The next two months seemed to drag on forever, but finally the day came. She arrived at the hotel early with her huge rucksack rather than a suitcase that people on the tube seemed to constantly trip over.
She waited in the lobby for a bit watching people come and go, but got tired. She took her rucksack and went out to the park at the end of the road where she sat on the grass under a tree for a bit. People watching in a park was much more interesting than people watching in a hotel; the tourist trying to feed the squirrels who would only come so close, the school kids who had finished for the day and decided to hang out in the park before going home and the OAPs who sat on the benches watching people going by, a bit like Jess.
Finally it was nearly time, she checked the email again to make sure and remembered that she needed I.D. She went to get her passport out of the top compartment of her rucksack but it was stuck, so she had to take a couple of the books out that were underneath it to get her passport out and then had to put the books back. She stood up and went to lift the heavy bag onto her back when a voice from behind her said "let me help you with that, that looks heavy."
She turned and saw a gorgeous boy with eyes as green as the leaves from the Oak tree she sat under. "Oh. Um, thanks, it's fine once it's on my back." He smiled and she tried not to embarrass herself by turning red. "It's still very heavy, where are you headed to?"
"Just the Regents' hotel down the road, it's fine."
"That's where I'm headed to as well. My name's Stefan Salvatore by the way," he grinned and winked at her as he held out a hand
"I'm Jess Flynn, pleased to meet you." She shook his hand, which was cool and looked perfectly manicured.
"Let me take that." He lifted the bag easily onto one shoulder, Jess felt uneasy without anything to carry but walked besides Stefan through the park. "So where are you from then Jess?"
"East London technically, but people still think of it as Essex. I escaped to the posh side to go to Uni. So, have you guys checked in already to avoid the screaming hoards?"
He laughed at that, "yes as a matter of fact. I just thought I'd get some fresh air and get back before the screaming hoards."
Now it was Jess' turn to laugh. "For two nights this is an awful lot of stuff"
"I'm covering all bases, I've never been to any sort of convention before."
"Me neither," he sighed, "this is a brand new experience for me as well."
"Wasn't your choice then?"
"No, but you knew that already though didn't you."
It wasn't a question, his eyes had gone a bit darker now, "there was a rumour on the net, but I wasn't sure. It's hard to know what to believe on there, so I just mainly lurk"
"So, what are you studying then?"
"History"
"What's your favourite period?"
Now he was teasing her and she threw back a mischievous grin, "the restoration period. It's got everything, drama, scandal, fire, plague, mistresses fighting with each other."
"Had all of that in my day you know, the Medici were also responsible for patronising Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci among others."
"We're learning about that at the moment actually in our Mediterranean World module, started yesterday but sounds really interesting so far."
"Oh it is, much more than your restoration period," he threw her a friendly grin and she laughed as they walked into the hotel. She went to take the rucksack off Stefan, but he insisted on carrying it up to her room for her and when they got there he gave it to her and he told her he'd see her soon and went off.
She opened the door to her room and found her roommate was already there and unpacking. "Hi! I'm Holly!"
"Hi! I'm Jess!"
"This is so exciting! Who do you ship?" she asked, her hazel eyes wide with excitement.
"Damon."
"Oh good! I'm Stefan all the way, I like a man who shows his feelings, I'm a sucker for a heartbroken guy! I hope he'll sign my books!" She produced the most recent version that had a different cover so Jess showed Holly hers.
Holly told Jess she worked in a music shop and although they liked different bands they both liked the same genre, so they decided to head out to find the nearest McDonalds to grab a burger, and were so engrossed in their music discussion they didn't see the pretty blonde girl until they bumped into her standing in the doorway.
"You alright? You look a little bit lost," asked Jess.
"Um yeah, I'm trying to find somewhere for food but I got lost."
"Come with us, we're going to try and find McDonalds so we can all get lost together. I'm Jess, this is Holly."
"Hi! I'm Mel, my roommate hasn't showed up yet and I'm starving!"
"My stomach thinks my throat's been cut," moaned Holly as they dragged her out of the hotel and told her not to say things like that.
The three of them got on like a house on fire, Holly stood out with her blue hair making Jess's aubergine hair looked almost natural next to it, and Mel was the odd one out with natural blonde hair and warm brown eyes. But they sat there and laughed and talked about the books and about their favourite characters, although Holly hadn't been on the forums that much and had no idea about Quoth until Mel showed her the posts, "it's got to be Damon" she insisted. Jess was in complete agreement as well, but they changed the subject on the way back in case there was anyone listening.
"If your roommate doesn't show up, come hang out with us, you can get ready with us in our room if you like," offered Holly.
"That'd be great! Thanks. You know that I'm studying to be a beautician in college at the minute, so I'll do your makeup if you like."
"Yeah, you're staying with us then," Jess laughed as they walked towards the hotel with their drinks still in their hands.
"You don't look like a beautician, all the ones I've seen are tanned with platinum blonde hair and generally fake all over," said Holly.
"Some of them are on my course, but not many. It might depend where you live, Exeters' a bit of backwater, it's not Essex."
"I come from Romford. It's officially East London but most people think it's Essex and to be honest, that's a normal look where I come from." The girls started to laugh and by the time they got to the hotel lobby, Jess was in the middle of telling them some rude jokes about Essex girls.
They went to reception first and checked if her roommate was in, but the girl had been scrubbed as Mel was the only one down for that room. So she headed up to her room and Holly and Jess to theirs to start getting ready for the meet and greet. It ended up being a lot of fun, Holly did their hair and Mel did their makeup, with Jess confessing that she had met Stefan earlier and he had carried her rucksack for her. "I don't want to make a big deal out of it though because it was away from the hotel and he was just being nice."
"You are soo lucky! He sounds really sweet and I'm so glad Damon started the rumour, so I get to meet him," sighed Mel.
"Yeah, back off, he's mine," Jess laughed as Holly told them they could share Damon so she would have Stefan all to herself.
They went laughing down to the ballroom where they grabbed a glass of prosecco each and toasted to friendship.
