Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon
A/N: What do you think?
Chapter 4
"Let's do it!" Daisuke shouted.
And we were off, running down the huge grassy area. Little Yukio tagged me first. "Eriko is it!" He called and ran in a different direction.
I ran for the first person closest to me who happened to be Josh, but he was quick. Then, I tagged Mel. "Mel is it!" I shouted.
As I expected, Mel ran straight for Aika. I watched as his hands kind of went around her waist and swung her a bit to stop her. Just fantastic. He loves her. Maybe I should just be happy for him. It was the least I could do. In fact, I can do better than that. Yeah! I can help him get her! That's what I'll do for my good friend, Mel!
()()
I stood at the cafeteria table, waiting for Mel to come. Yes, I was standing. There were no chairs at my table and Mel went to ask for some. Something told me that it was easier said than done for him. He was going up to people nervously, almost afraid to ask. Every time ended the same way: leaving empty handed. Eventually though, he came back with Josh, Kari's son. He was carrying three chairs. My eyes widened at the bulging biceps he flexed.
"Hi." He greeted before putting the chairs down.
"Thanks, Josh." Mel and I said.
"No problem." He waved before leaving.
After getting situated, I sat down and continued eating. The food wasn't so bland today. I carefully looked over at Mel who was enjoying his meal. After a sip of milk, I ended the silence. "I know your secret."
Mel gulped his milk down before it came out. "What? What secret?"
I smiled with a wink. "You know what I mean."
He leaned closer to me. "Who told you?" He whispered.
I shrugged and shook my head. "No one told me."
He sighed. "I didn't want anyone to find out just yet."
"Well..." I said, scooting my chair closer to his. "I can help you."
"You can?" He asked pretty confused.
I nodded. "Of course. I mean, Aika's a beautiful girl and you two would look great together."
He hesitated before he smiled. "You think so?"
"I know so! Trust me."
He nodded. "I will. Now how do I start?"
I thought for a second. "Well, we can start by how you feel about yourself."
He looked at himself then back at me. "What do you mean?"
"I mean your self-confidence. Do you have a lot or a little?"
He thought. "You're right. I lack a lot of confidence. Maybe I should just take some of yours!" He joked.
I smiled with him. "If I could, I would."
"Anyway, how do I gain something as great as self-confidence?"
"That is up to you. Do you think you're capable of it?" He shrugged. "We have a lot of work to do. Come by my place after school."
"Okay." He said full of gusto.
()()
"Dad, Mel is coming over."
Dad turned to me with confusion on his face. He was always pretty quiet.
"He's just coming over to hang out and Mom said it was okay."
Dad stared for a moment before saying "Okay."
Upamon jumped out of nowhere into my arms. "Yay! Company!" He cheered.
I nodded. "Mel and Bukamon are coming over."
"Yay!" He cheered again, jumping again like his hyper self. "When? When? When?"
"A few minutes." I told him as I went into my room. "He had to get a few things."
"What kind of things? Is this a date."
I shook my head. "Nope. But we'll help him get one."
Upamon jumped some more for no reason in particular. Then he nearly yelled "Fun!"
"Shh!" Dad and I hushed.
"Sorry." Upamon whispered.
About half an hour later, he finally showed up. Mel and Bukamon stood at the front door with a plate of brownies. "Sorry I'm late. Mom wanted me to give you guys these."
"Thank you, Mel." Cody said.
"I bet they don't hold a candle to Grandma's brownies!" Upamon said.
"Upamon!" I scolded. "Don't say that! They're probably better."
Mel took his shoes off and followed me into my room. "You have a nice bedroom." He told me.
"Thank you." I smiled. "Please, sit down." He sat down on my bed next to me. "So let's get started."
"Okay."
"So why don't you really talk to a girl you find attractive?" Upamon hopped on my lap as I tried my best to hold him still.
"I do." He said, petting Bukamon. "I talk to Aika every day but I can never ask a girl out. My tongue gets too tied." He paused, looking down at his Digimon. "Do you really think Aika and I would look good together? I mean, she's great and all but she likes that other guy."
"Who?"
"Daisuke Motomiya."
I gasped. "The high school boy?" He nodded. "Okay, you have some stiff competition. But you have heart and you can have anyone."
He smiled. "You think so? Anyone?"
I nodded. "Yep! And I'll help you!" Now how do I do that if I never had a boyfriend? Time to rely on instincts! "What kind of things is she in to?" He shrugged. "What does she do for fun?" He shrugged again. "Well, what do two talk about?"
"Just current stuff. Nothing special."
I sighed. "Okay. Next thing is to talk to her. You know, give her compliments. Tell her how pretty she is."
Mel's eyes widened like I told him to propose. "I can't do that!"
"I know it might be scary but you have to face your fear somehow."
He nodded. "Okay. I'll do it tomorrow at lunch."
"Great! And I'll be there to back you up."
"Great. But in the meantime, let's hang out." He stood up and took a deep breath. "It's a nice day out."
I can agree. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and there wasn't much wind. "Okay."
()()
"It's kind of amazing how our dads know each other so well." Mel told me. "They're both linked by reliability."
"Like you and me." Some of the dead leaves fell as we walked passed the trees.
"You think?"
I nodded. "You're really reliable. You saved my life, remember?"
"And I can always count on you when I need you." He said. "I think I'm really going to do it tomorrow."
"That's great." I bit my lip, knowing my mission might be accomplished but I was still kind of jealous. But at least my good deed will be rewarded later on. "Just be confident. You have to really want it."
"Is there a guy you like?"
I blushed. "Not really."
"Then how come you're blushing?" Bukamon asked.
"No reason." I lied.
"Humans are crazy." Upamon said.
"But if there was a guy for me, I'll let you know." I could've sworn Mel was chasing after me. That's why we didn't talk as much. But if I don't like him back, why should I care if he gets a girlfriend first? I shouldn't and I don't!
"Eriko..."
I looked up at Mel. "Huh...?"
"You look like you were thinking pretty hard."
I cracked a small smile that kept threatening to leave, so my mouth just kind of quivered. "I'm just...happy for you." I turned away. "I'll see you tomorrow."
()()
Here we are. Show time.
I stood in front of the podium before my fellow classmates. They watched me as I sifted through my note cards. I didn't really need them, but they were there just in case. "I would like to bring to your attention that the food in the cafeteria should remain the same."
"And I would like to bring to your attention that the food in the cafeteria should not remain the same." Lu interrupted. "Nothing tastes good and we should have real burgers and fries for lunch."
"Yes, we should if we want to be too big to fit in our desks." I said. "And I have brought evidence that greasy foods such as burgers and pizza can lead to breakouts in the face. Our class is heading closer to puberty so this should be a huge concern for us."
"But there are facial soaps that can help with that problem."
"But they aren't one hundred percent affective or they'll stop buying their product. Back on topic, being one grade level away from middle school, our nutrition is very important. Burgers and fries every day for lunch can cause various problems including weight and our heart health. A lot of us don't exercise much outside of P.E. anymore so this isn't a smart idea. Whereas, having the balanced lunch the cafeteria provides for us now fits all the essential food groups and has plenty of nutrients."
"That is all great, but if the students don't like the food, what's the point?" Lu stepped around her podium towards the audience. "After all of the tiring homework, the hard classes, and tough activities, students look forward to one thing: lunch. A place where they can see their friends and eat good food. But we are faced with disgusting mushy stuff they think is good. Without that goodness, what do we have to look forward to?" She turned to me. "Eriko?"
I clenched my teeth and fists as I made my way to her. "We have the weekend, Lu. The cafeteria food isn't here to taste good. It is given to us so we won't starve until we get home. And people seem to like it anyway. They like nutrition and nice skin and hair unlike some others."
Lu stared at me with cold eyes and I just stared back. Then, she slapped me just in time for the bell to ring. It was a hard slap, and she created it with such little effort. However, I shook it off and grabbed my stuff. I probably had it coming anyway.
"You think my hair is stupid?" She asked me.
"I never said that."
"You didn't have to." She snapped. "I don't want to hear you insult me in front of the class again or…"
"Or what?" Tori stepped in. "If you want to get to Eriko, you'll have to get through me. And you don't want to go through me!"
"Tori, no one is going through anyone." I told her, calming my friend down a bit. "Let's just go."
"Right." Tori said. "I can't wait to pass that math test! What do you have next?"
"Lunch, believe it or not!" I laughed. "I'll see you later."
"Bye, Eriko!" She waved.
As soon as I turned back around, I bumped into another student. "Oh, sorry." It was Hitomi Izumi again.
"No, I'm sorry."
"See you around." She nervously continued to the cafeteria. Or the computer lab. She sometimes hid away there. She's so weird.
Anyway, when I got to our usual table, Mel was a mess. He kept trembling a bit, but took a deep breath and was okay again. I sat next to him. "There she is." I pointed to Aika. "Are you ready?"
"I can't talk to Aika."
"What? Why not?" I know he was a gentle creature, but I was ready to explode. "After all of that work, you're just going to give up?" He didn't say anything. "I thought you said you were going to do it."
"I know but…"
"You're right. We haven't gone through much, but you can do it." I stood up and in front of him. "Mel, you are capable of doing it. I know because I'm your friend." I stopped to think. "I know. Just do something bold that will get her attention. I know you can do it."
"What kind of bold thing should I do?"
"I don't know. You think of it."
He thought.
"But you better do it soon before Aika gets a boyfriend."
And he did. He acted and pure instinct and stood up. But he didn't look at her just yet. Mel charged at me instead and planted a kiss on my lips. Yes, kissed me!
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