Life at Hartley High is turned upside down by the arrival of new teacher Jay Jackson and his daughter, Aurora, and Melanie goes through a physical and emotional transformation. Jay is no ordinary guy, his teaching methods are unorthodox to say the least, and his choice of house is odder still. Predictably, Les dislikes Jay from the beginning but his dislike intensifies when Jay decides he knows what's best for the Hartley students. When life lets you down, you can either put up with it or change it. Melanie Black is sick of putting up with it — she no longer wants to be the victim. First she has to discard her old way of life, that includes her look and her attitude. However, in doing this, she treads on a lot of toes. Will this be Melanie's route to happiness? At the Scheppers' house, Ryan and Anita are grounded. To make matters worse, tickets are just about to go on sale for a concert by a breakthrough heavy metal band. If Ryan doesn't get the tickets, not only will he miss out on

Ryan's world is turned on its head when he has a car accident. He and Mai survive the accident intact, but Anita is seriously injured and left in a coma. Ryan is plunged into a world of guilt and recrimination, not only is he facing criminal charges, but he also has to face the fact that Anita may die as a result of his actions. Melanie is also hitting the depths of a personal crisis. She has decided to leave Hartley High to join Jay in the pursuit of happiness and meaning in life. Melanie's dad Tony not only tries to dissuade his daughter from joining Jay, but he is also determined to get Jay drummed out of his job for good! As Charlie grows closer to Aurora he is convinced that he has met his perfect match. However, all may not be as it seems, and Charlie is devastated when he sees Aurora in a passionate clinch with another man. Is this the end for Charlie and Aurora?

The council issues Charlie with an ultimatum — either he moves his car from the Scheppers footpath or they will tow it away. Charlie's problem is that the car doesn't work and he can't afford to fix it. Salvation comes from an unlikely source when Drazic offers to fix the car free of charge. Of course, Drazic has an ulterior motive — fixing the car gives him the perfect excuse to spend time close to Anita - will this be his way back into her heart? When Ronnie gets violently mugged on her way to school, she decides it's high time the girls of Hartley High were offered self defence training. The girls are excited about the idea ... until they meet their instructor. At Hartley High, Les and Ryan find themselves unlikely allies in the struggle to have a pedestrian crossing put out the front of the school. After trying the legal method to no avail, Les decides to take the law into his own hands. Ryan joins the one man protest and soon student and Principal are languishing in the lock-up of

When Michelle Williams, an old friend of Hilary's gives Ryan a part time job at the marina he cannot believe his luck — the job consists of sunshine, great views and big tips. However, Ryan is brought back down to size when he realises he is being targeted as Michelle's toyboy. Will Ryan be able to fend Michelle off or will he have to leave the perfect job? Ronnie organises a sleep over at the school for the participants of the 40 Hour Famine. Charlie is enthusiastic until he realises Drazic will be there — he senses that Drazic is trying to get Anita back.

Drazic and Anita have decided to take the big step — move in together. They soon find the flat of their dreams, but are faced by one problem — they have no money. To pay for the flat, Drazic takes on extra after hours work with Leo Fine. At first, all seems to be well, the work is easy and the pay is very good, but it soon becomes obvious that Leo is involving Drazic in some very shady deals. Draz is faced with a dilemma — should he get out of the job or continue to enjoy the fruits of crime? Les Bailey is a man with a mission. Every year for the past ten years he has played an annual golf grudge match against his fellow Principal and archenemy, Cliff Tucker. And every year, Les has lost badly. But Les is determined that this year will be different. However, before he can think about winning, Les has to hire a caddy; or, more accurately, he has to 'persuade' Charlie to haul his golf bag around after him. Can Charlie give Les the winning edge? Katerina is puzzled. She is the best

Les is appalled at the school's state of disrepair and demands that the Department takes action. He is shocked however, when instead of renovating, they decide to close Hartley High. Les finds himself without a school and without a job. But most distressing for him is the lack of any regret from his students. All students are moved to Hartley Heights, a neighbouring school. They all react in a different way. Mel tries to find an old student who's life has been changed by Hartley High. Draz and Ryan embitter Bailey's life because they need no longer to be afraid for punishment or suspension. They play a practical joke on Les by staging an accident. Les panics and calls an ambulance, but is furious to find that he has been tricked. He threatens to punish them but they laugh in his face — what can he do... he isn't their principal anymore. However, Les does have the last laugh. Mai talks the reluctant Anita into delivering gorillagrams — guaranteed easy money. In the beginning, everyth

When Sarah helps Anita and Drazic discover the internet, she inadvertently gets them both into trouble. Anita is wooed by a man calling himself DJ Byron but when she agrees to meet him she puts herself in a dangerous situation. Drazic has a run in with customs when he tries to order CD's to sell to his school mates. Both learn a tough lesson! While Nikki is filming Mai performing as a human sculpture in the local mall they film a pickpocket working the audience. They take the tape to class and the class debates what action to take. Embarrassed when Barry turns up to footy practice drunk, Kurt sacks his dad as coach and takes over himself. Not everyone is pleased—Ryan quits the team. However it seems that there may be more behind Ryan's departure — Kurt and Nikki are now an item and Ryan refuses to believe that he's lost Nikki just yet.

Ryan, still smarting over Kurt and Nikki's blossoming relationship, is staying away from the football team. However, Barry manages to persuade him to rejoin for an inter-school competition.