Darien
Chapter 13- Am I Falling For Her?
 

        I watched the performance.  It ran more smoothly than any of their rehearsals.  The audience was great, too.  They laughed in all the right places and even applauded after good lines.  Some people don't realize how important an audience is to a production.  There have been cast members breaking down backstage because nobody laughed at their lines or something.  The audience can make or break a production.  This audience definitely made it!
        I enjoyed watching Serena, even if she did look like Jasmine.  She was a very talented actress and really got into her role.  I was biased of course, but I thought she was the best one on stage.  Jasmine definitely wasn't anywhere near as beautiful as Serena.  But then again, Serena had an unfair advantage.  Serena was the Princess of the whole universe.  It was one of her jobs to be beautiful.  But she did it so well!
        On my way back to my room, I got some doughnuts and coffee.  I returned to my apartment, anxious for it to be tomorrow.  I sat down on my bed and opened the book I had been reading.  It was on Jupiter.  When I saw the picture of Lita as a child, I recognized her.  DEFINITELY recognized her.  I remembered looking at her on a bright day.  She was picking flowers and talking to me.  That was the end of my flash back.  Now I was certain I was born on Jupiter.  I must have been a Delegate's son or something.  Maybe one of the men in that crashed airplane was my father?
        I decided not to tell Serena my findings.  After all, she'd want to help me find my parents if she knew too much.  That wouldn't have been bad except for the fact that I still had the feeling like I somehow escaped certain danger by running away.  Serena wouldn't understand that.  I was also glad that she still hadn't asked about my patch.  Maybe she knew it was a sensitive subject with me.  In any case, there were still a few things that I did not want her knowing about me.  I finally gave up thinking and decided to get some sleep before tomorrow.
        I woke up to the sound of Serena's voice.  "Tuxedo Mask...?  Wake up.  It's morning.  Tuxedo Mask?  Are you alright?"  I opened my eyes and saw her face right above mine.  I had it in my right mind to just take her head in my hands and kiss her, but I didn't.  If only I could wake up every morning to that beautiful face.  She smiled down at me.
        "Tuxedo Mask, are you feeling well?" Serena asked me with concern.
        "Better now." I said with out thinking.  I stopped before saying anything else.  I had to wake up before I spoke again, otherwise I may as well just throw her down on my bed and make love to her right now.  I sat up in bed.  Luckily, I sleep in my boxers, so I wasn't naked.  I don't think she’d ever seen a man in his underwear though.  When she saw what I was wearing, she gasped, blushed and turned around.  She clenched her fists at her sides and was holding her breath.
I laughed.
        "I'm sorry Serena.  Is it 'improper' for you to be in a room with a barely clothed man?  Or am I just too hideous to look at?"
        She turned to me.  She was bright red, now.  She looked at my body and let out an almost inaudible squeak.  "No, you are not horrible to look at.  You are very... pleasing...to the eyes.  B-But I thought you might be uncomfortable."
        Me, uncomfortable?  Serena was so flustered, she was squirming around and stuttering, not able to form straight sentences.  I felt bad for her.  I had made her feel stupid.  I asked her to excuse me and I crossed them room to the bathroom and got on my pants and brushed my teeth.  You'd be surprised what they sold in the gift shop next to the center.  Long ago, I had found a way in through, you guessed it, the vents.  It was how I got my shampoo and toothbrush and paste.  Not to mention my other essentials including a razor that let me shave and scissors that let me trim my hair.  I got good at making it even, but my first few attempts... We just won't talk about them.
        I sat down on the couch with my pants on now, and she sat next to me.  Our normal routine.  I reached for the covered doughnuts and asked if she wanted any.  She said no so I decided to wait to eat.  I wasn't really hungry yet.
        "Congratulations on your performance last night, 'Jasmine'." I said.
        She giggled.  "You liked it?"  I liked you.
        "Yeah.  It was the best I had ever seen any of you perform.  I had seen the rehearsals and was not too sure how it would go.  But your cast pulled it off with no problems or mistakes."
        "Thank you.  Tuxedo Mask?"
        "Yeah?"
        "Do you have a favorite play."
        I thought about the question a moment.  I never really chose a favorite.
        "Not really.  Why?  Do you?"
        "Yes." Serena replied smiling.  "Snow White."
        I knew that one.  It made sense that Serena would choose that play.  It was about royalty, after all.  Humans are creatures of habit.  Like if you walk into a classroom and you sit in a certain chair, when you come the next day, you will sit there again, assigned seat or not.  Serena was sticking with what she knew from her own life.
        I was beginning to get hungry.  "Sure you don't want a doughnut?  I have powdered..." I coaxed in a sing-songy voice.  She laughed and accepted this time.  I got up to go put on some coffee.  Then I thought better of it.  I thought Serena would like tea better.  I came and sat back down with a teakettle and cups.
        "Well, since you seem to know so much about my likes and dislikes," the cheesecake and now the doughnuts, "I wish to know some things about you."
        Oh great.  Here it comes.  I thought.
        "What are YOUR weaknesses when it comes to food?"
        I was relieved.  She did not want to pry!
        We talked about basic things for hours... Food, clothes, plays, books, her tutors, funny things that have happened to people in the community center.  Then we got onto more of a deeper level.  We started talking about issues like abuse, rape, poverty, sickness...  I found that for someone who I presumed to be so innocent, she knew an awful lot about what problems there were in the world.  She and I agreed on a lot of points.  Especially about abuse.  This was the first time that we actually just talked for the sole purpose of getting to know each other better.  Before, I had just been trying to avoid the topic of my past.
        After a long while I got an idea.
        "Serena."
        "Yes?"
        "The center is closed today because it's Sunday, and I usually return the books I took out and get new ones today.  Would you like to come with me?"
        Serena thought a moment.  "I'd love to, Tuxedo Mask."
        I opened the door on the left and got to where there was enough room for her to follow me before motioning her in after me.  We crawled through the tunnels until we got to the platform that was the ceiling of the library.  I opened the normal vent and jumped down onto the floor.  I then ran and got a ladder and climbed back up.  I motioned for her to come closer.
        "Serena, can you climb down this ladder?"
        Serena looked down.  "Yes."
        I climbed down the ladder and she followed.  When she was on the ground, we began picking out books.  I found quite a few but only ended up picking three.  Serena grabbed two of her favorite stories and we headed back up the ladder to my room.  We set the books down on the table and sat back on the couch.
        "Do you get books like that all the time?" she asked.
        "No.  But I figured you wouldn't be one to want to go snaking through tunnels like me."
        She grinned.  We both picked up a book and started reading.  After a minute or two she looked at the cover of my book.
        "What is that a story of?"
        I looked up.  I could tell she would not be satisfied just reading all day.  "I don't know yet.  Come over here and I'll read it to you.  She glowed in a way that only she could.  She came very close and I started the book over again. She seemed to love having me read to her.  To this day, I am not sure how, but by the middle of the book I was leaning against the couch armrest with a pillow behind me with my feet on the couch and Serena was leaning against my chest on her side in between my legs.  I did not realize the change of position had occurred until I began to feel my right nipple being touched.  I looked down and saw Serena, making circles around it with her finger.  She was so soft and gentle, I could not help but immediately get turned on.  Her touch now added to her beauty.  Not to mention the smell of her hair.  Coconut.  It was intoxicating.  I only succeeded in getting myself more aroused than I had been.
        "You do realize that that is distracting, Serena?" I stated teasingly.  She looked up and got beat red.  I do not believe she even realized she had been doing it.
        "Sorry." she said, embarrassed and avoiding my eyes.
        "Hey, don't apologize to me.  It felt good."  Why did I say that?  My mouth had gotten me into more trouble than it was worth.
        I glanced at the clock.  "Didn't you say you needed to be home by five-thirty?  It's five now.  Perhaps you should be on your way."  Serena agreed and we said our good-byes.

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