Window Shopping ((Mandi))

[candygirl]

Terra looked up at her parents, who were watching her intently. She didn't falter under their gaze, although she wished they would stop looking at her like they were. Giving them a glare, Terra pursed her lips and crossed her arms across her chest. "I don't want to take him, Dad. Mom. He's not one of my kind so when I bring him into our shopping place..." Terra frowned as her parents shook their heads slowly. Jerry, her dad, might not understand, seeing as he was a muggle, but Jennifer, being a witch, should be able to comprehend her reasoning. Instead, she was agreeing with a muggle about magical places. Terra sighed, blowing her red hair out of her face. Her parent's smiles widened which thoroughly annoyed Terra. "Honey, don't you think Jerome would love to accompany you and see what you get to do at Hogwarts. He is your best-friend after all. And, you saw how he is. He really wants to go!" Jennifer's voice sounded through the room loudly and the last sentence had much feeling in it. She shook her head wildly at her parent's. Why couldn't they understand? It wasn't only the fact that Jerome was a muggle, it was also the fact that Terra had a huge crush on him. Her face brightened considerably at the thought of him, but she relied on the heat to make up for it. Her parents didn't seem to see it or mind. Terra looked down at her fingers as Jerry opened his mouth to speak. "Terra, you can go alone this time, but next time you will bring Jerome. He really wants to come with you and we think he deserves a chance." Terra nodded at his words but didn't look up. She knew that her father would be glowering at her and her mother would look rather care-worn. She stood up and walked out of the room and out the door.

The sunlight was bright and hot as Terra walked out the door to her house. Jerome wasn't anywhere in sight; his hopes must have been rather low. Terra felt guilty about it, but she told herself it was only until next time that he would get his wish. A faint smile crossed her lips as she thought about it. She had never gone anywhere with Jerome before, or at least all alone. Terra walked over to the train station, which wasn't as empty as it had been on her last visit. In fact, it was so crammed with people that the train was filled to the brim when Terra got on. She managed to find a space where she could stand and hold on to the railing, but it wasn't comfortable for the long ride to London. She heard her stomach grumble and she rubbed it wistfully, thinking of Florean Fortescue's ice-cream that would be waiting for her when she reached Diagon Alley. A few people near her looked her way but she ignored them by looking out the nearest window. The train had started to move, trees swishing by. The whistle sounded over-head, making her ears hurt slightly. Her legs were already aching to sit down but they hadn't even reached the first stop yet.

The jolt nearly unseated Terra once again. The busy London streets were looking as dreary as usual, but they looked very welcome to Terra. She lifted her face from the seat in front of her, grabbed her things, and hopped out of the train. The Leaky Cauldron was in sight now which made Terra quicken her pace all the more. Son, she had arrived at the door, allowing her quick access to Diagon Alley. Tom, the bartender, smiled in her direction. Terra returned the smile before entering Diagon Alley, her money bag rattling. She would have to exchange muggle money for the magical money, but that could wait until later. She still had a few galleons left, so she walked over to the ice-cream parlor, her mouth watering. It had been a good couple hours on the train and since then her stomach had become increasingly louder with each stop. A fresh grin split her lips as she reached the parlor. Florean Fortescue had seen her many times before, so they new eachother well enough. "Hello Miss Carlson. The usual then?" he greeted her good-naturedly. Terra nodded and she hastened to an empty table. It had two chairs both of which looked clean. Terra smiled and was glad that Florean was such a good shop-keeper. The seat squeaked slightly as she took a seat and awaited her ice-cream.

[livinghope1986]

Mandi looked up at her father with pleading eyes. "Dad, I'm almost 16 years old. I don't need you to accompany me to Diagon Alley. I'll be just fine," Mandi smiled. She was slightly annoyed by the fact that her dad was still worried about her, but it was also quite a warming feeling to know that he cared so much about her. 'Honey, it's not safe out there anymore. It's not safe anywhere. I'll be going with you,' her dad said. Mandi pulled out her puppy eyes and looked at her dad wistfully. "Please Daddy. Let me feel like a big girl and go by myself. I promise I'll call you as soon as I get outside the Leaky Cauldron. The cell phones don't work in there so you can know that I'm safe next to the Leaky Cauldron," Mandi pleaded. Her mother had been the one to get cell phones. Her dad and Mandi didn't need them really. After all what was a witch and wizard suppose to do with a cell phone? On the other hand, they came in handy sometimes, especially when Mandi wanted to go somewhere by herself and her parents seemed against it. Her father sighed and Mandi knew she had him. She kissed him on the cheek with a grin crossing her face, "I'll be back by 6, I promise. By mummy!" Mandi shouted as she flew to the fireplace. Taking a fist full of Floo Powder she jumped into the fireplace and stated, "Diagon Alley!"

Mandi jumped out of the fireplace on the other end as she began to dust ash off of herself. She smiled at the woman sitting behind the desk, watching the fireplaces. "Good morning," the woman smiled as she nodded her head in Mandi's direction. "Beautiful morning isn't it?" Mandi asked as she headed out the door and into the bright streets of Diagon Alley. She looked around the alley, it was beginning to become less cheerful. People were afraid to go out of their homes and Mandi pitied them. They'd never get anywhere in life if they just shut themselves up in their house.

Mandi felt in her jean pockets for her money. She only had a couple of knuts left. She needed to stop by Gringotts before she went anywhere. Quickly making her way to the wizarding bank Mandi pulled out the key to her private vault. She entered the bank and smiled generously at the goblins. "Mandi Aspden needs to make a withdrawal. Here's my key, it's vault 832," Mandi smiled at the head goblin. He motioned for another goblin and within seconds Mandi was flying down the tunnels of Gringotts. She leaned over the side trying to catch a glimpse of the dragons that were supposedly guarding the bank. She'd been trying to find them for 8 years, she doubted she'd ever see them. The cart came to a stop at her vault and she followed the goblin to the door. She quickly pocketed some galleons, sickles, and knuts from her small fortune stashed away.

Before long she was back out in the sunlight. It was rather hot and Mandi was in the mood for ice cream. She made her way to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. Stopping at the counter she ordered a strawberry ice cream cone. Mandi turned from the counter and looked for a seat. She saw a familiar face sitting and immediately approached the girl. "Hi Terra. How are you this fine day?" Mandi asked as she took the seat opposite of Terra. She smiled a wide grin at the girl as she waited for her response.

((Sorry, it's rather long. ))

[candygirl]

((Don't worry about it. I don't mind reading. ))

Terra looked up when she heard a familiar voice speak out. It was Mandi, the girl who had been with Terra on the bench that sunny day. "Hey Mandi! I'm doing fine, thanks. Just feeling slightly guilty that I didn't take my friend along. But he is a muggle so I can't just..." Terra trailed off, realizing that she had been talking more to herself than Mandi. She blushed slightly but tried to take no heed to it. "Yeah. I'm doing fine today. It's really nice actually. Good day for ice-cream." Terra's face split into a grin as she said this. It felt odd that she didn't mind talking about ice-cream in front of Mandi but it was also a welcoming feeling. She shifted in her chair so she could cross her legs and let the left one bob up and down. Still grinning, Terra strummed her fingers on the table. "How about you Mandi? Having a pleasant day?" Terra pulled back her long red hair away from her face. She wished she could take it off her neck, but without a hair holder, that was rather impossible. The suns' heat seemed to increase by a tenth-fold as she rested her eyes back on Mandi's, trying to relax and wait patiently for her ice-cream.

((Sorry, kind of short. ))

[livinghope1986]

Mandi listened carefully to Terra as she talked about her friend. Mandi didn't mind hearing Terra's confession on feeling bad for leaving them behind. Mandi liked to listen just as much as she loved to talk so she waited until Terra had finished and she had asked Mandi a question before she spoke.

"It is a beautiful day," Mandi smiled as she got up and spun around in the sunshine. She loved the sunshine and wished that the clouds would just leave the sky alone. She laughed a little to herself as she regained her composure and sat back down. Mandi couldn't help being the way she was. She had always been extremely happy even as a baby she was always laughing and smiling. She never really cried. She smiled happily at Terra. She felt that joy and love were the best medicines for the world.

"I understand what you mean about the muggles and showing them our world. My mum's a muggle and it's so hard to explain our world to her sometimes. She's come with me to Diagon Alley and stuff, but I have to explain everything to her. It's difficult, but there are ways to work through it. I just made sure to include my mum in everything that way she didn't feel left out. I remember the looks she used to give me when she didn't understand. I realized if I told her everything she started to understand more," Mandi shrugged. Her mum hadn't known anything about the wizarding world when she met her dad, but know her mum knew just about everything. Mandi had made a point of telling her everything since she started Hogwarts.

Mandi shrugged at Terra as she smiled. She wasn't sure if Terra understood everything she said, but she figured that the point had gotten across. She didn't have time to ask due to the big ice cream cone that came her way. She smiled brilliantly at the cone as she took it from the guy. "Thank you very much," Mandi smiled. She looked over at Terra to wait for her reply to Mandi's speech.

[candygirl]

Terra smiled as Mandi got up and spun around in the sunshine. She had no intention on joining her, but she wished she could. Terra had always been the one with a certain lack of confidence. She was getting better about it as she grew up, but it still showed many times. Leaning back in her chair, she was glad that Mandi hadn't asked her to join in the fun under the sun. She smiled at her casually flicking her red hair away from her eyes. "It's odd how some people like the rain more than days like this. I prefer days with a brilliant blue sky and no clouds." Terra smile broadened into a grin. Here she was, talking about the weather. It was something Mandi could understand though, so Terra gladly picked up on the subject. Terra was also happy when Mandi could relate to having a muggle or two in the family.

"Yeah, I sometimes wish I could do that also, but I just get fed up, I suppose." her smile turned into a sheepish one. Most of the time Terra never got angry or frustrated, but it must be natural. She flicked it away as though it was a bothersome fly before speaking again. "My mother was a witch, actually. My father is a muggle. I never knew of the wizarding world until I got my letter. My mum thought that her whole family would be one of muggles. I can't really blame her. I mean, I have seven older brothers. I'm the youngest in my family and the only daughter. All my brothers are muggles so it was quite a shock to find that the last child was a witch." Terra smiled serenely at Mandi, lost in her own thoughts. She came out of it when a man whom she didn't know brought them their ice-cream.

"Thanks." Terra replied with a grin as the man set off again for the next costumers. Terra had ordered mint ice-cream, her all time favorite. She turned her gaze over to Mandi. "Do you have any siblings?" she asked with genuine interest.

[livinghope1986]

Mandi smiled as Terra talked about the brilliant blue sky. "I don't know. I love the sunshine, but my favorite smell is that of rain. I guess it all depends. Rain can be somewhat depressing, but if you're with the right people it can be joyful!" Mandi laughed. She loved to be joyful and she couldn't help but smile. Her whole life seemed to be filled with joy and that meant everything to her.

Mandi listened with interest as Terra talked about her family. "Seven brothers! My that must be exciting! Do they do that older brother protection thing? That must be hard for you?" Mandi said quietly. The smile was still on her face, but there was a glint of concern in her eyes. She wondered how Terra handled it. It seemed almost unreal that she was the only witch in her family other than her mum.

Mandi took a small bite out her ice cream as she looked intently at Terra. She had just asked Mandi if she had any siblings. "I was an older sister for about a week. My mum gave birth prematurely to my brother we were going to name Alex. His lungs weren't fully developed and his heart was weak," Mandi replied. It was a long time ago and the memory wasn't hurtful, it was just a memory. It seemed ages ago that she had sat upon her dad's lap as he tried to explain to her what death meant. She was only 5 after all. "Some things just aren't meant to be. I've accepted the fact that I was supposed to live and my brother was supposed to die. It was sad, but I can't change it and so it's not worth dwelling on. It's like that old saying, 'When one door closes another opens, but sometimes we look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us'," Mandi shrugged as she laughed. She realized that she had been talking more for her own sake than for Terra's. "Sorry, I have a tendency to talk a lot, Motor Mouth is what my mum calls me."

[candygirl]

Terra smiled at Mandi, not really understanding the concept of rain in which she held it in. Rain being joyful was not one of Terra's thought about it. She didn't let any confusion cross her face, just one of intrigue. She tried to think of rain being joyful, but all she could really think of was all the things that were possible when it wasn't raining. Those were the type of things she loved to do. When the rain was keeping Terra indoors, she was locked up with her whole family, which always turned out to be a less than pleasant scenario. Terra smiled knowingly at Mandi, who seemed somewhat dumb-founded that Terra actually had seven brothers.

"Actually, they aren't for the brother protection thing at all. They are all rather independent and they expect me to be the same." Terra paused, thinking about her own statement. Was she independent? In a few of her special ways, yes but in other ways she was a shy girl who seeked the leader-ship of others. She swept all thoughts of this from her mind and turned to face Mandi again. "It was hard for me until I got accepted at Hogwarts." she admitted dully. "All my brothers were very sporty, you know, they liked to do sports and were good at it. I mean - dint' get me wrong, I like sports but I just can't do it. I was the child who got the good grades, and to my parents, that just wasn't as good as being a baseball star or what not." Terra sighed, a little embarrassed that she had just laid a small insult on her parents. Turning her gaze to her ice-cream, she noted that it was starting to melt. She ate it contentedly until Mandi started speaking about her own siblings. Terra frowned and let a small smile of sympathy cross her features.

"I'm so sorry." she said quietly and meant every word of it. She wasn't sure if Mandi would take it, for it sounded like she had gotten over it quite well, but Terra felt the need to say that. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to survive thinking that she could of had a younger brother, but now the thought was actually some what tempting. She frowned at her own train of thoughts; she loved her brothers dearly and would give nothing for them. She sighed and began licking her ice-cream when Mandi said that her mother called her a Motor Mouth. "Ah, don't worry Mandi!" Terra said with a slight giggle. "All mothers are like that. I don't have a nick-name quite yet, but I'm sure one will pop up in the near future." she licked her ice-cream for it was starting to reach the hand that was holding the cone. Turning back to her, she went on. "I'm rather talkative too, if you haven't noticed. I'm quiet at first, but once I get to know someone, I become light-headed a suppose."

[livinghope1986]

Mandi ate her ice cream contently while Terra talked about her brothers. Mandi thought it terribly interesting to hear about people and their siblings. It was fascinating to know if they got a long or if they fought. If they protected each other or needed protection from each other.

Mandi smiled as Terra apologized for her brother. "Nay, don't worry about it. It was so long ago that it's like I said, just a memory. Their are good times and bad times, we just choose what to make of them. I was lucky for one week. I knew what it felt like to be an older sister and all I wanted was to protect my little brother, but I couldn't. But at least I got to have that experience, while some people don't even get that," Mandi smiled as she took a big bite of ice cream and felt a brain freeze coming on.

"Oh, brain freeze," Mandi smiled as she tilted her head to the right. It was something her mummy had taught her when she got a brain freeze. Just tip your head to the right and it would go away. Mandi giggled to herself as she straightened out her head.

Mandi watched as Terra seemed to enjoy Mandi's nickname. Terra was right about herself: she was shy to begin with, but she did have a talkative side as well. "You're right about the talkative thing. But I think most people are like that. Well, maybe not me, I seem to be a motor mouth around everyone whether I know them or not," Mandi laughed to herself. It was rather true, she found that she just loved to talk to everyone whether they were going to pay attention or not. "It's good to see you lighten up a bit though. You're always so quiet and rather shy. Of course, it's hard for me to understand that. When I'm quiet people think I've died. You see, it doesn't happen too often. Just usually when I'm reflecting on the day or meditating, but even then I hum to myself," Mandi laughed again. "I guess I just kind of fell in love with the sound of my own voice." Mandi laughed at her own joke about herself. Her jokes weren't that funny, but Mandi found them terribly enjoyable and laughed at them anyways. She looked up at Terra to see her reaction.

[candygirl]

Terra smiled at Mandi. She was enjoying having her in her company, for she always listened to what Terra had to say before speaking again. It was nice to know that she cared what Terra had to say. The young red-haired girl started to consume her ice-cream as Mandi spoke again about her younger brother. Terra nodded in understanding, although she would have hated to have that experience. She didn't tell Mandi that though. She was impressed to see that nothing could actually bother her. Terra was the exact opposite; a girl who measured her words before speaking and always thought before acting. She continued to eat ice-cream, not wishing to speak on the subject of Mandi's lost baby brother any longer. When it passed, Mandi had a brain freeze. Terra giggled behind her hand. Once the odd effect of cold ice-cream wore off, Mandi immediately started up again. Terra giggled once more, but stopped as Mandi started to talk about her own way of meeting people.

"Er... Yes, I suppose I am like that. Well, actually, I know I'm like that. I just kind of wish I wasn't, 'cause it seems to be easier to make friends by talking. Do you ever get that feeling?" Terra secretly doubted it, for Mandi wouldn't know what it was like if you met someone while only saying a few words. Terra pulled out a pair of sunglasses for the bright sun had been getting to her eyes. Putting them on, Terra knew that they must look strange. Her pale complexion did not go well with the black lenses of the glasses. Terra grinned at a darker Mandi. "I can kind of relate to falling in love with your own voice, except I didn't exactly fall in love with my voice. Do you play an instrument, Mandi?" she paused, looking Mandi up and down as if that would decide if she could play. Shaking her head a little, Terra took another bite of ice-cream before saying, "I do. I play the guitar. Hard to believe, isn't it? Well, anyway, I think I've kind of fallen in love with the sound of my voice in the music, you know? I like my voice with the music, but without it, it's like bland."

[livinghope1986]

Mandi smiled brightly as she finally took a bite of her cone so she could get to the ice cream. She was listening to Terra talk about how she got to know people. Mandi had a smile that extended from ear to ear on her face when Terra asked her if she ever found it hard to talk to people. "Never had that problem. I've always been this way. It has it's ups and downs. So does your situation. For instance, you make friends that you can really count on that are really loyal, because they take the time to get past the walls you've built up. However, with me I only have one or two close friends and then a whole bunch of friends that I could never count on. Ones that would take advantage of me the first chance they get. It will be less likely for you to find people like that since you are shy. Think of it as a blessing," Mandi smiled. She knew what she was talking about. She had had plenty of so called friends hurt her, but she didn't let it bother her anymore. You got to put your past behind ya. Mandi thought to herself as the old memories surfaced. She was never discouraged by the memories, but she did learn from them. Of course, her learning had resulted in not letting people get to see the real her. She looked back at her ice cream cone and took another bite. It was getting sticky from where the ice cream had fallen on her hand.

Mandi looked back up at Terra who had placed dark sunglasses on her face. It was slightly amusing to see the dark shades cover her pale complexion, but Mandi just smiled as she listened to Terra talk about falling in love with her own voice. Mandi knew what Terra was talking about before she finished. "I play piano and guitar, it's something my mum always wanted me to do. So I took it up for her when I was 5. It's something I've always enjoyed, but I don't know if I would have ever gotten the opportunity if it hadn't been for my mum. Singing, now that's something that my mum can do real well. I think she'd been doing that right now if she hadn't met my dad," Mandi smiled. She felt bad that her mum had never pursued her dreams, but maybe she found something more important.

Mandi quickly focused her attention back on Terra. "I can sing all right, not as good as my mum, at least I think so. My mum disagrees, but I don't," Mandi smiled. She had been debating the fact with her mum for ages. "Maybe someday we could sit down and play together? I've written a few songs of my own. Not very good ones, but I'd accept some criticism." Mandi loved writing songs, they were more like poems that she had just put music to. Reminded her of her mum's favorite musician from the muggle world named Bob Dylan, although he couldn't really sing. Mandi waited for Terra's reply to her offer.

[candygirl]

Terra smiled. "I suppose I could call it a blessing. But - wouldn't that make yours a curse?" she blurted out, forgetting all pretense. Horror-struck at what she said, she started to speak again. "I - don't - I didn't mean - " Each word tumbled out of her mouth and tripped over another. Terra took a tremendous breath to calm herself. Why did she always get like this? Her ice-cream had dribbled onto her hand and Terra quickly stemmed the flow. "Sorry, Madi. I didn't mean it like that. It's just, if you're saying mine's a blessing, then...since your different wouldn't it be....?" she let the question hanging, having no desire whatsoever to finish it. Instead, she kept her gaze downward. "I think I have to disagree about the blessing though. It's really hard to make friends when they think that I don't like them. Just because I'm not all that talkative with them. It doesn't mean I'm not friendly or anything, but when people first meet me it's different." Terra sighed, signaling her distress on the subject. Not wishing to discuss it any longer, Terra cast around for a new subject. For a while, her brain had reached a blank. She thought that she saw Mandi look at her. Terra's face brightened but she didn't say anything just yet. She knew that she was probably just looking at her because of the shades, but it still made Terra feel distinctly uncomfortable.

Keeping the smile pasted on her face, Terra cast around once more. What to say? Her ice-cream was now turning rapidly to liquid. Terra stopped her train of thoughts to give her devoted attention to the mint ice-cream. Licking it as fast as her tongue could, Terra forgot about Mandi for a few minutes. She kept on having to get up to get napkins. Once the ice-cream and cone were totally gone, both the former and the latter could be found laying on the table in small chunks. Terra's lips and mouth were terribly sticking and the napkins kept on sticking to her fingers. Terra gave Mandi a sticky smile before licking her lips to try to make some of it go away. She smiled genuinely at her offer.

"That would be wonderful!" she exclaimed loudly, catching a few curious glares from tables nearby. Ignoring them, Terra grinned happily. "You make up your own songs? I do too, except I've only sang twice so far. I'm sure you're much better than me. After all, you started at the age of five...." Terra gabbled on, completely over-joyed on the offer. Trying to keep herself exploding, she asked, "now, where do you live?"

[livinghope1986]

Mandi took another bite of her cone when Terra replied to her comment about making friends. "I suppose I could call it a blessing. But - wouldn't that make yours a curse?" Terra said quickly. Mandi was slightly taken back by the comment but soon she laughed. "I never thought of it that way, but yeah I guess it could be. You know maybe we're both cursed and it's only the people who are in the middle that are blessed?" Mandi said still laughing. "Don't worry about it, I don't mind," Mandi said when she noticed Terra was having a hard time get back into a conversation. Mandi figured she had never been so out spoken about something that could have offended someone. Mandi smiled. Terra might be shy, but at least she had a backbone.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, Terra getting up to get napkins every now and then. Mandi took the last bite of her cone and pulled something out of her purse. It was hand sanitizer, her mum had always made sure she had some. It was dreadfully handy when Mandi wasn't at school. After all, magic would be the easiest, but since she's not allowed to do magic while she's underage she used the hand sanitizer. "You want some, it'll make the stickiness go away," Mandi smiled as she handed the bottle to Terra.

"I really would like to get together with you to sing and play sometime. I live right outside Brighton on the seaside. It's beautiful. I'm not so sure that I'm better than you. Some people are born with musical talent, while others have to develop it over years and years of hard work. So do you want to figure out a time you can come over now or do you want to call me," Mandi smiled as she licked her lips. She smiled at the fact that she had a phone. Most wizards and witches couldn't even use one, let alone have one. She on the other hand had a muggle mother who seemed to enjoy talking on the phone. She smiled as Terra replied.

[candygirl]

Terra was greatly relieved when Mandi didn't take any offense to it. She wasn't sure if she had said the right thing, but she was glad she wasn't taking it personally. Grinning from ear to ear and laughed along with Mandi. "I suppose. I guess those are the lucky people then." she smiled. Terra wasn't unhappy with the way she was. She was glad that she was different in some way to Mandi and others. It made her special. She would never change just to fit in with others. If they didn't like how she was, then that was their own problem. Terra smiled again and gratefully took a sanitizer wipe from Mandi. She wiped her hands with it, making sure to scrub at the stickier spots. When she was done, she stood up to throw it into the garbage that was nearest. Sitting back down, she rubbed her hands together, glad that the stickiness was totally gone.

"Most magical folks don't carry those around." Terra remarked. "But I'm glad you do. It's a relief to have all the sticky stuff off. Ice-cream may be good, but it's a real sticky mess. " she grinned and actually thought about getting up to get another cone. That was rather stupid though, ice-cream was bad for her and having too much might just take a toll on Terra's slim frame. She shook her head and sat back down more comfortably in the chair. It wasn't what she would call comfortable, but it served it's purpose. The hard back part made her back ache but the young girl was used to such a thing. At her house, the chairs were as bad and if not, worse. She smirked at the thought before turning her attention back to Mandi, who was speaking again. She grinned as she listened to what she had to say. It all sounded wonderful, but would her parents approve?

"Yeah, that would be wonderful. I live in Dublin. You know, Ireland? I'm not really sure where Brighton is. What country?" Terra paused, thinking about the idea of calling her parents. They might not be home, but if they were who knew what mood they would be in? She frowned at Mandi. "You have a phone with you? Right now? Umm....Well, might as well ask them and get it over with, right?" Terra's bright smile was back on his sticky lips once more and she smiled at Mandi while reaching out her hand to take the phone.

[livinghope1986]

Mandi smiled at Terra. She was so different from Mandi, maybe that's why Mandi was so intrigued by her. She had a habit of reading people when she met them, but Terra was like an onion, so many layers to read and not many people got to see all of them. She really did want to get to know Terra more. After all, they seemed to get along pretty well even though they were socially different.

"Well hand sanitizers can come in real handy when you're an underage witch out of school. Besides my mum is really big on hygiene. I have to wash my hands all the time, she's real big on clean, which I don't mind. I guess you could say I take after her a bit," Mandi said as she placed the hand sanitizers back in her purse. She checked the time on her cell quickly before she closed her purse. She still had a few hours before she had to get back home.

"Oh, you live in Dublin?" Mandi asked in surprise. She hadn't even realized that while she was talking with Terra. "I've only been to Ireland a few times to see family, they live in Cork. It's nice there. A very musical city. I live Southeast from here. Brighton, England. It's on the Southeast coast. It's really nice. I enjoy it a lot, the town is very exciting and has interesting muggle things I can do during the holidays." Mandi smiled. She pulled out her phone at Terra's request. "Nothing fancy, just dial the number and then hit the green phone. It should start calling right away," Mandi explained as she handed the phone over to Terra's outstretched hand. She hoped Terra's parents would let her come over sometime to play some music. If not, maybe Mandi could go over there. It would be fine with her either way. She just wanted to get to know Terra better.