Guardians
Note: All the reviewers, I thank thee for thou fine deed! Sorry… bit of a weird mood at the moment… Review, noble ones, review! Now where were we… ah yes…
Disclaimer: In case thou hath forgotten, I own not the show called Yu-gi-oh, nor the songs below mentioned, The Lady of Shalott, by Tennyson, or Shadows in the Mirror, a play written by Kate Davis (adapted from Tennyson).
Chapter Five: Casting Call
"Today I finally have the results of the tryouts for our play, The Lady of Shalott."
A few people in the class cheered, but Karmina sat very still. She was not in a good mood, and had been feeling very unhappy lately. Life was getting better, in its small ways, but somehow she felt worse. It was as if living was too much pressure.
"In the role of King Arthur… we have Joey Wheeler," the teacher said reluctantly, adding what Karmina could have sworn was "Since no one else auiditioned," to the end of that statement, half hidden by the applause of Joey's friends. Karmina gave him a wide smile, which he returned for a moment, but then it was once again as if she simply vanished. This time he even looked quizzically in her direction a moment before turning away.
"In the role of Sir Lancelot is Seto Kaiba."
A few people clapped for him; probably the ones whose parents worked for him, but the others just looked ahead at the teacher. Karmina smiled weakly at him, not sure if he would respond well to her kindness. He just glared.
"Guinevere will be played by Tea Gardner. Lavaine, the younger brother of Elaine le Blank, the Lady of Shalott, is to be played by Yugi." (A/N: Sort of hard to follow sentence translated, Yugi Lady of Shalott's younger brother.)
There was a lot more clapping, and this time Karmina realized that Kaiba was not one of them. This didn't really surprise her, but somehow it made her feel sad for him.
Man, she thought, I have got to stop watching all those sad movies. It's warping my brain into feeling sorry for the world's biggest jerk.
"Sir Bernard le Blank is to be played by Duke Devlin."
There was a bit of laughter at the idea of Duke being someone's father, but it quickly died down. The lead role had to be coming up soon. Many girls had their fingers crossed.
"Torre, Elaine's older brother, will be played by Rob Gennison." (A/N: Not a yugioh character as far as I know, so I do own him! HA!)
"The two knights will be Tristan Taylor and Ryou Bakura."
More applause. Kaiba didn't look any happier.
"Katie Joaniaa will play the Wise woman and I will be narrating along with Sarah Anne." She paused for effect. There were only a few girls left to play the lead. "And the lead role of Elaine de Blank, the Lady of Shalott, goes to Karmina-"
She was interrupted by the sob of one of the girls who didn't make it. Karmina gulped. Why had she been given the lead? She was going to have to act in front of an- Oh no! She was going to have to act with Kaiba as her costar. She was doomed. Doomed forever.
"The rest of you," the teacher continued. "Will be the stage crew. Any questions?"
No one had any questions, the bell rang, and they were free to contemplate their doom.
"The first rehearsal will take place next Monday! Have a good Friday!"
Karmina had almost forgotten. It was Friday, the day of the contest. She still hadn't picked her song.
Don't worry about it, Karmi. You're going to be fine.
"I wasn't-"
Someone collided with her and her books all spilled to the floor. She just barely saw Tristan and Joey racing down the hall. A piece of notebook paper from her binder was stuck to Joey's shoe.
"Darn it!" she exclaimed, bending down to pick up the folders, notebooks, pens, pencils, and textbooks that had spilled to the floor. She kept dropping one thing or the other. It had been a miracle that she'd managed before… but now it was hopeless.
"Drop something?" a deep, growling voice asked.
She didn't answer. He was just going to make fun of her anyway. She fumbled with her textbooks, forming an orderly pile. A pile that was soon joined by a neat, organized stack of papers.
"You aren't going to thank me, are you?"
She picked up her stuff and accepted her writing utensils from Kaiba's warm hand, blushing when she brushed the skin. They stood in uncomfortable silence for a minute, until Kaiba just up and turned around. "I don't have time for this," she heard him mutter.
"Thank you… Seto," she whispered, half of her just wondering how he would react to his first name. The other half of her had to be just plain crazy.
He stopped dead in his tracks. "What did you call me?"
"Y-you h-heard m-me," she stammered pathetically. Why did she insist on saying something so stupid? What was wrong with her? Had she really been hoping to break through to him?
"It's Kaiba, do you hear me? You don't have the right to call me by my first name!"
She couldn't take so blatant an insult without trying to stand up for herself. "W-what g-gives y-you the right… to c-call me Karmina, then?"
He was shaking with anger, though she couldn't see the logic in it. It was just a name, after all.
"I," he said harshly, facing her once again and staring down at her with pure hatred, ice-blue eyes alight with the flames of rage. "Am the CEO of Kaiba Corp. You… are just a silly little girl with a speech problem."
Biting her lip, she realized that she was about to be pushed over the edge. She could barely contain herself. "I think… that y-you have a r-r-ridiculously over inflated e-ego."
For a terrible moment, neither one of them said anything. Then Kaiba turned sharply and walked away, each footstep echoing through the halls like Karmina's own heartbeat. She'd just been in an argument… and she hardly ever even talked to the guy. Oh, how she hated Seto Kaiba. And oh how she didn't.
End note: Next chapter: The Contest. If I could just pick a song… Oh well… Review!