I'll Save Myself
Chapter 3: Get Away
Authoresses note: ::sighz:: I've been soooooo distracted lately. School…my GPA went down by .6 to a 95.8! Duuude…that's still a really good grade but…I got 85 in math!!! Ewww….and school's not the only thing distracting me…too much stuff to do nowadays. But now we have mid-winter break! Finally!!! It's here! (yeah, both the break and the chapter -_-…two in one for me!) Finally I've gotten to this…wait no longer!
DISCLAIMER: CLAMP owns these characters…not me, unfortunately. Cause…I never played the New York's mega millions lotto. Hahaha, nope, I'm not even old enough for that. Anyways, story time!
"He what?!" a voice squealed from behind a rack of videos. Tomoyo stepped aside from them, holding two videos in her hands. They looked like romantic comedies.
"Yup, that's what he did," Sakura sighed, coming out from behind another row, joining Tomoyo, also holding two videos. Unlike hers though, they looked like action movies.
Tomoyo grinned evilly, "This is sooo cool Sakura! I mean, I want to kill Syaoran for being so mean to you, but this is just like those romance movies…and that's why I found this!" she exclaimed happily, shoving one of her selected movies under Sakura's nose.
Sakura rolled her eyes teasingly, and scanned over the blurb, "Nice girl Francesca gets herself caught as the popular boy, Brian's girlfriend due to a bet," she started to read out loud, but stopped before the end of the sentence. "This is sooooo cheesy," she added, and put it back on the shelf.
Glaring playfully, Tomoyo snatched it back and returned it to her arms protectively. "Too bad, we're watching it. Besides, you have any other suggestions?"
Sakura nodded, as if she already had a presentation to show, "Yup, let's watch this one! Shadows in the Twilight," she explained, holding it out for Tomoyo.
Tomoyo giggled, "Okay then…in the high tech city of blah blah blah," she substituted the words she felt she needed to change, "Dr. X had only blah blah blah until the end comes for blah blah blah twilight," she muttered, grinning. Watching as Sakura pouted, she sighed, "fine, how 'bout you get this and I get 'Bound by Dare'," she suggested, holding up her romance movie.
Sakura nodded in agreement. "Okay then. Now let's head back to your house!"
The two girls nodded and quickly paid the video guy. As they stepped outside, the blaring sun shined against their face in the warm afternoon. Sakura grinned. At least this was something good to do, going over to Tomoyo's house was always fun. At least it might take her mind off of Li Syaoran for a while. Sakura's smile quickly hardened into a solid frown at the thought. She hated him. He was a dumb, arrogant, selfish, annoying boy. He should have never meant anything to her.
Tomoyo giggled at her friend's expression, "Hehe, I think I can guess what you just thought of," she said, showing her skills from being Sakura's friend so long had produced.
"Yeah," Sakura snorted under her breath. "So which movie ya wanna watch next?"
"You really wanna let me choose?" Tomoyo laughed and nodded towards the romance movie.
"Erg…" Sakura raised an eyebrow at the video. "Gee, what a…odd name, 'Bound by Dare'" she mocked. She dragged her wooden clogs against the cement pavement, listening to the steady rapping noise it made.
"Fine, how bout this?" Tomoyo suggested, "Wanna go to Chiharu's party?" she proposed. "I mean, she said if we changed our minds we could just come," she remembered, recalling Chiharu's invitation for later that day.
Sakura shrugged, "Okay, why not?" she agreed, then added with a grin, "Better that watching, 'Bound by Dare'"
Tomoyo pouted childishly, "Aw…we'll save that for tomorrow," she joked. "Besides, you need this. It'll relax your soul," she laughed and exhaled slowly, in a mocking manner.
Sakura laughed too, for she had to agree. A party would definitely take away all her tension. "Okay, let's go!"
~~~~~ An hour later ~~~~~
By the time Sakura and Tomoyo has changed…or should it be phrased, 'By the time Tomoyo had finished picking an outfit for Sakura,' the sun was dipping behind the trees, tinting everything orangy-red. Without the sun to reflect on it though, Sakura was already wearing quite those shades. She wore a simple light orange top with loose baggy sleeves only three quarter length long and a pair of blue jeans with leaves embroidered on the pockets. Tomoyo on the other hand chose a lavender tank top with a matching skirt that reached just above her ankles. (yeah, I just felt like adding these descriptions for once) Sakura could already hear some voices from behind the front door. She knocked against its white paint twice, and stepped back.
"Hi!" Chiharu cheerfully greeted the two, swinging open the door for them. Behind her were a dozen people, all chatting away happily, J-pop playing in the background. "Come on in," she said as they stepped inside.
Sakura followed Tomoyo, looking around. There were actually more than a dozen people there, and a few that she wasn't familiar with. Noticing that Tomoyo had drifted away from where they had been standing, Sakura stumbled over to catch up as they joined two boys.
"Hey Eri," Tomoyo kissed one of the boys, Eriol on the cheek. Eriol was her kind boyfriend, who Sakura knew very well, but she didn't recognize the other boy.
"Hey Tomo, Sakura," he nodded in greeting. "Do you know my friend here? He's in class C-10," he explained, gesturing to the other boy.
The boy smiled, directing it more at Sakura. "I haven't met you before…Sakura?" he held his hand out to Sakura, shaking his black hair out of his eyes, to reveal deep blue orbs.
Sakura grinned childishly and shook his hand, "You too…what's your name?"
"Akira," the boy added. "Uh, do you want a drink? I can get us some punch or something," he suggested and turned towards the food table, stacked with small treats.
Sakura grinned, "Su-"she started to agree, but for some reason stopped herself. She had a deal with Syaoran, no matter how much she regretted it. "Sorry, but no thanks. I'm not-hungry or thirsty," she muttered dully, and waved goodbye to him. "I'll see you around though," she added and quickly squeezed into a conversation with Chiharu and her boyfriend Yamazaki.
"Gee, I really shouldn't have invited Masami," Chiharu was muttering. She had one eye on Masami as she looked around Chiharu's living room with obviously her new boyfriend. "She's popular, but I don't really trust her,"
Sakura sweatdropped, "Neither do I. Why did you invite her?"
"Syaoran. The only reason was because they're- well, they were going out. Syaoran has convinced me she would be good. But they're not even going out anymore," Chiharu rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, good 'ol Chiharu, can't un-invite anyone," Yamazaki patted Chiharu on her head. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her," he grinned.
"Hah, no you won't, you're keeping your eyes to yourself," Chiharu shot back playfully, taking hold of Yamazaki's ear in warning.
Changing the subject, Yamazaki turned to Sakura. "What's up?"
"Oh, I dunno. I didn't have anyone to talk to," Sakura explained.
"I thought you were talking to Akira," Chiharu asked. "You know, we could match you two up. You'd make a great couple," Chiharu suggested.
Sakura shrugged and folded her arms. "Yeah, but just…" she trailed off. She couldn't tell Chiharu about Syaoran, even if she wanted. It would just be too complicated…
"Aww, come on Sakura. You need to loosen up!" Chiharu coaxed, once she saw how Sakura seemed to be thinking. She pushed her forward gently.
Sakura sighed, "Fine, I'll go," she gave in. Sakura slowly re-approached Akira who was saying something to Eriol. "Ahem, hey Akira,"
Akira smiled slightly, "Hey Sakura. Change your mind?"
"Yeah, I have. Let's get something to eat," Sakura agreed. The two headed for the food table, Akira starting the conversation.
"So uh, I'm Akira Han, and like Eriol said before, I'm in class C-10…" he began.
Sakura nodded along, while selecting some grapes and crackers on her napkin. The two then found a seat in the backyard, sitting in two porch chairs. "It's so nice to get out, especially on a night like this," Sakura commented. She looked around, taking in the calm surroundings of that evening. Sitting in her friend's backyard, at a cool party, talking with a cute boy, everything seemed fine at that point.
"You don't get out much?" Akira suggested.
"Nah, I do…it's just…if I'm out, I always have to worry about my overprotective brother coming along to ruin it," Sakura glared at the thought of past experiences. Hearing Akira laugh at that, Sakura felt her cheeks heat up slightly. "That amusing?"
Akira grinned and picked up a chip, "Yeah, kinda. I'm kind of the overprotective one of my younger sister too," he admitted. "No creep's gonna get to her. No one at all for that matter," he joked.
"I feel pity for her," Sakura playfully glared. "My brother's name is Toya…one time, I think it was lat year, I went out with Tomoyo, and Meilin to a movie, and they had brought their boyfriends, so…" Sakura started telling a story to Akira. Akira was a patient listener, and he agreed with her…he…he had time for her. Unlike Syaoran- or Li as Sakura would address him now. If only she could have stayed like that forever, just talking with Akira, everything would have been fine. But suddenly she was interrupted.
"Ahem,"
Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder, and Sakura turned, thinking it was probably just Tomoyo or something. Maybe some other girl who wanted to be the lucky one catching Akira's interest. That all would have been acceptable. What she couldn't accept was coming face to face with the daring amber eyes of Li Syaoran.
"Hey Kura," he greeted sweetly, but the words seemed more like sour milk to Sakura. Especially that he had used her nickname, used only by her friends.
Sakura's smile dropped when Syaoran's face came into view. Quickly she plastered a fake one on her, and looked Syaoran in the eye. "Hello, Li," she replied stiffly.
"Hey…Akira is it?" Syaoran nodded towards Akira, then back at Sakura with what she only knew as a smirk.
Sakura opened her mouth to try and get either Syaoran or Akira to leave…any of them before Syaoran did anything to embarrass her. Unfortunately though, she was interrupted again.
"Oh, hi Syaoran!" a way to cheerful voice called from behind them. Masami skipped over to the group, dragging her boyfriend Dean along side her. She came to a stop in front of Sakura and Syaoran, waving at the two. "Aw, you two really are a cute couple!" she squealed in such a high pitched voice, it could have turned the beautiful backyard into a polluted swamp. Sakura would have just called her then ferret of it. Even Syaoran had to admit, when he had been dating her, he must have gone tone deaf to stay sane with her. But thanks to Masami, Syaoran didn't even have to try and ruin Sakura's conversation. He stood aside, letting Masami talk. "Let's get a picture of you two!" Masami suggested and waved Akira to the side.
"Sure," Syaoran agreed, and pulled Sakura closer to Masami's disposable camera. "Say cheese," he whispered before the flash.
Sakura still held that fake smile as Masami took the pictures. Then she started making Syaoran take pictures of her and Dean.
Sakura inched away, towards a quiet Akira. "Uh, this is interesting, right?"
"Yeah, it somewhat is. So you're going out with Syaoran?" Akira asked calmly, not sounding like he was disappointed or angry that Sakura hadn't said so. At that point though, Sakura kind of wished he was bothered by it.
"…Yeah, we are…" Sakura said and scratched her head thinking of conversation once again.
"Heh, well from what you started telling me about your brother, I hope Syaoran ends up okay," Akira joked lightly. "You should finish telling me that story sometime," he suggested.
"Ooh, now one of us two girls!" Masami pushed between Sakura and Akira. She shoved the camera to Akira who watched with Dean on the side. Masami carefully ran her hands through her wavy elbow-length dark brown hair as she checked for knots. She stood next to Sakura and smiled into the camera.
"Oh, this is great," Sakura remarked, trying to make her voice sound authentic. Once Masami had finished her 'photo-op' spree, Sakura was going to have a nice talk with Syaoran. Really, this was just what she needed. A picture with the guy she hated and another picture with the ditz he had dated. And another thing, it was being taken by the coolest, most sweet, interesting guy she had just met. And he thought she had a boyfriend already. Really, the night couldn't get better.
Authoresses note: Done! For now anyways…Hehehe, did you notice this? I did just now: I rhymed! I said: A picture with the guy she hated and another picture with the ditz he had dated. Ooh, coolness! -_-;;; Okies…reviews please!