The Truth About Love- Chapter 12
Thanks for my seven reviews (the new record for this story) from FreeWords, Vero, Dana (that's your new nickname), DawnoftheDhamphir, qaz22, Cam, and grace. Since this is the most I've gotten since updating the story I made this chapter longer.
He had disappeared again. Alicia had aimlessly spent the night searching the castle for him in vain. She wasn't even sure what she was doing. If he didn't like her then he didn't like her, there was no point in dwelling on that. After what he had told her there was no way she could have expected him to. She had set her hopes up too high and that was her own fault.
She wasn't mad at Caroline, who had actually told George no and to ask Alicia. She wasn't angry with George since she knew he couldn't have done this on purpose, and at any rate it wasn't his fault for making her fall in love with him. No, she was frustrated and upset with herself. She should have seen this coming and she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up for something that wasn't going to happen anyways.
Still, something stirred inside her and made her want to talk to him. She would probably never understand, her mind was screaming hundreds of different questions that needed answers, but she wanted to try. But try as she might, she had searched every inch of the castle she knew and finally concluded that he must have used a secret passage or found another secret room.
Alicia returned to the common room and sat down by the window, staring out at the gardens where just two nights ago she and George had strolled in the moonlight. Now ominous rain clouds had covered the waning moon and twinkling stars, covering the sky in a blanket of pitch black.
"Hey!" Angelina, looking happy and smiling, much unlike that morning, sat down next to her. "I changed my mind about Hogsmeade. Ben invited me to go with him and his friends. We had a lot of fun! I'm really glad I decided to give Ben a chance, he's a really fun person to be around and we've got a lot in common."
"That's great!" Alicia put on what she hoped was a convincing smile.
Her acting skills didn't matter, as Angelina was too happy to notice. "We're going to race tomorrow and Danny told me ask you if you wanted to join. You should come, Wendy seems a little unwilling at first but we got along perfectly well after an hour. And Sherry is so nice, she's the sweetest person ever. And you'd like Danny, I know you would. You can tell me what you think of Ben too."
"Oh, that sounds great!" Alicia put false enthusiasm into her voice.
She decided not to tell Angelina about George asking Caroline. Angelina hadn't been so happy in days and she didn't want to burst her bubble. While she happily reeled off events of the day and repeated conversations Alicia wondered where George was and what exactly she would say to him when she found him. After twenty minutes Katie crossed the common room without greeting them and hurried up the stairs followed by Tina and Kim.
Angelina started animatedly talking to Tina and Kim about dress colors and Alicia took the chance to slip up stairs. Instead of turning to her dorm she headed up the stairs for the boys' dorms. She passed Hermione who looked extremely angry so she kept to herself. Ignoring the closed door she let herself in their room. Lee and one of his roommates, Brandon were the only ones inside.
"Hey." She sat down on George's unmade bed and shoved the knot of blankets out of the way. "Have you seen George?"
"No idea." Lee said. "Why?"
Alicia shrugged and stared up at the ceiling. "He borrowed a book for that one Herbology assignment and it's due today." The second part wasn't true, but she was lucky for an excuse and in any case there was a waiting list for the book.
"Oh, is it this?" Lee lifted up a thick book. "It's definitely not something he would have checked out on his own."
Alicia laughed lightly, not really committing herself to it.
"He asked about you actually." Lee said.
Alicia absently opened the book. "Oh. What'd he say?" The book flipped open to a random page marked by a piece of paper.
"He wanted to know if you said yes to Danny." Lee answered.
"Why?" The piece of paper turned out to be a photo. Alicia flipped it over and stared at the picture. It was of a pretty girl with green eyes and blond hair. Not Caroline. Then why did he even ask her? The girl in the picture slightly resembled Alicia but it wasn't her. So why did he want to know if she said yes to Danny?
"I'm not sure, I've hardly seen him in the past two days, but then again I've been hanging out with Kaleigh. She's pretty amazing." Lee smiled to himself and then closed the window as it began to rain.
Alicia closed the book and held the picture, feeling a sudden urge to tear it to shreds. She turned it over. Send me one of you, I haven't seen you since summer! XO "You really like her don't you?" She asked.
"Yeah, she's pretty amazing."
Could that be…? No, it wasn't. Well, she couldn't be sure, seeing as she hadn't seen her in four years, but she couldn't believe it. If he had a picture of her, then why did he ask Caroline? Ugh, this is all too confusing, I'm tired of trying to read him. "I haven't answered him." She said, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm tired." She hesitated, and then put the picture face down on George's dresser before leaving.
She heard the boys' voices when she left. "Who's that? She looks familiar"
"Oh, remember Harmony Lovering?"
Alicia started towards her dorm for some alone time before turning to find Katie. She opened the closed door and found Katie staring at the darkness outside her window.
A light breeze was blowing through, rippling the curtains and playing her hair chestnut brown hair. Her almond shaped blue eyes were looking intently out in the distance at nothing in particular. The usual spontaneity and glowing happiness was gone. Sadness reflected in her distant eyes and without her usual smile she looked empty. Alicia thought she looked like a trapped princess in muggle tales.
"Hey." She sat down on her bed. "What are you thinking about?"
"Oh." Katie turned away from the window. "Nothing." She walked over to her bed and pulled the right side of the curtains shut with her trailing fingers. The absence of her spirited happiness made Alicia want to persist, but she was good at changing the subject. "What about you? I can tell you're thinking about something."
Alicia sighed and leaned her head against the wall. "Promise you won't tell Angelina, she's all happy and I don't want to spoil that."
"Okay." Katie said slowly.
"George asked Caroline to the Yule Ball." Alicia said. "I'm so stupid! Why did I get my hopes up? I should have known that he wouldn't ask me, I'm just a friend, and how could I expect him to after what he told me?"
"Welcome to the club." Katie muttered. Alicia frowned. She was usually positive and didn't say things like that.
"What do you mean? And why won't you tell us who this Mystery Guy you like is?"
Katie shrugged. "Because he's not important."
"But obviously he's important to you." Alicia countered.
"And what does that matter? There are too many things important at the moment, I can't waste my time thinking about him when someone else has already beat me to the punch." Katie said. "It's not important, and at any rate, I'm tired of trying."
"Oh." Alicia said. Maybe Katie was just going through stress of O.W.L.'s. "And guess what I found in the book I let him borrow?"
"What?"
"He used a picture of Harmony as a bookmark." Alicia's eyes darted to a picture put face down on the dresser and wondered if it had fallen over or if Katie had purposely put it there.
Katie gave a short laugh, to Alicia's surprise. "Love really makes you blind huh?" There was hardly any humor in her voice. She had the feeling Katie was saying those words as much for herself as for Alicia. "Isn't it obvious what he's doing? He only asked Caroline because she's a chatterbox and social butterfly so she'd probably be too busy talking to other people to really care to dance since he knows she likes Chris Liang. It wasn't a bad idea actually, but still, I would have thought you saw that."
"Wait. So most likely he doesn't like Caroline?"
"If you're sure that picture was of Harmony." Katie answered.
"I'm positive." Alicia said. "Now I just need to find George."
Katie flopped on the bed. "Good luck, he all the secret passages and the only thing you know better than him is probably the library."
Alicia rolled her eyes and got up to leave. She stopped at the doorway. "Katie? You're not… in love with Marko are you?"
It was Katie's turn to roll her eyes. "Oh please."
"Okay! It was just a guess…" Alicia closed the door behind her. It was only after she was back in the common room that she realized she didn't completely believe Katie.
. . . .
"Tell me…" Amaiko said, taking Fred's hand and swinging their arms back and forth. It was a beautiful day. The storm the night before had left the sky clear blue without a single cloud in the sky and there was a light breeze. The two of them were walking around the lake.
Fred was looking at the Quidditch field. "Tell you what?" He said distractedly.
Amaiko's eyes angrily flashed in the direction he was looking where a few people were playing Quidditch. "Are we going to the Yule Ball together or not? It's been three days you know."
"But it's not even for another month."
"You're not planning to go with someone else are you?" Amaiko's lips formed a pout. "I wanted to go together." She put on her best pity-me-I-need-you look.
"No of course not." Fred tore his gaze from the Quidditch field and looked at her. "I just don't think it's that important, it's just a dance."
Amaiko tried to keep her temper from flaring up. Why doesn't it work on him? Her good looks had failed to grab his attention and even her flirtiest and most seductive techniques had failed. Her last try was ego petting, but that wasn't working either. "It's important to me." She stopped and crossed her arms.
"Okay then."
"So… does that mean we're going together?" Amaiko brightened, but it was all play acting. What kind of answer was that? And what was it going to take for him to go to the Yule Ball with her? Something must be wrong with him… nothing works. She glanced at the field again and suddenly it dawned on her why he was so distracted.
"If you really want to. I think it's a pointless waste of time, but—"
Amaiko interrupted him with an excited squeal. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. How's that for a show?
. . . .
"I think you should come." Angelina said, securing her hair into a ponytail with a clear elastic band. "It'll be fun! You'd really like them and Danny was looking forward to seeing you since I said you would come." She had been insisting Alicia come for the past fifteen minutes.
"Okay! I'll come!" Alicia said, throwing her hands up in defeat.
Ten minutes later they had made it to the field with their brooms in hand. Angelina greeted them all like best friends and hugged them.
"I'm so glad you came!" Sherry said to Alicia, hugging her.
"Me too." Alicia said, giving Danny a small smile, but while he kept his gaze on her in a mesmerizing way she looked away. Wendy and Angelina both smiled knowingly.
"I thought we were going to race." Angelina interrupted, much to Alicia's relief.
"We are, but I'm going to be the one winning." Wendy said, mounting her broom.
"Psht, I think we've all agreed you're losing your place as best flyer." Danny replied, soaring up in the air.
"Give it a rest." Sherry said warily as they ascended into the air. As soon as she joined the line the four others shot off. She hovered shakily. "Oh that's too bad, I guess I'll just have to stay on the ground." She said to herself sarcastically, descending.
"Catch me if you can!" Angelina said, ahead of everyone.
Ben soared over the Astronomy tower and caught up to her. "See ya!" He weaved in and out of a series of arches.
"Well it looks like it's just you and me." Danny said, making a sharp turn around a statue.
"Not anymore!" Alicia dived steeply towards the ground and shot off in the same direction as Angelina and Ben, passing Angelina.
Danny zigzagged through the air and pulled up first place as he completed the first lap around the school grounds. "Try to keep up." He yelled to Wendy and Alicia.
Wendy grit her teeth and accelerated. "I like a challenge."
"Not very challenging in my opinion." Alicia said, zooming over the lake and passing both of them.
"Oh no she didn't!" Wendy leaned forward and urged her broom to go faster.
"Hey, miss me?" Ben effortlessly glided over them.
"Nope, but you'll definitely miss me!" Angelina flew upwards and swooped over the greenhouses. She blew him a kiss, "Good luck trying to catch up!" The action took her by surprise, but the sky was her turf and she felt confident as she sailed past Alicia and Danny.
Ben grinned and whizzed by Danny and Wendy who picked up their speed as the Quidditch field came into view. Angelina accelerated, but Alicia darted in front of her and elapsed her at last second. They were followed closely by Danny and Ben, who spun out of control and crash landed onto the grass, tripping Alicia. Wendy was last and flew straight into Danny, knocking him over and causing Sherry and Angelina to dive out of the way.
"Really, I don't get why you have to kill each other over a silly race." Sherry said, brushing grass off of her. "It's no big deal."
"Yeah, we're fine, thanks for asking." Ben said sarcastically.
"Speak for yourself!" Alicia exclaimed.
"Hey, you won, no complaining." Danny said. "Nice job by the way."
"I think that was definitely the best race I've ever had." Angelina said.
Sherry laughed. "Same for us, considering no one broke their neck after all those out of control crashes." Miraculously everyone was alright.
"Where's the fun without the danger?" Danny retorted.
"Anywhere you're not." Sherry replied.
Everyone laughed. "Too true." Wendy agreed, holding out both hands to help Danny up.
Alicia nudged Angelina and tilted her head towards the lake. She stood up and looked. There, walking hand in hand and talking were Fred and Amaiko.
Seeing them gave her mixed feelings. A big part of her felt murderous, she would never forgive Amaiko for what she did. It wasn't so much stealing Fred (technically he crossed to the dark side of his own free will) as much as it was for damaging their relationship beyond repair. However, a small part of her felt that it didn't matter. She was in high spirits and after an exhilarating race she didn't care about them.
Angelina shrugged and smiled at Ben. "I told you I would beat you."
"No, you said you would lap me, but you only beat me by about half a second." Ben corrected, tousling his hair to get the grass out of it.
"He has a point." Alicia said.
Sherry rolled her eyes. "Oh what does it matter? Let's please just let this one go with no bloodshed."
"Aw Sher you take all the fun out of it." Ben said, flying up in the air. "So who's up for three on three? I call Wendy. I can totally beat her in a race, but she's better at scoring."
"Excuse me? You got lucky this time!"
Ben dismissed her comment. "Do you want to be on my team or not?"
"Yes." Wendy said grudgingly. "Come on Angelina."
"I always get picked last." Sherry sighed. "Oh well Danny's skill makes up for my dismal playing. He just needs someone to flatten his ego."
"You aren't ever picked last. It's always been Ben and Wendy against you and me, Sher." Danny said. "And since when do I have a big ego?"
"She's kidding, silly." Angelina chirped, doing three loops. She spiraled off towards the left side hoops, laughing.
Alicia sighed. Maybe I should spend more time with them. They are a lot of fun, and I wish I were that happy for a change. "Alicia, are you okay?" Danny asked.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to give him a genuine smile, but in her heart she was lying and she faltered. Okay, relax. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Sherry turned to look at her. "You're coming right?"
"Absolutely." And this time her smile was real. Sherry smiled back and together they flew off to join Danny.
Playing with Sherry, Wendy, Ben and Danny was not unlike the games Alicia had played with Katie, Lee, Fred and George. They all had fun playing against each other and spent a lot of time teasing their teammates. Alicia found that she and Danny worked together well, scoring over and over again. After two hours well spent, they descended back to the ground.
"Nice job Alicia!" Danny high-fived her. "You were really good too Sher."
Sherry blushed. She was definitely not a Quidditch player, but Danny seemed to be in a really great mood. "Well Alicia you were way better, you two work well together."
"Yeah, I guess we do." Alicia said happily. "Can we do this again?"
Danny grinned. "Definitely, you, me, and Sher?" He put his arms around the two girls.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." She said, giving him a beaming smile.
"So, when will you two be up for another game?" Wendy asked Alicia and Angelina.
Alicia and Angelina both smiled. "Anytime."
"And how about a rematch?" Ben asked. "Because you know I let you win." He said to Angelina.
"You let me win?" Angelina repeated. "I thought you said you don't play nice when it comes to Quidditch."
Ben shrugged. "Usually not."
Angelina arched her eyebrows. "I don't believe it. I want a rematch. Now."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. Just you and me. And I want you to give a hundred and ten percent effort so you won't have any excuse for losing." Angelina said. "Now."
Wendy rolled her eyes. Sherry and Alicia looked at each other and suppressed giggles. "Well okay then, we're not waiting around." Wendy said. "See you at dinner." Danny and the three girls made their way back into the castle.
Ben leaned against the metal post of the center hoop, his long and lean body posed perfectly but casually. He was one of those people who looked at ease doing anything. His black hair was blowing lightly in the wind and partially covered his electric blue eyes. With his chiseled features and well built body Angelina was sure he scored at least a 9.5 on Caroline's cuteness scale and definitely hit it at ten for Angelina.
The last thing Angelina wanted to do while alone with Ben was to think about Fred, but she couldn't help it. They had a lot of similarities and a lot of differences. She thought they could have been good friends.
"You did this on purpose didn't you?" She said.
"What do you mean?" He said, feigning innocence.
"Pretend you let me win." She answered with a wry smile.
"No… I really did let you win, but you're right, I did it on purpose." Ben said.
Angelina approached him slowly. "Was a rematch all you wanted?"
He smiled. "Maybe not. Was that all you came for?" He didn't move, leaving Angelina to step closer.
"Maybe not." Angelina answered. She wasn't sure where all this confidence was coming from, but she was okay with it. She really, truly, did like Ben. "But that might be all you'll get."
Ben grinned. "But I know that's not all you stayed for."
Angelina laughed. "Okay, you win. I like being with you. A lot. I just wish we spent more time just the two of us. We can definitely start with me proving that I am the better flier."
"You're on."
Angelina smirked and mounted her broom. She flew up into the air and that's when she saw it. Fred. And Amaiko. Kissing. Again. And suddenly she didn't feel very confident anymore. Unable to concentrate, she lost the race.
"Are you okay?" Ben asked when she didn't say anything. She was quiet as they flew their two laps around the school as well.
"I'm fine." Angelina said, wishing she hadn't seen anything at all.
. . . .
Stupid Angelina. What does she have that I don't? Amaiko and Fred parted once they entered the castle and Amaiko was glad. She was getting increasingly frustrated with herself. Why was it that she couldn't even hold his attention for a good five minutes? Every time she was with him it was as if his mind was somewhere else and not paying attention on her. For Amaiko this was unacceptable and a blow to her pride.
Amaiko entered the Ravenclaw common room and snarled at a group of first years who were laughing loudly to get out of her way.
"You're back early." Kitoko said, getting off the couch and following her sister up the stairs. They passed three fifth years whispering about her and Chris Liang. Kitoko beamed. "Everyone wishes they were me." She bragged. "I told Chris that it wouldn't matter if other people knew."
Amaiko scowled, annoyed with Kitoko. She was bound to be chastised for failing with Fred the way she told off her sister. And just the previous morning she had discovered that she and one of the hottest guys in the school had secretly been dating for two months.
"So how did it go with Fred?" Kitoko smirked, knowing the answer.
"It was alright." Amaiko said through grit teeth. If she didn't control herself Kitoko just might very well find herself outside the Ravenclaw tower with a broken neck. "We're going to the Yule Ball together."
"So are Chris and I." Kitoko answered in a tone that clearly said she far more approved of her date than Amaiko's.
"That's great!" Amaiko said with false enthusiasm, hating her sister more and more. She pretended to go through the things in her bag. "Oh I left my mirror in the library yesterday. And it was my favorite one!" A gift from her aunt, the tiny hand held mirror complimented her every time she opened it. "I better go get it."
"Yes, you should." Kitoko said sweetly, indicating she knew exactly what Amaiko was doing.
Making sure her stiletto heels clicked loudly on the stone floors and stairs, Amaiko stormed down the Ravenclaw tower, out the common room, and in no absolute direction. She was halfway down one of the stairways when she walked into the last person she wanted to see, Chris Liang.
"Oh what do you want?" She snapped, annoyed by his very presence. He was the reason Kitoko had been so unbearable for the past thirty hours.
Chris raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I'm looking for your sister."
"She's busy." Amaiko said sharply.
"Hey, relax." He said. "What's gotten into you?"
Amaiko scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You never used to be to bitter and cynical." Chris said lightly. "I definitely prefer your sister."
"Oh." Amaiko said airily. "Mind you she's a bit of a airhead, but I think that fits." She smiled coldly.
"You're right, I definitely like the more quick-witted and clever girls, but she's hot." Chris shrugged.
"My, you've certainly got low standards. What do you do, just go and find some dumbbell with a large chest?"
"That's not how I'd describe you, but sure." Chris said.
Amaiko rolled her eyes. "Hey, wait a second."
"Hm, I see I could have been right." Chris looked at her with waning interest and stepped to the side to go past her.
Amaiko stepped aside to block him. "Tell me." She said, stepping down and forcing him back. "Exactly why am I supposed to care what you think?" She said in a challenging voice, forcing him back the last three steps.
"Let's not pretend you don't." Chris said, leaning forward to look her in the eye.
Instead of backing up she smiled seductively. "You're right. No more games." Without considering anything, she snaked her arms around his neck, pressed her body against his, and kissed him full out. Chris backed up in surprise, but didn't push her away. Instead, he responded by kissing her back.
Hm, isn't that unfortunate? *Sarcastically and unconcerned* But this does add onto the drama and it's not fun without lots of it.
Please, please, REVIEW. I hope to get 60 by the time I update the next chapter :)
