13 October 2011

The Boy Next Door, Chapter 5

"Three beers." I glance back at Lyss and Adrian as I wait for our drinks. Their heads are bent toward eachother and they look like they're yelling. The music is loud, but the club seems okay so far.

"9 bucks." I give the guy a ten, tell him to keep the change, and swerve around people to the table we're sitting at.

"You guys owe me 3 dollars each." When Adrian reaches for his wallet I start laughing. "I'm kidding. These are on me." I take a swig of my beer and look around. The club looks exactly like all of the other ones I've been to. Too loud and too crowded.

"Em! Hey!" I look over at Lyss. "Come dance with me!" I sigh and shake my head. She knows I hate the club scene. Lyss shrugs, picks up her beer, then goes down to the dance floor. One thing about Lyss is it doesn't matter where she is, she can fit in anywhere.

I sit down across from Adrian and take another drink. He looks as bored as I feel. I briefly consider telling Lyss we're gonna head out, but I'd never hear the end of it. The last time I did that she didn't talk to me for nearly a week.

I'm about to yell across the table at Adrian when my phone vibrates. I flip it open and just stare at the screen. Sender: Mom. My thumb hovers over the "open text" button, but I can't bring myself to press it. I feel a nudge against my foot and look up at Adrian.

He mouths 'You okay?' and I just shrug, looking back at my phone. Before I can open the text I flip the phone closed and shove it back in my pocket. I have the sudden, insistent urge to cry so I stand up and make my way to the bathroom. I find an open stall and lock myself in it, hugging my stomach and leaning against the door. It's a lot quieter in here.

"Emma?" My head jerks up when I hear Adrian's voice. "You in here Emma?"

"Uhm, excuse me, this is the ladies bathroom. Are you blind or can you just not read?"

"Sorry, just looking for someone. Guess she's not in here."

"Who yah lookin' for han'some?" I roll my eyes but chuckle a little.

"No one you know. Excuse me.." I hear some muttering, no doubt the girl that Adrian just turned down. I take a few deep breaths, collect myself, then exit the bathroom. I spot Adrian standing next to a pool table and walk over to him. I gesture toward the door out of the club and he nods.

Once outside I take my phone out of my pocket and type in a text to Lyssa. had to leave. call me 4 info b4 u get mad. luv u. I press send and stick my phone back in my pocket. I cross my arms and look over at Adrian. "Sorry about that."

"No worries." I can tell he'd like to ask questions, but he keeps quiet. Something I'm grateful for. As nice as Adrian seems, he doesn't need to know all the crap between my mom and the rest of my family.

"Wanna get a coffee or something?"

"Sure." I lead him to my favourite coffee shop.

"The coffee isn't the greatest but it's quiet and open 24/7. Plus the muffins are amazing."

"What's your favourite?" He opens the door and lets me in first.

"Blueberry. Thanks." We walk up to the counter and he orders for us. When I move to pay for my half he tells me not to worry about it.

"Only fair since you paid for the beer." I lead him to my favourite table, in the back corner next to the window, and sit down across from him. We're quiet for a few minutes while I think of something to say. Even though I don't plan to explain everything in detail, I feel like I should at least give some sort of explanation for my weird behaviour at the bar.

"So, sorry about the bar." I look down at my muffin. "It's a long, complicated story, but I haven't heard from my mom in a year and she just happened to text tonight. I guess I freaked out a bit."

"Don't worry about it. All families have their problems. I've got some of my own, too." Conversation flows nicely after that and before either of us know it, it's 2 in the morning. He walks me home and we stop at the bottom of my porch steps.

"Well, this is me. I had a nice time." Adrian sticks his hands in his back pockets.

"Same here." There's silence for another few seconds then we both start to say something at the same time. I smile before I realize that the street lamp has been out for the past two years. "Well, I'll see you around."

"Sure. Bye, Adrian."

12 October 2011

Something Short Of Amazing, Chapter 1

Where is it. I had it in here lastnight. Aha! I locate my keycard in my purse and card myself in, walking to the elevator. On my way there I run into a rather large person. "Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry, my fault you weren't watching where you were going." I roll my eyes and press the up button, waiting for the elevator. Asshole. Who does he think he is. Running into people and then not saying sorry. The doors open up and I step inside, pressing the button for floor five. It stops on floor 3 and a few people get on, including Tricia, the office gossip.

"Hey Ryann. There's a staff meeting in five minutes. Lee wants me to drag you there personally." I'm known around the building for avoiding staff meetings if at all possible.

"Great. She has a staff meeting like, twice a week. What is it this time?" The door opens at floor five and we get off.

"She's hiring a new boss to help her. Her husband keeps bugging her about a vacation."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm her receptionist, Rye." Good point.

"All right. Tell her I'll be there, I just need to step into my office for a second." Tricia walks off in the direction of Lee's office and I unlock my office door. I sigh as I see all of the unanswered letters on my desk. I'm the newspaper's advice columnist. It took me quite the time to land this job.

I've worked in the building since I was 16, helping where I could, running errands, manual labour stuff. About 5 years ago the advice girl was sick one day and I was the only extra here, so I filled in for her and have been working on the 5th floor ever since. I look up from my cluttered desk as someone, I keep forgetting her name, calls in.

"Ryann, staff meeting, 2 minutes."

"Yep yep, I'll be there." Gosh, does no one trust me to show up on my own or what? Nevermind, dumb question. I had planned on organizing my unanswered letters, but in exactly 30 seconds I'll probably be dragged away by Lee herself. I sigh and exit my office, closing the door behind me. Everyone looks up at me as I enter the staff room.

"Wow Ryann, you're early." Lee looks at her watch. "By 45 seconds."

"Don't get used to it." I hear a few chuckles as I sit down beside Tricia.

"So, the reason you've all been called today. I've decided to take a few weeks off and I've hired a replacement while I'm gone." Tricia nudges me and I grin. "I want you all to treat him with the same respect you treat me. Just because I'm gone doesn't mean you all can slack off." She looks right at me as she says that. I just give her a smile. "Ah, here he is now." We all turn to the door and my jaw drops.

"You!" I blurt this out before I can stop myself.

"Ryann, is there a problem?"

"He almost knocked me down on my way to the elvators." He walks into the room and sits across the table from me.

"As I recall, you weren't watching where you were going and ran into me." I feel my face flush and the people at the table laugh.

"Everyone, this is Dexter Pollard. He will be filling in for me and letting me know what's going on around here. Everyone is to be on their best behaviour. Ryann, that includes you." I roll my eyes, glaring at Dexter while he smiles.

Trish nudges me again and points down to a piece of paper in front of me. I notice that Dexter looks at it too, but Trish's neat little letters are hard enough to read while looking at them properly, so I doubt he'll be able to.

He's cute! You should ask him out.

I stare at her in disbelief. I catch Dexter trying to read it again. I shoot him a look. He just chuckles. Okay, so maybe he's not half bad looking, but come on, he's a jerk, and probably a snob. And he's my new boss, apparently.

You're completely insane.

She just gives a little shrug, a small smile on her lips. Uh oh. Whenever she gets something in her mind, there's no stopping her. Something I've had to learn from experience, unfortunately.

"Ryann?" I look at the door to see my assistant, Sophie. "Gabrielle is on the phone. She needs to talk to you." I look over at Lee and she nods, letting me go. "Line 4." I walk back into my office and sit, grabbing the phone and pressing the blnking button.

"Hello Gabrielle."

"Hi Ryann. I was wondering where Maggie's health card is?" I frown.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing to worry about. She fell and hit her head. I called her doctor and he told me to bring her in so he could check her over. He's not worried."

"Uh, it should be in her bag." I hear rustling on the other end.

"It's not here." I look in my wallet. Oops.

"I've got it here. I'll come by and get her."

"No, no don't worry. I can get it on my way there. It's right on the way."

"All right. But call me as soon as you can."

"I will Ryann. Talk to you soon." I hang up and sigh again at the state of my desk. I really should do something about that.

"Ryann? Everything okay?" Sophie is peaking her head in.

"Yep, Maggie fell but she's fine. Gabrielle is going to stop by for her health card." I take it out of my wallet and hand it to Sophie.

"I'll make sure she gets it." She exits my office and I'm left alone again. I decide to organize my letters before answering them. It soon turns out to be a daunting task, so I answer a few letters.

Before I know it Tricia is whisking me away for lunch, while describing her latest obsession with getting me a boyfriend. I sigh. This is going to be a long day.

Someone Else's Happy Ending, Chapter 15

Monday January 19th

I groan and squint my eyes against the bright light. Oh God, my head. "Doctor, she's awake." Awake? Where did I go?

"Annabel, can you hear me?"

"Yeah." My voice sounds funny, like I haven't had a drink in years.

"You're in ICU at St Mungo's Hospital. Do you know why you're here?" I look around the brightly lit room. I see a doctor, two nurses, and a bunch of machines.

"No. What happened?" I see an IV in each arm, hooked up to multiple bags of clear liquids.

"You went into labour earlier this afternoon and blacked out. You were rushed here and we did an emergency C-Section." I look down at my stomach, which certainly looks deflated.

"Did she... is she.." I can't seem get the words out.

"Your baby is fine. She's in the NICU so we can monitor her and make sure she's entirely healthy." I start to feel really sleepy. This is too much.

"Draco?"

"Mr Malfoy is worried sick. He's out in the waiting room. He'd like to see you."

"Can I see him?"

"Yes, but not for long. You need your rest. You've been through quite the experience." I close my eyes and listen as the doctor tells Draco he can come in to see me.

"Bella, oh God, look at you." I feel him take my left hand into both of his.

"How is she?"

"She's perfect. They let me see her for a couple minutes. Bella, she's beautiful." I smile as I drift away into sleep.

**

It's been five weeks since Cheyenne was born. She's a perfect, healthy, beautiful little girl. Since she was four weeks early they wanted to make sure she was okay. We've been back at Hogwarts for two days now.

"Draco, don't leave me alone."

"Sorry Bell, but I've got classes. I can only skip so many days in a row. I do want to graduate." I pretend to be annoyed while Draco kisses my forehead. I smile inwardly, wondering how I was ever so lucky.

After the drugs wore off and I could stay awake longer than half an hour at a time, Draco and I had a long talk. He told me he's liked me for a few years, but due to circumstances, he kept his mouth shut. I had no idea. We've decided to take it slow. Honestly I'm not ready for a long term relationship so soon after Keelan.

Speaking of him, he's nowhere to be found. He took off after he found out I'd had Cheyenne. Maybe he thought I was gonna take him to court for money or something. As if. He can run as far as he likes. Cheyenne and I don't need him.

Draco and I plan on moving into our own little place just outside of London in a small wizarding community once we've both graduated. He's been studying to be an Auror, much to everyone's surprise, and once he's done school he's going to apply for more training at the Ministry.

As for me, I think I'll be just fine staying home with Cheyenne. Both of our families are pretty well off (his way more so than mine) so we should be set for a while until he's done training and gets a job. We're going to live with his mother until we're stable enough to afford the house we want.

I smile, thinking about our future together. Draco catches me and raises his eyebrows. "What are you smiling for?"

"Oh, no reason. You go get smart and I'll see you at lunch." He shrugs but doesn't ask anything else. He gives Cheyenne and I a kiss before leaving. I sigh and look down at her. She's sleeping peacefully.

I lay down, intent on reading a few chapters, but soon give it up and just look at my little girl. As wrong as things started, in the end they've turned out pretty well.

Mind Over Matter, Chapter 19

"Hey there pretty lady."

"Could you stay out of my head for five seconds?" Jackson sits beside me on the grass.

"I've known that for a while." He's referring to what he just quoted from my favourite movie.

"Why can't I get in your head?"

"You wouldn't want to be in here anyway." He's got a nice Texan drawl.

"Why did you do it?" He doesn't need to ask what I'm talking about. He's quiet for a minute before answering.

"Not everyone is so accepting of my.. ability, whatever you'd like to call it. I grew up in foster homes and was on my own from a young age. It was either get tough or get hit. I decided to get tough."

"But being tough doesn't mean you need to kill anyone."

"You never let me finish." I shut my mouth. "On that night, I was cornered by two guys, both well over twice my size. Apparently I was on their territory and they wanted me gone. They gave me the choice of going or making me go. I just walked away from them. I had better things to do. I guess they didn't like that, because I heard them discuss taking me out. I got around the corner and waited for one of them. He was big but I was stronger, he was easy. The second guy was smarter than the first and put up a good fight, but I got him in the end." This is the first time I've heard him say that much at one time. I'm not sure how to feel about it. He almost seems human.

"Oh, I'm human enough, darling." I shake my head and rest my chin on my knees, my arms wrapped around my legs.

"Why me?" I've asked him this a few times and have never gotten an answer, so I don't expect one now.

"Truth, I don't know." I'm slightly surprised.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" I see him shrug out of the corner of my eye.

"I mean, I don't know." We're silent for another few minutes. I think about going back into the house for a drink when he hands me a juicebox. Grape, my favourite. I take it from him.

"Thanks."

"I didn't poison it, don't worry." I laugh and stick the straw through, taking a drink.

"Can you see the future or something?" He shakes his head.

"No. I just seem to know things."

"What sorts of things?"

"I don't know, things. I know how a person is feeling, and how much if it they're feeling. That's how I knew to bring you a drink, because I could tell you were thirsty." I look at the juicebox in my hand. "And why you? I can't see the future, but you're going to be in some kind of danger soon."

"But why track me across the country? Just to protect me? You don't even know me."

"Au contraire, mademoiselle, I know a lot about you." He quotes himself from the first time we met.

"You know why Sam left."

"Yes, but I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because if I do they'll send me away somewhere. Somewhere guaranteed I can't get out of."

"You know, this one way brain thing is really frustrating."

"It's better this way, really. I'm dangerous, remember?"

"Confusing, too." He smiles and looks out across the yard into the trees.

"I admit that it isn't fair, but it's got to be this way for now."

"How long will that be?"

"So impatient." I shrug and rest my chin back on my knees. What he said before makes me wonder.

"You said you know how a person is feeling."

"Yeah."

"Well, ever since coming here, I can do that too, sort of. I just know what they're feeling, but not why or how much. And I have a sense of where people are."

"I'd noticed you thinking about it."

"Do you think it's because you're in my head so much?"

"Could be. Maybe your powers are just growing."

"Then you know I'd thought that too and figured it was too much of a coincidence that it started when I got here." He shrugs. More silence. It's weird, but I'm beginning to enjoy his company. Not enough to want to hang out with him, but enough to tolerate him when he's around. I hear him chuckle and I smile. "You know, I wouldn't run away screaming if you did let me in your head." He seems to consider.

"Maybe, but not today." I look at him.

"But soon?" He looks down at me and nods slowly.

"When you're ready, I'll let you in." Somehow I get the impression he has a double meaning to those words. If he does, his face doesn't give anything away. Suddenly I have this strange urge, this need, to kiss him. I don't know where it came from, but it seems like a really good idea at the moment. I incline my head and he lowers his, his eyes still on mine, seeming to reach into my soul.

Just before our lips meet the back door opens and I hear a strangled gasp. I don't care who it is right now, only that they're interrupting. I stop when I hear his voice, though. "What on earth are you doing?" I blink, literally a half second from kissing Jackson. It takes just about every ounce of willpower to look up at Zee. I don't give Zee an answer, because it looks pretty obvious what I was doing. That seems to be answer enough for him, because he stalks off, slamming the door behind him.

"Ah, shit, that's not good." I look back at Jackson, our faces less than an inch apart. "I should go after him. I want to go after him."

"Do you?"

"Yeah. But I also want to stay here." He moves some hair off my face.

"What are you going to do?" Before I can decide I'm suddenly standing in front of Zee at the top of the boys' floor landing. He screams and falls against the wall.

"What the hell are you?"