A night out and more complications
6:00 pm-The rustling of the leaves caused by the violent winds prior to the storm to come brushed against Tai's window, making scratching noises as if there were a creature outside trying to get in. Tai lay carelessly on his bed; his right arm above his head, his left settled on his stomach and his left leg dangling off the edge of his bed. His eyes were tired and puffed due to hours of crying. But for now, he lay sound asleep where he drifted away from his problems.
11:30 pm the digital clock on the night stand read. Its glowing red numbers were the only thing visible through the darkness of the room. Having not moved from his position, Tai began to rustle between his bed sheets.
Meow. A muffled cry made his ears perk. Meow, it mocked once more.
"Meeko?" Tai lifted his head and examined the room.
Silence and nothing more.
"Meeko?" Tai stood up and cautiously stepped on the floor, careful not to step or bump into anything.
Outside, the wind hollered and the leaves whispered, calling him over. Fixated on the window, Tai slowly walked towards it and pocked his head outside. The stars and moon twinkled; the world seemed to be asleep. Tai's eyes wandered, taking in the scenery of nightfall until he lowered his gaze to the ground where a lone figure stood. To his surprise, Kitty stood there, watching him. A mischievous smile crept along her face as she looked up at him.
"Sora?" Tai gasped
Kitty's eyes stalked Tai's every move. Moments later, she broke her gaze and began to walk away. "Where is she going?" Tai practically ran out his room, but quietly put on his shoes and sweater and exited his apartment.
He flew down the stairs and while maintaining shadow distance, he took the same route Kitty took. With his head down and shoulders bent so as to not let the cold wind whisper down his neck, Tai lost sight of Kitty at the park. "Where'd she go?"
He checked out the swings, the benches, and even the tree that he had carved his and Sora's names into, but found nothing.
Somewhere in the distance, movement came from the bushes. The rustling became more aggressive as Tai drew closer. "Sora?" He bent over and peered into the bush.
"Meow!" A screech followed by repeated scratches was heard through out the park. Tai danced around as if he were drunk with a cat on his face. "Ow, get off!"
Hmph! Tai fell right on his bottom. Once at ground level, the cat removed its claws from Tai's face and fled. Tao watched it run while touching his fresh wounds. "Stupid cat."
He sat on the grass for a moment, when he noticed two glowing red eyes in the shadows of a tree. "What is she doing here?" Tai stood up.
The figure hissed and its red eyes narrowed. "Sora?"
As he walked closer, footsteps were heard behind him. They were heavy and moved fast. As Tai turned to face the new visitor, he was greeted by a bat. Wham! A hard blow to the head and Tai was down. Dumbfounded by the pain, Tai looked up to see two blurs over him that seemed to be Ken and Kitty. Ken dropped the bat beside Tai and looked over at Kitty...
7:00 am
"Time to wake up!" A cheerful voice rang through Tai's ears.
"Kari? What time is-whoa!" Tai attempted to get out of bed but was paralyzed by the shocking pain that ran from his head down his back.
Kari took notice of the scratches and the way he rubbed his head. "What happened?" She sat down next to him.
"I don't..." Tai looked at the floor, trying to recollect the events of the night before.
Why was Sora with Ken? How did he get back to his room? Maybe it was just a dream.
"Sora..." he whispered
Kari's eyes widened. "Sora did this to you?" she touched the dry blood on his wounds.
Tai looked at his sister with confusion.
"Tai, Kari, hurry up or you'll both be late for school!" their mother's voice echoed through the apartment.
Tai and Kari looked at the door and then at each other. "Come on, you heard her." Tai got up and walked to the bathroom to change. Kati watched him disappear behind the door and then got up and left.
Odaiba high...
Once surrounded by treasured friends, Tai now walked alone through the hallways of the large school. Dragging his body, Tai made his way to his locker where he would find relief from the pills he had taken from the kitchen cabinet to numb the pain in his head that was still persistent from the night before. After swallowing a pill or two and having drunk from the water fountain, Tai heard a fragile voice around the corner.
"Ugh...ow!" Tai peered around the corner and saw Sora fumbling with her books, trying to fit them in her locker. "Crap!" she dropped her Calculus book.
As she bent over to pick it up, Tai noticed that her right hand was bandaged up. 'She didn't have that last night.'
He had not known how long he had been staring at her and now she was walking in his direction. Due to her disabled hand, she had to hold her massive text books with her left arm. Almost at the corner, she dropped a book and tripped over it. As she leaned forward, Tai gracefully caught her. They looked at each other, not knowing what to say or do.
Sora gritted her teeth, trying to resist the pain Tai's hold inflicted on her fractured hand. He noticed her pained expression and immediately let her go. They went their separate ways, the bittersweet moment they just shared, long forgotten.
In the courtyard, Matt sat alone under a tree. His once overzealous fans were no where to be seen after Matt had rudely shouted at them and told them to get lost and not in those words.
The cut at the corner of his mouth prevented him from enjoying his lunch. After a couple of attempts, Matt discarded his meal and watched the world, lifelessly, as it unraveled itself before his eyes.
"Hey Matt." Izzy made his way to his friend
"What do you want?"
"I want to know what happened."
"Why don't you ask Tai?" Matt retorted and bitterly spat his former best friend's name out
"He won't tell me anything! He said to ask Sora, but I haven't seen her around. So, mind telling me what's going on?"
Matt looked up at his friend and lifted himself to his feet. "Forget about it, it's not worth talking about it." he began to walk away.
Sora's apartment...
RING! Sora sat at her desk, doing her homework, when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Sora, its Kari."
"Hey Kari, is there something wrong?"
"That's what I want to know. Can you come over?"
"Um, is Tai there?"
"No."
A small sigh of relief was heard on the other line. "Ok, I'll be over in 5 minutes."
"Thanks, bye."
"Bye."
Kari placed the phone back on the receiver and turned to T.K who sat on the couch, flipping through the channels, trying to find something worth watching.
"Are you sure you're not just overreacting Kari?" he spoke
"No, something's wrong, I know it."
"Do you think Matt knows something?"
"Maybe. I'll ask Sora when she gets here."
RING! They turned their attention to the phone. RING! Kari read the name on the caller I.D "Davis..." she let out an exasperated sigh.
"Hey Davis...I have caller I.D...I was just talking to T.K...yes, he's here...No Davis, we were just talking...No! There's no need for you to come over...Davis, I mean it!...Ok, I'll see you tomorrow...Bye." she sighed
DING-DONG! "Could you get that T.K?"
T.K walked to the door and cautiously opened it, afraid of Davis being their new visitor. His eyes peered outside. Sora nervously stood outside and when she saw T.K's soft eyes she couldn't help but think that they look so much like Matt's cobalt ones and she froze.
"Oh, hi Sora!" T.K fully opened the door. "I thought you were Davis." he ushered her inside.
"Are you sure Tai's not here?" Sora examined the room
"He's at soccer practice." Kari skeptically answered. "What's going on between you and my brother?"
"Well, he's not talking to me."
"Did you do something to make him this upset?"
T.K quietly sat on the couch and resumed his activity of channel surfing while Kari and Sora talked.
"That's just it, I don't know! One day we were friends and then the other he doesn't even want to look at me." Sora flopped back on the sofa.
Kari stood silent, pondering about the situation when Sora spoke again. "And then the other day, he and Matt had a fight in school."
"Whoa, wait a minute!" T.K interrupted "Matt's involved too?"
"He's not talking to me either, but I think I know why."
Kari and T.K looked at her, waiting for her to preach her story.
"The other day he was acting odd. He was asking me if "the night" at his apartment meant nothing to me and he kept trying to give me a cell phone that he claimed to be mine and that I had left it at his place that night." Kari and T.K focused on her every word.
"He said that I had told him that I liked him and then he kissed me!" The eyes of the younger children widened with surprise
"Shocked by his behavior, I slapped him. I told him I like Tai and the next day they fought in the cafeteria."
"That must be why Matt had that cut on his lip." T.K concluded
"I tried to stop them, but Tai pushed me, causing me to fall." Sora rolled her sleeve up, revealing her bandaged hand. "I fell on my hand and fractured my wrist.
"I still don't understand why Tai is mad at you." Kari spoke up.
Sora was about to answer when the clicking of the door opening and closing was heard. "I'm home!" Tai made his presence known.
Kari looked at Sora who looked over at T.K who watched the doorway, waiting for Tai to enter the room.
"What's going on?" Tai asked, his soft gazed turning into a rough glare when he spotted Sora. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh.."
"I invited her." Kari answered for her friend
"Yeah? Well, tell her to get out."
"Come on Tai, leave her alone." T.K defended Sora
"I don't want you here either!" Tai pointed at T.K "I want you both out! And you better check that stupid brother of yours. Tell him to fuck off and stay away from me or I'll kick his sorry ass again."
T.K pushed Tai. "Don't ever talk about my brother that way!"
"Or what? What are you going to do about it?" Tai pushed back
"What the hell is your problem?"
"Tai, please..."
"No Kari! I don't want you talking to these losers."
"Go fuck yourself Tai." T.K spat. He turned to Sora and led her out the apartment.
Tai retreated his defenses and locked himself in his room. Kari sat worriedly alone in on the couch.
TBC...
