"Is that everything?" I asked, lounging back on my bed. I simply stared right through her, as if she wasn't even there. She shifted her weight over from her right leg, clutching the heavy box to her chest. It was the last box of stuff she had from our room - no, my room. It was no longer hers, seeing as she'd moved in with Daphne. I found her new friendship with Daphne pretty strange, considering they were going out with the same boy. She'd delayed moving good and proper, stringing out collecting all her stuff. It was now five days since The Morning After, when she first declared her intention of moving.

"Yes. Obvs." She shifted her weight slightly, still clutching the last box of her stuff to her chest. "Can you take this from me a moment, hun?" Not waiting for an answer, she dumped it on the edge of my bed and started rooting around in the pocket of her short skirt. I watched, slightly bemused, as she slicked her lips with pink lipgloss. "Bye," she called over her shoulder as she wriggled out the door.

Almost immediately, Julia and Harriet burst out from behind the now empty bed. "Gone at last!" Harriet sighed. "She's turned into such a self absorbed bitch. If I didn't know better, I'd think Daphne had cloned herself."

Julia brushed down the dust from her jeans - yes, I had now turned Julia and Harriet from granny skirt wearers to skinny jean wearers! Result! - and shook the edge of her sweater - still working on that one - while Harriet retrieved the plans we hastily shoved in the wardrobe. "At least we don't have to worry about her working out what we're doing anymore." Julia pointed out. "Now, what part of this were we on?"

Harriet unrolled the large piece of paper that she had appropriately entitled: The Deformation of The Most Evil Couple In The Universe. Originally we wanted to call it NAFIF. (Nathan and Fiona In Flames). But then Julia cottoned on.

It started off just being a small idea to break up Nathan and Fiona, my idea actually. Luckily Owen still isn't back, so I could try to rectify things that had gone wrong. But when I briefly mentioned this idea to Julia, she rolled up her sleeves and shot it down. Then she turned it into a full on secret spying operation, with detailed plans and things completely planned out. Apparently there is 'no room for mistakes, people!'

I had a quick glance at the plans once again. I was actually really thankful that Julia got involved in this, because it was so well thought out and original that they couldn't stay together if they tried. It drew on Fiona's want of togetherness, and love, and marriage, and on Nathan's want of continuing to get involved with a different girl every day.

"I think we're ready for it," Harriet finally said. "We can't be more prepared than this." As Julia opens her mouth, she firmly added, "no. Honestly, let's not add anymore to this. Otherwise we'll spoil it."

I nodded, standing up. "To the arcade then?"

Julia smiled grimly. "To the arcade."

***

Fiona and Nathan met at the arcade. It was just a few days after the three girls had moved into the college. Looking for something to do, they ventured down into the town, and spotted the arcade. It was a lovely, white walked open space with dozens of booths and games, with little kids running around high on candy floss and all the addicts furiously trying to beat their high scores.

Even after a little more than a year, the place still hadn't changed. They were right; it was a really nice place, and everything's quite tidy and in order too. However, we didn't have much time to take it all in. I pulled out the list. "First stop, Donkey Kong Jr. I've never heard of that in my life."

Harriet grinned. "Step aside, make way for the pro." She ran over and clamped herself down in the seat, knocking a waiting little boy out of the way. She ignored his crying and slotted in a coin.

I'd never seen anyone move so fast. Little Junior flew across the screen, clearing the first three levels in less than two minutes. In the final stage, he practically zoomed to the finish, and the word 'Winner!' is emblazoned across the screen. We walked over, Julia slowly applauding. "Not bad. Not bad at all. But you're a bit out of practice."

"Out of practice?" I said incredulously. "But she was amazing!" That's when I saw the leaderboard flash up. She's sixth, beaten only by Harriet... And Harriet... And Harriet...

"I used to be a little addicted to this game," she grinned sheepishly. "But for the plan to work, we need to be top. It's gonna be hard work beating my high score, I'm telling you. Why don't you go track down another item?"

Julia grabbed my arm, and marched me off to one of those claw machines, pointing at the fluffy blue bunny inside. Once she heard I was good at the claw machines, I became a vital part of her plan.

Apparently, Fiona was the absolute best at these. She could get anything you want out of them, a feat which for most others prove impossible. When she was here a year ago, Nathan was trying hard to win a similar blue bunny on the machine. Being the kind soul she was, she marched over and won it for him. When she turned round to give him the prize, 'it was love at first sight', as she would now be telling anyone she knew.

What she didn't notice was that he only wanted the bunny because there was a ten dollar note attached to it.

I slid fifty cents into the machine. The claw came to life immediately, bouncing about all over the place. I skilfully glided it over to the spot right above the bunny, and press down. It shot down and grabs the bunny, but it slides out of its jaws at the last possible second. I slid in another fifty cents. This time, I managed to snag the stupid smiley bear next to it. I pulled it out and sigh. Another teenager shoved me out of the way and began to use the machine. Sure enough, above it read a sign : 'no more than two goes at a time.' By the time we queued up again, the bunny may well be gone.

At that moment Harriet came bounding up, a little breathless. "I beat my high score!" She cheered. Then she frowned. "Shame I had to put Fiona's name on it though. As soon as this is all over, I'll be getting my championship back."

Julia rolled her eyes. "Getting Fiona and Nathan split up is far more important than some silly championship-"

"Can I have the bear?" A golden, curly haired toddler stared up at me with large pleading eyes. A fluffy blue bunny is dangling from her chubby little fist. "My big brother could only get me Bunny."

"Yes," Harriet said quickly, seizing the opportunity. "If you give me that blue bunny."

The child clutched the teddy tighter. "No, not Mr Bunny," she began to sob. "He would miss his home!"

Harriet crouched down and gives the child the evil eye. "But if you don't take Mrs Bear, I will have to throw her in the bin." With a little scream, she dropped the bunny, snatched the bear, and toddled off. Harriet triumphantly grabbed the bunny.

Julia shook her head. "Come on, let's do Packman."

Four hours later, we were still glued to an arcade machine. It's our last one. There was a steady stream of kids trickling out of the arcade, more and more, until us three were the only ones left. An elderly looking man came up to us. "S'cuse me miss, the arcades closing now. You have to go."

"No!" I yelped. "This is the last one left! Please, you have to let us finish this game." The man snorted.

"It'll still be here tomorrow." He said firmly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Go." At that precise moment, the leaderboard flashed up. We made it to the top. We exchanged high fives.

"Sorry, sir," I grinned. "Thank you!" We left the arcade with a quick wave behind at the bemused man. Julia pulled out her list, ticked off the final task and sighed contentedly.

"Great. That's us done. Now we just need to speak to the owner of the arcade. She lives at 12 Mayberry Lane." She confirmed happily. I pulled a face.

"I'm so tired," I whined. I scanned the street ahead of me, and gazed straight at a particular place. My eyes lit up. "Ooh, can we get some chips? Please? I'll pay!" I jangled my pockets full of change from the arcade. Julia was momentarily distracted with something on our plan so I seized the opportunity, grabbing her arm and steering her into the fish and chip shop, H Salt Esq Fish and Chips.

I smiled at the young waitress behind the counter. She was chewing bubblegum whilst yapping away to someone shovelling the burgers into bags. "Excuse me?" I asked timidly, but she continued chatting away. "Excuse me," I said a little louder, and she gave me a withering look before resuming her conversation. Harriet pushed me aside, and began ringing the service bell with such vigour that the girl had no choice but to turn around and serve us.

"One curry chip, one sausage supper, both with salt and vinegar, and two Cokes." Harriet said before the girl can get a comment in about us interrupting.

"I'll have fish and chips, as well as a Fanta Lemon." I added after a quick glance at the menu. The girl hit some buttons ever so slowly, and cashed my money at the pace of a snail. She then proceeded to try and give me a few dollars less change, and by the time our order was ready, I was seriously considering smacking her.

But the food just about made up for it. I chomped steadily down as we ambled across to the arcade owner's house. The chips were wonderfully hot and greasy, and the batter on the fish was exactly the right amount of thickness. We had to chuck our wrappings away hastily before approaching the house, and I wiped my greasy hands on my jeans a little self consciously. Mayberry Lane was a seriously nice area, with those little white picket fences, perfectly mowed lawns and giant detached houses. Number 12 was a large, white washed one with baskets of roses hanging from either side of the door. The door to the garage hung a tiny creak open and I spotted a very posh looking white car.

It was all so different to the house I used to live in. It was a big enough house, but one that always felt the cold and and damp. Winter in it was particularly horrible, because our central heating would always go on the blink. Dad never got around to cutting the grass, the fence was a garish shade of orange and we didn't have a car. All our schools and my parent's workplaces were within walking distance.

Julia walked up and rapped at the door, three times, smartly. She looked so nervous that I didn't have the heart to tell her there was a little curry smudged on her nose. A lady opened the door slightly suspiciously, eyeing us up and down. She was wearing a sterile white apron over a checked shirt and relatively normal jeans. I immediately guessed that she was the cleaning lady.

Julia gulped. "Hello, we were hoping to talk to Miss Ross of Ross Arcades?"

The lady glowered at her. "Do you have an appointment?" She sniffed in a horribly posh voice. "Running an arcade is no easy feat you know."

Harriet tried for a smile, but it comes out more like a grimace so she hastily began to speak. "We have a wonderful opportunity for Miss Ross, one she'd love to hear about. We'll pay her just for her time."

The lady's eyes fixed greedily on Harriet's pockets. "How much?"

"Oh, would a hundred dollars per ten minutes be enough? And a fifty for letting us in?" I tried causally, even though my arms are shaking a little.

"Eighty in and you've got yourself a deal." She declared, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Sixty."

"Seventy-five and that's my final offer."

"Done." I rooted around in my pocket and counted out the correct amount of notes. Only once she'd got them in her hand and had made sure they're not forgeries did she grunt and gesture out her arm in the universal signal for in you go. I hopped in quickly before she had a chance to change her mind, with Julia and Harriet on my tail.

The house was like a storybook. It had a grand, classy black and white tiled entrance hall, leading up to a magnificent polished staircase that rose up, then divided into two sections, one curving off to the left, the other to the right. I carefully took my shoes off and left them on a rack beside the door, not wanting to leave even the slightest mess on the gleaming tiles. I slid across the hall, and padded upstairs. The carpet underfoot was furry and soft, my foot sinking in at each step. I tried going round to the left first, but the doors there were entitled things like 'Guest Room', and 'Bathroom', so I changed direction. The last door on the right said 'Study', so I tried that.

This room was really the only one I could relate to. The desk was covered in about three inches of dust, and there were several coffee spills on the carpet. The bin was overflowing with discarded papers, and things around the room were generally messy and disorganised. A thirty something woman was snoozing on her chair, her glasses having slid down her nose and resting on the very edge. I suppressed a giggle, but Harriet behind me was not so successful.

The woman jolted out of her slumber immediately. With a grunt, she pushed her glasses back up and sat up straight on her chair. She fixed
us a stare with her beady little eyes. "Well, girls," she said sharply. "What are you doing in my, Lisa Ross's, office?"

Hey guys! At least I got another update out this week, yay! If anyone can guess what the girl's major plan is I'll be really impressed as in this chapter I offered next to no clues! Maybe in the next one things will become clearer, you'll just had to wait and see. Please comment or vote, it would really mean a lot to me!

Zoe xxx