Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of the characters so don't sue me:D
Denial
"Why am I feeling this way?" thought Tea as she sat at her desk waiting for history class to begin "It doesn't make any sense"
It had been about one month since Tea first found out about the mysterious Alister. During this month she began to realize something very unusual though. In the first few days she was absolutely terrified just thinking of Alister. The fact that she dreamt about him on a nightly basis didn't seem to help either. Three weeks before though, she noticed something that she hadn't noticed before. In fact it was all she could think about now...
"Maybe it's just my imagination" thought Tea as she looked over at the door for a moment and then back at her desk
Every time Tea dreamt about Alister, she would always reach up to caress his cheek. The moment she did this he would immediately tense up. When he did this it made her even more nervous than she already was. After a few seconds of gentle caressing though, he would finally begin to relax. In the past three weeks this began to change for some reason. Each time Tea would reach out to touch his cheek, he didn't seem to tense up as much. In fact in the past few days whenever Tea reached out to touch him, he wouldn't even flinch. It was almost as if though he had finally gotten used to her doing so. Tea was also finally beginning to get used to him as well. In fact she was getting so used to seeing him that before long she wasn't afraid of him anymore. I almost feel like I know him...
"But that still doesn't explain why I feel like this" thought Tea as she rested her chin on her hand and stared down at her desk "Can it really be?"
The fear Tea had once felt for this mysterious man was soon replaced with something else. Maybe it was the fact that Alister was always so quiet, or perhaps the fact that he was so mysterious. Or maybe it could even be the fact that despite these two things, he seemed familiar. Either way Tea realized yet another thing and this is what made no sense to her: She was beginning to have feelings for him. How could this be though? How could she possibly have feelings for a man she didn't know? Yes he seemed familiar but that didn't mean that she actually knew him. But then why did she feel so strange? Tea had only felt this way about one person before in her entire life: The Pharoah. But I loved him...so does that mean that...
"No! This can't be the same thing!" thought Tea as she suddenly clenched her fists in confusion and frustration "It can't! It just can't!"
Tea's train of thought was suddenly broken when she heard two people talking right outside the classroom door. Upon closer inspection she realized that one of the persons talking was Alex and the other was Arielle.
"Look I can't talk to you right now!" said Alex in a very firm tone of voice outside in the hallway "I have to get to class!"
"Oh please Alex?" pleaded Arielle in a sugary sweet, almost sickening, tone of voice "Just give me an answer already!"
After leaving Alex unconscious, Arielle felt very guilty. This feeling only intensified when she saw the bruise on his head. The worst thing of all though had to be the fact that her hopes of ever winning him over had gone down the drain. She was feeling pretty miserable until her friend Stan made her aware of something. Stan and Alex were in the same the same chemistry class. Naturally everyone asked him about the bruise when they saw it. He told everyone that he had probably fallen down or something, but he wasn't sure. He had absolutely no memory of what had happened. That was all she needed to know...
"I don't have time for this!" said Alex as some sort of movement was heard from outside as he attempted to open the door "Now go-Hey let go of me!"
"I'm not letting you go anywhere!" said Arielle as her voice lost it's sugary sweetness and took on a darker tone "Not until you say yes or no!"
"You want an answer?" said Alex as he managed to pull away from her and stepped into the classroom "Well then my answer is no"
"What?" cried Arielle in a completely outraged tone of voice since she couldn't believe what she was hearing "But why not? I know you're going to be there!"
"Sorry" said Alex with a slight smile since she obviously hadn't expected to be rejected "But if you need a date I'm sure Stan will take you"
With that he quickly shut the door in her face and turned around. The moment he did he found that almost the entire class was staring at him. It was almost as if though they were disappointed that the show was over. His face turned several shades of red before he quickly scrambled over and sat next to Tea.
"So what did she want this time?" asked Tea with an amused grin when she noticed how red his face had gotten "She sounded more desperate than usual"
"Well I have to go to this party this Saturday" said Alex who was slouching down in his chair to keep people from staring at him "Unfortunately she was invited to the same party too"
"Now I can see why she was so desperate" said Tea now that everything had finally begun to make sense "She wanted you to go with her right?"
"Yeah...but I don't want to go with her" said Alex with a sudden grin at the thought of what he had done to her "Besides I'm sure someone else can take her"
"Well like you said I'm sure Stan can take her" said Tea as she began to have a flashback to the day Stan followed her home "After all it'll give him an excuse to show off his car"
They were about to burst into laughter then their professor walked in. The professor was a cranky old man who didn't like any sort of sudden outbursts. If fact anytime anyone did or said something uncalled for he'd stop the class just to single them out. Public embarassment was the last thing either one(especially Alex) needed at that moment...
"Raph this just arrived for you" said Varon as he entered Raphael's office holding a manila envelope in his hand "The girl who brought it said it was really urgent"
"Everyone that brings me paperwork says it's urgent even if it's not" frowned Raphael as he took the envelope and noticed that it had a small heart drawn on it "Well I'm almost pretty sure who this is from"
It turned out that Raphael was right since the envelope was from Constantina. After all she was the only person bizarre enough to draw a heart on a letter that was supposed to be "urgent". She was having a fashion show/party on Saturday night to unveil her latest fashion designs. The envelope contained the guest list, all the details about the floor layout, and several other things. She also included a small envelope(with another heart drawn on it) so he could let her know what she thought.
"Well I'd better get this over quickly" sighed Raphael with resignation as he began to write something on a piece of paper "Everything for her party seems within reasonable limits"
"Raph I don't think you should trust her" said Varon as he suddenly walked over and looked straight out the window at the Obsidian Inc building "Especially after what you told us"
The day after Raphael went to see Madame Cervantes, he told Amelda and Varon all about it. The strangest thing that he mentioned was that the CEO of Obsidian was a woman who looked almost like Constantina. The fact that she also seemed to dress completely in black seemed pretty suspicious. Then again so did every other female over at Obsidian. Raphael guessed that it might just be a mandatory color, but Varon wasn't convinced. He now believed that Constantina was a spy working for Obsidian Inc and that she should be fired. Then again Varon probably just wanted to see her get tossed out on the street. Amelda didn't agree with Varon's theory, but he did agree that she shouldn't be trusted. Raphael just listened to them but he didn't really say anything. As annoying as she was, deep down inside Raphael sensed that Constantina wasn't a bad person. Although I'm not so sure about that other woman...
"Come on Raph nobody dresses and acts that weird all the time!" exclaimed Varon as he jumped up on the edge of Raphael's desk and looked at him "Well except for Amelda of course..."
"Varon for the last time" said Raphael as he finished writing and he put the paper in the envelope "I don't think she's a spy"
"But for once Amelda and I agree that something's not right about her!" exclaimed Varon who couldn't believe that Raphael was dismissing his theory "Right Amelda?"
"Amelda?"
"Why am I feeling this way?" thought Amelda as he sat at his desk and blankly stared at the laptop in front of him "It doesn't make any sense"
Since the day Amelda found out that Tea was the lady in black, nothing had been the same. Things only got worse after the day that he helped her escape from Stan. Amelda began to feel very confused on that day and his latest dream only added to this. His dreams would always be the exactly the same up til the point where Tea reached out to touch his face. Only recently did he realize that now whenever she reached out to touch him, he didn't tense up anymore. Was it because he knew that she was going to do it? Or was it something else?
"Amelda!"
"This is getting ridiculous!" thought Amelda as he clenched one of his fists so hard that he nearly drew blood "It's just a dream...it's not real!"
Even though Tea apparently couldn't really see him in the dream, he was able to see her. The first time he first spoke to her he didn't find her very attractive at all. Then again all he saw was a stupid teenage girl who had bumped into him. Now everytime she reached out to touch his face, he was able to admire her features. She was actually far better looking that he had initially thought. She had shiny chocolate brown hair that gently framed her beautiful face. She wasn't wearing any makeup though which meant her beauty was all natural. The thing that captivated him the most though was her dark blue eyes. When he first looked into those eyes he realized they were filled with fear. Little by little though the fear in them seemed to be subsiding. Now when he looked into her eyes there was absolutely no fear in them. Instead they were filled with another emotion...but what was it?
"Amelda!"
"I've never seen that look in her eyes before" thought Amelda as he momentarily became aware of the pain in the palm of his hand "It can't be that...can it?"
The look in Tea's eyes did confuse Amelda, but not as much as his feelings. He couldn't understand what on Earth was wrong with him and he actually felt angry about it. He was angry at the fact that Tea continued to appear in his dreams. He was angry at the fact that he got so mad when Stan followed Tea home. He would get especially angry though when he remembered what went on in his dreams. Everytime Tea would caress his cheek he liked it...no...he loved it! No other woman had made him feel this way before. How could he have possibly let himself come to this? He had always been disgusted at how idiotic some men behaved when in love(Varon being a prime example). Wait..love? No...it couldn't be! There has to be another explanation for this...
"AMELDA!" shouted Varon at the top of his lungs as he leapt onto Amelda's desk and slammed the laptop shut "I've been talking to you for the past minute!"
"Huh?" said Amelda as he quickly snapped out of his day dream and frowned at the crazy young man sitting on his desk "What the Hell are you talking about?"
"Did you meet a bloke you like or something?" asked Varon who had noticed that Amelda's behavior had been very strange the past month "Because this is the third time today I've caught you day dreaming!"
"WHAT?"
"I just think he needs to get some fresh air" interrupted Raphael in order to make sure a fight didn't break out and his entire office got torn to bits "Why don't you take a walk?"
Amelda decided that a walk probably would do him some good. Before he left the office though, Raphael asked him to drop something off. Amelda took the envelope without looking at it, headed out of the office, and got on the elevator. It was only then that he noticed that the envelope was addressed to "Mrs. C. Von Furstenburg". He knew that he had been day dreaming but that didn't mean he deserved to be punished like this...
"Hey Serenity!" shouted Mokuba happily as he raced down the hallway towards Serenity's locker and nearly collided with her "There you are!"
"Hi Mokuba" said Serenity with a sweet smile as she looked up at Mokuba while closing her locker "You're looking really happy today"
After Serenity went to talk to Seto, she wondered whether he would actually listen to her. After a few days she realized that there had been some sort of changes at the Kaiba Mansion. For one thing Mokuba was back to his usual cheerful and friendly self. No longer was he talking badly about or resenting his older brother. He told her that for some reason Seto decided to sit down and have a talk with him. During this time Seto admitted that he had overreacted about the time he snuck off to the party. He said it was because he had been scared at the thought of not knowing where he was. He then added that it was because he sometimes forgot that he was no longer a child. It was obviously pretty difficult for him to accept it, but he did. Finally Seto said that despite everything that had happened between him, he loved him. He loved him more than anything and he didn't want them to grow apart. At this point Mokuba felt horrible about everything that had happened and he leapt forward to hug his brother. He told him that he loved him too and he that he hadn't meant any of the things he said. Seto hugged him back and hoped that they would never fight again. After that day everything pretty much went back to how it had been. Of course the only difference was that Seto was giving Mokuba a little more freedom. Mokuda never suspected that he had Serenity to thank for it.
"Guess what? Seto's going to a party on Saturday" said Mokuba who was so excited he could hardly contain it "Which means I'll get the mansion all to myself!"
"Are you planning on throwing a party then?" laughed Serenity who could tell that Mokuba definitely had some in mind "Or are you just going to wait up and make sure your brother comes home on time?"
"I should shouldn't I?" laughed Mokuba as he ran a hand through his long messy raven black hair "Actually...I was wondering if you wanted to hang out"
"Oh I'm so sorry Mokuba" said Serenity with a slightly disappointed look on her face since she really did like hanging out with him "But Joey's taking me somewhere on Saturday night"
"Oh..well we can always hang out another time" said Mokuba in a very disappointed tone of voice since he had really wanted Serenity to come over "So where are you guys going?"
"I'm not really sure since Joey said it's a surprise" said Serenity as they began to walk down the hallway and towards the area where the students ate lunch "Although I'm guessing it might be a restaurant"
"It could be" laughed Mokuba when he remembered just how much Joey loved food "Joey sure loves to eat right?"
Pretty much everyone knew that Joey absolutely loved food. What many people didn't know was that Serenity also loved food. Of course Serenity(and half the population) could eat nowhere as much as Joey. So when the Wheeler siblings went out together they usually went to a restaurant. In fact they had been to just about every single restaurant in Domino. They both enjoyed it very much since they would sit, talk, laugh, and eat. What else could they possibly ask for?
"Great..." muttered Amelda as the elevator door opened up indicating that he had reached the ground floor "Just great..."
Usually the ride in the elevator felt like it took forever, but not today. To Amelda it felt like the shortest elevator ride he had ever been on. He walked out of the elevator and into the lobby. The lobby was fairly empty today which probably made the receptionist very happy. Amelda then headed towards the hallway which led to where Constantina's fashion studio was located. He had never really been there so he could only wonder what he'd find. As he was approaching the studio, he noticed there was someone talking on their cellphone in front of the door. It was a young man was dressed in a tight black t-shirt, black jeans, black boots, and he had black hair. Amelda could care less, but that all changed the moment the young man turned around.
"It's him!" thought Amelda as his grey eyes filled with anger when he saw Stan standing in front of him "What the Hell is he doing here?"
"Listen I'll call you back" said Stan as he abruptly ended his phone call when he realized who the redhead in front of him was "What the Hell are you doing here?"
"A better question is what the Hell are you doing here?" said Amelda as he felt the rage inside of him quickly building up "Are you trying to harass the women who work here as well?"
"Don't think I've forgotten about the last time!" shouted Stan who was also felt rage when he what had happened the last time they met "I'm going to make you pay for that!"
"So you're still upset that a girl actually turned you down despite your fancy car?" said Amelda with a smug look on his face since he knew this would hit him right where it hurt "You do realize that means she wants nothing to do with you right?"
At this point Amelda was angrier than he had been all month. Now that he was looking at this stupid, arrogant, selfish, spoiled rich boy he realized how much he truly hated him. He was so angry in fact that he was actually hoping that Stan was looking for trouble. After all it would give him a perfectly good reason to finally kick his ass. Unfortunately Stan didn't quite react the way that Amelda had expected.
"Wait I think I know where this is heading" chuckled Stan as he just shook his head and looked at Amelda with an amused look on his face "I hate to break it to you...but I don't swing that way"
"WHAT?" shouted Amelda who felt as if though someone had dropped a bucket of cold water on him "I'M NOT GAY!"
"You're not gay?" said Stan with a snicker as he looked Amelda up and down for one moment "Well you sure fooled me"
"SHUT UP!" snapped Amelda who realized that this seemed an awful lot like the arguments he and Varon usually had "Who the Hell are you anyways?"
"Me? Well everyone calls me Stan" said Stan with an arrogant smirk since he figured his true identity would shock Amelda "But my real name is Constantine...Constantine Von Furstenburg"
Constantine Von Furstenburg? This meant that he was none other than the son Constantina was always raving about. Suddenly all of this guy's behavioral problems made alot more sense. Constantine...or Stan truly was nothing more than a spoiled mama's boy.
"So am I supposed to be impressed?" asked Amelda with an extremely bored expression on his face "Because for your information I'm not"
"That's not what the ladies say when they meet me" said Stan as he flashed his horribly annoying all too perfect smile "They can never get enough of me"
If Amelda had hated Stan before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. Stan was the type of guy who treated women like toys. Once he was bored with them he'd toss them aside and find another woman. This was probably what he had intended to do with Tea as well. Amelda was so disgusted that he pushed Stan out of the way, dropped off the envelope, and immediately headed back to Raphael's office. If I stay here I can't be held responsible for my actions...
Several Hours Later
"Okay I got da bread, da cheese, da meat, and da mustard for dese sandwiches" said Joey as he stopped for a moment to check his shopping list "Now I just need ta find da mustard and da mayonnaise"
After getting out of class Joey was feeling pretty hungry but he remembered there was nothing to eat at home. There was a supermarket on the way back to his apartment so he decided to get a few things. A few things quickly turned into an entire shopping cart filled to the top. After all he believed that you can never have too much food. Halfway through his shopping he ran into Tea who was also doing her shopping. The only thing she had though was a loaf a bread, some orange juice, a few apples, and some cans of soup. It was a miracle that she hadn't starved to death on such a measly diet. After awhile she went off and he continued with his shopping. As he stood there trying to figure out where the mustard and mayonnaise were, someone hit him with their shopping car.
"HEY WHAT'S DA BIG IDEA?" shouted Joey since the person nearly knocked him into a display of pumpkin pie mix "WHO DO YOU THINK-Mai?"
"Joey?" exclaimed Mai as she opened her violet eyes in disbelief when she saw the messy haired blonde "Is that really you?"
The last time Joey had ever seen Mai was right after he defeated Varon in a duel. Varon ended up losing his soul and immediately after this Mai challenged him. She wasn't herself though since she was under the effects of the Orichalcos. Joey wanted to free Mai and he was willing to do whatever it took to save her. Whether or not he realized it he wanted the best for her...because he loved her. Joey lost the duel but right before his soul was claimed he realized something: Mai had been freed. He closed his eyes knowing that it had been worth it. It was only until he was gone did she realize just how much she had lost. Joey hadn't just been a friend, he was also the person she loved. After everything went back to normal and all the souls were restored, Mai avoided Joey. She was too ashamed to face him after all she had done, but she always thought of him.
"It's been a long time Mai" said Joey who honestly couldn't believe that he was seeing Mai again after two years "It's good ta see ya"
"I know it's been a long time" said Mai who never in her wildest dreams would have imagined she'd run into Joey "So how have you been?"
Joey then told Mai all about the things that had happened recently. She was very glad to hear that Joey had graduated and had gone on to college. It showed that he had matured alot since the last time she saw him. She was also very happy to hear that Serenity now lived with him and attended Domino High. This meant that they would no longer have to be apart from each other like in the past. Joey then asked Mai what she had been up to and she told him all about it. She was still a duelist and she went all around competing, but she had missed Domino. It was her home after all and that's why she finally decided to come back. There was so much more they wanted to say to each other, but a supermarket hardly seemed like the place to do so.
"Listen are you doing anything this Saturday evening?" asked Mai as she pulled a long golden strand of hair behind one of her ears "I was wondering if you'd like to go to a party with me"
"I'd like ta..." said Joey almost regretting what he was about to say next but a promise was a promise "But I promised ta take Serenity somewhere"
"Well why don't you bring Serenity along?" said Mai hopefully since she really wanted him to go with her "It's also been a long time since I've seen her"
"Ya mean it?" said Joey who couldn't believe his ears at that he was hearing at that moment "Yeah I'm sure Serenity'd love ta come!"
"Well here's my number" said Mai as she quickly scribbled her number down on a piece of paper and handed it to him "Be sure to call me for the details okay?"
They both looked at each other one last time before Mai went off. Joey then looked down at the paper and still couldn't believe it. Not only had he found Mai again but she actually wanted to go somewhere. He then shouted with joy and quickly ran off to tell Serenity the good news. It was only until he got outside that he realized something was missing: His shopping cart. Da one thing I need is da one thing I forget...
"I'm getting so tired of eating nothing this stuff" said Tea sadly as she looked into her almost empty grocery bag "But until mom calls, comes back, or sends me more money, I've got to budget"
So far Tea's mother was still gone and there were no signs of her. At first Tea just assumed that her mother was being crazy and irresponsible like the other times. After awhile though she began to wonder if she was okay. She had never taken so long to come back or contact her. For now all she could do was hope that she was merely due to her having too much fun. After a few minutes, Tea could finally see the street she lived on. She noticed that there was a spiky haired person sitting on the black metal bench on the other street. At first she thought it was Yugi but as she got crossed the street she and got closer she realized it was Varon. He appeared to be pretty deep in thought...
"Hi Varon" said Tea as she quietly approached him since she was reluctant to bother him "How are you?"
"Huh?" said Varon as he suddenly snapped out of it and looked up to see who had spoken "Oh hi Tea"
"I didn't interrupt anything important did I?" asked Tea with a sheepish grin since Varon seemed pretty surprised
"Nah you didn't interrupt anything" said Varon with a laugh as he suddenly stretched his arms out a bit "I'm just tryin' to figure out what's wrong with Amelda"
"Something's wrong with him?" said Tea in a concerned tone of voice because judging by Varon's behavior it might be something serious "Is it bad?"
Even though Amelda behaved like a jerk, Tea couldn't help but worry. In fact in the past three weeks he had gotten ruder than before. Now when she ran into him, he'd completely ignore her and walk right by. He was acting as if though he didn't want her to talk to him at all. Either that or he really hated her for some reason. Then again he had helped her for out that one time and she was still grateful for it. But that still doesn't excuse his lack of manners...
"Nah he's just been acting really weird" said Varon with a smile when he realized that Tea probably thought he was sick or something "Like he's in love or something"
"Oh well that's good" said Tea who was a relieved to hear that it wasn't anything serious after all "Everyone deserves to find love"
"Yeah but I don't think that's it" said Varon since the idea of Amelda being in love was way too farfetched "He's always sayin' that love is nonsense and that only idiots fall in love"
SCREECH!
They both quickly looked up just in time to see a black Mercedes make one Hell of a crazy(and dangerous) U-turn. The driver then came to a stop directly in front of where they were and that's when they realized who it was. Constantina immediately got out of her car and teetered over towards them on her heels. Luckily for Varon she seemed more interested in talking to Tea.
"Oh dahling!" said Constantina as she adjusted her glasses for a moment while looking at Tea "I was so sad you couldn't make it to my last party"
"Well I was going to go" said Tea who was honestly pretty relieved that she hadn't been able to make it to the party "But my ride never showed up"
"Oh I know!" exclaimed Constantina as she suddenly reached out and grabbed Tea by the arms "I heard what happened to Alex...poor boy"
Constantina then told her she wanted to make it up to her. She told her all about the party she was having on Saturday and she insisted that she come. As usual she added that it was formal wear because formal wear was fun. Tea realized she had been backed into a corner, but luckily she had a way out of it.
"I'd like to go" lied Tea in another attempt to make this woman let go of her since she had a super tight grip on her "But I don't have anything that counts as formal wear"
"Oh dahling that's not a problem!" laughed Constantina as she quickly let go of her and threw her arms up "I can send something over for you that's fun, cute, and formal!"
Tea's eyes widened and she quickly shot Varon a desperate look. She really didn't want to go and she didn't understand why this woman kept insisting. Varon knew just how she felt so he decided to come to her rescue. After all why should another innocent person be forced to suffer at the hands of this lunatic? And even if Raphael didn't believe him, Varon knew that something wasn't right about this woman.
"Well she can't go because she doesn't have a car" said Varon as he stood up and walked up next to Tea "Right?"
"It's true I don't have a car so I have to walk everywhere" said Tea as she quickly nodded and hoped that maybe this woman would take the hint "Then I have to walk all the way back here to get home"
"Oh well dahling it seems you're in luck!" laughed Constantina as she looked at the two brunettes standing in front of her "Varon could give you a ride! You both live on this street right?"
"No I don't!" lied Varon very quickly since he really wanted to help Tea at that moment "I'm not even familiar with this neighborhood!"
The moment he said this, Constantina burst out laughing so hard that she nearly fell down. Neither one understood what was so funny until she pointed something out. Amelda had been looking at them from a window but he moved away when he realized he had been spotted. Constantina knew very well that both young men were roommates. The fact that they always showed up at work together just confirmed it. Varon was obviously lying but she actually thought it was quite funny. So now Tea had no choice but to go and Varon had no choice but to take her.
"I'll have cute little Alex bring the dress to you!" shouted Constantina as she got back into her car and drove off "I'll see you on Saturday dahlings!"
"I'm so sorry about that sheila" sighed Varon as he plopped back down on the bench "I know you didn't want to get dragged into this"
"Well I don't think there was much either of us could do" said Tea with a slight smile as she looked down at him "She just wouldn't take no for an answer"
"Well...if you do want to go I'll take you" said Varon as he gave her an apologetic smile since he felt very guilty "After all I have to go whether I want to or not"
"I guess I'll think about it" said Tea as she looked at her watch and realized that it was getting late "Well...take care Varon!"
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Thank's alot to all of the people who were kind enough to review my last chapter! I appreciate it very much! Phew falls over I know this chapter was super-duper long!blushes Well the next chapter will be all about the horrible party that everyone absolutely dreads going to. So what'll happen at that party? Oh and major OOC warnings for the next chapter! Anyways thanks once again! Hugs and Kisses people:) throws chocolates