After our somewhat awkward moment, Darien and I didn't have much trouble talking. He told me everything about his family: Raye, his mom and dad, and even his dog! We chatted about our childhoods, places we wanted to travel to, and who we wanted to be. He disclosed to me his dreams of becoming a world-renown photographer, but also reluctantly divulged that he would most likely be heading to Harvard in the fall. His dad wanted him to go to medical school, and he didn't want to disappoint him.
"But why do you want to give up your dreams like that?" I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. "I mean, if you love photography so much, why don't you pursue it."
Darien sighed, and a look I had never seen before crossed his handsome features. "My dad's a doctor, his dad was a doctor, my mom has her doctorate…" He joked lightly, but I could see it was a serious matter. "He wants me to be great-you know, successful. It's important to him that I go far in life."
"Which I'm sure most parents want their kids to do," I assured him. "It's just, well, people tend to give up on their dreams a lot around here," I murmured, thinking about Jarod sacrificing art for law school.
"Oh yeah? How would you know?" Darien asked playfully, and I paled a bit.
"I just… well, it seems like they would," I answered, rather defensively.
I gazed at the brick buildings surrounding me, and for the first time, they looked more like the walls of a prison than a school… It was like Madison was a jail where people like Darien and Jarod locked their true desires away in order to become something someone else wanted them to be.
"It's like, parents push their kids into this place so they will be great, regardless of whether or not it's what they really want," I said softly.
Darien nodded thoughtfully at this, and I smiled as the wind picked up and tousled his black hair. I remembered wishing I could run my fingers through it and mess it up in the same manner. He immediately caught me staring at him, and I blushed and looked away.
"Come on," he said gently. "I'll show you the rest of the grounds."
And he did-not that I really needed to see them, but I feigned interest as he pointed out the dorms, classrooms, and cafeteria. We were just heading toward the lake when Raye and Jarod finally caught up with us.
"Sorry I'm late!" Raye gasped, tucking a strand of ebony hair behind one ear. "Molly was ruling the bathroom!"
I resisted the urge to grin as Darien turned to introduce me. Before he could, however, I stepped forward.
"I'm Serena," I said, winking at her. "Ren's cousin."
Raye beamed at me. "I'm Raye," she answered, raising both eyebrows. "Well, I see where Ren gets his good looks from," she teased, and we both tried to cover the laughs that were bubbling up our throats. Jarod rolled his eyes.
"Why thank you!" I answered, letting a little of my mirth escape.
"Am I missing something?" Darien asked, looking quite confused. I smiled at Raye and we both shook our heads, giggling in spite of ourselves. Darien shrugged. "Well, I guess we better catch up with the others. I think they're down by the lake."
Darien led us over the crest of the hill that bordered the large lake separating Madison from it's sister school. I looked down the grassy knoll only to discover Mina, Lita, Amy and the boys overlooking the expanse of water. It was so clear today, and as the wind picked up, leaves blew from behind me, and I watched as they whirled and twisted through the air only to settle on the glassy surface of the lake. I sighed, slightly in awe of the magic of nature. It was so easy to overlook the simple beauty of a strong wind in autumn. I glanced up to see Darien gazing at me, and I smiled at him.
"Well," Raye suddenly broke in. "Are we going to join them or what?"
We started moving in response to her question, and reached the large group below us in moments. The introductions quickly followed, but only the girls and I knew they were completely unnecessary. I felt a little guilty about it. Darien thought we were meeting by chance-that all this was the work of Fate. I wonder what he would do if he discovered today was actually the result of careful planning… I shuddered, not really wanting to think about it.
"So," Mina piped up, catching everyone's attention. "What are we going to do today?"
The boys glanced around at one another uncomfortable, and I suddenly realized they didn't have a plan.
"I dunno," Nathan said finally. "I guess we really didn't think about it."
The girls looked disappointed, but Raye rolled her eyes. "We could go to town," she offered. "Maybe get some dinner and see a movie."
"That's a great idea!" Mina encouraged, glancing at me. "We should see something scary!"
"I don't know," Zach warned. "It's a bit of a drive, a couple of hours at least…"
"That's not a bad thing," Malcolm said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's like, what?" He glanced down at his watch. "Almost twelve o'clock? We could be there by two, catch an early dinner, see a movie around four or five, and be back on the road by seven at the latest! We'd be back here by nine, and the girls won't leave till ten." He grinned. "We could probably join up with the bonfire before you ladies have to go!"
"Oooh!" Mina gasped, clasping her hands together excitedly. "That does sound like fun!"
"Then let's do it," Lita insisted. "We should leave right now."
"I can fit eight in my Navigator," Malcolm announced.
"I brought my car too," Mina put in, but suddenly smiled evilly. What was that about?
"Great!" Malcolm answered. "We can divide up, and meet at Del's Diner in a couple hours."
"But I don't really feel like driving," Mina said with a pout.
"Then who else is going to drive?" I asked.
"You, silly!" she declared.
"Mina, I don't have my license with me," I reminded her. She was planning something, I could feel it.
"Oh pooh! No one's going to pull you over out here!"
"I don't think it's a good idea," I insisted.
"Serena!" she whined, and I rolled my eyes. "I'm not really feeling up to driving right now, it's been a long trip…" she trailed off, and put on puppy-dog face. God, I hated when she did that! "Would you mind driving my car?" she pleaded, but I could see the amusement in her eyes. Oh no… I prayed silently. Please don't say it!
"You could take Darien with you… He's got a license!"
I felt my face turn about ten shades of red, but not all of them were caused by embarrassment. I glared daggers at Mina's smirking face, and it was all I could do not to tackle and beat the living daylights out of her. However, she wasn't the only one grinning. As I glanced at the rest of the group, I noticed they were wearing the same smug expression.
"Absolutely," I growled, and her grin widened.
"Great! Here you go," she said, tossing me the keys. She gently reached out and took Malcolm's arm, turning only to waggle her fingers at me in an infuriating wave. "Let's go," I heard her murmur, as she urged the group to follow them. "I think she's about to kill me!"
Malcolm's laugh carried back to me, even though the wind was blowing the other way, and I felt my cheeks redden again. I turned to see Darien looking at me, the same embarrassment on his face, and I finally relaxed.
"Sorry about that," I apologized. "My sis-" I stopped, knowing I had almost called Mina my sister. I'd have to be more careful! "Mina," I corrected, "doesn't exactly understand the definition of 'tact!'"
"It's okay," he assured me. "I actually found it kind of… well, sweet."
I smiled at that, and we headed towards the guest parking lot, not really saying anything, but not really needing to.
My embarrassment didn't really end there, however. As soon as I started Mina's car, Darien and I were suddenly blasted with the ear-splitting harmonies of the Backstreet Boys singing "Backstreet's Back." I cringed visibly, and quickly shut the stereo off. Like nearly every girl, I had gone through a boy-band phase. I swooned while watching their cheesy music videos, sighed wistfully at their horribly corny lyrics, but unlike Mina, I had grown out of it. Sure, I didn't really mind-heck! I even sang along when she played the stuff! But having Darien right next to me while they're shouting "Backstreet's Back, alright!" was a little too much.
"I'm sorry," I finally managed, feeling my traitorous cheeks beginning to redden. "Mina hasn't really gotten over the boy-band craze yet!"
To my surprise, Darien started laughing. "That's nothing!" he assured me. "Malcolm has a secret soft spot for Kenny G. If you think your sister's bad, you should hear him hum along to the Christmas album when he thinks no one is looking!"
We both cracked up at that, and in that moment, the tension finally broke.
"Well," I said, as my chuckles subsided, "As much as I love to hear old Nick croon, let's find something else, shall we?"
I reached down to the floor and picked up her CD case. I flipped through the sheets quickly, and finally stopped on the U2 page I had insisted she put in there.
"Do you like U2?" I asked, hoping he'd say yes.
"I like what I've heard," he offered.
"And what's that?" I wondered, a teasing smile pulling at the corner of my lips.
"Their new stuff," he answered.
I glanced down, and my eyes settled on the Joshua Tree album. "Ever heard the Joshua Tree?" I asked. It was released in 1987, but he might have heard it.
"I don't think so," he replied, and my eyes widened.
"You've never heard it!" I exclaimed. "Where have you been? Under a rock?" Darien laughed.
"Let's just say my mom encouraged me to listen to a different genre. I didn't get into other stuff until I started hanging out with Mal. He was always the rebellious one in the family."
"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't exactly dub Kenny G as a 'rebel.'"
Darien cracked up again, and I pulled out the CD. "Well, because you have been denied such wonderful culture, I must take on the task of educating you!"
"Oh yeah?" He inquired playfully.
I grinned and slipped the CD into the player, cranking it up as the opening riff from "Where the Streets Have No Name" began to flow slowly out of the speakers.
"Yeah."
Moments later, we were driving away from Madison down a two-lane highway, with Darien laughing at me as I sang along with Bono at the top of my lungs. This was what I wanted! Finally I was feeling comfortable enough to be myself with him, to be the real Serena. I smiled at him as I sang through the second verse, and his eyes suddenly took on a that glow I remembered from before, and I had to look away. When he looked at me like that, I felt deliciously uncomfortable, and that feeling was strong enough to run me off the road.
I turned the music down as the song ended, and "With or Without You" began. God! I loved this album, and seeing that Darien was enjoying it as well was almost too good to be true.
"What are you like, Serena?" Darien said suddenly, tearing my thoughts away from Bono's crooning.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "We talked for over an hour back at the school, and you don't have some idea yet?" I joked.
Darien chuckled low in his throat, and I nearly shivered at the sound. "I guess I got a quick overview back at Madison, but somehow I think it'll take more than just an hour to figure you out," he smiled at me, and I once again turned my eyes back to the road.
"Well," I replied, "you're right. It'll definitely take more than an hour…"
"What's your family like?" He asked. "I know Ren and Mina are your cousins, but what about your dad, your mom? Any siblings?" he asked.
For a long time I couldn't answer. How could I tell him that Ren's family was my family. I was so sick of lying to him! I was slowly digging myself into a hole, and if I kept going, I might never get out of it!
"Ren and Mina are my family," I answered softly.
"Oh," he replied, crestfallen. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," I said honestly, placing my hand over his, hoping it would be some source of comfort to him. "They're all I need."
He smiled at me gently, and nodded in understanding.
A long silence ensued after that, but thankfully it wasn't an uncomfortable one. We had U2 to keep us company, and for a while at least, it would be enough.
Thank you all so much for your awesome reviews and suggestions! Keep 'em coming:)
By the way, I am in no means bashing BSB in this chapter-I used to love them! Sorry, just had to say that in case I got a few complaints... :P