The Greetings: Hey everybody! It's me again, Astrael Rose! w00t, you all are saying, she lives! (that is, if you like the story. ;) which I really hope you did!) Chapter Two continues as we get into some actual plot workings. The first couple to get together (not Serena and Darien), not to spoil anything, is my least favorite EVER in any fanfic. I hope it doesn't show in my writing. ;P Anyways, please review and let me know what you think or if you want to offer any constructive criticism! Heck, just let me know you guys are out there, lol. Love you!

The Thanks: Thanks to Dexy's Midnight Runners for writing the song 'Come On Eileen'. :)

The Disclaimer: Before the government comes and steals my delicious fanfiction, I must admit that these characters belong to their respective owners.

The Author's Note: (The Author's note for this chapter has been -le gaspe- stolen.... =O! )

Chapter Two

The Meetin

-oo-

'hey Andy sweet party last night. im sooo tired tho lol. did you end up getting that chicks #?'

I hurriedly texted my friend Andrew Hansford from the confines of my locker, placing the cellphone inside. It looked as if I was searching for a book or something education-related.

That was the one thing teachers cared about at this school, unfortunately. 'Texting in school is a distraction to the student body and it encourages the dealing of illegal paraphenalia'. I got the same old line every time I got caught with my phone.

Mr. Fick, the vice principal, strode by my locker. I quickly jerked out my Latin binder, looking Mr. Fick square in the face with a cheesy grin. An awkward looking man, he always wore a polka-dot tie that was always slightly to the right. An oddly-placed mustache sat upon his lips, seeming to peering at me with its whisker eyes.

I tore my eyes away from the creature above his lips to greet him.

"Good morning, Mr. Fick."

Scuffling by, he glanced at my with beady eyes like black marbles.

"Keep it in your locker, Mr. Ingston," He said emotionless, continuing his morning route through the hallways.

Yeah. Good morning to you too, Mr. Dick.

I pulled out my phone again to see Andrew's response. The text read as follows:

'yah man. i'm so hungg over. we'll do it again soon aightt?? and, dude - check this, her names mina and she goes to central!'

I snickered. Central Catholic was an all-girl's private school that was known for having not-so-Christian attendees.

I quickly sent back my response. The first period bell would be ringing soon, and as much as I dreaded it, I would eventually have to leave the hall for homeroom. Several of my friends greeted me in the hallway and I gave a short nod of recognition. A few of the girls that I had talked to last year passed by my locker and either winked at me or approached me with a cute "hey Darien."

Turning back into my locker, I sent my reply to Andrew.

'hahah.. have her invite some friends next time.'

I jumped as my locker door slammed shut for me in front of my surprised face. Andrew, glancing down at his phone, pushed back his shaggy blonde mane with a smile. He always had the habit of popping up unexpectedly.

"You know it, man," He winked at me and slightly punched me in the shoulder. Dark bags were evident underneath his eyesockets, complimenting the redness of his eyes. I knew that my face must have resembled his.

"I see why they call it a Hong Kong Hangover," Andrew remarked. "I feel like I'm staring into the sun." Putting long fingers on his forehead, he shielded his eyes from the iridescent lights above.

I chuckled. I was a little better because I ate a little honey before coming to school. Honey always seemed to work better than Tylenol when it came to hangovers.

"How did your brother make that, anyway? I've never tasted anything like it..."

Andrew looked at me thoughtfully.

"I think he just took some of the Glenfiddich and Tia Maria together... I'm pretty sure he didn't shake it, though, because I got the hit right away."

I gave a short laugh, recalling what I could remember from last night. After only one cup, Andrew had already starting taking off articles of clothing, one by one.

"When is coming home from KO University? We definitely have to do something again."

"Eh.." He scratched his head. "Well, he actually never left... I'm pretty sure he's still laying in bed with some girls from last night..." Andrew stopped and checked his cellphone for the time. "Anyway, Darien there's something I need you to do for me."

I gave him a curious look.

"I'd do anything for you, Andy, but tell me first before I sign up to do something stupid..." I stacked my books into my bag and started walking towards room 103. My feet shuffled on the ground behind me. It required too much effort to /actually/ pick them up.

The bell rang.

Andrew simply smiled at me.

"I'll text you in class, okay? Trust me bro, you'll thank me!" He sped off in the opposite direction to his class, giving a short wave behind him as he went.

I pondered what he could possibly want from me. Wondering, I slithered into homeroom, hoping to slip by the notice of my extemely bored teacher, Mrs. Haruna. I gazed around the room to look at the same faces that had been in my homeroom for the past two years. I took my seat next to Serena. As our seats were in alphabetical order, my sister and I of course sat in the same seat. Apart from a name though, we really didn't share much in common. The only features that we shared physically were our extremely bright blue eyes.

Apparently the gene pool had been more generous in other regards as far as I was concerned. I liked to remind her of this every time semester report cards came out.

Looking at my sister, she stared straightforward with an extremely slouched posture. She wasn't talking to me, and that was fine with me. The teacher took attendance and everyone else in the class groaned to remark that they were indeed in attendance.

Not like anyone wanted to be.

"So... too bad you forgot your umbrella this morning..." I whispered slyly, poking the side of my hoodie which she wore. It was an antique from a past football camp with 'Ingston' on the back. It looked like it swallowed her tiny physique whole.

Serena ignored me as she got out her pink compact to fix her makeup.

I got out my phone and checked to see if Andrew had texted me. My phone lighted up in neon green with '1 New Message'. I pressed the center keypad.

'okay, so you know Raye Hino, that hott senior? thank me now buddy bcuz i got u a date with her!'

I replied with grievance.

'wait, i thot this was a favor? and i barely no her.. y cant she just talk to me herself??'

Raye Hino... Raye Hino... Hino... Where did that name sound familiar...?

Hino......

I glanced at Serena. A sudden flash of memories flooded my mind.

Raye Hino! That was the girl that Serena used to complain about all the time with her friends. Apparently last year, Serena got in a huge fight with her and to this day refuses to speak of what happened. I never really understood why girls got into petty fights all the time.

Pfft. Dramatic teenage girls.

'well, lets just say that i owe her a favor. and she said she was interested in u. she came to the party early but left.'

I tried to put the name with a face, but my 'Hong Kong Hangover' was working against my favor.

'how am i supposed to meet her? i don't even know what class she's in'

'ur running for student council again aren't you?'

'well, idk...'

'and now u know. the first meeting for candidates is after school - ur going'

'well.. are you going?'

'hell no.'

And that was the end of that. -sigh- .

I put my phone away and gazed at Serena, settling my weary head on the lab table stationed before me. She was now sitting upright, waiting for the last minutes of homeroom to pass. Her high buns sat on top of her head and were wound together into tight coils. I didn't understand how someone could grow their hair that long. Even though she had a childish face, it was still lean.

She really was an attractive girl, I had to admit.

"You know I still love you, right?" I breathed the words as I closed my eyes, my cheeks hard-pressed against the cold, black table.

Serena's slender, pale fingers reached to run their length through my raven locks.

"I know."

I shuddered at the touch of her soft hands.

As homeroom passed and the rest of my classes came and went, I didn't even bother to pay attention. It was a pretty typical routine first day of school. Even my favorite class physics couldn't keep me awake.

Every class was basically the same. The teachers had no real material for the first day, so I dozed in and out of consciousness as the they droned on and on about each specific course.

The only teacher who actually ever tried to make students do real work was Mrs. Sortino, my Latin teacher. Luckily enough, today we just watched Clash of the Titans. So low-budget, but so classic.

Finally, the end of the day came and I was overjoyed, to say the least.

I picked up my books and began to walk out of school, trying to keep my focus on staying awake. I didn't bother to wait for Serena because she was old enough I figured to walk herself home.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed. One teacher passing by pushed up her purple-rimmed spectacles to shoot me an angry glare.

Before she had a chance to open her mouth, I sped off down the hall to the LGI room for the student council meeting. Several papers flew from my binders as I madly hurried down yet another hall. If I didn't at least show up, Andrew was gonna kick my ass.

Almost there, you're good Darien-

Bam.

A whirlwind of papers surrounded me as I collided with someone rushing from the copying room with stacks upon stacks of manilla folders. I felt my breath leave me as I went down to the ground. It felt like someone just scored the high score for whack-a-mole on my chest.

"Oh-my-gosh, I am SO sorry!" A blizzard of raven hair flew every which way. The girl that had collided into me swiftly gathered her papers, a futile attempt at best. She herself seemed fine. "Are you okay? Oh, damnit!" Her intense eyes worriedly scanned me as she tried to fan me with one of her many folders to revive me. The ridges of her tiny eyebrows puckered together, almost seeming as if they were trying to touch.

I chuckled and pulled myself up onto one elbow, catching my breath.

"Ahh.. Don't worry about it. It was probably my fault anyway, trying to run like a madman to get to the LGI."

The raven-haired girl breathed a sigh of relief. Taking a second glance at me once the tornado of papers settled, she inspected my face more closely. So closely in fact that I mentally checked myself to remember if I had a gross pimple or something of the like on my face.

My body subconsciously slid a few inches back.

"Hey, wait a minute... Aren't you..." She sputtered, her face turning just slightly maroon.

"Incredibly handsome?" I flashed her a wide, toothy grin, attempting to distract her from whatever she was so interested in on my face. "But most people call me Darien."

She rolled her eyes at that, seeming a little less upset.

"Well, if you're heading to the LGI, I suppose that means we're going to the same place then," The girl spoke somewhat hurriedly, still in the process of picking up the many papers that had fallen. I instinctively started helping her, feeling bad that I had caused her all this trouble. "If you're going to the student council candidate meeting, it started ten minutes ago."

A look of despair came upon my face. What was I going to tell Andrew now?

"I suppose I could say that you were helping me with my papers... Since you technically are." Her eyes trailed to the ground where she found the last paper. I hoped that she wasn't mad at me for making her late.

She seemed to regain her confidence back as she stood up, arms finally full with the messy stack of papers she had been making. She began to walk in front of me. It was then that I realized how high up her black mini-skirt was, and how long the tan legs were underneath it.

"That would be very nice" I smiled. "Hey, I never caught your name, by the way."

The girl gave a little laugh, seeming to ignore hear my inquiry. She kept on walking. I glanced down at one of the papers I held in my hand.

Above a full-body picture of the girl, it read in bold letters-

'Raye Hino, representing your school for vice president!'.

-xx-

And thats it! Let me know what you think!

A preview for next chapter- DERAMMMA.

Stay tuned for the drama that is sure to ensue!