Digimon: The New Breed
by DigitalFlagDancer
Chapter Three
"Two Admissions and an Attraction"
TK's POV
I looked down at the sheet of paper in front of me wondering what to write. There was so much I wanted to ask but I didn't want to say too much at once. At the same time it didn't seem right to just write "Hi, how're you?" so I tried for something that would be not too long but not too short either:
How's it going, what's new with you? Have I missed anything major? It's been like a month since the last time we really talked. I tried calling this weekend but no one answered. Have you got a D-Terminal yet?
I figured that should work well enough and glanced up to see if Mr. Marsh was looking our way. His back was still to the us as he kept writing on the board while talking about what we'd be covering this year. I passed the paper to Kari and she started writing. Looking up at the board, my attention shifted a bit back to the kids I had met on the elevator that morning, Yolei and Cody. They seemed nice. Yolei seemed like the more outgoing one who'd be easier to talk to at first. Cody seemed nice too, though. Just a little more reserved. He didn't strike me as being especially shy so much as just cerebral and in his own head. He was polite though. Kari passed the paper back to me as I finished my thought.
I'm good, how are you? Not much is new really, I've just been going out taking pictures and bothering my brother as usual. And I was out of the house a lot this weekend; it was my birthday Saturday so we all went out to celebrate and then I went over to Izzy's with Tai yesterday to hang out with them. I didn't get back until like 10 last night, sorry I missed your call. But yes I got my D-Terminal, and we need to swap friend codes! ^^
I smiled. It was good to see that she was doing well, and that we'd be able to e-mail each other back and forth now. Seeing her mention Tai and Izzy was a relief, too. I'd been pretty much sure she would accept me anyway, but remembering that she knew her brother was gay and was fine with that was the "Duh" I needed to ease some of the fear I felt anyway. I hadn't told anyone other than Matt, so coming out still felt new and daunting. That said, I thought it would be okay. With Kari at least. And that's when it hit me. I looked at the note again. I had forgotten that it was her birthday Saturday. I knew she'd be getting her D-Terminal but forgot that it was gonna be her birthday present. God, I felt like a total dunce. I slouched a little. I saw Kari look at me, a little concerned, in my peripheral vision. I quickly began to reply:
I'm glad everything is going well with you and yeah, we'll have to swap friend codes right after this. Did you have fun this weekend? Bother Tai and Izzy? I messaged Izzy this morning while I couldn't sleep. He was busy programming as usual. :) I have to admit, though…I forgot yesterday was your birthday. :( I'm sorry! I had meant to get your something but then we didn't talk for a while and I was preoccupied with the move and other things and I forgot. :( I feel bad now…
I looked back up to the front of the room. Mr. Marsh was still going on about his syllabus. He was currently facing the board (again! The man didn't make much eye contact) going on about grading policies. I passed the note to Kari. I heard a small groan. Mr. Marsh hadn't noticed the note passing, but someone else had. I looked behind me. That soccer player from earlier was sitting not far from us and looked pretty dejected. When he saw me looking at him he lowered his head and seemed to try to act normal. Dang, I didn't want him to feel bad…, I thought. Maybe I should tell him there's nothing going on between Kari and I. Then again, she's not his girl and I don't owe him that. Before I could reach a conclusion Kari passed the paper back to me. I read it:
Its ok! :) No worries, really! But yeah it was fun. I embarrassed Tai in front of Izzy a few times, it was great. :) And I bet you Izzy wasn't programming. Tai stayed over with Izzy again last night, and Tai never lets Izzy get any work done. Izzy seems to be trying less lately, too. You probably caught them being all lovey-dovey. :) Speaking of which, have you seen any girls you think are cute here yet? :) Also do you wanna come over to my house after school today? I don't have anything I need to do, plus Tai and Izzy are supposed to be there too so you can catch up with both of them too. :)
I blushed at the image of Tai and Izzy acting like lovebirds. It was really hard to imagine Izzy being very romantic with anyone, but I supposed it made sense. Everyone had that side to them, and Tai clearly made him happy. The idea of having someone to be like that with sounded nice. Kari's question about girls struck a chord with me, however. I wasn't sure how to reply. I didn't just wanna say no and leave it at that…I had been meaning to come out to her. But should I do it now or later? I considered telling her in person but I didn't know if she'd want to sit with other people at lunch, Tai and Izzy were gonna be with us at her house later and I didn't really feel like waiting. I had a sudden urge to drop the bomb, like I had to get it out of me. Kari would be more accepting of me than Matt had been. She had to be. I wrote back:
Sounds good. :) Haha, it's so weird how different Izzy seems sometimes. He's still the same guy but…he seems so…chipper now! Even when Tai is annoying him you can tell he's not actually angry like he used to be. :P And sure, I'd love to come over. :) Izzy and Tai were gonna meet me here afterschool to catch up, actually…we can all walk over to your place together I guess. :) And as far as girls go…
My mind switched for a second to the soccer player a few rows back.
There's someone in here I think is cute but…
I looked down at the paper, weighing how heavy the next sentence felt in my mind.
I'm gay.
I hurriedly passed the note to Kari so I wouldn't change my mind and erase it. I stared down at my desk while she replied, not making eye contact with her until she handed the note back to me. She smiled. I felt relief began to hit me. I read:
Oh? Ok! How long have you known? I hope you weren't afraid to tell me…I'm sorry we haven't talked as much lately…but we'll fix that! And yeah, we can all meet up then! :) Whose the boy if you don't mind me asking?
I felt relieved, but strange at the same time. She smiled again. I awkwardly smiled back. Admitting this stuff still felt kind of weird. I glanced back at the soccer player behind us. He was staring off into space, clearly oblivious to everything else. I liked his hair. It fit his face well. I was about to reply to Kari when the bell rang. I put the paper in my binder and asked, "Talk more at lunch?" "Yeah," she agreed, and we started packing up. Our class got up to leave the room and the soccer player ended up in front of us, where I got another appreciative look at his butt as he walked through the door.