Better the Devil You Know

Chapter 8: Close Shave

Davis sat in his English class staring at the blackboard as the teacher translated yet another sentence from Japanese into English. He leant over to Ken so he could whisper into his best friend's ear. "Dude, I hate Wednesdays. When the hell is this going to end?"

Ken glanced at the goggle-head sitting to his left. "Ten more minutes, but it's really not that boring."

"Yes it is," Davis replied while he rolled his eyes. "I can already speak English thanks to you, Mimi and our other Digidestined friends around the world."

Ken shook his head. The genius had been helping Davis with his school work since the beginning of their friendship and it was paying off for Davis. With Ken's help the goggle-head's understanding of various subjects, especially languages, had increased more than anyone had expected. In fact it had helped him enter the top class for their English language lessons, putting him with Ken, TK and Kari.

TK and Kari sat behind Davis and Ken, taking notes off the board. Their body language suggested they wanted this lesson to be over as quickly as Davis did. Both of them were taking regular glances at the clock above the blackboard as they waited for the bell to signal the end of the lesson and school for that day.

TK noticed Davis anxiously tapping his pen on his notebook. "You'd think I would be the nervous one," the blonde boy lent to his right and whispered in Kari's ear.

Kari looked back at TK and gave him a weak smile. Her concern and apprehension was etched across her face too, making her feelings about the impending battle clear.

TK instantly noticed his best friend's feelings and clasped her left hand with his right. "Don't worry, Patamon and I will be fine and all of this will be over by this time tomorrow," the teen boy reassured her and gave her one of his trademark hope filled grins.

"I know you can do it but that doesn't stop me from worrying about you," she sighed. Kari was about to continue but a note addressed to TK landed on their desk. The folded piece of paper had come from two girls sat at the desk to her right. The first of the girls was a tanned, slim girl with waist length sandy brown hair and bronze eyes. To her right sat a slightly shorter, lighter skinned girl with shoulder length black hair and jade green eyes. TK slid his hand off Kari's and began to unfold the note so he could read it. It was a letter from them both asking TK if he would like to go on a date with either of them.

Kari sighed again. "Every week," she said under her breath so only TK could hear her. She watched her blonde best friend write his reply to the girls.

"Hey Meg, hey Sayu. I'm not interested in dating anyone at the moment. I'm busy with my friends, basketball and a few other things. Sorry to disappoint you. From TK."

Kari handed the note back to the other girls before turning back to TK. "They never stop, do they?" She whispered.

"Nope," TK shook his head before smirking. "But at least it's taking your mind of things."

The brunette Digidestined smiled back. "I'm still thinking of you though," she replied in a mocking tone.

Suddenly the bell rung throughout the school to signal the end of the school day, instantly forcing the thoughts of what was about to happen back into the front of Kari's mind. It was all she could think about again as she and the rest of the class started to pack away their notebooks and pencil cases into their bags.