Free The Dark Pearl Chronicles 1.1: Battle of the Half-Brothers by Levi Donaldson Page A

he is very full of himself. The reason for his fame is purely his rap skills, as he has been called the next white rapper of America. I have a twin brother named Cole, but I never even claim him as my brother because we are complete opposites: he's the school nerd. We never find anything in common, mainly because our Aunt Susan doesn't really care what he and I think of each other. Last year, I got the power of fire from a jewel my dad gave me at the age of seven because he died last year in a gang shooting. The only person I ever told was Austin, and he just found the jewel "odd" and said he never heard of such a thing.
     
     
     
    Austin Jones:
    I'm the bad boy around here. I wish I wasn't recording this stupid thing for that time capsule, but I have to. Okay, so where I start-well last year I had a rap band called Teen Swag. I was the lead rapper, because I was the best of course, and the other two guys were named Shawn, short for Shontello or something like that, and Lenardo. (Zack interruption: "Leandre") Oh yeah, his name was Leandre. Anyways, they got jealous of my spotlight and the band broke up. Leandre moved off to California, but Shawn still comes to our school. We still hate each other, but I know if it ever boiled down to it I wouldn't have to worry about him, since I have this black jewel my father gave me when I was eight. It has so many powers in it I can't even count them. The only people who know about it are my dork brother Josh and my cool older brother Derek, who raises Josh and me. Hey watch it nerd! You're in my shot!  
    (Austin dumps a kid into a trash can and walks away.)
     
     
     
    Cole Parker:
    (Climbing out of trash can) Ugh. I hate that guy. He's such a bully. Well, I guess it's my turn to record but I better make it quick before he comes back. So I guess I won't be quoting Shakespeare as I originally thought. Okay, so you've probably been told I'm the school nerd, and if you have been told that I am ashamed to say it's the truth. What's worse is my brother is the quarterback for the football team, since he got all the brauns while I got all the brains. But the most interesting thing about me is that I have this jewel passed down by my mom that gives me a power also opposite of my brother's-ice. I never would reveal it, seeing how everyone already sees me as a freak. Oh man, here he comes! (Austin walks up "Hey what are you doing out of that trash can!?" Austin dumps Cole in again.) Aw, man! Now there's spaghetti all over my new khakis!
     
     
     
    Kara Smith: 
    Okay. Let me start by saying my name is just as much of a guy name as it is a girl name. And just because I have this name doesn't make me any less of a guy. I'm proud of this name actually. It makes me unique. I'm already unique as it is, seeing how I have this jewel necklace my dad gave me when I was a baby. Last year, he, my mom (who also had a jewel), and my identical twin brother Tyler (who she passed hers to) were all killed when a group of people raided our home. Tyler allowed me to escape from a hatch in our basement, and just when he was about to escape with me he heard the people coming and tried to fight them off to keep from blowing my cover. All three of them died, leaving me the only one left of the family. The jewel my dad gave me has a special kind of martial arts power, and so did my brother Tyler's. Tyler was my best friend, but now that the school's famous rap group Teen Swag has broken up, one of the guys named Shawn form the group has become my new best friend. So now we are the skaters around the school. It's a little weird seeing a white rapper and a black skater here at this school, but hey, I've seen worse.
     
     
     
     
SCENE: Washington High School, Hallway. Josh and Jaguar are standing at their lockers with them open. Josh pulls a binder from his locker and slams it.
JOSH: Wow. That Labor Day break wasn't long enough. We're already a month into school but it seems like this year started yesterday. This