Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Now:

Everyone looked at the two in surprise.

"You know him?" Tomoyo asked, looking at her best friend.

"The jerkI was telling you about," she replied, glaring at the amber eyed boy.

"Him!" the Dark Angels chorused, looking shocked. Eriol and Meiling watched the scene in confusion.

"So, I'm a jerk huh, little girl?" he teased.

"Don't callme that!" she said dangerously.

"You know my cousin, Sakura?" Meiling asked finally.

"The jerkis your cousin?" she gasped while Meiling nodded. Sakura glared at Syaoran, imagining ten thousand ways of killing him and getting rid of that stupid smirk on his face. She slid down on the seat next to Eriol and sipped her drink, gulping it down nonstop, glaring at him at the same time.

Meiling sat opposite Sakura and watched her, perplexed.

"Careful, you might die from choking," Syaoran taunted and sat down next to Sakura, just to irritate her. He was surprise with himself. He didn't normally act like this but whenever he saw her, he just couldn't stop himself from teasing her. He liked to get her ire up, she was just too cute. Syaoran froze. He did notjust think that.

Sakura only glared at him harder. "Go sit somewhere else," she hissed.

He studied her quietly, watching her eyes changed from emerald green to forest green. He liked her eyes. They were quite expressive. Not to mention, green was his favourite colour. "I sit where I please," he replied shortly after, relaxing against his chair, smirking at her.

"Grrr!" Sakura contemplated if she should strangle him. Pro: she'd rid of him once and for all. Con: he was Meiling's cousin and killing him was probably not a good idea.

"Umm, let me introduce you to my cousin. He's—"

"Syaoran Li, nice to meet you, little girl," Syaoran finished.

Sakura turned to him, "The number one racer!"

Syaoran grinned, "So, you've heard of me then."

"I never expected you to be him," Sakura stated, looking away. Was she glad or disappointed at the revelation, she didn't know.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked affronted.

"If you're smart enough, figure it out yourself."

"What?" he said incredulously.

"Err, so you two know each other?" Meiling asked, listening to her new friend and cousin bickered.

"No." "Yes," Sakura and Syaoran replied simultaneously. Meiling's brow arched in curiosity, while the others sweat dropped.

"So, is that a yes or a no?" she asked again.

"No." "Yes." They glared at each other. Tomoyo shook her head and told Eriol and Meiling what Sakura had told them.

"Oh, I see." Meiling frowned. She looked over at Syaoran and said, "That wasn't very nice what you said to Sakura, Syaoran."

Syaoran shrugged, "How was I supposed to know?"

"I guess he doesn't have a brain in that head of his," Sakura mocked.

"Why you!" Syaoran glared at Sakura, who was sipping her drink innocently.

He then started grinning, "Just admit it, you're a bad driver, little girl."

"I can drive fine," she gave him a murderous look. If looks could kill, Syaoran would have died his 100th death by now. "And don't call me THAT!"

"What do you want me to call you then hmm? But personally, little girl suits you,"

"Sakura, my name is Sakura Kinomoto and NOT little girl," she crossed her arms over chest, glaring at him for umpteenth time.

"Alright then," he grinned, "Little Blossom."

"Ooooh!" Sakura snatched her drink and gulped it down rapidly.

For the rest of the afternoon, Syaoran and Sakura bickered non-stop. He would taunt her and she would get angry and then retort back. Their friends sighed but watched them with interest. Tomoyo's eyes twinkled as she studied the couple. Her mind was running wild with plans of matchmaking. Jia, Rika and Chiharu only shook their heads at their two friends. Eriol and Meiling were a bit surprised to see Syaoran acting this way, especially to a girl. He would usually give them the cold shoulder and ignore them outright.

Maybe there is some hope for you after all, Syaoran. Meiling thought, merrily.

- X -

It was Saturday, two days after the confrontation with Syaoran. Sakura had tried to forget all about him. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't, especially not when her best friend brought his name up every second.

Sakura sighed as she stared at the white ceiling in her bedroom. She closed her eyes, and an image of a certain amber eyed boy popped up. She opened her eyes suddenly and sat up.

"Go awaaaaaaaay!" she shouted, grabbing her pillow and starting to hit it. Once she was satisfied, she threw the pillow down and glanced at the clock. Seven pm.

Let's go for a drive.

Sakura changed into light denim jeans and a black tank top. She grabbed her car key and a cap and went downstairs. She put on white sneakers and went into the garage. Her eyes swept between the black and the pink car. She grinned, unlocking the car and the garage door, and drove out.

Sakura drove aimlessly into the night. Her speed was increasing every second. She noticed that it would be a red light soon, but tonight she didn't feel like waiting. She stepped on the gas and sped pass just as the light turned red. She observed the new area with interest. As she drove by something caught her eyes. She hit the break and reversed the car. She opened her window and read the sign.

WELCOME TO SHINTO'S RACE COURSE. Open Mon-Sat 10am – 11pm

Sakura grinned and drove in. Once she was in, she was given a ticket and a course guide. Sakura parked the car to study the guide. There were 5 different courses: a straight course, a round course, a normal course, an advanced course and an expert course. Sakura studied the map and found that the expert course was the most interesting one. It consisted of a lot of tricky curves. Sakura loved curves, the harder the better.

She started driving toward the expert course, which was the furthest back. She slowed down as she came close to the track. Sakura noticed that there were some people there already. She sighed. She wanted to drive alone tonight with no audience.

Sakura slowly drove into the track and it seemed that she had caught the other's attention. She stopped her car next to the white one. A Nissan Skyline GTR. Her brow knotted.

Where have I seen this car before?

She shrugged and was about to start but someone knocked on her window.

"Yes?" she asked once her window was down.

"Would you like to race against my friend? She needs an opponent," a dark brown haired girl asked.

"Who?"

The girl pointed to the white Nissan. Sakura turned her head just as the window of the car opened.

Lisa!

"Yeah, Lisa." The girl confirmed. Sakura turned back to her, not realizing she had said the name out loud.

"So? Yes or no?"

"Sure," Sakura hid her grin.

"I hope this is not your first time," the girl said.

"It is. Why?"

She smirked, "Don't have your hopes high, you don't want them tumbling down. After all, Lisa's a pro in this course. No one has ever beaten her before." The girl said haughtily and then left.

We'll see.

Sakura closed her window and stared straight ahead. Even though she had never driven in this track before, she had studied the map and furthermore, she could also learn it as she drove.

The same girl walked and stood between her car and Lisa's car.

"This is a two lap race. The rules are simple: who finishes first, wins. Alright, racers, are you ready?" The girl shouted. Upon hearing the revving of both cars, she continued.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and GO!" The girl dropped both of her hands down, signaling the start of the race.

The white Nissan shot out from the starting line followed closely by the pink Spider. Lisa stepped on her gas harder and her sped forward. Sakura saw this and followed suit.

It was already halfway through the track and Lisa was still in the lead.

"This is child's play," Lisa smirked, looking at the review mirror, "I must admit I'm pretty surprise you could follow me so close, but this ends now!" Lisa accelerated her car, leaving Sakura in the dust.

Sakura saw through what Lisa was planning. She also accelerated her car but because she didn't know much about the road, she couldn't really step on the gas so hard. It was a bit dark, and even though there were sideline lights, Sakura couldn't risk it. So instead, she just drove steadily at 170 and continued to study the road.

This is more challenging than I thought.

Sakura stepped on the brake and performed a drift to turn but her calculation was a bit off, causing her car to lose its control for a bit. She quickly steered her car back in place.

Damn, that was too close. Better pay more attention.

With that thought in mind, she blocked out everything except for the road and her car. She let herself be one with the car. She could feel how her car moved and how her reaction was now more in sync with the car.

One lap had passed. Sakura noticed that there was more of an audience than when she had first started the race. She ignored the fact and continued driving. By now Sakura had memorised the course and was replaying it in her head. She knew where the curves were and how she could turn without losing her grip. She was now ready to take down Lisa.

Ready or not, here I come!

Sakura accelerated her car; she was now going 190 and wasgetting faster. She had predicted that Lisa was probably halfway by now. Sakura stepped on the brake but without lifting her foot off the gas, she did a drift around the turn.

Another one up ahead. I hope this works…

Sakura approached the turn from the inside lane. She calculated roughly 60m before she reached the turn, and swung the car outside in a smooth feint motion, not too fast nor too slow. She brought the car back into the direction she wanted, she throttled, and the car was drifted along the road. Sakura kept the throttle going because if she pressed the brake, the car would be out of control. Once the drift was completed, she straightened out the car by letting the throttle off smoothly and then straightened out the wheels making it in line with the front tires.

Hell yeah! I executed feint drift with perfection! Take that Touya!

Sakura grinned as she sped down the road. I see you…

Lisa on the other hand was smirking. She knew that the no one could beat her, not even that pink driver loser. Try as hard as they might, their attempts were in vain. However, her happiness was short-lived as she saw headlights behind her.

What the hell? How could she catch up to me!

Lisa swore and pressed the gas harder hoping to leave the pink car in the dust. When she looked at the mirror again, she was shocked. The pink car was right behind her.

There's no way someone could catch up that fast…Damn it!

Lisa gripped the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white. She glanced at the mirror again and found that the car was still on her tail. They were now three-quarters of the way to the finish line.

There's no way I'm going to lose to that bitch!

Sakura was grinning from ear to ear. She was enjoying this. She had to admit that Lisa was a great driver but she was easy to read. Not to mention she was overconfident. That was a big mistake a racer couldn't afford to have.

I have only one chance to win the race. I must lead her after this turn or else I'll lose.

With that thought, Sakura stepped on her gas as far as she could. She was going to use a feint drift technique again. She steered the car inside and calculated the distance before swinging her car out. She was still behind Lisa but she ignored it and focused on completing the drift.

Lisa stepped on the brake and drifted her car along the turn. Sakura also stepped on her brake and brought her car back inside. Lisa's eyes widened as the pink car turned side by side with hers. She realised now that she had lost the race. The inside car had more advantage and as her thought trailed off, the pink car was in front of her.

At the finish line, the audience was excited and waiting patiently for the first car to come by. Obviously everyone thought that Lisa would win; however, as the pink Spider was first to finish, the crowd was silent. They were shocked. Their heads whipped to the pink car as it did a 360 turn and came to a stop. A few second later, a white Nissan went past the finish line and stopped next to the pink Spider.

Lisa opened the front passenger window, turning her head to the left. Sakura opened her own window and looked at Lisa.

"I—I can't believe I lost to YOU!" Lisa fumed as her hands gripped the steering wheels tighter. "But I must admit that was…a good race. You were good."

Sakura smiled genuinely, "Yes it was. You were great too, Lisa."

Lisa was taken back at the smile and how calm this girl was.

"What's your name? I hate to lose to a nameless stranger," she flicked her hair.

"Cherry," Sakura answered and glanced over at the clock. 22.10.

"HOE!" she shrieked.

"I have to go. It was fun racing with you. Bye!" Sakura sped off, leaving Lisa staring at the empty spot in a daze. She blinked and started laughing.

That girl, Cherry. You're one of a kind.

- X -