Just wanted to say thanks for all the comments so far, and please keep commenting. I want to hear what you all think of this story so far. ^^

Chapter 7

It was Monday morning, and that meant that Alex had to go to school again and maintain her usual routine. However, she felt a stir of emotions from all the events that had happened over the weekend and still wasn't able to process them all. On top of it, her nightmares began to reappear, disturbing her sleep. Despite that, she was able to make it to school and was walking in the hallway when Joey spotted her and waved happily at her. He called out,

"Hey, Alex!"

Alex smiled at Joey and replied, "Morning, Joey. How was the rest of your weekend, especially that strategic planning?"

Joey grinned and replied, "I'm getting there. Changed out a few cards and rethought my dueling strategy. Your advice is helping."

On Saturday evening, Alex had given Joey her thoughts about the duel between the pharaoh and Kaiba, specifically pointing out a flaw in Kaiba's dueling strategy. She then gave Joey some general advice on how to improve his deck and his strategy. She thought,

Of course, I had to be careful not to accidentally reveal how powerful monsters could be summoned after fusions. I can't disturb the course of events on that front.

Alex let out of a bit of a yawn as she and Joey entered the classroom, and looking worried, Joey asked,

"Hey, you ok? You look like you didn't get enough sleep."

Alex smiled a bit and replied, "I'm ok. I'll try to make up for it tonight."

Joey nodded although he felt like Alex was holding something back. Yugi and the others saw the two of them enter, and as they took seats, Tristan asked,

"So how was your date?"

Joey looked annoyed and replied, "How many times do I need to tell ya? It wasn't a date."

Alex nodded and added, "That's right, and besides, the rest of you bailed on us. I get why but still."

Yugi looked embarrassed and replied, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Grandpa really needed help, but I'm glad you two were able to stop by."

Alex replied, "Same here. Gramps is cool."

The group continued to talk happily for a while while all the other students arrived, including Kaiba. The homeroom teacher then entered, and morning classes started up. While part of Alex's mind was focused on the lessons, the other part was preoccupied with what Kaiba had said to her on Sunday.

I suppose I'll just have to prove you wrong. I accept your challenge.

Alex thought to herself,

What did he mean by that? And why does that make me curious? I should be focusing on finding his weak spots, so I can make a plan to eliminate him. I can't forget my objective.

As the bell rang to indicate that it was time for lunch, Alex let out a deep sigh. As most of the students got up to hang out with their friends, the only person who had noticed Alex sighing was Kaiba. He looked at her with curiosity in his eyes and thought,

I wonder what's got her so disturbed. Wait. Why am I even thinking about her? She's not a threat anymore.

Like most of the other students, Alex got up and took out her packed lunch as well as an extra one. As Yugi and the others went up ahead towards the roof, Joey stayed behind to wait for Alex. Alex approached him and said,

"Ok, I'm all set and I have your lunch, too. You did make sure not to buy anything before getting here, right?"

Joey grinned and replied, "Nope, didn't forget. But you really didn't need to make lunch for old me."

Alex smiled and replied, "I wanted to, especially after you complimented my cooking the other night. I made something simple this time, but if you ever want something specific, let me know."

Joey nodded enthusiastically and replied, "Sure. Well, let's not keep the others waiting."

Alex and Joey left the classroom, unaware that Kaiba had listened in on their conversation. He couldn't rationalize it, but when he heard about Alex making lunch for Joey, he thought,

Special treatment for that mutt?

His mind wandered, which was unlike him, and he couldn't help imagining Alex making lunch for him and the two of them arguing although there wouldn't actually be any animosity behind it. It would almost be enjoyable. Kaiba thought,

What's wrong with me?

In the past, Kaiba had his fair share of female admirers try to win him over with food and flirtations, but he easily dismissed them. After a while, those admirers gave up, so Kaiba was finally able to have some peace. He had never been interested in anyone, only wanting to be the best at dueling, which including defeating the pharaoh. However, it seemed like with Alex's arrival, things were starting to get shaken up.

Kaiba shook his head and decided to busy himself with work to take his mind off of his unusual thoughts. The rest of lunch went by smoothly, and Alex and the others returned to the classroom and took their seats. The English teacher then entered the classroom and announced,

"Ok, continuing our topic of study, you'll be working in groups of three for the next two weeks. Each group will have a specific scene from Romeo and Juliet that you'll need to act out and perform before the class."

The teacher continued to explain the assignment and how much it would be worth. Then the teacher split the class into groups of three. Alex, Joey, and Kaiba ended up being in a group of three. As students split up into their groups to begin working on their assignment, Joey looked at Alex and said,

"I'm glad we're together."

Alex grinned and replied, "Because I know the material like the back of my hand?"

Joey laughed and replied, "That, but more because I like ya."

Alex looked surprised and blushed a bit. Realizing that he might have given Alex the wrong idea, he added,

"I just meant that it's good to work with a friend."

Alex laughed and replied, "Of course."

Kaiba coughed and said, "If you two are done with your flirting, we have work to do."

Joey was about to reply when Alex touched his arm and shook her head, silently telling him not to rise to the bait. Joey nodded, and then Alex said,

"Ok, let's see here."

She looked at the worksheets the teacher had given them and after a couple of minutes, she said,

"It's a lot of work but doable. We should make sure we have a good grasp of the material first and then we can tackle these questions. We can deal with the scene stuff later."

Joey nodded, readily agreeing with Alex's idea. However, Kaiba replied,

"Who made you the leader?"

Joey replied, "It's obvious that it has to be Alex. She knows the most about this unless you're suddenly claiming to be an expert."

Kaiba was about to reply when Alex sighed and said, "He has a point." She turned to Kaiba and said,

"I apologize for asserting my authority. If you have a better suggestion, we're all ears."

Alex gave Kaiba a look, as though daring him to come up with a better idea. However, Kaiba had to admit to himself that Alex's plan was a good one. He simply grunted and said,

"Whatever. Do what you want."

Alex smirked and replied, "Thank you. We know how busy you are, so Joey and I will handle this. We'll let you know when we need your help."

She then turned back to Joey, wanting to work on the assignment. Kaiba was about to protest again when he remembered that he just told Alex that she could do whatever she wanted, so he stayed quiet.

Meanwhile, Alex turned to Joey and said, "Ok. Let's read our assigned scene and answer the questions while we're at it. We should get the questions done first, so we'll have time to deal with the scene acting."

Joey nodded and replied, "Sure. But man, Shakespeare is hard."

Alex smiled sympathetically and replied, "It is. I mean, it's in English, but it's old English. You see the footnotes there? It helps to translate the material into modern language."

Joey nodded, and he and Alex leaned in close as they read the passage together and tackled the questions. Kaiba watched as the two of them worked together, and for some reason, there was this anger burning inside him. Alex and Joey continued to work well together on the assignment, neither of them aware of Kaiba watching them, let alone how he was feeling. Joey commented,

"You really know your stuff, Alex."

Alex happily replied, "Thanks, Joey. Don't you worry about this. I'll make sure we ace this assignment, and ask me any questions, ok?"

Joey grinned and replied, "Sure will."

The bell rang to indicate that class was over. After the teacher gave some final instructions and indicated that the group work would continue tomorrow, everyone returned to their usual seats. As Alex took her seat, Kaiba glared at her and Alex couldn't help but ask,

"What? Did I commit some sort of crime or something?"

Kaiba muttered, "Nothing."

Alex looked confused and baffled by Kaiba's behavior although she didn't say anything about it. Fortunately, the rest of the afternoon classes passed by without incident and once the final bell rang to indicate that school was over for the day, Joey stood up and said,

"Yes, finally!"

Alex couldn't help laughing a bit and replied, "I know how you feel but we only got through Monday."

Joey groaned and his enthusiasm deflating a bit, he replied, "Don't remind me."

Alex shook her head in amusement and went about to gather her things. Once she was done, she got up and said,

"I'll get going. I should probably take a nap or something."

As if on cue, she yawned, and Joey was reminded of their conversation that morning. He looked at her with concern and said,

"Hey, you gonna be ok getting home? I can walk with you."

Alex shook her head and replied, "You're sweet, but I'll be ok. There won't be any problems. I just have to make sure to get enough sleep tonight."

Joey replied, "Ok, but if you have any problems, you know how to reach me."

Alex replied, "I do."

She turned to the others and said, "I'll be heading off."

Yugi replied, "Ok, and be careful, Alex. It sounds like you need some sleep."

Alex smiled and replied, "I will."

She got her bag and waved goodbye to the others. As she walked down the hallway and towards the front doors of the school, she looked out a window and noticed that it started to rain heavily. She groaned to herself and thought,

Great, and I didn't bring an umbrella.

She wondered if there was a way she could get back to her apartment without getting soaked. There was one way although Alex wanted to avoid it if possible. She continued to walk towards the front doors and saw Kaiba standing there. She groaned to herself and thought,

Ok, no way I can do that while he's there. Well, I can't have any witnesses.

Alex thought about either waiting until Kaiba left or looking for another exit. As she pondered over what to do, Kaiba turned to her and said,

"I'll give you a ride."

Alex looked surprised and replied, "What?"

Kaiba sighed and replied, "I said I'll give you a ride, and no, I'm not being charitable."

Alex smiled and replied, "That's nice of you to offer, but I'll risk getting drenched."

Alex's stubborn nature was getting the better of her, and as she was about to walk out the doors, Kaiba grabbed her arm and said,

"Please."

Alex replied, "Why are you being nice to me?"

Alex couldn't help but be slightly suspicious as to Kaiba's motives. Kaiba replied, "For one, if you get sick and can't come to school, I'll have to do your work and get the mutt to cooperate. And two, Mokuba would be upset if you got sick."

Alex rolled her eyes over Kaiba's first reason but as she heard the other reason, her heart couldn't help but soften. She took a breath and replied, "Fine, but just this once."

Kaiba smirked, which didn't escape Alex's notice. She commented,

"A wise person once said that it's ok to lose some battles. So I don't mind too much losing this one."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow but didn't make any comment. A few minutes later, a black limo pulled up and the driver got out, carrying an umbrella as well as a spare one. He saw Kaiba and Alex and said,

"Sir, I apologize for the tardiness. There was a bit of traffic after I picked up Mr. Mokuba from school."

Kaiba waved his hand and replied, "It's fine. We're going to drop off Ms. Lawrence at her apartment before going to Kaiba Corp."

The driver nodded and turning to Alex, he said, "Where's your apartment, miss?"

Alex gave the driver her address and asked if he knew where it was. The driver nodded, commenting that he was familiar with the area. He then gave Kaiba the spare umbrella before he headed back to the limo. Kaiba then opened up the umbrella and said,

"Let's go."

Alex nodded, and the two of them headed towards the limo, where Kaiba opened the door and told Alex to get inside before he got inside as well. Unknown to either of them, Joey had watched the exchange and clenched his fists. He wanted to help out Alex, as he saw that it was raining. However, Kaiba had beaten him to the punch, but he noticed that Alex had put up some resistance to the idea before finally giving in.

Meanwhile, as the limo headed away from school and towards the area where Alex's apartment was, Mokuba was surprised to see Alex. He smiled at her and said, "Hey, Alex. It's good to see you."

Alex smiled warmly and replied, "It's good to see you, too, Mokuba."

Mokuba replied, "Did Seto offer to give you a ride back?"

Alex nodded and replied, "Yeah, although I really would have been fine on my own."

Mokuba shook his head and replied, "Don't be ridiculous. Even with an umbrella, these storms are terrible sometimes."

Alex replied, "I can definitely see that. I had no idea. It's never that bad back home. Well, it depends where in America."

Mokuba nodded, and then Kaiba looked to him and asked how school was. The two brothers then chatted about their day, and Alex half-listened while she looked out the window. She felt sleepy but tried her best to stay awake. She couldn't help but envy their relationship, as it reminded her of how things were long ago between her and Andy. She missed her brother greatly, and the pain of his absence still lingered inside her. A tear slid down her cheek although she didn't bother to brush it away. Mokuba noticed and asked,

"Hey, Alex, you ok?"

Alex snapped out of her thoughts and smiling quickly, she replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well last night. But no worries. I'll catch up tonight."

Mokuba nodded and replied, "Ok."

Kaiba glanced at Alex and inwardly worried about her although he didn't say anything. Soon, the driver pulled up in front of Alex's apartment building. He looked at Alex and said, "We're here, miss."

Alex smiled gratefully at the driver and said, "Thank you, sir."

She turned to Mokuba and said, "It was good to see you again, Mokuba, and call me sometime if you'd like."

Then she turned to where Kaiba was sitting although she noticed that the limo door was already open and Kaiba was right outside, holding an umbrella. Kaiba said,

"I'm walking you to your apartment. That's all."

Alex shrugged and carrying her bag, she got out of the limo. Then she walked with Kaiba as they headed inside her apartment building and upstairs until they reached the door to her apartment. Once they arrived in front of her door, Alex turned to Kaiba and said,

"Thank you. You really didn't need to go through this trouble. I'll make sure to carry an umbrella next time."

Kaiba replied, "It's fine. Just get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

Alex nodded and replied, "Ok. Um, see you tomorrow."

She opened the door to her apartment and entered, closing the door behind her. Once she was safely inside, she fell to her knees on the floor and sighed, completely exhausted. She thought,

I really don't understand him. And he's just making things more difficult for me.

Kaiba took one last glance at Alex's door before going downstairs and heading back outside towards the limo. He couldn't help feeling a little frustrated and thought,

What am I doing?