Hey everyone! Sorry about the LONG delay, but I was really busy and not dead. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and a Merry Christmas to all and to all happy holidays! So here's a chapter to fill you all's Jara needs and Please review! I want to hear all your thoughts and opinions! Enjoy!

"So, did you and Jerome have a fight, Mara?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Well..." Nina trailed off, staring at the massive space between the two "You seem to be sitting...far."

Mara shrugged and jellied her toast "Some people like their space."

"I guess, but still..."

"Good morning everybody!" Amber cheered, walking in to the dining room "Isn't it just a perfectly perfect Monday morning today?"

"It's Monday." Jerome answered flatly "There is nothing perfect about it."

"Oh pish posh." Amber waved, plopping down in the seat besides Patricia "You're just a grumpy puss, Jerome. Today is the first of may!"

"So?" Grumbled the grumpy puss "It's just another month, Amber, no big deal."

"It is so!" Insisted the blonde "It means spring is coming!"

"Is there even spring in England?" Nina pondered "Doesn't it rain like, ninety five percent of the time here?"

"Yes, but it's the other five percent that counts." Fabian said, smiling at his girlfriend "So, spring flowers?"

"More like spring cleaning." Trudy broke in from the kitchen. "You heard me children, it's cleaning time. And I know you boys have a lot of junk stored up in your rooms, so don't you roll your eyes at me!"

"Speaking of boys, where are Alfie and Mick?" Patrica inquired, picking up a bun "They are missing breakfast."

"Probably sleeping," Mara said, taking a bite of her toast "I haven't seen Mick around the whole weekend."

"Who hasn't seen me?" Mick asked, entering the room and plopping down in an empty seat.

"Mara obviously." Patricia buttered her bun "She claims that you were missing the whole weekend."

"Oh, well sorry Mars." He smiled sheepishly "I was over at my parents."

Mara raised an eyebrow. His parents? Really? "Is everything alright?"

"Sure," He said, dismissing the subject "Everything is fine. Ooo, muffin." He reached for one and Mara knew he was lying. He was lying. There was something definitely going on with him and his parents. Of course she wouldn't interfere, but she could still observe, couldn't she?

"Ok, well Mick's here. That only leaves Alfie. Amber, where is your boyfriend at?" Patricia asked, plucking an apple slice from the platter "Is he sleeping?"

"I don't know. Is he, Jerome?"

Jerome shrugged. "When I saw him last, yeah."

"And you didn't wake him?" Amber glared "That wasn't very nice."

"Didn't you hear, Amber?" Mara pipped up, sliding a glance at his direction "Jerome's not a nice person, are you Jerome?"

He held her gaze. "No, I am not."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly went chill, and Mara knew everyone felt it. She could sense the five pair of eyes watching them both o curiously, but she'd dare not look away from Jerome's steady gaze. Because that would mean defeat. And Mara was sure in hell was not going to lose to Jerome Clarke.

It was too much. The room seemed to compress, shrinking in size around them, suffocating. But still, they did not look away, that is, until Alfie waltzed in.

"Good moring, mates! What's the plan for today?"

And just like that, the strenuous bubble around the room seemed pop. Everyone visibly relax and Mara ripped her eyes away from Jerome to shoot Alfie a quick smile."Hey. Looks like you're finally up. What took you so long?"

Alfie shrugged and reached across the table for a croissant. "Dunno. Must have over slept, since someone didn't wake me up." He pointedly looked at Jerome. "Thanks a bunch, mate."

Jerome shrugged and traced the top of his glass with his fingertip. "No problem."

"No really, thanks. Good to know I can depend on you to wake me up when there is hot breakfa-"

"Oh, sod off, Alfie!." Jerome snapped, glaring up at his roommate. "The last time I checked, I was not your bloody alarm clock nor your mum. If you want to get up on time, do it yourself."

There was dead silence instantly. Even Patricia looked shocked, her apple slice frozen midway in her mouth. It was Nina who broke it.

"Jerome," she sounded genuinely horrified at his behavior. "What's the matter with you today?"

"Nothing." He scrapped his chair back and got up "Absolutely nothing,"

"Well obviously it's something," Patricia commented "or else you wouldn't be acting like a class A prick."

"Oh?" He fired back "That's rich, coming from the class A bitch. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

Patricia shot out of her seat so fast, that the chair nearly tumbled backwards. "Excuse me?" she hissed, venom dripping off every word "Mind repeating that a second time?"

Jerome smirked. "Gladly. Disappointed to know though, that you are not only an ill tempered, quick judging, hot head, but deaf as well. So Sad."

"Why you!" She lunged for him across the table. "You're dead, you intolerable prick! I swear to god, when I get my hands on you I will rip your tongue out and shove it in Victor's bird!"

"Patricia!" Nina yelped, jumping up and grabbing the burgundy haired girl before she could cause any legal damage "Clam down! He's only yanking your chair." She glared at him. "Seriously, what is your problem, Jerome?"

"Nothing that concerns you, princess." Jerome mocked "So please, get off your high horse and stop sticking your nose in to everyone's business. Just because you sit at the head of the table, does not mean your prestigious little goody two shoes attitude can rein upon the rest of the house."

Nina looked as if she had been slapped, so of course Fabian came to her defense immediately, telling Jerome to back off, followed by Amber and Alfie joining in, and even Mick put in a word of protest in the quickly accelerating, pointless argument. Mara sighted and nibbled on her toast. She refused to say a word in this stupid fight, that was only really started because Jerome had pent up anger that needed releasing.

She took a sip of her juice and watched the now full brawl in action. Everybody was yelling, even Amber was muttering something to Alfie in a harsh whisper. She only prayed that somehow she wouldn't be dragged into the fight as well. She really had no time of this.

"Shut the hell up, Jerome!" Patricia yelled, finally breaking out of Nina's grip and grabbing Jerome by his tie. She yanked him forward and spat. "Just because you're having issues with Mara, dose not mean you can vent your anger on us!"

"Hey, don't get me involved in this mess." Mara finally pipped up, hoping to still stay neutral. "I have nothing to do with it." Of course. As always. Her plan backfired when every pair of eyes in the room turned to her.

"Oh really? I find that hard to believe, Mara." Patricia rolled her eyes. "From what I can tell, there is something going on between you and this idiot." She gave Jerome another tug on the word 'idiot'.

"I knew it!" Alfie exclaimed "Are you both secretly dating or something?"

"Wha-?" Mara started "We are no-"

"But doesn't that mean your cheating on your boyfriend?" Amber asked. "Because, that is so not cool."

"Amber, I am not cheating on Bran-"

"Wow, Mara's got a bad side. Who knew?" Patricia joined in "I guess some of your evil deeds have rubbed off on her, eh Romie?"

"Well Trixie," Jerome sugar coated, trying to pry the iron grip from his neck tie "it's not only me who's influencing her wicked side. I also hold her roommate accountable."

Patricia's eyes flashed. "Say that again, Romie?"

Jerome smirked. "Gladly."

"So, wait," Fabian interrupted "It was the roommate...and the boyfriend who caused the dark side to emerge?"

"No, the roommate and the SECERET boyfriend who caused the dark side to emerge." Nina corrected.

"Oh, right, the secret boyfriend." Fabian nodded "Who is unknown by the public boyfriend?"

"Precisely." Nina agreed "Nor known by the public itself, never mind the first boyfriend."

"Maybe he was never the first?"

"Could be true. The heart is a fickle thing."

"Hey." Mara glared at the debating couple "I'm still here, you know. And you can just ask me about it rather than have a conference over it."

Nina blinked. "Well, yeah, we could. But then you'd just flat out lie/deny that anything is going on between the two of you."

"Nothing is going on between the two of us!"

"See, that's why we don't ask you."

"Urgh!" Mara grumbled "You all are impossible! I don't even know him that well!"

"Personally or biblically?" Jerome asked innocently.

She whirled at him. "Shut up! No one asked you!"

"Because," He continued, ignoring her "some can argue that."

"WHAT?" Both Patricia and Nina exclaimed at once, eyes wide. Patricia even let go of Jerome's tie. "No way!"

"Um, what does 'biblically' mean?" Amber asked. "Is it like, something holy?"

"No Amber," Alfie corrected, barely holding his laughter "it's the total opposite."

Mara could feel her face growing red. How on earth had this conversation turned a total 360 degrees around? "N-no! Nothing like that happened! Tell them Jerome!"

"Now, now, Mara." Jerome cooed, fixing his collar. "how can I lie to everyone?" His eyes glittered dangerously. "That would be wrong."

Her blood began to boil. "Shut up, Jerome. You know nothing of that sort happened!"

"I'm still confused! What is 'biblically' mean exactly?" Amber asked again. "Can someone please tell me?"

"It means Amber," Jerome's eyes trailed up Mara's neck and stopped over the tiny band aided spot "that Mara has a very peculiar injury area. What happened?"

That was the last straw, and before she knew it, Mara had grabbed the first thing closest to her, and flung it at him. The boiled egg hit Jerome square in the face and the sheer surprise of the assault had him tumbling back a few steps. The table went silent, everyone gaping at Mara's behavior.

"Didn't I tell you," She hissed out between clenched teeth "To shut your mouth?"

"And didn't I warn you," Jerome retaliated, wiping the egg from his cheek "to not throw food at me?"

"Or what, Jerome?" Mara taunted "You'll pelt me back with food? Please."

"Actually," He said grabbing a jelly donut "that was exactly what I was planning to do." With that, he hauled the jelly bomb toward her, except at the last minute, Mara dodged, and instead of hitting her, the donut hit Mick. It globed off his whit shirt in sticky pink chunks and Micks eyes flashed.

"Why, you!" He growled, picking up Patricia's buttered toast "You're dead, Clarke!"

"Hey, hey , hey," Jerome said, pushing his hands forth and eyeing the deadly piece of bread. "easy there, mate. To be fair, that was aimed for Mara, not you. No need to be hasty."

"I don't care, Clarke. It hit me not Mara, and you're still responsible." With that, Mick hurled the buttered madness at Jerome. Only, it didn't hit Jerome, instead it landed on Nina. It was like a deja vu moment, and the process continued on until the whole table erupted in a major food fight.

Mara watched as a grape flew by and smacked Patricia in the nose. While a flying croissant whacked Alfie on the head. She sighed as she felt something sticky collide with her head and scooted lower in her seat until she was half way under the table. Lightly, she fingered the glob in her hair and sniffed. Grape jam. Her hair was matted with grape jam and right before school started. Could her life possibly get any worse?

Apparently, it could, for the gods of bad luck answered when she heard Trudy's horrified. "What's going on here?" shriek, followed by a "We have a guest here." And right after that, an all too familiar voice mused, "wow, if this is how every Anubis mornings are, I wouldn't mind living here."

Mara closed her eyes and counted to ten. Brandon. What the hell was Brandon doing here and why, oh WHY, did he pick the only day she was covered in grape jam to come? Life really did stink at times.

"Hey," She heard her too caring boyfriend ask "where is Mara?"

"Right here." The said person answered, sticking her arm up out from under the table.

"Mara?" Brandon asked curiously. "Why are you under the table?"

"You know," Mara replied. "I was observing the floor tiles. Very...white. Oh, and I was also taking shelter from the breakfast war that was going on above."

"Oh really now?" She saw his feet moving closer and closer, until they stopped right in front of her. Her crouched down. "And here I was thinking that you were pretending to be a Hobbit."

"Hey," Mara concurred. "Hobbits are awesome"

Brandon laughed and shook his head. "Only you, Mara, only you."

"What? They are." She defended. "Stop laughing!"

"Sorry, sorry." Brandon chuckled. "But seeing you hiding under the table, covered in jam, and proclaiming Hobbits as 'awesome', is a very funny image."

She perked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"It just is." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Mmmm grape Mara." He pecked her cheek again.

"Brandon!" Mara squealed. "Stop that!"

"I can't," He kissed her again "you taste so good."

"Brandon," She said in mock seriousness. "cannibalism is frowned upon by most societies. So I'm sorry, but you can't eat me."

He gave her a slow smile. "True, but I can kiss you, unless that too is frowned upon by most societies."

Mara smiled. "Mmm, I believe it's not."

"Good," He said, leaning in. "then I can kiss you all I want."

"Well, we'll see about that." She whispered back, leaning up to meet him.

"Hey!" A loud bang on the table jolted them apart. "Whatever you both are doing under the table right now, stop it. We have to go to school, not to mention Mara is a mess."

"Well," Brandon muttered after Patricia's interruption "that didn't go as planned. How unromantic."

"Brandon, there is nothing romantic about kissing a jam covered girl under the table while her housemates get scolded by their den mother."

He kissed her nose. "I don't know. Something about hiding from evil den mothers and kissing during tense times has a romantic ring to it."

Mara laughed. "You're really strange, you know that?"

He flashed her a grin. "So I have been told."

"Mara! Why are you still under there?"

"We are coming!" She called up. "Come one, lets get out of here before someone pops a vein."

"Well..."

She smacked his arm playfully. "Don't say that! Now please move so I can crawl out."

"Sure, here, let me help you up." He reached down and gently took her hand, hoisting Mara up to her feet.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

He smiled back. "No problem."

"Awwwww!" Amber crooned. "Look at the cute couple! Mara, you are absolutely glowing, even if you are covered in sticky jam."

"I'm what? Oh, yeah, I am." She touched her hair. "Well, I guess there is no time for me to go shower and change, is there?"

"You're right there isn't!" Trudy scolded, "All of you are going to school like that as your punishment for having a food fight. And when you get back from school, this mess will be waiting here for you all to clean up."

"But," Patricia protested. "we look and smell horrid! Trudy, you can't possibly make us go to school like this!"

"I can and I will." Trudy answered firmly. "So this way you will all think twice before wasting food. Do you know how many children starve in the world? And here you all are, tossing food around like it's no big deal."

Nina peeled an egg off her hair. "I guess we deserve that for having a food fight."

"Yeah," Fabian nodded, handing his girlfriend a napkin. "we do."

"If we are really, really sorry, then can we go change?" Amber asked hopefully. "Because we really are. Right guys?"

"Yeah! Really, really, really, sorry." Alfie joined in. "Please Trudy?"

"Please Trudy?" Patricia chorused. "Pretty please?"

"Do you think that will actually work on her?" Brandon whispered quietly in Mara's ear. "Because to me, it looks like she won't budge."

"Well, it's better than trying nothing." She whispered back. "Ugh, there's still some jam on my face."

"Here," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Let me get that." Gently, Brandon too her face in his hands and began to wipe the excess jam. His touch was light, and Mara could feel her heart beat a little faster. And that's when she saw it, Jerome's blazing blue eyes, staring at them with such intensity, that it almost made her heart stop. He was watching them, watching how Brandon's fingers slowly curled in her hair, watching how close they were standing, and watching how relaxed she was to his touch.

Mara swallowed, a sudden queasy feeling bubbling up inside her. What was it? Guilt? Embarrassment? Anxiety? Was she really feeling bad about leading two guys one, one whom she rejected severely? But if that was the case, then why did look scorch her skin? Why did it make it seem like she was doing something horrible? She was only standing with her boyfriend, was that a crime too now? She shook her head. No, she would not think about it now. She was with Brandon and nothing was wrong with that.

"Mara?" Brandon's voice drifted her back to reality. She looked up to meet his green eyes, flecked with concern. "Are you all right? You spaced out a bit."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Just thinking a bit."

"For the last time, no. You will not change. School starts in five minutes, I think you should all best be on your way." Trudy finalized, staring hard at each one.

Brandon grabbed Mara's hand. "Well, I think that's our cue to leave. Come on, we don't want to be late." He tugged her along past Jerome and out the door way, and the whole time, Mara dared not meet his eyes.

School was...interesting. After their initial shock of seeing her enter the building with none other than the beloved Brandon Conroy, and seeing her purple stained uniform, the chatter died down. With that, Mara continued on with her daily routine, throwing away hate mail, cleaning out her locker, gather her books, going to classes, all the same. It only after she had left art, that things began to get strange.

First of all, she saw a bunch of new freshmen girls huddled in front of her locker, giggling like mad hyenas. They moved away when she went for her locker and traded her books. It was only when she shut her locker, that one of the girl's from the group approached her.

She was pretty. Big blue eyes, pink pouty lips, and shiny dirty blonde hair all reeked of innocence. Mara gave her a skeptical look.

"Can I help you?"

The new girl twiddled her thumbs nervously and looked up. "Hello, are you Mara Jaffary, the School Representative?"

Mara nodded. "Yes, I am. And who might you be?"

"Poppy. My name's poppy and my friends and I were wondering, if you know that boy over there?"

Mara followed Poppy's gaze and to her surprise, landed on Jerome. "Jerome?" She asked bewildered "Why do you want to know about Jerome?"

Poppy shuffled her legs and mumbled. "Well, he's quiet fit, isn't he? And my friends wanted to talk to him but didn't know his name." The girls behind her nodded vigorously.

"Well," Mara blinked. "He is not dangerous or taken. So go ahead?" And to her utter amazement, she saw the whole crowd of girls go approach him, once again giggling. All except Poppy, that is. Mara gave the tiny girl a puzzled look.

"Aren't you going to join them?"

Poppy shook her head. "There is someone else I fancy."

"Ah," Mara nodded, watching Jerome give the girls a dazzling smile. A tint of jealously rose inside her as she watched him chat with the girls, but she quickly squashed it back down. "He must be a lucky one."

"Uh, um, well, he doesn't really know that I fancy him, so yeah." Poppy turned a light shade of pink. "He is my childhood friend."

Mara watched as one of the girls flipped her hair back seductively at him, and Jerome caught a strand, letting it slowly slide between his fingertips. Another twing of jealously sparked within her, but again she pushed it down. Their eyes met from across the hall and she knew that he saw how his interaction with the girls made her feel. A tiny cruel smile stretched across his lips, and without breaking their eye contact, he leaned down and whispered in one of the girl's ear.

Mara turned away, the same queasy feeling from the morning coming back to her. Bastard. He was doing it on purpose, just to get back at her. How devious of him, but she would gladly return the favor. Just he wait.

"Um, school Representative, are you alright?" Poppy asked. "You look upset."

"I'm fine, Poppy." Mara muttered just as the bell rang. "But you and I should both go. The bell has already rung." With that, Mara turned and whisked past Jerome and his groupies all the way to History.

The rest of the day went by very slowly, and the Jerome incident from earlier had Mara in a foul mood, for reasons she still didn't understand why. So what if Jerome was hanging out with different girls? Hadn't she rejected him? Told him she couldn't trust him with her heart, her feelings? Then why on earth was that image of him whispering intimidatingly in that girl's ears forever imprinted in her memory? It was all very confusing, but Mara knew one thing, it made her blood boil.

She sighed and slumped back in her seat, eyeing the very slow moving clock. Five minutes. Five minutes till her last class ended and she was free to go back to the house.

She sighed again and stared out the window. It really didn't feel like spring was even here. May looked like January, January like December, and so on. Sometimes she wished she could go off to another country, where summer and spring were actual seasons, and the cold rain only fell on certain months. That would be nice, a perfect change in scenery from this dreary wet country.

Apparently getting lost in her thoughts was a perfect way to pass the time, for before she knew it, the final bell of the day rang loudly, indicating that the slow Monday had finally come to a closer.

Mara smiled as she gathered her books, thinking happily of the warm bath shed take as soon as she got home. She was so busy humming to herself that she nearly walked past her boyfriend.

Brandon smiled when he saw her almost skipping out of the classroom. "You look happy."

"I am. I can't wait to jump in the bath." Mara replied cheerfully. "Then I won't look and smell like grape jam."

Brandon laced his fingers through her's. "I still think you look and smell wonderful."

"Well, you only say that because you don't want your girlfriend to get mad at you." Mara laughed.

"Well, partially." Brandon mused as they walked down the hall "the other bigger half finds you very adorable." They stopped by her locker and Mara quickly tossed her books in.

"Why, thank you Mr. Conroy." She giggled, shutting the locker and leaning back on it. "I too find you quiet attractive."

He leaned his fore head against her's, his arms coming to rest at her waist. "Only a little bit?"

"Hmm, I don't know. You have to convince me otherwise." She replied, giving him a sly smile.

"Well," Brandon whispered huskily, slowly inching forward. "then I guess I have a lot of convincing to do."

"Mmhm." Mara nodded, melting into his warm kiss. His lips were soft, slowly caressing her's. His kiss was sweet, nothing like the ones she had experienced with Jerome, and it sent a warm glow to her heart. It felt...nice. Nice and sweet, like fresh honey on a warm toast, and Mara enjoyed every bit of it.

They were really getting into the kiss, when a loud slam jarred them apart. Startled, Mara turned to see Jerome standing by his locker, glaring daggers at their direction. And just like that, all her happy mood fizzed away and the image from his fan girl encounter came flashing back through her mind.

She smirked, her foul mood returning. It was the perfect time for her revenge.

Without a second thought, she grabbed Brandon by the shirt and pulled him into a fierce kiss. If Brandon was surprised by her sudden action, he didn't show it. Instead he responded with equal force, crunching their lips together in a passionate lip lock. A heart beat after that, while still in lip lock, Mara opened her eyes to Meet Jerome's. She held his gaze for a minute, watching how his eyes flicked through many emotions. Anger, sadness, guilt, anger, longing, and anger once again. She smiled through the kiss and closed her eyes. The next time she opened them, Jerome wasn't there anymore.

Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!