Disclaimer: Some parts in this chapter are from the play, "Macbeth".
A Normal Teenager
By: Lillian
Chapter Four
"Serena Claire, please stay after class for a few minutes," Professor Taylor, Serena's English teacher, informed her with an authoritative tone.
Serena sank lower into her seat and nodded in affirmation. She continued her descent towards the tiled floor until her chin nearly hit the edge of the wooden desk.
"What did you do?" A curious Mina whispered across from her. She had a red ribbon in her hair today, which stood out against her pale blonde hair. Her bangs were neatly styled and swept to the side. Her face was free of makeup, but she looked absolutely perky, especially for it being only eight in the morning.
Serena herself wasn't as fortunate. Waking up early just wasn't one of her favorite things to do each day. During filming, she'd wake up at the break of dawn, but she wasn't put through the torture of actually learning. She gently bumped her forehead against her desk and rested her head there for a moment. Face still down, she shrugged. "I don't know," she mumbled.
But she did know. The class had turned in their essays nearly three days ago. Serena did as well, but she didn't have to be a teacher to know her essay was less than acceptable. Her last English tutor never enforced the need to write essays. They mainly sat in the family study and discussed famous works of literature like The Iliad or questioning if the 'underground man' existed today. To be honest, she snoozed through most of those sessions.
"Professor Anthony talked to her as well," Amy's soft voice said to the left of her. Serena sat up straight on the uncomfortable chair and glared at her bookwork friend. Amy raised a neatly shaped eyebrow at her. "If you're having any trouble with your schoolwork, Serena--,"
"I'm fine, really I am," Serena cut off. "Professor Anthony just wanted to ask if I was adjusting well to our 'beloved school'." She leaned against the wooden backed chair and instantly wished for the swiveling office chairs that she had back in her own home. This was an expensive school. Why couldn't they purchase comfortable chairs?
"It's not just calculus though, Serena. You're also behind in physics." Amy's forehead creased in a troubled thought. "And I've seen you in statistics class. You always seem like you're about to be tortured whenever the professor writes something out on the board. I understand you were considered the top of your class but that was at your public school. Orcyrde Academy has different standards of difficulty. Maybe its best if you switch to a lower level in your trouble subjects?"
"Amy!" Mina said, aghast. Her hand shot up to cover her gaping mouth in surprise. She shook her head after a few seconds. "That's such a mean thing to say! Not everyone understands all that math and science stuff. She just needs a few more weeks to transition to the change, right Serena?"
Serena just gave a weak nod. If she didn't smarten up and fast, she'd be in all of Mina's classes, meant for the slow learning people. Mina was a party girl, just like her old self. Even this self was failing miserably at being a school nerd. She just wanted to ram her head against her desk again in frustration.
"I had to be blunt in order to get the point across, Mina. I wouldn't like to see Serena fail…. She's at a disadvantage, as you well know. We've all been schooled at the top private schools, but Serena's only just now experienced our way of life. I'm sure it must be difficult for her."
"I'm right here you know," Serena said, irritated. She sighed. "Let's just read this passage like Professor Taylor told us to do," she said, changing the subject.
"I've already read Macbeth, so you two could just finish up," Amy responded. The girl had a complicated looking physics guide in front of her. "Extra research," she said in explanation, then went back to her reading.
Mina grinned sheepishly. "I'm not a nerd like Amy," she stuck her tongue out at the smart girl in a teasing manner, "but I've already read this as well." Mina pushed the heavy book onto Serena's desk.
Serena stared down at the book, then at her two friends. "Were we supposed to read this over the summer or something?"
Both her friends shook their heads. Serena didn't want to be the only one reading…. The name Macbeth sounded familiar to her. Hopefully when the teacher began the discussion, it would trigger some part of her memory to remember the story.
She feigned surprise. "Wow, I've read this already too." She laughed. "I guess we're done then."
"You have just a few more minutes, class," Professor Taylor announced from the front of the room. She rather liked Professor Taylor so far. She wore the same chic, black pencil skirt with a ruffled top. Her lectures were somewhat interesting. If only it weren't so early in the morning….
Serena closed the book, then took off her glasses and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the cool desk. She could hear the desks scraping against the floor, probably moving them back to their proper rows. She leaned her cheek against the surface and gave Amy a questioning look. Amy and Mina still hadn't moved from their spot next to her.
"We don't have to move just yet," Amy told her, nodding her head towards another group who were still busy reading.
"Wow Serena, you're so pretty without your glasses!" Mina immediately covered her mouth in shock once again. It was one of Mina's quirky habits that she had. "Not that you aren't always pretty," she tried to fix her blunder. She quickly began twirling her long hair nervously around her pointer finger and chewed on her glossed lower lip.
Serena shoved her glasses back on. "Ha," she laughed weakly. "Aren't you nice."
"Alright class," Professor Taylor said. "Let's try something new today. Who would like to be Macbeth?" If Darien had been in class today, Serena was sure he'd get the part. In his place, another boy with brown hair and pale green eyes took the part as Macbeth. He seemed like a decent guy, but she knew he hung out with Darien's crowd. That always spelled trouble in her book.
"And Lady Macbeth?" None of the girls raised their hands. She noticed Mina fidgeting with her pencil and acting oddly. Professor Taylor scanned the room, her eyes focusing on… "Miss Claire, care to play Lady Macbeth?"
Serena shrugged. It couldn't be that hard. It was her chance to gain extra brownie points in the class. After all, she needed it. She put on her meek act as she nodded her head in a demure manner. "Sure. I'd love to."
"Alright, we'll start with Act 1, Scene 5. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, I want you two to act this scene out. There's also a messenger in this scene, but we'll just skip that part for now." She walked over to the two students and handed them a paperback version of Macbeth. "Go to the front of the room now and please take this seriously. The rest of you, follow along in your books. I believe it is on page 339."
Serena trailed after her fellow classmate to the front of the room. She found the spot in the book and stared calmly back at her classmates. She glanced at her acting partner. He seemed… nervous somehow. Was she supposed to be nervous too? They were merely acting after all.
"Start on line 15, Serena," Professor Taylor ordered.
Serena nodded and scanned the lines before and after it, trying to pick up the tone of voice so she could imitate it. She took a deep breath, and then started. "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature. It is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way."
She continued along, making sure to fully enhance her emotions through her facial expressions and bodily movements. She finished line 58 and stopped with a flourish. It was Macbeth's turn to speak. She stared down at the book, waiting to hear Macbeth's lines, but they were never uttered. Curiously, she looked up and stared at Macbeth. He was staring at her oddly. The professor and her classmates seemed to have been caught up in the silence as well.
One lone voice broke the stillness after what seemed like hours. "Bravo!" Professor Taylor called out, clapping her hands ecstatically. Her classmates soon followed in her example. Clapping filled her ears, as well as hooting and other such calls. Serena looked at them, shocked. "That was simply marvelous, Miss Claire. I haven't seen such professional reading like that in years. My, you would be a lovely addition to our school's theatre group."
"Uh, thank you, but no thanks. I can't act." Serena quickly mumbled and hurried back to her seat. She sat down and buried her head within her arms.
"Can't act?" Mina whispered in disbelief from her seat next to her. "I consider myself a good actress, but I could never pull off what you just did.
Serena stared at her friend. "What are you talking about?"
"You brought Lady Macbeth to life, Serena. You were brilliant," Amy commented as she closed her book. She gathered the rest of her textbooks into a side pile on her desk.
Before she could respond, the bell rang. Students promptly carried their things and walked swiftly out of the door.
"Hurry up with Professor Taylor's chat, alright? I don't want to be too late for lunch today like last time," Mina said. Mina then looked at the blue haired girl then demanded, "And you, you'll be eating lunch with us this time."
Amy blushed. "I guess I'm just so used to eating by myself that it's become habit to walk outside and not into the cafeteria."
The two followed their classmates out the door while Serena walked over towards her professor.
"Serena, you have a gift and that gift is acting," Professor Taylor said. "Now, I usually don't do this but I'll make an exception for you. I'll be more lenient on you when it comes to your essays," the professor visibly winced, "if you improve your writing skills AND join this year's play."
"That's all?" Serena asked in surprise.
Professor Taylor nodded. "You're friends with Miss Anderson, correct? Well, have her help you on your essays. She could proofread it for you and give you some pointers. Miss Anderson is a brilliant student who would be delighted in helping a friend out."
Serena silently agreed and nodded in approval.
"Now as for this play, the drama professor decided it should be based on 'Romeo and Juliet'. You'd be just perfect to play Juliet."
Serena frowned. "You said based on. Do you mean that it'll be modernization of the original?"
Professor Taylor smiled. "Yes, that's what's happening for this play. I don't know the full details of course, so that's why I want you to go see Professor Winthorpe as soon as possible. She's the drama teacher if you didn't know."
"Alright," Serena agreed.
Professor Taylor picked up a folder and searched through the bundle of papers. She picked one out and handed it to her. It was her essay. "I want you to work on this and hand it in to me by Thursday. That gives you three extra days, alright?"
Serena graciously accepted her horrible essay. "Thank you for the second chance."
"Thank you, Serena, for agreeing to be a part of the play. With you playing the lead, I'm sure we'll have a bigger audience than the previous years."
"You did what!" Luna screamed into the phone.
Serena winced and pulled the phone further away from her ear. "I said that I joined the school play."
"And just why exactly would you do a stupid thing like that?" Luna asked forcibly.
"How is joining the school play stupid?" Serena asked. She was confused. She could hear Luna's pen tapping from the other line. Serena visibly winced. That only meant one thing: Luna was annoyed. An annoyed Luna was not a nice person to talk to.
"It's stupid because it could give you away! People could see how you act and associate it to well, you! You have a distinct acting style, Serenity. If they see you on stage, people could see past the act and realize that you're Serenity Blair and not nerdy Serena Claire."
Serena sighed. "That won't happen, Luna. I'll make sure that it won't."
"At least tell me how you're doing in school. Are you the top of your class?"
"More like the bottom," she moaned. "Honestly, it feels like boot camp minus the physical labor. You just had to pick one of the hardest schools for me." Serena bit her lower lip and whispered closer to the receiver. "I'm failing all my subjects and even one of my friends is noticing it. If I remember correctly, she's the top student out of the whole school."
"Well, at least you're friends with her. You could imitate her when we start filming that show."
Serena nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. You just need to remember that I didn't even try out for the part yet."
"That doesn't matter. All the important people already know you have the part. So, how's life at your school? Met anyone?" Luna asked teasingly.
Serena sighed. "Well, there's this jerk that keeps bugging me in almost all my classes…"
"Is he cute?" she prodded further.
"Yes… no! No, he isn't cute. Luna! Why are you even asking that?" Serena groaned. She picked up her pillow and fluffed it up before lying back down on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling while waiting for Luna's response.
"I can tell you're lying to me, Serena," Luna said. "It'll do you good if you get a boyfriend as well. Remember what the show's about."
"Yeah, yeah. You mentioned something about the nerdy girl falling for someone."
"The script says that the lead falls for a handsome jock type. Hey, is your 'jerk' a jock type?"
"Um, maybe? Why?"
"Serenity dear, off the record so your father won't kill me when I tell this of you: snag him."
Serena blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Make him your boyfriend."
"But I'm only staying here for a few months!" she yelled into the receiver.
"The average amount of time couple's go out are two to three months."
"That's it?" she repeated weakly. That was disappointing. "What makes you think I can get a hot guy like him to even look at me as girlfriend material? I'm dressed up in horrible clothes with these ugly glasses. Do you know I've been restricted from wearing makeup too? It's just horrible and I hate it." The door opened and Mina stormed in, followed closely by Molly and Amy. "Look, I gotta go, Luna. I'll talk to you later," Serena whispered hurriedly and shut off her cell phone.
"Who was that?" Molly asked as she made herself comfortable on Mina's bed. Amy did the same while Mina made her way towards her closet.
"Just a friend who thinks I'm nuts when I told her about me being in the play," she replied. "I was known to be quite shy at my old school."
They nodded their heads. "At least you're not as shy as Amy here," Mina joked as she rummaged through her clothes.
Serena looked at her curiously. "What's she doing?" she asked the other two girls.
"Play rehearsals of course. We don't have to wear our uniforms so I'm changing into some normal clothes for a change," Mina answered still poking around in her small closet.
Serena winced when she heard that. So far, she had gotten away with wearing only her school uniform and her nightclothes. She was used to the more glamorous fashions, not the plain clothes that Susan had designed or the ones from Walmart.
"You should change into more comfy clothes as well. God, I've been dying to wear jeans. I like skirts, but wearing it all the time with knee-high socks is just too much."
"I didn't know you were in the play, Mina," Serena said. "What part are you playing?"
"She was playing Juliet until you came along," Molly said with a sad smile on her face as she stared at her best friend.
Serena placed a hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry Mina! I didn't know they filled that part already."
Mina turned around and faced Serena. "Although I was a tad bit upset, I know you'd play a better Juliet than I could. The only thing I'll regret is missing out on kissing Darien." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Oh well, there's always next year." She winked.
Serena immediately stood up. "Did you just say kiss Darien? You mean I have to kiss Darien!"
"That is how the play ends, Serena," Amy said with her nose in a book.
"Except you get to kiss him more than once," Mina grinned. "You two would make the perfect couple."
Serena rolled her eyes. "He's not my type," she said off-handedly. She was worried. Kiss the jerk more than once? He was cute, she had to admit, but he was such a player and an annoying jerk.
"Aren't you going to change?" Mina questioned.
Serena nodded and walked up to the closet she shared with Mina. She discreetly pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "I'll go change in the bathrooms and meet you back here," Serena said.
Luckily, there was no one in the bathroom when she entered. She locked the door, wanting her privacy and hoping an angry classmate wouldn't come by any time soon. Serena held the plain cotton t-shirt in her hands. It was designed well enough, she guessed, but this was a girl who would wear silk and satin blouses on a daily occurrence. Although she'd forgo jeans for a more pretty skirt or pants, the few jeans she did possess were all designer brands that looked expensive. The jeans Susan had bought her were called Mudd Jeans. Why would anyone wear a piece of clothing that was named Mudd?
Serena removed her uniform consisting of a polo shirt, skirt, jacket, and tie. She removed her knee high socks as well. She dubiously picked up the pair of jeans and slid them on. They were a solid plain blue color, something that had gone out of style in the '90s. She took the shirt and put that one on quickly enough, glancing at her reflection. It was a cute shirt, she guessed after looking at it for a while. However, it was several sizes too big for her, hiding her figure. She sometimes saw other teen girls wearing shirts with cute phrases. Hers merely had a picture of glittering stars.
"This is a public bathroom!" Serena heard someone shout from the other side of the door. "Unlock the door already! I need in."
Serena grabbed her belongings while she yelled out a "sorry" to the person on the other side. She unlocked the door and ran out of the bathroom in a hurry, not stopping until she reached her dorm room.
"What took you?" Mina asked, annoyed as she brushed her hair. "We're going to be late if we don't leave soon."
Serena dumped her uniform onto her bed. "Where's Molly and Amy?" she asked.
Mina shrugged. "They left a few minutes ago." Mina put the brush down on her dresser. "Come on, let's go."
The various actors and actresses of the school sat in a semicircle on the stage. The drama teacher had a flair for words as she sang her praises about the future production.
"And since we have a new actress amongst us, why don't we all just mingle and get to know each other better?" the teacher stated cheerfully. "Come on students, up and about. We can't have laziness present on this stage after all."
Mina bounced out of her seat waved at Serena to do the same. "Do you need to be introduced to anyone here, Serena?" she asked
"Hello, new girl," a smooth, sexy voice said from behind her. She cringed and slowly turned around.
"Shields," she replied dutifully, nodding her head in greeting.
"You've been avoiding me," he stated, blue eyes twinkling with amusement as his lips formed a pout.
"Oh, just leave me alone jerk-face!" she screamed at him, frustrated. "And you're the one who hasn't been showing up to class lately."
"So does that mean you missed me? That's sweet."
Mina tugged at her shoulder and navigated her away from Darien before she could reply. "Do you really hate him that much? I agree, he can be a jerk at times, but most of the time, he's pretty agreeable with." Mina and Serena now stood in front of a tall girl, brooding silently at the corner of the stage.
"Hey Lita," Mina greeted the tall girl. The girl twirled her auburn colored hair and stared down at them. She studied Serena the most, her emerald eyes staring closely at her. Serena fidgeted in her spot, not liking the almost knowing stare that Lita was giving her. She didn't know the truth, did she?
"You two could be twins," Lita finally said, a smile on her face. "I'm Lita," she said, holding out her hand for Serena to shake. Serena let out a sigh of relief before shaking the taller girl's hand in return.
"You're in my art class if I remember correctly," Serena said. She was delighted, now she had a friend in that class.
She nodded. "I hear you got stuck being Lady Montague, Mina. What happened?" Lita asked curiously.
Mina laughed. "She stole my part." She nudged Serena playfully.
A looming figure blocked off the stage light. "Serena," his voice called out her name. It sent shivers down her spine. No one ever made that name sound so exotic before.
"What is it now, Shields?" Serena sighed.
He was standing there, hand rubbing at the back of his head. "Perhaps we can chat alone? I wasn't quite done talking to you."
Serena placed her hands on her hips and frowned. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of my friends."
Mina and Lita gave each other a look, then stared back at Serena and Darien.
"They'd make such a cute couple, don't you think?" Mina whispered to Lita quickly, tuning out Serena and Darien and their conversation.
Lita continued to scrutinize Serena. "There's something off about her though… I can't put my finger to it. But honestly, I'm surprised that Darien Shield's even talking to her. She's not his type."
Mina frowned at this and stared at the brunette now whispering quietly to Darien. The girl, more out of habit, nudged her large framed glasses upwards. It was an unusual sight to see, the new school nerd and the popular jock together.
"You'd be a better match, Mina," Lita said. "With your blonde hair and his black, you'd be quite a stunning couple."
"You're wrong though, Lita," Mina replied with a gloomy tone. "Both their personalities just click. Besides, it's over between Darien and me." She sighed. "Secret relationships never do work out well, do they?"
Lita saw the tears beginning to form on Mina's face. She quickly embraced the girl in a hug. "You have a big heart, Mina. I'm sure you'll find the perfect boyfriend soon enough."
"Thank you, Lita. That's just what I needed to hear," she said.
Darien and Serena had both wandered a few feet away from them as they discussed what seemed to be a happy topic. Serena kept on grinning as she talked to Darien. "Hey," Lita directed towards Darien. "Do you think we can have our friend back now?" Her eyebrow rose as she waited for his answer. Both of them laughed. Darien shook Serena's hand and walked over towards his friends. Serena did the same, a glazed look in her eyes.
"Sorry we zoned out. Well, tell us the scoop!" Mina said anxiously.
Serena smiled. "The jerk finally apologized. He even agreed to do my math homework for me, but I told him Amy wouldn't like that. So then he agreed to help tutor me in math." Serena began to jump up and down. "Now I won't fail math! Yes!"
Lita stared at the brunette incredulously. "You mean to tell me that you both were whispering over ten minutes just to arrange a tutoring session?"
Serena frowned. "What else would I be talking about?"
The two girls listening intently fell over when they heard that.
"So he didn't ask you out?" Mina asked weakly.
Serena blushed. "We're taking the next step."
Both girls were all ears as they waited to hear Serena's answer.
"Friendship," Serena sighed happily.
Molly and Amy walked onto the backstage through the side door at that exact moment.
"Why are those two on the floor?" Molly asked as she walked over to Mina and helped her up. Amy and Serena did the same and helped Lita onto a nearby seat.
"You don't want to know, Moll," Mina said, shaking her head.
Lita nodded in agreement. "Definitely not."
The girls were wandering off towards the front lawn to relax. Classes were officially over for the day, as were most after school clubs. Amy was the only person in their group who carried a handful of books with her.
"You didn't seem to do much in rehearsal," Amy spoke out amongst the group.
Serena shrugged. "The teacher just gave me a copy of the play and told me to start memorizing my lines."
Lita stretched out but immediately stopped in her tracks. The rest of the group soon followed and stared at the figure that held Lita's attention.
It was a tall girl, although not as tall as Lita. She held herself with such confidence and grace. Her long fiery purple locks swayed with each step she took. She removed the Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses covering her eyes and smirked at the group, most specifically, Serena.
"Oh my god! Isn't that like, Raye Hino? Oh my god! What's she doing at our school?" Molly was jumping up and down in excitement. "Do you think I could get her photograph? Oh man, how cool would it be to have my picture taken with her?"
Amy just shook her head. "Who's Raye Hino? Is she famous or something?"
Lita too, was grinning madly. "Wow. Someone famous is gracing our school with her presence. This is so cool. But why would a supermodel be here? That just doesn't make any sense… unless the school's planning on having a program or something?"
Mina stayed still in her spot, her face void of emotions. That made Serena curious.
"Sere!" Raye called out haughtily. She was obviously putting on a show for the rest of the students. "You still didn't give me back my comic book!" she yelled jokingly. Serena didn't know whether to run up to her friend and give her a hug or scream at her for being here. Why was she here anyways? It had only been a two weeks at school. Did she hear from Luna that she was doing a horrible job so far at playing a student role? "Don't you even miss me in the slightest?" Raye asked; slight hurt in her voice.
Immediately, Serena made her decision and ran up to her best friend, trapping her in a bear hug. "What are you doing here?" she finally asked once the joy of seeing her had slightly faded.
Raye tossed a few strands of her dark purple hair over her shoulder. "I'm on break," she said dramatically. "And what are best friends for? I wouldn't want to miss seeing you acting like a nerd. Oh how the mighty have fallen." She laughed. With a well manicured nail, she poked the girl's glasses. "Totally not used to this 'you'," she whispered so only Serena could hear. "This is gonna be a treat, seeing you make a fool of yourself. You can't even do arithmetic in your head."
She huffed. It had only been two minutes and already the girl was getting on her nerves. "Raye, you're so mean!" she wailed.
Raye left her there and walked up to the group. She seemed to study each and every one of them, her chin held up high as if she were looking down at them. It didn't help that she was shorter than Lita. "Hello," she drawled out. She placed her shades over her eyes. "By you're expressions I'm guessing you already know who I am. It's a pleasure, I'm sure." In typical Raye fashion, she didn't bother to shake anybody's hands. She sniffed when Lita attempted to do so. Her temper nearly reared its ugly head when Molly fanatically gave the girl a quick hug after the mini introduction.
Serena was quick to help her friend pry the red head off of her, and shot the both of them apologizing looks.
Raye smoothed out the black, Marc Jacobs cropped jacket she was sporting, despite the warm weather. Serena wished she herself could follow the latest fashions too. Raye took to staring at her group of friends, and her jaw nearly dropped to the floor. You!" Raye yelled suddenly, pointing an accusatory finger at her roommate.
"You know each other?" Serena asked in surprise. Mina looked miserable but put on a brave face as she glared at Raye.
"What do you think you're doing here, Miss Hosh Posh? Why don't you go back to Phoneywood where you belong?" Mina said, steaming. Her hands were in tight fists, just waiting for the right moment to attack the purple haired girl.
"Excuse me, but that should be my line, imitator!" Raye huffed in response. She quickly turned towards Serena and glared. "How the hell can you be friends with this girl? She's such a cold twit who can't even gain stardom on her own."
"That's not true!" Mina cried out before Serena even got a chance to answer. "I gained that modeling deal fair and square! It's not my fault they only wanted me because I looked like someone else!" She broke into sobs and quickly ran away. Molly immediately ran after her best friend. Amy took the chance to observe the purple haired girl. Lita, on the other hand, looked ready to fight, even if the girl in front of her was famous.
"What is going on here?" Serena screamed as she turned to her best friend. "Raye, you're usually never this mean to anyone. What brought this on?"
Raye shook her head. "Don't you know who that is, Sere? She's that almost famous, would have been, ex-model that I was telling you about awhile back. I usually always get the job that I want, but then Miss Blondie comes along and takes it away from me. Do you know why they gave it to her and not me?"
Realization popped up in her eyes. "Oh, you mean she's the girl who pretended to be me—err, Serenity?"
Raye glared and quickly guided Serena away from prying ears. It seemed half of the school was outside watching the drama unfold before them. "Serena, you're gonna blow your cover," she hissed as they stood under a palm tree. "And yes, Blondie was the one who faked her way into that job by saying she was you. Now, when I heard that my best friend suddenly got into modeling, I knew something wasn't right. I mean, you're too short to be a model, but even then, you never showed an interest in modeling before."
"But wasn't it an honest mistake?" she said thoughtfully. "Didn't the agency just assume that she was Serenity and not just plain old Mina?"
"Maybe at first, but it was Mina who didn't correct them from the beginning," Raye said. "I even heard through the grapevine that her agent told her to change her name to Serenity on her papers. Can you believe that? The both of them are just creeps."
Lita and Amy walked over to them. Amy had an unusual glint in her knowledgeable blue eyes that made Serena uneasy. Lita was the one to talk, however. "Alright," she said. "You, I don't know who you are… alright, so I do know who you are and I won't ask for an autograph or anything since you were an ass to my friend, but what the hell just happened between the two of you? And you!" she pointed towards Serena. "How did a girl like you become friends with a famous model like her? First Darien, now her? Is there something you're not telling us? Are you like, an heiress or something like that?"
"Uh," Serena said as she racked her brain for an answer. She decided to go with the truth. "No, not an heiress." She thought back to what Luna told her of her background. "I'm actually here with financial aid and the scholarship I received. Free tuition, how could I possibly pass that offer down?" She smiled weakly.
"I never did understand that. Is this a new scholarship? Our school doesn't usually offer scholarships with free tuition," Amy said softly. "I should be one to know, I haven't received anything like that thus far, and I'm the top in the class."
Lita scoffed. "Try the whole school." Lita stared down at her new companion. "Um, when did you suddenly become friends with the gang?"
Amy blushed. "You'll have Serena to thank for that."
Serena patted her timid friend in the back, then focused on Raye. "Alright now, since you seem to be attending this school with me, although for the life of me, I don't know why, you're going to have to promise me one thing."
"And what's that?" Raye asked.
Serena gave her an evil smirk. "You need to be civil to Mina," she said.
Raye began to walk towards the main school entrance. In her hand was a fully packed Louis Vuitton suitcase. "We'll see about that one, Sere. You know me, I just don't do civil."
The next few weeks were going to be hell. Raye acted more of an diva than she ever did. And if she wanted to keep up appearances as being an unpopular girl, she'd have to stay clear of Raye. With the girl's looks and attitudes, she was sure she'd fit in perfectly with only the most popular girls in school. She had a nagging feeling in her chest. Would Darien find Raye attractive? She quickly slapped her cheek. Who was she to care if he found Raye beautiful?
"Just friends," she said to herself as she power walked to catch up to her best friend.
Author's Note: Man, all those English classes back in high school actually pay off. lol! We'd have to do the same thing with acting out the lines. I love acting, but I'm not as good as Serena. No lead roles for me. The Iliad and Macbeth were mentioned in this story. The underground man comes from Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, if you don't already know. At least I learned something in my European history class. I had a tough professor who thought himself above everyone since he graduated from some posh Ivy League school. Enough said. Ha! So what will happen next that Serena is forced into the limelight? Find out soon in the upcoming chapters. Do review! I'll heart you forever if you do. :)