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Four. Nothing Unusual, Nothing Strange

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It was nine o'clock and Sakura wanted to vomit.

Halloween used to be one of her favorite times of the year, but now it was just another drunken haze. When she had first moved to Manchester with her family, she went trick-or-treating with her big brother. She always dressed up as a princess; her father humored her by splurging on a new gown every year. But now, in high school, the last day of October has lost all its earlier innocence. Now Halloween meant dressing up or rather, dressing down—really, really down. Halloween is the only time of year when a girl can dress like a slut and get away with it.

Earlier in the week, Sakura and Tomoyo had gone shopping together for their Halloween costumes. Tomoyo had picked out a black lacey corset from Victoria's Secret, fishnets, and five inch black Steve Madden stilettos.

With a sour smile, Sakura had asked, "What are you suppose to be?"

Tomoyo had only shrugged and cooed, "Who cares."

Sakura eventually came home from the shopping trip with a tiny leopard print satin tube dress that was most likely shorter than her smallest mini-skirt. She did not know whether or not the dress merited as a costume but she didn't care anymore.

The Fielding twins, Elizabeth and Victoria, were throwing a big house party for Halloween; the whole school was going to be there. After Homecoming, the twins had been passing out invitations. The theme was haunted mansion. Rumor had it that they had hired a professional party planner to decorate. There was also both a DJ and a band booked for the evening.

She was suddenly grateful that Halloween fell on a Friday this year. Because, seriously, it was only nine o'clock and she wanted to fucking vomit. Sakura started partying at five o'clock with the girls. They met up at Tomoyo's house to get ready and dress up. After which, they proceeded promptly to get as high as they possibly can. Tomoyo shut off the fire alarm in her room and they sat around in a circle on Tomoyo's king size bed, passing around a joint.

It around the fifth hit Sakura took that she started to get really mellow. Sakura didn't smoke that often, not like Alex or KT. Sakura liked being high but she never handled smoking very well. It was hard on her throat and she usually coughed a lot while smoking. She always ended up with a sore throat the next morning.

The rest of the night became a blur. Somehow they got to the Halloween party, where, still high, Sakura also proceeded to get extremely drunk. Weed made Sakura really very mellow and she giggled softly to herself at things that didn't really make much sense.

When she looked at her cell phone for the time, it was suddenly nine o'clock and she wanted to vomit. It must have been the punch she drank too much of. It was too fruity and it colored her lips red. Weed and alcohol never mixed very well for her. The music was loud and made the ground vibrate. She couldn't tell if it was the drinks that made her lightheaded or the thumping music or the weed or the dancing or the screaming or a combination of all the aforementioned things.

Tomoyo tugged her hand and led her from one crowded room to another. From Tomoyo's slowed pace, Sakura could tell that Tomoyo was just as far gone as she was. They suddenly stopped when Tomoyo started to talk to some guy. Sakura lingered behind her, bored and slightly annoyed—all the boys wanted to talk to Tomoyo. The drink in her hand was almost gone, so Sakura downed it in one gulp, even though she wanted to throw up.

She jumped when a cool arm encircled her from behind in a friendly hug. Sakura spun around and smiled. "Christian!"

He smiled back. "Hey there, beautiful."

"What's up?" she asked; his arms were still around her and she hated the effect it was having on her.

"Nothing much, you know, same old. What about you?" he was still smiling.

She shook the empty Solo cup in her hand. "I'm out," she told him, blushing, and still terribly aware of the arm he has around her waist.

Christian leaned forward and whispered against her ear, "Wanna dance?"

"Okay," she breathed back and breathed in the scent of the particular brand of cologne he wore. Somewhere in her mind warning signs were flashing but she ignored them all. In this moment, within the drug and alcohol induced haze, she wanted to be in Christian's arms and wanted, more than she should, his tongue against her lips.

He took the cup from her hand and tossed it carelessly aside. He led her a few step away to a slightly less crowded area of the room just as a hip-pop track started blasting. Sakura moved with the music, moved against him. Her hands found their way to the expanse of his back and she pulled him closer—their bodies grinding against each other; his hand digging into the small of her back.

Christian laid a trail of kisses from her neck to her shoulder. She let out a soft moan and turned as to allow him better access. Sakura wasn't sure what was happening only that she wanted it to keep going. Christian slipped his hand beneath her chin, lifting her lips up to meet his.

Sakura wasn't really one of those girls, but sometimes she wished that she was. Emma could go through four boys in one night and wouldn't even blink. Sakura wanted to be emotionally detached. She wanted to kiss Christian right now and have it mean nothing tomorrow morning.

Christian was kissing her and she was kissing him back. They had stopped dancing; now, they just stood still, fully absorbed in tasting each other. His hand came up to cup the back of her neck and the other hand lost in her hair.

Suddenly something clicked in the back of Sakura's mind, surfacing from the fog. A kiss was a kiss was a kiss and it was incredible personal. Sakura wasn't one of those girls. She could not kiss Christian like this and have it mean nothing tomorrow. She felt nauseous.

"Stop." She pushed him away.

He looked confused. "Come on, baby," he slurred. "Come home with me."

Sakura definitely felt sick to her stomach. "I can't," she blurted over the music and bolted for the bathroom.

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It turned out that the line for the bathroom was obscenely long. So, Sakura made a run for the backyard. She burst into the cold night air and for a moment hated herself for wearing a nonexistent dress.

The giant sliding glass door slammed shut behind her and an unfamiliar silence fell around her. The noise of the party had been pushed away into what it felt like a bad dream.

"Shit," she muttered and tried to take deep breaths in order to alleviate the twisting nausea. Sakura felt numb to the bitter autumn air. It was a clear sky and she looked up into the cloudless sky at the stars, suddenly unable to appreciate their beauty. The world felt like it was slipping away. The vertigo was catching up to her. Sakura couldn't remember the last time she was this messed up. Hell, she couldn't even think straight. She bent forward to brace herself against her knees, unsure of her ability to stand. Her stomach gave a violent lurch.

"Um, sorry, I didn't see you out here," a voice said behind her.

Sakura turned around to see a tall auburn haired guy looking at her earnestly. She hadn't heard the door slide because she was too busy concentrating on breathing. She didn't say anything but the look on her face probably gave her away because the boy looked concerned.

"Fuck, are you okay?" he asked alarmed.

Sakura nodded quickly. She didn't trust herself to actually say something because she was afraid that as soon as she would open her mouth she might end up puking all over the ground.

He didn't look convinced. The glass door slid shut behind him as he walked closer to her. "Can I—are—you don't look good," he finally said.

Sakura gave him a weak smile and pushed the hair out of her green eyes. "I'm fine," she managed to say softly.

"Can I get you something?" he asked unconvinced. "Maybe some water?"

She wanted to shake her head but then her stomach gave one last unstoppable heave. Unable to prevent it, Sakura bent over the nearest bush and emptied the contents of her twisting stomach. She only felt slightly better after it was done. But before she could properly react to what had happened the auburn haired guy was thrusting some paper napkins into her hands.

"Thanks," she murmured, keeping her eyes glued to the ground. She was so embarrassed. She couldn't believe she had just thrown up like that in front of a complete stranger. Oh God, what happened?

"Are you feeling better?" he asked. The concern was still in his voice.

"Yeah, a little," she replied and took another deep breath. Her stomach calmed. "I'm really sorry. About this."

He shook his head and Sakura caught his striking amber eyes in the little light coming through the lofty glass doors. "It's no problem."

She felt cold, now, instead of numb and everything had stopped spinning. Sakura folded her arms in front of her and looked away, still ashamed of herself. She was blushing furiously. "I'm so sorry," she repeated.

"You really shouldn't stand out here in the cold," the guy said instead.

At these words, Sakura looked up and studied his face. She suddenly smiled; it was the first real smile in a long time. "You're probably right."

"I'm Syaoran, by the way," the boy said and returned the smile.

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Author's Notes: I want to apologize for the lack of updates to this story. I swear I'm still working on it and the next chapter had already been started.

Unfortunately, marijuana use is very common with high school students. I wanted this story to be real, no pretense and so this is everything. But I want to stress that this is only a story and I don't condone nor encourage drug use.

Please review before you leave!