I am terribly terribly sorry that I haven't posted in so long, my friends. I took a break to do NaNoWriMo during November, but I'm happy to report that Ally is still dancing around in my head. So I'm back... and I hope you'll stick with me for more of the Cope family's vacation.
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Day 1, Part 7
Brad grumbles under his breath the entire way back to Rose Cottage, and he must feel, for some reason, as if dragging me bodily into and out of the canoe will somehow relieve his anger. It doesn’t seem to be working, though, because his expression is all stormy weather even as we climb the shallow steps of the cottage porch.
“You know, most of the time, I can’t figure out what you’re thinking.”
That, dear Arm Pit, is because I don’t communicate in grunts and burps.
“What happened?” Mom glances up from where she and Dad are cuddled on the violently magenta sofa, frowning first at Brad’s grump-face and then at me. I know what she’s thinking… I’ve taken summer casual to a whole new level of shabby-fab. The highlight is either my mossy flip-flops or the dirty streaks in my shorts. Or maybe the bloody scratch on my leg. It’s a tossup.
“Genius girl here ran off with a strange boy.”
“He’s not a strange boy.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I met him this morning. He’s our neighbor.”
“Ally,” Mom shakes her head at me. At ME. Brad is the one who is a rude attitude on stubby man-legs, but I get the head shake. Unfair.
“Mom.” I shake my head back. “We didn’t run off. He was showing me the castle in the village, not eloping with me.”
“It isn’t a…” Brad pauses. This is clearly NOT the moment. “She probably thought he was Harry Potter or something.”
“He isn’t Harry Potter.” Obviously.
“There,” Mom starts to say. “I’m sure Ally…”
I interrupt her. “He’s Harry Potter’s son Albus Severus. And we met his older brother James, and his younger sister Lily.”
That isn’t what anyone wants to hear, I guess, because Mom sinks back down on the sofa and Brad storms off to his room. I find small satisfaction in knowing it is just as pink as the rest of the house and not much of an escape. You can’t run away from the Pepto Bismal bottle.
The thing is… I am not a crazy person. I know that magic isn’t real, and I know that Hogwarts was created by JK Rowling and is not a real place. But there is only so much coincidence I can handle, and the fact that Al-who-looks-like-Harry-Potter also has a brother called Jim sort of pushes me past my skepticism.
When Jim introduced himself to me back at the castle place, all I could do was fish face at him until Brad dragged me away. He looked a lot like Al, although he exuded that cool boy confidence some girls find attractive. I might have found it attractive too, actually, if I hadn’t met Al first. I sort of feel like making puppy dog eyes at Jim/James now would be uncool.
So when I tell my family that we’re staying in a cabin right next to Harry Potter’s family, I don’t say it lightly. I know how it sounds. But honestly… what would you think?
“I’m worried about your daughter,” Dad mumbles from his side of the couch without looking up at me. He gives Mom a hearty pat on her arm. “She’s having some sort of psychotic break.”
“She gets it from your side of the family,” Mom grumbles back, but she stays tucked next to him on the couch, and I figure they’re teasing me. Whatever. I’m not having any sort of break, although I would pay cash for a break from my family. A long one would be nice right about now.
Circling the couch, I plant myself in front of my parents with my hands on my hips. “Mom.”
“Ally, honey. I love you, and I really would like to take you home with us at the end of the trip. In the best interest of everyone, you need to let this Harry Potter thing go. It’s not funny anymore.” It really ticks me off that she won’t listen to me, but it ticks me off even more that she’s making me feel bad. ME. And I didn’t even do anything wrong, but I’m suffering from an epic guilt trip!
My bottom lip starts to wobble. “Yeah, okay. I’m sorry about Brad.” Yeah, mostly I was sorry he was such a lame attempt at humanity. He didn’t have to freak out the second I was out of his sight, and he really didn’t have to do that freaking out in front of Al and family.
“He just worries,” Dad offers. “It’s a big brother thing.” I’m not sure I believe Dad. Personally, I think Brad’s underwear is too tight.
At this point, I’m kind of at a loss. I can’t talk to them about having Harry Potter next door, and I really don’t have any other conversational highlights. But on the other hand, I just got busted for wandering off with a stranger, which sort of suggests that wandering off again in search of Al is a bad idea. What’s a girl to do?
So I just stand there, looking at my parents on the Pepto sofa. And they just sit there, looking up at me.
“Ally. Go somewhere.”
No problem, Mom. No problem at all.