Author's note: Sections enclosed in asterisks are when Watson is dreaming.
* * * *I could feel the heat on my face and hear the crackling flames. My head throbbed and my eyelids drooped. I was so sleepy, I couldn't move. Mr. Donnelley smiled and wrapped his arms around me. "Come, Princess," he whispered, and pulled me into the pit of fire...* * * *
I screamed, sitting upright in bed. My father came crashing in to my bedroom, fear in his eyes. I started to cry.
"Baby," Dad said, softly. "What's wrong?" He sat on the edge of my bed.
"I-I had another nightmare," I said, snuggling close, sniveling.
"You were crying out for your friend the whole time," Dad said.
"My friend?" I asked.
"Holmes. You were crying for Holmes."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Good morning, Watson."
"Good morning, Holmes," I said, pulling my hat on tighter, my teeth chattering. "Another wonderfully tropic day here in this temperate climate." I pulled a scarf around my mouth. "A won'erful 'ay oo be ou'side. Feezin' my nose doff."
Holmes chuckled and I danced around in a circle. "I wan' Flori'a. I wan' Flori'a." I said, then stopped. "By 'ee way, 'ow's 'Ascal?"
"He's fine," Holmes answered. "Colleen won't leave him alone. He'll be in good hands while we're at school."
"'At's good," I said. I noticed the gold chain around Holmes' neck again. I pulled down my scarf to ask him about it, but then the bus pulled up. We clambered on board and I forgot to say anything.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Where's Holmes? I wondered, as I scanned the cafeteria. I shifted my hold on the lunch tray and frowned. That's so strange. He was right behind me a minute ago...
Charise and her crowd waved at me, and I went to sit with them.
"Gurl," Charise said, "Tell us about it."
"About what?" I asked, half way to taking a bite of my pizza.
"Your boy, gurl!" Charise said. "You got that look on your face like your best friend died."
I put the piazza down. "Okay, first of all," I snapped, "Holmes is not my boy, never has been, never will... be..." I stammered and bit my lip, fighting back the tears.
"Hey, hey, I'm sorry," Charise said gently.
"Ignore her," Mell said from across the table. "She doesn't know what she's talking about, anyway." Charise stuck her tongue out at Mell.
"Hey," Diane said from across the table. "Why don't you invite her for Friday?"
Charise grinned. "That's a great idea." She turned to me. "So, Sara, I'm havin this big blow out party at my house tomorrow night. You wanna come? Your folks gonna be cool with that?"
I smiled. "I'd love to come. I think my mom and dad would let me... will your parents be home?"
"Aren't they always?" Charise rolled her eyes. "You folks can come meet mine, if you want."
"Sounds great!" I said, and took a bite of my piazza.
Jess chuckled. "And there's gonna be BOYS!"
I grinned.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Holmes, you weren't at lunch again," I was just in time to watch the buses pull away.
Holmes didn't reply.
"Oh, come on, where were you? You can tell me..." I poked at his shoulder. "Holmes?"
"It's none of your business," he snapped, and glared at me. I shut up. I don't know, maybe it was a guy thing...
After a moment of walking in silence, I asked if I could come see Rascal.
"Sure. We can take him on a walk," suggested Holmes.
Rascal was so cute - galloping on ahead of us on the lead that Holmes had bought. He would stick his head in a clump of snow, snuffle, and then howl softly. I held the leash and Holmes and I chatted about the day. Nothing of particular interest. Then I told him about the party.
"You're going to Charise West's part?" he gasped.
"Yeah, why?"
"Charise West is, by definition, the most popular girl in school. Why would she invite you?"
I stared. "Excuse me?" I asked, shocked. "What? Like I can't be popular? She happens to be really nice."
"I'll bet. What did you do to get invited?"
I stopped walking. Rascal sat in the snow and looked at us, a question in his little puppy eyes.
"For your information," I snarled. "I didn't do anything to get invited. She had invited me because I was all by myself at lunch. Because you were off... somewhere. Where were you, anyway? Snogging with Marianne?"
Uh-oh. Now I've done it.
Holmes absolutely blew up. "Where I was is none of your business!" he yelled, red in the face. "You... you little..." Holmes stopped, and paled. His hand went slowly to his neck and he took a great gasping breath. Then he shook his head.
"Watson, I'm sorry," he sighed. "I'm, I'm just a little jealous, I guess. I shouldn't have gotten angry."
"No, Holmes, I'm the one who's sorry...and I... but what IS that around your neck?" I asked, taking a step closer.
Holmes hid the necklace beneath his shirt, but not before I got a good look at it. It was a golden chain, polished to a shine. On the chain was an oval-shaped charm with a beetle etched into it. "It's nothing, nothing," Holmes said, and took Rascal's lead from my hand. "Let's go home."
"Holmes, what's wrong?"
He never answered.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Who does he think he is, keeping secrets from me?" I stormed around my room, throwing a pillow at the wall. "I want to know what's up with him, but he won't tell me. Am I too nosy? Does he even care about me? Urgh, I could - " I twisted the pillow around in my hands.
"Saaaaa-rraaa!" Mom yelled from downstairs. "You're friend is here to see you!"
Thinking it was Holmes, I dashed down the staircase, then stopped, surprised to see Charise.
"Did you forget about the party?" she asked, with her famous lopsided grin.
"Oh, my gosh, yes!" I gasped. "I wasn't even thinking..." I looked down at my school uniform, wrinkled from lounging around the house.
Charise hefted a make up bag onto her shoulder. "Party starts in an hour. Gurl, let's get you ready!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Charise thumbed through my closet, making little tisk! noises. "Don't you have anything hip to wear?"
"What do you mean, hip?"
"Like this!" Charise pulled out my sparkling pink tank top.
I laughed. "You've got to be kidding me! I bought that as a joke!"
"No joke," Charise said, and threw it at me. "Wear that, hmmm, these jeans and oh! this cute little jacket."
I got dressed as Charise dug through her makeup bag. "Sit down," she told me, and uncapped an eyeliner. She penciled in my eyes and then coated them in something sparkly. "Very nice," she said as she applied blush. Then came some lip gloss. "Smoosh!" she told me, and I rubbed my lips together and grinned. Charise held up a mirror.
I stared. This wasn't the Watson I knew. Gone were the glasses and the mess of tangled hair. My eyes looked bigger and more striking, and my lips shimmered. "You look good," Charise said, giving my a thumbs up. "Let's get this party started."
Giggling, we thundered down the stairs. "Have a nice time!" Mom called as we raced out the door.
"Hey, wait a second!" Dad called, "You're not going out looking like THAT, young la - " Mom hit him on the shoulder. "Of course she is," she said.
I could here the music from three houses away, and when Charise opened the door, I was almost blown backwards by the light and the noise.
When my eyes and ears adjusted I recognized my friends from lunch. They waved me over and we chatted for what seemed like hours. Then Charise pulled me out on to the dance floor. "Let's see what you got, girl!"
I started to dance, bouncing in time to the music, laughing. The girls from lunch came over and we started, as Charise put it, "pumping".
The song ended and, exhausted, we slid to the side. Molly handed me a soda and I opened it, thanking her. Jess came over to me. "Don't look now," she said, quietly. "But Brad is totally crunching you."
"Who's Brad?" I asked.
"See that kid with the blonde hair, over there with the Coca-Cola? That's Brad," Jess said, admiringly.
Brad kept sneaking me looks from the corner of his eye, then laughing with his little group of friends.
"Do I want to be crunched?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"When it's Brad?" Charise said, "Ooooh, yeah."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I hummed a bit of song, then laughed, then twirled through a street light. It was late but I could see my house up ahead. And what a party! That Brad was so cute...
Singing under my breath, I spun in a slow circle. When I turned back, Holmes was standing right in front of me.
I jumped and gasped, then put a hand over my heart. "Oh, you scared me." I said, taking a deep breath. "What are you doing out this late, anyway?" I asked.
Holmes was looking at me strangely. He bit his lip and reached a hand out to my cheek. "Watson? What did you do to your face?"
"It's called makeup, Holmes." I said, a little angry. "I am a girl, you know."
"I know," Holmes said, and took his hand from my cheek. "Listen, are we still on for the dance Friday?"
Now I smiled. "Of course!"
"Goodnight, Watson," Holmes said, and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" I called after him, "Your house is the other way!"
He never answered.
* * * *I could feel the heat on my face and hear the crackling flames. My head throbbed and my eyelids drooped. I was so sleepy, I couldn't move. Mr. Donnelley smiled and wrapped his arms around me. "Come, Princess," he whispered, and pulled me into the pit of fire...* * * *
I screamed, sitting upright in bed. My father came crashing in to my bedroom, fear in his eyes. I started to cry.
"Baby," Dad said, softly. "What's wrong?" He sat on the edge of my bed.
"I-I had another nightmare," I said, snuggling close, sniveling.
"You were crying out for your friend the whole time," Dad said.
"My friend?" I asked.
"Holmes. You were crying for Holmes."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Good morning, Watson."
"Good morning, Holmes," I said, pulling my hat on tighter, my teeth chattering. "Another wonderfully tropic day here in this temperate climate." I pulled a scarf around my mouth. "A won'erful 'ay oo be ou'side. Feezin' my nose doff."
Holmes chuckled and I danced around in a circle. "I wan' Flori'a. I wan' Flori'a." I said, then stopped. "By 'ee way, 'ow's 'Ascal?"
"He's fine," Holmes answered. "Colleen won't leave him alone. He'll be in good hands while we're at school."
"'At's good," I said. I noticed the gold chain around Holmes' neck again. I pulled down my scarf to ask him about it, but then the bus pulled up. We clambered on board and I forgot to say anything.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Where's Holmes? I wondered, as I scanned the cafeteria. I shifted my hold on the lunch tray and frowned. That's so strange. He was right behind me a minute ago...
Charise and her crowd waved at me, and I went to sit with them.
"Gurl," Charise said, "Tell us about it."
"About what?" I asked, half way to taking a bite of my pizza.
"Your boy, gurl!" Charise said. "You got that look on your face like your best friend died."
I put the piazza down. "Okay, first of all," I snapped, "Holmes is not my boy, never has been, never will... be..." I stammered and bit my lip, fighting back the tears.
"Hey, hey, I'm sorry," Charise said gently.
"Ignore her," Mell said from across the table. "She doesn't know what she's talking about, anyway." Charise stuck her tongue out at Mell.
"Hey," Diane said from across the table. "Why don't you invite her for Friday?"
Charise grinned. "That's a great idea." She turned to me. "So, Sara, I'm havin this big blow out party at my house tomorrow night. You wanna come? Your folks gonna be cool with that?"
I smiled. "I'd love to come. I think my mom and dad would let me... will your parents be home?"
"Aren't they always?" Charise rolled her eyes. "You folks can come meet mine, if you want."
"Sounds great!" I said, and took a bite of my piazza.
Jess chuckled. "And there's gonna be BOYS!"
I grinned.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Holmes, you weren't at lunch again," I was just in time to watch the buses pull away.
Holmes didn't reply.
"Oh, come on, where were you? You can tell me..." I poked at his shoulder. "Holmes?"
"It's none of your business," he snapped, and glared at me. I shut up. I don't know, maybe it was a guy thing...
After a moment of walking in silence, I asked if I could come see Rascal.
"Sure. We can take him on a walk," suggested Holmes.
Rascal was so cute - galloping on ahead of us on the lead that Holmes had bought. He would stick his head in a clump of snow, snuffle, and then howl softly. I held the leash and Holmes and I chatted about the day. Nothing of particular interest. Then I told him about the party.
"You're going to Charise West's part?" he gasped.
"Yeah, why?"
"Charise West is, by definition, the most popular girl in school. Why would she invite you?"
I stared. "Excuse me?" I asked, shocked. "What? Like I can't be popular? She happens to be really nice."
"I'll bet. What did you do to get invited?"
I stopped walking. Rascal sat in the snow and looked at us, a question in his little puppy eyes.
"For your information," I snarled. "I didn't do anything to get invited. She had invited me because I was all by myself at lunch. Because you were off... somewhere. Where were you, anyway? Snogging with Marianne?"
Uh-oh. Now I've done it.
Holmes absolutely blew up. "Where I was is none of your business!" he yelled, red in the face. "You... you little..." Holmes stopped, and paled. His hand went slowly to his neck and he took a great gasping breath. Then he shook his head.
"Watson, I'm sorry," he sighed. "I'm, I'm just a little jealous, I guess. I shouldn't have gotten angry."
"No, Holmes, I'm the one who's sorry...and I... but what IS that around your neck?" I asked, taking a step closer.
Holmes hid the necklace beneath his shirt, but not before I got a good look at it. It was a golden chain, polished to a shine. On the chain was an oval-shaped charm with a beetle etched into it. "It's nothing, nothing," Holmes said, and took Rascal's lead from my hand. "Let's go home."
"Holmes, what's wrong?"
He never answered.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Who does he think he is, keeping secrets from me?" I stormed around my room, throwing a pillow at the wall. "I want to know what's up with him, but he won't tell me. Am I too nosy? Does he even care about me? Urgh, I could - " I twisted the pillow around in my hands.
"Saaaaa-rraaa!" Mom yelled from downstairs. "You're friend is here to see you!"
Thinking it was Holmes, I dashed down the staircase, then stopped, surprised to see Charise.
"Did you forget about the party?" she asked, with her famous lopsided grin.
"Oh, my gosh, yes!" I gasped. "I wasn't even thinking..." I looked down at my school uniform, wrinkled from lounging around the house.
Charise hefted a make up bag onto her shoulder. "Party starts in an hour. Gurl, let's get you ready!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Charise thumbed through my closet, making little tisk! noises. "Don't you have anything hip to wear?"
"What do you mean, hip?"
"Like this!" Charise pulled out my sparkling pink tank top.
I laughed. "You've got to be kidding me! I bought that as a joke!"
"No joke," Charise said, and threw it at me. "Wear that, hmmm, these jeans and oh! this cute little jacket."
I got dressed as Charise dug through her makeup bag. "Sit down," she told me, and uncapped an eyeliner. She penciled in my eyes and then coated them in something sparkly. "Very nice," she said as she applied blush. Then came some lip gloss. "Smoosh!" she told me, and I rubbed my lips together and grinned. Charise held up a mirror.
I stared. This wasn't the Watson I knew. Gone were the glasses and the mess of tangled hair. My eyes looked bigger and more striking, and my lips shimmered. "You look good," Charise said, giving my a thumbs up. "Let's get this party started."
Giggling, we thundered down the stairs. "Have a nice time!" Mom called as we raced out the door.
"Hey, wait a second!" Dad called, "You're not going out looking like THAT, young la - " Mom hit him on the shoulder. "Of course she is," she said.
I could here the music from three houses away, and when Charise opened the door, I was almost blown backwards by the light and the noise.
When my eyes and ears adjusted I recognized my friends from lunch. They waved me over and we chatted for what seemed like hours. Then Charise pulled me out on to the dance floor. "Let's see what you got, girl!"
I started to dance, bouncing in time to the music, laughing. The girls from lunch came over and we started, as Charise put it, "pumping".
The song ended and, exhausted, we slid to the side. Molly handed me a soda and I opened it, thanking her. Jess came over to me. "Don't look now," she said, quietly. "But Brad is totally crunching you."
"Who's Brad?" I asked.
"See that kid with the blonde hair, over there with the Coca-Cola? That's Brad," Jess said, admiringly.
Brad kept sneaking me looks from the corner of his eye, then laughing with his little group of friends.
"Do I want to be crunched?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"When it's Brad?" Charise said, "Ooooh, yeah."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I hummed a bit of song, then laughed, then twirled through a street light. It was late but I could see my house up ahead. And what a party! That Brad was so cute...
Singing under my breath, I spun in a slow circle. When I turned back, Holmes was standing right in front of me.
I jumped and gasped, then put a hand over my heart. "Oh, you scared me." I said, taking a deep breath. "What are you doing out this late, anyway?" I asked.
Holmes was looking at me strangely. He bit his lip and reached a hand out to my cheek. "Watson? What did you do to your face?"
"It's called makeup, Holmes." I said, a little angry. "I am a girl, you know."
"I know," Holmes said, and took his hand from my cheek. "Listen, are we still on for the dance Friday?"
Now I smiled. "Of course!"
"Goodnight, Watson," Holmes said, and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" I called after him, "Your house is the other way!"
He never answered.
