Highs and Lows
Chapter Six: Letting Go
- Criquett
A/N: YAY! Wow, seven reviews! I haven't gotten that many since… the first chapter! I am SO glad there are actually people who enjoy reading my work, but moreover I am thrilled to see so many TAIORA supporters! Also, I have received a few e-mails concerning Mimi's character. Just to clarify, I love Mimi! The fact that her character is so versatile, same thing about Matt, is wonderful! HUGE round of applause for Spartan3500, taiora fan, Courage Sun, JyouraKoumi, nickygirl, crest-of-music, and IgStardust!
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
"So anyway, there I was when out of the blue I hear someone call out my name. I turn around and what do you know, none other than Yamato Ishida is standing before me!" Sora said, fanning herself with her hand. The dance was only a week away.
"Oh. My. God! Are you serious? What did he say?" Yolei gasped.
"Well, he wants yearbook pictures of the band so he asked me personally to take them!" Sora boasted waving her golden ticket in the air. The four girls seated around Sora giggled profusely.
It was a rare, but wonderfully sunny late-March Monday. Though the air was still crisp and cool, everyone was relieved to have a sky full of sun shine down on them. Sora and her friends were seated outside in the picnic areas of their school for lunch. They all took turns holding and admiring what they wished could have been theirs as they passed the ticket back down to its lucky owner.
"Oh Sora, it's just not fair! I'm so jealous!" A blonde-haired girl huffed from across the table.
Sora smiled sympathetically. "I'll try to get autographs for all of you!"
"Ok ladies, lunch time is over, back in the building." Mr. Arai, the cafeteria monitor, announced. The girls packed away their lunch boxes and headed back inside the school. The bell rang soon after, announcing the beginning of fourth period. Sora and Maya parted ways with their friends as they headed down the hall towards the math department. They took their usual seats in front of Jun, who was reapplying some make-up.
"Cute bracelet Maya," She piped from behind her compact mirror.
"Thanks Jun, I got it for my birthday."
Jun gave a very fake smile. She noticed something shiny poking out from one of Sora's folders. She was about to ask when the teacher walked in, turning the lights off as a sign for everyone to settle down. She gasped in horror when it finally dawned to her what it was. Immediately, she whipped out her cell phone and began to furiously send a text message to Mimi about what had just developed.
"Mimi, your phone is vibrating on my foot," Tai said, gently kicking the blindingly bright pink purse resting against his foot.
"Huh?" A dazed pink-haired girl asked. "Oh, sorry Taichi." She reached down and picked up her purse, removing her cell phone from the inside pocket. "Oh my god!"
"What?" Tai turned to the girl next to him.
"Jun…" Mimi said slowly, re-reading the text message her best friend had sent. "…she sent me a text message…"
"Oh my god!" Davis mocked from Mimi's other side, covering a dramatic hand over his mouth. Tai sniggered.
She shot them both glares before answering. "It's nothing."
"Oh come on Meems. Davis was only joking, you know he's an ass!" Tai said.
"Yeah," Davis agreed. "What'd my twerpy sister have to say?"
Mimi remained silent for a moment. She looked up to make sure their substitute teacher, Mr. Kido, was out of ear reach. "She told me about Sora getting a pass to Matt's concert."
"Really!" Davis said turning to Tai, who pretended to look surprised.
"Yeah, sucks doesn't it Tai?" Mimi pressed.
Tai felt his insides grow hot. He clenched his teeth and took a deep breath, ignoring her comment. He could sense her smiling malevolently to herself.
"Maya, can I borrow your curling iron before the dance?" Sora asked her friend erratically in the middle of their biology practical.
"Uh, sure." Maya said, looking quizzically at the ginger-haired girl.
Sora turned and smiled. "Thanks, could you pass me Meoma ventricosa?"
Maya thought hard and scanned the number of jars of preserved animals. "Oh! You mean the sea urchin?" She handed Sora a small jar, which contained a deep purple, spiky sea urchin.
"Correct!" Sora exclaimed. They continued the rest of class matching animals to their correct scientific name, hoping to complete the lengthy list before class ended.
"Ok," Maya sighed. "Last one, Tetraodontidae?"
Sora frowned. "I know this one… wait! Don't tell me… ugh, I don't know!" she said in despair. She looked up at Maya for the answer who instead puffed her cheeks up with air. "Oh, puffer fish!" Sora laughed.
"Precisely! We're finished! No homework!" The two girls high-fived each other as they turned in their completed list to the teacher. They gathered their knapsacks together as the clock showed only five minutes left in the day. "I finished watching that movie you lent to me over the weekend."
"Oh yeah?" Sora asked. "Wasn't it good?"
"Amazing! If you want you can stop by my place and pick it up."
"Ok, we'll go when the bell rings! Oh, but wait… I have to stop by and pick up my transcript report from the counseling office. It'll only take five minutes if you don't mind waiting!"
"Sure, I'll meet you out by the flag pole." Maya suggested as the bell rang.
"Sounds good, see you in five!" Sora said walking out of the science room. Maya slung her bag over her shoulder and pushed open the double doors that led outside. She felt immediately refreshed and relieved as the mixture of cool air and warm sunshine rained through her. She dropped her heavy bag at the foot of the flag pole and watched students file outside; some heading to their bikes, others just socializing and enjoying the beautiful weather.
Maya's heart skipped a beat as she recognized a familiar pair of goggles walk outside. She quickly dove for her bag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, hoping they could disguise her. She heard a laugh somewhere behind her.
"Nice shades," Tai's voice teased. "Don't worry, Davis is going to soccer practice."
"Well then shouldn't you follow?" Maya asked, removing the glasses from her eyes and placing them on top of her head, brushing loose hairs away from her face.
"Please, I'm the captain!"
"All the more reason for you to go!"
"And! You didn't let me finish… and I'm Coach's favorite so he could care less," Tai stuck out a very pink tongue at the girl in front of him.
Maya rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, any luck?"
Tai shook his head sadly. "Nope. Haven't had a chance."
"Haven't had a chance to what Tai?" A different voice said from behind the two. "Apologize?"
"Sora! Hey! How are you?" Tai asked rather surprised.
"Just dandy!" She replied a bit harshly. "Thanks for asking."
Tai sighed. "Listen Sora, I want to apologize for… you know. I was stupid and inconsiderate and stupid-"
"You lied Tai." Sora said. Her voice wasn't angry, nor was it upset. She said it, plain and simple. But that was all it took.
He looked down into her bright crimson eyes. No emotion, no heart, just truth shown through them. Tai felt the muscles in his throat begin to contract. "Sora, you have to listen to me-"
"No Tai. I'm through with you. I don't ever want to see your deceitful face again!" She spat as she walked past him down the street. Maya was about to follow when she turned back to see a miserable Tai. He leaned against the flag pole, head heaved down in guilt and regret.
She looked empathetically towards him, "Sora, why not just hear him out?"
"No! Not after what he did! And since when have you gone and joined forces with Tai?" Sora said angrily.
"Joined forces? I defended you! And then he told me, in his words, what happened and what he had really intended to happen!"
"Oh yeah? And what was that? To be another trophy girl for him? Another plaque for his wall of whores?"
"Sora, that's mean." Maya said severely, eyeing her friend carefully.
"I don't care! He's a stupid jock looking for dumb girls to fertilize!" Sora yelled.
"He wants to be friends with you!" Maya exclaimed.
"Maya, I can't and frankly don't want to be "friends" with that that thing, that Neanderthal! End of story!" Maya sighed in defeat. She saw no end to Sora's stubbornness as she quietly walked with her down the street. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"It's okay," Maya said. "I know it's hard, but he's really kicking himself for what happened." To her surprise Sora remained silent and didn't retort back. They continued to walk in a humble silence, both girls engrossed in their own thoughts.
Tai watched the two girls disappear around the corner. 'I've had it with her! I tried to apologize and if she won't accept it well that's her own damn fault!' He picked himself up from the ground and jogged back to the soccer field. He quickly changed into his uniform and met the rest the team in the middle of the field.
"You're late Kamiya." Coach Kasai said flatly.
"Yeah, I know. Sorry."
"Never mind, listen get these kids started on warm-ups, I have a quick meeting with the Headmaster."
Tai nodded. "Ok, let's get serious!" He announced to the team. "Stretch out!" He observed as the rest of the team spread out across the field and begin to stretch and shake out their tense muscles. "Laps!" He yelled after five minutes as he began to jog around the field.
Running felt good. Everything around him stopped. He was in control. He pushed all of his thoughts, both good and bad, out of his mind and focused just on running. He controlled his breathing rate, trying to keep it as rhythmic and steady as possible. He controlled the tension in his calf muscles, flexing and releasing them. He mentally kept track of his time, trying to break new records even if it meant by just a second.
Tai saw Coach return back to the field with a manila folder tucked securely under his arm. He blew his whistle, calling everyone toward him. "Ok, now that everyone is panting and sweaty, let's get started! Takeru, we're going to practice shooting!"
A blonde haired boy next to Tai nodded as he jogged off towards his position as goalie in front of the nets. One by one the boys took turns trying to kick the ball into the net past T.K. Coach stood on the sidelines making notes on his bright red clipboard, monitoring his team's progression.
After a solid hour of dribbling, shooting and passing Coach Kasai finally blew his whistle. "Good hustle today! Okay, walk a lap for cool down today and hit the locker rooms! Oh, but Tai, I need a word with you in my office."
Tai followed his Coach back into the athletics department, which was nothing more than an air conditioned shed with small cubicles inside. He led him into one of the cubicles and him sit in front of his crowded desk. "What is it Coach?"
"Well, I met with the Headmaster today. Midterm examination results are in, and even though students aren't allowed to find out their scores until after spring break, we thought it was necessary to talk to you about them now." He paused, looking over at Tai. "Kamiya, you've worked wonders with this team, you're a natural born leader."
"Thank you sir."
"But like all extracurricular activities at this school, students must maintain a certain grade point average, and I'm afraid you're on the brink. You failed your history exam, which severely dropped your average. We talked to Miss Asami, and she agreed to re-test you, but you're going to have to put in some real book time otherwise 'll be forced to kick you off the team."
"But Coach! I'm the captain! You just said yourself how great I pulled the team together!" Tai yelled.
"I know! But you need the grades to back up your leadership! I'm sorry, it's school policy." Coach said. "If you need help finding a tutor or anything just let me know. I'm not letting you fail that class."
Tai sighed. "When can I re-test?"
"Two weeks. The Wednesday after the spring dance."
Tai shook his head in disbelief. He thanked the Coach and slumped out of his office. He met Davis in the locker room and told him the bad news. "What the hell man? Do you think you'll be able to pull it off?"
"I have to! I have to study my ass off!"
"No kidding! The test was over all the material we learned three months ago! If I can help in anyway let me know man." Davis consoled, patting his friend on the shoulder.
"Yeah, thanks." Tai collapsed on a nearby bench, his head in his hands. 'Who am I kidding. There's no way I'll be able to learn all that crap, I couldn't even get it the first time with a teacher let alone now by myself, unless… no, she'd never agree.' Then, almost as if he had been reading his mind, Davis piped up.
"Why don't you ask Sora to help you? She completed mission impossible with you over chemistry, why not a little history?"
Tai shook his head. "Are you kidding me? She still won't talk to me! I apologized and tried to explain everything but she won't even listen! I don't care though, I don't need her." He convinced himself to get through it by himself, and that's what he was going to do.
Finished! If you have any suggestions/comments/flames/rants whatever! Please review and tell me everything! Don't worry, like I promised this WILL be taiora, so bear with me! Thanks!