Gradually, she calmed enough to glance at the clock. Six O’ clock! It was time to get up and get ready for school, though, after the fright she had just freed herself from, she was almost unwilling to rise and go about everyday tasks.
But Dana, being the sort of girl who did the things she was required to do regardless of personal qualms, nevertheless pulled herself to her feet, and staggered to the bathroom for a quick shower. Before she rummaged through her closet for her school uniform, the one thing she ultimately disliked about moving to Tokyo less than a week earlier.
Once she was dressed, she hazarded a brief look at herself in the mirror, suppressing a shameful surge of pride as she took in her clear, pale complexion, bright green eyes, and thick, shoulder-length curly black hair. Knowing perfectly well that vanity was a less-than-admirable trait, she resolutely dragged a hand through her hair to give it a cursory tidying-up, and quickly ran from her room, trotting down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mother, Miranda Mitchell, was already cooking a thankfully true American breakfast, complete with bacon and fried eggs, looking up as her daughter entered the room and dropped unceremoniously into a stool at the bar, accepting the plate of food that was soon offered to her.
"Sleep well?" her mother asked, Moving to pour two glasses of orange juice, handing one to Dana as she did so. "Not really." Dana confessed, preferring to be honest, "I had that dream again." She said hesitantly, digging her fork into the soft mass of the egg that glistened appealingly, but unhealthily, on her plate.
"Dream?" Miss Mitchell seemed at first confused, then nodded slowly, "Oh, I remember. Was it the one you told me about before? The one where you’re a princess?" she asked curiously, though Dana could sense that she obviously was distracted with other matters.
"Yes," she answered, a hint of irritation appearing in her voice, if anything, she at least liked people to pay attention to her when she was talking. "Only I finished it this time, Mom. I, in the dream this time, something bad happened. The prince, my brother, caught me kissing the army commander, and we got into a big fight. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I think I fell. But then it changed somehow, I was still falling, but this time it was almost like, I don’t know, like I was in this big metal cage. Then it hit the ground-."
"That’s enough of that for now." Her mother broke in abruptly, clearing her plate away from the table and turning towards the sink, "You have to get to school, I don’t want you to get a detention your first day."
"I-sure. Okay, Mom." Dana answered obediently, finishing her breakfast hastily and rising to collect her lunch bag, pausing at the door to turn and gaze hesitantly at her mother. "I love you, mom." She said sincerely, stunned beyond speech as she left, for although she could not be completely sure, she was almost certain that she had seen tears shining in her mother’s eyes.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
All in all, Dana decided wearily, her day had been a success, although she had had trouble in math, which was not unusual, since she had never been very good at that subject anyway. The only irritation she had suffered, really, was the infernal uniform, she mused in annoyance, reaching down to tweak an imaginary speck of dust from the long blue skirt.
Suddenly, she paused, her head tilting slightly as her ears caught the faint, almost haunting sound of distant music, originating somewhere down the street and close by, if she remembered correctly, the junior high school.
Being an ardent lover of at least some types of music, the flute being one of them, Dana impulsively altered her course and backtracked, her curiosity getting the better of her as she decided to discover the source of the strange but strikingly beautiful sound.
A few minutes later she reached the open front lawn of Crossroads junior high school, and as she peered curiously around, she finally discovered the source of the music. Or, at least, the general direction it was coming from, given the fact that the musician was completely obscured by a thick mob of giggling, sighing teenage girls.
Amused in spite of herself, for she disapproved of such fawning, she moved closer, trying to catch a glimpse of the person that the apparently crush-stricken girls were so entranced with. Suddenly, pain lanced up her left foot and she gasped, turning her head to glare in instinctive anger at the one who had either accidentally or intentionally caused her the sharp discomfort.
"Oh! I’m so sorry about that!" a bright, overly-cheerful voice announced in obvious embarrassment, and Dana found herself looking at a pretty, blonde-haired girl who appeared to be about three or four years younger than herself. Her blue eyes sparkled with warmth and good humor, and her smile was sweet. But the one feature about her that most caught Dana’s attention was the girl’s hair-style. An odd creation, it consisted of two extremely long ponytails that were crested with two, ball-shaped masses of hair that were off-set with white bows. Strange, but not unattractive, she thought.
"That’s okay," Dana answered politely, "I’m sure it was just an accident." She assured the girl, turning away to continue her casual search for the gifted flute player. However, the girl was obviously not so easily put off. "My name’s Serena." She offered cheerfully, smiling up at her, for although Dana was not very tall, she was still much taller than the short, delicately-built girl, "I’ve never seen you before, are you new?"
Sighing, Dana decided to be polite, "Yes. I just moved here about a week ago, from America. My name’s Dana. Dana Mitchell." She added, almost as an after-thought Instantly, Serena’s eyes widened, "America? Cool! My friend Molly moved here from America too, She’s from New York."
Dana’s smile became more genuine, for she was happy to know that there were other Americans living nearby . "Really? I’m from Virginia. That’s not too far from New York." Serena appeared pleased that the older girl was now striking up a conversation, and eagerly continued. "You’ve got to meet her then! In fact, I was just going to go meet her and some other friends over at the arcade. Since you’re new here, why don’t you come with me and meet them? It’d be a good way for you to make some new friends!"
Dana nodded, "Sure, That’d be great." She replied, in a much better mood. But as they started to walk away, she suddenly remembered her initial reason for coming to the school in the first place, and paused, pointing back at the group gathered nearby. "By the way, Serena, who’s that playing the flute over there? It’s really beautiful."
Serena stopped and smiled, a slightly glazed-over expression appearing in her eyes, one that Dana knew, from countless experience with her younger friends, to be a classic sign of infatuation. "Oh, that’s Alan Granger. Him and his younger sister Ann just moved here from France. In fact, now that you mention it, why don’t we wait here a minute and see if we can say hello to him? He’s totally dreamy, and a major nice guy! Though, it might be hard for us to see him, if you’ve noticed the mob." She explained dourly.
But, it seemed that luck was with them, for, almost as soon as she had said these words, the music came to an abrupt stop. Miraculously, the sea of girls parted, revealing the sight of a very tall, handsome young man with short, pale brown hair, and pale blue eyes that, although lovely to look at, were strangely slanted, giving him an almost exotic appearance.
As he came closer, Serena became shy, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks and a nervous smile lighting up her face. Alan came to a halt only a few feet away, his own face brightening with a smile as he gazed almost longingly at Serena . "Hi Serena." He said in a pleasant, friendly voice, "I saw you listening to me playing. I hoped you liked it."
"Oh yes!" she answered quickly, "It was beautiful!" Suddenly, she remembered her new-found companion, and decided to make introductions, if only to reduce the level of tension that apparently existed between the two of them. "Oh, Alan, this is my friend Dana. She just moved here from America. She liked your music too."
"Oh?" for the first time, Alan focused his attention on Dana, and immediately, his blue eyes widened with interest. His smile deepened, and, much to her chagrin, she found herself blushing just as furiously, if more controlled, as Serena. "I’m honored." He said sincerely, his eyes sparkling, "Would you two like me to play for you?"
"Wicked cool!" Serena exclaimed cheerfully, and Dana regarded her with amusement as she herself merely nodded calm agreement. Smiling slightly at the two of them, Alan gracefully lifted his flute to his lips, which Dana had not noticed before. It was a strange-looking instrument, made of a smooth, white material that was adorned near the mouth-piece with a green, vine-shaped carving. And a few seconds later, the soft, haunting tones of the flute began to ripple through the air, and the `mob-girls’, who had so recently wandered away, were back again, staring at Dana and Serena with envious eyes as they stood in front of the handsome new boy.
Dana relaxed as she listened to the music. It was altogether strange, she mused to herself, she had often listened to the flute being played, but never in such a compelling, almost hypnotic manner. It felt almost like magic, the clear, crystalline tones weaving their way like gentle chimes through the warm, sun-lit air. But, like so many pleasant dreams, it unfortunately came to an abrupt end.
"Alan! What do you think you’re doing?" A loud, very irritatingly nasal voice demanded suddenly, causing the young man to suddenly pause in his playing and turn his head in unison with his audience to look at the speaker, who was standing only a few feet away.
She was a short girl, seemingly about the same age or about a year older than Serena. She wore the same uniform, indicating that she went to the same school. She had shoulder-length, dark brown hair, just as straight as Alan’s, and her eyes had the same unusual slanted appearance, though they were brown instead of blue.
"Oh, hi Ann!" Alan said cheerfully, an almost guilty blush appearing on his pale cheeks as he clutched his flute against his chest in an absent gesture of defense, "What are you doing here?"
Ann openly glared at Dana and Serena, "I might ask you the same thing! I thought we were supposed to walk home together, we don’t have time for you to hang around here all day! Let’s get going!" she ordered curtly, already turning around as if she expected Alan to obediently follow, which, surprisingly, he did. "Oh, sure Ann." He replied meekly, moving to follow his
sister, but not before turning around to briefly regard the two girls. "I hope I can see you again." He said softly, giving them a conspiratorial wink before turning to walk away after Ann, who was already a good distance away. Once he was gone, Dana and Serena turned to face each other and grin, "I think he likes me." They remarked in unison, pausing for a moment to stare at each other in surprise, then breaking out into a fit of giggling that Dana had not had the chance to enjoy in quite a long time.
The crown arcade was obviously the main hang-out place in Tokyo, judging from the large mob of teenagers clustered around the multitude of video games contained within.
The young man who worked the arcade was named Andrew. He was handsome, in a sweet, good-natured sort of way. His hair was short, and golden-brown, and his eyes were hazel. He also had a nice smile and a cheerful laugh, and it was obvious that Serena had a crush on him.
Her friends were gathered a little off to one side, around a game that she recognized as being sailor V. The group that Serena led Dana to consisted of six girls, all about Serena’s age.
First to be introduced was the girl that Dana had come to meet, Molly Baker. She was a short, thin girl, with shoulder-length, curly red hair and bright, blue-green eyes. And, of course, there was no mistaking her New York origin, because the first words she spoke were in a very strong Brooklyn dialect, and it made Dana smile.
Suddenly, she experienced an eerie feeling. Looking at Molly, she was aware of a powerful sense of déjà vu, as if she had seen the younger girl somewhere before, although she knew for a fact that she had never had.
Then, as if to reassure herself, Dana glanced at the other five as they were introduced, each in turn. But, to her ultimate shock, she realized that, if anything, they seemed even more familiar to her than Molly had.
Amy, like Molly and Serena, was short and slender. With, Dana noted with amazement, short blue hair and blue eyes. Raye was lovely in a stern, strong-willed sort of fashion. And she had beyond waist-length black hair and eyes that were so dark that they were almost violet.
Lita was tall, not much shorter than Alan had been, and she wore a different school uniform than the rest of her friends. Curious about this fact, Dana asked about this, and Lita responded that it was because none of the regular uniforms would fit her. She seemed friendly, if tough, with thick brown hair that had been put up into a long ponytail at the back, with two shorter locks of hair that rested in front of her ears. On her ears she wore a pair of lovely pink earrings that were shaped into delicate roses. And, like Dana, Lita’s eyes were green, though they were darker than hers.
Mina was last, and had the air of a model, being very pretty with loose, hip-length pale blonde hair that was adorned with a big red bow at the top. Her eyes were blue, like Serena’s, but hers were a paler shade and her whole demeanor made her seem much more mature than the other bubbly blonde.
The introduction seemed to go very well, and within a matter of minutes, Dana knew that she had just made a very good group of friends, and was happy, despite the age difference.
Dana was sitting next to Serena, who was playing the sailor V game, when her new friend suddenly exclaimed in frustrated disgust, "Ohhh! I can’t believe he got me! I was sure I dodged that one!"
"Smooth move, Meatball-head! Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do better next time. That is, if you practice really hard for the next ten years!" a lightly mocking, but nevertheless nice-sounding male voice remarked snidely from behind them.
Serena turned, an irritated expression marring her normally cheerful face, "Darien!" she whined, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Meatball-head!"
"I guess whenever you get sick of it and chop them off!" Raye supplied airily from her game stool a few feet away, a smug smile on her pretty face.
"Nobody asked your opinion, Raye!" Serena snapped, glaring at her friend, who didn’t seem bothered in the least by the angry look. Dana grinned in spite of herself, Finally turning her head to glance at the one who had started the argument. And when she did, a double gasp was clearly heard, both from Dana and the one that Serena had referred to as Darien.
"Dana, What’s wrong?" Serena asked with concern apparent in her voice, as she looked back and forth between the two black-haired youths that were openly, if silently, staring at each other.
Dana didn’t answer. She was too busy regarding the young man with the short black hair and the dark blue eyes that was gazing at her with an intense expression that seemed to perfectly blend both shock and confusion.
"Do we, know each other?" He asked softly, suddenly finding his voice a moment later. Freed from her self-induced trance, Dana blinked, shaking her head. "No." She answered at last, "We couldn’t possibly. I just moved here about a week ago from the U.S. You might’ve seen me on the street, though."
Darien smiled, his handsome face instantly losing the odd expression. "Yeah, that’s probably where I saw you." He replied brightly, "Well, I gotta go. See you around." He concluded cheerfully, straightening his dark green jacket and turning to exit the arcade a few seconds later.
"Whew! That Darien! I swear, he may be a major hunk, but he sure can be a creep sometimes!" Serena muttered as soon as he was gone, turning to glance at Dana with curious blue eyes. "That was sure weird, though." She commented suddenly, "Him actually thinking that he knew you and all."
"Yeah." Dana replied distantly, fully regaining her composure with an abrupt shake of her dark head, "Well, I’d better get going myself. Mom’ll start to worry about me if I’m gone for too much longer."
"Sure." Serena responded, a slight hint of confusion appearing in her voice. "Hey! We’re going to the movies tomorrow night, you wanna come with us?"
Dana stood, thinking for a long moment before finally nodding her agreement with the cheerful proposal, "Sure. That’d be great."
Serena smiled, "Okay, why don’t you meet us in front of the arcade tomorrow after school?" Dana quickly agreed, and, bidding farewell to her new-found friends, she smoothly left the arcade. And as she did so, she couldn’t stop the surge of coldness that flooded her shaken heart. For, although she had claimed that she did not know Darien, in a sense, she did. Because the young man that she had just met for the first time in her life that day, had been the complete mirror image of the tall, black-haired prince of her dream.