Count On My Love...
Chapter One: The Break up...

Sakura walked out of the school gates, with her head sunk down below her shoulders. Leaving behind her a trail of tears that soon disappeared in the heat of the sun. 'Why?' she thought. She couldn't believe what had happened to her that day. It was terrible and humiliating. Half way down the block she could hear Tomoyo's voice calling out her name.

"Sakura?!" she yelled as she ran out of the gates. Sakura didn't pay attention to her, she just kept on walking. "Sakura!" she continued to yell after her. Tomoyo ran down to catch up to her. She placed her hand on her slow moving friend to make he stop and face her. Sakura turned around but didn't look up at her. She continued to let her tears fall from her pale face. "Sakura?..." Tomoyo said softly. She waited for something. Something to show she was alive. But noting happened. Tomoyo got worried and didn't know what to do. "It'll be okay." she finally said optimistically to her. Sakura stopped her crying and slowly lifted her head to look at her best friend. She couldn't believe what she said. 'It'll be alright.' she said to herself over and over. Sakura stared at her friend who looked so frightened. She knew how worried she was about her but, she just didn't seem to care. "Nothing...will be alright..." Sakura said to her. She turned back around and continued to walk where ever she was headed. "Sakura..!" Tomoyo said as she started to follow her friend. "Don't! I know you want to help..." Sakura stood still, not wanting to see the hurt in Tomoyo's eyes. "But right now I want to be alone..." Sakura said coldly. She continued to walk down the block. Tomoyo couldn't believe it. She didn't want her help. Something was strong with Sakura and she couldn't help her at all.

Meiling and Li came out not too long after Sakura left. Meiling came out and walked towards Tomoyo who was still standing there looking at the direction she had walked. "Hey!" Meiling greeted her until she finally noticed how sad she looked. "What's the matter?" Meiling asked. "It's Sakura. She's upset about what happened to her." Meiling looked hurt also.

Li walked over and stood next to Meiling. "How pathetic." he said coldly. Meiling and Tomoyo snapped their heads toward him. "Li, how you could you be so inconsiderate in a time like this?" Tomoyo asked. Her voice sounded so depressed and sad. Meiling looked at him fiercely. "Look Li, Sakura's really hurt and you're not helping to make her feel any better. And you know if you were hurt she would be there to help you feel better." Li stared back at her seeming not to care. He turned and started to walk down the block. "Girls!" he said annoyed as he continued to walk. Meiling and Tomoyo stood there staring at his back as the figure became smaller and smaller. "What do you think he's going to do?" Tomoyo asked concerned. "I don't know." Meiling replied. "But he better not screw up or else!"
Li walked through the park. 'What am I doing here?' he asked himself while wondering through the park. 'Why should I care if some jerk dumped her or not? It's none of my business anyways.' He continued to wonder through the park looking for Sakura. Li stopped, he heard some girl crying. He looked over by the bench where she was sitting. It was Sakura sitting by herself. He walked over to where she was not knowing what to say to her.
Sakura heard someone walking over to her. She quickly tried to wipe all the tears away from her face. She looked up thinking it was Tomoyo, Meiling, or one of her girl friends who had followed her to make her feel better. But when she saw who it was it surprised her. 'LI?!? What is HE doing here?' "I'm not in the mood for one of your COMMENTS today Li!"
Li stopped at her reaction. 'Have I been so mean to her?' He thought about it and realized he has. All those times he called her pathetic or a wimp, had hurt her. "I actually ran out." he said. Sakura's mouth grinned over to one side. She thought his attempt to make her laugh was lame but thought full. "Could I...sit next to you?" he asked unsure of her answer. Sakura looked at him and sort of smiled. "Sure.." she said. Li sat a few inches away from her. He had no clue what to do. He wasn't the sensitive type. He glanced over to Sakura who was slouching, staring at the ground. Li noticed her fingers. They were playing with the ends of school uniform skirt. 'She's nervous?' he thought.
"Sakura, I know I haven't been that great to you but...I juss don't want to see you sad." Sakura was surprised at what she had heard. So was Li. 'He cares about me? I always thought he hated me.' she thought. He was nervous beyond belief. "Believe it or not we're actually friends." Li said it as though it was unbelievable to him. Sakura looked and smiled at him. "Thank you." she finally said. He was surprised how calm she was now. A few minutes ago she was crying her eyes out but, now she seemed to be so relaxed.
"Sakura you can tell me...if you want to...I mean I'm not forcing you or anything...."
"Well..." she said cutting him off. Li was surprised. She was going to tell him?
"If you want.."
"I do... I mean we're FRIENDS right?" she said smiling at him.
"..Yeah..."
"It was a couple of weeks when it happened." She started to tell him. He seemed a little confused at the pace Sakura was talking.
"So...," he began saying, "you're upset because some jerk dumped you?" Sakura looked at him. A little disappointed that he hadn't been paying attention to what she was saying.
"Sure he's the most popular guy in school. It was amazing he had asked me out to the dance but, I really thought he cared about me. Then today, THREE days before the dance he dumps me! For what? A skinny, airhead, cheerleader! I really wanted to go. But it's not even about the dance. He humiliated me in front of half the school. I really THOUGHT he cared. I am so stupid!" Sakura looked back to her skirt and started to play with the ends again.
"Don't say that! You're not THAT stupid." Li said sarcastically.
"Gee, thanks..."
"That's not what I meant. You're not stupid. You liked him, and you thought he liked you. It was his mistake to ever let you go...." Sakura turned and looked at him. "Do you really mean that?" Sakura's eyes suddenly became teary again. 'Oh man! I made her cry...' he panicked when he saw her face. "Sakura, I didn't mean to make you cry!..." Li didn't know what to do. "You know what? I'll help you out. If you really want to go to the dance I'll go with you!" 'What?!? What are you doing Li?' Mentally Li was kicking himself in the head. 'But look at her you made her cry again. This is the least you can do to make up for all the times you were a jerk to her.' Sakura was staring at him while tears came down her face.
"Oh do you really mean that?" Li hesitantly nodded. Sakura jumped up and swung her arms around his neck. Li was shock, 'Why is she so happy?'. "That's is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!" she whispered to him. Li was still confused but suddenly began to hug her back. "And I would love for you to take me to the dance!" she said as she pulled away wiping her tears away from her face. "It would be nice to go with one of my friends." she smiled at him. Li didn't know what to do. He couldn't help but smile back at her with those rare smiles of his.