Technically speaking, none of them shouldn't even be drinking yet, much less party with a bunch of college kids on a school night. As he contemplated this, Sasuke glanced sideways at his—he sighed at this—friends Naruto and Shikamaru, the former already drunk and the latter keeping an eye out for sudden movements.
"Putangina," Shikamaru said lazily, mildly amused at the loud and very jerky blond. "Would you stay still, Naruto?" He scratched his unruly hair which was bunched up in a high ponytail, a look that only the lanky, "face that says 'couldn't care less'", teenager could pull off.
"I am still, what the heck, bro?" Naruto nearly shouted, making Sasuke flinch and shift slightly to the left, away from them. He hadn't even wanted to come, but Shikamaru insisted, saying their friend had too much to drink in their pre-game already and he needed back-up just in case the blond needed help going home. That way, they could at least take turns having fun, Shikamaru had said.
But Sasuke didn't want to have fun that night—all he wanted to do was play video games and perhaps read a book. He thought longingly of his bed as he glanced to the left, attempting to see the yellow lights that wouldn't come just yet.
Meanwhile Naruto continued to sway on the spot, and Shikamaru muttered, "We aren't even there yet, and you're already this drunk. What a drag..." running his hand up his hair.
It was then that the security guard let out a feeble whistle and Sasuke looked to the left again, squinting at the distant headlights of the incoming train. Finally. The raven-haired 16-year old felt the airconditioning more (this was after all, the only underground station in this country so they at least had to make it cold, right?) as the train approached and he sighed in relief. He was about to turn to the others when a flash of pink caught his attention.
A girl had suddenly materialized beside him, nose buried in a book and walking absent-mindedly. Pink, he noted, eyes narrowing at the imposing brightness her hair gave off. He was narrowing his eyes at it when he realized the girl had reached the yellow line and was still walking forward, and the train... well it continued to move forward as well.
He didn't even think about it—the next thing he knew he was grabbing the girl by the arm and pulling her towards him, just as the train rushed by.
"Ow!" the sound came from the mop of pink below, and he saw a small hand rub it's owner's forehead just as he realized his chest felt bruised. He had pulled too hard and the girl's head bumped straight into him. He let go of her arm and proceeded to rub his own chest, frowning at the dull ache.
"Hey—" Sasuke started, about to lecture the girl.
"My book!" came the shrill voice of the pink-haired girl, looking around frantically.
Sasuke had caught it and now held it out to her, sighing.
"You should be more careful, miss. You almost got run over." He said curtly, finding her lack of concern for herself and an abundance of it for an inanimate object annoying.
The girl seemed to notice his tone and looked up at him finally, with a pair of wide green eyes.
She was staring, which made Sasuke uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and nudged the book at her. It was heavy and was beginning to weigh on his arm. General Botany. Really? And a boring-ass book, too. Come to think of it, this was probably college level, but the girl didn't look much older than him.
"Thank you," a small voice nudged him to reality. He looked at the girl's face and saw she was blushing, perhaps finally realizing what Sasuke did.
He grunted in response, and watched as the girl took back her book and hurried towards the train. She made it just before the doors closed, and Sasuke shook his head. What a distracted person.
As the train shuddered to life and began to move away, someone cleared his throat at Sasuke.
"What?" He looked over at Shikamaru, annoyed. Naruto was grinning beside the boy, no longer swaying, with a teasing smile directed at...
"What?!" He insisted, staring daggers at them both.
"Dude," Shikamaru said with a strange look. "We missed the train."
Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized his friend was right. Goddammit.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He gritted his teeth. Now they had to wait another 15 minutes.
"I did," Shikamaru scratched his head, smirking. "But you were staring into space."
"Well," Naruto said, every trace of tipsiness gone, "not into space."
Sasuke decided to ignore him and turned the other way, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Sakura checked her book for any damage as the doors were closing. It looked unharmed in her opinion, so she flipped to the page where she left off.
She delved into her book as she felt the train lurch forward so suddenly she had to grab the pole beside her.
Whatever Nultsch had to say about molecular constitution was interrupted by the jarring vibration in her pocket. She dropped the book and cursed, and felt the stare of an old lady to her left.
Avoiding the lola's judgmental look she bent over and grabbed her book and answered her phone without looking at the screen.
"I'm on my way, Ino-pig..." She whispered, still feeling the old woman's stare.
"Yeah, yeah, it's fine, we aren't on till the next 2 hours or so anyway. But Sakura, you still have to get dressed and stuff!"
"I can do that in no time, don't worry about it..."
"But I need to do your make-up—why are you whispering?"
"There's this... never mind, I'll tell you later."
"Okay just hurry up?"
"All right, don't get your panties in a twist..."
The lola audibly gasped.
"Geez..."
"What?"
"Nothing, I'll be there in an hour..."
"Okay, Forehead!"
"Yeah..."
Sakura hung up and inspected her book again. There was a bend in the spine.
"Godda—" she cut herself off, worried the old woman would get a heart attack or something.
Instead she sighed, and remembered the boy who had caught her book earlier and quite possibly saved her life.
Hmm. He was cute, she thought. The lola glanced at her again and she realized she had said that out loud.