lit up immediately
"It's…great. He's like the most charming guy. I'm just falling all over myself here-"
"You're not. Don't worry about it" Bulma smiled at her "I'm sorry that things got so messed up for you guys"
"Yeah don't be. I mean I do feel bad. Krillin won't even look at me. You would think after so many years of friendship and hardships throughout our dead end relationship we would know our way back to forgive each other. But it isn't like that at all. I've come to think that this is actually it. And you know what? I don't think I mind it that much. Not because I don't care about Krillin but because Raditz just turned out to be that road that you take against all odds that ends up being the right choice. I wish that Krillin could understand that"
"Well. It is Christmas. You guys used to do stuff together every Christmas, I mean, not just you and him but him and Raditz as well. And it'd be very sad to lose the only person you have ever really loved and your best friend while you're going through this holiday. I know it's a very patronizing holiday, I won't take that away-"
"Tell me about it" 18 scoffed clearing the lazy strands of her soft blonde hair behind her ear again
"Do you mind if we don't talk about this anymore? I'm still vulnerable to it all. I've been thinking about it for a week. I feel like my head is about ready to explode" she said the tears forming in her eyes quickly disappearing. Bulma nodded
"Sure, that's fine. Just you know take it easy. One day at the time" she said. 18 nodded looking at the girls as they both came back with their water bottles on hand
"So Bulma how exactly are you thinking of approaching Vegeta with the college topic?" Chichi asked. Bulma waved her hands in the air
"I don't know. He has scholarship offers. Maybe that could be my approach" she said. Chichi widened her eyes
"Oooh that's a good one" she turned to her blonde friend "how 'bout you, 18? And Raditz, Raditz, Raditz" she said excitedly. 18 smiled
"Yeah, I don't know either" she looked to the table sad. Chichi sighed
"Still hard, huh?"
"Christmas is going to be so weird. I have new friends, Bulma and Christine, but I lost my best friend Krillin" 18 mentioned. Chichi nodded
"Well it is gonna be weird especially with Krillin not around. But you have to-" she started but 18 cut her off
"Not around? What do you mean?" she asked suspicious. Chichi covered her mouth with her hand
"Ooops!" she said immediately regretting what she had said. 18 stared at Chichi then at Bulma
"What are you talking about? Chichi?" she asked again. The blondie turned to Bulma
"Do you know anything about this, Bulma?"
"No. I-I don't" she shook her head. Chichi uncovered her mouth
"You weren't supposed to find out. I wasn't supposed to tell you-"
"Tell me what?" she asked angered. Bulma swallowed. Chichi breathed in
"Krillin is not staying here this Christmas" she announced. 18 furrowed her brows alarmed
"What? Why?" she asked. Bulma and Christine remained silent. Chichi decided to continue
"Well he's not feeling too good for one and, uh, he just didn't feel like staying here with everything that's been going on lately"
"When is he leaving?" she asked
"Tomorrow at 7 o'clock in the morning" the black haired female informed. 18 rest her forehead on the palm of her hand. Chichi sighed
"Don't feel bad, 18. He needs his time alone too and-"
"I can't believe I'm doing this" she looked up "I need to talk to him" she stood from the table. Chichi called behind her
"W-Wait!" but 18 made it way too far for her to keep yelling. Chichi sighed
"Shit. Me and my big mouth. Krillin's gonna be so mad" she said. Bulma arched her brows holding her silence. The girls stood there watching the blonde female fade into the crowd…
As soon as 18's figure faded the figures of three of the four guys came to view. It was Vegeta, Goku and Raditz. Chichi panicked
"Oh my God! Oh my God! What am I gonna tell Raditz? 18 just left to go talk to Krillin-"
"Chichi calm down we'll just tell him the truth. No big deal-"
"I don't think so, Bulma. We can tell him anything but the truth. There is no way we're telling the truth-"
"What's wrong with that?" Christine interrupted. Chichi breathed out
"You don't understand. This is gonna floor him. This is going to make him so upset" she said. Bulma tsked
"Well there's nothing we can do about it now. The guys are here so just chill out. I'll tell him, ok?" she said. Chichi nodded waving her hand in front of her for air. The guys finally made their way to them. Goku leaned in for a quick peck on the lips from Chichi. Vegeta sat aside Bulma giving her a short kiss on the cheek. Raditz stood tall
"Where's 18?" he asked. Bulma looked at him
"18 went to talk to Krillin. She'll be back at your place for dinner" she announced. Raditz's expression became upset. He nodded uneasy
"Sure. I'll catch up with you guys later" he said turning on his heel and leaving the group behind. Bulma looked at Chichi
"That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" she asked. A sweat drop formed at the edge of Chichi's forehead. Goku stared at her with a serious frame
"Chichi…you told her didn't you?"
"Let them fight Kakarot. That woman is not going back to him anyway" Vegeta said self-assured. Bulma raised a brow
"So two days ago you didn't know what was going on and now you're taking sides?" she asked. He smirked
"I'm pointing out the obvious. There's nothing wrong with that" he stated. Bulma shook her head
"Nice Vegeta. Way to support your friends and staying positive for the sake of the situation" she spoke with sarcasm. Vegeta frowned at her
"And I suppose you're a fucking example" he asked with almost the same sarcasm. Bulma breathed out
"I'm not getting into this. I'm hungry. Let's go eat guys" she said. The two couples stood from the table at the same time exiting the lunch area directed to the famous luxurious restaurant 'The Porterhouse Grill'…
- The Restaurant-
Chichi came up with the most brilliant idea…to her. They would sit in single tables so they could have the college conversation with their guys…
Table 1: Bulma and Vegeta
"So what do you think you're gonna do?" Bulma asked going straight to the point
"I can go pro" said Vegeta. Bulma almost choked on her salmon
"Pro? You mean skip college to go to the NFL?" she asked. Vegeta smirked
"Why you're having a smart day" he said ironically. Bulma sat her fork down
"You do know you have more than a hundred 'D-one' schools offering full athletic scholarships to you right? Like literally" she said. He shrugged his shoulders confidently
"I can go pro tomorrow if I want to. Save a shitload of paperwork" he smirked. Bulma frowned
"Well I'm glad you figured out what's best for you" she said crossing her arms on her chest. Vegeta frowned hard
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. Bulma scoffed
"What? You don't think it's obvious enough? You're gonna go pro. You didn't even think about us!" she said angered. Vegeta sighed looking to the side momentarily then back at her
"Why are we talking about this? We graduate in a year and a half-"
"Because with the scores of this test we need to start applying for colleges around the nation" she said. Vegeta sat back. He stared at her with a cold scowl as her eyes gazed into his sparking with fury. She rolled her eyes
"Just finish lunch. I want to go home…"
Table 3: Goku and Chichi
"So, honey, what are you doing after high school?" Chichi asked as her and Goku enjoyed their fine meal. Goku shrugged his shoulders
"I don't know. Get a bachelor's in culinary arts" he said. Chichi furrowed her brows
"Wow. You sure have a much more defined future than I do" she said. Goku nodded
"My grandma told me to do that cause I love to eat" he said. Chichi nodded
"Oh. I see. Any idea of where you're gonna go?" she asked eating some of her pasta. Goku shook his head
"No. I don't think so" he took a big bite of food. Chichi looked at him seriously
"Well, you don't have to answer right now-"
"Wh-hy?" he asked sounding like a muffled sound. Chichi caressed his cheek
"Just eat your food honey. Do you want to look at the options you have later today?" she asked kindly. Goku nodded not really knowing what he was getting himself into
"Ok! Great..."
Back to Table 1: Vegeta and Bulma
Vegeta and Bulma gathered their stuff rather fast. They walked past Chichi and Goku's table in complete silence Bulma at least ten feet ahead of Vegeta
"Are you gonna wait?" Vegeta stopped walking seeing as she distanced herself even more by the second. She waved her hand in the air
"Just hurry" she said. Vegeta kept walking behind her. Chichi furrowed her brows terrified
"Uh oh" she said loudly. Goku looked at her
"What? Chichi? Chichi. Did you? What did you do?" he asked obviously sensing that Chichi was somehow involved in the reasons for this fight. She breathed out
"I… cause we were talking during lunch…" she began the whole story
Vegeta's Car
The ride home was intensely quiet. Bulma kept looking out the window while Vegeta kept driving as fast as he could the radio on at a pretty high volume. Vegeta was driving way too fast even for a highway. The limit was 65mph and he was driving at about 90mph
"You're driving too fast" Bulma broke the silence still looking out the window. Vegeta looked at her, dodging cars in front of him with his own by changing lanes with no signals. He rested his head back against the headrest of the seat holding the wheel with one hand
"You wanna go home? I'm getting you home" he replied angered. Bulma sighed
"I want to get home alive, ok?" she looked at him pissed then turned to look out the window again. Vegeta tsked looking at her for a second then turning back to the road
"So that's it. You're just gonna be mad?" he broke the silence again taking a quick peek at her. Bulma rolled her eyes
"Leave me alone Vegeta. I'm not in the mood" she said lowly. Vegeta stepped on the breaks just in time to stop on a red light at an intersection. He breathed out taking a look at the back of her head since she insisted on looking out the window
"Woman" he called but she ignored him and acted like no one was talking. Vegeta stared at her an his evil frown
"You are impossible to deal with" he said. Bulma looked at him now
"I just cannot believe how selfish you are. If you that you were going pro a long time ago then what the hell are you doing with me? Why are you with me?" she asked irritated. Vegeta narrowed his eyes
"Is this about the college shit again-?"
"Yes it is about the college shit! It is about the fucking college shit! You know why? Because I made the stupid mistake of believing that our relationship was serious. I thought about us before making any plans for college. I thought about where you might be going and what you might be doing with your life. I thought about you. And you didn't even think about me" she looked out the window again. Vegeta rolled his eyes paying attention to the road while frowning
"Going pro is an option. I'm not gonna lie. I could go to college-"
"When the hell were you planning on telling me this, Vegeta? I mean don't you think these are kind of big news?" she asked. Vegeta kept silent. She decided to continue
"What? Were you just planning on telling me at graduation? I'm going pro. Take it or leave it?" she asked annoyed. Vegeta breathed in trying to stay patient
"I wasn't planning on dealing with college until next year-"
"Oh, ok. Now that makes it legitimate" she looked at him. Vegeta could feel her anger but the whole thing had really caught him off guard. When it came to college the offers were big but the NFL offers looked so huge in comparison that he decided to concentrate on now and leave his decision for his last year in high school. That meant no talking about it until the first day of class as a senior. He sighed deciding to keep himself quiet and just focus on the road. Soon enough he was driving through the familiar roads that led to both their houses…
Krillin's
18 arrived at Krillin's home. She called for him twice from outside but there was no answer. The blonde opened the door to his house only to find a bunch of suitcases, some spread open and some already packed, all over the living room couches. The ones still left to pack contained all sorts of stuff. She came close to one of them but was surprised by Krillin's figure appearing through the kitchen door. She placed her hand on her chest
"Hey" she greeted. Krillin walked past her with a set of folded shirts on his hands. He placed them in one of the suitcases taking the lid of the suitcase and zipping the whole thing up. He stopped and looked at her
"Hey" he said a bit breathless. 18 tried to smile but his stony expression made her uncomfortable enough not to do it
"I-I c-called you from outside like three times and you didn't answer. So I thought I'd come in" she said. Krillin barely smiled at her but compared to what he'd been giving her this past week she would take it
"Sorry I must've been in the laundry room. You can't really hear from there" he said. 18 swallowed inserting her hands in the front pockets of her jean
"So h-h-how i-is everything going?" she stammered. He nodded
"Good. Everything's… everything's…you know-"
"Yeah, I know. Kind of stupid question" she shook her head nervously "I see you're almost packed up" she signaled. He sighed looking at all the suitcases in the living room
"Yep. Almost" he smiled. 18 sighed now
"Where are you going?" she asked him trying to smile as well. The guy just kept avoiding her every expression
"I'm gonna go hiking with my dad in Minnesota. I heard they have one of the greatest hiking centers" he said. 18 nodded once
"Oh. Well that sounds great" she sounded fake. Krillin scoffed
"It doesn't, really. I need to get out of here. At least for a while" he stated. 18 nodded gloomily
"Krillin, I'm really sorry-"
"Don't be 18" he smiled again "this whole year there was nothing but craziness going on. I had this and I had the surgery, I struggled with my grades. I just had a lot of shit in my head. Maybe you were right. Maybe it's not time for us to be, you know? I'm so caught up in everything and I need to let go" he explained. 18 breathed in her eyes beginning to tear up
"I'm sorry I pulled away when all of this was going on-"
"No" he cut her off "you had your things to deal with, man. That's cool. I appreciate you coming by though" he looked at her with his most honest gaze. 18 half smiled at him
"Thank you. This does mean a lot to me" she said. Krillin smiled at her
"I know it does" he nodded "I know it does" he stared at her. It was starting to get chilly outside. Krillin grabbed a bunch of old tree trunks lying on the floor besides the chimney of the house
"Are you up for a bonfire?" he asked. 18 giggled
"Not a bonfire. A little fire in the chimney will do" she agreed "I'll make some hot chocolate..." she offered. Krillin shrugged his shoulders
"Sure" he replied, the couple deciding to spend the rest of the day together…
Back to Bulma and Vegeta
Vegeta parked in front of Bulma's house. He was going to open the door for Bulma to get out but she had already closed it behind her and was on her way to her house. Vegeta turned to his own home… but decided to follow behind her instead…
Bulma tried closing the door to her bedroom behind her but Vegeta held it open this time. She breathed out
"Vegeta" she looked into his black orbs "I have nothing to say to you-"
"Woman" he cut her off. Bulma stood still with a tired expression
"Bulma!" she corrected. Vegeta breathed in
"It shouldn't matter what I choose-"
"Yes it does-"
"If we can make it work-"
"Newsflash Vegeta. More than 60 percent of a relationship is timing. We can't be together if you're going pro-"
"Why not?" he asked. She breathed out tiredly
"Because we will be at two entirely different phases of our lives at the same time. You're going to be making millions of dollars a year playing and training and going to parties on your spare time. I'm gonna be stuck writing papers, stressing over tests and comprehensive essay finals and looking for roommates and apartments to live in. It'll be way too different for us to handle" she said. Vegeta swallowed walking past her and seating on the edge of her bed thoughtful. He looked at her. Bulma sighed walking over to her bed as well and taking a seat besides him
"What are we going to do?" she asked breaking the silence. He brought his half upper body to the front resting his elbows on his thighs and his chin on top of his hands. He breathed out. Bulma sighed
"What are we going to do?" she repeated looking at him. He turned to look at her yet said nothing. Bulma stood from her bed walking around the room. Vegeta stood as well
"I need time" he broke the silence. The news fell like a bomb in Bulma's stomach. She stared at him serious
"Time?" she asked. Vegeta swallowed. He couldn't stand the painful expression on her face
"I need time to think about this" he confirmed. Bulma nodded once looking to the floor sad
"Fine" she agreed looking back up at him again "I'll give you time" she added with a low tone. Vegeta stared into her ocean gaze one more time then turned away quick nearing the door to her bedroom and exiting right away. Bulma furrowed her brows in frustration seating at the edge of her bed again. She thought about everything all over again. Of course it was easier for her to value education over anything else; she wasn't a football star, he was. As obvious as the decision seemed to her the decision to him was an entirely different thing. Suddenly she felt scared. What was once unimaginable to her was now so real. After everything they had endured together it just seemed so impossible that they could or would break up, ever. Yet the option was as real as everything that was happening. She was asking too much from a guy that had been working hard since who knows when to reach a dream that was right there. It was like getting too close to fulfilling your dream, having all the tools to do it but give it up for something you don't know. Vegeta was just not that kind of guy. And she knew. And that's what was scary about it. She was asking him to choose between his dream and her. She felt insecure about what they had. She felt insecure because, deep inside, she was unsure about how much he valued her in his life. It was so unknown...
End of Ch.24. Ok, so back to the note at the top. It turns out that this is still the first school term (semester) which means that this term ends on Christmas and I would have to start a whole new term with them on the same grade (11th grade) and go through all the other dates (Birthdays, Valentines, St. Patrick's Day, etc…). I wanted to take some suggestions as to what you guys want cause I know the story has taken long enough as it is to finally reach its end (due to lack of updates, among other things) and I did promise a sequel so I don't know how many people have been waiting on that too. Would you like to read another ten to twenty chapters with the other school term and then start the sequel OR would you like me to just finish school at Christmas and start the sequel? I would do a summary at the beginning of the sequel on the spring term and I would begin at the end of summer. I kinda know what I want to do, but I've kept you guys waiting all this time. So I'm leaving this decision up to you. Please let me know what you think. I will really appreciate it. I hope you're having a great Xmas!
Love,
PL