Author's Note:
Second chapter, wow. I'm probably going to be a very irregular updater, since I have school and such. I don't always get access to computers/the Internet. But I'll try my best to get as many chappies done, for the sake of those few actually looking forward to some of my stories. Most of my chapters are probably going to be typed up in my school library, where Word Document actually exists… My personal computer only has Word Processor, which screws up everything.
Okay, my rants are done. Story time.
Chapter 2:
The sun was sparkling on the surface of the little pond just inside of Seijuu High's campus. It was a secret little hideaway Sakura was lucky to discover on her first day, and it made her undoubtedly the most content to sit under the comfortable shade under the bold green leaves of the trees bordering the pond and watch the ducks paddling through the waters.
It was lunchtime and as she ate a little of the bento her beloved father had packed for her, Sakura felt rather dozy. As her eyes slowly fell, she felt so calm and relaxed that lying on the grass near the roots of a large cherry blossom tree seemed as comfortable as her own bed.
She began to dream of strange things, the most random things, which made sense because most dreams are completely irrelevant to reality anyway. Images of a brown haired boy intermingled with a flood of flying knives, dancing crayons and colored pencils – everything was just as a dream should be. Weird.
Just as a colored pencil was about to transform into a soaring knife, Sakura felt a cold hand being pressed to her forehead. Shocked and completely caught unawares, her emerald eyes snapped open.
"Um… Are you alright?" a very gentle and soothing voice sounded through the quiet atmosphere.
Sakura turned her head to see an extraordinarily captivating pair of amethyst eyes staring at her slightly worried. The owner of the eyes was equally beautiful; she was a pale, delicate looking girl who could only be described as an elegant young lady, with long wavy locks of ashen black cascading down her back.
"Yes, I'm alright…"Sakura told the girl.
"Oh, I see." the girl sighed. Evidently, she was worried seeing a classmate of hers lying down on her back under a tree where it probably wasn't comfortable in the heat of the retreating summer.
Sakura didn't blame her – who wouldn't be scared seeing a corpselike high school girl on campus? Well, at least she'd freak out. She was always afraid of ghosts and the supernatural.
"I was concerned… You were just lying there and I was wondering if you'd gotten heat stroke." the violet eyed girl informed. "It's happened before to my friend, Rika, and we had to send her to the hospital."
"Ahaha. It's okay, one my friends –" Sakura broke off her sentence, feeling a sharp pain in her heart as she remembered one of her ex-friends getting a heat stroke and fainting on a field trip during the summer at her old school . "…Got the same thing…"
Sakura trailed off, her eyes clouding over again. The ashen haired girl noticed the change in mood and immediately tried to recreate a positive atmosphere.
"Well, I'm Daidouji Tomoyo. Please call me Tomoyo. I'm in class 4A."
Sakura realized that the girl was trying to change the subject for her sake and smiled weakly. "I'm Kinomoto Sakura, class 2A."
"Ah! That means… you know Li-kun, right?" Tomoyo exclaimed.
"Li? Oh. Syaoran, you mean." Sakura flipped through her memory. "Yes, he sits across from me."
"Wow. All the girls must be jealous of you… He's the Prince Charming of our school, you know. Or at least one of them…" Tomoyo noted.
Sakura felt like she already knew this from the start, when she was lulled in by his charms and looks. Again, she thought, pretty boys and their popularity…
"Yeah." was all Sakura could say.
Silence followed, awkwardness tinting it.
"Can I call you Sakura?" Tomoyo tried restarting the conversation.
Sakura knew she shouldn't allow Tomoyo to do so, but she felt her heart warming up to her schoolmate. Here's a potential friend, her heart urged her on.
"…I guess."
If Tomoyo was frustrated at Sakura's conversational skills, she didn't show it. Instead, she attempted to continue the dead end conversation.
"Would you like to join me for lunch? I was heading to meet my friends… After painting, that is." Tomoyo invited, bring Sakura's eyes to a sketchbook and small paint brush with a set of colored pigments .
Sakura felt the little voice in her mind scream to reject the purple eyed girl, to not let someone make her attached again.
"Sure."
A few months had passed since Sakura's arrival in Tomoeda and unfortunately for Sakura, she found herself participating in social activities more often than she thought she should.
"Hey, Kinomoto! We're going to karaoke after school. You up for it?"
Sakura found herself facing smiling amber eyes and getting drawn in.
"Um…" Sakura began, unsure of herself.
"Please! We don't have enough people to get free food!" Syaoran begged. "Just one more person and we can do it! Please, Kinomoto. I'll be your best friend!"
Sakura couldn't help but smile at the school idol. And she also couldn't help agreeing to his invitation.
"Alright, fine. I'll go…"
Syaoran got up and grinned at her, making her proud of herself for making him smile so beautifully. She returned his smile unconsciously, waiting for the school bell to ring the signal of the end of educational learning for the day.
As she packed her stuff up, Sakura realized that she wasn't alone in the empty classroom. Like the start of her first day at Seijuu, Syaoran was also there in the room. But, unlike that day, Syaoran was unconscious, lightly breathing rhythmically with his head on his arms that were placed on his desk.
She could help but feel that he was just too adorable just innocently sleeping. And to enhance the image, a soft ray of sunlight was pouring around his chestnut hair like a halo around his angelic head. Sakura felt like large, white wings would sprout from his back at any given moment.
Unfortunately, the peace was broken when someone abruptly slid open the classroom door. Sakura wanted to slap herself for staring so attentively at her popular amber-eyed classmate as she realized that the two of them were no longer alone.
"Daidouji-san?"
Tomoyo frowned and corrected Sakura. "I told you, call me Tomoyo!"
"Umm… then, Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura said shyly. She wanted so badly to tell Tomoyo to call her Sakura, but she had once again reminded herself to not make their names connected. When she had to leave again, she'd never hear from this person again, nor will she ever be able to call her Tomoyo.
"Good job." Tomoyo smiled brightly, happy that the emerald girl was finally calling her by her first name. "We're both friends, right?"
Sakura felt the urge to nod and say yes, but she knew she shouldn't. She couldn't.
"Uh…."
But Sakura didn't have to say anything. Tomoyo had walked up to Syaoran's desk and kneeled down to eye level with his closed eyes.
"Aww, he's just so cute, isn't he?" Tomoyo squealed, ignoring the fact that Syaoran was right in front of her and asleep.
And so, the brown haired boy woke up. His eyes fluttered as he took in his surroundings. Sakura suppressed a slight giggle at his confused expression. Tomoyo, however, laughed freely.
"We're all going to karaoke, right? Let's go!" Tomoyo said, grabbing Syaoran's arm and dragging him towards Sakura.
Sakura somehow didn't like the apparent closeness of her two so-called friends, but she brushed the uncomfortable sensation off. She felt her arm also being grabbed by the ashen haired girl and she was relatively surprised at the strength of the seemingly delicate and fragile lady. Soon, the trio found themselves outside, by the school gate.
During the very very long stroll led by Tomoyo, who was always getting distracted by stores and little shops by the streets they were travelling through, Sakura found herself practically alone with Syaoran. Their conversations so far were very amusing and about nothing much at all, until Sakura found her curiosity getting the better of her.
"You usually go home right away after the bell rings. So why were you still at school today?" Sakura inquired, watching an aggressive Tomoyo converse with a very distressed looking shopkeeper.
"Well, I guess you could say I was waiting for someone." Syaoran answered, laughing softly when the shopkeeper started quivering in fear.
"…Waiting for someone?" she wondered.
Sakura thought for a moment. Who would someone like Syaoran, the idol of the school, be waiting for? For a moment, she wanted to think that it was her, since she was always the last one to exit the class room, but she refused to accept the thought. It was outrageous, impossible that he would wait for her, the new transfer. They were good friends by now, she mused, because they talked every day since her arrival at Seijuu. Although it was her first time hanging out with him after school, she felt like they'd gotten to know each other pretty well. But it was simply impossible that he would consider her such a close friend that he would wait for the 15 minutes it took for her to finish her notes and to put her stuff away.
"Was it Tomoyo?" she asked.
Syaoran chuckled a bit, his eyes suddenly acquiring a beautiful radiance. "Why wouldn't you think of yourself, as well? I mean, you're not wrong, I was waiting for her, but also for you, you know."
Sakura turned her face away from his to hide the impending deep blush, but couldn't help but think that he was slightly lying to her.
"Hey, Kinomoto. We're good friends, right?" he voiced out Sakura's thoughts.
"Umm… I guess?" Sakura thought it felt weird that he said 'friends' out loud. It disturbed her – wasn't she supposed to avoid making friends? However, seeing that handsome face of his quickly washed the memory from her mind once more.
"Then, I'll tell you a secret." he leaned close to her ear.
Sakura couldn't suppress the burst of red that flooded her face. She tilted her ear closer, eager to see what he had to tell her.
"You see, I love someone. I feel like you're trustworthy and you can probably become my absolute best friend in a few days…" he whispered. "…so I'll tell you now."
Sakura nodded, ignoring the stab in her heart.
"I like… Tomoyo."