Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or Sarah McLachlan's song Angel.
Jenashu: Well, here we are; chapter five! The groundwork for The World School Challenge starts here! So, I hope everyone enjoys!
******************************************************************************
The Japan School Challenge
Jen smoothed her dress absentmindedly as she stood backstage. She was up next to sing. "Come on," she told herself, "everyone else made it. I'm going with them!". It was true; Matt, Tai, Izzy, and Sora had all made it into The World School Challenge. They were going to be representatives, and now the pressure was on Jen. Being left behind was definately the last thing on her priority list.
"Miss Jenashu Zircona is up next." a voice called from a speaker in the auiditorium. Jen took a deep breath before walking onto the stage. She immediately saw the Digidestineds in a long row of seats. Even the new guys had shown up. Jen smiled and instantly felt a little less nervous.
"Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
Always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh, beautiful release
memory seep from my veins
let me be empty,
oh and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight..."
Yolei, Davis, Ken, and Cody gawked at her. They never knew she could sing! Izzy smiled when he saw the looks on their faces before returning his attention to the song.
"In the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark, cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here"
"Hey," Tai whispered to Matt as he played his role as a good cousin and applauded vigourously, "I thought the song was a lot longer than that."
"You have to cut the song to two minutes. It happened to us, too." he replied over the noise of the crowd. "You know, I think she'll make it."
"I hope so." Izzy broke in. Tai and Matt gave him sly grins.
"What, you can't bear to be seperated from her?" Tai asked. Izzy snorted.
"I'd miss her at first, but I'd forget about it after a while. You know, just like you were when your brain decided that you had ignored it long enough and left." Izzy replied.
"What!" Tai started, but Izzy elbowed him sharply in the ribs.
"Be quiet up there! They're gonna say who the rep is!" Yolei said, pointing to the stage. A sudden hush fell over the crowd.
"Well, we heard a lot of great voices today," a smiling woman judge said cheerfully," and it was very hard to choose the rep. But the person is...Jenashu Zircona (A/N: Well, if this didn't happen, I wouldn't have a story here)!!!". The Digidestineds cheered loudly.
*******
Two months passed (and fast, too!), and the Digidestineds were standing outside a large, important-looking building. Thousands of people were there, and about ten different school uniforms could be seen on the teenagers that stood in a long line, waiting to go inside.
Jen looked at all of her friends with a smile. She allowed her gaze to linger on Izzy, who was standing right beside her. With all of the preperations for The Japan School Challenge, they had not had the time to go out anywhere together. However, Jen was now almost able to consider herself as Izzy's girlfriend. She reached for his hand and held it tightly.
"Are you excited?" Izzy asked Jen. He had subconciously started speaking to her in a softer voice than he usually used about a month ago.
"Yes...I'm nervous, too..." Jen trailed off. Vaugely she wondered why she still couldn't consider she and Izzy a couple. Perhaps it was because she hadn't experianced the whole 'girly high school thing' (A/N: This is also known as a girl's first kiss, and no, there is no 'guy-ie high school thing'), but she couldn't be sure.
"Man, look at those two. I swear, all this PDA (A/N: Thank you, Lily, for teaching me this erm, useful term) stuff is gonna make me gag." Tai complained to Matt. He shrugged in return and pointed towards the building.
"We're almost inside." he said. "It's a good thing, too; my feet are killing me." A few moments later, the Digidestineds were in a beautiful, humoungous room. Luckily, they had already signed into the hotel that was boarding the reps ahead of time, so they had one less thing to worry about.
"Hey!" Sora cried in protest as someone stepped on her foot. "It's so crowded in here!"
"It's about to get worse. Look, they want us to go in there." Matt said, pointing towards a smaller room. After being bumped into about a million times, everyone was sitting in an auditorium. They were briefed on the rules of The World School Challenge before being sent back to the hotel to eat dinner and sleep.
"I don't beleive we came into here just for that." Tai grumbled as a bus took them to the hotel.
"Come on, Tai. Cheer up! Tomorrow's the Japan School Challenge!" Jen said brightly from the seat behind him. Tai grunted in reply.
"Does he snore?" Izzy whispered to Jen. He had to share a room with Matt and Tai.
"Both of them do." Jen said with a laugh. Izzy frowned. "C'mon, smile! I'm excited, be happy with me!" she added. Izzy placed his hand on hers and gazed out the window until they arrived at the hotel.
*****
The next day, everyone got up bright and early. Jen prowled around the room she shared with Sora uneasily until it was time to eat breakfast. No one seemed to think that they could keep down anything that they ate. Finally, it was time to leave.
"The first competition is for the academic board reps. All academic board reps should report to room A-16." a speaker boomed into the auiditorium that the students had been in the night before. Izzy stood up shakily. Jen reached out and grabbed his hands, which had suddenly gotten sweaty.
"Good luck, Izzy. Don't worry, you'll be great! We're all rooting for you." she said. Izzy gave her a weak smile before slidding his hands reluctantly from hers and walking out of the room.
Ten minutes later, the academic board reps walked onto the stage in front of the students. Jen immediately found Izzy, and she waved cheerfully at him. He gave her another quick smile before staing intently at a podium. The host of the Academic Challenge (A/N: I hope you like the word 'challenge'. Due to a lack of synonems that sound as good (or perhaps a lack of creativity *sweatdrop*) you will hear it a lot in the story) stood behind it.
"First we'll ask questions in categories. In the last of the three rounds, all of the questions will be on completely different and random subjects. Good luck everyone. The first match will be between the Odaiba High board and the Resuki High board." he explained. The audiance burst into applause as the two boards took their seats.
After the first round, Odaiba High was in the lead. The score was 1500 points to 1200 points. Jen was glad that she wasn't up there, as she knew almost nothing about the categories. Izzy, however, was doing excellent. Drellus and two seniors were also on the board, but they didn't answer half as many questions among themselves as Izzy did. Even though her chances of going to The World School Challenge were on the line, Jen couldn't help feeling a little bored by the end of the second round. Finally, it was over, and Odaiba was way ahead of Resuki. A green tidal wave ran stood up in the audiance seats and screamed happily when they were pronounced the victors. Jen saw Izzy walk off of the stage, and she slipped out when no one was watching.
Jen's footsteps echoed in the empty hallway as she peered into opened doorways. Suddenly, she wasn't alone. The Odaiba High board walked out of a room, smiling and laughing.
"Congratulations!" Jen said brightly to them. A senior boy named Hitoshi smiled at her.
"Hey, I've seen you around. Aren't you that 'Angel girl'?" he asked.
"Umm, that's the song I'm singing...Anyway, good job." she said, turning towards Izzy. She opened her mouth to talk to him when Drellus cut her off.
"Izzy was answering all of the questions..." he trailed off. "Save some for me next time. I'm not as fast with a buzzer as you are. Slow down a little, I'd like a girl to come and tell me 'good job' too." he said, smiling slyly.
"Oh, we're in a catty mood, are we?" Izzy asked as he waved off Drell's comment. "See you later." he added pointedly. Drell took the hint and left Jen and Izzy alone, wisely choosing not to tease them further.
"You were so great up there!" Jen told Izzy happily. " You've set the mood! Now I know everyone else from Odaiba will do great to keep up with you brainy guys." she added, refraining from calling them "nerdy guys".
"Thanks..." Izzy said with a goofy smile. "But I'm glad that I don't have to get up on stage again today. It's so nerve-wracking..."
"I like to be on stage." Jen commented.
"I'm not outgoing like you are. The reason I came was because I didn't want to miss out on this. It's really a once-in-a-lifetime experiance. And...I didn't want to be stuck in Odaiba...while you were in another country." Izzy admitted. "It's just too far, too long...I-I would start to miss you."
"Really?" Jen asked. Izzy nodded sheepishly and looked at the floor. Jen felt her heart beating so fast that she could almost hear it, too. "Thanks. I would've missed you, too. I'm glad you're here."
Jen stepped forward awkwardly and gently wrapped her arms around Izzy for a quick moment. She was almost afraid that he would feel her heartbeat against his chest, so she tried to step back. But she found that Izzy was holding her close to him, not the other way around.
"Umm, Izzy..." Jen started softly. She realized that she had subconsiously rested her head on Izzy's shoulder. She was whispering so she would not hurt his ear, which was so close to her lips. "Are we going to watch the next match?"
"Not unless you want to..." Izzy replied. However, he got the message; Jen was telling him that a hug had to end at some point. So he reluctantly released her and took a small step back. "It may just be me, but it's hot in there, expecially with all of those people staring at you. Let's go outside somewhere. It would be nice to have some fresh air. Umm, if that's okay with you."
"Okay!" Jen said happily. However, her break with Izzy didn't last very long. Perhaps she lost all track of time while she sat so close to Izzy with a gentle breeze toying with her hair, but it seemed like they were calling her up to sing in only a minute after she sat down beside him.
*******
Five days later, all of the schools were crammed into the auditorium again. The academic board for Odaiba had gone all the way to the top, winning their school 5,000 points, plus a bonus of 3,500 points. Jen and Matt earned 3,500 out of 4,000 points, and Tai's soccor team won another 5,000 points. Sora's tennis team had a very bad day, but it hardly made a differance; Odaiba High did extremely well in all areas.
"The high school that will represent Japan in The World School Challenge is...Odaiba High!" the man from the academic board competition announced. Once again, the Odaiba reps, clad in green uniforms, exploded into cheers.
"We're going! We're going!" Jen and Sora exclaimed.
"We'll win the rest of this thing, too!" Tai declaired.
****************************************************************************
Is Tai right? Will Japan and the Odaiba High reps go all the way? And what about all of those nice perks? We'll see what happens next! Now please click up the review box below this and send me you thoughts!
Jenashu: Well, here we are; chapter five! The groundwork for The World School Challenge starts here! So, I hope everyone enjoys!
******************************************************************************
The Japan School Challenge
Jen smoothed her dress absentmindedly as she stood backstage. She was up next to sing. "Come on," she told herself, "everyone else made it. I'm going with them!". It was true; Matt, Tai, Izzy, and Sora had all made it into The World School Challenge. They were going to be representatives, and now the pressure was on Jen. Being left behind was definately the last thing on her priority list.
"Miss Jenashu Zircona is up next." a voice called from a speaker in the auiditorium. Jen took a deep breath before walking onto the stage. She immediately saw the Digidestineds in a long row of seats. Even the new guys had shown up. Jen smiled and instantly felt a little less nervous.
"Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
Always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh, beautiful release
memory seep from my veins
let me be empty,
oh and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight..."
Yolei, Davis, Ken, and Cody gawked at her. They never knew she could sing! Izzy smiled when he saw the looks on their faces before returning his attention to the song.
"In the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark, cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here"
"Hey," Tai whispered to Matt as he played his role as a good cousin and applauded vigourously, "I thought the song was a lot longer than that."
"You have to cut the song to two minutes. It happened to us, too." he replied over the noise of the crowd. "You know, I think she'll make it."
"I hope so." Izzy broke in. Tai and Matt gave him sly grins.
"What, you can't bear to be seperated from her?" Tai asked. Izzy snorted.
"I'd miss her at first, but I'd forget about it after a while. You know, just like you were when your brain decided that you had ignored it long enough and left." Izzy replied.
"What!" Tai started, but Izzy elbowed him sharply in the ribs.
"Be quiet up there! They're gonna say who the rep is!" Yolei said, pointing to the stage. A sudden hush fell over the crowd.
"Well, we heard a lot of great voices today," a smiling woman judge said cheerfully," and it was very hard to choose the rep. But the person is...Jenashu Zircona (A/N: Well, if this didn't happen, I wouldn't have a story here)!!!". The Digidestineds cheered loudly.
*******
Two months passed (and fast, too!), and the Digidestineds were standing outside a large, important-looking building. Thousands of people were there, and about ten different school uniforms could be seen on the teenagers that stood in a long line, waiting to go inside.
Jen looked at all of her friends with a smile. She allowed her gaze to linger on Izzy, who was standing right beside her. With all of the preperations for The Japan School Challenge, they had not had the time to go out anywhere together. However, Jen was now almost able to consider herself as Izzy's girlfriend. She reached for his hand and held it tightly.
"Are you excited?" Izzy asked Jen. He had subconciously started speaking to her in a softer voice than he usually used about a month ago.
"Yes...I'm nervous, too..." Jen trailed off. Vaugely she wondered why she still couldn't consider she and Izzy a couple. Perhaps it was because she hadn't experianced the whole 'girly high school thing' (A/N: This is also known as a girl's first kiss, and no, there is no 'guy-ie high school thing'), but she couldn't be sure.
"Man, look at those two. I swear, all this PDA (A/N: Thank you, Lily, for teaching me this erm, useful term) stuff is gonna make me gag." Tai complained to Matt. He shrugged in return and pointed towards the building.
"We're almost inside." he said. "It's a good thing, too; my feet are killing me." A few moments later, the Digidestineds were in a beautiful, humoungous room. Luckily, they had already signed into the hotel that was boarding the reps ahead of time, so they had one less thing to worry about.
"Hey!" Sora cried in protest as someone stepped on her foot. "It's so crowded in here!"
"It's about to get worse. Look, they want us to go in there." Matt said, pointing towards a smaller room. After being bumped into about a million times, everyone was sitting in an auditorium. They were briefed on the rules of The World School Challenge before being sent back to the hotel to eat dinner and sleep.
"I don't beleive we came into here just for that." Tai grumbled as a bus took them to the hotel.
"Come on, Tai. Cheer up! Tomorrow's the Japan School Challenge!" Jen said brightly from the seat behind him. Tai grunted in reply.
"Does he snore?" Izzy whispered to Jen. He had to share a room with Matt and Tai.
"Both of them do." Jen said with a laugh. Izzy frowned. "C'mon, smile! I'm excited, be happy with me!" she added. Izzy placed his hand on hers and gazed out the window until they arrived at the hotel.
*****
The next day, everyone got up bright and early. Jen prowled around the room she shared with Sora uneasily until it was time to eat breakfast. No one seemed to think that they could keep down anything that they ate. Finally, it was time to leave.
"The first competition is for the academic board reps. All academic board reps should report to room A-16." a speaker boomed into the auiditorium that the students had been in the night before. Izzy stood up shakily. Jen reached out and grabbed his hands, which had suddenly gotten sweaty.
"Good luck, Izzy. Don't worry, you'll be great! We're all rooting for you." she said. Izzy gave her a weak smile before slidding his hands reluctantly from hers and walking out of the room.
Ten minutes later, the academic board reps walked onto the stage in front of the students. Jen immediately found Izzy, and she waved cheerfully at him. He gave her another quick smile before staing intently at a podium. The host of the Academic Challenge (A/N: I hope you like the word 'challenge'. Due to a lack of synonems that sound as good (or perhaps a lack of creativity *sweatdrop*) you will hear it a lot in the story) stood behind it.
"First we'll ask questions in categories. In the last of the three rounds, all of the questions will be on completely different and random subjects. Good luck everyone. The first match will be between the Odaiba High board and the Resuki High board." he explained. The audiance burst into applause as the two boards took their seats.
After the first round, Odaiba High was in the lead. The score was 1500 points to 1200 points. Jen was glad that she wasn't up there, as she knew almost nothing about the categories. Izzy, however, was doing excellent. Drellus and two seniors were also on the board, but they didn't answer half as many questions among themselves as Izzy did. Even though her chances of going to The World School Challenge were on the line, Jen couldn't help feeling a little bored by the end of the second round. Finally, it was over, and Odaiba was way ahead of Resuki. A green tidal wave ran stood up in the audiance seats and screamed happily when they were pronounced the victors. Jen saw Izzy walk off of the stage, and she slipped out when no one was watching.
Jen's footsteps echoed in the empty hallway as she peered into opened doorways. Suddenly, she wasn't alone. The Odaiba High board walked out of a room, smiling and laughing.
"Congratulations!" Jen said brightly to them. A senior boy named Hitoshi smiled at her.
"Hey, I've seen you around. Aren't you that 'Angel girl'?" he asked.
"Umm, that's the song I'm singing...Anyway, good job." she said, turning towards Izzy. She opened her mouth to talk to him when Drellus cut her off.
"Izzy was answering all of the questions..." he trailed off. "Save some for me next time. I'm not as fast with a buzzer as you are. Slow down a little, I'd like a girl to come and tell me 'good job' too." he said, smiling slyly.
"Oh, we're in a catty mood, are we?" Izzy asked as he waved off Drell's comment. "See you later." he added pointedly. Drell took the hint and left Jen and Izzy alone, wisely choosing not to tease them further.
"You were so great up there!" Jen told Izzy happily. " You've set the mood! Now I know everyone else from Odaiba will do great to keep up with you brainy guys." she added, refraining from calling them "nerdy guys".
"Thanks..." Izzy said with a goofy smile. "But I'm glad that I don't have to get up on stage again today. It's so nerve-wracking..."
"I like to be on stage." Jen commented.
"I'm not outgoing like you are. The reason I came was because I didn't want to miss out on this. It's really a once-in-a-lifetime experiance. And...I didn't want to be stuck in Odaiba...while you were in another country." Izzy admitted. "It's just too far, too long...I-I would start to miss you."
"Really?" Jen asked. Izzy nodded sheepishly and looked at the floor. Jen felt her heart beating so fast that she could almost hear it, too. "Thanks. I would've missed you, too. I'm glad you're here."
Jen stepped forward awkwardly and gently wrapped her arms around Izzy for a quick moment. She was almost afraid that he would feel her heartbeat against his chest, so she tried to step back. But she found that Izzy was holding her close to him, not the other way around.
"Umm, Izzy..." Jen started softly. She realized that she had subconsiously rested her head on Izzy's shoulder. She was whispering so she would not hurt his ear, which was so close to her lips. "Are we going to watch the next match?"
"Not unless you want to..." Izzy replied. However, he got the message; Jen was telling him that a hug had to end at some point. So he reluctantly released her and took a small step back. "It may just be me, but it's hot in there, expecially with all of those people staring at you. Let's go outside somewhere. It would be nice to have some fresh air. Umm, if that's okay with you."
"Okay!" Jen said happily. However, her break with Izzy didn't last very long. Perhaps she lost all track of time while she sat so close to Izzy with a gentle breeze toying with her hair, but it seemed like they were calling her up to sing in only a minute after she sat down beside him.
*******
Five days later, all of the schools were crammed into the auditorium again. The academic board for Odaiba had gone all the way to the top, winning their school 5,000 points, plus a bonus of 3,500 points. Jen and Matt earned 3,500 out of 4,000 points, and Tai's soccor team won another 5,000 points. Sora's tennis team had a very bad day, but it hardly made a differance; Odaiba High did extremely well in all areas.
"The high school that will represent Japan in The World School Challenge is...Odaiba High!" the man from the academic board competition announced. Once again, the Odaiba reps, clad in green uniforms, exploded into cheers.
"We're going! We're going!" Jen and Sora exclaimed.
"We'll win the rest of this thing, too!" Tai declaired.
****************************************************************************
Is Tai right? Will Japan and the Odaiba High reps go all the way? And what about all of those nice perks? We'll see what happens next! Now please click up the review box below this and send me you thoughts!