CHAPTER 3

Li stared at Madison as she told him about the blind date she set him up with. He decided that it was time for him to move on, he accepted the fact that Sakura was probably dead.
"She's a few grades below you and by what Blaire say's her sister is very sweet. I've never met her because Blaire's parents are divorced. Blaire lives with her mom and her sister stays with her dad. But anyways I told Blaire that you would meet her sister at Le Café. It's on the corner of 29th and 4th. It's a fancy restaurant so dress nice. The date is a 7 o'clock sharp so be there on time ok?" Madison went on. Li just nodded dumbfounded. He was going on a date and didn't even know the girls name.
"But what…" Li started but was cut off again by Madison's babbling.
"She likes yellow roses so here is 15 bucks, get her a long steamed yellow rose. Now I got to go, mom wanted me to stop by the store and start picking things up for my Christmas party. Your coming to that right?" Madison asked looking at Li. Li stood there trying to process everything Madison had said since they started with hi. Li opened his mouth to say something but Madison once again cut him off.
"Ok good. Have fun tonight and give me a call when it's over. I'll talk to you later Li. Bye!" With that, Madison turned and walked away. Li stood there with his mouth hung open and words still unable to form themselves. He turned and started walking back to his house. He needed to start getting ready for his date.

Li walked into the restaurant 10 minutes till 7 o'clock. Madison made him reservations already so he told the host his name and was seated quickly. Li ordered himself a glass of water while he waited. He nervously looked around the room and then down to his menu.
"Are you Li Sharon?" A soft voice asked. Li looked up to see a pair of green eyes staring at him. Li stood quickly.
"Uh yeah that's me. You must be Blaire's sister." Li said walking over to the other side of the table and pulling out her chair.
"Yeah, that's me." The girl said with a grin. Li's heart skipped a beat. "She looks like Sakura. There are a few differences but my god, she looks like Sakura." Li thought to himself. He quickly pushed the thought away and smiled.
"I got this for you. I was told that you liked yellow roses." Li said handing the girl a bouquet of yellow roses. The girl took the roses and blushed.
"Yeah, they have always been my favorite." The girl said trying to hide the blush that crept up her cheeks. Li smiled and looked down at the table. Once again a thought of Sakura made its way into Li's mind. Li once again pushed it away.
"So uh I'm sorry but I'm afraid I don't know your name." Li said with a flirtatious smile. The girl giggled and smelled the roses.
"I'm Corali Anderson." Li nodded and smiled. A waiter then came up with a menu for Corali.
"My name is Phillip and I will be your waiter for the evening." The waiter said in a French accent. Both Li and Corali said hello and looked at their menus. Once they knew what they wanted they ordered. The waiter took their menus and left.
"So uh Sak…I mean Corali. Tell me about yourself." Li stated quickly as the waiter returned to give Corali her drink. Corali looked at him for a minute in confusion but ended up smiling.
"Well I'm 16 years old, I got to a private school in Buffalo. I live with my dad in a little cottage. My mom and dad divorced when I was 10. Blaire and I see each other on weekends and some holidays. I'll be here all Christmas break actually." Corali said. She took a light sip of her water and then placed it back down on the table. Li nodded and then did the same. He really wasn't listening to her, which he felt bad for. He was more concentrating on mentally kicking himself for almost calling her Sakura.
"That's nice." Li said. Corali nodded but looked at him confusedly. Li saw this look and quickly smiled.
"Is there something wrong? You seem to be thinking of something else." Corali said. Li quickly shook his head and smiled.
"Nope, everything's great." Corali smiled and blushed again. There meal was then brought out to them and they started eating.
"How's your chicken fillet Sakura?" Li asked. Corali looked up from her plate and cleared her throat.
"My names Corali." Corali said a little offended. Li bit his bottom lip. He was mentally putting his foot into his mouth.
"I'm so sorry Corali." Li said. He then sat back from his plate and closed his eyes. "This was a mistake. I'm obviously not ready to date." Li thought to himself. He opened his eyes to see Corali looking at him with her arms crossed.
"Listen Corali, I thought I was ready to date but I don't think I am. I'm sorry to put you through this." He reached into his wallet and pulled out a 20-dollar bill and a few ones. He set the ones on the table and then stood up. Corali did the same. He then handed Corali the 20-dollar bill.
"Here take this. It should cover your ride home to Blaire's. I'm really terribly sorry for this Corali. It has nothing to do with you, I'm just not ready." Without another word, Li walked away from the table leaving Corali speechless. He paid the bill for the uneaten meal and walked out the door. Instead of calling a cab, Li started walking down the sidewalk and into the park. Snowflakes slowly started covering the ground and the trees. It was going to be Christmas in two weeks and Li was going to celebrate it alone, just like he always had.

Madison sat in her room watching a movie when her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID thinking it was Li but here it was Blaire.
"Hello?" Madison said sweetly. Her and Blaire had been friends for years, ever since they were in diapers.
"How in the hell can your dumb ass friend leave my sister at that restaurant?" Blaire said into the phone. Madison was shocked.
"He left her at the restaurant? Did Corali tell you what happened?" Madison asked. She heard Blaire sigh with frustration. In the back round, Madison could hear crying.Obviously it was Corali who was crying.
"Corali said it was going good until he started calling her Sakura. Who the hell is that? Anyways, he called her Sakura a few times and then got up telling Corali that he wasn't ready to date and left." Blaire said. Madison sighed. " So he wasn't ready to date. I should have known. I pushed this blind date on him and now…I got to get a hold of him." Madison thought ignoring Blaire's voice in the phone.
"I'm sorry Blaire that Li did that but I have to go and see if he's ok. I'll call you backtomorrow." Madison said. She heard Blaire snort rudely.
"See if Li's ok? My sister is the one crying her eyes out because the asshole left her. Whatever Madison, go see if Li's ok." And with that Blaire hung up. Normally Madison would have been outraged out the way Blaire was acting. But instead she quickly dialed Li's cell phone number and waited for it to start ringing.
"I hope he's ok." Madison said out loud as the first ring was heard.