.::Spilling Stars::.
By Fantasiimaker
~Chapter Fourteen: To The Dance
The twittering of sparrows reminded Syaoran of their recent birdwatching as he walked along next to Sakura. Those hours with her had passed like a dream; he still didn't understand where he had gotten the courage to kiss her, if only on the cheek. Stealing a sideways look at Sakura, he blushed lightly. It was just her being there by his side, stirring up a strange, inexplainable happiness inside him. He didn't want to rush things now, to break this careful balance that had been laid between them.
"You can stop laughing now," he muttered, picking up his pace a bit. Of course, that didn't work, since Sakura was the one on rollerblades (the ones he had given her, his heart realized with a thump) and he was the one walking.
Gliding over the sidewalk, she quickly reached his side with a small smirk still dancing across her face. "You know, Syaoran, I didn't know you could be so polite," said Sakura. She caught his shoulder with a hand to keep her balance.
"And I didn't know such an experienced rollerblader needed help to stay upright," Syaoran shot back. Pulling away, he made a face at Sakura as she wobbled unsteadily.
She pitched forward, right into his arms.
Syaoran caught her and tried to help her stand again, but her slim arms were fastened stubbornly around his neck. "Sakura, you're choking me to death," he said calmly.
"That's what you get for being a meanie!" replied Sakura, pushing herself back with perfect balance. As she rolled slowly backward, the girl stuck her tongue out at him. It was such an exaggeratedly childish gesture that Syaoran couldn't help laughing out loud, and Sakura's warm, tinkling laughter joined his.
Wait- did I just think "tinkling"?? he thought. I must be losing it.
With a smile, Syaoran grabbed Sakura's outstretched hand and pulled her around so they were facing each other. "Your dad is nice," he said. This was all he needed in the world, to be able to look into her emerald eyes so filled with light and joy.
"Yup!" Sakura agreed with his words wholeheartedly. "And I know he likes you a lot. Couldn't you tell, the way he praised your food?" She ran a hand through his bangs in an attempt to straighten them, but the hair ended up messier anyway.
"Didn't I already say you could go on ahead? Then maybe you won't be tripping up all the time." Syaoran gave her a gentle push that sent her sailing forward, in hopes that she wouldn't see the pink in his face. Somehow, she was back by his side in a second.
"And I've already told you, I don't mind going slow for you," replied Sakura with a heart-melting grin.
When they reached school, she headed at once for Tomoyo, but not before giving Syaoran's hand a squeeze. "See you," she said softly, almost shyly, and with a parting smile that made Syaoran want to chase after her like a crazy person, Sakura left.
He stared after her, feeling kind of lonely, watching her as she began chatting cheerfully with Tomoyo. Immersed in thoughts of Sakura, he didn't even notice Eriol stepping up behind him until a voice said, "It's not like you'll never see her again. There's always lunch, and after school. Weekends, too."
Whipping around, Syaoran relaxed when he saw who it was. "Aha! Look at that blush!" Eriol exclaimed. "So something did happen. Are you going to tell me?" He winked.
"No!" growled Syaoran, pushing past him.
Eriol followed, laughing. "Come on, I saw how you were watching her. It's been driving Tomoyo and me crazy, waiting for news about what happened. Tell me! Or are the details too disgustingly gruesome for my innocent ears?"
That brought a chuckle out of Syaoran; he doubted that anything of Eriol's could be described as "innocent". "Nothing like that happened," he said, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. To his surprise, he was smiling. Smiling at Eriol's outrageous comments. It felt good to be around someone who understood –or at least, tried to understand- how he felt. To be able to joke around and say anything... A friend... He found himself wanting to be more open than before. How had this happened? Was it because of Sakura?
Eriol understood. Smiling, he clapped a hand over Syaoran's shoulder and propelled him toward class, just as the bell rang. "I'm glad you and Sakura are finally seeing things the same way," he said, uncharacteristically serious for once. "Now you know how I feel."
Syaoran turned to him questioningly.
"How it feels to be in love."
Love? Stopping in his tracks, Syaoran automatically opened his mouth to protest before he knew what he was doing. "No, I... That's not..." he stammered.
"What? You do love her, don't you?" countered Eriol with that mysterious, knowing smile of his.
"L-let's go, we're gonna be late for class!" Syaoran growled, a little louder than he had meant to. Vaguely aware of Eriol's soft laughter as he stalked off, Syaoran pondered those words. Love... He had known Sakura for less than a month, and already his heart thundered at her sight, at the bare mentioning of her name. Something about her was irresistably pulling him in. He was falling deeper and deeper each day, and this time he could not hope to get out.
Love. Could it really be that? Something else was tugging at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite figure it out at the moment. Whatever this feeling was that made him keep thinking about those breathtaking green eyes, it sure felt like more than just a bit of friendly affection.
All he knew was that he had never felt more himself than when he was next to Sakura.
*****
"Well, I'm really glad you guys made up, but I still think you should've told Syaoran when you had the chance," said Tomoyo as she and Sakura walked to the tree after school to wait for Syaoran and Eriol.
"I know," Sakura sighed, tugging a strap from her backpack. "But it just didn't feel right. Like...it didn't seem like the right time to say those things."
Tomoyo nodded. "Scared?"
"Yes!" laughed Sakura. "I didn't want to ruin the moment we had. And also...I don't know how he would've reacted. What if he...got all weird and started ignoring me or something?"
"Hello, Earth to Sakura! The guy's crazy about you! He'd be completely overjoyed!"
"Maybe," Sakura said, but she couldn't hide a rather large smile that was spreading across her face.
"He would!" insisted Tomoyo. Suddenly, she stopped. "Oh no, I just remembered! I forgot my science binder in my locker. I've got to go back and get it."
"I'll go with you," Sakura said quickly.
"No, it's okay." Tomoyo waved a hand dismissively. "My locker's really close, so I'll be back in a second. Besides, if you leave, the guys won't be able to find us."
"And there's another reason," she said, lowering her voice so only Sakura could hear. "I think there's someone who wants to talk to you alone. I'll be back as quick as I can." And before Sakura could ask, she was on her way, mouthing "good luck" over her shoulder.
Sakura turned and saw Keichii heading in her direction. She looked down quickly, remembering the events that had happened before. No, what are you doing? Just be natural! she thought furiously. We're still friends, aren't we?
Bringing her head up, she readied herself with a cheerful smile. "Hi Keichii!" she said, sounding a little too cheerful. Oh well, what could she do? She had a right to be nervous.
"Hey, Sakura." His hands dangled awkwardly at his sides, and Sakura watched as he stuck them into his jeans pockets.
Silence.
Sakura, finding it difficult to keep looking at his face when they both weren't saying anything, looked at his hair instead. The dark hair that she had so easily touched back when they were just simple friends. Not anymore.
Great. They really were coming apart; they couldn't even find a few words to say to each other. Sakura searched her mind, determined to find something, anything that they could talk about.
"So." The sudden word caught her attention, bringing her eyes back to Keichii's face. "I noticed that Syaoran's back today. Is that why you were absent yesterday?"
"Y-yeah," said Sakura.
"So, you worked everything out then? Between...between you and Syaoran?"
She nodded.
"Well, that's good," Keichii smiled with relief. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. I hope you can forgive me..."
"Of course! There's nothing to be sorry about, it wasn't your fault at all!" Leaping to his defense, Sakura put a comforting hand on his arm. "I just want us to still be friends. Like we used to be. Is that okay?"
Keichii nodded, giving her a real smile this time. So far so good, Sakura let out an internal sigh. Suddenly, she caught sight of Tomoyo jogging toward her in the distance, excitedly brandishing a piece of paper.
"Um...have you heard about the dance yet?" said Keichii quickly. "They just announced it yesterday. It's a Back-to-School Fall Dance sort of thing, Friday night. Everyone will be there. D-do you think you'll go?"
"I'm not sure yet," Sakura replied, glancing over his shoulder. Tomoyo was giving her a wide-eyed, urgent look, but she couldn't figure out what it meant.
"Well, I..." Keichii lifted his eyes and looked straight into Sakura's face. "To be honest, I wanted to ask you to come with me, Sakura. But you're going with Syaoran, right?"
Completely caught off guard, Sakura stared back at him. She hadn't given any thought to this at all. Keichii was making this sound like some formal dance where you had to bring a date, when she knew the Back-to-School dances were all casual. Before, she'd rather like to hang out with a group of friends than stand around stiffly with some guy. But what else could she say? If there was one boy in the universe that she wanted to go to a dance with, it was definitely Syaoran.
"I haven't really thought about it," she said slowly. "I'm not even sure if I'm going or not." Over Keichii's shoulder, Tomoyo shook her head madly, sending dark hair flying. Sakura gave her an odd look. What was up with that girl? She turned back to Keichii, who was smiling bravely.
"Sakura, you don't have to soften reality for me. Just tell me the truth. Please."
The words made her heart give a weak sort of flop. Keichii... Too bad it had to be like this. She closed her eyes for a brief second and smiled; plastered all across her mind was the answer.
"Yes," said Sakura firmly. "If I go to the dance, I'll be going with Syaoran. As long as he agrees to go with me."
Looking relieved and a bit hurt at the same time, Keichii seemed to struggle with his feelings for a moment. He took a deep breath. "I see. Well...if you go, then I'll see you there." Barely able to dredge up a wavering smile, he left before she could think of anything else to say.
"Okay Tomoyo, what were you trying to say?" she asked.
"Turn around!" replied Tomoyo, apprehensively pointing behind her. Shooting her friend a quizzical look, Sakura wheeled around to see what was going on.
There stood Syaoran. And it looked like he had heard everything.
"Yes, I'll go with you." His expression was curiously blank, but his eyes were smiling. "That is, if you want to."
"She wants to!" crowed Tomoyo triumphantly. "Ohohohohoho! If only I had my camera right now! I can picture it...the first dance..."
Just then, Eriol popped in. "Hey people, sorry I'm late. Did I miss anything?" he asked, casually draping an arm over Tomoyo's shoulder and playing with her long, silky locks.
"Those two just decided that they're going to the dance together," said Tomoyo, flinging his arm away and sticking the dance announcement flyer in front of his face instead. "Which means we're going too!"
"A party? Yesssssss! About time!" Eriol started doing a little dance of his own, to Tomoyo's great disgust.
"Listen, you, if you're going to play around, then you can just forget about it!" she snapped.
Eriol stopped and grasped her hands, leaning slyly closer. "Don't worry, Tomoyo. Tomorrow night, I'll be dancing with no one but you. Whispering sweet nothings into your ear..." He kissed her on the ear as if to seal that promise, making her blush.
"Sakura... Is it okay?" asked Syaoran, looking at her. Sakura knew he was talking about Keichii. She still couldn't help but feel worried about him, and that downcast look in his eyes when he walked away. She didn't want him to feel lonely, for she had known this feeling before all too well. Keichii shouldn't have to feel that way. Unconsciously, Sakura reached out for Syaoran's hand, found it, and held on tightly.
"He has friends," Syaoran said consolingly. "He's a pretty popular guy, right? But...if it looks like he's by himself, we can have him come hang out with us."
Eyes shining full of gratitude, Sakura pulled him closely into a hug. There was nothing to worry about. She had Syaoran, and that was all that mattered.
*****
In the setting sunlight, Syaoran nervously touched his hair and checked his watch again. He had been standing here alone at the school gate, near the driveway, for almost five minutes now. Okay, he thought, bouncing back and forth on the pads of his feet. So I'm a little uptight about this. Fine, more than a little. A lot uptight. It seemed like forever since his last dance, and that had been completely different.
This one had Sakura.
He agitatedly brushed off his black T-shirt, a little flashier than usual with a large dark-green dragon curling around the front. Too late to think about clothes now. Searching through his closet, he had finally grabbed whatever he thought might look good on impulse. Briefly wondering what Eriol was wearing, he searched the streets, even though he had no idea which cars might hold Eriol, Tomoyo, or Sakura.
Syaoran almost ran a hand through his hair, but he managed to restrained himself. For this special occasion, he had allowed himself a bit of gel, though it didn't seem to have made any difference that he could see. On second thought, he gave in and gave his brown strands a messy rake. Sure. That helped tons.
What is up with me? He could barely think. This was just a harmless little dance, with some loud music and lots of people prancing around. But technically, you're going to this dance with Sakura, he thought. That makes all the difference.
Heck, maybe she didn't even think of it that way. Maybe to her, it was just a friendly group gathering sort of thing.
But Syaoran had heard such honest conviction in her voice when she had said his name...it was like she didn't even have to think about it. Was he that close on her mind? Oh, if only, he wished fervently. Would this be the night that he could finally set loose this raging flood of feelings inside him? He needed Sakura to know that she was more than just a really good friend to him...more than anything to him...
"Syaoran!"
His heart leaped. It was Sakura, coming up from the sidewalk and waving happily to him. He had been so deeply buried in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed.
"H-hey," he said, unable to take his eyes off her as she came to his side, cheeks flushed. "Y-you look nice."
That was the biggest understatement of his life. Sakura's hair was exceptionally smooth-looking tonight, creating an almost golden-red frame around her face and falling just slightly below her shoulders. A silvery shimmer softly blanketed her eyelids, bringing attention to those already dazzling emerald eyes. There was a light rose color adorning her cheeks, but it looked so natural that he couldn't tell whether it was makeup or a real blush.
And her lips... Syaoran's eyes travelled slowly down her face, then quickly stared down at his shoes. If he had to look at her lips again, he wasn't sure he could repress the urge to kiss her right there and then.
Syaoran could feel the smile in Sakura's voice. "You look pretty hot yourself." Before he could react, she had reached up to his face. "Did you do something to your hair?" she asked, fingering a stray piece.
"Yeah, I...I tried to," said Syaoran, trying to keep from blushing and failing. But he was pleased that she had actually noticed his pains to tame his hair, even though it hadn't really worked.
"And I like the shirt." Sakura tapped his chest lightly with a finger, and the touch ignited a small flame inside him. But he tried not to show it as he grinned and replied, "Thanks." This was unbelievable; she must be some kind of mind-reading angel or something. In spite of himself, it felt incredible when all of his efforts to look good for her were noticed.
"Hey, you guys!" Tomoyo came rushing up, video camera clutched tightly in hand, with Eriol strolling languidly behind her. She was wearing a lavender skirt that came to her knees, while Eriol wore only T-shirt and jeans. Syaoran gave a sigh of relief.
"Did you two come together?" asked Sakura, eyeing Tomoyo's camera warily.
"Yup! In my limo," replied Eriol, rather evilly. But Tomoyo rolled her eyes and gave him a heavy shove.
"Who cares what kind of car you have?" she retorted, shaking her head and sending dark waves of hair cascading down her shoulders. "An idiot is still an idiot."
"Hey!" Eriol exclaimed.
Tomoyo covered her mouth to keep from laughing at his outrage, then went straight to Sakura. "Those black pants again?" she sighed. "Why didn't you just come over to my house? I have a zillion perfect outfits for you to try. At least you could've worn a nicer shirt, instead of this old tank..."
"It's okay, Tomoyo," Sakura assured her. "I like it, and it's comfortable, so it doesn't matter."
"I think she looks great," Syaoran claimed boldly. Sakura smiled at him in thanks, and his heart began to pound so annoyingly loudly that he wondered if everyone could hear it.
"The man's right, Tomo-darling," drawled Eriol. "So you might as well lay off the fancy-costume thing."
He took off quickly toward the entrance to the dance, closely pursued by a furious Tomoyo who looked as though she wanted to break her camera over his head. Laughing, Sakura turned to look at Syaoran.
"Shall we go?" she asked brightly. Syaoran nodded and followed her into the school. After a moment's debate, he closed his hand over hers and walked on as casually as he could. Sakura didn't seem to mind; she only stepped closer so their arms could easily touch. Soon, they could make out the fuzzy outline of dance admission line near the inner gate, where Tomoyo and Eriol were waiting.
"Ready?" breathed Syaoran, more to himself than to Sakura.
"Yeah! I can't wait!" she exclaimed with a beautiful smile that made him melt into the ground. Her confidence calmed Syaoran, but the loveliness he saw in her with each step they took only made him more dizzily tightened up inside.
This is going to be a night to remember, thought Syaoran, giving Sakura's hand a squeeze.
*****
*A/N- Ohohohoho! ::turns into Tomoyo:: -_-; I can't wait until the next chapter, the dance! I'll try to have it out really soon. Sorry for the wait on this one, but I had to take advantage of some of these last school-free days. NOOOO! School is less than two weeks away!! X_X
Thanks to all for your (as always) awesomely fantastic reviews! Especially to Shirahana and sweet^sakura^star for reading all the way through the story from beginning to end in one shot! ^__^ If there was anyone else who did that this time, I'm sorry for not mentioning... I have horrible memory. U_U
So what do you think of the dance idea? It may seem like it just popped up out of nowhere, but it's actually a crucial part to this story. ^_~ Maybe you can guess. Besides, I love dances!! I'd put some form of a dance in every one of my stories if I could, but that might get repetitive... Oh well, I'm digressing again.
Please continue to read Spilling Stars, because it makes me so happy, and stick with me until the end, which is soon. I'll just say that I won't be going over twenty chapters for this story. But once I'm done, I'll be starting a new one that I'd like to make even longer (I'll write one story at a time for now, since I don't want to take forever updating each one).
If you'd like, please check out some of my original stuff at Fictionpress. There's a link to it in my profile. I don't have much yet, and it's not very good writing/poetry, but if you're bored, there's something you can read. ^_^ I'll try to get an actual real STORY on there sometime. -_-;
Thank you again, and please continue to tell me what you think!