About an hour later, the CD ended, and we were forced to look for another one. While Darien flipped through Mina's selection, I occupied myself with surveying the road around us. It really was beautiful country. I lived in a small town, so I was used to all the greenery, but when I thought about Darien taking a cab through the grimy streets of New York, it made me glad that I was brought up in such a natural environment. Still, if I got into NYU, grimy might become the norm to me.
"How about Simple Plan?" he asked.
I laughed, but shook my head. "I haven't heard them in a while, but they remind me too much of my ex-boyfriend, so I'll have to say no."
"Ex-boyfriend, huh?" Darien teased. "Should I be worried?"
I smiled sadly. "No, I don't think so."
We were silent for a while, then Darien broke the quiet once again. "What was his name?"
"Seiya," I replied, and sighed as the image his dark hair and sweet, earnest face loomed in my mind's eye. "My first encounter with love," I explained, chewing at my lower lip. "It didn't go so well. Not only was he the sweetest and funniest guy I ever met, he was also a pathological liar. One of those situations where you have to let go, but you don't want to." I winced in remembrance.
"I know the feeling," Darien suddenly broke in, and I smiled faintly at him before turning my eyes back to the road.
"I met Seiya at work actually," I said. "He was the new kid in school, not really my type-we had very different tastes in music, clothes, just about everything-but when he came in, he charmed the pants off me." I laughed bitterly. "I was never so crazy about someone in my whole life! He made me laugh, he made me feel beautiful, and then I started to notice things…" I trailed off.
"You don't have to talk about it," Darien assured me, his eyes gentle.
"No," I answered, not looking at him, my voice quiet. "I want you to know everything about me."
He smiled softly in response, and suddenly reached for my hand, tenderly placing it between his own.
"As a boyfriend, Seiya seemed to be the perfect guy. He was funny, sweet, tender, romantic, and every girl envied my ability to catch such an amazing boyfriend. But as happy as I was with him, it wasn't long before I stopped overlooking the many idiosyncrasies he had. He would buy me expensive gifts with money he didn't have, he claimed he had a job that neither I, nor any of his friends, had been to… He became jealous of my close relationship with my boss Andrew, and started accusing me of being with other people." I felt my eyes begin to well with unshed tears and blinked them back furiously.
"I loved him more than anything, but I couldn't convince him of that. Then, he started to talk about marriage. He told me I was the only woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his life, and that scared me. I didn't know what to say to him, because I couldn't say it back. I loved him so much, but the thought of settling down so young terrified me. He couldn't even trust me to be alone with my boss, but he wanted to make me his wife…" I laughed again. "Over the next couple of weeks, I took a long hard look at myself, and realized I didn't like what I saw. I wasn't Serena anymore. I was always walking on eggshells around Seiya, I never saw my friends, and I had stopped confiding in Mina. I realized I had to get out of the relationship, and I did. It was a long, drawn out, ugly process, but I finally did." I stopped, and looked Darien right in the eye.
"It took me a very long time to feel something for someone else," I said softly.
"Do you feel something now?" he asked, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
"Yeah," I replied. "I think I do."
We were quiet for a few moments, then he smiled, and pulled away from me.
"Well, how about Weezer?" he asked playfully. I laughed, feeling the tension ease it's way out of the car.
"Sounds good."
A half hour later, we stopped for gas at a small road station and diner. To our surprise, Mal's Navigator was parked outside of it, and the group was having lunch inside the small restaurant.
"Would you look at that?" I said, pointing at the smiling faces peeping out at us from the building's interior.
"Good thing we stopped," Darien answered, opening his door and lifting himself out of the car.
We both stretched for a minute, easing the tension that had built up in our muscles over the drive.
"You hungry?" he asked, grinning at me.
"You buying?" I teased, and laughed as he nodded. "Let's got then."
We headed into the diner, and I smiled at the atmosphere of the restaurant. Fifties music blasted from the jukebox in the corner, the interior was red and white-complete with checkered curtains, and there was even a tiny dance floor in the corner, empty for the moment. We were greeted with a wave from Malcolm, and I frowned as Mina leaned in and whispered something into his ear. My expression quickly became quizzical as he laughed heartily in response.
"What took you guys so long?" Mina asked slyly, throwing me a simpering grin.
"Took us a little longer to get to your car," I explained, taking the empty seat next to Amy. Darien sat down beside me.
"You guys hungry?" Lita asked. "We couldn't wait for the diner in town."
"You mean, you couldn't wait!" Nathan teased, and Lita flushed with embarrassment.
"Everyone else was hungry too," she protested, a little more defensive than usual. However, the way she blushed under Nathan's shining grin was explanation enough.
"How's the drive going so far?" Jarod asked, smiling knowingly at Raye.
"Good," Darien answered, looking a little uncomfortable himself. "Serena introduced me to U2's Joshua Tree album!"
"How'd you like it?" Mina asked eagerly. "It's one of her favorites!" she put in.
"I loved it," he answered, and grinned at me. "She's got good taste…"
"Aren't you just loving the scenery, Serena?" Amy suddenly spoke up. "The botanical life of this area is absolutely stunning! It's a lot like home, but both Zach and I have noticed a few species that aren't native to Vermont. It's utterly fascinating!"
I smiled. "I'll have to take your word for it."
She smiled back and turned to Zach to resume their conversation on the origins of a particular flower, and I tuned them out. As much as I loved having an intellectual discussion with both Amy and Zach, I was in the mood for something a little different. Still, I couldn't help but notice how well they were getting along. It was strange actually, when I looked around the table, our entire group was paired into couples. Although Mina had been teasing me when I walked in, she was now completely focused on Malcolm, joking with him and making him laugh. Lita and Nathan were talking about their karate classes, and Jarod and Raye always had things to talk about. It was like a massive double-date, and Darien and I had brought it all together…
But how would it end? None of these boys lived close, and not all of my friends were going to college out of state. Lita wanted to get her business degree and open up a restaurant, Amy was heading to Columbia's pre-med program, Mina wanted to be an actress, and I-well, I was going to New York. Jarod, Nathan, and Zach were California boys, but Jarod would probably be an east-coaster when he went to Harvard. Both Malcolm and Darien were from New York, but who knew where they were headed for college! Maybe what I was doing wasn't such a great thing. I was showing them things they might not be able to have… When it comes to love, or even liking someone, is it better to not have it at all, or to have it and give it up?
I shook my head as Darien touched my arm, signaling me that our waitress had arrived. I decided to push my deeper reflections aside, and just have fun. The girls were having a good time-something they hadn't had in a while-and there was no reason for me to think badly about it.
"What'll it be, honey?" The waitress asked, smacking her gum loudly. I glanced at her nametag and read "Flo." This was too much!
"Double cheeseburger, extra cheese, no onions, and a milkshake…" I answered, struggling not to stare at her garish make-up and bright red hair. She looked like something out of Grease. It was almost, well, cool.
When Flo walked away, Darien turned to me and smiled. "Did you do that on purpose?" he asked.
"What?" I wondered.
"You ordered the exact same thing as I did!" he pointed out.
I blushed, realizing I probably did, and I let out an embarrassed laugh. "I never told you this," I began, making a strong effort to look him in the eye, "but when you came in that day, you ordered my favorite meal, right down to the chocolate milkshake!" I laughed again, and this time he joined me. "It made me like you," I said softly, and his laughter died down.
"It makes me like you now," he replied, and my cheeks flamed again, but we laughed it off. "So," he stated, chuckling, "how long have you been working at the Comfort Café?"
"Almost two years," I answered. "I started when I turned sixteen, and I'll be eighteen in June."
"You like working there?" he asked.
"Yeah," I responded, smiling gently. "I work with Lita and Amy, and Andrew's one of the best friends I've ever had. I've known him since I was five years old."
"How old is he?" Darien asked.
"Twenty-two. His family owns the café, and in a few years, his dad will pass it down to him. For now though, he just runs the place." I smiled, realizing I really missed Andrew and his bad jokes. When I went home, it would be great to see his happy-go-lucky grin again.
Suddenly, my thoughts were broken as the jukebox switched from Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," to the Shirelles crooning "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." I smiled to myself, remembering a particularly romantic scene from Dirty Dancing, and began humming along.
"You like this song?" Darien wondered, breaking me out of my reverie.
I nodded. "Yeah, reminds me of one of my favorite movies…"
He smiled at me, and then glanced over at the tiny dance floor. "You want to dance?" He asked, suddenly appearing very shy.
I laughed and shook my head "no." We were the only customers at the moment, but I was still a little bashful for some reason. The last thing I needed was for Mina to be immature while I was cutting a rug with Darien.
He laughed, and stood to his feet anyway, offering me his hand. "C'mon!" he insisted.
I laughed too, but I cocked my head towards the group, who were now favoring us with questioning glances.
"Don't mind them," Darien said dismissively. "Dance with me."
My heart dropped into my stomach, but I nodded, rising to my feet as an inexplicable feeling of déjà vu swept over me. I took his proffered hand, he led me to the dance floor, and then pulled me gently into his arms. His eyes never left mine as we swayed to the soothing beat of the song, and the warmth that spread across my body was only aided by the soft rays of light that filtered through the diner's curtains. His hands were tenderly placed at my waist, while my arms were draped around his neck. Dimly I could hear the group whispering behind us, but I was too concentrated on the sensations filling my body to care. It was like he could see right through me, right to the core of my very being, and for the first time in my life, that didn't make me uncomfortable. I wanted to drop all walls for him, I wanted him to know all of me. There was a connection between us, and if I had met him once, or a hundred times, that connection would always be there. I guess for me, love-at-first-sight did exist.
"What are you thinking," he suddenly asked me, and I jumped, a little startled.
"I was thinking that I feel really safe with you," I murmured softly, looking away.
He pulled me closer, and I could feel him smiling against my cheek.
"I like your honesty," he said softly, and I smiled too.
The song ended a little too soon for me-perhaps for both of us, because Darien pulled away as reluctantly as I did. We headed back to the table hand-in-hand, and I couldn't escape the sly (and somewhat envious) smiles the girls shot me from across the table. Our food had arrived, and we ate pretty quickly. I made fun of Darien's table manners, while he teased me about not knowing the wonders of dipping my fries in chocolate milkshakes. A half-hour later, we were ready to be on our way again.
"Well, we'll see you guys in about a half hour or so!" Mina said, as we stepped out of the cool air of the diner and into the warm Saturday afternoon.
"Yeah, we got to fill up first, but we'll be right behind you," I answered.
They smiled and nodded, and after saying our goodbyes, they all piled into Mal's car and pulled away. Darien and I filled up the tank with gas quickly, but as I reached for the car door, he stopped me.
"How about I drive? You could rest," he offered. I beamed at him.
"Thanks," I said, tossing him the keys.
"You're welcome," he answered. "Let's get this show on the road!"
I laughed. "All right."
We were laughing by the time we pulled away, and conversation went very smoothly the rest of the way to town. We eventually caught up with Mal and the others, and by the time we pulled into the small theater parking lot, we had already picked a movie. The guys wanted to see Saw, for obvious reasons, and because I didn't mind the thought of clinging to Darien's arm in the dark, I didn't object.
We lucked out by barely catching the 2:30 show, and five minutes later, we were filing one-by-one into one of the back rows. The movie had been out for a couple of weeks, and this was an early show, so the theater was nearly empty. However, this only enhanced the creepiness of the film.
"I'm warning you," I whispered into Darien's ear as the lights began to dim, "I'm a total wimp when it comes to scary movies."
He laughed softly. "I was counting on it."
I was glad it was dark in the theater so he couldn't see how furiously I was blushing. Still, he wasn't disappointed. I'm not much for slasher-films, but this one sufficiently freaked me out. I was cracking up at some of the crappy dialogue and acting, but the gore and the really intense scenes often caused me to grab Darien's hand and bury my face into his shoulder. He bore my outbursts with gentle patience, and towards the end, finally slipped an arm around my shoulders. My heart pounded at his tender gesture, and for a while I couldn't concentrate on the movie. I glanced around to see the rest of our group in a similar position to Darien and I, and I smiled. This was a good idea, and as I gazed at Darien's calm features, I realized I hadn't had this much fun in a long time.
Suddenly, I made a decision and pushed the cup-barrier that sat between us out of the way. Before Darien could say anything, I moved closer and snuggled into his warmth. I heard him gasp softly in the dark, but a moment later, his hold tightened on me. I smiled, and we didn't move from our comfortable position until the movie was over.
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