Chapter 3

The bed made some funny noises when Mimi plopped down on it. She sighed relieved, the day was over and nothing to shocking had happened. Well, except for the little 'cat fight' between her and Sora. Tai had remarked laughing that they'd just needed some mud and it would've been perfect. She'd slapped him playfully, noting dryly that they weren't wearing bikini's either. He'd laughed and began tickling again.

Mimi chuckled at the memory. If someone had told her that they would become such good friends, she would've called an ambulance and taken them to a mental institution. But still, she was glad he'd been there today.

Mimi had apologised to Sora about what she'd said. She meant every word of it, but still, she hadn't had to act so coolly. Sora also apologised and for the rest of the day, they had made a silent truce.

Sighing, she shook her head a bit. They had all changed so much! Sora was really mean and cold on the outside. But she knew how Sora was on the inside and that it all would turn out okay in the end. To her own surprise, she found herself less bothered with the fact that Matt and Sora where acting all cuddle. She'd actually felt happy for them!

But one thing did bother her. While everyone seemed to have grown and evolved, she felt like she'd been left behind. Eyeing herself in the bathroom-mirror, she concluded that a girl that was growing up still wouldn't walk around with strawberry-pink hair for the past 3 years. She dropped her head sighing and walked to the living room.

While watching television, an idea formed in her mind, but she dismissed it almost immediately. But still…

"What if I'm not in love with Matt anymore?" Her mother looked up. "Did you say anything, honey?" Mimi turned her head to look over the couch. "Mum, could I go to the hairdresser this weekend?" Her mom tilted her head confused. "Why? You've had a haircut just before we left in the US." Mimi blinked a bit surprised at her own statement, then nodded. "You're right. I don't know why I just said that." She stood up and walked to her room, pondering, concluding that life just couldn't get any more complicated then that.

That conclusion faded away as the week continued. Mimi found herself less and less bothered about the whole Matt-Sora affair and more and more bothered by the fact that she felt left behind. And with that, so did her disgust for her own pink hair grow. As silly as it sounds, Mimi felt that it was the proof that she hadn't moved on. The feelings she felt for Matt, were the feelings she'd felt for him when he was younger. It slowly began to sink in that she loved the memory of Matt, not the boy who'd act so kindly to her in the hallways.

On Friday, she felt like it was enough and started talking to Kay about it on the playground. "Hey Kay, I've been thinking about this a while now…Don't you think that…? Kay, are you listening?" But in stead of answering, her friends eyes where fixed on the figure of a young, fairly handsome guy with short, spiky, black hair that was talking to Tai. Mimi observed the boy for a moment, noticing his confidence and how comfortable he felt. "Fei?" she questioned. Kay just nodded, and then suddenly gasped as Tai led the boy over to them.

"Okay, Meems, this is my buddy Fei." Mimi smiled as she stood up to greet Fei. Tai winked towards her and continued his introduction. "Fei, this is Mimi and that's her friend Kay." Mimi extended a hand towards him, and Fei shook her hand firmly, smiling kindly. But when Tai mentioned Kay, he blushed a little shyly and nodded to her. "We've met before." Kay also nodded and smiled, trying to make herself as small as possible, so she wouldn't be noticed. But Fei did notice her, and the expression on his face looked very tender.

Mimi observed the interaction between those to with interest. "So he likes her to…" She thought. She had a sneaky suspicion that Tai also knew something about it and she turned to look at him, staring into his wide-smiling face.

He put an arm around her shoulder and said loud enough to make both Fei and Kay look up; "Don't you think love is a beautiful thing, Meems? I mean, just look at those two!" Mimi couldn't help laughing when the couple looked up, both blushing furiously and yelling, "You told her/him?!" Tai joined in with the laughter and they clutched onto each other so they wouldn't fall down. Kay and Fei had, in the meantime, just been standing there staring at each other, until they both smiled and Fei pulled her up into a hug.

Mimi couldn't help exclaiming a loud, "Aaw, that's so cute!" Fei and Kay turned to her and Tai, smiling. "Thanks you guys. Mimi, you're a real friend." Kay said, while Fei nodded in agreement. They waved and walked a bit off to talk. Tai looked at Mimi with a smug expression on his face. "Am I good or what! That was just too easy!" He exclaimed, winking at her. Mimi chuckled. "How did you know they were into each other?" She questioned. Tai shrugged. "I don't know, I just thought so. And beside, it was worth the try, since Fei had told me how much he liked Kay."

Mimi shook her head laughing. "You're something alright." She hugged him tight, whispering into his ear, "That was a very nice thing to do, Tai. I'm proud of you." When she released the hug, a small blush was on his cheeks, and Mimi looked at him questioning. He chuckled and waved a hand in front of his face. "Don't you think it's hot today?" Mimi blinked. "Tai…It's fall and it's freezing…" She tilted her head suspiciously, and Tai just stood there, laughing uncomfortable.

Kay couldn't stop chatting and smiling through the rest of the afternoon, until Mimi finally got sick of it. "Okay, I know you're happy, and I'm happy with you. But could you finally shut up for a minute, you're giving me a headache!" Kay, in reply, had started giggling and continued to giggle every time Mimi glanced at her.

When Mimi crossed the street that evening, to walk home, Tai caught up with her and found out how a really pissed-off Mimi looked.. "What's wrong?" He questioned, looking a bit worried. Mimi sighed desperately and managed to smile. "Nothing, just feeling loads of self-pity." She stood in front of the apartment building and turned to smile at him. "But it was a great thing you did for them. Sora sure is lucky you love her. You're a great guy, a great friend and just…great!"

Tai, looking rather flushed, nodded awkwardly. "Um…Yeah…Well, about that…" He looked at her again, and then smiled warmly. "I've got to go. I'll call you tonight, okay?" He took of, leaving Mimi looking into nothing but empty sky. Suddenly, she noticed he wasn't there anymore, and turned to look at his retreating form. She ran a bit after him and yelled, "Hey Tai! What did you want to tell me?" He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

She could see he was debating with himself and she waited patiently. When he'd finally made a decision, he smiled and yelled back, "I'll tell you some other time. It's not important." Then he disappeared behind a corner.

Mimi looked at the ground, a bit uncertain. Then she looked up at the place where he stood right before he left. She huffed sarcastically. "Not important, my ass! If it wasn't important, mister Kamiya, you wouldn't have been debating with yourself for a whole minute."

She glared again towards the end of the street before she entered her apartment-block, a cloud of thunder hovering above her head.

To be continued...