Wow, I'm really sorry everyone… I updated so slowly. Here I present Chapter 6, hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 6
Friendship Is a Weird Thing
Sakura's POV
I stared at the grades.
No… way…
"You got…" I whispered.
"All B's," said Li smirking.
"You did it…" I said looking at the GPA score. Wow… a 3.0…
"Like I was going to let my mom have my credit cards…" muttered Li angrily.
I laughed. "I guess you don't need me anymore," I said.
Li stared.
It's true…
He doesn't need me anymore… he's doing great without me…
"It's true… isn't it…?" I said aloud. "You're doing great… you don't need me."
"Kinomoto…" started Li, looking bewildered. "I…"
Something made me want to run away.
"Hey, I gotta study," I said hurriedly as I shoved my books in my bag. "Lots of tests, you know."
"Hey wait," said Li. I tried to ignore those words.
"See you later!" I said as I ran downstairs.
I ran down the street pavement.
Wow… look at me… I'm so weird.
OH MY GOD, I JUST TOTALLY EMBARASSED MYSELF. WHY DID I HAVE TO OPEN MY BIG MOUTH AND SAY THAT?
"Stop it Sakura," I muttered to myself. "You're happy… being away from that spoiled brat… that's right… you're happy."
I closed my eyes.
Am I…?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Hey, hey Sakura-chan!" said Chiharu. "It's almost April!"
"Uh…" I said.
"Your birthday is tomorrow, dummy!" said Tomoyo. "Can we crash at your house?"
"Ah… well…" I said.
Wow… months already pass by really quickly… and I was so caught up with the play and… stuff… that I didn't even realize my own birthday… was coming…
"Sakura-chan, is it okay?" said Rika looking nervously.
"Um…" I said.
"Very well! We'll come by at six p.m. tomorrow!" said Naoko as the school bell rang.
I stared blankly.
"Bye, bye Sakura-chan!" said Chiharu as they waved. They ran a hundred miles per hour toward their houses, blowing some people away.
"Bye…?" I said.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Toya sputtered his juice on the table.
"Whoa dude, watch it!" said Yukito as he pushed me from the spraying range.
"WH-WHAT? A SLEEPOVER?" said Toya wiping his mouth.
"I really didn't do anything…" I said truthfully.
"That doesn't make sense at all, brat," said Toya.
"Hey…!" I said.
"C'mon Toya, she's not a kid anymore…" said Yukito.
Toya was silent for a while.
"Fine… go have your sleepover…" he said.
"It's at my house," I added.
Toya crashed from his chair. "WHAT?" he exclaimed.
"You didn't plan that either did you?" sighed Yukito. I shook my head.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The doorbell rang.
I put my books away and I ran to the door.
(A/N: BOOKS? What a geek…)
"Sakura-chan!" said Tomoyo as she hugged me.
"Wah!" I said nearly falling.
"Oh wow, your house is so nice and clean," said Rika in awe.
"Thank you…" I said.
"I hope you don't mind… I brought my boyfriend," said Chiharu as she looked at her side.
"Hello," said the guy next to her. He had dark short hair and he seemed to smile a lot. He shook my hand. "My name is Yamazaki Takashi," he said.
"Hello," I said smiling. Chiharu laughed nervously. "Um… I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but he brought two of his friends… as well," she said. "Hope you don't mind that…"
"Another…?" I said.
Another guy came behind Takashi. He had long bangs and glasses.
"Pleased to meet you," he said. "My name is Hiiragizawa Eriol."
"Um…" I said as he shook my hand.
"Ah… oh yeah… they invited him too," said Tomoyo.
"Him?" I said.
Oh no… no way…
I stared at the last guy.
It was Li.
He stared at me too.
Li… you came…?
"Damn, I knew this house was familiar!" he said.
"Whoa Li, you've been here?" said Takashi.
"I see you guys have met!" said Chiharu.
"Looks like he's been a bit devilish with Kinomoto here," said Eriol laughing.
"Ahaha…" said Naoko.
"Oh dear…" said Rika.
"Ooh…" said Tomoyo.
"Li wanted to go so bad because he didn't want to be left out," Eriol added.
"What the hell are you talking about?" said Li. "You guys practically dragged me here!"
They said nothing for a second. I figured that he was right. Sigh…
"Too late!" said Takashi suddenly as he shoved Li inside.
"What the—!" said Li.
"I heard you have an older brother," said Tomoyo to me as Takashi and Eriol wrestled Li to the ground.
"Knock him out so we can trap him in the closet!" said Takashi.
"I'll aim for his face…" huffed Eriol as he drew his fist.
"Oh yeah… he's going hang out with his friends for the night too," I said thinking about Yukito, trying to ignore the struggling Li's yells.
"I see," said Rika who seemed unaffected by the shouting.
"Okay!" said Chiharu. "Let's go to the movies!"
"Wha…?" I said. Why are we going to the movies…?
"Uhm... cause!" said Naoko as she pushed me out the door.
"Get off of me!" yelled Li as he shoved Eriol and Takashi away. They easily moved back, laughing.
Li drove us to the movies with his car (not that he liked it). I thought this was a sleepover…
Then we walked to the movie ticket booth. Chiharu stopped.
"Tomoyo-chan, Rika-chan, Naoko-chan, and I are going to go out and see something," said Chiharu. She nodded to the guys.
"See what?" I said.
"It's a project for school," said Chiharu. "So in the meantime, you can watch the movies with Li."
"Huh?" said Li and I at the same time.
They all walked to the side of the street. "See you guys later!" said Rika.
"I already preordered your tickets so you better go!" said Naoko. "It's a great movie!"
"Wait!" I said, but they sprinted away.
"Ah…" I said.
Li looked at the tickets. "What the hell are they trying to do?" he said.
"I don't know…" I said.
"C'mon…" he said, and we walked to the theater.
"What movie is it anyway?" I said.
"A horror one," said Li. "Man… this is going to get boring."
"A… a what?" I whispered.
My worst fear. Scary stories, scary movies… I HATE THEM ALL!
"What's wrong?" said Li.
"Ah… I hate scary stuff," I said.
"Ah geez, you baby," he said.
"I'm not a baby!" I said.
He smirked. Uh-oh. An evil smirk.
"Come watch it with me then," he said as he took my wrist.
"Hey! Wait!" I said as he dragged me.
He quickly ordered some food and made me carry the popcorn.
"No… I don't wanna watch it," I said as he forced me to sit down on his left side.
"You're watching it with me," said Li. "And it's not like its real."
"Easier for you to say…" I said.
The commercials started and I looked below. To my disgust, there were couples making out.
"That's just…" I started.
"Everyone does that… well… couples anyway," said Li eating his popcorn. He was looking at the commercials.
I stared at him. Wonder what I said before… didn't affect him?
Is he just trying to forget everything that I said?
"PLEASE BE SEATED FOR OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION," said the speakers suddenly as the room darkened even further.
"YEEK!" I said as some of the popcorn flew everywhere.
"Hey, don't waste my money!" said Li grabbing the tub of popcorn from me.
"Wahh…" I said as I felt tears coming up from fright.
Suddenly I felt warmth on my right hand. I realized it was Li's hand on mine and I froze.
"I'll squeeze your hand on the scary parts," he said still staring at the screen. This reminded me about the play. I turned red.
"Okay…" I said slowly. Better than just staring at the screen where all the blood and crap gets to your mind…
"Did I hear a thank you?"
"No…" I was annoyed.
"Okay, I'll pretend you already said it," said Li grinning as he looked back at the screen.
He did warn me on the scary parts. Every time someone was going to die or there was a ghost popping out, he squeezed my hand gently.
Then I would close my eyes and just hear the eerie screams and sinister laughs.
My fear was fading away… and I was happy that he would do such a nice thing for me.
Er… not that I liked seeing this with him. NEVER!
Then, in the near end of the movie, there was a part where a girl was going to the cemetery.
I started to close my eyes.
"Kinomoto, nothing wrong happens here," said Li. "Don't worry."
"You sure?" I said.
He paused. "Yeah," he said.
"Okay…" I said opening them.
Then a ghost grabbed the girl and she screamed.
I screamed ten times louder than that girl.
"Whoa…!" said Li covering his ears.
Everyone turned to look at us, but I didn't care.
"You liar!" I said angrily, tears coming out of my eyes. "I trusted you!" I stomped away from the theater and heard him say, "Hey Kinomoto, wait!"
I was so pissed. How could he have done that?
Back there, it sounded dramatic. I can't believe I said that. It sounded like we were in a drama.
Oh no, I bet it looked like we were in some sort of relationship...
But... WHO CARES! HE'S STILL A JERK!
I kept walking away until I reached outside. He grabbed my arm and turned me around.
"What's your problem?" he said. "I didn't know!"
"Yes you did you liar!" I said. "You knew from the very beginning!"
"Why are you crying?" he said staring at me.
"I'm not crying!" I said wiping my eyes.
"Yeah you are," said Li as he placed his hand on my cheek and wiped some of the tears away.
I looked away from him.
"Were you that scared?" he said.
I didn't answer. I wanted to scream out at his face and say, "HELL YES I WAS SCARED!" but the words didn't seem to come out.
"Look…" he said. He sighed.
"I didn't know you hated scary stuff that bad…" he said. "So… sorry, alright?"
I still looked away.
"Hey, hey I said I was sorry," he said bringing up his annoyance again.
"…"
I looked at him.
Then he started to laugh. "That was pretty funny how you freaked though," he said.
"What?" I exclaimed.
"You act just like her when you watch scary stuff," he said.
"Her?" I said.
He stopped, like he accidentally said something not good for someone to say. He cleared his throat.
"I didn't say anything," he said as he walked to his car.
O…kay…
He was probably talking about… Amamiya…
Li drove back to my house. "Your house…" he said as we reached there.
"Hm?" I said. "What's up?" I said. He looked at it for some time.
"Li?"
He finally took off his seatbelt. "Nothing… it's just my imagination," he said.
We walked to the house and I unlocked the door. "I wonder if anyone came back…" I said (I gave them an extra house key). I saw tons of pairs of shoes next to the door.
"What the…" I started reaching for the light.
"SURPRISE!" said my friends as the lights turned on.
"WAH!" I said jumping back as Li caught me behind.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA-CHAN!" said Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko as they hugged me.
"Wow!" I said as the cake blazed with candles was placed in front of me.
They sang "Happy Birthday" and gave me presents. I got a glimpse of Li who was just watching in the back.
I froze when I opened Naoko's present.
"A book of scary stories…" said Tomoyo, her voice not surpised.
"Aha…" I said sweating.
"Enjoy!" said Naoko.
Rika gave me a heart brooch and Tomoyo gave me a kit for making crafts. Chiharu gave me a gorgeous spring dress.
"The guys bought all the party supplies," said Chiharu.
"Yeah, and it wasn't cheap," muttered Yamazaki. "So you better enjoy it…"
"Oh wow, thank you so much!" I said.
"You're welcome!" said Tomoyo.
In the later evening, we went to a restaurant and I got another birthday cake.
At night, everyone slept in the living room. "Let's say scary stories!" said Naoko.
"Let's not," I said nervously.
"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" said Rika. But Takashi cut in.
"Man, I'm beat," he said.
"Yeah, it's getting late," said Eriol. "We should sleep."
"Hmm you're right," said Naoko as she took off her glasses. Phew…
They all fell fast asleep. Everyone… except for me…
"Oh…" I said as I took out my blanket covers. I walked outside and sat on the stairs.
Stupid movie… it's keeping me up…
The stars were shining brighter than ever. Wow… so pretty…
Then something bothered me.
"Hmm… I'm seventeen… but I don't feel seventeen," I muttered. "I still feel like…"
"Hey," said a voice as a hand touched my shoulder.
"WAHH!" I said startled as I turned; it was Li who flinched from my scream.
"Still scared about the movie?" said Li as he sat down next to me.
"Yeah… kind of," I said sighing.
"Well, I forgot to give this to you," he said as he gave me a small box wrapped with beautiful paper.
"Hey, no wait… you shouldn't have," I said.
"Just open it," he said impatiently.
"Hey… is this your way of saying that we should be friends?" I asked.
"Sure… I'd love making friends with a loser like you," he said sarcastically.
Damn idiot.
"Hm?" I said staring at the paper.
"What?" said Li.
"Why is… why did you wrap it so cute and pretty?" I asked amazed. "It's not really like you… except the box of chocolates from before…"
"I was going to give you just the box but my mom found out and she wrapped it for me…" sighed Li.
I slowly unwrapped the present.
It was…
"A stuffed animal?" I said. It was orange with beady eyes and large ears. It also had wings and a long tail with a fluff at the end.
"You don't like it?" he said.
"Oh no, it's really cute!" I said. "I'll name him… hmm…"
"You name your stuffed animals?" said Li. "You are such a weird…"
"I'll name him… him..." I said, interrupting angrily.
I couldn't think of a name… but a word popped out from my head to my mouth.
"I'll name him Kero!" I said, remembering the name somewhere from a manga. "Yeah, Kero; that's cute name."
"Cool," said Li not interested.
"Thank you… Li," I said.
"Babies need their toys…" said Li as he looked up at the sky.
Why you…
I wanted to punch him. But… since it was such a nice evening I decided not to ruin the mood.
There was a pause. Neither of us said anything.
"Um…" I said. Li still stared at the sky.
"Pretty stars," I said stupidly. I couldn't think of anything else to say. It was too awkward if we didn't say anything.
"Yeah…" said Li. "What a nice start you made…"
Why must he always be so negative?
He placed his arms under his head and lied on his back. "Wanna hear a scary story?" he said smirking.
"No…!" I said a little too loudly.
We both quickly turned around to see if anyone woke up. Tomoyo and Rika stirred, but remained sleeping.
He lied on his back again, but took out a cigarette. Then he lit it and I smelled the familiar stench.
"Whoa Li," I said as I coughed. "Why do you smoke?"
Li didn't answer.
"Did you want to be cool or something?" I said. "If that was the case—"
"No…" said Li suddenly.
"Hm?" I said.
He inhaled again and blew the smoke towards the sky. "I was…" he started. There was a long pause. "I had… problems," he said finally.
"What…?" I said.
"Do you not know what that word means?" he said.
"I know what that word means!" I said.
"Hey keep it down okay?" said Takashi sleepily.
"Nice going," said Li.
"Hmph," I said.
Li blew his last bit and rammed the cigarette on the stone. "I had a problem… that's it," said Li.
"When did you start?" I asked.
"A long time ago," said Li. "Doesn't matter though…"
"What do you mean?" I said.
"You really don't know English do you?" he said. "I said I don't care. Nothing's out there for me anyway… no one else cares…"
"I do," I blurted.
Li looked at me. "What?" he said.
"Nothing…" I said hastily.
He sighed.
I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Doesn't it feel better… to express what you're feeling and talking to someone else about it?"
"I'm not going to answer that," said Li arrogantly. I smiled again.
"Thank you… Li… for telling me this," I said.
"What?" he said. "Why are you…?"
"What you say to me… more about you… may be more painful than other people," I said. "But at least you tell me what's happening."
Syaoran's POV
Kinomoto… why…
Why does it feel better when I'm talking to you… than any other person?
"Ah, we had fun Sakura-chan," said Rika as they began to pack their belongings to Tomoyo's limousine.
"Happy birthday," said Chiharu.
"Thanks," said Kinomoto smiling.
"Li…" said Daidouji behind me.
"What…?" I said flicking the cigarette ash on the ground.
"Sakura-chan looks like her doesn't she?" she said smiling.
"…"
"Are you going to tell her… what happened?" she asked.
"I don't know…" I said.
"Don't worry… I won't tell her," said Daidouji. "Even though… I'm really curious about—"
"But she died… it's not possible," I said as I threw my cigarette to the ground and grounded it with my foot. "She can't come back from the dead…"
"I wish she did… she was wonderful," said Daidouji sadly.
"We all have our wishes," I said as I walked back to the house.
To be continued… and please review!