Purchased Princess Bride. Dammit.
Disclaimers:
Characters in this story are not mine; title was stolen from Modern English, and chapter names have been stolen from Taking Back Sunday, Saves The Day, and Brand New, in that order. Also, Squalor was kinda taken from Salinger.
I know it seems like I'm extreme with this, but my English teacher is a total psycho about citing everything you use that isn't yours. You're lucky I'm not parenthetically documenting it.
Update: Thanks to Lil-Riter for pointing out the little TK/Izzy error I made in this chapter. Somehow that must have slipped by me during editing. I need to employ a beta… But anyways,. I have it fixed now. =)
I Melt With You
"So, you had fun?" Yolei asked straight away when Kari picked up the phone.
She laughed, "How'd you know I'd pick up?"
"Your parents never answer the phone; and I woulda asked Tai the same question."
Kari smiled, "You two… I never saw it coming."
With a scoff, Yolei transferred the phone to her other ear, "Are you joking? I've liked him, like, forever. And persistence pays off. He asked me out again for Friday night!"
"Mmm," Kari nodded, still finding it odd.
"You and Matt seemed quite happy," Yolei commented, expecting a rise out of Kari, "What'd he say?"
In spite of herself, Kari blushed, "He said he'd call me."
"Did he?"
Kari frowned, "No, not yet."
"But he will..."
"Right."
"You hang up first," TK cooed from his seat on the floor of Izzy's garage, bass draped across his lap. They had been practicing all afternoon and we on a much-needed break.
"No; you do it." Sora replied.
"Come on; you first."
"No way!"
"You first…"
"You first…"
Matt looked crossly over at his younger brother, "Should I do it?" he roared. Not wanting trouble, TK quickly put the phone down. "Let's start from the top."
"The top?" Tai groaned, "Come on, I've got soccer…"
"Soccer starts at four. It's two-thirty."
Looking up from tuning his bass, TK broke in, "I agree with Tai; we've been practicing too long. We're doing fine. Just let us go."
Matt kicked his microphone stand in a huff, producing a loud squeal of feedback, "You just wanna get back on the damn phone to spout off some more of that God awful mush to Takenouchi."
"I do not…" TK whined.
Leaning against the wall of Izzy's garage where they practiced, Matt folded his arms coolly, "Yes you do." More tittering from the others. "Shut up, Izzy, you're the same way with Ichijouji. And you," he said, whirling around to face an embarrassed Tai, "It's worse for you, because Yolei's creepy."
"Hey…" Tai said defensively, "What about you and Kari? You guys seemed pretty cozy Saturday night."
From his place on the wall, Matt shrugged carelessly, "So?"
Tai set down his guitar against the stand, "Then are you guys an item now or what?"
Shocked, Matt's eyes widened, "No way."
"You're blushing," Izzy said slyly, poking his brother in the arm with his drumstick.
"I am not," Matt lied, contrary to the fact that both of his cheeks were a darkening shade of crimson, "I don't want a girlfriend right now. I already tried that thing and you know how that went…" he threw a look at TK.
Izzy laughed coldly, "Actually, we do know how it went. You broke it off because you're afraid of commitment. Admit it."
"Why would I?" Matt spat, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "I just didn't wanna commit to… that. No offense, TK." In response, TK rolled his eyes.
"That meaning Sora or my sister?" Tai asked, stepping forward.
Matt shrugged yet again, "Both."
Another angry step towards him, "So you're not calling her?"
"Nope."
"No second date?"
"No."
"You're just gonna leave her wondering what she did wrong?"
"Where is all this coming from, Yagami? One would think this has happened to you before." Matt laughed cruelly, despite the fact that he was obviously cornered.
Tai leaned down into the blonde's now-quickly-blanching face, "Listen, Ishida, you'd better give my sister a call. And take her out. And show her a good time." He looked quickly down at Matt, "And, uh, keep your filthy hands off her." He paused, thinking of a good way to punctuate the threat, "Uh… or else."
Matt blinked, a little scared. Tai was considerably more muscular than him and could easily kick his ass any day of the week. What was one more date? He could let her down gently and be rid of the whole thing. "Alright.," he pushed Tai to the side, crossed the garage, and picked his guitar back up, strumming a swift, angry chord, "It's a date."
"You have one new message," Kari's voice mail chorused in the usual robotic tones. She sighed, picturing it to be another update on everything her brother said last night from Yolei or a reminder from her mother that she needed to pick up medication for her father's urinary problems on the way home from cheerleading or something embarrassing like that.
So of course she had almost dropped the phone upon hearing Matt's low voice come out of the speaker. It had been nine days; since they left the bowling alley last Saturday since she'd even seen him. By now she had given up hope and convinced herself it was stupid and she never really liked him anyways. But hearing his voice again made her heart do a somersault. Down, boy, she told herself, It's no big deal…
"Hey Kari, this is Matt… uh, yeah… I was just kinda wonderin' if you wanted to go out and see a movie tomorrow night. It's Monday today, so uh, Tuesday night, you know. Well call me back or something. I think you have my number, but, uh, if not, then just ask Tai. Later."
She sat up on the bleacher where she had stretched out to spend break on. "Should I call now?" she wondered aloud.
Nah, that would be too desperate. You don't even wanna go that bad, do you?
She hesitated.
Do you?
"So what? Maybe I do."
He's just a guy. You don't like him or anything, right?
"Right." Kari turned to find Suki, head cheerleader and very popular Senior staring at her from four bleachers up, a very bemused expression on her heavily made-up face. "I'm just… eh… talking on the phone." She picked up the phone hastily and waved it back and forth, "I had… uh, my boyfriend on… speakerphone." With an eye roll reserved for underclassmen, Suki turned and continued the vital ritual of redoing her mascara.
Kari gave her pompoms a discouraged kick. Why was she getting so worked up over this? Matt was just a guy. And a jerk at that.
"Maybe I won't go," she told herself. And she meant it this time.
"What're you so worked up about?" Mimi asked, pulling out of the school parking lot.
Kari shrugged, tugging at her skirt, "I'm not worked up."
Mimi looked at her, reading the younger girl like a book, "It's about a boy, isn't it?"
"How do you know this stuff?" Kari raised an eyebrow.
"I just do, trust the master," Mimi squealed, stepping on the accelerator. "So, who's the lucky guy breakin' your heart?"
Deciding there was no use avoiding it, Kari shrunk down in the white leather upholstered seat of Mimi's baby blue convertible, "Matt." She mumbled.
Flying around a tight corner, Mimi laughed like a maniac, "You and a thousand others, girl. What's wrong?"
"We went out the other night. It was fun and all, but it was last Saturday. Then he calls today and wants me to go to a movie with him tomorrow. I don't know if I wanna go because -"
"OhmiGod," Mimi screeched, interrupting Kari's angst-ridden soliloquy "I love this song!" And with that, she cranked up the volume, depleting Kari's chances of getting any advice. She sighed, leaning back in the seat to listen to the words.
/I cashed in all my chips tonight and combed my hair till it was just right./
/Cause I've been thinking about you and me girl, /
/And we got something going on./
/You told me you can't wait to see me/
/And then you didn't bother to even show up./
/This whole situation is incredibly typical, /
/I should have seen it all along./
/Should have seen it all along./
/It's girls like you that make me think I'm better/
/Off at home on a Saturday night with all my doors locked up tight./
/I won't be thinking about you baby./
/Home on a Saturday night with all my doors locked up tight./
/I won't be thinking about you baby/
/You call me on the phone, and you don't even want to talk./
/You're staring at me from across the room then turn your back when I walk up./
/We got inches away, and I never even got close./
/So leave your lipstick at home./
/Don't pick up the phone./
/Don't bother to look in my direction./
/I should have seen it all along./
/Should have seen it all along/
/It's girls like you that make me/
/Think I'm better off home on a Saturday night with all my doors locked up tight./
/I won't be thinking about you, baby./
/Home on a Saturday night with all my doors locked up tight./
/I won't be thinking about you, baby./
/Forget everything you think you know about me./
/This isn't highschool/
How uncanny, Kari thought to herself, listening to Mimi belt out the end of the song at the top of her lungs, Everything I hear nowadays seems to directly relate to something I'm going through. What are the odds?
"Is Matt there?" Kari asked, her voice faltering.
His dad grunted a response and Kari heard footsteps and loud music, then some yelling and the music quieted. Finally, Matt's voice came on the line, "Hello?"
"Matt? It's Kari."
"Oh," his voice brightened, "Hey."
She cleared her throat, "Listen, about that movie tomorrow…"
"Uh-huh?"
Nervous, she twisted the phone cord around her finger, "I… I… don't think I can make it."
Matt coughed, "What?"
"I can't make it. I'm busy."
He nodded, cradling the phone between his shoulder and chin, "Uh, alright. Maybe some other time." As much as he tried to hide his disappointment, it definitely showed in his voice. Somewhere in the last couple hours, he had convinced himself taking out Tai's sister wouldn't be too bad.
"Maybe." She said simply.
There was an uneasy silence between them, each expecting the other to find something to say. After a few moments, Kari spoke, "Well, I'll let you go then."
"Okay. Bye." The phone clicked as he hung up.
I made the right choice, she told herself, There was nothing there anyway. I don't want to waste his time. She crossed to her window and looked out over the street, Then how come this feels so terrible?
I haven't quite reached the point in which I like this story yet, but it could come with time. In case you didn't read it, I put the last chapter of the other story I was writing, Two Days, up last night.
I'm feeling unusually quiet tonight, so I won't bore you with lame comments. I know there's not much going on right now, but the plot will pick up more in the later chapters. This is gonna be a shorter story, so there won't be many, but there will be more action. I promise.
J'aime les reviews. J'aime them beaucoup.