-1Serena Tsukino was lying on her bed with a cat curled up at her side and her pink phone glued to her ear.

"Why? What happened, Molly?" she squealed anxiously. This reaction, usually reserved for news about the latest Crossroads High School heartthrob, was in response to the probably lengthy absence of their teacher. The cat stirred, looking annoyed; Serena stroked her absently.

"Well, Melvin says that she finally got married, Serena. Isn't that great?" Molly said. Her voice told of the stars in her eyes. She was thinking of true love and happily ever afters.

"Yeah, that's wonderful! She'll have to go on a honeymoon!" Serena on the other hand was thinking of fewer afternoons spent in detention and more at the arcade. "Oh, that poor guy," she said in a still happy tone.

"Serena," Molly groaned.

"You're not the one who gets to spend so much quality time with her. It was so nice of her to runoff on Wednesday night," Serena responded.

"Now that she's got a guy, maybe she won't be so moody all the time."

"Yeah, she's got like 24-7 PMS or something. I bet now she'll only be mad when she doesn't get any," Serena replied.

"Serena!" Molly exclaimed. They laughed.

"I wonder who the sub'll be," Serena stated after she calmed down.

"Probably that crazy old bat we had last time," Molly said with a giggle.

"I hope not. Her looks alone scared me into being on time for a week," Serena said only half jokingly. Everyday, the woman in question wore over-large, horn-rimmed glasses, dresses with red floral print, and baggy stockings with her hair pulled severely into a bun. Her bright red, slightly smeared lipstick often found its way onto her teeth.

"Yeah, it was her personality that did it for me. I don't think she was all there," Molly replied. At the time, one student had been overheard to describe her as being like an "80-year-old gladiator turned cat lady."

"Definitely a few chapters short of a Manga," Serena agreed. "Maybe we'll get someone new."

"Maybe, I guess we'll find out. My mom has to use the phone. See you tomorrow, Babe," Molly said.

"Bye, Moll." Serena hung up. "Did you hear that, Luna? No detentions!" She scratched the cat behind the ears. "Hopefully she'll be gone a long while. Maybe she went to Antarctica or something for her honeymoon." She figured that was probably hoping too much, but a girl can dream. Serena turned out the light and settled down to sleep.

--

In an attempt to see the substitute first, Serena got to school ten minutes early. She, of course, had no such luck, seeing as ten minutes early was the norm for most students. Everyone was already in their desks, and no teacher was present. Serena took her seat and immediately turned to Melvin, who was proven to be the knower of all things gossip worthy. "What's going on?"

Melvin pushed up his glasses. "Mr. Greene is supposed to be introducing the sub. It seems he heard about what happened to the last one."

Serena grinned, remembering how she and her classmates had done everything they could to annoy "the Gladiator" without letting her find out who it was. It had been great to see her pull gum off her elbow while glaring at the whole class. The woman had deserved it, though, in Serena's scholarly opinion. She was weird and obsessively straightened the classroom. Serena had watched her aligning the desks with the floor tiles once. Her reverie was interrupted by a bell, and the class fell silent.

A few minutes later, a shadow appeared at the window before the superintendent walked in. He was quite round in the middle and had very little hair on his head. The red shade of his tie nearly matched his cheeks at times, especially after laughter, which he always seemed to be on the brink of.

"I expect you to show the utmost respect to the person that has agreed to take Ms. Haruna's place on such short notice. He is a college student, who is certified as a substitute. He was chosen specifically for the fact that he seems like a person you would listen to. Not only that, he promised that he's mean. None of the funny business we had last time, or there will be consequences." The superintendent glared around the room, which made him look almost comical. "He will be here in a few moments."

True to the superintendent's words, the substitute teacher walked in exactly two minutes later. The students greeted him with hurried whispers and even a few appreciative sighs. He walked to the desk and placed a red planner, identical to the one every other teacher has, on it. He turned sharply to the board and chose a marker. He then wrote "Mr. Shields" in large, neat letters in the center of the board.

Serena looked him up and down from his Nike tennis shoes and khakis to his pretty blue eyes and black hair. She noted that he wasn't wearing the ugly green blazer he always wore, instead opting for a navy sweater. Though she was more than willing to admire the way it showed off his frame, she assumed he wore it just to make a good first impression by seeming stylish to her peers; the jacket would soon reappear.

Mr. Shields turned and surveyed the class. Serena noticed that his eyes widened slightly at his notice of her, but he quickly masked the emotion. "He is mean, all right, and I'm not gonna listen to him just because he's playing teacher. I thought he wanted to be a doctor," Serena thought in annoyance. "Probably decided to switch to education on the off chance that he might someday be able to make my life hell."

"Ms. Haruna has taken several personal days. Until she returns, you're stuck with me. I won't bother to tell you my name as you all can read, or so I hope," Darien said. Noticing the glance in her direction, Serena glared.

Darien sat down and opened the planner. He looked at it for a few moments before looking back at the class. "Can anyone tell me exactly what you are reading in the literature book?" he asked. Almost every girl in the class raised her hand, excluding Amy and Serena, the later of whom had crossed her arms and was scowling. "Miss Anderson, would it be possible for you to fill me in?"

The girls looked jealously at Amy. The genius, however, merely nodded. "We're supposed to begin reading the excerpt from uThe Grapes of Wrath/u by John Steinbeck," she replied.

Mr. Shields flipped open his copy of the literature book. He glanced back at the planner. "Please read starting on page 318 and complete the questions on 330 for tomorrow." He began making notes when the class, the part that wasn't comprised of swooning girls, started their assignment.

Serena began to read the assigned chapter. There was no way she was giving the king of jerks a chance to pick on her. "Not that you would really mind," an inner voice goaded. She felt her ears turn pink. It was bad enough that things like that came to her when she was alone, but it was terrible that it happened in the middle of class and right in front of the guy.

As she continued to read, her eyelids began to droop, and she struggled to keep them open. "I won't get detention from a sub," she thought distantly as her head dropped into her book.

--

Serena was in the middle of the Crown Arcade. It was after school, the time she always visited. The strange thing was that the place was deserted. She looked around in confusion and realized that even Andrew wasn't there. She heard the doors slide open and turned to see Darien. Serena was getting more confused by the second. She didn't mind being alone with Darien. At least she'd have someone around to talk to, if being annoyed counted as talking. Darien walked up to her without saying a word. He put his arms around her waist and leaned over as if he was going to kiss her. Shocked by this action, she gasped, "Darien."

--

About ten minutes after giving the assignment, Darien became aware that there was light snoring coming from somewhere nearby. He looked up and, sure enough, saw that Serena was the source of the noise. He forced down the evil smile that threatened to cross his face. As terrible as it was, he could never pass up an opportunity to tease the girl. He knew it was childish, but her reactions were always so amusing. Plus, the pout she wore when angry was cute. Darien frowned the thought away.

As he stood from the desk, Darien's frown remained in place. He had realized that this was grounds for detention, which he would be forced to give if he wanted to remain in control of the classroom. This first day was no time to show leniency. Detention for her meant a late day for him, as well.

Moving to stand behind Serena, Darien felt the class watching him. He heard the girl murmur something. Had his face been visible to the room, they would have seen a range of emotions play across his face. "Did she just say my name?" he wondered. Though he wasn't entirely sure, he made a mental note to harass her about it later. Whether or not it was true, she'd be embarrassed. There was definitely a possibility that she could turn it around him, but Darien decided that she wouldn't be quick to do so.

Darien leaned down so that his mouth was just inches from Serena's ear. "If you'd be so kind as to grace us with your presence, Miss Tsukino," he said quite loudly. A few people snickered when Serena practically jumped out of her desk. Straightening, Darien told them to get back to work.

"I am present," Serena grumbled, craning her neck to glare at him.

"I'm aware that you are physically present. It's your presence of mind that I'm concerned about. I'll see you in detention, Miss Tsukino," he replied, sitting down in his chair.

Serena gaped at him. Detention for a five minute nap? This was so not fair. "I have to fall asleep, like, three times on a bad day for Ms. Haruna to give me detention!"

"Perhaps you'd like to visit detention tomorrow as well?" Mr. Shields suggested. Darien raised his eyebrow.

Serena glared at him. "That's okay, Mr. Shields," she said in sugary sweet tone.

This time Darien couldn't repress the smirk that came to his face.

--

Serena couldn't have been happier when the final bell rang. Sitting through class with Darien for an instructor was torture. On her list, it ranked right up there with getting up early and having her eyes scratched out by a cat repeatedly for all of eternity. She was able to look on the bright side a bit, though.

"All I have to do is survive detention, and I'm free for today," she muttered under her breath as she slid into the desk she always sat in during detention. Old habits die hard, as they say.

The major concern for her was that no one else had managed to earn a detention that day. She didn't know if she could be alone with Darien for an hour without trying to kill him or kiss him, whichever came first. "Today would be the day that no one is here," she grumbled.

"Don't I count as a person, Meatball Head?" Darien asked as he sat in his chair. Serena hadn't heard him come in. She glanced over and noticed that the door was closed.

"I don't think of you as a person, really," she threw back.

"Oh, so you spend time thinking about me, then?" Darien countered.

"Real mature, Darien. Start calling me names and annoying me as soon as no one's around."

To his credit, Darien didn't say anything about the flush that burned Serena's cheeks at his last comment. She had a point. "No harm meant."

"You should probably save the insults for somewhere else, 'cause, you know, you work here. I should complain. Do you think I could get you fired?" Her eyes sparkled at the possibility.

Another good point. She didn't have it in her, though. Well, he didn't think she had it in her. Best to seem nonchalant. "Sure, Serena, good plan. Don't you have homework or something to do? I'm sure I could find you something..." He began to grade a stack of papers.

"I've got plenty," she said, quickly pulling out papers to work on. She didn't need any more homework, and after he gave her detention, she wouldn't put anything past him.

After a few moments, Serena glanced up at him, noticing how his hair fell over his eyes. She attributed the desire to run her fingers through to its volume and gloss and rubbed them against her skirt, as if to brush the thought off. He was a total pain, yet she had a crush on him. "In what alternate universe does that make sense?" she wondered. Without realizing it, she sighed.

Darien looked up at the noise. "What? Do I have something on my face?" he joked.

"No," Serena replied, quickly looking down to her work. Darien, luckily, went back to grading papers, so he didn't see the blush that crept into her cheeks.

Serena finished her reading assignment and half a math paper before checking the clock. "Five minutes," she whispered.

Darien finished the last paper in his pile just as she said this and glanced at his watch. How to occupy these last moments? "What were you dreaming about, Meatball Head?" he asked.

"Names, Darien, names," Serena replied calmly. There was no way she was telling the jerk that she was dreaming about him.

Darien new that she was changing the subject on purpose, a good sign that he had heard correctly. "Fine. What were you dreaming about earlier in class, Serena," he asked, carefully spelling out his question.

"None of your business," she replied, crossing her arms.

"How many people do you know named Darien?" he inquired.

"You. Why?" Serena said shortly. At his snort, she demanded "What?"

"Nothing. It was just something you said..." Darien let his sentence trail off and smiled brightly at her.

Serena was distracted by his dazzling smile. "What do you mean "something I said?"

"Well, you said one word in your sleep..."

"One word?" Serena prodded. Realization dawned on her, and her eyes widened.

"I heard you say my name," Darien replied smugly. There was no way out of this one.

"Ha! You must be imagining things!" she laughed, but Serena felt the heat in her cheeks.

"So, Serena, just how much do you like me?" he teased, leaning back in his chair.

Serena glanced up at the clock. "I don't have to take this. Detention's over," she said. Serena gathered her books and stalked out of the room.

Darien grinned cheekily all the way to his car. This was just too funny. "Serena wants me," he thought. He nearly burst out laughing. "I don't miss high school."

AN: I just want to reiterate the fact that this is an alternate universe fic with no senshi. Though it is not specified anywhere within, you can assume that though DSSC is set in the same time period as the show, it occurs in the U.S., hence excessive confusion on Darien's part, English names, and American style school system. In the original version, I attempted to set it in a Japanese school, but even though I remember doing a lot of research, I had/have no real knowledge of how their schools work. The only thing I know is what I learn from the news, which suggests Japanese schools are highly stressful and competitive (read: large numbers students commit suicide, i.e. by slamming pencils into their brains … that's random trivia from a college student for you). In short, the Japanese school environment would not be conducive to this story, so the only specifically remaining thing here is the uniform.

Also, I am aware that the school may not seem to run like a typical American high school, so I shall explain. Haruna is Serena's homeroom and English teacher; Darien takes her place. I'm not particularly concerned with the other time because it's not pertinent to DSSC.