CHAPTER 5

Kari drove straight ahead,letting her instincts guide her. She hadn't been going very long when she saw a blonde figure walking ahead of her. She pulled the car over and tooted the horn. He looked around, and smiled shyly when he sasw her.

"Hey! Wanna lift?" she called from the car. He nodded and walked over, and climbed in the front passenger seat. She pulled out and started to drive. Matt sat in silence, watching the cars go by on his side. He remembered the car trip just hours before, when they'd been laughing. Now it was silence.

Kari turned on the radio. She flicked channels while the lights were red, but found nothing good. Finally she turned it off. The car started forward across the intersection.

"Where are you going?" asked Matt at last. Kari shrugged.

"I'm taking you home I guess," she replied.

"Oh. Alright." Silence. "Sooooo, what did TK say to you?" he asked quietly. Kari thumped the steering wheel.

"Oh, that moron just accused me of sleeping with you for ages behind his back, and I yelled at him about the panties and walked out. I am NEVER going to sleep in the same bed as him ever again." She pulled over and turned off the engine. Matt looked up out of the window at his apartment building.

"If you ever need a shoulder to cry on or something, give me a call, 'k?" he said, before opening the door. Kari glared stonily at him. "What?" She said nothing. "WHAT?"

"You're going to just walk out? And leave me with nothing but a memory of-" She paused, not sure what exactly to say. The corners of Matt's mouth turned up into a smile, and he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I don't think now is the right time for this, do you? I'll see you later." Kari watched as he strolled off up to the escalator. As he stepped in, he gave her a wink and a smile and then the doors shut. Kari just sat there for a moment, staring at the closed doors, then started the car again. Where to, Kari? She pulled out her cell phone, but her mother didn't pick up, so she headed to Tai's place instead. Tai welcomed her in, promising her a place to stay for a while.

"I have to go out, but I'll be back later, okay?" he called, heading out. Amelia waved.

"Later!" He'd hardly been gone a minute when the phone rang. Amelia picked it up. Kari stared at the phone, half afraid it was Matt or TK.

"Hello? Yes? What's that?" Amelia was silent for a while, then she quietly put down the phone and turned to face Kari. Kari's face went pale.

"TK?" she mouthed. Amelia nodded.

"What happened really Kari? All I managed to discover from him was that he caught you having sex with Yamato, or something along those lines. What happened?" She went and sat down next to Kari. Kari stared for a second, then slowly burst into tears. She got the story out in between sobs, telling everything she knew. Amelia looked sympathetically at her.

"Poor you. You're all mixed up! I think you need a break from both of them, to get your head straight."

"I never want to be with Takeru again!" cried Kari forcefully.

"And that's okay! You don't have to!" Amelia hugged her. "You can stay here for a while. In fact, you could house sit for us while we're on our honeymoon in a couple of weeks. Does that sound good?" Kari nodded. Silence fell between them.

Finally Kari whispered, "You can't tell Tai about me and Matt, please, don't tell him. Not yet. I want to tell him, when the time is right."

"Your secret is safe with me."