"Long before the sun rose." Romulus answered. "You were muttering things, though. Did you have a bad dream, ma petite?"

"No," I lied, "even if I did, I have forgotten it."

I changed and ran downstairs. Seeing no one there yet, I decided to make breakfast. Romulus came a few minutes after me. He set the plates in the dining room, and I placed the food on the table. Making pancakes, bacon, and eggs were my specialty. So, I really hoped everyone liked it. Butler came first, followed Artemis Jr. Then Mrs. Fowl and Mr. Fowl. Mrs. Fowl introduced us to her spouse.

"Sorry I couldn't be here yesterday." Mr. Fowl apologized, "But my doctor always reminds me to have plenty of rest."

"'Tis no need to apologize, Monsieur Fowl." I answered.

"Call me Artemis." He laughed. "I'm not used to being called by a formal name in my own household." I nodded as Romulus gave me a look that said 'I guess only Artemis Junior like's being called Monsieur Fowl.'

"How old are you both, anyway?" Mr. Fowl asked.

"We're seventeen, Artemis." I answered, before Romulus gave them a hint of our real age. Romulus smirked and sat back in defeat. I glanced at Artemis who gave me a half nod. After breakfast, Butler gave us a message from Artemis. "Meet me in the Library." Romulus and I exchanged glances and followed Butler to the Library. Artemis dismissed Butler and turned to us.

"It's August," He explained, "and the school year is starting. As my bodyguards, you are to come with me to school."

I stiffened. I didn't like how schools were this century. Romulus gave me a sidelong glance. He was thinking of that too.

"Monsieur Fowl," I interrupted, "you will be attending school with many students and teachers. Who would want to harm you? A couple of bullies, but you are fast and strong enough to fight them off."

"What my dear sister is trying to say is," Romulus said, "who the hell is going to kill you in a crowded place?"

Artemis sneered as if the answer was so obvious. "Even as an eleven-year-old, I had more enemies than you had in the last century. I knew you'd ask that question, though. Two years ago, I had a little dispute with Jon Spiro." I made a noise between a snort and a laugh. Artemis raised his cold blue eyes at me. "What?"

"Jon Spiro from Chicago?" I asked, amused. Artemis nodded. "I wonder why you're scared of him." I said, "He's so paranoid and can't even defend himself." That wasn't the whole story. I once dated Jon Spiro. Then he showed his true colors a snobby rich individual. I learned to hate him-after I had dumped him. I wasn't in the mood to meet him again

"Well, your school names will be Victoria Chanlese and Nicholas Hansen." Artemis continued.

"Which one of us is Victoria?" Romulus said, half-serious.

Artemis ignored him. "I don't want anyone to know that you two are related, so I want one of you to dye your hair."

"Dye your hair Romulus." I said folding my arms, "I have issues."

"Fine," Romulus said lightly, "but you have to act like a normal teenager. Loosen up." I grimaced.

"You're dismissed." Artemis said, after a few more minutes of planning. "And, Remus?" He called. I turned back.

"Yes, Monsieur Fowl?"

"Breakfast was delicious." He replied simply, tilting his head a little.

"Thank you, Sir." I blinked, once, twice. Then I caught up to Romulus.

"When are we supposed to start?" I asked my brother.

"Six days."

"'Tis gonna be a helluva century." I groaned.

"You just hate people."

"I have all the reason to." I argued, "School is about categories and how or where you fit in. You know very well that we will make it to the popular group."

"Because of our Roman good-looks?"

"Yes."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Romulus sighed, already knowing the answer to his question.

"Something that just might work." I answered, putting my arm around my big brother's shoulders.

Six Days Later

We're in Artemis' limousine. Butler was driving, because normal teenagers can't drive yet. My watch beeped six o'clock. I leaned myself on Romulus' shoulder and watched all the trees pass by. He dyed his hair blond. Not only did it look nice on him, it looked as if he was born with blond hair.

"Drop me off here, Butler." I said when we stopped at a street light two blocks away from the school. Butler stopped the car, and I got off.

"We'll drop off your things at your dormitory, ma petite." Romulus said.

I nodded and watched them drive off. I walked the rest of the way to school. We had to come at different times because we didn't want people to get suspicious. The only thing I carried was a half-full backpack. I finally walk into the courtyard of the school. It was nice. Then something caught my eye. A gang of tough-looking guys surrounded two Gothic teens. I walked up and listened in.

"Look dude," said the blue-haired Goth, "school just started, and we don't want any trouble."

"You made trouble the moment you came into this school." Laughed the blond guy. "This school is meant for normal people. Not for people like you."

"Excuse me," I interrupted, "they are human beings, too."

The surrounding group turned to look at me.

"You should go inside if you don't want any trouble." I continued.

"You should mind your own business if you don't want to get shipped back to France." Snapped the blond one. Oops. I spoke English, but I forgot about my accent. Too bad.

"And who's going to do it? You?" I laughed. The biggest boy stepped forward threateningly. I don't know why I thought it was funny, but it was. I laughed. The group got more angry.

"You laughing at us?" The blond asked threateningly.

"Duh." I replied, rolling my eyes, "There isn't anyone more stupid-looking than you." The group walked towards me. Suddenly, the two Goths, once surrounded, blocked them.

"Touch her, and you're dead." The dark-haired guy said.

The approaching group slowly backed-off.

"Once you're on your own, kid, you're dead." Blond and stupid growled at me.

"Good day to you to, mademoiselle." I bowed mockingly as a reply. They walked away.

"Thanks." I said, once the group was out of earshot.

"We should probably be thanking you." The dark-haired boy laughed, "I'm Sean Delfry. This is my cousin Tom Penn." He explained, pointing to his blue-haired companion.

"I'm Victoria Chanlese." I smiled, "I just immigrated here with my family from Versailles, France. That means I'm an exchange student, right?"

Sean laughed and Tom smiled. "Yeah," Sean said, "guess you are."

We walked into the student-filled hallway. "I gotta get my room number so I can meet my roommate." I said to my friends, "See you both at lunch or something." They nodded as we became separated by the jostling crowd.

"Your things are in room two-twenty-seven." Romulus whispered, walking by. I nodded and left in search of my room. After five minutes of searching, I had finally found it. My bags were neatly thrown on the bed. A thing only my brother would do. I silently prayed that he had not broken the picture of my last and only boyfriend, Marcus Zeraco. He was born on 1745 and died in 1763. I had met him before the Revolutionary war. He had died of a gun wound. I tracked down and hired an assassin to kill the arrogant idiot who shot Marcus. I still felt empty, though. I sighed with relief as I recovered the picture, unbroken.

"You're my roommate!" Exclaimed an outraged voice at the doorway. Which was followed by a loud thump. I turned around. 'Twas the blond individual who harassed my friends at the courtyard.

"I assure you," I said coldly, "I did not choose to be here." The boy just stood there in the doorway. "It may be an error." I inquired.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Victoria Chanlese." I answered.

"It's not a mistake then. I'm Michael Chance. This place is into alphabetical order." He paused then grinned "I was half-hoping that it wasn't an error, though."

I turned around, disgusted. Michael chuckled and picked up the duffel bag had he dropped and went to the adjacent room. A large wooden door was the only thing that kept us apart. So technically the only thing we shared was a bathroom. It had two doors, and I was determined to be in there first every morning. It was Friday, so I had three days to get used to him before classes officially begins. I finished unpacking and lay on my bed. The television was on top of my dresser, but I doubted that I would be using it at all. Michael opened the adjoining door and folded his arms.

"What do you want?" I finally said, after three antagonizing minutes.

"Nothing." He replied. I noticed his deep voice. Same as Romulus, but Romulus only spoke a few tabs above a whisper. I glared at him and searched his face for a hint of what he wanted.

"A cup of sugar, maybe?" I sneered.

"Mm-hmm." He mumbled. He was in deep thought. I suddenly wished that one of my powers were mind-reading.

"I was just joking." I sighed, rolling my eyes. His gaze dropped to my face.

"What?" He asked in unison. My jaw dropped. Did this guy just come in here to think?

"I said if you wanted anything." I said, recovering from shock, "Am I speaking French or something? Or do you want me to repeat it."

He blinked. "I was bored and there was nothing on T.V."

"Sorry, I'm not much of an entertainer." I said, laying back down.

"Is that your boyfriend?" He asked, eyeing the small painting of Marcus.

"No." I answered. It was true. If he had asked "Was that your boyfriend?" I would've answered yes.

"Any relation to you?" That question surprised me.

"No."

"You just like looking at his picture then. Is that it?"

"I guess." He was making this conversation easy. I didn't expect him to talk to me at all. As I said before, I'm not good at predicting.