A/n: Ahh, yeah. Thanks for the reviews.
Disclaimer: YuGiOh is the property of someone else. Same with the movie "She's All That." For each chapter.
People Never Mind Their Own Business
"Why are we going back, Duke?"
"Because I don't want miss this. Besides, I'm going to see if it's true or not!"
"Why don't you just mind your own business?"
"Because end of the school year is always boring.....'til this!"
Meanwhile
Joey lifted his messy blond head from the desk, where he was all alone, save for a couple hundred students, all cramming. Yugi had an early final exam that morning, as did most of the students; there was no actual classes anymore, just study hall. In fact, Tristan and Duke were just here, he didn't know where they went. As for Ryou and Tea, they were probably taking their exams, too…..
's what I'm supposeda be doin'. Studyin' fer my history final. 'Sides, I can't concentrate….
Tea's words kept coming back to him. "Not a Plain Jane like me." He never knew she thought of herself that way. Sure, she was always a bit of a tomboy, only hanging out with boys, the only girl she'd been nice to was his sister, Serenity……I neva knew she was so insecure 'bout herself….if anyone else had called her a name, she'd knock their block off! It was true Tea had always been fiercely loyal to her friends, when the time was needed. Defending them. Encouraging them.
Admirable qualities, those. It was what he had always liked about her, because those attributes were important to him too. Joey lifted his chin to his hand, smiling in his daydream at chatter all around the other students. Back in Duelist Kingdom, when Bandit Keith had stole his card and Yugi had caught him and gotten slugged, Joey had called Tea to help Yugi while he went to 'take care' of Keith. Which she had. With no hesitation, perfectly calm manner. Of course, Yugi did get punched a lot, back then, so it was no wonder she wasn't panicky. But…..he could see she cared a lot for little Yugi, and began to wonder what if…..?
What if she cared dat way 'bout me….?
"Hello..... Joseph." A voice said lazily from behind.
"Oh, hi...... Mai." He said, still lost. And then, "Mai!?!?!" Chairs and desks scraped as he shot to his feet, stumbling a little as he jumped back in surprise. "What're you-what're you--ack." He tripped over backward on the edge of the chair, but managed to right himself just in time. His mind went a blank.
Meanwhile, Tristan and Duke had made it to the doorway, amidst all the other boys who had followed the beautous blonde zombie-like. "What's he doing?" Duke hissed, jumping, since Tristan was taller.
"Sputterin'...... and mumblin' and stutterin'," Tristan reported, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Like usual....." he added, relucantly. Hm.
"See?! I told ya, he likes Mai!" Duke crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Like, duh, man!"
"I know what I saw," Tristan argued stubbornly.
Meanwhile, a crowd had quickly gathered around, surprised at who it was she'd come to visit. Excited whispers and speculative chattering about the two sifted around like rattlesnakes. All eyes were on him. "So….. Tea told you about our date, did she?" Mai questioned, her voice cutting through the silence and more murmurs all around at this. What is this, a Shakespearean theatre? She thought.
"Um. I mean, yeah-yes. S-she did." Joey said, not knowing that it had been one of the 'conditions' the two girls made, and he'd just given Tea away. He just continued to stammer incoherently.
So…..she told him, did she? Mai filed that information away for safekeeping. I SEE! Outwardly, she smiled brilliantly. "Great! Well, I'll being looking forward to it. Ta ta, handsome." She wiggled her fingers and winked, stirring up even more "oohs" from the audience. Mai turned then, seemed to think better of it. Then, she turned and walked away, leaving the astonished crowd in her wake.
Who cares about the bet? Mai smiled slyly as she clicked down the hallway. This is much more interesting.....hehe. She chuckled all the way to her Corvette......
Meanwhile
Tristand and Duke rushed up as the crowd began to disperse. Joey's face was completely red and he had a big lipstick print on his face. he seemed to be dazed and not really with it, and didn't notice his two best friends coming up. Duke observed him carefully, skeptical and disbelieving, but Tristan grabbed him by the collar and roughly shook him.
"How COULD YOU, MAN?!" Anime rivers were flowing down Tristan's face as he shook him with each word. "PLAYING with TWO GIRLS?!?!?! I THOUGHT YOU were BETTER THAN THAT!!!"
Joey came back to life. "Huh? Wha?" But Tristan had already run off, postively yelling. "What…..IS he talkin' 'bout?!?!?!?!"
Duke answered, watching him carefully. "He's talking, dummy, about how you kissed Tea the other day," he said matter-of-factly waving his arm as if to say Yeah, right, I Know, right?
Joey turned was an instant pale, and started his sputtering again. "H-how did y-ya know--- I mean!" He caught himself in mid sentence just in time! "I-I dunno w-w-whatcher talkin' a-about!!" Tea had made him promise not to tell anyone about their kiss, and besides, it was none of their darn business anyway! She would pre-tee be upset if it got out. And even though he was still angry at her for rejecting him, he did promise not to tell.
But Duke wasn't fooled! He'd heard the "how didja know" firstly. "So IT'S TRUE!?!?!" he exclaimed loudly. "Way to go, man! Way to go." He looked at the blond with newfound respect and admiration, grinning. "Dating two girls at the same time!"
"It's-it's NOT like DAT!" Joey didn't want that kind of respect. He looked at Duke's grinning face and halted. "I er, mean……I. Dunno. Whatcher. Talkin'. Bout." He started to sidle away and break into a run.
"Hey, wait!" Duke ran after him, knees pumping. "I want details, man! Details!"
Meanwhile
Tea folded her legs and frowned. Boy, this test is hard. Math tests always were. She tapped her pencil and stared to the left. Yugi's spiky hair was hunched over his own test. He seemed to be doing well. As was Ryou Bakura, who smiled slightly, always seeming like he always knew a secret. Boys. They're weird.
"Pencils down, students." The teacher sang out. He was one of those instructors who took pleasure in other's misfortunes. The teenagers groaned. Calculators were put away.
Tea started to panic! Half her test was still missing answers. Shakily, she started filling in the little blue-green bubbles randomly. Most of the answers were "C", or that's what Joey says, anyway, when he fills them in at complete random. The teacher beamed at the zombie-like students handed in their doodled test papers, and staggered outside, weakened by the grueling exam.
The chatter rose around again once out of the classroom, and in the wide hallways. "So….how'd you do, Tea?" Yugi smiled up at her, always cheerful, and she quickly turned her worried face into a returned smile.
"Ummm…..okay," she lied. "Hold up a sec, okay, Yugi?" She ran back into the classroom and asked for a retake. The teacher merely shuffled the tests and said no. Discouraged, Tea walked back, her feet dragging.
"I'm sure you did better than you think!" Ryou said kindly. Yugi nodded enthusiastically as they walked down the hall. "Well, I'll see you all around!" The white haired kid waved and disappeared.
I'm sure I didn't, Tea thought. But there was no time to brood. I'll just have to take the 10th grade again......What was done…..was done. She stopped at the poster next to the library, one about the upcoming prom and studied it. Yugi came up to her.
"Erm…..you okay, Tea? You seem…..sort of preoccupied." He ventured, twiddling his thumbs together, a bit nervous. He offered her a friendly smile. "Anything I can help with?"
Well, I might as well go for it. "Um, are you, uh, going to the, uh…..prom…..thingy?" she said haltingly, trying not to seem nervous and be calm. There was a short silence.
"Oh! Well, um…..maybe…" Yugi hedged. "Why, do you want to go?"
"Are you asking me?" Tea said, trying not to seem too eager. Though she did. She stuck a hand behind her and crossed her fingers, for luck.
"Uh! W-wait, hold on, please." Yugi closed his eyes for a moment, contacting his other self.
Yami. Tea wants to go to the prom with you. But you have to ask her first! Do it! Now!
Me? You can do it just as well as me, aibou!
No, you have to do it! he argued.
I don't THINK so.
It's no time to be shy. Hurry up!
No. You!
"Ummm…..Yugi?" Tea was waiting for a pretty a long time now, and could guess what they were arguing about. "It doesn't matter if Yami or you ask me! Either way, my answer'll be the same!"
Yugi's eyes popped open. "….really?"
"Yeah, of course!"
"Oh….." Yugi knew Tea liked his other half. "I-in that case, Yami asks if you would give him the pleasure to escort you to the prom." Even though he's too stubborn to actually come out and ask himself, he thought gving the mysterious spirit a good reprimand.
I heard that and resent it, aibou. The spirit sent warning messages to his host who sent grinning messages back.
"G-great!" Tea and Yugi stood there grinning at each other for a long time, then moved on. Tea couldn't help thinking, You and me are in the same boat, Yugi….
Meanwhile
In the cafeteria, Joey was still looking for Tristan. By now, he had figured out what happened:
Tristan had been in Tea's house, completely forgotten, and caught them together. I can't b'lieve I forgot he was in da house! And now, he tol' Duke what he saw……I hafta make sure he didn't tell anyone else. Tea would demolish me!
Not that he cared, of course. He was still angry at her. But first things first. Joey searched the premises for his single spike haired friend. He saw Tristan in the lunch line, almost of the buffet food. Ah!
As he rushed towards him, he bumped into someone, but not hard enough to stop, and kept going. Then he heard Tea's shocked voice: "Joey!"
"Aw, shoot!" He bent to help his friend up. "Sorry about dat, Yuge." In mid-step however, he noticed Tea staring warily at him back, off to the side, as if glaring at him for being so clumsy. He glared back.
"Umm, guys?" Yugi waved his hand around, still on the ground. It wasn't unusual for Tea and Joey to glare at each other; they were always bickering. So Yugi didn't see anything different, really. "Mind….helping me up?"
"Sure, Yugi!" They both said before doing so, then turning back to glare and stare at each other. Wonder what they're arguing about now, thought Yugi. But he knew better than to ask! Else, he'd be pulled in. With gale force winds by the two hurricanes. Oh well, it'll all blow over soon, he thought with a mental and physical shrug.
Bad pun, there, aibou.... The spirit grinned a mental grin at his tri-colored host.
Oh, stuff it. Scardey-cat. "Well, I'll see you guys later, then, I have a test," he said, waving to his two best friends. They barely noticed; gazes locked as he snuck away and out the double doors.
Finally, Joey spoke first. "What're ya glaring at me like dat, huh?"
Tea looked away. "No reason……um. I-I…..found that little microphone thingy.....we were looking for," she said, scuffing her toe gently in the ground.
He stared at her a bit more, then said contemptously, "Ferget it. I doan need yer help, afta all." There was a disgusted sounding tone that made her temper spike up. Especially when she'd just did badly on a test.
As he turned away to look for Tristan again, she exclaimed suddenly: "You think this is easy for me, Joey?!"
He half turned so she saw a muscle twitch in his jaw. "Yeah! I dink it's plenty easy, there, are ya happy?! Does dat answer yer question?!"
Meanwhile, Tristan had paid and was coming over with a hot dog. He was completely calmly eating now, all he had needed was food. He heard them, and came over a little distance off and munched, watching. After all, it wasn't wise to get into the middle.
Tea was saying, "At least, let me help you! After all I did to start this, you can at, the very least, let me finish!"
Hm. Wonder what she's talking about. Probably bout making out with him again. Tristan took another bite calmly, still angry to have been forced to see such a thing..
"……Fine. Whateva," Joey was saying, before turning away and spotting him. Tea looked up and spotted him too, and went deathly pale.
"Hi, guys!" Tristan grinned a bright hot dog-filled grin, waving his bun in casual greeting, and Duke rushed over, panting.
"There….there you are…..!" He said to Joey, who clamped his mouth shut. Tea looked at Duke curiously, wonderingly.
She soon found out what he had rushed over to say. "I…want….the truth….did you make out….with….Tea," puffed Duke, not noticing her, that she was right there.
But soon he found out. "WHAT?!!?!?!?!?!" Tea exploded in such a high pitched shriek a plate crashed in the kitchen. "You TOLD D--" She started to say, but Joey abruptly clamped a hand over her mouth, stopping her.
"I. Dun. Know. Whatcher. Talkin'. Bout." Joey said, jerking his chin, hoping Tea would get the hint. Duke gaped, and Tristan took another bite.
"Liar! She's blushing. So it's true!" he accused, dramatically pointing an finger and all, though his grin was a little shaky. "Look at her."
It was true Tea was a bright red, almost fuchsia, but she quickly got the hint. "I--You must gotten your facts wrong, Duke," she said, much more calmly, pulling away, in the same halting, strange speech, crossing her fingers. "Who Told. You. That?"
Duke's shoulders slumped in, nearly defeated, but then he brightened. "Tristan!" He went over to said guy, who was just finishing his hot dog. "Tell 'em, man."
Tristan wiped the crumbs off his hands on his tan brown jacket. "Tell them what?"
Duke looked deflated, but he chuckled as if it all had been a clever joke, and strode finally away, promising revenge. All three phew-ed big mushroom-shapes. Then, Tea smacked Joey on the shoulder. "I can't believe you told! Duke! Of all people!" she said, angrily.
"Hey! I didn't! Tristan here tol' 'im." Now they both turned to glare at said boy again. Tristan frowned.
"Hey, I just saved your butts."
"Well, what were you DOING spying o-on us in the first place?!" Tea demanded, stalking over to him. "Why don't you MIND your OWN Business?!" She brought up a fist so fast that Joey had to restrain her from hitting him.
"I was minding my business!" Tristan said defensively, and then put up a hand dramatically, and spinning his tale of woe. "There I was, coming back, from er, getting your 'orders'....." (He decided not to tell them he was actually playing a game before being reminded they were stlil waiting) "Only to see YOU TWO ….touching and feeling each other up! EW!" He shuddered. "Thanks a lot, you guys, for forgetting I was still in the house-before-doing-that!"
There was a tense silence while they stood perfectly still, fists clenched, both steadily turning bright red, veins popping. "JUST DON'T TELL ANYONE ELSE, OKAY?!" they both shouted in each ear, startling him nearly witless.
Tristan decided not to tell anyone else. How could he, with his ears ringing llike that?