Chapter 4
Serena sighed as she threw her backpack on the floor and plopped down on her bed. It has been a long day for her today and so far, she has made more friends in one day than she had in a long time. As usual, she made some enemies. But this time, she made enemies with most of the female population. It wasn't her fault that Darien chose to annoy her and not them. Serena thought about Darien and how annoying he was. She closed her eyes and an image of Darien's face popped up in her head. With his midnight blue eyes, his ebony black hair, and his built figure… She had to admit that he definitely was not the ugliest guy. But she also couldn't ignore the fact that he was the most annoying guy that she had ever met. She was confused about what he was doing. Was he playing a prank on her? Or did he really like her? She didn't know what to think. She sighed once more and was about to go downstairs for a snack when the phone rang. She walked over to her cordless phone and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey! What's up, girlfriend?"
"Hey, Mina! Where did you get my phone number? It's not listed in the phone book," said Serena, confused.
"Oh, I got it from Lita. I can't believe you didn't give me your number!"
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot that I was going to give it to you after school!" Serena said, immediately feeling bad.
Mina quickly said, "No! It's OK, I was just joking! You know me, always joking around, so don't feel bad."
Relieved, Serena asked, "What did you call for anyway? Not that I mind that you called."
"I have the best idea! You wanna go down to the beach with Lita, Amy and me? It's going to be SO much fun!!!!" She squealed enthusiastically.
"Yeah, sure! But is it okay if I bring my homework with me? 'Cause I have a lot to do."
Mina made a face, even though she knew that Serena wouldn't be able to see it, "I guess so, but what would be the fun in that? You sound kinda like Amy, she loves to study. You gotta swim or play volleyball with us! And check out the total babes!"
"OK…Well, I'll bring it just in case."
"Okay, I'll pick you up right now. Where do you live?"
"My address is 18 Grey Rd."
"Oh, I know where that is! That's the neighborhood with all those big houses, right?"
This time it was Serena's turn to make a face, "Yeah, you can say that." She hated it when people made comments about her father's money. Sure it was great having lots of money to buy things with, but people just didn't understand what her life was like. Serena would give up all of her money if it meant having a normal life, like living in one place for at least more than a year.
"I'll be there in 10! C ya later, hun!"
"Bye." With that, Serena put the phone back to its place and went to search her closet for a swimming suit. She was about to pick a dark blue Nike one piece, but she thought about what Darien would think about it and looked at her red and pink bikini. Wait a sec, who cares about what that jerk thinks? Even with that thought, she couldn't help but pick the bikini. I do NOT care about what he thinks, I just wanna wear a bikini! There are going to be lots of hot guys there! As Serena tried to convince herself that she didn't care about Darien, she heard the doorbell ring.
"Coming!"
Serena flung open the door to find a girl who was listening to a CD, a girl who was reading a book, and a girl who looked as if she had ten cups of coffee. They said their hello's and walked over to Mina's yellow beetle. On their short drive to the beach, they talked about all their favorites in color, movies, clothes and movie stars.
When they arrived there, they laid down their beach towels. They stripped down to their swimming suits, when Mina screamed, "Oh my god! SERE, I LOVE YOUR BIKINI!"
"Um…thanks," said Serena, feeling a little uncomfortable that her friends were staring at her. Her top was red with big orange-ish pink Hawaiian flowers on it. It tied around the neck and the back. Her bottom was also red with Hawaiian flowers and it was knotted on both sides of her hip.
"Yeah, I love it! Where did you get it?" Lita asked.
"I got it in Florida when I lived there."
Mina immediately ran off to the volleyball court and Lita jumped into the water to do a few laps. That left Serena and Amy to talk and read.
"So, Serena, you moved here from Massachusetts, right?"
Serena nodded, "Yeah."
"I heard that education is really good there. Is that true?"
"Yes, it is. School is definitely harder over there than here, and this school is hard."
"I would love to go to school in Massachusetts. It would certainly be a challenge," Amy said with a sparkle in her eyes.
Serena was about to comment on that when a Frisbee hit her on her right shoulder. "Ow!" Serena yelped loudly.
"Hey, sorry about that, but you really shouldn't be sitting close to me if you're just going to sit there and get hit. I know you want me and you just can't help drooling over me, but safety comes first, Sere," the spawn of Satan himself said, with his "oh so sexy" smirk. He was clad in swimming trunks and was holding a surfboard.
Serena almost growled at Darien. She wanted to scratch that smirk off his face with her newly painted nails. A chipped manicure was only a small price she was willing to pay to get rid of that idiotic smirk. "Go away, Darien, I'm not in the mood to laugh my ass off." Then, seeing the water drip down his well-toned six-pack, she thought maybe him being here wasn't so bad after all. Wait a second! What the hell was she talking about? This is DARIEN! I don't like him! Hell, I don't even think he's hot!
While Serena was trying to win a battle against herself, Darien noticed the way she was looking at him earlier. He smirked even more, if possible. She was checking him out. If he continued with his flirting, she would eventually give up and he'll win her over. Darien saw an image of him and her on the beach, alone and eating dinner. He saw her feeding him chocolate-covered strawberries with whipped cream…Yes, he definitely couldn't wait until she was his. Waking up into reality, Darien said, "Ouch, must you wound me so, Sere? And I actually thought you were enjoying my presence just a minute ago." He kept his smirk on his face as Serena blushed a deep red hue.
"Maybe you're hallucinating," Serena scowled.
Darien laughed at her bad attempt to cover the fact that she was, indeed, "checking him out".
Serena frowned, "Come on, Amy, let's go and get something to drink."
"Um…ok…" Amy said, uncomfortable. The sexual tension was almost palpable. Amy wondered why Serena and Darien didn't get along. It was obvious that they were both highly attracted to each other. Amy looked at Darien. She was probably the most studious person in the school and didn't notice boys much, but even she could see why Darien was the most popular and desired guy in the school.
Serena grabbed Amy's hand and was about to walk away when Darien grabbed her arm and said, "Hey, wait a sec, I was just joking before." He mentally slapped himself for almost allowing her to get away.
"You know Darien," Serena mockingly said, "you gotta stop grabbing my arm. I know you can't keep your hands off of me, but I gotta go now." She almost laughed out loud at the surprised look on his face. She was amused that he was getting a taste of his own medicine. Anyone could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't expecting that kind of response from her.
He recovered moments after and smirked, "You're right, I just can't get enough of you. That's why you should go out with me and find out how good my hands are at touching other places besides your arm." He wiggled his annoying dark eyebrows suggestively at her for the second time that day.
Serena blushed at his sexual innuendo but put a disgusted look on her face, "Ugh, as if!"
At that moment, a blonde wearing a skimpy bikini came up to Darien and put her arms on his waist and stomach, "Hey, Darien. Are you busy? 'Cause I was wondering if you wanted to…" She whispered the rest in his ear. She was trying her best to look seductive with an enormous amount of make up piled on her face.
Darien smirked, turning his head to look at her and said, "Actually, I'm kinda busy at the moment. Maybe some other time, Shirley."
The blonde pouted, "It's Sherry." Feeling rejected and embarrassed, she walked away to another target. That target was unfortunately Andrew. Darien smirked and waved while Andrew kept sending him a helpless look.
Darien turned back to where Serena was, only to find sand. Damn! He turned away for only a second. He'll have to find her later. With that promise, Darien walked toward Andrew to save him from that Shirley girl.
Serena was thoroughly disgusted that she couldn't stop herself from blushing whenever he flirted with her. He was only trying to get her to out with him so that she can be another notch on his belt. She couldn't help but feel attracted to him no matter how much of a player he was. She shook her head, she wasn't attracted to him. She has known him for only ten hours at the most! Besides, she would only get hurt in the end.
"Serena, are you okay? Serena?"
Serena snapped out of her thoughts by Amy shaking her shoulder lightly.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking about how much homework I have to do tonight," she lied, "so I better go. Can you tell Lita and Mina that I went home early? I'm really sorry about this, Amy." She felt bad about lying to her new friend, but she just wanted to go home to her room and her bed.
Amy smiled, "It's okay, Serena. At least this school has someone other than me who cares about her studies. Don't feel too bad, Lita and Mina will understand. Wait, scratch that. They won't be hurt, but they probably won't understand why you want to do your homework." Amy giggled.
"Thanks a lot, Amy. I really appreciate it. I'm just gonna catch a ride on a bus. I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"
"Sure, bye, Sere!"
Serena waved a good bye and ran all the way to the closest bus stop. She sat on the bench and wondered about Darien. She tried to think about something else other than Darien, but her mind kept wondering back to him. Damn him, she thought. She hurriedly got on the bus when it arrived, and thought that maybe Darien really did like her. But then she saw the blonde who attached herself to Darien a while ago when she looked out the window and thought, maybe not. This was confusing for her and she didn't know what to think. Maybe if she slept on it things would be clearer.
