The Shelley Bet (A George Shelley Fan Fiction)

Chapter 11

"Don't be silly!" Megan replied, sounding a little more relaxed, "I was just a little surprised, that's all."

More silence.

Suddenly, an idea popped into George's head, "Hey, how about you come and stay with me at the hotel for a couple of weeks? You can share my tutor, so you don't have to worry about school!"

"I'm not sure, George..." Megan replied, unconvinced.

"Please?" George pleaded, "For me?"

Megan rolled her eyes, "Urgh fine! It's half term next week anyway."

George let out a girly squeal, "Yay! And bring Campbelle too. I can't wait to see you!"

Megan laughed, "Calm down sunshine I'm not that exciting!"

***

Sure enough, the next day Megan and Campbelle turned up at the Corinthia hotel armed with bags that weighed a ton.

As they collapsed in the foyer, about to collect their room key, a blurry figure pounced on Megan knocking her to the ground. It didn't take long for Megan to realise who the gigglinf attacker was.

"George! Get off me!" She shouted, her mouth full of hair. She wriggled underneath George, failing to keep a straight face as she burst into a fit of laughter.

George, still giggling hysterically, slowly pushed himself off the floor, pulling Megan up with him.

Megan brushed down her clothes before wrapping her arms tightly around George's neck.

He squeezed her back, his voice muffled by her hair, "I've missed you, monkey."

They stayed like that for a few moments, until a cough from behind them interrupted their hug.

They immediately separated as Campbelle raised an eyebrow, looking unamused, "Sorry to interrupt you lovebirds, but I've got the room key."

George cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with the girls, "Oh yeah, follow me."

Megan thumped Campbelle playfully behind George's back as they followed him up the stairs to their home for the next few weeks.

***

"Wow, just wow," Campbelle exclaimed for the 100th time, touching the quilt on her bed lightly in awe as if it were made of gold.

Megan was unpacking the last of her suitcase, "There, that should do it."

She stood back and admired the room, smiling proudly at how homely they'd made it, "Well, we better go and have dinner, meet the other contestants and all that."

Campbelle nodded in agreement and followed her out of the room and downstairs to the canteen that George had showed them earlier.

The sounds coming from it could be from down the corridor - the clanging of cutlery and laughter and just general chatter. Megan smiled to herself as she could hear a familiar giggle above the noise.

It didn't take long to spot George. In amongst the crowd was a table seating George, JJ, Josh and Jaymi and a girl that looked familiar.

George must've spotted Megan as he started waving manically at her, gesturing for her and Campbelle to join them.

They made their way through the crowd and once they reached the table, George shot up and gave Megan yet another enormous hug, "Settled in alright, girls?"

"Yes, thank you!" They chorused.

"This hotel is amazing," Campbelle added.

Once they'd greeted the other boys with a friendly hug, the girl, who'd remained silent in the corner, spoke, "Hi, I'm Ella."

Ella Henderson. That's why she recognised her.

Megan smiled warmly at her, "I'm Megan. And this is Campbelle."

Campbelle gave her a brisk wave.

Ella smiled back sweetly at her, "Lovely to meet you both."

That smile. It was sweet - too sweet. Sickly sweet. False. She didn't know why, but there was something about Ella that made her feel uneasy.

Pushing her first impression aside, Megan sat down between George and Campbelle, who'd sat herself next to JJ and was looking quite cosy with him.

Throughout dinner, Megan felt constantly someone eying her. On various occasions she shifted her focus onto Ella. But every time she did this, Ella was silently eating her food, her blue eyes fixated on the table.

Brushing this off, Megan ate a hearty meal until she could eat no more.

Leaning back in her chair, she made a groaning noise as she patted her stomach, "Well, I'm stuffed!"

A series of groans came from around the table in agreement.

Campbelle nudged Megan to catch her attention, "We should probably leave you all to it - you must have a lot of rehearsing to do," She climbed out her chair and Megan copied her actions.

George bounced out of his seat and was beside the girls before they knew what was happening, "I'll walk you to your room. I'll see you boys later," He called back at the table.

Once they were back at the room, George grabbed Megan's arm before she could follow Campbelle into the room, stopping her.

"Is everything okay, George?" She asked, puzzled.

"Oh yeah, everything's fine," George replied breezily, "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight, watch a movie or something?"

"Yeah sounds great," Megan paused, worrying that she was distracting him, "As long as you're not busy?"

George slid his arms around her waist, grinning, "I've always got time for you."

Megan giggled, "George, that tickles!"

He padded his fingers lightly across her stomach, causing her to tense as she knew what was coming.

"Don't do it..." She warned, her eyebrows raised sternly.

"Too late!" And George started full-on tickling her.

The corridor was soon filled with the sounds of Megan's squeals. She thrashed around but his grasp on her too strong. With one final thrash, Megan tumbled to the ground, bringing George down with her. She found herself, yet again, on the floor with him. By now they were both laughing uncontrollably.

"George...please...stop it..." Megan managed to get out, breathing heavily.

George stopped and gazed up at her, still giggling. Their faces were so close together, their lips were almost touching. The laughter stopped. With their eye contact unbroken, George bit his lip. Silence. Shutting his eyes, he leaned in...

"Interrupting something?"