A/N: I'm SO sorry to everyone who's been waiting for an update on this story. My computer just totally broke down on me. I haven't been able to get online or write anything for ages!! Driving me bloody barmy it was. But yay for computer-minded nerds from next door xD There's a guy who works in the IT department of some office or something living next door to me, and I just happened to mention in passing that my computer was bust, so he fixed it for me. So now I'm back, for as long as my computer stays sane anyway. Hope everyone's had a fun week/weekend :D

Chapter LI:

"If You Can't Stand The Heat"

It seemed like Elliott and Jimmy had something in common, being that they had a tendency to leave incriminating evidence lying around in stupid places. The difference was that Elliott was glad Jimmy had slipped up, because now she had something to take her mind off this whole pregnancy thing. Not that she was pregnant. She obviously wasn't, it was just Edna's cooking.

As she headed back towards school, she wondered what she could do with this incriminating evidence. She could do Jimmy a favour and get rid of it, but that was boring. It would be much more fun to stir something up. Or perhaps end this turf war between Gary and Jimmy before it got too much. After all, she was Head Girl now. She had a duty to report troublemakers and the like. Although, if she told Crabblesnitch then that would probably mean Jimmy would be expelled… But then again if Jimmy were no longer at Bullworth, maybe Gary would lose focus on the whole thing…

She scowled at herself. 'You're not helping that psycho out anymore,' she mumbled, and then put her hand on the back of her head as if to remind herself how much of a bastard he really was. It did little to help really.

Elliott paused outside the gates of the school, her eyes going up to the bell tower. He would probably be there, scheming away more than likely. If she went up there and told him that they could get Jimmy expelled he would jump and the chance. Then he would probably apologise. Then once again manage to rope her into the whole stupid mess with a few grins and crude jokes. And the sad thing was that she would go along with it all.

Shaking her head, Elliott continued along the path towards Bullworth Vale. She kept her hand on the spray paint can in her pocket and squeezed it tightly, like it would help her make a decision of what to do. If anything it just made her want to go up to the bell tower, but the last person she wanted to see right now was-

Staring at the floor meant she wasn't watching where she was going, and she walked right into someone blocking the path. She stumbled a bit and started to mumble an apology, but then stopped when she saw who it was.

'Hi.' Gary said, the faintest of smirks on his face. 'You should really watch where you're going.'

Elliott felt her eyebrows drawing together. 'Don't even speak to me.' She scowled, and then went to pass him.

'Sorry,' he put his hands up and stepped aside. 'It's just, seeing as you're Head Girl and everything I thought I should come tell you that I'm on my way to see Crabblesnitch.'

Elliott sighed. 'Haven't you got some hiding to be doing? I thought you didn't like to show your face in public these days.'

Gary just eyed her, expression unreadable. 'You want to give me that paint can?' he asked, taking her off guard.

She blinked. 'What?'

'The spray paint can in your pocket. The one Jimmy used to deface the Town Hall. Because, well, it wasn't a very bright thing for you to do. Picking it up, I mean. You know if you're caught with it they'll automatically suspect you of doing it. I think that was why Jimmy threw it away…'

Elliott narrowed her eyes. 'What makes you think I have it?'

He nodded to her pocket. 'I can see the outline of it in your pocket. It's too long to be a soda can.' He held his hand out and shrugged. 'I'm trying to help.'

'Help? Seriously? After the frigging stress you've caused me the past few weeks. Like I believe you want to help me, Gary. I don't even want to see you. In fact, for the rest of my life I'm probably going to automatically despise people called Gary before I even get to know them.' She looked him up and down with distaste and then turned away. 'Hurry up and get yourself expelled so I don't have to run into you all the time.'

Gary trotted after her until he fell into step by her side. 'You do know what's going to happen, don't you? The police are going to get to this school any minute now. Crabblesnitch is going to have locker searches.'

'Then it's a good job it's in my pocket and not in my locker.'

'He'll get you to turn out your pockets. Anyone with spray paint will be taken to the office. Anyone with pink spray paint will be automatically considered guilty and kicked out of this place so fast you won't even realise until you're waiting in line to get your instant mashed potatoes in juvy.'

Elliott frowned at him, but now she was more troubled than annoyed. Was he really trying to help her, or was this just another stupid scheme? 'You just want the spray paint can so you can give it to Crabblesnitch and get Jimmy expelled.'

'If I had it then he would think it was me who did it. I'm offering to get rid of it for you.'

'I'm quite capable of putting something in the bin, thank you.'

'Elliott, I'm sorry about everything, okay? I really am. I've just been… a bit all over the place the past few days. I don't want the can to get back at Jimmy, I just want things back the way they were. Seriously.' He reached out and grabbed her wrist. 'I miss you-'

Elliott whirled around and shoved him back quickly. He teetered on the curb precariously before a car sped past. Another step back and he would have been under the wheels. 'Don't you touch me!' she yelled at him. 'I can't stand you, you get that? You're such a… a condescending, arrogant, self-centred, scheming little wretch and I can barely look at you without feeling physically sick.' She was practically trembling with rage. Gary looked at her, expression a mixture of shock and amusement, but his eyes looked dark. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the spray can. 'Take the fucking can.' She cried, hurling it at his feet. 'Now just get away from me!'

He stooped down and picked up the can, laughing lazily. 'Come on, Elle, you don't mean that-'

'I wish I'd never met you,' Elliott spat at him. 'You're easily the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Ever.'

Gary's smirk faded and he frowned, hurt. 'Elliott-'

She just glared at him and turned around, marching away up the drive that lead to the car park. He yelled her name once more but again she ignored him. He didn't bother following her and she was glad, because if he had she probably would have broken down and told him everything. The most important part of 'everything' being the pregnancy test that was hidden in her room.

Maybe she should really do something about that. There was no use in pretending it wasn't happening. This was serious. She had to…

Something caught her eye behind the bike sheds as she reached the car park and she came to a stop, frowning. Black smoke was rising from somewhere. On campus?

'The gym is on fire!' a shrill voice cried from somewhere.

'Whoo, yeah!' someone else cried.

'I bet it's because Damon West thought too hard!' another added.

And there was yet another distraction for Elliott to take her mind off the more important things. She picked up the pace and joined the small crowd of students that were hurrying around to the gym to inspect the damage.

Black smoke billowed from the top of the building and crept out from beneath the doors. There was quite a crowd now, watching the gym slowly smoulder away with a dark fascination that all humans have when watching something being destroyed. Mr Burton was standing on the basketball court, hands in his hair and yelling furiously, as if he could order the flames to fizzle out. Jocks stood around him, staring up helplessly.

'What the hell is happening?' Elliott asked the nearest person, who happened to be Christy.

'The gym is on fire,' Christy replied. 'Can you believe that?'

'Well… yeah,' Elliott answered. 'I can see the smoke. I meant to ask how is this happening?'

'No clue,' Christy replied. 'It was like this when I came down to meet Kirby.'

'Is there anyone inside?'

'Bummer on them if there is.' Christy shrugged in response. She glanced at her watch, looking like the burning gym had become boring to her. 'I wonder where Kirby is…?'

Elliott continued to watch, more curious than horrified. A couple of the other kids were losing it a bit, but most of them were cheering. She noticed the irony that for once the fire alarm wasn't going off. Would figure when there was a real fire. She frowned thoughtfully, trying to figure out a list of suspects. It couldn't have been Gary as she had been with him, unless he set a slow burning fire and then ran out to the front of the school to speak to her. She figured he probably could have done it, but she knew that he didn't like to get his hands dirty. He always could have gotten someone else to do it of course…

'Hopkins!' Mr Burton bellowed suddenly.

Elliott looked around to see that Jimmy had appeared and was currently being screamed at by Mr Burton. Apparently he was absolutely adamant that Jimmy was behind the burning. Jimmy was an unlikely candidate too, seeing as he had just been vandalising the town hall only an hour earlier. Although again he had plenty of time to get into the gym…

'Help!'

Elliott and the rest of the crowd looked around at the burning building, as there was another yell for help. Christy grabbed Elliott's arm tightly.

'That sounds like Kirby!' she cried.

'There's no way a fire service are going to get here in time.' Elliott pointed out. 'Someone's going to have to go inside.'

Christy looked at her with wide eyes. 'Are you going to go inside?'

'Are you kidding me?' Elliott snorted. 'I can think of a million and one less painful ways of killing myself than burning alive.'

Christy wailed suddenly, putting her hands to her cheeks. 'Oh my God, Kirby is going to be burned alive!'

'Hey, Jimmy's going in!' one of the Nerd spectators pointed out.

Elliott and Christy looked around to see that Jimmy was indeed running into the building, and no one appeared to be stopping him. Elliott shook her head. 'Geez, what a show off.' She mumbled.

'Oh I knew Jimmy would save them,' Christy gushed. 'He's such a hero.'

'So much for Kirby.' Elliott muttered. She glanced around to see who else was in the crowd. Pretty much the whole school was here, including most of the faculty. There were a few faces missing, however. Jimmy, obviously. Mandy, a handful of Jocks, Johnny Vincent, Lola and Gary. If this was Gary's doing, he would most certainly be hanging around somewhere. His room in the bell tower didn't look over the gym, so if he wanted to see he would have to show his face.

'Who the hell is that?' someone yelled, pointing a finger that almost poked Elliott in the eye. She looked around to see a young kid with a shaved head sprinting out of the doors to the swimming pool, grinning insanely. The sight of the bewildered crowds only seemed to make him even more ecstatic and he turned and ran down the path towards the football field. Mr Burton and a few others chased him, but it was obvious they weren't going to catch him.

'Dude,' Trent said from somewhere nearby. 'That's one of those drop out kids. Man we should totally go down to Blue Skies and kick their asses.'

'Are you kidding?' Tom replied. 'Can you remember what they did to Troy?'

'What did they do?' Troy asked in bewilderment.

'If you can't remember then that just says it all, doesn't it?' Tom told him. 'We should go down with some bats and some firecrackers and catch them off guard. Then they won't get the chance to use Troy's head as a basketball again.'

'Use my head as a what?' Troy asked, still bewildered.

Elliott frowned just as a bunch of smoke covered, coughing jocks emerged from the gym, Mandy amongst them. A few seconds later and Jimmy came out of the doors of the pool house, rubbing his head. The sound of sirens began to grow as the fire engines finally reached the school.

So it was a Townie who set the fire. To Elliott, seeing that Townie run out of the gym was equivalent to seeing Gary running out with a petrol can.