Science Books and Shoes
- Well, here's my disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Digimon. Oh well…~ Sniffles and walks away ~
This week was supposed to be the best week of the entire school year. But, of course, something always comes around that ruins the whole experience. It's inevitable, I guess. Everything stupid and unexpected seems to always happen to me. The last school dance of the year was on Friday, and I was even getting the guts to ask Ken to it. Instead, I'm stuck at home with a temperature of one hundred and one. Lucky me, as usual.
My mom said that if I could stand taking Tuesday off, then she might think about letting me go to school on Wednesday, which always means no. I spent my Tuesday worrying about the dance and if my fever would cool. Luckily, by Wednesday, my temperature went down two degrees, just enough to convince my mom that I could go to school.
I was a little woozy that day, but I was better than the days before, so I was as cheerful as I could be. Daisuke actually left me alone for most of the day, which came as a surprise to me. He seemed to enjoy ticking Takeru off about Hikari. It figures.
Iori greeted me during fourth hour. "Hey, Miyako. Are you still sick?"
"Uh huh," I replied. "But it's not that bad."
"We have a test in science today, you know."
I smacked my forehead. "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot! See you later, Iori!" I dashed to my locker so I could grab my notes and tripped on someone.
"Oof!" I landed on my face. "Ow…"
"Oh, Miyako! I'm sorry!" I froze. It was Ken! He was looking at me with his usual concern. My heart skipped a few beats.
Sitting up a bit, I stammered, "Oh…Uh…That's okay, Ken. You didn't mean it."
"I hope you didn't get hurt," he said, extending his hand.
"Hey, no biggie," I said, taking his hand. My face started to heat up as he pulled me back up to my feet. "Thanks."
Ken smiled as he handed me my books I dropped. "It's the least I can do."
I cleared my throat.
He let go of my hand.
I shifted my books onto my other arm.
He looked at his feet.
Shrugging stupidly, I said, "Well, I'll see you at lunch."
"Um…Yeah. Bye, Miyako."
"Yeah. Bye" I turned slowly on my heel and headed for my locker, feeling really stupid.
I practically passed out with relief when my science teacher said that I didn't have to take the test that day. So I spent that hour with my head down, wondering if Ken thought I was a complete dork or not. I started feeling really crummy then. I hoped it was just the humiliation; I didn't want to go home sick yet.
When lunchtime came by, I was pretty miserable. I took my seat next to Iori, Hikari, Takeru, Daisuke, and Ken. For once, Daisuke had been silenced. From what I heard, Hikari really let him have it good during math class. That was a little pick-me-up.
"What's the matter?" Hikari asked me, noticing that I hadn't touched a thing on my tray. "Aren't you hungry?"
"No, not really," I muttered.
"I'll finish it off for you!" Daisuke said, reaching across the table for my lunch.
Iori smacked him with his spoon. "Knock it off, Daisuke!"
"Aw, come on! She isn't eating any!"
"It's impolite to take things without asking."
I sat up and pushed my lunch over at that bottomless pit that we call Daisuke. "I'm not gonna eat it anyway. Go ahead." Then I got out of my seat and headed outside for recess early.
Coughing a little, I leaned against a tree, closing my eyes. I knew I should've taken something for this headache, I thought. Please let my fever go away before the dance! What would I do if I couldn't go? What if Ken didn't want to go with me? What if-
"Miyako?"
I opened my eyes and found myself looking up at Ken. "Huh? Oh…Er…Hey."
"Hi. You still sick?"
"Sick? Who said anything about being sick?" I forced a laugh, only to find myself coughing again.
Ken sat down next to me and smiled grimly. "If you were so sick, why didn't you stay at home?"
"I had to buy a ticket for the dance on Friday," I answered as casually as humanly possible. I must've sounded like such an idiot at that moment.
He nodded. "I see. You can't overlook that, can you?"
"Oh, yeah," I said with a laugh. Stupid! Why'd I go and bring this up?
"I have to go to the computer room, now. My teacher needs help with the printer."
"Okay. Later."
Ken smiled and left. I sighed and looked up. That was very dumb. I berated myself over and over until I slowly fell asleep.
I yawned, stretching, and opened my eyes and yelped. "YAH! What!?"
Mr. Fujiyama was eyeing me. "Well, Miss Inoue, I hope you enjoyed your nap."
"Eh…Heh heh…" I grinned sheepishly. "Did I miss much?"
"Actually, no," He replied. "But I called your parents and you are going straight home. You're too sick to stay awake, young lady."
I moaned and stood up. "Okay…" Then it hit me. I never got my ticket! And now I was being sent home!
"Mr. Fujiyama?" I exclaimed suddenly.
"What?"
"Can I go get a dance ticket first?"
"They've already finished selling them today. They'll be selling them tomorrow, though."
"Oh…Okay."
My mom took my temperature the instant I got home. It went back to one hundred and two. Now I have to stay home. How am I gonna get a ticket now? This is awful! I cried myself to sleep that night. Talk about being over-dramatic, but I had reasons!
Well, my plans for the perfect week flew out the door. My fevers never went down when Friday rolled on by, and I spent my day in my room, wishing that I could've at least gone there by myself, rather than sit here. I wondered how the dance went. I could just picture it: Takeru would be desperately trying to avoid Daisuke just enough to get one dance in with Hikari, Iori would be talking with his friends in his history class about the upcoming test, and Ken would be in the corner, all by himself. I felt a pang of guilt. Not only did I let myself down; I ditched Ken on accident.
I was well again on Monday, but I didn't care. I felt like being sick. As dumb as it sounds, the dance was totally on my mind last week, and it really bugged me. I was grabbing my science book when Ken walked up to my locker.
"Hi Ken," I said as enthusiastically as possible, which wasn't much.
"Hey. Sorry you couldn't go to the dance."
I looked at him and forced a smile. "It's alright. How was it?"
He shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I didn't go."
"How come?"
"History test, remember? I had to study."
Well, that lifted a little guilt off my shoulders. Just a little.
"Oh, I see." I slammed my locker shut and turned to walk to class, but Ken stopped me.
"Miyako?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"Are you doing anything after school?"
I thought hard. "No, not really. How come?
He looked at his books. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over. If that's okay, that is."
This took me by surprise. "Well…uh," I stammered, "sure! Why not?" I pushed my glasses back up and smiled.
"That's cool. See you later." He smiled and relaxed his shoulders, turning towards his next class.
"Yeah…Bye," I said quietly, bursting with excitement and nervousness as I made my way to science.
I knocked on the door to Ken's apartment. Mrs. Ichijouji opened it and smiled warmly.
"Why, hello, Miyako! How are you?"
"I'm okay, thanks."
"Come on in. I'll go get Ken. Are you hungry?"
"No, that's okay."
Mrs. Ichijouji made her way to the hallway as Miyako stepped inside, gazing at the room. It was simple, but very charming none the less. Could the place be any quieter? It was like TV or the radio were non-existent. Maybe everyone in Tamachi had places like this. Maybe no one around here watched TV. I shuddered.
"Hi, Miyako."
"Ack!" I jumped and spun around to face Ken. "Oh, hey there! Nice place. Hasn't changed a bit."
"Yeah. It's okay." He shrugged and smiled, or made somewhat of a smile. "Come with me." He started walking to his room.
I followed behind him. He offered me a seat at his computer desk as he sat down on his bed. I looked around. Nothing much to see, really, except for a few pictures of his family, including his brother Sam. I stopped looking at that so I wouldn't bum Ken out.
He was looking at his feet again. My eyebrow started twitching. "Why do you keep doing that?" I demanded lightheartedly.
"Doing what?"
"Looking at your shoes!"
"They're new. I like looking at them."
I stared at him for a moment.
"Don't you like them?"
"Uh…Sure. 'Course I do!"
Ken stood up suddenly.
I looked around. "What? What'd I do?"
"Nothing."
Wow. That really clears everything up. I blinked, still confused.
He was looking at me. I bit my lip and decided that shoes were fun to look at as well. Yes, shoes were interesting to stare at when the guy you were head over heels about was looking at you.
"I was just wondering," he said quietly, holding out his hand, "if you'd like to dance."
Well…What did you think? Isn't it kawaii? Tell me if you liked it, hated it, or just plain gagged over the whole thing. Luv, Sugary Yolei ^_^
