So, I kind of miss him.
"I still can't believe that you guys are going to college and leaving me," Kari sobbed, her eyes watering.
"Oh, Kari!" Mimi and Sora cried, throwing their arms around their younger friend.
"We'll always love you, don't worry," Sora told Tai's sister.
"Yeah," Mimi agreed. "I'll be calling you at least twice a week to update you on all the new experiences I'm going through – all those handsome men!"
Sora rolled her eyes as Kari laughed a little, wiping away her tears.
"You are supposed to be dating Joe, Mimi," Sora told her best friend, shaking back her hair.
"Wah, I miss Joe!" Mimi cried, burying her face in her hands. "He still hasn't called me!"
"Oh, Mimi," Sora said, shaking her head and smiling.
"You know Joe," Kari added, patting her friend on the back. "He's probably disinfecting everything and making sure every little thing is in it's proper place. I'm sure he'll call—,"
Mimi's phone rang.
Kari and Sora laughed as Mimi shrieked, tearing open her phone so quickly she almost broke it. The pink-loving girl chattered away into the phone, gushing about how much she missed Joe.
"Well, I'd better get home," Sora told Kari, smiling.
Kari's face saddened, but she nodded, knowingly.
Sora and Mimi were going to leave for their separate colleges the next day. Mimi was going to America to study abroad, while Sora was going to study fashion in a college that was three hours away.
"Don't forget to check your phone messages," Kari teased, a little.
Sora raised her eyebrow at her friend.
"Who knows?" Kari said. "Maybe Matt called before her left."
Sora shook her head, rolling her eyes.
Matt had left for college that day, and she hadn't heard from him. Sora had assumed he was just being Matt and didn't think to call her – according to him; he wasn't that far away and would come home every so often.
Sora didn't believe he'd come home to see her. She believed he'd come back to see T.K. and his parents, to visit with his family. That was more important than her, after all.
With another hug to Kari, and a wave goodbye to Mimi, Sora left Kari's house.
As the teenage girl walked home, she thought about her friends.
Izzy had gone off to Geek College, as Tai called it, three days before. Joe had left a week before, leaving Sora and Kari with a half-hysteric Mimi. Tai had left for college on the same day as Izzy, leaving behind a miserable sister who missed him dearly, and a best friend who refused to admit that he actually missed him.
Sora missed all of them.
And Matt was leaving that day.
And he hadn't called her.
Feeling more than a little sorry for herself, Sora unlocked the back door and walked into her house.
The party she had hosted with T.K. and Kari had first started dating seemed like a lifetime ago. They had only just graduated high school, only just started dating, only just started driving…
"I miss the old days, Kiba," Sora told her puppy, who was not the size of a puppy anymore. "Never thought I'd say that I miss high school…"
"Sora, is that you?" called her mother, sleepily.
"Yeah, Mom, I'm home," Sora called back, locking the door again. "You can go to bed now."
"So should you, sweetie, you have a big day tomorrow," her mother called, as the couch creaked.
"Yeah, Mom, I know. I'll go to bed soon, don't worry," Sora replied.
The brown-haired girl listened, quietly, as her mother walked upstairs to join her father for a good night's rest before their baby girl grew up and left for college the next day.
Sora plucked a banana from her kitchen's shelf and went to the window. She stared out into her yard, and imagined herself, Tai, Kari, Matt, Izzy, Mimi, T.K., and Joe out there, young, carefree, and laughing.
Suddenly, a flashing color caught her attention.
Sora stared at her phone's answering machine, stared at the bright, flashing red light.
Maybe Matt called…
"No," Sora told herself, out loud. "It's probably Tai, blubbering about how he misses his mom or something…"
Still, the brown-haired girl couldn't help but a hope a little bit, in her deepest, heart of hearts. Sora reached out, stretching her fingers, and lightly touched the flashing button that was labeled 'Play.'
"One new message," the machine crackled at her. "At five twenty-two on August 28th…"
Today, Sora thought. Mom and Dad were out this afternoon…
The machine beeped again, and Sora listened, half-forgetting how to breathe as a familiar, slow voice came on over the speaker.
"Hey, Sora," Matt's voice said. "I just wanted to call and tell you goodbye. Wish I could've actually talked, but you know how Luck is. Heh…um, I hope to see you soon. Bye, Sora."
Sora stared at her answering machine as it clicked off, informing here that Matt's message was the only one. Kiba watched his mistress stare at the machine with confused eyes.
"Okay then," she said, quietly. "Bye, Matt. Wish I could've talked to you, too."
Sora shut off the lights in her kitchen, and then walked upstairs. She sat in her bedroom for a few moments, stroking Kiba as he curled up on her bed. After a couple of minutes, she grabbed her laptop and opened it, logging onto AIM to see if Kari was on…
Instead, there was only one screen name:
ITurnAroundRocker16.
"Matt…" Sora whispered, her cursor of a tennis ball fluttering over it for a minute.
Suddenly, a box popped up with a bing!
IturnAroundRocker16: Hey, Sora.
"Oh my God. Oh my God, Kiba, he just IMed me…"
CrazyTennisPlayer15: Hi, Matt.
IturnAroundRocker16: I called.