The Romance in the Fright
"Um... a little to the left. No, that's too much. Just a tiny bit back to the right. There, that's perfect!" M imi said excitedly as Tai and Sora hung the banner up. The banner read : Fright Night in blood red letters.
"You know, this is just a Halloween School Dance. It doesn't have to be perfect." Tai said. He had to admit, Mimi has a way of working people out. His muscles haven't been this sore for a long time.
"With me as the head of the decoration committee it has to be. And plus, we have to finish it anyway, so why not do a good job? I mean, it's not that often when you can have a Halloween Dance on Friday the 13th." Mimi replied simply as she checked off the box next to banners. "And plus, now all we need is to put a couple of fake spiderwebs here and there and then we'll be done."
"Why can't we do this later when my muscles stop screaming at me with pain?" Tai complained.
"And you used to say that I complain too much? You should be happy that Danny volunteered to get some of his guys to help with the rest of the scary decorations. I mean, this is just the first part. Damion and I are going to make this a dance no one will ever forget." She said excitedly.
"Yea, especially my muscles." Tai muttered a little too loud. Sora rolled her eyes.
"Where should I put the table, Mimi?" Matt asked as he walked in carrying a round, wooden table.
"Uh... You can just put it there for now, thanks Matt." Mimi replied as she flashed him a smile. Matt looked down and picked up the table to hide his blushing face.
"Yea, whatever." He replied cooly. 'You can't let her know that you have a crush on her. Uh uh, it is definitely not happening. Me? With her? No way! Just play it cool.'
Mimi tried to shrug off the cold reply. Even though she hid it pretty good on the outside, her insides are practically shattering. 'Chill girl. You've always known that he doesn't like you. So what if he's a little protective of you? He just like you in that brotherly sisterly way like he's protective of T.K. You knew that! So don't seem so surprised.' She threw the bag of cotton for Tai to catch, but instead of catching it, it hit him straight in the face. "Now get to work or we'll never get this done."
"Yes, ma'am. I'm thinking now that I should've made you leader back in the digiworld." Tai mumbled. Everyone chuckled a little at the surprising remark. Especially coming from him.
"Oh, so now you realize it." Mimi said with her hands on her hip. Everyone laughed even more.
"Hi guys, I just came by to drop off a few groceries for the dance. My father said that the business is so good these days that he offered to donate these for the dance. Can I get a little help here?" Yolei said as she came in the cafeteria door with bags of groceries ringed around her wrist, some in her arms and one that she's trying desperately to balance on her head. Mimi, Matt, Sora, and Izzy quickly came to assisst.
"Hey, where's Tai? Come get some groceries!" Mimi shouted to Tai. But the only answer she got was a loud snore. They turned around to find he leaning against the corner of the room and his legs stretched out on the floor. His mouth was wild open as he breathed loudly.
They all sighed as Matt sneaked over to him. He approached him softly so he won't wake him up. Everyone else stifled giggles. Then finally, when Matt got closed enough, he screamed in his ear. "THE SCHOOL'S ON FIRE! LET'S GO!"
Immediately, Tai jumped up from his spot. "Wha-? What happened?" Everyone uncovered their mouths and laughed heartily. He turned around and found Matt practically rolling on the floor with laughter. Finally he figured out what happened and took revenge. He tickled Matt until pain striked his stomach as the laughter increased.
Mimi wiped a few tears of laughter from her eyes. "Okay, stop it Tai. We need to get to work. And when I say work, I don't mean sleep. Yolei, can you bring those to the kitchen? Sora, Matt, why don't you help her? Izzy, did you finish calculating how much floor space we have after we put all the furniture in place? Izzy?"
"Um... hold on, Mimi." Izzy said. Mimi turned around to find Izzy practically buried with grocery bags. "I appreciate your help, Matt, Sora."
"Well, you said you got them." Matt joked as he took a few bags.
"I wasn't talking to you." He said glaring at Matt.
"Oh yea, I forgot. You were talking to your sweetheart, Yolei." Yolei and Izzy immediately turned eight shades of red.
"Okay, then Yolei, can you finish Izzy's calculations for me?" Mimi asked with a giggle.
"Uh... ok." Yolei said, trying to keep that comment in the back of her mind. Immediately, she went over to Izzy's laptop and started typing away.
"Why does Yolei and Izzy get to do the easy work? I mean, I have to do all this and all they have to do is type in a computer." Tai complained.
"Tai, if you don't be quiet, I swear..." Mimi said as she glared at him.
"Oo, you better back off then." A masculine voice came from the doorway.
"Exactly. So what are you doing here tonight? Your crew is working tomorrow night, Damion." Mimi said to her partner. He was tall and had dark hair and fair skin. The most noticeable feature about him was his ice blue eyes. They were mesmerizing.
"Well, I wanted to check out where I'm going to put everything. Do you have the floor plan?" He asked politely as he began to walk towards Mimi.
Matt looked up from where he was sitting at the mention of Damion's name. He never liked him. He always flirted with Mimi, the girl who Matt had secretly liked for a long time. Matt glared at Damion with cool blue eyes.
At the feel of the glare, Damion turned his eyes to Matt. Matt tensed as the two pairs of blue eyes made eye contact. There was a great difference though. Matt's eyes were filled with warmth, security, and hope. Damion's eyes were filled with hatred, loneliness, and a chill that sends shivers down your back. But for some reason, only Matt noticed.
"So Mimi. I'm on my way home so do you want me to give you a ride? Before stopping maybe we can get a bite to eat." Danny offered as he placed a hand on Mimi's shoulder. Matt tensed at the thought of Mimi saying yes.
Mimi thought for a bit. "It's really nice of you to offer, but as you can see, I need to stay here and give Tai more work. Maybe next time. And plus, I'm biking home with Sora. (AN: Sora and Mimi share an apartment) Tai! Get to work!"
"Well, all right. Just call if you need me. Bye." Damion said as he walked out of the room. Mimi and Matt sighed simultaneously in relief. They looked at each other and blushed a little before they looked away.
"Uh... These groceries are heavy, Yolei, however did you get them here?" Matt said trying to hide the fact that he sighed because Damion left. 'Would you stop being so obvious?'
'Would you quit thinking that he might care about you?' Mimi mentally kicked herself. "Why don't we work on this tomorrow. I'm getting kind of tired."
"Oh, so you get to stop when you're tired." Tai teased. But all he got back was a glare. "Okay, I'll back off."
"Thank you. Come on, Sora. Let's go home." Mimi said as she began walking out the door with Sora right behind her.
Mimi walked faster than usual towards the bike racks. Sora just trailed right behind her, making sure that she's keeping up the pace. They cut through the park and stopped to rest at the water fountain, which is the exact center of the park. "Energetic tonight?" Sora asked as she panted for energy.
"No, it's nothing." Mimi said with a quivered voice. This gave Sora a sign that something was wrong. Sora bent down to look at Mimi's face. The teardrops shined like diamonds falling from her eyes.
Sora immediately sat next to her on the water fountain and placed a hand around her shoulders for comfort. "Oh-oh my. What's wrong, Mimi? Please tell me! Maybe we can figure something out." Mimi shook even more as the sobs grew louder.
"No-Nothing can help it anyway. He'll never like me no matter what." Mimi said in between gasps and sobs. She buried her face in her hands as more tears raced down her face, making her eyes more red and puffy.
"Well, at least tell me about it, you're really scaring me like this, Mimi." Sora asked with concern as she knelt in front of her friend and took her shaking hands away from her face.
"He'll never love me..." Mimi whispered softly.
"Do you mean Matt?" Sora asked as she stared at her best friend. Mimi slowly nodded her head as whimpers came out. She used to always be so cheerful, but ever since she began to bury herself with responsibility, she seemed to fall into pieces. Then, they felt a raindrop and that raindrop slowly developed into a shower. Sora immediately pulled her hood over her head, but Mimi just sat there as the rain soaked her hair, strand by strand. "Come on, Mimi. You're going to get a cold like this." Slowly, Sora gave her a little tug on the arm for her to get up. Emotionlessly, she got back onto her bike and rode the rest of the way.
*@----}----{----@* Back at their apartment
"Go take a shower, Mimi. Staying soaked and getting a cold won't help the situation." Sora said as she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas as she dried her hair with a white towel.
"And drying myself and living healthly won't help the situation either." Mimi said in a soft, broken voice. For a second, she sounded like she was frail as porcelain and that she'd vanish any second.
"Please tell me. Why are you doing this to yourself, Mimi? Why? You were never like that. What happened to the girl who always hung a smile on her face? What happened to the girl who can make everyone laugh and light up as soon as she walked into the room? What happened to the girl who depended on herself and herself alone? I used to be so jealous of you, Mimi. You had it all. The looks, the voice, the fame, the popularity, the knowledge, the wisdom, the responsibility, everything! But look at you now! You're nothing but a lazy, helpless little girl! Change back, Mimi." Sora yelled as she too began to break down into tears. She couldn't stand watching her friend warp into a pile of shattered glass when she can become the most beautiful glass ornament of all. She knew she always had it in her.
"That part of me is dead, Sora! In fact it never even existed! I forced myself to be all that. That's not me! That's the character I play so no one will know me! Remember that cowardly ditz from the digiworld, that's me! And no one liked me much then, did they? I wanted people to like me! I wanted Matt to like me! But that didn't happen, did it? Sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you want it to, Sora! You have to grow up and face reality! You'll never know how it's like! You've always been so lucky! You don't know what it's like to look in the mirror and hate the person you see!" Mimi screamed back. She broke down on the floor on her hands and knees as she lightly rested her head on the smooth, cold wooden floor.
"No one said you were a cowardly ditz and for your information, we liked you! We liked you a lot! And whatever you may think, Mimi. The truth is we're your friends and we don't care how you're like! And I do know how it's like! I was a tomboy! Do you think that I thought Tai would like that? Well, if you did you were wrong! I tried so hard to change myself but then it blew right back up in my face! Trust me, it's much better being yourself. I should know!" Sora's voice broke as she leaned against the wall. Her back slid down as she finally slid to a sitting position. She placed her head down as the tears came rushing down. She hasn't cried in a while and she never thought it would be Mimi who'd make her cry.
Mimi just cried. She didn't know what to say anymore. "Everyone like the way I am now. And I feel important. But no matter how hard I try, Matt will never like me. I've tried ever since we were in the digiworld. We're fifteen now, Sora. After years of trying, he still looks at me as a stranger. Do you know how much it hurts? At least Tai sees you as a really good friend. But he's still blocking me away. Every time he says something cold, it's like he stabbed me in the heart with an ice sword." Mimi whispered softly. She's never told anyone this, but she's been saying all this to herself mentally.
Sora walked over to where Mimi is. She hugged Mimi in her arms and Mimi placed her forehead on her shoulder as they cried together. "Well, you'll find a way with Matt. I'm sure of it. I mean, I found a way with Tai and you know how hard it is to reach to a guy as psycho as him." Sora joked. Thank God it worked because the tension was killing them both. Finally, Mimi smiled and began giggling. Sora let out a soft sigh of relief and joined in the laughter.
*@----}----{----@* Later that night in their room.
Mimi stared at the almost round moon from her window, her only source of light in the dark room during this hour. They both laid awake in their beds as they thought about their previous conversation. (AN: They have to regular size beds in their room.)
"Sora?" Mimi said softly, not taking her eyes off the moon.
"Yea?" Sora replied as she turned towards Mimi.
"I think I'm going to let it go. I'm just going to let it go and let everything go with the flow..." She whispered. In the pale moonlight, you could see one shining teardrop run slowly down her smooth, round cheeks.
"Um... a little to the left. No, that's too much. Just a tiny bit back to the right. There, that's perfect!" M imi said excitedly as Tai and Sora hung the banner up. The banner read : Fright Night in blood red letters.
"You know, this is just a Halloween School Dance. It doesn't have to be perfect." Tai said. He had to admit, Mimi has a way of working people out. His muscles haven't been this sore for a long time.
"With me as the head of the decoration committee it has to be. And plus, we have to finish it anyway, so why not do a good job? I mean, it's not that often when you can have a Halloween Dance on Friday the 13th." Mimi replied simply as she checked off the box next to banners. "And plus, now all we need is to put a couple of fake spiderwebs here and there and then we'll be done."
"Why can't we do this later when my muscles stop screaming at me with pain?" Tai complained.
"And you used to say that I complain too much? You should be happy that Danny volunteered to get some of his guys to help with the rest of the scary decorations. I mean, this is just the first part. Damion and I are going to make this a dance no one will ever forget." She said excitedly.
"Yea, especially my muscles." Tai muttered a little too loud. Sora rolled her eyes.
"Where should I put the table, Mimi?" Matt asked as he walked in carrying a round, wooden table.
"Uh... You can just put it there for now, thanks Matt." Mimi replied as she flashed him a smile. Matt looked down and picked up the table to hide his blushing face.
"Yea, whatever." He replied cooly. 'You can't let her know that you have a crush on her. Uh uh, it is definitely not happening. Me? With her? No way! Just play it cool.'
Mimi tried to shrug off the cold reply. Even though she hid it pretty good on the outside, her insides are practically shattering. 'Chill girl. You've always known that he doesn't like you. So what if he's a little protective of you? He just like you in that brotherly sisterly way like he's protective of T.K. You knew that! So don't seem so surprised.' She threw the bag of cotton for Tai to catch, but instead of catching it, it hit him straight in the face. "Now get to work or we'll never get this done."
"Yes, ma'am. I'm thinking now that I should've made you leader back in the digiworld." Tai mumbled. Everyone chuckled a little at the surprising remark. Especially coming from him.
"Oh, so now you realize it." Mimi said with her hands on her hip. Everyone laughed even more.
"Hi guys, I just came by to drop off a few groceries for the dance. My father said that the business is so good these days that he offered to donate these for the dance. Can I get a little help here?" Yolei said as she came in the cafeteria door with bags of groceries ringed around her wrist, some in her arms and one that she's trying desperately to balance on her head. Mimi, Matt, Sora, and Izzy quickly came to assisst.
"Hey, where's Tai? Come get some groceries!" Mimi shouted to Tai. But the only answer she got was a loud snore. They turned around to find he leaning against the corner of the room and his legs stretched out on the floor. His mouth was wild open as he breathed loudly.
They all sighed as Matt sneaked over to him. He approached him softly so he won't wake him up. Everyone else stifled giggles. Then finally, when Matt got closed enough, he screamed in his ear. "THE SCHOOL'S ON FIRE! LET'S GO!"
Immediately, Tai jumped up from his spot. "Wha-? What happened?" Everyone uncovered their mouths and laughed heartily. He turned around and found Matt practically rolling on the floor with laughter. Finally he figured out what happened and took revenge. He tickled Matt until pain striked his stomach as the laughter increased.
Mimi wiped a few tears of laughter from her eyes. "Okay, stop it Tai. We need to get to work. And when I say work, I don't mean sleep. Yolei, can you bring those to the kitchen? Sora, Matt, why don't you help her? Izzy, did you finish calculating how much floor space we have after we put all the furniture in place? Izzy?"
"Um... hold on, Mimi." Izzy said. Mimi turned around to find Izzy practically buried with grocery bags. "I appreciate your help, Matt, Sora."
"Well, you said you got them." Matt joked as he took a few bags.
"I wasn't talking to you." He said glaring at Matt.
"Oh yea, I forgot. You were talking to your sweetheart, Yolei." Yolei and Izzy immediately turned eight shades of red.
"Okay, then Yolei, can you finish Izzy's calculations for me?" Mimi asked with a giggle.
"Uh... ok." Yolei said, trying to keep that comment in the back of her mind. Immediately, she went over to Izzy's laptop and started typing away.
"Why does Yolei and Izzy get to do the easy work? I mean, I have to do all this and all they have to do is type in a computer." Tai complained.
"Tai, if you don't be quiet, I swear..." Mimi said as she glared at him.
"Oo, you better back off then." A masculine voice came from the doorway.
"Exactly. So what are you doing here tonight? Your crew is working tomorrow night, Damion." Mimi said to her partner. He was tall and had dark hair and fair skin. The most noticeable feature about him was his ice blue eyes. They were mesmerizing.
"Well, I wanted to check out where I'm going to put everything. Do you have the floor plan?" He asked politely as he began to walk towards Mimi.
Matt looked up from where he was sitting at the mention of Damion's name. He never liked him. He always flirted with Mimi, the girl who Matt had secretly liked for a long time. Matt glared at Damion with cool blue eyes.
At the feel of the glare, Damion turned his eyes to Matt. Matt tensed as the two pairs of blue eyes made eye contact. There was a great difference though. Matt's eyes were filled with warmth, security, and hope. Damion's eyes were filled with hatred, loneliness, and a chill that sends shivers down your back. But for some reason, only Matt noticed.
"So Mimi. I'm on my way home so do you want me to give you a ride? Before stopping maybe we can get a bite to eat." Danny offered as he placed a hand on Mimi's shoulder. Matt tensed at the thought of Mimi saying yes.
Mimi thought for a bit. "It's really nice of you to offer, but as you can see, I need to stay here and give Tai more work. Maybe next time. And plus, I'm biking home with Sora. (AN: Sora and Mimi share an apartment) Tai! Get to work!"
"Well, all right. Just call if you need me. Bye." Damion said as he walked out of the room. Mimi and Matt sighed simultaneously in relief. They looked at each other and blushed a little before they looked away.
"Uh... These groceries are heavy, Yolei, however did you get them here?" Matt said trying to hide the fact that he sighed because Damion left. 'Would you stop being so obvious?'
'Would you quit thinking that he might care about you?' Mimi mentally kicked herself. "Why don't we work on this tomorrow. I'm getting kind of tired."
"Oh, so you get to stop when you're tired." Tai teased. But all he got back was a glare. "Okay, I'll back off."
"Thank you. Come on, Sora. Let's go home." Mimi said as she began walking out the door with Sora right behind her.
Mimi walked faster than usual towards the bike racks. Sora just trailed right behind her, making sure that she's keeping up the pace. They cut through the park and stopped to rest at the water fountain, which is the exact center of the park. "Energetic tonight?" Sora asked as she panted for energy.
"No, it's nothing." Mimi said with a quivered voice. This gave Sora a sign that something was wrong. Sora bent down to look at Mimi's face. The teardrops shined like diamonds falling from her eyes.
Sora immediately sat next to her on the water fountain and placed a hand around her shoulders for comfort. "Oh-oh my. What's wrong, Mimi? Please tell me! Maybe we can figure something out." Mimi shook even more as the sobs grew louder.
"No-Nothing can help it anyway. He'll never like me no matter what." Mimi said in between gasps and sobs. She buried her face in her hands as more tears raced down her face, making her eyes more red and puffy.
"Well, at least tell me about it, you're really scaring me like this, Mimi." Sora asked with concern as she knelt in front of her friend and took her shaking hands away from her face.
"He'll never love me..." Mimi whispered softly.
"Do you mean Matt?" Sora asked as she stared at her best friend. Mimi slowly nodded her head as whimpers came out. She used to always be so cheerful, but ever since she began to bury herself with responsibility, she seemed to fall into pieces. Then, they felt a raindrop and that raindrop slowly developed into a shower. Sora immediately pulled her hood over her head, but Mimi just sat there as the rain soaked her hair, strand by strand. "Come on, Mimi. You're going to get a cold like this." Slowly, Sora gave her a little tug on the arm for her to get up. Emotionlessly, she got back onto her bike and rode the rest of the way.
*@----}----{----@* Back at their apartment
"Go take a shower, Mimi. Staying soaked and getting a cold won't help the situation." Sora said as she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas as she dried her hair with a white towel.
"And drying myself and living healthly won't help the situation either." Mimi said in a soft, broken voice. For a second, she sounded like she was frail as porcelain and that she'd vanish any second.
"Please tell me. Why are you doing this to yourself, Mimi? Why? You were never like that. What happened to the girl who always hung a smile on her face? What happened to the girl who can make everyone laugh and light up as soon as she walked into the room? What happened to the girl who depended on herself and herself alone? I used to be so jealous of you, Mimi. You had it all. The looks, the voice, the fame, the popularity, the knowledge, the wisdom, the responsibility, everything! But look at you now! You're nothing but a lazy, helpless little girl! Change back, Mimi." Sora yelled as she too began to break down into tears. She couldn't stand watching her friend warp into a pile of shattered glass when she can become the most beautiful glass ornament of all. She knew she always had it in her.
"That part of me is dead, Sora! In fact it never even existed! I forced myself to be all that. That's not me! That's the character I play so no one will know me! Remember that cowardly ditz from the digiworld, that's me! And no one liked me much then, did they? I wanted people to like me! I wanted Matt to like me! But that didn't happen, did it? Sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you want it to, Sora! You have to grow up and face reality! You'll never know how it's like! You've always been so lucky! You don't know what it's like to look in the mirror and hate the person you see!" Mimi screamed back. She broke down on the floor on her hands and knees as she lightly rested her head on the smooth, cold wooden floor.
"No one said you were a cowardly ditz and for your information, we liked you! We liked you a lot! And whatever you may think, Mimi. The truth is we're your friends and we don't care how you're like! And I do know how it's like! I was a tomboy! Do you think that I thought Tai would like that? Well, if you did you were wrong! I tried so hard to change myself but then it blew right back up in my face! Trust me, it's much better being yourself. I should know!" Sora's voice broke as she leaned against the wall. Her back slid down as she finally slid to a sitting position. She placed her head down as the tears came rushing down. She hasn't cried in a while and she never thought it would be Mimi who'd make her cry.
Mimi just cried. She didn't know what to say anymore. "Everyone like the way I am now. And I feel important. But no matter how hard I try, Matt will never like me. I've tried ever since we were in the digiworld. We're fifteen now, Sora. After years of trying, he still looks at me as a stranger. Do you know how much it hurts? At least Tai sees you as a really good friend. But he's still blocking me away. Every time he says something cold, it's like he stabbed me in the heart with an ice sword." Mimi whispered softly. She's never told anyone this, but she's been saying all this to herself mentally.
Sora walked over to where Mimi is. She hugged Mimi in her arms and Mimi placed her forehead on her shoulder as they cried together. "Well, you'll find a way with Matt. I'm sure of it. I mean, I found a way with Tai and you know how hard it is to reach to a guy as psycho as him." Sora joked. Thank God it worked because the tension was killing them both. Finally, Mimi smiled and began giggling. Sora let out a soft sigh of relief and joined in the laughter.
*@----}----{----@* Later that night in their room.
Mimi stared at the almost round moon from her window, her only source of light in the dark room during this hour. They both laid awake in their beds as they thought about their previous conversation. (AN: They have to regular size beds in their room.)
"Sora?" Mimi said softly, not taking her eyes off the moon.
"Yea?" Sora replied as she turned towards Mimi.
"I think I'm going to let it go. I'm just going to let it go and let everything go with the flow..." She whispered. In the pale moonlight, you could see one shining teardrop run slowly down her smooth, round cheeks.