Chapter 10

"So how does it feel to be Darien's girlfriend?"

"I would hardly call myself that, Mina," said Serena as they continued their search for the perfect dresses.

"Why not?"

"'Cause, well, we haven't even been on a date, which is what couples do and I'm not even sure I like him."

Mina suddenly burst into laughter.

"You're kidding me, right? Oh come on, Rena! Every girl in the school is in love with him! He's practically the king of the whole school!"

"That's especially why I'm not 'in love with him'! Even though he acts like an actual human being once in a while, he still acts like he owns the school." They were total opposites and he got on her nerves way too much.

"That's because he practically DOES own the school. He's gorgeous, the most popular guy and captain of the football team. Jeez, Serena! You are so freakin' blind!"

"No I'm not! If anyone's blind, you are."

Mina looked at her in a matter-of-fact way and said, "Stop trying to deny it Serena, you love the guy and you know it. Denial is not just a river in Egypt."

"Mina," Serena started, aggravated, "I am not in love with Darien, okay? I mean, sure, there's some attraction-"

"Ah hah! So you admit to at least liking him!"

"-and sure he WAS nice this one time, I don't know, maybe he was drunk, but that doesn't mean that I'm head over heels in love. It's just a crush that'll go away in a week. Besides, I have every reason to believe that Darien is incapable of a relationship that isn't based on looks or sex."

"Whatever. Deny all you want. You're going to realize sooner or later."

Serena paused looking through the different dresses on the rack. Maybe Mina was right. Maybe it was something more than a crush. After all, she did feel something different in the air when she was around him. Then again it was probably his bloated ego.

It wasn't until 3 hours later when they had found the perfect dresses for the dance. Serena had wanted to buy a simple, modest dress, but Mina had induced her to buy a dress that exposed more skin. She had no choice but to give in, as she was tired from all the walking they had done in the mall.

Exhausted, Serena lowered herself into the bathtub, letting the warm water wash over while the vanilla scent of the bubble bath wafted in the air. This was something she could definitely get used to. She sank deeper into the tub when all the tension in her muscles released. She closed her eyes and was about to pick up a book when the doorbell rang.

Eyeing the tub filled with bubbles and sighing wistfully, Serena stood up and searched for her bathrobe. The doorbell rang again. Giving up on her search, she wrapped a towel around herself and yelled, "Just a second!" She walked down the stairs and swung open the door. Seeing the person outside almost made her jump in surprise.

"Well, isn't this an interesting position to be in." He was simply hoping to see her face but it turned out he got more than what he bargained for. Seeing Serena in a towel was something he was definitely not expecting to see when she first opened the door.

"Darien! What are you doing here?!"

"I was just in the neighborhood, and a good thing that is, too, or else I would have let someone else ring the doorbell and see you in a towel."

Serena looked down at herself. She flushed a bright red hue and tried to conceal herself behind the door.

"Oh," she finished lamely, trying to change her face back to its normal hue.

"So are you going to invite me in or not?" Darien questioned after getting the reaction he hoped to get, looking thoroughly amused.

"No, why should I?" Serena shot back, still a little angry with herself for giving him the satisfaction of seeing her embarrassed.

Darien grinned mischievously, "Because I have the grade report for our English project."

"Yeah, right. We just presented it yesterday, remember?" She spoke as if she was speaking to a little kindergartner.

"Yes, but she said that the groups who presented that day could pick up their grades after school, remember?" He said, mirroring her tone of voice.

Serena suddenly widened her eyes in realization.

"Now you remember," said Darien as a smirk started to form on his lips.

Debating whether or not letting Darien in her house when she was indecent was worth it to see her grade, she stood at the door chewing her bottom lip. She looked at Darien and narrowed her eyes. He'd better not try to do anything. But Serena knew that he probably would, him being, well, him.

"Fine, you can come in. But only for a sec."

Serena moved out of the way to let him in. Darien looked around her house and whistled in admiration. He didn't really stop to appreciate the house last time he was here because he was too worried about Serena being angry with him. He had no idea she was this rich. Then again, he had no idea about a lot of things about her.

"Nice house, Sere."

"Thanks."

"It's big."

"I know," she retorted annoyed.

"It's huge."

"That's great, now hand me the report."

"Bossy. I like it. It's really sexy on you."

Seeing as she wasn't going to go anywhere like this, she snatched the piece of paper from his hands. She scanned over the rubric. Minus a couple of points here and there, her group got an overall good grade: A-. Not bad at all.

"Okay, I'm done. Leave."

"Wait, before I leave," Darien started with hope in his eyes, "I was wondering if you could come over to my house tomorrow so we can watch a movie or something."

Serena rolled her eyes and said icily, "Let me guess, your house is empty for the night and you want me to come over so you can worm your way into my shorts."

Darien put his hands up. "I just want to get to know you better. You're going to be my date for the dance and I don't know that much about you at all. My intentions are one hundred percent pure. I swear Serena. "

She looked at his eyes for a minute and searched for any kind of sign that would tell her that he was lying. Seeing that he looked truly sincere about this, she thought about what he had just said. It was true. She didn't know that much about him either, except that he was an egotistical, incorrigible, and narcissistic jackass.

"Well, maybe eighty percent pure," he half-joked.

She still looked a little doubtful.

"We're going to be all alone?" It came out more as a statement than as a question.

Darien smirked, "What's the matter, Sere? Afraid you won't be able to resist my charm and sex appeal?"

Serena frowned, "Fine, I'll go. What time?"

Darien couldn't believe his own ears. Did Serena Lovette actually agree to come over to his house? That was almost way too easy. While Darien remained cool on the outside, his mind was doing a happy dance inside. This was probably the first time that he was actually uncertain about himself since he asked a girl to his first date.

"Seven."

"Okay, bye."

"Hey, what's the rush?" Darien asked, confused.

An irritated Serena answered back, "The rush is that I have to get back to my bubble bath before all the bubbles are gone."

"So that would explain the attire," said Darien as he looked up and down her length appreciatively.

Serena flushed again. "You know, you can leave now."

"Mind if I join you upstairs?"

"NO! Now go away!" She said, looking flustered.

"Come on, Sere, it'll be a banging way to spend Saturday night." He looked at her seductively and wiggled his eyebrows.

Serena blushed furiously. Only someone like Darien would come up with a pun like that.

"Go before I change my mind, Darien," she said sternly as she pushed him out the door.

"I'll pick you up at seven."

"Just because I'm a girl, that doesn't mean I can't drive myself," said Serena, peeved.

"No, it's just that you don't know where I live," said Darien, smirking.

Serena searched for what to say and stammered out a retort.

"Shut up." Nice one, Serena, she thought sarcastically.

"You must be losing your touch, Sere."

Serena scowled and slammed the door in his face. The nerve of that idiot!

She didn't even know why she agreed in the first place. So what if they didn't know each other? That didn't stop Darien from getting other girls into bed. It sounded as if he was telling the truth about having pure intentions but she couldn't help doubting him. She had no idea if he got all the other girls to sleep with him that way or not. One thing was for sure, she was not going to fall for him. Ever.

*Ding Dong*

At the sound of the doorbell, Serena went downstairs and opened the door to reveal Darien, decked out in khaki shorts and a white shirt with a Hawaiian flower print, navy button up shirt over it.

"Hey," said Serena, standing at the door.

"You look," Darien started to say but couldn't find the word, "glittery." Great going, you big dope.

"Um…thanks," she said awkwardly. She was wearing a sparkly white halter with low-rise jeans.

"Right…so, ready to go?"

"Yeah."

They were walking to his car, when she suddenly stopped and looked at him.

"Darien?"

"Yeah?"

"Your car is really…glittery," she said dramatically and laughed.

"Aw, come on! I was really trying back there!"

"And all you could come up with was 'glittery'? Nice, Shockcor, real nice."

"I only try my best for the best." He gave her one of his dazzling, knight-in-shining-armor smiles and opened the car door for her.

With a small smile on her face, Serena just rolled her eyes and got in.

"So, what do you want to watch?"

"I want to watch 'A Walk To Remember'."

"Are you serious?" Darien raised his eyebrow. "We are not watching a sappy chick flick."

"I'm dead serious. It's such a sad movie!"

Darien rolled his eyes, "It's such a stereotypical sad ending. Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy finds out girl has leukemia. Girl dies. Boy is sad."

Now it was Serena's turn to roll her eyes.

"Then what do you suggest, Mr. Genius?"

"That's easy. 'Silence of the lambs'." He smirked. Since it was a scary movie, she would have no choice but to seek refuge to him. She will probably hide her face in his shirt the whole time. "It's the ultimate scary movie."

"Figures."

"What? It's a classic!"

"That is so guy of you."

"Thank you."

"Ugh."

Ten minutes later, they decided on a neutral movie. Fast and the Furious. Cars for Darien and Paul Walker for Serena. Serena lay on the couch and Darien sat on the floor near Serena's feet with his back resting on the couch.

"I don't know what you see in Paul Walker. I mean, what does he have that I don't have?"

"He's hot."

"So what does he have that I don't have?"

"Well, there's the fact that he's famous and he can act."

"Whatever. Even I can act better than him."

Serena laughed, "You so can't." She threw popcorn at his head.

"I can too," he said after catching with his mouth.

"You wish," she said, smiling.

"I don't have to."

After watching the movie, or rather bantering through it, Serena decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, where are your parents?"

"They're dead. I live with my aunt. She's at a friend's house." His voice was monotonous and his expression was blank.

Serena didn't know what to say. "Oh. I-I'm sorry." She had no idea that Darien didn't have any parents. She thought that having a dad but not seeing him was bad enough but…

"It's okay. I didn't even know them anyway." Darien redirected the conversation. He didn't want her to like him because he didn't have any parents. He wanted her to like him by his actions only. "So your dad's in the army?"

"Yeah. He doesn't really tell me much about his work though. Army, navy, who knows? Besides, he's not around much. He's too occupied with his work."

"And your mom?"

Serena lowered her eyes. She was hoping he wouldn't ask about her mom.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to," said Darien, sounding concerned.

After a long silence, Serena spoke. "She died in a car crash when I was 12."

"I'm sorry." There was another pause. "I can't imagine how you're feeling, I mean, you actually knew your parents."

She was surprised by how he sounded like he actually cared. It felt good that he sympathized with her instead of feeling sorry for her. Most of the people she met felt pity for her.

"Why did you move here?" Darien steered the conversation in another direction once again.

"My dad. He had to transfer. Again."

"I'm thinking this happens a lot."

"That's the biggest understatement of the year," she snorted.

Then it suddenly struck Darien that she wouldn't be staying here for long.

"How long are you staying here for?" He asked nervously. All he could think about was "what if she moves away before she gets to know me?" and "what if she moves away and I never get to see her again?" All these what if's were floating in his mind, making him more nervous by the second.

"I don't know. For a while I guess. Maybe I'll get to stay for the rest of the school year. I can't wait until college. I get my own apartment then. And I wouldn't have to follow him around."

He inwardly sighed in relief.

"Yeah. I can't wait till college either. What college are you thinking about going to?" Darien asked, hoping that he might see her again in college.

"UC Berkley."

"Really?" Darien was thinking about the application he sent to UC Berkley. "Maybe I'll see you there."

Serena raised an eyebrow. "You're going to UC Berkley? You know, stalking is illegal in all fifty states, Darien."

"Yes, I'm going to UC Berkley. Is that really unbelievable?"

"I just pegged you as the partying type."

"I am. But there's more to me than my six pack and my gorgeous face," he grinned lopsidedly.

"How modest of you," she said sarcastically, but all the while smiling.

"And besides, I decided to spare you the pain of not seeing my sexy body."

"You know that I can't live without you," said Serena with a bored voice.

Darien smirked, "Ah, the truth comes out."

"Maybe we can even share an apartment."

Serena gave him an amused look.

"It's okay if you don't want to share one, Sere. I already know that you can't keep your hands off of me," said Darien, still smirking.

She laughed, "Right…"

The night came to an end and they found themselves standing in front of her house.

"I had fun tonight," said Serena, giving him a small smile.

"Me, too. Mind if I kiss you good-night?"

"Of course." As soon as she finished, he grabbed her waist and crushed his lips against hers. He ran his tongue over her lip and she opened her mouth. Serena moaned, enjoying the feeling of his tongue massaging hers. He broke away and moved down to her neck. Serena closed her eyes and sighed at the sensation. Darien moved on to her ear and lightly nibbled on it. He whispered into her ear, his breath making her shiver.

"I better go before something happens."

Serena opened her eyes to stare into his.

"Besides," he said grinning, "I promised you eighty percent pure intentions, remember?"

Serena blushed.

"See you at school tomorrow, Sere." He gave her a small kiss.

"See you," she said, watching his form walk to his car.

She plopped down on her bed after she got inside. She thought that he would probably break his promise, but he surprised her. She was beginning to like him even more. He actually listened to what she was saying and he genuinely seemed to care. She liked the fact that she could be comfortable around him, well, at least when he wasn't throwing sexual innuendoes at her, and that he could make her laugh. After tonight, she guessed that his careless, King-of-the-World attitude was just a mask to live up to his reputation. Who knows, maybe getting to know him a little more would be worth while.