A/N: I've been away on holidays for a week and I borrower The Killers album from my dad for the trip. The first time I heard it 'Smile Like You Mean It' it made me think of companion training (it still does) and I just started to write this. I could have done it without the lyrics and had more words but I really like the song.
Smile Like You Mean It
Save some face, you know you've only got one
Change your ways while you're young
The guild teachers instructed their 30 young pupils as they led them into an empty restaurant.
Boy, one day you'll be a man
Oh girl, he'll help you understand
The girls were seated along one side of a long table, their hair and make up precisely done to complement their expensive dresses then the boys were brought in to sit on the other side. They were proper young men, well versed in the appropriate dining procedures.
Smile like you mean it
The instructors corrected the girls mistakes. Sitting on the far left hand side Inara Serra was not having the best time but she tried her hardest not to let it show.
Smile like you mean it
The boy she was assigned to was overweight an had weird looking boils on his hands. He reached over and patted her arm, she tried to smile.
Looking back at sunsets on the Eastside
We lost track of the time
Inara's mind was drifting, back to when she was younger. She had grown up with strict rules one of which was no staying out after sunset. One evening she had not been able to resist and when her friend meg had announced that she was going to the lookout to watch the sunset Inara had gone with her. She had always loved beautiful things. That was the night she had decided to become a companion.
Dreams aren't what they used to be
Some things slide by so carelessly
It wasn't quite as glamorous as she had expected and she hadn't escaped the rules. Somehow, it didn't seem to matter.
Smile like you mean it
Suddenly her fork clattered to the ground, she had to start paying attention.
Smile like you mean it
One of the teachers glared at her as she bent to pick it up.
And someone is calling my name
From the back of the restaurant
Inara couldn't remember Meg that wall anymore even though she'd only been away for three months. However she new they'd been to this restaurant together at least once.
And someone is playing a game
In the house that I grew up in
And they used to play at her house a lot. Meg's had been too small. Meg wasn't very rich and Inara's parents didn't like that.
And someone will drive her around
Down the same streets that I did
Who would play with Meg now? As far as Inara could remember she was her only friend. And who would drive her to school in their new hover car, Inara was the only one who had had one.
Down the same streets that I did
She'd most likely never see those streets again, on Meg.
Smile like you mean it
Inara's smile wavered slightly.
Smile like you mean it
A slightly older girl who was sitting next to her mimicked the teachers with a mischievous grin when they weren't looking.
Smile like you mean it
Nandi was her new friend. There was just something Inara loved about her personality that she new the teachers wanted to get rid of.
Smile like you mean it
Inara whispered it under her breath and smiled.
Please Reveiw: although this is a one shot