Paper Lanterns

xX matt Xx

MadLab

oO:Day One:Oo

Ken was laying on his bed. Thinking to himself, "A thought burst into my head last night, and is now bugging me beyond comprehenshion. I've got to see her. Alone. Just me and her together. Of all the things I can do. I should be able to talk to a girl. "

Ken got up from his bed and walked over to the dresser mirror. Looked at himself and raised an eyebrow. "I'm charming...right?", Ken asked himself. "Who am I kidding...I'll never get Yolei to like me..."

Little did Ken know that Yolei, did in fact, "like" him. Ever since he walked away from being the tyranical "Digimon Emporer" She had taken a liking to him.

"I'm going to do it", Ken said out loud. "I'm going to Yolei's house and I'm going to ask her if she wants to hang out". He kept looking into the mirror. "Yep", he nodded. "I'm going to go over to her house and...", Ken imagined the intensity of asking his crush if she wanted to hang out with him, "I'm gonna...choke up and look like an idiot". Ken walked away from the mirror and picked up the cordless phone. He thought for a moment and then he dialed Davis' number. The line rang a bit. It rang a few more times. Ken began to wonder if it would ever be answered. Suddenly just as Ken was about to abandon hope, someone answered the phone.

"Hello?", said a female voice.

This was unexpected for Ken, "Uh...Um, is Davis there?".

"I'll get him for you", the girl said. Ken then heard the girl scream, "DAVIS PICK UP THE PHONE! YOU'RE SO STUPID", then he heard another voice, "SHUT UP JUN! I GOT IT, YOU CAN GO BACK TO SUCKING AT LIFE!". Ken began to fear that someone was going to get hurt. Then sounded Davis' voice, "Yo, it's me".

"Is everything okay over there?", Ken asked, slightly concerned.

He heard Davis suck his teeth, "Yeah. My sister is being a douche-nugget. So what's up?"

"I need your advice. I have a big problem", Ken started.

"Okay... Yolei broke up with you? I'm sorry man, but you know how she is"

"What? Yolei and I weren't going out! I want to ask her to hang out with me, but I feel like I'm going to choke when I see her", Ken told his friend.

There was a silence on the other end of the phone, "Oh, okay. Well, I'd just go over to her house and say, 'Hey baby, you know what would look good on you? Me'. And that's all you gotta do"

Ken sighed, "Yes. Well. Thanks for all of the advice, I'll let you know how hard she hits me after I say that to her". Ken then hung the phone up. What was he thinking calling Davis for advice on girls? He put the phone back on the charger and walked back over to his mirror. "So, Yolei, want to hang out sometime?", he asked the mirror. "I can do this. I can do this".

Next thing Ken knew, he was walking down the street, on his way to Yolei's house. Nothing was going to stop him. He was going to walk up to her door, knock, and when she answered, ask her to hang out with him. Ken was nearing her apartment complex. As he realized this, his heart started to beat quite rapidly. This beating of the heart only got faster and harder as he made his way up the stairs. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as he walked over to her door. He took a deep breath and as quiet as a feather falling onto another feather, Ken knocked on the door. Ken heard footsteps getting louder. He heard someone unlocking the door from the other side. He saw the doorknob turn, and Ken realized that he was unprepared. He couldn't say what he had planned to, but he couldn't turn back. The door opened. Ken looked up.

A man old enough to be Yolei's dad greeted him, "Well, hello there. Can I help you?"

Ken had to tell this man, who was probably Yolei's father, that he wanted to speak to his daughter. Ken swallowed. He searched for the words to say to the man at the door.

"Son, if you're looking for Yolei, she went to a friends house to spend the night", the man told the ever-nervous Ken.

Ken was upset and then relieved. He was losing his head for nothing. "Thank you sir. I'm sorry if I wasted your time".

"Don't be ridiculous, boy. The last boy that Yolei dated liked biting his toe-nails", Yolei's dad said with a laugh.

Ken raised his eyebrow. "That's disgusting...", he said in a sort of trance.

The man patted Ken's shoulder, "You don't seem like the toe-nail biting type, but you certainly look like the finger-nail biting type". The man laughed.

Ken joined him in laughing, unsure what they were laughing about.

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When he got home, opened his bedroom door. He looked at his answering machine and noticed that he had a message. He hit the play button and then collapsed onto his bed.

In a monotonic voice the answering machine informed Ken that he had one new message. It then beeped and began to play the message. "Yo, dude", It was Davis, "uuh, if you're thinking about going to Yolei's house, don't go. I heard that she was staying the night at Kari's. Later dude". Ken covered his face and sighed. He rolled over and faced the wall. Exhausted, Ken fell asleep.

oO:Day Two:Oo

Ken woke up at about eleven in the morning. He had slept far later than usuall. Yolei was sure to be home by now. Ken got up out of the bed. Luckly, he still had some courage saved up from the day before. He took a shower, put on his clothes, brushed his teeth, and smiled in the face of his fears.

.oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo.

Ken walked down the street, heading to Yolei's house again. He smiled at people as he passed them. He was going to do it this time. Everything was right. The sun was shining and it wasn't too hot. It was a Saturday, the perfect day to hang out. Ken purchases some flowers from a street flourist and continued walking. This time Ken casually approached the apartments. He walked up the stairs with no worries. Knowing that he had her father's approval really boosted his confidence. Ken walked over to Yolei's door. He took another deep breath and knocked three times. Like yesterday, he heard footsteps. Then he saw the doorknob turn. The door opened. Ken smiled. He was about to ask Yolei to hang out with him today. A full day of just Yolei and him. It was too good to be true. The door fully opened and some guy that Ken had never met before greeted him. "Can I help you?", the guy asked.

Ken's heart fell to his feet. He gave the flowers to the guy at the door, turned and walked away. He felt like he could just roll over and die. His hopes of spending the day with Yolei were so high, and some other guy beat him to the punch. "Serves me right", Ken thought, "I should have told her how I felt sooner. You're pathetic, Ken. That could've been you in there". As Ken continued his slow walk home, clouds began to block out the sun. He felt somthing fall onto his head. Ken looked into the sky as drops of rain fell right onto his face. He slowly closed his eyes and sighed. He kept walking. The rain didn't phase him. The day could only get better at this point. It began to rain really hard and Ken got soaked. He walked all the way home in the rain.

.oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo.

Ken got home and took his shoes off. He took his soaked shirt off to realize that even his undershirt was wet. Ken felt worse than he had in a long time. The sick feeling in his stomach, the lump in his throat, and his longing to be with Yolei made him want to drop to the floor and cry for about three hours. He fought it as long as he could. Ken looked in the mirror only to find tears running down his face. He threw his shirt over the mirror so he didn't have to see how pathetic he was. "Maybe I can pretend that she loves me...". Ken broke down just as the doorbell rang. He quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. "I bet it's Davis coming over to tell me that Yolei found a boyfriend", Ken said aloud to himself. The depressed boy made his way to the door and opened it. Outside stood a soaking wet Yolei. She pulled Ken outside with her and held him tight.

"It's really cold...", Yolei said, looking into Ken's eyes.

Ken sighed, "What about your friend?"

Yolei laughed, "That was my cousin. He's visiting for the weekend". Yolei kissed Ken so suddenly that it couldn't have been stopped. Ken was shocked at first, but then he wrapped his arms around the girl.

"What was that for?", Ken asked in confusion.

Yolei smiled, "You brought me flowers". She kissed him again. The rain began to stop and the sun came out once again...

The End

:Author's Note:

This fic could have been so much better if I spent more time on it, but I'm so anxious to get it uploaded that I'm not going to add anything to it. I feel like I don't describe enough or do a good job at expressing the character's feelings, but I don't think that this story is bad. It's my first little one-shot type story. After reading a few, I felt I had to write one, it's a fun process. Hope that someone enjoyed it. If you did, please review.

:Author's Note: