Sixth Grade Coming

by Angel-Bloods Rock

Chloe Saunders is going to a new school... Again. But, is there more to her classmates than meets the eye? For instance, she doesn't know how she feels about a certain Asian boy she can't help but like. And his foster brother, who basically meets the tall, dark and handsome look. Will, she find love, or will she be sucked into the normal school love triangle?

1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers, or it's characters. They belong to the awesome Kelley Armstrong. This is my first fanfic so bear with me. All the characters are in 6th grade, just so you know. Okay, on with the story!

Sixth Grade Coming: Chapter 1

Chloe's POV

I walk in the office of Harnett Central Middle School for my first day of sixth grade. And the school year has been going for a month now, so I'm a bit late, you could say. The lady at the front desk hands me my schedule, then calls a cute Asian-looking guy with blond hair over to the desk, that I can't help but like. "Mr. Bae! Come here please." She says. He nods and walks over to us. "Yeah?" He asks. "This is the new girl, can you please show her around. You know, be her 'buddy' for the next few weeks." The lady says. He smiles, "Sure. I'd love to." He nods to me and says, "Come on!" Probably a little too eager. "What's your name? My name's Simon Bae." I nod, "M-my name's Chloe Saunders." Curse my stutter. I think to myself. "Okay, let's see your schedule." He says. I hand it over to him and his face breaks out into a wide grin. "What?" I ask puzzled. He looks up at me, "You have all the same classes as me! That means I can show you around and we can hang out, too." His voice dropped, "Well, I don't know how often we can hang out because my foster brother might not like that." "Who's your foster brother?" I ask. He smiles again, "You'll meet him, and he's in all our classes too. Well, except band." I nod, "Okay, we have advanced math first? Right?" He laughs, "Yeah, but it's called AIG math, not advanced math." I frown, "So? I call it advanced math because it sounds more….. Advanced." He laughs, "Well, we'd better be off; the teacher will kill us if we're late. Well, maybe not, because I'm showing the new student around." He winks at me and I just roll my eyes.

When we get to the classroom, it's mostly empty. I lean over to Simon and whisper, "Where is everybody?" He shrugs, "Most of the kids try to get right as the bell rings, just to tick off the teacher." He pauses, "Sometimes I do it." I laugh. He leads me over to two empty desks. He sits down beside a boy and I sit by Simon. I look over at the boy who's sitting next to Simon. I nearly yelp, but I manage to contain myself. The boy's reading a possible one thousand page book and is probably almost six feet tall or more. This is bad, considering my four foot, eleven inches shortness. He has midnight black hair that's almost shoulder length and the bangs hang in his face. But like in a my-hair-is-hanging-in-my-face-but-in-a-good-way, kind of way. Simon notices me staring and says, "This is Derek Souza, my foster brother." I nod, and say to Derek, who's looking at me now, "H-hi. M-my n-n-name i-is Chloe Saunders." I wince and curse my stutter yet again. Derek opens his mouth to say something but the teacher comes in starts talking, "My name is Mrs. Libbs. I'm saying this because we have a new student." She says, pointing in my direction. I stand up and say, hoping that I don't stutter so badly, "M-my n-name i-is Chloe Saunders." I say shyly and sit back down. Some of the girls sitting up front start to snicker and I look down at my desk, ashamed of myself. Simon leans down and says, "Its okay. They're all just mad because I'm sitting by you and not them." I nod and say, "Okay. I'm fine, really." When class is done, Simon, Derek and I walk out of the classroom and start towards AIG English, as Simon calls it. Some of the girls from the front of the room come up to me in the hallway and the lead one forms a 'L' with her finger and puts it on her forehead and says, "Two words: L-loser and f-f-freak." All her friends, including herself, start laughing, when Derek, yeah that's right, Derek, steps in and says, "Really? This is her first day, and you're already making her life miserable? Wow, you guys are pathetic." The lead girl scowls and says, "Not as pathetic as you, social outcast!" She yells at Derek. "You little-." Derek begins, but gets cut off by the bell going, BBBBRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGG! He growls and says to us, "Let's go, we can't be bothered to deal with these losers." He says indicating to the girl who insulted me. He looks at me with a worried expression and says, "Are you alright?" I nod, "I-I'm f-fine. A l-little angry, b-but I'm fine." I felt a little rush of pride there for me, since I didn't stutter so badly. Go me! I yell at myself inside my head. Then, we head on to English.

Derek's POV

A girl from Simon, Chloe and I's math class walks up to Chloe and forms a 'L' shape with her fingers and puts it on her forehead saying, "Two words: l-loser and f-f-freak." All the girls start laughing and I step up and say, "Really? This is her first day, and you're already making her life miserable? Wow, you guys are pathetic." I hated this girl and for some reason I felt something for Chloe, don't ask me what it is, but I just do. The girl scowls and says, "Not as pathetic as you, social outcast!" She yells at me. I was beyond angry at this point, yeah, sure I was a social outcast, but that's who I want to be, and if she wanted to start something with me, then bring it! I scowl back at her saying, "You little-." I get cut off by the stupid bell going, BBBBRRRRIIIINNNGGGG! God! I hated that bell! "Let's go, we can't be bothered to deal with these losers." I say, indicating to the girl who insulted Chloe. We walk towards our English class when I turn to Chloe with what I think looks like a worried expression, and say, "Are you alright?" She nods, "I-I'm f-fine. A l-little angry, b-but I'm fine." I was kind of proud that she didn't stutter so much. And then, we head on to English. I was excited to get to know this girl.

Chloe's POV

We head on to our English class and everybody's already there and the teacher is there too. Crap. We're going to get in trouble. And on my first day too! Crap, that's just great! I think to myself. The teacher looks up at us and smiles, "Hello, Mr. Souza, Mr. Bae. And Ms…?" He looks at me and I say, "M-my n-name is Chloe Saunders." He smiles at me and says, "Welcome to our English class Ms. Saunders. My name is Mr. Gavin. Please take a seat." I nod at him and Derek, Simon and I sit down so conveniently by each other. I take the seat by the door and notice that one seat is empty. I'm broke out of my thoughts by Simon saying, "Chloe, sit between Derek and I. My half-sister, Tori Enright, you'll meet her, gets mad sometimes, and sometimes takes it out on people, and she's in this class. And not a lot of people like her so sometimes when she walks in, people throw paper at her. And I don't want you to get hit. So move." I sigh, and reluctantly slid over a seat. Derek leans over and says startling me, "Don't worry about Simon if you're wondering about him. Just to let you know, Simon is one of the 'things' in this school. That means, a lot of the girls swoon over him. So if you get dirty looks and people call you stuff, that's why." I nod at him and look up to the front of the classroom where one of the girls mouth to me, 'Loser!' I clench my fists, and Derek whispers, "What's wrong?" He follows my gaze to where the girl is laughing her face off. "Oh." He says quietly. "You know, you should just ignore it. They're just mad." I nod and whisper, "Yeah, I know, b-but you d-don't understand. At my o-old school, I-I g-got teased b-because o-of m-my s-s-stutter and m-my s-shortness. A-and n-now i-its b-because I'm h-hanging o-o-out w-with Simon." He gives me a sympathetic look and says, "Just ignore it. You should note that if you're around me, people shouldn't mess with you as much, seeing that I'm not exactly one of the 'hot topics'." I giggle and nod. The door opens and a girl with short spiked black hair walks in. She saunters over to her seat and sits down, and dodges a piece of paper that's thrown her way. I hear a low rumble in my ear, "That's Tori, Simon's half-sister." I get wide-eyed and say, "I-is s-she g-going to tease m-me t-too?" He shook his head, "Probably not." I nod and we listen to the speech that Mr. Gavin is giving on nouns, verbs and such.

Derek's POV

I look over at Chloe who's sitting wide-eyed and staring at the girl at the front of the room who's just hurling insults at her by mouthing them. Her brow creases into an angry expression. I hate when there's a scowl on her pretty face. "What is it now?" I ask. She looks up at me with fear in her beautiful blue ocean-like eyes. "Derek." She breathes out. "T-that g-g-girl s-says s-she's g-g-going t-to b-beat m-me u-up!" She whisper-yells. "Oh, my God! She's not going to do anything to you Chloe. I promise, I'm not going to let her put a hand on you." She nods, then says, "Derek, w-what d-did I-I d-d-do t-to m-make h-her m-m-mad a-at m-m-me?" I shrug, "Honestly, I don't know. But, probably it's because you're hanging out with Simon. Geez, all this trouble over Simon, I mean, it's not like those girls own him. You know, I just don't get it." She nods. The bell rings and I grab Chloe's wrist and yank her out of the classroom before those girls can catch up to us. But, sadly, they did. The one in front, Melinda, says, "What are you doing with her?" I scowl at her and say, "What do you mean?" She scoffs, "I mean, what are you doing with such a l-loser like that?" She laughs when she mocks Chloe by saying 'l-loser.' "Oh, so I'm suddenly popular? Yeah, I don't think so." I tell Melinda. "I didn't say you were popular, because you never will be, but you're above her level." She says, pointing at Chloe. Surprisingly Chloe steps up and says, "L-leave us a-alone!" Melinda laughs and says in high-pitched voice, "Awww is the little girl protecting the big boy?" Melinda's entire group starts laughing. That set Chloe off because she socked Melinda on the underside of her jaw. I just stood there and marveled Chloe like an idiot. I knew I had to stop the fight, but I kind of wanted to watch Chloe fight and she needed to take her anger out now, so she didn't have any left later. Melinda fell on her knees clutching her jaw, "You little-." She paused and got up and tried to punch Chloe in the eye. Chloe ducked and round-housed kicked Melinda in the throat. Melinda caught Chloe off guard and punched her in the eye. Chloe cupped her face and kicked Melinda in the shin. "Okay! Okay! Fine, I won't tease you anymore, maybe, but this isn't over yet, little girl." Melinda said and walked away with her little posse. A teacher came out with Melinda and said, "Melinda, Chloe and Derek, office, now." When we got there the principal said, "What happened?" Chloe spoke up first, "Melinda kept saying insults, and she wouldn't leave Derek and me alone. Then she treated me like a five-year old and I'm tired of being treated like that, so I guess I took my anger out on her." I was kind of proud for Chloe because she didn't stutter. The principal looked at me and said, "Is this true?" I nodded. Then he turned to Melinda and said, "Is this true?" She nodded reluctantly. "Well, Melinda, detention for a week and Chloe you're going to stay behind today and you'll just get extra homework. Mr. Souza, stay with Chloe today, help her with homework and whatever else. And I'm assigning you to be her 'buddy' for the next few weeks, seeing that Simon isn't anywhere to be found." The three of us nodded and we walked out. Chloe and I headed to our next class, Science, that we would be late for now. Just as we walked down the hallway to our class, Simon comes running up and says, "Oh, my God! I heard Melinda and Chloe got in a fight! Are you okay, Chloe?" She nodded and I say, "Simon! Where the heck were you when the fight was going on!? Since you weren't there, you lost your privileges of being Chloe's 'buddy' for the next few weeks." I lean down and whisper in his ear, "So HA! You don't get to hang out with a pretty girl like Chloe anymore! So HA, Simon, HA!" Simon just rolls his eyes while I just scowl at him. "Well, we should go on to Science. We're already late." I say and we walk into our Science room to a surprising event going on.

Chloe's POV

Simon, Derek and I walk into our Science classroom to find no teacher and Melinda sitting on a desk practically making out with a red-haired boy. She looks like she's enjoying it, he's not. "What the-?" Derek says. Simon is just wide-eyed. Tori walks in behind us and goes wide-eyed too, and says, "What in the world is going on!?" She looks mad. I lean over to Simon, "Why is she mad?" "The boy Melinda's making out with is Nate Bozeman, Tori's boyfriend." He says. I nod and say, "Oh." He nods back. Tori walks up to Melinda and pulls her apart from Nate and says, "What do you think you're doing?" Melinda smiles sweetly at her and says, "Oh, Tori, your boyfriend is such a good kisser!" Tori bares her teeth and says, "You boyfriend stealer! Get away from my boyfriend!" Melinda shrugs and says, "Okay, whatever you want, princess." "I am not a PRINCESS!" Tori yells. She goes to punch Melinda but Derek quickly grabs her shoulders and says, "No, don't add fuel to the fire, Tori." She nods and yells at Melinda, "This isn't over yet!" Melinda just smiles and saunters over to her friends. "I hate that girl!" Tori says. Derek nods and sarcastically says, "Join the party." Simon laughs until Derek gives him the death glare that says, 'Shut up or I'll make you', without him even having to say it. The teacher walks in and sees Derek still grabbing Tori's shoulders, Simon still looking like he could explode in laughter, me looking like I could pass out and Melinda looking smug. And Nate looks like he could pass out too. The teacher raises an eyebrow and says, "Mr. Souza, Mr. Bae, Ms. Enright? Mr. Bozeman, Ms. Saunders…? Is it? Oh, and Ms. Parks? Would you like to tell me something?" I look at Melinda and think; Parks must be her last name, wow, such a sweet name for such a mean girl. The teacher pointedly looks at Derek's hands on Tori's shoulders; Derek catches this and quickly grabs his hands away from Tori. We all have blank looks on our faces so the teacher says, "Okay, well my name is Mr. Timber. I'm saying this because we have a new student. Now everybody take a seat so our new student can introduce herself. Oh, God! Is Melinda in EVERY class that I'm in!? I think to myself; trying not to blurt it out. I sit down beside Derek, who's at the far end by the windows in the classroom, Tori, surprisingly sits down next to me. I raise my eyebrow at her and she mouths, 'In a minute', and Simon sits down next to Tori. Melinda, thankfully, takes a hint and sits as far away from us as possible. Mr. Timber looks at me and nods, I stand up and say, "My name is Chloe Saunders." I sit down confidently and give a smirk to Melinda who's gawking at me. I smile to myself and think; Oh, my God! Did I just say that whole sentence and not stutter! Wow, I am getting more confident! Derek looks down at me and smiles. Mr. Timber turns around and Tori immediately says, "Hi. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself, I'm Tori Enright. And did you beat up Melinda Parks? I heard the news around school and I was wondering. If you did, you go girl!" I nod and say, "I did, but it's no big deal, it's just that she wouldn't leave me alone and I'm tired of being treated like I'm five years old." She nods sympathetically, "Yeah, I understand. When I was in fourth grade, I got teased all the time because I was really short. I guess I got a growth spurt, because I'm almost taller than Simon." I smile and nod, when Mr. Timber turns around and says, "Ms. Saunders, Ms. Enright? Would you like to share something with the class?" We both shake our heads. I hear Melinda snicker and Mr. Timber turns on her and says, "Ms. Parks? Is there something you'd like to say? I think you've caused enough trouble today." He turned back around and started talking about weather patterns and stuff. Tori and I look at each other and smile, we slap each other a high-five. I was going to enjoy being around Tori. A lot.

Derek's POV

Chloe, Simon, Tori and I walk towards the cafeteria for lunch after our Science class. We've had a chaotic morning. First, Melinda taunted Chloe after our math class, and then Chloe beat up Melinda after English class, then we walk into our Science room to find Melinda making out with Tori's boyfriend. That girl just did not stop, I mean-. "Derek! Did you hear what I said? I asked what do I get to eat and how do I get it? The service is different here than at my old school." Chloe says, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Oh, um, you get whatever you want that they have and, um, just pay with the money you brought. You did bring money, right?" I say, kind of stuttering because I didn't hear her the first however many times she asked me her question. She nodded, "Yeah, I brought money." I nodded, "Well, let's go get lunch." When we sit down at a table, I immediately scarf down my food while Chloe just picks at hers. "What's wrong?" I whisper. She looks up at me and shrugs. When lunch is over, Simon, Chloe and I head on to Social Studies, which is our next class after lunch. And Tori heads to gym, which is her next class. When we get to Social Studies, we're actually early, but what I see, is not pleasant. "Oh, God. Not again!" I groan.

Chloe's POV

Simon, Derek and I walk into our Social Studies class to something very unpleasant. I hear Derek groan, "Oh, God. Not again!" I silently agree with him, Melinda is also in this class. Yeah, I'm just going to say it right now, I could seriously kill myself, I really could. We go in and try to go unnoticed to the three empty desks in the back of the room, but no avail. Where the heck is the teacher when you need them? I think to myself as Melinda saunters over to us. "What do you want, Melinda?" Derek spats at her. She smiles at him and turns to me, "Don't you think that all this between you and me would go unnoticed, little girl!" I stood tall and held my ground, I was done taking her crap, and that was bad, considering that this was my first day of school. I scowl at Melinda and say, "Leave. Me. Alone! I am not a little girl, Melinda! If anyone's the little girl, it's you. Because you're acting like it." She scowls back at me, "Yeah, sure. Are you sure you're not the little girl, I mean, you look like you could be in fourth grade." She says, taking a sweep of my body with her eyes. I let out something close to a low growl, "Oh. My. God! You just don't stop, do you? You have to keep going until you get what you want, or until you annoy them to death! Melinda, I'm done taking your crap, so you won't get any reaction out of me if you taunt me. I. Am. Done." The teacher walks in and seems totally oblivious to the stand-off between Melinda and I. "Okay, ya'll. My name is Mrs. Pitt. Okay, ya'll, we have a new student, so ya'll take a seat now." She says, smacking on her gum loudly. I sit down wordlessly between Derek and Simon, only to stand back up to say to the class, "My name is Chloe Saunders." And then sit back down again. Derek leans over to me and says, "That was really brave Chloe, really brave. Usually nobody stands up to Melinda." I shrug and say, "Well, this girl does." I say pointing to myself. He laughs lowly and smiles. "Chloe! Can ya'll tell me what year the Titanic sunk?" Mrs. Pitt asks. I bet she isn't country at all! I think sarcastically to myself. "Um… Was it 1912?" I guessed. I'm pretty sure that's what year it is, but I'm not totally sure. Mrs. Pitt smiles, "Correct! You've got a smart brain, Chloe! Smart brain, indeed." I smile then look at Derek with the 'Save me! Please!' look. He just smiles and shakes his head, and then he whispers, "Get used to it, it happens to all of us." I nod and say, "Tragic." He snickers, "Funny, real funn-." "Derek! What're ya'll doing back there? Don't disrupt my class again. Okay?" Derek nodded and I started laughing as silently as I could. Derek glared at me and then the bell rang. Time for the most humiliating class in the school, well in my opinion. Gym.

Derek's POV

I glared at Chloe for laughing at me and then the bell rang. Time for the most fun class in the school. Gym. As soon as the bell rang, I bolted up, slung my book bag on my back, and grabbed Chloe and Simon's wrists, and yanked them out of the class. "What the-! Derek! What the heck? What are y-?" Simon yells only to be cut off by me saying, "Shut up! I'm taking you to gym class! I want to get there early to avoid any further interrogation with Melinda!" I hiss at him. He just nods then starts on his rant again, to which I sigh at, "Still, Derek! Would you at least let go of your death grip on my wrist!?" I roll my eyes and look over to Chloe who's wordlessly jogging along side me to keep up. I slow my pace a little bit so Chloe could walk, to which she did. I walk with Chloe and Simon in peace for about five seconds when Simon forgets to slow down his pace and practically bowls into me. He trips on my foot, which makes him fall, and brings Chloe and I down with him. "Simon! What the heck!?" I yell at him. I feel Chloe squirming under my death grip on her wrist, and I let go so she can get up. She clambers up only to fall back down, slipping in blood. Wait, hold on. Did I just say blood? Oh, my God! Simon! I look over to him and he has blood coming out of the corner of his mouth, but he's still breathing. That's the important thing. "Oh, my God, Simon! Are you okay?" I ask him. He groans and I look over to Chloe who's standing now, but is frozen with fear. "Go get help! Please." I tell her. She nods, not once taking her eyes off Simon, and runs off, only to run into Mr. Gavin. "Well, hello Chloe! What are you doing out?" He says brightly. "M-Mr. G-Gavin! S-Simon s-s-slipped a-and f-fell a-and h-h-he's b-b-bleeding! H-help h-him!" She stutters. I wince at the expression Mr. Gavin wears. "Go. Derek, Chloe, go on to your class, I promise that I'll help Simon, okay? Now go." I nod and I lead Chloe down the hallway to gym.

Chloe's POV

I wordlessly walk into the girls' locker room to change into my gym clothes, when Melinda comes out of a stall in her underwear and bra. I roll my eyes and try to make it to a stall unnoticed. No luck. Melinda jogs over to me and says, "Oh, look who it is! Oh, my God! I want to see what bra size you wear! Or do you even wear one?" I scowl at her and say, "That's none of your business, Melinda." And I walk into a stall. Good thing my gym shirt was black, it hid my neon pink bra quite well. And I had navy blue gym shorts. I walk out of the stall and Melinda is still standing there, flouncing around in her bra and panties. I walk wordlessly out and once out of the locker room, I run to the gym. I have no idea why, considering the gym is like twenty feet away from the girls' locker room. I walk in the gym to find about eleven boys and seven girls, counting me. I look around and quickly spot Derek. His gaze finds me and he runs over and says, "Anybody give you a hard time?" I shake my head, "Nah, I'm good." Then, the teacher walks in and introduces himself, "My name is Mr. Martin. We have a new student." He says and nods at me. Over the stuttering part, or I'm hoping, I say, "My name's Chloe Saunders." I never really noticed how annoying it was to have to keep repeating my name, when a lot of the same people from the last class, are in this class, until now. Mr. Martin smiles at me, and then addresses the class, while Melinda and her crew flounce in, "Okay, people, we're going to play dodge ball today." If I had a smile on my face, I know it quickly disappeared. If there was one sport I was bad at, it was dodge ball. Oh crap… I think to myself.

Derek's POV

"Derek! Melinda! You two are team captains, pick first Derek." Ha, lucky me! You know, usually girls get to go first but, I don't know. I knew who I was going to pick first, whether they had skills or not. "Souza! Come on, pick!" Mr. Martin barks. I nod, and think to myself, Geez, have much patience? "Ok. Um… I think I'll choose… Chloe." Wow, great way to pick the girl you like on your team. I sarcastically congratulate myself. Chloe goes wide-eyed and walks over to me, and slightly points at herself, as if to say, 'me?' I nod and she just shrugs and nods back. Once Melinda and I choose our teams, we spread out on either side of the court. I lean down to Chloe, "Ok, Chloe, I want you to be somewhere in the middle, that way-." "Ok, ok. I get it; you want me in the back because I truly suck at dodge ball. It's ok, I understand." She says. I raise an eyebrow at her and say, "What? No. I want you to be in the middle because if people target you, you either dodge the ball, so people behind can catch it and throw. Unless you want to throw the ball." She quickly shakes her head. "Ok, or, you can catch it and toss it up to someone up front to throw, like me. Got it? You have one of the most important jobs, Chloe. So be happy." She smiles and I quickly and happily return it. Time to play dodge ball!

Chloe's POV

I walk over and stand in the spot Derek told me to stand in. I am not happy about this. I totally suck at this game, but, maybe I don't. Hmm… Yeah, I do. Mr. Martin blows his whistle and immediately everyone starts throwing balls everywhere. Crap! I'm gonna die! I think to myself as a red ball comes my way. I jump out of its' path and see immediately who its' hurler is. Melinda. Grr… Why won't that girl leave me alone!? It's not fair! I mean, it's my first day of school and she's already making my life mis- BONK! Ow! I think to myself as a purple ball hits me square in the head. And you want to know who the thrower is? Melinda. Melinda Parks. "Saunders! Out!" Mr. Martin yells at me. I sigh and nod and go sit on the bleachers. I look out on the court and watch Derek pummel three people at basically the same time with, like, two dodge balls. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see a boy come up to me and sit down beside me with just about two inches between us. "Please give me some room." I tell him firmly. He grins and says, "My name is Steven, what's yours?" I scowl at him, but say, "Chloe, why?" "Because, I think you're cute." I roll my eyes and hear a familiar voice, "Hey! Steven, get away from Chloe!" It's Tori. Thank God! He smirks at her, "Nah, I like her." She scowls and another boy comes up and sits with two inches space between him and Tori. "Get away from me, Trevor! Freak!" He smiles, "But, I like you!" "Good for you, weirdo. Now get away from me." When he doesn't, Tori grabs me and says, "Here, take this microphone. Are you good at singing?" I nod. "Okay, well, we're going to sing 'Take a Hint' for these boys." She says. I raise an eyebrow, "Uh… Are we allowed to do that? And what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Social Studies?" She nods, "Yeah, usually about twice every week I'm in here singing with someone, Mr. Martin doesn't mind, though. It's quite entertaining. Oh, and yeah, I'm supposed to be in Social Studies, but some of the teachers had to take care of Simon, so we were allowed out of class. Got it? Ok, music, check." She says, and turns the music up really loud so it's coming out of the speakers in the gym, making everybody stop and look at us. "Ready?" Tori whispers. I nod and the music starts playing.

"Alright, people! Chloe and I are going to sing a song called 'Take a Hint'. It's dedicated to all boys who hit on girls that don't like them. Alright Chloe! Here we go!" Tori yells. I nod and start singing, "Why am I always hit on by the boys I never like? I can always see 'em coming, from the left and from the right." Now it's Tori's turn, "I don't want to be a priss, I'm just trying to be polite, but it always seems to bite me in the—." Now it's my turn again, "Ask me for my number, yeah, you put me on the spot. You think that we should hook up, I think that we should not." Then, it's Tori's turn again, "You had me at hello, then you opened up your mouth, and that was when it started going south-Oh!" Both of us started singing now, "Get your hands off my hips, or I'll punch you in the lips, stop your staring at my-Hey! Take a hint, take a hint! No, you can't buy me a drink, let me tell you what I think, I think you could use a mint. Take a hint, take a hint! T-take a hint, take hint!" Now, it's my turn again, "I guess you still don't get it, so let's take it from the top." Then, it's Tori's turn, "You asked me what my sign is and I told you it was stop." The music stops, and then starts again, with both of us singing, "And if I had a dime for every name that you just dropped, you'd be here and I'd be on a yacht. Oh! Get your hands off my hips, or I'll punch you in the lips, stop your staring at my-Hey! Take a hint, take a hint! No, you can't buy me a drink, let me tell you what I think, I think you could use a mint. Take a hint, take a hint! T-take a hint, take a hint! What part of 'no' don't you get? So go and tell your friends that I'm not really interested. It's about time you're leaving, I'm gonna count to three, and open up my eyes and you'll be gone!" Now, it goes back and forth between us with Tori singing the numbers and me singing the rest, then we sing the rest together, "One- Get your hands off my- Two- Or I'll punch you in the- Three- Stop your staring at my- Hey! Take a hint, take a hint! I am not your missing link, let me tell me you what I think, I think you could use a mint. Take a hint, take a hint! WOAH! Get your hands off my hips, or I'll punch you in the lips, stop your staring at my-Hey! Take a hint, take a hint! Take a hint, Take a hint!" We strike end poses and everybody starts clapping. Derek looks at me like he could fall in love with me right there, while Steven and Trevor look mad. I smile and wave at Derek. I'm happy; I'm going to enjoy hanging out with Tori more than ever now.

Derek's POV

I stare in awe at Chloe. She and Tori had just sung 'Take a Hint'. I probably look like a fool in love, she waves and smiles at me. I look over to Steven and Trevor, they look mad. Ha! Serves them right. I think to myself. Chloe is so amazing, she's pretty, smart, sensible and is able to stand up for herself and others when necessary. I think all of these reasons to love her through when it hits me. Oh, my God! I'm falling for Chloe! I think. How could I be so stupid? I love her. I know I'm falling head over heels for her, but, I don't want her to know. Not yet. I want her to be safe and happy. Because when she is, I am. I'm not going to let that jerk-wad, Melinda, hurt my Chloe. Wait. Did you just say mine? Well, I don't know, but, it could work. My sub-conscious voice says. I growl at it to shut up. Yeah, I know I'm sort of weird because of that, but sometimes, it pops out, and I have to argue with it. Weird, I know, but sometimes, it's helpful, it slaps some sense into me when I need some. Which, is like, now, if you want accurate times. I'm broke out of my train of thought by some-what pounding footsteps coming towards me. Small arms and hands go around my waist as far as they would go. "Oh, Derek…" The person around my waist says. Only one answer to that sweet little some-what high-pitched voice. Chloe. My Chloe. I don't care what my inner voice says, she's mine.

Chloe's POV

I unlatch myself from Derek's waist and look up at him. Aahhh, his eyes are sooo amazing. It's like they're just too green to be natural. They're so beautiful. But, of course I would never tell him that. He'd think I'm a freak, he doesn't even like me. Or does he? My inner voice challenges me. Grrr… I hate when it comes out. I choose to ignore it and continue to look into Derek's amazing eyes. "You guys are going to stare a hole into each other's faces if you keep looking at each other like that." A voice says. Tori. Grrr… She sure does know how to spoil a some-what romantic moment. Tell him you love him. Or at least like him. You know you do, he does too, you know. My inner voice says, so I say, So? You don't know that he likes me. Let alone loves me. My inner voice just has to argue, so it says, Are you stupid? You know you like him. You know that he likes you. Have you seen the way he acts around you? He protects you, he loosens up around you. He loves you Chloe. You know he does, but you're being a butt by not realizing it, Chloe. Oh, my God! My inner voice is right, I do love Derek. But, does he love me? Of course he does, stupid! I've been trying to tell you that for the last five minutes. You need to tell him. My inner voice tells me. What! No, way! I just met him, and you want me to tell him I love him!? You're crazy if you think I'm going to tell him on the first day I met him! I say to my inner voice. It shrugs, Suit yourself. But, you have to tell him at some point. I growl mentally, I will, now shut up and leave me alone! I yell at my inner voice. It just shrugs and shut's up. "I have to go band. Come on, Simon! Let's go!" I yell to Simon, who's across the gym, and also just to abruptly leave, because I probably zoned out while I was arguing with my inner voice. Simon looks over to me and jogs over to me, "What? Where are we going?" I roll my eyes, "Come on, Simon. You remember, don't you? Um… Band? Oh, and are you okay?" He nods, and says, "Oh yeah. Well, let's go. And, yeah I'm fine. I have a problem with gum bleeding, so when I fell, it triggered it to start, which is why I was bleeding." I nod and I head off to the girls' locker room while Derek rolls his eyes at Simon. I giggle and walk into the locker room to see what horror awaits me. Oh, geez, I'm scared.

Simon's POV

I wait for Chloe outside the girls' locker room. Where is Chloe? What's taking her so long? I think to myself. Just then, Derek comes out of the boys' locker room and says with a puzzled look, "Hey, man. Where's Chloe? Aren't you supposed to be at band? Do you know if she's okay?" The questions just kept coming faster and faster, and I couldn't blame him. He liked her, a lot. I could tell. Even though I was always the one to get the girl, I think I let Derek have Chloe, even though I like her a lot. But, while I could tell she liked me, but not as much or like she liked Derek. I was a little disappointed, but I can't force anyone to go out with me or like me. I yell at Derek to shut him up, "Derek. Derek! DEREK!" He stops asking questions and says, "What?" "I'll answer your questions if you'd just shut up!" I say. He nods and I say, "Okay. First question, I don't know where Chloe is. Second question, yes, we're supposed to be in band right now. Third question, I don't know if she's okay. I've been waiting out here for ten minutes, it scares me a little bit, you know, because of Melinda. But, I don't know where she is, sorry bro." I say to Derek. He scowls, "I swear to God, if Melinda hurt her, I'm going to beat the crap out of Melinda!" "Whoa, bro! If you hit her, you'd be suspended for hitting a girl!" I say. He shakes his head, "I don't care, Simon! I like Chloe a lot, whether you like it or not, Simon. I don't want anybody or anything to hurt her." I nod, but don't say anything. Then Chloe comes out, I gasp. She has a huge purple bruise on her cheek and one of her fingers look like it's broken. Crap. This is not good.

Chloe's POV

I walk into the girls' locker room to find Melinda and her crew. Crap. I am so screwed. I try to walk into a stall unnoticed. No avail. She puts her hand on my shoulder and I shake it off and turn around. "Chloe." She smirks at my discomfort. "Melinda." I say. Without warning she punches me in the cheek. Hard. Very hard. "What the-!" I yell. "That's for all the trouble and pain you've caused me, little brat!" She yells. Oh, heck no. Nobody, I mean NOBODY calls me a brat and goes unharmed. It is so on. "All the pain I've caused you? This is my first day and you're sitting here thinking of ways to kill me!" I say, and knee her in the stomach. She shrieks, "What the heck was that for!" She lunges for me and I feint to the right, but she grabs my finger and I hear it snap. Oh, my God! She just broke my finger! She goes to punch me again, but I grab her fist and twist it and she goes down. I smirk and go into a stall to change. When I come out of the locker room, I see Derek and Simon waiting for me. They both look worried and some other emotion. Crap. I'm in even deeper waters now.

Derek's POV

When Chloe comes out of the girls' locker room, she has a huge purple bruise on her cheek and her finger looks like it could be broken. I hear Simon gasp. "What the heck happened to you!?" I shriek and run over to her. "Got in a fight with Melinda again. She started it though, and she broke my finger. It hurts." She says simply and winces when I touch her finger. I nod and say, "We need to get you to a hospital or something." She nods then pauses, "Wait. Aren't we supposed to be in band class?" Simon nods but says, "Yeah, but I told the teacher that you were still in the locker room and that you had some 'complications' with a certain person. So, he said we could skip class. Even Derek didn't have to go to band." She nods and pauses, again, "I thought Derek didn't have band." I nod, "I didn't either, but since I didn't sign up for anything, they assign you to a random class. That class was band, with you guys." She nods then says, "How are we going to get to a hospital or anywhere for that matter when we don't have a car, we can't drive, and if I told my aunt I got in a fight, she'd go ballistic on me." She finishes simply. I shrug and Simon does the same. "Well… You could come and stay at our place for a while. We'll just wait until the bus comes." Simon says, slightly beating around the bush. I smile inwardly, because he's trying to get Chloe over so we can get to know each other better. Or maybe he's not. Maybe he's trying to get her for himself. Hm… I don't know. She nods and says, "Okay. My aunt is working late tonight and she doesn't get off work until nine o'clock tonight so she won't get home until around ten maybe. So, yeah, I'll come." Simon smiles and says, "Okay! Let's go!" He starts to march over to the door that leads to the bus area; when I put my hand on his shoulder and say, "Uh… Simon? Where are you going?" He stops and says, "You're right. We'll have to wait some more." Chloe giggles, then it turns into a full-blown laughter fest. I even laugh at Simon's stupidity. "Wow, Simon, you can be pretty stupid sometimes." I say as I laugh. Simon punches me in the arm, at first, I think it's a play punch, but then I realize it's a real punch. Chloe detects this and stops laughing. "Derek! I'm tired of your comments! Especially in front of other people. It's aggravating, and I've dealt with your attitude for too long! I know you're just trying to impress Chloe. But, you know what Derek? You can have Chloe. Go on, take her. I bet she won't stay with you for five minutes with your behavior! You know, I'm done with you, Derek. After all we've been through together, and everything that's happened, I can't believe that we go down like this. Not friends. I would be your friend still, if you would have just took that last comment back. If you wouldn't have said it. Why can't you just keep your mouth shut sometimes? I don't think you could keep your comments to yourself even if it was to save your life! Good bye, Derek. See you at home. Take care of Chloe. I swear if you treat her wrong, I'll come after you. Bye, Derek." Simon says, and walks away. Oh. My. God. What have I done!? I've lost Simon, and now I'll probably lose Chloe because Simon just had to blurt out that I like Chloe. I slap my hand to my forehead and say, "Great." I look down hesitantly at Chloe. I wouldn't be surprised if she looked at me and ran for the hills. Because I feel like running for the hills. "Oh, Chloe… What have I done!? Oh, my God! I feel like a complete jerk-wad! Simon's right too. I have been mean to him for as long as I can remember, even though we were best friends. Oh, God, Chloe. What am I going to do?" I say. What she does next surprises me. She gets up on her tippy-toes, (which is kind of cute to me), and kisses me on the cheek. Then she whispers into my ear, "When the time comes, Derek, you'll know what to do." And she walks away. Just like that, she's gone. Well, just down the hallway, I might add. But, she's gone. What did she mean by 'I'll know when the times' right to do something'? I have some figuring out to do. "Chloe! Wait!" I say and run down the hallway.

Chloe's POV

I blush bright red as I make my way down the hallway. I'm blushing because I just kissed my crush on the cheek. I'm not scared of doing that, because, I now know, thanks to Simon, that Derek actually likes me! "Chloe! Wait!" I hear Derek yell to me from somewhere behind me. I decide to stop and wait for him. When he reaches me, I say, "Yeah?" "I want-breathe-to ask-breathe-you, what does-breathe-when the time comes-breathe-I'll know what to-breathe-do?" He says between gasps for air. Wow, I must have walked pretty far for him to have to run like that. I look at him and say, "Derek, it means, Simon's your brother, and you guys have been best friends for a long time. So, maybe to get his friendship back, try to be nicer, do things with him, don't make so many comments. Um… I don't know, do things for him. Try to be nicer, it'll work Derek. I guarantee. But, I'm not making any promises, because, maybe, some of the things won't work. You know. But, that's all I got for you, Derek. Sorry." He nods, "Thanks, Chloe. That means a lot that you care for me." I nod, "I do, do you want to come over to my place for a while, you know, so Simon can blow off some steam before you get home?" He nods, "Yeah, I'd like that." I nod, "Cool. The bell should ring right about… Now." I say as the bell rings. "Okay, so, which bus do you ride, Chloe?" Derek asks. "Uh… It says on my bus pass, that I ride bus 396. What about you?" I say. Derek smiles, something I see very rarely, "I ride that one too. What neighborhood?" "Cherry Wood Oaks. And if you want my address, it's 1445 Wayside Lane. Happy? What about you?" I say, nonchalantly. He nods, "This is so ironic. I live in the same neighborhood, and my address is 1446 Wayside Lane." I'm pretty sure my mouth just hit the floor, "So, that's who I live by. You, Simon and Tori. Wow." He nods, "Yep. Pretty amazing, huh?" I nod slowly. "Hey! Dork and dorkina! Come on! Bus 396 is about to leave!" I sigh. Only one answer to that voice, Tori. "Coming, your Majesty." Derek teases. I snicker and Tori glares daggers at us. Derek looks at me and smiles, "Let's go, before we get yelled at again." I smile and laugh. Oh, how fun this would be. Right?

Derek's POV

I can't believe I'm going home with Chloe! I'm going home with my crush! So uncalled for. The bus is crowded, disgusting and smelly. As usual. Chloe goes to sit in a seat up front, but I quickly grab her arm and drag her to the back of the bus, where there are two empty seats. I let Chloe take the window seat, even though l love the window seat, and I take the aisle seat. I look over to see a glaring Chloe, "What was that for? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" She asks angrily. I shake my head, "No. You didn't do anything wrong, but, do you really want to sit by the door?" She thinks for a minute then says, "I guess you're right." Then falls silent. I let my gaze stray to her perfect soft pink lips. Oh, how I want to kiss them. What the heck? How can you even be thinking that? You just met her! My inner voice says. I sigh. I know its right because, I did just meet her, but, does it matter? Part of me hopes it doesn't.

A/N: MAWHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger! Ok, since I'm one of those people who get crazy excited over 2 reviews, I might just update tomorrow! But, I need you guys out there, to review me. At least 5. Thank you! Love you guys!

~ Angel-Bloods Rock