Why am I here, again? I thought tiredly. I don't know anybody and the only one I do know is ignoring me!
I stood near the snack bar, eyeing it hungrily.
If I eat anything dad'll miraculously realize I exist and say I shouldn't snack so much, never mind the fact I haven't so much as touched anything except a cress sandwich. I didn't even eat the whole thing.
The whole party was full of adults who made conversation with me if only because they had a captive teenager to torture. Eventually it gets on one's nerves to be asked so many times 'Oh, you're Jack's daughter, and you have your license! Have you wrecked/gotten a ticket yet?' And then they would watch me with gleaming eyes, waiting to see if I squirmed.
The question over my driving habits didn't make me squirm. The answer - that I'd gotten into one wreck which plainly wasn't even my fault, and no I'd never gotten a ticket - was harmless enough. What irritated me was the rabidity with which they wanted to know if I'd fucked up somewhere along the line.
That, and while adults rarely questioned another adult on the details of a wreck, they'd shamelessly quiz me.
They looked at each other knowingly when I insisted the wreck wasn't my fault, although I was fairly sure I was better than most of them at driving. One of them had the gall to tell me to get used to it and that he'd been getting into wrecks routinely since he got his license.
I, rather irritated by this time, asked if he'd wrecked while he was living at his parents house.
He replied, Yes.
I asked why his parents continued to let him drive and that if the wreck had been my fault that my dad would have yanked my license immediately.
He laughed and told me my father wouldn't yank my license over a wreck, because of some esoteric reason I elected to not remember if only because it was so vapid.
I just kind of stared at him with a forced smile.
So I'd placed myself away from the main group of people and hid myself nearly out of sight. I was so enthralled in watching the crowd I didn't notice someone coming up behind me.
"Hi, aren't you Jack's daughter?"
I cringed inwardly and I knew that a severely pained expression crossed my face a moment before I smothered it. Thankfully, I wasn't facing them. I turned around, working myself quickly back into my act. Really, I didn't dislike adults. But when they treated you like something vaguely entertaining it got on my nerves.
"Yes, hello."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Bulma Briefs, your dad's boss."
I smiled at the pretty blue haired woman, and shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you, too."
She looked nice enough, but not without the typical adult stigma:
"Your dad's told me so much about you."
I wonder if there's tears in my eyes yet from keeping this smile on my face?
"Uh…that's nice," I replied awkwardly.
Bulma Briefs was even better than I was at keeping up pretenses because her smile even reached her eyes.
"So you're going off to college this fall?"
"Yes," I replied, silently begging to be left alone. Interrogations like these were always painful.
"What are you going to study?"
"Biology."
"Really? That's very interesting. Have you thought about internships?"
"Um…no."
"What kind of biology are you looking into?"
"Organic."
"Really? That's very interesting!"
I'm sure it is, I thought.
"That was one of my first degrees."
Oh, like that makes me feel better…I've gone through hell to get into this one school! No, wait - wait - perfect opportunity to change the subject.
"One of your first degrees? You have multiple degrees?" I asked, genuinely interested for my own sake.
"Woman!"
I jumped considerably and for a moment my composure was shattered. I quickly recovered as a nearly short, heavily muscled man with shocking upright hair strode into view.
I could do nothing but stare.
"What, Vegeta?" Bulma demanded. "Now's not the time!"
"The damn harpy and the brat are coming over."
Bulma looked quite surprised for a moment, then smiled.
"Excuse me, it was nice talking to you," she said to me politely, then followed this Vegeta character.
Damn, he had a nice ass.
I sighed. One more down, a hundred to go.
Why did I let myself be talked into this?
When I received the phone call from Bulma Briefs, I'd been no less than shocked. It had bee obvious by her tone that the human had not originally intended to invite me, and had probably been coerced by someone. That someone probably being my sister or her bald husband.
That alone definitively explained her even having my phone number.
I hesitated just a moment before pressing the doorbell. Nothing happened for a few moments as I stood waiting outside and I idly wondered if someone had installed a camera, and realized that it was me - the pariah, Juuhachigou's estranged brother, Juunana - and this was all some cruel joke.
…It was possible.
Still nothing.
I sighed, and shrugged. Fine, what a funny joke!
I turned around to leave, and the door opened.
"Juunanagou! It's…um, nice to see you!"
I turned around, and stared into Bulma Brief's face with a neutral expression.
"Hello."
She opened the door wider.
"Please, come in! Juuhachi and Krillen aren't here yet, and the company party isn't over quite yet. But you're welcome to come inside and sit down, or…something." She waved a hand inside, motioning at the guests which I could see from outside.
I nodded gravely, and stepped around the woman and into the building.
"Thank you."
Bulma stepped into my view again, a rather uncertain smile on her face. "So…I haven't seen you since the wedding! How have you been…?"
"Fine," I replied. "…And yourself?"
Bulma seemed surprised that I even asked.
"Great! Your sister's been doing well, too, so I hear. You have a niece…"
"Marron," I supplied dryly.
"Marron! That's right, I've never met her before. Today will be the first!"
I nodded, and glanced out across the immense room. It was packed with people.
"We're having a company party, so…I guess, make yourself at home," she said. "I don't guess you'd know anybody?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Well, I've got the perfect person for you to talk to," Bulma said briskly, to my utter surprise. I went so far as to turn and stare at her.
"She's bored too, so you'll have lots to talk about."
Declining was not an option as Vegeta was glowering at me from the corner and daring me to insult his wife. He hated me, that much he made clear at my sister's wedding.
I let her lead me to a tall, blonde haired girl standing out of the way and leaning against the wall. I did not miss the 'You've got to be kidding me' expression that flashed across her eyes an instant before she looked away and smothered it behind a wary half smile.
"Hi, again."
"Juunanagou, this is…"
"Hiatt." Her voice was clipped and distinctly uncomfortable.
"This is Hiatt, and Hiatt, this is Juunanagou. You both look lonely, so…talk!"
Bulma looked between the two. Hiatt's closed, clutch-her-crossed-arms-and-huddle-against-the-wall position seemed to stiffen even more as she stared in mortification, and Juunana was gazing at her obliquely.
Bulma sighed.
"Have fun!"
And she walked off.
I looked down at the human, who lifted her eyes to stare into mine.
"…Hi," she muttered, planting a false smile on her face and nodding slightly. "Nice to meet you."
I had to give the human credit for at least attempting a façade of interest.
"Hello."
There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence. It was worse for the human, because she broke it.
"So…do you work for Capsule Corporation?"
"No."
She nearly cringed, and said no more, clearly distressed at the frankness of my reply. I sighed.
"I'm…a family friend. Do you?"
"…My dad does. I don't know anyone here." She paused for a moment, then, very shyly, added, "I don't really know how I got suckered into this."
I smiled, if only slightly.
"Same here."
"…What's your story?" Hiatt ventured.
"I had nothing better to do," I said flatly. "And they knew it."
The human smiled a little.
"…My dad dragged me here under the guise of taking his new car out for a spin."
"New car?" I asked blandly. Hey, I liked cars.
"Well, it's not new but he finally re…rebuilt it? Restored it! That's it. He finished restoring it." Hiatt said. "Sorry."
"What car?"
"A Sorcea X-400. It's red."
The human had my attention.
"It's red?"
"Yeah," Hiatt readily replied. "It's a lot of fun to drive." There was a genuine smile on her face, although it was still a little reluctant.
I nodded. "I've never seen one."
"…Do you want to?" Hiatt asked slowly. "It's outside."
I regarded the human silently, very surprised.
"The only thing dad'd mind would be his not being there to list everything he's put on it," Hiatt continued, stepping away from the wall and sliding her hands into her pockets.
"What's he put on it?"
"I don't know, but he said a lot of racing stuff. Do you know about cars?"
"Yes."
"Cool…come on," she said, and let me back around the room and out a side door which opened directly into a vast underground parking lot that I could only assume was for the employees of Capsule Corp.
"Brake!"
Gohan winced as his mother's high-pitched shriek cut into his ears. Sometimes he wondered if his mother happened to realize that, because of his Saiyan heritage, his hearing was much more acute and thusly her screaming hurt his ears considerably more.
Because she sure didn't act like it.
"Gohan! Watch out for idiots like that! Don't cut people off! Watch out!"
A couple of months or so ago Chi Chi had decided to add another facet to her son's education. Goku had been a grown man before he learned to drive - it would not be the same with Gohan.
So, Chi Chi had signed Gohan up for driver's ed. It was a given that Gohan would easily ace the written exam at the end of the course, and he even passed his driving test with flying colors.
Unfortunately, while Chi Chi had become somewhat calmer in the passenger's seat while driving in the country over time, Gohan had started to wonder if people were giving him and his car such a wide berth because his mother appeared rabid.
"There's Capsule Corporation," Gohan said, and pointed at it.
"Gohan! Keep both hands on the wheel!"
The human stood off to the side, leaning against the pole. I walked around the small, finely tooled sports car and grinned to myself.
"Ever driven it?"
"A couple of times before the…whatever it was that broke this time, broke," Hiatt replied. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about car mechanics."
"It was probably something to do with the ignition," I commented.
"Yeah, it was! How'd you know," Hiatt asked, clearly surprised.
"It's the kind of car it is," I said.
"When I drove it, it's a lot harder to drive than my car, the clutch is weird and the accelerator is stiff to me."
"What car do you drive normally?" I asked, sliding a hand down the side of the vehicle as I walked its length, peering at it appreciatively.
"A green Clarion. It's a stick, too."
"That's a nice car."
"Thanks," she replied. "It's cute."
I nodded.
"You can sit in it, it's not locked."
"And the top is down," I said.
"That too."
I opened the door and sat down in the seat. I grinned despite myself. "Your name is Hiatt, right?"
"Yeah, and yours is Juunanagou?"
I put my foot on the clutch but didn't press it, and glanced up at Hiatt.
"How fast is it?"
"Pretty fast," Hiatt replied, obviously not quite understanding what I asked. She looked up as the elevator door opened, and several men, some a tad inebriated, spread into the lot. "I guess the party's ending, huh?"
"There's a second party afterwards. That's why I was invited."
"Oh, for who?" Hiatt replied, although it was obvious she was hardly jealous.
"'Family friends.'"
"Ah."
She shrugged.
"Have fun, I guess."
It was the absolute dryness of her voice that made me laugh. Hiatt grinned.
"It'll be like watching paint dry, huh?"
I got out of the car, and shut the door.
"Let's go back upstairs," Hiatt said, and led the way.
Neither of them said a word, and I followed the human for lack of anything better to do until she located her father.
"Hiatt! Where've you been?" he asked. He was a tall man, with graying black hair, a beard and thick glasses. He didn't come off as dorky, though.
"Showing Juunanagou the Sorcea," Hiatt replied, and motioned at me.
I nodded at him. "It's restored?"
"Yeah, I just got it done a couple of days ago."
"Very good job," I said, and it was the honest truth. Other than the fact that the wheel looked well used, it was a nearly perfect restoration. I didn't give compliments lightly.
"Thank you," Hiatt's father replied. "Hey, Hiatt. I'm going to go out for a beer with a couple of the guys, and Bulma offered to let you stay here until I get back. Is that okay with you?"
Hiatt turned and didn't bother trying to hide any shock she felt.
"Dad, I don't know anyone here! Besides, they're having a get-together--"
"I told Bulma you might be interested in a biology internship, she'd like to talk to you about it," her dad interrupted, causing Hiatt's face to turn pale gray.
"Dad!"
"If I were you I'd be jumping at asking Bulma about an internship! You can't just sit around all summer and do nothing!"
Hiatt's face was mutinous.
"I'll see you later."
"Bye," Hiatt snapped sullenly, and looked away.
Could I please, just for one goddamned minute, be left alone about that shit? I thought angrily. I can't believe my dad!
"…Well, you're stuck, too."
I turned and looked up at Juunana, whose face, thankfully, was neutral.
"Guess so."
Trunks appears immediately in the next chapter. Have fun, kids.