Veraisy: Their Story

Vera- Austin Doesn't Know How to Drive

Well, this was it. My last morning here, then off to magic school that totally existed. I sat on the bed in the room Nancy and Austin had given me (it still felt weird to call it my room), one leg propped up on the mattress, resting my elbow on my knee, staring at my packed trunk. Much better than a garbage bag.

Honestly, I was still half convinced that this 'Hogwarts' was just a ploy to get rid of me without hurting my feelings. Even though I had seen Diagon Alley, my new wand was resting on the night table, and an actual live owl was living in the house, a stubborn part of my mind refused to let go of that worry. I mean, how often do you hear that you're actually a witch and you can do magic and oh yeah, the people you were staying with had been keeping this from you for months?

Okay, that last one might have been a little unfair. Olive, Nancy and Austin's daughter, had spilled it the week I got here. But she was three, so excuse me for not taking her babbles to heart. On the other hand, Ben was six, so maybe I should have believed him. Except no, because he was six.

"Vera, are you ready?" Austin called from somewhere downstairs.

"Honey, I'm not ready!" Nancy yelled back, in the room next to me.

"It's ten thirty!"

"We'll be fine!"

"It's ten thirty—"

"We'll be fine! We have half an hour—"

"The station is ten minutes away!"

"I'm almost ready," I called, just to stop their bickering. You never knew when bickering could turn into a fight, which in turn morphed into anger and unpredictability. I hadn't seen it happen in this house yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

I agreed with Nancy: we had plenty of time. Austin wasn't having it, though. He kept insisting we were insanely late, like the train didn't leave in thirty minutes. That was plenty of time. Despite that, I wasn't looking to make anyone angry, so I grabbed the handle of my trunk and made my way downstairs.

Well, almost. At the top of the stairs I found Olive, holding on to the bars of the railing and making very slow progress down each step.

"Come here, you," I said, scooping her up into my arms. I shifted my hold on her squirming body so I could safely carry her with one hand, then grabbed the handle of my trunk again, and the two of us went downstairs. Being a mother was hard.

Austin met me at the foot of the stairs. "Good, good," he muttered, before grabbing my trunk and running out the door. Only it wasn't much of a run with the weight of the trunk, more like a weird penguin shuffle that made Olive squeal with laughter.

"Daddy should take a chill pill," Ben said, wandering in while simultaneously driving his toy truck against the wall.

"You're absolutely right," I told him as I set Olive on the ground and she toddled off towards the open door. Luckily, Austin was just coming back in, and he caught her.

"Nancy!" he shouted up the stairs.

"Coming!"

True to her word, she appeared at the top of the staircase and came down hurriedly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"Let's go! Hustle, hustle!" Austin said. "First to the car gets a fruit roll up!" Olive and Ben both laughed excitedly and raced out the door. "Maybe that wasn't the best idea."

"You think?" Nancy said. "Go after them, dumbass."

Austin laughed and kissed Nancy's cheek before hurrying out the door after their kids. I followed, still not entirely used to their form of teasing. I had only ever heard curses like that used aggressively, either against me or other kids in the foster home or boyfriends and girlfriends. To hear them used endearingly was a completely new thing for me.