I do NOT own the Darkest Powers series or any of its characters! They belong to the amazingly awesome author Kelly Armstrong. I repeat once more: this is all in Chloe's POV!
Chapter One
I sighed as I drove into the school parking lot. I didn't sigh because of school. Oh, no. I sighed because there were a couple of idiots in front of me chatting through their truck windows. "Probably talking about some stupid beach party that happened over the summer." I thought. I spent my summer hanging out at the beach with Rae and Liz. That and my Babysitting job. I should really get paid more than eight bucks an hour to watch those kids. A horn sounded behind me and I was yanked out of my thoughts and saw that the person in front of me had finally moved. "Well Hallelujah." I muttered and parked my car. I killed the engine and sorted through my bag looking for my schedule. Ugh, Rae was right. I really do need to organize my stuff better. I grabbed my paper and stepped out of my car. Rae was walking towards through a group of freshman trying to find their way to homeroom. I followed her to the building slinging the "Highly Unorganized" bag over my right shoulder. I tapped her twice on the back after catching up to her in the halls. She turned her head and I smiled at her. "Hey girl! What's up?!" Rae asked. "Oh nothing really. You?" I said. She smiled. "Oh nothing really. Hey what's your schedule?" I looked at my crumpled paper. It read:
Homeroom: Ms. Fellows, 8:10-8:15
Integrated Algebra: Ms. Enright, 8:15-8:59
Global History/Geography: Ms. Gill, 9:04-9:48
English: Mrs. Talbot, 9:53-10:37
Free Period
U.S History/Government: Mr. Carson, 10:57-11:41
Chemistry/Physics: Dr. Davidoff, 11:46-12:30
Lunch: 12:30-1:20
Spanish: Mr. Banks, 1:25-2:10
Trigonometry: Mr. Lyle, 2:15-3:15
Art: Mrs. Wang, 3:15-4:00
I handed Rae the paper. She read it and smiled. "Awesome, we have homeroom, English, government, and art together!" She hugged me. "Oh and I think that Mr. Edison wanted to see you in his office." "Why?" I asked. She shrugged "I don't know. Did you do something?" I thought back. "No, not that I know of." She shrugged again. "Well, see you in homeroom then." And then walked away. "Bye." I called out "Bye." She replied. And with that I walked to the principal's office. The only thing that was good about this day so far was the nice sunny, cloudy weather. But the sunny weather can change into hurling hurricanes.
I shoved my way through the crowd of people in the halls. "What did I do? What did I do? What did I do?!" I kept thinking to myself as I passed classroom after classroom. Maybe I wasn't in trouble at all. I watch too many movies. I'm just being paranoid. Just… breathe. In… out…in…out. But don't hyperventilate.
I looked around me. People were looking at me strangely. I was confused. As I walked past the cluster of students someone muttered, "Schizo." That comment earned a laugh. Great, I just realized I said that aloud. I hurried past everyone. I could feel my neck heating up. I opened Mr. Edison's door and walked in.
Mr. Edison was a balding man with straggly hair in the places where it existed. He was about six feet and was extremely thin. He kind of reminded me of a toothpick. I said the speech I prepared on my way here, "I'm really truly sorry if I did anything that offended someone. Or broke some rule that I did not know existed. Please don't put me in detention or take me out of any clubs." I finished. "Wow, has anyone ever told you that you talk extremely fast?" I jumped. "Sorry, I didn't realize that I was interrupting something." I said. Mr. Edison chuckled. "No Chloe, you did not interrupt anything, I called you here because there are two new students here that need a tour of the building, and I would like you to give them one." The way he said that made me know that I didn't really have a choice, "Oh?" I squeaked "Okay, yeah sure." I used a more confident tone. "Oh, that's lovely. Boys? Would you two please introduce yourselves to Miss Chloe here?" Mr. Edison asked. I heard the two leather chairs squeak against the checkered tile floors behind me.
I turned around. There were two boys standing there. The one on the right was around the same height as the principle. He had chocolate almond eyes, and short spiky blond hair that had an artistic look to it. The blonde hair was surprising though, considering that he was Asian. Dye job, maybe? He had an open friendly smile on his face and was wearing jeans, and a t-shirt with a band name that I didn't recognize. The other boy was about six-foot-eight and he put my five-foot-five frame to shame. Both of them did actually. The boys' jet black hair hung in his eyes, like he hadn't bothered to cut it in a while. He had bright green eyes and was wearing jeans and a plain, dark green t-shirt. Both of the boys were wearing Nike sneakers. And both of them were incredibly cute.
The Asian boy spoke first. "Hi, I'm Simon Bae, and this is my brother, Derek." Well now I knew their names. But genetics aren't that wonky. Ahhh, adopted. I wonder who. "Hi." I said. You know, now I know what awkward means. This is it. "Well, Chloe I guess I'll leave you to it then. Your all dismissed." I walked over to the door and held it open for Simon and Derek. "Thanks." Said Simon. Derek just grunted. Okay… he is not the social one I guess. I shut the door behind me. "So… what is your guys' first period? Wait do you guys have your schedules yet?" I asked. Simon smiled sheepishly and Derek shook his head. "Okay, I'll just go pick those up, and you guys just wait here." I said. Simon saluted, "Yes ma'am." I smiled. Well he seems nice enough. "Great." I said and walked off to the front desk. I walked up to my aunt Lauren when I got there. "Hi sweetie!" she said when she saw me. "Hey Aunt Lauren! I'm here to pick up Simon and Derek's schedule." I said. "Oh of course honey. Let me just find it." She said, looking through her drawers. "Ah, here they are!" she said and lifted her hand up to give them to me. Oh, I loved my aunt. She's the best. "Thanks! See you in homeroom." I said and made my way back to Simon and Derek. But when I got there I saw that someone beat me to the chase. Victoria Enright. Great.
I never say anything bad about anyone. With one exception. Tori. Tori is mean. She's not stuck up cheerleader mean. She's big, bad, lying, bully, mean. She already has made out a flaw for everyone. Rae is "fat", I'm "sickly sweet", and so on, and so on. And of course she has to be pretty, with her short shiny black hair and clear pale skin. All the boys have been chasing her since like, fifth grade. And now she sees that there is fresh meat. Derek and Simon.
I hid around the bathroom corner to hear what she was saying. "So, you guys are new here? Ugh, I know what you guys are feeling. I was new too, last year," She said. Lie number one. "I kept getting lost everywhere. Say, do you guys need someone to show you around? Cause I- " I cut her off by walking round the corner I was hiding behind. "Hey guys I have your schedules- Oh hi Tori! Oops! Sorry did I interrupt something?" I asked innocently. "Actually, yes. Great job working on that stutter though! You got that whole sentence out! How many therapy lessons did that take?" She asked. I was just about to make a snarky comment back when a voice interrupted me. "Can I have my schedule, please." He said. He had a nice voice. Gruff, but smooth at the same time. I was so shocked that Derek spoke, it took me about ten seconds to reply. I turned towards him. He was looking at me expectantly."Y-y-yes, sorry. Um… the first class-for both of you-is… homeroom with Ms. Fellows. I have the same class so I'll just walk you guys over there."I said. I turned around, "Bye Tori!" I said in a cheerful chirp. "Bye Chloe! Have fun!" she said in a sarcastic tone. "Oh I will" I thought to myself and walked away, an annoyed Derek and a confused Simon trailing behind me.
I took a turn around the science lab. The bright ceiling lights almost blinded me. I always forget that the lights are brighter on the left side of the building. I already gave them a tour of the right side and I was going to finish the left side during free period. Simon and Derek have a pretty similar schedule to mine, and each others. So that makes it very convenient for me. "So, here we are." I said as I stopped outside of my Aunt's classroom. Aunt Lauren was the homeroom teacher for half of the junior year, the A.M. front desk manager, and the school nurse. She's pretty awesome. I waved at her when I walked in the door and she smiled back. We came in a bit late so there were only three seats available. One was next to Liz Delaney (another friend of mine) and there were two seats next to each other. Simon went for the one next to Liz 'cause she was "hot". That left me and Derek sitting next to each other. I sat on the window side of the desk. Most of the girls were staring at either of the two brothers. And some were staring at me. Great. I slunk back in my chair, hoping that I would melt into the cool plastic. I really hate attention. And apparently so does Derek. He kept looking straight ahead, towards the board.
Simon, however, seemed to love the girls attention. I caught him winking at Amber Long. But she was too focused on Derek to notice. Looks like she's found her prey. Amber was the stuck up, cheerleader mean. But, funny enough, Tori and her were mortal enemies. They used every chance they got to make the other ones lives a living hell. I remember one time Amber hung up Tori's bra and undies on the flagpole during gym class. They are still there, and I still don't know how she got them up there. The bell rang and I jumped. Wow good thing that today was only introduction, because I wasn't paying attention to any of what my Aunt said. I've had twelve years to learn all of the old student's names. But there were only about ten or so new kids in my year.
I got up out of my seat and walked over to Derek, who was standing in the doorway with an annoyed look on his face. I was about to ask him what was wrong, but then I saw Amber standing in front of him. She was batting her eyelashes. Derek said something and she laughed. A fake high pitched laugh. I was about walk closer to hear what stupid comment she was going to make. As I took one step towards them Amber's eyes met mine and she glared at me but then she looked away so fast that I thought I had imagined it. I was within earshot now. "…yeah so she's really nice. Ugh but stay away from Chloe though." she said. "Why?" asked Derek. "She's just really weird. You know, last year she went to a group for the "mentally unstable", cause she was schizo." She said putting air quote around mentally unstable. I was shocked. I thought that nobody knew about that. At least according to everyone I was out of school because I had mono. "Also she attacked a teacher when having one of her "episodes." Amber added. She looked at me again and smirked. "I don't think she's that bad." Said Derek. Now I met her gaze and returned her stare. We kept going at that for a while. She blinked and I said, "I win!" and raced out of the room towards the bathroom. I just stood in front of the mirror for a while. When I walked out someone grabbed my arm.
I shrieked, but it only lasted a millisecond because a hand clamped over my mouth. "Okay, shut up and listen to me you bitch!" a voice hissed in my ear. Amber. "You are going to stay away from Derek! He's mine! And if you think that you even have the slightest chance at being with him, you're wrong. He would never go out with a… a… crazy, stuttering, nobody like you!" She said. She still had a hand over my mouth, and my back was to her. I smiled when I had an idea. I stuck out my tongue and when it made contact with her hand, she let out a loud shriek. "Ewwwww! You BITCH!" She howled. I smirked "Yeah, I was never going to go after Derek but…. Hmm… now that you put that idea in my head, I kind of like it." I said. Of course I wasn't actually going to go after him, I just said that to wipe that smirk off of Amber's face. The warning bell sounded, and I turned away to find Simon and Derek.
I found Simon at a water fountain near the English room, surrounded by a huge huddle of girls. I grabbed his arm and pulled him away getting a lot of murderous glares from his fans. I found Derek by the library reading a book. He too was surrounded by girls, but he didn't acknowledge them. He just kept reading his book, eyes glued to the page. Unlike Simon Derek seemed to dislike all of the attention more than he did like it. He glanced up from his book when he heard me approaching. I didn't get a good look at the book that he had been reading because he shoved it in his bag. He stood up and brushed past Simon and stood next to me. "What's next?" he asked. I glanced at the papers in my hand. "Well, Simon and I have Integrated Algebra, and you have… um…Chemistry and Physics." I said. Derek grunted in response. "Um.. Okay Derek your class is on the other side of the building and Simons' is just down the hall so I'll take Simon to his class first and then I'll walk you to yours. Is that okay with you guys?" I asked turning to face them. "Yeah, it's fine by me. How about you D?" said Simon. Derek did his signature grunt. I am starting to learn the language Derek. I think that the lower grunts are yes. But, I could be\ wrong.
I turned back around and walked down the hall. When I turned the corner, I heard a collection of gasps and whispers. I put my head down as I walked towards the Algebra room. Simon and Derek followed. Derek stayed in the doorframe while I helped Simon get settled in. When I walked back to Derek he opened the door for me and followed as I started to make my way through the crowd to the east side of the school. As I pushed past a group of cheerleaders, I felt a sharp pain in my in my left forearm. I inspected the cut and saw that three lines had formed it. I turned around and saw Amber smiling at me. "Great" I thought. "I have a new enemy."
Hi Guys, Thank you so much for reading! Sorry, I moved all the chapter onto one page. I am going to try and make all of my chapters as long as this one. If anyone has any ideas, please, please, please tell me! They will probably be better than mine. Thank You! #peaceout