Surprising herself, Serena walked into the front door of her apartment with a huge smile on her face. She felt free. In the car she had replayed the argument in her head at least 15 times, at first she wanted to turn around and apologize to Emerald. But after considering how completely right she was about the woman and her selfish ways, she only drove home faster. Everything she had said had been true, and she didn't have anything to apologize for.
Serena stepped inside the front door of her apartment complex, quickly walking to the staircase. She was very thankful she only lived on the 3 floors up, whereas some of her classmates who lived here also, lived on the twelfth and thirteenth floors. Serena pulled open the door that led to her hallway, and was rummaging through her purse trying to find her keys. 'Oh, I hope I didn't leave them inside.' She thought to herself just as she was turning around the corner.
As soon as she took another step, her face made impact with something very hard,
"Oh!" Serena yelped as she began to fall backwards. She inhaled and winced; preparing for the pain she would feel in her skull after her impact with the cement floor. But surprisingly, that impact didn't come, something grabbed her by the shoulders just as she was about to hit the ground.
Serena opened one eye and saw that she was being held up by two very muscular, green sleeved arms. She followed the arms with her eyes up to the man's torso, covered by a thin black t-shirt and the rest of the jacket. Serena's heart did a back flip as she noticed the hard edged lines of muscles underneath the fabric. She gulped, looking up towards the man's face. Irritation was written all over his features, his mouth was formed into a grimace, and his thick eyebrows were furrowed into a frown. Serena could have cared less about his anger; she was only interested in looking at him holding onto her small frame; he was beautiful.
He had thick raven colored hair falling into his deep blue eyes; they were the color of the midnight sky. She ogled at his tanned skin and his strong jaw before realizing how awkward the situation must have been for this total stranger.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Serena stammered, trying to get back up on her feet. The man frowned, letting go of her shoulders.
"You should really watch out were you're walking meatball head." The man grumbled. Serena looked up at him, her jaw dropping. 'How rude!' she thought to herself.
"That was very rude of you, how dare you call me that! It's not like I ran into you on purpose." She said to the man, appaled that he had the nerve to insult her favorite hairstyle.
"Of course you didn't run into me on purpose meatball head, it's probably something you do a lot to everyone; you seem much more uncoordinated than the average person." The man said with an antagonizing smirk, straightening his jacket out and standing up to his full height.
"Ugh!" Serena yelled, getting up on her tip-toes to be face to chest with the conceited jerk. Just as she was about to throw out another insult, a strong female voice called out from behind the man.
"Darien, what is your issue? I haven't been here for a single day and you are already irritating the other tenants. Jesus Christ, just shut your mouth." Serena tore her angry gaze away from the aggravated 'Darien' and looked towards the direction of the voice.
"Hello, I'm Raye Hino, and this is my brother Darien, it's nice to meet you." The woman said, gesturing towards an irritated Darien and then walking around him to stand in front of Serena. "Sorry about him though, it's rare that he interacts with other human beings, so he forgets what it means to be polite." Raye said sarcastically, walking around Darien and she said smiling at her. Serena looked at her and laughed, she seemed very nice.
"Oh, that's okay, I'm sure he'll figure out how to act when he meets people eventually." Serena said, looking at the woman. Raye had the exact same hair and dark skin as Darien, and she was just as beautiful. Her bright, violet eyes that gave an almost magical quality to her personality. Her straight black hair fell loosely over her shoulders and over her back, reaching just below her calves. Her pretty red lips complemented her dark skin nicely; and when she laughed, a set of perfectly white teeth were exposed.
"It's nice to meet you Raye, I'm Serena Tsukino. I live in 260." Serena said. "Are you moving into 265?" Serena thought about how the apartment just across the hall and around the corner from her own and how it had been vacant for quite some time.
"Yes actually, I am just now on my way to bring the last of my things inside." She said.
"Do you need any extra help?" Serena asked her, having the strange and sudden urge to make this woman like her.
"That's what I'm here for actually, besides, you may drop it on your way up the stairs." Darien answered grumpily before Raye could make a sound. Serena glared at him, 'what a complete asswipe!' she thought.
"Darien!" Raye shouted before she smacked him on the back of the head.
"Hey!" he shouted back rubbing his head where she hit him. "I am so sorry about him Serena; he must be on his period or something." Raye said rolling her eyes. "I would actually love your help, there are about 6 more boxes left and with an extra person we could probably get it all in one trip." She said.
"Okay, I'd love to help." Serena said with a smile, she was beginning to like the idea of Raye becoming her new neighbor. They began their decent down the staircase and Serena decided she should get better acquainted with the siblings, well, better acquainted with Raye at least.
"So, how long have you guys been in here in the city?" Serena questioned gripping the handle on the side of the wall for support; she wanted to talk with Raye, but was not the best multi-tasker, and falling down the stairs would guarantee more insults from Darien.
"We actually grew up over in Saratoga Springs." Raye started out. "Darien moved here to get his medical degree at NYU about five years ago, and now I'm just transferring to finish up my degree in music, I want to become a music conductor for an orchestra or choir." Raye said smiling. Serena looked up at her, unaware that she was smiling so much that her cheeks were starting to turn pink.
"No kidding?" Serena said. "You probably have some of the same classes as me! I'm here to get a degree in music too, want to be a voice coach, and eventually work in the industry to help aspiring musicians." She giggled.
"That is so weird; I didn't expect to get to know someone who will be in my classes so soon!" Raye exlaimed, obviously very excited and relived. "Oh my goodness, I am really happy that I know somebody I can at least sit next to in class now." she finished with a grin even bigger than Serena's.
They stopped talking for a while as they grabbed the last of Raye's things from their U-Haul and lugged them up to her apartment. Shocking both herself and Darien, Serena made it all the way back up three staircases with two boxes in her arms without tripping, or dropping either box. She placed the boxes on the floor of Raye's apartment and grinned up at both of them triumphantly.
Raye giggled at her and then began telling Darien where to place the boxes he was holding. It didn't take very long at all for them to get into an argument. It was over something about how Darien called Raye's organization methods impractical. Serena just watched the two of them bicker back and forth, laughing at how close they obviously were.
Raye looked at Serena when she heard her laughter and giggled, a little embarassed. "We sound like damn fools don't we?" she put her hands on her hips and sighed, looking around the small living room completely filled with boxes. Her hair was wild, and her cheeks were sweaty from all the lifting and sliding of boxes she had done. Serena thought about how awful her hair buns must look, and hoped that the tangles wouldn't be too hard to brush out later.
Serena sighed, leaning her small body on the nearest wall. Raye stepped over some boxes, headed for the kitchen.
"I could really go for a drink right about now. Would you like something Serena?" Raye offered. "Sure, that would be nice." Serena said as she followed her into the kitchen.
"Help yourself." Raye said as she placed a 6 pack of Coors Light and Smirnoff Ice on the counter. She grabbed a Smirnoff ice, opening the cap with her hands, and taking a big gulp. "Thank you very much Raye. I was thirsty." Serena said leaning up against the wall. "No problem," she said, taking a drink of her own.
"What about you, my dear sweet brother?" Raye said, sarcasm dripping off of her every word. Darien walked in over the boxes and grabbed a beer and then backed away from the two girls and leaned against the refrigerator.
"Thank you, my beautiful, darling sister."He said frowning.
Raye laughed at him, and she took a drink of her Smirnoff. Serena giggled at their interaction before starting to talk to Raye again. The two girls exchanged more information, talking about various things from annoying professors and good places to eat around the city.
Darien stood quietly and watched them, noticing how well they were hitting it off with one another. He knew how rare it was for Raye to get close to people, especially as soon as she met them. He wondered what was different about the blonde woman that made his sister step out of her seclusion so soon.
He looked at her, just now taking the time to notice her attractive features. She was very pretty, he thought; she was short, about 5-3 or 5-4 maybe. He noticed the smooth, creamy colored skin covering her hand that was grasping her bottle. He looked at her shapely legs up to her slim torso continuing to her ridiculous hairstyle. He eyed the two meatball-like wads of hair stuck to either side of her skull, 'How could anyone wear that hairstyle in public?' he thought, shaking his head. He looked at the shimmery golden hair flowing out of the buns, almost spiraling down far enough to touch the floor.
'What am I doing?' Darien thought to himself. 'I'm sitting here, basically checking out a girl who is younger than me. I don't even know her, not to mention how annoying she is!' he felt like a total pervert.
Too busy being angry at himself he didn't notice the girls exchanging cell phone numbers and Serena grabbing her purse to leave.
"Yeah, I will call you for sure when I know when I can come and help you out. I know that it was a real pain in the ass for me to move in all by myself, and I could probably help you clean this place up too. No one has lived here for a while, so it may be in your best interest." Serena said, finding her keys in her hoodie pocket.
"Okay, thanks for all your help Serena, I really appreciate it." Raye said, opening the door for her. Serena looked at Darien, with one golden eyebrow arched.
"It was less than a pleasure meeting you Darien; I really do hope we won't run into each other too often." Serena said with venom in her voice.
"The feeling is mutual meatball head." Darien said frowning down at the angered blonde. Serena opened her mouth to shout something back at him, but Raye cut her off.
"Alright both of you, stop being so catty." Raye said smirking at them. "I'll see you soon Serena!" Raye called down the hallway. Serena waved as she walked away and turned the corner out of Raye's sight. She closed the door behind Serena and threw away the two empty Smirnoff bottles. She sat down on a box and looked up at Darien. He took another swig of his beer before sitting down on another box beside her.
"She is a really nice girl Darien, and I think we could become friends. Could you please try to act like less of a bitch when she's around?" Raye asked him, smiling at him in a condescending sort of way.
"Whatever. Just as long as she keeps her laughing under control, you two giggling gave me one hell of a headache." He said back to her.
"Hey, I can't help it that she's funny and has a loud laugh, okay? But we won't be bothering you very much anyway." Raye said as she tugged on his forearms making him stand up. "You need to get home too; you'll be exhausted tomorrow morning." Raye told him as she shoved him out the door. "Love you too sis." Darien called from the stairs. He heard her laugh before she slammed the door closed.
Serena yawned as she stepped into the shower. She ran her hands through her hair, rinsing out the products she used every morning. The warm water felt great on her skin, especially after getting sweaty from moving Raye's things.
Raye.
Serena thought about the beautiful dark haired woman she had met, and wondered what she was doing by talking to her so openly. She was so used to being by herself; she usually didn't care at all about what people thought of her. But tonight was different, she thought to herself. Serena found herself enjoying being around someone for once.
She felt happy with Raye, and she wanted to get to know her better. 'This is so weird.' Serena thought to herself. She couldn't believe how she responded to the woman. These feelings she had towards this woman were coming so naturally, she didn't have to pretend around Raye. When she laughed at something Raye said, it wasn't a fake laugh, and when she said she liked something Raye liked, she wasn't lying about it.
She thought they were becoming… friends.
She didn't have friends. She had co-workers and aquaintences, but not any real friends. She didn't want any; she didn't trust people. Friendships noever worked out for her, so she never made it a point to create them.
Serena thought about the past few friendships she had made and destroyed before she met Emerald. Most of the friends she had lost didn't really have a big effect on her, but there was one that stood out in her mind like a bright red light flashing inside her head.
Molly.
Serena felt the tears puddle inside her eyelids as soon as she thought of the name. Molly and Serena had been best friends from preschool through middle school; they knew each other so well it was creepy sometimes. Always spending their free time together; going to the park or the arcade, they were inseperable. Serena's eyes poured out her tears as she smiled sadly, reminiscing the memories. Serena had been there for Molly, and Molly had been there for her, in the darkest hours of their lives. They had promised each other that they would be best friends forever when they were little. They went thoough everything together, no ifs ands or buts about it.
When Molly's father died, Serena had stood next to her at the casket with her arm wrapped around her waist so she wouldn't fall down from grief. Serena's hands balled into fists as she remembered how she pushed Molly away from her when she herself was hurting and alone. Serena said many things to Molly she still regretted, she wished she could turn time back, to make Molly understand just how much she cared for her and how much she unknowingly needed her support.
Serena let out quiet sobs as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. She knew she didn't need to think about this right now, and that she just needed to get out of the shower and get some sleep. But it was too late; she had already found the beginning of the scar.
It began just behind her left ear lobe. She followed the light pink line across her back, switching hands to continue to follow it down her right shoulder, underneath her right breast, and across her stomach. The line continued to wrap around her left leg, going in circles until it reached the bottom of her left foot and abruptly stopping.
Serena was weeping before she could finish the path of the scar, and she sat down in the tub, letting the water drench her skin further. She buried her face in her hands, wanting the horrible memories to leave her mind forever. She remembered the face. His face. Awful images ran through her mind like a twisted slide show.
After sitting in her bathtub for a while longer, Serena finally regained enough of her strength to stand up and shut off the water. She climbed out of the tub, wrapping her shivering body in a towel.
It was about one o' clock before she crawled into her soft bed. She sighed as she felt her cat, Luna, climb into bed with her. She looked at the small creature, Luna didn't have a care in the world, all she had to do was make sure she kept both her fur and claws clean every day.
She didn't have anything to worry about. Serena sat up to scratch her furry head, and Luna purred. "I love you too, Luna." Serena sighed as she lay back down on her pillow.
Serena closed her swollen eyelids, allowing her nightmares to consume the world around her.
*Review, dear readers, review. - MogoGiggler
