Wanted
Date Created: January 1st, 2001
Episode 1- New Comer
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Ryo yelled as the ice cold water poured onto her body. "RAY?! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!!" Ryo was in her bathroom, in the shower with the dial to ice cold. She was ready to strangle her twin brother. They both had blonde hair and green eyes. Ryo's hair was right below her shouders.
"You wouldn't get up. We need to go to school!" He answered. "Oh, yeah, and our school has a uniform. So here." He threw her a green skirt and blouse, then walked away. Ryo sighed and closed the door to get changed. "RYO! HURRY UP BEFORE I LEAVE YOU HERE!" Her older brother Kevin yelled.
"COMING!" She yelled back. Ryo fixed her necklace and ran down the apartment stairs.
"Here, take this and go with your brothers." Her dad said, handing her a piece of sushi. Ryo stared at it as her father shoved it into her hands. Loud honks came from outside followed by Kevin calling her name. She said 'bye' to her dad and ran out, jumping into her brothers new car.
Ryo, her dad, and her brothers had just moved from California two days ago and were now living in Japan. They had been almost to every continent, and Ryo was starting to call her "friends" different names. They had no Mother; she died when Ryo was only three.
"Now what's your school's name?" Kevin asked, looking from side to side for their school.
"Um…. Odibiyacusama High?" Ray puzzled. Ryo sighed at his stupidity and shot him a annoyed look.
"Odiba High School, idiot." She corrected.
"Oh, heh, right…" Ray laughed.
"Oh damn." Kevin said.
"What now?" Ryo asked.
"I passed it already."
"Aaawwww, why?" Ray asked.
"Shut up! I'm going back."
"Ya know what, Kevin? Right now your supposed to be in school, but since Japan has the people be younger when they get out of school and become a adult thing, your out. And you'll never prosper in this world because you're so stupid! And we'll be smarter because-" Ray started.
"GET OUT! WE'RE AT YOUR DAMN SCHOOL!" Ray jumped out, Ryo running after him. When she got up close to him, she realized that he was bawling with laughter. He fell over and held his stomach.
"Is he okay?" A girl with orange hair came walking over to them with a girl with pink hair.
"Y-yeah, he does this all the t-time…" Ryo was shy, she wasn't used to talking to people her age.
"Oh, okay. Hey- are you the new kids from California?" The pink hair girl asked. Ryo nodded, shyly. "Oh, hi! My name is Mimi, and this is Sora! Nice to meet you!"
"HI!" Ray pepped. "I'm Ray, and this is my weird sister Ryo!"
"Hi, how long have you been in Odiba?" Sora asked.
"We came here two days ago. " Ryo answered.
"Yeah, and so far it's been the WORST TWO DAYS OF MY LIFE!" Ray stood up and looked around the high school yard and laughed.
"Okay… Hey, Ryo, want to sit with us in school? We could introduce you to people." Mimi said.
"Um… O-okay…" She answered.
"She stutters because she never had any friends back in California." Ray said. Ryo blushed and fingered with her necklace.
"Really? Why not?" Sora asked.
"Oh, do you see her-" Ryo kicked him. They looked at her. And asked again.
"Um, I don't like to talk about it…" Ryo said, now looking down at her necklace.
"Oh, okay." Mimi answered. The bell rang and Ray ran in. Ryo followed behind Mimi and Sora into the school.
Episode 2: Pool Party
"So, ya wanna come with us to the pool tonight?" Mimi asked as Sora, Ryo, and herself were walking out of the school.
"Oh, a girl named Yolie and Kari are going to be coming with us. I think that Yolie lives in the same building as you. Hey, here they come now, YOLIE! KARI!" Sora added, waving.
"Hi Sora! Hi Mimi! Hi- who's that?" A short, brunette girl walked up to them. She had on a span-dex shirt, shorts, and sleeve-lets, the shirt was pink and white, sleeve-lets pink, and her shorts were yellow.
"I think that she lives in my building, you look familiar…" The tall, purple hared girl said. She wore a long, orange skirt and a purple blouse. Her glasses took up most of her face.
"This is Ryo, she just moved here from.. California?" Mimi questioned.
"Yeah…" Ryo said. "WAAA!" She cried as she fell over. Ray stood over her, his hands over his mouth, giggling. His short brown hair looked smooth and.. Dull. He had complained about the hair gel in this country. Kevin had used the last of his American gel.
"Wassup my homies?" Ray asked.
"Okay, I'll go." Ryo said quickly.
"Go where?" Ray asked.
"A poo-" Mimi started, she was cut off by Kevin.
"RYO! RAYMOND! I'VE ONLY BEEN SITTING HERE THREE MINUTES WAITING FOR YOU! GET YOUR ASS' OVER HERE!" He yelled.
"Uh, bye! See you tonight!" Ryo shouted, running to the car.
"Jeez, you do one little chore for your Dad and what do the siblings do? Leave you waiting in the car for three minutes! My God!" Kevin said, shaking his head. He started the car and turned up Slim Shady.
When they reached the house, Ryo ran up to her room to look for her bathing suit.
"Oh, were is it?!" She asked herself. "Aha!" She said as she pulled out the top part of her green bikini. "Oh.. Where's the bottom part?! Okay. Here it is." She pulled it out. "Okay, now to.. change.. please let it fit!" She hoped. She pulled of her shirt and slipped on the top. 'Okay', Ryo thought, 'now WILL the bottom fit? Pleeeaaase let it fit!' She put the bottom on, luckily, it was a perfect fit. She pulled back on her pants and shirt and walked down the stairs. "KEVIN!"
"'Sup?" He called.
"I'm going to a pool with Kari, Yolie, Sora, and Mimi. Tell Dad that I'll be home around seven or sooner." She said.
"I WANNA GO!!" Ray called.
"No." Ryo said, simply, putting on her shoes.
"BUT I WANNA GOOO!!" Ray complained, running up to her.
"Well, to bad. 'Bye Kev! I'm going!" She opened the door, and walked out. Before she closed it, Ray still begged to go and she walked into a boy.
"Wah!" They said at the same time.
"Who are you?" Ryo asked.
"My name is T.K. How 'bout you?"
"Ryo."
"Oh! Yeah, I heard about you. You just came from California, right?" Ryo nodded. "Oh, yeah. Kari told me about you."
"Hey T.K.! I can't find it!" A kid's voice came, followed by a loud crash. "Found it!" A tall, blonde boy walked out of T.K.'s apartment. He had blue, innocent eyes. He was wearing the boy's uniform in Odiba High. "Hey, um, Teek, did you, uh, like that porcelain thingy that was on your mantle?"
"Um, yes…"
"Heh, funny story!" T.K. sighed.
"Ryo, this is my brother, Yamato, we call him Matt, Matt, this is Ryo. She just moved here from California." T.K. announced. "Matt doesn't live with me."
" Yeah, his house is too clean for me to live there. Hi." Matt said. Ryo stared at him, she knew to stay away from boys.
"RYO!" Yolie yelled as she ran up to her. "Hi, ready to go? Oh, I see that you met Matt and T.K.!"
"Yolie, I think that we'd better get going." She walked off, leaving Matt and T.K. behind.
"HEY! Ryo, wait up!" Yolie ran up to her friend. "Hey, why were you so- so, avoiding Matt and T.K.?"
"I didn't tell you guys, did I?" Yolie shook her head. "Back in California, I dated a few boys. You know the whole 'weird' thing?" Yolie again nodded. "Well, they would date me and all, but they would never let us be seen together in public. They didn't want to be 'embarrassed'. After that happened to me a couple times, so I just gave up on boys and decided that they were no good."
"Oh, how sad." Yolie said as they climbed onto the bus.
"HI!" Sora, Mimi, and Kari were already on.
"Can I tell them?" Yolie asked.
"Sure.." Ryo said. They sat in front of them and Yolie told them the story.
"Is that true?" Kari asked. Ryo nodded. "How sad.."
"If you think that Matt- T.K.'s to young- would be the same, don't worry about it. Actually, Matt's really nice. He would never do that. And you never did tell us why you were 'weird'." Sora said.
"I would like to keep it to myself. I don't want that reputation here." She said. Her cell phone started to ring. "Hello?" She asked, picking it up.
"Hi, Ryo."
"Oh, hi Dad!"
"Chris, we made a appointment for you tomorrow."
"A appointment for what?"
"The phsychiatrist."
"No! Not again."
"I'll cancel it if you stop saying that you saw that- thing."
"I'm not crazy, Dad." She said, hanging up.
"A appointment for what?" Mimi asked.
"Nothing." She said as the bus stopped at the pool. They got out and walked in.
"Come on, the locker room's this away." Sora said. They walked toward it.
"I'm already in my bathing suit…" Ryo said.
"Oh, so am I." Kari said.
"Okay, me and Sora and Yolie will get dressed, you guys wait here." Mimi said. Sora, Yolie, and Mimi walked off.
"Ryo, please tell at least me why you were weird. I won't tell anyone, and I won't make fun of you."
"Kari, I would, really. But people in New York said the same thing, then they laughed and spread it around. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I want to keep it a secret."
"Oh, okay.." Kari said dispassionately.
"Hey, shouldn't we take our stuff off?"
"Good idea!!"
Episode 3- Matt Isn't Like That
"So I heard that you wouldn't talk to Matt?" Mimi said in the hallway of Odaiba High.
"Yeah."
"Why not?" Sora asked.
"It's just- oh never mind."
"It's just what?" Mimi asked.
"When I was in California, sure. I had boyfriends. But they would always keep it a secret. They wouldn't let us be seen in public. Then they eventually dunped me. I just concluded that all men are like that."
"How sad…" Mimi said. "But Matt isn't lie that. He's really nice."
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Ryo said, walking away. On, the way, she bumped into Matt.
"Oh, hi. Hey, um, I'm sorry if I said something bad when I first met you.."
"Uh, yeah, I've got to get to class, bye." She said, walking away.
"So Matt, who's this Ryo that Mimi and Sora were talking about?" Tai asked after school.
"She's just this girl from California. She's a little odd. Not to be mean…" Matt said.
"How?"
"Mimi and Sora told me that she doesn't like boys because back where she used to be, they would always dump her. And whenever I try to talk to her, she says that she has something to do." Matt sighed. "And she says that she has this problem and she won't tell anyone." Tai smiled.
"You like her." He said. Matt blinked.
"What?!"
"You like her. I can tell." Tai smiled again. Matt sighed.
"Maybe…" Matt looked down at his feet. Was it true? Did he love Ryo?
"Yeah, you do. Don't worry dude, I wont tell." Tai smiled and walked off.
"Argh!" Ryo cried as she saw Matt in the hallway. She quickly walked back into her apartment and into her room. She took out her pencil and sketch pad. She started drawing, not noticing what was coming out. 'Why doesn't he just leave me alone?' Ryo thought about Matt. 'Why can't he just accept that I don't like him? He's so dumb.. Then why do you feel like that towards him? Great, now I'm arguing with myself.' She closed her eyes and pictured Matt. She opened her eyes again and looked at her picture. She had drawn an exact picture of Matt. Ryo was a very good drawer, and drew in her spare time.
"'Watcha 'drawin?" Ray said, looking down at her picture and smiling. She quickly added to horns on the top of his head and and tail and a pictchfork next to him. "Heh, that's just funny. Look's like 'lil 'ol Chris has a crush!" Ray cried.
"RAY!" Ryo jumped up, dropping the picture. Ray picked it up quickly and ran out of the room. "GET BACK HERE!" She yelled as she chased after him.
"Hey! Watch it!" Kevin shouted as they ran past him. Ray ran out of the apartment and into the hall. He banged on T.k.'s door.
"NO!" Ryo yelled as Matt answered the door.
"Hello? Oh, hi, Ray."
"HEY! Guess what?!"
"RAY!"
"What?" Matt asked, tilting his head to the left.
"Ryo li-mmmm!!" He tried to let out the secret, but Ryo covered his mouth. Ray franticaly waved the picture in front of him, Ryo grabbed it and tour it to shreds.
"You okay?" Matt asked.
"And that was such a nice picture…" Ray sobbed. Ryo sighed angrily. "She drew a pic of-"
"Come on rat face." Ryo said, pulling Ray away.
"Well, if he knew, he'd go out with you." Ray said as they got back into the apratment. Ryo looked at him angrily, feeling the tears crawl pleadingly into her eyes, creeping up her throaght, into her eyes and down her cheek.
"You know I don't like him! Will you people stop trying to set us up!" Ryo ran into her room and slammed the door, locking it, wishing that she could lock up her aggressive feelings and forget them forever. She sobbed like she had never done before into her pillow, tears not only for Matt, but this was acctually the first time, but for her mother.
After Ryo's witnesing of her mothers death when she was three, she was beyond tears and just shut herself up, kept everything locked inside, locked with a destroyed key so no one could ever let it out.
She sat up quickly, still crying, and lifted the necklace that hung on her chest. It had a green string and a gold circle at the bottem with swirling colors inside. She stared at it angrily.
"It's all your fault!" She yelled at it, trying to blame something for her problem. "If you were never real, then my mother wouldn't have died, and I'd be able to be normal and allow myself to love Yamato! And I wouldn't always be afraid!" She yanked it of her neck and threw it into a corner.
She angrily looked around the room, like someone was there that ruined her life. Nothing was there but a computer, some clothes on the floor, a t.v., hamper, mirror, closet, burrow, and another burrow and a nightstand. They only thing in the room that ruined her life was that necklace. The powerful necklace. Ryo glared at it with more hatred that she had ever felt in her life.
Episode 3- The Christmas Dance
"So are you going to the dance?" Sora asked Ryo in school the next day. Mimi, Ryo, and Sora were walking down the halls of Odaiba High School. Ryo was wearing her necklace again and thinking nothing of it.
"Yeah I guess. How about you, Mimi?"
"No, I'm going back to New York after school. I'll be back next month. To bad the dance wasn't last night instead of tonight…" Mimi said sadly.
"Oh that's to bad!" Ryo exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Mimi sighed.
"Well, Ryo, what are you wearing?" Sora asked.
"It's this pretty red dress with my stomach showing and some green chrystals around my belly button." Sora and Mimi nodded.
"Cool." Sora said. They started walking out of the buidling.
"Hey Ryo…" Mimi started.
"Yeah?"
"Well…I know that you said that you want nothing to do with Matt…but…can't you just try to get to know him?" Ryo sighed angrily and sadly.
"I…I guess…"
"Great!" Mimi cried.
"Yo! Ryo!" Kevin yelled.
"Gotta go, bye." Ryo ran to her brothers car and got into the back.
"Where'd Ray?" He asked. Ryo looked around.
"I dunno. Probably has detention." She said, shrugging. Kevin also shrugged.
"Probably." He sighed. "If he doesn't come in…two minutes, we're leaving."
One minute passed on Kevins digital clock.
"That's it." Kevin said, putting the ____ into gear.
"But it's only been one minute." Ryo was surprised at her words. "Ah, never mind. Let's go." Kevin smiled as they started pulling away from the school.
"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!" They heard Ray yell. They laughed and Kev kept driving.
Episode 4- Starting To give In
Ryo leaned forward and put her head in her hand and stared at Matt. She was doing it atomatically without realizing it and not giving any notice to her math teacher.
Matt was writing something, not paying attention either. If he didn't pay attention, then how did he get such good grades…? She asked herself.
Ryo almost yelped in surprise as Matt turned around and smiled. She jumped and took her head off of her hand. Matt was one desk in front and over from her. In his hand was a folded up piece of paper, her name written on the front.
Ryo glanced at the teacher, she was turned around, writing on the board.
She looked back at Matt as he threw it.
Ryo backed up and put the paper on her lap, sighed bravely, and opened it. From behind her, Sora was looking at her.
The note said:
Hey Ryo. This is so boring, isn't it? Haha
Well, I figured that this was the only way that I could talk to you.
Listen, Kari told T.K. about the whole guy problem and T.K. told me. I'm not trying to be forward or anything, but just to let you know, I would never do that. 'Ya know, there are some things about me and some of the people in the school that is not exactly normal!
Anyways, could we at least be friends?
Write Back.
Matt
Ryo stared at it for a minute then took out her pencil and wrote back:
Hi Matt. I'm really sorry, but that's what they all say…
I guess we could try being friends. But, I can't get to close to you. Please, please understand. I don't really trust anyone anymore…
But I'm not going to get into that right now.
See ya.
Ryo
Ryo folded up the note and looked at Matt. He was sitting sideways in his chair, then he noticed her looking at him and she threw it across the floor and he picked it up, opened it, and read, then started writing again. He threw it at her again.
Okay. I'm really sorry to hear- er, read, that we can't be close. J but friends is good. At least your giving me a chance.
We should stop writing now, we'll get caught.
See ya at the dance
Matt
Ryo smiled and folded up the paper and put it in her pocket. So. She had given into temtation. Prepared to be hurt again, Ryo. She told herself, then sighed. Maybe he won't be bad. Maybe you can date him…
Ryo sighed. Maybe…
Ryo looked at herself in the mirror.
"Ugly. So ugly…" She said to herself. "How could Matt even want to be just friends, with me?!"
"No kidding, you're so ugly. Unlike me." Ray said, he was in her doorway, eating something.
"How long have you been standing there?!" Ryo yelled, realizing that she had just gotten changed. Ray snickered. He was wearing wide-legged baggy pants and a black shirt.
"Long enough." He said. Ryo's jaw dropped.
"You…little…" Ray grinned as Ryo screamed and started running after him, going pretty fast even though she was wearing a mini skirt and platform shoes.
Ray ran out the door, still screaming and making people open their doors and look.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!" She yelled.
"You- okay?" They both stopped running and turned around. Yolie was standing there with a soda in her hand.
Ryo turned back to Ray and smacked him as hard as she could across the face, making him fall over and left a very red hand mark on his cheek.
"Gaaahhhh!!!!" Ray yelled, standing up, his own hand on his cheek. "All I did was stand in your room!!!"
"Yeah and invade my privacy!"
"I just wanted to see if you were gonna draw another pretty picture!" He whined.
"Well obviously I wasn't drawing a picture!!!!"
"Well…you might've after you were done!"
"Oh Ray you're imposible!" She yelled, stomping back into her apartment then slamming the door and locking it.
As she expected, Ray started banging on the door and Kevin opened it.
"Whoa, dude! What happened to your cheek?!" Kevin yelled.
"Ryo happened to my cheek." Ray said with a scowl.
"Well, let's get you some ice." He walked over to the freezer, got an ice pack, wrapped it in a towel, then gave it to Ray and turned to Ryo and grinned. "Dude, that was suh-weet!" He held out his hand for a high-five and she 'fived' him.
Ryo sighed then walked into the school with Ray, her purse hanging over her shoulder. He had almost not gone because his cheek had swelled up a little, but he wasn't going to miss the Christmas Dance.
Almost immediately Sora ran over to her.
"Hey Ryo! You're finally here! C'mon, you have to meet the gang." She cried, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to a group of people.
"The-gang?" Ryo asked. Sora grinned. The only people she knew in this group was Sora, Matt, Yolie, TK, and Kari.
"This is Izzy, this is Jyou, this is Tai, this is Ken, Davis, and Cody." She said, beaming.
"Hi." Christna said.
"Hey!" They all cried.
"I've heard a lot about you." Tai said, elboing Matt. Matt blushed and laughed uneasily, his eyes darting left then right.
"I see." Ryo said. Everyone laughed except Matt and Ryo. Ken looked at Ryo very closely.
"Don't I know you?" He asked.
"Well…you do look familiar." She replied.
"Maybe you've seen him on tv." Yolie said. Ryo shook her head quickly.
"Definetly not. I don't watch tv." She answered.
"Oh." Yolie said after a short awkward silence. The steady beat of 'A Teens' with 'Bouncing Off The Ceiling'.
"Well. Let's just say that you look familiar." Ken said, smiling.
"Yeah…" She answered. Everyone sarted talking except Ryo, then they stopped when it became a slow song. Kari went out on the floor with TK, Davis turning red.
"Hey Ryo!" Tai cried. She turned to him. Matt's eyes were wide and he was blushing slightly. "You wanna dance with Matt?" Now he's pushing it. I said we could be friends, oh god, your just going to hurt yourself again… Ryo thought, then sighed. Matt was wearing his usual black blouse and pants.
"Sure. Why not?" She said. Matt smiled and they both walked out. He wrapped his arms around her and her around him.
"So. Is that really true what TK told me?" Matt asked. Ryo sighed.
"I really wish people could just forget about that." She paused. "Yes, yes it is."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I really am. I don't know how anyone could do that to someone like you." Ryo blushed and turned her eyes to the left and down.
The song ended and he let her go. He smiled then they both walked back to the others.
Davis was still red.
"Kari, will you dance with me next?!" He yelled. Kari giggled.
"Sure. Why not." Davis beamed and threw a fist in the air.
"Yeah!" He cried. Everyone laughed.
"That's Davis, for 'ya." Tai said.
"Hey, how about we all go hang out somewhere after the dance?" Izzy asked.
"Yeah, okay." Jyou said.
"What about you, Ryo?" Tai asked.
"Yeah…I guess." She replied.
"YOU CAN'T GO WITHOUT ME!!!!!" Ray cried, running over, his cheek still red and swelled.
"Whoa, Ray! What happened?!" TK cried. Ray glared at Ryo.
"She happened."
"Why?" Kari asked.
"I was just standing in her room seeing if she was gonna draw another pretty picture!" Ray cried, innocentely.
"Picture?" Sora asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Yeah. Picture. You know, take a pencil and draw? She does it all the time." Ray said.
"What was the picture that you were trying to show me but Ryo ripped up?" Matt asked. Ray opened his mouth and took in air, but Ryo cut him off.
"Unless you want your other cheek even worse than that one, you'd better shut up." She said. Ray yelped.
"I see." Matt said in a low tone.
"Hey! Why don't you draw a picture of me?" Sora asked. "Did you bring paper?" Ryo nodded.
"I have a small notebook, but the picture would be small. And anyways, my pictures are no good." Ray's jaw dropped.
"Are you kidding?! She's won like, a bazzilion awards!"
"Well, can you draw me?" Sora repeated.
"Yeah. Sure."
"Then draw me and Kari!" Davis yelled. Kari giggled.
"Okay." Ryo reached into her purse and sat onto a bench as Sora pulled out a chair and sat on it and crossed her legs as every gathered around.
Ryo took out the small notebook and a pencil. She brought it just incase she wasn't fitting in and was alone so she could just draw to pass the time.
Ryo started by drawing her head. She drew her eyes first, then her nose, mouth, and then the outline of her head, then started her hair, shading it.
When she was done with the head, having to draw the shadows, she drew her neck then worked her way down.
When she finished, she sighed and put down her pencil and looked at it.
"I did it very quick. It's even worse than usual." She said. Sora took it and her jaw dropped.
"This is excelent!" She gently tore the paper out of the small notebook. Everyone crowded around and talked about how good it was, Ryo blushing.
Next she drew Kari and Davis, then Kari and TK. They all thought that the pictures were really good.
"Alright ya'll!" The DJ called. "This is the last song!" He played 'Eve 6''s 'Promise'.
Ryo smiled and stood up, putting her notebook back into her purse.
The song ended it almost no time and everyone started waving goodbye.
Ryo and Ray walked out and waited for their dad to come. About fifteen minutes passed and everyone had gone and the lights went out.
They sat down on the concrete gorund and waited, shivering in the cold.
"You think he forgot?" Ray asked, his teeth chattering. Ryo nodded.
"Yeah. I do."
"You got your phone?"
"Nope." They sighed. "Let's wait a little longer." Ray turned to her.
"And then what? It'd take until morning to walk all the way back to our house!"
"Yeah. I know." She sighed.
"What a great Dad we've got." Ray said, rolling his eyes. "Kev probably won't even notice we're gone." Ryo nodded.
"He'll probably know and just leave us since you're not there and it's nice and quiet." She mocked. Ray looked at her.
"Hey, I'm being serious right now. So you be serious."
"I am." Ray grumbled something. "So how are we getting home if they forget?"
"Well, we either sleep here, or we walk." Ray said.
"I choose walk."
"Me, too." Ray said as they stood up and started walking. "And if all else fails, we can act like hobos and sleep somewhere halfway to the house." He added. Ryo laughed.
About two hours passed and they were still walking. It was around twelve o' clock.
"Aw….I'm so tired…" Ray whined.
"So am I, but I'm not complaining."
"Well you should be." Ryo sighed.
"I still can't believe they forgot about us."
"No kidding."
"Well, atleast we're almost there…"
"You said that ten minutes ago."
"Hey, at least I'm looking on the positive side." She replied. Ray sighed. Not many cars were passing my them.
They came to their block and laughed in happiness. By then it must have been past two in the morning.
"Yeah! And we didn't even have to sleep with the hobos!" Ray cried. Ryo laughed and they kept walking.
They got to their apartment builidng and went up to their room.
"DAD?!" Ryo yelled.
"Hi Ryo!" He called back.
"What da hell's wrond wit chu?!" Ray yelled at the top of his lungs.
Their dad came out of his office in her chair with the wheels on the bottom.
"What do you mean, Raymond?" He asked, a concerned look on his face.
"The dance!!" Ray and Ryo yelled at the same time. Their father smacked his head.
"Oh my god, I forgot! You've got to understand, I was so busy." Kevin walked in, he was stretching and wearing boxers and a white muscle shirt.
"What's all the yelling about?" He asked. They explained. "Oh. Oh yeah, Ryo. Some boy called for you." She raised an eyebrow.
"Boy? Who?" She questioned.
"Some boy named Yamato Ishida."
"What did he say?!" She cried. Kevin, her dad, and Ray all grinned and exchanged looks.
"Finally getting' back into boys, huh Ryo…?" Her dad asked. They laughed. Ryos face turned red.
"What did he say?!" She repeated.
"He was just called to ask why you didn't head over with him and Sora to hang out after the dance, and then he called back like an hour later."
"What'd he say the second time he called?"
"Aah, he was jus' askin' if you were okay cause you didn't call him back."
"Wait a minute." Ray started. "You knew about us at the dance?!" Kevin grinned.
"Yup." Ryo and Ray's jaw dropped.
"Dad!!!" They both yelled.
"Kev…" Their dad started. "You know they could've gotten hurt." He said. "Grounded. A week." Kevin groaned then went back to bed.
"Well, you two'd better get to bed. You've got school tomorrow." Ray groaned.
"Aw…I forgot…we have school on Saturdays…" They went into their own rooms, and Ryo made sure to lock the door.
Episode 5- Planning
"Did you get my call?" Matt asked the next day. They were walking to science. She sighed.
"Yeah. My brother told me at two in the morning."
"What happened?"
"They forgot to pick up me and Ray so we walked home."
"You should've just come with me and everyone else; I couldn've driven you home." She smiled.
"Thanks."
"So…did your dad say that you can come?" She looked at him. He couldn't possibly mean a date, could he?!
"Huh? To where?" She asked kind of quickly. Matt laughed.
"Hey. Come down. I asked your brother if you could come to my concert. It's in three weeks, Saturday night at seven." She raised an eyebrow.
"Your concert?"
"Yeah. I'm in a band." He said. She smiled.
"Yeah. I can probably come." Matt smiled and they walked into the science lab.
"Okay." The teacher started. "Today I'm asigning new seats."
Ryo hoped that she was next to Matt, yet at the same time not.
"Okay…" He started assigning seats, and Ryo was assigned to the back and right of the room. She took her seat.
She sighed when Matt was assigned somewhere else, but that was in front of her, so it was okay. Tai was next to her, and Izzy was next to Matt.
"Hey." Tai said.
"Hey." Ryo said.
Science class was always very boring. She was talking to Tai.
"Sooo…." Tai started. "You like Matt?" Ryo said, angrily.
"Why won't anyone leave me alone?!" She cried.
"Well? Do you?"
"No!"
"As a friend?"
"Kind of!"
"I see." He said, turning back to Mr. Pistoni. Even if she liked Matt, she would not say it to anyone. She wouldn't even say those three words(I love Matt) outloud. They were even hardly spoken in her head.
About a week later, Ryo was in the school with Sora and the others and it was a Sunday, they said that they hung out there sometimes on weekends. Ray was with them.
"Hey Chris." Ray started.
"What do you want now?" She asked impatiently. Ray smirked.
"Hey. If you're getting an attitude towards me, I won't show you this." Ray pulled out of his pocket a piece of paper that was folded up.
"What's that?!" She cried.
"Oh…just a letter from Jay…"
"Jay?!" Ryo yelled in shock.
"Who's Jay?" Matt asked.
"Gimme that!" She yelled, grabbing the letter:
Hi Ryo. Long time no see.
Hey. Me and a couple other people were talking about you, and I just felt like writing a letter.
Listen. I don't know what happened between us. Yeah, sure, so what if you're crazy. When you're not talking…about…that thing, you're pretty cool. Here's a tip: where you are now, keep that…story down. People could actually like you if they think you're sane!
Well anyways, I gotta go. Call me sometime-555-9087.
-Jay
Ryo finished it and just stared at it for a minute.
"How long ago did you get this?" She asked Ray. He shrugged.
"Couple days ago." He said. "If it makes you feel better, I never did really like Jay. I mean his whole gang and everything made it seem a little freaky…and I didn't feel safe at night knowing that he knew where I lived."
"Who's Jay?" Sora asked.
"Nobody. A nobody." Ryo said, picking up the letter and walking outside.
She leaned up against a tree then fell into a sit, staring at the school with nothing but hatred towards Jay in her mind.
Jay had been her old boyfriend in their home three homes back, and that was about a year ago.
Matt walked out of the school, his hands in his pockets.
"You okay?" He asked. She nodded, sighing.
"Yeah." Matt stood there for a minute, staring at her as she stared into space.
"I…" he started. Ryo didn't remove her stare. "I…I wanted to tell you…" Her eyes rose to the left to look at him. "I…"
"You…?" She asked. Matt sighed deeply.
"I love you." The shock that she felt was enormous. Her mouth was open and eyes wide as she stared at him. Matt bit his lip, then a couple seconds later her smiled and walked away, she was staring at him the whole time.
Ryo was in her room, drawing again. She was obviously drawing Matt, and her notebook was now filled with many different styles of himself.
She sighed. She couldn't believe that he told her that he loved her.
Many emotions were going on inside her. Shock, love, pain, longing, guilt…
She sighed and put down her pencil and put away her notebook.
What could she do? If she became his girlfriend, he would definetly drive her secret out of her then he would hurt her, like all the others…
But maybe he wouldn't.
"Or maybe I just won't tell him." She decided, smiling. "That's it! I'll never tell himm my secret! Then everything will be alright!" She paused. "But how would I tell him?"
"Ryo!" Kevin yelled. "Someone's here to see you!"
"Kay!" She cried. "Funny." She said to herself, getting up. "I didn't even hear the doorbell ring."
She opened her door and went outside. Tai was standing there.
"Hi." He said.
"Hi." She said.
"Listen, M-" He started, but Ray, Kevin, and her dad was all listening. Tai laughed uneasily. "Can I talk to you- alone?" Ryo laughed and nodded.
"Yeah. Follow me." She said.
They went into her room, she knew her dad would probably be a little upset that she was taking him into her room, but she didn't really care right then.
"So? What?"
"Matt..Matt told me that he told you that he loved you, and you didn't answer. I dunno if you know, but that's pretty harsh. It takes a lot of guts to tell someone that they love you." Ryo laughed.
"Believe me. I know." She said. Tai raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really?" He asked. She shrugged and sat down on her bed. A couple months ago she would have never thought of having a boy in her room. The very thought was like a sin to her.
"Yeah." She replied.
"Um…well…" He sighed. "Okay. I gues I came here to ask you. Please, please, you can ask anyone, I can keep secrets. No lies, now. Do you like- love- Matt. If you don't want me to tell, I won't." He said, putting his right hand on his heart and left hand in front of her face to show her that there were no crosses. She sighed.
"Yeah. Yeah I do." There goes her promise to herself to not tell anyone. Tai smiled. "And no, you can't tell." The smiled drooped a little, but it still stayed. "So…since I told you, who do you like?" The smile left his face.
"You can keep a secret, right?" She nodded. "Well…I like Sora." She smiled.
"I see." Tai nodded.
"So…are you ever going to tell Matt?" He asked. She sighed.
"Well…I want to…but I don't know how…" Tai smiled.
"Well, why don't we try and get you two alone sometime? I'll tell him to meet you somehwere after school tomorrow, how about that?" She nodded.
"Yeah. Alright." Tai again smiled.
Episode 6- Planning
"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Ryo said to herself on Monday. She was standing outside of the school, Matt had walked out about ten minutes ago to meet her in the park.
She sighed, pulled her shirt out of her skirt, fixed her skirt a little, took out her brush and fixed her hair, then started walking. It would take her five minutes to get to the park.
She was so nervous. She still couldn't believe what she was doing.
She got to the park. Matt was leaning up against a tree, looking around.
Ryo sighed and walked over to Matt. He noticed her and smiled.
"Hey." He started. "What did you want to tell me?" Her stomach was in nots as she took a deep breath in, then out.
"I…well…you know how yesterday you told me that you loved me?" She asked. He nodded, blushing slightly. "Well…I uh…" She again sighed deeply. "I love you, too." She bit her lip as he smiled.
"Really?" He asked. She nodded, still biting her lip. He smiled and went over to her, and kissed her.
If he had done it any faster, she would have quickly pulled away, but for some reason, she didn't. She knew that she was going to be in great pain in the future, but right then, she didn't care.
Date Created: January 1st, 2001
Episode 1- New Comer
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Ryo yelled as the ice cold water poured onto her body. "RAY?! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!!" Ryo was in her bathroom, in the shower with the dial to ice cold. She was ready to strangle her twin brother. They both had blonde hair and green eyes. Ryo's hair was right below her shouders.
"You wouldn't get up. We need to go to school!" He answered. "Oh, yeah, and our school has a uniform. So here." He threw her a green skirt and blouse, then walked away. Ryo sighed and closed the door to get changed. "RYO! HURRY UP BEFORE I LEAVE YOU HERE!" Her older brother Kevin yelled.
"COMING!" She yelled back. Ryo fixed her necklace and ran down the apartment stairs.
"Here, take this and go with your brothers." Her dad said, handing her a piece of sushi. Ryo stared at it as her father shoved it into her hands. Loud honks came from outside followed by Kevin calling her name. She said 'bye' to her dad and ran out, jumping into her brothers new car.
Ryo, her dad, and her brothers had just moved from California two days ago and were now living in Japan. They had been almost to every continent, and Ryo was starting to call her "friends" different names. They had no Mother; she died when Ryo was only three.
"Now what's your school's name?" Kevin asked, looking from side to side for their school.
"Um…. Odibiyacusama High?" Ray puzzled. Ryo sighed at his stupidity and shot him a annoyed look.
"Odiba High School, idiot." She corrected.
"Oh, heh, right…" Ray laughed.
"Oh damn." Kevin said.
"What now?" Ryo asked.
"I passed it already."
"Aaawwww, why?" Ray asked.
"Shut up! I'm going back."
"Ya know what, Kevin? Right now your supposed to be in school, but since Japan has the people be younger when they get out of school and become a adult thing, your out. And you'll never prosper in this world because you're so stupid! And we'll be smarter because-" Ray started.
"GET OUT! WE'RE AT YOUR DAMN SCHOOL!" Ray jumped out, Ryo running after him. When she got up close to him, she realized that he was bawling with laughter. He fell over and held his stomach.
"Is he okay?" A girl with orange hair came walking over to them with a girl with pink hair.
"Y-yeah, he does this all the t-time…" Ryo was shy, she wasn't used to talking to people her age.
"Oh, okay. Hey- are you the new kids from California?" The pink hair girl asked. Ryo nodded, shyly. "Oh, hi! My name is Mimi, and this is Sora! Nice to meet you!"
"HI!" Ray pepped. "I'm Ray, and this is my weird sister Ryo!"
"Hi, how long have you been in Odiba?" Sora asked.
"We came here two days ago. " Ryo answered.
"Yeah, and so far it's been the WORST TWO DAYS OF MY LIFE!" Ray stood up and looked around the high school yard and laughed.
"Okay… Hey, Ryo, want to sit with us in school? We could introduce you to people." Mimi said.
"Um… O-okay…" She answered.
"She stutters because she never had any friends back in California." Ray said. Ryo blushed and fingered with her necklace.
"Really? Why not?" Sora asked.
"Oh, do you see her-" Ryo kicked him. They looked at her. And asked again.
"Um, I don't like to talk about it…" Ryo said, now looking down at her necklace.
"Oh, okay." Mimi answered. The bell rang and Ray ran in. Ryo followed behind Mimi and Sora into the school.
Episode 2: Pool Party
"So, ya wanna come with us to the pool tonight?" Mimi asked as Sora, Ryo, and herself were walking out of the school.
"Oh, a girl named Yolie and Kari are going to be coming with us. I think that Yolie lives in the same building as you. Hey, here they come now, YOLIE! KARI!" Sora added, waving.
"Hi Sora! Hi Mimi! Hi- who's that?" A short, brunette girl walked up to them. She had on a span-dex shirt, shorts, and sleeve-lets, the shirt was pink and white, sleeve-lets pink, and her shorts were yellow.
"I think that she lives in my building, you look familiar…" The tall, purple hared girl said. She wore a long, orange skirt and a purple blouse. Her glasses took up most of her face.
"This is Ryo, she just moved here from.. California?" Mimi questioned.
"Yeah…" Ryo said. "WAAA!" She cried as she fell over. Ray stood over her, his hands over his mouth, giggling. His short brown hair looked smooth and.. Dull. He had complained about the hair gel in this country. Kevin had used the last of his American gel.
"Wassup my homies?" Ray asked.
"Okay, I'll go." Ryo said quickly.
"Go where?" Ray asked.
"A poo-" Mimi started, she was cut off by Kevin.
"RYO! RAYMOND! I'VE ONLY BEEN SITTING HERE THREE MINUTES WAITING FOR YOU! GET YOUR ASS' OVER HERE!" He yelled.
"Uh, bye! See you tonight!" Ryo shouted, running to the car.
"Jeez, you do one little chore for your Dad and what do the siblings do? Leave you waiting in the car for three minutes! My God!" Kevin said, shaking his head. He started the car and turned up Slim Shady.
When they reached the house, Ryo ran up to her room to look for her bathing suit.
"Oh, were is it?!" She asked herself. "Aha!" She said as she pulled out the top part of her green bikini. "Oh.. Where's the bottom part?! Okay. Here it is." She pulled it out. "Okay, now to.. change.. please let it fit!" She hoped. She pulled of her shirt and slipped on the top. 'Okay', Ryo thought, 'now WILL the bottom fit? Pleeeaaase let it fit!' She put the bottom on, luckily, it was a perfect fit. She pulled back on her pants and shirt and walked down the stairs. "KEVIN!"
"'Sup?" He called.
"I'm going to a pool with Kari, Yolie, Sora, and Mimi. Tell Dad that I'll be home around seven or sooner." She said.
"I WANNA GO!!" Ray called.
"No." Ryo said, simply, putting on her shoes.
"BUT I WANNA GOOO!!" Ray complained, running up to her.
"Well, to bad. 'Bye Kev! I'm going!" She opened the door, and walked out. Before she closed it, Ray still begged to go and she walked into a boy.
"Wah!" They said at the same time.
"Who are you?" Ryo asked.
"My name is T.K. How 'bout you?"
"Ryo."
"Oh! Yeah, I heard about you. You just came from California, right?" Ryo nodded. "Oh, yeah. Kari told me about you."
"Hey T.K.! I can't find it!" A kid's voice came, followed by a loud crash. "Found it!" A tall, blonde boy walked out of T.K.'s apartment. He had blue, innocent eyes. He was wearing the boy's uniform in Odiba High. "Hey, um, Teek, did you, uh, like that porcelain thingy that was on your mantle?"
"Um, yes…"
"Heh, funny story!" T.K. sighed.
"Ryo, this is my brother, Yamato, we call him Matt, Matt, this is Ryo. She just moved here from California." T.K. announced. "Matt doesn't live with me."
" Yeah, his house is too clean for me to live there. Hi." Matt said. Ryo stared at him, she knew to stay away from boys.
"RYO!" Yolie yelled as she ran up to her. "Hi, ready to go? Oh, I see that you met Matt and T.K.!"
"Yolie, I think that we'd better get going." She walked off, leaving Matt and T.K. behind.
"HEY! Ryo, wait up!" Yolie ran up to her friend. "Hey, why were you so- so, avoiding Matt and T.K.?"
"I didn't tell you guys, did I?" Yolie shook her head. "Back in California, I dated a few boys. You know the whole 'weird' thing?" Yolie again nodded. "Well, they would date me and all, but they would never let us be seen together in public. They didn't want to be 'embarrassed'. After that happened to me a couple times, so I just gave up on boys and decided that they were no good."
"Oh, how sad." Yolie said as they climbed onto the bus.
"HI!" Sora, Mimi, and Kari were already on.
"Can I tell them?" Yolie asked.
"Sure.." Ryo said. They sat in front of them and Yolie told them the story.
"Is that true?" Kari asked. Ryo nodded. "How sad.."
"If you think that Matt- T.K.'s to young- would be the same, don't worry about it. Actually, Matt's really nice. He would never do that. And you never did tell us why you were 'weird'." Sora said.
"I would like to keep it to myself. I don't want that reputation here." She said. Her cell phone started to ring. "Hello?" She asked, picking it up.
"Hi, Ryo."
"Oh, hi Dad!"
"Chris, we made a appointment for you tomorrow."
"A appointment for what?"
"The phsychiatrist."
"No! Not again."
"I'll cancel it if you stop saying that you saw that- thing."
"I'm not crazy, Dad." She said, hanging up.
"A appointment for what?" Mimi asked.
"Nothing." She said as the bus stopped at the pool. They got out and walked in.
"Come on, the locker room's this away." Sora said. They walked toward it.
"I'm already in my bathing suit…" Ryo said.
"Oh, so am I." Kari said.
"Okay, me and Sora and Yolie will get dressed, you guys wait here." Mimi said. Sora, Yolie, and Mimi walked off.
"Ryo, please tell at least me why you were weird. I won't tell anyone, and I won't make fun of you."
"Kari, I would, really. But people in New York said the same thing, then they laughed and spread it around. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I want to keep it a secret."
"Oh, okay.." Kari said dispassionately.
"Hey, shouldn't we take our stuff off?"
"Good idea!!"
Episode 3- Matt Isn't Like That
"So I heard that you wouldn't talk to Matt?" Mimi said in the hallway of Odaiba High.
"Yeah."
"Why not?" Sora asked.
"It's just- oh never mind."
"It's just what?" Mimi asked.
"When I was in California, sure. I had boyfriends. But they would always keep it a secret. They wouldn't let us be seen in public. Then they eventually dunped me. I just concluded that all men are like that."
"How sad…" Mimi said. "But Matt isn't lie that. He's really nice."
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Ryo said, walking away. On, the way, she bumped into Matt.
"Oh, hi. Hey, um, I'm sorry if I said something bad when I first met you.."
"Uh, yeah, I've got to get to class, bye." She said, walking away.
"So Matt, who's this Ryo that Mimi and Sora were talking about?" Tai asked after school.
"She's just this girl from California. She's a little odd. Not to be mean…" Matt said.
"How?"
"Mimi and Sora told me that she doesn't like boys because back where she used to be, they would always dump her. And whenever I try to talk to her, she says that she has something to do." Matt sighed. "And she says that she has this problem and she won't tell anyone." Tai smiled.
"You like her." He said. Matt blinked.
"What?!"
"You like her. I can tell." Tai smiled again. Matt sighed.
"Maybe…" Matt looked down at his feet. Was it true? Did he love Ryo?
"Yeah, you do. Don't worry dude, I wont tell." Tai smiled and walked off.
"Argh!" Ryo cried as she saw Matt in the hallway. She quickly walked back into her apartment and into her room. She took out her pencil and sketch pad. She started drawing, not noticing what was coming out. 'Why doesn't he just leave me alone?' Ryo thought about Matt. 'Why can't he just accept that I don't like him? He's so dumb.. Then why do you feel like that towards him? Great, now I'm arguing with myself.' She closed her eyes and pictured Matt. She opened her eyes again and looked at her picture. She had drawn an exact picture of Matt. Ryo was a very good drawer, and drew in her spare time.
"'Watcha 'drawin?" Ray said, looking down at her picture and smiling. She quickly added to horns on the top of his head and and tail and a pictchfork next to him. "Heh, that's just funny. Look's like 'lil 'ol Chris has a crush!" Ray cried.
"RAY!" Ryo jumped up, dropping the picture. Ray picked it up quickly and ran out of the room. "GET BACK HERE!" She yelled as she chased after him.
"Hey! Watch it!" Kevin shouted as they ran past him. Ray ran out of the apartment and into the hall. He banged on T.k.'s door.
"NO!" Ryo yelled as Matt answered the door.
"Hello? Oh, hi, Ray."
"HEY! Guess what?!"
"RAY!"
"What?" Matt asked, tilting his head to the left.
"Ryo li-mmmm!!" He tried to let out the secret, but Ryo covered his mouth. Ray franticaly waved the picture in front of him, Ryo grabbed it and tour it to shreds.
"You okay?" Matt asked.
"And that was such a nice picture…" Ray sobbed. Ryo sighed angrily. "She drew a pic of-"
"Come on rat face." Ryo said, pulling Ray away.
"Well, if he knew, he'd go out with you." Ray said as they got back into the apratment. Ryo looked at him angrily, feeling the tears crawl pleadingly into her eyes, creeping up her throaght, into her eyes and down her cheek.
"You know I don't like him! Will you people stop trying to set us up!" Ryo ran into her room and slammed the door, locking it, wishing that she could lock up her aggressive feelings and forget them forever. She sobbed like she had never done before into her pillow, tears not only for Matt, but this was acctually the first time, but for her mother.
After Ryo's witnesing of her mothers death when she was three, she was beyond tears and just shut herself up, kept everything locked inside, locked with a destroyed key so no one could ever let it out.
She sat up quickly, still crying, and lifted the necklace that hung on her chest. It had a green string and a gold circle at the bottem with swirling colors inside. She stared at it angrily.
"It's all your fault!" She yelled at it, trying to blame something for her problem. "If you were never real, then my mother wouldn't have died, and I'd be able to be normal and allow myself to love Yamato! And I wouldn't always be afraid!" She yanked it of her neck and threw it into a corner.
She angrily looked around the room, like someone was there that ruined her life. Nothing was there but a computer, some clothes on the floor, a t.v., hamper, mirror, closet, burrow, and another burrow and a nightstand. They only thing in the room that ruined her life was that necklace. The powerful necklace. Ryo glared at it with more hatred that she had ever felt in her life.
Episode 3- The Christmas Dance
"So are you going to the dance?" Sora asked Ryo in school the next day. Mimi, Ryo, and Sora were walking down the halls of Odaiba High School. Ryo was wearing her necklace again and thinking nothing of it.
"Yeah I guess. How about you, Mimi?"
"No, I'm going back to New York after school. I'll be back next month. To bad the dance wasn't last night instead of tonight…" Mimi said sadly.
"Oh that's to bad!" Ryo exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Mimi sighed.
"Well, Ryo, what are you wearing?" Sora asked.
"It's this pretty red dress with my stomach showing and some green chrystals around my belly button." Sora and Mimi nodded.
"Cool." Sora said. They started walking out of the buidling.
"Hey Ryo…" Mimi started.
"Yeah?"
"Well…I know that you said that you want nothing to do with Matt…but…can't you just try to get to know him?" Ryo sighed angrily and sadly.
"I…I guess…"
"Great!" Mimi cried.
"Yo! Ryo!" Kevin yelled.
"Gotta go, bye." Ryo ran to her brothers car and got into the back.
"Where'd Ray?" He asked. Ryo looked around.
"I dunno. Probably has detention." She said, shrugging. Kevin also shrugged.
"Probably." He sighed. "If he doesn't come in…two minutes, we're leaving."
One minute passed on Kevins digital clock.
"That's it." Kevin said, putting the ____ into gear.
"But it's only been one minute." Ryo was surprised at her words. "Ah, never mind. Let's go." Kevin smiled as they started pulling away from the school.
"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!" They heard Ray yell. They laughed and Kev kept driving.
Episode 4- Starting To give In
Ryo leaned forward and put her head in her hand and stared at Matt. She was doing it atomatically without realizing it and not giving any notice to her math teacher.
Matt was writing something, not paying attention either. If he didn't pay attention, then how did he get such good grades…? She asked herself.
Ryo almost yelped in surprise as Matt turned around and smiled. She jumped and took her head off of her hand. Matt was one desk in front and over from her. In his hand was a folded up piece of paper, her name written on the front.
Ryo glanced at the teacher, she was turned around, writing on the board.
She looked back at Matt as he threw it.
Ryo backed up and put the paper on her lap, sighed bravely, and opened it. From behind her, Sora was looking at her.
The note said:
Hey Ryo. This is so boring, isn't it? Haha
Well, I figured that this was the only way that I could talk to you.
Listen, Kari told T.K. about the whole guy problem and T.K. told me. I'm not trying to be forward or anything, but just to let you know, I would never do that. 'Ya know, there are some things about me and some of the people in the school that is not exactly normal!
Anyways, could we at least be friends?
Write Back.
Matt
Ryo stared at it for a minute then took out her pencil and wrote back:
Hi Matt. I'm really sorry, but that's what they all say…
I guess we could try being friends. But, I can't get to close to you. Please, please understand. I don't really trust anyone anymore…
But I'm not going to get into that right now.
See ya.
Ryo
Ryo folded up the note and looked at Matt. He was sitting sideways in his chair, then he noticed her looking at him and she threw it across the floor and he picked it up, opened it, and read, then started writing again. He threw it at her again.
Okay. I'm really sorry to hear- er, read, that we can't be close. J but friends is good. At least your giving me a chance.
We should stop writing now, we'll get caught.
See ya at the dance
Matt
Ryo smiled and folded up the paper and put it in her pocket. So. She had given into temtation. Prepared to be hurt again, Ryo. She told herself, then sighed. Maybe he won't be bad. Maybe you can date him…
Ryo sighed. Maybe…
Ryo looked at herself in the mirror.
"Ugly. So ugly…" She said to herself. "How could Matt even want to be just friends, with me?!"
"No kidding, you're so ugly. Unlike me." Ray said, he was in her doorway, eating something.
"How long have you been standing there?!" Ryo yelled, realizing that she had just gotten changed. Ray snickered. He was wearing wide-legged baggy pants and a black shirt.
"Long enough." He said. Ryo's jaw dropped.
"You…little…" Ray grinned as Ryo screamed and started running after him, going pretty fast even though she was wearing a mini skirt and platform shoes.
Ray ran out the door, still screaming and making people open their doors and look.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!" She yelled.
"You- okay?" They both stopped running and turned around. Yolie was standing there with a soda in her hand.
Ryo turned back to Ray and smacked him as hard as she could across the face, making him fall over and left a very red hand mark on his cheek.
"Gaaahhhh!!!!" Ray yelled, standing up, his own hand on his cheek. "All I did was stand in your room!!!"
"Yeah and invade my privacy!"
"I just wanted to see if you were gonna draw another pretty picture!" He whined.
"Well obviously I wasn't drawing a picture!!!!"
"Well…you might've after you were done!"
"Oh Ray you're imposible!" She yelled, stomping back into her apartment then slamming the door and locking it.
As she expected, Ray started banging on the door and Kevin opened it.
"Whoa, dude! What happened to your cheek?!" Kevin yelled.
"Ryo happened to my cheek." Ray said with a scowl.
"Well, let's get you some ice." He walked over to the freezer, got an ice pack, wrapped it in a towel, then gave it to Ray and turned to Ryo and grinned. "Dude, that was suh-weet!" He held out his hand for a high-five and she 'fived' him.
Ryo sighed then walked into the school with Ray, her purse hanging over her shoulder. He had almost not gone because his cheek had swelled up a little, but he wasn't going to miss the Christmas Dance.
Almost immediately Sora ran over to her.
"Hey Ryo! You're finally here! C'mon, you have to meet the gang." She cried, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to a group of people.
"The-gang?" Ryo asked. Sora grinned. The only people she knew in this group was Sora, Matt, Yolie, TK, and Kari.
"This is Izzy, this is Jyou, this is Tai, this is Ken, Davis, and Cody." She said, beaming.
"Hi." Christna said.
"Hey!" They all cried.
"I've heard a lot about you." Tai said, elboing Matt. Matt blushed and laughed uneasily, his eyes darting left then right.
"I see." Ryo said. Everyone laughed except Matt and Ryo. Ken looked at Ryo very closely.
"Don't I know you?" He asked.
"Well…you do look familiar." She replied.
"Maybe you've seen him on tv." Yolie said. Ryo shook her head quickly.
"Definetly not. I don't watch tv." She answered.
"Oh." Yolie said after a short awkward silence. The steady beat of 'A Teens' with 'Bouncing Off The Ceiling'.
"Well. Let's just say that you look familiar." Ken said, smiling.
"Yeah…" She answered. Everyone sarted talking except Ryo, then they stopped when it became a slow song. Kari went out on the floor with TK, Davis turning red.
"Hey Ryo!" Tai cried. She turned to him. Matt's eyes were wide and he was blushing slightly. "You wanna dance with Matt?" Now he's pushing it. I said we could be friends, oh god, your just going to hurt yourself again… Ryo thought, then sighed. Matt was wearing his usual black blouse and pants.
"Sure. Why not?" She said. Matt smiled and they both walked out. He wrapped his arms around her and her around him.
"So. Is that really true what TK told me?" Matt asked. Ryo sighed.
"I really wish people could just forget about that." She paused. "Yes, yes it is."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I really am. I don't know how anyone could do that to someone like you." Ryo blushed and turned her eyes to the left and down.
The song ended and he let her go. He smiled then they both walked back to the others.
Davis was still red.
"Kari, will you dance with me next?!" He yelled. Kari giggled.
"Sure. Why not." Davis beamed and threw a fist in the air.
"Yeah!" He cried. Everyone laughed.
"That's Davis, for 'ya." Tai said.
"Hey, how about we all go hang out somewhere after the dance?" Izzy asked.
"Yeah, okay." Jyou said.
"What about you, Ryo?" Tai asked.
"Yeah…I guess." She replied.
"YOU CAN'T GO WITHOUT ME!!!!!" Ray cried, running over, his cheek still red and swelled.
"Whoa, Ray! What happened?!" TK cried. Ray glared at Ryo.
"She happened."
"Why?" Kari asked.
"I was just standing in her room seeing if she was gonna draw another pretty picture!" Ray cried, innocentely.
"Picture?" Sora asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Yeah. Picture. You know, take a pencil and draw? She does it all the time." Ray said.
"What was the picture that you were trying to show me but Ryo ripped up?" Matt asked. Ray opened his mouth and took in air, but Ryo cut him off.
"Unless you want your other cheek even worse than that one, you'd better shut up." She said. Ray yelped.
"I see." Matt said in a low tone.
"Hey! Why don't you draw a picture of me?" Sora asked. "Did you bring paper?" Ryo nodded.
"I have a small notebook, but the picture would be small. And anyways, my pictures are no good." Ray's jaw dropped.
"Are you kidding?! She's won like, a bazzilion awards!"
"Well, can you draw me?" Sora repeated.
"Yeah. Sure."
"Then draw me and Kari!" Davis yelled. Kari giggled.
"Okay." Ryo reached into her purse and sat onto a bench as Sora pulled out a chair and sat on it and crossed her legs as every gathered around.
Ryo took out the small notebook and a pencil. She brought it just incase she wasn't fitting in and was alone so she could just draw to pass the time.
Ryo started by drawing her head. She drew her eyes first, then her nose, mouth, and then the outline of her head, then started her hair, shading it.
When she was done with the head, having to draw the shadows, she drew her neck then worked her way down.
When she finished, she sighed and put down her pencil and looked at it.
"I did it very quick. It's even worse than usual." She said. Sora took it and her jaw dropped.
"This is excelent!" She gently tore the paper out of the small notebook. Everyone crowded around and talked about how good it was, Ryo blushing.
Next she drew Kari and Davis, then Kari and TK. They all thought that the pictures were really good.
"Alright ya'll!" The DJ called. "This is the last song!" He played 'Eve 6''s 'Promise'.
Ryo smiled and stood up, putting her notebook back into her purse.
The song ended it almost no time and everyone started waving goodbye.
Ryo and Ray walked out and waited for their dad to come. About fifteen minutes passed and everyone had gone and the lights went out.
They sat down on the concrete gorund and waited, shivering in the cold.
"You think he forgot?" Ray asked, his teeth chattering. Ryo nodded.
"Yeah. I do."
"You got your phone?"
"Nope." They sighed. "Let's wait a little longer." Ray turned to her.
"And then what? It'd take until morning to walk all the way back to our house!"
"Yeah. I know." She sighed.
"What a great Dad we've got." Ray said, rolling his eyes. "Kev probably won't even notice we're gone." Ryo nodded.
"He'll probably know and just leave us since you're not there and it's nice and quiet." She mocked. Ray looked at her.
"Hey, I'm being serious right now. So you be serious."
"I am." Ray grumbled something. "So how are we getting home if they forget?"
"Well, we either sleep here, or we walk." Ray said.
"I choose walk."
"Me, too." Ray said as they stood up and started walking. "And if all else fails, we can act like hobos and sleep somewhere halfway to the house." He added. Ryo laughed.
About two hours passed and they were still walking. It was around twelve o' clock.
"Aw….I'm so tired…" Ray whined.
"So am I, but I'm not complaining."
"Well you should be." Ryo sighed.
"I still can't believe they forgot about us."
"No kidding."
"Well, atleast we're almost there…"
"You said that ten minutes ago."
"Hey, at least I'm looking on the positive side." She replied. Ray sighed. Not many cars were passing my them.
They came to their block and laughed in happiness. By then it must have been past two in the morning.
"Yeah! And we didn't even have to sleep with the hobos!" Ray cried. Ryo laughed and they kept walking.
They got to their apartment builidng and went up to their room.
"DAD?!" Ryo yelled.
"Hi Ryo!" He called back.
"What da hell's wrond wit chu?!" Ray yelled at the top of his lungs.
Their dad came out of his office in her chair with the wheels on the bottom.
"What do you mean, Raymond?" He asked, a concerned look on his face.
"The dance!!" Ray and Ryo yelled at the same time. Their father smacked his head.
"Oh my god, I forgot! You've got to understand, I was so busy." Kevin walked in, he was stretching and wearing boxers and a white muscle shirt.
"What's all the yelling about?" He asked. They explained. "Oh. Oh yeah, Ryo. Some boy called for you." She raised an eyebrow.
"Boy? Who?" She questioned.
"Some boy named Yamato Ishida."
"What did he say?!" She cried. Kevin, her dad, and Ray all grinned and exchanged looks.
"Finally getting' back into boys, huh Ryo…?" Her dad asked. They laughed. Ryos face turned red.
"What did he say?!" She repeated.
"He was just called to ask why you didn't head over with him and Sora to hang out after the dance, and then he called back like an hour later."
"What'd he say the second time he called?"
"Aah, he was jus' askin' if you were okay cause you didn't call him back."
"Wait a minute." Ray started. "You knew about us at the dance?!" Kevin grinned.
"Yup." Ryo and Ray's jaw dropped.
"Dad!!!" They both yelled.
"Kev…" Their dad started. "You know they could've gotten hurt." He said. "Grounded. A week." Kevin groaned then went back to bed.
"Well, you two'd better get to bed. You've got school tomorrow." Ray groaned.
"Aw…I forgot…we have school on Saturdays…" They went into their own rooms, and Ryo made sure to lock the door.
Episode 5- Planning
"Did you get my call?" Matt asked the next day. They were walking to science. She sighed.
"Yeah. My brother told me at two in the morning."
"What happened?"
"They forgot to pick up me and Ray so we walked home."
"You should've just come with me and everyone else; I couldn've driven you home." She smiled.
"Thanks."
"So…did your dad say that you can come?" She looked at him. He couldn't possibly mean a date, could he?!
"Huh? To where?" She asked kind of quickly. Matt laughed.
"Hey. Come down. I asked your brother if you could come to my concert. It's in three weeks, Saturday night at seven." She raised an eyebrow.
"Your concert?"
"Yeah. I'm in a band." He said. She smiled.
"Yeah. I can probably come." Matt smiled and they walked into the science lab.
"Okay." The teacher started. "Today I'm asigning new seats."
Ryo hoped that she was next to Matt, yet at the same time not.
"Okay…" He started assigning seats, and Ryo was assigned to the back and right of the room. She took her seat.
She sighed when Matt was assigned somewhere else, but that was in front of her, so it was okay. Tai was next to her, and Izzy was next to Matt.
"Hey." Tai said.
"Hey." Ryo said.
Science class was always very boring. She was talking to Tai.
"Sooo…." Tai started. "You like Matt?" Ryo said, angrily.
"Why won't anyone leave me alone?!" She cried.
"Well? Do you?"
"No!"
"As a friend?"
"Kind of!"
"I see." He said, turning back to Mr. Pistoni. Even if she liked Matt, she would not say it to anyone. She wouldn't even say those three words(I love Matt) outloud. They were even hardly spoken in her head.
About a week later, Ryo was in the school with Sora and the others and it was a Sunday, they said that they hung out there sometimes on weekends. Ray was with them.
"Hey Chris." Ray started.
"What do you want now?" She asked impatiently. Ray smirked.
"Hey. If you're getting an attitude towards me, I won't show you this." Ray pulled out of his pocket a piece of paper that was folded up.
"What's that?!" She cried.
"Oh…just a letter from Jay…"
"Jay?!" Ryo yelled in shock.
"Who's Jay?" Matt asked.
"Gimme that!" She yelled, grabbing the letter:
Hi Ryo. Long time no see.
Hey. Me and a couple other people were talking about you, and I just felt like writing a letter.
Listen. I don't know what happened between us. Yeah, sure, so what if you're crazy. When you're not talking…about…that thing, you're pretty cool. Here's a tip: where you are now, keep that…story down. People could actually like you if they think you're sane!
Well anyways, I gotta go. Call me sometime-555-9087.
-Jay
Ryo finished it and just stared at it for a minute.
"How long ago did you get this?" She asked Ray. He shrugged.
"Couple days ago." He said. "If it makes you feel better, I never did really like Jay. I mean his whole gang and everything made it seem a little freaky…and I didn't feel safe at night knowing that he knew where I lived."
"Who's Jay?" Sora asked.
"Nobody. A nobody." Ryo said, picking up the letter and walking outside.
She leaned up against a tree then fell into a sit, staring at the school with nothing but hatred towards Jay in her mind.
Jay had been her old boyfriend in their home three homes back, and that was about a year ago.
Matt walked out of the school, his hands in his pockets.
"You okay?" He asked. She nodded, sighing.
"Yeah." Matt stood there for a minute, staring at her as she stared into space.
"I…" he started. Ryo didn't remove her stare. "I…I wanted to tell you…" Her eyes rose to the left to look at him. "I…"
"You…?" She asked. Matt sighed deeply.
"I love you." The shock that she felt was enormous. Her mouth was open and eyes wide as she stared at him. Matt bit his lip, then a couple seconds later her smiled and walked away, she was staring at him the whole time.
Ryo was in her room, drawing again. She was obviously drawing Matt, and her notebook was now filled with many different styles of himself.
She sighed. She couldn't believe that he told her that he loved her.
Many emotions were going on inside her. Shock, love, pain, longing, guilt…
She sighed and put down her pencil and put away her notebook.
What could she do? If she became his girlfriend, he would definetly drive her secret out of her then he would hurt her, like all the others…
But maybe he wouldn't.
"Or maybe I just won't tell him." She decided, smiling. "That's it! I'll never tell himm my secret! Then everything will be alright!" She paused. "But how would I tell him?"
"Ryo!" Kevin yelled. "Someone's here to see you!"
"Kay!" She cried. "Funny." She said to herself, getting up. "I didn't even hear the doorbell ring."
She opened her door and went outside. Tai was standing there.
"Hi." He said.
"Hi." She said.
"Listen, M-" He started, but Ray, Kevin, and her dad was all listening. Tai laughed uneasily. "Can I talk to you- alone?" Ryo laughed and nodded.
"Yeah. Follow me." She said.
They went into her room, she knew her dad would probably be a little upset that she was taking him into her room, but she didn't really care right then.
"So? What?"
"Matt..Matt told me that he told you that he loved you, and you didn't answer. I dunno if you know, but that's pretty harsh. It takes a lot of guts to tell someone that they love you." Ryo laughed.
"Believe me. I know." She said. Tai raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really?" He asked. She shrugged and sat down on her bed. A couple months ago she would have never thought of having a boy in her room. The very thought was like a sin to her.
"Yeah." She replied.
"Um…well…" He sighed. "Okay. I gues I came here to ask you. Please, please, you can ask anyone, I can keep secrets. No lies, now. Do you like- love- Matt. If you don't want me to tell, I won't." He said, putting his right hand on his heart and left hand in front of her face to show her that there were no crosses. She sighed.
"Yeah. Yeah I do." There goes her promise to herself to not tell anyone. Tai smiled. "And no, you can't tell." The smiled drooped a little, but it still stayed. "So…since I told you, who do you like?" The smile left his face.
"You can keep a secret, right?" She nodded. "Well…I like Sora." She smiled.
"I see." Tai nodded.
"So…are you ever going to tell Matt?" He asked. She sighed.
"Well…I want to…but I don't know how…" Tai smiled.
"Well, why don't we try and get you two alone sometime? I'll tell him to meet you somehwere after school tomorrow, how about that?" She nodded.
"Yeah. Alright." Tai again smiled.
Episode 6- Planning
"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Ryo said to herself on Monday. She was standing outside of the school, Matt had walked out about ten minutes ago to meet her in the park.
She sighed, pulled her shirt out of her skirt, fixed her skirt a little, took out her brush and fixed her hair, then started walking. It would take her five minutes to get to the park.
She was so nervous. She still couldn't believe what she was doing.
She got to the park. Matt was leaning up against a tree, looking around.
Ryo sighed and walked over to Matt. He noticed her and smiled.
"Hey." He started. "What did you want to tell me?" Her stomach was in nots as she took a deep breath in, then out.
"I…well…you know how yesterday you told me that you loved me?" She asked. He nodded, blushing slightly. "Well…I uh…" She again sighed deeply. "I love you, too." She bit her lip as he smiled.
"Really?" He asked. She nodded, still biting her lip. He smiled and went over to her, and kissed her.
If he had done it any faster, she would have quickly pulled away, but for some reason, she didn't. She knew that she was going to be in great pain in the future, but right then, she didn't care.
