The week before, when Shaiden had woken up with her head on Kookaburra's shoulder, she had been absolutely mortified. Kookaburra seemed fine with it, a little embarrassed judging by his slightly flushed cheeks, but other than that didn't seem to find it anything weird or awkward.

That was another thing, it hadn't felt that weird or awkward at all. Probably just because they had known eachother so long and had a strong friendship. But then again Kook and Faetal had only known eachother about three weeks, and seemed almost as close as him and the rest of their little group, or the "Pops" as school mag put it. Shaiden didn't really like that term; they weren't that popular. They were just invited to all the parties, and everyone wanted to come to theirs, and lots of people just happened to think they were cool. You couldn't blame them, because she, Gildar, Ballista and Kookaburra were cool.

"Hey Shaiden, watch this," Kookaburra muttered to her, gesturing to a freshman walking down the corridor. "That dude was playing tennis earlier and it went into my spaghetti…"

"Oh great," Shaiden sighed, looking over at the locker that Kookaburra's eyes were fixed on. The freshman opened his locker and spaghetti poured out, laced with tennis balls.

Kookaburra laughed maniacally, "What did you think? I cooked it myself." He crossed his arms and leaned against his locker, looking pleased with himself.

She found herself a suitable cold, dry answer, and said, "It was a little-"

"Oh hey there's Faetal. Faetal! FAETAL! MATE!"

She turned to see Faetal walking down the hallway towards them, carrying a Tupperware box. Her dark brown hair shining and her skirt at a length that didn't make her look like an 8th grader, but also didn't make her look like one of the sophomores, who wore their skirts as belts.

"Hey, girl," he said.

"Hey, Kooook," she smiled, "Look what I made." She handed him the box and he opened it. There was a large biscuit inside, covered in purple and green icing. "It's a cookie for my Kooky!"

Cookie for my Kooky? Seriously? Shaiden thought, raising an eyebrow at Kookaburra but he wasn't watching. He was practically buzzing with delight. "Faetal! You made me a cookie? You are literally the best friend ever!"

"Don't let Gildar hear you say that," Shaiden said, but Kookaburra took no notice, puling Faetal into an enthusiastic hug.

"Faetal you are seriously the bes-"

"You there! Bird guy with the green hair!"

Kook released Faetal and looked around, before pointing to himself enquiringly.

"Are there any other bird guys with green hair?" a cheerleader marched up to him, standing right in front of him with her hands on her hips. She would have looked very intimidating if she wasn't about a head shorter than Kookaburra.

"Hey there mate," he said, looking her up and down, "What can I do for ya?"

"I saw you last week at lunch, dancing," she said briskly, "We want you."

"Who wants me?" he frowned.

"Us. The cheer squad."

Shaiden burst into laughter, "Kookaburra? A cheerleader?"

"Oh my gosh you've got to do it," Faetal said.

"You think so?" Kookaburra didn't sound sure.

The cheerleader looked at him hard. "Come on, you're a strong, flexible guy, we could use you. This isn't an offer that comes lightly."

"Uh, yeah sure," Kookaburra still sounded amused, "Sounds like a laugh."

"Cheerleading is no joke!" the cheerleader cried, "You need to be willing to take it seriously!"

"I don't do serious," Kookaburra said, somewhat apologetic.

The cheerleader looked surprised for a second, before saying, "No matter. We need another guy on the team because our last one just broke his foot. You're in."

She spun and walked away. "Wait am I a cheerleader now?" Kookaburra asked. "Should I buy some pompoms?"

"That is amazing!" Faetal said enthusiastically.

"Oh my God you've got to let me tell Gildar," Shaiden looked as though this was the best thing to happen all week, "This is freaking hilarious, Kook!"

"I think I'll look good," Kookaburra realised, nodding to himself. He lifted an arm and examined his bicep. "Definitely good."

"Oh God you're turning into Gildar," Shaiden's eyes widened.

~00~

"Hey, dude," Vane came up behind Ballista, "How are you?" He spoke in his bored, boring, sarcastic drawl.

Ballista rolled her eyes and turned around to look at him. "Do you want something?" her eyes flashed at him.

He took in her facial expression; one corner of her mouth lifted as if there was a bad smell. Her blonde hair with little red braids and feathers strung through it. She was pretty, fierce and had all the attitude. And her family was extremely rich. Exactly Vane's kind of girl.

"So uh, I was wondrin if you wanted to get a soda or something," he continued speaking in his bored, drawl.

She smiled sweetly and leaned forward, "Not if I was being paid to."

"Okay," Vane lifted slightly in a half shrug, "So I'll see you after school at archery?"

"Not by anyone's choice, Vane," she said, her voice having abruptly dropped from the sweet tone it had been seconds earlier. He nodded, his face not changing from its blank, droopy expression, and walked away.

He was stopped not far down the hallway by Gildar. He immediately squared his shoulders, trying to look at tall as the handsome wrestler.

"Talking to Ballista?" Gildar asked, leaning casually against the wall and pretending to be checking his nails, not looking at Vane.

"Yeah, you know, just uh, talking about archery," he drawled.

"Ah yes, Archery," Gildar nodded and leant back, "But from where I was standing it looked almost as if you were asking her out."

"Well you were standing a little way away so," Vane shrugged.

"Ah yes, that must have been it," Gildar agreed, "Let's keep it that way, shall we?" He clapped Vane's shoulder hard, making him stoop with pain, before walking away.

He hated that guy. That stupid, handsome, Viking.

~00~

It was after school. Everyone had gone, apart from a few cheerleaders getting some extra practice on the field. Shaiden had left long ago with her three Pop friends to go to the mall or whatever those people did.

Meanwhile Thorne was left standing outside the principal's office whilst his parents were in yet another meeting about his grades. It wasn't his fault the teachers were too stupid to teach him properly, and when he didn't understand something he couldn't just put his hand up and ask; that showed weakness in front of the entire class. And why bother with homework when he worked enough at school anyway?

It was one of Splatalot High's many little punishments; make them wait outside the office without any chairs for maybe an hour whilst having the meeting. If a parent was waiting they were invited inside the main office, which led to the principal's, where they got a cup of tea and a cushioned seat. Thorne considered leaving a few times, but he doubted that would get him into any less trouble with his parents.

All he would do was promise to do better, and then do the same thing a few months later when he hadn't.

Finally his parents left the room.

"Thank you," his dad said, shaking hands with Mr Woods. He gestured for Thorne to follow him and they started to walk away.

"So we've come to a decision about you," he started immediately. His mother walked quietly on the other side of Thorne; she didn't like getting involved in the scolding unless it directly involved her. "It had come to our decision that maybe the best way to get your grades up would be to get you a private tutor."

"What!" Thorne was horrified, "I have to meet some guy after school and do the same work I'm doing in school?"

"Actually we were thinking of getting a student, so he or she can tutor you in and out," his dad said, sounding proud of himself, "There are many clever students here able to do that."

"But-"

"No, Thorne, this has gone on long enough," his dad said firmly, "You're lucky you haven't been expelled yet."

This time Thorne simple glared at his feet, not answering.

"Now come on, we're going home." His parents walked briskly in front as Thorne trailed behind.

A tutor? Great… With his luck he'd get one of the freshman nerds with the braces and the lisps, almost four years younger than him and still smarter. Why was it always him that bad things happened to?

~00~

Faetal was beautiful, anyone could see that. She had been beautiful the year before too, in Tinkor's eyes, but now she was stunning. He had had a huge crush on her for ages, but now of course she was into Kookaburra.

What did she see in him? He was annoying, squawky and his hair looked stupid. And how could he hold title of School Prankster when it so obviously belonged to Tinkor? He did the real pranks; Kookaburra's never actually injured or disrupted the lives of fellow students, Tinkor was willing to do the hardcore ones with paintballs and graffiti art.

He was a freaking pest. That once time he actually filled his locker with milk. Where did he even get the milk from. How did he get it in. Some things about the Australian bird freak confused Tinkor, and also enraged him. For that prank Tinkor was still thinking up a suitable revenge plan.

It was lunch hour, and Tinkor was hurrying to his locker to get his packed lunch. School lunches had too many things that he was allergic to. He was still inwardly celebrating; that break he had thrown water balloons at Kookaburra and everyone had laughed. It was wonderful. He got into some serious trouble; which was unfair because Kookaburra hardly ever got punished.

He noticed something odd about his locker as he approached it, the corners looked slightly glistening, or oozing something. He swung open the door, and heaps of thick, green goo poured out and onto him, splashing all over the floor and onto his clothes.

Fear gripped him as he flung out books, searching for the one that really mattered. His journal.

It was ruined, slime stuck the pages together and some of the ink had run and the cover looked mutilated. Trying to hold back tears he didn't notice anyone walking up behind him until he heard a soft Australian voice murmur in his ear, "Think before you try and throw water at my freshly dyed hair next time, okay mate?"

Tinkor spun round but he was already leaving. "Green haired freak!" he screamed after him, but Kookaburra only turned and winked.

He was going to get him back, and properly too.

~00~

Crocness hated Ballista. Anyone could see it and everyone knew. They would glare and snipe at eachother in hallways, insult and snap. Ballista always acted like she was so damn better than Crocness, just because she wore expensive clothes and had clean shiny hair and hung out with the popular kids.

Whereas Crocness rarely bothered with her looks Ballista arrived with fresh make up and designer outfits whilst all the boys drooled over her, but never approached due to her boyfriend.

If you really knew Crocness you'd also know that was the origin of her hatred. Something had happened at a summer camp during the summer vacation between Sophomore and Junior year.

She hadn't expected to see Gildar there, and he hadn't expected to see her. They were forced into the same camp group and made to be in each other's company almost 10 hours a day. They argued most of the time, being from such opposite social circles caused tension.

But then one night she had gone out into the woods. She felt like going for a walk, despite the strict curfew. She knew this was sort of like the start of a horror movie but at the same time she didn't particularly care, nor did she believe in that sort of thing. And then she had gotten lost, in the dark, alone. If you had asked her she would have denied to hell but she was scared.

A twig broke behind her and she saw a huge shadow approaching her. She screamed. And then he screamed. And then she realised it was Gildar and she punched him.

"What are you doing!" she yelled.

"What are you doing? It's midnight and you hadn't returned so I assumed you got lost."

"I'm not lost," she told him bitterly, "I just felt like a walk."

"Oh sure," he muttered, rubbing his chest where she had hit him.

They stood in angry silence for a moment. "You didn't answer my question," she said.

"Question?"

"What are you doing out here."

Gildar paused, wondering if he should tell her. He sighed. "I was trying to find my way to the toilets and got lost, okay."

"You're lost too?"

"We're both lost?"

Both of them groaned in horror.

So that was how she ended up spending a night alone in the woods forced to huddle with Gildar of all people for warmth before the sun rose and they managed to make their way back to camp. And then they were sort of pleasant to eachother, and then they started to get more pleasant and out of nowhere on the last night they kissed and it felt sort of good before he pulled away and abruptly left, clearly horrified.

He didn't say another word to her, sat on the opposite side of the coach from her on the journey home and she said nothing and pretended it didn't hurt and then when the school year started she started dating Skabb and he started dating Ballista and they never even glanced at eachother again.

But she'd be lying if she said she didn't glance at him every so often, and that she felt a twinge of some emotion seeing him with Ballista.

But Crocness hated Ballista for other reasons too. She had been pondering over this memory in the corridor, where she leaned against her locker when that snide voice said, "Wearing the same shirt for the fourth time in a row, Croc?"

She breathed harshly through her nose, "Skirt short enough for a hooker twentieth time in a row?"

"A hooker? Me?" Ballista laughed loudly, attracting attention from students passing by, "Oh no. If anything I can see you as the whore. It would be a good way to earn money, and then you could buy some more shirts, couldn't you?" She started to walk away before adding, "And I'm not gonna lie, I don't see you being above it."

Rage boiled inside of Crocness as students sniggered and Ballista sauntered off. Now that bitch was going to pay. She stormed through the corridors, shoving freshmen out of the way until she saw Vane, eating a candy bar by a vending machine.

"Vane!" she screamed.

He looked up, started, and even a little scared as she approached. "How can I help you?" he gulped.

"You're going to help me make her pay."