'That's nice'.

'Wait' Dan looks at me, his eyes wide. 'You don't know who I am?'

I shake my head. 'No. Should I? Are you some sort of celebrity then? Do all the hormonal thirteen year old girls scream your name as you walk down the street?' I say mockingly.

He shrugs and his cheeks redden.

'Well, anyway. It was lovely meeting you Dan' I sneer at him. 'Now, would you please move out of my way. I'm late'.

Dan continues to stand in the middle of the path. 'Who are you meeting?'

'My friends. And you're making me more late than I should be. Now, move it. Please'.

'Why are you meeting your friends? Can't you talk to them at school?'

'My my, you're full of questions today; aren't you?' I laugh. 'You think I'm going to tell you where and why I'm meeting my friends?' I let the distaste crawl into my voice as I look him up and down.

I spin on my heel and begin to walk away.

'You're so fucking rude' I hear Dan mutter.

I stop and slowly turn back around. 'Excuse me?' I say, my voice low and cold.

Dan looks startled. He clearly didn't think that I had heard him. '…N….Nothing…'

'Listen. I'm from the de la Haye family; I can do anything I want. Anything'.

'You're so rude' Dan stares at me while I cock one eyebrow; waiting for him to carry on. 'You and your friends are the most superficial girls I have ever met. You only care about who's got the cutest boyfriend; who's got the newest designer handbag; who's got the most money and who looks the prettiest. You only care about yourself. You know what me and my friends call you?'

'What?' I tap my red-soled Louboutin against the sandy path; waiting for him to carry on.

Dan's grin grows. 'We call you bitches. You and your friends are straight up bitches'.

The comment stings. 'Funny, I thought it was a trick question. I assumed you didn't have any friends'.

Dan's mouth drops open in surprise. I walk over to him and stand in front of him. I gently place my finger on his jaw and push it back up so his mouth was closed again. 'Ta ta Dan. Have a nice day' I whisper, while looking into his eyes. I noticed that his eyes were the most amazing colours: chocolate brown with specks of gold. I drop my hand and turn to walk off. I walk for about 10 steps before looking back over my shoulder. Dan is still standing there, watching me. I decide to have a little fun. I coyly lift my hand and wave at him, winking, before swinging my head back around and carrying on my way.

'You're late' Ava says accusingly at me as I sit down on one of the chairs in Starbucks; carefully placing my bag on the floor.

'I know, some twat held me up' I say, rolling my eyes. Ava and Isabella nod understandingly. They knew what it was like. My two best friends, like me, are beautiful. Ava, with her long, curly, black hair and bright green eyes. Isabella, with her shoulder-length chestnut hair and hazel eyes. And me, with dark blonde hair and icy-blue eyes.

'So, what did you want to talk about?' Isabella asks me.

'Well, I was thinking of having a house-party soon-' I am interrupted by comments of agreement.

'Nice, we haven't had a party in absolute ages' Ava agrees, her hazel eyes lighting up.

'Exactly. Plus, my parents are away and Gerard, the butler, won't do anything if I forewarn him. He'll keep an eye on things anyway'.

'Who are we going to invite then?' Isabelle asks. 'No one ugly though; we can't have ugly people at our parties. They'll ruin the photos!' Her tone haughty as Ava and I burst into fits of laughter. I sip my green tea thoughtfully, a list of pretty people already running through my head.

'I'll figure it out guys' I reply before looking at the time on my watch. 'Shit! We need to get back to school – only eight minutes until next lesson'.

'I'm staying here, I have a free period next' Ava tells me, smiling.

'I do too. Later Soph' Isabella calls after me as I rush out of Starbucks, my handbag hitting my hip as I walk as quickly as I can on four inch heels.

'Shit shit shit' I moan as I dodge the people who are milling about in the centre of the pavements. Couldn't they move to the damned side instead of standing in peoples' ways? I check my phone again, this time to see that I only had six minutes to get back to The Forest. And to get there, it took about ten minutes. And that was by vehicle.

I get to the main road and pick up my pace, wobbling slightly on my heels. Girls weren't allowed to wear such shoes, but, as I'm from a wealthy and well known family; I slip the uniform regulations. The faculty lets me slip a lot of rules and regulations. But lateness was one thing that The Forest didn't permit.

'Fuck' I mutter as I see that I only have two minutes to get to class. And I am still about fifteen minutes away from school. My Head of Year would kill me if I was late again, as I was on my 'last chance' before I got a week's worth of detention. And I could not be seen sitting in the detention room for god's sake, along with a bunch of idiots.

I hear a car draw up alongside me and I instinctively move inwards. I pick up my pace slightly and keep my eyes forward, ignoring the natural instinct to look at the car adjacent to me.

'Hey, come here' the voice is soft. I shake my head, still refusing to look. 'Hey, Sophia, come here' they repeat. How the hell did they know who I was? 'Sophia, you're late for class, I'll give you a lift to school if you want'.

I slow slightly as I recognize the voice.

'You don't want to be late again, you do?' This time, I stop completely and turn to face the car. The window was down yet I couldn't see the driver. 'What are you waiting for?'

'I don't get rides with strangers. Thank you very much'. I say haughtily.

'Stranger?' The driver gives a chuckle. 'You know me'. This catches me by surprise.

'No I don't' I say, somewhat unconvincingly. Yet I know I recognize the voice from somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it.

'Yes you do, Sophia.' The driver pokes their head out and relief rushes through me. It wasn't some creepy man trying to abduct me. I walk closer to the car.

'Get in' the driver says softly and I obey. I slip into the plush leather seat and put on my seatbelt. 'Late again are we?' The driver says factually before laughing.

'Yeah' I mutter. 'Lost track of time'.

'Where would you be without me Sophia?' The driver turns to look at me. I shrug. We get to school only a few minutes late and the driver quickly parks the car.

'I'll walk you to your next lesson' they say, opening the door. They get out and walk around to my side and open my car door, allowing me to get out gracefully.

'Um…Thanks' I said as we walk to Physics class. We stop outside my classroom and look at each other.

'Well, here you go. See you later' they say and begin to walk off.

'Hey…Um…Thanks for the ride…Dan'.