Sora & Fumiko

Chapter Nine

Ever since I told Sora 'I will be back as always' it sort of became a thing. Whenever we were about to depart, I would say it to him. It was a way that we knew, we would see each other again. But each time I said this to him something happened, I didn't want to go.

I was at school during tennis practice and I couldn't stop thinking about him. I was so deep in thought that I didn't see Anastasia walk over to me nor did I hear the words she spoke as I saw her lips moving.

"Hey Fumiko! I'm talking to you!" She snapped at me harshly.

"...Huh" I managed to say as I was pulled out of my thoughts.

"Your up against me next!"

"...Oh, yeah!" I ran over to the other side of the court and got myself into position to play against her.

I was glad that my tennis uniform only consisted of a lime green polyester shirt and a dark green mini skirt because it made it easy for me to move as I sent the ball she hit towards me right back at her. She was fast and she sent the ball back at me with lighting speed, but I was quick enough to hit it. For the next few minutes she and I sent the ball flying back and forth over the net and I was surprised at how good I had become.

I guess all the tips and lessons I got from Jake are finally paying off.

A crowd soon formed watching us send the ball back and forth across the court. I must admit Anastasia was good-no not good, she was great! She was one of Henson high's best tennis players and she had helped us win in a tournament the year before.

She was awesome.

To tell the truth, I found it hard keeping up with her but the cheers from my team mates kept me going. Soon it seemed as if Anastasia and I were equally matched as we entered the second round, but I knew this wasn't true because it seemed as if she wasn't trying while I was struggling to keep up. There was a split second where I glanced over at the sideline and to my surprise Jake had also joined in the cheering.

"Go Fumiko!" I heard him shout. This surprised me and a light smile came across my lips. "You can do it Fumiko!" Just then something happened, Anastasia's face stiffened and grew irritated and the game changed. The ball started flying past me at lighting speed and I could hardly keep up with her as she mercilessly hit the ball towards me.

"Oh..." I said as I finally missed the ball. Sweat was pouring off my face and I was fairly tired. The spectators on the sidelines ran towards Anastasia and encircled her with cheering. "Great game!" I remarked to her, but she was caught up and unable to reply. I smiled lightly at her but somehow she still looked irritated.

"Fumiko, you were great!" The captain said running to me. "I've never seen you play like that before"

"Yeah, but I wasn't really that good, Anastasia was the better player." I replied catching a bottle of water that was thrown to me by one of my teammates.

"But you were the real winner today." He said as he placed a hand on my own before walking away. I was so tired I decided to sit on one of the benches and take in some air. Just then I heard a familiar voice call out to me.

"Fumiko!" It was Natalie, she was one of those persons I could sort of call a friend, except she wasn't like a friend and more like an older sister even though we were the same age. We didn't have any classes together and I hardly saw her, but whenever I did, she would give me friendly advice or so."Fumiko you were great today." She smirked at me with a hand on her hip.

"Yeah, thanks." I replied grabbing my racket and swinging it with an athletic pose. "So Natalie, you haven't been to practice for a while. Why?" I asked concerned.

"I've been busy." She sighed.

We both plopped down on the bench at the same time making our mini skirts fly up. This made me quickly cover my legs with my hands and a few boys turned and smirked at us. I blushed and hung my head, but Natalie smiled at me and said,

"There's no reason to get embarrassed, their just boys." I Looked up at her and she chuckled while running her fingers through her short brown hair. "Speaking of boys, I've heard that you've caught the eye of someone."

"Huh!...what are you talking about?" I replied with widened eyes.

"Come on, like you don't know. I've heard that you two have gotten close over the past few weeks"

"What!-"

"And I've heard that you two spend a lot of time together after school" she continued smirking at me.

Wait is she talking about Sora. No there's no way!

"Wait how do you know about-"

"Everyone knows about you two." She said with a chuckle.

"What!" I said taken aback.

"Come on Fumiko, everyone knows he likes you."

Wait, Sora likes .... me?

"How is it that-"

"It's obvious, whenever you're around it shows on his face. The way he smiles at you and the way he speaks, the way his eyes gleam. Don't tell me you haven't noticed the way you seem to brighten his day whenever you're near him. "

No way, I never thought that Sora would have....

I know that whenever we meet, he seems to brighten and everything around us  disappears.

Whenever I'm with him there's this feeling I get, one where I don't want to let him go......

"Natalie, how could it be that-"

"Oh my god Fumiko! Your so innocent! How could you not know that Jake likes you!" Even though she used the word 'innocent' I know she meant naive.

"What! Jake!" I said almost falling over.

"Seriously Fumiko!" She said looking at me and shaking her head.

Jake likes...me?