Okay, this chapter has an Instant Message convo (but only for a small part!).

0.o is a confused and shocked face.

ROFLMAO is "rolling on the floor laughing my ass off"

Lol is "laugh out loud"

ffs is "for fuck's sake"

I also gave people funky internet names, so:

Calleigh is Bulletgrl

Eric is ScubaDoobie

Horatio is SunglassesOfJustice

Yelina is Curly1

Speed is Speeed

Alexx is ICanSeeYourInsides

Ryan is Wolfie

Hagen is RugerGP100

I think that's everyone! Okay, so this is an early christmas present to anyone who happens to read it! Merry Christmas! Have a good one!

"Oh yeah!! Cover lesson!!" cheered Eric as he threw himself into a swivel chair next to a computer. The rest of the class bundled through the door behind him and found their seats. Within seconds, everyone had logged on and were surfing the internet or loading up "Instant Messenger". By the time the teacher actually got into the room, after herding the last few students into the class (and waiting for Ryan… he got lost again), most people were to engrossed in whatever game they were playing to notice his arrival.

Suddenly their screens went black.

"Now I have your attention, can we begin the lesson?"

The teacher was standing at the front of the class, with the plug in one hand.

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"Okay, so I'm not your normal teacher for this lesson, but you still have to do some work…"

Calleigh and Eric rolled their eyes at each other; the teacher had been droning on for the last five minutes about what he expected them to complete in the lesson and how their behaviour was unacceptable. His voice had a monotone that could send a class into a stupor very quickly.

Speed and Valera were playing hangman in the back of Speed's exercise book, Yelina was sitting on Horatio's lap and Ryan was trying to prise the ESC key out of his keyboard.

"…now, I am going to bring around a seating plan to make sure you are all sitting in the right seats. Anyone that isn't, will have their names mentioned to your teacher and will be receiving detention from me!"

Everyone glanced around… none of them were sitting in the right place.

"Who sits here normally?" Calleigh whispered to the people sitting around her.

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"What's your name?"

"Horatio," Calleigh announced proudly. "My name is Horatio." She shot him one of her widest grins, before he moved to the person behind her.

He made his way around the whole class, while everyone gave their false names. Some were funnier than most; Speed changing his name to Alexx was believable, but Yelina trying to tell him why she was called "Tim-bolina" was quite entertaining for those around her.

It took a good five minutes more than it should to take the seating plan, mainly because of people's interesting explanations of where they got their unusual names. When the teacher, Mr O'Neil, finally got around to Eric, everyone had started fidgeting again.

"I'm Max," Eric said, holding out his hand. Calleigh hastily stifled a giggle at the posh accent that Eric was putting on.

O'Neil looked down at his seating plan and then back at Eric.

"There's no 'Max' on this plan. And this seat belongs to someone called Maxine. You cannot tell me that you are really a girl."

"Well…"

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A few minutes later Eric came back, closely followed by the teacher, who was looking slightly shocked.

"Did he buy it?" Calleigh asked eagerly.

"Yup!" replied Eric with a grin.

"What did you tell him?" Speed called from the row behind.

"I just told him that I used to be a girl, but I had a sex change and now I'm Max, not Maxine."

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Bulletgrl: Hey y'all

Wolfie: Hi Cal

Bulletgrl: Hi

ScubaDoobie: Get out of here Ryan

Bulletgrl: Don't be mean

SunglassesOfJustice: Lay off him Eric

ScubaDoobie: Fine

ScubaDoobie: Sheesh

Wolfie has just sent you a nudge!

SunglassesOfJustice: Ryan!

Bulletgrl: Ryan!
ScubaDoobie: Ryan!

Curly1: Ryan!

SunglassesOfJustice: Yelina…

Curly1: Horatio…

Bulletgrl: Shall we leave you two alone?

ScubaDoobie: Calleigh…

SunglassesOfJustice: Maybe it's you two we should be "leaving alone"

Speeeed: Are you two going to tell us what happened in the store cupboard?

ScubaDoobie: …

Bulletgrl: …

RugerGP100: Anything he could do, I could do better and you know it babe

Bulletgrl: Euw

ScubaDoobie: You wish…

RugerGP100: My mother taught me not to lie and every word I speak is the truth

ScubaDoobie: Well, did your mother teach you when to leave a girl alone?

Bulletgrl: Oh ffs!

Bulletgrl has blocked RugerGP100

ScubaDoobie: Why didn't I think of that?

ScubaDoobie has blocked RugerGP100

Speeed: Okay, back to the more pressing topic…

ICanSeeYourInsides: Yeah… what did happen in that store cupboard?

Speeeed: We're dying to know…

Bulletgrl: Are you sure?

Wolfie: Yes!

SunglassesOfJustice:Yes!

Speeeed: Hell yeah!

ICanSeeYourInsides: You can tell us!

ScubaDoobie: Shall we..?

Bulletgrl: You can

Speeeed: Cut to the chase! Did you or didn't you?

Bulletgrl: Maybe…

Speeeed: OMG you did!!

Bulltgrl: Did I say that?

ScubaDoobie: So what if we did?

Bulletgrl: Eric! Now they know!

Speeeed: Woohoo!!

Curly1: What did I miss?

Speeeed: Only the confession of the century!

Curly1: They didn't!

Speeeed: They did! ROFLMAO

Curly1: In the store cupboard? The one with the condoms?

ScubaDoobie: Yeah

Bulletgrl: Don't worry… we made use of them!

SunglassesOfJustice: I should hope so!

Bulletgrl: O.o

ScubaDoobie: Lol

Bulletgrl: Moving swiftly on…

Bulletgrl: …

Bulletgrl: Someone say something!

Speeed: In a cupboard lol

TeacherNet: If anyone is still online in the next ten seconds, they will be in detention until christmas.

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About ten minutes after being forced offline by the teacher, the tanoy system rang out.

"As you all know, tonight is the prom. The school staff expects you to be on your best behaviour tonight…"

"I didn't even know we had a tanoy at this school," Calleigh muttered to Eric. She decided that she'd broken enough rules during that day and that missing out on a behaviour lecture wouldn't get into any more trouble.

"… and on a lighter note," the tinny tanoy continued. "We're finishing school half an hour early to give you a chance to get your prom outfits ready!"

The bell sounded, signalling that it was time for them to leave and, chattering like monkeys, they did.

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Half an hour later, they were making their way home. They walked slowly; they were in no hurry.

"Hey, anyone want to go swimming later?" Eric asked nonchalantly as they walked through the city. He expected a tirade of people complaining about swimming and how he would just want to race them all, but to his surprise, his idea welcomed.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Calleigh replied. "Right guys?"

"Sure," agreed Speed, "As long as you don't race."

"Sounds good to me!"

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They headed home to fetch their swimming things and met up at the pool half an hour later.

Calleigh grinned to herself as they went through the double-doors to the pool. She was about to get in the pool with Eric. Sure, she'd seen pictures of him swimming, but that couldn't even come close to how good the real thing must look. And, as Eric's girlfriend, she could touch him if she felt the urge, which she probably would. She was only human after all.

Once she was changed, Calleigh put her bag and clothes into a locker and started to head to the poolside. Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into another cubical. She wanted to scream but her mouth was covered. Her attacker turned her around so that they were facing each other and she giggled. It was Eric.

"Not again Eric," she muttered playfully as he kissed her neck. "We've already done this once today…"

"True," muttered Eric. "But a pool cubical is a whole different type of cupboard…"

Calleigh laughed again but Eric quickly silenced her with a kiss.

When they broke apart, they were breathless and hot.

"We don't want to be heard now, do we?" Eric whispered, stepping closer to her. Their near-naked bodies pressed together, skin on skin.

Their lips were locked when Calleigh came back to her senses.

"Eric, stop."

She put her hands on his chest and pushed them apart so they had a few centimetres of breathing space.

"We can't do this Eric… not here."

He nodded.

"Yeah I guess you're right. It's a little warm in here don't you think?"

"I do! Let's go and cool down…"

They left the cubical together, drawing some curious looks, and indeed some jealous ones, as they headed out to the pool.

With Eric's muscular body and coffee coloured skin next to Calleigh's Caucasian beauty, they looked more like a Hollywood Couple than a pair of teenagers.

Eric was eager to get into the water, despite having Calleigh to distract him from his favourite sport, swimming. He was just as eager to share to share his love for swimming with her; to show her the magic of being underwater and how it made everything seem so much more… intimate.

When they got on poolside, Eric headed straight for the deep end so he could dive in while Calleigh climbed in at the shallow end and waded out to where Alexx, Horatio, Yelina and Speed were standing.

"Where's Eric?" Alexx asked.

"Oh, he's coming," replied Calleigh, pointing to the other end of the pool, where Eric was swimming. They turned their attention back to their conversation.

After about ten minutes, the splashing made by Eric swimming died down. Calleigh noticed the sudden silence more than others and turned around to see where he had gone. She suddenly realised that they were the only people in the pool.

"Speed? Where's Eric?" she asked.

Speed tried to keep the smirk off his face while he answered; "Maybe he went to the toilet or something." He had just seen Eric dive under and start swimming towards the group.

Calleigh turned back to her friends but only seconds later, Eric joined them.

He announced his arrival but swimming up to them, underwater, and hugging Calleigh from behind and lifting her feet off the floor. She let out a small cry of surprise while everyone else laughed. Eric then picked Calleigh up so he was cradling her across his chest and her arms were around his neck.

"I'm going to drop you," he threatened teasingly.

"No! Eric don't you dare!" Calleigh told him.

It was no use however. He just lifted her a little higher and released her and she fell into the water with a splash that soaked Speed.

"You're going to pay for that, Eric!" Speed yelled and he splashed Eric back. Unfortunately, it missed and hit Ryan, who had just arrived with Valera. He retaliated by pushing a wave towards Speed, who ducked, causing the full force of the wave to be inflicted on Horatio. He used his legs to kick up the water, soaking no-one in particular. Instantly, everyone in the pool joined in the water fight. Alexx and Yelina had managed to get hold of some water bombs and were throwing them at anyone and everyone and Valera had ducked underwater and was sneaking up on people and soaking them.

After a few minutes of vicious fighting in which everyone got well and truly soaked and Valera nearly got another serious nosebleed, everyone calmed down and stood, panting, by the walls of the pool.

"Well that was fun," Horatio muttered to Yelina, who had come to rest with him. Her hair was soaked from being ducked underwater so many times and it was nearly hanging straight. They heard a lot of noise suddenly erupt from the other end of the pool and turned to see Alexx get thrown in at the deep end by Eric and Speed and they laughed a little, but decided that they'd prefer to stay in the shallow end and just talk.

Alexx climbed out, scowling at Eric and Speed.

"That was unfair!" she told them as she shook the excess water from her hair.

"Ah well," Speed shrugged. "Life's not fa-"

As Speed spoke, Alexx took her chance. She tackled him, causing them both to fall into the water. They surfaced a moment later, coughing and spluttering and laughing all at once and they had somehow managed to end up in each other's arms. They stopped laughing and for a moment, they looked into each other's eyes, lost to the world.

The moment didn't last long however.

"Oi lovebirds! Break it up!" yelled Eric before bombing into the water and sending a tidal wave their way.

"Hey," said Speed once he had surfaced beside them. "We don't break up your moments!"

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Eric, Calleigh, Speed and Alexx were walking home so they could get ready for the prom. They reached Calleigh's house first and she and Eric kissed briefly before she ran to her front door. Next they came to Eric's house.

"Eric? Can I kiss you goodbye, or can only your mum and Calleigh get away with that?" Speed asked, pouting his lips.

Eric scowled. "Drop it, will you?"

"Hey," Speed put his hands up in mock defeat. "I did warn you that I was never going to forget it!"

"Yeah, I know. See you guys later," Eric said before heading to his house.

Speed and Alexx walked in silence for a few minutes until Speed couldn't bear it any longer.

"Alexx, I…"

She stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Yes?"

"I don't know." Speed sighed and kept walking.

They went on, feeling even more uneasy than they had before.

They both knew what they wanted, but neither knew how to bridge the gap between them to make it happen.

Alexx was the one who eventually made the first move. She reached over and slipped her hand into his and they both felt the tension melt away.

They walked silently, hand in hand, until they reached Alexx's house.

Speed tried to say what he had wanted to say earlier.

"Alexx. I…"

This time, Alexx shushed him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

With his lips occupied, he couldn't do much talking, but Alexx's actions said enough for both of them.