Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon
A/N: This is a warning to you all. This series will be dark and kind of OOC.
Broken
"So have you been practicing 'would you like fries with that?'" Matt asked when Tai walked into the room. He was lying on his back on his bed. A book of sheet music rested on his chest.
Tai sat on his bed, the bunk he shared with Aaron, and kicked off his shoes. "What?"
"I heard you were getting a job."
Tai gave him a smile that looked more like a grimace. "You heard right, but I'm not degrading myself completely, so don't expect me to be serving you anytime soon, Ishida. It's an intern secretary thing downtown, in the city." He grinned. "I make six bucks an hour for filing."
"What's with the sudden need of money?" Matt asked.
Tai grimaced again. "No reason. I just need the extra cash. Money's kind of tight for me."
"Why? It's too crowded here, so you're getting money to take Sora to a cheap motel and-"
"Matt, if you finish that thought I'll break your face!" Tai growled.
"Jeez Tai! What's your problem? I was only going to say," he paused, glancing up as Aaron came into the room. "fuck like bunnies."
"I'm going to kill you Matt!" Tai jumped off his bed only to be knocked back down by Aaron.
"Ignore him Tai," Aaron cooed softly.
"Yeah Tai! You wouldn't want to get in trouble for fighting," Matt sneered. "Wuss."
Tai made another attempted to lunge at Matt, but Aaron grabbed his arm and pushed him back again. "Just ignore him Tai! He's just a jerk!" Tai snarled at Matt again before turning away and going through his backpack that sat on the bed. Aaron shot Matt a look of distaste before turning away and sitting at the desk.
They sat in silence for a long time. Aaron and Tai worked on homework while Matt looked over the sheet music.
"Aaron, Matt, Tera, Kari, Tai!" Gennai yelled from downstairs.
Aaron twisted around in his seat, grinning stupidly. "Dinner." He stood up and hurried out of the room with Tai following him. Matt followed suit once he had heard Aaron and Tai bound down the stairs. No point in following those two "pals" so closely.
Although Matt couldn't help but wonder how close they'd be when Tai could go back to Japan.
Matt got up from his bed and walked down the hall. He paused at the stairs before walking past them and to the girl's bedroom. He pounded lightly. In the last two months that he had lived there, he had the "opportunity" to get to know the local residents; starting with the people in the house. And he knew that Tera was still in her room.
Tera opened the door, a small smile playing on her lips. "Gennai called you down," Matt stated, sounding bored, but he wanted to laugh at Tera's innocent act.
Her smile grew. "Oh really? I didn't hear," she lied. One thing that was always predictable about Tera. She wouldn't come to dinner unless you walked her down. She stepped out and closed the door. She stumbled before regaining her footing and going down the stairs.
He followed behind and pushed into the living room. They took the remaining seats at the table that seated all eleven of the residents in the house. Tera sat between Aaron and Taylor, while Matt sat between Natalie and TK. But that was not without a murderous glare from Tai.
They started to eat, quietly munching on the lasagna Natalie had made. No one bowed their heads, for none of them belonged to a religion, or, if they did, they believed they had long been forsaken by any god of worship.
Natalie was the first to break the silence. She began talking to Tera about some appointment she had. Sora, Tai, and Aaron whispered amongst themselves until they forced TK to join in. Every once in a while, Tai would scold Kari about not eating and she would complain she wasn't hungry. Just normal dinner conversation.
"Tera, are you feeling alright?" Gennai asked.
She looked up at Natalie. "What did you say before?"
"Tera, were you listening?" Eli yelled.
"I was," she answered quietly, red with embarrassment. "I can't remember," she shrugged.
Eli gave out a frustrated sigh. Natalie touched his hand. "Leave her alone, E."
Matt rolled his eyes. Tera got away with a lot of BS.
Soon everyone finished and Matt let out an aggravated sigh when he remembered it was his turn to do the dishes. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen, carrying his plate. "Don't bother, Matt. We're leaving soon," Eli called.
"Where?" Sora asked.
"The mall. We're going to get out of here for a bit." Eli rolled his wheelchair into the foyer. "Are you all ready?" He asked. "I'm ready" and "me too" came a small chorus of voices. "All right, let's-"
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Gennai announced.
Eli grabbed Tera's arm and pulled her so she was at eye level with him. "You up for tonight?" She nodded and he kissed her forehead. She wrinkled her nose playfully and he released her arm. "Behave!"
Gennai walked in, talking to a man dressed in khaki pants and a blue polo shirt. His features were sharp, and his stern face was hidden behind glasses. He was chuckling lightly as Gennai spoke to him. He looked up at the group. "Hello," he greeted, his voice low but projected.
"Hi Mr. Yoon," Eli greeted shaking the man's hand.
"You staying tonight, Elijah?" Mt. Yoon asked.
"Nope. I'm going out with my girl tonight." He jerked his chin toward Natalie. She gave the man a small wave.
"Evening, Natalie. You're looking well," he winked at her.
"I am," she nodded and stooped to wrap her arms around Eli's neck. "My boyfriend's taking me to the mall so I can spend all of his money." She kissed him on his cheek and he rolled his eyes.
"I see you got a bunch of new kids, Gennai." Mr. Yoon looked back at Gennai.
"Yeah," Gennai nodded. "They've been here for a while. This is Tai, his sister Kari, Sora, Matt, and Matt's brother, TK." He pointed to each of them as he spoke. "They're from Odiaba, Japan."
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Yoon gave them a small nod. "Quite a family you've got going here."
"If that's what you'd call it," Gennai retorted with a shrug.
"We're going," Eli broadcast to the gentlemen.
"Okay, don't stay out too late," Gennai called after them.
The nine teens exited the house and headed towards the ugly van that Gennai had used to pick up the Japanese DigiDestined from the airport. "Who was that guy?" Tai asked.
"Tera's parole officer," Aaron replied.
"So here's what we're going to do," Eli started as he pushed himself through the handicap door of Park Place, the "coolest mall in Tucson" as Natalie claimed. "Nat and I are going to ditch you losers. Split up anyway you like. I don't care, just don't annoy me about it. Be back here by nine fifteen. Okay?" They nodded. "Alright, come on."
Tai looked around the group. Somehow he had wormed his hand into Sora's, Matt noted. Despite how they tried not to talk about it, they being a couple was completely obvious. Even after she had blew him off at the hospital, and yes, Matt had heard about that.
"Well," Tai started, looking to Aaron. "You wanna stick together of what?" Aaron shrugged. "We probably should stick together. Without you or Taylor, the rest of us are lost."
"Yeah, a lot of help Taylor would be," Matt muttered. No one except Taylor heard him. She took a step away from him.
"So what are some of the cool places here?" Sora asked.
"How should I know?" Aaron laughed. "I'm a dork. I could spend the next hour in Soft Ware Etcetera."
"Our friend Izzy would have liked you," Kari laughed.
"Well, I don't want to stand here by the exit until Natalie and Elijah decide to end their make out session. Let's just pick a direction and go," Tai interjected, going into 'leader mode'. He closed his eyes and pointed in a random direction. Regular Tai deduction, everything by chance. "That way."
"Tai, that leads you into wall," Sora teased.
He opened his eyes and grinned. "So it does. Then that way." He pointed in the opposite direction of Eli and Natalie.
"Works for me," Aaron shrugged.
They started walking. Aaron, Tai, and Sora walked together in the front. They were laughing about something stupid that Matt didn't catch. TK and Kari walked behind him, making casual conversation. He could sense the strain it took for the two to talk to each other. It reminded him of his parents, post divorce. Too bad it happened to TK and Kari. They were such great friends and could talk about anything, even when they were going out. Too bad they broke up.
Hey, Matt may be bitter, but that didn't mean he didn't want his little brother to be happy.
Taylor walked beside Aaron. She was kind of in her own little world, staring into shops. Matt grabbed her elbow and pulled her back to walk beside him. She didn't put up much of a fight and soon fell into step with him. "You mad at me?" He asked sticking his hands in his pockets. She shrugged. "Okay, I'm sorry. I should have said what I did. Is that better?"
She shrugged. "Come on, talk to me!" For once she smiled. "What?" He asked. She just shook her head. "Fine, we can be the only two dorks in the mall not talking!"
"Well, that wouldn't happen it you'd stop being such a jerk." Her voice was so small he almost missed it.
His eyes narrowed. "Were you waiting to insult me before you spoke?"
She rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go in here!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards a store. The name Sam Goodie was written with a neon above the door.
"How preppy," he muttered. "Why'd you drag me in here anyway?" She didn't say anything. "Thanks for the explanation." Matt looked around. The place was pretty big and filled from wall to wall with CDs. Matt guessed it was a music store. Not so bad.
Taylor left his side and he made his way over to the first CD shelf. *NSYNC? Who the hell would buy-
Some girl pushed past him and grabbed the CD. He rolled his eyes. He continued deeper into the store until he got to the back wall. Books of sheet music covered it. He smiled. This was his kind of place!
Fifteen minutes later Taylor walked up to him, carrying two CDs. "What's that?" She held the two CD's up. The first was the new N'SYNC, go figure. The second was that Third Eye Blind CD, Blue. He took the CD and turned it over, looking at the song titles. "You liked these guys?" She gave an enthusiastic nodded. He handed it back. "I wouldn't have figured. You ready to go?" She nodded again. He picked a third book up off the shelf. "Okay, come on."
They walked over the cash register where a purple haired female with a ring through her bottom lip was reading a magazine. Her name tag read Mara. Matt set his books on the counter. She began to ring them up. "Will that be all for you today, sir?"
"Yeah."
She bagged the books. "Okay, your total comes to-" She glanced up at his for the first time. "Hey, your Yamato Ishida."
"Yeah, I am," he nodded. "Now how much-"
"Can I ask you a favor? Can I have your autograph? Not for me, I really don't like your music, but I will get a raise if I get a famous person's autograph for the store." She pointed to the wall behind her where pictures of celebrities with signatures across the photos were framed and hung. "Please?"
Matt glanced back at Taylor, a scowl on his face. She gave him an amused smile. He sighed. "Sure. You got a photo or something? I don't carry them around with me."
She reached over the counter, causing him to step back. She pulled a random magazine from the rack hanging off the side of the counter. She flipped through it and put it down on the counter with a pen on top of it. It was a locker poster of himself. He shuddered to think that millions of girls and fruity guys around the world had this hanging in their lockers and rooms.
He picked up the pen and sloshed his signature over the photo. Taylor hovered over his shoulder watching him. He handed the pen down and he pushed the photo away. "Thanks. I owe you!"
"Can I just get my books?"
"Yeah, your total comes to $17.23."
"Wait, each book was like seven bucks."
"Yeah, so?" She shrugged with a wink.
"Oh thanks." He gave her the money and grabbed his bag. He studied the receipt as he waited by the door for Taylor. She came up and held the receipt up for him to read. "She gave you five bucks off. That's pretty nice." Matt handed back the receipt and looked around the mall. They were standing just outside of the food court, and the harsh smell of several types of food rose to his nose. He glanced around. "We lost our tour group. Maybe we should look-"
"OH MY GOD, IT'S MATT ISHIDA!" came the all too familiar whine of a fan girl. God, how he loathed that sound.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw three girls running toward them. Their scream attracted a few stares and a few more girls. "Taylor run!" He grabbed her hand and began to pull her away from the screaming crowd. They ran through the mall, attracting more girls as they went. "We gotta get out of the open!" He pulled her into a big department store. They ran into the men's clothes and weaved in and out of the racks of pants. The girls were very persistent.
Someone grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a room, shutting the door. Matt looked up and saw a man in a brown mall cop uniform. "Quite a following you attracted," he laughed, blue eyes merry.
"Thanks Mister. You saved my…err our butts." Matt gave him a weary smile. He turned around to look at his companion. "Are you okay Taylor?" She gave a quick nod. She stared off into space like she wasn't sure what just happened.
"You're that Matt Ishida kid, right?" Matt grimaced. Wouldn't that figure? Of all the mall cops in the entire mall, wouldn't it figure that this was one of those forty year old guys with no lives that just sat around in his underwear listening to his music while he wasn't at work. Matt gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah, my daughter has a poster of you in her room. This happen often?"
"It's been a while since the last time."
"Kind of hard to get around the mall, huh?" The man laughed. Matt nodded. "Wait here, I'll see what I can do." He slipped out the closed door. Matt looked around. The place looked like a surveillance room with monitors showing different places in the store.
Matt glanced down at Taylor. She leaned against him. Hand still gripping his after the run. "Wild, huh?" he asked halfheartedly.
She nodded. "Let's not do that again," she whispered. He laughed.
The door opened and the mall cop came in carrying a bag. "Here, take these. Best I could come up with. Just try to stay away from the fan girls, okay?"
"Thanks sir." The man left and Matt let go of Taylor's hand to open the bag. He pulled out a blue cap and some sunglasses. "Oh yeah, the sunglasses aren't going to look a little obvious." He pulled the cap over his blond hair and pulled it low over his cornfield blue eyes. He pocketed the sunglasses and took her hand again. "Okay, let's go."
They walked out of the security room and toward the exit of the department store. While walking out they passed the mall cop and Matt gave him a thankful nod. They emerged into the mall and walked began walking in a random direction. "Where do you think the others went?" Taylor didn't answer. "Aaron mentioned something about Soft Ware Etcetera, do you know where that is?" She pointed up and he saw the store they stood in front of was Soft Ware Etcetera. "Well, that was easy." They walked into the store and Taylor broke away from him upon seeing Aaron.
"Hey Taylor, Matt," Aaron waved. "What's with the hat?"
Matt shook his head. "It's nothing. Where is everybody?"
"Well, Tai's over there." He pointed to the back of the store. Matt could see Tai's hair over the shelves. "Sora, TK, and Kari are in Sun Coast."
"Sun Coast."
"Across the way." Matt turned and saw the store 'Sun Coast' across the way, like Aaron said. From where he stood, he could see Sora showing TK something and Kari talking to some people at the back of the store.
"Where'd you and Taylor go?" Aaron asked, poking Matt in the back.
"Sam Goodie. Then we went for a jog." Behind Aaron, Taylor giggled.
Aaron looked over at her. "What?" She shook her head. "Aye, I need Tera here," he said his voice lower.
Matt waited till Taylor went to go look at some computer games. "Why?" He asked.
"Why what?"
"Why do you need Tera?" He asked again.
"Tera's the only one she talks to."
"No one else?"
"Not really," Aaron shrugged. He began to flip through the Playstation games. "If she has to she'll talk. Why do you care?"
Matt picked up a game without looking at it. "I don't, I'm just nosy."
"Leave Taylor alone, okay?" Aaron replied as he picked up a CD case. "By the way, nice selection you got there." He walked away and Matt looked down at the game in his hand. Barbie's Fashion Show.
"We better go," a sweet voice said behind him. He turned to see Sora, TK, and Kari back from Sun Coast. "It's nine ten."
"Yeah, lemme buy this and we'll go," Aaron announced.
They filed out of the store and over to the middle of the walkway, where a couch and a chair had been set up. Kari went back to Sun Coast to talk to those people again. Not people, guys. From where he stood, he could see them better. Two of the three guys wore visor hats with pink and green hair sticking out. Guy number three had dark red and black hair. They all wore baggy pants revealing their boxers. They had bright beads around their wrists and guy number one, Pinky, had a pacifier on a string around his neck. Matt felt a surge of over protectiveness well up from somewhere he thought was dead inside of himself and had to resist the urge to grab her and drag her back over to them, away from those freaks.
Tai must have been holding back the same feeling by the way he kept looking at her.
"Ravers." Matt turned and saw Aaron standing behind him. "X-addicts. Keep your sister away them Tai."
"Do they go to our school?" Tai asked.
"No. They go to Sabino," Aaron replied.
"Hikari!" Tai called. She glanced up. "Let's go."
One of the guys put his arm out to block her way when she tried to leave. Tai jumped up, but stopped. The guy was holding up a pen to her. She took it and wrote something on his hand. She handed the pen back to him and sauntered out of the store. When she got to the group, Tai grabbed her arm and began pulling her away from the store. "I am never taking you out in public again!" She giggled.
They walked towards the exit. "Hey Matt."
Matt looked up and saw TK trying to catch up to him. "What's up?"
"I joined the school basketball team," the younger blonde said happily.
"Hey, that's great TK," Matt smiled.
"Our first game is this Friday. You'll come right?" He asked.
"Yeah!"
"Alright!" TK gave an excited jump. The brothers continued to walk together, but neither said a word. The group waited for Natalie and Eli at the exit. They appeared ten minutes later, carrying a couple bags.
"You're ten minutes late," Aaron teased.
"So?" Eli shrugged. "Just because you have no life and just want to get home doesn't mean the rest of us have to suffer."
"Oooo, low blow. You're not supposed to talk about my patheticness." He opened the door and they walked out. The night had cooled down considerably, and beside Matt, TK shivered.
"Hey Matt, check this out!" Tera took a running jump and landed beside Matt on the couch. The couch involuntarily whined where she landed.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're going to break this couch."
"Maybe," she laughed. "I haven't broken anything in a while. I'm due." She held something up to his face. "Look at this."
"What?" He pulled the paper out of her hand and away from his face. It was the National Inquirer. "What's this?"
"You've never heard of the National Inquirer?" He shook his head. "Its one of those magazine papers full of stupid crap."
"Stupid crap?"
"Yeah, stupid crap. Like 'Alien's Ate My Baby' and 'Big Foot Is Really Tom Arnold'. But the National Inquirer is mostly about celebrities."
"So what's so important that I have to read this?"
"Did you read the headline?" He shook his head. "Then read it!"
He read it. "What the hell?"
"That's not even the main part of it. Go to page ten. There's a big story there."
He opened the paper and flipped to page ten. His eyes skimmed the article. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered. "Yamato Ishida, ex-singer for the Teenage Wolves, was recently spotted in Tucson, Arizona, where he is currently attending rehab for a DRUG ADDICTION?!"
"Oops, you weren't supposed to read that." She turned the page and pointed to the second paragraph. "Read that."
"While touring a Tucson mall, Ishida was spotted with an unidentified female, assumed to be his girlfriend." He looked up at her. "Girlfriend?"
She pointed at a photograph on the other page. "Taylor." He studied it. Sure enough, it was him gripping Taylor's hand tightly. "How'd they find me?"
"I dunno," Taylor shrugged. "But it gets worse."
"What?"
"They found out where you live. Magazines have been calling all day. And Taylor said that she got mobbed from people recognizing her. Well, not people, girls." Matt laughed. "Hey, that's not funny!"
"You're right. It's not. Poor Taylor."
She pushed herself off the couch. "Here, you can keep this one. I got two copies." She turned to leave.
"Thanks. Hey, Tera."
She whipped back around. "Yeah?"
"I was just wondering, how come Taylor doesn't talk to anyone except for you?"
"She talks to you," Tera replied. "Which I have no explanation for. For some reason, she likes you despite you being a jerk."
He shook his head. "That's not the point. Why doesn't she talk? At all."
"Stuff."
"Stuff?" he repeated.
"Yeah, stuff." Tera sat back down. She turned to face him, pulling her legs up to sit cross-legged. "A lot of crap has happened to Taylor and it's not my place to tell you anything. You'd have to talk to her yourself."
"Okay."
"Why do you care?"
"Why does everyone ask me that? I'm not really that heartless, am I?"
"Yes," Tera stated simply. "You are."
"It don't matter what you think," Matt shrugged.
"Doesn't."
"Huh?"
"It 'doesn't' matter what I think."
"Whatever." He hit her with one of the pillows from the couch. She just laughed and attempted to pull it out of his hand.
"Stop!" She giggled.
"Tera!" Someone called. They both looked up and saw Tera's brother in the doorway. Matt masked a grimace. Eli could be the potential downfall of his unusual good mood.
"What?" She snapped.
"Upstairs." He didn't sound happy. This could be bad for both Matt and Tera.
"Why?"
"Because I said so!" She glared at him defiantly. "Now, Tera!"
"FINE! I'm going!" She pushed herself off the couch and stomped out of the room, leaving Matt with her brother.
For some reason Eli didn't like Matt, a feeling that Matt had no problem retuning. But Matt hadn't actually done anything to Eli, at least not yet. Eli didn't trust him. He'd formed an opinion of Matt before he had been able to piss him off. Highly uncool.
Eli pushed his chair into the living room. He stopped in front of Matt. "What?" Matt asked impatiently.
"What exactly happened between you and Taylor at the mall?"
"What the hell does it matter?"
"Don't give me that bullshit that you force feed everyone else! Taylor's all of a sudden getting mobbed at school and we have media people tying up our phone lines. What happened?"
"She dragged me into Sam Goodie and then we got chased by some crack head fan girls! Is that what you want to know? Is that good enough?"
"Just stay away from Taylor."
"Why does everyone say that? Is Taylor mentally challenged? Can she not decide who she can and can't hang out with?"
"Taylor's a good kid! I don't want her to get screwed up by a guy like you!"
"A guy like me?"
"Yeah, a guy like you!"
"What exactly is a guy like me?"
"A wanna-be bad boy. Too drugged out to ever accomplish anything. Too cool to care about anyone or anything." The veins in his neck were sticking out and his face held a tint of red in his cheeks.
"You have no clue," Matt replied coolly.
"Then enlighten me."
"I'm not "too cool" to care for anyone or anything. But every time I do, it's like a kick in the balls! I'm sick of getting hurt, and if you don't get out of my face this time, you're going to be the one hurting!" With that Matt got up and strode out of the room.
After his encounter with Eli in the living room, Matt realized just how alone he was in the house. Everyone had someone. Tera, Aaron, Sora and Tai formed quite a group. They often dragged TK and Kari to join their activities, refusing to let them be anti-social. Sometimes, which were becoming more often then not, TK and Kari joined without force. Eli had Natalie. And Taylor had everyone who was here before the arrival of the Japanese DigiDestined.
Being alone sucked. Being alone and drunk was something entirely different.
"Hey man, you up for a little drinking session?" Trevor asked as he caught up to Matt outside the portables. Trevor was a junior with the intellect of a seventh grader and the credits of a freshman. He was the drugged out bad boy Eli had talked about.
"Yeah," Matt replied with a smile. "You know it."
They turned, and Trevor led them to the farthest portable from the school where a bunch of rough looking guys sat and stood around smoking cigarettes and various other things. These were Trevor's friends and clients.
"Hey Trevor! Matt!" One of the guys yelled. It was Jeff, some burn out senior football player. He was always stoned when he wasn't on the football field, and Matt suspected he couldn't control the volume of his voice. He was ALWAYS yelling.
Trevor tossed his backpack beside Jeff and sat on it. "Hey Jeff. Hook me up dude." And as Trevor described him, he could roll a damn good joint.
"I can't stay long, Trevor," Matt said as he took a bottle of beer from the girl standing beside him offering it. It wasn't the only thing she offered to him, but he turned her down. "I got somewhere to be in twenty."
"Cool," Trevor shrugged. Matt took a long swig from the bottle and plopped himself down on the ground, leaning against the portable. "Want a puff?"
Matt lit up a cigarette. "No thanks."
"Oh yeah, forgot. You don't do drugs, that's lame." The others around him laughed, except for Jeff, who was busy rolling himself another joint.
Matt finished off the bottle and threw it into the alley just beyond the gate. No one ever suspected the bottles came from students, just drunken hobos looking for a meal in the trash can. He picked up another bottle and popped off the cap.
By his third bottle he forgot where he had to go.
"Hey Matt, isn't that the girl who doesn't talk from your house?" Janie, the girl who had offered the beer -among other things- to him, asked. Matt glanced up and saw Taylor standing by the corner of the portable.
What was she doing here? These guys could eat her alive. He had to get her to leave. "Yeah. I-uh-better see what she want."
He pushed himself off the ground and started walking towards her. "Aw, don't make her leave, Ishida. We could have a little fun with her," Jeff called with a sadistic smile.
Matt gritted his teeth. If they tried to hurt her- "What are you doing here, Taylor?" She didn't answer. "Taylor, get out of here." She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him, but he ripped away from her. "I'm not going out of here, but you are! Get out of here!" Anger swelled up in him. He lashed out and grabbed the front of her shirt. "Get out of here now!" He pushed her and she stumbled, landing in the dirt. The guys behind him laughed. She got up and ran off. Matt didn't even give her a second thought. He plopped down against the portable again.
"That was showing her who's boss!" Trevor laughed.
"I don't know if that was such a good idea," Jeff said. His voice was frighteningly low.
"Why?" Matt asked, paranoid of how quiet Jeff had gotten.
"She's got Elijah Leary looking out for her."
"What can that gimp do?" Trevor snapped.
"He's got the entire football team to back him up!"
"Oh," Matt muttered. That could be a problem. "I should probably go." He got up and stamped out his cigarette.
"Don't be a wuss and go crawling to them like a dog with your tail in between your legs. Grow a spine!" Trevor yelled angrily.
"I'm not. She was probably just coming to tell me that I had to go. I don't want to walk. I'll catch you later." He pulled his messenger bag over his shoulder and began to walk away.
"Hey Matt," Trevor called.
Matt stopped. "Yeah?"
"Where you going to be tomorrow night?" Trevor asked.
"The Viva teen night."
"We'll see you there then."
Matt lay on his bed, reading 'The Red Badge Of Courage', the required reading for his English class. The book wasn't too bad, for a book.
The door swung open and Gennai and Kari walked in, supporting TK. He had his arms wrapped around their shoulders and his ankle wrapped in a bandage. Matt jumped off his bed and stopped. Suddenly he felt really light headed. Damn alcohol. "What happened?"
"You'd know if you had come to my game," TK snapped. Gennai and Kari helped him sit on Tai's bed. "Like you said you would." He grimaced.
"What happened?" He asked.
"During his basketball game, he hurt his ankle," Gennai replied.
"Are you okay?"
"Why do you care? You said you would come to my game! You're a lying jerk, Matt!" TK screamed at his brother.
So that's where he was supposed to be this afternoon. Stupid! He let himself get drunk instead of going to TK's game like he was supposed to.
"TK, I'm sorry I-"
"I don't want to hear it!" The younger blonde yelled in response. Matt could see the anger in his crystal blue eyes. He pulled away from Gennai and Kari. "I'm fine! Just stop!"
"Fine," Gennai stepped back. "I'll bring you some ice." He walked out of the room.
"What the hell was so important? Huh Matt?" TK continued to yell. "You said you'd come. You missed all of my games in Japan! You said it would be different after you got kicked out of your band." Matt glanced over at Kari. She looked extremely uncomfortable as she shifted back and forth on her feet, staring at the ground. "Was it because I was dying then? You figured I wouldn't be alive long enough to actually go?"
Before Matt even thought about what he was about to do he socked TK in the face. TK gaped at him, open mouthed, as he touched his cheek where his brother hit him. It hurt; Matt had never hit him before.
"You're a stupid fuck, TK! How could you say that?"
Matt's blood boiled as he yelled at TK. His hands were still clenched into fists, leaving his knuckles white. TK had broke two unspoken rules between them. 1. Never talk about him dying and 2. Never talk about what happened between Matt and his band.
Without another word he walked out of his room.
"Jackass," TK muttered under his breath.
"Looks like you'll actually need that ice after all."
TK looked up and remember Kari was still in the room. What are you talking about?"
"Don't lie to me Takeru Takaishi! I still know you better then anyone! I saw you on the court today. You were wearing out. You faked that fall and pretended you were hurt just so you could rest without people seeing that you were getting sick.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he glared at her.
"Whatever TK." She poked his ankle. He was too busy glaring at her to grimace. "Told ya." Gennai came in. "Hope your face feels better," she said before walking out.
Gennai watched her leave. "Your face?" He looked at the blond boy and his eyes widened. "How'd you get a huge mark on your cheek in the five seconds I was gone?"
"I fucked up with my brother!" TK grabbed the ice and held it to his cheek. "Thanks."
Well, I liked this chapter. For once I actually liked what I wrote. I know I put a lot more cussing then I have before, but if just kinda...happened. Please tell me what you thought! This was hard to write. And I want to thank everyone who gave me their support when my grandmother died. It helped a lot. Later Dayz!