Try me - Part 6
By Henra
HjMcgi@cryingmail.com
PG rated
Hello everyone!! :) I LOVED reading all of the emails! Thank you
and keep sending them!
Enjoy this part and email me afterwards!
**************
Darien took the juice out of the refrigerator, his eyes still
hurting a bit from being exposed to lights so suddenly. He set the
carton on the counter, and went to get a glass from the cabinets. He
sat down on the high stool, and started pouring juice into the glass.
A slight shuffle noise reached his ear, and he turned to see
Chad walking toward the refrigerator, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
Shaking his head, he asked, "Couldn't sleep?"
"Aaaaaah!" Chad let out a shriek, and with round and now
focused eyes, stared at Darien. "What the hell? You scared me half to
death, you freak!"
Darien rolled his eyes. "You're the one that didn't notice I
was sitting here."
"And I thought someone left the kitchen lights on." Chad took
out a plate with cookies out of the refrigerator, and peeled off the
plastic covering. "Boy, am I hungry." He started munching on one.
"Raye's gonna kill you, you know. She hates it when people eat
her cookies without telling her first," Darien remarked, taking another
sip of his juice.
"Yeah well, she gotta deal with it. Besides, I can't go wake
her up now and tell her I'm eating her cookies, right?" Chad flashed
Darien a grin, and grabbed another cookie from the plate.
Darien finished the rest of his drink with a large gulp. He
got up from the stool, and put the carton of juice back into the
refrigerator."Well, I'm going back to sleep now. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, sure--wait, man!" Chad suddenly exclaimed, stopping
Darien.
He glanced at Chad confusedly, and asked, "What?"
"Just out of curiosity, man…when are you gonna get together
with Serena?" Chad stopped eating now, and looked at Darien seriously,
his brows slightly knotted together.
That caught his attention. He turned fully around so he could
face Chad, and asked, trying to get a lighter tone to his voice, "What
made you suddenly think of that?"
Chad rolled his eyes, and pulled the plastic cover over the
plate, sticking it around the edge. "I just get this feeling that you
want her, and she wants you…but you two never do anything about it."
Darien let out a small chuckle. "And what makes you think I
want to change this game of ours?" Yet he felt his pulse quicken, just
at the thought of getting closer to Serena. He remembered their
conversation earlier this evening, and decided to keep it to himself
that he and Serena might've had taken their first step out of being
regular friends and into something more.
Because, of course, he could always be wrong.
"Just…don't be too stubborn, all right, man? She's here right
now, don't let her slip away. Once she does, you'll definitely regret
it." Chad stared at the cookies, and his fingers wiggled involuntarily.
"God, how does Raye make them so good? She probably learned the
technique from Lita." Unable to help himself, he unwrapped the covering
again, and took out another one.
Darien lingered there for a few more seconds, thinking about
Chad's words. Watching his friend eating one cookie after another, he
couldn't help but comment with a half grin, "Raye is going to have a
heart attack tomorrow, you know, once she sees this."
"Why's that?"
The soft female voice startled them both. Darien saw her first,
and as surprised as he was when he saw Chad, he wasn't surprised to see
Serena awake at this time of the hour. After all, she had before. He
half-smiled at her, and motioned for her to come closer. "I guess none
of us could get some decent sleep without a snack."
"I didn't come here for a snack, okay? I just woke up, and
wanted a glass of water. Then I saw the kitchen lights on, and so I came
here to see what was going on," Serena answered, dragging her feet
across the floor. She took out a glass from the cabinets and inserted
it under the tap water faucet, letting drops of water fall into it. She
drank it thirstily, emptying the glass with large gulps. "Aah…" She
smiled softly, and put the glass under the faucet for more.
"Want a cookie, anyway?" Chad asked, holding up a chocolate
cookie and waving it in the air.
Serena's eyes landed on the near-empty plate that was set in
front of Chad, and she almost choked on the water. "Oh my god! How the
hell could you finish those cookies without Raye? When she finds this
tomorrow morning, she's going to kill you, I swear." She pretended to
be as serious as she could manage.
Darien grinned. "See what I told you?"
Serena turned away from his perfect teeth and twinkling eyes,
and forced her eyes to look at the glass of water in her hands. She
leaned against the sink, wondering if she should leave or not.
Chad gazed at the cookies in front of him, and suddenly felt
guilty. "You're right. I did eat a lot. There's only…four left. I can't
believe I was so hungry."
"What are you people doing up also?"
Chad yelped when he heard the voice. "Raye!"
Raye came into the light with an amused glint in her eyes.
"All three of you couldn't sleep too? Geez, some night this is. Is
everybody hungry or what?"
Darien looked at Serena. Serena looked at Chad. Chad looked at
Raye. Raye looked back at him, then her gaze slipped down, until it
caught the sight of the plate containing exactly four cookies. Her eyes
popped out, and her jaw dropped. "WHAT THE HELL?"
Not able to contain themselves any longer, Serena and Darien
burst out laughing. Chad bit his lip from smiling also, knowing that if
he did, it would be the death of him. "Raye…I can explain."
"And you better give a damn good explanation, too! Four left!
Out of all those!!" Raye's eyes were flashing, her cheeks tinted with
red, her hands clutched into fists by her sides.
"Okay, Raye…come on, it's the middle of the night…and
coincidentally," Serena half smiled, "we are all awake, and in the
kitchen. This is pretty cool, wouldn't you say? You can always bake
those cookies again."
"Yeah, and I'll help," Chad offered, making a silly grin on
his face.
"We'll ALL help," Darien said, smiling also, looking closely at
Raye.
A small smile slowly bloomed on her face. She looked at the
three people standing before her, all in their pajamas, and laughed out
loud. "God…why are we ALL awake now, anyway?"
They glanced at each other, amused smiles forming on all their
faces.
"Well…does anyone want to go back to sleep now?" Serena asked,
though deep in her heart she hoped that no one would. It was rather
nice…all her roommates in one room together, IN their pajamas…it felt
comfortable and cozy.
"Tomorrow's Sunday…so we can sleep all we want…" Chad said,
his smile widening with each word.
"And what, may I ask, are we going to do right now?" Darien
asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"How about we start those cookies?" Raye offered brightly, her
eyes lit up with delight.
Serena laughed. "Now? Are you actually serious? It's like
three o'clock in the morning!"
"Yeah, and that's what makes it so different! I have the
ingredients…and we can all start on something. Probably four different
bowls…or if you guys want, different flavors, too!"
Serena could tell Raye was getting excited over the idea. She
looked at Darien, and raised her eyebrows questioningly. He shrugged
back at her. She glanced over at Chad, who was smiling at Raye, and
rolled her eyes. "All right, then…I guess we'll do that."
"But first, let me make some coffee," Darien said, walking
over to the coffeemaker.
Raye got out four big bowls from the cabinet, and stacked them
on the counter next to the sink. She put her hands on her hips and
surveyed the other three people in the room. "Let's get started."
Chad immediately focused on her, and Darien started the coffee
maker. Raye began to walk around, and explained the directions
carefully, emphasizing on the main parts. In just a short while, the
rich smell of coffee filled the kitchen air, and Darien took a place
next to Serena as they started working.
Serena looked up from her bowl a few minutes later, and
glanced around her in a soft smile, slowly melting into this comfort.
She had never felt closer to her roommates.
Serena's eyes fluttered, and slowly opened as she became more
awake. She lifted up her head from the armrest of the sofa, and looked
around. She almost laughed.
Everyone was dead asleep.
Raye and Chad were on the floor by the other end of the sofa.
Raye's head was on Chad's shoulder, her hair a complete mess, and was
breathing heavily. Chad was leaning against the leg of the sofa, his
mouth partly open, and Serena could hear a light snore coming from him.
There were cookie crumbs around his hand, and a paper plate containing
one chocolate chip cookie. Serena shook her head, and slowly got up
from where she was stretched out on the sofa. Her legs felt as if she
hadn't used them in years. "That's what you get for not sleeping in a
bed…" she muttered under her breath.
A small shifting sound made her turn to look toward Darien's
room. The door was open, and she took a step closer to look inside.
Darien was lying on his stomach on his bed; his face turned sideways,
slowly breathing in and out. She couldn't help but smile at the sight
of his almost-angelic face. His wrinkled clothes automatically had her
looking down at her own clothes. She made a face, and hurried upstairs.
Raye stirred in her sleep. She felt something on her shoulder,
and opened her eyes. Her eyes first shifted to her shoulder, where she
found a familiar-looking hand hanging down from it. Chad. Her heart
skipped a beat, and she lifted her head. She immediately felt a light
head rush, and closed her eyes briefly.
She sat up, and realized where she was. She smiled, and
glanced at the paper plate next to Chad's hand--one cookie left. She
hesitated, then shrugged, and reached over to take it.
"Raye, put that cookie down!"
Startled, Raye almost did drop the cookie. She looked toward
where the voice was from, and when she saw Serena, she rolled her eyes
and laughed. "It's the last one. I get to eat it."
Serena stood there with a blue sundress on. Her hair was
clipped up, the ends nicely sticking out from behind her head. "You
haven't even brushed your teeth yet…how can you stand your bad breath?"
she teased.
Raye pushed the cookie into her mouth, and flashed Serena a
triumphant smile. "I don't care, so why should you?"
Serena shook her head and walked in the kitchen.
Raye swallowed the cookie, looked at Chad, who was still sound
asleep, and sighed heavily. She got up from the floor, and stretched.
She took a look at the clock hanging on the wall space above Darien's
bedroom door, and her gaze slipped inside. She smiled at her cousin,
then climbed the stairs to the second floor.
"I think I'm sick," Chad moaned as he clutched his stomach,
turning to lie on his side on the sofa.
"Let's just hope you get better before tomorrow," Serena said
to him, a cinnamon roll in her hand. She took another bite, and chewed,
while her other hand watched the constantly changing TV screen.
"Yeah. We're going to be sophomores in college now, you know
that?" Raye exclaimed excitedly, trying to put her hair up into a
ponytail.
"Well, I finally get to be a senior, I'm graduating soon."
Darien flashed a toothpaste smile just for Raye, and his eyes went back
to the TV screen again. He held up the remote control and flipped
through the channels impatiently. He was positioned on the floor, his
head next to Chad's hanging head from the sofa.
"This year is going to be different--I have a boyfriend
starting it with me." Raye smiled warmly at Chad, but her face changed
immediately when she took serious notice of how he looked. "Chad…are
you sure you're okay?"
"I just said I'm sick!" Chad nearly shouted, and closed his
eyes.
"We ate too much sugar last night. It was my fault…I'm so
sorry." Raye's eyes clouded over with concern as she went over to Chad,
giving up on her hair. "Move over," she said to Darien, although she
pushed him away without even waiting for a response.
Serena rolled her eyes. "It's really getting old watching you
two. I, for one, am not going to be hanging around here on the last day
before fall semester." She finished the rest of her roll, and licked
off the sugars on her fingertips delicately.
Darien turned to look at her. "Where do you plan to go?" His
eyes flashed brief interest.
"I don't really know. Probably just drive around and see if I
need some last minute materials." Serena went into the kitchen again,
in search of a napkin to wipe her mouth.
"I'll go with you."
Three pairs of eyes immediately focused on him.
Darien tried hard to stay nonchalant. "I mean, I have nothing
else to do anyway. I'll come along."
Serena wiped her mouth with a pink napkin. "Uh…do you have
anywhere specific you want to go?" She threw the wrinkled napkin away
into the wastebasket, and placed her hands on her hips.
He shrugged. "Not really. I just don't want to stay in this
house." He gave Raye and Chad, who were now back to talking to each
other in low voices, an exasperated look.
Serena smiled. "Sure. I'd like company. Get ready, I wanna get
going NOW."
"Are we done yet?" Darien asked as they walked out of another
jewelry store.
"Hey, don't complain. You're the one who asked me if you could
come along," Serena said as her eyes darted around, trying to decide
where to go next in the big shopping mall.
He sighed next to her. "That's because I wanted to get away in
case Raye and Chad decide to go all…mushy. But I didn't know that I was
going to become a carrier in service of Serena the Shopper." He
motioned to the bags he was carrying with his head.
She laughed, and then immediately gasped, pointing to a shoe
store across from where they were standing. "Let's go there! Come on!"
She linked her arm through his, and started to pull him toward it.
As he was walking, he suddenly thought of how he and Serena
acted like when she first moved in with them. He then glanced down at
the link that Serena made with their arms, and a lopsided smile formed
on his lips.
"All right, I have no one else here for opinions, so I'm
asking you." There was a blue shirt in her right hand, and a white one
in her left. She held them up for Darien to see, and widened her
eyes questioningly. "Which one?"
"Can't you just buy them both or something?" Darien asked,
not really looking at the shirts.
Serena rolled her eyes. "If I could, I would've done that
already! So, come on, tell me--which you do you think will look better
on me?" She focused her eyes on him, fully concentrating on what he was
going to say.
Darien felt a wave of discomfort washing over him. "Uh…I don't
know. I think they'll both look great. I've seen you in blue and white
shirts before. And you look nice in either one," he answered truthfully.
"Oh." Serena started to smile, then immediately straightened
up, and frowned slightly. "Well, you're not helping. I need to pick one.
I don't have enough money in my purse for two."
"Well…how about you buy one and I buy the other one?" Darien
offered, digging his hand into his pocket. He felt the crisp bills,
knowing that he had more than enough.
Serena looked at him, surprised. "That would be nice. Thanks.
I'll pay you back the minute we get back to our home." She felt her
heart skip a beat when she heard the words 'our home' out of her mouth.
It sounded so…cozy and warm.
He smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling as he did so.
"Actually…you don't have to pay me back. Just think of it as a…welcome
present. Welcome to our house. I never did give you one when you first
moved in."
She looked at him, her heart softening with each word he said.
"Chad didn't give me one, either…you don't need to." Her voice was
barely above a whisper.
"I want to. And besides, it's also a way of apologizing…for
all those things I've said to you that made you upset. I hope this new
semester will be a fresh one…for all of us."
"Yeah… Me too." She smiled tentatively at him, and suddenly
felt shy. She shook her head, a bit embarrassed, and forced herself
to be casual. "So, come on--let's go to the counter."
He followed after her, his steps matching hers as they made
their way across the store.
"Serena?" A male voice, surprised and happy, suddenly traveled
to their ears. "Is that you?"
Serena stopped, and wheeled around, regarding the guy who had
just spoke her name quizzically. Her eyes widened when she recognized
him. "No…"
The stranger stepped closer, and a smile began to form on his
handsome face. "Man…I never thought I would see you again. Ever."
Serena forced a smile onto her face, and walked toward him
also. "I know. Weird…isn't it?"
Darien didn't know what else to do but follow her. When she
stopped, he stopped, and looked back and forth between the two. He
cleared his throat softly.
Serena immediately glanced at Darien, and offered an
apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce. Daniel, this is
Darien, one of my roommates. Darien, this is…Daniel."
"Oh…Daniel. Nice to meet you." Darien grinned, and extended
his hand, recalling the letter that he had read of Serena's to Mina.
So this was the guy that he was supposed to be "more gorgeous" than.
He couldn't help but size up the guy.
Daniel Rowing took his hand and shook it. "Hey." His eyes
shifted over to Serena, then to Darien, and finally switched back and
forth between the two. "Are you…together?"
Serena laughed, shaking her head. "Of course not! Why would
you think that? We're just friends, in a mall together." She flashed
Darien a look, signaling him to agree with her.
He immediately nodded. "Yeah. Don't think too much of this,
uh, Daniel."
Daniel smiled, shrugging. "Hey, how was I supposed to know?"
He gazed at Serena again, his smile widening. "We haven't talked in
ages…it must be fate, you know--that we are meeting again."
"Yes…fate," Serena replied, a smile also spreading on her
face. She glanced around, "Uh…are you here alone?"
"No, my, my friend is over there--checking out some clothes."
He pointed to a slim girl with long brown hair who was surveying a
bunch of spaghetti strap shirts. She noticed him, and gave him a big
flirty smile.
Serena felt a wave of discomfort. She shifted in her place,
and noticed the clothes on her hands. "Uh…I gotta get this to the
counter. It was nice meeting you again, Daniel. I guess I'll see you
sometime later." She smiled again, and started to move her feet.
"Yeah, sure. I'll, uh--I'll call you!" Daniel called out as
Serena walked away.
Serena muttered something under her breath, and quickened
her pace. She stood in a line with three other people, and Darien
stood beside her, trying hard not to grin. She glanced at him, and
remarked in a exasperated voice, "What?"
"It's just that…you don't seem to like that brunette very
much." He motioned for her to move up one space after another person
was finished.
Serena stepped up, then turned to glare at him. "That's none
of your business."
"Here," He took out a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and
placed it in her palm. "For the shirt."
Serena looked down at it, and flashed him a smile. "Thanks."
"No problem. I said I would pay for it. I've got you a
welcome present now." He winked at her, grinning into her face.
She laughed, and then moved up one more spot after another
person was done.
"I do think you were right though," he said, a full smile on
his face as he watched her under his eyelids. He couldn't resist taking
a step closer to her.
She looked up at him, and a small knot formed between her
brows. "What? I was right about what?"
"I AM more gorgeous than him."
For a moment, no words came out of her mouth even though it
was parted open. Then, with a slight amount of force, she pushed him,
and rolled her eyes, looking annoyed. "Gee, you sure are modest."
He grinned. "Oh, come on, you gotta admit it--that guy doesn't
even have half of my looks."
Serena glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and couldn't
resist smiling, with his toothpaste grin flashing right in front of her.
"God, you're impossible, you know that?"
He shrugged, his eyes smiling into hers. "But that's why you
love me, right?" And he dashed away before she could say or do anything.
Serena stood there, with an exasperated expression plastered
on, and shook her head. She followed him with her eyes as he walked
through the double doors out of the store.
"Um, miss?"
Serena jerked her head toward the woman, who was looking at
her questioningly, and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." She placed the
shirtson the counter, and took out Darien's crisp bill as well as her
own purse.
"Told you I would call."
As soon as she heard the voice, Serena almost dropped the
banana she had in her hand. "Daniel." She sat down on the sofa, and
wetted her lips, wondering what in the world would he be calling her
for.
"How did you get my phone number?" She suddenly had the urge
to look out the window, just to see if he was out there somewhere. Then
she decided against it.
"I have my ways. Don't think you won't get my call just
because I don't know your new number."
"I'd like to have some kinda warning first."
There was a chuckle on the other end. "Isn't that a little too
harsh? So…are you doing anything tonight?"
She swallowed a slight lump in her throat. "Um…I don't really
know. Why?"
"Well tomorrow the semester is starting. I was figuring maybe
we could do something tonight to welcome it."
"I don't wanna welcome it. I want summer to last forever."
Serena suddenly thought of Darien, and how she wasn't going to see him
as often as she liked after the semester started. Without realizing it,
she let out a small sigh of disappointment.
"It's not that bad, is it? Come on, just let me take you
out--it'll be better by the end of tonight, I promise." His voice was
smooth and convincing, as if he couldn't be more sure of himself.
"Daniel, did you forget something?" She was baffled, at the
way he was acting toward her, when they had just broken up two months
ago. "We're not together anymore."
"I know. But we're still friends, aren't we? And friends go
out with each other all the time. Why is it so different for you?
Because I'm a guy and you're a girl and we dated once upon a time?"
She grew frustrated, and became annoyed at the way he was
acting. "That was not what I meant, and you damn know it."
There was a slight pause. Then, voice serious, he spoke, "You
don't have any plans, do you? If you don't, then why not just go out
with me? We can go to the movies, or a little restaurant, or whatever
you like…and talk. I miss talking to you. We used to able to talk to
each other about things all the time." His voice became lower and
lower, as if he was trying to hold back emotions.
Those last words softened her heart. Her gaze landed on the
small lamp by the sofa, and she bit her bottom lip. "All right, Daniel.
But it's just because I don't want us to become distant."
"Great. How about I pick you up around seven or so?"
"No!" She blurted out, and then quickly explained, "I mean--
I'd rather meet you there." 'It won't seem like a date then' was
what she wanted to add, but didn't.
"Fine with me. So where are we going, exactly?"
"Um…I don't know. How about that little pizza place down by
Main Street? Papa Joe's?"
"Sure. I always liked that place. I'll see you then, around
seven."
"Okay." She clicked off, and slumped down against the sofa.
What was going to happen now? Daniel…Daniel…the guy she hadn't
seen for months, just suddenly popped back into her life. And she had
agreed to go out with him.
As friends. As friends…she looked at her watch.
She glanced up, and saw Darien coming out of his room, a smile
on his face. She couldn't fight a smile back herself, so she asked,
"Good news?" She picked up the banana again, and started to peel off
the yellow skin.
"Not really. But…I finally finished something that I had been
working on for a long time," he answered. He grabbed Serena's hand--the
hand that was holding the banana, and pulled it toward him. In a matter
of seconds, he had lowered his head and taken the first bite on the
fruit.
"Hey!" Serena protested, staring at the bitten banana. She
punched him lightly on the shoulder, and then started to eat the fruit
herself. "Next time, don't do that," she told him before swallowing
the food in her mouth.
He purposely made a disgusted face. "Next time, YOU don't talk
with your mouth full."
"Wanna tell me what that something is?"
"What?" He looked at her, his eyebrows raised.
"That something you said you finished--the one you had been
working for a long time?"
"Oh!" He looked away, a half-smile on his face. "It's nothing.
I'll show you it some time later."
Serena looked at him, the banana forgotten in her hand. With that thought, she
started to smile.
He had turned his head back to her again. "What?"
She shook her head, pasting on an innocent look to her face.
"Nothing." She went back to finishing her banana.
He took a look at his watch, and exhaled. "I can't believe
there's nothing to do today. I even went SHOPPING with a girl…and
finished a POEM…"
"A poem?" Serena cut in, shocked beyond belief. In a flash,
she recalled the time when she had went into his room and read the
poems he had wrote in a spiral notebook. But that was…nearly a century
ago, it seemed like.
He grinned at her, rather sheepishly, and combed his hair
with his fingers. "Is it that surprising?"
She swallowed a gulp in her throat, and forced a smile on her
face. "Of course it is!" She remarked, hoping that her voice sounded
amazed. "I never knew a guy like you…"
"Could write. Yeah…I know." He looked at her, smiling. "Well,
now you know I do."
"Can I read them?" she asked, knowing that it was what he was
expecting her to say.
"Of course not."
She rolled her eyes. "Should've figured." But her heart was
pounding, afraid that he could somehow find out from her face that she
had read his poems before…without his permission.
He shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. "It's my personal life,
you know. And unless you're very close to me…you won't get to read it."
"Which can also be said as--I won't ever read it," Serena
remarked.
"What do you mean by that?" He stared at her, eyes intense.
"Nothing." She walked away from him, feeling as if she had
said too much. She grabbed a book that Raye had left on the coffee
table, and started to flip through it.
"You don't think we'll ever be close?" His voice traveled to
her ears, husky and questioning.
She put down the book with a sigh, and looked at him straight
in the eye. "The question is, will you ever LET us be close." She felt
her heart hammer against her chest just waiting for his reply.
He seemed to be taken back. His eyes were a swirl of
confusion and amazement as he started to walk slowly toward her. "What
do you mean I won't let us? It's not a question of LETTING."
"Okay, you know what…never mind, okay? Forget it. You were the
one who brought it up."
"All right, all right." He went closer to her. "Are you going
anywhere tonight?"
An image of Daniel flashed before her, and she smiled, nodding
her head, "Yeah, I am."
"Oh." A flicker of disappointment flashed across his face,
then it was quickly wiped away. "So what are you doing then?"
She decided to tell him the truth. She shrugged, deliberately
putting on a bored face. "Just out for pizza with Daniel."
"I thought you two already broke up."
"We did."
"So why are you still going out?"
"We're not."
A sigh of frustration was pulled out of him. "Wanna just tell
me everything straight out, or do I need to ask you one by one?"
She couldn't resist a smile. "What I meant was, we did break
up, but we're not GOING out, we're just HANGING out, as normal
friends." She glanced at the clock. "Besides, I don't want him and I
to not talk to each other just because we were boyfriend and girlfriend
once."
"Man, you are just like Lita. Have you SEEN her and Ken? They
are still talking to each other as if they never broke up. And you
too--saying that you want to be friends with him despite everything."
He shook his head, and started to walk around.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, and cocked an
eyebrow, tilting her head to one side. "So what am I supposed to do
then?"
"I don't know. All I'm saying is, when you break up with
someone, you literally BREAK UP. You don't leave any connections. That
way, both of you can move on nicely, without something, or someone
else pulling on his or her leg."
Serena shook her head, and looked at Darien in a different
way. "I can't believe you can be so cold."
"It's not called cold. It's what you do. So what, when two
people supposedly break up, they actually aren't? If they are still
going out with each other and having fun just like when they did
BEFORE they broke up, then what's the difference of 'being together'
and 'not being together'?" He crossed his arms also, and put his
left leg in front of his right, the feet with its toes pointed at the
ground.
"I don't know. I guess people think differently." She said
the last words softly, more to herself than to him.
"I guess we do." He didn't say anything else after that, and
just looked at her with an unreadable face.
A door opening sound startled them both.
"Hey guys! Look what I got!" Raye held up the bags she held
in her hands, and beamed at the two people in the room. One look at
their faces and she frowned. "What's up?"
"Nothing." Serena immediately replied. She glanced at the
clock, and started to go up the stairs. "I still need to get ready for
the thing with Daniel tonight."
Raye followed Serena with her eyes briefly, and then shot a
quizzical glance at Darien.
His face suddenly changed, as if he just thought of something.
He lifted his head and asked with a loud voice so she could hear, "If
it isn't a date, then why do you care how you look like?"
Serena immediately stopped. She leaned against the rail,
and looked down at him. "I'm still going outside…and I want to look
nice." Her gaze stayed on his face a second longer, then she turned
and walked into her room.
He turned, to find two questioning faces staring right at him.
"Did we miss something?"
He shook his head, stuffing his hands in his shorts pockets
as he strolled toward his room. "Not anything important."
"…Serena?"
Serena's head snapped to Daniel, and after seeing his baffled
face, offered an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Daniel looked at her, and shook his head, a half-smile on his
lips. "You don't seem to enjoy this date very much."
"No, I am, it's just--" Serena stopped midsentence. She gave
Daniel a disapproving look, remarking, "I thought I made it clear that
this wasn't a date."
A grin broke out on his face. "Ha. Gotcha, didn't I? I was
just checking to see if you were really paying attention to me."
She sighed, unable to resist a smile. "All right, I'm sorry.
I was just…thinking of something." She stared down at the pepperonis and cheese on her slice of
pizza, trying hard to forget about him and concentrate on Daniel. After
all, she WAS out with Daniel, date or no date.
He smiled back at her, leaning closer to her across the small
booth. "Are you done thinking of that yet?"
"Yeah." Somehow, his smoky gray eyes didn't make her melt
like they did before. Sure, they were still captivating, but…she didn't
feel as if she wanted those eyes to look at her forever. Instead…she
felt herself wishing that another pair of eyes were…blue eyes…midnight
blue eyes…
She stopped herself in time. She blinked, realizing what she
was really thinking of. Somewhere in her brain, a little voice was
telling her to pay attention to Daniel, the young man that was sitting
across from her, who was talking to her right then. Yet, she couldn't
bring herself to concentrate on him--for all over her mind, there was
images of another person…a person who she suddenly realized she should
be with at that moment.
"You're not listening to me again."
This time, his voice didn't sound teasing at all. It had a
tone of almost…annoyance. She looked at him, and then watched as he
slowly cleared his face, trying to make it seem as if he was just fine.
She sat there, on the leather seat, and realized in surprise that the
fact he was annoyed with her, did not bother her…at all; when it used
to be that she would go into an instant panic mode and feel the most
embarrassed.
"Serena."
She focused on him, on the guy that she was with this very
minute, and parted her mouth, trying to say something. But for a whole
minute, nothing came out. After taking a deep breath, she finally told
him, "I'm…sorry, Daniel. I shouldn't be here with you. I shouldn't be
anywhere with you." She stood up suddenly, almost banging her thigh
against the table. "I-I need to go. I'm sorry…I can't." She looked at
him one last time, and then hurried to the door.
"Serena! Come back!" Daniel called after her, standing up
also. He didn't want to make a scene, and so he stood in his place.
He felt as if he had just failed.
And as he watched her out the door and into the streets, he
knew who had just won.
Serena walked down the street, her heart pounding crazily,
her palms sweating.
She didn't know what she was doing, didn't know what she was
going to do when she got there; she just knew she had to do this.
It was the last day of summer, tomorrow was the first day of
classes. She couldn't let the day slip by without telling what she had
been feeling all this summer. She didn't know why she had never
realized it--maybe she never let herself admit it, maybe she just needed
this "date" with Daniel to actually find it out.
No matter what caused her to finally know this, she was
thankful that she did recognize it. For once, she wanted to be bold,
to say exactly how she felt, because…
She saw the house. The two-stories house that she had been
living in most of this summer. She slowed down her pace, taking deep
breaths to calm her, and also her heart down.
She wetted her lips, trying to decide what to say, but her
mind was such a huge mess she couldn't think clearly. She suddenly
wondered…what if he wasn't home? What would she do then?
No. He couldn't not be home. He had to feel this, too…he had
to know. He had to be home. But…if he wasn't…Serena saddened, then it
would be fate. Then it would mean she wasn't supposed to tell him, that
they weren't meant to be…
She was getting closer and closer. She crossed her fingers,
inhaling and exhaling in deep breaths one last time.
Her eyes adjusted in the dark night, and landed on the front
porch of the house, then right at the door. Where she was about to go
into in just a few seconds.
Then, she stopped.
She stopped so suddenly her heels made a short scratching
sound against the pavement.
He was already there. He was sitting on the ground…against
the front door.
Somehow, this seemed amazingly familiar.
She couldn't see, for the fact that there wasn't any light
shining against his face, but she knew without thinking about it, that
he had seen her also.
She was proven right, because he stood up. She felt his eyes
on her face, and her heart thumped once again. She walked closer to
him, gradually and carefully, step by step.
She could almost feel the words on her tongue. They just
needed to be spoken aloud.
_____________________________________________________________
Aaah! Heh…does that count as a cliffhanger? ^.~ Ah well. I'm still
gonna leave it at that part. You would not believe how many times I've
switched from one idea to another on this part. Finally, with one last
inspiration, I decided to write (and end) the story this way.
So how about it? You do know who the "he", of the last scene of this
part is, right? I didn't write his name, but I think most of you
already know. Otherwise…I think I'll be too sad. And what about that
"deja vu" feeling? Heh.
Do you remember Daniel? Ha. Didn't think I would put him in the story
again, did you? Of course I had to, otherwise why would I even mention
him at all at the first parts of the story? (I think the exact section
is part two. Wow…so long ago.) =D
All right, enough talking. I'll leave more notes after the last part
is completed. Now, it's your turn! Email me!! I need emails to
continue to finish! Yes, I do admit that I want to finish this pretty
badly, but if there are no emails, I wouldn't have anything to make me
keep going! So send those emails in! I wanna know what you think of
this part! I did work pretty hard on it, you know. =)
=Henra.
http://www6.brinkster.com/moonieround
Go visit my website!!!
By Henra
HjMcgi@cryingmail.com
PG rated
Hello everyone!! :) I LOVED reading all of the emails! Thank you
and keep sending them!
Enjoy this part and email me afterwards!
**************
Darien took the juice out of the refrigerator, his eyes still
hurting a bit from being exposed to lights so suddenly. He set the
carton on the counter, and went to get a glass from the cabinets. He
sat down on the high stool, and started pouring juice into the glass.
A slight shuffle noise reached his ear, and he turned to see
Chad walking toward the refrigerator, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
Shaking his head, he asked, "Couldn't sleep?"
"Aaaaaah!" Chad let out a shriek, and with round and now
focused eyes, stared at Darien. "What the hell? You scared me half to
death, you freak!"
Darien rolled his eyes. "You're the one that didn't notice I
was sitting here."
"And I thought someone left the kitchen lights on." Chad took
out a plate with cookies out of the refrigerator, and peeled off the
plastic covering. "Boy, am I hungry." He started munching on one.
"Raye's gonna kill you, you know. She hates it when people eat
her cookies without telling her first," Darien remarked, taking another
sip of his juice.
"Yeah well, she gotta deal with it. Besides, I can't go wake
her up now and tell her I'm eating her cookies, right?" Chad flashed
Darien a grin, and grabbed another cookie from the plate.
Darien finished the rest of his drink with a large gulp. He
got up from the stool, and put the carton of juice back into the
refrigerator."Well, I'm going back to sleep now. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, sure--wait, man!" Chad suddenly exclaimed, stopping
Darien.
He glanced at Chad confusedly, and asked, "What?"
"Just out of curiosity, man…when are you gonna get together
with Serena?" Chad stopped eating now, and looked at Darien seriously,
his brows slightly knotted together.
That caught his attention. He turned fully around so he could
face Chad, and asked, trying to get a lighter tone to his voice, "What
made you suddenly think of that?"
Chad rolled his eyes, and pulled the plastic cover over the
plate, sticking it around the edge. "I just get this feeling that you
want her, and she wants you…but you two never do anything about it."
Darien let out a small chuckle. "And what makes you think I
want to change this game of ours?" Yet he felt his pulse quicken, just
at the thought of getting closer to Serena. He remembered their
conversation earlier this evening, and decided to keep it to himself
that he and Serena might've had taken their first step out of being
regular friends and into something more.
Because, of course, he could always be wrong.
"Just…don't be too stubborn, all right, man? She's here right
now, don't let her slip away. Once she does, you'll definitely regret
it." Chad stared at the cookies, and his fingers wiggled involuntarily.
"God, how does Raye make them so good? She probably learned the
technique from Lita." Unable to help himself, he unwrapped the covering
again, and took out another one.
Darien lingered there for a few more seconds, thinking about
Chad's words. Watching his friend eating one cookie after another, he
couldn't help but comment with a half grin, "Raye is going to have a
heart attack tomorrow, you know, once she sees this."
"Why's that?"
The soft female voice startled them both. Darien saw her first,
and as surprised as he was when he saw Chad, he wasn't surprised to see
Serena awake at this time of the hour. After all, she had before. He
half-smiled at her, and motioned for her to come closer. "I guess none
of us could get some decent sleep without a snack."
"I didn't come here for a snack, okay? I just woke up, and
wanted a glass of water. Then I saw the kitchen lights on, and so I came
here to see what was going on," Serena answered, dragging her feet
across the floor. She took out a glass from the cabinets and inserted
it under the tap water faucet, letting drops of water fall into it. She
drank it thirstily, emptying the glass with large gulps. "Aah…" She
smiled softly, and put the glass under the faucet for more.
"Want a cookie, anyway?" Chad asked, holding up a chocolate
cookie and waving it in the air.
Serena's eyes landed on the near-empty plate that was set in
front of Chad, and she almost choked on the water. "Oh my god! How the
hell could you finish those cookies without Raye? When she finds this
tomorrow morning, she's going to kill you, I swear." She pretended to
be as serious as she could manage.
Darien grinned. "See what I told you?"
Serena turned away from his perfect teeth and twinkling eyes,
and forced her eyes to look at the glass of water in her hands. She
leaned against the sink, wondering if she should leave or not.
Chad gazed at the cookies in front of him, and suddenly felt
guilty. "You're right. I did eat a lot. There's only…four left. I can't
believe I was so hungry."
"What are you people doing up also?"
Chad yelped when he heard the voice. "Raye!"
Raye came into the light with an amused glint in her eyes.
"All three of you couldn't sleep too? Geez, some night this is. Is
everybody hungry or what?"
Darien looked at Serena. Serena looked at Chad. Chad looked at
Raye. Raye looked back at him, then her gaze slipped down, until it
caught the sight of the plate containing exactly four cookies. Her eyes
popped out, and her jaw dropped. "WHAT THE HELL?"
Not able to contain themselves any longer, Serena and Darien
burst out laughing. Chad bit his lip from smiling also, knowing that if
he did, it would be the death of him. "Raye…I can explain."
"And you better give a damn good explanation, too! Four left!
Out of all those!!" Raye's eyes were flashing, her cheeks tinted with
red, her hands clutched into fists by her sides.
"Okay, Raye…come on, it's the middle of the night…and
coincidentally," Serena half smiled, "we are all awake, and in the
kitchen. This is pretty cool, wouldn't you say? You can always bake
those cookies again."
"Yeah, and I'll help," Chad offered, making a silly grin on
his face.
"We'll ALL help," Darien said, smiling also, looking closely at
Raye.
A small smile slowly bloomed on her face. She looked at the
three people standing before her, all in their pajamas, and laughed out
loud. "God…why are we ALL awake now, anyway?"
They glanced at each other, amused smiles forming on all their
faces.
"Well…does anyone want to go back to sleep now?" Serena asked,
though deep in her heart she hoped that no one would. It was rather
nice…all her roommates in one room together, IN their pajamas…it felt
comfortable and cozy.
"Tomorrow's Sunday…so we can sleep all we want…" Chad said,
his smile widening with each word.
"And what, may I ask, are we going to do right now?" Darien
asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"How about we start those cookies?" Raye offered brightly, her
eyes lit up with delight.
Serena laughed. "Now? Are you actually serious? It's like
three o'clock in the morning!"
"Yeah, and that's what makes it so different! I have the
ingredients…and we can all start on something. Probably four different
bowls…or if you guys want, different flavors, too!"
Serena could tell Raye was getting excited over the idea. She
looked at Darien, and raised her eyebrows questioningly. He shrugged
back at her. She glanced over at Chad, who was smiling at Raye, and
rolled her eyes. "All right, then…I guess we'll do that."
"But first, let me make some coffee," Darien said, walking
over to the coffeemaker.
Raye got out four big bowls from the cabinet, and stacked them
on the counter next to the sink. She put her hands on her hips and
surveyed the other three people in the room. "Let's get started."
Chad immediately focused on her, and Darien started the coffee
maker. Raye began to walk around, and explained the directions
carefully, emphasizing on the main parts. In just a short while, the
rich smell of coffee filled the kitchen air, and Darien took a place
next to Serena as they started working.
Serena looked up from her bowl a few minutes later, and
glanced around her in a soft smile, slowly melting into this comfort.
She had never felt closer to her roommates.
Serena's eyes fluttered, and slowly opened as she became more
awake. She lifted up her head from the armrest of the sofa, and looked
around. She almost laughed.
Everyone was dead asleep.
Raye and Chad were on the floor by the other end of the sofa.
Raye's head was on Chad's shoulder, her hair a complete mess, and was
breathing heavily. Chad was leaning against the leg of the sofa, his
mouth partly open, and Serena could hear a light snore coming from him.
There were cookie crumbs around his hand, and a paper plate containing
one chocolate chip cookie. Serena shook her head, and slowly got up
from where she was stretched out on the sofa. Her legs felt as if she
hadn't used them in years. "That's what you get for not sleeping in a
bed…" she muttered under her breath.
A small shifting sound made her turn to look toward Darien's
room. The door was open, and she took a step closer to look inside.
Darien was lying on his stomach on his bed; his face turned sideways,
slowly breathing in and out. She couldn't help but smile at the sight
of his almost-angelic face. His wrinkled clothes automatically had her
looking down at her own clothes. She made a face, and hurried upstairs.
Raye stirred in her sleep. She felt something on her shoulder,
and opened her eyes. Her eyes first shifted to her shoulder, where she
found a familiar-looking hand hanging down from it. Chad. Her heart
skipped a beat, and she lifted her head. She immediately felt a light
head rush, and closed her eyes briefly.
She sat up, and realized where she was. She smiled, and
glanced at the paper plate next to Chad's hand--one cookie left. She
hesitated, then shrugged, and reached over to take it.
"Raye, put that cookie down!"
Startled, Raye almost did drop the cookie. She looked toward
where the voice was from, and when she saw Serena, she rolled her eyes
and laughed. "It's the last one. I get to eat it."
Serena stood there with a blue sundress on. Her hair was
clipped up, the ends nicely sticking out from behind her head. "You
haven't even brushed your teeth yet…how can you stand your bad breath?"
she teased.
Raye pushed the cookie into her mouth, and flashed Serena a
triumphant smile. "I don't care, so why should you?"
Serena shook her head and walked in the kitchen.
Raye swallowed the cookie, looked at Chad, who was still sound
asleep, and sighed heavily. She got up from the floor, and stretched.
She took a look at the clock hanging on the wall space above Darien's
bedroom door, and her gaze slipped inside. She smiled at her cousin,
then climbed the stairs to the second floor.
"I think I'm sick," Chad moaned as he clutched his stomach,
turning to lie on his side on the sofa.
"Let's just hope you get better before tomorrow," Serena said
to him, a cinnamon roll in her hand. She took another bite, and chewed,
while her other hand watched the constantly changing TV screen.
"Yeah. We're going to be sophomores in college now, you know
that?" Raye exclaimed excitedly, trying to put her hair up into a
ponytail.
"Well, I finally get to be a senior, I'm graduating soon."
Darien flashed a toothpaste smile just for Raye, and his eyes went back
to the TV screen again. He held up the remote control and flipped
through the channels impatiently. He was positioned on the floor, his
head next to Chad's hanging head from the sofa.
"This year is going to be different--I have a boyfriend
starting it with me." Raye smiled warmly at Chad, but her face changed
immediately when she took serious notice of how he looked. "Chad…are
you sure you're okay?"
"I just said I'm sick!" Chad nearly shouted, and closed his
eyes.
"We ate too much sugar last night. It was my fault…I'm so
sorry." Raye's eyes clouded over with concern as she went over to Chad,
giving up on her hair. "Move over," she said to Darien, although she
pushed him away without even waiting for a response.
Serena rolled her eyes. "It's really getting old watching you
two. I, for one, am not going to be hanging around here on the last day
before fall semester." She finished the rest of her roll, and licked
off the sugars on her fingertips delicately.
Darien turned to look at her. "Where do you plan to go?" His
eyes flashed brief interest.
"I don't really know. Probably just drive around and see if I
need some last minute materials." Serena went into the kitchen again,
in search of a napkin to wipe her mouth.
"I'll go with you."
Three pairs of eyes immediately focused on him.
Darien tried hard to stay nonchalant. "I mean, I have nothing
else to do anyway. I'll come along."
Serena wiped her mouth with a pink napkin. "Uh…do you have
anywhere specific you want to go?" She threw the wrinkled napkin away
into the wastebasket, and placed her hands on her hips.
He shrugged. "Not really. I just don't want to stay in this
house." He gave Raye and Chad, who were now back to talking to each
other in low voices, an exasperated look.
Serena smiled. "Sure. I'd like company. Get ready, I wanna get
going NOW."
"Are we done yet?" Darien asked as they walked out of another
jewelry store.
"Hey, don't complain. You're the one who asked me if you could
come along," Serena said as her eyes darted around, trying to decide
where to go next in the big shopping mall.
He sighed next to her. "That's because I wanted to get away in
case Raye and Chad decide to go all…mushy. But I didn't know that I was
going to become a carrier in service of Serena the Shopper." He
motioned to the bags he was carrying with his head.
She laughed, and then immediately gasped, pointing to a shoe
store across from where they were standing. "Let's go there! Come on!"
She linked her arm through his, and started to pull him toward it.
As he was walking, he suddenly thought of how he and Serena
acted like when she first moved in with them. He then glanced down at
the link that Serena made with their arms, and a lopsided smile formed
on his lips.
"All right, I have no one else here for opinions, so I'm
asking you." There was a blue shirt in her right hand, and a white one
in her left. She held them up for Darien to see, and widened her
eyes questioningly. "Which one?"
"Can't you just buy them both or something?" Darien asked,
not really looking at the shirts.
Serena rolled her eyes. "If I could, I would've done that
already! So, come on, tell me--which you do you think will look better
on me?" She focused her eyes on him, fully concentrating on what he was
going to say.
Darien felt a wave of discomfort washing over him. "Uh…I don't
know. I think they'll both look great. I've seen you in blue and white
shirts before. And you look nice in either one," he answered truthfully.
"Oh." Serena started to smile, then immediately straightened
up, and frowned slightly. "Well, you're not helping. I need to pick one.
I don't have enough money in my purse for two."
"Well…how about you buy one and I buy the other one?" Darien
offered, digging his hand into his pocket. He felt the crisp bills,
knowing that he had more than enough.
Serena looked at him, surprised. "That would be nice. Thanks.
I'll pay you back the minute we get back to our home." She felt her
heart skip a beat when she heard the words 'our home' out of her mouth.
It sounded so…cozy and warm.
He smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling as he did so.
"Actually…you don't have to pay me back. Just think of it as a…welcome
present. Welcome to our house. I never did give you one when you first
moved in."
She looked at him, her heart softening with each word he said.
"Chad didn't give me one, either…you don't need to." Her voice was
barely above a whisper.
"I want to. And besides, it's also a way of apologizing…for
all those things I've said to you that made you upset. I hope this new
semester will be a fresh one…for all of us."
"Yeah… Me too." She smiled tentatively at him, and suddenly
felt shy. She shook her head, a bit embarrassed, and forced herself
to be casual. "So, come on--let's go to the counter."
He followed after her, his steps matching hers as they made
their way across the store.
"Serena?" A male voice, surprised and happy, suddenly traveled
to their ears. "Is that you?"
Serena stopped, and wheeled around, regarding the guy who had
just spoke her name quizzically. Her eyes widened when she recognized
him. "No…"
The stranger stepped closer, and a smile began to form on his
handsome face. "Man…I never thought I would see you again. Ever."
Serena forced a smile onto her face, and walked toward him
also. "I know. Weird…isn't it?"
Darien didn't know what else to do but follow her. When she
stopped, he stopped, and looked back and forth between the two. He
cleared his throat softly.
Serena immediately glanced at Darien, and offered an
apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce. Daniel, this is
Darien, one of my roommates. Darien, this is…Daniel."
"Oh…Daniel. Nice to meet you." Darien grinned, and extended
his hand, recalling the letter that he had read of Serena's to Mina.
So this was the guy that he was supposed to be "more gorgeous" than.
He couldn't help but size up the guy.
Daniel Rowing took his hand and shook it. "Hey." His eyes
shifted over to Serena, then to Darien, and finally switched back and
forth between the two. "Are you…together?"
Serena laughed, shaking her head. "Of course not! Why would
you think that? We're just friends, in a mall together." She flashed
Darien a look, signaling him to agree with her.
He immediately nodded. "Yeah. Don't think too much of this,
uh, Daniel."
Daniel smiled, shrugging. "Hey, how was I supposed to know?"
He gazed at Serena again, his smile widening. "We haven't talked in
ages…it must be fate, you know--that we are meeting again."
"Yes…fate," Serena replied, a smile also spreading on her
face. She glanced around, "Uh…are you here alone?"
"No, my, my friend is over there--checking out some clothes."
He pointed to a slim girl with long brown hair who was surveying a
bunch of spaghetti strap shirts. She noticed him, and gave him a big
flirty smile.
Serena felt a wave of discomfort. She shifted in her place,
and noticed the clothes on her hands. "Uh…I gotta get this to the
counter. It was nice meeting you again, Daniel. I guess I'll see you
sometime later." She smiled again, and started to move her feet.
"Yeah, sure. I'll, uh--I'll call you!" Daniel called out as
Serena walked away.
Serena muttered something under her breath, and quickened
her pace. She stood in a line with three other people, and Darien
stood beside her, trying hard not to grin. She glanced at him, and
remarked in a exasperated voice, "What?"
"It's just that…you don't seem to like that brunette very
much." He motioned for her to move up one space after another person
was finished.
Serena stepped up, then turned to glare at him. "That's none
of your business."
"Here," He took out a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and
placed it in her palm. "For the shirt."
Serena looked down at it, and flashed him a smile. "Thanks."
"No problem. I said I would pay for it. I've got you a
welcome present now." He winked at her, grinning into her face.
She laughed, and then moved up one more spot after another
person was done.
"I do think you were right though," he said, a full smile on
his face as he watched her under his eyelids. He couldn't resist taking
a step closer to her.
She looked up at him, and a small knot formed between her
brows. "What? I was right about what?"
"I AM more gorgeous than him."
For a moment, no words came out of her mouth even though it
was parted open. Then, with a slight amount of force, she pushed him,
and rolled her eyes, looking annoyed. "Gee, you sure are modest."
He grinned. "Oh, come on, you gotta admit it--that guy doesn't
even have half of my looks."
Serena glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and couldn't
resist smiling, with his toothpaste grin flashing right in front of her.
"God, you're impossible, you know that?"
He shrugged, his eyes smiling into hers. "But that's why you
love me, right?" And he dashed away before she could say or do anything.
Serena stood there, with an exasperated expression plastered
on, and shook her head. She followed him with her eyes as he walked
through the double doors out of the store.
"Um, miss?"
Serena jerked her head toward the woman, who was looking at
her questioningly, and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." She placed the
shirtson the counter, and took out Darien's crisp bill as well as her
own purse.
"Told you I would call."
As soon as she heard the voice, Serena almost dropped the
banana she had in her hand. "Daniel." She sat down on the sofa, and
wetted her lips, wondering what in the world would he be calling her
for.
"How did you get my phone number?" She suddenly had the urge
to look out the window, just to see if he was out there somewhere. Then
she decided against it.
"I have my ways. Don't think you won't get my call just
because I don't know your new number."
"I'd like to have some kinda warning first."
There was a chuckle on the other end. "Isn't that a little too
harsh? So…are you doing anything tonight?"
She swallowed a slight lump in her throat. "Um…I don't really
know. Why?"
"Well tomorrow the semester is starting. I was figuring maybe
we could do something tonight to welcome it."
"I don't wanna welcome it. I want summer to last forever."
Serena suddenly thought of Darien, and how she wasn't going to see him
as often as she liked after the semester started. Without realizing it,
she let out a small sigh of disappointment.
"It's not that bad, is it? Come on, just let me take you
out--it'll be better by the end of tonight, I promise." His voice was
smooth and convincing, as if he couldn't be more sure of himself.
"Daniel, did you forget something?" She was baffled, at the
way he was acting toward her, when they had just broken up two months
ago. "We're not together anymore."
"I know. But we're still friends, aren't we? And friends go
out with each other all the time. Why is it so different for you?
Because I'm a guy and you're a girl and we dated once upon a time?"
She grew frustrated, and became annoyed at the way he was
acting. "That was not what I meant, and you damn know it."
There was a slight pause. Then, voice serious, he spoke, "You
don't have any plans, do you? If you don't, then why not just go out
with me? We can go to the movies, or a little restaurant, or whatever
you like…and talk. I miss talking to you. We used to able to talk to
each other about things all the time." His voice became lower and
lower, as if he was trying to hold back emotions.
Those last words softened her heart. Her gaze landed on the
small lamp by the sofa, and she bit her bottom lip. "All right, Daniel.
But it's just because I don't want us to become distant."
"Great. How about I pick you up around seven or so?"
"No!" She blurted out, and then quickly explained, "I mean--
I'd rather meet you there." 'It won't seem like a date then' was
what she wanted to add, but didn't.
"Fine with me. So where are we going, exactly?"
"Um…I don't know. How about that little pizza place down by
Main Street? Papa Joe's?"
"Sure. I always liked that place. I'll see you then, around
seven."
"Okay." She clicked off, and slumped down against the sofa.
What was going to happen now? Daniel…Daniel…the guy she hadn't
seen for months, just suddenly popped back into her life. And she had
agreed to go out with him.
As friends. As friends…she looked at her watch.
She glanced up, and saw Darien coming out of his room, a smile
on his face. She couldn't fight a smile back herself, so she asked,
"Good news?" She picked up the banana again, and started to peel off
the yellow skin.
"Not really. But…I finally finished something that I had been
working on for a long time," he answered. He grabbed Serena's hand--the
hand that was holding the banana, and pulled it toward him. In a matter
of seconds, he had lowered his head and taken the first bite on the
fruit.
"Hey!" Serena protested, staring at the bitten banana. She
punched him lightly on the shoulder, and then started to eat the fruit
herself. "Next time, don't do that," she told him before swallowing
the food in her mouth.
He purposely made a disgusted face. "Next time, YOU don't talk
with your mouth full."
"Wanna tell me what that something is?"
"What?" He looked at her, his eyebrows raised.
"That something you said you finished--the one you had been
working for a long time?"
"Oh!" He looked away, a half-smile on his face. "It's nothing.
I'll show you it some time later."
Serena looked at him, the banana forgotten in her hand. With that thought, she
started to smile.
He had turned his head back to her again. "What?"
She shook her head, pasting on an innocent look to her face.
"Nothing." She went back to finishing her banana.
He took a look at his watch, and exhaled. "I can't believe
there's nothing to do today. I even went SHOPPING with a girl…and
finished a POEM…"
"A poem?" Serena cut in, shocked beyond belief. In a flash,
she recalled the time when she had went into his room and read the
poems he had wrote in a spiral notebook. But that was…nearly a century
ago, it seemed like.
He grinned at her, rather sheepishly, and combed his hair
with his fingers. "Is it that surprising?"
She swallowed a gulp in her throat, and forced a smile on her
face. "Of course it is!" She remarked, hoping that her voice sounded
amazed. "I never knew a guy like you…"
"Could write. Yeah…I know." He looked at her, smiling. "Well,
now you know I do."
"Can I read them?" she asked, knowing that it was what he was
expecting her to say.
"Of course not."
She rolled her eyes. "Should've figured." But her heart was
pounding, afraid that he could somehow find out from her face that she
had read his poems before…without his permission.
He shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. "It's my personal life,
you know. And unless you're very close to me…you won't get to read it."
"Which can also be said as--I won't ever read it," Serena
remarked.
"What do you mean by that?" He stared at her, eyes intense.
"Nothing." She walked away from him, feeling as if she had
said too much. She grabbed a book that Raye had left on the coffee
table, and started to flip through it.
"You don't think we'll ever be close?" His voice traveled to
her ears, husky and questioning.
She put down the book with a sigh, and looked at him straight
in the eye. "The question is, will you ever LET us be close." She felt
her heart hammer against her chest just waiting for his reply.
He seemed to be taken back. His eyes were a swirl of
confusion and amazement as he started to walk slowly toward her. "What
do you mean I won't let us? It's not a question of LETTING."
"Okay, you know what…never mind, okay? Forget it. You were the
one who brought it up."
"All right, all right." He went closer to her. "Are you going
anywhere tonight?"
An image of Daniel flashed before her, and she smiled, nodding
her head, "Yeah, I am."
"Oh." A flicker of disappointment flashed across his face,
then it was quickly wiped away. "So what are you doing then?"
She decided to tell him the truth. She shrugged, deliberately
putting on a bored face. "Just out for pizza with Daniel."
"I thought you two already broke up."
"We did."
"So why are you still going out?"
"We're not."
A sigh of frustration was pulled out of him. "Wanna just tell
me everything straight out, or do I need to ask you one by one?"
She couldn't resist a smile. "What I meant was, we did break
up, but we're not GOING out, we're just HANGING out, as normal
friends." She glanced at the clock. "Besides, I don't want him and I
to not talk to each other just because we were boyfriend and girlfriend
once."
"Man, you are just like Lita. Have you SEEN her and Ken? They
are still talking to each other as if they never broke up. And you
too--saying that you want to be friends with him despite everything."
He shook his head, and started to walk around.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, and cocked an
eyebrow, tilting her head to one side. "So what am I supposed to do
then?"
"I don't know. All I'm saying is, when you break up with
someone, you literally BREAK UP. You don't leave any connections. That
way, both of you can move on nicely, without something, or someone
else pulling on his or her leg."
Serena shook her head, and looked at Darien in a different
way. "I can't believe you can be so cold."
"It's not called cold. It's what you do. So what, when two
people supposedly break up, they actually aren't? If they are still
going out with each other and having fun just like when they did
BEFORE they broke up, then what's the difference of 'being together'
and 'not being together'?" He crossed his arms also, and put his
left leg in front of his right, the feet with its toes pointed at the
ground.
"I don't know. I guess people think differently." She said
the last words softly, more to herself than to him.
"I guess we do." He didn't say anything else after that, and
just looked at her with an unreadable face.
A door opening sound startled them both.
"Hey guys! Look what I got!" Raye held up the bags she held
in her hands, and beamed at the two people in the room. One look at
their faces and she frowned. "What's up?"
"Nothing." Serena immediately replied. She glanced at the
clock, and started to go up the stairs. "I still need to get ready for
the thing with Daniel tonight."
Raye followed Serena with her eyes briefly, and then shot a
quizzical glance at Darien.
His face suddenly changed, as if he just thought of something.
He lifted his head and asked with a loud voice so she could hear, "If
it isn't a date, then why do you care how you look like?"
Serena immediately stopped. She leaned against the rail,
and looked down at him. "I'm still going outside…and I want to look
nice." Her gaze stayed on his face a second longer, then she turned
and walked into her room.
He turned, to find two questioning faces staring right at him.
"Did we miss something?"
He shook his head, stuffing his hands in his shorts pockets
as he strolled toward his room. "Not anything important."
"…Serena?"
Serena's head snapped to Daniel, and after seeing his baffled
face, offered an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Daniel looked at her, and shook his head, a half-smile on his
lips. "You don't seem to enjoy this date very much."
"No, I am, it's just--" Serena stopped midsentence. She gave
Daniel a disapproving look, remarking, "I thought I made it clear that
this wasn't a date."
A grin broke out on his face. "Ha. Gotcha, didn't I? I was
just checking to see if you were really paying attention to me."
She sighed, unable to resist a smile. "All right, I'm sorry.
I was just…thinking of something." She stared down at the pepperonis and cheese on her slice of
pizza, trying hard to forget about him and concentrate on Daniel. After
all, she WAS out with Daniel, date or no date.
He smiled back at her, leaning closer to her across the small
booth. "Are you done thinking of that yet?"
"Yeah." Somehow, his smoky gray eyes didn't make her melt
like they did before. Sure, they were still captivating, but…she didn't
feel as if she wanted those eyes to look at her forever. Instead…she
felt herself wishing that another pair of eyes were…blue eyes…midnight
blue eyes…
She stopped herself in time. She blinked, realizing what she
was really thinking of. Somewhere in her brain, a little voice was
telling her to pay attention to Daniel, the young man that was sitting
across from her, who was talking to her right then. Yet, she couldn't
bring herself to concentrate on him--for all over her mind, there was
images of another person…a person who she suddenly realized she should
be with at that moment.
"You're not listening to me again."
This time, his voice didn't sound teasing at all. It had a
tone of almost…annoyance. She looked at him, and then watched as he
slowly cleared his face, trying to make it seem as if he was just fine.
She sat there, on the leather seat, and realized in surprise that the
fact he was annoyed with her, did not bother her…at all; when it used
to be that she would go into an instant panic mode and feel the most
embarrassed.
"Serena."
She focused on him, on the guy that she was with this very
minute, and parted her mouth, trying to say something. But for a whole
minute, nothing came out. After taking a deep breath, she finally told
him, "I'm…sorry, Daniel. I shouldn't be here with you. I shouldn't be
anywhere with you." She stood up suddenly, almost banging her thigh
against the table. "I-I need to go. I'm sorry…I can't." She looked at
him one last time, and then hurried to the door.
"Serena! Come back!" Daniel called after her, standing up
also. He didn't want to make a scene, and so he stood in his place.
He felt as if he had just failed.
And as he watched her out the door and into the streets, he
knew who had just won.
Serena walked down the street, her heart pounding crazily,
her palms sweating.
She didn't know what she was doing, didn't know what she was
going to do when she got there; she just knew she had to do this.
It was the last day of summer, tomorrow was the first day of
classes. She couldn't let the day slip by without telling what she had
been feeling all this summer. She didn't know why she had never
realized it--maybe she never let herself admit it, maybe she just needed
this "date" with Daniel to actually find it out.
No matter what caused her to finally know this, she was
thankful that she did recognize it. For once, she wanted to be bold,
to say exactly how she felt, because…
She saw the house. The two-stories house that she had been
living in most of this summer. She slowed down her pace, taking deep
breaths to calm her, and also her heart down.
She wetted her lips, trying to decide what to say, but her
mind was such a huge mess she couldn't think clearly. She suddenly
wondered…what if he wasn't home? What would she do then?
No. He couldn't not be home. He had to feel this, too…he had
to know. He had to be home. But…if he wasn't…Serena saddened, then it
would be fate. Then it would mean she wasn't supposed to tell him, that
they weren't meant to be…
She was getting closer and closer. She crossed her fingers,
inhaling and exhaling in deep breaths one last time.
Her eyes adjusted in the dark night, and landed on the front
porch of the house, then right at the door. Where she was about to go
into in just a few seconds.
Then, she stopped.
She stopped so suddenly her heels made a short scratching
sound against the pavement.
He was already there. He was sitting on the ground…against
the front door.
Somehow, this seemed amazingly familiar.
She couldn't see, for the fact that there wasn't any light
shining against his face, but she knew without thinking about it, that
he had seen her also.
She was proven right, because he stood up. She felt his eyes
on her face, and her heart thumped once again. She walked closer to
him, gradually and carefully, step by step.
She could almost feel the words on her tongue. They just
needed to be spoken aloud.
_____________________________________________________________
Aaah! Heh…does that count as a cliffhanger? ^.~ Ah well. I'm still
gonna leave it at that part. You would not believe how many times I've
switched from one idea to another on this part. Finally, with one last
inspiration, I decided to write (and end) the story this way.
So how about it? You do know who the "he", of the last scene of this
part is, right? I didn't write his name, but I think most of you
already know. Otherwise…I think I'll be too sad. And what about that
"deja vu" feeling? Heh.
Do you remember Daniel? Ha. Didn't think I would put him in the story
again, did you? Of course I had to, otherwise why would I even mention
him at all at the first parts of the story? (I think the exact section
is part two. Wow…so long ago.) =D
All right, enough talking. I'll leave more notes after the last part
is completed. Now, it's your turn! Email me!! I need emails to
continue to finish! Yes, I do admit that I want to finish this pretty
badly, but if there are no emails, I wouldn't have anything to make me
keep going! So send those emails in! I wanna know what you think of
this part! I did work pretty hard on it, you know. =)
=Henra.
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