The First Saturday

It was a usual Saturday morning, and I lay on the sandy beach reading as I typically did. I, sixteen year old Lily Evans, hadn't changed since I was six. I still spent every Saturday laying on the beach reading. I had been doing this for ten years, but today seemed different. Today, I felt like something exciting was going to happen, something unorthodox. Today, I felt something extraordinary was going to happen on the shore just outside of London, England.

I lay thinking about this thought when I heard someone call, "Lily!" I groaned; it was James Potter, it was always James Potter. James has been my next door neighbor for as long as I can remember. We have never exactly gotten along. He is the popular boy, who all the girls fall for, and I am the smart girl who has always been tremendously annoyed by him. No matter how many times I have insulted him, he never leaves me alone. One of his friends, Sirius Black, once told me he had a crush on me, but I never believed him.

I didn't bother to look up from my book, as he approached. "Hi Lily," he said, as soon as he was standing over me, blocking my sunlight.

"What do you want James?" I asked. I still hadn't looked up from my book.

"Is that how you greet someone you have known all of your life?" he questioned me, smirking as he asked.

"Do you have a specific reason why you are here, or have you just come to annoy me?" I inquired, without as even glimpsing at him.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me." he stated. This caught my attention. I had lived next to James for sixteen years and never had he asked me to hang out with him. I put down my book and gave him a questioning look. When he didn't get a response from me, he continued, "I was just sitting around thinking about how bored I was when I thought to myself, why don't I go and hang out with Lily? We've been neighbors since we were babies, and we've never spent a moment together outside of school. So, I figured why don't I spend the day with you, that is if you want to."

Even though he seemed sincere, I didn't quite know how to react. "James, you aren't playing some type of prank on me?" I asked.

"Lily, do you honestly believe I'm that shallow?" he questioned.

"Yes," I replied truthfully.

"Well, I'm truly asking if you want to go." he stated, sounding a little annoyed.

I knew I would regret it as soon as I said it, but I said, "Yes."

He grinned broadly. "Let's go." he told me, and left.

We started to walk to the north end of the shore line. I hadn't brought flip-flops since I had been right behind my house, but now I wished I had. My long flowing blue skirt wasn't exactly designed for long walks either, but it was my favorite skirt. I had to wear it today. My hair was what was going to bug me the most. It was red, curly, and shoulder length, and today I had been stupid enough to leave it down, even though I knew it was going to about 90 degrees outside.

He continued to walk forward without as much as glancing back to make sure if I was still behind him. He had on a light blue t-shirt and tan shorts. His hair was completely messed up as well, probably from the humidity, or the fact that he ran his hand through every five seconds. He looked stunning like that. He looked as if he could make a whole room fall silent if he went in looking like that. He didn't need to check; he knew I would follow him. Any girl would after just one glance at him.

James was popular, and he had the biggest ego in the world. He didn't bother to check if any girl followed him because he knew that every girl would. It annoyed me that I had followed him just like all of the others girls at school. I thought I was different from them, but I guess in the end, we are all the same.

We went for another twenty minutes in complete silence. Than I guess he couldn't take the silence any longer. Out of the blue he asked, "Why did we never hang out before this?"

It took me a moment to think of an answer, but than I replied, "We are total opposites of one another."

He was quiet for a moment, letting my answer seep into him, but than he said, "I never thought we were that different, but then again, I never took the time to get to know you better."

After that there was utter and complete silence, it appeared he no longer felt the need for conversation. I think the way I had answered his question, had really stumped. It was true, we had lived next to each other for sixteen years, but, as he had said, we didn't know one another. We had talked to one another, often, but we never talked about ourselves. We always talked about the general topics, not the ones that specifically affected us. Sure, we had gone to the same schools and probably had some of the same friends, but we didn't know each other. We didn't know each other.

…

We walked for an hour before we reached our destination. It was a small peninsula that lay on the very edge of the shore. There was a small motorboat attached to the side of the peninsula, and James was walking toward it. I stopped dead in my tracks. He turned back and asked, "Aren't you coming?"

"You really don't know me. If you did, you would know that I do not climb in any kind of boat," I responded.

He looked at me as if I was insane. "You hang out at the beach all the time; you have to get in a boat sometime," he stated.

"I don't have to get in the boat if it's going to make me seasick," I said firmly, and I sat down on the shore determined not to move.

He stared at me for a second than he came and took a seat next to me. He looked at me again and smiled. "You are as stubborn as they say you are," he told me.

I whipped my head around to face him. "Excuse me?" I said.

"Everyone at school says you're as stubborn as a mule, and you just proved you are, to me at least," he replied.

"Was that some kind of a compliment?" I questioned.

"Sort of," he answered.

And that's what we did for the rest of the day; we sat there. We talked about what people said about each other, and how we felt about it. We talked about some of our embarrassing moments and school. We told each other some secrets, but all in all, we became friends. Not the best of friends, but we were definitely friends.

And I think I like the idea of being James' friend. He is more fastidious than he looks, and he isn't as annoying once you get to know him. And I have to admit, he is as good-looking as all of the other girls say he is.

For now we are just friends, but maybe some day we will become more than friends. But that is a thought for another Saturday, perhaps next Saturday.