The New Girl
"In 1945, bla bla bla bla," History. The most boring class on Earth, Matt thought as he doodled on the front of his notebook. As the teacher droned on and on about some war, Matt's mind was busy wandering away on him in some other world. His thoughts were far from school; mostly about some lyrics for a new song his band was working on. Which reminded him, he had practice after school.
He held his head up with his hand and glanced at the clock. Good, only 5 minutes left. He looked back at the teacher and tried to make sense of what he was saying, but he'd missed too much by not paying attention to understand it. Just then, the bell rang. he grabbed his books and left the classroom. On the way to his locker, Tai caught up with him.
"So, some class huh? Pretty boring." he said with a smile. Matt laughed.
"Yeah, I had trouble staying awake!" He smiled and opened his locker door.
"Man," Tai said. "I really gotta clean this locker!" Matt looked over into Tai's locker and smiled.
"No kidding! When are you going to do that? Your spare time?"
"Ha, ha. I dunno. I guess so." Tai answered. He looked up. "Who's that?"
"Huh?" Matt threw his books into his locker and looked up to see someone turn around the corner. "A new person, I guess." He bent over to grab his other binder.
"Yeah," Tai answered. "You're probably right." Matt nodded and shut his door.
"See ya in class."
Matt slid into his desk in the middle of the room. Math this time. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He looked around the room and spotted Tai and Sora on the far side. He frowned. Who needed relationships? He certainly didn't have the time for one. The teacher walked in and asked for attention. Matt leaned his head to one side with a bored expression on his face.
"Class, I'd like you all to welcome a new student." A girl with long orange hair and blue eyes walked into the room. Matt sat up straight. She was an average height and her hair was in a single braid down her back. She had fair skin and a nice smile and spoke with a gentle voice.
"Konnichiwa, my name's Kasuria." she said.
"You can take a seat in the empty desk in the third row." the teacher told her. Matt watched her as she walked down the row and sat down in front of him. This was definitely the most beautiful girl he had ever seen! She glanced over her shoulder and, noticing his staring, turned around.
"Can I help you?" she asked. Matt smiled and blinked, regaining himself.
C'mon. Don't make a fool of yourself in front of her. Keep your cool.
"Hi, I'm Ya... Matt." he said straightening his back. Kasuria smiled.
"Nice to meet you." He bangs fell in front of her eyes but she didn't seem to notice.
There is something about this Matt... I can feel it... She smiled again and turned around.
Tai glanced over at Kasuria. He saw her turn back around and he also saw the dreamy expression on Matt's face. He cocked an eyebrow and turned to Sora.
"Look at Matt!" he whispered. "He's practically falling all over that new girl!" Sora leaned over and looked at Matt. She quickly covered her mouth and tried to stifle a giggle.
"Is there something wrong, Sora?" the teacher asked. Sora shook her head, trying not to laugh.
Matt heard the teacher talk and snapped out of his daze. He looked over at Sora and saw her trying hard not to laugh. He then looked at Tai and, seeing the expression on his face, quickly dropped his gaze down to his binder. He picked up his pen and started drawing on it, like he did whenever he was thinking.
"Mr. Ishida!" the teacher said, bringing his mind back to the classroom. "Would you like to join us?" Matt looked up and saw him staring straight at him.
Stupid, stupid! Great way to win her over! Act like an idiot!
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her smiling at him. He sighed. At least she didn't think he was a complete jerk. Hopefully anyway.
Matt couldn't concentrate at all through the whole class. He really needed to work on focusing. He kept smiling at Kasuria, even though her back was turned. After class, when he was walking to his locker, Matt bumped into Miyako. They both dropped their books all over the floor.
"Excuse me!" she half yelled, half laughed. "Watch out!"
"Sorry," Matt said. "I, uh..."
"Wasn't watching where you were going?" she finished.
"Yeah, you could say that." He bent down and started cleaning up his papers. Daisuke walked by and started laughing at them. Matt and Miyako looked up and he stopped and looked back down at them.
"Hey, you coming to play soccer after school?" he asked. Matt looked at his watch.
"No, sorry. My band has a practice." Daisuke shrugged.
"Oh well. Maybe next time. Miyako? You coming?" Matt finished picking up his stuff and walked over to his locker. He saw Kasuria walking towards the front door. As his eyes followed her, he felt a sharp pain in his side.
"Ow!" He turned around to see Tai standing beside him. "What was that for!?"
"Oh, just bringing you back to Earth!" Matt glared at him and shoved his stuff in his locker and grabbed his backpack. "I gotta go." He jogged out the door and caught up to Kasuria.
"Hi!" he said to her. She turned around.
"Oh, hi!" she answered.
"So, you live down this street?" he asked.
"Um-hmm." She nodded. It was the same street he lived on.
"Umm, can I, uhh, walk you home?" Kasuria smiled and looked at him.
"Yeah, I guess so." The two walked in silence. It was a beautiful day. There was a nice breeze and the bright sun reflected off of Kasuria's hair as if it had a light of it's own. Matt was getting uncomfortable with the silence.
"So, nice day huh?" She looked at him. "What?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing. I can just tell you have something on your mind." Matt fell silent again. "People always make small talk when they have something on their mind." So she got him. She was clever. Be cool, act normal. No one likes a show off. Matt frowned and suddenly remembered his band practice.
"Oh no! I forgot!" He said out loud.
"Forgot what?" Kasuria turned around.
"My band practice!" She giggled.
"You have a band? I bet you're really good!" Matt blinked and looked at her.
"You think so?"
"Probably." They walked a little farther until they got to her house. It was about a block away from his house.
"Umm, do you think I could maybe use your phone?" he asked.
"Yeah," she smiled. "My parents aren't home. They both work." Matt raised an eyebrow. Kasuria unlocked the door and the two walked inside. Her house was a bit small, and there were a few boxes around here and there, obviously still unpacked. She put her backpack on the floor by the door.
"You can put your stuff there." She motioned to the floor beside her bag. "The phone's over here." She pointed to the kitchen counter.
"Thanks." Matt walked over to the phone and dialed the school. The secretary answered and he asked to speak to his friend.
"Hi... I forgot about practice... yeah, I know.... no, I.... I know.... I'm busy now.... what about another day?... next week?.... yeah, that's good.... alright, bye." He hung up. He sighed and turned around. Kasuria was looking at him funny. "What? What did I say?"
"Nothing. I just wonder what your band sounds like." She walked over to the cupboard. "Do you want something to eat?"
"No thanks. I, uhh, should probably go. I, umm, got a lot of homework." He really didn't want to go. He felt something for Kasuria. But he was afraid that if he tried to make a move too soon, she'd say no. She looked down at the floor.
"Ok. I guess I'll see you at school?" They walked to the door and Matt picked up his stuff.
"Yeah, I'll be there." What a stupid thing to say.
"Bye."
"Se, ya." Matt walked down the steps and started for his place. He had never really felt this feeling before. This weird feeling of lightness in his stomach. Like there was nothing else he really cared about. He thought about it all the way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ring, ring
Matt picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Matt?"
"Speaking,"
"Hi, it's Kasuria." His heart started beating faster when he heard her voice.
"Hello."
"I have a question. About that math stuff?" The classic homework question. "Do you understand number 5?" Matt shifted through his junk and found the question. Man, his room was almost as bad as Tai's locker.
"I have it." As he explained the question, and, in the end, just gave her the answer, his mind and his heart kept telling him to ask her out. Finally, he used the only plan he could think of.
"Are you busy on Friday?" Kasuria was obviously surprised.
"Huh? Am I busy? I don't think so. Why?"
"Because, my band has a concert Friday night and, well, you said that you wanted to hear it, so I was wondering, if you wanted to, you know, come?" Silence. He hoped he wasn't coming on too fast.
"I'd love too." Matt nearly dropped the phone. He quickly caught it and tried to hide his excitement.
"Great! I guess I'll pick you up at..."
"No, don't worry. I'll come to your place." She jumped in before he had a chance to finish.
"Alright. At 7?"
"Sounds good to me. Oh, and thanks for the homework help."
"Oh, no problem. Anytime."
"Ok, bye." She hung up. Matt put the phone back in it's cradle and walked back into his room.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"Matt? What's going on in there!?" his dad yelled. Matt forgot. It was a small place and sound carried.
"Sorry!!" Yes! He was taking Kasuria to his concert. It was a small step. A tiny beginning. He hoped it would all turn out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, when Matt was unpacking his backpack, Tai playfully bumped into him and pushed him head first into his locker.
"Oops! I didn't see you there!" he said in a mocking tone.
"Ow!" Matt exclaimed. " Why do you always insist on hurting me? Good grief, you got a bony arm." He stood up and rubbed his head.
"What? My arm aint bony." He held up his right arm which was covered in white plaster.
"What did you do?" Sora walked up behind the two and slipped her arms around Tai's waist.
"Hi Sora. I broke it playing soccer yesterday. Tripped over Daisuke and fell into the goal post." Matt winced.
"Ouch. Klutz." Seeing Sora there reminded him of something he wanted to say. "Guess who's got a date with Kasuria on Friday?" he bragged. Tai gaped at him.
"Already!? But you just met her yesterday!!"
"Who said anything about a date?" Matt heard another female voice behind him. He turned around and saw Kasuria standing there.
"Well, I , uhh..."
"He's bringing me to his concert on Friday." Kasuria explained. Sora nodded.
"I see. We're coming on a bit strong there, aren't we now Matt?" she said jokingly. Matt turned red and leaned into his locker. Tai couldn't help himself.
"Don't fall over too many girls, or you'll end up like this!" he held up his arm.
"Shut up Tai!" Matt shot back. "I'm not a klutz like you are!"
"Let's go." Sora grabbed Tai's arm and led him away. Kasuria giggled and walked back to her locker. Rrrgh! Why did he have to have such an annoying friend!? He shut his door and walked into class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday night finally came. Matt kept pacing his room. He was nervous about seeing Kasuria again. He hoped he wouldn't screw up or anything during the concert. The minutes slowly ticked past. Finally, around 7, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" Matt yelled as he ran to the door. Kasuria stood on the steps, with her hair down and her eyes sparkling in the light. Matt smiled.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," she answered back. "I'm ready."
"Alright. Let's go!" The two walked down the street towards the school in silence.
"Sorry the concert's in the school," he said finally. "We couldn't book it anywhere else."
"That's alright." Kasuria answered. They walked in silence again until they reached the school. They walked into the gym and Kasuria's eyes widened.
"Wow. You have alot of fans!" She said, looking at all the people. Matt blushed.
"Yeah, well..."
"I'm not surprised," Kasuria said with a smile. "You are cute." Matt blushed again. Is it working? he asked himself. He hoped so.
"You can sit in the front if you want," he said above the noise. "Friends of the band usually get to." They walked up to the front and Kasuria found a seat while Matt ran backstage. The rest of the band was setting up and doing usual band stuff.
"Hey guys," he said, picking up his guitar.
"Hey Matt," Sam, the drummer, peeked at the crowd through the curtain. "I saw you and that new girl walk in here. Is there something going on that we should know about?" he teased.
"Get a grip." Matt said. "She just said she wanted to hear us, so I brought her."
"Right," He started to say something, but it was time to go onstage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The curtains opened and the crowd went wild. Wow, Kasuria thought. He really does have alot of fans. I should really watch this one closely. She cheered along with the rest of the crowd, probably mostly made up of girls, and watched the concert. Matt was good. She didn't really see the other guys. There was this feeling inside her that kept coming back whenever she saw or heard Matt. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She didn't really need homework help that one evening. She just wanted to hear Matt's voice. He was so cool and clam. Even on the stage, he seemed so comfortable. He looked down at her from the front of the stage and she smiled. She thought that maybe, he had feelings for her too. Why else would he invite her to his concert? He obviously had alot of girls to choose from. But right at that moment, she didn't really care why. She sat back and enjoyed the rest of the concert.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Great show guys!" Matt said afterwards. The keyboarder smiled.
"Yeah, that one solo you did, perfect."
"Mm-hmm," Sam added. "We're gonna keep our fans with that one!"
"Thanks!" Matt zipped up his guitar case. "I'm gonna leave my guitar here, ok?"
"Yeah," Sam said. "That's what I'd do."
"Great! See ya!" Matt left the backstage and found Kasuria. She was smiling. Hopefully she enjoyed the concert.
"Awesome concert!" she said to him.
"You liked it?" Kasuria nodded and brushed her hair out of her face. Matt looked up and saw a bunch of girls coming towards him. He moaned.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I hate writing autographs." Kasuria looked up and her eyes sparkled.
"C'mon!" she said. She grabbed his hand and ran towards the back door. The two ran outside and stopped on the street where she let go. Matt looked back and Kasuria started giggling. Matt looked at her.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just, you looked like someone was after you that wanted to kill you or something." Matt started laughing too. He probably did look funny.
"Hey, you wanna go for a drink, or something?" Kasuria smiled again.
"Ok, that'd be nice." Matt frowned.
"The donut place ok?" He didn't have too much money on him.
"I love donuts!" she exclaimed. Matt laughed. She sure was easy to please. They started walking down the street towards "the donut place". Everyone knew where it was but they all just called it "the donut place" for lack of a better name. The sun had set and the moon was out. As they walked, Kasuria took Matt's hand. He smiled. Her touch was warm and comforting. Not that he was afraid of the dark or anything. When they got to "the donut place", they sat down at a corner table. Kasuria got a chocolate donut with sprinkles, and a Pepsi. Matt got a Pepsi and a chocolate filled donut.
"At least you don't have bad taste in junk food." he said. She laughed.
"I'm a chocolate lover!" They ate their donuts and talked about where Kasuria was form, school, the concert and basically whatever came to mind. When they left, Kasuria held Matt's hand again on the walk home. They walked up to her house and stopped.
"Thank you so much for bringing me." she said quietly.
"You're welcome." Matt answered. Kasuria looked into his eyes and he looked back. She had the most beautiful eyes. They stood there, under the moon for a few minutes before Kasuria said goodbye. She walked inside and shut the door. He saw the curtains open beside it and Kasuria wave at him. He waved back. As her started walking towards his place, he figured he had got her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kasuria watched him walk away. He was so good looking. This one was definitely worth keeping. That donut was really good too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The months went on and Matt and Kasuria started dating. She came to another one of his concerts and they visited "the donut place" alot. They talked on the phone and he often walked her home. He got his first kiss from her one night in the park. They decided to go there and watch the stars. The hill on the edge of town was the best star watching spot. Kasuria knew alot about the stars and pointed out many constellations. They even saw a shooting star.
"Did you make a wish?" she asked him.
"Yep," he replied, still watching the sky. "Did you?"
"Mm-hmm." she said looking at him. Matt dropped his gaze to Kasuria's eyes. They twinkled almost as much as the stars did.
"Do you want to know what it was?" she asked with a touch of mischief in her voice. Matt raised an eyebrow.
"Umm, alright. But doesn't a wish not come true if you tell someone?" She smiled.
"Not my wish." She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Not just a little kiss, but an all out, passionate, "I love you" type of kiss. Matt closed his eyes and absorbed it. After a while, she pulled back and smiled.
"Wow," Matt said. "That was exactly what I wished for too!"
"Well, in that case," She leaned forward and kissed him again. He put his arms around her and pulled her closer. They kissed a few more times before she finally said she had to go.
When they got back to her house, they kissed one more time before they finally went their sperate ways. Matt was almost bursting. This was turning out exactly how he wanted it to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later, while Matt was doing his homework, the phone rang.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Hello." It was Kasuria.
"Hi Kasuria!" Matt said. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. Are you busy?"
"Um, I'm doing homework,"
"Can you come over and help me with this stuff? My homework?" Matt shrugged.
"I don't see why not. Is it ok with your parents?"
"They work, remember?" she said.
"Oh, yeah. Alright. I'll be there soon."
"Thanks."
"No prob. See you soon." Matt hung up and put his stuff in his backpack. He told his dad he was leaving and walked to Kasuria's place. He knocked on the door and waited. Kasuria opened the door and he walked in. She wore a white shirt and blue jeans and had a blue bandanna on her head.
"Hi," Matt said. "That bandanna looks good on you."
"Thanks. I got it downtown. You wanna come into the living room?"
"Sure. Better than standing in the doorway!" They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "So, what do you need help with?" Kasuria sighed and explained what she thought was confusing. Matt tried to help her out as much as her could, also finishing his homework.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There!" she said shutting her binder. "Done! Finally!" Matt leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Kasuria scooted over closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I guess you have to go home, right?"
"Ah, probably not yet. Right?" he looked at her, waiting for an answer. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she leaned her head against his chest.
"No, don't go yet." She sighed happily and let her eyes drift shut. Matt gazed out the window and he too, eventually fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt groggily opened his eyes to the sound of a door slamming. Kasuria's eyes fluttered open and she practically leaped off the couch. He heard some noise and stuff, but didn't really know what was going on because he was still kind of half asleep. He heard what sounded like yelling but couldn't make out what was being said. As he packed his stuff into his backpack, he thought he heard Kasuria yelling.
"No! You don't understand! Nothing..."
"I know what I saw! You and some strange boy sleeping, together! on that couch!"
Matt eventually made it out the door and onto the street. The cold night air rushed into his lungs, waking him up fully. No! He and Kasuria had fallen asleep on the couch. Her parents came home and saw them, and thought that... Oh no! I won't be able to see her again!! He slowly made his way home and walked into his room. He flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next few weeks were a blur. Kasuria hardly talked to him. Tai and the others didn't talk to him much either. Matt realized that, while he was going with Kasuria, he neglected his other friends. Now, he had no one. He wasn't sure what went on at Kasuria's that one night, but whatever it was, it turned her away from him. This feeling made him feel worthless inside. Like no body cared. His grades soon started falling. He couldn't concentrate in class anymore. His concerts also became less. His heart just wasn't in it.
Finally, on a day when he was feeling particularly down in a hole, Matt got fed up with feeling unwanted. When he got home, he found a note on the counter:
Matt,
I'm going to be working late tonight. I probably won't be home until around 9:00. See you then.
Dad
Matt sighed. From now, until 9 would be plenty of time for what he had planned. He walked into his bedroom and thew his stuff in a corner. Then he walked back out into the kitchen and up to the counter. He jerked open a drawer and looked at the knives inside.
I don't think anyone uses this one anymore. It looks sharp enough too. No one will miss it. Just like me... He grabbed the knife and slammed the drawer. When he walked into his room, he thew the knife onto the floor and grabbed a pen and paper. He started to write.
Dear Dad,
By the time you read this... No, that was stupid. He'd figure it out already. Matt crumpled the paper up and threw it into the garbage. He sighed and flopped out on the bed. No one cared. They all thought Yamato Ishida was a carefree person with no problems. Stupid world. That was what was wrong with people these days. They all thought the cool, good looking people had no problems. They usually had more problems than normal, shadow dwellers that no one cared about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hours passed and Matt lay on his bed, thinking over his life. Finally, he sat up. He reached down and picked the knife up off the floor where it landed over two hours ago. He stood up and held the knife up to his throat.
"Good bye world." he said to no one. Just then, the phone rang. Why did this always have to happen to him. He sighed and ignored it. Whoever it was would probably become impatient and hang up. But the caller never did. The phone kept ringing and ringing. Finally Matt picked it up but didn't say anything.
"Matt," It was Kasuria. Tears brimmed on the edge of Matt's eyes. The one person he cared about who he hadn't talked to in over a month.
"Matt," she said again. "S...something's wrong, isn't it?" She was obviously worried. Or cared for some reason.
"Matt, please! Talk to me!" He could hear her starting to cry on the other end. She apparently wanted to talk to him, otherwise she would have hung up by now.
"Don't... please!... Say something! I'm sorry I haven't called or anything, but my parents... they..." She begged him, and was running out of things to say. "Remember the good times we had? Don't be mad at me."
"Kasuria!" Matt yelled. He didn't mean to yell. All the feelings inside him were all jumbled together. He was frantic and it all came out, making him sound like a crazed lunatic. "I have a knife... to my throat, and I'm not... afraid... to use it!!" His breath was short and the cold blade was making him sweat. Kasuria gasped.
"No...NO! Matt! Don't do anything!! I'm coming over! Don't... don't... Just stay there! Please!" She was really crying by now and she couldn't think straight. Neither could Matt. She obviously cared. He lowered the knife but still held on to it. "Please!" She begged him again, almost yelling by now. "Don't go anywhere! I'll be right there!" She hung up. Matt put the phone back in it's cradle and dropped to his knees on the floor. He stared at the knife in his hand and held it to his wrist. He pushed the blade into his wrist, bright red blood slowly oozed out. There was nothing wrong with this. People did it all the time. He watched his wrist bleed, almost fascinated, he was so delirious. All of a sudden, without knocking, Kasuria burst into his house.
"Matt!" She screamed. She ran down the hall and stopped in his doorway. He looked up at her from his spot on the floor. She looked at him, at the knife and at his wrist. Her eyes widened and she took the bandanna off her head. She ran up to him and dropped to her knees beside him.
"Damnit Matt! What on Earth possessed you to do this!?" She pulled the knife out of his fingers and slowly wrapped her bandanna around his wrist. Matt watched her eyes and she bandaged him up. She looked up and their gaze locked on each others eyes. His blue eyes and hers almost reflected each other. Matt looked down at the floor.
"I...I..." She held her finger up to his lips.
"Shhh. You don't have to say anything." Matt looked up at Kasuria with pleading eyes.
"But, I've been a complete jerk! I've totally ignored Tai and Sora and Daisuke and Iori and Miyako and Izzy and Joe and Kari and, and... and TK, my own brother!" he started sobbing, himself, realizing how much of an idiot he had been. "I haven't played soccer in, like, two months! I haven't signed Tai's cast, he probably got it off by now. I... My marks are dropping, my band is falling apart, you probably don't even care anymore."
"Of course I care. Why do you think I came over here? Why do you think I called? Something was wrong!"
"But you... you didn't... at school..." Matt stammered.
"I couldn't," Kasuria explained. "My parents thought I was sleeping around or something and I couldn't talk to you."
"Oh. I thought you... chucked me or something." She wrapped her arms around him.
"No, I wouldn't do that. Besides," she said quietly. "If I was sleeping around, I'd do it with you." Matt's shoulders drooped. He looked down at his wrist. The blood was starting to seep through the bandanna.
"You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." he blurted. Kasuria smiled.
"You're the hottest guy I've ever seen." she said back. Matt looked up at her and leaned forward. He gave her a kiss that was even more passionate than the one in the park. She gladly gave the kiss back, enjoying every minute of it.
Eventually, Matt pulled away. He looked at the knife on the floor, red on one end from slitting his wrist, and at the bandanna, which was more a purpley color instead of blue already.
"What is wrong with me!?" he yelled. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't. His legs didn't feel like working. Instead, he lay down and put his head in Kasuria's lap.
"I have a headache." he groaned.
"Stop yelling so much." Kasuria said. She looked down at his head in her lap and started running her fingers through his blonde hair. Matt closed his eyes and tried to calm down. After a while, he looked up at her.
"Don't you need to go home soon? Isn't that what started all this?" Kasuria shook her head.
"I don't care." She smiled. Matt smiled too. Kasuria moved his head and lay down on the floor beside him. She moved closer until their faces were only inches from each other. Matt couldn't resist. He pulled her close and hugged her, thankful that she came when she did.
"Thank you." she said.
"hmmm?" he answered.
"Thank you." she repeated. He looked down at her.
"For what?"
"This." She reached up and started kissing him again, except this time, it turned into more of a French kiss. After a few steamy minutes, they stopped.
"I'm not afraid anymore." Kasuria whispered.
"Neither am I." Matt whispered back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Matt walked into the school with more hope in his eyes than ever before. He felt on top of the world. Like he could make a fresh start. He walked up to Tai and pulled a pen out of his backpack.
"You still got that cast on?" he asked.
"Yeah," Tai said. "You wanna sign it?"
"Yep." While he was signing, Tai saw the white bandage wrapped around his wrist.
"What happened to you?" he asked. Matt looked down.
"I..."
"Had a fight with his cat." Kasuria jumped in. Matt jumped.
"Stop doing that!" he said. Tai laughed.
"A cat? C'mon Matt. You let a little wussy cat get you?" Matt held his head up high.
"Maybe." Kasuria laughed.
"I didn't even know you had a cat!" Tai said.
"What are you doing after school?" Matt asked.
"Umm, nothing I don't think."
"Do you want to play soccer?"
"Would I?" Tai said. "Matt, those are the smartest words you've said in weeks!" Matt laughed and went back to his locker. He grabbed something and walked up to Kasuria with his hands behind his back. Tai looked behind him and smiled at what he saw.
"Matt..." Kasuria said with a smile, trying to see what it was. Matt held out a rose. He handed it to her and kissed her in the hall, right in front of everyone. He put his arms around her waist and she put hers around his neck.
"What was all that for?" she asked, blushing.
"For saving my life last night." he said quietly. She smiled.
"Aww, you didn't have to do that. Just spending time with you is thanks enough." He kissed her again, both of them totally unobvious to the people who were surrounding them. Sora leaned over and whispered into Tai's ear.
"Why don't you ever do that for me?" Tai smiled.
"Awwww!" someone from the group said aloud. Kasuria turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw all the people. Matt looked up also and saw Tai give him a thumbs up sign. Kasuria saw a lot of girls, all of them with different expressions on their faces. She smiled and dramaticly gave Matt another kiss just to make them jealous. Tai and Sora burst out laughing and slowly, everyone else did too.
"In 1945, bla bla bla bla," History. The most boring class on Earth, Matt thought as he doodled on the front of his notebook. As the teacher droned on and on about some war, Matt's mind was busy wandering away on him in some other world. His thoughts were far from school; mostly about some lyrics for a new song his band was working on. Which reminded him, he had practice after school.
He held his head up with his hand and glanced at the clock. Good, only 5 minutes left. He looked back at the teacher and tried to make sense of what he was saying, but he'd missed too much by not paying attention to understand it. Just then, the bell rang. he grabbed his books and left the classroom. On the way to his locker, Tai caught up with him.
"So, some class huh? Pretty boring." he said with a smile. Matt laughed.
"Yeah, I had trouble staying awake!" He smiled and opened his locker door.
"Man," Tai said. "I really gotta clean this locker!" Matt looked over into Tai's locker and smiled.
"No kidding! When are you going to do that? Your spare time?"
"Ha, ha. I dunno. I guess so." Tai answered. He looked up. "Who's that?"
"Huh?" Matt threw his books into his locker and looked up to see someone turn around the corner. "A new person, I guess." He bent over to grab his other binder.
"Yeah," Tai answered. "You're probably right." Matt nodded and shut his door.
"See ya in class."
Matt slid into his desk in the middle of the room. Math this time. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He looked around the room and spotted Tai and Sora on the far side. He frowned. Who needed relationships? He certainly didn't have the time for one. The teacher walked in and asked for attention. Matt leaned his head to one side with a bored expression on his face.
"Class, I'd like you all to welcome a new student." A girl with long orange hair and blue eyes walked into the room. Matt sat up straight. She was an average height and her hair was in a single braid down her back. She had fair skin and a nice smile and spoke with a gentle voice.
"Konnichiwa, my name's Kasuria." she said.
"You can take a seat in the empty desk in the third row." the teacher told her. Matt watched her as she walked down the row and sat down in front of him. This was definitely the most beautiful girl he had ever seen! She glanced over her shoulder and, noticing his staring, turned around.
"Can I help you?" she asked. Matt smiled and blinked, regaining himself.
C'mon. Don't make a fool of yourself in front of her. Keep your cool.
"Hi, I'm Ya... Matt." he said straightening his back. Kasuria smiled.
"Nice to meet you." He bangs fell in front of her eyes but she didn't seem to notice.
There is something about this Matt... I can feel it... She smiled again and turned around.
Tai glanced over at Kasuria. He saw her turn back around and he also saw the dreamy expression on Matt's face. He cocked an eyebrow and turned to Sora.
"Look at Matt!" he whispered. "He's practically falling all over that new girl!" Sora leaned over and looked at Matt. She quickly covered her mouth and tried to stifle a giggle.
"Is there something wrong, Sora?" the teacher asked. Sora shook her head, trying not to laugh.
Matt heard the teacher talk and snapped out of his daze. He looked over at Sora and saw her trying hard not to laugh. He then looked at Tai and, seeing the expression on his face, quickly dropped his gaze down to his binder. He picked up his pen and started drawing on it, like he did whenever he was thinking.
"Mr. Ishida!" the teacher said, bringing his mind back to the classroom. "Would you like to join us?" Matt looked up and saw him staring straight at him.
Stupid, stupid! Great way to win her over! Act like an idiot!
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her smiling at him. He sighed. At least she didn't think he was a complete jerk. Hopefully anyway.
Matt couldn't concentrate at all through the whole class. He really needed to work on focusing. He kept smiling at Kasuria, even though her back was turned. After class, when he was walking to his locker, Matt bumped into Miyako. They both dropped their books all over the floor.
"Excuse me!" she half yelled, half laughed. "Watch out!"
"Sorry," Matt said. "I, uh..."
"Wasn't watching where you were going?" she finished.
"Yeah, you could say that." He bent down and started cleaning up his papers. Daisuke walked by and started laughing at them. Matt and Miyako looked up and he stopped and looked back down at them.
"Hey, you coming to play soccer after school?" he asked. Matt looked at his watch.
"No, sorry. My band has a practice." Daisuke shrugged.
"Oh well. Maybe next time. Miyako? You coming?" Matt finished picking up his stuff and walked over to his locker. He saw Kasuria walking towards the front door. As his eyes followed her, he felt a sharp pain in his side.
"Ow!" He turned around to see Tai standing beside him. "What was that for!?"
"Oh, just bringing you back to Earth!" Matt glared at him and shoved his stuff in his locker and grabbed his backpack. "I gotta go." He jogged out the door and caught up to Kasuria.
"Hi!" he said to her. She turned around.
"Oh, hi!" she answered.
"So, you live down this street?" he asked.
"Um-hmm." She nodded. It was the same street he lived on.
"Umm, can I, uhh, walk you home?" Kasuria smiled and looked at him.
"Yeah, I guess so." The two walked in silence. It was a beautiful day. There was a nice breeze and the bright sun reflected off of Kasuria's hair as if it had a light of it's own. Matt was getting uncomfortable with the silence.
"So, nice day huh?" She looked at him. "What?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing. I can just tell you have something on your mind." Matt fell silent again. "People always make small talk when they have something on their mind." So she got him. She was clever. Be cool, act normal. No one likes a show off. Matt frowned and suddenly remembered his band practice.
"Oh no! I forgot!" He said out loud.
"Forgot what?" Kasuria turned around.
"My band practice!" She giggled.
"You have a band? I bet you're really good!" Matt blinked and looked at her.
"You think so?"
"Probably." They walked a little farther until they got to her house. It was about a block away from his house.
"Umm, do you think I could maybe use your phone?" he asked.
"Yeah," she smiled. "My parents aren't home. They both work." Matt raised an eyebrow. Kasuria unlocked the door and the two walked inside. Her house was a bit small, and there were a few boxes around here and there, obviously still unpacked. She put her backpack on the floor by the door.
"You can put your stuff there." She motioned to the floor beside her bag. "The phone's over here." She pointed to the kitchen counter.
"Thanks." Matt walked over to the phone and dialed the school. The secretary answered and he asked to speak to his friend.
"Hi... I forgot about practice... yeah, I know.... no, I.... I know.... I'm busy now.... what about another day?... next week?.... yeah, that's good.... alright, bye." He hung up. He sighed and turned around. Kasuria was looking at him funny. "What? What did I say?"
"Nothing. I just wonder what your band sounds like." She walked over to the cupboard. "Do you want something to eat?"
"No thanks. I, uhh, should probably go. I, umm, got a lot of homework." He really didn't want to go. He felt something for Kasuria. But he was afraid that if he tried to make a move too soon, she'd say no. She looked down at the floor.
"Ok. I guess I'll see you at school?" They walked to the door and Matt picked up his stuff.
"Yeah, I'll be there." What a stupid thing to say.
"Bye."
"Se, ya." Matt walked down the steps and started for his place. He had never really felt this feeling before. This weird feeling of lightness in his stomach. Like there was nothing else he really cared about. He thought about it all the way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ring, ring
Matt picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Matt?"
"Speaking,"
"Hi, it's Kasuria." His heart started beating faster when he heard her voice.
"Hello."
"I have a question. About that math stuff?" The classic homework question. "Do you understand number 5?" Matt shifted through his junk and found the question. Man, his room was almost as bad as Tai's locker.
"I have it." As he explained the question, and, in the end, just gave her the answer, his mind and his heart kept telling him to ask her out. Finally, he used the only plan he could think of.
"Are you busy on Friday?" Kasuria was obviously surprised.
"Huh? Am I busy? I don't think so. Why?"
"Because, my band has a concert Friday night and, well, you said that you wanted to hear it, so I was wondering, if you wanted to, you know, come?" Silence. He hoped he wasn't coming on too fast.
"I'd love too." Matt nearly dropped the phone. He quickly caught it and tried to hide his excitement.
"Great! I guess I'll pick you up at..."
"No, don't worry. I'll come to your place." She jumped in before he had a chance to finish.
"Alright. At 7?"
"Sounds good to me. Oh, and thanks for the homework help."
"Oh, no problem. Anytime."
"Ok, bye." She hung up. Matt put the phone back in it's cradle and walked back into his room.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"Matt? What's going on in there!?" his dad yelled. Matt forgot. It was a small place and sound carried.
"Sorry!!" Yes! He was taking Kasuria to his concert. It was a small step. A tiny beginning. He hoped it would all turn out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, when Matt was unpacking his backpack, Tai playfully bumped into him and pushed him head first into his locker.
"Oops! I didn't see you there!" he said in a mocking tone.
"Ow!" Matt exclaimed. " Why do you always insist on hurting me? Good grief, you got a bony arm." He stood up and rubbed his head.
"What? My arm aint bony." He held up his right arm which was covered in white plaster.
"What did you do?" Sora walked up behind the two and slipped her arms around Tai's waist.
"Hi Sora. I broke it playing soccer yesterday. Tripped over Daisuke and fell into the goal post." Matt winced.
"Ouch. Klutz." Seeing Sora there reminded him of something he wanted to say. "Guess who's got a date with Kasuria on Friday?" he bragged. Tai gaped at him.
"Already!? But you just met her yesterday!!"
"Who said anything about a date?" Matt heard another female voice behind him. He turned around and saw Kasuria standing there.
"Well, I , uhh..."
"He's bringing me to his concert on Friday." Kasuria explained. Sora nodded.
"I see. We're coming on a bit strong there, aren't we now Matt?" she said jokingly. Matt turned red and leaned into his locker. Tai couldn't help himself.
"Don't fall over too many girls, or you'll end up like this!" he held up his arm.
"Shut up Tai!" Matt shot back. "I'm not a klutz like you are!"
"Let's go." Sora grabbed Tai's arm and led him away. Kasuria giggled and walked back to her locker. Rrrgh! Why did he have to have such an annoying friend!? He shut his door and walked into class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday night finally came. Matt kept pacing his room. He was nervous about seeing Kasuria again. He hoped he wouldn't screw up or anything during the concert. The minutes slowly ticked past. Finally, around 7, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" Matt yelled as he ran to the door. Kasuria stood on the steps, with her hair down and her eyes sparkling in the light. Matt smiled.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," she answered back. "I'm ready."
"Alright. Let's go!" The two walked down the street towards the school in silence.
"Sorry the concert's in the school," he said finally. "We couldn't book it anywhere else."
"That's alright." Kasuria answered. They walked in silence again until they reached the school. They walked into the gym and Kasuria's eyes widened.
"Wow. You have alot of fans!" She said, looking at all the people. Matt blushed.
"Yeah, well..."
"I'm not surprised," Kasuria said with a smile. "You are cute." Matt blushed again. Is it working? he asked himself. He hoped so.
"You can sit in the front if you want," he said above the noise. "Friends of the band usually get to." They walked up to the front and Kasuria found a seat while Matt ran backstage. The rest of the band was setting up and doing usual band stuff.
"Hey guys," he said, picking up his guitar.
"Hey Matt," Sam, the drummer, peeked at the crowd through the curtain. "I saw you and that new girl walk in here. Is there something going on that we should know about?" he teased.
"Get a grip." Matt said. "She just said she wanted to hear us, so I brought her."
"Right," He started to say something, but it was time to go onstage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The curtains opened and the crowd went wild. Wow, Kasuria thought. He really does have alot of fans. I should really watch this one closely. She cheered along with the rest of the crowd, probably mostly made up of girls, and watched the concert. Matt was good. She didn't really see the other guys. There was this feeling inside her that kept coming back whenever she saw or heard Matt. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She didn't really need homework help that one evening. She just wanted to hear Matt's voice. He was so cool and clam. Even on the stage, he seemed so comfortable. He looked down at her from the front of the stage and she smiled. She thought that maybe, he had feelings for her too. Why else would he invite her to his concert? He obviously had alot of girls to choose from. But right at that moment, she didn't really care why. She sat back and enjoyed the rest of the concert.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Great show guys!" Matt said afterwards. The keyboarder smiled.
"Yeah, that one solo you did, perfect."
"Mm-hmm," Sam added. "We're gonna keep our fans with that one!"
"Thanks!" Matt zipped up his guitar case. "I'm gonna leave my guitar here, ok?"
"Yeah," Sam said. "That's what I'd do."
"Great! See ya!" Matt left the backstage and found Kasuria. She was smiling. Hopefully she enjoyed the concert.
"Awesome concert!" she said to him.
"You liked it?" Kasuria nodded and brushed her hair out of her face. Matt looked up and saw a bunch of girls coming towards him. He moaned.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I hate writing autographs." Kasuria looked up and her eyes sparkled.
"C'mon!" she said. She grabbed his hand and ran towards the back door. The two ran outside and stopped on the street where she let go. Matt looked back and Kasuria started giggling. Matt looked at her.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just, you looked like someone was after you that wanted to kill you or something." Matt started laughing too. He probably did look funny.
"Hey, you wanna go for a drink, or something?" Kasuria smiled again.
"Ok, that'd be nice." Matt frowned.
"The donut place ok?" He didn't have too much money on him.
"I love donuts!" she exclaimed. Matt laughed. She sure was easy to please. They started walking down the street towards "the donut place". Everyone knew where it was but they all just called it "the donut place" for lack of a better name. The sun had set and the moon was out. As they walked, Kasuria took Matt's hand. He smiled. Her touch was warm and comforting. Not that he was afraid of the dark or anything. When they got to "the donut place", they sat down at a corner table. Kasuria got a chocolate donut with sprinkles, and a Pepsi. Matt got a Pepsi and a chocolate filled donut.
"At least you don't have bad taste in junk food." he said. She laughed.
"I'm a chocolate lover!" They ate their donuts and talked about where Kasuria was form, school, the concert and basically whatever came to mind. When they left, Kasuria held Matt's hand again on the walk home. They walked up to her house and stopped.
"Thank you so much for bringing me." she said quietly.
"You're welcome." Matt answered. Kasuria looked into his eyes and he looked back. She had the most beautiful eyes. They stood there, under the moon for a few minutes before Kasuria said goodbye. She walked inside and shut the door. He saw the curtains open beside it and Kasuria wave at him. He waved back. As her started walking towards his place, he figured he had got her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kasuria watched him walk away. He was so good looking. This one was definitely worth keeping. That donut was really good too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The months went on and Matt and Kasuria started dating. She came to another one of his concerts and they visited "the donut place" alot. They talked on the phone and he often walked her home. He got his first kiss from her one night in the park. They decided to go there and watch the stars. The hill on the edge of town was the best star watching spot. Kasuria knew alot about the stars and pointed out many constellations. They even saw a shooting star.
"Did you make a wish?" she asked him.
"Yep," he replied, still watching the sky. "Did you?"
"Mm-hmm." she said looking at him. Matt dropped his gaze to Kasuria's eyes. They twinkled almost as much as the stars did.
"Do you want to know what it was?" she asked with a touch of mischief in her voice. Matt raised an eyebrow.
"Umm, alright. But doesn't a wish not come true if you tell someone?" She smiled.
"Not my wish." She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Not just a little kiss, but an all out, passionate, "I love you" type of kiss. Matt closed his eyes and absorbed it. After a while, she pulled back and smiled.
"Wow," Matt said. "That was exactly what I wished for too!"
"Well, in that case," She leaned forward and kissed him again. He put his arms around her and pulled her closer. They kissed a few more times before she finally said she had to go.
When they got back to her house, they kissed one more time before they finally went their sperate ways. Matt was almost bursting. This was turning out exactly how he wanted it to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later, while Matt was doing his homework, the phone rang.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Hello." It was Kasuria.
"Hi Kasuria!" Matt said. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. Are you busy?"
"Um, I'm doing homework,"
"Can you come over and help me with this stuff? My homework?" Matt shrugged.
"I don't see why not. Is it ok with your parents?"
"They work, remember?" she said.
"Oh, yeah. Alright. I'll be there soon."
"Thanks."
"No prob. See you soon." Matt hung up and put his stuff in his backpack. He told his dad he was leaving and walked to Kasuria's place. He knocked on the door and waited. Kasuria opened the door and he walked in. She wore a white shirt and blue jeans and had a blue bandanna on her head.
"Hi," Matt said. "That bandanna looks good on you."
"Thanks. I got it downtown. You wanna come into the living room?"
"Sure. Better than standing in the doorway!" They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "So, what do you need help with?" Kasuria sighed and explained what she thought was confusing. Matt tried to help her out as much as her could, also finishing his homework.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There!" she said shutting her binder. "Done! Finally!" Matt leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Kasuria scooted over closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I guess you have to go home, right?"
"Ah, probably not yet. Right?" he looked at her, waiting for an answer. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she leaned her head against his chest.
"No, don't go yet." She sighed happily and let her eyes drift shut. Matt gazed out the window and he too, eventually fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt groggily opened his eyes to the sound of a door slamming. Kasuria's eyes fluttered open and she practically leaped off the couch. He heard some noise and stuff, but didn't really know what was going on because he was still kind of half asleep. He heard what sounded like yelling but couldn't make out what was being said. As he packed his stuff into his backpack, he thought he heard Kasuria yelling.
"No! You don't understand! Nothing..."
"I know what I saw! You and some strange boy sleeping, together! on that couch!"
Matt eventually made it out the door and onto the street. The cold night air rushed into his lungs, waking him up fully. No! He and Kasuria had fallen asleep on the couch. Her parents came home and saw them, and thought that... Oh no! I won't be able to see her again!! He slowly made his way home and walked into his room. He flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next few weeks were a blur. Kasuria hardly talked to him. Tai and the others didn't talk to him much either. Matt realized that, while he was going with Kasuria, he neglected his other friends. Now, he had no one. He wasn't sure what went on at Kasuria's that one night, but whatever it was, it turned her away from him. This feeling made him feel worthless inside. Like no body cared. His grades soon started falling. He couldn't concentrate in class anymore. His concerts also became less. His heart just wasn't in it.
Finally, on a day when he was feeling particularly down in a hole, Matt got fed up with feeling unwanted. When he got home, he found a note on the counter:
Matt,
I'm going to be working late tonight. I probably won't be home until around 9:00. See you then.
Dad
Matt sighed. From now, until 9 would be plenty of time for what he had planned. He walked into his bedroom and thew his stuff in a corner. Then he walked back out into the kitchen and up to the counter. He jerked open a drawer and looked at the knives inside.
I don't think anyone uses this one anymore. It looks sharp enough too. No one will miss it. Just like me... He grabbed the knife and slammed the drawer. When he walked into his room, he thew the knife onto the floor and grabbed a pen and paper. He started to write.
Dear Dad,
By the time you read this... No, that was stupid. He'd figure it out already. Matt crumpled the paper up and threw it into the garbage. He sighed and flopped out on the bed. No one cared. They all thought Yamato Ishida was a carefree person with no problems. Stupid world. That was what was wrong with people these days. They all thought the cool, good looking people had no problems. They usually had more problems than normal, shadow dwellers that no one cared about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hours passed and Matt lay on his bed, thinking over his life. Finally, he sat up. He reached down and picked the knife up off the floor where it landed over two hours ago. He stood up and held the knife up to his throat.
"Good bye world." he said to no one. Just then, the phone rang. Why did this always have to happen to him. He sighed and ignored it. Whoever it was would probably become impatient and hang up. But the caller never did. The phone kept ringing and ringing. Finally Matt picked it up but didn't say anything.
"Matt," It was Kasuria. Tears brimmed on the edge of Matt's eyes. The one person he cared about who he hadn't talked to in over a month.
"Matt," she said again. "S...something's wrong, isn't it?" She was obviously worried. Or cared for some reason.
"Matt, please! Talk to me!" He could hear her starting to cry on the other end. She apparently wanted to talk to him, otherwise she would have hung up by now.
"Don't... please!... Say something! I'm sorry I haven't called or anything, but my parents... they..." She begged him, and was running out of things to say. "Remember the good times we had? Don't be mad at me."
"Kasuria!" Matt yelled. He didn't mean to yell. All the feelings inside him were all jumbled together. He was frantic and it all came out, making him sound like a crazed lunatic. "I have a knife... to my throat, and I'm not... afraid... to use it!!" His breath was short and the cold blade was making him sweat. Kasuria gasped.
"No...NO! Matt! Don't do anything!! I'm coming over! Don't... don't... Just stay there! Please!" She was really crying by now and she couldn't think straight. Neither could Matt. She obviously cared. He lowered the knife but still held on to it. "Please!" She begged him again, almost yelling by now. "Don't go anywhere! I'll be right there!" She hung up. Matt put the phone back in it's cradle and dropped to his knees on the floor. He stared at the knife in his hand and held it to his wrist. He pushed the blade into his wrist, bright red blood slowly oozed out. There was nothing wrong with this. People did it all the time. He watched his wrist bleed, almost fascinated, he was so delirious. All of a sudden, without knocking, Kasuria burst into his house.
"Matt!" She screamed. She ran down the hall and stopped in his doorway. He looked up at her from his spot on the floor. She looked at him, at the knife and at his wrist. Her eyes widened and she took the bandanna off her head. She ran up to him and dropped to her knees beside him.
"Damnit Matt! What on Earth possessed you to do this!?" She pulled the knife out of his fingers and slowly wrapped her bandanna around his wrist. Matt watched her eyes and she bandaged him up. She looked up and their gaze locked on each others eyes. His blue eyes and hers almost reflected each other. Matt looked down at the floor.
"I...I..." She held her finger up to his lips.
"Shhh. You don't have to say anything." Matt looked up at Kasuria with pleading eyes.
"But, I've been a complete jerk! I've totally ignored Tai and Sora and Daisuke and Iori and Miyako and Izzy and Joe and Kari and, and... and TK, my own brother!" he started sobbing, himself, realizing how much of an idiot he had been. "I haven't played soccer in, like, two months! I haven't signed Tai's cast, he probably got it off by now. I... My marks are dropping, my band is falling apart, you probably don't even care anymore."
"Of course I care. Why do you think I came over here? Why do you think I called? Something was wrong!"
"But you... you didn't... at school..." Matt stammered.
"I couldn't," Kasuria explained. "My parents thought I was sleeping around or something and I couldn't talk to you."
"Oh. I thought you... chucked me or something." She wrapped her arms around him.
"No, I wouldn't do that. Besides," she said quietly. "If I was sleeping around, I'd do it with you." Matt's shoulders drooped. He looked down at his wrist. The blood was starting to seep through the bandanna.
"You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." he blurted. Kasuria smiled.
"You're the hottest guy I've ever seen." she said back. Matt looked up at her and leaned forward. He gave her a kiss that was even more passionate than the one in the park. She gladly gave the kiss back, enjoying every minute of it.
Eventually, Matt pulled away. He looked at the knife on the floor, red on one end from slitting his wrist, and at the bandanna, which was more a purpley color instead of blue already.
"What is wrong with me!?" he yelled. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't. His legs didn't feel like working. Instead, he lay down and put his head in Kasuria's lap.
"I have a headache." he groaned.
"Stop yelling so much." Kasuria said. She looked down at his head in her lap and started running her fingers through his blonde hair. Matt closed his eyes and tried to calm down. After a while, he looked up at her.
"Don't you need to go home soon? Isn't that what started all this?" Kasuria shook her head.
"I don't care." She smiled. Matt smiled too. Kasuria moved his head and lay down on the floor beside him. She moved closer until their faces were only inches from each other. Matt couldn't resist. He pulled her close and hugged her, thankful that she came when she did.
"Thank you." she said.
"hmmm?" he answered.
"Thank you." she repeated. He looked down at her.
"For what?"
"This." She reached up and started kissing him again, except this time, it turned into more of a French kiss. After a few steamy minutes, they stopped.
"I'm not afraid anymore." Kasuria whispered.
"Neither am I." Matt whispered back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Matt walked into the school with more hope in his eyes than ever before. He felt on top of the world. Like he could make a fresh start. He walked up to Tai and pulled a pen out of his backpack.
"You still got that cast on?" he asked.
"Yeah," Tai said. "You wanna sign it?"
"Yep." While he was signing, Tai saw the white bandage wrapped around his wrist.
"What happened to you?" he asked. Matt looked down.
"I..."
"Had a fight with his cat." Kasuria jumped in. Matt jumped.
"Stop doing that!" he said. Tai laughed.
"A cat? C'mon Matt. You let a little wussy cat get you?" Matt held his head up high.
"Maybe." Kasuria laughed.
"I didn't even know you had a cat!" Tai said.
"What are you doing after school?" Matt asked.
"Umm, nothing I don't think."
"Do you want to play soccer?"
"Would I?" Tai said. "Matt, those are the smartest words you've said in weeks!" Matt laughed and went back to his locker. He grabbed something and walked up to Kasuria with his hands behind his back. Tai looked behind him and smiled at what he saw.
"Matt..." Kasuria said with a smile, trying to see what it was. Matt held out a rose. He handed it to her and kissed her in the hall, right in front of everyone. He put his arms around her waist and she put hers around his neck.
"What was all that for?" she asked, blushing.
"For saving my life last night." he said quietly. She smiled.
"Aww, you didn't have to do that. Just spending time with you is thanks enough." He kissed her again, both of them totally unobvious to the people who were surrounding them. Sora leaned over and whispered into Tai's ear.
"Why don't you ever do that for me?" Tai smiled.
"Awwww!" someone from the group said aloud. Kasuria turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw all the people. Matt looked up also and saw Tai give him a thumbs up sign. Kasuria saw a lot of girls, all of them with different expressions on their faces. She smiled and dramaticly gave Matt another kiss just to make them jealous. Tai and Sora burst out laughing and slowly, everyone else did too.