'Love or Pretend?'
Chapter 11 is finally here! Yes! I'm really sorry about the long wait. Thanks for continuing reviewers. Let's see how this chapter goes.
Chapter eleven: Something unexpected
"Is this all you're going to do, Joey?" Tea complained Saturday night while sitting on the living room couch watching 'Spiderman' with him. "I thought you were going to start your paper tonight like me and Yugi are."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll get ta it when I'm good and ready. Ya got uh problem with dat?" the blonde looked over at her with question as he stuffed his mouth with popcorn.
Tea looked at him in annoyance. Joey, for some reason, had been acting like this all night long. In fact, he had been acting like this since the three of them got back from the arcade earlier. The brunette wanted to ask her friend why he had been acting the way he was since she noticed the change of his attitude, but decided it was for the best that she didn't—in fear of getting into yet another argument with Joey again. "Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Do what you want. I'm going to work on my paper. I'll see you in the morning."
Tea started to get from the couch when Joey tugged on arm which brought her back down on the couch with him again. "Hey! What's the big idea, Joey?" looking at him in both question and anger.
"Hold on uh sec, Tea. We need ta talk before ya go and work on your paper all night long."
"And what do we need to talk about?"
"Who was dat guy we met back at da arcade earlier?"
Tea's face softened as she quickly caught on to what—or rather who— Joey was talking about. The guy Joey was talking about was someone Tea was hoping never to bump into again. Though, as luck would of course have it, she did. Except this time, Tea and Yami weren't the only people who ran into him.
FLASHBACK
"Hey Tea, let's go play that game!" Yugi called out to her from inside the noisy arcade.
Yugi pointed to a game where two people went against each other in a motorcycle race with eight other computer players. Tea, personally, would have rather gotten to Dance Dance Revolution first, like she did when she came the last time with Yami, but Yugi looked so eager to play the game with her Tea agreed without hesitation. "Sure."
Tea put in the three quarters it needed to operate then Yugi and Tea swung a leg over and got on the bikes. For the next three minutes they played the game until the last checkpoint was ridden and the game was finally over. Not to Tea's surprise, Yugi had won first place in the race. Tea had just made third.
"Good game, Tea."
"You too, Yugi. You were really good. Maybe next time I'll actually beat you." A light blush came across Yugi's cheeks. "I'll be looking forward to it."
Suddenly, a large crowd started to cheer around Dance Dance Revolution. Joey spotted Tea and Yugi from outside the crowds and walked over to them. "Hey guys, what's da big crowd for? Did somebody throw up or somthin'?"
Yugi and Tea looked at him, noticing that he finally came over to them for once instead of leaving them hanging. "Joey, I highly doubt somebody threw up," Tea rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm sure it's probably just somebody just kickin' some good moves on Dance Dance Revolution like usual. It's no big surprise, if you ask me."
"So why don't we go who it is?"
Tea was about to reply when suddenly she had this feeling inside telling her not to go over there. Like the strange voice she use to hear calling out to her, only it wasn't speaking to her at this moment. (A/N it was that voice Tea use to hear in the first couple of chapters of the fic. I just wanted to make sure you all remembered.) And taking in these cautious feelings Tea felt no other choice than to listen to them. "No. Let's just go and play games while there aren't any big lines instead. Maybe we can come back later. I've seen people play on that thing like a million times," her voice almost had the tone of bragging. "It's never anything new."
She was about to walk away when Yugi grabbed her arm before she could leave. "No, wait a second, Tea. Why don't we go see whose playing on it first? I'm sure whoever's playing on that thing isn't nearly as good of a dancer as you are."
Now it was Tea's turn to blush a little. "Uh..." she didn't know what to say. The brunette didn't want to look like a coward in front of her friends, but still felt that cautious feeling calling out to her from somewhere in middle of her thoughts. After a few moments of figuring it was probably nothing she agreed with her best friend. "Okay."
After Joey, Tea, and Yugi moved past the loud, bunched up crowds and finally got up to the front of it all where the action was. Tea saw a jet- black hair colored guy about her age dancing on the lit up stage. He wore dark blue jeans, a light blue button up shirt, with white and black tennis shoes. Tea saw that he had some pretty good moves, but she knew she could definitely beat him easily.
Then she looked to the right, where his opponent was, and looked up at the person. Tea mouth opened up wide as her sapphire eyes grew in shock as she saw the person dancing against the jet-black haired guy was Johnny Steps!!!!!
Joey and Yugi, of course, had no idea who the guy was, but inside the Millenium Puzzle, Yami's blood began to boil as he recognized Tea's former dancing opponent. His voice crackled with anger as he whispered out his name. "Steps..."
'Note to self; next time I want to ignore my feelings for something that doesn't feel right DON'T!!!' Tea screamed in the back of her mind. She knew she needed to get out of this crowd before that stupid jerk saw her. Tea leaned over to Yugi and nervously whispered in his ear, "I think we should go, Yugi. I don't want to be here right now."
Yugi turned his head— both of them blushing when they realized how close their lips were from touching— and he quietly asked her, "wh-why?"
Stepping back some, the brunette shrugged off her thoughts of how close Yugi got to her without their lips brushing up against each other's—especially in public! "Because that guy in the red shirt on the stage is an annoying guy Yami and I met last year before Battle City and he really gave us a hard time."
Hearing Tea talk about her and Yami together wasn't exactly what Yugi wanted to hear at this moment. Though, listening to his crush's concerned voice could make him do anything for her to make her happy. "All right," he nodded. "Let's go."
"Joey, let's go," Yugi whispered over to him.
"Why?" Joey was bewildered and confused with what his best friend just requested.
"Because Tea doesn't want to be here right now," Yugi simply replied.
Just then, the music slowly came to stop and Johnny Steps faced the large crowd of excited teenagers gathering around. "Who wants to take on Johnny Steps next?"
Tea was quietly trying to escape the crowd when Johnny saw the familiar brunette leaving without saying anything. "Well if it isn't my old dancing opponent Tea."
'Oh great! The guy just had to know it was me, right?' Tea complained to herself as she tightly closed her eyes shut.
Johnny Steps walked off of the stage, prepared to walk up to Tea, when suddenly someone standing in front of her stopped him from reaching his target. "Take one more step closer to Tea and you'll regret ever coming near her again, Steps," a highly serious voice spoke from right behind Tea's back.
Tea opened her eyes in surprise and confusion. 'What...? That voice... It sounds so familiar... I think I've heard it before... Wait a second! I know that voice. That sound of Yami's voice!'
As Tea quickly turned around to see the ancient Egyptian pharaoh standing up for her Johnny looked down at his angered eyes. He was looking as smug as usual— even without that arrogant laugh of his, which showed off his annoyance even more— not to Yami or Tea's surprise. "Well... what do you know? If it isn't Tea's little boyfriend coming to save her. How sweet?"
Yami's violet eyes narrowed on Johnny even more. "So what if I am?"
Tea looked even closer at Yami as she briefly heard the silent whispers from the crowd growing louder and more interested with what was going on. 'What did Yami just say?'
By the expression on Johnny's face, he really wasn't expecting him to say that... and neither was Joey.
'Man, what is goin' on with Yugi? It's like as soon as he saw dat Johnny Steps guy he'd do anythin' ta keep him away from Tea. I wonder Tea feels 'bout dat.' Joey suddenly made a small laugh inside his mind. 'She probably dinks he's actin' totally stupid. Poor Yug.' (A/N man, if Joey only knew!)
Tea couldn't believe the way Yami was acting with Johnny Steps around. Not that she blamed him. Tea knew Yami hated Johnny just as much as she did. But... Tea had never seen him so protective of her. His eyes looked almost as serious as when he looking back to Yami Marik during the Battle City finals. They were cold...dark...and nothing else was on his mind.
"Just forget about him, Yami. I'm sure Johnny was going to say hi to me or something. That's all. It's really no big deal so let's just go," Tea told him, trying to get Yami away from Johnny before people started really talking them.
Yami knew Tea was just trying to be kind— like she usually was— but that still didn't give Johnny the right to walk up to her like that. And the handsome pharaoh wasn't going to call for it.
Joey's eyes were filled with shock as he heard Tea mention Yami's name instead of Yugi's in her statement. 'Dat's Yami! I thought dat was Yugi! What da hell is Yami doin' here!!!' A streak of jealously went up Joey's spine. Tea's crush on Yami wasn't exactly that hard to figure for people to out— except for maybe Yugi. (A/N of course!)
By the time the Battle City finals ended Joey and Tristan could pretty much tell Tea had a crush him. And up until this point Joey had no problem with that. 'Dare's no way Yami's gettin all da credit for pushin' Johnny Steps out of her way!'
"Hey pinhead! Why don't ya go pick on someone your own size and skill level." Joey brought himself into the conversation. "Though, I've got uh feelin' ya won't 'cuz the only people at your skill level are two year olds."
Tea looked over at Joey in shock— maybe even more shocked with him than she was with Yami. 'Now what's Joey doing?' she thought.
Yami caught Joey's figure out of the corner of his eye and said, "it's all right, Joey. I know what I'm doing and I can take care of him by myself so just keep out of this."
Tea continued to look at Joey and saw that he didn't look too happy with what Yami just said. 'I can't believe I'm saying this though, it's like Yami and Joey are not only trying to get Johnny Steps to leave, but their competing to see who can do it better.' Tea began to anxious and nervous with what she just thought of. 'Let's just hope that's not the case!' (A/N do you Tea might just finally be starting to figure out what happening now? All I can say is, "IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!"— if she does, of course.)
"Guys, let's just go," she urged her two friends to get away from Johnny.
"Tea, why don't you just leave dumb and dumber to fight with themselves so we can have dinner together already?" Johnny cut his voice into all of the troubles.
Tea looked at him in disgust and rolled her eyes. 'When will this guy ever learn?' "Why don't you get it through that your thick skull of yours, Johnny? I'd rather go on a date with a dog before I'd ever even think about going out on a date with you."
People from the crowds started to make silent laugh and giggles in front of Johnny. He started to get nervous and embarrassed by Tea's remark. After about a minute of hearing people laugh and whisper about him Johnny had heard enough. "Man, I don't need this. I'm outta here!" Johnny walked away and Tea finally had a smile on her face after all the complications.
FLASHBACK END
"How did ya meet dat guy in da first place? He seemed like uh total jerk, if ya ask me."
Tea sighed. "That's because he is a jerk— or at least he is around people that embarrass him, including me. Anyway, Yami and I met him about a week before Battle City started. And if you think he was a jerk today, you should have seen him a few months ago."
Joey was about to open his mouth and say something when they both heard Tea's cell phone going off in her creamy yellow colored purse. The brunette walked over to her purse and answered the call. "Hello?"
"I hope you didn't wait all night long for my phone call, Tea," Duke's somewhat flirty tone of voice was on the other end of the line.
Tea was just basically annoyed by it, though didn't get mad at him. She knew it was just his way of talking to her because she was girl. "It's nice to hear from you too, Duke," she said back boredly.
"Hey, can ya put Joey on the phone? Tristan still wants to talk to him before Yugi's grandpa goes to bed."
"Sure. Just let me get him for you," Tea answered back. Turning her head towards Joey, she saw him staring at her from the couch— and in some small way that kind of freaked her out. "Tristan wants to talk to you, Joey."
"Ya'll right," the blonde jumped off of the couch and grabbed the blue cell phone out of Tea's hand.
Tea told him one more thing before going upstairs and starting on her English paper. "Don't be on there all night, Joey. My mom's paying for that. I'm going to be upstairs now if you need me. 'Night."
About an hour and a half later, Tea had finally finished the rough draft of her paper. Lying her head down on the front of the desk, which stood by the left side of the bed, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. Though, her relaxation was cut off quickly by someone knocking on the door.
"It's open," Tea called out to whoever knocked on the door.
A sudden surge of nerves went through her body as Tea felt the door slowly open up to her. She could feel the person who wanted to see her come closer until that person couldn't come any closer. The brunette didn't turn her head or shift her weight to see who was standing beside her. She just stood still pretending to read her paper as the person began to speak.
"Aren't you going to look up at me, Tea?" she heard Yami's voice next to her.
Finally looking up at him, she acted like it was an accident. "Oh, I'm sorry, Yami. I was just looking over the rough draft of my paper for the English assignment that's due on Monday. How's Yugi doing on his?"
Yami could notice Tea's slight insecurity, though he just went along with the conversation so he didn't scare her. "Yugi's doing fine. I believe he's almost done with his actually."
"Has he given you a chance to read it yet?"
"He said he'd rather not let me see it. I assumed that the paper meant a little personal to him if he wanted to keep it private."
Tea shrugged. "That's just about as good as any, I say. But who knows? He might show it to you later if he changes his mind."
Yami nodded slightly. "Perhaps."
"Did you or Yugi want something?"
"No. I came here to apologize for my behavior earlier."
She looked up at him confused. "When?"
"At the arcade," he simply told her.
Tea sighed and looked up at Yami more closely. "Look, what happened earlier is done, and it's over with. I mean, it really doesn't matter anymore and I don't blame you for getting mad at that guy. And believe me, I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes. I know you and Yugi were just trying to look out for me and I'm thankful for that. Plus, I know guys like Johnny aren't looking for a date. Their just looking for a way to show off they can get dates in front of their friends." Going off the subject slightly, into her own personal opinions, she added, "and it really pisses me off when they do that, too."
Yami made a half smile for Tea. "I agree." (A/N let's be honest here ppl! We don't get many smiles from Yami in the show, so I must say we have to at least try in our fics.)
Tea suddenly let out a yawn and blushed. "Oh, I didn't realize how tired I was. I guess all that writing wore me out a little."
"Then maybe you should get some rest. I know it's been a long day for you."
Tea let out a smile for him finally. "Yeah. I guess I should."
They both walked over to the door and then Yami looked back at her again. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tea."
Placing a hand on the door to push it closed, she responded, "okay."
Yami about half through the door when he took one last look at Tea and slowly leaned in to give her a small kiss on the cheek. "Good night," he softly spoke to her, then left.
"'Night..." she slowly drifted away in her short staring at him. Tea quietly closed the door and leaned against it. She gently put her hand on her forehead and whispered, "oh my god... What just happened?"
Okay! I'll admit it! It's a cliffhanger, but for the moment I didn't know where to go from here, except for maybe Tea babbling on all night with thinking about what Yami just did. Though, like I promised, I told you all this story would get more interesting. But... this is ONLY the beginning! I've got much bigger plans coming up in later chapters. So PLEASE REVIEW and I'll try to update soon! :P