Chapter Five: Fire

Bulma got in her car, setting her bag down next to her in the empty passenger's seat. She then checked the clock. She had relatively twenty minutes until the first bell rang, indicating that the school day would begin. With or without her. But she didn't have to worry about that. She had plenty of time to get there and still be careful on the roads while driving.

She looked down at the pedal and the brake. Last night she had been woken up by a dream. She wasn't surprised in the slightest that it was about the secret that she still didn't know about, to her own selfish dismay. She didn't remember most of it anymore. She had horrible memory when it came to her dreams. The part she did remember, though, was the end. The specific portion of it that had her waking up suddenly, beads of sweat on her forehead so early in the morning. She had been running through a dense and overgrown forest. Big thorn bushes lined the ground and she remembered desperately running, barefoot, as the sharp points pierced through her flesh like a needle through Jell-O. So smooth… and yet slick, like the blood. The woods reminded her of a place she knew, but then again, dreams often held a familiar quality for her. She remembered grabbing at the trees as she ran so as not to hit them, pushing off to give herself whatever little momentum the force could give her. She had needed an edge. She distinctly remembered how the thorns didn't bother her as much as the smell of the woods. It had smelled of rotting corpses. She remembered wanting to put her hands over her nose and mouth. She remembered how, for some reason, she didn't want to. As if the smell increasing her fear would help her to escape. But then who was dead…?

She remembered falling, being deathly afraid of someone, something, that was chasing her. Laying there on the ground, knowing that even if she got up and ran again, the fall had just ended her life. She remembered not having enough time. She needed more time. She remembered being followed. She remembered bright, scarlet eyes through the thick underbrush, coming for her, as she knew it would.

And then she remembered feeling safe, as if nothing in the world could ever hurt her again. She remembered being in Vegeta's arms, feeling sheltered as he cradled her, lifting her off the ground as if she weighed nothing more than a few pounds in his eyes. And then she was startled by something. She remembered… waking up… and that was it.

Bulma looked at the clock. Now she had eighteen minutes left until the dreaded bell and its damned ear-shattering pierce. Maybe she'd wait nineteen minutes just so she wouldn't have to hear it that one time. She knew it was worth it, but it wasn't worth being late to class, especially since Mr. Piccolo was her first period teacher. If it had been anyone else, she would have done it.

So she put in her key and it stuck fast. She turned it and listened to the engine rumble and then purr. She took one more glance at the pedal and the brake before hitting the gas and heading down the short driveway to the road beyond.

After school, the previous day, painting as a punishment had been more fun than she originally though it would be. She was put in a different room than Maron, so there was no one to watch her splatter the walls and then paint over her polka-spots. She had found the work to be more enjoyable than not. She found that she could make cool patterns with her brush strokes.

She wondered if Vegeta had gotten in trouble for leaving school early like he did. He hadn't even fulfilled his punishment, which was no longer a true punishment in Bulma's eyes. After all, she had nothing to do when she got home anyway, so painting, over nothing, was very pleasurable. She did have a page of math homework, but that was the last thing she was going to call pleasurable.

The drive to Orange Star High was boring, to say the least. There were no trees or animals. Just boring buildings and more and more people. She passed a couple banks and jewelers along the way, and glanced at them each time, just to make sure that there weren't any robberies going on. The last thing she wanted to end up doing was getting stuck in the crossfire of a group of thugs and the city's police. She'd be dead. That was a given. And it just seemed like something that would happen to her. Her father loved to call her a trouble magnet. She knew she wasn't, though. After all, what kind of trouble could she possible be a magnet for?

Maybe painting, but that wasn't even her fault. Yet it had been nice because it gave her something to do after school. She even had the guts to admit to herself that she felt like she had actually accomplished something.

She pulled into the parking lot and parked her small white car in a space that was far away from all the other cars, as usual. It wasn't that she couldn't afford to fix a dent or two. It was just that she didn't want to go through the trouble just to have someone ask how she got it fixed so quickly if someone hit her by accident. She didn't need everyone in the high school knowing about her… inheritance.

She grabbed her bags and swung them over her right shoulder as she stepped out of her car. Bulma was wearing the same style of clothing that she always wore. She had on blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a pair of sneakers. She even had a small, light blue gemstone necklace on, just to say that she wasn't completely bland today.

Bulma couldn't help but glance around for Chichi, Goku and, of course, Vegeta. Regrettably, none of them were there. She noticed 17 and 18 leaning against a Jeep Wrangler, and Tien and Launch were… talking. Bulma didn't feel comfortable going over to the two of them because they looked like they were about to make out in front if everyone, so she headed for the dark green Jeep instead.

"Look who it is, 18," 17 said, a wide grin on his face, "Hey Bulma. How's life treating you?"

"Average, I guess. Nothing's really happening at this point in my life. I'm at a low part, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah. Same here, girl. I know exactly what you mean."

"No he doesn't," 18 butted in. "He just likes you, Bulma. He'll say anything for a date."

Bulma went red and looked at the pavement at her feet she tried to focus on the yellow and white lines of the parking lot, instead of what she had just been told. It didn't work as well as she would have liked it to.

"It's okay. He doesn't bite. He only barks at you like a desperate dog," 18 continued, earning herself a punch in the arm by her embarrassed twin brother. Bulma felt like she would have rather watched Tien and Launch make out than stand there and listen to what she was hearing. It made her feel a little worse than embarrassed.

"Shut up, 18. I do not like her like that. Bulma is a very nice girl," he stated, matter-of-factly.

"Whatever you say, butthead," 18 snickered, but Bulma was happy for the backup from 17. It made her face get a little less pink.

"Hey, Bulma!" she heard a voice call from behind. Whoever it was, she now considered them a god for pulling her out of the conversation she had been dragged into.

"Tien. Hi," she thankfully breathed, as Tien walked over to the three of them. Launch was heading into the school, so Bulma guessed that her assumptions had been incorrect. Or they were waiting until they didn't have an audience to holler at them.

"What's going on, guys? How is everybody?"

"Fine," 18 said, folding her arms.

"Fine," 17 repeated, folding his arms over his chest as well.

"I'm okay," Bulma said, "You?"

"Good. Thanks for asking. Ready for school today?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"I did my homework," she shrugged, joking along with him. Tien laughed.

Just then, the sharp bell rang from the inside of Orange Star High.

"Oops. Better get going," Tien said, adjusting his backpack strap on his right shoulder as he turned around. "See you later Bulma," he waved. Bulma waved in return as she turned back to 17 and 18. They were getting their backpacks, among other things, out of the Jeep. When they had everything, they said goodbye to Bulma and headed off in the direction Tien had gone. Bulma stood there for a few moments, looking around.

Where were they? They couldn't all be absent at the same exact time on the same day. Unless something was wrong… Was it her fault? Her face fell as she realized that they weren't at school this morning. She turned around and followed after 17 and 18 into the school building. Why would all three of them not be in school? Bulma couldn't fathom why they would feel the need to absent just because she had asked them what the secret was. If that was even the reason for their unexplainable actions.

Bulma entered through the front doors of the high school and quickly made her way to first period. She felt she used up too much time searching for her friends, even though she now felt a bit strange when she called them that, instead of using that time to get to her first period class.

The entire day went by like a blur. In English, Mr. Piccolo had assigned vocabulary homework and had handed out the vocab books. He had also given Bulma one for Vegeta, stating that they must be friends because she sits next to him in class and he ordered her to give him the book and the assignment next time she saw him. But honestly, Bulma had a strange feeling that she wasn't going to see him anytime soon to relay the message. For the rest of the period, all the class did was take notes on English literature, which Bulma already understood to perfection.

Human Behavior without Chichi was just a boring class, since the teacher never did anything anyway. She still had her oddly shaped nose in that overly-thick book of hers. Math came next, and Bulma got a sense of relief when the teacher told her that she was one out of four students who actually did the homework. She was also a bit startled when one of the obviously unpopular girls began to try and start a conversation with her.

"So… Bulma was it? Do you have any clue where Vegeta is this morning? I heard he left the city from a few people. I was actually just walking by when I heard them say it… So, shouldn't you be with him, too?" the girl asked.

"Umm… No, I don't know, and why should I be with him? I… I don't even know him that well." Bulma shrugged.

"Oh, well word around the school is that you're his new play-toy… You know," the girl said, obviously not a people person. It seemed like her status of being unpopular in the school had made her horrible at talking with others.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't be modest. I'd bet my life that most of the girls in the school would die to be in your position. I know I would. To be important to Vegeta like that… You know, I really am surprised that you're not with him, wherever he went off to this time. I'm not trying to insult you. Please don't get the wrong idea. I meant it as a compliment really."

Bulma tried her best to ignore the last part and get back on topic. The sooner she could stop talking to the girl, the better. "Wait. It's only been one day. Less than one day, actually. It isn't that big of a deal that he isn't here. People aren't allowed to be absent now and then or what?" she asked, a bit confused.

"Well, if it's like last time, then he won't be back for at least a week or more," the girl replied innocently. "But really. Why aren't you with him? A bunch of my friends want to know what you're doing here when he's off somewhere else."

"You mean he's done this before? And I thought I told you already. I have no reason to be with him because I don't know him that well."

"Only once before now, to answer your first question. When he came back, though… Now there's something you don't easily forget, let me tell you. And stop being so stubborn about not knowing him as well as you honestly do. It's ticking me off a bit. You probably know him a hell of a lot better than every person in this room combined into one. You spend more time with him than he spends with himself, probably."

"What are you talking about?" Bulma asked, at a loss for any other words at the girl's blathering.

"Well, aren't you his new play-toy?"

"Am I supposed to know what that means?"

"It means, silly, that you mean something to him, but now I see that I was mistaken. If you meant that much to him, you would have gone with him, or you would have at least known what I mean when I said it the first time. He wouldn't have let you out of his sight if you were important to him. You know what I mean?"

"I have no clue. What the hell are you talking about? I've been here for less than a week. I'm not friends with anybody. Heck, I don't even think I know anybody's last name. Except for the teachers, of course. But I'm new here. I don't mean anything to anybody and no one means anything to me. You know what? Could you stop talking to me, please? I really don't want to talk to anyone right now," she said, making sure her voice was unmistakably serious and the point was clearly not open for discussion. "And I'm nobody's play-toy!" she added forcefully.

Just then, the bell rang and Bulma was off to Chemistry. Maybe she would here that Vegeta was in trouble for skipping his punishment the previous day. Then she remembered that she actually had a friend in that class: Yamcha. Unless he was absent, too…

Bulma walked into the classroom and instantly spotted an empty seat next to hers and frowned. Hopefully he was only late and not down for the count. Unfortunately, Maron was already in her seat, happily glaring at Bulma. Why, she couldn't come close to understanding.

"Hey there, Bull-mers. How are you this morning? Doing well? I thought so. Guess what? It isn't going to go any better from here on out, because I'm going to tell you a few things and you're going to shut up and listen."

Bulma cocked a fine eyebrow at the girl's little tirade. Bulma didn't even think she saw her breathe through all that.

"It's Bulma," she began, correcting Maron's mistake. She didn't know if it had been made on purpose or not, but she didn't care enough to find out. "And I don't like to be told to shut up, because I never obey bitches, and someone always ends up mad at me. Not like I care, though. Getting you mad at me might be entertaining. You might even get in trouble again. And you'd only have me to blame for that, now wouldn't you?"

"I didn't mean any offense, girl. Calm down, will ya? I really just wanted to tell you something about Vegeta that I think you should know. You know, because you're hanging around with him so much and all, 'kay?"

Bulma's insides flew around at the mention of Vegeta's name. It was obvious as a dead leaf in a puddle that Maron knew Vegeta's secret. For Kami's sake, she was the one who had threatened to give it away. Why hadn't she thought of that before? She felt like such an idiot! But she'd be damned if she gave anything away to the Queen Bee.

"Oh, well sorry I took your insult the wrong way, Maron. And why would you think that you have anything I would want to hear?"

"Trust me. I know you're just dying inside to hear what I have to offer you. But you're going to have to make me a promise if you want me to tell you all about that sexy boy's secrets."

"You have nothing I want to hear," she said matter-of-factly, turning her head away with a huff. The bell rang and Yamcha still wasn't there, so she felt her stomach tighten up. She would have to spend an entire period with Maron and her… gulp… secret. Bulma didn't know if she'd be able to resist for forty-five minutes or torture. She couldn't even focus on the notes that were soon placed on the smart board because she knew the information already. Her parents had taught it to her a few years back.

"Are you so sure about that?" Maron asked seductively after a few minutes breezed by. It was no surprise that Bulma knew exactly what she was referring to even after the time had gone by. It only seemed like a couple seconds to her anyway.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"So you don't want to know why Vegeta isn't here today? Or why he won't be here for the next few days? Because I have all the answers. All you have to do is ask for them, Bulma. I know you want to know what they are. You can't hide that from me."

"You don't know when to shut up, do you? And besides, you said that you would want something in return. So why in the world would I give you that kind of control over me? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No, no, Bulma. I never said that. And I never would. Don't think so harshly of me. It's Vegeta and his damn powers that are the problem here. Oops. Did I just say that? I must have slipped."

"What powers?" Bulma blurted, before she could catch herself. She cursed herself for doing it, but thanked herself for just getting it over with at the same time.

"So you do want to know?" she asked, and Bulma couldn't help herself. She nodded just a bit to get the message across.

"Miss Briefs!" the pregnant teacher called, making Bulma start and slam her elbow on the lab table in front of her. People around the room snickered, including Maron. That made Bulma's blood rise to a rapid boil.

"Sorry," she said softly, putting her head down. After about ten minutes of note-taking went by, Maron mumbled something to her, making her head turn.

"So, you want to know about his powers, then?" she asked, and Bulma felt like a helpless child as she nodded once again. "And you'll do what I say after I tell you what you want to know. Don't worry. I promise not to leave any of the good stuff out. And I'm not a liar."

Bulma swallowed hard and then nodded, signing herself into something she wasn't even aware of yet. The thought made her stomach twist up. She even felt a little nauseous.

"Good. Well, the first thing you need to know is that he isn't human. He's some alien and he's got really weird powers, like I said before."

The absurdity of Maron's accusations made Bulma feel like she had just signed her life away to a raving, lying lunatic. She didn't even trust this girl. So then why was she doing all this? Was it really worth it? Just to find out Vegeta's secret. Even Maron was going a bit overboard. After all, he couldn't be an alien, so she knew she was being lied to right off the bat.

"Other than that, he can change his hair color from what it is now to a bright gold. When he does that, he flashes and lights up like the sun and—"

"Everyone out!" the pregnant teacher yelled as the fire alarm went off. Bulma felt like crap. If she thought the regular bell was bad and ear shattering…

She made her way out of the classroom with her hands over her ears. She couldn't have cared any less that she wasn't able to hear whatever Maron was adding onto her ridiculous story. The only part that made any sense was the flashing, because that was what Yamcha had said before about what he had seen at the party.

When everyone was outside, Bulma let go of her ears and turned to Maron, who was apparently still talking through and after all that.

"So," she said, when Bulma could finally hear her again, "You now owe me something, don't you?" Maron placed her fists on her hips and leaned forward with a devilish smile spread over her face.

"Wait a second. I didn't even hear the rest of what you said. That's not fair."

"Don't make excuses, girl. We made a deal, remember? You can't back out now," she said, her smile turning into a fleeting frown. "So, what I want is for you to stay away from Vegeta and give us some space, because he obviously likes me better than he likes you, if he likes you at all. Which he probably doesn't by the way. And if you don't do as I just told you, I'll make your life a living hell. You understand me. Don't ever go near my Vegeta ever again. Got it?!"

Bulma nodded stupidly. There was no way she was abiding by Maron's rules. Especially because Maron hadn't even told her anything. And how did she plan on making her life a living hell exactly? There was no way one girl could do something like that to her. So, she had nothing to worry about… right?

"Oh my God! Look over there!" someone called, snapping Bulma out of her own self-absorbed thoughts. She whipped her head around to find that there was smoke coming off of the far end of the school building. A small fire had already begun to spread around. The fire department wasn't there yet, so all she could do was watch in awe at the majestic force of nature threatening to literally make her life a living hell.

"Get the students away from the building!" one of the teachers called to the other adults.

"There's one missing!" another teacher called. Bulma turned to find that it was the pregnant teacher. Her teacher. "From my class. Before the period started, he told me that he was going to the nurse because he wasn't feeling well, but the nurse just told me that he had gone to the bathroom on the far corner just a minute ago! The boy hasn't come back yet!"

"Who was it?" someone asked.

"… Yamcha," the pregnant teacher replied, and before Bulma knew what she was doing, her legs were carrying her as fast as they could back to the school building. Back to the door she had come out of. She had lost too many friends already. She wasn't going to lose any more. Especially if she could do something about it. She could hear people yelling for her to come back as soon as she had moved to run back at the sound of Yamcha's name. She could hear the teachers running after her, but she could feel that they were too far behind to catch her before she made it to the school and shut the door behind her. She didn't know how to lock it, she just settled for shutting it instead. It would take them time to open it. It would take enough time for her to head towards the fire and figure out where the boys' bathroom was it that section of Orange Star High.

"Yamcha!" she heard herself calling. "Yamcha! Where are you?!"

There was no response. She couldn't hear anything from anywhere. Then she heard a pop. She jumped and turned to find that the fire was behind her. She focused her mind on the task at hand. That would mean that she would have to find another way out of the building. She gleefully found the boys' bathroom ahead of her, on the left side of the hallway. She sprinted and ran through the open doorway.

She looked around and found that no one was inside. She kicked open each of the stalls, but no one was in there. Then where was Yamcha? Did he try and get out? Was he hurt? Bulma raced out of the restroom and made a sharp left, almost falling flat on her face in the process. She put out her hands for quick balance and ran around another corner. The fire was spreading. She turned around, but a burnt part of the ceiling fell right in front of her. She felt her adrenaline rush throughout her entire body and tried to calm herself down. She didn't want to act like a panicked and frightened animal. That wouldn't help her at all… That wouldn't help Yamcha either.

"Yamcha!" she called out again, cupping her hands around her mouth to make her voice reach farther. "Can you hear me? Where are you?!"

She could feel the heat on all sides of her now as the building wasn't neglecting to show of its collapsing capabilities. More small pieces of the ceiling began to fall like it was raining fire and the paint was peeling off the walls. Papers in lockers had caught on fire, making the blue metal show up red on the opposite side, where Bulma could see them. She began to desperately open random doors, calling out for Yamcha at the top of her lungs.

At some point, she noticed that her voice had taken on a different meaning to her. She was no longer calling out to find and help Yamcha. There were tears cascading down her face and she was calling out for him to find and help her. She was trapped. There was fire all around her. She was utterly lost. She didn't even know which way was out anymore. She couldn't even tell if she had been in this part of the school. The fire and the missing paint and ceiling were making it difficult for her to remember if anywhere she had been resembled where she was now. She tried to pull herself together and looked around, getting her bearings. She slowly walked down the hall to her left, remembering that she had come from the right, and the fire had blocked that exit already.

She rounded another corner on the right and continued straight until she saw more fire spreading ahead of her. Dear god, was the entire school going to burn down? When was the goddamn fire squad going to arrive? Weren't they supposed to save her and Yamcha? In her personal opinion, they weren't doing a very good job at that. She turned around again, keeping herself calm and went down the opposite hallway. She could see a door in the distance and her hopes flew up high. It looked like the main entrance. She hoped Yamcha had found his way out by himself as she ran down the hallway. There was no way that the fire was going to block her out of getting away this time.

Windows covered the front entrance. The entire main wall in the lobby was made of glass. As she raced towards the door, a few of the upper windows exploded outward. Bulma fell to the ground and covered her ears from the loud noise. She felt like her ears were bleeding, but there was no blood. She felt paralyzed, but she knew that she could move. She pushed her legs out from under her and wobbled to her feet. She staggered to the doors and pushed on the handle with relief.

But the door wouldn't open. A red signal flashed in front of her face. It read, "Fire Exit left. Emergency lock engaged." Bulma's mouth fell open. Emergency lock engaged for what? She pounded her small fists on the glass or the door, but all she could accomplish was making the sides of her hands hurt. She ran to the windows. The ones that had shattered were at least five feet over her head. She tried climbing the brick wall, but after falling twice and seeing the fire creeping ever closer, she felt her heart beat violently against the inside of her chest. She felt like her rib cage would shatter just like the windows had.

She screamed for help, but felt like an idiot. No one could hear her. The teachers had escorted the students far away from the building, so no one was around. She guessed that Maron was probably laughing her fat ass off. She wouldn't get to not keep her end of the bargain this way. She wouldn't have a choice. Maron got what she wanted anyway. It didn't matter.

She thought about her parents. She loved them very much, and she knew that they would feel horrible about allowing her to go to a public high school. They would feel like this was all their fault. I only she could tell them that it wasn't. If only she could tell them that she had made a horrible mistake. She had thought that she had the power to save Yamcha, but she didn't she didn't even know where he was. He probably heard the fire alarm and had run out of the building. It was probably that no one had seen him come out, not that he was stuck inside. She had felt like a helpless idiot a lot today, but none of it compared to how much she felt like a helpless idiot right now. She had never done anything more idiotic in her entire life. And this was going to end her life. She was going to die.

Bulma sat down on the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees. She felt the tears go halfway down her face and then stop. She looked up and realized that it was because the fire was so close. Her tears were evaporating before they reached the bottom of her face. They never even got the chance to hit the floor. She turned herself around so she wouldn't have to look at the fire as it came towards her. Everything burned.

She shook her head and stood up. What was she doing? She couldn't just sit there and wait for the fire. That would be the mistake that ended her, not the choice to help a friend who she believed had been in danger. Giving up on her own was giving up, not making a mistake or a wrong turn. She ran back to the door and kicked the handle. When it didn't budge, she kicked it again, with more force. And then again, and again, and again.

Then, something outside caught her vision. She looked up and blinked a couple times. She had to be dreaming. There was no way. It couldn't be… Vegeta?

"Over here!" Bulma called, as she watched him land on the sidewalk. He had been… flying? "Hey! I'm in here!" she yelled, but he already seemed to know where she was. How was that possible?

He ran to the door with unimaginable speed and, "Be careful! It's stuck—" … ripped it off the hinges with one hand. Bulma felt her mouth hang open.

"Are you an idiot?" was the first thing he said, grabbing her arm and shoving her outside. She fell onto the pavement, but she didn't care. The palms of her hands were scraped, but she didn't care about that either. She wasn't going to die. She felt safe and secure, just like in her dream… There was nothing around that could ever bring her harm again. And she couldn't believe that it was Vegeta who had saved her. She looked up at him to find that he was out of breath. Did he run all the way here because he knew she was in trouble? Or did he… fly?

"What the hell were you thinking, woman!" he screamed at her, his heavy breathing getting in the way of him reprimanding her. It only seemed to get him angrier, though. Bulma couldn't understand why she didn't mind in the slightest. It was as if nothing he said could have ruined her elated mood. She wasn't going to die. It was the best news she had ever heard in her entire life. Or was it that Vegeta had just rushed to save her life?

She knew one thing for certain. High school was turning into a more interesting adventure than she thought it would be.