Hey there, my fellow writers and readers; I hope you're doing great with your stories, of course. Well, here's a new Lizzie McGuire/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover oneshot that I cooked up one day. Basically, I was imagining what Lawrence "Larry" Tudgeman would've been thinking while he watches another guy — who looks like he's stepped off the front cover of People magazine — walking down the hallway of Hillridge High School, and everyone else is staring after him.

I felt bad for Larry then (and still do now, kind of), as I myself was once in his shoes when it came to being picked on — except for the fact that I was never called a nerd or a geek, thankfully. Of course, I also remember when I had been bullied not just once, but three times: once in junior high school, and twice in high school. Thankfully, however, I got over that, and I hope that those of you who are either being picked on or have been bullied will get over (or have gotten over) that as well.

Well, with the image of Larry watching the handsome guy as he walks down the hall still fresh in my mind, here's what I came up with. Hope you like it, and be sure to tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: Genius Terri Minsky owns Lizzie McGuire. Kazuki Takahashi (also a genius) owns the anime Yu-Gi-Oh. The lyrics to How You Remind Me and Rockstar by Nickelback belong to their respective owners. I own the fanfics that I cook up from time to time.

Popularity and Unpopularity

Never made it as a wise man
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing
Tired of living like a blind man
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling
And this is how you remind me
This is how you remind me
Of what I really am
This is how you remind me
Of what I really am
~Nickelback, How You Remind Me

It was another day at Hillridge High School. And, as usual for Lawrence "Larry" Tudgeman, it was just another day of being ignored, and sometimes — even worse — being called a "geek", "nerd" or "loser" by his fellow students. However, from his perspective, he felt he wasn't any of those things at all... not one single bit. He didn't believe those whisperings about him back in junior high school, and he didn't believe them now in high school, either.

Larry sighed and shook his head as he closed his locker and leaned his back against it. For him, being ignored and/or teased was, to him, par for the course.

Although he was ridiculed and taunted by fellow students, Larry had a far more superior image of himself and saw himself as a sophisticated alpha-male — all cool, brilliant, witty, debonair, articulate, suave and handsome. However, his peers didn't exactly agree with him in that way one bit at all. In fact, they, as well as most other people, saw him as eccentric, obsessive and lacking in hygiene. One reason was because he had worn the same shirt — putty-colored with a lime-green collar — since the fourth grade.

"Hey, Yami!"

"How's it going for you, Yami, my man?"

Larry looked up. There he was — none other than Yami Yugi himself. Like he usually did, at least in the minds of his peers, Yami looked as though he had stepped off the set of a photo shoot for People magazine. He was wearing a non-sleeved black shirt covered by a blue jacket. Matching pants seemed to go on and on over his legs. On his feet were boots that matched his jacket and pants.

Larry sighed again. He felt that, like most of the guys who were blessed with good looks, Yami seemingly had all the luck — especially when it came to the girls.

Unlike him, Yami was usually sought after, with girls sneaking roses into his locker, or little folded-up notes that said really nice things. One of the notes even read,

"Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
You might not know it, Yami,
But we girls dearly love you."

Larry, however, never got any flowers at all, and the notes he got in his locker were the kind that usually said things like "You're a nerd, Tudgeman" and "Leave us alone, you geek" (among other things). He would just simply and casually crumple them up and put them into the nearest trash can.

Another part of Larry's personality was his obsession with science fiction movies and television programs. He then remembered that time in junior high when Gordo was setting him up and asked him to describe himself. Larry had replied, "I've always seen myself as a Captain Kirk meets James Bond type of guy... going where no secret agent has ever been before."

When Gordo revealed to him that he was a "geek", Larry remembered getting extremely offended and exclaiming in reply, "No, I'm not! My mom says the other kids are mean to me because they're jealous!"

With the memory of that very reply echoing in his mind, Larry shook his head, wishing he'd chosen to voice his reply to Gordo in a much calmer and nicer way. For the first time in his life, he, Lawrence "Larry" Tudgeman, actually knew what it felt like — the same emotion he thought his peers felt towards him. And that was jealousy. He actually felt jealous of Yami Yugi himself. Of course, he believed it wasn't Yami's fault that people were so nice to Yami, and often treated him like he was a star — like a music star or a movie star.

Then part of the lyrics to Rockstar by Nickelback came to him — the part at the beginning. He felt he could relate to that in some way.

"I'm through with standing in line
To clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
And I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be"

He knew what it felt like to be the outcast. To be someone that was left out. To be picked on and often called by your last name rather than your first name. He knew what it felt like to be labeled a "loser" instead of a "winner." After all, actor Johnny Depp was a "winner", and people never called him a "loser" either. Instead, the words "quirky," "mysterious" and "way cool" were used to describe him (according to the E! True Hollywood Story about him that Larry had seen once out of curiosity). Larry often wished he was called "mysterious" — but in a good way — and "way cool" as well.

He knew how it felt to be called a "freak." Johnny Depp himself had played characters that were called "freaks" and "loners" and he did that with excellence. Larry sometimes wished he could play characters like that with excellence, too.

He knew how it felt to be called a "loner". To be left out in the cold, to be laughed at and teased, to be verbally pelted with stones, to be picked on and have all these labels stuck on you.

But then again, he had graduated from junior high to high school, and he had left all that behind... or so he thought. When he had first come to Hillridge High School, the familiar pattern had also started up again — the teasing, the cruel jokes, the snickering and laughter behind his back, and the being left out. He had found his own way of dealing with that — namely, ignoring his tormentors, and then checking to see if they felt they were being ignored or left out. He hoped so; he had always wanted to see what that felt like for them.

But now, looking at Yami, the jealous look now replaced with a look of respect, he had to admit, he wasn't alone in the world when it came to either being bullied or being showered with attention.

Larry smiled at the thought. After all, there were lots of people in the world who were not only unpopular, but also sometimes picked on, bullied and teased themselves. He often wondered what they saw, heard, felt and wondered, too.

With that, Larry hugged his books against his chest and then followed after Yami, hoping to get his attention. He could hardly wait to tell Yami the observations he had noticed and remembered.

After all, in high school, there are the popular people who are treated with respect and showered with attention. Then there are the not-so-popular people, who are often either teased or ridiculed, and sometimes ignored and left out.

At least, that's how it looks to some people. The social ladder can be frustrating. So is either climbing it or being at the top of the ladder itself.

Well, what do you think? Nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course.. :)