Chapter 53: 36
Year 4, Chapter 1
Calista ducked her head as soon as she was beyond the magical barrier that served as the entrance to Platform 9¾. Her father had offered to escort her to the train, but she thought the only thing worse than being made fun of for losing her mind in Flourish and Blotts would be having everyone call her an ickle baby on top of it for having to have her father tag along.
A porter came along and took her trunk, leaving her with just her Arithmancy book - she'd kept it out separate because all of Marcus' letters were tucked into the front cover - and her cat's crate.
Her plan was to avoid everyone, find a place on the train to hide, and hope that she could miraculously escape the notice of all of her classmates until enough time had passed for them to forget whatever they'd heard. Admittedly, it wasn't a particularly good plan, but it's what she had.
Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending - she was only able to follow it for about fifteen seconds, before someone was shouting her name.
"Calista! Hey, Calista!"
She looked up at the sound of his voice; she couldn't help it, even if he was going to make fun of her -
but when had he ever made fun of her?
- she still wanted to see him again, wanted him to give her that grin. And he did; he stopped right in front of her, offering it up.
She couldn't help but smile back, even though she still had the knot of tension in her chest for what was sure to come from the rest of the students.
"Hey," she said back, "I missed you."
"Me too," he said, and he glanced over her shoulder quickly. "Er… your dad isn't here, is he?"
"No," she said, "He's back out there," she gestured beyond the brick wall that divided the platform from the rest of the station.
"Good," Marcus said, and he leaned towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder. He paused, his face only inches from hers. "Er..." he said, a question in his eyes, "You do still want me to kiss you, right?"
And there was her first blush of the school year; she had a feeling it wouldn't be her last. She nodded, quickly. "Yeah," she said, "Of course I do."
He looked relieved, and then he did kiss her, a soft, sweet kiss that made her face burn all the way to the tips of her ears, and also loosened just a bit of the nervous tangle inside her.
"Man," Marcus said, pulling back to look at her again. "You're so -" he stopped, and turned a little red himself.
"What?" she asked, suspiciously. Was he about to say that she was a bad kisser? She probably was, but what was she supposed to do about it? She had never exactly practised before…
"Nothing," Marcus said, shaking his head. "Forget it."
She would have scowled at him, as her default reaction to something she wasn't certain of, but then he reached for Yellow's crate.
"Let me take that," he said, "It's your cat, right? That grey one that hates everyone?"
As if on cue, Yellow let out a resentful growl.
She managed a small, crooked smile. "He doesn't hate me," she said.
"Yeah," Marcus said with a chuckle. "Just like your dad. Where d'you want to sit? I have a Quidditch meeting at the back of the train, but I'll come find you after."
"Uhm," she said, "I dunno… I guess just… somewhere alone."
Marcus grinned at her, and by the time she realised he'd misinterpreted her, it would have been more embarrassing to clarify than to just let it go.
He found a compartment near the back of the train that was empty, and put Yellow's crate down inside. "So… so I'll come here, when I'm done with the team, okay?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "Yeah, I'll be here."
There was an awkward moment, where they looked at each other, and almost kissed again, but then both of them flushed, and Marcus backed out of the compartment, scratching the back of his head. Calista sat down, and opened her Arithmancy book to a random page, hoping the matter-of-factness of numbers and charts would help cool her cheeks.
The compartment door slid open; Calista looked up at the sound, to see none other than a fuschia-haired Nymphadora Tonks entering the compartment. Well, she didn't have to worry about blushing anymore; she could feel her face rapidly draining of colour.
"Hey," Tonks said, "I've been looking for you."
"I've been hiding," Calista said, shortly, over the top of her Arithmancy book.
"Yeah," Tonks said, and instead of taking the hint and leaving, she sat down across from Calista. "I kind of thought you might be. I mean, I know I would, if it were me… not that I think you should, mind you, I just… blargh, hang on, let me start again, that was awful."
She shook her head, as if to clear it, and rolled her eyes with a self-deprecating little smile. "What I mean is," she said, "I figured you'd be embarrassed about what happened, at the bookstore, but I just want you to know that you shouldn't be."
"Oh, okay," Calista said, lowering her book slightly. "I thought going spare in front of half the school at a bookstore was embarrassing, but if you say it's not…"
"Yeah, well, that part maybe just a bit," Tonks said sheepishly, "But, y'know… the reason… I mean, my mum gets that a lot."
"She gets people screaming bloody murder in the checkout line a lot?"
"Well, not that exactly."
"Yeah," Calista said, scowling. "I didn't think so."
"I'm just saying," Tonks said, "Maybe some people will take the piss out of you for it, but there's loads more who would understand. I dunno what she did - er, you know, the real Bellatrix, not my mum - to your family, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but… well, I can understand a few of the reasons you might be afraid to see someone that looks like her, yeah? S'why I want to be an Auror, when I graduate, really - 'cause I know what people like her are capable of, if they're not stopped."
"You're going to be an Auror?" Calista asked, tilting her head. She lowered her Arithmancy book further.
"Well, I hope so," Tonks said, "If they accept me. I've gotta stop blowing up my cauldron first, though."
"You too?" Calista said, closing the cover of her book and settling it on her lap. "Why do so many people manage to do that? Or are you doing it on purpose, like Percy's brothers?"
Tonks chuckled. "No," she said, "Definitely not on purpose, although it doesn't surprise me one bit that Fred and George would do that. My problem is that I'm so damn clumsy. Last year, I got a zero on my Polyjuice Potion by sneezing."
"Hang on," Calista said, wrinkling her nose. "You sneezed in your potion? And that ruined it?"
"No," Tonks said, with a look of chagrin. "I had this really violent sneeze - like, I swear it echoed throughout the entire dungeon - you probably heard it in your common room, it was that bad. And I brought my arm up, you know, to cover it, and I hit the table - knocked over my lacewing flies, the whole jar."
"Oh, no," Calista said, "After… after you stewed them?"
"Yup," Tonks said, "Twenty-one days of keeping those blasted things safe in my dormitory room, and then I sneeze them all onto the floor. There wasn't anything I could do, I couldn't make the potion without them. At least it doesn't really matter, for me. I mean, I don't need a potion to look different, do I?"
She wrinkled her nose, and changed it into a bird-like beak, illustrating her point. She changed it back, and shook her head.
"Still, there's certain things they want you to have, to be considered for the training," she said, "Too bad for me Potions is one of them."
"What else do you need?" Calista wondered.
But Tonks never had the chance to answer, because there was a commotion outside their compartment door just then, and a tirade of laughter, and then the door slid open. A couple of seventh-year Hufflepuffs grinned in at them - or, more accurately, at Tonks.
"Tonksy!" the male said, "Where have you been? You'll never believe what happened with your Weasley and Jane Ridley over the summer -"
"It's brilliant," the girl said. Calista noticed she was wearing a Prefect badge. "You'll love it - can we come in?"
Tonks stood up, and faced her friends at the doorway. "Sorry, you lot," she said cheerfully, "I'm kind of in the middle of something. I'll catch up with you later, in the carriage, yeah?"
They agreed reluctantly, and Tonks slid the compartment door closed again, and looked at Calista, rolling her eyes. "Everything's just the biggest news since Sneakoscopes were invented, with them," she said, apologetically. "Probably Jane Ridley blinked funny at Charlie, or something, and now it's a national headline."
Calista remembered what Tonks had told her last year, that she had once had a major crush on Charlie Weasley, and then he had started dating Jane Ridley. She had a feeling that Tonks was actually quite interested in what had happened over the summer. If it were gossip about Marcus, Calista would definitely want to know.
"It's okay," Calista said, "You can… you can go with them, if you want."
Tonks waggled her fingers, sitting back down. "Nah, they can wait. I forget what I was saying now, but anyway, I just wanted to tell you not to worry about that whole bookstore thing too much. It'll… people will forget, if they haven't already. Maybe Jane Ridley did something worse this summer, who knows?"
"Your mum looked pretty cross," Calista ventured.
"Yeah, well, I think that had more to do with genetics than with you," Tonks said. "I mean, yeah it annoys her when someone mistakes her for that evil bint, but it's not like you're the first one to do it. Anyway, she mostly felt bad for you, for whatever it was Bellatrix did to freak you out so bad when you thought you saw her. I felt real bad, too."
"She…" Calista began. "She… if I tell you something… can you promise not to… not to hate me?"
"'Course," Tonks said, "You can't hate someone you've shared hot chocolate with, that's just a fact."
Calista felt her fingers trembling, against the cover of her textbook. She was going to do it, she was finally going to do it… she'd been close to telling Tonks on several other occasions, and had always gotten cold feet. But her father and Narcissa were right, and she'd already learned that in the most embarrassing way she could imagine: it was probably going to come out, eventually. At least Tonks was related to her, too. Maybe she would understand, after all.
"She…" Calista took a deep breath, released it with a shudder, and went on quickly: "She's my mother. Bellatrix."
Tonks' eyes widened, then she blinked rapidly, and shook her head.
"Well," Tonks said, "I guess she wasn't much of one, by the reaction you had when you thought you saw her."
"Imagine what you think it'd be like," Calista said, and there was a trace of bitterness in her voice, but otherwise she managed to control her emotions, "And then make it a hundred times worse."
"That's a rough lot. I'm sorry about that."
"Well," Calista said, awkwardly. "It's not your fault. Or your mum's. I'm sorry about that."
"She's over it, already. Mostly. Don't worry." Then she grinned. "Hey, I've just realised - that makes us cousins."
"Yeah," Calista said, "I knew that. My dad told me, a while ago. I wanted to say something to you, but that meant admitting… well, you know."
"Wicked," Tonks said, "I've always wanted a cousin. Well, one that acknowledged my existence, you know? I guess we've got another one, but I've never met him."
"Draco," Calista said, "I have. He's… I don't know, I like him. He is a bit spoilt, though."
"Yeah," Tonks said, "Mum's been burned out of the family tree - literally - and me too, by extension, so I guess I'll never meet any of them, unless it's so they can spit on me, or something."
"They're okay with me, so far," Calista said, and then she voiced something that had been bothering her for quite some time, but hadn't really known who she could mention it to, "But I'm afraid of what happen, if they find out I have friends who are… you know, who aren't…"
"Pureblood racist pricks?" Tonks supplied helpfully.
"Well, yeah," Calista said, "Basically. I mean, I kind of just ignore it when they talk about… about mixed blood being bad, and all that, but sometimes I worry about them finding out that I don't really care about junk like that."
"Well," Tonks said, "If you want my advice - and I'm not saying you do - but I don't think being burned out of the Black family tree is the worst thing that can happen to a person."
Their compartment door slid open again. This time, it was Marcus, and he had his broomstick in his hand. He looked mildly confused to see Tonks there, but he stepped in, anyway, and smiled a greeting to Calista.
"Hey," Tonks said, shooting a knowing glance at Calista, "I'm gonna get going now - I need to find out if Jane's still got her claws in Charlie. I'll… I'll catch up with you later, right Calista?"
"See you later," Calista agreed. "And, Tonks? I just… Thanks."
"No problem, -oof!" Tonks started, before managing to walk straight into the doorframe. "When'd they put that here?"
Marcus chuckled as she left, although it didn't appear to be maliciously. As soon as Tonks had gone, Marcus slid the door closed again, and wedged his broomstick into the door handle, so no one could come in after them.
"Saw a couple of second years out there, with a handful of dungbombs," he said, by way of explanation. "No sense letting them come in here."
Calista slid over in her seat, making room for him to sit next to her. She set her Arithmancy book aside, on her other side.
Marcus loped over, and craned his neck to look at the cover of her book. "Advanced Arithmancy, again?" he teased, "Thought it wasn't your favourite."
"It's not," she said, trying not to blush as he settled next to her, and draped his arm over her shoulders. "Advanced, or… er, my favourite."
He leaned towards her, and kissed her cheek. "No? Why're you reading it on the train, then?"
"I'm not," she said, and she could feel her heart beginning to pick up speed, but in a way that didn't seem frightening. "I'm not reading anything, now."
"What are you doing, then?" He leaned his forehead against the side of her head; she could feel his breath, warm and close, tickling her cheek, the side of her neck. The flutter in her stomach was back, but there was something else, too.
She felt lighter, freer than she had when she'd first seen him, on the platform. Maybe it was simply the fact that she'd been reassured that he definitely still liked her, or maybe it was not seeing him for the entire summer, or maybe it had nothing to do with him at all, but more to do with how it felt to tell someone, finally, a secret that had weighed her down for nearly her entire life.
Whatever the reason was, she felt bolder. She turned her face towards his, feeling a small, sly smile begin.
"I'm kissing my boyfriend," she said, and then she did.
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Calista and Marcus hadn't actually kissed for the entire remainder of the train ride, although they did manage to do a lot of that, too. They had talked, about his Quidditch meeting, and about their summers, and how they were going to handle their relationship in the coming school year.
Calista had almost, almost told him about the incident at Flourish and Blotts, and why it had unsettled her so much, but it didn't appear as if he'd heard about it yet, and she wanted a little more time to get used to the idea of telling people. Besides, just because Tonks had taken the identity of Calista's mother surprisingly well didn't mean that anyone else would. She decided not to say anything, yet.
Marcus wanted to be open about the fact that they were an item now, but Calista had insisted that it had to be a secret, still, at least as well as they could keep it. She told him that she still hadn't thought of a way to tell her father that wouldn't make him unbearably cross. Marcus didn't seem to completely understand why they couldn't just admit they were together, but he also didn't want to get Calista in trouble, so he reluctantly agreed to try not to be too obvious.
His resolve threatened to weaken when they got off the train, and Calista insisted they take separate carriages to the school. When he saw Amelia beckoning her impatiently to join her, Percy, and Penelope, Marcus frowned.
"Why can't we just go together?" he asked, and for some inexplicable reason, he glared at her Arithmancy book, as if it were the one insisting that Calista travel to the school without him.
"I told you, I don't want my dad to see us… sometimes he waits for me, in the Entrance Hall."
Marcus rubbed the back of his neck, an uncomfortable expression on his face. "I think he already knows," he said, "I mean it, he was real cross with me at the end of last term."
"He doesn't know," Calista said, "Maybe he suspects, but he doesn't know."
"I just…" Marcus said, and then he scowled over Calista's shoulder. Amelia and Percy had come up behind her, at either side.
"Come on, Calista," Amelia said, "Penny's holding the carriage, we've got to go." she glanced at Marcus. "Are you… are you coming, too?"
"I dunno…" Marcus started, but Calista interrupted, anxiety pinching her features.
"I'll see you at dinner, okay?" she said. As far as she knew, Marcus didn't have any friends outside of Slytherin. If her father saw him getting out of a carriage with Calista and her group of friends, he would definitely wonder what was going on.
Marcus frowned, and nodded reluctantly.
"You'd be dreadfully bored, anyway," Percy said, in what Calista suspected was an attempt to soften the blow, but in actuality made it seem even worse. "We'll probably just be reviewing Arithmancy notes."
Marcus scowled, and opened his mouth to reply, but then Penny was yelling for them from the doorway of the carriage.
"If you lot don't hurry up, I'm going to the castle myself!"
Amelia looped her arm through Calista's, and the three of them hurried back to where Penny had the carriage waiting.
Calista didn't see Marcus' expression of mixed hurt and resentment, as he watched them go. She didn't see Olivia approaching him with a sweet, charming smile fixed on her face, either.
As it turned out, they didn't discuss Arithmancy in the carriage at all, but instead, Penelope brought up the idea she, Calista, and Amelia had had about a dueling club.
"I think we should ask Professor Flitwick," Penny said, "At worst, he might say no, but if he does agree to run one, think of how joining a dueling club would look on our employment applications in a few years."
"Also," Amelia said, "Think of how much fun it would be to hex cows like Portia Macnair without getting in trouble."
Percy frowned, disapprovingly. "Amelia, that's not at all the spirit we should have about this. Professor Flitwick will never agree, if that's what -"
"No kidding," Amelia interrupted. "That's why I'm not going to ask him, Calista and Penny are."
"Well, I want to hex Portia, too," Calista said.
Percy and Penny exchanged a glance, and Penny rolled her eyes.
"Maybe don't say that part to Professor Flitwick," she advised.
(¯ˆ·.¸¸.·ˆ¯)
When their timetables arrived on the first morning of term, Portia bounded out of bed to snatch them all up before anyone else. She shuffled through them, obnoxiously commenting on everyone's but her own.
"Oooh, look, Snapelet's in remedial Transfiguration again, I wonder if four years is a new school record?"
"If you're going to be a nosy cow, at least get it right," Calista said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up in bed. "I didn't take it first year. Now, give me that."
Portia ignored her, passing her eyes over the rest of the sheet. "Elective studies on Saturdays," she observed. "That's basically just extra detention, isn't it?"
"Give me my timetable, you nosy twit," Calista said, throwing the covers off and striding over to Portia. She snatched her timetable with a pale, skinny arm, and sat down on the edge of her bed to look it over herself.
It wasn't too awful, considering. She had Transfiguration and Astronomy on Mondays, with the afternoons in between free, Charms and Herbology on Tuesdays, double Potions and History of Magic on Wednesday, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy on Thursdays, and Defence Against the Dark Arts and Remedial Transfiguration on Fridays. She still had her so-called Elective Studies on Saturday mornings, like Portia had said. There was a notation in the corner of her schedule, like last year, except that this one was much more welcome than the "provisional" notice of last year.
This one listed a date and time for Charms Peer Tutor Orientation with Professor Flitwick during the second week of term. That was much preferable to wondering whether she'd be knocked down to first year Transfiguration.
"Ooh, what has Emmy got?" Portia had moved onto the next timetable in the stack. "Arithmancy with Snapelet… Muggle Studies? What the hell are you taking Muggle Studies for?"
Emily was sitting up now, and she blanched. "Stop it, Portia. My… my mum wanted me to take it, all right?"
"Maybe Snapelet should take Muggle Studies, too," Olivia piped up, from where she stood in front of her open wardrobe door, carefully brushing her long, blonde hair. "Since she and Emily are best friends now, and since she's such a big fan of Mudbloods."
"Shut it, you miserable cow," Calista snarled.
Emily flushed pink. "Olivia," she said, placatingly, "Come on, you know you're my best friend."
"I don't know that at all," Olivia said, "Since you helped Snapelet steal my boyfriend."
"I only told her he wanted to talk to her-" Emily began, but Calista cut her off.
"Your boyfriend?" Calista challenged incredulously. "You didn't even like him until you thought I did."
"It's too bad he needed help in Potions." Olivia smirked. "If it were any other subject, I'm sure he'd be snogging someone else right now."
"Shut up," Calista howled, stalking over to her wardrobe and yanking her robes out.
Emily looked fretfully between them, and Portia had abandoned her perusal of Emily's timetable to stand by Olivia's shoulder, nodding fervently at everything Olivia said.
"In fact," Olivia said brightly, as if the thought had just occurred to her, "Maybe that is what he's doing, Snapelet. Maybe he has a different girlfriend for each subject he's failing -"
"That would be a lot of them, then," Portia guffawed.
"What do you think, Emily?" Olivia asked, her gaze slipping slyly to Emily, who hadn't even found enough bravery yet to take her timetable from Portia. "Do you suppose Marcus is… playing the field a bit?"
"Er…" Emily looked anguished, as she glanced at Calista, and then back at Olivia. "N-no, I don't reckon he is. I mean, probably not."
"Wrong answer," Olivia said snidely. "Have fun in Muggle Studies. Or is that the only book your mother could afford?"
Emily flushed pink, and looked very much like she might cry. Portia chuckled.
"Go to hell, Olivia," Calista said, with feeling. She climbed onto her bed, and pulled the curtains closed around it, so she could change into her robes.
"Come on, Portia," Olivia said loudly, "If we go to breakfast right now, I'll bet we can find seats next to the Quidditch team."
The door of their dormitory room slammed. Calista stuffed her arms into the sleeves of her robes, trying not to let Olivia bother her.
She heard the faint, whispery sounds of someone crying; as soon as she was dressed, she pulled her curtains open again, and saw Emily sitting on the edge of her bed, with her face in her hands, shoulders shaking.
"Em," Calista said awkwardly, scrambling off her own bed to stand by Emily. "It's… just ignore her, who cares what she thinks?"
Emily lifted her face; already, it was blotchy and shiny. "I do," Emily said, "I need her and Portia. All of my friends are their friends, too, and if they don't like me, no one else will."
"That's not true," Calista said, "I still like you. Especially if you're done hanging around with the two of them."
"I can't… I can't have Olivia for an enemy," Emily said, weakly. "You know what she's like. I can't sleep in the same room as her as long as she hates me. I need to… need to go apologise to her, right now."
"Apologise for what?" Calista sneered, but Emily was wiping her face, and hurrying into her robes, a determined expression on her face.
"Fine," Calista said, "Have it your way. I'm off."
When Calista got to the Great Hall, she was disappointed not to see Marcus there; but then again, since he wasn't there, Olivia hadn't been able to sit next to him. She was next to Derek Logan instead, and she was giggling obnoxiously at something he had said. Calista rolled her eyes, and sat down between Sofia and Eva, who promptly shifted to make room when she entered.
They were sitting with several of the new first-years, who Calista recognised by sight from the previous night, but didn't quite recall the names of; she'd been sitting with Marcus at the feast last night, and her attention had been divided between talking to him, and trying to make sure her father didn't notice how much she was talking to hm.
"Calista, you remember all of our new housemates, right?" Sofia asked, but she reintroduced them, anyway. "Tabitha Higgs - she's Terence's younger sister."
Terence Higgs was a sixth year who played Seeker on the Quidditch team. He had a large build for a Seeker, broad-shouldered and tall, with ginger hair and a smattering of freckles on his nose. His sister had the freckles, but her hair was dark blonde, and she was average-sized for her age.
"Hi," Calista said.
"And Mildred Bulstrode, Daisy Spratt - her brother's in your year, I think - and Alma Pierce."
Sofia smiled charmingly at each of the first years, who appeared grateful to have been taken under her wing so quickly… except for perhaps Mildred, who was sulky-looking and didn't particularly look grateful for anything.
"This is Calista Snape," Sofia said, "Yes - that Snape, he's her dad - she's in fourth year, and a good friend of ours, right Eva?"
Eva nodded, while she buttered a piece of toast.
"So if you get lost or anything, you can ask her, she'll help you out. Don't ask that other fourth year, Olivia Avril, for anything. She's kind of…" Sofia trailed off, searching for a diplomatic enough term.
"A bitch?" Eva supplied, slyly, and Calista grinned.
"I was going to say, she's kind of haughty," Sofia said.
"Or we could go with what Eva said," Calista agreed. "It's true."
"My brother told me that, too," Daisy said hesitantly. She was a pudgy girl, with muddled brown hair and a soft voice. "He said… he said Olivia was always calling him… nasty things."
Fat Spratt, Calista thought, but didn't say. She wondered if Olivia would start calling Daisy the same thing. Well, if she did, she was going to find trouble. Now that Sofia had introduced her the way she had, Calista couldn't help but feel a sense of responsibility for the new first year girls.
"Gretchen Nott's one of our new first years, too," Sofia said, and she nudged Calista, and pointed down the table to where Olivia was still fawning over Derek. Calista noticed a petite, dark-haired girl she only vaguely remembered from last night's Sorting trying to ingratiate herself into the fringes of Olivia and Portia's group. "But I guess she doesn't want anything to do with us."
"I don't care," Mildred said, "She seemed like a snob, anyway. I sat with her on the train, and she just kept wrinkling her nose at me, like I smelled funny or something."
Calista noticed that Alma wrinkled her nose, when Mildred said this; then she shot a glance down the table, at Olivia and her group.
"Tell them about the Bloody Baron, Calista," Eva encouraged.
Calista smirked. "Did I tell you, I had a run-in with him last year? I called him a bloody creep -"
"You did not," Sofia said, torn between amusement and horror. "What did he - what did he do?"
"Shook his chains at me, mostly," Calista said, "It was really creepy, though, he came out of nowhere…"
She relayed the story, as well as a lot of the same 'wisdom' she'd relayed to Sofia and Eva, at the beginning of last year. She was telling them not to mess around in her father's class, when Marcus appeared, tapping her on the shoulder.
She looked up, surprised. She hadn't even noticed him entering the Great Hall. She glanced, immediately, towards the High Table, but her father had already gone. She relaxed, and allowed herself to smile up at Marcus.
"Hey," he said, "I'm gonna sit with the team, I just thought I'd say hi first."
"Okay," Calista said, and looking up at him, she could feel just a hint of a blush rising in her cheeks. She hated admitting to noticing such things, even still, but he did look… well, rather appealing. Even now, when he wasn't flashing her that lopsided grin, he had kind grey eyes, dark hair that fell into his face just a bit, and a tall, strong-looking build. How, exactly, had she managed to attract his attention, she wondered? "Uhm, hi, then."
"I'll see you later on," he continued, "Maybe… maybe I'll need to mail something, yeah?"
And then he was giving her that grin, and she felt the colour in her cheeks rising further. "Yeah," she said, "Uhm… me, too. Maybe."
When he left to join his teammates, and Calista returned to her conversation with Eva, Sofia, and the new first year girls, nearly all of them were looking at her knowingly.
"Who's he?" Tabitha asked, "He's fit."
"He's mine," Calista said, and it felt surprisingly good to say it. "Don't even think about it."
Sofia grinned at her. "I told you," she said, "So cute together."
"Does your dad know yet?" Eva asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Calista said, "And anyone who tells him is getting their knees reversed." She glared at each of them, in turn, to illustrate her point.
"Ooh, I believe her," Sofia said, "You lot heard her, then. Keep your mouths shut."
Mouths weren't the only problem, Calista thought, frantically. Not where her father was concerned… she hoped they could all keep their minds shut, too.
How had she ever thought she could keep something like this secret? But she had to, if she had any chance of keeping it. She pushed the rest of her breakfast away, no longer hungry.
"I've got to go," she said, "Class."
Weekly Power Status
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