*Amelia*

The bell rings for lunch break and I pack up my bag and start to head out of the door to Gray's room.

"Meel. Wait a second." He stops me and I turn around. "I know you have only been here for a few days, and this could maybe be a bit of a hasty decision on my part... But I have seen the work that you have produced in the past few days and I am seriously impressed. I have decided to put you on the Gifted and Talented scheme for Art & Design. Is that okay with you?"
I look at him with a confused expression on my face. "Thank you, that sounds great... But what is it?"

"Oh, it requires no extra effort on your part. Well, until halfway through your college year. You just keep doing what you are doing, just like all of the other G&T people are, and in a couple of months all of your artwork will be on display in our school gallery. That is the only time you will have to drop your plans and come in to school, as it will be in the term. And you will have to explain to the examiners what your work is about as they are very important people. We used to do this with everyone in Art & Design but now we choose specific artists who we know are going to excel." He looks at me and smiles. "I will give you a notice a bit nearer the time so that you can prepare yourself. It's no big deal, and who knows, maybe your work will get an offer from an artist."

He raises his eyebrows and me and I smile. "Sounds great. Thank you for putting me on the scheme."

"It's no problem, you're an amazing artist. You have edge, Meel. Edge." He says and turns around to walk back to his desk.

I laugh to myself and head out of the room which is now empty.

There are many problems with this scheme, but I would rather consider them later. For example, my awkwardness with people - especially 'very important people' like Gray said. And the fact that it is in the term. I have no idea whether my parents would let me stay here during one term to do this...

I walk out of the door after walking through the maze of tables in the art room and when I step outside I see Matt standing there, waiting for me and leaning against the wall.

He looks up at me when I walk out and grins. "Hey."

"Hey." I smile. "You're here already?"

"Yeah, I thought I might as well come and wait for you."

"Thank you." I say and he nods.

"What took you so long in there?"

"Oh, Gray wanted to talk to me. He has put me on the list for the Gifted & Talented scheme."

"That's awesome! You've only just got here and you're already on the list. It took Vic a whole year to get on that list."

"Yeah, it's great. But I'm not sure about the whole gallery thing."

"Not good with people." He assumes.

"Exactly. Especially when I am under pressure of impressing these examiners and actual artists."

He nods. "You have some time to think about it anyways. I think you should go for it - who knows when an artist is going to next look at your work."

"True." I consider his idea and nod. "But I'm not even sure whether my parents will be okay with me staying here for the end of term."

"Well, it's usually in the first week of the end of semester to give people time because a lot of them like to go on holiday during the weeks. And if it is in the middle then it just isn't convenient and hardly anyone will come. Maybe you could just stay here for a week longer and then fly back to London for the two weeks after that."

"That's a great idea actually. Thank you."

"No problem." He smiles. "You going to the crush hall?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting Raye."

"Sounds cool. I said I'd meet Vic out there too." He concludes.

I nod and walk by his side as he playfully nudges against me. He mustn't realize how weak I am and how light my body is and the nudge sends me flying forwards.

"Shit." I hear him say and he jumps forward too, grabbing me in his arms to break my fall but landing on the floor himself.

I end up lying on top of him with his arms around me and I laugh. "Uh... This is a bit awkward." I say and look away from him.

I hear a few people sniggering and i turn my head and see groups of people who must have witnessed the fall laughing at us. I groan and lay my head face down on Matt's chest and he laughs.

I hear whispering from nearby. "Are they together? She's only just got here and she has already bagged him! Lucky her..."

"Yeah. That hurt. Lets get up." Matt says, bringing me back to the present, and I lift myself off of him once he releases his arms from around me. He gets up once I am on my feet and faces me, rubbing the back of his head after possibly hitting it off of the floor. "Sorry about that, I didn't think you'd fall."

"It's okay." I say and blush. "I didn't hurt myself, you cushioned my fall."

He laughs. "Yeah, and I felt it."

I walk by his side again and try not to make eye contact with the people who are still laughing at our earlier embrace.

"Matt, dude. Lucky you catching her - literally!" A guy laughs from nearby and Matt shakes his head.

"Shut up, Dan." He responds and rolls his eyes at him. "Just ignore them. They are douchebags anyway."

I nod and smile, even though inside I feel intimidated and embarrassed by all of the people who saw what happened and are now staring.

Especially this one girl.

She is staring at me as if she is going to kill me, her eyes daggers into my body.

I nudge Matt and point at her subtly, and question him with my eyes.

"Oh, that's... Er... That's my ex, Clara. Just ignore her."

"Matt. Can I talk to you?" Clara says in the bitchiest tone that I have ever heard somebody speak in.

"I'm a bit busy right now." Matt says bluntly and dismisses her.

"Just for a second." She snaps. "Matt..."

Matt sighs and walks over to her, holding one finger up to me as he turns around to indicate that he will just be a minute.

I stand there awkwardly, just a few feet from them both, and try and think of what she could possibly be talking to him about. It is clear that it is about me, as she keeps looking over his shoulder and giving me death glares while she speaks.

I see Matt shake his head in an angry manner and walk away from her back towards me.
"Come on." He says, his voice strained as if he is trying to keep his anger under control.

"Is everything okay?" I ask him warily.

"Yeah. Everything is fine." He says bluntly and I take it to heart a little bit too much.

We walk the rest of the way to the crush hall completely silently, only the sound of our footsteps and Matt's angry breathing audible.

When we reach the hall Raye, Vic, Tony and Jaime are all stood there, notably waiting for me and Matt.

Vic smiles at me but then notices Matt's offhand expression and frowns at me questioningly. I shrug my shoulders and he shakes his head to himself.

"You finally found your way then?" Raye asks and smiles at me.

"Yeah. Matt waited for me outside my class."

"Ah. What's up, Matt?" Raye asks and Matt shrugs at her, folding his arms across his chest and looking away.

Raye looks at me questioningly just like Vic did and I mouth that I don't know what's wrong with him. She shakes her head and frowns, seeming to understand what could be wrong with him without even asking him. I still need to ask her how she does that...

"Are we going to the hall then? I'm starving." Jaime complains.

"Are we not going to wait for Eloise?" I ask and every face turns to look at me in confusion. "What?"

"She is probably with her 'friend'." Tony explains and I furrow my brows.

"Don't worry, we always sit in the same place in the crush hall. She knows where we sit and when she wants to she comes over." Vic assures me and I nod.

"Are you friends now?" Tony asks me.

I shrug my shoulders. "I'm not sure. We had a talk before..."

"Guys... Hunger?!" Jaime interrupts me and Vic punches him in the arm.

"Amelia was talking, idiot." He snaps and Jaime backs up, his hands in the air jokingly.

"Sorry dude!" Jaime says and laughs. "Actually, that hurt man..."

"Sorry." Vic mumbles and shakes his head.

He looks at me and I smile, trying to conceal the fact that I was looking at him. He smirks back at me as if he already knew and I blush, breaking away from his gaze and shifting nervously where I am standing.

He makes a movement with his head that indicated that I should stand by him as we walk into the crush hall.

"So what queue do you want to go in?" He asks me and I am stumped by his question. This is the first time that I have been in the crush hall and I have no idea how it works or what it is like.
I try and peer around to see what foods there is in each queue. My attempts are, however, futile as I can't see a thing over the tops of peoples heads in the massive hall.

"Uh..." I begin but have no idea how to finish the sentence.

"Okay. Do you want pasta?" He asks me, pointing to the first queue on the left and I shake my head. "A hot meal?" He says next and points to the next queue. I scrunch my face up and he laughs. "I'll take that as a no. Deli or sandwiches left now." He concludes and points to particular queues as he says what food they conceal.

"Uh... A sandwich sounds good." I say. The sound of all of the other foods made me think of one thing and one thing only: calories.

"Cool. I will get one too then. Is anyone else waiting the sandwich queue?" Vic asks the others and all of them shake their head, but I see Matt hesitantly and reluctantly agreeing with the others as he looks at the closeness between me and Vic. I'm not sure why but I feel guilty, as if I have something to be sorry for.

"Okay then. Looks like it's just you and me then." Vic says happily and nudges me, turning me round so we can walk to the queue as the others turn in the opposite direction towards another queue.

Notes

idk what to put here right now damn, i feel like i can't just leave it blank though hm...
My score of 10.0 on this story went down to a 9.9 which was kinda irritating bc its still so close to 10.0.
Sigh that is the only news i have got and it isn't even news because you can all already see it. What am i saying JUST COMMENT YOUR OPINIONS GUYS I WANNA KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ALL THINKING bye