A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter! I'm not as happy with this one as I was with the last - it's basically sorting out everyone's crushes and creating tension. Same A/N as the last chapter, and for those who were wondering about Mrs Rowling, she's actually MY English teacher. Let me know what you think!

Saffiya walked down the corridors, clutching her time table to her chest. Eventually she came to a door that read W12.

She and her farther had moved to England little under a month ago. Her parents had just been through a painful divorce that had lasted years. She couldn't count the number of times she had been woken at night to the sound of them arguing in the room below hers. Her brother had told her that everything would turn out okay, but he was back in Jerusalem, living with their mother. Saffi hated her for splitting herself and Djaq up. Didn't they know that twins weren't meant to be separated?

She absently fiddled with the ends of her hair, the way she always did when she was nervous or upset. Right now, she was both. She didn't want to start at a new school in a new country where she didn't know anyone and wasn't that comfortable with the language. She felt out of place and once again longed for her brother. Although she supposed the absence of Djaq would force her to talk to people that she wouldn't usually and make friends.

She knocked on the door and waited for confirmation before entering. A tall, thin man stood at the front of the class. The students obviously weren't listening to what the man was saying, but he didn't seem to notice.

A paper airplane hit her square in the forehead and fell to the floor in front of her. At the back of the room she saw a boy with shaggy brown hair sniggering at her and another with straight jet-black looking rather smug. And wait, was he wearing…make-up?

"Ah," the man said, clasping his hands together. "My name is Mr Hare. You must be our new student all the way from the Middle East. Do you want to tell us a bit about yourself."

The answer was no, she didn't. But instead of saying that she shuffled to the front of the room, avoiding everyone's eyes. "Erm, my name is Saffiya."

"Pleasure to meet you, Saffiya," Mr Hare said, giving her a slight nod. "How long have you lived in England?"

Saffi gave a small shrug. "About a month."

"Do you like it?"

She inwardly sighed. What was this, an interrogation? "I guess," she said, although it was more a question than a statement.

Mr Hare didn't seem to notice though. Instead, he turned to face his class, his eyes moving from student to student. "Ah, Will, you're responsible, can I trust you to show Saffiya around? Just until she gets her bearings?"

She watched as a boy nodded, locks of dark hair falling over his eyes as he did so. Awkwardly, Saffiya walked over and took the seat next to him, stepping over another kid's leg that was trying to trip her up as she did so. She hated being the new girl.

---

Robin spied Marian at the other end of the classroom. She was sitting a seat away from Guy, who was chatting away to her idly, but Robin was too far away to pick up their conversation. He had seen her talking to him on the bus as well. He glared at Gisborne. If he dared to try anything with his girl there would be trouble.

Then he remembered that she was no longer his girl. They had broken up before he left. He remembered the pained look on her pretty face as she handed him back the necklace he had given her for her fourteenth birthday last year. He almost smiled to himself. Never would he have pictured himself doing something so sappy as giving a girl a necklace, but Marian was something else. She just didn't compare to any other girl out there.

He hadn't meant to hurt her – or any other of his friends – he had tried to pretend that the whole thing wasn't happening, hoping it would make it go away. But it didn't and he still ended up moving. When he tired to explain to her why he didn't tell her sooner she hung up on him until she blocked his number. Now that he was back he was determined to make amends.

Mr Hare began to explain quadratic equations in his monotone voice; Robin's brain just shut off. He shifted in his seat; he had the feeling of being watched, but when he looked around he saw that everyone's eyes were glazed over or staring off into space.

He tried again to talk to Marian after class. He missed her gentle voice and touch, and the loving vibe she gave off. He looked up to find Alice and Eve blocking his way.

He sighed, watching Marian walking away. "Excuse me, ladies."

Alice shook her head firmly. "She said she doesn't want to talk to you, Rob."

He stared at them, not quite believe what he was hearing. How could she forgive him if he wasn't able to explain or ask her to take him back? He told them as much.

Eve just shrugged apologetically. That was the thing with girls - they stuck together. "Not our problem."

"Whatever," Robin scoffed, walking off to join Much, who he could see was eyeing Eve up behind her back. The poor guy was clueless. He just didn't understand that you actually had to go up and talk to a girl in order to ask her out.

---

Much took the seat behind Eve and rested his chin on his hand. He watched as she tossed her long light brown hair behind her shoulder and touched up on her make-up. He sighed loudly and heard Allan chuckle beside him.

"Mate, you have it bad," he said, nudging Much in the ribs.

"So do you," Much said, pointing to the mousy haired girl taking idly to Will.

Allan narrowed his eyes. "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, Annabelle is my friend."

"And Eve is mine," argued Much, keeping his voice down.

"I'm not being funny, but I doubt you've ever said more than three words to her at a time," Allan smiled as he was hit in the arm by Much's chemistry text book. "A friendship means communication, not admiration from afar."

"Big words," Much muttered sarcastically.

Allan shook his head, his smile growing. He and Much bickered like siblings, but deep down they cared. And he knew his friend had a point. About Annabelle anyway, but he tried not to think about it. She was his best friend after all. If she ever found out he liked her in that way things would never be the same between them.

---

Will sent a glare in Guy and Vaysey's direction, receiving a cross-eyed look from Vaysey in return. He sent a warm smile in Saffiya's direction. She'd only been at this school a few hours and already the terrible twosome – as Allan had dubbed them – were making her life as hard as possible.

"Just ignore them," he told her.

She nodded. Will gave her a quick once over with his light green orbs. She looked nice, albeit slightly nervous and a bit out of place with her olive skin. Her dark hair was brushing against her shoulders, her warm dark eyes skimming the textbook in front of her. She was pretty with seemingly minimum amount of effort.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Luke being escorted to the Headmaster's office by a sixth former. He sighed and shook his head. He knew his brother was only doing it for attention, but there just wasn't any available. Everyone was so focused on his mother at the moment. Will didn't know what he'd do if he ever lost her.

---

Saffiya felt a wave of tension suddenly radiate from the boy next to her. She looked over at him and followed his line of sight to the door. A scruffy dark haired kid no more than twelve or thirteen was being escorted down the corridor. He had the same dark hair as Will had; she guessed it was his brother.

She mentally sighed and thought of her own brother. She missed Djaq, but she knew that there were better opportunities and safety in England – especially for women. Her father also earned a lot more money than he did back in Jerusalem.

She watched as Will focused on the textbook, his green eyes never leaving the page. She noticed that they were filled with pain and responsibility beyond his years. They were warm yet cold at the same time. She got the feeling that he carried great emotion and hurt, although he disguised it well. She was good at reading people like that.

"The answer is A," she said quietly, pointing to it in the book.

Will snapped out of his train of thought. "Oh. Yeah. Are you sure?" he asked, rereading the question on the respiratory circulation.

Saffi nodded. "My father is a doctor. I help him with patients sometimes."

He didn't say anything for a moment, absorbing the information and pondering his next words. "Is that what you want to do?"

She nodded again. "I want to heal people."

"I'm Will, by the way."

"Saffiya."

Will smiled a rare genuine smile - she got the feeling it didn't happen very often. He wasn't a loud person, he preferred to keep his thoughts to himself. He was amazed at how easy he found talking to Saffiya was. "What do you think of England?"

She thought about it for a moment, wondering where to start. "It's…different, from what I'm used to."

"You get used to it. And don't worry – the weather will grow on you."

---

Guy caught Marian in the lunch line later that day. Now that she had recovered she'd be free to go out with him. He noticed the somewhat sour look on her face and turned around to see Robin Hood walk into the room. He knew that he and Marian had dated, but then he abandoned her, so Guy had moved in, providing a shoulder for her to cry on.

"Are you free tonight, Marian?" he asked, shifting weight from one foot to another.

She forced a fake smile onto her face, but he didn't seem to notice. "I think so. Why? What did you have in mind?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to come round to my place and watch a movie?"

"I'd love to."

Out of the corner of his eye, Guy saw Hood flinch. The corners of his mouth tugged into a smile. He wasn't happy that Hood was back, forcing his way into Guy's territory (and Marian was definitely Guy's territory). He was glad that it seemed she'd finally gotten over him. "I'll meet you by the front gates after school?"

She nodded, picking up a tray of food. "I'll see you then."

She gave him a small smiled and walked away, putting slightly more swing than usual in her hips as she passed Robin's table.

TBC - Next chapter: Marian's date and what Robin does about it...