Matei turned around to smile up at a black British boy standing above him. He had short nearly crew-cut dark hair and bright green eyes.

"Yeah, I said I was going on a date, remember, T.J.?" he told his friend through gritted teeth quietly.

T.J. looked confused for a second before finally, it dawned on him.

"Ohhh. Oh, you meant you were taking her here? Well, mate, why didn't you just say so?" he said, giving Matei a playful shove.

He leaned over the table then, extending his hand for me to shake. Slowly, I shook it and sent him a small smile.

"Hi, I'm T.J.," he told me, returning the smile.

"Jemma," I said before leaning back in my chair.

"So how long have you two known each other?" he asked, crossing his arms casually.

Suddenly, someone tugged on his arm from behind and I noticed a short Muslim girl standing off to the side. Her eyes were dark brown, framed by a silky purple hijab.

"T.J.! Come on, can't you see they want to be alone?" she hissed, pulling him away from the table.

"Selina-" he started to protest but she just yanked on his jacket once more.

He frowned as she led him away. Shooting us an apologetic smile, I saw them walk over to a table nearer to the door. Matei gave me a sheepish smile, shrugging.

"Sorry 'bout that. He can be...overly-friendly at times," he apologized.

I laughed, waving it off.

"It's fine, Matei. Really." I smiled at him.

This time, he was the one to blush as he glanced down at the table. The rest of the night went on with no more incidents. He asked me about my life at the orphanage and in turn, I asked him about his own life. I found out he had a little sister named Emelia who lived with him and that his parents passed away a few months ago. Reaching my hand across the table, I rested it on top of his comfortingly as a look of pain flashed across his face.

"My...parents passed away too. Back when I was a baby..." I admitted, giving him a sympathetic smile.

He nodded and I let go of his hand then.

"So have you lived in Stoneybridge long?" I asked, changing the subject to a more light-hearted one.

"No. Me and my sister just moved here actually," he replied, his brown eyes boring into mine.

"Oh? I assumed you'd grown up here. I haven't really had a lot of time to meet people yet," I said, laughing off my blunder.

He grinned and took a sip of his drink. I was about to ask more about his sister when I was interrupted by the jingle of bells on the door. My head snapped up as the door swung open and my mouth formed an 'o'. Standing in the doorway was a girl with fiery red hair...and amber eyes.