Chapter 1:
Same POV:
A/N: This might have some errors in it... Either way, please review. I want to know what you all think!
I knocked, and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And rang the doorbell. I mean, it was possible they could have not heard me knock, right? And then I waited patiently. And waited. And waited. And, after a minute or so of waiting, I realized Kari and her family were simply not here. I had the urge to just go home. To give up. To surrender, to admit I did not have the resources to make sure that I was taken care of.
But I realized that it was too soon to surrender. To soon to give up. I knew that if I could draw things out for a couple days, at the very least, I'd make my mother feel bad for what she'd said, and quite possibly panic her enough that I could at least regain some level of control. Plus, if Kari was only out for a couple hours, I could probably deal with being outside for a while, after all, I was sick of being couped up.
The torrential, drenching rain, however, did not help my new resolve. I decided to call Kari, if she was going to be out for the rest of the day or longer, I would want to know so I can plan around that. I took Cody's phone out of my pocket, and checked the contacts, knowing that Kari would be there.
I was surprised to see the number of names there, but I paid them no attention; it was really none of my business in the slightest who Cody talked to. However, I stumbled upon 'Kari Kamiya' in his phone, and so I pressed 'call'.
Kari picked up after two rings of the phone.
"Cody?" She asked, sounding surprised.
"No, I'm just borrowing his phone for Spring Break. It's T.K". I explained, smiling to myself.
"Does he know your mom is almost certain to seize any phone in your possession like it's contraband?"
"That's part of the reason I'm calling. You see, I'm not going back."
"What?" She asked, surprised.
"Yeah. My mother kicked me out today, because I pushed her until she did so." I explained.
"Ah... And you were wondering if you could stay with me." She summarized.
"That's about the size of it."I laughed, glad that I didn't have to explain more.
"Sorry. I'm not going to be home for a couple of days, I'm visiting relatives."
"Ah well... I'll find somewhere to stay for a couple of days."In reality, I wasn't sure I could, but I wasn't going to give up.
"T.K... I'm not sure what you are doing is a good idea." She said, bluntly.
"Kari... Thank you for your concern." I replied, hinting as subtly as I could currently that, while I was grateful for her advice, I disagreed, and had made up my mind."
"Ah. Alright. Then I'll do what I can for you." She said, and then faintly to someone near her"No, I'm not flirting with him, it's actually relatively important."
And then, she turned her attention back to me, saying, "Sorry, I'm in the car. Hey, can I talk to you later?"
"Sure. I'm not getting any closer to being dry talking to you right now anyway." I said, laughing slightly.
She hung up, and then I did so, sighing with discouragement at the problem I now faced. I was drenched from head to toe now, only having a phone, and the clothes on my back. Still not giving up, I called Cody on his home phone, as I currently had his cellphone.
It rang a few times, and Cody picked up (A fact of which I very grateful, I didn't particularly want to explain why I had Cody's phone).
"Hello, me." Cody said, and laughed.
"Thiiiiiiis iiiiiis yooooouuuuuur cooooonscience" I droned, trying not to laugh, but final breaking down laughing during the last syllable.
"Nice. What's up, T.K?" He asked.
"Think you can put a roof over my head for a couple days?"
"I can't, but I'm sure one of my friends can. Anything in particular you don't want to deal with?"
"Well, I'd rather not have to put up with a druggy." I said, laughing.
"Fine, I'll see what I can do... You're gonna want to get somewhere dry, it's going to be 15 minutes at least."
"Will do. I'll be at the junior high school, have the person who'll be picking me up call me when they are there." I said. I was going to the junior high because it was closer, and I desperately did want to get out of the rain.
"Alright... You mean, have them call my phone." He said, laughing.
"Your CONSCIENCE's phone, you mean." I said.
"Yeah, alright, whatever." He said, hanging up.
I ran to the Junior High, although running didn't really do me much good, as I was already drenched to the bone from head to toe.
I stood under an overhang, where I was mostly safe from the cold and soaking weather. Still, it wasn't perfect, as the wind was blowing towards me, so the rain still came down toward me, and thus the overhang provided only minimal shelter. I shook my fist at the grey sky from which the rain fell with anger, angry at them for wrecking my plans.
Of course, if the weather had wrecked my plans, it meant that I hadn't thought things through throughly enough, and I knew that. And, shake my fist as I might, I was still standing in the drenching rain, already soaked, waiting for my friend to find me a place to sleep for the night. I was starting to suspect Kari had been right; this was starting to look like it had been a really bad idea. Worse yet, I was starting to get hungry, and I was shivering like crazy.
After what seemed like an age, the cellphone in my pocket finally rang. The name on the caller I.D was 'Johnathan', which I instantly recognized as good news, because it meant that someone other than Cody was calling.
"Hello?" I said, picking up the phone.
"Hey. You're T.K, right?" The man on the other end said. He sounded 17 or so, and friendly, which was definitely good.
"Yeah." I said, feeling incredibly grateful.
"Alright. I'm in the parking lot, Cody told me about you."
"Thanks."
"No problem. I felt like I owed him one, and, to be honest, I've got an incredibly boring few days in front of me." Johnathan said.
Of course, that was how it worked for Cody. If he couldn't do something for you, he'd call a friend, who could. And because he did a lot for his friends, and his friends did a lot for his friends, everyone felt indebted to him, so they'd gladly help out. This made Cody very popular, and it meant that he could always get a favor if he needed it. In the end, everyone benefited from it, but Cody benefited most. Then again, Cody also put a great deal of time and effort into this, so it was only fair that he got the most out of it.
"Alright." I said, running over to the parking lot. There was a young man standing next to a relatively cheap looking car in the middle of said parking lot.
He looked 6' 1" (approximately 1 meter, 85 centimeters) or so tall, with messy brown hair, although I wasn't sure if his hair was normally messy, or if the rain had just messed it up. He waved to me, yelling "Your T.K, right?"
"Right." I said, and ran over to him.
"I'm Johnathan." He said, and extended his hand to shake mine.
"Nice to meet you." I said, and shook his hand.
He opened the doors to the car, and motioned with his hands for me to get in. I did, and he got in the on the other side. As we closed the doors, I experienced a sudden rush of relief, although I didn't feel completely safe yet. While I liked Johnathan instantly, I didn't really trust him yet. I mean, sure, I trusted Cody, but this guy WAS a complete stranger to me.
As I looked around the inside of the car, I realized that it was much nicer on the inside than on the outside. The cup holders had blue-LED lights in them, and the sound system looked as if it had been replaced.
"Nice." I said.
"Thanks." He said, smiling, "If your talking about the car, I modded it myself."
"Cool." I said, laughing.
"What kind of music do you like?" He asked, sounding excited, as if he didn't get to show of his car much.
"Pretty much, anything." I said, relaxing. This kid was clearly not dangerous, just lonely, and it wasn't as if he was an annoying kind of lonely, just people starved. Then again, considering the fact that I was going to be spending the next couple of days with this kid, I assumed he owned his place, which meant he probably lived alone, so I wasn't really terribly surprised that he was lonely.
"Alright." He said, "You don't mind if it's loud, right?"
"Not at all." I said, "In fact, louder is probably better."
He turned on the car, and turned the heat all the way up. I was grateful for the warmth, partly because I was so very cold. Then, he turned on the stero. What blasted out of the speakers was "Re-education through labor" by Rise Against.
I laughed, "Oh, you really meant LOUD, didn't you!"
"I can't hear you!" He shouted, over the music, he said as he began to back the car out.
"Whatever." I shouted over the music, reveling in the warmth of the car.
It wasn't very long until we arrived at the apartment where we stopped. The building was shabby looking, but I was getting to understand that Johnathan wasn't terribly wealthy, simply by the exterior of the car. Still, he had skills, and that was clear, too.
As we walked inside, he led me up to the third floor, where he unlocked one of the doors, and ushered me inside.
The interior of this space was much like the interior of his car, that is to say, it was at least nicer than the surrounding space. The entrance room was a sort of living room/ dining room, with what was clearly a dining table as couch, as well as a T.V and a set of gaming consoles, and a computer in the back corner. Next to the computer was something I recognized.
"You're Digidestined, too?" I asked, pointing at the Digivice.
"Yeah. You too?" He asked, looking surprised.
"Cody didn't tell you?"
"Cody doesn't know that I'm Digidestined. And I didn't know he was, either." Johnathan said, looking extremely surprised.
"Well, he is, and so am I. You don't remember one 'T.K Takashi?' at all?" I asked. I was pretty famous among the Digidestined, having saved the world twice.
"Wait, you're HIM?" Johnathan said, surprised.
"Yeah." I said, grinning.
"Nice... So Cody is that Cody?" He asked, looking almost thrilled.
"Yeah."
"He's grown alot since then... and honestly, your a mess, and I've never seen you as the type to run away."
"So, why are you living on your own?" I asked, changing the subject slightly, but honestly curious.
"Parents didn't like the Digital world. They found out about it when I was thirteen. I had to sneak to get there until last summer... and then they found me one day and just kicked me out of the house. But, I'd made a little money modding my friend's cars, and so I made a business of it over the summer. Made enough money to live here for a year, and so here I am. After this, I've got a full ride at pretty much any college I want, so I'll be fine." He said, grinning.
"Nice."
End Chapter 1: Not Alone