The Canis Major

C h a p t e r 2 1

I woke up before the other girls in my room. They were only 5 others, all around my age. I got up and stretched. I got up and put on my clothes before the other girls woke up. This consisted of my hoodie and pants the orphanage provided.

I went downstairs and into the kitchen. It was empty, so I figured Ms. Charles was still asleep. I must have gotten up earlier than I anticipated. I grabbed a bowl and poured cereal into it. I poured milk in after retrieving it from the fridge. I brought it to the dining room and sat down.

It was eerily silent. I could only hear the sound of my own chewing. I wondered what time it was. I also wondered if Sirius still planned to come over. It was strange thinking about it. It felt like I should be dreading him coming over. Nearly hating him like I did before, but I couldn't. I feel like we had a better understanding of each other that we never would have had before.

"He's still a git," I muttered to myself. I finished my bowl of cereal and pushed it away. I thought about what to do in the meantime, but came up with nothing. These past few days without Sirius involved had been boring. This entire time I had been looking for to going to James'.

"Del," I almost rolled my eyes when I heard John's voice. I plastered a fake smile on my face and turned around. Johnathan stood there with a hard expression. He took a seat next me.

"How are you?"

"Fine," he muttered. He looked at me strangely. "What happened to you yesterday?" I looked away from him.

"Just some trouble with a few people. Nothing to worry about." He didn't look satisfied.

"Who's that guy?" I bit my lip. I knew this question was coming up.

"A classmate," I said quietly. I could sense him staring at me, but I didn't turn my head.

"Why was he here? I thought your boarding school was far away from here?"

"It is. It's a boarding school. Not everybody lives near it," I tried explaining. He frowned and rested his chin on his hand.

"Why was he with you?"

"Because we're friends," I muttered. He raised his eyebrow at me.

"Friends?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, friends."

"You don't need any boyfriends, Del. I'm all you need. I'm right here." He touched my arm, but I jerked away from his touch. He looked angry.

"He's not my boyfriend. We hardly just became friends. I don't need anybody." I was about to get up to leave the table, but he grabbed my arm. He had a tight grip so I wouldn't walk away. I bit my lip nervously.

"He's using you, Del. Why can't you see that. That's what all guys do." I frowned at him.

"Let go of me." He gripped me tighter. "You're hurting me."

"Is that the 'friend?'" He asked angrily. I didn't respond, so he got angrier. "He is, isn't he? You said no boys."

"I lied," I said through gritted teeth, "they're all boys." I tugged hard to pull my arm from his iron grip, but I couldn't loose. He stood and pulled me with him.

"You're not going over there!"

"You're not the boss of me!" I cried out when he pulled me towards him violently. He looked down on me with a large amount of anger.

"You-"

"Johnathan." Johnathan and I both jerked our heads towards the voice of Ms. Charles. She stood there with her hands on her hips, and a stern look on her face. "Remove your hands from her." Johnathan reluctantly dropped his hands. Ms. Charles grabbed him by his collar.