He frowned but nodded at the same time. “Want me to come?”

Tailor laughed. “I’ve never seen a guy more pu**y whipped than you, Hannigan,” he mocked, making all of his friends laugh.

Luke frowned. “Pussy whipped my ass. You know who’s boss, right Maisie?” he asked, cocking his head to the side and putting on the big show that he liked to do around his friends. Sometimes I hated this act, most times I could stomach it, but other times it just pissed me off. Today, because I’d had such an incredible weekend with him, I decided to let him run with it and show off to his friends.

I nodded, looking at him through my eyelashes. “You’re my boss, Luke,” I purred, smiling suggestively. His friends all started muttering things like “sweeeeeet” and “niiiiiiiiice” obviously thinking this was some sort of kinky game going on between us. In reality, Luke obviously needed his ego to be stroked a little, I could do that, I was a good girlfriend, and if he needed to feel like the big shot today then that’s what I’d make him feel like.

He smiled at me gratefully before gripping my waist and pulling me to him roughly. His lips claimed mine in an almost primal and possessive way. The kiss was so good that it actually made my knees a little weak; he obviously felt this too so he clutched me to him tighter, holding me steady. When he finally released me from the intense kiss, I was a little breathless.

“Don’t you ever forget it,” he said, smirking at me and then raising an eyebrow at his friends in a ‘who’s the daddy now’ gesture.

I smiled and tried not to roll my eyes. ‘Jerk Luke’ looked like he wanted to come out to play today. “Well I’ll see you at lunch then.” I waved over my shoulder as I headed to the front doors to wait for the new guy who was starting today. After about ten minutes I still didn’t see anyone that I didn’t recognise. I frowned. Had missed him? Maybe he’d arrived earlier than Luke and I did, and he’d slipped into the office, waiting for me there.

I sighed and headed to the office, finding the receptionist sitting there tapping away on her keyboard. I flicked my eyes around the office, the chairs were empty, no one was in here waiting for me. I rested my arms on the little counter, waiting for her to be done. She smiled sweetly at me. I had a good relationship with her; I was in here often enough doing my duties for the numerous committees I was on.

“Hi, I was waiting outside for the new student, but I can’t see him anywhere. He hasn’t by any chance got past me or something has he? Maybe he came in here?” I suggested, smiling hopefully. I didn’t want to go trudging around the school looking for him.

She shook her head. “Sorry, Maisie, I haven’t seen any new students. Have you been out front the whole time?” she asked, looking at me curiously.

I resisted the urge to groan. I hadn’t exactly been waiting for him the whole time; I had been getting bored out of my brain listening to Luke and the people he labelled as his friends. Technically there was plenty of time for Zachary to get to the front door without me seeing, slip in, and start wandering the hallways of the school having no clue where to go. Awesome, I was asked to do one thing and I can’t do it right! Stupid Maisie, and stupid Luke too!

“I was in the parking lot for a bit,” I admitted, wincing.

She smiled sympathetically. “Well, maybe you should wait back out front for a little while again. The bell won’t ring for another five minutes so maybe he’s just cutting it fine. If he comes in here then I’ll send him out to you. If not then I guess he must be in the school somewhere.”

Great. That means I’ll have to go searching the hallways looking for a guy that I’ve never even met. Mondays suck! I nodded and headed out, sitting on the front step of the school, watching every person who walked past me to make sure I’d seen them before. When the bell rang I looked back slightly panicked. I didn’t want to be late or miss my biology class, but I needed to find this guy.

I wrung my hands together, wondering if I should just go to class and leave him and hope that someone else found him wandering the halls and showed him to the office. Then I remembered I had his schedule and locker combination. I groaned and flicked my eyes around, undecided. The thought of being late for class was actually making me feel a little sick. If Alex were here to witness my indecision, he would be laughing his ass off at me and calling me a nerd or a geek.

I took a deep breath and decided it was my responsibility to find him. I shouldered my bag and marched into the school with a frown on my face, though I knew I couldn’t actually blame him for getting here before I did and going into the school not knowing I was supposed to meet him here. I walked up and down the hallways; I knocked on boys’ bathroom doors before heading in there to double check. I went to his first period class, physics, to see if someone had showed him there already, but the teacher told me he was absent. I resumed my search, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.

I completely missed my first period and was still searching the second floor when the second period bell went. Someone has to have found him by now and taken him to the office, surely! I pulled out the guy’s schedule and looked at it worriedly. He had two classes with me this afternoon, gym and English. I sighed and reluctantly trudged back to the office. There was an awful, uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach because the poor guy was probably wandering around the school somewhere.

The receptionist smiled up at me as I walked in. “Found him?” she questioned, tucking into her muffin.

I shook my head. “No. I’ve looked everywhere. He’s not in his first class; I’ve checked the hallways and bathrooms. Has he not been in here?” I asked, wincing and praying she would say yes. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was going to get into trouble for not looking after him like I’d promised. I’d never been in trouble at school, ever.

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen him or anyone else. You’re the only one that’s been in today.”

I groaned and put my head in my hands. I really needed to get to class, I was already over twenty minutes late for algebra, and I didn’t want to miss it, I loved all things math. “I’m gonna get to class. I’ll search for him again later. I’m hoping someone’s found him and shown him where to go already.” I winced, looking at her for her permission to abandon my search.

She nodded. “Okay, well if he comes in I’ll send you a note to let you know. You’re eating lunch with him, aren’t you?” She grabbed a piece of paper, jotting down a mine and Zachary’s names as a reminder.

“If I can find him, then yeah.” I smiled gratefully and pushed myself away from the counter. I practically ran to my algebra class. As I knocked and walked in, all eyes in the room snapped to me. I noticed Sandy smirk in my direction, her eyes raking down my body looking at my simple jeans and tank top with Luke’s hoodie combo I was wearing today. “Sorry I’m late.” I winced as I walked in, looking at an extremely angry Mr Turner.

“Where on earth have you been, Miss Preston? Class started over twenty minutes ago, and now you’re disrupting everyone!” he roared.

I flinched, taken aback by his outburst. “Er, I was looking for a new guy?” I offered weakly.

Some people snickered at my comment but I wasn’t sure why. “Aww, is Luke not handling things too well or something? I’m available, Maisie!” Freddie shouted suggestively from the back row, making everyone howl with laughter.

My mouth dropped open in shock. “Of course he is!” I cried.

His smirk grew wider. “So why the need for a new guy?”

I opened my mouth to shout at him for being a jerk, when something slammed down on the desk at the front, almost making me jump out of my skin. I yelped and looked back to Mr Turner, shocked. He’d slammed his textbook down onto the table. His face was beet red as he glared, first at me, and then at Freddie.

“You two have lunchtime detention!” he shouted, pointing at us both.

I gasped. What the heck? I didn’t do anything wrong, why am I getting detention? “Mr Turner, I was looking for a new student! Principal Bennett asked me to meet him and-” but I was cut off by a wave of his hand.

“I don’t care what Principal Bennett asked you to do! You’ve just waltzed into my class twenty minutes late, with no note I presume?” He looked at me expectantly. I gulped noisily. I didn’t have a note, so he was right there. I shook my head and he continued, “Then you two proceed to have an inappropriate conversation in front of the whole class, further disrupting us!”

I felt my heart start to race in my chest. I’d never had a detention before. I actually felt a little shell-shocked; my whole body felt cold. Was this what it felt like every time you got into trouble? I hated the feeling, it was awful. I had an obsessive need to do my best and this detention would be the first black mark I would ever have against my name at school.

I opened my mouth to protest and beg, to tell him that I could get a note from the Principal herself to explain, but he cut me off again before I even uttered one word. “If you speak then it’ll be an afterschool detention too,” he warned.

I could feel the cold sweat running down my back at that statement. I snapped my mouth closed and shook my head, but Freddie didn’t. “A detention? What the hell for? I didn’t do anything wrong!” he cried, clearly annoyed.

Mr Turner glared at him. “After school detention then too. For both of you!”

I gasped again. “What? Why?” I asked, trying desperately not to cry.

“Now tomorrow too!” Mr Turner roared, his evil eyes coming to rest on me.

I whimpered. First I lost someone who I was supposed to be looking after, then I completely missed biology and I was pretty sure I had a quiz. And now I had two detentions? Could this day possibly get any worse?

As if answering my question, Freddie jumped out of his seat, glaring back at Mr Turner. “You can’t give us detention for nothing! You’re just in a freaking foul mood and are taking it out on us. What’s up, Turner, did you not get any at the weekend?”

The whole class had gone quiet, mouths hanging open in shock. Mr Turner looked like he was struggling to breathe as he glared at Freddie like he wanted to kill him on the spot. “You,” he hissed, pointing at Freddie. He turned and pointed at me making me flinch from the hardness to his eyes. “And you. Lunchtime detentions for the rest of the week, and after school tomorrow. And if I hear one more peep out of either of you two for the rest of the lesson, then it’ll be after school detentions for the whole week!” he said, his voice so low that it almost came out as a growl.

Freddie laughed quietly to himself, and I knew what he was going to do before he even did it. He was one of Luke’s jerk friends and I knew Luke would do exactly the same thing in this situation. Act the big shot. Freddie was a troublemaker, and was always in detention; this was probably nothing out of the ordinary for him. Me on the other hand…

He sat back down, deliberately slowly, leaning back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head as if he was chilling out. His face was innocent and happy as he said, “Peep.”

Mr Turner almost smiled, almost, but then it was gone to be replaced by the hard stern face of a strict teacher. He just as calmly and deliberately walked over to his desk and shuffled his papers there. “Very well, Mr Silverton. You and Miss Preston will now both have detention lunchtimes and after school for the rest of the week.” He turned to me and pointed to a seat that was free at the front. “Sit!” he ordered.

I obediently trotted over to the seat and plopped down in it, my mouth hanging open in shock and my eyes prickling with tears. I wanted to protest and plead that it wasn’t my fault, but I didn’t dare say anything else in case it made it worse. I had an excuse, I had a reason for being late to his class, but he just didn’t want to listen.

I turned to glare at Freddie who was laughing quietly to himself; he got a discreet high five from Ricky who was sitting next to him. I wanted to kill him, I really did. But I knew Luke would do that for me once he found out I couldn’t eat with him all week because of Freddie’s antics. I pulled out my book and tried to concentrate on anything other than the fact that I had just gotten into trouble at school for the first time ever. I scrawled on the top of my notepad, ‘Mondays suck’, then I quickly scribbled it out before anyone saw it. That statement wasn’t right anyway, it wasn’t that Monday’s sucked, it was that the new guy sucked. If I hadn’t been waiting for him then I wouldn’t have been late to class in the first place and my academic record would be perfect, the same as always.

The rest of the day was just as bad, I was in a seriously foul mood. I text Luke to tell him that I couldn’t meet him for lunch and that I had detention after school too. As he replied, my phone got confiscated so I didn’t even get to read his response. Freddie sat next to me in the lunchtime detention, digging his finger into my ribs the whole time, throwing me little notes with pictures that he’d drawn on them of me with my head stuck in a book or some other degrading nerd joke.

I did my best to ignore him, I really did, but I secretly hoped that Luke punched him in the face for this little stunt. I didn’t have time to explain to Principal Bennett that I hadn’t found Zachary so he would have to eat alone today, I was pretty sure I’d get into trouble for that too. All in all, my morning was disastrous.

Gym class wasn’t much better; I fell over and scraped my knees while we were running. Zachary didn’t turn up to this class either, and I felt so guilty that I wanted to cry even more. I felt terrible as I thought about him possibly hiding in the bathrooms because he didn’t know where he was supposed to go or do.