Ros had gone through her entire last lesson in a foul mood. She had tried unsuccessfully to avoid the whispers, she had been followed by them for so long that her anger had turned into indifference. Except for today. It hadn't helped that they were playing field hockey in PE today. Now, she was sitting on the sidelines gritting her teeth at the whispers, which only seemed to focus on two subjects: her expulsion and Oliver Mace. To make matters worse, she hadn't seen Malcolm since the book reading. Needless to say, Ros Meyers was not in a good mood. As soon as the final bell rang, she stormed off towards her locker swinging her hockey stick as she went. Suddenly she was grabbed by her arm and pulled round the corner.
"What the hell!" She exclaimed.
"You're the girl who dumped Oliver right?" Harry asked.
"I also have a name. It's Ros if you're interested"
"I'm looking for a girl at VUS. 5'2", blue eyes, loves liter-"
"Ah, you mean Ruth" Ros grinned.
"You know her?" Harry tried to conceal his excitement.
"We were in the same classes"
"It's just that-"
"You fancy her?" Ros had always been frank.
"I just wanted to return this" Harry held up a German version of Dracula. Ros flicked an imaginary speck of dust from her lapel.
"It's all arranged. I'll need your help in return though"
"What for?"
"How good are you at breaking and entering?"
6 hours later, they were standing outside VUS. Harry had spun his parents a line about meeting up with some friends. They knew that he was nearly an adult but it was still nice to know. Ros had simply walked out of her house. Her parents were away on a trip and no one really cared about what time she was back as long as it wasn't in a police car. She had freedom and she liked it that way. Ros easily vaulted the back fence and Harry quickly joined her.
"Why am I here again? You can easily manage"
"I didn't think you'd want me to read your note. Anyway, I have other things to do and I could use another pair of hands."
"What other things?"
"You find out soon. Ruth's locker is 505"
Harry nodded and before he could say anything else, she was gone. He headed off in the direction Ros had pointed him in. Ros had managed to locate Malcolm's locker quite quickly. She carefully picked the lock and looked inside. There were several books on gadgets, some novels and a collection of poetry. It was a stark contrast to Oliver's, which was messy and rugby obsessed. She shut the locker with a small smile. Meanwhile, Harry was doing the same at Ruth's. He had slipped the novel into a pile of similar books, hoping she would like it.
Harry found Ros on the playing field kicking clods of dirt.
"All done?" she asked, feigning interest.
"Yeah, you?" he replied.
"Not quite" she answered wit a mischievous twinkle in he eye, "What's your opinion on the whole rivalry situation?"
"They started it. Why?" Harry asked. He was interested seeing as she had been at both schools, and after dating Oliver there were many questions as to where her loyalties lay.
"Well it's 11 o'clock at night and we're in our rival school. I have one belief in life: When an opportunity arises never let it pass you by"