He pauses and looks over his shoulder and grins at me. 'No worries. Later' he says before swinging his head back around.

I knock on the door before entering and everyone's heads turned to me as I walk in.

'Sorry I'm slightly late Miss' I apologise. I try my best to sound apologetic but today it doesn't work.

Ms Hunter, the Physics teacher, glares at me, her nose scrunching up before opening her mouth. 'SOPHIA DE LA HAYE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? YOU'RE LATE!' She screeches, her face turning puce. Out of all my teachers, she's the one who is the strictest on tardiness.

'I got caught up in traffic, I'm terribly sorry. I'm only 4 minutes late though…' I trail off.

'THAT'S NO EXCUSE MISS DE LA HAYE!' Her hands, gripping the table tightly, turn white. As teachers and students go, we don't tend to get along very well. 'DETENTION!'

'What?' I protest. 'Are you kidding me?'

Ms Hunter pushes back her chair before screaming at me again. 'YES, I'M SERIOUS SOPHIA. NOW GO AND SIT DOWN BEFORE YOU GET A WEEK'S WORTH OF DETENTION!'

I wasn't going to argue with her and I look around the classroom before realising there is a new seating arrangement. Brilliant. There's one space next to a boy with his head in his arms. I inwardly sigh before making my way to that spare seat. I can feel Ms Hunter's eyes burning into the back of my back as I walk away.

I fling myself down on the seat and edge it away from the boy, he looked dirty. He didn't look up for the rest of the lesson which suited me perfectly. It felt like years had passed before the bell rang, signalling lunch. I quickly gather my stuff up before shoving it in my bag and making my way towards the canteen.

As I walk through the doors, my eyes travel towards my usual table. It's in the top right corner, overlooking the fields. It's the nicest table in the canteen, which is why only my friends and I sit there. Ava and Isabella were sat down already and I smile to achknowledge them as I join the line for the canteen. The girls in front of me were talking about which chocolate bar they were going to buy. Ew. Did they not know how many calories were in those? Plus, it looked as if they didn't even work out. I shake my head pitifully as the line moves forwards. I pick up some salad, no dressing, and a diet coke before making my way back to my seat.

As I sit down, I'm greeted by a chorus of hello's. Ava and Isabella are munching on some lettuce leaves whilst Ollie, Ava's boyfriend is texting. I'm the only single girl out of my girlfriends. Ava's with Ollie and Isabella's dating Max, The Forest's star rugby player. But I'm not terribly worried, if I wanted a boyfriend, I could snap my fingers and an eager and doting boy would appear, waiting and willing.

I hear a cough come from behind me and I saw Ava, Isabella and Ollie look up and their mouths drop open. I turn in my seat and look up. Standing behind me was no other than Dan Howell. Did he know what he was doing? You don't just go up to the most popular people in the school and cough, especially when they're eating lunch.

'Yes?' I ask him, trying to keep the rudeness out of my voice. After all, he had given me a ride.

'Can I sit here?' I hear a splutter. No doubt that had come from one of my friends. 'There aren't any other seats left' he says, as a way of explanation.

Ollie, Ava and Isabella all look at me as if to say, 'your call'. The whole of the canteen has gone silent and are looking at us, clearly enjoying the scene. After all, no one had ever approached us and asked to sit with us before. Especially a nobody.

'Um…' I say, avoiding eye contact. Dan's face drops and I feel as if I have kicked a damned puppy or something - he looks so disheartened. 'Sure'.

Isabella's eyes looks as if they're going to pop out of her head and the remains of Ava's diet coke is now on the table.

'Seriously?' Ollie mouths to me. I nod mutely in reply, hoping Dan doesn't see. I mean, I can't turn him away after he had given me a lift to school, saving me from having to walk for another fifteen minutes in killer heels. Plus, he had gotten me out of a week's worth of detentions, so it was only fair to him.

Dan places his tray down opposite me before plonking himself down heavily. He has no class whatsoever. The noise in the canteen has returned to its normal level and everyone has gone back to whatever they were doing. They had obviously lost interest as they realised there wasn't going to be a showdown or an insult match.

'I've gotta go to the library and do some research on the Cold War' Ava suddenly stands up. This was clearly a lie because we studied the Cold War last year but it was clearly an excuse to leave me with a loser.

'Yeah, me too' Isabella joins in.

'I'll come too' Ollie grins slyly.

'See you later' I say, narrowing my eyes. Ava winks at me and Isabella looks as if she was trying to stifle a laugh. They all walk off, nudging each other and giggling. They were going to pay for this.

I move my fork around, playing with the plain salad.

'So' Dan says softly.

'So?' I snap and Dan raises his eyebrows.

'Whoa, calm down. Your pretentious friends have gone so you don't have to worry about them seeing us conversing' he says calmly.

'I'm not worried' I snort.

'Oh yeah?' He says, looking into my eyes. I drop my gaze and place my fork on the table. 'It's okay, I understand'.

'Huh?' He gets me off guard.

'I get it. There are two types of people in this school. The popular ones and the non-popular ones. You're popular. I'm not. And these types don't tend to engage in social interactions…' He trails off. I flush at his words, because for once, he was one hundred per cent correct.

'I'm not scared of being seen' I say fiercely. 'Plus, you're pretty nice for a loser'. The insult pops out before I can stop it. 'Sorry, that was uncalled for' I apologise.

'Thanks? I guess you're alright for one of the stuck up, rich kids when you're not carrying on your bitch tirade'. I bite my tongue to stop a rude reply from slipping out and settle for a nod instead. Why I am being nice to him is beyond me.

'It's a shame that these types don't date' Dan continues. 'I mean, you would never dream of dating me would you?'

I shrug. 'Why do you want to know? Do you like one of us then?' Dan's cheeks redden. 'Oh my god, you do as well? Who is it?'

Dan shakes his head, smiling. 'Not gonna say.'

'Is it Ava? Isabella? Because they both have boyfriends…'

'No, it isn't them'.

'Tell me!' I say, swatting him playfully.

'NO!' He snaps, his jokey demeanour gone.

'Alright. Calm down' I smirk, raising my hands.

'So. Do you have your eye on anyone?' Dan questions.

'Nope' I shake my head.

The rest of lunch and last period pass quickly and I'm making my way out of the gates before realising that I had detention. Groaning, I make my way back inside to Ms Hunter's room. I stroll in and take my place. After about five minutes, I hear someone pull up the chair next to me. I look up and see a tall lad with short, light brown hair and green eyes staring down at me, a light grin on his lips.

'Can I sit here?' He asks shyly.

I nod, not quite knowing what else to say.

'I'm Jake Gardener' he says.

'Sophia' I reply, smiling at him.

'From the de la Haye family, am I right?'

'Right' I reply. 'It's a pleasure to meet you'.

'The pleasure's all mine' he replied smoothly. 'So, what are you in here for?'

'Lateness' I sigh. 'Yourself?'

He grins, his nose crinkling up. I notice that he's got a light sprinkling of freckles across his nose and cheekbones. 'I put up a massive "FOR SALE" sign on the school roof and set fire to my hand in Chemistry, so whenever Mr Logan asked question, I would put my hand up. It being on fire and all' he breaks off laughing at his actions.

'Someone who likes to break the rules, I like' I grin.

The rest of detention passes quickly and before I know it, Jake and I are walking out of the gates towards the student car park.

'So Sophia, would it be alright if I took your number?' Jake asks nervously.

'Sure' I reply before he hands me his black iPhone. I enter my number and pass it back to him.

'I know some great restaurants around here, if you'd ever like to go out sometime' he says, flushing.

'That would be nice' I smile shyly. 'Thanks. Nice meeting you'

'And you. I'll walk you to your car'. Jake takes my hand and leads me to my car. 'I hope to see you soon' he says, kissing me on the cheek. He smells of wood mixed with a light scent of aftershave. It's a good combination.

'Bye Sophia' Jake addresses me, his hands behind his back.

'Bye' I reply, smiling at him.

Jake walks off and I put my key in the ignition before turning it. I pull smoothly out of the parking lot and drive towards the exit. I pass Jake on the way and I lift a hand in acknowledgement, waving him goodbye. As I sit at the T-junction, waiting for the mass of cars to pass before I can pull out, I look in my wing mirror. Jake's still there, along with another lad, with dark hair. Dan. I didn't know that they knew each other. As they stand next to each other, I can see the differences between the two. Dan's taller but Jake's of a thicker build.

As I get ready to pull out, I glace quickly in the wing mirror again. This time, I spot something red on the ground between the two brown haired boys. It looks like a flower, a rose perhaps. It must belong to Dan; Jake wasn't holding anything red as we walked out of detention together.

I drive home, the guilt beginning to pool in my stomach.