I took a deep breath before she got out of the car. "Common, Abby", I said
to myself, "you've done this before. Remember grade 9? You didn't know
anyone there, and you made like 5 friends on the first day." But that only
made me feel worse. I remembered Samantha, Olivia, and Gracie, who are my
three best friends at my old school back in Toronto. Now I was here, in
London, England, for God's sake.
My mum was already outside in the drop area in King's Cross Train Station. I got out of the car and grabbed my trunk from the trunk. Or boot, as the British say. Ha-ha, I thought, I should start saying all those slang-phrase thingies I got from all the books I've read.
"Bloody Hell, mum. This trunk weighs as much as the Queen!"
"Abigail, that's not funny. Honestly. You're going to be living here; you should start respecting this beautiful country. Remember all those things we saw on the tour of Buckingham palace?"
Yeah, I remember…I remember the hot tourist from Switzerland who was on the tour with us.
I called for Victoria, my sister, to help me with the damn trunk. "Vicky! Help me with this thing!"
"Yeah, yeah" I heard her say. Honestly, that girl is always on the look-out for guys. But, technically, I shouldn't talk.
"Hey, Ab. Look at that guy with the red hair. Oooh, he's so tall! Lord, I love guys who are taller than me."
"Meg, he looks like he's my age. Leave him to me. Besides, he might be a wizard. I could get his number for you." We both laughed. I read in this book that wizards don't have telephones. They use fireplaces. How they do it, don't ask. It beats the hell out of me.
As me and Vick lugged the trunk onto the pavement, I dropped it hard, on her foot.
"Oh, shit, Vicky! I'm so sorry!"
"Yeah, yeah. What've you got in here?"
"Books"
"Oh my god." She said in disbelief-not. (I'm a really big reader.)
"Look, it's not my fault. These Hogwarts people might not have decent fiction. Plus, I like our books better. Wizard's ones might be weird."
"How do you know? You've never even read any, for god's sake. You only found out you were a witch a month ago."
That's true. I got a letter a month ago telling me that I was a witch, and that I needed to come get educated and sorry that we didn't inform you sooner, blah blah blah. Apparently, they had missed me, when they were doing their world-wide search for witches and wizards. So when I was supposed to be put into this school when I was ELEVEN!! I'm now 15 and I'm going into my fifth year at Hogwarts. So where was I? Oh yes.
"Look Vick, just drop it. Go off and find a magazine or whatever."
"No, I want to help you with this", she grimaced.
"Okay. Hey Will! Can you get my other bag from the back seat?"
"'Kay." He said.
Will's this big soccer fan. When he figured out that we were coming to London to drop me off, the only thing he could think of was watching a "football" match.
All I could think of was watching Prince Harry. Sadly, my dream couldn't come true. I wonder if, when I'm a full-fledged witch, I could like, put a spell on him so that I could meet him. That would be hilarious.
So my whole family entered King's Cross. Me and Victoria, struggling with the heavy trunk, which had more than books in it (I had stolen some of her clothes), Will carrying my canvas bag, and my mum and dad, the strongest of us all…not carrying anything.
"Hey dad!" I shouted. "Can you give me a hand? I forgot my purse in the car. Just a sec"
He came over and held the trunk while I dashed back to the car to get my purse. It's really great. I got it like 2 months ago, and I'm still in love with it. On the way there, I almost crashed into this old lady with a really weird hat. I think it had a vulture on it. Whatever.
I came back to my family and we went off looking for Platform 9 ¾. I know that sounds really weird, but it's true. And apparently you have to like run at a wall to get to it. That kinda sucks 'cause only I can do it, since I'm the only witch in the family.
"Well, here is Platform 9 and here is Platform 10. My guess is that you hurl yourself at the barrier in between", Will said.
"Really" I said sarcastically, even though I hadn't figured it out. You can't let anybody know these things.
So then it was time to say goodbye. I know I complain a lot about my dad, but really, he's a good guy. It's not HIS fault that granddad was really strict, and that he's strict too. You just kinda have to go along with his bad moods. And he is hilarious when he is in a good mood. He always laughs so hard at my jokes. I'm really going to miss that.
"Bye Dad", I said.
"Bye Abby. Be a good girl, and get good marks. I signed you up for that Arithmancy class, which is like math, I think…"
"Common, Dad! Why did you do that? Never mind. I'm gonna miss you dad. I love you"
"Thanks sweetheart. Oh, and one more thing. For your birthday, I got you a laptop. But it kinda seemed useless since you're going to be a witch and all and I don't think they have electricity, never mind a modem. But then I found this book in that Flourish and Blots store." He held up a book called "Be the Modern Wizard…Discover the Internet".
"It turns out", my dad continued, "that you can magic your computer to work and even hook up to the internet."
"That's so cool dad!"
"Yes, but on one condition: you have to write me an e-mail every week and tell my EVERYTHING that's going on."
"Of course! And now I can write to Samantha, Olivia, and Gracie."
Then my mum turned to me.
"I love you so much and if anything should happen to you, like…like…you were turned into a frog or something," I burst out laughing.
"No, seriously" she said. "Please by careful. I would break my heart. I love you too much"
"Okay mum, I promise I won't do anything stupid"
She kissed me on the cheek and I looked at Vick.
"Now Victoria", I teased, who are you going to have to tell about all those boy's funniness in class? You'll have no one to turn to. You'll be left on your own." I feigned a sigh. She just gave me a dirty look.
"Yeah right. Now that you've gone, I can take all your clothes. You won't be needing them 'cause you have to wear a uniform."
"Don't think you're that much better off. YOU still have to wear one too."
"Yeah, but you probably have to wear one all the time because you're going to a boarding school."
"Okay, okay, borrow whatever you like" Ha-ha, I thought, sine I've already brought them all.
"I'll see you later, okay Vick? I'm going to miss you."
"Yeah, me too. And remember: email me if you get any action." She winked at me.
"Common Vicky. Shouldn't I be saying that to you? Look, just update me whenever possible. I'll try and get a phone."
"Okay" We hugged and kissed and did our secret handshake. I know this is lame, but we only do it when we're feeling particularly giddy, because the handshake is a bit kooky.
Then I faced Will, and punched him in the arm. He responded by putting me in the head block and knocking me to the ground. He was getting better at the whole karate thing. I was going to have to watch my back.
"Will! Watch it!
"Sorry Abs, it's instinct."
"Yeah, yeah" I said massaging my neck. "So Will," I continued, "you won't get into any trouble? Ya know, you don't have your older sister to look after you. And you can't rely on Vicky to kick your enemy's asses"
"Hey!" said Vick.
"Don't worry. I think I'll do fine."
"Right, I see you later then?"
"Okay. I love you"
I gave him a kiss. He is so cute. I know he's 13 and all, but he's still adorable. He'll be a heartbreaker. Like that redhead we saw. I wonder where he went…
My mum was already outside in the drop area in King's Cross Train Station. I got out of the car and grabbed my trunk from the trunk. Or boot, as the British say. Ha-ha, I thought, I should start saying all those slang-phrase thingies I got from all the books I've read.
"Bloody Hell, mum. This trunk weighs as much as the Queen!"
"Abigail, that's not funny. Honestly. You're going to be living here; you should start respecting this beautiful country. Remember all those things we saw on the tour of Buckingham palace?"
Yeah, I remember…I remember the hot tourist from Switzerland who was on the tour with us.
I called for Victoria, my sister, to help me with the damn trunk. "Vicky! Help me with this thing!"
"Yeah, yeah" I heard her say. Honestly, that girl is always on the look-out for guys. But, technically, I shouldn't talk.
"Hey, Ab. Look at that guy with the red hair. Oooh, he's so tall! Lord, I love guys who are taller than me."
"Meg, he looks like he's my age. Leave him to me. Besides, he might be a wizard. I could get his number for you." We both laughed. I read in this book that wizards don't have telephones. They use fireplaces. How they do it, don't ask. It beats the hell out of me.
As me and Vick lugged the trunk onto the pavement, I dropped it hard, on her foot.
"Oh, shit, Vicky! I'm so sorry!"
"Yeah, yeah. What've you got in here?"
"Books"
"Oh my god." She said in disbelief-not. (I'm a really big reader.)
"Look, it's not my fault. These Hogwarts people might not have decent fiction. Plus, I like our books better. Wizard's ones might be weird."
"How do you know? You've never even read any, for god's sake. You only found out you were a witch a month ago."
That's true. I got a letter a month ago telling me that I was a witch, and that I needed to come get educated and sorry that we didn't inform you sooner, blah blah blah. Apparently, they had missed me, when they were doing their world-wide search for witches and wizards. So when I was supposed to be put into this school when I was ELEVEN!! I'm now 15 and I'm going into my fifth year at Hogwarts. So where was I? Oh yes.
"Look Vick, just drop it. Go off and find a magazine or whatever."
"No, I want to help you with this", she grimaced.
"Okay. Hey Will! Can you get my other bag from the back seat?"
"'Kay." He said.
Will's this big soccer fan. When he figured out that we were coming to London to drop me off, the only thing he could think of was watching a "football" match.
All I could think of was watching Prince Harry. Sadly, my dream couldn't come true. I wonder if, when I'm a full-fledged witch, I could like, put a spell on him so that I could meet him. That would be hilarious.
So my whole family entered King's Cross. Me and Victoria, struggling with the heavy trunk, which had more than books in it (I had stolen some of her clothes), Will carrying my canvas bag, and my mum and dad, the strongest of us all…not carrying anything.
"Hey dad!" I shouted. "Can you give me a hand? I forgot my purse in the car. Just a sec"
He came over and held the trunk while I dashed back to the car to get my purse. It's really great. I got it like 2 months ago, and I'm still in love with it. On the way there, I almost crashed into this old lady with a really weird hat. I think it had a vulture on it. Whatever.
I came back to my family and we went off looking for Platform 9 ¾. I know that sounds really weird, but it's true. And apparently you have to like run at a wall to get to it. That kinda sucks 'cause only I can do it, since I'm the only witch in the family.
"Well, here is Platform 9 and here is Platform 10. My guess is that you hurl yourself at the barrier in between", Will said.
"Really" I said sarcastically, even though I hadn't figured it out. You can't let anybody know these things.
So then it was time to say goodbye. I know I complain a lot about my dad, but really, he's a good guy. It's not HIS fault that granddad was really strict, and that he's strict too. You just kinda have to go along with his bad moods. And he is hilarious when he is in a good mood. He always laughs so hard at my jokes. I'm really going to miss that.
"Bye Dad", I said.
"Bye Abby. Be a good girl, and get good marks. I signed you up for that Arithmancy class, which is like math, I think…"
"Common, Dad! Why did you do that? Never mind. I'm gonna miss you dad. I love you"
"Thanks sweetheart. Oh, and one more thing. For your birthday, I got you a laptop. But it kinda seemed useless since you're going to be a witch and all and I don't think they have electricity, never mind a modem. But then I found this book in that Flourish and Blots store." He held up a book called "Be the Modern Wizard…Discover the Internet".
"It turns out", my dad continued, "that you can magic your computer to work and even hook up to the internet."
"That's so cool dad!"
"Yes, but on one condition: you have to write me an e-mail every week and tell my EVERYTHING that's going on."
"Of course! And now I can write to Samantha, Olivia, and Gracie."
Then my mum turned to me.
"I love you so much and if anything should happen to you, like…like…you were turned into a frog or something," I burst out laughing.
"No, seriously" she said. "Please by careful. I would break my heart. I love you too much"
"Okay mum, I promise I won't do anything stupid"
She kissed me on the cheek and I looked at Vick.
"Now Victoria", I teased, who are you going to have to tell about all those boy's funniness in class? You'll have no one to turn to. You'll be left on your own." I feigned a sigh. She just gave me a dirty look.
"Yeah right. Now that you've gone, I can take all your clothes. You won't be needing them 'cause you have to wear a uniform."
"Don't think you're that much better off. YOU still have to wear one too."
"Yeah, but you probably have to wear one all the time because you're going to a boarding school."
"Okay, okay, borrow whatever you like" Ha-ha, I thought, sine I've already brought them all.
"I'll see you later, okay Vick? I'm going to miss you."
"Yeah, me too. And remember: email me if you get any action." She winked at me.
"Common Vicky. Shouldn't I be saying that to you? Look, just update me whenever possible. I'll try and get a phone."
"Okay" We hugged and kissed and did our secret handshake. I know this is lame, but we only do it when we're feeling particularly giddy, because the handshake is a bit kooky.
Then I faced Will, and punched him in the arm. He responded by putting me in the head block and knocking me to the ground. He was getting better at the whole karate thing. I was going to have to watch my back.
"Will! Watch it!
"Sorry Abs, it's instinct."
"Yeah, yeah" I said massaging my neck. "So Will," I continued, "you won't get into any trouble? Ya know, you don't have your older sister to look after you. And you can't rely on Vicky to kick your enemy's asses"
"Hey!" said Vick.
"Don't worry. I think I'll do fine."
"Right, I see you later then?"
"Okay. I love you"
I gave him a kiss. He is so cute. I know he's 13 and all, but he's still adorable. He'll be a heartbreaker. Like that redhead we saw. I wonder where he went…