Chapter 3

Sarah saw the four girls sat together at a table in the canteen and pointed them out with a nod of her head. The group of six moved towards the otherwise empty table. "Mind if we sit here?" she asked them.

"Not at all," replied the blonde with a winning smile, gesturing towards the other empty seats, "I don't think we're very popular after Alex's little outburst." She looked pointedly at Alex who seemed oblivious as she continued eating her dinner, not even looking up at the group as they sat down around her.

"So, how're you finding it?" asked Sarah.

"Alright, though I must admit it's a bit strange to be in different country," replied Serena.

"You've just moved here then?" stated Caleb a bit too forcefully, prompting Sarah to rest a hand on his thigh and Pogue to give him a meaningful glance.

"Yeah, about a week ago," replied the brunette. "It's quite tiring actually."

"Well, I'm Sarah, this is my boyfriend Caleb, this is Pogue and Kate and Tyler and..."

"Reid, Reid Garwin," interrupted Reid smiling at the four girls. His gaze rested on the girl with the mousey brown hair who had been staring at him. She blushed slightly and turned back to her dinner, causing his smile to turn to a grin.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Serena, this is Aggie, Josie and Alex, though I think you already knew that." The group exchanges quick hellos, the only voice missing was Alex's. "Alex?"

"Yeah, hi," she stated, not even looking up from her now finished dinner. "I'm going to the library, I'll catch you later." And with that she stood up and walked away from the table without a backwards glance.

"You'll have to excuse her," said Serena in an exasperated tone, "She's not a sociable sort of person."

"We'd gathered that," said Pogue causing the rest of them to laugh.

"Well as you're new, maybe you'd like to join us at Nicky's tonight," suggested Sarah, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"What's Nicky's?" asked Josie looking up. She blushed again slightly before turning away, Reid was still grinning in her direction.

"It's a bar in town," said Reid. "There's pool, drink, food," he paused slightly, "Dancing." Josie's face turned bright red.

"That sounds great," said Serena, clearly seeing Josie's discomfort. "How do we get there?"

"We'll come and get you," said Sarah, "What rooms are you in?"

"Well, me and Serena are in 311," said Aggie having finished her dinner and now turning her full attention to the people sat around the table. "And Josie and Alex are in 317."

"Really?" said Reid playfully, "Why, that's the room next to mine and Tyler's." This proved too much for Josie who quickly stood up, trying to position her hair so her bright red face would be hidden.

"I'm going to find Alex," she said quickly, before practically running away from the table.

"Oh bless her," said Aggie, "You embarrassed her." She turned to Reid who merely smiled before tucking into his dinner.

"Say about 7?" asked Sarah, her question directed at Serena who she'd gathered was the one in charge.

"Seven sounds good, we'll see you then," replied Serena before turning to Aggie, "We'd better go find Josie before she gets herself lost again."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Aggie before standing up and turning to the group, "See you later." She waved slightly before following Serena out of the canteen.

"See baby, I told you it would be ok," said Sarah, although she knew from Caleb's tense muscles that he still wasn't convinced.

"We'll see," he muttered.

"Do you have to be so rude all the time?" said Serena as she glared at Alex. It was almost seven and the girls had gathered in Serena's room to get ready. So far Alex had not only insulted Aaron, she'd had a pop at Kira and had been thrown out of her last class for pointing out, not politely, that the teacher had put the wrong answer on the board.

"Sorry I can't be little Miss Perfect like you Serena but not..."

"Alright you two," interrupted Aggie, "Pack it in." The two girls turned away from one another. "Just try to be nice tonight ok, and if you can't well...just try to be nice," she ended, unable to suggest anything else for Alex to do.

"Oh no," came a wail from Josie, "I've left my purse in our room and it's got my make-up in it."

"It's all right, I'll go and get it," said Alex before leaving the room swiftly.

"You can borrow some of mine," said Serena as she sat down next to Josie. "Why are you so bothered? Trying to impress someone are we?" she teased, causing Josie's cheeks to turn pink.

"It's all right Jose," said Aggie, "He is hot, we'll forgive you."

"Do you think he likes me?" asked Josie hopefully. Serena looked at her like a big sister would look at their younger sibling. "It's a bit early to tell Jose, let's see how it goes tonight."

Alex had just grabbed Josie's purse from her bed when there was a knock at the door. "Oh what now." She muttered as she went to open it. She stopped in her tracks as Reid looked her up and down. "Can I help you?" she asked, none to pleasantly.

"We've come to get you for our trip to Nickys," he stated, smiling at her before craning his head round to see into the room. "Josie not here?" Alex tutted almost in disgust before answering.

"Everyone else is in Serena's room, I just came back to grab Josie's purse." She moved past him, closing the door behind her. "Lead the way," she stated, fully aware that if he was behind her all he'd do was stare at her arse, something which really bugged her about men. He turned as if about to say something but stopped short when he caught her eye and turned around, walking towards Serena and Aggie's room where Alex could see his other friends gathered outside talking to hers. She took the opportunity to look properly at Reid. She could see why Josie fancied him, he was hot and there was no denying it. Blonde hair always did it for her and the bad boy aura that surrounded him didn't exactly turn her off but she didn't have time for complications, none of them did, but after the events which had happened three months ago she figured she'd let Josie off. She needed a little fun.

"Hey guys," said the tall one with the dark hair, Caleb she thought his name was.

"Hi," said Reid, glancing briefly at Josie causing her to turn slightly pink and turn away embarrassed. They looked at Alex expectantly, catching her off guard, she'd been too busy looking at Reid, something which she knew he'd noticed from the smile he gave her.

"Alright," she said, causing quizzical glances from the Americans in front of her. "Erm," she started, trying to explain the phrase.

"She means hi," said Serena, jumping in to save her friend from embarrassment, she too had noticed Alex's pre-occupation with Reid and looked at her questioningly. Alex just shrugged before changing the conversation back to safer ground, "So, where's this bar then?"

As the group entered Nicky's Caleb noticed Alex shudder slightly before looking around intently as if trying to find someone. He saw her visible eye narrow slightly and he swore it turned darker than it had been a few seconds earlier. He heard her mutter to Serena "He was here," though he didn't quite catch Serena's reply it obviously wasn't what Alex had wanted to hear as she then stormed off in the direction of the bar. He'd had his eye on her the whole time they'd been walking to Nicky's. Whilst her three friends had been chatting amiably with his friends, she'd stayed quiet, hands in pockets, head down, only saying something when Reid had tried to put an arm around Josie. "Oi, blondie, don't touch what you can't afford," she'd said icily before grabbing Josie's hand and placing herself firmly between Reid and Josie. He hadn't heard the whole conversation that followed, only a snippet "He's quite clearly a male whore Josie, he hasn't stopped pawing at us since we started walking." Whilst he knew it was true he couldn't help feeling a bit protective over his friend, his brother, and he'd thrown a glare in her direction, one she hadn't noticed as she'd tried to stop Josie from bursting into tears. Something Aggie succeeded in doing when she stepped in, also glaring at Alex.

"So, what can I get everyone?" asked Serena, interrupting his thoughts.

"Erm, cokes all round I guess," said Sarah who was looking at Caleb quizzically. The round of yes's which followed her order sold it for Serena who followed in Alex's footsteps towards the bar, followed swiftly by Aggie and Josie.

"What's wrong with you? You've been absentminded the whole walk here," asked Sarah, drawing the attention of the rest of the group.

"Yeah, and more importantly, what's with the constant watching of Alex?" asked Reid, "She's more my type than yours but hey, if you're willing to swap..." he was cut off by the angry glare Caleb sent him. "Oooooooooookkkkk," said Reid before heading towards the pool table.

"She's looking for someone," said Caleb, "She went off in a strop after Serena said something about it to her, but I didn't hear what."

"So, she's looking for someone, as long as it's not us that's ok right?" asked Tyler somewhat quizzically. Before Caleb could answer they were joined once again by Serena, Josie and Aggie, Alex trailing somewhat behind them with something that looked suspiciously like it wasn't just a coke.

"So do we sit or what?" asked Aggie, glancing around the room.

"Well," replied Pogue, "Reid's playing pool over there, do you have pool in England?" he asked, surprised when he heard Alex scoff.

"Yeah, surprisingly we do," she said before looking back to her drink after Aggie poked her in the ribs.

"Alex here's a pro, beat everyone who played her back home," said Josie quite proudly. The group were surprised to see Alex smile at this, a genuine smile saved only for Josie, "Cheers kiddo, but they weren't exactly brilliant players."

"Maybe you should give Reid a game, I'd love to see him beaten by a woman," said Kate.

"Definitely, I could rib him for days over that," said Tyler laughing. His laughter was cut short by Alex's not so friendly look.

"Lead the way," said Serena, placing her hand on Alex's back and steering her towards the pool tables. Again Caleb saw her mutter something to Alex, though this time Alex merely laughed before taking a gulp of her drink.

"Do you think that's coke?" whispered Sarah as they followed behind their friends, hanging back slightly.

"Most definitely not," replied Caleb with a frown. "Though how she got it I don't know, Nicky always asks for ID."

"Seriously Caleb," chided Sarah, "Let it go, she's new and she looks at least 21, she probably growled at them or something." When Caleb didn't respond she continued, "Let's just try to have fun tonight, we can dissect them tomorrow, ok?" He nodded slightly before letting her lead him swiftly to the pool table where Reid was laughing as Alex racked up the balls.

"Well, being the gentleman that I am, ladies first," he said, gesturing to the pool table. In his laughter he missed the wicked smile which danced briefly over Alex's face.

"What's say we make this more interesting shall we," she said, slamming a 50 dollar note on the table and looking at Reid expectantly, "Seeing as how you're so convinced you're going to beat me." Reid smiled before pulling out a bunch of ten dollar notes and putting them on top of her fifty.

"Darlin' not only am I going to beat you, I will seven ball you," said Reid laughing, purposefully avoiding looking at Caleb and Pogue who knew there was no way in Hell he could do that without using the power.

"Really? You reckon?" said Alex, her voice almost teasing him, "Alright, if you do I'll run round the pool table three times in just my underwear." The whole group looked at her in surprise, none more so than Reid. "And likewise if I seven ball you, right?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.

Caleb turned his eyes away from the scene playing out in front of him and in the direction of Serena and her two friends who had all visibly stiffened. Just like Reid had avoided him, Alex was avoiding them, and for a second, just a second he wondered whether it was true that only men could inherit the power. He shook his head briskly and turned his attention back as he heard the sound of cue on ball.