"Good luck on your preliminary exams, honey," my mother says while we walk our ways out of the house.
"Um. Good luck at work too," I respond to her with a smile on my lips.
Before we parted ways, we give each other a tight hug like we don't want to be apart at all.
I miss my mom every day like how I miss dad. She waves goodbye at me and I turn my back at her and started walking away.
"Sarada!"
Cho-Cho is waving at me, waiting at the corner of the street. I slowly run in her direction and when we finally meet she gives me a bittersweet smile. I wonder why.
"What's wrong?" I ask her while furrowing my brow.
"You know it's exam day and I feel sick," she responds.
I laugh at her statement.
"Don't worry, we'll get through this," I encourage her.
"Heh! It's easy for you to say that because you are a smarty," she pouts.
"Um..." I murmur.
"Well, I guess I won't lose to you..."
I don't know why that memory of Boruto suddenly enters the picture. I secretly smile at the thought.
"Hey, I saw that," Cho-Cho smirks at me.
"H-Huh? You saw what?" I try to hide it from her.
"You smiled just now."
Oh crap! She notices. I think I cannot hide from Cho-Cho's investigative eyes.
"What made you smile like that?" she is starting to get persistent.
"What do you mean?" I keep refusing.
"Come on Sarada. I am your best friend for a reason," she rants.
"Just don't mind me and let's get going or we will miss the first exam," I pull her and she starts to awkwardly scream. Some of the students are watching us running towards the school gates.
"I guess everyone is here now. Let's start the first half of your exam," our adviser says.
I take a deep sigh.
I should not lose to Boruto today. I say in my mind and secretly watch his back.
Our adviser gives us the test papers one by one.
"When I say 'go' you can start answering your test, okay?" she instructs.
We respond by nodding our heads. I am holding my pencil so tight and I am actually praying in my head that this exam will go smoothly just like the junior year. I have reviewed my lessons but I cannot be confident with them. Boruto is my rival here.
"Go!"
"I think I lose all my brain cells," Cho-Cho complains. We are in the canteen eating our lunch. We just finished the first half of the test and we still have another half to go this afternoon.
"Do you think so?" I ask her while smiling awkwardly at her.
"It's not that easy, you know," she keeps grieving about it.
"It's fine Cho-Cho you did review our lessons, right?" I ask her.
"Well, a bit," she answers.
"Oh," I snort.
"Hey, Sarada. What should we do after the exam?" she asks.
"What do you mean?" I ask her back.
"We need to chill out after this exam, right?" she smirks.
"Okay, okay. Let's talk about it later. The second half is about to start," I tell her and we rush back to the classroom.
"Okay, ten minutes left," our adviser reminds.
After she said that the three of us, me, Boruto, and the jerk stand up at the same time.
We have finished our exams yet, I guess.
"Oh," I hear our adviser mutter.
We pass our test papers to her and I go back to my desk to clean up and pack my things.
The jerk leaves the room first and Boruto follows him. After I pack all my things, I leave the classroom and wait for Cho-Cho outside.
"Yo, Cho-Cho!" I call out to her. Her face is so stressed out.
She sighs.
"Are you okay?" I give her an awkward smile.
"I am still sane, I guess," she says and I laugh at her.
"So glad that exams are over!" she says convivially.
"But, the results are to be released later," she takes back her enthusiasm earlier.
I am amused by my best friend's gestures. She's sometimes strong, jolly, depressed, pettish, and competent. Well, she is the best thing I ever have.
Watching her like this makes me happier. I could say we are normal, right?
"So, did you think of what we should do tomorrow?" she changes the topic.
"What?" I furrow.
"Come on. We have talked about it earlier, right? We need some fresh air after this suffocating exam," she rolls her eyes.
"Hey, wait..." I stop her from her tracks.
"What?" she scoffs.
"Did you hear the entertainment news last night?" I ask her.
"Nope," her brief answer.
"Mr. Martin's new movie will be out tomorrow," I excitedly tell her.
"Really?" her eyes widen.
"Guess what? Your favorite teen actor is the lead," I tell her more. She feels giddy after hearing the news.
"Oh my, we need to see that, Sarada!" she can't hold her thrills.
I nod at her.
"Text me what time tomorrow, okay?" I tell her and she nods. She is still thrilled about it.
We wave goodbye at each other and I go straight home. Today was a tiring day.
The sound of my alarm wakes me up. I get up and I can't help myself from gaping. I open my room's windows to smell some fresh morning air. I brush my teeth and proceed to take a bath.
Today is Saturday and we are going out, Cho-Cho and I. So, I dressed up. A few moments later, my phone beeps. It must be Cho-Cho.
I pick it up from the table and I see Cho-Cho's name on the screen.
"I'll be waiting at 9 o'clock. See you."
Her message.
"Okay."
I reply and put my phone inside my bag.
"Hey, honey. Where are you up to? You all dressed up," mom asks. I have not told her about our hang-out today.
"Cho-Cho and I will be seeing Mr. Martin's new movie and Cho-Cho's favorite teen-actor stars it. So, we can't skip it," I explain.
"Okay, you guys have fun but before that, you need to eat this pancake I prepared for you," she says while putting the plate on the table with a deliciously looking pancake on it.
"Wow!"
The only word I could utter out of amazement.
"Go eat up," she tells me and I started munching on it. Mom's cooking is the best.
"Do you have work today?" I ask her.
"Yup. My boss told me to make up with the reports," she explains.
"I see. Good luck mom," I tell her.
"That's so sweet of you honey," she tells me and kisses me on my head.
My phone beeps and I check on it.
"I'm here." -Cho-Cho.
"Mom, I should go now. Cho-Cho's waiting for me already," I tell her and kiss her cheek.
"Okay, you two enjoy and take care," she says and I rush towards the doorway.
"You sure are excited, huh?" I say while still panting.
"Of course, it's my knight in shining armor on today's screen," she says and gestures like she's daydreaming.
She grabs me immediately and we walk in the direction of the train station.
"Hop in!" she shouts. Cho-Cho's enthusiasm is really something. She got a lot of energy today.
We hurry to the theaters to see the movie.
"Oh my gosh! Look at the row of people craving for Mr. Martin's new movie," I tell her.
"I think it's because of my knight in shining armor why people are on queue," she doesn't want to lose in this argument.
"Fine, fine," I don't want to debate with her anymore.
"Let's get some drinks and popcorns," she says and grabs me to the counter and order a pair of popcorn and juice.
"Tickets! Tickets! Last two!" I hear the man sells the tickets.
"Let's go," Cho-Cho and I move closer to the man and we buy the tickets.
"Let's get inside! Yahoo!" Cho-Cho cheerfully says and pulls me closer to her and we walk together.
"W-Wait..." I think I have seen a familiar face or maybe just my imagination.
I ignore it and follow Cho-Cho inside the theater. I am excited myself. I will get to see Mr. Martin again.
"I feel so giddy, Sarada. I really need my real-life knight in shining armor," she tells me while giggling.
"Like a boyfriend?" I ask.
"Yes!" she responds quickly.
"Mr. Martin is really cool. He sure is a good father," I say my eyes full of admiration.
"That's true. He could make his son change," she affirms.
"We're almost at the end of the movie..." she sobs. I don't know if she is really crying.
"Wait, this is my first kiss."
"Oh, I see."
"Um."
"I will make it memorable for your then."
"Oh my gosh! They kissed!" Cho-Cho giggles.
I think my cheeks blush at the scene.
First kiss, huh?
I wonder who will be my first kiss...
Will it be Boruto?
Hey! Stop! Stop! Stop! I shake my head. Oh my gosh! I am ridiculous for imagining such a thing! I shouldn't be thinking about it!
Ugh!
"You okay, Sarada?"
"H-Huh? Y-Yeah! He-He-He!" I respond.
"Um." She is not convinced I know but good thing she did not insist. I am kind of relieved.
"This is the best day, Sarada!" Cho-Cho utters enthusiastically.
"Yeah. I am looking forward to new movies of Mr. Martin," I answer back.
"Well, see you on Monday," she says goodbye to me and we separate ways.
"First kiss..."
"Results are out!"
I hear one of my classmate's shout and everyone runs to the bulletin board to see the results of the Preliminary Examination. I go to see it too.
"I hope I did not screw it up," I keep my fingers crossed.
"Sarada! Come over here!" Cho-Cho yells at me.
I walk in her direction. I try to pass through the heavy crowd. Yeah, everyone's very excited.
"Congratulations! You're still tied up with Boruto on the top spot," she happily informs me.
"Yeah, thank goodness!" I feel relieved. I saw Boruto smiling while talking to Yodo and Tsubaki. I bet they are congratulating him.
"I made it on the top ten!" Cho-Cho screams.
"Congratulations, Cho-Cho!" I tell her with a smile on my lips.
"It's a celebration!" she yells and everyone agrees.
"Congratulations, Sarada!" Denki congratulates me.
"Thank you, congratulations for being on the top two, Denki," I see him flush and nod at me.
"Hey, Sarada. Look at this," she tells me and points her finger at the bottom of the list.
"It's Kawaki at the bottom," she continues.
He failed most of the tests. Well, it's karma. That jerk never apologizes for his mistakes.
"I wonder what happened to him," Cho-Cho utters.
"It's none of our business," I say though I feel bad for him.
Some are congratulating one another and some are sympathizing with others.
"Look at him, he is all alone," Cho-Cho comments. I just watch him walk away.
"I regret to tell you that some of you did not pass the preliminary examinations and still need improvements," our adviser reveals.
"Kawaki, I don't know what's the matter. You failed most of the tests and in fact, you only passed two subjects out of ten," she continues.
I look at the jerk and he seems not interested in listening. How rude.
"Now, I have decided to assign someone to help you out with your failing grades."
Oh? Like a personal tutor, huh? He has got special treatments.
"I am willing to help Kawaki out," Yodo volunteers. The whole class says, "What?" to her.
"Hey, what?" she frowns.
"I'm sorry Yodo but I have already picked someone to do the job," our adviser tells her.
"And who's that?" she smirks.
"Of course, the top student of this class," she reveals.
That means it's either Boruto or...
Me?
I noticed that Boruto was surprised too.
"I actually picked Sarada to help him out."
What?
"Me?" I point to myself.
What the hell me?
No way!!!