Drop Me a Line, Sis ((Dixie))

[Mackenzie Holden]

“There’s me, looking down at my shoes, the one smiling like the sun that’s you. What were you thinking, what was the song inside your head? There’s us, going on about a band, working out how we play our hand. I lay there dreaming later all alone in my bed.” It’s funny how people will push away and tear away from the ones they love. I don’t seem to have that problem, the ones I love seem to just run away from me. My sister, though, is doing the running and this is for her. “If I was stupid, maybe careless, so were you!” That’s nothing new for her, though, the running. Dixie has always taken the easy way out of things… I thought she had matured, but obviously not. “Not everything is supposed to come true, some things are best unsaid, and some love isn’t really love at all. I’ll keep everything I’ve shared with you, and that’s enough, there’s us.” Sometimes I just want to jump in and finish everything for her, but I can’t. All I can do is pretend that everything is going to be okay. This song is to remind her of that. “Freeze-frame, I’m not about to cry. It’s too late for us to change. Why try? I’ve got a camera, tucked away inside my heart.” Now if only I can get it done before she has to leave.

Mack’s eyes lifted to watch Tommy behind the glass, who gave her the thumbs up sign and a nod as he looked over at Georgia. She smiled, and continued to sing; “If I’m a loser, or just unlucky, so are you! Not everything is supposed to come true, some words are best unsaid, and some love isn’t really love at all. I’ll keep everything I’ve shared with you, and that’s enough, there’s us.” They had been at this for hours. Of course, the music had been pre-recorded earlier on in the week when she had gotten the idea for the song, but the lyrics (which had been written long before the music) hadn’t been recorded until today. They had been working on it all day, and the take they were doing at the moment had been their best one. Mack moved her hand to touch the headphones that were over her ear and she began the next part; “Somewhere between then and now, I look away when you said we’ll never change! And if you think what might have been, you’ll lose today and we’ve got songs to play!” Her eyes closed again as she bent slightly to the ground, trying to push the air from her diaphragm. C’mon, one more verse.

Ten minutes later, Mack was rapping her fingers on the top of Tommy’s head as the CD took forever to burn. He reached up and grabbed her hand so she would stop, and immediately she muttered a sorry. When the disc drive opened, Mack plucked the CD out of it before Tommy could even touch it and snapped it into the case. She barreled through the double doors and snapped her sunglasses down over her blue eyes. Checking her watch as she hailed a cab, she noted she had twenty minutes until Dixie’s plane took off. A taxi stopped beside her and she slid in and rattled off the name of the airport before sliding lower in the seat. She counted off the minutes in her head as the car got stuck in traffic. Mack scowled as the taxi driver pulled out a book, “You know what?” she said as she took money from her pocket and threw it at him, “I’ll walk.” She pushed open the door and started the jog down the sidewalk to the airport (knowing she wouldn’t get there in time) when she was yanked into the alleyway. Mack looked up in shock but stopped when she saw Tommy grinning down at her, “Wizard, remember?” and with that, they were off with a pop. Mack hated apparating and it had only taken her once to know that, but it did the trick and in moments they were in a closet at the airport. She kissed Tommy on the cheek and pushed open the door, picking up her pace toward Dixie’s gate. Tommy had managed to apparate them past security, which saved her loads of time.

The gates kept counting upward, and soon she was at gate 6. She lunged onto the chair by a trashcan and peered over the crowd of travelers. If only she could spot Dix. There! Mack jumped down from the chair and weaved her way to the familiar head of dark brown hair. “Dixie! Wait!” Mack reached out and plucked Dixie’s sleeve, pulling her over to the side. She took in a deep breath and smiled, “Sorry. I just… wanted to give you this.” Mack thrust the CD to Dixie who raised an eyebrow but took it anyway. “It’s a song I wrote for you, thought it might help to hear your little sister’s voice when you’re in Paris… away from all the big shots at school.” A smile graced Dixie’s face and then, she did something that Mack hadn’t expected her to, she pulled her into a hug. Mack stood there, dumbfounded a moment, and then hugged Dixie back. They hugged for awhile until the lady at the desk said that she had to board, and then they pulled away. Mack smiled, “Drop me a line sometime, Sis, try not to forget us little people.”

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

Dixie yanked a brush through her hair and twisted it up into a clip. She had stayed the past couple of nights at a hotel provided by the airport because her stupid flight kept getting cancelled for some freak snow storm. Now it seemed to be clearing up, and as far as Dixie knew, the flight wasn’t cancelled… the day was still young, though. The television was on behind her and she watched it in the mirror as she twisted the eyeliner up and started to draw it underneath her eye. It took her twenty minutes total to finish her make-up, and then she took another ten to get dressed. Dixie carried an extra change of clothes and her make up in her carry on bag, knowing that sometimes things got sticky and she probably wouldn’t get her luggage back if she threatened the people with avada kedavra, not that they would know what that was. One look at the digital clock beside the bed and Dixie knew she was running later than she had planned. She checked her bags once more, clicked off the telly, and switched the lights off before leaving the room. The shuttle to take her to the terminal was already waiting for her, and within moments she was heading to the check in and the security check. She was shifting her weight uncertainly, trying to keep her mind off all the misery that had flooded back into it. She had promised him she wouldn’t leave… and here she was… leaving. She was such a coward. Dixie raised her arms so the security guard could move the portable metal detector over her, but her mind was still somewhere else. How could she do something like this? Leave someone she loved so much? She knew how. It was because she was selfish. Dixie Anne Holden couldn’t be anything else except selfish.

She stepped out of the security area and made her way to the gate her plane was supposed to be leaving from. It was packed from travelers who were held back from the previous cancellations and the travelers who were getting on their first flight. If they’re lucky, Dixie thought bitterly as she sank into a seat. She let a sigh escape her as she dropped her head onto the back of the chair, which was a very uncomfortable position to be in. She didn’t care, though. Nothing hurt more than her heart. Dixie closed her eyes to the tears that were welling in them again, she couldn’t cry again. What kind of a mess did she get herself into? Could she have been happy with Adam, even if he didn’t remember ever again? Dixie, deep down, knew that the answer to that question was no, but she didn’t want to believe it. She really didn’t want to believe it. “Now boarding zones 1-4.” Dixie opened her eyes and looked around as a good portion of the people began to move toward the gate. She sat there, debating. This was it. This was the decision. She could turn back now, return to Hogwarts, hug Adam and say she hadn’t meant any of it and that she would be there for him for as long as he needed her. Dixie stood and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, this was it. No going back. Dixie knew she couldn’t take it back, because if she returned there… she wouldn’t be happy.

Her feet carried her toward the gate, but before she could even hand her boarding pass to the attendant, she was pulled aside. Before she could even open her mouth to make a comment, her eyes fell on Mack who was thrusting a CD in a case toward her. Slowly, Dixie took the CD and looked it over as Mack explained what the CD was for. Dixie didn’t say anything at first, and then without a word, she pulled Mack to her in a tight hug. The tears that had welled in her eyes, did so again, as she looked past her younger sister’s blonde hair. There was a voice next to them telling Dixie had to board, so she pulled away, “Thanks, I’ll listen to it when I get in Paris. Not sure music will be a good choice on the plane, you know how I am when I fly.” She smiled and squeezed Mack’s hand, “I’ll be seeing you.” And Dixie handed her boarding pass over before crossing into the new life that would be her’s. Where would it lead her? And would she be happy? Well… there was only one way to find out. Dixie smiled confidently to herself, for once believing that this was the right thing for her to do.