L-chan's notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. Now that I have your attention ^.^ I'll explain a little more about this story. Now, I adore S&S, but I thought this idea would work better as a MeiLi. You have been warned. Plus, Meiling has gotten the short end of the stick in my other stories, so I owe her. For the plot, I'm using the anime series as background, but I'll *tweak* some details as needed for my story to work. For example, Meiling and Syaoran never went back to Hong Kong, and Meiling's feelings for Syaoran are more friendly than romantic (for now, anyway ^.~).
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Take My Advice
Chapter 2—The Word is Out
"I'm home," Meiling announced wearily as she stepped out of her shoes and into her red slippers. (A/N: There's no place like home…)
"Welcome home, Meiling-sama," Wei greeted. "Why don't you go change while I set out dinner for you?"
"No, thank you, Wei. I'm not really hungry. I think I'll just do my homework and go to bed." The long afternoon had finally caught up to her, and she was too tired to do much of anything, even eating what was surely a delicious dinner. She could have just collapsed in the doorway and enjoyed a peaceful rest on the cold floor, but her math and history assignments would not be ignored.
She walked past the living room on her way to her bedroom. Syaoran and Sakura were curled up on the sofa, watching television. "Hi, Meiling-chan," Sakura said in a chipper voice that made Meiling feel even more tired. "Want to watch this movie with us?"
The last thing she wanted to do, even considering her homework, was to watch some sappy movie with her cousin and his girlfriend. "I would, but I've got a date with some good-looking algebraic equations and a few semi-famous dead guys," she answered glibly, holding up her heavy backpack. "It's going to be quite the party."
"Want some help?" Syaoran asked, taking his brown eyes off the television long enough to glance at her.
"If I need you, I know where to find you," she said with a dismissive wave as she continued to her room. "Good night."
Syaoran kept his eyes focused on the spot where Meiling had been standing. Is something wrong? He wondered. She never passes up television in favor of homework. He looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it was almost eight. How much time is she devoting to that newspaper? No wonder she looked so tired.
"Something wrong, Syaoran-kun?" Sakura asked, snapping his attention back to her.
He shook his head. "I just realized how late it was."
Sakura laughed. "Is that my cue to leave?" she asked, pulling away from him and stretching her arms over her head.
"Well, you probably should go home before your father forgets what you look like," he teased. She spent almost every evening at his place, where they could study or relax without being interrupted by her overprotective brother or her self-centered guardian beast. They'd fallen into a comfortable routine of studying, eating dinner, and watching television together, with some more enjoyable diversions mixed in to keep things interesting. "Want me to walk you home?"
"No, thanks," she said with a toss of her honey-colored hair. "It's dark enough. I'll just use 'Fly'." She stood up and stretched again, then leaned down to give him a quick kiss. "See you tomorrow," she whispered, ruffling his messy brown hair.
"See you tomorrow," he echoed as she picked up her bag and walked to the front door, saying good night to Wei as she let herself out.
Syaoran snapped off the television and wandered into the kitchen, where he found Wei making up a tray for Meiling. "I'll take that to her," he said. He carried the tray in one hand and walked to Meiling's room, rapping his quick double-knock on her door.
"Brought you some dinner," he said when she appeared. "You know Wei doesn't like us to skip meals. Make a show of eating it, anyway."
She took the tray from him and set it on her desk. "It does look pretty good. And I haven't eaten anything since lunch."
Since she left her door open, he assumed he was invited in. He plopped down on her bed and watched her as she began wolfing down the food. "Why were you so late?" he asked.
"Paper," she mumbled between big mouthfuls of rice.
"That's usually just an hour after school. What were you doing there until seven?"
She looked at him suspiciously. "Why, are you writing a book?" She washed the rice down with a big gulp of tea and wiped her mouth on the napkin.
He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "I just wonder if you're taking on too much. Can you handle schoolwork and the newspaper?"
"Why not?" she snapped. "You can handle schoolwork, the soccer team, your training, and a girlfriend. Oh, and you get to have magic, too. Can't I have one thing that's mine? Something I'm good at? Something I'm proud of?"
He wasn't expecting her to be so defensive. "What I meant was—"
"I don't care what you meant. Leave me alone. I need to study now."
"Fine." He stood up and left the room. He'd almost shut the door behind him when she stopped him.
"Syaoran."
"What?"
"I'm sorry." She sighed. "I'm just really tired, and I have a lot to do. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Actually, she'd been in a good mood in spite of her exhaustion until she got home. What was it that had upset her?
"It's okay," he answered. "Are you sure you don't want some help with the algebra?"
"If I do, I'll ask."
"Okay." He shut the door, and she heard him cross the hall to his own room.
Meiling returned her attention to her math book. She tried to concentrate on the problems, but the numbers swirled around in front of her weary eyes. And she still had to read the history assignment. She poured herself another cup of tea and prepared for a long night.
***
The next day, Saito Junior High was buzzing with the news about the paper's newest feature. With posters in every hallway, it was impossible not to know about "Hope" and her advice column.
Meiling's friends were all talking about it during the lunch break. "I'm telling you, I don't know anything about this," Chiharu replied to everyone's questions. "What about you, Meiling-chan?"
Meiling knew this would happen, so she was able to lie easily. "I don't know anything, either."
Yanagisawa Naoko wouldn't let them get away with that. "You two are on the paper, and you don't know?" As much as she loved a good mystery, Naoko liked knowing the answer better.
"Nope," Meiling answered. "I guess Tomori-kun will tell us all about it at our next meeting."
"I think it's a great idea," Chiharu said. "I wish I had thought of it. I think it would be fun to write an advice column."
"I'll bet it's a lot of work," Sasaki Rika responded. "I feel sorry for whoever has to answer those letters. Who knows what kinds of serious problems people might have? I know I couldn't handle the pressure of trying to tell people the right thing to do."
"Oh, now, Rika-chan," Daidouji Tomoyo said, "someone like you could never give bad advice. You're one of the most mature and sensible people I know."
"I don't know about that," Rika replied, blushing, and the subject of Hope was dropped as everyone teased Rika for being so modest.
Meiling sighed with relief that the topic was closed, but the huge responsibility of giving advice finally dawned on her. This is going to be harder than I thought. Not only do I have to keep it a secret, but Sasaki-san is right. Am I going to be able to really help people?
She was usually a very confident, self-assured girl, never one to back down from a challenge, but her enthusiasm for the project waned throughout the day as more doubts plagued her. What if I can't handle it? What if they find out who I am? What if I ruin someone's life?
After the final bell, Meiling walked slowly to the newspaper office for the daily meeting. She was the last one to arrive, and the room was filled with chattering students. Tomori was standing on his chair, waving his arms, trying to get everyone's attention.
"Let's settle down, gang. Remember, the later we start, the later you leave."
Everyone immediately stopped talking.
"Thank you. Now, I need to make a few staff changes before handing out this week's assignments. Amagawa-kun, I need you on the layout team. Masuko-san, I think you're ready to join the writing staff. And, Li-san, I'm putting you in charge of distribution."
Meiling opened her mouth to protest, but Tomori stopped her with a look that said they'd discuss it later. He continued the meeting by giving the writers their story assignments and deadlines. "I think that's everything. Any questions?"
Chiharu raised her hand. "Who's Hope?" This set everyone buzzing again, and Tomori clapped his hands to quiet them.
"Thank you for reminding me, Mihara-san. I'm sure you've all noticed the signs for our newest feature, but I'm afraid I can't tell you much more than you already know. Yes, we are going to add an advice column beginning next week. However, to protect the privacy of both 'Hope' and those who write to Hope, the column will be anonymous." It was obvious that this answer satisfied no one, but Tomori refused to say anything more. "That's all I've got for today. The layout team needs to stay, but the rest of you are free to go."
Meiling watched as most of the students left the room and those remaining sat down at their computers to prepare the paper for printing. She pulled up a chair in front of Tomori's desk and waited while he gave the layout team instructions for arranging the stories, pictures, and advertisements.
He sat down across from Meiling and removed his glasses, closing his blue eyes and rubbing them with his index fingers. "I know what you're going to say."
"Do you? I thought you said—"
He put a finger to his lips, reminding her to keep her voice down. "I know. But I can't have you doing nothing. It would be a dead giveaway if you never did anything around here. So I gave you the easiest job I could think of. All you have to do is get here early on mornings when the paper comes out, set aside enough copies for each homeroom, and then help pass them out."
It did seem easy enough. "But what if someone asks why I'm not writing anymore?"
He chuckled. "Tell them I got tired of you complaining about the stories I assigned." He slid his glasses back on and checked his watch. "I've got to meet with Matsuda-sensei now. If you need to ask me anything else, you should email me. And remember, be here bright and early tomorrow. We've got a lot of papers to count out."
Getting up early? How am I ever going to pull that off? But she nodded. "I'll be here."
"Good." He stood up, grabbing a notebook and pen. "Oh, make sure you stop by your locker before heading home," he said with a wink as he left the room.
Who does he remind me of? Meiling wondered as she spun the combination for her locker. He's usually so serious, but sometimes… "What in the world?" Sitting on top of her books was a large envelope with her name written in bold strokes. She peeked inside and saw two smaller envelopes. Could it be? Already?
~~-~~
Still not much going on. Sorry! But we got a glimpse of Syaoran's relationships with Sakura and Meiling, and Meiling's feelings about this project. I think you've seen all the familiar faces now, but I haven't decided if Eriol will be around or not. Anyway, I hope to start moving things along with the next chapter. For some reason I really got stuck on this part, so I'm ending it a bit prematurely. Thanks for reading!