L-chan's notes: It may be obvious at this point that I know very little about how a school newspaper is produced (I was on the yearbook staff ^.^; ). And it may seem too soon for Meiling to receive letters, but since Sakura always wrote to Kaho during recess, I thought other girls might carry stationery around as well. Anyhoo, enough rambling and on with the story. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.
Disclaimer: See Chapter 2.
Take My Advice
Chapter 3—Planting Seeds
Syaoran stuffed his soccer cleats into his gym bag and slammed his locker shut. I should have had that goal. It was a perfect shot, he thought. Even though it was just an afternoon practice, he felt like he'd let the team down. And he hated letting himself down. His competitive nature never let him be satisfied with less than perfection. That was what made him such a good player.
What bothered him even more was the fact that the coach had overtly and overly praised his arch nemesis. Well, maybe that was a bit overdramatic. But if my life were a manga series, he would definitely be my nemesis.
As if on cue, he heard the tormentor calling him. "Oh, Li-kun!"
Syaoran turned around with a scowl. "What do you want, Hiiragizawa?"
The blue-eyed boy smiled. "Good practice today," Eriol replied.
Just rub it in. "Yeah," Syaoran grunted. He slung his bag over his shoulder. "Well, see you."
Unfortunately, Eriol chose not to take the hint and followed Syaoran out of the building. "Going home?" Syaoran grunted again. "Where's the lovely Sakura-san?"
Syaoran glared at Eriol. "You never give up, do you?"
Eriol had that annoying, knowing smile on his face. "Now, Li-kun, I'm just worried about you. It's unusual to see one of you without the other. Don't tell me there's trouble in paradise." He put a finger on his chin as if in deep thought. "Although, that would explain why your game was off today."
Of all the days to leave my sword at home. "Why are you so interested? Don't you have your own life?"
"Two, so far," Eriol joked. His cute little descendant was not amused. "So, where is she?"
"Shopping with Daidouji," Syaoran finally answered, hoping his creepy, evil ancestor would buzz off now that his curiosity had been appeased.
"Too bad." Eriol stopped at the intersection and turned toward the right. "I'm afraid this is where I must leave you."
"Too bad," Syaoran mimicked sarcastically.
Eriol looked at him, his eyes round with mock concern. "Poor, brave Li-kun, trying so hard to hide your pain," he said with a dramatic sigh. "Just remember, you can always come to me." He made a little bow and walked away.
"Jackass," Syaoran muttered. But as he continued home, Eriol's words kept bothering him. Trouble in paradise? Why would he say that? Syaoran shook his head. Why does he do anything? To torture me, that's why.
Even so, that didn't stop the thought from niggling at the back of his mind. Things with Sakura are great, right? Of course they are. So why do you feel like something's missing? He stopped in his tracks when he realized what he was thinking. Damn Hiiragizawa!
***
Meiling sat at her desk and stared at the large envelope in her hands. She felt a funny little tingle of nervousness. My first letters. This is it. It's really happening. I hope I know what I've gotten myself into.
She pulled the two smaller envelopes out and sat them on the desk. One was a pretty pink with a nadeshiko flower in the corner, and the other was yellow with two little rabbits. Letters from girls, she guessed. She was relieved. I can relate to girls' problems. Besides, boys wouldn't be interested in this kind of thing anyway.
She opened the pink envelope and read the short note.
"Dear Hope,
I have been dating a very nice boy for almost a month now, but so far, he hasn't tried to kiss me, or even hold my hand! I really like him a lot and want him to kiss me, but maybe he doesn't feel the same way. What should I do?
Signed,
Waiting"
She grinned. That was easy. She jotted a quick sentence on a sheet of paper before opening the yellow envelope.
"Dear Hope,
I am fourteen, but my parents won't let me date yet. My friends all have boyfriends, and I feel left out. There's a boy I like, and I think he likes me, too. How can I convince my parents that I'm old enough to date?
Signed,
Home Alone"
Meiling wrapped a strand of her raven hair around her finger as she read the words again. It wasn't a hard problem. She knew what she would answer. It was the "Home Alone" part that got to her. That's how I feel, she thought. Left out.
She thought about her friends. Sakura had Syaoran. Chiharu had Yamazaki. Boys were always asking Rika and Tomoyo out, even though they never accepted. And even Naoko, who was more interested in books than boys, had been invited to several school functions lately. They were all perfectly happy with their social lives.
But what about me? She wondered. She'd never had a date, or even an offer. I'm pretty, aren't I? I'm nice. I'm smart, but not a brain. Is there something wrong with me?
The truth was that boys were intimidated by Meiling. She was willful and outspoken. She was more athletic than most of them, and they knew that with her martial arts training, she could seriously hurt them if they made a wrong move. Or worse, her cousin would beat the living daylights out of them. What Meiling didn't know was that any boy who even considered approaching her immediately received a death glare from a protective Syaoran.
Well, not having a boyfriend isn't the end of the world, she tried to convince herself. But it sure would be nice to have someone who cared about me, like Syaoran cares about Kinomoto-san. She pushed her selfish thoughts aside and started drafting responses to the letters.
She heard the front door open. "I'm home," Syaoran called. She noticed that she'd left her bedroom door open. She quickly hid the letters in her desk drawer and was sliding it shut when he appeared in her doorway. "Where's Wei?" he asked her.
"He's visiting Mihashi-san. She hasn't been feeling well," she answered. "Where's Kinomoto-san?"
Syaoran rolled his eyes. Was everyone going to ask him that? "She went shopping with Daidouji. Something about a fabric for a dress." He made talking motions with his hands. "I wasn't really listening. You know how Daidouji gets." He noticed that Meiling was sitting at an empty desk. "Done with your homework already?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm hoping that if I ignore it, it will just go away."
"I wish that would work with Hiiragizawa," he muttered. He glanced down at his gym clothes. "Let me get a quick bath, and then we'll work on it together, okay?" She nodded, and he turned to go to his room.
I guess the letters will have to wait, she thought with a sigh. Rotten homework. She grabbed her backpack and went into the dining room. She pulled out her books and stacked them neatly, then arranged her pens and pencils in a perfect square. Anything to keep from actually doing any work.
A few minutes later, Syaoran poked his head around the corner. "Hard at work?"
"Shhh," she hissed. She was trying to balance her pencil on the end of her finger. "I've almost got it." The pencil fell, bouncing on the edge of the table before landing on the floor. "See what you made me do?"
"Sorry." He dropped his bag and sat down next to her. "So, what's your pleasure? Math? Biology?"
"What are my other choices?" Not wanting to even think about Monday's biology exam, she opened her algebra book. "You know, we're never going to use this stuff."
"So you keep telling me." He turned his book to the assigned page. "Let's do the first five problems, and then we'll compare answers, okay?" She agreed, and they both got to work. Syaoran finished quickly and went over the problems again, satisfied with his answers. It was all so simple, really. So neat and logical. He couldn't understand how anyone could have trouble with algebra.
Well, Meiling was having trouble. He watched as she continued scribbling with her pencil, her nose wrinkling in concentration. Then she frowned and vigorously rubbed her eraser against the page. He couldn't help smiling at the funny expressions she made while she worked. She tilted her head and stuck out her tongue as she examined her answers before setting her pencil down with a sigh. "Done?" he asked. She nodded. "What did you get for the first problem?"
"Forty-two?" Syaoran shook his head. "But it's the meaning of life! It has to be right!" Meiling checked her answer against his. "It's thirty-six?" She pointed to his paper. "Why did you do that?"
"That's how you get all your variables on one side of the equation. Look." He scooted closer to her so he could go through the problem step by step, showing her where she'd made a mistake. She tried to listen to what he was saying, but instead she was overwhelmed by his nearness. Wow, he smells really good, she thought, all fresh and clean and soapy. His hair was still a little damp, and she had an urge to rub a wet strand between her fingers. She'd even started to lift her hand when she realized what she was doing. What am I thinking? What's wrong with me?
"Understand?"
She had no idea what he'd just said, but she nodded anyway. She erased her answer and copied his work, keeping her head low so he wouldn't see her pink cheeks. She moved away from him subtly until she was on the edge of her chair. I'm so pathetic. Am I so lonely that I'll drool over any boy within fifty feet of me? Even my own cousin?
They went over the rest of the problems, and he helped her correct three of them, explaining the answers in detail. By some miracle or accident she'd actually done one correctly. Then they got to work on the last five equations. She was determined to concentrate on her work and ignore the boy sitting so close to her. She scribbled and erased and scribbled again, punching her calculator and counting on her fingers until she was sure her answers were right.
"How'd you do?" Syaoran glanced at her paper and compared it with his. "You got them all right. See, I knew you could do this."
"Only because you explained it to me. Now it makes sense."
He shook his head modestly. "You're a smart girl, Meiling. Soon you'll be explaining math to me." He grinned at her.
Her heart flipped, and her ruby eyes widened when she felt her reaction to his smile. Why am I acting this way?
"Want to start on the review sheet for the biology exam?" he asked, looking at her with his big brown eyes. She didn't answer. "Meiling?"
It was like she was frozen. She just stared at him. Suddenly the phone rang, breaking her trance. "I'll get it!" she said, a bit too loudly, before jumping up and running into the living room.
What is with her? He wondered. She's been acting strangely all afternoon.
She reappeared in the doorway, a little more composed. "That was Wei. He's going to be late. Mihashi-san's daughter hasn't come home yet, and he doesn't want to leave her alone." She smiled slyly. "I think he's got a crush on her."
Syaoran sighed. Girls always got so carried away at the slightest possibility of romance. "So, what about dinner, then?"
"He said he did the shopping earlier and to check the refrigerator. I'll go see what I can whip up." She dashed off, almost as if she was relieved to get away from him.
He tried not to think anything of it. She'll do anything to avoid homework.
~~-~~
Poor, confused little Meiling! And it's only going to get worse… ^.~