A/N: I own nothing
Haunted
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Sarah was busy wrestling Toby into his stroller, so she could take him to the park. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and there was no way that she was going to allow him to be cooped up inside all day. Not to mention that the stench from that bile Karen was concocting was making her eyes water. She slipped the straps around his middle and fastened the clasps.
"There we go, Toby," she cooed, kissing his forehead. She slipped her sandals on, and pushed the stroller towards the door. Karen called to her from the kitchen, "Sarah, I want you two back by five o'clock."
"All right Karen," Sarah said, rolling her eyes.
"I mean it. Home by five."
"All right!"
"Hey watch that attitude, missy!" Karen snapped. Sarah groaned in annoyance, and pushed the stroller out the door. She carefully lifted it off the porch, and pushed it down the walk and off towards the park. The warm sunlight felt wonderful against her exposed skin. What a relief it was to be wearing shorts and tank top, instead of her usual jeans and long sleeves. She and Toby were nearly to the end of the block, when she heard a shout from behind.
"Wait up, Sarah!"
She turned around to see Nigel running towards them. He was wearing a shirt this time, to her mild dismay, but she couldn't help but notice that he looked very clean cut in his white t-shirt.
"Where are you two going?" He asked, catching up with the siblings.
"To the park," Sarah said, another blush creeping up her cheeks. She prayed he wouldn't notice.
"May I walk with you?" he asked, eyebrows raised. He looked amused.
"If you want to, I guess I can't stop you," Sarah said with a smile, turning on her heels and continuing on her way. The tall boy followed them, walking alongside the stroller. Sarah's face was flushed.
"Aren't you helping Miss McAlister with her housework?" she asked.
"Nah, I've been mowing and weeding all morning. Aunt Marlow told me to take a break, I saw you two, and I thought I'd come along. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while."
"You have?"
"Yeah, you seem really nice, and so far the other kids I've met out around are kinda snobby."
"Oh, they're not so bad."
"Couldn't help but notice that they distance themselves from you," he said, cocking an eyebrow. Sarah squirmed uncomfortably.
"Well, that's kinda the way it is around here. The people in this town like things to be nice and normal. If you stray from their standards, they shut you out. And I don't really conform those standards. Now you, they probably just need to get used to. Like they got used to my stepmother. She's all prim and proper, and fits in perfectly."
"That hardly seems fair," he said indignantly. They had reached the playground, and Sarah removed Toby from the stroller.
"It isn't fair, but I'm used to it. It's not like I'm all alone, I've got a couple friends at school, and, uh... from out of town..."
"Well, I hope that I can become one of those 'couple friends'," Nigel said, watching as Sarah set her brother in a baby swing. She gave the baby a little push, and he squealed in delight. Nigel couldn't help but smile, but he had a faraway look in his grey eyes, as though his mind was somewhere other than this playground.
"So Nigel. You know all about me, but I know hardly anything about you. Where are you from?" Sarah asked, her sweet voice bringing Nigel back to reality.
"Oh. I'm from Seattle. I lived with my mother and father and older sister, but my aunt needed someone to help her out around the house, so my dad made me come here." His voice was cool and even, but Sarah couldn't help but notice that he didn't look her in the eyes when he told her this. However, she decided that it was probably best not to pursue it. She supposed that everyone was entitled to their secrets.
Toby's frustrated squawk drew their attention back to him. His swing had stopped. Sarah laughed, and gave him another push. He immediately stopped his squawking and began giggling again.
"Oh my god, Sarah look at that!" Nigel exclaimed, pointing off behind her. She whirled around to look. Her stomach plummeted when she saw that all to familiar barn owl, watching the teenagers intently.
"I have never actually seen an owl before, and I never thought I'd see one at two in the afternoon," he said, approaching it carefully.
"Nigel, no!" Sarah shrieked.
"What's wrong?" Nigel asked, looking alarmed.
"There may be something wrong with it. I mean, it's out in broad daylight, and really close to humans..."
"Oh yeah. I didn't think about that," Nigel said, backing away, "I suppose it could be dangerous."
Grateful, Sarah stopped the swing, scooped Toby out, and placed him in his stroller. The baby fussed a bit, but stopped and started laughing and clapping when Sarah pushed him in view of the bird. Sarah pushed him away as fast as she could. Nigel followed, looking utterly confused. They ran until they were nearly back home, before Sarah had to stop and catch her breath.
"Sarah, what's wrong with you?" Nigel asked, coming to a stop beside her.
"What do you mean?" She replied, looking as innocent and naive as she could.
"Why did you run away like that? What are you, scared of owls?"
"No. You said it might be dangerous, and I didn't want it to attack Toby."
"Really?" he said, his thick eyebrows disappearing into his curls.
"Really. I'm not afraid of owls."
"Well that's good. Because my aunt told me that there's a street fair downtown on Friday, and I was sort of wondering if you might want to go with me, since neither of us really has any other friends..."
"So like a pity date," Sarah said with a smirk.
"No! No, no, no! Not a pity date! I just want to spend a little more time with you," he said, blushing furiously. He looked at Sarah, and noticed her coy little smirk, "I'm not impressing you, am I?"
"No, but I'm having a lot of fun watching you try," Sarah said, fighting a laugh.
"Ha-ha. So, will you go with me?" he asked.
"It's a date."
A/N: And that was chapter 11. A boring, unimpressive chapter, I'll admit, but necessary to move the story along. Just bear with me, Nigel and Sarah's relationship needs to grow a little bit before I can move on to the Sarah/Jareth action.(OMG, SPOILERS!) I'm still unsure about what sort of ending to give this, but I'm leaning towards a less happy one at the moment.
Anyway, until next time, review!