Sometimes
by Phantasy Star
--------------------

Chapter Seven


"I'm not going to kidnap you," Darien chuckled, "Come on, hop on."

Serena forced a smile, "Thanks."

She saw a flicker of annoyance and hurt in Darien's eyes as she stepped
in cautiously, as if she was afraid of him.

"You live near Fairview Park, right?" Darien said, "Just tell me where
to turn when we get near your house."

"Okay," Serena said as she pulled the car door shut.

Darien stepped on the gas pedal.

"I haven't seen you in a while," he said.

"We haven't run into each other that much lately, I guess..." Serena
lied. Did he know she'd been avoiding him?

"Yeah..." Darien said quietly.

She forced herself not to ask him about Ann. What would he think if she
did ask him? Maybe he'd know she was jealous.

Wait, when was she jealous?

Serena shook her head and tried to clear her mind. Finally, she couldn't
resist anymore.

"Ann tells me you guys are going out," she blurted out.

"Yeah," Darien said.

"I'm really happy for you two," Serena said, "I mean, Ann's a great girl
and... and... and you guys make a cute couple."

Darien's voice gave nothing away, "You think so?"

"Sure," Serena said, "And Ann... I'm glad you decided to give her a
chance..."

She paused, "Oh, turn right here. Third house to the left."

Darien nodded and turned into the driveway of her house.

He pulled the car to a stop, "Here we are."

"Thanks, Darien," Serena said as she pushed the door open, "I'll see you
around."

"Okay, Meatball Head," he said with another nod, "G'night."

She waved one more time before disappearing into the house, and watched
as Darien drove off into the night.

* * *

Darien sat down at the counter and put his hands around the black coffee
his friend had put down in front of him.

"I made this five minutes ago," Andrew said, "May have turned cold.
Where were you?"

"Dropping off Ann at school..." Darien said.

Andrew sighed, twirling his towel around with his index finger, "Darien,
can I ask you a question?"

He nodded, "Sure."

"What the heck are you doing?"

Darien looked up at his blond friend, "What do you mean?"

"This!" Andrew exclaimed, "Being deliriously in love with Serena and
then going out with someone else two weeks later. What are you trying to
prove?"

"I'm not trying to prove anything," Darien said quietly as he took a sip.

"Are you happy?" Andrew asked.

"Does it matter?" Darien countered, "At least I know someone cares about
me enough to want to be with me."

Andrew shook his head, "You can't give up on Serena so quickly, not if
she's the one you really want."

Darien stared at his coffee, "What can I do when I'm not the one *she*
wants?"

Andrew hesitated. He was right.

"I don't need Serena..." Darien continued, "I don't need anyone."

* * *

"I can't believe it!" Raye exclaimed, "You sure?"

Serena nodded dejectedly.

Raye sighed, "Wow... You... you okay?"

Serena glanced at her friend, "Of course I am. What does them being
together have anything to do with me?"

Raye almost laughed, "Come on, Serena, don't joke around now."

"I'm serious!" Serena exclaimed, "I don't *care*! Why should I care?
It's not like I want him to be *my* boyfriend!"

Raye rolled her eyes, "Okay, I get it, Serena. Darien being with Ann is
driving you crazy."

"No it's not!" Serena protested, "I'm happy for them! It's great. I
mean, they are so totally made for- But still, TWO WEEKS!"

Raye blinked, shrinking back in fear.

"Two weeks," Serena repeated as she held two fingers up, "That's how much
I'm worth. You'd think he'd at least sulk for one more week. Three
weeks I can deal with. Two and a half, even. But two weeks! Isn't
that just a little soon?"

"Sure," Raye said, "If a guy said he liked me and then took it back after
less than 30 days, I'd get insanely jealous of whoever followed after."

"I'm not *jealous*," Serena retorted, "I'm... I'm... I'm worried about
Ann."

"Of course you are..." Raye muttered.

Serena frowned, looking at the ground.

"Darien's such a jerk," she said softly as she kicked a tiny rock on the
ground and missed.

Raye sighed, "Yeah... So just think of it this way. It's a good thing
you told him off, because now, you know what kind of a guy he really is."

Serena didn't answer.

"I'm sorry..." Raye said softly.

"I don't like him," Serena said as her voice began to break, "I don't,
Raye, I really don't."

Raye put an arm around Serena and let her friend lean against her, "I
know."

"I mean..." Serena said with a sniffle, "I can't be with him. With
everything that's happened... Evil Prince Darien... him losing his
memory, how we never got along when we were babysitting Jordan and all
that... It's just... It's not meant to be."

Raye frowned, "It's okay, Serena. It'll turn out fine."

* * *

"What happened to the tree?" Ann whispered.

The Doom Tree had turned a dull green colour, with its leaves withered
and branches frail. Any sign of growth had disappeared.

"I don't know," Alan replied flatly, "It was fine a couple of weeks ago."

"Maybe we just need more energy," Ann said.

"Maybe..."

* * *

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Serena stood in her room, mortified as she stared at the calendar,
willing the words written in red ink to disappear, the words "Math Final
Exam".

"It can't be!" she stuttered, "I thought it was next week!"

She backed away from the dreaded calendar and paced back and forth
in her room, wailing, "I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail! I didn't
study at *all* this week!"

She sat down on her bed.

"Okay, calm down, Serena," she told herself, "There's still three hours
before the exam. There's gotta be some way that you can... you can...
Hey I know! I just need to find Amy! She'll teach me everything I need
to know in a half hour!"

She grabbed her bag and rushed out her bedroom door, "'Bye mom! I'll
be back by dinner!"

* * *

Darien glanced at his watch as he waited for the green light. He was
almost an hour early.

'Just be cool...' he told himself, 'You'll be fine.'

He sighed. He had applied for a job interview three months ago and
thought that he had gotten rejected. Then he suddenly received a fax
a couple of days before, telling him they'd be willing to see him.

This was the part-time job of a lifetime, a real jump-start to his
career.

Darien blinked.

Something on the sidewalk had caught his eyes. A blonde muttering
angrily under her breath was walking dejectedly down the road.

Curious, Darien pulled over and rolled down the window, "Serena?"

She didn't seem to hear him, indulged in her own thinking aloud.

"That Amy..." she muttered, "How could she not be home right now...?"

"Serena!" Darien called.

"Huh?" Serena said as she looked up, "Oh hi, Darien."

"Something wrong?" he said.

"Everything!" she sighed, "I've got a math final coming up and if I fail
it, I'll get dropped back a grade! And I *know* I'm going to fail it!"

Darien frowned, "What's it going to be on?"

"Really hard stuff," Serena said seriously, "Like... exponents... and
fractions!"

Darien blinked her surprise. Exponents? *Fractions*?

"Um, Darien..." Serena said hesitantly, "Do you think... you can drop
me off at the library?"

He glanced at his watch, "Sure, hop on."

"Thanks!"

* * *

"Okay, here we are."

Darien looked at his watch. He could still make it to the job interview
half an hour early.

"Thanks Darien," Serena said, then bit her lip, not getting out of the
car.

"What's wrong, Meatball Head?" he asked.

"Um..." Serena said, embarrased, "Do you think... do you think you can
help me study for a little while?"

Darien frowned and looked at the time again.

Then he looked at Serena and nodded, "Of course."

* * *

"Now do you get it?" Darien said.

"Yeah!" Serena answered brightly, "You're such a great teacher! Way
better than Ms. H..."

Darien laughed, "Well, I've got to go... Good luck, all right?"

He frowned. He was going to have to be late for the interview.

"Oh no!" Serena cried, "I'm late! I only have ten minutes before the
exam starts!"

"You'd better hurry then," Darien said as he stood up.

"I'll never make it on time!" Serena said, "They may not even let me
write the exam!"

Darien's brows furrowed. He looked at his watch. Then he looked at
Serena.

"I'll drive you to school," he said, "We'll get there before 3:00..."

"Really?" Serena breathed.

* * *

Alan leaned against the sofa in the empty apartment. Ann had gone out
and was supposed to meet her new boyfriend Darien in half an hour.

He stared at a spot on the wall, thinking of Serena.

Since he had arrived on Earth, he had never felt so much pain. Why did
she suddenly leave him?

Of all the girls in the school, she was the only one he was interested
in, but also the only one he couldn't have.

Suddenly, Alan heard a noise in the room that led to the Doom Tree. He
rushed to it and pushed it open.

"Oh no..." he breathed.

The tree had almost turned black, its vines all dead and crumpled in a
horrible mess.

"What am I going to do...?" Alan said softly.

* * *

Darien walked into the arcade with a sigh. It had been a tiring day,
and he still had to meet Ann later tonight. His face brightened when he
saw a certain blonde sitting at the counter.

"Hey, Meatball Head," he said good-naturedly as he sat down beside her,
"How'd you do on your test?"

"Darien!" Serena mumbled as she tried to swallow a huge gulp of
ice-cream sundae, "I did great! I only had to guess twenty-two
questions..."

Darien chuckled, "Good for you."

"Hey, Darien," Andrew said as he came to the counter, smiling when he
saw his two friends together, "How's it going?"

"Not bad," Darien said with a shrug.

"Oh yeah, how was your job interview today?" Andrew asked.

"Job interview?" Serena echoed.

"It..." Darien said, "I'll tell you later. It's not a big deal..."

"Not a big deal!" Andrew exclaimed, "You've been preparing for it for
weeks! This type of big opportunities doesn't come by often, you know."

"But... but you spent the afternoon with me..." Serena stuttered, "Does
that mean...?"

"It's okay, Meatball Head," he said, "I'll just re-apply!"

Andrew looked more surprise than either of them.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Serena demanded.

"Because, like I said, it's not a big deal," Darien said, "Eat your
sundae."

Serena stared at him for a moment, her eyes soft. Why would he do
something like this for her?

Darien quickly looked away, and then stood up.

"Well, I should go," he said, "I'm supposed to see Ann. See you guys
later."

Andrew nodded.

"'B... bye..." Serena said softly, "Thanks, Darien..."

Darien smiled and walked out of the arcade.

Serena turned back to see Andrew grinning at her.

"I can't believe he'd do that for me..." she said softly.

"Me neither..." Andrew admitted, "The interview was really important to
him..."

"Wow..." Serena said quietly.

She stared at the arcade door.

* * *

Darien groaned as he approached his car. Perhaps he shouldn't have done
that. Now Andrew would be convinced more than ever that he still had
feelings for Serena.

And what did Serena think?

"Darien, wait!"

"Huh?" he said as he turned around, "Oh, hi Serena."

Serena gasped, "Boy you walk fast."

He waited for her to regain her breath.

"I..." she said, "I just want to thank you again. For today. And I'm
really sorry you missed your big job interview."

Darien shrugged, "It's all right, really. I didn't even think it was
worth mentioning, Meatball Head."

Serena smiled sadly, "I... I guess I'm just really... overwhelmed. I
didn't think that you'd... you know..."

"Hey, stop it," Darien said, "It wasn't a big deal."

Serena didn't say anything. She just looked up at his face, feeling a
gentle tugging inside of her.

"I..." Darien's voice trailed off as he returned her gaze, both suddenly
mesmorized by each other.

For a second, Serena thought he would move closer and close the gap
between them.

"Um... Ann," she said softly.

Darien blinked, "What?"

"Ann..." Serena repeated, "You were supposed to go see Ann."

"Oh, right!" Darien said, chuckling, "I should go then."

"Yeah," Serena said, "Thanks again, Darien."

He nodded and stepped into his car.

Seconds later, he was disappearing down the street towards the sunset.

Serena stared after him, then with a sigh, turned and walked the other
way.

'Darien...'