"And then, there was this huge fire! And we didn't know what to do! Orion and the other girl I was telling you about fell down, and I had to go in and rescue them! I couldn't have done it without Professor Lear's help though. He's amazing! He saved Serena, and Reid and Marissa came and helped too! There were others there too, like-"
Suddenly, James' excited rant was interrupted.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles Airport. Local time is 11:00 am and the temperature is 78 degrees.
"For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. This will indicate that we have parked at the gate and that it is safe for you to move about.
"Please check around your seat for any personal belongings you may have brought on board with you and please use caution when opening the overhead bins, as heavy articles may have shifted around during the flight.
"If you require deplaning assistance, please remain in your seat until all other passengers have deplaned. One of our crew members will then be pleased to assist you.
"On behalf of Anonymous Airlines and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day!”
The pilot's intercom turned off, and James’ mom turned to him.
“Tell me about the rest later. We have the whole drive home.”
James grabbed his stuff and with his mom made it through the bustling stream of people exiting the plane after they landed.
James was excited to be home. He had been gone an entire school year at Hogwarts. While he was already excited to go back, he couldn’t wait to be home with his family again. His mother had met him in London at King’s Cross Station after he had exited Platform 9 ¾. James had thought it odd that she hadn’t just stepped inside the barrier between platforms nine and ten. After all, she had gone to Hogwarts when she was younger too, as far as James had been told. He hadn’t and didn’t dwell on the thought too much, but instead had asked her where his dad and brothers were. She said that they were still home in Los Angeles, because it was too expensive to fly all four of them to meet James and then fly their family of five back home afterwards. James understood.
James and his mother got off the plane and exited the airport. His mom’s car was there, and they got in to drive home in Los Angeles traffic (James got shotgun for the first time). James was beginning to realize how weird it was to be back in the Muggle world, surrounded by normal life after a year at Hogwarts. Nobody here was wearing black robes. Nobody here was sorted into a specific house. Nobody here carried around wands or had classes about potions or charms or flying.
James wouldn’t be able to talk about magic or wizards whenever and wherever he wanted anymore.
James remembered he still had more of his story to tell.
“Oh! So, mom. I was telling you about the campout! Oh, but also there was the BlossomFest afterwards, and-”
“Hey, James?” His mom interrupted.
“Yeah?”
“I know I said you could tell me more in the car, but I’m really tired right now. Let’s just get home first.” she said.
“Oh.” James replied. “Um, yeah, okay.” James was a little disappointed that she didn’t want to hear about his experience right then, but he knew she’d want to hear it later. Besides, he had been talking almost the entire plane ride.
They pulled up the house and got out. James pulled his trunk out of the trunk of the car, and then realized the irony.
Once inside, James’ two younger brothers shouted his name. His dad was making lunch for them.
“Oh gosh!” James grunted in between hugs. “I haven’t seen you guys in forever!”
“Yeah! It was great!” his youngest brother, Jonah exclaimed. James was caught off guard. The middle child, Jeremy, bumped Jonah’s shoulder.
“Wait, what?” James asked.
“Oh, Jonah was allowed to use your room.” Jeremy explained.
“Oh?”
“Yeah! I finally had a whole room to myself!” Jonah announced, completely oblivious.
There were three bedrooms in their house. One for the parents, one for Jonah and Jeremy to share, and then one for James since he was the oldest. Before he went away to Hogwarts, James hadn’t liked his two brothers going into his room without permission. But according to them, Jonah had been practically living in his bedroom.
“Here! Lemme show you!” Jonah grabbed James’ hand eagerly and pulled him away down the hallway.
“James!” My dad yelled as he was dragged away. “Do you want a sandwich?”
“Um, in a little bit!” James replied as he was pulled into his old room.
“Ta Da!” Jonah presented his hands forward, showing James his room… but James didn’t recognize it.
All along the walls were posters of cars and finger paintings that looked like Jonah’s scribbles and splatters. My dresser top was empty except for Jonah and Jeremy’s books that they liked to read.
My bed sheets were gone, replaced by Jonah’s blankets that had sports balls all over them and his stuffed animal shark.
“Where-” James blanked. “Where’s all of my stuff?”
Jonah looked like he had no idea what James was talking about for a second.
“Oh!” he finally said. “It’s all in the closet! I went through all of your stuff and moved the things I didn’t want into the closet.”
James was staring blank-faced at his brother. Jonah was still utterly unaware of James’... unhappiness.
“You mean, you went through all of my stuff!?”
Now, Jonah seemed to notice something was wrong.
“Oh, yeah. I didn’t break anything, I promise! I just put your posters in there, and your collections and your books… oh! And your…” a mischievous smile played across Jonah’s face. James absolutely loathed it when he did that.
“Your stuffed animals!” he shouted, mockingly clapping his hands.
“WHAT!?” James yelled.
“You still sleep with stuffed animals in your bed?” Jonah asked as if it was the worst thing in the whole world.
“No!” James retorted. “That was- that was, like, a year ago! Before I went away to my school! And besides, you sleep with a stuffed animal!”
“Yeah, but you’re older! And I only sleep with one! You have, like, fifty!”
“Five.” James said through gritted teeth.
“James! Jonah! Come here please!” James’ dad shouted from the other side of the house.
Jonah got out of there fast. He managed to sneak an agitating smile at James before disappearing down the hallway.
James took a deep breath. This was his first day back home. He should enjoy it. He wouldn’t let some annoying brother run-in ruin it for him.

James had decided that he would solve his little problem with Jonah by taking all of his stuff with him to Hogwarts at the end of the summer. He hoped that his dorm mates wouldn’t make fun of him like Jonah did.
Later in the night of James’ first day being back home, he and his family sat around the dinner table. James almost expected food to appear on the plates before he remembered he wasn’t eating in the Great Hall anymore.
Tonight, his family had prepared a giant rib dinner. James had been hoping for something… different for his “Welcome Home” dinner. The thing was, James wasn’t a huge fan of ribs, or steak, or any kind of meat. Sure, he’d eat it and enjoy it, but not like his dad or his brothers, especially Jonah.
“Mmm! Ribs!” his dad would announce hungrily as he clapped his hands together. Jonah copied eagerly.
“Why do we have forks? Jeremy asked, picking his up. James’ dad shrugged.
“Who set the table?” James’ dad asked everyone.
“I did.” James’ mom announced. James was silently grateful. Unlike the other guys in his family, James wasn’t all rough and tough. He sometimes felt like a bit of an outsider. His dad and brothers liked sports while James liked fine arts. James didn’t have anything against sports. He thought they could be fun sometimes. But if he were to sing in the house, for example, he would be told (not asked) to be quiet.
“Whatever.” James’ dad said, rolling his eyes.
After a prayer over the food, we ate.
“Please pass the milk.” Jeremy requested.
“Wait until the food has gone around.” James’ mom said.
“So… um…” James started. He wanted to talk about his time at Hogwarts, but he wasn’t sure how to say something. He didn’t think it would sound nice to say “Hey, wanna hear about my magic school I went to?” so he tried something else.
“So, how have you all been?” he tried. It was a mistake. By the end of dinner, he hadn’t gotten a single word in about Hogwarts.
“Wow…” James said after his dad had just gone on and on about current United States politics, “Well, who’s turn is it to do the dishes?”
“Well, you haven’t been here for, like, forever!” Jonah complained.
“Hey, he’s just gotten home. He’ll take the dishes tomorrow.” James’ mom covered for him. James nodded his thanks and got up to take his plate to the sink.
“Oh, speaking of tomorrow!” James’ dad started. “James, we’ve got to go get you registered for your new middle school!”
CRASH!
James dropped his plate on the ground in shock, and shattered pieces of ceramic slid all across the tile floor. Jonah screamed and Jeremy let out an accompanying yelp.
“What the-!?” James’ dad exclaimed.
James just stood in the middle of the broken pieces of plate, staring at his father, trying to comprehend the words he had just heard.
“Wait, what?” He finally uttered out.
“You dropped the plate!” his mom shouted.
“No, I mean, what did you say, dad?” James restated.
His dad and mom shared a look, and then his dad said, “James, why don’t we go talk about this in my room?” It wasn’t a question. James knew that much. “Jonah, Jeremy, please clean this up, and be careful.”
“What!?” they both cried in unison.
“Just do it, please.” James’ mom pleaded.
James’ parents led him to their room, which he did not take for a good sign.
“Sit down.” his father requested. James did so. After shutting the door, his mom and dad sat on either side of their bed with James at the foot of it. “Okay, let me try this again.” his dad said. “We’re going to register you for middle school here. Don’t worry, it’s not that much different from elementary school except this one is a year-round school, which means you’ll already be joining a bit late.”
“Hold on!” James finally yelled. “What about Hogwarts?”
There was a moment of silence that James did not like.
“James…” his mother finally said, “You don’t expect to go back there, do you?”
“That’s exactly what I expect!”
“You were telling me on the plane of how you got caught in a forest fire, and then there was a psychotic kid who burned down an entire dance!”
“He only burnt the tables!”
“Regardless!” their voices were getting raised more and more, enough so that the closed door didn’t matter if they wanted to keep it a private conversation. “Those are only two of the many very good reasons why you should not be returning!”
James was about to argue back, but then, a thought came to his mind. His mom went to Hogwarts, so maybe if he reminded her of that, she would let him go.
“You went to Hogwarts, mom! Didn’t you love it?”
“No.”
James paused, dumbstruck. “What?”
“No. I never went to Hogwarts. I was the only non-magical one in my family, and I didn’t like it one bit.” James stared at his mom, heartbroken like he was a young child being told Santa Claus wasn’t real, except for ten times worse. “All of my siblings would come home and do all of their little magic tricks, and I would be left in the background, out of place, but if I’m being honest, better off without those foolish things.”
James didn’t know what to think or feel or say. He ended up saying something like this:
“What do you mean foolish! Hogwarts is the best thing that’s ever happened to me! This last year or so has been the best of my life! And you just want to take all of that away!?”
“ENOUGH!” James’ dad shouted. His face was red with anger and frustration, and being an attorney, James’ dad knew how to shut someone up when he wanted to. James fell quiet immediately. “James, you are to go to your room, and go to sleep, so that in the morning, we can register you for school! Now, OUT!”
James was fighting tears. His heart was feeling like it was being ripped out of his chest. His face was red too, and he was breathing heavily. He tried very, very, very hard to not slam the door closed on his way out. James’ fists were kept clenched tightly as he proceeded into his room. It took all of his willpower not to slam his door shut too.
For a minute, he stood there, looking at Jonah’s poster of a purple Lamborghini. Suddenly, he ripped it off of the wall. He ripped all of his posters off of the wall. He threw them all around the room, grunting to himself, because he knew he would get into trouble if he started yelling loudly.
Finally out of breath, James collapsed onto his bed and started sobbing into his pillow. This was the most emotional he had ever seen himself, and it honestly scared him.
Should he run away? He could find a way to get to Hogwarts from Los Angeles, right? No, he thought. An eleven, almost twelve year old wandering the streets of Los Angeles at nighttime? Even he had to admit that might be more dangerous than any forest fire.
After a long time, James fell to sleep. His last conscious thoughts, however, were of getting back to Hogwarts, someway before the summer ended. He just didn’t know how yet.

That night, James had a dream that felt more like many dreams in one. Five, to be exact.
As he fell to sleep, he found himself sitting up in his bed. It was morning time, but the sunlight filtering through the blinds was a soft hue of blue. Everything seemed to have a deep blue hint to it. It wasn’t a beautiful sight, as some might think. There was no turquoise or sapphire. It was dark, and depressing.
James got up from his bed, and went outside into the living room. There, his family was playing a board game on the floor. They were laughing and having a whole lot of fun. James stepped forward, when something else caught his eye. Outside of the living room window that pointed to the street, a soft yellow light glowed. James went over and brushed the blue curtains out of the way.
Outside, where the streets of Los Angeles should have been, he saw a bright green meadow with a vast blue lake. Sunshine made the scene almost glow. On top of a hill, though, was a castle. Hogwarts castle, to be precise. James’ heart leapt, especially because he saw people he knew from Hogwarts outside, beckoning him to come join them.
Marissa had the warmest smile ever, and was waving for him to come out. James saw everyone there, except maybe for Max. But he didn’t dwell on that. He only wanted to get out there and be reunited with them. He bolted to the door and twisted the handle, but it didn’t open. It was locked.
“What are you doing?” James’ dad said, looking up from the game.
“I’m going outside! My friends have come for me! I-”
“No you’re not.” James’ dad interrupted. You’re staying in here. Forever. You’re never going to see them again.” Then, James’ dad stood up and pulled the curtains shut. James panicked and ran over to open them again, but when he did, they were gone, and so was the castle. All he saw was a dirty, dull, and blue Los Angeles.
James immediately ran to his room to cry. He burst into his room and collapsed on his bed, and with a jolt, woke up into his next dream.
James was in his bed again, but his room was no longer blue. It looked normal, but there was still something different. James didn’t feel right. He felt nasty inside. It wasn’t like he was sick, but there was a nagging feeling inside of him that tickled his mind annoyingly.
James got up and went over to his dresser. He realized he didn’t like the color of his room. He hadn’t thought about it before, but know, he realized the shade of brick looked especially ugly in the orange sunlight. He turned his eyes away in disgust and started to get dressed.
He emerged from his room some time afterwards, not satisfied with any of the clothes he had spent all that time putting on.
“This ugly shirt will have to do…” he said to himself. “It’s so itchy! How or why did I ever get this shirt?” At that point, he was complaining out loud in the kitchen, where his mom was cooking breakfast and his brothers were eating at the table.
James came over to his mom, looking at what she was doing.
“What’s for breakfast?” James asked unpleasantly.
“Well, good morning to you too!” James’ mom replied, sounding slightly offended.
James rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever…” he said.
“Do you want to help?” his mom asked, “It’s pancakes and fried eggs!”
“No, not really.” James said bluntly. “And what about waffles? And you know I don’t like fried eggs.” Even though none of that was true, James still found himself saying it.
“Hey, drop the attitude.” His mom said sternly. “Your brothers got up early and asked for this. If you want to have what you want, wake up earlier and don’t sleep in.”
“That’s not fair!” James suddenly yelled.
“James-” Jeremy started.
James turned around and snapped at him. “Shut up!”
“James!” his mom and Jonah exclaimed in unison.
“You guys always get whatever you want, but I don’t!” James continued, ignoring them.
“What’s going on!?” James’ dad asked loudly as he came into the kitchen from the hallway. He looked wild and angry, ready to punish whoever was talking back to his wife.
James didn’t give him the chance. “UGH! This family SUCKS!” he screamed as he stomped into his room and shut the door as hard as he could.
The loud sound jolted James awake into his third dream. This one felt a little more normal. James woke up and at first look, his surroundings seemed normal. Unlike his previous two dreams, everything seemed fine. Everything was fine.
James smiled. Everything was fine. James got out of bed and started humming the tune to “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. He got dressed in a bright yellow shirt and some comfortable jeans. He danced his way through the hall, humming along to his song, which had changed to “Don’t Worry, be Happy”.
James emerged into the kitchen, and grabbed an apple from the counter. His mom was at the dining room table, doing some work, and James spun on over to plant a kiss on her cheek.
“Good morning!” he said cheerfully. “I’m off to school! See ya later!”
James’ mom smiled up at him. “Wow, thank you! But we don’t have to leave until half an hour.”
“I know! I just want to get a head start on my day! I’ll take the bus!” James replied rather enthusiastically. “Bye!”
James waved as he stepped out of the door. Outside, the morning sun shone bright, and the streets were full of cars and people walking on the sidewalks. James tapped up the street to the bus stop, humming a new song, “Best Day of My Life”.
James rode the bus to school, and aced his 1st period math test. He then got really into the morning activities of his second period drama class, and made a new friend by buying them a smoothie at the school cafeteria.
Eventually, James ended up sitting with a big group of kids at lunch. They were all talking and laughing, James the center of the fun.
At one point, James looked over and saw one kid reading a book.
“Hey, what book is that?” he asked curiously and friendly-like.
The kid looked up at him, and then showed him the cover. Apparently, the kid didn’t talk much.
“Is that a book about, like, magic and stuff?”
The kid nodded shyly.
“Meh, fantasy’s not really my style. None of it is real.” James said, shrugging. In any normal situation, James would NEVER say anything like that. “I gotta go to the bathroom real quick…” James said before walking off towards the restroom.
Once inside, James checked to see if the bathroom was empty before leaning on the sink, sighing into the mirror.
“You have a hole in your heart.” a voice suddenly echoed through the room.
James kept his eyes locked on his reflection.
“I have a hole in my heart.” he repeated. All of a sudden, the the spot where his heart should be on the right side of James’ shirt started bleeding black liquid. James looked down, and then fell backwards, passing out.
As James hit the tile floor, he woke up into his fourth dream, which was also the shortest.
James sat opened his eyes and sat upright, breathing heavily… that is, if he could breath. James was holding his head underwater in the plugged up sink of his bathroom. He was committing suicide.
He wanted to scream for help. He wanted to cry. He wanted to wake up. He pushed against his own self, trying to get up from the water, but he wouldn’t budge. As he was about to drown and fall unconscious, he found himself in the fifth part of his dream.
He was standing in his parent’s room, looking at his mom and dad who were sitting on their bed, looking back at him.
“James?” his mom asked warily.
James wondered why she sounded so worried, but then he realized something. Half of his vision was covered with a black curtain of sorts. He realized that it was hair… his hair.
James was standing there with dyed black hair hanging over one of his eyes. He had a dull expression, except for his eyes, which he could tell were filled with an unreadable emotion. Only he could read what he was feeling, though… and it was hate.
“What…” his dad stuttered. James stood there, wearing all black and torn clothing. He looked like a villain. He looked like something from a horror movie. He looked pure evil.
“I…” he started, barely whispering. “Hate… You…”
The look of horror on his parents’ faces magnified only more when suddenly, James’ visible eyes started burning a bright red as if he were a demon.
“James!” his dad yelled in panic as he stood up to step towards him.
In that instant, the entire building blew up. The walls splintered and exploded into nothingness. The ceiling caved in and the floor crumbled to rubble.
When the dust cleared, James was still standing in the exact same spot. He hadn’t moved or flinch one bit. He was standing in the middle of the wreckage, looking blankly where his parents had just been.
A baseball cap laid on the ground amid all of the small fires creating a smoky atmosphere. James concentrated his gaze on it. Written on the inside, visible to James was the name “Hubert”. James’ eye glowed a brighter red, and the cap exploded into flames, disintegrating into dust.
“Goodbye, father.” he said as his eye dimmed slightly.
As James closed his eyes in the dream, he opened them wide open in real life, finally waking up from his dreams.
James was covered in sweat and was gasping for breath like crazy. He was shivering with fright, and he quickly pushed his covers off of him. He swung his legs onto the ground, and looked down at it, trying to recover himself. His face was streamed and dirty with tears, and they weren’t stopping. Hot tears ran down his face as he shivered and sniffled hopelessly.
Nothing, nothing in that dream did he like. He would have said he hated it, but he suddenly hated the word ‘hate’ after hearing himself use it against his parents.
James didn’t want anything like what he saw in his dream to happen. He definitely wasn’t happy with his family or his circumstances right now, but he certainly did NOT want anything that he saw in the dream. He didn’t want to be depressed or trapped, or bratty, or agitated at every single thing. He didn’t want to have fake happiness, or have suicidal thoughts, and he really did not want to to turn evil.
James knew he couldn’t live like this. He realized there was really only one other thing for him to do. He had to run away.

It was easier said than done. James had plenty of motivation to get out of there, but he didn’t know exactly when or how to do it. Through the next few days, his mind whirled and buzzed with different ideas and possible ways he could escape from there.
In the meantime, he was registered for a Muggle school in Los Angeles. It was a year-round school, so he would be starting after the weekend was over. That time was spent going school shopping for James. He got a whole bunch of notebook, and pencils and other school supplies. It all reminded of him of shopping in Diagon Alley, but not as cool or magical.
After Friday, Saturday, and Sunday went by (he had flown home on Thursday) it was time for him to go to school. Muggle school.
James was dropped off by his mom for his first day there, which he might have been embarrassed about if he actually cared about going to this new school… which he didn’t.
As he got out of the car, shouldering his nearly empty backpack, he heard the engine behind him shut off. In confusion, he turned around and saw his mom getting out of the car too.
“Um, mom?” he said, “I can walk myself inside the gates.” he insisted.
His mom looked at him blankly for a moment, but then smiled and laughed.
“Oh, I’m sorry James. I forgot to tell you!” she said. What was she going to say, James wondered.
“I work here!”
There was a prolonged moment of silence.
“Oh.” James managed to say. “I mean, oh?” he tried again.
“Yeah, I’m a staff member here.” she explained.
“Alright, see you later!” James said, getting out of there. It was just too awkward for him.
James kept his head low, and his cap on. He managed to snag his headphones from his backpack and slide them around his neck as he walked. He also pulled out his schedule and a small map of the school campus.
“1st Period… English, 2nd Period P.E., 3rd Period Math…” Middle school would have been new terrain to James if he hadn’t already been to Hogwarts and experienced multiple classes. Elementary school had been one classroom, and one teacher all the time. Once James went to Hogwarts, that was not the case. It seemed to be the same here.
“4th Period Music, Lunch, 5th Period Science, and 6th Period History.” he finished reading his schedule aloud to himself. He looked up, looking around at his surroundings. There were multiple buildings, each with a different number. Buildings 1, 2, and all the way to 7. Building 7 was the Library. James figured he still had some time before he had to get ot class, so he headed inside.
The Library was different from what he thought it would be. Immediately inside, there was a sort of bar called “The Coffee Cougar” (This school’s mascot was a cougar). James didn’t drink coffee or tea, but he saw other items on their menu such as smoothies, slushies, and hot chocolate. They all ranged from a dollar to three.
He realized he would actually like something to drink. He thought it was cool the school had something like this, but he still thought the Great Hall at Hogwarts was better.
“What can I get you?” the lady at the counter asked.
James took another quick glance at the menu, and then decided to get a cup of hot chocolate. It was slightly chilly outside, since it was still the morning time. James gave the lady two dollar bills from his duct tape wallet, and was somewhat sad to see green paper instead of golden galleons, silver sickles, or bronze knuts.
James took his cup of hot chocolate outside and blew on it to cool it down. He wiggled his fingers so they wouldn’t get too hot on the surface of the cup. A faint outline of steam rose steadily from the cup as he walked along.
James took a seat at an empty bench and started sipping slowly from his cup. He jerked back at the first sip, because it was still too hot, and it burnt his tongue. He spent some time massaging it inside of his mouth against the inside of his cheek as he looked around at all of the other students that were walking past.
James was surprised. Almost everyone walking past him had colorful hair. There were people with natural colored hair, but a lot of them had dyed hair. James saw blue hair of different shades, he saw pink hair on guys and girls, he saw red, black, orange, white, purple, and even a teacher with bright neon green hair. There were also a lot of girls walking around wearing cat ears. James felt like he had stepped inside one of his favorite shows that shall remain nameless (no, it wasn’t My Little Pony.)
Just then, the bell rang, and James picked up his backpack and hot chocolate to go to English.
He arrived late, because he had accidentally gone to Building 4 instead of Building 5. Part of him thought this school campus was more confusing than the Hogwarts grounds.
As James stepped into class, tardy by about two minutes, the teacher looked up from talking.
“You’re late.” was the first and only thing he said.
“Yeah…” James replied sheepishly. Some part of him didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that he was new… but another part of him new it was pretty much inevitable.
“Did you just transfer here?” the teacher asked. James nodded. “Go ahead and take an empty seat.” the teacher said.
James nodded and stepped towards the nearest seat in the back.
“No, please come sit up as far in the front as you can.” the teacher requested.
James reluctantly did as he was told. As James sat down, he saw the name Mr. T written in dry erase marker on the board.
The first period crawled by. English was one of the classes James was actually good at and he found interesting, but today, his heart just wasn’t into it.
After first period, he proceeded on to P.E, which wasn’t as good as Flying class in his opinion. Third period brought Math, which was his least favorite. Fourth period brought Music, which was his favorite. Then, James went to lunch. The food wasn’t bad at the school, but the middle school cafeteria wasn’t as grand and magical as the Great Hall. James looked around for a seat after he had gotten all of his food. As far as he could see, there weren’t any empty tables. He kept looking as he walked, just in case.
Soon, James spotted a familiar face from his Orchestra class. He thought he might as well, and approached.
“Um, excuse me?” he said to get the girl’s attention. “May I sit here?”
The girl seemed to take a moment to recognize him, but then said, “Oh! Sure! You’re the new kid, right? James, is it?”
“Um, yeah... Thanks.” James said as he sat down in an empty chair.”You’re Maggie, right?”
“That’s me!” she replied cheerily. James noticed that there were three other girls around the table, and one boy besides himself.
“Guys, this is James!” Maggie announced, introducing him to her friends. “Emily, Alyah, Joseph, and Gretel!” she announced, pointing to each of the other people in turn.
James nodded. “Nice to meet you.” he said, before starting to eat his lunch.
After a while of talking, the subject went to relationships.
“So, how are you and your cutie???” Alyah asked Maggie teasingly. Maggie blushed slightly, and then shook her head.
“Same as always. My mom would kill me if she found out we were dating. Heck, she’d probably move me all the way from Los Angeles to Europe and keep me there so I couldn’t go back!”
James’ hands suddenly smacked the table. Everybody looked at him in alarm.
James leaned back in nervous mock laughter.
“Ha, ha… um… funny! Sorry about that…” he eventually ended up rambling on incomprehensibly until he fell silent. The rest of the table exchanged odd looks, and then simply continued on with their conversations. James looked down at his food in embarrassment to hide his face.
Maggie’s words had unintentionally triggered a nerve inside James because she had pretty much described exactly what James was going through, except it was from Europe, or Hogwarts, to Los Angeles.
“I’m not really hungry anymore.” James said, getting up. He took his food and left, tossing the rest into the trash can.