Beep beep beep-

Dark groggily slapped his alarm clock to shut it up, groaning as he drew the covers over his head.

"Wake up Dark, you have to get ready for your first day of school!" Dark's father called out from the kitchen.

He could smell pancakes and hear the sound of crackling bacon from the kitchen, encouraging him to crawl out of bed.

He quickly changed into a black tank top and black jeans with a black jacket accompanied with red and white sneakers before darting downstairs to eat.

"Slow down, I don't want you to choke." Damien chuckled as Dark practically inhaled his stack of pancakes and bacon before darting into the bathroom to brush his teeth and attempt to tame his unruly hair.

By the time he had grabbed his black backpack off of the floor of his room and sling it over his shoulder, the bus had pulled up in front of his house.

"Have a good day Dark, I'll see you when I get home from work!" Dark's father promised as he handed his son his lunch packed into a brown paper sack before Dark ran out the door, nearly stumbling over his feet in his rush.

"W-wait!" Dark cried as the bus started to leave without him, panic gripping his heart as struggled to catch it before he was left behind.

He breathed out a sigh of relief when it abruptly stopped, allowing him to climb in.

"Hey, come sit over here!" Anti shouted from the back of the bus, motioning for Dark to join him.

"Here, I'll even let you have the window seat." Anti offered, switching places with him as Dark reached him.

"What made you miss the bus?" Anti prompted curiously as the bus began moving again.

"I-I do-on't know." Dark admitted as he watched the world race by in a blur of bright white headlights passing by.

"At least I got the bus to stop." Anti grinned happily.

"Yo-ou did t-that?" Dark replied in surprise.

"Yeah. No problem by the way, that's what friends are for." Anti stated while beaming proudly.

"Ooh, by the way, my dad told me that he talked to my teacher and that he found out that we have the same teacher!" Anti exclaimed excitedly.

"Re-eally?" Dark gaped in shock, unable to believe his good luck of sharing a class with his one, and so far only, friend.

"Yeah, Mr. Tenebris is pretty cool. I met him when my other siblings had him as a teacher." Anti added.

"H-how man-ny si-iblings do y-you have?" Dark asked.

"I'm the youngest of seven. And that's including myself " Anti explained with a shrug.

"I-I wi-ish I h-had a sibling." Dark pouted.

"Trust me, they're not as cool as you might think." Anti joked to cheer him up.

Before Dark could reply, the bus slowed to a stop in front of the school with a loud squeal tat made Dark's ears hurt, the doors creaking open to release the children.

"C'mon, I'll show you around!" Anti offered eagerly as he took Dark's hand, leading him inside the dark gray building looming in front of them.

Dark felt his face flush a bright red hue as Anti showed him the playground, library, gym, lunchroom, and their classroom, feeling glad for some reason that Anti never let his hand go during the tour.

Just as Dark and Anti entered their classroom and found their seats in the back of the class, other students began to file in after them.

Dark frowned in disappointment as he found his desk an entire row away from Anti's, growing more worried as he thought about having to meet new people.

Anti seemed to notice his anxiousness as he took a piece of paper from his green backpack and scribbled something into it before crumpling it up and tossing it at Dark.

Dark opened it up to find words of encouragement written on it by Anti, accompanied by a smiley face that made Dark smile back.

"Hey, who are you?"

Dark nearly jumped out of his seat when a boy his age dressed in all black sat down beside him.

"I-I'm Da-ark." Dark introduces himself nervously, half expecting the new kid to make fun of him.

"It's nice to meet you! My name's Daniel, but I sometimes go by Dan." The kid replied.

Another boy dressed in bright colors sat on the other side of Dark, his blue eyes tinged with excitement as he began to chat with Dan.

Dark glanced back at Anti and felt crushed when he saw him talking to a boy with white hair and striking blue eyes, both laughing at something Dark couldn't hear.

Dark's attention shifted to the front when his teacher strode in with a welcoming smile that slightly eased Dark's worries, his teacher a middle aged man with black hair and dark eyes.

"Welcome children to your first day of school at United Elementary! I hope you've all made a some new friends." Mr. Tenebris announced cheerfully.

The twenty children responded loudly with a chorus of yeses, seeming to satisfy the teacher.

"Today we're going to introduce each other and have a talent show as I'm sure your parents have told you about already." Mr. Tenebris stated, causing Dark to panic.

"I'll go first. My name is Jacob Tenebris and my talent is being able to teach, which is what I'm currently doing and shall do the rest of this year. Why don't you go next Phil?" Mr. Tenebris invited the boy on the left of Dark.

Dark spaced off as he thought of what he would do, feeling his anxiety grow stronger by the second as each kid showed off a talent of theirs.

Phil sang a song Dark didn't recognize, Dan had drawn cat whiskers on his face, and most everyone else had brought a musical instrument or sang.

Until it got to Anti.

He smiled as he confidently strolled to the front of the class, a syringe and small sheet of metal in hand.

"You guys ready to see something cool?" Anti prompted the class eagerly.

"What's in the syringe?" Mr. Tenebris asked worriedly.

"It's acid." Anti stated casually before injecting it into his arm, causing his veins to turn green as the liquid ran through his veins.

Anti's eyes lit up green as he held the sheet of metal in one hand, shooting acid out of his fingers in the other that melted a hole through it much to everyone else's amazement.

Dark and the others clapped loudly as he returned to his seat, talking to the white-haired boy again much to Dark's dismay.

"Xilef, you're next." Mr. Tenebris announced.

The white haired boy stood up and walked to the front of the class with a cocky smirk that Dark was beginning to dislike.

Wordlessly, Xilef clenched his hands into fists at his side, causing them to ignite in blue flames that awed the crowd.

"Anti go!" Xilef commanded.

Anti tossed the sheet of metal he had used earlier to Xilef, Dark watching as he punched the metal and made it disintegrate, eliciting wild cheers from the crowd as he went back to his seat.

He winked at Dark on his way past him, causing Dark to feel uneasy.

"Last up, our exchange student Dark from LA. Go ahead." Me. Tenebris encouraged him.

Dark felt his entire body shake as he reluctantly left his seat to go to the front of his class, taking a deep, shaky breath in attempts to calm his nerves as he closed his eyes in concentration.

Dark's body shifted into its natural shadow form, allowing him to fly around the room as a cloud of black smoke that impressed everyone except Xilef.

Once Dark returned to his human form, he was met with a loud applause as he took his seat, Anti flashing him a thumbs up while Xilef scowled at him.

The rest of the day flew by in a blur as Dark's mind constantly returned to his classmates' reaction of his power, making him smile despite the glares Xilef shot him throughout the day when he was near Anti.

Dark and Anti talked on the bus ride home about whatever came to mind, allowing Dark to forget about Xielif and the dislike he felt towards him for no real reason.

They hugged when they parted ways to go to their separate houses to eat, Anti promising to hang out with him at recess tomorrow instead of Xilef.

Dark cooked and ate a dinner of mac and cheese since his father was still gone before going to bed, dreaming of what he and Anti would play together at recess the next day without Xilef.