To all my loyal readers, I bring you my new story, but don't worry; I'm not stopping my other. This was just an idea I've been thinking about. Though I've kept most of the original characters, I added a few of my own because I wanted a new personality to play with. And, yes. I know it's short.

So I decided to make a little contest. At the beginning of each chapter, I'm going to put part of a poem. If you can guess what it is called, you will get 10 points. If you can guess who it is by, you will get 20 points. If you can guess both, you will get fifty. (Yes, I know 10 plus 20 does not equal 50. Deal with it.) At the end of the fifth chapter, whoever has the most points can choose an idea for a story or one-shot (I will try my best). Second place can choose a person to either be in the story/one-shot or my story, if I can fit them in.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Darkest Powers

The tide rises, the tide falls,

The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;

Along the sea-sands damp and brown

The traveler hastens toward the town,

And the tide rises, the tide falls.

"Chloe," a voice whispered. "Chloe!"

"Huh," I jolted awake. Looking over at Maggie, I asked, "What?"

"Class is over," she said, gathering up her stuff and standing up.

Looking around, I saw that class was, indeed, over. The room was quickly becoming empty as kids fled to the hall.

"Just tell me I didn't snore," I told her as I followed her example and grabbed my things.

"Don't worry," she said, "Nobody noticed."

"Good."

"How late did you stay up last night?" she asked me as we entered the hallway.

"Only until eleven," I answered, as I dodged the traffic.

"And you're falling asleep?" she asked me.

"It's not that," I told her as I opened my locker. "It's the class. I don't get it. And no matter what, I will never get geometry. Not with Mr. Stang teaching it."

"Why not get a tutor?" she asked.

"And admit to my stupidity?" I said, swinging my newly refilled bag over my shoulder. "No. I'll just keep trying. Something has to stick eventually. I mean, how hard can it b –"

I was cut off by my locker door slamming into my shoulder. Looking behind me, I saw a girl at the locker next to mine, which had always been empty. She was about 5'6" with short, black hair.

"Sorry," I said, "I didn't mean to have the door in the way. That locker's usually empty."

Slamming her door, she turned to me. Taking one look at me, she didn't hide her disgust as she curled back her lip. Swinging her bag onto her shoulder, she turned and walked off.

Closing my locker, I looked at Maggie and gave her a questioning look. She shrugged.

"Come on," I said, "If I'm late to English again, I'll get detention."

When we got to English, I took my seat in the back. I sat in the very back by myself. Maggie used to sit next to me, but the teacher got sick of telling us to shut up, so she moved Maggie up.

As I sat down, the bell rang. I got out my things and also grabbed my script for theatre. I was one of the writers. I really wanted to be a director, but for me, writing is better than acting and being the center of attention.

Ms. Wallus began to take attendance, so I continued writing. I was one of the last people called, so I had awhile to go. When she got to the D's, I heard the door open and she stopped talking. A boy walked over to Ms. Wallus and handed her a piece of paper. He was tall. Really tall. His baggy clothes hung loosely. I couldn't see his face very well. He had it angled away and his black hair hung over it, hiding his face. After Ms. Wallus read the paper, she wrote something on the class roster and pointed to the empty seat next to me. He looked back and his eyes met mine. Emerald eyes stared out from under his long hair. Breaking the gaze, he started walking towards the back of the room. When he got to the table, he dropped his bag next to the chair and sat down. Leaning back, he stared forward at Ms. Wallus, ignoring the looks he was getting from the rest of the class.

I turned back to my script and continued writing. I kept writing until the teacher got to the R's, then I stopped. Eventually, she said, "Chloe Saunders."

"Here," I answered.

"Margaret Shaw."

Maggie winced as Ms. Wallus addressed her by her full name. "Here."

"Derek Souza."

The new boy next to me said, "Here."

I looked over briefly. So that was his name. I had to remember that to tell Rae later. She was in journalism and was naturally eager to know everything that was happening.

Setting my script aside, I turned my attention to the teacher, who had finished roll call.

"We'll continue where we left off yesterday talking about elements of a classic novel."

That was our next project. We had to choose a classic and either write a report on it or make a PowerPoint, then present it to the class. Most of the kids choose the presentation because then they didn't have to write as much.

As the teacher talked, I wrote, knowing she would eventually have a "pop" quiz. They used to be pop quizzes, but after giving us a quiz after every unit, I knew what to expect.

When the bell rang, everybody flooded from the room. When Maggie got to the door, she gave me a look that said, "You coming?"

I held up my finger, motioning for her to wait. As I was packing my bag, I turned to Derek and said, "I'm Chloe."

"Derek," he grunted.

"After every unit, Ms. Wallus gives us a 'pop' quiz. I'm assuming you don't need any help figuring out what a classic is, but the quiz usually comes directly from the notes, so you can borrow my notes if you want. You can copy them, then give then give them back tomorrow," I explained. I held out my notebook so he could grab it if he wanted.

He reached out, grabbed it and put it in his bag, saying, "Thanks."

"No problem," I said before running off to catch up with Maggie.

"What was that about?" Maggie asked me as we headed to lunch.

"I was just lending him my notes to copy," I told her.

"Well, now you're in for it," she said as we entered the cafeteria.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She pointed to our table and I saw what she meant. Rae was already there, practically bouncing with excitement. She obviously had heard about the new kids and was ready to burst. As we sat down, she snatched a fry from Maggie's tray, completely bypassing mine. I guess salad's not fun to mooch off of. Go figure.

As soon as we got settled down, she started talking. "Did you see the new kid?"

"Kids," I said.

"Huh?"

"There is more than one. I saw two."

"Who were they?"

"I don't know who the girl was, just that she didn't like me," I said.

"Why?"

"She slammed my locker door into my shoulder and from the look on her face, I'm worse than what the cat dragged in," I explained.

"Ouch," She said, grimacing. Quickly recovering, she said." What about the second one?"

"A boy," I said. "His name's Derek Souza."

"There are two boys?" she asked.

"Two?" I said.

"Well I saw one, too," she explained. "He was in the hallway by my locker. I didn't hear his full name, but his first name's Simon."

"So there's three new kids?" I said. "That seems odd."

"What did the girl look like?" Rae asked.

"She was about medium height with short black hair and an even shorter temper," I explained.

"I hope I don't have any classes with her," Rae said, "How about Derek?"

"Tall, black hair, green eyes," I said.

"You noticed his eyes?" Rae said, eyebrows rising.

"Well it wasn't like I was looking for them," I said, "I just saw them."

"Right," Rae said, drawing out the word.

"Moving on," I said, "How about Simon?"

"Gorgeous!" A voice exclaimed behind us.

Turning around, we saw Liz walking over to us. She sat down on my other side.

"Details?" Maggie asked.

"Oh, right," she said. "His name is Simon Bae and he makes July in the Sahara seem cold. He has spiky blond hair and brown eyes."

"Oh, and he's Chinese or something," Rae added.

"How do you know his last name?" I asked Liz.

"I just had Spanish with him," she explained. "So, how about the other two?"

We spent the rest of lunch filling Liz in on what we knew. As soon as the bell rang, I grabbed my stuff from my locker. When I got to biology, I sat in my normal seat and began writing my script again. After I had written a few lines, someone next to me cleared their throat and said, "Mind if I sit here?"

Looking up, I saw a boy. He was about medium height. His blond hair stood in spikes. He definitely looked Asian, but not Chinese.

"Go ahead," I said, motioning for him to sit down.

"Thanks," he said, flashing me a smile I was sure worked on every girl. I, however, remained immune.

Reaching out his hand, he said," I'm Simon Bae."

I returned the handshake and replied," I'm Chloe Saunders."

"So you're a sophomore?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"And you are...?"

"A junior."

"A junior? Why are you taking biology? Shouldn't you be in chemistry?"

"You'd think so. However, there were circumstances," he replied, his face serious.

"You flunked?" I asked, trying to hide a smile.

"Like I said, circumstances," he said, a smile growing.

"Wow, Simon, you're here, what, five minutes and you're already hitting on someone," a voice said. I looked up and saw the girl from earlier, looking at Simon.

"I'm not hitting on anyone, Victoria," he said.

"Could've fooled me," she said, sitting down in front of us.

He shot her the finger when she had he back turned.

"Your sister?" I guessed.

"Victoria Enright, my half-sister. Unfortunately, I still have to live with her," he said.

"Why doesn't she live with her other parent?" I asked.

"Her mom lives in Chicago. And my dad wanted her," he said. "I think he needs to get his brain checked."

I laughed, earning a smile.

"Let me guess. She's a witch?" I said, jokingly.

"You don't know how right you are," he said.

"Do you only have a half-sister?" I asked.

"No, I have a foster brother, too," he said.

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Derek Souza," he answered.

"He's your brother?" I asked.

"Yeah. Why? Have you met him?" he asked.

"I have English with him," I explained, "He's not very sociable."

"Nope. But he's a great guy. You just have to get to know him."

"Something tells me getting him to talk is the hard part."

"He doesn't talk to people much," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"He –"

He was cut off by the bell and Mr. Drake's voice. We looked up as Mr. Drake pulled out an old top hat. Inside the hat were tiny strips of paper with everybody's' name on them. Actually, half of them had names on them. The other half were blank, though I had no idea why. I just knew from past experiences.

"Okay everyone," he said, "Like I said at the beginning of the year, you will be required to partner up and do a big project. I will pass out the instructions after you draw your partner."

He began walking around the room having kids draw from the hat. As he walked around, I turned back to Simon.

"You were saying?" I said.

"Oh yeah," he said," Well, he doesn't really see a point in it."

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, he can get what he needs without actually making contact with someone, so he figures, if he doesn't need to, why bother?"

"And what planet is he from?" I asked, smiling.

Simon laughed. "Whatever it is, I probably can't pronounce it. It's probably some really long word, just the way he likes it."

"He likes long words?" I asked.

"Not directly," Simon said, "He's smart. I mean, really smart. So long words? Not a problem."

Before I could respond, Mr. Drake got to us and held out the hat. I reached into it and pulled out the folded paper. Simon then grabbed his and Mr. Drake continued on. When he got to the front, he turned and faced the class.

"Okay, now you can unfold and see who your next partner is," he declared.

As everybody opened theirs, I heard many groans as people got who they didn't want. Simon opened his and a confused look passed over his face.

"Got a blank one?" I asked.

"Yeah. What's that mean?" he asked.

"Half the class gets blanks. The other half gets the names of the kids who got the blanks."

"Who did you get?" he asked.

I held mine up and he smiled.

"Cool," he said as he read his own name, "What do you want to do the project on?"

We spent the rest of the class talking about possible topics for our project. When the bell rang, I said bye and went to my locker to get my French stuff.

When I got to French, the first thing I noticed was that the seat next to mine, which was usually empty, was occupied. Derek Souza sat staring out the window. I walked to my seat and sat down.

"Looking at anything in particular?" I asked.

"Nope," he said.

"So, did you pick a classic for English, yet?" I asked, trying to find something to talk about.

"Nope," he said.

"Do you know any other word?" I asked.

"Nope," he said.

"Well what do you know, the human dictionary," I said sarcastically as I leaned onto my hand.

I heard a small sound coming from next to me. When I looked over, I saw that he was silently laughing. Smiling, I turned to the front.

After French, I headed to my last class of the day: theatre. It also happened to be my favorite class. I really want to be a director, and so far, this is as close as I can get. I have theatre with two of my friends: Liz Delaney and Jake Shaw.

Jake is a junior. He is Maggie's older brother. I'm an only child, but Jake and Maggie are a perfect substitute. I've been going to school with them since I started. Their parents died when they really young in a fire that destroyed their home, so they live with their grandmother. My home was their sanctuary away from their grandmother's sewing circles and baking clubs.

When I walked into theatre, I was immediately grabbed around the waist and lifted up.

"Jake!" I said, laughing, "Put me down!"

"Nope," he said.

"And why not?" I asked.

"Something might happen to you. You could get hurt," he said, joking, "You could break your leg or worse, stub your toe."

"Very funny," I said, "Now put me down."

"Alright. But when you trip, I told you so."

When I was finally back on my feet, I turned and faced him. His brown hair was beginning to fall in his face, like he needed to get it cut, but on him, the look worked. The combination of his laughing blue eyes and cocky smile was enough to send any girls heart into hyper drive. After growing up with it, it didn't affect me, but that didn't stop every other girl from tripping over each other just to get near him.

"I don't always trip," I told him.

"Well not always," he said. "You take a break every other month or so."

I fixed him with a mock glare, while trying not to smile. Turning around, I began walking to the other side of the room, towards Liz, who was wildly waving her arms trying to get my attention. Jake came up next to me and threw his arm over my shoulder. Liz was sitting on one of the tables placed off to the side. Her long blond hair was up in a pony and swinging side to side. Underneath her green sweatshirt, I could see her Mickey Mouse shirt peeking out.

"What's got you so excited," I asked her.

"I just had geometry with the new girl," she said.

"I have biology with her," I said, "And with Simon. I also have French with Derek."

"Well, I like her so far," she said, matter-of-factly.

"You like everybody," I pointed out.

"Well, yeah," she said, giggling.

"What are you two talking about?" Jake asked, looking confused.

"The three new kids," I explained.

"Oh, "he said.

"Do you have any classes with them?" Liz asked him.

"Let's see," he said, "I have government with Simon and Derek. Algebra with Simon. And Spanish with Tori."

"What do you think of them," I asked.

"Simon's fine. I can see a potential friendship there. Also he's trying out for basketball, so I'll see him at practice. Derek's OK. He doesn't talk much. Or at all. And Tori's kinda hot."

"Gonna ask her out?" I asked, smiling.

"Gonna try," he said, returning the smile.

"Good luck," I said, "You're gonna need it."

"You don't think I can do it?"

"Nope."

"All right then, "he said. "Let's make a bet. If I can Tori to go out with me, you owe me a week of English homework."

"And what's in it for me?" I asked.

"Hmm… well we have to make this a little of a challenge," he said," Ok, I've got one. If you can get Derek to go out with you, you can pick what you want."

"That's – "

"I wasn't finished," he said, that cocky smile growing into a devious one. "You have to get Derek to go out with you. But he has to be the one to do the asking."

Before I could answer, the teacher came in. I waited until class was over and turned to Jake. Holding out my hand, I said, "Deal."

When I got home, I automatically went to my bedroom and closed the door. When I threw my bag on the bed, I heard, "Hey, watch where you throw that."

Turning around, I saw Beth sitting on my bed. Beth happened to be another friend of mine. The difference between her and my other friends, however, was that Beth was a ghost.

Looking at Beth, I said, "You can't feel it."

"And?" she said, smiling. She leaned back on my bed, putting her arms behind her head. As she leaned, my deep blue comforter didn't move. Neither did the matching pillow when her head hit it.

Shaking my head, I grabbed my bag off the bed and walked over to my desk. Pushing aside my laptop, I began to empty the bag. Taking out the hours of homework, I set it on my desk.

"And…?" Beth said, jumping up and walking over to me.

"And what?" I asked, confused.

"What do you mean, and what?" she said, putting her hands on her hips. "How was your day?"

"Boring," I said, dryly, sorting through my homework.

"Oh, come on!" she said, "I'm dead. What else am I supposed to do than listen to you talk? Tell me everything."

"Fine," I said, sitting down on my bed, where she joined me. "What do you want to know?"

"Hmm…," she said, tapping her chin. "Start with first hour: history."

"Like I said, boring. The teacher talked the entire time about the Constitution, so I couldn't talk to Rae. Plus, she gave us more homework than somebody can possibly do," I told her.

"Yuck, homework. How about geometry?" she asked.

"I had no idea what he was talking about the entire time," I said.

"Why not get a tutor?" she asked.

"That's the second time I heard that advice today," I said.

"Then take it," she said, making it sound as if it was obvious.

"I don't need somebody I don't know reminding me that I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid," she said, "Just academically challenged."

"Thanks for that," I said, sarcastically.

"Moving on…how was English?"

"We talked more about classics," I said, "Oh, that reminds me. There are three new kids."

"Are there any hot guys?" she asked, raising her eyebrows when she said hot.

"Do you think about anything else?" I asked her.

"Nope," she responded, popping the p. "Who are they?"

"There's a girl named Tori, and two boys – Simon and Derek."

"Are they hot?" she said, getting on her knees and leaning forward to catch all the details.

"I'm not answering that."

"Fine," she said, dropping down on her butt.

"Anyway, as I was saying. Derek is in my English class. He sits next to me."

"What's he like?"

"Quiet," I said simply.

"That's it? That's all you got?" she asked, clearly disappointed.

"What else was I supposed to get?"

"You're hopeless," she responded, "How about biology?"

"The other new kids are in it. Simon sits next to me and Tori in front of me. We also got our partners for our next project. I'm with Simon."

"What's the project?" she asked.

"We haven't decided yet."

"Ok," she said. "How was French?"

"Derek sits next to me. I got him to laugh."

"So?"

"If you saw him, you'd be proud of me."

"We'll see about that. And how was theatre?"

"Normal. Jake attacked me as soon as I got into the room, the teacher talked all hour, oh, and Jake and I made a bet."

"What kind of bet?" she asked, her curiosity clear on her face.

"If Jake can get Tori to go out with him, then I have to do his English homework for a week. If I can get Derek to ask me out, I can pick what I want. But I don't think I'm gonna do it. It seems silly."

"What! You have to do it!" she said, leaning into me.

"Why?"

"Because, it would be hilarious. And I'll help."

"How are you going to help?"

"Well, I can help get Derek to ask you out. I can tell what to do and what to say," she said, trying to think of something to get me to let her help.

"Well…," I said hesitantly, "I guess."

"Yes!" she cheered, jumping up and dancing across the room. Running back, she said, "You will not be disappointed."