Well, looks like this story will be just as popular as the first one. I'm
so glad. And just like in the first one, I'm going to answer reviews.
Fell: Well, you never really know what to expect of me. Thanks for reading it. Glad you think it's cute.
CCPheonix: Yes, Ryamon and Patamon are mean. But I've gotten use to it. I have no idea why I made them go 3 months w/o eachother, but glad u like it all the same. That's sad that your best friend is gone for 3 months. Oh well, hope you like this chapter!
matt4ever: Yup I made a sequel. I feel bad for those two though, even though I wrote it like that.
Sakura: I am cruel. I FEEL SO BAD NOW! *cries* Glad you like my series. And that ring is gorgeous, that's why I created it. I want one!
nEo-cHaN: you like squealing at cute things don't you? Not complaining of course, cause I do it too. This is sad and I have no idea why I'm torturing my characters.
Dark N' Dreary: thanks. And what's with you and the tree being on fire?
PA & DA: I would die too. They will eventually get back together though. They are so perfect for eachother. Thanks for loving it.
Sillie: they will. I mean, it's Matt and Tai. They are too perfect to let a little thing like this bring them down.
Feng Shui Boy: it does start sad....hopefully it'll appear better in the end. I'm not sure if it'll be a trilogy yet, but I plan on it if enough people like this story.
That's all guys. Thanks a lot for reviewing. Please read the bottom note and enjoy!
Tai's POV
**************************************************************************** ** Bored. Miserable. Bored. Heartbroken. Bored. GAH! I can't stand this! This damn flight is 13 hours long and it's only been about 5 hours of it. Everything's going to be so different this summer. I won't get to see my Yama until the end of August, I'm going to be living in a new country full of strangers, and I'm going to be a male model.
"I don't want to do this anymore." I groaned and slid down further into my seat.
"Do what anymore?" a voice asked from behind me. I jumped and looked to my right. Standing there in the aisle was a boy, who I assumed was the one who asked me about my comment.
"Oh. Sorry about that. It's nothing. Just ignore me and my schizophrenic self." I said with a laugh. He started to laugh too and sat down next to me.
"The name's Justin. Justin Granger." He introduced himself and stuck his hand out for me to shake.
"Tai Kamiya." I returned the handshake.
"So where you headed for Tai?" he asked me.
"The big apple for the summer." I replied.
"That's cool. That's where I live." I raised my eyebrow.
"If you live in NYC.........then why are you flying out of Japan?" I asked skeptically.
"Long story. Basically my girlfriend went to Japan to visit for a few weeks and I wanted to go with her. But unfortunately I'm a complete dumbass and booked my vacay time for two weeks AFTER she left to go back home. So I've been in Japan since then." He explained.
"Bummer. That must have sucked majorly." He shook his head and stretched out in his seat.
"Nah, not really. I like Japan. I've never been there before, but my girlfriend always tells me how great it is."
"Sounds like she knows the area pretty well." I commented as I relaxed too.
"Yea. She used to live there when she was a kid. Loves it over there."
"What's she like?" I asked him.
"She's so incredible. Very bubbly and happy as long as she has her parent's charge card. She's very sincere with her feelings and is always honest with people. Sweet, caring, always wanting to help people. But she can be whiny and annoying at times, but other then that, she's wonderful." He rambled on and let out a dreamy sigh.
"Is she pretty?" I asked. He nodded enthusiastically.
"Hell yea. She's got beautiful brown eyes, strawberry blonde hair except she dyed it but it's about shoulder length. Decent height and weight and such. She's absolutely perfect." He finished off with a loving gaze in his eyes from these thoughts. I shook my head and looked into his eyes. Then I did a double take.
"Dude, are those, like...." I couldn't finish my sentence without seeming rude. So instead I pointed at his eyes.
"My real eyes?" he finished for me. I nodded slowly. He grinned and looked at me.
"Yup. How I was born, how they're gonna stay." He said.
"Dude......that's so cool!" I exclaimed as I examined his eyes further. One of his eyes was blue, but his other eye was 2 colors. One side of his eye was blue, but the other side was brown. It was so odd, but it was awesome. (A/N: I do actually have a friend who has eyes just like this. THEY'RE SO COOL!) I looked over the rest of him too. He wasn't really bad looking actually. He had blondish brown spiky hair, decent build, great smile.......of course Matt's way hotter but still. His girlfriend was lucky.
"Why are you going to New York?"
"For a program over the summer. But then I'm going back to Japan for school." I replied.
"That's pretty cool. Maybe you, me, and my girlfriend could hang out if you have downtime."
"Maybe. That's be great." I grinned. He returned the smile and starting talking again about himself. This guy was really cool. He was my age, into sports and video games, and he was rich. We spent the whole flight talking about everything we could think of. The flight didn't seem half as long when I was talking to him. But of course it had to end.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to land. Thank you for flying International Airlines." A flight attendant's voice came over the intercom. We slowly descended from the air and landed at the airport. Justin and I stood up and walked out into the airport.
"Well, it's been great talking to you, Tai. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." He said and stuck out his hand.
"The pleasure's been mine, Justin. See ya later." I shook his hand and picked up my backpack.
"Bye." He called as he weaved his way through the crowds. I waved after him and looked around the airport.
"Great. NOW where am I suppose to go?" I said to myself and started walking towards baggage claim. Suddenly I was attacked out of nowhere.
"AHH!" I fell backwards and landed on the ground.
"HI TAI!" a cheery voice greeted me.
"GET THE HELL OFF OF......Mimi?" I interrupted myself. I looked up at the girl sitting on top of me.
"The one and only!" She chirped and stood up. I stayed on the floor and looked at her in confusement. (A/N: is that even a word?)
"You gonna stay down there all day or what? We got to get going!" she said as she pulled me off the floor and dragged me out of the airport.
"Mimi, wait a second! What about my stuff?" I asked as I struggled to keep up with her.
"Already in the car." was the reply I got. I followed her down the street until she suddenly stopped in front of a limo.
"Are you just going to gawk at it all day? Get it!" Mimi said as she shoved me into the car. She followed me in and shut the door.
"Back to the company if you please, Johnson." She told the driver.
"Right away Ms. Tachikawa." He replied and started to drive down the street.
"Meems, what's going on here?" I asked her. She smiled and sat back in her seat.
"Mark sent me to come get you and take you back to the company. How was your flight in?" she asked me.
"It was pretty cool. After I met this guy and started talking to him."
"Tai, you already have a boyfriend. Just remember that."
"Oh shut up. I know that and besides, nobody can compare to my Yama-chan."
"YOUR Yama-chan?"
"Yes, mine. Now, where exactly are we going?"
"I already told you, back to the company. Then Mark want's to talk to you."
"How much longer until we get there? I want to sleep."
"Not much longer. And it's called jetlag. Get used to it." I groaned and placed my head against the window. She laughed and patted my head.
"Aww, poor baby. We're here." She said and got out of the car. I followed her and looked at the building in awe.
"Mimi, is this......." I couldn't finish my sentence. She grinned broadly and nodded.
"Tai, welcome to A&F headquarters." She said and dragged me inside.
"This is the place where you will work, train, and live until your draft time is over. It sort of works like a collage. You have classes where you learn how to model professionally, jobs where you do your photo shoots, and dormrooms where you live and sleep." Mimi explained to me as we walked along the halls of the building. Suddenly she stopped in front of a door.
"This is Mark's office. He wanted to talk to you." She said as she pulled me inside. I'm really starting to feel like a puppy on a leash being dragged by a three-year-old. We entered the room and walked towards the desk. Or more like Mimi walked to the desk and dragged me by the arm behind her.
"He's here, Mark." She announced to him. He turned around in his chair and smiled.
"Tai, welcome. Hope your flight went smoothly." He said and stuck out his hand.
"It was all right. But tiring." I replied and shook his hand.
"You'll have plenty of chances to rest up in a while. Right now we need to discuss your contract. Have a seat." He instructed and waved his hand at the plush chairs in front of his desk. I sunk down into one of them and waited for him to continue.
"Now, it says you only want to be here for the summer, correct?"
"Yes sir. My parents want me back by the end of August so I can start school again."
"That's perfectly fine. And you read all the rules of the company, right?"
"Yes I did sir."
"Tai, call me Mark. Or just say yes. Don't call me sir. Sounds too....formal." I smiled and nodded.
"Sorry about that Mark."
"No need to be sorry. Shows you were raised well." He looked at his watch and then back at the paper in his hand.
"Well, that's all for now. Your schedule will be sent up to your room later on. And you will meet your model trainer later on. Anyway, you are free to go. And if Mimi doesn't mind showing you around, you can explore the corporation." He finished off.
"That's fine with me, Mark." Mimi smiled and headed out the door.
"You coming?" she called over her shoulder. I looked at Mark for any signal that I could really leave.
"It's ok, Tai. You're free until tomorrow." He smiled. I returned the smile and ran out after Mimi.
"See, that wasn't so hard." She told me.
"Yea, whatever. What's a model trainer?" I asked her as we walked into the elevator.
"Someone who trains you to be a model, usually a advanced model."
"Who's mine?" I raised an eyebrow. She glanced sideways at me and smirked.
"C'mon, T. Even you're not that dense."
"You?" I asked in surprise.
"But of course. Mark did that on purpose." She replied as she stepped out of the elevator.
"Where exactly are we going?" I asked her as I continued to follow her.
"Well, you're not the only one I'm training. I'm making my rounds first, then I want you to meet some people." She replied as she opened another door. I just shook my head and followed her. We walked through the room where there were kids about our age doing different things. She walked over to a girl who looked about 13 and was watching a video.
"Hey 'Kenzie." She greeted the girl. The girl, Kenzie I guess, looked up and suddenly smiled brightly.
"Hi Mimi. When did you get back?" she jumped up and hugged Mimi. Mimi grinned and hugged her back.
"Just a while ago. What are you doing right now?"
"Watching the video tape of different model contests."
"Again? You've watched those tapes at least 6 times!"
"I know, but I'm running out of ideas for poses." Mimi shook her head and grinned.
"Don't worry about it, I'll help you tomorrow. Right now I'm being a tour guide."
"Tour guide?" the girl looked up and then landed her gaze on me.
"Who's this guy?" she asked Mimi and smiled at me.
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine from Japan. Tai, this is McKenzie McKean. She's another one of my students." She introduced us.
"So you're the new guy Mark told us about." McKenzie stated and looked me over.
"Definitely model material." She concluded at last.
"Isn't he though?" Mimi said. They started going on about how cute I was and what a good model I'll be and blah blah blah. Meanwhile, I gave McKenzie the once-over. She was pretty really, with her auburn-red hair and violet eyes. She came up to about my shoulder in height and she was thin, like a model should be. Or so I've been told.
"Well, we better be going. See ya later, Kenzie." Mimi jerked me out of my thoughts and started to walk away.
"See ya Meems. And nice meetin' ya, Tai." She added and smiled at me.
"Same. See you." I replied and followed Mimi out of the room and down the halls again.
"She seemed nice." I said. Mimi nodded and turned down another hall.
"McKenzie is just a sweetie. Bit of a handful sometimes, but I love her anyway." She replied and walked into another room. In this one were a bunch of guys working out, doing push-ups, crunches, you know the deal. Mimi walked around them, saying hello to various guys until she reached a smaller room. She opened the door and shut it behind her. The room was pitch-black as soon as she did. She groaned as soon as she realized this.
"Honestly Ryan, can't you leave the lights on?" she asked in an annoyed tone and flipped on the lights. Sitting on the floor was a boy of about 14 maybe, cross-legged and eyes closed. He had short brown spiky hair and appeared to be meditating. He signed and opened his brown eyes.
"Mimi, I can't focus if I have all this bright light glaring in my face." He replied and stood up. He glared at her and then looked at me.
"And who are you?" he asked me.
"Ryan, this is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine, so be nice. Tai, this is Ryan Harman." She introduced us.
"You're the new guy. From Japan, right?" Ryan asked me.
"Yea. But I'm living here now, so go figure." I shrugged. He grinned and looked back at Mimi.
"I take it he's your new student?" Ryan asked her.
"Yup. Speaking of student, what are you doing?" she asked him.
"Trying to relax my mind for my shoot tomorrow." He replied. She nodded.
"Ok. Then I guess we'll leave you alone so you can concentrate." She said and walked towards the door.
"Thanks Mimi. See ya around. Nice meeting you, Tai." He called after us.
"Same here, Ryan." I said and waved. Mimi said goodbye and walked out of the room into the workout room again.
"He seemed a bit rude, didn't he?" I commented as we walked around the guys again.
"Ignore him for now. He's just stressed out about the shoot. He always has a hard time dealing with them, so he has to clear his mind and make himself totally relaxed. But when he's not preparing for a shoot, he's absolutely a doll. You'll like him on a good day." She said and walked into the hallway again. She suddenly bumped into someone.
"Hey watch where you're- oh hey Mimi. Didn't realize it was you." The guy said and pulled her off the floor. He was a tall guy, with black spiky hair, hazel eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Jeez, what's with people and spiky hair in this place?
"Don't worry about it, Danny. Glad I found you besides. Have you seen JT?" she asked him.
"Yea, I think he walked into his room a bit ago." He replied. Then he looked down at me.
"And who's this?" he asked, sounding slightly amused.
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a really good friend of mine from Japan. Tai, this is Danny Dalton." She made introductions again.
"You're the new guy?" he asked, sounding sarcastic a bit. I nodded slowly and looked at this guy. And I didn't like what I saw.
"How cute." He said crudely. Wait a sec......he's mocking me! Ok, hold on, no one, and I mean NO ONE mocks Tai Kamiya and gets away with it. Unfortunately, Mimi chose that moment to leave.
"Well, I better be going. See ya later, Danny."
"Bye Mimi." He smiled again and looked innocent. She smiled back and started walking again.
"I don't like that guy." I stated as she led me down another hall.
"He's all right once you figure out how he works. Sometimes, he's just like that. You'll learn to live with it." She replied and stopped in front of a door.
"Where are we going now?" I asked her as she placed her hand on the door handle.
"I want you to meet someone. Come on." She said and walked inside. I shrugged and followed her.
"You in here, babe?" she called as she walked through the apartment-like room.
"Yea, hang on a sec, Meems." A voice called back. A boy walked in through the doorway. I could feel my face go into a look of shock.
"Justin?" I said in surprise. He looked up and towards me. His face formed into a look of surprise too.
"Tai? What are you doing here?" he asked and smiled. Mimi looked slightly confused.
"You two already know eachother?" she asked.
"Yea, this is the guy from the plane I told you about." I replied. Then I looked back and forward between Mimi and Justin.
"Question is, how do YOU two know eachother?" I asked. Mimi didn't respond, so Justin stepped in.
"Well, remember my girlfriend I was telling you about? This is her." He replied.
"Oh my god. Mimi, you never told us you were going out with someone." I told my friend, just to embarrass her further.
"Shut up, Tai." She growled. Justin and I both started to laugh.
"So what are you doing here? For real." I asked Justin.
"I work here, as a model. What's your story?" he asked me.
"I was drafted as a model for the summer."
"So YOU'RE the new guy Mark was jabbering about in his last email. That's so cool." He replied with this excited look on his face. I nodded and was about to reply when I was interrupted.
"Justin? What's going on?" another voice came from behind him. He turned around and revealed a little girl who only looked about 8 years old.
"Never mind, it's nothing important." He assured her. She rolled her eyes and saw Mimi.
"Mimi! I didn't know you came back from the airport yet!" she said as she threw herself at Mimi. Mimi laughed and picked the girl up.
"Yup, and I brought a friend." She replied. The girl looked up at me and smiled.
"Hi, what's your name?" she asked me. I couldn't help but smile back.
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine from Japan."
"As good of friends as you and Justin?" she asked innocently. Mimi and Justin both blushed a bit.
"Not THAT good." Justin said. I just laughed and shook my head.
"So who are you?" I asked the little girl.
"This is Tess. She's my youngest student." Mimi replied for her. Tess nodded and smiled.
"Nice ta meet ya, Tai." She said stuck out her hand. I shook it, just to humor her.
"So I'm guessing this is some relative of yours?" I directed my question towards Justin.
"Yea, little sister." He replied.
"I should have known. She looks just like you, except both her eyes are blue." Justin smiled and took Tess from Mimi's arms.
"Yup, my full-time job." Tess made a face at him and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Mimi grinned and looked at her watch.
"We better get going, I'm sure you both want to sleep." She said to Justin and me.
"Hell yes. I'll see you tomorrow Mimi. You too, Tai." He said and put Tess down.
"See ya." Mimi and I called over our shoulders and walked out the door. We walked down the hallway some more.
"How old is Tess?" I asked Mimi.
"She's almost 8, like next month." She replied.
"Isn't that kind of young for a model?" I asked skeptically.
"Nah, they needed models for A&F kids. Besides, Tess loves Justin to death, so she's happy to be a model. 'As long as I can be with Justin, I'm happy.' In her own words." She replied again.
"She's cute." I commented as we turned down a hallway.
"Isn't she though? Justin and I train her together." She said and stopped in front of a new door.
"This is your room. I have no idea who you're sharing with, but this is where you'll sleep and hang out. Unless you hang out in my or Justin's room." She said and opened the door.
"Where's your room?" I asked her as I walked in after her.
"Not too far. Right down the hall at 182." She said.
"Where's my stuff?" I asked as I walked around the mini apartment.
"Already here and put away." She replied and checked her watch again.
"Hey, I'm gonna leave you now. I'll come back to get you in the morning. Since I have your schedule and all." She winked and headed out the door.
"Ok, thanks Meems. See ya tomorrow." I called after her. She waved and shut the door. I flopped down on my bed and sighed. Then an idea struck me.
"I should probably write home and tell everyone I got here ok." I said to myself and got my laptop out. Actually it was Izzy's old one, but hell a laptop is a laptop right? I logged into my email account and wrote a new message.
From: Tai Kamiya (leader_boi7@hotmail.com)
To: hikari_koneko@hotmail.com, hopefulb-ballplaya@msn.com, soccer_eagle@yahoo.com, leave_me_a_lone_wolf@hotmail.com, pineapple- user&abuser@hotmail.com, dr_joe@msn.com, kari_is_mine@yahoo.com, totally_perfecto@aol.com, prunejuice_kendodude@aol.com, no_longer_evil@hotmail.com, can't_cook@aol.com
Subject: hey all
Hey everybody,
Tai here. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm ok and I made it to NYC safely. I've got Mimi here to look after me if you're worried. If you want to write to me, here's the addy:
Abercrombie and Fitch Company
CC: Tai Kamiya
819 W. Broadway
New York, New York 10108
That's it. I also have the laptop if you wanna email me. Miss you all a lot and can't wait to se you all again. I'll try to call when I can. Take care guys.
Love, Tai.
Satisfied with myself, I sent the email and shut the laptop. Suddenly the door opened and Danny walked in.
"What are you doing here?" He asked me. I looked up and frowned.
"I live here. What are you doing here?" I asked. He glared at me.
"I live here too." He said slowly. Damn it. Now I'm stuck with him? Fun. Can't you just hear the excitement in my voice? Sarcasm is something you learn easily when being around Matt Ishida.
"Ok. Fine, whatever." I said and took off my shirt. He walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders, pinning me to a wall.
"No not whatever. You best listen to me, Kamiya. I rule campus around here."
"Is this even a campus?" I snorted. He tightened his grip and shut me up.
"You don't get in my way, I won't do anything. You listen to me though, one toe out of line and I will make you wish you stayed in Japan. Got it?" he hissed at me.
"Sure, whatever, can you let go of me now?" I asked boredly. He shoved me away from the wall and stormed into his room. I sighed and crawled into bed.
"Great, just what I need, another Kei." I said to myself and shut off the light. The more I think about this, I wish I DID stay in Japan. I miss everything already and I haven't even been here a whole day. Especially Matt.
"Hope he still loves me." I whispered to myself and cried myself to sleep.
**************************************************************************** **
That's it guys! Sorry if this seemed bad, but I had to introduce all the characters and show what Tai has to deal with. And the next couple of chapters will probably be in Tai's POV. Oh and btw, it you couldn't figure out the emails, here they are.
Hikari_koneko@hotmail.com: Kari.
Hopefulb-ballplaya@msn.com: TK
Soccer_eagle@yahoo.com: Sora
Leave_me_a_lone_wolf@hotmail.com: Matt
Pineapple-user&abuser@hotmail.com: Izzy Dr_joe@msn.com: Joe obviously.
Kari_is_mine@yahoo.com: Daisuke
Totally_perfecto@aol.com: Yolei.
Prunejuice_kendodude@aol.com: Cody.
No_longer_evil@hotmail.com: Ken.
Can't_cook@aol.com: Mrs. Kamiya.
Think that's all. Oh, and FYI, I'm leaving next week to go to Arizona for a dance competition, so I may or may not be able to update for about 2 weeks. I am taking a laptop with me however, so I can try. Anyway, hope you like this chapter and please review. And I'm sorry if this was just useless crap.
Ryamon: Believe me, it was.
I wasn't asking you Ryamon. Bye everybody!
Fell: Well, you never really know what to expect of me. Thanks for reading it. Glad you think it's cute.
CCPheonix: Yes, Ryamon and Patamon are mean. But I've gotten use to it. I have no idea why I made them go 3 months w/o eachother, but glad u like it all the same. That's sad that your best friend is gone for 3 months. Oh well, hope you like this chapter!
matt4ever: Yup I made a sequel. I feel bad for those two though, even though I wrote it like that.
Sakura: I am cruel. I FEEL SO BAD NOW! *cries* Glad you like my series. And that ring is gorgeous, that's why I created it. I want one!
nEo-cHaN: you like squealing at cute things don't you? Not complaining of course, cause I do it too. This is sad and I have no idea why I'm torturing my characters.
Dark N' Dreary: thanks. And what's with you and the tree being on fire?
PA & DA: I would die too. They will eventually get back together though. They are so perfect for eachother. Thanks for loving it.
Sillie: they will. I mean, it's Matt and Tai. They are too perfect to let a little thing like this bring them down.
Feng Shui Boy: it does start sad....hopefully it'll appear better in the end. I'm not sure if it'll be a trilogy yet, but I plan on it if enough people like this story.
That's all guys. Thanks a lot for reviewing. Please read the bottom note and enjoy!
Tai's POV
**************************************************************************** ** Bored. Miserable. Bored. Heartbroken. Bored. GAH! I can't stand this! This damn flight is 13 hours long and it's only been about 5 hours of it. Everything's going to be so different this summer. I won't get to see my Yama until the end of August, I'm going to be living in a new country full of strangers, and I'm going to be a male model.
"I don't want to do this anymore." I groaned and slid down further into my seat.
"Do what anymore?" a voice asked from behind me. I jumped and looked to my right. Standing there in the aisle was a boy, who I assumed was the one who asked me about my comment.
"Oh. Sorry about that. It's nothing. Just ignore me and my schizophrenic self." I said with a laugh. He started to laugh too and sat down next to me.
"The name's Justin. Justin Granger." He introduced himself and stuck his hand out for me to shake.
"Tai Kamiya." I returned the handshake.
"So where you headed for Tai?" he asked me.
"The big apple for the summer." I replied.
"That's cool. That's where I live." I raised my eyebrow.
"If you live in NYC.........then why are you flying out of Japan?" I asked skeptically.
"Long story. Basically my girlfriend went to Japan to visit for a few weeks and I wanted to go with her. But unfortunately I'm a complete dumbass and booked my vacay time for two weeks AFTER she left to go back home. So I've been in Japan since then." He explained.
"Bummer. That must have sucked majorly." He shook his head and stretched out in his seat.
"Nah, not really. I like Japan. I've never been there before, but my girlfriend always tells me how great it is."
"Sounds like she knows the area pretty well." I commented as I relaxed too.
"Yea. She used to live there when she was a kid. Loves it over there."
"What's she like?" I asked him.
"She's so incredible. Very bubbly and happy as long as she has her parent's charge card. She's very sincere with her feelings and is always honest with people. Sweet, caring, always wanting to help people. But she can be whiny and annoying at times, but other then that, she's wonderful." He rambled on and let out a dreamy sigh.
"Is she pretty?" I asked. He nodded enthusiastically.
"Hell yea. She's got beautiful brown eyes, strawberry blonde hair except she dyed it but it's about shoulder length. Decent height and weight and such. She's absolutely perfect." He finished off with a loving gaze in his eyes from these thoughts. I shook my head and looked into his eyes. Then I did a double take.
"Dude, are those, like...." I couldn't finish my sentence without seeming rude. So instead I pointed at his eyes.
"My real eyes?" he finished for me. I nodded slowly. He grinned and looked at me.
"Yup. How I was born, how they're gonna stay." He said.
"Dude......that's so cool!" I exclaimed as I examined his eyes further. One of his eyes was blue, but his other eye was 2 colors. One side of his eye was blue, but the other side was brown. It was so odd, but it was awesome. (A/N: I do actually have a friend who has eyes just like this. THEY'RE SO COOL!) I looked over the rest of him too. He wasn't really bad looking actually. He had blondish brown spiky hair, decent build, great smile.......of course Matt's way hotter but still. His girlfriend was lucky.
"Why are you going to New York?"
"For a program over the summer. But then I'm going back to Japan for school." I replied.
"That's pretty cool. Maybe you, me, and my girlfriend could hang out if you have downtime."
"Maybe. That's be great." I grinned. He returned the smile and starting talking again about himself. This guy was really cool. He was my age, into sports and video games, and he was rich. We spent the whole flight talking about everything we could think of. The flight didn't seem half as long when I was talking to him. But of course it had to end.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to land. Thank you for flying International Airlines." A flight attendant's voice came over the intercom. We slowly descended from the air and landed at the airport. Justin and I stood up and walked out into the airport.
"Well, it's been great talking to you, Tai. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." He said and stuck out his hand.
"The pleasure's been mine, Justin. See ya later." I shook his hand and picked up my backpack.
"Bye." He called as he weaved his way through the crowds. I waved after him and looked around the airport.
"Great. NOW where am I suppose to go?" I said to myself and started walking towards baggage claim. Suddenly I was attacked out of nowhere.
"AHH!" I fell backwards and landed on the ground.
"HI TAI!" a cheery voice greeted me.
"GET THE HELL OFF OF......Mimi?" I interrupted myself. I looked up at the girl sitting on top of me.
"The one and only!" She chirped and stood up. I stayed on the floor and looked at her in confusement. (A/N: is that even a word?)
"You gonna stay down there all day or what? We got to get going!" she said as she pulled me off the floor and dragged me out of the airport.
"Mimi, wait a second! What about my stuff?" I asked as I struggled to keep up with her.
"Already in the car." was the reply I got. I followed her down the street until she suddenly stopped in front of a limo.
"Are you just going to gawk at it all day? Get it!" Mimi said as she shoved me into the car. She followed me in and shut the door.
"Back to the company if you please, Johnson." She told the driver.
"Right away Ms. Tachikawa." He replied and started to drive down the street.
"Meems, what's going on here?" I asked her. She smiled and sat back in her seat.
"Mark sent me to come get you and take you back to the company. How was your flight in?" she asked me.
"It was pretty cool. After I met this guy and started talking to him."
"Tai, you already have a boyfriend. Just remember that."
"Oh shut up. I know that and besides, nobody can compare to my Yama-chan."
"YOUR Yama-chan?"
"Yes, mine. Now, where exactly are we going?"
"I already told you, back to the company. Then Mark want's to talk to you."
"How much longer until we get there? I want to sleep."
"Not much longer. And it's called jetlag. Get used to it." I groaned and placed my head against the window. She laughed and patted my head.
"Aww, poor baby. We're here." She said and got out of the car. I followed her and looked at the building in awe.
"Mimi, is this......." I couldn't finish my sentence. She grinned broadly and nodded.
"Tai, welcome to A&F headquarters." She said and dragged me inside.
"This is the place where you will work, train, and live until your draft time is over. It sort of works like a collage. You have classes where you learn how to model professionally, jobs where you do your photo shoots, and dormrooms where you live and sleep." Mimi explained to me as we walked along the halls of the building. Suddenly she stopped in front of a door.
"This is Mark's office. He wanted to talk to you." She said as she pulled me inside. I'm really starting to feel like a puppy on a leash being dragged by a three-year-old. We entered the room and walked towards the desk. Or more like Mimi walked to the desk and dragged me by the arm behind her.
"He's here, Mark." She announced to him. He turned around in his chair and smiled.
"Tai, welcome. Hope your flight went smoothly." He said and stuck out his hand.
"It was all right. But tiring." I replied and shook his hand.
"You'll have plenty of chances to rest up in a while. Right now we need to discuss your contract. Have a seat." He instructed and waved his hand at the plush chairs in front of his desk. I sunk down into one of them and waited for him to continue.
"Now, it says you only want to be here for the summer, correct?"
"Yes sir. My parents want me back by the end of August so I can start school again."
"That's perfectly fine. And you read all the rules of the company, right?"
"Yes I did sir."
"Tai, call me Mark. Or just say yes. Don't call me sir. Sounds too....formal." I smiled and nodded.
"Sorry about that Mark."
"No need to be sorry. Shows you were raised well." He looked at his watch and then back at the paper in his hand.
"Well, that's all for now. Your schedule will be sent up to your room later on. And you will meet your model trainer later on. Anyway, you are free to go. And if Mimi doesn't mind showing you around, you can explore the corporation." He finished off.
"That's fine with me, Mark." Mimi smiled and headed out the door.
"You coming?" she called over her shoulder. I looked at Mark for any signal that I could really leave.
"It's ok, Tai. You're free until tomorrow." He smiled. I returned the smile and ran out after Mimi.
"See, that wasn't so hard." She told me.
"Yea, whatever. What's a model trainer?" I asked her as we walked into the elevator.
"Someone who trains you to be a model, usually a advanced model."
"Who's mine?" I raised an eyebrow. She glanced sideways at me and smirked.
"C'mon, T. Even you're not that dense."
"You?" I asked in surprise.
"But of course. Mark did that on purpose." She replied as she stepped out of the elevator.
"Where exactly are we going?" I asked her as I continued to follow her.
"Well, you're not the only one I'm training. I'm making my rounds first, then I want you to meet some people." She replied as she opened another door. I just shook my head and followed her. We walked through the room where there were kids about our age doing different things. She walked over to a girl who looked about 13 and was watching a video.
"Hey 'Kenzie." She greeted the girl. The girl, Kenzie I guess, looked up and suddenly smiled brightly.
"Hi Mimi. When did you get back?" she jumped up and hugged Mimi. Mimi grinned and hugged her back.
"Just a while ago. What are you doing right now?"
"Watching the video tape of different model contests."
"Again? You've watched those tapes at least 6 times!"
"I know, but I'm running out of ideas for poses." Mimi shook her head and grinned.
"Don't worry about it, I'll help you tomorrow. Right now I'm being a tour guide."
"Tour guide?" the girl looked up and then landed her gaze on me.
"Who's this guy?" she asked Mimi and smiled at me.
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine from Japan. Tai, this is McKenzie McKean. She's another one of my students." She introduced us.
"So you're the new guy Mark told us about." McKenzie stated and looked me over.
"Definitely model material." She concluded at last.
"Isn't he though?" Mimi said. They started going on about how cute I was and what a good model I'll be and blah blah blah. Meanwhile, I gave McKenzie the once-over. She was pretty really, with her auburn-red hair and violet eyes. She came up to about my shoulder in height and she was thin, like a model should be. Or so I've been told.
"Well, we better be going. See ya later, Kenzie." Mimi jerked me out of my thoughts and started to walk away.
"See ya Meems. And nice meetin' ya, Tai." She added and smiled at me.
"Same. See you." I replied and followed Mimi out of the room and down the halls again.
"She seemed nice." I said. Mimi nodded and turned down another hall.
"McKenzie is just a sweetie. Bit of a handful sometimes, but I love her anyway." She replied and walked into another room. In this one were a bunch of guys working out, doing push-ups, crunches, you know the deal. Mimi walked around them, saying hello to various guys until she reached a smaller room. She opened the door and shut it behind her. The room was pitch-black as soon as she did. She groaned as soon as she realized this.
"Honestly Ryan, can't you leave the lights on?" she asked in an annoyed tone and flipped on the lights. Sitting on the floor was a boy of about 14 maybe, cross-legged and eyes closed. He had short brown spiky hair and appeared to be meditating. He signed and opened his brown eyes.
"Mimi, I can't focus if I have all this bright light glaring in my face." He replied and stood up. He glared at her and then looked at me.
"And who are you?" he asked me.
"Ryan, this is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine, so be nice. Tai, this is Ryan Harman." She introduced us.
"You're the new guy. From Japan, right?" Ryan asked me.
"Yea. But I'm living here now, so go figure." I shrugged. He grinned and looked back at Mimi.
"I take it he's your new student?" Ryan asked her.
"Yup. Speaking of student, what are you doing?" she asked him.
"Trying to relax my mind for my shoot tomorrow." He replied. She nodded.
"Ok. Then I guess we'll leave you alone so you can concentrate." She said and walked towards the door.
"Thanks Mimi. See ya around. Nice meeting you, Tai." He called after us.
"Same here, Ryan." I said and waved. Mimi said goodbye and walked out of the room into the workout room again.
"He seemed a bit rude, didn't he?" I commented as we walked around the guys again.
"Ignore him for now. He's just stressed out about the shoot. He always has a hard time dealing with them, so he has to clear his mind and make himself totally relaxed. But when he's not preparing for a shoot, he's absolutely a doll. You'll like him on a good day." She said and walked into the hallway again. She suddenly bumped into someone.
"Hey watch where you're- oh hey Mimi. Didn't realize it was you." The guy said and pulled her off the floor. He was a tall guy, with black spiky hair, hazel eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Jeez, what's with people and spiky hair in this place?
"Don't worry about it, Danny. Glad I found you besides. Have you seen JT?" she asked him.
"Yea, I think he walked into his room a bit ago." He replied. Then he looked down at me.
"And who's this?" he asked, sounding slightly amused.
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a really good friend of mine from Japan. Tai, this is Danny Dalton." She made introductions again.
"You're the new guy?" he asked, sounding sarcastic a bit. I nodded slowly and looked at this guy. And I didn't like what I saw.
"How cute." He said crudely. Wait a sec......he's mocking me! Ok, hold on, no one, and I mean NO ONE mocks Tai Kamiya and gets away with it. Unfortunately, Mimi chose that moment to leave.
"Well, I better be going. See ya later, Danny."
"Bye Mimi." He smiled again and looked innocent. She smiled back and started walking again.
"I don't like that guy." I stated as she led me down another hall.
"He's all right once you figure out how he works. Sometimes, he's just like that. You'll learn to live with it." She replied and stopped in front of a door.
"Where are we going now?" I asked her as she placed her hand on the door handle.
"I want you to meet someone. Come on." She said and walked inside. I shrugged and followed her.
"You in here, babe?" she called as she walked through the apartment-like room.
"Yea, hang on a sec, Meems." A voice called back. A boy walked in through the doorway. I could feel my face go into a look of shock.
"Justin?" I said in surprise. He looked up and towards me. His face formed into a look of surprise too.
"Tai? What are you doing here?" he asked and smiled. Mimi looked slightly confused.
"You two already know eachother?" she asked.
"Yea, this is the guy from the plane I told you about." I replied. Then I looked back and forward between Mimi and Justin.
"Question is, how do YOU two know eachother?" I asked. Mimi didn't respond, so Justin stepped in.
"Well, remember my girlfriend I was telling you about? This is her." He replied.
"Oh my god. Mimi, you never told us you were going out with someone." I told my friend, just to embarrass her further.
"Shut up, Tai." She growled. Justin and I both started to laugh.
"So what are you doing here? For real." I asked Justin.
"I work here, as a model. What's your story?" he asked me.
"I was drafted as a model for the summer."
"So YOU'RE the new guy Mark was jabbering about in his last email. That's so cool." He replied with this excited look on his face. I nodded and was about to reply when I was interrupted.
"Justin? What's going on?" another voice came from behind him. He turned around and revealed a little girl who only looked about 8 years old.
"Never mind, it's nothing important." He assured her. She rolled her eyes and saw Mimi.
"Mimi! I didn't know you came back from the airport yet!" she said as she threw herself at Mimi. Mimi laughed and picked the girl up.
"Yup, and I brought a friend." She replied. The girl looked up at me and smiled.
"Hi, what's your name?" she asked me. I couldn't help but smile back.
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine from Japan."
"As good of friends as you and Justin?" she asked innocently. Mimi and Justin both blushed a bit.
"Not THAT good." Justin said. I just laughed and shook my head.
"So who are you?" I asked the little girl.
"This is Tess. She's my youngest student." Mimi replied for her. Tess nodded and smiled.
"Nice ta meet ya, Tai." She said stuck out her hand. I shook it, just to humor her.
"So I'm guessing this is some relative of yours?" I directed my question towards Justin.
"Yea, little sister." He replied.
"I should have known. She looks just like you, except both her eyes are blue." Justin smiled and took Tess from Mimi's arms.
"Yup, my full-time job." Tess made a face at him and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Mimi grinned and looked at her watch.
"We better get going, I'm sure you both want to sleep." She said to Justin and me.
"Hell yes. I'll see you tomorrow Mimi. You too, Tai." He said and put Tess down.
"See ya." Mimi and I called over our shoulders and walked out the door. We walked down the hallway some more.
"How old is Tess?" I asked Mimi.
"She's almost 8, like next month." She replied.
"Isn't that kind of young for a model?" I asked skeptically.
"Nah, they needed models for A&F kids. Besides, Tess loves Justin to death, so she's happy to be a model. 'As long as I can be with Justin, I'm happy.' In her own words." She replied again.
"She's cute." I commented as we turned down a hallway.
"Isn't she though? Justin and I train her together." She said and stopped in front of a new door.
"This is your room. I have no idea who you're sharing with, but this is where you'll sleep and hang out. Unless you hang out in my or Justin's room." She said and opened the door.
"Where's your room?" I asked her as I walked in after her.
"Not too far. Right down the hall at 182." She said.
"Where's my stuff?" I asked as I walked around the mini apartment.
"Already here and put away." She replied and checked her watch again.
"Hey, I'm gonna leave you now. I'll come back to get you in the morning. Since I have your schedule and all." She winked and headed out the door.
"Ok, thanks Meems. See ya tomorrow." I called after her. She waved and shut the door. I flopped down on my bed and sighed. Then an idea struck me.
"I should probably write home and tell everyone I got here ok." I said to myself and got my laptop out. Actually it was Izzy's old one, but hell a laptop is a laptop right? I logged into my email account and wrote a new message.
From: Tai Kamiya (leader_boi7@hotmail.com)
To: hikari_koneko@hotmail.com, hopefulb-ballplaya@msn.com, soccer_eagle@yahoo.com, leave_me_a_lone_wolf@hotmail.com, pineapple- user&abuser@hotmail.com, dr_joe@msn.com, kari_is_mine@yahoo.com, totally_perfecto@aol.com, prunejuice_kendodude@aol.com, no_longer_evil@hotmail.com, can't_cook@aol.com
Subject: hey all
Hey everybody,
Tai here. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm ok and I made it to NYC safely. I've got Mimi here to look after me if you're worried. If you want to write to me, here's the addy:
Abercrombie and Fitch Company
CC: Tai Kamiya
819 W. Broadway
New York, New York 10108
That's it. I also have the laptop if you wanna email me. Miss you all a lot and can't wait to se you all again. I'll try to call when I can. Take care guys.
Love, Tai.
Satisfied with myself, I sent the email and shut the laptop. Suddenly the door opened and Danny walked in.
"What are you doing here?" He asked me. I looked up and frowned.
"I live here. What are you doing here?" I asked. He glared at me.
"I live here too." He said slowly. Damn it. Now I'm stuck with him? Fun. Can't you just hear the excitement in my voice? Sarcasm is something you learn easily when being around Matt Ishida.
"Ok. Fine, whatever." I said and took off my shirt. He walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders, pinning me to a wall.
"No not whatever. You best listen to me, Kamiya. I rule campus around here."
"Is this even a campus?" I snorted. He tightened his grip and shut me up.
"You don't get in my way, I won't do anything. You listen to me though, one toe out of line and I will make you wish you stayed in Japan. Got it?" he hissed at me.
"Sure, whatever, can you let go of me now?" I asked boredly. He shoved me away from the wall and stormed into his room. I sighed and crawled into bed.
"Great, just what I need, another Kei." I said to myself and shut off the light. The more I think about this, I wish I DID stay in Japan. I miss everything already and I haven't even been here a whole day. Especially Matt.
"Hope he still loves me." I whispered to myself and cried myself to sleep.
**************************************************************************** **
That's it guys! Sorry if this seemed bad, but I had to introduce all the characters and show what Tai has to deal with. And the next couple of chapters will probably be in Tai's POV. Oh and btw, it you couldn't figure out the emails, here they are.
Hikari_koneko@hotmail.com: Kari.
Hopefulb-ballplaya@msn.com: TK
Soccer_eagle@yahoo.com: Sora
Leave_me_a_lone_wolf@hotmail.com: Matt
Pineapple-user&abuser@hotmail.com: Izzy Dr_joe@msn.com: Joe obviously.
Kari_is_mine@yahoo.com: Daisuke
Totally_perfecto@aol.com: Yolei.
Prunejuice_kendodude@aol.com: Cody.
No_longer_evil@hotmail.com: Ken.
Can't_cook@aol.com: Mrs. Kamiya.
Think that's all. Oh, and FYI, I'm leaving next week to go to Arizona for a dance competition, so I may or may not be able to update for about 2 weeks. I am taking a laptop with me however, so I can try. Anyway, hope you like this chapter and please review. And I'm sorry if this was just useless crap.
Ryamon: Believe me, it was.
I wasn't asking you Ryamon. Bye everybody!