-Revenge is Sweeter than You Ever Were-
Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable content.
-Chapter Ten-
-And Here We Go-
I'd agreed to go on a date with Sasuke. It had finally happened. The plan was officially in motion. So, here we go…
Word spread through the school like wildfire. As I walked into that large brick and glass building on Monday morning it was already the talk of the school. Everywhere I went, people were whispering and staring. That, in and of itself, was not strange. Ever since Ino had gone around boosting my reputation, people stared and whispered. But this, this was next level staring and whispering.
Whelp, the news about Sasuke and I has most certainly gotten out. Hopefully, there will be this much interest, concern, and whispering when Tenten, Hinata, Ino and I are done with all of this.
"Sakura! Everyone is so excited about your date!" A blonde whirlwind came out of the crowd at me. Before I could even process it, Ino had latched onto my arm and was pulling me into the throng of whispering, staring people. "Of course, you'll need your bestie to help you get ready for it. Make sure your outfit is perfect and you don't have a hair out of place."
The hidden message behind Ino's words was that I still needed a lot of work to be anywhere close to presentable for my date with Sasuke. I was not yet ready to go out with the likes of living-god Uchiha Sasuke and be successful at it. All the girls would most likely need to be over for most of Saturday afternoon before my date to get me anywhere near close enough.
Oh, this is not going to be fun at all…
The week passed agonizingly slowly. It seemed that every time I caught someone whispering about me the universe hit pause and added an extra five minutes to the week. And the whispering happened A LOT. By the time the final bell rang on Friday, I was tired of the never-ending week and irritated by all of the unwanted attention.
Can't a girl pee in peace?!
Even Naruto, my lab partner and the one friend I'd made in any genuine fashion was treating me differently. Thankfully, he wasn't whispering about me, but there was a frostiness that hadn't been there before. When I walked into chemistry on Friday, done with the week and ready to be done with the class, I found the blond haired boy had returned to his previous lab desk.
Okay. That hurts a little. What did I do?
I tried to catch his eye, but Naruto was not looking my way, almost like he was avoiding me on purpose. Eventually, the whispering in the classroom, heightened because of my strange, slightly desperate behaviour, became too much and I stopped trying to get the blond's attention.
When people were talking about you and you didn't want them to, the best thing to do was act inconspicuous.
As I walked out of school, a pile of textbooks in my arms, I had plans to spend the evening in the bliss of homework. I didn't have to worry about what homework thought of me or have it whisper about my personal life. Homework made sense and, after the week I had, I needed something straightforward like that.
"Oh, Pinkie!" a voice that I recognized oh so well called out as I tried to hurry off of the school grounds and onto the sidewalk towards my house.
Why can't I have nice things? What did I ever do to you to treat me this way, Universe? What, I ask you?
Standing in front of a shiny looking black car, not as fancy as Ino's but still leaps-and-bounds above my mom's old clunker, was Tenten. She had a smile on her face that sent chills up my spine because I knew, I just knew, that her smile only meant pain and suffering for me.
"Hi Tenten. How are you? Great? Awesome! I've got a lot of homework to get done so, sorry to race off, but-" I spoke quickly. Tenten wasn't buying my rapid, one-sided conversation attempt to get away from her. Instead, she soundlessly opened her car door and motioned for me to step inside.
"I really do have a lot of homework that I need to get done tonight if I am going to devote my day tomorrow to the date." I tried again, hoping that Tenten would pick up on my desperate need to go home, be away from people, and just do my homework.
"We can totally spend some time doing your homework," Tenten spoke before once again motioning me into her car. I dropped my head in defeat, mumbled some swears under my breath and got into the car.
Right now, I wish I'd never met these annoying girls!
"She will not let it go! It's getting so annoying and I'm seriously considering kicking her off the squad." Ino complained. She had made herself comfortable in my hanging chair, her knees pulled up to her chest.
All of us girls were spread out around my room. Hinata was hanging upside down off the side of my bed. Tenten was sitting backwards in my desk chair. I was lying on the floor in the middle of my room. The floor around where I was laying was covered in schoolwork and junk food.
"That's terrible. Awful. Repulsive," Hinata spoke as she ate a fruit rollup she'd wrapped around her finger. Her tone was robotic and devoid of emotion, like she didn't actually believe what she was saying. Tenten chuckled at her antics while Ino shot the raven-haired girl an angry glare.
It was almost 11:30 and the three girls didn't look like they were leaving any time soon. I guess they'd invited themselves over for a sleepover.
This will be interesting…
"Okay, play nice," I said, groaning as I sat up. If four girls were going to come out of this night in the same condition they went in, it would be best to avoid touchy topics. Which, to be honest, involved essentially everything but Sasuke. "What is the plan for tomorrow?"
I'd asked it because I wanted to change the topic, but also because I wanted to know the plan. I was getting more and more nervous the closer it got to my date with Sasuke.
"Well," Ino readily jumped in, excited by the current vein of conversation. "We'll definitely have to start with your wardrobe. Everything else will come together when we've got exactly what you are going to be wearing."
"Yes," Tenten cut in, "and while Ino's dealing with the physical, Hinata and I will be mentally preparing you, grilling you on what you should say and how you should act. It'll be like crash course exam prep with the test being a successful date with Sasuke."
"Of course," Ino jumped back in with an evil, blood-chilling glare. "I will also be at the bonfire, in case you need something in the moment."
"What do you mean, Ino?" Hinata asked, her tone genuinely confused. "No cheerleader has ever gone to the bonfire solo. They always have a date."
"Who said I would be going alone?"
"You've got a date?" Tenten asked. Her tone was trying to appear calm, but I could tell the idea of Ino moving on before she had bothered the brunette.
"I asked Sasuke's friend Shikamaru to go out with me. It was a little desperate/ Sadie Hawkins, but I figured we'd need someone on the ground to help the hapless Sakura, and that idiotic pineapple was not picking up on my hints. Plus," Ino added as an afterthought, "he's got to have some insight and information on Sasuke that we were not privy too and I'm excellent at getting things out of people."
It sure sounds like Ino doth protest too much. She's trying just a little too hard to justify her date with Shikamaru.
From the looks on Tenten's and Hinata's faces I could tell they, too, weren't believing Ino's justifications. Playing her part as the mediator though, Hinata quickly masked her expression, and searched for any new subject that would lead to cohesion, not division.
"So, I've been wondering," Hinata spoke, her tone light and musing, "What is our end game in all this? We break Sasuke's heart, right? But where? How? Do we do it publicly? That would have the best effect."
I hope Hina is better at this distraction through planning thing than I was. After all, it was my attempt to keep things together by planning out tomorrow that had led us here in the first place.
"I've been thinking," Tenten began, always the planner.
"We should crush his heart at prom. That is the most public event of the school year. It'll have the biggest impact." Ino spoke, acting as if Tenten hadn't. The brunette shot the other girl a glare.
"Yes, that's what I was going to say. But, in order for our plan to work, we'll have to test Sasuke, make sure he really is falling for Sakura. If he's not, breaking his heart will be impossible."
"A test? What sort of test?" I asked, not liking the sounds of testing Sasuke in the slightest.
"I'm not sure what we will do, exactly. That will come with time. But I have figured out when. The best time for a test is definitely during this year's basketball tournament. Everyone will be in a hotel, away from parents and with only minimal supervision. Plus, if we haven't pushed him for enough, we still have some time before prom." Tenten finished her little speech with a self-satisfied smile.
In that moment, I started contemplating some aspects of our little scheme/ plan/ whatever you call it. I definitely would not consider us friends. Maybe one-on-one I could consider each of them a friend. Hinata seemed to show a genuine interest in my life. Tenten seemed to truly care about my future and that I exhibited some sort of ambition. Ino, in her strange way, was also worried about me more than just in terms of how I could help her hurt Sasuke. Her attempts to keep my reputation up seemed to go beyond just having me be acceptable to Sasuke.
They were my friends, but they were not necessarily each other's friends. Would we still be compatriots after we were done tearing down Sasuke? As much as I was a fairly reluctant participant in this whole thing, I was sad about the potential prospect. I'd never really had friends before and potentially losing them was starting to break my heart.
And it was with that depressing train of thought running through my head that I fell asleep that night.
The next day was an honest-to-goodness blur. I remember waking up and eating breakfast. Everything that came after that was flashes of colour, fabric, make up, and what I assume was helpful advice. Honestly, I didn't retain a single word of what Tenten and Hinata shared with me, no matter how often I reminded myself what they were saying was important.
Thank the lord Ino will be there tonight. I don't think I'll make it through otherwise.
Finally, the doorbell rang, and it was show time.
To be continued…