AN: YAY another chapter! I hope y'all are enjoying it!

The next morning the group joined their classmates, who were all unaware of their triumph on the pitch the previous day, so while the girls felt that they should be being hailed as heroes, instead they were sat in an English lesson with their copies of 'The company of wolves' by Angela carter. In fairness Loreena was using hers as a pillow as she caught up on some sleep which the pressures of sixth form meant the girls sometimes missed out on.

They were supposed to be silent reading but Nikki kept stealing glances at Jenny who would occasionally be glancing back, they would catch each other's eye and grin subtly knowing that what they had shared would stay their secret. In fact, Nikki hadn't been concentrating at all on the story, she was still on the first page, yet her head was brimming with so many blissful images of her and Jenny that she wasn't really too bothered. That is until her lack of focus was noticed by Mrs Ward, the stern yet cripplingly boring English teacher; everything he said was in monotone.

'So Ms Boston, why don't you tell us what the wolf represents in the story?'

Nikki's throat dried up and her eyes widened as she looked down at her page and started flicking through the book, hoping that the answer would appear on one of the pages.

'umm…well, I'm not sure, it could be..well.. I think it could be lots of things? Temptation maybe?'

Mrs Ward rolled her eyes, 'someone put this girl out of her misery'.

It was Susie who spoke 'well I think the wolf represents the new world, which is one of the gothic conventions, you know, he had like a compass which the girl has never seen before and that in itself is a metaphor for him guiding her away from the old order' she finished, leaving everyone in the class silent and Nikki looking especially bewildered, her face was screwed up in confusion, she turned around to look at her friend 'what the fuck?' she mouthed. Jenny had to suppress a giggle.

Mrs Ward rolled her eyes once more and as she did so the bell rung and the class began to pack up their books.

'don't forget your essays are due in this Friday so some of you had better study the story a little more carefully!' she warned looking sternly over at Nikki who was packing her things to quickly to notice the glare.

As she walked out of the classroom and down the corridor she heard Jenny's voice from behind her, 'Nik! Wait, I need to ask you about that history work, remember? I'll catch you guys up'. She smiled at Lori and Susie before chasing after Nikki, and when they were out of sight she took Nikki's hand and led her into an empty classroom.

'Hey' she said as she closed the door, making sure there was no one around.

'Hi', said Nikki, ratching around in her bag for her history work. Jen watched her friend and smiled.

'I don't want to copy your work, I..I just wanted to talk to you'.

'Oh..about.. right' Nikki looked down at the floor.

'You don't need to be ashamed...i wont say anything.. I mean, we don't even have to do anything about it or-'.

Nikki cut her off 'No, im not..I.. its fine… so, do you like girls then?'

Jen smiled again 'I like you' she whispered.

Jenny's words made Nikki blush she moved closer so that they were face to face. 'I like you, like…' she sighed 'I like you…' Nikki put more emphasis on the word 'like' this time and now it was her turn to whisper.

'Does that make me gay?'

Jen shrugged before taking Nikki's hand 'it doesn't matter Nik, you dont have to make any decisions, lets just keep it our secret yeah?'

Nikki nodded 'can I tell you another secret?' a mischievous smile spread across her face 'I want to kiss you again..'

Jen blushed yet put her arms around Nikki's waist, quickly checking that there was no one lurking in the corridor before brushing her lips against her friend's. No. Her lover's. Nikki's arms began to snake round Jenny's shoulders, pulling her in closer.

'I tell you what', said Jen finally, 'My parents are going away this weekend, d'you want to, like.. come over or something, like.. stay over? You could say we're revising..'

'why what else would we be doing?' said Nikki flirtatiously

'so it's a date then?' asked jenny, equally flirtatious

'yeah' said Nikki softly, enclosing herself in Jen's arms once more before whispering, ever so quietly, so that Jen could barely hear ' I love you'.