Disclaimer: I don't claim to claim what I cannot claim, so don't think that I've claimed anything that I have no right to claim. o_O (How that's for a 2:30 am writeup?)
When You Walked Into My Life
by Elysia [ely_chan@yahoo.com]
Part Four: Remembering
- or -
The Road Trip from Hell
"Tell me again why we're doing this, Andrew?"
Andrew smiled, not taking his eyes off the road. "Because you need to get a life, and to do that, we have to get out of this dinky town. Besides, it's spring break. No one else is staying around for the next week, why should we?"
Darien groaned, not only because Andrew had pushed him into something he hadn't planned on, but also because he got very carsick when he wasn't the one driving. And it wasn't just carsickness. Planes, trains, you name it, it made him dizzy. He couldn't even go on a simple thing as a carousel at a theme park because the combinations of the spinning and the up and down motion made him lose his lunch.
Andrew turned up the radio, and flipped the stations until he came to a song that he knew and liked. Then he started singing along with it. Loudly.
Rolling his eyes, Darien tried to tune out the off-key voice of his friend, but it was no use. His singing was worse than being carsick.
"C'mon Darien, sing along. You'll feel much better, I promise." Darien just glared at his giddy roommate and rolled his eyes.
"That's it. Next town we come to, I'm driving."
******
Serena sank down into the wooden porch swing in her back yard and lazily stared up at the clear blue sky, dotted with a few clouds here and there. She closed her eyes and sighed loudly. It had been two months since she had come home, and truthfully, it was boring. Serena missed college life more than anything else. If she could, she would go back, but she couldn't do that right now. She had to find something to occupy her time for the rest of the summer. If she didn't she would go crazy.
A voice called out from inside the house. "Serena, did you have any luck today?" Serena hung her head and sighed. Her mother had been after her to get a job for the last week and a half, and now it was starting to get on her nerves. Job hunting was one of the most exasperating things in the entire world.
"Everyone's looking for more than just summer help, and I can't promise them anything more than the next four months," she yelled back so her mother could hear her.
Her mother's voice came back at her. "Please come inside. I need your help with dinner, Serena."
"But I thought it was Sammy's turn!"
"It was, but he went out with Mika somewhere and won't be back until later."
Serena scowled. That little brat of a brother... He was only sixteen, but he knew the system and how to work it all too well. And lately, he was using his girlfriend Mika as his excuse. It was no fun being the oldest child, the guinea pig of the family. She had paved the way for Sammy to always get his way. Even now that she had been away at college and returned home, she still had to beg and plead for the simplest thing, while her brother got whatever he wanted with a snap of his fingers.
"Serena!" Her mother called out again, this time with a note of exasperation in her voice. Serena grudgingly got up from the swing and went inside. Sammy would surely get it from her later.
******
After the dinner table had been cleared, Serena was up in her room, trying to make sense of her belongings. Even after two months, not everything had been unpacked and put away, and now she was having a hard time finding a place for it all. Funny how much easier it was to unpack rather than packing it all.
She heard the front door slam downstairs and her brother call out a greeting to their parents, then listened to his thumping ascent up the stairs. Serena waited until she heard his door slam shut, and then she left her room and knocked loudly on his door.
A short grunt came from the other side, and she knew that was her brother's customary response, also meaning to come in. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, Serena pushed her way into her brother's lair, as she referred to it.
"Sammy, it wasn't fair of you to--" she stopped short. Her brother was sitting on his bed, trying to wrap up a box sitting on his lap. She walked over for a closer look. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to wrap up Mika's birthday present," he replied without looking up. Serena suddenly understood. She gently took it from his hands, getting a look of surprise from Sammy. Within minutes, she had it wrapped up securely and handed it back to him.
"Thanks," he mumbled, placing his hand on the back of his head. "You'll have to teach me how to do that." Serena saw a different side to her little brother at that moment. He had never been the one to give compliments freely and she wondered briefly if this was all Mika's doing. She really liked that girl. She had taken the obnoxious kid Serena knew and turned him into something decent.
"What did you get Mika for her birthday?" Serena asked quietly, picking up the dirty clothes off the bed and throwing them into the hamper. She couldn't understand how he could live in such a mess.
"Hey, stop that," Sammy started, scooping up the pile in the middle of the floor and shoving it under the bed. "I can clean up after myself."
"Well, why don't you start before you drown in it all?" Serena retorted, throwing a pillow at him.
He caught the pillow and smirked at his sister. "By the way, I got Mika a stuffed teddy bear. She has so many dolls cause she's always making them, but she said how she's always wanted a teddy bear. So I thought I'd get her one."
Serena smiled at her brother's thoughtfulness. Either he had lost it completely, or he really cared about Mika. "Sammy, can I ask you something?"
He shrugged his shoulders like a typical teenager. "I guess so."
"How do much do you like Mika?"
Sammy looked off into space for a moment, lost in thought. Then he turned back to his sister. "I dunno, I like her a lot, I guess. She laughs at my jokes, and helps me pull pranks on the teachers at school sometimes. She also isn't afraid to stand up to the bullies at school."
"Is that all?" Serena prodded. He ducked his head and looked away, but not before she caught a glimpse of a blush rising on his cheeks. "No, I think she's really pretty too. And smart. Sometimes I don't know why she hangs around me so much. Is that normal?"
Serena almost giggled at her brother's seriousness. "Sammy, it's perfectly normal. High school is always like this. It's one of the first steps you take towards finding out who you really are and what you can become."
"Oh." Sammy looked down at his hands for a second. "So does that mean you've found out who you are and what you can make of that since you've graduated from college?"
Serena blinked. "Well, no... not quite. I've still got a while to go too. Finding yourself doesn't just happen overnight. It takes time, and it's different for each person. I think when you truly feel happy with who you are and the place you're at, that's a definite sign that you're learning."
He smiled at that, then shrugged. "I feel happy when I'm around Mika. She likes me for who I am and doesn't question that."
She ruffled her brother's hair, winning a cry of protest from him. "That's good Sammy. Keep a hold on her, I have a feeling she'll do you some good." With that, she got up and left Sammy's room and returned to her own.
As she closed the door behind her, suddenly it hit her. 'I was always happy with myself when I was around Darien. Why can't I take my own advice?'
******
"Andrew, I think I've seen that sign before. Twice, in fact. Do you even know where we're going?"
"Shut up, Darien," he mumbled, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
Darien stared at the driver, his happy-go-lucky expression all but gone now. "Ooh, what happened to the guy who wanted to sing Broadway show tunes the entire trip?"
Andrew growled. "I left him behind in the last town."
He gulped and turned to look out the window. Darien started to long for a way out. Whoever said that road trips were supposed to be fun had never driven around with Andrew for over six hours. Then something along side the road caught his eye. "Andrew, turn right at this next road."
"Why?"
"There's a gas station on the corner."
Andrew peered at the gas gauge. "We're fine on gas, Darien. We could probably go for another hundred miles or so. Why do I need to pull in there?"
Darien sighed. "Maybe they have maps for sale or something. Or we could ask them for directions."
Andrew stared at his dark-haired friend. "I cannot believe you just said that. I will never ask for directions! Not even if we were stuck out in the middle of nowhere!"
They both looked out through the windshield. It sure looked like the middle of nowhere, complete with the rolling sagebrush and the low whistle of the wind.
Andrew sat back in the driver's seat. "Then again, no one will ever know if we don't tell them."
******
"Mom, Mom! Guess what! I got a job! I finally got a job!" Serena blew into the house like a hurricane, racing from room to room and shouting out her good news. Her mother poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled at her enthusiastic daughter. "That's wonderful, Serena! Where will you be working?"
"At the diner. They were hiring waitresses so I walked in and they practically hired me on the spot," Serena beamed.
"The new one that just opened at the edge of town?"
"Yep, that's the one!"
Her mother frowned slightly. "Serena, do you think you're cut out to be a waitress?"
"Not you too," Serena pouted. "Molly said the same thing when I ran into her at the mall. I know it's a stressful job, but I think I can do it. I need the experience and the money."
"You do realize that a waitressing job pays next to nothing."
Serena kept smiling. "I know that, but if you have the right attitude, you make the customers happy, which means better tips. And everyone agrees that I have the perfect personality for this job." She gave her mother the thumbs-up sign. "Everything is going to work out," she finished while running up the stairs.
Her mother stared after her for a moment. "I hope she knows it won't be all fun and games."
******
Serena plodded into the house after her first night at work. Everyone had been right after all, waitressing was difficult to learn, but it wasn't impossible. And she was determined to stick with it.
Closing the door to her room, she quickly changed out of her uniform that smelled suspiciously like filet mignon, which had been the special of the day. Serena flopped down onto her bed and sighed loudly, trying to be careful not to wake up Luna, who was sleeping peacefully on the windowsill cushion. Serena had missed Luna's companionship while she was away, since she hadn't been allowed to take her to college.
Her whole body ached. Eight hours on her feet and the only break she had been allowed the entire evening was a measly fifteen minutes. And this was only the beginning. Was she really cut out to be a waitress? Serena thought she had the personality for it, but having the strength was a totally different story.
Her breath left a patch of fog on the window. Winter. Serena would never think of the season the same way again. It had been a time of bittersweet beginnings and endings. But perhaps, some things just weren't meant to be.
She brought a hand up to the cold pane of glass, and stared at her reflection. The person who stared solemnly back at her, was that truly who she was? Or was her real self hidden somewhere within, in a place where she could not see?
Serena knew who she really was. That personality had only been brought out by one person, and she hadn't been the same since.
She would never forget him.
She couldn't forget him.
******
Finally at the wheel after Andrew had driven them around and gotten them hopelessly lost, Darien glanced at all his mirrors, not surprised that they hadn't seen a single car pass them for at least an hour. Andrew was asleep in the passenger seat, a snore or two escaping his lips occasionally.
The radio had been turned down, but Darien caught snatches of songs here and there as he drove, singing to some of the ones he knew and listening to the others. He didn't sing around other people, though he actually had a good voice. He didn't like to be the center of attention, and avoided it when he could. And that usually meant getting out of his apartment when Andrew or one of the other roommates would throw a party. It just wasn't his style, no matter how much they protested and prodded him to stay.
Switching radio stations, he caught the end of a slow song and he smiled to himself. Darien recognized it as the song that had played the night he and Serena had met up at the dance, when he first started to realize how much he cared for her. It didn't matter he hadn't known her long before that point; time didn't exist when it came to matters of the heart. When Serena walked into his life, he became a new person. And he liked who he had been when she was there. Even his roommates noticed the change in his attitude.
But when she left, his new personality disappeared with her. And what Darien regretted the most was not being able to see her before she left. The fates had played a cruel hand in their parting. For nights after that, Darien couldn't sleep, feeling guilty that he had stayed away from Serena. His first reaction to her news was the wrong one, but then again, he had always been famous for that sort of thing when he was younger. If he could see her now, he knew what he would do. Groveling--and lots of it--would definitely be involved.
Before he could think any further, a deep growl rumbled from his stomach and echoed through the whole car, even to the point of waking Andrew up. "What's that awful noise?" Andrew complained as he was aroused from his uncomfortable sleeping position.
"Just my stomach," Darien replied, keeping his eyes on the road for the nearest exit. "Let's stop and get something to eat in the next town, okay?" Andrew yawned in agreement. The headlights caught a road sign and he turned off at the exit, following a twisty road to the edge of a small town. Darien could see several fast food signs down the road, but instead he stopped at a small diner, one of those restaurants that stayed open nearly the entire night.
They jumped out of the car, grateful to stretch and get something decent to eat. Entering the diner, Darien and Andrew were greeted with a small sign on the front desk that said 'Please Seat Yourself.' Finding a empty corner booth, they sat down and started browsing through the menus, looking for something to catch their eye. They only problem was, *everything* looked good to them.
******
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, two waitresses and a cook stood in the back talking about the day's events. Something eventful always managed to happen at this edge of town, and sometimes even inside the diner. Yesterday it had been a fight that started outside, and ended through the front window. Today had been fairly quiet, with only a car chase down the middle of Main Street. For it only being a medium sized town, it was awfully exciting during this time of year.
One of the fairly new waiters came in through the kitchen door. "There's two guys at table 12, the corner booth. I'd get them myself, but I still don't know how to do it very well."
Serena grabbed her ticket pad and pen and shoved them in her apron pocket. "Table 12 is in my area anyway, I'll get it." She checked her watch, and noted the late time. "I'll never get used to these late shifts. These people must be out-of-towners, cause we hardly ever get anyone in this late." Pushing open the kitchen door, Serena skipped out to the dining area to take some orders. The other three watched her go and smiled. "I have to hand it to her, when she first started, I wasn't sure she'd be able to hang on this long."
Out in the dining area, Serena strode over to the corner booth, weary after such a long day, but put a smile on for her customers. Pulling out her ticket pad and her pen, she replied, "What'll you have, boys?"
One of them spoke up softly. "Serena?"
She grinned, still looking at her notepad. "That's my name, isn't it? Have you decided, or should I give you more time?"
And then she looked up.