16th April 2013.

Chapter 5.

Lauren and the other Branning's took their seats just before six in the area specified for the students and their families. Lauren was clutching Joey's hand in hers as they sat, waiting for the ceremony to begin. She was barely paying attention to the guest speakers who spoke, at length, about their history with the college. Joey was caressing her hand in both his, trying to soothe her from her stress but in actuality it was distracting her with a whole different set of thoughts.

Finally the college head took to the stage and began to speak about this year's graduating students. He spoke about each of the top five students, with a brief summary of the theme they'd chosen for their work. Lauren bowed her head slightly as he spoke about her art, her face flushing more and more as he said a synopsis of the theme that she'd submitted to her tutor. Joey squeezed her hand and when she glanced at him, he smiled and winked at her.

The college head then spoke about the criteria they'd used when selecting the top five students and how they'd then decided on the top three. At this point he mentioned there was a prize for the top three students and Lauren, who hadn't even realised that was the case, listened intently.

"So, in time honoured tradition, in third place..." He paused dramatically, "Andrew Smith." There was a ripple of applause as the boy made his way up to the stage, shook the college head's hand and was given an envelope. Once he was seated and the noise had died down again, the college head continued, "Second place goes to... Louisa Jones." Again more applause and a girl who'd been in several of Lauren's classes walked up onto the stage. Lauren, by this stage wasn't expecting her name to be mentioned anymore and wasn't really paying attention when the college head spoke again, "And the winner of the award for best student of the class of 2014 is... Lauren Branning."

"Babe, you won." Joey said to her, knowing she hadn't realised. Lauren looked up startled and Joey kissed her cheek. His hand was on her back and he urged her to stand, pressing the small of her back so she took that first step.

Lauren walked up to the stage in a complete blur, not really able to fathom that it was her that won. She shook the hand of the college head and she was sure he said something to her but when asked later on she would be unable to say what that was. He gave her an envelope and a bunch of flowers. Photographers stepped forward and the bulbs from various cameras were flashing for several minutes. Lauren fixed a grin on her face and she wondered how long she would have to stand there... she just wanted to be back in the safe haven of Joey's arms. All this attention was overwhelming.

Several minutes later she was walking, rather dazedly, back to her boyfriend and she sat back in her seat. The ceremony finished a few minutes later but Lauren remained seated, even when most of the others in the room had left.

"You okay, Lauren?" her mother asked her gently.

"Yeah..." she whispered.

"Let me take those flowers for you, sweetheart." Tanya offered and Lauren passed them to her.

"I really won?" Lauren said softly.

"You sure did, babe." Joey said, hugging her against his body. She was clearly still in shock.

"I won." She repeated, glancing at her dad, her eyes wide.

He smiled at her and leant forward to kiss her forehead, "So proud of you, princess." He murmured to her.

Her tutor appeared in front of Lauren, "Congratulations, Lauren. I'm so happy that they chose you. I think you were a really worthy winner."

Lauren broke out of her daze, "Thank you. I really couldn't have done this without your help and support, especially in the last few months. After everything that happened, I expected to be told I'd have to repeat the year so this is just amazing."

"You should be really proud of what you've achieved, Lauren. I've seen pupils with barely half your talent go onto good careers. A colleague of mine has already indicated that several of the people here want to speak to you in the next couple of weeks regarding showing some of your work."

"They do?"

"Oh yes, Lauren." She said enthusiastically. "What we normally advise in these circumstances is that they leave their contact details with the college head's p.a. and these will be forwarded to you early next week so you can then choose who and when you speak to them. I would suggest you don't rush into making any decisions, Lauren. After the last few months, I'd hate for you to pile too much pressure on yourself. If you need any advice or someone to talk to, please know you can always contact me. I'll either help you or point you in the direction of someone who will be able to help."

"Thank you," Lauren said, getting to her feet and shaking her tutor's hand.

"You're more than welcome, Lauren. It's been a pleasure to be your mentor over the last couple of years." Lauren blushed self-consciously and her hand automatically reached towards Joey and he was only too eager to grasp it in his. "Now, you really should go down to your show room... even just briefly, in case anyone wants to ask you about any of your work. You don't have to stay too long but I know some of the staff wanted to speak to you about your pieces. Your Art History teacher would also like a word."

"I will. Thanks again." The family left the auditorium and made their way to the room where Lauren's work was displayed. She took a deep breath as they were about to enter the room, not sure what she would find through the doors. She stopped moving when she saw the number of people crowded in the room, all congregating in front of each of the pictures. "Wow." She whispered. She could see several people looking in her direction as they slowly moved further into the room and again she could feel her face redden.

"Which one is your favourite?" Tanya asked.

"Haven..." she said softly, glancing at Joey and not seeing the look of confusion on her mother's face.

"Which one is that? I don't remember there being one called that?"

"Oh..." Lauren looked around the room and pointed in the direction of the last picture in the room. "Was there one you liked, mum?"

"I know it's not a happy one but I really like the vodka bottle one..." she admitted.

"I like that one too..." Max said, "It reminds me of all that you've overcome."

"I did that one the day I got my test results from the consultant." She told them. "It just summed up the way I was feeling about everything and it said how I felt every time I got drunk. It made me remember why losing myself in booze is a really bad idea."

"I love all of the pictures but if I had to choose I have two favourites, Haven and the Eye of the Beholder one." Joey said, smirking into Lauren's hair when she snorted softly at his second choice. She knew the reason behind his choice for that one... and it had much more to do with the photo the picture was made up of than any artistic preference.

Lauren could see a couple of her teachers coming over to speak to her so she turned to her parents and Joey, "Why don't you go and have another look around while I speak to my teachers?" They all nodded and walked away, leaving Lauren with her teachers.

TBC

A/N: Next chapter covers the rest of the evening for the Brannings. I wonder what will happen...