I grinned at everyone, giving a small wave and dragged Tobi away.

"Maisie and John are dating?" I exclaimed incredulously, making wild hand gestures. Tobi nodded.

I crossed my arms. "Is this why you always changed the subject when it came to Joe and Maisie had been avoiding me today?"

She nodded.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

She nodded, and then shook her head, as if clearing out cobwebs in her mind.

Damn, when did I get so metaphoric?

Not the time Chloe, focus!

"We didn't tell you because we knew you'd react like this." She mumbled, which was so unlike her.

"React like what?" I asked, my laughter coming out high-pitched. "I'm not reacting like anything!"

She gave me a pointed look.

"Okay, you know what? I'll go talk to John and Maisie. I'll tell Maisie I'm not angry at her for dating my childhood best friend and hiding it from me for no reason, and then we can all go back to normal. Good? Good." Without waiting for an answer, I started to walk towards them.

"No!" Tobi shouted, pulling me back into our corner. We looked like we were doing pretty shady business if you asked me.

Yeah, well, no-one asked you Chloe.

I don't need to be asked.

Oh shut up you weirdo. Who argues with themselves?

You're calling yourself a weirdo as well, dumbass.

Oh wow.

"Hey, are you even listening? Ugh, I don't even care. You know what you should do? You should go home to see your sister and brother in law, okay? Okay." Tobi told me, and slightly shoved me into the direction of the exit. I glanced over at where Maisie, to see her staring back at me with a slightly guilty expression. I just rolled my eyes and waved Tobi to goodbye.

*****

"Mum?" I called out as I entered my house, taking out the key from the slot.

"In here, honey." She replied from the living room. I heard someone standing up and when I walked in I saw my sister and Joe. I ran to Amber, squealing and hugged her. She laughed and hugged me back. I moved on to Joe, doing a handshake that we'd make up a few years ago, grinning.

"It's so good to see you guys!" I gushed, not being able to keep the smile off my face.

"We need to catch up on everything!" Amber replied and we both skipped up to my room, giggling like a bunch of schoolgirls.

Well, I was one so that was fitting.

"So, fill me in on everything! What happened at school today?" She asked as we sat on my bed.

"Okay, so surprisingly I met Maisie and Tobi at the mall yesterday and we caught up on a few things, but they acted really weird when I mentioned John," I started, but Amber cut me off.

"John?! As in your childhood best friend John? As in the boy you had your first kiss with John? As in the-boy-I-ruined-my-favourite-jeans-in-a-duck-pond for John?" She squealed. I sighed, nodding.

"Yes, that John. Anyway, today I found out why they were acting so strange, also why Maisie was avoiding me throughout the day." I carried on, and Amber leaned forward slightly, making me chuckle.

"I was about to leave school with Tobi when I saw a crowd of people in my grade leaving. But the fascinating thing was that John was at the front. And guess who he was with?"

"Don't tell me."

"Yup. Maisie."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? THAT HOE!" She shouted, shaking her head. But she wasn't done.

"Amber!"

"It's true! You and John are meant to be! She knows that, which is probably why she has a list of fifty different ways on how to destroy your friendship with him."

I burst out laughing, finding the idea ridiculous. "Maisie is the sweetest girl I've ever met, Amber."

"The sweet and innocent looking ones are the ones you need to keep an eye on." She warned.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, do you have any advice on what I should do?" I asked.

"Just remember who your friends are, Chloe. The ones that you think have your back end up stabbing it. Trust me, I know. Also, know where your priorities are, because you could forget what matters the most in the end. Do not, under any circumstances, forget to keep me updated and lastly, don't let the drama get to you, baby sister." She told me, and ruffled my perfectly styled hair.

I grinned, shoving her away. "I faintly remember your high school drama."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's not go back to that. The important thing is that you can learn from my mistakes."

"Yeah, and you made a lot."

"Shut up. So, do you have Netflix on your phone?" She questioned, stealing it off me.

"Duh. That was the second thing I downloaded."

What was the first thing?"

"Call of Duty." I replied almost sheepishly.

"You're such a dork."

"Dorks are the smart ones."

*****

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

As I laid in bed with my alarm repeatedly beeping, I asked myself whether education was worth getting up at such an early hour.

I came to a conclusion that it wasn't, but becoming an actress was, and to do so you had to have been educated in your teenage years.

After a mental debate with myself, I finally switched off my alarm and ripped my covers off, walking to the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and showered.

I carefully styled my hair into a cute messy bun, knowing by next week I wouldn't bother with it. I didn't go full out with makeup, only applying eyeliner, mascara and some concealer to cover the suitcases under my eyes, thankful I was blessed with naturally clear skin.

"C'mon Chloe, speed up." I mumbled to myself, hurriedly dressing up in the outfit I'd picked the day before. It consisted of a grey crop top with the word 'GEEK' written on it, high-waisted floral shorts and my blue all-star Converses. I grabbed my bag, checking I had everything, unplugged my phone from the charger and rushed downstairs.

"Good morning!" I sang to my mum, hugging her. She hugged me back.

"Morning, Chloe. Excited for school?" She asked. I snorted.

"Not sure where you got that idea from." I replied and she rolled her eyes.

"Just try to have fun today, okay?" She told me and handed me a chocolate bar. I grinned at her and nodded, then shook my head and made a face when she turned around.

"Love you!" I called out as I left. I let out a breath, thinking of the events that would happen today.

I was going to be a calm, sophisticated person and confront Maisie. Then, still as the calm, sophisticated person I am I would introduce myself to John. I smiled at the idea; he was the only person I'd thought about in Australia.

Anyway, fearing I was going to be late, I checked the time on my watch. 8:48. I sighed in relief, getting ready for a music-filled relaxing stroll.

Well, it would of been if I didn't realise the time on my phone was over five minutes late.

So, the actual time was 8:54 meaning I had six minutes to get to school, by walking, which was a ten-minute distance by walking from my house.

So yeah. Relaxing, music-filled stroll.

I hurriedly kept my earphones in my pocket, not wanting them to be damaged when I sprinted. There was an incident when I was running for the school bus; my earphones fell out of my ears and on to the floor where I accidently squashed them.

So, being the athletic person I was, I managed to be inside by 9:01, forgetting the fact I was already late for one of my classes.

I sprinted to what seemed like the English corridor, but roughly bumped into someone.

No, this wasn't that cliché part in the book where I described the guy I'd accidently ran into as a 'brick wall' or gazed into his hazelnut (with hints of green) orbs and proclaimed my love for him.

Why?

Because it was just Benji.

"Oh, hey!" I said, grinning because I was relieved to see a familiar face.

"Hey, Chloe." He answered, sounding breathless.

"Would you happen to know where this class is?" I asked, showing him my timetable. He nodded, his curls flopping around and pointed down the corridor.

"Go there, take a right, keep walking and then you'll see a set of stairs but only go up on them halfway, take a left then a sharp turn straight and you're there... I think." He explained.

Yup, I'm getting a detention today.

"Thanks!" I said, starting to back away but he held on to my arm.

Muscular arm alert, someone's been working out! I thought to myself.

"You do not have a clue on how to get there, right?" He asked, chuckling slightly. I shook my head sheepishly.

"I'll just show you there." He offered and we started walking.

"Wait, don't you have class?"

"Yeah, I'm in it now but I really just had to pee."

"Good to know."

*****

So, when I arrived at class around seven minutes late, I'd found out quite a few things about Benji.

· He was the middle child out of five children.

· He'd been offered trying out a shoot by a modelling agency, (obviously) but asked them to postpone it, for unknown reasons.

Anyway, I was daydreaming so much about my new friend that I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. Before I could count to three, I roughly bumped into someone and had stumbled back.

"I'm so sorry..." I started, but trailed off.

Standing in front of me was a guy around 6'2 with a chiselled jaw, sharp features, messy but styled-to-perfection brown hair and piercing blue eyes I would never forget.

John.

How cliché. I feel like this is planned.

For a few seconds, minutes or hours we stared at each other. The surprising thing was the emotions I saw flash across his face when he stared at me. Anger, relief, sadness, betrayal and longing? I didn't know.

I decided to be the first person to break the silence and sauntered over to him, giving his very muscular arm a playful punch. "How's it going, bestie?"

That snapped him out of his trance-like state. John's expression turned blank as he looked at his arm, then my hand, then finally my face and asked:

"Do I know you?"

*****