Homecoming Queen
BB
Do not wait until the conditions are perfect. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.
Cohen, Alan
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Chapter 1
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4th September, 2013
Sitting comfortably in my father's smooth black Mercedes, it was really hard to contemplate what I was going to face in the next hour. It felt too toasty, warm and luxurious in the car to experience any kind of nervousness.
I was glad for that.
All week before since my decision to move back to Konoha High School had been spent in a flurry; frankly I couldn't remember much but documents, accessories, more documents, schedules, school payments, readmission…all seven days full of it.
And now it was Monday. First day of school.
It mattered too much because it was my second first day at Konoha High. I was perturbed to see again the old faces, dig up the old buried folders in my mind, and press the refresh button to my life.
So basically it was nice that the laid-back atmosphere in the car was keeping the queasy feelings and apprehension at bay.
The ride to school from my house in Leaf Avenue usually took thirty minutes, given the distance and the fact that Konoha was such a large, sprawling metropolis across an area dotted with green vegetation.
The air usually felt fresh and verdant, and the breeze carried with it stray leaves in spirals, effectively living up to the city's name, Konoha, meaning Leaf. I would have loved to enjoy the fresh spring zephyrs accelerating as the car zoomed down the road, but I was afraid of messing up even a strand of my sleek hair.
As I watched, the long stretching road bent in a U, and we came across an ancient board with big letters labeled "Konoha High School Ahead". Reflexively, my fingers clenched on the passenger seat, my long manicured nails digging into the leather.
And all too soon my father was saying, "Here you go, dear. Good luck!"
I'll need that.
I forced a smile and slammed the door behind me.
The front lot was filled with random kids roaming around, talking before the start of classes. Some lounged underneath different trees in the groomed front gardens of the school, and some walked. But most of the kids were stepping up to the huge red-brick building namely the school, with its eight floors alone in this wing, and ivy growing up the sides, giving the building the look of an ancient red bastion.
I didn't recognize any of the faces.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down and the nagging panic blossoming in the pit of my stomach.
I can do this. Iwilldo this.
I entered the hallway.
And suddenly it came naturally to me. It wasn't because I had practiced for it to be, but because I was entirely ready for it, to take a new beginning.
I walked with an easy gait, flicking my hair back, my white bag slung across one shoulder. I nodded at those who looked at me and found that if I was social, I would be easily accepted.
I had dressed to look confident, neither a geek nor a slut. The last time I walked in his hallway, it had been with hunched shoulders, eyes trained on the ground, scared and nervous. It had seemed suitable for me then; it seemed so ridiculous now.
I had been given a new locker in the far end of the hallway. I twisted the combination lock, and placed my book bag inside, extracting my new timetable and giving it an once-over.
First off teacher, Yuuhi Kurenai, Chemistry.
After taking out my required hardback and notebook, I checked into the pocket mirror I had. Perfect. My emerald eyes gazed back at me, wide and black-lined, framed with thick eyelashes. My hair was swept sideways across my high forehead, sleek and shiny, and a light shade of bubble-gum pink. I reapplied pale cherry gloss on my luscious lips, to match my brand-new rose-pink top and tight miniskirt.
I had never ever been so concerned about my makeup and appearance, for all the years I had studied and suffered at this school.
This was a fresh start. In order to have everything go right, I had to look right.
Voices, loud and babbling.
I risked a glance to my right. A group of black-clad boys, laughing and slapping each other high-five, quite an enthusiastic approach to a dreary school day. They seemed to be juniors too, I noted. Anyway, they weren't my concern.
What my concern was, hadn't arrived yet. Or maybe, I hadn't seen...?
The warning bell rang.
I slammed my locker shut and walked away. As I passed the group of boys on my way to homeroom, their laughter and chatter cut off. Either it was my shade of hair or something else, they gawked. Even though I didn't look at them and quietly walked, I could feel their stares drilling into me.
In another time, I would have felt intensely uncomfortable with the notion that I was being watched this way. I would have hurried, blushed, stumbled…But now, I didn't really feel uncomfortable, but I wasn't happy with that, either.
I realized this new mode was picking out the flaws in my old one.
"Hey, is she new or what…?"
"I'm almost positive I've seen her before…"
I cringed. I was counting on people having forgotten me.
"No way, I would have remembered these legs!"
I turned into another hallway gladly, just when they erupted into raucous laughter.
The way to the second floor, Room 52 was short and devoid of any interaction with someone else, given that I couldn't find many, except a few loners. The place, I saw, seemed to have been furnished since my last time here. The floor was spotless, the walls were whitewashed. School posters and soft boards hung at regular intervals.
I looked around, engrossed, and nearly went past Room 52. I realized my mistake soon and backed up. The door was slightly ajar, and all seemed silent, except for one, loud female voice I unmistakably recognized as the Chemistry teacher's, Yuuhi Kurenai.
I hesitated just a second before I twisted the door handle and entered.
"Welcome back, Haruno Sakura."
As soon as I set foot inside the same old white-walled room with its intricate posters and academic papers sticking on the walls, and the huge window in the back showing the canopies of young trees and letting in fresh air, I attracted attention. Kurenai smiled at me, holding her hand out for my slip, apparently having recognized me easily.
However, the students didn't quite react so warmly.
Surprise. I could sense that in the air. Recognition came in a bit late. I didn't focus on anyone's face as Kurenai signed my slip and gestured to me to take a seat.
"You can sit here."
I looked around, and noticed a girl with a memorable face, ocean blue eyes and corn-silk blonde hair tied back. Her expression was open and welcoming, so I didn't think twice. I thanked Kurenai and walked between the aisle made by separated seats.
"Hi," said Yamanaka Ino, my friend back from my freshman year, as soon as I settled in. She smiled once and then turned back to her book, which miraculously hid a sleek Blackberry Pearl on which her long fingers tapped. "I like your hair, Sakura. But I guess I shouldn't be talking to you."
I frowned. "Thanks... Why?"
She raised a perfect eyebrow. "…Cause you've been a no-contact ass for over a year?"
Before I could reply, Kurenai rapped her chalk against the blackboard to get attention, and so I looked straight ahead.
I knew I had some explaining to do to all those who would demand enlightenment later.
The story behind just couldn't be explicated to everyone.
My parents could have sent me to any school all over Konoha. They had the money, the contacts, and the status for that. My mother was an intricate fashion designer who worked day and night abroad, and I scarcely saw her around unless it was her vacation. On the other hand, my father was a renowned doctor specialized in cardiology, and he owned his personal hospital which was a huge success.
With their demanding jobs, they had little time for me. But when they had, they were always concerned about my future. My health, my education. I guess that's what parents are for. They were loving. And they got me enrolled in the most expensive schools of Konoha, first Konoha Preschool, Konoha Middle School, and at the end, Konoha High School.
Things were good at Preschool. Childhood is where there are no differences. There is innocence, sisterhood and brotherhood. They all cry together, laugh together. At least that was how it was.
Until I passed on to Middle.
I was happy. But that happiness would soon fleet.
I had never been self-conscious, but that usually happens when you get older. I had never hated my pink hair, which was a bizarre trait I wasn't sure who I had inherited from – maybe my grandmother? Who knew – my chunky body, and my huge forehead. I had felt fine with how I looked. Until I started to get bullied, teased. I became the center of attention, just because of my appearance. As we got older, even the fact that I was the smartest in studies became my bad point.
I came home miserable. Everyday. I thought I was going through my worst days of life, but I was wrong. Middle School was nothing. Being teased, being called "Freak" and "Billboard Brow", having a large group of bullies against me…It was nothing.
High School was literally hell on Earth.
Before my first day of high school, I pleaded with my mother, and she gave in. She allowed me to color my hair, and I chose a boring brown to hide my bizarre mane. My mother asked why, and I stalled by saying, "It's a new start."
Duh, a new start, literally.
Despite my new, passable color of hair and the hairstyle that hid most of my forehead, not to mention that I had to wear glasses, I was easily familiar. It was mainly due to the fact that ninety-nine percent of the Konoha High School population came back from the same primary and middle schools.
Still, it was better. The color made me blend in, made me invisible, and if I wasn't chosen for by anyone, I wasn't picked on, too. I had two friends, but I was fine with that.
Being invisible was better than anything.
That was before I made the biggest mistake of my life.
The one that ruined me. Forever.
"I need the assignments by Thursday. Tenten, see me after school; I'll fix that problem you have with Friday's lesson. Sakura," Kurenai said as she picked up her binders at the end of the class. Students were filing out of the room, bumping and pushing each other. I felt most of their gazes on me as they left. I looked up and I saw the said girl, Tenten, give me a small wave and leave.
I smiled back. We weren't even good friends back then. It was amazing how time changed.
"…Did you have any problems with the lecture?" Kurenai continued as she shoved papers in her files.
"No, ma'am. It was fine."
"I guess that's good. If you have any difficulty, ask me. After all, you have missed the whole sophomore year. Even if you were homeschooled."
"Yes, ma'am."
Ino rolled her eyes at the teacher's concern as we both strolled out of the room. We proceeded to our lockers, and I checked my timetable. I still had Physics with Sarutobi Asuma, and then Eng Literature class before recess. Thankfully, Ino would accompany me in Physics.
"…So? I think I deserve an explanation," Ino was saying as we elevated to the fourth floor for Asuma's Physics class.
"About what?"
She punched me in the shoulder. "Playing Poker Face? Oh c'mon. I called you, like, a zillion times. I left messages on your phone, I emailed you, I even dropped by your house, but you were never there. Talk about getting abducted by aliens? That is just too fake."
I shook my head as she rattled on, annoyance apparent in her voice. I didn't know what to say.
"I was sick," I said lamely.
She quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not stupid."
We walked in silence. The Physics lab was visible now, where we were supposed to take the class. Before I could go in, Ino's half-bare arm blocked the entrance. There was determination on her face.
"Oh, no, you aren't going in there before I get the details."
I groaned. "Ino, don't tell me you're looking for gossip."
"I'm waiting."
I sighed heavily, and looked her straight in the eye. "Gosh, what's with all the questions? I went to Iwa." It was a faraway city where my mother sometimes shopped for her fabric materials. It was the first place I could think of. "Mom had a year project there, and Dad was super busy, so I moved. Was homeschooled." I shrugged.
I hoped she wasn't seeing through my deception.
She narrowed her eyes at me, clearly unconvinced, but my story sounded completely logical, even to her. She shrugged and let me in.
I exhaled in relief. I just didn't have the strength to tell the story to her. Even though she happened to be my friend, I didn't felt like confiding.
Asuma didn't bother with a welcome, but he nodded at me as he forced a cigarette out of his pack. He was the first teacher ever to smoke freely in classrooms. Of course, nobody knew that. Except his students.
Even here as I sat down beside Ino, I felt stares. I didn't meet anyone's eye, just ignored them. But I was certain that I knew most of these faces. They didn't bother to talk, but some nodded or waved at me, including a guy with darkish hair, spiky, and tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. I vaguely remembered his name. Nara.
Shikamaru. That was it.
I could dig up all the names of people in my junior year if I wanted. But I didn't feel interested.
I guess that was because I still hadn't seen those I wanted to see most.
After an uneventful Lit class with Yugao-sensei, who was the only one who made me introduce myself to the class – a feat I performed amazingly despite the butterflies in my stomach, which perked up some of the students ("Hey, Sakura-chan! It's me, Naruto! Believe it!" Another one of my old friends who wanted to hear why I was absent, and who I gave the same excuse as Ino) – it was finally recess.
I was feeling pretty hungry now.
We trooped down to the cafeteria, me and Ino now accompanied by an obnoxiously loud Uzumaki Naruto who seemed cheerful and enthusiastic as always. While Ino grimaced and tried to be as away from the blond boy as possible, I grinned and I joked along with him.
Sometimes he just got over everybody's nerves. But mostly he was so sweet. I don't mean that in a romantic way, but that boy is so sociable, he is probably friends with the whole school.
I guess that's how he became friends with me. Just a bit more closely.
I grabbed lemonade, an apple and a slice of pizza and put them on my tray. When Naruto and Ino got their food – Naruto's tray bulging with food and drinks; I just don't understand how boys can stay fit with this whole intake – I asked them where they wanted to sit.
"Come sit with we old ones!" Naruto grinned and he and Ino led to the huge round table by the windows.
As I approached the table of the old ones, they waved, warm and welcoming. I sat with Ino, and looked around at the faces for the first time. There was no hostility or annoyance set on their features that the old Haruno Sakura would have expected. They were just open and communal.
As I had sworn to take a new beginning, I was going to leave the old shy, unconfident geek Haruno behind.
I smiled back warmly at everyone.
"Hey, guys."
"Hey, Sakura," Tenten greeted me again. She had become quite prettier over the year, and changed her hairdo. Now she wore her hair in two Chinese buns with bangs framing her porcelain face.
"Hello," said Hyuga Hinata from my other side, her voice faint and soft. She smiled at me tentatively. She as well, I noticed, had changed her appearance. Her eyes were pearly as always, and her pale face still as childlike, but she had grown her hair long. They went below to her waist.
Plump (I would not say fat, because even thinking of that word is a taboo in this boy's case) brown-haired Akimichi Choji nodded at me, his mouth full of crisps that he thoroughly replaced with more from a dozen packets piled on his tray.
Inuzuka Kiba grinned at me, his spiky hair standing up on his head, his face as enthusiastic as Naruto's. "Hey, Sakura!"
"Hey, Kiba. How's Akamaru doing?" Akamaru was his puppy that he used to bring back in middle school. He got into a lot of trouble because of that. But I couldn't blame him; the sweet white dog was just so adorable.
"He's grown. Wait till you see him. I wish I could bring him to school," he added wistfully.
"It isn't a doghouse, Kiba," Naruto said, a line too sensible for him.
"Welcome back, anyways, Sakura," Ino said.
"Thanks."
"You look so changed," Tenten added. Perhaps I was about to make another friend, the way she was smiling at me. "And slim."
I laughed uncomfortably. I remembered how I had struggled to lose those pounds. It wasn't exactly a happy experience.
"Did you get contacts? I remember you wearing glasses last time."
"Yeah. My mom finally let me."
"Your outfit's great too. And your hairdo…"
"…Hey, I'm still the prettiest one on this table," Ino interrupted defensively, flipping back her blonde hair, and we all laughed.
"Doesn't that guy Shikamaru sit with you people?" I asked, remembering that pineapple-style haired boy from Physics class, who was sitting on a long table far away with a bunch of guys.
The way Ino looked over at him, I could certainly see her interest. The wistful tone of her voice confirmed my observation. "Sometimes, he does. Mostly he sits with those."
Naruto's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Oh, bummer. The guy Ino likes doesn't sit with us."
"I don't like him."
"Denial is the first stage of love."
"Ugh, what's gotten into you, Naruto? What's with all this –"
Their voices trailed off in my hearing; they continued to bicker in the background of the scenario I was watching. No one noticed my distraction.
I had frozen in the act of reaching for my bottle.
As majestic and showy as always, they strolled into the student-packed cafeteria; their posture showed overconfidence, arrogance and a sense of false leadership, but it was there all the same. Tall, graceful, ostentatious, proud.
As always.
This was something that by no means changed.
The one in the front had carroty hair that went down to her waist, a sporty tan, gleaming eyes and her outfit hinted at designer origins. Her accompanying friend (or may I say, co-conspirator) had a cascade of jet black hair tied loosely with a ribbon, and the stance of a graceful gazelle.
The one my eyes turned at was the leader. Her aura showed that she was, and her attire seconded it. Her fiery red hair, which used to be simply straight, was now cut in stylish layers that curved to the middle of her back. Red designer glasses were perched before her scorching crimson shade of eyes, and her tight dress showed off perfect feminine carcass.
I watched as Tayuya, Kin and Karin sauntered to the longest table half filled with popular seniors and juniors, like they were the queens of the school, and sat.
Hate and revulsion burst into the hollow of my belly, like burning acid. It clawed its way to my throat, and for a moment, I felt like I would throw up. My fingers clenched on my lemonade bottle, threatening to crush it; wanting to crush it.
Wanting to crush their stupid perfect faces and dump them at the end of recess.
I shook my head, bursting out of the horrendous stupor.
No. Don't go there.
I might as well do.
Again the image forced its way into my mind: my sharp nails digging into a pale gullet, Karin's most, and squeeze it until it would just hang there limply.
I quivered, yearning to drive away the picture.
In my struggle to compose myself, I tore my eyes away from the table and gazed back at the entrance.
…
All in his deserved glory, he strode into the canteen.
Uchiha Sasuke
He didn't recognize the new girl.
Sure, there was something familiar about her face and her eyes, but he couldn't pinpoint any memory in which he had seen her.
When he walked in the cafeteria with his classmates, late as usual, he automatically looked for the bench by the window, which he had been hoping to find empty. Good luck evaded him. Sometimes.
But a group already sat there.
No big deal.
He turned back, but something stopped him in his tracks. He was familiar with all the faces on that table, but one pink head stood out bizarrely from the picture.
He hadn't seen her there before.
He would not be bothered about it either; nevertheless, it was the expression on her face that took him aback.
It wasn't exactly demonstrative, but inflectionless and solemn. Her hands overlapped around a green bottle, her shoulders rigid as she stared up at him.
With such eyes that made him recoil.
They would seem beautiful to anyone; the color was a bright green, but it was also deep and unfathomable.
What shocked him was the coldest glare that emanated from those eyes…like emerald stones. Just stones.
It didn't frighten him; that took a lot.
But it made him very uneasy, and for a long while he couldn't tear away his eyes from hers.
Fuck…Did I do something wrong or what?
…Suddenly he was plunged into the past.
A/N: …You know all the mysteries and the horrors don't unravel in the first chapter, so this may seem a bit boring, but of course that's how a story spins open. I hope you like it, and read and review….It's very easy :P
I'm very thankful to the reviewers of the prologue. I appreciate you. Not to forget those silent readers who've favorited or followed my story.
Some Notices:
1. Okay so first off, I have a life. I'm a hardworking college freshman, and I HAVE to spend most of my time studying. So that may result in late updates, and I'm really sorry in advance for that.
2. Secondly, I will try updating every weekend, 'because that's when I'm a bit free. Yes, a bit. Oh college life.
3. I wanted to ask you people: is it okay if I write this story in first person? Because I wrote the prologue in third person. Depends, cuz I have to change at least two POVs per chapter. What do you think? I may edit according to your response.
4. Please do review.
5. K. Bye.
6. Thanks.
7. Don't leave me.
8. You're my favorites.
9. P.S. Anyone wants me to R&R their stories?
Yours,
berryboom
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