Chapter Eleven

She don't like the things I say

But, oh, the games we play

She's too good for me

[Sting]

With some horror, Darien caught himself short of stepping on the girl sprawled on the path in front of him.

"Oh, man." He backed up, running one hand through his hair as she scrambled to her feet, her face bright red. "Sorry about that. I didn't even see you there."

She was too close, invading his personal space and flicking long dark hair back as she surreptitiously tried to brush the dirt marks off her skirt. Darien backed up another step, his concern fading into annoyance as the girl moved a little closer. He had a feeling he'd seen her somewhere before.

"Oh, no, it was all my fault," she said breathlessly.

"Yeah. I know." Darien cut her off abruptly, annoyance rising fast as he caught the girl's wide-eyed look of infatuation. With a cynical lift of his eyebrow, he strode past her.

"Hold on!" the girl called after him, her voice working up to good and mad. She swung around in front of him, forcing him to a stop, and Darien felt his expression stiffen into hauteur. He looked down at the dark-haired girl.

Now that he came to think about it, he had the feeling that she was one of the girls he'd vaguely noticed around Serena. What was her name?

"Raye," he finally said with a supreme effort of memory, his voice slightly chilly and dismissive. "I'm kind of in a hurry."

It didn't have quite the effect he was after, and he sighed faintly as her face lit up.

"Oh," Raye almost clapped her hands, gazing up at him. "You know my name. I thought you wouldn't remember. Are you coming back from a martial arts class?"

Darien made some vague response, his eyes shifting impatiently past the girl looking up at him hopefully, and caught a glimpse of gold pigtails. Across the road, Serena was staring at them with a ridiculous expression of indignant outrage.

Darien surreptitiously watched as Serena flattened herself against a wall and almost overbalanced as she leaned back around the corner, trying to see what he and Raye were doing. What on earth was the girl up to now?

"So, do you want to go get a milkshake with me?"

"I'm supposed to be meeting someone." Darien's voice was distracted and disinterested.

"We can do takeout?" Raye offered hopefully. Past her shoulder, across the road, Darien could still see a pair of bright blue eyes peering around the corner at them. They vanished as soon as she realised he'd seen her. So Miss Pigtails didn't like him talking to her friend, did she?

"Why not," he decided, and a wicked little smile twitched his lips. "Andrew can wait."

He let Raye slip a hand around his arm, let her hug it a little too possessively as they strolled down the street. Are you getting a good look at this, blondie? Darien casually glanced back over his shoulder, and there she was, pretending she was a lamppost. With sudden deliberation, Darien turned a corner, and Raye followed, startled.

Darien headed for a coffee shop near the university, trying to resist the urge to pull his arm free of Raye's close hold. He was a little startled when she leaned closer, resting her head for a moment on his shoulder as he opened the door of the coffee shop, and his glance slid to watch Serena. He caught the expression on her face before she ducked out of sight again, and he gave a snort of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Raye asked uncertainly, and Darien smothered his grin quickly.

"Nothing," he told her. "Really. It's nothing. Hey, what about that milkshake?" He drew her through the door before she could turn and see who was following them.

The waitress showed them to a booth, and as she slid the tall glasses of ice-cream and milk in front of them, Darien found himself distracted, watching for signs of familiar blonde pigtails through the window. As Raye talked at him, he thought he saw a flicker of gold, and leaned forward a little. That had to be her, sitting on the footpath under the window. Darien sat back in his chair, trying not to grin.

" ... Darien?"

"Hunh?" He looked up from the glass in front of him into Raye's hopeful dark eyes.

"So do you have a girlfriend?"

He shrugged. "No. Not right now."

"Yeah, right. Who's got time for a relationship? Not me," Raye giggled nervously.

Silence reigned.

"So," Darien said finally. "You hang out at the arcade quite a bit?"

"A bit, I guess."

"How long have you been friends with Serena?" he asked casually, and Raye looked up from her milkshake in surprise.

"Oh ... not long, I suppose, but it sometimes feels like forever," she added in exasperation. Darien stirred the ice-cream froth with his straw, saying nothing. "I mean," Raye continued, "she's a great friend, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her, but ... ooh, she can be so frustrating sometimes."

"Then why do you hang around with her?" Darien asked, not lifting his eyes from the straw. Raye said nothing for a moment and bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Because ..." She had a strange expression, as if she'd never considered it before. "She can be really irritating, and she's never on time for anything, and she's a wimp and an airhead, but ... well, she just loves you so hard, you have to love her back. And I know we fight a lot, but I do care about her. I do."

Darien looked at her curiously, and Raye turned red.

"This is probably really boring to you," she muttered apologetically. She jumped to her feet, and Darien stood more slowly. "I really need a walk after all that milkshake," she said brightly, and suddenly seemed a little more hesitant.

"Do you … Have you ever been to Fairview Park? They've got a lake, and you can rent boats …"

Oh, lord. Darien had avoided flirtation with a passion, but even he knew what this meant. Perhaps he'd gone a little bit too far, picking up Serena's friend to get Serena riled up, and he could see the warning signs in the way Raye was staring up at him and tripping over her words. Darien sighed. He didn't need some adolescent crush to deal with.

And just as his glance slid past her, trying to think of some excuse to be gone, he saw the golden pigtails at the next booth, bent over a milkshake that she seemed to be sharing with a tow-haired boy in thick glasses.

Where did the geek come from? Darien found himself thinking a little indignantly. Surely she didn't really have a date here all along?

She didn't look up as he and Raye moved past them, and Darien felt his expression tighten, leaving a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It sure looked as if Serena was enjoying her company.

"Boats on the lake. Sure. Sounds like fun," he said stonily, and didn't resist as Raye took his arm again.