Goal:

It was the evening of the presentation, and I had already spent hours getting ready. I had gotten my nails done, had my hair professionally curled and my make-up done, and was sitting in my dressing gown, staring at my full wardrobe wondering what on earth I was going to wear. I settled on a burgundy, velvet cowl neck mini bodycon dress that hugged me on the waist and showed a classy amount of cleavage – but I did have to use fashion tape to keep the girls in place. I paired it with a pair of black high heels that had a strap at the ankle – and a small black bag with a silver chain strap that matched the silver in my jewellery.

Once I was finally ready, I locked up my room and headed down the cramped stairs of houses, getting a few stares as I passed the cosy area on the bottom floor, where everyone hung out. I had grabbed a cropped teddy-bear jacket and put it on as I went outside, the sharp bitter wind cutting me to the core and blowing my curls around. I headed to the theatre as quickly as I could with my insanely high heels on and once I got there I headed straight inside. Coach was standing in the foyer, greeting people in a smart suit, looking reasonably dapper for his older age. There were people everywhere, seeming to be parents and siblings all dressed in smart dresses and suits. I spotted some of the boys' team standing separately with what I assumed to be their parents. I spotted Theo as he spotted me, and he waved me over. I walked over warily, and he slung his arm over my shoulders once I was close enough to him.

"Ma, this is Isla – the girl I told you about doing the match reports and that." He introduced, staring at a tall woman made even taller with her heels on – towering over Theo. She had short blonde hair straightened around her face and stunning blue eyes. She was beautiful, tall, slim and despite the wrinkles on her face looked stunning for her age.

"How lovely to meet you Isla; I'm Mary." She smiled and leant in to kiss my cheek. I returned the favour and smiled at her.

"And you-" I paused, wondering what I should call her by.

"Mrs Newman." She answered, and I nodded. She was very well spoken, a soft tone in her voice.

"I love you dress." I complimented. If I had learnt anything since meeting my step-dad, it was that posh women loved to be complimented on their outfits. And despite Theo not seeming overly posh, his mother was. "Chanel is it?"

"Why yes, thank you, and yours darling – though I'm much too old to get away with something so short!" She exclaimed, and I smiled.

"Of course not!" I exclaimed, and she laughed. "Well, I best be off and let Coach know I'm here. It was lovely to meet you." I smiled at her and she nodded, grabbing my hands in hers and squeezing.

"And you darling."

"See you Theo." I smiled at him and he smiled back, looking pleased with me.

As I walked away, I heard Mrs Newman ask him where he found me and how happy she was that he was beginning to hang out with the people she likes him to, rather than the commoners. Normally that would make me feel complimented, but today it merely made me feel sad.

I didn't want to be one of 'those' people. I was no better than anyone else.

Once I reached Coach, he turned to look at me and took a step back.

"Wow, someone cleans up well don't they?" He asked, and I giggled awkwardly.

"Thank you." I mumbled, and he smiled down at me.

"I'm glad you made it."

"You didn't really give me much choice." I reminded, and he laughed.

"I know. Come with me." He ordered, and I followed him as he weaved his way through parents and over to the corner of the well decorated foyer. It was normally sleek white but today there were decorations in the house colours, fairy lights dangling and flowers. It gave the place some warmth. Once I realised where he was going my heart dropped and I fixed my hair, making sure my dress looked nice. "Mr and Mrs Hughes! How lovely to see you again!" Coach nearly shouted, and I flinched. He hugged the woman and shook the hand of the man despite both looking uncomfortable to be here. As he did that, I noticed Elliot, standing there, in a black suit, looking the best he ever had. He had styled his hair and his crisp white shirt against his black blazer and trousers made him look more tanned than normal. He looked almost uncomfortable as he looked around but when he noticed me, he looked me over, once, twice, three times before nodding to himself. When he saw I noticed he smiled at me like nothing had happened. I felt myself blush but smiled back at him.

"This is Isla." Coach introduced, breaking me out of the gaze I had on Elliot. As Coach explained why I was there and what I was doing with the Academy I took my time in taking in what seemed to be Elliot's parents. The woman was very pretty, she had bright green eyes that captured you and red lipstick graced her full lips. Her hair was curly and short, a dark brunette colour. She was insanely skinny, wearing smart black trousers and a blouse with some court shoes. Who I assumed to be Elliot's father was also brunette, but he had blue eyes nearly identical to Elliot's. He was tall and broad, making the woman seem even smaller.

"Well it's lovely to meet you dol'." The man said. "I'm Elliot's Dad." He introduced, his voice deep, holding out his hand for me to shake. I did and smiled back at him.

"Nice to meet you."

"I'm Elliot's Mum, Coral, and that's Danny-" The woman introduced, her voice was very quiet and feminine compared to the man's. "Please excuse his excessive noise." She giggled, and I laughed in response, also shaking her hand.

"No worries." I smiled back, and I felt Elliot's eyes on me. I briefly looked over my shoulder at him to find him staring at me with a curious expression, his head tilted slightly.

"Coach tells me you and Elliot are getting close, ay?" Danny asked, and Coral lightly smacked him on his arm as my cheeks heated.

"Sorry?" I asked, almost choking in surprise and Elliot took a few steps forward so that he was standing next to me, heating my body up in a different way than before. His arm brushed my shoulder and I began to sweat.

"Danny!" Coral scolded, and he laughed along with Coach.

"What Coach meant is I've been helping her out so that she's not quite so lost in this place." Elliot saved smoothly, and I turned my head down to my shoes to hide my flaming cheeks.

"Yeah yeah don't kid yourself Elliot." Danny muttered and winked at his son. "You know what I mean, don't you son?" He asked and looked down at me. I looked up, confused.

"I've already told him that." Coach laughed, and Danny patted him on the back.

"Good lad."

Elliot nudged my shoulder, bringing my attention to him. He mouthed a 'sorry' at me before looking back between Coach and Danny. There was something about Elliot's parents that reminded me of the feeling I had about Coach. They made me feel refreshed, though I didn't always get what Coach meant. They were different from the people I normally socialised with, even different to Theo's mother. She was what I was used to, polite, posh and impersonal. These people were completely the opposite; but I kind of liked it.

"The men in this household I swear." Coral muttered under her breath and I giggled at her statement. She looked over at me and smiled. "Honestly take no notice of them. They're just trying to say Elliot thinks you're pretty." She whispered, and my cheeks flared again.

"Mum, what the hell?" Elliot asked, a hard expression on his face. Coral laughed.

"She was going to get there eventually."

"Knowing her she wouldn't have." Elliot muttered, his cheeks red an angry expression on his features. Meanwhile my mouth dropped in offence that he just called me slow.

Then it clicked. He didn't deny it.

Before I could dwell on the fact that Elliot, handsome Elliot, thought I was pretty, Coach's voice boomed over the crowd of people.

"It's now time to enter the hall. Please follow through these doors." He said and pointed at the doors closest to us that led to the theatre. Everyone began to move at once and I looked around, not knowing where to go or who to go with. I decided to wait until everyone else had gone in so that I wouldn't break anyone up from each other. I took a few steps back into the corner and stayed there as the mass of people slowly began to move faster. I spotted Elliot's head over the crowd looking around nervously. When he spotted me, his face fell with relief and he stalked back to me.

"What the hell are you doing? Come with me." He ordered and grabbed my elbow gently, gracefully pulling me through the crowd and back to his family. Not giving me a choice in the matter. As everyone began to form a line, Elliot's parents in front of us, Elliot's hand still gently resting on my elbow, he leant down to my ear.

"Excuse my parents, they're nutcases. Not like anything you're used to." He stated, sounding nervous and I turned my head to look at him. Only centimetres apart.

"I like them. They're funky." I said, honestly. His lip twitched, and I smiled at the notion. "Just because they aren't what I'm used to it doesn't mean I'm going to think they're weird." I explained, and he shook his head, stood up straight and dropped his hand from my elbow.

"You're like no one else, you know that?" He asked, but he didn't look at me. Before I had the chance to reply we were ushered into the hall by coach. Leaving me to bathe in his words for the next few hours as I sat next to him in the cramped hall, feeling his body brush against mine whenever he moved. Leaving me in a flurry of butterflies and nerves as I sat and tried to make light of what I thought about Elliot. And why I fancied him and viewed him in a way I never had with anyone else in the past.