The Princess looked wistfully over her kingdom. The moon shone brightly across the land. She smiled. She wished things would stay this way forever. But they couldn't. Destiny called her away from her kingdom, away from her home, away from here. "Princess! Princess! You've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow, you should be going off to bed." her servant told her. "Oh, yes. I guess you're right." "Dreaming about your prince again, madam?" "I suppose. Well, tomorrow will be a big day. Goodnight." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serena woke from her sweet dream. "Oh no." she whispered to the silent room. The clock read 3 am. She laid back down, wishing desperatly that it would be more than a dream. The princess had never revealed her face, and had never found her prince. Serena liked to dream that the princess was really her. ~Probably not~ she thought. She tried to sleep again, but just the thought of the wonderful dream kept her up. She went downstairs for something to drink. She then went over to the tv to play some video games. But the dream lingered in her mind. Truth be told, it wasn't the first dream about a kingdom on the stars and a princess Serena had had. She had been having the dreams since she was 12. She was now 16 and had her driver's license, and the dreams seemed less and less important. The only times she thought about them anymore was the night of them and the morning after them. Her best friend Crystal hated hearing about them, and always told Serena they were nothing but dreams. But Serena still wondered what they meant. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next day there was a new student at school. His name was Darien. Serena noticed Crystal checkin' him out as soon as he walked in the room. Serena felt a strange connection to him. He did no more than glance at her, even though she was very pretty. Her long blonde hair reached to the floor, while her perfect complextion only added to her beautiful smile. She was the school's champion swimmer, not to mention a great diver. Not many guys had the nerve to ask her out, but a few had the nerve to cop a feel in the hallways. He didn't look much like a jerk. ~Maybe I'll talk to him at lunch.~ Serena thought hopefully. She sat through another one of Mr. Pollet's boring lectures as she waited for the bell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At lunch Darien sat alone. He hadn't made friends yet. ~Perfect!~ Serena thought, approaching his table. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked him. He refused to talk and shook his head no. "So, where are you from?" "America. I was born here, but we moved there, and now we moved back." He was obviously a man of few words. "Oh. What's America like?" "It's ok." Serena saw Crystal coming to their table wearing a smile. "Hi! I'm Crystal! And you must be Darien. I heard you're from America. Mind if I sit here? Great!" Serena frowned as Crystal took the seat between her and Darien. Darien didn't say anything in response to Crystal. "Oh yeah, I'm Serena. I think we have the same first hour class." Darien nodded. "Um, do you EVER talk!?" Crystal demanded suddenly. "Not very often. Besides, I'm new here ya know." Darien mumbled. "Well, you're never going to make friends by being silent! I'm sitting here trying to be perfectly social and you're not saying anything! If you don't want to talk just say so!" Darien looked at her with pure hate in his eyes. "I don't want to talk, TO YOU. And I don't want to be your friend either. Serena here was having a polite conversation with me when you butted in. Well! Why aren't you leaving?" Darien burst out. Looking personally offended and lost for words, Crystal stormed off. "Sheesh." Serena heard him murmer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Crystal left, Serena learned that Darien was an only adopted child. His parents were obviously very young and had to give him up. He hoped one day to find them. He had lived in a place called Michigan in America, and had missed Tokyo since the day he left. He also told her he was glad someone had tried to talk to him, he had been having a lousy day. She had told him about her little sister Reenie and how much her parents fought. He ended up giving her his phone number as lunch ended, and told her to call him. She could hardly wait. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the way to fifth hour Crystal complained constantly about Darien. "He was so rude! I was just trying to be friends, and boom! He blows up in my face! Did he yell at you too? I think you should stay away from him. I know I will. What was that paper he gave you? A hate note because he couldn't find words to say!?" "No. His phone number." "What!? Are you gonna call him? I mean, I personally wouldn't, he's just so-" "You're so conceited Crystal! Maybe if you would have been a little nicer or a little less nosy he wouldn't have yelled at you! You deserved it alright! Now he's my friend so it's time I defend him, especially against predators like you!" Crystal got the same offended look as she had at lunch and ran ahead to the classroom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That night around 8 Serena was on the phone with Darien. They were talking about how his first day was and homework questions, when he blurted out, "Do you wanna go out with me sometime?" Serena could hardly believe her ears. It took her a minute before she breathed, "Yes." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The perfect date oppurtunity came up that Friday. The school was holding its first dance of the year. Crystal was going with a guy named Brock in her 7th hour class. Serena was telling Crystal all about how Darien was picking her up in his Mustang convertable when Crystal said, "Will you shutup? I hate the guy, so I hope I don't see you much tonight." With that she walked off with her friend Cassidy, leaving Serena standing there alone. "Hey!" Darien said as he walked up to her. "Oh, hi." Serena said, blushing slightly. "You ready for tonight?" he asked happily. She smiled and nodded. "I can't wait! I even bought a new dress just for tonight!" "Great. We're gonna be late, come on!" he urged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serena wore her new royal blue short dress to the dance, with matching heels and light blue eyeshadow. She didn't wear lipstick, because if Darien kissed her, she didn't want his lips to be pink. She giggled slightly at the thought though. She suddenly heard the Mustang's horn and rushed out the door. 
