Transformations
Chapter 8: The Turning tables
Authoresses Note: Whew…finally got a motive to write…was stuck on this for a while and didn't know what to write…but it didn't help that my Mom limited the time I have on the computer…now I really only have weekends to write a lot. So don't be surprised if it takes a while for the next chapter to come out. And I'm going on vacation for winter break, so the next time I write won't be for a few weeks…anyways, here's chapter 8!
DISCLAIMER: Heh, just one more interruption. I do NOT own CCS or any of the characters from it, 'cause I'm NOT part of CLAMP. See, dreams are different than reality. In reality I only own the characters I made up in my head, which are Jenny and Brendan…that's all.
"Okies, so we'll join up with you guys later," Sakura explained to her friends as their group left the school building. They nodded in agreement before watching Sakura and Jenny disappear into the waves of students flowing out of the building, and started towards the local ice cream place, before it got too crowded with other students cooling themselves off from the summer heat.
Sakura weaved quickly past her classmates, Jenny right behind her, until they were pretty much away from the crowd. "Thanks for coming with me to get the presents," Sakura said.
Jenny nodded, and made a small smile, "That's okay. It's nice of you to get things for everyone."
"Yup," Sakura chirped happily. She grinned, but after that remained silent, like Jenny. Luckily it was only a short walk to Sakura's house, so the quiet wasn't long. Sakura opened the door inside, and quickly retrieved a few small bags tied in ribbons. She put them in a plastic bag before leaving again; counting to make sure they were all there. "This one's yours," she told Jenny, offering a light orange bag.
Jenny nodded and accepted it, "Thanks Sakura. Hehe, can I open it?" she asked, feeling a little better.
"Yup, sure," Sakura answered and waited for Jenny to unwrap the gift. After that she would try to talk to Jenny about Syaoran.
Jenny carefully slipped the ribbon off the bag, unfolding the wrapping tissue in the bag. It revealed a two shiny hairclips in the shape of leaves, reflecting light shades of orange. "Oh, thanks Sakura! These are so cute!"
Sakura grinned, happy that she liked them. Watching as Jenny placed them in her long dark hair to keep strands of hair out of her face, she finally spoke. "So…why did you and Syaoran break up anyways? I mean, you don't have to tell me, but I was just kind of…"
"I know. It's okay that you're wondering. None of us really told anyone. But I guess you should know. I mean, you're friends with both Syaoran and me, so it's hard." Jenny said, almost in a whisper.
Sakura looked ahead at the sidewalk ahead of them, waiting for what Jenny might say.
Jenny cleared her throat and continued, but now her voice was a little louder, and she didn't seem as afraid to bring up the subject. "I kind of got mad at him…my head got the better of me. And I blamed him for something I wasn't even sure about. And now…I kind of regret it."
Sakura waited for a moment to see if Jenny would say more, but silence just filled in again. "Really? But does that mean you still like him?"
"I guess so."
"But I'm sure he still likes you too!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to convince Jenny. "I just do. You need to tell him!"
No, nothings for sure. How can you be so sure that Syaoran likes me? Jenny questioned, but only in her mind. "But I really hurt him…I didn't trust him, believe him.
"But—"Sakura tried to add, but was interrupted.
"Hey you guys! We're over here!" Tomoyo's light voice called from where she stood outside the ice cream shop. In one hand she held a vanilla waffle cone for herself, and in the other she held out a strawberry ice cream cone decorated with a few rainbow sprinkles for Sakura. "This one's yours,"
Sakura closed her mouth again and took the ice cream, dropping the subject for a while. "Thanks. What happened, already full?" she guessed, nodding towards the ice cream shop.
The door opened, spreading the noise from inside out onto the sidewalk too, giving Sakura her answer. "Yup we can just go to the park instead. And Jenny, Meilin has your ice cream,"
~~~~~ The park ~~~~~
Settling by a small water fountain nearby the penguin playground, the group of friends chatted happily. "So what're you guys gonna do for graduation? It's after tomorrow," Tomoyo asked, dabbing napkin over her mouth after taking a lick off her cone.
For a second, things were quiet as everyone remembered that in two days their high school career would be gone. But it was shaken off, and conversation broke out once again.
"I wanna pull a stunt off…maybe get some water balloons…"
"Yamazaki! Don't you dare! This is our graduation, and you can't do that,"
"Hehe, yes I can!"
"No."
"Yes, and there's a story I've heard that water balloons…"
Syaoran grinned, amused at the couple's joke. Chiharu and Yamazaki, they could trust eachother, unlike what happened with Jenny. I wasn't worthy of her trust, he thought sadly, but forgot once again, hearing laughing coming from his left.
"You're sooo funny Brendan!" a pretty girl giggled, rocking back and forth, hands resting on her heart as if it was about to leap out from her uncontrolled laughter. As she swayed, her wavy brown hair swung around her, carefully resting back just above her elbow when her laughing finally subsided. Taking a seat next to Brendan, she smiled sweetly at him. "So what happened then?"
Brendan shifted away for a moment when the girl first leaned toward him. Running his hand through his messy brown bangs, he continued, "Well Ruri, if I remember right, after that…"
Syaoran turned his attention away from the two and joined his friends, Eriol, Yamazaki, and Fred. "Hey, what's up?"
Eriol nodded towards Yamazaki, who was inching close to the bags Sakura had brought. "He can't wait to see what's there,"
Yamazaki stepped closer to where Sakura, Tomoyo, and Jenny were, trying to sneak a glimpse at the gifts.
"Hey, Yamazaki!"
Chiharu placed her hand on her waist in a demanding manner, pointing a finger towards the bag Yamazaki held. "Give it here."
Yamazaki handed it over in failure to avoid boredom.
"Sakura, is this breakable?" Chiharu simply asked, waving the bag.
Sakura shook her head, watching what Chiharu wanted.
"Bad, bad, bad!" Chiharu scolded, whacking Yamazaki on the head with the bag. She seemed like a mother disciplining their child.
"Err…lucky thing that was only a stuffed animal," Sakura sweatdropped as she was handed the bag back from her friend once she was finished. "Oh yeah, but I should give these out now," Sakura reminded herself and passed the gifts out to their assorted owners. With only two left, Sakura approached Brendan. "Here you go Bren!"
Brendan jerked his attention away from the girl he had been talking to, Ruri, and smiled. "Huh? Oh thanks Kura," he added quickly. "You know Ruri, right?" he asked Sakura.
"Yeah, I've seen you around school sometimes. And you work at the Chinese food place, right?" Sakura recalled the time she had first been introduced to her.
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
"I'd like the sesame chicken," Sakura finished telling the girl behind the counter who was taking her order. The girl looked no older that her, and she wouldn't be surprised if she went to the same school as them.
"Uh-hmm, and in total, that will be…$12.50," the girl mumbled, calculating the prices in her head. She brushed her long brown hair out of her eyes, giving the two a pearly white smile before disappearing to the kitchen for a moment.
"Uh, Sakura, you go get a table, and I'll pay," Brendan told Sakura, ushering her away. "My treat," he explained, winking at her.
Sakura nodded and obediently sat down by the window, playing with the crumply white napkins from the dispenser. Behind her at the counter, Brendan had started to talk with the girl as he waited for the food.
"Hey, have I seen you around school before? What's your name?"
The girl, brushing away her hair again, looked up at him, "Hmm? Ruri. What's yours?"
So Brendan and Ruri had a nice short conversation, while waiting for the food. Interrupting them though, was a call from the kitchen.
"Hey, the foods ready,"
Britney narrowed her eyes in disappointment, but walked back to the kitchen and returned with the food.
"Oh, the food ready?" Sakura asked, joining the two, offering to take the bag.
"Yeah, and Kura, doesn't she look familiar? She goes to school with us, just in a different class," Brendan explained while they got ready to leave.
"Really? Nice to meet you…"
"Ruri," the girl added, introducing herself. She smiled again.
"Oh, nice to meet you Ruri. Well I guess I'll see you in school or something," Sakura said and waved goodbye as they left.
~~~~~End~~~~~
"Yeah, that's Ruri," he said, bringing his attention back to his and Ruri's conversation.
Sakura nodded and skipped over to Syaoran. She grinned simply and held out the last one for Syaoran. "Here ya go,"
Syaoran was already watching her and nodded with acceptance, "Thanks Sakura. Err…can I call you Kura?"
Sakura turned on the heel of her shoe, but looked back quickly, "Oh sure Syao," she added, using his nickname. She had heard Jenny say it one time, and it seemed to have a nice ring to it. Smiling, she decided to sit with him, waiting for him to open his bag.
Syaoran flushed a tint of scarlet for a pure second, but slowly untied the green ribbon tying the bag, and took out a small pocket watch. The cover was made of a deep brown wood, and engraved on it was a design or a wolf. Bordering around the wolf, close to the outside of the watch cover were little carved leaves and vines.
Sakura grinned, watching Syaoran trace his fingers over the vines. "Yup, and it can tell time too," she joked, amused at how much he liked the gift. "And seeing that smile just now will be enough payback for all my help," she decided, a small smirk spreading. She patted him on the head before standing up again and skipped back to Jenny, leaving Syaoran with a smile just as well. He looked back down at the beautiful watch, fingering the designs.
"Sakura, what'd you think I should I should about graduation? My speech still sounds kinda formal, doesn't it?" Jenny brought up when Sakura joined her again. She twirled a pen in between her index fingers, creating the affect of an orange swirl in her hand. Her eyes flashed back and forth across the paper in her lap, scanning it for errors. She was voted as class representative to speak at the graduation, and had focused intently on it the last few days.
Sakura pursed her lips, sitting down. "Jenny its fine. And besides, I've must have seen you rewriting drafts a dozen times!" Seeing Jenny's look of persistence, Sakura finally nodded and took the wrinkled looseleaf from her friend's extended hand. Tucking some of her short auburn hair behind her ear to see better, Sakura started reading.
Jenny watched patiently, seeing what Sakura's reaction would be. It only took a moment before Sakura lifted her head and handed the papers back. "You finished it already? That means it shouldn't even be that short!" Jenny muttered, jumping to more things for fixing.
"You read it," Sakura replied simply. "Your handwriting is completely illegible."
Jenny raised her eyebrow slightly, knowing her handwriting was fine. Without putting up an argument she brought the speech closer, getting ready to read. She glanced over the paper at Sakura for a second, getting ready to start.
"Yes, your handwriting is a type of crossbreed between chicken scratch and kindergarten," she stated in a serious voice, but detecting humor.
"Good afternoon fellow classmates, parents, and staff. Today marks the end of our high school career, but only in writing……" Jenny began to read, carefully letting the words flow at a steady pace.
Sakura listened to the words carefully, letting her mind take it in. Finally, Jenny slowed down, coming towards the end of her speech.
"So today, I wish all the best for all of us, and cheers to us."
Sakura stretched her arms, and then cracked her fingers. "Sounds great Jenny! But to be honest, it doesn't sound like you put your heart into it. I mean, it doesn't have your voice,"
Jenny sighed, but looking up from her paper, she nodded, "Yeah, I guess. I'm just not feeling too excited about the speech anymore," she trailed off. Hugging her knees to her chest as if it was cold out, she stared at the dirt ground as if in deep interest.
"Jenny, are you okay? Are you…thinking of Syaoran?" Sakura whispered.
"Nah, why would I?" Jenny attempted to lie, but with great failure. "I guess."
"Listen, if you still like him, go tell him you're sorry for whatever you did. It must have been really stupid, but if I was him, I'd forgive you," Sakura laughed lightly. She grinned at Jenny, watching her friend pout.
"Wah, no fair. Well I guess…it couldn't hurt, right? I mean, I really am sorry." Jenny agreed and suddenly a new energy surged through. "Okies, I will Sakura! And I've got the best new idea for this speech!" Jenny waved her papers, before tearing them slowly down the middle. "I'm not gonna use this junky stuff,"
Sakura gaped at Jenny. "Err….eheheh, I didn't mean that you should destroy it so viciously…" she sweatdropped as she watched another rip in the paper appear. "But that's good…you seem better already,"
"Yup, I feel great. Oh, and can I call you tonight? Can you peer edit it for me, in a way?" Jenny asked eagerly, jumping up from her seat. She zippered her backpack and threw it over her shoulder. "Okay?"
"Sure, that's fine. You're leaving already?" Sakura asked, surprised how Jenny was really getting to work.
"Yeah, I've got a lot to change before graduation practice again tomorrow, where I actually have to read my speech. See ya," she waved goodbye to Sakura before leaving. She grinned, knowing her plan was perfect.
~~~~~ Later, Jenny's house ~~~~~
Crossing a thick black pen line through a sentence, Jenny whisked her pen behind her ear and reexamined her new draft. A moment later she scribbled another few sentences into the margin of the paper, which was already pretty full with revising. "This makes more sense," she muttered in satisfaction. She leaned forward, closer to her desk, and wrote a few more lines at the end of her papers. Rocking back again, she stretched her arms behind her, and yawned. The digital clock on the desk only read 7:00 pm. But still, she had worked on this draft for a few hours already. Finally she was satisfied with it. Much better. Picking up her phone, she dialed Sakura's number.
*Ring*
*Ring Ring*
"Moshi, Moshi, Sakura here,"
"Hi Sakura, its Jenny,"
"Oh, hey Jenny. You finish your draft?"
"Yup, is now a good time to read it to you?"
"Sure, the big tall monster who usually lurks around her left just a few minutes ago. I think he's going to raid some food with his friends," Sakura joked.
"You mean Touya?"
"Yup, who else would it be?" Sakura agreed, a tint of laughter in her voice. "Go ahead,"
"Okay, here goes…" Jenny trailed off, diving right into her speech. This time, the words seemed to flow better, both in her mind, and vocally. Like Sakura had explained earlier, her paper had lacked voice. Truthfully, once she read it over, it was just pure fluff. Now she knew it was great.
One Jenny said the last sentence, Sakura squealed, "That was great Jenny! I can't say there's anything you should change. Good job,"
"Hehe, thanks Sakura. I had lotsa help from you."
"Nah, I didn't do anything. Just got you a little more focused I guess,"
"Well anyways, thanks. I've gotta go, dinner's ready…finally. I'm getting soooo hungry from working! Taro roots would taste great right now," Jenny added a joke, knowing Sakura disliked those foods.
"Yuck…who wants those?" Sakura said, knowing Jenny didn't like them either. "Well go ahead, eat soon. We don't want you to starve,"
"Yeah, that shows how hungry I am! I'll see you tomorrow," Jenny said before hanging up. She smiled and looked over her draft proudly. But once again, she added one last surprise that she would save especially for graduation day. After that, she smiled again and left for dinner. The new revision was only another two sentences at the very end of the speech.
And still, I want to say one more thing for new beginnings. This is for a special someone: I'm so sorry for not trusting you; I made a bad decision. Can you forgive me, Syaoran Li?
~~~~~ School the next day ~~~~~
"Class, there's only a few days left in this school year, but that does not, I repeat does not give you the right to misbehave!" the homeroom teacher tried to tell her class, but failed once again. Deciding that this was the quietest they would be for a while, she pulled out a box from underneath her desk. "Ahem, this is your yearbook. I'll be passing them out now," she notified them dully before walking up and down each isle of the class, passing them out to the loud students.
Syaoran flipped through the pages, uninterested in the black and white photos. He hadn't been very popular during most of high-school, so it wasn't likely that he'd be in a lot of the pictures. But after a while, he started to notice something. He was in some of them. And almost all of them were with Sakura. Had they really spent so much time together? He didn't really blame Jenny for getting angry at him. Still flipping through the pages, the bell finally rang, dismissing them for lunch. Today he was eating with the guys. His new friends Eriol, Yamazaki, and Fred were with him as they headed to the lawns to get a table.
"Hey, look here's a picture of you with Sakura at prom," Eriol pointed out happily, and shoved the book into Syaoran's arms. He was pointing to a picture that took up most of the space on that page, and in the picture, Syaoran and Sakura were dancing. When he remembered her that night, she really was very pretty. Caught up in his own thoughts, he barely saw as Sakura pushed past him, without a smile. Instead she looked pretty sad.
"You okay Sakura?" he heard Tomoyo gently ask, patting Sakura's back as they passed.
Sakura sighed and managed to nod, although it didn't seem like she was telling the truth. "Yeah…um let's go sit by that tree before someone takes our spot," she pointed ahead, and smiled weakly. Pulling Tomoyo along with her, Sakura ran to the tree, where she dropped down against the tree trunk, before opening her lunch, looking fine again.
.
Syaoran watched her, completely puzzled. "What was that about?" he asked no one in particular and turned back to his friends who didn't seem to have noticed.
"Hmm?" Yamazaki asked through his mouthful of rice. "Wha us wut?"
"That," Syaoran gestured carefully toward the tree that Sakura and Tomoyo were eating at. "Sakura looked pretty sad just now,"
Grinning, Yamazaki got up from the bench, stomped one foot back on it, and leaned on it.
"Well to your left, you can see some odd sort of Columbus wannabee" Fred joked in a tour guide voice. The three friends turned to watch Yamazaki.
"So there's something you wanna know? Okay, I'll be right back!" he told them, anxious to get any sort of gossip or listen in on anything. Before Syaoran could protest, Yamazaki had left, who knows where.
A few minutes later, he was back again and simply stated, "Brendan dumped Sakura for some other girl named Ruri."
Authoresses Note: Wheewwww……that took a while. Well yeah, I've been lazy lately. And if anyone has any ideas for what might happen next, feel free to share. If you've read any of my other stories, sorry for only updating this! I started to write the next chapter to I'll Save Myself, but I didn't get to finish…I'll get there. -_-;;; It's coming…soon…I think.