Chapter Eleven

Summer begins

Friday came and Sakura didn't feel ready.

Tomoyo knew that she was about to tell Joshua that she liked him, and she encouraged her to do so, like Syaoran. It would be a way to overcome her shyness, though Tomoyo knew Joshua quite a bit. She had been watching him when Sakura was around him... and she hadn't seen him show any kind of interest in her.

Once the last lesson was over, Sakura turned around, glancing at Syaoran with a pale face. He winked at her.

"Come on! You can do it."

"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" She asked, scared.

"Well, it'll be his loss," Syaoran replied, shrugging.

Sakura snorted, closing her backpack.

"Call me as soon as you are alone and tell me everything," he added, getting up and leaving the classroom.

Tomoyo had made up an excuse. She and the others were going to eat at Naoko's house, so Sakura could be alone with Joshua.

Sakura left class and walked down the hall to the stairs. She descended them slowly, not wanting to get to the gate... but she did, and there was Joshua waiting for her.

"You're very slow, Sakura," the boy scoffed when he saw her.

She stuck her tongue out at him, making him laugh, and they started walking away from their high school.

"It'll be weird not coming back here," Joshua commented, letting out a sigh.

"I don't understand why you have to change schools," Sakura told him.

"My parents want me to, plus I'm going to be with other friends who also study there so it will be fine."

As they talked, Sakura was getting more and more nervous. They were approaching the street where their paths separated and she had to tell him. She bit the bullet, clearing her throat.

"Joshua... I want to tell you something."

"Well, tell me," he replied, nudging her softly.

Sakura swallowed, looking down.

"It's that I... I like you."

A small silence followed her words.

"Well, I like you too... but just as a friend," he replied in a low voice.

Sakura slapped herself mentally, she already knew that would be his answer.

"I... just wanted to tell you, to get it out so that I could forget about it," she murmured, not looking at him.

Joshua approached her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Are we fine? I don't want you to hate me."

Sakura looked up, glancing at Joshua's blue eyes.

"I do not hate you! This is just a stupid thing, Joshua. Don't worry."

The boy smiled.

"I hope we're still friends next year," he said, shaking her a little.

"Of course, we all have to continue spending time together."

They continued talking about what they were going to do that summer, saying goodbye with an uncomfortable hug.

Sakura snorted several times on the way to her house. She shouldn't have done it... she could have saved herself the trouble but she also felt better. A great weight had been lifted from her back and now she could move on.

After lunch, she first called Tomoyo and then Syaoran. Once she finished the embarrasing story, Sakura heard him snort.

"That boy is stupid, he doesn't know what he's missing."

Sakura smiled.

"Meh, I don't care about Joshua anymore. The summer camp starts in two weeks and maybe I'll meet an interesting guy there."

"That's the attitude, Sakura. Soon you'll be a heartbreaker just like me," he answered, giggling.

She rolled her eyes.

"I'll never be like you, and I don't want to."

Both shared a laugh and Syaoran changed the subject.

"I'll go there to say goodbye to you tomorrow. You know that I'm going to spend a month in Russia."

Sakura sighed.

"Yes, we won't see each other again until I'm back from the camp."

"You can use the phone there, right? You have to tell me everything that happens, I want to know if you kiss someone."

"We can only use it at night. I don't know if I'll give my first kiss, Syaoran... everything seems so easy for you, but it's quite difficult for me to like a boy."

"Your third kiss," Syaoran corrected.

"It'll be the first officially," she replied.

"Well, but you and I know the truth."

The two of them chuckled and shortly after they ended the call.

Sakura was on the bus, with Tomoyo leaning on her shoulder and completely asleep.

She smiled, remembering the hug Syaoran had given her three weeks earlier, the day he left for Russia. He picked her up on his motorcycle and they went for an ice cream together, until it started to get late and he took her back to her house. They shared a very long hug before he left, it was the first time that they were going to be a whole month without seeing each other.

And since then, almost every day they texted, telling each other what they were doing.

The bus stopped and Sakura gently shook Tomoyo.

"We've arrived," she whispered.

Tomoyo opened her eyes and yawned.

"Are we in Okinawa yet?" she asked, her voice sleepy.

Sakura nodded.

They got off the bus, collecting their suitcases with Meiling and the rest of students who were going to the camp, and went into the building where they would stay.

Once they were inside, their jaws dropped to the floor. The building had a huge patio, adorned with marble columns and giant stairs that led to the bedrooms. Everything was full of children their age, foreign students from other countries had already arrived and were entering the dining room.

Their teachers led them upstairs to the girls' room, where there were more than twenty bunk beds. Sakura and Tomoyo chose one of them, Sakura placed her things on the top one and looked at Meiling, who was putting her suitcase on the next bunk.

"We'd better go downstairs to eat," Tomoyo suggested.

The three girls went downstairs and entered the dining room, which was quite large. They sat down at one of the tables with free seats and introduced themselves, almost all of those who were there were foreigners.

Sakura's voice was a bit shaky when she greeted a dark green-eyed boy in English. His name was Geovani and he was Italian.

Geovani smiled and her heart sank.

The days passed and Sakura met several European girls, Tomoyo had already met them in another camp and they all made a great group of friends.

One of them, named Veronika, became her confidante. She confessed to her how handsome she saw Geovani, and Veronika took it upon herself to find out something about that boy.

The beach day arrived. Sakura had spoken with Geovani from time to time and Veronika had heard a couple of gossip about him.

From what she had heard, Geovani liked two girls... Sakura and Meiling.

Finding that out was not pleasant at all because Meiling was prettier, more outgoing and much more experienced with boys than Sakura, so she thought that Geovani would try to be involved with Meiling... but she was wrong.

The eighty students were on one of the largest beaches in Okinawa, with all the teachers accompanying them. They played beach volleyball, competed with each other, even some like Sakura participated in a swimming race in the sea.

At lunchtime, they all got together to enjoy the lunch that the teachers had prepared for them.

Sakura sat on a towel next to Meiling. The two girls had become closer and they were both chatting with two boys, Geovani and his best friend Marco.

Sakura got the impression that Marco was throwing hints at Meiling, but maybe with the change of language she wasn't understanding well what the Italian boy was saying.

When everyone finished the meal, the fifteen teachers told them that they had the rest of the afternoon free to enjoy the beach. They all went to one of the places near there to have a coffee.

Tomoyo, Veronika, Meiling and Sakura got into the water to swim, it was quite hot and they wanted a dip. Most of the students did the same, including Geovani and Marco.

Sakura was diving around and, when she went up, she noticed something falling on her back. Turning around, she saw Geovani with a mischievous smile on her lips. He had just thrown a handful of wet sand at her.

She raised an eyebrow and started splashing him. Meiling, Tomoyo, and several others soon joined the 'fight'. Later on, everyone came out of the water completely soaked and still laughing.

Veronika grabbed Sakura by her shoulder and whispered to her in English. "It's your moment, go for it," before winking at her and walking away towards the towels.

Before she knew it, Sakura was alone with the two Italians and with Meiling. Marco suggested taking a walk on the beach and the two girls agreed. They walked for a few minutes on the white sand, talking about everything they had done those days until they lost sight of the rest of the students.

Then Meiling, in an undisguised way, told Sakura that she was going to walk with Marco until the end of the beach, but that she and Geovani should continue together to the rock.

Sakura glanced at Meiling strangely and she gave him a knowing look, leaving her. She then panicked, realising that Meiling was leaving her alone with Geovani.

She turned to look at the boy and he was much closer than Sakura expected. Geovani moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He told her in perfect English how pretty she was and how much he liked her eyes.

Sakura let herself go and in less than ten seconds she was kissing Geovani.

She put her arms around his neck as Syaoran had taught her, feeling strange when Geovani parted his lips and their tongues brushed against each other.

Sakura tried to mimic what he was doing as she tried to calm her nerves, which was quite difficult. Shortly after they pulled away. Sakura was blushing and Geovani stroked her hair.

They kissed again, and after that he grabbed her waist and they walked together back to where the other students were, releasing her before anyone could see them.

Syaoran was hiking with his father along the bank of the Kliazma River, near Moscow. He noticed that his phone was vibrating, so he took it out of his pocket.

Sakura: Today I had my first kiss! Yes, with tongue, and I liked it. His name is Geovani, he has green eyes, is a little taller than me and he's from Italy. I know you are going to ask me, so I'm telling you now: you kiss better than him. Don't let it go to your head, you are already quite self-righteous. I miss you, I'll tell you everything when I see you.

He smirked and put his phone back in his pocket, heading deeper into the trees next to his father.