Chapter 18- Invitation
In early June, Kari, Lynn, Hannah, and Tom all graduated from high school. Most of the graduates were excited to leave school and move on with the rest of their lives, but the girls were still bursting into tears every time someone said "Congratulations." Kari thought the ceremony was long and boring, especially since she had graduated at the top of her class and had to sit on the stage in an uncomfortable plastic chair smiling and trying to look excited.
After she received her diploma she returned to her seat, but was required to sit and watch as each graduate walked across the stage in front of her. She watched the nameless faces, some she recognized, but most were unfamiliar. Though she tried not to think about Takeru, she couldn't help but wonder if he had graduated yet. He would have posed for pictures with Davis, Yolei, and Ken. Of course Cody would have been there too, and Matt and Tai, and Sora and Izzy and the rest of the group. Everyone but her.
T.K. had probably forgotten about her. It was probably better that he forget her though, since remembering would only make him hate her.
As the last student returned to their seat and the school principal gave the concluding speech, Kari forced herself to clear her head. She wouldn't think about the happenings in Japan. They were no longer of any concern to her.
She was repeating this over and over in her mind as she posed for pictures, shook hands, and fled the building with Lynn, Hannah, and Tom. Most of the kids in their class were having a party at a beach a few miles south of the city. Kari didn't really want to go, but Lynn decided that it would be good for her.
Of course, as soon as they arrived at the already thriving party, Lynn disappeared somewhere with Drew, who were dating again, which was no surprise to anyone. Kari sat down at the bonfire beside Hannah and Tom, who were being antisocial and whispering and giggling at each other in a disgustingly romantic way.
So, when Tyler, the super gorgeous quarterback of the football team (which was the dumbest sport Kari had ever heard of) handed her a can of beer, she accepted enthusiastically.
Although Kari had never been much of a drinker, she drained the can in a matter of minutes and was slightly buzzed when Tyler asked her to take a walk with him.
They were walking along the dark beach when Tyler asked her what her plans were for next year.
Kari rolled her eyes. "Well, I did want to go back to Japan, but he doesn't want me to."
Tyler laughed at her, and she realized that he was tipsy too. "Who's he? Your sleazy ex-boyfriend?"
"He's not sleazy!" Kari responded, instinctively defending T.K. "He's just an idiot and he hates me." She plopped down onto the sand, dropping her empty beer can in the process.
Tyler sat down next to her. "You deserve better than an idiot," Tyler told her. Then without any warning, he pressed his lips to hers.
Kari didn't know how to react. T.K. was the only boy she'd ever kissed before now, but Tyler's kiss was nowhere near as effective as T.K.'s. Compared to T.K., Tyler was a terrible kisser. He tasted like beer and cigarettes, and she had to push him away before his tongue made her gag.
Kari stood up wobbly. "I'm going back to the party," she told him and began walking back towards the bonfire.
Tyler leapt to his feet, grabbing her arm as she walked away. "Kari, wait! I'm serious! I love you!"
She laughed at his drunken proclamations as she found a ride home from one of her friends, since Lynn, Hannah, and Tom had all disappeared.
Luckily, her mother and grandmother didn't ask any questions when Kari slept until one in the afternoon and woke up with the worst headache of her life. She only got out of bed when her mother yelled up the stairs that she had a phone call.
Still in her pajamas and bathrobe, she stumbled down the stairs to find a cordless phone.
"Hello?" she asked groggily after she found one.
"Kari? It's Hannah, did you get a message on your D-3 this morning?" she asked in an extremely loud voice.
"Hannah, what are you talking about?"
"Check your D-3!"
"Why the hell are you calling so damn early?"
"Well, sleeping beauty, not all of us got wasted last night and some of us woke up perfectly healthy and realized that we have messages on our D-3s!"
Kari found her D-3 under a pile of dirty clothes and realized that she did in fact have a message.
"Hannah, why did you bother calling if you knew I would have a message?"
"Did you read it?" she asked, in her all-knowing, snobby voice that Kari hated.
Kari flipped open the screen and read her new message.
To: Digi-destineds
From:Gennai
Re: Reunion
Since the digital world has been in such a wonderful state of blissful peace, I have finally completed one of the projects that I have been working on for centuries: The Digi-Destined's Mansion. It's a lovely home that I hope all of you will find useful during your vacations here and you are all welcome to stay here any time you wish. This weekend, however, I was hoping that all of you could stay for a nice reunion. No need to R.S.V.P., I've sent a map as well. See you soon!
-Gennai
"I don't want to go," Kari responded automatically, immediately thinking that T.K. would most certainly be there.
"This is why I called you. Kari, you have to go, we'll force you if we have to."
"But why? It's not that important. It's not like we're saving the digi-world or anything."
"You have to go Kari, because it would be so awkward for us if you don't. We've only met a few of the Japanese digi-destineds, so you have to come and introduce us to the rest of your friends."
Kari sighed. "When are we leaving?"
"Tonight. Pack your things, Lynn'll pick you up around eight. We're going to use Tom's computer. Mikey wants to come too, so you might have to convince Mr. Thompson and your mom to let him come."
"Don't ever call here again," Kari threatened as she wandered into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee.
Hannah laughed. "See you later," and she hung up before Kari could make another sarcastic comment about her energy.
As much as Kari dreaded their return to the digital world, Mikey and Mr. Thompson arrived at seven thirty. Surprisingly, Mr. Thompson was perfectly okay with Mikey spending the weekend in the digital world.
And unfortunately, Lynn was early. Kari threw her stuff into the backseat and stared blankly out the passenger window as they drove to Tom's house. Kari practiced deep breathing; she wasn't going to overreact. This was no big deal, she was just going to see her old friends. So what if T.K. hated her? Gennai had said that they were going to the Digi-Destined's Mansion. Maybe it was such a big place that she would never see T.K.?
But was that a good thing or a bad thing?
She sighed in frustration and self-pity. She would try to make the best of the situation. There was no point in ruining the fun for her friends.
"Hurry up guys!" Hannah urged as she pushed them inside and marched them into Tom's bedroom. "I want to get there before dark."
"What's the big rush Hannah?" Lynn asked. "I bet everyone else is coming tomorrow."
"Actually," Tom interrupted, "with the time difference and the fact that Gennai sent that message to us three days ago, my bet is that everyone arrived yesterday."
"So, we're late?" Mikey asked.
"Yes!" Hannah cried out. "Which is why we should hurry. I've never been to this part of the digital world before, and it's going to be dark soon, and there's nothing worse than being lost in the dark."
"I guess you're right," Kari agreed, "let's get going."
Hannah looked at her questioningly, surprised at her eagerness, but didn't oppose as Kari raised her D-3 to the computer screen, squeezed her eyes shut, and called out, "Digi-Port Open."
Just seconds later the small group emerged into the serene digital world where an equally small group of very familiar digimon were waiting to greet them.
Each of the humans rushed to meet their partners.
"Gennai told us to wait for you," Gatomon told Kari.
"Yeah, he thought you guys might get lost," Mikey's Labramon added.
"I guess there's no chance of that since you're here," Hannah said, "or is there? Are you guys sure you know where you're going?"
"Of course we know where we're going," Lynn's partner Gazimon informed them.
"And Patamon said he'd come look for us if we're not back by nightfall," Betamon told him.
Kari snorted. "That's not very reassuring. Patamon's about as good with directions as T.K. is."
Gatomon understood and laughed with her. Even though it turned out that the digimon did know where they were going, it took the party quite a long time to get from their landing spot to the mansion. They arrived long after the sun had set, but that did not hinder Kari's first sight of the mansion.
Kari had been picturing a mansion, but the building sitting on top of the hill in front of them looked like a small castle. It was five stories with balconies, long porches, and turrets. The walkway leading up to the main door was lined with bright flowerbeds and even crossed over a moat.
"This was actually an ancient fortress once, before the dark masters," Betamon informed them as they passed restored gardens and magnificent fountains.
They reached the gigantic front door but jumped in surprise as it was thrown open from the inside.
Before Kari's mind could even register what had happened, a shrieking mass of pink hair latched onto her, squeezing the life out of her.
"Kari! I haven't seen you in forever! I missed you so much!" Kari recognized the high-pitched voice instinctively.
"I missed you too, Mimi," she said as she unwound herself from her old friend.
"How come no one ever told me you moved to California? You've only been like a plane ride away for all these years!"
"Mimi, I would like you to meet the California digi-destineds, Lynn, Hannah, Tom, and Mikey," she said, changing the subject.
"Oh geez, I've forgotten my manners. You guys must be exhausted, why don't you come in?"
She pushed the door open wider and led them into wide corridor featuring countless doors to the left and right and a grand marble staircase.
"When did you get here Mimi?" Hannah asked.
"I arrived this morning, and the rest of the gang got here early this afternoon. They wanted to wait up for you guys, but they were pretty tired too."
They began walking towards the staircase. "I still have no idea where most of these doors lead, but I know that the one over there on the left is the kitchen, and the one to the right of it is the main dining room."
Mikey wanted to stop for a late night snack, but Lynn pulled him away. "If you get separated right now, you might get lost," she warned him.
"That big white door on the right is a sort of lounge or game room. That's where we were hanging out earlier. Of course, there's a pool and a hot tub around back."
Kari knew Mikey must have been tired by his little show of excitement.
They climbed the staircase and reached another wide hallway, except this floor had only five doors. Straight ahead of them, towards the back of the house, there was a door leading out to a balcony. Mimi led them out there where they could overlook the pool area and the mansion's back yard.
When they returned inside the graphics on the other doors caught her eye.
"These four rooms are bedrooms," Mimi informed them, "so let's be quiet because they might be sleeping."
Kari took a closer look at the door on her right. There was a blue symbol on it that she recognized as the crest of friendship. "Is this Matt's room?" Kari asked.
"Yep, and next to his is Tai's."
Kari walked to Tai's door and noticed Tai's crest of courage: the orange eight pointed sun with the circle inside of it.
"The two rooms are connected with a bathroom between them, so I wouldn't encourage anyone to go near these two rooms while Tai and Matt are inside."
Kari and Mimi shared an understanding glance, while Lynn struggled to hide her smile, and Hannah pretended she didn't hear Mimi.
"Who else is on this floor?" Mikey asked groggily.
"Oh," Mimi recalled, "Izzy and Sora are on the other side."
They climbed the stairs to the third floor. "My room's on this floor, it's this one here on the left. And guess what, Kari! You're room is the second one on the right."
Sure enough, Kari sighted the pink symbol of light on that door.
"I wanted to trade rooms with you because yours is pink, but they wouldn't let me," Mimi said.
"Who wouldn't let you?" Kari asked, walking towards her room.
Mimi blushed, "Oh…uh…no one…"
Kari turned to give Mimi a questioning glance when the symbol on the door to the room next to hers caught her eye.
Her breath caught in her throat. There was no way. This was not going to work out for her at all. The crest was the golden symbol of hope. T.K.'s crest.
"Mimi! You knew about this! How could you let them put my room next to his?"
"Kari," Mimi whispered, urging her to keep her voice down. "Gennai's been planning this for years. He thought you two were best friends. Just calm down, just because your rooms are connected doesn't mean you have to talk to him."
"Connected?" Kari asked. "You mean I have to share a bathroom with him too?"
"Well, if it's really that big of a deal, you can come across the hall and use mine and Joe's bathroom."
Kari felt like screaming on the quiet floor as the rest of her group climbed the next set of stairs to find their rooms. Taking a deep breath she pushed open her respected door and was met with a shock of pink.
There was pink everywhere: the carpet, the walls, the furniture. It was almost sickening, but the bed was a huge four-poster with a frilly canopy and lacy drapes. Somehow, it kind of reminded Kari of the princess room she had dreamed about as a little girl.
She moved to the far side of the room where there was a glass door leading out to a balcony. Her excitement dropped though when she realized that the porch extended to the room beside hers.
She sighed and reentered her new bedroom. It wasn't that bad, she decided as she set her stuff down on the floor beside her bed. She pulled off her dirty clothes and was about to find her pajamas and climb into bed when a sound from behind her made her freeze.
Kari turned around slowly, pulling on her pajama top to cover herself. On the other side of the room there was a small futon with big pink fluffy pillows, but the most noticeable fact about it was the blond boy sitting on it.
At first she thought T.K. was staring at her, then as she moved closer, she realized that he was fast asleep.
She didn't know why he was in her room. Maybe he had been waiting for her, or maybe he just went to the wrong room. She didn't know, and she certainly wasn't going to ask him.
Although reluctantly, she pulled a blanket off her bed and draped it over him before climbing into her magnificent bed. It wasn't long before she too drifted off to sleep.