Christmas was quite a tense time for the family. Nikki and Jo were still bad-tempered around each other and Hollie was quite glad they had only been to visit her aunts for a couple of days between Christmas and New Year. Jo did her best to try and convince her niece to tell her mother everything, but the eighteen-year-old was still dead set against it.

Hollie was on her guard when they returned to Waterloo Road after the holidays. Her temper was even shorter and more volatile than usual and she finally ran out of chances towards the middle of January when an altercation with Gabriella Wark led to Hollie punching her again. This time, with Mr Reid having to physically remove her from the situation kicking and screaming, Christine had no choice but to suspend her for the rest of the month.

After her suspension, her attendance on the Resilience Camp was put in jeopardy. Hollie resolutely maintained that she wasn't remotely bothered about staying behind while the rest of her group went to explore the wilderness, but Nikki was keen for her to attend. Apparently the feeling amongst other members of staff was mutual and, with everyone convinced it would do her good, Christine allowed her to join the others on the trip – providing that Hollie managed to keep herself out of trouble until then. For the next few weeks, every time the teenager so much as looked as though she was about to do something questionable, a teacher seemed to appear and diffuse the situation.

When the day of the Resilience Camp dawned, Nikki dragged her daughter out of bed earlier than normal to make sure they both had everything they needed. AJ was staying at Tom's while they were away and he turned up to collect the baby and his many belongings while Hollie was in the middle of grumpily attempting to shove her sleeping bag back into its carrier. Nikki had insisted that it needed to be laid out in the living room overnight to air, but it seemed to be refusing to get back into the net bag.

With a chuckle, Tom knelt on the carpet beside his stepdaughter and helped her pummel the sleeping bag away. "You looking forward to the trip, Hol?" He asked, already knowing what her answer would be.

Sniffing irritably and not dignifying the leading question with a response, the teenager merely kissed him on the cheek as a thank you for his help and dropkicked the offending article across the room. It crashed into the rest of her things and Hollie sent a scowl in their direction. Tom laughed again at her actions as his former partner rushed into the room, sighing loudly at her daughter's antics.

"Hollie!"

"What?" The teenager grouched, sloping past her and out of the room.

"The enthusiasm is radiating off her in waves." Tom joked, smiling at Nikki who rolled her eyes and smirked. "Are you looking forward to it?"

"I dunno." Nikki admitted with a shrug. "It should be a good experience, but I'm going to miss AJ and I'm under no illusions that Little Miss Sunshine will cheer up anytime soon. She better behave, though… I don't know how many more chances Christine can give her."

Tom shrugged. "She will. Once she gets out there with her mates she'll be fine." He grinned cheekily. "She's like you; any chance to show off and she'll take it. Hollie will be leading the way and building tents and fires and putting Bear Grylls to shame."

"You think so? I reckon she'll be complaining non-stop." Nikki retorted good-naturedly. She put on a silly voice and put her hands on her hips, doing an over-the-top, but not unrecognisable, impression of her daughter. "I have no signal and my battery is about to die, the world is ending. Being outside is making my hair go frizzy; I need my straighteners! Oh my god! The path is muddy, I can't possibly walk along it!"

"That is nothing like me." Hollie argued, reappearing in the living room and, without realising, striking a pose identical to the one her mother was using to mimic her. "If you've quite finished taking the piss out of me–"

"You know we love you really." Tom chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head.

"We wouldn't change you for the world." Nikki agreed, patting her cheek as she passed to lift AJ out of his bouncer and wrestle him into his coat. "Load your stuff into the car while I get your brother sorted, OK?"

Nodding, still annoyed by the entire situation, Hollie gathered their things and carried them along the hallway, through the front door and dumped them into the boot of Nikki's car. She considered 'accidentally' forgetting to put her sleeping bag in, but then she realised that Nikki would either realise what she'd done and make her fetch it or somehow magically appropriate another one from somewhere and make her sleep in it. The only thing Hollie could imagine that would be worse than sleeping in her own sleeping bag was sleeping in someone else's. No, she decided with a deep sigh, there was no way out of this one.

Vix insisted on coming to school with them, to wave them off, so the trio piled into the car and headed into school. With the fuss Hollie had made and the time it had taken to hand AJ and all of his things over to Tom, they were running late. By the time Nikki drove through the school gates and parked up, the bus was already waiting outside the school and pupils were already milling around excitedly.

Hollie climbed out of the car and popped the boot open, grabbing her things slightly more roughly than was necessary. Shouldering her bag, she nodded to Vix as the woman wished her a good time, before ambling away to join her friends and leave her mother and future stepmother to say goodbye in peace.

"You seen that?" Scout asked, nodding her head down the slope to where Barry and Gabriella were all over each other, leaning against his car. "Gross, ain't it?"

"Eurgh…" Hollie curled up her lip at the sight. "They're welcome to each other."

"D'you think she knows about you and Barry?"

The brunette scowled at her friend. "Why should she?"

Scout grinned. "Well, you know, she'd probably hate it if she realised she was dating your cast-offs."

Rolling her eyes, Hollie shrugged. "I don't care, anyway. I just want to get the next three days over and done with, preferably without killing her, so that I can get back to normal life… with a comfy bed and a shower."

"Come on." Kevin grabbed Hollie by the hand and pulled her towards the school, dragging the others in their wake. "Let's get in there. The sooner we get in there, the sooner we can leave, right?"

Sighing exasperatedly at his excitement, his girlfriend allowed herself to be steered towards their registration room. They settled themselves on a table and waited for Mr Lowsley and the other teachers going on the trip to arrive, chatting about what exactly the trip might involve.

"Morning guys!" Mr Lowsley called enthusiastically, bounding into the room and heading straight for the tables where they were perched. "After the last few weeks I thought you two might be interested in the emergency services." He told Dynasty and Imogen, holding out some leaflets to them.

Immediately, Rhiannon grabbed for them. "Let me have a look. The police?"

"I've applied for Drama courses in London." Imogen said with a shrug.

"Dynasty?"

"Maybe…" She shrugged too, looking a little uneasy at the prospect.

"You in the police?" Kevin teased, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from his girlfriend.

"Why not? Oh? 'Cos me dad's in the nick and me brother's a thug?"

"Well if the cap fits…" Gabriella chipped in from behind them, earning herself dark scowls from everyone seated on the tables.

"Yes, thank you, Gabriella." Mr Lowsley ended the conversation abruptly, sending Hollie a warning frown. "You, Miss Barry, can be anything you want to be."

"Course you can, Dyn." Hollie agreed, squeezing her friend's arm. "Hey, maybe I'll join you? We can be cops together."

Once registration was over, Mr Lowsley announced that their departure had been delayed slightly, so they had a study period. Sighing, the group gathered up their things and relocated to the library. They all took the opportunity to work on coursework that was due in over the next couple of weeks, although none of them were really concentrating.

Hollie smiled weakly as Kevin chatted to her, still not entirely sure that trying to force things to work between them was for the best. Her mother was adamant that she could make things work, that she was just punishing herself for her lapse with Barry and that if she told Kevin the truth or ended things she would regret it. Hollie couldn't shake the feeling that she was just delaying the inevitable; especially if Kevin got the place at Edinburgh University that he was desperate to win.

When Kevin, Scout, Imogen and Zoe had wandered off to the canteen to stock up on last minute snacks, Dynasty, Rhiannon and Hollie turned their attention to baiting Gabriella, who was on the computer opposite the one they were sharing. Dynasty nudged the other two and raised her eyebrows with a smirk, alerting them to the fact she was about to start winding up the snobby blonde and Hollie grinned, leaning back in her chair. She briefly wondered whether she it would be possible to annoy the other girl so much that Gabriella would kick off and she'd be confined to the Cooler, rather than going on the trip.

"You're off your head if you think you stand a chance with Mr Reid."

Gabriella fixed her gaze on Rhiannon. "And I wonder where you got that from?"

"It's a pity it's all in your sick little head." Dynasty continued as Hollie nudged Rhiannon, who looked slightly embarrassed. "'Cos then our Barry would be shot of ya."

"I've got your Barry exactly where I want him."

"Really?" Hollie asked, tilting her head to the side and smirking. "'Cos I reckon that if I snapped my fingers he'd come running back without a second thought."

Gabriella looked stunned, as though she couldn't comprehend what she had just heard. "What? You… and Barry?"

"Yeah." Dynasty grinned. "Sadly for our Barry, Hol came to her senses and chucked him." Hollie didn't bother to point out what had really happened, deciding that the less Gabriella knew about the reality of the whole affair, the better. "Besides, if you have got him where you want him, then he's a moron."

"Family trait, is it?" The blonde asked innocently.

Both Rhiannon and Hollie held Dynasty back as she leapt to her feet at that comment. "You're pathetic."

Luckily the bell rang at that moment and Nikki appeared to announce that they were almost ready to leave, shooting her daughter a warning look as she waited for them to pass. As they made their way to the main hall, Hollie laid a hand on Dynasty's arm and pulled her aside. Rhiannon shot them a questioning look, but continued through the doors and out of the library.

"We'll get her." Hollie promised in a low voice, sending a venomous look in the direction of the blonde girl who was smirking at them from the doorway. "She'll get what's coming to her, I promise you."

"Right, guys, listen up!" Mr Lowsley shouted as they congregated in the hall. "This is not just a trip, it's is a chance to test yourselves in a new and challenging environment… potentially a life-changing experience. But first… we're doing a bag check! Open up."

Everyone groaned as the teachers went round and searched through their things. A surprising amount of contraband, mainly alcohol, was seized. Hollie scowled, deeply offended, as her mother unscrewed her water bottle and sniffed the liquid inside before she pocketed her iPod. The girl glared even more as Mr Reid threw her a long-sleeved, pale blue top with 'Resilience Camp' emblazoned across the chest and 'Waterloo Road on tour' written on the back.

"I ain't fucking wearing that." She told him bluntly, arching an eyebrow.

"You haven't got a choice." He replied with a grin.

Narrowing her eyes, the teenager was about to respond that she didn't even want to go on the stupid camp, when Mr Lowsley drew their attention to someone who had just joined them. She smiled as Vix looked around at the students, catching her eye and winking.

"Right, everyone, this is Miss Spark who's very kindly agreed to join us on our trip, so let's give her a nice welcome."

A few wolf-whistles filled the air and Hollie laughed at the expression on her mother's face as she clocked her fiancée.

"Oh! Yes, sir! She's well fit!" Darren exclaimed loudly, earning himself almost identical disapproving looks from Hollie and Nikki.

"Alright, Darren." Mr Lowsley said, rolling his eyes. Then he looked around. "Where's Dynasty?"

Hollie shrugged. "Dunno, sir. Toilet I think."

As they trooped out of the hall and towards the main entrance where the bus was parked, Hollie passed her mother and Vix and nudged them both. She raised her eyebrows, receiving two very innocent smiles in return, before Kevin dragged her towards the bus, chattering overenthusiastically the whole time.

"Where've you lot been?" Hollie demanded as Dynasty, Imogen and Rhiannon joined her, Kevin, Scout and Zoe at the back of the bus.

"Wait and see." The Liverpudlian told her with a wink.

Confused, Hollie looked at the others for a hint as to what she was talking about, but they just smirked at her, refusing to say anything.

"Dynasty Barry!"

At Mr Reid's shout, the three latecomers sighed deeply and Dynasty got off the bus. Moments later, the PE teacher was calling for Nikki and she and the teenager disappeared into the school.

With another sigh, Imogen and Rhiannon explained that Dynasty had managed to tape a bag of wine to her body, under her skirt. They didn't know how, but somehow the teachers must have realised what she'd done and were making her take it off. There was no other reason that she'd have been marched off like that.

When, a short time later, the pair returned to the bus, the girl explained what had happened. Her friends all groaned as they realised their last hope at getting a drink while they were away had vanished. They couldn't quite fathom how Mr Reid could possibly have known about their plan, considering not even the rest of their friends had known about it.

Catching Gabriella smirking smugly in their directly, looking incredibly pleased with herself, Hollie suddenly had a very good idea what had happened. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, even more determined to put her in her place before the end of their camping trip.