Chapter 9: Deviation

Rika couldn't sleep; she was turning on the couch, unable to find a comfortable position. Even so, if she managed to fall asleep all that would greet her would be nightmares; things no one wants to remember, the cruelty you witness in the real world is shot back at you ten fold. Nightmares are made up of thoughts, and thoughts prosper from what the thinker has seen. In other words, a nightmare is your own fault. Rika, having seen so many cruel things that reality has to offer, would be unable to sleep without having a nightmare; so, she resorts to being awake and waiting for the sun to come up. She turns her head and sees Cramon; he was sprawled on the floor using his jester hat as a pillow, a bubble of snot blowing out of hit nose. She gives a small smile at her companion and sits up. The apartment she lives in was void of material things; it only held the bare necessities, one of which was a laptop. She walks over to the laptop and turns it on; with nothing better to do she starts to scroll through the sites.

Morning approached smoothly, and with it she had fallen asleep. Her head resting on the keyboard, Cramon still sprawled on the floor, and the laptop screen showing a faint light. Her head falls off the keyboard, and moves the mouse slightly, revealing the image that she had been looking at before. It was a picture of the DigiDestines, Henry, Takato, and Ryo. Despite the sudden bump to her head Rika did not wake, for once in a long time she was having a pleasant dream.

The Meadows' family house was nothing like a house; in fact it was a large mansion that resides on the Meadows' family estate. Butlers and maids that would tend to their master's and guests needs; a place only heard of that few have ever experienced, and this place is Sydney Meadows' home. Despite it being morning the jolly high school girl was wide awake. She was digging through her wardrobe and tossing unwanted clothing on the floor. Her blonde hair in a ratty mess with all the moving around her was doing in her cramped closet.

A maid around the ripe age of twenty-four appeared in the doorway to Sydney's room. "Mistress," she begins, "what are you doing up so early and making so much noise?"

Sydney looks up and acknowledges the maid. "Good timing, help me find something."

"Find what?" asks the maid.

Sydney gives a mischievous smile. "My swimsuit, and while we're at it we should bring another one to."

"What do you need a swimsuit for?"

Sydney's smile becomes even wider. "Class field trip!"

Looks like Rika won't be given much of a break anytime soon.

For once people were actually happy to go to school. A whole of one hundred and fifty people all waiting outside the school gates for a bus to appear; remarkably no one was absent today. Rika was resting in the shade of a tree beside the school gate. She was in a very sour mood, she hadn't forgotten that there was a school over night field trip today, in fact she had even decided to stay home pretending to be sick but a certain rich friend arrived at her door step and forced her to come to school, and that certain rich friend had a bunch of burly bodyguards and a bullet proof limo to keep Rika in check. So Rika was sulking.

Sydney walks up to Rika. Rika sees her but quickly turns around, still angry about this morning. "Aww, come on don't be like that!" whimpers Sydney. She points at the large group of people waiting near the gate. "Look, the DigiDestines are in 3A so they're coming with us on our field trip. Isn't that awesome! Ohhh, these two days are going to be the best!"

"Sydney," Rika looks at her obnoxious friend. "those three only make things worse for me."

"Why? They're handsome, handsome, and oh did I forget handsome?" jokes Sydney.

"First off," Rika glares at the three guys who were easy to spot in the crowd. "Henry is a perfectionist, Takato is a spineless wimp, and Ryo is a perverted egocentric SOB."

"You say all of that as if you know them." says Sydney who was trying to look at her idols in a different light but unable to.

"I did." Rika looks down at the floor and adjust her glasses so they won't slip off her face while she's sulking. Sydney couldn't think of anything that she could say to help her friend out of her gloomy mood so she just stays quiet.

The buses arrive and everyone competes for the bus that the DigiDestines will be on. After the noise settles down Rika and Sydney get up and board the bus that was the farthest away from 3A's.

"You two were too slow." says their homeroom teacher. "This one's full, go to the next one."

Rika looks at Sydney and Sydney looks at Rika. They both shrug their shoulders and head to the middle bus. "Full, go to the next one." The next one was the last one and the first one, in other words the bus with the DigiDestines and it just so happens that they have two empty seats left. So Rika and Sydney board class 3A's bus and sit down. Rika sets down her bag and leans against the window. The school was already drifting away as the bus started to move. She slowly closes her eyes, 'Cramon, Jeamon, Cermon, I know you're watching. So please help me through this.' A silent prayer to her friends, and she falls asleep.

-"Oy! Wake up!" says someone as they shake her shoulders. Rika's eyes snap open and she instinctively swats away the person's hand. "Ouch!" squeals Sydney.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else." says Rika.

"Who pissed you off that badly to get hand slapped?" jokes Sydney to lighten the mood.

Ryo appears in Rika's mind but she swats the image away. She grabs her bag and stands up. "No one worth mentioning."

Sydney shrugs and picks up her bag. The two get off the bus and are met with a salty smell. The bus drives away revealing a beautiful ocean view. "So this is the beach." says Rika as she and Sydney head to class 3C's group.

"You never been to the beach?" asks Sydney.

Rika's eyes become darker. "once with my mother and father before they split up." She doesn't wait for Sydney to respond and walks over to her homeroom teacher.

"So for now we are going to drop off our luggage at the hotel then everyone gets the rest of the day to play at the beach." says Ms. Takemura, Class 3C's homeroom teacher. Everyone cheers and starts to race to the hotel, class 3A and B also joining suit. Rika was still at the parking lot, looking out at the ocean as the sun starts to rise up and greet a new day. "It's beautiful isn't it?" asks Ms. Takemura.

Rika looks at her and nods. "Its better then the view one gets from Tokyo."

Ms. Takemura smiles, "That's certainly true." She picks up her own bags and starts to head towards the hotel; she turns her head and smiles at Rika and Sydney. "You two coming?"

"Yeah!" yells Sydney who picks up her bags and runs after the teacher. But Rika stays a while longer, her eyes fixated on the setting sun, not wanting to turn away from it, afraid that it would disappear forever. After a few more minutes she decides to looks away, with her bag in hand; careful not to hurt her scars, she heads towards the hotel.