Chapter One

I’d always thought of myself as very bold, very outgoing. But shoved into a new school, against my will of course, I was beginning to doubt myself.

"What’s your name?" some tough-looking girl sneered at me.

I clutched my books tightly, stared at my shoes and whispered, "Maddy."

"Maddy, huh?" the girl said. She glared at me, and suddenly I became aware that I was being engulfed in cigarette smoke. I struggled not to cough in her face.

"Watch yourself," the girl said as the bell rang. She turned to leave.

"You have a face like a pug," I muttered under my breath, stung by her hostility. I guess I wasn't thinking straight, and talked louder than I meant to, because she spun around and yelped, "What?"
Several ideas went through my head.

1. Say: "What? I didn’t say anything," all innocently, and dash off; 2. Maybe just walk off; 3. Twist my words around and say something innocent back to her.

Instead, I opened my big fat mouth and said brashly, "You have a face like a pug."

She turned red and began to swell with fury, and I realised my mistake. As her fist pulled back, ready to make mincemeat out of my face, someone tugged my elbow and suddenly I was pulled through the churning crowd that had appeared when the bell rang. People battered me with their shoulders and elbows, and I couldn’t even see my rescuer. Since I was almost facing backwards, I could see Pugface rushing after me, screaming and cursing, gaining on me with her unfeminine, exceptionally muscly legs.

"Oh shite," I murmured, trying to ignore the fact that tomorrow I would be waking up with a battered, bruised body.

She was right behind me, taking swipes at my head. I ducked and dodged best as I could, but she managed to get a punch on my shoulder. The crowd around us was grumbling and stampeding out of the way of the fight, and my rescuer must have realised we were in trouble. All of a sudden, I was yanked to the side and slammed against a locker. Surprised and unable to stop herself, Pugface hurtled down the corridor, tried to turn, and was swept away by the crowd. She vanished around a corner, screaming threats at me.

Someone was still gripping my elbow. I turned and saw a boy, slightly taller than me, with cropped brown hair, leaning against the locker with his eyes closed, breathing unevenly. Me, I wasn't out of breath, but then again he’d been running down the corridor dragging me behind him. And I wasn't exactly a lightweight, so I always said.

"Thanks," I said meekly, and he opened his eyes and grinned at me.

"That was a good line," he said, letting go of my elbow. "It’s something I could have thought of but would never have used."

"Only for the daring," I said with a smile. "But really, thanks. I was about to get my ass kicked."
"No problem. Anyway, I'm Kieran."

"I'm Maddy," I said in reply. I let out my breath in a loud whoosh. "Close call. I never got that close to being bashed at my old school."

"Oh, so you’re new?" He flushed. "Well, of course you are. I haven’t seen you before."

"Are we meant to be in class?" I asked, gazing around. The surging crowd had left, and only a few stragglers were hurrying up and down the corridor.

"Shoot. Late for our first class of the year." Kieran shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh well, big loss. You use the ‘I'm new’ card, and I’ll use the ‘I was showing round the new kid’ card. Where’s your locker?"

I pointed down the corridor. "Next to Pugface's."

Kieran stared at me. "You’re kidding. I can’t be there 24/7 guarding you, you realise? How about we ask the principal for a change in lockers? You’ll be beaten up all year if you don’t."

"Good idea," I agreed quickly. I glanced down at my books. They were dog-eared from rushing through the crowd. "Screw class. Wanna skip afterwards?"

"I thought you’d never ask. C’mon, let’s go see the principal," said Kieran. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down the corridor. "Just your luck to get the locker next to Belinda. Although I'm not really surprised. We get to choose our own lockers, and of course no one picks to get next to her. The new kid just gets put there by default, poor sucker."

"Just my luck to be the poor sucker," I sighed. We stopped in front of a plain looking door. Kieran knocked and a woman called, "Come in!"

Kieran pushed open the door and we stepped inside. My first thought was that the school secretary must have taken over the principal’s desk, but the glamorous looking woman merely said, "What’s up, Kieran?"

"Hey, Auntie. This is Maddy, a new kid. She’s having a little trouble with Belinda."

Auntie?!

"Go on," the principal said, tapping a pen against her desk.

"It would be safer for Maddy if she changed lockers, because right now her locker is next to Belinda," Kieran explained.

"Aah, has Belinda picked a fight with you already?" the woman said, peering keenly at me.

"Well, yes. But it was my fault," I rushed to explain.

"The guy in the locker next to me moved schools," Kieran broke in. "How about Maddy takes the locker next to me?"

His aunt inspected him for a second. Then she said airily, "Very well. Go do it now, before Belinda picks another fight."

"Thanks, Auntie," beamed Kieran. He left the room, and I followed. For the next few minutes, we transferred the contents of my locker to the locker next to his. I snapped the lock on and stowed the key safely away in the pocket of my tartan skirt. Damn, I wish Mum hadn't taken up the hem so damn high. I’d modelled the uniform for my best friends Evangeline and Elise, but they’d only clapped and said, "You look like one of those high school sluts, but in the best way possible! Only you could pull it off, Maddy! We’re so jealous!"

And of course, I’d shoved them off my bed.

I tugged self consciously on the bottom of my skirt as Kieran led the way around the school.

"Here’s perfect. Almost no one goes into this room, and on the off chance they do I tell them I'm running errands for Auntie," he told me, stopping in front of a door. I couldn’t tell where we were. The whole school basically looked the same, only it was enormous, like a maze.

Kieran pushed open the door. It smelled musty inside, and everything was grey because the light was off and there was only one tiny window. Kieran switched on the weak light and sat behind a stack of cardboard boxes. "Sometimes I just hide out here when I want to skip class," he confided.

I sat beside him, making sure I was out of view to anyone who might burst into the room.

"Maybe this won’t be so bad after all," I mused, still trying to pull down my skirt hem. "I was so scared about moving."

Kieran laughed, so close that when he laughed my whole body shook with it. The space behind the boxes sure was cramped.

"What was it like at your old school?" he wanted to know.

"It was great," I said dreamily, leaning back against the wall. "I had my group of girls and guys. We hung out a lot, had sleepovers where we watched cheesy movies and pigged out and had arm wrestling matches with the guys. I can’t believe I had to leave all that behind."

"That must be hard," Kieran sympathised. "Why did you move here?"

"Um…" I stalled. "Um…"

Just when I thought I’d have to answer, the door burst open. Kieran scrabbled to his feet and lifted a box, then glanced up nonchalantly. "Oh. Hi."

"Um… hi. Sorry. I thought this was a classroom," a quiet female voice said hurriedly, and the door slammed closed again.

Kieran restacked the box on the pile and slumped back down next to me. "It was just some lost little girl. She almost gave me a heart attack."

"Me too," I said, closing my eyes and leaning against the wall. Then I remembered what we had been talking about before the interruption and I said quickly, "Wow. So, the principal’s your aunt? She looks so young."

"She is pretty young, but also pretty well preserved," Kieran said with a laugh.

"She looks like a model," I said reverently, fidgeting.

"So does someone else I know," Kieran said significantly.

"Who?" I blinked.

Kieran rolled his eyes. "You, you idiot."

"Me?" I said, staring at him. "Are you serious?"

"I sure am," Kieran nodded, grinning. "What? Haven’t you been told that before?"

"Not by a stranger," I said honestly, eyes wide.

"Me, a stranger? Come on. I’ve known you for like, half an hour already," Kieran protested.

I laughed. "True."

It was odd. I hardly knew him, yet I felt so comfortable just sitting with him. Inwardly, I sighed. I knew exactly where my side of the friendship was heading. Why did I always fall head over heels for any guy who talked to me? Luckily, I could keep my own secrets or I’d have been the laughing stock of my old school many times over.

But for now, I knew Kieran was just a good acquaintance. Enjoy the moment while you can, Maddy. Soon you’ll be in love… again.

Ugh.

"I wasn't always at this school. I moved here last year, because Auntie made me. I live with her, you see," Kieran said matter-of-factly.

"Why?" I asked, like an idiot. I immediately felt stupid.

"My parents couldn’t handle me as a kid, so my auntie adopted me," Kieran explained. "I still see them and everything, but they like to travel a lot so I prefer to stay with Auntie."

"That’s … Actually, that’s really cool," I said wonderingly.

"Really?" Kieran seemed surprised. "Most people said, ‘What the hell?"

"Nope. Still seems cool," I said.

We chatted for the rest of the time, and it was amazing how comfortable I was with him. Even more so than some of my guy friends back at my old school. When the bell rang, he stood up stiffly and helped me up. I tap danced a little, to get rid of my pins and needles. It was difficult in my clunky black school shoes.

"Wow, that’s heaps cool!" Kieran said, staring at my feet.

"I’ll teach you if you want," I offered, as we left the room.

"I'm a little uncoordinated," Kieran admitted. We collected our books for the next lesson, and it turned out we had several lessons together. Now we had English, and we headed towards the classroom.

"Hey, sit with me, man!" a sandy-haired guy called over to Kieran.

"Maddy’s new, I'm gonna sit with her!" Kieran yelled back. He slid into a seat, and I gratefully sat next to him.

"Since when have you been into charity?" the guy said curiously, and sauntered over to us.

"Hey Maddy. I'm Brad," he said, flashing a charming smile, complete with dimples.

"Hi Brad," I said, feeling like a loser. I was out of words. Why was this happening now?

"How’d you meet Kieran?" he asked, kneeling so he was at face level with me. His eyes were intense, boring into mine with their piercing ocean blueness. A typical blonde-haired blue-eyed guy, obviously gorgeous.

"He saved me from a fight with Belinda," I answered, blinking rapidly and feeling foolish. "I was about to get beaten up."

"You should have heard her," Kieran said, chuckling. Brad’s eyes turned to him, thank god. I had kind of felt like I was being X-rayed.

"She said right to Belinda’s ugly face, "You have a face like a pug," snickered Kieran.

Brad stared at him, then burst out laughing. "You’re kidding."

He turned to me again, his eyes not so disconcerting now that they were scrunched up in laughter. "Good one." He held up his hand, and I slapped him a high five.

"I give you my permission to sit next to her," he said gallantly to Kieran, standing up and giving him a mock bow. "Enjoy."

The teacher swept into the room and Brad went back to his seat. Of course, he didn’t have to sit alone. Some other guy, not handsome like Brad, but cute anyway, sat next to him and they began talking.

"I’m Mr Milano," said the teacher, fixing us all with a steely gaze. "I’ll be your English teacher this year."

He looked strict, and very stern. I swallowed nervously, subconsciously leaning backwards, away from him.

"I’ll photocopy some sheets for you and be right back," he said in a monotone, and abruptly left the room. The class blinked in confusion.

"Is he a nice guy?" I asked Kieran uncertainly, who shrugged.

"He’s new, just like you," he told me.

"Tell me, has anyone stood up to Belinda before?" I asked curiously.

"Well… I have. But then again, she doesn’t mind me so much," said Kieran with a grin.

"Oh, really?" I said. "And why is that?"

At that moment, the door opened again and we all glanced up, expecting to see the teacher. Instead, the principal stepped into the classroom. I looked around, and noticed that all the guys’ gazes except Kieran’s were directed right at her legs. I rolled my eyes. Typical.

"Kieran!" said the principal. "Here you go. Can you give this to Belinda, please?" She gave him a sheet of paper and turned to me. "Oh, hello again! I'm Ms King. I expect I’ll be seeing a lot more of you, if Kieran continues to be so attached."

She smiled and walked out again. Chatter filled the classroom once more, and Kieran dropped his head into his hands.

"And in only one sentence, she manages to ruin my life," he mumbled into his desk.

I laughed. "It’s okay. I know what it’s like to have embarrassing parents. Oh wait… not your.. mum… Sorry."

"It’s cool," he answered. "Hey, there’s a party on this Friday at my place. Want to come?"

"Sure," I said eagerly. Mum would be pleased. She’d been saying, "Make sure you get some friends at your new school! Don’t hide away in a corner just because you don’t want to be there."

And, well, it wasn't turning out to be so bad…

Brad settled in front of us again. "Hey guys."

"What are you doing here?" Kieran demanded.

"Keeping you from hogging the pretty new girl," Brad answered. I tried not to look too pleased, and ducked my head.

"Aw, look. You embarrassed her," said Kieran with a grin.

"Shut up!" I said, elbowing him gently in the side.

"I just invited her to my party. Don’t you try to hog her there," Kieran said teasingly to Brad, who raised an eyebrow and replied, "We’ll see. Maybe she’ll ditch both of us."

I raised my eyebrows in reply. Ditch these two? Not likely!

"You might," Kieran said warningly to me, a smile playing around his mouth.

"Why would I do that?" I demanded, tilting my head in confusion.

"Obviously, you haven’t seen Leo yet," said Brad grimly.

"Leo? Who’s he?" I asked, frowning.

"The god of the school," Kieran said, his eyes darkening.

"He’s really, really good-looking," said Brad bitterly, sounding like every word was causing him pain. "Every girl hangs on to his every word. So do the guys, but mostly they’re bitter," he added.

"He must be lonely," I mused.

"Lonely?" Both the guys’ eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"He has thousands of hanger-ons," Kieran said, clearly exaggerating. "Okay, okay. At least a hundred. Not joking."

"But nobody really worth talking to. Most of his group would be love-struck girls not capable of holding a conversation, and the other part would be intimidated or jealous guys who wouldn’t see him as an equal," I said.

There was a silence.

"You know, you might be right," Kieran said finally.

"But he deserves it," Brad said viciously. I raised my eyebrows.

Mr Milano walked back into the room. "Back to your seats, everyone." There was a mad scramble, but when the class had settled the teacher just gave us a wide grin. "I hope this year’s class will be an enjoyable one. I’ll try to make it as fun as possible for you."

He travelled around the class, distributing worksheets to the class.

"Wow. Did he go to photocopy worksheets or get an attitude makeover?" said Kieran, staring at him. Most of the class was staring at him too. The stern man at the beginning of class and the cheerful man handing out paper seemed completely different.

Mr Milano handed out the worksheets to Kieran and me, and gave me a brilliant smile.
"It’s marked in the role book that you’re new at this school too," he said to me. "I hope you have an enjoyable year."
"T-thankyou," I stammered. "Um… you too."

He smiled indulgently at me and moved to the front of the room. "Complete this worksheets in this lesson, and whatever’s left over can be homework! Work quietly, now."

He sat down at his desk and immediately the class began to chat.

"Wow. I wonder what’s up with him?" I said. "He looked ready to kill someone at the beginning of class."

Kieran picked up the piece of paper his aunt had given him. "Hm. Nothing interesting."

"What is it?" I snatched it from him. It was just a list of overdue library books for Belinda.

"Why did she give it to you?" I asked, frowning.

"Belinda’s my cousin," he said matter-of-factly.

I stared at him. "Belinda’s your cousin? Wow. I mean… Wow. Is she any nicer out of school?"

"She’s a little nicer to me," he admitted. "In school and out. But it’s not like we’re friends or anything."

"These books have been overdue for some time," I said, scrutinising the page. "Since last year. Wow. Check out what the books are!"

"’How To Shake Your Image.’ ‘How To Make Anyone Like you.’ ‘Attitude Makeover’," Kieran read.

"Wow. Doesn’t look like it worked, huh?" I said.

"I didn’t realise she wanted to change," Kieran said uncertainly.

"I guess there’s more to Belinda than we thought," I offered, staring down at the sheet of paper.

It was true that currently, Belinda hated me, but I could try and start over again. I silently resolved to help Belinda, and be friends with her.

I sighed, resting my head on my hand. This would definitely be easier said than done.