Transformations
Chapter 9: The Day before…
Authoresses Note: Sooooo sorry! Yeah, I said I was gonna update soon, but I didn't…oops. I've been sooo busy and tired lately. But now we have mid-winter recess! Finally, no school! Now, getting to the story…
DISCLAIMER: yea, I don't own any of the characters, they're CLAMP's. I only own the made up ones, Jenny, Brendan and…I think that's all.
"Sakura?" Syaoran's voice faintly asked, watching his friend as she swung back and forth on the swing set of the penguin park. Her feet lazily dragged after her, leaving lines indented in the soil under her. Her face tilted up slightly, she stared pointlessly past the sandbox, past the monkey-bars, past the trees to nowhere in particular. Her eyes barely held themselves open, and her mouth hung open slightly. After a moment she shook her head and sat up straight. She brushed some of her auburn bangs out of her eyes and turned to Syaoran, sitting on the swing next to her. "Huh?"
"You seem," Syaoran searched for the right words, "tired,"
Sakura laughed halfheartedly, "Ahahah, nah, not me. I'm not…tired," she replied uselessly. "I'm just thinking about…graduation," she added. "It's getting close."
"Yeah, it is," Syaoran dully agreed. The two sat side by side in silence, Syaoran looking down at the soil as if it would give him a script to say, and Sakura looking upward, at nothing.
"Sooo…" Syaoran started again. "Jenny finish her speech?"
Sakura nodded and tried to look more awake, "Yeah, she finished it yesterday. She told it to me. It sounded really good," she truthfully answered.
Syaoran smiled, "That's good." He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out his pocket watch, his gift from Sakura. "Oh, it's already 5," he said, trying to make it sound like time had gone by fast.
"Really?" Sakura added catching on, "Well that was quick. I'm gonna go back home. I'm cooking dinner tonight," she added, this time truthfully. Sakura rose from the swing and shrugged her backpack on.
Syaoran nodded and also got up, "Mind if I come too?" he bravely asked. He smiled at Sakura when she nodded.
"Okay," she agreed. They two walked in silence on the way to her house, but at least it wasn't an awkward one. Finally they stopped in front of the cozy yellow painted house, Sakura's.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," Syaoran waved to Sakura and turned to leave.
Sakura turned the doorknob, "Uh, wait Syaoran. Do you wanna stay for dinner?" She grinned, "From what I know about you, you're alone way too much,"
Syaoran ran his hand through his hair, and then nodded, "Yeah, I guess I do, huh?" he admitted and joined Sakura.
"Uh, I still have to make the dinner," Sakura remembered densely. At least she seemed more like herself. "You can just stay in the living room and watch TV or something,"
"Nah, it's okay. I'll help you," Syaoran smirked and added, "besides, I can't trust your cooking,"
Sakura glared at him, "You're lucky Toya's not here, or else you'd be dead." She joked, leading Syaoran into the kitchen.
"Ooh, so you have to call your big brother to beat me up?" Syaoran went on with the teasing.
Sakura took out a pot and a pan, "No, I was just thinking about using him for an example of what I can do," she joked, and pointed at her pan.
Syaoran sweatdropped, "okay then," he laughed. "So what are we making?"
"Spaghetti!" Sakura cheered, selecting two packets of spaghetti noodles from a cabinet. She tossed one to Syaoran. "You can handle that, right?"
"Sure," Syaoran said and turned on the sink to wash his hands. Sakura quickly laid out some cans of tomato sauce and ground meat on the counter, directing Syaoran to add the oregano, garlic powder and dry parsley. Syaoran neatly accomplished the steps, just adding a bit of the garlic powder to Sakura's hair.
"Hey!" Sakura squealed and brushed her hair. Then she inched closer to him, "Then you get dry parsley!"
Syaoran's hair was also sprinkled with the green flecks of parsley. "No fair," he mumbled.
"What? You look good with green," Sakura smiled, now covering the pot with some oil. Next she placed the meat in it, using her spatula to flip it over every once in a while.
Syaoran brushed some of his bangs out of his eyes, "Yeah, but I have to walk home like this," he commented.
"Yays, what fun," Sakura joked, still watching the meat. "You pour the oil out," she added, stepping back.
Syaoran nodded and drained it out into the sink. Next was the tomato sauce. They each poured in a can, and Sakura added oregano leaves…to both the pot and Syaoran.
Finally they had successfully prepared the meat and noodles. All there was to do was waiting. "Oh yeah, Syaoran you wanted to borrow that CD?" Sakura remembered. She hopped up the stairs, retrieving it from her room. Sakura shuffled through her desk, somewhere on the bottom draw…as she pulled objects out, she found something…it had been from Brendan. Sakura turned over the bracelet she held in her hand, examining the pink and blue beads that made it up. She wanted it to put it on so bad, wanted to put it on a call herself his girlfriend. She gazed at the bracelet with awe, but shook it off when she continued searching, finding her CD at the bottom of her draw. Strangely though, as Sakura headed back down the stairs, she racked her mind, trying to find something. What had she seen in Brendan that made her like him so much anyway? She puzzled on her memories of him all through dinner.
~~~~~ Next day (day before graduation ^_~) ~~~~~
"It's tomorrow!" Meilin cheered excitedly, pushing past Syaoran, and jumping onto the couch in his living room.
Syaoran nodded in monotone, following after her. "Uh, thanks for the warning," he said sarcastically.
"Sorry, I'm just sooo excited!" Meilin squealed as she bounced on the squishy green cushions. "Graduation's tomorrow!"
Syaoran shrugged, failing to see what the big deal was. "And then we never see anyone again," he remarked. Leaning against the wall, he folded his arms.
"Nooo. Reunions, duh," Meilin countered. "But…" she changed the subject, "It's still exciting, right? Any Jenny's doing her big Valedictorian speech," she added. "I can't wait to hear that." She got up from the couch again, now heading towards the kitchen. "Here, I'll cook dinner tonight," she decided, leaving Syaoran.
Syaoran raised his eyebrow at his cousin, although she was out of site. He wasn't exactly looking forward to tomorrow. Sakura hadn't been quite herself lately. Every once in a while she seemed to just zone out. Sure she could be dense at times…really dense. But she never just drifted off. But maybe he was just imagining it. The other half of the time, Sakura was full alert a cheery, as always. Still, Syaoran shook her off his mind again, and flopped down on the couch. Might as well take advantage of his time, since Meilin would be doing the cooking. He flipped through countless TV channels, finally settling on an episode of Survivor.
In the kitchen, Meilin chopped some vegetables, while talking on the phone with Jenny. "You added something?" she asked, referring to her speech.
"Yup, but I'm saving it for tomorrow," Jenny informed her. "You looking forward to graduation?"
"Yeah, it can't wait! Soon I'll be on my way…"
"To where?"
"I dunno. Anywhere. Maybe me and Syaoran will team up and do a martial arts act," Meilin suggested, although it was hard to imagine him agreeing with her.
"Yeah, graduation's sooo close though...but I can't wait!" Jenny said, and then added, "So what's Syaoran doing after this? Going to college I'm guessing?"
~~~~~ Graduation Day ~~~~~
The graduation was scheduled to start at twelve, but people were already showing up an hour earlier. The sun was already out fully, and it blared in Sakura's eyes as she walked from her house to the large school fields where the ceremony was being held. The air seemed thick, and clouds were rare in the sky….lets just say they didn't have to worry about rain. The only thing Sakura was feeling thankful about was that they weren't having the graduation indoors. There was no air conditioning in the auditorium. She bit her lip, remembering her elementary school graduation, cramped in the crowded space while everyone got diplomas and cheered. Scattered through the crowds of people getting towards their seats were familiar colors, navy blue and gold, the school colors. (My school colors too…go 51!) Sakura strummed her fingers on the flat surface of her graduation cap, looking around for her friends. Fujitaka and Toya had already gone to get their seats, and Sakura was looking for where they had to go…so much for the help of graduation practice. She was never good at these kinds of instructions…
"Hey Sakura!" a voice called from her side.
Sakura waved at Jenny, "uh…where are we supposed to go?"
Jenny pointed her cap to their right, "This way. Yeah, we figured you'd probably get lost," she sweatdropped. Leading Sakura through the crowd, they finally arrived in a group where all the students were getting lined up.
"Eheheh…"Sakura grinned, knowing that was true.
"Ahem," a loud voice called above all students, "We're going to take attendance, and then the teachers will arrange you in your alphabetical order," the person called again.
For the next few minutes the students raised their hands shouting "here," and then shuffled around getting in their line order. Finally it seemed organized, and it was twelve. Sakura looked around, although she already knew who was before and after her, again because of graduation practice. A two people ahead of her were Jenny, and two behind her was Meilin, then Syaoran. Really, a pretty nice place to be, sandwiched between friends. (-_-;;)
"You ready Sakura?" Jenny called from behind her. She waved happily.
Sakura grinned, "Yup, I'm ready," she gave her a thumbs up sign. "And you with your speech?"
"Yeah, it's all good," Jenny assured her. She pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket, smoothing it over with her fingers. She was ready. Besides, she had brought good luck, the little stuffed animal bunny Syaoran had given her. (from chapter…4 ^_^)
Finally the students were marched out to the ceremony, and were seated. There were lectures from some people no one knew, and then the school chorus sang. Tomoyo was in the chorus. After that though, more people talked…the principal, vise-principal, guidance counselor. Now it was time for the Valedictorian's Speech.
"Here's our Valedictorian, Jenny Kep," (sorry…cheesy last name…I made it up…is it a real name?"
Loud clapping started as Jenny rose from her seat, smiling faintly. She quickly got to the stage platform in the front, unfolding her speech. This is it. Make it count. Wiping the golden colored tassel out of her eyes, Jenny began…
Authoresses Note: Hehe! Now I have to write her speech for next chapter! Heh, give the credit to me then ^_~…but it might stink _-_ so now Jenny's gonna apologize to Syaoran, publicly! What will Syaoran say, since he likes Sakura!!! Bwahahahaha! Reviews muy bien! Yeah, random words comin out…oh yeah, and next chapter is not going to be the last chapter or anything. Nowhere near. It's gonna start going into the summer. ^___^