Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of the characters. Never had, never will. OK, now that that's done, enjoy!
"Math Class, Movies and Chocolate Shakes"
It was a bright, sunny day. The sky was a clear azure and the sun was shining merrily. The weather was not too warm and not too cold either. To add to that, it was 1:00 in the afternoon and our stomachs were still full from lunch. On top of it all, it was the usual naptime for kids. In shorter terms, it was the perfect time and weather for a nap.
But instead of lying on a nice, comfy bed, I was stuck sitting on a hardwood chair, leaning my head on my palm and trying hard to listen to our Math teacher talk about basic algebra. I could feel my eyelids begin to droop, not because the teacher was boring, but because I was unusually tired. Half of the class was already asleep and I thought that it was right that I could lean my tired head on my arms, close my eyes, and drift off into dreamland.
One problem: I was located in the second row, sixth column seat, clearly visible to the teacher. And I, Miyako Inoue, was running for honors, so I had to pay very close attention to what the teacher was saying, since Math isn't exactly my best subject.
So, instead of obeying my brain, which was pleading for rest, I stared at the blackboard, trying to keep my eyes open.
"…And so, a variable is completely different from a literal coefficient." Mrs. Kagariya, the teacher, said, looking at us through her thick glasses. Mrs. Kagariya is really nice, but she can get pretty angry if you don't listen to her lecture. You wouldn't believe the countless times she threatened to walk out on us because of our noise. Despite that, most of us think that she's a big improvement to our last teacher, Mrs. Naga, the one who lectured the blackboard instead of us.
"Is that understood, class?" Mrs. Kagariya asked, her keen eyes scanning the room. "Yes, ma'am," we (the ones who were awake, anyway) replied wearily. She nodded in satisfaction and turned back to the blackboard, where she began to scribble using a long piece of chalk.
While Mrs. Kagariya wasn't looking, I glanced at my classmates who sat at the back. Most of them were already asleep; one was even starting to drool over his textbook. I turned back to the blackboard, took off my glasses, put them on my desk, and rubbed my eyes. They were starting to hurt and I knew that I had to get some rest, one way or another. And indeed, as I replaced my glasses, everything went blank.
I don't know how long my mind stayed in its passive state but I guess it was like that for more than half of the lesson because when I started to once again notice my surroundings, the class was almost over. Luckily, I managed to hear and take note of the last part of the lecture, so it wasn't a total loss. 5 minutes later, the class ended and Mrs. Kagariya left, to be replaced by our English teacher, Mrs. Bell. She made us head to the library to do research on the different kinds of phrases.
"Hey, did you guys feel sleepy during Math?" I asked my usual group for researches, Anna, Ruki, Zali, Kimmi, and Patricia. "You wouldn't believe!" Ruki exclaimed, brushing her blond bangs off her forehead. "We were already asleep!" Zali added, looking at me with her crimson eyes. "Heh, lucky you." I said, copying the definition of prepositional phrases from the thick textbook that I found. "I couldn't sleep, I would've been seen.". "You should have sat at the back with us, Yolei." Kimmi told me. "Yeah. Unlike you, we can't be seen in the back." Patricia said.
"Don't tell me all of you guys were sleepy!" Anna said, looking at each of us. "It was an interesting lecture.". "Well, you're the Math whiz around here," I told her, grinning. She smirked at me. "Well, you're the computer expert." She retaliated. "But anyway, I was unusually active during the class and I didn't feel the least bit tired.". "Wow, your attentiveness amazes me, Anna!" Kimmi said sarcastically. Anna glared at her.
As I copied down the definitions, I thought about what happened during Math class. Did I fall asleep? Did I loose consciousness? No, it couldn't be, Mrs. Kagariya would've walked over to me and woke me up. But, I didn't hear part of the lesson, so maybe I did fall asleep. I had to be sure.
"Hey, Anna? Was I asleep during Math?" I asked. Anna looked at me with her emerald eyes. "You didn't look asleep." She replied. "Yeah, Yolei, you were sitting erectly. It didn't even cross my mind that you were feeling sleepy." Zali added. "But I didn't hear any word Mrs. Kagariya said!" I protested. "That's impossible! You took down notes!" Patricia said. I paused. "I did?" I asked. "Yup. We saw your pen moving." Kimmi answered. "Check your notebook.".
I quickly flipped to my Math notebook and turned to the page with today's lesson. Instead of my usually neat handwriting, it looked as if I hadn't picked up a pen in years. In fact, it looked more like scrawl than handwriting. There were also some irrelevant words written just beside some of the examples and definitions. But one particular word caught my eye. In the first example for literal coefficients, instead of writing the value, I had written a one-syllable name: Ken.
My mind whirled. "Ken"? I thought in alarm. How the hell did he get in there? Ken Ichijouji, a very good friend of mine, had somehow wormed his way into my subconscious. Athletic, smart, kind, and extremely handsome, you wouldn't believe that he was once the Digimon Emperor, the digidestined's arch nemesis. I was part of the new team of the Digidestined, selected kids chosen to save the Digiworld. But somehow, Ken turned to the side of good and we all became good friends.
"What's the matter?" Patricia asked, looking at my paled face. I said nothing, but turned the notebook around for them to see. The 5 of them peered at it and burst into soft giggles. "What?" I asked them. They stopped giggling and faced me. "Are you in love with Ken Ichijouji?" Kimmi asked, an amused smile on her face. I felt my face grow hot. "N-no, of course not." I stammered. "C'mon, no need to hide it." Anna said. "You're always with him.". "He's a friend!" I informed them. "Yes, and a very good one by the looks of it," Zali said. She grinned, revealing her braced teeth, and patted my shoulder. "Way to go, Yolei." She said. "Many other girls would kill for a chance with Ken. And you have him in the palm of your hand.". "Just what do you mean by that?" I asked her. "Bottom line, Yolei, Ken wouldn't be hanging out with you unless he liked you." Kimmi explained. I shook my head and closed my notebook. "I don't know how I put up with you guys," I said. "Maybe its because we're right." Patricia said with a grin.
For the rest of the afternoon, I thought about what they had told me. Was Ken just a friend? Or was he really something more? I thought of the feelings I had for him back when we didn't know that he was the Digimon Emperor. I first came across him during a soccer match; his team was playing against Davis'. Back then, I had an infatuation toward him, but those feelings quickly disintegrated when we found out that he was actually our enemy.
Then, he decided to turn to the side of good for the sake of Wormmon. I remembered having mixed feeling about that. One was of relief and another was of happiness. And something else, that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe, just maybe, my friends were right, maybe those romantic feelings I had for him in the past were resurfacing again. I mean, he had always been handsome to me and I guess I never let go of the realization. As the other digidestined and I got to know him better, we found him to be very amiable and friendly. But, was it possible? Could I be in love with Ken Ichijouji?
The same line repeated itself over and over in my head up until the bell signaling the end of classes for the day rang. It was a Friday, so it was movie afternoon for me and the rest of the digidestined girls. I grabbed my books and quickly headed toward my locker where Kari was waiting.
Kari Kamiya was a sweet girl, with brown hair and eyes. She was easily every guy's dream girl, for aside from her looks, she had a good set of values to match. The little sister of Tai Kamiya, the leader of the original digidestined, she was a year younger than I but was one of my closest friends.
Kari grinned and waved as she saw me. "Hi, Yolei!" she called cheerfully. "Hi, Kari!" I replied, grinning back. "So, how was school?" she asked as I turned the combination lock. "Oh, so and so," I answered, shoving my books in and slamming the locker shut. "What about you?". She laughed. "Boring," she said. "Also, I had Davis chasing me around all day, so I can't say that it was good.". I chuckled. Davis Motomiya had met Kari through Tai, since they went to the same soccer camp. The poor guy fell head over heels for her but I knew that Kari's heart belonged to TK Takaishi, another digidestined. TK was the brother of Matt Ishida, one of the most sought after teen heartthrobs in the city. He was also a friend of mine and I knew that he liked Kari as well.
Kari and I made our way out of the crowded school, laughing and talking. The guys usually walked home with us, but since it was a Friday, that meant that it was girls' day and that we were going to see a movie. At the school's entrance, we met the other 2 digidestined girls, Sora Takenouchi and Mimi Tachikawa.
Sora was Tai Kamiya's best friend and from what I knew, his first love. I could see that Sora was in love with him too, only she was too embarrassed to admit it. She had tied her shoulder-length auburn hair in a small ponytail and her crimson eyes were shining merrily.
Everyone in the group knew that Mimi was my role model and you can easily see why. Her honey-colored hair, which she dyed pink with magenta highlights, flowed down her shoulders and her hazel eyes, nearly identical to mine, held excitement and eagerness. She was sincere and pure of heart, and from what I was told, was once a spoiled brat. But, she outgrew that, and turned into the person that she is now. Like Kari, many guys fell for her but she had eyes for only one: Joe Kido, digidestined of Reliability. It was pretty obvious that Joe was also in love with Mimi, but the two refused to tell each other for fear of rejection.
"Hey, Yolei! Hey, Kari!" Sora greeted us with a smile. "Hey, guys!" I replied, smiling back. "Ready to see a movie?". "You bet!" Mimi said cheerfully. She and Sora had already changed out of their green school uniforms and into their normal clothes. We walked to the theater, talking about things and trying to decide which movie we were going to see. That was usually the problem when we went out, we never really could decide on what movie to see until the last second.
"So, which one? Final Fantasy or A Knight's Tale?" Kari asked as we neared the theater. "Final Fantasy!" Sora called out. "A Knight's Tale!" Mimi added. "I think I'll go with A Knight's Tale." I decided. "I go with Final Fantasy." Kari said. The 4 of us burst out laughing. "Great, a tie again." Sora said, shaking her head. "OK, how about Atlantis, then?". "Fine by us!" the rest of us agreed. Sora nodded and went to buy the tickets while Mimi, Kari and I got the food. This was our Friday routine: someone would buy the tickets while the others would buy the food. This week was Sora's turn to get the tickets.
All throughout the film, I thought about the events that happened earlier. It happened to be the only thing on my mind; I hardly paid any attention to the film, except the part when Milo chose to remain in Atlantis with Kida. I smiled. I love happy endings.
After the movie, we headed to the ice cream parlor. Sora had a hot fudge sundae, Mimi had a banana split, Kari had a strawberry sundae, and I had a big chocolate shake. We sat down at a booth, talking while eating the delicious frozen delight in front of us. "Wasn't the movie great?" Kari asked. "Yeah. The effects were fantastic!" Sora agreed. "I was a bit surprised that Yolei wasn't whispering facts about Atlantis in my ear." Mimi teased, winking at me. "I mean, she usually does during those kinds of movies.". I stirred the shake with my straw. "I guess I was just a bit distracted." I said. "Why? Did something happen at school?" Sora asked, putting a spoon-full of sundae into her mouth. "You can say that," I admitted. "Well, you know you can tell us." Kari said, looking straight at me. "That's what friends are for.". I sighed and began to tell them all that had happened.
"OK, so you phased out in class and instead of writing the correct example, you wrote Ken's name?" Mimi asked after I had finished. I nodded, taking a sip of my shake. "Not only that, my friends at school told me that I'm probably in love with him." I added. I looked at them. "How do you know if you're in love?" I asked. "I mean, how does it feel? Does it keep you awake at night? Does it haunt you until your dying day?". "Whoa, calm down, Yolei." Sora said. "I'm not an expert on this myself but I have a pretty good answer to your question.". I looked at her hopefully. "Then, what is love, Sora?" I asked. "Love is when a person means so much to you that you're willing to do anything to be with him," she said, stirring her spoon around in her sundae. "It's when you think about him constantly but without knowing why. When you feel cursed that even though he's your best friend and you're supposed to share all your secrets with him except for the fact that you've fallen in love with him. Believe me, that's how I feel about Tai.".
We all gaped at her. "You like Tai?" Kari asked. Sora smiled and nodded. "Yup." She said. "And I know that the way I feel for him can't be wrong. I have the crest of Love, after all.". "I feel the same as you, Sora." Mimi said, leaning her head on her palm. "When I first met Joe, I can't say that I was pleased. I mean, who would be? He was a whiner, a pessimist who complained a lot and whose philosophy in life was to run away from problems. But as we journeyed through the Digiworld, he changed, probably more rapidly than the surroundings. We all did, and then we split up. He stayed with me and tried to protect me as best he could. He did a good job and it was then that I found out that he was braver than he looked. And I guess I fell in love with him as time went on. I still do love him up to now.".
"TK and I met when you guys came back for a while to look for the 8th child." Kari started. "We were just 8 then and our minds were still filled with that cootie nonsense. Anyway, I went to the Digiworld after Myotismon had been defeated and that's when TK and I became good friends. Since we were the youngest, we wanted to show the older ones that we could take care of ourselves just fine. So, we looked out for each other, almost like a brother and sister. When we came back, we didn't see each other that often anymore since he went to a different school and lived in a different neighborhood. But when he entered our school, I admit that I felt butterflies in my stomach. I couldn't believe that the incredibly handsome new student had been my companion and friend in the Digiworld a few years back. We easily became best friends again and my feelings for him grew. If this is love, it's not so bad.".
"Yeah, except for the fact that you can't tell him that you feel that way," I pointed out. "Mmm. That definitely sucks!" Mimi agreed. "Oh and Yolei, don't even try to deny that you have feelings for Ken.". "We saw it coming already." Kari added. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Well, you guys are right. I do love Ken." I admitted. "I kept denying it, for fear of being ridiculed.". Sora patted my back. "I think that's how we all feel." She said. Mimi and Kari nodded. I grinned. "We're more alike than I thought." I said. They grinned back and we went back to our ice cream.
At that moment, the bell attached to the entrance rang out, signaling the presence of new customers. I looked up from my shake and almost choked when I saw a patch of dark violet entering. Upon closer inspection, I turned out to be Ken, along with Tai, Joe and TK. I felt like all the gastric juices in my stomach had been sucked up into my esophagus. He was here, he was here! What do I do, do I look good enough? These and a million other questions were immediately flashing in my brain.
"Hey, girls! Fancy meeting you here!" Tai greeted us, grinning. "Hey, Tai." Sora replied, trying to hide a blush. "You here on your own?". "No, actually, Joe, TK and Ken are still ordering." He replied. "Mind if we join you?". "Uh, no, not at all." Sora answered. Tai grinned as he sat on an empty seat beside her. "So, you girls watched a movie, right?" he asked. "Yeah. Atlantis." I answered, still keeping my eye on Ken. "It was a great movie.". "I'm sure, otherwise, you girls wouldn't have watched it. Am I right, Sor?" he asked, putting a friendly arm around her shoulders. Sora's face became redder as she nodded.
"Tai, when we said go find a seat, we didn't mean that you would disturb the girls into letting us sit with them." Came Joe's voice, as he and TK came over. "Hi, guys!" Mimi greeted them, smiling. "No, it's no trouble at all, this booth was made for 8 anyway.". "Are you sure?" Joe asked. "I mean, we can sit somewhere else.". "C'mon, Joe, don't be such a spoilsport!" Tai told him. "The ladies said that it was fine if we sat with them and it would be rude to do otherwise.". I noticed that he winked at Sora as he said this. Joe sighed in defeat and sat down beside Mimi while TK took a seat beside Kari.
But Ken was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the ice cream parlor and found him standing at the counter. "Hey, what's Ken still doing there?" I asked, my gaze lingering on his form. "Oh, he insisted that he would wait for our orders." TK replied. "Don't ask me, he just did.". I nodded and looked down at my almost melted shake. Always the gentleman, eh, Ken? I thought, smiling softly. Yup, no doubt about it, I've fallen for him.
"Sorry for the delay, they had to get a new batch of caramel fudge." Ken apologized, coming up to the table. He was carrying a tray with the boys' orders on it. "OK, an extra large caramel fudge sundae for Tai, a chocolate cone for Joe, a root beer float for TK, and a glass of soda for me." Ken dictated, passing each guy his order. "Thanks, Ken!" they said, as they got their ice cream. Ken grinned at them as he sat down on the only vacant seat left: the seat beside me. I blushed as he sat down, only I looked away, so that he wouldn't see my face.
For the next half-hour, the 8 of us sat there in the booth. Sora and Tai were talking about sports, Joe and Mimi had mixed Joe's chocolate cone with what was left of Mimi's banana split and now, they were sharing it, and TK and Kari were talking quietly, in voices just slightly above a whisper. And what about me and Ken? Well, we were just silent. He sipped his soda as I sipped my shake. We avoided making eye contact at all.
But we both raised our eyes at the same time and our eyes met. I felt my heart beat rapidly and the rest of the world just seemed to fade away. He was looking straight into my eyes, his own violet eyes intense. I looked away, blushing as I did so. I looked at him. Now he was blushing! That was rare, since Ken Ichijouji hardly ever showed his feelings to anyone.
Then, I noticed that he had completely finished his soda. There was still enough of my shake, so I had the strangest idea of asking him if he wanted some. And I did ask him, much to his surprise and mine. But when I thought that he was going to say no, he smiled and said, "I'd love some.". I nodded and got him and extra straw, pushing the glass toward him. He smiled gratefully at me and took a sip. After swallowing, he looked at me again and said, "It's very good.". "Yes, that's why I love it." I replied. "You can have the rest if you want.". He shook his head. "No, I'd rather share it with you, Yolei." He said. I felt myself blush. No guy had ever complemented me before, aside from Willis. It made me feel special.
Both of us finished the shake just in time for us to go. As we went out, the group separated into small couples; Tai and Sora, Joe and Mimi, and TK and Kari were holding hands as we walked down the street. I looked at Ken and he looked back at me. Then he smiled and took my hand in his. I was surprised; I didn't think he'd even do such a thing. But I'm glad that he did. And as we headed for home, his fingers intertwined with mine, I thought that even though I had phased out in class, the day didn't turn out to be so bad after all.
******THE END******
"Math Class, Movies and Chocolate Shakes"
It was a bright, sunny day. The sky was a clear azure and the sun was shining merrily. The weather was not too warm and not too cold either. To add to that, it was 1:00 in the afternoon and our stomachs were still full from lunch. On top of it all, it was the usual naptime for kids. In shorter terms, it was the perfect time and weather for a nap.
But instead of lying on a nice, comfy bed, I was stuck sitting on a hardwood chair, leaning my head on my palm and trying hard to listen to our Math teacher talk about basic algebra. I could feel my eyelids begin to droop, not because the teacher was boring, but because I was unusually tired. Half of the class was already asleep and I thought that it was right that I could lean my tired head on my arms, close my eyes, and drift off into dreamland.
One problem: I was located in the second row, sixth column seat, clearly visible to the teacher. And I, Miyako Inoue, was running for honors, so I had to pay very close attention to what the teacher was saying, since Math isn't exactly my best subject.
So, instead of obeying my brain, which was pleading for rest, I stared at the blackboard, trying to keep my eyes open.
"…And so, a variable is completely different from a literal coefficient." Mrs. Kagariya, the teacher, said, looking at us through her thick glasses. Mrs. Kagariya is really nice, but she can get pretty angry if you don't listen to her lecture. You wouldn't believe the countless times she threatened to walk out on us because of our noise. Despite that, most of us think that she's a big improvement to our last teacher, Mrs. Naga, the one who lectured the blackboard instead of us.
"Is that understood, class?" Mrs. Kagariya asked, her keen eyes scanning the room. "Yes, ma'am," we (the ones who were awake, anyway) replied wearily. She nodded in satisfaction and turned back to the blackboard, where she began to scribble using a long piece of chalk.
While Mrs. Kagariya wasn't looking, I glanced at my classmates who sat at the back. Most of them were already asleep; one was even starting to drool over his textbook. I turned back to the blackboard, took off my glasses, put them on my desk, and rubbed my eyes. They were starting to hurt and I knew that I had to get some rest, one way or another. And indeed, as I replaced my glasses, everything went blank.
I don't know how long my mind stayed in its passive state but I guess it was like that for more than half of the lesson because when I started to once again notice my surroundings, the class was almost over. Luckily, I managed to hear and take note of the last part of the lecture, so it wasn't a total loss. 5 minutes later, the class ended and Mrs. Kagariya left, to be replaced by our English teacher, Mrs. Bell. She made us head to the library to do research on the different kinds of phrases.
"Hey, did you guys feel sleepy during Math?" I asked my usual group for researches, Anna, Ruki, Zali, Kimmi, and Patricia. "You wouldn't believe!" Ruki exclaimed, brushing her blond bangs off her forehead. "We were already asleep!" Zali added, looking at me with her crimson eyes. "Heh, lucky you." I said, copying the definition of prepositional phrases from the thick textbook that I found. "I couldn't sleep, I would've been seen.". "You should have sat at the back with us, Yolei." Kimmi told me. "Yeah. Unlike you, we can't be seen in the back." Patricia said.
"Don't tell me all of you guys were sleepy!" Anna said, looking at each of us. "It was an interesting lecture.". "Well, you're the Math whiz around here," I told her, grinning. She smirked at me. "Well, you're the computer expert." She retaliated. "But anyway, I was unusually active during the class and I didn't feel the least bit tired.". "Wow, your attentiveness amazes me, Anna!" Kimmi said sarcastically. Anna glared at her.
As I copied down the definitions, I thought about what happened during Math class. Did I fall asleep? Did I loose consciousness? No, it couldn't be, Mrs. Kagariya would've walked over to me and woke me up. But, I didn't hear part of the lesson, so maybe I did fall asleep. I had to be sure.
"Hey, Anna? Was I asleep during Math?" I asked. Anna looked at me with her emerald eyes. "You didn't look asleep." She replied. "Yeah, Yolei, you were sitting erectly. It didn't even cross my mind that you were feeling sleepy." Zali added. "But I didn't hear any word Mrs. Kagariya said!" I protested. "That's impossible! You took down notes!" Patricia said. I paused. "I did?" I asked. "Yup. We saw your pen moving." Kimmi answered. "Check your notebook.".
I quickly flipped to my Math notebook and turned to the page with today's lesson. Instead of my usually neat handwriting, it looked as if I hadn't picked up a pen in years. In fact, it looked more like scrawl than handwriting. There were also some irrelevant words written just beside some of the examples and definitions. But one particular word caught my eye. In the first example for literal coefficients, instead of writing the value, I had written a one-syllable name: Ken.
My mind whirled. "Ken"? I thought in alarm. How the hell did he get in there? Ken Ichijouji, a very good friend of mine, had somehow wormed his way into my subconscious. Athletic, smart, kind, and extremely handsome, you wouldn't believe that he was once the Digimon Emperor, the digidestined's arch nemesis. I was part of the new team of the Digidestined, selected kids chosen to save the Digiworld. But somehow, Ken turned to the side of good and we all became good friends.
"What's the matter?" Patricia asked, looking at my paled face. I said nothing, but turned the notebook around for them to see. The 5 of them peered at it and burst into soft giggles. "What?" I asked them. They stopped giggling and faced me. "Are you in love with Ken Ichijouji?" Kimmi asked, an amused smile on her face. I felt my face grow hot. "N-no, of course not." I stammered. "C'mon, no need to hide it." Anna said. "You're always with him.". "He's a friend!" I informed them. "Yes, and a very good one by the looks of it," Zali said. She grinned, revealing her braced teeth, and patted my shoulder. "Way to go, Yolei." She said. "Many other girls would kill for a chance with Ken. And you have him in the palm of your hand.". "Just what do you mean by that?" I asked her. "Bottom line, Yolei, Ken wouldn't be hanging out with you unless he liked you." Kimmi explained. I shook my head and closed my notebook. "I don't know how I put up with you guys," I said. "Maybe its because we're right." Patricia said with a grin.
For the rest of the afternoon, I thought about what they had told me. Was Ken just a friend? Or was he really something more? I thought of the feelings I had for him back when we didn't know that he was the Digimon Emperor. I first came across him during a soccer match; his team was playing against Davis'. Back then, I had an infatuation toward him, but those feelings quickly disintegrated when we found out that he was actually our enemy.
Then, he decided to turn to the side of good for the sake of Wormmon. I remembered having mixed feeling about that. One was of relief and another was of happiness. And something else, that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe, just maybe, my friends were right, maybe those romantic feelings I had for him in the past were resurfacing again. I mean, he had always been handsome to me and I guess I never let go of the realization. As the other digidestined and I got to know him better, we found him to be very amiable and friendly. But, was it possible? Could I be in love with Ken Ichijouji?
The same line repeated itself over and over in my head up until the bell signaling the end of classes for the day rang. It was a Friday, so it was movie afternoon for me and the rest of the digidestined girls. I grabbed my books and quickly headed toward my locker where Kari was waiting.
Kari Kamiya was a sweet girl, with brown hair and eyes. She was easily every guy's dream girl, for aside from her looks, she had a good set of values to match. The little sister of Tai Kamiya, the leader of the original digidestined, she was a year younger than I but was one of my closest friends.
Kari grinned and waved as she saw me. "Hi, Yolei!" she called cheerfully. "Hi, Kari!" I replied, grinning back. "So, how was school?" she asked as I turned the combination lock. "Oh, so and so," I answered, shoving my books in and slamming the locker shut. "What about you?". She laughed. "Boring," she said. "Also, I had Davis chasing me around all day, so I can't say that it was good.". I chuckled. Davis Motomiya had met Kari through Tai, since they went to the same soccer camp. The poor guy fell head over heels for her but I knew that Kari's heart belonged to TK Takaishi, another digidestined. TK was the brother of Matt Ishida, one of the most sought after teen heartthrobs in the city. He was also a friend of mine and I knew that he liked Kari as well.
Kari and I made our way out of the crowded school, laughing and talking. The guys usually walked home with us, but since it was a Friday, that meant that it was girls' day and that we were going to see a movie. At the school's entrance, we met the other 2 digidestined girls, Sora Takenouchi and Mimi Tachikawa.
Sora was Tai Kamiya's best friend and from what I knew, his first love. I could see that Sora was in love with him too, only she was too embarrassed to admit it. She had tied her shoulder-length auburn hair in a small ponytail and her crimson eyes were shining merrily.
Everyone in the group knew that Mimi was my role model and you can easily see why. Her honey-colored hair, which she dyed pink with magenta highlights, flowed down her shoulders and her hazel eyes, nearly identical to mine, held excitement and eagerness. She was sincere and pure of heart, and from what I was told, was once a spoiled brat. But, she outgrew that, and turned into the person that she is now. Like Kari, many guys fell for her but she had eyes for only one: Joe Kido, digidestined of Reliability. It was pretty obvious that Joe was also in love with Mimi, but the two refused to tell each other for fear of rejection.
"Hey, Yolei! Hey, Kari!" Sora greeted us with a smile. "Hey, guys!" I replied, smiling back. "Ready to see a movie?". "You bet!" Mimi said cheerfully. She and Sora had already changed out of their green school uniforms and into their normal clothes. We walked to the theater, talking about things and trying to decide which movie we were going to see. That was usually the problem when we went out, we never really could decide on what movie to see until the last second.
"So, which one? Final Fantasy or A Knight's Tale?" Kari asked as we neared the theater. "Final Fantasy!" Sora called out. "A Knight's Tale!" Mimi added. "I think I'll go with A Knight's Tale." I decided. "I go with Final Fantasy." Kari said. The 4 of us burst out laughing. "Great, a tie again." Sora said, shaking her head. "OK, how about Atlantis, then?". "Fine by us!" the rest of us agreed. Sora nodded and went to buy the tickets while Mimi, Kari and I got the food. This was our Friday routine: someone would buy the tickets while the others would buy the food. This week was Sora's turn to get the tickets.
All throughout the film, I thought about the events that happened earlier. It happened to be the only thing on my mind; I hardly paid any attention to the film, except the part when Milo chose to remain in Atlantis with Kida. I smiled. I love happy endings.
After the movie, we headed to the ice cream parlor. Sora had a hot fudge sundae, Mimi had a banana split, Kari had a strawberry sundae, and I had a big chocolate shake. We sat down at a booth, talking while eating the delicious frozen delight in front of us. "Wasn't the movie great?" Kari asked. "Yeah. The effects were fantastic!" Sora agreed. "I was a bit surprised that Yolei wasn't whispering facts about Atlantis in my ear." Mimi teased, winking at me. "I mean, she usually does during those kinds of movies.". I stirred the shake with my straw. "I guess I was just a bit distracted." I said. "Why? Did something happen at school?" Sora asked, putting a spoon-full of sundae into her mouth. "You can say that," I admitted. "Well, you know you can tell us." Kari said, looking straight at me. "That's what friends are for.". I sighed and began to tell them all that had happened.
"OK, so you phased out in class and instead of writing the correct example, you wrote Ken's name?" Mimi asked after I had finished. I nodded, taking a sip of my shake. "Not only that, my friends at school told me that I'm probably in love with him." I added. I looked at them. "How do you know if you're in love?" I asked. "I mean, how does it feel? Does it keep you awake at night? Does it haunt you until your dying day?". "Whoa, calm down, Yolei." Sora said. "I'm not an expert on this myself but I have a pretty good answer to your question.". I looked at her hopefully. "Then, what is love, Sora?" I asked. "Love is when a person means so much to you that you're willing to do anything to be with him," she said, stirring her spoon around in her sundae. "It's when you think about him constantly but without knowing why. When you feel cursed that even though he's your best friend and you're supposed to share all your secrets with him except for the fact that you've fallen in love with him. Believe me, that's how I feel about Tai.".
We all gaped at her. "You like Tai?" Kari asked. Sora smiled and nodded. "Yup." She said. "And I know that the way I feel for him can't be wrong. I have the crest of Love, after all.". "I feel the same as you, Sora." Mimi said, leaning her head on her palm. "When I first met Joe, I can't say that I was pleased. I mean, who would be? He was a whiner, a pessimist who complained a lot and whose philosophy in life was to run away from problems. But as we journeyed through the Digiworld, he changed, probably more rapidly than the surroundings. We all did, and then we split up. He stayed with me and tried to protect me as best he could. He did a good job and it was then that I found out that he was braver than he looked. And I guess I fell in love with him as time went on. I still do love him up to now.".
"TK and I met when you guys came back for a while to look for the 8th child." Kari started. "We were just 8 then and our minds were still filled with that cootie nonsense. Anyway, I went to the Digiworld after Myotismon had been defeated and that's when TK and I became good friends. Since we were the youngest, we wanted to show the older ones that we could take care of ourselves just fine. So, we looked out for each other, almost like a brother and sister. When we came back, we didn't see each other that often anymore since he went to a different school and lived in a different neighborhood. But when he entered our school, I admit that I felt butterflies in my stomach. I couldn't believe that the incredibly handsome new student had been my companion and friend in the Digiworld a few years back. We easily became best friends again and my feelings for him grew. If this is love, it's not so bad.".
"Yeah, except for the fact that you can't tell him that you feel that way," I pointed out. "Mmm. That definitely sucks!" Mimi agreed. "Oh and Yolei, don't even try to deny that you have feelings for Ken.". "We saw it coming already." Kari added. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Well, you guys are right. I do love Ken." I admitted. "I kept denying it, for fear of being ridiculed.". Sora patted my back. "I think that's how we all feel." She said. Mimi and Kari nodded. I grinned. "We're more alike than I thought." I said. They grinned back and we went back to our ice cream.
At that moment, the bell attached to the entrance rang out, signaling the presence of new customers. I looked up from my shake and almost choked when I saw a patch of dark violet entering. Upon closer inspection, I turned out to be Ken, along with Tai, Joe and TK. I felt like all the gastric juices in my stomach had been sucked up into my esophagus. He was here, he was here! What do I do, do I look good enough? These and a million other questions were immediately flashing in my brain.
"Hey, girls! Fancy meeting you here!" Tai greeted us, grinning. "Hey, Tai." Sora replied, trying to hide a blush. "You here on your own?". "No, actually, Joe, TK and Ken are still ordering." He replied. "Mind if we join you?". "Uh, no, not at all." Sora answered. Tai grinned as he sat on an empty seat beside her. "So, you girls watched a movie, right?" he asked. "Yeah. Atlantis." I answered, still keeping my eye on Ken. "It was a great movie.". "I'm sure, otherwise, you girls wouldn't have watched it. Am I right, Sor?" he asked, putting a friendly arm around her shoulders. Sora's face became redder as she nodded.
"Tai, when we said go find a seat, we didn't mean that you would disturb the girls into letting us sit with them." Came Joe's voice, as he and TK came over. "Hi, guys!" Mimi greeted them, smiling. "No, it's no trouble at all, this booth was made for 8 anyway.". "Are you sure?" Joe asked. "I mean, we can sit somewhere else.". "C'mon, Joe, don't be such a spoilsport!" Tai told him. "The ladies said that it was fine if we sat with them and it would be rude to do otherwise.". I noticed that he winked at Sora as he said this. Joe sighed in defeat and sat down beside Mimi while TK took a seat beside Kari.
But Ken was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the ice cream parlor and found him standing at the counter. "Hey, what's Ken still doing there?" I asked, my gaze lingering on his form. "Oh, he insisted that he would wait for our orders." TK replied. "Don't ask me, he just did.". I nodded and looked down at my almost melted shake. Always the gentleman, eh, Ken? I thought, smiling softly. Yup, no doubt about it, I've fallen for him.
"Sorry for the delay, they had to get a new batch of caramel fudge." Ken apologized, coming up to the table. He was carrying a tray with the boys' orders on it. "OK, an extra large caramel fudge sundae for Tai, a chocolate cone for Joe, a root beer float for TK, and a glass of soda for me." Ken dictated, passing each guy his order. "Thanks, Ken!" they said, as they got their ice cream. Ken grinned at them as he sat down on the only vacant seat left: the seat beside me. I blushed as he sat down, only I looked away, so that he wouldn't see my face.
For the next half-hour, the 8 of us sat there in the booth. Sora and Tai were talking about sports, Joe and Mimi had mixed Joe's chocolate cone with what was left of Mimi's banana split and now, they were sharing it, and TK and Kari were talking quietly, in voices just slightly above a whisper. And what about me and Ken? Well, we were just silent. He sipped his soda as I sipped my shake. We avoided making eye contact at all.
But we both raised our eyes at the same time and our eyes met. I felt my heart beat rapidly and the rest of the world just seemed to fade away. He was looking straight into my eyes, his own violet eyes intense. I looked away, blushing as I did so. I looked at him. Now he was blushing! That was rare, since Ken Ichijouji hardly ever showed his feelings to anyone.
Then, I noticed that he had completely finished his soda. There was still enough of my shake, so I had the strangest idea of asking him if he wanted some. And I did ask him, much to his surprise and mine. But when I thought that he was going to say no, he smiled and said, "I'd love some.". I nodded and got him and extra straw, pushing the glass toward him. He smiled gratefully at me and took a sip. After swallowing, he looked at me again and said, "It's very good.". "Yes, that's why I love it." I replied. "You can have the rest if you want.". He shook his head. "No, I'd rather share it with you, Yolei." He said. I felt myself blush. No guy had ever complemented me before, aside from Willis. It made me feel special.
Both of us finished the shake just in time for us to go. As we went out, the group separated into small couples; Tai and Sora, Joe and Mimi, and TK and Kari were holding hands as we walked down the street. I looked at Ken and he looked back at me. Then he smiled and took my hand in his. I was surprised; I didn't think he'd even do such a thing. But I'm glad that he did. And as we headed for home, his fingers intertwined with mine, I thought that even though I had phased out in class, the day didn't turn out to be so bad after all.
******THE END******