"Me and Jack are sitting with you guys today." Elijah says from over my shoulder, his warm breath fanning the shell of my ear. I roll my eyes and slam my locker shut – the lingering smell of fish locked away for another day. Honestly, maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm sure it still smells completely putrid. And the culprit is right behind me, his chest pressed to my back.

He's becoming ignorant to these rules we set in place when it comes to school. He assures me that it's because he just wants to come clean but considering that he very subtly squeezes my butt every other minute, I think it's more because he can't keep himself away.

I seem to have that effect on people.

"Says who?" I mumble, turning to face him with a deadpan expression.

His eyes glint with mischief and I nearly smile. "Daddy." He grins.

I roll my eyes and shove him slightly in the shoulder, but his hand is quick to find the waistband of my jeans and hold me still. "We've been over this Hendrix – continue calling yourself 'daddy' and I'll be forced to silence you with a baseball bat."

"Save the kink for the bedroom babe." He mutters, his fingers tracing over the skin on my lower back, finding their way under my jeans. "Which brings me to my next point. I've been dying to get balls dee-"

I shove him away, hard, when I see Lena and Collins on their way over, his arm around her waist. They've come out and declared themselves official now, and the smile has left neither of their faces. It's unbelievably cute. "Hey guys, what's up?" She grins, her eyes flitting from Hendrix to me, who I can assure you, is very flustered.

"Nothing; just talking about the project." I answer quickly before Elijah can conjure up an alternative response. I let my hair fall in front of my face in a poor attempt to hide my blush. It's unbelievable, isn't it? After hating him for so long, now he has the ability to make me blush from just a few crass words. "Speaking of, he's going to have to join us at lunch today. We're pretty behind." I add, causing Elijah to smirk, with arrogance I might add.

"That's cool. I bet you guys will be glad when it's all done, huh?" She goes on to say, pushing my hair behind my shoulders for me. Not helping Lena.

"Oh yeah," Elijah replies, throwing a casual arm over my shoulders. "Every day, this girl leaves me so frustrated that I can't think straight." He gleams down at me and I scowl, my lips rolled into a fine line before I ram my elbow into his side.

"You frustrate me." I grumble.

"Do I?" He says in a low voice, igniting suspicious glances from Lena and Collins.

"Move, dickwad." I snap, tugging him with us as we continue to our first lesson. He drops his arm with an unmoveable grin, while I roll my eyes and march ahead slightly. "Lena, did Nat text you?" I ask her.

She hums and nods. "Yep. Do you know what it's about?" She says.

"No clue, but it must be a big deal if we've got to go to hers." I sigh. I've been stumped on what Nat wants to tell us but come to no conclusion. She's a renowned gossip so it really could be anything from something one of her clients has said, to her neighbours dog being pregnant again. To invite us to her house though, that's new. Gossiping for Nat is usually an over the phone thing, at a push, over a Burger King at the shopping centre, but never a home visit.

"You're going to Nat's tonight?" Elijah asks me, tugging slightly on my sleeve.

"Yeah, after school." I tell him.

"When will you be back? Aren't you coming over?" Ha. Who's a sucker now? Then I realise, with his weird puppy eyes which are only little bit cute and his stupid pouty lips which are only a little bit kissable, this sounds absolutely ludicrous to those around us who think we still cannot stand one another.

"Well, we'll see if we finish the project at lunch." I stress through gritted teeth, making him open his eyes wide in realisation.

Hell, this boy will be the death of me.

~

Lunch is a squeeze.

With Lena, Seb and Jack on one side, then Collins, me and Hendrix on the other, I've hardly got room to breathe, let alone eat. That said, I'll give it a good go, it's pizza day, and I'm starving.

Collins and Lena are giving each other gooey eyes over the table as they nibble on their meals lazily. Alena has completely given up on her diet now, saying she'll start again as her new year resolution. I think she's completely barmy; she's a tiny little thing but she assures me that her metabolism is slower than her grandma back in the Philippines and the weight will catch her before long. Considering her grandma is bed bound and incontinent, I don't bother arguing that she's being dramatic. That's Lena.

Jack's playing some game on his phone like he doesn't want to be here, and I don't blame him. He probably doesn't. He'd much prefer to be in the common room chatting up girls, but Hendrix forced him here as a cover up, claiming him to be his single hold on sanity while he has to tolerate me.

All the while his hand is running up and down my thigh. Yeah, tolerate.

Seb's throwing chips into my mouth. Tradition. "I need to come over before we break up for Christmas. You know I have to see my man Craig before I go on holiday." Seb tells me. Every year, him and his parents go abroad for Christmas. It pays to have healthy pockets, I guess.

Hendrix hand tightens on my thigh. "Sure, we'll sort something. Maybe have another pizza and movie day." I turn to Hendrix and throw a chaste glance to Jack. "You guys are invited too. In the spirit of Christmas and all that." Satisfied, his grip loosens. Jealous face.

"You're usually a grinch." Collins points out.

"Not this year. I'm very content. Besides, Ben's coming home this week and with Ferne having the new baby, she'll be too tired to cook, so no doubt her and Roman will come over too." For that, I'm truly thrilled. It's been a while since we had a full family Christmas. Roman and Ferne usually have a quieter one on their own and visit us on boxing day but this year, it'll be all of us.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but I'm thinking of offering a seat and the table for Elijah too. I know he'll want to spend most of Christmas with Tanya and Mason, but he's as much a part of my family now as everyone else.

"That's good, but no more Harry Potter shit. A proper movie." Seb mumbles.

I throw my chip at him. "Don't be so blasphemous!" I cry out, my face twisted into a scowl. He grins at me and throws the chip back.

"Babe, pass me those mayo sachets." Elijah says. I hum and reach over, passing them to him casually.

We continue eating as though we haven't just completely blown our cover. I look up to see four sets of eyes on the pair of us as if we've committed to a full blown orgy right here in the middle of the cafeteria.

"Babe?" Lena echoes in disbelief. Elijah and I look at each other with a strained expression.

"You think it's time to tell them?" He asks me.

I roll my eyes. "Think we might have to, considering you've just exposed us." I mutter back. He smiles at me from ear to ear. Why do I feel as though this was a planned enterprise?

"You two are totally fucking!" Jack exclaims, slightly too loud, causing me to wince, as he points between us.

"We're not fucking." I assure him quietly.

"Yeah, only 'cos she won't let me." Elijah mumbles. I throw a chip at his head.

"I've told you; patience is a virtue." I snap at him. He grins and presses a kiss to my head, snaking his arm around my waist. Oh, so all secrecy is going out of the window, I see.

"Lottie I'm playing, you know I'm not that bothered about sex." He tells me and I scoff.

"Hang on, Lottie?" Lena echoes. I turn my head to her and grin.

"The yin yang Lena, the Chinese and the Italian. You were right." I muse. She holds out her hand, palm up, to Collins.

"Cough up, bitch. Told you they'd get together." She gleams, causing Collins to scowl as he pulls out a twenty note from his pocket. My jaw drops.

"You bet on us?" I exclaim.

"We all did; technically, Seb and Nat bet on how long it'd take you to have sex, but considering you're yet to engage in such activities, their bet is still ongoing."

I slap my hands to my face. "Can someone just fucking shoot me in the head right now." I mutter.

"Your friends seem nice babe." Hendrix mutters in my ear, his amusement clear.

~

Nat's parents aren't home. Upon noticing their car is gone, I narrow my eyes further and look to see that Lena is thinking the same.

Usually, with a free house, Nat would be engaging in some sexual intercourse, always impromptu of course. Never have we been invited round when her parents are out. "I'm officially concerned." Lena mumbles from beside me.

I knock on the door and within seconds, her gleaming face greets us. "Sugar tits, Garc, baby. Come in." She stands aside and one after the other, we walk into her home. With Nat being an only child, her parents have remained in a small quaint home, meaning all downstairs is fairly open plan for space.

That said, it's easy for me to spot the brunette that's sat on the sofa. Nat ushers us towards them, sitting us both down on the sofa as she perches herself on the arm of the seat the brunette sits in. The girl seems entirely nervous, flashing us a shy smile as she pulls her hair over one shoulder.

"Chaps, Lena, this is Addie." She introduces. Addie smiles at us again and we return, though I shoot Nat a confused glace. "She's been dying to meet you." She continues.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost." I say bluntly.

"Yes, well. I haven't really gone into much detail about it." Nat answers, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears. She's totally nervous. "Addie and I have been seeing each other."

Neither Lena nor I say anything. Our eyes just flick back and forth from Nat to Addie, completely perplexed. This is the girl that's managed to tie our miss promiscuous down? I mean, that's not to say she isn't beautiful. She really is, but compared to what Nat's usual type is, she's not that at all. Then again, I'm hardly one to talk. I never usually used to get handsy with my enemies, yet here we are.

Eventually, I gather myself. "Wow, hi." I extend my hand and she shakes it, her whole body unclenching as she relaxes. "I'm Charlotte. Nice to meet you. We had no idea that Nat was seeing someone." I admit to her, smiling as I sit back.

"No, she did mention she'd kept it quiet." Addie laughs, placing a hand on Nat's knee.

"So are you like, a couple? Or is it still fairly casual?" I go on to ask.

"We're not exclusive," Nat says, "but we thought it was the right time to start introducing each other to friends and family.

"This is so amazing!" Lena eventually squeals, scaring the shit out of me. "We can all go on triple dates! I mean, Seb will probably tag along with the first vagina he can find but, hey! This is just so fantastic." I roll my eyes at her enthusiasm, but Nat and Addie seem positively thrilled.

That is, until Nat looks at me with furrowed brows. "Triple dates?" She asks.

"Yeah," I mutter, rubbing a hand down my face. "I caved and decided to give Hendrix a chance."

She jumps up and knees before me, clutching my hand in hers. "Have you had sex yet?"

My friends, ladies and gentlemen.