Disclaimer: Not mine....The quote that this story is based on came from The Awakening.

My first Darkest Powers multi-fic! Enjoy!

Really Nice Eyes

Chapter 1

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

He was the kind of guy that, at that age myself, I might have stolen a glance across the room at and thought he was kind of cute, with really nice eyes.

It was rude to stare.

Chloe Saunders knew this fact of life. Had felt the intense gazes on her when she stuttered. Had hated when someone's eyes fell upon her. Had never felt the need to bestow that embarrassment on someone else, and thus, had never stared at anyone in her entire fifteen years of life.

Until now.

He was, by far, the least attractive boy in Lyle High School. He was so repulsive that people steered clear of him in the lunch line. People parted when he walked down the hallway and not in a good way. Chloe had just been enrolled in the school two weeks before, and even she knew that no one got close to Derek Souza.

The only exception to that unspoken rule was Simon Bae. Other than the fact that Simon was, unlike Derek, the friendliest guy in the school, the two were brothers. Chloe, upon learning about their relationship, had been puzzled until someone explained to her how Derek had been adopted. After figuring out that mystery, she hadn't really paid attention to Derek. Like everyone else, she preferred to put thoughts of him on the backburner and focus on more important things.

But then she was given an assignment for one of her classes, and instead of doing that, she'd spent the weekend with her Aunt Lauren. Monday morning had arrived, and Chloe hadn't done any research for her assignment. So, while her first choice would be to spend lunch getting to know her new friends, her grade demanded that she go to the library.

So, it was about a week ago…

Nobody really ventured to the school's library. She didn't know whether it was because of modern technology or if the ancient librarian was just too creepy, but students tended to stay clear of that part of the building. Chloe was more of a movie person herself, so she didn't have much use for books. And judging from the heavy layers of dust on the shelves, neither did anyone else.

It took Chloe longer than she expected to find the book she needed, as she refused to ask for help from the old lady behind the counter who glared at her whenever she walked near. At last, she found the book and thanked whatever divine being above that she could finally get out of there. The silent desertedness of the library reminded her of a horror film and the killer was about to strike. Didn't killers always murder in abandoned places? So no one was around to hear the screams. Just thinking about it brought chills crawling down her spine.

The only problem she encountered was that book she needed was placed on a higher shelf. Chloe considered herself of an average height, but the library shelving system seemed to be based on a scale of a giant. A quick peek around the aisle and the librarian was staring blankly at the wall. Coast was clear.

She lifted her leg to place one foot on the edge of the second to last shelf. Once she knew there was a firm and steady surface underneath her foot, she reached up and lifted herself so that her eyes were level with the book. Carefully, she held on tighter with one hand as she slowly pulled the book out from the shelf with her other hand. Finally, book in hand, she moved her right foot to step back down.

She'd misjudged how much of her weight the bottom shelf could take. Because in the next second, there was a terrible creaking noise and the wooden board gave out beneath her. A squeak escaped her mouth and her fingers scrambled to hold onto the top shelf. Instead, she ended up pulling it out of its original placement until it tipped over and she fell to the ground. Books from the shelf toppled after her, some knocking her on the head on their way down. Luckily, the shelf fell away from her, landing only inches from her feet.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as the adrenaline brought by fear surged through her. As she realized that she was safe and not, in fact, bodily harmed in any way, relief flooded over her, causing her shoulders to sag. Her back collapsed against the book shelf behind her, and she closed her eyes as she let her erratic breathing calm. That had been scary.

"You dropped something," a deep voice announced after all the commotion.

Eyes had snapped open at the remark, looking up to met the looming figure of Derek Souza.

Surprise paralyzed Chloe, keeping her from moving and preventing her mouth from forming words. It was the first time that she'd seen Derek up close. Maybe it was due to her being sprawled on the floor, but he seemed much taller than she had originally thought. He looked down at her with an expression of indifference, as if he was used to seeing girls falling off of book cases.

"Y-You were there the w-whole time?" she wanted to slap herself at her stutter. With him standing over her like that, she was letting intimidation get the best of her. But how could she stop feeling like that when his face looked as hideous as it did and she'd heard rumors that he killed kittens in his spare time?

He nodded in reply. Anger made Chloe forget her repulsion and fear for a moment. He'd been there the whole time and hadn't thought to help? What kind of person did that? She could've seriously hurt herself, and he didn't think it worth his time to help! Her fingers closed into a fist, and suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her finger.

She looked down at her hand. The nail of her middle finger had broken, leaving a half moon of blood to start pooling where it had ripped off. It stung, to say the least. Chloe sucked in a quick breath at the stinging.

"Oh, no. You broke a nail," Derek Souza commented dryly.

The comment was unexpected. And certainly rude. She should have lashed out at him, drilled into him with a good ol' verbal beating, provided she didn't ruin it by stuttering. Instead, her utter humiliation, the adrenaline from falling, and his sarcastic remark all rolled together and made Chloe burst into laughter.

She made the mistake of looking into his face, seeing his eyebrow raised and staring at her with a look that was half incredulous, half hesitant. Probably worried that she had escaped from some mental facility. Chloe didn't blame him--she'd think the same thing had she been in his position. More laughter bubbled up from her throat as her vivid imagination conjured a picture of her in a straight jacket.

Minutes passed with Chloe giggling on the floor and Derek Souza warily eying her from his towering stance. Then, wordlessly, he knelt down on the floor, picking up the fallen shelf. Observing it from a few different angles, he stood up and continued to observe the book case. Finally, he set the shelf in its original place, making sure it was secure. He reached down once more and Chloe, who had stopped laughing as she watched Derek, felt her breath catch. Was he going to help her put all the fallen books back on the shelf?

The answer to that was a resolute 'no'. Derek reached down to grab his backpack. He pulled out a book--one of those hefty, old-looking things that would take someone like Chloe months to read--and set it on the shelf he had fixed. After zipping up his backpack, he threw it over his shoulder and turned to look at Chloe directly in the face.

"Pick up your mess." And then he left.

Chloe was left speechless, but not because of the abruptness of his departure. Nor was it because of his rude behavior and his unwillingness to help someone so obviously in need of help. No, Chloe had been left stuttering because she had looked into Derek Souza's eyes.

Even though he'd been glowering down at her, she couldn't miss the fascinating green of his irises. A bright, unmistakable green that burned into her mind and stayed there minutes after he'd left. Reminded her of times when her mother was alive and they'd go to the beach, picking up the pieces of green glass with the water-smoothed edges. It didn't seem right, for someone such as him to have such appealing eyes, and at the same time, it was a perfect contrast to his dark looks and bad manners.

In a daze, she'd done as he said, picking up the books and replacing them on the shelf. And just in time, too, before the old librarian peeked her head around the book case to see what the commotion had been about. Then, she'd returned to lunch, completing forgetting to grab the book she'd needed for her report. The only thing on her mind had been those green, green eyes and how much she'd like to see them again.

Funny how easy it was for her to find him in a crowd now. Before, she'd only seen him walking around school with his brother and had easily dismissed him. Now, she could single out his tall, dark figure anywhere. She'd never noticed how many times in a day she passed him in the hallway.

He was in her English class before lunch. She thought this strange, as he was, according to what she'd heard, in the grade before hers. Possibly he wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, but when she remembered the size of that book he was carrying around, it just didn't seem to add up right. Just another mystery that made up Derek Souza. That, along with those intense green eyes, made her want to know more.

And so, there she was a week later. Sitting in her English class and staring at the back of Derek Souza's head. Luckily, the seating chart wasn't arranged alphabetically, and the students could sit wherever they wanted. Chloe, after a week, had noted that Derek liked picking the seat closest to the window, farthest from everybody else. From her seat across the room, she could lean back just so and stare at him, waiting for the moment where he finally turned around and granted her with another glimpse of those eyes.

"Chloe?" The teacher's voice made her jump in her seat, her face heating as she hoped no one realized just who she was staring at. "Can you run these papers down to the main office, please?"

Automatically, she said yes and grabbed the papers. Then, once she was in the hall, she realized, even after attending the school for two weeks, she didn't really have any clue where the main office was. Probably towards the front of the school. Following her gut, she found the office, dropped off the papers, and headed back to her classroom.

When she returned, there was something on her desk. Small, folded into a square, and white. A note. Someone had left a note on her desk. Glancing around the room, she tried to figure out who it might be. People were talking to each other, getting up to walk around the room. They'd been given an assignment to work on, with partners or groups if they wanted to. Anyone could've gotten up and dropped the note on her desk.

Sitting down, she carefully picked up the note. It was folded crisply, corners meeting together, nothing out of line about it. Unfolding it, she found it to be short, as well. Short, to the point. Her eyes narrowed as she read its contents.

New Girl,

It's been a week. Stop staring at me.

Her head jerked up, eyes flying across the room to the solitary desk by the window. Where Derek Souza's captivating green eyes were glaring at her.

Authoress's Notes: Yay! Chapter 1 of my first DP multi-fic! Let's all do a happy dance! I've already planned this whole thing out, and I've figured that it'll be 8 chapters, unless I decide to add more or have to split up some chapters. But, as of right now, 8 chapters it is. Short and sweet! Also, notice that this is an AU fic, meaning that I've completely changed the setting from the DP universe to a normal, every day one: high school! Meaning that, sorry, there will be no supernatural activities going on. They're just normal teens with normal problems. Although I might reference their supernatural-ness in a later chapter. But you'll just have to see that when I post it! XD