Two house-elves packed Jade's suitcase, which had been cast a spell to allow it to fit enough stuff for several days, including fancy dresses, jewels, and about eight pairs of shoes. And at 3:00 she was all ready to meet her family downstairs. It was the first time in days that she was seeing them and they didn't even hug her or say hello, as if they didn't miss her at all.
She bit her lip at the silly thought. Hug her? Why would they? They have never hugged her in her entire life. The most she had gotten was a pat on her shoulder from her father when she was chosen for the Quidditch team, and nods from her mother whenever she did something satisfactory. But a hug, or even a shake of hands, was never part of their family routine, unlike what she had witnessed in Ron's house.
The Lias and Perseus families had eighteen days to travel and enjoy America. Their first destination was California. Jade loved the beaches, they were quite different from the beaches in the UK but while she was swimming on their last day there, someone spotted a shark and someone got bit.
"Muggles..." Finley exclaimed annoyed as they carried the injured woman in front of him to take her to the hospital. He made it seem like he thought it was the woman's fault or just that Muggles were useless and pathetic in his opinion.
But Jade was a bit traumatized at being so close to the woman and seeing all the water around the woman turning red. And just by luck the shark went for her and not Jade. They were only a few feet away from each other at the time of the incident.
Then they spent a couple of days in Las Vegas. Their hotel was part of the American Wizarding World so they used the Floo Network to get to their next hotel, which saved them many hours.
They went to Magical Casinos so there was no way to use magic to cheat and there were tiny, odd creatures surveilling the people too. Just in case someone could actually manage to break the spells and cheat. But Jade didn't enjoy it as much as she wasn't allowed to go inside.
She was left alone with the house-elves that they had brought with them for help, while everyone, including Cassius and Lexion, went to have fun until very late at night.
Then they spent two days in Florida, this time Jade decided to not swim too far from the shore. She loved the sea too much to be able to stay away but the image of the shark attack was still in her mind all the time.
Spending all day by the beach or just outside in the open made Jade getting quite sunburnt. She couldn't even change clothes without pain. Cassius cast a spell and she felt instant relief, the redness stayed for a while but the pain was gone.
They went to Washington DC next. Jade thought it was beautiful. No beaches but Jade enjoyed it a lot. Cassius, Lex and Jade visited all the monuments. Sadly, they were too late to see the Cherry Blossoms but the area was still gorgeous.
They spent three days in there, for some reason their parents were on their own most of the time, not explaining why or where they were going. And then finally, they got to New York on the twenty-fifth of August and they met Olisca and her family. Olisca had lost her Scottish accent quite a bit but her parents hadn't.
Olisca was a skinny girl with eyes that seemed too big for that small pale face. Those blue eyes really made Jade freak out, so she tried to not look at her. But she had to admit her dark blonde hair was perfect.
Jade was very young when she last saw Olisca and she didn't remember her. She didn't remember her parents either, but her mother couldn't stop telling everyone stories when they were all little, especially how Jade used to prank Olisca all the time, and often being aided by Cass, which Jade didn't remember at all.
Their manor had been the only place where Jade had a room for only her. In every other place she had shared with not only Lexion but Cassius too, which she found weird. Maybe their parents did it because Lexion and Cassius were best friends and thought that with Lexion in the room, Cassius and Jade wouldn't do anything out of place. Not like they would even if they were all alone.
Still, Jade couldn't think of a reason why she never got her own room, or just why Cass had to share with them, it wasn't like they couldn't afford an extra room. Back in Greece for her mother's birthday she didn't have to share with Lexion or anyone.
The Scottish family showed them around, not only New York but New Jersey too. But the time with them was very boring. Everything was so formal and Jade would barely speak and somehow she always ended up next to Cassius. And they had to go and do everything they said, they didn't have a choice, so different from their time in DC. Even Lexion was getting frustrated.
"They make such a good couple," Olisca's mother, Odette, exclaimed as she looked at Cassius and Jade. They had no option but to sit together for every meal.
"We are looking forward to their wedding," Raven said with a smile and Jade almost choked on her food at her words. Cassius awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
"We're all excited," Mrs. Perseus added with a grin.
"Please, this is about Lex and Olisca," Jade said, blushing a bit. Not wanting to be the centre of attention, and not wanting to talk about her own wedding any time soon. "We'll have our time, right, Cass? But thank you for the compliment Mrs. Preselvet."
Two nights before they had to return to England, during a fancy dinner in a restaurant overlooking the city from like the hundredth floor of a building, it was announced Lex and Olisca had decided they were getting married in May of the following year. Only about six weeks after Lexion would turn nineteen and a bit less than a month before Olisca would turn nineteen.
Lexion also informed everyone that he didn't intended to live in Wiltshire anymore so he was going to look for a place in between Wiltshire and Scotland. And his first option was Liverpool but he wasn't sure yet. But he made it clear that he wanted to live in a city, just not London.
Jade was the only person being sad about the news, everyone else seemed excited. Lex was the only reason why living at home wasn't a complete hell and now he was going to move away. She knew he wouldn't live at home once he married but she didn't expect the wedding to be so soon and she never expected for him to move so far away. She could easily reach him through Floo Network but Liverpool or any other place outside of Wiltshire seemed too far for Jade. It just wouldn't be the same without him.
He wouldn't be there next summer. Or the next. He wouldn't even care about her once he was gone. He would focus on his wife and job and new life. At that moment Jade regretted telling Lexion she wouldn't miss him in school next year, because she would. He could be frustrating and a bit of a control freak and liked to spy on Jade but he also was her studying partner, her teammate, her role model and she was going to miss him.
The next day, Cass was the only one noticing Jade's weird mood. Lexion was Jade's everything. He could annoy her and sometimes do things that drove Jade mad but he was her older brother and in a year time he wouldn't be there anymore. He wasn't dying or moving to America, and for that she was grateful, but everything was going to change.
Cass asked her what was going on but Jade told him she was just frustrated with the fact they couldn't explore New York as they wanted, and that what they were doing was boring, she was also down because their trip had come to an end. Cass believed every word and also complaint about being bored and wanting to see more of New York.
On their way back, Jade couldn't stop comparing the way her family was and how the Perseuses were. The differences among them were huge. And she wished her family could be a little bit more like Cassius' parents. But the differences were even bigger compared to the Weasleys. Spending a few days with them made her hate even more everything about her family and what they represented. She couldn't hate her parents but she hated their stupid beliefs, rules, traditions and their coldness.
She was also hating the arranged marriage more and more, if that was possible. She didn't hate Cass, she actually had a lot of fun with him during this trip and she seemed to finally let go of the bad feelings she had since the Yule Ball, but she couldn't imagine having him as a husband.
She could see how fake her brother's behaviour was, it was obvious he didn't like Olisca but he had to pretend he was excited about everything.
Jade had caught Lexion holding Olisca's hand during one of their many fancy family meetings and as soon as people walked away from them, Lexion quickly let go and both looked annoyed at each other. But once everyone was around again, the smiles returned to their lips and they stood closer to each other.
And it was hard to admit she felt more welcomed at the Weasleys' than at her own 'home' or what she should call home.
Just minutes before they arrived in England, she turned to look at Cassius and imagined a life with him. A life identical to her parents'. They would barely acknowledge each other, he would always be away working. She knew she would be expected to have a baby within the first five years of marriage and with luck she would have a boy. And that child wouldn't receive affection from them, they would be miserable too. And they also would be in an arranged marriage and the cycle will be repeated.
She couldn't have that, could she? She had three options, go against everything she believed in at some point, and not marry Cassius and be cast out from her family and her society. Or follow the rules and be miserable all her life or somehow fall in love with Cassius and miraculously he would fall in love with her too and have a happy marriage.
Okay guys, I'm back to being locked up. 60 hours this time! So expect an update tomorrow! I actually was going to update yesterday but I had to rush to the store and get junk food/cookies/chocolates in case I get any cravings LOL Since we can't leave at all.
This chapter was kinda short, I tried to add things here and there but still I wish it could have been longer.
Question, if you have been to USA or live there, how many states have you been to?
And in your opinion, which is the prettiest?
Counting airports (lol) I've been to 11, I think. I've been to some of the states mentioned in this chapter, probably you'd guess which ones haha!
Any thoughts of Olisca and her family so far?
