Fic #3!
Hey everyone! For those who are wondering, no I have NOT
forgotten TGP. I'm working on the 14th and possibly final chapter
as we speak, but I've been extremely busy and WAY too preoccupied
to really have any downtime just for it. I promise to get it you
as SOON as I can.
As for this one, I wrote it a while back, but I did some
revisions and broke it down. It's a Sere/Dar (but for my own
amusementI added the other girls and the gens.) fic and
strictly for fun. If you're looking for drama and angst I
highly suggest you search elsewhere or read "Visible
Barriers" by yours truly! :D
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't want it.
"Camp Kiwachee"
By: Adrial
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com
Rating: PG13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soon.
Objects which littered the cluttered floor
blared the word in their silence. A mocking bird
whisteled its morning tune as if to inform the rest
of the lazy, sleeping world that dawn had approached
and a new day lay before them.
Soon.
A cool frown slowly formed across her somber
face. The rising sun shined rays of warmth but failed
to cool the frozen contours of her expression.
Oblivion welcomed the passing seconds with eagerness,
enjoying how they glided by so quickly, enhancing the
stressful cloud forming in the young woman's impatient mind.
Soon.
Her eyes darted to the blaring clock, widening
slightly at the flourescent message they reflected. A
heavy bag lay across her shoulder, shifting slightly
with her chaste movements.
Absentmindedly, she twirled a lock of midnight hair
between her fingers, tapping her foot in her anxiousness.
Time was of the essence.
Sighing, she dropped the bag dully and craned her
neck to peer up the staircase, barely catching a glimpse
of a shut door.
She grunted and climbed the towering stairwell.
The door loomed inches from her, and she wasted no time
in seizing the metal handle and shoving it open.
"SERENA TSUKINO, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?!"
With a huff, she wrenched the thick comforter from the bed
her daughter lay snoring in.
Groggily, azure eyes peeked open, curious as to
whom was interupting their rest.
Serena, startled, stretched into a sitting position
and covered her ears, "Geez, Mom, can't a girl get her beauty
sleep?" She reached for the comforter her mother was holding
hostage at the moment and pouted as she whipped
it out of reach.
"In that case, you'll be sleeping forever." A chubby
face, sticky with jelly, popped into the room.
"Sammy!" Serena roared and glared at the obnoxious
being her parents liked to call her 'brother.' She was still
negotiating the matter.
"Samuel, leave your sister alone. She has TWENTY
minutes before her bus leaves," Irene threw her "hostage"
to the mysterious wooden floor no one had seen since
Serena had taken over the room sixteen years before.
Occasionaly, however, glimpses of brown peeked out
beneath the heaps of laundry and assortment of
shoes and stuffed animals.
"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!" Shrieking,
Serena shoved her brother out the door, leaped over a
small mountain of magazines and dashed to the bathroom.
At the sound of running water, Irene sighed
heavily and exited the room, calling behind her
back, "Your duffle bag is downstairs!"
"PHANKS MOM!" Her daughters tooth-pastey reply
echoed in the bathroom.
Serena emerged a few minutes later, throwing her
closet open and grabbing an outfit. After nearly falling
on her desk while she hopped into her jeans, she zipped
them up triumphantly and slipped on a tank top. Quickly,
her hands swept over her hair, twisting it into buns
and brushing out the flowing pigtails.
Checking her appearence one last time, she grabbed
a tube of lip-gloss and made a jump for the door.
Over a pan of scrambled eggs, Irene heard the
tell-tale sound of her daugther's feet plopping down
the stairs. Like clock-work, Serena stumbled into the
kitchen, grasped the plate of steaming food from her
mother's hands, and plopped it on the counter to eat
while standing.
"Do you have everything, dear?" Irene sipped her
coffee cautiously.
"Um..." Serena furrowed her brow, "I think so,"
She smiled sheepishly.
"You'd better go back upstairs and grab your
toothbrush," Irene murmured.
"Oh, yeah!" Smacking her forehead, Serena gulped
down the remaining orange juice in her glass and disappeared
up the stairs once again.
"Bye, Daddy, love you!" Placing a kiss on her
father's cheek, Serena ran out the door and down the
sidewalk.
With a glance at her watch, she sighed and relaxed
her shoulders. She had three minutes to spare, and it
would take two to walk the one and a half blocks to
the bus-stop.
As she approached her destination, a blur of
orange greeted her.
"SEWENA! SEWENA!" Simultaneously, a chorus of
screeches deafened her ears as she was trampled by a
herd of squealing pre-schoolers.
Her duffle bag landed deftly on the concrete,
and she smiled over-enthusiastically at the bright
faces peering at her admirably.
"Hey, guys!" She took a moment to greet as many
energetic faces as possible before the honking of a bus
roared above the children's excited conversation.
"Okay, counselors, let's load 'em up!" Karen,
head-counselor of Kiwachee Camp, stood atop a bench and
called order to the bustling group.
Serena returned Karen's cheery smile. As mere
coincidence, she and Karen had bumped (literally) into
each other at the mall one day and struck up a conversation.
Karen informed her of a camp for the Juuban Orphanage
she headed and practically begged Serena to become a
junior counselor.
"You'd be perfect with the kids!" She had said
so exitedly that day.
Not one to let a nice person down--especially a
*begging*, nice person--Serena obliged and two weeks later,
found herself volunteering daily at the orphanage and signing
up to counsel for the first session of Camp Kiwachee: ages 5-7.
At nearly forty, Karen was a young-spirited brunette.
The fine lines of age bordering her eyes creased as she
smiled genially at her newest counselor.
A puff of inky smoke from the bus wafted up Serena's
nose and down her throat, sending her into a fit of coughs.
Frantically waving her hand to disperse the thick smog, she
knelt to pick up her bulging duffle. This year, Karen had
informed her, they had been able to afford a coach bus, but
when the driver came down with the flu, Karen took his place.
Tiny, yet defiant voices argued acrimoniously in the
backround. Frowning, Serena turned to referee the inevitable
kiddie-war. The scene brought her hand to her mouth as
she tried to stiffle a giggle. Her favorite set of
twins, Timmy and Tommy Chai, were quarreling over who
would carry their Blue's Clues suitcase.
Pouting mouths set in a straight line, they glared
heatedly at eachother, all the while tugging roughly on
the smiling face of the ever-lovable Blue.
"It's MINE, Timmy!" Chai twin #1 yelled.
"No, it's MINE, Tommy!" Chai twin #2 yanked the
elaborately decorated suitcase from his brother's hands.
Fearing for the poor suitcase's well-being, Serena
knelt beside the squabbling kids and pulled them apart
gently.
"Timmy, why don't *you* carry the suitcase and let
Tommy hold the pillow and blanket?" She handed Tommy a
matching Blue's Clues pillow.
"But *I* wanna hold the pillow and blanket!" Timmy
stamped his tiny feet indignantly on the ground.
"Alright, then let Tommy take the *suitcase*," Serena
tugged lightly on the handle.
Tommy grinned, exposing his combined 6 teeth, and
reached for the suitcase.
"But it's MINE!" Timmy grabbed the object of debate
and stuck his tongue out at his brother.
Tommy returned the favor and called him what Serena
interpreted as "Boogerbrain."
Attempting to help any further would only exacerbate the
situation, she knew, so she sighed and looked around for
Karen. Her head ceased its journey over the crowds when
a shawdow fell over her.
"Not too good with kiddie-fights are ya?"
Serena froze in her kneeling position. The last
thing she wanted to hear at that moment was that
voice--that mocking, conceited, overly egotistical voice.
As it glided through the air, it swept away her
fun-filled week as a junior counselor along with her
patience. The beginnings of a migraine lurked threateningly
at the back of her head as she turned to face the smug
smirk she knew she would see.
Darien towered over her, his broad shoulders blocking
the blaring sunshine that was earlier beating down on her back.
"I'm handling it, Chiba," She said through gritted teeth.
"That's not exactly what it looked like to me," Darien's
posture relaxed as Serena's shoulders stiffened.
She stood for a moment, pondering a good way
to send him packing, when she noticed his shoulder--more
interestingly, what was hanging *on* it.
"What are you--what is *that*?" She stared accusingly
at him.
He followed her eyes, "Last time I checked, they were
calling it a duffle bag, Meatball Head," He sent her another
sly smile and bent close to the ground where Timmy and
Tommy were screaming at eachother.
"Hey, you two, what's with all the fighting?" The
boys suddenly took notice of the man squatting beside them
and returned their tongues to their mouths.
"Darien!" They leapt at him, knocking him from his
feet. Serena seemed flustered and amused at the same time.
She assumed that the children were too young to know a
total jerk when they saw one.
"I wanna sit by you, Darien!" Timmy tugged his arm.
"No, *I* wanna sit by him, Timmy!" Tommy latched
himself onto Darien's calf.
Serena smiled smugly at him. "I guess I'll let
*you* take care of this battle, Oh Wise One." She grabbed
her bag from the ground and joined the thinning group
of campers onto the bus.
Darien, complete with Timmy&Tommy attachments,
stared at her retreating back, annoyed, and followed as
best he could with the twins hanging from him.
Karen's effervescent face peered from the driver's
seat at Darien as he stepped onto the bus, "Nice to
have you back, Darien. It's been a while."
"You just saw me last week, Karen," Darien peeled
Timmy from his arm so he could remove his duffle bag.
She laughed and closed the door behind him.
"Hey, wait for me! Open up!" A high-pitched voice,
rather pissed of sounding, boomed through the glass doors,
followed by a barrage of banging fists.
Karen ignored the irriated frown of the girl and
smiled affably, "Oh, sorry. I'd forgotten all about you,
Brianna."
Panting slightly, she flipped a section of flaming
hair from her shoulder, "Whatever. Now would someone give
me a *hand* here?"
Karen peered behind the red-faced teen and gasped.
A colony of suitcases and bags were being piled onto the
ground by a bulky man.
"Um...are you sure you need all that for just one
week?" She looked quizzical.
"Of *course* I do," The girl flipped her hair again
and her flashing green eyes connected with the curious
midnight onces that were staring at her.
Her features shifted instantaneously from annoyed
to sultry, "Hell-O, I don't believe we've met," She held
out her hand, "I am Brianna Lawson, but *you* may call me
Bria," She eyed him up and down.
Darien clasped her hand hesitantly, "I'm Darien,
and you can just call me... Darien."
She tilted her head back sharply, letting a rigid
stream of over-exaggerated giggles chop through the air.
"Oh, you're so funny! I just *know* you'll help me
with my bags," She looked pointedly to her trunks,
smiling as he shrugged and descended the steps. The man
loading them on to the ground patted his shoulder and
trotted off.
After removing a pair of sticky hands from her hair,
and sitting Timmy and Tommy in *separate* seats, Serena
moved towards the front of the bus to inquire why it wasn't
in motion yet.
"Hey, Kare, what's the hold up?" She looked at Karen's
smiling face and followed her laughing eyes to the door.
Her hand flew to her mouth. Darien, struggling beneath a
mountain of luggage was attempting futilely to remove a
drooling red-haired girl from his arm.
"You're so *strong* Darien," Brianna grabbed his
left bicep, trailing her manicured fingernails along it.
When he heard a snort from the bus, Darien's eyes
flew to the door. The ever humored Serena was desperately
attempting to contain her laughter. She turned away from
his agitated gaze and choked on a supressed giggle.
"You wanna give me a hand here?" He asked.
Serena allowed a small splash of laughter to escape
and jumped from the bus, "Why doesn't your new friend here
help you out?" She eyed the strange girl incredulously.
Brianna glared at the intruding girl, viewing her
rumpled tank-top and jeans critically.
"You *must* be the bag-girl," She pointed to a
remaining trunk, "You may get that one there. Pardon me if
I forget to tip you," With that, she strolled past a gaping
Serena onto the bus.
A wave of heated crimson washed over Serena's cheeks.
"WHAT was THAT?!" She turned to Karen, "Don't tell me I'm
going to be spending a week with that self-absorbed snob!"
Karen smiled sheepishly, "Well, Serena, her father
*is* a big sponsor for this camp..."
Serena groaned, "Noooo...first HIM," She nodded to
Darien, "And now her," She put her hand to her forehead
over-dramatically and sighed, "How ever will I survive?"
"Come on, Meatball Head, am I that bad?" He grinned
at her.
"Don't make me answer that," Serena huffed and
turned to the steps.
Darien stopped her, "Wait, aren't you going to help
me get this stuff?"
Serena threw a glance at his cluttered arms and
patted his shoulder, "Oh, such a *strong* man like you
should be able to handle it," She left him only with a
trail of her steady laughter.
"This is going to be an extremely long week," He
sighed and hefted the trunks under the bus.
Sitting cross-legged in their seats, Maya and Chloe
giggled softly. Maya lifted her shirt and produced a plastic
bag she had secretly snuck from the orphanage. She tended to
be the most...hyperactive child at the orphanage, therefore
forcing her to be banned from any sugar intake early in the
morning.
They eyed eachother once more before digging into
the bag ravenously.
*Three bags of M&M's and seven jolly rancher suckers later...*
"ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM!
MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, LIFE IS BUT A DREAM!
ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE..."
Serena's head bobbed slightly as she laughed at the
young girls' singing, and she turned back to Becca, a dainty,
quiet little girl, who was drawing her a picture of a monkey.
"ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE--"
"SHUT UPP!!!!!" Brianna's beet-red face glowed
brillantly with frustration, "I'm going to throw BOTH
of you into a stream if you DON'T-STOP-SINGING!"
Two sets of lips trembled slightly, and Serena
stood up, ready to do battle with the Wicked Witch of
the Wealthy. Before she could speak, however, she heard it.
"Oh no..." She turned behind her to face the
inevitable. The two small girls who had been singing
were now sniffling quietly. From three weeks of
volunteering, Serena knew sniffles were the
stillness before a tornado...the calm before
the storm...
She closed her eyes and cringed.
'3...2...1...'
"WAHHHH!!!!" They screamed, tears trailing
down their chocolate-y faces.
"Now, look what you've done!" Serena gathered
the girls into her lap, rocking them.
"Sshh...she didn't mean it. Brianna is just a
little upset because we wouldn't stop for her 10:00
hair appointment," She looked pointedly at Brianna.
"What? You think I just wake up with this
perfect hair?" She fluffed her fiery mane.
After a few minutes of comforting solace in
Serena's care, the girls were contentedly sucking
lolli-pops (compliments of Serena's own secret stash)
and playing with barbies.
Sighing, Serena plopped into her seat. As she
reached beneath her seat for her Teen Magazine, two
foreign legs that she hadn't remembered being there
before startled her.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Darien looked up from his newspaper, "What does
it look like I'm doing?"
"It looks like your taking up space in my SPACE,"
Her temper flared.
"Would you mind talking to me when you decide to
actually make sense?" He turned back to his paper, "If
you must know, Adam decided to take his morning nap in
my seat while I removed a wad of gum from Lexi's hair."
"Who was the culprit this time?" She asked.
"The twin masterminds, who else?" He nodded to a
few seats in front of him.
Serena laughed slightly as Timmy and Tommy
high-fived eachother. Their target, Melinda, was not
amused, however, and gasped as she removed a slobbery
wad of paper from her lap.
"Timmy! Tommy! I'm telling!" She stood up and
trotted back to Darien and Serena.
"Sewena! Look what they thwew at me!" She held
the disgusting paper with her index finger and thumb
dangerously close to Serena's nose. Serena leaned back
in her seat to avoid the spitball's path towards
her face.
Smiling, Serena whispered into Melinda's ear and
chuckled as she skipped back to her seat.
"What did you tell her?" Darien asked.
"Nothing..." She smiled, turning back to her
"How Can You Tell If He Wants Your Best Friend?" quiz.
About ten seconds later....
"EEWWW!" Timmy extracted a ball of dripping paper
from his ear, and Serena laughed quietly from behind her
magazine.
Melinda stood indignantly, "That'll teach you to
mess with me, you poopy-head!"
Tommy laughed loudly, "Ah ha! Timmy got a spi-EWWW!"
He peeled a slimy ball of his own from his cheek, "Yucky!"
Serena giggled softly, covering her face with her
magazine once again. Melinda sent her a toothy grin
(all of 10, that is) and Serena winked.
"You really are evil, aren't you?" Darien kept
his eyes on the sports section of his paper.
"You're one to talk. What are you doing here anyways?
I've been volunteering here for a few weeks, and I've
never seen *you* sliming around," She took large gulp
of her Pepsi.
Darien folded his paper in his lap, "I've been
counseling for a while now. This is my first time counseling
for this session, though."
"Really...well kids don't really seem like your
kinda thing," She said.
Darien's lips pursed, "I do like kids...but the
main reason I work here is because I used live at this
orphanage," His tone was terminating, telling her that
he would go no further in explanation.
She swallowed and put on her headphones. The
calming sounds of Blink 182 relaxed her tired mind and
sent any inquiries she had about Darien's reply out
the window. She raised the volume.
The words in Darien's paper blurred together as
the blasting music emitting from Serena's CD player
intruded his thought process.
"Do you mind?" Darien looked at her, taking notice
of her closed eyes and bobbing head.
Her eyes popped open, and she removed her headphones,
letting the already blaring music sound throughout the bus.
"What?" She flipped aimlessly through her magazine.
"Your music--if you could even call it that--is too
loud," He said.
"What do you mean 'if you could even call it that'?"
She crossed her arms, ready to do battle with anyone who
dared insult Mark, Tom, or Travis.
"Nothing other than the obvious," He replied.
"Would you care to be a little more detailed than
that?" She hit the STOP button.
"Basically...your music is crap," His succint reply
took her aback. Her ears reddened.
"And like YOU would know good music?" Her teeth were
gritted as he stared at her boredly.
"Yeah, I would," He countered.
"Well what do *you* listen to then?" She waited for
his answer.
"What else would I listen to, Meatball Head?" He
looked at her, annoyed, "Music."
He returned his eyes to his paper and she gave up
on the entire fight, opting to return to her CD player.
*At a pit-stop somewhere along the free-way...*
"WAKE UP!!"
"AAHH!!" Darien threw his forgotten newspaper into
the air, jumping from his seat in surprise.
Serena cackled loudly from her perch behind his seat.
"Wake up, sleepy-head! We're taking a pit stop, and
there won't be any good fire hydrants for you to use for
at *least* another 20 miles," She gave him another
mocking grin and bounced off the bus.
Darien shook his head slightly, stretching away the
traces of his short nap.
"She's going to give me a heart attack one day..."
"Dari-EN!" Brianna pounced into the seat beside him.
'Unless she does first...'
"Um...Brianna..." He attempted to sound as
enthusiastic as she, but failed horribly, and looked
longingly at the open door. Brianna, however, thought
it was good enough, and squealed, latching herself on
to his arm tightly.
"Come on, silly, call me Bria! Now, I want you
to buy me a drink. I'm dying of thirst, and all I have
is Daddy's Visa. Gosh, I think I'm going to dehydrate,
and dehydration just doesn't suit a lady of my stature
at ALL..." She dragged him from the bus without
further discussion.
"Do you need any help, Chloe?" Serena knocked on
the bathroom stall door where Chloe had been for the last
10 minutes.
"No, Serena, I'm almost finished. Joey let me have
some of his slim-jim, and Miss Karen said that it would do
this. Miss Karen sure is smart, isn't she, Serena?" Her
excited voice echoed in the tiny stall.
Serena gulped, "Um...she sure is, Chloe. Hurry up so
we can get going, OK?"
"Okay!"
Plugging her nose, Serena exited the bathroom quickly
and exhaled heavily as she leaned against a wall.
"That was a *little* bit more than I needed to know,"
she said breathlessly.
In the back of her mind, her nerves were registering
her parched throat slightly, and she fished through her
purse for a loose dollar bill.
As she rounded the corner to the vending area, a
squeal startled her, sending the bill her trimphant hand
had retrieved flying above her head. She waited for the
escapee to float back to her palm and peered around the
corner to take a more cautious approach of the owner of
the sound residing directly behind it.
"Oh, Darien *giggle* stop tickling me!" Brianna
squirmed against Darien's searching hands.
"But I'm not. I'm trying to get my *wallet* back,"
Darien had one hand out-stretched towards her, and looked
extremely uncomfortable, if not a bit agitated.
"Oh, silly," She giggled once more, opening the
wallet carefully, "Oh, Darien, you look so CUTE in this
picture! You MUST work out...Darien? Darien, where'd
you go?" She turned around in circles. Her exagerrated
smile melted into a thin line of annoyance as she
stepped into a wad of chewing gum while twisting
around to find the attractive male whom had earlier
stood in the rather vacant area in front of her.
"Thanks," Darien leaned against the brick wall
of the rest area, turning to his savior.
Serena blew a wisp of blonde from her eyes and
flashed a brief smile. "Don't mention it. As much as
you annoy the hell out of me, her screeching was doing
damage to my hearing," She let go of his arm, which
was still firmly clasped in her hand.
Darien ignored the shiver trailing up his spine,
turning his eyes forward as if to accuse the mild
breeze for such a reaction.
Serena bit her lip slightly, and idly fiddled
with her fingernails, "Yeah, well...um...we'd better
get going then," she pushed off from the wall,
scurrying towards the bus without further
conversation.
"Yeah..." Darien said to the space she had
moments before occupied.
The digital numbers on her watch informed her
that it was well past 9:00. Campsite was another couple
of hours away, at least.
'I might as well do that summer reading for
english class...' Serena mused.
Her parents had assured her that if she passed
all of her classes for the upcoming semester of her
junior year and behaved properly, they would assist
her in purchasing her first car. The word 'car' was
motivation enough for her.
Carefully, she reached over Darien's sleeping
form for her bookbag. Biting her lip, her shaky hand
paused hesitantly at his chest as if it were on a tour
and the first exhibit was "The Essence of Ego". As
she pushed on, she smiled at the thought in spite
of herself. Once she felt the vinyl material of her
bag beneath her fingers, she tugged slightly.
With a few incoherent words, Darien shifted
his position suddenly, grabbing her out-stretched
arm against his chest like a stuffed animal.
'Oh no...Ooooh no...'
Serena tugged her arm slightly, but it refused
to budge from his death grip. The dull, rythmic sounds
of silent breathing and soft snores sounded around her.
Sighing, she used her other hand to reach for her
bookbag.
The bookbag hovered over Darien's body, inches
from hers, and she moved it closer.
'Just a little bit...'
"Ugh!" She grunted. Darien had pulled her other
arm against him as well, and she clamped her mouth shut,
listening for any sounds.
"You alright back there, Serena?" Karen whispered
from behind the steering wheel.
Serena nodded conspicuously, and returned to the
problem at hand. After a few more futile attempts to
remove her arms, she sighed and sat back as best she
could in her seat.
'This is awkward...' She thought.
In his deep sleep Darien's breaths were even and
fluid. Serena could feel his beating heart beneath her
pinned arms and found herself breathing in rythm with it.
A car's headlights glared through the window,
casting a flood of light against his face. The white
light illuminated his sharp features, and his startling
thick, black hair and eyelashes contrasted with it like
night and day. Leaning closer, she furrowed her brow at
a faded line sitting above his left eyebrow. The scar
seemed to shout out at her, and she whipped her head
back around to focus on other less...hypnotic objects.
Her heart was beating rapidly, choosing to ignore
her silent pleas to slow down. She swallowed hard,
longing for her arms to be free when all the while
wishing for them to remain like that for as long as
possible.
As her heart skipped again, she forced her eyes
closed and willed sleep to lull her within its comforting
grasp.
Unfortunately, sleep clamped its arms shut and
wouldn't budge, leaving Serena wide-awake and throroughly
annoyed. Hesitantly, she drew her eyes back to Darien's
face and leaned closer. The scar was barely visible
with the limited amount of light emmiting from the
night. She bent her head closer to it, her lips dry
and seeking.
'BOOM!'
Serena's body bounced up from her seat, banging
her head roughly on the over-head light. Darien roused
from his slumber and stared around him, dazed.
The bus jounced violently, screeching its tires
and pushing him against the window while Serena held
on with one hand gripped to her arm rest. As the bus
stilled, Darien breathed out deeply and flipped on
the light.
"What happened?" His eyes focused on Serena,
her head bent and her hand pressed firmly to her forehead.
A round of grouchy voices filled the air.
"Sewena, what happened?" They asked.
Darien ignored the questions and tilted Serena's
chin towards him.
"Serena, are you OK?" He moved her hand from her
forehead, gasping at the trickle of blood staining her
porcelain skin.
A silent trail of tears fell from her clear eyes.
She wimpered slightly, trying her damndest not to cry
in front of him. The last thing she needed was Darien
telling her how much of a baby she was.
"I'm fine," She said harshly, turning away from
his curiously gentle hands.
"Are you sure?" He wasn't convinced and looked
on as she gingerly wiped the injured area with a tissue.
She turned to him. "I'm *fine*," Her tone was as
cool as ice, and he involuntarily shivered.
"Alright...I was just--"
"Darien! Oh, Darien, I was so terrified!" Brianna
appeared beside their seat.
"I'm going to go see what happened," Serena stood,
gave Darien one more hard glance, and walked to the
front, assuring the children that everything was fine
along the way.
Brianna plopped in to her vacant seat and
latched herself to Darien's arm. Her giggles and
stories of how her 'life flashed before her eyes
and Darien Was in the center' reached Serena's
retreating self and she scoffed.
Karen looked slightly dazed when Serena
knelt beside her seat. "Karen, are you alright?
What happened?"
"I-I don't know...I steered around a
corner--the corner that leads to the main
office of camp, and I think...Oh, God, I
think I hit something!" She whipped her head
to the front of the bus and leaned over the
dashboard to peer into the night. Serena
followed her eyes and squinted.
Karen gasped loudly; her skin drained
itself of color.
"Is that...?" Karen whispered.
Serena gulped, "Darien, we may need some
help over here!" She twisted her head to make sure
he heard her.
Darien sighed out of relief at having an
excuse to detatch himself from Brianna's grip,
and quickly whisked past the few rows of seats
to the front.
"What's up? What happened?" He leaned against
Karen's seat.
"Someone's out there...I think we hit them,"
Serena turned to him.
Darien pushed himself against the dashboard
and focused in on the thin outline of a body l
ying on the ground.
'Oh, damn...' He felt his nerves tighten.
He turned to Karen and Serena's expectant eyes,
and he ran his hands through his hair.
"I'm going to go check it out," He opened
the door.
"Serena, go with him, would you? I need to
check on the children," Karen rose and brushed
past them to tend to the rucous occuring directly
behind them.
Serena bit her lip and nodded.
Darien hopped from the last step and waited
for Serena to follow suit. When she stood beside
him, he walked to the front of the bus cautiously.
"Oh, God..." Serena whispered behind him.
The body, mangled and covered in a sticky
maroon liquid, lay still on the graveled road.
Darien inched closer it, lifting his hands
to brush away a section of dark hair covering the
person's face.
He gulped and lifted the hair. Familiar
amethyst eyes stared back at him, hollow and empty.
The raven hair in his fingers suddenly felt alive,
and he let it go quickly.
"Darien...?"
He could hear the fear in Serena's quivering
voice and turned to her. Her azure eyes were filling
rapidly with a wave of tears. He gripped her arm gently.
"It's--it's Raye."
---------------------------------------------------------
ja!
~Adrial~
Hey everyone! For those who are wondering, no I have NOT
forgotten TGP. I'm working on the 14th and possibly final chapter
as we speak, but I've been extremely busy and WAY too preoccupied
to really have any downtime just for it. I promise to get it you
as SOON as I can.
As for this one, I wrote it a while back, but I did some
revisions and broke it down. It's a Sere/Dar (but for my own
amusementI added the other girls and the gens.) fic and
strictly for fun. If you're looking for drama and angst I
highly suggest you search elsewhere or read "Visible
Barriers" by yours truly! :D
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't want it.
"Camp Kiwachee"
By: Adrial
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com
Rating: PG13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soon.
Objects which littered the cluttered floor
blared the word in their silence. A mocking bird
whisteled its morning tune as if to inform the rest
of the lazy, sleeping world that dawn had approached
and a new day lay before them.
Soon.
A cool frown slowly formed across her somber
face. The rising sun shined rays of warmth but failed
to cool the frozen contours of her expression.
Oblivion welcomed the passing seconds with eagerness,
enjoying how they glided by so quickly, enhancing the
stressful cloud forming in the young woman's impatient mind.
Soon.
Her eyes darted to the blaring clock, widening
slightly at the flourescent message they reflected. A
heavy bag lay across her shoulder, shifting slightly
with her chaste movements.
Absentmindedly, she twirled a lock of midnight hair
between her fingers, tapping her foot in her anxiousness.
Time was of the essence.
Sighing, she dropped the bag dully and craned her
neck to peer up the staircase, barely catching a glimpse
of a shut door.
She grunted and climbed the towering stairwell.
The door loomed inches from her, and she wasted no time
in seizing the metal handle and shoving it open.
"SERENA TSUKINO, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?!"
With a huff, she wrenched the thick comforter from the bed
her daughter lay snoring in.
Groggily, azure eyes peeked open, curious as to
whom was interupting their rest.
Serena, startled, stretched into a sitting position
and covered her ears, "Geez, Mom, can't a girl get her beauty
sleep?" She reached for the comforter her mother was holding
hostage at the moment and pouted as she whipped
it out of reach.
"In that case, you'll be sleeping forever." A chubby
face, sticky with jelly, popped into the room.
"Sammy!" Serena roared and glared at the obnoxious
being her parents liked to call her 'brother.' She was still
negotiating the matter.
"Samuel, leave your sister alone. She has TWENTY
minutes before her bus leaves," Irene threw her "hostage"
to the mysterious wooden floor no one had seen since
Serena had taken over the room sixteen years before.
Occasionaly, however, glimpses of brown peeked out
beneath the heaps of laundry and assortment of
shoes and stuffed animals.
"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!" Shrieking,
Serena shoved her brother out the door, leaped over a
small mountain of magazines and dashed to the bathroom.
At the sound of running water, Irene sighed
heavily and exited the room, calling behind her
back, "Your duffle bag is downstairs!"
"PHANKS MOM!" Her daughters tooth-pastey reply
echoed in the bathroom.
Serena emerged a few minutes later, throwing her
closet open and grabbing an outfit. After nearly falling
on her desk while she hopped into her jeans, she zipped
them up triumphantly and slipped on a tank top. Quickly,
her hands swept over her hair, twisting it into buns
and brushing out the flowing pigtails.
Checking her appearence one last time, she grabbed
a tube of lip-gloss and made a jump for the door.
Over a pan of scrambled eggs, Irene heard the
tell-tale sound of her daugther's feet plopping down
the stairs. Like clock-work, Serena stumbled into the
kitchen, grasped the plate of steaming food from her
mother's hands, and plopped it on the counter to eat
while standing.
"Do you have everything, dear?" Irene sipped her
coffee cautiously.
"Um..." Serena furrowed her brow, "I think so,"
She smiled sheepishly.
"You'd better go back upstairs and grab your
toothbrush," Irene murmured.
"Oh, yeah!" Smacking her forehead, Serena gulped
down the remaining orange juice in her glass and disappeared
up the stairs once again.
"Bye, Daddy, love you!" Placing a kiss on her
father's cheek, Serena ran out the door and down the
sidewalk.
With a glance at her watch, she sighed and relaxed
her shoulders. She had three minutes to spare, and it
would take two to walk the one and a half blocks to
the bus-stop.
As she approached her destination, a blur of
orange greeted her.
"SEWENA! SEWENA!" Simultaneously, a chorus of
screeches deafened her ears as she was trampled by a
herd of squealing pre-schoolers.
Her duffle bag landed deftly on the concrete,
and she smiled over-enthusiastically at the bright
faces peering at her admirably.
"Hey, guys!" She took a moment to greet as many
energetic faces as possible before the honking of a bus
roared above the children's excited conversation.
"Okay, counselors, let's load 'em up!" Karen,
head-counselor of Kiwachee Camp, stood atop a bench and
called order to the bustling group.
Serena returned Karen's cheery smile. As mere
coincidence, she and Karen had bumped (literally) into
each other at the mall one day and struck up a conversation.
Karen informed her of a camp for the Juuban Orphanage
she headed and practically begged Serena to become a
junior counselor.
"You'd be perfect with the kids!" She had said
so exitedly that day.
Not one to let a nice person down--especially a
*begging*, nice person--Serena obliged and two weeks later,
found herself volunteering daily at the orphanage and signing
up to counsel for the first session of Camp Kiwachee: ages 5-7.
At nearly forty, Karen was a young-spirited brunette.
The fine lines of age bordering her eyes creased as she
smiled genially at her newest counselor.
A puff of inky smoke from the bus wafted up Serena's
nose and down her throat, sending her into a fit of coughs.
Frantically waving her hand to disperse the thick smog, she
knelt to pick up her bulging duffle. This year, Karen had
informed her, they had been able to afford a coach bus, but
when the driver came down with the flu, Karen took his place.
Tiny, yet defiant voices argued acrimoniously in the
backround. Frowning, Serena turned to referee the inevitable
kiddie-war. The scene brought her hand to her mouth as
she tried to stiffle a giggle. Her favorite set of
twins, Timmy and Tommy Chai, were quarreling over who
would carry their Blue's Clues suitcase.
Pouting mouths set in a straight line, they glared
heatedly at eachother, all the while tugging roughly on
the smiling face of the ever-lovable Blue.
"It's MINE, Timmy!" Chai twin #1 yelled.
"No, it's MINE, Tommy!" Chai twin #2 yanked the
elaborately decorated suitcase from his brother's hands.
Fearing for the poor suitcase's well-being, Serena
knelt beside the squabbling kids and pulled them apart
gently.
"Timmy, why don't *you* carry the suitcase and let
Tommy hold the pillow and blanket?" She handed Tommy a
matching Blue's Clues pillow.
"But *I* wanna hold the pillow and blanket!" Timmy
stamped his tiny feet indignantly on the ground.
"Alright, then let Tommy take the *suitcase*," Serena
tugged lightly on the handle.
Tommy grinned, exposing his combined 6 teeth, and
reached for the suitcase.
"But it's MINE!" Timmy grabbed the object of debate
and stuck his tongue out at his brother.
Tommy returned the favor and called him what Serena
interpreted as "Boogerbrain."
Attempting to help any further would only exacerbate the
situation, she knew, so she sighed and looked around for
Karen. Her head ceased its journey over the crowds when
a shawdow fell over her.
"Not too good with kiddie-fights are ya?"
Serena froze in her kneeling position. The last
thing she wanted to hear at that moment was that
voice--that mocking, conceited, overly egotistical voice.
As it glided through the air, it swept away her
fun-filled week as a junior counselor along with her
patience. The beginnings of a migraine lurked threateningly
at the back of her head as she turned to face the smug
smirk she knew she would see.
Darien towered over her, his broad shoulders blocking
the blaring sunshine that was earlier beating down on her back.
"I'm handling it, Chiba," She said through gritted teeth.
"That's not exactly what it looked like to me," Darien's
posture relaxed as Serena's shoulders stiffened.
She stood for a moment, pondering a good way
to send him packing, when she noticed his shoulder--more
interestingly, what was hanging *on* it.
"What are you--what is *that*?" She stared accusingly
at him.
He followed her eyes, "Last time I checked, they were
calling it a duffle bag, Meatball Head," He sent her another
sly smile and bent close to the ground where Timmy and
Tommy were screaming at eachother.
"Hey, you two, what's with all the fighting?" The
boys suddenly took notice of the man squatting beside them
and returned their tongues to their mouths.
"Darien!" They leapt at him, knocking him from his
feet. Serena seemed flustered and amused at the same time.
She assumed that the children were too young to know a
total jerk when they saw one.
"I wanna sit by you, Darien!" Timmy tugged his arm.
"No, *I* wanna sit by him, Timmy!" Tommy latched
himself onto Darien's calf.
Serena smiled smugly at him. "I guess I'll let
*you* take care of this battle, Oh Wise One." She grabbed
her bag from the ground and joined the thinning group
of campers onto the bus.
Darien, complete with Timmy&Tommy attachments,
stared at her retreating back, annoyed, and followed as
best he could with the twins hanging from him.
Karen's effervescent face peered from the driver's
seat at Darien as he stepped onto the bus, "Nice to
have you back, Darien. It's been a while."
"You just saw me last week, Karen," Darien peeled
Timmy from his arm so he could remove his duffle bag.
She laughed and closed the door behind him.
"Hey, wait for me! Open up!" A high-pitched voice,
rather pissed of sounding, boomed through the glass doors,
followed by a barrage of banging fists.
Karen ignored the irriated frown of the girl and
smiled affably, "Oh, sorry. I'd forgotten all about you,
Brianna."
Panting slightly, she flipped a section of flaming
hair from her shoulder, "Whatever. Now would someone give
me a *hand* here?"
Karen peered behind the red-faced teen and gasped.
A colony of suitcases and bags were being piled onto the
ground by a bulky man.
"Um...are you sure you need all that for just one
week?" She looked quizzical.
"Of *course* I do," The girl flipped her hair again
and her flashing green eyes connected with the curious
midnight onces that were staring at her.
Her features shifted instantaneously from annoyed
to sultry, "Hell-O, I don't believe we've met," She held
out her hand, "I am Brianna Lawson, but *you* may call me
Bria," She eyed him up and down.
Darien clasped her hand hesitantly, "I'm Darien,
and you can just call me... Darien."
She tilted her head back sharply, letting a rigid
stream of over-exaggerated giggles chop through the air.
"Oh, you're so funny! I just *know* you'll help me
with my bags," She looked pointedly to her trunks,
smiling as he shrugged and descended the steps. The man
loading them on to the ground patted his shoulder and
trotted off.
After removing a pair of sticky hands from her hair,
and sitting Timmy and Tommy in *separate* seats, Serena
moved towards the front of the bus to inquire why it wasn't
in motion yet.
"Hey, Kare, what's the hold up?" She looked at Karen's
smiling face and followed her laughing eyes to the door.
Her hand flew to her mouth. Darien, struggling beneath a
mountain of luggage was attempting futilely to remove a
drooling red-haired girl from his arm.
"You're so *strong* Darien," Brianna grabbed his
left bicep, trailing her manicured fingernails along it.
When he heard a snort from the bus, Darien's eyes
flew to the door. The ever humored Serena was desperately
attempting to contain her laughter. She turned away from
his agitated gaze and choked on a supressed giggle.
"You wanna give me a hand here?" He asked.
Serena allowed a small splash of laughter to escape
and jumped from the bus, "Why doesn't your new friend here
help you out?" She eyed the strange girl incredulously.
Brianna glared at the intruding girl, viewing her
rumpled tank-top and jeans critically.
"You *must* be the bag-girl," She pointed to a
remaining trunk, "You may get that one there. Pardon me if
I forget to tip you," With that, she strolled past a gaping
Serena onto the bus.
A wave of heated crimson washed over Serena's cheeks.
"WHAT was THAT?!" She turned to Karen, "Don't tell me I'm
going to be spending a week with that self-absorbed snob!"
Karen smiled sheepishly, "Well, Serena, her father
*is* a big sponsor for this camp..."
Serena groaned, "Noooo...first HIM," She nodded to
Darien, "And now her," She put her hand to her forehead
over-dramatically and sighed, "How ever will I survive?"
"Come on, Meatball Head, am I that bad?" He grinned
at her.
"Don't make me answer that," Serena huffed and
turned to the steps.
Darien stopped her, "Wait, aren't you going to help
me get this stuff?"
Serena threw a glance at his cluttered arms and
patted his shoulder, "Oh, such a *strong* man like you
should be able to handle it," She left him only with a
trail of her steady laughter.
"This is going to be an extremely long week," He
sighed and hefted the trunks under the bus.
Sitting cross-legged in their seats, Maya and Chloe
giggled softly. Maya lifted her shirt and produced a plastic
bag she had secretly snuck from the orphanage. She tended to
be the most...hyperactive child at the orphanage, therefore
forcing her to be banned from any sugar intake early in the
morning.
They eyed eachother once more before digging into
the bag ravenously.
*Three bags of M&M's and seven jolly rancher suckers later...*
"ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM!
MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, LIFE IS BUT A DREAM!
ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE..."
Serena's head bobbed slightly as she laughed at the
young girls' singing, and she turned back to Becca, a dainty,
quiet little girl, who was drawing her a picture of a monkey.
"ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE--"
"SHUT UPP!!!!!" Brianna's beet-red face glowed
brillantly with frustration, "I'm going to throw BOTH
of you into a stream if you DON'T-STOP-SINGING!"
Two sets of lips trembled slightly, and Serena
stood up, ready to do battle with the Wicked Witch of
the Wealthy. Before she could speak, however, she heard it.
"Oh no..." She turned behind her to face the
inevitable. The two small girls who had been singing
were now sniffling quietly. From three weeks of
volunteering, Serena knew sniffles were the
stillness before a tornado...the calm before
the storm...
She closed her eyes and cringed.
'3...2...1...'
"WAHHHH!!!!" They screamed, tears trailing
down their chocolate-y faces.
"Now, look what you've done!" Serena gathered
the girls into her lap, rocking them.
"Sshh...she didn't mean it. Brianna is just a
little upset because we wouldn't stop for her 10:00
hair appointment," She looked pointedly at Brianna.
"What? You think I just wake up with this
perfect hair?" She fluffed her fiery mane.
After a few minutes of comforting solace in
Serena's care, the girls were contentedly sucking
lolli-pops (compliments of Serena's own secret stash)
and playing with barbies.
Sighing, Serena plopped into her seat. As she
reached beneath her seat for her Teen Magazine, two
foreign legs that she hadn't remembered being there
before startled her.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Darien looked up from his newspaper, "What does
it look like I'm doing?"
"It looks like your taking up space in my SPACE,"
Her temper flared.
"Would you mind talking to me when you decide to
actually make sense?" He turned back to his paper, "If
you must know, Adam decided to take his morning nap in
my seat while I removed a wad of gum from Lexi's hair."
"Who was the culprit this time?" She asked.
"The twin masterminds, who else?" He nodded to a
few seats in front of him.
Serena laughed slightly as Timmy and Tommy
high-fived eachother. Their target, Melinda, was not
amused, however, and gasped as she removed a slobbery
wad of paper from her lap.
"Timmy! Tommy! I'm telling!" She stood up and
trotted back to Darien and Serena.
"Sewena! Look what they thwew at me!" She held
the disgusting paper with her index finger and thumb
dangerously close to Serena's nose. Serena leaned back
in her seat to avoid the spitball's path towards
her face.
Smiling, Serena whispered into Melinda's ear and
chuckled as she skipped back to her seat.
"What did you tell her?" Darien asked.
"Nothing..." She smiled, turning back to her
"How Can You Tell If He Wants Your Best Friend?" quiz.
About ten seconds later....
"EEWWW!" Timmy extracted a ball of dripping paper
from his ear, and Serena laughed quietly from behind her
magazine.
Melinda stood indignantly, "That'll teach you to
mess with me, you poopy-head!"
Tommy laughed loudly, "Ah ha! Timmy got a spi-EWWW!"
He peeled a slimy ball of his own from his cheek, "Yucky!"
Serena giggled softly, covering her face with her
magazine once again. Melinda sent her a toothy grin
(all of 10, that is) and Serena winked.
"You really are evil, aren't you?" Darien kept
his eyes on the sports section of his paper.
"You're one to talk. What are you doing here anyways?
I've been volunteering here for a few weeks, and I've
never seen *you* sliming around," She took large gulp
of her Pepsi.
Darien folded his paper in his lap, "I've been
counseling for a while now. This is my first time counseling
for this session, though."
"Really...well kids don't really seem like your
kinda thing," She said.
Darien's lips pursed, "I do like kids...but the
main reason I work here is because I used live at this
orphanage," His tone was terminating, telling her that
he would go no further in explanation.
She swallowed and put on her headphones. The
calming sounds of Blink 182 relaxed her tired mind and
sent any inquiries she had about Darien's reply out
the window. She raised the volume.
The words in Darien's paper blurred together as
the blasting music emitting from Serena's CD player
intruded his thought process.
"Do you mind?" Darien looked at her, taking notice
of her closed eyes and bobbing head.
Her eyes popped open, and she removed her headphones,
letting the already blaring music sound throughout the bus.
"What?" She flipped aimlessly through her magazine.
"Your music--if you could even call it that--is too
loud," He said.
"What do you mean 'if you could even call it that'?"
She crossed her arms, ready to do battle with anyone who
dared insult Mark, Tom, or Travis.
"Nothing other than the obvious," He replied.
"Would you care to be a little more detailed than
that?" She hit the STOP button.
"Basically...your music is crap," His succint reply
took her aback. Her ears reddened.
"And like YOU would know good music?" Her teeth were
gritted as he stared at her boredly.
"Yeah, I would," He countered.
"Well what do *you* listen to then?" She waited for
his answer.
"What else would I listen to, Meatball Head?" He
looked at her, annoyed, "Music."
He returned his eyes to his paper and she gave up
on the entire fight, opting to return to her CD player.
*At a pit-stop somewhere along the free-way...*
"WAKE UP!!"
"AAHH!!" Darien threw his forgotten newspaper into
the air, jumping from his seat in surprise.
Serena cackled loudly from her perch behind his seat.
"Wake up, sleepy-head! We're taking a pit stop, and
there won't be any good fire hydrants for you to use for
at *least* another 20 miles," She gave him another
mocking grin and bounced off the bus.
Darien shook his head slightly, stretching away the
traces of his short nap.
"She's going to give me a heart attack one day..."
"Dari-EN!" Brianna pounced into the seat beside him.
'Unless she does first...'
"Um...Brianna..." He attempted to sound as
enthusiastic as she, but failed horribly, and looked
longingly at the open door. Brianna, however, thought
it was good enough, and squealed, latching herself on
to his arm tightly.
"Come on, silly, call me Bria! Now, I want you
to buy me a drink. I'm dying of thirst, and all I have
is Daddy's Visa. Gosh, I think I'm going to dehydrate,
and dehydration just doesn't suit a lady of my stature
at ALL..." She dragged him from the bus without
further discussion.
"Do you need any help, Chloe?" Serena knocked on
the bathroom stall door where Chloe had been for the last
10 minutes.
"No, Serena, I'm almost finished. Joey let me have
some of his slim-jim, and Miss Karen said that it would do
this. Miss Karen sure is smart, isn't she, Serena?" Her
excited voice echoed in the tiny stall.
Serena gulped, "Um...she sure is, Chloe. Hurry up so
we can get going, OK?"
"Okay!"
Plugging her nose, Serena exited the bathroom quickly
and exhaled heavily as she leaned against a wall.
"That was a *little* bit more than I needed to know,"
she said breathlessly.
In the back of her mind, her nerves were registering
her parched throat slightly, and she fished through her
purse for a loose dollar bill.
As she rounded the corner to the vending area, a
squeal startled her, sending the bill her trimphant hand
had retrieved flying above her head. She waited for the
escapee to float back to her palm and peered around the
corner to take a more cautious approach of the owner of
the sound residing directly behind it.
"Oh, Darien *giggle* stop tickling me!" Brianna
squirmed against Darien's searching hands.
"But I'm not. I'm trying to get my *wallet* back,"
Darien had one hand out-stretched towards her, and looked
extremely uncomfortable, if not a bit agitated.
"Oh, silly," She giggled once more, opening the
wallet carefully, "Oh, Darien, you look so CUTE in this
picture! You MUST work out...Darien? Darien, where'd
you go?" She turned around in circles. Her exagerrated
smile melted into a thin line of annoyance as she
stepped into a wad of chewing gum while twisting
around to find the attractive male whom had earlier
stood in the rather vacant area in front of her.
"Thanks," Darien leaned against the brick wall
of the rest area, turning to his savior.
Serena blew a wisp of blonde from her eyes and
flashed a brief smile. "Don't mention it. As much as
you annoy the hell out of me, her screeching was doing
damage to my hearing," She let go of his arm, which
was still firmly clasped in her hand.
Darien ignored the shiver trailing up his spine,
turning his eyes forward as if to accuse the mild
breeze for such a reaction.
Serena bit her lip slightly, and idly fiddled
with her fingernails, "Yeah, well...um...we'd better
get going then," she pushed off from the wall,
scurrying towards the bus without further
conversation.
"Yeah..." Darien said to the space she had
moments before occupied.
The digital numbers on her watch informed her
that it was well past 9:00. Campsite was another couple
of hours away, at least.
'I might as well do that summer reading for
english class...' Serena mused.
Her parents had assured her that if she passed
all of her classes for the upcoming semester of her
junior year and behaved properly, they would assist
her in purchasing her first car. The word 'car' was
motivation enough for her.
Carefully, she reached over Darien's sleeping
form for her bookbag. Biting her lip, her shaky hand
paused hesitantly at his chest as if it were on a tour
and the first exhibit was "The Essence of Ego". As
she pushed on, she smiled at the thought in spite
of herself. Once she felt the vinyl material of her
bag beneath her fingers, she tugged slightly.
With a few incoherent words, Darien shifted
his position suddenly, grabbing her out-stretched
arm against his chest like a stuffed animal.
'Oh no...Ooooh no...'
Serena tugged her arm slightly, but it refused
to budge from his death grip. The dull, rythmic sounds
of silent breathing and soft snores sounded around her.
Sighing, she used her other hand to reach for her
bookbag.
The bookbag hovered over Darien's body, inches
from hers, and she moved it closer.
'Just a little bit...'
"Ugh!" She grunted. Darien had pulled her other
arm against him as well, and she clamped her mouth shut,
listening for any sounds.
"You alright back there, Serena?" Karen whispered
from behind the steering wheel.
Serena nodded conspicuously, and returned to the
problem at hand. After a few more futile attempts to
remove her arms, she sighed and sat back as best she
could in her seat.
'This is awkward...' She thought.
In his deep sleep Darien's breaths were even and
fluid. Serena could feel his beating heart beneath her
pinned arms and found herself breathing in rythm with it.
A car's headlights glared through the window,
casting a flood of light against his face. The white
light illuminated his sharp features, and his startling
thick, black hair and eyelashes contrasted with it like
night and day. Leaning closer, she furrowed her brow at
a faded line sitting above his left eyebrow. The scar
seemed to shout out at her, and she whipped her head
back around to focus on other less...hypnotic objects.
Her heart was beating rapidly, choosing to ignore
her silent pleas to slow down. She swallowed hard,
longing for her arms to be free when all the while
wishing for them to remain like that for as long as
possible.
As her heart skipped again, she forced her eyes
closed and willed sleep to lull her within its comforting
grasp.
Unfortunately, sleep clamped its arms shut and
wouldn't budge, leaving Serena wide-awake and throroughly
annoyed. Hesitantly, she drew her eyes back to Darien's
face and leaned closer. The scar was barely visible
with the limited amount of light emmiting from the
night. She bent her head closer to it, her lips dry
and seeking.
'BOOM!'
Serena's body bounced up from her seat, banging
her head roughly on the over-head light. Darien roused
from his slumber and stared around him, dazed.
The bus jounced violently, screeching its tires
and pushing him against the window while Serena held
on with one hand gripped to her arm rest. As the bus
stilled, Darien breathed out deeply and flipped on
the light.
"What happened?" His eyes focused on Serena,
her head bent and her hand pressed firmly to her forehead.
A round of grouchy voices filled the air.
"Sewena, what happened?" They asked.
Darien ignored the questions and tilted Serena's
chin towards him.
"Serena, are you OK?" He moved her hand from her
forehead, gasping at the trickle of blood staining her
porcelain skin.
A silent trail of tears fell from her clear eyes.
She wimpered slightly, trying her damndest not to cry
in front of him. The last thing she needed was Darien
telling her how much of a baby she was.
"I'm fine," She said harshly, turning away from
his curiously gentle hands.
"Are you sure?" He wasn't convinced and looked
on as she gingerly wiped the injured area with a tissue.
She turned to him. "I'm *fine*," Her tone was as
cool as ice, and he involuntarily shivered.
"Alright...I was just--"
"Darien! Oh, Darien, I was so terrified!" Brianna
appeared beside their seat.
"I'm going to go see what happened," Serena stood,
gave Darien one more hard glance, and walked to the
front, assuring the children that everything was fine
along the way.
Brianna plopped in to her vacant seat and
latched herself to Darien's arm. Her giggles and
stories of how her 'life flashed before her eyes
and Darien Was in the center' reached Serena's
retreating self and she scoffed.
Karen looked slightly dazed when Serena
knelt beside her seat. "Karen, are you alright?
What happened?"
"I-I don't know...I steered around a
corner--the corner that leads to the main
office of camp, and I think...Oh, God, I
think I hit something!" She whipped her head
to the front of the bus and leaned over the
dashboard to peer into the night. Serena
followed her eyes and squinted.
Karen gasped loudly; her skin drained
itself of color.
"Is that...?" Karen whispered.
Serena gulped, "Darien, we may need some
help over here!" She twisted her head to make sure
he heard her.
Darien sighed out of relief at having an
excuse to detatch himself from Brianna's grip,
and quickly whisked past the few rows of seats
to the front.
"What's up? What happened?" He leaned against
Karen's seat.
"Someone's out there...I think we hit them,"
Serena turned to him.
Darien pushed himself against the dashboard
and focused in on the thin outline of a body l
ying on the ground.
'Oh, damn...' He felt his nerves tighten.
He turned to Karen and Serena's expectant eyes,
and he ran his hands through his hair.
"I'm going to go check it out," He opened
the door.
"Serena, go with him, would you? I need to
check on the children," Karen rose and brushed
past them to tend to the rucous occuring directly
behind them.
Serena bit her lip and nodded.
Darien hopped from the last step and waited
for Serena to follow suit. When she stood beside
him, he walked to the front of the bus cautiously.
"Oh, God..." Serena whispered behind him.
The body, mangled and covered in a sticky
maroon liquid, lay still on the graveled road.
Darien inched closer it, lifting his hands
to brush away a section of dark hair covering the
person's face.
He gulped and lifted the hair. Familiar
amethyst eyes stared back at him, hollow and empty.
The raven hair in his fingers suddenly felt alive,
and he let it go quickly.
"Darien...?"
He could hear the fear in Serena's quivering
voice and turned to her. Her azure eyes were filling
rapidly with a wave of tears. He gripped her arm gently.
"It's--it's Raye."
---------------------------------------------------------
ja!
~Adrial~