Chap 3
Noelle spent an hour in the mirror trying to cover up her bruise with her make up. She wore a little bit of powder foundation everyday and it made her skin look flawless but today, it just wasn't working out for her. You could still see the black and blue under her eye and around her cheek. She tapped more of her foundation into the top, swirled her brush into the powder, tapped it and buffed more onto her face. It covered it a little bit more but you could still see it. Maybe she should have brought concealer too? Noelle never really had a lot of blemishes so she didn't think she needed it. Well, apparently she did.
" What am I going to say when I get to school?" Noelle spoke to herself while looking in the mirror. She thought for a few moments and finally came up with some bogus excuse. " I know! I bumped into a pole on my way to the... grocery store." Noelle listened to herself and thought her excuse sounded completely lame. Noelle sighed. She decided that she had put on enough makeup. She didn't want to look like a made up Barbie doll. Noelle cut the light out in her bathroom and headed towards her school bag. Molle and Cameron followed Noelle to the door.
" You guys stay here. I'll be back later. I left you guys food in your bowl and if you have to use the bathroom, please, go in the box, kk?" Both dogs barked. " See ya later." Noelle then left closing the door behind her making sure to lock it.
Noelle was already on her 1st flight of stairs. She had to climb one more and she would be on her classroom floor. When Noelle climbed her 2nd flight of stairs she walked down the hallway, passed 4 classrooms and there she stood in front of her classroom. She took a deep breathe and told herself remember I ran into a pole. She slid the door open and put one foot through the door. She was really surprised. Where was everyone? She was the only one inside of the classroom. She looked at her watch and noticed that she was about a half hour early.
" That's odd. I could of sworn that my watch said 7:30 before I left the house." she sighed. " Well I guess there is nothing to do but wait for everyone to get to school. Noelle pulled out her compact mirror to look at her face. It was still kinda noticeable. The makeup did help. She closed refusing to put on anymore makeup. She just had to make her excuse sound believable. 15 minutes flew by and Noelle was sitting at her desk trying to figure out the rest of her math homework. Noelle was good at math but it seemed like Japanese algebra was a bit different than American algebra. It was a little bit more complex. It wasn't just your simple plug in the numbers and find your answer. The classroom door slid open and in came a boy and a girl.
" Good morning!" They both said to Noelle.
" Good Morning!" Noelle tried her best to put on a fake smile. The two made their way to their seats which were side by side each other. Noelle redirected her attention to her math problems. Eventually she figured them out. Another 5 minutes went by and the next person that came in the classroom was none other than the one, the only, Seto Kaiba. He had on his stern face as usual but Noelle could tell that he was exhausted. After all, he was a CEO and she could imagine the hours he stayed up at work. Seto took his normal seat. Seto never really liked to show up to school too early. He always made it a habit to come at least 5-10 minutes before the bell rang. Today, he was an extra 10 minutes early. He wanted to plop his head down on his desk just for those 10 minutes but sipped on his morning coffee instead. He had to finish it before class started. That would keep him awake for those boring 8 hours. He sipped the warm, yummy espresso. Noelle watching Seto dropped her pen on the floor. Kaiba turned around to see what had fell and saw Noelle getting her pen. When she turned around he saw the black and blue on her face. Noelle took her seat and just gazed out of the window. Kaiba faced forward and sipped his coffee.
" What happened to your face?" Kaiba asked. Noelle turned to respond to Kaiba.
" Who? Me?"
" Um. Yes. You. You're the only one in this room with a bad bruise on their face." Noelle blushed. " What happened?" Kaiba asked again.
" Um... I was going to the grocery store and I was looking where I was going. I ran into a pole." Kaiba sat in his chair with his coffee cup near his mouth listening to Noelle's excuse. He could tell that the bruise on her face wasn't from a pole. He knew that someone must have hit her.
" That's funny. I didn't take you to be the clumsy type."
" What's that suppose to mean?" Noelle asked the back of Kaiba's head.
" Nothing." Kaiba chuckled. He continued to sip his coffee. Noelle clenched her skirt with her hands. Kaiba stood to his feet to through out his coffee cup and sat back in his chair. He faced Noelle. Noelle's eyes met the stern eyes 3 seats in front of her. All he did was let out a laugh. What a jerk Noelle thought. Why was he laughing at her? It wasn't funny. The door slid open and in stepped Joey, and Tristan. Kaiba turned around in his seat.
" Noelle! Good mornin!" Joey yelled for the doorway. Both boys stepped into the door and made their way over to Noelle's desk.
" Good Morning guys." Noelle said. Tristan and Joey exchanged glances and looked at Noelle's face at the same time. Tristan grabbed Noelle's face using his thumb ad index finger.
" What happened to your face?" Kaiba listened for Noelle's response. Was she going to give the same excuse that she gave him?
" I ran into a pole on my way to the grocery store." Yupp she did.
" Man dat doesn't look so good." Joey said. " You must of hit that pole really hard."
" Yeah I did." imagine how bad it would look with out the makeup Noelle thought to herself. Kaiba laughed to himself. Of course wheeler would by that excuse. He thought to himself. Ring Ring. Kaiba reached into his bag and pulled out his cell phone. He had forgotten to turn it off. He answered.
" Seto Kaiba speaking." Joey and Tristan didn't realize that Kaiba was there or neither did they care. " Yes...Mhm...I see... Well can't you take care of it until then..." Noelle could tell that Kaiba'a mood was changing. " What do I pay you for?" Kaiba yelled into his phone. " Can't you idiots do anything right?... Send a limo right now. I'll be there in 20." Kaiba cursed under his breath. Noelle continued to look at him He finished one phone conversation and dialed a number into his phone and started another.
" Man... That rich boy." Joey said amongst Noelle and Tristan. " He's probably planning his world domination." Tristan snickered. Kaiba arose from his seat. When he did he was facing Noelle, Tristan and Joey. He unbuttoned one of his uniform jacket buttons. He finished his phone conversation and hung up the phone. He dumped it into his bag and closed it. He made way for the door. When he got there he stopped.
" You should really put ice on your " Pole" bruise. It'll help." emphasis on Pole. Kaiba then stepped out of the door. Noelle looked at her books.
" How does he know?" Tristan asked.
" Yeah you tol' him?" Joey added. Noelle nodded.
" He asked."
" Since when does Kaiba care about others besides himself?"
" Dunno." Tristan answered. At that time Yugi and Tea walked through the door. They both headed to Noelle's desk. Then Bakura stepped in, then more students.
" Oh my gosh!" Tea exclaimed. Bakura gasped.
" What happened to your face!" Yugi and Tea asked at the same time. Noelle laughed nervously.
" Well... You see.." She began again.
After school Noelle went home to get Molle and Cameron. She dumped their waste box and fed them so hot food. While they ate she held and ice pack to her cheek and completed her homework. " You guys ready to go for a walk." Both dogs wagged their tails and barked " yes " Noelle rushed downstairs and grabbed the dogs chains. The dogs followed behind her. She put the on the leash and headed out of her house. She walked for a while. While walking she passed by at least two parks, a burger store, a hobo, an old lady gardening and some kids playing duel monsters on the street. She had to be at least 20 minutes away from home. It was fun exploring Domino City. It was such an interesting town. It was much better than her old township. She continued to walk for a longer period of time making sure to be aware of her surroundings so she can find her way back home. Before she knew it she stood in front of a huge house. Mansion was the best way to describe the rather large, long building. Cameron started to tug hard on his chain.
" Calm down Cam." Noelle said pulling the handle of the chain so Cameron could calm down. He kept tugging and started to growl. Noelle's eyes were fixed on the beautiful white stoned mansion when Cameron broke lose from his chain.
" Cameron! Get back here!" Noelle yelled after the dog. The dog ran threw the fence of the mansion and scurried his way out of Noelle's sight. " Oh no!" Noelle exclaimed. Molle barked. Noelle picked Molle up into her arms and looked at the tall fence in front of her. She held Molle in one arm while using her other arm to climb over the fence.
Meanwhile inside of the Mansion...
Kaiba was sitting at his desk inside of his study. He had a pile of documents to store away and another pile of paperwork to fill out. He had just came home from the meeting that pulled him out of school about 1 hour ½ ago. His little brother Mokuba sat on the black leather couch playing a video game. He turned his attention to his brother and saw all of the paper work he had to do. Mokuba shifted in his seat.
" Do you need help big bro?" Kaiba looked at Mokuba. He was such a helpful kid. He sighed.
" No Mokuba it's ok, I got it. Thanks for asking." Mokuba knew once his brother said no he meant no. Kaiba continued to type. Beep beep beep. It was the intercom on Kaiba's desk. He was already irritated from all of the work he had to do. Who was it bugging him and what did they want? He pushed the red button.
" What?" He snapped. His bodyguard Roland answered.
" Sir, there is an intruder on the premises."
" An intruder?" all of a sudden the security screen in the study flicked on. Kaiba and Mokuba directed their attention to the screen. They saw two more of their bodyguards holding a young girl and a dog. Kaiba didn't recognize who it was at first but when he zoomed the camera in he saw that it was his fellow classmate. Noelle. He pushed the red button again.
" I'll be down in a moment." Kaiba said getting up from his desk. He put his jacket on and headed for the door.
" Hey! Wait for me big bro!" Mokuba ran out of the study with his slippers on.
" What are you doing here little girl!" One bodyguard hissed. These men were frightening. ' Don't you know that you're trespassing? This is private property! Leave immediately or else we will have to use force!"
" I just want to get my dog that's all!" Noelle yelled at the man.
" Right. We heard that one before." The bodyguard grabbed Noelle and pulled her arms behind her back as if they were arresting her.
" Hey! That hurts!" she screamed. The other guard held Molle in his arms. The dog was squirming.
" Let's go your coming with us!" the man said pulling Noelle towards the front.
" No! Stop! I have to get my dog! He ran through this fence! Really!" she yelled.
" Mhm sure." Kaiba and Mokuba came out of the side way entrance of their home.
" Hey!" Both bodyguards turned around.
" Mr. Kaiba?" they both exclaimed at the same time.
" Kaiba?" Noelle thought to herself.
" Can't you assess see that the girls harmless! Let her go! NOW!" He hissed. He made both men jump.
" But sir, she was trespassing on private property." One of the guards hand shook.
" I don't care! Did you not hear me! Let her go! Or else... you two want to find a new job." The guard holding Noelle let his grip on her arms go and the other guard gave her Molle back. " Now get back to your positions!" Kaiba snarled. The two built men left. Noelle stared at Kaiba and let Molle lick her face.
" Thank You." Noelle said.
" ..." Kaiba didn't say a word but turn on his heel.
" Look Miss. If you're hear to get a date with my brother it's not gonna work. He's WAY too busy to pay attention to you." Mokuba said with his hands on hips. Noelle responded to Mokuba's remark.
" I'm not here for that reason. I didn't even know where I was. My dog ran through the fence here and I just want to get him back. That's all. I'm not here for Kaiba." Mokuba looked at the girls eyes. He's cheeks reddened. He could tell that she was telling the truth.
" So why didn't you say so?"
" I did but those two guys didn't believe me." Mokuba sighed.
" Follow me." He said. " Stay close too."
" Kk." Noelle responded.
" What's your dogs name?"
" It's Cameron." Noelle answered.
" Cameron!" Mokuba called out into the air " Where are you!"
" Cam! It's me! Noelle. Come on boy!" Noelle whistled. She heard a dog whimper from somewhere. So did Mokuba.
" Come on! This way!" Mokuba said turning the corner of the mansion with Noelle behind. They both stood in front of a tree. Mokuba gasped.
" Big Bro? What are you doing up in a tree?" Mokuba hadn't seen Seto climb a tree since he was a kid. Seto jumped down from the tree landing perfectly on his knee as if he was asking a girl to marry him. In his left hand he had Cameron. He couldn't believed he climbed a tree to get a mutt. This time an actual mutt. Not a mutt like Joey Wheeler.
" Cameron!" Noelle said happily. " How did you get up there! I was so worried about you!" The dog whimpered in Noelle's arms. Molle barked. " Don't scare me like that ever again!" Noelle kissed the forehead of the dog. She looked at both Mokuba and Kaiba.
" Thank you so much." she was really thankful. Seto didn't say anything.
" You're welcome Miss." Mokuba seemed to be fascinated with the dogs. Kaiba walked in front of Noelle.
" Are you always getting yourself into trouble? Don't you have anything better to do?" He asked her. Noelle blushed.
" I am really sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you. I just was going to get my dog and leave. Nothing less. Nothing More." Noelle said with a sigh. Kaiba turned around to see his brother playing with one of the tiny pups. He rolled his eyes.
" Follow me." He said to Noelle. " Those mutts better be potty trained too or else they'll be made into my slippers." Cameron whimpered when he heard Kaiba's remark. Noelle covered his ears.
" Hey Seto? Do you know her?" Mokuba asked. Kaiba nodded.
" She's one of my classmates." Kaiba answered.
" Oh cool." He said still fixated with Molle. All three of them went inside of the mansion.
Noelle was blown away by the size of the house. The floors were marble and there was a water fountain inside of it too! [ the ones you see at a mall with pennies and nickels in it ] The floors were marble, The ceilings had beautiful crystal chandeliers. Take about classy. She continued to follow Mokuba and Kaiba down a long hallway. Mokuba turned around walking backwards to face Noelle.
" I'm Mokuba." He said cheerfully. " I'm Seto's brother." Noelle had figured it out when she first saw Mokuba. They did resemble each other a bit. " What's your name?" Noelle looked down at the small boy. He had to be at least 11-12 years old.
" I'm Noelle." She answered. She clung to Cameron tighter.
" Cool name. But isn't that a name for a guy?" Noelle glared at Mokuba. She could tell he meant no harm.
" Mokuba, What did I tell you? Don't ever question your guest with silly questions." Mokuba blushed.
" Sorry."
" It's ok. I didn't mind." Noelle said picking up her pace. She was still fascinated with Kaiba's house. It was so freaking incredible. Everyone stopped in front of a large door. In front of it was two men dressed like waiters. They both bowed down and opened the door. Noelle followed Seto and Mokuba into the room. Noelle's jaw almost dropped. It was like... she stepped into a ballroom or into a fairytale. The ceiling was full of gold crystal chandeliers and there was a long table. Was it glass? Noelle couldn't tell but it was so shiny. The walls were a light brown which went perfectly with the gold chandeliers. Noelle could see another huge door. She supposed that it led to the kitchen.
" Sit." Kaiba insisted. Noelle did as she was told. She sat down putting Cameron on the floor besides her. " I'll be back. I need to go to the washroom." Mokuba followed. Noelle gazed around the extremely large room. It was so beautiful. Cameron and Molle seemed to be fascinated with the room too. Noelle sat in her seat waiting for Kaiba and Mokuba to come back. They came back in about 5 minutes. Kaiba took his seat across from Noelle and Mokuba sat at the end part of the table. Normally Seto would sit there because he was head of the mansion but since Noelle was his guest he decided to sit across from her so they can make direct eye contact. Noelle felt a bit uncomfortable with silence so she decided to break it.
" Um... Where is your bathroom?" she asked. Kaiba glared at Noelle. He answered.
" Second door down the hallway to your right." Noelle stood from her seat.
" Thanks." She then left out of the dining room. She followed Kaiba's instructions and found her way to the bathroom. Woah was all she could say. The bathroom was ridicously huge. There was 4 sinks and a stained marble wood floor. There seemed to be a hot tub in there too. She looked at the toilet and saw that there was gold trim around the bottom of it. The faucets were gold too. Noelle quickly washed her hands, dried them onto the towel next to the corner sink and made her way back to the dining room. There Mokuba and Kaiba watched her walk into the room. Mokuba blushed. He did think that Noelle was kinda pretty. Noelle took her seat. Seto was drinking a glass of wine. Wasn't he under the age 18? Should he be drinking wine? Mokuba glared at her. He leaned in close to her.
" What happened to your face?" He asked. Seto shot him a death glare. " Ops... Sorry." Mokuba apologized. A waiter appeared from behind the doors. He spoke with a french accent. He filled Kaiba's glass with more whine. Kaiba sipped more of it.
" Any for you miss?" he asked.
" Um.. Sorry but I don't drink." Kaiba laughed. Noelle's cheeks turned a bright pink.
" Give her some. And a glass of water too." Kaiba implied. The waiter nodded his head. He poured the whine into the glass besides Noelle. Who was Kaiba to make decisions for her? The waiter poured more whine into Kaiba's glass before he left Kaiba told him...
" Whatever scraps are in the kitchen, Heat them and give them to those to dogs over there."
" Yes sir." the waiter answered. Kaiba sipped from his whine glass again.
" I take it you never had a glass of whine before." Noelle shook her head. " It's ok. It's low on alcohol. You wont get drunk off of it." He sipped more of his whine. " It taste just like grape juice. Just not as sweet." He was sure to make eye contact with Noelle. Noelle didn't know what to say. She couldn't believe that she was in Seto Kaiba's house at his dinner table. So many girls dreamed of having dinner with Seto. They would be so envious if they saw Noelle at the moment. The waiter came out with the glass of water and 3 other men and women holding their dinner in the hands. They placed the plates in front of Mokuba, Seto and Noelle and put the two tiny bowls on the floor in between Mokuba and Noelle. On the plates were stuffed salmon with some creme sauce and a yummy looking pasta. On the side were some carrots. It looked mouth watering. Everyone began to eat their food. Kaiba chewed and swallowed.
" Are all of you American women just as bothersome?" he asked. He took another bite of his fish. Noelle could tell he was kidding around.
" No. I guess you can say im prone to trouble." Noelle answered. Kaiba grinned.
" You're from America?" Mokuba asked. Noelle nodded. " Cool."
" You almost get hit by a truck, your dog gets stuck in a tree, what's next? A burning building?" Noelle looked down at her dogs. They were so happy to eat human food for a change instead of just the regular kibbles and bits.
" You know... Maybe that'll be next." Noelle joked. Kaiba couldn't help but smile.
After dinner Kaiba took Noelle home in his Limo. Even the limo was incredible looking. She thought. It was a pretty silent drive on the way to her house. She could tell that Kaiba wasn't a man of many words. She just gazed outside the window. The Limo pulled up in front of her house. Noelle could see that the lights were on. Ken was home. The driver opened the door for Noelle. Before Noelle got out the car she tapped Kaiba.
" Thanks for rescuing Cam."
" Who?" He asked. Noelle picked up the sleeping puppy. " Oh. Just make sure to keep him on a leash next time." Noelle laughed.
" Thanks for dinner too it was yummy."
" Anytime." Kaiba said his attention directed to Noelle's house. It wasn't a mansion but it was a big house.
" Good night." Noelle said getting out of the car.
" Night." Kaiba said in response. The driver closed the door behind Noelle and wished her a good night. Noelle did the same and walked to the front of her door. Just when she was about to use her keys to open the door the door flew open. Ken violently grabbed Noelle by her hair causing her to scream and drop Cameron.
" Where were you?" He asked still holding onto Noelle's hair. Noelle was shaking.
" I'm sorry. I-I-I was with a f-friend. That's all. We had dinner." Noelle didn't want to anger Ken even more. Ken let go of Noelle's hair. She picked up Cameron and Molle.
" It's not nice to keep someone waiting. I waited for you for an hour. I didn't even know where you were." Ken felt the urge to hit Noelle but he saw the bruise that he left on her face so he decided not to hit her. " You're a troublesome kid. Just get out of my face." He told her with his back directed to her. Those words did hurt Noelle but she didn't hesitate and stick around. She flew upstairs as quick as possible. She closed her room door behind her. She place Molle and Cameron on her baby blue silk sheet bed. She was actually having a good time with Kaiba she forgot all about the time. Noelle smiled to herself. She dumped her bag on the floor besides her bed. She walked over to her bathroom and grabbed her hair brush and comb. She changed into her night clothes, washed her face, brushed her teethed and sat back on her bed. She combed her hair and braided them into two little pigtails. Noelle dug inside her bag and grabbed her cell phone. She saw that she had 5 missed calls and text messages from Tea asking if she was busy. She quickly responded to Tea's text and wrote... sorry I didn't respond to you earlier. I was really busy. She closed her phone waiting for a response. It was already 9:30. Maybe Tea had fallen asleep. Noelle's phone rang loudly in her ear. She opened it and read the message. It's ok. What were you busy with? Noelle began to reply to Tea's message. I had dinner plans with some one..that's all. =p Noelle wrote. Noelle smiled and closed her phone. Kaiba wasn't as bad as everyone said he was. She actually thought Kaiba was cool.
