"So, is he cute?" Hannah asks as we sit down for break. I pull a face but Rose just smiles.

"He's just so... So..." She struggles to find a word to describe Ronan and fails miserably.

"Dark? Moody? Like he has a personal storm cloud?" I supply. Rose widens her eyes and nods, but I don't stop there. "Snappy, argumentative, stubborn-"

"You haven't even talked to him, how could you know?" Hannah argues.

"I agree with Emma, he just looks like it." says Rose.

Right at that moment, Ronan stalks past. He catches the sneaky glances Hannah is throwing and his snarl deepens. I punch her in the arm and give her a warning glare as Ronan moves off, obviously looking for a place to sit.

"He's weird. Chips anyone?" Hannah passes around a packet of chips, and I take a handful. She puts it away and looks up as the message runner Martin flops down next to us.

"Hannah Prince?" He questions. Hannah nods, pushing green hair behind her ear. Martin signals that she's wanted in the office and they walk off together.

I stare after her, munching slowly on chips. "What the hell has she done now?"

"I saw her with spray paint last night. Can't be good." Rose shrugs. The bell above us screams loudly and we leap up, scattering chip crumbs everywhere. Already, students are running left and right and disappearing through the doors. I grab Rose's hand and pull her through the crowds.

Then I see Ronan, squinting at his timetable, looking lost and vaguely scared. Rose glanced at me, then back at him. I pull a face and nod reluctantly. She just starts jumping up and down, a tornado of gold jewellery and red hair.

"Ronan! Ronan! Come on, we're going for Science now! You look lost, follow us!" She screams. Subtle as a flying brick, my friend Rosemary. The last of the kids snicker as they drift away.

"No. Leave me alone, will you?" He snaps. I raise an eyebrow as he continues. "I don't need your help, and I don't need you."

"Suit yourself." Rose shrugs. We turn and leg it across the oval to where the classroom is hidden. I sneak a glance behind us and see Ronan following, pretending that he knows where he's going. A bubble of laughter escapes my mouth before I can stop it.

Two people are standing outside the door. One is Mia, the teachers' pet. The other is Danny, troublemaker and sort of has a crush on Rose. Danny spots us first. "Emma! Rose! Hurry up, Ben went to intercept Mr DiLingo. If he got here and found you two late again...."

God, I love my classmates sometimes. We push past them and the four of us slide into our seats. Ronan arrives quickly after and takes a seat behind us. Then Ben comes charging in, brown hair sticking up with sweat.

"I threw a stick at him. He chased me all over the school before he realised he had to get to class." He gasps, flopping down next to Danny.

"Did he recognise you?" Caitlin asks. Ben shakes his head breathlessly and then clams up as Mr DiLingo stalks in. He glares at us all, as frosty as Ronan was this morning. His eyes settle on Ben, who smiles back innocently. I hear a supressed laugh from the back of the room.

"Alright class, settle down." The teacher grunts. "Please open the textbooks under your desks to page three hundred and seventy two."

There's the rustling of paper on paper as everyone starts flicking through the book. Mr DiLingo watches us for a minute before continuing. "Once there, copy down ten metals in periodic table of the elements. Once you are done with that, I have a project."

I open my science book and start writing, jotting down things like gold, silver, copper. Beside me, Rose is doing pretty much the same, taking tiny glances at my book. I tilt it so she can see and write a message in the margin.

What do you think the project is? Lingo's never done anything fun before.

Rose takes my pen and scribbles down something. Too right. We'll be told to clean the rats' cages or something like that.

Ew. I answer, putting down the last few numbers and letters. The teacher clears his throat and everyone looks up expectantly.

"Now, this project is the start of our new topic for the term, which is Agriculture. You will be working in pairs to raise a chicken from an egg. Take notes and watch closely at your chicken's habits. Document it."

I exchange an excited look with Rose. Raising a farm animal? This sounds awesome. She beams back at me in agreement.

"At the end of term, you will have to bring your chicken and your notebook into class." Mr DiLingo adds. "Now, for the pairs-"

He's cut off abruptly at the screech of chairs and tables as people scramble for their friends. Mia and Daisy, Danny and Ben, Melanie and Callum, me and Rose. DiLingo raises an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

"-I will be drawing them out of a hat. Everyone sit back down." He pulls an ice cream container from the top drawer of his desk and pulls out two slips of paper. "William Baker and Rosemary Taylor. Mia Macanara and Cody Thompson. Daniel Blue and Benjamin Woods."

People start shifting around again, reluctantly. Rose squeezes my arm and lopes off to sit with Will, a tall, quiet boy who generally gets along with everyone. DiLingo keeps reading out names and the class is in so much chaos I almost miss mine.

"Emma West and Ronan Caninamara."