Entertaining Notions

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Happy? Same goes for any songs or films mentioned in this fic.

Summary: Matt, Tai, and Sora. They're a trio, the best of friends. As senior year begins, things begin to get crazy. Still, they have each other. But what happens when notions are entertained and the fine line between love and friendship blurs beyond recognition?

Chapter One

"Guess who?"

Sora rolled her eyes behind the hands that covered them. It was Matt; she knew without even thinking. His deep, baritone voice was unmistakable. It was, after all, the thing that made him the most sought-after boy on campus. That, and killer good looks.

"Matty."

The boy released her, and Sora turned. He looked the same as ever; messy blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and a smile that made your heart melt. Matt had grown over the summer, so had she. Sora could also tell he'd been working out; a six-pack was faintly visible through his shirt. The girl stepped into his open arms and hugged him tight.

"Heads up!"

Sora pulled away from Matt just in time to head a soccer ball flying in her direction. It landed neatly at her feet as its' owner ran towards them. Tai rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Hey, guys."

Matt growled as Sora stepped forward to greet the other boy. Tai's features softened as he also got a huge hug.

"Seriously, Tai. One of these days Sora's not gonna be around to catch that ball. And you know what'll happen if it hits me, right?"

The brunette grinned cheekily. "Sure thing, Matt. The ladies'll stop loving you, which is fine by me."

Sora quickly jumped in before they really got into it. "Okay, you two. Geez, do I have to remind you it's the first day of school?"

The trio took a stroll around campus, passing by many of their mutual friends. Joe, the blue-haired, glasses-wearing overachiever, who was busy running to hand in the essay he'd done in summer school. Not that he'd needed it.

Izzy, the small computer whiz who always had a sympathetic ear to lend. They also found Kari, T.K, and many of their gang gathered in the quad. The younger generation was starting their freshman year. Fortunately, being the younger siblings of Matt and Tai, they were bypassed from the usual initiation routine. It usually included a throwing into an empty garbage can, or having your name scrawled on a popular senior boy's locker.

Smiling joyously, Sora linked arms with her boys. "It's good to be back."

Her smile was infectious. Every kid on campus looked on in either awe or jealousy as they strode down the hall as first bell went. In homeroom, which, fortunately, they all had together, schedules were dealt.

Sora had it pretty good, all things considered. Phys. Ed with Tai, Home Ec with Mimi, another friend, Music and Creative Writing with Matt. Creative writing was pretty self-explanatory. Tai had laughed at this, but Sora knew Matt wanted it for his lyrical skills. And she had always been a story-poetry kind of girl anyway.

"SORA!"

And then there was Mimi. She was the girliest girl Sora had ever seen. Mimi even had pink hair. She was also, not surprisingly, a member of Matt Ishida's fan club. Yes, fan club. Matt's fan club, and that of his band, the Teenage Wolves. Now you know why he needs a C.W class.

Hurriedly, the boy ducked into class before Mimi could catch him. The girl looked disappointed as she came to a stop before Sora. The tomboy smiled sympathetically. "Hey, Mimi. How was your summer?"

Sora caught a "visited family in America," before the other girl waved the topic away. "Never mind that. How's Matt?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Um, he's good, I guess. We chatted a bit last night, you know, caught up."

Mimi nodded, and peered hopefully into Sora's classroom. Out of the corner of her eye, the latter saw Matt un-strapping his guitar from his shoulder. "Okay, well I'd better get going. See you later, Mimi."

Sora dashed into class, leaving a fuming and jealous Mimi in her wake.

DIGIMONDIGIMON

Out of all the things Sora could possibly dislike about high school, the cafeteria situation was the worst. It was in this enormous, loud, crowded room that you were reminded where exactly it was you sat on the high school social latter. Literally.

The most popular sat smack-dab in the center, the rest of the seniors around them, juniors around them, sophomores around them, and freshmen, well you get the idea. But to Sora, the strangest aspect of all this was the fact that it was Matt, Tai, and herself who had ultimate control. It was the three of them who frequented the center table on a daily basis. Some days Izzy and Joe, joined them, sometimes not.

Mimi had quickly made a point of eating with them after Matt's rise to fame. The trio had sat down at the empty center table one day in sophomore year, much to the rest of the school's chagrin.

They had asked the populars, one of which happened to be a family friend of Sora's, if they minded them sitting there. No problem at all, it seemed. And it was there they would always sit, even before Matt started the Teenage Wolves, and before both Tai and Sora's soccer teams won the national championships.

After that, there was no other place for them.

"Sora! Matt!"

Tai waved to them from across the caf, a red plastic tray already in his hands. Over the din, Matt pointed to their table, and the other boy nodded swiftly. He would meet them there. The pair weaved their way through the bench-like tables, most of the other students stopping to watch. Matt ignored it easily, but Sora wasn't so lucky.

The female population was glaring daggers at her, the reason obvious enough. The girl inched closer to Matt, which didn't help at all. The boy suddenly noticed her discomfort.

"What's up, Sor?"

She lowered her voice; it carried to easily in the now mostly-silent room. "The girls are murdering me with their eyes."

The teen idol chuckled and slung a comforting arm around her shoulders. Sora could practically hear the sharpening of knives. "You're not helping the problem."

Matt flashed her a lopsided grin. The girls in the immediate area squealed. They arrived at the table and sat down side-by-side across from Tai. He raised an eyebrow, and the boy dropped his arm.

As Sora watched Mimi appear out of nowhere and latch onto Matt, she realized something.

She didn't have a lunch.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sora moaned softly and dropped her head on the table. Both boys looked at her, concerned. "What's wrong, Sor?"

The girl beat her forehead against the flat surface. "I forgot my lunch."

Matt and Tai exchanged glances, and simultaneously reached for their wallets. The auburn-haired teen held up her hands. "Guys, you don't have to. I have money."

Matt shook his head and pushed his un-open bag in front of her. "Here." He turned back to Tai. "Got a five?"

The brunette nodded and pulled one out.

"But Matt," Sora objected, "This is your lunch." She pushed it back towards him, but his hand trapped hers halfway. Cinnamon eyes widened. Sora could see the seriousness flashing in those dazzling blue orbs.

"Sora. I'm not letting you eat cafeteria food. You remember what happened, don't you?"

Yeah, she remembered all right.

Flashback

It was freshman year, first day. Sora, Matt, and Tai relished in the experience, including the school's famous "Mystery Meat." But seconds after the first bite had gone down, Sora's throat began to swell.

It seemed "Mystery Meat" contained red onion, and her allergy to it was potentially fatal, as the throat swelling up usually was. The girl clutched her neck weakly, Matt and Tai almost choking on their food once they saw what was happening.

"Sora!"

Tai ran for help. In her panic, Sora grabbed Matt's arm, afraid he'd also leave her. The blonde squeezed her hand, his eyes blazing. She could almost see the reflection of her own terror.

"Sor, look at me."

She was shaking hard. She couldn't breathe. Sora finally focused on Matt. His voice was surprisingly calm. "Breathe through your nose."

The girl tried, air coming in small bursts. Tears were beginning to blur her vision as Tai returned with the nurse, an Epi pen in her hands. Sora thrashed violently; she was terrified of needles. Matt grabbed both her arms this time, holding her still.

By this time the entire cafeteria was crowded around them, but Sora could only see the boy before her. Matt was rambling, distracting her. "Remember the time, when we were building a tree fort in Tai's backyard? Remember how he fell out of the tree?"

She nodded, listening to him go on about their childhood adventures. The Epi pen pierced the skin of Sora's arm; she flinched. But a moment later, the swelling in her throat receded, and she was finally able to breathe again. Tears streamed down Sora's cheeks. Her chest heaved, and her breathing hitched.

"Matty..." She whimpered like a small child. The boy shifted on the bench and pulled her to him. Sora cried into his chest, gripping the fabric of his shirt. She could feel his lips in her hair.

"Thank God." Matt whispered, trading looks of relief with Tai. "Thank God."

Needless to say, Sora never went near cafeteria food again.

End Flashback

Matt pried Mimi off his arm, swinging his legs off the bench and standing. Sora smiled weakly as he squeezed her shoulder in passing. Tai spotted Kari and her friends across the caf, and jumped up. "Be right back, guys."

And then there were two.

Sora squirmed slightly under the strange gaze Mimi fixed her with. "What?"

The slightly ditzy girl leaned closer, a conspiratorial tone to her voice. "How do you do it?"

She blanched. "Do what?"

Mimi shook her head, a girly giggle escaping her lips. Sora almost flinched. "You know! It."

Sora was suddenly aware of the remaining senior girls, and some juniors, listening intently. For a moment, in the middle of that crowded cafeteria, the tomboy felt very much alone.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean..." Mimi leaned even closer and Sora resisted the urge to back away. The conspiracy had now given way to overly dramatic. "How are you friends with the two most popular guys in school? What's your secret?"

"Secret?" The girl echoed, confused even further. "There's no secret, Mimi. We're friends. Matt and Tai have been my best friends since...well, forever."

All the girls giggled in that terribly annoying way. Mimi gave Sora a small shove. "Oh come on, Sora. You can't tell me you're just friends with Matt Ishida. He's like, the hottest guy in school."

"What does that have to do with anything?" The teen demanded, annoyed and slightly defensive.

"Everything, silly!"

Sora still wasn't following. Matt returned just then, tray in hand, and the girl had never been happier to see him.

The boy's admirers quickly returned to their lunches, beet red and giggling again. Matt tossed a questioning glance at Sora, who simply shook her head, indicating it wasn't important. He cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Matt sat down, frowning at the unopened bag before his friend. "Are you gonna open that, or am I gonna have to force feed you?"

The girl smiled softly and did as ordered. Satisfied, Matt dug into his food. As Sora shook out a salami sandwich, carrots, cucumbers, and a Kool Aid, (and marvelling at Matt's childishness), a small piece of paper followed. Curious, she picked it up, smiling as she read.

Matty,

So, senior year. It's pretty good, if you ask me. I'm glad you still let me make your lunch, or I wouldn't have been able to pull this off. I just wanted to let you know; I'm so proud of you. You remember that, you hear? And, on the off chance (not really) that you give your lunch to Sora, I left out the mustard. I know she hates it. Send her and Tai my best regards, and I'll see you at home.

Love,

Dad

The girl almost laughed at the irony of it. Matt rarely saw his father, for he worked late constantly. Yet he managed this overwhelmingly sweet gesture, when Sora's own mother hadn't even remembered it was the first day of school. She used to remember this kind of thing, but that was before she met him.

Sora gave her head a shake to rid herself of those thoughts. Carefully, the auburn-haired teen slipped the note into her pocket and dug into Matt's lunch, feeling an overwhelming new appreciation for his father.

Class resumed soon after that, Sora catching Matt at their lockers during break.

"I almost forgot. Here."

She pulled out the carefully preserved note and handed it to the quizzical boy. "Send our love to your dad."

And then she was gone, swept away by the crowd. But the last thing she saw was a speechless best friend, staring at his hand.

The rest of first day back sped by, barely giving Sora enough time to re-situate herself after the school-free summer. And then it was over. The girl stood before her locker at 3:10, staring at it.

This was it. She was officially back at Odaiba High School.

Sora's cell phone went off just then, to the tune of "Hey There Delillah" by the Plain White Tees as she was closing her locker door.

"Hello?"

It was her mother. She was prattling on about something, sounding uncannily happy. Several seconds passed before Sora realized the topic of the one-sided conversation.

"Aren't you happy? Well, I'll see you a home."

She was gone before Sora could even manage a goodbye. All qualms about senior year vanished, leaving her with only a painfully foreboding sense of dread. Sora's backpack lay forgotten at her feet as she beat her forehead against the hard metal of her locker door.

"You know you'll get a bruise if you keep doing that."

Sora was in no mood for Tai's antics. She stopped nonetheless, opting instead to use the boy's chest as a head-beater.

"Sora?" All trace of playfulness vanished as the boy's tone became worried. The girl was only half-aware of Matt drawing side with them.

"What's wrong?"

She finally stopped, gripping the fabric of Tai's shirt as she stared up at them. Both boys recognized the fear flashing in her eyes.

"Guys..." Sora's breathing wasn't quite regular anymore.

"He's back."

Author's Note: Really sorry for the wait! I'm a little stuck for the next chapter, but it should be up hopefully this weekend. We'll see.

Please Review!

Annie