The next day Serena stopped by her mailbox on her way home from school. On her way in she was flipping through various items. Bill,bill,magazine for her little brother, junk mail, junk, SERENA TSUKINO YOU HAVE JUST WON $10 MILLION! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS...(she chunked that one in the trash. A.N. Do those get on your nerves too?)

and finally her eyes rested on her letter. Yep. Said on the cover: Miss Serena Tsukino, then her address. She didn't even have to look at the return address. She recognized Darien's handwriting. She laid all of the other stuff on the coffee table in the living room. Holding her letter she sprinted upstairs to see what her best friend had written her.

February 23, 2001

My Little Bunny!

Hi Bunny! It's me again. It feels so good to finally be out on my own. Away from the orphanage, away from screaming kids, away from the disgusting food. Of course I can't cook too well either so I usually eat out.

Yes actually there is an arcade near where I live. It's just around the block. I go there a lot.

About that jerk. I don't know how anyone can be so mean to someone as sweet as you. I really hope that you can come see me sometime. I look forward to it. I work from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon. So come see me after you get out from school.

I have made a great friend! Don't feel jealous, he's nothing compared to you. He works at the arcade I live by. I'm still not sure whether it's the arcade you mentioned though. It's called Crown Arcade.

I guess I'll talk to you later Bunny!!

Love you!!

Darien

After Serena finished reading the letter she jumped up. CROWN ARCADE! That was the name of her arcade! Could he be talking about Andrew? They're about the same age...

In five minutes flat she was at the arcade. She had her letter in her pocket. She groaned when she saw who was there. MAMORU! EW! 'I hate him!' she thought to herself.

"Well if it isn't the Meatball Head" he said. She hoped he wouldn't notice she was there.

"Mamoru. I don't care how many rude remarks you make I am in a GREAT mood today!"

"Why? Did you almost pass a test?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "STUPID!"

"Yeah. I'm the stupid one. Thank you little Miss. Pigtails I graduated at the top of my class thank you very much. Unlike you...who is in danger of even passing... what grade are you in?"

"None of your buisness!" she yelled at him. He covered his ears and walked to a game. He put his money in and sat down. Serena shook her head at him.

She looked over at Andrew. "Hey Andrew!" she said.

"Yes Serena?"

"Uh...do you know a guy named Darien?"

"Darien?" he asked thinking hard. "Uh, no why?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Nobody named Darien?" she asked again hoping he would remember.

Mamoru was now standing behind her. "My na-" he began. She interrupted him and whirled around.

"Don't even start with me!" she screamed at him and walked out the door.

She took the letter out of her pocket. She had tears in her eyes. He was so mean to her! She looked at the address carefully and walked towards the 15 story building. According to the letter Darien lived at the top. In room number 1501. She stepped onto the elevator. She pushed the button marked 15. As it stopped on the fifteenth floor she looked out the window in the hallway. She sighed. She could see the ocean from here. It was so pretty. She walked to the door that had 1501 printed in bold black letters. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door. She stood there a bit and when no one answered she knocked again. After standing there for five minutes and knocking in intervals she stepped away from the door.

' I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. He isn't here, Mamoru is bothering me again, he thinks I'm stupid and doesn't hesitate to tell me, and when I think that I finally get to see my best friend after eight years, he isn't home. Her eyes started to tear up. She got on the elevator and rode down. Her spirits going down along with the elevator. By the time she got to floor number 8 they were falling. Fast. By the time she got to floor number 5 she was sobbing. When she finally reached the ground floor she nearly ran into someone tall with dark hair. She couldn't see because she had tears in her eyes with more flowing down her cheeks. When the man realized who he'd almost just collided with he asked, "Serena?" but she was gone. She had run sobbing from the elevator. He couldn't stop himself from being upset over the fact that she was upset. He didn't know why either. He was supposed to hate her! The fact that he knew this didn't stop his heart from breaking however.