Florence woke up to the unbearable repetitive beeping of her alarm clock.

"Argh! Stupid thing!" She cursed, slamming her hand down on the off button rather harder than necessary. Florence groaned as she clambered unwillingly out of her bed rubbing her eyes. Throwing one last longing look at her bed, she slowly made her way to the bathroom when suddenly she was knocked to the ground by an enthusiastic April.

"Hi! Sorry!" April exclaimed, picking herself and her half-awake sister off the floor.

"S'okay." Florence replied groggily, although smiling slightly. "What's with the excess energy?"

"Well, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm sort of looking forward to school." April said happily.

"Ok, whoa! You're already dressed – you must be excited!" Florence chuckled, "I'm just about to get dressed too – I'll see you in a minute April!" She said yawning.

God, this uniform is absolutely ridiculous. Florence thought. The previous morning she had barely had chance to register what she was putting on, but this morning it horrified her. It barely covers my thighs! In addition, it was pink. Not a very popular choice with her.

Florence cringed as she smoothed down the skirt's crumpled material, attempting to cover the large amount of flesh exposed by the clothing. It wasn't as if she had a bad figure, but she was self concious, and this uniform really wasn't helping. With a last sigh and a lingering glare at the mirror, Florence shook her head before dragging herself downstairs.

"Finally!" April exclaimed cheekily when Florence appeared at the bottom of the staircase, large rings of tiredness circling her eyes, giving her sister the appearance of an owl.

"We were all thinking that you were never going to come out, and that you'd miss school!" remarked Mum.

"Hmm, and I'm not sure that would be such a bad thing." The older sister muttered under her breath so that only her sister would hear.

"Hey!" April said, gently nudging her in the ribs, "Come on – it isn't that bad – plus I've seen a few boys eyeing you up – and nice ones at that." The younger sister teased with a cheeky wink.

"Hmm." Florence pretended to be unfazed, but April's sharp eyes registered the light blush that rose to her face.

"Oh! We've got to go in five minutes!" April exclaimed suddenly, looking down at her watch and jolting up from her chair, "Let's go!" The teen shouted enthusiastically, after woofing down the remains of her breakfast in record time.

"Ok, coming." Florence replied, sighing as she pushed aside her uneaten cereal, and grabbed a banana whilst being pushed out the front door by April.

Florence was privately quite glad that her sister was getting on well at school, but she often found it difficult to show her emotions – this was one of these times.

April looked back at her sister trailing behind her, she frowned, worried. "Florence, what's wrong?" she asked, putting her arm out to stop her sister as they walked down the road.

Florence looked up, breaking out of her thoughts, then smiled slightly as she saw the fiercely concerned look on April's face.

"I'm fine." Florence replied softly, looking down at the ground.

"No you're not – I know you're not!" April demanded, sometimes she could read her sister's mind, as Florence could often read hers. "Florence! You've got to move on! Dwelling on the past isn't going to help." She said, encouragingly holding her sisters hand. "Remember, you helped me, so I'm always going to try and help you back!" April added fiercely, her eyes flashing.

"Thank you April" Florence said smiling once again, as she raised her eyes to meet April's. "C'mon, else we'll be late for school – and we don't want that!"

As April and Florence reached the school gates, a shiny black limo swept past, throwing dust into their faces. It stopped a few meters ahead of them, and none other than Seto Kaiba stepped out, smirking slightly as he saw Florence covered from head to toe in a coating of dust.

"Hmph!" Florence remarked, as she saw his smug expression "Typical boy." Then she hastily brushed off her clothes, sending Kaiba's retreating back a withering glare before turning on her heel and striding over to join her sister.

They walked through the gates together until April spotted her new friends.

Before making a beeline for them, she glanced over her shoulder to see her sister daydreaming again. She couldn't resist the urge to shout: "Hey! Florence! Watch out for lover boy there!" April pointed to Seto Kaiba, as she burst into giggles.

"Huh…" Florence saw where her sister was pointing and scowled "Hey you cheeky little…!" The older sister started to say, but April hid behind her friends, so the blonde sighed, smiling, and started to think up a plan of revenge as she headed towards the main school block.

Florence walked into her classroom with a smile on her face – no one could ever cheer her up as well as her sister could, and they never had.

Later on at lunch:

Yugi didn't appear at lunchtime, so when the clock indicated there was only a few minutes until break's finish, Florence decided to give up waiting and instead went to the canteen alone.

"Hey April!" Florence shouted suddenly upon recognizing her distinctive sister within the crowds of bustling people..

"Hi Florence!" April waved her hand, which was only just visible over people's heads.

April pushed her way through the crowd, attempting to reach her sister, although not succeeding.

"Almost there!" She panted, shoving the nearest person gently aside.

"Hey! Ouch!" A boy yelled, April looked up to meet the eyes of the tall blonde from the day before.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I seem to keep bumping into you!" April remarked, blushing bright red.

"What's your…." He started to ask. When Florence appeared, and stood right in-between April and her new friend.

"April! What's up?" Florence asked, suddenly realizing that she had disturbed something "I'm so sorry, who was that?" She asked, looking around for the now absent boy.

"Oh, no-one, just the guy I bump into a lot…" April replied, a little distracted.

"Heh." Florence said, smirking slightly at the expression on her sister's face "I've still got to get you back for earlier!" she remembered conveniently.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" April said, snapping out of her 'trance'. "Oh yeah, Florence, I hope you don't mind, but is it ok if I hang out with my friends at lunch tomorrow? I mean, I'll stay with you if you want…?" April asked gently, laying a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Sure, don't worry about it. I'm glad you're getting on well" Florence flashed a true smile at her sister, meeting her eyes, showing that she really meant what she said.

"What about you…?" April asked her concern showing. 'She hardly knows anyone, and she's not exactly an easy person to get on with, I feel really bad about leaving her… maybe I shouldn't.'

"No April, you enjoy yourself – really" Florence assured her, "And if you don't go with them, I'll force you to!" She added playfully.

"Thanks Florence." April smiled back, feeling a little bit more reassured.

April told Florence about her new friends for most of their lunch, which they spent hastily shoving their lunches down their throats. Within moments of finishing her lunch, the bell rang for Florence's next lesson and she quickly departed from the canteen, leaving her sister alone. Sending one last glance at her sister as she left the canteen, Florence collided with a large, hard object. Instinctively grabbing the nearest thing to her to secure herself from falling, Florence grabbed hold of the 'thing'.

"Oh my – I'm sorry!" Florence apologized breathlessly, smiling nervously as she looked up to meet the gaze of whoever it was.

It happened to be the torso of the tall, icy brunette – Seto Kaiba. He turned abruptly, breaking Florence's grip, his eyes flashing angrily. Actually, maybe I'm not... she changed her mind.

"Hm." he commented, as he frowned down at her. "Move out of my way, and stop wasting my time!" He demanded in a dangerous voice. His cold eyes once again meeting Florence's, who, as a natural reaction glared back with twice the ferocity.

Enough was enough. Not only was he a jerk, but he was also a rude jerk.

"Huh! And what right do you have to boss anyone around – Seto?!" Florence exclaimed loudly.

"My name is Kaiba!" He shouted over his shoulder.

"Whatever!" Florence replied, trying to provoke a reaction from him, not knowing why she did so.

But Seto Kaiba just kept on walking, proving he didn't care at all.

"Stuck-up git!" Florence muttered venomously under her breath, still glaring after him. Suddenly the blonde realized that she was still sprawled inelegantly on the floor, as a large hand entered her vision.

"Here." Said a deep voice that she sounded vaguely familiar. Florence looked up to meet a pair of serious, enigmatic, dark purple eyes and recognized the spiky-haired boy, Yugi. Inclining her head in polite thanks, the teen's dark eyebrows joined in a puzzled frown as she noticed that although the boy was Yugi, he seemed somehow… different. Almost as if it wasn't actually Yugi, but someone who looked like him.

Don't be so ridiculous! She told herself.

Florence felt blood rise to her face as she realized she had been staring at the short - but now, for some reason - taller boy, for far longer than was polite. "Thanks." she smiled, as she gratefully accepted Yugi's extended hand. At that moment, the teacher arrived, and so did a group of kids who gathered around the tri-colour haired boy.

Yugi briefly glanced over and met Florence's eyes once, before smiling back quickly, and turning to his friends.

After school:

Florence decided that she wanted to do some exploring, so when she got back home, she quickly changed into a t-shirt and jeans.

"Bye Mum! I'm going out for a little while, see you later!" Florence called as she strode out the door.

"Bye Florence, don't forget to be back before – " The door slammed behind Florence before she got to complete her sentence. Florence's Mum sighed, smiling as she saw her daughter walk down the road, being careful to stick to the pavement.

Florence found a signpost at the end of the road, and decided that she wanted to go to the park – after all, it would be the perfect place to think the day through without worrying.

When she finally reached the playground, she vaulted over the wooden fence to sit on a swing, wrapping her arm around the chain absent-mindedly.

"Hmm." she murmured thoughtfully as she breathed deep the fresh air, relaxing, and closing her eyes.

All of a sudden, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone quietly sitting themselves on the other swing.

Florence opened her eyes abruptly to see who the newcomer was. She saw a short boy with deep, intelligent, grey eyes and raven hair that was just all over the place – making her smile a little.

Both of them just sat there for a while, thinking separate thoughts, swinging gently, and listening to the trees whispering in the wind.

After a time, the young boy stood up, looking at his watch, and walked over to the gate, as he reached it, he suddenly turned around and made eye contact with Florence. He smiled – looking somehow familiar to her, although she couldn't think of whom he reminded her.

"Thank you." He whispered quietly, still grinning.

"No problem". Florence whispered back, and winked. She liked this kid, even though she normally didn't like little kids very much. This one seemed smart, nice, and respectful.

With one last cheeky smirk he skipped out of the playground, and Florence watched until he disappeared around the corner of the street.

Florence stood up and stretched herself, yawning again. 'Well, today wasn't so bad after all' she thought to herself happily.

Lunchtime, next day:

Florence looked into space, a little sad that April wasn't with her, but glad she was with her new friends. 'Hmm, shall I get lunch or shan't I?' Florence thought, then she heard the voice of April intrude into her mind: 'Florence – you have to eat! If you don't, you'll get ill – then what would I do?!' Florence smiled as she remembered this, with that, she decided to get herself some lunch. But to her surprise, she found a familiar boy sitting on a seat next to her.

"Hi Florence!" he said, a familiar blush creeping across his face.

"Hello!" Florence replied, remembering how she had promised to have lunch with him a few days previous. I swear his voice was deeper last time I saw him! How odd!

"Erm… so I wondered if you'd like to come eat lunch with me today?" Yugi asked, his cute smile spreading across his face as he reached up to scratch his head self-conciously, looking for all the world like an embarrassed, strangely-coloured hedgehog.

"Sure, of course Yugi." Florence accepted, grinning as Yugi neared the colour of a tomato.

They walked together to the canteen, attracting a few vicious stares in the process. Ignoring the bystanders, the two teens quickly found a table and Florence sat down while Yugi moved towards the long lunch queue.

"Would you like a burger Florence?" Yugi suddenly asked, turning back to his new friend.

Florence shuddered slightly – she loathed fast food. "Urgh, no thanks! … Sorry, that came out wrong. No thank you Yugi, I don't really like fast food – especially as I'm vegetarian." She corrected herself quickly, feeling some blood rise to her face.

Yugi just smiled lightly. "That's okay Florence, everyone's entitled to their own opinion." And Florence smiled back in response. He was sweet.

"See you in a minute Florence!" Yugi shouted as he squeezed into the queue and was swept along. Florence pulled her packed-lunch out of her bag whilst she waited.

A few minutes later, Yugi returned with a lush green salad "Better than a hamburger?" He asked playfully, as he picked off a leaf of lettuce and jammed it in his mouth..

"Hmm," said Florence, pretending to think and watching with amusement as Yugi proceeded to eat the salad like a rabbit. "Only slightly!" They both laughed and continued with their meals.

Just then, a group of kids from the same year appeared and plonked themselves down on the chairs surrounding the table.

"Hey Yuge, how's it goin'?" bellowed a tall, messy, blonde-haired boy with chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm okay Joey, this is my new friend – Florence" Yugi introduced her, gesturing politely towards her.

"Hi!" said Joey, a tall girl with shoulder-length brown hair, and a towering boy with his dark hair in a big spike.

"Erm…hi" Florence muttered shyly. She didn't like everyone's attention being fixed on her, so she took a big bite of her sandwich, hoping that they'd go away and leave her in peace.

"Damn!" Florence shouted suddenly, as the entire contents of her ex-sandwich landed on her lap Argh! This is so embarrassing she thought so much for not being the centre of attention!

"Bad luck Florence, d'ya want me to go get some tissues?" Joey asked, as he tried not to laugh. Unfortunately for him, Florence noticed his ill-concealed amusement.

"I don't need a dog to fetch anything for me, when I'm perfectly capable of getting it myself!" Florence snapped, annoyed about the fact that she'd just embarrassed herself in front of everyone.

"Hey, it's ok Florence," said the brown-haired girl, laying a hand on Florence's arm. "Calm down. I'm Tea and…" she trailed off as she saw the icy look on Florence's face, and Tea rapidly removed her hand from the blonde girl's shoulder.

"Thank you." Florence said calmly, making the three newcomer's flinch slightly. Even though the new student was shorter than all three of them, she seemed to have ten times the attitude to make up for it, they observed warily.

"Florence, I'll get some," Yugi said kindly, running off before she had a chance to protest. Florence glared at Tea as she watched Yugi's every movement. Florence wouldn't have been surprised if Tea had started drooling from the way she looked at Yugi. 'Poor guy' Florence thought.

"What's up Flo? What've I done wrong? Joey asked Florence, sounding slightly hurt at the way she snapped at him.

Florence looked round furiously, as she heard Joey calling her 'Flo'. She scowled at him icily.

"What you've done wrong Wheeler, is exist." came a cool voice from behind Florence, making her jump in shock, a turn around to meet a pair of deep blue eyes.

Kaiba smirked slightly as they did, and Florence was about to respond in kind, when she remembered how he had been so arroganr, so she decided to glare at him instead, although perhaps not quite as ferociously.

Without warning, Kaiba started laughing as he caught sight of her lap, seeing the contents of her sandwich splattered messily over her skirt.

Florence turned bright red, and ducked her head down to avoid further embarrassment.

Just then, she heard Yugi return and politely say: "Excuse me Kaiba, I'd like to get to my seat." Kaiba abruptly stopped laughing upon recognizing Yugi, glared at him, then turned his back and strode away moodily.

"Here you are Florence." said Yugi, carefully laying the napkins on her lap, smiling up at her.

"Thank you Yugi." Florence whispered gratefully, bringing her gaze up to meet his. As their eyes met, he gently pressed a note into her hand and winked at her.

Florence frowned, a little uneasy as she pondered the contents of the piece of paper. She smiled back at him warily.

"Yugi-"Tea started to say. But unlucky for her, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch break.

"Wow!" Yugi exclaimed "Lunch seemed really short, anyway, I'd better go, I'm right over the other end of the school for next lesson – see you guys later!" He said, waving, and sending Florence a cute smile.

Joey, Tea and the boy with brown hair all moved as fast as they could to get away from Florence, afraid that she might get annoyed with them again. She smirked, satisfied, as they fled into the crowd.

Someone brushed past her arm, as she pushed her way through the door, and as they did so, it tingled slightly. Florence raised her hand and rubbed the spot where the sensation was occurring. Suddenly, she remembered the note she'd been given by Yugi. Florence opened up the scrunched piece of paper and read it as she walked along.

Hi Florence,

Just wondered if you'd like to meet up this weekend – maybe me and you could even have a duel?! My grandpa owns the card shop, so if you want to come, meet me outside at 10am on Saturday.

Hope you can make it,

Yugi

P.S. There is something I want to show you – and DON'T WORRY the rest of the gang won't be there!

Okay, so sue me, I couldn't be bothered with editing this one much so it's still pretty much in it's original form. Please review.

Thanks for reading.

~ DragonGirl