Good news. Bad news. Good news. Bad news.
Good news: this isn't the last chapter. Bad news: the next chapter will be. Good news: this chap's extra long. Bad news: this chap's extra crappy to!
Enjoy!
FireLight Horrors
By lainey-bo-bainey
Chapter Title:
Grad Night
"Okay! Okay… Relax… Breathe in…" I stared as my reflection inhaled, "And… breathe out." I watched as it exhaled.
I turned around in order to face my brunette-haired friend staring strangely towards me. Then I felt my nerves freak out, sending shivers up and down my spine. "Oh my gosh! Grad's today! Grad's today! We're graduating! I can't believe it! Oh gosh…"
"Well, 'oh gosh,' relax Sakura!" Ten-Ten mimicked; then she calmly sighed and pushed herself up to sit upon the counter of the sink. "I can't believe grad's today…"
"I know…" Hinata agreed from nowhere, and emerged from one of the washroom cubicles. She walked over one of the multiple sinks, and stared at her reflection in the mirror. "Before it was like, 'grad's next month!' then it was like 'grad's next week!' and then it was 'grad's in three days!' then yesterday it was 'grad's tomorrow!' and then now it's 'grad's today!' it's crazy… it's coming by so fast…"
"Totally right, Hinata…" Ino agreed, too, emerging from one off the cubicles and leaned against the sink's counter beside Ten-Ten. "It's insane… and don't forget… it's only within a matter of hours until we get to say 'grad's later'."
I sighed and headed towards Ino, who surprisingly was as calm as Ten-Ten. I stood in front of her, both my hands upon my waist and my head tilted, as is saying 'this is not you'. Three seconds later…
We both screamed at the same time, causing both Ten-Ten and Hinata to cover their ears.
"Whoa! Thank god no one's here or else I'll have to declare that I don't know both of you…" Ten-Ten stated. "What are you both freaking out about?"
"Grad's today!" we both exclaimed.
"Well… I'm pretty excited." Hinata said, smiling.
"I'm not!" Ino snapped. "I mean, the hair, make up, clothes, shoes, everything! I'm so nervous I have so many stuff to bother about!"
"Well… that's not actually the reason why I'm freaking out." I stated, at length.
Ten-Ten looked at me, "Okay… then at least there must be one reason why you're screaming like a lunatic."
"I… don't exactly know…" It's true… I didn't know why I was freaking out. I felt my heart beat strong. It didn't beat fast and hard like when I was about to act my big role in our play once before in front of the whole school… but it was beating fast and hard, enough to get me all anxious, and fidgety. "Mostly… it's because… we're graduating. I mean… I seriously don't this year to end. Being in the graduating class is probably one of the best moments of your life."
"You'll still get to be the graduating class in highschool and college remember?" Hinata reminded.
"Yeah… but…. I'm old by then…" I smiled forcedly. "I don't wanna grow old… I don't wanna go to highschool."
"You know, when you go to highschool, you'll be the youngest." Ten-Ten reminded.
"Yeah but… fine. But still. It's like… it's all going so fast." I said slowly, as we started heading out the washroom, "We only have 5 years left of school. I mean, I don't wanna be that person who… sits in a chair on a Sunday afternoon, looking through the yearbook and wishing to go back in time! I wanna stay here and have fun."
"You don't wanna graduate?" asked Shikamaru, who was walking by the halls and had heard our conversation as he went out the ladies' room. He had around twenty thin, although hard-cover books in hand, and struggled to keep them all from falling. I stared at him, and he took it as a sign to continue. "Then fail class."
"Ugh." I scowled at him. "Thanks for nothing. We don't have class anymore."
"Ah… the beauty of being in the graduating class…" said a new voice; this boy was a few inches smaller than I am. He strolled by with a goofy grinned plastered across his face, "The other grades still have classes, and they're probably still doing their exams while we…" his grinned widened. "Got out of class and lessons last week." He was with around twenty or more thin blue hard-cover books in hand just like Shikamaru, and with a puppy upon his shoulder, who barked.
Ino, who stood beside me, stared at the puppy. "Kiba, didn't miss Kurenai tell you 'no pets allowed in school'? Except for pet day."
He shrugged, although said nothing. Shikamaru answered for him and said, "Every day's a pet day for him."
"Hey! Hey! Wait for me!" yelled a voice, and soon, Naruto emerged from the other end of the hallway; causing the six of us to face his direction. Naruto, like the two other boys, had the same kind of books he was carrying, and had also struggled to keep them from falling to the ground. Soon, he reached where we were standing.
"What are you guys doing, anyway?" Ten-Ten asked. I felt Naruto smiled nodded towards Hinata, as she blushed and waved her hand. I smiled and rolled my eyes, and listened to Shikamaru as he replied.
"Being out of class apparently also means cleaning up the school." Shikamaru growled.
"Aww, poor you." Ino pouted.
The pineapple-head growled, "And you're no exception. You should be helping. Either clean-up the school, or set-up the gym."
"Oh c'mon, nerdy." Naruto called out. "We're not cleaning up the whole school…"
Shikamaru glared at the 'nerd' comment given by Naruto. "Whatever."
Ino asked, "By whole school, what exactly does Naruto mean?"
"It means our two classrooms," And by that, he meant the two divisions/sections of our whole batch, Miss Kurenai's and Sir Kakashi's, the two homeroom teachers for our batch. Miss Kurenai held Division1 and Sir Kakashi held division2. Divison 3, 4 5 and soon were other grades younger that us. He continued. "The gym equipments, all books back at the library, AVRs back to where they belong, train the juniors how the sound-system works, art stuff back at the art room, and drama props put back neatly at the junk-room behind the gym they call a storage. The sound system crews are down at the gym setting up." he turned towards Ten-Ten. "Aren't you supposed to be there?"
"I will be…" she replied confidently.
"Uh… we have like, half an hour left of school for today… aren't you like… gonna go down to the gym now?" Ten-Ten shook her head, and grinned. I rolled my eyes, obviously she had no intention of helping today.
Ino smiled as Shikamaru struggled at the books he was carrying. "Need help?"
"Why do you think?" Ino only rolled her eyes at the rude reply and took a couple of books from Shikamaru to help him, since he seemed to be the one who carried most books.
"Where are these going?"
"Library." Shikamaru stated, as they all walked past me, Ten-Ten and Hinata and headed towards the Library.
The three of us went back in Sire Kakashi's classroom and found that it was busy. Everyone seemed to have something job to do that involved cleaning the class. We went to Miss Kurenai's that was just across Division2's classroom, and found that half the class was also cleaning the room. There were some of our classmates that went pass the halls carrying books, gym equipments, art stuff, drama props, and more.
We went to the gym, and saw a couple of our classmates setting up the gym for the night. It looked wonderful! The stage was set with a tropical theme, since that was what we voted for in out first field trip, and there were surf boards everywhere. There were flowers everywhere too… the gym looked so much like Hawaii. There were others that were carrying around chairs and table and setting them up. By the corner of the gym, we saw Neji, along with some guys setting up the sound system, with some sixth graders watching them. We walked over towards them.
"Hey there…" Ten-Ten called out, and Neji looked up, and glared.
"Where were you! You're supposed to be here like an hour ago to set up sound system!" he exploded.
"I was talking…" Ten-Ten smiled. "And that's about it."
Neji shook his head in disapproval but let it slip anyway. He looked towards where me and Hinata stood and nodded his head as a sign of acknowledgement, and I nodded back.
"Hey Sakura…" called a voice from behind me. I mentally groaned, but almost swiftly and automatically, I displayed a smile of acknowledgement as I turned around to face the speaker.
"Hey Lee… I… didn't expect to see you here." A lie. Everywhere I go, he always manages to find me. Stalker. I mean, Lee's a kind guy…. But he's just… too kind; or maybe… I'm the one who's to kind to scream at him and say 'screw-off thick-brows!'.
He grinned, "So, I heard Uchiha's injured."
"He is… it's pretty serious actually." I tried to maintain a casual tone, but deep inside of me, I wanted to get out of the conversation…bad. And without Sasuke here to yell at him to screw-off and not bother me, it's going to be hard to get away from him… no wonder he's grinning. Ugh… his grin is as creepy as his hair-do. I knew a hundred percent that he was gonna ask "the question". Of course… it was generally the "casual talk" first. It's an unwritten rule.
"So…do you like… apples?" I stared at him. Is this is idea of casual talk? I can hear the others behind me laughing their heads off… Lee obviously didn't mind.
"Uh… yeah… I guess…" I replied, at length.
"Good! Could you go with me for tonight then?"
"Uh…" I stammered. "Um… Well, you know, it'd be an honour but- and- well, I'd say yes but-…" I felt pathetic, especially when I heard more laughter from behind me. I groaned… mentally again, and I faced Neji and gave him a look which mostly said what I was thinking: "Help me, you white-eyed idiot!"
He cleared his throat, but that goofy smile was still across his face, "Don't get your hopes up, thick-brows… she's going with Uchiha."
I scowled at him. That was not exactly the help I was looking for. "Not I'm not!" I snapped.
"Yes you are."
"He's not even coming."
"Well, he will." Ten-Ten persuaded.
Neji nudged her in the stomach, making her grunt, and crouch down. "Ow! That hurts!"
"Oh crap, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to be that hard…" he apologized as he helped her up. It was a sweet scene. And it would've been hilarious to tease Neji about it… but instead, I asked the first thing that popped out of my mind.
"He's coming?"
"Who's coming?" Neji asked.
"Sasuke."
"What about Sasuke?"
"Is he coming tonight?"
"Who's coming tonight?"
"Ugh, shut up! Thanks for nothing!" I screamed and was about to turn around and stomp away, but found myself face to face with Lee once more. "Hi." I snapped.
"So…are you gonna go with me? Or are you gonna go with Uchiha?"
"No!" I snapped. "I'm not going with Sasuke! And… and… um… I'm can't go with you cuz…I'm going with…" I looked around, as I stammered and soon my gaze landed upon a certain red-head hottie. "Gaara."
Lee shrugged. "Gaara… he's a worthy opponent." He looked at me. "See you at the dance floor." And walked away.
"I'm gonna barf." I groaned as I turned back towards Neji and Ten-Ten… one was staring strangely as me and the other was smirking. I cocked my eyebrow. "What?"
"So you're gonna ask Gaara to go with you?" the bun-head asked, and then chuckled. "Well, good luck with that."
I scuffed. "I can ask him." I turned his direction, and stared as he taught some kids how to use the sound system. "Eventually." I shook my head.
"Anyway, what were you guys saying about Sasuke?"
"What about Sasuke?" Neji asked. I eyed him; I knew he was playing dumb.
"Why did you say that Sasuke was coming tonight at the party?" I paused. "Ha! That has details in it, so you won't be able to ask it back to me!"
Neji stared at me, and scratched his ear, "Uh… what, I didn't seem to catch that. Why is who coming when at where?"
I growled, as I heard Ten-Ten burst out laughing. I stormed out the gym. Then, the lunch bell rang. It was now 12:05. For the others in the school it symbolized lunch… but for the graduating class… it symbolized early dismissal. They let us out early today so that we could have enough time to rest or maybe sleep, and then get ready for the night.
((around 2pm))
"I look…so pretty!" I heard Ino said that afternoon as sat hanging-out in Hinata's room. She twirled around, and her eyes never left her reflection as she stared at her peach and pink dress. It blended perfectly along with her blue eyes and blond hair, which was still tied up in a pony tail, but now with a nice glimmering clip.
Ten-Ten groaned. "And to think she wasn't cocky." I didn't hear any reply from Ino after that.
But she did tell me, "Sakura! Get out of there! You've been there for 10 minutes!"
"I look stupid!" I yelled from within Hinata's walk-in closet.
"No you don't!"
"You can't even see me!"
"Shut up, and get out!"
At a snails pace, I slowly got out of the rather huge closet where I changed and walked out wearing my dress on, that went down… I can't exactly explain. Some parts were long and past my knee and some were short that only went down my thighs; it was part of the style of the dress…it looked gorgeous at the manikin, but I don't really think so on me.
"You look awesome, Sakura!" Ino commented.
"I never knew you bought a brown dress…" Ten-Ten said, and she stared at the brown party-dress I had on. It wasn't all-brown, it collided and had a mixture of light brown, tan, and white. Requirements had said that our dress had to be only semi-formal, and comfortable. Not the huge bulky gowns that you wear in a prom… and not a night gown too… because that'll be too long.
"Well I had to… if I wore pink, it'll match my hair then I'll be too pinkish. If I wore green… cool, it'll match my eyes but… I dunno. I like green, but not as a grad dress. If I wore red, it's pretty close to pink so it's still a no. I'm not really a person who likes black or any other dark colours. If I wore blue or yellow I'd look like a colourful Christmas tree since I already have pink hair and green eyes on me. So I chose brown. It's… not dark, and the style of the dress it pretty cheerful and cute, so… I guess it's ok."
"Oh yeah, and if she wore white, she'd look like a zombie since her skin's already pale." Ino grinned. "Brown's perfect for Sakura. Not too dark… but just enough."
Ten-Ten sighed. "When's our ride… I wanna get out of here."
Hinata took a glance at her watch, "Half an hour more. We have to wait for Naruto and Shikamaru."
"They're coming here?" Ino asked exasperated; she clearly did not like that idea.
"Well, yeah, we're gonna have the same ride since Neji's here too." Hinata replied.
"Oh…" Ino said, at length, "Oh by the way, do you know how girls always said something like 'hey, what are you gonna wear for grad?'?"
I nodded my head, "Yeah…"
"Well, apparently, guys do that too." she pointed out.
I stared strangely towards her, "Uh…what?"
"Uhuh, guys do it too… earlier, Shino and Kiba were talking and Kiba was like 'dude, what are you gonna wear for grad?' and Shino was like 'I actually don't know… Tux I guess, since everyone is… what about you?'!"
We laughed. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah!"
I laugh. "Oh my god, that's so stupid!"
At that moment, the door forcefully swung open. "Whoa! Jeez!" Ten-Ten yelled since she was the one standing next to the door…
Revealing a certain Hyuuga, "Hey Hinata, our ride-…" he paused, as he stared at the irritated-looking Ten-Ten, who was now in front of him. Then, he looked down and stared at her blue outfit, his face held an amused look.
"What?" Ten-Ten snapped.
"You…" He paused and stared at her from top to bottom, blink every once in a while. "Uh…"
"Oooooh… lovestruck." Ino whispered to me, making me grin.
It was just then that Neji continued. "You… you like girl." He paused. "You're wearing a skirt! Oh crap!"
"Or not." Ino murmured again. "He's dead."
Ten-Ten narrowed her eyes, "You're dead."
Neji rolled his eyes, as if it was nothing. "Kill me later, our ride's here. We have to be at school in 4pm." He paused. "And Shikamaru and Naruto aren't riding with us."
Ino screamed. "OH THANK YOU!"
((at school))
I sighed as I scanned CR1, which also meant conference room1. Everyone was so busy and was laughing around. Some were in the line-up for the grad-pictures, some were just goofing around, and others were eating at the buffet provided for all grads. I spotted Ino, Hinata and Ten-Ten standing along one side of the table, and I started walking towards them.
"Hey guys." I greeted. They looked my way and I can tell the look of amazement on their face. "Oh c'mon… I can be this good-looking, you know…" I joked.
"You looked awesome, Sakura!" Ino commented. She hugged me a pulled away to stare at my dress. We were all recommended to where… not a gown, but a dress… a semi-formal dress. This conversation went on for a couple of minutes.
"Food. Free food. That's the best part for me." Ten-Ten stated as she took another one of the cookies and placed in her mouth.
"Well, at least you have something in with Choji." I joked, as we all looked over the other side of the table to see the munching Choji and we all laughed.
"Ugh, I can't wait for the after-party. We're all gonna be so wild dancing and stuff." Ino exclaimed.
"Yeah me too! They said we get free pizzas!" Ten-Ten exclaimed.
"Oh my gosh Ten-Ten, what's with you and food tonight?" Ino asked.
"I ate cookies for lunch. I'm really hungry right now."
Ino shrugged as she took a sip of her drink.
"Hey there." Looking up, we saw the trio. Neji, Shikamaru and Naruto standing before us, as they were all where black men's dress pants, and a black tuxedo for the top. Naruto was waving, Neji had his arms folded, and Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets.
Ino sputtered her drink back to its cup, as Shikamaru stared at her act disgust. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked.
Ino kept her self from laughing out loud at the scene before her. "Well, what the hell are you guys wearing?" I tried to keep myself from laughing too, judging by the fact that both Shikamaru and Neji were now glaring at us for making fun of their clothes. They seemed so old and mature; they looked like those serious business men. I mean, the teachers said to wear something appropriate and formal… but wearing a tuxedo made them look…weird.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "It's what we were required to wear." It's true though… since almost all guys were wearing the same thing.
Ino finally laughed. "You look so weird!"
Shikamaru scuffed. "Stop that. You're laughing like a lunatic."
"That's cuz a look like a lunatic!" she laughed once more. I did too…So did Ten-Ten… so did Hinata. The guys rolled their eyes.
But something was missing… I guess it's Sasuke, since he's not here. Shikamaru rolled his eyes towards Ino, Neji scuffed at Ten-Ten, Naruto grinned towards Hinata… but… Sasuke wasn't here to glare at me. After the accident, he stayed at the hospital for 4 days and went home on Tuesday. Then the doctors told him to stay at home and rest. So that's what he's doing now.
Oh well, his loss; he's not here and he's gonna miss all the fun.
We took some pictures, we chatted, we ate, we played, we hanged-out in the halls, and we made sure that our dress is ruined.
That was mostly what we did in the hours before grad.
Then suddenly, Kakashi's voice boomed within the room.
"Ok guys! Get out! Line up outside the gym!"
That was our cue. 3 hours had passed quickly and now… it was few minutes before seven. The gym was filled with people, mostly relatives of the grads.
Grad wasn't much. They simply gave us certificates and special awards. Ten-Ten got the best girl athlete award, and Sasuke won the best male athlete… but he wasn't here. Obviously, as everyone expected, Shikamaru got the academic award, along with Hinata and I, and the three of us got it. I forgot who got which now…but I seriously remember and dreaded Tsunade's long, long speech as a principal.
I just sat there…staring at our principal as she opened up her mouth… but to me… there were no words coming out of it. I was bored to death. I leaned my head upon Hinata's shoulder who sat beside me since we sat in alphabetical order. H. Haruno… Hyuuga… that's that reason why we sat next to each other. Sitting on the chair beside Hinata was her cousin Neji…duh, he's a Hyuuga too.
I let my eyes roam around and saw that the rest of my classmates were also bored. I whispered. "I'm so bored… I can't stand this…"
Hinata sighed. "Me too…"
Soon, my gaze fell upon a certain unoccupied chair.
Lucky face.
He's missing the boredom.
But surprisingly, no one seemed to notice that he was gone. It was like he's here… but he's not. It was like no cared if he's not here. Even Shikamaru, Neji and Naruto didn't care… especially them. When I asked where he was, they always replied. "He's not coming." And then that's it. They change the topics.
The odd thing was, I keep hearing something about "the surprise." No one knew what it was, or what it was about. It was a rumour that's been going on ever since we got here. I'm guessing: it was a surprise for all the grads. Like a mural or a really huge picture… anything that'll symbolize this year's graduating batch.
After hours and hours of the speech Tsunade had given, and by hours of course I meant only half an hour, it was done!
All of us stood up and stretched after the graduation. Some people went to the food. Some went around and took pictures. Some sat and chatted.
"Oh my gosh, that was longest speech I've ever heard…" Ino groaned, "No actually, second longest. Martin Luther King's speech was longer!"
"Well, for Tsunade's speech, I say 'Done at last! Done at last! Thank God Almighty! She is done at last!'"
We all burst out laughing, as we walked out of the gym. Each one of our classmates was gone by then and only parents were in the gym.
After passing along a few halls, the three of us reached the front door of the small gym. It was small than the regular gym… although it was still pretty big, and it was where the party will be held.
We opened the door and stared at the huge room in amazement. So it this ths surprise?
It probably was. Since for 3 days we weren't allowed inside the small gym. Graffiti were hanging from the ceiling, there were tables of food in one corner, a complete sound system and 4 huge speakers at each of the four corners of the room, and it was dark; the place was lit with a disco ball and lights of different colours roamed around the room. It looked totally cool.
I checked my watched… the party starts at 9… and although it was only a quarter to nine, people are already inside the gym. I turned towards Ino, "We still have fifteen minutes. Let's do our stories tonight."
"It's not Friday." Ino reminded me. "It's Thursday."
"Oh yeah! It totally slipped my mind!" I exclaimed. "But do you actually think we have time to do it tomorrow? I mean, it's the last day of school."
"Fine, you're right." Ino said. "First mission: find the guys."
"Over there… by the food…" Ten-Ten pointed towards a corner where Naruto was eating, and eating. So that was where we went.
"So who goes tonight?" Ten-Ten asked, sitting down with them. Neji looked up.
"We're doing our stories tonight?"
I nodded, "15 minutes."
Naruto shrugged, "Alright. I'll go." He picked up a cookie and shoved it into his mouth before continuing. "Story for tonight is title the teacher"
In the Story
Everyone thinks the 'thirteenth' floor is a cursed ground.
But how about if there was no thirteenth floor?
What if the school was only up to the third floor? Yes, that's right; a school.
School is educational; and for some, school is also fun. Actually, before and after school is one of the most enjoyable moments for a student. You hang out before school, you hang out after school.
Although for some students, they don't even get the chance to have fun.
Every day, when students pass by the school, there is only one similarity of the different things they realize, which of course, they realized various things. There had already been so many rumours about their school being a graveyard even before the real building was even built. It was a long school history.
Once, around the early 1800s, their school was only one-story high, although remote. Barely anyone enrolled in that school and no one wanted to. Why, you ask? The first reason was that, it was remote and away from any other schools, not sociable enough, according to other parents. Next, it was because no one enrolled in the school as it wasn't well-maintained.
It was as if the parents had an excuse for everything about not letting their children study in that school. But only a few did, at least there WAS a few. One of those few children is Kali D'nofrio; one of the students that had been stuck in the school since her parents didn't want her to transfer to other schools.
there was a huge destructive earthquake that occurred, destroying a one-story school.
some of them would see a woman walking back and forth through the halls or the third floor. No one knew who she was and she didn't look like anyone familiar. Students would just see her through the large dusty windows of the floor.
Teachers, however, did not believe the students. They would say it was just their childish imaginations; funny how they imagine the same things.
The woman in the halls would just turn and stare at the students. No one had ever dared to go to that third floor hall; except for teachers though. But they never saw anything.
One day, the chief-editor of the school's papyrus wanted to know what that woman was about. Or why she was here. When she saw the woman at the window while passing by, she took note of her look. She noticed that she was around her 50s and she wore a black and white formal dress. Her long grey hair was tied up in a bun and glasses covered her deep dark green eyes.
The chief editor went to the library and searched for the year books. She scanned all staff and teachers sections.
After about an hour of searching, she placed the books back finally giving up about the story. While heading out the library, a picture caught her eye. She turned to it and eyed the woman in the picture, and her eyes widen. That was the woman in the halls that kept watching the children.
And the in the frame, it said: "In the loving Memory of Ms. D'nofrio"
The woman turned out to be an old teacher, more or less… turned out to be dead.
End of Story
"Alright folks, parties gonna start… set yourself on stage cuz we're starting….now." the DJ said as music started playing loudly.
There were several songs that played. There was one time where "Dance" by Fall Out Boy played and everyone started jumping around like crazy. I did too… but I couldn't help but laugh when I found out that that was the exact same moment that the teachers took a little peak of what the party was like. Their expressions were all different. Miss Kurenai looked horrified, probably from the wild behaviour, Sir Iruka simply cocked his eyebrow, Sir Kakashi stayed silent as Sir Gai starting saying his speech about how youth love energetic events like this, and Tsunade… was dancing along… she was probably drunk.
Every one seemed to have fun. Well, most of everyone. Mostly girls were the one that occupied the dance floor; guys stayed in one corner. Of course, popular guys went with the preppy girls; guys who think they're all-that were probably the only ones that danced. They're not that bad… sometimes they just get a little too cocky for everyone's taste. Every once in a while, I see someone walking around or dancing with pizzas in their hand. Right! pizza… we get free food.
I stopped for a moment and left my friends for a while to head for the food table.
"Where is he? Shouldn't he be here about now?" I heard Naruto ask from one corner, as I walked towards the food table to get my pizza. Apparently, Naruto was the only one who was loud enough… their conversation went on and I couldn't hear any more of it because of the music. Curiosity filling up within me, I walked beside Naruto.
"Who are you guys talking about?" I asked. "I though everyone was here… so who are we waiting for.
Naruto jumped. "Whoa, jeez, Sakura! Don't just pop your face like that!"
I rolled my eyes, "Well?"
"No one." Neji replied quickly like before. "Everyone's here and we're waiting for no one." Then his phone rang and he picked it up and placed it beside his ear. "Hello?" he greeted, and put up his finger inside his other ear. "H-hello? D-dude! Speak up! I can't hear you! Hello?"
Naruto grabbed the phone. "Hello!"
The was a paused.
"Man! Where the hell are you! The party's already started and-…"
Shikamaru grabbed the phone.
"The angel's here, bad timing. Hurry up." That was all he stated and hung up and threw the phone back to Shikamaru.
I stared at them as they stared back at me. "I'm gonna… stay away from you psychos, alright?"
They nodded simultaneously as I walked away. Then, I halted and turned back. "Hey, um… have you guys heard anything about Sasuke?" they shook their heads. "Ok… well usually you do. Usually you call him and brag about what his missing." They stayed silent. God, I'm talking to no one. I growled and stomped back to Ino and the others.
By the time I got to Ino and the others, the song switched to "We Belong Together" by MariahCarey. Evidently, the cocky guys paired up with preppy girls. It was nice scene… of course, that's ignoring the fact that they're practically touching each other's butt. I shivered. Kiba and this new girl looked like a much cuter scene. They were simply dancing together… they didn't touch, they didn't flirt… but they were having fun. I shook my head turn my attention to Ino, "Have you heard anything about Sasuke?" I asked… or more like yelled, as I tried to get my voice louder than the music.
"No! Why do you ask?" Ino yelled back.
"Nothing! It's just that Naruto and the others haven't heard from him either!" I yelled back. "Hey! I've still been hearing about this surprise! Do you know what it is!"
"No! Some people do, but I don't! I heard it's something about-!"
"Ino." Someone called from behind her, tapping her shoulder slightly. I looked up and she turned around, both of us saw an impassive Shikamaru with his hands inserted in his pockets. "Dance with me?"
Ino scuffed. "No." Poor Shikamaru, Ino gave him a flat no. Wait, what the hell, he just asked her! I stared strangely upon Shikamaru and his totally weird-out personality. He rolled his eyes, "Whatever." And pulled Ino away from us group of girls, I stayed there staring at the amusing scene of Ino and Shikamaru as he forcefully placed her hands around his neck and his hands on her waist… although he looked demanding. They were talking… I couldn't hear them talk, but Ino was shock, and Shikamaru kept talking
(( Third POV))
"…and you are not to say this to anyone!" Shikamaru demanded.
Ino gaped and looked over at Sakura. "Are you serious? You knew about this all along?"
"Well, yeah…"
"And that's the-?" Ino didn't go on as she saw Shikamaru nod his head. "Oh my gosh!"
"Shut up!" Shikamaru demanded.
"What, wait… oh my gosh! Um…" Ino paused, and looked around. "People are staring."
"So?"
Ino glared at him. "Did… you just do this cuz you wanted me to keep quiet?" she asked. "Cuz this is getting weird."
Shikamaru shrugged. "Do what?"
"Pull me over to one side and suddenly dance with me, that's what."
Shikamaru forced a smile, "Well… clearly… we're not having fun as they are…" he said nodding his head towards one corner where all the popular kids hanged out, and where they were all so awkwardly close to each other. No, they weren't doing anything… they were just close to each other.
Ino stifled a laugh. "Eheh… Right… um…" She sighed. "It's hot." The atmosphere was hot, especially since the gym was filled with so many people.
"You… wanna go out? Get some fresh air?" he offered.
"Sure…" Ino replied slowly, staring at him, "I'd like that."
((First POV))
Ino disappeared.
It was like, poof she's gone.
Afterwards, a noticed that Ten-Ten wasn't here either. I looked around and stopped Ten-Ten, Hinata, and Temari with the guys beside the buffet talking them. It seemed like the guys were objecting. Maybe they were asking for a dance… I can definitely see Temari do that but Ten-Ten and Hinata? No way.
I turned on me heel and walked over towards them, I heard the girls asked several times, "What is it? What is it?" but then the guys would simply answer, "Nothing! Nothing! You'll see later." Or stuff like, "Fine we'll tell you… if it'll make you shut up." then Neji would say, "No! Of course they wouldn't shut up… they'll just babble it around." and then the girls would say "No! We won't!"
"What are we talking about?" I asked.
"I have no idea." Hinata replied.
"It's nothing." Neji replied.
"But-…" Before I could even continue, they walked away leaving me alone, and with the three girls tailing them behind. I ran after them. After a few minutes of the cat and mouse game –Temari, Ten-Ten, and Hinata being the cat and the guys being the mouse… while I become the dog and chase after them all- I found them as they were now outside in the halls in one corner. Ten-Ten shrieked. Temari was jumping, and Hinata seemed as clueless as ever. When I walked over to them, asking them what was up, they'd answer 'nothing' and walked back in the gym.
I pulled Hinata aside, "Ok, why am I so clueless with this?"
She shrugged, "I have no idea what's going on too!"
We went back inside the gym and Hinata went along the dance floor. I noticed the guys still gathered beside the food, but Ten-Ten and Temari were just talking to each other. I walked over towards the guys, "Uh…" I started and they stared at me. "Have you guys seen Ino? I mean, she just suddenly disappeared. And Shikamaru did too…"
"Oh. He's busy with Ino." My eyes grew wide at what Neji said. He must've quickly noticed and knew what I was think since he said almost instantly, "No! That's not what I meant! I mean, Shikamaru's busy… Ino's busy... they're busy together…"
I arched my eyebrow. "He means to say that they're outside getting some fresh air." Naruto paused. "And they're doing nothing…just talking."
I slowly nodded my head and noticed Hinata coming my way. "I'm still clueless."
"I know me too!" I pulled her over towards Ten-Ten and Temari, they were both talking about the rumour that's been going around the whole gym for quite sometime now… about the surprise or whatever.
"Ok, me and Hinata are the only ones clueless here!" I exclaimed.
Ten-Ten groaned and pulled Hinata away from me. I watched as she told something to Hinata and she only blushed. I stomped towards them, and they stopped talking. "Hinata? What, do you know what they're talking about?" I asked.
She looked down, "What is it?" I asked. She looked at me and forced a smile. I took that as a 'yes, I know and no, I can't tell you' I groaned. "How left out can I get!" I yelled, I turned to look at Ten-Ten.
"Ten-Ten…" I warned. "I know you know so what is it?"
"You'll see Sakura… and besides… so many people still doesn't know what it's about too…" she explained, but I can tell she wanted to get out because I knew that she knew I was gonna interrogate her.
"Well, why do all my friends know?" I asked. I eyed her, "C'mon Ten-Ten… tell me….you don't know how left out I feel right now…"
"I'm sorry Sakura… but we're not allowed to tell anyone." Ten-Ten said.
I eyed her. "Ten-Ten…" I warned once more. "Don't lie to me…"
"Ten-Ten." Someone called from behind her. She turned around and I looked up, and we both met a pair of pearl eyes. Well, she met a pair of pearl eyes… Neji was looking at her. "C'mon." he offered her a hand to dance and she gladly accepted.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed. I growled. "Saved by Neji…" I thought.
((Third POV))
"Oh my god, Thanks so much… one more second with her and I would've spilled the beans…" Ten-Ten said and looked up to see the Hyuuga staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing."
"There's something. What?"
"Nothing."
"What?"
"You look great." He stated, and paused. "That's it."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." Ten-Ten replied. She grinned. "Thanks. I'd love to say you do too but… you look weird." Then his phone rang.
"Hello?" Neji answered as he flipped open his phone. There was a pause. "Alright… we'll be there."
"What is it?" Ten-Ten asked.
"C'mon." Neji said as he pulled her out the gym.
((First POV))
I looked around, "Oh my gosh…" I murmured as I realized Ten-Ten was gone. Neji was too… Maybe this was the surprise. Everyone who finds out the surprise will miraculously disappear… how dumb.
((Third POV))
A blue cobalt automobile stopped in front of the school yard and a certain person stepped out. Right at that moment, Neji, along with Ten-Ten, was running towards the vehicle, and panting as they reached it.
Neji stared strangely upon him. "Uh… nice tux."
"Shut up." pair of eyes stared strangely upon them.
"Ok, now that's weird." Stated the person as he stared towards Neji's hand, interlocked with Ten-Ten's. Almost at the exact same second they noticed, they both pulled away and looked at various directions.
It was Neji that managed to bring back his posture and said, "She was too slow for me so I had to pull her." He stated, hearing a scowl from Ten-Ten made him smirk.
"Right." the person before them stated. "Uh… let's go."
((First POV))
Everyone's gone. Well, not everyone… but all my friends are. I'm starting to wish never to hear about the surprise ever again… or maybe I'll be the one who disappears.
Somehow though, it made me feel like an outcast. Everyone had a secret of their own and they won't even tell me. This was supposedly a great night but then now… I feel alone… and left out.
Looking around, everyone danced like nothing was wrong. Then, something had caught my eye. Turned towards the certain object I caught a sight of Ten-Ten emerging in the gym with Neji. I ran towards them, since they were the only ones I knew around here by now.
"Guys!" I called out running towards them, and then panting as I reached my destination. "I can't believe you left me in here!"
"Sakura, relax!" Ten-Ten said, I groaned.
"Whatever. I'm just gonna go… and enjoy myself with…" I looked around. "Gaara."
"No." I turned to look at Neji who just suddenly snapped at me. "You're not dancing with anyone. Not yet…"
"Why not!" I asked.
"Sakura, ssshhh!" Ten-Ten hushed me up and pointed behind me. I turned around and saw she was pointing over to the DJ. Um…okay…? "What am I suppose to-?"
Right at that moment, I suddenly saw Neji beside the DJ and whispered something to him. It amazed me how he was able to run that fast through all these people… but what amazed me even more was what the DJ said as he took the mike.
The voice of the DJ boomed throughout the gym from the speakers as he spoke:
"Alright, Alright folks! It's exactly a quarter to nine right now. So we're gonna have a few more songs and we'll end up with our grad song…
But before that… there had been a special request… a request that was requested since yesterday, and I think it's time to put it into action What I got, right here is a uh… letter from Uchiha Sasuke. And… He says here hey classmates, sorry I can't be there with you guys tonight blah, blah, blah, I'm just gonna skip that boring part and get to exciting part where it says…"
The DJ turned to look straight at me.
"Hey Sakura, sorry for being rushed in the hospital at the night of your birthday and sorry for paying it all up with some lousy keychain. Sorry for not being here at Grad, okay? I'll make it up to you, I promise. Also, sorry for embarrassing you in front of all these people by letting the DJ say this out loud… I know you're blushing right now…"
"That jerk." I murmured, because of the blush statement… although he was right… I felt my cheeks turn red since all my classmates attention was on me.
"Well, anyway that's it… SEE YOU LATER." The DJ paused. "Ok, so now it's me speaking here now. The note ended. And… it said to play to this song for you Sakura, so here's Trip by Hedley."
I stared as the DJ played on the song. At a snail's pace, I turned around and faced Ten-Ten and Neji, who were both smiling- except Neji… he… he was grinning. He doesn't smile.
"So this is what you were talking about?" I asked.
"Yeah, how'd ya know?" Ten-Ten asked.
"Well it was pretty obvious since you guys kept talking and talking but when I come in, you guys just shut up."
Neji smirked, "Yeah, well, that's still not it. We save the best for last." Grinning, he moved aside along with Ten-Ten; as I stared wide-eyed at the person who was now standing before me.
"Hi." He greeted. Uchiha Sasuke.
"You're here…" I said slowly. "How?" He motioned his head towards the window, where Itachi's car was parked and where Itachi was waving towards me. I timidly waved back and turned my attention back to Sasuke.
"Wow…" was all I could say that time.
I stared at him… "Wanna dance?" he asked suddenly.
"There are people staring…"
"Fine." He took my hand and led me out of the small gym. We went outside the door beside the door to the gym. I felt fresh cold air breeze through me. It was nearly nine but the sky was still blue that mixed with pink and orange… the sun was close to gone.
I felt Sasuke's eye stare at me, "You look gorgeous."
"Huh?"
"Nothing." He snapped instantly.
"So you wanna dance?"
"But there's no music…" I reasoned out.
"Of course there is, you can hear the music from inside the gym." Actually, I could… it was that loud that you can hear it from outside. He held his hand in front of me and I slowly took it.
He pulled me closer to him, "C'mon, I'll be your first dance."
What the hell? I looked up to him, "What makes you think this is my first dance?"
"Well, you're definitely not as confident as those peepz…" He said, motioning to the group of popular people who flirted with each other. A laugh escaped my lips.
"C'mon… I'll be your first dance… and you'll be mine."
"Huh?"
"Nothing." He snapped once more.
He placed my hand around his neck then placed his hands around my waist.
What are you doing to me?
I'm so into you
And the hardest part is knowin' that I'll never follow through
You're slowly killing me
And I wish it wasn't true
Cuz I'm so into you
(Cuz I'm so into you)
I eyed his eyes. "You're acting so weird tonight." I tilted my head as he chuckled.
"Trust me, you're not the only one who's creeped out." He answered.
I chuckled, "So are you ok now?"
He stared towards me confused. "What?"
"Are you ok? Neji and the others said you weren't here cuz you had to rest."
"Oh…" he turned towards me. "That was a lie."
"Thanks." I said suddenly. He stared at me. Ok… I think he wasn't expecting that…I wasn't either… it's slipped my tongue.
"Uh… what?" he asked.
"Thanks." Ok… that slipped my tongue once more. "For doing all this."
He smiled. Cute… it looked adorable. "I owe you…"
"Really? You could've just made it cash…" I grinned.
He did too. I stopped grinning. He did too. I stared at him. He did too.
"You know, that keychain was not lousy… I loved it." I said.
"Yeah… you should." I said.
Out the corner of my eye, I saw Ino and Shikamaru sitting on the swings… talking. Oh so that's why she disappeared. "Look at those two…" I said. Sasuke looked and chuckled.
"Sweet scene."
"Mm-hmm…" I agreed. "Hey, so this was the surprise?"
He looked back at me. "Supposedly… were you surprised?"
"Embarrassed… mostly." I gave him a goofy grin. He rolled his eyes. "What was up with Neji yelling at you on the phone saying 'you're late!'?"
"I was supposed to be 15 minutes ago." Sasuke explained. "Stuck at traffic. Rush hour. But hey. I saved the best for last."
"So… who's angel?" I asked.
"The Angel's you… it's a codename."
I smiled. "Really? That's so sweet!"
"Hey, I'm a sweet guy." Sasuke pointed out.
"You are?" I asked. He glared. He grinned goofily.
Then, the music stopped and changed into our grad song, we heard the DJ say 'this is our last song for tonight.' I pulled away.
"Let's go back. I like this song and… I wanna to be with all my friends while it plays."
"Sure." Sasuke said as we entered the gym once again our grad song for this year started playing.
The End
Kill me, please! I feel like that's the cheesiest chapter I've ever written. I swear… I don't like it. Well, that's what I think anyway.Anyway, I didn't really like that chapter. Next chapter's gonna be better… or at least I hope so. And… next chapter's gonna be the last one. Last and probably shorter than this. But it'll be the last. And everyone will be there.
Thanks a million for everyone! Sorry for the last chapter.. it sucks…
Hehe…
lainey-bo-bainey
Graduation, a time for laughter and tears,
Remembering all the memories
Over the last 7 years.
It's graduation day,
And we're finally here.
There's still more to experience,
And a lot more to fear.
Ten years of our lives
Went by so fast,
It's hard to imagine
That it will all be in the past.
We won't forget the memories,
All the wonderful days
We'll cherish them forever
And move right on our way.
And this is a bittersweet time
Filled with the happy and sad
We're moving on so fast now,
But we won't forget our grad!
It has been a long awaited year.
Graduation would be the best.
We would soon leave our school.
But how can we forget the rest?
Our teachers have faith
That we'll be just fine
After all, they taught us
It's our time to shine.
To be the leaders that we are
And to take what we know
Challenge bigger obstacles
And we'll soon start to grow.
We've become a close class
There are times we won't forget.
But you take the good with the bad
So there are times we regret.
Some of us are sad
And some are quite relieved
Our times together are over,
As our diplomas are received
But our lives are just beginning
And our fate is ours to choose.
We can't control the obstacles.
But it's our choice to win or lose.
So we'll down these halls
Just one last time
Knowing that this place
Will never be far behind.
As we flip through the pages
And remember the past
We know we won't forget
Cause it has been a blast!
The time has come for us
The Class of 2006
To see what life has in store for us
But we can only predict!