Control

Friend

For the next few days, all I did was practise controlling my magic and stare out the window. I went downstairs each day at mealtimes to get food, but there was still no sign of mum and dad or this Hagrid guy. Maybe he wasn't coming at all. Maybe Dumbledore forgot to tell him. I sighed. Flopping on my bed on Friday, I read a book for the rest of the afternoon. When I next checked the time, it was 6:00, so I decided to go and get dinner. I picked up my wallet. There was twenty dollars inside, sweet. I pulled my hoodie over my face and walked out of the house. There was a fish and chip shop just down the street, so I walked there and ordered my favourite, a small chips with some fish fingers. When I was finished I walked to the park to eat it. I sat on a bench and looked around. There was no one there. I took my hoodie off and started to eat it, relishing the flavour. After I had made it about halfway through the chips and had two of the five fish fingers, I heard someone come up behind me.

"Can I join you?" a familiar voice asked. I turned around to see ... Bailey.

"Why?" the question tumbled out before I could stop it. He put his hands in his pockets and looked away.

"I, uh ... I wanted to talk to you," he admitted. I thought for a bit and shrugged. He sat on the bench, purposely keeping his distance from me. Then he took a deep breath, and started speaking. I listened to him with interest, and I realised something.

He was apologising to me.

I listened even more carefully, and after a while, he started to finish.

"I'm sorry for treating you like dirt. I'm sorry for making you feel unwanted. I'm sorry for making you feel like a horrible witch. It's not your fault, this curse. You can't control it. And I'm sorry that I purposely made sure you had no friends. So I was wondering ... can I be your first friend?" My mouth dropped open a bit. Did he just? ... no way. The Bailey Laposay I knew would never do that. But he seemed sincere, and I am pretty good at telling if someone's lying or not. So I nodded. He smiled.

"Thanks, Ellie. I just ... well, it's ... all of my friends aren't really friends, more people that follow me around. I need a down-to-earth person who can make me realise what I'm doing. Even if that down to earth person is cursed," he said, giving me a lopsided grin. I smiled at him back. This boy who used to bully me continuously was now apologising for everything, and wanting to be my friend! It seemed too good to be true, and I was suspicious of him, but he was a terrible liar, and I had learnt that during the past year. So I passed him a fish finger. He accepted it.

"Thanks," he said gratefully.

"Why aren't you at home with your family?" I asked him. He looked at his hands.

"They fight a lot. I never hear their whole arguments, but mum and dad yell at each other a lot. Sometimes when I wake up, mum will have a bruise under her eye, and dad will have a split lip or something." he said, looking anywhere but me. My jaw dropped.

"They .. they fight? But most of the time they seem so happy!"

"Oh, they are. They love each other. But sometimes they just explode, for no reason ..." he said.

"I'm sorry. I never knew," I said softly. He gave me a brief smile.

"Thanks. I'm glad I have a person to share this with. A real friend."

"I can see now why you bullied me. You were taking your anger and sadness out on me." I said.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about that. My parents just always taught me you were bad ... because you were a curse from the Devil." he said.

"No offence, but your parents are wrong about many things," I said. His head shot up.

"You don't have a curse?" I shook my head. "Then what is that ... that weird stuff you always do to defend yourself?" he asked. I bit my lip. Should I tell him? Magic seemed like a big thing to share ... I wasn't sure.

"I might be cursed. I'm not exactly sure yet. My parents and I are doing some tests on me. When I find out I'll let you know." I said. In truth, I was really going to ask my parents if I should share it with him. My big secret. He nodded.

"Okay. When will I see you next?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Dunno. Around the streets, maybe. Sometimes I come to this park. I really don't know." I said. He stared at me for a bit. Then he reached into his pocket and grabbed a piece of paper.

"You have a pen?" he asked.

"Yeah. I always have one in my pocket. Why?"

"Can I borrow it please?" he asked. I nodded and gave it to him. He scribbled something on the piece of paper and gave it to me, along with the pen.

"See you around, Ellie," he said, standing up. I stood up as well.

"Yeah, you too, Bailey," I said. He smiled, then walked away. I watched him until he disappeared around the corner, then I unfolded the note. On it was a bunch of numbers.

He had given me his phone number.