3. Big Mistake

The students in Iruka's early English class were greeted by an unusual sight as they walked in to the classroom the following morning. They all shared the same facial expression of surprise and wonder when realizing that the always late, dorky Sakura Haruno for once had arrived early. She was sitting in her usual seat in the back of the class, nervously fiddling with a nicely folded piece of paper, her features tightened in frustrated concentration.

Sakura had brought an edited, Sasuke-free version of her letter to school today, hoping to convince Iruka to switch them. Hopefully, he hadn't read it yet – that would simply be too embarrassing.

Sakura jumped nearly unnoticeably, as Sasuke walked in to the room with his book bag carelessly tossed over one shoulder and a serious expression on his face. He went to sit down in his usual seat in front of her, and she blushed as their eyes met for a brief second. He, too, had apparently noticed her atypical presence. In a strange way, that made her happy. At least he noticed her, then.

Sasuke was quickly followed by his stupid friends and a group of giggling girls. Everybody sat down, and the classroom was soon buzzing with conversations. But finally, the bell rang, and Iruka walked in the door. Sakura nearly jumped from her seat and ran up to his desk. Her classmates stared at her, but she tried to ignore them.

"Iruka-sensei," she said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, but there has been a mistake. I accidentally gave you the wrong version of my letter yesterday. But I brought the right one today. So, if you could please switch the two…"

She handed him the printed paper, sending him a hopeful look.

Iruka smiled friendlily.

"Well, well, look at that. Who knew that you could speak, Sakura."

Sakura blushed and her gaze drifted to the floor. Alright, so she was a little quiet sometimes – but of course she spoke! His comment wasn't fair.

"And I'm sorry, too, Sakura," Iruka continued. "But the due date was final. We have collected all the letters now, and we will not be making any changes." He cocked his head to one side, still smiling, yet a little more serious now. "Nobody else got a second chance. Neither will you."

"But…" Sakura looked up at him with wide eyes and a shocked expression.

"I'm sorry," Iruka told her again, brusquely. "There's nothing I can do. Now, go sit down, so I can begin class."

Sakura pondered for a moment if she should keep trying, but she quickly came to the conclusion that she wouldn't get anywhere trying to argue. So she walked back to her seat with her head bowed and her gaze on the floor trying to block out people's stares.

She slumped down in her chair, placed her arms on the desk and buried her face in them. This was a disaster. All she could do was hope that the letter would get lost in the mail – or that she would die suddenly and painlessly before the arrival of her exchange student.

She just knew that she could not face anyone who knew about her secret, stupid and embarrassing crush.

Here is the third chapter! I hope you liked it. Sorry, if it's a little boring… I promise that the next one will be more exiting! (:

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