Disclaimer: I don't own a pig-shaped mini-speaker that works. I don't own paint to re-decorate my room. I don't own an ipod that doesn't break continuously. I don't even own McFly.

As much as I hated to admit it, Danny turned out to be my knight in shining armour. After failing to get into the car (and getting soaked by the rain in the process) he called Dougie, who called Sophia, who said she would get Dougie to drive her up to where we were, fix the car and drive it back herself. She had found some spare keys so she could get open the door, and told me it was fine if I wanted to get a lift with Danny to the reunion whilst she fixed my car. I could tell by the smugness in her voice she was actually pretty happy with the disastrous turn of events. I handed the phone back to Danny, who smiled shyly at me and asked "You need a lift then?"

I agreed grudgingly and got in, feeling better as soon as I had sat in the warm, soft seat instead of being outside in the rain. Danny sat beside me, also shivering slightly after being in the rain. He turned the heating up to full blast and drove off. There was an awkward silence, which neither of us seemed to want to break. After about ten minutes of antagonising silence I reached over to turn on the radio; Danny seemed relieved and both of us started to relax more as we drove. The weather worsened, making the radio crackle and fade a few times, making it impossible to hear what was playing.

"I guess we'll have to talk then." Danny said to me; his expression hard to read, a cross between anxious and smug.

"Guess so." I muttered, unsure of what to say. We sat for a few seconds, before I plucked up the courage to ask him who he thought we'd end up seeing and who would have changed.

After that, the conversation flowed seamlessly and we carried on chatting and laughing for at least half an hour until Danny randomly paused and said "Are you still mad with me about what I said before?"

"A little mad. I was just shocked that you'd think I would sink that low. Even if I was jealous, I wouldn't have told her to back off. You can both be with who you want to be with, right?"

I left out the part about me actually being jealous when I answered, and for once we talked like adults (probably because we were in a car, and neither of us could walk away dramatically). By the time we had finished we were nearing home, chatting normally again and pointing out things we recognised to each other, reminiscing. Other than the fact I had lied through my teeth about not caring who Danny kissed, I was glad we had gotten our 'talk' out of the way and weren't acting awkwardly anymore.

"I reckon we'll end up being early," Danny told me, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. "And here's me who thought we were going to have to walk in halfway through."

I smiled as we turned the corner and our school came into sight. "Looks smaller, doesn't it?"

"I was just thinking it looked bigger." Danny grinned, as he parked the car (which was by far the most impressive in the car park so far). We walked nervously round to the entrance, which was decorated with balloons and banners. I became aware that I looked a mess thanks to getting stuck in the rain earlier. I was wearing Danny's jacket over my dress that was still damp, my makeup was running down my face and my hair was no longer the smooth, sleek curls I had styled it in when I left this morning. Danny noticed me hesitating and muttered "Don't worry, you look beautiful." He gripped my hand as he led me through the doors and I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach, which I were pretty sure had nothing to do with my nerves.

Once inside, it felt as if we had never left. Pretty much everything was the same, from the paint on the walls to the vile flowery curtains. We headed to the gym, where the event was to be held, when we heard a man shout "Daniel Jones!". We turned around to see the music teacher, Mr Smith, walking towards us with a grin on his face. He had been Danny's favourite teacher, and I'm pretty sure Danny was his favourite student. They stood there for what felt like forever, discussing McFly, guitars, recording studios and god-knows-what, whilst I stood unsure of what to say, displaying my lack of musical knowledge. Thankfully, I noticed a familiar face walk through the door and went over to say hi.

"Nadine!"

"Jenna! How are you?"

"Good thanks! Well, I sort of got stuck in the rain, as you can tell, but good."

Nadine had been in my class since I started secondary school, and although we weren't the best of friends she had always been someone you could chat to if you were bored in a lesson. She spotted Danny over my shoulder and looked slightly embarrassed.

"Is that Danny? I haven't seen him in, forever. Well, I have, obviously, on TV and, just not, well, you know?"

I smiled slightly; back in our school days they had always had a 'thing' going on. Danny had been hopelessly in love with her since the day he set eyes on her and she had always secretly liked him but never had the guts to say so. They started dating in our final year (which I like to take credit for, even if it made me insanely jealous) but it didn't work out because both of them decided it was better to concentrate on exams than each other. Danny glanced over and waved at her, which she returned shyly.

"Are you two an item yet?"

I had to admit, I was taken aback by this question. I was expecting her to ask about work or family, not about Danny.

"No, we're just friends."

She sighed, apparently disappointed. "Still?"

I nodded, relieved when I didn't have to answer further as we were ushered into the gym.

It was decorated pretty much the same as it had been for our prom; large, round tables with bunches of balloons and slightly faded tablecloths. There was a seating plan on the wall, but that was pretty much ignored as everyone sat in his or hers previous 'friendship-groups'. Danny and me sat at a table, to be joined by Nadine and a few other of our close friends. I felt guilty as I saw everyone about not staying in touch, and it entertained me to see how they had all changed. The most entertaining perhaps, were two of our friends, Michael and Sarah. At school they had been sworn enemies and now Sarah was showing anyone who would look the rock on her finger and telling them the plans for their wedding next year. A few of them asked if Danny and me were 'together yet', causing us both to blush and deny it, delivering the old 'just friends' line. Nearly everyone in the gym had taken their seats, when four girls approached our table. Hannah, Ashleigh, Rebecca and Amanda. Possibly the biggest bitches in high school. They hadn't changed a bit; their hair was still bleach blonde, their skin tango orange and foundation so thick it looked like a mask. They giggled at Danny, asking in ridiculously high-pitched voices if they could sit on the remaining seats at our table. Danny merely looked embarrassed and asked "Why? I'd say you made in pretty clear in high school that you wanted nothing much to do with any of us."

They glanced at Sarah, who they had teased continuously for the whole of our time at school, and around the rest of the table, all of whom they had hated because we were friends with her. Unsure of what to say, Hannah, their ringleader, squeaked "But we never said we didn't want anything to do with you. We always thought you were gorgeous, much better looking than those other three in your band."

Danny paused, his face changing from polite to annoyed, and said very clearly, "And now you just insulted three of my best friends. So no, you can't sit here. If you think it's okay to offend somebody's closest friends or make somebody's school friends life hell for years then ask to sit at their table like nothing ever happened, then I think all of that fake tan must have gone to your head."

There was a moments silence, at which point they realised that the whole school had been listening, until a round of applause rang round the room. The four girls hurried out of the room, to smiles from everyone, including most of the teachers.

The rest of the night passed without hitch, it felt just like another lunchtime as we all sat together, laughing about old times. The biggest difference was the change in conversation; before we would have sat discussing what was on TV or what we were going to do at the weekend and now we were talking about life in general; jobs, adventures, any gossip about our other schoolmates. Of course, Danny had the most impressive stories and the least to contribute when we talked about tax and money issues, but there were lots of surprises like Rachel, by far the quietest and least adventurous out of all of us, telling us about her trip around the world and how she raised thousands for charity by bungee jumping whilst in Australia. We made sure to exchange numbers, and I vowed never to lose contact with any of them ever again. The change between how miserable I had been whenever I had thought of my school days and the way I was reminiscing now was noticeably different, and part of me never wanted the night to end.

Sorry, I lied. This isn't the final chapter.

But I thought I'd post it anyway, because

a it's longer than my usuals,

b it's my favourite chapter so far,

c my r:A album didn't arrive in the post today, like it was meant to, so i'm depressed and need reviews to boost my ego,

d i have a slight writers block how to end it.

So here it is. -cheer-

I have to go and get beaten up by children that are waay smaller than me at judo now, so only time for a really crap off-the-top-of-my-head mcfly-style-begging-tune..

Do ya do ya do ya like this?

Does it need a bit more time?

Do ya do ya do ya want me,

oh, to change the way I write?

Do ya do ya do ya review?

'cause it kinda makes my day,

Won't you tell me if you love this,

or if you don't wanna know.

Hm, think that one actually turned out ok.

please tell me if you like it or not, because it's my favourite chapter, and i think the next one shall be the last one.

Ellie.

x