Hi again! I'm back and delivering Chapter 2!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.
Chapter Two: The Help
"Dude, when is she gonna get better?" Meiling said as she and Tomoyo walked down the hallway, away from Sakura's room. A boy about Sakura's age slipped into her room after making sure nobody was watching him. All of a sudden he heard a voice so he hid behind a changing fold. He peeked out to see who was there. It was Syaoran. The boy started to feel nervous. Syaoran got up and walked towards the doorway. He stopped suddenly and looked towards the changing fold.
"Is somebody there that would like to come out?" Syaoran said threateningly. The boy slid out slowly and kept his eyes to the floor. "What were you doing in here?" he asked.
"Well… I was… I-I was… um… here to see the new girl!" the boy said, stumbling over his words. He grinned sheepishly and Syaoran grabbed the back of his shirt. He dumped him outside of the doorway.
"Now, if I see you down here again I will personally boot your butt outta here for good. Understand?" Syaoran asked. The boy nodded vigorously and dashed away.
"Li-kun?" a small voice was barely heard from inside the room. Syaoran opened the door and walked back in. Sakura was trying to sit up without much success.
"Lay down. You shouldn't be up yet or Meiling would kill me," he commanded in a soft voice.
"How long have I been out?" she asked.
"Well you went out…"
"Friday night," she finished.
"And now it's Sunday morning," he informed her.
"Oh shit! What about Hikaru? She'll have the police after me!" Sakura said loudly as she shot out of the bed. She blushed as she realized that she was only in her undergarments and she bunched the sheets up against her body.
Syaoran chuckled softly and said, "Your stuff is on the chair. Meiling will take you home later but she will want to spoil you first. I'm warning you, be prepared for anything," he said as he started to leave.
"Hey, Li-kun," Sakura said as she turned to the chair to get her clothes. He turned back to face her. "Thanks for staying with me," she smiled. He blushed, nodded his head, and continued on out the door.
"No problem, Kinomoto," he replied. She dropped the sheets from around her after he closed the door and pulled on the clothes that were laying out for her. It was a new green tank top in a different design and a short lighter green mini-skirt that came down to her mid thigh. She combed her fingers through her long hair and walked out the door after slipping into the green flip-flops laid out for her as well. Doorways lined most of the hallways. She didn't feel as lost as she should have for her first time. She walked to the end of the corridor and made a right turn. She ended up in a common room where about 20 people were situated around. Most of the guys were watching football and the rest of the people were either talking or making out.
She walked out a glass door to a large pool. Some people were swimming in the pool and other people were just lying out in chairs around it.
"Sakura!" she heard someone squeal from across the pool. Tomoyo, Eriol, Syaoran, and Meiling were seated on the edge of the pool. Sakura walked to them and plopped down by Meiling. "I'm glad you're awake," Tomoyo said excitedly. Sakura smiled and slipped off her flip-flops. She dipped her bare feet into the cool water like Tomoyo was doing.
"So do you want to go shopping with us?" Meiling asked.
"I'd love to but I really have to be getting home. My step-mom, Hikaru, will kill me if I don't get home soon," Sakura admitted.
"Oh, one more day won't kill her! Come on!" Meiling said with a wink as she grabbed Sakura's arm. Sakura looked over at Syaoran and he shrugged.
"Alright. I'll go."
"YAY!" Meiling and Tomoyo squealed at the same time. They dragged Sakura to the massive parking garage and jumped into a red jeep.
"Don't be back too late, girls!" Eriol said as the drove off.
"Why do you even bother? They totally didn't listen," Syaoran said as he walked over to Eriol.
"Yah, but I try anyways," Eriol said as he grinned. Syaoran rolled his eyes.
"Ok, you so get that one!" Meiling squealed as Sakura modeled clothes for them. "Ok, we're done here, but… oh… look at these!" Meiling said as she led them to the jewelry case. The girl picked out three bracelets that matched. Sakura got a star, Tomoyo got a moon, and Meiling got a sun. They took their stuff up to the front and paid for it all, then walked out wearing their new bracelets.
"Man, Meiling! You shop hard, girl! Shopping with you could be an initiation!" Tomoyo kidded. Meiling giggled.
"What's an initiation?" Sakura poked herself into the conversation. Tomoyo and Meiling looked at each other.
"It's a test you have to pass to get into our gang. I don't know if Futoji's letting you in free of initiation or not. Anyways, for girls it's either you have to fight the strongest girl in the gang and win or you have to sleep with one of the guys," Meiling said.
"And sleeping with one of the guys doesn't mean you're going to be catching any 'z's either," Tomoyo said. Sakura gasped in horror.
"But you don't want to fight the girl. She's really good," Meiling said quickly.
"I have to sleep with one of them?" Sakura gulped.
"The guys ask for the girls usually. But only sometimes does Futoji offer the girls to one of them. You were a special case, Sakura. He offered you to Syaoran. So I would take Meiling's advice. Rather become a woman than die a girl," Tomoyo added. "But on a happier note, the girls went over to your house and got your stuff while your mom was out. So now you can stay over here again and we can take you to school in the morning!" she said excitedly. Sakura smiled a sad smile at her.
"Hikaru's not my mother. Nadeshiko was. But she died and dad married Hikaru. Then he died so now I'm stuck with her," Sakura said sadly. "And I have to get back home anyways. Hikaru might kill every person in sight so she could find me again. I'm her 'bank'," Sakura said. The girls nodded even though they didn't understand. "Just keep my stuff. Just in case?" Sakura asked. They agreed and started off towards Sakura's house.
The ride back to her house was very quiet. "Hey if you need any help you still have that phone right? Syaoran is speed dial '1' and I am speed '2'. Call whenever you want. We're always available for you!" Meiling said and winked as Sakura got out of the car.
Sakura said thank you and goodbye to her new friends and she walked up the long path to her house. She looked at the police cars around her house and rolled her eyes. "Hikaru really needs to calm down," she muttered to herself as she reached the door to her mansion.
She walked inside and was greeted by a huge hug from her step-mother. "Sakura we were all worried about you! Are you ok, child?" Hikaru said checking all over her 'precious step-daughter'.
"I'm fine, Hikaru," she muttered from underneath her step-mother.
"Darling, I really wish you would call me mother, now. It's been too long with this 'Hikaru' thing. It would make me happy," she said. Sakura nodded slightly. Then she headed upstairs and plopped down on her bed. She looked at the time and noticed that it was only 8 o'clock. She got up and headed downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat. Hikaru was talking with a policeman and three people were on the couch in the living room watching television. The three people just happened to be Akito and his family flipping through the channels like they owned the place.
"Sakura, come here for a second," Hikaru said as the spiteful tone crept back into her voice. Sakura obeyed. She always thought highly of her father but she didn't see how he couldn't see through that angelic border; down to the sneaky devil inside.
"Now, could you please explain where you were this weekend?" she ordered. The officer wasn't even really paying attention to Sakura. He kept sneaking side glances at Hikaru.
Sakura nodded. "I went out with some friends and I got hurt so they took me to their house and helped me," she explained. She purposefully left out the part about the shopping, the club, and the gang. Hikaru seemed to buy it and went to talk to Mrs. Himitsu. Sakura started back up the stairs with her food and went into her room. She slowly ate while she read her book. Finally she closed the book and lay down. She closed her eyes and hoped sleep would come quickly. Two amber eyes circled in her vision as her mind drifted into unconsciousness.