Lost and Found
By lfleurdelys
Chapter 1
Looking disapprovingly at my friends, I laughed again, wiping the tears that had inadvertently fallen on my cheeks. The blond-haired girl was throwing the fluffy white pillow she had swiftly grabbed off my bed and threw it at her companion across the room.
"Take that!" she said, crossing her arms in sign of defiance.
The victim from the pillow fight widened her eyes and her long raven locks emerged from behind the object of the enemy. "Mina, you're not getting away with this." She stated, in a warning tone.
"Oh really?" she replied, her ocean blue eyes twinkling in challenge. "I'm still waiting..." she didn't finished her sentence as the same white pillow hit her face.
"Hey you two!" I finally exclaimed, grinning. They laughed and Mina looked at me in a rather innocent manner.
"What is it Serena?"
I rolled my eyes before mirth overcame my senses again. My friends were impossible at times yet I loved them and our insane moments such as this one. I had known Mina since seventh grade and it was in the memorable algebra classroom of our junior high that we had met. Our teacher, an elderly man of perhaps fifty-five years old had fallen asleep on his desk, and we both had smiled and pointed at him at the same time. From this day on, many adventures had begun and we were often escaping reality to our imaginary realms of storytelling. Two years later, Mina and I decided to attend the same high school and there, we met Raye. The three of us quickly became good friends and still at the beginning of senior year, I smiled as I realized that nothing had changed.
o o o
It was a Monday morning, as I was frantically finishing an assignment for chemistry that Raye curiously asked me.
"Are you going to the winter formal?"
"Huh?" I perplexedly stared at her for a minute before going back to the world of atoms and chemical equilibrium.
She sighed and toyed with her pencil bag. "You heard me Serena. I just wanted to know if you were thinking of going to the dance."
I laughed, expecting her to do the same. "You're funny."
"I'm serious!" she fiercely replied. I raised my eyes, surprised. Raye knew without a doubt that I hardly went to dances because I simply could not find myself interested in the particular matter. The dresses, the corsages and dates… I shrugged my shoulders at this idea and would rather spend an evening at the movies with friends than at a fancy restaurant, faking a smile at my escort.
"But why the question, Raye? You know I probably won't go unless you're forcing me or something" I stopped mid-way, as I saw her grinning and furiously nodding her head. "But you're not going to do this to me, are you?" I added when her disarming smile grew bigger.
"Serena, you are such a good friend! I knew you'd agree!" she joyously cried out.
"What?" I shrieked, fear overcoming me. "No, no, I don't want to go. Don't be mean." I pleaded my case as my friend started clapping her hands in happiness.
"Oh come on, don't be such a baby."
"You're the one who wants to force me!" I desperately retorted. "And why anyway?"
"Chad asked me to winter formal!"
"That's great Raye!" I cheerfully told her, fully knowing how much she had waited for the young man to ask her. And for a moment I forgot about her crazy proposition, but she did not.
"And you're coming with me!"
I suspiciously eyed her, "I don't see how any of this has to do with me."
"Chad has a friend who is looking for a date so I told him he didn't need to look anymore and that you could go."
"Why did you do that?" I asked, bewildered.
She looked at me reproachfully, "It's time you go out more Serena. It's our last year, our senior year."
"Well, I know but still… I don't see your point here and why not Mina?"
Raising her eyebrows, she declared, "yes and I'm sure her boyfriend Andrew will agree."
"I'm not sure I want to go." I told her honestly and doubtful.
"I promise it'll be fun! Please?"
I sighed. Deep down, I knew that she was right. Even my own mother was starting to complain about my lacks of 'social skills'. I repeated to myself that winter formal was just a dance, an evening. I could surely sacrifice an evening for my friends. Raye seemed so ecstatic at the thought anyway and I did not want to disappoint her.
"So… what is his name?"
She beamed at me. "His name is Darien."
o o o
He was tall, taller than I imagined. I shifted my weight nervously from one foot to another and finally sat down as the figure approached. He passed the counter at the front of the restaurant and I further noticed his midnight black hair and his athletic figure. He waved and I made a fool of myself, turning around as if he had addressed someone else, while I wholly recognized that his greeting had been directed at me. Rapidly taking my purse, I irrationally thought of an escape to the bathroom, cursing my friends on the way for making me agree to such meeting. Nevertheless, this indeed same friend grabbed my arm before too late and I sat back on the wooden ebony chair, anxious for this afternoon to end.
"Hey Chad, Raye, and you must be Serena." He said, his voice strong and clear.
"That's right. Hi!" I managed to say, my slightly shaky voice betraying my calm composure.
I glanced at him for the second time, noticing his dark blue jeans and gray polo shirt. He was casually dressed and I mentally sighed, thanking myself for not listening to Mina who had insisted that I wore a summer dress. Instead, I had opted for a cream pullover and black pants.
He sat in front of me, because Chad and Raye had chosen seats at the other end of the table in conspiracy, leaving only one chair empty. I smiled at him, already vain and exhausted at the thought of spending my time here.
"I'm sorry." He whispered to me, across our glasses of water.
I glanced at him incredulously, not sure I understood what he meant. "For what?"
"For this." He said, wavering his hand, meaningfully.
"Oh you don't have to apologize! It's Raye's fault." I replied with a smile. I noticed from the corner of my eye that she was not listening to our conversation.
He laughed. "Well, I know that our friends set-us up in a blind date and I want to tell you that we don't have to do this, if you don't want to."
Darien shocked me by his words and straightforwardness. I softly gasped at his comment before collecting myself.
"No, yes, I mean it's fine. I'll be happy to go with you." I answered, sincerely touched.
He cleared his throat and asked me formally. " Well, would you like to go to winter formal with me, Serena?"
"Yes. I'll be glad Darien."
Later, as the hands of the clock had fulfilled another turn, I found myself learning more about this mysterious young man. We talked about our common interests and dislikes. We shared stories and my shyness and apprehension flew away at his sides.
A few minutes later, he leaned on the table and told me.
"Do you want to go to the movies?"
I looked at the couple next to us and saw them lost in their own world. Smiling, I nodded and walked away with Darien, after a quick goodbye to an oblivious Chad and Raye. I followed his car to the movie theater, located near the mall across the restaurant. We agreed on a recent comedy that had ranked second according to the box office and critics.
Now that I thought about it, it was funny how quickly we became comfortable around each other. I was astounded but perhaps more than ever, I could not deny the warm feeling that was creeping and nudging at my heart.
o o o
"You didn't!"
"Yes I did!"
"I can't believe you told him that Darien!"
I heard his chuckle on the phone and smiled to myself, his exuberance contagious.
"Don't worry about it, he'll get over it."
I laughed and nodded energetically, "I'm sure he will, though I wonder about the consequences."
"Anyway, before I forget, what is the color of your dress?"
"It's blue."
"Thanks, that sounds good."
"What about you?"
"Oh I was thinking of this pink dress I saw today." He declared, thoughtfully.
"You're crazy Darien." I shook my head at his antics.
"But you like the craziness! Hey, I have to go, but I'll talk to you later."
"Alright, goodnight!"
"Good night Serena."
I heard the other end of the phone click and I let myself fall on my bed, closing my eyes at this flow of happiness I could not control. As I peered under my desk, among papers and precious belongings, I assembled the notes he had written me during the past weeks and read them again. After meeting each other, I found inside my locker, folded messages where he had scribbled a few words to me in his neat handwriting. I still recalled the first time I saw one unfamiliar paper fall off my biology book. I read its content and clutching the paper in my hand, I ran to my friends to tell them.
It was crazy; I could not rationalize my actions or emotions. I was not even sure I understood them perfectly but I felt so happy, knowing that I was going to winter formal with him. Obviously, this situation was also ironic since a month earlier, I had firmly stated to Raye and Mina that no one would see me pamper myself to go to a dance. Perhaps, now was a good time to eat my words. Never too late. Peculiar how I never realized before the meaning of butterflies and daydreams.
o o o
The next day and the next one, they brought me closer to winter formal and it was with impatience that I tapped my fingers against the polished desk in order to search for some kind of normalcy. I was waiting for the bell to ring and my economics class to end. The day had gone by at such slow rate that I rolled my eyes at the clock. It was only two thirty-five. Twenty more minutes before my class would end. Why the impatience? My friends had conveniently appointed me the task of reserving the table for the dance. It was common knowledge that passing a certain deadline would result in random sitting arrangements, something I was not particularly inclined to have.
Twenty minutes later, I scrambled my books and folder all together in my bag and headed to the office. I took the white envelope from my back pocket and made sure the eight tickets were still there. I sighed with relief and handed them to the man behind the desk. He kindly asked me with whom I was going.
"With Darien Montgomery."
"A nice kid he is."
I was not surprised since Darien was somehow popular at school; he had been promoted senior editor of the yearbook staff this year, and was playing in the varsity basketball team. Still, curiosity overtook me and I questioned him, "you know him?"
He nodded. "He comes here to help me out when things get too busy."
"Oh!" I softly exclaimed. "That's nice of him."
"That's true, he's a good kid," he reiterated.
Later on, as I walked to my car, I thought about what the stranger had told me. It was not so much his words, but the fact that I was learning more and more about my date that left me in a bizarre mood. I was simply spending too much time thinking about him; he occupied my thoughts for the most part of the day and I shook my head in vain, in the attempt to forget.
o o o
December 18th marked a day of remembrance for all of us. It symbolized a night of amazement, dreams come true and perhaps above all, magic. It was on this day that I went to the formal dance with a boy who never ceased to surprise me.
After a month of preparations, my friends and I finally managed to step out the white limousine, in awe at the ball before us. I had thought since the beginning that the glitter of dances was only associated with false and superficial portrayals in movies or television, yet I was proven wrong and on that precious evening, it was finally our turn to shine in our own ways.
I looked at the corsage of white roses on my wrist and felt his presence at my sides. I could not believe that after everything that had happened, winter formal had finally arrived. After a forty minutes drive, the driver parked in front of a glass building towering before us with its height and an evocative air of dominance.
"Ready?" Darien whispered to me.
I simply nodded with a shy smile as he opened the door for me.
Fortunately, we quickly found our table near the large dance floor. It was enlightened with silvery lights and red roses interlaced on the massive columns at the entrance. The mood was designed with success to be romantic and candles were burning and giving a pale glow.
He took my hand and led me to the dance floor. I smiled at him and let myself fall, deeper, stronger into his arms and his love.