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Chapter 3
"Oh, gosh…" Sara sympathized, biting her nails. "That's terrible!"
Haruhi and Sara had just heard Alexis's "story." She was the leader of the Dance Academy and Glee Club, and what made that so terrible was the fact that everyone picked on her because of it. Of course, all the girls loved her, but only because she was Tamaki's sister. Alexis could barely go anywhere on campus without being barraged by girls who wanted the Host Club's autographs. And now she barely had any friends because she couldn't figure out if they only liked her because of her brother, or because they really liked who she was.
"But I can trust you two," Alexis said, "since you barely even know the Host Club. Honestly, I don't know how those other girls can be so… shallow."
Haruhi nodded in agreement, taking a bite of the marshmallow granola bar that she had bought from the food stand. Alexis had wanted to pay for it, but she wouldn't let her. Life was hard enough for her as it was. "I can't believe that those girls actually fell for those stupid tricks!"
"What stupid tricks?" All of a sudden, Tamaki was there, grabbing a chair sitting next to Alexis, who scooted away with disgust.
"Where's everyone else?" Sara asked, taking a swig from a bottle of Gatorade. "Dead?"
Tamaki shot his sister a look as she chuckled, looking away. "Obviously not. They're back in the other room, with the ladies. I just thought I'd like to accompany my sister here."
"I don't needsomeone to escort me around. If you don't remember, I'm older than you." Even though Alexis was way shorter than Tamaki, it seemed ordinary that she was the eldest sibling.
Her brother gestured to the empty salad tray. "Should I take this recycle this for you, dear sister?"
Alexis made a gagging sound, then said, "No, I'll take it myself," getting up. Sara was a bit reluctant to be left with Tamaki, along with Haruhi. Alexis was so much more in control of the blonde than her and Haruhi combined.
"Anyways," Tamaki started, "what did my sister tell you?"
"Why do you want to know?" Haruhi grumbled, pretending to be busy with the zipper of Sara's duffel bag. Her friend knew that she wanted to be anywhere other than with Tamaki right now, but it seemed like there wasn't any other choice.
Sara tried for a more… friendly opening. The blonde had already started the conversation, but because of Haruhi's unanswerable response, she had completely cut it off. But now Sara had the chance to see if Tamaki really wanted to learn to dance: because she knew that she would be the perfect teacher, and frankly, she had to admit it, the boy really was good-looking, even if he was a bit strange, what with the Host Club and everything. She picked at a loose hem at the bottom of her shirt, thinking of a good conversation-starter. "She told us that the Host Club wanted to learn to dance…?" She felt Haruhi kick her from underneath the table, which jostled a bit, but Tamaki didn't seem to notice.
"…Yeah. I know, it does seem a bit foolish, but with determination, we can accomplish anything!" He stood up, making lots of noise and attracting lots of attention. Haruhi glared at Sara as if to say, Great. Now we're being embarrassed by this dimwit.
Sara laughed nervously, still trying to keep the chat going. She knew Haruhi definitely didn't want to tutor the Host Club, but for Sara, it was an opportunity to see if she was any good at teaching ballet as she was at dancing ballet. "Alright, no need for the extra drama…"
Tamaki sat down, but he hunched forward, his blue eyes insistent. "It's not extra drama! I'm not kidding!"
"Would you calm down?" Haruhi grumbled.
Just then, Alexis came back, in a bit of a hurry. "Sorry, last minute Glee meeting. I'm so sorry, guys. If you want to come with me, you certainly can though. The Glee Club's always recruiting new members on late notice."
"I'm coming," Haruhi said before she had even finished her sentence, standing up and chucking her granola bar wrapper into the nearby garbage can. She was halfway down the path when she turned back. "Sara? Aren't you coming?" She glanced at Tamaki nervously.
Sara cleared her throat, putting her now-empty Gatorade bottle bag into her duffle bag. "Um, I think I'll stay here." Tamaki smiled at Haruhi in a reassuring way, which was to say, not very reassuring.
Haruhi had no idea why her friend was acting this way. She could not be falling for Tamaki. She wasn't that foolish; she was different other girls, wasn't that shallow. Haruhi almost winced from the thought. "You sure?"
Her friend nodded, her eyes meeting her's. And in that moment, Haruhi knew: she wasn't falling for Tamaki. She was trying to learn something from the experience of teaching.
But why?
When Haruhi and Alexis got to one of the doors, she stopped and took a deep breath. "Please don't act surprised. This is the door to the auditorium, and don't go crazy." Haruhi didn't need to say anything; Alexis knew that she would keep her promise. Then she pushed open the door.
It was pretty much like the Host Club's room, but with a darker aura, and there was a big stage, lights on the ceiling, and huge speakers. The walls were pure black, and the only things lighting the room were the beautiful bulbs from the back wall of the stage, and a few lights in front. In the middle of the stage, a small group was huddled, sitting in chairs and gathered around a table.
"Hey, everyone!" Alexis called out, and, spontaneously, they all turned their heads around.
One of them—a guy, Haruhi noticed, called out, "Alexis!" He jumped down from the stage and wrapped her up in a big bear hug. "How was Ouran?"
Alexis looked back at Haruhi and grinned. "I've been away for a while."
"Ah."
"This is Haruhi," Alexis said, pulling away from the guy. "She's new to the Dance Academy."
The guy nodded in acknowledgement. "Haruhi can join us for the meeting. C'mon. We've got Nationals to work on."
Haruhi followed as Alexis was filled in on the plans for the Glee Club. Apparently, from what she could hear, the guy's name was Nate, and he was the "secretary" for the Glee Club, and it seemed like he was one of the only friends that Alexis had. After sitting around and admiring things in the auditorium, she just had to ask, "So what have you guys been working on?"
Everyone stared at her as if she were an elephant in the room. They exchanged glances, and after an interminably long three seconds, their heads huddled back together.
Haruhi, bored, sat back down in one of the chairs, staring up at big ceiling. How was Sara doing? Haruhi had never seen her friend do something like that before…
"Haruhi," Alexis's voice rang out, interrupting her train of thought. "We'll show you."
And that's when the music started.
