Ryan Wolfe stepped onto the bus. He chose a pair of empty seats and sat down on one, his bag on the other. He pulled a book out of his bag and started reading.

Every time someone came on the bus, he watched them take their seats.

There was a tall girl with curly dark hair who sat down next to a guy with ginger hair and sunglasses and behind them was a black girl with dark, straight hair. Opposite her was a tall thin guy whose clothes looked as if they had never seen an iron. This guy and the black girl were talking and the girl's voice was warm and friendly.

When the bus next stopped, a girl got on and headed for the back. For the thought first time, Ryan noticed the huge group of cheerleaders and jocks sitting at the rear of the bus.

Next time the bus stopped, another cheerleader got on. She had long blonde hair and bright green eyes. Ryan thought she was a stunning girl, and decided to offer her the seat next to him.

"…Hi…Err…Do you…um…"

She glanced at her friends at the back of the bus, who giggled and then she looked at him impatiently, her eyebrows arched.

"Doyouwannasitwithme?" The question had come out in a rush, not exactly how Ryan had intended.

"What?" Her southern accent was unmistakeable.

Ryan sighed. "Nothing."

He returned to his book, his face burning and the laughs of others around him ringing in his ears.

He watched as this girl went to sit at the back of the bus, surrounded by other girls, all of them giggling.

"Oh my gosh! Who is he? Calleigh, I can't believe he did that!"

"Get over yourself Duquesne!" called Catherine Willows. The skinny, ginger haired girl a few rows from Calleigh sneered, but everyone knew that she was actually jealous of Calleigh's popularity.

Catherine continued, "You aren't as popular as you think you are."

"Shut up Cath! Just because no one wants to sit with you!" said Calleigh, the girl Ryan had spoken to

Calleigh turned back to her friends.

"He's a new kid!", said Calleigh. "Don't be too hard on him!"

This bought more laughter and shouts of "You were!"

--------------------

They giggled and gossiped for a while until the bus stopped again.

The driver sighed. "Eric Delko is late. Again."

We waited for a moment before the door of the nearest house opened and a tall Cuban jock came running out, closely followed by a large woman.

"Eric! You forgot your lunch!" she screeched.

The jock, Eric, stopped and turned to the woman that was obviously his mother and said "Thanks Mamma."

He took the small package and turned to get on the bus, but the woman enveloped him in a huge hug and kissed him on the cheek, leaving crimson smudges of lipstick.

The whole bus had seen everything. They all whooped and jeered before collapsing into uncontrollable laughter as Eric got on. He sat down over two seats, behind the scruffy guy called Speed, and in front of the jocks.

Speed was still laughing. "I'm not going to let you forget this, you know!"

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"OK Calleigh. Your turn. Truth or dare?"

"Truth. Definitely truth."

"OK then. Which person on this bus would you most like to make out with?"

Calleigh grinned. "I'll only tell you if y'all keep it quiet, OK?"

"Sure! Of course!"

"OK. It's Eric Delko."

All the girls squealed and Calleigh blushed slightly.

The girl sitting next to Calleigh stood up and yelled down the aisle to Eric. "Hey Eric! Calleigh wants to make out with you!"

Eric's head snapped round, along with the eyes of most of the bus.

He saw Calleigh scowling at the girl next to her, but when he met her eyes, the scowl softened. Slightly.

He grinned at her and turned away.

He turned back to Speed, still grinning like an idiot.

"What's put you in such a good mood today?" Speed asked.

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The bus arrived at the school gates just in time for registration. Calleigh, who was wearing a tank-top under her unbuttoned shirt, was first into the room, closely followed by her large group of friends.

Horatio, the ginger boy, Yelina, his curly haired friend, Alexx, the black girl, and Speed, the scruffy guy, followed them

As they filed into their first classroom, their teacher tried to sort out their uniform.

"Duquesne! Do up your shirt! Speedle, where's your tie? Caine, if I have to tell you to remove your sunglasses again, I will have you in detention!"

Eric Delko strolled in seconds before the bell, his shirt undone and Calleigh flushed red again, which didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"Delko! Do up your shirt!"

The teacher was hoarse and the day had barely started.

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When the class had settled, the teacher took registration.

"Allden?"

"Here. "

"Caine?"

"Here."

"Delko?"

"Here."

"Donner?"

"Here."

"…um…Du-ces-nu, is it?"

"It's pronounced Du-cane!"

"Evans?"

"Here."

"James?"

"Here."

"Richardson?"

"Here."

"Shanks?"

"Here."

"Prest?"

"Here."

"Tripp?"

"Here."

"Williams?"

"Here."

"Wedlock?"

"Here."

"Wolfe?"

Silence.

"Has anyone seen Ryan Wolfe? The new kid?"

"I saw him on the bus!" Calleigh piped up, causing the class to snigger.

Only Eric didn't laugh, because he wasn't on the bus when Ryan had asked Calleigh to sit with him.

"Speed, what's funny?"

"I'll tell you later!"

As if on cue, Ryan Wolfe stumbled through the door, looking panicky. "Sorry sir! I got lost!"

This sent the class into fits of laughter.

The bell rang and the class headed to their first lesson, maths.