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"That shirt does not go with that skirt" Lissa says pointing at me with her popsicle.
"Are you serious? I don't have time to be finding something else!" I moan getting stressed out.

Lissa "helping" to get ready is really not very helpful at all.

"Your choice, keep it on, look like a dork, I don't care" Lissa says rolling over on my bed so that she is on her bed, staring at the roof.

I tug my shirt off over my head, dishevelling my hair and probably smudging my make up and throw it at her. Grabbing a red shirt and tucking it into the skirt, I don't wait for her to check me out before grabbing my folio and running out the door.

"Good luck" she calls after me/

"Thanks for nothing" I call back.

Lissa is my twin sister, we aren't identical, but people say we look alike. The difference is she is stunning, and I am a dork, like she said. She has actually been a lot of help with my photography, because she is always around to model for me, even if she complains about it sometimes. She has an amazing confidence that I envy which means she is amazing to work with in front of the camera. She's also willing to go nude, which a lot of girls wont do. I think she trusts me not to make her look awful, and I clearly wont be using the photos in a creepy way. I envy her confidence, it makes people want to be around her, she gets jobs she wants, and the boys fall at her feet.

I arrive at the interview an hour early. Trying to stop myself from sweating a find a seat and learn my heavy folio against my chair. Two other potential photography students are already in the waiting room. One boy sits back, not looking at all nervous, he has dread locks and it looks like his folio is handmade. He is rolling his own cigarettes from Tobacco and storing them behind his ear. I bet his hanging to go outside for a smoke. There is a girl waiting too, she's in what looks like a business suite, probably borrowed from her mum. She looks nervous. She's texting like a crazy person on her phone. The door to the interview room opens and a much older man exists, but then turns and shakes hands with, a really cute looking guy. The guy smiles, and I swear it lights up the room. The other applicants haven't seemed to notice. The older man leaves and the young guy looks down at his clip board, he scans faces, smiles at me and then raises an eyebrow and asks "Julia Stone?". The girl in the business suite stands, and the young guy ushers her in, smiling at me again in reassuring way before closing the door. The interviews go on, more people turn up, only minutes before there interview, very non plused about it all. My nerves are through the roof. My stomach is cramping and I just want to run screaming from the building. Finally an older man comes to the door "Rose Hathaway?" I stand up too quickly my follow falling to the ground

"Sorry" I saw scrabbling to pick it up.

"That's OK" the old man says showing me into the interview room.

The old man takes a seat, next to the young guy from before. Sitting next to him is a really over weight man, which I work out pretty quickly is American.

I place my folio on the table for the interviewers and take a seat

"Hi" I say shyly my face burning red already

"Hi Rose" the old man begins "my name is Gordon, this is Demitri, and that's Greg" he says pointing to the others.

Oh Demitri what a beautiful name for a beautiful looking guy.

"Rose we would like to see your favorite image in your folio and you tell us why"

Oh my god, I wasn't expecting this, I thought all the question would be "why do you want to do photography?" id practiced that answer over and over. I flick through my folio quickly, three times over, and finally settle on an image. Its a photo of Lissa, she is perched on my window sill, the sun streaming in behind her, she is almost a silhouette, but she is naked.

"Is this a self portrait?" Dimitri asks

"Oh no!" I blush and giggle a bit, Oh god they think I'm showing them naked photos of myself, three men judging me and I'm trying to get in like some hussy!

"That's my sister, she's my twin but she doesn't look like me, no, not me at all" Oh no I'm blabbering on, my cheeks burning like crazy.

Gordon and Greg don't look impressed but Dimitri seems to be trying to hide a smile.

"And why is this your favorite photo?" Greg asks getting me back on track

"Um because, um I guess its kind of beautiful" Oh no there I go again, it sounds like I think I'm beautiful, oh my god, stop thinking so much, they are staring at you, you need to say something "you know I enjoyed shooting it, because she is my sister so she is so relaxed with me, and its nice to see she trusts me.. I guess"

"What if you were a professional and had to work with models you've never met that might be less trusting, and put them in this situation, what would you do?" Gordon asks, while flicking through my folio.

"Um well, I guess, make them trust me, well no that's not what I mean, like, earn there trust?"

"Yes, Rose, we get that but how?"

"Um talk to them?" I go bright red again, I suck at interviews, I can feel this being a fail, and I want to sink into the floor.

The room is quiet, the three interviewers are flicking through my folio. They chat quietly amongst themselves pointing at images. At one point Dimitri looks up at me, his eyes seem to burn into mine, then he gives a little smile, but I can't help but feel like its a pity smile.

"Perhaps we break for lunch after this" Gordon says quietly to the others before standing. "Well Rose thank you for meeting with us, you'll hear from us in a few weeks, there will be a letter in the mail" I pick up my folio, feeling dazed and confused, why can't I go back in time and start over?

Gordon begins to walk me to the door, but Dimitri seems to come from no where and is at the door as I get to it. Dimitri holds out a hand to shake mine. "thank you" I whimper quietly. "So nice to meet you Rose" Dimitri says following me into the hall. There is no one else there. "And you, thanks again" I say starting to turn away. I turn back and he is still standing there. "Wait, please, can I please ask you something?"

"Of course" Dimitri says with a smile.

"Please don't make me wait weeks, It'll kill me, plus if I don't get in I really need to sort some stuff out, please put me out of my misery, Im not going to get in am I?" I beg him.

Dimitri runs a hand through his long dark hair, and frowns. He lowers his voice so that there is no way the other two men will hear "Im sorry Rose but I don't think you will. I would love to take you, but I can tell already by the tone of those two, after interviewing with them all week, they wont want to take you this week, and it'll be two against one, ill be out voted"

"Ok. Well thanks for your honestly, and for the interview again" I say moving towards the door again

"Hey maybe try again next year kiddo" Dimitri says with a smile and walks back into the interview room

The minute the door closes behind him I turn and run down the stairs. I get outside, of course its raining. I do my best to cover my folio, and walk out of the building. How long I worked to get this interview, how luck I was, and how much I stuffed it up. I want to scream. Instead I burst into tears. I start to sob. I am so thankful it is raining because it means there isn't many people walking the streets. Most are waiting the rain out. I let myself cry, big sobbing tears and let the rain wash them down my face.

"Hey" I hear from behind me.

I jump a mile. Shit its him! Oh my god this is terrible, of course, they were breaking from lunch

"Your gonna get your stuff wet" Dimitri approaches opening an umbrella.

He notices my face. "Oh no Rose! Oh god I'm sorry I shouldn't have told you" he says trying to hold the umbrella while searching his pockets for tissues in a really cute awkward way.

"No, Im glad I know, I should just give up, its all been a waste of time, I suck!" I say between sobs.

Dimitri looks at me, "come on, there's a pub across the road, lets get dry and warm, ill buy you a hot chocolate"

Dimitri bustles me into the pub and we find a booth in the corner. The pub is dark and warm. There isn't many people in there. The bar man calls from the bar "what were you after" and Dimitri orders two hot chocolates. He looks amazing with his hair dripping and hanging longer than before. It curls up deliciously at the bottoms. I kinda wanna touch it.

"Now, perhaps you are applying for the wrong course, should you be considering perhaps drama or theatre, with the whole standing in the rain, crying and feeling sorry for yourself? Dimitri says with a very serious look.

This makes me laugh and I wipe away the tears. "Im sorry that wasn't for show, I was just kinda devastated, I really wanted this more than anything in the world"

"Unfortunately I've heard that exact sentence about ten thousand times this week" Dimitri says with a smile. And we only except 90 students out of over two thousand applicants, Rose you were really lucky to get an interview, only a small percentage of applicants do, and your work is great, so Id say you'll get an interview next year"

"But what do I do in the meantime? I ask feeling hopeless

"Work, save some money, shoot more, travel, get a feel of the world, actually assisting a photographer is a great way to gain some experience and looks good on your application"

"I just really needed to get in, its stupid, your going to think Im stupid, but I already told my parents I was in" I say looking down at my hands

"Why would you do that?" Dimitri asks.

"Well, its dumb, I got the letter and I was jumping up and down and screaming, and my mother rain into my dad and told him I was in and my dad started to cry, and I didn't want to correct them cause my dads not well, and I want him to be proud of me before he dies, and I just can't tell him, and if I'm not in, and I'm suddenly working and not studying, or hanging around the house his going to know, because his there all day. And he'll ask me what I learnt at uni, and his not dumb, he knows when I'm lying and knows a bit about photography, I just don't know what to do" I sigh feeling flustered

"Sounds like you either need to come clean, or you could come assist a few of my shoots, I might be able to teach you some stuff, but I can't really afford to pay you much, so you might need to work on the side too, I'm only really just starting out too" Dimitri says

"that would be amazing! Hey yeah I was thinking that, how are you a uni lecturer already, you are so young!" I ask smiling

"Ha, thanks Rose, I'm glad I'm not looking as old as I feel sometimes, I am only a part time lecturer, I teach studio, because I work the rest of the time in a studio professionally I guess they value my expertise and the fact that I'm up to date with the latest trends and styles, I can teach what I do. I run the practical and the lectures for studio, actually come to think of it, studio lectures are in the huge lecture hall and students from other disciplines are invited to those lectures, so you could probably sneak into those as well, if you promised not to tell any of the other students, maybe get a taste of what you'd do the next year, see if you still want to wait around for it?"

Our hot chocolates arrive at the table, I thank the waiter and turn back to Dimitri

"Oh wow that would be amazing Dimitri, how could I thank you?" I ask feeling the excitement building.

"Well, you've got two secrets to keep now Rose, make sure you keep them hey? That'll be enough thanks for me" Dimitri says taking a sip of his hot chocolate

"I promise" I say "cross my heart and hope to die".

Description
"That shirt does not go with that skirt" Lissa says pointing at me with her popsicle.
"Are you serious? I don't have time to be finding something else!" I moan getting stressed out.

Lissa "helping" to get ready is really not very helpful at all.

"Your choice, keep it on, look like a dork, I don't care" Lissa says rolling over on my bed so that she is on her bed, staring at the roof.

I tug my shirt off over my head, dishevelling my hair and probably smudging my make up and throw it at her. Grabbing a red shirt and tucking it into the skirt, I don't wait for her to check me out before grabbing my folio and running out the door.

"Good luck" she calls after me/

"Thanks for nothing" I call back.

Lissa is my twin sister, we aren't identical, but people say we look alike. The difference is she is stunning, and I am a dork, like she said. She has actually been a lot of help with my photography, because she is always around to model for me, even if she complains about it sometimes. She has an amazing confidence that I envy which means she is amazing to work with in front of the camera. She's also willing to go nude, which a lot of girls wont do. I think she trusts me not to make her look awful, and I clearly wont be using the photos in a creepy way. I envy her confidence, it makes people want to be around her, she gets jobs she wants, and the boys fall at her feet.

I arrive at the interview an hour early. Trying to stop myself from sweating a find a seat and learn my heavy folio against my chair. Two other potential photography students are already in the waiting room. One boy sits back, not looking at all nervous, he has dread locks and it looks like his folio is handmade. He is rolling his own cigarettes from Tobacco and storing them behind his ear. I bet his hanging to go outside for a smoke. There is a girl waiting too, she's in what looks like a business suite, probably borrowed from her mum. She looks nervous. She's texting like a crazy person on her phone. The door to the interview room opens and a much older man exists, but then turns and shakes hands with, a really cute looking guy. The guy smiles, and I swear it lights up the room. The other applicants haven't seemed to notice. The older man leaves and the young guy looks down at his clip board, he scans faces, smiles at me and then raises an eyebrow and asks "Julia Stone?". The girl in the business suite stands, and the young guy ushers her in, smiling at me again in reassuring way before closing the door. The interviews go on, more people turn up, only minutes before there interview, very non plused about it all. My nerves are through the roof. My stomach is cramping and I just want to run screaming from the building. Finally an older man comes to the door "Rose Hathaway?" I stand up too quickly my follow falling to the ground

"Sorry" I saw scrabbling to pick it up.

"That's OK" the old man says showing me into the interview room.

The old man takes a seat, next to the young guy from before. Sitting next to him is a really over weight man, which I work out pretty quickly is American.

I place my folio on the table for the interviewers and take a seat

"Hi" I say shyly my face burning red already

"Hi Rose" the old man begins "my name is Gordon, this is Demitri, and that's Greg" he says pointing to the others.

Oh Demitri what a beautiful name for a beautiful looking guy.

"Rose we would like to see your favorite image in your folio and you tell us why"

Oh my god, I wasn't expecting this, I thought all the question would be "why do you want to do photography?" id practiced that answer over and over. I flick through my folio quickly, three times over, and finally settle on an image. Its a photo of Lissa, she is perched on my window sill, the sun streaming in behind her, she is almost a silhouette, but she is naked.

"Is this a self portrait?" Dimitri asks

"Oh no!" I blush and giggle a bit, Oh god they think I'm showing them naked photos of myself, three men judging me and I'm trying to get in like some hussy!

"That's my sister, she's my twin but she doesn't look like me, no, not me at all" Oh no I'm blabbering on, my cheeks burning like crazy.

Gordon and Greg don't look impressed but Dimitri seems to be trying to hide a smile.

"And why is this your favorite photo?" Greg asks getting me back on track

"Um because, um I guess its kind of beautiful" Oh no there I go again, it sounds like I think I'm beautiful, oh my god, stop thinking so much, they are staring at you, you need to say something "you know I enjoyed shooting it, because she is my sister so she is so relaxed with me, and its nice to see she trusts me.. I guess"

"What if you were a professional and had to work with models you've never met that might be less trusting, and put them in this situation, what would you do?" Gordon asks, while flicking through my folio.

"Um well, I guess, make them trust me, well no that's not what I mean, like, earn there trust?"

"Yes, Rose, we get that but how?"

"Um talk to them?" I go bright red again, I suck at interviews, I can feel this being a fail, and I want to sink into the floor.

The room is quiet, the three interviewers are flicking through my folio. They chat quietly amongst themselves pointing at images. At one point Dimitri looks up at me, his eyes seem to burn into mine, then he gives a little smile, but I can't help but feel like its a pity smile.

"Perhaps we break for lunch after this" Gordon says quietly to the others before standing. "Well Rose thank you for meeting with us, you'll hear from us in a few weeks, there will be a letter in the mail" I pick up my folio, feeling dazed and confused, why can't I go back in time and start over?

Gordon begins to walk me to the door, but Dimitri seems to come from no where and is at the door as I get to it. Dimitri holds out a hand to shake mine. "thank you" I whimper quietly. "So nice to meet you Rose" Dimitri says following me into the hall. There is no one else there. "And you, thanks again" I say starting to turn away. I turn back and he is still standing there. "Wait, please, can I please ask you something?"

"Of course" Dimitri says with a smile.

"Please don't make me wait weeks, It'll kill me, plus if I don't get in I really need to sort some stuff out, please put me out of my misery, Im not going to get in am I?" I beg him.

Dimitri runs a hand through his long dark hair, and frowns. He lowers his voice so that there is no way the other two men will hear "Im sorry Rose but I don't think you will. I would love to take you, but I can tell already by the tone of those two, after interviewing with them all week, they wont want to take you this week, and it'll be two against one, ill be out voted"

"Ok. Well thanks for your honestly, and for the interview again" I say moving towards the door again

"Hey maybe try again next year kiddo" Dimitri says with a smile and walks back into the interview room

The minute the door closes behind him I turn and run down the stairs. I get outside, of course its raining. I do my best to cover my folio, and walk out of the building. How long I worked to get this interview, how luck I was, and how much I stuffed it up. I want to scream. Instead I burst into tears. I start to sob. I am so thankful it is raining because it means there isn't many people walking the streets. Most are waiting the rain out. I let myself cry, big sobbing tears and let the rain wash them down my face.

"Hey" I hear from behind me.

I jump a mile. Shit its him! Oh my god this is terrible, of course, they were breaking from lunch

"Your gonna get your stuff wet" Dimitri approaches opening an umbrella.

He notices my face. "Oh no Rose! Oh god I'm sorry I shouldn't have told you" he says trying to hold the umbrella while searching his pockets for tissues in a really cute awkward way.

"No, Im glad I know, I should just give up, its all been a waste of time, I suck!" I say between sobs.

Dimitri looks at me, "come on, there's a pub across the road, lets get dry and warm, ill buy you a hot chocolate"

Dimitri bustles me into the pub and we find a booth in the corner. The pub is dark and warm. There isn't many people in there. The bar man calls from the bar "what were you after" and Dimitri orders two hot chocolates. He looks amazing with his hair dripping and hanging longer than before. It curls up deliciously at the bottoms. I kinda wanna touch it.

"Now, perhaps you are applying for the wrong course, should you be considering perhaps drama or theatre, with the whole standing in the rain, crying and feeling sorry for yourself? Dimitri says with a very serious look.

This makes me laugh and I wipe away the tears. "Im sorry that wasn't for show, I was just kinda devastated, I really wanted this more than anything in the world"

"Unfortunately I've heard that exact sentence about ten thousand times this week" Dimitri says with a smile. And we only except 90 students out of over two thousand applicants, Rose you were really lucky to get an interview, only a small percentage of applicants do, and your work is great, so Id say you'll get an interview next year"

"But what do I do in the meantime? I ask feeling hopeless

"Work, save some money, shoot more, travel, get a feel of the world, actually assisting a photographer is a great way to gain some experience and looks good on your application"

"I just really needed to get in, its stupid, your going to think Im stupid, but I already told my parents I was in" I say looking down at my hands

"Why would you do that?" Dimitri asks.

"Well, its dumb, I got the letter and I was jumping up and down and screaming, and my mother rain into my dad and told him I was in and my dad started to cry, and I didn't want to correct them cause my dads not well, and I want him to be proud of me before he dies, and I just can't tell him, and if I'm not in, and I'm suddenly working and not studying, or hanging around the house his going to know, because his there all day. And he'll ask me what I learnt at uni, and his not dumb, he knows when I'm lying and knows a bit about photography, I just don't know what to do" I sigh feeling flustered

"Sounds like you either need to come clean, or you could come assist a few of my shoots, I might be able to teach you some stuff, but I can't really afford to pay you much, so you might need to work on the side too, I'm only really just starting out too" Dimitri says

"that would be amazing! Hey yeah I was thinking that, how are you a uni lecturer already, you are so young!" I ask smiling

"Ha, thanks Rose, I'm glad I'm not looking as old as I feel sometimes, I am only a part time lecturer, I teach studio, because I work the rest of the time in a studio professionally I guess they value my expertise and the fact that I'm up to date with the latest trends and styles, I can teach what I do. I run the practical and the lectures for studio, actually come to think of it, studio lectures are in the huge lecture hall and students from other disciplines are invited to those lectures, so you could probably sneak into those as well, if you promised not to tell any of the other students, maybe get a taste of what you'd do the next year, see if you still want to wait around for it?"

Our hot chocolates arrive at the table, I thank the waiter and turn back to Dimitri

"Oh wow that would be amazing Dimitri, how could I thank you?" I ask feeling the excitement building.

"Well, you've got two secrets to keep now Rose, make sure you keep them hey? That'll be enough thanks for me" Dimitri says taking a sip of his hot chocolate

"I promise" I say "cross my heart and hope to die".