"." knox grinned, amé giving a small wave to him, taking in all the unfamiliar faces awkwardly as she scanned the room quickly.

"so you're telling me this girl is actually real?" one of his friends snickered, a few of the other boys laughing as well.

amélie sheepishly grinned at the comment, and pointed towards mari. "uh, this is marianne dubois. she's my roommate."

"oh, and i'm amélie." she added. "laurent." she added again quickly, her accent dominating while she said her last name.

marianne sat down on a rock, near the entrance. amélie sat down beside her, feeling her face getting hot again as she scanned the room.

none of the boys spoke, they only gazed at the girls.

"charlie dalton. you two are beautiful." one piped up, a confident smirk on his face. amélie couldn't be less interested.

"aw well, thank you." marianne responded, a slight blush rising onto her cheeks. she twirled her blonde hair around her finger as she smiled goofily.

more silence after that, before another boy spoke up. he had dark hair matched with equally as dark eyes, and an adorable smile that was super contagious.

"knox told us you were a poet." he hummed, eagerness in his eyes. you could tell that he was really into poetry by the way he smiled talking about it.

"i'm not really." amélie shrugged, her face a bright red. she really didn't want to be talking about this.

marianne frowned at her, and poked at amé's notebook. "most of the stuff in my notebook isn't even my work." she quickly added.

"can we hear some of the stuff in your notebook?" the boy asked. amé really didn't want to, but the smile on this boy's face and the eagerness in his eyes made her heart pound. she couldn't bear to have him look at her in her eyes for any longer, but at the same time it was all she needed.

amélie quietly nodded, pulling out her notebook and standing up. she hit her head on the roof as she stood, making the boys chuckle.

"amélie, are you okay?" marianne asked, covering her mouth to stop herself from giggling.

"i'm fine." amélie nodded. she opened her notebook to a random page, and waited until everything was quiet before she started reading.

"he wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; i wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. i said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would be drunk. i said i should fall asleep in his; and he said he could not breathe in mine." she recited. her embarrassment faded for a few seconds, before she realized she was actually reciting this in front of a bunch of boys.

"emily brontë, wuthering heights." she quickly said, sitting down.

silence filled the cave. it hurt amé's ears to listen to. she was so embarrassed she almost ran out of the cave and went home right then and there. "can you read us another one?" another boy piped up, his voice quiet. he didn't say it in a disappointed way, but in a stunned way. he didn't realize how good amélie's recitation would be and now that he knows, it's all he wants to hear.

she blushed, flipping to a random page in her notebook. "i suppose so, if you like it that much."

"if i read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, i know that is poetry. if i feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, i know that is poetry. these are the only ways i know it. is there any other way?" she read aloud, a proud smile on her face.

"emily dickinson." amé bit her lip to keep from smiling wide and shut her notebook.

"wow." one of the boys exhaled.

"is that what you guys learn at aurela?" charlie asked, a grin spreading across his lips.

"not really. but we do have a poetry unit." marianne butted in, batting her eyes.

"our teacher, mr. keating, reads us poems as well. he knows a lot of 'em." one of the boys replied. amé was still embarrassed that she had no idea who any of these guys were, but it wasn't like she was going to ask.

"we have to write them, too." another one added.

"amélie knows all about writing." marianne smirked, nudging amé. amélie sunk into her seat, holding her notebook close to her chest as her face turned bright red again. she wasn't around people often, so she got embarrassed easily. especially by how forward mari could be, always putting her in uncomfortable conversations and what not, without even realizing. "excuse me for a second."

amélie forced a smile, and quickly exited the cave. she began to walk back to the trees and back to her school where she could be safe. from her poetry, from marianne, from-

her thoughts were interrupted by a male voice, calling for her. "are you alright?"

"i just get a bit overwhelmed by marianne sometimes." amélie replied, turning back to face the boy. it was the dark haired one. he was very handsome up close and amé almost found herself staring longingly in his eyes.

"neil perry." he grinned, amé coming closer to him to see his face.

"ah, so you're neil." she had overheard marianne and her friends talk about him lots. they all thought he was quite handsome, but would never have the courage to say it to his face.

"heard anything about me?" he asked jokingly, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

amélie couldn't help but smile. "only the best."

"you recite all those poems very beautifully, you know." neil hummed, flattering amé. a light blush spread across her cheeks. "thank you. i wish i had the nerves to recite some of my own, but.."

"but what?" neil cut her off, furrowing his eyebrows. it made her anxious, she'd never actually had someone this interested in her writing.

"i just don't. and probably never will." amélie shrugged. she just wished that neil would change the subject.

"you don't know unless you try, it can't be that ha-" he began, before amé snapped at him.

"well, to me it is." she huffed, leaving neil stunned. she began blsuhing again, and dug her face into her hands in embarrassment.

"i'm sorry." she murmured, taking her face out of her hands..

"please, don't apologize." neil chuckled. he didn't seem angry one bit.

"do you want to become a poet?" amélie asked, changing the subject.

"i don't know." neil shrugged, his grin slightly fading. "all I know is that after high school, I want to do something for myself for once. not for anyone else, just me."

"i'm going to become a nurse." amélie sighed, pulling her jacket on tighter as the breeze blew through her hair. she knew neil would be astonished by how she chose to be a burse over an author. you could tell by how the spark in his eyes seemed a bit dimmer, and by how the grin on his face completely faded after she spoke her words.

"but I thought you wanted to be a writer?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he spoke.

"yes, that's what I want to be," amé chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear. "i'd never be able to actually become a writer."

"and why is that?"

"my father." amé said quietly, like she was ashamed to even say it. she was ashamed that she was holding herself back from what she wanted to do because of her father. neil looked like he was about to say something, before he was interrupted by a voice behind them.

"amélie! we were waiting for you. the meeting is over." marianne said, emerging from the cave. amélie could slightly see her friend behind neil.

"i better go, then." she smiled, and quickly waved to the dark haired boy with the disappointed smile on his face, standing in front of her. before she could run to marianne, neil spoke up.

"will you come to our meeting tomorrow?" he asked. amélie bit her bottom lip to keep herself from smiling at the simple question that came from neil.

"um, same time?" she asked, crossing her arms. her body lightly swayed with the breeze.

"probably about 6pm." neil shrugged, stuffing his pockets into his coat with grin on his face.

"fine, i will." amélie cracked an embarrassed smile back and began walking past the boy, and towards her friend.

"bring your notebook again." neil beamed, waving as amé walked away. "and read me one of your poems sometime."

"that'll never happen." amélie yelled, getting farther from neil by the second.

"were you seriously just talking to neil perry?" marianne gushed,

"yeah, i was." amé shrugged. "he thinks that the way i recited those poems back there was beautiful."

"he's very handsome, don't you think?" marianne sighed. "cindy is basically in love with him." amélie never knew if cindy particularly liked her, but she was one of those friends you could never read. they'd be pissed off at you one day, and best friends with you the other.

"he is kind of handsome." amélie replied, quietly.

"amélie, are you crazy? he's very handsome!"