Heeeyyy...Another oneshot! RxEnjoyXR!
"Hey, can I talk to you?"
I turned around to find a boy I talked to earlier looking hopefully at me. I sighed in defeat of his almost innocently adorable face and slumped my shoulders dramatically as I followed the boy with my hands out as if I was chained to him. "Lead the way."
He led me to an isolated corner and raised his eyebrows when he saw my position. I laughed weakly and straightened up, clapping my hands together.
He took a small breath and said, "Kiss me."
Stepping back with a bewildered expression, I nearly raised my hand to slap him. Instead, I choked out, "Why?" after clearing my throat.
The boy looked down guiltily. "I made a bet with my friends."
I relaxed in relief. "Oh, all right. That's cool. Who are your friends?" I scanned the cafeteria.
"Over there," he pointed to a table of familiar faces.
"No way," I gagged the words out, "You are friends…with them?" He pointed at a table of boys that are constantly on my nerves. At least two of them are in each of my classes, enough to raise my stress levels to the clouds. I hated that group of boys. I had half a mind to turn evil on the boy I was talking to right now, but decided not to judge him upon his friends. So I turned away and took a step towards my table before being my arm grasped by the boy.
"Can I at least know your name?" he asked meekly.
"Tomoyo." I replied almost coldly as I stared at his hand on my arm. He didn't let go.
"Don't hate me. Please?" he begged, letting go of my arm to clasp them together and gave me a puppy dog face.
I had to admit, that was pretty cute. I relaxed. "So what would you get if you won the bet?"
"Actually, it was three parts. If you kissed me, they each have to give me 3 dollars. If you held hands with me, 2, and if you hugged me, 1."
"So they have to cough out 6 dollars if you got me to do all of it?" Despite my despising of girls who throw themselves at boys, this was a chance for me to milk money out of them.
"Oh no. If you did all three, I get 10 bucks from each of them. He laughed sheepishly. "You know, I'm the new kid. So this is sort of an initiation rite."
I considered the situation. Well, I was in my freshman year of high school and its lunch. What better time to do something stupid? So I pecked him on the cheek, and grabbed his hand. I ran back to his table of friends, and hugged him tightly before ruffling his hair and going back to my own table.
My own friends were gaping at me. "What was that?" they chorused.
"Wait, look over at the douche's table. What are they doing?" I asked my best friend, Sakura, who was facing the table frantically, needing to know if the bet was reality. But looking back to see would be too obvious.
"Uh, they're shoving that boy around and patting his back and all that crap boys do to each other after winning a game. And I think they're giving money to him… And he's getting up. And he's going to the lunch line, and OH MY GOSH! He just looked at you! And now he moved up in the lunch line, and now…"
I poked her stomach, rolling my eyes. "It was a bet. They wanted someone on the inside, I guess, to annoy me more. I don't know. Frankly, I really don't care either. I just got each of them to pay up 10 bucks!"
She nodded her head in apprehension and nibbled on her sandwich.
When lunch was over, Sakura and I rushed over to our adjacent lockers and she squealed. She pointed to a post-it note on my locker. It just said, "Thank you!" In the corner I made out "From Eriol" in tiny letters.
"That's the new kid!" Sakura smiled getting overexcited. That girl was happy about everything. Last year, everyone was locked in the building because of a thunderstorm that knocked the power out and made driving impossible. She gleefully skipped around singing about how the plants were having a feast and how the environment was improving because the lights were out and there were no cars to make car exhaust.
I opened my locker and $50 fell to the floor. My eyes widened as I picked up the money and stuck it safely in my backpack.
The next day at lunch, a cookie floated in front of my face. I blinked at it before swirling around in my seat to look at the nuisance. To my secret pleasure, it was that boy, now revealed to be Eriol.
"Here, I bought you a cookie! After all, I've got half a hundred to spare," he offered, further pushing the cookie in my face. I noticed him swishing his hair out of his eyes.
"Swish," I cried out instinctively.
He blushed and waved the cookie around, but as I reached out to take it, Sakura tugged at my shirt.
"Tomoyo! It's another bet. He has to get you to get you to crush on you, take you out on a date, and break your heart. It's Part II of the initiation," she whispered urgently.
I nodded and made a quick decision.
"Sakura, of COURSE you can have a cookie. If our kind sir here will buy you one!" I batted my eyelashes at him. If he wanted to string me along, I'd put rocks in my backpack.
Eriol, as predicted, smiled and gave Sakura the cookie and headed back to the lunch line to get me one.
"You're mean," Sakura stated once Eriol cleared hearing distance, although grinning and enjoying her cookie. A couple minutes of silence was broken by her warning, "He's back!"
As if on cue, I felt a tap on my shoulder and another cookie in my face.
"Well thank you kind sir! Now, is this part of a bet too?" I asked lightly, careful to keep suspicion out of my voice.
"Psh, no! Just wanted to thank you for helping me out yesterday," he lied easily.
I narrowed my eyes slightly, but relaxed before he noticed. "Well. Alright then!" I took the cookie and turned my back to him, dismissing him.
"Eek," she grimaced, "He's a good liar."
"That dirty lying douche. He's no better than the rest of them," I growled, taking my anger out on the cookie.
Glancing up, I saw the kid looking at me, so I hugged the cookie and acted love struck. "Oh my gosh Sakura! He's so sweet, and cute! Aah!" I grabbed Sakura's hand and happy danced.
"He's looking?"
"Mhmm."
"You know, maybe you can give him a chance. Maybe…if you guys become friends, he'll back out to the bet?" Sakura pondered, easily ignoring any doubt of a good side to him.
I took at her kind expression and my resolve to hate faltered. Ugh, I'm too weak. "Fine. How'd you find out anyway?"
"I was eavesdropping because I was going to match make you two," she confessed guiltily.
I rolled my eyes, but I made no comment, too engrossed in my planning.
I had Gym next. With the 2 most despicable brats of them, Billy and Frank , I had to constantly watch for balls and grass being flung my way.
And just to top it all off, the teacher announced Eriol was placed in the class too. Yay for me, stuck with three. Ugh. Thankfully, I had Sakura in that class to pull me through.
In the locker room, after discussing it with Sakura, I decided I would try to build a relationship with the douche, but keep a wary eye.
"Warm up!" our teacher shouted, pointing at the board. Called the announcer, it had our directions for the day.
Announcer, the board, informed us that it was stretching and jogging a lap. Easy day.
In the midst of toe touching, I heard Sakura breathe, "Heads up, Eriol," in proximity to my ear.
I stood up from the ground and reached for the sky, so that Eriol wouldn't be literally looking down at me.
"3 yards…2 yards…1 yard…2 feet…" Sakura chanted quietly.
She was interrupted by a familiar whistle. Jogging time. I quickly jogged to the track, careful to avoid Eriol.
"Friendship," Sakura reminded forcefully as she jogged past me, leaving me to suffer alone.
Again, as if on cue, Eriol shouted "Hey!" before taking up a position next to me.
Grinding my teeth, I forced through, "Hi Eriol. Thanks for that cookie."
"Nothing I can't do for my friend! Speaking of my friend, what's wrong? You seem kind of angry." He swished his hair.
"I'm good. I just have grass in my hair thanks to the twin brats. Swish." I replied grudgingly.
"Well you make them look good," he laughed, and our conversation dwindled to an awkward silence. In the back of my mind, I laughed at his attempts to have me wrapped around his finger. One, swish his hair. Two, pretend he cares. Three, compliment.
Three quarters through the lap, Sakura returned to me, alerting me that Eriol had disappeared. However, at the end of class, Eriol jogged up to me holding a dandelion and tucked it behind my ear.
"A beautiful flower for a beautiful princess! And it matches the grass blades," he smiled and walked back to Frank and Billy.
"Aww!" Sakura squealed. "That was so incredibly cute-" Her face scrunched up. "Eriol's fist bumping the douches. Ick."
The routine was laid in stone as I got a free cookie at lunch, a conversation with Eriol during the warm-up jog, and a flower at the end of class, always accompanied with a line.
"A sunny buttercup for the sunshine you bring!" "A blue blossom to match how blue you make my sky!"
Despite myself, I started to look forward to these conversations, after they became more engaging and real. And I couldn't help but giggle at his corny lines.
Sakura informed me that he no longer updates his friends after giving me flowers.
One day, he gave me a bouquet of every flower he had ever given me, "Cheers to our friendship." No line. And when he friends shoved him around, who obviously had misunderstood the bouquet, he just pushed them away. He looked almost confused. I thought I was pretty close to the finish line now!
"He's slipping!" Sakura sang, "I knew he was a good person inside!"
I decided to give the boy a chance to back out of his deal, and I spent English thinking of what to do.
The next day, before Eriol delivered my cookie at lunch, I asked if he wanted to sit with me at lunch. A chorus of "oooh!" arose from his and neighboring tables, but he ignored them and nodded yes. He followed me to an empty table.
"So Eriol, I just wanted to run something by you. Suppose there were this girl,and a guy. The guy continuously gave her gifts. Now let's say she didn't like him-" I saw his face wind up in disappointment, but I forced myself to go on, "Even if they were the best of friends, she'd still feel awkward and creeped out." His expression now was one of worry, so I rushed the next sentence out of my mouth, "But lets say she does like him. She'd think it was the sweetest thing." He looked a little relieved, but confused. "Now, lets say this guy was only friends with the girl because of a bet that he could, I don't know, set up a date with the girl? Anyway, if she found out, no matter what she felt towards him, she'd probably hate the guy forever."
For once, Eriol didn't have an expression. He just looked blankly at me.
"Does that make sense? My friend's in this position and I'm trying to decide if I should tell her the guy's just on a bet. But what do you think?"
"Well," Eriol started slowly, "What if the guy actually really likes the girl, but he can't back out of his bet? And what if he's not even on a bet? You should talk to him first."
"Yes! So that if he actually decides to be a man and protect their friendship, he can confess and she won't be angry! Besides, there's ALWAYS a way to back out of a bet. You just lose it." I exclaimed, "Thank you Eriol!"
When I got back to Sakura, I mumbled, "That's the last chance for confessing. I hope he got the hint."
Sakura glanced in his direction. "He's still sitting there by himself."
"Alright." I pushed him out of my mind and finished my lunch.
I didn't have gym today. Thank goodness too, or else I might have died of the awkwardness.
The next day, I didn't get a free cookie. Suspicious, I turned to look at the table of douches, hoping to find Eriol. Indeed, I did see him. He was giving his homeboys money and went to sit by himself, his face buried in his hands. My heart just broke looking at him.
I got up and sat next to him. "What's wrong?"
"I made a horrible mistake. I think I may have ruined a friendship that might not have even really existed. And I just gave up all of my other friends."
"I'm your friend!" I reassured him.
"Cut the crap Tomoyo," he said sharply, "You knew about the bet, but you went along with it anyway. I did it, okay? I made a $20 bet that I could get you to date me so I could dump you. I'm sorry! I just lost $200 to get out of the bet. You win. You don't have to pretend anymore." He whispered, dejected.
I stared at him for a second before gathering him for a second before gathering him up for a hug. "I really amyour friend. You did the right thing. And…" I paused for a second, accessing myself, "Despite it all, you know that girl? She actually fell for the guy."
He looked up at me in surprise. "Really?"
I felt my heart constrict itself. Crap. I just confessed a secret crush that I didn't even know about 'til now. What if he doesn't like me back? What if it really was all based on the bet? How awkward would it be? And yet, I couldn't believe how calm my voice was when I replied, "I think so."
That gym class was awkwardly emotional. The jog was spent in an awkward silence, after him saying, "Tomoyo, you're a good friend."
When I teasingly asked where my bi-daily flowers were, he shrugged and said, "They must be late."
The next morning, I found a rose taped to my locker with a note.
"A red rose to say, I fell for you too.
–Eriol"