Anne perked up for the rest of the day, even Abby noticed.

"Sort it out then?" She had asked at first break.

"Yeah, mostly. We may have an extra for movie night this month though." Anne admitted.

"Oh? Do tell? Has the ice queen got herself a boyfriend?" Anne looked at her shocked. "Well, you never wanted to talk about boys, we all just started avoiding the subject."

"I didn't think you noticed." Anne murmured. "Can I come round your house after school? We can talk about it then?" She asked, not wanting to have that conversion in the middle of a crowded corridor.

"Sure, mum will be at work, just us girls we can do anything you want." The beetroot colour returned to Anne's face in an instant. "Oooo, properly saucey eh? I'm going to look forward to this."

Anne's mood fell briefly, especially with religious education next, why they called it religious and not christian she had no idea. It was almost bible study, what she would have given for a teacher who actually let them study Hinduism or Sikhism, perhaps Buddhism.

She persevered through it though and by the end of lunch she was back to normal, enjoying chemistry. A teacher who was passionate and eloquent in his teaching made a huge difference. As she supposed, did a subject you were interested in.

The afternoon flew past and as the last bell rang Anne's nerves resurfaced.

She met her friends in the bus, they were all a gaggle until she arrived, then there was a deathly silence. Instantly on her guard she knelt on the furthest forward seat beside Abby. "What's going on?" She asked defensively.

"So, a boyfriend?" Susan asked from the back, all the girls giggled.

Anne punched Abbey hard in the arm. "Hey!" She said rubbing her arm, "I didn't tell them!"

"No, I don't have a boyfriend, it's nothing like that." She defended herself.

"Well who are we going to be watching movies with?" Someone asked.

"It's not a boy, and I haven't even asked her yet. We just got talking today and I felt I should offer to hang out with her." She looked at the expectant faces, "It's Jo okay? People are kinda dicks to her and I talked to her and thought she was really nice okay?" She sat forward in her seat. "It's like the Spanish inquisition!"

"Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!" Came a chorus from behind her causing her to smile despite her mood.

"So, a lesbian tryst? I'm just upset you didn't pick one of us!" Susan quipped from the back.

Anne twisted in her seat "See that's what I'm talking about, a girl wants to hang out with the one out lesbian in school and suddenly they are dating? She's not allowed friends who are girls and not have them labeled a lesbian because of her?" She turned back to the front with a humph.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much!" Someone else joked, Jenny she thought.

She turned to give another piece of her mind and Susan held up her hands "It's okay, we're joking, bad taste. Sorry. Jo can join our film night, hell if she's as nice as you say perhaps I'll date her myself!"

"Sorry, just… I think this is why she looked so lonely today, I think her friends are mainly the smokers, I'm pretty sure they are all boys, and from the sounds of things most of them are dicks." She sighed. "Anyway, now that we got my news out there, what's up with you?"