. she woke up to marianne standing over top of her "jesus christ!" amé screamed, hitting marianne with a pillow.

"don't use the lords name in vain!" mari yelled back. she was just as freaked out.

"sorry, but what are you doing?" amélie sat up, pulling her knees to her chest.

"you've been sleeping for a long time! i thought you died last night!"

"what made you think that?" amé laughed. she barely remembered anything, but the warmth of neil's body against hers.

"well, you drank vodka and then left with neil, but didn't even tell us you left." marianne said, counting the events on her fingers.

"shit. sorry. i kind of had a breakdown."

"it's fine, i'm glad you're okay. cindy on the other hand, was fuming!" marianne grinned. "you should've seen her face. it was hilarious, she almost punched knox." mari did love some good gossip.

"why?" amélie slightly bit her lower lip. cindy scared her after last night. she was so hostile, so rude.

"something about neil and you leaving together. i think you have competition." marianne threw herself onto the bed, kicking her feet like a childish school girl writing about her crush in a diary.

amélie scoffed. she wasn't sure whether to laugh or be annoyed. "by competition do you mean every other girl in this school? i've never met one girl who didn't bring up how handsome he was. and, what do i care? he's just my friend."

"sure. you two have been getting a little bit too close lately." marianne just loved to push, didn't she?

"you're basically in love with charlie!" amélie defended. she got super defensive really fast, mari was starting to piss her off with her stupid little jokes.

"i am not!"

"amélie, phone call!" a girl yelled, poking her head in their room, phone in hand.

"i stand corrected." marianne muttered, making amélie laugh. she could laugh off every argument they have. she didn't care about it that much. she got up to get the phone.

"hello?"

"hi." the person on the other side said. she immediately recognized the voice. it gave her a splash of relief.

"neil." she softly said. her voice was melting. she tried to keep a smile off of her face.

"amélie." neil said back. she could hear his face light up over the phone. his contagious grin, the sparks in his eyes when he was excited. it all rushed over her.

"what's this about?" amé asked, twirling the phone cord with her spare hand.

"um, do you want to go on another walk?" neil asked quickly. he was nervous. amélie could tell. she could hear. "that is, if you're feeling better." he chuckled.

"well, i always have time for you. let's say, about 7?" amé finally gave into that smile she'd been holding since she heard his voice.

"i won't be late." neil nodded.

"better not be. talk soon." she hung up the phone, and rushed back to her room.

————————————

"hey!" amélie waved, picking up her pace as she walked towards neil.

"hi. it's good seeing you." he smiled. he was a lot taller than her. it intimidated her a lot.

"you too. i woke up with a killer headache, but marianne helped. nurse gave me some medication." she groaned, holding her forehead in pain. "i'm never drinking again."

"see, you're going to say that, but you will." neil chuckled, shaking his head.

"never. ever."

"i don't believe that."

"my mom was an alcoholic. and she left me and my father. never would i want to be like her." amélie laughed. it hurt her to laugh. she regretted it.

"she went to france, though. i imagine it's nice there." amé shrugged, turning to look at neil.

"it is." he nodded.

"don't tell me you've been there." amé groaned jokingly. she missed france with her entire being. she longed to be in france right now, reunited with her mother.

"i've read lots of books about france. it's better than vermont." neil chuckled, focusing on the lake as they walked up to the dock. "i hate it here. especially during the winter. it's going to be soon."

"not yet! we still have some days of sun." amélie argued. she stopped walking to admire the lake as well. "i'd like to go swimming in the lake one night."

"ok, i'll make sure that'll happen." neil grinned. he'd do anything for her.

"do you mean it?" amé looked at him, her eyes lighting up.

"of course. it'd be fun."

"all i can remember from living in france, was this giant red dock. it was 5 minutes away from my house, and we always had to pass it to get to town. fishers used to use it, but they built new ones in town which were more convenient, so they abandoned this giant red dock." amélie gushed, not realizing that she had just dumped this whole memory onto neil.

he seemed to be enjoying it, though. "i thought you hadn't visited france?"

"well, i was born there. i don't count it. i wish i remembered it more. we moved to the us when i was 4, a few months after this happened." amélie said, picking up her pace and continuing to walk with him.

"ok ok, continue your story." he nodded eagerly.

"and, kids used to jump off of it. into the ocean. i always wanted to, but i was only four! my mother would've never let me. so, the next time my cousins were in town, i begged them to take me to the dock. of course, then being 9 and 10, they didn't understand that i could drown. they took me, and i jumped off." amé paused for dramatic effect.

"what happened?" neil asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"i almost drowned. i saw a fish, while i was under water. a bright yellow one. it freaked me out so bad. my cousins had to pull me out of the water, and they pushed on my stomach until a bunch of water came out of my mouth. but, now finally i can swim, i want to jump off a dock again." amélie sighed. she missed the warm embrace of her mother.

"too bad it's not red." neil chuckled. amé laughed. silence, again. it was a sensitive topic.

"where did you grow up?" he quickly followed up, to keep the conversation going.

"angoulême."

"one day i'll visit your red dock."

hearing this, amé was blushing like crazy. she tried to hide it, but she had a giant grin on her face.

"at my dad's house, i have a whole case full of vinyl records. i'd have to show you sometime." she said, trying to cover out the fact that she was freaking out internally.

"do you listen to buddy holly?" neil asked. that was the kind of music he liked. he didn't own too many records, but made sure to get the essentials.

"do i? i love him. i have all my dad's records. he can't be bothered to keep track of them now."amé sighed in admiration. "my dad probably wouldn't let a boy in the house though. i'd have to sneak you in."

"oh no, i wouldn't want you getting in trouble because of me." neil chuckled, shaking his head.

"right, i'd tell him it was your fault then."

"sounds good."

it got dark quickly. the days started to become less and less long with each day that passed. before amélie knew it, her and neil were back at aurela.

amé couldn't focus. her head was filled with thoughts of her mom, and france. maybe her mom went back to angoulême, and wasn't dead.

neil was staring at her longingly. amélie noticed him gazing at her, and quickly made eye contact. it wasn't long until neil leaned in, attempting closing the gap between the two before amé quickly pulled away from him.

"i'm sorry, neil." she managed to tremble, leaving the dark haired boy standing awkwardly.

"thanks for this." amé said, turning away from him. she didn't mean to pull away from that kiss. she didn't think neil saw her as anything more than his friend. she felt so overwhelmed, and kind of panicked. it didn't help that she had just vented about her mom, and was still shaken up over the thoughts.

"amélie-"

"goodnight." she quivered, running back into the building.

"mrs. perry, is that you?" marianne squealed at the sound of the door opening.

"oh no, are you okay?" she frowned, watching as amélie came into their dorm. she looked like she was about to cry. she sat down on her bed, across from marianne, who looked eager to hear what happened.

"i pulled away from him. he tried kissing me, and i pulled away." she managed, trying not to get herself worked up again.

"what? why?" marianne asked in disbelief.

"i don't know. i felt so overwhelmed. i don't know what i was thinking. i didn't think he saw me like that, i thought we were just friends." amé explained, looking at her shoes in embarrassment. "we talked about my mom, and- i don't know."

"you have to go back after him!" mari shook amélie by her shoulder, attempting to get her to stand up.

"it's too late now." amé whispered, looking out the window.

"bullshit. go!"

"no, marianne. i'm not ready for this." amélie muttered, pulling her covers over herself.

marianne bit her lip. "well, goodnight."