Ashamed of the Truth
Sora looked out the window. It was raining hard; it had been raining hard for the past week. Her mom was in the kitchen, happily humming a song, what song it was, Sora didn't know. She didn't really care; she had too much in her mind. She was 17 now, and still, things were always bothering her. She was glad though that every one of the digi-destined was still her friend. But sometimes, she was too busy with helping her mother to really hang out with them. She sighed and closed her eyes, just listening to the pitter-patter of the rain against the window pane.
"Sora, is it still raining outside?" Her mother asked her from the kitchen.
"Yeah," was all she said in response. She didn't open her eyes...she was so tired. Sleep didn't come easily to her these days, and it probably wouldn't for a while.
"Sora, are you all right?" Her mother suddenly asked her, appearing by her side. Sora's eyes fluttered open. And she looked at her mother.
"I'm just tired, mom." She smiled, hoping it would get her off the hook. But it didn't work this time.
"You've been giving me that smile every time I ask you if you're ok. What's wrong, talk to me, Sora..." Her mother pleaded to her, sitting down.
"Nothing, mom. I'm going to do my homework." She stood up, but her mother grabbed her hand.
"Sora, please. What's going on? I'm scared, I don't know what's going on with you, and it scares me."
"I'm fine, nothing's wrong." Sora coldly told her. Her mother opened her mouth to protest, but then she closed it once again. Knowing full well that it wouldn't make her daughter talk.
___
The Next Day:
"Hey, Kari!" Kari looked behind her and saw TK. She smiled and waved.
"Hey, TK. Beautiful morning huh?"
"It sure is, I thought it'd be raining again."
"I guess the weather decided to give us a break."
"Yeah…um listen, I've been meaning to ask you this, but…have you talked to Sora lately?"
"No, why?"
"I saw her yesterday, and I said hi and everything, but she just walked past me like I wasn't even there."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...she completely ignored me. That's not like her, and I'm worried."
"She has been distant for a while hasn't she?" Kari said. She had thought that there was something going on, she didn't really want to believe it but there was.
"What does Tai say?" TK asked.
"He really hasn't brought up her name, all his been talking about is soccer lately."
"Well, we've got that meeting tomorrow, we'll talk to her. You backing me up?"
"Yeah, definitely. I'm worried about her, I hope she's all right."
"Yeah, me too. It's time to be there for her, like she's been there for us."
"Hmm..." Kari nodded.
____
"Sora, hey!" Mimi said, running up to her friend. "I've been calling your name and you didn't answer. Hmm…what's wrong?" Mimi asked, looking at her friend. There were signs of tears in Sora's eyes.
"Nothing," Sora sniffed, closing her eyes to hide the tears. Mimi walked up in front of Sora and held her friend by the shoulders.
"Sora…"
"I'm fine," Sora said, her voice cracking up.
"Sora…come on, tell me what's wrong."
"I'm fine,"
"No, your clearly not and I'm worried. What's wrong?"
"I said I'm FINE! Now let me go!" Sora yelled. She side-swept her friend and started running towards school. Mimi stared after her friend, astonished about the outburst.
"SORA!!" she yelled after her. She started running as well, in hopes that she could catch up.
____
The Meeting:
"Is everybody here?" Tai asked, looking around him.
"Sora's not here yet," Yolei said. And the others nodded their head.
"What? Well, where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Does anybody know?" Tai asked.
"I'll go call her at her house." Kari volunteered.
"I'll come with you," TK volunteered.
"Me too." Davis said, just after TK said he would. Kari didn't wait for the two of them, she just ran to a telephone. She quickly dialed Sora's number and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hello?" she finally heard a voice say, after 4 rings.
"Sora?"
"Speaking,"
"Sora, this is Kari. Where are you? I mean, I know your home but…remember the meeting?"
"Meeting…Oh, I forgot…umm…I'll be there in a few minutes." Kari was surprised that Sora had forgotten. She was always there on time.
"What did she say?" Davis asked.
"She'll be here in a few minutes, she um…was looking for something…" Kari said, not wanting to actually admit that Sora had forgotten.
"You guys go back, I'll wait for her here."
"I'll stay with you," Davis offered.
"No, Davis. I have to talk to Sora about something."
"That's ok, I…"
"DAVIS!"
"Ok, I'll go. Come on TG…"
"TK…"
"Whatever! Just let's go!"
"Gee, you'd think you would at least know how to say two letters…" TK mumbled. Kari looked out of the street, hoping to spot Sora any minute. Five minutes passed and still there was no Sora. Then after 10 minutes, she finally spotted her.
"Sorry I'm late, Kari. My mom wouldn't let me go." Sora lied. In actually truth, she was just walking so slow that a three-minute walk would turn into 10.
"Sora, I'm worried about you." Kari told her, as they walked to the meeting place.
"Why, is there something wrong?" Sora asked, pretending to be confused.
"I don't know, you tell me."
"Kari, I'm fine. I've just been tired lately, I can't seem to sleep."
"Well, why? There's got to be a reason, Sora. Please, I want to know."
"I'm fine, Kari." Kari didn't want to press; she didn't want to hurt Sora more if she was hurt. Finally they arrived, and the rest of them were glad that nothing tragic had happened to the two.
"Finally, where have you two been?" Yolei asked.
"Sora's mom wouldn't let Sora go, so…"
"Oh,"
"Is that true, Sora?" Mimi asked, hoping to finally get the truth out. She was so worried about her friend.
"Yeah, why?"
"Listen, its not that I think you're lying or anything but…Sora, there's something going on. And I would like to know what it is. I don't like seeing you like this, so depressed, and sad. I wan to be able to help, because I certainly won't just stand there and watch you cry."
"What are you talking about, Mimi? What's going on here?" Tai asked, looking from one face to the other.
"You mean you haven't seen anything? You seriously are dense, Tai." Matt said, looking at Sora.
"What!? Why you…"
"Stop it, Tai! For once I agree with Matt. You seem to be only one of us who hasn't noticed a nything."
"I haven't noticed anything," Davis said, looking more confused than anyone else.
"Sora, what's going on?" Tai asked.
"Nothing, everyone thinks that there's something wrong with me. Is it such a crime to act this way?"
"It is if you need help!" Mimi said.
"Well, I don't. I can handle myself!"
"But we're a group, we can't just watch while you're like this. And most of all, we're your friends. We're worried about you." Kari said, coming up behind her. Sora looked around. Everyone was surrounding her, each face showing worry. She felt trapped and she wanted to get out.
"Look, I'm all right! There's nothing wrong with me!" She yelled closing her eyes to stop the tears.
"Sora, if there's something wrong, you have to let you help you." Tai said.
"Yeah, we can't just watch you." Matt said.
"I agree, if there's something wrong, you have to tell us." Izzy chimed in.
"What's wrong?" Yolei asked.
"Sora, please." Mimi said.
"Sora…talk to us." Kari said.
"Sora…"
"Sora…"
"Sora…"
"Sora…" The girl covered her ears, the tears falling even with her eyes close. She dropped down on her knees and screamed. Kari, Mimi and everyone else ran to support her.
"It was so dark, I was late. Mom was going to be mad I knew. I started running, and I wanted to take a shortcut, because I didn't want to get in trouble. It was raining hard, and my clothes were soaking wet. I went into this alley, hoping I was going the right way, when…when…"
"Go on." Kari said.
"When a man out of nowhere appeared in front of me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down. I was struggling to get back up but he grabbed both of my arms and dragged me to a…a building, or something. I tried to hit him, tried to make him let go. But he just wouldn't. I screamed for help, but no one came. The rain was getting in my eyes, and I couldn't see. I kicked, and I punched, but he let me, until I was so tired I couldn't kick or punch anymore. And he…he grabbed my clothes and he started to…"
"Oh, Sora…" Mimi said, hugging her friend close. Everyone stared, astonished, and feeling like crap. Why did this happen? Kari stared at the crumpled body that Mimi dearly held close to her. And she looked around, finding everyone crying like her. She felt Sora's pain, and saw her screaming for help.
"I was so scared, I didn't know what to do. So I gave up and I let him. He left me there, and I lay there so quiet. I didn't understand what just happened, why it happened to me. And still, no one came to pick me up, no one was there but the darkness around me."
"Oh Sora…" was all everyone said.
The End
Ahh, I know, the ending isn't very good probably. Anyway, I know its short, but I wanted it to be brief story. Hope you all liked it, but if not, tell me what's wrong with it.
