Going Pro
Chapter 2: This Will be the Year
Jesse yawned as he aimlessly looked through his cards while sitting on the fence of the horse's round pen. "I just don't know…" he whined softly to himself. He couldn't figure out what was missing from his deck. It was a great deck, but he simply had an explainable feeling that it wasn't right, that is wasn't finished, that there was something he needed.
After putting his deck in its holder, he hopped off the fence and had to push up a pair of simple gunmetal wire-framed glasses which obscured his bright green eyes. Doing so reminded him that he lost one of his contacts and his mother decided he should go without contacts for a while so he wouldn't lose them again so easily. He did admit that he was losing them too often, but disagreed that going without would teach him a lesson.
Since he was bored, he would have liked to go into town and find a different card shop, but then he remembered how not even the card shop he visited in Domino City had anything that stood out to him. Living in the country sure had its pros and cons. Cons were simply the distance from town, meaning shops, entertainment, work, and school. Jesse couldn't just pick up his bike and ride in without considering the time of day and if he'd get home before his mother left for work that night. Pros included the fresh air, the open space, the quiet atmosphere that was so quiet one could hear the thoughts of thoughts. All those things could be great, but Jesse Anderson's favorite part of all was all the insects. Even since he was small, collecting insects was one of his hobbies.
He was going to go back to his high school very soon. His school break would be over and his mind would be back on other things. Before heading back into the house, he turned and checked on the brown quarter horse who slowly chewed on freshly tossed hay as its tail whipped to the side frequently. It was an elderly horse, so she wasn't ridden any more, instead Jesse would lead her around the round pen or into their small pasture for exercise. "Jade, you're getting to be an old gal now," Jesse commented and tapped the fence with his fist as he stepped away.
A yellow Labrador Retriever trotted up to him and licked his hand. "Hey, boy," Jesse grinned and pet the dog's head. "Com'on, Joe!" he called as he ran towards the house.
It was modest single story house, fairly old even though it has had many upgrades and repairs over the years. It was his grandfather's house. There was a small white car parked next to it under a canopy by the side door which led to the kitchen. Next to that same door was a blue bicycle that had been carelessly dropped and left there after its last use.
Jesse opened the door and the dog weaved his way around Jesse's legs to get back inside first. The teen barely noticed since he was used to it and simply closed the door behind him. After slipping off his brown boots, he stepped into the kitchen where he grabbed an apple from the counter.
He was going to go to his room when he stopped in the hallway to look over a set of familiar photographs. There was the picture he wished would be taken down, which was one of a young, beautiful, brown-haired woman looking happy as she held a sleeping infant with thin blue hair. His mom loved that picture, so no matter how embarrassing it was for him, it would remain on display. It also reminded him of how young his mother was when he was born. At least she looked happy in the pictures, but sometimes he wondered what could have been different.
Just under that picture was a close up of an almost toddler-aged Jesse where his hands were being held up above him by a man that stood behind him and helped little Jesse to walk. The man in the picture was cut off at the waist since it was focused on the baby. Jesse didn't even remember his father, since he disappeared when he was very young. Apparently Jesse resembled him a fair amount, except for the eyes, which resembled his mother's.
The next picture was one that Jesse was very fond of. He was probably four or five years old, sitting on his grandpa's lap as they hugged and laughed. Jesse looked very happy there. Everyone always said that he had his grandfather's heart. They were very close. The picture next to that was another picture of a young Jesse riding the horse, Jade, while his grandpa held the reins. He remembered he was going to visit his grandpa's grave again soon. He missed him a lot.
His phone buzzed in his pocket as he received a text message. The display clearly showed the name 'Julia'. She sent him a picture of her cat. It was fluffy white and brown house cat who loved to lay down on open books, which it was doing in the picture. Jesse smiled at the silly picture and replied back a quick "lol".
As he sent the text, Jesse continued to his room without looking at the other wall photos, each from different points in his life, like each school phase and some birthdays. When he got to his room, he put down his phone and pulled out the desk chair to sit. As he bit into his apple, he stared longingly at a Duel Academy brochure once again. He couldn't just leave his mom or the old brown quarter horse that used to belong to his grandfather. His grandfather was quite attached to the horse from the moment he saw her, and he lovingly named her Jade after the one of his favorite stones. After his grandfather passed away, there was no one else to take care of her besides Jesse, and Jesse wasn't going to let anyone sell her.
Leaning back in his chair, he was able to see Jade out the window, still in the same place he left her. Shadows were already cast as night drew near. His stomach knew it would soon be time for dinner. He wished he could cook, but he was so bad at it, he was practically banned from the kitchen. For some unknown reason, he couldn't cook to save his life, unless it was instant noodles or plain rice, and he has managed to mess up those before.
When he finished his apple, he set down the core on the desk and picked up his latest Duel Magazine. He flopped on his bed, pushed up his glasses, and held the magazine open above him as he looked at the pictures. There was a huge image of the latest duel disk design that was set to be released to Duel Academy first for standard use, and then to the general public within the next year. Jesse was so envious, he would love to try out the newest duel disk, where it retracted into itself and then compressed against the arm so its smaller and more manageable while not in use. It was also designed to function with card sleeves, which was something brand new to the dueling market.
"So cool!" Jesse beamed. "Wonder if they'll come out with more colors?" he wondered. Looking over, he spotted his classic duel disk on the shelf of his desk. He tossed the magazine aside as he got up and reached for the device. With proficiency, he inserted his deck and looked ready to duel.
He took a moment to admire the duelist in the reflection of the mirror. Now if only he could duel that reflection. He was certainly in the mood for a duel as it was, but there was no one around, as always. His mother didn't duel, but liked to watch, and he had tried to teach the dog to duel to no avail. If it didn't involve a tennis ball, the dog wasn't interested in any games.
Jesse glanced at the cell phone resting on his desk. He thought about calling a friend, including Julia, but it was getting kind of late for an impromptu duel. Biking into town just before dinner wasn't that appealing either. Luckily, there were handheld games, which he played for the next hour until his mother called for him for dinner.
They normally ate a little early since his mother would eat with him before she would need to leave for work for the night. Today was her one of days off, and she liked to use those to go out. Either way, Jesse did not see much of his mother these days. When this happened, he and his mother would eat their meal in the living room and watch variety or game shows together. Sometimes there would be a duel airing, and he would get to watch those sometimes too. It was a quiet life.
"Jesse, aren't you starting school again in a couple days?" his mother asked.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Did you already get your new uniform?"
Jesse nodded again. He had grown since he started high school, so it was natural to need to get a new uniform after a while. "It's still grey, and it's hanging up in my closet, so I'm all ready."
"That's good to hear," she smiled. "Grey sounds so dull, too bad you didn't get a high school with a little more color, but it's the closest one isn't it?"
Jesse nodded and continued eating. He was about to say something when his mother's cell phone rang and she had to get up to answer it. Jesse didn't pay any attention to the call and focused on the TV. When his mother was done on the phone, she sat back down.
"My friend is coming to pick me up for a little outing tonight, you'll be okay by yourself, right?" she asked.
"Friend or new boyfriend?" he asked.
"Mm, I wonder," she laughed.
Jesse chuckled a little. "Well, have fun," he said. He didn't actually mind his mother dating and even though he had yet to meet any of her boyfriends, he just liked the fact she was able to have a little fun sometimes when she wasn't working.
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When he managed to drag himself out of bed the next morning, Jesse found his mother asleep on the living room couch from when she got home sometime in the very early morning. He didn't try to wake her, she probably had a hangover from her date last night. Doing his chores first took first priority.
After checking on the horse and tossing some more hay into the feeder, refilling her water, and then doing the same from their three chickens, Jesse found he really didn't have much else to do. The small greenhouse his grandfather used to grow a few vegetables and herbs was perfectly clean and his mother's car didn't need to be washed. The dog wasn't in the mood to play yet either.
"Sometimes, it's too quiet and peaceful," Jesse chuckled to himself as he went into the kitchen.
He got a simple breakfast and decided he would go into town today. The card shop was open and he was always on the lookout for whatever could complete his deck. When he was done eating, he washed his dishes and made sure his mother knew he was leaving.
It wasn't long before he had his bag packed up with his duel disk and a few other things and he was on his bike heading for town. He didn't live that far outside of the city, so a little more than thirty minutes later, he passed the countryside and found himself entering the town itself. The card shop he had in mind was only a few blocks in so it didn't take him much longer to get to it.
Jesse locked up his bike and pulled out his cell phone to text Julia that he was in town. If she wasn't busy, he hoped for a friendly duel. Until he received an answer, he browsed all sorts of cards and let his thoughts wander. He hoped to make a couple new friends this year that liked to duel as much as him. Finding people like that would make high school a little more fun. No matter what happened this year, he would try to make the best of it.
His phone finally buzzed in his pocket and he looked at the text. "Sorry, I can't today." - From Julia.
Jesse frowned and didn't respond. So much for that idea. As he left the shop empty handed, with no new purchase, he paused on the sidewalk when something peculiar caught his eye. There was a little Watapon spirit following a grade school girl. He noticed the girl never acknowledged the spirit, but the spirit didn't seem unhappy as if bounced through the air.
Smiling, he thought how it must be nice to have someone always looking out for them, even if they didn't know it. After pushing up his wire-framed glasses, Jesse headed back to his bike. School started again tomorrow, so he needed to be ready. He hoped this would be a year of many changes in his life. Though only good changes, of course.
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The air was chilly on his way to the first day of class. Jesse Anderson had put on his regular gunmetal wire-framed glasses, adorned is grey male uniform, and put only a little product in his blue hair since it was already naturally spiky and liked to flip upwards. The product was mainly to help is hair stay neat during his bike ride to school. It was important to make a good first impression in the first day back to class.
After locking up his blue bicycle next to the school, Jesse started walking casually into the building. He already found out what classes he had and he knew that Juila had a lot of the same classes too. His other friends hadn't stayed in touch with him much, if at all, over the summer break, so he wasn't sure who else he'd be spending his days with.
Jesse had just found his locker when a familiar voice called out his name. "Jesse!" she said and ran up to him. It was a girl with straight chestnut hair that went a little past her shoulders and she had green eyes. She was a little on the short side, only reaching little above his shoulder, and she was adorning a new grey girl's uniform.
"Hey, Julia," Jesse smiled as he closed his locker. "How's it going?"
Her eyes glanced downwards for a second. "I'm alright, but I'm a little bummed out from all the grey uniforms," she said and fanned out her grey skirt a little as she made a sour face.
"I had to wear a grey uniform in middle school too, so I guess I'm used to it by now," Jesse smiled.
"Wow, that's a bummer, I think by the time I'm done with school, I won't want to wear grey ever again!"
Jesse laughed. "Well, guess that makes two of us!"
"Yeah!" Julia smiled at him. "Though it's a little sad, I used to love grey. By the way, why are you wearing your glasses? I figured you'd wear your contacts today."
Jesse scratched the back of his head and chuckled in spite of himself. "I lost one of the lenses again and my mom won't let me replace them for a while," he admitted.
"Oh, that's too bad, you have nice eyes too," she said while a small smile.
Jesse shrugged. "There's nothing I can do right now, but I will get a new contacts soon," he told her. Julia nodded and then rose an eyebrow under her bangs. "What is it?" he asked.
"And when were you planning to tell me you got your braces off?" she tried to glare, but the sparkle in her eyes clearly said she was amused.
"Oh!" Jesse's eyes went wide. "I guess I just plum forgot!" he grinned, purposefully showing off perfect teeth. He had already forgot all about getting his braces off since it happened as soon as his school break started. He hadn't realized he didn't get to see Julia all summer. First she went all the way to Hawaii with her family and then he was leaving for Japan. Guess e-mail and text kept them in touch enough.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that, plum and everything," she rolled her eyes. "Looks great by the way. What kind of retainer did you get?" she asked as they started walking together.
"The clear kind, I only have to wear it at night already," Jesse explained.
They continued to chat until they got to their class where the first period teacher took attendance once everyone sat down after the bell. First period was English, taught by a woman with black hair and a stern face. She had only read off one other name before getting to Jesse's. "Mr. Anderson, Jesse?" she read off the list.
"Here," he raised his hand and the teacher nodded to him at his place near the back of the room next to the window.
Looking down at the list, she read the next name. "Miss. Autumns, Julia?"
"Here," Julia raised her hand from the seat right in front of Jesse. They both looked around the class, trying to figure out who all they would be seeing every morning for a while.
After a minute, the teacher got further down the list. "Miss. Summers, Simone?"
"Here," a girl raised her hand from her seat in the middle at the front of the class. Jesse let a small sigh escape when his eyes landed on her. She was very pretty. Perfectly smooth and thick golden hair cascaded down her slender back. Her big dark eyes made her look so sweet and kind. Jesse's never talked to her before, but he already knew a little about her. Simone was near the top of the class, athletic, and was quite popular. He heard she was charitable too and participated in many events.
His first classes were quite boring. English, math, and economics didn't really interest him. He thought about taking Italian, but it wasn't being offered this year as far as he knew.
At lunch, Jesse talked with some of the other boys in his class and they looked at each other's dueling decks. During the last few minutes, he sat at his desk in his next class and when Julia got there they chatted a little too before their next class started. The rest of the day was just as uneventful.
After school, Jesse and Julia walked to the bikes together. She didn't ride a bike to school, but she wanted to talk to him a little more before going home.
"Do you think you'll join any clubs this semester?" she asked idly.
"I don't know, I was thinking about joining the track and field team again," Jesse answered.
"The track and field team? Why aren't you going for the Duel Monsters Team?"
Jesse sighed. "I dunno… just don't feel like that's where I belong. I want to duel, I love to duel… but there's something else calling me," he drawled slightly as thought and he looked up at the sky. He shook his head and looked at his friend again. "It's like I need to be moving… probably just have too much energy, so I think a sport is what I need."
Julia simply looked at him for a few seconds. "Well, I supposed too much energy could be true, your favorite subject has always been P.E.," she the last part with a knowing smile and he laughed a little.
"Gosh Julia, you know me too well," he laughed. "I can't believe you remember I said that!"
"That wasn't all you said, you also said you didn't like to be classes at all unless it was P.E.," she said.
"Not like that's a big secret," he chuckled.
"I wish I could be like that though," she said.
"What do ya mean?"
"Not care about class and do as well on exams as you do, I'm not as naturally smart as you, so I actually have to study!" she pouted.
"Aw, come on, I study," he deflated.
"A half hour counting a food break is not what most people would consider studying!" she countered and Jesse just laughed it off.
"I guess the material just hasn't got hard enough for me yet," he defended.
"Is there anything you can't do?" she said with her hands on her hips.
"Uh…" he thought about it. "Cook?" he answered.
Julia sighed as her hand came to her forehead. "I should've known you would say that…" She was well aware of the fact that not only could Jesse not cook, but he was so bad at it, his mother would write him notes to excuse him from having to participate in cooking or baking activities in school. She believed him when he told her he was barely allowed in the kitchen at home, and that it was dangerous.
"I might try to make something again someday, as long as there's a fire extinguisher nearby," he grinned and she giggled softly as she tried to hold back her laugh.
"Just go home, Jesse," she shook her head.
Jesse stopped laughing and grabbed his bike. "Yep, I gotta get going, see you tomorrow!" he said and hopped on his bike.
"See you tomorrow," Julia waved as she watched him ride off and around the corner after he passed the gates. Once he was gone, she tucked her hair behind her ear and walked off alone.
Even though the wind was chilly as be peddled his bike, Jesse thought it felt nice as he rode towards the countryside. The ride was mostly uphill, but that was nothing for him these days. He was as fit as a horse. Instead of taking the shortest route to his house, he took a detour so he could pass by the cemetery. Today he did not plan to stop and visit, but he still wanted to wave to his grandfather along the way. He knew exactly where his grandfather's headstone was.
Jesse had heard that sometimes the spirits of humans would stick around for some reason, but he had never seen any. However, duel spirits were plentiful. He would see them around, usually only around other duelists. Sometimes he wondered why he seemed to be the only person he knew that saw them, but then he would forget about it. It was not like he thought himself insane. Somehow, he just knew it was meant to be this way.
When he got home, he dropped his bike by the side door as he normally would and went in through the kitchen. The house seemed empty. The driveway was empty too. When this happened, he knew just where to look. There was a note on the kitchen table.
'Got called in. Will be home early in the morning.
Love you,
Mom xoxo'
Jesse left the note where it was and turned to the refrigerator and was about to open it when he saw some oranges on the counter and took one before sitting at the table to peel it. The house was empty and quiet. Not even the dog or cat had followed him inside when he got home.
"It's… kind of lonely."
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Author's Note:
Just an average life so far. Kind of boring and lonely, nothing too bad.
For this fanfic only (of mine), Jesse has less than perfect vision. He's too perfect in the anime, so he needs at least one minor flaw (physically), though nothing wrong with magane. I thought about trying to see how making him either completely or red-green color-blind might work, but decided against it. Losing his contacts is a problem though, so he's not getting them back until he might be able to go a while without losing one.
Notes about grammar and typos should be sent through PM, so reviews don't become irrelevant.
