Chapter Two

Do You Ever Smile?

The nerve of that girl! She was unbelievable. Wasn't she ever taught good manners? It was the second time now, and, Gohan promised himself, the last time she got him so worked up. Why was she so rude to him?

He'd been helping out the library lady for the past couple weeks, as an after-school activity. Apparently, it was mandatory to be in at least one club after school, and since he didn't really want to join any club he'd asked the library lady, Mrs Huston, if he could help her out instead. Luckily for him, the aging lady had readily agreed, welcoming the help. Unluckily for him, however, the library seemed to be this Videl girl's favorite place to hang out.

When Gohan saw her again the first time, he made sure to stay out of her field of vision and minded his own business, which turned out pretty easy since all she did was rest her head against the desk, much like the first time he'd seen her here. But, for some unknown reason, while he busied himself around the library, arranging books in the right sections, putting away the donated ones, dusting the shelves and so on, his eyes kept straying towards her, unable not to worry when she looked so completely exhausted and discouraged, time after time. Yes, she'd been rude to him, and yes, he'd decided not to get involved with her again, but he couldn't help feeling concerned about her well-being.

He really should've just minded his own business.

"Erm, hello," he said, finally mustering the courage to talk to her again. She lazily raised her head to glance at him, and then her expression hardened.

"You again," she said, straightening up. She crossed her arms, clearly on the defensive, and frowned at him. "What do you want?"

"Well aren't you pleasant," he sighed, pulling a chair to sit down. She scowled.

"Why are you here?" she asked. If eyes could kill…

"I help out Mrs Huston for extra credit," he explained. "I've been seeing you a lot around here, and I can't help but notice how you always look so…" He hesitated.

"What? Spit it out," she snapped impatiently. Gosh, would it kill her to be a little nicer?

"…Miserable."

What he said didn't seem to please her at all, because she only scowled harder. Was this girl actually capable of smiling genuinely? Looking at her now, it seemed highly unlikely.

"And so what, you took pity on me?" she spat in disgust. "Now that's just what I needed. Why can't you just leave me be? Do you think bothering me every time I try to relax is going to help? I have enough on my plate as is, and I don't need you, of all people, to come nagging me because I look miserable. I don't need your pity, jerk."

She stood up angrily, her chair grating loudly on the wooden floor and nearly falling over. When she turned around to leave, Gohan suddenly got up to hold her back, grabbing her forearm, unwilling to let her go with such a poor opinion of him.

"I'm just worried about you," he said softly, looking into her eyes. Deep blue eyes. "If it were anyone else, I'd be worried about them too. That's just how I am. It's got nothing to do with pity."

She freed her arm from his hold swiftly, glaring at him fiercely. "Well you go worry about your friends and forget about me. I don't even know you."

She turned to leave again, and this time Gohan didn't get in her way. He watched her walk out of the library, his brow deeply furrowed. She had done it again, and this time he felt even more upset. He was actually pretty pissed off at this girl, at her vicious tongue and harsh eyes. What did he ever do to her to be treated like this? Why couldn't she make one sentence without sending him daggers with her eyes? What was wrong with her?

And just why did he go and talk to her again? That girl's case was hopeless; he shouldn't have bothered with her at all. And from now on, he certainly wasn't going to make that same mistake again.

"Looks like you got turned down," said the library lady in sympathy, coming from behind him. She patted his arm. "Don't you worry, Gohan, you're a handsome young man, I'm sure there's plenty of other girls who'd be happy to be your girlfriend."

"Wh-What? Girlfriend?" he squeaked, his face flaring up, startled by Mrs Huston's very wrong assumption. "You got it all wrong, Mrs Huston! I didn't ask her out, I don't even know her. I don't even like her," he added as an afterthought. It was true; how could he like such a mean person?

At lunch, some girls from his class as well as from other classes joined him, as they had pretty much every day since he started school here. He usually didn't mind, but today he was still pretty upset because of Videl and he just wanted to be left alone.

They noticed his sour mood, of course, and when they asked him what was wrong, he figured he might feel better if he talked about it.

"Videl?" said one of the girls, Penn. "You mean, Videl Satan? Ugh, that girl's such a spoiled brat. I'm not surprised at all."

"Satan?" Gohan repeated out loud. "Could she be…?"

"Mr Satan's only daughter, yeah," another girl, Kit replied. "I think Erasa's her only friend. I wonder how Erasa can put up with her, she's always so rude."

"She helps the police forces fight crime in the city, you know," said another girl, Papel. "I think she just does that so she can beat up people and not get in trouble. Sometimes she overdoes it, too; I heard a lot of crooks end up in the hospital before they can be taken to the justice."

Gohan blinked, processing the new information. He had no idea Mr Satan even had a daughter, and he would never have guessed Videl could have been related to him. He wondered if Erasa knew why she'd been so down and cranky – and then reminded himself that he wasn't supposed to worry about her anymore. Besides, where was Erasa today? She could probably tell him the kind of person Videl really was; he was getting sick of these girls bad mouthing her. No matter how mean Videl had been to him, she had done nothing to them and they shouldn't be talking like that behind her back.

"And did you see the way she dresses? You'd think with a father as rich as Mr Satan she could afford better clothes."

"I know, right? She could at least wear a bit of makeup, that wouldn't hurt her."

"Tell me about it. It's like she forgot she's a girl."

Gohan frowned. What did that have to do with anything? And there he'd thought Videl was the worst; those girls just placed first in her stead now. How could they say such cruel things about a girl they didn't even know personally? What did Videl ever do to them? However rude she was, Gohan didn't think she deserved to be badmouthed like this.

He decided he'd had enough; he was just getting more worked up because of them. So he made up some excuse and left, going back to the library.

Today really wasn't his day.

ooOoo

Since it had been a while, Erasa had decided to join Videl for lunch today. But while the latter should have been happy to hang out with her best friend, Erasa was still not over Gohan and he was, yet again, the only thing she could talk about.

And Videl had had enough.

Seeing as Erasa was still babbling on and on, and on, about this guy who wasn't even all that great, Videl decided she was better off hanging out with herself until her friend was over Gohan. She had honestly reached her limits and just couldn't bear with this anymore. So while Erasa was still ranting on about the perfection that was Gohan, she just… snapped.

"Will you cut it out already?" she cut her off in mid-sentence. "Geez! Do you realize you've done nothing but babble on and on, and on and on about some guy who isn't even worth it? Do you know how sick I am of hearing you talk about him all the damn time? Goddammit Erasa, he's just a guy!"

Erasa looked shocked. In fact, she was speechless and stared at her with an appalled expression. Videl just scowled and left, pissed off at Erasa, and pissed off at herself because she knew what she said had hurt her best friend. But it had to be done. If she hadn't, who knew how long this cursed routing would have kept on? She just wished Erasa would get over the guy already, so that they could hang out like they used to and actually have some fun together. This crush on Gohan, it was seriously getting old.

She only hesitated about going to the library for a moment, since the very topic of her and Erasa's current tension might be there, with him helping out the library lady and all. However, Videl was pretty sure that after the way she'd told him off earlier, Gohan would think twice about trying to talk to her again. She did feel bad; she'd been downright mean to the guy when he'd only been genuinely worried about her. But, like with Erasa, it had to be done. She wanted to be left alone and sometimes, it was easier, and much faster, to have some peace while being mean than when asking nicely.

When Videl walked through the double door, he was the first thing she noticed. He looked up at the sound she made opening the doors, but quickly focused back on the book in his hands. Good. Now all she had to do was settle herself as far away from him as possible, and finally relax and relish the silence.

Halfway to the spot she'd chosen, the double doors were pushed open again and Erasa walked in. Videl glanced at Gohan, and then at Erasa again, seeing them exchange smiles. But the blonde didn't go join him, no; she went straight towards Videl, who had just sat down on a comfy armchair.

When Erasa came up and sat down on another one beside her, Videl didn't let her open her mouth to say something and beat her to it.

"You can't yell in here, it's the library," she said in a hushed voice.

"I know that, I'm not stupid," Erasa retorted in the same tone, but Videl could see the corners of her mouth twitching as she forced herself not to smile.

There was some silence, and after a while, Videl even considered getting a book to pass time. Didn't Erasa come here to tell her something, possibly to lecture her? And then it dawned on her. She saw Erasa glance to Gohan a few times, while the boy was completely oblivious and focusing on his book. Was she worried he might overhear them? Come on, they were all the way to the other side of the library, and if they whispered there was no way he could hear them talking from this far. Her friend was being paranoid.

"He won't hear us from this far," she whispered. Erasa let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I know I'm being ridiculous," she said softly. "And I'm sorry. I realize how annoying it must've been for you, with me talking nonstop about Gohan. I'm sorry."

Videl smiled, and it felt like her first, real smile in… forever. "So you won't talk about him anymore?"

"You mean, not at all? … Okay, fine, fine. I won't," she said with a sigh, forced to give in at Videl's infamous glare. "Not even a little bit?"

"Erasa…"

"I'm just kidding," she giggled. "It's all right, I'll just have to find other stuff to talk about. No biggie."

"Right," replied Videl, rolling her eyes. Like Erasa could ever be short on stuff to talk about.

x

Gohan was pretty sure he'd overheard his name being spoken, but he had no clue as to what Erasa and Videl could be talking about, they were too far away; even with his better-than-average hearing, he could barely make out what they were whispering.

Discreetly, he glanced towards the two girls and found himself surprised at the sight. So Videl actually was capable of smiling, after all. And she had a really nice smile, too. She should smile more often, he thought to himself.

He was glad she didn't seem so grim anymore, but that didn't mean he would break his resolution not to get involved with her again. Although… He kinda wanted to know her better, now that he knew she didn't scowl twenty-four seven. And besides, Erasa was her friend, and she was his friend, too; maybe all three of them could become good friends? Maybe he could get to know Videl's good side, too; she was a crime fighter, right? He also helped the police forces occasionally; if anything, this was something they had in common. It would be nice to work things out between them, however bad their start had been.

He forced himself to focus back on his book, frowning. He might not be the resentful type, but as far as he was concerned Videl did nothing so far to deserve a second chance; she didn't even ask for one, for that matter, and Gohan doubted she would ever do so. She didn't want to have anything to do with him, and this time he had every intention to follow her wish and leave her alone. It was probably better off this way.

At the very least, it would spare him one heck of a headache.

x

"By the way," said Erasa. "What did you mean early when you said Gohan isn't worth it? You don't even know the guy."

Videl hesitated. Lying to her friend was the last thing she wanted, but she also didn't want to tell her just how, exactly, she knew Gohan. If she told Erasa how harsh and mean she'd been to him, Videl was pretty sure it wouldn't go smoothly.

Lying was out of the question, however.

"I… kinda do," she admitted dreadfully. This conversation could not end well.

"Really? Why didn't you tell me?" inquired Erasa.

"Well… I was kinda… mean to him?" She winced in anticipation.

"You–"

"Remember, you can't yell in here," Videl cut in, feeling that Erasa had been about to be loud. The blonde girl glared at her, a look that was pretty rare on her, while she forced her mouth shut, most likely trying to calm down before starting speaking again. "Look, he came to me at a bad time, I was in a really bad mood and plus, with you going on and on about him, when I learned his name I kinda just blamed it all on him."

"Wait, don't tell me you told him how I talk about him all the time!" Erasa whispered loudly in panic.

"Of course not," Videl replied calmly. "But I told him off harshly. I'm pretty sure he hates me."

Erasa frowned at that. "That doesn't sound like him. I doubt he hates you; I've seen him brush off stuff other guys do to him without so much as a blink."

"What do you mean? Is he being bullied?" Now she felt even worse about the way she'd been to him. Just her luck.

"No, not really. But some guys are jealous of him, because of all the attention he gets from the girls, so sometimes they pull pranks on him. But he's not the only one to get it, I think it's a guy thing. Still," she went on, "he doesn't seem to care at all when it happens and he just laughs it off; he even helps out the guys that usually pull the pranks in class. I bet he doesn't even know what resentment feels like."

"Even so," said Videl, her brows furrowed in thoughts. "I don't think he likes me, or would want to talk to me again. And to be honest, I'm fine with that. That's why I was mean to him in the first place, you know."

"That's so typical of you," said Erasa, rolling her eyes. "Tell people off to get them away from you, instead of just asking them nicely."

"Anyway, things are the way they are now, and there's no point in discussing this topic further," concluded Videl.

"I guess…" Erasa sighed. "You should apologize to him, though."

"I won't," replied Videl. "He caught me at a bad moment and he should've just left me alone when I told him the first time. It's his own fault if I ended up telling him off harshly."

"How did you two meet, exactly?" asked Erasa, tilting her head, seeming confused and lost by the lack of details in Videl's story.

"Doesn't matter," she said, shrugging. "The point is, I'm not apologizing to him, or ever speaking to him again. And that's fine by me; I'm sure it's fine by him, too."

"I'm sure Gohan would appreciate it if you apologized to him and would forgive you. All you have to do is say 'I'm sorry'."

"I'm sorry, but I won't," Videl shot back. "Can't you leave us be? Besides, he'd be better off not knowing me, really."

"Don't say that, he'd be happy to get to know you, I'm sure of it."

"Either way, I'm happy with the way things are right now," assured Videl, concluding their disagreement.

Erasa let out a frustrated sigh but didn't insist on it anymore. She couldn't force Videl to apologize to Gohan, even though it was the right thing to do. It was such a shame, too. She'd hoped the three of them could all hang out together. Gohan was such a great guy – a rare breed, really. She was persuaded he and Videl could get along really well if they only tried.

Well, it was only the beginning of the school year. There was no telling what might happen in the future. And, who knew? She and Gohan might start dating soon, and then Videl would be forced to be nice to him. If only he could just ask her out already…