The Glass Slipper

Chapter 2:

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"'Kura?! What are you still doing here?" bellowed Tomoyo. She's frantically a living equivalent of a boiling teapot. Good thing they were at the rooftop, no one could see them.

"I don't know…" Sakura softly replied. She's looking down at the floor like it's the only wonderful thing in the world. She's twisting her hands together to keep herself from crying. Her hair swayed with the wind.

"You don't know? That's ridiculous!"

She nodded. "I'm afraid…"

"Look if he leaves without you confessing to him, you'll regret it."

Sakura just looked at her with puppy eyes.

"Oh don't give me that look. You know what you should do? Leave the school and follow him to the airport. You still have an hour left. I'll tell the teachers you're sick so you went home, okay? Now go, go, go!" Tomoyo pushed her best friend towards the stairways and waved goodbye as she ran down the stairs.

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The distant look in his eyes indicated that he's waiting for someone. He kept glancing all around but still what he's searching for can't be found. As time passed, his heart grew hopeless – hopeless that the one he's waiting for will come to bid him goodbye.

"Shaoran!"

"Shaoran!"

The constant call of his name from a distant cannot be heard. His mind was too occupied to notice it. Then his right ear was pinched so hard by someone it reddened.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he bellowed, rubbing his ear.

"That's for not answering me!" answered a lady with a waist-length straight black hair. She was wearing a knee-low red Chinese dress.

Shaoran just shook his head as an answer.

"Aren't you excited Shao? Finally, we're going back!" exclaimed the visibly excited black-haired girl.

'Actually, no, I'm not excited. I think I don't want to go back yet,' he thought. He was tempted to say it but of course, he didn't. he didn't want to hurt his cousins feelings. After all, her cousin went all the way to Japan from New York to make sure he'll be coming back home to China where they'll spend a week for a family reunion before going to New York. He'll study there together with his cousin.

Not knowing what to say, he gave her a strained smile as an answer. "But you didn't have to come here first, Mei Ling. I told you I'll go."

After a while the passengers were called to board the plane. Still, he's waiting for that someone to show up. 'Just a glimpse is enough…' he thought.

Then out of nowhere, a blue silhouette appeared on sight. An auburn haired girl was standing a few meters away from where he is. She was just standing there, looking exhausted, and staring at him straight in the eyes. Then…

Mei Ling grabbed his arms, pulling him. She was saying, "Let's go Shao! The plane won't wait for us," loudly. However, Shaoran's eyes still focused on the lady not too far away from them. Then she ran away.

"Sakura? Sakura!" he called but the lady refused to look back. He wanted to run but he couldn't. Mei Ling was still tugging his arms, telling him to go.

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"I hope I'm not too late. Oh please God, let me see him. Just one more time, please!" she kept on praying on her mind as she ran out of school. The front gate was closed but of course, she and Tomoyo found a secret way out of school. It was a torn fence at the Westside of the school, hidden by huge trees. No one else except her, Tomoyo and Shaoran knows this passage. She headed towards the secret passage, careful enough to not let her be seen by faculty and staff.

She took a taxi all the way to the airport. Good thing she brought the allowance she saved for two months with her.

The airport was huge. There were lots of people too that distracted her in finding what she's looking for. She's not so fond with seeing lots of people. The colors they wear hurts her eyes. She shook her head to clear her mind and headed straight to the departure area. She ran as fast as she could while looking at the screen hanging on the ceiling. Flashes of places, time and plane numbers in red filled the screen.

"There!" she said, seeing the flight departure for New York.

She headed straight to it. There she saw him, the man she's looking for, being pulled by a girl she never met. Her hand holding his sent a pang in her heart. 'He sees me…' Sakura thought. They looked at each other straight in the eyes. 'But who's that girl? Maybe she is his…' Couldn't bear the thought of him being with another girl, she did what every other girl would do. She ran away. She heard him call her but she just ignored it. 'If she's his girlfriend, then I shouldn't bother him anymore…' she thought, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

Her chest tightens as if it would burst any minute and the only way to stop it was to exhaust her from running. Her knees started to weaken but she couldn't dare to stop, afraid that she'd burst out crying if she did. She managed to get out of the airport and continued to run past a line of people waiting for transportation. She ran and ran until she could no longer breathe from fatigue.

She stopped.

She bowed and held her knees for support, breathing heavily. She was so hurt, she felt numb. She didn't know how to express what she feels. Then a bus stopped in front of her. She was so distracted she didn't notice she reached the bus stop.

Unthinking, she hopped on the bus and sat silently on the window seat. She stared distantly as the clouds began to darken.

Once she reached her home, her best friend Tomoyo opened up the door. Knowing that something bad might have happened by the looks of her face, Tomoyo immediately hugged her.

"It hurts…" she whispered as tears streamed down her face. She cried and cried, not caring how loud it was. Tomoyo embraced her tight and calmed her like a mother does to her crying baby.

"It hurts Tomoyo… Why does it hurts so much?"

She cried until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

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~End of Chapter 2~