Chapter 34
It was Wednesday, and morning classes had just ended. The bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch. Kaiba looked at Alex and said,
"Let's go. There's a great cafe nearby, so we'll be back in time for classes."
Alex nodded happily and replied, "Sure, I'd love that."
The two of them got out of their seats, packed up their belongings and then walked very close to each other as Kaiba led the way out of the school building and towards the nearby cafe he mentioned.
Meanwhile, despite the group of girls who surrounded Max, Max noticed Kaiba and Alex leaving together. He couldn't help frowning. Despite that he had now been at Domino High for a couple of days and was even in the same class as Alex and Kaiba, Max hadn't had a chance to get near Alex, let alone talk to her. He observed that Alex and Kaiba were always together and that Kaiba would send him warning glares if Max even dared to look their way.
While Max had those thoughts in mind, Tea called out to him,
"Hey, Max. Are you going to have lunch with us? The others are waiting."
Max snapped out of his thoughts and smiling at Tea, he nodded and replied, "Yeah, sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go."
He got his lunch and then followed Tea as they went up to the roof to have lunch with Yugi and the others.
Once the two of them arrived on the roof and sat down with the others, Max took out his lunch and began eating. He wondered how to approach a certain topic, and unable to think of any other way, he asked,
"Hey, guys. Do you mind if I asked you something?"
Tea looked brightly at Max and replied, "Go ahead. Are you still getting adjusted to school?"
Max shook his head and replied, "Nothing like that. This might sound random, but what's up with Alex and Kaiba?"
Everyone stopped eating, surprised by Max's question. Yugi observed Max carefully, keeping his guard up and wondering where Max was going with this. Joey was the first to speak up and he said,
"Ya mean because they're always together?"
Max nodded and replied, "Yeah. It just seems weird to me."
Joey replied, "I hear ya. Ya know, Alex used to hang out with us a lot when she was first here. But after she got that internship at Kaiba Corp, we hardly ever get to see her."
Yugi sighed and replied, "Come on, Joey. Alex takes her work seriously, and I think Kaiba appreciates that about her. It makes sense that they'd be together a lot."
Joey looked at Yugi and replied, "You've been defending those two. I mean, with Alex, I totally get ya. It ain't her fault that Kaiba hangs around her all the time."
Yugi was about to reply when Max said, "What do you mean, Joey?"
Joey looked at Max and replied, "As I said, Alex used to hang out with us a lot. We even went on a date. But then moneybags just had to ruin it and everything changed after that dumb internship."
Yugi replied, "Joey, I know you're still disappointed that Alex friendzoned you, but just give it time."
Yugi almost wanted to add that Joey should give up on Alex, now that she and Kaiba were in a relationship.
Meanwhile, Max was learning a lot from the conversation. Tea looked at him and asked, "Why the sudden interest?"
Max smiled and replied, "I've been wanting to talk to Alex since she's an American, too. But Kaiba's always around her, and it's like I won't ever get the chance."
Tea nodded and replied, "That's true."
Inwardly, though, Tea wondered if Max was interested in Alex in a romantic sense. That thought unsettled her, though, as she found Max attractive.
The conversation soon died down, and everyone finished up lunch. As everyone got ready to head back to the classroom, Yugi thought about the conversation as well as the looks that Tea would give towards Max. He wanted to bring it up with Alex next chance he got.
The rest of the afternoon classes passed by quickly, and soon, it was the final class of the day, chemistry. Everyone except Max was paired up with their lab partners, so Yugi and Tea were together while Alex and Kaiba were together. As Max was the odd student, the teacher turned to him and said,
"Mr. Stanton, we usually have students pair up for lab work, but since there are now an odd number of students and it wouldn't be fair to make you do the work by yourself, you may join one of the pairs."
Max nodded and immediately, many of the female students raised their hands, hoping to get Max's attention. Even Tea shot her hand up. Yugi looked at her and asked,
"You want Max to join us?"
Tea nodded happily and replied, "He's cool, and I can ask him more things about America."
Yugi thought that Tea had another reason although he chose not to say anything.
Meanwhile, Alex and Kaiba paid no heed to the other students, wanting to get started on their lab assignment. They wanted to finish it quickly, so that they could go to Kaiba Corp. Alex was especially excited since Kaiba mentioned about a new project starting and he wanted Alex to be involved.
Max looked thoughtful for a minute, and finally making his decision, he looked to the teacher and said,
"If it's ok, can I join them?"
He pointed towards Alex and Kaiba. Kaiba noticed and immediately gave a death glare towards Max, which the latter ignored. However, the teacher noticed and quietly replied,
"Are you sure, Mr. Stanton? Ms. Lawrence may not mind, but Mr. Kaiba might be another issue. It's kind of a miracle he gets along with Ms. Lawrence."
Max smiled at the teacher and replied, "It's fine. It'll be a good chance to make friends."
The teacher looked a little worried, but he replied,
"Ok, but if there are any problems, feel free to switch to another group."
Max nodded and replied, "Thanks."
Max then left the teacher and approached Alex and Kaiba, giving them a friendly smile. Alex had her guard up, wondering what Max's plan was. Kaiba looked at Max, as though he was a pest that needed eliminating immediately. However, Max continued his friendly demeanor and said,
"Hi. I'm Max."
Kaiba replied, "Yes, we know."
Alex laughed awkwardly and replied, "Nice to meet you, Max. I'm Alex. You probably heard that I'm an exchange student."
Max nodded happily and replied, "Of course. I've been wanting a chance to talk to you."
Alex replied, "Is that why you wanted to join our group?"
Max replied, "I admit I had ulterior motives, but I didn't see another way."
Kaiba commented, "There are other groups, and it looks like you have your own fan club."
Alex looked at the other female students as they cast jealous looks towards Alex. Alex shook her head and added,
"Yup, that sure looks to be the case. I'm surprised you didn't want to join one of the others. They would have been more than happy to accommodate."
Max shrugged and replied, "I'm sure, but you two look to be the smartest in the class."
Kaiba scoffed and replied, "Of course we are. Do you not know that we're the top two students? We don't need you dragging us down."
Max glared at Kaiba and replied, "Man, what's your deal? I'm just trying to be nice, but you're being an ass."
Kaiba was about to reply when Alex said, "Please, you two. Let's just get this experiment over with. I want to go to work after and start, umm, well, you know."
She smiled cutely at Kaiba, which made him blush. He nodded and replied, "I'm looking forward to your help with it."
Alex turned to Max and said, "We're used to doing things our own way, so you might feel like a third wheel. How about you just watch us for today? Then you can feel free to switch groups if you don't think it's going to work out."
Max nodded and replied, "Ok, but I wish you'd let me help out."
Kaiba glared at Max and was about to reply when Alex reached out to touch Kaiba's right hand with her left hand. She gently rubbed it, and Kaiba calmed down, giving Alex a brief, warm smile. Max frowned as he watched them and he couldn't help noticing the ring on her finger. Before Alex had left on her mission, she had no such item and the ring looked expensive, so he couldn't help wondering where she had gotten it from. Unable to hold back his curiosity, Max asked,
"May I ask where you got that ring from? It's beautiful."
Before Alex could reply, Kaiba smirked and said, "I gave it to Alex. I treat everyone I care about very well."
Alex blushed deeply although she couldn't help smiling. Max was speechless as he heard Kaiba's reply, and Kaiba felt satisfied. As Max couldn't think of a comeback, Alex and Kaiba were finally able to commence with their lab work. The two of them worked swiftly and accurately, making sure to do each step correctly and to take careful notes.
Once they were done and had the teacher approve their work, then they went about cleaning up the used equipment and their workspace. After all that was done, Kaiba looked at Alex and said,
"Let's go. I'm going to be depending on you a lot."
Alex smiled and replied, "I'm looking forward to it." She turned to Max and added, "We have to go, but it was nice meeting you."
Kaiba just grunted, but after he and Alex finished packing up their things, he gave Max one final, satisfied smirk before leading the way out of the classroom, with Alex following him.
After they left, the teacher approached Max and said, "I gave fair warning, so you may want to switch groups."
The female students who overheard the teacher looked on eagerly at Max, as though they were hoping he'd take up the teacher's offer. However, he shook his head and smiling, he replied,
"Nah, it's ok. Maybe they just need to get used to me. Alex is great, and umm, well, I guess Kaiba will just have to tolerate me."
The teacher sighed and replied, "If you insist, but the offer still stands."
Then the teacher walked back towards the front of the classroom and ended class for the day. As the students packed up their things and headed out, Tea approached Max and looking concerned, she asked,
"You ok? I saw what happened. I should have given you a warning about Kaiba."
Max smiled and replied, "I'm ok, and it's not your fault. I heard that Kaiba was a prick, and the rumors about him certainly weren't exaggerated. I'm surprised that Alex gets along with him."
Tea shrugged and replied, "It might be a work-related thing. I have no idea about technology or computer science."
Max nodded. Thinking about something, he then asked, "This is going to sound crazy, but are those two in a relationship?"
Tea looked surprised by the question but replied, "I asked Alex sometime back if she liked Kaiba like that, but she told me that she didn't, and it didn't sound like she was lying. Joey asked her the same thing as well, and she gave the same answer. Unless something has changed between those two, I'd say they're just friends."
Max nodded again, although he couldn't help suspecting that wasn't entirely the case. As he was about to say something, though, Joey called out,
"Hey, you two. You gonna hang out with us at the arcade, right?"
Max grinned and replied, "Sure, that sounds fun."
He and Tea then packed up their things and followed Joey and the others out of the classroom, heading to the arcade to have a fun afternoon.