TITLE: Seeing Past Rumors (Part1) - Revision
RATING: PG
AUTHOR: Edeet
E-MAIL: edeet@juno.com


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SETTING: Juuban High School in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan (mostly)
AGE CHANGES: Darien and Andrew and all the Scouts are 16
RATING: PG to PG-13
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hi! This is a sort of revision of chapter 1. I think I sent
it in the wrong format last time, so let's see if this time it comes out
better. I sure hope it does... As usual I thank Alicia Blade for all her
wonderful help! She really is a wondeful person. I also wanna thank JANG1234
(the first person who e-mailed me!), Usagi-chan, Minako-chan, Hotaru-chan,
Fifi, Danielle, and everyone else who e-mailed me! If it hadn't been for
them, I probably wouldn't have kept going with this fic. And thanks to ASMR
for posting my fic! You guys have the best page on the web! Well, here are
the things you need to know before reading, Darien lives alone and works 3
jobs, and still manages to get good grades (though it tires him a lot).
Before going in to first period, the kids have to make a line in the school
courtyard and walk in a line to their classroom (like when Anne and Alan
were
introduced). Anne and Alan are brother and sister and they're not evil
aliens. I'm also mixing up names (ex: Darien Shields, Serena Tsukino,
Amy Anderson, Lita Kino, Andrew Furuhata, Alan Granger, etc.)
DISCLAIMER: I forgot to put in a disclaimer last time, but I think you all
already know that Sailor Moon belong to Naoko Takeuchi and The Crucible
belongs to Arthur Miller! Not to me! But since you were smart enough to come
read my fic, you probably were smart enough to figure that out! (J/k)

E-MAIL: edeet@juno.com

Seeing Past Rumors
    By Edeet

Part-1 (revision):
       "What is taking them so long to take us inside? It's hot out
here!" whined Serena.
       "I don't know. We should've gone inside a long time ago," said
Lita.
       "Exactly 12 minutes and 17 seconds ago" said Amy looking at her
Watch. Serena and Lita looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
       "I know what's happening!" said a nasal voice behind them,
"There's a new kid in school and we're gonna meet him!"
       "Really, Melvin? Do you have a report on him already?" asked
Serena.
       "Of course I do! His -" said Melvin before he was interrupted
by Miss Haruna.
       "Hello, everyone. We have a new student. His name is Darien
Shields and he is in Grade 11".
     All the girls were drooling as they looked at the new boy. He
was very tall, by far the tallest in the class, and had a nice build
with broad shoulders and chiseled features. Locks of tassled black
hair fell over his midnight blue eyes and his lips were curled in a
sarcastic, quirky grin. He was VERY handsome.
       "I think I'm love...," said Anne as she looked at Darien.
       "Look at that hunk!" exclaimed Lita.
       "Wow..." was all that Serena could muster up.
       "That certainly is a VERY handsome young man," said Amy.
       "Amy? You too?" said Melvin, who had been completely forgotten
by the girls.

     Miss Haruna continued with her introduction.
       "I hope you'll make him feel welcome"
       "Yes, Ms. H" replied all the girls. The boys just grumbled.

     In homeroom, the students waited for Ms. Haruna to return. She
had gone with Darien to the principal's office for something. While
they waited, the students started talking about Darien.
       "This is what I have on him so far" said Melvin, "He's a real
loner. I heard he smokes. He probably even drinks! He's supposed to
be a real bad seed. Most kids at his old school were afraid of him!"
     Lita rolled her eyes. "Well I don't believe in stupid rumors!
When I came to this school everyone thought I was a troublemaker just
because I was big and knew karate! I say we give this guy a chance
instead of just branding him a weirdo!" she said.
     Just then Ms. Haruna returned with Darien. He wore a frown and
he looked suspiciously at everyone.
        "Darien" said Ms. H; "You can sit there behind Serena".
     Darien silently obeyed. The seat behind Serena was the ony seat
left. He'd be sitting between Andrew and Amy and in front of Lita.
His new seat used to be Lita's, but she was pushed a desk back
because she and Serena talked too much. As he sat down he looked at
the students sitting next to him. Amy gave him a shy smile, while
Andrew gave him a big grin. Darien just nodded his head slightly. He
looked at the girl in front of him. What a weird hairstyle!, he
thought. Just then Ms. Haruna started explaining something about a
new project.
        "Today, we're going to get paired up for a project you're

going to be working on for the next couple of weeks. It's worth 25%
of your grade so you better pay good attention to the details. Well,
first, I'll tell you who your partners are".
         "You mean we can't pick them ourselves?" said a disappointed
Anne. She'd been hoping to get first dibs on Darien.
         "No. I'll be pairing you up. Now, Amy and Andrew, Alan and
Lita, Melvin and Molly,..." recited Miss Haruna.
         "Rats" thought Serena, "Amy, Molly, and Lita are taken.
Andrew too. Even Melvin! I wonder who I get."
         "...Ann and Peter, and Serena and Darien" finished Ms. Haruna.
     Serena was a little shocked. She wasn't sure she'd heard right.
         "Who did I get, again?" she asked timidly.
         "You're paired with Darien" said Ms. Haruna, "Now, everyone
get with your pairs and follow me to the library, where I'll give you
the information and details for the project".
     Everyone got with their partner and started heading for the
door. Serena approached Darien timidly.
          "Um, hi! I'm Serena" she said.
          "Darien" said Darien looking at her. Serena felt nervous.
His eyes were SO beautiful. You could just look at them forever...
          "Well, we better get to the library, huh? Don't want Ms.
Haruna on our tails" she said finally breaking the trance she was
held in. Darien just went out the door and followed the rest of the
kids. Serena followed him. She was surprised that someone had
actually surpassed Andrew on the cuteness scale. That had never
happened before. Andrew had always been her constant crush. It looked
as if he might be replaced.
          "Okay, everyone! Take a seat with your partner!" Ms.
Haruna's voice broke through Serena's thoughts.
    The section of the library they were seated at had small tables
for two persons. Serena and Darien sat down, facing each other.
          "Now, this project is about the book we've been reading,
The Crucible, each group has to find information on the time period
that the setting is on and..." said Ms. Haruna. But Serena wasn't
listening. She was daydreaming again. Then she remembered the book
they'd read. The Crucible, was it? It was actually a play. Hey! We
could do a play, she thought. Acting had become a new hobby of hers.
She decided to suggest it to Ms. Haruna.
          "Ms. H! Could we actually do the play?" she asked.
          "Do the play? I don't know. It would take a lot of time"
said Ms. Haruna.
          "Please, Ms. H! That could be half of our grade and we
wouldn't have to do so much boring research!"
          "Hmmm..."
          "Oh, why not, Ms. H?" said Lita, "We could learn a lot from
the time period if we actually LIVE it! It's perfect! I say we can
the whole project and do the play instead!"
          "Now hold on, just a minute! I'm the teacher and I get to
decide what we do!" said Ms. Haruna, "Alright, we'll take it to vote.
How many vote for half your grade being the play and the other half a
small research paper, STILL with your partners?"
     All hands shot up, even Amy's.
          "Well, then, I guess we'll do the play, BUT you still have
to do your research paper WITH your partners!" everyone groaned at
that part. Everyone but Serena. As she looked at Darien she smiled
and thought, maybe writing this paper won't be so bad after all.
     After giving the final details about the project, Ms. Haruna let
the students work on their projects with their pairs. Serena racked
her brain with something to say to start a conversation with Darien
(she certainly wasn't thinking about the paper!). She was looking at
her hands trying to think of something witty to say when she looked
up, only to see Darien staring at her with that same quirky grin. Oh,
no!, she thought, what if he's checking me out? What if I'm not good
enough? What if -? Her train  of thought was broken by Ms. Haruna.
           "Darien, Serena! Go get the materials you need! That paper
isn't going to write itself, you know!" she said with an impatient
voice, which Serena was used to. Then she went off to help Lita and
Alan with something. Serena looked around at all her classmates. She
was a little surprised to see that the girls were looking at her with
envy. Especially Anne. Even Amy sometimes snuck a glance at Darien
and sighed.
          "Well, we better get on it" said Darien.
          "What?" said Serena, caught off guard again (not at all
unusual)
          "The paper? We probably don't have a lot of time to do it,
you know" he said.
          "Oh! Don't worry about it! Ms. H always gives us at least a
week!" said Serena.
          "I don't like to do things in a rush. Better to start with
plenty of time" said Darien, getting up to go look for materials.
Serena followed close behind. They looked around in silence and
returned to their table the same way. Finally Darien spoke again.
          "Look, we're not gonna have a lot of time to work on it
here. Why don't we meet someplace outside of school?" he said.
     Serena was ecstatic, to say the least. Oh, wow!, she thought,
sort of like a date!
           "Sure! Where should we meet? At the arcade maybe? Or at
the ice cream shop?" she said.
           "I was thinking someplace a little more quiet, like the
library" said Darien.
           "Oh, well I guess -" replied Serena, but she was
interrupted by an eavesdropping Melvin.
           "The library's closed due to remodeling!" he said in his
usual nasal voice.
           "Oh! Melvin! Well, I guess you would know. Where can we
meet then?" asked Serena looking straight at Darien.
     Darien thought for a moment. Finally he said:
           "I guess...it'll have to be at my apartment"
     Serena blushed hard. She didn't know why. The thought of going
to his apartment made her nervous.
           "Okay, I guess" she said trying to sound casual and hide
her nervousness.
     But Darien still sensed it. His grin became even wider and he's
eyes twinkled mischievously. He was used to it by now, and he usually
just pushed those looks from girls to the back of his mind, but this
girl looked so cute when she was nervous, and she was just so
different, that he decided to pay more attention to her.
            "When should we meet?" she asked.
            "How about Friday at 5?" he replied.
            "Okay" she said.
            "Great" he replied, still wearing his trademark grin,
"These are the directions to my apartment" he said writing them down
on a piece of paper.

     When Serena told her friends about her appointment after school,
their reactions were quite mixed. Lita was very excited for Serena.
            "Wow, girl! We gotta get you all dolled up for tomorrow!"
she said excitedly. Although that morning she would've been jealous,
she found she was falling for her partner, Alan. He reminded her of
her ex-boyfriend, Freddy.
            "Yeah! You gotta leave him drooling! See if the evening
ends with a kiss!" said Mina, just as excited as Lita.
            "I don't know," said Raye, "If he's so cute, why would he
fall for Serena?"
            "Don't start, Raye" said Amy, "Besides, I think you
should be very careful. Haven't you heard the rumors?"
            "What rumors?" asked Serena. In her happiness she had
forgotten about what Melvin had said that morning.
            "What Melvin told us. That he smokes and drinks" said
Amy.
            "That's just trash talk! Melvin also said I was a karate
maniac!" said Lita.
            "Lita, you ARE a karate maniac" said Mina, with a smile.
            "Oh, you guys! We should be above rumors!" said Serena.
            "Look who's talking! Wasn't it you who started saying
that Amy was a snob when she moved here?" said Raye, grabbing another
opportunity to argue with her.
            "Oh, look guys! Let's stop all this arguing! We have to
go shopping for a cool outfit for you, Serena!" said Mina.
            "Yeah! Let's go! Bye, guys!" said Serena. Lita, Mina, and
Serena ran out of the temple. They didn't even have to ask Amy and
Raye if they wanted to come. Amy would be busy with work, and Raye
had other chores to do.

     Darien was walking home from school. As he walked he passed some
kids from school.
             "Hey, look! It's that new freak!" they whispered to each
other, but Darien heard them loud and clear. He didn't pay any
attention to them, and he usually shrugged off those stupid comments
and assumptions, but deep down, it hurt. He'd been treated like a
freak his whole life (except for a fair share of the girls he'd met).
Always sitting alone, in the back of the class. Always by himself.
Just because he was quiet and serious. He shook all those thoughts
out of his head and thought about the appointment he had Friday.
Serena seemed like a good kid and it didn't seem like she believed
any of the rumors. She had been so nervous when he suggested they
meet at his apartment he almost laughed out loud. Such a cute girl.
He smiled to himself as he thought of the comical expression on her
face. He liked that expression. He decided he wanted to see it again.
As he walked home he thought of ways to tease her at their meeting.

     Meanwhile, Serena, Lita, and Mina were looking at some pretty
outfits at the mall.
            "How about this one?" asked Mina holding up a pink
turtleneck with long sleeves and a short gray skirt.
            "Hmmm...maybe," said Serena, thoughtfully.
            "No way! This is way better!" said Lita holding up a
short tight, sleeveless blue dress, "She has to make his eyes bug
out! Really leave him drooling!"
     Mina shook her head. "That dress is too obvious. Besides, she'd
barely be able to sit in it. It's way too short!"
            "I think we should take the one Mina found first" said
Serena.
            "Of course we should! I'm a great matchmaker and I know
what one should wear to a first date! Leave it all to me!" said Mina
giving them the V is for Victory sign, "Now, let's go find some make-
up and jewelry!"
     After running through every store at the mall, the girls finally
finished their shopping spree and headed to Serena's house to figure
out a hairstyle.
            "I think she should wear her hair down," said Mina.
            "No way! She should wear it up in a ponytail!" retorted
Lita. Serena shook her head. It was amazing how those two could be
best friends and argue about so many little things.
            "Guys, I think I'll just wear my usual hairstyle" said
Serena.
            "What?" said Lita and Mina at the same time.
            "Well, I don't wanna overdo it. If I go too far on it,
he'll know I'm doing it for him"
            "Well...I guess you're right," said Mina, "He might get
suspicious."
     They talked for a while more, and then Lita and Mina had to
leave. Mina was expected at home for dinner, and Lita had to meet
with Alan for her project.
            "I think he likes me," she told Serena, "But he's shy. He
reminds me of Freddy! Only better than Freddy cause -"
            "- Freddy dumped you." finished Serena and Mina at the
same time. They were used to Lita comparing every boy to Freddy.
            "Well, bye Serena!" And Lita and Mina left.
     And Serena laid down on her bed and daydreamed about her meeting
with Darien.

    Darien kept walking staring straight ahead, thinking about how
unfair life was, when he passed by the Crown Video Arcade. He stopped
and looked inside. He saw a familiar blond-haired boy sweeping the
floor. It was the same boy that sat next to him in English class. He
went in to take a look at the arcade. It seemed like a cool place to
hang out. It had a coffee shop on the second floor and lots of arcade
games, especially that new one, Sailor V. Darien was still looking
around when he felt someone tap on his shoulder.
             "Hi!" said a familiar voice. Darien turned around to see
the boy's grinning face. "I'm Andrew" he said, "You're the new guy.
Darien, right?"
             "Yeah" said Darien, a bit taken aback. Andrew was very
friendly and nice. Darien wasn't used to having people be nice to him,
save his admirers' phony niceness and friendliness.
             "Tough being the new guy, huh? I should know. I was the
new guy last year. Man, it was tough! But luckily I met Rita the second
day. She was my only friend then. Then I met Lita and Serena. They were
really nice. And slowly but surely I became used to Juuban High. It's a
pretty nice school. Have you met anyone? Besides me, I mean"
     Darien was still a little in shock. "Um, I think I met that Serena
girl. She's my partner in the English project" he said.
             "You got Serena? That's cool. She's not a very good
student, but she's a lot of fun. She's very nice and cute" said Andrew.
     When Darien saw how willing Andrew was to "give information" about
Serena, Darien pressed on for more. "Really?" he asked, "She's easy to
get along with?" He decided to start with easy questions. Luckily for
him, Andrew was an open book.
             "Oh, yeah! Real nice. She's usually the first person to
befriend anyone. A lot of guys like her, but she's usually too
oblivious to notice..." said Andrew. He kept on talking about Serena,
until he noticed Darien staring off into space, a little smile on his
lips. Andrew's grin became even wider.
             "And yesterday she told us she likes you, and..."
             "Whoa! Say what?" said Darien breaking out of his
daydream.
             "You like her, don't you?" asked Andrew with a mischevious
grin.
             "What? No! I mean I like her okay, I guess, I just wanted
to find out about my partner in the project and..." he stopped abruptly
when he saw Andrew shaking his head, still grinning. Sighing, he
decided there was no way to win this argument. And Andrew seemed
trustworthy.
             "You've got to promise me you won't tell" pleaded Darien.
             "Don't worry about it. I know what it's like when you have
a secret crush!" said Andrew.
             "Andrew, if I find out she knows..."
             "Hey, don't worry! I promise on the Pope's vinegar that I
won't tell her"

     The week went by very quickly. Darien became friends with Andrew
during that time. Finally, Friday came. In English class, Darien
tapped Serena's shoulder from behind her. "Don't forget about our
meeting today" he said.
     Serena blushed. "I won't" she said. Her voice sounded a little
wobbly. Darien grinned his usual grin. He stared at her for a long
time, taking in everything about her. He had come up with a nickname
for her the day before. Meatball Head. It was perfect.
           "Okay, everyone! Now, for the play, we won' hold
auditions. I know some of you think it's unfair, but we simply don't
have time for them. We'll nominate people and vote on it" said Ms.
Haruna.
           "I nominate Darien for the lead!" said Anne. A lot of girls
murmured in agreement.
           "Okay, Darien is nominated for the role of John Proctor. Do
you object Darien?"
           "Well, acting isn't really my thing..." he began, but he was
cut off by Lita, who had just come up with a plan.
           "Of course he doesn't mind!" she said. Darien was
surprised.
           "Okay. Any other nominees?" said Ms. Haruna.
     No one raised their hand. Finally, Melvin raised his hand.
           "I nominate myself!" he said.
           "Okay. Any more?"
     No one else raised their hand.
           "Well, then, Darien and Melvin, please stand outside so we
can vote on it" said Ms. Haruna. Melvin and Darien stepped outside
the classroom.
           "Now all those in favor of Darien getting the part raise
your hands" she said. All the girls raised their hands.
           "All those in favor of Melvin?"
     The boys hesitantly raised their hands. Anything before the
freak got the part, they thought. Besides, thanks to him, the girls
wouldn't even think of dating them. They were too busy figuring out
ways to make Darien like them. But there were more girls than boys in
the class, and Darien won.
          "Okay, you can come back in now" said Ms. Haruna. Darien
and Melvin sat back down. "The winner was...Darien!"
      Darien was a bit surprised, but he just nodded. What have I
gotten into?, he thought.
          "Okay, now, for the part of Abigail Williams! Nominees?"
     Anne tried to remember who Abigail Williams was. It was that girl
that had an affair with John Proctor! (this wasn't shown in the play,
of course)She wanted that part.
          "Me!" she said a little too eagerly.
          "Okay, Anne. Any more nominees?" said Ms. Haruna. Some
other girls raised their hands, but ultimately, Anne got the part.
They repeated this procedure for each character. Melvin got the part
of Reverend Parris, Alan got the part of Reverend Hale, Lita got the
part of Martha Corey, Amy got the part of Rebecca Nurse, Molly got
the part of Mary Warren, and little by little each character was
taken. The last character to be chosen was Elizabeth Proctor, John
Proctor's wife.
          "Nominees for Elizabeth Proctor?" asked Ms. Haruna.
          "I nominate Serena!!" said Lita. This was part of her plan.
          "Any other nominees?" asked Ms. Haruna. Some girls looked
like they wanted to raise their hands (the boys didn't want to
nominate any girls to play the wife of the freak), but Lita shot them
a death look and they put their hands down.
          "Well, I guess then Serena is Elizabeth Proctor!" said Ms.
Haruna.

     At lunch, Serena asked Lita, "Why'd you nominate me?"
     Lita rolled her eyes.
          "Get a clue, girl! You'll be playing his WIFE! And, here's
the best part, you get to KISS him at the end! It says on the book
'he kisses her with great passion'!" said Lita, excitedly, "It's
perfect!"
     Serena was blushing hard. "I have to kiss him?" she asked
timidly. She LOVED the idea! She'd have to get Lita a really good
birthday present for that favor she'd just done her.
          "You sure do!" answered Lita, "And it's for a grade, so you
guys better make it good!" she finished, winking.

     After a long day of boring classes, the final bell rang.
          "Well, this is it!" said Serena to herself; "In two hours I
have to go to Darien's apartment. I better start getting ready now!"
          "Hey, Serena! Wait up!" yelled Lita running towards her.
Serena stopped until Lita catched up with her. They kept walking
together.
          "Where are you going now?" asked Lita.
          "Home. I wanna start getting ready!" answered Serena with a
little smile on her lips.
          "For your date, I mean, your meeting?" asked Lita.
          "Yeah" said Serena.
          "Well, let's go then! We gotta make you look like a
princess, but not so much that it'll be obvious! Leave it to me!"
said Lita with a wink.
          "And me!" said a familiar voice. The girls turned around to
see Mina holding up the V for Victory sign. "You weren't planning on
leaving me out of this, were you?
          "Hey, Mina!" said Serena, "Guess what? I got the female lead
in the play!"
          "Really?" asked Mina.
          "It was all part of MY wonderful plan, you see," said Lita,
"Darien got the male lead, so it was only fitting that our dear
Serena get the female lead! Plus, the play a married couple!"
          "No way! A couple? Really? Wow! That's perfect! I gotta
admit, Lita, it's a great plan!" said Mina.
          "Of course it is!" said Lita seriously. She kept walking in
front of them.
          "And she'll never stop reminding us" finished Mina with a
sigh. They kept walking and talking until they reached Serena's house.
Once there, they raided the fridge and went upstairs, taking the food
with them.
          "Good pie! Congratulate your Mom for me!" said Lita, taking
a bite of some lemon meringue pie.
          "YOU made it, silly! You brought it for Mom's birthday last
week!" said Serena, giggling.
     Lita giggled too. "I did, didn't I? Guess my memory's not what it
used to be!"
          "Enough! We have to hurry! Serena, go change! We have to
start working on your hair!" said Mina, very excited.
          "Mina, didn't we agree to leave her hair the same way?"
said Lita. She knew how crazy Mina got when she was playing
matchmaker.
          "Oh! Right. Well, go change! We have to do your make-up!"
          "Don't overdo it! Remember, we don't want her to look too
obvious!"
          "Oh, just leave it to me!"

     An hour later, Mina and Lita looked at their creation. Serena
wore the pink, long-sleeved turtleneck and the short gray skirt with
pink socks and gray boots (kind of like Sailor Jupiter's boots). Her
hair was fixed up in the usual style, but Mina had put two little
pink bows around the meatballs. For the make-up (which Lita had ended
up doing because Mina had gotten carried away the first time) she had
some blush on her cheeks and some light pink lipstick-lip balm mix.
          "The lipstick will give it color, and the lip balm will
make them shiny!" said Lita knowingly, "Guys like shiny lips! Why, my
old boyfriend was always telling me-"
          "We don't have time for old boyfriend stories right now!
It's 5:00! She has to leave right now!" said Mina.
          "Are you sure I look okay? Do I look too made up? Do I look
too plain?" asked Serena nervously.
          "You look perfect! Now go!" said Mina, pushing her out the
door.
          "WAIT!" yelled Serena.
          "What?"
          "I forgot my books"
          "Oh! I guess in our excitement we forgot the other, much
more boring purpose of this meeting"
          "Are you sure I look okay?" asked Serena one more time.
          "You look perfect! Darien better have some handkerchiefs
handy cause you're gonna leave him drooling!" said Lita cheerfully.

     As she walked down the street, Serena kept glancing at the paper
with Darien's address. She walked down the street towards the
apartment building. She went inside and got in the elevator, where
she pressed the button for the 12th floor. When she reached the floor,
she walked to her right passing several doors before reaching her
destination.
           "12-A, 12-B, 12-C... 12-F, 12-G! Here it is!" she said
pressing the doorbell.
           "Coming!" said a voice from inside. After a couple of
seconds, Darien opened the door. When he looked at her he lost his
power of speech. She looked beautiful! He didn't really think it was
possible for her to look more beautiful than she already was, but
today he had been proved wrong. "Come in!" he said, finally regaining
his voice.
     Serena had also lost her speech momentarily. Darien wore a
yellow shirt (like the one in the R Movie) and some jeans. His hair
was freshly combed and he looked absolutely gorgeous. Her thoughts
scattered when he told her to come in. As she stepped inside she saw
how neat his apartment was. The walls were white and the only
decorations he had were a couple of plants and the blue curtains
covering the sliding doors that led to the balcony. In the middle of
the living room was a sofa facing two chairs and a coffee table in
between the sofa and the chairs. There was a bookshelf against a wall
and most of the books on it were Physics, Chemistry, Algebra, and
other books on Math and Science.
            "Wow" said Serena to herself.
            "Please, sit down" said Darien.
            "You live by yourself?" asked Serena.
            "Yes" answered Darien. If it had been any other person
asking he probably would've said something like "that's none of your
business" or some other rude thing, but Serena seemed to have genuine
concern.
       He expected her to start barraging him with questions, but she
simply said "Oh" and fell silent. He raised an eyebrow. This girl was
very unusual. Most girls tried to find out everything about him and
use it to win him over, but Serena...
            "Well, we should get started with this" he said picking up
one of the books from the coffee table.

     Meanwhile at Serena's house, Mina and Lita were still eating in
Serena's room. Mrs. Tsukino really didn't mind.
            "You think she's kissed him yet?" asked Mina licking the
spoon with which she was eating her Rocky Road ice cream.
            "Nah. She probably just got there. It's way too early"
said Lita finishing off the last piece of her lemon meringue pie.
            "Maybe when he saw her he felt such a powerful and
magnetic attraction that he swept her off her feet and kissed the
breath out of her!" said Mina, giggling at the thought.
            "It could happen," said Lita, shrugging, "We better go!
We're taking advantage of Mrs. Tsukino's hospitality, besides, it's a
school night!"
     They left the room and went down the stairs. Just as they were
going to open the front door, it opened by itself to reveal the
cheerful face of Mr. Tsukino, who'd just come home from work.
            "Honey, I'm home!" he said happily, "Hey, girls! Is
Serena upstairs?"
            "No. She's at a meeting with her partner for a school
project!" said Mina.
            "Her totally handsome partner!" said Lita dreamily.
            "This partner is a...boy?" asked Mr. Tsukino raising an
eyebrow.
            "Yes. His name's Darien" said Mina, cautiously.
            "And where are they meeting?"
            "At...um...at his apartment"
            "Oh...NANI?!?!"

     Serena and Darien had been hard at work on their project for the
last half-hour. Serena chewed on her pencil as Darien read something
in a book. She raised her head to look at him and found herself
hypnotized again. He's SO cute, she thought, there's no way he'll be
interested in me! He can have any girl he wants!
     Darien felt Serena staring at him and turned his head towards
her. She looked down at her book quickly and pretended she was
reading something very interesting. Darien grinned and stared at her
out of the corner of his eye. She had been all he'd been thinking
about ever since he first saw her.
            "So, you excited about the play?" asked Serena, causing
him to snap out of his daydream.
            "Huh? Oh! It's a cool play, I guess" he said, shrugging.
            "Wanna rehearse a little?" asked Serena with a very
hopeful look in her eyes. Darien had to smile. She looked like a
little kid trying to convince her dad to buy her an ice cream cone.
            "Yeah, sure" he said smiling, "Which scene?"
            "Umm... You pick it!"
     Darien thought for a moment. Then he remembered a particular
scene he'd been wanting to rehearse since he found out Serena'd be
playing his wife: The last scene. The kissing scene.
            "How about the last scene?" he said casually.
      Serena froze. She knew what scene he was talking about. The
kissing scene.
            "Okay" she said, hoping he wouldn't hear the wobble in
her voice.
            "Let's start from the part where Proctor says 'the child?'"
he said. They rehearsed, each taking on someone else's part when
another character spoke. Finally, they made it to the kissing scene.
            "Man! You will hang! You cannot!" said Serena as Rev. Hale.
            "I can! And there's your first marvel..."said Darien as John
Proctor.

     On Darien's apartment's hallway, Anne walked towards his
apartment with the excuse that she wanted to rehearse Abigail's and
Proctor's part. When she made it to his door she saw it was a little
open. She peeked inside and saw Serena and Darien reciting something.
What happened next made her see red...

      As Darien's speech drew to a close, Serena (as Elizabeth) rushed
to him and pretended to burst into tears.
            "Give them no tear! Tears pleasure them!" continued Darien,
"Show honor now! Show a stony heart and sink them with it!"
       With this, Darien lifted Serena up from her kneeling position
and he drew her closer...and closer...and closer...and just as their lips
were about to touch, they heard a noise coming from the hall. Darien
and Serena both looked at the front door and saw that it was open. He
gently removed his hands from her shoulders and went to the door.
Looking outside to see if anyone was there, he closed it.

     Anne couldn't believe it. Who did that brat think she was! When
she saw Serena and Darien about to kiss, she'd jumped up and stomped
right out of the building. Just because her character played the wife
gave her no right to go around kissing Darien! She vowed she'd make
Serena pay.

     Meanwhile at Serena's house...
            "How could you let her go? You don't know what intentions
that boy has with our Serena!" yelled Mr. Tsukino.
            "Now, Ken, you're overreacting!" said Mrs. Tsukini trying
to calm her husband down.
     Mr. Tsukino broke into tears on his wife's shoulder.
            "Waaaaaah! Serena's become a delinquent!"

     Back at Darien's house, Serena and Darien had decided to stop
rehearsing and went back to working on the paper. This was very hard
to do, since they couldn't agree on anything.
            "I think we should do the paper on the kind of clothes
people wore back then" said Serena.
            "But that's not relevant to the play! I think we should
write the paper on the time period in which the story is set and what
things were happening back then" said Darien.
They kept arguing on a topic for the project. Whatever Darien
suggested, Serena didn't like, and vice versa. Secretly, Darien
enjoyed this little war game of theirs. Most girls just went along
with whatever he said to impress him, but Serena had a mind of her
own.
     Serena was also enjoying it. Not only was it fun to counterattack
his arguments, but it gave her an excuse to stay longer. They kept
arguing until finally they decided to do the project on the Witches
Trials themselves and what caused them.
     Next, they had to decide on a poster board color to paste their
paper on.
           "The background should be black to signify the dark times"
said Darien.
           "No, it should be red for the fire when they burned at the
stake" said Serena.
           "Red is too bright. It would make it look happy!"
           "Black is too dark, they couldn't read the words!"
           "But it gets the mood across better!"
           "Red works just fine, thank you!"
           "And how would they know it was for fire?
           "Well... how would they know black was for the sad times
and not just your favorite color or something?"
There was a silence between the two.
           "Fine, here's an idea," said Darien breaking the silence,
"We'll have a black background with red flames for appearance."
     Inside, Serena had to admit it was a good idea.
           "Oh fine, if you insist, I guess that will work!" she said
reluctanctly.
           "That's because it was my idea."
           "Oh shut up!"
     Serena reached to get one of the books that was by Darien's side
of the coffee table. Darien was also reaching for the same book.
Their hands bumped together. Serena felt like a shock of electricity
had gone through her. Darien had started feeling nervous and he felt
his palms sweating (which had never happened to him with a girl
before!).
            "Oh! You're going to use that one? That's okay. I'll use
this other one! What time is it?" she said, babbling.
            "Uh, it's...What?! 8:30 P.M. already?!" he said surprised.
            "Oh, my gosh! I have to get home! Mom was expecting me at
least at 7! Can I use your phone to call her and let her now I'm
coming?" said Serena.
            "Yeah sure" said Darien pointing to the phone.
            "Thanks" she said while dialing. "Mom? I'm still at
Darien's. I'm sorry I didn't call before but we were so wrapped up in
the project we lost track of time. I'm leaving right now so I'll see
you soon, okay? Bye!" Serena hanged up and turned to Darien. "Well,
that was fun, hearing my father throw a fit through the phone!"
            "I thought you were talking to your mom" said Darien.
            "I was, my father was yelling next to her, very loudly, I
might add!" she replied. "Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow!"
            "Yeah, see you tomorrow" said Darien walking her to the
door.
            "Umm...Darien," began Serena nervously, "I just wanted to
say thanks for offering your apartment to study tonight and for not
making this meeting boring. In fact, it was fun."
            "I had fun too, and it was no problem about the
apartment" he said smiling (which made Serena's heart skip a beat).
            "Well, good night"
            "Good night"

The next day at school...

            "Where were you until so late? I called you so you could
give me the scoop on what happened but your mom said you weren't
home! What happened? Did he ask you out? Did he kiss you? TELL ME!!"
Lita had been barraging Serena with questions since she'd gotten to
school that morning.
           "At Darien's. The meeting took longer than we thought it
would. No. Almost."
     Lita almost fainted. "No way! Really? Wait! Why 'almost'? You
didn't go through with it?"
           "We were rehearsing the last scene for the play and just as
we were about to do the kissing part there was a noise from the hall
and we saw the front door open. Darien closed it and the moment was
lost" said Serena.
           "So come on! Tell me more!" urged Lita.
           "Well..." said Serena launching into storytelling mode.

     Little did they know that just around the corner, Anne was
spreading rumors about Serena.
           "No way! Serena doesn't look like that kind of person!"
said a girl with short brown hair. A big bunch of girls were sitting
on a school bench, and right in the center was Anne.
           "Well believe it!" said Anne, "Serena will make out with
any guy who asks! Why, just last night she was already making out
with the new guy!"
     This little lie made the girls even madder. "What?! Why that
little scumbag!" said a girl with long green hair.
           "How do you know this, Anne?" asked a girl with long brown
hair named Rita Blake. Serena had been a good friend to her and she
found it hard to believe that all this was true.
           "I went by Darien's house last night to ask him for the
math homework and the door was half open. I looked inside and saw
them both making out on the couch! I bet they even went ALL the way!"
     At this, all the girls around her gasped.
           "Wow. I never would have guessed Serena to be like that!"
           "Well believe it, cause she is!" said Anne, smiling
deviously.

     Serena was walking to her English class when a boy she knew from
math class approached her.
           "Hey, Serena! Wanna come to my house and help me with my
math project?" he said with an evil grin.
           "Um, you want help from me? Why not ask a smart person like
Amy?" asked Serena, completely oblivious and innocent to what the boy
meant.
           "Well, I hear you're the best at what you do!" said the
boy. At this last comment, some boys standing behind him started
snickering. Serena started feeling uncomfortable. She got the feeling
they were making fun of her, but she didn't really know how.
           "I gotta get to class" she said frowning at the boy and ran off.
           "Will you call me?" yelled the boy after her.

     Lita was running towards English class. Great, I'm gonna be
late!, she thought. As she ran by she heard a girl exclaim:
           "No way! Really? Wow, I never would've guessed Serena to
be a tramp!"
     Of course, this made Lita stop dead in her tracks. She turned
towards the girl and started walking towards her.
           "What did you say?" asked Lita, with a menacing look.
           "You...You haven't heard?" asked the girl, a little scared.
She remembered Lita's reputation.
           "Heard what?"
           "About Serena Tsukino! How she'll make out with any guy!
She even went all the way with Darien, you know, the cute new guy?"
           "Where did you hear this?" said Lita, getting ready to
slamfist anyone who'd said that about her friend.
           "Everyone's talking about it! Someone even saw them making
out!"
           "Who?"
           "I'm not sure exactly. I heard it from my friend"
           "Who's your friend?"
           "Rita Blake!"
           "Rita Blake?" This didn't make any sense! Rita was
Serena's friend. She dated Andrew. She didn't think Rita would be
spreading rumors. But Rita was a trustworthy source. If Rita had been
the one who'd seen them, there was a chance it might be true. But why
would Serena have lied? Serena never lied! Lita was VERY confused.
She turned around without a word and headed straight to English
class, with a million questions flowing through her mind.

     As Serena stepped inside the classroom, she heard several of her
classmates snicker. Some girls whispered something in each others ears
while looking at her and giggled. Darien was already at his seat,
looking as confused as Serena. Serena took her seat quickly and turned
around.
           "What's going on?" she asked Darien.
           "I don't know! It's like everyone's whispering today" he
replied, still wearing a confused expression.
     Just then, Lita came in. She wore a grim look and she walked
past everyone straight towards Serena.
            "We have to talk" she said, very seriously.
     Serena became a little nervous. "Is anything wrong?"
            "Come with me" said Lita, leading her out the door.

     Serena and Lita went into the bathroom. Lita started checking to
see if there was anyone in any of the stalls. After seeing there was
no one, she locked the bathroom door.
            "What's going on, Lita?" said Serena, very nervous.
     Lita sighed. "First off, Serena, I have to know, Is it true?"
            "Is what true?" asked Serena, still as puzzled as ever.
            "You mean you haven't heard?" asked Lita incredulously.
EVERYONE was talking about it.
            "Heard what?" asked Serena, a little impatient now.
            "The rumors!"
            "What rumors?"
            "About you and Darien"
            "Me and Darien?"
     Lita sighed. "There are some rumors going around about you. Some
VERY bad rumors"
            "What...kind of rumors?" asked Serena.
            "First off, tell me the truth, Serena, did you kiss
Darien?"
            "Lita! I told you I didn't" said Serena, blushing as she
remembered how close she'd been.
             "So you didn't...go all the way with Darien?"
     Serena was shocked at this question. "What?! No! Why would you
even ask me that?" Then her face lost it's color as she came to
realization, "Is...Is that what they've been saying...about me?"
     Lita felt awful about what was happening. She'd been where Serena
was now many times. She knew how much damage rumors could do.
             "Yes" said Lita.
     Serena just stood there, letting that one word sink in. She
opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She closed her
mouth, her eyes filling with tears. Then she started to cry. Not her
usual whiny wail. A heart-wrenching, real sadness cry. She backed up
against the bathroom wall and let her back slide against it as she
sat on the floor, hugging her knees. Lita felt like crying herself,
but she had to be strong for her friend. She grabbed a roll of toilet
paper and broke off a piece, giving it to Serena and helping her dry
her tears. Serena spent that whole class period in the bathroom
crying, while Lita tried to console her best friend.

     Back at class, Ms. Haruna had been taking the attendance.
             "Serena and Lita are absent today?" she asked.
             "I think they're skipping. I saw Serena earlier today"
said Anne, quickly grabbing the opportunity to make Serena get in
more trouble.
             "Actually," said Darien, "Lita took Serena to the nurse's
office because she was feeling sick" It was a lie, but he didn't want
Serena to get in trouble, and Lita did look as if something very
serious had happened.
             "Oh. Well, let's begin the class, shall we?" continued Ms.
Haruna.
     Darien looked at Amy, who had been trying to get his attention by
waving her hand when Haruna wasn't looking (imagine that visual!).
Darien looked at her.
             "Is Serena okay?" she mouthed.
             "I don't know" Darien mouthed back shrugging.
     Amy couldn't quite pay attention in class that period. She knew
something must be very wrong.

     Back in the bathroom, Serena continued to cry her heart out.
             "When I find out who started this..." muttered Lita,
menacingly.
             "Who did you hear it from?" asked Serena without looking
up.
             "Primi Graham"
    Serena was silent.
             "What I don't get is that she heard it from Rita Blake!"
continued Lita.
             "From Rita?" asked Serena. She couldn't believe her
friend would say that.
             "I was as surprised as you are, but I do remember Rita
saying Primi was her friend. But why would Rita say that? She's not
one to start rumors!"
     Serena started crying again.
             "I have an idea! At lunch, we'll find Rita and ask her
why she started this rumor! Then we'll put it to rest! And Rita too,
if necessary!"
             "No, Lita. Promise me you won't hurt Rita, even if she
did start this. I'm sure it was a misunderstanding of some sort. Rita
would never do something like this!"
             "I'm not sure I can promise you that, Serena"
             "Lita, promise me!"
             "I...! Oh, fine! Have it your way! I promise I won't hurt
her...too much" Lita said, saying the last part a little lower.

     The bell rang and everyone left the classroom as if there was a
fire. Darien was about to leave, when Andrew pulled him to the side.
             "Darien, can I talk to you?" he asked.
             "Sure" said Darien.
     Andrew motioned Darien to follow him into a hidden corner of the
school.
             "Darien, I realize this is really none of my business
but, did you and Serena do anything?"
             "Anything?"
     Andrew sighed. "Anything her father would find...inappropriate?"
     Darien's face filled with realization. He shook his head "No.
Nothing happened between us. We just worked on the project"
             "Darien, there are rumors going around about you and
Serena"
             "Rumors" Darien said. He picked it up a lot faster than
Serena. He had a pretty clear idea of what these rumors might be
about.
             "About you two...growing up a little too fast"
     Darien was just as shocked as Serena, but he handled himself a
lot better, being a master of stoicism.
             "I see. And where did you hear this filthy lie?" asked
Darien.
             "I take it it's not true. Some of the guys were talking
about it in gym class"
     Darien remembered. As soon as he'd walked into the boys locker
room the room had been deathly quiet, save a couple of snickers from
some of the guys. He'd wondered why everyone seemed to be looking at
him. Now he knew.
             "Wow. Darien, man, I'm really sorry about this" said
Andrew, sincerely.
             "Yeah, so am I" said Darien, wondering if Serena knew.
Then he remembered the episode with Lita in English class. She knew.

Congratulations! You made it to the end of the first part! More to come
soon!
(Be afraid! Be VERY afraid!)