hey everyone, sorry it's been like a week since i've updated. lots of personal issues going on, but we're all good now :) i'll be able to update a lot more frequently, like how i had been doing before this past week! thanks so much for all of your reviews. i'm having so much fun writing this story, and i'm glad you guys are enjoying it :)
Ch 7
A couple of weeks have gone by, and the weather is starting to get cooler. I've noticed that Alison is starting to wear a fur coat over her robes. To be honest, I notice everything about Alison. I notice when that when she's in a bad mood, she wears red lipstick, and when she's happy, it's light pink. Her blue eyes sparkle when she's in a good mood, but they dull down when she's thinking about something seriously. I love her smile more than anything—even if it's just a small one. I seriously feel my heart rate pick up whenever she directs on at me. Her genuine smile, which I've only seen on scarce occasions, is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
I'm sad that I haven't really seen her very much, though. I mean, I've seen her a couple of times, but every time, she's been across the hall or courtyard. Of course, we always have a good time in Potions class. Also, Gryffindor and Slytherin have been paired together for flying lessons, and a couple of those have gone by. I still can't get over the fact that flying is taught by my old neighbor Garrett Reynolds. I know I'm supposed to call him 'Professor Reynolds,' but I just can't bring myself to do it. It's too weird…
Anyways, at our latest flying lesson, I stared at Alison so much that I almost fell off of my broom multiple times. Hanna and Toby thought it was hilarious, but it was actually pretty scary. She flew really close to me for a moment, and I swear she took all of the air around me with her as she flew away.
In Potions, she's even started being nicer to Toby. This past week, she complimented him on his new haircut. I really like seeing this nice side of Alison. I didn't know it was possible, but I've been starting to like her even more these past couple of weeks. And that's with barely seeing her… I can't imagine if I talked to her every single day.
"Emily, are you listening?" Hanna asks from beside me.
The brisk air around us nips at our faces, and Hanna burrows deeper into her robes. It's almost dusk, and Hanna and I are going for our nightly walk after dinner. We talk about the dumbest things, but for some reason it's always crucial that we tell each other every detail.
The thing I love most about my walks in the evening—besides talking to Hanna, of course—is the sky. It would be impossible to try and recreate the beauty of it in a picture. The colors that twist and swirl around each other can't be replicated. Different shades of purple, orange, pink, and red fuse together for an ideal sunset. Those are just the primary colors, too. There're all kinds of subtle colors that speckle throughout the sky. The scarce lavender that exists between the purple and pink reminds me of Alison for some reason.
"Emily!"
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to focus on what we were talking about.
"Honestly, no," I admit sheepishly.
She rolls her eyes and slaps my shoulder playfully. The cold air makes it sting more than it should.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love," she wraps herself around my arm and giggles. My heart stills for a moment, but I try to brush it off.
"I'm not in love," I protest weakly, but I can tell she doesn't believe me. She just grips my arm even tighter.
"Come on, you can tell me! Is it the same boy you were out late with that one night?"
I furrow my eyebrows. Technically, it was the same person. Just not the same boy. She takes my silence as admission, though.
"Oh my god, it is!" she exclaims. "When can I meet him?"
I roll my eyes. She's too persistent sometimes.
"Half past never, Hanna," I respond, irritated.
"Fine," Hanna pouts. She seems to understand that I don't want to talk about it anymore, because she changes the subject. "So, you're meeting up with Lucas tomorrow at the Quidditch Pitch, right?"
I nod. "Yeah, he said he would help me get the basics down for being Keeper. I think he invited enough people to play an actual match."
"Cool, I think Spencer and I are going to come to watch you guys," she tells me, which makes me smile.
Honestly, I was super excited. Lucas had booked the Pitch for a group of us to go out and practice and just have fun. He did it a week in advance, because Saturdays are always the days that everyone wants on the Pitch, especially in the morning. I just hope that Garrett hasn't double-booked it again. Last time we tried to play, he booked us at the same time as Slytherin. So, needless to say, we didn't get to practice that day.
When my alarm goes off the next morning, I literally shoot out of bed. I'm so excited to finally get to play Quidditch that I barely slept at all. The dormitory is silent as the girls around me sleep peacefully, the mattresses of their four-poster beds rising and falling with every breath.
Hanna moves groggily in the bed next to mine. Within moments, she's stumbled out and is facing me. Her eyes are puffy from sleep and her face is red in a way that makes it look like she slept on it funny.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," I grin, pulling my robes out from the trunk at the foot of my bed. I throw them on quickly and turn to Hanna expectantly.
To my surprise, she has also just finished putting on her robes. She pulls her hair back, causing her eyebrows to stretch out a little bit. Without putting on any makeup, she leads the way out of the dormitory and into the common room.
"Hanna?" I question, following her.
"It's just like you, Lucas, Aria, Spencer, and Toby. I don't care what I look like," she snaps. She rubs her eyes with her knuckles and doesn't say another word.
I open the portrait door for us to get out, and she doesn't even say 'thank you.' We're completely silent as we make our way down the flights of stairs and down all seven floors. Hanna trips once, and I swear I saw her life flash before her eyes. She looked back at me immediately afterwards, eyes wide and hand clutching her chest. It sounds terrible, but I think I probably would've laughed if she had toppled down the stairs… it's not like Nurse Meredith wouldn't be able to fix any broken bones.
We're greeted with a wave of crisp, cool air as soon as we exit the castle. The ground is muddy from getting some rain last night, but it's not too terrible. I adjust my robes so that they cover my torso better, and we make our way through the mud towards the Pitch.
In the distance, I see a group of people standing around in front of the locker rooms. I tilt my head to the side; I didn't know that Lucas had invited this many people. Hanna breathes in sharply next to me, and I glance over at her curiously.
"It's Slytherin again," she says. Her face is expressionless as we approach the crowd.
Sure enough, their silver and green robes are visible within a few more steps. I clear my throat, not sure of what to do. As we get closer, I can see everyone that makes up this cluster. Aria and Spencer scuttle over to us as soon as we walk up.
Lucas stands in front with his arms across his chest, Toby on one side of him and some guy I don't know on the other.
"I thought it was just going to be you guys," Hanna hisses. "Who's the babe?"
Spencer rolls her eyes. "Caleb."
Before Hanna can respond, one of the Slytherin's says a snarky remark and I'm called back to the present. I scan the group and bite my lip.
On Slytherin's side, the only people I recognize are Noel, his brother Eric, Alison's friend Cece, and, of course, Alison herself. I have to remind myself to breathe as soon as I see her. She's also standing with her arms across her chest, all of her weight on one foot. Her red lipstick sparkles under the morning sun and she bites the inside of her cheeks, clearly annoyed. I can't tell if it's with her friends or with us, but I'm pretty sure I'm just being hopeful and it's definitely the latter. A few seconds later, though, she catches my eye and her eyes soften a tiny bit.
"Listen, Hermy," Cece snarls, "we don't care when you booked it. We're here, and we're going to play."
"I booked it!" Lucas responds, taking a step towards her.
Noel cuts him off with one quick stride, and I'm scared of what's going to happen next. In my mind, I can see Noel bringing his fist back and punching Lucas as hard as he can. I can see Nurse Meredith laughing and taking Noel's side because he's better looking and she's a shallow creep. I can see Alison high-five him, and just the thought of her doing that makes my stomach drop.
"I've got a better idea," Alison speaks up, her voice lazy. Everyone's attention turns to her, and she begins to pick her nails.
"Well?" the boy named Caleb demands when she doesn't continue.
"Why don't you guys practice on the North side of the Pitch, and we'll practice on the South," she suggests, finally looking up. She sighs in boredom and waits for everyone to agree with her.
It takes a couple moments, but none of her teammates question her. They nod in approval and stalk off.
My entire group stares, completely in shock, at the Slytherin's backs. Alison glances back at us, her hair blowing in the wind. She doesn't smile, but she raises her eyebrows, which is good enough for me.
"Alright," Lucas says when we're all warmed up and ready to play. "So, Emily, go ahead and get into position. Aria, you said you want to be a chaser, right? Okay, you and Caleb can practice that. Toby and I are already on our houses' teams, so we'll watch and critique you all."
Caleb nods and flies around in a circle, being sure to go past where Hanna and Spencer are watching. He gives a small wave to Hanna, who, even though she rolls her eyes in response, blushes a deep shade of red.
The next few hours are some of the best times of my life. Lucas and Toby joined in after about an hour, and they helped show Caleb and Aria some techniques to help them out in tryouts. Since Toby is actually a chaser, he moved a lot better than Lucas, a beater, did.
When I lie in bed that night, I think back to how the morning went. I snuggle further into the sheets and cuddle under the comforter for more warmth.
I managed to block every single shot on goal. I'm not sure how I did it, but I could just foresee which hoop they wanted to throw the quaffel into, and I immediately blocked its path.
A few times throughout the day, I would glance up the pitch towards where Alison was practicing. I only caught a couple glances of her, but she was genuinely smiling and laughing each time. Just seeing her look so happy made me smile to myself.
I'm totally beat from this morning, though. Tryouts are on Tuesday, so I figure that I have plenty of time to rest up and practice a little more. Just one day of being keeper isn't going to get me the spot on the team.
cool! hope you guys liked it. next chapter will prob be a short filler, but things are going to get even more interesting between em and ali pretty soon. the quidditch matchez are vital for their budding romance ;)
okay! well i hope you guys liked it! kemme know what you think! sorry again for the delay. smoochezzzz
ps. i'm also working on ch 2 of the tavern challenge, for anyone else who's reading that! i'll have it up asap! follow me on twitter for updates.. it's the same name: emisonisON
