Disclaimer: I never have and never will own any Red Dwarf characters, they remain the property of Grant and Naylor. The only characters within this story that are my property are Nicole Adler.

Author's note: This is my first Red Dwarf fanfic (please be gentle!) and I hope I live up to any expectations held by fans. This may seem a little bitty at first but it gets better....trust me!

Arnold sat at the table by himself. He picked at his food miserably. He had had to buy the bare minimum for lunch as the school bullies had beaten him up and taken most of his money again. School lunches were never the most appetizing looking meals anyway, but when they were bought with just a couple of dollarpounds, they seemed that much worse. He sighed a sigh of utter depression as she walked past without even acknowledging him. He looked back and saw her walk perfectly out of the room perfectly holding her tray with her perfect slender fingers. How long had it been now? A year? A year and a half? He didn't like to dwell on it. He looked over at the table she had just vacated and saw her friends pointing at him and giggling. They didn't even stop when he looked at them. He felt utterly wretched. Not only did he have no friends, he had just found out that he was to fail chemistry. And he knew what that meant: the rack. He would be put on the rack and stretched. He shuddered just thinking about it. Just then, she came back. Sandra Dennis. He knew her from cadet school, but outside that they never spoke.
"Hello, Bonehead." She said as she walked back to her sneering friends. Arnold's heart gave a flutter: she had spoken to him! OK, there hadn't been a hint of friendliness in her tone of voice, and she didn't even use his real name, but she had said two words to him. Two whole words! He smiled at her, but she just gave a small sound which implied disgust and turned away. His smile faded rapidly. He was going to be alone forever. That was a depressing thought at the age of fourteen. But it was true. No-one was ever going to love him.

Across the road, Nicole stared out of the window. She heard the school bell ring, and wished she was there. She saw everyone file out then break into a run as they saw the snow. She saw the child who always came out last, a scrawny, helpless little child with out of control hair. She watched him trawl heavily over to his mother, and she saw the look of anger on her face as she was handed a report card labelled 'Chemistry.' She looked down and saw the group of school kids trudging through the foot-deep snow up to her front door. She wished she could warn them but her windows had booby traps on them making them impossible to open. She watched helplessly as the well-wishers rang the doorbell and started singing. The melodious strains of "Good King Wenceslas" were abruptly replaced by screams as they were bombarded with water balloons and mince pies by her sister, Judith, and Judith's friends, Lizzie and Kelly. The carolers ran back down the garden path and down the road. Nicole drew her curtains sadly. She had had no idea that it was Christmastime. Seconds later Judith crashed rudely into Nicole's room.
"I need money." Judith said bluntly.
"That's nice." Replied Nicole, just as brusquely. She had learnt not to give in to her sister's wants, which included polite answers, so she was acerbic and sarcastic wherever possible.
"Now, I know you have your little money pouch hidden away somewhere--"
"Jude!"
"--so I'll be needing that."
"No, I need that money to go to college."
Judith snorted. "College? You don't even go to school!"
"So?" Nicole retorted indignantly.
"So, give me the money." Nicole sighed and reached under her mattress. She pulled out the pouch and gripped it tightly.
"How much do you want?"
"How much have you got?"
"Three hundred dollarpounds."
"Well, let's see. I need a hundred for mum's present, a hundred for dad's present," Nicole handed her the money as Judith listed her requirements, "fifty for Kelly and fifty for Lizzie."
Nicole handed her the remainder of her money. Judith looked at her and sighed.
"OK. You can have twenty." She held out the note. Nicole stared at it suspiciously.
"Why..?"
"So you can buy your friends something." Nicole looked at the floor. She didn't usually cave, but she was just so upset. She knew Judith wanted her to say it, and the longer she left it the stupider she would look. She summoned up all her dignity and said it: "I don't have any friends." Judith looked smug and waltzed out of the room. Nicole threw herself down on her bed and started to cry. She was going to be alone forever. That was a depressing thought at the age of fourteen. But it was true. No-one was ever going to love her.

A/n: Please review this. Any criticism welcome! This goes for all my forthcoming chapters.