Chapter One

The storm calls to me

Even deep underground

Where all the noise is effectively muted

I hear it

I paused thoughtfully and nibbled on the end of my pencil, glancing around the classroom for inspiration. Nothing. Mr Mathers was scribbling an incredibly difficult equation on the black board; Katie Armstrong was dozing on her desk; Toby Smith was staring vacantly out the window. I followed his gaze and suddenly thoughts flew into my head.

I can hear the thunder

Feel the rain on my skin

See the bolts of lightning that streak across the sky…

"Sophie?"

I startled and closed my notebook with a snap, before looking up to see my maths teacher Mr Mathers staring down at me inquisitively, "yes sir?"

"Is that maths your working on Miss Slater?"

I hated when he used that condescending tone. "No sir."

"Then what are you working on Miss Slater?"

I struggled to formulate an appropriate lie, but I had never been very good at lying.

Sick of waiting for an answer, Mr Mathers held out his hand, "hand it over Miss Slater."

I hesitated.

"Now."

I sighed, and held my notebook out to him as my classmates snickered around me. No doubt they all thought I was writing erotic love letters or something equally as lame. I watched in a mixture of apprehension and annoyance as he flipped through my most personal possession.

Finally after several agonising minutes he tossed my notebook carelessly back onto my desk, "see me after class Miss Slater."

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"I can't believe that out of all the people in the world, Mr Mathers was the first person to see your poems," my good friend Jessica complained after class as we were walking down the hallway towards English.

I tossed my bag over my shoulder and shrugged, "I wouldn't really call them poems. More like, organised thoughts."

"Did he give you detention?"

I nodded, "on Friday after school. He said I need to get my priorities right."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, "what did you say?"

"I told him maths isn't my forte, and that my priorities are just fine."

Jessica rolled her eyes, "you did not."

"Well that's what I was thinking. What came out of my mouth was…" I batted my eyelashes, "I'll try harder in the future."

Jessica laughed, "your such a good girl."

"I can't afford to get on his bad side," I argued, "I'm almost flunking as it is."

"How can someone who is so good with words be so crappy with numbers?" Jessica asked curiously.

"I have no logic," I replied easily as we stepped through the classroom door to our next class. I slid into the nearest desk and dumped my bag on the floor, "Maths is so black and white, right or wrong. I live in the grey."

"Well," Jessica began with an air of finality, "you are going to be a journalist." She shrugged, "so who gives a shit about maths."

I pointed at her, "exactly."

Our conversation was cut short by the arrival of the rest of our ancient history class who filed through the door talking and laughing followed by one very disgruntled Mrs Peters. She was my favourite teacher.

"Everything alright?" I asked her as she struggled through the door loaded down with books and papers.

She glanced at me briefly, "oh yes Sophie, I'm fine thank you." She dropped everything onto her desk, "settle down class and take you seats."

More talking and laughter, a screwed up piece of paper hit me on the side of the head. I turned around to see Michael the school jack arse laughing. I threw it back at him. Bastard.

"Class!" she barked.

Silence.

"Thank you. Now, today we will be moving on from Ancient Egypt and on to Ancient Rome."

"Are the Romans the ones with the massive horse?" someone asked in the back.

I rolled my eyes and slumped down into my seat, "that's the Greek's you idiot."

"Language, Sophie," Mrs Peters warned. "Now ancient Rome was a civilisation that was founded in the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC. It was a…"

Knock knock

All eyes flew to the doorway.

The boy who stood there smirked at the sudden attention, before glancing down at the piece of paper in his hand, "um, Mrs Peters?"

Mrs Peters beckoned him over.

I surveyed him quietly as he entered the classroom, taking in his appearance and drawing my own conclusions. He was attractive… almost too attractive, with brown hair that swept across his forehead and fell into his eyes. He was tall and slender, and judging from the crisp new uniform he wore, he was a new student.

But despite how attractive he was, I could tell from his scruffy appearance that he didn't have much regard for rules. And the careless way he shoved his hands into his pockets and swept his eyes over the classroom, showed how much he didn't want to be here. But there was something about him. I trailed my eyes slowly over his form. Yes, there was definitely something.

"Everyone," Mrs Peters announced suddenly, "we have a new student. This is Dougie Poynter.

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"The city of Rome grew from settlements around a ford on the river Tiber. According to archaeological evidence, the village…"

"He's hot!"

I blinked and tore my attention away from Mrs Peters to glance at Jessica, "what?"

"I said he's hot," Jessica repeated with a nod in the new boys direction.

I followed her gaze across the room to land on the new boy… Dougie.

He was reclined back on his seat and staring out the window, not paying an ounce of attention to everything that was going on around him. This of course meant that half the female population was taking the opportunity to stare. I joined in.

Hot didn't really describe him. Physically attractive yes, but everything about him just screamed 'mysterious'. Everything from the way his dark hair fell into his eyes, down to his beat up converse.

I rested my chin in my hand, "he's trouble."

Jessica raised an eyebrow and tore her eyes away from him, "how can you tell."

"Because he's got that shy and reserved thing going on," I replied trailing my eyes over his form.

Jessica smiled, "aw that's cute."

I rolled my eyes, "don't get sucked in. I'm willing to bet he's neither of those things."

"You reckon?"

I nodded and pointed at him with my pencil, "he'll be hanging out with Michael and his idiot buddies by the end of today, and he'll be dating the hottest girl in school by the end of the week."

"You can't judge someone just from their appearance," Jessica argued.

I was just opening my mouth to respond when Mrs Peters beat me to it, "please stop talking girls."

I glanced at Jessica before returning my attention back to my text.

'Now today, I will be dividing you into groups for your end of year project," Mrs Peters began with an air of excitement.

I grinned at Jessica. She had been my partner last year, and we had two shiny A's to prove it.

"Now this year, we'll be doing things a little differently," Mrs Peters, explained, "instead of choosing your own teams, I'll be assigning the teams at random."

I frowned. That sucked.

Mrs Peters pulled a tub with many pieces of paper inside, before walking around the class and tossing random slips onto everyone's desk.

I glanced at my slip of paper and my eyebrows shot up to my hairline. What the?

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"Who'd you get?" Jess whispered to me.

I held up my slip up for her to see. "Dougie Poynter."

Her mouth dropped open, "lucky."

"Who'd you get?"

"Michael."

I cringed, "that sucks."

"Find your partners class!" Mrs Peters called.

I sighed and glanced across the room to where Dougie was staring at his slip of paper in confusion. I guess that meant he wasn't coming to me. I got up, and packed up my bag before strolling across the classroom.

"Hi," I greeted cheerfully as I walked up to him.

Dougie looked up from his notebook, his eyes scanned curiously over my face, "hey."

"I'm Sophie," I introduced as I slid into the chair opposite him.

Dougie held up the scrap of paper with my name inscribed, "I know."

I blinked, "oh ok, well I just thought I'd introduce myself properly you know."

Dougie nodded and returned his gaze back out the window.

I fidgeted in my seat. I wasn't good with silence. "So, aren't you going to introduce yourself to me?"

Dougie's eyes slowly returned to mine, "What?"

I shrugged, "well generally when two people meet for the first time they introduce themselves to the other person. It's considered…"

"I'm Dougie," he relented, cutting my blabbing off.

"Dougie," I repeated with a nod, "nice to meet you."

His eyes met mine and he nodded politely.

Silence.

This was going to be a very long semester. I assuredly hoped that his knowledge of history was more comprehensive than his communication skills, because somehow I didn't think his good looks would charm Mrs Peters into giving us an A. Although, he appeared to be charming every other female in the class without as much as a wink in their direction… Never underestimate the power of sex appeal.

Dougie reclined back in his seat and surveyed me closely, "do you always show your emotions so freely, or is it just for my benefit?"

Observant bastard. I ignored his question and crossed my arms across my chest, surveying him curiously, "where are you from?"

He raised an eyebrow, "does it matter?"

I shrugged, "just curious."

"I'm from out of space,' Dougie answered seriously, "I was sent to take over the world."

I raised an eyebrow, "are you always so full of bullshit? Does it happen naturally or do you really have to work at it?

Dougie smirked, "it comes naturally to me."

It was going to be a long semester.

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To be continued...