The Wish

Chapter Two, Genius:

She sat down at her desk to begin studying, but for once she had
serious trouble studying or concentrating on anything for that
matter. She closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, and thought to
herself for awhile. *It\'s exhausting living up to everyone\'s
expectations of me,* she thought tiredly.

She was known as the genius, but she wasn\'t really much
smarter than anyone else. She had simply studied hard and applied
her mind. Serena could probably do almost as well in school if she
just focused and did all the required work Amy felt. How true that
statement is may never be known for sure, but it was definitely
hard work that helped get Amy that title. She was tired of always
being known simply by her intelligence though. Yes she enjoyed school
and worked hard and was responsible, but she had her own inner demons
too. She had long ago worked hard to get someone\'s attention. That\'s
right. She was a super achiever because she hoped it would bring her
absent father home. No such luck she thought ironically. He never had
come back. She knew he was divorced from her mother and that he was an
artist who needed to travel for his job, but he also had a famiy and a
daughter that he conveniently forgot to ever visit or help take care
of. Sure he sent child support, but the money wasn\'t what she wanted
or needed. She needed to get his attention and love. *Nothing I do
will ever get his attention though,* Amy thought miserably as she
closed her textbook and put it away in her backpack. *No use trying
to study when I get like this,* she silently realized. She looked at
her watch. Almost time for the sailor soldier meeting. She didn\'t
want to be late.

When she got there, Luna and Raye were the only ones there.
Lita came in next. Mina was a tad bit late, and Serena came running in
breathless a fair amount of time later.

\"Serena you need to start taking your responsibilities more
seriously,\" she said in a commanding tone of voice. \"In fact you all
need to take your responsibilities more seriously,\" Luna added.

\"Aw come on Luna we just want to have some fun,\" Mina said.

\"Yeah,\" Serena added in the same light tone of voice. Mina and
Serena grinned and giggled together.

Luna shook her head. \"Queen Serenity made wishes for all of
you so you would all have better lives, and you\'re all wasting your
opportunity,\" she said sadly, walking out of the door to be by
herself. Artemis looked at them all in distaste then followed Luna
out the door to give her company and comfort.

Amy was looking down in guilt. *Did we really fail Queen
Serenity when she gave us a new chance at life?* she wondered in
guilt. Raye was also pondering the words of Luna. Mina and Serena got
Lita up to dance with them and try to forget the harsh words of the
cat who never let them have any fun.

After the meeting, she went walking around downtown for
awhile before she met back up with Raye and Luna to train. \"Where are
those three?\" Luna asked in exasperation.

\"They went to the arcade,\" Raye informed the curious cat.

Luna sighed. \"At least Mars and Mercury came to train,\"
Artemis said hopefully.

Luna sighed again. \"We need them all to come to the training
sessions. I swear those three don\'t take anything seriously,
especially Serena.\"

\"You\'re always hardest on her,\" Amy commented.

\"Well she is my charge. I daresay it would do Mina some good
if Artemis were stricter with her as well, but as it is Mina probably
controls Artemis more than he controls her.\"

\"I\'m not looking to control or be controlled by anyone,\" said
Artemis.

\"Maybe you\'re right.\" Luna sighed again. \"It\'s just so hard
to know what to do anymore.\"

\"I don\'t think you\'re too hard on her Luna. I think Mina and
Serena need that,\" Raye chimed in.

\"Aww just let them have some fun,\" said Artemis.

\"Meanwhile let\'s all train,\" Amy said. The others nodded
their heads in agreement. \"Mercury Power!!\"

\"Mars Power!!\" shouted Raye.

In a twirl of lights the two sailor soldiers of Mercury and
Mars stood before the guardian cats to commence training.

The next day was an important one for Amy as she was going
with her after school club to see a new art exhibit at the nearby
museum. She was walking through the museum looking at all the
paintings. As she turned the corner, Amy bumped into somebody.
She jumped back, her cheeks flushed and her head looking down in
embarrassment. \"Oh I\'m so sorry, so sorry,\" she repeated
breathlessly.

\"No problem Amy. I didn\'t know you were going to the
museum today. Fancy meeting you here,\" said the tall Darien in a
light pink shirt.

\"Oh Darien, so nice to see you. I\'m here with my after
school history club,\" she said.

\"Oh I see. It\'s really an interesting historical display,\"
he commented.

\"Really?\" she asked as the other kids began entering the
area as well.

\"Sure, I\'ll show you around all right?\"

\"Great!\" she said enthusiastically.

\"You know it\'s really nice to have someone to share this
with. Serena doesn\'t really appreciate the finer things in life,\"
he confided.

\"That\'s no secret,\" Amy giggled. \"Ah well we love her
just the way she is.\"

\"That we do,\" Darien admitted, a grin on his face at
the thought of his other half.

That evening she packed up her bag to go over to Raye\'s
temple for the inners\' sleepover. *Well not really just inners.
After all Hotaru was invited too.*

\"Take that!\" Lita exclaimed as she threw a pillow
straight at Raye\'s head.

\"oh you\'re gonna be soo sorry you did that!\" exclaimed
Raye, hitting Lita with a pillow full force. Lita grunted, and
they all laughed at the funny expression on Lita\'s face.

\"How about we play Truth or Dare?\" Raye suggested.

\"Yeah!\" Mina agreed.

\"No way,\" Serena said.

\"Let\'s not play that,\" Hotaru requested.

\"Oh all right,\" Raye said, giving into Serena and Hotaru.
An unusual occurrence that they both were thankful for.

They all sat down in their sleeping bags and ate some
milk and cookies while they were each lost in their own thoughts
before Hotaru finally suggested they watch a movie, and everyone
else agreed. There was much debating as to which movie to watch,
but eventually they settled on watching a romantic and dramatic
action/comedy to give everyone a taste of what they liked best
in a movie.

Amy sighed quietly and leaned back on the couch cushion.
She really wasn\'t in the mood for seeing a romance even with
action and comedy and drama, but she wisely kept her mouth shut
since the other five finally actually agreed on something. She
vaguely listened to the movie as she was lost in her own
thoughts.

The next day Amy found a seat in the library to read in
with Trista.

Trista and Amy sat in the big chairs in the library
reading their books. Amy had one out on Quantam Physics and
Trista was reading up on alternate dimensional theories.

They smiled at each other and sat down to their quiet
reading time together, each relishing the alone time and
quietness.

There was a meeting for all the sailor soldiers the
next day. Amy slowly got out of bed, prepared though not
excited to face a new day.

\"We call this meeting to order!\" Luna announced as
all the sailor soldiers sat down in their respective chairs
in human form.

\"Really LUna, things have been quiet for awhile. Is
it actually necessary to continue to have all these weekly
meetings?\" Mina asked.

\"I suppose bimonthly would be enough now,\" she
reluctantly conceded.

Mina smiled and Serena shouted \"Yippee.\"

\"It\'s nice to finally have some peace,\" Hotaru
commented. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

Seeing as there were no new events or fears, the meeting
was quickly over.

After the meeting was over, she agreed to meet Michelle
for swimming races.

Amy and Michelle took deep breaths as they dived into
the pool and raced against one another. Each breathing hard at
the end after a strenuous race that they did several times over.
Michelle winning the first two, them tying the next one, and
Amy winning the last one.

That night Amy went to bed with the questions and
thoughts running through her mind. Would she ever be good
enough to attract her father\'s attention? Would her mother ever
stop during her busy day schedule to really see and hear her
own daughter? Would Amy ever be good enough for her father, her
mother, her friends, or herself? The hardest of all was herself.
She never felt good enough, no matter how high of a score she
got on her test or how well she did in school or anything else
for that matter. Beneath that genius lay an insecure,
scared little girl who fought evil with her brains.

To Be Continued...