Serena sat with her friends at the lunch table outdoors, discussing the dance. She couldn't believe that the day had finally come. She would actually go to the dance with Darien Shockcor. At least she wouldn't be alone. She was glad that she got Darien to get Andrew to ask Mina to the dance. She wouldn't have to suffer all alone. But then again, Mina would probably be too busy drooling over Andrew to give her the support that she would definitely need. She wondered if it was too late to back out…
"OH MY GOD! This is the moment we've all been waiting for!"
"Stop being so overdramatic, Mina! Besides, no one wants to lose their hearing right before the dance," Lita rolled her eyes.
"Sorry," said Mina, bouncing up and down with joy, "but I'm like, SO excited! I just CAN'T believe I'm going to the dance with Andrew!"
The girls all rolled their eyes together.
Amy spoke up, "Mina, you've told us that a million times already."
"No, only like, 10 times…"
"I know," said Amy, "I was just merely using a hyperbole because that is how many times it felt like you said it."
Mina looked confused, "Hyper what?"
"Nevermind," the girls all chimed in together.
Mina looked at them for a while before turning to Serena.
"Rena, we are going to be the talk of the whole entire school!" She squealed.
Lita looked at Serena wistfully, "You are so lucky, Serena! Darien is so perfect."
"I totally second that!" Mina said excitedly.
Serena was getting sick of people telling her that she was so lucky to be going with Darien. Why was it such a big deal anyway? He was just a guy who has good looks. That shouldn't make him perfect. Looks didn't really mean that much to Serena. Well, looks did matter, in reality. Of course, if Darien was REALLY ugly, she would reconsider going to the dance with him, but she didn't need him to be hot or even good-looking. That was just an added bonus.
"Hello? Rena?" Serena snapped back to reality and found herself looking into a pair of big, blue eyes.
"AH!" She screamed. "Don't do that!"
Mina giggled, "Sorry. I was just asking you if it was all right if Andrew and I went to your house before the dance so the four of us could get there together."
Serena didn't even stop to think.
"Yes! I mean…That's all right." It was more than all right. She could skip the awkward silence part with Darien and they could just go to the dance quickly without him making her uncomfortable by flirting with her. She didn't want him to flirt with her. He flirted with her because it brought him some kind of sick pleasure. It was definitely good that Darien won't have time to flirt with her…right?
Mina squealed again even louder, "THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!"
He sat with him friends at a round table with his friends. As usual, they were talking about girls, football, food and girls. Today was the big day for him and Serena, but lately he had been stressed because of his friends. Darien was sick and tired of being the biggest player in this school. He wanted Serena to be comfortable around him and trust him. But he couldn't get her to do that unless his friends stop treating him like the pimp of all pimps. He sighed and ran his hands through messy hair. He definitely needed a smoke.
"Oh man, Dare, you've got yourself quite a catch," said Jake, patting Darien on the back.
"Hey, dude," said Andrew, snickering, "have you thought about what you're gonna do with her after the dance?"
The guys, all grinning, looked at Darien expectantly. Darien raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair.
"Aw, come on, man! Don't tell me you haven't thought about it!"
Kevin chuckled, "When does Darien not think about sex?"
Darien forced back a rude comment and put on a smirk.
"Hey, I never kiss and tell."
At this comment, there were boo's and aw's going around the table, making everyone in the cafeteria turn their heads in Darien's direction. After they saw whose table it was, they returned to their businesses.
"Since when does Darien Shockcor never kiss and tell?" Kevin smirked, seemingly very amused at the idea.
"Since he found out that his girlfriend is a total reject." A mocking voice sounded from behind Darien, forcing him to turn around.
"Hello, Rachel. I hope you are well?" Darien asked with a monotonous voice.
"Thanks, sweetie! I'm fine," said Raye, not noticing that he addressed her not by her nickname as she seated herself in his lap.
Darien sighed and inwardly rolled his eyes. This girl was like a leech; she attached herself onto him and wouldn't let go for the love of her life. This was a girl who didn't get the point very fast. He ran his hand through his hair. At this rate, he would not have been very surprised if he was completely bald by the age of thirty.
Chad gave her a sarcastic smile and said, "Why Raye, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought you were jealous!"
Snickers were heard at the table and were soon turned into coughs when she narrowed her malicious eyes at them.
"If you think that I am jealous of that style-less freak, then you seriously need to get your heads checked. So," said Raye, turning her eyes onto Darien, "Wanna make out with a real woman?"
Darien clenched his jaw and stared her down with hard eyes.
"Sure. In fact, I'm going to go find her right now."
He suddenly stood up, making Raye fall flat on her back on the cafeteria floor with a screech. The whole cafeteria became silent, staring upon Darien and Raye. Leaving his friends staring at his back, Darien grabbed his football letter jacket and backpack and walked out of the room.
"Smoking isn't good for you, you know," said Serena as she walked toward Darien. He was leaning on his car with his jacket flung carelessly on the hood of the car. He took a long drag and exhaled, flicking the cigarette with his finger. The ashes fell on the pavement of the parking lot. Turning his full attention toward her, he smirked.
"Don't worry about it, I'll remember to use a breath mint when we make out in my car this afternoon."
Serena rose an eyebrow. "And what makes you think that's ever going to happen?"
"Come on, Sere," said Darien open his arms wide, "you know you've been dreaming about this moment ever since you met me."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Darien." She took a place by his side and leaned on the car.
"Well," he grinned, "it does help me sleep at night, knowing that you are in your bed dreaming about me being naked." He grinned even further at the reaction he received. He knew that he at least planted the thought in her mind when he saw her bright pink cheeks.
"I guess I won't say anything then. I don't want to burst your little bubble." Her face seemed to be returning back to its normal color. Instead, it showed a look of concern. "I didn't know you smoked."
"I don't." He put the cigarette up to his lips and took another drag.
She stared at him. "If you call lighting a cigarette, putting it in your mouth, inhaling and then exhaling NOT smoking, then you are in need of serious help."
Darien stared back. "Well, I don't usually."
Serena gave him an amused smile, "You're doing well for a first-timer."
Darien chuckled. "I meant, I only smoke when I'm stressed."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Stuff." He turned his head back to the front and stared off into space.
Serena gave him a questioning look and repeated, "Stuff?" When he didn't say anything back and took a puff of the cigarette, she took his other hand in her own. This caused him to turn his head and look at her, surprised. "You can tell me. Besides, it's not like I'm going to go and tell all your friends, so…what do you mean by 'stuff'?"
He shrugged. "Stuff, you know, like…school." He gave her his infamous smirk. "It's not easy being the king of the school."
Serena agreed with him, sarcastically and feigned an understanding look. "Oh, of course." The corners of her mouth turned up.
"And the hair. Do you know how long it took for me to get it this messy?"
"No, how long?" asked Serena, pretending to care.
"Five years." Darien shook his head, "Can you believe it?"
"NO! Really?" Serena feigned shock.
"Yeah. Yeah," said Darien shaking his head again while looking at the ground.
"I mean, this look," he said, turning fully around for her to get a good look, "no one except for me can pull it off, don't you think?"
Serena rolled her eyes and laughed, "Sure."
"And it took me years to perfect this 'smoldering' look," said Darien as he gave her his smirk.
"Well, I guess you still haven't finished yet. It's no where near perfect."
"Really. Experience tells me the opposite." Darien dropped the cigarette after taking a few long drags and grounded it on the pavement with his shoe. He took out a pack of cigarettes and started to take another one out when Serena's hand reached out and snatched the pack from his hand.
"Tell me what's really up."
Darien leaned back on the car and turned his head towards her. "Serena."
"Yeah?"
Darien opened his mouth to begin, but quickly snapped it shut. He tried again. "Do you, do you…what do you think of me?"
Serena looked up at him, confused. "What?"
"I mean," he paused to sigh. Dragging his hand through his hair, he looked down at the ground. "What I mean is, what kind of person do you think I am?"
Serena didn't say anything for a while. "I think, that…I think that you are egotistical and chauvinistic and definitely a playboy."
At hearing this, Darien shut his eyes tightly.
"But," she began again. He opened his eyes and raised his head.
"But, I also think that you're an okay person underneath all that. You're just afraid to show it because you're worried about your reputation. Which is wrong, by the way." Serena crossed her arms and leaned on the car, looking up at the sky to avoid his smug smile.
"Aww, Sere, I knew you were in love with me."
"Hey! I never said anything about that!" She slapped him lightly on the arm as he laughed.
"Oh, and Darien?"
"Yeah?"
"Andrew and Mina are coming over to my house before the dance so we can all get there together."
Darien stood silent and took the information in. He was definitely going to kill Drew. He was going down.
"Um…Darien? Hello?"
Darien focused back to Serena. "Uh, yeah, that's great." Drew was going to pay.
Serena was finally done curling her hair into long loose curls so that they reached her back. At least her bare back would be covered. She applied red lipstick and also black eyeliner and mascara to make her eyes look smoky. She walked in front of the mirror and took in her appearance. She wondered how in the hell she ended up buying this dress. If it weren't for Mina, she would have never even looked twice at this dress before moving on to a more suitable one.
The dress was made of brilliant red satin which sharply contrasted with her skin. It only went down to her knees with the wavy hem of the dress making an upside down V with the tip of the upside down V on her right thigh. It was a halter dress with a very thin strap connecting to each of the two triangles in the front and tying at the back of her neck. A corner of one triangle and a corner of the other triangle were connected together and the bottoms of the triangles were carefully sewed to the rest of the dress. This neckline was therefor low enough to show some cleavage.
She was decked in Gucci red satin sandals that were three inches high. The shoes didn't cover her feet at all except for the two narrow straps on each shoe, one over her toes and the other around her ankle. To finish off the look, she put on a choker that was made out of tiny, square-shaped diamonds joined together, a "little" gift from her grandmother on her sixteenth birthday.
*Ding dong*
"Just a second!" Serena yelled from her room. She ran down the stairs, trying her best not to trip with her shoes. When she made it down without any injuries, she opened the front door to reveal Andrew and Mina.
"Hey guys! You guys look really nice."
"Hi! Thanks, but you look fantastic! I knew that dress was the right one for you!" said Mina as Serena closed the door behind her and Andrew. Mina was clad in a sparkly, black tube dress that flared at her knees and a pair of opened toed, three-inch heels. The dress sparkled because of the hundreds of shiny black beads embroidered into orchids at the bottom of the dress. Her hair was put up into a messy bun at the top of her head. A fake orchid was secured on the side of her head near the bun. She looked nervous standing next to Andrew Taylor, the second hottest guy in the school.
"Whoa," said Andrew, staring at Serena a bit before he noticed that Mina was giving him looks, "but Mina, man, I mean, woman, you look even hotter!" Andrew finished, with a nervous laugh. He wore what any male would wear to a semi-formal, a suit. Not quite as formal as a tuxedo, the suit was black with a white shirt that was not tucked in and had the first three buttons unbuttoned.
"Wow, Rena, you're house is incredible," said Mina with awe.
"Yeah, wait until you see her car," said Andrew, looking as if he wanted to go see it again.
Serena resisted a smile, "Do you want to drive my car to the dance?"
Andrew let out a yell and hugged Serena tightly. "ALL RIGHT! Man, uh…I mean, woman! YOU ARE THE BEST!"
"But you gotta wait till Darien comes."
"Okay!" said Andrew, letting go of her. He looked as if he was a little child on Christmas morning.
*Ding dong*
"YES! LET'S GO! PORSCHE, HERE I COME! YEAH BABY!"
Mina and Serena just laughed at this while Andrew flung open the door and almost knocked Darien over.
"Whoa, man, what's up?" Darien looked a little confused dressed in a white button up shirt with the top three buttons unbuttoned and the buttons at the wrists unbuttoned. But unlike Andrew, he was only wearing black suit pants and not the jacket. He looked comfortable but formal enough. The button up shirt wasn't just a plain white dress shirt; it was decorated. He also had on a choker. It was just two black strings with a round silver coin about the size of a quarter. The coin had a bumpy surface and looked ancient. His hair was unruly as usual. When he saw Serena, he froze and just stared. His mouth formed a "wow".
"Andrew, the dance starts in fifteen minutes, we still have time left," said Mina. "Besides," she winked, "we have to be fashionably late!"
"Drew, you don't wanna mess up our rep, right?" asked Darien as he snapped out of his stupor, pretending to be serious. At this, Andrew's shoulders drooped.
"Come on guys," said Serena, "let's just amuse Mina, okay? I have to find the car keys anyway. It's probably buried somewhere in my room."
Andrew perked up, "Want me to go with you?" At this Darien turned his head sharply to Andrew.
"Wanna get beat up?"
"Okay…nevermind…"
Serena glared at Darien. "Be nice."
"Who me?" asked Darien, looking innocent.
"Hey, Rena, do you mind if I get a drink?" Mina wondered into the kitchen.
"Go ahead," said Serena. She turned to Andrew and said, "I'll go get the keys right now." She walked up the stairs, oblivious to the boys staring at her back.
"Dude, Rena looks hot," said Andrew, still staring at her retreating back.
"Yeah, I know," said Darien, also still staring. Then he actually thought about what Drew just said and whacked him over the back of his head.
"Ow, man! What the hell was that for?" Andrew asked while rubbing his head.
"Don't you all ready have a date?"
"Since when do you care about that kind of stuff?"
"Since you started checking out MY date."
They started to quarrel but stopped when Mina walked out of the kitchen.
"Hey, guys! Look! Pepsi! I haven't had a soda in such a long time!"
"Andrew, I found the keys," said Serena as she walked down the stairs. Mina looked at Serena and waved while she was walking and didn't see the remote control on the floor.
"Mina, watch out!" yelled Serena, seeing the remote from the staircase. It was all ready too late and Mina tripped over it, reaching for the wall as support. Luckily, she didn't fall.
"Phew! That was a close one!" said Mina, giggling. Unfortunately, when she reached for the wall, she had no choice but to reach with the hand with the Pepsi can, smashing the can against the wall. Even more unfortunately, the can smashed into the security system control panel in the wall. A cackling was heard, signaling that something was broken.
"Oh no!" Serena quickly ran down the stairs to the control panel. "My dad's security system!"
Mina looked guilty and apologetic. "Wow, I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry, Rena."
Serena sighed but smiled. "It's okay, it was an accident." Right then, the lights flickered and then went off completely.
"What the fuck?!" yelled Andrew and Darien at the same time.
"Serena, what's going on?" asked Mina, a little frightened. "I can't see anything!" yelled Mina, with a hint of panic.
"I have no idea." Serena said, her voice similar to Mina's. Then, a computerized female's voice sounded throughout the house.
"Security System Lock down."
The four froze. "Uh oh."
AU: I know, I know, it took a REALLY long time, and I'm really sorry about that. I've been way too busy with schoolwork and all these extracurricular activities that I didn't really have time to right this chapter. I really doubt I'll get to the next chapter very soon b/c of the Mid Year Exams. You can definitely expect it to come out in February.
