Her blue eyes watched him walk away in confusion. He walked with a lazy confidence as he held onto the bag of treats he had brought for his latest girlfriend. Serena shook her head as she stepped out of the van, only to hear the late bell ring. "Great," she thought. "Darien Shields has done it again." She jogged to her first class that morning and walked in just as the teacher called her name. "Present!" she huffed as she threw herself into her seat. "Tsukino, what has you late today?" Serena slumped down into her seat and muttered "car trouble". The teacher shook his head and continued on taking roll.

It wasn't exactly a lie. But there was no way she was taking the time to explain that everyone's beloved senior, Darien Shields, had simply picked up on his favorite hobby again-tormenting her. Sure, she wasn't totally innocent. She may have been two years younger than him but she still felt curiously compelled to antagonize him.

*flashback*

When Serena jumped in the passenger seat of Gaia Shields' car, she knew Gaia's son would have a bone to pick with her. That seat was HIS, but his majesty was still inside gathering his school things. He'd see her in the front, grumble a little, and move on.

She had never been more wrong.

It wasn't long before she looked out the window and saw a flash of black hair and a pair of stormy blue eyes narrowing in on hers. Serena began to wonder if this had really been such a great idea after all...

Without warning, the angry 6'2" teenager had opened the door, unbuckled her seatbelt, and thrown the petite blond unceremoniously over his shoulder. Serena hollered in astonishment and beat her fists against his back. Darien had thrown her into the back of the van like a sack of potatoes and positioned himself in the front seat in mere seconds.

Gaia looked at the two teenagers in astonishment and shrugged her shoulders. "I could've sworn I taught you better..." Darien rolled his eyes as the van pulled away from the curb. "She deserved it."

Serena sat fuming in the backseat the entire ride to school. He had CLEARLY overreacted to the situation. His status as a giant didn't give him any right to manhandle her like that! She was more than thrilled when Gaia finally pulled into the school parking lot. Darien said goodbye to his mom and bolted out of the car. When Serena tried to do likewise, she found that the car door wouldn't budge! She pulled on the door again to no avail. Her surprise immediately vanished when she looked up to see a pair of twinkling blue eyes staring at her from across the parking lot. The jerk had somehow managed to set the child-lock without her knowing! Gaia jumped out of the driver's seat and ran around to open the door for Serena. She didn't know why, but her son sure loved to torment the child.

As Serena waited for Gaia to open her door, she watched Darien in confusion. Darien was very well respected at their school. Teachers loved him, the girls fawned over him, and the boys wanted to be like him. They had several mutual friends that Serena genuinely liked. Why then would Darien Shields choose to torment her? What was so wrong with HER?

*end of flashback*

Ya. There was no way she was telling that story.

"Serena, you have GOT to be kidding me!" exclaimed Ami. Serena sadly shook her head no and heaved a sigh.

Ami pursed her lips and brushed a wisp of her blue hair out of her eyes. "You really must be some sort of masochist. After all the years you have known Darien, can you honestly tell me you're surprised that he reacted like that? WHY do you keep pestering him? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a thing for him..." Ami was cut off by Serena's outraged cry. "EEEEEEWWW Ami, NO WAY! I could never like that arrogant jerk! He's always been out to get me. I could either cringe in fear when I see him coming or bite the bullet and hope I go down swinging. There's no middle ground with that guy. Plus, we both know who I REALLY like..."

"Really like what?" Serena's eyes widened in panic as she looked up into the green eyes of one of the best looking guys in her year. "Oh, hi Andrew! Uh...chocolate milkshakes! In fact, I probably love them!" Serena giggled nervously at her attempted save. Fortunately (and unfortunately) Andrew was still as oblivious as ever to Serena's crush. Of course, he was the ONLY person in the school who was. Serena was about as subtle as a freight train.

"Speaking of milkshakes, are the three of us still on for study group at the Crown on Saturday?" Serena sagged her shoulders at the thought of another study session spearheaded by Ami. Well, at least Andrew would be there to drool over...

"Of course we are! Come around 2 and I'll fix us all some shakes at the end of my shift. Then we should be able to get in a few solid hours of study time before the dance that night! Serena, how does that sound?"

"the shakes and dance part sound amazing! Any chance of skipping out on the middle?" Serena held onto the last bit of hope for a study-free weekend.

"Ever the slacker, aren't we Serena?"

She whipped her head around just in time to see Darien walk by with that smug smirk on his face. "Ugh Darien! Mind your own business. My grades could beat yours any day." she finished with a growl as she watched Darien and Andrew turn to walk away. Andrew clapped Darien on the shoulder and waved goodbye to the girls.

Serena really was curious as to how a sweet guy like Andrew could be friends with a jerk like Darien.

It must have been a momentary lapse in judgment.

Just then the bell rang. Serena rolled her eyes and adjusted her backpack as she prepared to sprint across campus. "Here I go again..."