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DefineSanity
Chapter 7

Get a Clue

He had been staring at it for nearly five minutes. It was not the kind of gift he was used to but it was the most meaningful one he had ever been given. He placed it between his fingers and thought hard of all the things she said. He did not mean any of the things he said to her and he knew that he was being a complete idiot. He was afraid that their friendship would develop into something more and he would have to care about someone other than himself. It was nothing more than a selfish decision.

He stretched his hands and put the bracelet in his pocket. There was no way he could live with himself if he threw it away. He knew he would see her early the next morning at the bus stop but there was no telling what she was going to do when they were in each others presence.

The sun rose with dazzling beauty, he wore a haggard and mournful look as he approached the bus stop. He walked past two roles of houses with their fenced stoops and verandas. The wind blew sharply against his hair strengthening the anxiety he was experiencing.

She stood poised next to the bus stop sign with her hands firmly across her chest. Her brown leather satchel hanged from her shoulders to her thighs. Her uniform was neat—as usual. He took in the image of her and like the coward he was, he turned his face away and pretended not to notice her.

She too had it all planned, she was going to stand still and say nothing. Her palms were itchy and she did not know how long she would be able to hold the position she was standing. Her eyes were fixed on the road and his eyes wandered everywhere except for where she was. A few other students joined then and Sakura did not flinch until a certain teenage boy tapped her on the shoulder.

"When will the bus be here?"

Sakura turned around, a boy who looked around her age with get black hair and striking hazel eyes looked at her.

"Uh…" Sakura averted her gaze to him "In five minutes."

"Good." The boy said in a rather croaky tone "I'm Shin, I'm new here."

"Sakura."

In less than five minutes, Shin told Sakura the story of his life. Sakura pretended to be interested and giggled in between just to capture Syaorans' attention.

"Oh Shin, you're so funny!" she said in a pitchy tone.

Syaoran looked at her from the corner of his eye and sighed. If he didn't know any better, he'd think Sakura was trying to make him jealous. When the bus finally arrived, Shin and Sakura were the first ones in, Syaoran was behind them. Shin had his had on Sakura's back then gently it glided further down.

Syaoran's jaw tightened "Dude that's not cool." It came out, why did he say that?

Shin turned around and looked at Syaoran. He immediately turned his gaze to Sakura again withdrawing his naughty hand "Do you know this guy?"

Sakura shrugged "Uh, never seen him in my life." Her statement held volumes of meaning. Her big emerald eyes shone out at him with a half laughter, half disdain look of accomplishment.

Syaoran rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, Sakura was one crazy girl. She went through such lengths to get his attention making an absolute fool of herself, he thought, with a complete stranger for that matter. Then again, who was he kidding' it worked and he was ready to ask her for forgiveness.

The rest of the week was nothing he thought it would be. He tried to talk to her every single day but she always made sure she was around groups of people. She never said anything to him when they walked past each other in the hallway. She refused to look into his eyes and she kept a safe distance from him. It was driving him crazy; the only thing that gave him hope was the friendship bracelet she gave him. He realized that he was lonely, that was why he stared at it so much.

On Friday morning, the History class had taken an educational fieldtrip to the museum. Syaoran stood behind the crowd while Sakura was in front of the crowd getting in touch with the 'little miss. Suck-up' side of her personality. How he dreaded fieldtrips, this time his mother made him go—for the first time she was able to make him do something.

They spent the whole morning looking at paintings and sculptures and in the afternoon they were allowed to go buy snacks from the shops and vending machines outside the museum. Sakura and her friends stood in front of a vending machine laughing and talking. They did not take notice of the amount of noise they were making.

"Saku, do you have extra cash?" Naoko asked looking at a packet of chips in the vending machine.

"You're always broke; I thought you got your allowance just the other day." Tomoyo asked.

"I don't just wake up looking like this. It takes skill, patience and lots of money." She poised gracefully.

The other girls broke into laughter, they knew that Naoko was joking, she used all of her money on pizza just so she can see a pizza delivery boy she had a crush on for more than a year.

Sakura borrowed Naoko the money. While the other girls rushed to sit on the benches in the garden, Sakura was still at the vending machine. The packet of sweets she had purchased was stuck. She looked at it awfully disappointed when an arm reached out from behind her head and roughly hit the machine. Her packet of sweets was dispensed and she was pleased about that but when she turned around, she was not as thrilled.

"Hi." He told her in a slow withdrawn tone.

She barely smiled, she was ready to ignore him and quickly walk past him when he closed his hand over her wrist.

"I need to talk to you."

She stood still as he moved in front of her and slowly loosened the grip he had on her hand. "What do you want?" she asked.

He looked uncertain, as though what he was going to say next was bound to kill him "I see you're back to you're original self."

She sighed, after a whole week of not talking to each other that was the best he could do. She tried to move but he once again tightened the grip he had on her wrist.

"I never changed to begin with." She muttered angrily.

"I want to talk to you" he said leaning towards her face.

She accidentally looked into his tender eyes then swiftly turned her head away. "All you wanted was for me to leave you alone. I'm just doing what you asked me to do."

"You know how I'm like; I tend to say things." He paused and swallowed "I wish I could bring back Monday 'cause I know how I feel about you now."

She averted her face back to him, he released her hand and she said "And how do you feel about me?" once again she was trapped in his eyes and hypnotized by his lips. His lips would do wonders against hers.

"I feel like you are…trying too hard to get my attention. You and your silly little friends make one hell of a noise when I'm around and I saw what you did on Tuesday; flirting with Yukio Shikibu just because I was there. On Monday I should have told you to stop being such an attention seeker" Syaoran blurted then immediately thought 'Oops' after that. His face was pinched and tight with the fretfulness he was causing himself.

Sakura's blood boiled in her veins, she frowned and said "You are so pathetic." She walked past him.

Syaoran purposely hit himself hard on the head, she was right he was pathetic. He was having trouble being nice to her and he didn't understand why. He wasn't going to give up so easily. He was going to keep trying until the right words found him.

……………….

Monday afternoon he sat in the yard smoking a cigarette. Anthony approached him and looked disappointingly at him.

"You know, at the rate you're going, she'll probably give up on you. What are you, nuts? She only lives a few blocks from here. Be creative."

Syaoran shrugged "She won't talk to me. I don't blame her, besides her dumb brother will kick my ass if I go anywhere near her." He was able to maintain his cool.

"I can't believe you just said that! If you really like this girl, getting your ass kicked by her brother just for a few minutes with her has to be worth it."

Syaoran shrugged "She hates me."

Anthony shook his head worriedly "That's what women want you to think when they really want you to make a move. Yelan pretends to be mad at me when all she wants is a massage and I…"

"Stop right there." Syaoran interrupted "You're grossing me out."

Anthony wasn't much help; it was up to him if things were going to change with Sakura. He saw her a few times; he saw her at the supermarket, at the park and even right across the street from his house riding a red bicycle. He was too shy to approach her.

Finally an idea stroke him, he would leave a box of chocolate on her doorstep and a message to go along with it. It all seemed easy in his mind but when it came to writing the message, he was like a cat trying to bark.

'Dear Wassup Sakura, I've been thinking missing you…I spend ever waking hour thinking of what to tell you. I'm not fucking good with words so please give me another spare me if this letter is shit. I must confess I messed up and maybe...I've never cared about hurting the peo anyone until you…Life's a bitch, we can totally make it better if we hook up.

He quickly squashed the letter in his hands and tossed it in the bin—it wasn't good enough so he tried his luck with poetry but failed at that too. He then searched on the internet for something meaningful to tell her. Just when he thought he was ready, he found himself unable to come near her house. He spent the whole afternoon riding his skateboard past her house.

…………………….

On Tuesday afternoon he had detention, this time it was for falling asleep in class and chewing after being told more than once not to. Since the detention room was being used for a teachers' conference, all detainees had to help sweep and pack the equipment in the gym until four o'clock. Syaoran and another boy who constantly got in trouble, made their way to the gym a few minutes after the bell rang.

Syaoran stopped in his tracks when he saw the cheerleaders practicing. Cheerleaders only meant one thing, she would be there too.

"Are you coming?" the boy asked the startled Syaoran.

Syaoran gulped and nodded hard. He and the boy sat on the benches as they waited for a teacher to come and give them instructions.

Suddenly he saw her, she looked amazing—as usual, in a pair of tight blue shorts and a white polo shirt with the school emblem on the side pocket. She had the customary crowd around her.

The girls started to walk his direction; he sat still and kept his eyes away from them.

"Excuse me." Chiharu said pointing her eyes at him "Do you mind getting out of here, we want to practice."

"Detention is here." The boy answered for Syaoran.

Chiharu sighed and looked at the other girls "This is not fair, how are we supposed to concentrate with him in here. I'm going to the principles office"

Syaoran looked at Sakura to see the look on her face, she was unfazed. The other girls scattered across the gym while Sakura remained in the same position, she stared at him then slowly walked away.

The principle did nothing to help the cheerleaders; Syaoran was relieved because now he could stare at Sakura all he wanted.

When the cheerleaders started practice, the boys started to move the gym equipment. After half an hour, Syaoran stood at one corner with a broom in his hands. He watched the cheerleading squad; Sakura was in control. She came up with every move and taught it to the other girls. He was more than impressed.

"Sakura that is the best routine ever!" one of girls told her on their way out.

Sakura smiled then averted to Syaoran. Everyone had disappeared from the room apart from the two of them.

"How do you do all that?" he asked "I mean I always thought that cheerleading was dumb but that was insane."

She tapped her foot on the floor and pondered whether she should speak to him or walk away.

"I used to do gymnastics." She spoke.

He nodded and allowed a strong silence to settle between them. She then waved her hand and ran out saying "My brother must be here."

…………………………

Friday had to be his day; he had a strong feeling that it would be the day Sakura would find out what was in his heart. He was ready to tear his heart out of his chest and give it to her. There was no better time to let loose than that afternoon.

The sky was streaky and grey; it had become grubbier with every minute. The air felt as though you were being stuffed under a cold blanket and the leaves danced with the wind.

They took the same bus but only approached each other when they reached their destination.

"How was the Science test?" he asked her trying to be untailored.

She was walking next to him and was surprised that he spoke to her. He spoke to her with kindness and patience.

"It was the best one yet." She told him looking ahead. "What about you, how was it?"

"Best one yet" he replied coyly with a boyish grin on his face. "What have you been up to lately?"

She turned her gaze to him then back ahead "I'm looking for a part time job. I want to start saving up for a car and you know the usual—studying, movies, the mall."

"How do you do it, do you ever have time for yourself?"

She shook her head "Honestly, I don't want time for myself."

They walked a few blocks at the same pace having something they never had in a while, a normal conversation. They were enjoying it so much that they decided to take the long way home by walking through the park.

"What made you decide to talk to me?" he asked as they strolled across the playground.

"I don't know."

She stopped walking and turned to look at him. He stopped walking too.

"Why are you trying to confuse me? One minute you hate me and the next you don't then you're nice to me and other times you are so mean. I don't understand you."

He shrugged "I don't understand myself either."

She started to walk again "You know, I wish you didn't do that. Act all mysterious, it's damn irritating. You're lucky I'm the forgiving type."

"What? You're acting like I needed your forgiveness to be content."

"Well do you?" she asked stopping in her tracks.

"The hell I don't. You know what your problem is? You are just too full of yourself. You think the world revolves around you. This was a mistake."

She started to walk fast and he tried to catch up with her "Of course it was a mistake." She grunted.

"I am better off without you." He told her as they made their way to the soccer field.

"Me too!" she spoke louder.

The field was grassy and smooth; it began to drizzle, a scatter of small raindrops came first, and then a thick almost horizontal wall of grey. Of course they were not aware of all this, they were too busy quarrelling to notice the change.

"We should give up while we still can and go our separate ways."

She nodded agreeably as she gradually slowed down "Yeah, I mean what's the use. It's not like I like you or anything and besides, I have tons of friends—I don't need your friendship."

He moved at the same pace "Even if this went past friendship it would be a total disaster."

She stopped walking and so did he. They were facing each other only a short distance apart.

"We are complete opposites; it's bound to end in tragedy." She said in a gentle tone.

"And besides I'm fine without you." He murmured.

"So am I…"

She took a step closer to him and he took a step close to her. He leaned his face over hers and said in a half whisper "You'll only make my life miserable."

"Mine too…" she whispered.

They looked into each others eyes as though they were trying to exchange eye color telepathically. There existed between them a sort of telepathy which made further words unnecessary.

He caressed her smooth cheek with the tip of his fingers. Her breathing was at the same rate as his. Slowly their eyes closed, he felt like he was sinking—it was a startling feeling.

"This is how much I hate you…"

He whispered before gently brushing his lips against hers. She felt her heart ascend and she thought she was going to cry because of the joy she was experiencing. He slowly broke the kiss then looked into her eyes again. She shuddered at his touch and just like she anticipated his lips did marvelous wonders against hers. It was not the falling of the temperature that was making her bones run cold and giving her goosebumps, it was all him. She knew she would never feel anything like it—her first kiss

Her hands somehow found their way to his. He clasped his smooth fingers between her soft ones and she averted her gaze to witness the affair that was happening between their hands. She saw the friendship bracelet she gave him around his wrist.

"You're wearing it." She said still looking at it.

"I've worn it everyday since you gave it to be." He shyly looked at her as though he was meeting her for the first time and his cheeks turned crimson.

She gazed at him.

"I wasn't sure if you still cared…" the color rose up in his face.

"I still do." She murmured with a smile.

He picked her up and held her tight against him. She hung in his arms with her feet dangling off the ground. She gave him her lips and they shared another magical kiss. They locked themselves in a state where they did not feel the raindrops falling on them.

"This doesn't mean I'm not mad at you anymore." She said in his lips.

…………………

Liki or no liki? Reviews plz… oh and thanks thanks thank you for the last reviews. Ccya.