Thanks to all of you who left me comments! It's been extremely helpful and it makes me a better writer. Thank you guys so much!
I don't know how this chapter is going to end up. I'm kind of in a schmaltzy mood, as I've been listening to As Long As You're Mine and For Good from the Wicked Soundtrack. sigh I really want to see the musical. Oh well.
You know the drill. I don't own Sailor Moon or Center Stage, both of which are what this story is loosely based on. Please Read and Review!
Serena dragged her massive amount of luggage up the stairs to room 417, gasping for air when she finally set it down in front of the door. She wiped a red, sore hand across her hot and sweaty forehead as she leaned against the bland, crème colored walls that reflected the bright fluorescent lights, efficiently lighting up the narrow hallway.
She reached into her pants pocket for the worn looking key and slid it into the keyhole of her door. The lock clicked loudly out of the hole, allowing her access to the room. She bent over and hoisted her two duffel bags over her shoulders and reached to turn the doorknob to open the old wooden door.
Just as she made to push the door open, the doorknob flew out of her hand as a young woman with shimmering blonde hair that ended right in the middle of her back, opened it from inside. Blue met blue, although this woman's eyes were at least a shade darker than Serena's, hers being the color of the sky on a warm, summer day. They stood in the doorway staring at each other, taking in the uncanny similarities between the two. Several moments past, then the young woman smiled brightly and stuck her hand out in order to shake Serena's.
"Hello! I'm Mina Anderson! They said my new roommate would be coming today, so I guess that must be you, 'cause you obviously have the room key, which makes you Serena! I hope you enjoy ABT! I know I do. Well, you sure do have a lot of stuff there. Do you need any help? I'm sure I can help. I don't have to be anywhere for a while, so I guess I will help. Here, let me take those bags for you."
She lifted the duffel bags off of Serena's shoulder and dragged them into the quaint room. Serena stood in the hallway, staring dumbfounded at Mina's retreating form. Did she always talk this much? Well, at least being around her will never be boring.
Serena grabbed her suitcases and hauled them into her new home, smiling at how her luck had turned out already.
Several hours later, Serena lay on her newly made bed, sweaty and extremely smelly from unpacking all of her belongings and arranging her half of the room. Mina was off taking her private lesson right now, but in the short span of time she had helped Serena unpack her belongings, Serena basically had heard her entire life story. From what she heard, Mina was nothing short of spectacular. She had the worst life could send her; divorced parents, the premature death of her older sister, Karen, bankruptcy, among other things, and yet, she still managed to seem so glad to be alive.
Serena smiled to herself as she slid out of bed to roam her room. She decided that she wanted to learn how to be more like Mina, so happy and outgoing, which Serena solely lacked. She strolled up and down Mina's side of the room, looking through all of the pictures that were tacked up on the walls. Most were of Mina and what she assumed was her sister, Karen, from Mina's description of her. She was very beautiful, with hair the color of Mina's, only much shorter, falling just around her shoulders, and eyes of the same shape, but a deep emerald green. She looked at the date at the corner of the picture. March 26, 1999. She noticed that the picture was taken not three months before the tragic car accident that took her life. The two girls were smiling happily, and from what she knew, Karen had just turned eighteen and she was taking, at the time, a thirteen-year old Mina out to celebrate with her. Neither of them knew that in three months what would happen.
Serena sighed, her good mood vanishing almost instantly as feelings of sadness for her new friend took its place. She knew Mina was at least somewhat okay with it, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that Mina was concealing much more than what she let on. Serena sighed again, and then walked begrudgingly towards her en suite bathroom that only her and Mina would have to share, and as far as dorm bathrooms go, it was extremely lavish. The room itself was extremely spacious, covered in burgundy tile with pink trimming, with a large enough countertop and mirror for two people, and it came with two sinks as well, but the one thing that surprised Serena the most was the giant Jacuzzi tub and shower. She quickly noted to test the Jacuzzi out later.
She shut and locked the door before turning on the hot water along with the showerhead and preparing for her shower. She undressed herself and gingerly stepped under the warm stream of water. She quickly washed and conditioned her hair with her strawberry and vanilla scented shampoo. She turned the hot water up just a little, in order to allow some more warmth in order to relax her sore back muscles from lugging her things up the stairs and the constant bending over in order to retrieve things from her suitcase.
She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around herself and walking into the room, where Mina was busy divesting herself of the sweat drenched deep purple leotard and brushing her long blonde hair out from its makeshift bun that had previously rested on top of her head. Mina turned around, noticing Serena, and smiling brightly.
"Well, it's about time you got out of the shower. I thought you were going to drown yourself in there."
Serena giggled, blushing bright red, realizing it had never registered to her how much time she had spent in there.
"Well, get dressed! You and I are going to go clubbing. I'm going to show you what a good time is."
Serena smiled, before nodding furiously as she ducked into the bathroom in order to dress herself before beginning her search for an outfit for the evening.
Serena studied herself in Mina's floor length mirror, making sure her outfit was ok enough. She felt extremely self-conscious in the revealing outfit Mina had picked out for her. She didn't see what was so wrong with her original outfit. It was a tasteful black skirt with a nice shirt. Serena felt comfortable and she thought she looked nice, but apparently nice wasn't enough, as Mina came out of the bathroom after her shower, sighing loudly, and dragging Serena to her own closet and picking out some clothes of her own, and told her to go change.
Now, she was dressed in a baby blue halter-top that was extremely low cut, and short black mini-skirt with strappy black heels, and looked, as Mina said, hot, which apparently she didn't have in her wardrobe.
"Serena, come into the bathroom. I'm gonna do your makeup."
Serena sighed loudly, as she walked into the bathroom, realizing there was no way getting out of going dressed like this. She saw Mina hunched over the counter applying the last of her makeup before backing up and examining herself in the mirror. She was wearing a simple purple spaghetti strapped tank top, the same color as the leotard she had been wearing earlier, and a pair of black flared leg pants with another pair of strappy heels.
"Wow…Serena! You look awesome! See! I told you that you would! You looked so plain in that outfit of yours, but now you look hot!"
"But Mina I feel extremely uncomfortable."
"That's because you've never worn something like this before. I guarantee by the end of the night you'll feel great, especially when all the guys flock to you because of your killer body. Now, come here so I can do your makeup."
Serena, blushing, sat on the countertop, while Mina laid out her assortment of makeup next to her.
"You don't need base because you have such lovely skin, so I'm just gonna start with eye shadow. Don't worry. It's not gonna be like stage makeup. Just close your eyes."
Serena did as she was told, and felt the small brush pass over the skin of her eyes. She heard Mina press into small container and then she felt the brush against her other lid.
"Open, and look up."
Mina quickly began applying mascara and then eyeliner, before adding a small coat of lip gloss to her lips.
"Ok you're done."
Serena hopped off the counter and turned around and looked in the mirror. Her eyelids were a semi dark blue, which brought out the color of her eyes very well, and her lips were smooth looking and shiny.
"Wow! Mina! I do look great!"
"See, I told you. Now, brush your hair and part it on the side."
Serena quickly fixed her hair, with a little help from Mina, and they finally were ready to go. They linked arms and walked out of their room together, both smiling brightly.
When they arrived to the first club, they quickly went in after flashing their IDs, verifying that they were in fact both eighteen years old, and managed to find a table without too much trouble. They ordered a couple of virgin margaritas as they watched the club fill with people until the point where it was impossible to breathe.
The chatted animatedly, sipping their drinks, as Mina surveyed the room, pointing out potential males among the crowd. Serena joined in on the fun Mina was having, scouting the room herself, when she found a gorgeous blonde haired man make eyes at Mina. She giggled to herself when she caught his eye and mouthed "Come over" to him. He smiled, as he made his way through the crowd towards their table.
"Hey, Serena, he's pretty cute. What about him?" Mina said excitedly.
"Yeah he's fine," said Serena, not really paying attention to Mina, but to the young man who had now reached their table.
"Hey, Mina, I think someone's here to see you."
"Huh? Where…?" Mina trailed off as she turned and saw the young man standing before her, dressed in a casual form-fitting shirt, and very stylish black pants, looking extremely handsome. His dirty blonde hair was slightly tousled with the just got out of bed look that looked so incredibly sexy.
"May I have this dance?" he asked her, his voice rumbling through his chest.
Mina only dumbly nodded as she rose out of her seat and followed him out to the dance floor. The man turned around and smiled at Serena who simply smiled back and waved him goodbye. Once they disappeared from her vision, she immediately felt uneasy. She was in a place she had never been before in a city she had never been before. She decided to move away from the table to the bar, because, for some reason, she felt safer around a lot of people.
She picked up her drink and carefully made her way through the crowd. She made her way past all the couples dancing, trying not to look at them, or to feel left out. She bowed her head as she walked past them, not really noticing where she was going, until she walked headlong into someone.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into…you." She looked up and found herself staring into gorgeous deep ocean blue eyes.
"It's quite alright. Really." A deep rumbling voice shook her from her reverie as she stepped back and took in his appearance. He was about a foot taller than her with midnight black hair that fell down in all the right places. He was wearing a navy blue shirt and a pair of khaki pants over his body that was noticeably well built.
"Are you sure?" She noticed that he was wearing a most peculiar expression on her face, and she realized that she had just blatantly checked him out.
"Yes, I'm positive. Now, let me buy you a drink because you seemed to have lost yours."
She looked down at the ground and noticed the glass that had carried her margarita had slipped out of her hand and crashed to the floor.
"Thank you." She blushed as she followed him to the bar.
"My name is Darien Johnston, by the way, just so you're not too weirded about a stranger buying you a drink."
She smiled at him brightly. "Thank you. I am Serena Carmichael. I am a dancer at the American Ballet Theater."
"A dancer. Impressive." He turned to the bartender and ordered her drink.
"What is it you do, Mr. Johnston." She asked.
"I am a pre-med student at Columbia, majoring in biochemistry. I plan on being a pediatrician when I finish."
"Well, that sounds interesting." She smiled as he handed her the drink.
"It is, though, I'm not sure how interesting dancing is. Sounds dreadfully boring."
She spit her drink out all over the bar and gaped at him.
"Boring! How can you say it's boring? Have you even seen a ballet? It's telling a story without words, showing emotion and expressing feelings only through dance. It's beautiful."
"Would you care to show me how?" He smiled, and she felt her heart melting. He was so gorgeous and handsome, but was he really suggesting what she thought he was suggesting?
" Excuse me?"
"I mean, would you care to dance with me, just to prove me wrong?" He was smiling even broader now, and she felt her heart being reduced to nothing but a puddle.
"Sure."
He placed her drink down on the bar as he grabbed her hand and lead her to the middle of the dance floor. She glanced around nervously and noticed how all the couples seemed to be so close; there was no room to squeeze even a slip a paper between them. She gulped. Surely he didn't mean to dance like this, right?
"Darien, I don't think I can dance like this."
"Why not? It's not that hard. You just have to loosen up, first. Here let me help you." He pushed her hair aside and began slowly massaging her back. She closed her eyes and sighed as his fingers worked magic on her back. She slowly leaned back against his chest as he continued to massage her back.
"Feel better?" she nodded. "Good. Let's dance."
A loud rap song came through the speakers as he draped her arms around his broad shoulders, then wrapping his arms around her slender waist, pulling her closer so she was plastered against his body. She blushed as she bowed her head as they began moving with the music. He slipped a finger under her chin and lifted her face up so that her eyes met his as they grinded against each other.
She looked to the side and watched people next to her move and slowly picked up the idea. She began grinding her hips into his as she laced her fingers in his hair. She heard him groan softly as his hands began roaming over her back. She rotated her hips, dancing just as dirty as the couples next to her; all the while her eyes were fixated on his. He slipped his hand down her back, over her hip to rest on her upper thigh, his fingers playing with the hem of her skirt. She looked at him scared and he picked up on the hint.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna do anything you don't want me to do." His lips grazed against her ear, causing her to shiver as he wrapped her leg around his waist, dipping her back. She clung on to his shoulders tighter they began dancing even more provocatively. Serena was just getting really into it, when Mina came over and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Serena, we have to go. It's already 11:30 and we need to get back."
Serena frowned and turned back to Darien. "I'm sorry, Darien, but I need to get back. Thank you so much for the dance. I had fun." She began walking away, when Darien grabbed her upper arm.
"Wait, I want to see you again."
She smiled. "I think I'd like that. I'm at the American Ballet Theater, on 5th Avenue. Just stop by after 7 and ask for me at the front desk."
"Okay, I'll do that. Goodbye Serena Carmichael."
She waved goodbye as her and Mina raced out the door. Darien frowned, as he went and sat down at the bar. The young man who had been dancing with Mina came over and sat next to him.
"Hey Dare, that was one hot chick. I hope you got her number."
"Sort of, Andrew. She's at the American Ballet Theater."
"Wow, so was the chick I was with. Long blonde hair, great body, just simply beautiful. Maybe they know each other."
"Maybe."
