Chapter Eighteen

Gabby's POV

I handled my breakup with Mathias much differently than most girls handle theirs.

Most girls stuff themselves with comfort foods like chocolate; I'm not a chocolate person, and I usually pig out on snacks anyway. So that wasn't anything different. Most girls curse their ex's very soul for breaking their heart, or yearn to keep up a friendship with them; I did both. Most girls sob their little eyes out at the thought of their failed relationship; I simply teared up. Most girls watch sappy movies while hugging a pillow to their chest; I watched anime I'd been holding off on. Most girls avoid their ex for a while after their breakup; …I did that. Most girls question their worth and existence; I also did that. Most girls rant and whine to their friends; I… mostly contained my tirades.

Okay, so maybe I didn't handle it so differently. But there is one method I utilized that I'm sure is pretty damn unique. I mean, how often do you ask a girl, "How did you cope with your breakup?" and their response is "Ah, I joined the Magic Club!"

See, word of the schools' clubs starting up had been circulating around the school for a few days now. The official listing had been handed out in homeroom the day after my breakup. I intended to sit with Mathias, I really did… But he had taken my seat, and Berwald was sitting where Mathias usually did. Either I stepped on a pencil and broke it in half, or I seriously heard my heart shatter. If we were going to stay true to our word and remain friends, we obviously weren't starting now.

Well now I needed somewhere to sit. There were a few empty desks toward the back of the room, but I didn't want to look like some lonely loser. Then again, the blow that being cheated on left on me made me kind of feel like I was.

Bad depressive thoughts. Bad. I needed happiness, God damn it.

I was beginning to feel pretty hopeless, like I was going to have to stand in the doorway for the 5 minutes until the bell, when a certain book cover caught my eye. The fourth book in the Harry Potter series, to be exact. And the boy that was reading it had an unoccupied desk right beside him. Score. "Uh, hey… Is that The Goblet of Fire?" Wow, Gabby, real smooth. Of course it was The Goblet of Fire! I hoped that this guy would discard my awkwardness, but when he looked up after a second (I think he was finishing a sentence), I could tell he was slightly peeved.

"Yes, why."

"It's just my favorite one in the series," I answered, slowly sliding into the desk to his right. That dash of annoyance was still present in his emerald colored eyes, though some sort of interest now blanketed it.

"Really? Mine too… This is my fourth time reading it." Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. Were my ears deceiving me, or was that… an authentic British accent? I'm that type of girl that's a sucker for British accents. It's the only one I can manage to duplicate, and hearing someone speak in one is usually like hearing a million gently ringing bells. But I'd only ever heard one on TV; never in person.

Well, an upside to being single is that now I can check guys out without feeling guilty. This guy was plain, in an adorable sort of way. His hair was scruffy and blonde, and seemed like it could never be tidy. Just like Harry Potter's. The guy looked familiar, too… Ah, yes. He sat at one of the circular tables adjacent to the Nordics' in the cafeteria, off in a corner with nobody sitting with him besides this one guy with longish hair that was a strange combination of red, brown, and sandy blonde.

I almost forgot to respond to his comment. "I've read the whole series twice… I own all the books and most of the movies."

Something told me this guy was a real bookworm, so I was pretty damn honored that he marked his page and closed the book in order to talk to me. "I have all of both of them. I've seen the movies at least 6 times each."

"The books are always better, though… The movies are so inaccurate."

"Especially The Order of the Phoenix," we said in unison, causing identical grins to appear on our faces.

"I'm Gabby," I told him. He might've known that, since we were in the same homeroom an everything, but then again I didn't know his name.

"Arthur Kirkland. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Yeah, this guy was totally not American, because he held his hand out for me to shake it. Which I did.

I was about to ask him for his favorite character, when the person sitting in front of me placed a thin stack of papers on my desk. Simultaneous to passing all but one to the people behind me, I started looking over the paper and saw it was a list of clubs, with their sponsors, room numbers, and a sentence or two about their purpose. Art Club, Choral Club, Gourmet Food Club, Music Club, Newspaper Club, Swimming Club … There were at least 20 more, but one stood out to me: the Magic Club, sponsored by Arthur Kirkland and Vasilica Lupei.

"Magic Club, eh? What plans d'you have for that?" I asked Arthur, looking up at him. He appeared a conflicting combination of humbled and proud.

"Vaguely, yes. We plan on doing something involving Harry Potter, learning about the history of magic as well as magical creatures, and…" His prideful smile suddenly faltered, and he coughed into his fist with a slight blush. Those gorgeous green eyes of his had been closed, but now he just plain refused to meet my gaze. "Well, I thought I'd show the members some dark magic."

I guess he expected me to look at him like a freak, or maybe even get up and leave, but instead I just grinned. I'm probably the only girl on the planet that never wanted to be a princess when I grew up; still, I've always yearned to believe in magic and especially anything supernatural. "Dark magic, huh? Do you know how to do that?" I made sure to keep sincerity in my voice and sarcasm out.

Arthur looked taken quite aback. "…Well, yes, but I haven't practiced in a while…"

"Still! If you know any, I'd love to learn some. I'm sure I can't do it, but it'd be cool to watch. Where do I sign up?"

Ladies and gentleman, I officially made a new friend. His smile was evidence of that. "There should be signup sheets in the office by this evening," he answered gently. I saluted, and almost wished I could dismantle all the clocks in the school so that damn dismissal bell didn't have to ring.

Our school must have been filled with hardasses. I mean, come on. The Magic Club. Not being interested in that would be like not being interested in Disneyland or childhood dreams come true. Nonetheless, when the first meeting came around, there were extremely few members: the sponsors (Vasilica is the guy that sits with Arthur at lunch, it turns out), me, and because why the hell should I be allowed to have my own little chunk of happiness, Caliegh. Arthur said most people must've gotten the dates mixed up, but I could tell he was sincerely disappointed.

"So I was thinking we could spend this meeting coming up with an agenda… We already know for sure we'll dedicate a day to discussing Harry Potter spells, characters, plot, etcetera; a day to learning about magical creatures- unicorns, elves, the differences between fairies and pixies, and so on," I had to cough back a laugh at how seriously he was talking about fairies and unicorns, "and as many days as we see necessary shall be dedicated to demonstrations of dark magic." He looked back and forth between the three of us, all sitting around at desks arranged in a circle. "Does anyone have any other ideas?"

Vasilica raised his hand, grinning. "I was thinking we could talk about how wrong stereotypes about vampires are." His accent sounded kind of Russian, but I remember being told he's Romanian.

A slight annoyed sigh left Arthur's lips. "That doesn't involve magic, Vasil. But I'll jot that down in case we're in dire need of ideas." So he scribbled that on a notepad.

I raised my hand halfway with my elbow leaning on the desk. "We could like… Try out cheesy little magic tricks that magicians do. Y'know, pulling a rabbit out of a hat, card tricks…" I suggested.

God damn it, I really wished I wasn't so sensitive. Arthur's look of reluctance should not have wounded me like it did. "That's a good idea, though I was thinking we should stick to more traditional magic…" I think he saw the hurt in my expression, because he quickly added, "But we can still save that!" And he wrote it down.

Now Caliegh spoke up. Hip hip hooray. "How about instead of just discussing Harry Potter, we could also have a movie night?" Shit, why hadn't I thought of that?! It was so obvious, yet it made Arthur's face absolutely light up.

"Brilliant! We could change those meeting times to later, or simply have movie nights outside of meetings… Yes, I like it." Nodding multiple times, he quickly jotted that down as well. A slight smile appeared on Caliegh's face, and I wished I could return it.

"And what about actually learning spells, instead of just watching them? That would be marvelous…"

Again, Arthur nodded, and scribbled away on his notepad. I slid down in my chair so only my eyes and above were visible, crossing my arms. Hadn't I kind of suggested that earlier, by saying that I'd love to learn magic myself? Leave it to Caliegh to steal my thunder…

No. I couldn't get pissy about this. I was going to have fun here, even if it killed me.

Arthur flipped back to his old notes then to his newer ones, nodding seemingly in approval. "This should hold us for now. I'll write up a schedule with what we have."

"Perhaps you should post the schedule outside the classroom?" I know she couldn't see it, but I shot Caliegh a glare that just dared her to say one more good idea. To make Arthur smile at her like he'd been waiting his entire life to meet her.

Whatever. She didn't get to sit with him in homeroom every morning. She didn't learn he comes from a family of 5 boys and 1 girl. She didn't know that he secretly loved the band One Direction. She didn't already have inside jokes with him. And I'm never going to get over how lucky I am to have sat next to him that one fateful morning when I couldn't sit with Mathias.