Hey!
^-^ Last chapter folks!! I hope it's finally up to snuff. And I think out of
all of the chapters this is the most mish-mashed of old and new. Anyway, thanks
for sticking it out with me!!
*****
"Izzy, honey, wake up…"
I
grunt softly and then groggily sit up. My mom's sitting on the edge of the bed
looking at me with a small half-smile. I blink at her for a moment, and then
bring my hands up to my eyes to rub them.
They're
dry and scratchy and they have those
crusty things in the corners from the tears that dried there. The last time I cried
myself to sleep was when I was seven and I accidentally overheard my parents
talk about my adoption. I'm almost seventeen, and even if no one witnessed it,
this is still humiliating.
"Honey,
there's someone at the door for you." My mom says as she reaches over and
gently brushes my bleach blonde bangs off my forehead. I give her a questioning
sideways glance in return; she hasn't done something like that since I was
little. "We'll talk about that later, but for now, just know that
I'm okay with it." She ruffles my hair again as I swallow hard and try to
nod.
"Who's
at the door?"
She
looks at me for a second and then gives me her best 'I'm the mother and I love
you but I'm in charge' look. "Joe, and he said he
really needs to talk to you. I figured since he was leaving to go back to
Reluctantly,
I crawl out of bed. I don't want to talk to them. Not even Joe.
Friendliness because of a misguided sense of guilt is no better than
friendliness out of bored pity. But I know that sooner or later I'm going to
have to say something. I can't avoid them forever. Oh, I know I could try, and
right now the thought has a great deal of appeal, but the digidestined
are nothing if not tenacious.
And
knowing Joe, he probably feels somewhat responsible for my abrupt departure
from the restaurant. So I'll go let him off the proverbial hook, then I'll
crawl back in bed and dream of moving to a deserted plot of land in
As
slowly as I can, I make my way to the front door. Joe's standing in the foyer
and he turns to look at me expectantly as I come closer. Of course, the first
thing I want to do when his eyes meet mine, is run
back to my room, dive under my covers and never come back out again. It's
childish, and I know it, so I make myself move forward.
"Hi Joe." I'm not at all surprised to
hear that my voice is quiet and subdued. I suppose I ought to give myself some
credit, at least I'm not spouting meaningless technical jargon to try and cover
my nervousness.
"Hey
Izzy," he shifts a bit self consciously on his
feet, "can I talk to you outside for a moment?"
"Sure."
I sound about as an enthusiastic as someone being lead to an execution block. I
follow him out, shutting the door behind me to keep the AC inside and the
mosquitoes and bugs outside in the hot, humid night air. "So what did you
want to talk...mghrgh!"
I
catch a glimpse of Joe shaking his head in exasperation before the two bodies
that hurled themselves at me end up taking me all the way down to the ground
with them. "What the hell!?" I manage to
snarl out right before one of the bodies shoves something of a decidedly
cloth-like nature into my mouth. I finally get a good look at who's accosting
me, and I'm amazed to hear myself give a muffled growl.
"Dude,
Izzy, quit struggling. This is for your own
good."
Glaring
at Tai's frustrated face, I can feel my own anger rising. What right does he
have to come here? Is he just trying to get even? I mean,
what a twist of fate, right? The nerd telling the popular jock to get lost… Is
he just here because of wounded pride?
And since he's been stupid enough to let go of my
legs for a second in order to tell me to quit struggling, I jerk out and kick
him as hard as I can in the shin. His painful yelp both surprises me and makes me
feel a little bit better. At least I've gotten some of my anger and frustration
across. And even though it isn't at all the same, it feels good to hurt him
like he's hurt me.
Not
that he cares.
Joe
shows up beside me with rope, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. What the
hell do they think they're doing? Matt answers that unspoken question in short
order as he starts tying my wrists together behind my back. Tai moves in front of
me for a moment and he gives me that same shitty ass grin he had on his face
when he dared me to kiss him. This is just another fucking game to him, isn't
it? A million biting remarks come to mind, but since they've gagged me, the
words only come out as growled mumbles.
"Okay,
let's get him to the car." Matt states pleasantly as he and Tai wrestle me
up onto my feet. A couple of days ago, I would have laughed this off and
willingly went along with them and whatever crazy idea that they'd come up with.
It wouldn't have been a big deal at all. But that was back when I was still
under the mistaken impression that I was an integral part of their group and
not just some kind of dense parasite.
So
of course I struggle. I put up as much of a fight as I possibly can with my
mouth gagged and my hands tied. But there is the small detail that both Matt
and Tai are almost two years older than I am, and at our age it does
make a difference. That and I've always been a bit on
the short and scrawny side. I know I don't stand much of a chance against them,
which only infuriates me more.
I
try to kick Tai again, earning a grin from Matt and a glare from Tai. Joe's
left the rest of this bizarre kidnapping to them, and I can see him heading
back to the house. The logical assumption is that he's gone to tell my mother
that they're going out for a pleasant ride with me. Hence the lovely gag in my
mouth. I'd be screaming bloody murder if I could.
I
manage to get another good kick in at Tai as he and Matt shove me into the back
seat of Tai's
I
give Matt a glare for good measure as the blonde crawls in beside me. Seconds
later, Joe hops into the passenger seat, and Tai guns the accelerator.
Tai,
being Tai, flips the radio on, and the music blares to the point that I can see
Joe's mouth moving, but I can't hear a blasted thing he's saying.
Fine. I didn't want to know, anyway.
Okay,
so that's a lie. I do want to know. I want to know what they're talking about,
what they're planning, and I'd give up my own computer if I could just figure
out what they were thinking. But since I'm not going to find out those
things anytime in the near future, my brain decides to invent what they could
be saying. It seems ridiculous at first, but the more I think about it and
imagine it, the worse the words they could be saying get.
Tai:
Why'd we have to go to all the trouble of bringing him along in the first
place?
Joe:
C'mon, he's not that bad. Besides, we owe it to him. He is one of
the digidestined.
Tai:
But it's such a drag. All he ever talks about are these stupid theories that no
one else gets but him. That and he cramps our style.
Joe:
Be nice, Tai. He doesn't have any other friends. It won't kill us to take him
along with us.
Managing
a ragged breath through what appears to be a handkerchief; I make myself look
away from them. I hate my imagination. I hate the fact that I can think these
things, and believe that they might be true. And I hate the idea that they
probably are.
"What's
your deal, Izzy?" Matt asks as he leans over to
talk in my ear, since communication any other way would involve shouting. I
mumble something along the lines of 'fuck you' into the handkerchief, but it
all comes out a garbled mess. He must have gotten the gist though, because I
can see the frown form on his face and he's giving me one of those
condescending half-glares that he's so good at.
I
don't know what he's so pissed off about. He's not the one tied up. He's not
the odd one out. He's never had a crush on someone who didn't return it.
That
last thought sticks in my head and refuses to give up. Matt could be the most
disgusting pig on the planet personality-wise, and girls and guys would still
throw themselves at him. And since he really isn't a pig personality-wise,
since he is such a great guy and a good friend, people all but flock to him.
Mimi's
comment about Matt and Tai's 'chemistry' is still running through my head
though, so he's not exactly what I would call my favorite person at the moment.
I scowl at him as I picture him roasting in a pot with pygmies dancing around
it. Grimacing, I try to move away when he
leans over to me again. Can't he take a hint? I don't want to listen to him
right now.
"You're
killin' us here. We want to help you out and we want
to be close to you, but you just shove everyone away, don't you? I mean, you
never let any of us get close. Not even Tai, and he's
your best friend. I know you don't think I understand, but I really do. You
have to meet us half way. We can't do all the work for you. I mean, part of
being friends is meeting the other person halfway and not ditching them at a
restaurant with no explanation. C'mon…"
"What
are you guys doing back there?" The music snaps off right before Tai asks,
and I can see him dividing his attention between the road and the rearview
mirror.
"We're
getting nice and cozy, aren't we, Izzy?" Okay,
like I could respond to that with a gag in my mouth. But even if I weren't
gagged, I don't think I'd have been capable of saying anything as Matt
unbuckles his seat belt and all but crawls into my lap as he strokes my hair. I
see Tai's eyes dart up to the mirror, and the car makes a wild swerve as he
gets a look at us.
"Tai! Pay attention to the road. Matt, knock it the hell off." Joe
orders as he grabs the steering wheel to steady it. Reluctantly, Tai turns his
eyes back to the road, and we all let out a sigh of relief. With all the
strength I have in my puny muscles, I shove Matt off of me. I'm only about
half-successful, and that's with Matt's attention being on Tai and not me. Yay.
"What's
the matter Tai? Jealous?" Matt asks as he
snuggles up against me again. Oh fuck! So that's why they're dragging me
along, huh? Isn't it just a scream how having me in the car can be an indirect
way to tease Tai. I'm here, once again, for my entertainment value.
"Shut
up, Matt!" Tai snarls.
"You
aren't helping, Matt." Joe adds as he twists around to get a better look at
us. He sends me a kind of apologetic glance, and I can feel the heat rising to
my cheeks. Tai flips up the radio again as Matt slouches back and frowns.
"I
was, too." He mumbles before turning back to me. He leans over, and
considering the fact that I really don't want him plastering himself against me
again as a way to provoke Tai, I lean away. "Oh c'mon Izzy,
I was just trying to get Tai to loosen up. You know how stubborn he can
be." If that was supposed to have reassured me, it's failed miserably.
He
takes one look at my faces, and cracks a smile. "Man, you looked so
freaked." I glare at him. "Seriously, I really was trying to help.
Tai's not one to be real open about stuff, you know? He needs a push every now
and then. And while you're usually the one to do the pushing, you can't do it
this time."
At
this point, if I weren't chewing down on a handkerchief, I'd ask him what in
the hell he's babbling about, but since I'm gagged, I just sit there silent.
"When
Tai called me and Joe earlier and we talked about this, he said that you were
feeling like you weren't a part of the group anymore." He says it solemnly
as he waits for some kind of reaction on my part. I stare back at him warily.
What's he getting at? "No matter how things work out, whether you guys end
up together or not, we will always be your friends, Izzy.
You will always be a part of the digidestined, and
you will always be a part of the gang, you know. I mean, seriously Izzy, you don't live through what we lived through without
making friendships that last through just about everything."
I…I
want to believe him. But I don't know if I can.
"Look,
you know when we were back in the digital world, I
went through that whole period where I doubted everything that had to do with
friendship. And I learned a lot about friends and about myself from it. I don't
know how much of this'll apply to you too, but just hear me out, okay? We can
tell you over and over and over again that we're your friends, in fact, we
probably will. But it won't mean anything until you think you're worthy
of being our friend. You have to have faith in us as friends, and you have to
have faith in yourself and your ability to be a friend." He gives me a
serious nod and then leans back in his seat.
So…so
this entire thing is my fault? Confused, I look at him out of the corner of my
eye. I wish I could dismiss everything he's said out of hand, but he's got a
point, he's been through this before.
Am
I worthy of being their friend? A part of me really doesn't think so. I just
don't have any of the important things to offer. I'm not social, I'm not
popular, I don't like parties and I don't do sports. But then, how do they see
me when they look at me?
Almost
unbidden, the words Tai said at the beach come trailing back to me. "I'm
your friend, stupid, because I can see what everyone else at school can't seem
to be able to. Why do you think I wanted you to dye your hair with me? You
can't let the kids at school sucker you into believing that you're just some
big nerd with no life."
He
said he didn't see me as a nerd. And yet, I still managed to convince myself
that that was the reason why he couldn't possibly be my best friend. Why any of
the digidestined couldn't be my friends.
And
that's when I kind of get this epiphany.
Matt's right. I haven't had any faith in myself, and I've had even less in them. I
let my doubts about myself take over everything. I let them grow, and instead
of trying to squash them, I kind of let them eat away at me like acid until
they'd crumbled away bits of my confidence. I assumed the worst out of them
because I assumed the worst from myself. They really can only do so much and
reassure me so much. Somewhere along the way, I have to realize for myself that
other people can look at me and see more than a pitiful nerd. I have to
be able to look at myself and see more than a social pariah.
I
have to realize that I'm already worthy of their friendship. I have been for a
long time.
Tai
finally pulls the
He
is my best friend, and even though I know it's going to hurt like hell, I have
to tell him outright how I feel about him. I just have to at least get it out
there in the open between us. Even if he isn't gay, even if
he does like Matt…
Joe
looks at both Tai and me for a moment and then grabs Matt's arm. "C'mon
Matt, I need help getting a can of coke." Matt looks back at us for second
as Joe starts dragging him towards the vending machines, and rolls his eyes.
"Sure
Joe, we all know how complicated that whole 'coin in the slot, push the button'
business is for you. I'd be glad to help. Remind me to define 'subtlety'
for you sometime."
"Just…just
shut up." Joe never was known for his snappy comebacks.
We
watch them for a second, and then Tai reaches over, almost hesitantly, and
gently grabs the front of my shirt, tugging me over to the edge of the parking
lot. We reach the locked gate where the paved road leads off into the picnic
area, and in the shadows, he pulls me
down until we're both sitting on the asphalt, facing each other.
And
by this point, I'm feeling a little sick with anxiety. I'm sure he's already
got some inkling about how I feel towards him. And maybe this is a big part of
the reason I've been so quick to doubt our relationship. How is he going to
react to the knowledge that I like him? Will he freak? Will he change the
subject and we'll just move on and try to forget I ever even confessed it? Will
he push me away?
I
guess I'm the most afraid of the last. The other two I could handle. I won't
lie and say it would be easy, but I could handle that. But if
he pushes me away? There won't be
any way for me to fix things between
us. It'll just be the end of everything. That's why I've never said anything
before…
"Izzy?" He asks, yanking me pretty
effectively back into the real world and out of my head. I look at him as he
reaches up and unties the gag.
"Tai,
I'm really sorr--" I almost choke as he shoves
the blasted thing back in my mouth! I glare at him as he finishes
re-knotting the fabric behind my head.
"Sorry
about that, I thought I wanted you to be able to talk back, but when I think
about it, the last time I tried to talk to you about all this, having you talk
back just got in the way. So we're going to do it this way." He looks at
me like I'm supposed to accept this. Like it's the most normal thing in the
world to have your friend tied up and gagged in front of you just so you can
talk. I raise an eyebrow.
"Okay,
so here's the deal. You are not just
an amusement to me, Izzy. How could you even think
that?" He asks, and I can hear the hurt in his voice. "I know I've
been acting a bit strange lately, but you still are my best friend. I don't
care if you never want to talk to me again after this, but I will always want
to talk to you if you need me to." He looks at me uncertainly, and then
sighs.
"Okay,
so like everything else I do, I've screwed this up big time. I'm sorry. I'm
sorry for what I said at the beach, I'm sorry I dared you to kiss me, and I'm
sorry that you thought it was just a big joke on you. It wasn't. I…I just
messed up everything." He sits back and looks at me miserably. Well, to be
truthful, he's not the only one who messed up. I put the worst possible spin on
everything he said. I was so bent on convincing myself that he didn't care
about me or about how I felt, that I took everything he said--and some things
he didn't say--and did my utmost to warp them into reasons for why he wouldn't
possibly want to be around me.
I
didn't put any faith in him, because I didn't have any faith in my own ability
to be a friend to someone like him. I guess…I guess I've been doing to him what
I was afraid of him doing to me. He's so much more than just Mr. Popularity.
His being popular or being good at sports doesn't define who he is any more
than being good with computers and being a nerd defines who I am. I know he's more than those things. It's
his sense of humor, his fearlessness. He'll sit and recite lines from Monty
Python with me during football games when I imagine he'd rather just watch the
action. When I told him that it wasn't possible to rollerblade off a roof
without breaking something, he went up to prove to me and the rest of the
world, that yes, it could be done.
(His mother's hedges will never be quite the same though…) He'd do anything for
a friend…even drag them to a party to try and draw them out of their shell or
take them surfing at three in the morning just so they can talk.
And
maybe he isn't open about things. Maybe he does steer clear of admitting how
he's feeling or what it is that's on his mind. And yeah, he can be incredibly
obstinate about keeping those things to himself, even when I know it's really
bugging him. But Matt's right, if I push him just right, he'll tell me. And
doesn't that mean something? He trusts me. But I haven't trusted him. I never
outright told him that I was gay, I made him guess. I can't just expect him to
trust me without giving him that trust in return. Which is just another point
Matt's been right about. I have to meet my friends half way, and that's
something that I haven't done with Tai so far. So, in a way, I've doubted his friendship to me the whole time, when it
was my friendship to him that was in question.
So I look back at him guiltily.
"C'mon,
we've had some fun times together, haven't we? Please don't let everything I've
said and done this weekend fuck up what we have between us. Please?" If I weren't
gagged, I'd be telling him that this wasn't entirely his fault, and that I was
just as much to blame. But he just keeps going! "If I could take this whole
weekend back, I would. I really fucking would. I never meant to do anything
that would hurt you. Ya gotta
believe that, Izzy."
As
strange as it is though, I don't want to take this weekend back. I mean, all these things I've been feeling and agonizing over?
They've always been there, building. And even if he does decide to take all
this back after I get a chance to talk, at least I got a chance to understand
us both a little better. That has to be worth something, right?
"I
just…I just have to know, for my own peace of mind, are you gay?" He asks nervously and the reaches over to untie the
gag. It isn't until I watch his hands pass by the sides of my head that I
realize that he's shaking. And as he fumbles with the knot, I can feel his
hands trembling. I don't understand. What's going through his mind?
"Yeah,"
I say slightly bewildered, "I thought you knew." He stares at me for a good
minute with this look of complete befuddlement on his face.
"How
in the hell would I have know that?! Izzy, you are
the most asexual person I know. I've never noticed you looking at either guys
or girls. I've been just driving myself crazy trying to figure out how to tell
you that I was gay. I mean, I've been afraid to do stuff in the past, but this?
I was so scared you were never going to talk to me again. Do you have any idea
how hard this has been?" He asks shooting me a pained glance. Yeah, but Mimi's
email said…I frown at him.
"Can
you get my D-3 out of my pocket?" I ask once I realize that my hands just
aren't going to be able to reach.
"I dunno,
sounds kinda kinky…" He jumps back with a grin, and I
watch as his face falls. "I…Izzy, I'm sorry, I
shouldn't have said that. I—"
"It's
okay, Tai. It's just a joke. I know I'm dense, but you have managed to give me
a little bit of a sense of humor." I try to give him a reassuring grin back. Of
course, I can't blame him for being a bit worried; I haven't exactly been the
best with his jokes lately. Hesitantly, he fishes my D-3 out of my pocket and
flips it open. "Read the newest email from Mimi. I only read the first
paragraph or so, but that's why I thought you knew about me."
I
watch as he frowns at the email as he reads it. "Matt?" He squawks. "Matt and me? Is she nuts?" And I know he'll never know how much it
means to me to hear those words come out of his mouth. Even if we're both into
guys, it doesn't follow that he'll ever having feelings for me like that, but
at least I don't have to face the idea that I was in competition with someone
like Matt. My ego isn't quite able to handle something like that just yet.
He
finishes reading it and he looks back at me, with a little bit more
understanding on his face. "Okay, I think I get some of what happened now, but
what I don't get is how she got it messed up like that. Sora
didn't overhear me talking about you liking me. She overheard me daydreaming to
myself about you."
"You
daydream about me?" I finally manage to spit out, convinced that this is one of
those things that is just too good to be true. I have to be hearing things,
right? He nods sheepishly, and even in the dim light from the street lamps, I
can tell he's blushing. Tai, blushing! "Because you know, I daydream about you
too." My head yanks up in shock as I realize what I've just said. "Um…that is
to say…well, that just kind of slipped out of my mouth. I swear!"
"Um,
well, do you…ah…doyouactuallylikemelikethat?" He asks
uncertainly. I frown for a minute as I try to figure out what he's just said,
but when I finally do understand, I swallow hard and nod.
"R…really?"
"Really." I say as I try to calm down my racing heart. I watch as he bites his bottom
lip anxiously for a moment, and then he leans forward slightly until his face
is inches from mine. I've never been more nervous in my life. What is he
doing?! Say something already! I
stare at him apprehensively as his nose almost touches mine, and then he's
tilting his head slightly and his lips are touching mine… And all I can do is
look at him dazed as he draws back.
"I
was so sure that you were never going to feel the same way about me as I did
about you. I'm glad I was wrong." He blinks at me for a moment and then throws
his arms around my neck, and laughs into my hair as he hugs me. "So are we okay
again?" He asks, tugging me over beside him.
"Yeah,
we're okay again. I'd even go as far as to say we're even better than before."
I answer softly, unable to keep the elated grin off my face.
"I
take it that everything worked out okay?" Both Tai and I look up to see Matt
and Joe standing in front of us with knowing smirks on their faces. Oh, like
they knew that this was going to happen. I roll my eyes and Joe laughs.
"Yeah,
it all turned out okay, although I still have a bone to pick with you, Ishida.
What the hell have you been telling Mimi?!" Tai demands as he tosses Matt the
D-3.
Joe's
hitting Matt on the shoulder even before they get half way through the message.
"I
didn't tell her that! I swear! Ow! Joe quit it!" Matt
tries to defend himself as he shoves Joe back, "and me
and Tai have 'chemistry'? We do not! What the hell is she talking about?!" he demands of no one in particular, and I find
myself laughing at both of them, and feeling more comfortable with them now
than I have in a long time. I've missed this. I didn't know it before, but I
missed being like this with all of them. It's like waking up and realizing that
this is exactly the way it always should have been between us. This was the way
it had been between us before I lost
faith in myself...
"Here Izzy, finish reading all of what she
wrote."
Tai finally butts into Joe and Matt's shoving match as he grabs the D-3 from
them and holds it in front of my face.
Hey
Izzy!
I
just got done writing back to Matt, so I figured I'd write to you next. You
wouldn't believe what Matt told me! He said that Sora
said that she overheard from Tai that you might like him. So…do you? Are you
gay? That's just so weird! I always would have thought that if Tai were gay
he'd end up with someone like Matt. I mean, if you think about it, there was some chemistry there…
But
then again, when I think about it, you and Tai have your own subtle chemistry too.
That and you two can be in the same room together and alone for more than an
hour without ripping each other's throats out. Remember the time we all went to
the video store together and Tai and Matt spent three hours arguing over
whether or not we were going to rent Die Hard-something-or-other or the
Terminator? I mean, talk about dumb. *rolls eyes*
I'm
sure I had a point in here somewhere…oh yeah! If you are gay, I hope you and
Tai get together. It would be so cute! ^-^
Bye!
Mimi
"Mimi's
crazy, but occasionally, she does make some sense." Tai gives a dramatic, very
Mimi-like sigh. And as I grin at him, I nod my head in agreement.
"See,
it all worked out, just like I told you it would, Joe. So there." We both look up
to see Matt shaking up a can of soda and he winks at me before he moves subtly
closer to Joe.
"Whatever!
You were the one who said that we were going to have to give them both a
lobotomy before they came to their senses." Joe, I'm sure, can see this coming,
but chooses to believe that Matt won't actually do it. I can feel myself trying
not to laugh as I watch them. Tai pulls me close against him, and I lean into
his embrace.
And
it's at this moment, watching Joe and Matt grin at each other with Tai here
beside me, that I realize that this is the last time. This is the last time
I'll let myself doubt how much their friendship means to me, and how much mine
means to them.
"Let's
party!" Matt pops the top to the can of soda, which, predictably, explodes
all over Joe. The older boy's mouth works soundlessly for a few seconds as Matt
leans back and smirks. Even in the dim light, I can see that the liquid is
dripping down off Jyou's face and off of his chin
length hair. That and I can tell that the clean, white polo shirt he's wearing is now sporting a splotchy
brown-stained pattern that it hadn't had moments before. Tai's howling with
laughter beside me, and I can't help but chuckle as Joe gets this furious look
on his face seconds before he lunges for Matt.
Tai
helps me up to my feet as Matt and Joe chase each other around the parking lot.
"We have weird friends." He comments.
"Yeah,
we sure do. Do you think you could untie me now?" I ask as I angle my
wrists and nudge him in the side.
"Maybe." He says before he kisses me
and tickles my ribs.
*****
And
thanks in the order that I got the reviews:
Musouka: Wheee! Thank you so much! ^-^ Actually, thanks for everything. I'm so glad I know you.
Mrs.
Jet Black: Thanks!! And the organization sounds like a blast! ^-^
Atalanta: #^-^# Wheee! You're too cool!! Thanks for
the reviews!! ^-^
Kymaera: Girl, you rock!!! I can't thank you enough times for helping with
this and for just being a great friend. Getting your reviews always makes me
feel like I'm on top of the world. You just always give such good, well thought
out ones. Thanks for everything!!!
Malfoy's Girlfriend: Yeah, Izzy with blonde hair does
sound kinda hot. ^-^ Thanks for reviewing!
Babyshiro: Wheee! Thanks! Cute name too, btw. ^-^
Kouchi: *grins* Thanks! I hope
this came out fast enough for everyone.
Aphrael: Eieee! #^-^# Thanks for taking the time to
review this!! You are so cool! ^-^
290:
Hey! I loved that last chapter of "Still in my Dress"!! And thanks for
reviewing! I've never dyed my hair with peroxide before…but from watching my
brothers, I thought it looked like fun (as well as looked funny…on them. ^-^;;; I love my bros. They're a hoot.)
StarCats: Gyah! You're so cool! And yeah, Tai and Izzy kinda were evil kids weren't
they? ^-^;; *giggles* Thank you so much for the nice reviews!
Pilot02:
Wheee! Thanks! I figured since it was a holiday for
me today, I oughta put out the rest of the fic. Sorry (well, not really…^-^;;)
for making you all wait!
Nyara: Whee! Thanks!!
Rae:
#^-^# Thanks!! I'm glad you liked it, and I'm glad that I could finally get
this out again. Thanks!
Faded
Jae: Girl, you're too cool! ^-^ Thanks!!
Thanks
everybody!! I'm not sure if I ever say it, but getting reviews from you all
just makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere. I mean, I read what you all
write in response (and I think that I read a lot of what most of you write…*drools*)
and it just makes me want to work that much harder and try
that much more to write something that's worth your time. Y'all make me want to
be a better writer. ^-^