Chapter Six
Immediately, Lee grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door.
"Let's go outside!" He exclaimed, throwing the double glass doors open with a little too much gusto. His bright smile grew even brighter in the sunlight.
Looking around the grassy area outside the School, I saw that a lot of people had the same idea as Lee. A group of people, including Kiba and Temari, were throwing a Frisbee around, occasionally missing and having to ask Shikamaru, who was sleeping against a tree, to throw it back to them. I couldn't help but notice that every time he threw it back to the group, it always seemed to land at Temari's feet.
Lee began sprinting towards the Frisbee group, happily dragging me along the way. I dug my heels into the ground, barely being able to stop him before we reached the group.
"Let's not." I said, a little nervous. As silly as it sounds, ever since an incident involving a few boys, a Frisbee, and a ripped shirt, I had not been able to touch a Frisbee.
The large-eyed boy shrugged, pulling his green shirt straight and finally letting go of my hand. He began walking in the opposite direction and I jogged to catch up with his quick pace.
"Then, let's walk." He suggested, turning to grin at me, "I have a lot to talk to you about."
I blushed for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, and nodded in consent.
We walked around the School for about five minutes in silence, quietly talking in the pretty surroundings. Out of nowhere, Lee began talking. It was nothing, really, just a lot of small talk, including how his favorite team was doing in the NBA, what other instruments he wanted to learn, his chamber practice today, and things like that; yet, he was able to make me laugh so often. Normally, I would never believe in something as foolish as love at first sight, but, seeing as Lee made me laugh so much and so hard, and I got a light shock every time he grabbed my hand, I was willing to consider love and option. Suddenly, I had a flashback to mine and Neji's fingers touching, and the shock I got from even that. I shook my head, reminding myself that I hated the bastard, and that he was a cereal stealing, cold-hearted jerk.
"You know that question I asked you yesterday? About love at first sight?" Lee's dreamy voice brought me out of my trance.
"Of course." I responded, moving a little closer to him.
"Well, it wasn't just a random question. There is this girl here that I really like. I know it's stupid and it has only been one day, but every time I see her, I get this feeling in my heart and butterflies in my stomach. I know it's stupid to say I love her after this short of time, and that I probably have no chance with her, but I really want to be with her. Or at least let it out. Do you know what I mean?" Lee turned more and more red after each sentence he uttered, until the end, when he could have put a tomato to shame.
"I do know what you are feeling. There is a guy that I like as well. He makes me laugh and feel so happy, and like you said, I get a clenching feeling in my heart every time I see him. I don't believe in love at first sight, but he is really making me second guess my emotions. I am a big believer in fate, and I'm thinking this is the guy that Destiny had laid out for me." Great, now the both of us looked like human tomatoes.
Lee's eyes brightened at my agreement with his statements. "Really? Who is the guy? I could talk to him for you!"
I laughed at his silliness, "You tell first." I demanded.
He shook his head, "Why don't we play rock, paper, scissors?"
I agreed, and we both made fists. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. I stared down at my clenched fist and his open palm and mentally cursed. Damn. Lee laughed gleefully and danced around.
"Tell me!" He pressed, dancing around me.
"Fine, fine."
Lee slowed down, a more serious expression taking his face, as he came to a stop in front of me. His large eyes stared into my own brown ones and I felt my heart beat ten times faster. I took a deep breath and got ready for a confession.
"It's you." Was all I said.
Immediately, I knew something was wrong. The happy spark went out of his eyes and he stood stock still, mouth slightly gaping.
"I-I'm sorry Tenten. I-I don't feel the same way. The girl I was talking about was Sakura."
I had never felt my heart break before, and I cursed myself for letting it happen in this way- within two days with a boy I barely even knew. Maybe if I had known how painful it was, I would have stayed away, made up some lie and gotten away from the situation, but this was my first time experiencing such pain and embarrassment. I could feel my chest clench up and my eyes well up with tears. I could feel my already red cheeks grow even more red with embarrassment and rage. I could even feel my bones trembling in anxiety, shaking my entire frame. I quickly used my sleeve to wipe away the tears before they fell and decided that I needed to make a quick exit.
"Oh, that's great! Sakura's a lucky girl! Happy for you!" I sputtered out, barely able to form the words.
And then I ran. I could hear Lee calling my name behind me, voice ringing with desperation, but I ignored his pleas and ran. Because I knew if I went back, I would feel that excruciating pain of heartbreak all over again. And I didn't want that. So I ran. Back around the building, past the Frisbee players. Through my tears, I could see a blurry Temari spare a quick glance at the sleeping Shikamaru. I ran up the stairs of the School, shoving past a confused Hinata who was talking to Naruto. I ran into practice room 205, the one I agreed to meet Shikamaru in. I glanced at my watch; 2:00. Great, so I had time to get in a good cry before Shikamaru came to practice. Knowing this, I let my tears flow freely. Pulling myself into a corner, I let myself cry. You know how in those movies, when the girl cries, she is more beautiful than when she smiles? Yeah, that's not the case. Snot was running out of my nose, along with the tears from my eyes. My face, I knew, was blotchy and red and probably swollen. My body shook with sobs and hiccups as I let the emotions roam free. It was then I decided to hate them. Sakura, Lee, and Hinata, even though she didn't do anything. I had to hate all of them. If I liked even one of them, it would mean contact with all of them, and that was exactly the opposite of what I needed. My emotions a little more under control now, I decided to start practicing. No use wasting the time I had left. I pulled my chamber music out of the folder I was still clutching and set it up on the stand. Placing my fingers over the notes, I felt much more relaxed than at the actual chamber practice. Working slowly, I let my fingers familiarize themselves with the song. I moved one section at a time, each section about five to ten measures. I played the small sections over and over, letting my mind slip into bliss. I knew that my face was still a mess, but I decided that I would clean up later, I still had some time to relax. As I perfected the tenth section, and went back to the beginning to test out the piece so far, I heard the door to the practice room open. Hastily wiping my face with my sleeve, I looked up. Shikamaru wasn't supposed to be in here for another ten minutes.
Right away, I found myself staring into the white eyes that had been bothering me all day, and I felt the fluttery feeling again.
"Oh, great. What do you want?" I hissed, mirth strong in my voice.
"Were you just crying?" He avoided my question, eyes showing a hint of concern.
"It's none of your business." I snapped, gathering my music, "Why are you here, anyways? This is supposed to be Shikamaru's practice room."
"I heard you playing, and thought it wasn't horrible. And when I looked in, I saw your blotchy face. It's really not that attractive, you know." Was it just me, or was he blushing?
"Oh, how sweet. You do have a heart. But how I feel is no concern to you, is it? Don't lose any sleep over it." I don't know why I was being so rude. Maybe I was just annoyed that he had caught me crying. Though, for some reason, my heart dropped when he said that my blotchy face was not attractive. I shook it off and pushed past him, leaving my music in the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to wash my face. Go run along like a good boy and go to your practice room."
He grabbed my arm as I walked past him and pulled me close. "If it's about a boy, just know that any idiot stupid enough to give up a feisty and good musician such as yourself has no brain."
He let go so quickly that I barely had time to feel the shock that I seemed to have every time we touched, and he had walked away before I had a chance to register what came out of his mouth as a compliment. My eyes widened and my heart beat faster as I hurried to the bathroom to clean my face off. By the time I had gotten all the redness out, I was five minutes late for my meeting with Shikamaru. I ran back to the practice room and panted out an apology to a tired looking Shikamaru, who was tuning his violin. He told me to forget about it and handed me two pieces. One was a piano-violin duet from a popular anime called Detergent*. The other was a quartet from the same anime, with piano, violin, flute, and xylophone.
"Who is playing the flute and xylophone parts?" I asked Shikamaru.
He replied that his good friend Chouji was an amazing flutist that would play the simple piece. He then went on to explain that he was a part of a band that went around to anime conventions, playing soft anime pieces. Apparently, they earned pretty good money that way. He told me all about Chouji, who was a little big-boned, but was a surprisingly delicate flutist, despite his size. He also told me about the two percussionists in his group; Asuma and Kurenai. They were his mentors in music, the people who inspired him to become a musician. He explained to me that Asuma was like a second father to him.
"Usually, Kurenai plays the piano parts, but recently, she and Asuma got pregnant, so he is refusing to let her play any gigs until the baby is born." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "But, oh well. Let's get started." He pulled out the first duet, one titled Never Meant to Belong, and we got started on that piece.
A few hours later, we finished our practice, being able to read through both pieces quite fluently. We both gathered our belongings and headed out.
"You going to dinner?" Shikamaru asked me, nodding his head in the direction of the cafeteria.
"No, I'm not hungry." I told him, turning to go back to my dorm.
He nodded, waved goodbye, and we parted ways. I walked into the small room and jumped onto my bed. What I didn't tell Shikamaru was that I didn't want to go to dinner because I didn't want to see Lee or Sakura.
"Any idiot stupid enough to give up a feisty and good musician such as yourself has no brain."
I shook my head. He probably didn't feel comfortable seeing a girl cry and that's why he said it. It's not like he called you pretty or anything. Don't be stupid. Lee doesn't even like you. Why would Neji?
Great. The first day of camp and I already have to avoid three people. This will be so much fun.