Disclaimer: Digimon are the champions of not being owned by anyone except
the people who made the television show and concept possible.
P.S. God bless them for giving life to those little critters.
LAST TIME…
Tai excepted Jane's offer to go out on a date to go out with her, while Matt and Sora went out on theirs. And just when Sora finally realized that she truly DID love Tai, Jane started to get comfy with him, and they grew closer. How will Sora deal with this new predicament? (Well keeping reading, schmuck!)
From Courage To Love - Chapter 10
(Wow, we're this far already?)
Sora had lain down on her bed for what seemed like hours ago, thought it was probably less than that long. Every time the endless pitcher of tears from her eyes looked like it was empty, it would quickly refill and new, fresh tears would escape. Sora sadly sniffed, while the pain in her chest continued. Her lips quivered every so often, and her voice broke down into nearly awful cries and sobs of remorse and regret.
Mrs. Takenouchi, who had been listening outside her daughter's door, didn't have to be smart to figure out that Sora's behavior had something to do with a certain someone who went by the name Tai Kamiya. She finally decided that she had enough, and opened Sora's door.
"Sora…sweetie? What's going on?" Mrs. Takenouchi asked, sitting down on the side of Sora's bed.
Sora sat up and faced her mother.
"ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" Sora shouted through thick, watery tears. Then she quickly buried her face in her pillow, and began to cry again.
Mrs. Takenouchi knew that Sora probably wasn't exactly in Tai's good graces, or something like that. She also knew that Sora didn't mean to shout in her face, so she didn't take it personally and decided at another attempt at communication with her daughter.
"Please, honey…what's wrong?" she tried again, continuing to ask in a gentle voice.
Sora slowly sat up again and chose to explain this time.
"I'm sorry, Mom…I just…it's Tai. He…he…oh, Mom I can't…!" Sora again broke down.
"Easy, easy," replied Sora's mom, putting her arm around her daughter. "Now, tell me…what's going on with Tai?"
Sora took a few seconds to let some more tears go and blew her nose. Doing her best to regain her composure, Sora tried to explain a possible growing relationship between her good friends Tai Kamiya and Jane Cooper.
"And it's just…the moment I finally realized how I felt for him…he had to go and…I'm such an idiot!!!" she exclaimed, punching her hand on the bed.
"Sora, calm down," Mrs. Takenouchi said firmly.
"Calm down!?! What am I supposed to do? Just march up to him, tell him how I feel, and hope that he'll break it off with Jane???"
"Do you think that's the right thing to do?"
"Well…I don't know…Jane's not the kind of person who deserves that…"
"But you do feel strongly for Tai?"
"Of course! I…wanna be with him…oh, I don't know what to do! I'm so confused!"
"Just listen to your heart, Sora. When it comes to true love, it'll lead you in the right direction."
Sora sniffled again, brushed a few more tears out of her eyes, and thought over her mother's words.
*********************
"Okay, I'm goin' out for a while!" yelled Tai.
"See you later!" Mrs. Kamiya yelled back.
"Where you going, bro?" Kari asked, glancing up from a book she was reading.
"Out to lunch with Matt," Tai replied. "He called and said he had something important to tell me over lunch. Later!"
Kari giggled, guessing about what Matt might have to tell him. Unfortunately, she didn't know about Jane…
*********************
Matt looked at watch as Tai ran towards his direction.
"You're late!" he complained.
"Sorry, man…" Tai said scratching the back of his head. "I just took some time to smell the flowers. Beautiful day, isn't it?"
"Uhhh, yeeeeeeeeah…anyway, let's eat, I'm starving!"
"So am I, Matt. So am I."
They might have complained if they had fully acknowledged that the place they were entering was a fast food restaurant. But both were so hungry that they would have eaten that nasty pink stuff that comes from a digimon's…
Uhh…
"So what did you wanna talk to me about, Matt?" asked Tai sitting down with his lunch.
"Oh yeah, uhh…well, this may or may not come as a surprise to you, but, uh…"
Tai moved his face close to Matt's to make sure that whatever he heard, he would hear correctly…
"Go, on…" Tai said.
"I, uhh…broke…"
"AHHHHH!!!!!" yelled a voice. Tai and Matt, whipped their heads around to see the restaurant manager yelling at one of the employees.
"Look what you did!!! You got suds all over that booth! Thank goodness no one was sitting there! Watch carefully next time, you numbskull!"
"Y-yes, sir…" the worker sheepishly replied.
"DO IT AGAIN AND YOU'RE FIRED!!!" the manger roared. The employees quickly stopped watching the manger and went back to work.
"Whoa…" Tai said, amazed. "That guy's worse than Mr. Yujiko." (Remember him? From Chapter 1?)
"You mean 'Mr. You Jerk-o.'" Matt joked.
Tai laughed, like he used to. Matt noticed that Tai hadn't laughed like that for a long time, and something about it bothered him in the back of his mind.
"But anyway, what were you gonna say?" Tai asked.
"Oh, yeah. You see, me and So-"
"Hey, everybody look out the window!" a customer shouted.
"Huh?" Matt and Tai said simultaneously.
Everyone, ESPECIALLY Matt, was astounded by the sight outside…
Tai looked outside with a wry smile.
"GACK!" Matt exclaimed. Outside was a gigantic mob of girls, mostly from Tai and Matt's school. And Matt didn't have to be "The Thinker" to figure out what they wanted. Although the restaurant was two stories high, Matt could hear the girls scream for him when he appeared in the window. Somehow word had quickly gotten around that he had broke up with Sora.
"Oh, no…" Matt moaned, sinking in his seat.
"Your adoring fans appear to want something from you…" Tai joked. "…or maybe JUST you."
Matt just groaned and sunk even further in his seat.
"Funny, I haven't seen those girls cheer like that since before you got together with Sora…"
YES! Sora! Matt's brain snapped back into action. Sora! That what he wanted to talk about!
"Yeah! That's what I meant to talk about!" Matt nearly shouted.
"Umm, well…I think you better tell me before something else interrupts you."
"Well, y'see I told Sora…"
"Hey, guys!" said another voice. Tai turned his head to face Iori "CODY" Hida.
"Tai! Matt! Didn't expect to see you guys here! What are you-"
"GO AWAY!!!!!" Matt bellowed.
"GAH!!!" Cody immediately made himself scarce, faster (and smarter) then a speeding bullet.
"Matt, what was THAT for?!? You're acting real funny today!"
Tai gave Matt a few seconds to calm down and cool off. But Matt still looked pretty stressed afterwards.
"Look, Matt maybe you better tell me your big secret some other-"
"TAI, I BROKE UP WITH SORA!!!"
Tai went wide-eyed, his mouth hanging open. "Wha…what…did you say?"
"I broke up with Sora," Matt repeated.
"Oh, I see…are you crazy?!?" Tai impatiently asked.
"Tai, I did it for us…uh, wait a minute, that didn't come out right…"
"Look, would you just kindly slow down and explain???"
"I…look…I've noticed this…rift forming between you and Sora…and I knew that even while we were together, she still…always…felt something for you. And for that reason, we mutually decided to break up."
"Oh…I…I don't know what to say."
"Yeah, well…"
"But what about you?"
"Ahh, don't worry about me. I'll get by, no problem. Ooh, I think I need another milkshake…be right back," he said, going back to the counter.
Tai exhaled heavily before taking another sip of his drink. This was a lot to take in, for sure. Suddenly, another familiar voice greeted him. "Yo, Tai!"
Tai eyes were greeted with the sight of T.K.
"Hey, Tai! Long time no see!"
"I'll say!"
"May I…?" asked T.K., implying that he wanted to sit down in the same booth.
"Sure."
"Thanks…I saw my brother at the counter, he looked kinda funny."
"It's a long story."
"You know, I saw a gigantic group of girls outside. And I also saw Cody running away like there was no tomorrow. What's up with him?"
"Uhh…that's another long story."
T.K. nodded and took a bite out of his BLT sandwich. Seconds later, Matt sat down with them with another milkshake, and greeted T.K.
"Uh, Matt?" asked Tai.
"Yeah?"
"I meant to ask…how are you doing…I mean after the breakup with Sora and all?"
"Matt, you broke up with Sora??? The two of you looked so happy last night at the dance! When did this happen?"
"That's an even longer story, T.K.," Tai noted.
"Guys, guys!" Matt almost shouted, taking another sip from his milkshake. "Look, Tai…really…I'm fine, don't worry about me!"
"Are you absolutely, positively SURE???"
"YES!!! Don't even think twice about it! I think I'm mature enough to handle one little breakup!"
Five milkshakes later…
"AN' THEN…AN' THEN IT WUSH LIKKK…SHE JUS' LEF' MEEEEEE!!!!!!! WAHHHHHH!!!!!!"
For almost fifteen minutes T.K. and Tai had been forced to listen to Matt's "tragic loss" and it wasn't too bad until Matt actually started crying. This is DE-pressing, Tai thought.
Tai and T.K. squeezed their eyes shut and covered their ears from Matt's bawling.
"Man!" Tai complained. "I had no idea Matt could sob this hard!"
"I had no idea someone could drown their sorrows in milkshakes!" T.K. added.
"Let's get him outta here before we get kicked out!"
"I'm with you!"
"NOOO…I WAN' ONE MO' MIL' SH'K!!!"
"Forget it, Matt! You need some major rest, pal!" Tai said.
Unfortunately, Matt wasn't going to go willingly, so Tai pulled him up by his arms, and T.K. took him from the legs. It wasn't easy, but the two boys managed to pick him up.
*********************
"So???"
"Mieko, will you quit bugging me?" asked Jane.
"C'mon, girl, spill and tell!" demanded Mieko, as the two of them walked down the street. "You have GOT to tell me how your date went!"
"I already told you, nothing major happened! It was a very nice date!" Jane assured.
"No way I'm buyin' that! I want the real deal! Gimme the juicy details!"
"Well…we shared a sweet 'good night' kiss…"
"Come ON."
"We went to a stinky movie and then to a dance club! THAT'S ALL!!!"
"Honestly, Jane! When it comes to first dates, you're completely brain dead! Geez, if it was ME…ooh, boy I would've shown Tai a REAL good time! Grrrrrr, he's sooooo CUTE!" Mieko exclaimed, blushing, and apparently lost in her daydreams.
Jane rolled her eyes and kept walking. But she stopped when her eyes caught something across the street. Mieko's eyes confirmed what Jane thought she saw.
"Hey! Isn't that him now?"
Jane looked across and sure enough, there was Tai…CARRYING Matt, with the assistance of T.K.
"Uhh…why are they carrying Matt down the street???" Jane asked.
"Don't ask me," Mieko replied. "I don't think I even wannna know why."
*********************
The rest of the day went without much disturbance or craziness. It was late afternoon when Matt finally calmed down, and agreed to take a necessary nap. His proper senses began to kick in again, and even more so when he received a call from his now former girlfriend, Sora.
"H-h-hello, Matt?"
"Ooh, what a headache…Sora, is that you?"
"Y-yeah. Are you okay, Matt?"
"Yeah, just a major brain freeze from five milkshakes…a mere nothing."
"Umm, yeah. Maybe I should call some other ti-"
"No, no, I'm cool, Sora. In more ways than one, believe me. So what's wrong? Sounds like you've been crying."
"I…I have."
"Something tells me these aren't tears of joy, right?"
"Well…"
No more than a minute passed before Matt and Sora agreed to meet so that Sora could explain to Matt all that had happened recently with Tai.
When they met, Sora was already crying again. Matt absolutely hated to see Sora cry, but then, it wasn't ever pleasurable to see someone cry. Matt did his best as an ex-boyfriend to comfort Sora, and put his arms around her. Not too surprisingly, she also wrapped her arms around him, needing some kind of support. Through cries, she managed to relay the details about what happened.
"He what??? No way!" Matt said in disbelief.
"It's no joke! He started dating Jane!"
"I can't believe he…so that's why…"
"Why what?" asked Sora, looking up at him from her tears.
"When I told him that we broke up, I expected a more bigger, dramatic reaction than the one I got."
Sora sadly sat down on a park bench, and slowly shook her head, still in disbelief that Tai could possibly give his heart to a girl other than her. This is all my fault, she thought. If only I had given him a fair chance last Christmas…
And Sora was now, more than ever, willing to give him another chance. But would Tai give her another chance as well, considering the way things were going between them?
Before Matt or Sora could say anything else, someone else arrived on the scene.
"Hey, guys!"
"Oh, Joe! Hi!" said Sora.
"Hey, Joe!" greeted Matt, with hints of a small smile on his face.
"Hey there Matt, Sora. What's with the gloomy faces? Has Tai spread his depressing mood to-"
"Tai?!?" asked Sora. "When did you talk to Tai?"
"Oh, a day or two ago. He seemed pretty broken up over you two going out."
"Uh, Joe…we broke up," Matt noted.
"Really? You don't say…"
"But I did."
"Exactly."
"What?!?"
"Cut it out, you two!" Sora shouted. "Sorry, but I'm a little preoccupied at the moment."
"Oh, yeah?" asked Joe again. "What's the deal?"
"Sora's…disappointed that Tai started to date another girl," Matt mentioned. "And apparently the two of them have gotten pretty comfy with each other, even after their first date."
Joe scratched his head for a second them smiled. "Ah, Jane!"
"You know her?" asked Matt.
"Yeah, she takes some classes at my school a few days a week. She told me a while back that she liked Tai."
"Oh."
"Yep, and I told Tai that she was pretty interested in him…"
"Wait a minute…" interrupted Sora, with a hint of suspicion in her voice. "So just what exactly DID you do when you found out that Jane liked Tai?"
"Oh, umm…I told Tai that he should stop thinking about you so much, and try going out with Jane."
"You did what?!?" asked Sora, shocked.
"YOU played matchmaker???" asked Matt, equally shocked but for a different reason.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sora almost shouted. "Lemme get this straight…you told Tai that he had zero chances with me, so you then encouraged him to go out with Jane???"
"Well…in a nutshell…yeah."
Matt slapped his forehead, and turned away. Sora just gave off a fake laugh, similar to the one back at the dance.
"Oh, I see…" Sora said between laughs.
Immediately, Sora tackled Joe, pinned him to ground, and started pounding him as hard as she could. (Well…nearly as hard as she could.) Joe didn't have a chance to react.
"I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU…!!!!!"
"Agh, Sora…get a grip…!" Joe said between hits.
"I AM!!!"
Matt quickly tried to pry Sora off from Joe, but it was useless. Her mind was on fire. Suddenly, another person was seen walking in their direction. Matt thanked the stars it was Mieko. Matt called to her for help. Mieko immediately saw what was going on, and rushed over to help.
"So who am I helping, you or her?" she asked.
"ME!!!"
"Geez, all right, already! Ya don't need to yell!"
Mieko contributed her strength to the current fiasco that was occurring and she and Matt gradually managed to pull Sora off. They dragged Sora back to the bench where she was sitting, and held her down. Sora was panting heavily, as if she just ran a mile.
"LET GO OF ME!!!" she yelled.
"Sorry Sora, but you're not handling this properly," Matt noted.
"This has somethin' to do with Tai, I'm guessin'," said Mieko, helping Joe up.
"You got that right," Matt replied. "Look, Sora…I think the best way to deal with this is simply to just tell Tai how you feel."
Finally calming down, Sora mulled over Matt's words, and soon slowly nodded.
"I guess…the first thing to do is to find him…" she said to herself.
"Oh, I think I can help out with THAT one…" Mieko laughed almost evilly.
"What do you mean?" asked Joe.
"Well, y'see…Tai just happens to be going on a date with Jane tonight."
"Do you know where they're going?" asked Matt.
"Nope…and even if I did…don't you think they deserve their privacy? Where's your decency?"
"Oh…Mieko…I'm sorry…" Sora said.
"I mean, c'mon…ya think they want the whole world to watch them while they're making out on their date?!?" Mieko started laughing hard.
Sora, Matt and Joe all sweatdropped.
"Anyway, I do happen to know that Tai'll be dropping Jane off at her house around ten tonight." Mieko continued. "Jane's one lucky girl…'cuz if that was me, ooh…I'D give that Tai what he needs!" Mieko blushed all over and began giggling in her own (somewhat) cute way, with her eyes closed, imagining herself and Tai…
Something inside Sora's brain snapped and she rolled up her sleeve while practically stomping over to Mieko was…
Thankfully, Matt managed to hold her back in time, mouthing the word "no," indicating what was really her top priority. Sora came to her senses and nodded.
*********************
9:58 p.m.
"No, you're kidding!" Tai said to Jane on the way back from their date.
"No really, Mieko actual pulled out a telescope from her bag to try to copy somebody's test!" Jane replied.
The two began laughing. Jane wrapped her arms around Tai, who did the same, and they silently hugged under the bright moonlight. But they soon shivered with the arrival of a cold breeze passing the vicinity, causing Tai to somehow loosen his grip around her.
"C'mon…we better get you home," Tai said.
Jane did nothing but smile.
The rest of the walk went without conversation, not that it needed to. Tai and Jane stopped a few steps short of Jane's walk. The two looked at each other, noticing such warmth in the other's eyes. They smiled closed their eyes, and slowly moved their lips towards…
…Tai suddenly got a very cold chill up his spine that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. And somehow he knew that it wasn't the wind. He immediately opened his eyes, which didn't have to look too far. The eyes quickly spotted a person in the form of Sora standing on Jane's stoop, her arms crossed. Jane opened her eyes, as well, noticing that his lips weren't touching hers, and looked in the direction that Tai was. The two of them blushed just at the thought of someone watching them.
"Uh…hey, Sora," Tai said, very nervously.
"Tai…" Sora began in a serious tone. "We have to talk."
TO BE CONTINUED…
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER…
Umm…truth be told, I haven't exactly figured out what I want to do with the next chapter, so just keep a look out for it, and keep reviewing, okay? Thanks, you guys and gals are the greatest!
P.S. God bless them for giving life to those little critters.
LAST TIME…
Tai excepted Jane's offer to go out on a date to go out with her, while Matt and Sora went out on theirs. And just when Sora finally realized that she truly DID love Tai, Jane started to get comfy with him, and they grew closer. How will Sora deal with this new predicament? (Well keeping reading, schmuck!)
From Courage To Love - Chapter 10
(Wow, we're this far already?)
Sora had lain down on her bed for what seemed like hours ago, thought it was probably less than that long. Every time the endless pitcher of tears from her eyes looked like it was empty, it would quickly refill and new, fresh tears would escape. Sora sadly sniffed, while the pain in her chest continued. Her lips quivered every so often, and her voice broke down into nearly awful cries and sobs of remorse and regret.
Mrs. Takenouchi, who had been listening outside her daughter's door, didn't have to be smart to figure out that Sora's behavior had something to do with a certain someone who went by the name Tai Kamiya. She finally decided that she had enough, and opened Sora's door.
"Sora…sweetie? What's going on?" Mrs. Takenouchi asked, sitting down on the side of Sora's bed.
Sora sat up and faced her mother.
"ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" Sora shouted through thick, watery tears. Then she quickly buried her face in her pillow, and began to cry again.
Mrs. Takenouchi knew that Sora probably wasn't exactly in Tai's good graces, or something like that. She also knew that Sora didn't mean to shout in her face, so she didn't take it personally and decided at another attempt at communication with her daughter.
"Please, honey…what's wrong?" she tried again, continuing to ask in a gentle voice.
Sora slowly sat up again and chose to explain this time.
"I'm sorry, Mom…I just…it's Tai. He…he…oh, Mom I can't…!" Sora again broke down.
"Easy, easy," replied Sora's mom, putting her arm around her daughter. "Now, tell me…what's going on with Tai?"
Sora took a few seconds to let some more tears go and blew her nose. Doing her best to regain her composure, Sora tried to explain a possible growing relationship between her good friends Tai Kamiya and Jane Cooper.
"And it's just…the moment I finally realized how I felt for him…he had to go and…I'm such an idiot!!!" she exclaimed, punching her hand on the bed.
"Sora, calm down," Mrs. Takenouchi said firmly.
"Calm down!?! What am I supposed to do? Just march up to him, tell him how I feel, and hope that he'll break it off with Jane???"
"Do you think that's the right thing to do?"
"Well…I don't know…Jane's not the kind of person who deserves that…"
"But you do feel strongly for Tai?"
"Of course! I…wanna be with him…oh, I don't know what to do! I'm so confused!"
"Just listen to your heart, Sora. When it comes to true love, it'll lead you in the right direction."
Sora sniffled again, brushed a few more tears out of her eyes, and thought over her mother's words.
*********************
"Okay, I'm goin' out for a while!" yelled Tai.
"See you later!" Mrs. Kamiya yelled back.
"Where you going, bro?" Kari asked, glancing up from a book she was reading.
"Out to lunch with Matt," Tai replied. "He called and said he had something important to tell me over lunch. Later!"
Kari giggled, guessing about what Matt might have to tell him. Unfortunately, she didn't know about Jane…
*********************
Matt looked at watch as Tai ran towards his direction.
"You're late!" he complained.
"Sorry, man…" Tai said scratching the back of his head. "I just took some time to smell the flowers. Beautiful day, isn't it?"
"Uhhh, yeeeeeeeeah…anyway, let's eat, I'm starving!"
"So am I, Matt. So am I."
They might have complained if they had fully acknowledged that the place they were entering was a fast food restaurant. But both were so hungry that they would have eaten that nasty pink stuff that comes from a digimon's…
Uhh…
"So what did you wanna talk to me about, Matt?" asked Tai sitting down with his lunch.
"Oh yeah, uhh…well, this may or may not come as a surprise to you, but, uh…"
Tai moved his face close to Matt's to make sure that whatever he heard, he would hear correctly…
"Go, on…" Tai said.
"I, uhh…broke…"
"AHHHHH!!!!!" yelled a voice. Tai and Matt, whipped their heads around to see the restaurant manager yelling at one of the employees.
"Look what you did!!! You got suds all over that booth! Thank goodness no one was sitting there! Watch carefully next time, you numbskull!"
"Y-yes, sir…" the worker sheepishly replied.
"DO IT AGAIN AND YOU'RE FIRED!!!" the manger roared. The employees quickly stopped watching the manger and went back to work.
"Whoa…" Tai said, amazed. "That guy's worse than Mr. Yujiko." (Remember him? From Chapter 1?)
"You mean 'Mr. You Jerk-o.'" Matt joked.
Tai laughed, like he used to. Matt noticed that Tai hadn't laughed like that for a long time, and something about it bothered him in the back of his mind.
"But anyway, what were you gonna say?" Tai asked.
"Oh, yeah. You see, me and So-"
"Hey, everybody look out the window!" a customer shouted.
"Huh?" Matt and Tai said simultaneously.
Everyone, ESPECIALLY Matt, was astounded by the sight outside…
Tai looked outside with a wry smile.
"GACK!" Matt exclaimed. Outside was a gigantic mob of girls, mostly from Tai and Matt's school. And Matt didn't have to be "The Thinker" to figure out what they wanted. Although the restaurant was two stories high, Matt could hear the girls scream for him when he appeared in the window. Somehow word had quickly gotten around that he had broke up with Sora.
"Oh, no…" Matt moaned, sinking in his seat.
"Your adoring fans appear to want something from you…" Tai joked. "…or maybe JUST you."
Matt just groaned and sunk even further in his seat.
"Funny, I haven't seen those girls cheer like that since before you got together with Sora…"
YES! Sora! Matt's brain snapped back into action. Sora! That what he wanted to talk about!
"Yeah! That's what I meant to talk about!" Matt nearly shouted.
"Umm, well…I think you better tell me before something else interrupts you."
"Well, y'see I told Sora…"
"Hey, guys!" said another voice. Tai turned his head to face Iori "CODY" Hida.
"Tai! Matt! Didn't expect to see you guys here! What are you-"
"GO AWAY!!!!!" Matt bellowed.
"GAH!!!" Cody immediately made himself scarce, faster (and smarter) then a speeding bullet.
"Matt, what was THAT for?!? You're acting real funny today!"
Tai gave Matt a few seconds to calm down and cool off. But Matt still looked pretty stressed afterwards.
"Look, Matt maybe you better tell me your big secret some other-"
"TAI, I BROKE UP WITH SORA!!!"
Tai went wide-eyed, his mouth hanging open. "Wha…what…did you say?"
"I broke up with Sora," Matt repeated.
"Oh, I see…are you crazy?!?" Tai impatiently asked.
"Tai, I did it for us…uh, wait a minute, that didn't come out right…"
"Look, would you just kindly slow down and explain???"
"I…look…I've noticed this…rift forming between you and Sora…and I knew that even while we were together, she still…always…felt something for you. And for that reason, we mutually decided to break up."
"Oh…I…I don't know what to say."
"Yeah, well…"
"But what about you?"
"Ahh, don't worry about me. I'll get by, no problem. Ooh, I think I need another milkshake…be right back," he said, going back to the counter.
Tai exhaled heavily before taking another sip of his drink. This was a lot to take in, for sure. Suddenly, another familiar voice greeted him. "Yo, Tai!"
Tai eyes were greeted with the sight of T.K.
"Hey, Tai! Long time no see!"
"I'll say!"
"May I…?" asked T.K., implying that he wanted to sit down in the same booth.
"Sure."
"Thanks…I saw my brother at the counter, he looked kinda funny."
"It's a long story."
"You know, I saw a gigantic group of girls outside. And I also saw Cody running away like there was no tomorrow. What's up with him?"
"Uhh…that's another long story."
T.K. nodded and took a bite out of his BLT sandwich. Seconds later, Matt sat down with them with another milkshake, and greeted T.K.
"Uh, Matt?" asked Tai.
"Yeah?"
"I meant to ask…how are you doing…I mean after the breakup with Sora and all?"
"Matt, you broke up with Sora??? The two of you looked so happy last night at the dance! When did this happen?"
"That's an even longer story, T.K.," Tai noted.
"Guys, guys!" Matt almost shouted, taking another sip from his milkshake. "Look, Tai…really…I'm fine, don't worry about me!"
"Are you absolutely, positively SURE???"
"YES!!! Don't even think twice about it! I think I'm mature enough to handle one little breakup!"
Five milkshakes later…
"AN' THEN…AN' THEN IT WUSH LIKKK…SHE JUS' LEF' MEEEEEE!!!!!!! WAHHHHHH!!!!!!"
For almost fifteen minutes T.K. and Tai had been forced to listen to Matt's "tragic loss" and it wasn't too bad until Matt actually started crying. This is DE-pressing, Tai thought.
Tai and T.K. squeezed their eyes shut and covered their ears from Matt's bawling.
"Man!" Tai complained. "I had no idea Matt could sob this hard!"
"I had no idea someone could drown their sorrows in milkshakes!" T.K. added.
"Let's get him outta here before we get kicked out!"
"I'm with you!"
"NOOO…I WAN' ONE MO' MIL' SH'K!!!"
"Forget it, Matt! You need some major rest, pal!" Tai said.
Unfortunately, Matt wasn't going to go willingly, so Tai pulled him up by his arms, and T.K. took him from the legs. It wasn't easy, but the two boys managed to pick him up.
*********************
"So???"
"Mieko, will you quit bugging me?" asked Jane.
"C'mon, girl, spill and tell!" demanded Mieko, as the two of them walked down the street. "You have GOT to tell me how your date went!"
"I already told you, nothing major happened! It was a very nice date!" Jane assured.
"No way I'm buyin' that! I want the real deal! Gimme the juicy details!"
"Well…we shared a sweet 'good night' kiss…"
"Come ON."
"We went to a stinky movie and then to a dance club! THAT'S ALL!!!"
"Honestly, Jane! When it comes to first dates, you're completely brain dead! Geez, if it was ME…ooh, boy I would've shown Tai a REAL good time! Grrrrrr, he's sooooo CUTE!" Mieko exclaimed, blushing, and apparently lost in her daydreams.
Jane rolled her eyes and kept walking. But she stopped when her eyes caught something across the street. Mieko's eyes confirmed what Jane thought she saw.
"Hey! Isn't that him now?"
Jane looked across and sure enough, there was Tai…CARRYING Matt, with the assistance of T.K.
"Uhh…why are they carrying Matt down the street???" Jane asked.
"Don't ask me," Mieko replied. "I don't think I even wannna know why."
*********************
The rest of the day went without much disturbance or craziness. It was late afternoon when Matt finally calmed down, and agreed to take a necessary nap. His proper senses began to kick in again, and even more so when he received a call from his now former girlfriend, Sora.
"H-h-hello, Matt?"
"Ooh, what a headache…Sora, is that you?"
"Y-yeah. Are you okay, Matt?"
"Yeah, just a major brain freeze from five milkshakes…a mere nothing."
"Umm, yeah. Maybe I should call some other ti-"
"No, no, I'm cool, Sora. In more ways than one, believe me. So what's wrong? Sounds like you've been crying."
"I…I have."
"Something tells me these aren't tears of joy, right?"
"Well…"
No more than a minute passed before Matt and Sora agreed to meet so that Sora could explain to Matt all that had happened recently with Tai.
When they met, Sora was already crying again. Matt absolutely hated to see Sora cry, but then, it wasn't ever pleasurable to see someone cry. Matt did his best as an ex-boyfriend to comfort Sora, and put his arms around her. Not too surprisingly, she also wrapped her arms around him, needing some kind of support. Through cries, she managed to relay the details about what happened.
"He what??? No way!" Matt said in disbelief.
"It's no joke! He started dating Jane!"
"I can't believe he…so that's why…"
"Why what?" asked Sora, looking up at him from her tears.
"When I told him that we broke up, I expected a more bigger, dramatic reaction than the one I got."
Sora sadly sat down on a park bench, and slowly shook her head, still in disbelief that Tai could possibly give his heart to a girl other than her. This is all my fault, she thought. If only I had given him a fair chance last Christmas…
And Sora was now, more than ever, willing to give him another chance. But would Tai give her another chance as well, considering the way things were going between them?
Before Matt or Sora could say anything else, someone else arrived on the scene.
"Hey, guys!"
"Oh, Joe! Hi!" said Sora.
"Hey, Joe!" greeted Matt, with hints of a small smile on his face.
"Hey there Matt, Sora. What's with the gloomy faces? Has Tai spread his depressing mood to-"
"Tai?!?" asked Sora. "When did you talk to Tai?"
"Oh, a day or two ago. He seemed pretty broken up over you two going out."
"Uh, Joe…we broke up," Matt noted.
"Really? You don't say…"
"But I did."
"Exactly."
"What?!?"
"Cut it out, you two!" Sora shouted. "Sorry, but I'm a little preoccupied at the moment."
"Oh, yeah?" asked Joe again. "What's the deal?"
"Sora's…disappointed that Tai started to date another girl," Matt mentioned. "And apparently the two of them have gotten pretty comfy with each other, even after their first date."
Joe scratched his head for a second them smiled. "Ah, Jane!"
"You know her?" asked Matt.
"Yeah, she takes some classes at my school a few days a week. She told me a while back that she liked Tai."
"Oh."
"Yep, and I told Tai that she was pretty interested in him…"
"Wait a minute…" interrupted Sora, with a hint of suspicion in her voice. "So just what exactly DID you do when you found out that Jane liked Tai?"
"Oh, umm…I told Tai that he should stop thinking about you so much, and try going out with Jane."
"You did what?!?" asked Sora, shocked.
"YOU played matchmaker???" asked Matt, equally shocked but for a different reason.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sora almost shouted. "Lemme get this straight…you told Tai that he had zero chances with me, so you then encouraged him to go out with Jane???"
"Well…in a nutshell…yeah."
Matt slapped his forehead, and turned away. Sora just gave off a fake laugh, similar to the one back at the dance.
"Oh, I see…" Sora said between laughs.
Immediately, Sora tackled Joe, pinned him to ground, and started pounding him as hard as she could. (Well…nearly as hard as she could.) Joe didn't have a chance to react.
"I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU…!!!!!"
"Agh, Sora…get a grip…!" Joe said between hits.
"I AM!!!"
Matt quickly tried to pry Sora off from Joe, but it was useless. Her mind was on fire. Suddenly, another person was seen walking in their direction. Matt thanked the stars it was Mieko. Matt called to her for help. Mieko immediately saw what was going on, and rushed over to help.
"So who am I helping, you or her?" she asked.
"ME!!!"
"Geez, all right, already! Ya don't need to yell!"
Mieko contributed her strength to the current fiasco that was occurring and she and Matt gradually managed to pull Sora off. They dragged Sora back to the bench where she was sitting, and held her down. Sora was panting heavily, as if she just ran a mile.
"LET GO OF ME!!!" she yelled.
"Sorry Sora, but you're not handling this properly," Matt noted.
"This has somethin' to do with Tai, I'm guessin'," said Mieko, helping Joe up.
"You got that right," Matt replied. "Look, Sora…I think the best way to deal with this is simply to just tell Tai how you feel."
Finally calming down, Sora mulled over Matt's words, and soon slowly nodded.
"I guess…the first thing to do is to find him…" she said to herself.
"Oh, I think I can help out with THAT one…" Mieko laughed almost evilly.
"What do you mean?" asked Joe.
"Well, y'see…Tai just happens to be going on a date with Jane tonight."
"Do you know where they're going?" asked Matt.
"Nope…and even if I did…don't you think they deserve their privacy? Where's your decency?"
"Oh…Mieko…I'm sorry…" Sora said.
"I mean, c'mon…ya think they want the whole world to watch them while they're making out on their date?!?" Mieko started laughing hard.
Sora, Matt and Joe all sweatdropped.
"Anyway, I do happen to know that Tai'll be dropping Jane off at her house around ten tonight." Mieko continued. "Jane's one lucky girl…'cuz if that was me, ooh…I'D give that Tai what he needs!" Mieko blushed all over and began giggling in her own (somewhat) cute way, with her eyes closed, imagining herself and Tai…
Something inside Sora's brain snapped and she rolled up her sleeve while practically stomping over to Mieko was…
Thankfully, Matt managed to hold her back in time, mouthing the word "no," indicating what was really her top priority. Sora came to her senses and nodded.
*********************
9:58 p.m.
"No, you're kidding!" Tai said to Jane on the way back from their date.
"No really, Mieko actual pulled out a telescope from her bag to try to copy somebody's test!" Jane replied.
The two began laughing. Jane wrapped her arms around Tai, who did the same, and they silently hugged under the bright moonlight. But they soon shivered with the arrival of a cold breeze passing the vicinity, causing Tai to somehow loosen his grip around her.
"C'mon…we better get you home," Tai said.
Jane did nothing but smile.
The rest of the walk went without conversation, not that it needed to. Tai and Jane stopped a few steps short of Jane's walk. The two looked at each other, noticing such warmth in the other's eyes. They smiled closed their eyes, and slowly moved their lips towards…
…Tai suddenly got a very cold chill up his spine that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. And somehow he knew that it wasn't the wind. He immediately opened his eyes, which didn't have to look too far. The eyes quickly spotted a person in the form of Sora standing on Jane's stoop, her arms crossed. Jane opened her eyes, as well, noticing that his lips weren't touching hers, and looked in the direction that Tai was. The two of them blushed just at the thought of someone watching them.
"Uh…hey, Sora," Tai said, very nervously.
"Tai…" Sora began in a serious tone. "We have to talk."
TO BE CONTINUED…
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER…
Umm…truth be told, I haven't exactly figured out what I want to do with the next chapter, so just keep a look out for it, and keep reviewing, okay? Thanks, you guys and gals are the greatest!