lyrasoze@hotmail.com		

Hi everyone! I have returned. Scary isn't it? Have you noticed that
all my chapter titles are questions? No coincidence, I assure you.
Actually, it is, and I just noticed it and I tried to come up with 
some type of dazzling symbolisim or a hilarious and witty reason
for said question-titled chapters. Drew a blank. So, they simply 
are. Eh.

Visit my Studio (please!) and sign my GuestBook (please!)
http://www.geocities.com/lyra_2040/lyras_studio.html

Thank you to Monica, Laura, Emily, Jen, Jen Squared and Jen Cubed, 
Amy, Mike's 1 and 2, Ashton, Zane, Lucas, Becky, Emily, Hannah, 
Kurt, Liz, Lezlie, Ben, Kaliswa and Tyler. You have all made 
these past few weeks educational and bright with your smiles 
and friendship. I love you all.

Enjoy the story and don't forget to email me to tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I have no money. Higher education is sucking my 
		resources dry, so if you sue me, all you get is
		a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and a few movies. 
		Not really worth your time, as I'm sure all you
		corporate lawyers will agree.

Operation: YES!!!
Chapter 3: Whose Line Is It, Anyway?
Rated PG-13

*~*~*~*~*Darien's POV*~*~*~*~*

	My day had been going rather well. My informants in each of 
Serena's classes had been more than willing to relate her reactions
to all my presents throughout the day. I must admit to being a bit
concerned after the eraser episode. But I remained calm, and my
hopes soared after hearing how her eyes had softened and her lips
had curved into a smile upon recieving my simple paper heart.

	The same lips that were now pressed to mine.

	I hadn't known what to expect when I stopped by her locker
after school. I hoped to hear a 'Yes, Darien I would be delighted
to attend the Prom with you.' Though I expected something more 
along the lines of 'All right, Chiba, I give up!' I would have
been thrilled with either answer. But instead of replying verbally,
Serena dropped the teddy bear, balloons and her bag to wrap her
arms around me. And to pull my head down to hers and touch her
lips to mine.

	- Wow. Umm, right. Well, nothing for it. After all, she 
started it. So, I might as well participate. -

	Good strong logic. So after a millisecond of shock, I closed 
my arms around her and pulled her body closer to mine. The kiss
fairly chaste, just two lips touching two lips. But after a 
while, male instinct compelled me to heat it up a bit, so I
bid logic a fond farewell and turned the reigns over to my hormones.
I nudged her lips with mine, never breaking the contact. She was
very willing to follow my lead, and parted her lips ever so
slightly. I did the same, and the kiss progressed from calm
and controlled to just below boiling. 

	Now, I remember every detail of this kiss. And why? Well,
aside from the fact that it was taking place in the main hallway
of my high school, it was the most wonderful kiss I had ever
experienced. There was genuine feeling behind it. And the feeling 
was not coming only from her. And I was not about to muck 
it up by pulling away.

*~*~*~*~*Serena's POV*~*~*~*~*

	I have a serious impulse control problem. I accept this as
a basic character flaw, one that I intended to work on and improve.
The idea of kissing Chiba occured to me in a flash as the perfect
way to get rid of him. The theory was that I would kiss him, he
would be startled, pull away, and cease his pursuit. I didn't
count on him being an active participant. Not only had he *not*
pulled away, he had pulled me closer. And the fact that he seemed
to be enjoying himself did not help at all. The mere notion that
*I* was enjoying myself was catastrophic.

	And I was having a *damn* good time. I mean, I am neither
carved from ice nor dead, and any red blooded female being kissed
rather skillfully by a six foot two, raven haired, blue eyed
exceptionally attractive male is going to feel something. So,
the seconds passed, and Chiba intensified the kiss, and I was
in heaven and not ashamed to admit it.

	It was the clapping that tore me out of my blissful little
bubble. That and the calls of 'PDA! PDA!' that my classmates were
yelling. I opened my eyes slightly and beheld Darien's friends, my
friends, and a circle of total strangers standing around us in a 
semicircle. Great. 

	So I pulled back. I didn't want to, and it may very well have
been the hardest thing I will ever do, but I broke the kiss. Chiba 
let me break the kiss, but he didn't let me go. I moved as far away 
from him as I could, but he was having none of that, and pulled me
back. I pulled away, he pulled me back. Not that I was putting up
much of a fight, mind you. The semicircle began to disperse, whispers
of 'She has to say yes now!' abounding.

	- *Why* does the whole school give so much of a damn 
about my love life? - I pondered this question briefly as 
I concentrated on putting a large amount of space between 
me and the only person I had ever met who had the 
disturbing ability to make my hormones dance the mambo.   

	"Let go," I whispered. 

	He did. I retreated several paces and he leaned back against 
the lockers, smiling slightly. He didn't move and neither did I.

	"Are you leaving?" I asked, tinging my voice with disdain.

	"Are you?" he responded with a wider smile. I got the
distinct impression that he wasn't leaving until I did. Great.
So we just stood for a while, staring at each other in an
empty hallway. 

	"Uh, Serena?" 

	I turned. There was Anthony, one of the cutest boys in the 
junior class. I flipped on my megawatt smile, and tipped my
head to the side in a way that I have been told accents my eyes
and causes my hair to cascade to one side. And I know it is true
because I have practiced in front of the mirror. Always good to
be prepared!

	"Yes?"

	"Well, I was wondering...I know that Darien Chiba asked you
already, but I heard you said no, and so I was wondering if maybe
you wanted to go to the Prom with me?"

	I couldn't believe it. Salvation was at hand. I would accept,
Darien would find someone else to harass, and all would be well. But
the tiniest part of me was dissappointed. It had been really
flattering to have Darien Chiba spending so much money and time
on me. I could afford to admit that now. So I smiled at Anthony 
again, and opened my mouth to say yes...

	Chiba kicked off from the lockers, and walked around to my
side. He towered over me, and now that I was looking, I saw that
he was taller than Anthony too. 

	"The lady is taken," Chiba stated, his voice as calm and 
unruffled as ever.

	"Oh, right. Silly of me to even ask. Of course you'd choose
to go with him..." and Anthony scurried away, taking with him my
last ray of hope for Prom. It took me a moment to stop gaping in
the direction that Anthony had gone. I admit that my wits had 
packed their bags and headed to Cancun without me. They returned
shortly, tamales, hot sauce and a few other spices in hand.

	Furious, I whirled away from Darien, bending to gather my 
things. He knelt to assist me. I snatched my bag from his hands, 
stood, and marched down the hall. He followed. He didn't try to 
talk to me; he just walked along beside me, a menacing presence. 
We reached the front doors in record time, I moved to bump the 
door open with my hip, and he not only pushed the door open 
before I did, he held it open for me!

	I had a sudden mental picture of the evening of Prom. Chiba
seemed to be a gentleman in every sense of the word, meaning that
he would not only open doors for me, he would probably pull my 
chair out at the resteraunt and stand up when I left the table
and when I returned. I love it when guys do that. Admit it ladies, 
we are all suckers for romance. And this guy had all the right moves.

	Unfair. Deeply and truly unfair. And the reason it was 
so unfair is that not many guys are aware of little things 
like that. And when they do remember, and better yet, 
when they remember *for me*, my heart just melts. 

	I think Chiba knew at that moment just how close I was to 
breaking down. I think this because when I returned my mind to
my body, he was staring down at me with this soft smile. I realized 
that I had been staring at him and had yet to walk through the 
door, which he was still holding for me. I smiled slightly and
walked through. Temptation was strong to say yes. And then I
remembered how arrogant he had been at the arcade and how he
had ruined my chances to go to Prom with anyone else.

	I turned and faced him.

	"Haven't you done enough for one day? Not only have you 
embarrassed me repeatedly," -No, I will *not* admit to being
flattered by the attention. I will resist! Must be strong. 
Damn those eyes are sexy. No, must be strong...- "but you
have ruined my chances to go to the Prom, an event that I,
surprisingly enough, want to attend!" 

	I paused after my tirad, rather proud of myself. He
looked surprised, and then smug and self-assured. Oh, no.
I must have said something to encourage him...

	"Well, I am delighted to hear that you want to attend
Prom."

	-Damn it!- 

	"It just so happens that I am available that night..."

	"Do you ever give up?!"

	"Not often, no."

	I shook my head back and forth. I gave in to exasperation and
puzzlement.

	"Why are you doing this to me? I am not popular, I am not 
the little sister of one of your friends. So why are you doing 
this to me?"

	"Because you're a great kisser."

	Oh, that was good. Really good. I gaped at him. He found a 
better use for my mouth. He leaned in and covered my mouth with 
his before my sarcastic sense of pride got me in trouble again. 
I made a mental note to thank him someday. Unfortunately, the
location of this kiss was even more public than the last, and 
it wasn't long enough after school for the majority of the 
student body to head back home. So even more of my classmates
saw Darien Chiba and me locked in a deeply interesting embrace.

	And I was not getting off as easily as I had the last time.
He locked his arms around me so that he was in control. And I,
for some *odd* reason, didn't feel like fighting. Thump. That 
was my bag and teddy bear falling to the ground. Thump. That
was his bag hitting cement. 

	I wiggled a little and his arms tightened. Obviously, Darien
was not letting me go. Notice that my brain had made the transition
from 'Chiba' to 'Darien'. I theorized that kissing someone in plain 
view of our entire school put us on a first name basis.

	The moments passed

*~*~*~*~*Darien's POV*~*~*~*~*

	That question shook me. Why *was* I doing this? Her question made
a great deal of sense. After all, before yesterday I had barely been
aware of her existance. And then she had been in the right place at
the right time...and now I was in relentless pursuit of a girl I knew
virtually nothing about.

	Crazy. She was right. I was crazy.

	But I wanted to know her. When she asked that question, 
I realized that I wanted to know this girl. I wanted to talk 
to her, find out more than what her favorite chocolates were 
and what the teddy bear she'd wanted for her collection looked 
like. I wanted to know *her*. What interested her, what bored 
her to death, what her favorite book was, what kind of movies
she liked. I wanted to get to know her. 

	When I realized that, my attitude toward this 
whole pursuit changed. It wasn't about winning anymore. I 
genuinely wanted Serena to attend the Prom with me. 

	What I should have done was tell her that. But I am not really 
all that great at expressing my emotions. So I kissed her instead.

	Hey, whatever works.

	And it worked. Boy, did it work. I locked my arms around 
her waist and she wrapped her arms around my neck, and the 
building could have exploded and I wouldn't have given a 
damn. Of course, an explosion didoccur. My classmates all 
stopped where they stood for a few moments, andstarted 
cheering all at once. And it was an explosion of great 
quality. Applause, cheers, whooping, 'You go, girl!' 
and 'Awesome, man!' surrounded us. I was more than willing 
to pretend that they didn't exist. Serena was not quite so 
willing. She pulled back a little, and I let her go. Stupid 
is what that was. An incredibly stupid thing to do. 

	She looked at me, knelt, picked up her things and 
started to stalk away. Hold on, time out. Had we not just 
kissed? I reviewed the facts. Why, yes, we had. In front of 
the majority of our school. And she had been a willing 
participant. And yet she was walking away from me mere 
moments after our second kiss in less than 8 minutes had 
ended. And she hadn't responded to my repeated proposals! 
And she was glaring at me. Whoa, if looks could kill...

	But I had to try one more time. I reached out and 
touched her shoulder. When I did, she turned and our eyes met.

	"Please?" I whispered. My lips barely moved, and I am 
surprised she heard me. She looked at me, her eyes searching 
mine carefully. Looking for ulterior motives or the meaning 
of life, I couldn't really be sure which. 

	No response. None at all. She just stared at me, and 
the expression in her eyes shifted slowly from searching 
and to furious.

	"Back off, jocko," she stated, and stalked down the 
street, balloons bobbing behind her. 

	I watched her go, my body stiff with tension. Well, I 
had no one to blame but myself. Instead of telling that 
beautiful, exasperating, fun loving, milkshake-dumping girl 
that I really wanted to escort her to the Prom, I had acted 
like a prime evil Neanderthal. Og want mate, club mate with 
briefcase, drag off by hair. 

	Well, hell.

	But I took it as encouragement that there had been little 
malice in her parting words, and more confusion masked with 
sarcasam. And so I had no intention of backing down. I had 
one more ace up my sleeve.

*~*~*~*~*Serena's POV*~*~*~*~*

	I got all the way home in a cloud of righteous indignation. 
I realized as I made my way up the stairs that I had instigated 
the first kiss. I made it all the way to my bedroom before my 
anger faded just enough to remind me that I had been a 
willing participant in the second kiss. And by the time I 
had dropped my armload of stuff, I was feeling distinct pangs 
of remorse for my harsh words. 

	I had been unfair, unreasonable, and just a tad bratty. 
I hate it when I slip into that kind of mentality. It annoyed 
me to no end that I had not caught myself. I felt bad, that's 
what I felt. And I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep 
before I apologized.

	Now, it is important to note here that I was feeling 
guilty. And if there is a person in the world who has never 
felt that apprehensive tightening and numbing of the stomach 
muscles, then they have never truly lived. And my problem is 
that once I begin feeling guilty, I concentrate on what I've 
done until it is blown completely out of proportion in my 
mind. Another character flaw I simply must improve upon. 

	And so it was that I found myself staring at my phone, 
which had been beeping rather aggrivatingly when I came into 
the room. Now that it was back on the hook, the contraption 
just sat there, a silent piece of plastic and insulated wire. 
I reached for it several times before I managed to convince 
myself to actually pick up the reciever. And when I did, I 
dialed information. I was not about to call a random 
classmate, or worse, one of my friends, to acquire Darien's 
phone number. So I called the impersonal and completly 
neutral people at the other end of 411 for the information 
I sought.

	The man on the other end of this converstation provided 
me the number, and asked if I would like to be connected at no 
charge. I declined. And that was the end of that. I placed the 
reciever in the cradle and stared at the slip of paper in my 
hand. Just 8 numbers seperating me from a good night's sleep. 
And I needed my rest. With a bravado I didn't feel, I picked 
the reciever up once again and began pressing the 
digits. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. I held the reciever. The connection 
rang once. Twice. Three times. Again.

	'Hey. You have the machine. You know what to do.'

	BEEP.

	'Darien, this is Serena. I'm sorry I snapped at you after 
the, uh, the...kiss. I didn't mean it and I hope I didn't hurt 
your feelings. Thanks.'

	And I hung up, feeling vindicated and as though a huge 
weight had lifted off my shoulders. I had been calm, neutral, 
and managed not to hang up just after the beep. I had left a 
message. Wonderful! I felt much better. And so, apology 
completed, I headed downstairs for dinner.

*~*~*~*~*Darien's POV*~*~*~*~*

	When I walked into my apartment later that afternoon, 
the last thing I expected was a message. I have neither name 
nor number on my message, and that means that no one is certain 
whether they have called the right number. So they hang up. 
It discourages most people. And yet today, the message light 
was flashing. Curious, I walked over to the small gray box 
and pushed the long white button.

	'Darien, this is Serena. I'm sorry I snapped at you 
after the, uh, the...kiss. I didn't mean it and I hope I 
didn't hurt your feelings. Thanks.'

	BEEP.

	To say I was blown away would be an understatement of 
the largest genre. An apology? For putting me in my place 
again? 

	Cool.

	I would not take this as an encouragement. That would 
be premature. But there had been a connection this afternoon. 
So, the way I had it figured, I had one more shot with Serena. 

	I spent the majority of the evening completing my homework 
and pondering my last chance. Publicly announcing my intentions 
and invitation hadn't worked, and neither had scattering 
little gifts in strategic locations. The only thing I hadn't 
tried was personal invitation. That was what I had to do. Once 
more, with feeling.

	As I began my preperations, I smiled. This time, I wouldn't 
screw up. This time, I would be charming, genuine and earnest. 
This time, she would say yes. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

	Whew! That took quite a bit of doing to get done. Lots of 
*evil* writers block. But I managed to make it to the end at long 
last! I hope you enjoyed it...

	To all those who have reviewed on Fanfiction.net, I thank 
you sincerly. I never expected this kind of response to 
Operation: YES!!! and am so honored that so many of you enjoyed 
it. 

	Now that I have thanked you all, *please* review! I live 
off of feedback. I thrive from feedback. I NEED feedback. If 
you've already reviewed, review again! Say you liked it, say 
you hated it, but leave a note for me in the little box. 
*Please*?

lyrasoze@hotmail.com