Winning the Love of the Handsome Skater

Chapter Twelve: Competitions, Contestants and Confessions

The table stood still, all eyes studying the new girl. She didn't look really special at all… Her emerald eyes being the only thing that could possibly make a difference between her and any ordinary girl. Why would Vegeta date such a girl, Juuhachi wondered to herself. She was put under the impression Vegeta thought highly of himself, and he wouldn't 'lower' himself to have an ordinary girlfriend, would he?

As if reading her mind, Hailie whipped her head in direction of the blonde girl who was still sort of gaping at her with a closed mouth, at least.

"You wouldn't want my first impression of all of you to be you have no manners, now do you? It's only polite to introduce yourselves too after I introduced myself." She stated haughtily. Juuhachi frowned, while Marron began hurrying to introduce herself to the transfer girl. ChiChi just snorted while Vegeta attempted a comeback, but was beaten to it by Bulma herself.

"I could care less what your stupid first impression of me could be." She said darkly, her eye brows knitted together in a dangerous manner. The brown head's attention snapped back to her at the sound of her voice. "Besides, it's better for you to know the worst part of me, that you seem to bring out just with your existence near me, before you plan on messing with me and getting yourself into trouble, wouldn't you, miss Mizuhara?" She let the words flow off her tongue smoothly, as if her business-like tone was her second nature. Well, actually, being the daughter of the creator of Capsule Corporation, it truly was.

"Well, I must admit, you are quite right there, miss Briefs. I know the names to each and every one of you, but if you were taught some manners, you would've known that for the sake of politeness it is good to state them anyway." She faked masterly a sweet smile, but Bulma saw right through it and growled lowly, gritting her teeth at the bitch's statement about her manners. Who was she to tell her what she had and what she had not? The nerve of that low creature…

Before things got out of hand, Vegeta decided to take matters in his hands. He knew how violent both girls could get with their words, how deep their accusations would start to get, eventually, and - even being a boy and everything - he still couldn't allow them to get engaged in a cat-fight in the middle of a public place.

"It's quite enough you're going to bother me the whole fucking year, bitch. Get away from me now before I forget my manners and just throw you out of here by your fucking collar." He hissed at her and she leant against him, causing a growl to emit from his throat at her bold action.

"Aw, Vege-kins, you know how much I hate it when you curse so much…" She whined, making his growl grow louder.

"I don't give a flying fuck what you think, can't you get that through your thick skull? How hard can it be? Or maybe you prove to be more brain-dead than I ever thought." He stated and leant back against his chair. The girl pouted at him.

"Now you don't need to get abusive, darling." She traced his jaw line with the tip of her finger. "I'm just trying to get back what is rightfully mine…" She said, about to lean down and steal a kiss before Bulma caught the back of her short cut hair and pulled her away from Vegeta's seat.

"Not so fast, Ms. Seduction." The lavender haired girl let go of the other one's hair once they were on a safe distance from the place Vegeta was sitting in. The gang watched the pair with amused eyes, and a smirk took over Vegeta's expression for the first time ever since Hailie came near him. "If you are so eager to get him, you'll have some competition in winning the prize over."

"He is no trophy to win, idiotic bitch." The other girl hissed fixing her uniform. "But if you want to be squished by me in that inferior competition of yours, bring it on! I can always win to you, at any time."

"Oh, now, now, it's not me you're going to be quite so competing with." Bulma said smugly.

"Then who am I going to be competing with?" Hailie repeated her question, getting quite irritated with the whole topic to begin with.

"It's the two of them and me." Bulma pointed over her shoulder to where Juuhachi and Marron were sitting, and her two friends were also offering supportive glares at the new girl. She looked skeptically at them, but kept her mouth shut. She just threw a last glance at Vegeta.

"We are all well aware who's going to win once I got myself into this, right?" Her face twisted into a smirk again. Vegeta offered one himself, getting up and walking past Bulma to Hailie, bending over to get near her so she would feel his hot breath on her cheek. He remembered that before she hated it when he did that before... he growled in his mind. Before he would kiss her. He hated himself for getting involved with her in the first place now… He hated everything about her… It made him feel sick…

"We do, Hailie. And if you do too, you're well aware that it is not you." With that he stood tall behind Bulma, who crossed her arms in an award-winning smirk that much resembled Vegeta's and let her body-weight shift back so she was laying against the boy behind her. With a low growl the brown-haired girl turned on her heel, letting her long black skirt flipping behind her as she did so.

"That is why they are called competitions, Vegeta. You never know what twist there might be meters before the finish line." She hissed, motioning for her companion to join her as she marched for the door angrily, knowing full well that the exotic coloured little bitch had won the battle this time. But Hailie would be damned if she let herself lose the war. It was a mere second before she closed the door behind her that she heard Vegeta's low voice. Not as gruff and cynic as it always was… but the low heart-shattering tone that she got to know so well those few years ago. The tone that he used with words that were nearly able to make her break down in tears every time she heard him…

"You can't always get everything, Hailie. You proved me well enough that I was truly never your priority." Gripping at the door handle as if holding to a lifeline, the girl exited, subtly followed by her schoolmate.

Silence had taken over the group once again. Vegeta sat down and pushed his empty plate away while the others continued to eat in silence. They were thinking over the events that have occurred for so little time… and how they were going to change the entire situation in the gang. But most importantly, Bulma thought, the strange impact and affect the new girl had on Vegeta… She had completely sent him to a new world, where he was so deep in thought that he seemed like he was dead… Unblinking, distracted, … hurting? It was truly awful for her to see him in such a state… It was so un-Vegeta-like that it was scaring her…

"I'll see you losers tomorrow." He said, grabbed his board from under the table and made his way towards the mansion for a well deserved work out in the basement. He needed to set some of that anger free, or he would crack up completely, if that is even possible.

After he left, the conversations were began anew. Juu and Marron made a silent agreement to unite with Bulma (who was currently ignoring them and thinking of something completely different) and kick that Hailie gal out of the picture. She sure as Hell annoyed the daylights out of them too. She was too arrogant and too haughty for their liking. She'd see Hell tomorrow at school for messing with the most popular girls in school.

The three girls thought about teasing Bulma for being so protective over their dark brooding friend, but once they saw the deep thought she had trailed off to, they decided against it, still haven't heard everything that had happened between the two on their way home. Neither of them would really share what their experience had been… And none of their friends planned on playing the role of the noisy inconsiderate one. They just let things flow naturally…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Next week had to start smoothly. But it quite didn't for everyone…

"Damn it, mother!" An ear-piercing shriek rang through the empty sleepy halls of Capsule Corporation living quarters, scaring every living being in radius 2 miles or so. The heiress to the biggest company in the world was on a rampage…

"Now, now, dear. No need to use such foul language, you know. All I did was let you rest a little bit more."

"How does half an hour fit in your idea of 'a little bit more'?" Her daughter snapped back angrily at her with some difficulty as she was still brushing her teeth. "Man, mom, you know how awful my Math teacher gets when I'm late!"

"Well then just tell the woman that you have been busy with a young man last night, and she'll surely understand, since you're a teenager and everything…" The ditz of a mother of hers giggled madly. Bulma rolled her azure eyes. She had to be kidding…

"Mom, I told you a thousand of times! I went over to Vegeta's and Goku's just for a game of Play Station. And besides, it wasn't just me! The whole gang was there. I didn't even get to be alone with him!"

"Aw, maybe that's what got you so worked up, dear. Don't worry; I'm sure that if you ask your friends next time, they would surely understand and leave you two to yourselves!" Bulma slapped her forehead with her palm. The woman was just incorrigible… The whole conversation was generally pointless, damn it! And she was already so late for school.

Yet if there was one thing true about her mother's mindless pointless tirade of blather, it was that she, indeed, or at least sort of, wanted to be left alone for a bit with Vegeta, so she would have the chance to talk to him about his… Well, his ex-girlfriend that had entered the stage with a loud bang and still they knew nothing of her, and the bitch had already began to act insulting towards them. Why would she do that? Wasn't she new? Was that how new people treated the other seniors nowadays? How rude, really… Maybe she could even leech some info off of him about her past or where could she hit the nasty little worm so it hurt her badly… She had never been a nasty player, but she could tell that things were going out of control too fast for her liking.

Putting on a tight long sleeved shirt that showed some shoulder skin and some baggy jeans, she swung her backpack over her shoulder and ran out without taking a second glance back or even listening to her mother's yells to her about food or something like it. She could care less that she would be forced to eat the crappy canteen food. Once in a long while it shouldn't affect her… much.

Running at her best pace, Bulma got sight of the school building right when the bell rang. She put all of her remaining forces into racing through the winding corridors, taking twist and turns towards her classroom. She got there right on time, by her judgement, but Hailie was already there, no longer with her complete school uniform, yet she seemed to be so devoted to the black pleated skirt that she had not bothered to change it. She had a tight dark green blouse on that went down to her hands. The snake was currently shaking her head at her foe's lateness.

"Now that's not quite a nice start to the day, Miss Briefs." She mimicked what the teacher would've said if she had been there. It sounded so lame…

"Mind your business, wench." The girl slumped down in her seat, taking a deep breath to steady her breathing. By some cruel joke, the other girl had seated herself right on Bulma's left side. It was truly such a wonderful start to the day…

"It seems you're quite not physically fit, Bulma dear. Maybe you should reconsider your participation in this cute little competition we are having here and quit while you can, before you get hurt, hmm?" She offered sarcastically, faking sweetness again. Bulma mimicked her expression masterly and turned her head to the side, so the other teen could see her face clearly.

"You wish that to happen so badly, eh? I hope not everything about you is as spurious as your expression, because otherwise you will be the one that will need to quit before she got herself involved into something that will turn her down completely. I do hope you take embarrassment well, Hailie dear." Taking her books out, Bulma ignored the other girl quite well, getting engulfed in reading something. That was before the door burst open and an acquaintance of theirs joined the buzzing room full of ecstatic students.

All students looked up to see their most enigmatic school mate join the premise. Bulma lifted an eye brow at his choice of clothes today. He wore a black sleeveless shirt (Bulma was sure he picked that one out of his closet exactly for this day, so they would drool over his well sculpted arms; but she refused to be one of those brain-dead 'chicks' that only drooled over good-looking guys; no, she had not stooped that low yet… she still had difficulty gathering her gaze back though…) that went down nearly to his groin and covered the top of his navy baggy pants. What was more interesting to her today in him was the fact he wore a chain on the right side of his pants. It had quite a large stitch, but the metal was gracefully winded and the thing looked… well, flawless on him. It made a quiet clanking sound with each heavy step he made. His scowl was firmly put in its place on his face, making his appearance as dark as ever.

The boy walked between them and to his seat behind Bulma, his headphones in his ears as he put his (new) Discman on the desk, waiting for the teacher to join them. Hailie had a hard time not staring while Bulma wondered why he wore such a heavy object on his pants that would get in the way of his skating. She wanted to ask, but he just brushed her off, scribbling something on a piece of paper that he refused to let her even do as much as glance at.

The teacher came in and gave everyone tasks for the upcoming test next Monday. Both Bulma and Vegeta got ready almost immediately after the task had been given, and to their surprise, or more like just to Bulma's, Hailie was too. She glared back at Vegeta, who mimicked her expression and with even more venom written over his features. Just as the girl thought that she would be able to insult him somehow and manage to trigger an argument, he threw a paper ball at Bulma, which hit her head and fell on her desk in front of her. She glared daggers back at him, but he just nodded towards it, getting back to the additional problems the Math witch had given them both.

Unfolding the paper while grumbling lightly under her breath, Bulma noticed it was a note (whoa, surprise, surprise, she mocked herself). 'I've taught Hailie calculus too. Now giggle or I'll have to choke you with that chain.' On the side of the note, as she was sure he wanted her to look more natural at doing it, there was an SD (A/N: Super-deformed) figure of himself, grinning madly with the chain in the little Veggie-like's hands. Bulma giggled at the image and wondered what else he could draw besides himself.

She collected the note and put it in her back pocket, yet not before noticing the killer glare Hailie was throwing her the same moment. She could only guess what the snake thought Vegeta had written her. She looked over her shoulder to see her dark flame-haired schoolmate smirking at her and lightly, almost invisibly to everyone else, nod his head at her. She flashed him a smirk and continued doing her work.

"Now, who's up to solving this problem? I must tell you first that it is very difficult, it has a lot of catches and too much calculating to do if you don't know how to proceed with it, so be very alerted when you-"

"I'll do it." Hailie jumped from her seat, swinging her hips back and forth seductively as she did so. Most of the guys enjoyed the view, while Vegeta was having his fists tightly balled, watching at her trying to gain the upper hand, trying to show off with what he taught her… He'd see about that one, alright…

After five minutes of heavy calculating, many mistakes and the impossibility of the problem began to get its tall on the proud girl. She wouldn't fall on her back yet though! She'd be damned if she let that bitch win over her.

"Will someone assist Miss Mizuhara at the desk? I don't think she's having a nice time doing that by herself…" Vegeta stood from his seat, snatched a piece of chalk and began trying to redo everything from the beginning. Easily said, the two being so engulfed in their little mental subtle battle had a very hard time concentrating, which caused him to have just as many mistakes. The old woman shook her head, wondering what was up with Vegeta, her best student (Well, it's natural to prefer an attractive young boy instead of an annoying know-it-all slut, as she saw Bulma as such).

"Miss Briefs…" She sighed in exhaustion. The girl's cerulean eyes looked up from the note she had been staring at for some time now, and smiling lightly to herself at the cute little Vegeta-replica on it.

"Yes?" She asked, not quite updated on current news. The old woman rolled her eyes.

"Solve the problem on the desk your two school mates have a hard time to, please…" The woman seethed between her clenched teeth in irritation. She hated to ask the girl to do anything. She despised her for everything she had and for all the people that would die to be at her feet even…

"Uh?" She dropped off stupidly, glancing at the two that were still trying to desperately find the solving to the problem. The seemed to have a mute competition on which one of them was going to finish it right first. But none of them seemed to have any results any time soon… "Sure thing."

Bulma grabbed a small piece of chalk herself and made Vegeta give her some room to write. She erased most of his recent writings and continued from where his mistake began…and she solved the long problem in only three lines. With a victorious smirk she went back to her seat, leaving a fuming Hailie and an amused Vegeta stare at what she had written. It was so stupid and obvious that they both wanted to smash their heads into the black board, hoping to mop it inside their heads this time. No such action was taken however. The teacher just shooed them back to their seats, disappointment slightly obvious in her eyes. Vegeta smirked and put his headphones back in his ears for the rest of the class, continuing to scribble something on another piece of paper that he ripped off his notebook.

Minutes before the end of class, it hit the lavender haired girl over the head again. She looked at it and saw another one of those cute little drawings. It was her, on a platform in front of the whole class who were staring adoringly at her with stars in their eyes; Hailie's steaming self away from the crowd and the snorting teacher that was staring disapprovingly at the lavender haired girl. And, of course, he at the side of the picture, snickering evilly at the expression Hailie was making. Below the picture there was written, 'Man, you seem better at making her mad than I ever was! Hilarious. Look at her right now! Ahahaha!'

Bulma took a side glance at Hailie who was buried in her papers, still fuming over her lost battle.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"We sure as hell made her feel like an idiot in Biology!" Juu said to Bulma, who was still laughing hard.

"Did you see how flustered we got her?" Krillin added, joining the girls. The remembrance only made Bulma double over in laughter. No it was too much to take… The picture had been truly hilarious.

"We're awful guys, really…" Bulma said, trying to calm herself, yet failing miserably, breaking into another fit of laughter.

"Yeah! Besides, who cares about her? Certainly not us!" Juuhachi said, taking a bite of her apple as they entered the canteen as it was lunch break (finally).

"It's one hell of a day today…" Bulma said as she sat herself on the bench next to Vegeta, who was already digging through his meal.

"Why? What happened?" He inquired, trying his best to veil his interest. Truth was he felt sorry Bulma had some classes together with Hailie and he didn't get to see what happened then.

"Nothing really. I made the bitch doubt her knowledge of her own genitals." Bulma laughed again.

"Yeah! That was pretty stylish, B!" Juu exclaimed, patting her friend's shoulder proudly.

"Yup! I did my best alright. She's so naïve, actually…"

"She's easy to manipulate when she isn't manipulating you." Vegeta said between bites. Bulma knitted her eye brows. The others didn't quite catch the note in his voice, but she sure did… What did he mean? That she had used him? What did he say that other day? He had never been her priority or something like that? What was the meaning to that? She couldn't understand and couldn't get him to talk to her in private… He refused to leave…

"What's with the chain today, Veg?" Juu asked, taking another huge bite of her apple. "Won't it get entangled with your legs when you jump off of that board of yours?"

"I'm not going to practice today." He informed them.

"Why not?" Bulma inquired with unveiled interest. He lifted his onyx orbs to her for a moment then turned back to his dish.

"I let Kakarott in charge today. I'm going to work out more tonight. He'll do tolerable enough if he still treasures his bones." His words, in Vegeta language, meant that Goku was the only person he could trust his students with, and the only person he trusted at all. Bulma wondered about that… Did he trust her truly now? Would he ever? She knew about his tail… His tail! She had completely forgotten about the little bugger. She kind of missed it already.

"Why not work out after practice?" Juuhachi inquired.

"I have shared enough of my plans for the day with you, harpies, and I don't plan on saying anything else more. I'm not in the mood for the "Twenty Questions with the Annoying Blonde Wench" game." He informed them and finished off his meal.

"Are you sure you're going to be fine, Vegeta?" Goku asked as he seated himself across his friend with a meal as big as his had been.

"I'm eighteen years old, goof; of course I'll be fine. I can fucking take care of myself without needing your stupid concern, got it?" He snapped, making his way out of the canteen towards the school backyard.

Bulma watched him leave, taking a sip from her orange juice.

"What's up that bastard's ass now? He's really more annoying than usually…" ChiChi muttered while seating herself next to her boyfriend, a soda in her hand.

"He's been in an awful mood the whole day." Goku sighed in exasperation… He had no idea how to act or what to say to his friend… He knew how hard it must be to have to face Hailie every day again, to deal with her trying to get under his skin again… He imagined how bad the struggle actually felt…

"I'll go take a walk; I'll meet you guys after school again, okay?" They all nodded subtly, Marron having a 'great' idea of hers popping up in her head.

"I think I'll go try to soothe poor Veggie-chan! He needs a girl right now." She was about to leave before Juu caught her hand.

"He might need a girl, but that girl is definitely not you." She informed her coldly.

"Hey! That's no fair! If I want to go and be the good character in our story, play fair and don't stop me! Or I'll make you feel sorry you did, you know!" The empty headed blonde-under-cover screeched at the azure eyed girl, that was currently glaring daggers at her.

"Just sit down and eat your food, idiot."

And that was the last thing Bulma heard before he got out of earshot. She needed to find Vegeta…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Soon enough after, she had to duck behind a corner not to be detected by the flame-haired boy that she had been in search with and the transfer girl. They were entangled in an interesting position, but she doubted Vegeta had been willing to participate in the first place… Hating to eavesdrop, yet knowing she would need to if she wanted to know what was happening, the girl did her best to hear what they were talking. It wasn't as hard as she thought it would be…

"Why are you trying to be so cold to me, Vegeta?" The girl moaned in irritation. "I know you love me! You said it before! I heard you say! I heard you moan my name in your dreams! We had it so good before! Why are you trying to deny all those feelings that we shared? Why do you refuse to see the truth? Stop this nonsense, Vegeta, it's pointless! You know how much we have behind us, how much history we've created together! You can't just throw it all away in a flick of your wrist! I need you! More than ever!" She began coughing madly. She struggled to form words, but she couldn't stop herself. Bulma could almost feel her newfound friend roll his onyx eyes.

"Drop the act, Hailie, it won't work anymore." Anymore, Bulma wondered. Was what the annoying wench said true then? Was he really in love with her? Then what happened to break them up? He wasn't top priority to her, how was the lavender haired teen to understand that? She cheated on him? Neglected him? What, damn it? The ignorance was driving her insane by the second. She wanted to know, desperately. She saw the pain in his eyes every time the other girl did as much as say a word to him. "Things aren't as they were before… And it was not I who threw everything away so easily. And you know that full well." His tone was low, but not threatening… It stung Bulma's heart deep down to know that such a strong and proud creature such as Vegeta could hold so much inside… He didn't even show any signs of such deep seeded grief before… He was just annoying, arrogant and overall a prick.

"Please, Vegeta! Give me another chance! I told you a thousand times how sorry I am! I didn't want it to happen this way, I was just scared and-"

"And it's all over now!" He bellowed at her, losing his calm demeanor. "I don't want this anymore, can't you understand that? I pulled long enough with your bullshit! I can't force myself to it anymore! Yes, I had feelings for you. Did you think of that when you jeopardized my fucking mentality! Are you proud with what I am now! Huh? Are you? Because, believe me, it is all your doing! You should be really proud of what I've become! Thanks to you, now I am just as unlovable as you will ever be!"

"Don't say those things to me, Vegeta! Don't put me on that guilt trip again! How many times must I say how sorry I am, damn it? I'm getting really tired of this!" The girl screamed back desperately. Bulma could feel her voice crack and knew that she was crying now. Somehow the grief in her voice too made her heart shrink back. Another reason to know what had become of those two. They seemed to have a really strange relationship alright.

"You put yourself on the fucking guilt trip. I was there for you! For fucking years, I was there! Did you even notice that? Did you even care! You know what, screw this! I don't care enough to be leading this conversation with you! Leave me be! I'm tired of all of this!" He said and was about to leave when Bulma took a glance behind the corner. She saw how Hailie pulled him back into a deep kiss, but he shoved her away from himself not even a second after. "Don't touch me… Don't ever touch me like that again… I have never been yours; I will never be what I was again… You can think over why exactly is that while you make your way home on your own." And with that he was out of sight, leaving Hailie in a mess in the back.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Vegeta stood against a tree in the backyard, leaning for support on his bent knee while his other leg was resting against the withering grass. Bulma approached him slowly, cautiously.

"'Did you think that I was gonna give it up to you… this time? Did you think that it was something I was gonna do… and cry? Don't try to tell me what to do; don't try to tell me what to say… You're better off that way. This guilt trip that you've put me on won't mess me up I've done no wrong. Any thoughts of you and me have gone away!'" Bulma sang lightly as she sat herself next to him, supporting herself back on her hands, both of them looking towards the huge beautiful school building.

"I hate Avril Lavigne…" Vegeta muttered after.

"You should try to apply those lyrics a little bit more to yourself though." Bulma commented, not looking at him, as neither did he look at her.

"I'm fine. And I don't need you here right now. I want to be alone."

"No, Vegeta. That's quite not so. You need to talk to someone about this. It will make you feel better." Bulma explained, as if she knew everything there was to know.

"How much did you hear?" He asked her grimly, knowing full well that her curiosity got the better of her.

"Everything." She informed him curtly.

"Wonderful." He dropped off sarcastically.

"You weren't going to tell me if I asked you anyway." She said in her defense, even though she didn't really feel like there was something to defend herself from. She was a friend of his, and as such, she thought she had the right to know about his problems and helping him solve them, as his running away from his previous life was not quite the smartest thing he could've done, and besides, that was not solving a problem. He was just trying to run away from it… Even though, she didn't mind that. Otherwise she would've never got the chance to meet 'Goku's best friend'. And eventually, she wouldn't be here right now, trying to play the role of the shrink who knows everything about human emotions.

"What makes you think I'm going to answer you now too?" He inquired in irritation. She was trying to butt in his business again. He couldn't help but get annoyed by how she seemed to think of him incapable of dealing with his own problems. What did it have to do with her anyway? She wasn't going to make it with that friend's bullshit this time. The trick wasn't going to work this time.

"Well, for an example, I won't leave until you do."

"Fine then. Hope you're ready to just lie around here for hours without getting an answer, because I don't plan on telling you anything in near future."

"That's alright. I'd enjoy lazying around some…" Bulma said and laid on her back, looking up at the sky where the white puffy clouds were floating like light boats in the sea of the atmosphere…

"That's not even a word…" Vegeta muttered darkly, breaking her little moment.

"I said it, so it makes it one." That statement of hers emitted a snort from him.

They stood there for what seemed hours without saying a word to each other. Both of them just dazed off in a far off distance, trying to figure out what the other was thinking, perhaps? It didn't matter, for the stillness was quite beginning to irritate our flame-haired skater. He sighed in exasperation after fifteen minutes of complete silence had passed and she still hadn't given up and didn't seem on planning it any time soon either.

"The bell just rang."

"Oh, that's alright. The Science teacher will manage to have her lesson without me."

His dark eye brows narrowed dangerously over his eyes. She was kidding, right? Little miss perfect was going to miss school? Right… Something was very wrong here…

"Why is it that you want to badly to know these things about me? They have freaking nothing to do with you!" He exclaimed finally, getting fed up with her stubbornness. She was as thick-headed as him. This was just getting them nowhere.

"I told you before-"

"Don't!" He cut her before she would continue with the same old shit again. He had heard that lecture enough times already. "I don't want to hear that again… I've heard it plenty of times already."

Bulma blinked weirdly at his mean behaviour. Nothing that she wasn't used to actually, but she didn't feel like fighting with him right then. She couldn't get the picture of the broken Hailie out of her mind… What had happened! As huge of a bitch the new girl was… she was still a girl! She surely had emotions that she was shielding from the people she saw as enemies. Meaning her, and her friends. They were strangers to the emerald eyed creature. She was surely scared and alone… She didn't really seem that close to the girl she had been with at the Flora.

"Well then, I should just saw what I think if I want you to do the same, shouldn't I?" She asked rhetorically.

"That would be quite a start." Vegeta snorted again with sarcasm being first nature to almost all his statements.

"I like you." Bulma said plainly. Vegeta took a side glance at her, lifting an eye brow skeptically, as if holding back his retort 'no kidding'. "No, I mean, I really like you. Not for your body, not for your looks of for the fact you're famous and taken as the coolest teenager in the entire country right now. I have fame enough of my own, I'm good looking enough myself to have any boy I like… It's just that you're so different from everyone else, enigmatic and interesting…" His eye brows fell over his eyes again.

"So I'm interesting." He asked threateningly. Not really understanding what he was trying to say, Bulma nodded. That was what she said after all. "And imagine when I tell you everything you want me to. I won't be interesting anymore, would I?" Chuckling lightly, the girl leant back in the grass again, as somewhere during their conversation she had plopped herself on her elbows to look at him.

"It's not the fact that you keep your personal life away from every one of us that makes you interesting, dummy." Vegeta frowned even harder at the way she had referred to him, but still didn't say anything, his silence urging her to continue. "It's just… Look at this." She took the second note out of her front pocket and opened it, showing it to him. "Look at it! Can just any ordinary guy draw something like this? Damn, even I can't!" She smiled warmly at the picture. It was really so adorable…

"Last time I gave in to such girl-talk take over my senses, I ended up turning into this." His face twisted in disgust as he motioned himself with his hand. Bulma frowned and sat up to look at him with a scowl on her features.

"And what is this?" She inquired. His jaw line tightened, as she guessed he had gritted his teeth.

"A shadow of a person… A mere shell and a memory of what I have been… I haven't been that mistrusting my whole life… But trust proved to only make matters in my life worse… I learnt to live on my own and to push all my emotions away… They were useless and the only thing they did was getting me into deeper pain…"

"Do you really think I'd hurt you?" Bulma asked lightly.

"How am I to know you won't?" He lifted his eyes to lock with hers and stood with their gazes locked for a few seconds. He was right. There was no chance for him to know she wouldn't break his trust like Hailie had obviously done… But the two girls were so different! Bulma hated to be compared to others. She was who she was. She was herself. She wasn't like someone! She was just like herself.

"So how do you plan on continuing to live? Completely on your own, Goku being the only person you entrust with your secrets, having flings to satisfy your raging hormones every once in a while?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that…" He spat. "It's better to live in loneliness than get fooled by people trying to get under my skin with their false consideration…"

"You don't have an idea how lonely you'll get one day, Vegeta…" That one truly set him off totally.

"What do you know about loneliness, woman? You've always been surrounded with your friends! Even though your parents might not be at home so often, you still have them to support you in your worst moments. And me…" He began, his voice trailing off. "As I told Hailie,… Both she and I have been unlovable our whole lives… And I still am just as unlovable as ever… But I'd prefer to continue my life in loneliness instead of getting hurt again."

"You prefer to give up before you even try?" She asked him slowly.

"Are you calling me a quitter?" He snapped back angrily. He hated to be made to feel weak or inferior, especially to a girl…

"Pain will be a permanent part of your life now, Vegeta… Which one is better? To be hurting all the time, not having a single thing to be happy about the whole day, or to have a girl that trusts you, and makes you happy when you're together, giving you a reason to smile, if not outwardly, at least to yourself, when you remember back to the previous events of the day at night, before you fall asleep?"

"You sound so confident, woman… You seem too sure you're going to be able to keep my fire burning." He smirked at her, expecting her to return the gesture with the same cocky expression. But she didn't. She just smiled warmly at him.

"I told you. I like you, for who you are. I want to get to know that person before I can say for sure. But, if you're so afraid that I, of all people, the weakling girl next door, am going to come out stronger than you, that's okay." She smirked and looked up at the sky, remembering a song that she had loved so much… And still did, as a matter of fact. "'I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned, I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burnt, I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side, I believe you don't know what you've got until you say good-bye…'" Her voice was smooth and soothing. She opened her eyes and looked back to her interlocutor. He was just looking idly at her. "Wonderful song, isn't it?"

He didn't say anything… Just kept on staring at her. She said it again. She liked him. For whom he was. And didn't even know him! His mind screamed back at him. So what, she didn't know him. She'd find out soon enough… No need to rush things… The corners of his mouth twitched lightly for a moment, a weak attempt at a sincere smile that he just didn't manage to enforce on himself, but Bulma still saw him… She smiled back.

Slowly, she felt him coming closer to her. And, for the first time, they shared a sincere kiss. No excuses, no back feelings, no trying the ground anymore. Just a simple sweet little kiss that would seal Bulma's sweet little confession in the damaged teen's heart and mind…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

A/N: So, here's your next chapter. Hope it's not too sappy… I'll fix it later on. Needed a little more fluffiness around with all the Hailie shit and so on, lol… So what did Hailie do to him? Dunno, dunno… Stay tuned to find out.

P.S. Number of reviews matters people… Your opinion does too. And, just a note, I tried to have Vegeta curse only when he's mad. You know how hard it is to control yourself when you're actually on a rampage, lol.