Chapter 2: Walking Amidst the Raindrops
Disclaimer - I'm not fabulous enough to own Digimon.
A/N: thanks for the reviews :)
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Sora ----
Ah, Monday again. Sure, school was a bummer, but at least I got to see my friends. It was a fresh May morning, and in the air was that blissful feeling of the approaching summer. As I walked by the middle school, I waved at Kari and Yolei, who were going up the steps up to their school. No doubt Yolei was telling Kari all about her date with Ken. Well, I'd hear about it later. In the distance I could see Ken and Davis kicking around a soccer before school started. It was just like the old days.
When I came to Odaiba High, I saw Matt get out of his sleek black car and sprint out of the parking lot to avoid the usual crowd of fan girls (it didn't seem to be working). Tai followed and I ran to meet up with them.
"Hey Tai," I said. "What's up?"
"Oh nothing, Sor," he answered. "Just the usual. So how are things with you and Matt?"
"What things?" I dodged his question and left to join Mimi at the door.
As we walked down the hallway, there was something abuzz in the crowds. Did someone get expelled? Arrested? I brushed the issue off and went to my 1st period class. The teacher, Mrs. Redman, came in and appeared to be a bit annoyed by some preppy Student Council girls in the front of the room.
"Okay, class, these girls have an announcement to make, so pay attention."
I propped my arm on the desk and pretended to listen intently.
"Alright, fellow students, we'd like to announce that Odaiba High is going to have our annual spring dance next Friday! Guys, this is semi-formal, so you don't have to wear a tux, but a collared shirt wouldn't hurt. And girls – you can never look too good for something like this, right?" the girl giggled and winked. "Now, admission, food, and drinks are free because we're paying for the dance with money from our carnival fundraiser last month. If you want your picture taken you have to pre-order them and umm…that's all! The theme of the dance is going to be Summer Lovin'! Have fun!"
A dance, huh? That must have been what everyone was talking about. I had attended a couple of dances last year, but this was the 1st free dance Odaiba High had held. Maybe I'll go to this one, I thought. I glanced over at Mimi. She was clapping her hands and nodding at me excitedly. But…who would I go with? It's not like a date would be vital, but this sounded like one of those slow-music-lots-of-couples dances where you get completely bored without a date. I took a furtive glimpse at Matt. He was leaning back in his chair, relaxed. When my eye caught his he smiled and shrugged, mouthing "lunch" and nodding his head towards the door to the hall, signifying that he'd talk to me later. At that moment, a hundred notes were being shoved onto his desk all at once as every one of his fan girls in the class asked him to the dance. He shook his head, quietly rejecting them, and I could hear Tai choking back laughter amidst the ruffles of paper.
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Tai ----
It was hilarious to see all those girls shove themselves in front of Matt all at the same time. Not that I wasn't not used to it, but it just got funnier every time. It almost distracted me from the fact that I had to get a date for the dance, before I was stuck with someone like Jun. Just as the period ended, Matt dashed off to his next class, leaving me to walk with Mimi and Sora, and Izzy came from his homeroom class to walk with us down the hall. Almost immediately, it seemed, Mimi asked me to the dance. A bit shocking, because I thought she liked Izzy, but I accepted and didn't question it much.
After a couple more boring classes came lunch – my favorite subject! As I stood in line I turned over the thought in my head: I had a date to the dance! Well, yeah, Mimi could be a little annoying now and then, but she was basically one of my best friends. Plus she could be really cute and sweet. But above all – I had a date! Yaayyyy.
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Matt ----
I slipped away from the crowds at lunch and sought refuge in the lunch line. I saw Tai getting out of line a couple of yards away and waved.
"Guess what Matt!" he said, grinning.
"What?" I responded dully.
"I have a date to the dance…" I was kind of shocked when he said this, since the dance had only been announced what – 3 hours ago? .
"It's Mimi!" he said. Oh, dang, I thought. Izzy must be disappointed that Mimi was taken again.
"Are you going to ask Sora? Huh, huh, huh?" Tai pressed on, raising his eyebrows higher and higher with each syllable, until eventually they disappeared into his hair.
Well duh, I thought. But I had decided to wait until the right moment to ask her, and I didn't really want Tai to be there when I did.
"Considering it," I brushed off his question. When I finally got out of the line and stared down and the dismal lunch before me, I went to our regular table and sat down. Mimi chattered excitedly while Tai listened, and Izzy looked on quietly. Sora was listening uncomfortably to a freshman, Mike, as he asked her to the dance. I could tell that she wanted to reject him but was afraid of breaking his heart, so I butted in.
"Hey Sor," I said and put my arm around her. "Sorry bud, but she's taken." I smiled at the kid. Dejectedly, he walked away.
"Thanks, Matt," Sora said, relieved. Did I detect a bit of something else in her voice?
A girl from the next table ran up. "Did I just hear that you guys were going to the dance together? 'Cause if not, Matt, will you go with me?"
"My turn," whispered Sora. "Oh, sorry Jen, you heard it right, Matt's going to the dance with me." The girl scoffed and turned her back. The disappointment didn't bruise her for long, since she tapped a senior on the shoulder and got another date within seconds.
"Astonishing," Sora said. "Anyway, now we're even. Is there a special someone you're planning on taking to the dance?"
"Actually, yeah." Was this the right time to ask her? I decided not and changed the subject, concentrating on keeping my voice casual. "So, Mimi and Tai are going together right?"
"Surprisingly, yes," she answered.
Tai overheard and interjected, "What do you mean 'surprisingly,' Sora?!" he joked. "Mimi and I are totally meant for each other."
"Well, Tai, we can't really be sure about that, can we?" Izzy suddenly retorted, and strode off.
"What's got into him?" asked Tai. "I was just kidding."
"Oh, don't mind him," said Mimi. "He's probably just stressed out about a test or something."
I looked at Sora. We both knew it was something more than that, but neither of us said anything to Tai or Mimi.
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Izzy ----
I didn't know why I stormed off like that. I must have seemed completely transparent to them all. Tai was only joking, too. The thing is – I couldn't stand losing Mimi to Tai again. I didn't really blame Tai – its not like he planned it just so I could be miserable. But that morning, I had fully intended to ask Mimi to the dance as soon as I heard of it. Tai just got to her first. Well maybe not, because she was the one that asked him out. It seemed like she really likes him, but it could have just been a temporary whim or something. But now I was stuck dateless, and Tai has Mimi. Great. Just great.
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TK ----
Okay, so the day after our little gathering I went to school with everyone else. I saw Yolei and Kari on the steps up to Odaiba Secondary and ran to catch up. Waving to Davis and Ken (who were playing soccer), I entered the school and dropped off my backpack at my first period class before going to the quad to hang out.
I met up again with Kari and Yolei, who were still talking about Yolei's date with Ken.
"Hey Kari," I said. "Did you hear about the field trip we're having next week?"
"Oh yeah," said Yolei. "We're going to the park for an 'end-of-the-year' picnic, right?"
At that moment, Davis came running into the quad, with Ken following. "Hi Kari!" said Davis. Kari waved and giggled as Ken and Yolei greeted each other quietly, turning red.
Not noticing, Davis kept going. "I just whooped Ken at soccer. His game was REALLY off today." This made Ken blush an even deeper shade of red (if that was possible), and Kari and I tried, in respect to Ken, to stifle our laughter. The bell rang as the sky began to drizzle rain. The morning was going surprisingly well so far...
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Matt ----
I couldn't believe it. As soon as school ended, the light drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. I walked through the parking lot to where my car was and started it up. The hood was down, but luckily my particular parking space was under the cover of a large white canopy for some school event or another. However, as if the universe were poking fun at me, the hood got jammed somehow. I couldn't bear to bring my car out into the rain with the leather interior exposed! The administration wouldn't mind if I left it there overnight, would they? I decided to find some other mode of transportation. But what other options did I have? I couldn't walk home, and I couldn't call my dad to pick me up… And then I saw Sora walking by with an umbrella, and I realized that she lived within walking distance of the school.
I ran to catch up with her in the rain and slipped under her umbrella. "Can I come to your place, Sora?" I asked, hoping for a positive answer.
"Unwilling to bring your baby into the rain?" she laughed. I doubt that I loved my car enough to call it my 'baby,' but that was the case.
"Oh, come on, the hood's stuck."
"Alright, fine. But you owe me." And I knew just how to pay her back.
The umbrella, as we soon realized, was a little too small for both of us. And with me being the kind gentleman, I got the worse case of it. So by the time we reached the Takenouchis' I was pretty much drenched. Sora laughed as we entered the apartment and she got me a towel. As I slowly dried she warmed up some pizza and made a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Seeing her like this reminded me of the old days when we were stuck in the digital world and she took care of us all. It made me feel…at home. And on a sudden impulse, I said it.
"Sora, will you go to the dance with me?" See, no big deal, I convinced myself. Or was it? Yes, it was; this was Sora! I was a fool. Of course she'd say no! How could I think she'd ever agree to something as absurd as this? She was so out of my league. What was wrong with me? She was going to laugh at me. This was the end of our friendship. No! It was ok, I could pretend I was just kidding and that I wasn't actually some kind of huge idiot. Which she now thought I was. Ugh, how could I have done this? A huge idiot! The thoughts raced through my head as I watched her expression change from one of surprise to one of... well, something else.
"Sure, Matt. I was wondering when you'd ask." She smiled and handed me a slice of pepperoni pizza. For the rest of the afternoon we kind of just muddled around-- doing homework, talking, hanging out. Happy.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
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A/N: hope you liked it! review!