Cheerleaders
Chapter Nine
I let out a huge yawn as Sai and I waited at the bus stop. It was still a little sunny, which was a good sign for the upcoming party. I cursed the sun for blaring so violently in my eyes. Sai smiled at me whenever I winced and looked away from the sun, but what was there really to be happy about? The weather was hotter than expected for the first week of October, I was going to a party in two days, and I was tired enough to sleep all through the night right that moment.
…Maybe from a different perspective, this would've seemed like a good day.
I snapped out of my daze when Sai told me the bus was coming. There was a small crowd around us, watching as the bus neared as well. The vast majority of students had their own cars; the unlucky few either hitched rides or took the bus. The bus halted right in front of Sai. I mentally cheered in victory. We could get one of the good seats; the ones in the back.
I quickly walked up the stairs and walked to the back, Sai sat down at the end of the row, the window to his right. I sat down next to him. I swung my bag off my shoulder and onto my lap, reaching into one of the pockets and pulling something out just as someone sat next to me.
"Hey," An airy voice whispered near my ear, resulting in a violent shiver in my spine.
I turned my head cautiously, looking up and seeing Sasuke, slightly hunched in my general direction. "H-Hi, Sasuke-kun." I mumbled. I quickly tore my eyes away from him and pulled the stylus out of its designated place. I opened my DS.
"Zelda?" Sai asked me as I turned it on, completely unaware of the boy on my other side.
I paused and watched it turn on, I unsure as well. "No," I said, once the screen told me, "Mario, this time." I told him with a smile. The smile he sent me back made me blush and look away in a rush.
"Look," I heard on my other side. I furrowed my brows. I had a feeling I'd be turning my head left and right for the whole ride. I fought the urge to turn towards him. "I'm sorry about what happened in math class…" He told me.
I flinched and watched Mario fall into a ditch. I paused to glance at Sai. He was looking out the window. I turned my head to Sasuke. "Hey, it's fine. Obviously, I said something to offend you." I told him.
He shook his head. "That doesn't give anyone the right to ignore a pretty woman's words so rudely." He retorted.
I felt my eye twitch and my cheeks redden.
He smirked at my reaction. "Sorry, I have a very dedicated history teacher…" He sighed, "All about chivalry." He muttered.
I stared at him, arched eyebrows raised. "And long lives the saying, 'Chivalry's dead'."
He laughed a bit, the sound making my stomach flip, and said, "I assure you that if he heard that, you'd get a five thousand word essay on the history of science."
I laughed a bit and turned back to my game. "Anyway, what was it that really bothered you? What did I say?" I asked.
He immediately stiffened at my question. "Is it that important?" He asked dryly.
I paused out of fear. "W-Well, I think so. I wouldn't want to mention it again, right?" I mumbled.
He let out a sigh and looked at me. I kept my eyes on the game.
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"Oh, god. My parents are going to freak out." I said, rubbing my temples as I walked down the sidewalk. Funny how Sasuke walked closely behind me.
"Really?" He asked skeptically.
"Yes. Really. And then they're going to think –the party – boys – ugh! No. Please, you can't come in." I said, for the umpteenth time.
He put his hands in his pockets. "Party?" He asked.
I shook my head. "Dad being promoted, and – never mind, nothing." I sighed.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." He told me.
"What do you mean, it'll be fine? You've got some sixth sense or something?" I asked dryly. Why oh why did he have to follow me home? I turned around and walked on the stone steps leading to the front porch backwards to watch his expression.
"It's huge." He commented while staring up at it.
I flashed him a shy smile. "Yes, I know. I think we have four guest rooms or something. It's really weird… and empty." I told him.
He followed me up to the door. Before I could pull out my keys, he grabbed my arm and spun me around. Something about the way he'd gone through with it made me think he was about to shove his tongue down my throat. I strangled that thought.
"What?" I asked him, trying to sound casual. If my mom saw us like this, she'd probably think the same thing as I had. The thought gagged but, ahem, didn't die.
"Well…" He paused, "Do you… you know, have some sorts of house rules or something?" He asked me, finally letting go of my arm.
That had been unexpected. "Oh," I said, tilting my head sideways and tapping my chin, "Right! Do not feed Phantom," He gave me a strange look at this, so I clarified, "The dog. And whatever you do, never, I repeat, never, steal the cinnamon roll with the most sugar coating on it – or you will get skinned alive – and do not ever let your guard down around my mother. She is insane and needs immediate psychiatric help. So… Do not." I told him.
"… Insane?" He asked slowly.
I shrugged. "Not in the literal sense." I told him, turning around again and twisting my key in the key hole, unlocking the door and pushing it open.
I made sure it was locked behind me before slipping off my shoes. Sasuke copied. "Mom, I'm home!" I called out, and then whispered to Sasuke, "Here comes the dog, brace yourself." Right down the hall, I could see Phantom sprinting towards us. Sasuke tensed beside me and took a step back.
The Dalmatian ran right up to him and jumped onto him, successfully knocking him backwards into the door. I was glad I'd locked it, or he would've probably flown right off the porch and onto the lawn. I rolled my eyes and managed to pull the dog away from him by his collar, barely stopping him from slobbering all over Sasuke's face. I kneeled down in front of the dog with a serious expression. "Where are your manners, huh?" I asked him as I looked him in the face. It always scared him.
He cowered slightly before dashing back down the hall, tail between his legs. I sighed and turned back to Sasuke, holding out a hand to him as he stared at me, eyes wide and sprawled all over the floor… and door. He noticed my hand and took it. I leaned backwards, still on my knees and in the process of standing up. The jerk smirked and pulled me forward with a (gentle) tug of his arm. I gasped as I lost my balance and fell over. I managed to stop myself by putting my hand against the wall. I blushed madly. Was he flirting with me? I froze when I realize our position. I sat on my knees on the ground, between his freaking legs, hovering over him, my back arched in his direction and my hand beside his head, pressing against the door. He topped it all off with a smirk. He watched me fist my hand and pull it backwards with mock-surprise.
"Sakura?" I heard my mom call. I scrambled off of him and quickly rose to my feet. I turned around, to act as if nothing happened, but she was already half-way down the hall, having seen the whole thing. The shade of my face must've gotten darker, because she had this glint in her eye…
"H-Hey, mom…" I mumbled.
She watched Sasuke rise to his feet, and step forward. She then looked at me. "Aren't you going to introduce us? I should at least know who I find my daughter on top, right?" She asked bitterly.
I smacked my forehead and stood between the two. "W-Well… this is my mom, Sasuke. Mom, this is my friend, Sasuke Uchiha." I emphasized the word 'friend' but it wasn't that that she'd noticed.
Her eyes widened for a moment. "Uchiha?" She asked.
I furrowed my brows as I nodded my head. "Yeah… what's wrong?" The fact that your mom found you on top of a boy that she apparently KNOWS. AND BETWEEN HIS FREAKING LEGS, TOO.
She quickly regained her composure, and looked at him with strange eyes. She smiled a bit then, but it was a bizarre smile, resigned, held back, as if a real one would hurt him. That was it, like he was fragile. She looked at him as though he were fragile. "Oh…" She only said, "Would you like some cinnamon rolls… perhaps?"
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I sighed. "This is my room. There. You got a full tour." I muttered.
He sat down casually on my bed, as if he did this all the time. Err… did this all the time? Sasuke Uchiha coming into teenage girls' houses and getting them into loads of trouble by posing in suggestive positions with them and letting their parents witness them all the time? I begged to god he didn't.
I ripped off another piece of my cinnamon roll with my teeth. Chewing angrily as I bore my eyes into his dark ones.
He chuckled as he stared at me. "I've never seen this side of you," He said quietly.
I scoffed. "Well, I've never seen this side of you either. Pervet." I hissed.
It infuriated me even more that he had the audacity to turn slightly smug at my comment. "About when I pulled you down-"
"I'm not accepting apologies, in case you haven't realized that yet." I muttered.
"-It was only to test you. I didn't mean for your mother to see that." He finished.
I just gaped at him, "Test me?" I growled. I stood up and walked up to him. "Didn't mean to? Sasuke-kun, it doesn't matter what you meant; I'm in a load of shit!" My voice faltered and turned into more of a whine. I couldn't possibly stay angry for more than a few minutes. I just wasn't an angry person. I sat down beside him and sighed tiredly.
He leaned backwards on his hands. "Don't worry, it'll be fine." He repeated.
I only rolled my eyes, unable to do much more. "So… what exactly were you testing, genius?" I muttered.
"Your reaction. You know, you're really different than I thought you were." He said, "I really thought you'd be like Hinata and shy and everything… but you're only like that at school. You were really about to punch my lights out?"
I smiled a bit. "Yeah. About being different… I could say the same. The only times you talk at school are either when you're insulting Naruto or answering a teacher's question. Even then it's kind of hard to hear what you're saying over all the squealing girls." I laughed.
He snorted. "Which is why I don't talk a lot. Once, I think I asked this girl for a pencil, and then the whole class broke out and started yelling and screaming things like," He changed into a high falsetto, "'Sasuke, I thought we had something'. I never finished my sentence." He growled.
I fell back onto my bed and burst out in laughter.
He just stared at me, one eyebrow raised. "What?" he asked.
"God, you're so funny!" I roared, turning onto my side and curling slightly as I laughed.
A pink tint was visible on his cheeks as he scowled at me. "I am not funny." He seethed.
I quickly calmed down and pulled myself up. "So, are you going to tell me what I said wrong?" I asked him.
His cheek returned to their pale color and his face suddenly turned stoic.
I sat on my legs and put my hands on my lap. "This is the sole reason why you came, remember?" I reminded him.
He let out a deep breath and lifted his legs onto the bed, turning towards me and crossing them. Another deep breath came before opening his mouth. "What I'm about to tell you-"
"Sakura! It's time for your friend to go home!" My mother called sweetly from the floor beneath us.
I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Lucky me…" I muttered, "Now I get a whole lecture about boys."
"I guess this is my cue," he said, rising from the comfy mattress.
I led him down the stairs and to the door, where my mother left me alone to say a proper goodbye. Before that, though, I snatched another cinnamon roll for him. "Here," I said as I gave him the treat wrapped in a napkin, "I saw how fast you shoved down the last one. Hope you enjoy this one as much as the last." I said, blushing a bit as he took it from me impassively. There he went again with his attitude. I giggled a bit at how fast he could change.
Ironically, as I thought his, he grabbed my arm and pulled me forward in that I-could-really-shove-my-tongue-down-your-throat-right-now sort of way and whispered, "Bring a few to the party, will you?" He asked me. He was jogging down the stone path before I had even opened my mouth, and then, after my mother had snuck up behind me, he turned around to say a final, "See you at the Party," and disappeared behind the stone wall.
Way to end the day. I might as well say my prayers.
I gulped as I closed the door and faced my mother. "We've got to talk." She said a matter-of-factly, a cinnamon roll already in hand.
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I sat down on a chair facing my mother. It must've been two in the morning. I hadn't really counted. Dad must've been asleep by now, to afraid to enter in, what looked like, our intense conversation. "And so… that's why patience and a slow pace are important in a relationship."
"Mom, I've told you a thousand times – we are not in a relationship!"
She sighed and shook her head. "But he's your date for the party! Maybe this is one-sided, but the point is; you like him." She told me.
"Whatever," I muttered.
She stared at me for a moment. "So… what exactly happened at the door?" She asked me slowly.
My face flamed so obviously it was ridiculous. "Well, Phantom jumped on him and he fell backwards. So…" I paused, "When he realized he was in trouble he ran back through my legs, and I lost my balance and fell on top of Sasuke-kun." I lied.
"Oh. Okay." She said. She'd always been the gullible – er – forgiving type.
I narrowed my eyes. "Why didn't you ask me before the lecture?" I asked.
She smiled, glancing at the empty basket, where the cinnamon rolls used to be. Her eyebrow twitched. She looked back up at me. "Well, it was necessary. Now go to bed, we're going out tomorrow." She told me.
I sighed, "Fine, fine."