As we all sat down, I smiled around at my three best friends. It was funny; their sundaes almost seemed to reflect their personalities. Sylvia's was vanilla, sweet, and always there for you, and also the new 'chocolate tango', original, creative, and fun.
Camille's had coffee, maybe unpopular, but still good, and chocolate, honest and friendly. Her flavors together formed a bittersweet combination, just like her personality. She had nuts, but no cherry on top. She was who she was and she didn't care what other people thought.
Veruna's was cookie dough with rainbow sprinkles and jellybeans on top. Really sweet and fun, but a little out of the ordinary and crazy. I looked down at my own ice cream. Oreo and black raspberry, a strange combination, yes, but very good. Lots of whipped cream and hot fudge, too. What did this say about me?
"Have you all decided where you're going for school?" Sylvia was asking.
"Well, you already know, I'm going to Pari Ghar…" Veruna said.
"Runa!" moaned Camille, "Don't remind us! We're trying to actually enjoy your company while your still here,"
"Fine, where are you going to school?" Veruna said huffily.
"Spelladry… You guys know that, Runa and I have told you where we're going, now let's here about you two, Sylvia? Sarah?"
Sylvia was smiling smugly. For a second a tiny flame of hope kindled in me that she might have been accepted at Hogwarts as well. She looked happy enough and proud enough to have been. "Actually, I was accepted at the Susan B. Anthony, apparently a late spot opened up… I guess someone turned down their acceptance or something… Well, that's where you're going too, isn't it Sarah?" she asked, "You've always wanted to go there and you looked so proud of yourself today, but I won't ruin your fun. Go ahead, tell everyone that you were better than me and got your acceptance letter early with the rest of them, instead of after someone dropped out!" Sylvia kidded, punching my arm lightly.
"Hey, Runa, looks like we'll be needing an ice pack to help with the swelling again!" Camille teased.
"Swelling?" Veruna said blankly.
"Her head, Veruna," Sylvia clarified.
I wasn't listening though. Suddenly, I felt miserable. Veruna was glancing around, looking at me pointedly. She was wondering why I wasn't telling the others about Hogwarts.
"Sarah?" she asked, sounding worried.
I took a deep breath, "Um, actually, I'm, well, I'm not going to Susan B. Anthony…"
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know, honest, I'm sorry Sarah, I just thought that, well, you know," Sylvia said, looking very embarrassed.
"No, I got an acceptance letter but I…" Now everyone was staring at me. I hadn't meant to say that. Why did I always have to spoil everyone else's happiness? Sylvia had gotten into Susan B. Anthony after I refused, but she didn't have to know that. I was way overconfident. Why couldn't I stop bragging even when I was in utter misery?
Well, the harm was done. There was nothing I could do but tell the truth. "I'm going to a different school. Overseas, I got accepted at a pretty good school and I couldn't turn it down," Veruna smiled encouragingly.
"What school?" Camille asked, sounding confused. "Overseas? Like, in a different country?"
"You turned down Susan B. Anthony?" asked Sylvia, looking shocked.
"Well, yeah I just…" I trailed off. I couldn't stand looking at them. They were all staring at me. Camille looked skeptical, Sylvia, disappointed and confused and Veruna looked worried.
"Sarah! Tell them what school!" Veruna said, with a half-hearted laugh. Her lame attempt to lighten the atmosphere fizzled.
"Hogwarts," I said miserably. Sylvia and Camille gaped at each other, looking completely shocked.
"Like, Hogwarts? Like, in England?" Camille asked. I nodded.
"Sarah, that's… that's, awesome!" Sylvia said, always there for me.
"No it isn't!" Camille exclaimed, "That's horrible! We'll never see you or Veruna again!"
Veruna glanced at me, looking nervous. Sylvia seemed to take control of herself. She glared at Camille. "That's really great. Congratulations, really, both of you." Camille sat grumpily, eyeing all of us and doing her best to look abandoned and ignored.
Sylvia, glancing her way, continued, "I mean of course, we'll really miss both of you, but, it's really amazing that you both got into such good schools."
Veruna smiled, "You know, you have to be pretty good to get into the Susan B. Anthony and Spelladry too. Pari Ghar might be Nepal's best school, but it's nothing like either of those. And it's definitely not nearly as hard to get into as Hogwarts."
"Thanks…" I said, "Um, I just…" I half-smiled. My friends. My friends. I couldn't really put what I was feeling into words. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I thought about Hogwarts. Would I have anyone who was even close to what friends like these were to me?
"I'll miss you guys, so damn much!" I exclaimed finally. Everyone, even Camille, smiled again. We all laughed and chatted lightly after that, no one dared bring up the delicate subject of goodbye just yet.
Finally after all of us had been finished with our sundaes for at least ten minutes, Veruna hesitantly came back to this subject. "Well, I'm leaving in a week, so I'm not sure if…"
"Look, let's not say goodbye, not just yet," Sylvia said. "We can give hugs all around, but no goodbyes and no crying, ok? Christmas break will come before we know it. And we'll all exchange owls all the time, agreed?"
Everyone looked relieved. "Agreed." Camille nodded, deciding for everyone.
Fifteen minutes later, I met my mother outside of the Phoenix and Dragon wand store. I was nervous and excited. Despite our agreement not to say goodbye yet, leaving my friends for what I knew would be the last time in a while left a bad taste in my mouth. Still, I wanted to be fully prepared for finding my wand. I tried to forget about Camille's face, Sylvia's too-tight embrace and Veruna's eyes, shiny with tears, for now.
A young woman with curly red hair came to greet us. Quickly she whipped out a measuring tape and set it off measuring me, before she got down to business, explaining the basic principles of a wand.
"There's phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, unicorn hair… And the different woods can tell you different things, there's willow, that's often quite nice for charms…Oh and rosewood, that's nice for healing and-"
I stopped listening at this point. I was so excited, that I could barely concentrate. Glancing at the tape measurer, which was now measuring the width of my right pinky, the woman slowly began to take boxes from back cupboards and place them on the counter.
My mother watched, smiling. She had never had a wand, I realized, she knew no more about what was going on then I did.
"Ah, yes, nine and a half inches! Dragon heartstring, mahogany!" the woman cried, thrusting a wand into my hand. I glanced skeptically at the wand… What was supposed to happen? It looked so plain, so simple… "Go ahead!" the woman cried, "Give it a wave!" I sucked in a deep breath and held the stick… wand, a bit tighter. I flicked it upwards and drew a circle in the air.
"No, no!" the woman cried, snatching it back. I quickly relinquished the wand. "Too short! Nine inches was too short!" she exclaimed, quickly handing me another. "Eleven inches. Unicorn hair, yew!" she exclaimed. This too I waved about, still somewhat unsure that a little stick like this could produce the magic I saw everyday. Again nothing happened and she grabbed it back, murmuring something about flexibility before thrusting another wand at me. "This is the one! Willow! Ten and a half, phoenix feather!"
The way she announced the make-ups of the various wands, you'd think it was something I should be thrilled about, but always, before I'd had a chance to really see for myself the wonders of the wand, she snatched it away and forced another upon me.
After four more unsuccessful tries, (each one beginning with a promise that it was "the one") Eleanor, as I learned the woman's name was, sat back thoughtfully, considering me with strange, grayish eyes. "Hmm… Longer, something more… powerful…" she murmured, then suddenly she leaped to her feet, making me jump.
"This!" she cried, "This! This is the one! Twelve inches, unicorn tail hair, black palm!" Again, she flung a wand at me. Once again, I took it and inspected it suspiciously. It was light in my hand, and the handle was smooth, but not slippery. The wand was grayish-black with yellow streaks through it. I was far from convinced that this was the one, but I wrapped my fingers around it, grasping it tightly. Suddenly, a warm humming feeling spread through my fingers and up my arm. Hand and wand connected and I swished the wand, an elegant stream of violet sparks erupted from the end.
"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Eleanor exclaimed, "That's the one! That's it!" she smiled and gently took it from me, although, this time, I was a bit more reluctant to give it back. She carefully wrapped it and handed it to me.
"Now, be careful. Palm is powerful, very powerful… No saying what a wand like that could do. Take good care of it. This one has the tail hair from the lead mare of the unicorn herd. She kindly gave up one strand of hair and it was used to make a very powerful wand… A wand that chose you!" Eleanor glanced around and then leaned very close. "This wand," she whispered, "Will turn your wildest dreams into reality."
Yay! Reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Keep it coming, people!
Ugh, I seemed destined to make mary-sue characters! I'll try my best to keep away from it, definitely tell me if there is anything particular that seems too mary-sueishly perfect…