"SERENA! You're going to be late for school!" her mother yelled for her daughter to wake up. "Did I mention again? Get to it young lady!"
"Serena, don't you think you should listen to your mother?" Luna, her little black cat asked. She got a groan in return. Serena sat up and looked lazily around her. While stretching, she asked Luna,
"You know what? I had the most wonderful dream last night! Darien and I-"
"Serena hurry up!" Luna shouted.
"Ok, ok. I'm up! Geez! Luna, have you seen my locket? I can't find it!"
"Here it is," she turned to face Rini. Rini gave it to her.
"Thanks Rini. I'll see you after school, at Raye's, ok?"
"Yeah, if you're not late because of detention!" Rini laughed at her future mother. Although Rini was half the age of 15 year old Serena, she was much more mature in many ways. However, when it came to being a Scout, Serena was definitely very mature. Serena knew Rini was probably right about detention. Man, would Raye give it to her if she was late. She looked at her watch; five minutes to get to school. If she ran, she could make it. Serena sprinted into class just as the bell rang.
"Glad you could join us, Serena," Mrs. Haruna said.
"Aw, Mrs. H, at least I'm not late," Serena added, "again." which caused the class to snicker.
"Yes, that's true. Your second week of high school, and you have already gotten seven detentions. Let's hope you are on time more often."
"Yes, Mrs. H." Serena took her seat, and tried to stay awake through lunch. 'Only 19 more minutes', Serena thought, as she heard the most dreaded words of her life, besides homework, and reports, that is;
"Pop quiz, class! Take out a sheet of paper and number it one through six." Serena whimpered, but knew this was high school, and this was life. Soon after they were finished, the bell rang for lunch, and the class was dismissed. Serena and Ami met each other in the hallway, and walked to Lita's locker. Unbelievably, none of the Scouts had any classes together. Ami was in all the high AP classes, Mina and Lita were split in the middle, and Serena was in all the Skills classes.
"Hey Ames. What's up?"
"Nothing, Serena. How about you?"
"(Groan) We had a pop quiz, that I failed."
"Serena, you failed another one?"
"I think so."
"This is high school! You have to start getting serious!" Serena started her famous water works as they approached Lita and Mina.
"What's wrong with her?" Lita shouted above the racket.
"She isn't doing too well in school."
"Hey, chill Serena! You can make it up in no time!"
"Thanks Mina," Serena sniffled. The four girls walked to their picnic table where they met up with Molly and Melvin. After lunch, Serena dreaded going back to class. 'Hey, only two more hours until I get to go home. But than again, I'll probably have to show mom my quiz. I can't win!' Serena got back her quiz, getting a F, just as she thought she would.
"Serena, may I see you after class?"
"Uh, sure Mrs. H." The end of the day came slow enough, and Serena quickly stepped outside to tell Ami the news. "So, I'll see ya later. Make sure Raye knows it's not a detention, ok?" Serena went back inside.
"Serena, this is high school now. You must take school seriously. It's not like when you were in JH, ok? I mean, I have been with you guys for over two years, and I even came to high school, but I won't always be with you, understood?
Serena walked slowly to Raye’s temple. She didn’t really want to o to a Scouts meeting today. Not after the lectures she got from Mrs. H and Ami. Being a freshman was hard on her, especially since she probably wouldn't see any of her friends after that. Serena thought about how the next three years were split up among school systems. Every student in the building, which held only freshmen, would take a test, placing them in certain schools. The smart ones would go to one school, the average would go to another school, and the ones who had no idea what they were doing, would go to a third school. Serena knew her friends would be going to the smarter and average schools, while she would probably be going to the last school. She sighed as she walked up the steps to the temple. Serena heard voices and laughter that she knew would soon stop when she entered the room. Then Raye would start yelling at her for being late. Always the same, she thought to herself. As she opened the door, all eyes turned to her as she knew they would. She braced herself for Raye’s lecture, but nothing came.
"Hey Serena. Ami was telling us about your, um, school grades," Raye said, motioning for Serena to sit down.
"Guys, it was one lousy quiz worth six points. No big deal, really," Serena answered.
"Serena, this is high school. Nothing is no big deal. Every grade counts," Mina said. Serena started to laugh.
"You know, I am really tired of people lecturing me about my grades!"
”We’re only looking out for you." Lita explained.
"Well, don’t." Serena stomped out the door. Raye started to go after her, but was stopped by Ami. ' I cant believe they are so worked up over a little quiz! Geez! Its not that-' " Hey! Watch where ya going, buddy!" Serena turned around to see the person she bumped into and immediately blushed. “Darien! I’m so sorry.” She went to hug her love.
"So k, meatball head". Hey, what’s wrong?”
"Oh, I got a bad quiz grade, that’s all."
"Another one? Serena, I know the Scouts have probably been lecturing you, but you should really listen to them. Your freshman year is very important".
"Look, Darien. I’ll pull through. I always do. Chill. Wanna get something to eat?"
"Yes, but not with you. Serena, I think I should stop seeing you," Darien looked at the disbelief in her eyes. It hurt him so much to see her like this. "Only for a while, ok? Maybe this will help you get your grades up." He pried her off of him, and walked away, leaving her in tears. She moped all the way home. When she got t her house, her mother greeted her with a frown.
"Serena, your teacher called us today. Honey, we warned you that if your grades didn’t go up, we would have to punish you. Sorry, but until your grades go up, even to at least a C, you are grounded. Go to your room, and we'll call you when dinner is ready." Serena walked quietly to her room. When she opened her door, she expected to find Rini looking at her comics, but in her place was a note.
'Sorry Sere. Your mom said I keep you from studying so she said I cant spend time with you anymore. ~Rini.' Serena rolled her eyes. 'This is so dumb. What did Darien say, listen to my friends? I better, or I'll never have any fun again. What did he mean listen to them? I heard what they were saying, but that would be too easy. Darien always looks at the bigger picture. What is the bigger picture? Is it...' Serena was interrupted by her cat, Luna.
”Shouldn’t you do your homework?" Serena looked at Luna, and decided her thoughts would have to wait. After all, Luna had that 'do what I say or get scratched' look in her eyes. She sat down at her desk, and began reading her assignments. Before long, she had one of her assignments done, and another one half way finished. She had to stop because she was called down to dinner. As Serena took her seat next to Rini, she suddenly thought that there had been no monsters since the distruction of the Nega Moon. She also thought about when they had sent Rini home, but less than a year later, she returned with a note, saying she was to be trained as a scout. This was two weeks ago. She ate her dinner quickly, but before leaving the table, she asked,
"Mom, when I finish all my homework, can Rini come back?"
"No. There is two more hours until you have to go to bed, and you will spend all your extra time studying." Serena gave her mom a quick glance of anger, and went to her room. She finished her last two assignments, and decided she wanted to take a bath, before studying, which her mother agreed to. She undressed, and as soon as she stepped into the tub, she slipped and fell, losing conscience. Rini was the one who heard the soft thud, and knowing immediately that it was Serena, she went up to see what happened. She went into the bathroom, and almost fainted at the sight. Her future mother was laying there in the tub, blood flowing out of her head.
"Help! Someone!" Serena’s parents came running up. Rini was shocked, but she knew what she had to do. She called 911, and soon Serena's body was in an ambulance, with her parents close behind her. Sammy and Rini were instructed to stay home. Rini knew it would be a long night. Something didn’t feel right about what had happened. Sure, Serena is a klutz, but not this klutzy. Rini went up to the bathroom, and took out a cup. There was something that coated the bathtub floor. She scooped some into the cup and went to hers and Serena’s room. There, after shutting the door, she called to her Luna P.
" Pua, what do you think of this stuff?" Rini gave the cup to her.
"Why, Small Lady. It appears to be some sort of oil."
"Hmmm. Tell me more".
"Well, when it comes into contact with human skin, it becomes very slippery. Worse than black ice, in fact. Why do you ask, Small Lady?"
"Uh, I will have to tell you later, Pua. Right now, I have to notify the Scouts." Rini searched for her communicator, pressed the call button and said, "All scouts! We have an emergency! Meet at Raye’s for details!" She quickly turned it off, for she did not want any questions. As she was running out the door, she caught a glimpse of something. It was Serena’s locket. ' Don’t know why, but I feel I should take this.'
"Rini! Where are you going?" Luna had stopped in Rini’s path. "What if a monster comes to you on the way to Raye’s? You know we haven’t figured out a way for you to transform yet!"
"Luna, I’ve got to go! Luna P, come!" Rini went quietly down the stairs, not wanting to alarm Sammy. Luna and Luna P were at her heals. She ran all the way to Raye’s, and when everyone got there, including Darien, she explained what had happened.
"Can we see her?" Raye asked.
"No. No one but family can. But look here; Luna P, tell us of the oil!" Luna P recited what she knew, and all the Scouts looked at each other.
"You mean, there is another Nega Verse?" Darien asked. "But we have had peace for almost a year!"
"I just don’t know what to make of it". Ami said. "The oil is nothing like I’ve ever seen, except, it seems there are footprints left in it. The only thing I can tell it that these footprints aren’t human." Raye stood up.
"I think we should do a fire reading. Than we go to the hospital." Everyone agreed. "Oh, Great Fire. Tell us of our new enemy!" Everyone waited for a second, before seeing a picture of Crystal Tokyo. King Endymion and Neo~Queen Serenity were there, with Princess Rini by their side. Princess Rini’s eyes flashed an evil red, and the scene changed to her with a burning Crystal Tokyo in her hands. Then, the flames returned to normal. Everyone turned to Rini. "It must mean something," Raye said. Rini just stared at the flames.
"Rini, we know you would never hurt any of us. Well figure out what this means." Mina said.
"No, I think I already know." Everyone stared at Rini once again.
