The Diaries of Darren Shan

Disclaimer: I wish I was creative enough to come up with something as awesome as Darren Shan, but sadly I'm not, so no...no I don't own this!

Warning: In the words of River Song; 'Spoilers'

A/N: Hey, I want to thank you lovely people that reviewed! So special thanks to:

Wolf seeker

Ozuma thy Awesome

SUSHIxMONSTER

roxypony

heiditiger

You're totally awesome!

So, without further ado, I bring you Chapter 2 of 'The Diaries of Darren Shan'(bear with, they will get better!'

~Voldie

Chapter 2 – Chapter One

Well, that's the end of that abnormally stupidly long introduction, who's up for reading the next chapter?" I asked to everyone, who were trying to not laugh. They probably thought they were covering it up well, but I could see it.

Annie volunteered to go next, so we started on the next chapter straight away. .

I was on the toilet at school, sitting down, humming a song. I had my trousers on.

"That makes it sound worse than it was," I grumbled. Everyone else was laughing at me, apart from Steve. Surprise surprise.

I'd come in at the end of English class, feeling sick. My teacher, Mr Dalton, is great about things like that. He's smart and knows when you're faking and when you're being serious. He took one look at me when I raised my hand and said I was ill, then nodded his head and told me to make for the toilet.

"Throw up whatever's bugging you, Darren," he said, "Then get your behind back here."

I wish every teacher was as understanding as Mr Dalton.

Steve sighed, "He really was a good teacher." Everyone but me and Annie stared at him, shocked. Obviously he hadn't ever said anything remotely nice or not to do with killing, when in their company. What a shocker.

"Just because you were teachers pet," I teased. It didn't go down well with him, I got a glare and a 'Shut up, Shan. I wasn't a teacher's pet, and under no obligation, are you allowed to talk to me!"

I guess it was too soon for that then.

In the end I didn't get sick, but still felt queasy, so I stayed on the toilet.

Evra raised a eyebrow and said, "I'm thinking you've got a little something with that toilet, Darren,"

Arghh, why did the toilet keep coming up!

I heard the bell ring for the end of class and everybody came rushing out for lunch break. I wanted to join them, but I knew Mr Dalton would give out if he saw me in the yard so soon.

"He really would," Annie said.

He doesn't get mad if you trick him, but he goes quiet and won't speak to you for ages, and that's almost worse than being shouted at.

So, there I was, humming, watching my watch, waiting. Then I heard someone calling my name.

"Darren! Hey, Darren! Have you fallen in or what?"

"And enter the amazing-ness that is The One Known As Steve!" Steve shouted, standing up.

Mr Crepsley just told him to sit down and that 'amazing-ness' wasn't a word. That got us all laughing.

I grinned.

It was Steve Leopard, my best friend.

"Ex," we both said under our breaths.

Steve's real surname was Leonard, but everyone called him Steve Leopard. And not just because the names sound alike. Steve used to be what my mum calls 'a wild child'. He raised hell wherever he went, got into fights, stole in shops.

One day – he was still in a pushchair – he found a sharp stick and prodded passing women with it(no prizes for guessing where he stuck it!)

He was feared and despised wherever he went. But not by me.

"Bet you fear me now, huh?" I smirked over at me.

"Not a chance," I narrowed my eyes.

I've been his best friend since Montessori, where we first met. My mum says I was drawn to his wilderness, but I just thought he was a great guy to be with. He had a fierce temper, and threw scary tantrums when he lost it, but I simply ran away when that happened and came back when he'd calmed down.

Steve's reputation had softened over the years – his mum took him to see a lot of good counsellors who taught him how to control himself - but he was still a minor legend in the school yard and not someone you messed with, even if you were bigger and older than him.

"Hey Steve," I called back. "I'm in here." I hit the door so he'd know which one I was behind.

He hurried over and I opened the door. He smiled when he saw me sitting down with my trousers on.

"Did you puke?" he asked.

"No." I said.

"Do you think you're gonna?"

"Maybe," I said. Then I leaned forward all of a sudden and made a sick noise. Bluuurgh! But Steve Leopard knew me too well to be fooled.

"Give my boots a polish while you're down there," he said, and laughed while I pretended to spit on his shoes and rub them with a sheet of toilet paper.

"Did I miss anything in class?" I asked, sitting up.

"Nah," he said. "The usual crap."

"Did you do the history homework?" I asked.

"It doesn't have to be done until tomorrow, does it?" he asked, getting worried. Steve's always forgetting about homework.

"The day after tomorrow," I told him.

"Oh," he said, relaxing. "Even better. I thought..." he stopped and frowned. "Hold on ," he said. "Today's Thursday. The day after tomorrow would be..."

"Got you!" I yelled, punching him on the arm.

"That was funny!" I laughed, remembering the look on his face. He just glared at me, while everyone else just looked shocked at how casual the conversation in the book was.

"Ow!" he shouted. "That hurt." he rubbed his arm but I could tell he wasn't really hurt. "Are you coming out?" he asked then.

"I thought I'd stay here and admire the view," I said, leaning back on the toilet seat.

"It really was a great view," I sighed, pretending to reminisce.

"Quit messing," he said. "We were five-one down when I came in. We're probably six or seven down now. We need you." he was talking about football. We play a game every lunchtime. My team normally wins but we'd lost a lot of our best players. Dave Morgan broke his leg. Sam White transferred to another school when his family moved. And Danny Curtain had stopped playing in order to spend lunch hanging out with Sheila Leigh, the girl he fancies. Idiot!

"How does that make him a idiot, Darren?" Debbie asked me. I could hear the warning tone in her voice, so I decided to just pretend that I hadn't hear her. I'm now currently sporting a aching arm. Note to self, don't piss off Debbie Hemlock!

I'm our best full-forward. There are better defenders and mid-fielders, and Tommy Jones is the best goalkeeper in the whole school. But I'm the only one who can stand up and score four or five times a day without fail.

"Big Ego much?" Annie asked, joking.

"OK," I said, standing. "I'll save you. I've scored a hat trick every day this week. It would be a pity to stop now."

We passed the older guys – smoking around the sinks as usual – and hurried to my locker so I could change into my trainers. I used to have a great pair, which I won in a writing competition. But the laces snapped a few months ago and the rubber along the sides started to fall off. And then my feet grew! The pair I have now are OK but they're not the same.

We were eight-three down when I got on the pitch. It wasn't a real pitch, just a long stretch of yard with painted goal posts at either end. Whoever painted them was a right idiot. He put the crossbar too high at one end and too low at the other!

"They never repainted that," Annie comments.

I soaked it in, I love hearing anything about my home town, or my old life. Feeling vaguely homesick, I motioned for Annie to continue reading.

"Never fear, Hotshot Shan is here!"

Evra and Mr Crepsley turned to me, each with a eyebrow raised. It was kind of creepy.

"Hotshot Shan?" Evra asked me, trying to muffle his laughter. I just glared at him. This was from when I was younger. It's not like I call myself that...any more.

I shouted as I ran onto the pitch. A lot of players laughed or groaned, but I could see my team mates picking up and our opponents growing worried.

I made a great start and scored two goals inside a minute. It looked like we might come back to draw or win. But time ran out. If I'd arrived earlier we'd have been OK but the bell rang just as I was hitting my stride, so we lost nine-seven.

As we were leaving the pitch, Alan Morris ran into the yard, panting and red-faced. They're my three best friends. Steve Leopard, Tommy Jones and Alan Morris. We must be the oddest four people in the whole world, because only one of us – Steve – had a nickname.

"That's not that strange," Evra said. "I know loads of people that have nick names that no one else has."

I looked over to him, "It was strange by my standards back then," I told him.

"Look what I found!" Alan yelled, waving a soggy piece of paper under our noses.

"What is is?" Tommy asked, trying to grab it.

"It's -" Alan began, but stopped when Mr Dalton shouted at us.

"Your four! Inside!" he roared.

"We're coming, Mr Dalton!" Steve roared back. Steve is Mr Dalton's favourite and gets away with stuff the rest of us couldn't do. Like when he uses swear words sometimes in his stories. If I put in some of the words Steve had, I'd have been kicked out long ago.

"Pity," Steve sneered at me. Guess he's still angry about me saving his life.

But Mr Dalton has a soft spot for Steve, because he's special. Sometimes he's brilliant in class and gets everything right, while other times he can't even spell his own name. Mr Dalton says he's a bit of a idiot savant, which means he's a stupid genius!

Anyway, even though he's Mr Dalton's pet,

"I WASN'T HIS PET!" Steve shouted at us. He was. No way would anyone else have got away with the stuff he did.

Not even Steve can get away with turning up late for class. So whatever Alan had, it would have to wait. We trudged back to class, sweaty and tired after the game, and began our next lesson.

Little did I know that Alan's mysterious piece of paper was to change my life forever. For the Worse!

"For the worse?" Mr Crepsley asked me. Oh crap.

"Weeelll, if you look at it my way, i've almost been killed many times, I lost my best friend, and I seem to have made many people want to kill me. For all the perks, I'd still say it was for the worse." I said. I couldn't help but wonder what my life would've been like if I hadn't gone to the Cirque, or spied on Steve. Crap, that's going to be in the book!

"Hey, Darren, you all right? You're kinda spacing out there." Evra said, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Yeah I'm cool," I said, "Whose reading next?" I asked.

"I will," Evra volunteered. Annie threw the book at him which he caught at just before it collided with his head, and started to read.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out! But i've had some trouble with my internet over the past 2 weeks. But i'm hoping it's all fixed now! -crosses fingers-

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Feedback would be appreciated, constructive criticism is welcomed, but flames I will throw back at you! Lol

Review? -puppy dog eyes-

;3

~Voldie