Disclaimer: Unfortunately, to my disappointment, I do not own Yamato, Taichi, Kari, Mimi, or Dai. I'm sure whoever does is making hell of a lot more money than me.

Chapter Four: Arguing With Different Friends

Taichi and I didn't stay out for long. Just long enough for me to have enough with his complains about his sister. All I could do was say, "Yeah, I know what you mean…"

It was three-thirty, about time for school to end. Tai took me to my driveway.

"Hey, thanks for coming, Yama," he told me before I stepped out.

"Sure, anytime,"

He held my arm for a second. "Do you wanna hang out Friday?"

I sat back down, unsure of what to say. Don't get me wrong, Tai was a great guy and everything, I just didn't know if our friendship could fully grow back. I shrugged. "There's a party at Daisuke M--"

"You know I don't do parties,"

"You did them when you punched me out…" I reminded him playfully.

"When Kari called me sobbing," he put in. "I mean something like coming to my place. Like the old days, you know? Maybe we could play soccer in my backyard, talk about middle school…how about it?"

I smiled, opening the door. "I'll drop by at seven."

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"Three days," I heard Dai mutter impatiently, "three fucking days."

"Until…?" I asked.

He stared at me blankly. "My party, duh!"

"Countin' down days, are ya?" Yuki gave him a playful punch. "Don't blame you. It's gonna be the shit, unlike these other gay parties we've been having. Who's all going, anyway?"

"Dunno," Dai replied, shrugging. "It's open-house."

That had to be the stupidest thing I ever heard. If you've ever been to an opened-house party, you should know they don't go well. The police are called, your parents are called, you're changed for underaged drinking…you know.

"Aren't you excited, man!" he cried.

"I know I am," Noah answered, coming into the conversation. "And I know Yuki is, too. I mean, the place'll be full of sluts."

We all laughed, making me feel a little worried. I can't make it to Dai's! I realized, feeling shitty. I made plans with Tai. Only a thing for the worst person ever to do. Man, he's gonna be so pissed!

"What about you, Noah?" Yuki challenged. "Who's your girl-of-the-week?"

"Uh…dunno. Don't got one yet. Say hey, who're you taking Dai?"

That made me laugh until I felt like puking. It was probably one of the funniest things I heard in a long time. I don't think I'd ever seen Dai even holding hands with a girl, much less taking them to parties.

Dai folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, it's my party. Chick's are gonna be all over me."

"Speaking of chicks," Yuki looked around, "where's our girls?"

"Mimi and Kari?" I asked, shocked.

He stared at me as if I was crazy. "No…Mai and Sora. Ishida, what's gotten into you?"

"Yeah, man," Dai added. "You've been kinda weird lately. What's up? Still coming to my party? Do I even have to ask?"

I froze. They were catching on. I inhaled deeply and slowly. "Dai, I'm…I'm not sure I can make it out to the party. I kinda…you know…have plans or whatever. Sorry, ma--"

"Like a date?" Noah suggested. "Don't matter, bring her along. Dai doesn't care, do you?"

"Nah, not a date. I'm chilling with Taichi Yagami. You know, the soccer captain? Kari's older brother?"

The three just kind of sat there, staring at me.

"No you're not," Yuki snapped.

"Oh, sorry I didn't asked permission first," I rolled my eyes. "What's wrong with him? He's cool, you know. But hey, Dai, I can probably still talk him into stopping my for a few hours. He'd be down with it."

"Yagami isn't coming to the damn party," Yuki practically explained for me. "Plain and simple."

Dai nodded. "I don't want any fights,"

"He won't," I promised. Then I realized why the were rejecting the idea. "Come on, Yuki, get over it. Dai, you'd be pretty pissed if Yuki went after your sister."

"If Yuki was dating my sister, he'd be doing us a favour." Dai corrected, and I nodded in agreement Jun was pretty annoying sometimes. "But, Yamato, I've this party planned for three months! How often do you think my parents go out for an entire weekend? Once a year! Once a fuckin--"

"That's not the point!" Yuki stressed. "He's ditching us for Yagami, Dai!"

"So, just because you wanted to sleep with Kari, it means I can't hang out with Taichi?"

Yuki was getting mad. "Listen, Ishida…"

"Dai said so himself that he's friends with him! Didn't you, Dai?"

Dai shook his hands in front of him in defence. "Hey, hey, hey! I play soccer with him, and he is a cool guy who kicks ass on the field, but I don't think we've ever hung out outside of school. Other than soccer, I haven't done anything else with him."

Suddenly, Noah burst out in laughter. I don't know why, but it really made me pissed. He was staring at me the whole time.

"I mean," Dai continued, "he's a jock."

I stood up. "So are you! You play more sports than anyone I know!"

"Yeah," Noah's laughter was finally over. "But Dai doesn't hand out with the rest of those guys, he hangs out with us."

"What is this, High School Musical Remix?" I asked, remembering that horrible movie. "I want to head over to Taichi Yagami's, okay? I don't think I want my other friends saying I can't because he almost beat the shit out of Yuki."

Yuki stepped up in front of me. "Ishida, you don't wanna go there," he said in a warning voice.

"What're you gonna do?" I yelled. "Beat me up? Can you even do that?"

Without seeing if he could, I walked away. I mean, I really suck at fight…why take a chance like that?

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After school I had no ride. I had to take the fucking bus.

When I walked down the isle and watched the freshmen scram out of my way, I was wishing that I could have been a little nicer to Noah. I mean, what junior takes the fucking bus after school?

Well, I decided, taking my seat in the back, it would be a dick move if I missed Dai's party just to go to Tai's. No wonder the guys were so mad about it. As far as they were concerned, Tai was a cocky, know-it-all jock who didn't care about anyone but himself. I guess he was like that sometimes, but Yuki is self-centered twenty-four/seven.

I got a call a few hours later. And let me tell you, I wasn't too happy to hear Noah's voice asked,

"What are you doing?"

I groaned. "What are you talking about? Why are you so mad?"

"So mad? Nah, Yamato, I ain't mad, just a little worried."

"Worried?" I blinked. "You're kidding. Guess what? I have other friends. Big deal! Do you think I'd care if you or Yuki were ditching me for some other guy?"

"Yeah, you would."

Feeling insulted, I cried, "No, I wouldn't!" when the truth was, I'd be a little pissed. I said slowly, "I'm coming to the party, but I'm going out on Saturday. With Tai. Is that all right with you? Do I have your permission?"

There was a pause. "Listen, man, I don't look at the situation like Yuki and Dai do. They're just pissed you're missing the party. I, on the other hand, am pissed because of what you've told me about this guy. Remember? That thing about middle school? Seriously, why would you even consider hanging out with him again after that?"

"Oh," I muttered, getting a little embarrassed. "Noah, just forget about that. It was such a long time ago…"

I was surprised at how calm I was acting. To keep it that way, I hung up. Then dialled Tai's number.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, it's Ishi--er--Yamato. I really--"

"Glad you called," he interrupted. "Real sorry, Yama, but I'm kinda having second thoughts about Friday."

"…what?"

"Yeah. I completely forgot, but I got a date."

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It was official. I, apparently, was going to Dai's party. Without Tai.

At lunch on Wednesday, everyone seemed to be in a little better mood. It made me feel less nervous until Yuki slapped my shoulder. " 'Sup, Ishida?" he greeted, giving me this weird smile. My nervousness came back.

"Uh…hey."

Since Dai and Noah were sitting at the table, I remained standing, biting my pizza awkwardly. I had no idea what was going on. They were all staring at me, not saying anything, wearing the same smile as Yuki's. My first thought was, Noah told them. I glanced over at him, but he didn't seem to look guilty at all. Just creepy.

"What's up?" I finally asked.

"Ishida, you're going to that party," Yuki explained, still smiling. "Yagami isn't coming, though."

Suddenly, I felt frustrated. "Holy shit, I know, all right?"

"You don't get it," Dai said.

"We think we found the perfect date for you…" Noah told me. "She's got these brown eyes that'd drive you crazy, straight hair, nice figure…But the best thing about her is that she's so…innocent."

"I'm not going to the party with Kari," I replied, catching on.

Yuki's smile finally broke. "But, man, she's crazy about you!"

"How do you know?" I asked. "You're the one she's been after lately. Besides, I kinda don't want Taichi busting my teeth out."

"Want some advice?" Yuki interrupted, ignoring my comment. "She ain't all that easy."

"Did you guys tell her I like her or something?"

"Nope!" Noah cried, pushing me towards the stairs. "You are! You're gonna go right downstairs and ask her to go on a date with you Friday night. She asks where, you say Daisuke's party. Get it?"

I couldn't believe it. They were doing something that was so junior high school. What did they think they were proving? Especially Noah?

"I think I will," I snapped, walking down the stairs.

When I reached the bottom, I looked up at the guys. They were watching intensely. Dai was smirking, Noah was laughing, and Yuki was giving me a supportive wave. I returned it before walking to the table of four where Hikari Yagami was sitting at.

Yet did they know, when I arrived, I was saying,

"Hey, Mimi, what are you doing Friday night?"

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I didn't tell anyone I asked Mimi instead of Kari. But since I suck at lying, especially to people I know really well, I couldn't hang out with the guys on Thursday. The day was going by so slowly; I was excited to take a nap on a table.

To my joy, I found Mai in the distance, reading a textbook. Great! I thought, remembering how good she was to talk to.

"Hey!" I called, sitting beside her. "What's up?"

"Yamato, I have a chemistry unit fourth period, I only studied for an hour last night, my sister and her boyfriend broke up so I was up all night talking to her, I've suddenly convinced myself that having my first date in almost a year tomorrow night was a good thing, I'm in a horrible mood, and…" She smiled. "How can I help you?"

"Well…Yuki, Noah, and Dai are gonna be really pissed at me."

Mai wasn't really paying attention. Her focus was on the textbook. "Oh yeah?"

I shrugged. "I wanted to hang out with this guy they don't like on Friday. They tried to make me ask out his little sister so…you know. He'd get mad. The guys don't know it, but I asked that Mimi girl out instead. Am I a bad person?"

She flipped through a page and sighed. "If you ask me, all of you are being a little foolish. Why don't they like your friend?"

" 'Cause he tried to beat up Yuki once."

"So…" She shrugged. "You can't hang out with anyone Yuki's fought before? Yamato, if you keep listening to things the guys say, you'll never have any friends. I'm getting kind of mad at Yuki, too. Ever since he found out Sora likes him, he's been more cockier than ever."

"Yeah," I started to say, then soaked it what she told me. "Wait, Sora likes Yuki?!"

Mai groaned an erased something she had written down. "Great. Another formula I forgot about. Listen, Yamato, I'm kind of busy. Why don't you find Sora or something?"

"Can't I stay here and shut up?"

She shook her head, still looking at the textbook. I rolled my eyes. Find Sora? Was Mai completely nuts?

I was a little too angry to even look at Sora. I couldn't believe all these girls were after Yuki. What was so special about him? Did girls like his cockiness for some reason? It was like one of those things I'd never know about.

Well, I thought it would be, anyway.

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For the remainder of Thursday at noon, I went to the music room and fiddled around with a guitar. I didn't even go to school until fourth period on Friday. The week went by pretty fast to tell you the truth.

I just kept thinking about picking up Mimi. I thought about what'd I say, what'd I do, how I'd act…but by the time I got there, the only thing I could think about was,

Her house is fucking huge.

I couldn't believe it. It was like a mansion or something. There was this swing-set in the front yard and a few flamingos. Maybe there was more--I was too focused on wondering how rich she was.

One of my top pet peeves is ringing doorbells. Especially your dates' doorbells. You always wonder if her family's psycho or complete Jesus-lovers. I knocked loudly.

What really made me nervous, though, was hearing someone yell, "Somebody get the goddamn door!"

A few minutes later, a man appeared.

"Who are you?" he sneered.

I noticed he had a beer bottle in his hand. There was hesitation in my voice while I answered, "I, uh, I'm here to pick up your daughter. Is she ready?"

He stared at me for a second. "I don't even know if she still lives here."

"For Heaven's sake!" I heard a woman cry. "Leave the kid alone, Jack!"

An older lady who looked exactly like Mimi came to the doorway. "Jack, go lay down. Hi, sweetie, you're here for Mimi, right?"

I nodded slowly.

"Mimi!" she yelled up the flight of stairs, then turned back to me. "You'll have to forgive Jack's behaviour. He's been fairly stressed out recently." She paused. "It's so odd to have you come to the door like this. Mimi's dates always wait in their car and honk for her. Don't you find that strange?"

"Uh…yeah," I muttered, remembering her say something about waiting in the car.

"Now, are you driving tonight? I'm not one for drinking and driving…"

A weird feeling took over my stomach. "No, I'm not drinki--"

She smiled. "Thank gosh! Are you ordering her a taxicab? How will she get home? What are you doing after the party?"

"I--I don't know yet…"

"If you order a taxi, I can pay for it," she told me, handing me a ten dollar bill.

Refusing to accept it, I answered, "Uh…ma'am, I don't really think I'm drinking or anything like that,"

"Oh, please. It's a high school party! I was there less than fifteen years ago, I know how it is. I'm only thirty-one, you know."

Thirty-one? I thought. Okay, now I'm allowed to think she's hot.

Finally, Mimi came down the stairs. She looked stunning. Her hair was curled and her clothes were kind of…revealing. I think my jaw was dropped or something. Honestly, I don't think I ever saw her look so good.

"No later than one, Mimi, all right?"

Mimi laughed. "Whatever. I'll be home around three."

Before the older girl could reply, the younger one rushed out the door and jumped into my car. I felt really weird for some reason.

"Those your parents?" I asked.

"Unfortunately," she muttered, taking a liquor bottle out of her purse.

The whole car ride was kind of awkward. Mimi seemed emotional or something, taking chugs from that bottle every few minutes. I felt a little bad. A little.

I pulled into Dai's driveway. "Ready?"

"Uh-huh!" she cried enthusiastically. I guess she took more chugs than I thought; she seemed a little bit happier.

The party was anything but empty. Music was playing loudly, most people were dancing, some people were talking, some drinking, some laughing…you know. I was I getting really stoked.

Mimi grabbed my hand. "I love parties," she was saying. "They get me away from my stupid parents. Didn't I tell you to wait in the driveway?" She smiled. "Aw, Yamato, you're just too cute, wearing that black shirt. Why is it that you're not into me? What's there to not like?"

"Mimi, how much did you drink?"

She showed me the bottle. "Not that much. Stop worrying."

There was so much left, I couldn't believe that she was so drunk after a few chugs. I had to take the bottle from her. "I don't think you should drink anymore. You're drunk as hell right now, anyway."

"Whoa re you, my mother?" she snapped, snatching it back.

"No, actually, I'm your date, and I really don't want to take care of some drunk girl the entire night. C'mon, Mimi, don't be stupid. You're plastered."

"I'm completely sober, thank you very much!"

"Hey, Ishida!" I heard, and looked over to see Dai. He was pretty plastered himself. "When'd you get here?"

"Just now," I said.

"You see Yuki anywhere? Or Noah? I'd like to see who they're bringing for dates."

"Go find them," I suggested.

He didn't even notice I had Mimi with me instead of Kari. It was probably because Dai didn't drink too often, so it had completely slipped his mind.

Mimi tugged my arm. "Let's do something, I'm bored."

"Want to get something to eat?"

She shook her head. "I kinda wanna go upstairs. How about you?"

Okay, I thought, Mimi's definitely wasted.

I caught a glimpse of Yuki from the distance. He was with Sora, and the image really made me sick. They truly made a horrible couple. I don't think Sora even liked a guy ever since we broke up. What was so damn special about Yuki?

"Come on," Mimi pestered, tugging my arm again. "I really wanna be alone."

"Yuki!" I called, ignoring Mimi's offerings.

He saw me and somewhat walked over. "Yo, Ishida. Where's Kari at?"

Mimi glared at me. "Huh?"

"Beats me," I answered. "Why, trying to get some from her again?"

Yuki wasn't being as oblivious as Dai was, rather it was because Dai was stupid or Yuki drank more than twice as much as him. Yuki saw my game and started to play along by saying, "I thought you told us that you're taking her? Oh, hey, Mimi. What's up?"

"Wanna go upstairs, Mimi?" I asked impatiently.

She suddenly smiled. "Okay."

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I had a few drinks before leading the way. I needed to be non-sober so that I wouldn't feel bad for God knows whatever would happen.

"What do you wanna do?" Mimi asked, opening a bedroom door.

I walked in and dropped onto the bed. "Sleep," I replied honestly.

"Y'know, I'm not really all that tired." she teased, making me glance at her. She was still smiling and she was serious.

"Mimi," I said slowly, "watch what you're doing."

"I like what I'm watching." She sat on the edge of the bed, tracing her finger up and down my foot. "Don't you?"

This was getting me nervous. She was a girl in grade ten that was too drunk to handle herself. She was practically throwing herself at me. I had no idea what to do, so I decided to dismiss the thought by ignoring it.

When she saw my hesitation, she placed her hand on my knee. "Quit being do shy. It's not like you've never had a girl in the bedroom before."

She had a point. Ever since I dated Sora, she was going all over the place. So maybe that was why she liked Yuki.

But I didn't have to feel bad about Sora.

"Mimi, get off me," I stressed.

She started making her hand up my thigh, unsurprisingly making my jeans feel a little tighter. "Come on," she kept saying. "It's not like this is my first time."

My pocket was vibrating. I jumped in confused, along with Mimi, and realized it was my cell phone. Thank god for wireless communication.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Yama, wanna drive?"

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"How was your date?" I asked as soon as I opened the car door.

He shrugged. "All right. How was the party?"

I was a little busy being startled my the clock. It said it was eleven o'clock. I arrived with Mimi around nine, so had two hours really passed? How long was Mimi pestering me in that bedroom? Two whole hours?

"Weird," I answered. "Is that clock right?"

"Mm-hmm."

Then a weird thing happened. Tai was reaching for the gearshift, his eyes remaining on the road, to switch it from Parked to Drive when, without noticing, his hand brushed against my thigh. I couldn't really believe that he didn't notice.

What I really couldn't believe was that my jeans were getting tighter and tighter by the second. Then I just got freaked out.