This chapter has been re-edited.

Chapter 2- Perfectly Horrible

Ed pulled away after a moment but kept his hand on my shoulder.

"Lu?"

I tilted my head back to look him in the face. "Yes?"

He didn't reply at first but finally he shrugged and looked embarrassed as if this show of emotions bothered him. Which it probably did. I thought.

He said. "You do know that you can't actually go back, right Lu?"

I scowled at him. "Thanks for pointing that out, Ed." I shoved my hair back out of my face so he could really see my expression.

"Really, I didn't know that."

Ed held up both hands, holding off my tirade. "Hey, hey, I was just making sure..." He hesitated a moment before saying. "I don't want you to keep hoping like this to go back, not when He said we couldn't."

I softened slightly. "Really, Ed, I get it. It's just harder to keep busy here, especially since Susan and Peter," Saying my eldest brother's name brought back the last memory I had of him and by far, one of the most vivid. Him going off to fight, I knew Ed would be there if he could, but he wasn't old enough. Not that that had stopped him from trying. My voice quivered a second before finishing. "Aren't here." Peter's name brought that memory back and I sent a prayer out for his safety.

Everything just seemed more boring without our elder siblings with us.

I looked up at the sky. It was darkening to a vibrant golden violet. I smiled despite everything. It seemed like some kind of answer to my prayers, though I wasn't quite sure why.

Maybe it was because at that very minute it was a kind of perfect.

"Let's start back Ed, I didn't know it had gotten so late." I whispered, so as not to break the peaceful quiet.

I heard him mutter something in reply but couldn't understand him. He was probably still embarrassed by our conversation. I was almost tempted to tease him about it, but I didn't. I just allowed a flicker of my previous smirk to cover my lips.

Right before we stepped in the door of our Uncle's house he stopped me by touching my arm again.

I didn't say anything, just waited for whatever it was he wanted to say, knowing from experience that at moments like these it was just better to have patience. Peter was the one who had a way with words, not Ed.

He stared at the setting sun in the sky for a long moment. He looked like he was arguing with himself; I wondered if that's what I had looked like earlier.

How unattractive. I thought with a small grin, that's what Susan would've said to me and we would have giggled about it that night while making ridiculous faces at each other.

I really did miss my sister.

Now, I was getting impatient. Exactly how long was I going to have to wait on Edmund to say something?

But when I turned around to ask him that very question, I saw he had disappeared into the house.

My brow creased with a little annoyance but I shrugged it away.

It's probably nothing.

~X~X~X~X~X~

(One week later)

Everything was going perfectly normal today. I got up, got dressed, did all the perfectly normal things a girl does in the morning.

In the afternoon, Eustace and I had to run to the market to pick up some cheese for supper.

Little did I know everything was about to change. And I was about to get my wish in the most unexpected way.

"Eustace!" I called out. He had left me when he'd spotted a friend, calling out a quick excuse so he wouldn't be caught shopping. Shopping was a woman's job. Can you imagine? That would have just been too embarrassing to live down among his friends.

You don't want to know what I thought of it. I'd have liked to have gotten a hold of my daggers right then.

"Where are you Eustace?" I called out again.

Now I was left to determine whether I should leave and go back to the house or wait for him. "Dratted, Eustace." I muttered under my breath.

I stood tapping my shoe in the dust for a while. Minutes slid by and I yawned widely. That is, until I felt somebody's gaze on me. I cut the yawn off abruptly and snapped my head around to see who was watching me.

Expecting to see Eustace, I had a scowl and couple of sharp words prepared, but what I saw shocked every word out of me. A young man, who looked to be a few years older than I, was looking at me.

I blinked, it was the only thing I could do. He was looking at me.

I was horrified.

Is that normal I ask you? A boy looks at you and you lose every coherent thought in your head. I gulped in a breath of air and shook my head slightly to shake myself out of my paralyzed state, knowing I probably looked ridiculous, and as if this were all perfectly normal to me, I turned back to the tall, dark-haired young man and smiled at him.

Yes, I smiled at him. Perhaps a little too widely to be an effortless-I-do-this-all-the-time, flirty smile.

I actually took a step towards him, my mouth opening to say something. And I am proud to say I got out a, "Hello."

The young man smiled back. Can you imagine my elation? I felt a blush redden my normally paleish cheeks.

And then it was ruined. Perfectly ruined. In fact I shouldn't even use 'perfectly' in that same sentence. More like horribly ruined.

You must be wondering what happened.

So what do you think happened? Is it really all that horrible? I know this chapter is short but I wanted to leave it w/ a cliffhanger. So if you want to know what happens...REVIEW! ;)