A/N: I'm baaaack! I just finished my first semester and I have my science final in two days, erk! Wish me luck! But it'd be better if you reviewed. (wink)
PS: Sorry for Kari this chapter. She just didn't want to cooperate with me, grr.
Disclaimer: I like to think the plot is sort of mine, but it's not like anyone hasn't written one like it before. Oh yea, and the characters aren't mine. Haha.
Beating Hearts
Chapter Five
Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary. – Mark Twain
Kari stared at her roof, blinking as she woke up slowly. It was the next day. The early morning. She knew it was too early to go to school, as her room was still in that stage between the loss of the dark and the beginning of the light. Her body felt fine, she realized. No sweating. No shivers. No strange dreams that had been haunting her for the past while. She felt…good.
With a yawn she swung her body up into a sitting position, her feet resting on the cold hardwood of her floor. Her desk was organized and neat, but only yesterday it had been ruffled and messed. Tai had gone searching in her room again; probably for that incriminating picture of him she had taken so long ago and continued to hold in a secret place until she needed it most.
"Good morning, sunshine," she mumbled to herself for no particular reason. Today she was going to try and find Matt in school. She needed those dance lessons seriously, now. The dance was coming in only a week, and it was the talk of the school. Even if it was just for charity, and didn't even take place in their school, it was their school that was holding it and everyone was excited. It was a chance for them to wear their own clothes, hang out with school friends they hadn't before. It was also a chance to dance with the one you liked. In her case, she had been excited to dance with TK. She had been imagining for weeks what it would be like. They would dance, leave the building for some fresh air, and it would be dark and crisp outside. She would wrap her hands around her arms, trying to warm up. TK would come closer, giving her his own body as warmth, hugging her close, and confessing his feelings…
But she hadn't had that fantasy in quite a while. Not since…not since that first crazy dance lesson with Matt.
Rolling her eyes, Kari stood up taller and walked toward her closet. She lazily pulled her school uniform from its hanger, tossing it onto her bed. She would go and have a shower and then maybe mosey around the apartment a bit longer. Kari didn't feel like staying in her home for longer than necessary. She didn't know why. Maybe because Tai was really bothering her lately. Maybe because she had no one to talk to about her strange new feelings she had been trying to ignore. It was hard, keeping it all bottled inside of her. No one would understand…she didn't really have any friends outside of Davis and that group. But she couldn't talk to them about it because they were all friends with TK and could see that Kari and TK had a thing for each other. What would they think of she turned her back on him? On them? No, they would all be angry. And Davis…Davis would just ignore her, knowing him.
So really, Kari was all alone these days. No one to confide in. It was a lonely feeling, one she wasn't used to. She didn't like it one bit.
At school, Kari was unlucky enough not to see Matt anywhere. In fact, she had seen TK's face bobbing in the crowd a few times that morning, but she had always turned her tail and walked quickly in the opposite direction, choosing the long way to her next class instead of facing TK. She didn't know why she didn't want to talk to him. Maybe because she would blurt out Matt's name by accident or something stupid.
When she could find no sign of Matt that morning (she just wanted the mortifying embarrassment of asking him to be over with!), her mind couldn't help but drift to the incident the previous day. She had gone outside to eat lunch with TK, when she had heard some weird noises from behind the tree. She had expected it to be some animal or something, but it turned out to be Matt. She hadn't believed her eyes, but she knew there was something more to his story than what he said. Which, she decided, had been the lamest lie ever. Matt definitely hadn't been cool and collected at that moment, and Kari felt that that had evolved her feelings for him even more. She wished he would stay stone for the rest of his life, but alas, she saw his less stony side at her own apartment all the time when he visited Tai. She had never noticed it before, but now she was seeing it all of the time. So she had quickly covered his sorry excuse for an alibi and just decided she would question him about it later, if ever. It was better not understanding everything Matt did, she decided. Safer, too.
At lunch she sat alone in the girls bathroom, picking at her sandwich. She didn't want to face TK, who would be sure to ask her to eat lunch with him again. She didn't want to face any of her friends, who would probably catch onto her coldness sooner than she would ever want. She didn't want to face Tai, who was obnoxious, or Izzy, who would probably break her down into statistics in a matter of seconds and discover how she really felt. Not Sora, who had always been so nice to her, or Mimi, who could sense girl troubles before she even knew whom the girl was. And especially, especially, not Matt, who would probably avoid her eyes after being so strangely nice at her apartment the other day. She had acted like a spasmodic, which she always did when she was angry with Tai, anyway. But it had never seemed to matter before, whether Matt was there or not. But yesterday he had been so nice, grabbed her pillow for her…
She shook her head, setting her container on the floor and resting her forehead in her hands tiredly. Obviously Matt was only being a nice guy. It was rare, but it happened.
Standing up, she unlatched the door and dumped the rest of her lunch in the garbage. She washed her hands methodically. Lukewarm water, soap, scrub, rinse. Soap, scrub, rinse. She turned off the tap and dried her hands, grabbing her old pink Tupperware container before leaving the empty washroom where her breaths echoed off of the tile walls.
Down the hall she heard voices. The school was basically empty, since everyone went outside to eat in such nice weather. She walked slowly, not wanting to interrupt the people's conversation with her presence. But as she got closer to the corner of the hall, the voices abruptly became louder and she recognized one of them with horror.
"So, do you think you can make it?" It was a voice, high-pitched and unfamiliar. Kari pressed her back to the row of lockers, trying desperately to keep her breathing quiet so she could hear what was going on.
"Oh, I think so," replied that voice. That amazing, deep, rumbling voice that had changed so much from his junior high years. She could feel the charm just radiating off of him like it usually did. This girl was obviously captured, but what bothered Kari was how Matt was actually agreeing to whatever this girl was talking about.
"It's on the same night as the lame school dance though," the girl said scornfully. Kari could just imagine them, propped against the wall and looking deeply into each other's eyes…
"Hey, hey, my band is playing at that lame school dance," he chided lightly in a tone Kari had never heard before. It was soothing and comfortable. That's strange, Kari mused. I've never even heard him talk like that around any of our friends. Unless it's…oh no! What if it's like his girl-capturing voice or something? Is that why I've never heard it? Because he doesn't want to capture me?
"Oh, right. Well, you're not playing the whole time, right? Aren't you just like, the intro band to the DJ or whatever?"
"Yea. Something like that," Matt replied in an aloof tone. "I can definitely make it, though. There won't be anything to do at the dance after we're done playing."
Kari felt her eyes widen. Felt her heartbeat quicken. How could I have been so stupid? She bereted herself viciously.
"'Kay, well, bye! Can't wait to see you," cooed the girl, and then Kari heard her footsteps coming closer and closer to the corner, but Kari couldn't move herself. She was plastered against the lockers with doom. Before she could peel herself away and run for her life, the girl spotted her. She was tall, taller than Kari but shorter than Matt. The perfect height. Perfectly skinny, tanned to the perfect darkness. Her raven hair was loose and almost down to her waist. Make-up coated her face and eyes in just the right places. Her heels were huge and glittery, and her uniform was loose and untied or tied to accentuate her body. All Kari could do was stare. Stare at this girl who seemed to be infatuated with Matt and looked great enough to pull it off, too.
"What're you looking at?" she sneered, peppy voice instantly gone. Kari blinked. She must look freaky, that was all.
"Nothing," she mumbled, suddenly feeling insecure in her perfect uniform with the sleeves down to her wrists and necktie all done up like it was supposed to be. Her face was plain and clear of any make-up and her hair was straight and brown, sick and boring. Just like her.
The girl blinked at her, and then took a step backward to look at someone down the hall she had just come from. Kari paled. "MATT! HEY, MATT!" the girl shrieked. Kari clenched her eyes shut, not even able to look at this girl who seemed to enjoy torturing her. "It looks like you've got a fangirl over here!" she shouted, and then strutted away giggling to herself.
It was silent. Kari was hoping, praying, that Matt had only shrugged and walked away or something. She hoped he wouldn't be nice, wouldn't try to talk to the pathetic girl who must be following him around the school, listening to his conversations…
"Kari?!" he asked, his tone bewildered and his voice right in front of her face. Kari could have melted. She still didn't open her eyes.
"Oh, um, hi! Er, Matt! What's…uh…how're…erk…well…yea! Cool!" Oh lord, what was she babbling about? It didn't even make sense! Even the scent of Matt was freaking her out. She realized with horror that this was definitely more than just a schoolgirl crush. Definitely more.
"What're you doing here?" his tone was curious, but Kari heard with a sinking feeling that it sounded nothing like it had with the Beautiful Girl. It had been so sweet and low, like he was singing to her or something. But now his voice was back to normal.
"I was just—uh—bathroom. Wait! No!" She clenched her eyes shut tighter. "I was eating!" She waved her container in the air, hoping it wouldn't hit Matt in the face or anything. It didn't. "Walked…outside. Going outside…TK! I was going to see TK!" she finally gasped out, glad to have landed on something solid. TK. They could never argue against that.
"Are you okay?" Kari hated hearing his voice when she had heard it sound so amazing before. Why was it back to its old way, the cold, offish manner it had always sounded to anyone else?
"Who was that girl?" she asked bluntly, and then cursed herself silently. Was she mental?
He ignored the question. "Why won't you open your eyes?" he asked, and she heard his face coming closer. She panicked.
"NO REASON," she shouted desperately, hoping her voice would send him back. It didn't.
"Come on, I'm not that ugly," he joked, and Kari felt the tears beginning to prick at the back of her eyes. "Right?" he continued.
"Ssss…S—St…"
Matt was silent. "What?" he asked, coming closer still. Kari felt the tears, itching to crawl loose and slither down her face. She held them back.
"Stop," she finally managed in a choked out whisper. Silence.
"Stop what?" he asked. "Talking to you?"
"Yes!" Kari cried, keeping her eyes defiantly shut. She knew her words took him by surprise. "Yes, stop talking to me! Yes, stop joking around! Yes, stop acting like you're my friend or that you even realize who I am when you obviously don't!" STOP, she ordered herself, but she couldn't. She was on a roll with feelings she hadn't even known she felt. "I mean, just because you taught me how to dance and I had fun and I was hoping to get more lessons from you which is why you're talking to me right now, because I was looking for you, doesn't mean you can do that!"
More silence. It filled the hallway until Kari could barely breathe, and she wondered if Matt was still there.
"You're crying," he said flatly. Kari wanted to blink, to feel the tears, but she didn't because she could sense them falling down her cheeks anyway.
"Didn't you listen to anything I just said?" she asked in a hushed voice.
"Yes."
"…Okay."
She hated what she had become. A blubbering mess. What was Matt thinking? That she was psycho? That she was losing her mind? She wanted to stay strong. To beat these emotions out of her and fall back into her fantasy with TK.
She could feel that was impossible now.
"How about tonight?"
Kari couldn't help it. Her eyes snapped open. She saw through red-rimmed eyes that Matt was standing in front of her, arms crossed across his chest and looking agitated, but also sort of sad. When he saw her eyes open his expression of mild shock was quickly wiped away, along with the sadness and agitation and replaced with the familiar marble features.
"What?" she asked hoarsely, rubbing at her cheeks like some sort of small child.
"Tonight. We'll work on that dancing."
"Oh. Well." She hadn't been expecting that. He hadn't even acknowledged her strange burst. Maybe it was just too awkward for them both. "Okay," she agreed in a defeated sort of way. No matter how much she complained about Matt acting like they were friends when they really didn't seem to be, she just couldn't pull away from him either.
Matt leaned in closer. Too close. Kari blinked. Stray tears fell loosely from the corners of her eyes. She wished desperately they would stop. As if she didn't look horrible enough already!
"I'm sorry, okay?"
Kari couldn't blink this time. She stared at him, wide-eyed and silent. Sorry? Sorry? Had Matt just…apologized?
"Oh." She was just full of great words today.
"I didn't know that I was bugging you so much." He stepped away. Kari winced.
"Ah, no, it wasn't really like that. I don't know what just happened, or why I yelled. Maybe it was because that girl embarrassed me, or because you used that voice or something, or maybe because I'm still sick or maybe it's just being a girl, or—"
"Voice?" Matt looked down at her. "When did I use 'that voice'?"
Kari paled. Had she said that? Oh no, she had said that! "No voice. What voice? Your voice? Your voice is hard to understand," she gibbered. "I mean, look at me! My voice is easy to understand. Basically, I'm crazy. I've lost my mind. You can hear it. But your voice is different and really hard to get, you know? Well, probably not. Because I'm crazy. Yes. Remember?"
Kari could have slapped herself. Over. And over. And over. What was she even talking about? Since when had she had such a strange prattling habit?
"Kari."
"Huh?" she asked, face flushed with embarrassment and tears. Matt was looking the other way, out the window to the yard below.
"That's not what you meant."
Silence. What was she supposed to say? She decided not to avoid the subject this time. "I know."
"You won't tell me what you're crying about though, will you?"
Hesitance. "No."
"Does it have to do with me?"
"You just said I wouldn't tell you."
Matt turned around, smirking. "Tai was right."
Kari blinked, and then felt herself blush more. They had been talking about her? Oh, all the mortifying things Tai must have said about her! "Whatever Tai told you is a lie—"
"He said you were sneaky sometimes," Matt interrupted without hearing her previous words.
Kari stopped talking. "Oh. Uh. I am?" She hadn't really thought about it.
"Yea." He nodded slowly, but his eyes were somewhere else. "Sorry for making you cry."
Sorry…twice! It was like a new world record! "It wasn't you," she lied. She didn't know why she did, but Kari just didn't want Matt to think he affected her that badly. She just didn't. "It's been a bad week. That's all."
"Okay."
"What time tonight?" she asked, changing the topic. The two had a pattern. Edge around the corner of the problem, but then quickly switch the topic. Edge, switch. Edge, switch. Just like washing her hands. A pattern. A rhythm. She never realized it before.
"After supper. I have to jam with the band a bit first."
"Oh."
"Practice for the dance."
"Yea."
"Well."
"Okay."
Kari couldn't help but smile a little. Their conversation was so strange! Just one word sentences and they were done. Matt saw her smiling and the corners of his mouth lifted up a bit.
"See?"
"What?" she asked.
"I'm not that ugly after all."
Kari couldn't help it. She burst into laughter.
"Twenty minutes, maybe? Twenty-five?"
"What are you mumbling to yourself about? And quit hovering by the door, that's freaky."
"Tai! Go play your stupid video games and quit bothering me."
"Fine."
"Good."
Kari watched Tai turn into the living room and breathed a small sigh of relief. So it looked like Matt hadn't told her brother about paying a visit. Maybe she should stop hovering by the door. It was a little pathetic.
She walked into the empty sewing room, the middle space still swept open from her last dancing lesson. She plumped a pillow on a nearby chair idly, trying to get her thoughts under control. Last time Matt had danced with her, Kari's spine had tingled and her tongue had seemed to stop working properly. What would happen now? Her heart had definitely been acting up lately. And would things be awkward between them? She had darted away from Matt as quickly as she could after he had made her laugh, because what girl wanted to be pathetic and hang around for too long? Especially after throwing a tantrum that made it look like they were a couple. Pffft.
The doorbell rang. Kari felt her heart shudder and then gasped in worry as she heard Tai getting up to answer the door, yelling something at their parents about school or something.
"NO! WAIT! I'LL GET IT!" Kari screeched, darting out of the sewing room and running up to Tai and grabbing his shirt collar from the back. "I'LL GET IT!" she shouted again, and Tai winced.
"Geez, Kari! Want all of Japan to hear you? Crap," he muttered darkly, rubbing at his ears. "I think my ears are bleeding."
"Shush," Kari scolded, shoving him into the living room. "It's just my friend."
Tai's eyebrows rose. "It's been a while since you brought friends over."
Kari rolled her eyes. "It's not a hot girl, Tai."
"I wasn't thinking that!" Tai objected, but his pink cheeks told the truth.
Kari just turned around and finger combed her hair for a second before unlocking the door and opening it just enough so her head could poke through.
Matt stood in front of her, looking dashing as always. He had his guitar bag slung across his back and his school uniform jacket was gone, his sleeves rolled up to the elbow and his tie hanging loosely from his neck. He glanced up from his watch as Kari's face emerged from behind the door. He smirked.
"I was wondering when you were gonna answer."
"Ah, yes, well, Tai wouldn't shut up," she said in something like a whisper. Matt quirked an eyebrow and Kari knew what he had discovered.
"He doesn't know I'm here?"
"Well—uh—maybe not, but only because he'd force you to play video games or something stupid like that! I need you to teach me to dance," she added stubbornly, as if that sealed the deal and if Matt talked to Tai she would personally murder him. Matt gulped.
"Just lead the way, ma'am," he said, bowing mockingly. Kari felt her cheeks turn pink but she turned around and opened the door for him before he saw. By the time she closed it her face was back to normal.
"Hey Kari, who's ove—" Tai turned the corner but stopped as his eyes saw Matt sliding off his shoes, one hand holding the guitar bag on his back so it wouldn't slip over his shoulder. "MATT?" he cried, and Kari shushed him.
"Mom and Dad are trying to work, Tai!" she snapped, and then turned to her side to see Matt watching them with an amused expression.
"Well, where's your friend?" Tai craned his head as if a gorgeous girl would just pop out of one of the nearby shoes. "Is she late?"
"Tai," Matt said, shaking his head woefully. Tai blinked.
"What?!"
"Tai, Matt—uh—is my friend," she told him softly, the word friend rolling off her tongue like a foreign word. She had never seen Matt as a friend. Is that what they were now?
"Huuuuh?" Tai asked. "I don't get it. If you needed help with homework you could've asked me!" He looked insulted.
"Um, this is a different kind of homework," Kari replied stupidly, pushing at Matt's back to force him down the hall toward the sewing room.
"What're you—" Tai's eyes widened with shock. "OH MY GOD! A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOMEWORK?!" he yelled in a horrified tone. Kari had no idea what he was shouting about until Matt burst into a fit of giggles (well, whatever a Matt giggle sounded like), stopping in the hall. Kari looked up at the back of his head, perplexed. She turned around to look at Tai with hands on her hips.
"Tai, what're you freaking out about?" Kari asked, already exhausted with her brother.
"That you—and Matt—Matt and you—you guys—homework—SO not homework!" Tai finished, eyes still as wide as saucers.
"Tai, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kari emphasized like she was talking to a dull-witted person. Which, she supposed, she was.
"Kari," Matt's voice was above her head, and his hand touched her shoulder gently as if to show her he had stopped laughing and was now listening to their conversation. "He thinks we're gonna go make out or something."
Kari blinked and turned around to face Matt, who was definitely too close. Why did he keep doing that? "Wha—" And then she stopped. Her eyes were as wide as Tai's now, and her face flamed as red as a tomato in under a second. "Oooooh!" she cried, embarrassed as she dug her face in her hands. She heard Matt laughing and explaining something to Tai about dancing and the dance, but she wasn't really listening. She was just mortified. She had made it sound like that! A 'different type of homework'? How vague and awkward did that sound? Oh God, and she had been totally oblivious as Matt had laughed and Tai had been boggled. Oh God!
"Kari? Kaaari? Kari?" Matt's voice snapped her out of her gloomy thoughts. Tai was hovering beside them in the hall, like he was afraid to leave them alone. Kari glared up at him through her fingers.
"Go. Away," she hissed, and Tai blinked.
"But now I'm woooorried," he whined. Matt rolled his eyes and grabbed Kari's wrist. Kari flinched at the touch, but he didn't seem to notice and proceeded to drag her to the sewing room.
"Tai, you're stupid."
"What? No I'm not!"
"It's not that new, you know. Everyone sees it but you."
"Just 'cause I'm a worried older brother—"
"Suuure," Matt replied, and then shut the sewing room door in Kari's brother's face, locking it shut behind them.
The silence of the room swamped around Kari, and the pressure in her mind was now growing heavier with this new moment. Great! Now the only thing in both their heads would be Tai's stupid thoughts and assumptions, and Kari wouldn't know what to say…
"Okay. Where's your old record player again?" Matt had turned around from the door, fully composed and ice-faced once more. Kari blinked.
"Um. By the sewing machine."
"Hm…oh, I see it." And he walked over, shuffling through the small pile of dusty dance records. He seemed to find one he liked, because he began to put it on the record player. Kari only watched, dazed. She was such a child, acting horrified because of Tai's words! Matt was all grown up and unfazed by it. Well, Kari could be too. She instantly tried to iron her expression out, but she kept thinking about stupid Tai…
"Okay. Ready?"
She blanked. "Ah…um…I'm still a bit—er—rusty. Ah." Stupid! She didn't sound composed at all!
"It's okay," Matt reassured, not batting an eyelid at Kari's stuttering. "It's been awhile."
"Hm, ah, yes. It has." Get a grip! She scolded herself. She wanted to stop humming and babbling. Learning to talk was definitely on her list of priorities right now.
The crackly old waltz started on the record, and Matt efficiently pulled Kari's hand into his, placing his hand on her waist. She forced all the cells in her face not to blush, and she placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to act calmly. She had to learn how to dance. Even though she'd probably be the only one waltzing…all alone…
The two danced in silence for a while, giving Kari the time to try to relearn the steps. She made a few noises of frustration or embarrassment when she messed up on following Matt, but soon her feet began to fall into the rhythm of tracing Matt's steps…back and forth, in a strange square pattern they were sweeping through the dust on the floor…
"Wait!" Kari cried suddenly, pulling back from Matt. She looked up at him to see him blinking slowly like he was falling out of a trance. Kari hadn't even glanced at him once while they were dancing. Did he really get that into a lame waltz?
"What?" Matt asked. "You were doing so well."
Kari turned pink at the compliment but refused to blush anymore. "What about the dancing that actually goes on at a dance? I mean, no offence, I like the waltz and all…but won't the kids kind of laugh at me if I ask a boy to waltz? What about the other dancing?" Kari began to fret like she had at the very beginning. "I mean, I don't go to many of these things! I don't know what I'm supposed to!"
Matt allowed her to ramble, and seeing that she sighed when she was done, he answered. "Dances are lame," he said gruffly, and Kari watched him with alarm. "Yes. Kids kind of wander through the room, not really having anywhere to go. Then the fast music plays and they just kind of wiggle their hips or something."
Kari paled. She didn't want to wiggle her hips in front of Matt! In front of any human being! Ever! "And," Matt continued, "when the slow music comes on, they just…" Kari frowned as Matt stepped closer, grabbing her hands and placing them around his shoulders. She had to stretch. "They just get a little close, like this," he instructed easily, as if he was teaching a kid how to tie their shoe. He placed both his hands on Kari's hips and she wanted to rip out of his grasp and run, run, run. People actually got this close to each other? "And then all they really do is sway to the music. Like I said, it's stupid." And he pulled away like that was that.
"Oh…yea. Of course," Kari responded quietly. She didn't know what else to say. Her heart was beating too fast and she hated herself for feeling this way about Matt. Matt! The-older-boy-who-had-to-baby-sit-her-once-and-hated-it Matt! The-Tai's-best-friend-and-waaay-too-old-for-her Matt! "I like the waltz," Kari joked, and a flicker of a smile swept past Matt's mouth.
"Me too."
"How come?" Kari asked, sitting down on of the chairs that were piled with old bits of cloth.
"How come what?" Matt asked, watching her with curiosity.
"How come you like the waltz so much?"
Matt shrugged, coming a little closer and sitting cross-legged on the ground near Kari. "I dunno," he replied evasively.
"You're lying," Kari scolded lightly. "Is it 'cause your parents taught it to you or something?"
Matt was silent. Kari had hit the bulls-eye without even meaning to. "Oh! Um, sorry," she apologized in a rush. "Was it before…?"
"The divorce? Yea. It was a long time ago, but what can I say? Those few memories stuck with me. I just learned it more over the years and grew better." Silence. "But yea, it was my mom who showed it to me first."
Kari felt so sad, watching the top of Matt's head and listening to his words. And here she was, with a perfectly fine family and she was always so annoyed at her parent's suffocation. Would Matt kill for suffocation like that? She instantly felt guilty, and before she could stop herself she could feel tears pooling in her eyes.
"But anyway," he said, standing up and turning to face Kari. "We haven't really been practicing for that long…" His words drifted when he saw tears pouring silently down Kari's face. Her eyes showed that her mind was someplace far off. "Kari?" he asked, taking a step closer. He had a bad feeling that she would start yelling at him again. She seemed to be in some sort of mood today.
Kari snapped to attention, and when she realized tears were falling down her cheeks she tried to laugh, but small hiccups kept interrupting her giggles.
"Kari, wha--?" Matt tried to ask, but she just shook her head.
"It's just so sad!" she blurted out, wiping at her cheeks. "Ah, I'm crying so much today. You must be freaked out." She laughed and hiccupped at the same time.
"I'm not freaked out," Matt lied. "I'm just worried."
Her expression turned even more mournful. "But about your mom and the dancing and the few memories…and here I am, annoyed with my parents all the time. I feel so selfish!" burst out Kari, and gave one last lonely hiccup before hastily drying her tears with one of the stray squares of silk that sat on the chair.
Matt didn't know what to do. No one had ever really cried for him before. It was embarrassing and a bit awkward. Besides, Tai was probably listening with his ear pressed against the door. Well, he might as well make whatever Tai thought he was listening to interesting.
With only a second of hesitation, Matt took a step over and brushed a hand through Kari's hair. That was it. After all, hugging wasn't really his thing. And besides, why would he hug her anyway? "Thanks," he said softly. Kari looked up at him with round eyes, wet with tears. "No one's ever done that before."
Kari hiccupped for the last time. "Oh. Um." She stood up nervously, stepping to the sides. "No problem." She wasn't blushing, Matt noticed. No, she was just very pale. And her face was screwed up into concentration. He wondered what it was she was trying to rein in.
"Okay. Okay. I'm okay." Kari smiled, and Matt felt more at ease. He knew how strange people could be (case and point: his parents), so he decided today he'd give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Just don't do it again," he teased lightly, but he wasn't sure it was all teasing. Kari nodded viciously.
"I promise! I won't!"
"Do what again?" came a muffled, panicked voice outside of the door. "You guys! Do what again?"
Kari frowned, but Matt had to laugh. Tai was always great at breaking tension. And he had to admit that, without a doubt, there was definitely some mysterious tension between him and Kari.