The Lies We Tell


Introduction:

Hey, all! Before we begin our story, I'd just like to clear up a few things. First of all, this story is an AU in the since that there is no Sailor Moon or super powers; just people. I wanted to focus on the characters this time around. This story was inspired by the tale of Helen of Troy with a pinch of a Midsummer Night's Dream. It was also heavily inspired by "I Must Be Dreaming" and "Girls Do What They Want" both by The Maine (if you like listening to music while reading fics, I highly recommend them!) Anyways, enough of my rambling and on with the show!

PS: For the record...

Ken=Kunzite, Jed=Jadeite, Zack=Zoicite, Nick=Nephrite, and Damon=Diamond

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon in any way, shape or form. Now, I will wave my magic wand and magically make this disclaimer apply to the chapters to come!


Chapter One: Of New Enemies and Beginnings


Leaves of the impending fall season crackled under Serena Tsukino's white tennis shoes as she strode with as much confidence as she could muster towards the ivy-covered building in front of her. The prestigious Moto Azabu Academy looked particularly menacing this blustering September morning, she noted; not that she had seen it enough times to safely conclude that.

Her insides roiled with nerves as she approached her new school. Despite her anxiety, she also felt somewhat excited. She had a clean slate, a fresh start. She could be whoever she wanted.

When her parents had informed her that she would be attending Moto Azabu for her junior year instead of Juuban Prep, the school she had attended since freshmen year, she had been aggrieved to say the least. The thought of leaving her best friend Molly and her (now ex) boyfriend seemed cruel, but over the expanse of a few months, she had grown fond of the idea of being a transfer student. Her life had been getting boring; it was about time something interesting happened.

However, Serena wasn't completely naive. Anyone going to either of the private schools was aware of the intense rivalry between the two schools. Both Moto Azabu Academy and Juuban Prep were the best schools in the city. Transferring from one of the schools to the other was practically unheard of. When she had told her friends that she was trading in her maroon and silver uniform for a navy and gold one, they had been appalled, though they eventually got their heads around the idea. She hoped her fellow classmates would be just as understanding. From what she had heard about Moto Azabu, she wasn't sure they would be.

Where Juuban Prep was more laid-back, Moto Azabu was as uptight as they came. While the majority of the students attending both schools, Serena herself included, were completely loaded, the people at Moto Azabu seemed more into displaying their wealth than the students at Juuban. Serena had already seen five Porches on her walk from the parking lot to the front of the school! She couldn't imagine her uptight parents ever buying her a sports car, though they could certainly afford to.

Serena straightened her regulation navy skirt and unfolded her schedule. She was supposed to be in first period English Lit class, but she had yet to find the classroom in this maze of buildings. She glanced around the outdoor campus for a friendly looking person to ask for directions, but there was no one in sight; she was doomed.

She bit her lip and continued on, determined to find her way on her own.


Darien Shields leaned casually against the brick column as his friends assembled around him, eager to catch up before their first class of the new school year. They were in their favorite spot, under the shade of one of the outdoor hallways.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" his best friend, Jed, was telling his other friend Zack as they compared classes. "AP Calculus? AP Biology? I knew you were a nerd, but come on!"

Zack shook his sandy brown head at Jed admonishingly. "Some of us actually plan on going some place after high school."

The fair-haired Jed rolled his emerald eyes at this.

"As long as he has time for practice, who cares?" Ken, who was reclining against the wall opposite Darien, interjected.

Darien, at the mention of soccer practice, jumped back into the conversation with enthusiasm. "We are going to slaughter Juuban this year!"

"Whatever you say, Captain," Jed laughed, though he could not deny the sentiment. With Darien as the team captain this year and all the practicing they had done over the summer, they would be invincible.

Life was good for the boys, as it was finally their senior year of high school and all of them intended to enjoy it as much as possible.

"Hey guys!" came a cheery and feminine voice. All four boys visibly straightened as the infamous trio of girls approached their usual spot. A brunette, a blonde, and a dark-haired girl, famous for their good looks and charm among the student body, joined their circle of friends.

The blonde flashed a flirtatious smile in the direction of Darien and batted her blue eyes. "How was your summer, Darien?"

"'Can't complain," he answered, returning her smile with his infamous lopsided grin. It was the grin that melted all the female hearts at Moto Azabu on a daily basis. Even the ever-popular Mina felt her knees weakening.

"How about you, Mina?" Ken, who had always had a thing for the blonde, inquired. Mina's eyes flashed in annoyance at his intrusion, but she launched into a long-winded explanation of her trip to Tahiti anyways.

"And you, Rei? How was your summer?" asked Jed running a hand through his blonde hair.

The raven-haired girl rolled her indigo eyes impatiently. "You practically lived at our house over the summer. There's really no point in asking." Rei Shields was known for being blunt.

He flashed her a boyish grin. "But I just love listening to your voice." Rei opened her mouth to retort, but Lita, the brunette, cut her off as she threw a questioning glance at something behind them.

"Who's that? She looks familiar."

The group turned around to watch a harassed-looking blonde meander around the courtyard, a piece of paper clutched in her hands.

"Whoever she is, she's smokin'." Rei hit Jed upside the head.

They had to admit though, the girl was exceedingly attractive. She had an undeniably goddess-like facial structure offset by cerulean blue eyes and pale blonde hair that cascaded down her back in enchanting waves. Not only that, but her legs went on for miles under her navy pleated skirt and she even managed to look good in the regulation short-sleeved white button-down.

"That's Serena Tsukino!" Mina announced, proud of the social prowess that had enabled her to properly identify the girl.

Ken narrowed his brown eyes in confusion. "You mean the Serena from Juuban? The one who's dating that pussy Damon?" The boys scowled sourly at the mention of their rival school's soccer captain.

"The very one."

"She's still hot," Jed insisted. "Don't you think so, Darien?"

Darien's ocean blue eyes drank in her sensuous form appreciatively, but he merely shrugged noncommittally. He had something of a reputation for being a player and didn't waste his time chasing after girls; he let them come after him. If she was dating his archrival, he was definitely not interested in her.

"She looks lost," Zack commented. It was true; she was wandering around in circles.

Jed ran a hand through his hair a last time before getting up from his position on the ground and flashing Rei a mischievous grin. "It looks like she needs some help." He strode off in the direction of the girl, leaving a huffing Rei in his wake.

"Are you lost?" Jed asked as he approached the flustered girl. Serena stared up at his handsome face, her blue eyes widening attractively in appreciation for his kindness.

"Is it that obvious?" she sighed. "It's my first day."

He offered her a warm smile and took a peek at her schedule. "I have English first period too. I'll walk you there." She smiled at him, elated that she had found someone decent at this foreign school. They properly introduced themselves and chatted amicably as they walked and she gathered that he was a senior on the soccer team, meaning she'd probably seen him around at some point. She told him a little bit about herself and he laughed when she mentioned where she had transferred from, though he did it good-naturedly.

"I heard you're dating Damon Diamond," he probed, green eyes darkening at the mention of their sworn enemy.

Serena blushed, feeling slightly perturbed that such an annoyance had gotten around already. "Not anymore."

"Ah," Jed smiled, "come to your senses, have you?" She laughed along with him, unable to resist his contagious smile.

When they arrived in the classroom, Serena shyly took a seat adjacent to him. The bell rang and the teacher began with the standard first-day proceedings, only to be interrupted as a devilishly handsome boy with midnight hair and a blonde shuffled into the classroom, taking the only available seats at the front. The boy flashed Jed a knowing look before he sat down. The teacher looked at the pair, but said nothing.

Serena frowned. "Do they not care about being tardy here?" she whispered to Jed. This would be a good sign, since she was prone to ignoring her alarm. It had taken all her will-power to wake up early this morning.

Jed shook his head at her. "Nah, they're usually pretty strict about that stuff, but my buddy Darien here is pretty much the golden boy of the school." He looked amused.

Serena stared at the blue-eyed boy as he leaned back arrogantly in his desk. The blonde girl who had entered the classroom with him was leaning over her desk to whisper something into his ear. She figured they were probably dating.

She looked away when her ears picked up the hushed whispers of her peers. Looking around the room in a daze, she realized that the majority of the class was staring at her. She sank into her seat, their eyes burning into her. The period seemed to drag on forever.

When it was finally over, she bid goodbye to Jed, whose schedule differed from hers for second period, and shuffled as fast as she could out of the classroom. She had known people were going to talk, but she hadn't expected to be so thoroughly scrutinized.

She craned her head down to look at the schedule in her hands. She had Biology next and had forgotten to ask Jed where the science labs were. Wonderful. She scanned the campus and her eyes fell on a girl with short blueish-black hair who was seated near the fountain in the center of the courtyard. She had a textbook propped up in her lap, which normally would have warded Serena off, but her blue eyes looked warm and friendly.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me where Mr. Rochester's Biology class is?"

The girl looked up from her book with an astonished expression. "Uh, sure." She snapped her textbook closed and Serena saw that it was an AP Calculus book.

"Wow, that's some hardcore stuff," Serena commented.

The girl looked down at the glossy textbook and blushed. "It's not bad if you enjoy math." She extended a hand. "I'm Ami Mizuno."

"Serena Tsukino." Serena returned the handshake with a twitch of a smile at such a display of formality.

Ami's mouth dropped in surprise. "So you're the girl everyone's been talking about!"

Serena shrugged, embarrassed and slightly curious as to what everyone had been saying. "I guess so."

Ami walked with her, pointing out the remainder of her classrooms on the way to her Bio class and telling her about the good and bad teachers. They were just rounding the corner when Serena's body connected with a taller, harder one, sending her books crashing to the ground.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" she cried, bending over to pick up her fallen books. When she straightened, her eyes locked with a pair of hypnotizing navy ones. She immediately recognized him as the boy from class.

He cast her an annoyed glance and raked a hand through his dark hair. "Watch where you're going next time."

Serena's eyes instinctively narrowed and she huffed indignantly. "I said I was sorry. You don't have to be an asshole about it."

The boy looked taken aback at her retort and Serena heard the gasp of her friend behind her.

"She was just kidding!" Ami said, grabbing Serena's arm and pulling her away hastily.

"No I wasn't!" Serena cried as her friend tugged her away. Darien couldn't help but stare after the resisting blonde with a look akin to amusement on his handsome face.

"Serena! Do you know who that was?" Ami demanded of the furiously muttering blonde.

Serena shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, yeah. The school's resident golden boy or something, right?"

Even Ami couldn't help but giggle at her new friend's dismissive attitude. It was somewhat refreshing to meet someone so unaffected by the hierarchies of high school. "Darien Shields is the most popular boy in school. You'd better be careful around him."

Serena frowned as if she'd tasted something sour. "I'm not afraid of him!" Her voice lowered to a slight whisper. "I'm not afraid of anyone."

Ami regarded her friend's determined and courageous face admiringly. This girl was definitely different than the rest.


Mina Aino, joined by her two best friends, slid into the empty seats opposite a quartet of rowdy boys.

"Hello, gorgeous," Ken greeted her with a flirtatious smile, which Mina politely returned with a flip of her blonde hair.

The girls brought out their immaculately packaged lunches of hand-rolled sushi and stared disgustedly at the myriad of packaged and processed foods piled in a heap in front of the soccer players.

"I still don't understand where you guys put it all," Lita commented as she broke apart her chopsticks.

"Agreed," Rei said, popping a California roll into her mouth and trying not to gag as Zack dumped a cluster of chips onto his already mile-high sandwich.

They launched into an easy conversation about the happenings of the day, laughing breezily at the boys' jokes. It seemed as if nothing had changes since last year.

"Hey, Serena!" Jed called to the petite blonde who was walking, tray in hand, with a mousy-looking girl to a table in the corner. Mina watched as Darien's dark head, which had previously been resting lazily on his fist, shot up.

She watched as the girl flashed Jed a dazzling grin before sauntering off with her friend and Mina's eyebrows visibly rose when she caught sight of the dazed look on Darien's face. She subtly gave him an "accidental" kick with her pointed heels. His eyes came back into focus and she shot him an apologetic grin.

"I can't believe you're actually friends with her," Mina huffed at Jed.

Rei nodded her glossy black head in agreement. "Seriously! She's total Juuban scum! Not to mention she's the girlfriend of a complete tool!"

Lita shot her friend a disapproving glare, but Rei shrugged as if she couldn't help it.

Jed shook his head at her in mock-amusement. "Jealous, Rei?"

"As if!" The glare she shot him could melt ice.

He merely grinned at their exchange before leaping into the defense of his new friend. "Serena's cool and for your information, she dumped Damon a long time ago."

"So she's single?" piped Zack with a roguish grin. Darien flashed him an icy glare, which he mistook for contempt and continued, "What, man? Who cares where she went to school? She's property of Moto Azabu now."

"Yeah," Lita cut in hastily. "Who cares?" In an attempt to drop the subject, Lita enquired about the upcoming soccer season and before long the conversation was forgotten. Though Darien joined in the conversation enthusiastically, Mina couldn't help but notice how his penetrating gaze would occasionally stray to the table in the corner.


"He's staring at you again," Ami declared as she nibbled on her apple. Serena's gaze got wide with excitement and her eyes darted across the cafeteria to the table of handsome boys.

"He is?"

Ami stared at her, amused. "Yep. Either you have something on your face, or he has a thing for you."

Serena's blonde head bounced excitedly. "Oh, Ami! You really think so?" She took a generous bite of her hamburger before continuing to swoon. "He's so sweet and funny! And those green eyes!"

Ami frowned in confusion. Darien definitely didn't have green eyes. "Uh, Serena? Who are you talking about?"

The blonde looked abashed. "I was talking about Jed, who were you talking about?"

Ami's eyebrows shot up her forehead. This was definitely not the response she had expected. "I was talking about Darien!"

"Darien?" Serena made a sour face. "He's probably just making fun of me. The jerk!"

She tore into her hamburger with a renewed ruthlessness and Ami couldn't help but be impressed by the girl's ravenous appetite. None of the girls at Moto Azabu would have touched the food on Serena's heavily piled tray with a stick. It was nice to meet someone who actually ate normal food.

"So you like Jed?"

A rosy blush crawled up Serena's cheeks and she unsuccessfully willed it to disappear. "I don't know him that well, but so far he's been really nice."

Ami tactfully let the subject drop and tried to steer the subject towards something less controversial, like the school's first soccer game. Ami was never much of a sports fan, but Serena eventually cajoled Ami into promising to attend the game with her. Life at Moto Azabu was suddenly beginning to get a whole lot more interesting...


Beryl Stone allowed her shoes to make an exaggerated 'click' sound against the pavement as she made her way over to the group of youths reclining under the shade of the school's biggest oak tree.

"Oh, hi Beryl," the red-headed girl, Molly, said unenthusiastically. Beryl eyed her with a look of contempt before settling herself down next to the fair-haired boy who was toying with a blade of grass.

"What's up, Damon?" The boy's steel gray eyes barely acknowledged her presence, causing Beryl to scowl unhappily.

"Careful, Beryl, your face might get stuck like that," quipped the dark-haired boy to the right of Damon, who had been tossing a dusty-looking soccer ball in the air and catching it ad-nauseam. Nick, the brown haired, one stifled a laugh.

"Very funny, Seiya."

A silence fell over the group, leaving Molly ample opportunity to emit an exaggerated sigh. "I miss Serena!"

Seiya peered uncertainly at Damon, who had begun to grip the grass he had previously been toying with. "I miss her too," he admitted.

"Well I don't!" Beryl sniffed haughtily. It had been one glorious week of school without the infamous blonde and Beryl couldn't get enough of it. Finally, people were starting to pay attention to her instead of the enigmatic Serena. If only she could get the stubborn Damon to look at her like he used to look at Serena, then things would be perfect.

Molly chose to ignore Beryl's outburst. "I'm coming with her to Moto Azabu's first home game this Friday. Anyone wanna come?" She waggled her eyebrows in Seiya's direction jokingly.

"Are you kidding me? You're going to a Moto Azabu game? Y tu, Brutus?" Beryl seethed.

Seiya rolled his eyes. "I think you mean 'Et tu, Brute?'"

"Whatever."

"I'll go." All four of them whipped their heads around to stare at Damon who was leaning against the tree with a grin on his face.

"Uh...are you sure that's a good idea?" Nick questioned warily.

"Why not?" Damon asked. "It'd be a good chance to scope out our competition, not to mention catch up with our pal Serena."

"Sounds fun!" Beryl exclaimed. Both Molly and Seiya stared at her impassively, the blatant hypocrisy of her statement rendering them temporarily speechless.

Nick hesitantly agreed to go and their gazes then fell upon Seiya. He sighed.

"I guess if everyone else is going, I'll make an appearance." Molly clapped, elated. However, her excitement quickly dissolved into apprehension when she thought of what Serena would say when she found out her ex-boyfriend, not to mention Beryl, would be coming. She gulped and prayed that her blonde friend would understand.


"Ouch!" Serena exclaimed for the sixth time as a volleyball slammed into her thigh.

"Sorry!" Mina Aino called out from the other side of the net as she exchanged glances with her teammate, Rei. Funny, with her upturned lips and smirking eyes she certainly didn't seem sorry.

"Not a problem," Serena grumbled, stepping back into formation. Her all-girls athletic class was beginning to be the bane of her existence. It was glaringly obvious that the blonde-haired senior had something against her. Had Mina not been the captain of the volleyball team, Serena wouldn't have cared, but after being hit by her well-executed spikes all week, she knew something had to be done.

Rei served the ball and it lobbed over the net, only to be hit back expertly by Lita, who was on Serena's team. They managed to rally for a short time before Rei set up a spike and Mina sent the ball hurling towards Serena's vicinity. Before she had a chance to blink, the ball made contact with her left arm with a splitting 'pop'.

"Oops!" Mina called, feigning innocence as she clasped a hand over her mouth.

Alarm bells were going off in Serena's head, but rather than listening to the wiser part of her brain that was telling her to take the high road; she grabbed the volleyball off of the floor and ducked under the net, so that she was on their side of the court.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Serena demanded, glaring up the older girl, who seemed to tower over her.

"Of course not!" Mina replied, voice sickeningly sweet. "You just seem to have a knack for getting in my way. Sorry."

Serena ignored Rei's snort of laughter and took a deep breath, struggling to restrain herself from ripping that obnoxious red bow from the girl's blonde head. "Maybe if you stopped trying to peg me with the ball and actually played the game, you wouldn't have to apologize every five seconds."

Mina's cornflower blue eyes flashed vehemently, but Serena was quick to halt her imminent comeback. With an excessive amount of force, she took thrust the volleyball into Mina's arms before turning on her heel and walking back to her side of the court.

"You okay?" Lita asked, green eyes sympathetic.

Serena nodded warmly at the girl. "Thanks for asking."

Lita averted her eyes and simply nodded in response. Serena sighed at this, knowing full well that all her hopes of finishing out high school in peace were dashed.

When she proceeded to tell Ami about the "volleyball incident" the girl got very quiet and eyed her warily.

"You seem to be making all the wrong enemies," she finally said. Serena agreed exasperatedly as they reclined in their usual spot by the fountain. Ami craned her neck, allowing her eyes to catch a glimpse of notorious group of girls and their respective guy friends, who were in their usual spot against the brick wall. "Seriously, Mina is not someone you want on your bad side.

"Too late!" Serena grumbled. Her eyes followed Ami's and she gazed longingly at the golden haired boy who was cracking up at something the ever-annoying Darien had said. They had hung out occasionally, but she seemed to be seeing less and less of him lately.

Serena turned away from them and faced Ami. "Want to come over after school to get ready for the big game?"

"I don't know...I really wanted to finish my calculus homework."

Serena bounced on her toes and widened her big blue eyes persuasively. "Please? Molly's going to do our makeup and we will look fabulous!"

Ami frowned at this. Getting all dolled up for a soccer game seemed a little excessive to her, but the pleading look on her friend's face was enough to win her over.

"Fine, I'll come!"

Serena squealed happily and performed an excited jig around her before settling back onto her butt.


"Serena?" Ami asked apprehensively. "Are you sure this looks okay?" She was standing in front of Serena's full length mirror and tugging at her denim skirt with disdain. How was she supposed to sit in the thing?

"You look great!" Serena's friend Molly cooed from her spot on Serena's bed where she was doing the finishing touches on Serena's makeup. When Molly announced that her masterpiece was complete, Serena got up from the bed to join Ami at the mirror.

Even Ami had to admit the blonde looked fantastic. Her tight, micro-mini skirt made her already long legs seem endless and her Moto Azabu t-shirt rode up a little, exposing her flawlessly tight stomach. Best of all was her hair, which was loose over her shoulders and accentuated by a bejeweled hair clip.

Serena examined her subtly shaded eyes and glossed lips appreciatively. "Thanks, Molly!" She took a deep breath before slipping her shoes on and joining her friends as they made their way towards Molly's car.

As they pulled up to the school, determination whizzed through Serena's veins. She was going to win Jed over tonight, she swore. He would never know what had hit him.


To be continued....


Author's Notes:

Alright so how was it? Constructive criticism, comments, suggestions, or anything else you want to throw at me would be greatly appreciated. Please review or PM me or email me at xtropicalcrush(at)aim(dot)com. Looking forward to seeing if this should be continued....