Chapter 2
Library Problems
"And that's why the needle points north. Are you listening?" I asked. I mean, the guy was like not even looking at me!
"Uh-huh. Hey does she go to our school?" he pointed out a girl with pigtails. I sighed and looked over. To our left, a table was FULL of giggly girls, all in cheerleader outfits. The one with pigtails was obviously the leader of the pathetic group.
"Yeah, it's Karin Tayaka, Temari's cousin."
"Uh-huh. Hang on, I'll be right back."
"While you're at it, mind telling them to go get a life?"
As I watched him go, I kept wondering. Do jocks ALWAYS go for cheerleaders? I mead, don't they see each other as non-human. I was wondering these thoughts, subconsciously twirling a lock of pink hair around one finger when a sudden SLAP! brought me back to reality. I looked over and saw Neji holding his cheek with one hand and a dumb expression on his face. The girl who'd slapped him (Karin) seemed to be saying something. Then, she turned on her heel and marched off. After some time, her minions followed and a very sad Hyuuga returned.
"Great, thanks a lot."
"Wha'd I do?" I did my best to impersonate Kiba's puppy eyes.
"You made me tell them to get a life!"
I think I made a World Record, because my eyes were as big as my science textbook.
"You actually told them?"
"Well yeah."
I gave him a look like he was a dirty bug. "Whoa."
"What?"
"I never knew jocks were that stupid."
"But you told me to…"
"I was being figurative!"
I should not have used that word. Every feature in his whole body just said: "huh?"
"I was kidding."
"Oh."
"Never mind, let's just get this over with."
So, more or less, we managed to get half the work done and agreed to complete the rest tomorrow. As we were packing our bags, he turned to me and cleared his throat. Choosing to ignore him, I let him cough a few more times before facing him.
"You know, you should get a drink for that cough."
"You always like this?"
"Nah, I blow off after the first shot."
"Anyway, um, you uh, wanna grab a coffee?"
"No."
"De-cafe?"
"No."
I guess his eyes popping out was his impersonation of puppy-eyes. Fish eyes, I thought.
"Aw, come on. Why not?"
"Neji Hyuuga, are you asking me out?"
He grinned. "Depends. Are you asking me to ask you out?"
I had been packing my bag, but after the last comment, I stopped and turned to fully face him. Then, taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I gave him what my mom calls a colder-then-death-and-harder-then-ice glare.
"I will say this once and once only. NEVER play with words. All right, that is what I do."
"Fine, fine. So you gonna be my girl or what?"
I scowled at this. He had said: my girl. I was not some piece of property!
"Do you not remember what happened to Kimimaro Kaguya?"
Again he grinned. "Ah, the little quarrel over how innocent by-standers should be treated. Tell me again, WHY did you land him in the hospital?"
"Oh, you know. This and that."
At this point, the lights flicked on and off a few times. I grinned, Time to take my leave.
I gave an exaggerated sigh. "The library's closing. sigh Bummer. Oh well, see ya tomorrow."
And so I left.