This is my very first fanfic, so I’m sorry if the characters are OOC, or the chapters are too short. Sorry for spelling mistakes. Please Please Please give me constructive criticism!!! I do not own any of these characters, Eoin Colfer does.

Chapter 1: The Letter

Artemis stared in dismay at the letter. It was one of those notices that were sent home to keep the parents updated on what was going on at school, things that he usually enjoyed reading, but what they were asking was an invasion of personal privacy! That’s what Artemis thought, but the headmaster of St. Bartelby’s meant no such insult.

Artemis made him self stop complaining. He reread the letter, searching for a way to avoid it.

             Hello to all the parents of St. Bartelby’s students. The school has several activities planned for the coming month, as well as a new student.

            Over the coming month, we will have a spelling bee, a math competition, and Bingo night. These are all optional, and parents and family members are invited to participate.

That part Artemis wasn’t worried about. It even sounded fun, apart from Bingo night. There was no skill involved in it whatsoever! The part he was worried about was in the next paragraph.

            The most exciting activity of the month is a Sibling Day! Students will bring in one sibling, (Sorry, more than one would make the school very crowded.) and they will spend the day together doing fun crafts and learning, both about the curriculum and academically. It is a half-to, but who wouldn’t want to participate?

Artemis wouldn’t want to participate! His brothers were no where near as smart as he was at his age. Everyone would be expecting his family members to be genii, but his brothers were hardly above the average IQ!

Artemis finished the letter, ending up more agitated, and a bit nervous, too. The letter said something about a new student, a Russian boy named Nikolas Vassikin. Artemis wondered for a millisecond why the name sounded ominous and familiar. Then he remembered that someone with that last name had been one of his father’s captors. Nikolas was probably that man’s son.

As the the Vassikins probably thought his father dead, they would undoubtedly be surprised to see him alive. Since Artemis still had some of the magic that he had stolen in the time tunnel , he decided to just mesmerize the Vassikin’s that they had never thought his father dead.

Artemis was undoubtedly distracted by the Sibling Day, or else he would have realized that it would never work.

Artemis put the letter into one of his desks drawers, turned off the computer, and thought about possible loopholes for his school’s Sibling Day. Thinking back to the many kids the size of Myles and Beckett that he could possibly substitute for his brothers, he realized that no one would be as good as Holly…Holly! Artemis picked up his ring phone, thinking about ways to convince Holly to sub as a sibling. He knew that Holly would almost definitely refuse to disguise herself as a human for a whole day, just for his sake, but that didn’t stop him from thinking he had a chance.

Though he didn’t know it, he had more of a chance than he thought.

Some other stories by EvilOpal:

• If We Were a Movie
• Happy New Year! Here's a Present!
• There Were Such Things As Monsters
• Memory
• The Second Midnight (Challenge Entry)