DW: Well, I finally got some reviews for this story, so I have decided to update it. Thank-you very very much to all those who reviewed.
Irie: If you are waiting for reviews to update...then this story will never get updated.
DW: Very funny.
Irie: I thought so.
DW: I own nothing, except the plot.
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Sora was woken up by her alarm. She uncurled herself from her bed, wondering for a second why she had been lying on top of the sheets, before the memories of the previous night flooded her mind. She staggered into the bathroom and looked at the raw, red mark her uncle's slap had left on her face. She tried a couple different hair styles in an effort to cover the mark, but none of them worked. Sighing, she went back into her room, and began to dig around in her closet for the 'make-over kit' she had gotten as a birthday present last year. She had never used any of the contents before, seeing as she rarely wore make-up, so she wasn't sure if she would find what she was looking for. Luckily, she did find a bottle of foundation; which she applied, somewhat clumsily, until the mark on her face was no longer visible. After that, she dressed in her school uniform and crept down the stairs. She marveled at how quiet the house had become from one day to the next. Usually, by this time, her aunt was up making breakfast and her uncle was getting ready for work. But now, her aunt was gone and her uncle was probably still in an alcohol induced sleep. As her thoughts drifted to her uncle, Sora hastened into the kitchen and began to rummage around in the fridge for some eggs. She only found two, enough for just one omelette, and made a mental note to buy some eggs on the way home from school. She quickly made a ham and cheese omelette for her uncle and set it out on a plate for him. She was washing the pan when her uncle staggered down the stairs. His eyes were bloodshot and he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing the previous night. He entered the kitchen and without a word to Sora, sat at the table and began to eat his omelette. Sora washed and dried the pan very quickly, avoiding eye-contact with her uncle the entire time. She had just finished drying the pan and was about to leave, deciding that she would get something to eat at school, when her uncle walked over to her with his dirty plate in his hands. He turned the plate upside down and smeared the left over contents on the newly washed pan that Sora had been about to put away. He grinned cruelly and said, "It looks like you have some more work to do."
Sora made no response, not trusting herself to speak. She just stared at her uncle with what she hoped was an expressionless gaze until he turned and left the kitchen. Sora began to wash the pan again, focusing all her attention on that one menial task in order to stop her mind from dwelling on what had just happened. When she finished washing the pan for the second time, she quickly washed the plate and put both away. She wrote the word 'eggs' on her hand to remind herself that she needed to buy them, then looked at the clock. Her eyes widened as she saw how late it was. She grabbed her bag, keys and shoes and ran all the way to school.
The fact that she had run in five minutes a route that usually took her twenty minutes to complete did not change the fact that she was late. She showed up at her homeroom, flushed and breathing hard, but late nonetheless.
"Sora," said her homeroom teacher, Mr. Morgan, "You are late."
"I'm very sorry Mr. Morgan," Sora said, breathlessly, "It won't happen again."
"That's very nice to hear Sora, but I'm afraid I will have to give you a detention. You will stay after school today."
Sora flushed even more at his words. She had never gotten a detention before. She looked down out of shame, and then spied the word 'eggs' that she had written on her had earlier. She looked back up at Mr. Morgan and said quietly, "Does is have to be today afterschool, sir? You see, I have something that I have to do and..."
"I'm afraid detentions cannot be scheduled around your social life, Sora." Mr. Morgan said sarcastically, causing some members of her class to snicker.
"But, sir..."
"No more arguments, Sora. You will serve a detention after school today and that is final. Now, please, take your seat."
Sora walked over to her desk, her face bright red and her head bent low. What was she going to do? She had to buy eggs and then be home in time to make dinner for her uncle. If she didn't...she had not idea what would happen. Sora stared at the word written on her hand, bidding herself not to cry.
"I don't think you are being very fair, Mr. Morgan," Tai said suddenly, "Don't we usually get three chances before we get a detention? I mean, this is the first time Sora has been late, or done anything wrong at all. She deserves two more chances before she gets a detention. That's the way the school rules work."
Mr. Morgan surveyed Tai closely, then looked at Sora. Sora tried to meet his gaze evenly, though she was aware that her face was still flushed and her eyes were somewhat glassy. Mr. Morgan then looked back at Tai with a slight smile playing at his lips. Everyone knew that Mr. Morgan was strict, but he tended to be more lenient towards students that he liked. One of those students was Tai.
"Very well Tai, you have made an excellent point. Sora, you will not serve a detention today, but consider this your first strike. Two more, and you will serve a detention."
"Thank-you, sir." Sora said softly, then she turned and glanced gratefully at Tai. Mr. Morgan finished attendance and then dismissed them for their first period class. Sora, Tai and some other students had English first period; English took place in their homeroom, so they sat there and waited for their teacher.
"Thank-you so much Tai. You're a life saver."
"No problem Sora," he said, while moving up to a desk next to her, "Why were you so late?"
Sora paused for a minute before replying, "My alarm clock go off this morning."
"Oh. Cool. You want to play soccer after school?"
"I wish I could Tai, but I wasn't lying to Mr. Morgan, I really do have something to do after school."
"Alright, then we'll play another time." He said, grinning at her. She tried to grin back, but that caused pain to spread through her injured cheek.
"Are you alright, Sora?"
Fortunately, she was saved from answering him by the entrance of their English teacher. As the lesson began, Sora focused on taking notes in order to distract her mind.
~*~
At lunch, Sora and Tai joined up with the rest of the older digidestined (meaning, Kari and TK aren't there). Sora took her place across from Mimi who was trying to explain something to Izzy, who was obviously not agreeing with her. Sora noticed Joe roll his eyes as the two continued to bicker and she grinned inwardly. Tai was sitting beside Sora, and then Matt walked over and sat beside Tai. The digidestineds were still the best of friends, even though at school they couldn't see each other all the time. Sora, Matt and Tai had some classes together since they were all the same age. Joe was a year older than them, and so never had classes with them. Izzy and Mimi a year younger, but Izzy was in Sora's Math and Chemisrty class since he had been moved up. Mimi was in Sora and Matt's French class after the teacher discovered she could speak french almost fluently. So, it wasn't like they never saw each other; and they had made a deal to have lunch together every day.
Sora began to eat her cafeteria bought lunch much faster than she normally would have. She hadn't had any breakfast and was extremely hungry. She was half way through her macaroni and cheese when she realized that the others were staring at her. She swallowed her mouthful of food and asked, "What?"
"Are you sure you're eating fast enough there, Sora?" Matt asked.
"Very funny Matt. I didn't have any breakfast so I'm really hungry."
Mimi eyed her friend suspiciously before asking, "You're not dieting, are you?"
"Of course not Mimi!" Sora exclaimed, thinking back to the time when Mimi had binge-dieted and Sora had found out.
"Good, cause I know from experience what can happen to you."
"So do I Mimi, so don't worry. My alarm didn't go off this morning so I didn't have time to eat any breakfast." Sora lied, for the second time that day. Luckily, everyone believed her and reverted back to their usual lunch-time talk.
~*~
Sora managed to get through the rest of the day without lying again. As soon as the last bell rang, she began to pack her bag quickly and did not notice Tai come up beside her.
"You sure you can't play soccer?" he asked. Sora jumped and dropped the book she had been about to put in her bag.
"Don't scare me like that Tai! And yes, I am sure I can't play. I really have stuff to do at home; believe me, I would much rather be playing."
She bent down to pick up her book at the same time Tai did. Unfortunately, his forehead hit her already injured cheek. Sora was unable to hold back the exclamation of pain that rose to her lips as pain tore through her cheek. She held her cheek with one hand and hastily stuffed the book into her bag with the other. Muttering something about having a toothache she quickly left the school to get away from Tai's questioning look.
Sora got home later than usual, since she had stopped to buy some groceries. When she entered the house, she found her uncle sitting in his easy chair, a beer bottle in his hand and three empty ones on the table beside him. Sora moved to pick up the empty bottles, thinking her uncle was not focused enough to notice her, but just as she reached for the first bottle, he snapped out of his drunken stupor and grabbed her wrist.
"You're late."
"I-I'm sorry Uncle Andrew. I had to stop by the store to pick up some groceries."
Her uncle tightened his grip on her wrist until it was painful. "Did you go anywhere else?"
"No. I just went to the store to buy some eggs and some vegetables because I noticed that we hardly had any."
Her uncle stared at her for a long moment before shoving her away forcefully. "I don't like vegetables." he spat before climbing up the stairs to his room. Sora collected herself and then began to make a quick dinner, consisting of a noodle dish. Once it was ready, Sora served her uncle a large portion and set it on the table. She served herself a slightly smaller portion and ate it quickly while she cleaned everything up. She picked up her bag and began to walk to her room, but paused in front of her uncle's door, wondering if she should tell him that his dinner was ready. Finally deciding that it would be best to inform him, she took a deep breath and knocked on his door. I was a minute or two before he opened it and glared out at her.
"Your dinner is ready Uncle Andrew."
"You expect me to go downstairs and eat it?!" he asked with a crude laugh, "You will bring it up to me. Now, go." And with that, he shoved her backwards so viciously that she flew into the wall that had been a good six feet away from her. He continued to glare at her, as if waiting for her to complain. Well, she was not going to give into what he wanted. She picked herself up calmly and walked back down the stairs to set his dinner out on a tray. She brought it up to him and delivered it into his room, all the while her face set in a rigid, frozen, emotionless expression. She did her homework until her uncle yelled for her to 'come and take down that god-damned tray'. The expression on her face never changed, never faltered. After her uncle had finally fallen asleep, Sora was able to finish her homework. It had been much easier this night then on previous nights since her mind was so clear. She had kept her mind free of everything except of whatever task she was focusing on at the moment. After her homework was finished and she had nothing else to do, she walked into her bathroom to start getting ready for bed. While in the bathroom, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, and was surprised to see that it did not look like her at all.
'This is the way it has to be from now on,' she told herself while washing her face, 'I can't let myself feel things, because if I do, he will get to me or I will tell someone and then he will win. I won't let him win.'
Sora slipped into sleep with this one thought in mind. She was going to fight him, even if it meant not feeling anything ever again.
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DW: To be continued...
Irie: *sarcastic* Wow...that was interesting.
DW: Oh shut up. And there will be Taiora in this, I promise, but it will be in later chapters. There will be a bit of light taiora coming up soon, but the major stuff will happen later.
Irie: How nice.
DW: Please r/r people. I would like to get some reviews for this chapter before I keep going with the story so please review if you have and questions, comments, queries...or flames.
Irie: Please review!
Irie: If you are waiting for reviews to update...then this story will never get updated.
DW: Very funny.
Irie: I thought so.
DW: I own nothing, except the plot.
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Sora was woken up by her alarm. She uncurled herself from her bed, wondering for a second why she had been lying on top of the sheets, before the memories of the previous night flooded her mind. She staggered into the bathroom and looked at the raw, red mark her uncle's slap had left on her face. She tried a couple different hair styles in an effort to cover the mark, but none of them worked. Sighing, she went back into her room, and began to dig around in her closet for the 'make-over kit' she had gotten as a birthday present last year. She had never used any of the contents before, seeing as she rarely wore make-up, so she wasn't sure if she would find what she was looking for. Luckily, she did find a bottle of foundation; which she applied, somewhat clumsily, until the mark on her face was no longer visible. After that, she dressed in her school uniform and crept down the stairs. She marveled at how quiet the house had become from one day to the next. Usually, by this time, her aunt was up making breakfast and her uncle was getting ready for work. But now, her aunt was gone and her uncle was probably still in an alcohol induced sleep. As her thoughts drifted to her uncle, Sora hastened into the kitchen and began to rummage around in the fridge for some eggs. She only found two, enough for just one omelette, and made a mental note to buy some eggs on the way home from school. She quickly made a ham and cheese omelette for her uncle and set it out on a plate for him. She was washing the pan when her uncle staggered down the stairs. His eyes were bloodshot and he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing the previous night. He entered the kitchen and without a word to Sora, sat at the table and began to eat his omelette. Sora washed and dried the pan very quickly, avoiding eye-contact with her uncle the entire time. She had just finished drying the pan and was about to leave, deciding that she would get something to eat at school, when her uncle walked over to her with his dirty plate in his hands. He turned the plate upside down and smeared the left over contents on the newly washed pan that Sora had been about to put away. He grinned cruelly and said, "It looks like you have some more work to do."
Sora made no response, not trusting herself to speak. She just stared at her uncle with what she hoped was an expressionless gaze until he turned and left the kitchen. Sora began to wash the pan again, focusing all her attention on that one menial task in order to stop her mind from dwelling on what had just happened. When she finished washing the pan for the second time, she quickly washed the plate and put both away. She wrote the word 'eggs' on her hand to remind herself that she needed to buy them, then looked at the clock. Her eyes widened as she saw how late it was. She grabbed her bag, keys and shoes and ran all the way to school.
The fact that she had run in five minutes a route that usually took her twenty minutes to complete did not change the fact that she was late. She showed up at her homeroom, flushed and breathing hard, but late nonetheless.
"Sora," said her homeroom teacher, Mr. Morgan, "You are late."
"I'm very sorry Mr. Morgan," Sora said, breathlessly, "It won't happen again."
"That's very nice to hear Sora, but I'm afraid I will have to give you a detention. You will stay after school today."
Sora flushed even more at his words. She had never gotten a detention before. She looked down out of shame, and then spied the word 'eggs' that she had written on her had earlier. She looked back up at Mr. Morgan and said quietly, "Does is have to be today afterschool, sir? You see, I have something that I have to do and..."
"I'm afraid detentions cannot be scheduled around your social life, Sora." Mr. Morgan said sarcastically, causing some members of her class to snicker.
"But, sir..."
"No more arguments, Sora. You will serve a detention after school today and that is final. Now, please, take your seat."
Sora walked over to her desk, her face bright red and her head bent low. What was she going to do? She had to buy eggs and then be home in time to make dinner for her uncle. If she didn't...she had not idea what would happen. Sora stared at the word written on her hand, bidding herself not to cry.
"I don't think you are being very fair, Mr. Morgan," Tai said suddenly, "Don't we usually get three chances before we get a detention? I mean, this is the first time Sora has been late, or done anything wrong at all. She deserves two more chances before she gets a detention. That's the way the school rules work."
Mr. Morgan surveyed Tai closely, then looked at Sora. Sora tried to meet his gaze evenly, though she was aware that her face was still flushed and her eyes were somewhat glassy. Mr. Morgan then looked back at Tai with a slight smile playing at his lips. Everyone knew that Mr. Morgan was strict, but he tended to be more lenient towards students that he liked. One of those students was Tai.
"Very well Tai, you have made an excellent point. Sora, you will not serve a detention today, but consider this your first strike. Two more, and you will serve a detention."
"Thank-you, sir." Sora said softly, then she turned and glanced gratefully at Tai. Mr. Morgan finished attendance and then dismissed them for their first period class. Sora, Tai and some other students had English first period; English took place in their homeroom, so they sat there and waited for their teacher.
"Thank-you so much Tai. You're a life saver."
"No problem Sora," he said, while moving up to a desk next to her, "Why were you so late?"
Sora paused for a minute before replying, "My alarm clock go off this morning."
"Oh. Cool. You want to play soccer after school?"
"I wish I could Tai, but I wasn't lying to Mr. Morgan, I really do have something to do after school."
"Alright, then we'll play another time." He said, grinning at her. She tried to grin back, but that caused pain to spread through her injured cheek.
"Are you alright, Sora?"
Fortunately, she was saved from answering him by the entrance of their English teacher. As the lesson began, Sora focused on taking notes in order to distract her mind.
~*~
At lunch, Sora and Tai joined up with the rest of the older digidestined (meaning, Kari and TK aren't there). Sora took her place across from Mimi who was trying to explain something to Izzy, who was obviously not agreeing with her. Sora noticed Joe roll his eyes as the two continued to bicker and she grinned inwardly. Tai was sitting beside Sora, and then Matt walked over and sat beside Tai. The digidestineds were still the best of friends, even though at school they couldn't see each other all the time. Sora, Matt and Tai had some classes together since they were all the same age. Joe was a year older than them, and so never had classes with them. Izzy and Mimi a year younger, but Izzy was in Sora's Math and Chemisrty class since he had been moved up. Mimi was in Sora and Matt's French class after the teacher discovered she could speak french almost fluently. So, it wasn't like they never saw each other; and they had made a deal to have lunch together every day.
Sora began to eat her cafeteria bought lunch much faster than she normally would have. She hadn't had any breakfast and was extremely hungry. She was half way through her macaroni and cheese when she realized that the others were staring at her. She swallowed her mouthful of food and asked, "What?"
"Are you sure you're eating fast enough there, Sora?" Matt asked.
"Very funny Matt. I didn't have any breakfast so I'm really hungry."
Mimi eyed her friend suspiciously before asking, "You're not dieting, are you?"
"Of course not Mimi!" Sora exclaimed, thinking back to the time when Mimi had binge-dieted and Sora had found out.
"Good, cause I know from experience what can happen to you."
"So do I Mimi, so don't worry. My alarm didn't go off this morning so I didn't have time to eat any breakfast." Sora lied, for the second time that day. Luckily, everyone believed her and reverted back to their usual lunch-time talk.
~*~
Sora managed to get through the rest of the day without lying again. As soon as the last bell rang, she began to pack her bag quickly and did not notice Tai come up beside her.
"You sure you can't play soccer?" he asked. Sora jumped and dropped the book she had been about to put in her bag.
"Don't scare me like that Tai! And yes, I am sure I can't play. I really have stuff to do at home; believe me, I would much rather be playing."
She bent down to pick up her book at the same time Tai did. Unfortunately, his forehead hit her already injured cheek. Sora was unable to hold back the exclamation of pain that rose to her lips as pain tore through her cheek. She held her cheek with one hand and hastily stuffed the book into her bag with the other. Muttering something about having a toothache she quickly left the school to get away from Tai's questioning look.
Sora got home later than usual, since she had stopped to buy some groceries. When she entered the house, she found her uncle sitting in his easy chair, a beer bottle in his hand and three empty ones on the table beside him. Sora moved to pick up the empty bottles, thinking her uncle was not focused enough to notice her, but just as she reached for the first bottle, he snapped out of his drunken stupor and grabbed her wrist.
"You're late."
"I-I'm sorry Uncle Andrew. I had to stop by the store to pick up some groceries."
Her uncle tightened his grip on her wrist until it was painful. "Did you go anywhere else?"
"No. I just went to the store to buy some eggs and some vegetables because I noticed that we hardly had any."
Her uncle stared at her for a long moment before shoving her away forcefully. "I don't like vegetables." he spat before climbing up the stairs to his room. Sora collected herself and then began to make a quick dinner, consisting of a noodle dish. Once it was ready, Sora served her uncle a large portion and set it on the table. She served herself a slightly smaller portion and ate it quickly while she cleaned everything up. She picked up her bag and began to walk to her room, but paused in front of her uncle's door, wondering if she should tell him that his dinner was ready. Finally deciding that it would be best to inform him, she took a deep breath and knocked on his door. I was a minute or two before he opened it and glared out at her.
"Your dinner is ready Uncle Andrew."
"You expect me to go downstairs and eat it?!" he asked with a crude laugh, "You will bring it up to me. Now, go." And with that, he shoved her backwards so viciously that she flew into the wall that had been a good six feet away from her. He continued to glare at her, as if waiting for her to complain. Well, she was not going to give into what he wanted. She picked herself up calmly and walked back down the stairs to set his dinner out on a tray. She brought it up to him and delivered it into his room, all the while her face set in a rigid, frozen, emotionless expression. She did her homework until her uncle yelled for her to 'come and take down that god-damned tray'. The expression on her face never changed, never faltered. After her uncle had finally fallen asleep, Sora was able to finish her homework. It had been much easier this night then on previous nights since her mind was so clear. She had kept her mind free of everything except of whatever task she was focusing on at the moment. After her homework was finished and she had nothing else to do, she walked into her bathroom to start getting ready for bed. While in the bathroom, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, and was surprised to see that it did not look like her at all.
'This is the way it has to be from now on,' she told herself while washing her face, 'I can't let myself feel things, because if I do, he will get to me or I will tell someone and then he will win. I won't let him win.'
Sora slipped into sleep with this one thought in mind. She was going to fight him, even if it meant not feeling anything ever again.
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DW: To be continued...
Irie: *sarcastic* Wow...that was interesting.
DW: Oh shut up. And there will be Taiora in this, I promise, but it will be in later chapters. There will be a bit of light taiora coming up soon, but the major stuff will happen later.
Irie: How nice.
DW: Please r/r people. I would like to get some reviews for this chapter before I keep going with the story so please review if you have and questions, comments, queries...or flames.
Irie: Please review!