Sweetheart
Author: Zero (a.k.a. Yamato Ishida)
Why couldn't they see it? I mean, it was so obvious. Them, the was they congratulated each other, the way they cared when the other was hurt, the way they couldn't see what I see. It's already the Conference Finals for soccer, and Tai and Sora were leading the way. As I sat on the bleachers, I could hear the rest of the school chant and cheer for our home team.
Tai was dribbling the ball up field, with Sora to his side, and two defenders in front. One of the defenders tried to slide tackle the ball, but Tai just simply popped it over the defender's legs and jumped over it right after. The next defender confronted Tai, as Tai just passed it to Sora, as the defender shifted to her. Sora then used this chance to pass it back to Tai, who had a clear view to the goal, with the keeper ready and in front of it. Tai dribbled as fast as he could toward him. His foot flies forward, the goalie jumping to where Tai aimed, but Tai didn't kick it. Sora appeared to the opposite side, as Tai lobbed it up, and Sora finished the play with a bicycle kick, making the ball speed into the goal.
The crowd cheered around me. They stood up, yelling their names. I'm still sitting, seeing them hug each other, as the rest of the team crowds around them to congratulate them. As their teammates left, Tai and Sora were still hugging each other. Still with smiles on their faces. Not wanting to let go, until they realized that the other team was starting again.
*** ***
The soccer team was meeting at the Antolini's, a pizza parlor near Odaeba High. I figured I'd join them, since the team's captains were some of my best friends. They were already inside, as I stepped in. I stroked my blonde hair, as I saw Tai wave me to join him.
"Hey, Matt!" Tai yelled, as I walked over. I passed the cheerleader's tables, as I could feel their glares on me. Hey, I didn't mind. They were all hot anyway. I pulled up a seat, and sat next to Tai and Sora.
"What's going on, Matt?" Sora asked.
"Nothing, really." I said. "I saw the game, you guys were great."
"Thanks, Matt." Tai said. "But if it weren't for Sora, I couldn't have scored all of those goals."
"Yeah, but if it weren't for Tai, those goals wouldn't have been scored." Sora replied. I can't believe it. They were flirting with each other in front of me. They were flirting with each other without even knowing it. I sat back, as a slice of pizza was given to me by one of the cheerleaders, the head one to be more specific.
"Hey, Mimi." I said, as she handed me the pizza. She took a seat beside me, and smiled back. "Why aren't you sitting with your cheerleader buddies?"
"I made a bet with them." She said, still smiling. "They thought that I was lying when I said I knew you." I turned around, seeing some of them turn away, blushing, while others just kept their stare on me, as I smiled innocently back at them. I turned back to talk with Tai, but I saw him feeding Sora a piece of pizza.
"Aw, isn't that cute." I said, remarking at Tai's gesture to Sora. They looked at me, both of them with 'what are you talking about?' type faces. "I'm just kidding, guys." I said, trying not to get on their bad sides. They just shrugged it off, as Mimi tapped my shoulder.
"Hey, I didn't win the bet yet!" She complained to me. She picked me up by the arm, and dragged me over to the cheerleaders. "Tolja I knew him!" She happily said, as I stood there, not knowing what to do.
"Know you?" I said. "You said that you would pay me five bucks if you just dragged me over here and show me off to your friends!"
"What?!?" Mimi looked at me, as the other cheerleaders looked at Mimi, thinking she was lying. "Shut up, you liar!" She then punched me playfully. What could I do but confess?
"OK! OK! I know Mimi. She's my friend. And she also had this huge crush on me since…" Mimi looked at me with another one of those 'I'm gonna kill you' looks again, as I stared back at her with an innocent look. Her friends started to laugh, as she looked at them. I used this as an ample time to escape unnoticed. I went back to the table, to see Tai and Sora gone. "Hey, where's Tai and Sora?" I asked one their teammates.
"They left while you were with the cheerleaders." She said.
"Alone?"
"Yup, alone." I knew it. Of course they would want to be alone.
*** ***
I walked down the mall. Hands in my pockets, there was nothing else to do this weekend. I was watching TK, who was looking for something to buy for Kari. Yeah, kids are cute. We walked passed the food court, as TK nudged my side.
"Hey, Matt! I wanna go in there!" TK pointed to the candy store. "I wanna buy Kari a box of chocolates!"
"That's a pretty good present," I said.
"Matt!" I heard my name called, as I turned around to see Tai with a tray in one hand, and waving to me with his other. I waved 'hi' back, but not with as much enthusiasm as Tai.
"TK, go into the candy store. Here's $20, buy anything you want. I'm gonna be talking with Tai." TK nodded, as he ran into the candy store, narrowly evading bumping into people, as I turned to face Tai. "Hey, Tai." I said, as I walked up to him. He sat down at one of the tables, as I sat across from him.
"So, Matt. What's goin' on?" He said, then taking a big bite out of his Big Mac.
"I'm just taking TK out so he could look for something for Kari." I said, slouching into my chair.
"I shee." He said, talking with his mouth full.
"So what's goin' on with you and Sora?" I asked. He immediately stopped eating, and looked up at me. He then gulped down his food, and took a sip from his coke.
"What do you mean?" He asked, seemingly very confused.
"You know what I'm talking about." I said. "You guys are like the perfect couple. Why don't you ask her out?" I said. He took another sip from his coke, thinking.
"Sora, and me?" He said. "I don't think so."
"Why not? You guys would be great for each other."
"C'mon, Matt. I don't think of her like that." He said, then thought for a while. "She's my friend, and I don't wanna ruin that." I looked at him quizzically, knowing he didn't mean that.
"OK, Matt. I'm done." I turned to see TK with a big box in his hands. I stood up, as Tai was still eating his lunch.
"Bye, Tai." I said. "So TK, where's my change?"
"Um, there is none."
*** ***
I waited outside my mom's place. I was supposed to be watching TK until the baby-sitter came. Then I'm supposed to be going to the movies with my friends. I knocked on the door, as it immediatley opened.
"Hey, mom." I said, as I walked in.
"Thanks for watching TK, Matt." She said. My mom was wearing a very executive dress. She was supposed to be going to a meeting at TK's school for parent-teacher conferences, and she was going to gone for about a few hours. "You know the rules, Matt. And TK, follow what ever your brother and the baby-sitter says." She then left.
"So, what do you wanna do first?" I asked TK. I put my coat down over the couch.
"I was just working on a card for Kari with the chocolates." TK said, walking back to his room.
"Yeah, and you still owe me $20!!!" I yelled, as he shut the door behind him. I sat on the couch, and turned on the TV. Nothing on as usual. I just surfed until I heard the phone ring. I lazily got up, and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Matt." It was Yumi, one of my friends who was supposed to be going to the movies.
"So when are you guys picking me up?" I asked.
"Um, that's what I wanna tell you. The movie thing is canceled because our car broke down. It's gonna take us awhile just to tow our car out." I sighed.
"It's OK. I guess things like this happen. Bye then." I hung up the phone, and walked to TK's room.
"Hey, Matt!" TK turned around from his desk chair, and faced me. "Can you tell me works that rhyme with Kari?" I walked over to his desk, and leaned over to see what he was doing. He had some red construction paper in a heart shape, and writing with a white crayon.
"Makin' a card for Kari?" I said, looking at the words. 'Who can I look for when I feel so ______, only you my fair sweet Kari.'
"Yeah. I just need a word that rhymes with Kari…" TK said, then going into thinking.
"Howabout…sorry? I feel so sorry?" It was the best that I could come up with on such short notice.
"That's great!" TK then picked up his white crayon and finished his poem.
"Looks pretty good, TK." I said, while looking over his shoulder. "By the way, I'm staying here. The movie thing is canceled." TK then put his card into a matching white envelope.
"Its alright. I'm just glad that I was able to finish this tonight." TK then took some tape and attached his card onto the box of chocolates that was right by him. I patted him on the head and headed for the kitchen to look for a snack. Once I was out of TK's room, I heard the doorbell. I walked over, and unlocked the door. I opened it to see Sora waiting there.
"Hey, Sora." I said, welcoming her in.
"Hi, Matt. I'm here to baby-sit TK, where is he?" I took her jacket and placed on the couch.
"TK's in his room making a card for Kari." I said.
"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be going out?" She said.
"Not anymore." I said, now getting up to get the snack that I wanted before. "It was canceled because my ride's car broke down." I got the bag of Doritos, and walked back to the living room where Sora was. "Want some?" I said, offering her some chips.
"No thanks." She said.
"Hey, where did you and Tai go after the soccer game the other night?"
"We didn't really go anywhere." She said thoughtfully. "Tai and I just walked around and talked. It was pretty fun, under the moon, just me and him…"
"I see…so when are you gonna ask him out?" Her head spun faced me, half with anger, and half with 'what are you talking about?'
"What do you mean by that?" She said. "Are you saying that I like Tai that way?"
"I dunno…you were the one who said all those wonderful things bout him." I said, in an innocent way yet still trying to get the truth out of her.
"You must be delusional." She was getting pretty mad now. "Tai's my friend, and that it!"
"OK! Calm down! I was just saying…"
"Well don't say anything!"
"…sorry…"
"Oh, its OK, Matt. I didn't mean to get so upset." She then put her head in her hands. They were in love. They didn't know it, but I did. Y'know what? I think I'm gonna do something about that.
*** ***
My plan was in progress. They didn't know it, but I was right by their table. They were on one side of the booths, while I was on the other, hearing their conversation and concealed by the fake plants and the side which were my only barrier from them.
"So what do you think's going on?" Tai said. We were in a really fancy restaurant, so he had a suit on, and Sora had a dress. I was right to them, wearing a suit of my own.
"I don't know." Sora said, sitting down. "Matt said he was going to meet me here."
"Me too." Tai said, sitting across from her. So far so great. "So do you think he's coming?"
"I don't know." Sora said. "You know Matt's been asking some crazy questions about you, uh, me, I mean us."
"Crazy? What do you mean by that?" That took Tai's attention.
"Well, just the other day he asked if I like liked you." She said. I saw between the leaves that Tai leaned in closer.
"Yeah, same here when I saw him at the mall. What do you think he meant?"
"I think he thinks that I like you or something weird like that."
"You think its weird for a girl to like me?" Uh oh, that wasn't good.
"No I meant that I didn't like you in the way that Matt made it…"
"So you don't like me?" Tai said, a bit angered. This wasn't going the way I planned. "And you don't think that I can make any girl like me the way Matt said you liked me?"
"I, uh, I mean…"
"Forget it…" Tai suddenly got up and walked away. Sora stood up and tried to stop him.
"Tai, wait!"
"I have to go, Sora." Tai said, still walking away. I stood up and saw them walk out the door. I totally didn't want this to happen…what did I do?
*** ***
I picked up the phone. I needed to know what was up with Tai last night. He just totally got mad at Sora for no reason! Actually, he got mad at her because of me. But he didn't have to, then the phone picked up as I heard the voice of Tai's mom.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mrs. Kamiya? This is Matt." I said. "May I please talk to Tai?"
"Oh, sure thing, Matt."
"Hey," Tai said in a semi-depressed voice.
"Tai, I wanna talk to you." I said.
"Um, OK." He didn't even try to hide his sadness. "I guess I'll meet you at the park. I have to got there for practice in about an hour or so anyway." I agreed, as I put the phone down and ran to the park.
*** ***
"What took you?" I asked. I was waiting for about thirty minuets, when Tai finally came.
"Sorry. I'm just not in the mood for anything." He said, sitting down on a park bench. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Yeah. About last night with you and Sora." I said sternly.
"How do you know about that?" He said, looking up at me.
"I was there." I said. "But I just wanted to know why you misunderstood her like that." I said.
"Yeah." He said. "It's not her. Just something that happened a long time ago." He said, thinking. I looked at him wondering what he meant.
"What happened a long time ago?" I asked.
"Before camp. Before I met you guys. Before Odaeba." He started. "There was a girl. She was sweet, beautiful, smart, and fun to be with." He smiled. "Her name was Yuki Orano, my first crush. It was great to be with her. We were young and really innocent, but were close." I could see a tear forming on his eye. "But I messed up. I wanted to become closer. I still remember that night, when she said 'no'. It hurt so much. Now, Sora. I like her so much, but I don't want to hurt her. I know the feeling." He wiped the tear from his eye.
"It's OK, Tai." I said.
"Yeah…you know you're the first to know of this story?"
"Heh, I feel so special now." I got up and offered my hand to him. "So you still want to go to soccer practice?"
"Not really." He said, relaxing even more on the bench. "I just feel like staying here. I just have to figure things out." I looked at him, as his gaze went to the lake in front of him.
"I'll tell your coach that you aren't coming." I said, walking away.
"Thanks for helping, Matt." He said to me. "I really needed it."
*** ***
I walked across the soccer field to Tai's coach. Practice still hadn't started, but I saw Sora putting on her cleats on the bench. Tai's coach looked up at me.
"Oh, hey Matt. Have you seen Tai?" Tai's coach said. Sora's head suddenly boldted up to face us.
"Yeah, Mr. Maru. He told me that he isn't going to be able to make today's practice." Sora looked down in disappointment. "You don't mind if I check out the practice, do you?" I said.
"I don't mind. Just don't distract some of our female players." He said to me sternly. "I'm serious."
*** ***
After an hour or so, their practice was finally finished. I stood up from the bleachers and walked over to Sora, who was putting her equipment away.
"Hey, Sora." I said.
"Oh, what's up, Matt?"
"Um, I wanted to talk to you about last night."
"Last night…?" She said, slowing down her pace and thinking.
"Yeah. I just wanted to know what happened."
"I really don't know." She said, then got up carrying her Adidas bag with her. "Tai just exploded in front of me for no reason."
"I see." I said. "Look, I had a talk with Tai before I came to your practice."
"And?"
"And he told me why he exploded last night."
"Oh…" she still seemed interested.
"C'mon, this is going to be pretty long." I said, as we walked to Antolili's.
*** ***
"So that's why he acted the way he did." Sora looked down at her half eaten pizza. "Look, he was just looking out for your best interest, and he didn't want to hurt you."
"I…I don't know what to say. Tai, he, I didn't now he had such a past."
"He even went as far as to say that he cared about you." She looked up at me again.
"He cares about me?" She was still thinking. "I can't believe it."
"You know you like him." I said seriously.
"I like him…?" She said. "I like him…"
"Hey, meet me at my house later tonight." I said. "We'll get this straightened out."
*** ***
I opened the door, as I saw Tai waiting there.
"Come in, man." I said. He stepped through, and made his way to the couch.
"So are you sure this is going to work?" He said.
"I hope so. She should be coming any time soon." I said. "So while we wait, do you want anything to eat or drink?" I said, while heading for the kitchen.
"No. I don't feel like eating." Just then, the doorbell rang, as Tai immediatley faced the door, and I walked over, opening it.
"Hey, Sora." I said, welcoming her in.
"Tai!" She said, seeing him sitting down. "I was so worried about you."
"You didn't need to be. I just needed time to think." He said back, as she sat down next to him and hugged each other.
"Now, I have to tell you guys something." I said. "Look, I didn't want anything like this to happen…"
"What do you mean?" Sora said, cutting me off.
"Well, I tried to get you guys together by setting up that romantic dinner thing at the restaurant."
"So it was your fault?" Tai said angrily.
"Yeah. It was my fault." I said sadly. "You guys are perfect for each other. It's just that you guys are the only people who don't see that! So I just thought I would try to make you guys see that. Sorry." Sora was about to say something more, but stopped and thought about what I just said. Tai did the same.
"It's OK." Sora finally said. She then faced Tai. "Tai. I feel something for you." Tai looked at her. "I realize that now, thanks to Matt. But I had to say that. I knew it all along, but I didn't know how you would react. Then, at the restaurant, it scared me even more." Tai put his arm around her shoulders.
"Sora…" he started off. "I feel something for you too. It was just that single memory that didn't make me realize it earlier. I just didn't want you to get hurt like the way I did. Please say that you'll accept my apology." She looked at him with admiration. I knew it. I mean finally!
"Thanks, Matt." Sora said, facing me.
"Yeah, you really helped us out." Tai added. I nodded.
"Hey, what are friends for?" I said.
"Y'know what Yuki and I used to call each other before we broke up?" Tai said. We looked at him. "Sweetheart." I smiled and leaned back in my chair. "I care for you so much, Sora. So…will you be my sweetheart?" She looked at him and enraptured him in an embrace.
"Of course, Tai!" She said, kissing his cheek. I stood up and walked away.
"I see you guys need your privacy." I said, but I guess they didn't hear. Oh well. I did my job. Hey, I'm pretty good at this. I should do this more often. Well, not really.