008 -- The Apple Grove

Sorry guys! It's been a while since I updated on Jordan's progress. She's been up to quite a bit, including being sick with the flu and being unable to find treatment in the hospital wing, which sort of sucked. However, there have been a number of incidences between Jordan and her newfound friends, which she's going to try and recount in her usual third-person way. I like writing like that. :)

As far as my life has gone, while Jordan was sick, I was in a wedding for two of my closer friends! ^_^ It was a beautiful ceremony and I was nearly bawling the entire time, but I'm very happy. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. David Notter! I hope they have a long, healthy, happy marriage, from the bottom of my heart!

That aside, I've just been lazy with this, is all. I think I may be coming down with something, myself, so if I don't update, that's why. Not that I really think anyone reads this...


After my talk with Joellen in the hall, we decided it was best to get outside, and I still wanted to pick apples, so I took her out to the Apple Tree Grove I'd found on my first day here. As I was walking in, I noticed a couple of older students snogging against one of the trees, and I turned quickly, blushing, to avoid them. As if I wanted to see any of that! It was chilly and I sadly thought it might be too cold for apple picking. Back in the United States, where I lived most of the time, this was the perfect time of year to pick apples. But here it was further north, and I kept forgetting it. As I looked, however, there seemed to be a lot of red, ripe apples on the trees, and I felt a little less nervous about the weather. I looked behind me for Jo. She was running to keep up.


"Hey, wait up!" she called. I watched her stop and glance at the older couple, before looking back at me. "How many do you think we'll get?" she asked, nodding at the trees, "And what will we do with them?" She didn't pause to wait for my answer before she noticed how much I was shivering. "Are you all right?" she asked. It was the first concerned question I'd heard from her.

I nodded and smiled for her, not wanting her to see how much I really missed my home. "I'm all right, " I replied. I looked up into the tree nearest me. "Hey, want an apple?" I asked, before swinging myself up into the branches. I loved climbing trees; one of the few outdoor activities that really pleased me. Looking around, I spotted a nice, fat, juicy looking apple and picked it. I dropped it down to her, and, grabbing one for myself, I jumped back down into the leaves.

I smiled at her again and looked at my apple. It looked so delicious, my mouth was watering, and my stomach let out an audible growl. I laughed it off. "Apparently I'm ready for this!" I exclaimed excitedly before taking a bite.

As I chewed, I looked at Jo, who was smiling at me, but looked wary of the apple I'd dropped to her. She rubbed it a little, but then tucked it into her hoodie pocket.

"I'll eat it later." she told me. She continued walking through the trees, looking around.

I stood there stunned. I thought she liked apples, and I thought we were starting something of a friendship, but she was such a strange girl! I took another bite of my apple.

"Then why did you come to pick apples with me?!" I called after her, a little exasperated. "Do you even like them?"

I noticed Alex running up, waving, a moment later out of the corner of my eye, and turned to her, smiling. It'd been all day and I hadn't seen any of the people I really knew. "Hi Alex!" I said brightly to her. I looked back in the direction of Joellen, and yelled for her to come back.

Jo walked back over, her eyes wide and staring at me. "Oh no, Ms Ba--I mean Jordan. I like apples well enough, but these were just picked! They aren't clean and might have worms. I'll eat it when I get a chance to clean it off first." She looked over Alex when she noticed her. "Hello." she said neutrally. "I'm Joellen Karr. What is your name?"

I hadn't realized that Jo didn't know Alex, but I didn't have time to introduce them myself, because a moment later, Loki had found us, as well. I felt my emotions tumble when I saw him, but I hid it well. It still scared me that he could evoke any more emotion in me than my other friends, and I certainly didn't want him to know about it.

"I finally found some friends!" he said, looking exhausted and out of breath. "I've been looking everywhere for someone.." He stopped talking when he saw Jo, but he smiled. I noticed the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and he looked as nervous as I felt. It reminded me of my earlier conversation, and I glanced between the two anxiously.

Alex had told Jo her name and was smiling and starting to walk off, but she stopped, as well, when she saw Loki, and mumbled a "hi" to him, looking at the ground and falling very quiet. I looked at her curiously and wondered what on Earth was bothering her. There was no uneasiness with her, was there?

Jo, meanwhile, had blushed a deep scarlet. "I'm so sorry!" she practically shouted, sounding very insincere. I shot her a glare. "I didn't mean you yesterday, I meant the big scary scottish boy and the pretty blonde girl!" I tried to stifle a giggle. Loki looked terribly confused, but Jo had said exactly what I wanted her to say. That it was about Marius and Ally. Whatever she'd meant.

"Everyone makes mistakes, so don't worry about it," he said, uncomfortably. He still looked confused by her statement, though. "Who? What scary guy and what blonde?" he asked.

I felt incredibly nervous now, so I laughed a little forcefully and held up my apple so Loki could see it. "We're picking apples, see?" I told him, hoping to distract him from the tense conversation of the night before. "They taste so much better fresh, don't you think?" As if to prove myself right, I hastily bit off a chunk, chewed, and swallowed. "So, what were you up to today? And where have Ally and Marius been? I've been so bored!"

Loki was looking at Alex, a strange look on his face that I'd never seen before. "Are you feeling ok?" he asked, concerned.

Alex shrugged. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about something..and I don't want to think about it anymore." She looked up and put a big false smile on her face. "You know, I think I will try an apple!" she said, tearing a big one off of a low branch and taking a bite. Her face lit up. "Wow, Jordan! These are delicious!" She continued eating. I wondered if she didn't want to talk at all anymore.

Loki laughed and looked back over at me. "I haven't been up to anything today, and I haven't seen anyone, so I don't know where they are. But I do have a surprise!" He reached into his robes and pulled out his little calico kitten, Frey. "I figured he needed some fresh air, " he explained, "after being cooped up in the common room for so long."

I gasped in delight and reached over to grab the little kitten. "Frey!" I cooed, snuggling him to my face, and dangling the tassels of my scarf for him to play with. "I was trying to get him to come down and sit with me this morning, but even he was avoiding me." I told Loki. I looked at Alex and laughed; she was still choking down her apple.

"They're awesome, aren't they?" I said happily, feeling the tension lift.

Loki looked at me, smiling. "You called him? He must have slept as long as I did!" He stuck his hand out and played around with the kitten for a minute while I held him, but then frowned as his stomach growled, and reached up to grab one of the apples for himself.

We were then hailed by Marius, who told us he'd been walking by the lake, and his fox Felix, who was actually the one that found us. Joellen had fallen behind us while we walked around, silent.

"'Ello there!" Marius said jovially, hailing us. We greeted them and asked him where he'd been, and then I noticed Alex rooting through the leaves. She'd been speaking a moment before, but I hadn't heard what she'd said or seen what she'd dropped.

"What are you looking for, Alex?" I asked her, looking down. I continued to stroke Frey, who was now wrapped up in my scarf.

Joellen had approached us now, and was whispering to Loki, but I didn't catch that, either. She looked over a little and asked what Alex was looking for, as well.

"I dropped my wand." she explained, shifting the leaves around in the dark. I couldn't imagine how she could see anything; the sun was setting very fast.

Joellen, Marius, and Loki were behind us; it sounded as though she was introducing herself to both of them. I glanced at her, but my attention was diverted again by Alex bumping into my legs as she looked more frantically.

"What color is the wood, " I asked her, carefully dropping to my knees and using my free hand to help her look.

Behind me, Marius pulled out his own wand. "Let's see if we can shed some light on the situation!" he announced dramatically, holding the wand out, tip first. "Lumos!"

I was temporarily blinded by the spot of light it produced, and I looked up surprised. "Marius! I didn't know you knew any spells!" I said delightedly.

He smiled. "I've been practicing a little. Getting ready for classes, you know." He shined the light down on the leaves, and within a few moments, we were looking in earnest for the wand again. I shivered from the cold. Alex was still shuffling around, and she ran into a tree.

"Ow!" she said, rubbing her head and sitting down, her quest abandoned.

I raised my eyebrows at her. It seemed odd that she should bump her head after the light was around, but maybe it had surprised her, too. "Are you ok?" I asked kindly, still looking for the wand. Loki asked her, too.

"I'm sure she's fine. " a voice said. We looked up to see Jo, hands clasped behind her back, and staring off into space. She seemed rather unconcerned about our friend. Moments later Loki produced the lost wand. It was a dark reddish brown wood, and I felt a flare of jealousy. I did so want a wand of my own.

"Here it is!" he said, handing it back to Alex, who was by now recovered.

"I do so wish I had a wand" I said out loud this time, as Marius extinguished his light. He and Loki looked surprised at this.

"You don't have a wand?" Marius asked me. "That won't do, we'll have to see about getting over to Diagon Alley to get one of yorn." He stowed his wand into his pocket and looked at Alex, chuckling a little. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she repeated.

Jo walked back up, holding her arms around herself. "I'm cold, should we go in?"

I agreed with her. I wanted to be back in now that this grove had gotten so dark. One by one, we all voiced our agreement.

"Should we go to the table or get lost in the castle?" she asked us.

"I vote table, I am hungry," Loki piped up. I seconded that, and turned towards the castle, when Alex took off running.

"Last one there's a banshee!" she called back.

I laughed, feeling something lift from my shoulders like a fallen burden. So I started running, too. A few bounds ahead, I turned around and looked back at Loki. "Sorry for hogging your cat!" I yelled, "But if you want him to back, you'll have to beat me there!" I turned and ran full tilt, but Jo and Loki were faster. Jo raced on ahead of me, beating Alex through the doors, and Loki caught up to me, laughing.

As he rushed through the doors, however, he stopped, a look of terror on his face, and tripped over the final step, falling. He scrambled back to his feet as I came level with him, but he wouldn't speak to me. Anxiously, I checked the halls but saw nothing out of place, or even remotely scary looking, so I followed him through the doors to the Great Hall, confused and crestfallen. This was supposed to be fun. Hadn't he had fun? As we approached the table, I handed his kitten over to him, still draped in my blue scarf.

"You win.." I told him quietly.