Hey guyz!

Chapter 2 is here... and I've decided to extend this story to three chapters. THREE chapters of awkward teenager hilarity. All changes have been reflected. Enjoy!

Chapter 2
In the Body of a Boy
Atemusluckygal
ALG Series

Two weeks had transpired since Téa and Atem were snowed in the Gardner home, and Atem was little to no closer to mastering control over his disastrously hormone-ridden body, or figuring out exactly what was wrong with him that night. It seemed to have a mind of its own whenever Téa was present, brought up in conversation, or even in neither circumstance and without provocation; it felt like a primal instinct, unquestionably repressed by being a spirit for so long and with no physical medium for release. There was simply no appropriate time or place to be thinking of that sort of thing with…

…with Téa? Why was it her in particular, even though there were other females in his circle? Serenity was a pretty girl, though far too young and innocent, not to mention Joey would sooner murder him than let him even try to pursue his sister. Aside from the obvious reasons relating to ill will on Atem and his friends, and even despite her physically appealing nature, Vivian Wong was much too shallow, and insane to boot. Even Mai seemed more sexually astute, but any attraction with her felt empty and superficial, evident of merely platonic interactions. Joey seemed to fancy her in a different way, however.

Only Téa seemed to be the subject of Atem's dreams, visions, and attraction, and it wasn't just the physical aspect. She was kind and intelligent, feisty and ambitious, and an extraordinarily loyal friend. She never flaunted, boasted, or otherwise drew unnecessary attention to herself, but she let no one get in her way when a goal was within her sight. Atem often reminisced to when he was privileged with a day spent with her, just him and her, and the ever so enticing show of exemplary dancing skills of which he never imagined possible. He remembered the protective instinct flaring up immediately as Johnny Steps continued to marginalize Téa and her victory, while also treating her as an object of desire he was somehow owed; how Atem remained as calm, collected, and controlled as he was, he was uncertain…

"So what's got ya so spaced out, Atem?"

Joey's elbow jab in the shoulder snapped Atem back to reality—reality being two armfuls of a very heavy box of new card shipments and a crisp early morning before opening hours. And his friends, Joey and Tristan, watching him suspiciously.

"Erm…nothing, it's nothing, sorry," he mumbled flatly. His face burned, and he wondered if he, too, glowed scarlet like Téa when she was gifted a compliment or embarrassed in any way. Only she could look so beautiful while so flustered.

"You're zoning out again," Tristan pointed out, giggling. "What's the deal? I've never actually seen you daydream before."

Daydream…

Tristan was correct. Atem was normally very present in his surroundings when around other people, and left the deep contemplating to when he was alone or when he resided in the puzzle. But it was different, now… his mind wandered without permission, unable to focus for more than a few minutes without going back to—

"Téa's coming over during lunch hour," said Joey, "let's go to that new café down the block. Apparently they have the best Belgian hot chocolate in town."

"Yeah, I'm down for that," chimed in Tristan.

Atem set the box on the counter, stomach turning and ears burning, and nodded slowly. He didn't know how to react normally from how disoriented he was.

"Sure," he finally said, after a bit too long of an awkward wait begging an answer. "I'll be right back, please excuse me." And not a second later, Atem dashed to the stock room in the back of the main floor, trying desperately to walk fast enough that the draft cooled his heated face. There was no way that could've seemed like normal interaction. His cool and collected demeanor had officially left the building. Splendid.

What is wrong with me?! Atem asked himself frustratingly, as he collapsed into the chair behind the small desk in the corner and surrendered his face to his hands. It was almost eight in the morning; if he was already having problems, this would turn out to be a very long day.

Atem stayed there, unmoving, with only the sounds of the fan on a nearby shelf and some loose papers fluttering lightly from its breeze. White noise. Atem had always preferred it over silence. It calmed him a great deal. His eyes closed and his breathing slowed down to normal.

"What is wrong with me?" he asked himself again, this time aloud. He let his voice be absorbed by the small, cramped room. He sighed heavily.

"Nothing is wrong with you," a voice forcibly entered Atem's ears and startled him so much he jumped and nearly fell out of the chair. Atem's eyes snapped open and found Yugi standing not ten feet from him, wearing pajamas and holding a clipboard and pen.

Atem could only stare at him blankly. How did he not notice that Yugi wasn't in the main room with him and the other boys?

"Whe—"

"I've been taking inventory for the past hour," Yugi answered, chuckling as he counted the boxes of chessboards stacked on the shelf immediately in front of him. "And there's nothing wrong with you. It just sounds like you are going through very normal teenage guy stuff."

Atem straightened himself. He was much more comfortable around Yugi. "And what do you mean by that?"

Yugi smiled widely, obviously suppressing a laugh. "Oh, you know. Girls."

"Girls," Atem deadpanned.

"Well, girl. One girl. A very specific girl."

Atem said nothing. He wasn't sure what to say, and he knew any weak attempt at denial wouldn't fool Yugi in a million years. Yugi scribbled something on the clipboard and moved two steps to the right, still keeping that damned smirk on his face. "She's tall, brunette, very intelligent, wants to be a dancer, and you slept at her house a couple weeks ago."

Atem released a defeated sigh. "Yes, I did. Nothing… erm… inappropriate happened. We are just frie—"

"But you wanted something to happen!" Yugi exclaimed, almost too loudly, and was now facing Atem with a gleaming, mischievous grin. "That's what it is, what is 'wrong' with you. Don't you get it? Solve the puzzle, mister King of Games!"

"So what you're saying," Atem began skeptically, plainly uneasy, "is that my supposed 'desire' for something… uh… something to happen between her and myself is correlated with my…"

Yugi rolled his eyes dramatically. "Yes, Atem. That's what I'm saying." He approached Atem's desk with a brisk, eager stride with an intensity rarely found in him. "She hasn't left your head, huh? You think about her all the time. You dream about her too. She is somehow present in every inhabiting thought." He brought his voice down to a whisper. "And these thoughts are not always, strictly… you know… rated E for everyone, huh?"

"YUGI!"

Atem darted his eyes away, heat returning to his face full force. His heart pounded heavily against his chest. The graphic nature of his visualizations he hoped would only stay in the confines of his own mind. How could he have known?

"Apparently she's coming over at around noon, and we're going to get hot chocolate or something," Yugi added, with a hint of smugness in his voice, as he turned away to return to his duties, "Just keep your thoughts in check and you'll be fine. My guess is that since you've been a spirit for so long, you've forgotten what being human is like. You know… a teenage boy. That's a lot of cumulative awkward hormonally-confused puberty years you need to catch up on."

"Wait," Atem beckoned Yugi back to the desk. "Yugi… how did you know? I mean, our minds have been separated for a lengthy period of time now, and although you know me more than anyone else, I've still barely begun to understand this… thing… myself." His eyes fell to the desk—he especially felt uncomfortable admitting ignorance.

It was Yugi's turn to be bashful. "Well… a few years ago, when we were still in high school, I kinda… sorta… went through that very same thing with Téa. I experienced everything you are now… the dreams at night, always knowing how beautiful she is but suddenly noticing how sexy she is… imagination running with it… it was all there." He shrugged. "Eventually, I just kinda got over it I guess. I don't think there was much more there than close friendship and hormones. I would say you are either going to grow out of it or your attraction is much deeper than… that."

Atem cocked an eyebrow. "That". The ever so elusive subject of perversion that has evidently plagued both of their heads at one point, consolidated into one word. "That".

Yugi turned to leave again, but not before he added slyly, "Another way I know about this… sometimes you talk in your sleep," he smiled again, "I vaguely know what your dreams are about."

Atem's face burned, even down to the back of his neck, just when Joey and his impeccable timing burst through the room. "'Ey Atem! Everything okay? We're about to open up."

Four hours. Atem had four hours to reassume control of his fumbling mind, before his mind controlled him. "Yes Joey, I'll be right there."

As soon as Joey retreated back to the main room, Atem turned a stern eye on Yugi. "They cannot know about this. Please, not a word to either of them."

"Of course," Yugi answered passively, as he took note of the last two premium tin card cases in stock. "But remember, they are teenagers too. They'll figure it out if you're obvious enough."

Atem's jaw tightened. "Right. Sorry if I've woken you with my… dreaming."

Yugi giggled like a secretive schoolgirl as he disappeared into the shadows of the shelves in the far aisle. "It's alright. It was hilarious."

Six minutes past noon arrived, and Atem bestowed his signature on the last of what seemed to be dozens of teenage girls' Dark Magician Girl cards. This last fangirl was certainly the most flirtatious of the bunch he had dealt with thus far, lingering and asking him questions and twirling her bright orange hair. Atem usually did well to ignore the flirting, as most of them were young pre-teens who were easily convincible to bother Joey instead. However, this one simply would not leave, insisting how "Atem is the best duelist and by far the hottest" as Téa entered the game shop, wearing a light blush from the outside chill. Her trendy violet sweater dress covered her modestly and yet hugged her curves down to her knees. She was taking her gloves off when Atem finally caught himself staring.

"…and you have the best cards, I mean the way you use Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl together in your duel with—"

"Listen, Samantha," Atem interrupted the girl, forcing his eyes away from Téa, "I'm flattered by your admiration, but I have to go now. We are closing for lunch. You should go back to school, but thanks for stopping by." He shook her hand, trying his best to disregard the pre-teen nearly having a heart attack from his touch. She finally left, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"A day in the life of Atem," Téa teased, as Atem grabbed the 'out for lunch' sign from behind the counter. "Literally having to tell fan girls that you're shutting the doors to get them out of here."

Atem smiled back, keeping his eyes fixed on her face. "It's not as glamorous as it may seem."

Téa chuckled, and it sounded as sweet as ever. "Oh don't worry, I don't envy you at all. Must be hard being the King of Games and the biggest sex symbol in the world of dueling."

Did she have to say that word? Atem thought.

"I must respectfully disagree, and hand that title over to the Dark Magician Girl. She has many more fans than I ever will."

Like a horror movie jumpscare, Atem's mind in an instant produced a rather risqué image of Téa donning the trademark revealing blue outfit of the Dark Magician Girl. He shut his eyes tight and shook the image out of his head before it fully processed, growing increasingly frustrated with himself. It had been two weeks of that and he still couldn't control it.

"You okay?" Téa asked, puzzled.

Atem took a deep breath. I can do this. I've known her for a long time and this has never been a problem.

"Yes, sorry, I didn't get much sleep." He looked around the room and didn't see any signs of Yugi, Joey, or Tristan. "Where are they?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, are they upstairs?"

Just as Atem was about to answer, his pocket beeped. A text message from Yugi on his phone screen read:

"Go without us. Tell me details later. Have fun."

"Details". Again with the vague, implicative words.

"Yugi says go without them," Atem relayed to Téa. "Not sure what they're doing, but it's probably important."

Téa smiled, almost out of relief, strangely enough. "Shall we, then?"

Atem grinned calmly at her, grabbed his coat, and hung up the sign. She is too charming for her own good. Maybe today won't end in disaster after all.

TO BE CONTINUED

Hmmmm... HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.