Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ My Friend ❯ A New Trend ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I, Jadedbest, do not, never have, and never will own Dragonball Z or any of it's characters.

AN: (AN from original posting) Special thanks to you guys for reviewing this. It means a lot because this is currently my favorite fic. Oh, and this (~) sign means a song lyric.

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Goku pushed the accelerator. They were already late and he was ready to party.

ChiChi ran the brush through her hair one last time then closed the sun visor, which held the mirror she had been looking in. After returning her brush to her purse, she pulled out a small white package and tore it open. After popping the two pills into her mouth, she reached for her bottle of water that was sitting in the cup holder and took a swallow.

Goku watched her out the corner of his eye. “What are you doing?”

“Oh just taking something to give me a little pep.”

“What do you need `pep' for?”

ChiChi sighed. “It's nothing, sweetie. Don't worry about it.”

Goku frowned. This didn't sound right to him, but as he turned down Bulma's street, he decided to drop it. For now.

As he pulled up to Capsule Corp. he could already hear the music blasting and the yard was filled with the cars of their classmates and several he didn't recognize. It seemed the party was in full swing.

“Oh this is going to be great!” ChiChi cried jumping out of the jeep.

Goku smiled and turned off the ignition. He climbed out the car and met ChiChi in front of the vehicle. She grabbed his hand and smiled up at him. “How do I look?”

Goku gave her spaghetti strapped, knee-length, sunflower yellow sun-dress a once over. “Yum,” he said with a smile.

ChiChi giggled and stood up on her toes as he leaned in to met her in a kiss. The sound of a car door slamming behind them broke them apart. They turned to see Vegeta walking towards them.

Goku smiled down at his girlfriend as he lifted their linked hands and kissed the back of hers. “Hey, why don't you go on in and I'll catch up with you later?”

“You want me to go in by myself?” ChiChi asked in surprise.

“No. I want you to go in with them,” he said pointing across the yard where Krillin and Juu were climbing out of his midnight blue Daewood.

“Well…okay then see ya inside,” she said as she let go of his hand and made her way across the lawn.

Goku watched her for a moment then turned to meet Vegeta halfway.

“What?” Vegeta frowned.

Goku looked at Vegeta's two empty hands. “I don't see a gift.”

“I am not going to have this argument with you again Kakarot,” Vegeta said as he started walking towards the house again.

Goku wasn't finished with him yet and placed a hand on his chest stopping him. “She's your best friend Vegeta…well second best,” Goku said with a confident smile.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“The least you could do is buy her a birthday gift,” Goku finished.

“Are you done?”

Goku sighed. “Did you buy her gift or not?”

Vegeta walked pass him heading to the house. “I don't see how that's any of your concern.”

Goku smiled as he followed his friend. “Hey, you didn't say you didn't!”

Vegeta stopped and threw Goku a scowl. “Drop it Kakarot.”

Goku held up his hands defensively. “Consider it dropped.” When Vegeta turned and continued, Goku's smile returned. It was going to be an interesting night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bulma looked herself over in the mirror. She was wearing a long formfitting summer dress with a dipping neckline. The blue and white met in swirling patterns that made one think of the tossing ocean. It complemented her eyes perfectly. Her parents had given the dress to her as one of her presents. She left her hair in waves and wore two large silver hoop earrings as well as her necklace from Yamcha.

Doing a little spin in the mirror, she smiled. “You look great kid,” she said.

She exited her room and headed down the hall towards the sound of blasting music and laughter. It didn't at all seem out of the norm to her to be late for her own party. In fact, it was a very Bulma thing to do. She did have to make her entrance, after all.

She stopped as her parents' door opened and her father stepped out, suitcase in hand.

“Hey Dad, what are you doing?”

Dr. Briefs looked at his daughter in surprise. “Well, hello sweetheart. Shouldn't you be at your party by now?”

“Oh…no. I have to make my entrance, you know?” Bulma said with a small smile, she then glanced at the suitcase in his hand. “Going somewhere?”

“Yeah. I have a convention I'm supposed to be at in about three hours,” he explained.

“Oh, well, when will you be back?”

“In two or three days.”

“Well be careful. See you in a couple of days,” Bulma said as she walked over and kissed his cheek. She didn't know what else to say. Her relationship with her father was so ambiguous. At times they were closer than two people had a right to be as they slaved and laughed together over some new project in the lab. Then other times they were like two strangers not sure how to broach the simple subject of a father/daughter greeting.

“Bye-bye, sweetheart,” Dr. Briefs said as he started towards the back entrance to the house, not wanting to have to fight through the pack of party crazed teens downstairs.

Bulma sighed as she watched her father walk away. She had really hoped that he would skip this convention. It wasn't that she wanted him at the party or anything but more that she wanted him to stay and keep the peace between him and her mother. Her mother's threat hadn't sounded empty to her, though she wasn't quite sure what the threat exactly was. Deciding there was nothing she could do about it now, she moved on to the stairs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bulma reached the bottom step and looked around the jumping party. It was obvious that no one was missing the birthday girl. Bulma smiled. She had pulled off another great party.

“BULMA!!!!”

Bulma turned to see Marron and Launch, who was carrying a large white box, making their way through the crowd towards her.

Bulma smiled when they reached her. “Hey, you guys made it!”

“Are you kidding me?! Of course we made it! This is the party of a century! I've never seen so many cute guys in one place!” Marron exclaimed.

“Oh, really? Are there that many?” Bulma asked looking around.

“Bulma, please don't tell me you just got to your own party!” Launch cried.

“Guilty,” Bulma said on a shrug.

“Well, that means you haven't seen the new exchange student yet,” Marron said with a sly smile.

“Who the Namek? Um…what his name? Pic- pic-,” Bulma tried to recall.

“Piccolo,” Launch supplied.

“Oh no not him. He's so weird,” Marron said. “I'm talking about the new student at West Capital Prep. He's really smooth and absolutely gorgeous! I think I've found my prom date,” Marron practically swooned.

“If he's that great I want to see him. Where is he?” Bulma asked.

Marron scanned the room quickly then pointed when her eyes reached the DJ booth. “He's over there.”

Bulma looked at the tall teal colored male standing in the middle of a group of fawning females. His brilliant long green hair and flashing gold eyes were quite the eye catcher. “What's his name?” Bulma asked clearly impressed.

“Zar- something or another, but that's not important right now. Isn't he just a doll?!” Marron said wistfully.

“He is something,” Bulma said giving him another once over.

“But not your type, right Bulma?” Launch said knowingly.

Bulma blushed and smiled. “True. Speaking of which, have either of you seen Yamcha.”

The two girls looked at each other then shrugged. “Sorry Bulma we haven't seen him,” they said simultaneously, as the two best friends were often inclined to do.

Bulma bit her lip. That was strange. It had been almost one when she had left her room. Yamcha should have been here by now.

“Oh Bulma, before we forget,” Launch said remembering the reason they had stopped her. Lifting the white box display style, she smiled bright. “Marron and I were absolutely stumped on what to get you…I mean what do you get the girl who has everything, anyway? So we came up with this,” she said as she nodded to Marron to lift the lid. Laid out in the box was this years Orange Star High cheerleader uniform. Bulma was shocked to say the least.

“Like she said, we didn't know what to get you so we decided to use our powers as co-captains to make you an honorary member of the squad,” Marron said proudly.

Bulma chuckled as they handed her the box. “Well thanks guys! I don't know what to say. This is truly the most original gift I've gotten this year. Thanks again.”

The two smiled happily then the DJ changed the track and Marron began swaying to the beat and grabbed Launch's hand. “Come dance with me L. This is my favorite song,” she said as she began dragging her friend away.

“Bye Bulma,” Launch waved as the two were swallowed by the crowd.

“What's that?”

Bulma turned and smiled as ChiChi, Juuhachigou, and Krillin walked up to her.

“My birthday gift from Marron and Launch. I am now a honorary cheerleader,” Bulma said proudly.

“Ohh, you must feel really special,” Juu said sarcastically.

“I do,” Bulma said defensively. “It was nice of them.”

ChiChi and Juu both rolled their eyes.

Bulma chuckled lightly then asked, “Have any of you guys seen Yamcha? He should have been here by now.”

The three shook their heads. Bulma nervously bit her lip.

“Hey don't worry Bulma. He's probably just running a little late. He'll be here,” Krillin reassured as the DJ put on a new song. Obviously the song was to Krillin's liking because he immediately started feeling the beat and grabbed his girl.

“Come on babe, let's go,” he said.

“Go where?” Juu asked.

“Oh, you know where,” he said wiggling his eyebrows in a way that made Bulma and ChiChi laugh.

Juu rolled her eyes playfully and mumbled, “Goon,” as she let herself be lead into the mob.

ChiChi turned to Bulma. “All right what do you say we make our way to the kitchen to see what `refreshments' we can find,” she said wiggling her brows much like Krillin had just done.

Bulma laughed full out this time. “All right. Just let me give this box to one of the house-bots to put in my room.”

- - - - - - - - - - - -

“So there were ten seconds left in the game and it was all tied up. I knew that our only chance to win was for me to throw an eighty-five yard pass to Killa for the championship,” a slightly tipsy Spopovich recalled.

Hercule sipped his beer then glanced at his best friend in disbelief. Uub rolled his eyes and took a drink of his own beer. They had been sitting outside in the lawn chairs talking about random things when Spopovich had set down and started `wowing' them with his fabulous -and non-existent- football season. It was like the guy didn't think anyone went to the games.

“What?” Spopovich asked frowning at their looks.

“Nothing. It's just that your story sounds an awful lot like GOKU'S last second pass to VEGETA for HIS game winning touchdown at the championship game a few weeks ago,” Hercule said on a shrug.

Spopovich frowned and snorted in disgust. “Goku and Vegeta,” he said rolling his eyes. “You'd think by the way everyone's always fawning over them they were some kind of gods or something,” he said sipping from his beer can.

“Well as far as the athletic departments of our school and any other school in a hundred miles radius goes they pretty much are,” Uub said nonchalantly. It wasn't that he was giving the two special praise or anything. He was just stating facts.

“Whatever, all I know is that I could run circles around that punk Goku and as for Vegeta well…just today at wrestling practice I that little pussy penned to the floor,” Spopovich boasted.

“Is that so?”

Neither Hercule nor Uub could control the chuckles that came from them as Spopovich's eyes went wide upon hearing Vegeta's voice behind him. He turned in a way that could only be considered comical to see a slightly irked looking Goku and an expressionless Vegeta gazing down at him.

“Well…” Spopovich said clearing his throat.

“It's strange that you remember it that way because as I recall it was you that was screaming like a little bitch at practice today,” Vegeta said.

Goku chuckled at the blush that flushed Spopovich's face. He normally didn't take pleasure in others discomfort but Spopovich was one of the few people at school that he didn't like. Watching the creep squirm under Vegeta's biting tongue was…amusing.

When Spopovich said nothing, Vegeta arched a brow. “What? Nothing else to say?” Vegeta snorted. “Pathetic.”

Spopovich frowned and lowered his head.

Goku couldn't help it. He laughed. “Come on, Vegeta. I need to find ChiChi,” he said as he started moving away.

Throwing Spopovich one last look of disdain, Vegeta turned and followed his friend.

Hercule and Uub decided to take this as their exit as well. Still smiling, they stood and walked by the brooding man. As he passed him, Uub slapped Spopovich on the back. “That was pretty sad, man,” he said as he followed Hercule.

Spopovich shook his head and sipped his beer.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Bulma glanced at her watch. 4:00 am. The party was starting to wind down and Yamcha still hadn't made his appearance. Weaving her way through the house and out to the back yard, Bulma could tell that within the next hour or so the party would be over. The DJ was in full slow mode and was currently playing Shakira's Underneath Your Clothes. A few couples, which included Goku and ChiChi, were gently swaying to the music where others, such as Krillin and Juu, had found shaded parts of the yard to be alone.

She glanced at her watch again. 4:09 and still no Yamcha. Sighing, she took a swallow of the glass in her hand. She and ChiChi hadn't been able to find the `refreshments' they had been looking for in the kitchen. Obviously Mrs. Briefs had been one step ahead of them and had locked the liquor cabinet, so they had had to settle for beer. Bulma took another drink then scanned the area. She was tired of waiting around for Yamcha. She wanted to have some fun. And that's when she spotted him.

As usually he was standing against the wall with his arms crossed, silently observing the happenings around him. Bulma ran a hand over her dress then moved towards him.

She stopped directly in front of him and arched one fine brow. Vegeta said nothing and returned the gesture as Aaliyah's Rock The Boat came on.

~ Rock the boat, Rock the boat, Rock the boat, Rock the boat, Work the middle, Work the middle, Work the middle, Work the middle, Change positions, Do positions, Do positions, Do positions, Stroke it for me, Stroke it for me, Stroke it for me, Stroke it for me. ~

Bulma began swaying to the beat as Vegeta continued to watch her. As the rhythm flowed through her, Bulma slowly made a small circle until her back was to him. She let the slow beat completely take her as she danced, her body lightly brushing his as she did so.

~ Stroke it for me. Hmm, stroke it baby. Stroke it baby. Hmm, work it baby. Work it baby. Ooh, stroke it. There is something I want you to do…~

She began rotating her hips so that her butt was rubbing against his groin. Vegeta firmly grasped her hips stopping her movement. Bulma slowly glanced over her shoulder, azure meeting onyx.

~ I want you to use yourself. Like you never, ever used it before. Now explore my body. Until you reach the shore, you'll be calling, calling for me…~

“Was that supposed to turn me on?” Vegeta asked after a moment.

Bulma smiled and turned so she was facing him. “You made it. Are you having fun?” she asked in a soft voice still swaying to the music.

“Well, I was able to humiliate someone, so I would say it was adequate,” Vegeta answered in the same quiet tone.

“Oh really? Who?” Bulma asked as she finally stilled and took a drink from her glass.

“Spopobitch,” Vegeta said as he took the glass from her before the drink could touch her lips and sat it on the arm of a nearby lawn chair.

Bulma crossed her arms. Vegeta was the only member of their group that never touched alcohol. Even Goku had a taste here and there, though he never seemed to enjoy it much. Vegeta never said anything to anyone else about the habit but with her he had a common tendency of taking her glass from her. She didn't think she had ever finished a full drink in front of him.

Deciding to skip the drink issue, since it was a lost argument anyway, Bulma held out her hand and cleared her throat.

“What?” Vegeta asked looking at her hand.

“Remember in the car when we had that talk about starting new trends,” she said thrusting her hand towards his face.

Vegeta looked at her hand and tilted his head almost curiously. “Didn't Mommy and Daddy get you enough?” he mocked.

“Mommy and Daddy got me plenty, but now I want a gift from you,” Bulma said dropping her hand.

“That's sad. Really it is.”

Bulma sighed. “Oh well, you can't blame a girl for trying. So what are you about to do?”

Vegeta glanced at his watch. “I think I'm going to go. This party is pretty much done with.”

Bulma glanced around. “Yeah, I guess you're right. Come on, I'll walk you out.”

At his nod they reentered the house and moved to the front door. He pulled out his keys and was about to walk out the door when Bulma grabbed his arm. He turned, a quizzical expression on his face.

“Thanks for coming,” she said smiling lightly.

He smirked then scowled halfheartedly. “You better not be late Monday. Unlike like your boyfriend I won't wait for you.”

Bulma smiled and nodded. “I promise not to be late.”

Vegeta nodded then turned to leave just as Yamcha entered.

“Yamcha! Where have you been?!” Bulma exclaimed.

“I've been doing some thinking,” Yamcha said. He looked at Vegeta and frowned. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

Bulma frowned at his serious tone. “Sure, okay,” she said as she grabbed his hand. She then turned to Vegeta. “First thing Monday. I won't be late.”

Vegeta nodded then left the house.

“Come on we can talk in my room,” she said.

Yamcha nodded. Biting her lip, Bulma lead the way.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bulma closed her bedroom door and took a deep breath before turning. Yamcha was standing with his back to her, staring out the double glass doors that lead to her personal balcony. Bulma bit her lip as she leaned against the door. This wasn't going to be good.

After a moment of silence, he turned to her.

“I was really angry with you today, Bulma,” he said softly.

Bulma frowned in confusion. She remembered their day going pretty well. When had he been angry? “I don't know what you're talking about, Yamcha.”

He chuckled sadly. “I guess you wouldn't. You see that's just the problem. In the four years that we've been together it's finally become clear to me that you just don't have the time for us and I can't do it anymore.”

Bulma felt tears welling in her eyes but she fought them. “What are you trying to say?” she asked moving closer to him.

“I'm trying to say that I'm tired of fighting for a time slot in your busy schedule. Like downstairs when you promised Vegeta that you wouldn't be late Monday. I'd bet my life that you won't be late, which is a lot more than I would get. That's what I'm trying to say.”

Bulma felt an involuntary tear roll down her cheek as the realization that he was serious finally hit her. “So that's it! We're done after four fucking years! All because I'm meeting Vegeta to do my lab assignment!”

“No. It's not just Vegeta. It's Goku and ChiChi and Juu and Krillin and Mom and Dad and the student government… It's everything Bulma! You're everything else and THEN you're Yamcha's girlfriend. I can't be second best forever and you can't expect me to,” he said with no venom in his voice, only a tired kind of sadness.

Bulma couldn't stop the tears flowing down her cheeks and slowly sank to her bed. “You're serious,” she said softly.

Yamcha lowered his head, not knowing what to say. They were silent a moment as they realized that this an end of an era. Four years was a lot of time lost and deserved at the very least a moment of mourning in it's passing.

Bulma sniffled and wiped at a tear. “You probably don't believe this but I do love you.”

“I know you do Bulma. You love everyone,” Yamcha said with a sad smile. A look of her hurt came into her eyes at him brushing her words aside and he sighed. “I don't want you to think there's anything wrong with that. I just don't have it in me to always have to share your love. It's selfish, I know, but it's how I feel.”

Bulma put her head down and squeezed her eyes shut. “Happy birthday to me,” she muttered just low enough so that he wouldn't hear.

Yamcha glanced at his watch. “It's getting late.”

Bulma nodded as he walked pass her to the door. He opened the door then stopped and turned his head slightly to glance over his shoulder. “For the record, I loved you.”

“Loved? With an ed?” Bulma asked looking up.

Yamcha turned his face from hers and sighed. Then he was gone.

Bulma sat there unmoving for a moment then stretched out of her bed. She laid on the bed and let her tears fall on her pillow. She didn't wail or even sob. She just let the tears fall. She watched as her clock ticked away an hour that she cried until her tears dried up and when they did she just lied there. A soft knock was what finally woke her from her vigil. The clock told her that it was a quarter to seven, which meant it could only be her mother, who was naturally an early raiser.

Bulma sat up slowly and said a soft, “Come in.”

Mrs. Briefs entered the room and immediately took in her daughter's disheveled state. “Are you all right, dear?”

Bulma sighed. “Not really but can we talk about it later?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Mrs. Briefs said giving her daughter a comforting smile. She then stepped further into the room and extended a rectangular shaped box towards Bulma.

“Mom, you didn't have to get me anything else,” Bulma said taking the box.

“I didn't. One of the house-bots found it on the table near the entranceway when they were cleaning. I can tell from the state of the place that your party turned out well last night.”

“Yeah the party went well,” Bulma said.

“Well, that's good,” her mother said, bending over to kiss her forehead. “Well, I'm going to the market this morning and you'll probably be asleep for the rest of the day, so I'll see you about dinner time?”

“All right, Mom,” Bulma said.

Giving her daughter one last smile, Mrs. Briefs left the room closing the door softly behind her.

Bulma examined the box. It was a simple white jewelry box and when she opened it a small card fell out onto her lap. However, Bulma ignored it for the moment as she gawked at what was inside. The sterling silver link bracelet shined brilliantly and as she lifted it from its box, she noticed the square shaped locket dangling from it. On one side of the locket there was a B engraved. Bulma opened the locket, eager to see who had sent her such a beautiful gift and found it empty. She was disappointed at first then remembered the card. She picked it up and saw that it read simply:

A New Trend.

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Thanks for reading.