*TOM BOY (A boy's best friend)*

This is the same old shit everyone is sort of required to write. Yup, you guessed it. My plot, my story, but NOT my characters. Please enjoy, and if you don' t, I don't blame you cuz' I think it sucks too. Oh, and by the way….THANK YOU FOR WAITING! I move like a old woman with arthritis when I write, so forgive me for taking so long to post this chapter. Enjoy it if you can.

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CH 2: Prom shopping! …is definitely not for tomboys.

The Saturday of that same week, I found myself at Tai's house again. Unlike the other days when I'd come to study, I had no idea why Tai had called me this time and was sitting in his living room waiting for something to happen. Already ten minutes had passed and I just noticed, for the first time, what a cozy room it was. There was the couch I was sitting on, a easy chair to my right, pictures of Tai and his younger sister, Kari, and a little coffee table with a handmade ceramic bowl of candy. I helped myself to a strawberry (flavored) one before Tai walked in, and made room for him on the couch.

"Sora," He said smiling. "I'm guessing that you have absolutely no idea why I asked you to come you to come here today."

"Nope, none, not a clue." He was only wearing a pair of Christmas boxers and a white tang top, so I gave him a strange look.

"Well then, I'll tell you. You're here to get a make over."

I frowned. "Um…isn't it a little soon for that?" I asked. "The dance is a week away."

"Funny, I thought so too, but your make up artist has a different opinion." He grabbed a handful of candies from the bowl and shoved them in his mouth." Being that this person is the "make-over person", and not me, I'm assuming they know what they're talking about. Hopefully it's true."

I couldn't help but laugh when he looked at me, his cheeks expanded by the massive volume of candy. Being the goof that he was, he smiled and one of them slipped out onto the floor. "Disgusting!" I laughed. "A fugitive!" He picked it up, wiped it with his shirt and just popped it back in his mouth. I cringed and moved a little further away from his end of the couch.

"So," He said, voice muffled by the contents of his mouth. "ou…wannah….me urm?"

"What?" I said frowning. He chewed and crunched a bit before answering. After swallowing some he managed to say words which were some what clear.

"You wanna meet' em?"

"The woman giving me the make over, you mean?"

"Yeah."

I looked around the room, out the window, and through the door which led into the hallway to see if I could find her. I didn't see anyone, and I knew Tai would bring most of his female acquaintances somewhere within that vicinity. "Where is she?" I asked.

"Oh, um…. Wait a moment, will ya?" He jumped up and ran upstairs tripping once, before he got to the top. By the time he came back down I had found my way to the shelf of pictures, and was looking at one I especially liked. It was one of Tai, Kari and me at the beach. Tai and I were only about three or four, he was laying on the sand smiling while Kari and I sat on his back in triumph.

"I like that one." Tai's voice said from behind me. He slung an arm around my shoulder, chuckling as he brought the picture to his face. "Even though I'm a human sofa, it seems like I'm having the time of my life being it."

I laughed and turned to look at him. "Apparently you still like being furniture, since you're always on the bottom in wrestling matches."

"Oh yeah?" He said in a mocking tone. "Well, you were a lot lighter then, so don't even think about sitting on me now. I guarantee that neither you nor I would be smiling like I am in that picture, if you do."

"Wanna find out?!" I laughed and was about to push him to the ground when I heard a cough from the hall. "Is that her?" I asked and Tai looked to the door giving a smirk.

"Yeah, it is. Hey, what are you waiting for, man? Come in here!"

I looked at the entrance to the living room expecting to see a girl my age or older; short skirt, tube top, the works. However, to my surprise, he was not a girl at all. He was a seventeen year old boy who was tall, lean, and gorgeous to say the least. As he entered the living room I could not help but notice his blond hair which spiked out in just the right places, swimming pools of blue for eyes, thin smirking lips, and slim physique of a swimmer. "Hey," He said in a smooth voice, "The names Matt. And you must be, ….Sora?"

"Yeah." I said, not knowing how to act in front of such a sophisticated male. I watched as he cooly ran two fingers through the spiky locks in front of his eyes, smirked, and leaned up against the couch like one of those hot motorcycle riders in the fifties. I gulped, hoping that he wouldn't notice me shaking inside, and looked around the room for something else to be interested in. I ended up staring at a bush outside Tai's house (A very interesting bush, I might add.)

Tai was not phased by the visitor. He looked at me, looked at Matt, and burst out laughing, probably at my nervousness. "Well don't just stand there, guys, we got work to do!" He chuckled receiving a glare from me. "What?" He snorted. I gritted my teeth. "Okay, I'm sorry, calm down." He went over to Matt and gave him a handful of money. "Alright, man, don't waste it. I want results by next week."

"Don't worry, Tai." Matt said smiling. "You've made a wise decision." He looked at me and made a hand gesture to the front door. "Let's go." He said, and the next thing I knew, we were on our way to the mall.

At the mall, I discovered, for the first time, how much effort goes into shopping for the prom. I had never cared much for dances, and only went to one in seventh grade and another in the ninth grade because I was literally forced to. In both I only wore casual clothing when other girls adorned their bodies with flowing skirts and halter tops. Sadly, I wasn't even prepared for the shoe shopping alone, and was exhausted after only half an hour of searching. For ten minutes I sat limply in one of the chairs at the food court, trying to stay awake while Matt sipped calmly on a soda next to me.

"Are we almost done?" I asked, slipping further into my seat.

"Hardly." He answered. "We haven't even bought anything yet, aside from this drink." He took a few more sips and finished the beverage before my eyes. "How's about we give it two more hours? If you don't find a pair of shoes by then, I'd say fate was trying to give you a sign not to go to this prom."

"Sure you don't wanna just give up now?" I pleaded.

"I'm sure. C'mon, were wasting precious time." He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the Nordstrom Rack Store.

As we approached the large shoe section, I lazily scanned the area for a pair of heels, and found nothing to my liking. They had everything, from pumps, to old fashioned heels, to….other types heels I never cared enough to learn the names of. "There's nothing here." I said and started walking back towards the door we just came through.

"Hold on a minute."

"Why?" I asked hunched over from lack of energy. " I didn't see anything."

"You weren't looking hard enough." Matt said and motioned me to come to the shoe rack he was inspecting.

I walked over to where he was and looked at the pair he was holding in his hands. The shoes I saw were nice, but I didn't see why they were so special. They were black, and had long straps attached to either side, which I guessed would criss-cross around my legs and tie in a knot about the middle of my calf. I took them into my own hands and discovered that they were actually a lot lighter then they appeared and were not too high or bulky for me to safely walk around in. "They're all right." I said, handing them back to Matt. "But, how do we know if they're going to match with the dress?"

"They will." He said and started moving towards the counter.

I jogged to catch up with him, "But how do you kn-"

"Because, Sora…." He stopped and smiled. "I already know what dress were going to buy."

"Well then." I said with a blush and remained quiet as I waited for him. I gave myself a mental note to act more "feminine" by trying to look like I actually knew what "prom shopping" was all about for the remainder of our trip.

The next store we entered was fancy and expensive looking. The windows had pictures of stick thin models wearing skin bearing outfits, their tan bodies covered from head to toe in an oily like substance that made them look very hot and sweaty. I cocked up an eyebrow at the distasteful display of cleavage and decided to follow Matt into the store against my will. Inside, Rack over rack of glittery, outlandish clothing carpeted the walls and floor of the store as the pulsing beat of pop-like techno music thumped in my ears. I quickly looked around for Matt, after realizing I had lost him, and found him making his way to a rack in the back of the store. By the time I caught up with him he had a piece of clothing in his hand and was already walking up to the counter to buy it.

"Hey!" I shouted over the loud music, "Are you going to buy that already?"

He looked at me with a calm expression and brought the hundred dollar bill to my face for me to see. "Yeah." he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," I shouted again. "I was thinking that maybe I should try it on first and see how it fits. What if it's too small or too big?"

"It won't be." He quipped and smiled at me before turning to the cash register. "I can tell what size you are just by looking at you."

He's good, I thought, and walked outside of the store to wait for him where the music wasn't as loud. My heart was thumping almost as loud as the bass drum in the speakers from embarrassment, and it felt like my cheeks were on fire. I prayed that we would return to Tai's house as soon as possible and whistled a nervous tune as I leaned against a wall and waited.

When we finally returned to Tai's house, I knocked on the white wooden door, hoping that Tai would answer quickly, and almost knocked him over when I came in. "Whoa, Sora! Nice to see you too." Tai chuckled and stepped outside to talk with Matt before shutting the front door.

In exhaustion, and collapsed on the plush pillows of the living room sofa and stared at the ceiling as I thought of all the embarrassing moments I had due to my tomboyish habits. If I ever go to a prom again, I thought with a grimace, I'll make sure to hire someone else do the shopping for me. Never again would I willingly agree to search the sea of stores for a dress I didn't have the "eye" to spot, and do it all with a handsome creature I was guaranteed to embarrass myself in front of! I looked outside to see Tai and Matt talking and my eye lids began to feel heavy. I managed to watch them until Matt started walking back to his car and heard the front door creak open, with the last bit of energy I had left. "Never again…" I sighed and quickly fell into a peaceful slumber as the soft pillows of the living room couch engulfed me.

Sometime later, I was rudely awakened by the weight of a heavy object thrown onto me. In a state of shock, my eyes flew open and I found myself staring into the eyes of a very happy Tai Kumiya. "Huh?" I said aloud in confusion, and realized that the very heavy object, was Tai sitting on my stomach.

"Time to get up, sleepy head!" He yelled and leaned back into the couch, arms supporting his head. "It's almost seven o' clock at night, and a busy girlfriend like you shouldn't be resting." I just huffed at him and told him to get off of me. He wouldn't budge, so I grabbed his leg and pulled him onto the floor, Christmas boxers and all.

"That wasn't very nice." He said, a little huffy, and popped his face up at the edge of the couch to frown at me. I just smiled and patted him on the head before looking out the window to see if it was dark outside yet. The sky was still blue, but a noticeable darkness was beginning to settle in on the trees and houses in the neighborhood. It was just around the time when most people come back home and start making food for supper, which reminded me of my home, where supper may or may not have been waiting for me.

"Tai?" I said looking down at him. He was now laying on the floor on his back, his arms behind his head once again.

"What?" He said and turned his head to look up at me.

"What did you guys talk about out there after I came back from the mall?"

"Oh….you know…" He said smiling. "We talked about you and how completely hopeless you are." I threw the first pillow I could get my hands on at him and scowled. "Hey!" He said blocking it with one hand. "Don't be such a loser, I was just kidding! We just talked about getting you all fixed up on the night of the prom and what time we should meet his girlfriend to get a makeover. That's all bu-"

"His girlfriend?" I said out loud and mentally kicked myself for doing so.

Tai smirked at me and sat up. "What?" he said in a mocking tone. "Is someone a little jealous?" I frowned and turned away from him so I wouldn't punch him out, then and there. He patted my head and gave a little chuckle. "That's okay, Sora. I can see why you might be attracted to him. After all the time he spends sprucing himself up in the morning, I should hope at least a couple of girls would like him."

A bit calmed down, I turned to him and said flatly, "I do not like him like that, Tai." and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

He smirked. "Sure. Yeah. Uh-huh, really?"

My eyes turned into slits and I glared at him as the blood rushed to my face again. "I do not! So shut up or I'll…."

"Or you'll what?" He said, taunting me.

"Or I'll.…" I thought for a moment. "Well, I'll do something you won't like!" I said and reached back to grip the pillow behind my head without him seeing.

He just smiled at me thinking that I brought my arm back to support the back of my head. "So finally, you have a crush on someone," he said smirking and walked to the other side of the couch. "And of all people….one of my good friends!" I frowned at him and he laughed. "What a riot! Gee, I wonder what Matt will say when I tell him that my best friend, the tom boy, has got the hots for him, and was probably checking him out since the moment he walke-"

I quickly stood up on the couch. "Stuff it!" I screamed and struck him on the side of his face with the pillow immediately before wrestling him to the ground. In a matter of seconds, I had him pinned to the ground, holding his wrists on either side of his head as I sat on his stomach. He looked up at me in surprise for a while and suddenly smirked while he lay pinned beneath me. "What?" I asked sternly and didn't remove the pressure from his wrists.

"I told you not to sit on me." He said with a sly look and flipped me onto the ground before I could react. My wrists were now pinned above my head and I looked up at him with a frustrated expression. He just smiled and looked down at me. "I guess you like being furniture too." he said with a smirk and brought his face close to mine. "So. You want to know what Matt and I actually talked about?" I nodded slowly as I looked into his soft caramel eyes. My pulse was quickening at the feel of his warm breath on my cheek, and I couldn't figure out why my body was reacting the way it was.

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Thanks for reading. If you think it sucked crap, I would most definitely agree with you. However, if you enjoyed it, the next chapter will be coming soon. For some of you, it might even be here already. Thanx again. Review if you like, I would appreciate it. Have a nice life.