Chapter 18: Figuring out, asking out

"So when are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

I looked up to meet Tomoyo's gaze. "What makes you think anything's wrong?"

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Well, you have been staring at that blank page for the past 10 minutes now. And you haven't told me what happened on your…erm…'friendly date' with Syaoran."

We were currently sitting in Tomoyo's room and doing our home-work, or trying to, in my case.

Tomoyo leaned forward and pressed on. "So did he kiss you?"

Jerked out of my thoughts, I asked "What?"

She smirked. "Kiss you as a 'good friend', I mean." She teased.

I looked away. "I don't know…"

She looked at me oddly. "You don't know if he kissed you? What's that supposed to mean?"

"No, I mean- I don't know if we're just 'good friends' any more."

She raised her eyebrows at my remark. Then coming to my side, she grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. "Sakura, you've finally figured it out! That too without my help!" Her voice almost seemed proud. "Oh Sakura, you've finally finally grown out of your clueless self!" And saying that she enclosed me in a tight hug.

I winced and broke free. "Umm…I'm not sure. When I told Syaoran, he didn't-"

"WHAT? You told Syaoran what?" Tomoyo interrupted.

I bit my lip. "That we're just good friends…" I replied in a small voice.

Tomoyo face-palmed. "I take it back. You're as clueless as EVER!" She shook me by the shoulder. "You told Syaoran! And what did he say?"

"Erm…he didn't say anything. But umm…he did seem a bit sad…"

She shook her head. "A bit sad? Sakura, you broke his heart!"

"Broke-his-what?" I looked at her incredulously.

"Sakura, he has never shown this much interest in any other girl. I'm sure he thinks of you as more than a 'good friend'."

"But he never said…"

Tomoyo sighed exasperatedly. "He kissed you, didn't he?"

"Yes, but…"

"Do you want Syaoran only as a good friend?"

I shook my head, feeling very depressed for some reason. "No. I like him, a lot. But…I wasn't sure what he thought…"

"Sakura, please- you aren't still taking Meiling's statement about him pitying you seriously, are you?"

"No…"

"Then you better clear things up with him and make up for what you said."

"How?"

She remained thoughtful for a moment, and suddenly stood up. "I know! Take him out for dinner."

"What? Me?"

"Yes, you. You haven't spent all your pocket-money, have you?"

"No…"

"Good, then. You don't have to go to any fancy restaurant. The one down the street will be good enough." Her eyes were bright. "And during dinner, you can clear up all misunderstandings."

I pondered over her absurd idea. "I don't know…" I said unsure. "Isn't the guy supposed to be taking the girl out for dinner and not the other way round?"

"Oh, don't be so boring." Tomoyo waved her hand dismissively. "There's nothing wrong in the girl asking the guy out. And anyway, Syaoran has been so nice to you all this time. And you just had to ruin everything with your stupid 'just good friends' thing. It would only be fair for you to do something nice for a change. Now go call him."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"But…"

"And ask him if he's free on Saturday evening."

"Saturday? As in tomorrow?"

"Yes."

Sitting on the sofa in the living room, I hesitantly punched the number on the phone and gulped as I heard the ringing tone on the other side.

"Good evening. You've reached the Li residence. Who do you wish to speak to?" came a female voice, which I guessed as Xiefa's.

"Umm…I…er- is Syaoran there?"

There was a pause. "You wish to speak to Xiao Lang?" she asked.

"Yes…"

"May I now who this is?"

"Sakura…Kinomoto. I'm your neighbour. Last month we met at the-"

"Dinner. Yes, yes, I remember." There was another pause. "Well, hold on. I'll call him."

The sound of the receiver being kept on a table and talking female voices followed. I waited, feeling extremely nervous. A click later, Syaoran's voice drifted in. "Hello? Ying Fa?"

"Yes." I swallowed. "Uh- hi. I…um…just called to ask you if you're…er…free tomorrow evening."

"Well, yeah. Why?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go for dinner with me."

He chuckled. "So you are going to take me out for dinner." There was a hint of incredulity in his voice.

"Uh-huh."

"You're serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" You treated me to lunch today, didn't you? It would only be fair."

He was silent. "Okay…where are you planning to go?"

"You know the little restaurant down the street. The food there's really good."

"And when should I pick you up?"

I thought for a moment. "You don't have to pick me up. Just meet me at the restaurant at 7."

"Oh- okay." He was silent again. "So this is just a friendly date, hmm?"

Before I could answer, the conversation was interrupted by a giggle. "Of course Xiao Lang, you and Ying Fa are just going on a friendly date." Came a voice, which I recognised as Fei-Mei's. Syaoran groaned.

"Oh yes, little brother. You don't think we could help listening?" This time it was Fan-Ren, and I idly wondered just how many phone extensions they had in the Li mansion.

"Really, Xiao Lang. How can any guy be so shy? Aren't you ashamed at making the girl ask you out?" More giggling, and an indignant sigh which probably came from Syaoran.

"I'll see you later, Sakura." He said quickly.

"Yeah, we'll see you later too, Ying Fa." Giggles followed.

I quickly hung up and tried to force my blush down. That hadn't gone as I had wanted it to. Teasing from Syaoran's sisters aside, I had only managed to worsen the 'good friends' fiasco. And what exactly had those sisters meant when they said "we'll see you later too"? I imagined various scenarios in which, during the dinner Tomoyo would pop up from behind a chair, yielding a camera. Or Fan-Ren and Fei-Mei sitting close-by, watching us, squealing and giggling at every opportunity.

This was a disaster waiting to happen.

As I walked back to my room, engrossed in my thoughts, I didn't notice Meiling's glances as I went past her.