Thank you for all the lovely reviews!
They were very encouraging.
With thanks to xxCCxx (Chanel), paula545, Robin-Marian-Fan, Mira-and-Allen and ZebraBlonde!
Special thanks to ZebraBlonde, paula545, Mira-and-Allen and my friend Lauren for contributing the characters Zara/Zebbie, Charlie, Mira and Mickey respectively.
I'm going to do a pairings warning though; Robin/Marian, Will/Djaq, and the rest is Character/OC if they have a love interest.
And a note on English schools; in Year Eleven it's 15/16-year-olds, Year Eight is 12/13-year-olds and Sixth Form consists of Years Twelve & Thirteen.
Off to school we go!
Leave me alone, I wanna go home
The day will still come when I see you crying
'Cause you will get yours, just leave me alone
The school uniform was dull and boring, but thankfully comfortable. It consisted of black trousers (skirts and shorts were optional in summer), a white polo shirt with the school logo, a dark red jumper with the school logo and black shoes. It wasn't too bad, and although the school tried to make the students stick to the uniform code, most girls definitely wore an overdose of makeup and the teachers generally ignored accessories. Basically, as long as you weren't too outrageous, you could get away with flouting the uniform rules. You could wear whatever scarf or coat you wanted – as long as it wasn't too over-the-top – and although hoodies were banned, they were common.
Standing at the door, Will's uniform really was just the basics. The only accessories he wore were two leather bands on his right arm and a watch; gifts from his family that he treasured. One leather band was woven, and one was plain but with his name engraved. It may have been September but the summers had begun to drag on and so there was no need for a coat or jumper.
The door opened to a quite plump man. His face lit up. "Ah, William. You're here early."
"Sorry, Bassam." Will replied. "I'll wait."
"No, no. Please, come in! Safia should be ready soon." Bassam ushered Will into the hallway, where Will stood, feeling slightly awkward. Bassam disappeared, shouting, "Safia! William's here!"
Will winced. He didn't want his friend to hurry. After all, it was her first day of school; he had no doubt that she would be prompt, but he knew that girls liked to make a good first impression – and that usually involved lots of makeup. But to his surprise, the short girl appeared with little eyeliner and certainly no foundation. Will grinned. He always thought girls looked best with the minimum of makeup, and he hated it when girls splashed it on.
"Ready, Safia?" he asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Safia pretended to grimace but her exotic accent was full of nerves that betrayed her true emotions.
"You'll be fine." Bassam assured her, overhearing the exchange. "William will look after you, won't you, William?"
"I don't think she'll need me for long." Will replied, trying to satisfy Bassam that Safia would make friends quickly.
After saying their goodbyes, Will and Safia left the house. After a little while walking in silence, Safia said; "I tell you what, Will. It makes a change going to school in trousers."
"What did you wear in Acre?" Will asked, then it dawned on him. "Ah…" Safia would most likely have worn traditional Arabic dress, though Will didn't know the name of the clothing.
"Is my hair ok?" Safia asked, touching her short, straight, almost-black hair.
"It's fine."
"I don't look too nerdy, too new-girly?"
"Nope."
"I'm not sure about these shoes…"
"Djaq!" Will interrupted, a smile coming to his face. "You're absolutely fine." Safia – or 'Djaq' – didn't usually fret about things, but it was rather funny when she did.
"What're you smiling about?"
"Nothing." Will grinned, shaking his head and walking on.
"Hey gang!" Robin called, as he and Much approached the group of students containing others that he actually recognised. He had seen a few people around the school who he could just about put a name to face, but everyone had changed so much.
"Hello all!" Much shouted, trying to bring some attention to himself as well.
"Hey, Robin! Much!" Allan shouted, calling the duo over to his part of the group. He was standing with Roy, three girls and a young boy; the boy and one of the girls were definitely younger, but the other two girls must have been about their age. "This is Zebbie, this is Zebbie's sister, Charlie, this is Sophie, and that thing is my brother, Tom. And you might remember Mira."
"I remember you." Robin smiled, looking at Tom. Tom was glaring at Allan. Robin looked at the girls. "Hi."
"Everyone's been talking about you." Zebbie, a short girl with light brown hair, told Robin, smiling. "We all came here after you left."
Robin nodded at them. "What forms are you in?"
"We're in KL, but Charlie's in Tom's year." Mira, a girl with short, black, curly hair, explained.
"I'm in NB." Charlie clarified. Charlie was pretty much the same height as her sister, despite the age gap.
"Luke!" Tom shouted, leaving the group to join another boy whom was quite tall for a Year Eight and seemed quite mature.
Robin looked questioningly at Allan. "Luke Scarlett?"
"Mm."
"He still looks nothing like Will." Robin shook his head in disbelief.
"I know. And he grew up quicker than Will did." Roy admitted. "Oi! Luke! Where's Will?" Roy called.
"He waited for Djaq!"
"Djaq?"
"The new girl!"
"What, does she live next door or something?"
"You guessed it, mate!"
"Well, that would explain why he knew her." Zebbie said, raising her eyebrows at Mira.
"That's them now." Much said, nudging Robin in the ribs and pointing. Their tall friend was walking next to an Asian girl that they didn't recognise. She was quite short, just a little taller than Will's shoulder. She had short, almost black hair and was rather pretty, though the school uniform never really worked well on any girl's figure.
Allan seemed to disagree. "Cor, Will's really scored for once."
The sentence earned him a dig in the ribs from Zebbie. Ignoring Allan's cries of pain, Roy called them over.
As he reached the group, Will held out a hand, gesturing towards the new girl. "Guys, this is Djaq."
"Hi there." Djaq said, smiling. You couldn't call her manner reserved, but then neither was she overly outgoing.
"Will tells us you've come from Acre." Robin commented, not wanting to let the conversation drop as it so often did with new students.
Djaq nodded. "I came about four weeks ago."
"I went there once."
"Really?" Djaq's eyes widened. "Not many people I've met here have been."
"I've been there too. My mum loved all the Eastern clothing." Much volunteered, not wanting to be left out.
Djaq grinned. "Yes. I guess they find Arabic clothing as interesting as I find Western clothing."
"Oh, I love Arabic clothing." Katen sidled into the conversation. Her makeup wasn't as embellished as the night before, but she was in danger of being sent by a teacher to get it washed off.
Roy was quick to excuse himself from the conversation. "Hey, Mickey!" he shouted, then walked off to join a group of sixth-formers. Katen sighed.
"He'll get over it, love." Allan reassured her. "He just needs some time."
"Yeah, like the two years he's already had?" Katen raised an eyebrow at Allan. It was a rare moment of spunk. She looked at Djaq. "Hi, I'm Katen. I'm Will's cousin. He's told me a lot about you. I hope I get to see a lot more of you, you sound very interesting!"
Will blushed. If anything could help Djaq settle in, it was Katen's nervous friendliness, but she needn't have mentioned how Will had talked about her a lot.
"I'm sure Will's been exaggerating. There's nothing much in me except science and martial arts." Djaq insisted, modestly
Katen's eyes brightened. "You do martial arts?"
As the two girls walked away, falling into their own conversation, Robin turned to Will. "I think they've clicked."
"That's saying something, talking about Katen. She usually frightens people off." Roy had returned as Katen left and had placed himself with his back to Katen.
"Roy, leave it…" Allan groaned as Katen's head turned slightly to the side. She had obviously overheard. Thankfully, Katen was saved listening to any more insults by the bell. Will went back to Djaq and the gang went their separate ways to their form rooms.
"Oh, thank God. We don't have double business studies anymore!" Mira breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, but we start with English…" Zebbie moaned. Last year, she'd had to sit next to a girl she really didn't get along with.
"Ugh, you didn't have to work with Greg…"
"Point taken."
"Alright, class!" called the teacher. "Come in and stand along the back. We have a new seating plan."
"Yeah, because there's so many new people…" Sophie, a little taller than Zebbie with shoulder-length brown hair, commented. "Maybe you won't have to sit next to Greg?"
The class filed along the back of the classroom as the teacher called out the names, pointing to desks. "Katen…Joe Potts…" a short, skinny boy looked, unimpressed, at his new partner. "Robin Locksley…Mira…Much Bonchurch…Sophie Davies…"
"Lucky you." Zebbie said. Mira raised her eyebrows; she didn't know whether she'd get on with the two new boys. She headed to her seat with Sophie.
"Carter Murray…Zara …"
Zebbie sat down next to a handsome blond she didn't recognise. He grinned at her. "Hi, I'm Carter."
"I'm Zebbie."
"Why do they call you Zara?" Carter asked, confused.
"Zara's my first name, but people call be Zebbie." Zebbie explained, waving it off. She'd had to explain it so many times, but she didn't loathe the task.
Over at Mira's table, Much was striking up a conversation. "When did you start playing drums?" he asked.
"Oh, when I was ten."
"I never knew." Much looked affronted.
Mira laughed a little. "You don't exactly go tell the whole world."
"Yeah, well Much would." Robin remarked.
"Thanks." Much said, sarcastically.
"How long have you been back?" Sophie asked the duo.
"I came back two weeks ago, Robin's been here a few days." Much replied.
"A few days?" Mira repeated. "And you're back on the first day? Shouldn't you have taken a few days to settle in or something?"
"Couldn't desert my gang any longer." Robin smiled, almost pompously.
"So how was your first morning back?" Allan asked, patting Robin on the back. "Not too godawful?"
"It wasn't too bad. But English and Drama aren't bad lessons."
"Yeah, not when you've got Katen and Roy in the same class…" Allan muttered.
"I heard that, Allan." Roy's voice invaded their conversation.
Allan winced. "Damn…Will!" Allan ran off and brought Will and Djaq over to where Robin and some of the rest of the gang were sitting. "Haha, you should have been in German."
"What happened?"
"Frau Green overheard Allan making sexual innuendoes in German." Will explained.
"Even better, she overheard Will saying-"
"-something rather embarrassing." Will concluded, clapping his hand over Allan's mouth.
"Do tell." Sophie smirked.
"Well, let's just say," Allan replied, breaking free from Will's hold, "I was teaching Will the language of love."
A tall, dark-haired boy walked up to the group and looked at Katen and Marian. "Morning, Marian. Goth Girl." The boy said.
"Emo Kid." Katen grinned at him. Neither the boy nor Katen seemed offended by the name-calling.
"Guy." Marian simply replied.
"Guy Gisborne!" Robin realised, walking up to the other boy. The boy's hair was straight and slightly greasy, and he wore a surprising amount of eyeliner. He had a strong jawline and a mature face with an unimpressed expression.
"Robin Locksley – or Robin Hood, that's what they used to call you. I heard you'd returned." Guy replied. The two boys stood about four feet away from each other, arms crossed, smirking. They almost seemed to be sizing each other up. "You haven't lost your dramatic…touch."
"Yes, I was rather surprised to see you in Drama." Robin replied, faking interest. "I suppose they need you for the dark, depressing scenes?"
"No, they have Katen for that…" Roy muttered.
"Inappropriate!" Much hissed back.
"Well, we weren't exactly missing your impudence. It didn't take you long to find your old…gang." Guy replied with a smirk, looking around at the gathered teens.
"Well, I guess they needed a fellow man who doesn't use makeup."
"Well, I'd watch who you consider your 'gang'. There's a whole new meaning to the word nowadays." Guy's tone almost had a tint of mystery – he was hiding something.
"God, you're not playing kiddie warfare or something like that, are you?" Robin groaned. The others laughed; a smile tugged at even Marian's mouth.
"You'll see." Guy found it satisfying to withhold information that he knew Robin would secretly love to have. "Marian. Katen. A word." Guy said, almost demanding. Marian and Katen raised their eyebrows at Guy. He rolled his eyes. "Please can I speak to you?" Guy corrected himself. The girls grinned at him, nodded their heads, and walked off with him.
Robin looked at the others, confused. "Since when has Guy been all matey-matey with Marian?" he demanded.
The others shrugged. "Relationships change, Robin." Roy said. "If she wants to be friends with Guy, well, that's just the way the world works."
Will, however, seemed to understand Robin's bafflement. "It's mainly Katen's influence." Will told him. "Katen doesn't seem to mind him – he clings to her because she doesn't insult the way he looks. He then met Marian and they became friends." Will shrugged. "They're just friends, Robin."
Robin wasn't happy. "I didn't like the way he was looking at her." He fretted.
"Just leave it, Robin." Allan advised. "It's not like they're a future couple or anything."
Zebbie and Mira raised their eyebrows at each other. Robin didn't like their grimaces, either. "Zebbie? Mira?" he demanded.
"Well…we do reckon Guy likes her…" Zebbie said, awkwardly. "But we don't know about Marian!" she quickly added, as Robin groaned and turned away, his hands to his head in despair.
"Only Katen would find him attractive…" Roy murmured.
"Will you stop that?" Will turned to Roy, looking affronted on behalf of his cousin.
"For the record," Katen stated; she had returned, unnoticed, to the group. "I find Guy rather ugly."
"Oh, so what do you find attractive?" Roy stood up, raising his eyebrow. "Gingers?"
"Oi!" shouted Allan. "I was a ginger when I was little!"
"If anything, I quite like blondes." Katen replied, an almost challenging look on her face.
"Oh!" Roy cried, raising his hands. "So I'm on your hit list now, am I?"
"Roy, you're ugly," Katen declared, "And there's another good reason why only sluts will ever-"
"Don't you start!" Roy hissed, his smirk turning into a scowl.
"Oh, don't I start?" Katen replied. She seemed to be putting up a good front, but you could see she was struggling with the argument. If Robin and Much remembered correctly, Katen loathed arguing with a passion. "I never start. It's always you and your stupid hate of me!"
"Kat…" Will stood up, took his cousin's hand, and led her away.
Roy glowered at their backs. "Morons…" he muttered.
"Hey!" Djaq protested.
"You should agree with me! You know the family quite well, it seems." Roy retorted.
"I find them to be very courteous and welcoming." Djaq responded.
"ROAR!" shouted a tall, handsome sixth former, coming at Roy from behind and jumping up on Roy's shoulders. Roy was a little surprised, but didn't show anything past that.
"God Mickey, you could kill a guy…" Roy laughed. The awkwardness of the moments before had been completely obliterated.
"That's the plan!" Mickey laughed. He whispered something in Roy's ear, then was off again as quickly as he had come.
"That guy scares me." Much remarked, watching as Mickey jumped on his best friend, John Little.
"He's a great guy!" Roy replied. "He's just…random."
"I'll say!" Sophie giggled.
"You just have to get used to him…eh, Lukey!" Roy shouted, calling Will's little brother over. As Roy whispered something into Luke's ear, Will re-appeared with Katen. Katen's makeup was slightly blurred and her eyes were red, as if she'd been crying. Zebbie took her to the toilets to clear her up, and Marian followed them as she re-appeared.
As Luke walked away, Will faced Roy. "I don't want him involved, Roy."
"What's wrong with it?"
"He's thirteen."
"There are younger kids involved." Roy laughed at Will's protectiveness.
"Yeah, but they've been dragged into it by older brothers. Roy, just tell him to leave it." Will beseeched Roy.
"Honestly, Will. What are you, his mother?" Roy shook his head and went to sit down next to Allan, but Allan pushed him off.
"Apologise." Allan said, glaring at Roy.
"Can't you take a joke?"
"That was a cheap shot, and you know it." Mira said, standing next to Allan. "Apologise."
Roy glared at them both, staring them down. He lost, and growled his frustration. "Can't take a joke…" he muttered, walking off in the direction of Mickey.
Djaq went to Will, and touched his arm, comfortingly. "Will?" she asked, looking at his face, trying to make him take his eyes off the floor and look at her.
"I'll be fine." Will said, walking into the main building to wait for Katen's group.
An awkward silence fell.
"What did you get in your English mock?" Allan asked Robin. "They did sent them here, didn't they?"
Robin nodded. "C. Mira and Zebbie got A's, the lucky…things."
Mira grinned sweetly at them.
"I got an A." Much bragged.
"Well done, Much." Mira said, rolling her eyes. It was possibly the tenth time she had said it that day.
"I'll do better this time." Robin said. "That school was absolute crap."
"What did Katen get?" Allan asked.
"A. Why'd you ask?" Robin replied.
"I thought she could use a bit of cheering up." Allan shrugged. "I'll congratulate her."
"You don't like her, do you?" Much asked, sniggering.
"No, mate. My eyes are firmly elsewhere." Allan replied, with a grin and a mysterious tone.
"Tell us…"
Allan tapped his nose, cheekily.
"Ask her what she's wearing to the Halloween Disco. That'll cheer her up." Much suggested.
"How did you know that?" Robin inquired.
Much shrugged. "It was a guess."
Will and the others reappeared just as the bell rang for third period. Robin watched almost sadly as Marian walked with Will to Art. She couldn't ignore him forever, but by God she was giving it a good go. The duo seemed deep in conversation; but that wasn't surprising, considering the first-day drama. Then a second girl came into his sight.
Sarah.
Robin's eyes widened. She was probably the root of all his problems with Marian, though nobody else knew why. All he knew was he definitely wanted to stay away from her and that having Marian and Sarah in the same class was a recipe for disaster.
"Good luck, Will…" he muttered, glad it wasn't him. "You're going to need it."
