Author note: Thanks for the reviews! I was so happy to receive them! Well, anyway, I'm amazed at how many chapters this fic has now… 7! I never went that far before, and I'm actually keeping up a steady update. I'm so proud of myself! Maybe I can keep it up until 10 chapters… hopefully.

Another Note: Well, the title for this chapter is called "If I Needed Someone" which is actually the title for the song by The Beatles. I really like the lyrics…heh. Moving on…

Amor Vincit Omnia

Love Conquers Everything

Chapter Seven – If I Needed Someone

A.K.A. The Bet

……………………………………

Sora

……………………………………

Monday at School…

"You know, Sora, you've been acting really weird today, what's wrong?" Mimi looked at me from across the lunch table.

I shook my head, and glanced over my shoulder nervously, "Nothing's wrong. I'm perfectly fine."

She glared at me, "As if. I mean, please. You're always looking around, like someone who's scared or nervous. I mean, it's like you were avoiding someone—" She dropped the French fry she was holding and leaned over, her eyes wide, "Are you avoiding someone?"

Annoyed at this I shook my head again, "No."

She looked at me suspiciously, "Are you avoiding Tai?"

"What?" I said, taken aback at what she said, "Why would I be avoiding Tai?"

"Well, you know, the other night at the club…"

"Well, I am definitely not avoiding Tai." I glanced over my shoulder again.

Actually, I was avoiding Matt. I mean, it was bad enough that I had spent a night at his house and actually kissed him, but what really made me feel horrible was the fact that I had kissed a guy that my best friend was interested in, a guy that she 'loved'. I knew I had to tell her, but then again, I didn't want to, because I know that it didn't mean anything, and I didn't want to ruin our friendship over it…ugh. Right now, I hated my life.

"Omigod." I snapped back to attention and looked at Mimi, who had a panicked expression on her face, "Matt and Tai are coming over here."

Trying hard not to show my panic, I shrugged, "So?" I tried to ignore the fact that my heart was starting to pound.

"Hey." Matt said, and I flinched at the sound of his voice.

Slowly, I turned around, trying to keep calm, "Oh, hey."

I looked at Mimi, who was smiling pretty damn big, scoot over and offer Matt a seat. He sat down and Tai sat down next to me.

"So…Matt." Mimi said, subconsciously touching her hair, "We were at the 'Q' Club on Friday, and we saw your band perform!"

Matt quickly glanced at me, "Yeah, I heard…"

"Yeah, but where were you during the second half? I mean, it was just your band playing, and no lead singer, practically."

Matt looked at me again, "You didn't know? Well, actually, Sor—"

I kicked him from under the table, hard.

"Ugh." He grunted, shooting me a fierce look. "What the hell!"

"What?" I said sweetly, "Go on…"

"So, as I was saying," Matt continued, still glaring at me, "Sor—"

I glanced away, and pushed my open water bottle over with my hand, causing it to spill on Matt's shirt and pants. He immediately jumped up, cursing.

"Oops." I said innocently.

He stared at me, "What the hell!"

"It was an accident. Wow, I'm so clumsy."

"Like hell you are." He glared at me.

"So sorry, Matt. Don't worry, though, it's just water."

"Whatever." He muttered, sitting back down, dabbing at his shirt with a napkin.

"So what were you saying...Did I hear you say that you had a sore throat?" I said, smiling at him sweetly.

Mimi looked at me, confused, "Matt had a sore throat?" She glanced over at Matt, who was still drying himself. What a baby.

"Yeah, whatever." He muttered, glowering at me.

"Well, do you feel better now?" Mimi asked, looking concerned.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Tai, who was busy reading his Algebra II textbook.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He looked up, an exhausted look on his face, "I'm trying to cram for my algebra test! I forgot to study last night, and I have it after lunch." He immediately began to read again.

Mimi laughed, "Like it's going to help for you."

Tai looked up again and glared at her, "I really need to pass this test. If I fail, then I'll be kicked off the soccer team for sure!"

Matt grinned, "Maybe it's better for the team if you're kicked out. Maybe they'll have a winning season then."

We laughed, and Tai looked up at us angrily, "Would you guys just shut up and let me study!"

……………………………………

Matt

……………………………………

"So, I was thinking that you could give me and my band another chance." I sat up in my chair, hands folded in my lap.

I was in the 'Q' Club's manager's office, and I was trying to secure the band a regular spot playing at the club.

"No way. Last time you guys played, did a half assed job on it! In the second half, you weren't even there!" He leaned over his desk and glared at me.

"It was an emergency!" I protested.

"Emergency or not, the club can't afford to have only instrumental music playing, the people want singing, not freakin' Mozart."

I stared at him. Mozart? "Look, it won't happen again, promise."

The manager thought for a moment, "Well…for an amateur and basically unknown band, you boys play pretty damn good, but I don't think the club would go for amateurs."

"We won't be unknown if you give us a chance!"

He blinked at me, "You boys are only in high school, this is a 21 and up club, last time I was desperate, but now I don't think it's going to work."

I held up my hands, "You don't have to pay us in beer anymore, we'll take cash, and I promise we won't drink."

He scoffed, "That'll be the day. Teenagers not drinking in a place full of alcohol."

"I give you my word." This was all I could say.

The manager stood up and looked at a calendar, muttering to himself, then he turned around and picked up his appointment book, thumbing through it, and sitting down again, "I don't think we can pay you as much as the other bands, considering your only novices…"

"It's okay; we really don't need a lot of money." Well, I was desperate for another gig, and ok, I admit, I actually did need some money.

"Fine. You got yourselves a spot on Tuesday nights, each week…" He paused, looking at me suspiciously, "But if you screw this up, then it's over."

"Great! Thank you sir, we won't let you down!" I stood up and shook his hand.

"Ok then, see you Tuesday night at 6:00 sharp. You start playing at 7:00."

Damn, I was good. I really did deserve to be the manager of the band. Ok, I know it's sad, our band having the lead singer as the manager too, but we really couldn't afford to hire a separate manager.

I walked out of the building, and the minute I stepped out of the door, I discovered that it was raining.

Pouring, actually, it was like a monsoon out there. Cursing loudly, I ran to the van and jumped into the driver's seat. I was already soaking wet. Shivering, I pulled out of the parking lot and hit the gas. God, I couldn't wait to get home.

Only two miles later I started to hear this clunking sound in the car. Confused, I looked at the meter of gas and saw it was still full, but the clunking sound grew louder until I heard a loud explosion coming from the engine and the car slowed to a stop, with smoke coming out from under the hood.

I coughed and sat there in shock, wondering what the hell just happened. Did the car just die on me?

"FUCK!" I cursed, trying half heartedly to get the car started again and pushing on the gas pedal. I gave up and leaned back in my chair. Ok, I was stranded in the middle of a storm with a car that wouldn't work, and I was nowhere near my house, or a payphone, for that matter. I considered my choices.

As far as I could tell, I only had three options: stay in the car and wait until the rain would let up, although I wasn't sure if that would happen soon. Another would be to just get out of the car, run for about a mile in the rain and take my chances on getting struck by lightning, to the nearest payphone or to my house, whichever was closer. My last choice was to either wait for someone to find me and rescue me, although no one was on the street due to the rain, or to find the nearest acquaintance's house and stay there.

I was leaning towards option one because it was the only obvious choice, but I wasn't too happy about staying in the car while I was still soaking wet…but, at least I was safe, from the rain, and I would dry off eventually.

Just as I was thinking this over, the sunroof of the car flew open and the rain came pouring down. On me. In my car.

I jumped up, and tried to avoid getting pelted with more rain, although without any luck. I stared up at the sunroof and saw that it was open because of the pressure from the rain and the wind, and now, from the oncoming hail.

Great. This was just great. First it was rain, now I was going to get killed by pellets of hail. I cursed silently to myself and ran out of the car, holding my jacket over my head to protect myself. I had to find an open store, or anything.

Considering that it was 9:45 at night, none of the stores were open for me to take shelter into, and as I stood there in the hail, I contemplated on my remaining choices. There really wasn't another payphone around. I looked around the neighborhood, and discovered that…

Sora only lived a block away from this place.

Hmm… I didn't really want to bother her, considering what happened over the weekend, but I didn't have any other alternative… Taking off into a sprint, I ran towards her house.

……………………………………

Sora

……………………………………

(Note: I know Sora already had her turn, but bear with me!)

Knock, knock. I glanced toward the door and put my book down. I wonder who it is. I thought, walking slowly to the door. It can't be Mom because she's away on business… (Note: a flower convention! Hahaha…I had to get her out of the house somehow.)

I opened the door and saw the person I least wanted to see at the moment.

"Matt?" I was honestly surprised to see him standing there, on my front porch. He was panting heavily and soaking wet from the rain.

"Can I come in?" He asked, still panting.

"Um…" I hesitated, first of all, he was soaking wet, meaning that he would ruin the carpet; second, he was at my house. If I invited him in, we would be alone. Together. But…

"Sure." I said, glaring at his shoes, "Take off your shoes first and I'll get you a towel." I walked to the bathroom and grabbed a towel from the shelf, and when I returned, there he was, standing in my living room. "Here." I handed him the towel.

"Thanks." He said, taking it and drying himself off. When he lifted his arm, I gasped.

"What happened to your arm?" His sleeve was torn and stained with blood, and there was even more blood running down his arm.

"What?" He looked at his arm, "Oh. I slipped."

"Slipped! How?"

"Um…when I was running through the rain, well, it was hailing, and I slipped on some of the ice…"

A mental image of Matt sliding on the sidewalk ran through my mind, and in spite my best efforts to keep it in, I burst out laughing.

Matt blushed, "What's so funny about that?"

"Nothing." I said, still laughing, "I'll get some bandages for you." I giggled again, and grabbed the box of bandages, cotton swabs, and rubbing alcohol from the bookshelf.

"Here, give me your arm." I instructed, taking out a band aid.

He gave me his arm, but glared at the alcohol, "I don't want you to put any of that crap on me."

I glanced at the bottle in my hand, "What, are you scared of a little alcohol?"

"I'm not scared, I just don't like it."

"So, you're telling me that you can't stand pain!"

"Yes I can, I just don't like it!"

"Well, too bad." I doused the cotton ball in alcohol and quickly dabbed his wound with it.

"ARGHHHH!" He yelped, pulling his arm away from me, "What the hell did I just say?"

I smiled at him, "Now, now, it'll only hurt for a second." I grabbed his arm again and rubbed it with the cotton ball.

He grimaced, "Can you stop now?" He tried to wrench his arm free, but my grip was too strong.

I laughed and put down the cotton ball, then slapped a band aid on. "There, you cry baby. I'm done."

He rubbed his arm, "Thanks." He said sarcastically.

"No problem." I stood up, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Um…I needed some shelter from the rain since my car broke down." He looked up at me and gave me a crooked grin.

I blushed and my heart started to pound. I looked away from him, "Well, I guess you could stay here until it stops raining…" I hoped that the rain would end soon.

"Thanks." He stood up and I looked at him, his white shirt was completely see-through because it was wet, and it clung to him, showing off his body. Instantly my face heated up and I turned away.

"Uh um… Do you want something to drink?" I stammered, rushing to the kitchen and pulling out a soda can. Why was I offering him something to drink?

"Uh…sure, I guess." Matt replied from the living room.

"Here you go." I handed him the can, "You can…uh…sit down if you want."

He raised his eyebrow at me, "You sure you want me sitting down while I'm all wet? I might ruin your couch or something."

He had a point there. "Sit on the towel."

He shrugged and sat down. "So, where's your mom, anyway?"

"She's at a flower convention." (Note: That sounds so weird…)

He laughed, "So you're all alone then?"

"Um, I guess so."

Matt stood up, and in doing so, his elbow knocked against the soda can that was on the table, causing it to spill all over the carpet.

"Oops." He said, looking at the mess.

"Shit." I stared at it. All I needed was some soap and laundry detergent to clean it out, but I had to act fast.

"I bet." Matt said, grinning at me, "That you're thinking about how to clean it."

I looked up at him, "Well, duh." I said.

"Hmm…well then, here's another bet. I say that you can't go for an hour without cleaning it."

"WHAT?" I shouted.

"If you can go for an hour without cleaning the spill, then you win. If you can't, then I win."

"Are you crazy or something?"

"Winner gets a date." He grinned at me.

"I never said that I wanted to do this bet! And who said I want to go on a date with you?"

"Fine. What do you want."

"What I want is to not do this act of idiocy." I glared at him.

He smiled at me, "So you're scared then."

"Who said I was scared? I think it's stupid!"

"You're scared of losing!"

"I am definitely not scared of losing!" God this guy was working my last nerve. I should just throw him out in the rain. Idiot.

"So you'll do it then." Matt smirked.

"Fine. If I win, I get 50 bucks." I stared at the stain, maybe I could get it out with some bleach…

"What? 50 bucks!"

"Yeah, 50 bucks." Wait, if that soda set in the carpet, then it would be impossible to get out, even with bleach, especially since the carpet was white and the soda was bright red. In an hour, the soda would stain the carpet and there would be no hope in saving it, then not only would the stain bug me for the rest of my life, but my mom would kill me because she had just re-carpeted the floor a month ago. I suddenly felt dizzy. I definitely did not want to go out on a date with Matt Ishida. What if Mimi found out?

"Ok, well, time starts now." Matt looked at his watch. "In an hour, which would be 11:05 pm" (Note: Do these kids ever go to sleep?)

"Fine." I felt too stubborn and competitive to lose. I sat down on the couch next to him and crossed my arms over my chest. "In an hour. Better be ready with your money."

30 minutes later…

I stared at the stain. In another 30 minutes all hope would be gone for that stain to completely disappear. I clenched my hands in a fist to restrain myself from dabbing at it with a paper towel. It was a new carpet for God's sake. Hmmm…which was worse: a stain that would permanently ruin the carpet forever, or going out on a date with Matt… Why did he want to go out on a date with me anyway! He should be thankful that I actually welcomed his ass into my house and kept him SAFE FROM THE FUCKING RAIN. He should've been grateful. But was he!

Grateful, my ass.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I ran into the bathroom, grabbed the bottle of bleach, detergent, soap, I quickly filled a bucket of water, and took out a scrub. I ran back into the living room and poured bleach all over it, scrubbing madly.

"Well, well." I froze. "I thought you were better than that, Takenouchi."

I turned around and glared at him, "My mom would've killed me if I stained the carpet."

"Or you just couldn't restrain yourself from cleaning up that mess." He grinned, "Or maybe you want to go out on a date with me."

I immediately stood up, "I would rather drink this bleach than go out on a date with you! Why do you want to go out with me anyway?"

"I wanted to thank you for cleaning up my room, and uh, letting me into your house."

"WHAT! That's all? Couldn't you just ask instead of spilling soda all over my damn carpet!"

"Well, that was an accident, but it would be nice pay back for today."

"Today?"

"When you spilled water all over me at lunch."

"It was just water!"

"Why'd you do it anyway?"

"I knocked it over…on…uh, accident." I stammered.

He scoffed, "That's a damn lie. You wanted to keep me from saying something…right?"

"Well…" I began to scrub at the stain again, trying to distract myself, "I just didn't want Mimi and Tai to know what happened on Friday…"

"Why not?"

"Because…" I didn't want to tell him that Mimi liked him…

"Well, whatever. If you don't want me to tell, then I won't, but we're going on a date." He said, sitting down next to me on the floor.

I looked up at him. I hated losing, but somehow, I didn't feel that bad about it at the moment.

……………………………………

Tai

……………………………………

Earlier that day. (Around 9:00pm.)

"Tai…the phone's for you!" I looked up and saw Kari standing in my doorway.

"Who's calling?" I asked, sitting up.

"Mimi." She looked at me suspiciously, "Why is she always calling you?"

"How the hell should I know?" I stood up and looked at the clock on the wall. "God, it's already 9:00!"

I walked to the phone and picked it up, "Yes, Princess?" I said sarcastically.

"Who are you calling Princess!" Mimi shrieked on the other end.

"You." I shot back.

"Don't call me that." Already she sounded annoyed.

"What do you want?" I was getting tired of this.

"Well, I was just thinking, and I think that we should make some progress in our love lives."

"What are you talking about?" Ok, now I was really confused.

"What I'm talking about is that I know you like Sora, and well, I like Matt."

This was a surprise, "You like Matt!"

"Well, yeah, so I was thinking that we should help each other out…You know, give each other a few pointers…"

Right now, I felt sorry for Matt. I mean, Mimi was after him. That was a fate worse than death.

"…So how does that sound? …Hello? TAI!"

I snapped back to attention, "Wait, so you're telling me that we just give each other a few 'pointers'?"

"Yeah, I mean, Sora's my best friend, and you like Sora. I mean, I know her better than anybody else. Matt's your best friend, and I like Matt. Get it?"

"Um… I guess."

"Great! So meet me at the café down the street after school, and I'll tell you all you need to know!" She squealed.

"Wait, Mimi! I don't think—"

"Bye!" Then she hung up.

I stared at the phone. What the hell was wrong with this girl? I didn't even want help, I mean, why would I? If Sora didn't want to be with me, it was fine, I didn't have to act like someone I wasn't just to impress her…But, I really did want to be with her…

……………………………………

Mimi

……………………………………

The Next Day…

"You're late." I glared at Tai who had just walked into the café where I had been waiting for 10 minutes.

"Unlike you, I have more important things to do than play matchmaker." He grumbled and sat down in the chair across from me.

I stared at him from across the table, "Please, ok? What could be more important than this!"

"I had a soccer meeting."

"Yeah, that's soooo important." I flipped my hair angrily and took a sip of my iced tea.

"Um, yeah it is! We have a game on Friday!" He popped a fry in his mouth and chewed on it.

I glared at him, "Well, whatever. Let me tell you what Sora likes…"

"Um, I think I already know what she likes… I've known her since the 4th grade."

I frowned at him, "Please. Like you know what she likes now. I mean, she's changed a lot since the 4th grade."

He leaned back in his chair, "Um, ok. Then tell me."

"She's a total neat freak… I mean, she won't even let me eat in her room! She likes guys that are not sloppy…" I paused, trying to remember what she told me the other day, "…Reckless… and… musicians."

"Musicians."

"Yup." I smiled at him.

"Uh…ok…"

"Well, the good news is, you supposedly are the right guy for her!"

"Really."

I nodded, "Are you neat?"

"Uh…not really."

"Well, you are now!"

"What the hell! I don't think lying to her will work, she's known me for too long."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You're not reckless."

"What! I'm not?"

"And…you're not a musician!"

"That's the only true thing out of those three!"

"Please. She probably likes you anyway! I mean, you guys are really close, and its like, meant to be!"

"Ok…"

"So…" I leaned forward, "What kind of girl does Matt like?"

TO BE CONTINUED.

Sorry the Mimi and Tai parts were too short, heh. What's so funny is that I wrote this while there was a storm going outside too! There was hail too! I'm so happy I finished this chapter! It's so long… Kind of scary that I could actually write this much, but I can barely write two pages for reports…Well, please review!