Luhan's POV

Tao shouts a 'Later!' as he walks out the door. The door slams shut, and I hear the faint click of the Tao locking the door behind him, though I know that from our distance from the door, none of the others will have heard it. I look around the room, tensing at the sudden awkwardness.

This is the first time I've been alone with Tao's friends without him being there. I've actually never seen them before I started going to their school since that one time they helped me with my Change. I am not sure how I'll be recieved.

"When is it again?" D.O. asks Suho, looking right at him, picking up our earlier conversation before Sara finally responded to Tao's texts.

"Not for a couple of weeks. Almost a month." Suho answers, nodding.

"So not until mid-January...." D.O. says quietly, looking as if he's deep in thought.

"How are we going to tell Sara?" Chen asks no one in particular in a quiet voice.

"We're not!" Chanyeol snaps. In his defense, that was a stupid sounding question. I decide to help out Chen a bit.

"Well, even if we win, we're going to be coming home with cuts, bruises, and broken bones! How do we explain that to Sara without her freaking out?" I explain what I think Chen was trying to ask. Chen looks at me, and smiles, thanking me for the help. Chanyeol has no response. But Lay does.

"What if we pretend that we're fighting with each other?" he suggests, looking at me.

"And when the Ingi show up to school with just as many injuries as us?" Xiumin responds before I can. "I agree with Chanyeol. What Sara doesn't know can't hurt her."

"But just because we don't tell her anything, doesn't mean she won't find out!" Baekhyun exclaims. "Even if the Ingi don't tell her directly, Sara's bound to find out through the rumor mill! Because even if the Ingi lose, they'll spread rumors, make it look like we're the bad guys! It'll be even worse if they win!"

"Not if we make it so they can't." I say, looking at the floor. Silence.

".... Can't what?" Sehun asks cautiously.

"Can't do anything. Spread rumors, get to Sara, or even come to school. Can't do anything." I clarify, raising my eyes to look each of them in the eye. I can see none of them like the idea - it has some bad connotations - but at least some of them are considering it. I hear the click of the door unlocking. "Tao and Sara are here!" I immidatly relax in my seat, leaning back so I look as if I'm this close to falling asleep. There are creaks of the couches, and the sounds of clothes moving and brushing against each other as the rest of the boys follow my lead.

"How ya' think the game's gonna work out?" Kai asks lazily just as Tao and Sara walk into the back porch where we're sitting. Yes, it's freezing outside, but we've got a wood stove, and heaters galore in here, so it's nice and toasty.

"You mean the game between us and that suburban school district for school?" Sara asks hesitantly. Anxiety and hope are coming off her in waves. It's a miracle none of the others can feel it! I open one eye to take a peek at Sara. Woah. She's ineffable!

"The very one!" Kris says amiably. Sara visibly relaxes, smiling, and goes to sit down, but Tao holds her back.

"Remeber what you're here for?" He asks, trying to sound stern but not put Sara off.

"To socialize with us!" Suho cheers, grabbing Sara and leading her to sit next to him. I yawn quietly, and sit up, so as not to look rude.

"Nooooooooo," Tao goes and tries to lead Sara away, but isn't quick enough. "Sara's here to do her school work, since the power's out at her place!"

"School's not gonna be in tomorrow!" D.O. whines.

"Yeah, the weather man says!" Xiumin adds.

"And when has the weather man ever been reliable?" Tao asks pointedly. We are silent for a second, but then, I say,

"Tao is right!" Everyone 'awww's, and Tao looks triumphant. "It could be worse!" Everyone laughs, and Tao rolls his eyes.

"Fine!" he sighs. "Sara has until eight, and her father thinks she's here to do homework. So she needs to have at least some of it done by then."

"I'll start working on it by seven thirty. It's not that much, just answer some questions. It's all review." Sara offers. Tao nods.

"And if you get stuck, you have us to help you!" Lay chirps, reaching over Suho to ruffle Sara's hair. Suho shoots Lay a dirty look, which did not go unnoticed by me, or anyone else. Except maybe Sara. She seems pretty clueless about this whole thing. Not just clueless about how the guys see her - though I think she's starting to become more aware of it - but just clueless about life in general. She doesn't know how life works.

I stretch, and crack my neck. The boys and Sara have gotten into a deep and heated discussion about the odds of our school winning the upcoming soccer game. Sora was participating in the conversation just as much as the boys, even though Sara most likely could care less about soccer.

I look around the room, trying to figure out who thinks what, and where I could jump into the conversation. I happen to catch sight of Suho and Sara, who were cuddling, if you could call it that. Suho has his arm around Sara, and Sara's leaning into his side. But it's not, like, lovey-dovey flirty type cuddling. I feel a surge of jealously, which I immmediatly shove down and squish into a little box, locking it away. I have no right to feel that way.

I barely know Sara. I barely know any of Tao's friends, and it is safe to say that the only reason I'm here is because I'm friends with Tao. Therefore, I shouldn't be feeling jealous of Suho, especially when it's obvious that there's only an innocent glow about the pair, when it's obvious they're only friends.

From Sara's perspective. My brain thinks all on its own. Sara doesn't think that she and Suho are more than friends, but if that look Suho shot Lay was any indication, Suho wants more. Instead of shoving the thought away like I should've, I indulged it, analyzing everything I know of the boys and Sara's relationship. I even use some of my own twisted little logic.

Tao is obvioulsy the leader of the group, so naturally, by default, he gets the first pick of girl. And, also obvious, from the way Tao was fretting obsessivly when Sara wouldn't answer his texts or ride home with him, is that Tao likes Sara. But for some reason, Tao hasn't claimed Sara as his yet. Not even to the boys. From what I've gathered, Tao hasn't even said, "Hey, guys, Sara's mine." And he definatly hasn't said anything to Sara.

So because Sara is still technically 'up for grabs', the rest of the boys are trying to make her theirs. But not so straight forward. They understand, it seems, that Sara is blissfully unaware of the world of love, , and flirting. If they come on too strong, since Sara is so innocent, they risk creeping Sara out, scaring her off. So they're just barely putting a toe across the fine line, trying to be as physically close as possible while still seeming like they just want to be friends.

Girls love the leaders. So Sara, being a girl, is going to go to Tao. Or at least she would, if she was interested in that. But anyone with eyes can see that Sara's the closest with Tao. That's where the competition comes in. Sara is closest to Tao, so if any of the other boys want a chance, they gotta get past him.

But then, if Sara is so sheltered, so not-interested in all that stuff yet, why did she care so much about what Suho said? I think I know the answer....

My phone buzzes in my pocket, signifying a recieved text message. I look around to see if anyone noticed my phone going off. Nope, looks like I'm in the clear.

You're staring.

Tao's message was short and to the point. I blush, and look down. Another text.

Don't worry about the cuddling. It's normal.

I respond quickly.

Oh, it's not that, I was just thinking.

'bout whaaaaat?

.......
The cuddling.

lol, knew it!

I put my phone away, and try to re-tune in to the conversation. It had turned to the topic of school schedules affecting peer relationships, but it was obvious that at least a few of the guys were trying to get the conversation back to sports. I looked around the room to try and figure who was who. Who wanted sports, who wanted school. It looked to be a pretty even split.

"Wait, Sara?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Would you ever do a sport?" I ask her, figuring I knew more about sports than I will ever know about school.

"I don't think so!" Sara responds with a laugh.

"Why not?" Lay, the biggest sports fan ever, exclaims, shocked.

"Well, because--" The doorbell rings. Tao looks at me, asking who it is. I shrug, and get up to go answer the door. Sara continues her explaination.

Standing outside Tao's door is a half-frozen.....

________________________________

1.) Didn't mean to leave it at a cliffhanger, I just felt it was getting to be to long. I like my chapters long, but not so long people are intimidated by them and don't read.

2.) Going through a rough patch, both as a writer, and in my personal life. my updates probably won't be up to stuff.

Sooooooo..... Not sure how to end this, now that the holidays are done with..... I'll update ASAP, kk?