Needed and Wanted ((Ingrid))

[Padme Rendel S2]

Padme jumped as Cameron called her name. "Yes?!" she yelled back to him. They were sitting in the same room, but they always had a yelling competition. It wasn't something fun, though. Cameron was always thinking that something was wrong with his step-daughter, and he felt the need to yell at her. "Go do something!" he yelled back, his nose buried in a newspaper. Padme rolled her eyes but got up off the couch and headed out the door. She grabbed a visor before stepping out of the house. The sunshine was terribly bright, which made Padme happy to have the visor. It shaded her eyes nicely, making Padme smile in satisfaction.

She moved through London, feeling lost. She wanted to be needed by someone; to be wanted. At home she was only wanted by her mom, but she apparently wasn't need, considering Tessa was never home. Only Cameron was there, and he treated her like a deaf retarded child. Padme shook her head at the thought of him before putting her hair up in a neat pony-tail. It was humid outside, since summer was here it made sense. Some people watched as she walked by; Padme would often glare at people for entertainment. She didn't feel like going anywhere she had been before, so she entered a tiny shop that contained all kinds of things. Padme mentally smacked herself for forgetting her money. This place had some interesting stuff that she wouldn't mind buying. Padme sighed and sat down in one of the few chairs in the shop.

She looked at the shelves nearest to her with curiosity, wondering what the glass figurine was called, or the paper things that hung from the ceiling were. They had tails of some sort, and they were in the shape of a diamond. Padme stared at the strange things in the shop, her eyebrows contracted, trying to guess what they were called. In the other corner of the shop was a big T.V. which Padme got up to look at. It was somehow attached to the wall; it looked to be a part of the wall. Padme say a child a year older than her holding a small odd mechanical thing. It had some buttons on it and a small twisting thing. It was attached to a black box that sat near the huge T.V. As Padme looked closer, she noticed the black thing was attached to the T.V. too. She sighed, giving up on whatever the thing was, and huffed over to the other side of the shop.

On this side there was a small thing that resembled a T.V. but it was smaller. A small black thing was attached to it also, and it had a weird rolling thing in the middle of it. The small T.V. was sitting on the desk, a small button on the bottom of the screen was blinking. It said power, and Padme cautiously pushed it on. Instantly, the screen was filled with many things, including lots of small boxes that said stuff like: e-mail or yahoo. Padme raised her eyebrows and reached out toward the black thing. She moved it and a small arrow moved on the screen. Fascinated and stunned, Padme moved it over to one of the boxes. Nothing happened. Disappointed, Padme bit her lip. She wanted to learn how to control this....this thing. She didn't want to ask the manager, for he would probably looked appalled that she didn't know how to work it. Padme looked around but everything else in the shop was small and made of cloth or glass. She sat down in the chair next to the small T.V. when the door opened, making a bell ring from somewhere inside the shop.

[Ingrid Lewis H4]

"So I told her- I said- 'Princess, you simply can't wear that gown to the ball. It is ghastly!' And can you guess what she said to me? She told me that even if it be ghastly, she was going to wear it because her mother made it. That caused the whole court to laugh..."Andrea's friend Dani's voice was annoying the whole Lewis family with the phoney story of how she was with the Princess all day two days ago. Danielle had a very wild imagination. So do I, but at least I'm not a compulsive liar like she is. Mummy says I put my imagination to good use. While Dani on the other hand, doesn't. Ingrid pushed her tea cake around on her plate with her fork, her elbow on the table and her head propped in her hand. Ingrid hated tea time, she couldn't sit still for the life of her. She hated it even more when Dani had tea with them.

Ingrid was almost asleep when the bell rang and everyone pushed back their chairs, walking as fast as they could away from Danielle. We also have tea for one hour, and the times Danielle joins us are the worst. Ingrid was one of the first people to leave the table, her napkin flying behind her as she ran to the front door- to her freedom. Janine trailed behind her, but Ingrid didn't want her sister to be with her for this trip. Ingrid turned on her heel and looked at the girl who looked exactly like herself. The same pale blonde hair, the same big blue eyes, and the same mischevious smile. It was almost uncanny.

"No, Janine. You can't come this time. Tell Mummy I'm going with Andrea." Ingrid said with a soft tone of voice. She then turned to leave again. That's the good thing about Mummy, she trusts me enough to go out on my own. As long as I tell her where I am going and I call her if I am going to be more than an hour late. Daddy on the other hand doesn't like me to go out alone, but there isn't much he can do about it when Mummy says it's alright. Janine stared after her older sister, sighed sadly, and then turned back into the house. Going to tell her mother that her older sister was already leaving.

10 minutes later- she was at the airport with her oldest sister. They landed in London 1 hour later.London's amazing! I go every chance I get! That's not very often, and I'm glad I can go now! I want to visit Ernie at the electronics shop on Main Street. I haven't seen him in awhile and he owes me three lollipops from our last bet. Ernie and I always bet on horses, and he always loses. He calls me lucky, but I think I'm just smart because I always choose the same horse. The streets were soaked in London, and unlike Mossley there wasn't a rainbow in sight. Ingrid sighed at this and took a quick left, heading towards Main Street Electronics.

She pushed open the door and heard the bell jingle. Everyone looked to her, and in an instant she was in Ernie's arms. "Ingrid! What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here, does your mother know you are here?" Ernie asked as he set her down on the counter. Ingrid shook her head and said, "May I use your phone to call her?" Ernie smiled and nodded. Ingrid moved to get off the counter but Ernie stopped her; "Hold on a second Sweets. I believe, I owe you these." And in his hand he had three lollipops and Ingrid giggled while taking them, "I thought you forgot." She said as she hopped down.

After she called her mother, she looked around the shop. Her eyes rested on the computer and the person who was at the computer. The girl looked to be about Ingrid's age, and she seemed to not know what she was doing. Ingrid walked over to her and popped a lollipop in her mouth. Yummy! "Hi there! Want a lolli? Whatcha doing? Don't you know how to work a computer? I'm Ingrid Lewis. I'm eleven. Would you like some help?" She asked a million questions at once; she couldn't help it, her excitement was over bearing.

[Padme Rendel S2]

Padme heard the store keeper shout out in surprise. Padme looked up to see who was there. It looked to be a girl about her age, and she seemed to know the storekeeper. Padme watched as the store keeper gave the girl a hug and then gave her some...candy, was it? I wish I got sweets. My parents never get me anything like that. It's always the same thing over and over. Nothing fancy or sweet. Padme sighed and turned back to the small T.V. that she was trying to figure out. She was soon interrupted when the girl came over and asked Padme about a million questions. Padme smiled at the girl. She seemed very excited about something. Padme couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at her, but she decided to let this girl have a chance. I can't be mean yet. I have to get to know girls my age. But this girl seems to be a muggle. I don't know what I should say to her.

"Hello, Ingrid Lewis. I'm Padme Rendel." Padme paused slightly. What in this world is a lolli? "What's a..lolli? Oh, I'm eleven too and I'm going to go to Hog-" She mentally slapped herself. She had almost said that she was a witch in front of this muggle girl. Who knows. Maybe she is a witch. Just a...muggle born. "Right..so-this is a computer? No, I don't know how to work it. Could you...erm...teach me how?" Padme was surprised that she could be so nice. It was nice that she wasn't arguing and that she could have a real conversation with someone that she didn't even know.

[Ingrid Lewis H4]

"Hi!" Ingrid said with a smile that was cherry red from the lollipop. She pulled up a stool next to Padme and reached over to the speakers, turning it up some. She then took the mouse and clicked on a file that said "Ingrid's music." Loads of music files came up and she clicked on "Bumble Bee Song." Then she minimumised the file-folder before turning back to Padme and handing her a lolli, "It's a sucker. You know- candy? It tastes real good. Try it!" She told her with another cherry colored smile. I always have cherry lips, but they get much much redder when I eat a cherry lolli.

After Ingrid gave Padme the lolli, she pointed at the mouse, "This is called the mouse, you move it around and it moves around that little arrow on the screen. You click this button, and it opens things or directs you to a new place. To shut down the computer, you go to start and click on it. Then you go to shut down. Then you click ok. To start it, you press the power button. It will boot up, then you have to type in the password. Now, if you click on this button that says "internet explorer" you will be on the internet. The internet is this system that is connected to just about everyone in the whole wild world. A buddy list is where you talk to your friends or family on the computer. You have to use the keyboard to type. And all you do is push down the buttons of hte letter you want to type. Ok?" Ingrid explained the basics. She would get into the more complicated things later on. I wouldn't know so much about computers if Mark hadn't taught me how to download my own music on his. He doesn't like me listening to his music, so he taught me how to download music and listen to it. Mark's a computer whiz!

"Now there are other really confusing parts of the computer, but I don't have time to teach all of that to you today. So where are you from? Are you from around here? I'm from Mossley. That's a far way away. I came here because my older sister Andrea wanted to take me on a vacation. We flew here on an aeroplane. It was loads of fun! Have you ever ridden on an aeroplane?" Ingrid was starting to ramble again, but she was so curious. She wanted to know as much as she could about this person. THe only other 11 year old she knew was Sita, and Sita was her bestest best friend in the world!

[Padme Rendel S2]

Padme took the lolli from Ingrid with a smile. "Thanks." She popped it into her mouth. It was green and tasted like apples. These things muggles have. Actually, it tastes really good. Surprisingly. Padme tried to understand what Ingrid was saying, but it seemed like the girl was speaking another language. Mouse? Isn't a mouse an animal? That thing doesn't look alive though. I don't get it. I can't speak this language! Padme gave up, but listened to what Ingrid was explaining. It all sounded rather complicated, but she seemed to know what she was doing. Padme watched in awe as Ingrid loaded a whole new screen that had music on it. Wow! That's really nifty. She smiled at Ingrid. "I think I'm starting to get it now...." she said slowly, although it wasn't true.

"I live right here in the heart of dreary London." Padme said with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "It's not the best place to live. I've never heard of Mossley before. Where's it at?" Then, Ingrid started talking about something that was totally different. What? She's confusing me. What's an areplane? "You're going on vacation here?" she asked with disbelieve. "Well, no. I've never ridden an areolane. Sorry, but what's is it?" She was starting to feel increasingly stupid, not knowing what things were. She sighed and tried to put on a straight face, hoping that Ingrid would think that she was some weirdo.

(( When I spelled aeroplane wrong, I really meant it that way since that's the way Padme's saying it. Just wanted to make sure you knew about that. ))

[Ingrid Lewis H4]

Ingrid's jaw dropped as the girl said she didn't know what an aeroplane was. Ingrid shook her head and looked at this girl again, "Oh, dear! You can't explain what an aeroplane is! It simply isn't done! You must must must experience an aeroplane in order to understand it!" She said as she jumped up and grabbed Padme's hand- dragging her over to Ernie, who was stationed behind his desk going over a few piles of paper. Ingrid hopped up on the counter, and smoothed out her jumper, before looking at Ernie with those blue puppy dog eyes. I always get my way when I give him the eyes. Ernie's a pilot. He owns his own little plane in the back, there's a long take off strip and sometimes he takes me up in the air with him. I wonder if he'll take me and Padme with him for a little short fly.

"What is it, Sweets?" Ernie asked, looking up from his bills. Ingrid tilted her head and pointed to Padme, "Padme Rendel has never ever ever heard of an aeroplane. And I was wondering if you would please pretty prettty pretty please take her and I up in your little plane and fly us around for a little while. Manny can watch the store. Please Ernie. Please?" Ingrid stood up on the counter and put her arms around his neck, "Please....?" She put all her weight on his neck and swung around. Ernie caught her before she hit the floor, and laughed as he set her down.
"Sure. Let me tell Manny, and I'll start up Bessy." He told her and then walked to the back. Ingrid smiled and skipped over to Padme with another smile, "You're in for a treat. Come on let's go!" She grabbed her hand again and pulled her towards the back.

Once they reached the back, Ingrid smiled up at the red plane. The plane stood grandly in front of them. It shined, even though the sun wasn't exactly out today. Ingrid looked at Padme and said, "This is Bessy. She is an aeroplane. Are you afriad of heights, Padme? I sure hope not. Because this plane goes high!" Ingrid hopped over to the plane and opened the door to the passenger seats. Ingrid sat down and buckled in, waiting for Padme to follow suit.

[Padme Rendel S2]

Padme wrenched her hand away from Ingrid's. I'm not going to let her drag me around! She doesn't know who she's messing with! Padme slouched behind Ingrid as they walked to the counter. She talked to the man about the plain thing and then the man agreed to it. Padme raised her eyebrows but had no time to dwell on what they were doing when Ingrid dragged her away again. Padme let her do it this time; she didn't feel like fighting back. They were soon out of the shop and by a read thing with wings. Padme stared up at it with wide eyes, her face flooding with excitement.

"This thing...flies?" She asked in astonishment. Bessy. Why does it have a name if it isn't alive? Padme sighed and followed what Ingrid was doing. Once inside they aeroplain, Padme watched what she did and then did the same. A leather strap went around her shoulder and waist, which wasn't very comfortable for Padme. She looked at Ingrid and then decided to complain. "Do I have to were this?" She asked, plucking at the belt.

[Ingrid Lewis H4]

Ingrid giggled, "Not unless you want to fall out of the aeroplane. It's a safety precaution. Don't worry, Ernie has a pilot's liscence. He's very experienced in this area of flying. This plane was given to him by his great gradnfather. It's not that old though. So don't worry about it falling out of the sky. Even if it did, Ernie would save us." She explained to Padme as Ernie came out, his aviator goggles, helmet, and scaf on. Ingrid giggled at this site, and said to Padme; "He always thinks he has to dress up. It's rather funny if you ask me."

Ernie got into the pilots seat and turned to look at the girls, "Now, Ing, I know you know all the safety rules- so please explain them to your friend while I start her up." He smiled as Ingrid saluted him and began her flight attendants directions. She pointed to the doors and the parachutes, "In case of an emergency, please grab a parachute- strap it on, and jump out of the plane via the door located on your right side. You will find a string on your parachute count to 20 and then pull the string. A big bag like balloon will open up and you will land safely in an area- most likely down town London. There is no restroom, so please hold it if you must go. Please keep your arms, hands, and feet inside the aeroplane at all times. Do not unbuckle your safety belt under any circumstances. And please, enjoy the flight." Ingrid finished with a smile and settled down in her seat. A few moments later, the plane taxid down the runway and was up in the air. Ingrid laughed an clapped her hands before pointing to the ground, completely disobeying the rule; "Look at how small they are! They're like ants! Hi little ants!" She waved and giggled again.