~*~
Chapter Eleven
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"Thanks for letting me stay the night, Mrs Jones," Peter wraps his arms around the elderly woman in a fierce hug the following morning. He's already dressed in his school uniform for the day and has his bag over his shoulder.
"It's no trouble at all!" She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes, and breaks out of the hug first. "I only wish it wasn't such a poor evening."
"You don't have to worry about anything," Peter reassures her. "Brandon and I sorted it out."
"You have?" Emily asks with skepticism. But there's a hopeful look in her eyes.
"I think we did. " Peter whispers to her. "He almost poisoned me."
He'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed Emily throwing him a look of horror. Truthfully, he doesn't know. Brandon's mood swings were worse than his own temper.
"Ha-have a good day, you two!" Mrs. Jones calls to them, waving goodbye.
They both say their thanks and goodbyes as they continue to walk down the street.
"It's a bit...odd," Emily says out of the blue.
"What is?" Peter raises his eyebrows.
"Having someone walk with me to the train," Emily's cheeks turn a bright crimson as she glances his direction but doesn't fully look at him.
"It's odd for me too," he tells her. "I'm always used to walking by myself."
"I always meet with Karen before the train comes," Emily fiddles with the blue strap on her bag. "But, it looks like she's not coming in the train again. And lately, she's been with Noah too."
A small frown appears on her face and her eyes dart around the area as if she were looking for someone. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion when she only sees the large crowd of students surrounding them.
"You know, Noah's not all bad," he admits softly. She turns towards him slightly but doesn't meet his eyes. He doesn't ever see her look into anyone's eyes properly. "He's rough around the edges, and sometimes rude to people when he doesn't realise it. But he's a good person once you get to know him."
"I don't want to get to know him," Emily whispers.
Peter isn't so sure he's supposed to hear that or not. He frowns. He couldn't understand her no matter how hard he tries.
Peter...
Aslan?!
Peter's eyes widen as something pinches his skin. Almost as if it were pulling him forward onto the tracks.
Peter!
He snaps out of it when he hears Emily's cry.
Her breath hitches as her foot accidentally slips off the ledge. The edge cracks and crumbles beneath her feet. She nearly falls onto the platform but Peter catches her in the nick of time, shouting her name, and yanking her back. They stumble into each other, falling back into the ground, earning a few concerned gasps and annoyed protests from people waiting for the train around them.
What on earth was--? Peter's eyes dart around wildly. That felt like magic! He'd heard Aslan call his name. He'd heard his roar with his own ears. Where was he?
A train whistle blares and Aslan's roar fades away as the train's tires squeal to a sudden stop. His shoulders slack and he sighs in disappointment. He was so sure.
"Oi!" They both jump as an officer wearing a blue uniform comes towards them with a frown on his face. "You two alright?"
"We're fine," Peter says breathlessly. That took a lot out of him more than it should have. Emily's just as breathless as he is, pushing back strands of her hair that had fallen from her ponytail when she did.
"Be careful," the officer continues, "We've been having problems with that ledge since last year."
"Don't worry, we'll be more careful," Peter says.
The officer just shakes his head, muttering something about teenagers having no respect. Peter scoffs at him, just as exasperated. Let them think what they want.
"You alright, Em?" He asks, still winded from the fall.
"I'm alright," she nods. "Really. "
She offers him her hand which he takes without hesitation. He lets her lead him to their usual compartment. They don't let go of each others' hands until they take their seats across from each other.
"What happened?" Emily questions. Peter glances over at her. "On the platform?"
"You felt it too, didn't you?" Peter asks hopefully. "The magic?"
"It's like something shoved me," Emily says. Her eyebrows knit together. "I've never felt such strong magic before...even in Selcarim."
"Just be more careful, alright?" Peter asks. "We don't know what that magic was."
"Alright," she says after an awkward moment.
It's silent between them the entire train ride.
*
"There's Karen," she points towards the blonde who's waving at them with a bright smile on her face. Noah's right beside her, mockingly waving at Peter who just rolls his eyes at him. Really, they'd just gotten off the train and Noah's already making a fool of himself. "Why is Noah doing that?"
"I swear I don't know him," Peter jokes.
"I thought you did," Emily says with a puzzled expression.
"I--nevermind," Peter shakes his head.
"Oh, that was a joke, wasn't it?" Emily realises.
"Yeah, it was a poor one anyway," Peter dismisses with a shake of his head. "Don't worry about it."
She quiets down, walking more slowly than before, and doesn't smile. Not even when Karen rushes over and throws her arms around her in a hug.
"Sorry for not meeting up with you earlier, Emily," Karen apologises. "I had a team meeting to go to."
"It's alright," Emily shrugs. "Peter was there with me."
"Oh really?" Karen gives him a smug smile, making his face warm up.
"So he was with you the whole train ride?" Noah prompts.
"Why does that matter?" Emily frowns at him.
"Oh, no reason," Noah turns towards Peter. "No reason at all."
"Right," Karen interrupts before they could head in a direction that could've made Peter extremely uncomfortable with. "Well, we should get to class. See you both after school?"
"You know it, doll," Noah says. He has to stand on his tippytoes to give her a kiss which makes the blonde giggle.
"See you, Karen," Peter says, smiling despite feeling awkward about them showing affection.
"See you later, Peter Pan," Karen laughs.
"You're never gonna let that nickname go, are you?"
"Nope, never," Karen winks at them and turns to the brunette girl who's frowning at them. "Coming, Emily?"
Emily jumps, startled at her voice, "Coming," she nods. She waves at Peter as she walks past them, towards the school across from theirs.
"I still think that meant something," Noah comments.
"It still didn't mean anything," Peter denies.
"Emily was totally jealous, by the way," Noah singsongs.
"You're imagining things!"
Peter stiffens as some students whisper and point at him as he walks through the crowd. Noah glares at the crowd, telling them to make way, and they scatter, having the decency to look ashamed.
"What was that all about?" Noah asks. "I don't think I've ever seen you so popular before, especially with girls."
"Thanks, Noah," Peter says dryly.
"Not that you aren't popular already with them already," Noah tries to quickly amend. "I've heard from Karen that girls used to talk about you all the time in St.Finbars."
What.
"Anyway," Noah stammers, clearing his throat. "you want to explain why they keep looking over at us?"
Peter raises his eyebrows at that and slowly cranes his neck towards the girls huddled over by a tree. They were giggling and waving at him. His cheeks warm up as he slowly turns away from them. Those girls had been on the station with him and Emily.They must have seen what happened.
"Maybe they think you look hideous," Peter comments.
"Me? Hideous?" Noah asks, quite affronted. "I'm bloody gorgeous!"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Noah."
"What? I am! Karen thinks so!"
"Whatever you say, Noah!"
"Wha--? Don't you walk away from me!" Noah complains. "Oh come on! That gets old after awhile, mate!"
Peter merely grins as he walks through the front entrance and into the hallway, tossing his messenger bag over his shoulder, carefully avoiding the crowd of students around him as he makes his way to English Literature.
*
Dear Peter,
Oh, it's so exciting to hear from you again! You don't have to send me a letter of my own, you know. I'm perfectly okay with the ones you send for Edmund and I. You both worry so much it's like you've forgotten that I was almost as old as you were back in Narnia.
Living with Eustace isn't so bad anymore. He used to drive us both mad with his scientific facts and it always hurt whenever he insisted that a place like Narnia could never exist. I'm so glad that he came to Narnia with us. He's changed so much and I like to think he's happier now. He's definitely curious about Narnia and wants to know more about it.
I'm so glad that you've decided to try out for the fencing team. I know how much you and Edmund loved sparring with each other, it'll be so good for both of you.
And who's this "Emily" Edmund keeps talking about? He says that you've been mentioning her a lot lately. I swear, it's almost like I know her already! I hope we can meet her one day!
We're both thinking of coming up there in November, to check up on you and the Professor. I was hoping we could have a little Narnian get together of a sort. How is he, by the way? I hope the Macready hasn't been too horrible.
Write again soon when you aren't too busy!
Love,
Lucy
*
GayathriK: lol, I didn't even realize the similarities at the time! But, yes, it does work kind of like the Room of Requirement. Ah, thanks for the feedback, I'm not too big on action scenes myself, especially for the battles that are coming up, I'm still iffy about them. Yeah, he definitely is that kind of guy. I hope the line breaks are working btw, sometimes they don't show up.
