The American Moon
"Moooooooooooommmmm! Why didn't you wake me! Ohmigosh, I'm going to be late for my first day of school." Serena raced toward the kitchen where her family sat eating breakfast calmly.
"It's impossible to wake the dead," her brother Andrew smirked. Serena stuck out her tongue and managed to get dressed while running back and forth between her room in the kitchen. "Are you really wearing that to school?" Andrew asked.
"So? What's wrong with this?" Serena questioned with a quizzical look upon her face.
"It's just that, well, it's your uniform from your old school," he replied. Serena ignored him. "Well, I'm off to school!" He jumped up from the table, grabbed his new backpack and lunch box and headed off to Primary school.
Serena's mom looked up from the paper. "If you hurry, I can drop you off on my way to work."
"Thanks mooooom!" she said in a sing song voice. She slung her case under her arm and her lunch bag over her shoulder. Her mom looked up. "Ready for your first day at Capeside High?"
Serena got out of the van and waved her mom off in embarrassment. All the other kids drove to school. None of them had their parents drop them off. And nobody had on uniforms. They leaned against the building and poles in jeans and T-shirts. And nobody was carrying briefcases, or lunch sacks, especially with pink bunnies on them. Serena felt so alone and different. She wanted to home. Not her new home. But home, home. Back to her country, back to her friends, and most of all, back to Darien.
The bell rang. And for the first time, she was silent as she entered the building.
Pacey leaned forward and arched his eyebrow. "...So we were sitting on the porch, and I turned and said to her..." Pacey trailed off again, as he had done so several times in the conversation. He turned toward the pretty girl with blonde pigtails, that had just sat in front of him.
"So you said..." Dawson prompted.
"....So I said- excuse me, what's your name?"
The blonde girl turned around and looked at him. "Who me?"
"Yeah, you doll face," Dawson sighed with a wry smile.
"Um, Serena," she replied with a slight blush.
"You new here?" Pacey asked.
"Yeah, just moved here."
"What school did you just transfer from?" Dawson asked.
"Juuban High," She replied.
"Where's that at?"
"Japan."
"Hey," Andy slid her tray next to Joey and across from Jen. "Have you guys met the new chick from Japan?" Jen shook her head and opened her water bottle. Joey said nothing but bit into her apple.
"Have you?" Andy directly asked Joey. Joey shook her head this time and wandered her eyes out the window.
"If you ask me," Andy started.
"Nobody did," Joey replied haughtily. Andy continued.
"I think Joey's afraid of the new girl."
"What? Why should I be afraid of blondie over there?" Joey singled Serena out in the lunch crowd.
"Maybe it's because Joey's afraid that someone so much more culturally diverse will upstage her in this little game that we call reality." Jen offered. Joey scoffed. The girls became silent as they submerged themselves in their food.
"Do you miss Dawson ever?" Jen asked, spotting him talking to Jack McPhee across the room. Andy noticed her brother too.
"What is this?! 'Pick on Joey' day? Will you two please just leave me alone!" The other two fell silent to Joey emotional out burst.
"May I sit here?" The three looked up at the blonde girl with pigtails. Everyone wait for Joey to say something. She stared with cold hard eyes. Jen, not wanting to scare the girl off, spoke.
"Yeah, you can sit here," she said softly. Serena smiled in delight.
"Oh thank you sooo much! Everyone here has been so kind to me!" She giggle and pulled out her lunch bag and a container of rice and chopsticks. "You'll have to excuse me, I haven't quite gotten down the mechanisms of using a fork."
The three looked at her with friendly eyes.
"Wow," Joey said speaking up. "That a beautiful locket." Serena clutched it protectively.
"Thank you. My boyfriend back home gave it to me." The table fell silent once more.
"Why hello ladies! I see you've met the beautiful madam Serena!" Pacey leaned on Serena's chair. "By the way, what does Serena mean?"
"Rabbit of the moon," she replied proudly.
"Well, we just will have to call you bunny, especially with those pigtails," Pacey said.
Serena smiled again and Pacey kept talking. "How about I treat you girls to a drink after school," he offered.
"I already told you, Pacey, I'm not aloud to serve alcohol to underage costumes." Joey reminded him.
"Oh, we'll make it a clean party," Pacey assured her. Joey smirked.
"Does this offer go to best friends to?" Dawson asked.
"Why sure it does buddy!" He put his arm around Dawson's shoulder.
"What are celebrating?" Serena asked, wanting to join in the festive mood.
"Why, your arrival of course!" Pacey cheered in almost a drunken stager. "The arrival of a new friend... and maybe more of course," he muttered under his breath in sly fashion.
"With the slickness," Jen murmured at the same decibel. Pacey rolled his eyes.
"Then I will see all of you at the icehouse after school. Hey Andy, bring the other McPhee with you," Pacey demanding. Andy nodded. "And I'll see you, Buns, later." Pacey finished with a click and the gun and walked away. Serena melted.
"Open you stupid locker!" Serena screeched. A bell rang. "Oh no! Now I'm going to be late!" She pressed her foot against the locker next to her as she struggled with the door.
"Yo, Buns, 3:30!" Pacey called out, jogging through the hall to his next class.
Serena turned her attention back to the locker.
Patience." Serena looked down at the black cat and sighed, and tried again. The door opened with ease.
"What are you doing here?" she asked the cat picking it up gently in her arm and setting it in the locker.
"I'm afraid I have bad news. There's evil here too."
"What?!" Serena stepped back and her hands flew to her face. "No, there can't be! I just want to be a normal teenager!"
"You'll never be. You're the princess, and the future queen of the moon, so get over it!" The cat snapped.
"But I just want to be a normal teenager!" Serena bent over the cold linoleum floor and began crying.
"Here." The cat said blankly, tossing the moon wand across the floor. "I don't know what they after, but they're here. Can you feel there vibes?" Serena nodded limply.
"But what good is it if I don't have the scouts to back me up, Luna?"
"Relax," Luna said in a soothing voice, "There are other scouts."
"More?" Serena looked up with surprise.
"They're all over. From the other moons. I know the Galileo princesses are here. Their communities are small and there powers are weak, but they can help." Serena smiled.
"Then I'm not alone?"
"Not at all. Prince Witashu and Prince Dawuso are here. There's a rumor even that Prince Witashu likes you." Serena blushed.
"Who are they?"
"Oh, you'll find them soon enough," the cat told her and jumped down, and sprinted away.
"Talking to your cat? What does he tell you?"
Serena looked up at the girl. "It a 'her'," Serena said softly. The girl flipped her dark brown hair behind her head.
"I'm Abby." The girl told her. Serena offered her hand.
"Hi, I'm Serena-" Abby refused it.
"Yeah, I know who you are. And I also know my man Whitter likes you. But just be warned, he is my man." Abby floated away and Serena continued to her next class, letting out a whoosh of air having made it to her seat simitainiously with the bell.
"Nice first day at school?" Serena's mom asked as Serena rushed past in a whirlwind, leaving behind articles of clothing and school supplies. Her mom followed the trail to her bedroom of shoes, socks, new books, and other clothing. She found her daughter tugging a light pink cashmere sweater over her head.
"Where are you off too?"
"Oh, some new friends of mine invited me to 'hang out' after school." Serena replied.
"Where at?"
"At the Icehouse."
"Need a ride?"
"No thanks!" Serena replied quickly and left the house in the sweater, a black mini skirt and black Mary Jane shoes.
Serena greeted the crew like old friends as they sat on the porch on this fall day.
"Nice sweater," Jen complimented. "Cashmere?"
"Yeah,"
"Wow, I wish I could afford a cashmere sweater."
"Oh, well they're really cheap in Japan."
"You will go to Japan and get me one, won't you?" Andy asked Jack.
"Sure, Andy. Anything for my lil' sis'." He planted a kiss on Andy cheek and left to order some drinks.
"So, how's America so far?" Dawson asked.
"Great, I love it!" Serena replied enthusiastically.
"What about school?"
"It's so neat!"
"What about me?" Pacey asked, leaning against her chair.
"You're the best!" she said, throwing her arms around him. "Prince Witashu," she whispered under her breath.
"Huh?" Pacey asked.
"Nothing!" she said laughing. "It was the weirdest thing," Serena said quickly to change the subject.
"What?" Dawson asked.
"In the hall, there was this girl. She was so mean to me, why?" Serena almost started crying at remembering that horrible scene in the hall. Nobody had ever treated her like that. Well except Rei, but she was a scout. Like family really. This girl was complete stranger.
"Who was it?" Andy asked.
"Um, her name was Abigail, I believe"
Everyone grew quiet and looked at Serena. Jack returned and stopped in his tracks at the name.
"But Serena," Jen began softly. "Abby's dead.