Disclaimer: This characters aren't mine, I'm just borrowing them for the moment. I'll return them only after I've horribly scarred them for life.
Tip of the Iceberg Part VI
By Rhi
***
The Headmaster, Faculty, and Graduating Class
of the
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy
request the pleasure of your company
at the
Graduation Party
Sunday, the tenth of June
at five o' clock
at the Theater of Circe
***
Dear Diary,
Cancun wasn't actually all that bad. ALthough I did get bored of ham and cheese sandwiches (that's all the hotel provided), water (the milk was icky) and bubblegum ice cream (too much of a good thing makes stomach aches), I did have fun. The scuba diving was great, the weather was terrific, and the week went by pretty fast.
Of course I still did have my bad times, like at night, when I couldn't go to sleep, or when I wasn't doing anything constructive/ engaging.
So, after weeks of skulking around the hotel and house, I finally found the happy ending to my story, the conclusion of this saga in my life.
On Sunday, I went to the graduation party, which was in an old theater someone had rented for the occasion. It was a combination free for all talent show/ dance, which meant total choas. It was like setting a zoo loose-- everyone was going crazy and spilling out all over the place.
The theater we rented to party in was totally trashed afterwards. There were clothes, bottles, candy wrappers, and all sorts of garbage lying around the place.
It seemed the party went too quickly-- there would be no more time to say goodbye to people I knew; for instance, Cho was leaving the next day to study medical procedures in China.
Feeling exhausted, I tried to find Angelina to take me home, since she lives five minutes away from me.
But as I was heading for what I hoped was Angelina, I noticed Fred and George. And where Fred and George are, Katie usually is.
So, trying to be inconspicous, but wanting to see if my hunch was right, I raced toward them.
I was right-- she was there, but it wasn't her. I mean, it wasn't the girl I'd known, the one who wasn't afraid of singing (badly) in front of large audiences, or the one who listened to us with a cynical smile. This person, this Katie Bell 2.0, was the Anti-Katie.
She was dressed om all white-- the first thing she'd never do-- in a long cotton skirt, a blouse, and a filmy white jacket. The strangest part was she had her hair up. Not in the low ponytail she sometimes wears to games, but twisted and held in place with a little clip, like Lavender does.
She disappeared into a carriage for a while, with Fred and George standing like guards at the door.
I didn't know if I should wait-- Katie had obviously changed into another person while I was away, and I still had to find a ride back home. So I left.
The worst part about leaving was knowing I could have stayed and waited. I could have said my goodbyes. But I didn't . I didn't even look back. Bitter? Yes I was. Pissed off? Incredibly. But then again, there's only so much one can do or say in front of someone else's friends, especially when that someone doesn't seem to "be in the know" about her own situation--
My thoughts were interrupted by someone yelling, "Wait! Alicia!"
Katie, dressed in her normal streetwear, was running to catch up with me. I stopped, hardly believing my eyes or my ears.
"Listen," she started, talking confidentially as she she put an arm around my shoulder. "I've gotten to know you over what-- six?-- years, the time we've played Quidditch together, and I think you're a really great person... so..."
"Yes?" I prompted.
"So... I got you this..."
It was a slim book, a gray cover simply entitled, "Touch and Go".
I opened to the first page of writing, a dedication to the graduating class. And the next page, a poem:
TOUCH AND GO
an uncertain future
looms ahead
a cauldron simmering
noxious fumes threaten
solitude, abadonment
the years of childhood
stripped away;
we lie vulnerable
to a world of
hidden traps.
-- Katie Bell
I looked up. "What is this?"
She smiled. "It was my idea, but we all made it. 'Collected literature' from all the students and professors."
"Thank you!" I exclaimed.
"Look," she continued, "We all signed yours-- in the back."
I could make out the signatures of Cho, Angelina, the Twins, and a bunch of others, but--
"Where's yours?" I asked.
Gently, she took the book from me and flipped to the very last page:
To a very special friend and team mate:
I had a great time with you in Quidditch. You're an awesome person, not to mention a terrific Chaser. I wish we'd been in more classes, so I could have known you better. You have a very nice smile. Be careful-- it's contagious!
Peace and chill out.
--Katie Bell
I smiled, but she was becoming blurred before my eyes. Damn. Why did I always start crying?
She grinned and hugged me, and I, trying desperately to control my tears, hugged her back.
I don't the hug lasted very long, but everyone was gone when I wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Well, thanks for everything." I sniffed.
"Yeah, take care of yourself. See ya sometime." She replied.
We shook hands, oddly formal now. Then, taking one last look at the girl I'd known forever, yet only a few months, I turned around and looked for a mean of transportation, trying to stifle the new wave of tears. I had my happy ending. I said goodbye, wasn't that enough?
I sat down on a stone bench, not caring that I'd have to wait at least another hour before I got a carriage home. Overwhelmed by the conflicting emotions, I burst out into a fresh waterfall of tears. Not just for Katie, but for the world, for all the people I'd never get to know, for all the regrets I had, for the professors and classmates I'd never see again.
It was a good thirty minutes before I quieted down enough to consider my present predicament.
"Hey," A voice said quietly. I looked up into the smiling face of Katie.
"Hey," I replied.
"Need a ride home?" She asked, holding out a hand.
Beaming, I took it.
***
Author's Note: That's the happy ending, folks, but there's still more to come! In the mean time, reveiw!
Tip of the Iceberg Part VI
By Rhi
***
The Headmaster, Faculty, and Graduating Class
of the
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy
request the pleasure of your company
at the
Graduation Party
Sunday, the tenth of June
at five o' clock
at the Theater of Circe
***
Dear Diary,
Cancun wasn't actually all that bad. ALthough I did get bored of ham and cheese sandwiches (that's all the hotel provided), water (the milk was icky) and bubblegum ice cream (too much of a good thing makes stomach aches), I did have fun. The scuba diving was great, the weather was terrific, and the week went by pretty fast.
Of course I still did have my bad times, like at night, when I couldn't go to sleep, or when I wasn't doing anything constructive/ engaging.
So, after weeks of skulking around the hotel and house, I finally found the happy ending to my story, the conclusion of this saga in my life.
On Sunday, I went to the graduation party, which was in an old theater someone had rented for the occasion. It was a combination free for all talent show/ dance, which meant total choas. It was like setting a zoo loose-- everyone was going crazy and spilling out all over the place.
The theater we rented to party in was totally trashed afterwards. There were clothes, bottles, candy wrappers, and all sorts of garbage lying around the place.
It seemed the party went too quickly-- there would be no more time to say goodbye to people I knew; for instance, Cho was leaving the next day to study medical procedures in China.
Feeling exhausted, I tried to find Angelina to take me home, since she lives five minutes away from me.
But as I was heading for what I hoped was Angelina, I noticed Fred and George. And where Fred and George are, Katie usually is.
So, trying to be inconspicous, but wanting to see if my hunch was right, I raced toward them.
I was right-- she was there, but it wasn't her. I mean, it wasn't the girl I'd known, the one who wasn't afraid of singing (badly) in front of large audiences, or the one who listened to us with a cynical smile. This person, this Katie Bell 2.0, was the Anti-Katie.
She was dressed om all white-- the first thing she'd never do-- in a long cotton skirt, a blouse, and a filmy white jacket. The strangest part was she had her hair up. Not in the low ponytail she sometimes wears to games, but twisted and held in place with a little clip, like Lavender does.
She disappeared into a carriage for a while, with Fred and George standing like guards at the door.
I didn't know if I should wait-- Katie had obviously changed into another person while I was away, and I still had to find a ride back home. So I left.
The worst part about leaving was knowing I could have stayed and waited. I could have said my goodbyes. But I didn't . I didn't even look back. Bitter? Yes I was. Pissed off? Incredibly. But then again, there's only so much one can do or say in front of someone else's friends, especially when that someone doesn't seem to "be in the know" about her own situation--
My thoughts were interrupted by someone yelling, "Wait! Alicia!"
Katie, dressed in her normal streetwear, was running to catch up with me. I stopped, hardly believing my eyes or my ears.
"Listen," she started, talking confidentially as she she put an arm around my shoulder. "I've gotten to know you over what-- six?-- years, the time we've played Quidditch together, and I think you're a really great person... so..."
"Yes?" I prompted.
"So... I got you this..."
It was a slim book, a gray cover simply entitled, "Touch and Go".
I opened to the first page of writing, a dedication to the graduating class. And the next page, a poem:
TOUCH AND GO
an uncertain future
looms ahead
a cauldron simmering
noxious fumes threaten
solitude, abadonment
the years of childhood
stripped away;
we lie vulnerable
to a world of
hidden traps.
-- Katie Bell
I looked up. "What is this?"
She smiled. "It was my idea, but we all made it. 'Collected literature' from all the students and professors."
"Thank you!" I exclaimed.
"Look," she continued, "We all signed yours-- in the back."
I could make out the signatures of Cho, Angelina, the Twins, and a bunch of others, but--
"Where's yours?" I asked.
Gently, she took the book from me and flipped to the very last page:
To a very special friend and team mate:
I had a great time with you in Quidditch. You're an awesome person, not to mention a terrific Chaser. I wish we'd been in more classes, so I could have known you better. You have a very nice smile. Be careful-- it's contagious!
Peace and chill out.
--Katie Bell
I smiled, but she was becoming blurred before my eyes. Damn. Why did I always start crying?
She grinned and hugged me, and I, trying desperately to control my tears, hugged her back.
I don't the hug lasted very long, but everyone was gone when I wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Well, thanks for everything." I sniffed.
"Yeah, take care of yourself. See ya sometime." She replied.
We shook hands, oddly formal now. Then, taking one last look at the girl I'd known forever, yet only a few months, I turned around and looked for a mean of transportation, trying to stifle the new wave of tears. I had my happy ending. I said goodbye, wasn't that enough?
I sat down on a stone bench, not caring that I'd have to wait at least another hour before I got a carriage home. Overwhelmed by the conflicting emotions, I burst out into a fresh waterfall of tears. Not just for Katie, but for the world, for all the people I'd never get to know, for all the regrets I had, for the professors and classmates I'd never see again.
It was a good thirty minutes before I quieted down enough to consider my present predicament.
"Hey," A voice said quietly. I looked up into the smiling face of Katie.
"Hey," I replied.
"Need a ride home?" She asked, holding out a hand.
Beaming, I took it.
***
Author's Note: That's the happy ending, folks, but there's still more to come! In the mean time, reveiw!