Story 9

Serena Moone walked in the door, and collapsed onto her couch. The day had been an exhausting one. She plopped down onto her couch, and flipped on the TV.

"Is everyone ready for Christmas?" the TV announcer asked brightly.

Serena groaned and flipped off the TV again. Christmas meant the Christmas Gala her family insisted on holding each year. Almost on cue, the answering machine automatically played the messages it had recorded during the day.

"Serena! Where are you? Christmas is in a week, and you need to be home to help prepare for the Christmas Gala! As a proper daughter, you should always be willing to help out the family. Instead, you insist on going halfway across the country to Boston and abandon us like …"

Her mother's stern voice filled the silence of the apartment. Serena could almost imagine the frown on her mother's face, and how Sammy must be sniggering nearby at the lecture his sister was getting. On instinct, Serena tuned out her mother's voice. She was startled out of her reverie only by the answering machine cutting off her mother's voice.

She sighed. She had delayed going for as long as possible, but now she would have to go.

"As I was saying before the machine cut me off," her mother's voice continued, surprising her. "A nice young man by the name of Darien is coming, and I want you to be nice to him …"

Serena groaned. Another blind date. As if her overenthusiastic friends weren't enough, her mother had decided to play matchmaker. So far, she had been matched up with Seiya from Japan, Diamond from Paris, Andrew from next door, and a guy who had turned out to be a girl, and one of her good friends.

"Serena. I'm assuming Mom already called you," a baritone voice chuckled. Serena relaxed. Sammy would keep her from the blind date. "First thing I'm obliged to tell you … oops, I mean I want to tell you, is: Darien Shields is a really nice guy. There. Finished the message from Mom … er, me. I would like to tell you that only irresponsible sisters make their brother and other family members decorate for the Christmas Gala while she is off in Boston savoring her last free moments. Sorry, sis, but I can't help you this time. Mom's dead set on this guy. He's rich and handsome and intelligent … and utterly arrogant. I hope you help bring him down a notch or so. I guess that means I'm encouraging this match. Too bad, you've lost a helper." The message ended.

Serena massaged her forehead. If her brother was right, and the guy was a pompous idiot, and he wasn't going to help her escape from her mother's clutches, this was going to be a very long Christmas.

She went to her room. It was nice and neat, completely opposite of the mess it usually was. She had packed last Saturday, convincing herself she was going to drive there. Instead, she had delayed as long as possible. Christmas was in two days, and now she had to catch a plane to get there on time. If she didn't, she would be dead meat. Her mother would probably ground her for life … or at least until she got engaged, got a boyfriend, or "caught" a husband.

Mothers! Serena rolled her eyes. She got her stuff, and looked at her ticket. Her eyes widened. Her plane was leaving in an hour!

Serena Moone walked up the long wind path to her front door. She debated ringing the doorbell. She could either get the lecture over with now, or slip in unnoticed and get yelled at later. It was better to get things over with … nah; she'd get yelled at later.

She slipped through the open door, and picked up her things. As she was about to head upstairs, she bumped into someone. She apologized immediately. "I'm sorry. I was a bit preoccupied."

She looked up into ocean blue eyes that burned into her. He glared. "You should be."

Serena glared back. "You know what? I take back my apologies, you arrogant jerk!"

"Who wants your apology, Meatball Head? It's probably not worth the brains you have," the guy glared.

"Idiot!"

"Slob!"

"Pig!"

"Slug!"

"Insipid swine!"

"Good-for-nothing!"

"Pompous @$$!"

"No need to swear, Meatball Head," he chuckled.

"My name is not Meatball Head!" Serena screeched.

"Then what is it? Hello-I-have-an-IQ-of-0?"

"You really shouldn't go around introducing yourself to the people of the house you're robbing!" Serena finished.

"No, that's not my name, as a matter of fact. I'm a guest here, and you can call me Dare, Meatball Head."

Serena was startled. When had the insulting match turned into an introduction? "I'm Sere, not Meatball Head!" she glared.

"Whatever," Dare rolled his eyes and turned away after adding "Meatball Head" under his breath.

"I HEARD THAT!"

"Serena darling, whoever were you yelling at earlier?" Elaine Moone asked with surprise.

"Some idiot," Serena grumbled. "Named Dare."

Elaine frowned, but didn't say anything. "Now, I'm going to introduce you that charming Mr. Darien Shields I mentioned earlier. He earns an average of a billon dollars a year, you know …" (That's good, right?)

Serena's ears perked up at the words, "Shields and co. Lawyer Firm." "As in the Shields and co. Lawyer Firm? My biggest rival?"

Elaine frowned. "Rival?"

"Yes, mother," Serena sighed. "You do remember that I am President and CEO of Moone and Moone Lawyer firm? And that our biggest rival is the Darien Shields you brought under this roof! Dad will blow!"

"Your father, Kenneth Moone will listen to what I tell him to like a good husband. If I tell him to let this nice Mr. Shields stay under our roof, he will on pain of living on boiled hay for the rest of his life," Elaine said.

"You haven't managed to convince him not to threaten to shoot any prospective boyfriends with a shotgun yet," Serena pointed out.

"Really, Serena," Elaine said. "He only did that the one time five years ago when I was visiting my sick mother."

"But that was Seiya Kou, the hottest rock star from Japan," Serena wailed. "You totally bugged him off, and now we're just friends."

"If you would make an effort, I'm sure you'll be able to catch Mr. Shields as a nice husband."

"He's four years older than me."

"Only twenty-eight, dear."

"He was twice as old as I was when I was four!"

"You're twenty-four now, and getting to be an old maid."

"I will not marry until I feel like it!" With that, Serena stormed out.

Elaine sighed. "What am I going to do with that girl?"

Serena Moone frowned. What was she going to wear to dinner? If she wore something too informal, her mother would send her back upstairs, but wearing something formal seemed out of place.

She bit her lip and sighed. If she wore pants, her mother would kill her, but she didn't feel like wearing a skirt … not in this weather.

She finally settled on a white blouse embroidered with mistletoe and holly, and a red thick skirt with a green belt. Christmassy and formal enough to please her mom without freezing her butt off or looking silly. Her hand drifted to her hair, and she decided to put it up in the old "meatballs" she used to wear. In a spark of Christmas spirit, she tied her buns with red and green ribbons, and smiled.

She carefully chose dressy black boots and added a silver watch, a moonstone necklace, and a pink lacy scarf to give herself the "look" that was she. She bit her lip. Something was missing. She surveyed the room, and her eyes lit on her glasses. She wore them only for reading, but they were Christmas glasses, and look cute with her ensemble. She smiled, and put them on, before smiling. Perfect.

Downstairs, she looked around. Her cousin Mina Aphrodite Venuse was dressed in a white turtleneck, and a Christmas skirt. Her long blonde hair framed a pretty face, and she was beaming. She was escorted by her fiancé, a charming silver-haired man named Kirk.

"Mina!" Serena squealed.

"Serena!" Mina called. Together, they ran over to each other and hugged.

"Where are the others?" Serena asked excitedly.

"There's second-cousin Amy with her boyfriend Zephyr," Mina pointed out.

Amy Hermese was wearing a light blue blouse and dark blue skirt, with a blue scarf to match. She and Zephyr had just come in from outside, because they lived the farthest away, and Amy's cheeks were flushed from the cold.

"There's my half-sister, Lita," Mina pointed.

Lita Zeuse was wearing an emerald green shirt and black flare pants with snowflakes embroidered on them. She was with her husband Nick, and they were talking animatedly.

"There's Aunt Linda's stepdaughter Raye," Mina pointed out. "I don't know why your mom invited her, but she's got great fashion sense."

Raye Aries was wearing a red and green dress, and she was scolding her husband Jared, who was laughing. Raye wasn't strictly family. Her mother had died, and her father had remarried Serena's aunt, so that made her more of a step-cousin. Serena's Aunt Linda was the black sheep of the family, and she was surprised someone from her side was invited at all.

"There's Alex and Michelle and their adopted daughter Hotaru from Japan. She's the cutest," Mina said.

Alex Uranuse and Michelle Poseidoni were not really family. Alex had saved Serena from a mugger once, and she had become friends with her family. Then, she had married Michelle, which Serena's parents had took in stride, and had adopted a little girl from Japan. Hotaru was maybe five, and she wore a dark purple dress and bow and looked altogether darling.

"And there's Aunt Trista, who looks as young as always," Mina finished.

Trista Hadese wasn't family either. She had found Sammy once when he was lost, and she had become a legendary friend of the family. Aunt Trista retained her youthful looks, though she was probably quite old, and no one really questioned it. It had been privately believed by Serena and Sammy when they were younger that Aunt Trista was magic.

"I'm sorry, Sere," Kirk suddenly murmured. "But I need to borrow Mina for a sec." So saying, he whisked her off, and they went to sit down in their places.

Serena glanced around her, before grimacing. Her mother had arranged the seating. Of course, all couples (husbands and fiancées) were arranged together. People that were "going out" sat together in pairs as well, if they specially requested it from her mother.

Of course, being in charge of seating allowed her to manipulate Serena's seating. She was, of course, going to sit next to the almighty Mr. Darien Shields, thanks to the manipulating of her mother. She made a face and grimaced. For the next couple of days, there would be event after event, and her mother organized all of them, allowing her to force Serena to sit with Mr. Shields the whole time.

~Oh well~ Serena thought mentally. ~I better get to know him. If I know my mom half as well as I think I do, I'm going to spending a LOT of time in his company~

She scanned the room with a trained eyes, searching for her spot. Her mother insisted on holding these events each and every year. By now, almost all of the relatives had worked out an arrangement with Mrs. Moone.

Most of the relatives had some trademark that Mrs. Moone placed next to the placeholders. Thus, they would only have to sweep the room with a trained eye, and would be able to find their seat easily. It was simpler this way.

Serena found the little pink bunny that she had had since she was 7 very easily. She swept over to her seat and sat down. Opposite her, the placeholder read "Darien Shields" and she almost groaned. She tossed a look at his trademark, and was curious to see a red rose. ~He must be romantic, requesting a red rose as a marker~

She sat down, self-consciously smoothing her dress. When she looked up, someone was already inhabiting the seat across from her. She had enough time for her shock to register before he looked up from his laptop.

"You!" she hissed.

"Dare", aka Darien Shields was the first to recover. "Hello, Meatball Head."

"My name is not Meatball Head for the fifteen thousandth time!" Serena shrieked, her voice raised several octaves.

All sound in the room ended, everyone staring at Serena, shocked.

"Whatever you say, Meatball Head," Darien responded smoothly, emphasizing the name.

"It's Se-re-na, not Meatball Head," Serena glared, her voice laced with venom.

"Meat-ball-Head," Darien responded coolly.

"Arrogant jerk," Serena glared.

"Ignorant peasant," Darien said without flinching.

"Insipid swine."

The shouting match from earlier was recreated, as their voices grew higher and higher. The spectators watched with mild interest, into Mrs. Moone entered the room, wondering what the noise was.

"Serena Moone! I thought I taught you to have better manner," Elaine scolded.

Serena glared at Darien. "You are a contemptible worm, and you shall be sure that I won't forget this," she hissed under her breath so only he could hear.

Darien smiled bleakly at her. "Whatever you say, Meatball Head," he said, so just she could hear.

"I apologize for my uncalled-for insults," Serena said pleasantly. Under her breath, she added, "I really shouldn't have insulted the pigs and worms."

"And I apologize for thinking up such a degrading nickname," Darien said sincerely, adding, "I should have come up with a worse one."

The tension was not relieved, and Elaine was aware of this, so she sent for the food.

During the entire meal, Serena and Darien glared at each other, both only touching small portions of their food. Elaine, who had been walking around, inquiring about people's health, their marriages, their children, their parents, the food, etc, came to the table, only to be chagrined by the fact that barely any of the food was touched.

"Is the food not up to your normal standards?" Elaine Moone inquired pleasantly, her eyes narrowed. Her daughter, at least, never ~normally~ refused food.

"I already ate," Serena claimed.

"I don't eat much," Darien said at the same time.

"It seems you two are the only ones with small appetites," Elaine observed, eyes traveling around the empty plates around the room.

"Have it sent up to my room and I'll eat it later," Serena said. "You know how my stomach is. Once the food I ate wears off, I'll be hungry as a tiger."

Elaine pursed her lips, and eyed the two suspiciously. "Alright, I suppose." She suddenly clapped her hands. "Dinner is over," she said in her no-nonsense tone. "Now, the dancing begins."

Serena winced. Every year, her father would fix a pair of crystals over one certain table, and the couple at that table had to lead the dance. Unfortunately, her mother usually influenced her father in the placing of the crystals, and if she was in a matchmaking mood, she would violate tradition, and order her father to place it over her table.

She held her breath.

"The copper crystals go to … Molly and Melvin," Elaine announced. "They lead the third dance."

Everyone could see the normal looking crystals, with a three hanging from them hanging over Molly and Melvin's table.

"The silver crystals go to … Mina and Kirk," Elaine announced. "They will lead the second dance."

Everyone saw the crystals with a two hanging from then hanging over a delighted Mina and Kirk's table.

"And the golden crystals go to … Serena and Darien," Elaine announced, just a shade too smugly. "They will lead the first dance."

Everyone turned to see the furious couple look up and gulp at the crystals with the one hanging over them that they happened not to notice in the midst of their arguing.

Serena glared at her mother, who only smiled innocently and shrugged.

As hired caterers cleared the tables away, Michelle and Alex approached the stage. Michelle was a professional violinist, and Alex was a professional pianist. Together, they played beautiful music.

As they began, a haunting melody filled the air. Serena was immediately captivated by it. It seemed so familiar. An image of a prince and a princess dancing filled her mind.

As she accepted Darien's hand, she began to dance. Now, Serena wasn't the most graceful person on the world, but her mother had forced her to taking dancing class over and over until she passed, so she was a pro at any type of dancing, though she especially enjoyed ballroom dancing. She had found this a useful skill to have in the years to come at all of the dances and such that her mother held.

Darien smiled down at Serena. For all she was annoying and irritating, she was still very sweet. Currently, her eyes were closed, and a blissful smile was on her face. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going at all, and he had to be most careful when he guided her, however she was a very good dancer.

But soon, the dance was over, and they were back to scowling at each other again. However, before they departed that night, they each were in deep thought. Did they … no longer hate each other? Possibly even like each other? Or … the forbidden word … love?

A/N: Should I continue or leave you all hanging?