Purple Cocaine Prison

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything…cept the fic.

Warning(s): See Previous chapter(s)
Pairing(s): Various

~!@!~

‘Purple Cocaine Prison’
Naruto: Falling Uphill

~!@!~

{Naruto/Getsuyobi}

-Daidaiiro-: Colors have always been a very important aspect of my life. Orange is the color that represents fire and flames, vigor and excitement, adventure and success, stimulating energy and endurance and I knew orange was my favorite color before I even knew what it looked like. Colors are like a singular way of advertising to other people what you’re all about. For example, Sasuke’s always wearing black, which represents authority and power, style and aloofness as well as being slightly overpowering. That really is Sasuke’s color isn’t it? Matches his personality anyway…

~!@!~

Didn’t I mention before what a pain Monday’s are? I wasn’t joking either. I’m already late and I’ve only just gotten up. The alarm next to my bed lets me know, loudly, that it’s been ten minutes since I woke up and I should’ve been out of bed twenty minutes ago. I’m crap at getting out of bed in the mornings so there was a lot of cursing going on while I fumbled around in the early morning fog that usually clogs up my brain if I’m awake anytime before ten.

I manage to get to the bathroom but fall asleep standing up while I’m brushing my teeth and end up having a short seven-minute shower because of it. I grab an orange sweater; hopefully one that doesn’t say something it shouldn’t and slip into black jeans. I dash past the kitchen and note that it’s already eight ten.

I grab my bag and sneakers and shut the door with a bang as I fly down the hallway and into the elevator. I take a few minutes to put my sneaks on while the elevator’s going down. Luckily, I thought to grab an apple before leaving and take a massive bite and sprint out to the bus top as soon as the elevator reaches the main floor.

The sky is still a pale gray. You’ve seen when it’s like that, right? Where the sun is just starting to peek out and the sky is slowly turning rose and purple and pale blue and the gray is slowly being eaten away? It’s beautiful, but I don’t have time to think of art as I round the apartment building’s corner and continue to run across the park.

Now that I’m 120% awake, I actually feel pretty good. I spent all of Sunday sleeping in and ignoring people’s phone calls. I didn’t think about anything; I just chilled. It was nice too, to be so rested and getting out into the early morning air. My hair was still mostly damp so the air gave me chills and made my skin break out into little goose bumps.

I’m pretty lucky, as usual, because I skid across the grass and show up just in time to catch the bus. The driver knows me and probably would’ve waited up a minute or two, but I’m proud of myself for making it out here. He laughs slightly when I hop up the bus steps, flash my bus pass and smile at him, half out of breath and half exhilarated.

I relax now that I’m actually on the bus and make my way all the way to the back and plop down into a seat. There are few people on the bus so I pull out my sketchbook and begin to draw. I do a quick sketch of Neji with his hair down and stare at it curiously. I’m good at drawing Neji from memory but I can’t remember seeing him smiling like I’d drawn him smiling. Taking my pencil against the page, I try to recall where I may have seen him smile like that.

When I just can’t remember, I shrug to myself and vaguely begin sketching. The funny thing is that, as I sketch, a face I recognize starts starring back at me from the paper. I start with dark, slightly slanted, frowning black eyes, black hair and a delicate nose, and to finish, a slightly frowning mouth to go with the eyes. I blink as I realize that I’m drawing the Sasuke I remember from last night. I drew the funny look he gave me before he left and the longer I stare at the page the more uncomfortable I start to grow.

I shut my sketchbook and put it away. Absently, I try to make a mental tally of things that I probably forgot…like the rest of my breakfast…but that’s because I didn’t get up when I was supposed to.

I lean back into my seat and prop my legs up and stare out the window. It’s not until my apartment building is out of sight that I remember that I didn’t actually lock the door to my place…

See, aren’t Mondays crap?

~!@!~

It’s like a whole sea of people milling around in the mornings. When I get off my bus and look across the length of the field, I see nothing but melting color. Since the high school I got to is the only one in Brockton, there are like five thousand students attending it. Even after I get there, there are still buses and buses full of teens getting off.

Crowds give me hives but there’s nothing I can do about that…except maybe go in early. So I do just that and walk around back and go in thru the back entrances. Inside, there are a few people wandering around but there isn’t anyone I know. Digging around in my pockets, I look for my ID card and loop it around my neck and head up to the fourth floor in the Yellow building where my locker is.

Since I’m still slightly high on air, I take the stairs two at a time and even try for three but almost fall and crack my back and hip. These buildings are all massive and have massive stairways and hallways to go along with them. There are four main sections: the red, yellow, green and blue buildings along with the two gyms, the arts and electronics building and the center.

You get assigned to a sector or building and that’s usually where you’re locker is. Other then that, the color system is just a way of categorizing since there are so many students. Your actual classes are all over the darn place…

Up on the fourth floor, I’m still blissfully alone. My locker isn’t far from where I am so I finally calm down and walk for a bit.
My locker’s pretty easy to notice since I kick it a lot cause it likes to stay wedged shut. It’s got dents all along the bottom.

Grinning, I do my combo and give it a well placed kicked that causes it to pop open. I dump my book bag inside and take only my math binder, textbook and my cooking workbook. I’m tempted to take my basketball but it wouldn’t be allowed anyway.

I glance around quickly and see that there still isn’t anyone around. I place my books down by my locker and start to dribble. The sound echoes loudly in the empty locker bay and it gives me chills, the good kind. Grinning, I keep dribbling and practice passing the ball thru my legs. A sound off to my right startles me into dropping the ball.

Neji hasn’t noticed me yet. He’s carrying a couple of extra math books and I figure he’s probably been here since seven this morning. He’s wearing dark blue from head to toe and his hair is up in the loose ponytail I like so much. He’s got more bangs then I thought he did and they almost completely covering his eyes.

I hesitate a moment before tossing my basketball into my locker, grabbing my books and taking off after him. He turns to look at me before I even catch up. We stare at each other a moment. Silver-blue eyes look back at me from behind dark brown. The bangs aren’t too long and they look really nice up close.

I tell him so.

“Hn”

I laugh, “It’s a compliment, you know?”

Neji nods and turns and keeps walking.

I walk with him, “Did anyone notice the paint in your hair?”

He glances over at me. I think he can tell I still feel guilty about it, “Yes, but it wasn’t a big deal”

I breathe a sigh of relief and blush when Neji laughs a bit.

“So…uh, how was you’re weekend?”

Neji shrugs, “Same as always”

I grin, “Mine was a nightmare…”

We’ve reached our math classroom and I hold the door open while Neji walks in. I flip the light switch and the big clock says we’ve got about twenty minute before the bell rings.

Neji’s books are already on his desk. I trace the spine of his math book with a finger and absently put my books down in the empty seat next to his.

Neji is suddenly back in my field of vision and I jump, “Don’t DO that!”

He raises and eyebrow at me and I feel like I’m the one whose being stupid.

Neji sits and motions for me to do the same.

For a minute, I can’t think of anything exciting to say and just when I’m going to get up again, Neji starts talking.

“I was surprised when you called yesterday”

I rub my jaw with my knuckles and shrug, “Uh, well, I felt like talking to you…sorry if I wasted your time, I didn’t exactly have anything serious to say”

Neji shakes his head, “It was nice”

That put me at ease and I laugh, “Your too nice to me”

Neji brushed some bangs out of his eyes and turned to me, “What are you always drawing in that sketch book?”

I frown, “Which one? I’ve got zillions of them and-“

He cuts me off, “The hardcover, dark brown one. It has your name engraved into the front and a butterfly insignia in the lower left corner of the front cover. The back is littered with signatures and it looks older and more well kept then any of the other ones I ever seen you carrying around”

I sit there kind of speechless after that. He just smoothly changes subjects and described, to a tee, my favorite sketchbook. Coincidentally, it’s the one full of pictures of him. I fidget in my seat and lean back on the back legs of my chair, “Uh, well lot’s of stuff really…mostly people”

Neji stays silent; I continue, “Like my friends and people who catch my eye. But they’re not like normal pictures…like there’s this one of Haku with his boyfriend and they’re just holding hands. And when I saw them, I could remember thinking that they were so cute cause they were walking together but both looking in different directions and their hands were the only things keeping them together…it was like even though they both had things on their minds, they didn’t forget to think of each other…I’m not making sense, am I?”

Neji shakes his head again, “You make perfect sense”

I grin, “Thanks, now if we could get my English teacher to agree, we’d be set”

He smirks, amused.

I was balancing on the two back legs of my chair and not paying attention to how far back I was must’ve been leaning and for a split second, I know I’m going to fall. I feel it when I loose my balance and the chair starts to lean too far back. As if in slow motion, I reach out to grab the edge of the desk and miss.

I squeeze my yes shut and wait. The chair hits the floor but I’m held slightly over it. I hesitantly open an eye and grin at Neji. His hands are wrapped around both my wrists and he, somehow, got up fast enough to stop me from cracking my head open.

I grin sheepishly, “Thanks”

Neji smirks, “Chairs are for sitting or did you not know that?”

I stick my tongue out at him, “Thanks for the commentary, Senor Sarcasm”

The bell rings and we both hear it as people start to pile into the locker room. Neji hoists me up and I pick up my chair. I make a move to go back to my usual seat but hesitate when Neji looks at me. Grinning, I plop down next to him, “You’re so going to regret letting me sit here”

Neji just smirks.

I stare at him a moment before turning away, “You smirk too much, what exactly would it take to wipe that expression off you face?”

Behind me, Neji just laughs lightly.

~!@!~

{Naruto/Cooking Class}

-Donburi - Now, if there is anything that can possibly strike terror in the hearts of men, it’s going to be the idea of me in a kitchen. I eat noodles; stuff that you can buy pre-made…I’ve never actually cooked anything really big, ever. Now, another important thing to consider is me near all those sharp utensils. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I chose Cooking Class but maybe I was hoping that they wouldn’t actually expect me to touch anything sharp…

~!@!~

The class itself it actually really nice, it just looks like a massive kitchen. The place is a fetching orange color and the stoves and fridges are all white. I liked this room as soon as I got an eyeful of the orange.

So far, no one I really know has come in so I’m thinking that I’m going to have some peace. Why is it, though, whenever you actually think life is cutting you a break it’s actually not? This was one of those times.

Sasuke wanders in and is just finishing a conversation on his cell phone. He’s wearing jeans, and Ecko shirt and a matching jean jacket. The blue highlights look way better then I remember them looking. He greets the teacher as he flips his phone shut and glances around. His eyes fall on me. I had attempted to melt into the counter top of my workstation but apparently it hadn’t worked.

He tilted his head slightly and seemed to be considering something. I grit my teeth when a slight smile spreads over his face. I know that look as well as I know how to draw.

As predicted, he wanders over and sits on the end of my workstation. I decide right then and there that I won’t provoke him but I won’t move both since I’ve already picked this seat and I’m not going to let him have the satisfaction of thinking that he can scare me.

I smile sweetly at him instead, “Ohiyo, Sasuke-Kun”

He raises and eyebrow, unfazed, “Back to normal, right?”

That shuts me up. If he’s going to torture me by trying to remind me how I made an ass out of myself on Saturday when he came by the shop, then I may just seriously consider moving. I’m a brave guy when the situation calls for it, but battling the prince of darkness first thing in the morning might be a bit beyond me.

Luckily, Gaara is last to wander in right when the bell goes.

I wave to him and he nods slightly and comes over. You can have as many as four at a workstation and Gaara is only the third so I’m sure it’ll be cool. Gaara and Sasuke eye each other and both frown simultaneously.

I intervene since I think that those looks more like a challenge then just basic scrutiny, “Gaara, you remember Sasuke, ne?”

Gaara sits at one of the stools and nods slightly.

I have to say that I love the way Gaara dresses. He’s wearing army print pants and a sleeveless dark green hoodie. The look is topped off with a studded bracelet on both wrists and his white scarf wrapped around his neck. He’s wearing sneakers like mine, only his are red.

I try to relieve some of the tension by babbling about what I did on Saturday after I left Gaara at the clinic, but they both seem intent on each other.

I sigh and give up. Better to let them settle whatever their problem is on their own terms. Class starts and the teacher does the attendance. She talks to us about how she’d like us to learn the ‘joys of cooking’ and all the usual and we finally get down to our first project.

She passes out theses little folders and each has a picture of a different type of cake. There’s this list of instructions that tells us where to find the different things we’ll need. Apparently, we have to try and demonstrate some teamwork by making the cake specified in the folder.

Sasuke and Gaara both reach for the folder at the same time and glare at each other when their fingers touch. Trying to avoid the outbreak of the third world war, I gently take the folder and flip it open. They both peer over my shoulders at the content, Sasuke on my right and Gaara on my left.

I can’t help but laugh a bit when I can, literally, feel them glaring daggers at each other over my head.

“Listen, “I say patiently, laughing slightly still, “We’re a group, so we’re going to work together…I never thought I’d say this but…Gaara, I’d like it better if you didn’t kill Sasuke seeing as how it will make a massive mess and all the girls will be out for your blood…and Sasuke, I like Gaara, so could you not give him that look…which I can guarantee is provoking him?”

They both look at me, Gaara amused and Sasuke slightly annoyed.

I shrug, “C’mon, everyone else has already started”

Sasuke looks around and notes the fact that I’m right. He plucks the folder out of my hands and scans the page, “I’ll get the bowls and whatever”

Gaara nods and we both watch as he wanders off. Gaara puts his chin on my shoulder and scans over the page and sighs before going to get some stuff we need. I prep the workstation.

The rest of the period isn’t so bad since Sasuke and Gaara actually leave each other alone and all I have to worry about is not leaving them alone with each other for more then a minute at a time. While we work at it, we end up having our cake in the oven before most of the other groups.

Sighing, I sit back and survey the mess that we made while making our cake batter. Flour, eggshells, dirty spoons, leftover butter, banana peels, vanilla extract and the list goes on. I grin and glance at Sasuke and Gaara, “Guess we’re done…mostly”

Sasuke smirks at me and it sort of takes the bite out of his next words, “Baka, get off your ass and get me a washrag”

I stick my tongue out at him but do as he says. Gaara tosses our dirty dishes into the dishwasher, Sasuke cleans up and I dry the counter and put away the stuff left over.

We’re actually too tired to bother each other as we sit back down and pass our folder back in. The teacher congratulates us on our hard work and says that we can come back at lunch to get our cakes if we want.

I grin, I’m sure Haku and Shika would love a piece.

I put my head on my hands and close my eyes; I’m mad tired. Suddenly, the bell rings and I nearly jump out of my skin. Gaara pats me on the back sympathetically but Sasuke, the asshole, actually laughs a little.

And here I actually let myself think for a moment that he wasn’t so bad when you could keep that sarcastic mouth shut. Heh…

~!@!~

{Naruto/Lunch}

I sprint down the hall, bumping into people right and left and crash into the hall doors. Pausing to swing it open, I take the steps two a time. When I get to the entrance of the cafeteria, Shikamaru is already waiting for me. He always buys Haku and I lunch since, mysteriously, he’s always there before most of the teen populace.

Grinning, I pounce on him and loop my arms around his neck, “I love you”

Shika scowls and pulls me off, “Here”

I take the offered cheeseburger and salad before glancing around, “thanks…where’s Haku?”

Shika shrugs, “Coming, I guess”

I nod to myself, “Kay, well, when he gets here, I need you guys to come with me to cooking class”

Haku pops out of nowhere behind me, “Why?”

I clutch at my heart in mock horror and scowl, “What is wrong with you?”

He just smiles all innocent-like, “Why’re we going up there?”

I smile, “I baked a cake!”

Shika raises an eyebrow, “And you need to test it out on some poor saps to see if it’s edible?”

I grin, “That would be you guys”

Haku smiles, “I like cake”

Shika shakes his head, “Not his you won’t”

Haku slaps Shika lightly before turning me around and pushing me towards the door, “Lead the way then”

I pause, “Uh, hold on. I have to go get Gaara and Sasuke…”

Shika shoves his hands in his pockets, “Gaara?”

Haku gives me this weirded-out look, “*Sasuke*?”

I shrug, “They helped me bake it, they should both get a piece”

Shika nods, “Sounds logical to me”

Haku grins, “If Sasuke helping Naruto go anything sounds logical to you”

I smile, “Cut it out…anyway, you can go ahead, I’ll get them and see you up there”

Haku shrugs and loops his arm thru Shika’s.

I watch them walk off and turn back to the death trap that happens to be our school cafeteria.

Finding Sasuke is easy because he sits at the ‘popular’ table. Basically, it means that he’s sitting at the table everyone else is sitting around.

I make my way to the center of the cafeteria and try not to loose my nerve as I finally spot Sasuke and he is indeed at the center of the lion’s den, metaphorically saying.

Okay…here goes.

I walk up, tap him on the shoulder and wait. The entirety of the table stops to look at me. Sasuke pauses, probably surprised and turns around. His eyes light with instant recognition and somehow, I feel relieved. It’s not that Sasuke is a stranger to me, but when he’s with other people…he’s nothing like the Sasuke I know.

He turns partially, “Nani, Blondie?”

A little irritated at the nickname, I pause for effect before asking him if he’s coming to eat cake with us.

Sasuke gives me this look like he can’t believe I asked him and right when I think that I’ve made a huge mistake, he nods and stands.

The other people at the table, Sakura and Ino among them, seem too stunned to protest.

Sasuke tucks a few loose strands of hair behind his ear, pulls on his jacket and smirks at me, “Let’s go, Dobe”

I give him a dirty look and turn to leave. He follows.

I swear, the entire cafeteria pauses to watch us leave together. I can’t blame them. Even to me, it’s weird.

~!@!~

On our way up, I see Gaara and invite him along. Sasuke doesn’t seem too annoyed by this so I take that as a sign that they’re not on crap terms with each other.

The class is already full of other students who brought up their friends to eat cake so I’m not the only who had that idea.

Haku and Shikamaru are sitting at the workstation at the back of the class and are chatting amiably with each other but it’s not till I get back there that I see a third person.

Neji had been seated between Haku and the wall so I’d hadn’t seen him. I can’t help but grin when I see him. Miraculously, Neji grins back.

Haku coughs none too conspicuously, “Ahem…cake?”

I shake myself out of it and nod, “Yeah, okay, hold on”

I motion for Sasuke and Gaara to sit down and wander off to the counter near the stoves and pick out our cake. I take a few paper plates and plastic forks and head back.

It sort of relieves me when I come back and Haku and Neji are talking peaceably while Shika and Sasuke complain about my loudness and Gaara listens passively.

At least they get along…

I cut the cake and serve everyone before seating myself next to Neji. I see Sasuke glance over at me but he looks away too fast for me to read the expression on his face.

Neji chats with me for most of the lunch period. About five minutes before the bell rings, we all get up and decide to clean up. Sasuke and Haku put the stools back while Gaara and Shikamaru toss out plates and forks. Neji tags along with me when I carry the leftover cake back to the fridge since he’s got the knife that I need to toss into the dishwasher.

Before we head back, Neji grabs my arm gently.

I turn to look at him and he smiles slightly, “You didn’t flinch”

I grin, embarrassed, “Very funny…”

Neji cocks his head thoughtfully before asking what I didn’t expect him to, “Are you busy Wednesday?”

I stare at him, struck dumb for a minute.

Neji intertwines our fingers, and looks at them “It’s safe to say no”

I shake my head furiously, “Sorry, you…surprised me…but yes…I mean no…I’m free Wednesday”

Neji smiles and squeezes my hand reassuringly, “Good”

The bell rings and he steps away from me, “I’ll see you later”

I nod and grin fuzzily as I watch him leave. Still a bit lightheaded, I turn and head back to where the others are still waiting for me.

I’m glad that none of them seem to have seen what just happened between Neji and I seeing as how they’re all chatting. Haku and Shika say the cake was good and Gaara shrugs and tells me he’s not a big fan of sweets but it was all right.

When I turn to Sasuke, I swear my blood turns to ice in my veins, the look he gives me is so cold. I hesitate to ask him what he thinks, but he saves me by saying we could’ve done better. He turns and leaves without another word and Shika absently comments that he’s never very cuddly for long anyway.

As my other friends continue to talk, I barely hear them. All I can think about is that look. I frown slightly and wonder if he might’ve seen Neji talking to me. I don’t see how it would’ve bothered him anyway, but something told me that that was exactly it…

{Naruto/Bio Class}

-Shojiki-: It’s actually very hard to be honest about things that make you uncomfortable. Being honest is trouble sometimes. Kinda like when Rock Lee asks you if he should ask Sakura on a date and whether or not you think she’ll say yes. Lee’s such a nice guy that you hesitate to be honest and opt to let the guy dream a little longer by telling him to just go for it…or like when I think of Neji and I get all hot and bothered and tell myself that I don’t like him like that (or Sasuke either, for that matter) but that doesn’t stop me from getting all hot and bothered anyway…

Honesty’s for saints; the rest of us should just try to handle it with care…

~!@!~

“He’s not my crush!” I whisper loudly, flustered.
And here I thought they hadn’t notice when Neji had talked to me.

“And I’m not all-knowing…please…does Shika know?” Haku never even stops writing down the observations from the lab we’re doing on Plasmolysis.

I grimace, “Let me ask you a better question: Would he even care?”

Haku makes a disapproving sound, “Course he would; he’s the one always looking after you when I can’t…and don’t forget that he’s the one who helped you get that apartment…”He looks up long enough to give me a mildly-dirty look

“Alright already, I’m just saying that Shika is about as likely to make a fuss about this as I’m likely to ever get along with Sasuke” I point out.

“Understood, but anyway, that’s besides the point…” After a minute he continues, “He really isn’t your crush? I mean, I would’ve sworn he was, what with all those picture you draw of him…”

I force down my embarrassment, “I’ll admit to thinking he’s hot, but it ends there. I mean, the guy isn’t like me…you know…and even if he was, do you really think he’d be into someone like me? And, for your information, he just happens to make a good subject for portrait pictures…”

Haku sighs heavily, “Ru, why are you always putting yourself down like that? It’s not good for your health and self esteem…you can fool the world into thinking your alright no matter what they do to you, but your talking to me here…be honest with yourself. Do you like him?”

I sigh, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, even if it was just a little…”

Haku brightens up a bit, “See, that’s a start…so, has there been any progress?”

I laugh, “Sort of, we sat together in math class”

I decide not to mention the fact that I’m going out with him Wednesday…Haku might get mad at me for not saying so later, but a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do…

Shika wanders back and sits down on a stool and watches us quietly.

Haku pauses and gives me an encouraging look, “That’s progress…but at the pace you’re going, I’ll probably have to help it along a bit”

“Help what along?” Shika asks calmly

“Nothing”, I say absently and lean over the microscope to take another look at the onion cell.

“Didn’t I already tell you that you’re a crap liar? Technically, it means you should stop since you have no talent for it” Shika smirks and snaps the elastic band around my wrist.

I flinch and rub my wrist gingerly, “That hurt!”

Shika grins, “So does the truth”

I give Shika a dirty look, “Ha, very funny”

Shika shrugs good naturedly and Haku gives us both a warning look, “Cut it out”

Shika puts his hands up in a mildly defensive way and pulls a face.
Luckily, Haku is very serious about school so we don’t have the luxury of horsing around anymore after that. Which, by the way, is fine with me. Shika can be such a know it all sometimes!

~!@!~

{Naruto/Spanish Class}

-Hidoi -: There are different levels of cruelty and that’s a fact. There are times when your friends will play tricks on you and you’ll think its cruel but that’s nothing compared to the cruelty of strangers. Cruelty can be meant and when it is, it can cause you more pain then anything else that could be done to you. That’s why Sasuke scares me a bit. When we were kids, he’d be cruel just to get a rise out of me. I can admit that it made me struggle against all the things that were dragging me down, made me feel more alive then I was even on good days but I also think that it cut deep wounds that I can’t quite repair since they’re mental and not physical. After all, using drugs might make you feel good at first but the long-term effects are crap, aren’t they? That’s when I think that I realized that I needed an anti-Sasuke drug.

It turned out to be drawing…

~!@!~

El libro neuvo…la hora antigua…une juego antiguo…el papel nuevo…

Absently, I finish the sketch of Hinata that I did on the corner of my worksheet. Next to me, Sasuke is back to being as professional crack head. I sigh and shade her hair in distractedly.

I thought that for once Sasuke was going to take a day off but I’m usually wrong about a lot of things and this was no exception. As soon as we hit Spanish class he cracks a comment about blonds. And see, I wouldn’t have been so bothered if he hadn’t made it a point to act like Sergeant Stick-up-the-bum. Ever since he’d seen me with Neji at lunch, he’s been acting like a prick. He must really hate Neji…and thinking about it now, they’ve actually always been competing with each other since we were kids. They’re both from wealthy families and seem to have the whole Perfection-complex.

Considering this, I glance at Sasuke from the corner of my eye. He’s working steadily and is already mostly done. He’s just slowing down because he’ll have nothing to do if he finishes quick. He took off his jean jacket and hung it on the back oh his chair and has one hand pressed to the back of his neck and is using that elbow of that arm to lean over the table.

Sensing that he’s going to notice my starring at any moment, I turn away quickly and breathe a sigh of relief when he looks up sharply and looks over at me. I pretend to work and I feel his eyes slowly slide away from me and back to his sheet.

This is ridiculous…he was completely harmless this morning. I suck it up and tear a piece of notebook paper out of my binder and scribble a note: ‘what’s your problem?”

I slide the note warily over to Sasuke and watch as he calmly picks it up and reads thru it.

He glances at me before slowly, deliberately printing something and handing it back

‘Why do you care?’ His writing is precise and curvy.
S’cute, I guess.

I grin slightly because I so expected him to say that. I begin to sketch a quick pic of him frowning down at his worksheet and write next to it: ‘Cause I’ve been sitting next to this for the past fifteen minutes and it’s starting to really creep me out’

I hand it back and wait for him to pick it up. I wait almost ten minutes before he finally sighs and picks it up. He scans over it quickly and looks over at me, slightly surprised.

He smoothes the note down and writes: ‘you draw?”

I blink and pull the note back to reply: ‘Sort of…’

Sasuke smiles slightly: ‘I don’t look like that, but you’re pretty good’

I smirk: ‘either I’m dreaming or did you just compliment me?”

Sasuke smirks: ‘you’re dreaming’

I grin: ‘you never explained what you’re problem was’

Sasuke scowls slightly: ‘you’

I roll my eyes: ‘Yeah, okay, I knew that. But why are you acting like an ass when we were fine in cooking class? What changed that made you act up?’

Sasuke doesn’t reply and takes the note from me and crumples it up. I watch, mildly irritated, as he takes a shot at the trash bin and it goes in.

“You really are a prick, you know that?” I mumble to him

Sasuke shrugs, “You’re the one who talked to me…”

I huff and turn back to my worksheet. I should’ve known better then to try and rationalize or make peace with Sasuke…resigning myself; I get back to my Spanish.

Since the teacher figured that we seemed to be having so much fun with our worksheets, she assigns us our first project. Something about choosing to write a pretend newspaper article on a past historical event…mostly in Spanish.

I groan as I look over the sheet she hands out. Sasuke raises an eyebrow curiously and turns to me, “We should get this done before the weekend…can you come over on Wednesday?”

I freeze in my seat. Sasuke is asking me to come over to his place? I know that we have this project but wouldn’t a library be more sensible…and safe? And, who said that he’d be allowed to decide that by himself? I’m meeting Neji Wednesday!

I grin and try to get out of it, “I have plans Wednesday”

Sasuke gives me a look that says he thinks I’m lying but all he says is, “Come after”

I bite my lip, “Can’t”

Sasuke doesn’t even bat an eye, “Before then”

I grin wryly, “You really want to get this done, don’t you?”

Sasuke shrugs, “What’s the occasion…as far as I know, you don’t have plans?

I smiles sweetly, “Your so charming…and for your information, Mr. I’m-a-professional-prick with a capital P, I have a date”

Oops…so not the thing I should’ve said.

Sasuke scowls a bit and shrugs, “What do I care…anyway, come tomorrow then”

I sigh, defeated, “Yeah, alright, keep your hair on”

Sasuke gives me a look that tells me that if I open my mouth and say anything more, he may just hit me. I sigh again and turn back to my worksheet.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my first, real day of the second semester.

~!@!~
TBC...