A School Masquerade? 
Chapter 3 at last! No not really, I'll bet all of you out there aren't even 
reading this, but whatever. Oh. BTW, little mishap in the last chapter. Ya 
know when Angela says Darien's name in front of Serena? Well, I forgot to add 
in there that she wasn't paying attention at the time because she was looking 
for her friends to see if they were looking at what a hunk she was talking 
to. Also, the slut had been talking in her best attempt at a 'sexy' voice, 
which was just as annoying only it was in a lower tone. OK confusion cleared 
up, I'd like to say thanks to my sister Nat-chan, Jess, Silver Bunny, and 
Katya. Disclaimer: Ok, it's time I stopped living the lie, yes I am the Moon 
Princess and Natia_99 IS Naoko Takeuchi. If you believed that then you need 
to go to the nut house MORE then I do. Nat-chan: is that possible?
Grace: I hope notNat-chan: *whimper* Grace, I'm scared!
Ok, ok just read the fic and I'll shut up.
    Darien was so stunned that his beautiful Meatball head, wait where did 
the HIS come from? Oh well his... <Oh forget it you've thought of her as 
yours since you met her> ~have not!~ <you wanna bet? I don't make bets I 
can't win...> ~FINE you happy?~  *Grace nods* <yes in fact I am!> Anyway, 
Darien was so stunned that HIS *glares at Grace* Meatballhead was the girl of 
his dreams, in every since of the word, that he didn't even wake up from his 
stupor until he felt solid *Thwap* on the  back of his head and heard Raye 
screaming at him to go after her. Which he numbly complied to. Let's face it, 
a man in a coma would do what she asked at that moment.
    Darien ran outside to look for Serena. He had this horrible feeling in 
his heart, that strangely didn't belong to him. Then again there was the 
other half of his heart that had a horrible feeling that DID belong to him, 
so it was very hard to keep track of who was who's.     
    Serena had run, but when she got to the parking lot suddenly realized 
that she couldn't go home because she had carpooled with the girls and Chad 
had brought them. This seemed to only make everything go to Horrible to 
The-entire-World-Hates-Me. So she tried to make it home on her own. ~Hey~ She 
thought ~if anything happens I can always transform, glad I still have that 
in my purse...~ So she started her walk home. Things were different at night. 
It wasn't as if she had never walked home in the dark before, it's just that 
things seemed incredibly dark now. Also the creepy feeling that someone was 
watching her and the fact that any sound that was usually there had ceased on 
her arrival. At first she just shook it off, she was trying to sort through 
her emotions. ~oh no, I have NOT fallen for Darien!~ <guess again> ~I 
haven't!~ <*yawn* Riiiiiiiiight, and next Tuesday I'm having tea with the 
Lion and the Unicorn> ~ok so I might be falling for him...~ <Better- not 
quite there yet!> ~*Sigh* ok I've totally fallen for him and I can't live 
without him! Happy?~ <why do you always ask that, yes in fact, very> 
    So anyway, Serena had just realized *ahem* that she had completely fallen 
for Darien. ~Well, the kiss was an honest mistake~ she rationalized ~So maybe 
it we talk about it then we can just go back to normal and he can call me 
Meatball head again and I can call him Satan Spawn. *sigh* ok, I've lost it, 
but we need to talk.~ And then just as she had gotten everything figured out 
for the moment, she became aware of her creepy surroundings. 
    The night was as still as a grave yard, Darien thought. After running all 
the way around the building, twice, and confirming with all the girls that 
she must have walked home, he had started off towards her house. How he knew 
the way, he really had no idea, he just knew that she had gone this way... 
    The silence was broken by a shrill screech that he immediately recognized 
as Serena's infamous lungs. He broke into a run, hey being Tuxie had it's 
advantages!  He had no idea where he was going, he just knew she would be there.
@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@
    When he reached the scene, he saw his worst nightmare. Serena lay, almost 
unconscious, with bloody lip and a twisted ankle staring up into the eyes of 
a thug. He was very short and stout, and looked to be in his mid thirties, 
but all of this was completely past Darien as he saw that he was sporting a 
shiner. ~My Meatball head...~ he smiled with something between pride for 
Serena and Sadistic pleasure that he was going to mutilate this guy for 
causing his sweet little meatball head to resort to such tactics. Serena saw 
him and made a move to get up, but he motioned her down and picked up a piece 
of what looked like a car and smashed it over the guys head before he even 
had a chance to move. Unfortunately, This guy had about 80% scull in his head 
and 20% brain, so all the piece of metal did was give him a headache where it 
would have almost killed a normal man. 
    Darien was slightly confused as to how he could be so enduring when he 
shook his head and gave it another stab, this time right into his face. This 
he responded to a little more quickly. Darien gave him one more on the back 
of the head just to be sure and finally the guy fell onto the concrete, out 
cold.     Serena just woke from her stupor and leapt into Darien's more then 
happy to oblige arms, and sobbed. Darien just thanked his lucky stars that he 
had been there in time before any serious damage was done and that she wasn't 
shunning him. He kept brushing her hair back and whispering words of 
encouragement into her ear. Eventually the sobbing subsided and Serena was 
just hiccuping like the dickens. She was sitting in Darien's lap and didn't 
show any move to try and make a difference in seating arrangements, so Darien 
was just basking in the warmth. 
    After what seemed like an eternity, the only words spoken were "Truce?" 
"Truce, we can talk more at the arcade tomorrow, at noon." Then they walked 
all the way back to Serena's house in a comfortable silence, and neither one 
of them realized that there hands had been laced the whole way there, it had 
just seemed so natural that it happened on it's own. 
    When they got to her door, Serena took out the key from her bag and 
unlocked the door. Then she looked back at Darien who had been staring at 
her, transfixed. She blushed a bit and said "Thank you Darien, not just for 
saving me but for the truce too. I'm glad we're friends now." 
    "Me too Meatball head, me too." She just smiled at the endearment in his 
voice. "well I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight Princess." "Goodnight Price 
charming!" Serena called and the giggled and closed the door.   
    Serena closed the door and leaned back against it. She fought back the 
urge to let out a joyous screech ~My first kiss! Well, not really I kissed 
him at the Embassy ball too...~ She smiled and unconsciously stroked her 
lips. *sigh* ~Ok at least he doesn't detest me any more. *gasp!* oh no! I'm 
going to see him tomorrow! I have to have the perfect outfit!~ With that she 
ran up the stairs to her room to find the perfect outfit, which took about 
half an hour and a lot of modeling for Luna. When she finally had it, Raye 
called. She just wanted to know what happened and what was going on. Serena 
explained everything, excluding her getting mugged, and that she and Darien 
were friends now and they were going to the Arcade tomorrow. "Geez Meatball 
head do you think you can make it in time for a noon meeting? I'm not so 
sure..."    "Shut up Pyro! I can get up early if I want to, I just don't want 
to go to school, that's why I always over sleep. I really can get up. I just 
choose not to...
    "Suuuuure, well I'll let you get to sleep so you can have a long rest. 
Good night Meatball head."    "Goodnight Pyro!" *click* 
    Darien on the other hand, had to walk all the way back to the school to 
pick up Andrew and Rita. He stayed silent the rest of the night, living 
inside his head. ~Meatballhead and I are friends now, huh what a weird 
feeling! Oh well at least she doesn't hate me now. I can't wait to see her 
tomorrow, Oh my God! I see her tomorrow! I have to go home and get to sleep! 
I have to get her candy, she loves candy, maybe flowers... that wouldn't be 
to hard heh heh heh, hmmm maybe I'm going a bit to far? No way nothings to 
far for my Meatballhead... I think just candy will do. Maybe just one rose 
borrowed from Tuxie. Yeah that'll do. Ok I'll wear my green jacket, like 
always. (AN I don't understand why every one hates the green jacket! I 
actually like it but maybe that's because I have no fashion sense either... 
oh well) Let's see here, I think I'll wear just jeans and a tee-shirt, no 
need to impress her since we're friends right? *crickets chirp* ok maybe I'll 
wear some cologne and maybe a loose shirt. um, yeah! There! It works, I hope 
she likes it. Well, I better get to sleep. I don't want to drag tomorrow even 
if it is at noon.~ So with all preparations made, He went to sleep, not 
knowing what lay inside Andrew's camera...
BWAHAHAHAHA!! Aren't I evil? Well, I hate it when people do to it to me so 
I'm doing it to every one else bwhahaha! Ok I like feed back *hint hint* 
here's one more hint WTaylor259@aol.com (Borrowed that from Nat-chan ^_^)