MY FOND SECRET LOVE
Chapter 4: The Confession
Everyone knows that life isn't easy and that it isn't fair either. But there are just some people whose life is less easy and less fair than others. And I just happen to be one of those people.
What I found written on the paper was a shock but WHO it came from just made me slap myself.
Dear Sakura,
Forgive me for writing this letter to you since I'm too much of a coward to tell you personally.
I'm not really sure if you know me but you're actually the reason I go to the library as often as I can. I find it very cute that you wrinkle your nose whenever you try to solve a math question.
Anyway the point of this letter is to finally tell you that I like you so…
I like you.
I know you and I don't know each other at all but I hope you'll give me a chance to get to know you and for you to know me as well. And so I'll be waiting for your answer by the end of this week.
Love,
Hyuuga Neji
Neji…Hyuuga Neji…
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BRAIN LOADING 80
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HYUUGA NEJI?!
Thank God I was able to hold onto my locker before I could faint. This has got to be some sick joke. I know it is. I mean, seriously. Hyuuga Neji? THE Hyuuga Neji? Phullleeease. Even in my dreams, or for anyone's dreams for that matter, it is absolutely not going to happen. EVER. It's just not. It's like saying Naruto is a genius and Sasuke is sweet. Have I emphasized my point enough?
And then it suddenly hit me like a this gong sound was made inside my brain.
INO
And it all made sense. Ino is getting back at me for stealing her glory seat as Sasuke's first ever female partner. She probably thinks I'm totally undeserving since I eat carbs (as if I'm giving up my hamburger) and think that pink is the new blonde. I keep telling people it's my natural hair color but they just won't believe me.
I shut my locker with all the force my arm could possibly produce. It made a loud bang which made students in the hallway look at me like someone who had just been dumped or was going crazy. I bet it was the latter part though.
After I got away from everyone's wondering faces, I headed down to where the gym is. I wasn't feeling nervous anymore but rather I was angry. REALLY ANGRY. I mean people should know how far they can go with jokes. What if I actually believed this? What if I actually went up to Neji and be all "Hey, I got your love letter and I would love for us to date".
I can hear people's laughs right now. I can only imagine the humiliation I would get. Humiliation that would last till the day I graduate.
I arrived at the front door of the gym shaking. Even though I am angry at Ino, I was not yet blinded by rage. I still thought of what she and her clones could do to me and possibly even to Hinata. I had to toughen up. Hinata isn't always going to be with me and I won't always be rescued whenever I get into one of these evil social encounters.
So I inhaled and then exhaled then stared at the door handle for a minute.
"I am going to be…uhmm…alive. Yeah. That's good."
I closed my eyes for a second and mentally prepared myself for the possible outcomes of this so-called meeting.
Okay I was kidding myself. No amount of mental preparation could totally prepare me for this but I was still worth a shot.
I popped my eyes open and tried my best to put on a I'm-not-afraid-of-you look then finally opened the door. All of my anger was suddenly morphed into absolute panic.
The gym was usually packed with several sports teams having their club practice. On the rare occasion that I needed to visit the gym after school, I'd see the volleyball team playing in the middle, the chess team on the right side and the table tennis team on the left. There would be non-team members scattered around the gym to watch, probably hoping that they too can get in the by the time the clubs would hold try-outs.
And that was the image I was expecting to see in the gym when I opened the door but I realized at that moment how much I do not want to mess with Yamanaka Ino. The gym was totally empty and quite except for the 6 blonde girls standing inside.
She was there standing in the middle, her hands were placed on her hips and her body slightly shifted to her right side. She had her head held up high, her eyes staring right at me and her mouth forming to this sort of weird witch smile. Her clones were right behind her looking as if they would attack me with just one snap on her highness's finger.
"Sakura! I'm glad you could come!" Ino said as smiled at me.
It's not like I had a choice anyway and why did she suddenly call me Sakura?
"Uhh yeah well it sounded important so…"
I tried not to look at the ground. I really did but my eyes and the floor were like magnetized or something. I know I told myself I wouldn't be such a wuss anymore but it's really hard. She is really intimidating. I was lucky enough that I could even utter a sentence that made sense.
"Sakura, you're a smart girl aren't you? I'm sure you know why I called you?"
"It's about Uchiha right?"
Ino smiled at me while her clones smiled at each other. I hope I was pleasing them enough for to get out alive.
"Yes it is. I'm sure you know of our little club…"
Okay there was no way that her freaky club is little. I heard from Naruto that their club room (don't even ask me why they have a club room in the school seeing as an Uchiha Sasuke fan club can't really qualify as a club. Ah but this is where the money comes in) has ridiculously expensive and unnecessary things like Mac laptops for every member, a Starbucks stall and complete access to one of the most expensive country clubs in the state, the Yamanaka Country Club.
"…and how much we want to protect Sasuke-kun from getting into the hand of evil selfish girls."
Evil selfish girls? Are they talking about me? I should have brought my tennis racket and smacked her pretty little head back to reality.
"Okay…uhmm you do know I have no interest whatsoever in Uchiha right?"
"Yes well everyone can actually see you hate him but Sasuke-kun's charm can cloud even the most hateful girls' judgment at times."
Well I can't disagree with that. I'd remember the times when perfectly poise girls would suddenly go crazy and drool whenever Sasuke would pass by. His sex appeal should be a deadly weapon or something.
"Uhuh. Right. So what do you want me to do? I already tried talking to the teacher about changing partners but he just wouldn't budge."
Apparently he was giddy from having the top 2 students of our batch partnering in his class.
"I know. We tried that too."
"Right…of course. So what now then?"
"Well we just invited you here so we can be sure that you know your limit. I trust you won't do anything inappropriate to Sasuke?"
"I would rather bite my tongue and let it bleed than do something like that."
"Then we're finished here." She said as she flipped her hair.
Ino turned to look at her clones, signaling for them to leave. They walked gracefully out the door with their blonde hair swishing together.
I, on the other hand, remained glued on where I was standing. I couldn't believe they left me, ALIVE. And I really can't believe I was able to do it on my own. I was about to do my happy-happy-joy-joy dance when I suddenly remembered something important.
THE LETTER
I instantly smacked my forehead for being so stupid.
I had forgotten to ask Ino about it in the midst of my panic to remain alive. But now that I can analyze rationally the given situation, I really can't find a reason for her to do that. She knew I hated Sasuke with every fiber of my being and I guess she was kind enough to leave me with just a heed of warning. The love letter was unnecessary in her plan.
If that's so, who wrote it then?
I arrived home feeling tired, hungry and confused. I threw my backpack towards the corner of my room and collapsed on my bed. I knew I had a lot of things to do like homework, preparing dinner and calling Hinata to tell her the good news but I just couldn't bring myself to get up. That letter (I can't bring myself to call it a LOVE LETTER. It sends shivers down my spine) still bothered me a lot so I decided to take a hot bath first. Maybe it would help me think things through when I'm in a more relaxed mood. I was about to head for the bathroom when the phone suddenly rang. I picked it up thinking it was Hinata.
"I thought I was the one that's supposed to call you?"
"Eh? Well I didn't think you knew my number Haruno-san."
"Huh?"
OHMYGAWD. It isn't Hinata! It's someone else. A guy? Naruto?
"Naruto is this you? Look I told you I'd make you ramen NEXT WEEK. Not now. I'm tired."
The guy on the phoned chuckled at me. Chuckled? Okay this definitely isn't Naruto. Naruto doesn't chuckle, he laughs violently. Hinata and I try not to make jokes whenever we eat with Naruto. The table would look like it went through a food fight. I tried to think of other guys who might need to call me but I didn't really have that much guy friends. Actually, Naruto is my only guy friend.
"This isn't Naruto, Haruno-san. It's Neji."
"Excuse me?!"
Okay I know that wasn't the most reassuring reaction anyone should get but come on! This is HYUUGA NEJI. He's one of THEM and there is no way one of THEM, with the exception of Naruto and his bizarre ramen addiction, would call me.
"Uh yeah well did you get the letter?"
"WHAT!?"
Okay I have got to calm down and try not to sound like I'm yelling at him for calling me. WHY IS HE EVEN CALLING ME?!
"Is this a bad time? Should I call again? You sound out of breath."
Yeah well what do you expect?! Getting a call from YOU!!
I tried to calm myself down. I wasn't making any sense in the conversation and I was not about to give Sasuke something to laugh about AGAIN. He'd surely hear about this. Maybe Ino had some kind of listening device installed inside my phone or room. And yes she can actually do that therefore I fear her. Never underestimate a crazy fan girl who is rich.
"Uhmm wait a minute. This is Hyuuga Neji? As in the Hyuuga Neji who hangs out with Sasuke and the other guys?"
"Uh yeah I guess. And this is Haruno Sakura? The one who has a 4.0 GPA and is totally unsure of why I am calling?"
"Yeah. That's me. Uhm is this a prank call? It's not funny you know."
"No it's not."
"A dare?"
"No, not that either."
"You drunk? On drugs? Totally delusional? Have gone crazy? Had too much coke and ice cream?"
"No, no, no, not yet and no. Do you have any more theories on why I'm calling you? Just keep them coming."
"Nope. I'm out of theories."
"Good. Now I can actually tell you why I am calling."
"I KNOW! You need to know what the homework is for Calculus right? Just a minute, I've got it right here somewhere…"
I tried to reach for my backpack but Neji shot down my theory again. I thought that was it though since I still refused to believe he was calling about the letter. Maybe I heard him wrong? Maybe he didn't mention the word 'letter'. Maybe it was something similar like butter or better! Yeah, that's it! It was something like that.
"I'm calling about the letter…"
Either my hearing has gone bad, I'm going crazy or he really did say letter. Oh! Maybe it's a different letter? Like a field trip permission letter. Did we get one of those?
"…the one I left in your locker. The one where I wrote I liked you?"
Well that's it. I'm out of excuses.
"That was real?! I thought it was a prank…"
"Ouuuccch…."
"That didn't come out well. What I meant was I thought someone was trying to play a trick on me. I believe you know about me and Sasuke?"
"Yeah I did. I'm glad you're still alive."
"Me too."
We both laughed and for a moment I forgot he was THE Hyuuga Neji, the one who has the second largest fan girl base next to Sasuke and the one who's annoying fans keep bothering me whenever I'm trying to study in the library. He seemed okay I guess but then again, I've only talked to him for a while.
"Look Hyuuga-san, about the letter…"
"I want you to know it's real. That's why I called. I figured you wouldn't believe it seeing as you looked liked you were scared shitless today. I wouldn't blame you though, Ino can be really scary."
"Yeah. She is."
I tried not to shiver as I recalled today's events with Ino. I know she didn't do anything to scar my soul for all of eternity or something like that but her aura is really menacing and her eyes look at you like you're something to feed on. I know it seems like I'm exaggerating but it's just how it is for me. I don't know how Hinata can stand her.
"Anyway about the answer…no pressure or anything but if you could just let me know soon?"
"Uhh..uhmm…"
"Haruno-san I know all of this may seem weird and untrue but I really do like you. I don't lie about things like this and I've liked you ever since I saw you in the library and I know we don't know a lot about each other and we don't really talk at school so I can understand why you're confused with all of this but I really REALLY like you a lot so I was hoping that you'd just give me a chance. That's all."
Honestly, I didn't know what else to say. I mean what else do you say to someone who just told you he likes you for 3 times now other than…
"Okay."
I was never really good with words.
"Great! Well then I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah sure."
"Bye!"
"Bye…"
I put the phone back on its stand then sat on my bed looking totally dazed. My brain still couldn't process what was happening. Is this really happening? Does Hyuuga Neji actually like me? More importantly why the hell did I just say okay to it all? His 'speech' was just so…I don't know, convincing and sincere. I just couldn't turn him down right then and there even though I know I should have.
My mind was a total mess and on times like these that I needed Hinata the most. She has this ability to force sense into my brain when I needed it. I picked up the phone again and began dialing Hinata's number.
"Hello? Hinata? You won't believe what just happened…"
