Disclaimer-I don't own anything from Charlie Bone but I do own Natalie and Savannah.

Opposing Forces

Chapter One

The large dining hall was quickly filling with the students as they arrived at the school. Everyone anticipated the start-of-year breakfast feast as the aroma filled the room; also it was the best meal they received all year so they had to enjoy and savory every moment. Dr. Bloor sat at the high table scanning the students as they entered. His gaze fell on a girl as she made her way to the music table. Her black hair and dark complexion gave her an exotic look, and her green eyes held an air of confidence as she sat down at the end of the table, near Charlie Bone and his friends; Gabriel, who was closest to her, then Fidelio, and on the other side of Charlie, Billy Raven.

Dr. Bloor smiled mischievously and stood as the last person sat.

"Welcome back." He began and silence fell on the hall. "I hope this year will go...smoother, than the last." Dr. Bloor shot a glare and Charlie and his group before continuing, "We have among us, two new students. Savannah and Natalie Summers will you please stand."

All eyes looked as a girl with long black, curly hair and bright green eyes stood at the end of the music table and an identical girl stood at the art table.

"Savannah, as you can see will be joining our music academy, and Natalie will be in art." Dr. Bloor addressed the student body. "Also, they are fortunate enough to be among the endowed."

At that, the hall quickly filled with whispers of excitement and annoyance, while a slight blush rose in Savannah's cheeks while Natalie raised her chin slightly in pride.

"Now that that has been taken care of, let the feast begin." At Dr. Bloor's final words, the kitchen doors opened and the cooks came out with plates of food. As soon as the dishes were handed out, the dining room was a buzz with the sounds of eating and talking.

Gabriel leaned over to Savannah and smiled broadly, extending his hand. "Hi! I'm Gabriel Silk."

Savannah smiled and took his hand, "Hi."

Gabriel took that as an invitation to start a conversation and scooted closer to Savannah. "I'm endowed too. There's only three...well now four of us in the music academy."

"Cool." Savannah said as she took a bite of the eggs in front of her.

"So, where did you move from?" Gabriel asked.

"Spain. My father's in the military and we've moved around a lot." Savannah answered.

"Really? Wow, I've lived here my whole life. Were all have you lived?"

Savannah chewed her toast as she thought. "Japan, Germany, Alaska, Texas, Hawaii, Spain, and now here. But this is the last time we're moving. My dad is going to retire and he and my mom decided this is the best place because this school has a program for endowed children."

Gabriel smiled, "Good. That gives me time to become your friend. Is Natalie your twin?"

"Yeah, we're identical." Savannah said, pointing out the obvious

Savannah and Gabriel talked more as the meal came to an end, then Gabriel ushered her to the coatroom and to assembly. After assembly, Savannah and Gabriel had math together.

"Hey, Lysander and Tancred are in that class too." Gabriel said as they made their way through the halls to the math room.

Lysander had grown over the summer, and was now close to six feet. His black hair hung around his head in dreadlocks. His brown eyes danced in the light when he spotted Gabriel at the door. Tancred also had grown and was only a few inches shorter than Lysander. His electric blonde hair was short and spiked up in all directions. Next to Tancred sat Natalie.

"Hey guys!" Gabriel sat next to Natalie and Lysander motioned for Savannah to take the seat next to him.

"This is Savannah Summers. Savannah this is Lysander Sage and Tancred Torsson." Gabriel introduced. "And I'm Gabriel." He addressed Natalie, who smiled at him politely.

Lysander smiled and extended his hand to Savannah. "Nice to meet you. It's about time we got a new kid our age. All the new ones we got last year were way younger."

Tancred let out a loud laugh, "She still might be younger than us Sander. Everyone in this class is 15, 16, or 17. How old are you two?"

"We just turned 16. How old are you guys?" Natalie said.

"Tancred and I are 17, Gabriel is 16." Lysander said.

A tall, stringy man with thinning red hair stood up at the teacher's desk and cleared his throat loudly. "Students, please, class is going to start please quiet down."

As the lesson started, papers shuffled and pencils scrapped in an attempt to take notes as the teacher talked quickly, barely even stopping for a breath. Savannah crinkled her brow in concentration, but still couldn't keep up the teacher's chatter. The numbers on her paper became jumbled and her brain felt like it was being tied in knots. Lysander noticed her confusion.

"If you need help, I'll help you during the work time." He whispered.

Savannah looked slightly relieved, then flustered as she realized she was falling behind in the notes while Lysander seemed to be able to keep up without a problem.

"Thanks." She muttered.

When the teacher fell silent, students turned to their friends and started talking, ignoring the requests to work. Lysander slid his desk next to Savannah's, as the other three quickly moved their desks into a half circle around Savannah and Lysander's desks.

Savannah frowned at her notes of cramped, scribbled numbers. "Can I copy your notes, sis?"

Natalie scoffed, "You think I took better notes than you? You're supposed to be the one that's good at math."

Natalie showed her sister a sheet of doodles, "This is as good as my notes ever get."

Savannah rolled her eyes. Tancred; however, looked interested by the meaningless scribbles.

"So, you're good at art, huh?" He asked Natalie.

Natalie nodded, "Mostly I paint or sketch. How 'bout you?"

As Natalie and Tancred discussed art Lysander offered to let Savannah borrow his notes.

"Thank you so much." Savannah breathed a sigh of relief. "If I don't take good notes then both of us fail."

"It's no problem." Lysander flashed a brilliant smile.

As Savannah copied Lysander's neatly written notes, he explained what the teacher had taught with Gabriel's help. Soon, the three had completed the assignment.

"Well, I must say, you guys are much better at explaining this stuff than the teacher was." Savannah said softly so the teacher wouldn't hear.

Lysander laughed. "Once you get used to his teaching style, it's not so bad."

"Hey, Savannah." Natalie interrupted. "Are you done with the assignment?"

Savannah rolled her eyes and slid her paper onto her twin's desk.

"Sweet! Thanks, I owe you one."

"You owe me a lot more than one, Natalie." Savannah reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I'm working on that." Natalie mumbled as the guys laughed.

The bell rang, dismissing the class for the morning break.

"So, what are your endowments?" Tancred asked Natalie and Savannah as they sat under a large tree.

Gabriel had run off to help Charlie Bone and Fidelio Gunn, leaving the others to sit around in the shade of the large trees that surrounded the garden.

Natalie glanced around to make sure no one was listening, then motioned for the guys to lean in closer before she uttered in a whisper "I have the power to destroy."

Savannah chuckled, "You make it sound so terrifying." But she too had kept her voice down. "Natalie can make and control fire."

"Wow." Tancred and Lysander said in unison.

"So can you do the same thing?" Lysander asked Savannah, who shook her head.

"Annie can heal people." Natalie continued to whisper.

"Sweet." Tancred commented.

"Awesome." Lysander agreed.

"But you guys can't tell anyone. Especially the Bloor's; if they knew what we could do..." Natalie stopped suddenly as Manfred approached the group.

"What are you all whispering about?" Manfred demanded.

"How much you're pony tail looks like a girl from the back." Tancred responded.

Manfred glared at Tancred. "You better watch your mouth Torsson. And you," He turned to Natalie and Savannah, "Had better watch your backs. I've got my eye on you."

With that, he turned and stomped off across the field.

"Have you two met Manfred before?" Lysander asked.

Savannah nodded, "He came to our house to make sure we were going to Bloor's. Before he left he told us he would find out what our endowments are and nothing would stop him."