So I'm sitting here, singing along to the Seoul Song and reading the sequel to Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, her newly released Linger. Very good so far. I can't get enough of her writing. It's so unique. And the fact that the entire thing is printed in green ink (just as Shiveris printed all in blue) is always a plus. But I'm trying to drag the book out and read it as slowly as possible. (Since all of my ongoing serieses always tend to release books at the same time - months from now -.-) Which got me to thinking that I should add another chapter.

If you haven't notice by now, the chapters are being named after songs. 'Help, I'm Alive' is by Metric, and 'Sleepwalking' is by Erin McCarley. I listen to a lot of music when I write up new things and I figured it was only appropriate to list some of them as I went along. Think of it as a little soundtrack.

A few original characters are introduced in this chapter. Because Mr. Terada's an elementary school teacher, I couldn't use him. So I created a teacher that sort of reminds me of a mix of two of my favorites from my old high school. There's another teacher added soon after too. And then there's Sora. He's been a friend of Sakura's since elementary school. (Because we all know that there were more students in Sakura's class then just the ones that were named.) I tried to make him a bit different than every other male character (since there really aren't enough mentioned in the books) and hopefully I'll be able to develop him more later on. His first name literally means sky, so I wanted his appearance to reflect it.

One of Meiling's groopies is also introduced, but her name isn't actually mentioned for a few more chapters. Not that I expect people to actually be curious about her. But I guess I can state that her name is Shina. You know, for the few of you that are actually taking the time to read this.

I've got to stop rambling like this .
Anyway, here's the third chapter of Adapting.
Enjoy!

Sakura eyed the clock, instantly losing her train of thought. "Oh no! I'm going to be late if I don't hurry!" She dashed around the table, grabbing her bag and lunch money before shoving her feet into her rollerblades. Just as she was about to slam the door shut behind her, her father stretched out his hand. Sakura blushed. It was her lunch money. "Thanks, Dad."

Touya rolled his dark eyes. He thought that his little sister would have grown out of her late streak by now, though he had to admit that she was at least fairly consistent. Every year since the third grade she's been on a roll, making it to class without a moment to spare. He followed her out the door, with Yukito at his side. Their father just shook his head and locked up the house before wishing everyone a good day. He put the car into reverse, and then he was gone, driving off to teach his first class of the day. "You know when you don't wait till the last minute, like normal people, you don't have to rush like this." She shot her brother a glare and he smiled at her, irritating her further.

"I'm normal!" The tiny girl fumed as she strapped on the last of her pads. "And I do not wait until the last moment to leave! You just distracted me!"

"And I suppose I do that every morning, right Monster?" His eyes glinted as he looked down to her, thoroughly amused. Sakura's lips pushed into a hard line as she stomped on his awaiting foot, rollerblades and all. Touya let out a yelp.

"You want a ride, Sakura?" Yukito pipped up, grinning at how adorable the two siblings looked when they were arguing and attempting to inflict pain on one and other. He believed it was their way of showing affection.

Sakura gasped, clapping her hands together; returning back to the picture of innocence. "R-really, Yukito-san?" She knew she'd had a crush on him for some reason. It was because while her brother was harsh and enjoyed her suffering, Yukito was dependable and kind.

"Of course. Touya and I were just going over that way to get some coffee before our first class. Your school's on the way."

The tiny cheerleader could have danced with pleasure at her luck. She nodded up to grey-haired university student, making a mental note to get him something really nice to repay him for all of his kindness. Touya grumbled as they piled into the car, though wasn't exactly complaining. Sakura took off her rollerblades and shoved them into her bag as they drove down the familiar streets that would have taken her so much longer to travel through. She chattered happily with Yukito from the back while her brother sulked in the passanger seat, staring out the window. After a few minutes, something caught his eye.

"Hey Squirt, when did your house sell?" he asked, pointing a finger at the white house she'd passed the day before. Over the years she'd always told stories of her fantasy house to anyone who would listen to her. What she imagined the inside of it to be like, how she wanted to decorate it, what she wanted her own family to be like living in it, and how she dreamed of looking out its large windows to see the cherry blossom trees in bloom. Yukito had been the one who would take interest in her tales as they traveled to school together, Touya and his friend riding their bikes while Sakura rollerbladed. Sakura had always thought her brother ignored her, though she inwardly told herself that his mind probably retained the information unwillingly. Like one of those songs that you hate, but you can't help but hum it throughout the day.

The girl let out a long sigh. "I don't know when it sold. But it happened really recently. I saw the moving trucks all unloading stuff yesterday. Whoever's living there now has a lot of weird and unusual stuff. They can't be from around here." She shook her head, recalling the feeling she'd had when she'd seen it all unfold before her. "It was terrible. Seeing it all. Knowing that someone else is living in my house."

Her brother frowned at his sister's comment. He'd known how much she aspired to live in the house, it wasn't as if she'd ever attempted to keep that fact a secret. He also knew how much such a simple sight as that could really upset her, though. At heart, Sakura was a kind person. She was the type to enjoy the simple moments and live life thinking the best of people. He winced when he imagined his sister, hurt and afraid from what had happened to her earlier that day, slowly rollerblading to the university for his support. And even then, it had been out of his hands. All he could do was give her advice, because nothing out-of-the-ordinary was happening to him.

"You said that their stuff is strange, though?" He questioned, formulating a plan in his brain.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Really strange. Nothing like what you'd see at ourhouse. Most of it looked as though it belonged in a museum, not someone's home. Not at all inviting." She frowned, thinking of how wrong her house must look.

"Well then maybe they aren't staying in it for long. I mean, it sounds like whoever's moving in there is pretty 'different' and they might get easily bored with our small town." Touya replied, turning around slightly in his seat to address his sister.

The auburn-haired girl smiled. "I hope you're right, Touya."

When they finally arrived to the high school, Sakura rushed to thank them again. She had gotten to school with time to spare - something unthinkable to her. Touya got out of the car to ruffle her hair and gave her a slight hug when he thought no one was looking. "Be good," was her brothers' way of wishing her a good day. The cheerleader smiled and made her way up the school's front steps, waving at the car until they'd turned the corner on their way to the coffee shop.

After nearly skipping through the halls and grabbing her books at her shared locker, Sakura took her seat in her first period class and grinned to the raven-haired girl already seated next to her. Tomoyo let out an excited squeak, pointing to the digital clock on her Blackberry.

"Sakura-chan? To class early?" she drew out the last word, smirking from ear to ear. "This is a first! Oh, I wish I had my video camera!" she pouted, her bottom lip quivering before she burst into a fit of giggles.

"Ha ha, very funny Tomoyo." Sakura replied sarcastically before joining her friend in her light-hearted laughing.

"It is, though! It's just so unlike you," Tomoyo explained, wiping at the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"Well I was running late. But when Yukito-san stopped by to pick up Touya, he offered to give me a ride." She blushed, thinking how it must look to her friend. Here she was admitting to getting dropped off to school by her former crush. Her younger self would have squealed at the mere thought of it.

"Too bad Touya was there, huh?" Tomoyo questioned, the smirk returning.

Sakura blushed a deeper shade, replying quietly. "You know I don't like Yukito-san that way anymore. He's too much like family. He has been around long enough for me to consider him family. And besides, Touya was actually pretty nice when he was letting me out. He even hugged me, which is kind of weird and all for him, but it was surprisingly nice."

"Not exactly the response I expected to get." The raven-haired girl joked. "But here you are having a cute sibling moment with your older brother andyou're on time? What a day to leave my video camera at home!" Tomoyo sighed and dropped her face into her folded arms, feigning depression. Sakura grinned, straightening herself in her seat and looking over her books to make sure she had everything while she still had time to run back to her locker.

AP History was (by far) one of her best classes. She was even top of her class. She'd do extra credit just because history itself intrigued her, something she assumed she'd inherited from her father. But as she sat in silence, waiting for the bell to ring, her mind got to wandering to less than cheerful topics. Though she hadn't let on to it, her brother's remark about her screaming her lungs out had really disturbed her. It frightened her that she couldn't remember any of the night after she'd dozed off, though she was almost positive that she didn't want to when considering the whole yelling part of it. It had to be really bad. It wasn't like her to forget her dreams. She knew how important they could be; little premonitions sent to her in her sleep. She'd always considered them a gift. With them she was able to protect those she loved. But if she couldn't remember her dreams ... what would happen then?

The slight girl shuddered at the thought.

"Hey Sakura!" a male voice interrupted her train of thought. She turned around in her seat, seeking out who the voice belonged to, her chestnut waves dancing from the abrupt movement. A young man a few seats behind her flashed her a brilliant smile, his pale eyes sparkling down to her. He was fair skinned and muscular, had silvery hair that was almost white in the light and stretched down to his shoulders, and the palest of blue eyes. He was breathtakingly handsome, though Sakura didn't seem to take any notice.

"Oh, hey Sora-kun." she waved, smiling out of politeness.

Sakura had met the young man in her last year of elementary school. His family had moved across town that year and instead of him attending their usual high-society private school, his parents had decided to enroll him at Tomeoda Elementary. As the years passed, he opened up and became one of the best soccer players the small town had ever seen. He was popular without being cocky. Good-looking without being conceited. And he'd been a close friend of Sakura's ever since she'd linked arms with him and skipped him to his first soccer practice at his new school, all those years ago.

The silvery-haired boy, Sora Nishimura, came from old money and was to inherit a large japanese music label when his respectable father finally retired. He was an only child, tutored from birth to the fifth grade. Taught the most intricate rules of edicate and all other things 'respectable' and expected of him. He was the complete opposite of the tiny cheerleader. Yet he'd gained her friendship in a matter of moments. Sakura had never regretted her actions. She learned that despite him having the sort of upbringing that he did, he was one of the kindest and most selfless people she'd ever come in contact with. As time passed, she'd become accustom to feeling proud of their friendship, knowing she was lucky to have him around.

The teenager waved back and bit his lip, unsure of himself. Though when his eyes met her warm sage ones, he found the resolve to ask. "So, um, I was wondering what you had going on tonight. Because there's that new movie that comes out today and I thought-" he was interrupted by an angry Tomoyo - a rarer sight to come by than Haley's comet.

"She can't. It's Girl's Night." her tone was curt as she shook her head to him, ebony tresses whipping about. Still, the hope did not drain completely from his fair orbs until he looked back to Sakura.

"She's right. I can't miss it. We've all been doing it since we were in elementary school and the only time anyone's ever hasn't shown up to it was when Naoko had a funeral to attend out of the country. And even then, we still all got together and called her." she smiled at the memory, remembering how chest-fallen her and the other four girls had been, all sulking and whining up until they'd concocted their plan. Together they'd watched movie after movie, Naoko watching the same ones from the room she was sitting in so that they could talk about them while they played. It had been that important to them - and it still was. "You understand, right?" Sakura frowned. She hated confrontations. And having known Sora for years only made it that much worse.

He nodded, smiling sadly. "Of course, yeah. Maybe some other time then?" the corners of her lips curled into a small grin, though she made a point not to respond.

Mr. Kita chose that time to call the class to order, opening the classroom's door to allow a person inside. The young man that emerged from the hallway was tall and lean, noticeably well built even while donning the school uniform. His dark brown hair was messy and casual; the ends of it curling at his ears. "This is Syaoran Li. He's traveled all the way from Hong Kong and will be in our class for the remainder of the school year. I trust that you'll all make him feel welcome." Mr. Kita's voice was stern when speaking to the class, though the middle aged man's eyes danced.

"His eyes are so unusual." Rika mumbled from her place in front of Tomoyo. She ran a hand through her shoulder-length curls, looking for the right words. "They aren't scary, but they're so intent. Like he can see right into your soul." The tall girl spoke quietly to her two friends, attempting to convey the power of his gaze.

"You're right about the soul thing, Rika." Tomoyo replied softly, shuddering. "But he's so serious!" she pouted, then grinned as she turned to her cousin seated to her left.

Sakura's emerald orbs were locked on the new student's amber ones. The intensity of his gaze frightened the tawny-haired cheerleader, though she couldn't seem to stop herself from staring back just as boldly. His dark brows knit when the teacher addressed him, though he didn't make any other indication that he was paying attention to the him. The middle-aged man merely grinned as he loosened his tie, mumbling something about teenagers and their uncontrollable hormones under his breath.

"Why don't you sit behind Kinomoto? She's got a personality to match her appearance." His warm eyes drifted back and forth between the two, adding "Sakura, would you mind raising your hand?" for their benefit, chuckling all the while.

The girl who'd caught his attention held up a shaky hand, and he felt his heart pound madly against his chest. Syaoran tilted his head forward slightly as he made his way to his seat, causing his dark hair to fall into his eyes and cover his flushed face. He ran a hand through it in an attempt to calm himself, and let out a sigh of relief once he was out of the green-eyed girl's line of vision. With the new student situated, Mr. Kita was able to begin his lesson.

Though he took careful notes and even wrote down some of the remarks the teacher made while talking to the class of the time period, the chestnut-haired young man was unable to retain any of the information. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he willed himself to concentrate. Only to find himself staring intently at the girl again, just moments later.

What is wrong with me?

He'd never reacted to girls this way before. Normally he was so calm and collected, indifferent even. That was how he drew so many girls to him in the first place; he acted as if he could care less. But now, only having met eyes with an exceptionally pretty girl, he was a complete mess. How was that even possible? He'd thought after years of enduring his family's harsh stares that he'd be impermeable to the outside world. Nearly invincible in situations like this. Boy was I wrong.His dark brows furrowed and he gave the hair on the crown of his head a slight tug, frustrated. He was waging an internal battle - only to be losing. He rested his head on his desk and closed his eyes, hoping the cool surface of it would help his now throbbing headache. That was when he heard the whispering.

"I wonder why he came here." giggled a girl distantly. Syaoran's eyes snapped open to view the speaker whose inky hair was pulled back into a pair of low pigtails. Despite her being a couple rows over from him, he could clearly make out her every word.

So much for keeping her thoughts to herself.

She was thin and toned; even Syaoran had to admit that she was beautiful. Her skirt seemed shorter than the other girls' in the room so he assumed it was by her own doing. It elongated her fair legs, though, and caused most of the boys in the class to shift uncomfortably in their seats whenever they caught sight of just a sliver more than what they would have otherwise seen. She didn't bother wearing a tie that was meant to go along with the uniform, instead she kept the first few buttons of her blouse unfastened - not enough to be considered inappropriate and risk being sent home, though it still caused Mr. Kita to raise his brows and shoot her disapproving looks every now and then. Syaoran wasn't impressed. To him, she appeared as if she were trying too hard to gain attention.

Her companion shrugged. "Me too. Maybe he did something bad enough to have to move here." she whispered back, stealing a quick peek of their subject. Her dark hair was pulled back into a casual bun, and she would have otherwise blended in with the rest of the students if she hadn't had a small portion of hair (that was obviously meant to frame her face) the color of purple lilacs. She wound that small lock round her index finger in a careless fashion as she and her friend conversed.

The first girl looked him over again, scarlet eyes searching him, before shaking her head. "No. He looks too stiff. And quiet. He definitely goes by the rules." She paused, smirking. Syaoran stiffened at her scrutiny, sitting bolt upright. Her firey eyes flashed with amusement. "Even so, he still is really good-looking."

The girl with the streak in her hair laughed. "Uh-oh. I know that look, Meiling. New one already?"

Meiling nodded. "Sora's fun and all, but this one ..." She flipped a pigtail over her shoulder and blatantly stared at the new student until he felt her gaze on him again. When he looked for its source his amber orbs met her ruby ones and she smirked again, then waved to him with her perfectly manicured fingers.

The look the frightening girl gave him made the teenage boy instantly uncomfortable. She stared at him with a predatory gaze, hungrily drinking in his appearance. It made him feel like he was a small animal that had been caged and left to be a hungry tiger's next meal. He gulped. Bye-bye little wolf. The thought made him wince internally.

She licked her lips, attempting seduction as she murmured quietly, "This one will be so much more interesting."

Meiling and her debvious self. I wonder what she's planning . . . ;D
Whatever it is, Syaoran sure doesn't seem up for it.
Oh, and before I get people questioning me about it, Meiling's last name in this is Rae. Like in the show. She isn't the cousin who ends up following Syaoran to Japan just so she can be with him. Nope. In Tomeoda, she's clearly one of the most popular girl's to ever walk the high school's halls. She also happens to be Sakura's long-running rival that I mentioned in my profile summery.

I'm pretty sure I really like switching point-of-views. I do some more of it in later chapters too. It's fun, getting into familiar characters' heads and describing what they see. I still have yet to do something in like the the eyes of Tomoyo or Eriol-kun. I know that they're more calculating and mischievous - so much different from Sakura-chan and Syaoran. Although they'd probably be a lot fun to write in. Come to think of it, I haven't written anything up in Meiling's POV either. I might give her a go soon . . .

Anyway, yeah. This chapter's named after Jimmy Eat World's 'Sweetness'.
Old song, but pretty upbeat. (What Jimmy Eat world song isn't upbeat?) And although it doesn't say much, it just has a way of putting you into an incredible mood. Defiantly something I could imagine Sakura dancing wildly to. Like full on, bouncing around while whipping her hair about to the beat. Makes me want to at least ;D

Reviews and some polite criticizem would be greatly appreciated.
Huge thanks to those who have already reviewed: James Birdsong, sunechirei, and I wish I wasn't tone-deaf (who writes one of my favorite fanfics on here, Reputation).

Till next time,
- jo