One

The yellow sun had just risen and was hanging low in the sky, which was now a soft swirl of red and white. Sunrise, when the sun's rays are not as harsh as they would be during the day. Also the ideal time to be doing community service on a Sunday. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat as I caught the smell of animal manure.

"Yuck. I wish I'd gone to all those other community service projects. Those were mild in comparison!" I complained.

"Brighten up, Sky. It'll be fun!" said my friend, Jessica, brightly.

"That's what they all say. And somehow, it never is." I hated animals. I hated the local zoo. I hated the Service co-ordinator, Miss Malyn, her squeaky little annoying voice and her "all standard eights must do at least twelve hours of community service every term" policy. Ugh.

Jess shrugged. "Oh, well. Suit yourself."

The bus stopped, and with it the chatter of excited goody-two-shoes. All the other rebels had gotten out of it by faking headaches. They'd "Just do double the work next time". Unfortunately, I had an environmentalist for a mother.

Miss Malyn got up from her seat at the front of the bus. "Right, everybody. Thanks for joining us today. Remember that you are always welcome to stay for an extra three hours if you feel you are in need of some more service points."

Behind me, someone scoffed. I turned sharply in my seat and gawped at my brother. What the hell was he doing here?

"Aleron?"

He winked. "Hello, sister. Finally getting your hands dirty, I see."

I scowled. He was just showing off his scarlet highlights and crisp new leather jacket.

"Mister and Miss Badriyah." Miss Malyn was scowling at us over her spectacles, "Would you like to share your thoughts with the rest of us?"

Aleron smiled sweetly. "I apologise on behalf of my sister. She was wondering whether the hippos would think her delectable enough to be their morning snack."

A snigger went up from the rest of the students.

I crossed my arms and slumped further into my seat.

"I see. I'm going to call out the duties you'll have for the day. Feeding the lions; Cohava Kendrion, Aleron Badriyah, May-Belle Frosting..."

I zoned out. Aleron was always trying to show me up, it was obvious. I mean, who would wear a brand-new leather jacket to the zoo? I had the strange feeling that he'd be crying into his black and scarlet hair later today.

Miss Malyn's voice interrupted my thoughts, "...Brooklyn-Skyler Badriyah and Jessica-Heather Grey. Please proceed to your allocated venues. Someone will meet you there and you may begin."

It was a mad rush to get off the bus. Did I mention Miss Malyn had two policies? The other one was "Thou shalt loose a service point if thou is not excited about community service". I always came out bottom of the pile, no matter how hard I tried, so eventually I gave up.

"Service points." I muttered darkly, "Hah! I swear, I'll murder the guy who decided Community Service counts in the term average."

I was a bright student (Jessica taught me all I ever needed to know), I always got straight A's, I always finished my homework on time, and I still managed to get a bad term average because of this stupid Service.

After Jess had finally dragged me off the bus, she dropped my arm and glared at me. "Ok, Sky, I've done my duty in getting you off the bus, now you can use those things called legs and walk yourself to the hippo pen."

I groaned. "Oh, no, anything but that."

"Come on! We're in charge of mucking it out, so the sooner we start, the sooner we can get this over with, then we can go to the concert."

"Concert?"

Jess rapped on my skull. "Has the smell of animal manure erased your memory? Thorne's band is playing in the school concert tonight!"

Thorne Demitriades was the heart-throb bad-boy of the school. Tall, muscular and, well, goth. Jess, like all the other girls, was madly in love with him. I, on the other hand, thought he was a downright pig looking for attention.

"Right. Well, we might as well start then. Which way to certain death?"

"See? I told you you'd look good in overalls." said Jess, hands on her hips.

"I feel like a walking cushion."

"Oh, please, it's not that bad!"

"Hey!" called one of the girls, "Could you two stop chatting and help us out here?"

I picked up a shovel and stepped into the pen, wrinkling my nose. This was going to be the death of me.

"Lunch break!" called our guide after four hours of mucking.

"Oh, thank the lord!" I said, throwing down my shovel.

I shrugged out of the overalls and slipped on my sneakers.

Jess watched me. "See? It's not that bad."

The other students were eager to get to their friends, so it was only Jess and I left. Until Aleron came trotting around the corner.

"Hello, sister." he cooed, "How is it you're still alive after such a gruesome task?"

I stood. "Shove off, Aleron."

"Who says?"

Jess interrupted. "Aleron, what do you want?"

"Oh, just on my way to the restaurant. Did I mention I saved a girl from being eaten? Oh, but the hippos are so much scarier than the lions. Isn't that right, Brooke?"

"How about you let me wipe that smirk of your face, then we'll see who's more dangerous."

I lunged at him, but Jess pulled me back. "You two are acting like children! I thought you were sixteen! Sky, he's trying to tempt you, just walk away."

I took a breath and nodded. As I started walking away, Aleron piped up again. "Oh, aren't we chicken."

That was the last straw. Aleron was being a big baby today, and I was sick of it, sick of him! I gripped his shoulders and pushed him backwards into the wall.

He recovered before I could run. He shook his head, walking toward me. "Poor little thing. So childish. So impulsive."

"Shut up, idiot."

He smiled wickedly. "Well, well, that's the pot calling the kettle black."

His hands shot out and I was hit with a powerful force which knocked Jess and I over the fence and into the hippo pen. We hit the water. I tried to swim, but I couldn't, as if I was stuck in quicksand. I was sucked further and further into the murky depths. Eventually I had to open my mouth for air. Filthy water filled my lungs and I blacked out.

Aleron stared at the spot where the whirlpool had appeared and sucked the two girls up. He regarded his hands, eyes wide.

He looked around. Nobody had seen him.

He ran to the restaurant and crashed onto a bench where all his friends were gathered. Nothing had happened. There was no way anyone was going to find out what had happened.

Not that he knew, either.