Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series.

Chapter Two -

Stumbling back to my locker to retrieve my books for my second hour, I nearly fell down the main staircase twice from all the people pushing and shoving their way to and fro. I knew it was partly from the lack of sleep, but it kind of pissed me off that the people in this school were so…just so…ugh! Why couldn't anyone be remotely respectful of their fellow human being as they passed by them? Seriously, how hard is it to not hit everyone around you?

I was trying not to groan out loud or voice my complaints, when I noticed half the staircase wasn't even moving. Sure, it was separated by a divider, grey as can be, dirty too, but there was no reason to just idle about like there was nothing to do on them. Growing incredibly frustrated and trying to keep myself from shoving the people in front of me or stepping on the back of their knee, I noticed, not only was half the staircase frozen, they also were nearly silent, and it was beginning to infect my side of the staircase.

Almost instantaneously, everyone seemed to be staring in the same direction. Naturally, I wanted to see what all this ridiculous crap was about, so I turned to look too.

I hadn't expected to be able to see what everyone was looking at. Well, I hadn't been expecting that what everyone was looking at was on the landing in between the first and second floor, yet there the scene unfolded.

Two seniors, boys who I didn't know the name of, let alone talked to, seemed to be trying to corner another kid who I couldn't quite see.

Oh, my eyes went wide, That explains a lot then.

Then the kid getting cornered stepped to the side a bit, and I could almost see his –

"Oh shit," I heard the lanky Junior next to me mutter, "that's Derek Souza."

I flinched at that. Wasn't he in a fight over the weekend? I wondered, recalling Liz's gossip quickly, trying to un-jumble my thoughts from all the math I had tried to memorize not five minutes ago.

Remembering that it was five guys he had supposedly gone up against this weekend, I couldn't help but be amazed that he was in school. Maybe there was no fight and that was just som –

"You sonuvabitch," the taller of the two boys snarled at the cornered Derek. "You broke Mike's arm! He's not going to be able to play football for the rest of the season!"

The guy's neck was bulging, clearly he was pissed, but Derek didn't even seem to notice. He just sort of leaned back against the wall, letting the guy have his little rant, while his face remained neutral the entire time, like he couldn't care less what they were saying about him.

"I swear to GOD, you sonuvabitch, I'll beat the ever –"

"You'll what?"

The boy who was yelling froze, his rant dying there on his lips. "Well…I-I…You see –"

"No. I don't see, Kyle." I glanced up the staircase, and I could see whoever was talking was walking swiftly through the crowd and making their way towards, I guess, Derek, Kyle, and friend.

When he reached the landing and started speaking again, I realized who it was that was somewhat defending Derek, the football captain, at least I was pretty sure that he was.

"Now. Why don't you head on in to class?" he nearly snarled, getting into Kyle's face.

"Ye-yes, sir."

And with that, the two boys who were harassing Derek made their way up the staircase and disappeared in the crowd.

…The hell?

"Now, everybody else. Carry on."

Excuse me?

I glanced back again to see what was happening with Derek, but couldn't quite make it out thanks to the fact that everyone was moving once more. As I was getting shuffled along once more by the crowd, I could see the football captain place his hand on Derek's shoulder, and Derek's jaw clench in response.

What in the hell.

.x.x.x.x.x.

Rushing to Independent Reading, my book and binder clamped close to my chest, I couldn't help but wonder why that football guy helped out Derek. As far as I knew, Derek wasn't on the team, wasn't part of any team actually. He didn't even participate in a club. The guy was a loner, besides his brother Simon, so, why did any part of that scene occur at all?

I tried to envision the scene from other angles, using my movie prose to help me along. The outcast of the school is in trouble. Two on one. Then the football captain comes…to save the day? Even as part of a script it sounded like bull. From everything I heard about the football captain, he was a bigger jerk than Derek and had a lot of pull in this school. It just didn't make any sense.

Shaking my head, I tried to rid myself of the ridiculous thoughts as I stepped into my Reading class, two minutes late.

"Nice of you to join us, Ms. Saunders," Mr. Jacobs sneered, his smile showing just how much he detested me and this entire class.

"M-my ap-pologies, s-sir."

Cursing my stutter, I quickly headed to my seat in the far corner, boxed in by cabinets, other desks, and a window to the side. As, I arranged my things on my desk, I was trying to pay attention to Mr. Jacobs explaining what it was we were to do today.

"As always, do as your group is assigned to do today, like Timed Reading, Critical Reading, etc. etc." he drawled out, clearly bored even though it was only second hour.

"And when you're finished you may begin your Independent Reading for the day."

It was weird though, because as he said that, the class went silent. We were never silent. There was always someone trying to talk to another someone in our class about something or other.

"Why, Mr. Souza. How kind of you to show up."

I froze. My eyes were trained on my desk. He was in this class? I never noticed! How didn't I notice? He's a big guy! Kinda hard to miss! I thought he was only in one of my classes on "A" days!

Convincing myself that, one, I didn't really look around in this class, too busy with reading, and two, he must sit somewhere in the back normally and get here early or something, I noticed a shift in the seat next to me. Oh, mother fuck.

I glanced over ever so slightly, my eyes just barely moving.

He was sitting there. Derek Souza was sitting there. Right next to me.

I'd never noticed how big the guy was before. I always assumed he was about 6 foot. Oh hell was I wrong. He was at least 6' 5" with a build to match it. I couldn't really tell if it was just bulk or muscle though (his clothes were rather baggy and bland). With the way he held himself in his seat though, I had a feeling it was the later.

After examining and realizing all of this, I still couldn't see his face. It was obscured by a mess of almost midnight black somewhat wavy hair. It seemed to want to be curly, but didn't feel as if it should put too much effort into attempting it. Perhaps it would be curly if it were shorter?

Lost in trying to determine how exactly to describe his hair, I was shocked when I saw forest green eyes with streaks of golden green piercing through the center.

Oh fuck.

Well, now that I'm a creeper…

Letting my eyes shoot back to my desk, I couldn't help but be suddenly very much aware of how close we were sitting right now. This class was one of those classes where the teacher decided it was a good idea to group the desks into four, so four people and their desks were practically on top of each other.

Calm down Chloe. This doesn't even matter. Sure. You normally sit alone. Whatever. It's ok. This is no big deal. Sure. This guy does seem to be turning up everywhere today. Not a problem. You're just noticing because you heard that rumor about him earlier from Liz.

He shifted in his seat.

Oh I am so screwed.

.x.x.x.x.x.

I had planned on sleeping through Independent Reading. After finishing my reading evaluation bull, I could pretend I was doing my reading and just have my book in front of my face while I took a nice and well deserved nap. But no. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening.

Derek Souza had me on edge. I have no idea why, but the boy made me anxious as all get-out.

I stayed in a limited piece of area at my desk, and hardly moved from my original position. It was like being afraid something was going to suddenly pop out and bite your arm off.

When the bell finally rang and he all but bolted out of the classroom, I released a sigh of relief, but suddenly found myself offended. What reason did he have to leave so suddenly like that? I didn't do anything to him. Or maybe…

Maybe he noticed how I was on edge, and figured out it was because of him, and was greatly offended.

Crap.

Maybe he didn't though! And yet, I had a nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that told me he did know. He knew all too well.

.x.x.x.x.x.

Wandering into the cafeteria, my lunch bag scrunched up in my hand, I attempted to find any sign of Rae, Liz, or even Beth.

Rae was copper. Everything from her hair and her skin to her personality was copper, if that makes sense. She was strong, independent, and very in your face, in a "Here I am!" kind of way. And boy was she a gossip. Liz gossiped, but not the same way Rae did. It was a way of life, almost, for Rae.

She talked to anyone and everyone about everything, making her a rather difficult person to trust with secrets or really talk to at all. She was my friend all the same though. A part of me wondered if she gossiped because she was on the heavier side and felt like she needed to compensate for it, but that seemed completely ridiculous. She had curves I could only dream of having, and was even more beautiful because of it.

If Rae was copper, Liz was the sky. Her hair was as bright as the sun and nearly the same color, with eyes bright light blue that shimmered with emotions too complex to understand. She was gorgeous and sociable. A perfect teenage girl, she was always there for anyone and everyone when they needed help, even if she wasn't exactly and all "A" student. She was probably the best friend I've ever had or will from here on out.

Then, of course, there was Beth. Lately, we'd been drifting a bit, but I guess that happens over time and when the realization of having practically nothing in common hits like a brick wall. Still, we were both keeping up with each other. We continued to be interested in each other's works. She in my film and plays, and I in her art and dance. Beyond being artsy kids though, we didn't have much to talk about.

I sometimes wondered if it was because of the falling out I'd had with Miranda last year when she made fun of me for not yet having any boyfriend to speak of nor any interest in getting one. I knew Beth and Miranda were still close, even if Beth was similar to how I felt about all that, but she did have a boyfriend nowadays…

My little friendship analysis was cut off when I saw Liz, standing on a chair and waving her arms wildly, not two tables away from where I stood.

Smiling at her enthusiasm, I made my way over to the table, weaving through bustle of students trying to sit, get to their own table, or eat in general.

Before I could even get a chance to sit down, Liz was already telling me the new stories of Derek Souza floating about. Apparently everybody that had seen that little altercation on the staircase had their own version of what, why, and how it all happened.

"This kid in my second hour was talking about how Derek paralyzed some guy! And that his friends were yelling at him on the staircase to help pay for his medical bills and that he refused and attacked the two boys!"

I just stared at Liz.

How? How in the hell was that even a likely story?

"I don't really believe him though…" she trailed off, her eyes glancing behind me and then all around us, obviously to see if anyone was listening.

"From what I've heard from Tori, Derek's a pretty level headed guy and doesn't like confrontation. If anything he's a little annoying and a bit of a jerk. So I don't really get what's going on…" she trailed off again, her eyes glazing over in thought.

Not wanting to disrupt her thought process, I sat down as quietly as possible and dumped out the contents of my lunch from its sad brown paper bag. Last night I had quickly made myself my lunch for the next day before heading up to bed and passing out. I guess I'd been more out of it than I had originally thought, because all I had was two pieces of bread and a tomato.

Huh. Must've thought the tomato was an apple and that the sandwich would magically put peanut butter and jelly on itself. I usually put much more than in my lunches though…

With a shake of my head, I tossed the tomato back in the bag and decided to just eat the bread.

I looked up, to see if Liz had come to some sort of conclusion about whatever it was that she was thinking about, and was met with a glaring and very pissed off Rae.

"Is that all you're eating today, Chloe?"

"Uh…"

"Are you trying to become anorexic, Chloe?"

"U-uh…E-excuse m-me?"

"You heard me. What else are you eating?"

Rae sat down next to Liz, across the table from me, and settled another glare directed straight at me.

"I-I don't have any other food with me today," I answered, hesitant, knowing full well that this wouldn't go in my favor with giving her that answer.

"Girl, do you realize that you will starve on that kind of diet?"

I rolled my eyes and decided to tune out Rae's self-righteous rant. I know how to eat, and I know that having this as my lunch was a poor choice, but I also knew that I was out of it when I made this and that it was simply an accident of someone who is simply sleep deprived, not on a diet.

My gaze wandered around the cafeteria. Passing over everyone. I got the odd feeling I didn't find what I was looking for in the crowd, but that could be any number of things. Maybe it was the fact that the hall monitor, Van Dop, wasn't anywhere in sight? The witch of a woman could really get in your face for the smallest of things.

When I finally focused back in on the conversation at my table, I could hear Liz and Rae discussing what supposedly happened with Derek in the hallway. Unconsciously, I bristled. I really disliked gossip. It was different when you told a story because you were there, but when people got into he-said-she-said, it really bothered me.

The frustration I was feeling was bubbling up inside of me like molten lava.

I let out air from my lungs I hadn't realized I'd been holding and stood up quickly.

Rae and Liz, halting their current argument over what happened, looked slightly bewildered by my suddenly standing. Feeling awkward as they continued to stare at me, I fumbled for an excuse for my behavior.

"I-I…I don't feel so well. I-I th-think I'm g-gonna l-leave lu-lunch early."

They both nodded slowly, as if hesitant to believe me thanks to my stutter. I'm sure, with the look on my face, they believed. The anger I was feeling actually was making me nauseous and I needed to get away. Grabbing my things to toss them in the trash, I turned away from Rae and Liz quickly, and almost instantly heard them start up their argument again.

After quickly tossing my trash, I slowly wandered to my locker, letting my mind wander to a script I've been working on recently. Nothing fancy, just something to keep my mind busy until I had another good idea. It was sort of a mix between horror and supernatural with a smidge of romance and comedy mixed in. Not very special, but I plan on putting a spin on it that's all my own.

The main character, as always, is loosely based on someone I wish I was or feel like I am at the time. I know that this is a common occurrence in writers, but I can't help but hope that that changes soon.

Switching my thoughts back to the story, I try to decide what I want to happen that will make my character tragic. Parental death is a little over used, so I shove that out. Maybe a death of a friend? Or perhaps some circumstances that require personal sacrifice?

With a sigh, I decide to switch to something easier, I can figure out the tragedies later.

Maybe I should create the love interest?

I wince slightly at that thought. I've never really liked anyone that much or dated anyone. Maybe thinking of a love interest to create is harder than I –

"OOMF."

And for the third time today, I was falling again.

.x.x.x.x.x.

My eyes shut tight, waiting to fall on my ass; I berated myself for being so goddamn clumsy today.

Suddenly though, I wasn't falling. I was being snatched forward.

My eyes shooting open, I panicked, searching for what was making this happen. Then all I saw was green.

Forest green pierced by an almost golden green.

That color is so unique…Almost familiar too…Where have I…?

And then I couldn't breathe, because I remembered where I had seen that color, when I was inspecting Derek after he had sat down.

I could feel my heart stuttering. I was so embarrassed. Not only was I a weirdo for staring at him before, now he could think I was some sort of stalker. Oh shit. He could think I ran into him on purpose or something. Oh no.

"Klutz."

His deep timber tossed me out of my panic. What? E-excuse m-m-me? I-I th-thought w-w-we ra-an into-o each oth-her!

"E-excu-use m-m-me?" I stuttered, noticing the sheer size of him and realizing the situation I was in, feeling embarrassment overwhelm me as panic crept up on me.

Everything felt incredibly warm, like I was suffocating in boiling water. Oh jeez.

"Klutz."

He pronounced the word like I was mentally incapable of understanding him, not just confused. I could feel snips of anger licking at me. Oh! I oughta… Nothing. I didn't know this kid, and he was much, much, much bigger than me. Checking my anger where it was, I took a gulp of air. I needed to not do this right now, and get out of this situation.

My arm throbbed.

I glanced down to the offended appendage, and discovered Derek had it in a vice grip. I just stared for a moment, finding myself perplexed.

If I thought about it, I probably would have realized that my next actions were not the wisest of choices, but in the moment, it felt logical.

My head snapping up, I glared into Derek's eyes. "Would you, kindly, release my forearm."

The voice that came out of my mouth, demanding and authoritative, was unrecognizable to me. I'd never heard myself say something even remotely close to that, let alone in that tone.

The fire on my cheeks flamed as Derek released my arm. We were both stunned by my voice, only his was written in his eyes, while I hoped upon hope that mine wasn't all over my face. I wanted to read more deeply into his eyes, but as my cheeks burned more fiercely, I knew I was losing the courage to do so, and decided it was best to make my escape around the corner now.

And I did.

.x.x.x.x.x.

The rest of the day seemed to slip by in a blur. I stayed awake for the rest of my classes, even though I could feel the need to sleep eating at me. It wasn't exactly tempting to sleep in my third hour though, my ALF class, or Analyzing Literature and Film. It was my absolute favorite class so it really never would be a problem, but this time I was wide awake because I could feel Derek's glare on the back of my head. This was the one class where I chose to sit in the front row closest to the teacher's desk, I was regretting that today though.

I tried to focus on what Mr. Lampe was saying, but all I could think about was how badly I needed to sleep, how stupid I felt for staring at Derek, and about the Haunted House coming up next week. I had so many things to do this month. As soon as I get home, I'm sleeping. I didn't have any homework in my "B" day classes and I could catch up on my "A" day homework some time tomorrow.

When I heard the last bell in fourth hour, I realized I couldn't stay after to help Crew with the Haunted House, and was thankful for it. I was too tired and Liz was my ride home.

As we left the parking lot though, I realized I needed a ride to the mechanic by 4 o'clock and that she was the only one around.

After begging her and promising her that I owed her one, despites Liz's saying it was unnecessary. I thanked her as soon as I got to the car shop that wasn't even eight minutes away from my house and waved her off.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. My car was waiting for me and all I had to do was pay.

Feeling my sleep deprivation coming at me hard, I paid the mechanic as quickly as I could, nearly jumped in my car, and drove home as quickly as possible.

I barely even remember sinking into my bed before passing out. I don't even know if I shut the front door or whether or not I changed. Only one thing was on my mind at that point.

Sweet mother fuck, I need sleep.

And sleep I most certainly had, albeit a restless one.

.x.x.x.x.x.

Author's Note:

I know the end seemed a little rushed, but I wanted it to seem like her day started out super slow and then she rushed right on through it after Derek.

Anyway! Thank you xxlovelaughlivexx and Crixtine for the reviews!

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