A/N: It's been a while and real life has been a hot mess! I was out of town with little internet accident, then I had a car accident when I got back, and now I'm getting ready for school to start again, but all in all I'm alive and well. I also ran into a little bit of writer's block, but I'm back with not 1 but 2 chapters for y'all. Warning: Christianity is kind of a big deal in these next couple of chapters so I'm sorry if that offends any of you. Constructive criticism is welcome as always, but hateful comments will be deleted. With that being said, I hope you all enjoy!

The next day, Darien came to school early dressed like a complete nerd thanks to Serena's help. He was dressed in jeans with an Avengers t-shirt Andrew had given him for his birthday last year. He completed the look with his glasses and hair parted in the middle. Serena found a pea green jacket for him to wear and suggested suspenders and tape in the middle of his glasses. However, Darien refused because he wanted to save some of his dignity, but he compromised by wearing the jacket. He offered to walk Serena to school again, but she refused because she wanted to surprise him and also argued that it would give him time to talk to his friends like he promised. So here he was waiting at the usual spot. Students who passed by him were giving him looks and he could clearly hear them making comments about him. He could tell it was going to be a long day.

"Hey!" a female voice said above him. Darien sighed as he recognized Rae's voice. He looked up and found her glaring at him along with Chad, Mina, and Andrew standing nearby. "You're in our spot."

"There's enough room for all of you to join me if you want," he replied.

Mina scoffed. "You're joking right? There's no way we'd hang with someone like you."

"Yeah, dude," Chad added. "The people you'd fit in with are in the courtyard trading Pokémon cards or something."

"Who says I have to hang out with them? Can't you guys make an exception?"

"You don't belong here," Andrew stated.

Darien looked at Andrew closely. It was clear that the others didn't recognize him, but the look Andrew was giving him and the tone he used made it clear that his statement carried more than one meaning. "Please give me a chance," Darien finally said. "I have something I need to say…"

"You don't belong here," Andrew repeated. "Get lost before I make you leave."

Darien sighed and stood up. "I don't want to cause any trouble." He grabbed his things and gave Andrew a meaningful look. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah you better be sorry for stealing our spot, Geek Bait," Chad said as he, Rae, and Mina occupied his previous seat.

Andrew continued glaring at Darien as he walked past him. Darien suddenly lost his balance and dropped all of his things as he fell. "Oops," Andrew said sarcastically. They all started laughing at him as others who witnessed him trip joined in the laughter.

Darien sighed deeply as he crawled around and searched for his glasses that fell off during the fall. "Looking for these?" someone asked. Darien looked towards the voice and saw a blurry figure waving something in the air. He stood and headed towards the person to retrieve his glasses, but by the time he was close enough they threw his glasses somewhere else. More laughter ensued.

"Over here," a new voice said. Darien turned around and hurried as he tried to follow the voice, but tripped over his backpack and fell again. Laughter erupted all around him as his face flushed with embarrassment. He felt around helplessly for his backpack.

The laughter suddenly stopped and he heard whispers. "Here," a female voice said near him. He recognized Serena's voice immediately and turned towards her blurry figure. She handed him his backpack and helped him stand up. "Stay right here." Darien readjusted his backpack and watched as everyone cleared a path for her as she headed towards someone. She took something from them before coming back to Darien and handing him his glasses. "Here you go." Darien put on his glasses and almost forgot to breathe when she came into focus. Serena was wearing her hair down with a few curls and had just enough makeup on to accentuate the natural features of her face. He noticed the cheerleading outfit she was wearing and was brought out of his trance when she started brushing him off. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Thanks."

She smiled at him. "You'd do the same for me, right?"

He smiled back at her. "Of course." He offered an arm to her and started walking with her after she looped her arm through his. He heard whispers as they walked into the school together.

"Who's that girl?"

"She's hot!"

"What's she doing with him?"

It was the same thing over and over again and Darien drowned their voices out as they arrived at Serena's locker. Darien sighed as he leaned against the lockers while Serena opened hers. "So I'm having a good morning so far," he said sarcastically.

Serena frowned as she looked at him. "It could've been worse."

"Worse than tripping twice in less than 5 minutes in front of everyone?"

"Twice?"

"Andrew tripped me the first time after I tried talking to him and the others. They shot me down before I even had a chance. And it didn't help that I look ridiculous."

"Well I think you look great. I really like those glasses on you."

"Thanks." He looked her up and down while she got her books and appreciated the way her cheerleading outfit highlighted all of her curves while still letting her look modest. "You look beautiful," he blurted out. She gave him a look and his eyes widened. "Not to say you don't look good every day… I mean… uh…"

Serena giggled. "I know what you mean. Thank you."

Darien took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. "Where did you find the outfit?"

"Mom found it in the back of her closet. She wore it to her 20 year high school reunion/costume party a few months ago. I was going to bring the pomp oms too, but I thought that would have been too much."

"Hey gorgeous," a male said behind them. They turned around and saw Diamond Blackmoon smiling mischievously at Serena. "I've never seen you here before. Would you like to take a tour of the school with me?"

"No, thank you," Serena replied. "I already know my way around."

"But I can show you how to get around, if you know what I mean."

"Didn't you hear her?" Darien said angrily. "She said she's not interested so get lost."

Diamond glared at him. "I'm sure the girl can speak for herself. And besides that I don't take orders from nerds."

"You heard him," Serena chimed in. "Get lost."

Diamond scoffed. "Well I do like my girls feisty. We'll be in touch." He winked at her and walked away.

Darien laughed when he was out of earshot. "Serena Thomas, I never thought I'd ever see you tell someone to get lost."

"I guess you've rubbed off on me. Besides that, I know what Diamond is like and it creeps me out."

"Well if he gives you anymore problems let me know." The warning bell rang. Darien walked Serena to her first class ignoring the whispers and stares. "Do you still want to have lunch together?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

Darien smiled at her. "I was just double checking. I wouldn't want to force a pretty cheerleader to be embarrassed by a hideous nerd."

"I'd never be embarrassed by you, Darien. To prove it, let's take a picture together while everyone keeps staring at us." Serena took her phone out and positioned it to take a selfie as Darien moved closer to her. She took the picture and then showed it to him.

"I like it," Darien said. "Could you send it to me when you get a chance?"

"Of course. Now get to class before you're late."

"Yes ma'am." He waved to her and headed to his English class. He felt his phone vibrating and opened his text messages to find the picture of him and Serena together. He smiled despite how silly he looked because Serena's beauty made up for the picture entirely. There was no denying how much he cared for her and he only hoped he could gain enough courage to finally tell her someday.

After study block, Serena came to the cafeteria and sat with Amy and Lita and waited for Darien to arrive. "So who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" Lita asked as she took out her Tupperware.

Serena giggled. "It's still me," she said. "There's no need to make a big deal about it."

"But you do look really pretty today, Serena," Amy chimed in.

"Are you sure you didn't use this little experiment as a chance to show off on purpose?" Lita asked mischievously.

Serena gave her a look. "What are you talking about?"

"She's asking if you were trying to impress Darien," Amy stated.

Serena gasped. "W-what gave you two that idea?"

"Don't play dumb, girl. It's so obvious you like him."

"Is it really that obvious?" Serena asked with concern.

"Is what obvious?" Darien asked as he took a seat beside Serena.

The girls shared a look. "Nothing," they said simultaneously.

"Just girl talk," Lita said as she examined Darien. "You look awesome," she snickered as she made him a plate of stir fry.

Darien rolled his eyes at her. "I don't need you laughing at me too. I've had enough for the day."

"Hey beautiful," Stephen Kou, a school jock, said to Serena. "Why don't you ditch these losers and come have a seat with the cool kids."

Serena rolled her eyes at him. "These are my friends and I don't appreciate you calling them losers. Apologize to them this instant."

"Sorry," he said insincerely. "If you get bored and change your mind about your charity cases, we'll still have room for you." He winked at her and walked away.

Serena sighed. "If one more guy winks at me I'm gonna go crazy. I never realized how shallow people can be."

"You can say that again," Darien said. "If I haven't said it already, I'm sorry for every horrible thing I've ever thought or said to any of you. After everything I've been through today, I'll never do it again."

"Well I had my reservations about you at first," Amy admitted. "But you and Serena have really taught me not to judge anyone as well."

"Yeah, you two really make a good team," Lita said with a grin.

"Lita," Serena warned.

"I'm just stating the obvious." Amy giggled. Serena blushed.

Darien was confused. "Am I missing something here?"

"It's a girl thing," Lita said dismissively. "You wouldn't understand."

After school, Serena and Darien left their Sociology class and headed to Darien's locker. "I'm so glad today is finally over," Darien said as he raked a hand through his hair in an attempt to get it back to normal and untucked his shirt.

"Me too," Serena replied. They turned a corner and bumped into Rae and Mina. "I'm sorry."

"It's cool," Mina said. "I have to know. How do you get your hair to curl like that? It's so pretty."

"My mom actually did it for me," Serena replied. "She went to beauty school for a year before she became a full-time mother."

"Nice! Does she run a business on the side? I'd totally pay her to do my hair for prom in the next few months."

"Darien?" Rae exclaimed as she noticed him. She rolled her eyes at him. "Shame on you for trying to take advantage of the new girl." She turned to Serena. "Don't let this guy's charm fool you. He has a horrible temper and if you get on his bad side he'll tell you off no matter how trivial the issue is."

"I'm not new here and I know about Darien's temper. He might be passionate, but his heart is usually in the right place. He actually has something he needs to tell you."

"We don't have time to listen because we have an appointment," Mina replied. "You should come with us so you can get away from this jerk."

"I'll take my chances. We actually have a project we need to work on for Sociology class."

"Wait, I thought your partner was Meatball Head…" Rae looked her up and down. "Oh my God! Mina, you almost let her come out with us in public."

"Let's get out of here," Mina said as they hurried away.

"That went well," Darien said sarcastically.

"They'll come around eventually," Serena replied. "Just give them some time. Do you wanna go to the Crown for some ice cream or something?"

"Are you kidding? I'm not going anywhere else in public dressed like this!"

"Good call." She automatically looped her arm through his as they walked out of the school together. Darien noticed didn't even bother to point it out to her and simply smiled.

A week later Darien was at Serena's house taking a break from studying for an upcoming quiz they were supposed to be having in their Sociology class. Somewhere along the line they began a game where they started asking each other random questions about themselves and were having fun learning more random tidbits about each other. "Have you ever had a boyfriend before?" Darien asked.

"Just one, but it wasn't really serious," Serena replied.

"Who?"

"Do you remember Alan from my church? The one who plays guitar?" Darien nodded. "Well everyone thought we would end up together. We've known each other for almost our entire lives and he was my first crush. We dated briefly during freshman year, but we quickly figured out that we're too much alike and mutually broke up. We're still great friends and his current girlfriend, Anne, is one of my best friends too. I won't be surprised if they end up getting married because they're so perfect for each other."

"Must be nice to still be friends with your ex. Is there anyone you're interested in now?"

Serena hesitated then smiled. "I can neither confirm nor deny that answer."

"Oh, come on!"

"I'm not telling because it's my turn to ask you a question."

"Fine. Go for it."

"It might be stupid, but I've heard people call me a lot of different names over the years. I get the normal ones like 'loser' and 'freak' and I understand all the meatball references, but I've heard you and your friends call me 'Fruitcake' from time to time. Where did that name come from?"

"They explained it to me when I first moved here," he started to explain. "They made it up around Christmas time in middle school and it's been a running joke ever since. You know how fruitcakes are one of those gifts people give without putting any thought into it?" Serena nodded. "Well one of them put together that you're as nutty as a fruitcake because of the religious stuff and the name kind of stuck." He rolled his eyes. "I always thought it was a stupid name, but I guess it worked."

Serena smiled at him. "I kinda like it. The other names get old after a while, but at least Fruitcake is original. I'll gladly be a fruitcake for Jesus."

"A fruitcake for Jesus?" he asked skeptically. "Really?"

Serena shrugged. "That was pretty corny wasn't it? It beats a lot of other names I've been called. Sometimes I have to make light of the name calling so I don't take it to heart, but it's not always easy."

"Power to you." Darien checked the time. "We'd better get back to this homework." He looked over the papers they had for Sociology and picked up the worksheet Mr. Peterson gave them at the end of the class. "I think we did enough studying for the quiz so do you want to get this worksheet out of the way?"

"Sure." Serena took out her worksheet and read aloud. "In light of our recent discussions about world religions, I want you and your partner to have a respectful discussion about your personal religious beliefs. Write a page about your thoughts on what you learn from your partner."

"You can start since this question was practically made for you."

"Well as you know I'm a Christian. The literal meaning of 'Christian' is 'like Christ and for me that means I do my best to live my life as a reflection of the life Christ lived on earth. It can all be summed up in the greatest commandments which are to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love others as I love myself. I try to be like Christ because I believe He is the Son of God who was sent to earth to die as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world and then was raised to life three days later to demonstrate His power over death. I've been a Christian since the summer of my freshman year when I made a personal decision to place my faith in Christ and to commit my life to honor Him. I'm not perfect, but I believe with His help I can accomplish anything. Does that make sense?"

Darien thought about it as he took some notes. "When you put it like that, you make it sound simple. You just said that being a Christian means being like Christ and the greatest commandments are basically to love God and to love people. So why aren't other so called 'Christians' doing that? Every Christian I've met, aside from you and your family, just try to shove their religion down other people's throats and end up acting like hypocritical jerks."

Serena sighed. "I can't speak for everyone who claims to be a Christian, but I think most people focus so much on the religiosity of Christianity that they forget that it's about following Christ's example. A real Christian is supposed to be known by their love because of the great love shown by God through Jesus Christ. As they grow to understand the love given to them, then they want to do what's right to honor Him. Of course no one's perfect and it's impossible to do that 24/7, but if a real Christian is trying then it's going to show."

"So why be a Christian instead of a Buddhist or a Muslim or something else? What's the difference?"

"Not to be cliché or anything, but Jesus is the difference. Christianity is the only religion that depends on faith, not works, to be saved. Jesus represents God coming down to our level to save us and we place our faith in Him because He's perfect and we're not."

Darien took some more notes. A few more moments of silence passed as another thought crossed his mind. "So what if God isn't real and at the end of your life you figure out that everything you believe in is completely wrong?"

Serena thought about it. "Then I'll die with no regrets. If God isn't real, then maybe I'll have wasted my time loving a being that actually didn't exist, but it'd still be worth it because I'll have spent my life doing good while doing my best to love people. Maybe I didn't change the world, but I'd still feel good about making a difference in the lives of people I come in contact with. If God isn't real and I'm wrong then maybe I'm wasting my life. But if He is real and you're wrong then you'll waste your eternity. If He is real I don't want to die without knowing Him and I don't want anyone else to either."

"I guess that makes sense."

"So, what do you believe in?"

Darien sighed. "I never followed a specific religion because it always seemed like such a waste of time. I don't know what my parents believed in and some of my foster parents took me to church when I was little, but I didn't see the point because I saw the way they pretended to be good church people on Sundays and then turn into monsters the rest of the week. So I stayed away from church when I got older and I guess I've been trying to create my own path hoping that it works out in the end. But now that I have to think about it I don't really know what I believe in, especially compared to you. You seem so sure of what you believe in and I still have so many questions I want to ask, but I don't even know where to start anymore."

Serena put her notes aside. "I certainly don't have all the answers. I had to search for my own answers and what makes the most sense to me is that God loves you very much and wants you to experience His love. All you have to do is place your faith in Him and trust that He will make your life better by transforming you from the inside out."

He couldn't explain why, but knots were forming in Darien's stomach and it felt like a tug of war was in his heart. Part of him wanted so badly to believe everything Serena was saying, but the other part of him told him not to because it just seemed too good to be true and he still had so many doubts and questions. "I'm not ready," he finally said. "There's still some things I need to think through before I just jump in blindly. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I can't make you believe, but in the end you still have to decide for yourself what the truth is. I can give you a list of some really good resources you can check out if you still want to learn more."

"I'd like that."

Serena started writing on another piece of paper. "Do you still have that Bible I gave you? I think I wrote some stuff in there too."

"It's in my room somewhere. I'll find it." She handed him a list of different websites, books, and a few Bible verses. "Thanks. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was interrogating you."

"Don't worry about it. You can always ask me anything you want."

Darien smirked. "Is there anyone you're interested in right now?" Serena shook her head. "You said I could ask you anything, right?"

"Fine. There is someone I'm interested in."

"Who?"

Serena leaned in close to him and smiled. "My mom because I need to know when dinner is going to be ready." She stood up and went into the kitchen. Darien shook his head and cleaned up their books and papers.

Hours later after doing homework and more studying, the conversation Darien had with Serena was still running through his mind, especially after he wrote his one page summary of his reaction to her beliefs. He was on the computer with many tabs open looking at the websites Serena had given him earlier and a few websites he found on his own. Beside the computer was the Bible Serena had given him on the first day of school open to one of the verses she listed for him. He didn't know how much time had passed since he began this whole endeavor, but he was too engrossed what he was studying to care. He got most of the answers he was looking for and after finally getting sleepy he decided to get ready for bed.

As soon as he was ready he turned off the lights and tried to go to sleep, but he wasn't able to rest. He tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, but everything he read about and talked about with Serena was still keeping him up. Something in particular Serena said kept echoing in his mind. If God isn't real and I'm wrong then maybe I'm wasting my life. But if He is real and you're wrong then you'll waste your eternity. If He is real I don't want to die without knowing Him and I don't want anyone else to either. What if she was right? He couldn't exactly prove that God was real, but everything he read provided evidence for His existence. In his mind, Serena and the way she lived her life was enough proof that God was real. She wasn't perfect, but if God could influence her to take a chance on him when she had every right not to then maybe God could make something out of the mess that was his life.

Darien sat up in the bed and turned the lights back on. He opened the Bible again and followed the verses Serena had written inside. After reading every single one carefully he sighed, held his head in his hands, and closed his eyes. "God," he started. "I don't really know how to pray, but I hope you hear me anyway. I still have questions, but I'm taking a chance and making a choice to believe. I know I've sinned and I deserve to be punished, but I believe Jesus died for my sins and You raised Him from the dead so I could be made right. I know I need You and I believe You can save me so I'm turning from my sin and placing my faith in You. Please forgive me and change me from the inside out. Amen." When Darien opened his eyes and looked up nothing seemed different. He was still in his bed with the Bible still open beside him, but he felt different. For the first time in his life he felt complete peace and more hope than he ever thought possible. He grabbed his cell phone from his night stand and sent Serena a text message. I made my choice he stated. His eyes widened when he saw that it was past 2am and hoped that he didn't wake Serena up. He closed the Bible, put his phone away, and turned off the lights before he laid down and finally fell asleep without any problems.

To be continued...