Title: All that Glitters - Part 3
By: Miki
E-mail: aya_mina@hotmail.com
Rating: G
Genre: Romance
Standard Disclaimer Apply
I sat on the living room couch, checked the clock on the
mantel, then returned to the short story I'd been assigned to
read for English lit. It was eight o'clock and Darien still
hadn't called. I'd been hovering close to the phone all
evening, but it hadn't ring once.
Mom came in from the kitchen, sat down, and picked upthe phone.
"Mom!" I cried. "What are you doing?"
Mom looked surprised. "I believe it's called making a
telephone call. Why? What's the matter?" "Will you be long?" I asked.
"No, I just want to get Marge's recipe for carrot juice.It's delicious!"
"Could you possibly wait and get it later tonight, or
maybe even tomorrow? Darien's going to call about the resultsof the audition."
"No, honey, I'd like to make a batch tonight, if I have
all the ingredients. If he calls and I'm on the line, I'm sure
he'll call right back." She finished dialing and waited for her friend toanswer.
"Hi, Maggie, have you got time to give me that wonderful
carrot juice recipe? Yes, that's the one. Sure, I'll hold on."
What if Darien is dialing my number right now? What if
he gets a busy signal and then forgets to call me back?
I stood up and paced around the living room. I walked to
the window and drew aside the drape and stared out into thedarkness.
"Okay," Mom said, "yes, I have a pencil. Go ahead."
I walked over to the mantel clock and stared at it
pointedly. Mom didn't see me, though. She was too busy writing
down ingredients. I cleared my throat and tapped my
fingernails against the mantel. Still she didn't look up.
I flopped down on the couch and sighed as loudly as I
could. Mom looked up and frowned at me and went back to hernote-taking.
Then I formed the "time-out" signal with my hands, rightunder her nose.
She looked up and rolled her eyes, nodded and mouthedthe words I know.
"Okay, Maggie," she said. "Thanks a lot. I'm going to
have to get off the phone so that it's clear for my daughter.
That's right; wait till your kids are teenagers." She laughed.
"Okay, I'll talk to you soon. Bye."
I couldn't believe it when she finally hung up.
"There, I'm finished," she said. "Can you relax now?"
I collapsed onto the couch and groaned. "No, not untilDarien calls."
Dad walked into the room then, puffing on his pipe, and
sat in his favorite easy chair, next to the fireplace, to readthe evening paper.
This seemed to be a good time to discuss something that
had been weighing on my mind. I'd been worrying that when
Darien called they'd hang around to listen to my side of the
conversation, making me feel very self-conscious. I cleared my throat.
"Can I talk to you guys?" I asked.
"Sure," Mom said. "Kenji, Serena wants to talk to us."
"Okay," Dad said without removing the pipe from hismouth. "Shoot."
"Well, when Darien calls tonight, he'll have the results
of the Golden Girl contest. Now, of course, I won't get thejob--"
"You don't know that," Mom interrupted. "Dad and I agree
that you're the best girl for the job." She waved at Dad to
get his attention. "Don't we, Kenji?"
"Sure," he said, blowing little puffs of smoke toward
the ceiling. Dad's a man of few words. He's an accountant, and
I think he feels more comfortable with numbers and tax formsthan with people.
I gazed at them, first my mother, then my father. "Well,
seeing as how neither of you auditioned any of the applicants-
-and considering the fact that you're my parents and slightly
prejudiced--I think your opinion doesn't count for much. No
offense. But thanks for the support, anyway."
"You're welcome, dear," Mom said, smiling.
"Anyway, when the phone rings, I'd kind of like to have
some privacy during the call, okay? Because I want to make a
good impression and be a good sport and say all the right
things, but if you're listening to what I'm saying, I'll get
nervous and self-conscious and stutter and stammer and talk incircles and--"
"Sort of like you are now?" dad asked, squinting through
the haze of smoke in front of his face.
"Well, yes, I guess so," I said. "So you'll let me get
the phone and then stay out of the way for a few minutes?"
"Sure, no problem," Mom said. "It's important for you tohave your privacy."
"Thanks," I said, totally relieved.
But by ten-thirty Darien still hadn't called. I went
upstairs, grabbed my pillow and a blanket, and dragged them
downstairs to continue the wait. "What are you doing?" Mom asked.
"Waiting for the phone to ring," I said. I fluffed the
pillow and spread out the blanket on the couch.
"You're going to sleep down here?" Mom said.
"Yeah. That's okay, isn't it? I don't want to missDarien's call."
"Honey, he probably isn't going to call tonight. It's
too late. He'll probably talk to you at school tomorrow."
"I can't take the chance of missing his call," I said.
"He said he'd call tonight. There's no reason why heshouldn't."
"Okay," Mom said, shrugging. She blew me a kiss andheaded upstairs to bed.
I crawled under the blanket on the couch and got
situated, making sure that I could reach the phone easily from
my "bed." I turned out the light and stared up at the ceiling.
The telephone remained quiet.
Darien probably didn't want to bother making the phone
calls to tell the girls who hadn't been picked. Maybe he'd
decided to call only the girl who was chosen. Suddenly, I had
a horrible thought. What if he'd decided to announce the
chosen girl at school and not call anyone at all? Surely that
would make more sense and save him many hours on the phone.
I groaned, rolled over, and punched my pillow. Maybe I
would never talk to him again. Then I wouldn't have a chance
to impress him with my good-sport routine and he's never fall
madly in love with me. I pulled the pillow over my head and,
after another half-hour of anguish, felt myself begin to drift
off. I guess that I'll just have to face the fact that my
relationship with Darien was just a fantasy I've since four
o'clock yesterday, I thought before falling asleep.
Molly was waiting for me at my locker when I got toschool the next day.
She looked at me, her eyes filled with sympathy. "How
are you doing, kid?" she asked as she put an arm around myshoulders.
I spun the combination dial on my locker. "Fine, other
than a little headache," I said. "Why?"
"Well, I figured when you didn't call last night that
you were so depressed after talking to Darien that you
couldn't bring yourself to talk to me. But remember, Serena,
I'm your friend through thick and thin. If you want to pour
your heart out to me and tell me how lousy you feel and how
humiliating it was to accept the bad news, I'd be glad tolisten."
"Thanks, Molly," I said, opening the door to my locker,"but he didn't call."
"He couldn't break the news," Molly said, nodding sadly.
"He didn't want to hurt you because he knew how much you
wanted the job." She sighed. "What a nice guy."
I picked up my geometry textbook, closed the door, and
turned to face Serena. "Did it occur to you that maybe the
decision hasn't been made yet?"
She glanced at me sadly. "Sure, sure," she said, patting
my arm. "Maybe that's it."
I rolled my eyes. "Molly, don't waste your pity on me. I
know that I won't be chosen, but I'll still get to talk to
him. I'm sure he'll call tonight." "I'm sure he will," she said.
He bell rang then, and she gave my arm one lastsympathetic squeeze and ran off.
I looked for Darien all day in the halls but didn't see
him until just before my last class. I was standing outside my
science classroom when he came striding in my direction. I
decided to speak. Maybe he'd explain why he hadn't called lastnight.
"Hi, Darien," I called out and waved.
He looked over, held a hand up in greeting, and passed
right by. No smile, no hello, nothing. He didn't even slowdown.
The weak side of me felt crushed. I wanted to run into
the bathroom and cry my eyes out. But the strong side of me
was angry. I wanted to tear his head off for being unfriendly
after I'd made him the object of my fantasies for nearly two
days. Both emotions were completely irrational and pulled me
in two separate directions, but that's the way I felt.
And then Sammy's comment came back to me. Maybe Darien
did tell the girls who auditioned that they were "terrific".
Maybe he even told all of them that he'd follow them anywhere.
I felt sick. How could I have been so stupid as to think
that I had even a tiny chance of getting Darien to like me?
I decided that I didn't care whether he called me. In
fact, I felt a little relieved that I wouldn't have to sweat
out another night waiting for him to call. Yes, I decided,
this is a healthier attitude. I don't care about Darien Riley
one way or the other. He's cute, but I can live without him.
The day seemed to drag on forever. After school I had a
meeting with the literary magazine staff, but I couldn't
concentrate and hardly heard a word that was said. I was glad
I'd decided to forget about Darien, but it would take a little
time before I felt really great about my decision. For now, I
couldn't help feeling depressed.
I walked home from school and dragged myself up the
front porch steps. The phone was ringing as I walked in thefront door.
"Will somebody get that?" I hollered, throwing my bookson the front table.
"How about you, since you're out there?" Mom called from
the kitchen. "I'm taking something out of the oven."
I sighed deeply and crossed the living room to the phonenext to the couch.
"Hello?" I said gruffly. "Hi, Serena," a voice said. "This is Darien Riley."
Suddenly, all my feelings came back with a vengeance. I
cared a whole lot about Darien Riley, that was obvious. My
depression suddenly vanished and I felt alert and energetic. I
was talking to Darien Riley! My stomach flipped over and my
heart started hammering away in my chest. Funny what one phonecall can do.
"I'm sorry I didn't call you last night," he said, "but
the final decision about the Golden Girl wasn't made until
very late this afternoon." Be a good sport, be a good sport, I kept repeating
myself. "Oh, that's okay, Darien," I said, concentrating so hard
I could hardly hear him. "No problem. None at all."
Be a good sport. Remember your speech.
"I want to be the first to congratulate you," he said.
"You're our new Golden Girl!"
"Oh, that's okay, Darien," I said. "Mina is so beautiful
and so very--" Then I caught myself. "Um, what did you say?"
He laughed. It was a wonderful, incredible sound. Then
he spoke in that soft, intimate voice. "You, Serena
Montgomery, are the new Golden Girl." He paused. "How do youfeel?"
"I--I--can't believe it," I said. "I don't know what to
say." I was being perfectly honest. I was prepared to lose,
but I certainly wasn't prepared to win! It just couldn't betrue. "You're sure?"
Darien laughed. "We're going to have to do something
about your self-confidence," he said. "Your audition waswonderful."
My audition was wonderful?
"But how did it happen?" I asked. "I mean, what did they
like about me? What did I do right?"
Darien laughed again. "That's what they like--the
honesty, the unpretentiousness of your performance. And you
showed a lot of spunk by adding that extra lone at the end. I
think that's what finally put you ahead of the others. They
really liked you, Serena." And what about you, Darien Riley? You thought my
audition was wonderful, but did you like me?
"This has to be the best phone call I've ever gotten," I
said. "Thank you, Darien."
He softened his voice even more. "It was my pleasure."
Then he chuckled. "That's another rough thing about this job,
telling a girl she's going to be a star." I laughed. Me, a star?
"Actually, this is only the good part of my job
tonight," he said. "I'm kind of dreading all the rest of the
calls. I mean, to the girls who weren't chosen. I guess I'm
not going to be the most popular guy at school tomorrow."
I didn't know how to answer that. I realized that it
probably would be hard to tell all the girls who'd dreamed for
years of getting the Golden Girl job. And maybe they wouldhold it against him.
"We're going to make some small changes in your hair and
makeup," he said, changing the subject. "I'll talk to youabout that later."
Cut off all my hair, paint my face bright blue. Yourwish is my command.
"Okay," I said, "if you think it's necessary."
"So, I guess that's all for now," he said. "See you at
school tomorrow. And congratulations again."
"Thanks, Darien. 'Bye." I calmly put down the phone and
walked into the kitchen, where Mom, Dad, and Sammy werestarting dinner.
"I won! I won! I won!" I screamed, jumping up and down.
I whooped and hollered and danced in a circle while my family
looked on in astonishment. Finally I collapsed in my chair at
the table, breathing heavily, with a big, stupid grin on myface.
My brother looked up from his plate. "Pass the mashed
potatoes, will you, Mom?" he said.
My mouth fell open, but Mom laughed, got up from her
chair, and came around to hug me.
"Congratulations!" she said. "You deserve it! But I'm
not surprised, darling. You're a very talented young lady.
They just used good, common sense in selecting you. Didn'tthey, Kenji?"
"Sure did," my father said.
"Yeah," Sammy said. "Way to go, Sere." He looked up at
Mom. "So will you pass the mash potatoes now?"
"There you go, Sammy," I said. I shoved the bowl of
potatoes across the table toward my brother. Suddenly Sammy
was alert, as he grabbed the bowl before it fell in his lap. I
could afford to be a little wild tonight. It wasn't every day
I was chosen from all the girls in the city to be Trent's
Golden Girl! The job was enough, but I was going to be working
closely--as closely as I could possibly manage it--with the
most amazing guy in the world!
I ran directly to Molly's house right after dinner. She
only lived three blocks away, and the news was too good to
deliver over the phone. "They chose you?" she asked. "Really?" She paused, then
looked at me with suspicious glint in her eye. "You don't
think he's playing a mean trick on you, do you?"
I sighed. "I know it's hard to believe. I thought he'd
made a mistake, too. But apparently they really liked me and
chose me for the job." "This isn't just a job," Molly pointed out seriously.
"This is the chance of a lifetime, the kind of opportunity
every girl dreams of. Glitz, glamour, and guys. The three G's.
not to mention big bucks." "Not so big," I said. "Minimum wage."
"For the three G's, I'd do it for nothing," she said.
Then her face brightened. "And just think, I'm your best
friend. Think dome of the benefits might rub off on me?"
I shrugged. "Why not? Hitch yourself to a rising star."
"Not too modest, are you?" she said, and we both
laughed. "But seriously, Serena, think who you'll be working
with, week in and week out. I think I'd die of happiness right
now if I were you." She stopped abruptly. "Will you introduceme to Darien?"
"Of course," I said, though I was starting to feel justa bit possessive.
"Oh, I'm so glad you got this job!" she said. "It'sgoing to be so exciting!"
"It certainly is!" I agreed with a happy laugh.
My brother actually offered me a ride to school the next
day. And only that--he put his arm around me, and we walked
into school together and down the hall to my locker. I thought
I was going to faint--he'd never paid so much attention to mein my life.
"Hey, Serena, I hear you're the new Golden Girl!" one of
Sammy's friends shouted. Sammy gave my shoulder an
affectionate squeeze and waved back. I'd never seen Sammy lookso proud.
"Serena, way to go!" a girl from my math class calledout.
A couple of guys from the swim team approached and Sammy
introduced them to me. They smiled and congratulated me, and
then some more of his friends came up to meet me.
My head was spinning. I was an instant celebrity, and I
won't lie: It felt great! "Serena, sit with me at lunch?" someone called out.
"Serena, want to go to the basketball game with a bunchof us this weekend?"
"Serena, there's a party on Saturday night at my house.
You've got to come!" said a pretty blond girl from my scienceclass.
Al of this happened before my homeroom. I didn't really
know what to think or how to handle all of this attention.
Nothing like this had ever happened to me before.
"Uh, I'm going to the rest room to fix my hair," I
whispered to Sammy. "See you later."
I retreated to the girls' room and closed myself up in
the stalls. It was good to be by myself for a few minutes
after all that attention. I heard the rest room door open and
the sound of feet shuffling in.
"Why would they pick her?" a voice asked. "She's not
even a junior and she's certainly nowhere near as pretty asyou are!"
"She's not as pretty as half the girls who tried out," afamiliar voice said.
"Mina, I don't know how Serena Montgomery stole the
Golden Girl job away from you, but somehow she managed to do
it, it's unbelievable!" I felt my whole body stiffen and my stomach suddenly get
sour. I stole the Golden Girl job? What did they mean by that?
I decided to stay in the stall until those obnoxious
girls left. I sure wasn't going to walk out now, right into
the middle of the lions' den.
Then I heard Mina's voice again. "That's just it. I
could take it if she were superpretty or talented or seemed to
have qualities that a Golden Girl should have. But she's so
blah! Have you seen her?" Mumbled voices indicated yes. "She's
okay-looking, and thin, but she's so flat-chested! What in the
world did Darien see in her, anyway?"
Blah? Flat-chested? I was beginning to get pretty angry.
How dare they stand there and criticize me so viciously!
"Well, I didn't get the Golden Girl job," Mina
continued. "But I'm not going to stand by and let her get her
hands on Darien Riley. I've my eye on him for three years, and
I'm not giving up on him without a battle! She'd better watch
out if she knows what's good for her." The other girls laughedappreciatively.
I clenched my hands into fists and had to restrain
myself from running out of the stall and punching her out. No
one threatens Serena Montgomery and gets away with it.
"Who knows why they chose her!" said one of the other
voices. "Maybe her parents have pull with Mr. Trent or
Darien's parents. Maybe they belong to the same country club
and play golf together or something like that. Maybe they were
owned a big favor." Without even thinking about it, I burst out of the stall
and strode right up to Mina. "You can insult me, Mina Boyson,"
I yelled in her face. "I can take it from you and your moron
friends, but never insult my parents again! I won't take that
from you or anybody!" Mina just stood there, stunned, her mouth hanging open.
Then she collected herself and mumbled, "Come on, girls," and
slid out of the rest room. I waited a full three minutes to give them plenty of
time to leave the hallway. Then I scurried out of the rest
room so I wouldn't be late for my first class.
And all the way down the hallway I noticed that everyone
was staring at me. But now I didn't feel like a celebrity or a
magazine cover girl. This time I felt like one of the freaks
featured on the front page of National Enquirer: "Ugliest Girl
in the Midwest Wins Rigged Beauty Pageant."
I wanted to die. Were all the kids who pointed at me
wondering how I'd managed to land the Golden Girl job? Did
they think I was a flat-chested blah person, too?
There was a hard lump in my throat that ached like
nothing I'd ever felt before. It hurt all morning, even as
everyone continued to congratulate me on winning the Golden
Girl job. I didn't even feel like talking to anyone.
I somehow got through lunch with all the girls at the
table pelting me with questions about my new job. Would I tape
a commercial every other week or would I tape two commercials
at a time? Would I be able to choose what I wore on TV? Would
Trent's provide my clothes free? Did I think the job would be
hard? Did I feel like a celebrity? One question they asked
over and over: Would Darien Riley be working with me all year,
and what exactly would his duties be?
Unfortunately, I couldn't answer most of their
questions, but they didn't seem to mind.
They just chattered on and on about how lucky I was and
how my life was going to change drastically.
Molly kept looking at me strangely, but she was quietduring most of the meal.
After lunch, she pushed me into a corner in the hall and
said, "Okay, what gives?" "What do you mean?" I asked.
"Something's wrong," she said. "I know you and I know
when you're deliriously happy, as you should be at this
moment. But you're not, Serena Montgomery, you're faking it.
So what happened? I'm your best friend and I deserve to know."
"Wow," I said, taking a step back and looking at her
admiringly. "You really are perceptive."
"Not really," she said, "it just that even though you
got the Golden Girl job, you're a crummy actress!"
So I told her about the incident in the rest room. When
I'd finished relating what I'd heard through the bathroom
stall door, she whistled. "Boy, are you in for it now!" she said.
"What do you mean, I'm 'in for it'? I'm not scared ofthose girls."
"Mina's going to come after you." She thought a minute.
"Do you think you'll end up in a cat fight, rolling around on
the floor with her, like they do in soap operas?"
"Are you kidding?" I asked. "That's ridiculous."
"But what if she comes after you?"
"Will you cut it out?" I cried. "Mina may have Jell-O
between her ears, but she's got some class. Besides, when she
said she wasn't giving Darien up without a battle, she didn'tmean it literally."
Molly gazed at me with those big green eyes. "I hope for
your sake that you're right."
Suddenly she grabbed my arm. "Don't look now but here he
comes!" she whispered. "Darien Riley! He's coming this way,
and he's looking good!" "How far away?" I asked, staring down at my feet.
She lowered her head so as bot to look at him and
whispered, "Less than halfway down the hall. I think he saw
you." She touched my arm. "Tell me, am I drooling?"
"All over your sweater," I mumble. "Act natural. He's
going to wonder what's so interesting on the floor."
"Natural, right." She cleared her throat and raised her
head. "So what were your New Year's resolutions, Serena?" she
asked in a loud, enthusiastic voice. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"Too phony?" she whispered. "Yeah," I said. Just then I felt a warm hand on my
shoulder, and I whirled around. "Oh, hi!" I said.
"Hi yourself," said Darien, smiling warmly.
He looked as if he'd stepped out of the pages of
Gentleman's Quarterly. He was wearing a loose white shirt and
stylish, slightly baggy black pants and black loafers.
If I'm dreaming, don't wake me up. If I've died, don't
resuscitate me. Life doesn't get any better than this.
"Remember when we're talking about a makeover for you?"
Darien asked. He held up a fashion magazine and opened it to a
picture of a girl about my age with a pretty, wavy hairstyle.
"I want you to take this picture with you when you have
your hair done. Bernie at Hair Creations is going to give you
a similar hairstyle. Okay?" I nodded.
"I've already talked to her," Darien continued. "I think
you'll look really great with your hair like this. See? Your
face has the same shape and your hair is fine and full likethe model's."
He reached out and traced the side of my face from my
temple to my chin with his finger.
Life just improved about five hundred percent, I
thought, amazed by what his touch had made me feel.
I caught a glimpse of Molly out of the corner of my eye.
If I hadn't been in a dreamlike state myself, I would've
laughed out loud. Her mouth was open and her eyes were bugging
out of her head, as if she couldn't believe what she wasseeing.
Darien turned to Molly and nodded his head toward me.
"She's the perfect Golden Girl, don't you think?"
Molly, still staring, didn't move. What in the world was
wrong with her? I gave her a little kick.
"OH, YES!" she exclaimed in a voice loud enough for the
whole hall to hear. "She's absolutely perrr-fect!" I stared at Molly, mortified.
"Are you okay?" Darien asked Molly seriously.
"Oh, yes," I said casually, "she's fine." I glanced atMolly. "I think."
"Well, I need to get to class," Darien said. "Can you
meet me at Trent's tonight? I want to take you shopping for
some clothes for our first TV spot. How about seven, at the
entrance near the fountain?"
"Yes, right. I know where you mean," I said. "I'll bethere."
"Great," he said, smiling. "See you later, Golden Girl."
"Yeah, right. Great." I smiled and sort of waved as hewalked off.
Molly fell back against the lockers behind her and
clutched her throat. "I thought I was going to die with him so
nearby," she said. "It should be a crime to look that good."
"Yeah, but he does," I pointed out.
"And he touched your face," she said. "You are so lucky
to be working with him, Serena. This is unreal. And he's going
to buy you clothes and have you change your hair, just like
something out of My Fair Lady. He's going to transform you
from a wretched, filthy street girl into the belle of theball."
I elbowed her--hard. " 'A wretched, filthy street
girl'?" Give me a break, Molly, I'm not that bad."
Molly giggled. "It's just so romantic!" she exclaimed.
Just then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I whirled
around, expecting it to be Darien again. But it was Mina
Boyson, ready for another stab at ruining my day.
"What's the matter, Mina?" I asked, still angry from
this morning. "Think up some new insults?" I pretended to
check my watch. "Gee, and it only took you seven hours to comeup with them!"
Mina scowled. "There's something I just thought you
ought to know," she said. "I wouldn't count on getting cozywith Darien Riley."
"Oh, that's right," I said sarcastically. "You have
Darien Riley targeted for yourself. I heard you tell your
plans to your buddies earlier today. Remember?"
"I admit I'm interested in Darien," she said. "But it
doesn't look like either of us is going to get him. He's
already got a serious girlfriend."
I couldn't help it. I wasn't prepared for the news, and
my face must have fallen to the floor.
Mina smiled smugly. "She's a student at North High.
She's rich, talented, and "--she swept her eyes over me with
obvious disdain--"very, very cute."
**************************************************************
Well, I hope you've enjoyed another chapter of my fic.
Hopefully the story gets better along the way. I want to
thanks "Ashley" for her help and encouragement. Also, to those
who've e-mailed me with praise and compliment. If you have not
done so already, please visit Sailor SwiftHeart page at
http://www.moonchronicles.com.
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