title: The Magic 8 Ball
summary: When he asked her to marry him, he expected either a heartfelt "yes" or a heartbreaking "no" but he did not expect a "Reply hazy. Try again later."
note: i have no idea how this story turned out the way it did. but really, it was very funny when the inspiration first came to me.
—
"Marry me."
I stare at him, speechless. Did he just—?
A pair of Snow White-ebony eyes gaze back at me unblinkingly, his expression ever so serious. But he can't be, because this is a joke, this must be a joke. The first joke he has ever pulled on me and it isn't even funny.
I open my mouth to say something only to close it; the shock has made me incoherent.
Finally I manage, "You can't be serious."
"When am I not, Sakura?" he deadpans, and I realize he is right. When is he not serious?
But surely... no, this—us? We're not...
He is looking at me expectantly, waiting for my answer patiently. And I am reminded of a boy waiting for Christmas Eve.
I don't want to reject him, really. But there is no other answer than "no", unfortunately.
For the six months I've known him, he became someone special. Someone special I have come to cherish as my friend, a best friend, and almost like an older brother I've never had and I always wanted in that short amount of time.
Friend, best friend, brother. Among that list is never love interest, prospective boyfriend and most definitely not fiancée or husband-to-be.
Maybe later, but not now.
I don't want to reject him because I don't want to lose him. I am afraid to lose him, but is it possible not to lose him yet at the same time reject this out-of-the-blue confession?
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He begins to tap his right pointer finger on the table where our mugs of cappuccino seat—and I know he is getting impatient with my silence. The tapping on the table thing is one of his quirks I think he doesn't realize he has. But that's beside the point.
I am facing a dilemma right now. And there is no way out. Because Sasuke Uchiha has always been a smart man, and I'm trapped on where I am seating. He obviously planned this, I realize. (Maybe this is not so out-of-the-blue after all?) He knows me and he anticipated that I might run away from him, because running away has always been my forte, and that's why he chose this table located at the very back corner of the cafe. Damn him.
Say no. How hard is it to say no? To reject? It should be easy, but I've always been a people-pleaser and so saying no and rejecting something is a rarity to me.
I want to bite my nails but he will only reprimand me. Sasuke hates it when I bite at my nails so I stopped doing it. He doesn't care if it is a nervous tick. Pulling my hair out of anxiety developed after biting at my nails has become off-limits. But he doesn't like it either, something about ruining my scalp bull.
So I clutch my handbag conveniently sitting on my lap under the table tightly. Then I begin to gnaw my nails at the leather helplessly. And I felt it.
Something round inside my bag. I look down and unzip the bag to see what the round thing is, momentarily distracted and forgetting about my present dilemma.
When I see what it is, I almost weep in glee. My saviour! The answer to my predicament and Sasuke's random proposal. I pull the thing out and hold it between my palms. I close my eyes tightly, and ask the million dollar question:
Shall I say 'no' to Sasuke-kun?
Then I shake the ball. My eyes open the same time I stopped shaking and I look at the black number 8 against the white circle for a second, before I turn it upside down.
My eyes squint at the little blue triangle, trying to make out the answer.
When I finally read it, I blink. That's it? The question to my answer?
I look back at Sasuke, who appears hasn't looked away from me yet. I try to read his face but his expression betrays nothing.
And with the same seriousness he told me to marry him earlier, I reply:
"Reply hazy. Try again later."
His normally blank facade fades into an expression that clearly says WHAT THE FUCK? in full caps. And his Snow White-eyes narrow to a glare. Shit, he's angry. He isn't saying anything but the fierce glare he directs to me demands for an explanation.
My smile is tentative and sheepish when I show him the Magic 8 Ball.
"That's what the Magic 8 Ball said."
Without a word, he reached over and grabbed the ball out of my hands and threw it hard on the floor, the shattering echo pulls the whole cafeteria in a hush and their attention to us.
"Sasuke!" I gasp, scandalized at his actions.
The glare on me, fiercer than it was before if possible, startles me. I'm scared.
"Grow up, will you Sakura?" he all but growls at me. He's angry. At me. I've seen him angry before but it was never directed at me.
"I asked you not the fucking Magic 8 ball. If you want to reject me, just say so yourself!"
I bite at my lower lip, my head hanging low in shame. Everyone is looking at us now, I'm sure. Way to go, Sakura. Okay, so maybe the Magic 8 Ball was a bad idea. What the hell was it doing in my bag anyway?
I don't know what to say. I don't want to reject him but I can't marry him either.
"But we're not even dating," I whisper, trying to find a way out of this maze.
He snorts. "So?"
"You can't just ask me to marry you."
"I believe I just did." I know he is smirking without looking and that knowledge gave me courage to look up to him. He doesn't look angry anymore but the glare, while still there, is softer.
"But we've only known each other for half a year," I say again. To my ears, it sounds like an argument as to why I shouldn't say the three-letter-word. I want to know what brought this up, why he is asking me this. I want to understand him, his purpose, because I am so confused, I feel lost.
"Are you saying no?" he asks, his voice rid of its arrogance and replaced with, is that disappointment?
"NO!" the denial leaves my lips without a thought because he just looked desolate.
"No," I repeat, this time softly, "I'm just trying to understand you. It's just so out-of-the-blue, you know. I'm surprised, shocked even. We've only known each other for six months and we're not even dating. Then you ask me that. Why now, Sasuke? Why not later when he know each other better? Don't you think it's too early?"
He doesn't say anything for a while and I realize it is my turn to wait, so I wait patiently. But the silence following my speech makes me uncomfortable so I look away from him then I see the shattered pieces of my Magic 8 Ball. I frown at the sight. I know it was childish on my part but he didn't have to go on berserk mode and break the thing. He was the one who gave it to me after all.
"Because," he begins to say and I return my attention to him, "I finally found the woman I can tolerate enough to spend the rest of my life with. And I'd be damned if I let her slip out of my fingers when I already have her in my grasp."
Because I finally found the woman I can tolerate enough to spend the rest of my life with. And I'd be damned if I let her slip out of my fingers when I already have her in my grasp.
Shit. It is the longest I've ever heard him speak and it is also the most romantic thing anyone has ever told me.
His eyes are intense. Very intense. And they are directed to me. He wants my answer. But am I really ready for this?
"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," the words leave my lips in a shaking whisper, "but... I can't. You're a great guy. But I don't love you. Not yet. I'm getting there, I think. But. But I'm not quite there yet. And I don't want to agree to something I might regret later. What you might regret later. And I... I don't want to tie you to me either, by asking you to wait for me. I—"
"Do you promise you'll get there?" he interrupts.
I frown at the question. Isn't that the same thing? Only in a more vague way?
"I'll wait," he continues, "so don't you dare take long."
Then without another word, he stands up and head to the counter before leaving the cafe.
The End.