House of Ghosts: A Collection of Jill Pole Oneshots

In Memoriam

Author's Note: Hi friends! Before you take off reading, I wanted to give you a little bit of context for this oneshot. Instead of using the unofficial timeline attributed to C.S. Lewis, I was inspired by the timeline my dearest friend, Tricia_Pevensie created (the mention setting is being wonky, but that is her username on Wattpad and Instagram). In this story, the Silver Chair took place in 1946. These oneshots take place in the following school year, when Jill and Eustace are 14.

Thanks so much for reading, 
love, judith 

~~~

Jill's door flew open. A girl with tight red braids stood on the threshold.

"Found her!" Kathleen called over her shoulder. She strode into the room. "Hiding from us again, are you Pole?"

Jill rolled her eyes. "Care to knock? And why should I be hiding? It's my own room, after all."

"Well, we just assumed you must be intentionally tucked away. Everyone else is in the common room." She smirked. "Even your boyfriend."

Jill's face burned. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Hmm, a shame," Kathleen studied her nails. "You could have fooled me. So, I suppose it won't upset you to know that Millie has taken quite the fancy for him?"

Jill cut her eyes at the girl standing a few feet behind. She was a quiet blonde, the wrong girl to be mixed up with this crowd. Jill thought she noticed a look of embarrassment cross her face and for one moment wondered if it wasn't a joke, and that Millie did like Eustace and didn't appreciate being told on. But the look on her face vanished as soon as it came.

Jill sighed. "Kathleen, I really haven't got the time for this today."

The redhead continued, ignoring Jill's plea. "He's gotten real handsome as of late, hasn't he, girls?" She threw a glance over her shoulder at the three girls standing behind her. "I'd almost like to go out with him myself. He's grown up so much." The smile on her face made Jill's stomach turn.

"Leave him alone," she said through clenched teeth.

Kathleen feigned innocence. "What? You said yourself he wasn't your boyfriend. Unless, of course, you do fancy him."

"No, but he's my friend. And I don't like hearing him talked about as if he were a piece of meat."

The older girl laughed, flicking a braid behind her shoulder. "Did you hear that, girls? It sounds like Pole hasn't been paying much attention in biology. Isn't that what we are?"

Jill stuck out her chin in defiance. "Maybe that's what you lot are. But I rather like to think I have more substance than that."

Shock flickered across Kathleen's face, but it quickly morphed into a twisted smile. "Oh, it looks like the little girl's grown a backbone, has she?" She stepped forward, slowly circling Jill, dragging her pointer finger along Jill's collarbone and over the top of her shoulder blades.

"Perhaps she got tired of blubbering behind the gym," Millie piped up, finding her voice.

"I would think the same of you, Millie. Or when are you going to get tired of sniveling like a sick kitten to the headmaster when you've been told on?" Jill spat.

Kathleen stopped her slow march, pausing behind Jill's right ear. "I'd watch your mouth, Pole. Or have you not noticed we outnumber you?"

"I'm not too concerned about it," Jill rebutted.

"Well," Kathleen rounded to the front of Jill. "Maybe you should be." Before Jill could react, the bigger girl shoved her shoulders, sending her stumbling backward. She landed hard, dirt from the unswept floor digging into her palms. Jill started to get up but Kathleen made a lunge for her throat, latching onto something. Jill instinctively pulled away. Metal snapped, and a hot sting bit the back of her neck.