A/N: Yep, I did it - A Cirque Du Freak AU. I'm committing myself to writing out a 12-book series as a fanfiction.

For those of you who've read Cirque Du Freak, this chapter is very much just ripped off the original book. However, if you bear with me, I'll be taking more and more creative liberties with this fanfiction as I go, so it won't entirely follow the books. Just bear with me for the first one.

Most people don't like their jobs - it's a fact of life that very few people will ever truly achieve their dreams.

In elementary school, they ask, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" The list seems both wondrous and endless - actress, model, astronaut, president, superhero...

When they ask you on sheets of paper at the end of high school, when it's time to begin seriously thinking about it, suddenly everything seems daunting. Unappealing. A chore.

But for my best friend, his dream didn't sound all too hard to achieve. He wanted to be a lawyer, but he was calculating, quick-witted, sharp... and he wasn't exactly poor, either.

He had as good a chance as any to make something of himself.

You wouldn't think a desire to become a lawyer would cause such a chain of events to unravel as the twists and turns of my life story had.

But it seems the hands of fate always manage to keep time on a heart-shaped watch.

It's taken me a long time to really understand that phrase, but after the past eighteen years, I think I finally do.

Before all this happened, I was just a regular kid. Regular kid playing soccer on the field, regular kid messing about in Mr Means' History class... regular kid skipping Miss Courte's English class and hanging about in the boys' toilets. Though in my defence, I had felt rather sick.

Soon enough, a familiar voice called out from outside the cubicle. "Apollo?"

I laughed, pulled myself up off the toilet lid I was sat on (closed, of course) and unlocked the door. Standing on the other side was none other than Kristoph Leopard, smirking back at me. Kristoph was what you'd call a "wild child". At least, that's what my Mom would say. He could throw mean tantrums, get into fights, all that jazz. A lot of people saw him as mean and violent and occasionally people thought he was scary, especially when they caught a flash of the scar on his hand - not me, though.

Kristoph Leopard was my best friend. His name wasn't really Leopard, it was "Leonard", but everyone called him that because it always seemed to fit him. I'd always thought he was great, and the scar (which looked like the face of a devil) just made him all the more interesting. Whenever he threw tantrums (usually after losing a game) I simply avoided him until he was alright. I don't think he really minded that. I stuck by him every other time.

Besides my other best friends Cody Hackins and Hugh O'Connor, there was no one I'd rather hang out with than Kristoph.

"Have you been sick?" He asked, wearing a wry smile as though illness was the most amusing thing in the world.

I grinned back. For a thirteen year old kid, yes, it was the most amusing thing in the world. "No, it wore off pretty quick. Think Miss Courte will kill me if I sit here until break?"

"It's almost break anyway," Kristoph shrugged, his smirk dropping as he moved out of the way to let me pass and wash my hands. "Which is why I came to fetch you. We need you on our team."

He sounded exasperated in his attempts to make me join in. I was the best striker in our grade. Just yesterday, I'd almost scored a hat-trick - and today would be the day I'd do it for real.

At least, that's what Kristoph had been telling me all the way to and from school yesterday afternoon and this morning. We walked the same way, so unfortunately I wasn't going to be spared until I scored this, either.

We exited the toilets just as the bell rung. Running through the halls behind him, I couldn't wait to get outside and feel the andrenaline start pumping. It was guaranteed to make me feel better. We darted straight on to the field, the first there. This meant we got to pick the goalpost and we got first pick for first team member - Kristoph picked the goalpost the wind was blowing away from, as this would give us the upper hand. He also picked me to be his first teammate. "After tomorrow, everyone will want you," He justified, giving me a light thump on the back.

When the rest of the boys arrived, they all groaned. Each had tried to be the first there, especially due to the windy advantage they could get for picking the right goalpost. It was around then that I noticed Cody pocketing a strange black piece of paper - a strange item that would prove to be far less trivial than I'd considered it at the time.

I was about to ask Cody about it, when the last few boys arrived and team-picking began. This went smoothly - we all had the teams set out exactly the same as always, with no one trying to break that tradition - and then it was time to play.

Immediately, Cody, our centre, took the ball, racing it down from the middle with the other centre and the defender on his heels. I took advantage of their lack of defence, freeing up myself to take the ball, but before Cody could kick it toward me, his opponent slide-tackled him and pivoted the ball back towards Kristoph, in goal. Cody was still trying to get up off the floor, and so the only two people left on our team to help out were Kristoph and Hugh, our defense. The opposing centre kicked the ball a fair bit away from the striker being marked by Hugh, who was able to run to it quickly, and swiftly kicked it toward the goal.

However, I hadn't expected Kristoph to let us down. Within moments, he had leapt up towards the ball, arms ready to catch, and yet still missed.

A resounding "argh!" travelled down the field, starting with Krisoph, then Hugh, then Cody, still racing to get back in position, then finally me.

We still had sixteen minutes of play left, however. There was plenty time to make up for this loss - and that we did. Their centre took the ball first this time, but it wasn't long before our own tackled him, sending a curve ball spiralling down towards me halfway across the pitch. This gave the opposition's centre no time to catch up with it - I only had to deal with their defender now. I took possession of the ball, their defender chasing my tail, and shot the ball straight into the corner of the net, barely making it in.

This time, a cheer rose up amongst our team - the groans of defeat now belonged to the other.

We were now in a tie. They shot another goal, followed by one more from Cody. Then another for them. Then another by me. Which was when things really started to heat up.

There was a tie again - one minute left of break and the score was three all. However I also only needed one more goal for my hat-trick. If I was able to quickly score, I would not only win the game for us, but also a personal achievement for myself.

Game began, and the opposition took possession. Cody and Hugh were unable to tackle, and the opposition's centre kicked-

But Kristoph was faster. Thirty seconds left. Aware of the time, he threw the ball as far as he could; thanks to our wind advantage, it turned out to be fairly far. The wind helped the ball glide over just passed the centre line, and with most of their team still on the other side of it, I quickly rushed over to take the ball. I dribbled it towards the goal, aimed, and shot.

The bell rung just as the ball hit the net, and I yelled out an elongated "Yes!" in response.

I'd actually done it - 3 goals in one game. I'd scored the hat-trick.