I Don't Belong
Chapter 1: Five's A Crowd
By Lady Starra
E-mail: ladystarra@angelfire.com
Rating: PG
Standard disclaimers apply.
Hi again! This one's kinda short, but the next one will be longer, I
promise! As for my other story, "Within You" I pretty much have the
next chapter planned out but haven't had a chance to write it yet. I
have been REEAAALLLY busy, minna! Also, ever since Yahoo merged with
Geocities, I have experienced nothing but problems trying to build my
website, and I am currently searching for another web provider. I am
sorry that we haven't updated as much as we would like, but I promise
that I will do everything in my power to maintain the site.
Thanks to Alicia Blade, as always, for her input, advice, and love,
and to all my fans who encourage me to keep working. Plus, special
thanks to Sailor Moon Romance and the Usagi and Mamoru Fanfiction
Archive for posting my stuff and making this possible. Luv ya! ^_^
Serena had never been so irritated in her life. She couldn't
believe her mother had invited Darien to dinner. She remained
completely silent on the way home, not saying a word. When they
returned home, Kevin Tsukino took note of the glare on his daughter's
face.
"Serena, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, darling, you'll never guess what happened to us on the way
home," Irene said. "We got a flat tire and one of Serena's friends
saw us and came to help us out. What was his name...Damien?"
"Darien," Serena spat angrily. "And he's NOT my friend!"
"Oh, really, Serena, you need to calm down. She's upset because
I asked him to dinner tonight, to repay him for changing the tire,"
Irene told Kevin.
"You invited someone to dinner? Who is he?"
"Only the most annoying person on the face of the earth," Serena
muttered.
"He was a very nice and polite young man," Irene said. "He's
going to be here at around six-thirty. You know, I might have time to
bake him a batch of cookies, he DID say he liked chocolate..."
"NOW you're going to bake him COOKIES?! That's taking it too
far!" Serena cried.
"Just as an extra thanks, Serena. Really, what if your father
wouldn't have been home? We could have been stuck on the side of the
road for hours," Irene pointed out.
"Oooh, I can't listen to this anymore!" Serena cried, heading
for the door.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"To the arcade! I need time to vent!"
As Serena marched out the door, Irene was utterly amazed. She'd
never seen ANY boy cause Serena to get this riled up, not even Sammy.
Perhaps...did Serena like this boy a lot more than she wanted to let
on? And if so, why was she in such denial?
"Teenagers," Irene sighed in defeat.
"You HAD to be there, Andrew! It was classic!" Darien laughed,
sipping on his coffee. "Serena looked SO annoyed. But when her mom
asked me to come to dinner...well, THEN you should have seen the look
on her face!"
"Her mother asked you to dinner?" Andrew said, stunned.
"You bet she did."
"And...did you say yes?"
"Of course I did. And when I accepted the offer...oh, I wish I'd
had my camera then!" Darien said.
"Wait a minute, Dar. I thought you hated Serena," Andrew said.
"HATE is a pretty strong word, Andrew. She's just fun to tease,"
Darien told him.
"Well, it seems pretty obvious that she can't stand YOU."
The smile suddenly faded from Darien's face. He suddenly
realized Andrew was right. Serena really COULDN'T stand him.
"Well...so what? It's not like I want her to love me or
anything. I'm really just going for the free meal," Darien said.
"Oh...I see now. And you're not going to see HER at all?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Oh, that maybe you're going just to be close to Serena, and
possibly get on her parents' good side for some hidden reason?" Andrew
said.
"Get a life, Andrew! Me, like that klutzy Meatball Head? Yeah,
right!" Darien said.
Somehow, Andrew wasn't convinced.
In another part of the arcade, Serena stuck a coin into the
Sailor V game. She was deep in thought as she started playing.
'Who does Darien think he is, anyway?' she thought. 'He knows I
can't stand him. He MUST be doing this to annoy me!'
Serena didn't seem to notice as her points went higher. She was
up to 2,000...3,000...4,000...
'And what is Mom's deal, anyway? I mean, making him cookies!
Wouldn't you think dinner AND dessert would be enough?'
7,000...8,000...9,000...
'And it HAD to be the night we were having my favorite dinner?
Why couldn't Mom invite him when we were having Sammy's favorite?
The points climbed to 10,000...11,000...12,000. People were
starting to crowd around Serena, and she didn't even notice them.
Darien and Andrew came downstairs from the cafe when they saw the
commotion.
"Hey, what's all the fuss about?" Darien wondered aloud. They
both walked to the Sailor V game where they were stunned to see
Serena surrounded by people, as she seemed to ace through the Sailor V
game. They cut in front of the other people to make sure they weren't
seeing things. Serena's points were now hitting in the 17,000's. They
just stared in awe as the score went even higher. She made the game
look like a cakewalk.
"Wow, she wasn't this good yesterday," Andrew said.
"Hey, looks like the Meatball Head CAN do something!" Darien
laughed.
At the sound of his voice, Serena came out of her thoughts and
instantly, Sailor V kicked the bucket. Serena was fuming.
"You dolt! You made me lose the game!" she cried, until the
buzzer on the game went off, indicating she'd gotten the highest score
of anyone who had ever played. "Wha...twenty thousand! You've gotta be
kidding!" she said in amazement, and finally noticed that the entire
arcade sawarmed around her.
"Congratulations, Serena. Put your initials in," Andrew said.
Serena did, still wondering how on earth she'd gotten such a
high score. As soon as she put her initials in, a prize fell out of
the slot.
"What's this?" she said, picking it up. It was a gold wristwatch
that was shaped like a star, studded with small sapphires and
diamonds. She'd never seen anything like it before, not even in the
jewelry store Molly's mother owned. She then wondered if it was real.
"That's really pretty, Serena. It's never coughed up a prize
that nice before," Andrew said.
"Well, at least SOMETHING good happened today," Serena said in
an annoyed tone, not even looking at Darien. If she had, she might
have caught the hurt expression on his face he held for about three
seconds, when he retaliated.
"Hey, maybe now you'll start being on time for things, Meatball
Head," he sneered.
"Ugh! Lay off me, Darien! I came here to blow off some steam,
and you really aren't helping the situation!" she cried.
"Might as well get used to it, Meatball Head. I AM coming to
your house for dinner tonight, remember?" he said.
"Darien...why did you say yes? Why couldn't you have said 'No,
thank you,' like any decent person and just be on your way? Why don't
I just go home right now, and tell my mom that you've changed your
mind and..."
"Not a chance, Meatball Head. If you think I'm backing out of
this now, you're crazy."
"Darien!"
"Oh, and what's this? Is Serena the Hyena actually BEGGING the
conceited jerk for mercy?" Darien mocked.
Serena growled under her teeth. No way was she going to beg him.
"You're insane, Darien! Absolutely cookoo for Cocoa Puffs!" she
spat.
"Sticks and stones. I'll see you tonight at your place, Meatball
Head!" Darien laughed as he left the arcade.
"My name is SERENA! Do you understand? SEREEEENNNAAA!"
"Hey Serena, calm down. What's the big deal, anyway? It's only
for a few hours, right? After tonight, you guys might even get along a
little better," Andrew offered, trying to help her see the bright
side.
"Until he learns to address me by my NAME, Andrew, we will never
get along!" Serena said.
'Poor Serena,' Andrew thought. 'She has no idea how Darien
really feels about her. Frankly, Darien isn't even sure himself. But I
know it's something. Darien doesn't accept dinner invitations from just
anyone...'
"Listen, Serena...I actually think it's great that Darien is
having dinner with your family. I mean, he's always been something of
a loner, and keeps to himself a lot. This is why his people skills
aren't always the greatest, and it's just for that reason I think a
family dinner would do him good. Besides, your parents will be there.
He can't insult you too much," Andrew told her.
Andrew did have a point. After all, Darien HAD refrained from
calling her Meatball Head in front of her mother. Hopefully Sammy
wouldn't hear him say it, or she'd be getting it at the arcade, the
Scout meetings, AND at home!
"Well...maybe. But he's so mean, Andrew! I've never really done
anything to hurt him...have I?"
"No, I suppose you haven't," Andrew agreed.
"He's nothing but a bully, Andrew. I don't see how such a cold
person can be friends with you."
"Look, maybe if you just talk to him, and tell him how much it
really bothers you..."
"I HAVE told him, Andrew. Dozens of times. And he doesn't care.
He doesn't care about me, or my feelings. All Darien cares about is
himself, plain and simple. I'll see you around, Andrew." Serena
marched out of the arcade, leaving Andrew feeling a little on edge.
He knew Serena was wrong. Darien did care about her. He just
didn't know how to show it. Andrew only hoped that Darien wouldn't
blow it at this dinner, because if he did, Serena could very well
never forgive him.
Luna giggled mischievously.
"So, your mother asked Darien to dinner, did she? With the way
you stormed out of here earlier, I was afraid you would go on a bloody
rampage."
"It isn't funny, Luna. You know how much I hate Darien!" Serena
said.
"Well, he obviously doesn't hate YOU all that much, otherwise,
he probably would have said no, flat out," Luna reasoned.
"Luna, he's doing this to get me upset. He saw how annoyed I was
when Mom asked him to dinner. That's why he did it. To annoy me. When
he comes over, can't you pounce on him, and then claw at him until he
leaves?"
"Serena!" Luna exclaimed.
"Well, why can't you?"
"On the contrary, Serena...I actually like Darien very much,"
Luna said.
"You would. Both of you, always getting on my case and
tormenting me. Why me?" Serena bawled.
Luna was getting a little irritated.
'Come on, Serena!' Luna thought. 'Admit it already! You like the
guy! I saw how jealous you got when he was with Raye! You can flirt
with every other guy, why not Darien?'
Luna didn't understand why Serena was hiding her feelings this
way. Perhaps, it was because Raye liked Darien, or maybe she thought
Darien liked Raye, but Luna had also noticed things about Darien. One
day, after Serena stormed away from him after a usual argument, Luna
had looked back to see Darien watching Serena with a smile on his
face. Not a smug or cynical smile, but something different. Almost
like he was in some kind of dreamlike state.
She couldn't be too sure of Darien's feelings, but why had
Serena gotten so jealous when she saw Raye with Darien? Luna could
only think of one explanation, and that had to be that Serena had a
some kind of secret crush on him. Knowing how stubborn Serena could
be, Luna shouldn't have been surprised at Serena's actions. With the
way this was going, Luna only hoped that Serena wouldn't get hurt.
Darien rummaged through his closet, looking for something to
wear. He didn't want it too be too fancy, but not too casual, either.
He wanted to make a good impression on Serena's family, without
overdoing it. He decided on dark jeans and a polo shirt, and headed
over to where he kept his scents.
'Hmm...noticeable, but not too strong,' he thought. 'Let's
see...CK One, Polo Sport, Eternity...a-ha! Cool Water! Perfect!'
He lightly sprayed some on, and looked at the clock.
6:15. Perfect. He would be right on schedule. Darien decided to
take his car this time, not wanting his motorcycle helmet to mess up
his hair.
'Why are you so worried about the way you look, Darien? It's
only Serena's family,' he thought mutely.
He didn't have much trouble finding the place, for he was very
familiar with that part of town. He was surprised to reach a very
nice, two-story house with a gate. Parking his car, he walked up the
pathway confidently, and rang the doorbell. Within moments, he heard
the doorknob rattle. He took a deep breath.
'Okay, Darien. Here we go.'
Phew, am I glad to finish this part! I never thought trying to write
five stories at a time would be so exhausting! Yes, you heard me
right, folks! FIVE STORIES! Which means, when "Within You" and this
story are finished, there will be more coming your way, LOTS more!
Soon, if I can get my Geocites to start cooperating, I will have
summaries of them on my website. Until next time! Ja ne!
Sincerely,
Lady S
(
geocities.com/tokyo/spa/Spa) (
geocities.com/tokyo/spa) (
geocities.com/tokyo)