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"This is Serena," he says softly. "She is a green tree python. Don't worry, she won't bite you."

He puts his hand into the vivarium and Serena slides up onto his hand, she wraps around his wrist and winds herself around his arm. I cautiously approach him, trying not to look as scared as I feel.

She is bright green, like a neon highlighter. She looks at me yellow eyes that look like they have a black cross in them.

"Hold your hand out for her," Lucio tells me.

I slowly hold my hand near her face. Her forked tongue darts out and skim across my knuckles, it tickles.

Satisfied now that she has scented me, she slides over to my upturned palm and winds herself around my arm. I watch her warily as she moves up towards my shoulder. She lifts the top part of her body up and looks me in the eyes.

"She likes you," Lucio reassures me. "Don't stare at her for too long or she might think you are challenging her. She's a bit protective of me."

I drop my gaze instantly and the snake relaxes, moving further up my arm. I remain completely still as she slides under my hair and around the back of my neck. She comes down my shoulder and winds around my other arm.

"What is she doing?" I ask nervously.

Lucio chuckles. "Checking you out. She's a curious one. Don't worry, you'll know if she doesn't like you. She would have dropped off you by now."

I lift my hand and Serena climbs up it. She rests her head on my palm.

"She trusts you. You can stroke her, if you want. She likes her back stroked."

Nervously, I stroke down her spine with my finger. I stroke her some more and she seems content with it.

When she's had enough, she moves back to Lucio so that he can place her back into her vivarium. He says goodbye and we leave the reptile house.

I spot Sal sitting by himself in the quad, smoking a cigarette.

"There's Sal, want to say hi?" I ask Lucio.

He snorts in amusement at my question. "No."

I let go of his hand. "Suit yourself. I'll meet you back in the dorm."

Lucio pulls me back, kisses my lips and then lets go.

"Okay, angel. Have fun with your friend," he says warmly. He shoots Sal a glare over my shoulder, smiles at me and then turns into the building.

I like the fact that, even though The Four don't like Sal, they don't have a problem with me being friends with him.

"What up, homie," I joke as I approach him.

He rolls his eyes and takes a drag. "Hi, loser."

I sit down next to him at a right angle and lean my back against his shoulder.

"Do I look like a fucking chair to you? Get off," he says bluntly.

"Nah, you're comfy." I lean my head back and close my eyes.

'You're so annoying," he mutters under his breath but doesn't make any attempt to move me.

"You love me."

It's silent for a moment whilst I wait for him to make some sarcastic remark, but he doesn't.

"So, you marked and mated yet?"

"Jeez, I only moved in yesterday."

He shrugs. "You never know. Some couples move fast."

"I guess. Honey mated with her mate after three days, I think."

Sal scrunches up his face. "Who the fuck is Honey? That's even a name? I swear that's that sticky shit that bees make."

I gawp at him, shocked by his response.

"I've introduced you to Honey before! Don't you remember?"

He shakes his head and I roll my eyes.

"Honestly. You're unbelievable. And don't be mean about her name, it suits her."

"Whatever. What the fuck are people calling their kids nowadays? Am I supposed to call any future offspring jam? Marmalade?"

"Shut up, Sal."

"Oh, yeah, that's right." He snubs out his cigarette more aggressively than needed, stubbing it against the table. "I won't have future offspring."

He gets up and storms away.

"Sal!" I call after him, but he shoves his hands in his pockets and ignores me. I watch his retreating figure and sigh.

I wish there was something I could do about his prophecy.

I should have asked him about the Lamia blade. Maybe he wants it for protection. Maybe, he is hoping he can change his prophecy.

But that's impossible. No one has changed their prophecy before.

After Sal ditches me, I return to the dorm. I agree to stay another night with the guys. It will be the first time I've woken up to a school day in the same bed as them.

I go back to my old dorm to collect my uniform for Monday. I say hi to Esme and Irene, who are chilling with Esme's sister. I stay and talk to them for a little while. Esme's sister tells me about her wedding, showing me pictures of the cake and her dress.

When an hour or so passes, I say goodbye and return to my mates.

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Lucio's alarm goes off two hours before school starts. He gets out of bed first and drags Mal with him for a morning jog. Their dedication makes me groan and press my face into my pillow. Esteban grumbles under his breath and curls into my side.

Oro gets up about forty-five minutes later to make breakfast for everyone. I'm awake, but I don't leave the bed. I hear Lucio and Mal return. They take showers and get ready for school.

I get up when I have forty-five minutes. I get dressed, quickly apply some make-up and join three of my mates in the kitchen for breakfast. Oro has made omelettes for everyone.

Esteban practically crawls from the bed, fifteen minutes before school is due to start. Somehow, he wolfs down his breakfast, uses the bathroom and gets dressed in that time.

He leaves the dorm with the rest of us, looking put-together and not rushed at all. It's incredible.

Honey and I catch up during form time. I hear all about her weekend with Lawrence and she asks me about my one with my mates.

I meet up with Lucio for business studies first thing. We spend the lesson working on our project together, we are due to present it on Friday.

Maths is fun with Oro. We speed through the work we are set so that we can sit and talk whilst the other students are still stuck on their worksheets.

I hang out with the girls at break and meet Sal in the common room for our free period.

"Hey, about yesterday..." he trails off and awkwardly scratches his neck. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's forgotten." I glance out of the window. "It's a nice day, do you want to go for a walk?"

We talk about random things and walk around the school grounds during our free, soaking up the last of the Sun before autumn well and truly takes over.

I can feel eyes on us, and I look around. I spot Mr Burberry, the headmaster, watching us from the office in his window. Sal notices him, too, and his eyes narrow.

"Why is he staring at us?" I ask Sal, looking around to try not to make it obvious that we're talking about him.

"I don't know," Sal replies absentmindedly. "Let's go back inside, he's giving me the creeps."

We spend the rest of our free in the common room, discussing the teachers.

I have philosophy with Mal during period 4 and end the school day with a skills lesson.

It's a really weird, but fun lesson. Everyone is told to get into teams of 8-10. It's great for me because I get to form a group with friends and my mates. Salvador reluctantly joins our group. The Four aren't overly pleased about his presence, either.

Someone is chosen to go into the middle of the circle. They are blindfolded, bound and have a flag tucked into the back of their skirts or trousers.

As the main link between everyone in the group, I am forced to be the first one in the ring they form. Lucio enjoys himself far too much when he blindfolds me and then ties my hands together.

"Hopefully, this won't be the only time I do this to you, angel," he murmurs huskily in my ear.

He then steps back and takes his place in the circle. The aim is for one of them to get the flag from my back. My wrists are gently bound at my front, preventing me from covering the flag or putting my hands out on either side of the me.

The whole point of this is to teach the person blindfolded to rely on their other senses, and the people trying to steal the flag to be better predators who are light on their feet.

It ends up with people falling over, bumping into things and each other and generally having a silly time. I enjoy it a lot, especially when my mates are bound and blindfolded.

Salvador is alarmingly good at the game. He hears us all coming, even when we tiptoe. If no one has got the flag off of you in five minutes, you swap with someone else.

I sneak up on Mal. I reach out for the flag, thinking that I've got him, and he spins around at the last moment. He grabs me with his bound hands and pulls me forwards. Somehow, the smooth boy manages to kiss me despite being incapacitated, pretty much.

Sal starts complaining that he doesn't want to play any more if everyone is going to be kissing one another. He doesn't get to complain for long, because the bell goes, signalling the end of the school day.

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