A/N: All right, since I am going back and re-uploading these chapters, I might as well start with an author's note. Well, when I first started to write this ficcy, it wasn't supposed to be a hp ff. I planned on it being an original story. But, I began to post it on the hp site, and changed parts of my original idea. So, the beginning doesn't seem at all like hp, and it shouldn't. At the beginning, I only include some things that even relate to jkr's world, and that was how it was supposed to be. When I finally finish this story, I plan on going back and editing out the parts that have anything to do with hp in it. I will then repost it on fp.net. I will post a link when that finally gets done if you want it, but that won't be for a while. Now, I won't put any disclaimers on my ficcy. For 2 reasons. The first is that since I am posting this in the fanfiction category, it should be assumed that I don't own all of this. If I posted it under original fiction, then I would have to. Fanfiction implies that you don't own it, so it is redundant to say that you don't. My other reason is that I actually own most of it, and the parts I don't, I am only using until I can come up with my own ideas. Say, I am borrowing them, if you will. I don't presume to know what jkr is thinking so I do not try. My characters are my own. The ones that are hers, I have changed so that they do what I want them to. They are then my characters shaped from molds she wrote. That being stated, on with my story. I cannot promise however that her characters will hold big parts. Because, in fact, they won't. If you don't like my story, please don't read it. No one is forcing you to. I appreciate helpful constructive criticism. Flames don't count. Generic "I love this" don't either. I don't claim to be perfect, so if you catch a mistake, please enlighten me. Thank you.
Chapter 1
Kayla Osborne, age 14, was bored from the top of her curly head down to her toes. She absolutely hated the class she was in. In fact, she hated all her classes this year. They were way to easy and boring. 'Thankfully,' Kayla thought, 'only two more says of this torture.' It was almost summer vacation and Kayla couldn't wait to leave. Next year she would be going to her local public high school, Firebrook. This teenager currently went to an average sized private school and she needed the extra options a public school offered.
As she sat at her desk, trying not to notice that her leg was going numb, Kayla heard the slight whisper of paper being passes. She looked sown and on her desk was a note from her best friend, Samantha Blake. Kayla unfolded the crumpled piece of paper and read the message inside: "Kayla, what do you think about going to the mall after school today?"
Quickly, Kayla wrote one word in reply: sure. She passed the paper back and started to draw on the corner of her history book. She just let her hand move and when she finally looked down, she gave a small gasp of surprise. The girl had drawn a symbol of some sort that had been appearing in her dreams lately. Kayla was really surprised that she had drawn it without looking because it was really detailed. She was still staring in amazement at her doodle when the bell rang ending class. Kayla didn't look up until Sam poked her in the side.
"C'mon. Let's go," Sam said. "If we hurry, we'll be able to see Jason and Kyle before we leave." The mere mention of Jason Clayborn's name made Kayla snap out of her thoughts and jump out of her seat. The two girls headed for their lockers, weaving between the other people crowding the hall.
They reached their lockers just as Jason Clayborn and Kyle gold arrived at theirs. Kayla thought she was so lucky that her locker was right next to both her crush's and her best friend's. She had liked Jason for years but had never had the courage to say anything to him. She hoped that he was going to the same school she was next year.
"Hey guys," Kayla and Sam said as they opened their lockers.
"Hey," replied blond, blue-eyed Kyle.
"Yo," answered the gorgeous hazel-eyed Jason.
"Where are you guys going next year?" Kayla asked.
"My parents won't pay anything extra for high school so I get stuck going to public school," Kyle replied cynically. "However, this creep gets sent to Bridgeton. You know the big private school out a ways. I wish I was going, but he says that he would rather stay here…"
"Oh," Kayla interrupted his tirade. "Unless my parents change their minds, I am going to public high school next year, too."
"Same here," Sam added. "C'mon, Kayla. We better leave or we won't get to the mall before dinnertime. Bye guys," she waved and then grabbed Kayla's arm and pulled her towards the exit.
The boys stared at the girls' retreating backs for a couple of seconds before Kyle turned his accusing blue eyes on his friend. "I can't believe you man," he said angrily. "You've been in love with Kayla since before 6th grade. Why didn't you say something?"
"Huh? You say something, bro?" Kyle's message seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
"C'mon, let's go," Kyle said after he rolled his eyes and sighed. He was determined to get those two together.
"Where are we going?"
"To the mall with the girls."
"What?! Are you crazy? Why would they want us going with them?"
"Let's just say that I have an idea that I want to try. Now let's move." They ran to catch up with Sam and Kayla and soon were within shouting distance. "Hey! Do you mind if we go with you? We were just thinking that we might not be able to see each other very often next year." The girls just looked at each other. Sam raised an eyebrow and Kayla shrugged.
"Whatever," they said in unison. The group made its way to the mall. Kyle maneuvering so that Jason was forced next to Kayla.
* * * * * *
Two hours later, Kayla unlocked her door, waved goodbye, and went inside. She was very confused and wanted to think about things for a while. "Mom," she shouted. "I'm home. I brought in the mail. It's on the table. I don't have any homework so I'll be in my room if you need me." Kayla ran up the stairs to her room and collapsed onto her bed. She lay on her back and stared at the white ceiling above her.
While they were at the mall, Kyle kept trying to push her and Jason together. For instance, she kept tripping and falling into Jason and he kept running into her as if someone pushed him. And every time they collided, Jason would glare at Kyle. It must be a guy thing, she decided.
When they had left the mall, they broke into two groups. Kyle and Sam headed east to where they lived (they lived on the same street), and Kayla and Jason went west to their community. Kayla and Jason lived about a two-minute walk away from Jason.
As they walked, the two eighth-graders talked about school and other stuff. "So Jason, why are you going to Bridgeton next year?" Kayla asked.
"Well, my parents went there. They say that it is a really good school and I will have a lot of opportunities if I go there. What was I supposed to say: 'No, I don't want to go there, I'd rater go to Firebrook public high school with K-" Jason glanced at Kayla, blushed slightly and continued, his lapse barely audible. "Kyle and my other friends."
"Oh," Kayla said looking up into Jason's gorgeous eyes. She could have sworn that he was going to say Kayla not Kyle. But whom was she trying to kid, why would he want to be with her. Its not like he had feelings for her. Or did he? "I'm sorry to hear that. Well, maybe if you don't like it there you can transfer?"
"I doubt it," he said, smiling slightly at her. "When I even tried to ask a question like that, the said that within a month I would make so many new friends that I would forget I even waned to switch in the first place."
"You'll just have to make new friends then. After all, there's bound to be at least one person you'd be willing to talk to during the day."
"I guess. But what if there isn't? What if everyone hates me and I make no friends?"
"Stop whining you big baby. If it comes to that, and you can't transfer, you live through school and visit Kyle and the others whenever and as often as you can."
"That would work," Jason replied. They waked in silence for a few minutes. Jason, thinking about what Kyle had said to him about Kayla. "Would you be willing to see me, Kayla?"
Startled, Kayla looked up into his eyes. Not seeing the answer to her question she asked, "What do you mean?"
Flustered, Jason replied, "It's just that…um…you're really easy to talk to. You listen and give good advice. If I had said half of what I told you to Kyle or the guys, they would have laughed and changed the subject. Besides, if I have no friends there, who will help me with my homework?" They both laughed and after a few minutes reached Kayla's house.
"Jason, just so you know," Kayla began. "I would be willing to see you no matter what. You could be the most popular guy in school and I would still talk to you." And then, because she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, she added, "After all, if you're not there, who will make me laugh?" That was when they had reached her driveway.
"Kayla!" Her mom's call brought her back to the present. "Dinner time!" Kayla realized that she was starving and so she ran down the stairs and into the dining room, her dark curls bouncing as she went. She skidded to a halt and flopped into "her" chair. It was the same chair that she had been sitting in for as long as she could remember. It didn't feel right if she ate sitting in a different chair.
"So, Kayla," her dad said as her parents sat down and began to eat. "How was your day?"
"Great. I went to the mall with Sam, Jason, and Kyle."
"Anything interesting happen?" Her mom asked and Kayla turned scarlet remembering what happened at the mall and then her talk with Jason on the way home.
"Not really," she replied though. Her mother, seeing the blush, gracefully changed the subject.
"So, where are Kyle and Jason going to school next year?"
"Umm…Kyle is going to Firebrook with Sam and me, but Jason is going to this school called Bridgeton. I'd never heard of it before, but Kyle had. Jason didn't really want to talk about it much." With that, Kayla turned her full attention to her meal. It was a good thing she did or she would have seen the look her parents traded. The rest of the meal was pretty much silent on Kayla's part, but even she could tell that something was wrong. Her parents seemed to be talking in strained voices as if they were trying to keep everything normal.
After dinner, Kayla jest went to her room and read a book. She didn't really feel like doing anything else. She obviously didn't realize how tired she was until she fell asleep reading her book.
Kayla woke up a couple hours later to hear her parents having an argument.
"We should tell her Michael," Kayla could hear her mother's voice clearly from her room.
"But, Joy," Mr. Osborne argued. "If we tell her we run the risk of her becoming angry, upset, or event terrified. And we're not even sure Hope will go along with it."
"You haven't been listening to me," her mother continued. This surprised Kayla to no end. She had never seen or heard her parents argue before in her life. Not once. "She is the one who thinks that we should-"
"How would you know? It's not like you've talked to her in years-"
"When we went our separate ways, she told me that I would have to tell her eventually and that I would know when. I am telling you that we need to tell her now, Michael."
"Do what you want. But don't come crying to me when it doesn't turn out how you planned." This was when Kayla's exhaustion caught up with her and she fell back asleep only to have the dream with the strange symbol in it.