To the Highest Bidder
By theladyknight
Disclaimer: Digimon—not mine!
A/N: Yay, here's chapter 11! I was so inspired to update because it seemed like so many other sorato fics have been updated this weekend and it put me in a great mood! So thanks to everyone who reviews, and I hope you enjoy!
Maiden-of-dreams: Yeah, I don't like the manager either…
Placid Snowflake: Dumping him in the trash could work…yes there are too many Tracey's or Tracy's! lol!
BigBlueEyes: Thanks!
HiEi JaGansHis FlAmE: I guess I was pretty dedicated. -Looks at clock- It's only 8:15 now…
Emotionlessangel37: I'm sorry you missed prom. Hope you have fun this year! I can't wait for it! Your mom likes Nickelback? I wish my mom did. They had a concert about an hour away from where I live, but my mom and dadwouldn't let me go. I was pretty mad…
Trio Wing: Here's the promish thing!
Sorato4eva: Yamato will do that very soon…I hope…
Kaori: You gotta love Taichi, his comments, and actions!
Indigowolf: I'd say that could describe Makoto. No, Takuya is of no relation to the Takuya in D04…
Blondie121147: The manager dude isn't in this chapter. He -thankfully- won't be seen or heard from for another two chapters I think…
Raine189: Yep, your info did help me! Sora really needs to pay more attention…
Scorpion05: Takuya does seem like a nice guy, but the manager's another story…
Jodi Crystal: This chapter's got some of the prom in it but most of it'll be in next chapter…
Starr-lover: Nope, Takuya is not the same one off of Digital Frontier. I needed a name and that was the first thing that came to mind. I think there is going to be either 14 or 15 chapters total…
Cute-Cleo: Thanks!
Crazyamzy: So many questions! Lol! There's some kissing in here...more in the future though. Makoto is an idiot…he'll be in the story later, and Evanescence is a great cd…but right now I'm listening to Amy Lee's duet with Seether…
Dark Magician Sage: Thanks!
Sapphire Dragons: I updated! Lol! Hope you like the chapter!
Chapter 11: Prom Time
"Presenting…Mizuki Lee and Yamato Ishida!"
"I cannot believe Yamato got stuck with that bitch." I murmured.
"Do I sense some jealousy, Sor?" Taichi laughed. "Relax, it's only practice! It's not Yama's fault we're paired up alphabetically."
I glared at the brunette. It was Wednesday, a few days before this big promish thing, and we the candidates were all practicing for our introductions.
"I am not jealous."
He rolled his eyes. "Then why'd you narrow your eyes and bite your lip when Mr. Honda announced Mizuki and Yamato were partners?"
"Would you really want to be stuck with her? I'd feel sorry for any guy stuck with her."
Taichi snorted. "You're right about that but wrong about the other thing. You are jealous." He snickered. "You're in love with Yamato."
"No I'm not." I answered a little too quickly.
"Ha! Don't deny it; I've seen this coming all along. It was obvious you were getting into this from day one. I see all the joyful smiles and blushing you do every time you two kiss. Face it, while pretending, you've fallen for him."
I elbowed him hard in the stomach. "There are other people in the room. Think before you speak, idiot."
He caught onto what I was saying as he saw Jun eying us suspiciously. "Hey, Jun. What's up?"
"Why'd you elbow him?"
I smirked. "Taichi's trying to think of ways to trip me when we walk out there."
She gasped. "Why would you do that?"
The brunette glared at me, and I could tell he had no comeback. Luckily he was saved by Mr. Honda's voice announcing Jun and her partner should go out. "I can't believe you just told her that."
"You deserved it. You and your big mouth are going to blow everything for us."
"Give me a break. Even if something like that did happen, it'd all be good because all you and Yamato would have to do is admit you really do love each other."
I turned to face the brunette. "For the last time, Taichi, I'm not jealous and not in love with Yama."
"And finally, presenting Sora Takenouchi and Taichi Yagami!"
Tai and I walked out to the makeshift stage the World Cultures class had built and walked to the spot Mr. Honda had pointed to.
"Now, I'm first going to announce the king. When I name him, you guys can all give your congratulations to him, and then he will step forward to this spot." The teacher had marked a large x on the middle of the stage. "His partner will step back and wait for the queen to be named. I will then, obviously, announce the queen. You all will congratulate her, and then she steps forward to the king and they link arms. The girl whose partner was chosen and the boy whose partner was chosen then form a new couple." He paused. "Let's try this out. I randomly selected one boy and girl to be our winners. And the prom king is…Taichi Yagami!"
I gave my friend a hug, and the others around came over to shake his hands or give him a hug. Yamato had a hard time shaking free of Mizuki, who would not let go of his hand. As Taichi stepped forward, I moved backwards. "And the prom queen is…Jun Motomiya!" we all walked over to congratulate her, as well, and her partner, the class president, linked his arm with mine.
"After the king and queen have been crowned, we're going to let the public take pictures of you and anyone else for the next fifteen minutes. When that time is up, prom will officially begin. Midway through, we are going to have the King and Queen's dance. The two crowned will meet in the middle and have the floor all to themselves. I'm pretty sure I've filled you in on everything. Well, thank you for your time, and I'll be seeing you all on Friday night. Don't forget, you will all need to be here at 7:00. Goodbye!" he walked off, and one by one we let go of our partners. All except Mizuki, that is.
I walked over to where Yamato was standing with Mizuki still clinging to him, and Taichi joined us as well.
"Let me go, Mizuki! I've got things to do with certain people."
She giggled. "Aww, Yama-kun, I knew you wanted to spend the day with me!"
I coughed. "Please, can't you take a hint?"
"What, that Yama-kun doesn't like you?"
Taichi laughed. "Get a clue, Mizuki! Yamato obviously likes her."
The blond smirked after finally freeing himself from the girl. "Actually for once she's right. I don't like you Sora." Mizuki grinned triumphantly, and I tried to figure out what Yamato was getting at. "I love you."
Mizuki's mouth fell open. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me. I love Sora."
The girl's eyes began to tear up. "You can't mean that, Yama-kun! There's no way you can love her!"
"Why not? You don't dictate who I can and can't fall for." He wrapped his arms around me. "I love you, Sor."
Our eyes locked together and the tone of his voice was so strong and…dare I say, truthful, that I couldn't help sticking my foot in my mouth.
"I love you too, Yama." I couldn't stop myself from answering him back. I knew he was acting, and I was supposed to but…I wasn't. As much as I denied it to Taichi I had finally admitted it, at least to myself. I am in love with Yamato Ishida.
He gave me his gorgeous grin and the next thing I knew, we were locked in a deep kiss. Our lips first brushed together slowly, but things began heating up. Yamato pulled me closer and his kissing became more passionate and possessive, as if he really did love me.
I had lost all rational thought. I could hardly figure out where I was, other than in Yamato's arms, kissing him. His fingers trailed down to my shirt, and suddenly they were underneath it. I let out a gasp. What's he doing? He doesn't really love me yet he's really getting into this.
I pulled away and looked at him, unsure of what had just happened. "Why…why did you do that?"
His cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry. I, I don't know what came over me. I just got this incredible rush and got a little carried away and…"
"I'll say you got carried away!" Taichi exclaimed. "Mizuki's been gone for quite awhile, and I've been trying to get your attention but it wasn't working! You two just kept making out! At least you finally admitted you love each other before you succeeded in undressing each other!"
The brunette pointed to my hands, which were stationed very close to Yamato's belt. "We were acting, baka; just trying to get our point across."
Taichi rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that, Yamato. You may eventually start to believe it."
Seeing the blond raise a fist, I decided to interrupt. "How about we all leave? I have a feeling we're all going to be needing our beauty sleep in the next few days, especially you, Taichi."
He laughed and forgot yelling at Yama. "You're right! I don't wanna disappoint Tracey…"
"This is so exciting!" Tracey exclaimed, looking once again at the clock. I groaned. This was the tenth time in the past thirty seconds she's done that. Mimi, Tracey, and I were standing near the apartment door at 5:40 waiting for our dates to arrive. The three of us had spent all day getting ready, and I had to say my nerves were finally kicking in.
The guys—Koushiro, Taichi, and Yamato—had promised to be at my place by five forty-five so we could be at our supper reservations at The Villa by 6:00 and to the school by 7:00. Mimi was standing next to the chair pacing back and forth. Tracey was trying to stare a hole through the clock, and I was trying my hardest not to bite my manicured fake fingernails.
Mimi had been over at my place since 7:30 this morning. She had marched into my room and screamed, "It's prom!" waking both Tracey and me. Neither of us are morning people, but with Mimi in there, we could not fall back asleep.
By 9:00 after Tracey and I had both showered and eaten, Mimi had basically kicked my parents out of the apartment. She gave them thirty dollars and told them they could come back at 5:30. Mom looked at little shocked, but I think Dad got quite a kick out of it. So, they bid us farewell and both headed off for their workplaces with plans to go to the Yagamis later.
We spent the morning mentally preparing for prom as Mimi put it. She brought over this huge collection of movies for us to watch. I don't even need to name which ones they were. If you name any mushy, sappy, romantic chic flick, comedy, or drama, Mimi had it with her.
Tracey and I managed to convince her to stop for a lunch break, and we ordered in pizza to eat. Two more movies later, it was finally time to get ready.
They both insisted on helping me first because I would take the longest. "Why am I going to take the longest?"
Tracey gave me a look like I was asking the dumbest question. "Because you're up for prom queen, duh Sora!"
I rolled my eyes. "So? I don't even want to be prom queen. People only voted for me because I'm dating Yamato."
"I doubt that." Mimi answered. "People like you, Sora. There are a lot of juniors and seniors who think a lot of you."
"Yeah because Yama-kun's my boyfriend." I responded in a mock fangirl voice.
Tracey shook her head. "I don't even go to your school, Sor, but I'm agreeing with Mimi. You're my favorite cousin for obvious reasons."
"Because I don't suck my thumb and carry a blanket around? Because I don't waste time during family reunions gossiping about which celebrities got nose jobs? Because…" I began randomly naming off traits of my other cousins.
"Sora, be serious! You are always thinking of others, you're funny, friendly, compassionate…" she began naming things off. "To say it simply, you're one of the nicest people I know. People should have voted for you and you should win queen."
I shut my mouth knowing they would keep arguing with me and I didn't want to get a headache. "Well, now that that's settled, let's begin!" Mimi exclaimed.
Tracey pulled out all her different cosmetics, curling iron, and straightener. "I'll start on her hair, and you can give her a manicure and pedicure, Mimi."
I gulped. I think I would have preferred it the other way around. When we were ten and I was spending the night at Tracey's, she decided to try highlighting my hair. She wore me down and finally I agreed to her plea. She was only going to put some black highlights in but ended up turning all my hair black. Then she tried to get it back to the natural color and somehow caused it to be black with red highlights. Finally, three hours later my hair was back to it's natural color and my mother never found out about it.
Well, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "How do you want your hair done, Sor?"
"Nice and simple. I don't need anything too fancy."
"Don't you want to impress Yamato?" Mimi wondered while she held shades of nail polish up to my dress.
I smiled. "Yama won't care if I look fancy or not."
"Awe." They both sighed, and I rolled my eyes. "That's so cute!"
Tracey and Mimi worked for the next hour and a half, and I was very relieved when Mimi announced I was done. I walked over to the mirror and gasped. Tracey had definitely kept it simple and yet it still looked great. She had straightened all my hair and pulled half of it up with a clip. She left some bangs down so that they framed my face. Mimi had painted my nails a light silver color, and I was very happy she hadn't gone with anything…bright.
"Now do not mess up your hair!" Tracey commanded. "We're going to get our hair and nails done so you can go watch a movie or something." She looked at the clock. "We'll be done in about one hour, and then we can put on our dresses and do our makeup."
I went out to the living room but did not put a movie in. I had seen enough to last me quite awhile. Instead I pulled out an old photo album full of pictures of Taichi, Yamato, and I growing up. I spent the next hour looking through them and laughing about some of the better memories. It's hard to believe we're in our last month of high school!
"Sora, we're ready for you!" Tracey called. I walked back into my bedroom and laughed. It was a pigsty.
"It's going to take me a year to get this place cleaned up!" I exclaimed.
"Stop being such a drama queen." Mimi answered. "It's nearly five o'clock. Ladies, the guys will be here in forty minutes, and we need to be looking our best for them. It's time to get the dresses." She said dramatically.
I rolled my eyes. "Now who's being the drama queen?"
Tracey grabbed her dress and headed into my bathroom to change first. Five minutes later she emerged and asked me to the zip the back up. I clapped when she faced us, and Mimi gave her two thumbs up. "That'll make Taichi drool!" Tracey dress was lavender with spaghetti straps and flowed out at the end.
"My turn!" Mimi announced. She too walked into the bathroom and shortly came out, asking Tracey to zip up the back of her dress. "What do you think?"
"Nice…" we both grinned. In typical Mimi fashion the dress was, go figure hot pink. It was strapless and very Mimi.
"Go on, Sor. Let's see…" Tracey smiled.
I walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Pulling the dress off its hanger, I just looked at it. It had been quite a find. The dress was black with a few strands of silver mixed in and it was strapless. I had found it when Tracey and I went shopping last weekend. It was the first dress I saw and, thankfully, very much in my price range; only fifty dollars. My shoes almost cost more than that.
As I walked back into my room, Tracey and Mimi gasped. "If that doesn't make you queen…" Mimi found her voice.
"You're telling me. Though from the way you look and what Taichi told me happened Wednesday, I'm wondering how long you will actually be in that dress."
My face became red. Leave it to Taichi to tell Tracey what had happened with Yamato. Mimi asked for details, and Tracey was very happy to tell her. Mimi grinned at me when my cousin finished her story. "If you guys are going to be busy, Koushiro and I will drop Tracey and Taichi off when prom is over."
"I can't believe you guys are thinking like that! Yama and I aren't going to be doing anything like that tonight!"
"I'd say it'll happen sometime in the next month." Tracey whispered to Mimi.
"Or the next week."
Oh God! I must change the subject! "The guys are gonna be here soon and we haven't even started our makeup!"
"Oh no! We've got to hurry up and get that done…"
So there we were waiting for the guys to show up. The doorbell rang, and my parents answered it immediately. "Look who we have here." Dad smiled. "Come in boys, it's nice to see you. And it's nice to see you all dressed up. Taichi, I never thought I'd see the day."
"Me either, Mr. T." he responded. "Wow, Tracey you look great." He walked over to my cousin and attached the corsage to her arm whileshe pulled out his own flower.
Koushiro's face had turned bright red as he saw Mimi, and he was mustering up all the courage to give her the flower he'd bought for her.
"Hey there, beautiful." A voice whispered in my ear.
"Hey, yourself." I smiled and wrapped my arms around the blond.
He pulled something out of his pocket. "For you." Yamato pulled out of the embrace and put the corsage around my arm. It was made up of roses and baby's breath and beautiful. I attached the flower I'd gotten for him to his tux coat and almost poked him with the pin as mom began taking photos.
"Mom," I exclaimed, "give me one minute!"
"Okay, okay," she responded sheepishly, letting me finish pinning the boutonniere on Yama before she began snapping pictures again. "Say cheese!" Yamato pulled me close to him, and we both smiled for the camera. Mom kept this up for another five minutes before pulling the others into the picture. Mimi eventually was able to convince her to let us go so we wouldn't miss our dinner reservations.
We walked out the door and headed down the stairs. "So, who drove?" Mimi asked.
The guys grinned. "We have a surprise for you!" Taichi exclaimed in a singsong voice.
"Oh my God!" Tracey was the first to notice. "You got us a limo?"
"That would be affirmative." Koushiro responded, taking Mimi's hand and helping her into the limo.
"I can't believe you guys did this." I whispered into Yama's ear.
He grinned and kissed my lips. "I have a feeling this'll be the least of the surprises for tonight..."
"Look at these decorations!" Tracey shouted.
"Prodigious!" Koushiro answered. "Look, there's a replica of the Great Pyramid! And there's the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and…" he began rambling as to what each statue or sculpture was. It was obvious the World Cultures class had stuck to the theme "Eighth World Wonder". They had replicated all the seven ancient wonders and made a banner showing the theme.
"Did your class do all this?" I asked Mimi as we walked back over to where the stage was.
"Yup!" she enthusiastically responded.
Yamato faced her. "Where'd you guys keep it all?"
"The drama room."
"We have a drama room?" Taichi's puzzled voice entered the conversation.
Yamato and I laughed. "It does not surprise me you didn't know that." Yama stated.
"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Mr. Honda's voice rang out. "We need you all to start lining up for the Grand March. People are going to be arriving shortly, and we want everyone set now!"
"That's our cue. We'll be seeing you guys later." Mimi said, taking her boyfriend's hand and walking off.
"I guess we'd better head back there." Tracey answered.
The four of us walked to the back of the stage area, and it seemed almost everyone who was going to be in the Grand March was already there.
Mr. Honda began lining people up, and Yamato and I got in line behind our best friend and my cousin. "You ready?" I asked the blond.
He beamed at me. "I think so. What about you? Are you prepared?"
"Prepared? Why?"
His smile faded a bit. "For the paparazzi."
"They're here?"
"Unfortunately. The guys and I had a feeling they wouldn't be able to resist an event like this."
"Aren't we lucky." I mumbled sarcastically but was cut off as Yamato's lips brushed mine. "You'll be fine. We only have to put up with them for like one hour total, and then they'll be gone, and we won't have to worry about them. Just don't say anything to them because they love twisting words around. Once they claimed I wasn't a real blond because I mentioned something about hair color. It was a long time ago, but I still remember it. Stick close to me, and we'll get through it."
I suddenly started laughing and Yama raised an eyebrow. "If they decide to take a picture and Taichi's in it, you're lucky we got him to take off his bib."
The blond grinned and chuckled. "I have to agree with you there."
We had arrived at the restaurant fine and in one piece. But then it was time to order. Tracey and I each ordered a salad and Yamato ordered a hamburger. But Taichi…as much as I love the guy…sometimes his stomach thinks for him instead of his brain. He decided he had this huge craving that had to be fulfilled. He ordered baby back ribs.
This huge order came and Taichi's eyes grew so big. He was about to dig into it when Tracey stopped him. She made the waiter go get a bib that people eating lobster get so he wouldn't spill all over himself.
"May I have everyone's attention please?" Mr. Honda began to address the conglomerated people in the gym. He explained what was going on and how this promish thing had come to be.
"I didn't get a chance to tell you how incredibly gorgeous you look."
I blushed. "You do that tux justice, too, Ishida." Mustering up my courage, I whispered into his ear, "You look very sexy."
He grinned at me as Mr. Honda introduced the first couple. "I'm glad you approve."
The couples continued to be introduced. "Tracey Takenouchi and Taichi Yagami."
The two in front of us exchanged nervous smiles and walked up to the stage and out to the public. "We're next." Yama squeezed my hand, and I could feel my nerves kick in again.
"Sora Takenouchi and Yamato Ishida."
Yamato and I slowly walked up to the stage and through the curtain, separating the public from the people waiting to be introduced. "Smile big." Yama whispered through clenched teeth.
If I thought my mother taking pictures was bad, I hadn't seen anything.
The whole gym was illuminated as people, some of whom I knew and others I will probably never meet reached for their cameras and took many pictures. I had a feeling I would be edited out of a majority of these.
Yamato and I reached the other side of the gym after walking around in a large circle. "I see you guys are pretty popular."
"That's the understatement of the year." Tracey answered Taichi. "Look, Mimi is signaling for you guys to go up there. Good luck all of you." She kissed Taichi's cheek and gave Yama and I each a thumbs up. Mimi had been one of the first to go through and now was lining up the candidates.
She led us back to where we had originally come from and told us it would only be a few more minutes. Yama stayed with Taichi and me, not wanting to go anywhere near Mizuki until he had to. "Okay, everyone get with your assigned partner. Mr. Honda's going to announce you now."
Our teacher did just that and things began moving considerably faster than they had in practice. Yamato and Mizuki were announced shortly and the blond gave me a sad smile. Taichi elbowed me, but I ignored him. A few minutes later, it was our turn. "Presenting Sora Takenouchi and Taichi Yagami!"
We walked out onto the stage and again, the cameras began flashing. "And now the moment you all have been waiting for. Your prom king is…Yamato Ishida!"
No surprise there.
Mizuki instantly began shouting and tried to kiss Yamato. Taichi had to use all his might to hold me back from ripping her apart, but Yamato handled her just fine. He turned his head right at the moment she went to kiss him and she only got air. He pried his arm away from her and was congratulated by everyone. The guys all shook his hand or gave him a high five, while he allowed the girls to kiss his cheek, even Jun. Mizuki was the only one left out.
When I reached him, he kissed my lips lightly. "I'll be waiting for you up there, Sor…"
I blushed and headed back to Taichi. "And the prom queen is…Sora Takenouchi!"
"If we would have taken a bet, you would have owed me lots of money!" Taichi exclaimed as he wrapped me in a bear hug. The others came over to congratulate and hug me. Jun gave me a forced smile and a hug, but Mizuki refused to even look at me. Oh well, no loss there.
I joined Yamato and he linked his arm through mine. The camera's immediately started to click and it seemed everyone who had a camera was taking a picture of the court. "We will now have a fifteen minute break where you the public will be allowed to take pictures. At the end of that period, you must leave!" Mr. Honda announced.
Immediately the public flowed onto the gym floor, and I spent the next fifteen minutes being congratulated and taking pictures of people with Yamato. I really didn't mind, and I know he didn't either. Most of these people weren't obsessive and crazy and were truly nice people. The paparazzi tried their best to get to us but, thankfully, the crowd surrounding Yamato andme was too big for them to get through.
When the time came, Mr. Honda made all the people leave. It was hard to pry a lot of them away, but eventually we managed. The beginning parts of a song began blasting through the loudspeakers and Mr. Honda called out, "Now let the prom begin!"
His announcement was met by a shout of cheers and the dance officially started. Yama took my hands and motioned for me to follow him.
"Where are we going?" I asked as he led me to the doors.
"Somewhere away from the noise and people."
"Why?"
"I've got a surprise for you…"
A/N: Please review! Next chapter, obviously we find out the surprise and there's a lot more with the prom and after prom party! And Merry early Christmas and Happy New Year's to everyone. This'll probably be my last update of 2004! God bless!
Theladyknight
