Hi everyone!

I owe you all a massive, huge, enormous apology. I really did mean to have this chapter up earlier than this, but that didn't work out. I just hope that the wait was worth it.

I'll shut up now.

Disclaimer: I swore to tell the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth. So... I still don't own the Power of Five.

It was a beautiful Monday morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the sound of an engine being kicked into life outside was being drowned by the noise of pure and utter chaos in the safe house.

'Matt, fix your shirt! You can't go into school looking like that!'

'Scarlett, your hair's straight enough as it is! You don't need to use a straightener!'

'Pedro, you're not wearing those sandals! I got new shoes for you for a reason!'

Nathalie, who had only come to sort things out in school, was close to screaming. Susan had said that she just had to send them off. Just the three of them. That was fine. But she had only been here half an hour and they were already driving her up the wall. It didn't help that dear Richard Cole was in his pyjamas and drinking a cup of coffee whilst trying extremely hard not to laugh. She was in the hallway of the open plan house and everyone near was sure she would soon begin tearing her hair out.

Pedro was standing in a pressed uniform, looking extremely uncomfortable. He was wearing a pair of black school shoes that were digging into his feet. His tie felt tight around his neck. He had never worn a uniform in his life, but he was certainly not enjoying the experience.

Matt was slumped in a chair by the dining table, kicking his schoolbag, a miserable look on his face. He didn't want to go to school. He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up in the process. In his haste to have a normal life, he had forgotten how much he hated school.

He glanced at Pedro, who gave him a small smile. Matt knew what school was like, but he couldn't imagine how Pedro felt. He had never been to a proper school in his life. He suddenly felt very stupid. He smiled back, hoping to reassure the Peruvian boy.

Pedro came to sit beside him at the table, moving as if he was afraid of creasing the uniform. 'What school like?'

'Well, um… it's a place where you learn. You have different classes where you learn different things and you get homework…'

'Homework?' Pedro groaned. Matt laughed a little.

Their short conversation was interrupted by a shrill scream. 'Scarlett!'

Matt and Pedro shared a glance. Nathalie was losing it.

They saw Scarlett appear on the landing and slide down the banister. She landed neatly on the floor, smiling sweetly. 'Yes, Miss Johnson?'

Nathalie stared at her, lost for words and then shook her head. 'Get your bag.'

Scarlett reached for her green schoolbag. Then she untied a silver ribbon from her wrist and tied up her hair with it and gently dusted her skirt with her hand. She opened the door and went outside.

'Boys, are you ready? The car's outside.'

Pedro grabbed his schoolbag and put it on his shoulders. He wrung his hands nervously. Then he felt someone elbow him gently. Matt smiled at him.

'It'll be fine – don't worry,' he said. He then waved at Richard and walked out. Pedro, feeling reassured, followed.

Scott woke abruptly to the sound of singing. He didn't realise it at first. He sat up and rubbed his eyes groggily. He looked over and noticed with a start that Jamie wasn't in bed. His natural conclusion was that something was wrong. He tensed, looking around, searching for a sign of wrongdoing. Then he heard the singing. It was coming from the shower.

Each room in the safe house was like a hotel room – complete with double beds and an en suite. Most of the people staying there had concluded that it was an old and small hotel. Unfortunately, as Jamie had discovered to his dismay, there was no room service.

Scott carefully rolled out of bed and padded to the door of the bathroom. Leaning his ear against the door, he listened.

'"Give me love like never before,

'Cause lately I've been craving more.

And it's been a while but I still feel the same,

Maybe I should let you go."'

Scott sniggered. He had known his twin brother all his life, but he had never known that he sang in the shower. Then again, Jamie had always been the funny one, hadn't he? He had always cheered Scott up in the past, without knowing of course.

He hadn't heard the shower stop, or the lock click. Scott felt the door open and he fell forwards and landed on someone else. Jamie.

Jamie groaned. 'Scott? What the hell?'

Scott quickly got up. 'Sorry.'

Jamie was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans with bare feet. His hair was wet.

'Why were you at the door?' he asked weakly, sitting up on the wet and tiled floor.

Scott couldn't stop his smirk from appearing as he helped his twin stand. Jamie went red in the face.

'Hey, it's cool,' Scott said teasingly, ruffling Jamie's hair, 'You're just practicing for the X Factor!'

Jamie mumbled something and gently punched Scott's arm.

They both went into the room and Scott grabbed some clothes from the wardrobe.

'You know that tutor is coming today,' Jamie said, tucking the ends of his sheets under the mattress.

Scott groaned. 'Don't remind me.'

'Hey, I'm sure it won't be that bad.'

'Oh, I'm not thinking about the lessons. I thinking about how I'm going to concentrate with you and Holly acting all love struck in the corner!'

'Oh ha ha ha,' Jamie said sarcastically. Scott had seen how Jamie had brightened slightly at the mention of Holly. His brother was in love. He should be happy for him. So why did he feel slightly jealous?

'Scott! Jamie! Holly! Miss Griffin is here!' Sophie yelled at the top of her voice. Scott quickly got dressed and they headed downstairs.

Holly was waiting by the dining table in the kitchen, in a blue summer dress. Her hair was tied back in a bun. Scott saw Jamie look her up and down and smile. Then he leaned over and kissed her. Eww.

Miss Griffin was standing in the porch. She was an old woman, with a face like a shrivelled fig. Her grey hair was cut extremely short. Her stale grey eyes were full of exhaustion. A pair of thin framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. She held a briefcase in her hand and stared right at him, as if she was inspecting him.

A few things came together in Scott's mind after he examined his new tutor.

She was examining him. Like a doctor. As if he was sick. The others thought he was mental after what happened in Silent Creek – they thought he was crazy.

Miss Griffin was a psychiatrist.

And that's when Scott bolted.

Pedro looked at his new timetable, completely bewildered. He hadn't a clue where he was going at all. Matt and Scarlett had being whisked off to some kind of test while he sat here, in reception, without the faintest idea what he was meant to do or where he was meant to go.

The secondary school was a lot bigger than he had expected. It was like an old Victorian school. Scarlett had been fascinated by it, and got all hyper when she saw the sports fields. They had been redone with artificial grass and some kind of peat. But even Pedro knew that the football pitch was bigger than most. This was a very fancy place.

Matt, apparently, had not been surprised by all the magnificence. He had been sent to a fancy school in York by the Nexus. He hadn't had a good experience there, and Pedro could tell he didn't have high hopes for St. George's either.

A tall boy with green spiky hair came to sit beside him. Pedro stared at his hair. It was a horrible shade of green – a sort of vomit green. The boy bared his mouth in a grin.

'You'se not from 'round 'ere, are ye?' he said in a very heavy accent. It took Pedro a minute to figure out what he had said. Once he did, however, he shook his head.

'Ah, so you don't know the place, eh?' he said loudly, throwing his arm around Pedro's shoulders.

Pedro shook his head. He didn't really like this boy.

'How's 'bout I show you 'round?' he said, grinning widely. There was something about his smile that bothered Pedro.

'No,' he said, speaking for the first time.

'What's that?'

'No.' Pedro said it in a stronger voice. He would have never expected to be like this – brave – but the beggar from Poison Town was long gone. He had changed. 'No.'

'No?' the boy said, his eyes narrowing. 'Oh.' He shifted his arm so that it wasn't around Pedro's shoulders. He looked right into Pedro's brown eyes. 'You're going to learn something about me. You don't say "no" to me. Got that?'

Pedro glared at him.

'I think you do,' the boy said. 'Now, you better listen to me. I can be your best bud, or I can make your life hell. I'm willing to do both. Choice is yours.'

'Well, I'm not going with you,' Pedro said.

The boy's lips pursed. 'Then, I guess I'm gonna have to-'

'Hey! Leave him alone!'

The boy jumped up in surprise. Scarlett was standing there, hands on hips, eyebrows drawn in a frown.

The boy sneered at her. 'We're just talking.'

'Doesn't look like that to me.'

The boy came closer to her. Pedro leapt out of his seat, ready to come to Scarlett's aid.

'I'll be back for you,' the green-haired boy said to her. Then he walked away.

Pedro came to Scarlett. 'Thanks.'

'Hey, no worries,' she said. Pedro noticed she seemed a bit shaken. He was about to ask if she was all right when a bell began to ring.

Scarlett jumped. 'I forgot how loud the bells are,' she mumbled, rubbing her ears. She turned to Pedro. 'C'mon, grab your bag. Matt's in class already.'

Pedro quickly yanked his bag from under his previous seat, and followed Scarlett into his first ever class in school.

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Yours,

CG xx