July 30, 2009

AN: Hello everyone. I am MissMadi and this is my second posting on this account (the first being a one-shot). So… this is a full-length story that I am in the process of writing (currently on chapter 6) and I finally decided to post it. However, before anyone reads, I have a warning that I think is important.

THIS STORY TAKES PLACE IN AMERICA AND IS VERY AMERICANIZED. I know that a lot of Digimon fans don't like the dubbed version of the show, and if you are one of those people that hate the American names/etc, then this story is not for you. I am not Japanese and this is the only anime I have ever watched. This story is likely as American as you can get, so if that is going to be a problem for you, stop now. I don't want to get reviews from people about how annoyed they are with how American this story is, because I will simply direct you here, where I fairly warned you. I use the American names (Matt, Izzy, Kari, etc), have the setting in America (California, to be exact, as that is where I am from), and make references to only things in America.

Also – thanks to PrincessJaded for beta-ing this for me.

With that being said, read and enjoy!

Odaiba High

Chapter 1

-T.K.-

At the start of every new school year, I get really nervous for inexplicable reasons. My stomach clenches and I feel like I have to pee really badly. I get anxious and I just want to get the first day over with as quickly as I can. First days always suck because you have to make sure you find all your new classes and arrive without being late, while also meandering around for salvation – or, in other words, a familiar face.

This feeling is ten times worse as my mother pulls up to Odaiba High School. See, I'm new this year, and not just because I left junior high for high school. My mom and I used to live in Kyoto, which is two hours north of Odaiba, but since my dad and older brother, Matt, live here, and my mom wants him and I to "bond," she moved us up here. So now, instead of trying to find friends on the first day of high school, I have to make them.

"Now, remember," my mom said, unlocking the doors as she pulled to a stop. "Matt had band practice this morning, but he's taking you tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Be good," she said, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Be good?" I repeated with a snort. "I'm going to school. Are you expecting me to get into some kind of trouble?"

Mom flushed. "No," she said quickly. "I was just – saying, you know. Have a good day."

"I'll try," I said with a sigh. She could tell from my tone that I would much rather have been in Kyoto, starting high school with all the friends that I'd known my whole life. She pursed her lips and said nothing as I slipped out of the car, tossing my backpack over my shoulder.

"Bye!" Mom called out embarrassingly, and I trotted away as quickly as possible.

The student body is relatively small, according to Mom, but when I walked through the two front doors into the main hallway, there is barely enough room to walk. I figured that the first day is always the most crowded. Everyone has to arrive early to get their schedules and find their classes.

I bit my lip and craned my neck over the heads of the tall upperclassmen, in search of the administration office – or at least an indication that would lead me in its direction. I spied a blown up map of the school on the wall near the door and approached it, feeling very much like the tiny, stereotypical freshman portrayed in every high school film ever made. I glanced over the map quickly, noting the admin office in the hallway to the right, and shuffled away.

There was quite a line leading out of the office, which I joined and waited in impatiently. Shouldn't freshmen and new students get first dibs on their class schedules? We're the ones who are most likely going to enter every class late and get hours of detention chocked up on the first day.

I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Matt, but saw none. It was easy to tell each class apart – the freshmen walked around nervously, clinging closely to each other and looking around shiftily, as if making sure no one hurled them into a trash can. The sophomores had their noses held high as they stalked by, thinking that since they were no longer freshmen, they were at the top of ladder. Juniors were loud and obnoxious, glad to finally be a member of the upperclassmen group. Seniors were cool and collected, over high school and their petty social labels.

Before I knew it, I was at the front of the line. I told the secretary my last name, and she retrieved my schedule for me. I stepped out of the way as I examined it. "Homeroom, Drama I, English..." I murmured, glancing over it: seven courses in all, not counting Homeroom, and lunch in the middle. I sighed. The day was going to be long. "Now I just gotta find them all..."

"Are you new here?" a polite voice asked.

I spun around, the voice startling me. A girl with a short, brown bob stood behind me, smiling.

"I'm Kari," she continued.

"Um... T.K.," I said, still trying to recover from the rush of adrenaline that had just burst throughout my body. In addition to randomly being addressed while my mind was elsewhere, I had never known pupils to approach new students willingly. "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm new here," I added hastily.

She nodded, probably already having known the answer. "Do you want me to show you around?" she asked kindly.

My eyebrows shoot up. "Wow," I said dumbly. "Sure. That'd be great."

Beaming, she led me out of the office and into the packed hallway. A paper airplane soared over her head as she said, loudly, to be heard of the dull roar, "Are you a freshman?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Me too," she said. "My brother is a senior here, though, so I know my way around."

I nodded, following her outside with a quirk of my eyebrow. We exited through the same doors I had entered moments earlier, and I breathed in deeply, feeling considerably less claustrophobic. A small handful of other students were outside, sitting on the front lawn, under trees, or on the few tables situated on the grass.

"What are we --" I began, but she cut clear across me.

"We'd never be able to hear each other in there," she informed me, and I nodded in understanding. "Let me see your schedule," she went on. "I can tell you where your classrooms are."

I gratefully handed over the schedule to her, feeling immense gratitude that I had found someone – or been found by someone, I should say – that could help me out. "Thanks a lot."

Kari flashed me a grin. "It's no problem," she said, gazing over my class schedule. "We have a bunch of classes together," she noted.

"Really?" I said, my heart leaping. Someone to talk to!

"Yeah," she said. "Homeroom, second, third, fourth, and fifth period." She looked up and beamed at me. "I can show you where your classes are as the day goes by." She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and checked the time. "We have a few minutes until the bell rings," she said, taking a seat on the cement steps below us.

I sat down next to her, folding up my schedule and slipping it into my pocket.

"Where'd you move here from?" she asked conversationally.

"Kyoto. It's about two hours away," I told her.

Kari nodded. "That's a long way. Did your parents have to move for business or something?"

I shook my head, wondering why on Earth she cared so much, but still feeling slightly appreciated because she did. "My dad and older brother live here, so my mom wanted me to be closer to them."

She turned to face me, and I expected her to make a remark about my parents being divorced. She didn't, however, and instead said, "So your brother goes here? Well, that's good! At least you know someone, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said thoughtfully. Although, truthfully, I'm not really sure how good it is that Matt goes here, too. Okay, don't get me wrong, I love my brother. But we don't really know each other... at all. We only talk through e-mail, and the last time we saw each other in person was about six months ago. It's different when you talk with someone through the internet. You can put off responding for days, and are able to carefully construct what you say so that it doesn't come out awkward or weird. But now that I'm living mere miles away from him, and attending the same school... I'm a little nervous. "I'd rather be home, though," I confessed.

"I can imagine," she said sympathetically. "I've lived here for forever, and I don't know what I'd do if I had to move away so far into my schooling."

The bell rang from inside the building, and the other students who were outside began standing up. Kari and I followed suit, and she smiled at me.

"Well," she said as we approached the front doors, "the beginning of high school."

I sighed. "Let me just get through day one first."

-Tai-

Senior year.

You know, I've been looking forward to my senior year ever since I was in seventh grade. But now that it's here, all I can think about is how I wish it was over. Just nine more excruciating months of high school until graduation, and then I'm free at last.

I strode into my Homeroom class, feeling the eyes of the freshmen on me. They know who I am, of course. I only went down in history for being the only starting freshman on the varsity soccer team, and the youngest captain ever when I was a sophomore.

Sora Takenouchi, my best friend, was already in the room when I entered. Sora and I have been friends since way back in elementary school, when we played on the same soccer team. Sora was a really good player – almost as good as me. But she quit after her freshman year and competes in tennis now.

I sat down in the desk beside hers. She flashed me a quick smile before her eyes returned to the sheet of paper in front of her, which I could only guess was her class schedule. She ran her hand down the paper and scribbled a few notes down at the bottom, detailing the supplies she would need to buy.

"You're making your school shopping list already?" I said incredulously. Most teachers gave us a week to buy all the supplies needed, and I tended to go to the store at eight o' clock Thursday nights.

Sora nodded. "I have tennis lessons every night this week," she said, writing furiously. "I have to go right after school to get everything today or else I won't have time until Saturday."

"Come on, it's senior year," I said, leaning backwards and stretching lazily. "Just relax. This year is supposed to be easy."

She laughed. "It will be easy. Just because I'm not procrastinating on buying a bunch of rulers and highlighters doesn't mean I need to relax."

I held up my hands defensively. "Fine, you win." I reached across and plucked the paper from under her pen. "If you don't mind resting your hand for ten seconds," I said, as she opened her mouth in protest, "I'm going to see what classes we have together."

My eyes flickered back and forth between our respective schedules, quickly comparing. "First, third, fifth, and seventh," I concluded, handing hers back. "Not as good as I'd hoped."

"Well, hey," Sora spoke up, looking over the paper, "we have last period Study Hall together. So we can sleep or ditch that class every day."

I nodded thoughtfully. "True. Nice use of the silver lining theory."

-Davis-

I nearly sprinted into my Homeroom class, my head whipping around wildly in the hopes of locating the one face that I had been searching for all morning. I failed to realize that there are many different Homeroom classrooms, and that it was very possible that Kari Kamiya was not in mine, but the thought had barely drifted through my mind when I found her, sitting in the back.

Talking to a boy.

I skidded over to where she was and took a seat in the desk in front of her, sitting backwards so that I was facing her. "Hi Kari!" I said cheerfully, hoping to avert her attention from the other boy and unto me.

Kari turned and smiled over at me. "Hi, Davis," she greeted. "Did you have a nice summer?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. I spent it mostly playing soccer."

"You and Tai both," she remarked.

"Speaking of," I said casually, "I told Tai to invite you to all of our games." I pouted. "You never came to one!"

Kari blinked. "Uh..." she stammered. "Sorry. I was... busy."

"Every Saturday?" I said dubiously.

"I had a lot going on," she said in a rush. She then motioned to the boy next to her. "Davis, this is T.K. He's new. T.K., Davis."

The boy smiled politely at me, but I narrowed my eyes. "Hello," I said shortly before turning back to Kari. "What classes do we have together?"

We compared and discovered that, aside from Homeroom, we had second, fifth, and seventh period together – much to my great disappointment. I frowned deeply. "Man, this blows."

Kari smirked. "It's not so bad."

I perked up suddenly and exclaimed, "Hey, we have Algebra together! You can tutor me!"

She shook her head. "If only. I'm horrible at math."

The new kid – what was it? T.L.? – shifted in his seat. "I'm pretty good at math," he admitted. "I already passed Algebra, and am taking Geometry this year." Glancing at Kari, he added, "I can help you, if you want."

Her face glowed. "Really? That'd be great!"

I scowled. I knew I didn't like that kid. "I'm good at math, too," I boasted loudly.

Kari and T.S. raised their eyebrows at me. "You just said you were bad at math," said Kari slowly.

T.M. grinned. "I think he's trying to impress you."

Kari laughed at his oh, so funny joke and I felt my face burn up.

This year is gonna suck.

-Matt-

I should've known that Tai Kamiya not being in my Homeroom class was going to end up biting me in the ass. And, alas, I was right – we have first period Physics together. Hopefully the rest of the day doesn't prove as amazingly fortunate for me as it has so far.

"Matt Ishida, you will be partnered up with... Tai Kamiya."

It took a large amount of self-discipline to not let out a very loud groan of frustration. Of course we would be lab partners. Why couldn't I have been paired with Sora Takenouchi, who, even though she's Tai's best friend, has always been really nice to me and is probably the only female at our school who doesn't faint when I look at her, because of my band? Even that nerdy kid, Izzy-something-or-other, who's in all advanced classes and will probably graduate with the senior class despite being a junior, would have sufficed. But, then again, I should have foreseen this. Nothing works out that well for me when it comes to Tai. I must be really tired from having to wake up at five a.m. for band practice this morning.

Tai and I have never gotten along. We didn't really mind each other in elementary school, but ever since we hit junior high, it's just been one conflict after another. Being rival captains in gym, who could make the best volcano model in the seventh grade science fair – they were all very trivial matters, but something about Tai just made me want to beat him. Exempting soccer – I would be a fool to try and challenge him in that – we were constantly competing at sports during gym class, all the way from seventh grade and up until our sophomore year, after which we weren't required to take P.E. any longer. Everything Tai and I did had to be a competition. Even if we were both getting a C in the same class, it became who could get the higher C, the seventy-seven percent instead of the seventy-five percent.

Our breaking point was during sophomore year, when we actually got into a fist fight. Since it took place on school property, we were suspended for two days, and we both realized how ridiculous we were acting. The fight was an unfortunate lapse of judgment, we decided, and after that things cooled off a bit.

"I don't wanna fail this class," sneered Tai as we sat down at our lab station, "so don't mess this up."

Just a bit.

-Sora-

Even though Tai's my best friend, I'm so glad I didn't get him as a lab partner. I don't even know why he's taking Physics this year. He barely scraped through Chemistry and Algebra II, which makes Physics just an F waiting to happen.

Unfortunately for me, I failed Algebra II and have to take it again. But fortunately for me, I aced Chemistry, and Izzy Izumi is my lab partner. He'll be able to help me with everything.

"Just a fair warning," I said as soon as we sat down at our table, "I'm probably going to be really horrible in this class. But," I added quickly, "I'm not going to expect you to do all the work."

Izzy nodded. "Good. You're the first lab partner I've ever had who's said that to me." Smirking, he continued, "Let's just see if you keep up with it."

I laughed. "Trust me, I will."

The lights went out, Mr. Harwood flicked on the overhead projector, and we all began to take notes. I always hate it when we have to do so much work on the first day. The only thing I brought with me was a writing utensil and a hundred-page notebook. Begrudgingly, I took the cap off my pen and started to copy down the notes.

"If you can't read the word, figure it out," a familiar snarl crept its way to my ears. Most of the class looked up to see Matt and Tai glaring at each other.

"Fine," snapped Matt. He leaned back and asked the girl next to him for the word he couldn't decipher.

"Oh, it's 'vector,'" she said, and he nodded.

"Thanks," he spat, giving Tai a dirty look.

I rolled my eyes at the two of them and bent my head down again. Tai and Matt have never been able to get along, which is just beyond me. We all went to camp together the summer before seventh grade, and I actually got to know Matt pretty well. He was really nice – if not a little weary of people. I try to talk to him whenever I can, but with Tai as my best friend, it makes things a little hard.

"Can you shut up?" exploded Matt suddenly, and everyone jumped.

"What?!" Tai cried defensively.

Matt scowled. "Must you read the notes out loud as you write them down?"

I snickered; that was one of the most annoying qualities about Tai. I saw him blush faintly in the darkness as he retorted lamely, "Well, sor-rry!"

I grinned slightly as I, again, went back to my notes. At least Physics would be a little interesting this year.

-Yolei-

Yes! AP Computer Apps! Only the class I've been waiting for all day! Granted, it's only second period, but still. Homeroom and first period went by so slowly.

I ran my hand over the sleek, black keyboard in a sort of dreamy longing. You see, I love computers. Everyone can tell just by looking at me – cheap clothes, really big, round glasses. But who cares? They're right.

I glanced up at the door and my breath hitched. Is it... could it be...?

It is! Izzy Izumi! Only my idol! I can't believe he's in my AP Computer class!

Oh my God... he's heading this way.

He's sitting down next to me!

He sent me a curt nod and smile in greeting before sitting down at his computer, logging on and typing away.

I stared at him, gaping like an imbecile. I can't believe he's sitting next to me. Izzy is famous at our school. Well, at least among the "nerds." He and that Joe Kido. Joe is smart, too, but not like Izzy. Last I heard, Joe is at some amazing college and bound for medical school. Izzy, though, is a genius when it comes to computers – my forte.

Izzy was the Computer Club president back in junior high. My worship for him began in seventh grade.

He looked over at me again, strangely, and I blushed deep magenta; I'd been staring at him the entire time! I spun around on my chair and logged onto my computer, trying to drown in my humiliation.

-Izzy-

This sophomore keeps staring at me. Maybe I'll pick a different seat tomorrow.

-Mimi-

This is HORRIBLE! Second period Algebra II, and NONE of my friends are in this class! I don't recognize anybody.

I already hate this class.

I sighed deeply and whipped out my pink nail polish bottle. I shook it roughly, taking my anger out on it.

"Yes, we have Rudolph!" said the girl next to me, who was just slipping into her seat. I wasn't sure if she was talking to me, but a quick look around confirmed it.

"You took this class last year?" I asked, sitting up straight.

She nodded. "I totally failed. But I had Kaminski, who usually teaches Pre-Calculus, so he tried to teach us way harder stuff than he was supposed to."

I made a face. "Glad I didn't get him."

She laughed. "Yeah, me too. My friend had Rudolph last year, and he did almost nothing in this class. He's a good teacher, apparently, but most days they just sat around doing nothing. And also, Rudolph refuses to fail anyone."

I sat up straighter. "Really!?" I exclaimed, beaming.

"Yup. That's just what I've heard, though."

I sighed dreamily. "I live for easy classes like these."

"Hey, I know you!" the girl cried suddenly. "Mimi, right? You're on the cheerleading squad?"

I giggled and flipped my hair over my shoulder. Even people I don't know know me! "Yup," I said, smiling. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sora."

"Oh, I do know you!" I remarked. "Aren't you the captain of the tennis team?"

She nodded modestly. "Do you play?"

I shook my head. "No, but I have a friend that does, so I've been to some of the matches before. You're really good!"

Sora blushed. "Thanks."

The bell rang, and all the students still milling around quickly took their seats. Mr. Rudolph strode to the front of the room and leaned back against his desk. "Now," he said bluntly, "I could teach you the lesson scheduled for today, on the first day of school, and assign homework that I know you won't do... or," he stepped back and gestured to his desk, piled high with construction paper, streamers, and other decorative items, "we could make this room a little more cheerful looking."

Sora looked over at me and smirked knowingly.

The rest of the class stared at him, dumbfounded, clearly not having heard of his laid back ways.

"I'm not allowed to keep my decorations up during the summer," Mr. Rudolph explained. "Come on, guys, let's spread some cheer! Algebra sucks, so we might as well have a nice-looking classroom, right?"

Half of the class stood up uncertainly and headed toward his desk, not wanting to risk the possibility of no one moving, and therefore forcing Mr. Rudolph to give us a lesson.

Sora and I remained seated. "I'm not in the decorating mood," I said lazily, opening my bottle of nail polish and methodically beginning to paint my nails.

-Matt-

This year is shaping up to be the worst ever. Senior year is supposed to be the best year, but no, not for me.

It's third period, and I have had every class with Tai so far. After Physics we had Government, but luckily we didn't have to sit near each other. On the contrary, we sat as far away as possible from each other.

However, now we're in English and we already have an essay assignment due next Friday. And, better yet, it's a partner essay. We have to interview someone and then write an essay on them. It's incredibly pointless, I'm not looking forward to it, and I just know that Tai will be my partner.

"Matt Ishida and Sora Takenouchi."

Sweet relief swept over me. Three points for the universe, one point for me.

A pair of eyes burned in the back of my head, and I turned to see Tai glaring daggers at me, like I'd somehow planned this partnership between Sora and me. I rolled my eyes obviously and faced the front again.

It's no secret that Tai has a thing for Sora. They've known each other for so long, and been best friends for most of that time. They're always together. Everyone knows that they're one of those "destined to be together" couples. It's expected that in ten years, during our high school reunion, the two will be married and have a perfect life. They haven't dated yet, and they've both had other relationships, but it's only a matter of time.

I rolled my eyes again. Bullshit. There aren't such things as unions like that.

Our seats were rearranged so we were near our partner; another point was awarded to me when Sora and I were placed on the other side of the room from Tai and his partner.

"Hey, Matt," greeted Sora as we sat down. "How was your summer?"

I shrugged. "It was okay. Most of it was spent rehearsing."

Smirking, Sora said, "You didn't get out and go to the beach once?"

I squirmed, not exactly wanting to delve into details of my social life, or lack thereof. "Nah," I said vaguely.

She opened up her notebook to a blank page and clicked her pen a couple times. "So..." she mused. "Where to begin."

"I'm a fairly uninteresting person," I confessed.

She grinned. "Hopefully you're interesting enough to fill three pages."

"I can't make any promises."

Sora yawned widely, covering her mouth with her hand. "You know," she said, "it might be easier if we just hang out together. Instead of, like, asking each other a list of questions. Do you wanna eat lunch together?"

Normally I ate with the guys from my band, but surely I could join Sora for one day. I opened my mouth to respond, but froze. "I would," I said apologetically, "but my younger brother is new here. I was gonna sit with him."

She nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah, that's... yeah. You should do that instead." She clicked her pen a couple more times, staring at her notebook, as an awkward silence befell us. "Your brother... T.K., right?" she said after a few moments.

I nodded. "Yeah. You remember him?"

Sora smiled. "Yeah," she replied. "From camp that one year. He was a cutie."

"I guess," I mumbled. I wasn't exactly looking forward to eating with T.K. The two of us have spent hardly any time together since our parents divorced all those years ago. I was willing to bet my Gibson SG that the meal would be filled with forced greetings and painful small-talk.

And that's when I decided it couldn't hurt to have another person there. "Well, you know," I said suddenly, "I'm sure T.K. wouldn't mind if you ate with us. He liked you when we went to camp."

Sora beamed. "Really? That'd be great! So, I'll see you then?"

-Sora-

During lunch, our school lets students eat wherever they want. There's a lunchroom, but not very many people eat in there, unless it's really cold out or snowing or raining. During the warmer months, most pupils choose to eat outside.

I stood at the top of steps in the front of the school building, clutching my lunch and glancing around. Most of the school was littered about: sitting on the grass, against the wall, on blankets, at tables. I cursed myself for not asking Matt where he would be eating during English, but Tai had practically dragged me out of the room as soon as the bell rang.

"Where are we eating today?" said boy asked cheerfully next to me, holding tight onto his own lunch.

"I'm actually eating with Matt today," I said airily.

Tai's jaw dropped. "You're what?" he demanded. "Why?"

"For our paper."

"Where am I supposed to sit?"

I rolled my eyes. "You can sit with us, you know. Just suck it up."

Tai crossed his arms across his chest defiantly. "Why do you have to sit with him, anyway?" he asked, ignoring my statement. "Can't you just call him or something?"

"No, because we already decided we're eating lunch together," I said firmly.

"The two of you?" he said quickly. "Alone? Together?"

Sighing deeply, I said, "No. We're eating with his brother. And you, if you'd just swallow your pride."

Tai shook his head. "I'm not eating with him."

I scowled at his immaturity. "Whatever," I grumbled irritably. I looked around and spied Matt sitting a ways away, against a tree. "Bye," I said shortly, jogging down the steps and over to where Matt was sitting.

As I neared, he looked up at the sound of my footsteps. "Hey," he greeted.

I sat down on the grass and brushed off my jeans. "T.K. not here yet?"

He shook his head. I craned my neck around, looking toward the front doors of the school, from which Tai had disappeared from. His younger sister, Kari, emerged from inside the school, talking with a freshman boy whom I'd never seen before.

"There's Tai's sister," I commented aloud, and Matt followed my gaze.

"She's with T.K.," he remarked. He sat up straight and waved his arms broadly, calling his brother's name. T.K. and Kari looked around at the sound; when T.K. spotted Matt, he beckoned Kari to follow him and the two walked over to where we were sitting.

"Hi, Matt," said T.K. once they were within ear-shot range; he spoke somewhat stiffly, I noticed.

Averting my attention, my gaze rested upon Kari. She and T.K. were taking their seats, Kari next to me. "Hey," I smiled at her.

She grinned back. "Hi." Glancing around, she questioned, "Where's Tai?"

I sighed slightly. "I don't know. He --"

I was interrupted, however, by a heavy figure thrusting itself in between Matt and me, quite painfully. "Hi, Kari!" Tai said enthusiastically. He smiled at me innocently and said, "Well, since you and Sora are sitting here, I might as well too!"

Matt narrowed his eyes at the boy sitting in very close proximity to him, and scooted himself over a good three feet.

"So, T.K.," began Tai conversationally. He has a tendency to monopolize conversations, which can be irritating at times – but it's also good in the sense that the phrase "awkward conversation" is foreign to him. "You're Matt's brother?" T.K. nodded his response. "That's cool. I remember you from camp."

"Kari!" someone shouted.

A freshman boy who was on Tai's soccer team, and who I always thought could pass as his younger brother, skidded over to our patch of grass. He, in a similar fashion to what Tai did moments earlier, jammed himself in between T.K. and Kari, causing Kari to almost topple into my lap.

"Um... hey, Davis," muttered Kari as she recovered.

Davis beamed at Kari with a sort of puppy-dog longing. "I thought maybe you and I could have a romantic lunch?"

Kari sighed deeply, sounding very tired. "No thanks," she said blandly, "I'd rather stay here."

He shrugged, fumbling for her hand. "They can watch."

She jerked her hand away from him, very annoyed. "No," she said rigidly.

"Sora! Sora!"

To further continue the abuse, Mimi plunked herself down very roughly in between Kari and me. My shoulder rammed into Tai's, and poor Kari nearly fell into Davis. He put his arms around her shoulders but she made a face and pulled away, waving her arms to get him to move over. He did so, bumping hard into T.K. on purpose.

"What is it, Mimi?" I asked, perplexed. I'd barely met her earlier in the day, and hadn't realized that we were already lunch buddies.

Her lower lip trembled as she sat, cross-legged, on the ground, her hands twisted in her lap. "None of my friends have this lunch. Can I sit with you?" The question was asked very unnecessarily, however, as she had already made herself comfortable and was removing the top off of her salad container. She took her first bite and then finally decided to take a look around at the people she was sitting with.

Mimi's eyes fell upon Matt and she gasped loudly. After swallowing, she exclaimed, "Omigosh. You're that guy, from that band."

Matt squirmed uncomfortably, and Tai discreetly rolled his eyes at me. It has always seemed like Matt wasn't fond of the attention he received from his band, particularly from the female population. Tai thinks it's because he's gay; I think it's because he's modest.

"Can I get your autograph?" gushed Mimi.

I smiled apologetically at Matt.

-Davis-

I am so stoked. Kari and I have P.E. and Algebra together. Could this day get any better?

Figuring it would be gentlemanly, I waited near the locker rooms for her. I arrived there extra early, just so I wouldn't miss her. It was obvious Kari wanted me – she just played hard to get. I chuckled to myself. Well, I would get her.

I heard Kari before I saw her – she was laughing at something. When she turned the corner, she was walking with T.J. – again. I narrowed my eyes. Those two sure became fast friends, and I didn't like it one bit.

"Kari!" I shouted, waving at her. She looked up and half-smiled at me.

"Hi, Davis," she said as she and the kid approached me. "I forgot we had this class together."

"Yup," I said smugly, glancing at T.R. "What are you doing here?"

He blinked, slightly taken aback. "We just came from science."

"Y-you two have science together?" I stammered, my heart sinking.

They both nodded. "And I have P.E. next, also." He gestured toward the locker room door.

My face fell. Oh, great. "Sounds fun," I sneered, and Kari frowned at me.

Before she could say anything, though, a rude voice broke out. "Can you move, please?"

A girl wearing very big, round glasses was glaring at me; it seems I'd been blocking the entrance into the girl's locker room. "Don't get your panties worked up," I grumbled at her.

The girl's face flushed red almost instantaneously, as if someone splashed paint on her face. "I know you," she seethed. "Davis Motomiya."

My eyes narrowed into slits as I looked her over. She was sort of familiar.... "Oh, yeah!" I exclaimed suddenly. "Yolei."

When I was in seventh grade, Yolei was in eighth. One time when I was late for soccer practice, I ran into her in the halls and accidentally caused her to drop her science project. She was so angry she tried to get me suspended for it, but it was officially called an accident. She's never forgiven me for it.

"Please don't tell me you're in this class," I whined.

"You're in this class?" she cried. "God should just smite me now."

I grumbled intelligibly as I stepped aside to let her pass. One look around notified me that J.T. and Kari had disappeared into their respective locker rooms during my confrontation with Yolei. Frowning deeply, I realized my perfect fifth period had been forever ruined.

-Tai-

Finally... the end of day one. It's a common agreement amongst every normal student that the first day is by far the longest day of the year – somehow longer than even the last day.

Additionally, this year is proving to be the worst yet. It's very unfortunate that in my senior year, the year that is supposed to own all other years, is the year that I have all but two classes with Matt. I'm only free of his presence during Homeroom and Statistics. And to top it all off, I had to eat lunch with him today. I can't wait until we turn in those stupid essays and Sora can ditch him.

It was even worse during last period Study Hall, when Sora ditched to go to Office Max in order to buy her supplies before tennis tryouts directly after school. I would have gone with her, but I had to stay in order to take Kari home. I was stuck with Matt, who fell asleep, that nerdy kid Izzy who did a slice of his of truckload of homework, and Sora's new cheerleader friend, who luckily knew other people in our class and completely ignored me. I drew some fabulous pictures of soccer balls for the entire forty-five minutes.

As soon as the bell rang, I jumped out of my seat as fast as I could. I strolled out of the front doors, my hands deep in my pockets.

One day down, two hundred and ninety-nine to go.

As I strode toward the parking lot, I spotted Matt's younger brother. T.K., was it? I sped up and jogged over to him. "Hi," I said in greeting.

T.K. looked up and blinked at me. "Oh, hey. Tai, right?"

"Yeah." I looked around. "Where's Kari? You two didn't seem to leave each other's sides all day." I flashed him a grin. "Fast friends."

He nodded. "She really helped me feel welcome."

"That's Kari," I said. "Always reaching out to others."

"Yeah. Well, she had to go back to her Spanish classroom – she left her camera in there."

I laughed. "She must've been freaking out. Kari's quite the photographer." Well, that was the understatement of the century. Kari got her first play camera when she was two and that was the beginning of the end. She has completely worn out four cameras. In addition to her digital one, our dad bought her a really high-tech camera on eBay for her last birthday. It cost just under a thousand dollars, and it's Kari's pride and joy. She brings her digital one everywhere with her because she doesn't want anything to happen to the other one, but almost every afternoon she'll go for a walk and take beautiful pictures of the town. She's able to make something ugly look artistic, like a pair of dirty tennis shoes dangling on a phone line.

"Davis has a pretty big thing for her," commented T.K. "How long has that been going on for?"

I rolled my eyes. "How long has Davis been alive?" I almost couldn't remember a time when Davis wasn't tripping over himself to get Kari's attention. I must've been in seventh grade, and she in fourth, when they met. She had him from the first day they met, even though she so desperately didn't want him. "It really bugs her. And nothing bugs Kari."

"Do you think he'll ever get the hint?" T.K. asked. "I mean, if it's been so long already..."

I sighed and shrugged. "Who knows? But if he doesn't... they graduate in four years." I grinned.

"That's true," said T.K. thoughtfully.

Suddenly, I was struck with a brilliant beyond brilliant idea. Turning to T.K., I said bluntly, "How would you like to flirt with Kari a little bit?"

Clearly he was not expecting me to say that. He stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me. A few people walking behind him stopped short; as they brushed past him, they mumbled something about freshmen. T.K. didn't notice, however, and continued to gape. "What!?"

"Look, Kari's never had a boyfriend," I explained patiently. "She's admired a lot," I scowled, "but it's never been anything. You and Kari are hitting it off really well, and I think if maybe Davis saw you two flirting, he would back off."

T.K. opened and closed his mouth a couple times, trying to find his voice. At last, he managed to utter, "Are you joking?"

"It doesn't have to mean anything!" I said quickly. "Just meaningless flirting."

"No, I mean..." He shook his head. "Do you really think Davis would stop liking her over that?"

I shrugged. "Sure he would. If he saw a potential relationship forming..."

"I-I," stammered T.K., seemingly at a loss for words. "I don't know --"

"Come on, help me out," I said, hoping that my seniority would at least scare him into doing it. "It's not like you're gonna have to go out with her or anything. Just flirt for a few months. Oh, and," I glanced around quickly to make sure she was nowhere near us, and took a step closer to him, "could you not mention this to her? I don't want her to get the wrong idea or anything."

Swallowing painfully, T.K. said, "O-okay."

Grinning, I bopped him on the arm in a friendly manner. "Thanks, man. I owe you." Without waiting for a reply, I turned on my heel and jogged over to my car.

-T.K.-

Well... this year is going to be interesting.

AN: What did you think? Good? Bad? Ugly?