September 3, 2009

AN: So approximately four days after I posted the first chapter, I totally forgot about this story and haven't touched it since. Oops. So I haven't written anything new since July but I figured I might as well post chapter 2 anyway. It's a fairly uneventful chapter so I apologize in advance. Hopefully I'll be able to write more in the coming days, but I'm going out of town this weekend and I leave for college next Friday, so we'll see.

Thanks everyone for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this!

Odaiba High

Chapter 2

-T.K.-

I was definitely not looking forward to the car ride to school. Matt and I have absolutely nothing to talk about.

Luckily, the ten minute car ride home yesterday was filled with me rattling off my teachers and Matt giving me tips: Honeysett will pass anyone who shows up for class and pretends not to sleep; Nieri focuses a lot of his time on Greek and Roman mythology; all Klerk does is sit at his desk and read monotonously from his note cards, hardly ever looking up; Albers conducts a lab experiment every other day and follows a strict "learn by doing" policy; Floyd lets his P.E. students do whatever they want; Roy is one of the hardest math teachers in the school; and Duarte's pupils always fail oral exams because all they do is take notes and never practice Spanish aloud.

Unfortunately, I wasn't going to have the same advantage the following morning.

After prying myself away from my mother and refusing to let her take a picture of us driving off to school together ("But it's such a big milestone in your life! How about a picture of you walking out the door? Please?"), I slid into the passenger seat beside Matt.

"Hi," he said cordially.

"Hello," I responded.

Then we lapsed into silence.

He pulled away from the curb and began the drive to school; the radio was on softly and he tapped his fingers to the beat on the steering wheel. After about half a minute, he said, "So... how was your night?"

I shrugged. "Good, I guess. I talked to some friends from home. Did my homework... which consisted of getting about a hundred forms about classroom rules signed."

Matt snorted. "Typical first day, freshman homework."

I nodded, staring out the window at the passing houses and trees. "Yup."

Clearing his throat, Matt said, "So... uh... did you have a good first day?"

He asked me that same exact question yesterday, but I let it slide. "It was good. Nothing special."

"Do you like the school so far?" he inquired, very politely.

I half-shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, I guess. People seem... nice."

"People like Kari Kamiya?" smirked Matt.

"Yeah," I said cluelessly. "She was really nice." I chanced a glance in Matt's direction before saying, "I hear you and her brother don't get along so well."

Was it my imagination, or did Matt visibly stiffen? "We're not the best of friends," he said slowly.

"Is it because of that girl? Sora?"

Matt jerked so forcefully that he nearly rammed into the car one lane over. The woman in the car honked loudly and zoomed by, brandishing a very rude hand gesture as she passed. "What?" he sputtered incredulously as he regained control of his '87 Pontiac Trans Am. "Where did you get that idea?"

"I-I don't know, it was just a guess," I said nervously. It was just like me to piss off my brother on the second day of school. "I mean, she was eating with us yesterday... and then Tai came over. It seemed like he wanted to keep you two away from each other."

"We were only sitting together for an essay," he clarified firmly. "And I could care less about her, really. Everyone knows she and Tai have a thing and will, like, get married some day."

My eyebrows shot up. "I didn't know they were dating."

"Well – they're not," he corrected. "But Tai's liked her for years and Sora probably feels the same. It's just... not official."

I was thoroughly puzzled, but didn't push the matter any further. "Oh... that makes sense," I lied.

A few more seconds passed awkwardly as we continually neared the school. Ten minutes had never seemed so long.

"Oh," Matt said suddenly, "Dad wants you to come over for dinner sometime this weekend. He hasn't seen you, and he has to work late all week."

I smiled slightly. It had been so long since I'd seen my dad, and I desperately wanted to. "That'd be great," I said. "Maybe Saturday?"

Matt nodded. "I'll let him know."

"And, you know..." I said cautiously. "I'm sure Mom would want you to come over, too. Friday?"

I knew that Matt wasn't fond of our mother – he'd let it slip a couple of times that he blamed her for our parents' divorce – so it wasn't a surprise to me when Matt clenched his jaw. "I have a gig Friday night."

Whether his statement was true or not, I did not question.

-Yolei-

The best part about being the youngest child is that you're ignored.

Coincidentally, that is also the worst part.

I mean, I could stay out all night long and my parents wouldn't even realize it (not that I've ever done that). I can sit in my room, playing around on my computer, for days on end without Mom and Dad bugging me to come out and spend some time with them. They let me do what I want.

However, it proves slightly problematic when they forget to wake me up in the morning.

What aroused me on the second day of school was the sound of two of my siblings and my parents running around as they got ready for the day. Apparently Mom and Dad had both overslept and the convenience store that they own (and we happen to live above) was an hour late in being opened. Mantarou, my older brother, doesn't live at home anymore, as he's receiving his master's degree at some college that I can't pronounce; my older sister, Momoe and Chizuru, still live at home, though. They're both taking classes at Odaiba Community College, and had to get to a class at eight a.m.

None of them bothered to wake me.

I thought it was still summer when I first opened my eyes and glanced at the clock. When I read the seven forty-five flashing at me, I wondered why on earth I was waking up so early during vacation. But a few seconds later when it sunk in that it was in fact a Tuesday, and a school day at that, my adrenaline burst and I shot up in bed.

"WHY DID NO ONE WAKE ME UP?!" I hollered as I threw open my bedroom door. My bathroom was occupied by Momoe, so I grabbed the set of clothes I had fortunately set out the night before and tore down the hallway to our guest bathroom.

"Yolei?" my mother shouted, surprised, from the kitchen. "I thought you were at school already!"

"Well, THANKS for caring," I snarled, turning on the water and stripping out of my pajamas. I took a record breaking two-and-a-half minute cold shower. What seemed like permanent goosebumps erupted all over my arms and legs as I redressed, still grumbling distastefully. Sprinting back to my room, I pulled my sopping hair back into a bun, knowing it would look disgusting by last period but not particularly caring. I pushed my glasses up my nose and applied my usual minimal makeup – a.k.a. chapstick – before grabbing my backpack and rushing out of the house.

"Yolei! Your breakfast!" Dad called as I was halfway out the front door.

"Dad, it's SEVEN FIFTY-ONE!" I reminded him loudly. "I missed the bus and have to run the three miles to school. I have no time for petty antics like breakfast!" Giving him no time to respond, I slammed the door loudly and began my jog.

You may not know this, but it's really hard to run with a five pound sack on your back. It's about half a second behind your movements, so when you're in mid-run, your backpack is pulling you down, and yet when you touch down on the ground, the backpack is heading in the opposite direction.

I made it about two blocks before I took a break.

"Screw it," I panted. My skin was still moist from the shower, and it made perspiring easier and more uncomfortable than normal. I wiped my damp forehead with the back of my hand and took deep breaths to stabilize my heart rate. "I'll just be late."

A red convertible pulled up to the sidewalk beside me and the driver honked her horn. "Need a ride?" she yelled. I looked left and right, seeing no one, and then pointed to myself.

"Me?"

The girl inside laughed. "Yes, you! Do you need a ride to school?"

Could my day have had a bigger turnaround? "Yeah, thanks!" I exclaimed gratefully. I picked up my backpack and trotted over to her car.

As I was buckling my seat belt, the girl said, "I'm Mimi."

My heart nearly stopped. Why did I not bother to look at my savior before hopping into her vehicle?

"Mimi Tachikawa?" I gasped, slowly turning to look at her.

Yes, it was. Mimi Tachikawa, in all her glory, was sitting beside me. I was in her car. She offered me a ride. As if having Izzy Izumi in my computer class wasn't enough, I'm driving in a car with my other idol, Mimi.

"That's me!" she said cheerfully, pulling away from the curb. "I saw you running about a block back while I was at a red light. It looked funny."

My face burned, and the heat immediately warmed my body. She saw my dorky running? Oh my God. Well, my day is in the toilet again.

"Uh... yeah," I murmured in humiliation. "I kinda overslept."

"What did you say your name was?" she asked.

Great. I forgot to introduce myself. "Oh... I didn't. It's Yolei."

"Yolei..." she repeated thoughtfully. "I think we have a couple classes together."

"We do," I said instantaneously. "Homeroom and Home Ec." Immediately my face heated up again. Now she'll probably think I'm a stalker.

She raised her eyebrows and smiled at me. "Good memory!" she complimented.

"Really?" I said. "Um, thanks."

I wish this car ride would last forever.

"So you're a sophomore, right?" Mimi asked.

"Yup." I sighed. "Only three more years of high school."

"It'll go by fast," Mimi promised. "I'm a junior but I feel like I just started. I'll probably wake up tomorrow and it'll be graduation day."

I scoffed. "In my dreams."

Mimi frowned. When she stopped at a red light, she turned to me and asked, "Not enjoying high school?"

I fidgeted, not exactly wanting to share with the most popular girl in school, cheerleader, and bona fide Gossip Queen how I have virtually no friends. I eat lunch with acquaintances and spend most of my free time at home. "Well... it's okay," I said awkwardly. "The work is hard, though."

She nodded understandingly. "I know! Junior year is the worst. I'm not even in any AP classes but I had homework in every single one of my classes last night and two essays due Friday!"

That didn't sound too bad to me. Maybe it's because I don't really do anything in my spare time except homework. "…oh," I said lamely.

Mimi drove into the school parking lot, pulling into one of the last parking spots available. "There are my friends," she said aloud, turning to me and smiling. "Bye!"

"Thanks for the --" I began, but she had already leaned forward and opened the passenger door.

"I'll see you later!" she said loudly.

"O-okay, I --"

She ushered me out so quickly that I stumbled out of the car and nearly fell flat on my face. Once on the sidewalk, I turned back to try and thank her again, but she had already left and was joining the rest of her cheerleader friends at the front of the school. My cheeks tinged red as it occurred to me that perhaps she was embarrassed by my presence.

-Kari-

When T.K. and I were walking to first period, he said a most interesting thing to me.

It was after Homeroom when we had managed to shake off Davis (T.K. and I have our class on the third floor, and Davis's is on the first). I said 'hi' to a few people I knew on the way there, and T.K. didn't say much.

"So..." I said, hoping to get a conversation flowing.

After a few seconds of silence, he said, "You know, you don't have to keep hanging out with me. It's fine."

Very puzzled, I turned to him and said, "Erm... what?"

"I just..." He looked at his feet. "I don't want you to feel obligated to hang with the new kid just because I don't know anybody yet. You should go hang out with your friends."

I didn't reply immediately. The truth is I don't really have any good friends. I have a ton of casual friends – not to sound conceited, because it's very true. Tai says it's because I'm nice to everyone; I'm usually able to become somewhat friends with everyone I meet. But the thing is, I don't have anyone that I would consider a best friend. I spend a lot of time with Tai and Sora, but they don't really count. I've known Sora for forever; she's almost like a sister to me. I could never admit it out loud, but I was glad when I saw T.K. in the office yesterday, obviously new. I thought that maybe I could finally have the kind of best friend that everyone else besides me seems to have.

"T.K., it really is fine," I told him. "I swear."

"I just don't –"

"I don't feel like I have to hang out with you," I interrupted. "I want to."

He finally looked up and smiled at me. "Good."

We reached the hallway where our classrooms were; his Drama room was right across from my Digital Art one.

"Now that we've established that," he said, suddenly energized again, "is football big here?"

My mind raced at the sudden subject change. "What do you mean?"

"Well, where I used to live, football was huge," he explained. "As many people as possible would cram into the stadium to watch every game."

I shook my head. "Our football team kind of sucks," I said. "They're not really popular here. Soccer and basketball are big, though. The whole town comes out to watch the soccer games on Saturday mornings. Basketball is more of just a school interest, though, instead of the community. But it's still really popular."

T.K. raised his eyebrows. "Whoa. Cultural differences, I guess."

"Yeah," I grinned. "The first soccer game is actually this Saturday." The soccer season always got underway quickly; tryouts were a couple weeks before school started. "You should go!"

"To the soccer game?" he said skeptically. "I've never been much of a fan..."

"Oh, please," I scoffed. "I can't stand it. I've grown up going to soccer games and I'm absolutely sick of the sport. But Tai's on the team so I go. Besides, the whole school goes so it'll be a good social opportunity for you."

The bell rang, informing us students that we had one minute to get to our classes. "I'll think about it," he said, before slipping into his classroom.

-Tai-

How am I gonna get through this year?

Six classes with Matt, and only five with Sora. Who in the administration hates me?

After fifth period, I strolled casually through the hallway on my way to Spanish, the duffel bag loaded with my soccer supplies slung over my shoulder. Wouldn't you know, Matt has that class with me? I rolled my eyes at the very thought. Everything about that kid just annoys me.

After I retrieved my Spanish book from my locker, I noticed T.K. at the end of the hallway, digging through his own locker. He pulled out what looked like a ten pound Geometry book and a notebook.

I was at his shoulder by the time he closed his locker. "Hey!" I said cheerily.

He jumped. "Oh, hey, Tai," he said.

Getting right to the point, I asked, "Have you made any moves on Kari?"

T.K. blinked. "Shoot. I forgot."

I sighed. "You gotta get on it! The sooner Davis leaves her alone, the better." I shifted the duffel in my hand, and an idea struck me. "Hey!" I cried. "Why don't you take her to the soccer game on Saturday?"

"Well..." he stammered, "she mentioned it... I just --"

"Go!" I exclaimed. "It'll be great! You can take a blanket and sit on the grass..."

His face registered a whole combination of emotions at once; his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, his eyes widened in fear, and his features distorted into a display of confusion.

I frowned as well. If I was about to score a goal, I would not want to look over and see my sister "scoring" with a boy, if you know what I mean. "You're right, too fast," I said, even though T.K. had not spoken. "Well, whatever. Just the action of you taking her to the game should be good enough."

"Tai... I don't –"

"Come on, man," I pleaded. "Look, this isn't about me, it's about my sister. You guys are becoming pretty good friends, right?"

"Well..." he said, "we just met yesterday."

I shrugged his comment off. "You don't have to know someone for years to be good friends. So, whaddya say?" I smiled encouragingly. "Will you do this?"

T.K. sighed, defeated. "Fine," he said weakly. "Yeah. I'll go to the game with her."

I pumped my fist in the air triumphantly. "Alright!" I cheered. "And Davis will be at the game, so I know he'll see her! This is perfect. Thanks again!"

-Davis-

PE is my favorite class ever. Period. No questions asked.

And luckily for me, since the soccer season is underway, our first unit is soccer!

"We're going to start off with a class scrimmage," Coach Floyd announced on our first day of playing. "Captain number one will be Davis Motomiya, Odaiba's very own varsity player." The coach smiled down at me as I proudly walked over to stand next to him. "And our second captain will be James Field."

James, a sophomore, stood on Coach Floyd's over side and smirked at me. What was he doing, looking at me like that? What, does he think he's better than me? I'll show him. I'm not the only freshman on the varsity team for nothing!

"Kyler Palm," I picked. Kyler is a guy that I've known since junior high and we played on the same soccer team for a year. He's pretty good – probably the best in this sorry bunch that I have to choose from.

James picked Taylor Boulder, and I swore under my breath. He'd been my second choice.

The next few minutes consisted of us assembling our teams. Only a handful of people remained – T.J. and Yolei being two of them. I'd managed to get Kari on my team before James did, thankfully.

"Pick the new kid," Kyler muttered to me when it was my turn. "He looks like he could be pretty good."

"Shut up," I snapped back. I surveyed all the people that were left: Mark Candelstik is known for being one of the worst athletes in the school; Jimmy Heels is tall and lanky and constantly trips over his own feet; and Donny Cloud just doesn't care. Sighing, I grumbled, "T.K."

T.B. blinked in surprise and jogged over to our side. "Thanks, Davis!" he said cheerfully. I scowled.

Soon, there were just two people left – Yolei and another girl, Kelly Pebble. Kelly never participates in sports and prefers to just sit on the ground and shred flowers – in fact, she was sitting on the ground as I stood deliberating. Yolei had her arms folded across her chest and was tapping her foot impatiently. "Yolei," I said, and she stomped over to us.

"Always last," she mumbled. Well, maybe if she was better at soccer, I'd pick her first!

I won the coin flip to decide who would kick off and we took a quick lead. It's amazing how different this kind of game is from a varsity one. After all, half the people playing in this game don't care what's going on and I pretty much have to lead the whole thing. Kari, as amazing as she is, did not inherit Tai's soccer skills in the slightest and thus I told her to just stay back. She didn't seem to care; she spent a bit of her time talking to Yolei, whom I had also told to stay back. T.K. was pretty good, I hate to admit. Not anywhere as good as me, but decent. He assisted me as I made a goal and clapped me on the back when I scored. "Nice shot!"

"Yeah, I know," I snapped, but I was grinning slightly.

Abigail Seewead was probably the best girl on our team. Well, she was the only other person to score besides me. After scoring, she turned and gave me a wink. I stared after her, confused, until Kyler bounded up to me and said I should ask her out.

"What!?" I sputtered. "Abigail – no!" This was the same girl that, in first grade, told me that one day her nipples would be boobs like her mother's.

Besides, I'm a one-woman kind of guy.

-Izzy-

Study Hall is a safe haven for me. After a day crammed with four AP classes, English (my worst subject), and Physics (which should be an honors course all its own), I nearly cry in relief as I walk through the doors to my salvation. Sure, I love my AP classes, but they sure are overwhelming. It was definitely very astute of me to pick Study Hall as my seventh period, in lieu of another AP class. Forty-odd glorious minutes of quiet work time, during which I am usually able to finish nearly all of my homework and leaving my afternoons free for me to fickle around my computer.

Normally I sit in the front of my classes, wanting to get the best seat possible, but Study Hall is the opposite. I prefer to sit in the back corner, keeping to myself in an attempt to complete my work as fast as possible.

However, it was particularly difficult for me to concentrate on my studies that day; I was still reeling over a fight I had with my mother the night before. It had started over something incredibly juvenile – I could barely even remember what it was. Something about me not wanting to eat dinner with her and Dad. Anyway, we got in a shouting match and I spent the rest of the night shut up in my room. Mom didn't wake up to greet me before school that morning, the first time she hasn't since... ever.

I rubbed my bloodshot eyes and sighed. I felt somewhat bad for my mom; the way she looked at me when I was yelling – I think I was saying that she wanted me to be her five-year-old son forever and that she had to accept soon that I was going to graduate and move far away – made me feel horrible. I felt so horrible that I got even angrier, and took more of it out on her.

My parents and I, especially my mother, have been growing apart quite a lot over the last few years. When I was eight or nine, I overheard them talking about how I was adopted. At first, it didn't bother me so much. Just because they weren't my biological parents didn't mean that they were any less of parents, and that I didn't love them as much. But as time went on, and they still didn't tell me the truth, I got agitated. It wasn't like my real parents were alive and they were afraid I'd go searching for them – they'd died in a car crash, I'd learned, and my parents now had been asked to take me in.

I wouldn't have been mad at my parents if they told me a few years ago. What really angered me now was that they still haven't felt like it was that important to let me know. If I really didn't know, and they told me, say, at my high school graduation, it would've felt like my whole life had been a lie – excuse the cliché. Past a certain age – say, twelve – there are trivial things such as who your birth parents are that should have been addressed. But the fact that I'm sixteen years old, and am not supposed to know such a large fact about my life, creates animosity between my mom and I. She doesn't know where it comes from, though I hope she figures it out soon.

"Hey, Izzy."

I glanced up. Sora smiled from where she sat in front of me; she was holding our Physics worksheet and had turned around in her seat, so that she faced me.

"Do you think you could help me?" she asked. "I'm really confused on number four and five... and, er, six and seven, too."

I nodded. "Sure." I pulled out my already completed science homework and began explaining the problems to her.

It took a good twenty minutes, but soon she understood it. As she scribbled away, she said, "Are you going to the soccer game on Saturday, Izzy?"

I blinked and didn't answer right away, surprised that she was expressing an interest in my social life – or, at least, a pretend one.

"Uh, I don't know," I said. "I hadn't been planning on it..."

My friends didn't participate in extracurricular activities such as sporting events and school dances. We preferred to stay after school as long as possible to mess with the school computers, and once we're kicked out, we retreat to one of our houses and continue with our studies.

"You should go," she said earnestly. "Tai says the team is really good this year, right?"

I only just noticed that Tai was sitting in the desk beside Sora. He looked at me from over his shoulder. "Yeah, we're gonna kick ass this season."

"What about you, Matt?" she directed to the boy on her other side.

"No," he said shortly. "I have band practice."

"Aw, come on," she said. "It'll be fun."

"I can't," said Matt firmly. He was bent over his desk, working on homework.

Sora looked over at Tai, who raised his eyebrows in an "I told you so" type of gesture.

"Well..." stammered Sora, recovering, "you should come if you can, Izzy. It'll be fun."

-Sora-

Why do I even bother?