Oh gosh… barely 2 weeks before I start school again. My final year of high school… scary. Sorry this took so long, I've been out almost every day for the past 2 weeks and I'm exhausted and sunburnt. But I've managed to get this chapter out! Yay! Enjoy!

Thanks To: Moon-Daisuke, key (funny… you remind me of kay…), CharmedSerenity3, Goddess -Princess-Serenity, MoonPrincess568 (your curiosity reminds me of me!), chxpsticks(hehe yeah! I'm almost finished it too! It'll be the first game I've ever completed), Silver Moon Goddess1, koldy, fioremaryssa (nooo…), rockfreak2003, Alena-Saso, becx, Lady Dark Angel, twiggirl06 (I'll try! I've got most of my plotline written down as a guideline so im getting there), sailorceb (I'd love to tell you but I'm not going ... i'm so mean...) and lil-bit-gish

Title: Mystery Girl
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: PG 13
Chapter: 5- Just the Girl Next Door

"We gotta set you up on some dates man. Introduce you to some of the beauties here at Ocean View." Ken nudged me and winked. Yes… that's exactly what I needed. More girls in my life. I don't think they'd make much of an impact on me anyway. There's only one (well, maybe two girls, once I figure out the identity of the other) girl for me. I'm not searching for anyone totally out there, just the average, intelligent, beautiful girl next door… literally.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." I mumbled running my fingers roughly through my dark hair.

"Why not? I mean if it'll get your mind off Serena…" Chad added. I don't think anything or anyone can possibly get my mind off her. I'm torn! Torn between two girls that I like. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do! My love life is hitting a brick wall… over and over and over again.

"I don't know guys. Blind dates aren't my type of thing." I shrugged and launched a basketball towards the hoop.

Miss

"Yeah, I'm with you there man." Greg grabbed the rebound. "I remember the last blind date these guys set me up on. Let's just say… it didn't go very well when it came to the actual eating part of the dinner." The rest of the guys snickered, leaving me out in the cold. Damn inside jokes. I hate being on the outside of them. It makes me feel like a loser, not that I'm not already. Well, technically I'm not, I'm popular. More than half the school already knows me by name and locker number, and I haven't even introduced myself to most of them.

"Well I think you should give it a go." Andrew nodded. Out of all the guys, he was the one I trusted the most. So I thought, maybe if he thought it was ok, it would be. I have to stop listening to my thoughts.

Date number 1

Name: Bethany Thompson
Status: Single, horny and desperate
Career aspirations: To be rich
Likes: Hanging around popular guys, putting her hand on my upper thigh and sitting on me.
Hobbies: Flirting and looking at her reflection in the mirror (at least that was the impression I got)
Dislikes: When I laughed at her because she spilled her drink all over the table.

Well what else could I do? It was an accident and I acknowledged that. I thought women wanted a guy who didn't take things too seriously! Unfortunately for me, all she really wanted was to be known around the school as my girlfriend. She wanted a trophy. She wanted to get in my pants. Yes I realize that sounds incredibly strange because the common stereotypes state that it's supposed to be the man wanting to get into the woman's pants but come on people, this is the 21st century! The tables have turned! All I want is to be able to try to romance a woman, be in love and have her love me back. Is that asking too much! Nevertheless, it was plain to see that that date was completely hopeless.

Date number 4

Name: Kristy Peters
Status: whatever I am
Career aspirations: the same as mine
Likes: whatever I like.
Hobbies: the same as mine
Dislikes: whatever I dislike.

Now before you start jumping to conclusions, no, she is not my perfect match in every way. In fact, I would very much stoop to the other side of the board and say we have completely nothing in common. All she seemed to be interested in was becoming me, not dating me. Yes, she ordered exactly the same things as me, apparently had the same interests as me and she even tried to eat like me. She synchronized each chew! And I thought I was crazy, with the little voices in my head and being torn between two beautiful women and my… slight… small… unrecognizable personality flaws, but this was just insane!

Date number 9

Name: Sara Bloome
Status: Single
Career aspirations: To become a doctor
Likes: Lasagne, making people happy, puppy dogs.
Hobbies: Reading, sleeping and cooking.
Dislikes: Sharks and selfish people.

Sara, Sara, Sara… now what can I possibly say about Sara, other than she's wonderful of course. She was actually normal! It's quite amazing to see that it took me 9 dates to finally find someone that was remotely sane. In fact, not only was she sane, she was smart, funny and beautiful. So why didn't I ask her for another date? Because I couldn't stop thinking about how her smile reminded me of Serena's. And that lead me to think about Serena's laugh, and her eyes. Can you believe this? I'm obsessing! The great Darien Chiba, obsessing! This is completely and utterly hysterical.

Alright so it's been a month and a half since I developed a crush on Serena and other than her cookies that she brings over every second weekend and her casual 'hello's when she sees me, totally no progress at all. And the beach girl? She still disappears whenever I get the bal-…errr… guts to get up and walk towards her. So I have decided to take the beach spying down a notch and move in on Serena. Now I understand that the beach girl is incredibly beautiful, but really, that's all she is. Serena on the other hand, I have a chance with. She's smart, sweet, quiet, reserved and has inner beauty as well as cuteness.

So that night, I was sitting in my room contemplating how I would woo Serena and win her heart when out of the corner of my eye; I see her bedroom light turn on. She gracefully entered her room holding her school bag and some books, sitting down at her table.

This is my chance… this is my chance… what do I do? I began to panic.

Yeah, sure I looked calm and composed… or… rather frozen and still, but my insides were churning. And no it wasn't because I was brave enough to try another batch of Serena's homemade cookies. It was because of her presence. Just seeing her made me feel all giddy inside. Yeah, I know you may be thinking, "What's up with this pansy! Guy's don't feel giddy! Well, maybe… down there." But you're wrong! I'm a guy and I feel giddy! No not down there! Get your mind out of the gutter. So I ran downstairs and into the garden. Then I stopped and looked up at her balcony.

But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? No... no Shakespeare...

I probably would have smacked my head against the nearby tree in regards to how lame I sounded, but I had better things to do. I quickly leaned over and grabbed a handful of pebbles from the garden path and headed upstairs. Carefully sneaking back into my bedroom, I slowly crept onto my balcony. Ha, yeah I've watched one too many spy movies. What? I like being a spy… or pretending to, and besides, Jennifer Garner in Alias… grawwwwl!

So anyway, back to my top secret sneaky plan. I put my handful of pebbles onto the floor and I held just one in my hand. I calculated the right time in between heartbeats and lifted my hand up, but to my demise, Serena turned her head and looked at me strangely. So I stopped with my hand still near my cheek, still ready to throw the pebble at her balcony window. She blinked a few times and raised an eyebrow.

Oh joy...

I hid my pebble holding hand behind my back and slowly moved the other one up into the air, pretending to stretch, dropping the pebble behind my back. She shot me a worried look. Yeah, sure, why not? I'm worried for my own sanity! I smiled at her rather sheepishly and waved. She slowly stood up and made her way to her balcony.

What to say… what to say?

Why don't I plan these things more thoroughly?

"Hi Darien. Did you need something?" She slid her glass door to the side and stepped out onto her balcony, still giving me a concerned look.

"Well… actually, now that you mention it I-"

"Sorry? What was that? I can't hear you… you'll have to-" Her soft voice rose in volume slightly.

"What? I- I can't hear you…" Of course I could hear her. Her voice was like music to my ears.

"I'm sorry Darien…umm..."

"What? Can you say that again?"

"D... Darien if you need something you're going to have to call me or come over."

"Huh? If I need a fling I'm gonna need a palm tree called Rover? Look ahh… Serena, I don't know what kinda guy you think I am but umm-" Serena smiled and raised her hand, signalling me to wait. I watched as she skipped back to her desk, scribbled something down and slipped it in a pen. She waltzed back towards the balcony and threw it at me. It hit me square on the chest before landing in my hands. Strong arm… I won't be double crossing her any time soon! I twisted the lid open and pulled the little piece of paper out. Unfolding it gently, I read it to myself.

Score! I just earned Serena's digits. Mission successful.

I casually strolled back to my desk, reached over and dialled her number. I watched as she practically pounced on her phone as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Serena."

"Darien!" I could see her smile through my window. "How can I help you?"

"About that calculus homework…" I began, and my heart skipped a beat. I think, with all the times my heart has skipped a beat in the past month or so, I'm certain that I will have some sort of heart failure or maybe even a stroke in my early-30's. A gentle smile graced my features as I watched her and listened to her sweet voice through the phone. I'm falling deeper in love with the girl next door.

Okay, there we have another chapter.. I have a feeling that this is going to become a very long story. Please review and check out my other story The Jinxed Journey, oh and you guys are awesome! If I was Oprah, I'd give you all cars!

Crystal Saturn