Deja vu
She ran up the steps at 5:47.
*Never cut it THIS close.*
“Miss Serena! Your mother’s been worried sick!”
Serena smiled. *Nothing’s changed HERE, at least.*
It was difficult, but Serena had finally closed the chapter of being engaged. She was all right now. She smiled as she thought of the past year.
She HAD changed. A year ago, she was not even aware that she was going to be engaged, that she was going to fall in love. She now wondered if she was better off then, not loving, and not hurting inside every time she heard the name Darien Dredsdale. She loved him. It was the experience. She had to go through it. She was happier now, because she had left that behind her, and let that experience improve her.
Or at least that’s what she told herself.
But did she believe it?
“Rena!” Mina came running forward for a hug.
Lita smiled as she approached her friend as well, and Amy walked slowly, with Raye, both with slightly swollen tummies.
“Your mother’s going to ground you!”
“Nothing new, now is it?”
They laughed.
Raye hugged Serena meaningfully. Only she knew how much Serena was thinking of not coming. She whispered into her ear, “He’s here alone, Rena. Didn’t bring a date. I think he’s hiding in his room right now.”
Serena looked, startled, at her cousin.
“So what are you naming the kid?”
“Don’t know if it’ll be a boy or girl yet.”
“Serena Rebecca Larynce, you are now grounded for a year!”
Serena smiled at Ilene Larynce.
“I was worried about you,” Ilene sighed. “But I’m glad you came.”
Ilene had figured that Dredsdale’s presence in the house must have contributed to her daughter’s already tardy nature. She wished she could understand what her daughter was feeling, but Serena didn’t talk much about her relationship with the Dredsdale prince, and Ilene decided that it was her daughter’s choice whether she heard it or not.
“Mother, I’m glad to see you,” Serena said. “I think that I’d like to talk to you and dad; we haven’t talked in a while.”
Ilene smiled, and realized what her daughter meant.
“Our door’s always open,” she said, meaningfully.
“And there is my favorite granddaughter!” Gail Larynce smiled carefully, approaching Serena. She had not talked to Serena since the break off of the engagement, and was feeling slightly guilty.
“Gram. I missed you.” Serena smiled, hugging the old woman, showing her that she forgave easily.
“Where’s daddy?”
“Right here, Bunny.”
Dinner was long and difficult. Serena didn’t really want to eat anything. Not when he was in the room, sitting with his great aunt.
It was like putting salt on an open wound. It stung. She wanted to cry, but she didn’t. She told herself that she was a better person, and that though she loved him, she didn’t need him.
She finally gave up and went up to her room, saying she had a headache, which was true. All this forcing herself to go on was getting to her, and her heart was starting to weigh a thousand tons.
As she got some mail from her mailbox, she noticed a small package at the foot of her door. It was in gold paper, and tied with a cream ribbon.
She picked it up, and went into her room.
Curious, she opened it up first.
There was no note, there was no card, and nothing to identify who the giver was, but Serena knew.
The gift was a gold chain, with gold snowflake with a diamond embedded in the center.
Serena smiled, as tears came to her eyes, and as she suddenly thought that she had a lot of things to do for the masquerade tomorrow.
She entered the room, golden hair, golden glitter sparkling in the golden folds of her hair, and among it, a gold hair clip. She had rosy cheeks and a smile, both with gold glitter on. She wore a dress of gold satin with a large skirt, sparkling, and belling with gold lace and gold embroidery. Her bodice was gold with gold sequins and gold thread embroidery, and she wore a gold satin sleeveless and low-cut top, with a gold necklace on. It was a gold snowflake. She wore a gold crown, and a gold mask…HIS mask, as he noted form the far corner of the room. The gold eyes underneath glittered sadly with tears about to form. Wouldn’t he have loved to see her now? She flaunted the diamond engagement ring on her ring finger, as she walked about the room on her gold high heels, secretly searching for him.
And she saw him. At the far corner of the room, there stood a man with white satin, and silver embroidery robes. His hair was black, but streaked lightly with silver frost. He wore a silver mask…her mask.
She walked up to him, feeling a burst of courage as she remembered the necklace around her throat. She offered him her hand, and he took it, wordlessly, noting in his mind, however, that she was wearing their engagement ring.
As they danced, she realized how much she had missed him, and how much she still loved him, even though she had known that before. It was a reality check. She had not seen him in a so long, and she wanted to hold on to him forever. The chapter might have been closed, but she couldn’t help but go back to it again and again.
Her courage was quickly dissolving, as she felt her heart dissolve into tears once more. But she wouldn’t let it take her over.
As the evening drew to a close, the fairy tale started to drift away, as Serena realized that he wasn’t going to ask her again, that this night was the last night for them, and she whispered to him. “Darien…I, I…”
“Okay, it’s midnight!” Gail Larynce said into the microphone. “It’s time to unmask!”
Darien softly took of her mask, and looked away. He wasn’t going to look into those eyes expecting to find that the emotion he wanted wasn’t there. He didn’t want to know what her response was. He already felt bad enough.
He felt the mask being lifted off his eyes, and he looked down at her, as her eyes were averted and she looked at the mask in her beautiful, metallic gold-colored nails. He didn’t want her to look up at him.
“And let’s see who’s under the mistletoe this year!” Gail was saying. “Serena and Darien again! I think it’s trying to tell you something.”
Serena, surprised, looked up to find the gold mistletoe indeed above their heads, and a sudden tide of courage overtook her. She smiled quietly, as tears brimmed over her cheeks. It WAS meant to be. She turned to him, and said bravely, teasingly.
“So, my Ice Prince, what say you? Should we just give it up and accept fate?”
He smiled back, said silently, “What do you mean, my Sun Princess?”
“I think you are crazy about me,” she teased.
“I think you are insane about me,” he smiled back.
“What if I said you were true?”
“And what if I say that YOU were true?”
“Then I’d tell you I love you.”
“You would?” he was startled.
“Yes, I would.”
“And what if I said that I loved you?”
Serena was silent. The chapter wasn’t over. It just begun.
Darien kneeled down before her, and took her hand. “What if I told you that every time I’m without you, I want to scream injustice, and curse love? What if I told you that every time you smiled, I wanted to keel over with happiness, even if you weren’t smiling at me? And what if I told you that every time you talk to another young man I want to pull him away and keep you to myself? What if I asked you to marry me?”
Serena gaped. He was asking her again. She started to cry all over again, and looked into his eyes, and saw a world in there, and all of it was reflecting her. “What if I answered yes?”
