Chapter 15
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She flattened the edge of her skirt against her legs, promising not to pick at it again for the fourteenth time this morning. Though she had already made up her mind, She found herself stalling to the very last minute of the last day possible. Turn in was actually due at the end of the week, but they only had fifteen extra slots and they were filling up fast. If she was going to do it, now would be the time.
She slid her chair out from beneath her and fingered the stuffed envelope. Her hands quivered and she couldn't quite find the strength to stand.
'This is worth it.' she thought to herself, spawning the energy and motivation to lift herself from the seat and make her way to the teacher.
"Hey Joey, um, can I talk to you?" Tristan straddled his motorcycle while Joey wiped clean the headlight for his own. Joey laughed.
"No, you can't eva talk to me again." He joked. Tristan gave a small laugh of his own.
"Joey . . . You know how we're best friends. . . and you know me better than anyone else." Tristan started. Joey gave him a weird look and waited for him to get to the point. "Well," Tristan said, clearing his throat, "You don't think I'm a bad guy right?" He finished for the moment. Joey was stunned. Why was he asking him stupid questions like this?
"No man, why?"
"You'd even say that a girl would be lucky to catch me, right?" Tristan asked, ignoring Joey's question.
"Damn straight. Why, someone saying shit about ya?"Joey asked, getting defensive.
"Not yet. . ." Tristan muttered quietly. Joey didn't quite hear him. "Joey . . . Can I ask your sister out?" Tristan spit it out, putting it all on the line. Joeys face flushed red.
"Wh. . .What? Are you kidding me? She's like . . .my baby sister. She's not datin til she's-"
"Thirty? She's a few months away from eighteen. And she's brilliant and kind and it's not like I'd be taking her away from you! We're always together, if anything, it's the best deal. You'll see her all the time, you know who I am, where I live and how to get a hold of me. I have a job and my own transportation, and I wouldn't take advantage of her. You said it yourself, a girl would be lucky to get me." Joey faltered. Tristan had rebutted every argument and point he had to make before he even made it. Taking it all in, Joey sighed deep.
"Tristan," He started.
It was barely a split second after the bell rang when students poured from the halls into the bright day ahead of them. Serenity had imagined the moments leading up to the day she was finally free of her father, and the moment she would taste that freedom, but she had never fully thought through the time immediately after. It was like she was given an entirely new life.
A slight breeze plucked her hair up and played with it lightly. Smiling, she tucked it back behind her ear and hugged her books to her. As she headed farther away from the school, she noticed Kaiba's limo pull up to the sidewalk where parents came to pick up students.
"Where do you like to go after school?" She heard from behind her. Kaiba had just exited the school, and she was directly between him and his ride. She smiled again.
"I didn't know you were allowed to ask questions outside of first block." She giggles, referring to her 'challenge'. He smirked.
"It's not against the rules." He said, dropping one of his shrugs. "Besides, today you said something about all my questioning starting to bore you, so I figured I'd go a different route." He said, opening the door to his limo and waiting for her.
"I go lots of places, but I think I like the park the best." Kaiba frowned a bit.
"It's winter." He stated. Serenity laughed.
"Well, if you don't want to." Serenity started walking down the sidewalk, passing the limo. Kaiba's eyes narrowed.
"Fine." He said, halting her. She turned around and walked up to the door he was holding open. She stood, chest to chest with him, or as close to it as she could, and locked eyes with him. He rolled his eyes in return. "Just get in." He could feel a smirk play across his lips.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Serenity had to keep herself from running to the banks of a small pond situated on the western edge of the park. About an inch of powdery snow covered the ground, save for the few stone paths that ran through the park.
"It's . . . a park." Kaiba said in return. Serenity scrunched up her face and jogged to where the pond met the land. After securing her books in her bag, she plopped on the ground and patted the snow next to her. Kaiba raised a brow.
"These are Armani." He said, noting his pants. Serenity laughed.
"If anyone can afford another pair of trousers, it's you!" She almost snorted as Kaiba frowned again.
"Just the trousers alone probably costs more than your entire outfit." He stated flatly.
"Hey, I'm proud that I only paid seven dollars for my pants." She said, twisting her legs and eying the clothing in question.
"You can tell" Kaiba folded his arms in front of him, and looked off to the side. He heard Serenity gasp.
"Well fine, stay up there party pooper." She went back to staring at the semi frozen pond grumpily. After a few seconds Kaiba's eyes wandered back down to the pouting redhead, and he couldn't help but smile.
Serenity felt a gentle thud, and peered up in time to see Kaiba sitting next to her, brushing the snow off the palms of his hands. Noticing her attention, he gave her a sideways glance and a half smirk, then fixed his gaze on the pond.
"How can you not say this is beautiful?" Serenity pondered while staring dreamily at the landscape. Kaiba toggled between the girl and the land in front of him.
"It's . . .a pond." When Kaiba returned to Serenity, she was looking at him as if he were blind. She ot up and stood behind him, with a hand on his shoulder, keeping him from twisting to face her. Kneeling behind him, she covered his eyes and rested her chin on his shoulder.
"You're gonna try this again." She said into his ear. "When I move my hands, I dont just want you to look. I want you to see it. First, everything at once, then every tiny little piece. Then once you've seen every individual thing there is to see, I want you to see it all at the same time again. Then tell me what you see." She said. She waited a few more seconds to let what she said sink in, then moved her hands, and scooted off to the side to watch him and make sure he was doing it right.
His eyes were closed under her hands, and remained closed for a few more seconds after she lifted them. She watched as they fluttered open, momentarily adjusting to the sudden light. His face was flat as blue orbs scanned the horizon slowly, and steadily. No time passed at all until those very eyes began darting around, taking in the surroundings. Slowly, Kaiba's breathing became deeper. She smiled as his features softened. Finally, his eyes closed, then opened. Kaiba inhaled shortly, eyes scanning like they did the first time. Serenity smiled widely.
"It's breathtaking isn't it? Have you ever seen anything so pretty?" She said, taking in what she had just taught him to take in. Kaiba's eyes finished their journey across the picture perfect landscape, and resting on her. He paused for a moment.
"Yes." Serenity made a confused face, as if she was contemplating trying to teach him all over again, and turned to look at him questioningly. Immediately her inquisitive look disappeared. She opened her mouth slightly, but he had already closed the gap between them. He had one hand at the nape of her neck, fingers brushed lightly through her hair, removing all thought from Serenity's mind and melting her in one instant. When he finally pulled away she lingered at his lips, pulled her own into her mouth and let her eyes flutter open. He was watching her. Taking her in as she taught him to take in the area around them. Her mind still hadn't started back up yet.
Kaiba let his had fall slowly from the warmth of her neck, brushing her silky skin as it fell. She was truly beautiful, in and out. He couldn't think of anything that could defy this fact. Then something flashed in his mind. Coal locks, dancing in the wind. A pair of chestnut eyes warmly peering at him through impossibly long black lashes. An emerald dress that showed just enough, but was elegant and classy. Her blood red lips curved in a half-circle smirk, all of it in a split second, raced through his consciousness.
He pulled back abruptly. Serenity watched a look of confusion cross his face, and took on one of her own. But there was a difference of confused looks. Hers was mixed with worry, Kaiba seemed almost sick. He looked her up and down, then averted his gaze as he seemed to attempt to keep his balance.
"I . . .This was wrong." He said, looking anywhere but at her. "I . . . I need to go." Kaiba stood and made his way back to his limo. He could see himself close the door to the limo and watched as his driver nodded to him and began to drive away. He couldn't remember what he said, or even hearing the door close. The only thing that registered was the limo pulling away as Kaiba saw Serenity frozen in place right where he left her.
"Hey Yugi, guess what?" Tea pulled up a chair next to him as he cleared some space at the table for her.
"What's up Tea?" He asked brightly.
"I . . .I'm going to Egypt!" Yugi stopped for a second, a little confused. "I bought one of the slots open to other students." She said, starting to worry whether Yugi's confusion was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Tea, That's great!" Tea's heart started beating again. "But . . . it's really expensive to buy into. Isn't it like, two thousand dollars?" He asked in amazement.
"I had been saving up for something but I thought this was a better investment." She said, giving him a light squeeze. "I wanted to be there for you- with you. This is important to you, and because of that . . . it's important to me too." warmth rushed through Teas face as a blush crept up on her. Yugi mirrored her blush and smiled.
"Tea. . . I'm so lucky to have a friend like you." He began to clear the table of the cards he was packaging for his grandpas shop, and grabbed a bottle of water for himself and Tea.
'Yea, a friend...' Tea thought to herself, forcing the smile to remain on her face.
Piercing sensations spiked through her fingers and legs, finally waking her from her daze. Serenity had forgotten that she had been sitting in the snow for... she couldn't remember exactly how long. She lifted herself immediately, brushing the snow from her pants and then her hands. 'Was it that horrible?' She asked herself. She didn't exactly ask for, or even expect Kaiba to kiss her, but surely she wasn't so disgusting as to scare him away from a single kiss. Was she? Serenity stood still, shaken to the bone.
'Maybe... Maybe he was right. all those times... when he said...' Serenity wandered home, the sun setting behind her.
A fog had moved over the town, making the morning seem to move sluggishly by. It was the kind of atmosphere that could put you to sleep even if you were a morning person.
He could feel a smile play across his lips as he brushed open his navy blue blazer. The silver edging of the article folded open easily revealing a black shirt underneath. His hand skimmed the liner of the blazer until he found the pocket he was looking for. A simple folded picture of a girl with honey eyes and auburn hair looked out at him with a warm smile.
He glanced around, taking in the well lit halls and half awake students. The neutral color scheme of white walls, tan lockers and a rich brown trim surrounded him.
'So . . .this is Domino High? What a dump.' He thought to himself, finally reaching his destination. His eyes wandered up to the door in front of him, then to the plaque on the wall next to it.
Mr. Hunt
AP Calculus
Room 213
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So, another update which I believe makes three in the last four or five days. Am I making up for lost time? The next update should come a bit farther down the road. I'm enjoying writing for all of you and seeing the hits and visitors raise every day. Dont forget to review to tell me what you think! I love to know exactly what you like about my writing so I can continue to do it possibly work on it to make it even better.
R+R+E! Love ya!