*Amelia*

The daylight outside the airport when I reach San Diego messes with my head, as it was night time when I left only 5 hours ago.

"Excuse me, do you have the time?" I turn around as someone asks me exactly what I was wondering.

"I was just thinking exactly the same thing, actually..." I say and the girl laughs. I take in how beautiful she is and instantly feel intimidated.

"It's very confusing, isn't it? Time difference and stuff. I just arrived from Ireland, you're from London aren't you? I can tell by your accent." She smiles.

"It is, and yeah, I'm from London." I reply in a friendly manner, although I am feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"What brings you here then?" She asks me politely.

"Oh, I got a place at SD School of Arts. You?"

"Same here!" She says enthusiastically. "What are the chances. When do you start?"

"Tomorrow, you?"

"Me too, that's cool. I better go now anyway, I can see my boyfriend waiting for me over there."
"Yeah, sure. I better get going too." I say and smile at her kindly.

"I'm Georgia, by the way. Thought you should know, maybe we will see each other around some time."

"I'm Amelia. Yeah, maybe we will."

She starts to walk towards a man standing by a black car and turns around quickly and waves at me. Well, maybe making friends here isn't going to be so hard...

---

"Thank you." I say as I hand some notes over to the taxi driver and climb out clumsily through the doors.

"Here, let me help you." He says and gets out of his seat, walking around the car and taking my suitcase from me.

"Thank you." I smile and look up at the tall building in which I am going to be staying.

"It's this one, right?" He looks at me, flashing his gleaming white teeth.

"Uh, yeah." I say and walk up to the door, nervousness twisting my core.

When I reach the door the taxi driver lets go of my bag and smiles. I smile back and he nods, turning around and walking back to his taxi. I take a deep breath and knock on the door, not knowing what or who to expect when I go in here.

I hear the door start to open and I take a step backwards, feeling too close to the door and therefore too close to the person who is about to answer it.

It opens fully and a tall, lanky guy stands before me, looking down at my small frame. "Well hello there."

He smirks and I look down at the floor in shyness and mild discomfort.

"Piss off, Mikey." I hear a voice say and I look up to see a smaller, more well built guy smiling at me and pushing who must be Mikey out of the way. "Sorry. He doesn't live here, he is my annoying little brother. He only visits once every week so you won't see him often."

I look up at his smiling face and I am at a loss for words. I am undeniably attracted to this guy, and I freeze up completely, embarrassing myself immensely.

"Wait... You are Amelia, aren't you?" He says and visibly cringes at his assumed idiocy.

"Yeah, I am." I manage to say, my voice strange and more strained than usual.

"Thank God. I thought I was talking to a stranger then. Come in, I'm Vic by the way." He says with a clear expression of relief on his face, which makes me smile. Looks like I'm not the only one who is scared of embarrassing themselves.

I laugh quietly and turn around to grab my suitcase when Vic stops me. I look up at him and he smiles. "I'll get that, you have those 2 bags to carry."

My stomach flutters at his kindness and I wonder whether I am going to survive this stay without fainting at the sight of him. "Thank you." I tell him and he nods.

I take a few steps into the house and am impressed by the decor and the tidiness. I expected it to be how you think a typical messy student would have it, but instead it is modern and minimalistic, black and white the main colors running through the hallway and to the kitchen/dining room.

"You can put your bags next to the stairs if you want, just until you get to your room. I've made everyone go into the dining room so that you can say hi and find out names and stuff."

My stomach flutters again, but not in a good way. That would be a sweet thing to do if I didn't get so anxious in front of new people.

I smile falsely and put my bags down next to the stairs, taking a few uneasy steps towards the dining room. I realize how stupid I must look and I force myself to just head straight into the room, to see five new faces turn around and look at me.

Most of them are smiling, all apart from one.

"Hey! I'm Jaime. You're Amelia." A friendly looking guy stands up before me and smiles widely.

"Hello." I say awkwardly and want to punch myself for being so unsociable straight away.

"This is Tony, that's Raye and Matt... You have met Jaime. And that's Eloise." Vic says from beside me. I jump a little, not realising he was standing next to me. He notices and laughs a little, then whispers in my ear. "Don't mind Eloise, she is very moody and doesn't really take well to new people. Its nothing to do with you."

I take a quick glance at Eloise and see her sitting at the table with her arms folded across her chest, a blank expression on her face. I look away quickly when she looks at me, not wanting her to see me examining her expression.

I feel a rush of the same feeling that I felt at the airport - insecurity and intimidation. Eloise is very pretty, and is obviously the female dominant of the household.

"Oh my God, say something. I want to hear you talk." I hear someone say and I turn and look at them. A dark haired, attractive guy grins at me excitedly. I remember Vic introducing him as Matt and I make a mental note to remember his name.

"Um... What do you want me to say?" I say nervously and his smile grows wider.

"That was enough. Your accent is awesome!" He says.

"I know what you can say." The guy I recognize as Mikey says.

"Mikey. Don't even go there." Vic warns him and I scratch the back of my neck in discomfort.

"What?!" He says with a mock expression of shock on his face. He leans in and whispers into Matt's ear and Matt laughs, turning around and giving Mike a high-five.

"Guys? Really?" Vic says, an annoyed expression on his face. "Mike, isn't it time for you to go home now?"

"Yeah, whatever. I'll see you later guys. See you soon, Amelia." He says and winks at me.
I give him a tiny wave as he walks out of the room, and then out of the house.

"Sorry, he is a little pervert." Vic apologises for his brother.

"It's okay." I say, feeling more and more awkward every second as I can feel everybody's eyes on me.

"Should I show you to your room then?" He says and I nod, smiling at his effort to make me feel less uncomfortable.

I head out of the room first, breathing a sigh of relief from getting away from those people. As I walk out I hear Vic lecturing them about the way they acted.

"You could have at least made her feel at home, guys. Instead you were stood there like morons, staring her out. And Eloise, you need to be nice, you didn't even introduce yourself." He whispers harshly and loudly enough for me to hear every word from outside the door.

"I already know that I don't like her. And she obviously fancies you." Eloise says at full volume, obviously wanting me to hear.

"You're being a bitch." Vic says angrily, this time at full volume too.

He walks out of the room and I try and act like I didn't hear what was said in there, but he can clearly tell by the expression on my face. He opens his mouth to say something but I stop him.
"It's fine. I'm used to it."

He sighs heavily and shakes his head. "Just avoid her. It's for the best. Come on, lets get this stuff up to your room."

I try and convince myself that it is just Eloise who has a problem with me being here, but I remember that neither Tony or Raye looked like they wanted to talk to me either. I was starting to regret my decision of staying here immensely.

"Sorry that your room is all the way at the top, probably not the best thing when you have a long day at college. But it's pretty big so I guess that makes up for it." Vic says when we reach the final step of the third set of stairs. He was right - this is going to be hard work.

"It's okay." I reassure him, though my thoughts doubted me.

When we reach the door to my room and Vic opens it, I am sure that my face drops completely.
"Does that face mean you like it or not?" He laughs.

"I love it. Its perfect. I think I will be able to endure all those stairs every day if it means coming back to here."

"Well, lucky for you, it does mean that." He smiles. "I'm glad you like it. Should I leave you to get sorted or do you need some help?"

I am about to tell him that it's okay and that I can do it myself, but I realize that I am actually comfortable when I am in his company. He is my only friend in this house so far, so I guess I better make the most of it.

"Do you mind?" I ask him and he smiles.

"Not at all. I was hoping you'd ask me for help, I don't really wanna go back down and face Eloise." He says and frowns. "I don't know why I ever got involved with her."

I raise my eyebrows in mild shock and look at him. "Really? You two are...?"

"We aren't together. It's nothing serious or official. We used to be together, but she was just so demanding and possessive. The only reason I am involved with her now is because she won't let me go." He explains and I feel a rush of relief. "Don't tell her I said that." He laughs.

I laugh too. "I won't, don't worry. I actually doubt I will be talking to her at all."

He smiles sympathetically at me. "The others are great, by the way. You've seen how outgoing Jaime and Matt are. Tony and Raye are just shy. Really shy actually - they aren't exactly 'people' people. They will speak to you in time though, once they get to know you a bit better."

"I hope so. I understand though, I'm not exactly a 'people' person myself."

"I didn't think you was. I feel bad for getting everyone in front of you like that, I saw how uncomfortable you looked."

"Oh, no. Don't worry about it, it was a sweet idea."

"Your accent is pretty awesome, you know." He smiles and it makes me smile.

"I like your accent too." I say and he smiles even wider.

Our eyes lock for a moment and it makes my stomach do somersaults. Of course, I am the one to break away from his gaze, being the awkward jerk that I am.

I expect him to feel awkward and uncomfortable after I pull away from his stare, but instead he just laughs and looks down at the floor. "You're really not a 'people' person are you?"

I open my mouth to talk but close it again, instead just smiling a little and shaking my head.

Notes

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