A/N: Two chapters in two days... WHAT?! Enjoy!

Chapter 19

"And that's how I asked her," Darien was saying. It was finally the day of prom and while the girls were spending the day getting ready together Darien, Andrew, and Chad were hanging out at Darien's apartment trying to pass the time. They spent most of the day doing everything from playing video games to finishing homework and now they had a little over 2 hours to go. "She had no idea."

"Way to keep her on edge," Chad said. "I'm pretty sure she thought you didn't want to go to prom at all."

Darien shrugged. "I had to surprise her somehow. I think it was worth it."

"Darien Shields is taking Serena Thomas to the prom," Andrew said with a laugh. "Who would have thought? For the record, I called it from the very beginning. I knew you liked her the whole time."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Between you and Mina I don't know which one of you gloats more. And for the record I did not like her the whole time." He smiled. "She grew on me."

"Aww," Chad squealed dramatically. "Our little Darien is going soft."

"Not as soft as you," Andrew said. "Rae has you so whipped."

"She does not!"

"Chad, carry my books," Andrew said mocking Rae's voice. "Chad, we're going shopping. Chad, hold my purse. Chad, I told you to stop watching Star Wars." Darien laughed.

Chad crossed his arms. "Well it's not like Mina doesn't have you whipped too. You'd drop dead if she told you to."

"Not unless he kisses her to death first," Darien said before making kissing noises. Andrew threw a pillow at him. "You're just mad because it's true."

"So what? I'm not ashamed to shower my lady with affection."

"We know," Chad muttered.

"I love Mina and I'd do anything for her because I care about her. You," Andrew said pointing at Chad. "You do what you do for Rae because you're scared of her."

"She's not scary, dude," Chad replied defensively. "She's just… powerful. You're just jealous because I have what it takes to make her heart melt. At least she hasn't made me go to church yet."

"She doesn't make me go," Andrew said seriously. "If you remember correctly, I was the one who convinced Mina to come to church with me."

"But why, man?" Chad asked. "I've known you since we were 3 and I know you're not into that God stuff like Darien and Serena are. No offense, Dar. I'm cool with you believing whatever you want to believe in." Darien just shrugged.

Andrew thought for a moment. "I don't know yet," he finally said. "Darien has made me curious and now I'm interested."

"I still don't know," Chad continued. "Sometimes it just feels like you're just following a book full of rules from some invisible being in the sky who sits around judging everyone who doesn't do what he says. And those who follow said rules become just as judgmental while trying to convince everyone become like them. I can't be part of something like that."

"Well it's like you always say," Darien started. "You can't knock it until you try it. I get where you're coming from because I thought the same thing. No one's perfect, but you can't make generalizations based on the bad experiences you've had or else you're being the judgmental one. Ultimately you have to make your own decision about God based on what He shows you because He loves you…"

"I know," Chad interrupted. "I'm not trying to be rude, man, but you've given me the spiel before and I don't feel like hearing it again. And before you say anything, I'll keep an open mind and look into it." He sighed. "Does he go on these tangents with you too, Drew?"

"Sometimes," Andrew admitted. "But I've been asking my own questions because I still can't get over how something can make such a drastic change in someone like Darien literally overnight. It's not bad and I don't understand it all either, but it is interesting." He sighed.

"Well I'm glad we can talk civilly about stuff like this and still be friends," Darien said. "Thanks again for putting up with me. I'm glad we're all mature enough to agree to disagree, but I won't give up on you guys."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know," Chad said. He checked his watch. "I'm gonna die from boredom." He started drumming his fingers. "Andrew and Mina sitting in a tree…"

"Really, dude?" Andrew deadpanned.

Chad grinned cheekily. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Seriously stop it or I'm gonna have to tell Darien about where you've been sitting."

Chad's eyes widened. "You said you wouldn't say anything."

"Should have thought of that before you started singing."

"Now I'm curious," Darien said. "Where exactly have you been sitting?"

"Yeah, Chad, where have you been sitting?" Andrew asked. Chad sighed deeply before he muttered something. "Sorry, what was that?"

"In the nail salon!" Chad said as he crossed his arms. Andrew and Darien laughed. "I was getting a pedicure."

"I was at the mall on my way to visit Mina at work when I saw Chad in the salon getting his feet buffed," Andrew explained. "I think I still have the picture on my phone." Andrew scrolled through his phone then showed Darien the picture.

Darien took a look and stifled a laugh. Chad was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed while getting his feet buffed. "And you say I'm going soft?" he asked.

"Rae made me go with her."

"But did she make you get the pedicure?"

Chad hesitated. "You know what? My feet have never felt better. Don't knock it until you try it."

"It could always be worse," Darien said. "You could be like Andrew and…"

Andrew interrupted by covering Darien's mouth. "Don't you dare!"

"What?" Chad asked.

"It's more of a who," Darien clarified after he removed Andrew's hand from his mouth.

"Darien…" Andrew said warningly.

"Who?!" Chad demanded.

"No one!" Andrew insisted.

"No one my ass!"

"Chad…"

"Sorry, Dar. Who are you talking about, Drew?"

Andrew glared at Darien. "You're dead." He sighed before addressing Chad. "He's talking about my pet turtle, Kamekichi."

Chad stared at him incredulously. "That's it?"

"Oh there's more, isn't there Drew?" Darien coaxed.

Andrew shifted his gaze. "Kamekichi is like my baby. I love him, I feed him, I dress him, I sleep with him…"

"I walked in on him singing to him one day," Darien explained. "Wait, you dress him too?" He burst into laughter.

"I wouldn't laugh so hard if I were you, Darien," Chad said. "I have dirt on you too."

Darien immediately stopped laughing. "Chad, don't…"

"Then you share it. If you don't, I have no problem telling Andrew my version of the events."

"Ok, ok," he resigned.

"Oh this is going to be good," Andrew said as he rubbed his hands together.

Darien sighed. "Chad may or may not have found out that certain Disney movies… get to me. We had a double date one afternoon when you and Mina were busy and we decided a classic Disney movie marathon was a good idea. We watched Snow White and Pinocchio then Rae had to leave to get to work on time and Chad had fallen asleep by the time we were started watching Dumbo. It's been a long time since I last watched it and I forgot about the part when after Dumbo's mom is rocking him to sleep through the cage bars and I lost it. I didn't think Chad noticed, but later he told me he was pretending to sleep while he watched the whole thing."

"You should have seen it, man," Chad said. "I mean, Serena was crying too and I expect that out of her, but Darien was straight bawling! Serena had to stop the movie to calm him down."

"It wasn't that bad," Darien muttered.

"I bet if I start singing the song we'll have to get the tissues ready." Chad strummed the guitar. "Baby mine don't you cry, baby mine dry your eyes…"

Darien grabbed the guitar from him. "Cut it out. How do you know the lyrics to the song anyway?"

"Stop judging me," Chad said defensively. "The only reason I know the words is because Rae made me listen to a Disney compilation CD."

"Meaning you bought it for Rae and when she hated it you kept it for yourself," Andrew stated.

Chad shifted uncomfortably "So what if I did?"

Andrew laughed. "Wait until I tell Rae."

"You can't! I-I'll tell Mina that you love your turtle more than you love her!"

Andrew groaned. "How about we agree that what's said in here stays in here… unless you do something incredibly stupid then it's fair game. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Deal," Chad said. He looked at the clock and groaned. "We still have an hour and 45 minutes. What can we do?"

"We can go get pedicures," Darien said with a smirk.

"Or watch Dumbo," Chad retorted.

"Or forget this conversation ever happened," Andrew said earning a laugh from all of the guys.

Serena, Mina, and Rae were all at Serena's house getting ready for prom together. Serena's mother volunteered to do all of their hair and makeup so they wouldn't have to spend the extra money on the salon and the girls were currently waiting for their nails to dry. "I still wish Amy and Lita were here too," Mina said.

"Lita's not going to prom, remember?" Rae stated.

"Oh she'll be there," Serena said as she checked the time. "Ken and his mom should be arriving at Lita's place right about now."

"Wait, wait, wait," Mina exclaimed. "Who's Ken and how come I don't know about him? I know everyone."

"Ken is Lita's best friend from middle school," Serena explained. "He moved across the country when they were freshmen, the year before she transferred here. They still keep in touch by Skype and email."

"Is he the one she's supposed to be visiting this weekend?"

"Well, she was. I may or may not have convinced him to fly in so he could take her to prom. His mom should be helping her get ready and I'm sure they'll need some time to catch up before meeting up with us."

"That is so romantic!" Mina said dreamily. "Didn't I tell you she was gonna surprise us?"

"You can't take credit for this one. Serena's the brains behind this operation."

Serena shrugged. "She deserves it. She's been an amazing friend and I just wanted to do something special for her this time."

"Well where's Amy? I thought for sure she'd be here with us since Greg is taking her to prom and all."

"I asked if she wanted to meet up to get ready with us, but she wanted to spend some time with Greg. She also wanted to spend some time with her mom too since she's off this weekend. I think they're doing a spa day, but she and Greg will meet up with us for dinner."

Mina gasped. "They're finally dating?! I knew it! They don't call me the goddess of love for nothing."

"No one calls you that," Rae deadpanned. "And just because they're going to prom together doesn't mean they're dating…" Rae looked at Serena. "Does it?"

Serena smiled. "They've been dating for years."

"WHAT?! Since when? How come I never knew that?"

"You never asked. And besides that, they don't like to show much affection in public because they don't want to make a big deal about it. You can ask her about the story later. It's really sweet."

"We probably didn't know because we were too busy avoiding her, remember?" Rae added.

Mina shrugged. "I'd rather forget. Amy, Lita, and Serena and some of the best people I know and I'm a much better person because of them." She grabbed a brush and started singing into it. "I have been changed for good."

"Ok, Glinda, this isn't Broadway," Rae deadpanned. "You don't have to sing your life story."

"Sometimes a message can be communicated more deeply through song."

"Ooh, did you get that from a fortune cookie?"

"Actually I heard that when I went with Andrew to Serena and Darien's church last week. It just really stuck with me. I'm not religious like Serena and Darien are, but I've learned a lot during the few times I've been there."

"You know you're always welcome to join us, Rae" Serena said. "We're having karaoke night next week."

"I'll think about it," Rae replied. "It'd be interesting to learn about another religion outside of my own at the very least."

"And you never know how God will speak to you," Serena added.

"I don't know about all that, but ok." Rae paused. "You know, I may not agree with you all the time, but I really appreciate how genuine you are. It's made me think a lot differently about people like you."

Serena smiled. She was amazed at all of the progress she made becoming friends with Mina and Rae and to hear Rae say something like that was worth it. Irene came into the room with all of her hair and makeup supplies. "Your nails should be done by now. Who'd like to have their hair and makeup done first?"

A/N: Nothing major, but I had fun writing it. Stay tuned to see what happens at prom. 2-3 chapters left!