"By your side I'm most quiet and most unquiet, most inhibited and most free."
— Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena
"You know how committed I am when it comes to reading books right?" I asked, reminding him.
"Who could ever forget your unhealthy obsession of books?" He grinned sheepishly.
I smacked his arm in return.
"It's not unhealthy," I protested. "Teenage girls out there spend their time partying, doing drugs, and drinking alcohol. Whereas I, I spend my time reading books. I'm not obsessed. I am dedicated. I am committed to reading." I defended proudly.
"Right," He said sardonically. I smacked his arm again.
"Luke!" I whined, hitting his arm repeatedly.
"Woman!" He said in a stern tone. He held my hand that I used hitting him. I struggled getting it back. He held it with a firm grip. I thought he was mad at me but when I looked at him, he was grinning broadly. "I am not a piñata, so stop hitting me."
"Noted." I mumbled softly. He gazed at my eyes intently.
"Now," He let go of my hand. "Tell me about your weirder childhood."
We were still gazing at each other when I told him the story of September 1st.
I was sitting on the couch, nervous yet excited when my mom approached me.
"Are you ready to go to school tomorrow, Gwenny?" She asked me, she was happy to see me excited for school.
I was dumbfounded by my mother's question so I said, "what? I don't start tomorrow. I start at Wednesday."
"What are you talking about?" She looked at me, frowning.
"School starts at September 1st, mom! How could you not remember?"
"No. Stop being silly. I'm waking you up at six tomorrow." She said determinedly.
"Why?" I whined. "The train doesn't leave until eleven."
"What train? Stop being ridiculous. You're scaring me. Now did you get all your supplies?"
"No, I have almost everything, but I still need my owl. Will you pick it up for me?"
"Gwen. I'm being serious. Quit it."
"Mom, I'm scared."
"Oh honey, why?"
"What if they.... what if they put me in Slytherin?"
"GO TO YOUR ROOM GWENDOLYN." She yelled.
Luke was laughing out loud and I laughed with him. He sat up straight and I did the same too. Following his every move.
"You thought you were going to study at Hogwarts?" He asked, still laughing.
"Not really. I knew that I wasn't, I was just playing with my mom for the heck of it." I grinned, remembering that day.
"Remember when you asked me if I ever wished I had a sibling?"
"Yes. It was last week. I told you about the perks of having a sibling."
"Well, I didn't answer you honestly. I actually have a sibling. --Err, siblings."
I stared at him, confused. Wait, does he have a secret step-siblings? Not likely, whenever he talks about his parents, they sounded in love.
"You know Ron, right?" He asked and I nodded. How could I ever forget that bloody red haired boy.
YOU ARE READING
A Kiss Under The Mistletoe
JugendliteraturBibliophile Gwen got kissed under a mistletoe at a Christmas Party. She has no idea who kissed her. That's a good thing because she is willing to forget that it ever happened. It was a humiliating moment for her. She wants to forget about it, howeve...
