I'm sorry for such a late update! I've been on holiday and other stuff and I'm going away again in a few days so I thought I'd write this quick chapter for you all. Please forgive me for my erratic tendencies when it comes to updating stories, I promise to try and make them more regular! Enjoy!

(P.s. Reviews are lovely, I reeeeeeally would like feedback, it gives me so much more motivation to write! Thank you)

CHAPTER 3

Etcetera walked through the crowded room full of whirring machinery, laughter and heavy breathing.

"Looking good Mrs. G!" She called across to the slightly plump blonde woman on the treadmill who was sweating profusely and who sent Etcetera a grimace that she assumed was meant to be a smile.

"She's been at that for 45 minutes, it actually looks like she's in pain now." A small girl behind the gym's counter chuckled. It was rather fitting that Cettie worked in a gym - she liked to think it was her dream job as she got to lust over the hi-tech equiptment that was installed into every free space. Just the thought of a state of the art eliptical made her heart beat twice as fast (with excitement, obviously).

Cettie winked at the brunette behind the large grey counter. Electra was Cettie's closest friend and another great thing about working at the gym. They had worked there together for 2 years now and Cettie felt like she could tell her anything. She was almost as short as Jemima, with mousy brown hair, deep brown eyes, a splattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose, and a cheeky grin that she would grace certain people with when she wasn't too busy being notoriously shy. Electra wasn't a big talker and spent a lot of her time brooding over one thing or another, but the two girls were so close now that she had loosened up and now trusted Cettie enough to be herself around her.

"No pain, no gain, I suppose." Cettie shook her head. "Anyway, I've finally won over my room mates to the idea of having a party. You're expected to attend, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Electra saluted Cettie and winked.

"Why hello there." A familiar voice purred from behind Cettie. She rolled her eyes before plastering a smile on her face and turning around.

"Tugger! How are you?" The sickly sweet smile made her jaw ache. Tugger stood behind her, clad in small black shorts that showed off his long muscular legs and a matching running top. He flashed her a ultra white grin.

"Not too bad, sweetie. Didn't know you worked here!" He kissed her hand. "What a lovely surprise."

Electra snorted from behind the counter with her head rested on her chin, an amused look on her face. Tuggers eyes snapped to hers and she blushed and straightened up. Cettie wasn't sure how Tugger could so blatantly ignore a woman and then, upon judging her appearance, go into full on attack(or flirt)-mode.

"Hey, you didn't tell me that your friends were pretty too, Cettie. Introduce us!" Tugger's sly smile widened.

For some reason, Cettie's stomach flared up at his words. She didn't want to introduce them at all and she wasn't sure why. Her brain was muddled with contradicting feelings but she felt an orb of jealously burn in the centre of her chest.

"Uh. Tugger, this is Electra. Electra, this is Tugger." She knew she should have said more. She could have said that Electra was 23 and enjoyed French films because they make her seem intellectual, or that Tugger was the arrogant but charming neighbour of hers that liked playing rap music at 3am. But she didn't. She was afraid she might say something stupid and petty. He side stepped over to the counter and began to talk quietly to the brunette. Her face was wide with shock at his forwardness. "Anyway, much to do. See you later." Cettie tried to relieve herself from the awkward situation that was making her feel increasingly sick. And with that she smiled briefly at Electra and fled to the safety of the staff room just by the rowing machines.

Why was she so jealous? Did she like Tugger? She'd practically avoided his entire existence since he moved in, yet she'd just had to stop herself from stomping her foot and pouting like a small child. Sure, Tugger was handsome, she thought to herself. He always seemed to have perfectly styled hair -and it wasn't every day that you met a guy who was hair product-savy. But something about him made her feel uncomfortable. He emitted a sort of confidence that suggested he was of a higher status than everyone he met. She was sure guys were intimidated by him, and if her feelings were anything to go by, girls felt as if they had to succumb to his advances. She didn't want to be just another name added to his list and made a mental note to continue with her Tugger boycott. Then another popped into her mind - to tell Electra to ignore him also. She's far too good for him.

The rest of Cettie's shift was spent slinking in the corners of the gym and only speaking when someone spoke to her - which is very unlike her. It would have been calming if she hadn't been so muddled with confusion. Whenever she looked over to Tugger placing his hand on Electra's shoulder, it left a bad taste in her mouth. When the clock struck 9pm and the last person had left the gym, she packed up her things and dashed out as soon as she could.

"Cettie!" She spun on her heel at the sound of her name. Electra came running towards her, her hair shining in the evening glow. "Where have you been? You ditched me with that mad man!"

Electra's giggle relaxed Cettie slightly but something was still weighing her down. "Sorry. I just had a lot to do." This was a lie. Her day was filled with hours staring at the clock and nearly falling asleep.

"Yeah right, you just wanted to get away from that creep! I've never met a person who, one minute, can be talking about rowing machines and then suddenly change the subject to full body massages." She shuddered and shook her head.

"Not interested then?"

"Of course not!" Cettie gave a sigh of relief at her words. "You know me, I'm a lone wolf. Anyway, my bus is here so I'll see you tomorrow!"

A lone wolf, eh? She watched as her petite friend skipped towards the large double decker and smiled to herself. She had nothing to worry about. She didn't even know what she was worrying about in the first place. Electra was her friend. Her best friend. Her friendly smile was enough to reassure her that everything was fine.

As Cettie meandered her way through the quieter streets of London, she looked to the Indigo sky and sighed. Things seemed to be getting more and more confusing for her as time went by.