Chapter 2

    "OK, Meatball-head, it's like this..." started Darien as he showed 
Serena the
chemistry problem.  This was the second week of tutoring and things seemed to 
be going
well. Serena had just started to warm up to him as a person and not some 
lower form of
life, and that made Darien happy. "So, how about you try this next one, I'll 
get something
to drink."
    Serena nodded and started to concentrate on the problem at hand. She was
scribbling furiously when Darien returned. 'She looks so cute when she's
concentrating...WAIT A SEC! What am I thinking???' Darien shook his head to 
get his
thoughts on the right track. "So how ya doing there?"
    "I think I'm done..." She said finishing off her problem and accepting
a 
drink
from Darien.
    Darien took the paper from her and read through the problem and was 
delighted
to find that she had gotten the right answer. "Wow, Meatball head, you did 
it!"
    "I did! Whoohoo!!!! This is so great. Mom's gonna be so happy when she 
finds
out that her daughter isn't dumb!" She said with a huge smile on her face.
    "Serena," Darien said seriously, "I'm sure your mother knows that
her 
daughter
isn't dumb. Why do you think that?"
    She lost her smile at Darien's serious tone and the name he'd called 
her, "I guess
I just assumed she saw me that way cause I've never been very smart and she 
always
yells at me when I get a bad score."
    Darien sighed, "She probably yells at you because she knows you can do 
better
and that you might not have been trying hard enough."
    "Well I don't have to worry about that for this test!" she said, her 
blue eyes
lighting up with happiness.
    Darien smiled, "No I guess you don't. You're really getting this
stuff. 
I'm proud
of you."
    "You are, Darien?"
    "Of course! Now you can only throw good scores at my head!" he joked.
    "HAha very funny. Well I have to get going, the girls and I wanna go to 
that new
ice-skating place that just opened up." she exclaimed.
    "All right Meatball head, same time tomorrow?" he asked.
    "Um, actually I have to cancel because Alan said he'd call and I don't 
know what
time so I have to be home. So I'll see ya on Wednesday then." Bye Darien!" 
and with that
she zoomed out of the apartment. Darien just watched her go and then a 
thought occurred
to him, ‘Who's Alan?'


~~~~~~~~~At the Ice-rink~~~~~~~~~~

    "OK so does anyone here besides Lita know how to skate?"Asked Raye, 
fixing
her skate.
    "I've skated a couple of times." said Mina
    "I can skate." Smiled Amy shyly.
    "Me too." said Raye. "How about you Serena?"
    "Well come to think of it, I've never actually been skating before."
she 
laughed.
    "Oh well there's a section for beginners. We'll skate around and when 
you think
you're ready to come out onto the main ice..." started Lita.
    "You mean I have to skate by myself??" whined Serena.
    "Yeah Meatballbrains! We're not gonna hold your hand the entire time! 
Just
practice a little and then come and skate with us! It's not that hard, 
you'll be fine!" said
Raye.
    "Fine." sniffed Serena, "I'll see you guys later." she said and 
stumbled out of the
room.
    The girls all sweatdropped. "This is gonna be a long night!"

    Serena approached the practice rink with caution. There were little kids 
with their
parents and Serena appeared to be the only teenager out there. She sighed and 
stepped
out onto the ice...the next thing she knew, she was sitting on the ice. She 
picked herself
back up and tried to push off....CRASH... into the wall and she landed back 
the ice.  She
started to cry when suddenly someone landed on top off her.
    "Oh I'm so sorry! I can't skate at all and I couldn't stop when I
saw 
you."
explained a girl who had moved to sit next to Serena.
    The girl was about her age with brown hair and brown eyes. "I'm sorry, 
I've been
rude too! My names Anne."
    Serena smiled, "I'm Serena, nice to meet you. Well it looks like we're 
both in the
same boat. I can't skate either, that's how I ended up over here in the 
first place!
    "Really? Wow I didn't think anyone could be as bad as I am!" she 
exclaimed,
laughing.
    "Yeah me too! Hey maybe if we try it together, it'll be easier." 
suggested Serena.
    "Yeah that's a good idea, all right, let's go."
    The two girls heaved themselves into a standing position with the help of 
the wall
and then they held hands to try to keep from falling. They started to skate 
with the little
kids when their glory ended, they fell on top of some kids. After apologizing 
profusely,
one of the coaches approached the two unsteady girls and offered to give them 
lessons,
away from the kids, on Sundays. The girls gleefully accepted and left to 
change.
    "Wow this is so cool! I've never had lessons before." remarked Serena.
    "Me either. This should be fun. Oh, and I forgot to ask earlier, what 
school do you
go to?"
    "I go to Juuban. Why?"
    "You do! That's so great, I go there too. I just moved her about a month 
ago and I
still don't know many people. Now I know you."She said smiling.
    Serena beamed at her new friend, "Yup, how bout you sit with me and my 
friends
tomorrow at lunch. We meet at the big oak tree in the yard."
    "Sure! Thanks so much! But I have to go, I'll see ya tomorrow!" Anne 
waved and
left Serena to wait for her friends.


    Darien browsed through the bookstore glumly. He missed seeing Serena
everyday. She had canceled on him today cause some person named Alan was 
supposed
to call her. It made him mad that he didn't know who this person was. He 
sighed and
continued to look through the books to waste time. He turned around and 
smashed right
into someone. ‘Oh great now I'm picking up her habits too!' he thought.
    "Oh I'm so sorry!" apologized a young man infront of him, I
should've 
been
watching where I was going.
    "That's all right I wasn't watching either." Darien smiled and he 
noticed that the
boy had a bouquet of lily's in his hand.
    "You look really familiar... Have I met you before?" asked the boy.
    Darien looked at him and there was definitely something familiar about 
him, "I
don't know, but come to think of it... wait, maybe if we introduce ourselves 
we could
figure this out. I'm Darien Shields"
    "Darien? Oh my! I do know you, I'm Alan, do you remember me from when we
used to play at the orphanage? My Mom used to work there and she brought me." 
he
exclaimed.
    Recognition dawned in Darien's eyes and he smiled warmly, oh wow I do
remember you. You were the only one who would come near me. I was so sad when
you're mom was transferred."
    "Yeah me too. Hey do you want to go and get some coffee or something?" 
asked
Alan.
    "Yeah sure, but what about those lilies, I think you should get them in 
water." 
    "Oh right, they're for my girlfriend as a surprise, I was supposed to be 
away for
two weeks but I'm back a week early." he explained.
    "We can catch up another time. How about you stop by the arcade tomorrow
afternoon." Suggested Darien.
    "Yeah that sound great! Good seeing you again!" 
    "See ya later!" said Darien as he watched his old friend practically 
skip out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Princess Makoto: Well chapter two is finally out! (she shouts for joy!) I 
hope my colleague, Lady Anime, enjoyed it, although it wasn't as good as her 
part! Stay tuned for out next chapter, and I still love mail! 
Makoto4Sj@aol.com

 Lady Anime: Don't push me! I promise to get chapter 3 out before the week's over okay? But as for now...I still gotta work on the other fanfics right? Just be patient! Oh, yeah, Princess Makoto, I loveeeeed this chapter it was great! Well, see ya peeps! Email me at ladyanime@hotmail.com!