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See, I'd rather take the blame than break it off.
'Piper, wait!' Albus yelled after me.
I considered walking faster, then decided it would probably cause more problems than it was worth. Anyway, Albus was my friend- why was I suddenly all nervous around him?
You know why, Pipes, a little voice in my head said scornfully, sounding like a mixture of Rose and my mum. You're afraid that Albus and Rose were talking about you, and now you're scared it'll ruin your friendship with Albus.
I decided to go with that, and turned around. 'Oh, hey, Albus.'
He waved a letter and sighed. 'You reminded me- I need to send this letter to James, otherwise he'll get worried.'
I raised an eyebrow. James was renowned for being a prankster like his uncle, George, and I couldn't imagine him getting worried over not getting a letter. 'Sure, Al.'
Albus blushed. 'Well, whatever. He'll still be pleased that I sent him a letter, anyway.'
'Okay,' I smiled. 'What were you and Rose talking about, anyway? You looked kind of upset.'
Okay, what are you doing, Piper? Just ignore the problem and hopefully Albus won't do anything- assuming he even likes you. You're just being weird now. I bet he likes some other girl, and you're being arrogant.
Albus promptly turned bright red. 'I asked her to stop- uh, you know.'
Now I was blushing, too. I didn't know why- it was Albus, and we both knew what Rose was doing was just a joke, after all.
So this was teenage hormones, I realised. Making me look at one of my best friends and realising just how hot he actually was-
Bad Piper. No.
'I need to write to my mum at the Owlery,' I blurted, before my thoughts could take even more of a turn for the worse. 'I think she's worried about you, I haven't mentioned you in a while.'
'Aw,' Albus said. 'I love your mum, she's really like you, and so nice!'
'So's yours,' I said. 'She's amazing for a war hero, you know?'
What's wrong with you, Piper? I asked myself. In all the years you've known Albus, you've never been like this- never awkward around him... Rose has triggered something in me, and I don't like it at all. This is stupid. Stupid and annoying and weird and ugh. Just stop.
'Yeah.'
Think of something to say, Piper! This is so embarrasing. Come on, think!
'Hey, Pipes-' Albus hesitated, then looked away. 'No, never mind.'
'What?' I asked.
'How much of what me and Rose were saying did you hear?' Albus asked slowly.
'Not much,' I replied. 'Why?'
'No reason.' His cheeks turned a light pink, and I watched him turn his head, his eyelashes casting shadows over his cheekbones. I'd never really looked at Albus before- just quick glances, never really studying him like I was now.
