Author: Azn Angel
Title: How Did I Fall in Love with You Chapter 3
Email: star_wingz13@yahoo.com
Rated: PG
Inspired by the song "How Did I Fall in Love with You" by the Backstreet Boys.
I know, I know, I know! I'm sorry! This has taken forever! I'm on vacation, so I
doubt I can write much, but I'm gonna try! Expect mostly Destiny Trip and
this fic updated the most.
In case you guys haven't realized, so far, Darien and Serena haven't showed many
signs of being remotely in love with eachother, but instead just close friends.
Well, for those of you who are waiting for some Sere-Darien interaction, please be
patient! It WILL come!
Sort of short chapter... I'll try and update soon! I update sooner with more
reviews, especially since it's summer!
Enjoy!
Dsiclaimer: You should get it by now.
~*~*~*~
Mina stared up into the deep green eyes, unable to speak. Everyone could tell, by
the look of surprise of her face, this wasn't how she had planned for this
conversation to go.
Yaten simply smirked in her face, then sat down, Taiki also joining him.
Darien and Andrew were laughing at the look on her face. "Now that is a dumb
blonde!" Andrew howled.
Another "WHACK" sounded as Serena glared at the cowering teenager. "You're
blonde too, you idiot! So am I!"
"Oh yeah..."
Amy smiled at Taiki. "Hello," she said politely. He merely nodded.
"Hey guys," Seiya greeted his brothers. "Lita invited me to sit here, so I
thought, might as well." He shrugged, then took a bite of his double-decker
sandwich.
Yaten shook his head sadly, looking almost pityingly at Mina. "This is the
company you choose to keep, Seiya?" he asked, eyeing Raye. He "tsk"ed. "It's
a shame. You could do so much better than the likes of them."
"Hey!" Raye exclaimed, throwing her napkin down. "Listen, we were here first!
If you don't want to sit with 'the likes of us', you can leave! No one asked
you to sit here!"
Yaten stared at her coolly in her face. "This is a free country, last time I
checked. I can sit where I please."
Lita was scratching her head, muttering, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea
after all..."
Mina shook her head, finally snapping out of it. "Raye! Don't be so rude!"
"WHAT?!" Raye exploded. "Listen Mina, I've never been one to take crap from
anyone, and I'm not about to start. This guy waltzes in, insults me the whole
day, demeans our character by suggesting that we aren't 'good enough' to sit
with them, while you sit there and berate me for standing up for myself?! I
don't think so!!!"
"Ooh, demean! Berate!" Yaten mock gasped. "Big words! I'm impressed! Do you
even know what they mean, by any chance?"
Taiki, who had kept silent since he had sat, quietly eating his food, finally
said, "Yaten, we can move somewhere else if you want."
"Yeah!" Raye said. "Move somewhere else! Sit with one of your fans, pretty-
boy! Humor me!"
"No, I don't think I will," Yaten said. "I'm fine right here, despite the
surroundings."
For a second, Serena could swear she saw fire in Raye's eyes. Before any more
remarks could be thrown, she quickly jumped in. "Guys, guys! Come on, Raye,
it's his first day here, cut him some slack! And Yaten, you could maybe
apologize to Raye for saying those things, not to mention to all of us also.
Come on, you guys, there's no point in fighting. Truce?" She looked
expectantly to both Yaten and Raye. "Forgive and forget, right?"
Both glanced at eachother warily, before Raye reluctantly stuck out her hand.
"Truce," she mumbled.
But Yaten was a different story. He stubbornly crossed his arms and shook
his head, still smirking. "You wish," he sneered.
Raye's eyes widened momentarily. Serena winced inwardly. Not many dared
to anger Raye Wildresk, much less a male, who were mainly either completely
entranced by her, or else quite afraid. 'Here we go...' Serena thought.
"How... dare... you?! What is your problem?! My good friend Lita here kindly
offered your brother a seat amongst us, not you! Yet you choose to sit here
with him, but first dissing us right in our faces! Then another one of my
friends offers peace between us, and I (though reluctantly) agree, but you
are still an arrogant--"
Lita quickly stuffed a small bit of sushi in Raye's mouth, an efficient amount
to make Raye choke. The tall brunette smiled sweetly at Yaten and Taiki. "Guys,
maybe it would be a good idea for you to sit somewhere else today. We're not
getting off to a, er, good start."
"That's an understatement," Andrew mumbled. WHACK!
Yaten glowered at Lita.
"Or... we... could move... instead..." she said, looking at him unsurely.
He gave no reply, but simply picked up a piece of sushi. "What is this?"
He gingerly sniffed it. "You call this sushi?! Even I can make better stuff
than this! Poor excuse for sushi..."
"Ohh..." Andrew said under his breath, watching this verbal match with
interest. "Dis..." This time, Amy whacked him.
Lita clenched her fists and forced a smile. "Listen, it's been a pleasu--
well, it's been nice--well, I'll see you around school sometime." She looked
to her closer friends. "Guys, I'm going to move, you know, over there." She
packed up her homemade Japanese lunch and left.
Raye sent daggers at Yaten. "Look at what you did! You drove away one of
my friends!"
"I did not," Yaten said coolly. "She chose to move herself."
"Your attitude drove her away! I don't see how your brothers can stand being
with you every day! I wouldn't be able to stand it!"
He shrugged, then fingered the sushi he took from Lita's lunch. "I don't see
how you guys can stand being with her," he spoke to Serena and Amy. He
continued in a mocking sort of voice, "I wouldn't be able to stand it!"
"That's it!" Raye stood up, pushing up her sleeves. "You've done it! You've
crossed the line! I've had it! Think you can take me?! Come on!"
Yaten merely looked up at her, chuckling. "You can't possibly be serious,
can you?"
"Dead serious!" Raye said, fuming. "I mean it! I'm gonna send you home crying
to your mommy!"
Seiya and Taiki suddenly looked up at Yaten, who narrowed his eyes. "You don't
know what you're talking about," he murmured silkily before hurling his Fanta
soda pop at her.
Raye emitted a loud shriek as she was suddenly drenched in the sticky, sweet,
strawberry liquid. All around her were gasps and laughter. She looked down at
herself, and before she knew it, she threw a punch right at Yaten.
Yaten let out a sudden groan, holding his left cheek. He opened his mouth to
say something, but closed it as Raye advanced on him.
"Yeah..." Raye said, glaring. "How do you like that, huh? You don't know who
you're messing with! Look at me! I'm filthy! Better believe that I'd do
something about it! I'm not gonna just sit back and let some GUY insult me and
pour soda on me!" Yaten was staring at something past Raye though, Serena
noticed. She looked the same way. 'Uh oh...' But Raye continued, not noticing.
"Don't think I'm some pushover girly girl you can walk right over! I'm not a
girl like that! It's not like I wanted to show you around school! I--" Her
ranting ceased when a large hand clapped over her shoulder.
She froze, then slowly turned her head, and was face to face with the school
principal, Principal Lanson. "Ahem..." he cleared his throat. "Ms. Wildresk...
I believe we have a problem here... Please follow me to my office." His eyes
lingered on the livid bruise growing on Yaten's cheek. "You too. Both of you,
please come with me."
~*~*~*~
Serena threw her bag on to the shiny blue counter as she plopped herself on
to a stool. Amy, Lita, Mina, and Darien joined her, while Andrew busied
himself by tying on an apron and looking busily for his notepad.
They were in the Crown Arcade, their beloved hangout, run by Mr. Dayers,
Andrew's father. Andrew and his sister Elizabeth helped out afterschool
and on weekends. Serena and the gang looked here because, not only was it
popular amongst mostly kids and teenagers, they get free sodas. (AN: Ah, I'd
go anywhere for a free soda!)
"Some day, huh?" Lita remarked.
"You said it," Mina replied.
"Need... soda..." Serena groaned as she laid her head on the counter.
"Yeah yeah yeah," Andrew good-naturedly grumbled. "The things I do for
you guys.Be happy I don't charge you."
"You could never charge us," Amy said, pulling out some schoolbooks.
"Anyway," Mina quipped, "your dad likes us."
"It's our daily ritual," Darien said. "We ask for our sodas, you complain
like an old man about you losing profit, and we just drink."
"A regular for me," Lita said, as if she were at a bar. "On the rocks."
Andrew laughed. "Without you guys, Crown Arcade would have a lot more
profit."
"Without us, Crown Arcade would have a lot of extra soda, you skinflint,"
Mina said, quickly taking a Dr. Pepper from her friend.
"We know you love us," Lita batted her eyelashes. Andrew coughed, and turned
away.
"Ahahahaha!" Serena nudged her tall brunette friend. "Lookie there! You've
made Andy-baby blush!"
Lita rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Serena. Maybe we could get you together
with Robert Stevenson someday, eh?"
"Ahhh..."
"Ohohohoho!" Lita laughed. "What's this I hear? A falter in your voice?"
Serena shifted uncomfortably, while Darien, noticing her discomfort, turned
toward the two girls and said, putting a protective arm around Serena, "Not
while I'm around," he said seriously. Serena shot him a thankful smile, while
Lita wondered curiously why Darien had said something like that. Just then,
the arcade doors bursts open, revealing a furious Raye.
'Ooh...' Serena thought as the entire Arcade hushed to silence, all eyes on
the fiery girl before them (well, excuse the 'blip-blip's and the "Oh, ya got
me!" from the viedo games). The small clique braced themselves as Raye sat
on the other side of Darien and next to a small child, who slightly cowered
away from her in fear, clutching his mother's sleeve. Andrew mutely handed
her a soda, which she sipped as the rest of the room still watched her.
Finally, she twitched, and, without a word, spun her stool around and glared
at the whole room. Immediately, conversation started, the clatter of coins
were heard, sounds of joyous children playing videos games filled the room,
and all was back to normal (with the few exceptions of those who quickly
slipped away from the Arcade, scared of Raye).
Raye turned back around in her stool, a sour look on her face. "Stupid
onlookers..." she muttered.
"You OK, Raye?" Lita asked cautiously.
"What happened?" Mina asked, eager for details. "You were absent from class
for the rest of the day, but I saw Yaten in my history class."
Raye swelled like a bullfrog, then launched into full story mode. "What
happened?! I'll tell you what happened! When Principal Lanson dragged us to
his office, he pulled us in one at a time to talk to. Of course, Pretty Boy
got to go first, and he was in there forever! He went in at twelve, and
came out at one-thirty with a disgustingly triumphant grin on his jerky face!
Then I went in, but I had no chance anyway! Pretty Boy poisoned Lanson's
mind already! When I gave him my version of the story, the true version, he
would always say," Raye put on a deep, mimicking voice, "'That's not what
Mr. Kou said.' Honestly! When I was done, he shook his head and said, 'Ms.
Wildresk, I'm afraid this requires some form of punishment.' So then he gave
me three weeks detention and then a long, boring lecture on anti-violence in
schools. Then he called my parents! Do I look like a middle-schooler to you?!
Argh! On top of that, he didn't let me out until just now! Ugh!" she finished
with a groan.
"Whoa..." Amy blinked.
"Three weeks..." Darien said.
"Dang..." Andrew said.
"That's not fair!" Serena protested. "It wasn't even your fault!"
"Yeah, it was that Yaten boy's fault," Lita said bitterly.
"Well, now I wouldn't say that..." Mina said.
"Whose side are you on, woman?!" Raye erupted at the blonde.
"Yours, of course!" Mina squeaked. "But, I mean, you insulted him, too... You
must have said something that touched a nerve, 'cause he seemed really ticked
at a certain point, and that's when he threw his drink at you, and please don't
hurt me!"
Raye clenched her teeth. "He was being a jerk to me the entire DAY!"
"Well, at least you didn't have to show him around the rest of the day," Mina
said.
"Oh, cut the optimistic crap! I have three weeks detention, and my parents are
going to kill me! Not only that, but you wouldn't believe how many people made
menstrual jokes at me because some of that soda got on my pants. Someone even
threw a tampon at me!"
"If it makes you feel any better, Darien and I can go beat him up!" Andrew broke
in, grinning goofily and making a fist.
"You hold, I'll punch!" Darien joked.
"Yeah, right!" Raye said passionately. "Like I'm gonna let two GUYS stand up for
me! Thanks, but I can handle it myself!"
"Aww, come on..." Andrew made a hurt, puppy dog face. "Don't be so feminist."
"Yeah," Darien agreed. "We're just trying to help."
"Some help," Raye growled.
"Maybe you should just ignore him," Amy timidly suggested. "You guys might break
out into another fight, and you might get in trouble again."
"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"
"I know, I know!" Amy said hurriedly. "I'm just saying, maybe he might, uh, pin
the blame on you again!"
Raye sighed, collapsing next to her soda. "I'm never gonna forgive that guy!
Thinks he's so great, what a snob... The entire Kou family must be jerky..."
"Oh, don't say that!" Mina said. "That's prejudice!"
"Well," Amy started, "Taiki is sort of... snooty... He's very competitive, I
think. Doesn't talk, really quiet, you know? He's sort of... weird to me...
Different..."
"Seiya's kind of like that too... He's different... Really different..."
Serena said distantly. "He's really nice, though. Super cute, too."
"Why, thank you," a voice said from above her.
"Eeek!" Serena squealed, falling out of her stool. She looked up to the face
of Seiya Kou, who was smiling. "Oh! Uh, hello."
He grinned. "Thanks for such a compliment."
She blushed. The rest of her girl friends watched with awe and slight envy,
while Darien and Andrew turned away, coughing in embarrassment. Raye, on the
other hand, was glaring.
"Need some help?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer. He took her hand, and
gently pulled her up.
"Uh, thank you," Serena said, slightly breathless. His warm hand had given her a
small shock, and she was surprised from his sudden appearance. She regained her
composure, and asked, "How long were you here?"
"Long enough to hear the important words," he said. She blushed again.
"So, uh, did you happen to find this place? It's a really cool place; lots of
people come here. My friend Andrew," Serena gestured at him, who smiled at
Seiya, "helps out here. His father owns the place, so we hang out here a lot.
Plus there's great video games here, and good food too. Everyone's friendly--"
"Why are you here?" Raye asked, interrupting Serena's nervous babbling. Serena
sighed in relief (and for a breath), blushing in embarrassment for rambling like
that.
"Actually," Seiya said, "I came here to talk to you, Raye."
Raye narrowed her dark eyes suspiciously at him. "About...?"
Seiya sat beside Raye, occupying the seat the small, scared boy had previously
been sitting in. He cleared his throat. "Raye, I'm sorry about what happened
today. I came here to apologize for my brother's actions. He was really out of
line today, and I hope he didn't get you in too much trouble."
"Three weeks of detention, bucko! He landed me in detention!" Raye said angrily.
"I'm sorry," Seiya said sincerely. "I really am. My brother's like that though,
and today he was especially, er..."
"Jerky," Raye filled in for him.
"I suppose that's the word," Seiya agreed. "I'm sorry he gave you so much trouble."
"Why didn't he come here to apologize himself?" Raye asked. "Too good for an
apology, is he?"
"Well," Seiya said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Yaten actually
doesn't know I'm here. Really, I was just walking home from school, and I passed
by here, and I saw you through the window. I just thought that I should apologize
for my brother."
"Why don't you let him apologize himself? He should be the one with three weeks'
detention!"
"I know, and I hope that he does. But if he doesn't, well, that's why I'm here. So,
no hard feelings? I know it's hard; I probably wouldn't forgive him if he did that
to me, but will you forgive him?"
Raye crossed her arms and looked up at him. "Well, I guess so... He's still a big
pain, but as long as he stays out of my way..."
"Go Raye!" Mina cheered. "Atta girl!"
"Just make sure he doesn't do anything like that again, or else I'm going to do
something about it."
"I will," Seiya said, smiling in relief. "Well, my work here is done. I've gotta
go, so I'll see you all in school tomorrow, OK? Bye everyone." He gave one last
smile and began to walk away. Suddenly, he turned back around, and fixed his eyes
on Serena. "By the way, Serena, thanks for showing me around today. I enjoyed my
first day... a lot." He grinned, then waved. "See you later." And he left.
Serena turned pink again, as Raye muttered, "Flirt."
"I thought you weren't 'ever going to forgive that guy'!" Lita said, raising an
eyebrow at Raye. "It's not like you to go against your word, especially in a five
minute time period. You really forgive him?"
Raye snorted into her soda. "Hell, no!"
~*~*~*~
"So, what do you think of the new guys?" Darien casually asked Serena as they
rode home from the Arcade on Darien's bicycle.
"Who, the Kou guys?"
Darien rolled his eyes, smiling. "Who else?"
"Oh, I don't know..." Serena said, gripping Darien's waist so that she wouldn't fall
off. "They're..."
"Yes?" Darien probed.
"You know what I think about Seiya already," Serena said. She was glad that Darien
couldn't see her flushed face. "He's cute, friendly, nice..."
"But the others?" he inquired.
"Well... Yaten seems like a jerk. And Taiki, I don't really know. I don't have any
classes with him." She suddenly giggled. "But they're all really, really cute."
"What, and I'm not?" Darien pouted, looking slightly behind him.
"Oh, you!" Serena poked him lightly in the side.
Darien laughed as he turned into Serena's driveway. "Well, here ya go," he said.
"Thanks for the ride, Darry," Serena said, hopping off his passenger seat.
"No problem," he replied.
"See you tomorrow!" She waved good bye, then entered her house through the garage.
Darien waved back, then dropped his hand, and his smile. "What's up with this?" he
muttered to himself. It was something, something about one of those new guys. He
didn't like this feeling he was getting. He felt like something was about to happen.
Something big and affecting. But he didn't know whether it was good or bad. He
headed back for his home, hoping it wasn't the latter, trying to ignore his uneasy
feeling.
~*~*~*~
Hidden behind a tree and shrouded in the shadows of twilight was someone, watching
Darien through half-lidded amythest eyes. "Darien..." she whispered. "I want you...
Why are you with her? But don't worry, my love... We'll be together yet... I swear
it... We will..." She sighed almost wistfully, then, glaring at the house Serena
entered, turned in the opposite direction Darien had ridden away in. As she did,
she unknowningly dropped something. A notebook, a red one. Stuck to the cover of
it was a nametag sticker. Written in the space of it was, "Beryl McCartney."
~*~*~*~
Ooh! What does the deadly Beryl have planned? Something sinister? And what does
Darien's feeling mean? Will Raye ever forgive Yaten? Stay tuned for chapter four!
Review and email!
~*~Azn Angel~*~
Title: How Did I Fall in Love with You Chapter 3
Email: star_wingz13@yahoo.com
Rated: PG
Inspired by the song "How Did I Fall in Love with You" by the Backstreet Boys.
I know, I know, I know! I'm sorry! This has taken forever! I'm on vacation, so I
doubt I can write much, but I'm gonna try! Expect mostly Destiny Trip and
this fic updated the most.
In case you guys haven't realized, so far, Darien and Serena haven't showed many
signs of being remotely in love with eachother, but instead just close friends.
Well, for those of you who are waiting for some Sere-Darien interaction, please be
patient! It WILL come!
Sort of short chapter... I'll try and update soon! I update sooner with more
reviews, especially since it's summer!
Enjoy!
Dsiclaimer: You should get it by now.
~*~*~*~
Mina stared up into the deep green eyes, unable to speak. Everyone could tell, by
the look of surprise of her face, this wasn't how she had planned for this
conversation to go.
Yaten simply smirked in her face, then sat down, Taiki also joining him.
Darien and Andrew were laughing at the look on her face. "Now that is a dumb
blonde!" Andrew howled.
Another "WHACK" sounded as Serena glared at the cowering teenager. "You're
blonde too, you idiot! So am I!"
"Oh yeah..."
Amy smiled at Taiki. "Hello," she said politely. He merely nodded.
"Hey guys," Seiya greeted his brothers. "Lita invited me to sit here, so I
thought, might as well." He shrugged, then took a bite of his double-decker
sandwich.
Yaten shook his head sadly, looking almost pityingly at Mina. "This is the
company you choose to keep, Seiya?" he asked, eyeing Raye. He "tsk"ed. "It's
a shame. You could do so much better than the likes of them."
"Hey!" Raye exclaimed, throwing her napkin down. "Listen, we were here first!
If you don't want to sit with 'the likes of us', you can leave! No one asked
you to sit here!"
Yaten stared at her coolly in her face. "This is a free country, last time I
checked. I can sit where I please."
Lita was scratching her head, muttering, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea
after all..."
Mina shook her head, finally snapping out of it. "Raye! Don't be so rude!"
"WHAT?!" Raye exploded. "Listen Mina, I've never been one to take crap from
anyone, and I'm not about to start. This guy waltzes in, insults me the whole
day, demeans our character by suggesting that we aren't 'good enough' to sit
with them, while you sit there and berate me for standing up for myself?! I
don't think so!!!"
"Ooh, demean! Berate!" Yaten mock gasped. "Big words! I'm impressed! Do you
even know what they mean, by any chance?"
Taiki, who had kept silent since he had sat, quietly eating his food, finally
said, "Yaten, we can move somewhere else if you want."
"Yeah!" Raye said. "Move somewhere else! Sit with one of your fans, pretty-
boy! Humor me!"
"No, I don't think I will," Yaten said. "I'm fine right here, despite the
surroundings."
For a second, Serena could swear she saw fire in Raye's eyes. Before any more
remarks could be thrown, she quickly jumped in. "Guys, guys! Come on, Raye,
it's his first day here, cut him some slack! And Yaten, you could maybe
apologize to Raye for saying those things, not to mention to all of us also.
Come on, you guys, there's no point in fighting. Truce?" She looked
expectantly to both Yaten and Raye. "Forgive and forget, right?"
Both glanced at eachother warily, before Raye reluctantly stuck out her hand.
"Truce," she mumbled.
But Yaten was a different story. He stubbornly crossed his arms and shook
his head, still smirking. "You wish," he sneered.
Raye's eyes widened momentarily. Serena winced inwardly. Not many dared
to anger Raye Wildresk, much less a male, who were mainly either completely
entranced by her, or else quite afraid. 'Here we go...' Serena thought.
"How... dare... you?! What is your problem?! My good friend Lita here kindly
offered your brother a seat amongst us, not you! Yet you choose to sit here
with him, but first dissing us right in our faces! Then another one of my
friends offers peace between us, and I (though reluctantly) agree, but you
are still an arrogant--"
Lita quickly stuffed a small bit of sushi in Raye's mouth, an efficient amount
to make Raye choke. The tall brunette smiled sweetly at Yaten and Taiki. "Guys,
maybe it would be a good idea for you to sit somewhere else today. We're not
getting off to a, er, good start."
"That's an understatement," Andrew mumbled. WHACK!
Yaten glowered at Lita.
"Or... we... could move... instead..." she said, looking at him unsurely.
He gave no reply, but simply picked up a piece of sushi. "What is this?"
He gingerly sniffed it. "You call this sushi?! Even I can make better stuff
than this! Poor excuse for sushi..."
"Ohh..." Andrew said under his breath, watching this verbal match with
interest. "Dis..." This time, Amy whacked him.
Lita clenched her fists and forced a smile. "Listen, it's been a pleasu--
well, it's been nice--well, I'll see you around school sometime." She looked
to her closer friends. "Guys, I'm going to move, you know, over there." She
packed up her homemade Japanese lunch and left.
Raye sent daggers at Yaten. "Look at what you did! You drove away one of
my friends!"
"I did not," Yaten said coolly. "She chose to move herself."
"Your attitude drove her away! I don't see how your brothers can stand being
with you every day! I wouldn't be able to stand it!"
He shrugged, then fingered the sushi he took from Lita's lunch. "I don't see
how you guys can stand being with her," he spoke to Serena and Amy. He
continued in a mocking sort of voice, "I wouldn't be able to stand it!"
"That's it!" Raye stood up, pushing up her sleeves. "You've done it! You've
crossed the line! I've had it! Think you can take me?! Come on!"
Yaten merely looked up at her, chuckling. "You can't possibly be serious,
can you?"
"Dead serious!" Raye said, fuming. "I mean it! I'm gonna send you home crying
to your mommy!"
Seiya and Taiki suddenly looked up at Yaten, who narrowed his eyes. "You don't
know what you're talking about," he murmured silkily before hurling his Fanta
soda pop at her.
Raye emitted a loud shriek as she was suddenly drenched in the sticky, sweet,
strawberry liquid. All around her were gasps and laughter. She looked down at
herself, and before she knew it, she threw a punch right at Yaten.
Yaten let out a sudden groan, holding his left cheek. He opened his mouth to
say something, but closed it as Raye advanced on him.
"Yeah..." Raye said, glaring. "How do you like that, huh? You don't know who
you're messing with! Look at me! I'm filthy! Better believe that I'd do
something about it! I'm not gonna just sit back and let some GUY insult me and
pour soda on me!" Yaten was staring at something past Raye though, Serena
noticed. She looked the same way. 'Uh oh...' But Raye continued, not noticing.
"Don't think I'm some pushover girly girl you can walk right over! I'm not a
girl like that! It's not like I wanted to show you around school! I--" Her
ranting ceased when a large hand clapped over her shoulder.
She froze, then slowly turned her head, and was face to face with the school
principal, Principal Lanson. "Ahem..." he cleared his throat. "Ms. Wildresk...
I believe we have a problem here... Please follow me to my office." His eyes
lingered on the livid bruise growing on Yaten's cheek. "You too. Both of you,
please come with me."
~*~*~*~
Serena threw her bag on to the shiny blue counter as she plopped herself on
to a stool. Amy, Lita, Mina, and Darien joined her, while Andrew busied
himself by tying on an apron and looking busily for his notepad.
They were in the Crown Arcade, their beloved hangout, run by Mr. Dayers,
Andrew's father. Andrew and his sister Elizabeth helped out afterschool
and on weekends. Serena and the gang looked here because, not only was it
popular amongst mostly kids and teenagers, they get free sodas. (AN: Ah, I'd
go anywhere for a free soda!)
"Some day, huh?" Lita remarked.
"You said it," Mina replied.
"Need... soda..." Serena groaned as she laid her head on the counter.
"Yeah yeah yeah," Andrew good-naturedly grumbled. "The things I do for
you guys.Be happy I don't charge you."
"You could never charge us," Amy said, pulling out some schoolbooks.
"Anyway," Mina quipped, "your dad likes us."
"It's our daily ritual," Darien said. "We ask for our sodas, you complain
like an old man about you losing profit, and we just drink."
"A regular for me," Lita said, as if she were at a bar. "On the rocks."
Andrew laughed. "Without you guys, Crown Arcade would have a lot more
profit."
"Without us, Crown Arcade would have a lot of extra soda, you skinflint,"
Mina said, quickly taking a Dr. Pepper from her friend.
"We know you love us," Lita batted her eyelashes. Andrew coughed, and turned
away.
"Ahahahaha!" Serena nudged her tall brunette friend. "Lookie there! You've
made Andy-baby blush!"
Lita rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Serena. Maybe we could get you together
with Robert Stevenson someday, eh?"
"Ahhh..."
"Ohohohoho!" Lita laughed. "What's this I hear? A falter in your voice?"
Serena shifted uncomfortably, while Darien, noticing her discomfort, turned
toward the two girls and said, putting a protective arm around Serena, "Not
while I'm around," he said seriously. Serena shot him a thankful smile, while
Lita wondered curiously why Darien had said something like that. Just then,
the arcade doors bursts open, revealing a furious Raye.
'Ooh...' Serena thought as the entire Arcade hushed to silence, all eyes on
the fiery girl before them (well, excuse the 'blip-blip's and the "Oh, ya got
me!" from the viedo games). The small clique braced themselves as Raye sat
on the other side of Darien and next to a small child, who slightly cowered
away from her in fear, clutching his mother's sleeve. Andrew mutely handed
her a soda, which she sipped as the rest of the room still watched her.
Finally, she twitched, and, without a word, spun her stool around and glared
at the whole room. Immediately, conversation started, the clatter of coins
were heard, sounds of joyous children playing videos games filled the room,
and all was back to normal (with the few exceptions of those who quickly
slipped away from the Arcade, scared of Raye).
Raye turned back around in her stool, a sour look on her face. "Stupid
onlookers..." she muttered.
"You OK, Raye?" Lita asked cautiously.
"What happened?" Mina asked, eager for details. "You were absent from class
for the rest of the day, but I saw Yaten in my history class."
Raye swelled like a bullfrog, then launched into full story mode. "What
happened?! I'll tell you what happened! When Principal Lanson dragged us to
his office, he pulled us in one at a time to talk to. Of course, Pretty Boy
got to go first, and he was in there forever! He went in at twelve, and
came out at one-thirty with a disgustingly triumphant grin on his jerky face!
Then I went in, but I had no chance anyway! Pretty Boy poisoned Lanson's
mind already! When I gave him my version of the story, the true version, he
would always say," Raye put on a deep, mimicking voice, "'That's not what
Mr. Kou said.' Honestly! When I was done, he shook his head and said, 'Ms.
Wildresk, I'm afraid this requires some form of punishment.' So then he gave
me three weeks detention and then a long, boring lecture on anti-violence in
schools. Then he called my parents! Do I look like a middle-schooler to you?!
Argh! On top of that, he didn't let me out until just now! Ugh!" she finished
with a groan.
"Whoa..." Amy blinked.
"Three weeks..." Darien said.
"Dang..." Andrew said.
"That's not fair!" Serena protested. "It wasn't even your fault!"
"Yeah, it was that Yaten boy's fault," Lita said bitterly.
"Well, now I wouldn't say that..." Mina said.
"Whose side are you on, woman?!" Raye erupted at the blonde.
"Yours, of course!" Mina squeaked. "But, I mean, you insulted him, too... You
must have said something that touched a nerve, 'cause he seemed really ticked
at a certain point, and that's when he threw his drink at you, and please don't
hurt me!"
Raye clenched her teeth. "He was being a jerk to me the entire DAY!"
"Well, at least you didn't have to show him around the rest of the day," Mina
said.
"Oh, cut the optimistic crap! I have three weeks detention, and my parents are
going to kill me! Not only that, but you wouldn't believe how many people made
menstrual jokes at me because some of that soda got on my pants. Someone even
threw a tampon at me!"
"If it makes you feel any better, Darien and I can go beat him up!" Andrew broke
in, grinning goofily and making a fist.
"You hold, I'll punch!" Darien joked.
"Yeah, right!" Raye said passionately. "Like I'm gonna let two GUYS stand up for
me! Thanks, but I can handle it myself!"
"Aww, come on..." Andrew made a hurt, puppy dog face. "Don't be so feminist."
"Yeah," Darien agreed. "We're just trying to help."
"Some help," Raye growled.
"Maybe you should just ignore him," Amy timidly suggested. "You guys might break
out into another fight, and you might get in trouble again."
"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"
"I know, I know!" Amy said hurriedly. "I'm just saying, maybe he might, uh, pin
the blame on you again!"
Raye sighed, collapsing next to her soda. "I'm never gonna forgive that guy!
Thinks he's so great, what a snob... The entire Kou family must be jerky..."
"Oh, don't say that!" Mina said. "That's prejudice!"
"Well," Amy started, "Taiki is sort of... snooty... He's very competitive, I
think. Doesn't talk, really quiet, you know? He's sort of... weird to me...
Different..."
"Seiya's kind of like that too... He's different... Really different..."
Serena said distantly. "He's really nice, though. Super cute, too."
"Why, thank you," a voice said from above her.
"Eeek!" Serena squealed, falling out of her stool. She looked up to the face
of Seiya Kou, who was smiling. "Oh! Uh, hello."
He grinned. "Thanks for such a compliment."
She blushed. The rest of her girl friends watched with awe and slight envy,
while Darien and Andrew turned away, coughing in embarrassment. Raye, on the
other hand, was glaring.
"Need some help?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer. He took her hand, and
gently pulled her up.
"Uh, thank you," Serena said, slightly breathless. His warm hand had given her a
small shock, and she was surprised from his sudden appearance. She regained her
composure, and asked, "How long were you here?"
"Long enough to hear the important words," he said. She blushed again.
"So, uh, did you happen to find this place? It's a really cool place; lots of
people come here. My friend Andrew," Serena gestured at him, who smiled at
Seiya, "helps out here. His father owns the place, so we hang out here a lot.
Plus there's great video games here, and good food too. Everyone's friendly--"
"Why are you here?" Raye asked, interrupting Serena's nervous babbling. Serena
sighed in relief (and for a breath), blushing in embarrassment for rambling like
that.
"Actually," Seiya said, "I came here to talk to you, Raye."
Raye narrowed her dark eyes suspiciously at him. "About...?"
Seiya sat beside Raye, occupying the seat the small, scared boy had previously
been sitting in. He cleared his throat. "Raye, I'm sorry about what happened
today. I came here to apologize for my brother's actions. He was really out of
line today, and I hope he didn't get you in too much trouble."
"Three weeks of detention, bucko! He landed me in detention!" Raye said angrily.
"I'm sorry," Seiya said sincerely. "I really am. My brother's like that though,
and today he was especially, er..."
"Jerky," Raye filled in for him.
"I suppose that's the word," Seiya agreed. "I'm sorry he gave you so much trouble."
"Why didn't he come here to apologize himself?" Raye asked. "Too good for an
apology, is he?"
"Well," Seiya said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Yaten actually
doesn't know I'm here. Really, I was just walking home from school, and I passed
by here, and I saw you through the window. I just thought that I should apologize
for my brother."
"Why don't you let him apologize himself? He should be the one with three weeks'
detention!"
"I know, and I hope that he does. But if he doesn't, well, that's why I'm here. So,
no hard feelings? I know it's hard; I probably wouldn't forgive him if he did that
to me, but will you forgive him?"
Raye crossed her arms and looked up at him. "Well, I guess so... He's still a big
pain, but as long as he stays out of my way..."
"Go Raye!" Mina cheered. "Atta girl!"
"Just make sure he doesn't do anything like that again, or else I'm going to do
something about it."
"I will," Seiya said, smiling in relief. "Well, my work here is done. I've gotta
go, so I'll see you all in school tomorrow, OK? Bye everyone." He gave one last
smile and began to walk away. Suddenly, he turned back around, and fixed his eyes
on Serena. "By the way, Serena, thanks for showing me around today. I enjoyed my
first day... a lot." He grinned, then waved. "See you later." And he left.
Serena turned pink again, as Raye muttered, "Flirt."
"I thought you weren't 'ever going to forgive that guy'!" Lita said, raising an
eyebrow at Raye. "It's not like you to go against your word, especially in a five
minute time period. You really forgive him?"
Raye snorted into her soda. "Hell, no!"
~*~*~*~
"So, what do you think of the new guys?" Darien casually asked Serena as they
rode home from the Arcade on Darien's bicycle.
"Who, the Kou guys?"
Darien rolled his eyes, smiling. "Who else?"
"Oh, I don't know..." Serena said, gripping Darien's waist so that she wouldn't fall
off. "They're..."
"Yes?" Darien probed.
"You know what I think about Seiya already," Serena said. She was glad that Darien
couldn't see her flushed face. "He's cute, friendly, nice..."
"But the others?" he inquired.
"Well... Yaten seems like a jerk. And Taiki, I don't really know. I don't have any
classes with him." She suddenly giggled. "But they're all really, really cute."
"What, and I'm not?" Darien pouted, looking slightly behind him.
"Oh, you!" Serena poked him lightly in the side.
Darien laughed as he turned into Serena's driveway. "Well, here ya go," he said.
"Thanks for the ride, Darry," Serena said, hopping off his passenger seat.
"No problem," he replied.
"See you tomorrow!" She waved good bye, then entered her house through the garage.
Darien waved back, then dropped his hand, and his smile. "What's up with this?" he
muttered to himself. It was something, something about one of those new guys. He
didn't like this feeling he was getting. He felt like something was about to happen.
Something big and affecting. But he didn't know whether it was good or bad. He
headed back for his home, hoping it wasn't the latter, trying to ignore his uneasy
feeling.
~*~*~*~
Hidden behind a tree and shrouded in the shadows of twilight was someone, watching
Darien through half-lidded amythest eyes. "Darien..." she whispered. "I want you...
Why are you with her? But don't worry, my love... We'll be together yet... I swear
it... We will..." She sighed almost wistfully, then, glaring at the house Serena
entered, turned in the opposite direction Darien had ridden away in. As she did,
she unknowningly dropped something. A notebook, a red one. Stuck to the cover of
it was a nametag sticker. Written in the space of it was, "Beryl McCartney."
~*~*~*~
Ooh! What does the deadly Beryl have planned? Something sinister? And what does
Darien's feeling mean? Will Raye ever forgive Yaten? Stay tuned for chapter four!
Review and email!
~*~Azn Angel~*~