Chapter 9

Lunch (cont'd)

Erasa pointed out the window of the sushi bar. "Look! Gohan and Videl are coming, and they're holding hands!" Erasa seemed to be the only one thrilled. The other three just rolled their eyes for different reasons. "What? You guys have been an awfully gloomy bunch... Is there something going on that I don't know?

"Nothing that you need to know." Trunks retorted.

Gohan and Videl entered the building and joined their friends.

Gohan rested his head on his hand and closed his eyes.

Videl gazed at him, curious as to what was running through his mind.

"Gohan, are you okay?" Valese tapped his hand.

Everybody stared. "Yeah I'm fine." Gohan didn't notice all eyes were on him until he opened his eyes. "What?" He sounded frustrated.

The teens quickly looked away. Videl's eyes began to tear. She stood up and trotted to the restroom before anybody noticed she was crying.

Gohan drummed his fingers on the table in frustration.

Trunks knew something was wrong. "Come on Gohan, let's go outside for a minute." Gohan stood from the table and headed outside with Trunks.

Erasa also stood. "Valese you stay here. I'm going to check on Videl." Valese nodded.

Outside

Gohan and Trunks sat on the concrete against the wall with their knees at their chest.

"Need to talk?"

Gohan stared into the sky and said nothing.

"Gohan, you and I have been friends since birth, you can tell me anything."

Moments passed before Gohan said a word. "Do you like Videl?"

Trunks' eyes widened. "What makes you say that?"

Gohan rolled his eyes. "I've seen the way you look at her. I know that look." He continued to stare into the sky.

Trunks didn't know what to say. Of course he didn't like her... Or did he? If he does, he can't tell Gohan that.

"No Gohan... Of course not..." Trunks could sense Gohan tensing up.

"Took you long enough to answer. If you're gonna lie to me, don't make it obvious."

"Is that why you're mad?" Trunks remained calm.

Gohan said nothing. He stood up and went inside to grab his backpack, then burst out the door and headed towards the school campus.

Women's Restroom

Erasa slowly pushed open the door and found Videl sitting on the floor sobbing.

"Videl!" Erasa ran to her side and kneeled beside her. She rubbed her back, giving Videl a chance to calm down.

"I... don't know... what to do..." Videl could barely speak. Her face was flushed and her eyes were red from crying.

"Awww Videl... You don't know what to do about what?" She continued to rub her back.

"Gohan... he's mad at me... and I don't know why... I tried talking to him... but he's not telling me anything."

Erasa handed her a tissue she ripped from a nearby counter. "It's okay. Things will get better. Just... just..." Erasa was at a loss for words.

Instead, she just held Videl close. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

Minutes later, Erasa walked out of the restroom and grabbed hers and Videl's backpacks. "I'm gonna take her to my house. She's not gonna be able to last the rest of the school day."

Valese stared down at the table. I hope this doesn't have anything to do with Gohan kissing me... I hope he didn't tell her...

Trunks had the same guilty look Valese did.

Videl slowly walked out of the bathroom, keeping her head low. She didn't want anbody to see how miserable she was. Erasa handed her backpack to her and linked her elbow with hers. "Bye you guys. I'll call you later." Erasa mouthed to Valese.

Orange Star High Parking Lot

Erasa helped Videl into her car. As she shut her door, she saw Gohan sitting on the hood of his car staring at nothing. She opened her door again, "Hey I dropped my notebook. I'm gonna go get it real quick." Videl nodded.

She jogged over to Gohan's car, and slowly approached him.

"Gohan..."

He glanced down at her, and back to the sky.

"She's really hurting over this..." No response. "Look, I don't know what's going on but please, can you find a way to work it out? I havn't seen her like this before, and I don't like it. It's hurting me too." Erasa sounded more sympathetic than she ever had before. "Can you at least tell me what's going on?"

Gohan fumbled his thumbs and slowly opened his mouth. "I... I'm confused... I love Videl... but the other night at Trunks' house..."

Erasa scooted in closer.

"I kissed Valese..." Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "And I know that Trunks' likes Videl and a part of me thinks she likes him too..."

Moments passed before Erasa could speak. "Well... What makes you think that?"

Gohan let out a sigh and rested his arms on his knees. "In homeroom... They're always passing notes to each other... and why would she ask him to give her a ride to school?"

Erasa thought for a moment. "Well she asked me but I couldn't pick her up... Maybe you should talk to her about it... Please Gohan. She's in my car, I'll leave you two alone if you just go talk to her."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm taking her to my house. She's too miserable to go to class."

RIIIIIIING The school bell rang, meaning the campus guards would seen be closing the gates to the parking lot.

Gohan slid off his hood. "I gotta go."

Erasa huffed and jogged back to her car.

Videl stared out the window, listening to her Ipod.

Erasa frowned and started the car. Gohan you're such a jerk.

Erasa's House 1:18 pm

Erasa brought in two bowls of chocolate ice cream and handed one to Videl who was laying on Erasa's bed. "Eat up. Chocolate always makes people feel better."

Videl sat up and began to eat it slowly.

"Hey um.. Videl... What do you think about Trunks?"

Videl stirred her ice cream around and shrugged.

Erasa smiled and began to act goofy again. "Well I think he's a hottie. If you had to choose between him and Sharpner, who would you choose?"

Videl rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Erasa. Nobody in their right mind would go out with Sharpner... Except you... Because you and Sharpner are so... Compatible with each other..."

Erasa smiled. "I know, it's great isn't it. Oh, so then you'd choose Trunks, right?"

Videl thought for a moment. "Yeah, I would."

"Do you find him attractive?"

"... Well... He's not bad looking..."

"Oh come on V, it's just you and I. You can tell me anything."

Videl sighed. "I am attracted to Trunks. He's a good guy... Compared to the way Gohan's acting..."

Alright, now we're getting somewhere. Erasa thought to herself. "So, if you had to choose between Gohan and Trunks, who-" She was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I'll be right back." She trotted down the stairs and slowly opened the door. "Gohan!"

"Is Videl still here?"

Erasa smiled. "Of course. She's in my room. I'll stay down here and let you two talk."

Gohan walked up the stairs and slowly opened Erasa's door. Videl was staring down at her bowl of ice cream.

"Hi..." He shut the door behind him and sat at the foot of the bed. "I'm sorry about today. It's been a long week..."

Videl set her ice cream on the bedside table and pulled her hair back into a pony tail.

"There's been something I've been meaning to tell you..." He waited for her to finish with her hair. "I kissed Valese..." Videl's heart pounded inside her chest. "I don't know why I did but..." Gohan thought it was better to just shut up.

Videl shook her head and stood up. "You are such a jerk. You think you can play two girls at once, well you're wrong."

Gohan grabbed her hand, "No, it's not like that. It was the night we went to Trunks. We had all been drinking. I wasn't intending on hurting you V." Videl put her hand over her eyes to hide the tears that began to fall. Gohan pulled her down to the bed and embraced her. "I was confused because I didn't know who I wanted to be with or why I even kissed her."

Videl slowly pushed away from him. "We've been friends for two fucking years Gohan. You just met Valese. And you're telling me you can't choose between us?"

"We've been friends for two years. I want more than that, and I was starting to think you didn't want to be with me."

"Well why havn't you ever asked me out!" She began yelling now. "We've kissed I don't know how many times, and we've always liked each other, so why havn't you made the move?!"

Gohan stared out the window. "Wow... I don't know... What's with you and Trunks?"

Videl's eyes widened even more. "You have got to be kidding me. Trunks is an awesome guy, but he'll only be a friend to me."

"Why'd you ask him for a ride to school this morning?"

"My dad doesn't trust you, so he told me to keep my 'boy toy' off of his property and find another ride to school. I asked Erasa but she couldn't. So I called Trunks."

Gohan thought for a moment. "So are we cool now?"

"I don't know. Are we? Or are you still confused?"

Gohan smiled. "No, I think I know what I want now."

Videl turned his face towards hers and planted her lips onto his.

Erasa, who was listening at the door the whole time, slowly opened it and pulled out her digital camera. Click "Aw, precious memories! I'm putting this one on my binder."

The two teens laughed. "Erasa you're so weird." Videl rested her head on Gohan's shoulder.

"So, what are our plans for tonight?" Erasa scooted a nearby chair in front of them and plopped herself into it.

"Nothing I guess. Since somebody's grounded."

Videl socked him in the thigh. "Well if somebody hadn't made me late to school, my dad wouldn't have grounded me. There's no way I'm going to be able to sneak out, or for you guys to sneak in, so maybe we should just let this night go."

Erasa pouted her lips. "Ugh your dad's such a party pooper!"

"Yeah... " Videl closed her eyes and continued to lay on Gohan's shoulder. All that crying can make a girl drowsy. "I love you, Gohan."

"I love you too." Gohan held her closer to him and kissed her on the cheek.

Erasa scurried out of the room to answer the house phone. Moments later, she returned to the room. "Videl, your dad's on the phone. I told him you got sick from lunch so I brought you here. Just go along with it." She handed the phone to her.

"Hello." She murmured in a weak voice. "Hi daddy... I think I ate a bad fish... No it's just Erasa and I... Ok, see you in a little bit... bye..." She handed the phone back to Erasa. "The school called him and told him I havn't returned to school. He wants me to come home."

"Right now?"

"Yeah. Erasa's gonna have to take me. He'll be pissed if he sees you.

The three walked outside and stood by Erasa's car. Gohan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her once more. "I'll call you tonight."

She smiled. "Ok. Bye."

Gohan waved and watched them drive away as he sat in his car. Shortly after, he left.

A/N: Okie Dokie. Thats it for this one.