The next day the warning bell rang and Andrew, Mina, Chad, and Rae headed inside the school. "How many days of school do we have left?" Chad asked with a sigh. "I have senioritis like no other."

"You've had senioritis since freshman year," Rae replied. "We have a little less than three months to go."

"That's too long if you ask me," Mina complained.

"It'll be here before…" Andrew stopped midsentence when someone bumped into him.

"Sorry, Drew," Darien said quickly. "Hey guys." They watched as he rushed past them.

"Wow," Mina said. "He actually said something to us."

"That's only because he bumped into me," Andrew said. "Don't count on it happening again." They turned a corner and saw Darien a little ways down the hallway talking to Serena by her locker.

"That's the only reason he was in a rush," Rae commented. His back was turned towards them, but they could see him talking animatedly to Serena as she listened intently. They couldn't hear anything but their eyes widened when they saw what happened next. Serena suddenly smiled widely and gave him a full bear hug with him hugging her just as tightly.

"I knew it!" Chad exclaimed. "Jedi mind trick!"

Rae didn't even bother hitting him and simply shook her head. "I don't think I've ever seen Darien hug anyone like that in public."

"Well you do crazy things when you're in love," Mina replied as they watched Serena and Darien finally pull apart.

Even though Andrew was still a little mad at Darien, he couldn't help but smile. "At least he's happy," he said. "Come on. We're gonna be late." They parted ways and headed to their classes just as the couple hugged again.

*What Actually Happened*

Serena heard the warning bell ring and was at her locker gathering the last of the books she needed for class. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder and smiled when she saw Darien standing there slightly out of breath. But he was smiling and something seemed different about him. "Hey. Did you just get here?"

"Yeah, I kinda overslept," he said with a yawn.

"Texting people after 2 in the morning will do that to you. What was that about?"

"I didn't realize what time it was until after I sent it. I'm sorry if I woke you up, but I was just so excited and I wanted to make sure you were the first person to know."

"Well what happened?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about everything we talked about yesterday. I looked at those websites and all the Bible verses you gave me. I tried to go to bed, but I kept tossing and turning thinking and rethinking about everything and it just made me restless. Something told me to get back up so I turned the lights back on and after rereading some Bible verses I knew what I had to do. I chose to place my faith in Christ."

Serena could hardly believe her ears. She smiled widely and gave him a prolonged bear hug. "Darien, that's wonderful," she said in his ear. "I'm so excited for you."

Darien thought he heard a hitch in her voice and held her a little longer before she finally pulled away from him. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw her wiping her eyes. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said with a smile. "It's just that I've been praying for you for so long and to see you now…" She hugged him again. "I'm just so happy for you."

Darien let her go and smiled at her. "I'm happy too. I couldn't have done this without you, Serena, so thank you for everything you've done to help me make the best decision of my life."

"Thank God. We'd better get to class before we're late, but promise to tell me more at lunch, ok?"

"Of course. See you later." He waved and hurried to his class.

Serena waved and smiled to herself as she headed to her History class. She was ecstatic about the way God answered her prayers and she could hardly wait until lunch to hear more.

It was lunch time and Darien couldn't be happier as he arrived in the cafeteria. He was looking forward to sharing his story with Serena and smiled just thinking about it. He saw Andrew sitting at a table by himself and stopped beside him. "Hey, Drew," he said.

Andrew looked up at him skeptically you. "You're actually speaking to me?"

"I just figured I'd say hey since I was over here."

"Are you just buying time until you can do more 'homework' with Serena?"

"Ha, ha. We're not doing homework, but I did promise to sit with her today so…"

"It's cool, man. Even though I'm still a little pissed at you I'm glad you have someone like Serena to make you happy. I never thought I'd say this, but you guys make a nice couple."

Darien looked at him confusedly. "Serena and I aren't together… at least not yet."

It was Andrew's turn to look confused. "Then why the hell are you so happy today? I've never seen you smile so much since the moment we met."

Darien smiled even wider. "I just became a Christian."

"Oh," Andrew said with less enthusiasm. "Well you better get going. Don't want you to be associated with us sinners."

Darien frowned. "What are you talking about? Can't I just catch up with you guys later?"

"Just like you've been catching up with us for the last few weeks?" Andrew said wryly.

Darien looked down. He had him there. "Andrew, I'm sorry…"

"Save it. You don't wanna be late for your little lunch date."

Darien frowned and walked away. He didn't expect his friends to take the news of his conversion very well, but he didn't expect all the sadness he felt in his heart. What was worse was that he knew he was to blame since he drove Andrew away in the first place. He sighed trying his best not to let it get him down. His spirits were immediately lifted when he saw Serena's smiling face. "Hey," he said as he took a seat across from her. "Are Amy and Lita still sick?"

"Yeah. I went to visit them yesterday and they both caught the flu." She studied him for a moment. "What's wrong?"

He sighed. "In the rush to get to school on time I forgot to prepare for lunch. Forgot my wallet and everything."

"Well you know you never have to worry about not having anything to eat." She handed him half of her sandwich. "What's really bothering you?"

"I got to talk to Andrew, but he completely shut down and basically shooed me away once I told him I became a Christian. It doesn't help that he's still mad at me and I don't blame him."

"At least you got a chance to talk to him for a little bit. You'll get another chance. Do you want any of these grapes?"

"Sure," Darien said as he took the baggie from her.

"Tell me about last night. I've been looking forward to hearing about this all day."

Darien smiled. "Well everything you told me about Christianity made complete sense, but I didn't want to jump into it right away because I still wanted to examine it for myself because that's just how I am. It felt like there was this tug of war inside me and I tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn't go away so I tried to distract myself by doing my other homework and other random chores. I couldn't stay away because I had to write my reaction to your beliefs anyway so after I wrote that up I read everything you gave me and then some for hours. I started getting tired and went to bed, but I couldn't sleep because like I told you before I kept thinking about everything. That thing you said about me wasting my eternity if I'm wrong kept running through my mind. I finally got back up and something told me to read those verses you had written in the front of the Bible you gave me. After that everything became clear so I prayed and place my faith in Christ. When I was done I felt like a completely new person because this huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was the first time in my entire life that I had been at complete peace and at that moment I knew God heard me. My life will never be the same and I'm so excited."

"That's because you have true hope now," Serena said with a smile. "Darien, you have no idea how happy I am for you. I've been praying for you since the day we met and even more so since we became partners for this project. It hasn't always been easy, but I kept going anyway. I stayed up late praying for you last night after our talk and now to see you here today with so much hope and light in your eyes…" She smiled even wider as tears filled her eyes. "It's so amazing to see how God answer prayers." She laughed nervously and wiped her tears away with a sniffle.

Darien smiled at her. He was so touched that Serena had invested so much time into his life and hearing about how much she had been praying for him regardless of how he treated her warmed his heart even more. "I don't know if that's how it's supposed to work, but I think you're an answer to prayer too. Seriously, without you I don't think I would know what a real Christian is. You're the one who made me want to give it another chance in the first place."

"I'm glad to have been a part of this," Serena said with another sniffle. "I do have to tell you that being a Christian is not always going to be easy. Jesus even said that people will hate you for His sake and sometimes you'll have to do things that you don't want to. And because you've decided to follow Christ you can be certain that Satan will attack you every chance he gets."

"You have to work hard to maintain anything you believe in, right? And nothing comes without a price. I know it'll be hard, but I also know in the end it'll be worth it." Serena nodded and started rubbing her temples. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I've had this headache all day and it just doesn't wanna go away. I'm kinda tired too." She sniffled again.

"You've got the sniffles too," Darien said with concern. "Are you sure you aren't coming down with something Lita or Amy gave you?"

"I hope not. I feel fine though. If you aren't working, you should come to church with me tonight. There's so many people I want you to meet and I want to get you connected to a Bible study."

"I'd love to come."

The next day, Darien was sitting alone in the cafeteria reading his Bible. He figured Amy and Lita were still sick and was worried Serena caught something when he didn't see her at her locker this morning. His suspicions were confirmed when she answered his text message from this morning and said she was sick in bed. He planned to go visit her right after school and looked forward to seeing her. Suddenly he felt someone's presence across from him and frowned when he saw who it was. Lord, give me strength. "Yes?" he said shortly.

"You look lonely today," she said as she took a seat. "Where's your Meatball Headed girlfriend?"

Darien gave her an annoyed look. "Serena is sick."

"What a shame," she replied sarcastically. "You do know you have other friends you can sit with, right?"

"You're not one of them," he said automatically. He mentally cringed after it came out of his mouth.

She scoffed. "I see you're still on that 'Beryl you're really my friend' kick. Honestly, Darien, are you still mad about that stupid joke we pulled on Meatball Brains?"

"It wasn't funny. You have no idea how much you hurt her."

Beryl sighed dramatically. "It's not a big deal. God, you're such a bore."

Darien was about ready to tell her off, but stopped himself and sighed. God, help me. "Beryl, I actually owe you an apology. That quip about you not being my friend was out of line. Really the way I've treated you since we broke up and then the way I blew up at you after my karate tournament was completely out of hand. I guess I'm partially to blame for you pulling that prank on Serena in the first place since I drove you to it. What I'm saying is I could've handled myself more maturely and I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

Beryl was visibly taken aback for a moment and then she smiled. "Of course I'll forgive you. That's pretty much why I came over here in the first place. I want us to start over so we can try to be friends again. Aside from the fact that you still insist on hanging around… her… you're still the coolest guy I know." She reached to touch his arm, but her hand landed on his Bible. She pulled away as if she had been burned. "What is that?"

"A Bible," he said calmly.

"Oh, God, did she actually convert you into one of her alien friends?"

"God changed me. Serena just helped everything make sense."

"Oh, brother. So, what, are you two BFFs because you believe the same religious nonsense she does? That's pretty intolerant of you."

"As hard as it was at first, Serena and I were able to become friends even when I didn't believe. She showed me what a true friend is and what Christianity is really about and that's why I keep hanging around her. She's genuine… just like Andrew, Chad, Mina, and Rae. I'll be happy to start over with you, but friendship isn't a one way street. You're gonna have to put in some effort too or else this won't work. I'm sorry, but that's the way it'll have to be and I'll be ready when you are."

"Well I'm sorry too!" Beryl yelled. "I'm sorry you're gonna spend the rest of your life being a loser just because you think you're so much better than me and would rather be a Jesus freak! I refuse to hang around someone as pathetic as you." She swiftly got up and left.

Darien sighed in relief. He felt a little bad that she didn't want anything else to do with him, but he was glad to have some kind of closure with Beryl for the time being. He looked up just in time to see his other friends sitting at their table quickly averting their eyes from him. He knew what he had to do and now was a good a time as any. He gathered his things and headed towards them. "Hey," he said.

Chad squinted at him then turned back to his friends. "Do we know this guy?"

"How nice of you to join us," Rae said sarcastically.

"Don't get your hopes up," Mina warned. "He's only here because Meatball Head isn't."

Darien sighed. "I guess I had that coming. Is it ok if I join you guys?"

Andrew shrugged. "It's a free country."

Darien smiled nervously as he sat with them, but they started getting up as soon as he was seated. "Guys, wait. Please hear me out. I want to apologize."

"For what? Ditching us?" Chad asked.

"Yelling at us?" Andrew asked.

"Being an ass?" Mina guessed.

"All the above," Darien confessed. They sat back down and listened to him. "I've been avoiding you guys on purpose because I was mad you all knew what Beryl was going to do to Serena, but I overreacted."

"That's an understatement," Rae said. "It was pointless because we didn't do anything."

"Yeah," Mina added. "It was all Beryl and we knew not to get involved because you'd be pissed, especially since you have this thing for Meatball Head now."

"That's the point he's trying to make," Andrew said irritably. "We didn't do anything to stop her so we're the bad guys. He's right, we're wrong. He's better than us and we're scum since he's a Christian and all."

"That's not it," Darien insisted. "I'm not here to point fingers, I'm not here to preach, or to do anything like that. The bottom line is that Iwas wrong. I wish things could have been different, but I know you did what you did because you were my friends and I haven't been a good friend in return. I truly am sorry and I hope you can forgive me."

Everyone was silent as they took in what he said. Darien was about to leave as the silence lingered until someone finally spoke up. "I don't know if I believe you, man," Chad said winking at Rae.

Rae smirked. "Yeah Darien, you should probably get on your knees and beg for forgiveness."

"It's true," Mina added. "Actions speak louder than words, especially since you're in the presence of true awesomeness. You have to prove how worthy you are."

Darien shook his head knowing they were joking. "I'm not too proud to beg. I'll do what I have to."

"You've done enough," Andrew said before clapping him on the shoulder. "Welcome back, buddy."

"Yeah, I guess it's cool if you wanna do the whole Christianity thing," Chad said. "I had a feeling it would happen. You've been hanging around Meatball… Serena for so long that she did some brain ninja thing and hypnotized you with her Christianese mumbo jumbo spell. No offense, man."

Darien chuckled. "That's not exactly how it happened, Chad. I have been hanging out with Serena a lot and talking about faith was inevitable, but she never forced it on me. When I was ready I asked questions and after she gave me solid answers everything made sense. My life has truly been changed for the better and I thank God." The bell rang. "We can talk some more later." He grabbed his things and waved at them before heading out of the cafeteria.

"Ok, who was that and what did he do with Darien?" Chad asked. "There has to be a brain ninja controlling his mind because a guy like Darien would never jump into the loony bin with Meatball Head like that."

"It is weird," Rae commented as they started walking together. "I always thought Darien was a lot smarter than that."

Andrew gave her a look. "He is smart and I'd really appreciate it if you stopped talking about him like he's from another planet," he said sourly.

Rae was taken aback. "Ok," she drew out. "God, take a chill pill, Andrew. See you later." Rae and Chad turned a corner and headed to their classes.

Mina took Andrew's hand in hers and caressed it. "Why are you so cranky all of a sudden?"

"I'm not," he said with a sigh. "I'm not. I just don't like when people talk crap about Darien. He's my best friend." He scoffed. "God, I'm turning into Darien when he goes on the defense about Serena."

"They didn't mean anything by it. You do have to admit that it is kinda weird though."

"Maybe, but Darien's not the type to jump on any kind of bandwagon without putting some thought into it. He knows what he's doing and if that's what makes him happy then I can respect that."

The bell rang and Darien went to his locker to get everything he needed for the evening. He was surprised to see Andrew standing there waiting for him. "Hey," he said happily. "Did you miss me that much?"

Andrew smiled. "I thought I was the one who came up with jokes like that."

Darien shrugged. "Serena's sick so I'm gonna have to come to the Crown after I drop her homework off at her house. Sorry to bail again."

"You don't have to come. Chad ended up getting detention, Rae has to work, and Mina has volleyball practice. Do you mind if we walk and talk?"

"Sure," Darien closed his locker and walked with his friend out of the school. "Drew, I owe you a personal apology for kicking you out of my apartment. It was completely immature and…"

"But you were right," Andrew interrupted. "At least the part about hurting Serena in the process. I should have done more that day because she clearly means a lot to you."

"I still shouldn't have gone off on you like that and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. Tripping you on that day you dressed like a nerd and the chain reaction it caused wasn't necessary."

"Let's just say we're even and move on." Andrew nodded. They continued walking in a comfortable silence until Darien unconsciously started humming.

"What song is that?"

"Huh? Oh, it's a song from church we sang last night. It's been in my head all day long. I didn't even realize I was humming."

"Interesting," Andrew said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean by 'interesting'?"

"I guess I'm trying to figure you out. It's like you've become a completely different person over the last couple of days. You're humming and smiling and you actually took the time to make a heartfelt apology."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not necessarily. It's just different and I guess I'm not used to it."

"I'm not used to it either," Darien admitted. "But I'm feeling better than I ever have in my entire life and there's no other way to explain it except that it's God working in me."

"So that's it," Andrew stated. "You become a Christian, turn into a different person and poof your problems are gone?"

"Not quite. I am different now, but my problems are far from over. I guess the best way to explain it is because I've placed my faith in Christ I have a different perspective and I want to live my life differently. My faith in Him has given me hope to face whatever comes next."

"Well I'm happy for you," Andrew said genuinely. "I'm glad you found something to believe in that works for you."

"It can work for you too, man," Darien started to explain. "It's all about loving God and loving people because He loves us. God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to save us even when we were sinners. Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins out of love so we could be made right with God. You just have to place your faith in Him and trust Him to make your life better because He loves you and wants what's best for you."

"I respect what you believe in, but is this what I have to look forward to? You giving me a mini sermon every time we hang out? Because I don't' think I can handle that."

"I'm sorry if it came off like that. I'm just excited because I want everyone to have what I have. I can't promise I won't talk about it because this is part of who I am now, but I want to respect you too because I still value your friendship. I'll try not to preach at you because I know what it's like to be on the other side."

"I can accept that. You do realize what you're getting into, right? Mina, Rae, and Chad have already been talking about you behind your back and once more people find out you're a Christian or whatever they'll either make fun of you or stop talking to you altogether."

"I know, but none of that matters because it doesn't change who God is or what He's done for me. I'm not gonna back down just because everyone else disagrees with me." They stopped in front of Serena's house. "Do you wanna come inside with me? I'm sure Serena's mom won't mind."

"That's ok," Andrew replied. "I have to get ready for work pretty soon, but I'm glad we got to talk a little bit. I'll catch you later."

"… and that's basically how my day went," Darien was saying as he sat in a chair next beside Serena's bed. "It was great. Once I started talking I just couldn't stop and it was like nothing could stop me. Once I took that first step it was like God was giving me all the words I needed to speak."

Serena smiled. "That's wonderful," she said weakly.

"Yeah." He frowned suddenly. "I still feel bad about the Beryl situation. She was the first friend I had when I moved here and it's sad she doesn't want anything else to do with me."

"You just have to leave it in God's hands now. I'm so glad things are ok with your friends again." Serena sneezed multiple times. Darien handed her the box of tissues. "Bless you. Have you been sneezing like that all day?"

"It comes and goes. I'm a lot better than I was this morning, but I still feel gross." She yawned.

"You need your rest," he said before he stood up. "I'll call you later and then come check on you tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok," she said sleepily. "Thanks for visiting me."

Darien left her room and closed the door behind him. He went back downstairs and went into the kitchen where Irene and Ken were talking. "I'm heading out," he announced to them.

"Already?" Irene asked as she finished stirring something in a pot. As usual she was cooking something that smelled delicious. "Can't you stay for dinner?"

"I wish I could, but I have two tests to study for," he replied. "Thank you again for having me."

"It's our pleasure," Irene said with a smile. "Thank you for bringing Serena's homework."

"Yeah, no problem." Darien smiled and shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously. He was never nervous around Serena's parents because they always made him feel welcome in their home, but something kept niggling his mind.

"Have a seat, Darien," Ken said as he put his newspaper down. Darien obeyed and took a seat across from him. "What are you thinking about?"

Darien sighed as Irene brought a plate of cookies to the table and took a seat next to her husband. "I care a lot about Serena, sir," he started. "She's an amazing person and now I can't imagine what my life would be like without her friendship."

"But now you want more than a friendship with her," Ken finished for him.

"Yes, sir… well someday when I'm ready. I think I need to focus on my relationship with God first before I try to spark a romance even though I'm very interested in her."

"That's wise," Ken said with a smile. "For future reference, when someday comes you have my blessing. All you have to do is ask." Irene was grinning from ear to ear.

"I appreciate that, Ken." He looked down for a moment and then looked back up at him. "May I ask you something now?"

"Go right ahead."

"Do I have permission to take Serena to prom?" The smiles on Ken and Irene's faces told him the answer he needed and he couldn't help but smile too.

A/N: Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I don't know when I'll have another chapter up so stay tuned for more!