Darien stepped out of the store and put on his dark shades with a smooth practiced motion. Hearing a commotion down the side walk, he glanced to his right and smirked as he saw Serena yelling at Rini again. He shook his head. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was the seven year old and who was the "mature" fifteen year old high schooler. He squared his shoulders and shook his dark hair out of his eyes. He swaggered toward the girls crowding the game store's display window. "Don't you know it's bad for a child's self esteem to be yelled at constantly, Meat-ball Head?" he asked cockily as he drew closer. He saw Serena stiffen with indignation.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me that!" she yelled. Rini ignored her completely and ran around her to him.
"Darien!" she threw her small arms around his waist and squeezed. He patted her head fondly and smiled down at her.
"Hi, Munchkin." She giggled and hugged him tighter.
"Rini, don't cling to tight to that dog. You might get flees," Serena said sharply as she turned her back on him and stuck her nose in the air. Darien felt his ears grow hot with embarrassment. His feelings for her always made him uneasy and he could see how he deserved Serena's contempt for the way he treated her but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to ever say anything nice to her. The only thing that he could think would be the reason was that it was his only defense against her beautiful big blue eyes and stunning smile that could have him staring at her like some love struck idiot whenever he even glimpsed them.
Rini's sharp glance was completely wasted on Serena and she turned back to him with an even bigger smile. "Come on Rini, let's go," she said and started walking blindly and promptly slammed into a crossing guard pole. He winced at the force of the blow and Serena slid to the ground, tears streaming down her face and her hands cupping her nose. His first impulse was to run to her, wrap his arms around her and promise that nothing would ever hurt her again. He shook his head sharply at himself. God, he had to get a grip on himself!
The strange black cat that had hovered around them as he and Serena had exchanged verbal blows bounded toward her and rubbed herself against Serena's knees as if to comfort her. Rini just sighed in frustration.
"Watch where you're going you idiot," she said, her high childish voice fraught with vexation. Darian winced at the ear shattering pitches that Serena emitted as she cried.
"Listen to her, Meat-ball Head. It'll save your nose some abuse," he said flippantly. "I guess one of you has to be the adult here," he said to Rini. She nodded solemnly and turned to Serena.
"Get up. You're making a scene."
"Try not to be such and air head from now on, Meat-ball Head," he said as he walked off.
"Don't call me that!" she wailed after him but he just kept walking, refusing to even acknowledge her comment. He sighed as he walked off. As always he felt bad about the way he had talked to Serena. He really should at least try to be civil to her. If he kept this up by the time he got enough courage to actually ask her out she'd hate his guts, if she didn't already, and he'd have no one to blame but himself.
Written By: Darien (lketeru--dohai)