The shock of his mouth on mine sent a jolt through me. I lifted my arms and looped them around his neck, deepening the kiss. All of our pent up emotions from the last few days fuelled our kiss. His fingers ran through my hair, and butterflies twisted in my stomach. There was no doubting his feelings now.

I was breathing heavily by the time we pulled apart. "I missed you too."

Griffin rested his forehead against mine and gazed down at me, lips swollen. "I am yours, and only yours."

A warmth blossomed within me as I relaxed against his chest. Suddenly a thought suddenly struck me. "Why didn't Noah tell me it was him who kissed Riley?"

"When we talked earlier he accused me of playing with your feelings and kissing another girl in front of you. He hadn't realised that it was him that you'd seen, not me." I cast my mind back and realised that I'd never actually mentioned Riley by name. Griffin continued, "Once we worked out what had happened I asked him to let me tell you."

"By holding me hostage in a classroom."

Griffin grinned. "It worked."

I couldn't deny that.

He took my hand and pulled me towards the door. "Time to face the others."

"I think you may have forgotten that we're locked in here," I said.

"Are you sure about that?" Griffin pulled a key out of his pocket.

My jaw dropped. "You had that the whole time!"

His all too familiar smirk appeared. "Of course. You didn't think I'd let Noah be in charge of letting us out. He's probably forgotten about us."

I laughed. "You make a good point."

Griffin unlocked the door and we made our way to the great hall where the quiz was coming to an end. It was completely packed inside. Everybody was here to see who had actually won the championship. Griffin leant down and kissed me, then we split ways and headed to our own school tables.

"I take it you guys have made up." June laughed when I sat down. "Noah told us what happened."

"We did," I said, unable to stop the grin appearing on my face .

"Does that mean you've forgiven me for locking you in there with him?" Noah asked.

I nodded. "A ruthless tactic locking me with our archnemesis, but it worked."

He grinned. "I'm glad everything's been sorted."

A hush fell over the room as the principal of Hillcrest, also known as Brittney's father, stood up. "I am pleased to welcome you all to your final evening of the championship."

A cheer went up around the room.

"It has been an exceptional year and you must all be very pleased with yourselves. I know your teachers are very proud."

"We absolutely kicked butt," June whispered.

"I'm sure you must all be wondering which school shall take home the championship trophy this year."

Whispers broke out around the room and anticipation grew. The organisers had taken down the leaderboard a few nights ago so nobody had any clue what the final results looked like.

"In last place, we have Arrowhead."

Groans from Holly's table filled the air.

"In third place is Hillcrest."

The four of us gripped one another's hands across the table. I looked over to where Griffin sat and saw him wink at me. I knew then that it didn't matter who's school won, because in the end, we had both won.

"In second place is—" We held our breath. "—Beckfall, which means that in first is—" The rest of his words were drowned out by our table erupting.

We. Had. Won.

June grabbed me and we started dancing on the bench along with the rest of our school. We had taken back the trophy. We had beaten Beckfall and all the other schools. We were unstoppable.

"We are the champions!" I began singing.

"My friends," Ruben continued.

June pumped her fist into the air. "And we'll keep on fighting."

"Till the end," Noah finished with a whoop. "Team Apocalypse for the win!"

The rest of the evening went by in a blur, with people congratulating us and celebrating left, right, and centre. We went to bed completely exhausted and spent the next morning packing up our things.

It was just after we'd just finished loading up our suitcases onto the school bus when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Griffin standing there with a smile on his face. "Does the winner have time for a loser like me?"

"I always have time for my favourite shoulder basher." I laughed.

He pulled me to him. "I hope I'm your only shoulder basher."

I didn't have time to reply as he bent down and kissed me, familiar sparks shooting through me.

"Get a room!" I heard June shout out of the bus window.

Griffin's lips curved up against mine into a smile and he slowly pulled away. "I'll see you soon princess."

I got onto the bus and watched him walk over to the famous fountain. I gave Griffin a final wave as our bus pulled out of the courtyard and began making its way down the long driveway.

I turned to the other three sitting around me as Hillcrest disappeared from sight. "What a time we've had."

Noah smiled. "We've had the time of our lives."