IIIIIIII'MM BACK!! * leaves room * IIIIIII'MM GONE!! * returns *
IIIIIIIIII'MM BACK…AGAIIN!!! OK, bout of hyperactivity has passed. Never
eat too many puto bumbong with * starts to drool * panutsa (or however you
spell it. Panucha?). It'll get you hyper.
****
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Shina, Sora and Chloris were eating at their usual table, with the extra additions of Izzy and Mimi. Shina wanted to discuss more things with him, finding that, for a nerd, he was a very likeable guy. But then again. Most considered Shina a nerd, so nerds go with nerds. They struck up a conversation about the latest Digimon episode as Sora stood up to get a drink from the vending machine, taking advantage of the fruit of their deception: no stuck-up prigs claiming that the machine and its contents were theirs and theirs only. After all, the guys who were crowding Mimi were all in bathrooms at that very moment and there were practically no other girls there other than a few who had no interest in music. (A/N: The horror! Bach! Beethoven! Mozart! Vivaldi! We luv ya!)
Izzy was telling Shina about his favorite episodes. "And what about that episode when Endinomon had—" (A/N: I made it up!)
"And here's YAMATO ISHIDA!!" someone suddenly yelled. Then—"Huh?"
Shina, Chloris and Izzy (And just about everyone else who heard) looked up at this proclamation and stared. Aki and Taichi Kamiya, a nice guy they had met a while back when they could not enter the school, were at the open double doors with a blonde guy.
Chloris muttered, "It's time for us to save their butts again." She openly shouted, "AKI! Over here!" standing up and gesticulating.
Aki lost her confused look and made her way over, dragging the two boys behind her. "Hey, Chloris, Shina and—who are you?" she asked Izzy. "And where's Sora?"
Shina smiled. "Sora just went to the vending machines to get a drink. She'll be back soon enough, though."
"Hey." A guy came up behind Tai and said, "Tai. What's happening here? I was waiting for you. Why did all the girls disappear?" He looked older than the rest of the others and he had rather stylish hippie-like blue hair and glasses. (A/N: Ten points are up for grabs!) "I needed to ask Neki about an assignment, but she's not here."
Tai shrugged. "I have no idea, either. I myself am wondering where they went." Then he remembered his manners. "Oh, yeah. Girls, this is Joe Kido. He's a couple of levels above us. He's one of my friends."
Mimi grinned and answered, "Nice to meet you Joe."
Chloris added, "And for an answer for inquiring minds, we are the ones who drove the girls away from the cafeteria. They're all at the west side by now. Right Sheen?" she smiled at her Japanese friend.
Shina's eyes turned to crescents as she laughed. "Yes, it's completely our fault."
"Oh?" Matt asked, intrigued. "How could you do that? I couldn't drive them away with a wild lion. Thanks!"
Shina, Izzy, Mimi and Chloris exchanged mirthful glances. "Hey, are you and Mimi related in a way?" Izzy asked cheerfully. "You two said the exact same thing! Isn't that prodigious?" Mimi laughed. "He's right."
Matt shrugged. "We are related distantly, but to avoid getting a migraine, I call her my cousin. So how did you drive the girls away? I'm curious."
Chloris explained, "Well, they were crowding Mimi after the last period before lunch (Literature) and we were wondering about how to get Mimi out of there. We were about to give up when Shina here ripped off Sora's idea of fooling them, telling them that Yamato Ishida was at the west end of the school. They fell for it and, on the way there, probably spread the rumor. So now, every girl is on that side of school chasing wild geese."
Matt, Aki, Tai, and Joe burst out laughing. Aki exclaimed, "Marvelous, Sheen! I couldn't have duped those airheads better myself!"
Shina waved that aside. "But wait, you haven't heard the good part yet! Haven't you noticed why there are less boys around here than usual? There's more!"
"There's more?" Tai grinned. "Ooh, do tell!"
"Well," Chloris continued, picking up from where she left off, "Shina got the girls out, all right, but there were still the boys to take care of. And more and more of them were drifting in from different classes, so it was getting kind of crowded where Mimi was. We had no idea on how to get rid of them, when Sora came up with a plan and scared them off."
Joe asked, "Scared them off? What do you mean? How'd she scare'em?"
Chloris held up a finger, "Wait. So Sora ambles over to them in a really cute way, and that gets their attention. She starts to talk about if there were angry girlfriends near the door and if they had knives. Then she tells them in great detail about the best places to cut people up and their effects. I'm not retelling you what she said because they kind of make people squeamish. Basically, she got all of them to run screaming to the bathroom to toss their cookies."
Tai grinned. "I never knew Sora had it in her. Good thing she did today."
Aki sniffed indignantly. "Sora always had it in her, ever since we were small. I'm so proud of her. When is she coming back?"
Shina shrugged.
Matt spoke up. "This Sora must be some girl."
Izzy nodded. "She is. She's really nice and really smart. I hear that she's running for the excellence award this year."
Aki's eyes were tennis balls. "WHAAT??? You mean to say that Sora's a lot smarter than she acts? That she is running for excellence?? And all along I could've used her as a homework helper?"
Izzy pretended to look musing. "Hmm…yeah, I do believe that that was what I was telling you, yeah…"
Mimi narrowed her eyes. "I'm guessing that this 'homework helper' of yours means a person who you could cheat on."
Aki looked sheepish. "Only in Chemistry…" Chloris gave her a look. Aki blanched. "A-and Algebra, and Trigonometry." Shina raised an eyebrow. Aki looked defeated. "All right, all right, Sheen. Basically every subject except P.E."
Chloris coughed again, looking embarrassed. Aki seemed resigned. "OK. Even P.E."
Tai grinned. "Guess you're caught, Aki. Good thing we smart people always remember to do our homework." Aki bristled.
Izzy cleared his throat. "Tai. You forget who you call every night to get answers for your apparently forgotten homework. For every subject, including P.E. and Study Hall. Me."
Aki looked satisfied as Tai turned pink. "Looks like we're even, Kamiya." She turned around and walked into the general direction of the vending machines. "Now if you all will excuse me, I'm going to go look for Sora. She hasn't met Matt yet. I can't wait to see her reaction…" She sauntered away.
Shina smiled inwardly as her raven-haired friend weaved in and out of the small crowd that had started to trickle in. She turned back to Izzy. "So did you watch the episode where Tangemon first appeared?"
Izzy grinned.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Matt looked puzzled. "Why would she want to see the reaction of this Sora person when she would see me? Does she like my music really that much?" Matt saw that as a little depressing. This Sora sounded like a cool girl to be friends with, although she wasn't popular. If she was fanatical about him, she wouldn't be able to make out a coherent sentenced with him around. As much as he loved his fame, he didn't really want a friend to be that star struck. After all, he'd need someone to rant and rave about how cool he was… (A/N: Bighead alert! Bighead alert!)
Chloris grinned. "Actually, she never even heard of your music. Come to think of it, she never even heard about you and Mimi before. Even in Greece, we've heard of your music and had Mimi's movies. She's kind of puzzled why everyone is so excited about you and your cousin."
He was shocked by this completely new concept. It seemed impossible. A girl who doesn't know about him? Or Mimi, the leading lady of nearly half of the soap operas in Japan, for that matter?
So deep was he into his reverie so as to he was unaware that he was being lead to the cafeteria line by Tai and Joe. He was merely stirred from his thoughts when the fat cafeteria lady asked him which meal would he like. He dumbly uttered the first thing she said and moved on. He only truly woke up when Tai had pinched his arm hard. There was a little bruise left there. He found himself sitting torpidly at the table with his cafeteria tray in front of him.
"What happened?" he drawled, trying to restore his image as the cool one. "Did I miss anything?"
Tai looked amused. "Nothing much. What's with you? Are you zoning out on us or something? You were totally out of it. What's wrong?"
Matt immediately shrugged off the reverie he had sunken into. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
Mimi looked smug. "I know why he's like that. It's because he's not used to not being incredibly mooned over by people, much less a girl. That's why he's unnerved about Sora. I, for one, am glad that she didn't fawn over me like some backstabbing airhead."
Tai gaped. "You read him very well, don't you?"
She grinned, flattered. "Of course I do. We grew up together. I should be able to read him, too, because who knows when he needs a distraction during public appearances to go to the bathroom." Matt rolled his eyes.
Mimi chided him. "Don't frown, Matt. It'll give you wrinkles."
Matt glared at her while everyone else laughed. So he ignored them and started to observe the meal he had absent-mindedly bought. When he took a look at it, he decided that that wasn't too smart a thing to do. (After all, it was yellow day.) The meat was yellow, not because it had yellow sauce; it didn't, but because it was just plain yellow. The milk in the carton appeared to be very expired; thus yellow. To give all the readers a vivid description of all the 'delicacies' placed so 'lovingly' upon Matt Ishida's tray would cause them to throw up, destroy computers worldwide.
Anyway.
He started to pick at the salad, which was obviously yellow. He chewed on a piece of it. It seemed all right, but whenever he placed it to his nose, it would reek of some strange 'fragrance' that would be strong enough to curdle milk. Maybe that's why the milk was yellow.
So as he meticulously ate his enigmatic food, his new friends and his cousin started to talk about other things. Every now and then, he would hear something about that Sora girl. Sora helped her with this and that; she always listened to him and his problems so blah, blah… She must be some angel, with the exception of the fact that she didn't know who he was. That just about dulled the shine on her halo.
The poor girl.
(A/N: Someone's feeling a little too high up today, now isn't he?)
As Matt finished his salad, he decided that he needed something to wash it down. "My friends, I need a drink at the moment to dislodge the monster croutons that have been wedged into my throat, so if you will excuse me…?"
"Good luck," Chloris said. "And if you could, please find Aki?"
Matt shrugged as he made his way towards the vending machines. "Will do."
****
OK, this is normally the part where I get off, remembering to remind all of you lovely readers to review my story and stay tuned for the next on, but those lovely brown and sweet and succulent sugar bits have driven my fingers to insanity, thus causing this story to develop off that lovely delicacy. Besides, I want to see what happens next. Will Sora and Matt finally meet? Will words clash? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wala lang.
OK, back to the story.
****
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
OK, I'm warning you. This is the last time I'll try it before you'll really get it…
Sora frowned angrily at the innocently colored machine. For the past half- half hour, (A/N: A.K.A. Fifteen minutes.) Sora had been trying in vain to get her soda out of the stupid machine. It appeared to be stuck somewhere in the mechanism. It was a good thing that there were no lines today. Nobody pressuring her to hurry up. Sora pushed the button that was supposed to make the can pop up.
Please, please, please…there was that whirring sound…(A/N: Clickety-clank! Clickety-clank!)
And as you would expect from the type of luck the girl received, nothing came out. Sora sighed, slowly clenching her fist. Raising it, she prepared to launch it off—
Someone suddenly walked up behind her and said, "Maybe you should try to jiggle the handle. It worked for me before. As I always say, anything until violence."
Sora turned around quickly. The guy grinned and held out his hand. "I'm Aidan Feoras. Irish. I'm guessing that you're the famous Sora Takenouchi. Lovely food fight that was. It was one of the best I'd had in many years. The last one must have been when I was seven, back in the home country. Aye, that was a good one, too."
He indeed had a rather Irish tinge to his speaking. Sora recognized him because he was one of the exchange students Odaiba High School had a year or so ago. He was totally WOW, according to Aki, and when Aki drilled Chloris for the 4-1-1 on the guy, Chloris said that he was a rather nice guy. He had wavy brown hair and pale skin. His eyes were jade green and really entrancing. And, of course, he was clothed in the traditional high school uniform.
Sora groaned. "So I'm famous for that?" She buried her head into her hands. "Don't tell me that they're putting it in the yearbook. Don't." She sighed again. "Everything now is just perfect. First, I get credited, not to mention punished, for a food fight I had nearly no responsibility for, then pushed down the steps of the front of the school by this totally arrogant guy, then when I get to school, that crowd of brainless fans swarms the school and blocks any ideas of entry, and now, there's this silly vending machine!" Dramatically, she slapped her forehead. "When are the meteors coming? At least I can be prepared and completely spontaneously combust when they get here!! Symmetry!!"
Aidan laughed. "You won't have long to wait for them once the girls find out that the ruse was a dud. That machine seems to have a pertinacious pleasure in infuriating students, it does. Didn't you know?"
Sora grinned. "It's my first time to use the machine. After all, I'd have to go through the 'popular' tables to get to the vending machines, and they never miss the chance to trip me up." Sora quickly realized that maybe she shouldn't have said that to him. After all, he was one of them, too. Sora felt herself redden. "Sorry. I didn't—"
Aidan brushed it off. "It's all right. Nothing off me if I don't participate, that's what I always say." He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"SORA!!!" Aki suddenly appeared next to the red-haired girl. "Where were you? You're taking forever to get a soda—hey," she paused, looking at Aidan. "Who're you?" She looked genuinely confused.
"I'm—" Aidan started to introduce himself when Aki suddenly declared, "Oh, yeah! You're that Eadoin Fresca guy. Are you really half-Irish, half- Mexican?"
Aki looked so earnest that Sora had to burst out laughing. The startled look on Aidan's face didn't help matters, either. It was the look people got when Aki was around—pure confusion and certainty that someone's wheels weren't running in the same direction.
Sora calmed down and introduced them. "Aki, this is Aidan Feoras. Aidan, meet Akina Midori."
"Oh, you're the one who everyone goes gaga over, right?" Aki grinned at him. OK, now this was an obvious plot. Aki had, after all, gone all WOOO over him and sometimes kept ranting and raving about how great this guy was. Of course, she truly did not know his name.
Aidan rolled his eyes. "They only look at the surface. It's the inside that matters, after all. In any case, truthful words endure forever, but lies for only a moment. It's one of my favorite sayings. Proverbs 12:19. Gotta love that book." (A/N: Amen to that!)
Sora and Aki gaped at him. Then they exchanged a look. Aki's face looked awestruck. Sora was sure that hers looked skeptical at the idea she knew was forming in Aki's brain. Aki exclaimed, "He sounds just like Chloris, Sora! They even love the same book in the Bible! That is so cool!"
Sora smirked. "He even got the part where he thinks that everyone's just out to get him for his looks instead of his personality right. Amazing."
Aki's eyes were star struck. "This is so amazing! You've gotta meet Chloris! I'm sure you two will click together like two pieces of a puzzle!" She let out a loud squeal of delight, rubbing her hands. "This'll be so much fun!" She grabbed Aidan's arm and started to pull him away when he interrupted her.
"I beg your pardon, lass, but I was just coming over here to help Sora out, not to meet some random girl just because we like the same book in the Holy Bible!" he proclaimed. "I know this Chloris girl, she's all right and all, but don't you think that this is a little too present at the now? Aye, we're moving to presently."
Aki shrugged. "That's my middle name. Akina Ima Midori. What else?"
"Seriously?" Aidan looked amused. Aki nodded. (A/N: I think that Ima means present or now.)
"So can you guys just help me in getting this soda out, then?" Sora asked them. "I'm really thirsty and time isn't getting any shorter. Eventually, we're going to have to go back to classes."
Aki shrugged. "OK. Let me take care of this." She turned to the machine and gave it a mighty kick. There was a little rustling inside the machine as the cogs sounded like they were turning. Sora held her breath hopefully and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"Umm…" Aidan glanced at Aki, who was standing there, glaring expectantly at the machine. "Is something supposed to be happening at the moment? Because I don't think that it feels like coming out."
Aki turned her furious gaze on him and stuck out her tongue. "It has worked before."
Aidan shrugged.
The three of them stood staring at the stubborn machine. Sora bent down and peered into the slot.
"Excuse me; if you three would stop gaping at the vending machine, I believe that you should let other people have a go at getting a drink?" A voice suggested.
Aki and Aidan turned to look at the newcomer and saw who he was. Sora attempted to but decided that he could wait; after all, she just saw her soda. It seemed to be wedged in tight between two large gears. She groaned inwardly. Why couldn't this stupid machine have separate parts for the soda and the machinery?
"Heey, Matt!" Aki said brightly. "Just trying to get some soda."
"Are you new? I'm Aidan Feoras." Aidan stared at Matt, looking confused. "And you might be…?"
"Yeah, I'm new. I'm Yamato Ishida." Matt grinned at the guy. He looked cool.
All I need to do is give it a few whacks, I suppose… Sora thought, surprised. She slowly stood up from her position on the ground to look at the newcomer to greet him. (A/N: If you're wondering, she didn't hear his name. Too involved in machines, you see.)
"YOU!"
****
BUMBUMBUMBBUMBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!! This is it! Cliffhanger time! Fingers have apparently died, and I am using my toes to type this last note: REVIEW, READ and never forget to LEAVE NOSE HAIRS ALONE!!!
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Shina, Sora and Chloris were eating at their usual table, with the extra additions of Izzy and Mimi. Shina wanted to discuss more things with him, finding that, for a nerd, he was a very likeable guy. But then again. Most considered Shina a nerd, so nerds go with nerds. They struck up a conversation about the latest Digimon episode as Sora stood up to get a drink from the vending machine, taking advantage of the fruit of their deception: no stuck-up prigs claiming that the machine and its contents were theirs and theirs only. After all, the guys who were crowding Mimi were all in bathrooms at that very moment and there were practically no other girls there other than a few who had no interest in music. (A/N: The horror! Bach! Beethoven! Mozart! Vivaldi! We luv ya!)
Izzy was telling Shina about his favorite episodes. "And what about that episode when Endinomon had—" (A/N: I made it up!)
"And here's YAMATO ISHIDA!!" someone suddenly yelled. Then—"Huh?"
Shina, Chloris and Izzy (And just about everyone else who heard) looked up at this proclamation and stared. Aki and Taichi Kamiya, a nice guy they had met a while back when they could not enter the school, were at the open double doors with a blonde guy.
Chloris muttered, "It's time for us to save their butts again." She openly shouted, "AKI! Over here!" standing up and gesticulating.
Aki lost her confused look and made her way over, dragging the two boys behind her. "Hey, Chloris, Shina and—who are you?" she asked Izzy. "And where's Sora?"
Shina smiled. "Sora just went to the vending machines to get a drink. She'll be back soon enough, though."
"Hey." A guy came up behind Tai and said, "Tai. What's happening here? I was waiting for you. Why did all the girls disappear?" He looked older than the rest of the others and he had rather stylish hippie-like blue hair and glasses. (A/N: Ten points are up for grabs!) "I needed to ask Neki about an assignment, but she's not here."
Tai shrugged. "I have no idea, either. I myself am wondering where they went." Then he remembered his manners. "Oh, yeah. Girls, this is Joe Kido. He's a couple of levels above us. He's one of my friends."
Mimi grinned and answered, "Nice to meet you Joe."
Chloris added, "And for an answer for inquiring minds, we are the ones who drove the girls away from the cafeteria. They're all at the west side by now. Right Sheen?" she smiled at her Japanese friend.
Shina's eyes turned to crescents as she laughed. "Yes, it's completely our fault."
"Oh?" Matt asked, intrigued. "How could you do that? I couldn't drive them away with a wild lion. Thanks!"
Shina, Izzy, Mimi and Chloris exchanged mirthful glances. "Hey, are you and Mimi related in a way?" Izzy asked cheerfully. "You two said the exact same thing! Isn't that prodigious?" Mimi laughed. "He's right."
Matt shrugged. "We are related distantly, but to avoid getting a migraine, I call her my cousin. So how did you drive the girls away? I'm curious."
Chloris explained, "Well, they were crowding Mimi after the last period before lunch (Literature) and we were wondering about how to get Mimi out of there. We were about to give up when Shina here ripped off Sora's idea of fooling them, telling them that Yamato Ishida was at the west end of the school. They fell for it and, on the way there, probably spread the rumor. So now, every girl is on that side of school chasing wild geese."
Matt, Aki, Tai, and Joe burst out laughing. Aki exclaimed, "Marvelous, Sheen! I couldn't have duped those airheads better myself!"
Shina waved that aside. "But wait, you haven't heard the good part yet! Haven't you noticed why there are less boys around here than usual? There's more!"
"There's more?" Tai grinned. "Ooh, do tell!"
"Well," Chloris continued, picking up from where she left off, "Shina got the girls out, all right, but there were still the boys to take care of. And more and more of them were drifting in from different classes, so it was getting kind of crowded where Mimi was. We had no idea on how to get rid of them, when Sora came up with a plan and scared them off."
Joe asked, "Scared them off? What do you mean? How'd she scare'em?"
Chloris held up a finger, "Wait. So Sora ambles over to them in a really cute way, and that gets their attention. She starts to talk about if there were angry girlfriends near the door and if they had knives. Then she tells them in great detail about the best places to cut people up and their effects. I'm not retelling you what she said because they kind of make people squeamish. Basically, she got all of them to run screaming to the bathroom to toss their cookies."
Tai grinned. "I never knew Sora had it in her. Good thing she did today."
Aki sniffed indignantly. "Sora always had it in her, ever since we were small. I'm so proud of her. When is she coming back?"
Shina shrugged.
Matt spoke up. "This Sora must be some girl."
Izzy nodded. "She is. She's really nice and really smart. I hear that she's running for the excellence award this year."
Aki's eyes were tennis balls. "WHAAT??? You mean to say that Sora's a lot smarter than she acts? That she is running for excellence?? And all along I could've used her as a homework helper?"
Izzy pretended to look musing. "Hmm…yeah, I do believe that that was what I was telling you, yeah…"
Mimi narrowed her eyes. "I'm guessing that this 'homework helper' of yours means a person who you could cheat on."
Aki looked sheepish. "Only in Chemistry…" Chloris gave her a look. Aki blanched. "A-and Algebra, and Trigonometry." Shina raised an eyebrow. Aki looked defeated. "All right, all right, Sheen. Basically every subject except P.E."
Chloris coughed again, looking embarrassed. Aki seemed resigned. "OK. Even P.E."
Tai grinned. "Guess you're caught, Aki. Good thing we smart people always remember to do our homework." Aki bristled.
Izzy cleared his throat. "Tai. You forget who you call every night to get answers for your apparently forgotten homework. For every subject, including P.E. and Study Hall. Me."
Aki looked satisfied as Tai turned pink. "Looks like we're even, Kamiya." She turned around and walked into the general direction of the vending machines. "Now if you all will excuse me, I'm going to go look for Sora. She hasn't met Matt yet. I can't wait to see her reaction…" She sauntered away.
Shina smiled inwardly as her raven-haired friend weaved in and out of the small crowd that had started to trickle in. She turned back to Izzy. "So did you watch the episode where Tangemon first appeared?"
Izzy grinned.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Matt looked puzzled. "Why would she want to see the reaction of this Sora person when she would see me? Does she like my music really that much?" Matt saw that as a little depressing. This Sora sounded like a cool girl to be friends with, although she wasn't popular. If she was fanatical about him, she wouldn't be able to make out a coherent sentenced with him around. As much as he loved his fame, he didn't really want a friend to be that star struck. After all, he'd need someone to rant and rave about how cool he was… (A/N: Bighead alert! Bighead alert!)
Chloris grinned. "Actually, she never even heard of your music. Come to think of it, she never even heard about you and Mimi before. Even in Greece, we've heard of your music and had Mimi's movies. She's kind of puzzled why everyone is so excited about you and your cousin."
He was shocked by this completely new concept. It seemed impossible. A girl who doesn't know about him? Or Mimi, the leading lady of nearly half of the soap operas in Japan, for that matter?
So deep was he into his reverie so as to he was unaware that he was being lead to the cafeteria line by Tai and Joe. He was merely stirred from his thoughts when the fat cafeteria lady asked him which meal would he like. He dumbly uttered the first thing she said and moved on. He only truly woke up when Tai had pinched his arm hard. There was a little bruise left there. He found himself sitting torpidly at the table with his cafeteria tray in front of him.
"What happened?" he drawled, trying to restore his image as the cool one. "Did I miss anything?"
Tai looked amused. "Nothing much. What's with you? Are you zoning out on us or something? You were totally out of it. What's wrong?"
Matt immediately shrugged off the reverie he had sunken into. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
Mimi looked smug. "I know why he's like that. It's because he's not used to not being incredibly mooned over by people, much less a girl. That's why he's unnerved about Sora. I, for one, am glad that she didn't fawn over me like some backstabbing airhead."
Tai gaped. "You read him very well, don't you?"
She grinned, flattered. "Of course I do. We grew up together. I should be able to read him, too, because who knows when he needs a distraction during public appearances to go to the bathroom." Matt rolled his eyes.
Mimi chided him. "Don't frown, Matt. It'll give you wrinkles."
Matt glared at her while everyone else laughed. So he ignored them and started to observe the meal he had absent-mindedly bought. When he took a look at it, he decided that that wasn't too smart a thing to do. (After all, it was yellow day.) The meat was yellow, not because it had yellow sauce; it didn't, but because it was just plain yellow. The milk in the carton appeared to be very expired; thus yellow. To give all the readers a vivid description of all the 'delicacies' placed so 'lovingly' upon Matt Ishida's tray would cause them to throw up, destroy computers worldwide.
Anyway.
He started to pick at the salad, which was obviously yellow. He chewed on a piece of it. It seemed all right, but whenever he placed it to his nose, it would reek of some strange 'fragrance' that would be strong enough to curdle milk. Maybe that's why the milk was yellow.
So as he meticulously ate his enigmatic food, his new friends and his cousin started to talk about other things. Every now and then, he would hear something about that Sora girl. Sora helped her with this and that; she always listened to him and his problems so blah, blah… She must be some angel, with the exception of the fact that she didn't know who he was. That just about dulled the shine on her halo.
The poor girl.
(A/N: Someone's feeling a little too high up today, now isn't he?)
As Matt finished his salad, he decided that he needed something to wash it down. "My friends, I need a drink at the moment to dislodge the monster croutons that have been wedged into my throat, so if you will excuse me…?"
"Good luck," Chloris said. "And if you could, please find Aki?"
Matt shrugged as he made his way towards the vending machines. "Will do."
****
OK, this is normally the part where I get off, remembering to remind all of you lovely readers to review my story and stay tuned for the next on, but those lovely brown and sweet and succulent sugar bits have driven my fingers to insanity, thus causing this story to develop off that lovely delicacy. Besides, I want to see what happens next. Will Sora and Matt finally meet? Will words clash? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wala lang.
OK, back to the story.
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OK, I'm warning you. This is the last time I'll try it before you'll really get it…
Sora frowned angrily at the innocently colored machine. For the past half- half hour, (A/N: A.K.A. Fifteen minutes.) Sora had been trying in vain to get her soda out of the stupid machine. It appeared to be stuck somewhere in the mechanism. It was a good thing that there were no lines today. Nobody pressuring her to hurry up. Sora pushed the button that was supposed to make the can pop up.
Please, please, please…there was that whirring sound…(A/N: Clickety-clank! Clickety-clank!)
And as you would expect from the type of luck the girl received, nothing came out. Sora sighed, slowly clenching her fist. Raising it, she prepared to launch it off—
Someone suddenly walked up behind her and said, "Maybe you should try to jiggle the handle. It worked for me before. As I always say, anything until violence."
Sora turned around quickly. The guy grinned and held out his hand. "I'm Aidan Feoras. Irish. I'm guessing that you're the famous Sora Takenouchi. Lovely food fight that was. It was one of the best I'd had in many years. The last one must have been when I was seven, back in the home country. Aye, that was a good one, too."
He indeed had a rather Irish tinge to his speaking. Sora recognized him because he was one of the exchange students Odaiba High School had a year or so ago. He was totally WOW, according to Aki, and when Aki drilled Chloris for the 4-1-1 on the guy, Chloris said that he was a rather nice guy. He had wavy brown hair and pale skin. His eyes were jade green and really entrancing. And, of course, he was clothed in the traditional high school uniform.
Sora groaned. "So I'm famous for that?" She buried her head into her hands. "Don't tell me that they're putting it in the yearbook. Don't." She sighed again. "Everything now is just perfect. First, I get credited, not to mention punished, for a food fight I had nearly no responsibility for, then pushed down the steps of the front of the school by this totally arrogant guy, then when I get to school, that crowd of brainless fans swarms the school and blocks any ideas of entry, and now, there's this silly vending machine!" Dramatically, she slapped her forehead. "When are the meteors coming? At least I can be prepared and completely spontaneously combust when they get here!! Symmetry!!"
Aidan laughed. "You won't have long to wait for them once the girls find out that the ruse was a dud. That machine seems to have a pertinacious pleasure in infuriating students, it does. Didn't you know?"
Sora grinned. "It's my first time to use the machine. After all, I'd have to go through the 'popular' tables to get to the vending machines, and they never miss the chance to trip me up." Sora quickly realized that maybe she shouldn't have said that to him. After all, he was one of them, too. Sora felt herself redden. "Sorry. I didn't—"
Aidan brushed it off. "It's all right. Nothing off me if I don't participate, that's what I always say." He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"SORA!!!" Aki suddenly appeared next to the red-haired girl. "Where were you? You're taking forever to get a soda—hey," she paused, looking at Aidan. "Who're you?" She looked genuinely confused.
"I'm—" Aidan started to introduce himself when Aki suddenly declared, "Oh, yeah! You're that Eadoin Fresca guy. Are you really half-Irish, half- Mexican?"
Aki looked so earnest that Sora had to burst out laughing. The startled look on Aidan's face didn't help matters, either. It was the look people got when Aki was around—pure confusion and certainty that someone's wheels weren't running in the same direction.
Sora calmed down and introduced them. "Aki, this is Aidan Feoras. Aidan, meet Akina Midori."
"Oh, you're the one who everyone goes gaga over, right?" Aki grinned at him. OK, now this was an obvious plot. Aki had, after all, gone all WOOO over him and sometimes kept ranting and raving about how great this guy was. Of course, she truly did not know his name.
Aidan rolled his eyes. "They only look at the surface. It's the inside that matters, after all. In any case, truthful words endure forever, but lies for only a moment. It's one of my favorite sayings. Proverbs 12:19. Gotta love that book." (A/N: Amen to that!)
Sora and Aki gaped at him. Then they exchanged a look. Aki's face looked awestruck. Sora was sure that hers looked skeptical at the idea she knew was forming in Aki's brain. Aki exclaimed, "He sounds just like Chloris, Sora! They even love the same book in the Bible! That is so cool!"
Sora smirked. "He even got the part where he thinks that everyone's just out to get him for his looks instead of his personality right. Amazing."
Aki's eyes were star struck. "This is so amazing! You've gotta meet Chloris! I'm sure you two will click together like two pieces of a puzzle!" She let out a loud squeal of delight, rubbing her hands. "This'll be so much fun!" She grabbed Aidan's arm and started to pull him away when he interrupted her.
"I beg your pardon, lass, but I was just coming over here to help Sora out, not to meet some random girl just because we like the same book in the Holy Bible!" he proclaimed. "I know this Chloris girl, she's all right and all, but don't you think that this is a little too present at the now? Aye, we're moving to presently."
Aki shrugged. "That's my middle name. Akina Ima Midori. What else?"
"Seriously?" Aidan looked amused. Aki nodded. (A/N: I think that Ima means present or now.)
"So can you guys just help me in getting this soda out, then?" Sora asked them. "I'm really thirsty and time isn't getting any shorter. Eventually, we're going to have to go back to classes."
Aki shrugged. "OK. Let me take care of this." She turned to the machine and gave it a mighty kick. There was a little rustling inside the machine as the cogs sounded like they were turning. Sora held her breath hopefully and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"Umm…" Aidan glanced at Aki, who was standing there, glaring expectantly at the machine. "Is something supposed to be happening at the moment? Because I don't think that it feels like coming out."
Aki turned her furious gaze on him and stuck out her tongue. "It has worked before."
Aidan shrugged.
The three of them stood staring at the stubborn machine. Sora bent down and peered into the slot.
"Excuse me; if you three would stop gaping at the vending machine, I believe that you should let other people have a go at getting a drink?" A voice suggested.
Aki and Aidan turned to look at the newcomer and saw who he was. Sora attempted to but decided that he could wait; after all, she just saw her soda. It seemed to be wedged in tight between two large gears. She groaned inwardly. Why couldn't this stupid machine have separate parts for the soda and the machinery?
"Heey, Matt!" Aki said brightly. "Just trying to get some soda."
"Are you new? I'm Aidan Feoras." Aidan stared at Matt, looking confused. "And you might be…?"
"Yeah, I'm new. I'm Yamato Ishida." Matt grinned at the guy. He looked cool.
All I need to do is give it a few whacks, I suppose… Sora thought, surprised. She slowly stood up from her position on the ground to look at the newcomer to greet him. (A/N: If you're wondering, she didn't hear his name. Too involved in machines, you see.)
"YOU!"
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BUMBUMBUMBBUMBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!! This is it! Cliffhanger time! Fingers have apparently died, and I am using my toes to type this last note: REVIEW, READ and never forget to LEAVE NOSE HAIRS ALONE!!!