Hey everybody, I am soooo soooo sorry it took me soo horribly long to get this chapter up, but I've been everywhere in this past couple weeks, and on top of that I've been suffering from a serious case of writer's block, so…hopefully it'll be okay.
VeryShortMidget: Thank you. You know, the tornado thing just kinda popped up, and I was like, why not? So, you know…thank you so much for the positive review, you're the best!
Shades of Crimson: Lol. I think everybody should thank you, if I hadn't talked to you, this chapter would probably not be done. Lol. Even though we really didn't talk about anything in particular. Well…umm…yeah.
Everybody, make sure to thank Shades of Crimson, cuz if it wasn't for her, you all would probably still be waiting for this chapter. Lol.
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CHAPTER 19 – Confessions-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vegeta narrowed his eyes as he pressed his foot onto the accelerator of his brand new, black Ferrari 360 Modena.
He smirked as the engine roared to life, sending the vehicle speeding down the road.
He had no real destination, just enjoying the sights and sounds of the road in the darkness of night.
He glanced in the rearview mirror before making a U-turn, an idea popping into his head, seemingly out of nowhere.
He pulled into Bulma's driveway, shutting the engine off and climbing out of the car. He pushed the door shut and listened to it slam, not caring that he might wake some one up.
He stalked to the door and glanced at his watch; 12:03. He knocked loudly on the door and waited, but no one answered. He cursed under his breath, and walked back toward the car.
He climbed in and drove off, wondering to himself why he decided to stop by her house, of all places.
He arrived at his apartment, stepped inside, and locked the door. Instantly, two pairs of eyes gazed at him from behind the couch.
He needed to have a long talk with his siblings.
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"This is bullshit."
Vegeta sniffed as Radditz exited the restroom with the small cup of yellowish liquid.
"This is gross, man. I can't believe we have to do this," he growled, taking the cup to the nurse. She smiled, scribbled some notes on a label, and stuck it on the cup.
"Next," she called, handing Vegeta a similar looking cup. He glanced at it, then went into the bathroom.
After a few minutes, he exited. Radditz was right; this was disgusting.
He handed his cup to the nurse then exited the office, feeling sick.
"And they just happened to pick today as the day for drug tests," he mumbled under his breath, pushing open the double doors, and walking onto the field.
His eyes wandered absently toward the small group of girls, settling on the single one with the beautiful aqua hair. He followed her every movement, watching as she instructed the rest of her squad, despite the presence the coach, who seemed to be relaxing on the sidelines.
He turned his attention back to the team, he had no more feelings for her; she meant nothing to him…right?
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Bulma sighed and plopped down on the bleachers, sweating profusely. She sighed, these last few months of her life had been eight months of pure hell.
Chichi came to sit next to her, "Bulma, you really shouldn't be working this hard. I'm calling your mom right now."
Bulma shook her head, "No, Chi, it's really okay. I—I'll be fine."
Chichi already had her phone to her ear. She had decided to put Mrs. Briefs in her speed dial a long time ago.
Bulma rolled her eyes, "Make sure to bring the rest of my homework?"
Chichi nodded and shoed her away.
Bulma sighed and walked, or what seemed to her to be waddling, into the building. She stopped at her locker to gather her books, then waited outside for her mother. This was not the first time this kind of thing had happened.
She began to tap her foot in irritation, what was taking her so long? She felt her cell phone vibrate and she dug it out of her purse, flipping it open.
"Hello?" She asked with more exuberance than she felt.
"Bulma, it's been a while."
Her eyes narrowed as she hissed into the phone, "Brooke, what the hell is with you? How many times do I have to tell you, I don't—"?
"Blah blah blah. I know. I just wanted to let you know that the plan is in motion. It's only a matter of time until Vegeta Ouji's life falls apart."
Bulma was skeptical, "Oh my god! Brooke what is your problem?!"
Bulma could almost feel Brooke's smile on the other end of the phone, "I would love to chat with you, but I have to go ruin Vegeta's life. See ya,"
She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't beat the buzzing of the dial tone.
"She needs serious help," Bulma muttered, shoving her phone back into the depths of her purse.
She sighed, just as her mother pulled up. She stood up, grabbed her things, and climbed into the car.
"Bulma, I think it's time you stayed home. This school thing is taking a lot out of you," her mother suggested.
As much as Bulma hated to admit it, her mother was right. She shook her head and gazed out the window as she watched the landscape whiz by.
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Brooke smiled as she walked nonchalantly down the hallway, whistling a quite tune. She turned a corner and glanced over her shoulder before entering the dark room.
She crept over to the small rack holding all the test tubes, scanning the labels. She smiled as she found exactly what she was looking for.
"Aha," she whispered, pulling the two tubes out and laying them on the counter. She carefully peeled the labels off and switched them, making sure to be extra careful, so as no one would notice the change.
She smiled as she admired her work, "Perfect," she mused, then placed the tubes back into the holding rack.
She carefully crept out of the office undetected, and waltzed back down the hall. She smiled to herself; everything was going perfectly.
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"Alright Goku, let's make this happen," Radditz smirked as he slid his helmet over his head.
Goku nodded and smiled as they circled around the ref who was preparing to toss the coin. He glanced about, trying to see around all the other players.
"Hey, where's Vegeta?" He wondered aloud.
Radditz shrugged, "Who knows? He's been acting a little weird lately, though."
Krillin chuckled, "Weird? As opposed to…?"
Radditz nodded, "That's true. Vegeta's always been weird."
Suddenly, Vegeta appeared seemingly out of nowhere, obviously not in a good mood.
"Let's get this over with," he snarled, pushing through the crowd to the front.
They all circled around once more, and just as they were about to start, the coach started waving his hands, signaling them to stop.
He walked onto the field, obviously not happy. He walked straight to where Vegeta was standing, and whispered something in his ear.
Vegeta was furious. He threw his helmet on the ground and began to argue furiously with the coach.
After a few minutes he picked up his helmet and stormed off into the locker room.
A substitute was put onto the field, but everyone knew that without the star player there was no hope.
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At halftime they were behind 48-28. Radditz was furious. He went around pounding the lockers and cursing under his breath.
The coach just stood, leaning up against a wall as his players beat themselves up. Finally, he had enough.
"Stop! Stop it!" He commanded.
Goku stood up, "Why can't you put Vegeta in? We need him!"
The coach shook his head, "I can't do that."
"Why the hell not?!" Radditz questioned.
"…I just can't."
He was amazingly calm and it was obviously bugging everyone.
"Just tell us!" Goku begged.
Finally he gave in. He was silent for a moment before he said, "Vegeta's been tested positive for steroids."
The whole room was silent as everyone stood gaping at the coach, trying not to believe what was inevitably true.
Coach sighed, "You don't need him, you only think you do. Now, I want you all to get out there and make this happen."
They all got up and began to exit the locker room.
Goku was at the end of the line, still in shock.
The coach stopped him before he exited.
"Goku, I want you to take Vegeta's position."
"B—but coach, I've never played quarterback in my life!" he argued, "I—I can't—"
"Goku, you can do anything. Now I want you to be quarterback, understand?"
Goku nodded and exited the room, shaking his head.
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The score was 55-49 with 14 seconds left in the 4th quarter. It was 4th down and the West City Wolverines were at their own 20-yard line.
Goku sighed deeply, "20 yards," he told himself, "20 yards and we're home free."
Everyone had been amazed at Goku's passing ability. He wasn't as good as Vegeta, of course, but he was good enough to get his team within one single touchdown of a win.
He ran over everything in his mind as he crouched behind the , 'Keep your eyes open, watch for the blitz, find the open man…'
He called the play and jogged back as the ball was hiked into his hands.
'Keep your eyes open'
He scanned the field, searching for a receiver.
11 seconds.
'Watch for the blitz'
He saw them coming and knew he had to get rid of the ball quick. He maneuvered around a couple of them but knew he couldn't keep it up.
7 seconds.
'Find the open man.'
He saw a short figure at the 7th yard line, waving, and threw the ball with all the accuracy he could muster just as he felt himself being thrown to the ground.
4 seconds.
He fell to the ground and waited, praying that Krillin could run as fast as he hoped he could.
There was a short pause before he heard the cheers and applause and he knew Krillin had made it.
He felt himself being pulled up and embraced by his teammates. They'd won! He'd won!
'So this is what Vegeta feels like,' Goku mused to himself.
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Bulma was sitting in the living room watching TV. She'd found herself in this position a lot, lately.
She also found that she'd loved to see the outcomes of the football games, even if she had to see it after it happened.
"And there was a surprising twist to tonight's game as Vegeta Ouji was not present throughout the entire game," the anchorman smiled.
They showed a clip of the beginning of the game where Vegeta had thrown a temper tantrum and stormed off.
"But it was even more surprising when Goku Son had been put in as quarterback. Goku carried the team on his back for the win."
Bulma was completely speechless.
Not two seconds later the phone rang.
Bulma could guess who it was.
"Yes, Chichi, I saw it," she smiled.
"Aww, B! I'm so proud! Goku's a superstar!" Chichi laughed excitedly into the phone.
"I know!"
"We're gonna go out for pizza to celebrate, do you want to come?"
"Aww, I would love to, Chi, but I can't. Not tonight, I'm sorry. But tell him I said congratulations, okay?"
"Will do," Chichi promised before hanging up.
Bulma sat back on the couch, and closed her eyes, all of her thoughts swirling around in her mind until she fell asleep.
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Vegeta stormed into his apartment and threw the door shut behind him, not particularly caring that he almost threw the door off it's hinges.
Squid came running out to greet him, but stopped dead in his tracks, seeing that his brother wasn't in a good mood.
Val came in behind him wearing an apron sprinkled with flour. She just stood for a moment, before saying quietly, "I made dinner."
"I'm not hungry," he snapped, storming into his room and slamming the door behind him.
Squid gave his sister a questioning look, "What's his problem?"
Val shrugged, "I don't know, but you need to get to bed."
He gave her a puppy dog look, but she didn't budge. She placed her hands on her small hips and gave him a mother look, "You, to bed, right now."
He frowned and stomped off to his bedroom.
Val shook her head; she'd leave the food out. She knew her brother would come storming through the kitchen sometime in the middle of the night searching for a midnight snack.
She put some foil over the food and went to get to bed herself.
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Bulma couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning in her bed, trying to get in a comfortable position, which wasn't too easy, by the way, seeing how her stomach protruded so, making it impossible for her to lay on her stomach.
She sat up in the darkness, just listening to the sounds of the night; the wind blowing softly outside, the soft chirping of the crickets, the sound of a car or two passing every so often.
She absently laid her hand on her stomach and felt the baby kick.
"It's a boy," she mused to herself, "It's definitely a boy."
She paused for a moment, wondering how she could possibly determine the sex of her child already. She was only 17, this was her first child, how could she be so sure?
She thought back to a previous conversation she'd had with her mother, when she'd asked her the exact same question.
Her mother's answer had been so completely simple, yet bafflingly complex.
"I just knew."
What was that supposed to mean? She just knew what? How did she just know? Did her father just know, too?
She was startled out of her thoughts by the ringing of the phone. She jumped at the intrusion, and finally picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Ms. Briefs, did you have any idea that Vegeta was taking steroids when you were dating him?"
"What?"
"Did you ever confront him about it?"
"Wait, confront him about what?" She was thoroughly confused. She had no idea what this guy was talking about.
"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?"
She glanced at the clock, "Umm, sir, it's 2:00 in the morning. Why would this be a good time?"
"I'm sorry, I'll call back later—"
"How 'bout you just don't call back at all?" She snapped before hanging up.
These reporters got on her nerves sometimes. No, they got on her nerves all the time. Calling at the most inopportune times and bombarding her with questions that she had no idea about.
What was he even talking about, she thought to herself, something about Vegeta and steroids?
Her mind wasn't functioning like it should. She was usually asleep at this time of night. She needed to talk to somebody.
As if reading her thoughts, her mother entered her room, clad only in her silk bathrobe, a sleepy look in her eyes.
"Bulma, honey? I heard you talking, why aren't you asleep?"
"I couldn't sleep."
Her mother climbed onto the bed next to her and embraced her in a motherly hug, stroking her hair.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Bulma smiled, "I just scared myself, that's all."
"Well how did you scare yourself, honey?"
Bulma looked up at her mother, "You're probably going to laugh, but…I know it's a boy."
She was wrong, though. Her mother didn't laugh at all. She was quite for a long while before saying quietly, "You remind me of myself, so much."
Bulma was puzzled, "You got pregnant with me when you were a teen?"
"Well," her mother looked away, "…not with you."
She was completely clueless, now.
"What do you mean?"
Her mother sighed; she knew this day would come eventually.
"When I was sixteen, I…made some bad choices and ended up pregnant. At first I thought it would be wonderful, I would have a child that I could dress up, and take care of, I thought everything would be great."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "But then I realized what a job it is to raise a child, and I didn't know if I could handle it.
"I thought about abortion, but by that time it was too late, I was too far along to abort the baby. So I went through with it, and gave my baby up for adoption. It was a boy."
She sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I think about him every day; what he looks like, how tall he is, if he's having girl trouble…
"I've thought about my decision at least a million times, I wonder if I made the right choice, and every time I believe that I did, but…I keep wondering if I ever see him if he'll hate me for what I did."
Bulma didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. She just hugged her mother closer and they cried together.
"I think you made the right choice. If I were in your situation I would do the same thing," Bulma smiled through her tears.
"But you are in my situation."
"But I have other people who I know will support me, whatever my decision is."
Her mother smiled and embraced her once again.
"Plus," Bulma whispered, "I know a woman who would love to spend time with her grandson."
They both laughed and Mrs. Briefs sighed deeply. "You need to get to sleep," she said.
Bulma nodded, "You too."
Her mother planted a kiss on her forehead and bid her goodnight as she exited the room.
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And that's the end of chapter 19! sigh you people do NOT know how long it took me to write this chapter! OMG! I think I'm gonna die! Lol. I thought the chapter was pretty boring, but I'm still having some writer's block, so yeah. Don't forget to review!