I hastily put stuff in my backpack. My pair of shoes, inner clothes, my headdress, and jewelry.
"Sarada? Are you done already? Chocho's waiting for you downstairs," mom knocks on the door. I am in a hurry because today is the School Anniversary and our play is scheduled at 1:00 p.m.
"Almost done," I shout from inside and she replies with 'okay' and I can hear her footsteps slowly fade away. I quickly grab my bag when I make sure that all I need are packed. I hurry downstairs and a smiling Chocho welcomes me.
"You sure are in a hurry," Chocho comments and I pout.
"Yeah, that's why let's go," I say and proceed to the kitchen to say goodbye to mom.
"What about your breakfast?" she asks while the food is already served on the table.
"We're late. We have our last practice at 8:00 a.m. and I am late," I say and my mom's face worries. She doesn't let me go without having breakfast.
"We'll just have these sandwiches then," Chocho says and grabs some sandwiches from the plate.
"We'll just eat on the way," I agree with Chocho and grab some from the table too.
"Just make sure that you will eat after your practice, okay?" she ensures and I nod. She smiles at us and we wave goodbye at her.
"Can't wait to meet new boys today," Chocho giggles as we walk to school.
"Are you serious?" I ask while furrowing my brows. She keeps her giggling face.
"Well, you should be friends with some of them too and move on from Boruto," she is just joking, right?
"You can't be serious," I utter in disbelief. She narrows her eyes at me like she is suspicious about something.
"What?" I snap and she moves closer to me.
"Don't tell me you still haven't moved on from him," she whispers and I pout.
"Do you think it's that easy to move on from someone you are admiring for years?" I retaliate and she moves away.
"Well, you got a point," she just says and did not talk about it anymore.
"Because you have not moved on from him yet too," I tease her and her cheeks blush.
"Well, it's not that easy to move on. If I can get a boy from another school, maybe I can," she laughs. I shake my head in disbelief. I know she is just kidding.
"Let's hurry. I'm late," I snarl and we run in the direction of the school gates.
When we arrived, a lot of new faces greet us. Booths are everywhere. Everyone's roaming around.
"Sarada!" Chocho squeaks and she looks like a jellyfish.
"I can see a hottie from here," she giggles and I give her an awkward smile.
"Come on, I'm late," I pull her closer to me and drag her in the direction of the auditorium.
"Hey, slow down," she says while she keeps her head at her back. I keep dragging her away from the crowd.
When we get to the auditorium, everybody's busy preparing for the stage decorations and stuff.
"Sarada! Finally, you're here," Sumire smiles at me.
"Sorry, I'm late," I bow my head to show my sincere apology. She shakes her head as if to say I don't have to apologize.
"You're just on time," the club president utters. She moves closer to us and she gestures me to proceed backstage.
"I'll just wait for your practice to start here," Chocho says. I nod and she sits down on the vacant seat. I immediately leave to prepare my things for the play later.
"Sarada, do you have all your needed things for the play later?" our make-up artist asks me and I nod. I take out all the stuff from my bag. She nods when she confirms I have all that I needed and returns them inside again.
"All right, get ready for our last practice for today. Casts prepare yourselves, and we are about to start," our club adviser announces while she is clapping both her hands.
I sigh deeply and cross my fingers. I am a bit nervous because it is my first ever lead role but I need to focus so I will deliver all my lines properly. A few minutes later, our practice starts. I see Chocho cups her face in excitement. She secretly cheers for me and I know she doesn't want to make a loud noise or we all will get distracted. Sumire is in the corner while watching us. I can see her smile in the corners of my eyes.
After an hour, the practice has ended and I can hear my stomach growls. I am hungry, I haven't eaten anything besides the sandwich, remember?
"You did great Sarada," Sumire greets me upon descending from the stage. I smile at her and thank her for her compliment.
"You are very ready Sarada. Keep up the energy and the enthusiasm," our adviser speaks to me. She's right beside Sumire.
"Thank you so much," I bow my head and they just smile at me. Chocho comes and she hugs me tight.
"You are the best actress I've seen," she jokes. She is just trying to make me feel better for sure.
"Come on, I am not even half of Mr. Martin's acting," I humbly retaliate. It's true though. I have a long way to be called the best actress.
"Okay, okay," she says and gestures like she is defeated.
"Can we grab a bite? My stomach is grumbling since earlier," I say and she chuckles.
"Don't ask me that. You know I am always hungry," she jests and we laugh together. We proceed to the campus' oval where different stalls and booths can be found. The School Anniversary always has been a success and students from other schools and campuses enjoy this yearly event in our school.
"Look, a lot of food stands have been participating this year. Let's check out one by one, " Chocho suggests and I startle.
"Are you serious? Check them one by one?" I say and she drags me to the area before I could even refuse. I let her pull me like I am just floating in the air and had no energy to even resist.
"Is that the famous Boruto of this school? Oh goodness, he looks so cool,"
I hear one of the girls mention his name. I look at where the voice is coming from and it reveals to me that a group of girls is gossiping about Boruto. I glance in the direction of their stares and reveals to be Boruto with Mitsuki and some of our classmates.
Boruto looks in my direction and I suddenly fluster when I realized that we are staring at each other. He smiles at me and I give him an awkward smile I think. I did not know how to respond to that quick juncture.
He gestures to his friends and he walks in my direction. I am surprised he is walking in my direction while smiling.
"Hey Sarada, Chocho," he calls out to us. We respond to his calling of course.
"You're here," the only thing Chocho utters. She is surprised herself when Boruto's in front of us. She was busy looking at the food in the first place.
"Yeah. By the way, your play is this afternoon, right" he asks. I'm glad he mentions it.
"Yeah," my brief reply while nodding my head.
"I see, I think I'll watch it. I look like interrupting your straying around. See you later," he says and waves goodbye to us. We wave at him too.
"Did you hear that, Chocho? He will be watching later," I think I sound like squeaking but I tried to stop it.
"Calm down, he always watches plays," she tried to stop me from daydreaming about it and I respond with a pout.
"Look at them, Sarada. These dumplings look delicious," she wakes me up from my delusion and I peek at them too. I think I'm drooling right now.
"Let's buy some," I tell her and she instantly approves. Well, if it's all about food Chocho would never say no I chuckle in my mind.
We buy some dumplings and enjoy eating them while we make a tour around. There are souvenir booths, photo booths, and game booths. Cool.
"Look Sarada, there is a horror booth!" she exclaims and I am surprised too. There was no such booth last year.
"Look, there is a wedding booth too," I yell in amusement. She giggles when she sees it.
"I wish I would get married in there even it's fake," she says while crossing her fingers.
"You should get a fake groom first," I remind her. Well, I am just trying to piss her off *laughs in mind*
"I'll get him in no time," she challenges me. This girl is unpredictable. I shake my head in disbelief.
"Hey, that's the boy from Shoujo before, right?"
"Yeah, he got an expulsion notice for being a troublemaker,"
"Oh, poor him. He got to be sent to a not-so-popular school then. He deserves it by the way,"
They are gossiping about the jerk when he passes by. Did he get expelled from Shoujo? I didn't intend to eavesdrop but they talked so loud. Loud enough to be heard by someone just behind them.
Chocho was busy checking on food in each stall and booth and didn't care about the world around her.
So, he was just like this from the start. A jerk that is.
After a few hours of touring around the oval, we have decided to return to the auditorium so I could prepare for our play that will start in less than two hours.
"Well, you don't need much make-up because you are naturally pretty and your skin is fair," the make-up artist comments. I think my cheeks blush when she compliments my facials.
"I see. Thank you," I say and she nods.
"You need to prepare your costume and other needed things," she adds and I immediately stand up and get my backpack. I take them out this time because I will put them on.
"Wait..." I mutter. I think I forgot something. What is it again?
"Sarada, where is your personalized fan?" our club adviser asks. That's it, the fan.
I think I left them to Namida and Wasabi's care. They made me a personalized fan.
"I think I left them in the classroom. I'll go get them," I say and move to leave backstage.
"Be quick, okay?" the head dresser says and I nod. I leave right away and proceeds to our classroom.
Run and walk, that's how I cross the hallway. When I get inside, Wasabi and Namida are about to leave the room and I see Wasabi holding the fan.
"Sarada!" Wasabi exclaims when she sees me.
"I am about to get the fan. It is almost time for the play," I tell them and Namida starts to move her lips to speak, "We are about to leave for the auditorium to give you this," she explains pointing at the fan and I nod. It looks amazing.
"Thank you for your help. You know how much grateful I am to you both. I will take it there myself," I say and they hand the fan over.
"Good luck, Sarada!" they say in chorus and smile at me.
"Thank you, guys. I have to go. See you later," I say and turn my back at them.
"We'll watch for sure," Wasabi adds and I completely leave them.
I am on my way back to the auditorium when I hear loud voices of boys at the back of the Grade 8 building. The area is quiet because mostly everyone is at the oval and maybe some are already in the auditorium for the play.
To tell you, this way is a shortcut to the auditorium. I'm in a hurry so I decided to take it this way instead of the long hallway. As I walk closer to the back of the building, the inaudible sounds start to become audible in my ears.
"You arrogant bastard! You dare to act cool and mighty because this is your territory?" That's what I've heard from them. I slowly close my distance from the voices.
"This bastard got expelled from Shoujo maybe because of this kind of behavior," another voice echoes in the area.
"Shut up, bastard. Your voice is annoying," wait, that voice is from...
I couldn't stop myself from peeking at them and to my surprise, I am seeing the jerk being surrounded by four boys in uniform I'm pretty sure not coming from our school.
"What did you say?!" the blonde guy grabs his collar while scowling at him.
"I said, you're ugly," the jerk says and the blonde guy gets annoyed and he attempts to punch him on his face. He did not just attempt but he did punch him on his face. The jerk falls to his knees and the rest of the boys laugh at him.
He stands up and answers a punch on the blonde boy. I can see how he spits his saliva out.
"You bastard!" the blonde guy screams angrily at him. He gestures to the boys and they hold the jerk in both his arms so he could not move of his own free will.
The blonde guy smirks and clenches his fist facing the jerk. The other boys laugh wickedly at him.
"Let's test your arrogance here," he utters and keeps the smirk on his face. It's unfair knowing that it is four against one. I did not know what happen to why they came at this point, now fighting. But, my conscience will not make me sleep tonight seeing the jerk being beaten up by some strangers and just ignore him.
I look at my wristwatch and it tells me to get back to the auditorium right away or else I will miss the play and my long-awaited dream of being the lead actor.
The blonde guy massages his fist, the fist that punched the jerk's face, and the fist that is going to hit him once again.
"Hold him tight and we will teach this bastard a lesson he will never forget," the blonde boastfully says and laughs like an idiot. The jerk resists but the boys holding him are tough and they don't want him to go that easily.
"Hey, Kira. Come on. You're taking so long. Wreck this bastard's face already," the black-haired idiot tells him.
This is awful to watch. I don't want to get involved in this. I should go now. I almost made a step when I suddenly stop. My conscience is telling me to stop them but I am afraid this will get worst.
The blonde is about to punch him on his face when suddenly I...
"Hey, stop that!"
I reveal myself from the shadows and they all look at me so stunned for a second.
I don't know why but my body moves on its own. Be prepared for the worst, Sarada...
To be continued...