Chap 2

The nest day at her muggle school, Emily was sitting down at the table in the corner by herself eating her turkey wrap and fruit, knowing the other kids wouldn't want to sit with someone as weird as herself.

"Hey, um…is anyone sitting here?" Emily looked up to see a brown-haired boy that she had never seen before standing besides her holding a full lunch tray. He must have been new if he was offering to sit with her, because nobody who was used to this school ever would have.

"I guess. If you want to," shrugged Emily.

The boy sat down next to her. "Thanks," he grinned wolfishly at her, and began chomping down his lunch. "My name's Jon. I'm new to Mancini Middle School."

"Well, welcome to the 8th grade," said Emily, sarcastically.

"Thanks," replied Jon, not noticing the sarcasm. "You know, I'm really supposed to be in 9th grade, but when I came to this school they wanted me to start in 8th."

"Good for you."

They sat in silence for a minute, except for the noisy shouts of the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry. You must think I'm a jerk just waltzing in here and telling you my life's story. I'm sort of nervous about starting a new school. And being nervous makes you say stupid things you wouldn't normally say. Sorry."

"It's okay. I know the feeling of not fitting in very well. I'm not the most popular girl in school as you can tell."

"I guess. I don't know why you're sitting alone though. You seem nice," replied Jon, fiddling with the plastic bag holding a plastic set of a fork and knife.

"Here, let me help you with that," suggested Emily. She took the bag from him and opened it easily. As she handed it back to Jon she explained, "You get used to these crappy cafeteria utensils after a while."

"Thanks."

"So…," said Emily after a while, trying to make some conversation. "Where were you from before you came to this school?"

"Oh, I was at Du….never mind. It's not a place you would know of. Actually, it was a boarding school. My mums trying to transfer me to a school not far from here, so I'm at this school while we wait for the school to set up for me. They said they'd notify us when they were ready for me to come. Meanwhile, my mom said I might as well go to the local public school. Extra education never hurt anyone. Even though it'll be pretty different from my new school." The boy explained this all while still chewing his lunch. Every few words his mouth would open and Emily would see some of the chewed-up food. As disgusting as this was, Emily didn't mind much. After all, this guy was new, and he was trying to be nice.

"Oh, cool," replied Emily. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be talking to this new boy, but she didn't mind him. Having company was much better then sitting by herself. Even if this boy could be a little gross, he seemed to count Emily as a friend so she didn't mind. After all, she had never had an actual friend before.

The bell rang just as Emily and Jon were finishing up their lunches. The two walked off in separate directions and didn't see each other again until lunch the next day.

Emily walked into the cafeteria the next day, looking around for an empty table. They were all full, but there was a small one in the far corner that has a single person at it. The person turned and waved for Emily to come over.

'Jon,' Emily thought as she walked over with her lunch tray. 'Who else would want to sit with me?' She had a very rough morning. Her English teacher had made her stand up in front of the whole class and recite a poem they were supposed to memorize. Emily forgot the poem entirely. The whole class had laughed at her and, blushing, she had sat down.

"What's up?" asked Jon as Emily sat down beside him. "I never caught your name, by the way, yesterday."

"I'm Emily. Emily Lupin."

Jon spontaneously burst into a coughing fit, almost falling out of his seat.

'I'm sorry," he apologized as Emily helped him sit back up again. "Lupin, did you say? My older brother used to know someone named that. It can't be the same person though. You probably just share the same name."

"Who does he know?" Emily asked, suddenly interested. If Jon's brother knew her father, maybe she could find a way to meet him. Maybe she could finally find out who he really was.

"You wouldn't know him, I'm sure. He's not from around here. I don't think he's ever been anywhere near this part of the country," replied Jon, looking away. "Hey, are you gonna eat that apple? The lunch lady gave me this awful pear. I asked for an apple, but did she care? No!"

"Here," said Emily, distracted, handing over the apple in exchange for the pear. She had really hoped that Jon's brother had known her dad. Was Jon lying when he said the Lupin he knew would never come to a small town like this, or was he being truthful? Emily had always had the suspicion that her father had stopped by the town as a traveler, met Leila and gotten close overnight, and then left. Then Emily suspected Leila had named the baby she received from that one night of lying with a man after the father, which would be why Emily had his last name.

'Maybe that's not what happened?' thought Emily. 'Maybe he really lived somewhere else with my mom and then my mom moved here with me or something? Mom always said she had lived here her whole life and never left this town.'

What if she was lying?

This last though rang in Emily's head. If her mom could have lied about this, what else could she have lied about? It was entirely possible Leila was telling the truth and the Lupin Jon's brother knew was someone entirely different.

As Jon went on and on about apples, pears, and lunch ladies, Emily never even realized that Jon had subtly changed the topic away from Lupin. The thought that he was hiding something never even crossed her mind.