, full of different girls chattering and hanging out near their lockers. amélie pushed past all of them as she walked with marianne, who had cindy by her side.

"what are you doing after school, amélie?" cindy asked, tugging down on her cardigan. their uniforms were so uncomfortable.

"she's going to meet with neil perry and his friends at their hangout spot." marianne giggled, empathizing every world as she spoke.

cindy gawked at mari, and then turned towards amélie. "seriously?"

"yes.." amé sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear as they walked. cindy pressed her lips together lightly, and paused to study amélie up and down. "you haven't ever seemed like the type, neil perry huh?"

amé's ears burnt. she could read cindy's face like it was 'emma' by jane austen. jealousy. "it's not like that. it's for writing." she quickly responded, her voice shaking.

"sure. and you guys were outside talking about writing for half an hour last night?" marianne giggled, not picking up on the tension between her two friends.

"shut up." amélie nervously laughed, elbowing mari in the ribs. she was blushing, but was trying not so hard not to. she enjoyed neil's company, but cindy seemed not to enjoy talking about it. amélie kind of hated hanging out with cindy. she seemed nice enough, but cindy always seemed very judgemental. all the girls at aurela seemed to know her, and would talk to her like she was a life-long friend. secretly amé wanted it too, but for some reason cindy didn't like her.

cindy glared at her. it was an icy stare that seemed to echo on through her mind.

"can you ask charlie to call me?" marianne pouted, interrupting amé's train of thought.

"and what about knox?" cindy added, acting as if she hadn't just stared down amélie just a second ago.

"what about him?"

"he called you, right?"

amé sighed. "yeah, we met at a party. everyone is acting like it's such a big deal." seconds after she spoke, the bell went off.

"it kind of is." marianne shrugged, cindy nodding in agreement. amélie didn't understand how having a guy friend immediately meant something different was going on. it annoyed her that her friends were so obsessed with her personal life.

—————-

after amélie's day of boring classes, it was finally time for her to go meet at the cave. 6:05pm. she was a bit nervous to see everyone, especially without her outgoing loudmouth roommate there to save her. she made sure she had her notebook, tucked under her arm as always.

"is your friend not here?" knox asked, staring at amélie as she sat down.

"marianne? no. she was caught up in her studies." she shrugged, trying to get comfortable on the rock she was sitting on. she didn't even think of inviting marianne, but she did kind of feel much more confident without mari making comments about her writing and pressuring her to read her notebook out loud. she felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

"that's a shame. i phoned her last night, and no one picked up." charlie said, getting smirks from the other boys.

amélie chuckled. "she told me. it was late and no one wanted to actually get up for the phone. we would've gotten in trouble by our headmistress, ms. germaine."

"she's kind of a bitch." ms. germaine was old, and had hearing aids that could hear from miles away. you would think that would get annoying, but she uses it to her advantage. if she hears anything as much as a creak, she'll be up and surveilling the rooms.

"so is our headmaster, mr. nolan." pitts added. meeks nodding in agreement. amélie observed that the two were always side by side, almost glued together.

"how have your classes been, amélie?" neil asked, breaking the awkward silence between the group.

amélie felt herself grinning. "boring. i'm falling asleep just thinking about them. how are yours?"

"they've been the same. but mr. keating is quite interesting." neil chuckled, making amé smile a bit more.

"he sounds like it. marianne's friend cindy told me about him."

"yeah. cindy's dad is super good friends with him." neil replied, the jealousy stinging amé. her grin faded. she didn't know cindy actually knew them beyond the typical aurela gossip about the "boys of welton." she didn't care that they were friends or anything because she shouldn't have control over any of them, but in amé's mind, they were just fighting for something that she had no interest nor control over. cindy was jealous of her for no reason.

"really?" she asked, making her best effort to sound enthusiastic. the meeting dragged on, before it was eventually time for them all to part ways. amé stood outside the cave, shivering. the autumn breeze was just beginning to pick up. it was almost winter again. she held her notebook tight to her chest, seemingly waiting for nothing until neil approached her.

"hi." he smiled warmly, coming out from the cave behind her.

"hi neil." amé inhaled before turning to face the boy stood next to her.

he looked hesitant. a moment passed where they just sat in silence, enjoying each other's company for a second.

"do you want me to walk you to back to aurela? you don't have someone to walk with this time." he quickly said, breaking the silence.

amélie stared at him. the feeling in her stomach stung. it felt like fear, but she knew she had nothing to be scared of. it was just neil. the dark haired boy who loved poetry. he was harmless, amé was just nervous. to talk to him, without being around his friends. her stomach was churning as she thought about it. she didn't quite know what to feel. "um, sure. walking here did get a bit lonely." she sighed, a smile curling onto her lips.

the two began walking side by side, in silence. they were both too nervous to even utter a word while they walked. maybe it was the lack of communication before. they had only talked two nights ago and not much ever again. that would be enough to make the two nervous, but amélie just didn't feel that. she felt something different.

"when i want to write, there's this spot i go to and take inspiration from. it's gorgeous, and it really helps me write my poems. sometimes i feel it's the only place i'll ever feel truly happy." amé exhaled, glancing at neil. his face softened as he studied the girl's words carefully.

"i'll take you sometime."

he smiled. "good. i would like to see it.

—————-

once they got to the front steps of aurela, neil's words came all out at once.

"i was wondering, are you busy tomorrow night?" he asked, amélie's eyes widening at the question.

"uhm, i don't think so, why?" she responded, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"i was wondering if you would maybe want to go on another walk with me? i mean the weathers been so nice and i've been-" neil said nervously. he kept making excuses, keeping the focus away from what he really wanted.

amélie beamed. "i'd love to go."

"i'll see you tomorrow night." she sighed, walking up the steps to her school and grabbing onto the door handle.

"goodnight, amélie." neil smiled, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. "sweet dreams."

"goodnight neil." tonight was the first night in years that amélie was actually feeling good about herself, and neil was to blame.