Fear and Panic!
Prologue
I don't like him...
I don't like him...
I don't like him...
I'm just...obsessed.
That's not liking.
...Right?
Sakura looked up from the paper, eyebrows knit, holding the mechanical pencil as if it held her life, and glanced towards a piece of paper she'd taped to the wall above her desk.
At first glance you'd think it was a to-do list of sorts, seeing how Sakura glanced at it every now and then whenever she woke up in the morning, or when she was doing her homework, or when she was about to go to bed.
But if you thought, you'd be mistaken.
It's not a to-do list. It's not even a list. It's a test. A science test that Sakura had done from grade 9. In red ink was a big "92%" on the top, circled, with a rushed and mangled smiley face next to it. It wasn't like Sakura liked science; in fact, she kind of hated it because it was her worst subject, but whenever she saw the paper, she'd smile and any worries she'd had on her mind were instantly gone.
That one test in her entire freshman year was the highest mark she'd received in science, but that wasn't exactly the reason she cherished it so immensely.
The class mingled with whispers and friendly chatter as the 9th graders tried to study for their upcoming exam, all except Sakura, who was trying to text as inconspicuously as she could. Kakashi was at his desk, typing away at his computer paying no mind to the class. Or so Sakura thought.
"Sakura".
It was Kakashi.
She turned abruptly, 'Oh my god, he's mad that I'm texting in the middle of class!'.
"Could you come here?", he asked calmly from behind his desk. She shamefully stood up, shoving her phone into her pocket, making her way over to him. When she was right in front of him, she stared at him with the most guilty eyes, and he gave her a blank stare back.
And then he asked the last thing she would've guessed.
"Do you remember what mark you got for the midterm?"
She blinked for a moment, and with a clueless face, asked, "Huh?".
He repeated, "What mark did you get for the midterm?".
She looked confused, "The midterm?".
"Yeah"
She thought for a moment, and then said bewildered, "...We didn't have midterm exams this year".
He sighed and mumbled, "I mean the midterm report card".
She blinked again, "Oh, uh...I don't remember...".
"Was it an 80?"
"I dunno"
"Was it a 70?"
"I dunno"
"Was it between 70 and 80?"
"I dunno!"
He looked almost surprised that she wouldn't have remembered such a thing, "You really don't remember?".
"Yeah!", she exclaimed, and then wondered for a moment, "Wait...did you lose it!".
He smiled at her cluelessness, "...I didn't lose it, it's just that you've improved a lot since the beginning of the semester".
She blinked again, and then thought for a while again. 'Oh my god! Does he think I've been cheating!', "Uh...wait, are you suspecting me of doing something...?".
He chuckled lightly, "No, I just wanted to say on your report card that you've done really well".
She blinked blankly, and finally said, "Oh, okay".
She turned slowly and walked back to her desk with a blank expression, but in her mind she was practically exploding all over the classroom in colorful globs of glitter.
Sakura liked Kakashi. She liked him from the moment she first saw him. She knew it deep deep down inside, but pushed it out of her head and told herself she didn't. That she was just 'obsessed' like with a TV show or a new game, because in the past, whenever she developed a crush on a boy in her class and let herself believe she did like him, it would usually end up in a rejection and her moping around for weeks.
And this was different. Kakashi was a teacher. He was also married. Someone had taken his heart before Sakura even knew he existed. Once Sakura's only friend who knew her secret, Ino, went up to Kakashi in the hallway and demanded the name of his wife. He continued walking along but mumbled, "Rin". Ino scuttled back to Sakura, "Rin!" she exclaimed. Sakura made a face, "Rin what?", "Kakashi-sensei's wife!", "Oh. Rin...that's so pretty".
Sakura was a wimp and a good girl. She knew that if anything were to happen concerning her and Kakashi, he would his lose his entire teaching career. She knew that he regarded her as just another student, so she bottled up her feelings. Everytime they had a test or a quiz, she would go to his room after school and ask to receive it early. Not that she really cared about the test; just about seeing Kakashi.
Kakashi was dim-witted about these things anyways, so she never doubted that he'd be safely unaware of her feelings, and that's how she liked it.
Sakura had only had one class with Kakashi ever, which was science in the second semester grade 9. The New Year had just passed and the winter holidays were almost over. She was in grade 10 now and knew that after the first semester exams were done with, second semester was coming. That meant grade 10 math with Kakashi.
But it's not like she really liked him. It was simply an obsession like a TV show or a new game and she'd get over it.
Or so she thought.
Short and bad! Wow, let's see if I can make this a little better in chapters to come...
