Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Come Dance With Me ❯ Chapter 1

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Come Dance with Me

By Time Lady

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Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I am just borrowing them for the
duration of this story.

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Author's note: This is a sequel to "In His Shadow."

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When the bell rang at Odaiba High School, the majority of the students
made a break for it. The only groups remaining after school were the
various clubs and sports teams working on whatever projects or
practice they needed. One such group occupied the art room. The tables
were covered with paint, posterboard, and glitter. As the high school
Art Club designed posters for the school dance, various conversations
rippled through the art room.

"So what are you going to wear?"

"I saw the cutest dress, but my mother says it's too expensive."

"Better than my dad. He said that if I wore the dress I bought, he
wouldn't let me out of the house."

"Do you have a date yet?"

"Yeah. It's one of the basketball players."

"I think Kei is going to ask me, but I don't know if I'll go out with
him."

"Still holding out for Matt Ishida?"

"You better believe it."

Jun Motomiya rolled her eyes in exasperation. Didn't they realize that
Matt wasn't interested in any of them? No, of course not. It certainly
took her long enough to make that discovery. She tried to ignore them
and concentrate on her painting.

"Hey Jun, do you have a date to the dance yet?" asked one of the
girls.

"Not yet," admitted Jun.

"So, do you have someone in particular that you want to ask you?"

"Of course," replied Jun tersely. At one time she had lived for these
types of conversations. But no longer.

"Let me guess," said another girl. "Hoping for Matt to ask you too?"

"Get a life. Matt has a girlfriend," returned Jun. The other girls
stared at Jun, their paintbrushes paused in mid stroke.

"Are you feeling all right?" asked someone.

"Yeah. Weren't you president of the Matt Ishida fan club?"

"I gave that up over three months ago." Jun felt the stares of the
other girls as she went back to her work. She didn't care. The last
three months had been the happiest she had known. There weren't any of
the wishful fantasies the other girls indulged in. There was actually
a person who cared about her. Who needed Matt Ishida anyways?

A nagging uncertainty tugged in the back of her mind. Would the person
she really wanted to go to the dance with ask her?

---

Tai stared at the phone. According to Mrs. Motomiya, Jun wasn't home
yet. Some sort of Art Club project after school. He smiled to himself.
It had taken a bit of convincing on his part, but once Jun showed her
drawings to the art teacher, she had been sucked into the school's art
world immediately. He glanced at the clock. He was home earlier than
usual, as soccer practice was canceled. No wonder Jun wasn't home yet.

Suddenly the phone rang. He jumped and grabbed the receiver. "Kamiya
residence. . . oh, hi Sora."

"Hi Tai," said Sora on the phone. "Have you spoken to Matt lately?"

"Not in the last day or so. Is something wrong?"

"No, well, not really."

"You don't sound so sure."

"Well. . ." she hesitated. "It's just that Matt hasn't asked me to the
school dance yet."

"His band is performing at the school dance. He might not be taking a
date at all." There was silence on Sora's end for a long moment. "Or
he could just be waiting until the last minute to ask you," added Tai.
"Some guys don't ask a girl till a couple of days beforehand."

"Yeah. . . you might be right," admitted Sora. "Have you asked anyone
to the dance?"

"Not yet," said Tai. "But I'm going to. Anyhow, I need to go. If I see
Matt, I'll give him a none too subtle hint."

"Thanks Tai. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Tai hung up the phone. A few months ago, this type of conversation
would have him rattled and upset. Not anymore. He glanced at the
clock. Jun was supposed to be finishing up in another hour.

---

"Finally," thought Jun as she slid her last poster onto the drying
rack. Her paint brushes and tray were rinsed, the poster paints put
away. She was actually tired of the discussion of the dance. Most of
the girls were discussing was how they could get noticed by Matt. They
refused to listen to Jun when she said Matt was dating Sora. "I can't
believe I used to be like that," she muttered as she opened the art
room door.

"Like what?"

Jun closed the door. Standing beside the doorway was Tai. She smiled,
feeling better already. "An obsessive, musician-chasing fan girl."

"So now you're an obsessive, soccer player-chasing fan girl," he
replied with a grin.

"OOOO YOU. . ." Jun found herself cut off by a quick kiss on the lips
by Tai. When he pulled away, she gave him a mock glare. She knew Tai
was teasing. Particularly when he entwined his fingers with her own.
"And what are you doing here now?" she asked him.

"Do I need a reason to come and see you after school?" he returned as
they walked down the hall to her locker.

"When you don't have soccer practice, you're usually out of here
immediately."

"I got lonely waiting for you to get home." They stopped at her
locker. He watched as she pulled out her backpack. Grinning, he
noticed all the soccer team memorabilia that had replaced the Young
Wolves pictures lining June's locker, which she abruptly closed.

"And you couldn't wait for me to get home?"

"I couldn't wait to ask you to go to the dance with me." Tai paused
and watched the emotions flashing across Jun's face. Surprise,
happiness, excitement, mixed with a bit of uncertainty. "Of course, if
you don't want to go with me, I'll underst. . ." Tai was cut off in
turn by Jun's lips. Her arms wrapped around his neck. He found himself
practically melting into her embrace. In the back of his mind, he was
glad school was out for the day. When they finally separated, he asked
breathlessly "Should I take that as a yes?"

"What do you think?" she replied.

---

Nervously Tai took the elevator up to the Motomiya's apartment. He had
to will himself not to crush the container of the corsage in his
hands. Sora had tried to hide her upset when he ordered the corsage
last week. At that point, Matt hadn't asked her to be his date to the
dance. Matt finally asked her a couple of days ago, but not before
confiding in Tai that he was uncertain about taking Sora as a date to
the dance. The Young Wolves would be playing most of the evening. He
wouldn't be able to spend much time with her. Tai told his friend to
discuss it with Sora. She would understand.

Once that was out of his mind, Tai felt free enough to make his own
plans for the dance. It wasn't a formal, so deciding what to wear was
nearly impossible. He settled for khaki slacks, a navy and khaki
striped shirt, and a navy sports coat. As much as he tried to get his
hair under control, he had to settle for it's usual state. The
elevator opened. He found the right apartment and knocked on the door.

"Oh, good evening Tai," said Mr. Motomiya. "Jun will be ready in a
minute. Come in."

"Thank you." Tai had been to the Motomiya's before. He had even been
here to pick Jun up on dates before. So why did he feel doubly
nervous?

Jun appeared about 5 minutes later. Tai just stared. It almost didn't
look like the Jun he knew. Her hair had been meticulously pulled back
into a sleek ponytail. It was too short to make into a bun, but the
loose ends had been tightly curled. She wore a simple, olive green,
sleeveless sheath dress that came down to just below her knees. Her
black, patent leather pumps matched the small purse she held. If he
didn't know this was Jun standing before him, he would have had to
look several times to be sure it was her. "You. . . you look great,"
he stammered. Jun's mother stood behind her, smiling.

"Thanks," said Jun, faintly blushing. Tai took the corsage out of the
box and slipped it on her wrist. She admired the large orchid. "It's
lovely Tai."

"Now," said Mr. Motomiya, "the dance is over at 11. I expect you two
back here by 11:30, no later than 12. Understood?"

"Yes sir," said Tai. "My dad is picking us up at 11."

"All right," said Mr. Motomiya.

"Have a good evening," added Mrs. Motomiya.

---

Tai's father dropped the pair at the gym by 8. The party had already
started. Matt and his band were on stage performing. Jun and Tai saw
Sora standing at the side of the stage. Naturally, she wasn't alone.
Several other young women were gathered around the stage hanging on
every note played by the band. A few couples were on the dance floor.
Tai and Jun joined them.

More and more individuals, couples, and groups arrived at the dance.
The dance floor slowly became crowded. "Come on," said Tai. "Let's get
some punch."

"All right," agreed Jun. "I'm a little tired of getting shoved
around."

They made their way over to the refreshment table. Tai ladled some
fruit punch into a cup and handed it to Jun, then prepared a cup for
himself. He glanced towards the stage. Sora still stood in front, but
most of the other girls had moved on, asked by various boys to dance.

"A most prodigious event, I must say," said a voice. Looking back
towards the table, Tai found Izzy next to him.

"Hey Izzy. Didn't know if you were coming."

"Yes." He turned to a young lady next to her. Her brunette hair was in
a long braid down her back. She wore a modest skirt and sweater.
"Actually, Mara here invited me. Mara is the secretary of the computer
club."

"I think we've met," said Tai with a nod.

"Come on Izzy," said Mara. "Let's dance."

"Ready to go back out?" Tai asked Jun. She took one more sip of her
punch, set down the cup, and let Tai lead her back to the dance floor.

After some more dancing, they took another break. They found Sora at
the punchbowl. "So, are you enjoying yourselves?" she asked them.

"It's a little loud," said Jun. "And crowded. But I'm definitely
having more fun than I ever had at a school dance."

"Me too," said Tai. "So when is the band taking a break?"

"They should be taking a fifteen minute break after this song," said
Sora.

"We better take something to eat and sit down," said Tai. "Once the
band stops, you won't be able to get near this place, let alone find a
seat at a table. Do you want us to save you a couple of seats?"

"Yes. Thanks," said Sora. Her smile seemed a little forced.

Tai and Jun found a small table far off from the dance floor. They set
down their plates and cups. Tai gallantly pulled out a chair for Jun.
As they predicted, once the song ended and the band went on break, the
refreshment table was deluged with students. Ten minutes later, Sora
and Matt appeared.

"Thanks for saving us seats," said Matt. "I wish I could enjoy it.
They didn't set up anything as a backup, so we really can't take long
on break."

Jun saw the look of disappointment and anger in Sora's eyes. She had
to admit, she felt sorry for Sora. Sora had a date to the dance, but
couldn't dance because her date was one of the featured performers.

"Sounds like whoever planned this didn't really plan," said Tai. Girls
started crowding around the table. Jun recognized most of them.

For Sora, Matt's break was all too brief. The planners of the event
hadn't arranged for another band or for recorded music during the
band's break. Sora watched as Matt and the other members of his band
fought their way through the crowd back to the stage. "I shouldn't
have come," she said in a low voice. "This was a big mistake. I
thought we'd be able to spend some time together. This is the worst
dance I've ever attended."

"Sora," said Jun, "no one could have known how they were going to plan
the dance. Matt probably appreciates the fact that you're here for
him."

"I know," said Sora, "but sometimes I'm tired of waiting for him to
finish."

The three remained at the table until Sora finally stood and went to
reclaim her position by the stage. A few minutes later, Tai and Jun
returned to the dance floor.

"I'm really glad you asked me to come to the dance," Jun told Tai.
"I'm having a great time."

"Me too," he said as they began to dance.

---

Tai and Jun danced for most of the night. As the evening and the dance
was drawing to a close, Jun excused herself to go to the restroom. She
returned to the gym. The band was finishing up their song. Jun watched
Sora standing beside the stage. From the look on Sora's face, Jun knew
she was disappointed with the dance. "That could have been me," mused
Jun sadly.

"All right," announced Matt into his microphone. "It's nearly 11
o'clock. Time for the last dance. Guys, get your favorite girls and
prepare for some slow dancing. This song is for all the lovely ladies
out there."

Jun felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Tai behind her
"Come dance with me," he said. With a smile, Jun followed Tai onto the
dance floor. As he pulled her into his arms, she knew that while this
was the last dance of the evening, it wasn't the last dance for the
two of them.

The End.