.::Spilling Stars::.
By Fantasiimaker
~Chapter Three: Back to School
At the sound of the door, two seated figures bursted up from the living room. "Sakura!" said Fujitaka, hugging her tightly. Sakura was relieved; he didn't scold her. There were deep shades of worry in his eyes, and he was too weary and grateful for her return to question right now. But Touya didn't hesitate.
"Sakura, you idiot! Where in the world have you been, you worried us half to death! My god! Dad even called the police, we thought you were lost or kidnapped or-" He cut himself off when he saw her just standing there silently, looking down at her feet. "Sakura?" he said a little more gently.
Her hands rose quickly to cover her face from view, but the others could tell from her quivering shoulders that she was crying. At once, Fujitaka embraced his daughter, smoothing her disheveled hair and whispering, "Sakura, honey, it's all right, you don't have to say anything. Just tell me what's wrong when you're ready. Tell me how I can help you." Touya stared speechlessly at his usually cheerful little sister, now weeping so despairingly.
"Dad." Her voice was muffled and thick with tears.
"Yes, Sakura?"
"Dad...you should have told me about your new girlfriend before." She couldn't keep the contempt out of her voice, and she pushed herself away from him and stared at the carpet again. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to forget about Mom? Why didn't you tell me anything?" she cried, clenching her fists.
Shocked, Fujitaka went to his daughter and tilted her head up until she was looking him in the eye. "What are you talking about, Sakura? How could you say such a thing?"
"Yelan!" she said furiously.
"Yelan...?" he said. "There's nothing between us. She's a good friend of mine and Sonomi's from a while back, and we lost contact for a while when she was living in Hong Kong. When she offered to spend the weekend with us at the cabin, of course I jumped at the chance to catch up with her."
Her father had mentioned Sonomi. "Tomoyo's mom?" Sakura inquired.
"Yes, the three of us were very good friends."
"Well then, what-what were you and Yelan doing in the dining room today?" she said confusedly, not so sure of herself anymore.
"Oh that!" Fujitaka smiled. "What exactly did you hear? We were trying to prepare a special dinner for you kids, but Yelan insists that my cooking technique is all wrong. I did get quite a few pointers from her by the end. But when we were almost done, Touya flew into the kitchen with the news that you were missing..."
"Oh..." she said sheepishly, blushing. "I-I'm sorry. I guess I was, ah, too quick to jump to conclusions."
"I'd say you were! Running off without telling anyone, who knows what might've happened...where did you go anyway??" Touya interjected furiously.
Sakura smiled sweetly at her brother. "I went for a walk," she said, as though that explained everything. "Where's Yelan?" she asked, turning to Fujitaka. "I think I should apologize to her for ruining the dinner."
"She drove off to the police station to see what news they have of you...for the third time," he explained, making her cringe. She already felt bad enough. But she brightened a little when her father smiled warmly. "I'm glad you're starting to change your mind about Yelan. She's a very remarkable person, and her son as well. Professionally trained in martial arts and swordfighting. They've moved around often because of Yelan's work, but he attended all the top schools in each area."
"Hmph, sounds like a little brat to me," said Touya, and he started off to his room. "If the kid ever bothers Sakura, I'll beat the-the-" He withered under Fujitaka's raised eyebrows. "-oh fine-the stuffing out of him. You stay away from him, Sakura!"
She laughed at her father's consternation. "Don't worry, Dad, he's always overprotective. I think that's just his way of showing that he cares."
He chuckled. "Well, I'll introduce you to Yelan's son when they both return. I'm sure you two will get along very well."
"Maybe," Sakura said vaguely. It didn't really matter to her now. She had already found someone interesting on this trip, and she was glad she had come to meet him. Now if only she could see him again...
"Are you kidding me? You never saw him once?"
"Nope. And after the second day, we had to go back early because the university had an emergency and needed a substitute archaeology teacher, and Dad was the best choice. You know how he is, he couldn't refuse even though we were on vacation. Anyway, I never saw that Li kid at all. Yelan-his mom-said he was probably away practicing karate by himself or something." Sakura twisted the phone cord around her finger, then untangled it so she could spoon more cereal into her mouth.
"Wow, that's weird. Well, I gotta go make sure my video camera has enough batteries for the first day of tenth grade. See you in a bit, Sakura!"
"Okay, bye Tomoyo," she said and hung up with a sigh. Sure, she would see Tomoyo in a bit, but they sure wouldn't be able to talk as freely as they just did. She didn't understand why.
Gulping down her orange juice, she grabbed her new backpack and yelled, "Bye Dad, bye Touya!" and went to the door to pull on her beloved roller blades. They were getting old now, and she had to squeeze to fit her feet inside. Standing unsteadily, she called out a final, "Bye!" and pushed off to the door, but she slipped and fell backwards. Someone caught her before she hit the ground. "Touya!"
"Haha, you have school today and I don't," he smirked and dropped her gently to the ground.
"Who cares, you have to go back to college in only a week. Oh no, my skates!" Sakura pulled them off and stared at the cracked wheels.
"No wonder you fell," said Touya. "You should get some new ones soon."
"But I'm so broke!" she wailed. She looked down at her watch. "No, I'm gonna be late!!" Having no other choice, she put on shoes and banged open the front door. "Bye!" she said, and started to run.
Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the cool morning wind against her hair and the rhythmic beat of her feet against sidewalk. Suddenly, she stared at a white moving truck that was parked at a large house across the street. Movers were straining to lift expensive-looking furniture toward the door. "Wow, new people," she said thoughtfully. "Wonder if they have anyone my age?" She jogged the rest of the way to school, fluttery with excitement.
After getting her class schedule, Sakura got in the long line for yearbook pictures. She still hadn't seen Meilin or Tomoyo yet, and it felt depressing not to be running to her friends and yakking away happily about the summer like everyone else. But then, would it really be the same now? Tomoyo had her own group, and Meilin had Keichii. Still, having anyone to talk to would be better than standing in this crowd surrounded by people, yet so alone. She straightened up, craning to look over the sea of heads for a friendly face.
A loud giggle came from behind her, and a girl's voice said, "Hi!" Sakura whipped around excitedly, looking for Meilin or Tomoyo. But it was some strange girl she didn't know, and she wasn't even talking to Sakura. The girl was busy squeezing the breath out of her boyfriend. "I missed you sooo much!" she squeaked.
The boy pretended to be exasperated, yet it was obvious that he was pleased at the attention. "You saw me yesterday," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Yesterday was a long time," she said, grabbing his hands and grinning at him. He blushed and grinned back. Feeling worse than ever, Sakura turned back around to face the front of the line and crossed her arms. This was going to be a long wait. Some people jostled her, crossing through the line to reach friends on the other side. Three upperclassmen were fooling around behind her, swearing and acting tough to scare freshmen out of their pants. She tried not to listen to their foul language and focused on moving with the line so she could get out of here as soon as possible.
"Hey, what about her?" she heard, and dread filled her mind. Laughing like hyenas, the older guys were stepping closer. A heavy push pitched her forward, and she crashed into someone's backpack. Wincing, she glared at the upperclassmen, who were now taunting her, "Hey little girl, you all alone? Want me to be your friend?" They laughed.
"She doesn't need you asses. She already has friends," said a deep voice behind her. Sakura's heart skipped a beat. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. This was the voice that had resounded in her mind for almost three years.
The guys backed off. "Sorry man, just bumped into her. We weren't gonna hurt her or anything." Losing interest, they left to find some more vulnerable kid to torture.
Sakura still didn't turn around. She didn't want to look at him. "Sakura?" he said, touching her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Of course I'm not okay, you dummy. It's all your fault. Suddenly, an image of Syaoran's smiling face flashed into her mind, and it gave her courage. Turning around, she put on a false smile and said, "Hi Keichii."
He was still the same tall, familiar Keichii from last year, his eyes smiling down at her and filling her with a fuzzy warmth. His hair was shorter now, and spiked, with blondish highlights. They looked pretty good, she grudgingly admitted to herself, and standing on her tiptoes, she touched one of the spikes. "Sharp," she said with a genuine smile this time. "I like it. But I still think the green was better."
"Yeah, I know," he said, sighing. "But after that laundry incident, my mom threw a fit and almost kicked me out of the house. Besides, don't you think this is more natural?"
"Doesn't matter. Anything looks great on you," she said. This was better, just being friends. It was so easy to talk to him this way, and she didn't have to think about anything else.
Keichii smiled at her. "Thanks, Sakura."
"Keichii!" A sharp-eyed girl with dark hair appeared out of nowhere and latched herself around Keichii's arm. "C'mon, Yamazaki and everyone are over there waiting for us. Let's go!"
"But-" He looked helplessly at Sakura. She shrugged and glanced away.
"Oh, hi Sakura!" Meilin came up to her and gave her a hug, but it seemed somehow cold and stiff. "I'll see you in a while. C'mon, Keichii!!" He waved to Sakura as he was dragged away, but she didn't wave back. Inside, she was fuming. How could Meilin treat her this way, like she didn't even know her? This was so stupid...and it was all over some stupid guy.
But he's not just a stupid guy. He's Keichii! her mind argued.
"Argh, just forget him!" she said aloud, stomping the ground. She was almost to the photographer now.
Her eye was drawn to a crowd of girls waiting by the exit door. "Smile, Tomoyo!" one of them said. "You look so beautiful!" another squealed. "I just love your hair!" Yes. It really was Tomoyo. Sakura almost waved and called to her, but she restrained herself. The other girls would give her strange looks if she did. But Tomoyo caught her eye and ran to her side as soon as the picture was taken.
"Sakura!" she cried, throwing her arms around her friend. "It's so great to see you! Um, why don't you come with us-"
"Tomoyo! Hurry up!" called one girl.
"It's okay," Sakura smiled. "I still have to take my picture. Just go with them, you don't want to keep them waiting."
"All right then..." said Tomoyo hesitantly. "Bye, Sakura!" She ran off to join her friends.
Sakura sat down heavily and regarded the camera with an annoyed air. How could she hope to smile now? "Ready?" said the photographer. She nodded, preparing for an ugly yearbook picture. Just then, Syaoran's words about smiling popped into her mind, and she laughed out at the last minute.
The camera flashed.
"Now what?" Sakura murmured, walking aimlessly around her school. There were the steps where she, Meilin, and Tomoyo had hung out in the beginning of last year. Memories flooded back to her, memories that were painful because they no longer existed. And there was the library, where she had gone numerous times by herself just to sit in the quiet and work, or read, because she had had nowhere else to go. She hoped it wouldn't be like that again this year.
Miserably, she wandered to her first period class, English, and sat down at a desk near the front of the room. It wasn't as though she would be able to talk much anyway. There was no one to talk to. She was the first one in; no doubt everyone else was still having a good time with their friends.
The bell rang, and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. Class would start, she wouldn't have to worry about people or friends, she could just concentrate on work. But then, there was always hope. She glanced at the door, at the students milling in. Perhaps she would meet some new people and find friends who accepted her for who she was, not who she hung out with.
"Good morning, class, and welcome to a brand new school year. I'm Mr. Tanaka." He seems like a nice teacher, she thought as he began to call roll.
Suddenly, another student walked in. All heads turned to the door in curiousity to see who was late on the very first day.
Sakura stared, her eyes growing wider with each step that he took into the classroom. Could it be-? The boy handed a piece of paper to Mr. Tanaka, who glanced at it and gave it back to him. "This is Syaoran. He's moved here all the way from Hong Kong, so everyone be nice and welcome him to our school. Syaoran, you can sit there next to-" He looked down at the roll list. "-Sakura. Raise your hand please, Sakura."
Heart thudding wildly, she raised her hand and watched Syaoran's face as he saw her. Recognition flashed in his eyes, but was gone in an instant as he strode over to his desk and sat down. Excited whispers and giggles floated into the air from the girls around him, but he seemed oblivious to them.
He didn't even look at Sakura.
*A/N- Thank you for reviewing, everyone! I'm really happy to know how much you like this story. You have no idea how much you inspire me! ^_^ As always, I'm glad to know where I've made any mistakes, so be sure to tell me.