Tomoyo the Matchmaker
"Sakura, what do you want for Christmas?" Tomoyo asked her best friend, as they passed by stores and stores with fake snow scattered in the display windows.
"Sakura…" Tomoyo turned to her friend but realized that she wasn't even listening to her. Tomoyo, being her curious self, looked at the direction the emerald-green eyed girl was staring at. Tomoyo turned to see a couple guys sitting at the food court, sipping a couple smoothies while laughing. Even though Tomoyo couldn't exactly pinpoint her eyes on what Sakura was staring at, Tomoyo knew in her heart that Sakura was staring at a certain, amber-eyed boy.
"$50 if you're listening to a word I'm saying." Tomoyo crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Huh…what…?" Sakura snapped back to reality and looked at Tomoyo before they started walking down the mall again.
"Nothing; hey, what do you want for Christmas?" Tomoyo asked again, deciding to leave the money question out even though she had enough to spare, as they walked into a store with little trinkets and shiny jewelry; each trinket costing at least $20.
"I…I don't know." Sakura shrugged, she picked up a pair of Christmas tree earrings, looked at the price, and grabbed her pink wallet out. She opened it and looked inside the dollar section. She pulled out a wad of crinkled-up dollar bills. Sakura counted it and it only added up to $18-she had spent the whole other $82 on Christmas presents. Sakura frowned and placed the earrings back on the rack and continued trailing behind her best friend.
"Ah, but I know what you want." Tomoyo smirked and looked at Sakura.
"You do?" Sakura turned to the know-it-all, her soft, auburn hair swaying back and forth.
"Yes; you want something my money can't buy." Tomoyo waved her Platinum credit card in Sakura's face.
"I don't know about that." Sakura glanced back at the pair of earrings but looked back at Tomoyo quickly to ask what she had in mind.
"And what would that be?" Sakura grinned, 100 sure that Tomoyo was wrong.
"A special invitation from a certain someone with messy, chocolate-brown hair and amber eyes, and the name of Syaoran to ask you to Christmas Banquet..." Tomoyo smiled back. Sakura looked at her feet immediately, blushing. The smoky-amethyst haired girl grabbed Sakura's arm and led her out of the shop. The two girls took the escalator up to the second floor.
"Come on, Sakura, why don't you just tell him?" Tomoyo whined. Sakura looked up at Tomoyo again like she was crazy.
"Tomoyo, if you haven't noticed, I'm not that pretty; Syaoran had three years to fall in love with me, and I'm not exactly on top of the high school 'food chain'." Tomoyo stopped, planted her hands on her hips, and began scolding her friend.
"Sakura Kinomoto, shut your mouth! You're beautiful and it's Syaoran's loss if he doesn't like you! You're a great person, Sakura." Tomoyo sighed and began walking again.
"I'm sorry, Tomoyo, it's just, I don't know; Syaoran just doesn't seem to notice me." Sakura focused on her pink sneakers again as they walked into a candy shop. Sakura grabbed a little baggy and dropped some chunky, white chocolate pieces into it.
"Sakura …" Sakura gasped and looked up to see a familiar, black-haired girl.
"Meilin …" The two girls came together and squealed with delight at seeing each other over the weekend at the mall.
"What are you doing here?" Meilin asked, her red eyes shining with happiness.
"I'm Christmas shopping with Tomoyo. What about you?" Sakura nodded her head to Tomoyo on the other side of the room.
"That's such a coincidence! I'm Christmas shopping with a few people too!" Sakura smiled and Tomoyo came beside her.
"Meilin, who are you shopping with?" Tomoyo asked. Meilin spun around and hollered to her friends. A couple guys started popping out everywhere, each one with a familiar face. Suddenly, Sakura felt a jab in her side.
"Ouch, Tomoyo, what are you doing?" Sakura rubbed her side and Tomoyo nodded towards a chocolate-brown, messy-haired boy. Sakura bit her lower lip at seeing him-Syaoran.
"Oh, hi, Tomoyo..." A blue-haired boy popped out from behind a row of candy, his glasses glinting in the light. Tomoyo's cheeks grew a light pink color.
"Hi, Eriol..." Anybody could tell Tomoyo and Eriol liked each other and were just too stubborn to admit it.
"Hi, Sakura…" Eriol greeted Sakura and Sakura smiled.
"Hello, Eriol…" Eriol nodded and slipped his hands into his baggy, jean pocket.
"Hi, Sakura…" Sakura silently gasped and turned to Syaoran who greeted her.
"Hello, Syaoran…" Sakura thought that calling Syaoran sweetie would have a nicer ring to it but quickly pushed that thought out of mind.
"So, uh…well, Tomoyo, I have to talk to you about something." Meilin pushed Tomoyo out of the candy shop. Now, Sakura was stuck with the seven guys.
"Hey, I'm going to the arcade, whose coming?" Eriol walked to the door and all the guys followed.
"Well we can't just leave Sakura by herself. So, Syaoran, have fun." Eriol and the other five boys raced out of the shop to the arcade on the third floor before Syaoran could protest, leaving Sakura in a horrified expression and Syaoran giving his death glare.
Sakura immediately shut her mouth and began collecting candy again. Syaoran swiveled around and looked at the innocent girl before him. He pushed his hair back and walked up to Sakura.
"So, uh…what kind of candy do you like?" Syaoran looked down at the busy girl.
"Chocolate ones and sour ones…" Sakura answered happily. She looked up at Syaoran but realized that he was closer than she thought.
"Oh, cool, and by the looks of it, you really like white chocolate…" Syaoran grinned at the bulging bag of chocolate. Sakura looked at the bag.
"Oops…" Sakura poured some of it back in the box. Syaoran laughed at her innocence and absent-mindedness. Sakura pouted and Syaoran laughed even harder. Sakura and Syaoran both broke into a laugh, attracting everyone's attention. Sakura and Syaoran finally stopped after a minute or two.
"Syaoran, let's go!" Meilin shouted from outside. Tomoyo rejoined Sakura and smiled at Syaoran.
"Bye, Sakura, Tomoyo." Syaoran waved and ran out the door. Sakura stared at the door for awhile and Tomoyo raised an eyebrow.
"What's so interesting about that arch?" Tomoyo asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"He's cute and he smells good." Sakura answered. Tomoyo burst out laughing.
"Tomoyo, stop it. What's so funny? Everyone's staring at us. I think we've already attracted enough attention for today."
"I'm sorry, Sakura, it's just that I asked you what's interesting about the doorway and you said 'he's cute and smells good'. I just don't think doorways are cute or even smell good." Tomoyo kept giggling at Sakura's comment. Sakura focused on a little speck on the floor tiles and realized her mistake.
"Come on, Sakura, let's pay for your candy and go through the cute and good-smelling door." Tomoyo giggled every so often and Sakura finished shopping for presents after a few more hours, and Tomoyo fished her cell phone out.
"Yes, we're done shopping…okay, thanks." Tomoyo and Sakura walked to the front of the mall. The wind was blowing rather strongly and the rain was coming down really hard. Suddenly, a black limo pulled up the sidewalk. The driver ran to the two teenage girls and handed Tomoyo a purple umbrella. Tomoyo pointed it towards the ground and opened it up, swinging it above her head. Sakura joined her friend under the umbrella and walked to the limo, the rain tapping on the umbrella like bullets. Tomoyo and Sakura got into the limo and the driver placed the shopping bags on the black, leather couch beside the two girls and ran back to the driver's seat.
"Take us home, please." Tomoyo ordered the driver. The driver nodded at her and began driving out of the parking lot. Tomoyo closed the window thing that separated the limo so that the driver couldn't hear their conversation. Tomoyo leaned back on the couch and looked at Sakura, who was busy wiping her legs from the rainwater.
"Sakura, everybody can tell that you like Syaoran." Tomoyo blurted suddenly. For some reason, Tomoyo was itching to start that conversation again.
"Tomoyo, can we please drop it?"
"No, Sakura, why don't you just tell him? You've been crushing on him for three years already and I don't see your feelings going away anytime soon." Tomoyo protested. Tomoyo was determined to make Sakura tell Syaoran about her true feelings. She hated seeing her friend always thinking but never doing.
"Well, Tomoyo, if you have any idea of how I should get Syaoran to like me, please tell me. Otherwise, please leave it as it is. Syaoran and my relationship didn't change for three years. I would hate to see it break now, on the last year that I'll be seeing him." Sakura folded her arms over her chest and leaned back also. Now, Tomoyo could tell that Sakura was on the verge of getting mad at her if Tomoyo kept pushing her. Tomoyo sighed and stared out the window. The trees and stores were all coming into a hazy blur and the raindrops were sliding off the glass window as the wind kept blowing. Suddenly, a smile spread across Tomoyo's face. An idea had popped in Tomoyo's head and she was eager to share it with Sakura.
"Well, what if I can get you two together?" Sakura looked up at Tomoyo with confusion in her brilliant eyes. Tomoyo's smile kind of scared Sakura, she didn't really know if she wanted to know or not; knowing Tomoyo, it'd probably be something really risky.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked Tomoyo. Tomoyo smiled and scooted over to her friend, closing the gap between them.
"I mean what if I can play matchmaker and actually get you two together?"
"Well, what if you can't?"
"Then I'll stop bothering you about Syaoran." Tomoyo blurted, not realizing what she just said. Tomoyo immediately regretted it but knew she couldn't take it back. Sakura smiled slyly, so sure that Tomoyo couldn't do it.
"Fine, Tomoyo, you have a deal. If you can get us together, thanks. But if you can't, you have to stop teasing me about it. And you have to do it before the Christmas Banquet." Sakura added.
"What? But that's three weeks!" Tomoyo panicked.
"I know, but I'm not going to let you use up all my senior year to get us together. And you were so sure of yourself. So, what is it going to be? Take it or leave it." Sakura smirked. Tomoyo thought for a while, battling with herself. What if she couldn't do it? Then she'd have to suffer all year, watching Sakura stare from afar. But what's life without a little adventure?
"Fine, I'll do it." Sakura smiled at Tomoyo's answer, "But…on one condition. You have to let me do anything to you to make Syaoran like you, even if it means a whole new makeover." Tomoyo added. Hey, why should Tomoyo be the only one dangling from a thin line?
"Fine, but you better keep your promise. You have to keep your mouth shut if you lose." Sakura warned. Tomoyo nodded and they both leaned back, relaxing as they both thought about what just happened, both of them rather worried about the whole idea.
Hi everybody. Well, this is my first story. Well I've read other stories and their reviews before so I know that even if I beg for you guys to be kind, a couple really harsh critics will not be kind so I won't even bother. But I just hope that you all like my story.
athena