Hello...If I recall, I've told you guys the reason I'm so late with this chapter. Well if not I'll say it again. I joined a festival that lasts for four days, named the ISTA Festival. It is a festival that happens multiple times world-wide with a few schools joining for one festival. My school was hosting, so I had to take care of two girls from a school in Thailand. They were AWESOME. Thanks for everyone to take their time waiting for this chapter. I'm back, so don't worry. I only own all the characters whose name isn't in the movie (yes, "mom" is a name).

An annoying beeping sounded in my ear. I groaned and rubbed my eyes, looking over to read the alarm message on my phone. School! I scrambled out of bed grabbing my crutches, switching off my alarm as I go. I rushed to the bathroom and briefly combed my hair. Good enough. I quickly brushed my teeth, fumbling to pull up the checkered skirt at the same time. I tucked my white shirt into it and tightened the skirt matching tie around the collar. I stopped and spit the minty foam out of my mouth, and rinsed my mouth with water. I hobbled out without my crutches and grabbed my burgundy sweater and black windbreaker. I pulled the sweater on and carelessly draped the jacket over my shoulders, snatching my crutches and hurrying down the corridor to the living room.

Kevin was there, glancing at his watch. "Two minutes forty-nine seconds. The fastest time for you so far." He muttered with a grin on his face. I elbowed him in the arm, grinning back. "Impressive even when you have crutches." He added. He helped me wear my jacket and grabbed my schoolbag while I tugged my beanie onto my head. He almost went down with it. "Holy crap! How much rubbish do you have in here?" I simply shrugged.

We took a short (and tiring) walk through the neighborhood, nearing the school. Silence dawned upon us, as we walked quietly through the silent street, me lurching once in a while on my crutches, Kevin lugging my schoolbag with him. There was only the "click" of my crutches. But soon, the silence was destroyed by someone shouting "BOO!" behind our backs. I, as usual, kept my pace with a blank expression. Kevin, though, I swear the teenager jumped two feet into the air, his face losing color. I turned around to see Liz and Macey with bright smiles on their faces, Macey with a more red face as she cackled at Kevin's reaction.

"Hey, you two!" I greeted. I was fighting an intense battle with a laugh that was bubbling up my throat, as Kevin gasped for air, wide eyed. Eventually, I bursted out laughing, joining the two troublemakers. I have a feeling that today's gonna be just fine.

...

Just fine. Just fine. I sat down on a empty seat, in my classroom. It was a mess, with kids throwing around paper airplanes and shouting on the top of their lungs. Some kind of typical eleventh graders they are. I lowered my bag to the ground and waited for the teacher to enter. A boy entered the room with his bad slung over a shoulder. Every girl swooned over him, trying to talk to him but failing when he just walked past them.

He stopped right in front of me. I was confused. What is he gonna do? "You're in my seat." He growled. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember this class having seating arrangements." I answered. Some of the girls glowered at me. It was a really casual thing to say, but the boy and his ladies apparently took it as a great deal. "Beat it, or I'll beat you." He said through his clenched teeth. His eyes were burning with anger, I could see that. But I stayed, not moving a muscle as I stared back at him with a blank face, my arms crossed.

The crowd had silenced down, all eagerly expecting a fight of some sort. The teacher came in, and told the boy to sit down. He gave me one last glare and sat in the seat at the back row, forth and last seat. The class was boring, I've learnt most of it before. So I took a A5 sized sketchbook from my schoolbag and started to doodle. "Ms. Malory, will you please tell me the answer to this?" I heard the teacher say. My head snapped up, hoping that I haven't missed anything. I didn't. I already learnt all this. I heard faint sniggering behind me. I switched on my monotone and replied with a smooth, elaborate explanation. Even the teacher was surprised. "Thank you, Ms. Malory. You will earn one merit." The rest of the class seemed to either glance at me in interest, or, like the boy and his dear adorers, glare intensely at me with hate, which I ignored all and stared at the board.

...

"I heard that you pissed off the boss of the popular bitches and jackasses." Macey said, leaning against the locker next to me. I stuffed my useless books inside my locker. "Gees, Macey, language." I muttered. "And to answer your question, yes. But that was before I knew he was one of those kinds of 'Popular People'." I added, adding air quotations with the specific words. She snorted. "Who cares if he's popular of not. There are even worst ones, you know. Like Paige. Oh, speak of the devil. Nine o'clock, captain." She said. I sneaked a glance to my left. Just as Macey said, there was a chick walking my way. She's wearing way too little clothing and only the skirt and tie was the school uniform. She had on a really, really tight cropped shirt, and her high heels were so tall it's a miracle she can still walk.

She stopped just next to Macey. "I heard you pissed off Sean." She flipped her hair that was tied up in a blond -obviously dyed- messy ponytail and I noticed that her eyes were brown. "Are you sure? You do hear a lot of things that aren't true around this school." She fumed. If it wasn't for Macey she could have grabbed me in the collar and threw me against one of these lockers. She glared more intensely at me and muttered, "You better stay away from him. If I see you with any of the popular kids, you'll be in big, big trouble."

I shrugged. "Whatever you say." She was infuriated, but stalked away. I turned Macey. "How'd I do?" She grinned. "Perfectly." "Who was that, anyway?" "She's the second in command of the popular bi-" I sent her a glare. "girls and boys and she's called Paige Whitlow. Trust me, you do not want to mess with her too much. It was heard that she once beat up a nerdy kid just because he got his "dirty" hands on her designer clothing." The bell rang just then.

...

I groaned. Finally lunch has come. I shakily gathered my books and staggered off on my crutches. It wasn't long before I crashed into someone and dropped all my books. I muttered a light curse and an apology, ducking my head down as I crouched to gather my books. The other person knelt down with me, and handed me my maths textbook. "Thanks." I murmured and took the book from his hand. I hugged my books and tried to stand up with the support of my crutches. I tried again. I cursed again, louder this time. "Do you need some help?" A hand extended in front of me. I took his hand and he pulled me up, making me stagger a little. I grabbed hold of my crutches. "Thanks for your help." I said and looked up. The boy was about my age, with black hair and brown eyes. He smiled. "You're welcome. Here, let me get your books." He took the books from me and added, "Where do you need to go to?" "Cafeteria." He went off, with me trailing behind him.

"There we go." He grunted as he dumped all my textbooks onto the table. "Thanks. What's your name?" I asked. "I'm Derek Grey." "Nice to meet you, Derek." I smiled. "I'm Amber Malory." "If you need any help I'll be around." I rolled my eyes. "Really helpful, stalker." He grinned and waved me off, walking away.

A pair of hands with hot pink nails grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me into the nearby girls' toilet. I grunted and tried to get away. The kidnapper turned me around to face her. Paige. I spat out the word in my mind. She glared at me and kicked me in the leg. The one with the gnash. Pain ran up my leg as I groaned and my leg crumbled to the ground, forcing me to kneel on one knee. She grinned evilly and walked around me in a circle. I glared at her, rubbing my injured leg.

"I warned you to stay away from the popular. Now prepare to meet the consequences." She took hold of a wooden stick and drew back her hand. Her hand swung down, but the stick never touched me. A hand caught it and pushed Paige back into a wall. "Let me go, Derek." She said through gritted teeth. "Why?" He asked. He stared calmly at Paige, his hands gripping her shoulders. "Just stop hurting other people. They've done nothing." "Nothing?" Paige spat out. "They've pissed me off."

"And that's the reason why you abuse them?" Derek asked. His expression was hard, and slightly angry. "I can't take this anymore. I quit the group." He pulled something off his shirt and threw it on the ground. Derek then moved to me and helped me up, shifting so that he blocked Paige from me. He turned to her. "I'm disappointed in you. In all of you." Paige seethed. "I swear if you don't move away now..." He grinned. "Then what?" Smack. I was wide eyed. Paige actually threw a punch. Derek raised his palm and blocked it from reaching me. He grinned and leaned in to speak into her ear. "If you wanna pick a fight, choose someone in your level. For now, get the hell out of here."

She huffed and stomped off like a naughty child told off by her strict mother. Derek turned to me, his expression back to the friendly, caring self. "I better go before the girls think I'm transsexual." I let out a small, uneasy laugh. "You'll be around, huh?" I muttered. He grinned. "Even in the toilets."

I know what you're thinking. WHAT IN THE WORLD DM? THIS AIN'T A HIGH SCHOOL FANFICT! I think this makes me sound like I'm getting off track. I'm not. This chapter has a purpose, even if it didn't include any of the guardians. Take this as a character introduction chapter, I mean, you got to know the main baddies and goodies in the story now, didn't you? Because it's kinda important for you to know. Now what I need is to get some ideas (crappy or great, I don't care) to help me with my imagination. It's not cooperating. Thanks for everyone's support! Keep it up with the faves and reviews and follows. It fuels my brain! DM out~