Going Pro

Chapter 3: A Friend's Struggles

The next few weeks passed by before Jesse Anderson even realized it. He got back into school mode and got a new duel simulation game for his handheld game station and since there weren't many people to duel against at school with class breaks being so short, he would play his game a lot at home. It was supposed to be a really long game, but he was already over halfway through it.

Right in the middle of the week one Wednesday morning, he was almost late for school from staying up late playing his game. After hurrying, he was going to just make it on time. Sometimes it kind of sucked to live a little over thirty minutes away by bicycle.

He locked up his bike and jogged inside with only a few minutes to spare. As soon as he entered the building, he heard several students laughing in the hallway. Jesse wasn't really interested in whatever they were doing, he needed to be in his class seat on time since his first period English teacher was strict about that. Just as he passed the group of laughing boys, he couldn't help but stop when he saw familiar straight chestnut hair in a less than usual position.

Julia was kneeling on the floor in the hallway picking up her books. Jesse didn't really think anything of it, everyone had clumsy moments, especially at school, and in the morning. Even he fell over this morning in his hurry to get his pants on. He approached her and kneeled down as well to help pick up some papers that had slipped out of a folder. It wouldn't be very nice to leave a friend when he knows how strict their teacher is about being late.

"There ya go," he smiled as he handed her the folder, and as soon as she looked up at him, his smile dropped when he saw tears being held back in her eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She sniffed and forced a smile. "What? Nothing," she said as she took her folder and carried it with the rest of her things.

Jesse looked behind him and realized the boys' comments and laughter was directed at them, though mainly her. Frowning, Jesse stood up quickly and approached the boy in the middle. Jesse knew the guy, he was current vice-president of the Duel Monsters Team, and a well-known senior. There were three others with him, making two seniors and two juniors in the group, but Jesse didn't care about that. "You did this, Chris," Jesse stated.

The senior known as Chris raised an eyebrow at Jesse. Chris stood about six inches taller and had to look down. "No man, she fell all on her own."

"Oh I get it, you tripped her," Jesse accused. "What kind of guy are you? You can't just go around tripping girls."

"I didn't trip her," Chris defended with a wide grin.

"Then one of you did," Jesse said. He was sure of it. The tears in Julia eyes, the laughing boys, and the blood he now noticed on her knee. If she had tripped on her own, she wouldn't cry even a little, but she was targeted and mocked.

"Jesse, I'm okay, it's doesn't matter," Julia tried.

"Yes it does," Jesse gritted. "Guys like them make the rest of us look bad," he said and looked back at the other guys. The confrontation had started to gather a crowd as other students stopped to watch or wonder what was going on. "Ever heard of being a gentleman? Even if it was an accident, you help the lady pick up her books, not point and laugh like idiots."

"What did you call us?" One of the juniors questioned.

"Idiots," Jesse repeated, slowly and clearly. He was sure he was going to get punched in the face for saying it, but he didn't care if that happened. Not like he wanted to go to class anyway. Heck, if the guy broke his glasses, then his new contacts would come sooner than he thought.

"You wanna go, you brat?" Chris threatened.

"Name your game, I'll be there," Jesse challenged. Chris was about ready to grab him when a teacher yelled at the growing group of students to get moving since the bell was about to ring in a minute. Everyone started to scatter and shuffle along.

"If you think you can beat me in a duel, you're dead wrong. Meet me in front of the school on Friday after school, loser loses their best card and their uniform, meaning you'll have to leave in your underwear," Chris said.

"You're on," Jesse agreed, though his fists clenched.

"Jesse! You can't agree to that," Julia exclaimed.

"Later, Losers," Chris laughed as he turned away.

"The stakes don't matter, I won't lose," he said loud enough for Chris and his friends to hear as they headed to class. Chris made an offensive hand gesture before going around the corner. Jesse turned back to his friend he smiled a little. "Besides, someone has to prove them wrong, I'm defending your honor here."

"You don't need to do that, Jesse," she defended. "I'm not some damsel."

Jesse chucked and they started walking to their class. "I know, but I've been itching to duel, this just gives me a good reason to by sticking up for a friend, not to mention the stakes he put in place make things more interesting."

"You're crazy…" she sighed. "But if you lose, I won't forgive you," she smirked. "So why do you think he set it for Friday?"

"Fridays are when there will be the biggest audience, he wants to humiliate me when everyone pulls out their cameras and phones," Jesse explained. "Also, I think there is an event today and tomorrow they're dueling another school's duel team."

"Oh yeah, today's Wednesday," Julia remembered.

They barely got to class on time and didn't get to talk again until it was over. Jesse had kept an eye on his friend and noticed that even though she seemed alright when they talked, she was still anxious and withdrawn.

"Hey, Julia," Jesse started. "Don't let guys like Chris get to you, the next time someone pulls something like that, yell at them, tell a teacher, duel them, whatever it take to call them out on what they did."

"I'll try," she nodded.

"You're a nice person, so I don't want to see you get taken advantage of," he added. In the short time he's known her, he quickly became aware that she avoided confrontations. She tended to suffer in silence and let the world go on. He could tell there was always something she wanted to say to him too, but she never did. Jesse figured it couldn't be that important, but he'd be just a phone call away when she decided to spit it out.

"Thanks, Jesse."

Jesse nodded and watched as one of Julia's friends came to talk to her. He got lost in thought quickly. Not even thinking about his classes, his mind was set on the upcoming duel.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

Jesse sat at his desk in his room that night with his cards laid out in front of him. It was getting late. He should be going to sleep. Anxious wasn't the right term for how he was feeling, but excited wasn't quite right either. No matter, his body was restless enough for sleep to be near impossible. He wished Track and Field would start earlier in the year. Nothing good came from having too much energy and nothing to do with it. Maybe that's why he was so quick to pick a fight? Not that he thought he picked one, but he was mature enough to admit that he kind of did a little.

Now that some time had passed since the confrontation this morning, Jesse realized how silly and rash it was. However, he didn't regret the outcome. He was sticking up for his friend, one the nicest, sweetest people he had ever met, who didn't have the nerve to put others down. Just this once, he was going to do it for her. Hopefully she'll gain a little confidence by watching him. Like him, she didn't seem to have a lot of other friends either, and no enemies. She had never been a target until now. Jesse knew she wasn't asking for it. It just wasn't possible she did anything to warrant a mistreatment, not by anyone, especially those guys.

Just who did they think they were? If they were so great, they would be at one of the Duel Academies dueling everyday, instead of dueling team at a regular high school. Since those guys thought they were so high and mighty just because they were upper classmen and one of the held an officer position on the dueling team, Jesse didn't mind the thought of taking them down a peg. Even though Jesse normally didn't want to see people hurt, humiliated, or mocked in any way, he thought this might be fun.

Jesse had headphones on even though he was home alone and could listen to music on the speakers instead. It was out of habit. His mom had the night off tonight, but went out on a date with her new boyfriend instead. It was getting close to midnight, so Jesse hoped she was alright. He also hoped she wasn't getting too drunk.

He was surprised when his phoned buzzed as he received a text message. Picking up his phone off his desk, he looked at the message. Thinking it would be from his mother, he was shocked to see it was a message from Julia instead. She never texts him late at night.

"I don't feel well. I'm probably not going to be at school tomorrow. Sorry if I woke you up." - From Julia.

Jesse scratched his head as he thought about how to reply to that. It was quite late, he should be asleep right now. Although, so should she. She was probably about to go to sleep too.

"Hope you feel better :)" - Message Sent.

Since he had spent all this time waiting up for his mother, Jesse finally gave up and turned his music off and went to bed. He kept his phone nearby, just in case. After taking off his temporary glasses, sleep came to him easily as soon as his head hit the pillow.

At some point during the night, he heard his mother come in and say something to him. He only managed a small groan before turning over and pulling the covers up to his chin. Before he knew it, he felt his mothers hand on his forehead for a few seconds when she said something again right before she left and closed his door again.

In the morning, Jesse had to drag himself out of bed after his alarm clock went off. Eventually, he managed to get up and going with great effort. He barely even recalled when his mother got home earlier that night. She was still sleeping as he got ready for school and he didn't want to bother her. Hopefully she hadn't asked him to do something, because without a note, he couldn't recall whatever it might have been. He continued to think about it as he quickly did his morning chores. He was running a little late, so he had to everything quickly. Feed the animals, change their water, toss a stick for Joe to chase as he did everything, and he even gave the cat a couple pats on the head as he headed back inside.

Jesse sat at the kitchen table with his bowl of cereal and turned on a small television that rested up on a shelf. He made sure to keep the volume low to not be a disturbance. There weren't any big name duelists competing this season, so the rookie leagues were getting more attention. The graduates of the Duel Academies around he world were spoken highly of, even if their record wasn't the absolute best.

When he finished up his cereal, he looked at the clock and realized he was supposed to leave ten minutes ago. He would really have to hurry to school to make it on time. Yesterday he was only a little behind schedule, but today there was no way he'd make it there on time. He certainly didn't want to face his teacher. She could be scary.

"You know what?" Jesse said to no one. "I'm skipping today."

He didn't want to go to school anyway. It was boring and there wasn't anyone to duel, at least not until Friday. Chris sure was confident, but then again, so was Jesse. One of them was going to lose their best card and their uniform when it was over. Julia wasn't happy about the whole thing though. Jesse felt kind of bad about it. It was his decision to pick a fight, but it was actually her fight if she had wanted it. That was the problem though, she wouldn't fight. Conflict and confrontation were things she actively avoided. In fact, it was thanks to her that Jesse was saved from getting into trouble on two separate occasions. Now that he thought about it, he never even thanked her.

"I'm the worst," Jesse deflated. He had to think of something he could to make everything up to his friend. Just winning the duel on Friday wasn't going to be enough, since she didn't want the duel to take place anyway.

With a burst of inspiration, Jesse got an idea. He moved around the kitchen quickly and gathered up various items from the cabinets and refrigerator. After rolling up his sleeves, he grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the sink and placed it on the kitchen table for even easier access. He was going to make soup for his ailing friend.

- - - - - - - - line - - - - - - - -

Author's Note:

I repeat, there are no pairings/ships in this fic. Even though Jesse is male and Julia is a female, this is not a canon/OC story. Like all friendship genres, you are free to interpret their interactions as you like. You are allowed to ship it or anti-ship or whatever the kids are calling it these days, and of course, be completely neutral.

Next up, Jesse gets to duel. If he waits any longer he's going to go crazy.