James grinned. 'Will you be coming down to breakfast with me, or are you too tough for food as well?'

There were about sixty cherubs in the dining-hall when James and Lauren arrived. It took a couple of seconds for the room to go quiet, then chairs grated backwards and everyone stood up and started clapping and banging cutlery on the table. There were shouts of Lauren and whistles as well.

Shakeel was standing nearby; James looked over at him.

'What's this all about?'

'Your sister,' he said, as if James was some kind of idiot. 'She's the biggest hero in the history of CHERUB. Everyone dreams of getting revenge on Mr Large, but I never imagined any kid would really have the guts to do it.'

Kids piled in from all directions, until Lauren stood in an ocean of hugs and handshakes. A couple of stocky teenage boys hoisted Lauren off the ground, balanced her on their shoulders and took her on a victory parade around the dining-room. She had a mix of emotions on her face; happy, freaked out and afraid of getting her head smacked on a light fitting. As Lauren was galloped around the room, the kids at the dining tables were all pledging to help her dig.

'Dig what?' James asked.

'We heard Lauren's got to clean out the ditches at the back end of campus,' Shakeel explained. 'Everyone is putting on their wellies and going up there Sat.u.r.day morning to help her out. We reckon with a hundred or more kids on the job, we'll get the whole lot cleared out in a day.'

'Cool,' James said. 'That's really great of everyone.'

'It's what she deserves,' Shakeel said. 'I wish I'd belted Mr Large one. There's a collection going around as well. Everyone's putting money in and we're gonna get her something from that shop in town that does trophies.'

Amy came up to James as Lauren was on her third circuit of the dining-room.

'We had a whip round up on my floor,' Amy said. 'We got seventy quid. What's Lauren's favourite shop?'

'She gets a lot of stuff from Gap Kids,' James said. 'Why?'

'There's already more than enough for the engraved tankard,' Amy explained. 'We were thinking of getting her some gift vouchers, or maybe a humongous teddy bear ...'

26. SOCKS.

'You're such a jammy little git,' Kerry said. 'You realise me and Kyle are stuck here on Thornton until this mission is finished?'

It was Friday night. They were in the boys' bedroom and James was packing a hold-all for his flight to Miami in the morning.

'That's the wrong att.i.tude,' James said, grinning. 'We're all equally important members of a team. It's just that my role is toasting on some beach in Florida, while you get to spend half-term here. If you're lucky, someone might start a fire and you can watch one of the derelict houses burn out.'

'You're such a funny guy,' Kerry sneered.

'How many socks do you reckon?' James asked.

'At least one pair for each day.'

James looked in his underwear drawer and realised he only had two clean pairs. He started hunting around the floor and balling odd socks together.

'Aren't those dirty?' Kerry asked.

'A bit,' James said. 'But I've only worn most of them once. They don't smell that bad.' He put one of them under Kerry's nose. 'See.'

'For G.o.d's sake,' Kerry said angrily, pushing James' arm away. 'They're appalling.'

James gave them a sniff.

'Phew,' he gasped. 'Those ones are a bit ripe. I think they're what I wore to boxing club last night. But most of these are OK.'

Kerry shook her head. 'You're an animal, James.'

She slid off the bed and walked across the hallway to her own room. James' mobile rang.

'Hey, April,' James said. 'Where are you?'

'I'm at the airport with Erin and my mum,' April said. 'We're sitting here waiting to board the plane and I thought I'd say hi.'

'I only saw you a few hours ago,' James said.

'Don't you want to talk to me?' April said, with a hint of acid in her voice.

'Of course I want to talk to you,' James lied. 'It's just ... I'm really busy, packing and stuff.'

'I'm wearing your Nike watch,' April giggled. 'So I can think about you whenever I look at the time.'

'Don't forget to give that back,' James said. 'It's my only good one.'

'Blow me a kiss,' April said.

James shook his head before doing a couple of quick smooches into his phone.

'I think Zara's calling me downstairs, April. I've got to hang up. Have a wonderful trip, bye.'

'James. I-'

'Gotta go, April, sorry.'

James ended the call and tutted. Kerry had walked back in behind him. She was holding four pairs of clean sports socks.

'Girl trouble?' she inquired.

'Don't ask,' James said.

'Borrow these,' Kerry said. 'My feet aren't much smaller than yours. Just make sure you wash them before you give them back.'

'Cheers,' James said, tucking the socks into his hold-all. 'You know, April's driving me round the bend.'

'Why?' Kerry asked. 'She seems like a really nice girl.'

'She is,' James said. 'But she's too intense. She phones me allthe time. She follows me everywhere at school and starts putting her arm around me. If I'm talking to someone else, she pulls me away and whispers stuff in my ear.'

'She's got a crush on you,' Kerry said. 'You should be flattered.'

'It's more than a crush,' James said. 'I bet she's already picked out the wedding dress, and now she's working out the names of our kids.'

'Typical man,' Kerry said indignantly. 'You like having a girl draped off your arm, but only so you can snog her and impress your stupid mates.'

'Give over,' James said. 'It's just, April is a lot keener on me than I am on her. It's not my fault girls can't resist me.'

'In your dreams,' Kerry grinned. 'I suppose you'll dump April and leave her in a state, like you did with Nicole.'

'Nicole?' James said, looking mystified. 'I only kissed her once, for about two seconds.'

'Nicole asked if you liked her,' Kerry said. 'So you snogged her, then you dumped her.'

'I just didn't snog her again,' James said. 'I don't know why you're turning it into some big deal.'

'But you didn't have the decency to face her. You just skulked around the house avoiding her for the next couple of days. Nicole was really upset.'

'Well ...' James said. 'I didn't mean to hurt her feelings.'

'Yeah, right.'

'Look, Kerry, I don't deliberately treat girls like that. To tell the truth, there's someone else I really like.'

'You mean Amy?' Kerry said. 'You can practically see the drool run out your mouth every time she comes near you, but get over it, she's seventeen years old.'

'That shows how much you know,' James said tersely. 'Every boy on campus fancies Amy, but it's not her I'm talking about.'

'Who is it then?'

'None of your business.'

'Huh,' Kerry sneered. 'You're making it up so I don't think you're a pig.'

'No,' James said.

'Do I know her?' Kerry asked.

'Yes.'

'It's not Gabrielle, is it?'

James laughed. 'No.'

'You're such a plonker,' Kerry said. 'I don't know why I'm even bothering to talk to you.'

James loved the way she reared up on the b.a.l.l.s of her feet whenever she got ratty.

'You really want to know who I like?' James said.

'I don't care,' Kerry said, folding her arms.

'Fine, I won't tell you then.'

But James had piqued Kerry's curiosity and she quickly changed her tack. 'Oh ... go on then.'

James toyed with the idea of making someone up, or saying something stupid, but he realised he was never going to have a better opportunity to tell Kerry how he really felt. He couldn't carry on bottling it for the rest of his life. He took a deep breath.

'I ...'

His mouth dried up. He felt like his head was about to explode.

Kerry shook her head. 'I knew you were lying.'

'No, I like you,' James blurted.

He stared at Kerry for what felt like a trillion years, studying her face for some kind of reaction.

'Are you winding me up?' Kerry asked, suspiciously.

'Ever since basic training,' James rambled. 'Even when we were covered in mud doing combat practice and you were battering me, there was something about you that I really liked. I mean ... We're always really good together, because you're kind of stuffy and do everything by the book and I'm kind of ... Well ... I suppose you could say I'm an idiot at times.'

'You really like me?' Kerry grinned.

James felt like he wanted to die. 'Yes.'

'So you're serious?' Kerry asked. 'Because if you're messing with me, I'll punch every single tooth out of your dumb head.'

'I swear,' James said. 'So, you know ... Am I wasting my time? ... Or?'

Kerry smiled a bit. 'Everyone we know has been going on about us having a thing for each other. I never thought you really liked me though. You're always going on about t.i.ts and I've hardly got any.'

'Yeah, well,' James said. 'I'm not perfect either. But you do like me?'

Kerry nodded. 'When you're not driving me insane, you're just about my favourite boy on campus.'

James leaned forward to kiss her, but the hold-all was stuck in the middle of the tiny room and they had to shuffle around it. It was a only quick peck on the lips, but James got a ma.s.sive rush.

'I wish you were coming to Miami with me,' he said.

'It's only a week,' Kerry smiled. 'And there's one condition if I'm gonna be your girlfriend.'

'What?' James asked.

'From now on, your underwear only gets worn once.'

27. MIAMI.

James and Junior touched down in Miami on Sat.u.r.day evening. Keith had changed his plans and flown out a couple of days earlier with his minder, George. The beefy ex-heavyweight met the boys at immigration and drove them to Keith's house in a Range Rover.

James spent the whole drive with his face stuck up against the window like a five-year-old. He loved the little differences that make you know you're in a different country: traffic lights strung over the road on wires, billboards with prices marked in dollars, the huge double-trailer trucks that looked like they'd roll over your car without the man in the cab feeling so much as a jolt.