Disclaimer: I do not own YGO or McDonalds
Thanks to: Little Atemu, svakee2000, Darkhope, RoseGoddess874, The Broken Bow, Anime-Alee, Amazoness Archer, Sailor Star Universe, Racegirl, Daikaio, Shining Friendship, AerinM, Hysterik-Angel, Wild Falcon Spirit, Luthien Anwaman, and sweetmidnight.
A/N(1): Well, this chapter is pretty boring. The next chapter will be better, I promise. And I looked up Tristan's birthday, and it is on April 19! Woo-hoo! This story is so accurate! LOL, just kidding. And sorry Hysterik-Angel and Luthien Anwaman, my favorite Joey/Mai writers, but no Joey/Mai in this chapter. I made a mistake. It's next chapter. And Sailor Star Universe, sorry I couldn't have this fic up before your prom. Hope you had fun, though.
Title: Just A Night
Chapter Four: Bite the Dust
April 7th, 2005
"So, anything going on in school?" Tea's mother, Oki Gardner, asked as she mixed pancake batter in a large, ceramic bowl. Tea looked up from her "Prom Dresses" magazine and answered:
"No mom, nothing is going on. Why, is there supposed to be?"
Her mom let out a good-natured laugh. "Oh Tea, you know what I mean," she said, as she winked at Tea. "Any boys? I'm sure the Senior Vice President has plenty of admirers!" Tea closed her magazine and looked at her mom.
"Not in the least. Really, who would go out with me?"
"Give yourself some credit, Tea, you're a Gardner!" Her mom let out another laugh as she poured some batter into a well-buttered frying pan. Then, "What about that nice, kind boy who walked you home several times?"
"What--?" Tea dazed out for a minute to remember, but when the image came to her head, she almost jumped out of her chair. "Not Masazaku! No mom! He's gross!"
"He seemed pretty nice to me," Oki said, grabbing a spatula from the drawer.
Tea breathed in slowly. "Mom, there is no way I'm going out with Masa! Now, can we change the subject, please?" She said, pleading with her eyes.
"Fine, fine!" Oki said, lowering the dial on the fire. She then turned to Tea. "But when the right boy comes around, and you two start getting intimate, you need to make sure you're ready. Don't just do it because he's pressuring you. You need to want to do the boom boom."
"OH MY GOD!" Tea yelled, covering her face with her hands. She hated when her mom referenced sex as "doing the boom boom." It was so explicit, yet old-fashioned.
"Tea, I'm being serious. When the time comes, and you want to do it, make sure you use protection. Sometimes when you're in the heat of the moment, you don't think. You just want to do the boom boom without ear plugs." She flipped the now-brown pancake.
Tea sunk in her chair. Now her mom had used "ear plugs" to mean condoms. "Mom, it's okay. I won't--"
"Sure, you may think you'll be ready, but as soon as the friction between--"
"MOM!" Tea yelled, looking at her mother. "Please, I'll be okay."
Oki looked at her daughter. "Oh Tea! Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful experience. I remember the first time with your father--oh! Looks like the pancakes are done." Using the spatula, she transferred each pancake from the frying pan to a plate. "Pancakes?"
Tea stared at them. "Uhh...no...I think I'll pass.."
Picking up her bookbag, Tea looked out the window for her friend, Joey. Usually Joey would pick her up and take her to school because she was on the way. She liked it, all except for the fact that Joey drove 60 mph in a 15 mph zone. "Tea?"
Tea turned her head. Her mom was calling her from the kitchen. 'Come on, Joey! Come a little faster!' she yelled in her head, as she heard her mom's footsteps. 'No, I can't survive another lecture!' It was then she saw a black car pull in her driveway. 'Yes Joey!'
"Sorry, mom! Gotta go!" She then ran out of the door, hoping that her mother wouldn't be too upset at her when she got home. Once outside, she looked down at her uniform to make sure everything was in order. Smiling with satisfaction, she glanced over at Joey's car. 'Wait...that's not Joey's car..'
As she peered through the windshield, she caught blonde hair like Joey, but it blended into a pink and purple color. She felt like stopping in her tracks once she realized who it was. She knew she couldn't, however. 'You'd look like an idiot.'
Now that she had walked up to the passenger's window, the window cracked open. "Hey Tea! Joey asked me if I could pick you up today because he couldn't. I hope you don't mind."
She shook her head, now opening the door and climbing in. "Thanks."
Nodding, he turned his head to see if any cars were coming, then he quickly pulled out of her driveway and on to the main road. The ride was quiet because of Tea's uneasiness to speak, but finally she came out with: "So, how are you? I haven't seen you a lot because we only have Chemistry together."
"Yeah," he said, "most of my classes are with Ryou or Tristan."
She didn't answer. She only looked out the window, watching the many restaurants they drove past. 'Burger World...Joe's Grill...All-U-Can-Eat Buffet...' She thought, as her stomach started bubbling. Her mother's talk had made her miss breakfast, which meant she would be starving until lunch time.
It was then her stomach let out a growl from the torture of thinking about food when it couldn't have any. Tea held her stomach and blushed furiously. 'My stomach just growled in front of my crush...' Then, trying to keep her cool, she said: "Oh sorry, I didn't eat this morning."
"It's okay," he said, making a left into a McDonalds, "we're a little early for school anyway. What would you like?" He glanced over at her, which made her blush even more.
'Alright, stop acting like a Yami fangirl.' She cleared her throat and looked at the menu they were slowly approaching. "Umm..it doesn't matter. I guess an orange juice and an egg and cheese sandwich." He nodded as they pulled up to the speaker. It was then a familiar voice blarred through the speaker.
"Yo, welcome to Mickey D's! What you be having?"
Tea's mouth almost dropped. "Is that Joey?" she whispered to Yami, who slowly nodded his head. He was just as surprised as her to see him working this early in the morning. The voice then called again:
"What you be having?"
Yami, shrugging his shoulders, voiced his order and waited for Joey to give him the price.
"Uh..give me a sec...hmm..is that a two? Umm..that will be around five fifty-one. Pull up to the next window," the employee said, as the speaker crackled with the sounds of pots and pans.
"Did he say around five fifty-one?" Yami said with a laugh. Tea nodded, joining in the laughter. As Yami pulled the car up to the next window, Tea grabbed her purse to find the amount for her meal, but she was stopped by Yami. "Don't worry about it, I got it."
Tea looked at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I--"
"YO GUYS!" the same voice from the speaker said to them from the window. "How y'all been?"
As Tea moved her head to see Joey, she stifled a laugh. He was in a bright red apron with a white hat that had the McDonalds' symbol on it. He also had a mouthpiece that extended a few feet from his mouth awkwardly. "Hey..." was all she could get out without laughing.
"Why are you working here so early?"
Joey sighed. "I'm doing some overtime hours to pay for Mai's ticket." Tea nodded slowly, as she now remembered "prom tradition". When asked to prom by a girl, the girl had to pay for her date's ticket. And vice versa with the boy. She supposed Joey was gonna ask Mai, and pay for her ticket.
It was then a strange thought occurred to Tea. If Joey did ask Mai, what if she couldn't go? She opened her mouth to ask, but she couldn't burst Joey's bubble. It was like punishing an old dog for trying to learn a new trick.
"Well, anyway, here's your order. That will be...umm.." He looked at the screen. "Oh man, did I just delete that dude's order?" Scratching his head, Joey stood there staring at the screen.
"Here's six dollars, Joey. Keep the change." Yami said.
Joey winked. "Wow, I didn't know I got tips on this job." Then, laughing, he left the window for a second and came back with their order. "Well guys, I'll see you in school. My shift ends in ten minutes."
Yami took the order with one hand and waved with the other. "See you in school." Then, passing the order to Tea, he drove into the parking lot, where he parked. Tea swallowed hard, slightly nervous.
"Umm...I think this is yours," she said, taking out a packaged sandwich.
"Thanks," he said, as he took the sandwich.
Their hands awkwardly touched for a second.
Tea pulled away hastily. She knew she would turn into tomato if she held their current position. Then, glancing in the corner of her eye, she noticed that Yami wasn't moving a muscle. 'He doesn't like you like that, Tea. Just talk to him like you used to in Battle City.' Taking a deep breath, she said: "Thanks again. I just haven't had time to eat with dance, student council, and homework."
"Student Council?"
Tea took a bite into her sandwich. Then, once she swallowed, she said: "It's like a committee that runs and manages the class. I'm the Vice President of the Senior class."
"Oh, why not the President?"
Tea smiled. "I didn't want to run against my friend, Miho."
"Scared you would have beat her?"
Tea blushed, though not afraid for Yami to her do so. "It's okay. Miho's doing an excellent job with prom."
"Prom is like a dance, right?"
"Yeah," Tea nodded, "it's like dinner and dancing in fancy clothes. Nothing really special about it. I just have to go because I'm on the Student Council." She took another bite of her sandwich.
"You don't want to go?"
Tea sighed. "There's no point in going when you don't have your"--she turned her head toward him--"significant other to share it with." They sat there, eyes searching each other's for a moment. His violet dark skies casting over her sea of blue. It was an artistic picture, nonetheless.
Then Tea broke away, embarrassed. "But I'll still have fun with everyone there."
"Yeah," nodding, he looked at his watch. "Ready to go?"
She crumpled her wrapper into her palm. "Yeah, let's go.."
After Yami and Tea arrived at school, they went down their separate hallways to their lockers. Tea sighed as she walked down the hallway, hugging her books against her chest. Just to be in the same car as Yami made her nervous. She wondered how long she could hold her feelings in.
"Hey Tea!" Kaname chirped, walking beside her. "I can't believe you bagged Masa finally!"
Dazed, Tea turned her head. "What?"
"C'mon Tea! I'm your friend! You can tell me!"
Tea stopped and turned to her friend. "No, really. What are you talking about?"
"Rumor has it that Mr. Popular jock and Ms. Vice President are going out. Can you confirm?" Kaname asked, now setting down her books near her locker, which was adjacent to Tea's locker.
"NO!" yelled Tea, almost dropping her books. "There's no way I would go out with Masa!"
Kaname winked. "Why not?"
"Kaname! He's like...a pervert! He's also been out with half of the girls in this school!" defended Tea, now opening her locker and shoving her books in. She couldn't believe rumor had spread around that she was going out with Masazaku. Who could have spread that rumor? "MASA!" she yelled, as she grabbed her bookbag and walked to the other side where his locker was. As usual, he was talking to some girl. "Masa, I'd like an explanation."
Masa turned around innocently. Then, looking back at the girl, he said: "I'll talk to you a little later." She nodded and walked away, slightly fuming that he would blow her off for Tea Gardner. "How can I be of service to you?"
"Telling me why the hell the whole Senior class thinks we're going out!"
Masa smiled. "Tea, Tea, Tea. It's only a rumor. Don't get that cute skirt so bent out of shape." He tried to touch the hem of her skirt, but she moved back furiously.
"You pervert! Don't even think for a second we're going out! I don't date trash!"
She turned around to leave, but he pinned her against the locker, his hand on her hip. "Don't be so harsh, Tea--"
With all her strength, Tea punched Masa in the face. Everyone dropped their conversations with their friends to look at the scene before them. Masa was on the floor, holding his bloody nose, while Tea was standing there, shaking her hand.
Yami was even in shock. He was talking to Tristan when the incident happened.
"ALRIGHT! Don't crowd around him!" A strong voice yelled as he pushed through the crowd. Tea swallowed hard. It was the Principal. "You...and you! My office--now!" he yelled, pointing to Tea and Masazaku.
'No...I didn't mean to!' Tea screamed in her head. Everything seemed to be replaying in her head slowly. Masa. The punch. Him falling to the floor. She wanted to hold her head and cry against the wall, but she had to stay strong. Especially when facing the Principal.
There was mutters and whispers as Tea and Masa followed the Principal. Tea didn't care. She was just worried about her student record and position in Student Council. Nothing else seemed to matter. Not even Masa, who had blood sputtering out of his nose.
"Come in, both of you." The Principal said calmly, holding the door open for the two of them. "And you, here's a towel," he said, throwing a towel at Masa. "I don't want you bleeding all over my new carpet."
As the principal seated himself in his chair, he laced his fingers and looked at the both of them. "Tea Gardner, as a member of Student Council, I'd like to hear from you first."
"Well...um...there was rumors spreading around that Masa and I were going out. It wasn't true, so I decided to confront him with the rumor--"
"With the punch?" The principal interrupted.
Tea shook her head. "No, I just asked him about it and then he told me that it was only a rumor. He then tried to touch my skirt, but I moved away." She was about to continue when the principal interrupted her.
"Masazaku, is this true?"
"Yes, but--"
"Good. Continue Tea Gardner."
Tea liked the principal already. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to Masa's side at all. "When I started walking away, he put me up against the locker and started saying something, and that's when I...hit...him."
"You punched me for no reason!" Masa shouted.
Tea swallowed hard. He was right. She didn't really have a reason, except for the fact that she hated his guts. She was surprised that she handled the situation like so, but it was too late now. She couldn't go back and stop herself from doing it.
The principal cleared his throat. "Actually, Masa. That's a sexual offense. Tea felt that you were handling her uncomfortably, so she had the right to use self defense against you."
Masa's mouth dropped open.
"Yes, if Tea wanted to, she could press charges against you and take your car, house, and everything that you own. Then, it could go on your permanent record and you could be sent to juvenile hall."
Masa stared. "That's not...Tea...you wouldn't..."
"She can. Tea, do you want to?"
Tea looked at the principal, then Masa. "No, I don't wish to."
"Good, now leave Masa."
Masa ran out the room as if he saw a ghost. Tea didn't make any move to leave until she was asked to. "And Tea, don't worry. I will not use this against you on your student record. I'm only going to call your mother and tell her what happened."
Tea nodded. "Thank you. I'm sorry for all of this."
"No," he shook his head, "you did the right thing. Even if you didn't know it was a sexual offense, Masazaku deserved it." He smiled, then stood up. "And don't worry, all those things I told Masazaku weren't true. Sure, it could go on his record, but the court can't take anything away from him. Let's just call it a scare tactic." He winked. Then, "You may leave."
"Thank you," the brunette said, leaving his office. 'Wow, he's got to be the coolest principal ever...'
The hallway was empty as Tea walked to her first class, Chemistry Honors. Though she was relieved that she didn't get in trouble, she still felt like she did in the pit of her stomach. Maybe because she hit Masa? She shook her head. "I may be nice, but I'll never feel sorry for Masazaku."
Now walking up the stairs, she was a few feet from the Chemistry room. Breathing in, she walked into the classroom. All eyes went on Tea. They knew what happened.
"Tea, why are you late for my class?"
Tea looked at the teacher. "I had to see the principal."
The teacher nodded, and continued to teach her class. Tea sighed, walking to her lab table, where Yami was trying to keep her eyes off of her. He had been worried about her, but now that was here, he was glad that she was all right.
"What page are we on?" she whispered to Yami
"Page three fifty-four," he whispered back, "you're okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, fine." He nodded and looked back at the board.
A smile crept on her lips, but it was short-lasted when an announcement blarred through the lab: "TEA GARDNER, PLEASE REPORT TO THE MAIN OFFICE. YOUR MOTHER IS HERE TO PICK YOU UP!"
Closing her book, Tea excused herself from class and walked back downstairs. Sure enough, her mom was sitting there, with a smile on her face. "Mom, why are you smiling?"
"I'm proud of you, honey," her mom whispered as they walked out the building together. "I came to pick you up because I know that people would be bothering you all day. That happened to me once. I hated it." Tea cracked a smile, though she wasn't sure her mom should be proud. "I'll take you home, and then I have to go to work. You'll have the house all to yourself."
Tea, bewildered, remained quiet. 'I don't know what the principal told her, but I'm sending him a fruit basket.'
Tea, now in her pajamas, yawned slightly as she turned on the television in the living room. She couldn't believe she hit Masa. She couldn't believe she was home. This day was definitely weirding her out. Flipping through the channels, she found herself already getting bored...
"Oooooooooooh...who lives in a pineapple under the sea-" She flipped again, "Today on Divorce Court-" Flip. "Que? Gracias-" Flip. "We just got word that Michael Jackson has been arrested once again for the charges of molesting-" Flip. "Holla back, yal! BET is proud to bring you rapper-" Flip. "The House of Representatives-" Flip. "We understand how hard it is to lose weight, that's why we bring you-" Flip. "...and just for 20 cents a day, you're contribution will be-"
"UGH!" Throwing the remote on the floor, she drove her head into the nearest pillow. "Maybe I should just try to sleep. Not like anyone is around to disturb me."
"Ryan, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you." Tea lifted her head up, eyes locking on a man and a woman holding hands. "The remote must have changed the channel," she whispered, about to change the station.
Something, however, kept her from doing so. "I thought you said that there would be no secrets between us..." Sitting up, Tea listened attentively. "This is no secret, you and I both have known this for a long time. You see, ever since you saved me in that car accident, I've fallen in love with you."
Tea eyed the soap opera. "Wow...that kind of reminds me of..Yami and me...when he saved me.." Resting her head on the pillow, she sighed dreamily. "Too bad I'll never get a chance to tell him.." Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep...
"YO TEA! Are you there?" a voice called from outside, followed by loud bangs on the door.
Tea's eyes cracked open as she looked in the direction of the front door. "What happened?" She looked at her watch. "I slept for six hours!" Standing up, she tried to fix her hair as best as possible. Then, pulling on her sleeves, she opened the front door.
Joey, Yami, and Tristan were standing there, grinning. "Whoa, nice pajamas, Tea."
Tea looked down to see that she was still wearing her teddy bear pajamas. She blushed, but made no attempt to hide them. "Umm...do you want to come in?"
"Yeah, just make sure you put those fists where I can see them," Joey said as they all walked in. Tea resisted the urge to hit him over the head. "So, what did you do all day?"
"I...uhh...slept..."
Joey shrugged his shoulders. "Suits me." He said, throwing himself on her couch. Yami and Tristan did the same, but in a more casual way. Tea sat on the couch opposite of them.
"What's up? How was school?" she asked.
Joey sighed. "Nothing. Everyone was just talking about Masa. How you handlin' it?"
"I'm fine. Haven't given it much thought."
"Good grasshopper, we taught you well," Tristan said with his head low.
She threw a pillow at him. "Guys, seriously, did anyone say anything about me?"
"Ah, you know Masa is trying to play the victim."
Tea nodded at Tristan's statement. "Masa is a loser."
"Yeah," Joey said, "maybe we should have a 'Masa is a loser' party."
Tristan nodded. "Yeah, we can have it on the same day as my 18th birthday party next week."
"Birthday party?" Joey asked, curiously. "I didn't get an invite.."
Tristan laughed nervously. "Well...umm...maybe Bakura's ass ate it or something...you know that thing is big.."
"YOU JERK!" yelled Joey, as he lunged for Tristan. Meanwhile, Tristan had moved away and was now protecting himself with a pillow. "I'm gonna do a Tea on you!"
"Dude! I was kidding! You didn't have to use the means of The Tea on me. That's dangerous!"
Tea laughed, along with Yami, who had been quite silent during the ordeal. "Yes, it is dangerous. You need training before you can go forth with the attack."
Tristan and Joey sat Indian style and watched Tea intently. "Please, teach us the way."
Nodding, Tea looked at Yami. "Would you like to learn, too?"
"Yes master." He said, sitting with the other two.
Now laughing, Tea started teaching them the way of...The Tea...
To be continued...
Yup, that's it for this chapter. I didn't like it that much, but whatever. Next chapter is...the party chapter! Oh yeah! Put your hands up! Put your hands up! LOL. See ya then! And sorry for no Yugi in this chapter. We got into a fight yesterday, so I decided not to put him in.