I had all of my things all packed and ready to go in a set of Louis Vuitton suitcases that my mother made me lug around for the sake of looking rich and fashionable. I wouldn't have minded a couple of beat-up duffel bags, however.

Mother insisted on packing half of my bags, which meant I had twice as much luggage as I would've had. She made a big fuss about everything, like having three back-up tooth brushes and fancy dresses for every occasion. Apparently you had to dress nice for Broadway, Mother tells me. I've never been out of the country before, and I've barely heard of New York except for what I see in movies. The taxi cabs, fashion, pigeons, tall buildings and all that.

I was also equipped with pepper spray and a knife (because downtown areas could get pretty sketchy, according to my very knowledgeable and protective father), and way too many pairs of high-heeled boots and a lacy push-up bra (because the city had lots of cute, young, and single men, according to my desperate-for-grandchildren-mother).

Louis told me that I should always stay up past my bedtime and eat lots of ice cream, because I should let loose and be crazy now that I had graduated. Dom told me that I should always wear my hair down because American boys liked blondes. Rose told me I shouldn't talk to strangers, because American boys like blondes. I think my sister shouldn't hang out with Rose too much.

I stood at the door now of the Burrow, watching my father carry my bags to the taxi cab idling in front of the house. The driver smoked a fag and watched my mother with lazy eyes, making my father angry and a little uncomfortable, jostling my stuff around and glaring at the guy. My mother, as usual, didn't notice (or chose to ignore it) and continued to hang off my arm, chatting away to me about all of the places I should go and what I should do and blah blah blah.

"There's a little bistro on the corner of-" my mother prattled, but I couldn't manage to pay attention for too long. I was distracted, gazing across the lawn at Teddy. He was bent down on one knee laughing and talking to all of the kids. Rose was sitting cross-legged in front of him, Lily was propped up on his knee, Al was leaning on his shoulder, and James was shoving his other shoulder. Uncle Percy and Aunt Aubrey's daughters, my cousins Lucy and Molly, also sat with them, giggling at something Teddy said. I smiled to myself, my heart aching at the perfection of this boy...

"I'll miss you so much, Victoire," my mother lamented, her pained voice cutting through my foggy thoughts. I blinked and looked over at my mother's teary eyes, blue and crystalline, the ones that she had given me.

I sighed, pulling her into a tight hug. She crushed me in her strong yet bony arms, shaking with suppressed sobs. I always thought my mother was a bit dramatic, but I found myself biting my lip a bit too hard to hold back my own tears.

"I'll miss you too, Maman," I whispered. I didn't have to see her face to know she was smiling. We finally pulled apart, and I was then pulled into another whirlwind of many hugs and salutations.

It took three family members to pull Lily off of Teddy, and then four people to detach Louis from my legs. Once the children were safely caged inside the house (because if they were permitted outside, surely one of them would become a stowaway or would cement us both to the property so we couldn't leave. The littles were like sand in your house after a day at the beach- EVERYWHERE), we were finally free to leave.

Teddy slid in first. I threw my purse in after him in the middle seat to separate us, and then climbed inside after him. I waved one last time to my family, then shut the door after us. There seemed to be a small commotion happening towards the back of the group, and I could see Uncle Harry, his hand on his shaking head and smiling fondly. I realized soon why.

James had broken through the front of the group and ran up to us, and he reached us just as the driver began to pull away. I watched James through the glass. He was grinning widely; he then pointed at Teddy, then pointed at me, made a heart with his hands, and for the grand finale, made exaggerated kissing faces and laughed so loudly I could hear him through the glass.

We finally pulled completely out of the driveway, and the further we drove, the more my face reddened. I tentatively looked over at Teddy. His face was equally red, and he looked about as uncomfortable as I felt.

"Um-"

"We-"

We both spoke at the same time, and I shifted in my seat as we both let out an awkward laugh.

"Go ahead," I began.

"No, you can start-"

"No, really it's fine-"

"Do you want me to close the partition?" the driver suddenly asked loudly, cutting off our light bickering.

Without answering, Teddy's hand shot out and slammed the plastic sliding door shut. Immediately, the sound of soft jazz from the radio ceased. I jumped from the loud slam, and then sat for a moment in awkward silence.

And then, finally:

"We should talk."

"Do you wanna eat something?"

We both spoke at the same time. I could feel my face blush all over again, and I let out another odd-sounding trill of discomfited laughter. My throat was constricting with nerves; I didn't want to 'talk.' Why did he? Didn't he know how horrible this would be for me? I already knew he didn't feel what I felt- I didn't need him to say it again.

"Talk about what? I don't think we have anything we need to talk about," I said, deciding to break the new bout of silence. I bit my lip and peeked through the part in my silvery blonde hair, gauging his reaction. He was looking back at me, a line of frustration appearing between his cobalt blue eyebrows.

"Victoire, you know as well as I do what happened-"

"Are you sure you don't want to stop for something to eat? Breakfast wasn't very filling-"

"I really think we need to talk about this-"

"Maybe McDonald's?"

"Listen-!"

"I don't know, it's kind of-"

"You kissed me, and-" Teddy's voice began to rise, so I raised mine as well. And as it rose in volume, it rose in pitch, making my voice sound slightly squeaky.

"If you've seen Super-size Me it could be kind of gross-"

"VIC!" Teddy suddenly yelled, his voice so loud I jumped in my seat.

"What- what on earth-?" I began, spluttering to say something coherent. I avoided eye contact, my fingers fidgeting in my lap. I was seriously considering opening the cab door to jump and roll.

"Victoire, we do need to talk, okay?" he insisted. I let my eyes rove over him then, taking in his urgent, exasperated expression, his clenched jaw, his fisted hands. I nodded slowly, lowering my eyes in shame.

I ran a finger over the cracked leather interior, feeling the smooth bumps beneath my fingertips.

Teddy sighed and began: "At the beginning of your seventh year, at the Hogwarts Express, you kissed me."

I sniffed indignantly and began to draw circles in the leather, my vision becoming unfocused. I bit my cheek, trying to hold back my embarrassment. I tended to cry when I was embarrassed, and when that happened, it only made me more embarrassed, which made me cry harder. If I fell apart in front of Teddy, I don't know how I could face him again.

"You kissed me and..."

I nodded vaguely, biting harder on my cheek as my vision became blurrier.

"And I just wanted to tell you, Vic, that... maybe last summer I gave you the wrong impression, and I never meant to lead you on..."

I could taste the metallic, salty pang of blood from biting my cheek. My vision became blurrier, and I sniffed to keep my nose from running.

"I think you misinterpreted my feelings."

I traced circles faster, now unable to see anything but blurred gray.

"I've noticed that things have been a little tense."

I swallowed back the lump in my throat, water now pooling uncontrollably in my eyes.

"And I just hope we can still be friends."

Finally, a tear drop fell from my eye and my vision cleared. The drop fell into a tear in the upholstery dissolving in the white cushioning peeking through the cheap, gray leather.

I opened my mouth to say something, to just acknowledge that he had spoken, but I didn't open my mouth in fear of a sob escaping. I nodded my head slightly, hoping that would be answer enough.

Apparently it was.

We sat in silence for the next hour. I leaned my head against the headrest and closed my eyes, praying for the reprieve that sleep would bring. Unfortunately, my mind had other ideas. I could only hear Teddy's voice rejecting me, both times, over and over in my head.

I felt so stupid. Why did I ever think that Teddy could like me? That he could ever feel something for me? I was young, nearly three years his inferior. I was naïve and shallow, officious and sassy. I wasn't kind or gracious like Teddy. I wasn't even that smart. I read all the signals wrong. I was so, so stupid.

And on top of being shit at reading signals, there was also the blow that he didn't have feelings for me. It's such an amazing, giddy feeling to love someone. It's exponentially better when that someone can reciprocate those feelings. I guess Teddy just couldn't see me as someone he could love.

And, now, welcome to my pity party.

Whatever. It's not like it's a big surprise that he doesn't like me. Teddy is gorgeous. His hair changes color. My hair is always blonde. It will always be blonde. I bet there a plenty of mature, beautiful, kind, strong, funny witches out there that he would be with before me. Hell, I bet there are plenty of muggles that he would be with before me! I'm so stupid. I barely passed my O.W.L.s in fifth year. I barely know anything about anything. All I have going for me is that I'm a pretty face. Other than that, nada. I'm shit at quidditch. I'm shit at school. I'm shit at figuring out my future. I'm shit at getting a decent guy to like me. I'm shit at everything!

I pouted for awhile during and after this inner-monologue.

When the cab finally pulled to a stop, I opened my eyes and sat up straight.

"What? Are we there?" I asked rapidly, eager to get out of the claustrophobic vehicle of doom. Teddy wasn't at alert like I was, but instead relaxed against the back of his seat. I looked out the window to see that we were only stopped in traffic. The sun was just reaching its highest point in the sky, and I could see mirages in the distant road ahead. I could tell just from looking that it was hot outside, even this early in the summer.

There was honking ahead, and I could see the flashing of police sirens far down the sloping highway.

"There's a wreck," the cabbie said, partially sliding open the plastic partition. Smoke from his cigarette floated through and met my nostrils, silvery tendrils swirling in the backseat of the taxi. Barely a second passed before he slid it back shut. Maybe he had heard some of our yelling from earlier and didn't want a repeat episode. I have no idea why, however, because my life is obviously better than any and all sitcoms/soaps.

"I guess stopping for food soon is a bust," I muttered bitterly, glaring at the back of the passenger's seat in front of me. I kicked it in frustration, being melodramatic as always.

"Here," Teddy said, conjuring up a bag of peanuts from his pocket. My face brightened and I snatched it from his hands, tearing it open with a quick swipe of my teeth. I began to ravenously shovel handfuls of peanuts into my mouth until the bag was empty. I let out a disappointed whimper, and then tried to make the most of the remaining greasy salt on my fingers.

The sound of Teddy's chuckle made me look over, surprised. He was smiling fondly at me, and I squirmed a bit under his gaze.

"What?" I questioned, finishing off the salt on my thumb and proceeding to gingerly wipe my hands on my ripped jeans.

"You have all of the grace and elegance of a truck driver," he said, smirking. I fluttered my eyelashes, pretending to look flattered.

"Oh, well, you know me..." I said, unable to keep the flirty lilt out of my voice. Then I caught myself slipping back into my old way of coquetry with Teddy. I bit my lip and tried to hold back my blush.

Would this be our friendship from now on? Me flirting, catching myself, and then blushing awkwardly? A silence filled with tense discomfort until one of us fills it with inconsequent babble? I had a feeling it would take more than a brief, one-sided 'talk' to get past this rift in our friendship. And to think, I was all to blame for this. If I had been a bit more tentative with my bold declarations of love, this mutual discomposure wouldn't be happening.

"Listen," Teddy said, sensing my plight, "I don't want things to change between us because of this. I want things to go back to the way they were."

"Right. Yeah, you're totally right," I said quickly, waving a dismissive hand in the air. In actuality, I wasn't dismissive- rather, I was quite circumspect. However, Teddy didn't seem to notice my apprehension and smiled at me in obvious mitigation. I forced myself to smile back, hoping it didn't look strained or less than genuine.

We sat in traffic for awhile, chatting mildly over the cacophony of blaring car horns. Teddy told me that his friends were amazing, and that I would love them. That we were going to have a phenomenal summer together that'll top even last year's. I winced at this, because that was the summer that I convinced myself that there was something between us. He didn't seem to notice, though, and continued with the descriptions of his best friends: Beck, Guare, and Advent. Also coming would be Beck's little sister Reeni, Guare's girlfriend Sonia, Sonia's best friend Arkaria, and Advent's cousin Quill.

I had briefly met his best mate Beck the summer prior, and from what I could tell he was a pretty decent bloke. He had been relatively short, with a strong build and dishwater-blonde hair, lots of facial scruff, and an air of magnetism and confidence that made you immediately drawn to him. He wasn't exactly handsome, but something about him demanded your attention. I could see why Teddy and him were mates; they were practically brothers.

The others in the group, however, I had never met. I could vaguely remember hearing of a Guare when at Hogwarts, but since they had been several years above me, I wasn't exactly close chums with them. Teddy and I didn't really bond until the age gap between us wasn't as wide as it seemed in younger years. Ten years old to thirteen would seem like a lifetime, whereas twenty hardly seemed older than nearly eighteen.

"I think you'll like Reeni. She's very sweet and funny. It's hard not to like her, to be honest," Teddy said conversationally. I felt a squirming in my gut that could be translated as jealousy, but I ignored it and smiled in interest.

"Really?"

"Mhm. And as for Sonia... well, I've no idea. I feel like you'll either dislike her with a passion or become best friends. It's hard to tell now." He looked contemplative, and I could feel my curiosity peaked. Teddy was a great friend and all, but it would be nice to make some girl friends on the trip, too.

"Oh? And why's that?" I inquired, turning in my seat to face him.

"Because... well, you're rather alike... in some senses," he said carefully, smirking.

"So, she's charming and witty and beautiful?" I asked, smiling coyly. He smirked wider, eyeing me up and down. I could feel my body melt to jelly and my heart beat faster with his eyes roving over me, my insides warming...

"Those senses and others. Like subtlety and modesty," he replied smoothly. I tilted my head back and laughed, swatting at his arm.

"I'm as modest as they come, m'dear," I said good-naturedly, flipping my hair. I quirked a smile and looked at him up through my eyelashes. He smirked back, and I got that intuitive feeling again... that feeling that I wasn't the only one who felt this way. But maybe I was wrong, or I was being too hopeful. There was undeniable tenderness in his blue eyes, though, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was holding back. But If he knew how I felt, why would he hold back? There wouldn't be any guesswork on his end, and we'd be together.

And then again, I was probably reading all the signals wrong.

I cleared my throat ineptly, breaking eye contact. "So... what about the others? How do you figure we'll get on?"

"Well," Teddy said, turning towards me to make ease for the conversation, "I know exactly how Guare will react to you."

"Oh yes?"

"Yes, he'll be absolutely enraptured by you and flirt shamelessly," he said, looking not particularly happy by the thought. I held back a smile.

"Well then, if that's so, I feel like we'll get along quite well," I admitted. I knew, as did most people, that I happened to be a brazen flirt. Especially when it came to boys I like, if you haven't figured that out yet. I couldn't help it... it was just in my nature. And it also happened to be why most girls didn't like me, and most boys got the wrong impression. I didn't mean to be cruel- I just came on a little to strong at times.

"But wait: I thought he has a girlfriend? Sonia?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

Teddy shook his head, rolling his eyes, "It doesn't stop him. He's still hopelessly in love with Sonia, though. I've no idea why..." He scrunched up his nose, giving the impression that he wasn't fond of his mate's significant other. I giggled at his comical expression of distaste.

"And the others?" I pressed, scooting a bit closer. Our knees brushed each other, a small thrill I reveled in. He didn't pull away, and nor did I. Obviously.

"Advent will adore you, I'm sure. As for this Arkaria character and Quill, I don't know- I don't know them, myself," he said with a shrug.

A rather mischievous idea came to mind, and I peered at him closely as I asked with a suggestive smile, "Is Advent single?"

Teddy frowned, a line of confusion appearing between his brows. "Yeah, I think so. Why?"

I shrugged mysteriously, examining my already perfectly manicured nails as if I gave a damn of their condition.

"No really. Why?" he asked again, his voice a bit louder.

I bit my lip to hold back a smile and placed a hand on his knee, scooting a bit closer. "You don't need to worry about it, Teddy." I smiled sweetly then settled back into my seat, closing my eyes to rest. I smiled wider when I heard Teddy's frustrated sigh. Maybe it was too much to be hopeful that he was jealous, but hey, a girl can dream.

"Wingardium Leviosa," I whispered, aiming my wand at my heavy luggage and watching it with a satisfied smile as it rose into the air.

"Thank Merlin for magic, because I think you packed your whole house in there," Teddy announced, grinning at me as he levitated his own suitcases.

"Hey! I only brought half the house," I joked, skipping off down the pathway towards the small, yellow house that belonged to Beck Applewood where we would all be meeting before eating dinner and boarding our plane en route to New York City, New York.

We arrived at the door, and I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. Not really. I actually rarely give a shit what people think of me. Usually people don't like me, so it really does work out in my favor. However, for this trip, I was hoping that I could get along with the majority. I wanted some girl friends so we could go shopping while the boys went and did whatever stupid boys did.

I had a feeling there would be some animosity.

Something that seemed to be a recurring thing with me was that girls I met didn't like me. Even girls I didn't know. Maybe it was because I was a huge flirt, or maybe it was because they were jealous of me. I mean, I don't want to sound conceited, but I'm fucking gorgeous.

Before I could reach the door to knock, it flew open and a wide smile greeted me. There stood a Hispanic boy, with ruffled, dark brown hair, a devil-may-care persona, and caramel-colored skin.

"You must be Victoire," he said in a ways of greeting. "I knew you were Veela, but can I just say, damn!" He checked me out openly and shamelessly, and I had a feeling, according to Teddy's descriptions, that I could easily figure out who this was.

"And you must be Guare," I responded.

"You been askin' 'bout me, baby?" Guare inquired coquettishly, lifting an eyebrow.

That was when Teddy arrived at my side, scowling at Guare and narrowing his eyes at him. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Sorry, bro! Didn't know she was yours," Guare said defensively with a devilish smile. Teddy's ears turned bright pink.

"Shut up," he snapped, then marched past us and into the yellow house.

"Who crapped in his cereal this morning?" I mumbled, ignoring Guare's cackle that followed.

"Obviously not you," Guare said back, "otherwise I think he would've eaten it."

I scrunched up my nose and followed him inside, not even pulling away when he wrapped an arm around my waist.

We reached a large living room, where the journey for all of us would begin. That summer, Teddy would have his heart broken, at least four different guys would kiss me and more, I would meet my future best friend, and I would be the maid of honor at a wedding.

But of course, I didn't know it yet.

A/N: Thanks so much for all of the response that I got on the first chapter; I really appreciate it so much! I've been trying to reply to reviews but my computer is dumb, so here's my overall response: THANK YOU, LESS THAN THREE LET'S BE FRIENDS COOL OK BYE. (Don't judge me- ok fine you can judge me, it's a human bodily response that sometimes you can't just help, WWJD, idk) More reviews, maybe possibly? Yeah? Please? You wanna, right? Ok, cool, if you insist! I'll try to respond... ya know... if I can figure out the internet.

Your BFFLATA (best friend for life & the afterlife),

Elizabeth