(Author's Note: Thanks so much for reviewing (again). This is the chapter of the Hallowe'en dance. FYI, you people rock!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptors characters: CLAMP does. I own their personalities in this story and any other character that I make up.

Chapter 3

Sakura, Tomoyo, and their friends, Chiharu, Naoko, and Rika were sitting outside in the schoolyard. They were discussing the upcoming dance, and also complaining about how much homework they had to do. But they were mostly talking about the dance.

"Ooh, I'm excited! It's my first dance ever!" Sakura squealed, jumping up and down. She was dressed in the traditional vampire costume, complete with bloody fangs, a black suit, and a sweeping cape.

Everyone sweatdropped. Chiharu turned to her.

"Sakura-Chan, are you going to ask anyone to dance?" she asked, grinning. Chiharu was Dorothy of Oz, and her costume complimented her pigtails very well. All the girls giggled at her question.

"Hmm…well, I don't know. Are you going to ask Takashi-kun, Chiharu-chan?" Sakura retorted, smiling and showing her vampire teeth. Chiharu blushed. She quickly covered it up by scowling.

"NO! I'm not asking that no-good liar to dance!"

Everyone laughed. They all knew about Chiharu's stubbornness. Their laughter stopped as a voice came over the P.A.

"Everybody, please come to the gym now. The dance is about to begin." They all scrambled up off of the grass, brushed themselves off, and raced each other into the school. Sakura won, of course.

They stepped into the dark gym, where pop music was blaring loudly from the speakers.

Sakura looked around eagerly, but no one was dancing. She walked over to Tomoyo, puzzled.

"Why isn't anyone dancing?" she asked.

Tomoyo shrugged. "It's always like that. People socialize during the fast dances and everyone dances or laughs at people during the slow songs. Ooh, I love this song!" Tomoyo began to nod her head to the music.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, and quietly sauntered away. She headed for Chiharu and Takashi, who were having a heated argument about the history of dances. Sakura laughed at them and said,

"I dare you guys to dance at the next slow song!"

Chiharu inhaled sharply, then turned red. She sneaked a peek at Takashi. To her surprise, he was smiling. Her heart leapt…then plummeted as he said,

"Sakura-chan, did you know that in Swaziland they showed affection by drawing the finger across the throat, while in Western cultures, people showed affection by kisses and hugs? And here in Japan, ah…the great Japan, here we--gurgle"

Chiharu's strangling fingers around his throat cut him off.

"Takashi you liar! Stop it!" Sakura and Takashi were both laughing too hard to notice the sad look on Chiharu's face.

Why can't he just take something seriously for once? She wondered. I would…if Sakura-chan had asked me. But I suppose…if he did start doing that, I would lose my respect for him, maybe even stop liking him. No, that's the reason I like him; because he is who he is. No one else is like him, no one else can be like him.

"Chiharu-chan! Stop!"

"Whaaa?" Chiharu looked at Sakura, dimly aware of her friend staring at her and mouthing something. She looked at Takashi, bemused, and found that he had turned blue. She hadn't even realized she had still been strangling him. She gasped, then let go of him as if she had been burned.

"Takashi! I'm so sorry! Forgive me…I suddenly drifted off and I forgot that you were there…heh…" Chiharu smiled nervously.

Takashi got up off of the floor and started laughing, to her great relief.

"Chiharu-chan, you amuse me. I found out that I actually valued life very much while you had your hands around my neck trying to squeeze it out of me."

Chiharu sighed with relief. She had been sure that Takashi would have been angry with her. But then again, that was why she loved him. He never got angry.

Sakura was giggling. "Takashi-kun, do you realize that Chiharu-chan called you your name without the honorific? I thought only lovers did that…"

Chiharu went three shades pinker.

"Sakura-chan, if you say something like that again, I'll be sure it's you I strangle next time!" Then she smiled as Takashi laughed again.

Sakura grinned and waved goodbye to them. She wandered around a bit, watching the many groups of people talking and having a good time. Hmm, I wonder where Li-kun is. It's hard to imagine him dancing, or even coming to a dance. She left in search of Tomoyo, and found her staring blankly at one spot.

"Tomoyo-chan?"

"Hmm?" Tomoyo seemed to not have heard her best friend. Sakura followed her line of sight, and found herself looking at a tall, thin boy, who had his back turned to them. He was quite good-looking, actually, with his midnight-blue hair...and…glasses! Sakura raised her eyebrows and glanced quizzically at Tomoyo, who was still staring at him.

"'Moyo-chan, are you alright?"

"Eh?" Her eyes were still glazed…

"Tomoyo-chan?"

"Yes?" The boy had her undivided attention.

"Tomoyo-chan, look at me!"

"Huh?" Was that a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth?

"Tomoyo! Will you freaking stop staring at him and pay some attention to the little people down here?"…which caused many stares from her fellow students.

But it finally got Tomoyo's attention. "Oh! I'm so sorry Saku-chan! I didn't hear you…were you saying something?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You were staring at that guy over there, eh?"

Tomoyo blushed lightly. "Oh no," she said. "It's a new student, just transferred over from England. Terada-sensei was talking about him the other day, and I overheard. So I was just curious about who he was…"

"Whatever you say 'Moyo-chan, but I dare you to dance with him!"

"What! Oh, no you don't Saku!"

"Oh yes I do, 'Moyo!"

"Fine! If I do, then you have to dance with Li-kun."

"…" Sakura sweatdropped. "I'll pass, thanks."

"No problemo."

As they were arguing, a slow song started. Sakura and Tomoyo stopped talking, and decided to walk around and have a good look at everyone. They saw some people dancing closely together, obviously enjoying themselves, and others staying as far away from each other as they could without breaking contact. Sakura and Tomoyo had a good laugh at those couples. While they were trying to contain their mirth as they watched a particularly stubborn pair, someone spoke.

"Er…Daidouji-chan," a voice asked. They turned to see a boy with black hair and mischievous grey eyes.

"Yes?" replied Tomoyo.

"My name is Ryuri Hakigawa, and I want to ask you if you would like to dance."

Tomoyo was obviously taken aback, but she smiled sweetly and said,

"I'd love to Hakigawa-kun." She stepped up to him, and he stepped closer to her.

Sakura watched in fascination as her friend and this strange boy started swaying to the music. She grinned at Tomoyo, who grinned back, then left to look for her friend Naoko.

She found her outside the gym, buying a can of pop.

"Naoko-chan!" Sakura exclaimed happily. "How are you liking the dance so far?"

Naoko made a face and said, "It's quite boring, actually. I should have brought a book, then I wouldn't be stuck out here with nothing to do."

"Will you dance with anyone?"

Naoko looked at her, smiling.

"I don't know Sakura-chan, but I think you should dance with Li-kun." Sakura scoffed as she heard this.

"Sheesh, why is everyone saying that? I don't even like him."

"But you will! You will!" Naoko stated in a singsong voice, and led the way back into the gym. The slow song had ended and a fast one had come back on. Tomoyo joined them, and they stood around talking, then heard the DJ say,

"This will be the last song everyone. Grab somebody and dance the night away!"

Everyone laughed appreciatively, then started pairing up again. Tomoyo got asked to dance by another unknown boy (a/n: you might have noticed that she's pretty popular among the guys), and left Sakura and Naoko standing by the wall. The song started, and Naoko left to join Takashi and Chiharu.

Sakura sighed. The dance hadn't really been what she had expected. It had been quite the opposite, actually. She turned and caught sight of Syaoran's figure standing sillouetted against the lighted stage.

"Sakura-chan, come here!" Naoko was calling out to her from where she stood with Takashi and Chiharu. But Sakura didn't notice. She was watching Syaoran. She didn't know it, but in the darkness, he was watching her too.

(A/N: I'm sorry this chapter was so crappy, but I was kind of on a writer's block. Please stick with me, I promise the upcoming chapters will get better and better.)