A/N: Here is chapter three. This was soooo much easier to write than the last chapter and I'm actually quite happy with how it turned out (hopefully you guys will feel the same way)! I'm going to try and get the chapters in line with Effy's episode by Thursday so then after the twin's episode has aired I can update again as soon as possible. Erm, nothing else to say really apart from please R&R and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Skins.

Thank God that lesson is over with. History has got to be the most boring lesson ever. Why did I take it? Katie is by my side in the bustling corridor; she is trying to work her way through the crowd to get to Effy. I weave my way between the gaps she has made and catch the end point of her (one-sided) conversation with Effy.

'Breasts girl, you should try it.'

'I don't try.' Effy raises her eyebrow at Katie and walks off. Katie turns to face me.

'What's her problem? I was just trying to be nice!'

'Maybe she woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning?' I suggest helpfully, knowing full well that isn't the reason, but my God Katie is dense sometimes. I don't have the heart to tell her that her new "best friend" doesn't quite feel the same way.

'Yeah, whatever. See you later bitch; got to go, I'm meeting Danny for lunch.' She lifts her hand in farewell and leaves me alone in the corridor. Well, almost alone, the cleaner is here too.

'This is a strange place, all the bustle. You and your sister are the same.' Who the hell-oh right, the cleaner guy. I turn to face him. He looks about my age and has a slight accent that makes it obvious he is not a born and bred Bristolian.

'I guess,' I reply, not exactly sure why he is talking to me. 'We have some differences though.'

'Yes, I see; you are much prettier than your sister, yes?' Is this guy flirting with me?

'Cheeky.' I simply state, giving him a lopsided grin before making my way to Psychology. Naomi is already there saving me a seat.

'What took you so long?' She asks me.

'One of the cleaners was flirting with me, I dunno he must be new or something, I've never seen him before. It was weird.' I reply as I take my books out of my bag.

'How so?'

'Well, I'm not used to anybody flirting with me-they all tend to notice Katie first and I get left in the background.'

'Well, if it's any consolation to you, I think you're much prettier than Katie.'

'Thanks, that's what he said too.' I chuckle. Why did it feel nicer to hear that come from Naomi than that guy?

'He obviously has good taste then.' Naomi whispers, the teacher has just arrived and called for silence.

*

'Oi Ems that was just Effy on the phone. She wants us to meet her in an hour to help Pandora's boyfriend sell some drugs or something.' I look up from the book I'm reading and stare at Katie in shock.

'Pandora has a boyfriend?' Not that I'm putting her down or anything, but when did this happen?

'Yeah, I know right? His name's Thomas, from the Congo or something.'

'Huh, well good for Pandora, I hope she is happy with him,' I say as I get up from my bed looking for my phone. 'I'll just ring Naomi and see if she wants to come.'

'Why?' Katie asks, annoyance lacing her voice. 'She doesn't need to follow us wherever we go.'

'Look Katie, she is a nice girl, why don't you just give her a chance? She hasn't done anything to you.'

'She threatened me on the first day of college!'

'Only because you started it-like every other argument you've had with her!'

'She is anti-social-she ignores everyone apart from you-you'll never get a boyfriend if you have her hanging round you like a shadow.'

'Seriously Katie! Just shut it already! You don't know her so don't judge alright? At least have the decency to get to know her before you start passing judgement.' That seemed to shut Katie up. She crossed her arms, clearly angry that I had won that particular argument, and sat on her bed.

'Fine. Let her come, just don't expect me to speak to her.'

'Ok then. Come on, let's get ready.'

*

'Hey Katie! Emily! Over here!' We hear Panda before we see her. She is standing on a street corner, Effy to her left and a guy, who I presume to be her boyfriend, to her right. As we get closer I realise Pandora's boyfriend is the cleaner who I spoke to earlier.

'Hi.' Katie and I say in unison as we reach the trio.

'Tommo, this is Katie and Emily. Their twins-isn't that wizzer?'

'Ah, yes, I do believe I met them earlier today. Hello again.' Thomas greeted us, shaking our hands in turn. I guess Panda's done pretty well for herself. Thomas seems like a nice guy (maybe he wasn't flirting earlier-maybe he was just being nice?).

'So, shall we go meet the others then?' Effy asks us and we all nod in agreement, before following her lead and walking towards the party we're going to.

Cook, Freddie and JJ are standing there waiting as we arrive. Cook shouts out some profanity as a greeting, which we all ignore. Pandora introduces Thomas to the boys and explains his situation to us all. It appears that he has got into some trouble with Jonny White, and needs to pay him £300 by tomorrow unless he wants "bad things" to happen to him. What is it with our group and Jonny White? Can't we all just lead a quiet life, no gangsters, just school, parties and plenty of alcohol? Is that too much to ask? Naomi still hasn't arrived and I'm worried that she has got lost or something. Just as I'm about to call her Katie mutters.

'Finally arrived then. It's rude to be late you know.' I turn to see who she is talking to and it is none other than Naomi. She looks sheepishly at all of us.

'I heard somebody needed a hand?'

Katie looks set to retort but I stop her by elbowing her in the ribs. Katie huffs in annoyance and folds her arms.

'Yeah, this is Tommo, and we need to sell some weeds so Jonny White won't beat him up!' Pandora exclaims excitedly.

'Right,' Effy starts. 'But that still leaves us with one problem,' she turns to Cook. 'You promised me a party, now where is it?'

'Can't you feel it?' He asks us, raising his hands in the air. 'Welcome to the sound of the underground!' Cook lifts the cover of the manhole he had previously been standing on and unleashed the sound of what seems to be a rave already in full swing. I am impressed with one of Cook's ideas for once!

Once inside we each grab a share of weed and split up, each taking a different sector of the makeshift club. I manage to sell three bags within the first fifteen minutes for a tenner each, and buoyed by my success I widen my search. After a bit of aimless wandering on my behalf I bump into Naomi. She looks bored out of her mind. Naomi raises her hand in recognition when she sees me. I smile at her in return.

'So how are you doing? I've managed to sell £30 worth-how about you?' My question seems to fall on deaf ears judging by Naomi's response.

'I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't even know the guy and Katie obviously doesn't want me here.'

'Please not with this again…just ignore her! You're here because I want you to be here-how many times do I have to tell you that you're my friend? My best friend if truth be told; God knows why.' This makes Naomi laugh.

'Some best friend-dragging me here to sell drugs-what am I a slave?'

'Well, I didn't want to say anything, but now you know, would it be possible for you to do all my homework for me? It's just, I'm kinda busy y'know? Can't miss Eastenders!'

'Cheeky bitch…anyway, we're not going to sell anything just standing around, so I'll head off this way ok? See you later.' I watched Naomi walk off with a smile on my face. I think back to what I said to her. She is my best friend; I feel just as safe with her as I do Katie.

I head in the opposite direction, only to stop dead in my tracks by the sight of Effy standing just a few yards from where Naomi and I had our conversation. She had a wide, smug smile on her face.

'You alright Eff?' I always feel on edge when I'm alone with Effy, she holds her cards tight to her chest, which makes her difficult to read at the best of times. Her smile just widens further and she takes a step forward.

'How's Naomi?'

'Huh?' I'm confused. She looks at me in surprise, as if she wasn't expecting such a reaction from me. The surprise is soon masked by her usual mysterious smile and she leans forward until her face is next to my ear.

'You don't understand it yet do you?' Before I can ask her what she means by that Thomas comes jogging over to us.

'Which one are you?' He directs the question at me.

'Emily.'

'Emily. My God, my drugs are cheap, but they sure love it! I have made over £100 already! I love this country!'

I'm really pleased that Thomas' night is turning out to be such a success; it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Uh oh, I think I spoke too soon-Jonny White and two of his thugs have just stepped up behind us. Jonny begins threatening Thomas, saying that he is pushing drugs on "his turf" and claiming that this is making him lose profit. We leg it fast.

We manage to round up the rest of the gang and make our way up the ladder outside. Everybody hands over the share of money that they had made; there is almost £300! Yet again our joy is short lived as Jonny finds us. This time he has brought the whole cavalry. Jonny notices Cook and mentions something that he told Cook at their last meeting. Something along the lines of that Cook would be dead next time he saw him. I've decided Cook equals trouble. Thomas bails Cook out by challenging Jonny to a one on one fight. The gangster agrees.

Jonny leads us to a nearby café (which no doubt he owns) and sets the challenge. He reveals a plate of chillies, whoever grimaces first loses. If Thomas wins, Jonny has to leave him and all of us alone. If Jonny wins, well we're screwed. The atmosphere is so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Jonny goes first; he takes a chilli and pops it in his mouth, chewing slowly. He swallows it down and pushes the plate towards Thomas. He looks around at all of us for reassurance, before grabbing a handful of chillies and eating them as if they were nothing more than candy. There is a collective gasp as none of us can quite believe that Thomas is still standing. Jonny looks as shocked as I feel. Thomas states that back home his mother grew these chillies and forbade him to eat them, therefore Thomas, being a "very bad boy" (his words, not mine), ate them anyway. Our friend pushes the plate back towards the gangster and indicates to him that it is his turn. Jonny gulps before taking a handful and stuffing them in his mouth. It only takes a few seconds for his face to turn red and screw up in agony. It turns out that Jonny can't help but to shit himself too-I cannot help but to burst out in laughter along with everyone else-the notorious gangster Jonny White has just shat himself! Haha.

Jonny and his gang quickly leave, mumblings of 'nobody can find out about this' rife in the air. We head back to Thomas' flat soon after and celebrate his success with a heavy amount of booze and weed. The whole group is having a great time-even Naomi seems to be enjoying herself and socialising with the others (Katie included!). However, the theme for today seems to be that whenever something good happens, something equally as bad will appear from just around the corner. This time it is in the shape of the untimely arrival of Thomas' mum. She takes one look at the group-Cook and Effy making out, half naked Pandora, and the rest of us as high as kites-and tells Thomas to pack his bags. He is going home.

Pandora is heartbroken. I think all of us are in a way. He managed to bring the group together in a way that none of us have been able to manage before. How come a day that had so much potential resulted in being so shit? I can only hope that Thomas some how makes his way back to us and that this is the worst thing that happens to our group-things can only get better right?