Amy sat at the back of the classroom, trying her best to focus on the English teacher's dissection of Shakespeare's Hamlet and ignore the immature buffoons to her left. A scrunched up wad of paper was tossed onto her desk and she unfurled it despite her better judgement to see an obscene drawing of a woman. She crumpled it up in disgust and placed it on the corner of her table while the teacher was busy writing notes on the whiteboard.

She copied the words on the board into her exercise book until a bell rung to mark the start of lunch.

While she ate alone in the cafeteria and minded her own business, a tall stranger walked over and sat opposite her. She looked up at his face warily and he smiled at her before introducing himself.

The next thing she knew, her ears flushed hot as blood rushed into them. She had no idea whether it was the boy's foreign accent or sincere smile that was making her flustered, but for the first time that year she felt like she had met someone worth getting to know.

Amelia provided the extra money to ride the bus just as she had promised and they both sat down by the window. Matthew thought back to his fight with Raj and how surreal it already seemed. He half expected Amelia to tell him that it had all been a dream from which he had only just woken up, but it was not the case.

"Matt...about what happened an hour ago..." She uttered hesitantly and turned toward him, getting his attention.

"What about it? Do tell..."

"If we're going to keep dating, you may have to defeat my other six exes..."

"Six exes?!" Matthew freaked out and almost fell from his seat in surprise.

"Shush, keep it down..." Amelia whispered, glancing quickly at the other passengers to make sure they hadn't heard.

"Sorry..." Matthew apologized and faced her. "I just think seven is a bit much..."

They did not exchange any further words for the remainder of the bus trip and Matthew got off at his stop feeling overwhelmed at what was to come.

Matthew entered the apartment to the pleasant smell of the meal Francis was cooking. He hung his coat up on the wall without even a polite greeting to his older cousin and passed through the kitchen to the living room, sitting down in an armchair.

"Is everything alright, Matthieu? You seem to be in a rush." Francis observed without taking his focus off the pan in front of him.

"Amelia asked to come here tonight for our date. I've already been at her place, so it's only fair..."

"Uh-uh, Matthieu. You forget that this place is in fact mine. I will only let you use it if you agree to one condition..."

"What is it?" Matthew asked as he watched his cousin walk into the living room holding a steaming plate in his hands.

"You must break up with that highschool girl today."

"Break up with her? That's going to be hard..."

"You don't want everybody to know you have two girlfriends, do you? You, the nice, polite boy who rarely ever misbehaved at school...?"

"I guess you're right..."

"Good. Now I have a Danish movie to watch this afternoon." Francis cut off, slapping him gently with a DVD cover.

"Danish movie?"

"Yes. It features newcomer Magnus Densen in a supporting role."

"Who's that?"

"You've never heard of him?" Francis remarked in surprise. "He used to be a cyclist, but now he's an actor too. He's even coming to the Castle to film some scenes for his next role."

"They film movies in Toronto?"

"Yes, they do. Now get out of my chair."

Matthew swiftly jumped up and made room for his cousin so as not to get on their bad side. He put on his coat as Francis began watching and quiet gunshots could be heard coming from the television.

He found the nearest telephone booth and shut himself inside before dialing Mei's number. He took a deep breath as he waited for the line to connect, all the while worrying about how he would break the bad news to her.

"Hello, May." He started once he heard her voice. "There's something I really need to tell you-"

"Hey Matt! Answer my question! Are you wearing a red jacket, a brown flappy hat and dark trousers?"

"Um, how do you know...? Are you psychic?"

"No, I can see you!"

Matthew dropped the receiver when he looked up to see her standing outside holding her cellphone and waving at him vigorously.

"Hey..."

They went once again to the record store and the first thing Matthew did there was look around for any signs of Vicky. Her complete absence did much to give him relief and he focused on Mei, whom was admiring a cardboard cutout of The Clash at Demonhead.

He clenched his fist courageously, remembering the mission he would have to complete by the time night came. He approached Mei and tried not to focus on the cold eyes of the famous band's lead singer.

"I'm so excited that they're coming here to play! Aren't you?"

"Yeah..." Matthew replied as he instinctively laid eyes on the image of the fair-haired young woman before him. All he could see was the face of his ex-girlfriend. He shifted his eyes to the girl beside him and instantly felt guilty about the possibility that he would break her heart just as his had been.

"So Matt, would you like to go out for dinner later?"

"Dinner?"

"Tonight at my house, if it's alright with you."

"I think that's a bad idea..."

"No, it's great!"

"I'm too old for you." Matthew stated, putting out the first and most obvious reason he could think of.

"But my Dad's nine years older than my Mum. Why should age matter when we're in love?"

"Um, May. I was actually thinking..."

Matthew paused to consider the fact that there was no going back before continuing. "I was thinking we should break up."

Mei's smile went away when she heard his words. She began to stare at the floor and the light around her seemed to diminish.

"But...why?" She whimpered.

"It's not going to work out."

She turned away in tears and he watched her for a while before leaving the record store quietly.

"Well, I'm off to the Castle to catch a star. If anything happens, you know where to find me, no?" Francis addressed the two younger adults upon preparing to leave the apartment.

"Yeah, Francis..." Matthew nodded half-heartedly as he prepared dinner by heating stuff in the microwave. Francis gave a subtle look of disapproval before shutting the door and disappearing from the room.

Once Matthew's cousin was gone, he and Amelia sat on the floor together to eat.

"You sure seem to have a big supply of Kraft Dinner..." Amelia remarked, looking down at the steaming macaroni in her bowl.

"Well, I never get tired of eating it."

"I've actually heard that having too much makes you fat, if you know what I mean."

"That can't be true!" Matthew shrieked, dropping his spoon back into his bowl.

"It's true. One of my old friends is a dietitian..."

Around thirty minutes later, Matthew was feeling a little tipsy from drinking some of the stuff in his cousin's wine cupboard. He stumbled back into the living room carrying a guitar and realized he couldn't remember how he'd come by the instrument (he was sure his cousin didn't even own one).

Regardless, he slumped down against a wooden chair and began to play a country song while singing along unsteadily. Amelia listened to him and feigned enjoyment, despite some of his flat notes making her feel uncomfortable all over.

Forty five minutes since their date had begun, Matthew had sobered up enough to realize how amateurish his performance was and promptly ceased playing to Amelia's relief. She gave him a hug without much warning and placed a hand at the back of head to stroke his hair.

"Wow, it's so soft and shaggy..."

Matthew jolted and pulled himself out of her embrace in embarrassment. He ran his hand through his hair and nervously stood up to go to the bathroom.

"Is something wrong?!" Amelia called out in concern.

"I think I need a new haircut!" Matthew yelled back while staring at his reflection in disappointment.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Matt! I think your hair is cute that way!"

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah! Don't ever change it!"

Matthew popped back out of the bathroom wearing a knit cap and faced Amelia, whom had now risen from her previous sitting position.

"Why are you wearing that hat?"

"I thought we could go for a walk!" He said impatiently and headed for the door, leaving her with little choice but to put on her coat and do the same.

"So we came out here just so you cover your hair with that hat?" Amelia asked him playfully as he caught up with her on the stairs in the park.

"No, I just like walking. So, where are we going?"

"I thought you had it all planned out."

"Oh yeah, I forgot..." Matthew sighed, continuing on ahead of her as she followed, the shape of a large castle beginning to make itself visible before them.

"What is that building? It looks kind of medieval."

Amelia's jaw dropped in awe at it's size and apparent mystery as she came to a complete stop.

"That's the Castle. Francis said he was coming here to watch them shoot a movie scene."

"Shooting a movie? That sounds really cool!"

"Yep. He also told me about some Danish guy with the surname Densen. I forgot his first name though, but I think it started with an 'M'..."

"Matt..." Amelia uttered quietly, her voice suddenly taking on an unusual seriousness.

"Huh?"

"Remember what I said about defeating my seven exes?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Amelia simply stared at him for a while with a blank expression before seeming to relax. She took his hand and lead him casually along towards the film set, while he tried to figure out why she had dropped a pressing subject so quickly.

A/N: If you're wondering why Amelia decided not to tell Matthew what was awaiting him, she's just as anxious about it all as he is. Plus, she is also pretty ashamed of her past dating behaviour and may be reluctant to discuss it openly with anyone, especially her new boyfriend.

PS: If you are reading this story, please try to review if possible.