"Over here Rory!" A familiar voice called my name. I scanned the crowd of students looking for June. I finally spotted her standing in the shade of a large tree, and walked eagerly over to her.

"Sorry I'm late." I plonked my suitcase down. "Did you remember the stuff?"

June grinned. "Operation Skyhook is ready for action."

"Perfect, I have some extra stuff packed in my suitcase too. Is Ruben here yet?"

Ruben was the third member of our little trio. The three of us were a random group, and it probably wouldn't have existed had it not been for the many lessons at the back of French class in year eight, eating food and killing time.

Ruben had been new to our school then, after recently moving from Germany to England with his family. He was a complete science nerd and the oldest of four children, all on the shorter side with blond hair and striking blue eyes. June was almost the exact opposite; tall and toned from many years playing netball. Dark hair complimented her tawny skin tone and was kept at shoulder length so that it could be tied back easily. Long hair, she liked to say, was a huge nuisance.

"I am indeed here." I spun round and saw Ruben lugging a suitcase towards us.

"You two are the worst with timings!" June exclaimed, shaking her head.

"Not my fault this time, Jack forgot his hockey stick," I explained.

"That's better than my excuse." Ruben ran his hand through his hair sheepishly. "I just forgot to look at the time."

"Well, we're all here now." I grinned. "Are you guys ready to kick the other schools butts?"

"Of course." Ruben replied.

June picked up her bags. "Let's go load up then and get seats on the bus."

I nodded and we started walking to the buses greeting our classmates on the way. Loading in our suitcases took awhile but eventually we clambered onto the already full bus.

"Here good?" June asked, hovering beside two free seats.

"Yep," I replied after checking for any gross things left behind on the seats. You can never trust a school bus to be clean.

June piled into the window seat leaving me with the aisle and Ruben sat down in the spare seat behind mine next to a dark haired boy who I recognised but had never had a class with.

"Noah, how's it going?" I heard Ruben say behind me before I turned my attention to June.

"I can't believe that this is actually happening." June breathed.

"I know! I wonder what the other schools will be like."

"I'm hoping to meet some hot people." She winked.

I laughed. "I don't have high expectations, this is real life."

"You never know, I wouldn't mind a two week fling."

"You sound like my brother, pre-Mia."

Her jaw dropped. "I do not! Nobody can compete with your brother there."

I shook my head. "Apparently they can. Last weekend Jack gave me a lecture on a guy named Griffin Carter who is said to be a huge player."

"Oh Carter, I know him." I gave her a look and she continued. "Well, not personally. But a few of the girls in my team claim to have slept with him."

"Wow." A part of me had thought that my brother was exaggerating, but maybe not.

"You two," Ruben called over, interrupting us, "have you met Noah before?"

June and I turned around in our seats and I smiled. "I've seen you around school before. Rory Cooper at your service!"

"And I'm June." I glanced briefly over at my friend and saw a tint of blush in her cheeks.

Noah smiled back. "Nice to properly meet you both. Ruben and I have history together."

"History?" I raised my eyebrows.

"History class, dimbo." Ruben explained.

Before anyone could say anything else Mr Wilson started talking at the front of the bus. "Students pay attention, that includes you Harry, or would you rather stay behind and not come?"

The poor boy at the front shook his head quickly.

Of all teachers to be coming, Mr Wilson had to be one of them. He was an old teacher who liked to find fault in everything and everyone; nothing was safe. Why he chose to be a teacher, I had no clue.

"All right now that you're all listening I'm going to brief. Over these next two weeks you will be representing our school. If I hear of any of you misbehaving, have no doubt that you will be sent home immediately."

"He makes it seem as if we're already doing something wrong," I whispered to June, and she nodded.

"This journey will take around two hours. I don't want the volume to get too loud. If it does, the culprits will find themselves sitting up at the front with the teachers."

I definitely will not be loud then.

"That is all." He sat back down and a collective sigh of relief was silently felt.

"I had him last year for maths," Noah said, "five people ran out of our class crying in the first week."

"Five!" June exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yep, I kid you not."

"How did you survive the year?" I asked.

"I transferred classes after the first term. Best decision I've ever made," he replied.

"Fair enough." June nodded her head. "What subject are you competing in at champs?"

"For some reason I got picked for geography. How about you guys?"

"I play netball." June said.

"Chemistry for me."

"And I'm the bio human." Ruben finished.

"Impressive." Noah grinned. "You guys are the people I'd want to be around in an apocalypse."

"Or for taking down other schools." I added with a smile.

June shared a knowing grin with me as if to say, or taking down certain people. Our Star Wars bag, that contained some very valuable items, was tucked safely away in the storage compartment under the bus.

We were armed and ready for war.