Would You Believe Me If I Said I Didn't Need You?

By the time Sora and I got to the bleachers, everybody else who was in our group was there. The Digi Destined were all together (except Davis and Tai who were obviously playing in the actual match) and even Matt was sitting with them, we had previously arranged to sit with our other group.

I was guessing he knew exactly what Sora wanted to discuss and knew my feelings on the matter, so I sent him a thumbs up as we were approaching the group.

“Izzy, can you please move over a little? I want to be able to sit next to my best friend.” Sora said to Izzy, and the entire group sent us looks but sent out a sigh of relief, relaxing themselves as they had probably been embracing for something uncomfortable all week.

Joe then grumbled and moved over, giving Izzy enough room to move over for Sora and I to sit down.

Before I could even try to start a conversation with Sora, Joe continued his whining by saying he still didn’t ‘understand’ soccer, so as an ex-soccer player, Sora began explaining everything to him.

“So uh, needless to say you and Sora are now okay?” Matt assumed, sending me a huge smirk.

“Sora and I are, yes. I’ll give you guys time alone later to sort out the issues between yourselves.” I smirked back at Matt.

“Man, I hope Tai starts speaking to me again. I don’t know what his problem is!” Matt blurted out, and I saw Sora look over and shoot Matt an uneasy glance before turning back to Joe and Izzy.

I knew Matt and Tai weren’t speaking, but I hadn’t sat down and thought about it, as I had been trying to push the Sora and Tai situation to the back of my mind. It was pretty immature for Tai to be ignoring Matt; he had done absolutely nothing wrong. I had made out with Tai at a party, and then later on he saw me kissing Matt.

He can be mad at me, whatever. But Matt wasn’t at that party and had no idea what had happened between Tai and I, hell nobody did as we kept it all secret. Besides, Tai was the one going out with Matt’s ex. He was just as bad as me. He was being unfair, ridiculous and hypocritical.

“We’ll sort it out later, okay?” I replied to Matt, and he grabbed me by my shoulders with one arm to pull me into him and gave me a kiss on the top of my head just as both soccer teams appeared on the pitch and each respective school let out loud cheers.

***

It was a while since the soccer game had finished. The younger Digi Destined were now sitting with us while we waited for some of the crowd to disperse.

Matt and I were also briefly talking to some of the friends in our social circle.

“Didn’t Tai just play fantastically? If he didn’t get that last goal in those last five minutes, who knows what would have happened?” Marcus, one of Matt’s friends and mine remarked.

“I think all the players played well, but Tai definitely shined tonight.” Sora beamed, proud of her boyfriend’s achievements. She turned shy though when Matt began to agree with her.

“There’s apparently going to be an after party at the home ground after nine tonight. I don’t know if Tai has already invited you all, but you three should come.” Marcus stated, and I nudged Sora, as she apparently felt like Matt’s group had abandoned her since her and Matt broke up.

“Oh I’d love to, but I have a tennis match early tomorrow.” Sora pouted, and I knew she was now feeling gutted and not only because she couldn’t celebrate her boyfriend’s victory.

I turned to Matt to see if he was even remotely interested, however he answered before I could even say anything.

“Scarlett and I already have dinner plans, and I have a busy day tomorrow. So we won’t be making it.” Matt firmly replied to Marcus.

Whilst Sora acted like what Matt just said wasn’t out of the ordinary, Marcus scanned my face for my reaction and I had to suppress a frown. I wouldn’t say anything out of fear that I’m overreacting but shouldn’t he consult me before answering for me? Oh well, he was driving I guess.

Marcus then said his goodbyes, and Matt and Sora were now standing around awkwardly, as they had been forced into the same conversation. They needed to have a talk with each other, without me. It’s probably been a long time coming, even before Matt and I got together.

The kindest thing I could do for them both right now would be to disappear for a small while so they could talk properly.

“Hey guys, I’m going to go to the toilet and find somewhere to buy a bottle of water. So I’ll be back soon.” I said to them both, and quickly bounded off before the two could make an excuse to depart each other’s company.

I made my way down the bleachers, following the signs that pointed to where the toilet was. It was easy to dart in and out of the crowds, as there weren’t many left now. The other school left straight after the match as their team lost, and our school’s spectators had either left to get ready for the after party, or to continue on with their Friday night like normal.

I was still taking my time though, wanting to give Sora and Matt enough time to break the ice they’ve been holding onto for the past nine months or so since they broke up.

The toilets were inside the building next to the bleachers on the sporting grounds, which I was guessing held the club change rooms, administration areas, a function room and a cafeteria area, like most of these places do. I decided to go for a small wander after I was done in the toilet, which was down a fairly dark corridor.

After finishing my business in the cubicle, I washed my hands, fixed my hair and applied some more lip-gloss before heading out.

I was right about the building, further down the corridor I found the entrance to two different sets of changing rooms, a few locked doors which would be used for storage or whatever else they needed at this place, and I found a big room with the door unlocked, and had a quick peek inside and saw a fairly plain large room, with cheap carpet, and cheap tables and chairs. It was obvious it was a function room for functions with a low budget, probably sporting ones.

I’d been gone for a small while and I was getting bored, so I decided I should probably start walking back and take my time in getting back to the others. However, my plans instantly changed just as I was back in the corridor heading back.

“Scarlett? Hey, what are you doing down here?” Tai asked me, and I turned around to face him and jogged towards him, sending him a friendly smile.

“Hey Tai! Great win! Um, I told the others I needed to use the toilet, but the real reason I’m here is because I needed Sora and Matt to be alone enough for them to break the ice and have a good talk.” I admitted to Tai, grinning sheepishly.

“Ah, I see Sora did end up talking to you. She’s missed you a lot, you know. She feels she overreacted about the whole thing and was too scared to approach you and tell you she was sorry, so I’ve been talking to her and convincing her to do it. I’m really glad for both of your sakes that you’re both cool again.” Tai informed me, sending me a big warm smile.

“Wouldn’t expect less from the Crest of Courage holder. Well, actually, I’m kind of surprised you’re being nice to me, and it was you giving her the courage to talk to me. But I shouldn’t be mentioning this should I, sorry… this is awkward.” I babbled out, my entire face going rosy red and I was finding it hard not to bury my hands in my head and slink away. I don’t get it, why am I feeling so embarrassed?

“Actually, we ourselves need to have a bit of an ice breaker chat too, I think. Now’s not a great time, you need to get back to Matt, and I have a soccer team bus leaving really soon to the pizza parlour. You should come along to the after party, we’ll have a chat there.” Tai said to me.

“Oh, um, I don’t know. Marcus was begging Matt and I to come ourselves, but Matt didn’t want to go and spoke for me and said we’re not going. So I’m not going…” I trailed off, feeling very awkward about all of this and wanting to get out of this conversation.

“So? Just come along later. You’ve told me you live walking distance to school, right? Just go for a walk later, come to the after party for a small while and if Matt has any issues, you were just going for a walk and stumbled across it all. I don’t have a problem with you anymore Scarlett, but I feel in order for us to move on and finally be friends, we need some closure on the past few years, as well as recent events.” Tai mentioned, and his last sentence made my heart speed up shockingly. I kind of wanted to avoid talking about that, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to.

“Alright, I’ll wander down to the school after Matt and I are done with dinner, but it’s nearly eight now, so I definitely wouldn’t be there at nine. I’ll try to be as fast as I can, but don’t get too drunk before I make it alright? This needs to be a sober conversation.” I said to Tai.

“That’s okay, I understand Scarlett. I best be off, but I’ll see you later tonight, alright?” Tai stated.

We then went awkward for a small second, not knowing how to say goodbye properly. A hug would be too improper, we both knew that. So I took a few steps back and sent a small wave, before turning around and making my way back to the bleachers.

I made my way up them, our group (minus a few, Joe and Cody were now gone) were the only people left on them, as the game had finished just under an hour ago. It was a serene feeling, from being packed to the rafters to now having just my group left.

I noticed that Yolei had joined into the conversation with Sora and Matt, so it was easy to grab Matt’s attention.

“How’d you go?” I asked him, as he laced my fingers into his as soon as I approached.

“Yep, Sora and I are going to be all fine.” Matt smiled.