~Chapter 1: Cheating~
"Pssst! Pssst!! Sakura!"
The light-haired girl glanced up from her math test, eyes dazed. "Huh?"
"Note!" her best friend said, grinning, and tossing a wad of paper across the room. "from your BOYFRIEND."
"Shhh, Tomoyo, not so loud, the teacher will hear!" Sakura whispered, blushing. She pocketed the note and glanced furtively across the room at her boyfriend, who was sitting in front of Tomoyo, hard at work on his test.
"Ahem." The girl felt a hand tap her on her shoulder and she turned slowly to meet the angry eyes of a thin-faced teacher. "Miss Kinomoto... are you.... CHEATING?!!!!" The last word echoed around the room, and heads turned towards the sound. Every single pair of eyes in the class were directed towards her, and Sakura waited for the ground to open and swallow her up. Instead, the teacher continued. "I don't know what you were taught in high school, Miss Kinomoto, but here in college, you are expected to pull your own weight and actually learn. Cheating does not do anything but show everyone what a despicable little beast all you Japanese-" Sakura leaned back to groan silently and listen to the rest of the speech. Mrs. Chen seemed to be extremely racist, and it didn't help that math was Sakura's worst subject. Thank goodness Tomoyo had come to Hong Kong for college as well, the girl thought, for without her best friend's support, she would have ran back to Japan as soon as she was able. It was a good thing she had stuck it out for almost a year for another reason too. She had met Eriol... Sakura sighed happily and met his eyes, so wise and twinkling with laughter behind those silver frames. He had started out as her math tutor, but had won her heart over with his wit and charm. Sure, everyone knew that he was such a "player," but Sakura firmly believed that Eriol truly loved her, and would stick with her for a long time. Now his best friend was a different story. She turned her head and stared at Syaoran, who was sitting to her left, smirking at her predicament. He was such an insolent and cold character, silently insulting to everyone he met. He was so proud of his athletic achievements, and so... grrr! Sakura hated him, and couldn't understand why Eriol was such a good friend to him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of the clock that announced noon, and Mrs. Chen threw her hands up in the air.
"I guess we will finish this talk later," she said loudly over the clattering books as people began to rise. "Everyone turn in your tests on the front desk."
"but.. but... Mrs. Chen, I'm not finished!" Sakura protested. The teacher gave her a cold stare.
"Precisely my point. If you were working instead of staring at Syaoran's paper-"
"I was NOT staring at-"
"You WERE staring-"
"WAS NOT!"
"WERE TOO!"
"WAS NOTTT!!!"
"WERE TOOOOOOO!!!!!" the room was suddenly silent, and Mrs. Chen stopped in mid-screech, staring guiltily at the doorway, where an amused looking principal was standing. "You are all dismissed." she muttered, and the class broke into laughter.
"Why didn't you stand up for her?" Eriol demanded. The courtyard was filled with people eating their lunches, minding their own buisness. A group of girls were clustered around a crying Sakura, comforting her in any way they could. Syaoran shrugged, a sullen look crossing his face. "She didn't deserve it, and you know it. She wasn't cheating."
"Why should I care?" Syaoran sighed, giving his friend a half-hearted glare. "She's such a brat... I bet she's never gotten in trouble before." At Eriol's skeptical look, he continued. "I mean, she trots into this university like she owns it, and just because she's rich and pretty, she gets away with anything. Sure, this time it wasn't her fault, but I've seen plenty of instances where it was."
"Sakura's never cheated-"
"But she has bought homework off people before. A little smile here, and the guys wilt and give her anything she wants. She's gotten clothes, concert tickets-"
"That's nothing but charm," Eriol cut in, "and it you worked on it, you could do the same."
"Yeah. Right. Anyway, I think she had this coming to her. I just did her a favor and let her fall faster." Syaoran looked back at Eriol and sighed again, "you don't get my logic, do you."
"I'm not sure I want to. I don't know why you hate her so much. If I didn't know better, I would say you're only acting like this because you are afraid of liking her yourself." Eriol said slowly, then had to crack a smile at the look on Syaoran's face.
"Like her??? You're crazy! You've gone nuts! What have you been eating lately, huh? Meilin's cooking?"
Across the courtyard, Rika, Naoko, and Chiharu were clustered around the crying girl, nervous looks on their faces.
"I hate her! I hate her so much! She's such a... a.. natzi." Sakura took a deep, shuddering breath and straightened out the crinkled paper in her fist. "Look at this, an F! I got an F for this semester! How is this possible? After Eriol starting tutoring, I got all A's and B+s. It's not fair that just because I'm from Japan, she can do this to me. She's such a racist. She's such a ... blinking Natzi!"
"I know, I know. But there is nothing we can do. Mrs. Chen gives no extra credit, and the math department respects her judgement," Rika whispered.
"We're only freshmen in college," Naoko added.
"No one will believe us." Chiharu said sadly. "We're sorry, Sakura."
"Well... I'll talk to her then. I'll argue with her and make her understand," Sakura said, a gleam entering her eyes.
"Um... that's not such a good idea," Rika tried to say, but Sakura wasn't listening. She was already storming toward the building, chin set stubbornly with an expression that made everyone step out of her way.
"Pssst! Pssst!! Sakura!"
The light-haired girl glanced up from her math test, eyes dazed. "Huh?"
"Note!" her best friend said, grinning, and tossing a wad of paper across the room. "from your BOYFRIEND."
"Shhh, Tomoyo, not so loud, the teacher will hear!" Sakura whispered, blushing. She pocketed the note and glanced furtively across the room at her boyfriend, who was sitting in front of Tomoyo, hard at work on his test.
"Ahem." The girl felt a hand tap her on her shoulder and she turned slowly to meet the angry eyes of a thin-faced teacher. "Miss Kinomoto... are you.... CHEATING?!!!!" The last word echoed around the room, and heads turned towards the sound. Every single pair of eyes in the class were directed towards her, and Sakura waited for the ground to open and swallow her up. Instead, the teacher continued. "I don't know what you were taught in high school, Miss Kinomoto, but here in college, you are expected to pull your own weight and actually learn. Cheating does not do anything but show everyone what a despicable little beast all you Japanese-" Sakura leaned back to groan silently and listen to the rest of the speech. Mrs. Chen seemed to be extremely racist, and it didn't help that math was Sakura's worst subject. Thank goodness Tomoyo had come to Hong Kong for college as well, the girl thought, for without her best friend's support, she would have ran back to Japan as soon as she was able. It was a good thing she had stuck it out for almost a year for another reason too. She had met Eriol... Sakura sighed happily and met his eyes, so wise and twinkling with laughter behind those silver frames. He had started out as her math tutor, but had won her heart over with his wit and charm. Sure, everyone knew that he was such a "player," but Sakura firmly believed that Eriol truly loved her, and would stick with her for a long time. Now his best friend was a different story. She turned her head and stared at Syaoran, who was sitting to her left, smirking at her predicament. He was such an insolent and cold character, silently insulting to everyone he met. He was so proud of his athletic achievements, and so... grrr! Sakura hated him, and couldn't understand why Eriol was such a good friend to him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of the clock that announced noon, and Mrs. Chen threw her hands up in the air.
"I guess we will finish this talk later," she said loudly over the clattering books as people began to rise. "Everyone turn in your tests on the front desk."
"but.. but... Mrs. Chen, I'm not finished!" Sakura protested. The teacher gave her a cold stare.
"Precisely my point. If you were working instead of staring at Syaoran's paper-"
"I was NOT staring at-"
"You WERE staring-"
"WAS NOT!"
"WERE TOO!"
"WAS NOTTT!!!"
"WERE TOOOOOOO!!!!!" the room was suddenly silent, and Mrs. Chen stopped in mid-screech, staring guiltily at the doorway, where an amused looking principal was standing. "You are all dismissed." she muttered, and the class broke into laughter.
"Why didn't you stand up for her?" Eriol demanded. The courtyard was filled with people eating their lunches, minding their own buisness. A group of girls were clustered around a crying Sakura, comforting her in any way they could. Syaoran shrugged, a sullen look crossing his face. "She didn't deserve it, and you know it. She wasn't cheating."
"Why should I care?" Syaoran sighed, giving his friend a half-hearted glare. "She's such a brat... I bet she's never gotten in trouble before." At Eriol's skeptical look, he continued. "I mean, she trots into this university like she owns it, and just because she's rich and pretty, she gets away with anything. Sure, this time it wasn't her fault, but I've seen plenty of instances where it was."
"Sakura's never cheated-"
"But she has bought homework off people before. A little smile here, and the guys wilt and give her anything she wants. She's gotten clothes, concert tickets-"
"That's nothing but charm," Eriol cut in, "and it you worked on it, you could do the same."
"Yeah. Right. Anyway, I think she had this coming to her. I just did her a favor and let her fall faster." Syaoran looked back at Eriol and sighed again, "you don't get my logic, do you."
"I'm not sure I want to. I don't know why you hate her so much. If I didn't know better, I would say you're only acting like this because you are afraid of liking her yourself." Eriol said slowly, then had to crack a smile at the look on Syaoran's face.
"Like her??? You're crazy! You've gone nuts! What have you been eating lately, huh? Meilin's cooking?"
Across the courtyard, Rika, Naoko, and Chiharu were clustered around the crying girl, nervous looks on their faces.
"I hate her! I hate her so much! She's such a... a.. natzi." Sakura took a deep, shuddering breath and straightened out the crinkled paper in her fist. "Look at this, an F! I got an F for this semester! How is this possible? After Eriol starting tutoring, I got all A's and B+s. It's not fair that just because I'm from Japan, she can do this to me. She's such a racist. She's such a ... blinking Natzi!"
"I know, I know. But there is nothing we can do. Mrs. Chen gives no extra credit, and the math department respects her judgement," Rika whispered.
"We're only freshmen in college," Naoko added.
"No one will believe us." Chiharu said sadly. "We're sorry, Sakura."
"Well... I'll talk to her then. I'll argue with her and make her understand," Sakura said, a gleam entering her eyes.
"Um... that's not such a good idea," Rika tried to say, but Sakura wasn't listening. She was already storming toward the building, chin set stubbornly with an expression that made everyone step out of her way.