June 1985
Rubbing the back of his head sleepily, Darien paused in the doorway of the kitchen to indulge in a cat-like stretch that caused the vivid orange shirt he was wearing to part, revealing that not only had he failed to button it, but that he was tanned a deep brown from spending the majority of his hours outside under the summer sun. His stomach grumbling its need for caloric input, he shuffled into the room and straight to the refrigerator on a hunt for his breakfast, never mind the fact that it was nearly 11am.
"Mornin' sleepyhead," a soft, feminine voice said to him as he swung the door open making various parts of his body react to the sudden chill draft.
"Hey 'Chele," he mumbled around a yawn as he poked about in the fridge searching for the half a grapefruit he could have sworn he'd left in there yesterday.
"Takes him a while to regain full consciousness don't it?" 'Chele asked with laughter in her voice.
"That's putting it mildly," Peter responded in the same tone.
This time the voice registered on his sleep-fogged mind and, amazingly, had the same effect as Celia telling him he'd overslept and was late for school; a sudden spike of adrenaline that flung him into full consciousness quickly. A cold shower had nothing on this reaction. Raising his head to peek over the top of the fridge door, he focused on the relaxed, smiling countenance of Michele sitting at the wooden breakfast table in the kitchen. "'Chele?" he squeaked, his voice hitting notes it hadn't managed in almost four years.
"Amazing deduction there, Sherlock." She leaned forward on the table and pointed a finger at him. "Thought I'd drop by to torture you on your birthday, but Pete tells me you're off to some unsupervised party."
Darien just stared at her, unable to think of a single thing to say, his mind totally absorbed with just seeing her. Her hair hung loose, to fall just past her shoulders, the curls wild and untamed, one stray one insisting on falling in front of her right eye, making her try and brush it back out of the way every few seconds. Her eyes were that blue-gray of a storm tossed sea and looking far lighter than he remembered. Her face was fine boned and completely without make-up from what he could tell. His eyes wandered down the line of her throat to the black silk cord about her neck from which hung a silver ankh - a gift from a friend of hers at school - then lower to the slightly lighter toned flesh revealed by the top of her shirt dipping down just far enough.
He forced himself to stop there and swallowed with some difficulty. He'd realized when she'd visited this past Christmas that he was more than a little attracted to her, much to Kevin's amusement and Darien's dismay, but was positive there was no way in hell she could feel the same. Besides he didn't want to risk messing up the awesome friendship they had by putting the moves on her. Or worse still, having her laugh and reject him.
Peter cleared his throat making Darien snap back to reality and realize that he'd been standing there staring at her for far longer than he should have. She was watching him with amusement in her eyes and a small smile gracing her lips. "Umm, yeah. Bunch of us getting together out at the lake. You're welcome to come. Along," he added quickly when he realized how his offer could be interpreted. "Unless you have other plans of course."
Michele glanced at Peter and some unspoken communication flowed between them. "Nothing that can't wait a day or two. You sure it'll be okay? I mean, I'm probably gonna be older than anyone else there."
"And looking younger," Darien commented as he turned back to the fridge to root around a bit more and finally come up with his prize. Carrying the cellophane wrapped citrus to the counter he retrieved a bowl, unwrapped it and dropped it into the concave container. Then, after fetching a spoon from the appropriate drawer, he topped it with a single spoonful of sugar. Standing at the counter he lifted the bowl and began to eat, not willing to risk the potential physical reaction that sitting next to her might very well cause.
"Younger," 'Chele grumbled. "Don't remind me. It was hard enough being taken seriously when I was 16, now it's a pain in the ahhh... butt." She blushed slightly and glanced at Peter.
He shook his head in amusement and got to his feet. "This works out, actually. I'll look over that data you brought. I'll need a couple days to sort through it anyway. You just relax and have some fun."
"Thanks, Peter, for everything," Michele said to him with all due sincerity.
"Michele, it's the least I can do," Peter told her, then gave Darien a meaningful look that he failed to understand completely, before leaving the room.
"Nice jams there, bub," 'Chele said with a grin once Peter had left the room.
Darien gulped down the remaining grapefruit and quickly cleaned up. The shorts in question were almost a bright as the shirt he wore, done in tie-dyed combo of neon blue, green and yellow. He plucked at them and muttered, "Well, this way I stand a chance of gettin' noticed."
'Chele snorted in amusement. "Dare, you could dress like Kevin in stuffy suits complete with tie and you would still most definitely 'get noticed'."
Darien looked at her in disbelief.
"You really have no idea do you?" She shook her head. "Just wait, once the girls on campus see you... well, lets just say you won't be lacking for female companionship or male if that's your preference."
"You're dreaming," Darien scoffed. "Though for the record I prefer female companionship, as you should damn well know."
'Chele burst out laughing. "I know, as you have regaled me with your exploits for months now. You still seeing Samantha?"
Darien shook his head. "Nah, that pretty much ended when school did. S'okay though, means I'm free to fool around all summer long."
"Sorry I didn't make your Graduation, but four finals in two weeks kinda had to take precedence." She leaned back in the chair and stretched her legs out underneath the table and he noticed that not only were her feet bare, but the toenails were painted bright pink.
Darien shrugged. He had been slightly hurt by her not showing up, but her phone call and the gift she'd sent him had more than made up for her not being there in person. It had only been later that he learned she'd had the ill luck of having finals scheduled at the same time. According to Uncle Peter she hadn't wanted him to worry. "I loved the books, by the way. The quote book with the interpretations is my favorite."
"I told you so," she stated softly, her hand brushing back that stray curl yet again and revealing a ring he hadn't noticed before, one located on her left ring finger and looking like it was worth a small fortune based on the healthy glint of the karats. It also caused his heart to drop to the floor in reaction.
"Yeah, you did. Top ten percent of my class and everything. Who'da thunk it?" Darien forced a smile on his face. Just the thought that she might have made a commitment to someone, anyone hurt far more than he'd ever thought possible, which surprised him as she had always encouraged him in his attempts with the opposite sex. Why should he be feeling ... jealous, of all things, if she was able to find some happiness in a relationship?
"And done a year early, no less. I'm damn proud of you, Darien." She got to her feet and walked over to stand before him. "Hard to believe four years ago you never thought you'd make it this far and now you're heading to college to major in Literature." She leaned back against the counter next to him, close enough for him to smell the bright scent of her and feel the warmth of her arm as it brushed his.
"And minor in Philosophy, lets not forget," he added as he scratched absently at his chest.
"Hmm, make sure to take some Psych courses. Understanding human behavior can be useful for lots of things." Her tone was desert dry and Darien was more than able to pick up on exactly what she was referring to.
"You are not gonna lecture me on that too?" He stepped away from her, very upset that she was suddenly turning into his aunt and uncle.
Her quiet, "Darien," stopped him.
"What?" his tone was more than a little belligerent. It was the one thing that still got him in trouble, the fact that he hadn't ever dropped his forays into thieving, he'd just gotten more careful and caught less often. It was just something that was part of him and though he'd tried to stop a few times, he found he was never really happy without planning some midnight raid or prank. Especially now that he had someone to plan with.
'Chele frowned slightly. "We'll talk later, okay?"
"Sure, whatever," Darien grumbled, figuring on a whole spiel about how he'd have to behave at college and everything. Taking a deep breath he made himself change the subject. "You pack a swim suit?"
"Yes," she answered sounding relieved he'd moved on to a new subject.
"Well, go grab it and a towel. We've got places to be and a party to enjoy." Darien waved her towards the doorway making her grin.
"Yes, master," was her witty comeback as she scooted past him and towards the doorway.
Catching up with her he intentionally ran into her, his hands coming down on her shoulders. "Master? I like the sound of that."
***
Turning off the engine, 'Chele sighed and looked out the windshield at the deep blue waters just barely visible from the parking lot. The area directly before them was a gentle slope covered with tons of trucked in sand to create a man-made beach for visitors to lounge on. Curving about the far side were the broken remains of granite proving that millennia ago the roof of the underground tunnel that the river flowed through had collapsed at this point. She could see steps carved into the walls and as she watched someone jumped off a wide ledge about halfway up the cliff to splash into the water below.
"Hey, you okay?" Darien asked as he leaned against the window. One cooler sat at his feet while the other was still in the trunk of her shiny new Mustang. She'd traded in the Beetle a few months ago in favor of something with air conditioning. He had to admit that, for a girl and all, she had great taste in cars. He'd been drooling over this model for a while now, but hadn't managed to scrounge up the money needed to buy one for himself and probably wouldn't be able to for quite a while. Even with a scholarship most of his funds were needed for college.
"Would you believe me if I said I was nervous?" she told him as she turned to look up at him, her hands squeezing and releasing the cushioned steering wheel.
"Nervous? What the hell for?" Darien couldn't imagine her being nervous in any situation much less this one, but he could tell by the look on her face that she really was.
"Well, these are your friends. You've known them for ages and I'm a complete stranger to them. What if they don't like me? What if..."
"Stop right there." He set a finger over her lips silencing her. "There is little chance the guys won't like you," He looked her over and was rewarded with a sudden reddening of her cheeks, "though the gals might have to deal with a few jealousy issues at first." He chuckled softly and removed his hand from her lips to play with a curl. "This should be amusing, ain't none of them gonna be prepared for you."
"Oh, like that helps at all," she complained with a grin.
He opened the door and held out a hand, which she took and slid out of the car; stuffing the keys in her pocket she tipped her head back to look up at him. "Come on, it's my birthday and I wanna have some fun."
"And when don't you manage to have fun?" she asked as she moved past him and to the trunk where she grabbed not only the second cooler but the oversized towels that had been tossed in as well. "I think I'll leave the blanket for now. We can always come back for it later."
A sudden shout of, "Yo, Fawkesy, what's the hold up?" drew Darien's attention away from watching 'Chele to the countenance to one of his best friends and inevitable cohort in pranks down about the town.
"Yo, yourself John-boy." Darien grinned looking forward to this upcoming introduction. He heard 'Chele shut the trunk and seconds later appear at his side with the smaller cooler in her hands, but Darien was watching John whose eyes widened as they locked on Michele.
John actually stopped in place, blinked several times, rubbed his eyes and returned to the shocked staring, which made Darien chuckle. Bending down he picked up the cooler and, with 'Chele beside him walked towards and then past his friend who did nothing more that turn about and continue to look at them in complete disbelief.
As they stepped off the hard packed dirt that was the parking lot and onto the sand 'Chele bumped Darien with an elbow. "Uh, is your friend back there, okay?"
"He will be," Darien assured her and led her to the group of about 20 teens just about evenly divided between guys and girls that had taken over one section of the beach. As they approached several of the group broke away and came over to the pair and relieved them of the coolers, carrying them over to the grassy picnic area where all the rest of the food and libations were. Darien could tell they were all curious about 'Chele and began the introductions, knowing that she would commit both face and name of everyone to memory the first time. Well, except for the twins, maybe. Even Darien sometimes still failed to call them by the correct names.
"Well, well, Pizza, I guess you lose that bet after all," the raven-haired, blue-eyed Rich said as his eyes wandered over 'Chele.
'Chele turned her now confused gaze on Darien. "Bet? Care to explain?"
"Uh, no?" Darien replied suddenly feeling more than a bit sheepish. Was it his fault no one believed him?
"Pizza, here, didn't believe you were real," Rich explained, hooking a thumb at the disbeliever in question. "He was convinced you were some fantasy chick cooked up by Fawksey's vivid imagination."
Pizza rushed to defend himself. "Hey, those photos he keeps showing everyone are just too perfect. Look like ones that come with a wallet or picture frame."
"Good lord, Dare, what have you been showing them?" 'Chele asked in exasperation. "Please tell me it wasn't those fancy shots the admin made me get for that science rag? Please?"
"Maybe?" Darien ducked his head and refused to meet her eyes. Personally he'd thought those photos were great and he'd even bought a couple copies of 'that rag;' an obscure, to him, science journal that had interviewed several of the top science students in the US for an article titled, The New Faces of Science. Kevin had made the cut as well, which Uncle Peter had been joyous about, but Darien had panned.
Darien had been thrilled to finally show his friends pictures of the girl he'd been talking about for years, only to have not a single one of them believe him.
Laughter erupted from the group, causing Darien to turn a brilliant crimson and try to fade back into the scenery until 'Chele finally took pity on him. "It's all right, though it does make me wonder exactly what you have been fantasizing about."
"'Chele!" Darien squawked in total mortification, hoping it wasn't obvious that she'd been the target of more than one fantasy and dream of his lately.
"Get over it, D," Pizza ordered as he sidled in between the two. "So, according to Fawkesy you're in college with his geeky bro." He gave her the once over making Darien's blood boil, but since 'Chele said nothing he held his temper.
"Yep, though not the same courses. I just finished my undergrad studies and will be heading for grad school come fall," 'Chele told them, not quite realizing the effect her words would have.
Darien had to clap John on the back when he went dead still and seemed to forget to breathe. Then her simply spoken statement sank in. "Wait you graduated?"
"Yes. No big deal. The ceremony was just a formality since I've been doing grad work for two semesters. I was supposed to be working on a research project for part of the summer, but they had problems securing the lab time at the last minute." Darien and several others just stared at her. "What?"
"Damn. You really are that smart," Rich commented in a hushed voice.
"You say that like it's some kind of contagious disease or something," 'Chele said in irritation.
"Whoa, hold on. Kevin they can rag on, you they won' ... or else." Darien looked about at his friends. He was certain that if they gave 'Chele even half a chance they'd quickly learn she was nothing like Kev and his geekoid friends.
Rich raised his hands in surrender. "Hey man, just making an observation. No one that cute can be all that bad." Janice smacked him one on the arm and proceeded to berate him about his comment, making it plain that she was his girl, but wouldn't be for much longer if he kept crap like that up.
Pizza cleared his throat and offered up a new topic for consideration. "Can we get this party started? We have a birthday to celebrate," He gave Darien the once over, "and a birthday boy to deal with."
Darien hesitated exactly one second and took off at a run with a muttered, "Oh crap." and half the kids hot on his heels. He stood little chance of escaping and they quickly cornered him, dragged him to the lake and tossed him in.
