Plain and Simple:
part 1
Serena ran past the people on the sidewalk, shouting apologies over her
shoulder when she bumped into them. She abruptly stopped in front of the
bakery. She pressed her hands against the window, her mouth watering at the
dozens of cookies and pastries on display.
'Not today, Serena,' she scolded herself. 'You're already late meeting
everyone.' She grudgingly took off running again.
She was out of breath by the time she reached the temple. "Hi.. guys..."
she wheezed, "what's... up?"
"You're late again, Serena," Mina pointed out.
"Yeah; you'd better start getting here on time," Raye warned.
"Aww, come on," Serena whined. "I'm not that late." Then she smiled
gleefully. "I would have been even more late if i had any money to buy some
cookies!"
Everyone groaned.
"Let's go or we'll miss the movie," Lita broke in.
"We'll have to hurry as it is," Amy said.
"We'll make it!" Serena told them confidently.
"See, I told you we'd make it," Serena said smugly as the girls sat down
in the theater.
"We would have gotten better seats if you didn't always have to pork
out!" Raye insulted Serena, gesturing to her pile of snacks.
"You're one to talk!" Mina scoffed at Raye. "I feel sorry for that fudge
sundae you devoured last week!"
Raye's cheeks flushed. "I hadn't eaten anything all day!" she protested.
"Sure, Raye," Serena rolled her eyes.
"Sometimes you can be so-" Raye was cute off by the dimming lights and
the start of the movie.
As the lead actor popped up on the screen, Serena loudly squealed, "Ooh,
he's so cute!"
"Shhhhhh!" said a voice from in front of them.
Serena craned her neck to get a glimpse of the person who told her to be
quiet. As the movie screen darkened, a shadow was thrown over the crowd.
"Shoot," she muttered. When the movie grew brighter, she quickly leaned
forward in her seat and stared at the person, trying to make out any facial
features. "Who is that?" she asked aloud.
"Hey, be quiet!" the person turned around to glare at Serena.
"Darien!" she gasped, staring back at him. "I should've known."
He shot her a dirty look. "Keep it down," he hissed, turning back around.
"Serena, just watch the movie," Raye whispered to her, annoyed.
Serena slumped back in her seat, sulking. 'He's always so mean to me,'
she thought. 'Well, he won't get away with it this time!' She grabbed a
handful of her popcorn and launched it at Darien, watching in delight as it
bounced off his head.
Darien shot around in his seat. "Stop throwing popcorn at me!" he said
angrily to Serena.
"Stop being a jerk and maybe I will," she retorted.
"Immature," he muttered before turning back to the movie.
"Immature, huh?" Serena chunked another handful of popcorn at him.
"Ok, that's it!" Darien threw some of his gummy bears at her.
The two waged an all-out food fight, gaining shouts of surprise and
annoyance from the rest of the people in the theater.
"Hey, hey! Stop right now!" the usher came running up, screaming. "You,
and you," he pointed at Serena, then at Darien. "You're out of here!"
Serena glared at Darien, then walked out of the theater. He followed.
She stood outside, shivering in the chilly night air. 'Ooh, he makes me
so mad!' she thought.
"Why did you start throwing popcorn at me?" Darien asked, coming up
behind her.
"You totally deserved it for being a jerk!" she screeched, turning away
from him.
After a moment he said, "It's getting late."
"Well, since the movie is out of the question, I should just go home."
She glared at Darien.
"I'll walk with you," Darien offered.
"I don't need a chaperone," Serena answered icily.
"I know that, but it would make me feel so much better if I knew you got
home safely."
Serena stared at him in surprise, concern for her etched in his face.
"Well, ok," she complied.
They started walking down the deserted sidewalk.
The temperature dropped and the wind picked up. Serena shivered.
"Are you cold?" Darien asked her, stopping.
"N-no, I'm fine," she managed to get out through chattering teeth.
"Yes, you are!" Darien took off his jacket and offered it to Serena, who
gratefully accepted the warm garment and slipped it on.
Darien watched in amusement as she tried to push up the sleeves to
uncover her small hands.
They continued walking in silence, finally reaching Serena's house.
"Well, this is me," she said. She slipped the jacket off and handed it
to Darien, who put it back on. "Thanks for walking with me," she muttered.
"But I'm still mad at you for making me miss the movie-"
Darien wrapped his arms around Serena in a hug, shocking her into
silence. He gently lifted her chin so she'd meet his gaze. "This was better
than the movie." He kissed her on the cheek and walked away, leaving a dazed
Serena on the porch staring after him.
'Way to go, man,' Darien thought to himself. 'You make the girl angry
and then do something stupid like kiss her. She looked positively shocked!
Now she must know how I feel about her. God, I blew it before I even got an
actual chance!' Darien walked dejectedly to his apartment.
'Did he just kiss me?' Serena asked herself. 'Hmm, maybe it was a
diversion!' She ran her hands through her pigtails and over her back,
searching for a "kick me" sign or other debris. Finding nothing, she tried
to rationalize the kiss. 'He must be crazy. Yup, that must be it! Oh
wait...'
"I don't know!" she wailed aloud, frustrated.
Still contemplating, she entered her house and slammed the door behind
her.
Walking into her room, her gaze landed on a certain cat sleeping on a
pile of old magazines and wrinkled garments. 'You're so lucky you're a cat,
Luna,' she thought sourly. As she changed into her pajamas, she promised to
not think about this whole Darien situation. 'Everything will be better in
the morning,' she mused as she climbed into her bed. Curling up with her
stuffed bunny, she soon fell asleep.
"So, how's it going, Darien?" Andrew asked his best friend the next
morning at the Crown arcade.
"Been better," Darien muttered, resting his chin on his hands and
staring off into space.
After a pause Andrew asked, "Is it Serena?"
Darien looked up sharply at his friend. "Why would you bring her up?"
Andrew's eyes widened in surprise. "I'm just wondering what's up with
you. I figure with the way you're acting, you must be having girl troubles."
"There are thousands of girls besides Meatballhead!" Darien spoke
vehemently. "She's no more special than them-"
He heard a gasp from behind. Words caught in his throat as he slowly
slid around on his stool and caught sight of Serena, who had tears streaming
down her cheeks. She spun on her heel and dashed out of the arcade.
"Serena, wait!" Darien called to her, jumping up. As he watched her run
out, he felt his heart rip in two.
Andrew smacked him on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" Darien asked angrily, rubbing his throbbing
arm.
"You're always so mean to that girl. This time you really blew it."
Andrew walked off.
'Andrew's right,' Darien realized sadly. 'Serena was crushed... Well,
I'll just have to make it up to her!' He marched out of the arcade.
"That jerk!" Mina exclaimed.
"I can't believe he said that, especially with you right there!" Lita
seethed, curling her hands into fists.
"He didn't know she was there," Amy pointed out sensibly.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the chance of Serena
showing up there was pretty big," Raye said.
"Why do you even care what he thinks?" Lita asked Serena impatiently.
"It's not like you're dating the guy. Ouch!" she yelled in pain as Mina
elbowed her in the ribs.
'Shut up,' she mouthed to Lita. To Serena she replied, "Do you like
him? Is that why this upsets you so much?"
Serena's eyes widened. "Of course I don't like him!" she exploded.
"He's such an obnoxious creep!" she shot out hotly.
The gang exchanged glances as Serena buried her face in her hands.
"I'll never let him come near me, let alone touch me, again," she moaned
through the cracks of her fingers.
"What do you mean?" Mina asked.
"He kissed me last night," Serena explained.
Everyone gasped.
"It was nothing!" Serena cried defensively. "He walked me home after we
got kicked out of the movie, and somewhere in the midst of my whining he
just... kissed me. On the cheek," she added quickly. She stared down at the
floor.
Lita shot Mina a questioning glance, but Mina only grinned mischievously
back, motioning towards the door.
"Well, um, Serena, we kind of have to go now," Lita said slowly,
catching on to Mina's gestures. "Don't we, guys?" She looked pointedly at
Raye and Amy with a look that said, 'I'll tell you later.'
"Oh, yeah, we have to go," Amy complied, sounding somewhat unsure.
"Right, we have some... things to do," Raye finished.
The girls hopped up and were ushered out of Serena's room by Mina,
calling goodbyes over their shoulders.
'Great,' Serena thought miserably. 'My problems drove them away. Now
what do I do?'
"All right, Mina, what's going on?" Lita asked her.
The girls were sitting in the arcade ten minutes later after their hasty
departure from Serena's.
"Yeah, why did you want to leave?" Raye wanted to know.
"Did anyone else notice Serena's reaction to Darien insulting her?" Mina
questioned her friends.
"Of course we did!" Raye rolled her eyes impatiently. "She whined and
got upset like she always does!"
"You don't get it," Mina sighed. "Darien teases her all the time, and
she retaliates. But this time I think she really got upset."
"Why would she be upset?" Amy asked.
"Ohhh... I get it," Lita spoke slowly.
"Right; Serena likes the guy, plain and simple," Mina replied.
"Plain and simple," Lita echoed, grinning.
"What's plain and simple?" Andrew asked, walking up to the girls.
They all clammed up.
"Um, nothing," Amy stammered.
Andrew studied their expressions for a moment. "Were you discussing a
certain blonde-haired friend who is absent from your group today?"
"No!" Lita replied a little to quickly.
"Aha, caught you!" Andrew exclaimed gleefully. "Now what's going on?"
"Can we trust you?" Mina asked.
"Always!"
"Ok," Mina started, "Serena was upset this morning."
"Because of Darien," Andrew sighed.
"Well, Serena ran home crying-"
"And we figured something was up!" Lita interrupted.
Mina glared at her. "I'm telling the story!" She turned back to Andrew
and continued. "Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was going to
say that crying isn't Serena's ordinary reaction. At least not to Darien
insulting her. So we kind of put two and two together and think that maybe-"
"Serena likes Darien!" Lita squealed.
"Lita!" Mina screamed at her.
"What?" Lita shrugged. "You were taking too long."
"Before you start arguing again, can I say something?" Andrew spoke up.
"Better say it fast," Amy joked.
"When Darien realized that Serena heard him, he looked like he could
have died right there on the spot," Andrew told the girls. "I think he likes
her too."
"And neither of them have realized this yet?" Raye snorted.
"It's not like their actions toward would suggest an attraction to each
other," Amy pointed out.
"So what do we do with this new information?" Lita asked.
"Come up with a brilliant plan to fix this," Mina said.
"Count me in!" Andrew grinned.
Serena trudged miserably down the street on her way to the park. She
thought the beautiful day might help cheer her up.
It didn't.
She turned the corner and smashed into someone. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she
cried. "I didn't see anyone there-"
"Maybe that's because you weren't looking," a familiar voice said.
Serena froze, then slowly looked up to see Darien smiling down at her.
"How ya doing, Meatballhead?" he asked.
"Ohhh," she groaned, turning away. She started walking away from him.
Darien panicked. "Wait!" He grabbed her arm.
Serena whirled around to face him, nervousness in her eyes.
He quickly let go of her arm. "Um, Serena... Well, I... I just..."
"What do you want, Darien?"
"I'm sorry!" Darien blurted, thrusting a bouquet of crimson roses into a
startled Serena's arms. "I'm sorry I almost knocked you down, I'm sorry for
what I said this morning." He gulped. "And I'm sorry for last night."
'Even though it was the best night of my life,' he added to himself.
Once the initial shock wore off, Serena found her voice again. "It's
ok," she answered softly, her eyes lingering on the bouquet in her arms.
'Roses, my favorite.' She absently plucked one from the others and inhaled
its intoxicating perfume.
Darien noticed her reluctance to look at him. 'Please look at me,' he
pleaded silently to her. He searched her face. 'I need to see those beautiful
blue eyes of hers, even if only for a second.'
Serena finally tore her gaze from the flower clutched in her hand. "I
have to go." She hurried down the sidewalk.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
She paused, rapidly wracking her brain and blurting out the first place
that came into mind. "To the, um.... The library!"
'Library? I didn't think she even knew where it was!' Darien smiled.
"Me, too!" he lied. "I'll walk with you."
"Did I say library? I meant cafe," Serena stuttered.
"Well, I could go for some coffee..."
"No!" Serena shouted quickly. She blushed, then added, "No, I don't
want to interrupt your plans."
"Don't worry; you're not-"
"No, really! I'm sure you have better things to do." She rushed away
from him, almost sprinting.
Darien watched in silence as Serena flew around a building corner, her
pigtails bouncing with her swift departure. 'She couldn't get away from me
fast enough. Maybe I'm fighting a losing battle. No! I refuse to give up!
I'll get her to like me if it takes every ounce of energy I have.'
Determined, Darien strolled off to the arcade.
"Ok, there he is," Andrew whispered to Raye and Lita. "Amy and Mina are
working on their part. Now it's your turn."
"Right, Chief," Lita saluted him.
They left the arcade just as Darien was entering, bumping into him.
"Hey Darien," Lita greeted him.
"Darien, you're just the man we were looking for," Raye chirped.
He looked at them uncertainly. "I am? Why?"
"We want you to join us on a scavenger hunt," Lita answered.
"Scavenger hunt?" Darien chuckled. "Aren't we a bit mature for one of
those?"
"Go tell that to your best friend," Raye countered.
He stopped laughing. "You mean Andrew?"
"Yeah; it was his idea. Sounds fun, too. He'll be conducting the project
and everyone else will be competing on teams. Everyone will be there. Us,
Ames, Mina, Ken, Greg, Serena...."
Darien's eyes lit up at the mention of Serena's name. "Well, I guess it
couldn't hurt," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Great!" Lita exclaimed. "We'd better be going. See you later!"
The two girls walked off, giggling to themselves.
Shaking his head, Darien went over to Andrew. "What's this I hear about
a scavenger hunt?" he asked.
"Oh, so you heard already," Andrew smiled.
"Yeah, Lita and Raye just weaseled me into joining them."
Andrew laughed. "Those two do have a way of being convincing, don't
they?"
"That they do," Darien agreed, glancing back at the door.
"Serena!" Mina called, waving to her.
She and Amy waltzed up to Serena, who was sitting on a bench in the park.
They plopped down beside her.
"Hey, guys," Serena replied unemotionally. She was twirling another rose
between her fingers, while the bouquet rested in her lap.
"Where did you get the flowers, Serena?" Amy inquired.
"Oh. Um, nowhere," was the answer.
Amy glanced wonderingly at Mina, then continued. "We have been invited
to be in a scavenger hunt tomorrow."
Serena wrinkled her nose. "You mean one of those things where you have
to find stuff using clues?"
"That's it!" Mind clapped her hands together gleefully. "Come on; it'll
be a blast! Andrew's in charge of the whole shindig, and everyone else will
be on teams of two. It'll be us, Greg, Ken, and Darien."
"Darien?" Serena sat up. "Darien will be there too?"
"Andrew wouldn't leave out his best friend," Amy explained.
Serena bit her lip. 'Well, I'll only have to face him for a minute
before everyone goes off searching,' she rationalized.
"Ok, count me in," she told her friends.
Amy and Mina shared a secret grin.
"Whose idea was it to meet at eight in the morning?" Serena grumbled the
next day on her way to the arcade, where everyone was meeting. Dragging her
feet, she slowly opened the door and peeked in. 'Last to arrive, as usual,'
she thought sarcastically. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside.
"Hey Serena," Andrew greeted her. "Have a seat."
Serena gave him a tiny smile and looked over at the cluster of chairs
pushed together. She gaped in horror as she noticed the only available seat
happened to be right next to Darien. She sunk into it, moving over on the
chair as far away from Darien as she could manage without flying off.
"Late again, Meatball Head," Darien smirked at her.
Serena pointedly ignored his comment.
"All right, lets get started," Andrew announced. "I apologize for making
everyone get up so early on a Saturday." He glanced toward Serena and smiled
at her.
Her eyes instantly lit up and she smiled back.
Darien noticed her reaction and scowled. 'She never reacts that way to
my smiles,' he thought bitterly. 'Wait, just calm down. You'll think of
something eventually.' He took a deep breath and turn his attention back to
Andrew.
"Each group will have the same set of clues," Andrew was saying. "The
clues will lead you to a specific spot, where you will pick up an item and
your next clue. Once you have all the items, a final clue will lead you to
the destination where you will claim your prize."
"What's the prize?" Mina wanted to know.
Andrew laughed. "You'll have to wait and see. Ok now, pair off into
groups."
Serena turned behind her to snag one of her friends.
Ken was talking to Lita, Amy and Greg were whispering to each other, and
Mina and Raye were giggling about something.
"Guess it's you and me, Meatball Head."
Serena froze. 'No, this can't be.' She closed her eyes. 'When I open my
eyes he'll be gone, and I'll be paired up with one of my friends.' She
opened one eye a crack.
No such luck.
Serena groaned.
Darien frowned. 'This isn't her ideal situation, but it's a dream come
true for me! I get to spend the entire day with my meatball-haired goddess.'
Darien's mouth opened. 'When did she become mine?'
"Earth to Darien!"
He snapped out of his daze and noticed Serena waving an envelope in front
of him. He reached for it, but she snatched it back.
Ripping it open, she pulled out a pale yellow card and read the clue
aloud.
"Through the trees the glittering water reflects a place of peaceful
shelter."
Darien raised an eyebrow. "Could that be any more cryptic?"
"A place where you can see water through the trees," Serena murmured.
Her eyes widened. "I've got it!" she exclaimed.
Lita and Amy glanced over at her.
Serena lowered her voice and leaned towards Darien. "The park."
"What about the park?" Darien asked.
She rolled her eyes impatiently. "That's the answer to the first clue!
The lake is right next to the park."
Darien stared at her in amazement and admiration. "Makes sense. Let's
go!"
They took off out the door.
Serena paused in the doorway and gazed back at the other groups. 'It's
weird that no one has figured this out yet...' she thought. After one last
glance behind her, she followed Darien out of the arcade.
"Everything is going as planned so far," Lita said happily once Serena
and Darien left.
"Let's just hope they're as predictable as we think they are," Amy
answered thoughtfully.
"Don't worry; everything will work out," Mina reassured them.
"I'm sure you're right," Andrew responded. 'I just hope Darien doesn't
do anything to screw up,' he thought nervously.
"This is hopeless!" Serena complained as she plopped down on the grass in
the shade of a cherry blossom tree. "We've been looking for twenty minutes
and found nothing!"
Darien sat down next to her. "We'll find it," he told her confidently.
He added, "There's no need to give up this early, Meatballhead."
Serena's eyes blazed with anger. "Don't call me that!" she screamed,
jumping up and stalking off.
Darien mentally slapped himself for making yet another idiotic remark.
He quickly followed.
She was in the gazebo, leaning against the wooden railing and staring out
at the trees.
Darien stopped abruptly, mesmerized be her beauty. Her profile was
surrounded by bright sunlight that reflected off of her long golden hair.
Her eyes sparkled a deep blue the color of a summer sky. She furrowed her
eyebrows and stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in concentration.
'She's so perfect,' Darien thought, still watching her. 'I love
everything about her. I love her,' he realized.
Darien's first instinct was to run, as he had never felt such raw emotion
before. Swallowing his fear, he dragged himself into the gazebo.
Serena noticed him hesitate before he took a spot next her. 'I hate my
life,' she thought miserably. 'Stuck here with Darien all day. Of all
people, I get stuck with him! He's so rude, conceited, annoying, handsome,
arrogant...' Her eyes widened in surprise. 'Wait a minute... Did I just
say... HANDSOME?!? How did that get in there?'
She glanced over at Darien, who was intently studying something carved
into the wooden rail. His piercing blue eyes showed curiosity as he ran his
hand over the many carved pictures. As he bent his head down, a few tufts of
ebony hair fell over his eyes. 'I guess he is somewhat handsome,' she
reluctantly admitted.
Serena reached her hand out to brush the hair from his eyes when he
looked up at her. She quickly threw her other arm up and pretended to
stretch.
Darien quizzically cocked an eyebrow at her, then turned his attention to
some people feeding a group of squirrels.
Serena heaved a huge sigh of relief. 'That was too close.' She sank down
onto the bench and stared at the ground.
Something was poking out from underneath the bench. She reached for it
and pulled out a box labeled "Clue #2."
"Yes!" she shouted excitedly, startling Darien.
"What is it?" he asked quickly.
She held up the box. "The next clue!"
"It was here all this time?" he asked incredulously.
Serena opened the box. Inside was a set of envelopes and a handful of
silver rings etched with crescent moons. She picked up one of each and
shoved the box back underneath the bench. She slipped the tiny ring on.
Darien's gaze memorized her every move. He looked back at her in
surprise as she shyly held the envelope out to him.
He reached out and took it from her, their fingers brushing up against
each other. An almost electric current flowed through both of them.
Darien stared at their fingers still fused together. He fought the urge
to grab her hand and pull her into his arms. His brain screamed to pull
away, but his fingers wouldn't comply.
Serena's breathing grew rapid. She tried to pull her fingers away but
couldn't. Looking up sharply, she met Darien's gaze.
Darien's breaths grew shallow as his eyes bore into Serena's. He slowly
lowered his face to hers.
Serena watched as the inches between them disappeared. She closed her
eyes. "No, don't!" voices screamed in her head. As much as Serena hated to
admit it, the voices had the right idea. She moved her head back and pulled
her hand away from his.
Their electric chain broke.
"We should get started on that next clue," Serena told Darien with false
cheerfulness.
"Um... yeah," Darien answered groggily, now standing five feet away. He
ripped open the envelope and read the next clue.
"Your good luck and fortune lie in the most obvious place."
"How could good luck and fortune be lying somewhere?" Serena wanted to
know. "That makes no sense."
"Wait; it makes perfect sense!" Darien answered her. "What do you get
for good luck?"
"Potions, trinkets, charms... Hey, that's it!"
"The charm shop!" they said together. They both laughed.
"Let's get going," Darien suggested.
"At this rate we might win!" Serena replied happily as they headed to the
charm shop.
"How far do you think they are now?" Mina inquired.
"Knowing Serena, not very!" Raye snickered.
"Come on, she's probably solving these clues left and right!" Lita
exclaimed. "You know how determined she gets when there are prizes involved."
"Lita's right," Amy agreed. "Serena is probably having a blast solving
the clues and picking up the trinkets."
The girls were startled when the arcade door flew open and Andrew
stumbled in.
"I've never run so fast in my life!" he panted as he fell into a chair
next to the group.
"So where were they?" Lita prompted.
"On their way to the charm shop."
"They solved the second clue? I'm impressed!" Raye said with mock
surprise.
"At least Darien hasn't screwed everything up. When I saw them Serena
was smiling and laughing," Andrew relayed.
"Were there any visible bruises on Darien?" Ken asked jokingly.
Everyone laughed.
"Nope, not yet," Andrew chuckled.
"Don't you think they might figure out what's going on when they pick up
the next trinket?" Greg asked nervously.
They looked at each other.
"Nah!" they said in unison, then started laughing again.