As I walk with Effy and Pandora, my mind is preoccupied by Cook, the boy from across the street. I can't get him out of my head, there's something about him, and I know Effy is thinking the same. I saw the look they exchanged. I saw how intrigued he seemed, staring at her. Almost in awe.

I get it. Completely. Effy is all mysterious and cool looking. One day I wanna get close enough to her to see what she's really like, behind this dark, mysterious girly act.

And I can't really get jealous, can I? Cook noticed me first. I was the one who played hard to get. Besides, I can tell straight away that Cook doesn't belong to anybody. Cook is just Cook. It doesn't take a genius or a psychic to be able to tell you that.

I'm curious as can be, though. I really want to see how this year plays out, having already encountered a few interesting people.

I can only hope Cook is headed to the same college as we are, as much as I hate to admit it. The fact that I even feel a shred of hope to see that boy again makes me want to repeatedly punch myself in the gut.

-

As we approach Roundview College, I hear Pandora let out a gasp of pure excitement. "This year is going to be whizzer, guys!" She gushes. "I'm sad we can't be in the same form, though. You picked philiosophy, right, Eve?"

"Right," I answer, only half listening to what she's saying. My eyes are scanning the big green before the even bigger college.

The green is dotted with students, some sitting together in a misshapen circle, smoking and chatting. Others are walking together in small clusters towards the big school. Then, of course, you have the occasional couple displaying their very unnecessary 'acts of love', as in shoving their tongues down one another's throat.

"Shithole," Effy states firmly, her eyes darting across the green, eyeing the different students.

I nod in agreement with Effy. Pandora looks at her, confused. "What do you mean, Eff?" She says, clearly puzzled. "I was gonna say it's amazing! Look how massive it is, and gee, all the different people!" Pandora's blue eyes shine as she takes it all in.

Effy exhales lightly through her nostrils. "Yeah, Panda, it's amazingly shit," she chirps, a weird mixture of enthusiasm and sarcasm in her voice.

Pandora frowns, then shakes her head, her pigtails bouncing in the process. "You're so confusing, Eff," she chuckles, linking her arm with Effy and I in the process. "Come on, guys, come on! We don't wanna be late!"

Effy and I groan in unison as we get dragged towards the big entrance of Roundview College. As we approach the steps leading up to the main doors, Pandora lets us out of her hold to stare at the groups of people ahead of us.

I stare too. Slightly ahead, to the left, is the one and only Cook and his two mates. God knows how they got here before us. They're sitting on top of the stairs, Cook in the middle, the other two boys either side of him.

Cook is busy rolling what looks to be just a simple cigarette - he'd be insane to be rolling anything else on school premises, especially on the first day - a look of pure concentration contorts his face as he finishes putting tobacco into the skins wrapper and begins to roll.

I glance at Effy who's also staring, this time at the tanned boy. I look at him, and notice pure admiration plastered on his face, as he stares back at her.

As I'm about to turn my gaze away from the boys and back to the girls to tell them to keep heading on into the school, Cook looks up and makes eye contact with me, all the while he's licking the ends of the paper to seal his rollie. I see him grin.

I look away and grab both Effy and Pandora's arms and start to drag them away with me, Pandora whining in surprise.

"Eve! Not cool!" She whimpers. "I was really busy looking at all the different people hanging out there. They're all our age, you know? I was hoping we was gonna make friends with those boys too!"

"Sorry Pandora," I mutter, slowing down and letting go of the two girls. "I just want to get a good seat in the auditorium for assembly, you know?"

Effy nods, an unreadable expression on her face. Pandora perks up at the mention of assembly, and starts skipping ahead of Effy and I.

We exchange a glance of pure exhaustion from trying to keep up with Panda's extremely bubbly personality.

As we head through the main doors of the school, I look around me, taking in all the different faces.

We head through a crowded hallway in our three, past masses of people coming from different directions, and push toward the auditorium. I glance at Effy, envying her confidence. She airily carries herself around with pure grace and determination, yet she's so mysterious and intimidating, and absolutely everyone laps it up.

Even now, as we hastily try make it to the auditorium on time, there's some people who's heads turn as soon as Effy catches their eye, admiring her for a split second. Standing beside her really makes me feel so bland.

We finally make it to the auditorium, Pandora keeping a tight grip on my arm the whole time as to not get separated from us. There's a couple people already sitting down on the stands, clustered in small groups, the rest filing in behind us.

I look around at my soon to be form, my eyes darting around the stands, looking for a certain cheeky face. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm secretly hoping Cook will be in the same form as me. It will call for a very interesting year, to say the least.

I feel a tinge of disappointment when I don't spot him, then flick my left arm with my right hand to scold myself for even getting my hopes up over a boy who I barely even know, who straightaway spells trouble. Maybe that's why I'm so enticed. Trouble.

"Come on," Effy sighs, stalking ahead, her eyes fixed on something. I follow her gaze and lo and behold, Cook is coming through a different entrance on the other side of the auditorium, his two mates behind him, as per usual. He notices Effy and smirks at her, giving a small wink, before taking his seat in the stands.

Effy's face is, surprise surprise, unreadable. I sigh internally as we head over to take our seats. Why am I getting so worked up over this? Over a stupid boy I literally have never uttered a word to in my life? The only interaction between us being him yelling at me from across the road, which I'm sure he has done to many different girls, not just me.

I take a deep breath to clear my thoughts and try to blot out the boy who is sat a few seats behind us, but somehow still within my range of vision, if I angle my head a certain way.

Instead, I turn my focus towards the last few of my new peers to take seats. I notice a girl with short blonde hair, heading up the stands towards where Cook and his buddies are situated.

I watch her from the corner of my eye, as she stands above Cook, and says something to him. I can see him looking up at her and smirking, obviously saying some crass comment, as she rolls her eyes and sighs and she sits down beside him, him laughing childishly all the while.

I shake my head, a small smile forming on my face as I turn my attention back to the teachers who are now conferring with each other a few feet away from the stands.

I kind of zone out as soon as they start talking, my instant reaction whenever any adult with any form of authority begins to speak. It's a survival instinct.

I perk up suddenly at the mention of 'instant expulsion', and begin to listen in on the lengthy list of things that I'm so definitely going to try before the year ends.

A middle aged woman is facing all of us, looking ever so slightly flustered. She doesn't look like she enjoys her job.

She clears her throat and begins to list the most bizarre compilation of things to not do in this college I have ever heard to date. It progressively gets stranger.

It goes as follows:

"Smoking on the premises
Setting fire to the premises,
Consumption of alcohol on the premises, consumption of drugs on the premises, consumption of pornography on the premises, teacher abuse, glue abuse, self abuse, sexual intercourse with any other student, teacher or animal or combination of the above, including oral sex and/or use of sex toys on the premises.

Is that clear?"

Effy is taking notes beside me. "Clear as day," she sniggers.

I glance at her, then glance behind me, at Cook. He's staring at the teachers assembled in front of the students, pen in his mouth, his gaze distracted. I look away and rest my chin in my hand.

Don't get attached, Eve, I tell myself. You know his type.

Yet I find myself being drawn into his intriguing trap increasingly by the second, as much as I try to suppress it.