AN: Bit more background to Echo... More of a playful chapter whilst I figure out what idea I want to do next... :D thanks for your views and reviews - enjoy!

The next day, everyone in form was bewildered but in good spirits... Duncan had apologised to Ross before going in and Ross had accepted, laughing it off as they waited for Echo and Kim to arrive. Rythian was already in his usual seat, having drawn up at extra chair for Kim when she arrived. For once, no one had noticed anything about him though; the others were too wrapped up in Duncan's recital of the drama they had missed yesterday. It was almost unnerving... Despite the conversation being partly about him, no one glanced his way, everyone was so wrapped up in Ross's and Duncan's shared tale. Accompanied by the occasional comment from Ross, Chris, Lewis and Simon, they had failed to notice Rythian was even in the room.

"... And she said 'now you're even' and walked off!" Duncan finished as everyone laughed, including Lewis.

"Well, that's going to be a fun story to recite to Zoey in Art..." Hannah commented dryly, wiping her eyes slightly. Duncan faltered for a moment.

"The whole reason I didn't mention it was because I didn't want..." Duncan trailed off as Kim and Echo entered the room, speaking loudly.

"... Look, they're not going to be angry at you but you can sit with me and Rythian until they apologise, alright? They should not have kept that from you, no matter what they thought." Kim was nodding slowly as Echo suddenly dropped her bag, causing Kim and Echo to stop. Duncan faced Ross quickly.

"We need to apologise. Now. There is no way I'm letting Kim isolate herself with Rythian and stop talking to us!" Duncan said quickly, Ross nodded seriously in agreement. The others motioned for them to signal to Kim and Echo, who were refusing to look up.

"Kim!" Ross called, putting on his best smile as Duncan put an arm around his shoulder, laughing forcefully. Kim looked up in confusion as Echo finished packing her bag, dragging Kim along towards them.

"Oh look! Duncan and Ross are friends again and everyone is happy! As soon as they apologise, I'll let you sit with them!" Echo said sweetly as Ross and Duncan started speaking over each other.

"It was all my fault Kim..." "...but I was just so worried..." "...and I was going to mention..." "...yeah, I would have mentioned... "...but then you got really cross and scary..." "...so yeah, sorry that you slapped me..." "...seriously, he didn't hit me that hard at all!"

Echo clapped Kim on the shoulder as she smiled, completely overwhelmed. "There, isn't that great Kim? Everything sorted so I'll see you all at lunch!" She leant forward, towering over Duncan and Ross as they gulped. "If you give her any trouble, any at all, then I will slice you into little pieces." Echo stared at them both seriously before leaping up and beaming at Kim before walking over to Rythian, who had watched the whole spectacle with considerable interest.

"... So I in fact didn't need this chair...?" Rythian asked quietly as Echo sat herself down.

"Nope; it was for my bag!" Echo whispered cheerfully as she plonked her bag next to her. Rythian gave an exaggerated sigh behind his scarf as Echo fought the urge to giggle.

"You know, I don't think the others have noticed me yet..." Rythian said thoughtfully as Echo watched them fuss over Kim, who was laughing as Alex and Chris were patting her on the head and shoulder, fussing over her whilst failing to be serious.

"Yeah... They'll look over in a second, don't worry..." Echo commented as Rythian looked at her, surprised.

"I'm not worried that they won't look over..." Rythian said as Echo smiled at him playfully.

"Yeah, sure..." She trailed off patronisingly as she leant over to the other chair to take out her pencil case and notepad. As she did so, she felt a small pressure against her arm which almost pushed her off the desk, causing her to drop her pencil case. It rolled towards Rythian, who picked it up before looking at Echo, who had an expression of astonishment as Rythian placed it in front of her.

"What?" He asked innocently as she looked at him, wide eyed.

"You nudged me!" She said, still shocked as Rythian failed to stop his eyes from crinkling as he tried to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, sure..." He mimicked, smiling at her widely before he winced in pain behind his scarf. Echo immediately leant over, placing a hand on his arm in concern.

"Hey, you alright?" She asked as Rythian nodded, not talking. He chose a pen from her pencil case and started to write on the notepad, Echo drawing back to read it as he wrote it.

Sorry; I smiled too much. Stitches...

Crap. I am so sorry :/ I won't make you laugh again. Or smile. :/

I would be very depressed if that was the case. Seriously, I'm alright.

Echo seemed to pause for a moment before writing again, smiling mischievously.

No, it's okay. I won't make you laugh or smile. I will be completely and utterly boring. Very dull. No giggling or anything. O:)

Good luck with that.

Echo laughed as Rythian started to chuckle, trying to keep a straight face. He soon stopped as he realised Lewis was watching him curiously, his eyes darting between Echo and Rythian. Rythian looked down at his books again, speaking to Echo quietly.

"Echo, don't react but Lewis is watching you. Reckon you can take you phone out and make it look like you were laughing at a text?"

Echo immediately slid her hand into her pocket and took out her phone, placing it between them. She laughed again, loudly as Rythian looked at her and Lewis frowned. Echo looked up at Lewis and waved happily.

"Lewis, do you want to see what my boyfriend sent me the other week?" She joked as Lewis finally smiled at her and laughed.

"No thanks Echo, I have no interest in your boyfriends humour!" He called back as Echo nodded and clicked her phone shut, placing it beside her. Rythian wrote something down on the paper before Echo looked at it, still giggling slightly as part of being in character.

I wonder if you actually have a boyfriend; that was a very quick story to come up with spontaneously. Also I am going to guess you do Drama as your third subject because that was ridiculously good acting either way.

Echo thought for a while, staring at Kim for a moment before realising Alex was watching her. She caught his eye and grinned, Alex grinning back before quickly turning away as he asked Lewis something, Kim quickly taking out her phone as he did so. Echo continued to smile as she wrote an answer.

I do drama. Also with my boyfriend...We never really had the whole break up conversation but he did say that he couldn't manage a relationship with me if I ended up moving school; I moved school, he hasn't contacted me.

Echo saw her phone light up and quickly opened it, seeing it was a message from Kim. Frowning, she opened the text, ignoring Rythian subtly reading it over her shoulder.

Why did u mention Hector? Ppl think u have a bf now x

Echo replied immediately, revisiting the urge to look up at Kim and the others.

Why is that a prob? Bc ur single + I'm not? ;) x

Rythian chuckled again beside her as she snapped her phone shut again, the pair of them subtly watching Kim as she received the text, reading it. She laughed slightly as she closed it, shaking her head as the others started questioning her about Echo's boyfriend. Echo couldn't help notice that Alex was listening rather attentively rather than the other two, who were nudging and winking to each other and at Kim as Hannah and Simon laughed.

Echo's attention was drawn back to the pad of paper as Rythian tapped it gently.

You alright? Not that I have much experience but that must have been hard for you. Especially with what happened to your mother too.

Echo put a fake smile on her face, writing back quickly, the class fading out as she tried to hold back tears.

It was fine. We liked each other and we were together for a year and a bit but... I didn't really love him, if that makes sense. He was great and all but he had no idea how to help when I found out my mother died. He just... Closed himself off from me. It was hard, I didn't have anyone to talk to and I really relied on him.

But now you have Kim, a father, new friends... It's like a new life for you, a new start. Despite everything that has happened.

Yes, exactly. I'm glad you understand... A bit. It's not that I'm not devastated but if I allow myself to think about it, I'll end up in ruins. I'll deal with it one step at a time... Accepting Kim as my twin is top on my list. No time for sadness.

I'll say sorry but I know that won't help you. All I will say is that I think Kim is lucky to have you... Also you've stopped using emojis. I think I might be curing you of your terrible habit, although it's clear your text language is also in dire need of correction.

You're in dire need of correction... :P