Nowhere Girl ~ John Lennon/The Beatles

Chapter Twenty Seven: Surprise

"Who are these, then?" Eve inquired, gesturing to the picture.

"That's my boyfriend, John, and our friend, Paul," she told her simply, before deciding to add, "It was our other friends' birthday, they're all in a band together,"

"Interesting," she nodded, handing the photo back to Robin, who slipped it carefully back into her portfolio. "Is there a reason why you aren't submitting that one to me as coursework?"

"I didn't know if it was relevant to any projects you've been suggesting to us," Robin answered truthfully.

"Of course it's relevant, it's excellent, it shows a real natural eye for photography and you should be rather proud of it," Eve told her before she looked at Robin with slightly narrowed eyes. "Have any of your other tutors mentioned the Summer Showcase to you yet?"

Robin shook her head. She'd heard it be mentioned to Stuart in one of their other classes, and it was apparently a great honour to be recommended for it, though since none of her other tutors had told her about it, she was none the wiser about what it actually was. Eve seemed surprised at that, raising one of her eyebrows.

"That's a surprise, you seem just as excellent in all your other classes as you are in mine," Eve said, and Robin felt surprised at how proud her tutor sounded. "Well it would be my pleasure to put you forward to represent this class. The showcase is an exhibition opportunity where one student is selected from each course as a representative to display their best work. Students' families and friends are invited to come along, but the invitation is also extended to employers or university admission officers, it's an excellent opportunity for you,"

"Are you sure you want me to represent?" Robin asked, stunned.

"Is there anyone else you think would be a good choice?" Eve raised her eyebrow again, ever so slightly intimidating. Robin paused, before shaking her head, and the smile appeared on her tutor's face once more. "Well, you've two months to prepare. Pick out your best work, though as I always say, you might not have even produced your best work yet! You'll need to run your selections by me at least a week before, but we can chat about the finer details closer to the time,"

"Okay, brilliant, thank you," Robin breathed out, a little amazed that she'd be included in such an important event.

As soon as she scurried away out of the class room Stuart was still waiting for her, and based on his pleased grin he had heard everything that had been said between Robin and Eve. He threw his arm around her shoulder as they walked the corridors together, with Robin trying to get her head around Eve's offer, hoping the excited, proud blush would fade soon.

"Honestly, Rob, it's brilliant, I was hoping you'd get asked for the Showcase, mostly cause John can't tease me for being a swot if you're doing it too," Stuart said, making Robin roll her eyes in amusement. "There's always a few buyers invited along as well, maybe you'll be able to flog a few prints,"

"I only take pictures of you lot, who's gonna want to buy those pictures?" she pointed out with a slight laugh, though she found the whole concept of the evening rather exciting.

She'd never done anything like an exhibition before. She didn't even know if she'd feel comfortable inviting people along to it, not since her art was something so personal and expressive to the point that she couldn't imagine displaying it for everyone to see. It was different making pieces for college, because they were for the sole purpose of class, but the exhibition invited new potential to show a part of herself that she usually kept hidden.

If she was going to be working on the exhibition with anyone, she was glad it was with Stuart. After all, he was her first friend, the first person she met at college, and the first person she had told the truth to about her move to Liverpool. Even if she wasn't massively comfortable with putting her work on display, John would be invited, that was a given. There was nothing she could portray in an exhibition that he wouldn't have already seen or known about. Maybe the invitation would extend to Albert too, since he was the one who'd put in her application for college and bought her camera, it felt like best way to pay him back for everything, to show him that his efforts hadn't been in vein. The thought of inviting her mother to the exhibition was a little daunting, but she'd have to come to terms with it. She was her mother, she should be invited, even if the thought bothered her.