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Chapter 2: New Student.

I woke up later than I had originally intended to –I had wanted to get up at 5 but my alarm didn't go off until 7:30. It was odd, though. I always thought the little buzzing noise was supposed to go off when the little numbers on the screen thing hit the time you set it for, not two and a half hours later!

Quickly I swung my legs over the side of the bed and hopped out, not bothering to make it. I grabbed the first outfit I could get my hands on –which so happened to be the one I wore out last night- and dashed down the stairs and out the door without confrontation. At least, that's what my plan had been.

"Darren!" My mom called to me the moment I opened the door and placed a foot out. I sighed. My luck was awful today.

"Yeah mom?" I questioned, not sounding enthusiastic at all.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast? You have a big game today." She called to me from the kitchen.

"no mom, I'm not going to eat breakfast." I hollered back.

"But you need your energy." She insisted. I knew she wasn't going to let it drop. Sighing I stepped back in and shut the door, muttering to myself.

"I need a lot of things but you don't see me getting those anytime soon." I walked into the kitchen. My mother glared at me.

"What was that young man?" She shot. I felt my heart skp a beat as I continued to look at the floor, trying my hardest not to look her in the eyes.

"I said I'm not that hungry so maybe a slice of toast and a little juice." I lied. I couldn't just talk back to my mom like Steve could. I wasn't that gutsy, and my mom would tear me in two. She smiled and threw in some toast. Annie smiled at me. She knew that I had gone out last night. Or at least she knew where I had really gone out, and I had managed to get some souvenirs for her too, I'd just have to give them to her either in school or after school.

"How did you sleep Darren?" She asked, taking a bite of toast. She didn't know that I was caught coming back in. I sighed.

"He didn't sleep." Dad said, just as I was about to say fine. I flinched. She looked at dad with a confused expression.

"He didn't? Did he get to stay up past his bed time when I had to sleep?" She questioned. Dad shook his head.

"No, he had dashed off over to Leonard's last night to get his shoes and didn't get back in until two in the morning." He took a drink of his coffee. I saw the confusion clear up in her eyes as she smiled and looked at me.

"You're such an airhead Dar." She giggled. I smiled a mocking smile, but I was actually happy. She knew enough to get a hold of the story before blabbing her big mouth off. Turning my mom handed me four slices of toast, an orange and a glass of orange juice. Grabbing the glass I chugged it and headed for the door.

"Aren't you going enjoy your toast?" My mom hollered after me as I grabbed for the doorknob.

"I'll eat it on the way to school! I'm late mom!" I hollered.

"Wait!" She hollered. I stopped and rolled my eyes, turning around. Running up to me she shoved an envelope into my jeans pocket and handed me a twenty dollar bill. I looked at it confused.

"What's that for?" I questioned. She smiled.

"Get yourself something sweet at the store after school or an energy drink for the game." She winked at me. I smiled and nodded once, then turned around and scrambled out the door. Leaping over the steps, I continued running the moment my feet touched the sidewalk. I made sure to ditch the toast in one of our neighbors' yard a little way down the street, making sure it was out of moms view. I knew one of the neighborhood dogs would eat it later. I was just about to stash the orange when I rounded a corner, go too fast to see what was around it. I ran into something hard, my face colliding with whatever it was, my nose cracking.

I fell backwards, my head smashing off of the sidewalk, my vision turning red for a split second, the silence. I grunted and lightly rotated my head, my neck killing me, my nose numb. Who the heck was stupid enough to park a truck on the sidewalk! I screamed in my head. Groaning I pushed myself up and rubbed my head, hot liquid trickling down my lip. I cursed and held my hand under my face. I looked up to see that it wasn't an inanimate object I had run into, but instead a young girl. My eyes grew wide as I reached forward with my none messy hand and grabbed her, pulling her to a sitting position. She moaned, her voice deep as she rubbed her face.

"I'm sorry." I squealed, trying not to get blood in my mouth. She shook her head, then finally looked at me. She gasped and reached forward, sticking her fingers to my upper lip.

"Oh my god! You're bleeding! Are you alright? I'm so sorry." She squealed trying to wipe away the blood. I nodded, keeping my lips shut tightly as it dribbled down my chin. She made a panicked face as she kept wiping and wiping away. "Tip your head back really quick but don't leave it like that!" She barked. I listened to her. I heard a zip then felt a piece of tissue paper around the bottom of my nose. "Tip your head down now." She instructed me. I followed her instructions and looked at her. She smiled at me, her eyes a beautiful hazel color, almost yellow. That's when I noticed the details.

She had long black hair and pale, single toned skin that seemed so perfectly smooth except for a few spots where it looked like it was dried out, but it was nothing a little lotion could take care of. Her face was longer than most girls I've seen, and her nose was slightly flat, but she was beautiful. Her lips were thin as she smiled, and her speech was affected by extra sharp S's.

"I'm sorry." I whispered again, mesmerized by her beauty. She smiled and shook her head.

"I almost broke your nose and you're the one saying sorry? Wow, that's weird." She giggled, standing. Holding out her hand to me she smiled. I just couldn't get over how deep her voice was. It wasn't terribly manly, but it was manlier than any girl I've ever met.

"I'm sorry." I whispered once more as I grabbed her hand and pushed myself to my feet. I saw that she was wearing a pair of shorts and a long, dark green sweater. She smiled and held onto my hand. I just looked down at it, then back up at her, my cheeks turning hot.

"Well, are you going to tell me your name or am I going to have to guess it? Trust me, I know a lot of names because of all the places I been, so we might be here a while." She winked. My face flushed completely as I shook her hand and chuckled slightly.

"My name is Darren Shan, the boy who needs to slow down while running around corners so he doesn't run into anymore people." I replied. She giggled and shook my hand back with extra emphasis.

"And my name is Evan Marcus, the silly boy who can't find the school." She replied. Wait! He? Boy? I had been thinking a boy was beautiful? I shuttered and pulled away. He looked at me confused as I giggled nervously and itched the back of my head.

"Um…he? Are-are you sure you're a boy?" I chuckled, not trying to sound like I was aiming to hurt his feelings. His face warped to a hurt expression as he looked down at the ground and forced a smiled.

"Y-yeah, kind of hard to tell the difference huh?" He questioned. Oh great Darren, now you hurt his feelings! I shook my head, needing to force a smile myself.

"No it's just…" I paused and looked at him. It was everything. Everything about him looked feminine. His legs were slender, and bare, and his waist was narrow, and his curves –or what I could see of them through his baggy sweater- were really…girlish. But I had to point out one thing that wouldn't offend him that I could say threw me off. "The hair, its so long it makes you look like a girl." He looked up at me confused. I needed to say more. "Hey I'd probably look like a girl with hair as long as yours." I added. He smiled and laughed.

"So my hair makes me look pretty huh?" he winked. I felt my cheeks turn hot. Why did he look so much like a girl. I shook my head.

"Not pretty just…like a girl." I added. He laughed harder and shook his head. He stopped and looked backwards. I pulled the tissue away from my nose and saw that I had stopped bleeding.

"So you finally stopped bleeding huh?" He questioned. I looked up and saw that he was smiling at me, his eyes narrow eyes glistening. I nodded. He smiled. "Good. Are you heading to school?" He questioned again. I nodded.

"Darren!" A voice called behind me. I turned around to see Steve running up the street.

"Who's that?" Evan asked, looking at Steve.

"My friend Steve." I said simply and waved. He ran up next to us and stopped.

"Hey Darren, didn't I tell you to wait for me?" He questioned, chuckling lightly. I was about to answer when he looked at Evan. "Who's the girl?" He asked, his eyes skimming up and down Evan's body. Evan went stiff slightly, his eyebrows slightly furrowing, but he kept his smiled.

"My name is Evan; I'm new to the school." He held his hand out, his lips almost an invisible line, that's how thin his lips were. Steve nodded, but didn't take his hand.

"So ugh, why you hanging out with a fag?" Steve questioned, looking at me. My jaw dropped. Evan dropped his hand shook his head.

"I'm not a fag." He replied. Steve looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah you are. And just to let you know, Darren hates fags so you might as well turn around and walk the other way." He swished his hand, dismissing him then turned back to me for an answer as anger clouded Evan's once brilliantly shimmering green eyes.

"I'm not a fag!" He snapped. Steve didn't like that. Whirling around he turned on him and snapped back.

"Well you look like one so back off!" Steve snarled. I could tell Evan wanted to say something else, but he was smart enough to hold his tongue. Turning around he grabbed the messenger bag in which I guess he had carried all of the tissues in and walked away, his fists remaining closed. Steve laughed. "So, why didn't you wait?" he asked, a smile on his face as if he hadn't just totally hurt someone's feelings. I shook my head and looked away, scowling.

"You're such a child." I muttered. I guess it must have broken Steve's final nerve. He stepped forward and grabbed my shoulder, slamming me against the nearest telephone pole.

"Why are you acting like a pansy!" He growled in my face.

"Because Steve! Because you were just mean to someone new! To someone who needed someone to talk to and show them the way! But that's not all you did Steve! You lied to him for me! You lied to about me! Do you realize what that makes me look like!" I slapped his hand away from me, fixing my shirt. "That makes me look like a homophobic jerk! And I'm not ok? So what if he was gay, if he even was gay! He was still nice!" I screamed. He glared at me, his bottom lip curling up, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his eyebrows. I knew I shouldn't have done that. I shook my head and turned the other way, walking down the sidewalk. Steve hesitated. I stopped and turned around, glaring at him. "Come on, we have to go to school, jerk." I muttered. He clenched his fist and started wailing on the telephone pole. He kept punching it until his knuckles bled. My heart was racing. I had made him that mad!

He walked by me, heading down the sidewalk. I followed right behind him, saying nothing. I didn't dare to, not when Steve was so angry. I just hope he'd cool off by lunch time at least.

CDF

I tapped a pencil against the desk in math class, waiting for it to start when I noticed something was different. The other kids were restless, the girl chatting rapidly, the boys making stupid sound effects. I looked up to the front of the class and noticed that a substitute was here, talking to someone in the door way. So that's why everyone was so restless, a substitute.

"Alright class, sit down." She announced, walking back to the teachers desk. Everyone scrambled for their seats, but they didn't stop talking. "Today we have a new student in this class, and I'm not sure what he usually does when you get new students, but we'll have him introduce himself." She looked at the door and nodded. I sat forward in my seat, my eyes wide as the long hair boy walked in. His face was stern, more manly than before, he didn't smile. "Alright just write your name on the board and tell us about yourself." She instructed for him. He nodded and turned around, grabbing a marker. He wrote his name on the board and turned to face us.

"My name is Evan Marcus, I live in a crappy mobile home, I travel the world with my father, I was home schooled before this, my father wants me to spend at least one semester in a normal school and that's my life in a nutshell." He muttered. "Everyone go nuts." He walked by her and to the only open seat left. The one right next to mine. I felt my heart leap as he sat down, the substitute carrying on to start the lesson.

"Hey," I whispered, leaning over to get his attention. He looked at me, he didn't seem too happy.

"I thought you hated gays? And apparently seeing how I'm gay according to your friend then should you not be talking to me?" He questioned with venom. I flinched at the tone of his voice and shook my head.

"Don't listen to anything Steve says, he's just being a moody butt head today. Probably didn't get too much sleep last night. What classes do you have next?" I asked. He smiled slightly and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper from his messenger bag and handed it to me.

"This is my schedule; match it up if it floats your boat." He chuckled. I smiled and opened the piece of paper, looking at it. He had most of the same classes with me. Gym, social, science, Spanish, math, both study halls. I smiled and handed him his schedule back.

"You have almost every class with me." I whispered. He smiled lipped the words awesome, his nose crinkling a bit.

"Does he have any of the same classes as me and you?" He asked, tucking his schedule into his shorts pocket. I nodded.

"Only Social and he sits way in the front." I replied. He smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

"Hopefully I get a seat next to you in every class." He chuckled lightly. "I don't want to sit next to him or else I'll get wicked ticked off and try to punch him in the face." He grumbled. I shook my head.

"Don't try to pick a fight with Steve, he's one of the strongest kids in school and a ferocious fighter, he'll rip your legs off and beat you with them." I warned him, copying down the notes on the board.

"Did you hear me say try. I never said I'd succeed." He laughed slightly I snickered and shook my head. We spoke the rest of the class and moved on to our other classes. We spoke mainly about the things we liked. I told him about my spider fascination and he told me about how he loved snakes and spiders and thing like iguanas.

"I always wanted a Komodo Dragon." He replied, following me down the stairs to the cafeteria.

"Why a Komodo dragon? Those things are huge and dangerous." I replied. He laughed.

"But they're so awesome. All of those scales and like…the teeth. Oh my god I love the teeth." He laughed. I stopped as Steve and Alan came around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. He stopped and smiled at me, but the smile faded once he saw Evan.

"Hey Dar bear, hey fag." He forced a smile. Evan smiled back.

"Hey kitten." He replied. I had told him about our nickname for Steve, calling him Steve Leopard instead of Leonard. I wasn't sure how this was going to go down.

"Block any back entrances lately?" Steve threw at him acidically. Evan smiled.

"Only your moms." My jaw dropped. Steve lashed out at him and punched him in the face, tackling him to the stairs. I jumped back, trying not to become a member in the brawl. I didn't know who was winning until I saw Steve go flying back, falling down the rest of the stairs. Evan jumped off of the steps he was on and landed on him, punching him repeatedly in the back of the head. I rushed forward and grabbed Evan as Alan grabbed Steve and held him back.

"I'll kill you!" Steve hissed.

"I'd like to see you try it!" Evan hissed back, his voice sounding like a reptiles. Steve struggled against Alan's grasp as Evan threw a couple punches in his direction.

"Stop it both of you! You're both acting like babies!" I screamed, shoving Evan against the wall. He looked at me confused as I slammed my knee in between his legs, keeping him pinned in his spot. "Stop." I stared deep into Evans green eyes. They looked familiar. He looked away form me and pushed me away.

"I don't have to put up with this." He growled and turned around, walking back up the stairs towards the office. I sighed as I shook my head and looked back over my shoulder at Steve.

"Why can't you just accept him?" I questioned. Steve pulled away from Alan.

"I don't like the kid, he reminds me of a fruit loop." He grunted, fixing his shirt, wiping blood from his bottom lip.

"He lives with his father, traveling the world, and was home schooled, Steve, of course he isn't going to act like me and you." I walked by him and to the table. Hopefully this foolish behavior between the two of them wouldn't keep up, cause I was afraid that one of these days, I was going to get the crap kicked out of me for defending Evan. And I had a feeling –judging by the way Steve shot me down with his gaze- it was going to be soon.