DISCLAIMER: I do not own CCS…CLAMP does. Well that's a bit obvious…hehe…pls don't sue me! I also don't own She's all That, A Walk to Remember and The Notebook.

NOTE: Words in Italics means the character's thoughts. Please read and review!

SUMMARY:

He was a typical teen…conformed and popular…she didn't belong and was misunderstood…their paths are thrown together and their lives are changed forever. It all comes down to who's by your side. Based on the movies She's all That, A walk to remember and The Notebook.

Chapter 3: Making a move

Syaoran Li laid in his bed staring at the blank white ceiling with thoughts churning in his mind.

What is Eriol playing at? How can I change such a person? I remember her from primary school…she looked cute then but she's gotten so ugly now! I wonder what happened to her? She used to be quite nice and was quite popular. She must have changed when she got into high school.

How come I didn't notice her till Eriol pointed her out to me? Maybe she's always been there but she seems transparent…almost invisible. But I have to win this bet…not to date Tomoyo but to prove that ANY girl would be able to be beautiful and go out with me. Not only that but Eriol always wins bets when we make them. At least she doesn't have to fall in love with me. I wouldn't want that to happen.

It would be so unfortunate because there's no way I would ever love her. How can I do this without looking suspicious? I heard from Eriol that she works at that animal shelter place. Maybe I should go there and pretend to be interested in getting an animal…nah I'll just ask her out. She'll say yes for sure. Most girls would die for the chance to go out with me…

But then why did Syaoran feel so worried…Why did he feel like she was different?


Sakura thought about her looks as she sat in the waiting room of the orthodontist. Would anyone notice if she got her braces removed? I hope no one notices…what could I do to make myself more invisible? I could always wear baggier clothing…or maybe I could make my shoes scruffier…

"Ms. Kinomoto Sakura."

Sakura walked to the orthodontist's room as she heard her name called.

"Well hello Sakura! Are you excited about getting your braces off today?" asked her orthodontist.

"Yeh…kinda." Sakura faked a small smile at her orthodontist.

"Well lets get to it then."

Sakura lied down on the chair and had an apron put on her as the orthodontist starting chiseling at certain parts of her braces. Sakura couldn't see what he was doing but saw him take a pair of pliers. He started twisting and turning at her braces and slowly bits came out. After what seemed like hours the orthodontist said

"All done. Here…rinse your mouth with this." Her orthodontist handed her a cup of water. Sakura rinsed her mouth and spat in the sink.

"Here Sakura…have a look at your new smile!" The orthodontist gave her a mirror and Sakura smiled at her reflection. She did look better but not a lot better so people wouldn't notice her anyway. If she kept her mouth closed that was. If she smiled she looked a lot better. Better not smile too much from now on.

"Wow it's cool…thanks Dr. Teniko. I need to go to work now." said Sakura. With that she put her skates on and skated to work. When Sakura had skated to the animal shelter she took off her skates and walked to her wheelie chair behind the desk. Sakura felt very bored and played with her pen. She had it in her hand and counted how many times it spun in her hand. One…two…three…

Ring! Sakura looked up to see a handsome boy walk through the door. She gasped. It was Syaoran Li. What on earth is he doing here? Goodness I hate him…he's such a popular prick…always caring about status, his reputation and all those things that don't matter in life…another person who takes life for granted…what crap…but he's so hot!

"Hey."

"Hi. What can I help you with today?" asked Sakura.

"Uumm…I'm looking for a dog for my older sister Fuutie. Her birthday's coming up." What the hell did I say that for? What happened to my just ask her out idea? Aahhh so stupid…now I'll actually have to get a damn dog! I need to win this bet. I hate seeing Eriol's face when he's right.

"Oh okay…well firstly do you want a puppy or a dog?" asked Sakura

"Uuummm a dog."

"Well follow me and I'll show you all the dogs we have. Then you can pick one if you like." Syaoran followed Sakura to the dogs. He noticed that she wore the same baggy clothes as always. I wonder what her body's actually like…is it curvy…flat?

"Okay thanks…I'll have a look." Sakura walked back and seated herself at her desk. What the hell is he doing here? Why would he want a stray dog? He's so rich. Why doesn't he just buy a purebred dog? That's weird…I hate him…such an arrogant cocky little bugger…thinks he's all macho. It's so weird that he's here…I wonder where his girlfriend Meiling is…

"Yeeeeoooooouuuccchhhhh! OW THAT HURTS!"

Sakura jumped up surprised at the sudden loud sound. She ran from her chair and into the room. Syaoran was sitting on the floor with his leg in his hands.

"What happened?"

"I was petting one of the dogs when it just bit me! Are these dogs tame? Do they attack everyone they see?" asked Syaoran.

"No…only the people they don't like."

"Oh."

"Well are you bleeding?"

"Yeh…my leg." Said Syaoran. Sakura sat next to him and looked at his leg. There were two small holes but surprisingly a lot of blood.

"Okay wait here. I'll get you a bandage. Don't go anywhere!"

"You think I can go anywhere in this condition?" Sakura ignored Syaoran and walked to get a bandage. What a jerk…so so rude…I just told him not to go anywhere! Sakura walked to Syaoran and kneeled next to him with the bandage.

"Hold still." Sakura worked quickly and efficiently to bandage Syaoran's leg. She had seen it done so many times before at the hospital.

"Okay all done. Are you all right to walk now?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

"Yeh I'm fine." Syaoran's face looked a bit pink. It's not hot or anything. I wonder why he's face is pink? thought Sakura.

"Hey your braces are gone." stated Syaoran. Ahh smart save Syaoran. Her hand was on my leg for too long and I could feel my face heating up…I hope she doesn't notice. She looks a lot better without those braces. Still she looks pretty bad. And she never smiles. She always looks like she's at a funeral. What is wrong with this chic? Syaoran's eyes washed over her baggy clothes, unkept eyebrows, scruffy shoes and granny hairstyle. Gee she looks ugly…

"Huh…oh you noticed…yeh I got them off today…" Crap. Crap. Crap. Syaoran realised I got my braces off. I thought I was invisible to him! If he notices then other people will notice…why did he have to notice? why? why?!

"So have you figured out which dog you want now?" asked Sakura.

Syaoran looked at Sakura and his amber eyes widened. He did a no way gesture.

"Are you kidding me? After that incident there is no way I'm getting a dog from here. They're really aggressive…it could've bitten my leg off!" Gee he exaggerates a lot.

"Well okay then…I guess I'll see you later. You can show yourself out then." Sakura then walked back to her desk with Syaoran trailing behind her.

"I'll see you then. Bye." said Syaoran as he walked out the door.

Finally the conceited little bum is gone…now I can think of ideas for my painting. I have to paint a happy painting so I need to think about subjects that make me happy…

I could paint a nice landscape with a cute couple…that's sweet or maybe I could paint people having fun at the beach…nah I want to do something with a bit more meaning…or maybe I could get a group of friends together and paint them…that would look good…they're all so different…it would really stand out…

Sakura continued to go through more ideas for her painting. She was especially looking forward to the art exhibition that was on tomorrow night. She was going to go by herself. She knew that eventually one day she would leave the ones she loved so it was best to get used to doing things by herself. She didn't want to burden anyone into making them come with her everywhere. Her condition was not a weapon. She looked at her reflection on her computer screen. She felt so miserable at the way she looked and wanted so desperately to go back to what it was like before her mum died. But it was to hard to think about. Everytime Sakura started to think about her mum she would feel empty as if there was something missing.

Too make it worse her condition made her feel like she was a trapped bird. Sometimes she would have disturbing dreams where she would be free in the field and then somehow she'd end up in a dark cage. The cage would be so small that she could not stretch her wings and she'd feel so claustrophobic…the cage would then start to close in on her and she'd stare out at all the other birds who lived their normal lives. Sakura would always wake up before the cage became too small for her to breathe but every night the cage got smaller and smaller. It didn't get smaller by much but it did get smaller and she was scared. She never told anyone about these dreams. She didn't want her father, brother and Tomoyo getting worried over nothing. They had their own lives to live.

Sakura then looked at her watch. 2:55pm. Time to close up. Wow I spaced out for only five minutes! That's a record. Sakura would often go in to her own thoughts for long periods of time. Sometimes she would space out for 15 minutes...sometimes she'd space out after lunch and when she looked at her watch it would be time for dinner. Her brother Touya always called her a space cadet while Tomoyo would say that Sakura's face would look unbelievably dazed. Sakura laughed at her thoughts. It's sad to think that one day I will leave them.


Syaoran felt like such an idiot when he had walked out of the animal shelter. He knew he acted like he was the King of the world but he couldn't help it. He had grown up in a family of seven with four older sisters. He was the only boy in his family and had been spoilt his whole life. To top it all off he always felt so superior when he talked to the 'losers.' But deep down he was not like this at all. He just put on this act because he had his popular reputation to uphold. He couldn't befriend the unpopular people. That would frankly be embarrassing.

Maybe Eriol chose Sakura so that people would laugh at me for befriending such a loser. I'll make sure she becomes popular too. I can't let Eriol win this bet! Okay Syaoran focus, focus, focus. Just go in there and ask her out! Then when she's comfortable you can ask her to Chiharu's party. Get it together! Syaoran hyped himself up like a boxer who was just going in to beat his opponent. He felt like he was going into a boxing ring. He might get smashed. He might come up victorious. Why am I comparing this to a boxing match? Oh yea. Because asking out a girl is like going into a boxing ring. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. Most of the time you lose. Rejection feels like the last blow to the head before you fall down. Crap! Why are guys expected to do this?! With that last thought Syaoran walked back into the animal shelter.


Ring! Sakura didn't bother to look up from her desk as she said

'We're closed!'

'You're still here. You can't be closed.' Sakura's head snapped up at the sound of Syaoran's voice. What is that moron doing here?!

"Okay fine. What do you want? A robotic dog that won't bite?" asked Sakura

Wow she's feisty! Who would have ever known. She always looks so spaced out!

"No. I was just wondering what you're doing tomorrow night?"

"What?-Oh well I'm going to the art exhibition on Gartfelder Street. Why do you ask?"

"Iwasjustwonderingifyouwantedtogooutwithmethat'sallnobiggie."

"Huh? What did you say?" Sakura was confused at why Syaoran seemed so flustered. He always looked like he owned the world.

"I SAID I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU WANTED TO GO OUT WITH ME THAT'S ALL!" screamed Syaoran. Why did I have to repeat that?! This so embarrassing! But I have to win this freaking bet!

"All right…all right Syaoran I heard you already! Gosh no need to scream. Umm are you playing a joke on me?! Why would you want to go out with me?" asked Sakura. I'm so confused. He's probably going to ask me out and then humiliate me in front of the whole damn school! Bastard!

"No, I'm not playing a joke on you…I just thought that you're interesting and I'd like to get to know you better…we could go to Chiharu's party this Sunday night." said Syaoran. What am I saying?! Oh man.

"Uh huh. What's in it for you? It can't be just to spend time in my company. Oh wait I know what this is! You want to get Prom King right? So this is a completely see-through scam/campaign thingy to get me to vote for you! Is that it?"

"Well kinda…but I want to get to know you better as well. I want to be able to say that I spoke to everyone in my grade by graduation." said Syaoran. It was a big lie. He didn't plan to talk to anyone else in the grade. He only talked to Sakura because he hoped she would go out with him. Then I can win that damn bet with Eriol!

"Okay fine, fine…I'll go with you. On one condition though." Said Sakura

"What's that?"

"Promise you won't fall in love with me."

Syaoran face split into a smile and said "Don't worry. That won't ever happen." He looked at her unkempt bushy eyebrows, her thick black glasses, her granny hairstyle, her baggy clothes and said "Yes…that's something that won't ever happen. I'll see you later." With that Syaoran walked out the door.

Sakura said "See ya" but then realised he had already left.


AUTHOR' NOTE: I hoped you guys liked this chapter…because I had fun writing it! When I started getting reviews for my 1st chapter I'd do a little victory dance (lame I know) because I was so happy…then I'd continue to write! So please send reviews because they are my favourite things ever and I will continue to write for your pleasure! (hey I rhymed! Lame I know). This is my first fanfic! The storyline is based on the movies She's all That, A Walk to Remember and The Notebook (they're like my favourite romance movies…LMAO)

I'd like to thank my editors (yes I have editors because I'm too lazy to edit myself) Sarah and Jennifer a.k.a.UnknownKunoichi and of course to everyone who has reviewed, added me to their story alerts list, their favourite authors list, their favourite stories list or to those who have just read my story!

P.S. I'm likely to upload the next chapter in about a week! I've already written it but I'd like to wait for reviews!