Tayla

Chapter2: Meeting the Model

by flurobandaid


"Okay step back a bit so I can see you," Matt obeyed Mimi's instruction. "Turn around."

Feeling very sheepish, Matt turned around in a circle slowly. He looked at her with a questioning expression on his face. She shook her head, tendrils of pink and brown hair falling from the loose bun she had styled her hair into. Sighing exasperatedly, she tucked them behind her ear.

"Hmmm. Maybe we should try leather..." she mused aloud. "No... leather is too bad-boy. Tayla isn't the type of girl who falls for bad-boys. I think we should go for a tracksuit. Blue or yellow... not red; red's not really your colour." The girl pulled his four tracksuits from his wardrobe and laid them out on his bed. "Yellow or blue. Take your pick. The red and black are staying here," Mimi looked through his jeans curiously. "Actually, I've changed my mind." She threw a dark pair of jeans to him, followed by a black surfie-style shirt. "Go put those on."

Matt ducked into his bathroom and changed quickly. His tresses of gold were falling about messily; Mimi always had a thing for playing with his hair. The jeans were loosely made with a silver chain on the hip. The door opened a crack, and Mimi's perfectly manicured hand passed a white and blue sleeveless hooded jacket to him.

"Are you dressed?" she asked him.

"Yep. You can come in," replied Matt. She did and she stood there in her country-style floral skirt and denim jacket, spinning around childishly in her white and brown sandals as he slipped into the jacket. Mimi's small hands pressed against his chest as she zipped up his jacket so that the shirt beneath was visible. When she stepped back to look at him, hands clasped together hopefully, she squealed excitedly.

"Ooh! You look totally gorgeous. Oh, Tayla is so going to love you!" she exclaimed animatedly. "Now grab your wallet and keys, we have to get a move on. It's almost five," she added, looking at the pink watch on her wrist.

As they drove towards the park, Mimi let her hair down. It was long now, once again brown except for a few wispy pink streaks that she had foiled into it. Somehow, her hair always fell perfectly into big glossy curls. Mermaid hair. That's what she and Yolei had called it.

"Matt," started Mimi unsurely, "have you even met Tayla?"

Without taking his eyes off the road, Matt replied shortly, "No."

Mimi groaned. "Oh dear. You're not going to hit on her tonight are you?"

"What?" spluttered Matt. "I just wanted to look good so that I don't seem like one of those punk-rock band members or she'll never want to film a clip with us!"

With a sigh of relief, Mimi brushed a delicate hand through her silky hair. "Okay. That's good. Tayla's pretty timid. Not the little sex-goddess they make her out to be."

Matt frowned questioningly. "What, do you know her or something?"

The girl beside him giggled. "Duh. Like, we used to model together at CJ's academy. There were four of us in our 'collection'. It was so like fun. And the other two girls moved away. I don't think they model anymore. Tayla's the only one of us who kept going. Back then she wanted to choreograph models which is why she did modelling. But she was a lot of fun. She gets along with everyone."

They remained silent for the next five minutes as they neared the park, Mimi brushed through her hair, softly humming to the song on the radio.

"Is that one of your songs Matt?" she asked him as a new one started.

"Yep." It was so weird to hear his song on the radio. "Ariel and Lindsay wrote that one."

Mimi fell awkwardly silent, squirming uncomfortably in her seat. "Mattie- chan," she said timidly.

"Yeah?"

"Is Lindsay going to be there?"

Matt couldn't see her but he knew she was blushing. Fighting the urge to smirk at her, he replied, "Probably. Unless he's suddenly caught a cold or his football team has lost a game."

"Why don't you just ask him out? He's crazy for you Meems."

"Really?" she asked him hesitantly.

Matt nodded as he pulled his car up alongside the park. "Really."

A funny sensation spread along his side. He flinched momentarily before realising his phone was vibrating in his pocket.

"Hey, Matt speaking," he answered it.

"Oh, hi, it's Tayla..." Matt frowned. He hoped she wasn't cancelling, he really wanted to meet her. He needed her for that clip...

"Can't you make it?" Please say you can, please say you can, he chanted silently... He had to meet her. "Oh no, I can make it. I'm just going to be a bit late, and – um – is it okay if I bring my brother? He's thirteen..."

Relieved, Matt relaxed. Thank god, he thought, almost jumping with excitement. He was going to meet her. Tonight. "Yeah, cool, bring him along. My brother will be here with his friends too and they're all about thirteen-fourteen. And don't worry about being late, no one's really here yet."

"Okay, I'll see you in about forty minutes then. Bye."

"See you..."

Turning to Mimi, his heart racing and his blood hot with childish excitement, he tucked his phone into his pocket. "Bet you I can beat you to the tree..." he said with mocking supremacy.

Mimi shook her head in protest. "Nah... No way. You can't beat me, Yamato. I'm the best," she responded playfully.

"Okay then. Three... two... one..." The blonde haired boy took off without warning.

"Hey! Wait up!" cried Mimi, frustrated. "I have platforms on!"

Panting, they collapsed beneath the tree in fits of laughter. Mimi pushed Matt over childishly. "I won!" she declared, beaming wildly.

"No way. I so beat you!" protested Matt, as he lay back on the soft grass. Being around Mimi always stripped away any of the negativity dwelling within him. Her bright smile and sparkling eyes enticed the child in him to come out and play. He watched her auspiciously as she re-applied her lipgloss, coating her lips in a sugary pink glaze. A gentle smile tugged the corners of his mouth. He was very lucky to have Mimi as a best friend.

She caught him looking at her and their eyes met, the sparkle in Mimi's eyes vanished, however, and she looked down at Matt anxiously. "Are you feeling okay? You don't look very well."

Her voice was very caring but Matt could easily detect how worried she was. "Maybe we shouldn't have just been running about just then... If you're sick."

"Mimi, relax. I'm fine... just a little tired, that's all," he assured her. She shot him a skeptical look before relaxing and running a hand through his hair admiringly. He was happy knowing there were people who cared about him so much but he hated making any of them worry. Especially Mimi. Everything seemed to go dark and gloomy whenever she was unhappy. It was almost like she was the ray of sunshine that lit up his day. Matt smiled to himself. He was so lucky to have friends like her...

"Oi! Matt!" yelled someone's voice. "We've got the pizza!"

Matt easily recognised that voice. Sitting up, he shouted back, "Who's with you TK?"

His younger brother appeared in front of him, Kari right beside him, both carrying two pizza boxes each. Matt reached out for the ones Kari was holding in her thin arms, and put them on the ground. Her hair had grown since she had last had it cut. It now reached her shoulders, ending in an inward curl of caramel-brown tresses. She was thin, not unhealthily, and had a similarity about her face that she shared with her brother, who suddenly walked out from behind her, towering over her by eight inches.

"Hey Matt. Hi Mimi," he said with a wave, dropping to the velvety emerald grass beneath him. "Davis is coming with Yolei, they've got another pizza and some drinks. They're just down there near the benches. Cody can't make it. Ken's with Davis and Yolei. I don't know where anyone else is."

Matt nodded. "Did you make the team?" he asked interestedly, referring to the trial Tai had gone to for the Japan under 18's soccer team.

Making a face, Tai replied, "Shadow," he sighed. "I don't mind so much, really, I just thought I'd get in for sure."

Shrugging, Matt said, "Maybe you'll get lucky and someone'll break their leg or something."

Tai chuckled. "Yeah ... maybe..."

Reaching into his pocket, Matt found a copy of the album cover photo. He passed it to Tai silently. His best friend looked at it with interest, a broadminded expression on his face as he absorbed the photo thoughtfully.

"The Periwinkle girl? She's a friend of Mimi's," he mused aloud.

"She's coming tonight," Matt told him.

Tai nodded. He had become fairly quiet over the past few years, his mind developing into a complex web of thoughts. Physically, he hadn't changed so much, with the exception of his height which had rocketed in the last few months and the lean muscles of an athlete that were now more defined than ever.

"Kari wants to be a model," he mentioned exclusively. Both he and Matt glanced at the girl as she and TK talked with a very animated Mimi. "Mum's not too keen on it though."

"How come?" asked Matt with mild interest.

Tai shrugged. "She's scared, I guess. It's like Kari suddenly just developed into a woman. She's so feminine and grown-up suddenly. Mum doesn't want to let her go, with me leaving next year and all..." he trailed off, eyeing his younger sister affectionately as she spun around and stopped herself mid-revolution to scream...

"SORA!" the girl ran into the arms of another girl taller than her by two inches. "Oh my God! I haven't seen you in so long!" she fell silent momentarily as she hugged her friend closely. "Ooh! Wait until Tai sees you! He has missed you so much Sora!"

They broke apart and stepped back to look at one another. "Kari..." whispered Sora, reaching out to stroke her hair, "your hair. It's lovely."

Kari grinned. "I'm going to be a model."

Smiling, Sora replied, "Are you now?" and they made their way over to the tree. "Hey, Taichi," said Sora softly. Her amber eyes were apprehensive as they studied him.

Tai didn't answer. He just looked up at her with an expression of loneliness that bit into her coldly. Turning away, he stated expressionlessly, "You're back."

"I am."

"Why?"

"I missed you."

Tai turned back around and eyed her for a silent moment that seemed to last forever. "Me too," he said suddenly and stood and held is hand out to her. She took it without hesitation. "We have some catching up to do," he said, turning to Matt, he added, "We'll be at the bridge if you want us." And they disappeared behind the tree just as the band and Ken, Davis and Yolei arrived.

"Sora's back," Matt informed them.

He was met by silence. "Tai's girlfriend?" asked Jeschetha. Matt nodded.

"Why?" asked Davis, helping himself to some pizza.

Matt shrugged. "You'll have to ask her. She's gone for a walk with Tai."

Davis sat, sighing. "She just comes back from England after six months without sending a letter or anything? She was in England, right?" he added.

Nodding, Matt passed the photo to his band. "I invited her tonight. She should be here soon. I want her to be in the clip for that song we wrote a few weeks back."

"Cool," said Lindsay as he gave the photo to Ariel and looked around. "Hey Mimi..." He walked over to her quietly.

Someone was approaching them – Matt could hear voices gradually getting louder from behind him. It was Izzy and Jyou, accompanied by two other people. When they got closer he could distinguish that one was a male, a young one at that, judging by their height, and a female. He stood up. It had to be Tayla and her brother.

"Matt," called out Izzy's voice attentively. "We found this girl and her brother and they wanted to know if we knew where you were."

"Tayla?" asked Matt, running over to greet them.

It was her. He recognised her from the photo. She was wearing a dark pair of jeans and a plain white sweater, a pale blue scarf around her neck with matching gloves on her hands. Two long braids kept her golden hair off her face except for the layered fringe that she had swept to the side and out of her glittering blue eyes.

"Hello," she said, offering him a gloved hand. Without make-up she looked extremely different but there was still that charm about her, a mildness in her eyes that quelled Matt's anxiety.

Matt took her hand to shake it. "It's so great that you could make it. I'm sure you'll really get along with everyone here –"

"Tayla!" Mimi jumped up from under the tree and threw her arms around the model.

"Mimi? I can't believe it! I thought you moved to the States..."

Jumping around excitedly, Mimi replied, "I did but I'm back now. Oh my God... We have so much catching up to do... You remember Ryan?"

"Yeah..." Tayla had a bemused smile on her face. Mimi's cheer was infectious. She had really missed her without even realising it. Looking over Mimi's shoulder she mouthed to Matt, "You don't mind...?"

With a slight smirk, he shook his head and turned to introduce himself to her brother.

"Well," said Mimi as she steered her long lost friend towards the tree, "he quit modelling and ... you remember Ashley?... Well at this party..."


And that's it for now! Reviews are most certainly appreciated!