A/N: Hola peoples of Earth and otherwise. Here's my new fic- don't ask where it came from. Bramblepool was writing some Dalek fic and I randomly said, "What would happen if Deryn went up to Alek and proposed to him?" So, yeah, this happened. Thanks to my sister for listening to me rant about my stories that she really doesn't care about, and to AngelRulesTheWorldWeLiveIn for writing about half of this first part. Anyway, hope you like it and please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights go to Scott Westerfeld and whoever we reference.

Chapter One

Deryn Sharp was talking with her friends about sports and whatnot when she first caught sight of the new kid. From across the yard, she noticed three things about him. One, he was gorgeous. Two, he was stepping out of a bright red stretched limo that bore a foreign flag she vaguely remembered from World Studies class. Three, he was gorgeous.

"So, I was watching the game, right?" said Deryn's best guy friend, Eugene Newkirk. "And the MVP was just about to make the winning goal when—"

"Whoa, that guy is hot," Deryn suddenly interrupted him.

Newkirk, slightly offended at being cut off, turned to look at the boy Deryn was ogling at.

"New kid?" Deryn's not-so-friend, Harold Fitzroy, guessed.

Deryn shrugged. "I guess so. He looks…different."

"American," Newkirk entered. (A/N: That's a reference, btw, to one of Angel's stories called Drabbles of a Newkirk; check it out, it's amazing)

No matter who he was or where he was from (though Deryn would bet her place on the football team (A/N: meaning soccer, of course) that he was not American), the boy they were staring at was definitely not someone they knew.

He was currently being escorted out of the "car" by a dramatically mustachioed man who looked like he was only there to get his next paycheck. The boy had reddish-brown hair that fell in just the right way across his forehead, and deep forest-green eyes that held both the gleam of adventure and a hint of sadness. Deryn was now staring at him in a very intense (albeit stalkerish) way. For some reason, she wanted nothing more than to make that sadness go away, whatever it took.

"Go talk to him," Newkirk said, out of the blue.

"Yeah! No way," Deryn replied in her most sarcastic tone.

"Oh, come on, D," Newkirk insisted. "You like him."
"Newkirk, just because I think he's hot does not mean I like him."

"Suuuuure."

Deryn looked back at the new boy. His escort was saying something, but Deryn wasn't close enough to hear. The boy nodded and the guardian left, presumably to check him in. Deryn clenched her fists in annoyance that she was too cowardly to go up to him and introduce herself, now that he was alone.

"I dare you to go talk to him," Fitzroy suddenly said.

Deryn spun around to face him and Newkirk. They were wearing identical Cheshire cat grins. Being her closest friends, the two unfortunately knew she could never pass up a dare. And even more unfortunately for Deryn, they knew she could not stop the dare from escalating.

"Well, I dare you to go ask him out," Newkirk said, proud of himself for think it up. Barking idiot.

Deryn groaned inwardly, but the boys weren't done yet.

"Not good enough," Fitzroy mused. "I double dog dare you to go ask him to prom."

"I have a better idea," Newkirk stated. "I triple dog dare you to go up to newbie over there… and propose!"
The boys had dared Deryn to do a lot of crazy stuff over the years, but this definitely took first place for most insane.

"But I don't even know his name!" Deryn protested, her Scottish accent becoming more prominent like it always did when her emotions ran high.

"So find out," suggested Fitzroy and Newkirk simultaneously.

Deryn glanced back at the boy, who was now standing awkwardly as he was ignored by everyone passing by. Deryn turned back to her friends and sighed. "Fine."

The boys cheered and exchanged high-fives. Deryn stuck her tongue out at them, then took a deep breath and turned towards her… future fiancée.

"Good luck, D," Newkirk called.

"Shut up," Deryn called back, sending her friends into hysterical laughter.

Deryn clenched her fists in determination and strode forward to the new boy who looked just as gorgeous as ever.

"Hi," Deryn said awkwardly when she first approached.

The boy jumped a little and turned to her. "Um… hi," he said nervously.

Deryn glanced back at her friends, who were making "keep going" motions at her. The girl sighed and turned back.

"Listen," she began. "Do you want to get married? Wait—first, what's your name?"

"Um… Alek." The boy sounded scared and slightly disturbed by Deryn's presence.

"Great," Deryn continued. "Alek—do you want to get married?"

Alek looked around him, as if hoping for someone to help get him out of this. Then he awkwardly replied, "Um…not really, no."

Although half-expecting the answer, Deryn's heart sank. But she kept a straight face and said, "Cool. See you."

And with that, she walked away.

As she walked back to her friends, Deryn felt her face turn red. She'd made a complete fool out of herself, as she'd half-known she would, and it was all barking Newkirk's fault.

"Nice, D," Newkirk commented as she came up to them, holding up his hand for a high-five.

Instead, Deryn punched the boy hard in the shoulder and continued walking past.

"You missed," Newkirk called after her, rubbing his shoulder.

"I meant to!" Deryn called back.

Once her friends were out of sight, Deryn sighed.

Now how was she gonna get Alek to talk to her again?

Alek watched curiously as the two boys laughed at their friend walking away.

The young Austrian wasn't sure what he thought of his new school just yet. Volger hadn't let him explore much.

The people, though, he already had an opinion on. They'd been quite rude, not stopping to say hello or even acknowledge that Alek was there. Until that one girl, of course. Or was it a boy? Alek couldn't really tell. The…person had short hair and a rather deep voice, but also had fine, feminine features and had…proposed to him, of course.

That was the one thing that confused Alek the most. Did people do that in England? Did they just go up to a stranger and propose?

Alek didn't think so. It just didn't work that way, right? His parents' proposal had been quite different, he knew. They'd been alone in a romantic place, with no one around them; plus, they'd known each other for years, of course, before his mother asked the question.

He and…it had just barely met. Alek didn't even know its name.

Sighing in both confusion and exhaustion (he was still jet-lagged from the long plane ride yesterday), Alek sat on the edge of a fountain by the entrance to wait for Volger.

Unfortunately, before his escort could show up, Alek was visited by someone else.

Two someones, actually.

"Oi! You're the new kid, eh?" a voice asked.

Alek looked up to see the two boys who'd been with Alek's proposer earlier. The shorter of the two was the one who'd spoken, so Alek addressed him. "Yes. I'm Alek."

The boy held out his hand. "The name's Newkirk. Call me Eugene if you have a death wish."

Although Alek shook the boy's hand, he was very confused. People didn't actually wish for death around here…did they?
"I'm Harold Fitzroy," the other boy said. "You can call me either, but call him Eugene—" he jerked his thumb towards Newkirk, "—and you'll actually get some respect around here."

Newkirk rolled his eyes and hit Fitzroy playfully. Alek continued to be confused.

That's when Volger decided to rejoin them. "Aleksandar, who are these…boys?"

Alek looked down at the ground and muttered in German, "Sorry, Volger. I was just getting acquainted."

"Right," Volger muttered; then switched back to English. "Come along, then. You're to have a meeting with the headmaster."

Alek stood to leave, but Newkirk stopped him.

"Wait, wait, wait," the boy said. "You speak two languages?"

"Six, actually," Alek replied; then walked off with Volger before either of the boys could say anymore, although Alek could tell they were staring at him in amazement.

As he walked toward the main office building, Alek smiled to himself. He was starting to think he was going to like this school.

A/N: Sure, Alek. Let's see how that goes. Anyway, I hope you guys liked the first chapter. The next one will come as soon as possible. Please review!