AN: Hi guys. Sorry I haven't updated this in ages I've just been really busy. Also, I haven't been watching series 3 (because it's not on in England yet) so I'm having trouble wriing later chapters and getting the characters right.

Updates will probably be slow for a while because I have exams in the summer and I'm spending a lot of time revising for them. This chapter is a bit boring but I promise the story will speed up a bit once I get to the really interesting real plot bits. Thank you so much for all your reviews, favourites and follows, they mean so much to me. You're all awesome.


Monday 7th September

I'm rudely woken up from my sleep by Patricia shaking my shoulder and yelling, "Get up. You're going to be late for school." I just snuggle into my pillow until it hits me that I actually am going to be late for school. I sit up and feel a wall of pain hit me so I collapse onto my bed. My head begins to pound and a wave of dizziness rolls over me. I groan slightly and crawl out of my bed, cursing the head rush I got from sitting up too fast. I open my eyes wearily at glance at my clock, it's 7:37am, I have just enough time to grab some breakfast.I quickly get dressed into my regulation school uniform and brush my hair, adding some mascara to my eyelashes and a thin layer of eyeliner under my eyes. I grab my school bag off my bed post and leave my room quietly, pulling the door shut behind me.

I walk quickly down the stairs and slip into the dining room, taking my usual seat next to Jerome. "Morning." I say to him, kissing his cheek and flashing him a smile. He grins back before continuing to flick grapes at the back of Alfie's unsuspecting head. I roll my eyes fondly and turn to Joy as I grab some cereal and pour it into my bowl.
"Morning." Joy says to me as she spoons cereal into her mouth.
"Did you sleep well." I ask politely, adding milk to my cereal bowl.
"Yeah, it was okay." She replies almost grumpily as she smushes her Cheerios with her spoon.
"Are you okay Joy?" I ask worriedly.
"I'm just sick of all this couple stuff you know." She says, throwing her spoon down in exasperation, "There's you and Jerome, Amber and Alfie, Patricia and Eddie, Fabian and Little miss America. Then there's me."
"Joy, you'll find somebody, I promise." I reply, reassuringly resting my hand on her shoulder. I feel a pang of sympathy for Joy and she looks at me sadly.
"But what if I don't?" She asks, insecurity and vulnerability underlying her words.
"You will." I answer truthfully. Joy smiles at me before picking up her spoon and eating her cereal again. I do the same until I feel a tap on my arm. Jerome stands up and offers me his hand which I gladly take.

He takes our empty bowls through to the kitchen and I look across to Joy. "Hey Joy, do you want to walk with us?" I ask.
"Yeah, that'd be great!" she replies happily, running upstairs to grab her bag and blazer. Jerome takes my hand again and the two of us walk into the hallway, waiting for Joy at the bottom of the stairs.
"You're so kind Mara." he says to me, running his fingers along the bottom edge of my jaw. I smile at him and feel happy butterflies flutter around inside of me.
"I love you Jerome."
"I know you do." He replies with his signature smirk before kissing my nose softly.
"Last night was.. Nice." Jerome says, finishing off the sentence awkwardly. I just smile at him and look up to see Joy hurtling down the stairs.
"Let's go!" She chirps excitably, linking arms with me.

The three of us walk to school effortlessly chatting about the randomest of things, like Jerome's fear bats and Joy's bad experience with a shop dummy. The whole walk to school is full of laughter and happiness. I love every second of it. I'm so thankful for my friends and boyfriend.
"I don't know where I'd be without all of you from Anubis." I say to Jerome and Joy as we walk into science.
"Me neither." She says, taking a seat next to Patricia who has clearly just finished having a heavy make out session with Eddie. I can tell because her hair is really messy and her lips are slightly chapped. That and the smirks that the two of them ate throwing to one another. I sit down in an empty seat and Jerome sits behind me, the two of us waiting for Amber and Alfie respectively.


School passes relatively quickly and soon it's time to head home. I walk back home with Jerome and Alfie because Amber and Joy have got planning to do. I don't know what it is they're planning and they won't tell me or let me help. It's all very suspicious. Jerome pulls me out of my musings by grabbing my hand and wrapping his fingers securely around mine. I smile widely at him and lean my head on his shoulder slightly as we walk past the Frobisher library.
"Sorry about last night." Alfie says, blushing slightly and looking at his feet.
"It's fine Alfie." I chuckle, hitting his shoulder playfully. He looks up and grins at me, all of his former embarrassment gone and he jogs ahead.
"Let's have a race!" Alfie yells excitably, waving his arms around like a little kid.
"Aww, do we have to?" I complain, dragging my feet tiredly along the grass.
"Jerome'll piggyback you!" Alfie replies with a grin. I look up at my boyfriend with a quizzical expression on my face but he just motions for me to climb onto his back. I easily scramble onto him and settle myself comfortably on the top of his hips. His arms wrap securely around my legs and I wind my arms around his neck.
"Ready?" Alfie says, getting into a start position.
"GO!" Jerome suddenly sets off running and I immediately feel myself slipping down his back. I try to hitch myself up without falling off and just end up sliding down even further. The two of us burst out laughing as I slide further and further down his back, the wind whipping my hair back and projecting my laugh across the field. "Come on Jerome, you can do it!" I exclaim joyously and my boyfriend charges towards the front door, breathlessly panting as he runs up the steps.

The front door flings open and Jerome staggers through, unceremoniously dropping me before collapsing onto the floor himself. Alfie offers me his hand and pulls me to my feet, the two of us chuckling slightly at the panting Jerome. Simultaneously all three of us burst out laughing. Huge laughs that reverberate around in your stomach and cause tears to drop out of your eyes. The kind of laughter that leaves you breathless, which isn't too good for Jerome.

After we manage to gain some composure, the three of us go and sit in the living room, Jerome and I grabbing books and Alfie predictably turning the TV on. The three of us sit together in companionable quiet, the faint murmur of the TV on slightly interrupting my reading of Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. I hear loud voices and look up to see Joy and Amber in the doorway, a large pink notebook held between them as they jot stuff down into it. "Mara!" They both say simultaneously, snapping the notebook shut.
"Hey." I reply, suspicion casting we to frown slightly.
"Don't frown, you'll get premature wrinkles." Amber says, sitting on Alfie's lap and kissing him on the cheek. Joy sits next to me and manages to sneak the remote off Alfie while he is kissing Amber. She quickly changes the channel to MTV and we watch 'sweet sixteen' for a while.

Trudy calls us for dinner, so the five of us get up and sit down at the table, waiting for the others to arrive before we start eating. Patricia and Eddie saunter in with their hands linked, chatting noisily about something he said to one of the teachers. Fabian scuttles in last, clutching a text book to his chest as he takes the seat next to Joy. She smiles widely at him and he waves politely before serving himself some mashed potato. We all each slowly, appreciating every mouthful of Trudy's cooking. Amber politely turns down the potatoes saying that she is on a low carb diet. Alfie just tutts and spoons some onto her plate saying that she is beautiful and doesn't need to go on a diet. "
Aw, thank you boo!" Amber squeals, kissing Alfie's cheek lightly causing him to blush. I smile fondly at the two of them before returning to my food, delicately eating the roast beef.

After dinner, Jerome and I head up to my room and attempt to do today's homework but he's so distractingly good looking that it's difficult to force myself to work and not kiss his soft, chapped lips- Focus Mara.
"Algebra." I say suddenly.
"Pardon?"
"I have algebra homework." I reply, grabbing my bag and pulling my text book out.
"Have fun." Jerome says, kissing the tip of my nose lightly.

He lounges back on my bed as I begin to figure out the answers to the questions. I look up to see his bright blue eyes watching me and I feel warmth spread through me. I lock eyes with him and lean up to kiss his lips softly. His hand trails lightly as a feather along the bottom of my jaw and he holds my chin lightly while I twist my fingers through his hair, loving the luscious feeling of it on my hand. Our lips move together in sync, our heavy breathing speeding up. The two of us pull apart slowly and sit with our noses touching gently, staring into each other's eyes. His hand tightens on my chin as he smiles a genuine smile, one that he only smiles for me. I smile back at him brightly, leaning my face into his hand. I love him so much.