Wow, lots of reviews really fast! You obviously want me to update. Here's chapter one! Hope you enjoy! Thanks again for all the reviews!

Predator: The Crystal Shard

Chapter 1: Life as we know it

"Dear God, please end the torture!" Sara though as she tried to stay awake in her Geometry class. The teacher, Mrs. Alen, could not possibly get any more boring. Sara often wondered if it was possible to die from sheer boredom. The room was even boring, with its beige walls and shut blinds making it seem more like a prison than a class room.

Sara curled her burgundy hair on her finger and added some finishing touches to a picture of a person bearing a striking resemblance to Mrs. Alen being chased about the room by a large array of bizarre looking creatures. It was one of the many pictures sketched on her notebook.

Sara glanced across the desks at her friend, Zoë, who seemed very intent on how many ways she could spin her pencil about in her hand, her blue eyes occasionally flickering up to glance at the clock.

Sensing eyes on her, Zoë glanced in Sara's direction. Sara jerked her head towards Mrs. Alen and pretended to choke herself. Zoë nodded and, with a smile, Zoë took the drawstrings on her hooded sweater, made a noose, and pretended to hang herself. Sara gave a small snort of laughter, and then glanced up at the clock again; eleven minutes, thirty eight seconds left… thirty seven… thirty six…

"Miss Adolla! Do you think staring at the clock will make it go faster?" Mrs. Alen snapped.

"No… Sorry." Sara would have loved to add the statement that the clock was much more interesting than any triangles, but for the sake of not getting a detention, she held her tongue.

"I want to see you after class," Mrs., Alen stated turning back to the black board, oblivious to Sara's murderous stare.

After class, Sara trudged up to the desk preparing herself for the slaughter. Standing at the desk, she motioned to Zoë to head on to lunch; this was going to be a long one.

"Now, Sara, I have noticed that your grades are barely holding up and it seems…" Sara made sure her face was at a rapt attention as Mrs. Alen continued on. She knew this speech by heart and really didn't need to hear it again.

"However, if your grade do not pick up, I'm afraid summer school is inevitable for you."

Sara gulped. Not good. Summer school with Mrs. Alen would be nothing short of a living hell.

Eventually, Sara left and walked out into the hallway, her head hung and her shoulders slumped with the weight of the message she had got.

"What took you so long?" Zoë asked as Sara sat down at the table. Zoë was relatively small, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a temper that no one would be wise to set off. Zoë was undoubtedly Sara's best friend, but Sara didn't let her know that. Sara told Zoë of her dilemma.

"Hmmmm… you could always hack into the computer system and change your grade."

Sara looked at Zoë skeptically, "And I how would I do that?"

Zoë shrugged, "Your problem, not mine." Sara sighed and decided to steer the conversation in a more uplifting direction.

"You're going out for soccer this year right?" Sara already knew the answer; Zoë had to be the best player in the county.

"Yep, are you?" Zoë glanced in Sara's direction. She knew that Sara had always loved to play, but could never seem to make the cut.

"I don't know, I'm not that good…" Zoë cut her off.

"Yes, you are good. You just need to work on your strength and speed. I could help you."

"You could make me better in two days flat?" Sara asked.

"Ok… maybe not. Just try out; you never know." Zoë took a bite out of an apple and said something else that Sara couldn't quite make out past the weird muffled words.

Sara said goodbye to Zoë after school and headed down the streets of the small town of Oakwood. It was beginning to grow, but not very quickly. It took Sara about fifteen minutes to walk home, but she always stopped by the bakery to grab a bagel or pastry to eat.

As she walked out of the bakery, she heard the tell-tale rumble of a motor cycle speeding down the road. She saw the people around her shake their heads and start muttering about how kids these days are just asking for trouble. As the motorcycle came into view, Sara recognized the driver.

And the driver recognized Sara. Slowing down the motorcycle pulled over to the curb where Sara was standing. The driver took his helmet off and smiled at Sara. His appearance alone would make people do a double take. Short, dyed black hair, tattoos of dragons and swords, and two earrings, one in the ear and the other in the nose completed the smiling figure.

"Hey Sara, what's up?" he said in a fake punker voice.

"Hello Alexander, how are you?" The boy gave Sara an annoyed look.

"Look, Cousin Sara, how many times must I ask you to not call me Alexander? Alex is fine." Alex was Sara's cousin and probably the nicest guy she ever knew, despite his bizarre appearance; he was like a brother to her. She always called him Alexander to tease him as he called her "Cousin Sara". Sara shook off the comment and made on of her own.

"I see Aunt Sally finally let you get the nose ring. How'd you get her to do that?" Alex smiled.

"Actually it's a fake. And I have to take it off before I go in the house everyday. So, you need a ride?"

"Are you serious?" Alex nodded. "I'm not getting on that death trap!"

Alex laughed, "It's not a "deathtrap". You can even borrow my helmet." Sara was about to refuse again when she glanced over and saw a group of kids coming their way. The it was the school football team, headed by the biggest jock and loser, Jeremy Banks. He had wanted Zoë to go out with him and when she bluntly refused, he decided to take it out on her friends, namely, herself.

"Just this once," she said taking Alex's helmet and strapping it on. "Just go slow."

Alex smiled evilly, "Yes ma'am," he replied, gunning the engine and speed off down the road as fast as he dared.

Alex came to a screeching halt in front of a small apartment building. Sara got off and stumbled away from the bike; now she remembered why she vowed to never go on that thing with Alex ever again.

"See you later Sara," Alex called over the rumble of the engine as he sped away, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Sara turned a walked over to the apartment building, fumbling with her keys to the place.

She quickly got to her apartment and opened the door. The apartment was silent; big surprise. Her dad rarely was home, even though his job didn't keep him too long away from home.

Sara went into her room, throwing her backpack to the side and turned on her radio, allowing angry music to pound into the room. She sat on her bed and pulled out one of her many fantasy novels and tried to read, although her mind was not there.

She was instead thinking of her mother. She had died a little over a year from now, due to pancreatic cancer. Her father had been devastated and developed a bad drinking habit ever since then. He never hit her or was abusive, but sometimes Sara almost wanted him to. His apathy for life and for her was much worse than any abuse.

Sara often found herself dreaming of past holidays and vacations. How close she and her father had been! He would always be the one to try the new thing out whether it was skiing or water tubing. But now… he never really did anything. Sara had thought he would snap out of it by now, but it didn't seem so.

Luckily she had Zoë and Alexander to pull her through. Surprisingly, it wasn't her father, but Alex that got on her case with grades and school stuff. It was he who got her Fuzz.

"Speaking of Fuzz, where is the little twerp?" Sara thought. Fuzz was her gray kitten that Alex had found in some alley, cleaned up, and gave it to her for her birthday three weeks ago. When she first got the present and it moved Sara had thought he had got her a snake or tarantula or something weird like that. But Fuzz was a wonderful companion and he kept her entertained.

Sara found him sleeping in her jacket she had tossed on the floor. Fuzz gave an annoyed squeak at being woken up, but purred happily as Sara pet him.

Sara glanced out at the darkening sky dotted with stars. Suddenly, a bright white one streaked past. Remembering the legend of shooting stars, Sara made her wish. She wished for something to happen that would turn her life around and maybe even go on some adventure that the characters in her novels did.

Sara continued to stare out at the stars, only being disrupted when Fuzz nibbled on her hand in protest when she stopped petting him. She smiled and turned to her backpack with a sigh. She might as well do her homework and get the stuff over with.

I know, not a lot of action. I'm setting up the scene; there will be action soon enough. Hope you liked it! I'll update within the week! Please Review!