"Nathan! Give Simon his phone back," I yelled from my place on the steps. The six of us were taking a more relaxed approach to Community Service today. Curtis and Alisha were talking, and, as usual, flirting at each other, Kelly and I were discussing a movie she saw last week and Nathan was predictably torturing Simon yet again.

When Nathan didn't listen and continued to run around with Simon's phone, Kelly stood up and fixed the situation.

"Fine! Have your little toy," he sulked. "Melon fucker!"

I chuckled and watched as Kelly sat back down.

"Those two, I swear. They will be the death of me," she said, shaking her head. I nodded and laughed. We sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the sun. For once, it wasn't hiding behind the clouds.

"So, do you want to go out sometime?" Kelly asked, glancing at me through her squinted mascara drenched eyes. I nodded and smiled at her.

"Yeah, that would be great!"

"I'm in too. What're we doin'?" Nathan butted in. I sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to take no for an answer now. At least I would be able to spend time with him?

"I wasn't asking you," Kelly said sharply, glaring at him. He grinned and slung an arm over my shoulder. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

"Yeah, but you're goin' out. And you're girls. I'm guaranteed to get laid," he explained, grinning widely. I pursed my lips and turned my head to look at him square on.

"There is no way I'm letting you anywhere near my privates, pal."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!" He protested, pinching my cheek with his spare hand. I grimaced and slapped his hand away.

"No thanks," I said, shoving his hand off my shoulder.

"You're no fun," he whined, his face contorting into a pout. I shrugged and stood up.

"Yeah, well, you just don't like to work for it, do you?"

I sarcastically blew him a kiss and began to walk away with a sway of my hips. I could hear his flabbergasted response but I paid no mind to it.

"Simon, come for a walk with me?" I called back to the nerdy boy. He looked up with a jolt and quickly made it to my side. I winked at Nathan as we walked around the corner. With a jolt I realised what I had just done. I had just flirted with Nathan. Nathan fucking Young of all people. What's that saying? If you dance with the devil then you shouldn't cry over the outcome or something? I don't know. I was never good with quotes.

"Hey, Simon, do you know that quote about dancing with the devil?"

"'If you dance with the devil, you will get burnt'?"

"Yeah, that's the one," I responded. Was that what I was doing? Dancing with the Devil? Flirting itself wasn't a crime but flirting with Nathan? Well, I don't believe that that would be very reputable. Sure, he's handsome and funny. Sure, he's tall and he's Irish but he's also funny at the expense of others. He's also a loose canon and unreliable. He seems the type to make mistakes and apologise for them only to make them again the next week. It would be much safer for me to forget about him and the feelings I have for him. But the more I try, the harder it is. I can't deny the fact that I have feelings for him that grow every day and I can't deny that he's a twat. So, with these thoughts, what could I do? I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Maybe if I ignored it, all my problems would vanish?

"So, how's your video coming?" I asked, trying to distract myself from Nathan.

"Very well. It's almost done," he said excitedly. I smiled at him as we continued to walk. We hadn't gone very far when we heard Nathan's voice yelling at us back from where we came. I turned around to see what he wanted.

"Sally wants to talk to us," he shouted, pointing in the direction of the Community Centre. I sighed and rubbed at my forehead. What did she want?

"Come on, then," I said, turning around fully and following the disappearing form of Nathan. Simon walked by my side.

"Rein check?" I asked, refferring to the walk we hadn't got to take. He nodded nervously without a word.

We were naturally the last back and Kelly informed us that she would be talking to us individually. Curtis had been called in first. I nodded and sat down with her. Simon stood awkwardly before disappearing to find another chair.

"So, whats the deal with you and Nathan? Are you, like, together?" Alisha asked, a sinister grin gracing her features. I barked out a laugh.

"Me and Nathan? No! You're funny, really," I replied between laughs. Alisha didn't look sold. And neither did Kelly for that matter.

"Come on, can the two of you just shag already and get this shit over with?" Kelly said. My mouth dropped in shock.

"I, uh, what?"

"The two of you's are always thinkin' abou' each other. It's gettin' annoying," she explained, picking at her nails. I scoffed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I defended, looking around to make sure Nathan wasn't nearby. A blush was beginning to tinge my features.

"Oh, really? Here, let me give you a recap," she said, sitting up straight. "'I can't like Nathan. It's wrong. But he's so handsome and funny and tall!'"

"I don't-"

"Don't try and bullshit us, honey. We can see straight through you," Alisha spoke up from her phone. I sighed, rubbing at my forehead.

"He thinks about me?" I asked nervously, looking up at Kelly shyly. She nodded.

"All the bloody time," she affirmed. "But, you don't want me repeating it, trust me," she said, knowing exactly what I was about to say. My blush darkened and I let out a little squeak. The fact that he thought about me in the first place was news to me but the fact that he thought about me in that way was... unnerving.

Before any of us could say anything, Sally poked her head out of her office and called me over. Curtis shuffled out of the room and we exchanged a glance when we passed each other. Sally was already sitting down when I walked into the room. I closed the door and sat down on the cough she gestured at.

"So, Mara," she said.

"Yeah?"

"This is your chance to talk about Community Service," she said, giving me a small, obviously fake smile.

"Right. Okay, well, it's okay, I guess."

"Anything else?"

I shrugged. What was there to say? I spent my time walking around and picking up litter.

"Not really? I mean, it's a punishment for doing the wrong thing. I don't really think that improving it is very high on the Government's to-do list anyway so what's the point?"

"Right... Uh, do you think you've learnt anything from your time here so far?"

"Not to get peer pressured by your dead-beat friends?"

She chuckled and wrote something down on a piece of paper on her folder. I craned my neck to see but I wasn't close enough. She spent the next minute writing things down before she even acknowledged my presence again.

"How do you think you've changed?"

I had to think about that for a moment. How had I changed? Well, I could tell her about how the freak storm gave me some freaky powers but I don't think that's exactly what she wants to hear.

"I, uh, I don't know? I'm more confident around people? I mean, you have to be if you spend five days of seven with Nathan, right?" I laughed. "Uh, I suppose I made some friends? Is that the sort of thing you wanted to hear?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's fine."

I was tempted to ask if the police had found Tony yet but I fought the urge. Any attention on that subject was unwanted.

"I've noticed that you and Nathan have been getting rather close recently," she said, testing the waters. I groaned.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Is he the best type of guy to get attached to?" She asked, casting her disappointed gaze onto me. I frowned. "It's just, you could do so much better."

"I wasn't aware it was your business," I hissed, sitting up straighter.

"Yes, but I'm just saying-"

I felt an unbelievable anger rise up in me at her words. What business of hers is it who I spend time with? I stood, up and stalked to the door.

"You know what?! I think you need to keep your nose out of other people's personal lives! It isn't your right to tell me what I should and shouldn't do," I seethed, yanking the door open. "Keep out of my business!" I hissed, slamming it shut on my way out.

I turned to see the whole group staring at me wide eyed. I shrugged.

"What? She pissed me off," I said, coming to sit down next to Alisha again. No one said anything as Sally poked her head out again to call Kelly in to her office.

"So, the nervous flower does have guts!" Nathan laughed, sitting down next to me. I laughed and relaxed a little.

"She always has, you just never saw them," I responded, punching his shoulder affectionately.

Updated on the 8th of August, 2016.

(a/n: hey guys, just letting you know that I'm currently working on a Rudy fic! ;)) )