I held my breath. If I went first, I could spend the rest of the class lamenting my situation instead of pretending to look at my classmates’ pieces but not really seeing them because my brain was too filled with Alexi.

My hand moved almost of its own volition as it slowly rose into the air. I cleared my throat. “I'll go first.”

Xander nodded happily. “That’s the ticket. I really would have been cross to have to select the first of you. And I don’t think anybody likes me in a cross mood.”

On wooden legs, I went to the laptop and the projector. The actual physical works were already in the student gallery hall. The university liked to open the building every Friday evening for exhibitions. They charged five pounds at the door. It also helped young, unknown artists get discovered.

I turned to face my classmates, and Ilani gave me an encouraging smile with a thumbs-up signal. My stomach rolled. Now would be a hell of a time to throw up. I was pretty sure that would piss Xander off more than having to select someone else to go first. Then I thought of something Alexi had said. He thought I was brave. He said he didn’t know anyone who'd uprooted their life without a safety net. Maybe he was right.

I drew in a deep breath and stepped to the side with the remote. Xander hit the lights, and the image of the kids dancing in the market filled the screen. One in a lime green jumpsuit hung suspended in air, his knees bent and his arms back, his face a mask of both aggression and joy. That was, in its essence, krumping. Working out aggression and expressing emotion. I walked the class through where the photos had been taken and the scenario for the next few market shots. Then I let the photo speak for itself. I repeated the process for all twelve of the works I’d selected.

Yesterday, Alexi had wanted far more in-depth knowledge of every single photo. He'd been sucked in by each one.

When I got to the last four photos, I bit back a secret smile. The Brixton Gold shots. “I'd selected Brixton as a destination for these gritty, urban life photos in particular because I have a small obsession with the soul music that came out of England in the sixties and seventies. It's the music I grew up on. I wanted to see music row and see some of the old studios.” When I showed the exterior of Brixton Gold, my classmates murmured appreciation. “I also got the opportunity to go inside and shoot some photos while they were recording.” I flicked to the first image of the rapper Lady Jane in the booth. Then I changed the image to one of the sound engineer as he'd been rocking out to the song. The joy was obvious in his expression.