Swindle Characters © Gordon Korman

Note: Thief is a working progress…a really slow one. If you read my profile under 'Progress Journal', you'll understand what I'm doing. So…CHECK MY PROFILE!

Enjoy!

One-Shot:

Detention

Antonia "Pitch" Benson sulked in the desk while staring at the white board and letting the memory play through her mind like a rerun that just wouldn't stop.

Me and my big mouth…

She had sassed off to the teacher and for that (and since it was one of the worst teachers to sass off to) Pitch achieved three days in detention after school. The school could only keep students until six. And school ended at 3:10. Thus, she had to serve two hours and fifty minutes each day for three days. If only her luck could get better.

"Yo!"

The sophomore grimaced and hid her face.

Her luck was booming today. She knew that voice all too well.

Peeking her eyes over her arms as she laid her head on the desk, she saw the person she should've expected to see there in detention. Darren Vader.

"Ms. Tuckett," Darren dared himself to smile at the strictest teacher in the whole school. "You look lovely today," he lied through his teeth but with a fake smile still plastered on his face.

At least it wasn't Ms. Tuckett she had sassed off to. Darren was just asking for it. Then again, as long as he was in detention, nothing else could really go wrong—for him. With her luck he'd probably sit by her and annoy her while Ms. Tuckett showed off one flaw of hers: falling asleep in class.

The widower smirked at Darren. "Have a seat, Mr. Vader."

Darren sauntered over to an empty desk across from the room. Pitch let out a sigh of relief and continued to put her head down, only this time, she looked in the opposite direction. Just because Darren had sat somewhere else in the room didn't mean he wouldn't eventually notice her out of the five other students in that room. Plus, once the old hag fell asleep, he would probably venture out of the class or sit beside her.

Pitch prayed silently that he would do the former and ignore her presence.

"Hey, Benson…"

His haughty voice traveled the silent air after about fifteen minutes. She glanced up at the teacher who was of course, fast asleep. The five other students were either doodling on the desk or sleeping as well. One was working, however.

"Psst, Benson!"

She mentally groaned. She didn't know if she could handle this without punching him in the jaw. Or eye. Or where the sun doesn't shine. Or maybe all of the above.

"I know you can hear me," he spoke clearly instead of whispering this time.

Pitch slowly turned her head over in his direction. Vader was the sworn enemy of Griffin Bing—one of her best friends. Darren had 'helped' on their plans only to backstab them since he always thought about himself. She didn't know if he was ever sincere in the past. If anything, Darren became even more arrogant than before. And she thought freshman year was bad.

Only two more years, only two more years.

Pitch's light eyes rested on his dark. She noticed the smirk cross along his tan face in an instant. She glowered at him. "What?" she hissed.

With that, Darren moved to the seat next to her, leaving his original seat three desks behind. She really wanted to groan out loud now. She let out a small whine of protest but Darren didn't hear. He was probably boasting about himself to himself.

He finally sat down and shifted his legs towards her. He put his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward before resting his head in his palms. He blinked continuously at her.

"Why are you in here?"

His voice was…curious. No boastful tone hinted whatsoever. Nonetheless, Pitch was prepared to hear him brag for two hours and fifty minutes. She just wasn't sure if she would make it completely without going insane.

"I badmouthed a teacher," she answered curtly. "Now why are you in here?"

"Hmmm," He seemed to be contemplating what to tell: the truth or an exaggerated form of the truth. "I threw Mr. Laney's fish halfway across the room."

Pitch raised an eyebrow. It certainly didn't sound exaggerated…but it certainly didn't sound like the truth.

"Umm…Why?"

He shrugged, "Because I could. So, I got two hours for that," he leaned back and sprawled his legs out while putting his hands on his lap. "Then I almost set Mr. Christiansen's lab on fire. Complete accident but Sam made it look like I did it on purpose."

Pitch didn't have a clue who Sam was, but setting something on fire seemed like something Darren would do—whether on accident or on purpose. He might've been a football player and popular, but he still somehow managed to trip over nothing but thin air. It wasn't a shock if he accidentally caught something on fire. She had seen him trip over a cord that wasn't there but that he claimed was in Input Tech last year.

Maybe it's his accumulating lies and brags he's tripping over.

Pitch rolled her eyes at her thought, thinking how true it possibly was. Darren bragged nonstop about his football plays and even his football shoes. He bragged about his new car that his parents got him after he totaled the other five. He bragged about getting any girl. He also lied about things, though, too.

Griffin had figured out that his shoes were actually hand-me-downs from his cousins a state over. He also figured out that he had totaled seven cars that were used and his new one was nothing but used also. He lied about staying with a girl when truthfully he was the ultimate player in high school. He was only a sophomore, too.

Okay, maybe he doesn't lie much, but he does exaggerate the truth. Still doesn't change the fact that half our grade is sobbing teenage girls. Not to mention the whole freshman girls.

Thankfully, as far as I know of, he didn't do anything to them.

"So, I got four more hours for that and not to mention I got suspended all of last week because someone put a knife over school regulations in my coat pocket. I thought it was Bing getting even with me when I put color in his hair last month. He said he didn't have anything to do it, but how can I be so sure?" Darren rambled on about what he had done.

Pitch was off in dreamland though.

Right…Griffin's hair was blue for all of last month. He had wanted to get revenge but all of his ideas ended up killing Darren. I heard about the knife incident, but I know it wasn't Griffin. Griffin would've told us and he had sworn it wasn't him.

"Pitch?"

She was snapped back into reality. She met Darren's face with a surprised look. He merely raised an eyebrow at her. "Do I need to repeat that for you?"

"No!" Pitch put out her hands. "No…" she calmly repeated. "So…Then what?"

"That's it," Darren frowned. "I said that was it," he leaned closer with narrowed eyebrows. "I thought you heard me since you didn't need me to repeat any of that."

"I heard most of it," Pitch corrected him with an uneasy grin upon her face. She was simply begging he wouldn't repeat his words. "I didn't hear that last part."

"Hmph," Darren leaned back again and shut his eyes while putting his arms behind his head.

Pitch finally got a good look at him. After all those years in middle school and even junior high, he had become…dare she say…handsome. Of course his arrogance knocked him down a few levels in her book. His arms flexed and muscles were very visible. Pitch blinked and realized her mouth was a gape. She shut it quickly before he noticed but she remembered his eyes were closed.

So, she could still check him out without getting the player vibe all of a sudden.

After all those years of knowing Darren, they never really butted heads but they never really met eye to eye. Pitch had a neutral opinion on the cocky jock. He had never really picked an argument with her because he was normally picking an argument with Griffin.

He had become very athletic and she had overheard in the bathroom that he had lost weight over the freshman summer. Pitch was washing her hands and didn't dare look back to hear anything else the two girls had to say between the stalls about the so-called God.

Darren Vader wasn't a God.

For starters…Gods are plain ugly. Seriously, the pictures of them are not attractive. Why do people call a handsome man a God when they know in the back of their minds that Gods are ugly?

Pitch blinked several times while thinking over her thought.

Did I just…Did I just compliment Darren Vader? I just said he was handsome. Dang it!

Pitch closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. She cracked her eyelids open and glanced over at Darren. His chest was slowly moving up and down, meaning he probably fell asleep or was about to. Pitch shifted in her seat a bit before continuing to stare him.

His jawline and cheekbones sculpted his face throughout the year and he did look lighter than the large child she recalled in middle school. He was taller, too. He stood nearly six feet and towered over Griffin, though Griffin had grown, too, and even Ben had. Darren was still Goliath compared to her friends.

But one thing about him hadn't changed at all. He was still the conceited Darren Vader.

Pitch grunted before putting her head down on her arms and closing her eyes.

Sure, Darren Vader's good looking and athletic. But he'll never stop being a seducing player and an egotistical jerk. He's the enemy of Griffin—one of my best friends.

~.~

Darren's phone buzzed in his pocket. He had set an alarm for six o' clock but made it just vibrate instead of blast music or have an annoying chime come out. This way, he could fall asleep and skip detention easier.

It was nice on him, too. He was too busy with football and girls to even care about school. He had stayed up all last night talking to one of his team members about the cheerleaders. Darren had a junior's number and he was finally going to retry at asking a junior out. Last time had ended up in him getting slapped across the face—literally.

His cheek still stung whenever he thought about it. He knew he shouldn't have asked the girl with the long nails out. But she was smoking hot.

Darren opened his eyes and slid his hand into his jean pockets. He shut the alarm off while looking at the screen. Another call from his mother. He rolled his eyes and wished he hadn't been given such a prying mother who wanted to know everything. Ever since he had his first "girlfriend" it seemed like his mother came waltzing back into his life when really she just bombarded him with questions about the girl.

That was last year, the beginning of freshman year—the beginning of his player-like ways. Although the juniors that year (this year's seniors) were a bad influence on him, ever since he made the football team, he became one of them. He was just as bad as them.

He rubbed his eye while shoving the phone back in his pocket. He glanced around the room to see everyone still there, counting down the last few seconds until six o' clock appeared on the school clock. Darren scoffed. It was six o' clock on his phone—he'd rather trust his phone's clock than the school's clock. And he was positive everyone in that room would agree with him also.

Darren's head shot over to Pitch's body.

Maybe everyone…

The girl was dozing peacefully on top of the desk. She was creating a small puddle of slobber on her sleeve, though. Darren smirked and tried not to laugh at the situation. She would probably wake up and see the drool only to blush like a tomato.

Her short hair spiked out all around her. A headband rested in between the part of her bangs and the longer strands of hair in the back. It was a good look for her, he decided. Darren's dark eyes scanned over her body in curiosity. He hadn't seen her for a while. Her body was big-boned and muscled with the love handles at her waist.

She shifted in her seat and softly moaned in her sleep. Darren raised an eyebrow. He was curious as to what on Earth she could be dreaming about that would make her moan. He leaned forward at five 'till six. The school had set a detention bell. It was like they knew Ms. Tuckett would fall asleep in detention class. It was due to ring five minutes from now and Darren was slightly disappointed.

Her slow breathing remained the same no matter how close he got to her face. Her nose was pushed in up against her arm and made her face look squished. He found it rather amusing…and cute. There were plenty of girls in the high school he would consider dating for longer than two days. Pitch may or may not have been one of them.

He wouldn't ever tell.

She's never really been hostile towards me for long. She's a much better choice between her two other friends: Melissa and Savannah. Melissa you barely ever see. Savannah is more in love with her dog than anyone else. Besides, I'm not into shy girls and I'm not into girls who have twenty animals as pets—or as she always says: part of the family. Blah. Not the girl for me.

Pitch on the other hand…

Darren's eyes observed the athletic girl again.

She's just my type. Athletic, sarcastic, and puts people in line.

Darren smirked as he leaned back and watched her sleep. He didn't want the teacher to wake her ever. He didn't want the bell to ring, either. She looked innocent and content when she slept. She looked like someone who wasn't friends with his rival. She looked like any other girl that could be his.

But she couldn't be his. She might've changed throughout the years into a beautiful girl with an athletic body. But she would always be Antonia Benson.

She's always been athletic, and she became pretty over the years…But she'll probably always be one thing that stops me from dating her. She's the friend of Griffin—one of my best enemies.

READ ENTIRE A/N PLEASE:

I got this idea and HAD to do it. I've got other one-shot ideas up my sleeve and they'll be the couples I ADORE. Not the ones readers want. So, if you dislike Pitch and Darren…Well, too bad.

I thought of Darren being with someone and Melissa is just too shy—then again I'm a shipper of MelissaXLogan…XD And Savannah would be more interested in her animals than someone like Darren. She'd definitely go with Griffin or Ben or Victor before Darren. She's the good girl type. Pitch on the other hand seems to be more like an outsider—I get that feeling in the book—and she does kind of resemble Darren physically—meaning they're both athletic and have some of the same personality (despite Pitch not being selfish and money-hungry).

NOTE: I asked Gordon Korman (or whoever works for him) what the characters look like because he never actually says what they look like. Anyway, he (or the person who works for him) replied back saying that he pictured Pitch with short hair seeing as she was athletic and Darren to be bigger than the others. Other than that, the rest is up the reader to imagine. :D You can ask your own questions at his site! Just check the back of the Swindle books and his website should be on there! That or they were in the back of the book—I don't remember which.

Anyway, 'Thief' will not be update for a LONG while. But you guys WILL get one-shots from time to time. It's good to take a break from the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom and into this one. It's like my favorite besides TMNT. XP So, the plan is that I'll finish three stories at a time until all my stories are complete. 'Thief' won't be up next in line for some time, I'm afraid. I have to finish three stories for the STH fandom and then I'm going to finish…two more for the STH fandom and then one for the Balto fandom. Then THAT's when I'm going to finish 'Thief'. It's going to be the third batch. :D So please be patient! I WILL finish this! I've got it all plotted out—for the most part, it's the filler I'm worried about. :/

Other than that, please! Review, review, review! Good reviews, reviews actually about the story, and constructive reviews about the story (though I'm pretty impressed and amazed about how this one-shot came out because the characters are actually in character, I mean, they've changed over the years, obviously. They've become more mature (in some ways) but are still themselves at the same time!) are welcome!

*If you spot mistakes that just IRK the tar out of you in the story, please review or PM me and I shall fix them. I edited this chapter thoroughly enough that there should be little errors. Thank you.*

Arrivederci!