This is the "before" section of the story, what happens to lead Serena to the scene by the lake. I wrote the lake part first, and then this as background.
Enjoy

Part I.

~~~~~~~ The Arcade ~~~~~~~

Today was the last day of school before the Easter vacation, and Serena was very much looking forward to the prolonged time without school to worry about, not to mention the excellent holiday food her mother would be making. She skipped home from school on the afternoon after that last day of school, and not even the clouds overhead or the cold wind outside could lessen her excitement. Besides being free from the tedium of school, her main reason for excitement was in anticipation of the small present she held in her hands. She looked down at the small basket containing some of her favorite Easter candies and in the center, a chocolate Easter Bunny in colored wrapping. Her heart pounded nervously as she thought of what to say when she gave it to him, she had practiced several possibilities the night before in front of her vanity. As she waited for the light of the crosswalk to change she decided to just keep it simple. Her mouth was already dry, so she doubted she would be able to choke out more than "Happy Easter Darien." Finally the light changed telling her to walk and she continued across the street and into the Crown Arcade.

She looked around and saw a noticeable vacancy at the counter. 'Not here yet,' she thought to herself. She shrugged and took a seat in the stool next to where he usually sat and set the precious Easter present on the counter.

"A present for someone special Serena?" Andrew teased as he came over to take her order.

Serena blushed and stammered, "Oh, um, no just an Easter present for uh Darien." She was embarrassed and blushed to the roots of her hair when she saw the confused look on Andrew's face.

He stared at her and said, "For Darien? From You?" The incredulous tone he used just made it all the more embarrassing.

"Oh, yeah, um well someone at school gave it to me and my mom won't let me bring home any more candies, so I thought I'd give it away. Plus I remember him saying he liked these chocolates last Easter." She tried to shrug off his look casually. "Could I get a hot chocolate Andrew? It's pretty cold out there." She needed him to go away before she gave herself away and lost her nerve. 'What if Darien just laughs at me?' she thought to herself as Andrew walked away. 'What if he rejects me? Here in front of all these people? I should have picked a better place... but I don't know anywhere else I can be sure to see him before the holiday.' The thought of having all her deepest insecurities exposed to Darien, whose high opinion now meant the world to her, was mortifying. She wanted so desperately for him to see her as more than some silly, annoying girl.

She had discovered some few months ago, much to her astonishment, that her feelings towards the quiet, handsome friend of Andrew's were much deeper than she had expected. She was hoping that this gift would somewhat soften his opinion of her. She knew that Darien was older, and more mature, and thought of her as a pesky girl who hung around his friend's arcade. She didn't know how to change his opinion of her, and this small present was the best she could come up with. She fidgeted nervously on her stool thinking about how terribly this could go if he truly did hate her as she sometimes imagined. But her hope of how it showing him that she was a person worth being friends with (and perhaps more someday) kept her resolutely seated at the counter. She was determined to obtain his good opinion, and couldn't keep herself from hoping that a friendship would enable her to prove to him that she was worth his love.

She was just starting to wonder if he would come to the arcade at all that day when the sounds of the door opening and his voice caught her attention. She turned on her stool to see him coming in, shaking rain off his coat and out of his hair. Her eyes were caught completely by his handsome figure until a high pitched laugh drew her attention to the woman drawing her arm through his.

Serena jerked back around to face away from them as heat flooded her face for the second time that afternoon. The woman with him was beautiful and graceful and Serena blinked away the burning in her eyes as she saw everything she wanted to be personified in the figure now scooting her stool closer towards Darien's. It was at that moment, when she was trying more than anything to be invisible, that Andrew appeared with her hot chocolate.

"Here you go, Serena" he said, setting it down in front of her. His saying her name caught Darien's attention and he turned in her direction.

"Hey there Meatball Head," he said. He opened his mouth to say something additional and she cringed in anticipation but the girl cut him off-

"Oh what a cute Easter basket you have! Did you get it from a boyfriend at school?" She asked sweetly. Serena looked down at what she believed to have been her only hope of getting Darien to notice her, and now she wanted nothing but for him to look away. She searched her mind for any explanation for having the present and as she looked around the arcade desperately Andrew's curious gaze caught her eye.

"No!" She exclaimed, "I brought it for Andrew." She glanced at Darien. "You know," she continued, "for all the hot chocolates and milkshakes and putting up with me." She forced a laugh and pleaded with Andrew in her gaze to play along.

"Oh, uh yeah she just gave it to me before you got here," he said pulling it towards him as he understood what she wanted. "Thanks again Sere."

"No problem," she choked out sliding off her stool. "Happy Easter Andrew… bye Darien." With that she turned and walked as slowly as she could force her trembling legs to move towards the door. She was afraid that she had turned away too late and that her eyes were already red. She hoped that Darien hadn't noticed, and as she looked back quickly over her shoulder she saw that he had already lost interest. The girl with him was laughing at something he had said to Andrew and was leaning closer into Darien. Andrew's eyes met hers and she couldn't bear the look he gave her. She broke into a run, and thought to herself that if Andrew kept her secret for her she would explain everything to him next time she saw him as a thank you. The rain had stopped for a time, but the wind felt cool on her face as she moved out of the shelter of the arcade. She tilted her face towards it to try to cool her eyes which were still burning with unshed tears. She moderated her pace as people started to stare at her, and changed her direction for the park. She needed some time alone before she could face her mother and Luna.