I folded the green dress that I had worn to the dinner while staring at Tomoyo who was now rolling on the bed, helpless with laughter. Maybe I shouldn't have told her about my first 'meeting' with Syaoran.
"Stuff-stuffed toys can get st-stuck-ha ha," she managed to say amid peals of laughter. "Oh god, Sakura. You are just too much!"
No. I definitely shouldn't have told her. But she had been so insistent on the subject that I couldn't help it. I folded my arms and frowned at my sister. "Are you done with your laughter yet?"
She finally managed to control herself and sat up on the bed, looking at me carefully. "So, exactly what is going on between the two of you?"
"Nothing."
Tomoyo raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked, sceptically.
I sighed. "Tomoyo, it's hardly been three days since I even saw him for the first time."
"Three days is about 72 hours. A lot can happen in that much time."
"Ok. The only thing that happened was that he learnt my name and then decided that he preferred to call me in Chinese." I said while thrusting the dress into Tomoyo's hand.
She looked at me thoughtfully. "Ying Fa, huh? What is it supposed to mean?"
"I'm guessing it's my name in Chinese."
"How can you be so sure? He could be calling you a carrot for all you know." She ducked under a pillow that I sent flying towards her.
She remained silent for a while. "You like him, don't you?"
I shook my head in indignation. "How many times do we have to go over this, Tomoyo? I don't like Syaoran."
"Who said anything about Syaoran?" She smirked.
I blinked & stared at her. I remembered the protective urge I had felt towards Syaoran during dinner, and then the want to slap Meiling when she had carried out her little 'plan'.
Had I fallen for him that fast? Maybe it was just a crush or infatuation. It was hard not to develop feelings for Li Syaoran.
A knock on the door of my room jerked me out my thoughts. I opened it to find a very angry, scowling Meiling, who I observed had changed back to her own clothes.
"Hey there, Ying Fa."
"Um...hi Meiling." I said, meekly.
"...and here I was wondering why you were so keen to remain in the library when you don't even read!"
"Umm-I-er..."
"So, what did you do, huh? Turn on your hidden charms? Presented him with some ragged old stuffed toy? God knows what he saw in you that he doesn't see in me."
"Self restraint" said Tomoyo, who had till now been watching this very much one-sided argument, as if really enjoying herself.
Meiling stared at her. "Self restraint? What self restraint? If there's someone who doesn't have self restraint it's her." She retorted pointing at me. "She knew that I was interested in Syaoran. But she just had to butt in and put the moves on him before I even had a chance to!"
"Oh, you got plenty of chances Meiling, and you used them to your best. It was just that the results were not-well-satisfactory enough for you."
I looked at Tomoyo gratefully. For the majority of the conversation, I had been cowering from Meiling, trying hard to get my vocal chords to function. But now Tomoyo seemed to be dealing with Meiling's outburst quite effectively. She was now reduced to opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish, not knowing what to say.
"And if I remember well," Tomoyo continued. "you already have a boyfriend. It's time you let Sakura have one for herself."
Meiling's eyes travelled from Tomoyo to me, and then narrowed. "Oh I see," she finally said. "Fine then. I'll let Sakura have her chance as well. But that does NOT mean that I'm giving up."
She walked up to me and brought her face close, so much so that her nose was merely an inch apart from mine. "I. Declare. War. And may the best girl get the guy." I visibly gulped.
"You may have got a one up over me Sakura, but I'm still very much in the game." She said before walking out of the room and shutting the door with a bang.
"Oh my! It's a catfight between the Plain Jane and Miss Popular for the hot guy!" Tomoyo exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. "This is going to be so much fun!"
I stared at my sister helplessly and gulped again. What had I gotten myself into?