-Revenge is Sweeter than You Ever Were-
Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable content.
-Chapter Nine-
-The Chase-
So, when we last left things, the king of the school, Mr. Popular himself, Uchiha Sasuke, had just asked me out. Now what?
As soon as the bell to end school rang, I ran, almost as fast as I could, to our official/ unofficial meeting place. I needed to tell them what had happened, even though they probably knew all that had happened. One of the effects of being asked out over the loud speaker.
When I got to the audio-visual lab, the other girls were already there, pacing around the computer-cluttered space in an attempt to relieve their very obvious anxiety. As soon as I walked in they pounced.
I was grabbed with claw-like fingers. Each girl, for some unexplained reason, began pulling me in three different directions. They were also all talking at the same time. For the briefest of moments, I truly regretted stepping into the room.
"Okay! One at a time!" I finally shouted, no longer being able to put up with being treated like a rag doll. "Sasuke asked me out in the hall and I turned him down before the big announcement and band performance."
"Band performance?" Ino asked. She was obviously not used to not knowing about major events happening in the school. She was a gossip queen. In order to hold that title, she was dialled in to literally everything that happened at the school.
"Oh, yeah. After Sasuke asked me out over the loud speaker, the school band walked in to my chemistry class and played the Imagine Dragon's song I was listening to when Sasuke first asked me out." At my words, I watched looks of jealousy at the attention I was receiving momentarily cross Hinata, Tenten, and Ino's faces.
Oh no! If these girls are jealous of me receiving a little attention this is not going to work! I'm trying to date this idiot! How are you going to react when we actually start?
Tenten was the first to recover and she plastered a sweet smile on her face. "This is great! We've got him hooked. Now all we need to do is reel him in. Then, it's time for the sinker! And I've been thinking about that part." Tenten momentarily paused her speech and walked purposefully over to a cluttered surface.
"Your mother actually inspired it, when she was talking about that we should think about how Sasuke dumped us. He used the exact same words, almost like it was rehearsed and well practiced. Like he'd used it countless times before. And I think that is how we break up with Sasuke. Using his own words!"
Tenten then turned from the cluttered workbench she'd been facing. It was a strange motion, almost as if she'd done it with a slight flourish. In her hands was a small video recorder. The technology was a little old, most of us used our phones for videography, so the puzzled looks on my face, as well as those on Ino's and Hinata's, made sense.
Where are you going with this girlie? It had better be good and come with a real clear explanation, cuz this is hella crazy.
"What's with the dinosaur tech?" Ino asked, her tone dripping with venom that cheerleaders and queen bees used with such skill. The blonde then turned to look at her nails, not even deigning to look at the girl she was talking too.
"This is not dinosaur tech. It is way more advanced than your phone. It is higher definition with way better sound. I record everything on this," Tenten responded, her tone just as biting as Ino. "As for why I have it. My plan to break Sasuke's heart is to record a break up speech. The same break up speech that Sasuke gave us. Then, at some moment, the most opportune moment, we play the video in front of the whole school and publically break his heart."
That, my friend, is genius. Pure evil, but genius. And probably the best taste of his own medicine. I love it! And from the looks on the other girls' faces, they agree.
"That is brilliant. Me first! I want first crack at it!" Hinata spoke with a glee that I hadn't seen in the normally calm passive girl. Tenten, with an evil glint in her eyes, trained the camera on the raven-haired girl.
"Baby," Hinata began, looking sultrily into the camera, "what we had was special, an unspoken bond. It has been the best, most exciting few weeks I have ever had."
Ino then stepped up in front of the camera, "Unfortunately, over the past few days, I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching. And, it breaks my hear to do this, but-
Tenten cut Ino off by swinging the camera to face herself "-but, I think I need to spend some time focusing on myself. These next few weeks are going to be hectic and I just don't think I can devote the time you need. So, unfortunately babe-"
Finally, Tenten turned the camera on me. I'd heard this speech at least a million times before. The girls had said it, dissected it, so many times that I knew exactly what to say. Before I spoke, I brought up image after image of my mother's cowardly, scumbag boyfriends sneaking out at all hours of the night.
"Unfortunately, Uchiha Sasuke, you are not the one for me and I think we need to end this thing now before it goes any further." When Sasuke had said it, he had been sad and conciliatory. Me? I was cold, detached, and maybe a little angry.
Slowly, Tenten lowered the phone, a satisfied smirk on her face that was mirrored on Ino's and Hinata's.
I'd done good!
I'd also done a good job hooking Sasuke. Over the week following Sasuke's initial date invitation there wasn't a day that went passed that I wasn't confronted and accosted by him or his friends with a date proposal. And some of them were beyond tacky…
"What was it this time?" Hinata asked, popping a large, juicy blueberry into her mouth. The two of us were sitting at a table near the center of the cafeteria. My newfound popularity had given me access to such a prime location, though I was a little uncomfortable with all the eyes on me.
"Today it was a series a billboards on my way to school. Some of them had terribly corny puns, but some were actually quite clever," I responded. The girls, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten, had taken to rotating lunches with me. We couldn't ever be seen together, the three of us, but each of them could be seen with me alone. It didn't look suspicious, just like three popular girls trying to win the attention of a forth.
"I want to be there when you tell Ino," Hinata leaned in closer to me, her whisper conspiratorial, "I've heard through the rumour mill that billboards is her dream promposal."
Wow Hinata. You've got quite the wicked streak! I'd better watch out for those claws!
"Yeah, well, when it's the forth way over the top date proposal in two weeks it's not quite as romantic as you would think. At first when it was that a capella group following me around and singing songs about boys and girls wanting someone to go out with them, it was cute. Annoying, but cute. However, as the requests got more and more large scale, they're just annoying."
Sasuke, with help from his friends no doubt, had spent the last two weeks staging more and more elaborate and high-profile promposal-like ask outs. I thought he would eventually loose interest, but Ino and Tenten insisted this was just where they wanted him to be.
Apparently, because girls throw themselves at that pig-head, having one not interested in him was like catnip. I'm still not sure I like being catnip. It's rather awkward, how desperate Sasuke is getting… Hopefully the girls will let me accept soon. I don't know how much more I can take.
"Well," Hinata spoke, "I think we're getting close to having him really hooked on you. A few more days and he should be almost a puddle of desperation." The idea of Sasuke acting like a forlorn, lovesick boy, begging and pleading for someone's attention for a turn brought a creepy, almost sadistic smile to Hinata's face.
Yeah, definitely don't get on her bad side.
Sasuke reached his breaking point on Friday, two days after my lunchtime chat with Hinata and it was absolutely glorious! It happened at the basketball game…
"Foxes! Foxes! We shout and roar! Take that ball and score! Score! Score!" us cheerleaders chanted from the sidelines, wiggling our hips and shaking our pompoms. The crowd cheered and the basketball players, well I like to think they played a little more intensely. In reality, aside from giving the crowd something to watch when the play slowed slightly, we didn't really have much of a purpose.
Especially since our team was winning.
They were only up by four points, so it was enough to keep the crowd excited and engaged. We barely had to try to get a cheer or loud roar from the assembled students. I really hated being a cheerleader.
As soon as this Sasuke thing is over and dealt with I am dropping this silly extracurricular. In fact, can I leave right now? Do I even need to be here? How much longer do I have to stand here, shaking my booty? Especially since Sasuke hasn't even looked in my direction.
I was just about to ask Ino if I could go home, come up with some excuse about not feeling well, and leave, when the worst happened. We gave the ball up a few times, due to some really bad turnovers, and the other team evened the score and was even able to go ahead. The mood of the crowd quickly soured and we actually had a roll to play now.
Why does god hate me? Why can't thing ever go my way?
The basketball game continued for another twenty minutes with an almost dead even back and forth. Neither team could get more than three baskets ahead before the other team came back with a vengeance. It was actually quite nerve wrecking, and would have been an enjoyable game if not for the fact that I was on the sidelines cheerleading.
Then, in the final minutes of the game, Sasuke, who like always had been carrying the team seemed to loose interest in the game. It was like a switch in his mind flipped and he went from thinking about the game and essentially ignoring me, to forgetting about the game and focusing solely on me.
In the middle of a play, with growing momentum on his side, Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks right in front of me. "Hello, Sakura. Having a good time tonight?" he asked, a coy smile on his face.
I just stood there, slack jawed. Sasuke managed to keep the other team's defenders off him so he was essentially holding the entire game hostage just to talk to me. I turned to Ino, looking for advice about how to react, but all I was met with was barely concealed rage.
Guess I'm on my own here.
"I'd be having a better time if the team's captain and best player was focusing on the game and trying to win. Especially since we are currently down by two points." I responded, trying to sound detached but also hopefully turn his mind back to the game.
It seemed to work a little because Sasuke finally passed the ball to a teammate. However, that teammate quickly got boxed in and had no other option but to throw it back to him. Once again, Sasuke had the game hostage.
"Maybe I could focus on the game if I could clear something from my mind. It's been far too distracting for me. See, there's this girl who, no matter what I do, will not go out with me, and I think, if said girl would just say yes to me, I would be able to focus much better. "
Sasuke gave me a meaningful look. He'd played his trump card. As the clock ran down to the last few seconds of the game, with our team down a few points, he knew I couldn't say no. No would mean the team would loose and it would all be my fault.
The clock was almost at zero. The crowd was on pins and needles, waiting for my response and whether or not we would win the game. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea, if Ino would ream me out for it after, but I had to act.
"Yes! Yes! If it will make you shoot that ball, then yes!" I shouted. Sasuke smiled and let the ball go just as the buzzer sounded. It flew through the air and swished into the basket for three points.
The crowd erupted.
And so, the grand Sasuke-Sakura saga begins.
To be continued…