DISCLAIMER:I do not own anything. Only Love. He's mine.

+ HINATA +

I'M... OPTIMISTIC?

Highway to Hell – AC/DC

First day of school.

Kami knows how much I hate first days of school. Every time I entered the classroom on that first day I already knew what the entire year would be like.

Hell.

I wasn't bullied or picked on or anything like that. See, I'm a shy person who has a lot of issues. I'm not the friendly type. I don't walk through the doors with my head high, oozing with self-confidence and with wind blowing my hair. I walked with my head down and feeling extremely self-conscious of everyone's eyes following my every move. And right then there they would label me as the 'shy one'. Believe me, I don't have issues against that. But when I would accidentally hit something because of combined clumsiness and heightened self-awareness and they judge me because of that… well, I thought it was unfair. I feel uncomfortable with over 30 pairs of eyes looking at me, assessing me if I'd be worthy to be a part of them. Of course it turned out that I'm not. I would always choose the seat at the very back of the classroom beside the window. I was paranoid that people would stare if they see me chewing the endpoint of my pen. By sitting at the back, I pretty much declared to everyone that 'No, I'm not interested in making friends' and to 'Stay away'. And when some tried talking to me, I stuttered horribly it would seem as though I have a disease or something. Thus, I'm friendless. To be in high school with no friends was hell.

That was after my parents' divorce. When my mother left us, we moved to the other side of town. I was heartbroken. I had to leave behind the house that I grew up in. Leave behind my friends. That was really painful. To say that I had trouble adjusting would be an understatement. At 12 years old I had to deal with my parents' divorce, my father's indifference to said divorce, my mother's absence, and most of all I had to worry about my little sister. She was just 7. And to top it all off I had to fit in with new kids. Not just once but twice. We moved again when I was 14 and my father enrolled us to an all-girls school. It wasn't that hard to adjust. Although I was friendless again for a couple of years, it wasn't that bad. On my last year in high school I became good friends with a couple of girls.

"Hinata-chan!" Ino calls out, waving me over to them. Sakura is standing beside her with a smile.

Blushing, I walk over to them. I still can't believe that these two and I are like good friends. They're the most popular girls in our school and the prettiest. Whereas I was a nobody. I still am, as a matter of fact. On more than one occasion I did wonder why they approached me. It was either a.) I'm their charity project b.) because I'm a Hyuuga c.) they feel sorry for me or d.) they're using me for whatever reason. But since we've been hanging out for more than a year already and none of those happened yet, I'd say that Ino and Sakura are genuine. And for that I am immensely grateful.

"It's so good to see you again, Hinata-chan," says Sakura as she give me a hug. I return it stiffly. I'm still not used to how my fellow females greet each other.

"You too," I mutter. Ino hugs me next. "And you, Ino-chan."

"How's your summer?" she asks curiously. Her big blue eyes survey my appearance.

"Same as the previous summers," I answer with mild sarcasm. The only interesting thing that happened in my summer was when my childhood friend Shino came back from his vacation in the Amazon with 10 bot flies eating his back. "Yours?"

"We went to New York!" Ino answers excitedly. "It's so beautiful!"

"We basically toured the United States of America," shares Sakura. "New York is also my favourite but I have to say, I really like Hollywood. It's better than what we see on TV, seriously."

Then they went on and on about their fabulous trip while we wait for the entrance ceremony to start. I don't talk much except to say 'ah', 'oh' and 'really' at the appropriate moment. Oh, and smile and nod of course. They don't seem to mind that I don't talk that much. I really like them. They at least acknowledge that I'm a person and not an inanimate object. We were classmates since Senior High, by the way. In that all-girls school. It wasn't until our last year in high school that they started talking to me, though. Anyway, we all ended up in the same university.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Ino snaps her fingers at my face, causing me to jump a little. "You're spacing out again."

I blush. "S-sorry…" They chuckle good-naturedly at my social ineptitude. Sometimes I don't know why they still put up with me. Other people would leave me in a corner to rot.

Sakura links her arm with mine. "Anyway, we got something for you."

"What is it?" I ask curiously.

"She pays attention to us if there's something in it for her," Ino teases, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I didn't bring mine with me," Sakura continues. "It's kinda big."

"I'll give mine then," Ino fishes out a wrapped box from her over-sized purse. She hands it to me with a, "Ta~da!"

I unwrap it carefully and when I see what's inside… It's a… it's…

"A Harry Potter shirt!" Ino cries out enthusiastically.

Not just any Harry Potter shirt. It's a Gryffindor shirt, like that one Hermione wore in Half-Blood Prince! "You – you guys went to the theme park?"

"Of course!" Sakura says. "Guess what I got you?"

"Don't tell me… is it a wand?"

"You already have Harry's wand and the Elder wand so I bought Ron's,"

I hug Sakura in delight. "Thank you so much, Sakura-chan! And Ino-chan!"

"You should go there soon. It's amazing!"

We suddenly hear screaming from a distance. Ino gasps, "I think it's Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura squeals madly, "He's here! Omg, omg! I can't believe this! Is this really happening?"

"I totally know how you feel," Ino mutters emotionally. "After years of dreaming… this day has finally arrived. We might even end up being classmates with Uchiha Sasuke!"

And then they both squeal like fangirls. I put the shirt in my bag – I can't wait to wear it! – and ask with mild interest, "Who is Uchiha Sasuke?"

Silence. Then… Ino and Sakura gasp in shock. "Shut. Up."

"Are you for real?" Sakura asks, eyeing me suspiciously. "You can't not know The Uchiha Sasuke."

Isn't that why I'm asking them? Because I don't know? I shrug nonchalantly. "I know about Uchihas, of course," They're still looking at me as though my eyes turned black. "Is he… a celebrity?"

"Well, in a way," answers Sakura. Ino is still speechless from shock. "He's very handsome. Like, seriously handsome. And his sex appeal is out of this world. He's also a genius. He got the top marks in the entrance exam. Kya! I'm so happy I'm in the same university as him!"

"He's also voted as the most eligible bachelor under the age of 20," Ino finally recovers.

"His reputation is stellar!"

"And I heard that he never had a girlfriend."

"It's because he's waiting for me," Sakura declares confidently.

I think this Uchiha Sasuke is gay. I didn't say this out loud, of course. I'm not an idiot. I have a feeling that if I voice out my personal opinion of Uchiha Sasuke in front of them I'll die. Thankfully, the entrance ceremony is about to start.

"We have to hurry!" Ino says, panicking a little. "We might lose the best seats up front!"

"I promised to meet up with Shino and Kiba. See you later," I bid to them.

"See you!" waves Ino, already running off to join the throng of people entering the auditorium.

"See you later, Hinata-chan!" Sakura follows after Ino in a hurry.

And then there was me. I lied. Well, sort of. I'm not really meeting up with my friends right now but later. They'll be a little late because of some misunderstanding, apparently. And I just don't want to sit in the front. Sighing, I step inside the auditorium. I gaze around in amazement. It's big. No, humongous. I've always known that this university is the best and most prestigious in the country and even though my great-uncle is a board member and an uncle is a dean, I never knew that this place is magnificent.

I choose a sit at the back again. My fellow freshmen all look interesting. They are looking around at each other. Some are already having conversations with their seatmates. And then it struck me. This is my first day as a college student. This is not like high school. Everyone is meeting each other for the first time. Maybe… maybe it's time for me to reach out and make friends? Gathering up my courage I look over to my right. I blink. Wow, a rocker. He doesn't have eyebrows. His hair is a flaming red in colour. His eyes are covered with thick man-liner. And his most striking feature is the 'love' tattoo on his forehead.

"Is something wrong?" the tattooed guy asks without turning his head.

"Why?" I ask curiously, staring at the tattoo. It's definitely real. "Why do you have that tattoo on your face?"

He finally turns his head in my direction. His light green eyes are piercing. "Mind your own business."

I flinch. "R-right… S-sorry… I d-didn't mean to…"

Without another word, he turns his attention back to the front and ignores everyone else. So much for striking up a conversation. I catch sight of my uncle the dean entering the auditorium. He sees me and ignores me. Just like everyone in the family these days.

As the eldest daughter of the Hyuuga clan's leader, I was expected to follow my father's footsteps. But I didn't. My father knew since I was young that I didn't have what it takes to be a leader. In short, he gave up on me a long time ago. But the whole family didn't. They're all in denial and still stuck in the old days. They still think I should learn how to be the proper leader because it's my birthright. I'm the first-born. I will gladly suggest to them to check my school records as proof that I am not capable. I'm not intelligent enough nor do I have any leadership quality. And so, I defied everyone and chose to pursue what I want. My father doesn't care. He just looked at me with disappointment and told me to do whatever I want. I did. And so I moved out of the house a week ago. I'm now living with my cousin's friend in an apartment near the school.

I jump in surprise as the whole auditorium erupted with screams. I wonder what's going on. Everyone's on their feet except me and Love. Can I call him Love? It's not like he'll know, anyway.

"What's going on?" I ask out loud but to my surprise Love answers me.

"It's the student with the highest score."

Ah.

It's that Uchiha Sasuke. No point trying to see if he's really as handsome as Ino and Sakura said. I won't see anyway. The people in front of me are tall. I can barely hear his speech. The screaming is too loud it's ridiculous.

My phone vibrates in my bag. Me, attentive much. I should be paying attention to the ceremony but oh well, after that guy's finished with his speech. I received a text message from Kiba, another childhood friend. He wants me to wait for him outside after the ceremony. Kiba, Shino and I are eating lunch together. Smiling fondly, I reply a yes. It feels so wonderful to be together with my two best friends again. They are also attending the same university as I am and we'll be classmates in graduate school. After 2 years, Kiba will study veterinary and Shino will specialize in insects. As for me, I want to play the piano. After 2 years we will go our separate ways again and grow up. But for now, I'm happy we're together…

This first day of school as a college student is not so bad after all.

October 08, 2011 - *sigh* I know… another story… But worry not! I will update Life, Unexpected soon ^^

This story had been in my head for months. And omg, I can't believe I'm going to write a lemon (or lemons!)! I'll try anyway *blushblush*… This is not a songfic but after hearing Head Over Feet by Alanis Morisette I thought, 'wow, this song fits the story'. The original title was The Only Exception (Paramore) but I felt that the title will give you pretty much the gist of where this story is going. I didn't want to give away too much thru the title, you know? Whereas with Head Over Feet you have to listen to it just to give you an idea on what's it all about. I'm not making any sense, am I? LOL!

Argh, please excuse my ranting. Anyway, I should warn you now. The updates are going to be slow so please bear with me ^^

I was supposed to post this last week but I was a bit reluctant (I still am) for some odd reason. Maybe the thought of writing lemon/s gave me the cold feet or something lol! Should I continue? Coz like I said, the updates are going to be slow... And I'm busy looking for a job T_T I'm broke ;_;