Perfectly Imperfect
Chapter Two:Sakura
As soon as the bell rang, signifying the end of school, I rushed home. My father and I had made an appointment to go to a prayer meeting and I didn't want to be late. My father is the only family that I have and I was his only family as well.
My mother died from leukemia, a type of blood cancer, when I was eight years old. I was devastated by the loss. I knew my father loved my mother dearly and was probably as miserable as me or even more when she died. However, he did not show any sign of depression when my mother died. Instead, he was always smiling. I guess he wanted to make me feel better. Because of that, I felt really guilty. I felt that I was an additional burden to my father as he had to keep all his sorrows within him as well as maintain a façade as a strong father in front of me which is why I vowed to myself to make my father happy as much as I can.
I pushed away those thoughts when I saw Li Syaoran standing in front of the playground. He seemed … vulnerable as he watched the children having fun. It was a rare sight and I seriously doubted myself. Perhaps it was just a figment of my imagination. After all, it is Li Syaoran that I'm talking about; the Li Syaoran who reeks of danger and rebellion with his leather jacket and torn jeans. There is just no way that Li Syaoran and the word vulnerable goes together. I ignored the nagging feeling in my stomach and continued walking home. He was probably there as he had nothing better to do and he was planning to bully those children or maybe the playground was his new smoking area. Anyway, I couldn't let it bother me too much.
When I arrived home, my father was sitting on our couch dressed in his brown slacks and black polo shirt. Even with the old age, my father looked dashing with his wavy auburn hair and warm brown eyes which had wrinkles at the side from smiling too much. How I wish I got some of his looks! He gave me his lopsided smile as he waited for me to put my things in my room. Once done, he offered his hands to me and bowed- the way a prince would ask a princess for a dance. I grinned at his cheesiness before giving him my hand but inside, I knew that even though my dad is a prince, I will never be a princess. Not with the fact that I am hideous. Who in their right mind would ever mistake a frog for a princess? I am a frog and there is no way that I will never be a princess.
During my freshmen year in Abraham Lincoln, I was a naïve thirteen year old girl who thought that making friends in high school would be easy. Friends who I could cry on, whom I could laugh with and whom I just be myself with. However, the truth hurts doesn't it? The second I stepped inside Tomoeda High, I practically dug a grave for myself and buried myself six feet under.
Once I walked into the high school corridor, I immediately became the source of attention as people took in my appearance. Untidy auburn blonde hair, wide smile with teeth in braces, ankle-length skirt and books tucked under my arms. Yep, I was and still am a total geek. I could hear snickers and giggles but I paid no heed to that as a handsome boy with messy, chestnut hair and mesmerizing amber eyes approached me.
"Hey. Wanna hang out? You and I tonight...in the library?" the handsome boy asked with a smirk on his seemingly perfect lips.
This time around, not only were there snickers and giggles but round of laughter as well. I felt my cheeks reddened as my lips briefly lost its smile. Tears threatened to fall out of my eyes yet I manage to keep it in. I had never been so humiliated in my life before. Despite the mockery, I tried to keep my head high and return a weak smile to him before abruptly walking away, careful not to meet anyone's eyes.
Li Syaoran.
The boy who single- handedly turned my already non-existing high school life into living hell.