(Ash)

I stared at the scene infront of me. It was like a bomb had blown up. My eyes fell over our stand. It was probably the worst for wear and our work was steaming and messed up. Cilan rushed over in a panic and touched the tracks. His hand instantly reacted and he drew it away.

"This is scorching hot, but where is the car?" He wondered, his voice a little shaky. Cilan had spent weeks testing his work and now it was like this.

I turned and noticed Serena had a guilty look on her face. Everyone, even the judges and staff were still as silent as ever.

"What happened?" I looked into her sorry eyes.

"I.. we..we really wanted to look at your work, so..well, we kind of took the cover off and then..." She stopped mid sentence and turned to Misty "Misty came up to us and noticed the remote control. She wanted to test it out when she suddenly dropped it, the remote control"

"I am guessing it caused the car to explode and then complete chaos ensued?" I asked Serena.

She looked just about ready to cry "It was like a domino effect. The chain reaction it caused knocked other inventions over and everything was ruined" She wiped a tear from her eye.

I put my arms round her waist and pulled her in, comforting her "Serena...don't cry. It was only an accident"

"But" She started to sniffle "Everyone is going to fail because of us. We will all get 0% and have to ace the exam"

"Well, you shouldn't have to worry if that happens, you'll ace the exam with flying colours. We all will if it comes down to it, believe me, ok?" She looked up and smiled. Glad that was sorted. The other girls were still a little silent. Cilan was a little different as he stepped up from the mess.

Cilan looked like a kettle ready to burst as he stepped up "I spent weeks, on this. The whole point of the covers is to make sure others don't see or mess with anyones work until the fair, NOT, before it" His eyes narrowed towards Misty, who put her hands up.

"Chillax ya nerd, it was an accident, these things happen" Misty was so casual about failing a quarter of her science grade.

"My science report has been flawless since day one and now, well, thanks to some bimbo idiot it's ruined!" Cilans eyes flared with rage. I had never seen him so angry. I need reminding never to mess with Cilans work.

"Hey, calm down Cilan. We all worked hard-" I began but Cilan shook his head.

"WE? I was the only one that done anything!" He shouted back. I was sure Cilan was going red "I have had enough of this" He turned and stormed out of the room.

Gary and Calem were walking in at that moment and Cilan barged through the middle of them.

"Hey, what's his problem?" Gary asked me. The teachers and judges had began clearing up the mess and the other students had to join in and help "And what has happened here?"

"Long story short, Cilan is angry about this whole scenario. He will calm down" I shrugged, not even knowing if he would calm down.

"He called me a bimbo idiot, no one gets away with that!" Misty looked furious.

"Calm down, Misty" Serena looked towards Misty "He is angry, people act differently when enraged. He didn't mean it"

"I don't care, he will get whats coming to him"

Dawn and Iris had moved away from the group and were making themselves bush tidying up.

"Can all science students in the 11th grade follow me" An unfamiliar man said. We all looked at each other a little puzzled and moved into the corridor.

"I am Mr. Brooks, head of the science department. After the mess that has been made by a few students, accident or not is unacceptable. It is within my jurisdiction to tell you all that you receive no grade on this work and get a 0. Furthermore, anyone involved in the incident must head to my office when you are dismissed" Mr. Brooks adjusted his glasses and walked off.

I looked at everyone. Gary seemed inattentive and probably didn't realize he got a zero on the project. Serena looked scared, nervous, guilty and upset. She was involved so she had to go and see Mr. Brooks. Iris and Dawn looked the same, but May and Misty looked more angry then anything.

I looked at Drew, who had taken the announcement like it was nothing. When we was dismissed I followed him to our lockers.

"That was rough. I wonder where Cilan is" I said to Drew.

"He will be fine. We just have to nail the other 75% of our science course"

"You're right. I think I might use this next hour to study. If we want to pass we need to have it all in here" I tapped my head and Drew nodded with a determined grin. We closed our lockers and headed to science.

(Serena)

Misty, May, Dawn, Iris and I followed Mr Brooks into his office. He span round in his chair and faced us.

"Now, I know some of you may have not got involved, but frankly I don't care. You're a group and one persons actions affects you all. So, you will finish the cleaning up in the hall and for the rest of the week you are on detention, is that clear?" He stared at us with eyes as hard as stone.

Silence met his question.

"I said is that clear?" He spoke louder.

"Yes sir" We replied in unison.

We left his room in silence and walked outside awkwardly. I felt like the punishment was harsh but it was our own fault for meddling with other peoples work. It wasn't like I expected Misty to come over. He could have atleast gave me and Misty the punishment and not the others.

"Way to go, Misty" Iris folded her arms and looked a little angry. No one liked detentions so we all had a reason to be angry.

"What?! it's Serena's fault too" She said defensively.

"Well, she doesn't have butter fingers, ya doofus" May looked away with a half grin, half smile. She was pleased with her little joke.

"It's all of our faults. We didn't stop Serena, in fact, I wanted to do it too" Dawn admitted. She still looked a little upset.

"I suppose that's true" May agreed.

"Well, after this mess, we need to begin studying if we want to ace science this year"

"You can say that again" I laughed.

We headed to the hall to clean up the mess and I felt more determined to get through the year.

(Ash)

"You guys seen Cilan" I asked Gary, Calem and Kenny at lunch. They all shook there heads

"Not since we passed you guys this morning" Calem said in thought.

"Yeah, he must be pretty mad, huh?" Kenny scratched his chin in thought also.

I thought for a moment and realized where he must be "I'll be right back!" I shouted to the guys as I rushed off to the library.

As I had guessed, Cilan was on the computer. I took up a chair and sat next to him.

"You all right buddy?" I asked Cilan. He turned to me for a second and then back to the computer in complete silence.

"Listen. Everyone knows it was an accident, even you" I tried to reason with him "We just have to buckle up and study extra hard for the final exam"

Cilan wasn't phased by my words.

"It will be ok, Cilan. I know how much work and effort was put into the race track, but we need to forget about it. Everyone else is" I looked around as Cilan regarded my words "I hear the sandwich shop is selling a meatball sandwich after school. My treat"

Cilan turned to me and he flickered a grin "Now you're talking"

I smiled and we got up and left. All that was needed was two months of rock hard studying and an easy science exam. It wasn't too much to ask for, right?