Seth: Yeah, I edited it a bit more. Hey, it's been untouched for two years, I wanted to update this a bit anyway. I might clean up and revise some of my other works...
Changes
"I don't care!" It all began with a simple little outburst, one that never should have happened. "You're so stupid! I don't see how we were ever friends! No, I don't think we ever were… You never liked me! Did you?"
Brown eyes filled with sadness and pain. "You know we are friends. Why are you actin' like this? What happened!" The short tri-colored boy glared, shoving his former friend out the GameShop. "Hey, Yug' what did I do!"
"You are so clueless! How can you stand there and pretend like you don't know!" He shouted again, tears running down his small rounded face.
"Yugi I don't know what you're talkin' about! What's going on with you!" Brown eyes fought to hold in tears.
"Stop it, already! You jerk; I know you're not that stupid! Why don't you go back to that dump of yours?" Yugi screamed out, causing Joey to flinch. "Leave me alone! I never wanna talk to you again!" He slammed the door mere inches in front of Joey's face.
Joey stood there for a long time in utter shock. He fell down onto his knees and couldn't stop a tear from falling. "What did I do..?" He whispered once again.
Friends are people that lend you support, They pick you up when you fall. But, sometimes as you grow older,
You start to lose sight of what you have And start to believe the awful rumors. Sometimes when things happen,
You don't stop to think that perhaps you didn't see Exactly what you thought you saw. And that maybe you blew things way out of proportion.
But, when you finally realize this, It may be too late…
Three Weeks Later
"Hey, Joey… I heard what happened." A small whisper of a voice reached the blonde's ear. Looking up he saw the sympathetic smile of Ryou Bakura. "Is it alright, if I sit with you?" He asked, holding his tray in one hand.
"Do what you want, although you might be branded as a traitor… I can't even speak to him, Ryou. My once 'best-friend' Tristan won't let me anywhere near'em. What's worse is I haven't the slightest idea on what he's so mad at." Joey said in no louder than a whisper.
"I know. I've tried to talk to him too. All he says is that you know what you did. And apparently it must've been something pretty big. I mean, it's been three whole weeks and he still doesn't speak to you."
"So, what're you doin' over here, Ryou? Shouldn't you be with Yugi and the rest of the 'No Joey's Club?' They probably aren't gonna like it if they see you chatting away with me."
"Yes, I know. I already got chewed out by Tristan and Anzu."
"Well, you do believe me right? I have not done anything to hurt him. He's my friend, after all that we have gone through together why would I do anything to hurt him?" Joey rose his voice some.
Ryou sighed, "I believe you, Joey. Because your friendship with Yugi was really something powerful and I had never seen friends as close as you two. I know that you would never do anything to hurt anyone, and even if you did… You'd own up to it and apologize. It's just strange that he would act this way – when he should know that you two are the definition of friendship."
Joey picked at the cafeteria's idea of a burrito… "I tried askin' him what I did, and he said nothing. What's the deal? Oh, wait… Here comes Tristan…" Both brown-eyed boys went quiet. A note was dropped in front of Joey, and then Tristan walked back to his and Yugi's table.
"What does it say?" Ryou asked.
"I don't know… I'm afraid to open it. What if it's a bomb or something?" Ryou's eyes widened at the possibility that Joey might not be joking. As soon as the other kids went back to their own conversations, Ryou and Joey exchanged nods and the blonde opened up the letter.
"It's from Yugi…" Ryou whispered and both read the letter.
Joey Wheeler,
I have held my tongue for the past time that we have known each other and I think it's time I got it out in the open. You think you are so slick? You think I don't know that your father is nothing but a slob and drunk? Well, I do know and so do Tristan and Anzu! In fact the whole school knows what a loser your Father is…
Also, I can't believe you still haven't apologized for vandalizing my Grandpa's Game Shop along with our home! How can you do that! And I know you were there because I have your jacket as proof! And your wallet! I hate you! And Ryou, you would side with him? I thought you were a friend…
------ Yugi
He clenched the note tightly as he finished the last lines. "V-Vandalize? I never vandalized anything!" Joey exclaimed out loud. 'I can't believe he'd think that?'
"How can he think you would do something like that?" Ryou asked in shock. "That doesn't sound like Yugi at all. He should've spoken to you, gotten your side of the story first." He fumed.
"Yeah. Those jerks from my old gang stole that jacket but like you said, he should know me better, I don't get it. I'm gonna go find out why he-" Ryou grabbed hold of his arm and shook his head.
"No, not here. Wait until after school. There are too many people here. Why don't we go finish our lunch at that table over there?" Ryou suggested.
He glanced and shook his head. "We can't sit there." Joey whispered nervously.
"Why not? I always sit there at lunch. So I can talk with my friends…" Ryou explained, blinking in confusion.
"But, one of your friends is Kaiba." Joey winced. Ryou only smiled.
His smile grew wide, "This will be a great time for you to make peace with him!" Before Joey could say no, Ryou pulled him to the table. Kaiba looked up about to greet Ryou, when he saw the Mutt… I mean, Joey.
"Hey Seto, Joey is gonna be joining us today. Yugi and the others are being silly and not thinking correctly. That's ok, isn't it?" Ryou asked pushing Joey into a seat and then sitting beside him.
Kaiba sighed, "I suppose I can't talk about him anymore then?" Ryou shook his head, and Kaiba shrugged. "Fine. So, Wheeler, don't tell me you and Yugi are in a fight. That's unbelievable. So, what happened? Did Yugi forget to give you a dog tr-" Kaiba flinched as Ryou kicked him in the shin.
He glared at Ryou who was only smiling. "Actually Seto, it's Yugi who's being unfair. He thinks Joey did something that he definitely didn't do." Ryou informed.
Kaiba glanced over at Yugi and then back at Joey, "Really?" Joey nodded, and the CEO gave a small look of surprise. "So, what on earth could have happened to bring something like that up?" He asked, with slight interest. Joey glanced over at Ryou who prodded him to converse with the brunette.
Joey took a deep breath and started with his story. "Well, I don't know what exactly happened, but I'll tell ya what I know. I was supposed to meet my friends at the Pizza Plaza one night, when it was canceled. So, I then went to Yugi's to talk to him and right when I stepped in, he threw me back out…"
Life is full of unsuspecting twists and turns. Sometimes you end up crying and wishing for pain to go away… Even hurting so much as to want to die,
But then even in the darkest of hours there can be hope found. In life you make friends and over time you lose friends.
But, that doesn't mean you will be alone… Just because one thing ends, doesn't mean nothing new shall begin.
"I doubt being part of the geek squad is so wonderful. After all you like to turn on one another. It's ironic that I always pegged you as phony stuck-up brats and nobody ever believed me. And now it's out in the open because you've excluded your own kind. That's all kinds of ironic." Kaiba folded his arms across his chest. Ryou sighed. He didn't want to start an argument.
Tristan tightened his fists and stated sternly, "You don't know anything. Joey was there and he trashed his place. Yugi told me."
"And you believe him?" Ryou asked.
"Hey, I was Joey's best friend and there was a time a while back when he enjoyed playing tricks and vandalizing places when he was in that gang of his. I thought he changed but Yugi swore to me it was him there." He replied, defensively. Quickly justifying his actions and beliefs.
"Right." Kaiba shrugged. "If you say so, then I guess it must be true."
"Yugi said so and it is true. Come on, Anzu let's go meet up with Yugi."
She hung her head low. "Yeah, I'll be right there."
"What you want a piece of us too? Or is it Joey you're looking to belittle?"
She frowned and sighed. "Yugi is a good person. He wouldn't blame if he didn't really believe it."
"So then it shows how much he trusted the Mutt then."
She glared, "That's not what I'm saying. But, Joey is different than Yugi, he's rougher and although he's sweet and caring, he's still…"
"A ruffian? Or a street-rat? Is that what you wanted to say?" Kaiba interjected, he was growing annoyed with their pathetic portrayals of the blond. Sure, Joey wasn't his personal friend but they were acting as if the mutt was some slave or unwanted dog… And these were supposed to be his friends! "You know, I can say that because I'm not a close friend of his. But the moment you and your little group start bad-mouthing your supposed good friend, crosses the line between good and betrayal. You betrayed him, it's not the other way around."
She shook her head, "He had to have trashed Yugi's place."
"Because the King said so, I already heard it from Tristan." Kaiba answered bitterly.
Ryou stepped up and stared intently at her soft but intense face, "Let me tell you what I think. I think Yugi and Joey were growing apart and Yugi was too much a coward to cut ties so he concocted this whole scheme of getting rid of Joey. Deep down I don't think he believes Joey's guilty but if it gets rid of him, then he'll play along. And that's what he's doing, and obviously what you and Tristan are doing is playing follow the leader."
"Monkey-see monkey-do." Kaiba second, a bit stunned by Ryou's strong statement. It sounded something he would say. Anzu said nothing more and took off.
Weeks Later
"Joey you ready to go yet?" Ryou called out, tapping an impatient foot on the ground. Kaiba leaned against the wall talking to Mokuba on the cell-phone. Ryou was about to bust into the room, when Joey came out. "It's about time. We're going to be late!"
Joey only smiled, "Hey, it takes time to look this good." Kaiba snorted and headed outside after his younger brother. Ryou sighed and with Joey right behind him, exited the home as well. They all stopped though, as in front of them stood Anzu and Tristan.
Joey stood still as they slowly approached, Kaiba and Ryou stood beside their friend defensively. "What do you two want?" Kaiba asked in an irritated tone. But, Joey noticed the two had red-eyes as if they had been crying. "Listen, we are about to leave-"
"Hold on, Seto." Joey said, and stared over at his two- well you couldn't really call them friends anymore, now could you? "What's wrong? Huh? What happened?" He asked, with worry and slight fear.
Anzu almost started to cry again so Tristan had to speak, "I- It's Yugi…" He began. Kaiba and Ryou looked at one another worriedly. And then put their focus on Joey, "He's- Apparently, it wasn't you that messed up his place. Um, one of them left a green jacket there, and so they came back and Yugi was home alone at the time… Um…" His voice started to crack up some.
Joey's heart pounded heavily, "What? What happened to him? Is he alright or what?" He asked starting to tear up himself.
"Yugi's… Yugi's dead… He's dead…" He replied sending Anzu off into another fit of tears.
Kaiba gasped as Ryou stood in a state of fright. Mokuba cried into Kaiba's shirt and Joey looked as though he were going to throw up. With shaky hands Tristan wiped away his own tears, "Um, the service is Sunday… Solomon wants you to be there, Joey. And he wants to talk to you as soon as possible. Shall we go?"
Joey didn't say anything as his face had fallen from view; one's to wonder if he even heard him. Kaiba knelt down and whispered for Mokuba to go inside. "Listen, you two go wherever it is you should be. We'll take him to see Mr. Mutoh when he's ready to see him. At the moment it is obviously not set on talking or seeing anyone other than friends."
Tristan and Anzu gave him an ugly look and then walked away, still crying. "Come on, Ryou let's get him inside. I'll call and cancel everything." Ryou pulled himself and complied.
Fear is hidden within everything. And despite the many safety precautions one takes, it can never be enough to stop danger.
Things seem so horrible now, but don't let that stop you from being who you want to be. Don't be afraid to be happy again.
We all have hearts that get shattered, but be resilient and rise above the evil and sorrow. You have the support, and you have the courage. But, will you use it?
"Hey, Joey are you feeling any better?" Ryou asked kneeling down beside his form. They were now sitting in the bathroom leaning against the bathtub; Joey had been throwing up again.
He shrugged but that sick feeling still lingered. "You better get out of here; I might puke on you if you're not careful."
Ryou smiled weakly, "I'll risk it. I know this must be hard for you… Being Yugi's birthday and all, it's hard for Seto and me as well. But, everything's gonna be fine. I know he… died… only four months ago, but I do believe it'll get better - Even if it seems so bad now." He said trying to convince himself.
"I know… Thanks a lot Ryou… But, I don't think I'll ever… Ever…" There was a loud scream that echoed through the large mansion. (For that's where they were, in Kaiba's mansion.) "Ryou, I'm so sorry!" Joey apologized.
"Now that's a disturbing sight." Both teens looked up at the third member of their group. "What did Ryou do to make you throw up all over him?" Kaiba asked, with a tinge of disgust. "God, Ryou go take a shower or something before I get sick too."
Ryou made a face and stood awkwardly, as his clothes dripped with… Well, you get the idea. Before leaving out the bathroom door, he took a small bit of it and smudged it over Kaiba's unsuspecting cheek. Before Kaiba could get him he ran out.
Kaiba turned the water on in the sink and washed it off quickly. Joey couldn't help but laugh some. After making sure his cheek was thoroughly clean he turned and faced his Joey. "Joey, get off the floor and take a shower. I'm taking us all out to eat in thirty minutes. And don't protest, because the reason why your stomach is all messed up is because you haven't eaten."
Joey opened his mouth but Kaiba spoke again, "I know alright. I know, but if you don't watch it, you'll be dying next. And I don't want to attend another funeral so soon, you hear me?" Joey nodded slowly and Kaiba relaxed a bit. "Good. Now take a shower. You reek of a dead dog…" Joey placed his hands on his hips and Kaiba smirked.
Owari
Time passes onward, things change, and hearts grow… Whether it'd be a good change or bad one is up to you. But no matter what difficulties, no matter the many betrayals and losses, always stay true to your own path… And you will find your peace eventually.