Disclaimer: I do not own Touya, Sakura, or any of the songs in this story. I DO own Lauren (seeing as she's me), Sandi, Mrs. Reynolds, and all of the other people who aren't CLAMP'S

A/N: Wahoo! Another chappie up! I wonder if anybody will bother to read this far. Oh well, thanks to white eternity for reviewing the first section! If more people review, thank you!

Thursday

"So, what do you all think about Choices so far?" Reynolds-sensei addressed the class, standing up by the white board. She called to Lauren.

"It's amazing. It's hard to describe the feeling I get from it, but it's just. Just amazing!" Lauren sighed. ~Yeah, and I know how she feels. ~

That afternoon Lauren headed to the music building. The shadows were lengthening, and a chilly wind was blowing. Most people were out eating dinner or doing homework, so the building was silent and deserted. Lauren made her way down the halls slowly, and as she neared the piano room, she heard a beautiful, flowing melody that slowly progressed down the scale. It was a waterfall of notes. Time seemed to stop around Lauren and she closed her eyes to listen to the melody.

"Lights go out and I can't be saved-" the person played a wrong note and swore. "Agh, I just can't sing and play at the same time!"

Lauren stood at the doorway and saw Touya sitting on the piano bench. Her eyes began to tear. A ray of light hit his glittering eyes and made him look rather majestic. "Tou. ya. kun." She whispered. Her heart flared within her chest and it came to her. The thing that surprised her about Choices was how the main character was able to contain her feelings. Lauren also realized that the girl was right about love. Love at first sight is possible. If you love them when you meet them it is a love that is meant to be.

Touya blinked and turned around. He saw the tears in Lauren's eyes and his heart clenched. ~I hope it's not what I said earlier when she asked me for breakfast. ~ "You called my by my first name again," he said weakly, his heart reaching out to her.

"That song." Lauren's eyes quivered. She remained in the doorway. "What is it?"

"It's Clocks by Coldplay," Touya replied, hoping to break through the strange feeling in the air. "You dropped your CD-"

"Play it again," Lauren told him.

Touya shook his head. "I can't. it's too difficult."

"Please, Touya-kun. Please play it again?" Lauren was begging now rather breathlessly from need. "Play it for me?" Her brain had disconnected from her mouth and her heart was speaking from within. She needed to hear that song again. When Touya hesitated, Lauren stepped forward and sat down next to him. "Onegai?"

Touya shivered when Lauren's arm brushed against his. "Okay, but you have to promise me two things." He refused to look at her in the case that he would let his guard down and touch her beautiful face.

"Yes?" Lauren asked quietly, hoping that Touya couldn't hear the rapid beating of her heart.

"First, don't call me Touya." ~Oh, please call me Touya! ~ "It is disrespectful." ~Call me Touya, for god's sake! ~

Lauren blushed. "I'm sorry, I guess my British and American habits are rubbing off on me." ~Oh shit, he doesn't feel the same way about me. And in America and England people call their teachers by their last names, anyway.~ She moved away from him so that they weren't sitting so close.

~Why did she move away? ~ "Second of all, don't laugh if I mess up, ok?" ~Did I hurt her by telling her to call me by my last name? And don't people in England call their teachers by their last names? Does Lauren like me? ~

Lauren nodded and leaned on her hand. "Go ahead," she said quietly.

Touya looked at her deep, dark brown eyes, her long ponytail, her shapely body, and her soft skin and a shiver ran up his spine. ~Why am I responding to her like this? She's at least five years younger than I am.~ He brought his attention back to the piano and began to play again.

Lauren closed her eyes and felt the music seem to lift her off the ground. Touya's voice swirled around her and her body began to shake with desire. When the song was over she let out the breath she had been holding. "It's beautiful."

Touya looked at her closed eyes and her quivering body and took his hands off the keys. "It moves you that much? It moved me was well when I heard it." His eyes fell on her soft lips and, for the first time, wondered what it would be like to kiss her. ~Kissing Yuki always made me happy.~ Without knowing it, he found himself drifting towards her. He slid his arm around her waist and leaned in.

Lauren's eyes fluttered open when she felt him touch her and she gasped in surprise. "Touya, what are you doing?"

Touya suddenly came to his senses and he jumped up. ~Oh shit, she doesn't have a crush on me. ~

Lauren's heart was racing faster than ever. ~H-he almost kissed me! ~ "Touya-kun." ~But for some reason I don't think he was meant to kiss me now. ~

Touya opened his mouth to speak, but the woman music teacher, Miss Himea, walked in at that moment. "Oh, I see you guys are talking about the song. Why don't you check out some Beatles songs? Those are always nice."

~Not quite talking about the song,~ Touya and Lauren thought to themselves.

"Here," Himea said, plopping some CDs down. "These are the rest of our Beatles CDs. Have fun!" She left.

Lauren swallowed. "That was close," she remarked with a mischievous grin.

"We should call it a day, Nyann-san," Touya instructed. He began to walk out the door.

"But Touya-"

"It's Kinomoto to you, miss," Touya called over his shoulder, still walking down the hall. ~I feel so horrible. I don't want to walk away from her.~ His chest heaved with a big sigh. ~But I can't promote any relationship I might have with her, it's illegal. ~

"Touya.?" A tear rolled down Lauren's cheek but she quickly wiped it away. ~Did I do something wrong? ~She looked down at the CD player and saw her Coldplay CD. ~I must have dropped it and he picked it up. ~She turned on Clocks and was swept away by the beauty of the song again.

Lauren was but a shadow as she walked back to her dorm room. She did her homework like a zombie and ate a few crackers for dinner. On a whim she opened the college phone book. ~Should I call him? ~She found his number and reached for the phone. She hesitated a few moments. ~What could I lose? ~Everything, her mind told her, but she dialed the number anyway.

"Moshi moshi?" Touya answered on the second ring.

"Touya-kun." It was all Lauren could choke out.

Sandi, who was at the desk, began to eavesdrop.

"L-Lauren, but you can't-"

"Touya, please!" Lauren begged, not sure what she was begging for. All she knew was that Touya had tried to kiss her, so he must have SOME feelings for her.

Touya sighed. ~God help me make the right choice! ~ "Lauren, you have to call me by my last name. You have to stop flirting with me."

Lauren grabbed her head. "Do you hate me for this?"

"No, no, Nyann-san, it's just. I don't love you." ~Yes I do. ~ "I can be friends with you, though." ~I want you. ~

"Kinomoto-sensei." Tears quivered on the edges of Lauren's eyes.

"Bye," Touya sighed. He hung up the phone.

Lauren shut off the phone and dropped it. She couldn't stop the tears this time. They just came, pouring out of her eyes. She buried her head in her pillow and hugged her dog plushie.

Sandi looked at Lauren sympathetically. "Teacher student relationships never work out."

Lauren began to sob harder.

"Whoops, wrong thing to say." Sandi went back to her homework, knowing that it was best for Lauren to cry it all out.

Eventually Lauren fell asleep, her eyes puffy and red.

Friday

Science went well for Lauren the next morning. They were talking about birdcalls, which always satisfied her. Math was boring, as usual, and Lauren cursed the fact that it was mandatory.

Yet, despite how well the day was going, English was a disaster. In one of the class readings they got to the part when Sandra and her teacher were breaking up. They were having troubles keeping their love a secret and they were thinking of calling the whole thing off.

Lauren felt her tears coming back. Her heart was in pain and it seemed to slow with every word they read on. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "Reynolds-sensei, I don't fell well, may I go to the bathroom?"

Reynolds-sensei noticed that she had paled and that she was shaking. "Yes, go ahead." ~I hope she's ok. ~

Lauren dropped her book to her desk and hurried to the bathroom. She burst into tears and slid down the wall into a sitting position. She buried her head in her arms and her whole body was wracked with sobs.

When class was over, Reynolds-sensei went into the bathroom to look for Lauren to give her her books. She gasped when she saw her.

Lauren heard Reynolds-sensei come in, but she didn't look up, for she was still crying.

Reynolds-sensei sat down next to her and put her arm around Lauren. "What's wrong?"

"I-I l-love h-him," Lauren murmured through her sobs. "I know I just met him, but my heart yearns for him." She hiccuped and blew her nose on a piece of paper towel. She wiped her cheeks.

Reynolds-sensei smiled slightly. ~It's Touya who she loves, isn't it? ~ She had been watching Lauren carefully because she saw a unique intelligence in her. "Are you going to class?"

Lauren and Reynolds-sensei stood up and Lauren splashed some cold water on her face. "Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you for caring." She smiled a little bit. "I'll be going now." She left the building and went to get some lunch. After lunch she did a little homework in her dorm room.

"What shall I wear to music?" She asked herself, tapping her chin. She finally decided on a black v-neck T-shirt and a pair of sky blue velour pants. She arrived along with everybody else and took her seat in the auditorium where the chorus practiced.

Touya watched her come in and sit down. He missed the smile she usually gave him when she came in. He missed her voice whispering a quick "hi." He missed her flirting. He just plain missed everything about her. ~Just look at me. Just glance at me please.~

Lauren had been looking over her music, but she seemed distracted. ~I can't look at him. It will just hurt me even more.~ But she couldn't help it. She looked up at Touya and saw his profile. He was talking to a student, and his head was tilted a little bit, showing off his perfect jaw. ~He's sexy, no doubt about it.~ She went back to looking at the music piece as more people arrived.

They sang through a few songs, but nobody was really concentrating. Touya dismissed the class early.

Lauren didn't want to leave Touya's company. She dawdled and walked really slowly.

Touya was talking to another student, but he caught Lauren's arm when she walked by.

Lauren was really surprised by this, but she didn't let it show. Instead she stood there quietly, pretending to be bored. Her heart was fluttering nervously.

The student left and Touya waited to make sure everybody was gone before he spoke. "I want you to go up on stage to test out the microphone. Sing something, it doesn't matter which song." ~I have to act normal. ~ He led her up onto the stage and brought out a clip-on microphone. "Here, just put it on." He handed it to her.

Lauren stared at it. "Not to sound stupid, but I don't know how to put this on." She blushed slightly.

Touya took the microphone from her and untangled the wires, his face expressionless. "What song will you sing?"

Lauren though for a moment. "A Beatles song, I guess."

Touya reached forward and took the collar of Lauren's shirt between his fingers. The feel of her warm skin against his fingers made his senses tingle, but he pretended that it was nothing.

~His hands are so gentle.~Lauren began to blush when she realized that Touya was only a centimeter away from touching her bra. "Um, Touya-"

Touya jumped and his hand brushed her breast. His face reddened and he pulled his hands away. "Ok, it's on. I'll go to the back of the auditorium and I want you to sing." ~I can't believe I just touched her. God, that was really stupid of me.~ He practically ran off the stage, his 'emotions' (an: sorry, I couldn't help it!) running wild.

An idea popped into Lauren's head and a smile grew on her face. "Love, love me do," she began to sing the Beatles song. "You know I love you, so please. Love me do." She sang on, watching Touya to see if his expression changed.

Touya inhaled sharply. "Ok, ok, that's enough! The system works perfectly!"

Lauren stopped and stood still, waiting for Touya to get to the stage.

~Oh god, I can't hold myself any longer.~Touya took a deep breath to calm his pounding blood. "Go ahead and take off the microphone." He held out his hand.

Lauren blinked at him innocently. "I still don't know how to do that."

Touya began to tremble. "Lauren, kami kuso wa (god damn it), just take the kuso thing off!"

Lauren winced and fumbled with the clasp. "Sorry, Kinomoto-sensei." ~Whoops, I went a little too far. ~ Lauren dropped the microphone and walked off stage, hurrying down the aisle.

Touya clenched his hands and continued to take deep breaths. ~If I had to touch her one more time I would have gotten overly excited. If I wasn't already.~

Lauren glanced back at Touya in the doorway. "Goodbye."

Suddenly Touya began to sing. "Confusion never stops/ Closing walls and ticking clocks/ Gonna come back and take you home/ I could not stop the tune you now know, singin'." He trailed off.

"Clocks again?" Lauren's voice echoed in the spacious room.

Touya nodded. "Come here." ~Oh shit, don't go too far, boy. ~ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

Lauren didn't move. "You come to me."

Touya nodded and hurried over. He handed her the paper.

It was an address, Lauren noticed. "What is it?"

"Shh, don't speak so loudly. It's my apartment address. Come there tomorrow morning. There aren't any classes since it will be Saturday." Touya nudged her out of the auditorium. "Don't tell anybody where you're going, ok?"

"You say this because.? What are you going to do, murder me?" Lauren grinned.

Touya whacked her head gently. "No, it's just students aren't allowed to go to their teachers' houses."

"Good night," Lauren whispered, touching his arm.

"Later," Touya muttered. ~I forgot that I was supposed to be mad at her. ~