Chapter 22. Tell Me Why
"I don't deserve your kindness..." Tomoyo whispered, attempting to steady her breathing.
Eriol went closer to her, "You need to stop. Stop thinking about how you aren't good enough for this or that or them or... him." He paused, "You need to stop thinking you deserve less than anything because no one, not you, not me, not Sakura, not Syaoran, not even Sensei or Ken or whoever else is in that room, deserves anything other than the best." Syaoran and I stared at him in shock.
Tomoyo slowly looked up, "Th-thank you."
Tomoyo glanced at the door, "You guys go on ahead, I'll wash up and meet you..." She tried to smile as she excused herself and walked towards the nearest bathroom. I stood in place for a moment then followed her, "I'll meet up with you guys to."
Syaoran patted Eriol on the back and walked into the auditorium with him.
---"Tomoyo?" I called out as I entered the bathroom.
"Y-yes?" She replied, her breathing slowly going back to normal.
"I'm... Sor---"
"Don't apologize." She cut me off, "You did nothing wrong." She wiped her face with a paper towel, "if anyone were to say sorry its me, and only me." She walked closer to me, "I don't know what has taken over me... I take full responsibility, except.. please know that I did not mean to temporarily blind you.. the wires were just all, and it wouldn't and ---"
I closed the gap in between us and hugged her. THIS was Tomoyo Daidoji. My best friend.
---
As soon as we entered the auditorium, silence hung in the air. I squeezed Tomoyo's hand in support and walked up to were Sensei, Syaoran, and Eriol were, "Hi Sensei, sorry we took a bit long." I said, Tomoyo nodded her head in agreement and tightened her grip on my hand.
Sensei smiled, "No problem, are you girls, all right?" He asked, we nodded. He cleared his throat, "Okay then, class its the moment we have all been waiting for." He motioned for us four to go on stage, as he followed us, "Now, after both performances, we had everyone vote--- in order to keep it anonymous, we made sure each and every students had their eyes closed and raised their hands only once--- Sensei Sai and I then voted ourselves." He paused, "And our Romeo and Juliet is,"
I swear he took the biggest pause ever. As if we weren't already under enough stress right? I rolled my eyes, 'Sensei, just spit it out.' I begged him in my mind.
Tomoyo's grasp got tighter and tighter as Sensei's pause got longer and longer.
"OH! But first, I want to applaud all four of you for your hard work and fo---" 'REALLY SENSEI?' I yelled in my head, I heard Tomoyo sigh in annoyance and giggled. She smiled softly, "Both groups showed excellent skills as actors and I can not be more proud of such a fine cas--"
"SENSEI!" Ken yelled out sliding in his seat, "BEFFOOOORE the bell rings pleaaaaaasssseeeee?!" The class laughed as Sensei blushed a deep red.
"Right, erm, class, your Romeo and Juliet will officially be,"
He paused shortly, "Syaoran and Sakura."
The class cheered loudly as Sensei came to congratulate us, "Tomoyo, Eriol, I want you to both know that this was a very hard decision," He put his hand on Tomoyo's shoulders, "You both were excellent and will remain the understudies."
Tomoyo let go of my hand and took in a deep breath, "Th-thank you Sensei, I appreciate it." She smiled and looked at me, "Congratulations Sakura." She said as she pulled me into a genuine hug.
The class gasped, "Congrats man." Eriol said giving Syaoran a 'man-hug'.
"Thanks." Syaoran said with a small smile.
"Class, I'm terribly sorry we did not get much of a rehersal, but I assure you that tomorrow we will be getting down to business!" Sensei smiled and glanced over at Tomoyo, "Its been quite a long day, I think you all deserve a break," he looked up at the clock, "You guys can leave 30 minutes early, is that okay Sensei Sai?"
Sensei Sai smiled at us, "You guys have been working hard, enjoy some free time."
"THANK YOU SENSEI!" The class cheered and hollered as we all exited.
"SSAKURA!" Chiharu ran up to catch up with us, she looked at Tomoyo who had hooked arms with me, "Tomoyo." She tried to smile, "You know... We haven't all hung out in a while." She looked at the four of us.
Naoko nodded in agreement, "Yeah Haru's right, how about some pizza or... Ice cream, or just chilling at the park?"
Eriol looked at us then at Naoko and smiled, "I think thats a wonderful idea."
I looked at Tomoyo, "What do you say Tomo?"
She looked around the group, "I'd... Love that." She said smiling.
Chiharu and Naoko smiled, "Wonderful!"
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A/N
Sorry this is quite short! I have work in a few minutes :) I just want to thank all of you, wow 103 reviews ! Thank you so much: Flyfly, kimmygoldenangel, Jasmine and Brightestoflights!
BTW! Blindside was an excellent movie, (based on a true story!), it had laughs and tears, but mostly laughs ;) I reccommend it to all of you :)
much love;
candee