Hey people, thank you for reading and reviewing! The second chapter's up (Wahoo) and I have to agree… it's not the most exciting chapter ever but it shall get more exciting, I promise! But this chapter has to be in there or it will be really odd… and besides it was fun to write!

The responds to your reviews!

Kobear91: Thanks for reading and replying! And yes I am posting more; see I'm posting more now! I hope you like it!

Maelgwyn-violetstar: Thanks for reading and replying! And also for your criticism! First off… about Joey's thoughts… that's pretty much everything in here. You see the actions are his actions (no duh) and the background is his background (another no brainier) but the rest of it is mostly his insights on stuff. (Nods) However if you mean yelling and crying and depressing thoughts… well let's just say there will be plenty of that in later chapters! Oh and about the romance thingy… I knew someone was going to ask that! You see Joey can't have romance with another character (g/b or b/b) because the rest of the characters are somewhere in Domino city. There will however be some one-sided Ooc/Joey stuff. (Looks at the very long reply) That is very long (sighs) oh well, I needed to say it anyway.

And onto the torture of Joey Wheeler (scratches head) well not really, this chapter is kind of nice to Joey… god where did all my torturing talent go?

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 2: Around the City

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (Do you really think I would be sitting here in a really uncomfortable chair typing this if I did?)

It hurt all over. Now, Joey Wheeler was not the sort of person to complain. Sure, bruises bothered him and scratches could be dead annoying, but he never complained about something as small as that. Of course, he wasn't the type of person to complain about larger stuff either, in case his father decided to pop in and really give the blonde something to complain about.

So, as quietly as he could be, the skinny blonde sat up with a gasp as he began to leaf through his bangs. Nothing seemed broken, that was good, but his ankle seemed sprained. Groaning at his unfortunate health, the boy began doing his 'getting up' routine. Having been beaten up plenty of times in the mere past, the blonde had acknowledged the fact that getting up hurt… a lot. But he had to do it if he wanted to hobble his way into the bathroom and fix his cuts and hide his bruises.

After the fifth try or maybe it was the sixth, Joey managed to sit up, and then two tries later, he was up and kicking. He began to hobble his way over to where the bathroom was when it hit him like a ton of bricks… they weren't in there old apartment. After gently swearing about the misfortunate of moving, the blonde turned himself around and began to hobble in the opposite direction to where he believed the bathroom was… of course it was hard to tell due to the fact that he had been pulled into the room upside down, but he would manage, somehow.

After walking into two vacant rooms, and experiencing a moment of horror when he almost woke his father up, Joey managed to find his way into the bathroom. And with a fantastic boost of luck the blonde realized that his duffel bag was exactly where he had left it. After closing the door behind him, and experiencing a second or two of regret that it didn't have a lock, Joey hobbled over to the mirror, trying his hardest not to hurt his ankle any further.

Pausing in front of the mirror, the blonde began to untie his sneakers, and then he stripped himself to his boxers so he could have a full health inspection. His face was good, only a small bruise on his left cheek that could easily be hidden. His legs where pretty good as well; there where a few scratches here and there, and some of his old injuries began to bleed again, but the real damage to his lower body was his sprained ankle, he'd have to be careful with that. The worst damage was done to his chest and his arms. There where plenty of purple bruises dotted here and there, as well as some dried blood. His chest was horrible, molested with bruises and cuts; it seemed that Joey was going to have some more scars to add to his collection, wonderful.

After a moment of two of mental debate, the blonde striped entirely and jumped into the shower, turning it on lightly so it wouldn't disturb his father's well-needed slumber. Joey loved his father the best when he was sleeping, and even more so when he was out, preferably far, far away.

After taking off his old bandages, and cleaning out his cuts so they wouldn't become infected, the blonde began to re-bandage himself. It wasn't difficult at all. And luckily enough, the blonde had become neutral to blood, he didn't cringe at the thought of it, nor did he puke when he saw it. Sighing painfully, the blonde finished his so often repeated task. He reached into his first-aid kit (that was always on him no matter what) and snatched the ever-so-loved lotion that hid all his scars and bruises. He wouldn't be able to live without it… unless he wanted to go around with a paper-bag over his head. But of course that would be suicide wouldn't it?

After snickering at the sudden pathetic thought of suicide, the blonde checked his body again (and a third time just to be safe) and the inspection came to his approval. Not a scar or bruise in sight… thank the lord. Grinning in satisfaction, the blonde grabbed his duffel bag and began to search through it for a half-way decent outfit. He wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible, and head for the nearest coffee shop so he could wallow in self-pity. It wouldn't do to start getting all depressed in here… heck that would make it worse.

And besides, he should have fun before he has to go to high school. What day did he have to go back… the 6th? Frowning the blonde began to search for his watch, he was never good with time, or dates, perhaps that was why he did so poorly in Social Studies. How did they expect you to remember every single day when the armies went out to war, when battles were fought, and when someone died.

Snorting at his very small outlook of his countries history, the blonde found his watch and almost ended up with a seizure… thankfully enough all he did was fall off the seat and twist his already twisted ankle in an uncomfortable way. Today was the sixth? After glancing at the watch, praying to himself that he remembered the right date and glancing back at the watch just to be sure, Joey Wheeler let loose a loud string of curses that would satisfy Cid from Final Fantasy. 1

After letting loose a large amount of English swear words, and a few Japanese ones just to be safe, Joey Wheeler was about to run out of the house like the king of the underworld was chasing him (or in other less grand words; his father) when he took another glance at his watch and noticed that it was only 4:39 in the morning. Thanking the lords, the teen sighed wearily and vaguely hoped that he would never be late to school, he had learned a long time ago that teachers had sonar when it came to fake excuses.

But of course he had a few hours left to go, and after realizing that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep, Joey Wheeler decided to head out into the city (with his backpack of course) and perhaps actually find out where the school he was attending was and maybe the name of it. And when it came to names… he didn't even know the name of the city they where in!

Sighing involuntarily, the blonde tiptoed past his father's room (in fact he tiptoed throughout the whole apartment just to be safe) and headed out of the apartment with a small gasp of self accomplishment. His father really scared him sometimes… well, actually all the time, and Joey never felt entirely safe when he was in the same god-forbidden apartment. The apartment building they where in was better furnished than there old one. It gave Joey a small pain of fear, because he would have to find some jobs fast if he wanted to pay off the rent for this place. He wondered, was his father so out-of-it that he didn't even realize that this was way out of there league? No wait… he didn't even want to know that answer of that.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It was nice and quiet outside, just the way Joey liked it. The blonde usually stayed out late, and then he would come out early, stopping by a coffee shop to buy a meager supply of breakfast before he headed out to his morning job before school. He hoped there were job openings that would allow a sixteen-year-old to work in the early hours of the morning; he had almost given up before he was granted that old job at the box-factory.

But at the moment all he wanted to see was an ever-so-common coffee shop filled with the delicious aroma of fresh brewed coffee. He was addicted to coffee, perhaps in the same manner his father was addicted to alcohol. Unlike his father's alcohol, he would be able to live without coffee and it didn't turn him into a monster like his father.

The closest coffee shop was quite a distance away, but it looked friendly enough, and a bit old-fashioned, but that was good, they always served the best coffee. He stepped into the coffee shop gingerly, his ripped backpack thrown across his shoulder. The door was attached onto a bell, which rang sweetly and gave Joey a sense of homesickness. Yugi's grandpa's game shop had the same exact bell attached to it. He blinked for a second, trying to catch sight of the short spiky-hair kid that wasn't there. It took him a moment or two to realize that he was in a coffee shop, thousands of miles away.

"I'll take a cup of coffee," the blonde said frowning as he viewed the menu, "Normal coffee, no whip cream or nothing," coffee and whip cream was delicious in the teen's opinion, but he wanted to save his money and call his friends and his sister at the nearest pay phone in sight.

"Donut, croissant, or bagel?" the waiter asked as she scribbled something unrecognizable onto her notepad.

"No," he said as he shook his head, his bangs falling into his eyes, "I'm good," even though he was dying for something with chocolate, or with sugar.

She left with a nod, eyeing him with interest as she headed off to another customer… a beefy old man who smelled suspiciously like old turnips.

Sighing yet again the blonde adjusted his foot trying to make the act inconspicuous, biting his mouth hard to keep himself from spitting out a curse when he slammed it against the table… it hurt… really, really bad.

"Here's your coffee," the waiter said, approaching Joey from nowhere and causing him to jump and slam his twisted ankle… again. He was amazed that he managed to stop himself from swearing.

"Thanks," he said showing her the genuine Joey Wheeler smile as he flicked an annoying strand of hair out of his eyes; she smiled back as she headed over to the turnip man.

The coffee looked good, it was dark just the way he liked it and it smelled good, he had learned a long time ago that bad smelling coffee was a sign that the coffee probably tasted horrible. Taking an experimental sip, he smiled as he realized it was good and began to take larger gulps. He had to find out about any job openings, and about the high school… plus knowing the name of the city they were in wouldn't hurt either. He didn't have the time to sit around and ponder the unfairness of life, his favorite activity in the old coffee shop.

After paying the tip and rubbing his eyes (being extra careful not to rub the lotion off his face) he got the directions to the local high school from the waiter and headed out of the shop, taking a detour so he could avoid the old beefy man who smelled like turnips… and seemed to have a habit of talking to himself in a very loud voice.

There where more people on the streets, mostly middle-age citizens that where driving pickup trucks and mini-vans and where drinking some kind of contraption or another. There where no kids out, or teenagers (excluding himself naturally) but if he lived in a normal household, he would still be in bed snoring loudly and whispering something about Mai.

The lady in the coffee shop had said to turn right and then left and then pick the middle fork… but she had scratched her head several times and it took her several seconds (if not minutes) to come up with her assumption, so he wasn't sure if it was completely trustworthy. After pondering the woman's advice for several minutes he decided to just go with the flow and follow her advice… something he was going to regret later because whenever he went with the 'flow' he always ended up with a black eye or another bruise to add to his collection. But of course, getting lost in a city wouldn't cause him to receive purple bruises, unless he accidentally went onto a gang's turf and in the process, got the shillings beaten out of him.

Shaking his head to get rid of the unfortunate thought (which hopefully was not going to happen anytime soon) he pulled his backpack higher onto his back and headed off into the city… which the waiter had said was called Wadesville. 2

Thankfully the waiter's untrustworthy directions turned out to be correct, and Joey Wheeler found himself standing outside the Wadesville High School, several hours early. What to do now? He could head off into the city on an attempt to get a job, and hopefully not get lost in the hustle and bustle. Or he could stand here and be bored… he decided to go with the first choice. So, almost with regret… Joey Wheeler found himself going in the opposite direction of his normal route.

Who would be hiring? Hopefully plenty of people… who gave off plenty of money for sitting around and counting the ferns grow. Well… it seemed like McDonalds was hiring, and true enough it was, there was a large sign posted in the window that said "Help Wanted" well almost, it was missing the 't'. 3

Walking into it quietly (and trying his hardest to ignore his stomach's growling) Joey scratched his head and headed off to the counter hoping that they had jobs open at the mere hours of the morning… or sometime after school.

"I'm looking for a job," he told the cashier who had just finished ringing up a very pregnant lady and was accessorized with pimples and a frown, "The name's Joey Wheeler!" he said in an attempt to make the cashier smile, "And I see that your Jake!" or at least, the name on his shirt said that.

No nod, no nothing, "Do you have a manager or something?" more silence… was this dude dumb? "I'll just be asking the dude over there," and with that he slipped away, almost bruising his twisted ankle more than it already was before he asked the neighboring cashier who had short blonde hair and a smile (something that cheered up Joey) about job openings.

"Just go through the door over there," the dude (who's name was Andre) said with a recognizable French accent, "And look for the guy in the suit," and then he turned to the next customer, a lady in a business suit that looked like she had ants in her pants (or more correctly, skirt) as she quickly grabbed her order of shake and fries and ran out of there like the demon was on her trail.

Biting his lip so he wouldn't laugh (he had been late plenty of times… in fact he was usually always late and almost never early) he headed into the kitchens and found the man that Andre, the French kid was talking about. He was wearing a suit (something that bothered Joey… why would the manager of a fast food place wear a suit?) and looked entirely out of place with the surrounding college kids who where chatting about boyfriends and girlfriends, the problems with the economics class, and how the chili fries at the college were poisonous. Deciding he didn't want to know (in fact he didn't want to… he hated chili fries anyway) he went up to the man in the suit (who had a hot pink tie) and nimbly asked if he could have a job.

The man stared at him, turned to yell at a girl with dimples and stared at him again before he said quite icily, "You look to young to be in college, kid," of course that was probably true… due to the fact that he was still in high school and that he was a sophomore… but a little white lie here and there didn't kill anyone.

"First year," he said trying to make his voice lower and not laugh at the same time.

The man frowned at him, he yelled at a boy with a yellow bandanna and examined his fingernails (which were surprisingly dirty) and then suddenly remembered that he was there and frowned again.

"What are you studying to be?" the man said suspiciously.

"A… architect," Joey said smiley brightly as though he did it every day (in fact he almost did lie every single day) and then tilted his head at the manger, in a sort of childish innocence. The man frowned, yelled at three different people, and then motioned the teen to follow him so he could fill out the paperwork. Smiling brightly… the blonde teen followed and just managed to stop himself from cursing when a blonde girl (who looked even dumber than him) crashed into his twisted leg. It was going to be a long day.

1 Something for all the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fans out there! And for any of you non-fans (Glares angrily) let's just say that Cid has a potty mouth. Oh, and I do not own Cid.

2 I don't think there is a Wadesville out there. But if there is a Wadesville out there, I do not mean to insult you. I'm sure that there are plenty of people there that are not old men who smell like turnips and college kids with acne and attitude problems. Oh, and if there is a Wadesville out there… I do not own it.

3 Why did I pick McDonalds? I hate that place! Perhaps so I could torture it? Mahahahaha! (Cough) What I really am supposed to say is that I do not own McDonalds. (If I did it would be an ice cream place and not a fast food junkie)

Wahoo, I finished my second chapter! (Does a jig) Please review peeps, it keeps me going all day, and it keeps me happy like sugar! Well, yllom21 signing off! (I always wanted to do that)