A couple of days had passed since the gathering at the Eno's house on the Saturday, and now, at 8am on a Wednesday morning, Alice had made her way to school in the drivers seat, for the first time. "Just make sure you slow down gradually before you stop," Richard Murphy advised just after Alice had stumped her foot onto the break a little way down the road from her school.

"Okay," she smiled nervously and excitedly as she turned off the car and handed her father the keys.

"Alright. Well it was a good first try!" Richard smiled just before they both got out of the car, "We'll try again this weekend, okay?" He added as Alice slung her backpack over her shoulders and adjusted her bright yellow raincoat. They hugged warmly and he ushered her off to school so that she could organise herself and her locker before the bell rang.

The interior of the school had been covered with Christmas decorations, tinsel and sparkly lights... final game posters littered the walls and the floors. This Friday was the last day of the semester, and the winter wonderland school dance with the game just before in the second half of the day. Alice had bought her ticket along with her friends a couple of weeks back, but until then she had barely remembered it was happening. She bent down to pick up one of the posters under her shoe and hummed quietly... the dances at Summerland High usually had a reputation for getting slightly out of hand, and she wondered what it would be this time. Some kind of livestock animal in the headmasters office again? Or maybe someone would spike the punch or drape the entrance hall in toilet paper. No one was ever caught however, and the student body was constantly threatened with having no socials at all but they were never cancelled. All the threats from the staff seemed to be empty.

The school day carried on as usual, and at lunch Alice sat at her usual table with her usual two friends, eating the salads on offer and envying those who took a trip to McDonalds like most of the seniors did. "God I can't wait to be a senior," Olive mumbled as she picked at a floppy tomato. "All that freedom... I'm so jealous." She added as Alice smiled and picked at her salad with distaste. "I already know what I'm going to order. Double cheeseburger, twelve chicken nuggets, large fries and a sprite. Oh and an Oreo McFlurry,"

"Gross," Candice mused as she sipped her bottle of water with a straw.

"No its not!" Olive gasped playfully.

"Can you imagine the calories? The salt? Sugars? No thank you. And anyway, I'm thinking of going vegan," Candice then said, causing Olive and Alice to roll their eyes. "What?! It's healthy and also you loose loads of weight,"

"You're already minuscule," Olive shot at her and pinched Candice's bicep.

"Ow!" She yelled, slapping Olive's hand away and glaring as Alice chuckled under her breath. "I have a fast metabolism, okay. Don't hate me for my DNA, I can't change that," she muttered angrily before she sighed and looked back to Alice who usually stayed neutral in Olive and Candice's arguments. Playful or not. "So about this dance, are we taking dates?"

"To the winter wonderland dance? Why?" Alice replied, "can't we just go as a group?"

"We always go as a group. And I always have to turn down Freddie, who asks me every single time there is a dance. I feel bad saying no now." Olive spoke up, "And it might be fun this time to actually have boys to hang around with,"

"Yeah," Candice agreed, "I mean I love our little feminist trio but I need me a man for the winter," Candice smirked as Alice sighed and put her fork down. "Don't make that face, Alice." She said softly, "Not all boys are that bad... Harvey isn't even here anymore and at some point you have to take the next step... If you want to of course, we'd never try and force you if you're not ready." Candice continued quickly and glanced at Olive who smiled reassuringly at Alice.

"I never said that all boys were bad, it's..." She trailed off and glanced at each of her friends subtle hopeful faces, "I think bringing dates would be fun." She said instead, putting her hands under the table so her friends couldn't see her fiddling with the sleeves of her shirt. "It would be a nice change."

"Yay!" Candice cheered, "Okay so mission one is to find you the perfect guy to take, let's make a list." She grinned enthusiastically as she pushed her curly brown hair out her face and pulled out her sparkly lilac notebook...

At the same time across town Magnus, Noah and Trey sat together in one of the popular cafés, Tim Hortons. It had become a popular hangout for lots of the seniors for the past couple of years, with its deep brown leather booths, red tables and the strong smell of coffee that welcomed nearly everyone in from early in the morning to late at night. "... uh, I don't think I can do that,

Man." Noah muttered, pushing his thick black rimmed glasses up his nose then adjusting his beanie.

"Why not?" Magnus asked, his unfaltering stare making Noah shift as Trey, who was sat next to Magnus, stared too.

"I can barely talk to you guys, how do you think I'm gonna do talking to girls? You know? And now you want me to-to try and hook up with a junior?" Noah stammered then chuckled as Magnus smiled suddenly.

"Some girls like the pathetic thing." Magnus smiled even though you could see he wasn't amused. "And she's not just any junior, she's the girl who has Veronica's phone and can expose all of us to the fucking police. So you're gonna get up from this fucking booth and go find her at school and ask her on a fucking date." Magnus spat suddenly, with his voice so low you could barely hear it. "I don't care how you do it, just do it." He snapped quietly but his stare seemed to make it seem like he had just shouted.

"Here's that bacon sandwich that you ordered, Maggie." the waitress said, her light voice and giggle making Magnus clench his jaw. The dark rage in his eyes flared for a split second then vanished just before he smiled charmingly and took the plate from her hands,

"Thank you..." he trailed off and glanced at her name tag discreetly, "Caroline." He finished even though she knew his name well since she'd been moaning it only a few nights before.

"No problem," she grinned, "So, Will I see you later?" She asked, twirling her bright red hair around her finger.

"Probably not, no." He smiled as Trey chuckled under his breath. He dug into the inside of his jacket and pulled out his wallet, his hands moving smoothly as he pulled out some cash notes. "Here's your tip in advance though," he added and offered it to her, causing her face to redden and stiffen as she went to take it. But at the last moment he moved his hand away. "And don't call me Maggie fucking ever... please, Caroline." He muttered with a straight face then smiled again.

Caroline snatched the hundred dollar bill and stormed away, muttering an insult at him that he didn't acknowledge. "What was I saying?" Magnus carried on as he picked up the bacon sandwich and took a bite.

"I have to go ask Alice Murphy on a date." Noah replied, glancing behind Magnus and seeing the waitress he'd just embarrassed weeping before she hurried into the back.

"You can take her to the dance on Friday," Trey spoke up, just before he took a sip of his steaming coffee.

"The dance?" Noah asked, "do we even go to those?"

"Well it might be fun to wreak some havoc on the young minds of this town, wouldn't it?" Magnus chuckled, "I like the idea of a winter wonderland, I could hang a reindeer head over the punch bowl, and tell everyone the blood is fake... see which freak drinks it first."

"That's just fucking sick," Trey laughed and Magnus grinned. "We should get back to School," he continued as he glanced at his watch. "We've got practice remember,"

"Yeah." Magnus agreed as he stuffed the rest of the sandwich into his mouth and dusted off his hands. The three boys got up at once as Magnus tossed some money on the table. It was as if in that moment all eyes, however maybe not all at the same, seem to land on the trio. Their aura seemed to take over the venue, the elegant lopes of the social elite drew a lot attention even if it was the simplest of movements.

Outside the café another one of Magnus's cars, a Range Rover Velar in black, waited for them. Magnus climbed into the drivers seat, Trey in the passenger and Noah behind him. The engine roared to life and the sound of Who That Be by Rich Brian blasted from the speakers as the four wheel drive skidded out of its parking space...

Back at Summerland High the Bell had rung for the beginning of next period. The halls were filled with students talking and making their way to their next classes, and amongst them was Alice, who clutched her large psychology book to her chest and walked quietly, minding her own business as well as she could.

Inside AP Psychology the room had already filled with its usual group, the room still vibrant with talk from left over conversations from the cafeteria. Alice sat down at her single desk next to the window and organised it, placing her notebook neatly in front of her and aligning her pens in colour order so she could use them to code her notes properly. Moments later Mr Brightman walked into the class in a hurry, looking out of breath and flushed. "Hi class," he said quickly and stood at the front holding his brief case. "Unfortunately there will be no class today, uh, there's been a bit of a family emergency so i have to leave school early today. The assignment is going to be pushed back to, i want to be able to give all of your work my full attention and with everything going on I'm not going to be able to do that." He explained, looking distressed even though Alice could feel the relief in the room radiating from everyone.

"I've organised with another member of staff to over see a study period for you in the library so head over whenever you're ready." He rushed then smiled awkwardly before he left the classroom again in a hurry. Alice stared after him and sighed in irritation, immediately cleaning up her desk even though the rest of the class just began talking again. She knew the majority of them wouldn't leave the classroom and would spend the next hour using this as a free period, which was only a luxury that seniors were given.

Alice left the classroom and closed the door behind her, walking with only a handful of other students who were going with her to the library. They talked about the assignment politely until they reached the library, which was the moment that Alice excused herself from the group to go and find a quiet place to study.

The library was larger than most high school libraries, and was almost its own separate building to the rest of the school. It had high ceilings and large glass windows and a strict regulated heating system so that the books were kept in perfect condition. It was two floors, the main a wide open plan white washed space with large cream sofas and glass tables so that people could study in groups, there was a small cafe to the right as you walked in through the frosted glass double doors. On the second floor was where all the older books were kept, and there were long rows of white shelves packed tightly with books that radiated knowledge from all areas of the world. There were booths upstairs too, and smaller tables where people could work on their own. The quiet glass rooms at the far back was where most of the seniors hung out and talked in their free periods.

The school had spent a small fortune developing it a few years back, and almost gave up when they ran out of money in the budget. But with a donation from the Johnson family, the project was finished before Alice started her sophomore year. She felt it was strange when she realised why the building was called Johnson's Library, but when she heard why she realised that it was probably only appropriate. Half way through sophomore year was when her crush on Magnus Johnson began, and that was when she realised the library was named after his family. Every time she walked through those doors she felt her heart jump and tense and bit her lip, feeling her chest tighten as even now she had the same reaction nearly year later.

Alice found a booth upstairs, and settled herself into the half moon white leather couch and set up her laptop and notebooks so that she could work on her assignment. She slid off her brught red coat and glanced around her before she rummaged through her bag for her earphones. She noticed quickly the quiet room where a collection of familiar seniors were talking. They weren't loud or behaving obnoxiously, they were just sat around a table looking as if they were discussing something normal. Her eyes landed him a few seconds later, she could just about see him from where she was sitting, and as her hands continued to untangle her earphones she drank in his appearance.

He was wearing a navy blue bomber jacket with the sleeves pushed up, and black skinny jeans that weren't too tight. His hair was pushed back but slightly messier today and her heart seemed to yearn even more for the messy look. She whined to herself quietly and looked away, wondering if she should move seats so that she could concentrate but a voice whispered to her to stay exactly where she was so he could see her if he looked this way. Why should you hide? You've done nothing wrong. Her own voice whispered to her as she slipped her earphones in and pressed play on her Spotify playlist, the sound of Sights by London Grammar beginning to flow gently...

At that same moment Magnus's eyes began to wander, he'd grown bored of the discussion that his hockey team mates were having about their strategy for the up and coming game that Friday and sighed heavily. He noticed the colour red as his eyes scanned the scene around him and looked back suddenly, seeing a red coat placed neatly over the the back of one of the cream booths. His eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze landed on Alice Murphy, she had her head down as she wrote something on a notepad, her eyes moving from the screen of her laptop back to her notepad every few seconds. He watched her face, the sound of the talk from the room he was in drowning out slightly as he studied her features like he had done once before.

She was dressed, from what he could see, in a soft looking white turtleneck with gold necklaces delicately hanging over the top of it and around her neck. He glanced down, attempting to see her thighs again but from the angle that she was sitting he could see nothing but a shadow. He licked his lips as his mind drifted back to when he had admired them before, there was something about her thighs that stuck in his mind but a few seconds later, his plan surfaced. "Noah," he said suddenly, looking back to the room to see Noah look up from his laptop on the other side of the long table. "Alice is over there," he continued once he saw he had Noah's attention.

"What.. Alice Murphy?" he asked, looking unsure as his eyes scanned the room and saw the pretty blonde sitting on her own studying.

"She's on her own, its a perfect opportunity." Magnus smiled as the room quietened down to listen to what Magnus was saying.

"You want me to go over there now?" Noah asked and Magnus continued to stare at him without changing his expression. "Okay, uh- okay," he murmured and closed the lid of his laptop and stood up, adjusting his beanie and walking around the table to leave the glass room. Magnus watched carefully as Noah made his way over to where Alice was sitting and hesitated for a moment before he took off his hat politely and cleared his throat.

Alice looked up, seeing someone standing next to her in her peripherals had caught her attention quickly. She took out her earphones and smiled a little as she saw Noah Wilson, the boyishly handsome tech nerd popular senior, standing in front of her. "Hello," he said quickly, making her smile a little more. "Uh, listen- i'm not so good at talking to people so um, I'm Noah-"

"Wilson, I know," Alice said, her voice kinder and smoother than he had expected.

"Oh," Noah said lightly and chuckled a little nervously. "Right uhm, so i'll just cut to the chase then." he continued and Alice giggled softly. "I just- I wanted to know if you'd like to get some coffee sometime," he blurted out and fiddled with his beanie.

"Coffee?" Alice repeated and rubbed her lips together, she felt eyes on her and glanced to her right briefly and met the intense gaze of Magnus Johnson, who was sitting opposite the open door of the quiet room watching them obviously. It had only been a split second, but it felt like slow motion as she met his stare with her own gaze and then sharply looked back at Noah. "Sure," she agreed, "I'm actually due for a coffee break now if you want to go the cafe downstairs?"

"Oh, right now? Okay yeah, sure," Noah agreed and Alice smiled as she stood up, revealing the tight tartan mini skirt to Magnus's stare. He raised his eyebrows a little and watched as she and Noah wandered out of sight together to head downstairs to the Libraries cafe.

"She's hot," Charlie's voice said from beside Magnus, causing him to look at Charlie directly. "Alice, I mean. She's hot, for a junior." he continued as Magnus continued to stare at him with a blank look. "... what?"

"Shut up." Magnus snapped quietly and slouch back in his chair and fold his arms as Trey decided to pick up the conversation quickly about their ice hockey tactics.

Downstairs in the cafe Noah and Alice had found a small table to sit at together with their two cups of regular coffee in bright yellow mugs, and she couldn't help but wonder why Noah had asked her out completely out of the blue. She knew who he was, she knew who he was friends with, and she couldn't help but feel as if this might have been an opportunity herself. She smiled at Noah with subtle enthusiasm and waited for him to start a conversation for a few moments, but after those few moments passed it was evident that she would be the conversation starter.

"So," she began, causing Noah to look up, "What are your hobbies?"

"My hobbies? Oh, uh, well I spend a lot of time developing software," he replied and Alice smiled encouragingly,

"What kinds of software?" she asked,

"Music software mostly, but some security software too," he continued, "I actually just completed a prototype for home security." he added and Alice hummed enthusiastically as she sipped her coffee, "Yeah it's a pretty big deal but to be accepted into M.I.T you've got to have something to offer. Magnus is letting me try it out in his house so it's cool,"

"He's letting you try it out?" she asked, reminding herself to keep her voice level since her heart had jumped at the mention of his name.

"yeah I mean he paid for most of the hardware to get it all built so he installed it in his house so I could try it out and see if it works, but in return I had to call the software Magnus-One so," Noah chuckled and Alice smiled and sighed under her breath before she took a sip of her coffee again. "SO, uh- what about you? What do you want to do after school? I saw the psychology book on the table upstairs,"