Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Things Change ❯ "I Don't Want To Be The Best" ( Chapter 16 )

Okay, I'm really sorry that I've taken…like forever to get this chapter done. But I've just been busy!

cherry-star-aus - Don't worry, Kaiba'll be more aggressive, as he'll probably have another reason to hate Joey.

Magicman/Smokegirl - Good point. Although, I think they (the writers) have him act dumb for comedic value. Sort of like Eric Mathews becoming an idiot at the start of Season 3 (Or 4. I'm not too sure.) of "Boy Meets World."

Sanura-sama - What secrets Joey's hiding? You'll find out some. Next chapter, all of his secrets will come out.

Ssp - I know now. I wanted to make Joey somewhat of a genius, but not a total brainiac. I was originally going to have his grades be around 100, and his laziness being because he felt that he wasn't being challenged enough in class. But the path for our blonde friend has already been set.

Joey looked down at his watch as it indicated that it was now four. Who cares if they were late! They always stuck together. Arisa waited for him when he had detention, so now he'll wait for her. In his opinion, Arisa shouldn't have gotten detention in the first place. It wasn't her fault Mr. Tranor was so boring that she fell asleep.

"Come on, it can't be longer than this…" Joey sighed as he began to grow impatient. Suddenly, the door opened as the students who had detention began to exit. To a big burly red head boy who probably got in trouble for fighting, to a skinny, preppy brunette who got into trouble for her disrespect to the teachers, a fair amount of people were leaving. However, there was one person who he was waiting for"

"Joey!"

The owner of the voice was definitely not that person as Joey look back. He saw his friends, Yugi, Tristan, and Tea. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"You tell us!" Tristan said as he, along with Yugi and Tea, had a serious look on his face.

"Tell ya what?"

"Don't play dumb! We know about your grades!" Tea informed.

Joey sighed, "I knew you guys would find out…"

"You're damn right!" Tristan replied. "How could you keep it from us like that?"

"Look, I know that I'm pressing my luck with my grades, I'll just cram for it and-"

"You can cut the act Joey!" Yugi said.

"What?" Joey blinked.

"We know about your grades."

"I know that…"

"Your real grades." Tea clarified.

"Oh…" Joey sighed. "Let me guess: Kaiba told ya."

"You damn right he did! How could you keep them from us, Man! I thought we were friends!" Tristan protested.

"Of course we're friends!"

"Friends don't keep secrets, but you've been doing a lot of that lately!" Tea said sternly.

"So I kept my good grades a secret! What's the big deal?" Joey asked.

"The 'Big Deal' is that you kept all of us worried about you! Wondering if you were ever going to pass since we knew…or at least thought that you weren't exactly a straight-A student!" Tea said. "And the worse of all, you told Arisa and not us: People who've been friends, friends who've been through thick and thin together since-"

"How did I know she had something to do with you being angry Tea?" Joey asked sarcastically, annoyed with Tea's attitude. "For your information, she saw me placing down BS answers on one of my tests. I had to tell her to get her to shut up!"

"And you couldn't have told us!"

"Hey, it's not like she isn't the only one that knows." Joey protested.

"So you rather told Arisa instead of Serenity?" Tea asked coolly.

"Why do you have to bring Serenity into this?"

Arisa, who had just walked out from the classroom, blinked at what he just saw. "Umm…is this a bad time?" She asked, which Tea responded with a growl at the Blonde. She was sick and tired of Arisa being wherever Joey was, and if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't want to soil her school uniform-again, she would've jumped at the blonde and yanked her hair out.

Frustrated, Joey reached into his bag as he pulled out a piece of paper. "Look, if you want to know why I've been keepin' my intelligence a big secret, just read this, okay?"

Yugi took the paper and looked at it. It was his essay that he wrote in class on the one person who has greatly influenced his life. "Joey what does this have anything to-!"

"Just read it…" Joey said as he and Arisa then walked off, with her looking at him.

"What's going on Joey?" She asked.

"Yuge and the gang are gonna find out the truth about me." Joey said.

"So that paper…"

"Yep, it's my essay." Joey simply said. "I think that it's best that they just find out now, ask questions later. Besides, that's nothing compared to what I'm gonna have to deal with when I get home…"

"You should've told at least Serenity!" Arisa slightly scolds.

"I know, but it's next to impossible for her to keep a secret. She even eavesdrops on me sometimes. Serenity's basically a blabbermouth."

Arisa giggled as they walked away, leaving the trio to read Joey's paper. After reading the heading, they blinked.

"'I don't want to be the best?' What kind of idiot doesn't want to be the best!?" Tristan exclaimed, finding it odd that someone would write about that.

"Oh shut up Tristan. Maybe this essay will explain it…" Tea said as they continued to read. But soon their eyes went wide after they read this:

A lot of people can have an impact on a person's life. Parents, siblings, friends, just to name a few for some people. For other people like me, that person can turn out to be the most unlikely of people. Even those who you would never guessed to actually be an influence in your life. There is one person who fits this. That one person is Seto Kaiba.

"YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT!? KAIBA!?" Tristan exclaimed.

"What does he have to do with this?" Tea asked as Yugi continued reading.

Kaiba was so much of a big influence to me he is the reason why I do not want to be the best! Because if I did strive to be the best, I'd end up like him: A spiteful, cold hearted person who doesn't care about anybody but himself, or being number one!

"So that's his excuse? He doesn't want to be like Kaiba? That's why he's been keeping this secret from us?" Tea asked, a bit peeved.

"I understand why he wouldn't want to be the best." Yugi sighed. "It can corrupt a person in the cruelest ways, as being the best soon becomes an obsession. And obsession Kaiba has now…"

Tea and Tristan nodded in agreement. "But still, that doesn't excuse Joey for keeping his secrets!" Tea reminded.

"We'll have to have a long talk with Joey." Yugi nodded. "Let's read the rest of it. Maybe we'll find out more reasons why he doesn't want to be the best."

"Good thing Serenity doesn't get home until late…" Joey sighed as he fixed the collar on his jean jacket.

"You're gonna have to come clean with her some time." Arisa reminded as she took off her unbuttoned green plaid, long-sleeved shirt, revealing a black "Parental Advisory" tank top. "Her and your mom…"

"That should be fun." Joey sarcastically said as they stepped inside of the YMCA building. Which at that point they saw Debra.

"Hey guys!" She greeted them.

"Yo!" Joey waved at her.

"What's going on?" Arisa asked.

"Nothing really…" the redhead admitted. "But you guys on the other hand appear to be going on a field trip."

"Field trip!?" The blonde couple blinked.

Debra nodded, "Just been planned at the last minute. Although you'll be pretty much surprised when you find out who's idea it was…"

"Why? Do you know something we don't?" Joey asked as Debra just made a zipper motion on her lips. Indicating that she wasn't going to tell them…

"Looks like we're on our own…" Arisa said.

"Whatever…" Joey shrugged as the two walked into the room. It appeared that Delia was back as she was standing with Jess and Jackson.

"Hey Delia, welcome back!" Joey greeted the older woman.

"What's up with this field trip we're hearing about?" Arisa asked.

"Haven't you heard?" Jess asked, "We're going to the Kaiba Land dueling arena!"

"Kaiba Land?" The Blondes exclaimed in unison. "For what?" Joey asked. "What's the point of going there?"

"SO they can see how good of a duelist you really are!" Kaiba hissed from behind the couple, startling them.

"Don't freak us out like that!" Arisa hissed.

"Hmph, like I care about your opinions! What matters now is that we get to my dueling arena." Kaiba demanded. "But first, we're going to stop at Wheeler's house first!"

Joey blinked, "My house? For what?"

"You know damn well why we're stopping there: To get your deck. Your real deck!"

"Where yer getting at Kaiba?"

"As much as I hate to admit that you're actually a good duelist, if you were lying about your grades, how do I know that you're not lying about your dueling skills?" Kaiba glared at the blonde duelist. "Now let's go! My limo will take us!"

"Mmm…I never rode in a limo before…" Jess smiled as she imagined herself riding around Domino in style.

"Don't get used to it." Kaiba sneered at the pink-haired girl. He was only actually going through with this so that he had witnesses to prove that Joey Wheeler was indeed a big fat liar. He still believed that Wheeler had no chance of beating him, but he didn't want to win against someone who basically lost on purpose. How would it make him look? People would start wondering "What if Joey played for real, would he have won Duelist Kingdom? Would he have won Battle City?" He didn't know what was up with Joey Wheeler, but he intended to find out!

Yes, I know that it took me forever to get this chapter done. But college life isn't exactly a cakewalk you know. I'll try harder to get this story updated, as well as my other stories, as well as (finally) start "Spira's Tournament." Y'all know the drill! Review now!