A/N: Okay, so I may have said that I was going to try and update regularly, but we all know how much of a long shot that was xD Anyway, after a lot of speculating, editing, forgetting, and being an idiot, here's the long-awaited chapter two. Sorry.


It seemed that break was almost over, and there was no point in finding Ros or Phil with only five minutes to herself, so she set off outside to get some fresh air- perhaps she would find them outside before the bell went. With no hope, she settled down on the edge of the field, thinking over the conversation that she had just had with Mr Tyler and Miss Mason's reaction when she walked in on them. What was it between them that made them so angry around each other? There was so much tension in that room that it was almost terrifying- Alex certainly didn't want to be back there in a hurry. She was sat alone on the dry grass, lost in her own thoughts, when a large shadow was cast over her. She peered upwards to see a pair of cold eyes, a frowning mouth and a green uniform.

"You." The girl standing over her was quite short, with brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail. Her facial expression wasn't friendly in the slightest, and she was obviously agitated over something. Her foot was tapping impatiently against the ground, her eyebrows raised, ready to make a move.
"Y-yeah?" She gabbled a reply, both terrified and curious.
"You're the new girl, yeah?"
"I... am. Yeah, I am." She relaxed a little. At least she wasn't getting the life beaten out of her just yet.
"Here's some advice. Stay away from Michaela White." It wasn't a request, it was a command. Alex was curious as to what exactly was going on here.
"That's funny, because I recall her telling me to say away from you." She heard herself say. Well, it was the truth after all. Wasn't this the girl that Michaela had only just warned her about?
"She's a liar, a bully, and a bitch. Do you really want to associate yourself with those... animals?"
"Who said they were animals?" Now it was her turn to raise her eyebrows.
"Just stay away."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Then I'll treat you how you wish to be treated," she snarled, "And you'll just have to deal with the consequences."
And with that, she turned on her heel and stalked off. Alex leaned back onto the grass and sighed, not knowing what she had got herself into.

The bell rang promptly afterwards, and she got up reluctantly, checking her timetable for her next lesson. Apparently, she had roughly the same timetable as Ros did- apart from the differences in her English classes. She skipped off to Science in rather a good mood, despite the morning's events. She was rather relieved to see a friendly face as she was greeted by both Mr Mead and Ros in her science lesson. Mr Mead let her sit where she wanted, and was very cheerful to her- asking her about her day and her lessons. She decided that he would be a good kind of person to ask for help in the future- he seemed like he could be trusted by her. She watched intently as he moved around the room, and smiled to herself. Perhaps she would survive- she felt stronger in science than her other subjects. Ros nudged her in the side, distracting her.
"What?" She half-snapped at her.
"All right!" Ros whispered at her. "I was going to ask how you got on earlier, but... Is something wrong? We came looking for you at break, but you weren't there."
"No, no," she sighed, "It's just... nothing. Everything's fine. I just had to go and talk to Miss Mason- but someone else was there instead. Er, Mr Tyler, I think his name was."
"Oh, Mr Tyler's proper weird, he is." Ros paused and sighed, resting her chin in her hands, with her elbows on the table. "Well, if you're sure you're fine. How was English?"
Alex shrugged. "All right, I suppose. Poor Miss Hopewell- she lets them walk all over her, you know. It's not right; they shouldn't treat her like that."
"I know- but there's nothing you can do about it. No matter what you say, they'll either tease you or ignore you."
"I suppose so, but still-"
Ros turned, sitting up straight. She looked straight at her, speaking to her sternly. "I wouldn't worry about it, Alex- since the merge… Things have been stressful for everyone. Lindsay's in trouble and with her dad and everything… Oh god- sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
Alex bit her lip, not knowing what to say to her. Finally, she breathed a reply. "Who is Lindsay, anyway?" Ros almost laughed, shaking her head.
"She's hard to miss. She's the one that started all of this gang stuff between John Foster's and Waterloo Road. Well, her and Michaela White."
She had Alex's full attention now. "What do you mean, 'her and Michaela White'? I've met Michaela; she's all right, isn't she? Unless… Oh. Yes, I do know Lindsay. She came to see me at break- she's a bit strange. I didn't know that it was her- Michaela really hates her. Is that all because of this gang stuff, or what?"
Ros shrugged. "That, I guess. Apart from that fight they had on the first day- in Miss Hopewell's English lesson. Ask anyone, they all recorded it- they'll show it to you."

Alex decided not to ask about Lindsay anymore. There was clearly something else going on with her that kept her sharp and snappy- something that Alex didn't want to test. Instead she forgot about Lindsay and Michaela, and started working on her Chemistry. She soon realized that she didn't understand a word of it, and simply gave up after ten minutes of pretending that she knew what she was doing. No matter how hard Ros tried to explain it to her, she just couldn't get the hang of it. After an agonizing hour of which she just drew in the back of her exercise book, the bell sounded, signalling the start of yet another lesson. She would have groaned at the thought of Maths if she wasn't so determined to get her hands on that video of Lindsay and Michaela. She wanted, no, needed, to find out what was going on between the two schools, and she would stop at nothing until she knew just what the two girls were capable of.