A/N: okies, here is the infamous chapter 9. 9 is almost 10. Yay!
Thanks, as always, to all of my faithful reviewers. Luv y'all tons! (I never say y'all. That was a one-time deal).
Disclaimer: I own Afhton. That's about it. Nothing else.
Oh yeah, the big mystery about the neighbor is about to be revealed. I bet you're excited! I know I am!!!! (Sorry about it being painfully obvious)
Chapter 9: A Fun Day
"Lily?" a voice calls me. I feel as though I'm being pulled out of a dream. I don't want to wake up, but it's inevitable. Reluctantly, I open my eyes to find familiar ones staring back at me.
"Are you all right?" James asks me. Unsure of the answer, I sit up and look at my surroundings.
I'm laying, well, now I'm sitting, on a comfortable, fluffy couch facing a window. The room looks exactly like my vacation house's family room. It is dark outside, so I can only hear the ocean crashing.
"Lily?" James repeats, concerned.
"What happened?" I wonder out loud, remembering the past events. The cookies. The door. The face. A scream.
Actually, it was more like a yelp. A scream sounds scary. I hate scary movies.
"You fainted, Lily," says James. At this moment, I remember.
I'm at the Potter's vacation house. In California. James is my neighbor!
What a coincidence…
"Are you okay? Do you want anything? Water? A cookie? They're very good, by the way. Delicious. Did you make them?" James pelts the questions my way.
I'm stunned. Truly stunned. I'm still reeling over the fact that James is here with me. His onslaught of questions takes me by surprise.
"Wait, wha'?" I reply gracefully.
"Are. You. Alright?" he states slowly, pronouncing each word as if I'm deaf.
"I. Am. Okay," I smartly answer.
His face splits into a wide grin. "Good. I was really worried about you."
"I'm fine." He was worried about me!
We're silent for a few
minutes, each stuck in our own thoughts. I can't believe it! James
is my neighbor for a whole summer! This is brilliant!
"What
happened?" James asks, finally breaking the silence.
"Umm…" I start. Should I tell him that I fainted because I was so surprised to see him? That would be a NO. "Well, I guess the jet lag really caught up with me," I lie. I hope he believes it.
"Oh, okay."
Wow. I'm a really good liar.
"I guess I should be heading back now since it's kinda late," I hesitantly say, getting up.
"I guess you're right," James imitates, standing up beside me.
"I guess I'll have to come back tomorrow to get that basket."
"I guess you can try, but I want it."
"I guess you'll be disappointed then."
"I guess that you guess wrong."
"I guess we'll see." At this time, we reach the door. Having nothing else to say, I leap through the doorway and jog home. I sprint up the steps to get rid of my pent up energy. As I close the door to my room, I realize something:
I just flirted with James Potter.
This day has been full of realizations.
After a long day on an airplane (sitting next to James!), I finally get to sleep.
But sleep doesn't come easily. I toss and turn all night; my brain won't turn off. I can't stop thinking about tomorrow and seeing James again. How pathetic is that?
I guess I eventually drift off because the next thing I know, it's light outside. Then my mind goes into overdrive.
Is James awake yet?
Should I go over to see him?
That would seem too desperate. Should I wait? How long?
"Lily dear! It's noon! Come on, wake up!" Mum calls from downstairs.
"Coming!" I yell back. It's funny how mothers know exactly when their kids wake up. It's like magic or something. Mother magic…
I skip down the steps after throwing on some shorts and a t-shirt. I jump into the kitchen to be met with a warm aroma of deliciousness. Plopping down in a chair, I eat everything within sight.
"Hungry are we?" my dad chuckles from beside me while reading a newspaper.
"Mmmm," I mutter in reply with food in my mouth.
When I finish eating, I decide to go out to the beach. It's been too long since I've last walked through the sand on a cool morning. Grabbing my jacket (it's very windy out there), I head outside.
The calmness around me takes me by surprise. I've never been to a beach that wasn't packed with people armed with umbrellas, towels, sunscreen, and surfboards. But this quiet… It's amazing.
I stroll along parallel to the waves, drifting so my feet are occasionally sprayed with water. I make new footprints, and then watch as a new wave erases them as if I had never walked there. As I wander on, I notice something sparkle up ahead. I bend down, crouching among the waves. Digging my hand through the sand, I grasp something. It's covered in wet sand, so I can't tell what it is. I wash it in a new wave and gasp in surprise.
I hold in my hand a beautiful necklace encrusted with emeralds, glistening in the sunlight. I can't believe I found it here. No, it found me. I feel so lucky!
I walk out of the waves and lay down on the dry sand. Putting my head down, I hold the necklace above my stomach, studying its features.
"What'cha got there?" a deep voice asks me from above. It makes me jump and spring up from the ground.
"Oh, it's you James. You scared me!" I laugh, slipping the necklace into my pocket.
"Sorry about that. What were you looking at?" James inquires, tilting his head to the side.
"Nothing important. Just an old necklace that I found," I lie. I don't know why I don't want him to know how happy I am about that necklace. I feel as though it was meant for me to find. That a stronger force wanted me to get it. I can't really explain it.
"Okay. You wanna do something?" he asks, running his hand through his hair. I remember how that habit used to annoy me to no end. Now I find it cute.
"Sure. What do you have in mind?" I wonder out loud.
"How about we just talk and walk on the beach? I can't get enough of it," James admits, motioning towards the glistening ocean.
"Sounds good to me."
We stroll along and talk about everything. School, friends, family, Quidditch (a whole lot of Quidditch talk from James and a whole lot of nods and smiles from me), and anything we can think of.
"Have you ever flown before?" James asks after finishing a full-out Quidditch commentary about Gryffindor's last game.
"Um, once," I reply. I don't mention that I meant once a day. This should be fun.
"Wow. I can't believe it. Flying is so much fun! The wind in your face, soaring above everything, it's amazing." James looks completely into what he is saying. I know what he's talking about, but he doesn't know that I know. He's so cute as he tries to convince me.
"Hey," James states like he just had an epiphany, "do you want to learn how to fly a broom?" He looks at me with those wide hazel eyes, like a kid begging his mother for candy. How could I say no?
"Um…" I try to sound hesitant. "I guess."
"Really? Brilliant! You'll need a broom-"
"I've got one."
"What?"
"I found an old broom in the cupboard under the stairs."
"Oh."
"Accio broom."
"Accio Phoenix."
I look at James puzzled and he proudly explains, "The fastest broom yet."
Within a few seconds, the brooms arrive. James grabs them both and puts them on the sand.
"First you stand beside the broom, like this," James describes, standing beside his broom. I follow and stand beside mine.
"Then you hold out your hand over it, like this." I follow James and put my hand over my broom.
"After that, you say 'up' very firmly. The broom should fly into your hand. Here, watch me." James places his hand over his broom and says, "Up!" The Phoenix zooms into his hand.
"Wow," I gasp. I pretend to be completely shocked by this, even though I've seen it (and done it) a thousand times.
"Okay, your turn," prods James.
"Alright." I take a deep breath to add to my act. Placing my hand in the right position, I yell, "Up!" My broom flies right into my outstretched hand. James nearly falls over in surprise.
"Whoa! I didn't expect you to get it on the first try!" he exclaims, flabbergasted.
"Neither did I!" I lie. Of course I knew that I could do it. I've done it forever! Can't let James know that. Yet.
"So," James continues, "now you're going to mount it. Perfect. I want you to kick off of the ground, hard. You're going to hover in the air for a few seconds, then lean forward and touch back down. Do you think you can do that?"
"I think so," I say, very shyly.
"Here, I'll show you first." He kicks off, hovers, and then comes back to the ground. I applaud at his skill (this is still my act, remember?).
"Your turn," James smiles. I try to make myself look pale. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."
I think two things at the same time:
I am a great actress! and
Eeeeeeeee! He won't let anything happen to me!!!!!
"Here I go," I say. This will be fun.
I kick off hard, like I've done so many times before. I hover for a few seconds, like James told me to do. But instead of touching back down, I slide close to my broom and take off over the ocean. I then perform all of my favorite aerial tricks: loops, flips, everything. After I finish showing off, I fly back to the beach to where James is standing. His jaw is practically hitting the sand!
"Are you coming or not?" I ask him, flying around him, low to the ground. He finally breaks out of his daze and smiles. Not before long, we're zooming, side-by-side, across the Pacific Ocean. I feel completely and utterly free, flying next to James. I couldn't be happier.
We slow down a little so we can talk. I'm about to make some snappy comment, but he beats me to the punch.
"Why didn't you say anything?" I hope he's not too mad.
"About what?" I innocently reply.
"That you've obviously flown a lot!" exclaims James.
"Oh, come on! Lighten up. You should've seen your face!" I laugh. He doesn't say anything. "Besides, what would you have done?"
He ponders that thought for a while. As his face breaks into a wide grin, I realize that he knows I'm right. He would've done the same exact thing to me.
"So, how long have you been flying?" he asks.
"Oh, about every day since first year," I reply nonchalantly.
"Does Afhton fly too?" he wonders.
"Well, no," I admit. "You're kinda the first person that knows."
"So you've kept this a secret from everyone all of these years?" he specifies.
"Yep. Until now. So what are you going to do about it?" I ask.
"I say…we race!" James yells, taking off into the distance. I follow suit. I catch up very quickly and take him by surprise. We eventually make it back to the shore. I'm too pepped up to remember who won. It's late, so James walks me back to my house.
Once we reach my doorstep, I say, "I still need to get that basket."
"As I said before, you can try to get it, but I want it," he reminds me.
"I'll stop by after dinner to get it," I say, completely ignoring his comment.
"Whatever," he replies. He then turns around and pretends to stalk off in an overly girly fashion. I laugh at his antics. He turns around to flash me a grin, then continues to walk off. I chuckle some more and go into the house.
After dinner with my parents, I'm too eager to see James again. As soon as I finish my last bite, I head out the door, leaving puzzled parents behind. It's dark out, so I take my time. I am almost halfway there when I hear voices. Two of them; one male, one female. It's easy to distinguish James's voice, even though I can't make out what he's saying. The female voice is completely foreign to me, and I cannot recognize her. I've never seen anybody with dark hair like hers.
I crouch down behind a bush so they won't be able to see me. They're walking down the beach. They look close and they're talking intimately, that I can tell. A bad feeling hits me deep in the stomach. I don't have time to analyze what it could mean. I'm too riveted by what happens next.
He embraces her. James hugs the strange girl with shiny dark hair. My eyes are glued to them as they stay like that. Water starts to well in my eyes, as the two finally break apart. I can't take anymore of this.
Without a second thought, I sprint back to my house and up the stairs into the safety of my room. I bury my face into my pillow to muffle the sobs as my heart breaks into a thousand pieces.
A/N: I hope you like it, even though I almost cried at the end. Who is the mystery girl? Why were they embracing? What will happen next? You'll have to wait and find out. Only I know (well, princesskiri14 knows too, but that's besides the point).
Also, I would like everyone to know that I whooped princesskiri14's butt at bowling on Friday. I crushed her!
Also, I pretended that they could use magic outside of school. Just pretending, okay?
I hope that you all have a safe and happy holiday with the people that you care about most. This is my gift to you all, and I would be very happy to get some reviews from you guys.
Happy Holidays!
