Chapter 8: Christmas Eve Luv

OKAY, I'M GOING TO FAST FORWARD FROM THE SOCCER TRYOUTS STRAIGHT TO
CHRISTMAS BECAUSE IT WILL TAKE LOOOOONG TIME TO FINISH FALL AND
EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN THAT AND WINTER, AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS PART.
PERSONALLY, I THINK ITS KIND OF SAPPY AND ROMANTIC BUT AH WELL. AT FIRST
I THOUGHT OF DOING SUMMER TOO, BUT WHEN I FINISHED CHRISTMAS I LOOKED AND
IT WAS SO LOOOOOOONG! THAT'S ALL RIGHT THOUGH! C YA!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

at the soccer tryouts....

Li was standing on the sidelines, waiting for his turn with the ball. It
was kind of warm outside, very nice weather for the soccer tryouts. He
looked over at the new student. His name was Scott, and he had just
transferred into the high school. 'Tall, good shoes, nice hairdo,
muscles, etc etc...' Li went over in his mind about him. Then he turned
back to the person trying out. It was Bryan. He had just missed an easy
header. 'Headers were never his thing... Bryan was always afraid of
hitting the soccer ball with his head, but he will probably make a nice
goalie' Li thought as Bryan caught every ball coming towards him as if he
were a goalie. Then he spaced out. (I give you one guess of what he
thought of.) 'Sakura... pretty... nice... perfect...' "LI SYAORAN!" the
coach called out. 'Huh? Oh!' Li jogged to the field. "Hey Li, having a
nice time in high school?" "Yeah, Coach Temoda (sorry. I couldn't think
of any other names!) It's great here at school." Coach Temoda started
kicking balls to him. Li kicked each one square back to Coach. "I hear
you have a girlfriend now?" Li ran and slid for the ball as it went way
to the right. He managed to kick it back to Coach Temoda. "Yeah. Her name
is --" "I take it must be that pretty brown haired girl in the stands who
is cheering your name over and over?"
"Come on, Li! You can do it!" Sakura cheered wildly, jumping up and down
on the bleachers, almost lost her balance, and Madison caught her just
before she tumbled down the stands.
"Yup, that's her. BE CAREFUL, SAKURA!" Li sighed. 'Nice one, Sakura.
Nice.'
The coach wrote something down. "The ball, Li." He tossed it to her.
(Yes, the coach is a girl.) "What position would you like, Li? Your
regular at center forward?" Li smiled. "How'd you guess?" Coach Temoda
laughed. "Your old soccer coach told me." Li stopped stretching for a
second. "Where is Coach Takaki, anyway? Is he sick or something?" "No,
not so. Coach Takaki had to move to America because of a great job
oppurtunity. He's going to help coach the U.S. Olympic team there."
Two minutes later, Li was trudging up the stands to Sakura. "You should
be careful, Sakura. You almost fell flat on your face. Thank goodness for
Madison." "Well, we all have to watch our clumsy little Sakura, right
Li?" "MADISON! Don't say that about me." "Well, she does have a point,
Sakura..." Li thought, tapping his finger on his chin. "Not you too, Li!"
"Hey, chill, let's watch the new kid play soccer. I think he has the body
to be a soccer player, now let's bring on the talent." They sat down, but
Li got up. "Where are you going, Li?" Sakura called to him. "I'm going to
watch from down there. I'll meet you outside when the tryouts are done,
okay?" "SURE!"
When Li reached the grass, the last tryout had started. Scott was
running really good, and by the end of the tryouts, he had hit every
single one except for an easy pass, which he had missed because he fell
down while running to the ball. 'So, he trips over his own feet.' Li
thought. "Okay, boys, come on over." All of the boys trying out rushed
over to Coach Temoda. "I haven't picked out the team yet, and I wish I
could have all of you, but unfortunately I can only pick 1 team, not a
dozen. I have a general idea, but here are the most definite ones: Bryan,
you're the goalie..." "YES!" "Tim, you're the left defender, Steven,
you're the left forward, John, ...." The coach rambled off a few more
names, including some people for substitute in case someone was absent or
something. "Scott, you'll be... well, you can be right forward." Li
darted a look at Scott. His face was of pure dismay for a second, then it
smiled again and said, "Cool. I like that position." "Now, this is a very
interesting center forward this year, because it belongs to a freshman.
Li Syaoran, you're the center forward. Congratulations, Li. You're our
first freshman center forward. Head to the locker rooms, kids." Coach
Temoda walked towards the office, reading and writing something on her
clipboard.
Bryan rushed over to Li, as well as all his friends. "Great job, Li..."
"Yeah, you're real good at this..." "Duh, he's been soccer-ing since
elementary school" "Who doesn't know that about Li?" "I don't!" "Don't
you all wish we could attract girls as well as Li?" "Of course, duh!"
"Yeah, lucky Li, you get to hug and kiss Sakura EVERY day..." Bryan made
kissing noises. "Bryan, quit kidding around." Li's face turned crimson
red. "Nice job on your goalie position, though." "I know! I am the best
of them aaaaaallllll!!!!" "Be quiet." Only Scott stood a bit apart from
their group. Li saw him and walked over. "Hey Scott, great job on your
position." "Well, you did the best. You got center." "They're all the
same, really." Tim piped up. "We're all a team, and sometimes we
alternate the positions." They all kept talking. Scott nodded, then
started walking towards the locker room. "We better go in, or they'll
lock us out." "Race all of you!" Bryan suddenly shouted, and he ran,
yelling loudly in whoops, towards the locker room! "Go get him, guys!" Li
shouted, and everyone in 9th grade rushed after him, with Li and Scott
leading them.

[FAST FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS...]

It was two days before the Christmas Dance at the high school. Sakura
was in her room, finishing her Winter Wonderland Dance outfit and doing
her homework. She had on the snow earrings. Kero popped out of the
drawer. "Sakura, I want you to do something." "Yeah, what Kero." "This is
serious, Sakura!" Sakura turned around. "What?" Kero smiled widely.
"Pleease get me a snowflake chocolate." "Nah." "PLEEEAAASSSE? WITH
ANYTHING YOU WANT ON TOP?" "Ok, I'm only being nice though." She went
downstairs into the candy cupboard and got out some snowflake shaped
chocolates. "Hey monster! I can't believe you did not stay away from that
brat! And you kissed him too! GRRROOOOSSSSSSSSSSS!" "Tori! Were you
spying on me?!" "I had to! I couldn't let that little brat touch you. I
hate that brat of a --!" "Well, Li is my boyfriend..." "He's your
boyfriend too?! I'll go and teach him a lesson right now!" Tori marched
over to the door, flames in his eyes and his face all blue. "Tori... you
promised that you wouldn't go there..." "Fine... only because I'm your
nicest brother in the world." "You're my only brother." Sakura sighed as
smoke came out of Tori's ears. "BUT DON'T YOU GO KISSING OR HUGGING HIM
AGAIN, SAKURA! NEVER EVER AGAIN!" "WHATEVER TORI!" She tossed Kero the
chocolates and continued working on her dress.

Li was getting ready for the dance too. "All I ever wear is a suit or
something." He took out his best pair of slacks and shirt. "All ready."

Scott was at home, wondering if he should go to the dance. 'I'll ask
that pretty girl in the stands, I think shes in my homeroom. Was her name
Sakura? I think so. I've never really felt this way about girls though,
but I'm sure I like her very much. I wonder if Li is her boyfriend? Nah,
he sure only acted like friends.' He went downstairs to talk to his
brother. "Yo, Mark, what should you do if you want to ask a girl to the
dance?" Mark, his older brother, looked up, and his shock of blond hair
fell over his face again. He brushed it back up. "Well, bring up the
dance, ask her out nicely, and if she refuses..." "Don't worry. I don't
think she will refuse."
" Who exactly is she?" Mark asked. Scott ran to his room. "She is so
beautiful. Her name is Sakura Avalon." "Hey, wait up a sec! Sakura
already has --" but Scott had already shut the door.

at school the next day...

'The love of that guy for me... just blinds me away... how I wish to
pretend... that nothing else existed to the end, except for that kiss...
from that guy... from that guy...' Sakura thought, going over and over
again the song she was going to sing at the Winter Wonderland Dance.
'Hmmm...' Sakura thought some more 'Maybe I should pretend the song was a
diary entry. Yeah, that might sound better...' Sakura thought. She was
walking, walking, when... BAAAAM! "O-ouch..." Sakura muttered as she slid
down the pole she had just walked into. "Sakura, are you alright?" Scott
was standing next to Sakura with this really worried look on his face.
"Here, let me help you up." Scott pulled her up. "Ouch, I can't believe I
really walked into a pole. I've seen that in movies and I laugh and
everything, but when it happens to you.... ooh... it hurts real bad."
Sakura sighed and saw Li walking to school up ahead. Just as she was
about to run, Scott grasped her wrist tightly. "Um, Sakura, I... I
wondered... would you like to... wouldyouliketogotothedancewithme
tomorrow?" He asked real quickly. Sakura's face brightened up. 'Please
say yes, please say yes!' Scott thought. Sakura looked at him, her face
downcast. "I'm sorry. Li already asked me a week ago. I'd like to go the
next dance with you though." Scott's face turned into a cinnamon shade of
red. "Oh, sorry. I - I didn't know..." 'He's cute... but... doesn't the
whole school know that me and Li are... a couple?' Scott let Sakura's
hand go, and she ran to catch up with Li, who had just disappeared into
the building. "I can't believe I made such a fool of myself!" Scott
moaned and slapped himself on the forehead.

before the dance...

"YOU'RE DOING WHAT?!" Tori yelled as he rushed into Sakura's room,
slamming her door wide open. "YOU'RE GOING TO THE DANCE WITH... WITH...
WITH THAT... BRAT?!" "HIS NAME IS LI SYAORAN!" "WELL, WELL, THEN I'M NOT
DRIVING YOU AND LI TO THE DANCE!" "FINE THEN!" Sakura ran into Tori's
room, where Julian was studying. "Hey, Sakura. What's your brother so mad
about?" "Julian, can you drive Li and me to the dance at scho-"
"NOOOOOOO! DON'T DO IT, JULIAN! DON'T!" Sakura turned around to face
Tori's wrath. "I'll ask who I want." "No, I'm older, so I choose, and I
say you're not going to the dance with that wench." Sakura breathed out a
sigh of disgust. "I AM GOING. I will now go to my room quietly and dress
up. Hmph." She stalked out of Tori's room, proud of herself. 'One more
battle that I have won.' Sakura walked into her room, shut and locked the
door. "HEY! OPEN UP!"

Li was all dressed and ready to go. The phone rang in the living room.
"I'll get it!" He called. "Hello, Li residence." "Li, it's your sister,
Mei La!" "And Mei!" "And your mother!" "Mom!" Li yelped in surprise.
"What's up, little brother? Are you having fun in Japan?" Mei La asked.
"Are you off to a dance or something? You sound like a guy with places to
go and be." "Yeah, I'm taking Sakura to the Winter Wonderland dance at
our high school." "Oh, my little boy, taking a sweet girl to a school
Dance!" "MOM! I'm NOT a little boy." "Oh, that's alright, little brother.
You should go now. You don't want to make Sakura wait. After all you've
told us about her, I feel like she's our little sister or something." Mei
laughed. "Go on! Maybe when you grow up, she'll be your bride. Bye!"
"Bye, Mom. Bye, Mei La and Mei." He hung up. A pretty image of Sakura in
a wedding dress made him sigh. "Maybe after college we'll get married."
He walked out the door and started for Sakura's house, walking into the
snow.

Madison walked up to Sakura's doorstep. She knocked once, and shook the
door handle twice. Footsteps were coming down the stairs. "Hey Madison!
What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the dance with
Scott." "I am, I told him to meet me here, because here's all my stuff.
We'll get ready together so we can talk about everything." "Sure. Come on
up."
When the two were safely in Sakura's room, Madison saw Sakura's dress
and accessories spread out on her bed and desk. "Put all your makeup and
stuff on the table, and your dress can occupy part of my bed. Kero popped
out. "Sakura, you're not going out with the brat, right?" "Actually, I
am." "Oh, No. I hate that kid. When I'm bigger someday, I'll go and teach
him a lesson..." "KERO!" "Just kidding, Sakura. Now get dressed. I have
more gifts." He popped back into the drawer. Sakura and Madison looked at
each other. "Stuffed animals." They said together, shaking their heads.
Fifteen minutes later, both of them were ready. Sakura was wearing an
ice-blue color with tiny pure white snowflakes stitched into the dress
going all the way down to her ankles, slightly sweeping on her feet. This
one was a bareback dress that had a loop of sky blue ribbon attached to
the front to slip over your neck, crossing in front like an X. The slit
in the dress started in the middle of her thigh. She had on white shoes
with really icy-pale blue snowflakes on it and the heel about half an
inch high, and a necklace with a gold chain and a silver star inside a
golden circle. Her hair was down, and she had on the snow card earrings.
This time, Sakura had chosen light blue sparkly eye shadow. Her hair
swept down to the bottom of her neck, but her front hair was to the
middle of her upper arms. Her nails were such a light blue, they looked
almost and far from clear. "You look absolutely fantastic, Sakura!"
Madison cried. "You don't look so bad yourself, Madison."
Madison had chosen a blackish-violet dress with white stars dotted all
over it. Her dress went down to her ankles, showing her blue low-heels
that were also half an inch high. Madison's dress was the stretchy kind,
showing her good body form. Purple earrings, a light purple handkerchief
over her French braid, and a silver chain bracelet completed the Madison
look. Madison looked over Sakura's hair critically. "I think your hair
looks better up..." Madison took out several bobby pins from her bag,
along with a little box. "Madison, are you sure my hair should be up?"
"Positive." Madison pulled Sakura's hair into a French twist, sticking
bobby pins into the correct places. Then she opened the box and stuck
some clips into the back of Sakura's hair. "What are those, Madison?"
"They're tiny white snowflake clips that clip right into your hair."
Madison clipped up some loose ends, and then moved back. "PERFECT!"
Sakura looked in the mirror and held out a hand held one. She looked at
the snowflake clips on the back of her head. "Wow, you know just what a
person needs to complete their outfit, Madison! I hope you become a
clothes designer when you grow up. Then I can get you to make the perfect
wedding dress for me!" Madison laughed, and the doorbell rang. "Looks
like my ride's here, Sakura. See you at the dance!" Madison stepped out
the door and in Mark's car, she and Scott disappeared into the night.
Sakura opened Kero's drawer and picked him up. "So what's the surprise?"
Kero wiggled and struggled to get down. "If you let me down, I may be
able to get it." Sakura let him down, and Kero disappeared. Then he came
back out. "Just put it somewhere on your clothes or you, and it will
magically go on." He handed her two silver stars inside a golden circle
the size of a pinkie nail. "Thanks, Kero. They're pretty cute." She was
about to put them on her light purple cover up, when she thought of
somewhere else to put it. She held the two miniature stars up below her
earrings and the stars magically attached themselves to the earrings with
tiny gold strings. The doorbell rang, and Sakura ran down to get it. "Hey
Julian! Hey Li. Are you guys ready to go?" "Yeah, my blue convertible is
waiting for the lady and gentleman to get on."
In the car, Li held Sakura's hand. When he did that Sakura looked up in
surprise. "You look... really beautiful tonight, Sakura." 'Gosh, I hope
she doesn't see me blushing like mom's red tomatoes.' "Thanx." 'Gee, I
hope I don't trip or anything at the dance. If I did that, the whole
school would think I was a total and complete klutz! Not to mention what
Li would think.' Sakura thought worriedly. But she looked up as Julian
pulled up to the school. "Have fu-un!" Julian called in a little
sing-song voice. "Okay, pick us up at eleven, Julian! Bye!" Julian's blue
convertible pulled away from the curb and drove off. "Come on, let's go
inside, I'm freezing outside in this snow." Sakura shivered and snuggled
up closer to Li. "Look at all those people. We better go inside anyway."
Li put one arm around Sakura's shoulders and walked her inside.

"I'm having such a great time. The cafeteria is decorated like a real
winter wonderland!" Sakura cried two hours later at ten o'clock. "Oh,
look, there's Meilin! Go dance with her Li, and I'll go talk to Madison."
Sakura rushed over to Madison, and they sat down and exchanged stories.
'Well, there's only one thing I can do. Go dance with Meilin.'

Meilin was really sad, even though she was wearing her lucky dress. It
was a pale pink that had golden yellow designs embroidered all over it.
She was wearing white high heel shoes and her hair was the same, except
that she had taken her two ponytails and tied the securely in the back.
She had pink lipstick on. A necklace with a gold dragon pendant hung from
her neck, completing her outfit. 'Li hates me. Worst part is, he likes
Sakura.' Just then someone bowed and held out one hand. "Want to dance?"
Meilin looked up. It was Li. "Alright." Meilin took his hand and they
danced to the opposite side of the cafeteria. "Li... I'm sorry about what
I said. I... really like you, and I guess I was really desperate to be
your girlfriend." Li sighed. "That's what kept you going, isn't it? You
thought I was too nice to turn down Sakura's offer to the Fall Fantasy
dance." Meilin didn't say anything. Then she jumped up onto Li's
shoulders and hugged him tightly and started to cry. "I'm sorry, Li. I
didn't mean to make Sakura totally mad at you. Can't we just forget any
of this happened and be friends again?"

As Sakura watched from the distance, she saw Meilin start to cry and hug
Li. Li moved his arms as if to push her away, then he stopped and hugged
her instead. 'They've worked everything out! I did it! I have to tell
Madison.' After she told her friend, Li came back with Meilin. "I worked
everything out with Meilin. Thank you so much, Sakura. You've taught me
so much about valuing my friends through these past weeks." Li took
Sakura's hands and hugged her. Then Meilin walked up to Sakura. "I'm
sorry, Sakura, for doing all those things that made you so mad and upset
at Li. I was really jealous that you and Li were boyfriend and
girlfriend, wishing that I was in your place. I'm really sorry." Sakura
smiled sympathetically. "Don't apologize, Meilin. Making mistakes are
part of life. I've made plenty of them myself." Sakura stepped over to
Meilin and hugged her. Meilin hugged her back, glad that she had let out
all of her feelings. One of Sakura's cheerleader friends in her last year
at Starlight High stepped up to the podium after a song faded away.
"Excuse me, everyone, listen up!" The noise in the cafeteria quieted
down. Christina, the cheerleader, was really popular, but she was very
down-to-earth. Everyone listened to whatever she had to say. "Tonight, we
have special performers coming up to sing. It's the Starlight High Secret
Song Band. We practice secretly and we don't tell anyone about ourselves.
But today, on Christmas Eve, is very special, so we thought we'd reveal
ourselves. I'll read off the people performing today. Kristy, Lara..."
Christina read off her name and Brittany's, then she announced one last
person. "This year we recruited our first freshman singer. Sakura Avalon,
please come up to the stage. Everyone please welcome her!" Applause rang
out throughout the cafeteria.
Li looked at Sakura. She smiled and rushed to the stage. When she
arrived, she hugged Christina, who took her place near the drums and
cymbals. All the other girls had either brought their instruments or
borrowed the school's. Sakura recited the speech she had been practicing.
"Hey, everyone. This isn't like, a really formal band. We're going to
perform songs that the really famous singers like Britney Spears or
Christina Aguilera perform, including some inspired songs from movies.
Then the last song is a treat. Thank you." Sakura backed up and put on
the microphone-headband. Sakura took the guitar that Brittany handed her
then started singing. The first song was "Don't Say You Love Me" from the
Pokemon movie.
Sakura strummed the guitar and started singing and playing by herself.
'Oh, this is the song I've had all my troubles with... I hope I sing
perfectly... I will sing perfectly.'

"Got introduced to you by a friend,
You were cute and all that, baby,
you set the trend, yes you did, oh.
The next thing I know, we're down at the cinema,
we're sittin' there u said u loved me, what's that about?"

Then the girls behind her started to play their instruments.
'Wow. She's good.' Li thought in amazement as Sakura sang to the last
chorus of the song. All five girls sang the chorus together, Sakura's
voice the sweetest and loudest.

"Don't say you love me,
you don't even know me,
if you really want me, then give me some time.
Don't go there baby, not before I'm ready!
Don't say your heart's in a hurry,
It's not like, we're gonna get married.
Give me, give me, some time....
Don't say you love me, you don't even know me,
if you really want me, then give me some time... ohoohh yeah..."

Sakura's voice faded out. Cheers, applause, and whistles started all
around the cafeteria. Sakura pulled off the microphone headphones, and
ran back to her friends in the band. "It was the first time I did it
perfectly!" "I know, you were a sensation!" "Totally, like, awesome!"
"Let's hit the mikes again! We still have plenty of songs to sing." They
all hugged and ran to the back to change into their band clothes they had
stored there.
When they came out a minute later, their hair and faces were the same,
but their clothes were blue jean flares and black t-shirts with neon
designs that Lara had made for all of them. The designs also decorated
their white tennis shoes.
Song after song, they sang and sang their hearts out, including Britney
Spears' "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "Lucky", Christina Aguilera's "Genie
In A Bottle" and "Reflection", N'SYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be
Me", a lot of the Backstreet Boys' songs, and finally, the last one.
Sakura waited until the applause and cheers died down from their last
song, "Lucky". "Okay, the last song tonight is like Britney's "Dear
Diary", but I've made a lot of additions and changes." Sakura backed up
and picked up the handheld mike. Christina patted Sakura on the shoulder.
"You're doing great so far, Sakura." Sakura smiled and put all her
feelings into the last song.
"I dedicate this song, to Li Syaoran, the one I was thinking of when I
changed this song to fit myself."

"Dear Diary-
Today I saw a guy and I wondered if he noticed me, he took my breath
away.
"Dear Diary-
I can't get him off my mind and it scares me cause I've never felt this
way. Every time I sit down, think about him, I wonder how it would
feel... to kiss, him.
"Dear Diary-
Today I saw that boy again. As he walked by I thought he smiled at me,
and I wondered does he know what's in my heart? I tried to smile back...
but all I could think about, was how it would feel to hold his hand...
Should I tell him how I feel, or would that just scare him away? Diary, I
don't know what to do, do! Oh, Diary, please tell me what to do...
"Dear Diary-
One touch of his hand, now I can't wait to see that guy again. He smiled
straight at me, yeah... oh, I knew that nothing could be as perfect as
this...
"Dear Diary-
Today that guy... he kissed me on the lips. He told me he loved me so
truly, even only after one week, the love of that guy for me, just blinds
me away... oh, away! How I wish to pretend... that nothing else existed
to the end, except for that kiss... from that guy..."

Sakura finished the song and joined her band friends. They held each
others hands and held them up. Sakura could hear applause and cheers from
everyone. After things quieted down, the regular music started up again,
and the couples who hadn't been dancing when Sakura was singing started
to dance, and the couples who had danced the whole time stopped to sit
down and rest. Sakura rushed over to Li. "You... were... great, Sakura.
I've never heard you sing out loud before, only your humming." Li
stammered and looked at Sakura. Meilin congratulated her and walked off
to dance with Bryan, and Sakura waved to Madison, who had been dancing
with Scott. Sakura and Li walked outside, where it was still snowing.
Li's left hand half-hugged Sakura's back near the waist, and Sakura held
Li's right hand. "Isn't the moon beautiful, Li?" Sakura sighed, looking
at the moon and the almost cloudless sky. She could still see a few faint
stars. The two stood on a hill of grass full of snow. "You were great
tonight, Sakura." Sakura smiled shyly at him. "Thanks. I really had work
hard to keep it a secret." They didn't say anything for awhile, enjoying
peace of the snowy Christmas Eve, until it was nearing eleven. Li pulled
Sakura closer to him. Sakura looked at him in surprise. Li used his left
hand to tilt her head toward his, and his right hand went around her
waist to pull her even closer. Li bent his face nearer to Sakura's,
hesitating a little before kissing Sakura on the lips. Sakura wrapped her
arms around Li's neck, savoring that little romantic moment. Li didn't
have to say anything to let Sakura know that he really loved her and
would do anything for her. She already knew.

________________________________________________________________
Get FREE E-MAIL and FREE INTERNET ACCESS!
Check your e-mail online from anywhere with Juno WebMail!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagh.