40 Guys In 40 Nights

Written by: Moon Sugar

I acted as if I were a contender to win this bet. How good would it look if they knew I'd gotten zero guys in three days?! When the entire bet was my brilliant idea in the first place. I was down but not out. Andrew's party happened to be this weekend. Tomorrow actually... so I planned to catch a few guys there.

I knew good and well the other girls had gotten their invitations too. They had to see me with at least one guy otherwise, they'd know I was making all this up. How do I get myself into these situations anyway? I was pondering this as I took a walk down to the arcade. I walked in and sat down in front of Andrew. "Hi!" I chirped.

"Hey Serena! Coming to my party tomorrow?" he asked, casually.

"You bet! That was the only thing getting me through this week of torturous school." I exclaimed.

"You know...maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you'd study once in a while, Meatball Head." a slimy voice behind me stated. I knew it was the sleeze king before I ever turned around.

"Shut up Darien!" I said without even turning to see him.

"Gee... thanks Meatball Head." he said making me fume even more. Then he turned to Andrew. "Hey buddy! Did you invite any hot single girls to this party?" he asked.

Light bulbs went off in my head. Not to mention sirens. "WHOA! Hold it right there!" I screamed. "YOU'RE going?!"

"Yeah...wh- No! Andrew! You invited Meatball Head?" an evil grin spread across his face. "Maybe this party will be even better than I'd thought. I get to torture Serena!"

"Don't you have some UnitedLosers' Meeting to go to instead?" I asked...hoping maybe he'd forgotten he'd made previous plans.

"Nope!" he happily replied. He stood to his feet.

"Where are you going Darien?" Andrew asked.

"I have to go home. Figure out how I can make Meatball Head's evening...horrible to say the least!" he grinned jokingly.

"Here's an idea: showing up should be bad enough." I grumbled.

He faked a look of hurt. "That hurts me Meatball Head." he laughed as he walked out. I turned to Andrew with a look of disdain on my face.

"You're out to get me aren't you?..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I spent extra time getting ready for whatever reason. My pink skirt went well with my pink and white sleeveless top. I looked stunning to say the least. My hair was, of course, pulled back in my customary 'Meatballs.' I liked them though, so wasn't that all that mattered?

Before I'd left the arcade the day before, Andrew insinuated that I had a thing for Darien. I pretended to ignore it. I really wasn't sure how to react to that...Ew Gross! What was I saying?! Of course I hated Darien! Terribly! I think...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I walked into Andrew's opened front door, and was stopped by a guy I didn't know guarding the entrance. "Name please?" he asked.

"Serena Tsukino." I said, wondering what it was all about. He scribbled it down and said. "Have a nice time."

I sat down on the couch with some older people, around Andrew's age, that I didn't know. The long thick curtains were closed and little light filtered into the room. There were a few guys playing pool in the middle of the room, and a thick smoke hovered in the air. Cigarettes... Great. Now I'll smell like an ashtray all night. A few guys and even some girls, had glasses have full of a strong-smelling, yellow-y liquid. I recognized it's smell right away.

"Serena!" I heard a female voice cheerfully call. I turned to see Mina standing behind me looking beyond cute, as usual. She's going to put that Snuggle Teddy Bear out of business one of these days. I walked to her so we could talk. "Have you ever seen a party like this before?" she whispered.

"Yeah...in movies!" I hissed. I was a little nervous about this. If my mom had any idea, I'd be grounded for until I used Polydent!

"I was SOOO nervous by myself, 'till you showed up, anyway." she said.

"Yeah me too! Hey! Do you know where everybody else is?" I asked

She nodded. "Amy's not coming, she had to study. And Raye's not coming because she had 'something more important to do.'"

"And Lita?" I asked.

"If she knew she was going to be in Andrew's house, don't you think she'd come?" she grinned playfully.

"I give her five minutes."

"Less!"


We wheeled around. "LITA!" we said at the same time.

"How long have you been back there?" Mina asked.

"Well...I heard the tail end of something about Polydent."

Then we heard a squeal. Andrew's voice came blasting in our ears. Microphone. Cool. "Attention everyone! You've had time to mingle...Let the games begin! You were to give your name at the entrance. All the names were put into two different hats. A boy's hat and a girl's hat. One name will be drawn from each and from there, the couple will be directed toward the closet over here-" he said as he pointed to his right. A door covered it so we couldn't see what was inside. Then he continued "-where they will play Seven Minutes in Heaven." The room roared with applause. They were obviously all excited. I felt sick. I prayed my name wouldn't be called.

Lita nudged my side. "Hey Serena...what's Seven Minutes in Heaven?"

I almost lost my previous meal while trying to explain. "A guy and girl go into the closet and uh...well...make-out for seven minutes."

She grinned. I knew she was hoping it would be her and Andrew. I didn't know anyone here! Was I going to be forced to waste my first kiss on a complete stranger? No...what were the chances that they'd call my name? There were at least a hundred other girls here. No way would my name be picked.

"The guy is..." Andrew said as he dug through the hat. When he pulled out a little strip of paper he unfolded it and read. "Darien Shields!" Darien was being pulled on top of the coffee table, where Andrew was standing. Suddenly, someone handed Andrew another hat. "And...the girl is..."

I held my breath. I'd puke if I had to kiss Darien. I wonder...what it *would* be like... to kiss Darien- NO! NO! NO! NO! You do NOT like him Serena! Put that thought right out of your head! You are here for one purpose and one purpose only!! To get guys for the bet!

I heard a chuckle from Andrew. "Isn't this just priceless?" he asked himself. "The girl is...Serena Tsukino!"