CHERUB goes back to school.

CHERUB campus

JPOV:

Running. Running as fast as I could, panting for air as hard as my lungs could take it.

Blood pounding in my ears blocked out all noise, my throat was raw and all my muscles ached…

I was nearly there, so, so, close…

"DAMN!" I shouted as a Blue blur ran past me,

"Haha! Gotta try harder than that to beat me Adams!" Yelled Bruce

I stopped running and was caught up in a rush of yellows and blues, all after Bruce,

"For Gods sake, don't just stand there, get after him!" Yelled Kerry.

"I'm tired!!!" I yelled back

"I've just chased him up this hill, did another mile before that and tackled him!"

"I don't give a pig's ear, just get after him!" She yelled back, her black ponytail disappearing down the hill.

Cursing under my breath I followed pursuit, walking.

From my current height I could see a single blue dot (Bruce presumably), being chased by a crowd of yellows and blues.

Sighing, I jogged down the hill.

By the time I had reached the bottom, the game was over.

The blues were carrying Bruce on their shoulders, and cheering.

The yellows were collapsed in one corner looking dejected and tired.

"Oi bro!"

I turned and saw Lauren making her way over.

She had the biggest grin on her rosy red face along with mud streaks up and down her legs.

"Well, don't you look...sweaty" I said, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Gee thanks!" she replied.

Then there a moments silence.

"Fine, go ahead! I know what you're going to say anyway..." I grumbled

Lauren's grin had extended even further and suddenly out burst:

"Haha! We beat you!!! Ooooh, Kerry is gonna whoop your sorry little arse!"

"Yeah, gee thanks for reminding me Lauren!" I replied

"Ahhh, sorry hermano mayor, but this is what happens when you arrive an hour late for practice"

I groaned, "That was not my fault!"

"In case it seemed to have escaped your memory there was a war between the 6th floor and the 8th last night! The handlers only intervened after Jake and his mates decided to go skidding down the stairs using some poor kid's mattress! I was caught between them both, didn't get any sleep till 3:30 today morning"

"Yeah and funnily enough I clearly remember you running around with Bruce, declaring 'I am Rambo' before squirting some poor grey shirts with washing up liquid"

"Yeah...well...that's just...argh, what does it matter, you guys won, now go away and let me walk to my death" I grumbled.

Turning around, with my eyes fixed firmly on the ground, I made my way to my team.

"So...err...that..."

"...could have gone better if you bothered to spare an hour of your precious time today morning to talk tactics" Kerry interrupted.

Sensing tension, the team members had decided to scram.

Screw high school musical and their 'we're all in this together' crap then.

There was a moment of silence.

Kerry was yanking the grass out and fiddling with them, before letting them fall, and repeating this process again.

Sighing, I sat next to her.

"Sorry. I should have put more effort."

"It was unacceptable that I turned up late, even more so that I didn't listen to a thing you said" I said.

After this she looked up with a frown.

"What?" I asked.

"Who the hell are you and what have you done with James Adams?"

I laughed.

"I'm serious" she said.

"Well, it was unacceptable, I mean you worked hard on this and yeah it's just a match but I know how competitive you are, I should have tried harder."

Her brow furrowed even more so, and she continued to stare at me with those dark brown eyes.

"You've got a visitor" she said looking away,

And with that she got up and walked away.

I sighed.

Seriously, women. Hard to please, even harder to win back.

"Enjoyed the match James?" said a voice.

I turned and found Meryl looking down at me.

"It was okay, could have been better I suppose" I replied, standing up.

"Not better then last night eh? Rambo's a favourite film of mine" she smiled

"Well, ummm... you see...about that...I guess..." I flustered.

"Enough. You'll go and have a shower, get into some clean clothing and meet me in my office. You have 20 minutes, or I'll send in reinforcements to speed things up"

And with that, off she went.