Almost Perfect // 4
-+Tennyo
A scent that seemed vaguely familiar trickled into my nose and caused me to stir from a dreamless sleep. It smelled faintly of the summer rain that would come to relieve the summer's scorching heat. It was rather refreshing, really.
I felt fingers gently pushing my hair away from my eyes and I felt oddly relaxed and calm. I slowly opened my eyes to see Darien looking at me. His midnight blue eyes held a tenderness that I rarely got a chance to see. I was moved to know that I was the recipient of it. A kind of peace settled over me, a sensation which I had never felt so strongly before until this day. It was the sort of feeling I got when my mother would tuck me into bed, like the whole world was at peace and nothing short of a nuclear bomb could disturb it, yet not quite.
It was a different kind of peace, like an empty closet that had been long forgotten was being meticulously opened. There were no locks on the door, nor did it creak when it unfastened.
"Awake now?" Darien asked softly.
Beams of light from the morning sun shined through the cracks of the blue-tinted shades. It illuminated the room with the kind of brightness that you can only experience at the peak of dawn. That was when I saw Darien in a different light. A new perspective that I hadn't thought of before slowly seeped into my mind. I wondered, then, how long had I been feeling this? It felt strange, yet comforting.
"Mmm," I muttered. I pulled the sheets up so that it reached the bottom of my nose. Morning breath can be a real stinker. My stomach grumbled quite audibly and I blushed in embarrassment. Gosh darn, I really needed to do something about that. It seems I could sleep for days without food, but the second I woke up, my body craved it.
Darien smiled in amusement and got up. "Rise and shine! Today is the beginning of a new day!" He turned around as he was walking towards the door and grinned. "I'll go make some breakfast for you, you pig."
Smart man that he was, he closed the door before the pillow struck him. That bastard, I thought mischievously, I'll get him back for that little remark.
I slid out of bed and groggily stood up. I stood on my toes and lifted my arms above my head and stretched. I heard a few bones crack and made a note to myself to have a full stretching session later on. I opened the bedroom door and trudged into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror, rather, the creature that was reflecting in the mirror. My hair was in complete disarray and there was a white trail where my saliva had slid down.
Great, just great, I thought sardonically. One of the most romantic moments of my life and I had looked like a hideous monster. It was quite amazing that Darien hadn't screamed and jumped out the window at the sight of me. That man has balls, I tell ya. I grinned at the peculiar remarks I was making. My brain didn't work quite well in the mornings, and it seemed to be one of those days where my brainage had been shorted out. Woo! Fantastic.
I looked through the medicine cabinet for some mouthwash. The idea of using someone else's toothbrush is quite appalling, thank you very much. For those of you that have this ridiculous idea that it is romantic to share a toothbrush, I assure you it is not. How romantic is it to be sharing the instrument that brushes germs and food scraps out of another's mouth? Not very.
I stepped out of the bathroom feeling as fresh as anyone who slept in their street clothes can be. The smell of eggs and bacon delightfully filled my senses. The classic American breakfast- it was good to be alive.
I sat on the stool facing the kitchen where Darien was cooking. It never occurred to me how sexy it would be for a man to cook a woman breakfast, especially on a fine morning such as this one. He set a cup of hot, steaming coffee in front of me, complete with tons of cream and sugar, just the way I liked it. Can this morning get any better?
I felt a grin growing on my face. I was full out smiling when Darien turned around in a great flourish with a plate of eggs and bacon. He paused in mid-turn and crooked his head to one side.
"What's so funny?" he asked. He began to smile as well. Apparently, smiles were contagious. I began to laugh out loud as a thought occurred to me. Oh! How the world would be if smiling was the new epidemic!
I broke out in bouts of laughter as Darien still stood there with a quirk of a smile and a confused look on his face. It was so deliriously funny to be sitting there, waiting to be served by a man who claimed he didn't know how to cook. For some reason, it was so absurdly hilarious that tears began rolling down my cheeks.
Darien settled the plate in front of me and rushed to my side.
"Serena, what's wrong?" he said with his face full of concern. And I felt angry, then. Felt angry at Margaret and all the women in this world who had dared to treat Darien like a toy that was meant to be used and discarded. Foolish women they were, for throwing away such a precious jewel.
The bombardment of so many emotions had me in tears. I found myself cuddled in Darien's lap, with him whispering soothing words that I couldn't understand. I was sobbing until my body ached, and for the life of me, I could not figure out why. The tears had come, at first, in happiness. But now they had receded to sadness. It was as if I was crying for all the times that Darien hadn't cried, for all the times that he had hurt but didn't scream.
Darien rocked me back and forth until my sobs subsided and I began to hiccup. That made me laugh again, and I felt a pain in my ribs. I had cried too much and laughed too little.
I looked up at Darien and saw myriads of expressions on his face. It surprised me that I could see him with all his feelings out, so raw. The foremost expression that I saw on his face was confusion and then concern. I lifted my hand up to touch his face and trailed my fingers along the smooth line of his jaw. Was he always this beautiful? Or was it my newfound feelings for him that made him more attractive? I didn't know, nor did I care. Beautiful in reality or not, he was beautiful to me.
It must've shown on my face, because Darien smiled at me warmly and I could see relief on his face. Relief from what?
I opened my mouth to speak but Darien shushed me with his finger, as if he knew what I was going to say, but didn't want me to say it because it might spoil the moment. Dimly, in the back of my mind, I supposed that it would. For some reason, I had felt his pain and shed his tears. I did not want to know why he felt relieved. One emotional blast was enough for one day.
I got out of Darien's lap and he got up and offered me a hand. In another time, another place, I would've refused his hand. But the look on his face told me that if I didn't depend on him, just this once, he would run back to his dark closet and shut the door on me forever.
I gave him my hand and he lifted me up in one swift movement. I smiled crookedly and said, "My, my. Been lifting weights lately?"
Darien grinned. "Maybe. And what of it?"
I shook my head. "Nothing, nothing." I eyed the plate full of food that was beginning to cool and felt my stomach grumble again. Darien laughed and I looked to see sparkles in his eyes. Amazing. His smiles now made my knees weak.
"Eat your food before it gets cold," he said, "I'm sure your stomach would agree with me." He led me to my stool and walked into the kitchen where another plate was waiting.
"Seconds, maybe?"
"No, you pig," he grinned, "These are for me! Besides, you haven't tried it out yet. You might not like it."
I took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet aroma. "What smells good must taste good!" I declared. I laughed quietly and began to dig in.
The room was silent, except for the sounds of clattering utensils and the humming of the air conditioner. Normally, I would enjoy the silence. But then I remember something.
"Hey! What was I doing asleep in your bedroom?"
Darien chuckled to himself in a manner that could only be perceived as male. It was one of those deep throated laughs they did when they were thinking about less than pure thoughts.
I began to blush a little. "Answer me!"
Darien laughed even louder, at my expense no doubt. "You make it sound like it was my fault."
I crossed my arms and frowned. "Well it probably was." I glared at him, "What did you do?"
Darien raised his hands in defense. "Hey! Don't blame this on me! You're the one that wouldn't let go!"
"What!"
"Yeah! You fell asleep during the movie and when it ended, I tried to wake you up, but you kept SNORING. So, being the super cool friend that I am, I brought you to my room where it would be more comfortable. I was even going to let you have the bed while I took the couch."
I snorted. "Yeah, right."
Darien held his hand up. "Wait, let me finish! So I carried you over to my bed, which is no easy feat I might add, but you wouldn't let go when I placed you on the bed."
"What! No I didn't!"
Darien smirked at me, "Yes you did." He rolled up his sleeve up to his shoulder and showed me scratch marks.
My cheeks turned several shades of red before it settled on a burning pink. I never knew I was so… feisty.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
Darien smiled smugly.
"So! What are you doing today?" I asked perkily, desperately trying to change the subject.
Darien took the hint and glanced at his watch. "In about an hour, I have to leave for work." He froze for a second. "Oh! Which reminds me-"
Darien looked to the side and started scratching his neck. He usually did that when he was nervous. Annoying habit it was. I've been trying to break it for years.
I leaned forward in anticipation when he still didn't say anything.
"What?" I asked, "It reminds you of what?"
"Um…" He darted his eyes back and forth and was still scratching his neck.
I batted his hand away from his poor neck and said, "What? Out with it!"
He mumbled something incomprehensible.
"Darien, please. Just say it before my back gets tired from leaning over."
"Then don't lean over," he said.
I glared at him and straightened my back. He took a deep breath and another, and another, until I grew impatient.
"You're wasting air." I stated. "Last time I checked, we were in need of it."
Darien glared at me and took another deep breath just for the hell of it. I rolled my eyes and he chuckled. He spread his fingers out flat on the table, another thing he did when he was about to say something important.
"There is a charity ball tonight. Would you like to come with me?" He said the words carefully, as if he had been planning it beforehand and wanted to make sure it came out right. I laughed inwardly at his antics. You would think that such a popular man would be more suave.
"My, my, aren't you a Prince Charming?" I snickered.
His eyes narrowed, offended that I had made fun of his pitiful attempt. "I'll have you know, I've never asked a girl out before," he blurted out. The second he realized what he admitted, he blushed in embarrassment.
I tried to contain my amusement, for I was drinking coffee, I really did. But before I knew it, I shot coffee out of my nose and dribbles of it were running down my chin.
"Haha! YOU never asked a girl out?" I asked him incredulously.
Darien looked down and if he was standing, he'd probably be digging the toes of his foot into the ground. "Shut up," he muttered.
I went into the kitchen to grab a towel and wiped the coffee away. "What about prom? You went with Little Miss Save the Penguins club president." I looked at him in astonishment. "Don't tell me she asked YOU out?!"
Darien nodded meekly.
I sat back down in shock. "I can't believe it! She was the shyest girl in school." I reached across the table and slapped him on the shoulder. "Way to go Darien! We all thought she was going to become a nun or something. Wait a minute." I paused. "I thought you didn't want to go."
"I didn't."
"So…?"
"Well, it looked like she was going to cry if I said no. And besides, she wasn't that horribly bad looking. She was rather attractive, if I do say so myself."
I nodded thoughtfully. "How could you tell behind that huge pair of glasses?"
"She was wearing contacts on prom night."
"But not when she asked you out."
"No."
I shook my head in disbelief. "You amaze me, Darien. Only you would do such a thing, to agree to go out with someone based on personality, not looks."
"Well… I don't know about personality."
"What! She was the nicest girl I have ever had the pleasure of meeting."
"It's not that. She was just… I guess… a little bit too excited about penguins."
"Oh. Well. I suppose she was. I mean, she did found the Save the Penguins club." I paused for a moment and pondered. "Though, I never heard of them needing to be saved."
"Oh they need saving, alright. Trust me on that one."
"Hm. Ok."
So we sat there for a while, in one of Darien's famous silence moods. And I finished every last bit of the fantastic breakfast that he made, all but licking off the plate's surface. Heh heh. Some things we must keep to ourselves, eh?
"When does this charity ball thing start?"
Darien looked up from his plate that he was studying intently for quite some time now. "9 o'clock."
"Good! I'll have time to shop then." I stood up and began clearing the table. I glanced at the watch that Lita had given me for Christmas. It was one of those SEIKO watches where you press a button and you can get the time, date, calculator, and other nifty things. It was fast, efficient, and best of all, cheap. Hurray for technology! It was good for something after all.
"You're going to be late if you don't get dressed now." I said while I picked up his plate and began washing it in the sink.
Darien stood up and put his arms around my shoulders. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and softly said, "Thank you."
I stood there like that for a while, frozen. I distantly remembered hearing Darien leave and saying something about picking me up at eight.
This was weird. Beyond weird. Darien and I are best friends. Best friends don't fall in love, do they?
I just stood there for a while, absently wiping the dishes dry. Am I in love with Darien? No, no. It's too soon.
But will I?
The thought was scary, yet comforting at the same time. There were so many reasons not to fall in love, especially with Darien. What if things went wrong? What if he didn't feel the same way?
But what if he did?
My heart warmed at the thought. Love was really irrational that way. It didn't give a damn about all the doubts that you filled inside your head. It sure as hell didn't care about logic or reason. It pushed its way through all the barriers like a solitary soldier that refused to be defeated. At least, not without a good fight.
I finally settled with an answer that I was willing to accept right now: all of these questions could only be answered through time. We'd just have to wait and see!
With that decision, I finished cleaning up the dishes and picked up the phone. I had a dress to shop for! I dialed the local high school's number and punched in Mina's extension. Mina Davenport was my good friend and shopping buddy. She was a physical health instructor at the neighborhood high school. I had no idea why she enjoyed teaching sports so much, but then again, she didn't understand why anyone in their right mind would write for a living.
I asked her if she had time to go shopping for a dress. When she asked what it was for, I told her and she all but screamed into the phone. She probably would have if it weren't for the fact that her colleagues would be more afraid of her than they already were. She tended to jump up and down and pound on things when she was too excited.
After thirty minutes of reassuring Mina that it was just a date, nothing more, I hung up. Her last class of the day ended around one o'clock. So we would go shopping at two.
I looked at my watch. I had four hours to go back to my apartment, shower, dress, and meet Mina at the mall. I picked my keys up from where I had left them yesterday on the coffee table and tried to smooth out my clothes. After two quick tries I gave up and locked the door behind me.
In about eleven hours, I would be dancing with my best friend in the whole wide world.
And I did not know how to dance.
---
hehe! I'm giggling! I'm giggling! I do not giggle. *coughs* Anyway! Thanks for reading! A little note about the penguins: I got the idea from my editor and friend, kari. Her story "Unlikely Friends" makes mention of that. Wee! Penguins are just the cutest things! *eh hem* yes.
If I could, I would draw Pac man here and have arrows that point to it saying.. feed me! FEED ME with FEEDBACK!
Ahaha! These get cornier and cornier with every chapter.
Tennyo012@yahoo.com
Stay tuned!
-+Tennyo
A scent that seemed vaguely familiar trickled into my nose and caused me to stir from a dreamless sleep. It smelled faintly of the summer rain that would come to relieve the summer's scorching heat. It was rather refreshing, really.
I felt fingers gently pushing my hair away from my eyes and I felt oddly relaxed and calm. I slowly opened my eyes to see Darien looking at me. His midnight blue eyes held a tenderness that I rarely got a chance to see. I was moved to know that I was the recipient of it. A kind of peace settled over me, a sensation which I had never felt so strongly before until this day. It was the sort of feeling I got when my mother would tuck me into bed, like the whole world was at peace and nothing short of a nuclear bomb could disturb it, yet not quite.
It was a different kind of peace, like an empty closet that had been long forgotten was being meticulously opened. There were no locks on the door, nor did it creak when it unfastened.
"Awake now?" Darien asked softly.
Beams of light from the morning sun shined through the cracks of the blue-tinted shades. It illuminated the room with the kind of brightness that you can only experience at the peak of dawn. That was when I saw Darien in a different light. A new perspective that I hadn't thought of before slowly seeped into my mind. I wondered, then, how long had I been feeling this? It felt strange, yet comforting.
"Mmm," I muttered. I pulled the sheets up so that it reached the bottom of my nose. Morning breath can be a real stinker. My stomach grumbled quite audibly and I blushed in embarrassment. Gosh darn, I really needed to do something about that. It seems I could sleep for days without food, but the second I woke up, my body craved it.
Darien smiled in amusement and got up. "Rise and shine! Today is the beginning of a new day!" He turned around as he was walking towards the door and grinned. "I'll go make some breakfast for you, you pig."
Smart man that he was, he closed the door before the pillow struck him. That bastard, I thought mischievously, I'll get him back for that little remark.
I slid out of bed and groggily stood up. I stood on my toes and lifted my arms above my head and stretched. I heard a few bones crack and made a note to myself to have a full stretching session later on. I opened the bedroom door and trudged into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror, rather, the creature that was reflecting in the mirror. My hair was in complete disarray and there was a white trail where my saliva had slid down.
Great, just great, I thought sardonically. One of the most romantic moments of my life and I had looked like a hideous monster. It was quite amazing that Darien hadn't screamed and jumped out the window at the sight of me. That man has balls, I tell ya. I grinned at the peculiar remarks I was making. My brain didn't work quite well in the mornings, and it seemed to be one of those days where my brainage had been shorted out. Woo! Fantastic.
I looked through the medicine cabinet for some mouthwash. The idea of using someone else's toothbrush is quite appalling, thank you very much. For those of you that have this ridiculous idea that it is romantic to share a toothbrush, I assure you it is not. How romantic is it to be sharing the instrument that brushes germs and food scraps out of another's mouth? Not very.
I stepped out of the bathroom feeling as fresh as anyone who slept in their street clothes can be. The smell of eggs and bacon delightfully filled my senses. The classic American breakfast- it was good to be alive.
I sat on the stool facing the kitchen where Darien was cooking. It never occurred to me how sexy it would be for a man to cook a woman breakfast, especially on a fine morning such as this one. He set a cup of hot, steaming coffee in front of me, complete with tons of cream and sugar, just the way I liked it. Can this morning get any better?
I felt a grin growing on my face. I was full out smiling when Darien turned around in a great flourish with a plate of eggs and bacon. He paused in mid-turn and crooked his head to one side.
"What's so funny?" he asked. He began to smile as well. Apparently, smiles were contagious. I began to laugh out loud as a thought occurred to me. Oh! How the world would be if smiling was the new epidemic!
I broke out in bouts of laughter as Darien still stood there with a quirk of a smile and a confused look on his face. It was so deliriously funny to be sitting there, waiting to be served by a man who claimed he didn't know how to cook. For some reason, it was so absurdly hilarious that tears began rolling down my cheeks.
Darien settled the plate in front of me and rushed to my side.
"Serena, what's wrong?" he said with his face full of concern. And I felt angry, then. Felt angry at Margaret and all the women in this world who had dared to treat Darien like a toy that was meant to be used and discarded. Foolish women they were, for throwing away such a precious jewel.
The bombardment of so many emotions had me in tears. I found myself cuddled in Darien's lap, with him whispering soothing words that I couldn't understand. I was sobbing until my body ached, and for the life of me, I could not figure out why. The tears had come, at first, in happiness. But now they had receded to sadness. It was as if I was crying for all the times that Darien hadn't cried, for all the times that he had hurt but didn't scream.
Darien rocked me back and forth until my sobs subsided and I began to hiccup. That made me laugh again, and I felt a pain in my ribs. I had cried too much and laughed too little.
I looked up at Darien and saw myriads of expressions on his face. It surprised me that I could see him with all his feelings out, so raw. The foremost expression that I saw on his face was confusion and then concern. I lifted my hand up to touch his face and trailed my fingers along the smooth line of his jaw. Was he always this beautiful? Or was it my newfound feelings for him that made him more attractive? I didn't know, nor did I care. Beautiful in reality or not, he was beautiful to me.
It must've shown on my face, because Darien smiled at me warmly and I could see relief on his face. Relief from what?
I opened my mouth to speak but Darien shushed me with his finger, as if he knew what I was going to say, but didn't want me to say it because it might spoil the moment. Dimly, in the back of my mind, I supposed that it would. For some reason, I had felt his pain and shed his tears. I did not want to know why he felt relieved. One emotional blast was enough for one day.
I got out of Darien's lap and he got up and offered me a hand. In another time, another place, I would've refused his hand. But the look on his face told me that if I didn't depend on him, just this once, he would run back to his dark closet and shut the door on me forever.
I gave him my hand and he lifted me up in one swift movement. I smiled crookedly and said, "My, my. Been lifting weights lately?"
Darien grinned. "Maybe. And what of it?"
I shook my head. "Nothing, nothing." I eyed the plate full of food that was beginning to cool and felt my stomach grumble again. Darien laughed and I looked to see sparkles in his eyes. Amazing. His smiles now made my knees weak.
"Eat your food before it gets cold," he said, "I'm sure your stomach would agree with me." He led me to my stool and walked into the kitchen where another plate was waiting.
"Seconds, maybe?"
"No, you pig," he grinned, "These are for me! Besides, you haven't tried it out yet. You might not like it."
I took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet aroma. "What smells good must taste good!" I declared. I laughed quietly and began to dig in.
The room was silent, except for the sounds of clattering utensils and the humming of the air conditioner. Normally, I would enjoy the silence. But then I remember something.
"Hey! What was I doing asleep in your bedroom?"
Darien chuckled to himself in a manner that could only be perceived as male. It was one of those deep throated laughs they did when they were thinking about less than pure thoughts.
I began to blush a little. "Answer me!"
Darien laughed even louder, at my expense no doubt. "You make it sound like it was my fault."
I crossed my arms and frowned. "Well it probably was." I glared at him, "What did you do?"
Darien raised his hands in defense. "Hey! Don't blame this on me! You're the one that wouldn't let go!"
"What!"
"Yeah! You fell asleep during the movie and when it ended, I tried to wake you up, but you kept SNORING. So, being the super cool friend that I am, I brought you to my room where it would be more comfortable. I was even going to let you have the bed while I took the couch."
I snorted. "Yeah, right."
Darien held his hand up. "Wait, let me finish! So I carried you over to my bed, which is no easy feat I might add, but you wouldn't let go when I placed you on the bed."
"What! No I didn't!"
Darien smirked at me, "Yes you did." He rolled up his sleeve up to his shoulder and showed me scratch marks.
My cheeks turned several shades of red before it settled on a burning pink. I never knew I was so… feisty.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
Darien smiled smugly.
"So! What are you doing today?" I asked perkily, desperately trying to change the subject.
Darien took the hint and glanced at his watch. "In about an hour, I have to leave for work." He froze for a second. "Oh! Which reminds me-"
Darien looked to the side and started scratching his neck. He usually did that when he was nervous. Annoying habit it was. I've been trying to break it for years.
I leaned forward in anticipation when he still didn't say anything.
"What?" I asked, "It reminds you of what?"
"Um…" He darted his eyes back and forth and was still scratching his neck.
I batted his hand away from his poor neck and said, "What? Out with it!"
He mumbled something incomprehensible.
"Darien, please. Just say it before my back gets tired from leaning over."
"Then don't lean over," he said.
I glared at him and straightened my back. He took a deep breath and another, and another, until I grew impatient.
"You're wasting air." I stated. "Last time I checked, we were in need of it."
Darien glared at me and took another deep breath just for the hell of it. I rolled my eyes and he chuckled. He spread his fingers out flat on the table, another thing he did when he was about to say something important.
"There is a charity ball tonight. Would you like to come with me?" He said the words carefully, as if he had been planning it beforehand and wanted to make sure it came out right. I laughed inwardly at his antics. You would think that such a popular man would be more suave.
"My, my, aren't you a Prince Charming?" I snickered.
His eyes narrowed, offended that I had made fun of his pitiful attempt. "I'll have you know, I've never asked a girl out before," he blurted out. The second he realized what he admitted, he blushed in embarrassment.
I tried to contain my amusement, for I was drinking coffee, I really did. But before I knew it, I shot coffee out of my nose and dribbles of it were running down my chin.
"Haha! YOU never asked a girl out?" I asked him incredulously.
Darien looked down and if he was standing, he'd probably be digging the toes of his foot into the ground. "Shut up," he muttered.
I went into the kitchen to grab a towel and wiped the coffee away. "What about prom? You went with Little Miss Save the Penguins club president." I looked at him in astonishment. "Don't tell me she asked YOU out?!"
Darien nodded meekly.
I sat back down in shock. "I can't believe it! She was the shyest girl in school." I reached across the table and slapped him on the shoulder. "Way to go Darien! We all thought she was going to become a nun or something. Wait a minute." I paused. "I thought you didn't want to go."
"I didn't."
"So…?"
"Well, it looked like she was going to cry if I said no. And besides, she wasn't that horribly bad looking. She was rather attractive, if I do say so myself."
I nodded thoughtfully. "How could you tell behind that huge pair of glasses?"
"She was wearing contacts on prom night."
"But not when she asked you out."
"No."
I shook my head in disbelief. "You amaze me, Darien. Only you would do such a thing, to agree to go out with someone based on personality, not looks."
"Well… I don't know about personality."
"What! She was the nicest girl I have ever had the pleasure of meeting."
"It's not that. She was just… I guess… a little bit too excited about penguins."
"Oh. Well. I suppose she was. I mean, she did found the Save the Penguins club." I paused for a moment and pondered. "Though, I never heard of them needing to be saved."
"Oh they need saving, alright. Trust me on that one."
"Hm. Ok."
So we sat there for a while, in one of Darien's famous silence moods. And I finished every last bit of the fantastic breakfast that he made, all but licking off the plate's surface. Heh heh. Some things we must keep to ourselves, eh?
"When does this charity ball thing start?"
Darien looked up from his plate that he was studying intently for quite some time now. "9 o'clock."
"Good! I'll have time to shop then." I stood up and began clearing the table. I glanced at the watch that Lita had given me for Christmas. It was one of those SEIKO watches where you press a button and you can get the time, date, calculator, and other nifty things. It was fast, efficient, and best of all, cheap. Hurray for technology! It was good for something after all.
"You're going to be late if you don't get dressed now." I said while I picked up his plate and began washing it in the sink.
Darien stood up and put his arms around my shoulders. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and softly said, "Thank you."
I stood there like that for a while, frozen. I distantly remembered hearing Darien leave and saying something about picking me up at eight.
This was weird. Beyond weird. Darien and I are best friends. Best friends don't fall in love, do they?
I just stood there for a while, absently wiping the dishes dry. Am I in love with Darien? No, no. It's too soon.
But will I?
The thought was scary, yet comforting at the same time. There were so many reasons not to fall in love, especially with Darien. What if things went wrong? What if he didn't feel the same way?
But what if he did?
My heart warmed at the thought. Love was really irrational that way. It didn't give a damn about all the doubts that you filled inside your head. It sure as hell didn't care about logic or reason. It pushed its way through all the barriers like a solitary soldier that refused to be defeated. At least, not without a good fight.
I finally settled with an answer that I was willing to accept right now: all of these questions could only be answered through time. We'd just have to wait and see!
With that decision, I finished cleaning up the dishes and picked up the phone. I had a dress to shop for! I dialed the local high school's number and punched in Mina's extension. Mina Davenport was my good friend and shopping buddy. She was a physical health instructor at the neighborhood high school. I had no idea why she enjoyed teaching sports so much, but then again, she didn't understand why anyone in their right mind would write for a living.
I asked her if she had time to go shopping for a dress. When she asked what it was for, I told her and she all but screamed into the phone. She probably would have if it weren't for the fact that her colleagues would be more afraid of her than they already were. She tended to jump up and down and pound on things when she was too excited.
After thirty minutes of reassuring Mina that it was just a date, nothing more, I hung up. Her last class of the day ended around one o'clock. So we would go shopping at two.
I looked at my watch. I had four hours to go back to my apartment, shower, dress, and meet Mina at the mall. I picked my keys up from where I had left them yesterday on the coffee table and tried to smooth out my clothes. After two quick tries I gave up and locked the door behind me.
In about eleven hours, I would be dancing with my best friend in the whole wide world.
And I did not know how to dance.
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hehe! I'm giggling! I'm giggling! I do not giggle. *coughs* Anyway! Thanks for reading! A little note about the penguins: I got the idea from my editor and friend, kari. Her story "Unlikely Friends" makes mention of that. Wee! Penguins are just the cutest things! *eh hem* yes.
If I could, I would draw Pac man here and have arrows that point to it saying.. feed me! FEED ME with FEEDBACK!
Ahaha! These get cornier and cornier with every chapter.
Tennyo012@yahoo.com
Stay tuned!
