Ren nibbled on the end of her pencil as she strode down the hall, stating intensely down at the piece of paper atop her binder, which was nestled in the crook of her arm. She was lost in thought, occasionally scribbling a line or two on the page or furiously scratching things out, desperately attempting to construct a new cheer for her team to perform. It had been a week now, and somehow or another she had managed to whip them into some semblance of shape. They were fairly good at performing the basic cheers, and she had been running them through tumbling exercises. All cheerleaders were required to enroll in tumbling classes over the summer, so thankfully she had much more to work with in that regard. The first pep rally of the year was fast approaching, and she wanted to prepare a performance that would set precedence for the rest of the year. I want the school body to look forward to the pep rallies and football games! I want us to be the reason they get excited! She thought giddily as she scrawled another line onto the page. The traffic of the hallway naturally flowed around her, adapting to the girl that wasn't paying attention. She glanced up occasionally to ensure that she was indeed heading to her classroom and not wandering off toward some random section of the school she had no business being in. She was just putting the finishing touches on her new creation when she abruptly felt a hand on her shoulder; snapped out her concentration, she whirled around to find a certain blonde-haired grinning boy.
"Hey, Ren!" Naruto grinned cheekily at her, his bright blue eyes glimmering with joy as they always were. Once she got over the initial shock of his sudden appearance, she smiled sweetly up at him; meanwhile, due to his considerable height over her, he noticed her handiwork and cocked his head to the side. "Oh? What's this?"
"It's a new cheer for the girls! I haven't come up with a routine yet, but I'm hoping to perform it at the pep rally in a couple of weeks!" she explained happily. Naruto probably couldn't care a lick, but despite that he matched her smile in brightness and gave her a thumbs-up.
"Really? Well, you'd better whip those girls into shape! I can't wait to see!" he told her encouragingly. "Anyway, I'm glad I caught you! I'm throwing a party tomorrow, ya know, to kick off the year, and I wanted to know if you and the girls wanted to come!" He looked so excited to invite her, and though she felt mildly awful about disappointing him, she opened her mouth to refuse the invitation nonetheless; however, before she could even get the words out of her mouth, she was nearly bowled over by Ino appearing out of nowhere to throw her arm roughly around her friend's shoulders.
"We'd love to go!" she cried with enough volume to make Ren's ears ring, and she was too busy reeling to offer any kind of resistance. Over the high-pitched reverberations of Ino's voice in her eardrum she couldn't hear Naruto give any details, but Ino dutifully committed it to memory before sending him off with a cheerful wave. Once Ren was finally able to compute, she turned to Ino with a frown.
"A party? Ino, you know I don't go to parties," she pouted. Most people her age certainly participated in such revelries, but Ren didn't care for them; all the people, stuffed in close proximity, all the sweat and noise, not to mention what sort of immoral nonsense was going on, booze and drugs and sex- it all left a bad taste in her mouth. She would much prefer to be working on developing the new routine or writing another cheer for her girls to try, or tackling some of her homework. Ino didn't seem so share her enthusiasm for staying on top of things.
"Come on, Ren! You need to loosen up!" Ino tutted, and Ren squirmed in discomfort as she pinched her cheek roughly. "You've been working too hard! A party is a perfect way to let off some steam- and meet cute boys!" she added with a sly grin, while Ren just groaned miserably. Once Ino got something into her head, not even a sledgehammer could knock it out, and the cheerleading captain knew that she was now roped into attending the first party of the year.
"What's this about meeting cute boys?" The girls turned as someone giggled behind them to find the last link in their little trio- Sakura, who was smirking slightly as she hugged her thick binder to her chest. Ren could see an excessive amount of colored tabs sticking out from the thick sheaths of notebook paper. Studious, as always.
"We're going to Naruto's party tomorrow!" Ino announced with a squeal, throwing one arm in the air while the other remained firmly wrapped around Ren's shoulders, as if to keep her from running away. Even if I did, she'd just show up at my house this weekend and drag me out anyway, she thought with a small sigh, resigning herself to the situation. As long as her girls were there, surely she would have fun, right? Naruto and his friends were pretty good guys, too, so surely nothing too wild would be going on. That is what she told herself, anyway. Ren didn't listen to the girls' conversation, but when she tuned back in they were giddily wondering if Sasuke would be there, so she knew that Sakura had been convinced to attend as well. Ino certainly has wicked powers of persuasion. "All right, ladies! After school today, we are going shopping! Can't seduce the boys without a killer outfit!" Ino cackled with delight before releasing Ren and skipping down the hallway, already hatching little schemes in her mind to get the three of them dates by the end of the party. Ren exhaled deeply, shaking her head.
"I heard that Lee was going to be at the party," Sakura announced suddenly, and Ren looked at her quizzically, unsure of what had brought on the abrupt statement. She saw the strange boy every day in class, and considering that they were lab partners (though they had yet to begin conducting lab, that would begin the following week), she was quite friendly with him, despite his quirks and what people thought about it. She was grateful to him, after all, for fending off those lewd boys the previous day, and her interaction with him had shown that he was a good person. Still, none of that was enough to promote Sakura bringing him up in conversation.
"Oh? He is friends with Naruto, so that isn't surprising," she responded nonchalantly and looked down at her crudely completed cheer again, reading it over to see if she could offer any improvements. As she laid the pencil to the paper to change a phrase, Sakura prodded further.
"Aren't you interested in him?" Ren's cheeks flared pink, though she wasn't sure why. It was an innocent question; why should she be embarrassed or defensive? She took a moment to keep her emotions from flying out of control before looking at her friend with a smile.
"He's a nice guy, for sure, but I barely know him. He's just my chemistry partner. I don't think I want to get to know him any better than that. That video is still floating around, you know. I don't need any more fodder for rumors, Sakura. Do you know how much trouble it has been with all these people coming up to me and asking if we're a thing?" she told her matter-of-factly. It was true. The video, as well as the incident in the gym, had gotten around quickly. Lee was a nice guy, and she was grateful to him, but she could not deny that he had been troublesome for her. It was several times a day that a curious person inquired about the nature of their relationship, or some of the more rude of their peers shot some lewd jibe at her, and she was sure that Lee was receiving similar treatment. Really, it would he better for them to maintain a strictly professional relationship. Before the girl could respond, Ren was suddenly shoved slightly to the side as someone briskly stomped by. She heard a muffled "Excuse me" from the perpetrator, but they did not stop to turn or see if she was all right; as she righted herself and moved to shout after them in irritation, the words died in her throat.
It was Lee.
"Shit, do you think he heard you?" Sakura hissed in her ear, though it was quite obvious that the boy had. Anytime he saw her in the hallway he would giddily shout and wave, while she would smile awkwardly and acknowledge him before scurrying on her way. His stark difference in behavior was evidence enough to suggest he had heard her complaining, and worse, taken it to heart. She immediately felt immensely guilty. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. She had not the time to chase after him and explain herself, though; the bell signaling one minute remaining before class rang shrilly above their heads, and so Ren was forced to bid her friend farewell and scurry off down the hall. However, try as she might, she could not get the strange boy out of her head for the remainder of the day.
Ugh. I feel so bad! I wish that I could talk to him and make things right, Ren thought moodily as she waited beside Ino's car, shifting from foot to foot as the anxiety coursed through her veins. Since it was Friday, there were no sports practices, and so she often was forced to wait in the parking lot for the other two girls since they came from further within the campus. Thus, she was alone with her thoughts. She kept trying to tell herself that it didn't really matter what Lee thought of her anyway, that they weren't even friends and that her complaints had been justified, but then she would think of his muted voice and the way his shoulders had been slumped and his head bowed, and the cold guilt would flood through her once more. He's been so nice to me, and I pretty much threw it back in his face… she moped. I'll find him at the party tomorrow and try and apologize, she resolved. No amount of brooding about it was going to take back the words, so she had to amend the situation. Just as she had come up with her solution, her driver finally arrived.
"Sorry, sorry! I got caught up!" Ino laughed as she hopped over the parking block and skirted the edge of her car to unlock the door. Sakura trotted along behind her, looking slightly annoyed from having been inconvenienced by whatever gossip Ino had been partaking in. "All right! To the mall!" she squealed when they had piled into the vehicle, and so they set off down the highway. Now that Ren had solved her internal dilemma, more or less, she was able to relax and chat amiably with her two girlfriends. Though a party was not her first choice of entertainment, Ino and Sakura were excited, and she did not want to dampen their happy mood on account of her own apprehension. The two girls pulled her into the department store and descended upon the racks of clothes with glee, and she did her best to be encouraging, complimenting them on their fashion choices and offering suggestions to match accessories. I'm glad they're having fun! She thought with a smile as she sat on the bench outside the dressing rooms. Once they had chosen their outfits, they rounded on her.
"Ren, aren't you going to get something?" Sakura asked as she placed her chosen items to the side. The auburn-haired girl straightened up, blinking, at her sudden inquiry.
"Oh. I wasn't intending to. I have plenty of nice clothes to wear to the party," she said, but of course, Ino wasn't having that.
"No way! You have to get something hot! Something sexy! Something to make the boys drop at your feet!" the assertive girl screeched, and she whirled about to grab Sakura by the arm. "Wait here! Me and Sakura are gonna go get some outfits for you!" she huffed before dragging her hapless friend out of the dressing rooms and back into the store proper. Ren could only smile and shake her head, leaning back against the wall as she guarded their clothes and waited for them to return. Doesn't take no for an answer, does she?
Soon enough, the girls returned, laden with various articles for Ren to try. They bustled her into the dressing room and tossed over the outfits they wanted her to model, offering their opinions whenever she opened to door for them to see. For the most part, they nodded approvingly or grimaced in disapproval, and the "magic outfit" did not appear. Though it was an inconvenience, it was still fun to pretend to be a model and flaunt around for her friends while they clapped and laughed, so Ren didn't mind. About ten minutes into the endeavor, one of the last outfits was a ruffled pink skirt with a slim-fitting, lighter pink tank top and a white jacket of Jean material, with a pair of white sandals to match. As she swung open the door and did a twirl, she smiled, "What do you think of this one?"
"That's it! That's the one!" Ino crowed triumphantly and clapped her hands. "That skirt makes your legs look great, and that shirt really highlights your curves- plus the jacket to preserve that modesty you insist on hanging on to."
"Ino, you make it sound like you're some kind of hotshot. You're as much of a virgin as the two of us," Sakura laughed, and Ino whirled on her friend with pink cheeks.
"What's that supposed to mean?" As they bickered playfully, Ren laughed as she retreated back into the dressing room to change back into her school uniform. They headed to the register to pay, and now even Ren found herself growing excited to attend Naruto's party and show of her new outfit, and who knew, maybe even find herself a date. After I make up with Lee, of course. That was important.
In the back of her mind, part of her wondered, I wonder what he'll think of this outfit? Will he like it? The thought surprised her, and she thought again of how Sakura had brought up the boy earlier that day. Maybe… There's more to me and Lee than I realize.
She couldn't dwell on it much after that, as Ino grabbed ahold of her to cart her and Sakura further into the mall, and the strange boy with the fuzzy eyebrows and big smile faded from Ren's mind…