----

I never win first place,
I don't support the team..
I can't take direction,
And my socks are never clean.
Teachers dated me,
My parents hated me,
I was always in a fight,
'Cause I can't do nothing right.

Everyday I found a war against the mirror,
I can't take the person staring back at me.

I'm a hazard to myself.
Don't let me get me,
I'm my own worst enemy.
It's bad when you annoy yourself.
So irritating...
Don't want to be my friend no more...
I wanna be somebody else.

----

Rika sat down at her desk in the all-girls school, and looked up abruptly at the front when she thought she heard a famillier voice, but it was only a new girl, tall and thin, blonde hair down a bit past her shoulders and it was a slight waved look, and she had piercing blue eyes, that seemed to be looking straight at Rika.
She wore the normal school uniform, but with a black leather belt that was on at a slant.
Rika looked nervously at the desk beside her, that was perfectly empty, and she knew the teacher would put the new girl there.
And sure enough, he did. He pointed towards the desk and in one swift movement the girl slumped into the desk and glared at Rika. Glared hard. But then held out her ring-covered hand and blew a bubble with her blueish colored bubble-gum.
"Arista... you don't need my last name.. if you knew that I'd have to kill 'ya."
Rika returned her glare, and took her hand and shook it hard. "Rika... Nonaka.... the model's daughter." she said with a pride she never thought she'd ever have about being a model's daughter.
"Whad'eva." Arista snorted and sunk back in her chair. "This freak-show place is bad enough... I don't need no people tellin' me 'bout their family history... I don't need nobody.. nobody at all."
Rika growled to herself. This was gonna be interesting.
~
Henry peered across the aile at Takato, then to Kazu, then Jeri, then Kenta..... then Josh.
Josh was the new guy that had pranced his little butt right on into this classroom and slammed himself down beside Henry's desk and winked at him.
Josh was the kind of guy all the girls were nuts for, he already caught Jeri's eye, along with twenty other girls.
He had spiked blonde hair, sturn green eyes, and an attitude that took him wherever he wanted to go.
Henry didn't like this guy one bit, didn't like how he acted, didn't like how he looked, and he could tell Takato wasn't one bit thrilled with Jeri's obsession with him either.
The bell rang, signaling the end of school and Henry jumped up, just to get pushed back by Josh.
"Hey, get outta my way."
Henry immediatly glared at him and pushed him right back. "I don't want people talking to me like that."
"Well what'cha gonna do about it?" Josh threatened.
Henry took another step to him and glared hard enough to burst Josh's skull.
"You REALLY want to know that, loser?"
"OKAY OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH!" Jeri yelled, stepping in between them. "Com'on Henry, Rika said she'd meet us in the park."
Henry just glared once more at the boy, and walked out behind the group of digidestined.
~
The group walked into the park, through the winding paths, half-paying attention to where they were walking, but more paying attention to the beautiful afternoon. The balmy breeze that circled them, the sunlight beating down on them just right, and the smell of autumn. But the peace was cut short when Henry spotted something in the middle of it all.
"What is HE doing here?!?" Henry demanded, watching Josh already there at the park talking to Rika.
He heard Rika's laugh and felt his face start to burn. "Okay... okay THAT'S IT!"
Jeri and Takato both reached to grab Henry's arms but Henry was already stomping up the stone path to the small building they used for the headquarters.
In one swift movement Henry had grabbed Josh's shoulder, waiting for him to turn around, and punched him square in the nose.
Josh stumbled back and glared at Henry. "Hey you jerk what the heck was that for?"
Rika looked back and forth between the boys in an almost shock at what had just happened, but listened intently to Henry's sturn conversation with Josh, as both boys glared so hard Rika thought their eyes would fall out.
"First you come to the school and think you can boss everybody around just like that... then you have to push me down after school.. and now you're hitting on MY girl...."
Josh growled fiercly at him. "And what makes you think she won't just become MY girl instead?"
"Because I love Henry no matter how much of a jealous idiot he is..." Rika answered his question with the same glare that now was going three-ways.
"I see." Josh said calmly. "Well maybe Renamon will have a say in that.."
Rika and Henry both perked up immediatly. Renamon hadn't been seen since that morning, and how did this guy know about her?
"What do you know about Renamon!?" Rika shrieked.
"Enough." Josh responded sharply, turned, and walked away.
Rika was left dumbfounded standing beside Henry with the same look in his clear gray eyes.
"What does he mean..." Rika looked over at Henry with a concerned look. "... 'enough'?"
~
Rika, Henry, Takato, Jeri, Kenta, and Kazu in a large booth in the local resturant, chatting one at a time, sometimes two or three when an argument struck out, about things with no meaning to the rest of the world.
The long-blonde-haired waitress dressed in a teal-blue short dress like all the other waitresses set another full glass of soda in front of Takato, sitting at the end of one side of the booth, and looked at the small group. "Anything else?" she asked, shifting her weight on the cold black and white tiled floor.
They all shook their heads, and looked at each other trying to stare one of them down into paying for the meals. Finally, Kazu gave in, handing the twenty dollar bill to the woman and remarking 'Keep the change'.
Rika's mind wasn't really on the meal or the conversation, the group talked about Josh, but Rika's mind was on someone else, not Henry, not Renamon... not even her mother who she thought about often enough.. but that tall blonde-haired girl with the piercing blue eyes named..
"Arista." Rika growled, glaring sharply at the very girl on her mind strolling up to them.
"Rita!" Arista said rather sarcasticly and sharply.
The group, especially the boys, all stared in amazement at first the look on Rika's face, then the one on this new girl's.
"It's Rika... and what the heck are you doing here?" Rika demanaded, almost standing up from her place in the middle of one of the red leather seats lined with chrome.
"Just wanted to check up.." Arista gave a sneer.
"Introduce..." Takato said in a cough at Rika.
Rika gave another growl and waved her hand at Arista.
"Arista... the freak new girl in our class at my school."
"The ATTRACTIVE freak girl..." Kazu corrected her.
"But drop the freak part.." Kenta remarked dreamily, staring at Arista.
Rika picked up the packets of strawberry jelly that sat in front of her and threw them at their heads, growling yet again.
Arista had changed out of her school uniform, but wore something that had just caught Rika's eye as she sunk down in the seat and leaned against Henry.
Arista's shirt, for one thing, was a yellow tank-top with a ying-yang symbol across the front of it, smack in the middle. Her pants were jeans... PURPLE... jeans... and she wore a heavy black leather coat over her shirt. Her hair was still waved, and seemed to perfect the outfit.
Rika didn't really respond like she thought she would've at the clothes, but rather looked Arista straight in the eye and swore she saw a glimmer of sadness or hopelessness in it. Rika knew what that would look like, she'd seen it every morning and evening in her bedroom mirror. It surprised her almost that a girl with that much power over a guy... or two even... would be like that.
Rika found herself in that state of mind where she'd reason with herself again, as she leaned more against Henry and he put his arm around her, getting the point.
Henry had been crazy for her the whole time, and still she had that hopeless feeling.
Rika was called back to her senses when Arista said her goodbyes and walked away, leaving a depressed Kenta and Kazu at the table, sulking about not getting her phone number.
Rika watched Arista walk out the glass door lined with chrome and sighed. There was something different about her, something almost famillier.. but...
~
"Oh if it isn't Miss Ice Queen herself!"
Rika slammed her locker, the inside of it covered in digimon cards, pictures, and pictures of Henry, shut and glared at the face that appeared from behind it.
"Leave me alone, Arista." she growled as she held her book to her chest and started to walk off, but Arista kept walking behind her.
"You have fun with your little *boyfriend* yesturday?" Arista said in a mocking tone.
Rika sighed, but stood her ground. "Yes, I did. Thank you very much."
Arista sneered and kept up her pace. "So what do you plan on doing later with him?"
"And why do you want to know THAT?" Rika growled, keeping one step ahead of Arista the whole time.
Arista sped up her pace, but Rika only did the same, still one step ahead of her.
"Because I WANT to know."
Rika stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around to look at Arista.
"Say that again."
"Huh?"
Rika repeated her demand slower. "Say that again."
"Because I WANT to know." Arista repeated, a glimmer of hope in her eye.
"Oh God.."
With that Rika turned abruptly around and flew down the hall, leaving Arista standing alone.
"Rika.." Arista whispered to herself.
~