Title:  Serena and Darien: Much Ado About Nothing,
Part Three
Author:  Saritaluv
E-mail: saritaluv@yahoo.com

"Come on, Serena!  We don’t have all day!  We’re gonna
be late!" Raye yelled for the fourth time.
	"Wait!  I’m almost done!"
	Raye and the others sighed.  They had finished
applying their make-up and was simply waiting for
Serena.
	Raye looked stunning in her guise.  A thick black
line had been drawn on her lids halfway to her temple.
 Somewhere in Mina’s vast array of cosmetics, Raye had
found bright green eye shadow and put it on.  The
reddest shade of lipstick that was found was on Raye’s
lips, and golden, blue, and green beads adorned her
bangs and some of her hair.
	Mina had no make-up and no change of hair style.  But
she had done her share in dressing the others up. 
Lita had a dusky evening look, with red lipstick, pale
foundation and a fake mole just beside her lips.  When
she tilted her hat down so that only her lips showed,
she seemed like a sexy little minx from the turn of
the century.
	Mina had also fixed up Amy.  Her short blue hair was
swept forward and piled high.  Bright, metallic blue
covered her nails and glitter was in her hair, around
her eyes, and a shimmery hue colored her lips.
	But Serena had refused to let Mina tamper with her
make-up.  As a result, Serena had been up in her
bedroom for the past hour.
	"Serena!"
	"Coming, coming!"
	They saw feet in white sandals, a pink skirt, a pink
dress, and then…a radiant Serena.  She had on only the
palest shades of make-up, but that touch made her seem
older and more beautiful.  Pearly beads encircled the
golden spheres of her hair, and white ribbons ran
through her hair.
	Her friends stared, not believing that this mature
vision was actually Serena.  But, as if she had heard
their thoughts, she tripped on her long skirt and when
head over heels down the stairs.
	Everyone sighed and sweatdropped.
	"Ready?" she asked them brightly when she had
straightened out her outfit.
	"Ready as we’ll ever be!"
	"Yeah!  Let’s go!"
	The five girls walked down the streets of Tokyo with
pillowcases in their hands.  Raye’s was solid fiery
red.  Mina’s was a yellow pillowcase with pink hearts.
 Serena’s was pink with white bunnies, Lita’s was a
solid sugar pink, and Amy’s was a light blue with
black cats.
	"Where shall we go first?" Lita asked.
	"The arcade, where else?" Raye asked, winking slyly
at her.
	"Oh right.  It’s tradition!"
	"It is?" Serena asked, confused.  But she was dragged
down the street towards the arcade.

	"Can we go yet?" Darien asked impatiently.
	"It’s not seven yet.  Wait a minute, will ya?"
	Darien groaned.  He just wanted to make the normal
rounds of the streets of commercial Tokyo and go home
before he felt like a total idiot.
	The arcade doors burst open and in flew in Serena’s
gang, all dressed and ready to go.
	"Hey Andrew!" Mina said cheerfully, "Hey Rita!  Hi
Charles!  Are you guys ready to go trick-or-treating?"
	"WHAT?!" came Serena and Darien’s astonished replies.
	"Do we have to go trick-or-treating, with…with…THAT?"
Serena whined to her friends.
	"Likewise, Meatball Head," muttered Darien.
	"Don’t be such a stiff," Andrew said.  "After all, I
did invite these girls to go trick-or-treating with us
yesterday."
	"And how did you manage to fail to inform me about
this?" Darien asked, glaring at his best friend.  "At
least you could have WARNED me about Hurricane
Serena!"
	"Sorry, bud, but I know you wouldn’t have come if I
had told you.  After all, this was the first time I’VE
been trick-or-treating, and I wanted you to come."
	Darien sighed.  Great, he looked like a fool, mature
old Darien, going trick-or-treating as though he were
no older than seven.  He could feel the heat in his
cheeks and hoped he wasn’t blushing TOO noticeably.
	Darien turned when he realized that someone was
staring at him.  A wave of electricity roared through
his veins when he realized that it was Serena.  He
forced his jaw not to drop when he saw her.
	She was in a medieval princess outfit, pink, of
course.  She looked beautiful.  Her hair was still in
its usual style, two spherical "meatballs," but
wrapped around with pearl beads.  Threaded through her
long ponytails, white satin ribbons flowed loosely. 
She looked beautiful, but that pink…it gave Serena the
air of innocence.  As if she didn’t possess that
already...
	Serena knew that she was staring at Darien and tried
not to.  But as if her eyes were magnetically drawn to
his, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.  The suit
was fitted, showing off his sculpted muscles.
	‘Gosh, he looks good!’ Serena thought, ‘It’s as if
that suit was made for him!’
	Darien suppressed a chuckle as he saw Serena’s eyes
wander over his body, much like the night before,
except this time he wasn’t masked and she knew his
identity.  That pleasurable feeling washed over him
again.  The thought of Serena caring for him made him
feel warm and fuzzy inside.
	"Yo!  Earth to Serena!" Lita whispered in her ear.
	"What?  Huh?"
	Darien too snapped out of his reverie.
	"Nice costume, Meatball Head.  Did your costume come
with that dunce cap?  Or did your teacher force you to
wear it all day?"
	"Why you..."
	Serena tried her hardest to come up with a good
comeback, but she couldn’t find any fault with his
costume.  Except for the fact that his sword was in
his hands and not around his waist like it should have
been.
	"Hey Serena!" Rita said, smiling at her, "Why don’t
you gird Darien’s sword on his waist?"
	"What?"
	Andrew smiled.
	‘This is turning out better than I thought.’
	"She means put it on him."
	"No!" Serena recoiled at the horror of the thought.
	"Come on, Serena," Mina nudged conspiratorially,
"You’re the princess, and he’s your knight-in-shining
armor.  It’s only appropriate."
	"But…"
	She looked at Darien, who gave no outward sign of
emotion.  His face was a careful blank, like it
usually was.
	Then Serena’s heart took over.  What would she give,
to run her hands over that hard stomach, to wrap her
arms around his strong waist...
	"Oh all right, give me that thing!" 
	She ripped the sword unmercifully from Darien’s hands
and deftly tied it around his waist.  Darien gulped as
he touched her.  Everyone noticed as he turned visibly
paler, though no one commented on it.
	‘Gosh, she’s touching me.  What is she doing?’
	Those electrifying tingles ran through Darien’s body
like a jolt of lightning.
	‘Am I dreaming?  Is she really trying to touch me?’
	Serena jerked abruptly away when she was finished. 
She tried to smile.
	"O...okay.  You’re all finished!"
	On the outside, she appeared calm and composed as if
nothing had happened.  Inside, there was a veritable
storm of butterflies in her stomach.
	"All right, ready to go trick-or-treating?" Andrew
asked cheerfully, with a sly wink at everyone that
Serena and Darien didn’t quite comprehend.
	"Yeah!" everyone replied in unison.
	"Great!"

	Half an hour later, the entire group was scouring the
streets of Tokyo for candy, Serena especially.
	"Ooh!  Recess Pieces!"
	Or...
	"Ooh!  Chocolate bunnies!  My favorite!"
	Or...
	"M&Ms!  Yum!"
	Darien stood off to the side, trying to appear
invisible, although it was hard because he was so tall
and stood out like a light amongst all of the ghouls
and ninjas.
	"Hey everybody!" Andrew said suddenly.  "Why don’t we
go to the Juuban Street Haunted House!"
	"Yeah!" Mina and Lita chimed in, a little bit
over-enthusiastically.
	"Sure," Charles and Amy replied.
	The others, except Serena, nodded their consent.
	"No way!  I’m not going in some sort of haunted
house!  What if something happens?"
	"Scared, Meatball Head?" Darien teased.
	"Some knight-in-shining-armor you are," she muttered.
	"Oh, I’m sorry, PRINCESS," he said, giving a mock
bow.  Another tongue lashing followed.
	They were so preoccupied that they didn’t notice
Andrew and the others plotting like crazy.
	"Okay, we’re going to have to ditch them somehow so
that they’d end up alone with each other," Andrew
whispered.  "Any suggestions?"
	"Well, you can count on Serena wigging out," Raye
smirked.  "She’ll most likely plop herself on the
floor and bawl, like she usually does whenever a
youma--------oof!"
	Everyone was surprised when Amy threw herself into
Raye, effectively shutting her up.
	"Oh, I’m sorry Raye," Amy said, shooting icy glares
at her friend, "I don’t know what’s come over me.  I
must be acquiring Serena’s habits!"
	Everyone just stared questioningly at Amy, but let
the matter drop.
	"And I know that Darien can’t resist helping a
‘damsel-in-distress!’" Rita giggled.
	"But how are we going to ditch them?" Charles asked.
	"Well, how about we..."

	"Shut up, Chiba!" Serena yelled, as Darien was
getting the better of her in this conversation.
	Darien smiled.  DING!  End of Round Two.  Chalk
another one up for Chiba.
	"Ahem, if you two are finished FLIRTING," Lita said,
smiling slyly, "We’d like to head over to the Juuban
Haunted House."
	"WE’RE NOT FLIRTING!" both yelled back, getting red
in their faces, Serena’s more noticeable than
Darien’s.
	Nobody commented on that remark.
	"All right then, let’s go," Mina said.
	"Do we have to?" the fear evident in Serena’s blue
eyes.
	"Sure we do," Andrew smiled, "It’s tradition!"
	"It is?" Darien asked.

	Ten minutes later, the nine stood in front of a large
building, with a large sign "Welcome to the Juuban
Haunted Funhouse.  Enter if you dare..." in dripping,
blood-red letters.  Serena blanched white.
	"These things are so cheesy," was Darien’s flippant
comment as he followed the others inside.  He turned
around to Serena, who was still frozen on the
sidewalk.
	"Come on, Meatball Head, are you coming?"
	Serena’s wide-eyed expression of terror changed at
the sound of her hated nickname.
	"Don’t call me that, Darien!"
	She promptly followed him into the funhouse.
	The Juuban Street Haunted Funhouse was a tradition. 
Every year, a large, executive company helped
construct it.  It was filled with the typical: ghosts,
ghouls, witches, wailing voices, etc., but it was also
filled with suddenly moving floors, and unexpected
mazes, slides, rotating rooms, a ball-pit full of
spiders, and real-live people, dressed as mummies or
whatnot, which gave it the reputation of the best (and
the scariest) haunted house in Tokyo.
	Serena rushed into the haunted house, calling, "Guys!
 Wait up!"
	Dead silence answered her call.  It was almost pitch
black, except for a long, carpeted hallway, locked
doors, with a moving candelabra seemingly propelled by
no one.  Serena hesitantly stepped forward.  Who knew
what lurked behind the doors?  Panicking, she turned
and ran to the entrance when...
	"Aargh!"
	A dark looming shadow with bulky shoulders blocked
her way and enveloped its arms around Serena.
	"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!" she screamed, expecting to be
killed.
	The reply was a laugh.  Wait a minute, that laugh
sounded an awful lot like...
	"Darien!"
	He was rolling on the floor with laughter.
	"Yep, that’s me, Meatball Head!"
	"Why you..."
	Darien stopped laughing, although tears were still
running down his face.
	"I’m sorry, Meatball Head, I couldn’t resist."
	"Humphf!" was all she could say, throwing her head up
high, trying to preserve her dignity.
	"Come on," he said, extending his hand towards her,
"Let’s join the others."
	She turned.  He sounded, almost...friendly.  She
hesitantly stepped forward when that moment was
shattered.
	"You’re not too chicken, are you, Meatball Head?"
	Serena fumed.
	"No I’m not!  And I’ll prove it to you!"
	She stepped down the dark hallway confidently, with
Darien a few paces behind her.  But with each step,
Serena’s confidence shrank.  Behind those doors,
someone could be just waiting to step out...
	"Boo!"
	"AAH!"
	Serena tripped on the long gown of her dress.  She
flailed her arms, screaming.  She could hear Darien
laughing.  She shot him an angry glare, although she
knew that he couldn’t see it.
	"Not too chicken, eh, Meatball Head?"
	She walked along again, but this time, she walked
alongside Darien.  As they walked down the long
hallway, Serena began to think about a few things. 
Why was Darien being so...childish?  He had always
been mature, far more mature than his seventeen years.
 It was as if...he was an adult.  When she had first
met him, she wondered what such an idiot would be
doing in high school when he was about twenty-five! 
But she found out he was a mere senior, who had just
acquired his driver’s license the year before.
	But now, in this haunted house, he was teasing her,
and playing...like he was her age, or maybe even
younger.
	‘He’s a puzzle, that’s for sure,’ Serena thought.  ‘I
mean why he would tease and torment the life a mere
fourteen year-old, namely ME I wouldn’t be able to
figure out for the life of me.’
	Both reached the end of the hallway.  It was an
elevator door.  Darien pressed the only button, down.
	DING!
	The elevator doors opened and an eerie blue light
filtered in.
	"Going my way?" a spooky voice asked.  Darien stepped
in the elevator, but Serena was hesitant.
	"Come on, Serena," Darien said, "Ya wanna catch up
with the others or not?"
	Serena took a deep breath and stepped in the
elevator.
	It began to slide down.  Freaky elevator music could
be heard.
	"You know," the spooky voice said, "Many people have
wondered why this elevator only has a down button. 
Well, that’s because, no one ever returns from DOWN
BELOW!" 
	A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder could be
heard.  Serena screamed.  Maniacal laughter followed,
and then the elevator blacked out.
	Darien was startled when a force came hurtling into
his arms, screaming.  Serena, of course.  He shook his
head, smiling.  Although he admitted that whoever
designed the place did a really good job.  He was
pretty freaked when the elevator blacked out.
	"It’s all right, Serena, we’ll survive.  How many
people have told us how great the Juuban Funhouse was
this year?"
	There was no response from the sobbing girl.  Then a
gasp could be heard as the elevator dropped the
remaining six feet.  The doors slid open and Serena
and Darien stepped outside into a rotating circular
room.
	Darien and Serena walked on the bridge.  Darien
didn’t pay attention to the rolling room, but Serena
clutched the railing and looked as though she was
ready to throw up.
	"Just don’t puke on me, okay?" he said unfeelingly as
he passed the pale girl.
	"Thanks for being so considerate!" she yelled.
	"No problem, PRINCESS!"

	"It’s turning out better than I thought," Andrew said
to the others.  "They’re alone already."
	"Just a thought," Amy interrupted.  "What if this
whole things doesn’t work?  What if they end up alone
and together all the time but still don’t fall in
love?  We need a back-up plan."
	"We could always resort to fooling them into thinking
that the other has fallen for them," Lita said.  She
grinned devilishly.  "Ooh, let’s do it!"
	"Not until the last resort," Raye warned.  "What if
they find out?"
	"Then we’d be in deep trouble.  But let’s not fall on
that plan until we absolutely have to, okay?" Andrew
said.
	The group walked on through the Funhouse.  It was
loads of fun.  Suddenly, when Amy and Charles stepped
out into the foyer of the "haunted house," a circular
disk spun them around a few times.  Both stumbled off
into a direction, through a dark door, the Mirror
Maze.
	"Wicked cool!" was Mina’s comment.  They paired off
and went on through the separate entrances:  Andrew
and Rita, and Mina and Lita.

	"Guys?" Serena asked hopefully at every corner.
	"Can it, Meatball Head," Darien said.  "We’re not
going to catch up with them."
	"Such a wonderful knight-in-shining-armor," Serena
said sarcastically.  "You really love to rescue
damsels-in-distress!"
	"Of course, Your Worship," Darien bowed, kissing her
hand.  Fortunately for Serena, it was too dark for him
to distinguish a blush.
	"Can’t you remember that my name is Serena?  Repeat
after me, SUH-REE-NA!"
	"I understand.  MEAT-BALL-HEH-AD, Your Worship."
	Suddenly, a rush of cold air blasted through vents
underneath their feet, coming with it an eerie blue
light.  Serena’s skirt lifted Marilyn Monroe style. 
Darien’s eyes sparkled with interest, and a quirky
grin appeared at his lips.
	"Not a word, Darien, not a word!"
	"As you wish, Your Meatball Head-ness."
	Serena was about to retort when a large sculpture of
a gargoyle fell.  Darien instantly lifted Serena off
her feet and pulled her to safety.  Serena gaped as a
large, frightening monster lay where she had been only
an instant before.
	Darien felt Serena tremble in his arms.  His mind
reeled.  What would have happened if he had not pulled
Serena out of the way?  He would have lost his
Meatball Head.  What would life be like without her?
	"Um, Darien?" she asked tremblingly, and not just
from almost being crushed, "You can put me down now."
	"What...huh?" he asked dazedly.  Then he realized
that he had been holding Serena in his arms for the
past few minutes.
	"And you say I’m not a good knight-in-shining-armor,"
he teased.  She giggled and he chuckled.  The tense
and heavy-with-emotion mood lightened and they walked
on through the Funhouse.
	It was fun.  The sudden sliding floors and pop-up
ghosts and real actors jumping out at you everywhere
was exciting.  Serena screamed each time, and Darien
pretended to slash at the opponent with his jeweled
sword.
	"My hero!" Serena smiled, batting her eyelashes. 
Darien laughed.  But suddenly he stopped.  He stared
down at Serena in a peculiar fashion, especially into
her eyes.
	"What?" she asked.
	Darien was marveling at the length of her eyelashes. 
They were so dark and so think, framing her beautiful
light blue eyes...
	"Huh?  Oh nothing.  Come on, Your Worship."
	"Stop calling me that!"
	"Would you prefer Meatball Head?" he asked, teasing
her with his smile.  She stared off into space
briefly.
	"NO!"

	Charles and Amy walked calmly through the Mirror
Maze.  Neither were frightened by the sudden moving
doors and floors, they knew it was all part of the
fun.  As a result, they chattered happily about what
they were going to do, paying no attention whatsoever
to the Funhouse.
	"Are you free this Friday, Amy?" Charles asked.
	"I have to study, but afterwards I’m sure we can work
out an arrangement."
	Charles smiled.
	"Girl, you have to get away from so much studying! 
You’re going to fry your brains out!  You’re already
three grades above your age level!"
	Amy shrugged.
	"I like studying."
	Charles shook his head in disbelief.  But he got off
the subject, seeing that it made Amy slightly
uncomfortable.
	"So, maybe...um...we...uh...can go see a movie?"
Charles asked nervously, as if he was afraid of
rejection.
	"I suppose so.  What time?"
	"I dunno.  Whenever it’s best for you."
	Amy sighed.
	"I’m tutoring some kids from five to six.  Maybe,
six-thirty?"
	"Fine by me."
	"Okay, so which theater and where shall we meet?"
	"Uh...the Sakura Theater on Juuban Street?" Charles
asked.
	"Sure.  What movie?"
	"Gosh, for crying out loud, Amy, enough with the
details!"
	She lowered her eyes in embarrassment.  Charles was
immediately contrite.
	"I’m sorry, Amy, I didn’t mean it.  It’s just
that...you’ve gotta live life to the fullest, and
don’t worry about the petty details.  The broad
picture is what you’re looking at.  Do you understand
what I’m saying?" Charles asked hopefully.
	Amy smiled at him.  He was so sweet, thinking of her
feelings.  She sighed inwardly.  He was right, after
all.  That’s was Serena constantly told to do, live
life to the fullest.
	"It’s all right, Charles, I get it a lot from Serena.
 Okay, six-thirty at the Sakura Theater."
	Charles smiled.
	"How about I pick you up?"
	"Seriously?" Amy asked wide-eyed.
	"Sure!" Charles smiled.  He was anxious to show off
his new car, a ’99 BMW.
	"O...okay."
	Pleasant chatter filled the maze, counteracting the
hideous howls and groans.

	Andrew, Rita, Mina, and the others made it out of the
Juuban Funhouse alive.  They were chattering about how
great it was.
	"I liked the Mirror Maze."
	"No, I liked the elevator."
	"I liked the lightning and music."
	"I liked the pop-up ghosts."
	They chattered away happily when they realized that
Serena and Darien were still inside.
	"I wonder what they’re doing," Mina said in what
seemed like a very pointed statement.
	"Let’s go spy on them!" Lita said enthusiastically.
	"Are you kidding, Lita?" Raye asked.  "They could be
anywhere in the Funhouse."
	"Yeah.  Let’s leave them alone.  They might need it,"
Andrew said.
	"You know, we HAVE to get an organized plan going, if
we want them to get together," Amy said.  "Any ideas?"
	The others wracked their brains.
	"Um..."
	"I know!" Mina said.  "Serena volunteers at the Tokyo
Central Hospital every other week.  They hold a
benefit dinner and dance for Thanksgiving.  Why don’t
we persuade Darien to come?"
	"I don’t know," Andrew said.  "Darien isn’t into that
kind of thing.  Still, we can give it a try."
	"I got it!" Charles said.  "There’s the school play!"
	"What does that have to do with it?" Mina asked.
	"It’s a production of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About
Nothing.’  If we can get Darien and Serena to play the
main characters..."
	"...they might end up alone together..." Lita
exclaimed.
	"...and they’d have to..." 
	"...kiss at the end of the performance!" Mina cried.
	"Excuse me," Amy said, "As much as that is a
brilliant idea, who is to be sure that Serena will
land Beatrice?  And if Darien isn’t into those kind of
things like Andrew says, who is to say that he’ll even
audition for Benedick?"
	"I’m the school president," Charles grinned
mischievously.  "I can pull a few strings in terms of
casting.  But Darien...I don’t know.  Someone who
knows him really well will have to persuade him."
	Everyone looked at Andrew.
	"No way.  He’ll never forgive me!"
	"But come on, honey," Rita wheedled, "Darien is your
best friend and you’ve known him the longest.  He’ll
have to listen to you.  Please?"
	Rita put on her best pathetic look for him.
	"Who can resist a face like that?" Raye asked,
gesturing to Rita’s face.
	Andrew sighed in resignation.

	Serena and Darien finally made it out of the
Funhouse.  They were laughing and joking with each
other, still teasing, but this time, they didn’t take
each other’s remarks as seriously as before.
	"Have a nice time?" Lita asked, raising her eyebrow
at Serena solicitously.
	"As much as could be expected," Darien put in for
her.  "Although, my neck isn’t the same as it was
before.  Serena’s has a major death-grip!"
	"Hey!" Serena said, smacking his shoulder.  
	"Ow!" she said as she hit his shoulder plate.  Darien
smiled and shook his head.
	"Klutz."
	"I am not!"
	"Of course you are, Meatball Head.  Don’t deny it."
	"Do you deny that you are a conceited jerk?" she shot
back.  They glared at each other again, the friendly
mood from earlier vanishing without a trace.
	"Break it up!" Charles said, intervening.  "Come on,
guys, let’s head home.  It’s getting late."
	Serena and Darien glared at each other on the way
home.
	"Oh," Charles said airily, "By the way, are any of
you trying out for the play on Monday?"
	"Definitely!" Serena yelled.
	Raye nodded.  The others shrugged.
	"Are you sure you’re not going to make a fool of
yourself, Your Worship?" Darien smirked.
	"Why do you have to be so mean?" Serena wailed.
	Everyone sighed as they walked home, the familiar
bickers and quarrels breaking out between Serena and
Darien.

	Darien sighed.  He slammed the front door of his
apartment shut and then threw himself onto his bed. 
After he had gotten a self-righteous scolding from
Andrew, he was starting to feel a little bit guilty.

*flashback*

	"Darien, you could at least TRY to be a little nicer
to Serena.  What is with you and girls?  I can’t
understand you.  Do you know how many girls would love
to go out with you?  And you simply brush them away
like flies."
	"I just don’t want to get close to any of them."
	"Really?  That’s too bad.  You don’t know what you’re
missing.  What are you doing, waiting for some angel
to come into your life?"
	"Pretty much," he whispered.  Andrew had shaken his
head.
	"I know that you are a good actor and all, Darien,
but you didn’t have to shred Serena like that.  She’s
a sweet girl.  She wouldn’t say anything back to
anyone.  You can be so heartless sometimes.  Well, on
Monday, the least you can do is support her when she
tries out for the part, okay?"

*end of flashback*

	Darien sighed again.  
	"What is with you, Serena?" he asked.  "Why do I
treat you this way?  Why is it that whenever I come
near you, my heart pounds erratically and I feel
myself losing self-control?  That I have to insult you
to find some fault with you?  Serena..."
	He closed his eyes.  Instantly, the image of a
golden-haired girl came to mind.  Two blue eyes.  A
lovely smile.
	"All right, Serena," he whispered.  "When you try out
on Monday, I’ll help you."

	At home, Serena threw herself on her bed.
	‘How can Darien be so mean?  Okay, so I’m a klutz,
and I’m not smart, or graceful, or pretty, or
talented, but that doesn’t mean he has to be so
cruel!’
	Turning over, she sighed as she replayed the events
from that night.  Darien had been so friendly, teasing
her, and laughing and joking.  For a few hours, she
had actually…enjoyed his company.  Then he had to ruin
it.  The jerk!
	"Just you wait, Darien Chiba," she whispered
menacingly into the air.  "I’ll show you yet.  I’ll
land the main part and you’ll eat every harsh word
you’ve said!"

	Okay!  End of the third chapter!  Sorry if this isn’t
exactly going on the beaten track in terms of the
story.  But the "trapping" will come later, I promise!
 And I’ll figure out a way to get John Battamaki to
get in-between Amy and Charles and then I’ll figure
out another way to get them back together!  

	E-mail me with your comments, questions, whatever,
even if it’s just to say "Hi!"  I’d love to hear what
anybody thinks about this!  I’ll accept anything, even
forwards, although flames shall be ignored.  I’ll only
consider constructive criticism.  Don’t get me started
on a flame war.  I’m a deadly opponent (where do you
think I get the insults in this story from?) and if
you want to flame me, go right ahead.  Be warned,
you’re going to get singed!