"All right everyone! Let's get this started!" The ever so enthusiastic Mia burst out. However, unlike usual, the room didn't quite meet her enthusiasm. Mia was left in silence, standing with one fist towards the sky.

As you probably could imagine, there definitely were some minor problems in their roster. Excluding Mia, their lineup consisted of Amelia, who were usually pretty silent anyway, Chris who first rejected Amelia, but now dated her (his brain still hadn't even caught up to that fact yet.), and Lilly, the girl who rejected Chris.

Of course, Mia, being Amelia's best friend, had heard of the situation, and now was simply trying to salvage what little there was left of the usually lively atmosphere. Seeing that her first attempt didn't work, she quickly moved on like nothing happened. But she could clearly see the split. How would she even salvage this when the trio couldn't even look each other in the eyes?

"A-anyway…" Mia continued, falling on her chair again. "Now that were back at school, it's back to our normal routines. So, clubs back on once a week. And don't forget exams at the end of the semester! Now that the formalities are done, let's get on to the real things."

Mia continued like this, leading the room forward, but also trying to include the others, who occasionally let out their thoughts. Considering the situation, she was doing quite well. Her leader skills really shone.

"Since it's our first meeting since break, let's could it a bit short." That's definitely an excuse to leave the room… "But first! The most important thing of all. Yep, I have not forgotten, despite how forgetful I can be. It's time to announce the winner!"

Just before winter break, they all submitted their own texts to a friendly competition amongst the members. We got a copy of each text and sent our vote to Mia on which text we thought was the best. And it was finally time to announce the winner.

"I've read through your rankings and the text with the most first places were…. Amelia's text!"

Mia happily jumped while clapping as she announced the winner. Amelia, however, were in complete shock. It took a few seconds, but a small smile managed to appear on her face in the end.

"Congratulations Amelia!" Chris said as he joined in on Mia's clapping.

"Truly deserved! You've always worked hard to improve your writing since we were kids. And as promised, I'll get the text published in the school newspaper for everyone to read!"

With that single sentence, Amelia's smile quickly disappeared. She had really improved on the shy side of her, but that was waaaaay out of her comfort zone.

"Oh, come on!" Mia started as she grabbed Amelia's cheeks. "We all think your text's great, and I think the rest of school will think so as well." Mia then quickly turned around again and pulled out an envelope from her backpack.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"And as a second reward I have managed to obtain these!" Mia proudly presented the envelope, holding it up in the air for all to see. "Ta-da! Two tickets to the theater, to commemorate our trip there last autumn." Mia smiled.

"T-thanks!" Amelia replied while reaching out and grabbing the envelope.

"Well, I think that does it for today. Remember our meeting next week!"

And before long, we all packed up our stuff. Lilly leaving first, followed by Mia. As Amelia finished up and stood up, Chris turned around and prepared to start moving. He was however, quickly pulled back by something. He turned around to see Amelia holding onto his jacket.

"What is it?"

"How was it seeing Lilly again?"

"It's fine. I'm not really angry at her or anything. But it is pretty awkward sitting here next to her."

Amelia giggled. "Yeah… But I guess it won't change any time soon."

"Yeah." Chris said as he once again tried to move. But once again something held him back. Turning around once again, Amelia looked at him with her expression being a mixture of embarrassment and smugness. Although most people wouldn't understand what she meant by just looking at her, Chris didn't even flinch in his response. He put out his open hand and Amelia quickly latched on to it. Flaunting a victorious smile.

Hand in hand, they walked out of the classroom.

The couple slowly strolled through the town center and past all kinds of stores, talking happily between each other.

"So, were do you wanna go?" Chris enquired.

"Hmmm… What about that place?" Amelia said as she pointed at a petite café on the left of them.

"Have you been there before?"

"No. but it looks fine. Have you?"

"No. But sure, it's always fun to try out something new!"¨

Agreeing to her choice of where to go, they went to the café and opened the door. A light bell rung as they went inside, and the waiter happily greeted them. Finding a nice spot, they sat down opposite each other and opened the menu.

"Hmm… looks like they mostly sell hot drinks and cookies in the winter, but it all looks really good!" Amelia commented.

"Yeah."

During their short time together, only a little over one week, Chris had realized that Amelia was a total foodie, especially when it came to sweets and dessert. So her comment made him let out a small giggle.

Together, they decided to order some hot chocolate as well as some cookies topped with strawberry jam, and before long, the food arrived. They had spent a long time together the past few days, so their conversation easily moved forward almost on its own, talking about the most mundane topics.

"…And then she just left me. She was probably gone for a good fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes just to find a bin?"

"You know how Mia is. She can really be so airheaded sometimes."

They both laughed.

Although this seemed rather uninteresting, Chris loved being able to learn more about her. Especially stories like these since Amelia told them with such enjoyment. Her smiling away as she told him really made Chris realize how lucky he was to date someone so cute. And it made him feel extra special to be able to see her like this, because it meant she had truly warmed up towards him.

Taking a big sip of her hot chocolate, Amelia continued. "So, what do you wanna do later?"

"I'm down for anything, school hasn't properly started after winter break yet, so we can do what we want." Chris smiled.

"Hmmmm…" Thinking, Amelia suddenly blushed, making Chris a bit scared at what was to come.

"I-If you want…" Amelia started before looking away. "We could go hang out at my place. O-only if you want, of course. It should be no one there."

Chris cracked up at this suggestion, making Amelia even more red. For him, that was not something embarrassing to ask. They had been at his house a few times. But for Amelia, it was something almost sacred. Very few had been to her house due to her reserved nature.

Smiling, Chris replied "Sure!" Which in turn made his partner visibly happy.