Meus Amor et Mea Culpa: My Love and My Mistake

First Days Get Longer

The first thing the five girls saw when they entered Mr. Cartier's fourth period English class was Beryl Sinclair practically sitting on Zachary Monroe's lap. Needless to say, it wasn't the best thing to look at when their lunch was barely being digested.

However, Mr. Cartier walked in just in time as the bell rang and broke up her lap dance before she could start a striptease. Artemis had strutted and stopped right in front of Zachary's desk and coughed roughly, catching the coy redhead's attention. One meaningful and disapproving blue-eyed glance at Beryl, and the redhead quickly moved away from Zachary awkwardly to the seat by Zachary's side.

Turning to all the other students, he said, "Everyone please stand up, I will be giving out your assigned seats." At the dismayed sounds from his students, he only smirked and waved his seating chart in the air menacingly. "Groan and moan if you will. Once you're done, get up and move to your seats."

At the end of his seating plans, Serena found herself sitting right next to Ami, which was nice.

...Except Beryl was situated right behind Ami, which wasn't so nice.

"Well," Mr. Cartier began. "I do hope you all are becoming very comfortable because, unless I feel the need to do so otherwise, these are your permanent seats."

At his last words, he perched on the edge of his desk and, from a good way, he looked relatively young and...well, hot. Serena heard someone nearby hear whisper, "My god, I can't believe he's a teacher. He's so hot."

"I know." A new voice replied. "He's such a hunk. You think maybe he was a model or something?"

Serena nearly retched and tuned out of their conversation. In truth, Artemis Cartier was barely thirty yet. She knew for a fact that he still went out clubbing with her aunt Luna who often acted younger than she was. She sweat dropped at the thought of the last time her uncle and aunt stumbled into the house late on night. Serena and Kunthan were awoken by their aunt and uncle's hysterical laughter and raised questions and eyebrows with the twenty dollar bills that had been wedged between Luna's cleavage and the numerous lip-marks on strange places on Artemis, many of the shades that did not match the shade that Luna had been wearing when she left and had been smeared when she came in. For a respected, well-educated heir and an elegant female Greek artist, the duo could get buck-wild some times. Serena snapped out of her thoughts and focused on the lecture her uncle was giving.

"-And I only expect the best behavior and effort from every single one of you."

A hand shot up in the air. "Yes, Beryl?"

"Well, Mr. Cartier," Serena thought that the air was going to fill up with cavities from the sugary sweet voice she was emitting. "I feel that I won't get my full intake of education here."

Artemis Cartier's elegant brow arched as his eyes flicked over to where Beryl was sitting. He had placed Ami in the second row of the class, making Beryl in the third row from the board.

"In that case," He began slowly, "Do you have an idea of where you'd like to sit?"

Beryl tapped her blood-red fingernail against her cheek thoughtfully. "Well, I am far sighted, Mr. Cartier. So maybe I ought to take a seat back there." At her last words, she turned around behind her and flashed a grin at Zachary, who was sitting in the backrow. From Serena's point of view, he looked annoyed at Beryl's antics to get closer to him.

"I see," Mr. Cartier began, very well aware of Beryl's intentions. "In that case let's have someone back there volunteer to move to the front." With that, he cast a very meaningful glance at the back rows. Everyone waited. A lot of people would've wanted to get on his good side but back seats were the best places to fall asleep without getting caught, as Lita was currently demonstrating. Serena tried not to laugh. The moment of serene silence was broken when someone said in a clear voice, "I'll trade seats with her."

All eyes turned to the source of the scuffling of shoes on the tile floor and Beryl looked horrified as Zachary made his way down the aisle. Others shared her view. Several of Beryl's brigade were looking scandalous and even Rei raised an eyebrow (two would just have been asking for too much) in surprise.

"B-But Mr. Cartier," Beryl sputtered protesting. "M-Maybe I could um, well, uh, that is, I could-"

"Please get up and move to the back, Miss Sinclair." Mr. Cartier interrupted her ramblings.

Beryl pouted but got up, looking disgruntled. She and Zachary brushed by each other and she looked at him, inquiringly but he coolly brushed off her imploring look and plopped down into his new seat…behind a very-flustered looking Ami. Mr. Cartier seemed to notice this.

"Miss Mizuno, are you alright?" He asked, striding over by Ami's seat. "You look pale."

To stress his point, he bent over and placed a hand on her forehead. Serena and the others looked on, highly surprised at the subtle physical contact. Ami blushed furiously and Serena's attention was thrown, not towards Ami, but at the blond teenager behind Ami who was now glaring daggers at Artemis, his white knuckles grabbing the edges of his table. She eyed him, surprised. Zachary Monroe looked about ready to kill.

Mr. Cartier finally removed his hand away from Ami's forehead. "Hmm, well, you don't seem to have a high temperature."

Ami hastily shook her head, blushing furiously. "I'm fine, Mr. Cartier. Really."

He nodded slowly and stepped away. "Well, if that is all for today's interruptions," he glanced about the students and smiled genuinely. "Feel free to move about with your classmates as I unfortunately have to deal with something down at the office." He once more raised an eyebrow at the students. "I do trust that you will all be able to behave yourselves properly?"

There were scattered murmurs of agreement and prompting. Artemis smiled. He knew that they wouldn't dare to try anything stupid. He bore his eyes onto the blond sitting on the third row in front of him and felt a good sense of satisfaction swell in him. He had received the reaction he was looking for from the kid. As he called over a few selected students to keep watch in his absence, he kept one eye on Zachary. Obviously, the past summer had definitely taught the boy a good lesson. He had seen to that personally.

Once he was out of the room, Mina and Rei walked over to where Serena and Ami were sitting and Mina perched on Ami's desk as Lita made her way to the front of the class. Other students began moving about and talking to people they knew. Unfortunately, due to the sudden seat-changing, Zachary was now flanked with Beryl and her groupies from behind Serena's new group of friends.

"Zachy!" Beryl demanded sharply. "What was that about?"

Zachary had leaned back on his seat carelessly and pointedly ignoring her. "What was what about, Beryl?" He asked lazily.

Beryl's face turned into the same shade of her vividly colored hair. "You totally blew me off back there." She pouted. "I was trying to sit by you so we could be together."

"Really?" He asked, sarcasm dripping off his voice. "How ingenious of you."

With that, he abruptly stood up and pushed his way from Beryl's girls. Beryl watched him saunter away, her jaw wide open as he made his way to the wide windows on one side of the classroom.

"Oh my gosh!" One of her girls spoke up. "What's up with him?"

"I know Beryl," Another one said. "Like, why would he want to sit here with that?"

There was a selective giggling as the girl used her nose to point over in Ami's direction.

Lita growled lowly. "Something for you?" She snarled, smiling, cracking her knuckles loudly for emphasis. They all fell back as if struck and soon moved away from their group.

"God," Lita muttered as she watched them with the corner of her eye. "They make possible suspension very tempting!"

"Amen." Rei quirked before shifting. "But, they did have a point."

All the others turned to her inquiringly. She continued. "Well, that was stranger? I mean, you and him aren't exactly buddy-buddy." Rei had referred the last part to Ami, who gave an oddly high-pitched laugh and waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't ask me. Your guess would probably be as good as mine." She smiled, trying to push off the subject. "Anyway, let's please move on to happier subjects?"

And move on they did. After more gossip concerning families, bunnies and gators, and Mr. Tarnill's summer change to Ms. Tarnill, Mr. Cartier came in just in time to hand out a small assignment before the bell rang.

Lita armed with Serena and winked at her. "C'mon. You and me have Algebra together."

"And apparently so does Beryl." Seren murmured as she watched Beryl enter their classroom from behind them. Suddenly, Beryl noticed someone outside the class and ran out. After Lita and Serena had taken their seats, she had attached herself to some random guy in the hallway. However, from the jealous and angry looks being cast in the duo's direction, Serena guessed that he was probably someone important.

"Dion Crystaal." Serena spun about to see that Lita had followed her gaze to Beryl flirting with the guy by the classroom door. He was tall with stark white hair with a slight purplish tint to it. His eyes were a light purple color too. This 'Dion' guy would've looked a lot like her brother, Kunthan, if he had the trademark Cartier blue lineage eyes. He had strong, aristocratic features but there was something about him... Lita continued. "He's not really a one-girl guy. I'd strongly advise you to stay away from him." Her bright green eyes dimmed somberly. "Trust me on this, Serena. You don't want to deal with him or his brother."

"'Brother'?" Serena turned around just in time to see another boy, a bit younger than Dion step up to the white-haired teen. He had dark hair with blue tints that seemed identical to Ami's and dark blue eyes.

"Dion's a senior and Seto is in our grade." Lita explained. "He's really smart, Seto I mean. He takes a bunch of advanced classes and I'm guessing that he has a couple of classes with Ami, too. His reputation isn't as bad as Dion's but it's up there."

Serena nodded, listening. She had been looking at the trio outside the door. Seto had a rather boyish charm to him with soft features to accentuate his dark eyes. Beryl's own eyes had lit up at the sight of the other Crystaal brother and she had been animatedly talking nonstop since the past three minutes.

"I knew a girl like her." Serena mused suddenly. "Beryl, I mean. She was a somewhat nice girl, slightly like Rei. She could be bitchy, but when it really came down to it, she was incredibly supportive."

Lita laughed. "That doesn't sound anything like Beryl."

Serena laughed right along with her. "Nah, she was a good person. I knew her for quite a while. It's just that she flirted non-stop with all the cute guys. That is, until she met Alan."

"What happened?" Lita questioned. Serena turned to her, smiling widely.

"They got engaged at the ages of sixteen and seventeen and they're planning to get married once Ann graduates from college since Alan's decided to suck up to his responsibilities as the heir to his father's company."

Lita laughed incredulously. "No way!"

Serena smiled. "Way." Her bright eyes then took on a faraway, glazed look. "I'm sure they'll be very happy together."

Lita frowned. "You don't plan on going back to their wedding? I thought you said you knew her for a long time."

Serena shook her head, smiling sadly. "I did. But…nah. I know it'll all work out. They have something very special."

Lita smiled and it was then that she felt someone watching her. She turned her head slightly and froze. Dion Crystaal was looking at her direction, but not at her.

His piercing glance was focused on the petite blond situated beside the tall brunette. Serena followed her friend's sudden anxious glance and found herself staring into alluring, pale violet eyes. From her angle and point of view, they seemed like a light blue shade.

It was then that an unbidden memory crept into her brain.

"Wow!" She exclaimed sarcastically. "And here I thought you couldn't be more of a jerk. Once again, you've proven me wrong! Good-bye!"
As she made her way to pass by him, he caught her arm and forcibly forced her to face him. His dark blue eyes invaded her bright azure ones. For a moment, nothing mattered.

Her eyes hardened and she glared at his direction before pointedly turning her back to him and speaking to Lita. The brunette had seen the hard look she had thrown at Dion but pushed it to the back of her mind, making a mental note to bring it up with the girl later on. As Lita carried on her conversation with Serena, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Dion was still looking over at Serena and Beryl had, unfortunately, followed his gaze and now seemed to be ready to burn a hole through the blond's skull. Lita opened her mouth to say something about it to Serena when Mrs. Kobell stood up and called for Beryl to come in and start class.

Under Mrs. Kobell's watchful eye, it was impossible for the two to talk to each other so the entire period was spent listening to the woman's lectures and taking down notes. At the final bell that signaled the students to switch to their sixth and final class, she and Lita sent each other apologetic glances at not being able to talk much and Lita began leading them to the gym room as they both had the same class. Unbeknowest to them, however, was the pair of intense black-violet eyes that was glaring at the duo, particularly on the smiling and curious blonde that had taken the abrupt attention of Dion Crystaal...

Serena found that the gym was the one place she wouldn't have much trouble to find the gym as it was the largest room other than perhaps the auditorium and the cafeteria. On their way there, they bumped into Rei and Ami, both of whom just had gym. Rei was on her way to History and Ami was going to the library since she was an aide there. Once more, Ami looked tired. As Serena and Lita walked into the gym room, Serena turned to the taller girl and asked,

"Lita, is it just me or does Ami look sick?" Lita glanced at her and dropped her bag by one of the benches in the gym and sat down, looking thoughtful.

"Hmm, well Ami's naturally pale." She said, mostly to herself. "Your uncle was probably right. She might be getting a bug or something."

"Eww! Bugs." Both girls looked up to see Mina making her way to the two, smiling.

"Hey Mina." Both called out as she dropped her bag by the two and shared the bench with them.

"So what're you guys talking about?" She asked.

"Hey, Meens," Lita began. "You think something's wrong with Ami?"

Mina frowned at the question. She chewed on her lip for a second or two then her expression faded into one of understanding concern. "Maybe. I can't really say. Ames always looks that pale." She said slowly. "But I'm sure that it isn't a bug."

The blond said it with so much determination that the other two were surprised.

"How can you be so sure?" Serena asked. Mina gave off a smile and shrugged.

"Don't know." She replied. Her face then split to a wide, goofy grin. "I am the Goddess of Love, you know."

Lita and Serena laughed, sweatdropping all the while at the absurdly random declaration.

"Alright people!" A booming voice called out and a tall man with a potbelly rounded into the gym, followed by a woman, his deep voice bouncing off the huge room. "Let's get this over with. First days aren't exactly my favorite days either, so let's all suck it up for one more hour and you're home free till…well..tomorrow."

This was Mr. Tudgeman, the boys P.E. teacher. The brunette that was barely five foot beside him was Ms. Cadetzski, the teacher for the girls.

"Alright, let's split up, boys come with me and ladies, please go by Ms. Cadetzski."

P.E. was more or less highly uneventful since they still needed to get their uniforms for the class and there wasn't much else to do. So the girls turned around to talk to the other people there and Serena was relieved to make such nice friends on her first day. She had been nervous about the event for quite a while but was glad that it wasn't as heinous. When the bell rang to let go of the students, Serena gratefully followed Minako and Lita out to the front of the school, where Rei and Ami were waiting. For a while, the five stood there, talking together amidst the leaving students.

"Hey, Serena," Lita suddenly piped up. "Care to join us for some milkshakes and burgers?"

The girls were blinded by the shine that lit up the girl's features. "M-M-Milkshakes?" She questioned again hopefully.

"Yup," Minako laughed. "We know a great place a couple of blocks away from the school. They've even got an arcade. Plus, we know the girl who runs the place."

Serena nodded enthusiastically. "But I have to let my brother know first." With that, she pulled out a pink cell phone and dialed a number. After a few minutes, a gruff voice answered.

"'Ello?"

"Kunthan?" Her brother flipped over on the bed he was lying on.

"Usagi?" She smiled at the name.

"Yup. How're you doing?" She heard her brother grunt as he sat up and answered.

"Good, good. I just came back in after my classes. Speaking of which, how was your first day of school? Ready to transfer?" He asked teasingly. She laughed.

"Nope. It was actually very good." She replied. "In fact, I made a couple of new friends already."

"Really?" Her brother sounded genuinely interested.

"Yeah. And they invited me to hang out with them at an arcade a couple of blocks away."

"'Arcade'?" Kunthan repeated, surprised. He chuckled lightly. "You can't stay away from those places can you?" She laughed.

"Nope! So, can I go?"

"Sure." Kunthan replied. "Just let Uncle know before you head out."

"Okay, bye!"

"Love you." He said.

"Love you more." She replied automatically to the call and put her phone off. She turned around and glanced about, spotting her uncle nearby, ready to give her a lift home. Turning to her new friends, she said, "Hold on for a second guys. I have to tell my uncle first."

They nodded and she took off. "Uncle Arty!"

The said man turned to the source of the voice and smiled, embracing his niece. "Ready to go, Usagi?"

Serena shook her head. "Actually, some friends invited me to go out with them now."

He raised an eyebrow. "Those same girls that you were hanging out with during lunch today, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. Mina, Ami, Rei, and Lita." She recited their names.

Artemis nodded. "Very well. I happen to know the arcade they're talking about. It's very close to the house but if you need a ride-"

"-I have my cellphone and I'll give you a call." She finished. He smiled, ruffled her hair and told her to go on ahead.

"See you back at the house."

"Okay. Bye!" She waved to her uncle and walked over to the girls. "Ready!"

The girls turned to her, all wearing smiles that copied the infectious ones that Serena gave out. She saw that they had all loosened up their ties and undone the first few buttons on their school shirts, a sign that they were all uncomfortable under the heat. She followed suit and all five began walking.

"So," Serena began after they had been walking for a while. "Who's this friend of yours? The one that runs the arcade."

"Actually, her dad manages the whole place," Minako explained. "Lizzie works there most of the time when she isn't taking her classes at the college."

Serena's deep azure eyes glazed over momentarily. "Hmm, Lizzie." She murmured.

"Yeah, she's really sweet and she's Japanese, too." Ami added. "Her parents got divorced years ago and she has a brother living in Japan."

"Hey, Serena." Lita piped up. "Maybe you might've known him."

Serena laughed. "Probably." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "You guys seem to know a lot of Japanese people around here."

Rei nodded. "It's a natural thing. Not to mention that a good part of California is of the Asian breeding. Here we are."

They had stopped right outside of the place where there was a big sign saying "Crown Arcade". Rei turned to Serena to say something but was stopped short from saying it at the look on Serena's face. The girl had a look of horrified surprise pasted on her face and something dark glinted in the back of her eyes. Ami seemed to notice this too.

"Serena?" She questioned softly. Serena gave off a startled jump when Ami touched her shoulder. Ami got a firm grip on the other girls shoulder and frowned. "Serena, are you okay?"

Serena looked at her blankly, as if through her. She suddenly shook her head, clearing her head. "Uh, sorry, guys." She said, forcing a smile. "I just got a little sense of déjà vu back there."

"Well, then," Mina piped up, not noticing the change in the new girl's demeanor. "C'mon!"

With much flourish she stepped through the sliding doors with the other girls behind her. They grabbed a corner table and sat around together.

"Yo, Lizzie!" Mina waved. A girl that had dyed red hair with the roots of her hair showing her natural black hair color came up to them, smiling.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Lizzie asked cheerily. Rei shrugged.

"Not much really." Rei said, making a grimace. "First day of school though."

Lizzie laughed. "Bummer for you guys." It was then that she eyed and singled out Serena. "Who's your new friend?"

"Meet Serena Tsukino," Minako said, introducing the two. "Serena, this is our friend, Lizzie Furuhata."

Serena gasped softly, mid-handshake. "Motoki."

Unfortunately for her, Lizzie heard her and she looked at Serena, delightfully surprised. "Motoki? You know my brother?"

Serena frowned, aware of all eyes on her. She fought a quick mental battle with herself and decided to let out a little bit of the truth. "Well, I often went to the arcade in the Juuban district." She smiled uncomfortably. "I talked with him a lot since I went there almost every day after school."

Lizzie gave an excited squeal. "Wow! This is so cool."

Serena nodded slightly. "I suppose it is. But I thought his sister's name was Unazuki."

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah, it is. But I figured it would be a bitch for my friends to pronounce so I just stuck with my middle name, Elizabeth."

"Yeah, like you, right Serena?" Ami questioned. "I mean, Usagi is your middle name or something, right?"

Serena suddenly paled at the named her uncle had used to refer to her and swallowed before and saying half-heartedly, "Yeah, sort of." She then smiled widely and turned to the waitress who now had a very calculating look on her face. "So! What about those burgers and milkshakes?"

Lizzie broke her thinking reverie and then laughed. "Well, for the new girl on the block, first burger and milkshake is free." She glanced about at the other girls. "You guys are paying up full price."

The others laughed and Minako pouted prettily. "I thought you liked us, Liz."

She laughed back. "I do. But I'd like the cash you guys owe me that's been building up on your tabs even more."

The others joined in the laughter.

About three servings of fries, two Sailor V games, one new high score, and three racing games later, the girls decided to call it a day.

"So Serena, where do you live?" Ami asked as they all left the arcade. Serena waved her hand dismissively.

"No need, guys." She said. "My ride's here."

She gestured to a sleek black motorcycle positioned outside the building. On it was a tall man with broad shoulders and straight platinum blond hair and the same bright blue eyes as Serena. He was dressed in baggy blue pants and a grey sweatshirt underneath his leather jacket. He smiled.

"Hey there kid." Serena smiled back and ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hey!" She stepped away from him momentarily. "I didn't call for a ride."

Her brother shrugged. "No need to. It's about supper time so I was heading over there and I just stopped by here to see if you were still here."

Serena smiled and nodded. Turning to the others, she said, "Girls, meet my older brother, Kunthan. Kunthan, this is Rei, Ami, Lita, and Mina."

The girls all said their hellos though when Serena turned to Mina, the girl was frowning. When Serena looked at her inquiringly, Mina smiled forcibly.

"Nice to meet you." She suddenly glanced at her watch. "Hey, sorry guys, but I have to go. I should be getting home right now. Bye!"

"Uh-Bye!" Serena managed to stutter as Mina practically broke off into a sprint. "What was that about?"

Lita and the others shrugged, though Serena caught them trading knowing looks amongst each other. "Dunno. Hey, we'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." She replied. "Bye!"

With that, she hopped behind her brother as he handed her a helmet and his leather jacket for protection.

"Good day, ladies." He called and pulled away.

"Have a good day?" He questioned over the roar of his motorcycle. She smiled widely.

"Totally!" Was her loud reply.

As Ami, Rei, and Lita made their way home, and Mina took off in another direction, a pair of curious brown eyes followed the platinum-haired, blue-eyed duo.

"Usagi…" Lizzie murmured before her father called her and she turned away. "I could've sworn I've seen her before..."

rewrite posted: Aug 8 2010

chickay: Making that headway as much as my procrastinating, slight ADD-ish self can and hoping you don't all hurl rotten tomatoes at me in the process. Expect the rewrite for Chapter 3 soon (and I don't mean in 2 years, promise!). So, read ahead, don't read ahead, whatever you choose, please enjoy!

Remember: The old chapters will be moved to my LJ account as they are replaced. So read at your own risk! (Not really)

Oh, and: pretty please review! (if you didn't already do it years ago when this chapter was originally posted haha).