Chapter Two
Double the Trouble
Minna-chan another chapter has been dumped in your lap. Please let me know what you think, and enjoy! BTW, I absolutely loved 'Out of the Blue' by Stormlight. I can see why it's the fic of the month! Standard disclaimers apply, since y'all have probably guessed as to the state of my sanity ;-) On with the story... don't forget the feedback!
- - -
~ Hailey ~
I woke up the next morning and instantly hopped out of bed. Today was a very important day, Sky, Logan and I were going to see that Andrew guy at the arcade to see if he'd help us get Bunny and Darien together. Fortunately for us, Serena had detention today, and wouldn't be back until at least one. I looked at the clock.
Ten thirty... Skyler was still asleep in her bed, and so was Logan.
Geeze you guys! I walked over to Skyler and shook her to wake her up.
"Go away," she moaned, "I wanna sleep."
"No, Sky, you have to get up so we can go to the arcade," I told her.
Instead of listening to me, she merely tried to bat me away with her hand as she pulled the blankets closer.... ahha.... Quickly, I took the end of the blanket in my hand and pulled it off her.
"It's cold!" she yelped, looking at me with angry blue eyes.
"Sorry, Skyler," I said, "But I needed you to get up. Come on, get dressed so we can go to the arcade."
"Oh, brother," Skyler muttered as she began rummaging through our suitcase for something to wear. That done, I moved to the much easier task of waking my brother. Actually, to my surprise, he was already up and staring at me, waiting for me to free him from the crib.
"Hey, bro," I said as I lowered the bars and picked him up, "Are you ready to help Bunny-chan? Eh?" He clapped his hands together and giggled as I set him down on my bed while I got dressed. That task finished, Sky and I set about the much harder one of getting Logan into his clothes. On his part, Logan just tried to fit whatever he could, be it a button, zipper, or one of our fingers, into his mouth.
That took a good fifteen minutes, but soon we were clattering down the steps for our coats.
"And just where are you three going?" I heard my Aunt Irene ask as I thrust my arm into one of my sleeves.
"Good morning, Auntie Irene," Skyler replied in her usual chipper tone. "We wanted to go to the arcade and play some games, if that's all right with you?"
"Yes, Auntie Irene, may we please?" I asked, putting on my best angel-face and looking up at her with innocent blue eyes. It was working....
"Oh, all right. Just be careful, and don't talk to strangers or go anywhere with anyone you don't know, all right?" Aunt Irene asked.
"Yes, Auntie Irene," Skyler and I chorused. Man, we had that down to a science.
"We're gonna help Bun-" Logan began to blabber all my precious plans to my aunt. Skyler clamped a hand over his mouth as I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door.
"Hehe... bye Aunt Irene!" I said hurriedly. With that, we ran out the door and hurried towards the arcade. It had started snowing again, and I opened my mouth to catch the flakes. If it kept this up, we'd be able to play in it soon!
~ Serena ~
I stared out the window at the falling snow, wishing more than anything to be out frolicking in it instead of being stuck inside with Ms Haruna. Glancing down at my math assignment, I wished I could take my moon-wand to all those dumb X's and be done with algebra forever. I started doodling in the margins, then looked down in shock at what I had drawn. Inside one of my best cupid hearts were the words 'Serena + Darien'. Whoa... just where did THAT come from? I had to admit, I'd been floating on air ever since yesterday morning at the arcade when Darien had been so nice to me. It totally caught me off guard. I mean, for the first time since I'd known the guy, he'd actually called me by real name... then given me that bunny to boot! But, he was probably only being nice 'cause he'd taken a shine to Hailey and Skyler. Of course, that didn't explain the cute pink bunny that now sat on my bed.
Hmm.... I had to admit, Darien was pretty cute. Cute? Heck, he was down right handsome, of the tall, dark variety. Except for those brilliant blue eyes of his... okay, Serena, enough of that, uh oh... too late, I feel a daydream coming on....
"Serena?!" The next thing I knew, Ms. Haruna was getting rather annoyed at me because I hadn't answered her question yet. Did I mention I hadn't even heard the question to begin with? Well...
"Yes, Ms. Haruna?" I replied at last, reluctantly dragging myself out of my pleasant little daydream to face my teacher.
"I asked if you were finished with that quiz yet?" she frowned. Oh shoot, this is a quiz?! Oh, boy. Okay, Serena, don't panic! PLEASE, don't panic.
"Um, almost," I tell Ms. Haruna. Gee, I wonder if Luna would be really ticked, or just a little peeved if I used my moon-wand to eliminate all these awful X's and Y's?
~ Andrew ~I was wiping down the counter and talking with Lita and her friends when the door to the arcade opened. I immediately looked up to see who it was. Much to my surprise, I saw Serena's cousins hurrying up to the counter.
"Hold on just a second," I asked Lita. She nodded quickly and turned to say something to Raye. Walking over to where the three kids were climbing up on the stools without much success. I asked, "And what can I do for you today?"
"Cookies?" the little boy asked of his sisters when he finally managed to scale the stool and sat huffing and puffing with his chin on the counter.
"Not now, Logan," the girl in pink responded.
"Hello Mr. Andrew-type-person," the other girl greeted me. She was dressed in purple, much like the day before. What did Serena say her name was? Holly? Hannah? Hailey? That was it, Hailey!
"Hi, Hailey," I said. She was looking at me with a very serious expression on her angelic face. "Is something wrong?"
"No, but we kinda need your help, if you don't mind?" she asked. Okay, this was getting interesting.
"Help with what?"
"We want to get Serena and Darien to be girlfriend and boyfriend," Hailey's sister informed me bluntly. Wow, even these kids had noticed the sparks flying yesterday. I'd managed to pry something of a 'yeah, I guess I kinda like her..' from Darien after Serena and the kids left, but I knew there was much more.
"Serena and DARIEN!?" I heard Lita exclaim and she and Raye sauntered over, along with Mina. The bookish one, Amy, still sat where she'd been the whole time, apparently fascinated by her calculus textbook. Sometimes she scares me.
"What makes you think Serena and DARIEN like each other?" Raye asked the girls.
"Are you kidding?" I put in, "You should have seen them yesterday!"
"Yesterday?" Mina questioned. I proceeded to fill the girls in on the events, occasionally being interrupted by Skyler or Hailey, who had to put their own two cents worth in.
After the girls had managed to pick their jaws off the floor, Lita said; "Wow! So you really think Darien is interested in Serena?"
"Well, that's what it sounds like," I informed her. All three girls seemed to think on this.
"I KNOW so," Hailey said, then clamped a hand over her own mouth. I stared at her, knowing that another three pairs of eyes were also on the girl.
"How is that?" Mina asked as she picked Logan up, 'ohhing' and 'awwing' over how cute he was.
"I wasn't supposed to say anything," the little girl moaned, "He made me promise."
"It's okay, Hailey," Raye told her as she took the stool beside her, "Sometimes its a good idea to break little promises, as long as you don't tell anyone else."
"Yeah," Lita agreed, "Especially if it involves fixing your best friend up!"
"All right," Hailey said, then proceeded to tell us about how she and Darien had gotten on the subject of Serena, and what he'd told her after that.
"And he really said he wanted to be her boyfriend?" Mina asked.
"Uhuh!" Hailey said, bobbing her head up and down.
"No way, that's SO romantic!" Lita said with a sigh.
"But guys, what are we supposed to do with this privileged information?" Raye asked.
"Well," Skyler said, "If someone had told ME first..." she looked at her twin pointedly.
"I'm sorry, Sky," her sister apologized, "He made me promise..."
"Never mind about that, it's okay," I assured them, trying to avoid a fight.
"Anyway," Hailey went on, "We kind thought they should be boyfriend and girlfriend."
There was a moment of silence as everyone at the counter digested this. Then, Lita picked Hailey up with a laugh and declared, "Girl, I like the way you think!"
- - -
To the world you may be one person, but to the person you may be the world.
