Mint & Pepper
clover.

originally written 10-21-06.

“I’m gonna be late, I’m gonna be late, I’m gonna be late!”

With super-human agility, Daine Triste mounted off her bike and chained it to the bicycle rack. She then tied her dark hair into a ponytail while finishing the piece of toast she had in her mouth. She looked at her watch and immediately darted for the school gate, hopping on one leg as she pulled up her socks.

“Out of the way, out of the way!” she panicked, wiping the crumbs off her face while weaving her way between couples who were too engrossed with themselves to care about being late for homeroom.

She raced up the school steps, using her endurance from her tennis to keep her from pausing. When she finally reached last steps, she leaned against the railing for a short breather. She looked up and scowled when she saw Adrien, taking his time talking to a sophomore who he went out with the week before.

“ADRIEN!”

Adrien turned back to see Daine leaning against the stair railing, her hands on her hips as she scowled at him. She pointed at her watch and motioned for him to hurry up.

“Good morning, Daine,” he greeted, a cheerful smile on his face. “My, your face is blooming a wonderful shade of red today.”

Daine sighed. “Why am I always stuck with you for homeroom?” she asked out loud.

“Maybe it’s because my family name starts with an S, and yours with a T,” Adrien shrugged. “I dunno. I think they come right after each other in the alphabet.”

When she couldn’t think of anything witty to say, Adrien just laughed and ruffled her hair. “It’s okay, you can win the next one.” Then he looked back to the girl in front of him. “Well, see you around,” he grinned. He stepped around her while she looked from Daine and back to him.

“Is she your girlfriend?” she asked curiously.

Adrien snorted. “Her?” He stopped beside Daine, who still had a scowl on her face, but he could tell that she waiting for his answer. “Sadly, all I can do is hope…” he said sweetly, swinging a possessive arm around Daine’s shoulder. He then leant down and pressed a swift kiss on her cheek.

Daine responded by pulling his arm off her and punching him on the shoulder. “Yeah, you’d better hope you’ll still be living by the end of the day,” she said venomously. Adrien always pulled that act on her, with its varying lines, just to get her riled up – and it always worked.

“Oh, but alas, I’m always rejected,” Adrien said, feigning the crushed hope on his face as he gripped his chest. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong…”

“Hurry up,” Daine snapped back at him. “I’m not gonna be late again because of you.”

“It’s not so bad, we can spend more time with each other.” He raised a hand to her chin, his fingers running a careless pattern across her skin, effectively tickling her. She gave an involuntary laugh, something she immediately regretted, and roughly pushed his hand away.

“You probably don’t even remember that girl’s name,” Daine said, looking back at the girl who was currently squealing with her friends.

“Okay, I don’t,” Adrien admitted, which got him a punch on the shoulder. “But I’m not going to let her know that.”

“Seriously, what is wrong with you?” Daine sighed, rolling her eyes at him.

“A lot of things,” he grinned, setting his hand back into his pocket. He then looked back and waved goodbye to the girls who had been watching them with interested eyes.

“Yeah, well, that’s obvious.”

He followed Daine down the hallways to their classroom, his hands in his pockets, and always just two steps behind her. He suddenly felt like whistling. Daine really was… something in her own weird way.

The lunch bell rang, waking Daine up from her desk at the back of class. She should have been getting high grades in English; it was an easy class, but she just couldn’t bear listening to her drone-like teacher for an entire period. She leapt out of her English classroom and started for the cafeteria when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around and her eyes met with navy blue ones. “Boo.”

“E-Easton?”

He set his hands in his pockets, leaning back on the heels of his dark leather shoes. “Surprised?”

“Uh, n-no, of course not,” she stammered, unaware why she felt exactly that.

“Right...”

“But you shouldn’t go behind people and poke them when you feel like it.”

He offered her a teasing smile, which only increased the glower Daine was giving him. “A little huffy today?”

“Huffy?” she huffed, turning her back to him and stomping for the cafeteria. “I’m anything but huffy - and who still uses that word?”

“Okay, okay.” He hastened his steps and caught up to her. It wasn’t that hard, since his legs were much longer than hers. She clenched her fist as he walked beside her, why was she getting so nervous? And why was he so… casual?

“Your hair looks nice today,” he said out of the blue.

She raised an eyebrow. “What are you getting at?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged. “I’m trying this thing, it’s called complimenting.”

“So was that a compliment?” she asked sarcastically, glancing up at him.

“It is what you think it is.”

Daine blushed, and looked ahead before she sneaked one glance up at Easton. His dark hair was messier than usual, curling behinds his ears while his bangs carelessly fell on his forehead. She almost wanted to raise her hand and curl his hair even more.

…

“What the?” she groaned, lightly slapping her cheek twice.

Of course, that didn’t go unnoticed. “What was that?” Easton asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

“I just thought of something really stupid,” she muttered quickly.

“Like that’s new,” he grinned, pushing the cafeteria door for her.

The cafeteria was alive with noise; there was endless chatter, the sounds of chairs scraping against the floor as they were pushed back, and the clatter of trays hitting the tables. They spotted Adrien at their usual table, chatting with a girl who was passing by him, and immediately went up to him.

“Is it just me, or is today more boring than usual?” Adrien asked as the both of them took their seats.

Easton just shrugged while Daine took out her sandwich. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “It only took me three seconds this time to fall asleep in English.”

Adrien nodded. “So, you know what to do after a boring day of school, right?”

“Do tell,” Easton muttered.

“We go eat,” Adrien answered simply, as if it was universally done.

“Really?”

“Really,” Adrien affirmed, unfazed by the enthusiasm Easton was obviously feigning. “Come on, I know a place with great blueberry cheesecake and a caramel macchiato you could kill for…”

“I’ve got practice today,” Easton said. “So, I’ll pass.”

Adrien turned to Daine, his violet-blue eyes waiting for her answer. “So, what about you, Daine?”

It was the way they both simultaneously looked at her, the way their heads were tilted ever so slightly to the side, and the way their eyes showed a sense of genuine curiosity that surprised her. She felt a small shiver crawl up her neck that soon ignited something in her cheeks. She realized that... she finally experienced a peek of what every girl in her school felt whenever Adrien or Easton, whenever one of her best friends, looked at you; the sudden shyness that emerged from having their attention focused solely on you, even just for a brief second.

“I have homework,” she mumbled, and the strange feeling left as fast as it had appeared. “French homework, ugh.”

“Who says you can’t do it while we’re out?” he persisted sheepishly.

She snorted. “You know I can’t concentrate when I have food in front of me.”

“Then I’ll do it for you.”

Daine raised a hand to stroke her chin. “Tempting, tempting.”

“Come on, please? I promised Carrie one of you would come along. You know she likes you.” Adrien leaned closer to Daine, much to the disappointment of many of the girls around them. He lowered his voice as he continued. “Come on, it’ll just be you, me… and my sister.”

“... how romantic,” she sneered, pushing him away from her. “Fine, fine.”

He just laughed and hooked his arm around her shoulder again. “I knew you’d see things my way.”

Adrien had chosen a ritzy café in the restaurant district, and since there was a nice sea breeze, they decided to sit in the patio. Adrien had a skill in choosing restaurants, and it helped that he was also a good cook; he could easily tell if a dish was freshly made or reheated.

This café had red and white checkered tablecloths set over the dark green tables, and the patio was fenced by lush flower bushes that swayed with the breeze. There was a large white umbrella towering over the three of them, providing a pleasant shade from the afternoon sun.

Daine picked up the menu and scanned through the choices, her eyes bulging at the prices beside each item.

“Uh… you order for me, Adrien,” she said weakly, setting the menu down. “I can’t decide.”

“Sure.” He repeated their orders to the waiter and leaned down to Carrie, who was sitting beside him. “Remember Carrie, this is just a snack. I’m still making dinner later.”

“Okay, Adrien,” she said, nodding enthusiastically.

Whenever Adrien and Carrie stood beside each other, it was obvious they were related. Carrie was like him in so many ways, appearance and personality-wise. She had large, blue eyes, though hers lacked the violet tinge Adrien had, but she had the same shade of blonde hair, that was currently tied into fat pigtails.

“Are you sure you can finish your snack?” Adrien asked her, his eyes scanning through the description of her choice. “You know you’re not supposed to waste food when so many people are going hungry.”

“I swear I’ll finish it!” she piped earnestly, closing her menu. “Please?” She then turned to Daine, her eyes pleading. “I can finish it, right?”

“I’m sure you can,” Daine laughed.

“Okay then…” Adrien mused, sneaking a glance at Daine and grinned. “Sorry about that.”

“No, no, it’s alright,” she said. “I just wish my brother was like that to me.”

“I’m sure you had your times.”

“If him demolishing my Lego tower with his baseball bat after I colored over his posters counts as one, then yeah, we’ve had our times,” she replied sarcastically, taking a sip of her iced tea. “Good times.”

“Oh! Adrien, look at the dog!” Carrie squealed while they were having their food. “Can I pet it?”

Adrien looked over at the black Labrador three tables away from them. It was sprawled besides its owner, and it didn’t look too wild. “Sure, just finish the last of your torte,” he said, pointing at her plate with his spoon.

Carrie gripped the side of her plate and stuffed the remains of her dessert in her mouth before jumping off her seat. “See ya!”

Daine was stirring her sundae while Adrien had set his spoon down to watch his sister. All of a sudden, he was distant, his thoughts miles away. Carrie crouched down beside the large black dog and started patting it on the head, running her small fingers through its dark fur. She giggled when its velvety tongue licked her fingers.

After a couple of spoonfuls, Daine set her spoon down beside her bowl. “It’s sweet that you spend a lot of time with her,” she said, to strike some sort of conversation.

Adrien gave her a sideways glance. “Hmm?”

She cleared her throat and took a quick sip of water. “I mean, most people don’t like spending time with their younger brothers and sisters. Like, my brother didn’t exactly voluntarily want to spend time with me.”

Adrien chuckled, and then picked up his spoon. “I guess it’s because…” He dipped his spoon back into his bowl and stirred the dark, chocolate syrup with the creamy white of the vanilla. “I feel obligated to spend a lot of time with her.”

“Well, every older sibling shares that obligation, but they don’t really act on it like you do.”

He nodded, bringing his spoon to his mouth. “Yeah, but...” His voice trailed off, his eyes wandering back to Carrie. He set his spoon back down. “Well, she was a baby when Dad died. I don’t think she remembers anything from the short time he spent with her.”

Daine nodded, wisely choosing to stay silent, but she was quite surprised with the shift of subjects. Adrien rarely spoke about his father.

Adrien took a sip of his macchiato and continued. “At least I got to spend time with him. I felt how it was to have a father. I’m scared that if I just let her be…” He fell silent and looked back at Carrie. “I don’t want Carrie to grow up, craving attention from every guy she meets; the attention that a dad was supposed to give to her, you know?”

Daine smiled at him, affection swelling for Adrien. This was Adrien Spencer; the handsome rich kid in school, the guy everyone thought was living the perfect, carefree life. No one really got to see this side of him. She rarely got to see it herself.

“So… you’re trying to make up for the time your dad never got to spend with her?”

Adrien smiled weakly. “Would it be lame if I said that was true?”

Daine raised a mocking eyebrow at him then laughed, waving her spoon in front of his face before she plunged it into her bowl. “No, not really. Most of the things you say are really lame, anyway.”

She winked at him before stuffing a humongous scoop of ice cream into her mouth. She nearly choked as she swallowed the chunk of strawberry in it.

He was silent as he watched her, but then his lips curled into an appreciative smile, and so did his eyes. It was amazing how his looks improved when he smiled, not that his looks were bad in the first place. They just went one notch higher when he smiled.

But inside, Daine was still curious how he could act so differently; how he could be so blithe and friendly and keep all his worries for his sister and mother inside.

“Oh,” Daine picked up the napkin beside her. “You’ve got some chocolate on the corner of your lip.”

“Where?” he asked, raising his thumb to wipe it off.

“You slob, you use a napkin,” Daine scoffed, slapping his hand away from his face. Her chair scraped back as she stood up and leant forward, her hands reaching over to his jaw to tilt his face to the side, while the other folded the napkin and wiped off the speck of chocolate on his fair face.

Every so often, Daine would get all, what Adrien would call, ‘maternal’. Adrien would always tell her it was because she was a girl so it came naturally with all the estrogen she had. She would just slap him on the back of his head and call him a sexist. But this time, his eyes slightly widened at the sudden feel of her fingers against his skin, and at the soft tug of her fingers to tilt his head to the right. The soft texture of the napkin running along the corner of his lips did nothing to help the scorching he felt that spread from where the tips of her fingers had touched him.

Her fingers drifted away from his face and she set the napkin back on the table. He felt considerably cooler. “Alright, I’ll just be off to the restroom,” she said, pushing her chair back before she walked off.

Adrien blinked, his grip loose on the spoon in his hand, still confused to what just happened. He wasn’t aware that Carrie had skipped back to their table, brushing the fur off her plaid skirt. She looked at her brother with an arched eyebrow.

“Adrien.”

He turned to face her. “Y-yeah?”

“Why is your face all red?” she giggled, her bright blue eyes alight with amusement. Her brother was so silly sometimes. She stood on her tiptoes and reached over to pinch his cheek. “You look like a tomato.”

author note.

Gahhhh! This is like, what? The second time I’ve rewritten this. I can’t believe it’s nearly been two years since I originally wrote this story. I don’t know why, but I have such a fondness for this story, but I am never satisfied with it. If some of you have read this before, you’ll see that there’s no big difference to this beginning. (: