Tai was out of breath when he got home. He found Kari sitting in the couch watching TV. She looked up at the sound of the door and Tai's wheezing.
"Hey Tai. So how did it go?" Kari asked.
"Not…so…good," Tai said in between breaths.
"What happened?"
"It's a long story. I'd rather not talk about it." Tai went to his room to rest.
Meanwhile at Sora's house…
"Stupid Tai," Sora said as she put on her bathrobe. "That jerk." Sora walked in the kitchen. Her mom was leaning on the counter reading a magazine. She looked up at Sora. "Hi honey. Did you talk to Tai?"
"Um, yea," Sora blushed. She couldn't tell her mom what just happened.
"How come you're all red?"
Sora smiled nervously. "Oh, nothing." Stupid Tai.
The next day at Tai's house…
Tai put his fork down into the food, but didn't dare eat. Instead, he turned the fork around and around and around. He didn't feel like eating after what happened yesterday. And especially since the food was Tai's mother's own original recipe: Sardine and Spinach Omelet. Yum.
"Tai, what's wrong? You aren't eating anything." Tai's mother asked.
"Sorry mom. I'm just not hungry right now," Tai replied. He better get out fast or else his mom might try and make something else for him to eat.
"You know what? I'll make my special Radish Surprise just for you!" Mrs. Kamiya was getting excited. She never made it before-nor heard of it-but she was sure willing to try.
"No, really mom. It's ok," Tai said. Come on Tai. Think of something fast. "Anyway, I really wanted to go out for a walk," Tai added quickly.
"Ok then. Be back soon," Mrs. Kamiya felt disappointed. She really wanted to try it.
Smooth move Tai, he thought to himself, you the man. He got up and headed out the door.
Just then, Kari walked in the kitchen.
"Morning Kari," Mrs. Kamiya beamed. "Want to try my Radish Surprise?"
Tai walked to the park. He stopped on the spot where he crashed into Lora. She was really nice, Tai thought to himself and smiled. Wait, what am I thinking? I like Sora. Then Tai frowned. He hoped Sora wasn't still mad at him. It's not like he walked in on her on purpose. But he couldn't take his eyes off her. It was just like when he accidentally walked in on Mimi that one time in the Digital World. (What a lucky guy, huh?)
He walked around the park for a few minutes. It was nice and sunny. The birds were singing and all around him people were having fun. Playing tag. Having picnics. Going on the swings.
Tai sat on a nearby bench. There was a girl who was also sitting on the bench and reading a book. She looked really familiar. It was Lora.
"Hey Lora," Tai smiled.
Lora looked up from her book. "Oh, hi Tai." She smiled back. "What are you doing here?"
"I just decided to take a walk."
"Is there something wrong?" Lora asked.
"No, nothing's wrong," Tai smiled nervously.
"I know something's wrong," Lora insisted.
"Well," Tai said looking at the ground. "There kind of is."
"You can tell me."
Was Tai going to take the chance? He hasn't told anyone yet. Not even his sister. And he hasn't known Lora for a long time. But he decided to take the chance. What could he lose?
"Well, there's this girl…" Tai began.
"Yes…?" Lora encouraged.
"I really like this girl. I liked this girl for a long time, but I never had the guts to tell her. And finally when I was about to tell her…something happens and I don't know if she'll like me back." Ok, well Tai took a lot of details out, but to put it vaguely (extremely vaguely) that's what happened.
"You know…" Lora said softly. "There are other fish in the sea…" She put her hand over Tai's hand and looked deeply into his eyes.
Tai wanted so much to lose himself in those beautiful blue-green eyes of hers. And he did. He closed his eyes and slowly, moved his lips closer to hers. He could feel the warmth from her face getting close...
"Tai Kamiya!" Someone shouted.
Oh no, Tai thought and stopped. Tai's lips barely touching Lora's. Please no…
He opened his eyes and turned around.
It was Sora.
