Octavia (Completed - 2018 Watty's Longlist)

Chapter Twenty One - Edmund

The morning breeze is icy as it brushes against my bare skin and a shiver ripples through my body. I don't remember leaving my window opened last night, and as I opened my eyes the foggy clouds are unusually bright. I squint my eyes to hopefully adjust them and move to sit upright. The sense that someone is in my room washes over me and I rub my cloudy eyes to wake myself up. When I open them Octavia was there, sitting in my chair that sits by my window.

"Hello." I greet, surprise clear in my raspy voice. Then all of a sudden she is by my side in an instant, her cold body cuddling against mine. Startled by her sudden movement and the fact that my brain is still waking up, I gasp.
Octavia gives me an apologetic look. "Sorry." She sighs, nestling into my side, content. "It was a long night."
"How come?" I can't help but ask. She moves, sitting upright, leaning against my bed frame.
"I was contemplating whether or not to bother with giving you dancing lessons." I remembered Octavia promising me that she would, but I never thought she was serious. It's been a few days since I 'asked' her to go to the Winter dance with me. Or rather I found out that I already had.
I shake my head, mocking defeat. "I'm a lost cause." I sigh dramatically and Octavia rolls her eyes.
"Your faith in me is wounding."
"You don't understand." I groan, trying to get the idea out of her head. "How do you expect me to dance when I can barely walk with my own two feet?" Hopefully this might make her see that I am in fact a lost cause. If I can't go a day without injuring myself somehow in someway how can she think that I'll be able to dance?
"Edmund, my dancing skills are unquestionable. I am an experienced dancer." She assures me and for a second I thought that maybe she could teach me, maybe I could learn a few things. I mean, she's lived for almost two centuries. The thought makes me feel kinda weird that she's older than me but the fact that she's lived through so much and experienced the world overruled it.
"You sound very confident." I state and she nods her head, serious.
"I am." She smirks confidently and for a second there when I watched her face, looking for any signs of doubt, I believed that she could. Though I still couldn't believe that she was doing all of this for a stupid school dance.
I push myself up off my bed. "Fine." I sigh, picking up a shirt from the floor and giving it a sniff to see if it was decent enough to wear. Let's just say it wasn't. I look at all my dirty laundry that I've thrown all across my room and feel a little guilty about. With me spending a lot of time with Octavia I've been a bit slack with my chores. Jamie hasn't said anything, not that he would have noticed until he was practically sitting in a house full of dirt. I think it's time to get back into the scheme of things.
"When do we start?"
"How about today?" She suggests and I stop in my tracks, carrying a handful of clothes. I hesitate, looking at Octavia who is now walking towards me. Looks like she's already made her decision.
"Umm. . ."
"Come on. Get dressed." She looks at the clothes in my hands and her nose wrinkles in disgust. "I'll be in my car." Then without waiting for my response she disappears out of my window and I'm left standing there mentally cursing this school dance. The things I have to do around this house are piling up by the minute. I guess they are just going to have to hold on for another day.
I grudgingly pull on the first thing I saw in my closet and run downstairs to whip a quick breakfast up. I tap my fingers agains the counter as I wait for my toast to defrost in the microwave.
Just as I finish scoffing down my breakfast and place it in the sink, heavy footsteps clamper down the stairs and I silently groan. Jamie is awake.
I check the time on the clock on the wall and it's just gone 7:00 am. For a Saturday morning that is way too early for me and Jamie. I probably woke him up.

"Where are you off to so early?" He asks and I turn around to face him. He stands there, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen with his hair all tussled.
"I'm going out with Octavia." I tell him, grabbing my jacket from the coat rack and slipping it on. "I'll be home later." Then I realised that I might not be. Whenever I'm over at Octavia's, time seems to slip by in a blur and before I know it is dark out. "If I'm not home by dinner there are some of last nights leftovers in the fridge."
"Have fun." He says halfheartedly, yawning. If Octavia wasn't waiting for me in her car and my heart still wasn't beating rapidly from just her presence this morning I would feel tired as well.
"I'm sure I will." I mutter, unexcited. A part of me is not looking forward to today and the other part is because I get to spend it with Octavia.