New School, New World

She shut her eyes, unnerved. As she opened it, she inquired breathily, "Did you see that? Was I seeing things? It flew out of the bag!"
 
Erica shrugged. "I thought it was just poking out of the pocket. Was it really floating?" She asked looking up at Marianna. Was she a witch too? A muggle born? Erica had been taught not to be prejudges against them but she had never really associated with one before. Her family was either half blood or pureblood and the younger ones had to be taken aside to be taught how to interact in a muggle world. Erica thought that there might have been a possibility that her own power had started to manifest. "Maybe you've been studying too hard." She said but gave her a bright grin.
 
She bit her lip and took a deep, relieved breath. "You know what? I think you're right." She gratefully smiled at her. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation it 'floated', too, if what I saw turns out not be a mere illusion. It's just natural and can be answered by science, right?"
 
Erica nodded. "I wouldn't know about science and stuff seeing as my class is going over the solar system at the moment but yeah I guess. Maybe it's like one of those funny pictures that change when look at them." She said thinking about the book that her aunt had gotten her to get her eyes used to seeing things that moved in such a way. She finished folding the paper she caught and pushed it towards Marianna "Take it. It's a crane. It's not perfect but I want to thank you for talking to me today. I didn't know if I would make any friends being new and all." She said beaming.
 
"Thanks," she replied cautiously. Narrowing her eyes on Erica, she realized she no longer wanted to be around her, despite how genuinely pleasant her presence was. She wondered if she could somehow sense the fact that this was not the first time she'd accidentally done magic; her brain was alternating between rejecting the idea of it being not just a figment of her imagination and the acceptance of its existence. Either way, she felt like evading the other girl was the wisest choice.
 
Erica finished her sandwich then looked outside. "It should be a couple of minutes before class starts again. I saw tether ball poles outside. Want to go out and knock the ball around for a bit?" She asked brightly. She knew what was going on but wanted to make this girl friend even if she was most likely going not see her again after school started. If she was a muggle born like she thought Marianna would most likely be going to Scotland branch of Hogwarts while Erica was destined to go to New Zealand with her cousin. She fiddled with the one blond strand she had left in her hair while waiting for an answer.
 
The brightness of her smile made her quite guilty for planning to avoid her, but her mind was already made up. "Okay. Let's go." She gave her a tiny grin and waited for her to lead.
 
Erica crumpled up the paper that had held her sandwich and toss it in the nearest bin before running out to the court yard. She was already getting a few stares because of her colorful breech of school uniform but Erica didn't seem to care. Erica had her first friend outside of her home and she could not be happier.
 
She glanced at her watch. "Time flies," she commented absentmindedly. "So, Erica, what's the explanation behind the hair color? I mean, it isn't natural, obviously. How'd you get your parents to agree?"
 
Erica ran out to the yard directer and asked if they could have the ball to tether ball pole before turning back to Marianna. "Oh mum and dad where thrilled to pieces that I wanted purple hair. Their both artists you see and said that my fondness for unnatural hair colours is an expression of my creativity. Purple is my favorite colour." Erica said grinning proudly. She loved to make her parents happy which was quite easy actually. Her mother and father where both experts in magical animals and where masters in transfiguration because of their high creativity which they passed on to Erica. Erica's home had been an explosion of colour and the strange. Though she missed home terribly Erica was happily adjusting to life under the rule of her aunt and uncle. "But you can see I'm blond like you." She said showing her the one strand she had braided.

She thanked the teacher who had to look after the court yard and took the ball. Erica ran to the pole and hooked the ball onto the clip on the string and started to bounce the ball in her hands so Marianna could get ready to hit it back to her.
 
"So you treat your hair like a canvas of sorts?" she uncomfortably said, not able to separate the concept of art from paper. She mindlessly threw the ball back to her. "Say, what do they do for a living? Are they artists with other better jobs or just artists?"
 
Erica nodded as she knocked the ball back trying to get it past her so she could unwind the cord the held it. "I had rainbow streaks at one point. Dad.. was really proud that I seemed to be following in her footsteps." She had been about to say Daddy but thought it would be a bit uncool seeing as she was nine years old now. She bit her lip a little confused. Being an artist isn't a real job? "I don't know what you mean by "real" job. I mean my dad designs new buildings and stuff. I guess you can say that my mom's only job is being an artist. She teaches it anyway." She said thinking of how to word what her parents did for a living to a muggle.
 
"Oh," she exclaimed, "then he's an architect, and she's a teacher!" She hit the ball. "My father's a lawyer," she boasted. "My mother, meanwhile, is a housewife. She wants me to be successful unlike her, which is why she pushes me extra hard to do well in school." There was a hint of bitterness in her tone.
 
Erica smiled. "I know how that can be. Aside from art my dad really pushes me to get my grades in. I will need a lot of maths to be an architect and all. I don't know if that's what I wanna be though. I know I don't wanna be a teacher even if it is art." She said hitting the ball back extra hard. Erica had known what she had wanted be really. The Foundation was always looking for Trainers and she had a gift with animals. Now that they where out sort to speak she still wanted to work with animals. "You got any idea what you wanna be when you grow up?" She asked brightly.
 
"I want to be a chemist," she answered matter-of-factly, "but I'm going to be a lawyer." She imagined spending a large chunk of life working to get in a profession she loathed, then the rest being much miserable than she'd been without a career. With a childish scowl, she said (mostly to herself), "I don't have a choice."
 
Erica frowned. "You should always have a choice. Like Saffron. Her mother wants her be a doctor but she wants to be a forensic scientist and she's going for it." She said. She had read about that kind of science when she had gotten her hand on a magazine about TV shows. It seemed like the closet thing to being part of the Department of Mysteries or an Auror. "Maybe your dad will see it differently I mean Chemistry is really important." She added hopefully. Erica was thinking about how Potions was really important in the magical world so it had be the same in the muggle world.
 
"I'm not Saffron," she muttered under her breath. "It's not like I really don't have a choice, of course, but they're my parents. I was conceived to please them, not to follow my own selfish desires."
 
Erica shrugged. "My parents are happy if I'm happy. They've always told me so." She said simply. Erica was about say something else when the bell rang for them to go inside. "Since I got the ball do you want me to take it back?" She asked looking at Marianna. She would be more than happy to do so seeing as she was the one with the idea.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top