I woke up to an empty bed. Well, you know, besides me.
Which sucks.
You know, when falling asleep in bed with the love of your life, you expect to wake up cuddled up next to him, or for him to be staring lovingly at you while you sleep. And then you ask, "What are you doing?" And he says, "I was watching you. You're so cute when you sleep."
Why can't my life be a cliché love story? Is that too much to ask?!
I rolled out of bed and slid into my fuzzy, purple slippers and shuffled over to the mirror above the vanity against the opposite wall. I stared back at myself, inspecting every possible flaw in my appearance. I guess being good-looking is the only thing I have going for me; might as well preserve it.
I wiped away the tiny flakes and smears of mascara and eyeliner from beneath my eyes and ran my fingers quickly and roughly through my tangled hair. Good enough, I suppose, I decided after staring at myself for a good half-minute.
I went downstairs to hear the clattering of silverware against porcelain and light chattering in the dining room below. I then dashed down the stairs, eager as to what was for breakfast.
I'm one of those girls that other girls hate, because I can eat as much as I want and not gain a pound. This also means that I'm hungry a lot, but especially in the mornings. And from where I was, and as I got closer, I could smell eggs and pancakes and syrup and coffee and tea and warm rolls with butter and...
I reached the bottom landing and skidded to a stop when I rounded the corner to see every chair at the table filled. No one even glanced over at me, as everyone seemed busy talking or laughing or eating.
I pulled up a chair from the corner of the room and slid it in the biggest gap, between Quill and Beck.
"Good morning, beautiful," Quill said smoothly, looking me up and down. I rolled my eyes and scooted forward.
"Hey, Vic! Finally decided to join the land of the living?" Teddy called to me, gaining everyone's attention. They all focused on me, and I'm not gonna lie, I usually like- no, crave- the attention, but instead I felt my cheeks flood with warmth. These people were all at least a year older than me, which can be a bit intimidating. And especially Sonia- she seemed to be judging me with every glance, and it was a tad unsettling.
"Well it's not like you woke me up," I countered.
"I couldn't," he said, smiling coyly, reminding me of his grins when he was little, "you just looked so cute asleep."
Okay, but why couldn't he say that with a straight face?
"Mhmm." I gave him a skeptical look, but he just grinned back and turned to face Arkaria, who sat rather close next to him. Then again, it was like I didn't exist as the table went back to their chatter. Needless to say, I felt utterly left out.
I reached out to the nearest pan of rolls, but there was only one left.
"Where's all the food?" I asked Beck. He turned from his conversation with his sister Reeni and shrugged. Then he turned back away.
I repeated the question to Quill, and he just replied, "Guess we ate it all. Early bird really does get the worm, eh?" He snickered and I took that as my cue to scrunch up by nose and ignore him.
I sighed and looked back to reach for the last roll, but then Teddy snatched it up and took a big bite out of it, ripping off a half to offer to Arkaria. I watched as he fed her the piece, and she snatched it up in her mouth. He watched her chew it slowly, their faces close, and then they both laughed, her arm slinging around his neck. He seemed absolutely mesmerized, looking down at her lips as she licked the breadcrumbs from them.
I turned away as my stomach roiled uncomfortably in protest.
"We're leaving today, okay? We have to. The private jet is—"
"Private jet?!" Quill exclaimed, cutting off Beck's announcement. Beck ignored him and continued, "- the private jet is only available for today, or else we're out of luck.
"We all need to get packed and hit the road. I already called a cab to get us in two hours, so now that we've eaten, let's get cleaned up and get going!"
Everyone at the table whooped except me. My stomach growled.
I helped Reeni clear the table, Arkaria and Teddy already heading off together upstairs along with Guare and Sonia. It hadn't gone unnoticed that Sonia was only wearing her silky, skimpy pajamas at the table and her boyfriend was looking respectively pleased with himself. The cousin's Quill and Advent lingered at the table, Quill loooking bored and Advent saying, "Thanks for making us breakfast, Reeni." He smiled crookedly, and she turned a bright red and stuttered out a thank you.
He walked off with Quill, who winked at me before departing.
"So, is Advent your boyfriend or something?" I asked casually, knowing that he wasn't and ready to do some match-making.
Reeni took the stack of plates from my arms and carried them over to the sink. I followed behind her, putting the stopper on the drain and turning on the water to warm up. She set the plates down on the opposite side of the sink, then bent down to look in the cabinets below.
"No, and I've no idea why you'd think that," she said, sounding a bit a canned if you ask me.
"Mhmm," I hummed skeptically. "So that blushing and stammering thing you do whenever he's around... that's just your way of communication? Is that a secret language or something?"
She sighed into the cabinet, then reemerged with a pair of yellow rubber gloves and orange dish soap. Her face was still red. Still. "I don't do that," she muttered. Then her eyes slid closed and she shook her head, whispering, "Please don't tell anyone..."
I smiled happily and took the soap from her while she wrestled on the rubber gloves. I pumped the nozzle into the water and it immediately filled with bubbles, popping and floating into the air to wink at us. I smiled and set the soap aside. We switched spots and I handed her a plate, and she started scrubbing.
"I promise I won't. Who would I tell?"
"Teddy. I'm sure you'd tell him anything," she said knowingly. "But don't worry. If you don't tell, I won't tell."
"There's nothing to tell," I said bitterly, trading her a dirty plate for the one she'd washed to dry myself. I picked up a rag and began wiping it over the dripping plate.
"What? But you like him! I'm not blind, Victoire," she intoned.
"Yeah, of course I like him. But he already knows, so like I said, there's nothing to tell!" I snapped. I set the plate down on the counter a bit too hard, making a loud clattering.
"Whoa, gentle now," Reeni said calmly, now a light flush in her cheeks. "So, you're telling me that he knows you like him and you aren't together?"
"If you don't shut up soon, you're going to run out of feet to put in your mouth," I said snarlingly.
"Fiesty!" Reeni giggled. "All I'm saying is... well, if you can't be with the guy you want, then there sure isn't hope for the rest of us."
"I don't know," I said, taking a wet plate from her and handing her another dirty one, "Teddy and Arkaria seemed pretty snug back there. Maybe I'm just not good enough."
"Oh, please!" She rolled her eyes dramatically and sighed. "Arkaria's got her charms; Teddy's just new to them."
"Doesn't change the fact that he's falling all over her."
"I don't even know Arkaria that well and I already know I'm not going to like her," Reeni said. "If it makes you feel any better, I like you."
I said thanks and held back what I really wanted to say. That it didn't really matter to me whether she liked me over Arkaria as long as Teddy liked Arkaria over me.
After a moment of silence I asked out of pure curiosity, "How come you don't want anyone to know that you like Advent? He seems like I nice guy," I lied. He didn't seem like a nice guy. He'd barely talked to me. What guy doesn't talk to me?
"Are you serious?! No one can know! I mean, look at me! I'm scrawny, I've got no tits, I'm about three years younger than him, and he's... well, you know... all cool and aloof! I can't just... I couldn't just...!" Reeni was practically screeching now, her hands scrubbing frantically across the clean plate she held. I wrestled the plate from her hands and forced her to look me in the eyes.
"What's it to you?" I soothed as best as I could. "How do you know you couldn't if you haven't even tried? Tell him you like him... maybe he'll see what's in front of him! Guys can't read minds. You have to tell him if you like him. What's the worst that could happen? He rejects you and you move on."
"Oh yeah, like how you moved on?" she retorted. I felt my cheeks flaming and I turned away to dry the plate I held.
"Now that's different... because Teddy and I are meant to be," I said stubbornly.
She laughed and started on the next place. "You know what, Victoire? I like you." She nudged my shoulder with hers and I couldn't help but crack a smile. "I think we're going to be great friends."
"I think we should make a pact then, mate," I said, an idea blossoming in my mind.
"Oh, yeah? And what's it?" she asked. We traded plates again, for the last time, and I got on to drying the one in my hands.
"Over the course of this summer, I'll help you get with Advent, and you'll help me get with Teddy. Deal?"
She handed me the final plate, which I dried quickly and set aside to face her. She seemed to be thinking it over as she pulled the stopper out of the sink and pulled off the rubber gloves. But I already knew what her answer would be.
"Deal." And we shook on it.
***
Beck made us give our wands to him. He would confiscate them for the rest of the summer while we experienced the "muggle way of life." Sounded pretty sucky to me. How was I going to do my make-up in the morning?! Manually?Please.
The "muggle way of life" was now starting with a plane ride across the Atlantic to a little town called New York City. I'm not gonna lie, I was excited about this part- can you say shopping? So what, I'm a girly girl, I can't help it. It's who I am. EXCEPT ME FOR WHO I AM.
It took a while and seemed a bit of a hassle to pass airport security, and while I was complaining, Beck-with-the-muggle-family informed me that "This is nothing!"
Now we were boarding the little private jet out on the runway, because apparently Sonia's family is really filthy rich and owns one. I don't know why they'd need one when they could just transport themselves places through magic. But hey, what do I know.
I had my own little carry-on bag slung over my shoulder, containing not my wand, a sweater, not my wand, three magazines, not my wand, a pillow, not my wand, and a bag of candy (not my wand). This summer was looking to be bleak. Well, at least the seven-hour flight from London to New York would be.
Right once we entered the jet, Arkaria and Teddy claimed two seats, secluded and very next to one another- more next to each other than the other paired seats seemed to be. I frowned at them, but suddenly Reeni brushed past me a bit roughly, rushing down the aisle towards them. I approached and heard what she was saying, talking excitedly to them.
"Hey Teddy, would you mind if I took that seat? I was really looking forward to sitting with Arkaria, because we've barely talked and I wanted to sit with her so badly!" Reeni then turned to Arkaria and said with wide eyes, "You wouldn't mind, would you?" I guess our deal was already being set into action. I held back a grin as Arkaria began to glare, her mouth open as if she was deeply offended.
"Well, actually-" Arkaria began, her tone suggesting nothing but trouble, but Teddy interrupted as he spotted me behind Reeni in the aisle.
"Yeah, no problem, I'll just sit with Vic here," he said, getting up from his seat and offering it to Reeni. I beamed and followed him to the two seats at the front, across from two seats that Beck filled, his top half in one and his bottom half in the other.
"Hey, you two!" he said cheerily. Beck then focused his attention on me and said, "Sorry about this morning; I should've saved you some food. So I've got you something!" He reached into his bag and pulled out a box which he handed to me.
My eyes went all big and I snatched it from him. I tore off the lid and was faced with the most beautiful box of pastries that I'd ever seen in my life.
"Oh, Beck!" I cried. "They're beautiful!" Teddy and Beck laughed, and I flew forward to catch him in a hug. Beck pulled me close and hugged me back fiercely. I kissed him on the cheek and flopped back down on my seat to dig in.
"Mm, kisses from Victoire..." Beck hummed. "I should get you pastries every day." His warm brown eyes focused on me, and I felt my body go all warm and tingly.
"Shut up, man, that's my Vic you're talkin' 'bout!" Teddy cried. We ignored him and I replied, "I wouldn't mind pastries every day. Hmm, I wonder what I'd do for a cake?"
"We'll just have to see," Beck said excitedly, a coy smile on his face. I giggled and Teddy just scowled at us.
We all chatted and I shared my box of goodies with them. Thirty minutes into the flight, Reeni joined us, shoving her brother's feet off of one of the seats and occupying it with a frown on her face.
"That girl is a piece of work- I had to get away," Reeni huffed. I turned in my seat to see Arkaria sitting in the back, alone, red-faced and seemingly grumbling to herself. Beck laughed along with me, but I looked over at Teddy when he was quiet. He was looking back at her, too, but he wasn't laughing. He didn't even crack a smile.
Teddy whipped back around and said accusingly to Reeni, "What'd you do to her?!"
"What? Me?!" Reeni scoffed in disbelief and spat out, "She's crazy!"
"Well, now she's sitting there all alone..." Teddy looked back at her. "I should go; she shouldn't be sitting alone."
"No!" Reeni and I cried at the same time. Teddy looked startled as he looked back and forth between us.
"Doesn't matter, it's too late," Beck said, reclining in his seat with half of a scone in his hand. "Sonia's gone and made her company, so no need."
Teddy deflated, looking a bit disappointed. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned in annoyance.
"Don't look too down, Teddy. We do have the rest of the summer ahead of us," I said. He didn't seem to sense the sarcasm in my voice and brightened up a bit. Well now I'm just encouraging him. How on earth was I going to help Reeni get Advent? All I ever had to do to get a guy was flip my hair and pay him the least bit of attention. Reeni did that and it didn't seem to work. She was right, she did have small tits; maybe that was why. But other than that, I didn't know how to get a guy... it's not like anything I was doing now worked with Teddy. Sure, he'd flirt back, but other than that... nothing.
I leaned back and listened with slight amusement as Reeni and Beck bickered, fighting over a biscuit.
It was darkening outside, and I felt my eyelids lowering. As they did, I felt a hand close around my mine. My eyes flew open and I looked down to see Teddy's fingers entwining with mine. I looked over to him to see that his eyes were closed, a content smile lingering on his lips even as his breathing grew heavier and slower with sleep. I smiled and let my head loll onto his shoulder. He shifted a bit so that his head rested on mine.
It suddenly got quiet across from us, and I looked over to see that Beck and Reeni were staring. Reeni was smiling. She winked at me and mouthed, "nice!" I held back a giggle and quickly fell asleep.
When I woke up again, we were descending into JFK international airport. I could see just out the window the millions of lights of the city illuminating the world. The city that never sleeps.
Teddy's hand was still wrapped around mine. His eyes were open and his head was up. He was looking out the window, too.
"Mm, New York," Teddy whispered to me. I snuggled closer to him and he smiled down at me.
"You excited?" I whispered back. He nodded and leaned down to peck me on the forehead. Like a brother. He quickly looked away and I frowned.
We taxied down the runway.
Our summer had begun.