Clockwork

three.

POV: Alexandria Colbin

"...and Harry's name flew out of the goblet, and Dumbledore took him aside and started screaming at him like 'HARRYDIDYOUPUTYOURNAMEINTHEGOBLETOFFIRE' and it was actually really funny, because in the books, it says he said it calmly, so now it's a joke over all of social media..."

I had zoned out of Elle's rambling quite a while ago, she just doesn't know when to shut up. Especially when it comes to Harry Potter. Like, relax, it's not real. It's literally a book.

While she was busy ranting about double doors that yell or something, I was watching that kid from math, Erik. One moment he was talking with his friends, then he got a phone call and went outside.

I watched as he ran his hand through his hair, as if he were stressed, then hung up the phone and rushed back into the cafeteria. He spoke a bit while throwing his bag over his shoulder, and fist-bumped his friend before running straight down the stairs and out the front door.

What is so wrong that he runs out of school? Won't he get in trouble for skipping?

I clicked, then whistled, then slammed my already-hurt hand onto the table. I winced, clenching my teeth to deal with the pain.

"...but at that point, Cedric had already asked Cho, so Harry was left without a date to the ball-like the YULE BALL! You can't just go without a date! So- are you alright, Lex?" Elle cut herself off.

"Uh, yeah, just ticced. What were you saying about a ball?" I tried to get her back into her nonsense, so she would leave me alone, but I had no luck.

"It doesn't matter, it's not like you were paying attention anyways. How was your summer? And was that a new tic?" She was right, I wasn't paying attention, but I didn't want to talk right now.

"It was good, and *click* yeah, it was a new tic." I jerked my head before sighing and placing it on the table, resting on my crossed arms.

"Oh, well that's too bad." She must have spotted one of her new friends because at that point, she got up and screamed across the massive room "HEY, CAMMIE!!" before running off.

I rolled my eyes before sitting back up and taking a few bites, before I ticced again and threw my plastic fork across the room, the handle hitting a random freshman. He looked up at me in confusion, then turned his attention back to his friends, who were laughing about some nonsense.

"Did someone shout Expelliarmus at you or something?" A voice sounded behind me.

I turned around to see a girl who looked about my age, with a dark complexion and beautiful black braids falling down her back. She had round gold-rimmed glasses sitting on her nose, and the prettiest black eyes hiding behind them. She was easily the most gorgeous girl I've seen at this school.

"Uh, sorry, what?" I whistled, then clicked.

"Did someone use Expelliarmus on you?" She repeated.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's a spell in Harry Potter that makes your wand fly out of your hand. I thought you were just having a conversation about those books... have you never read them?" I shook my head. "Oh, well, that's okay. I've only read the first four."

I nodded and smiled, and she sat down. "Uh, I'm Alexandria, but *click, whistle, head jerk* you can call me Lex. What's your name?" I tried to steer the conversation away from myself.

"Oh, it's Dakota. Wanna come sit with me and my friends? Looks like Elle abandoned you."

"Uh, sure. How do you *click* know Elle?" I asked, mentally cringing at the amount I was ticcing right now, even with the suppressions. It was only a matter of time before she asked about it.

"She's in my choir class, second period. She seems nice, but also all over the place. Does she have ADHD?"

I nodded, then whistled. Do these tics ever stop? That was a stupid question. No, they don't. "Yeah, either that or ADD. I don't remember which."

"Okay, that makes sense. Let's go to my table!" She grabbed my food, and started walking away, and I followed her apprehensively.

"Heyyy!" She sang once we got to a table full of girls. They were all stunning; I think they have a high chance of being models. "This is Lex! She's super nice, and she's gonna hang out with us!"

I received a chorus of 'hi's and 'hey's from around the table, and sat down in the chair that Dakota pulled up.

The girl right next to me stuck out her hand towards me. "Emberly. Nice to meet you, Lex." She had a slight British accent.

I shook her hand and sent her a smile. "It's nice to m-meet you too." I stuttered a bit while attempting to suppress a click, but my efforts were useless because I clicked twice afterwards. "Sorry."

"For what?" Emberly asked.

"Clicking. It's annoying, I know." My head twitched a bit, as I suppressed a full jerk.

"You're fine. My brother has some tics too, so we're all used to it." A couple of the other girls nodded at me.

"Oh, um, thanks? Does he *click* have tourettes, or something else?"

"It's an anxiety response. He's homeschooled to help with it all." She smiled, and took a bite of her food. I turned to my lunch to do the same.

One of the other girls caught my eye and winked before saying, "Why don't we all go around and introduce ourselves! We'll start at Em, since she already went."

"Hi, I'm Emberly." She had light brown wavy hair that reached just past her shoulder blades, and bright blue eyes.

"I'm Sienna." She had blonde hair that was pulled into double-dutch braids, and went all the way to her waist. Her eyes were hazel.

"I'm Junie!" She had ginger curtain bangs that framed her pale face, and green eyes to tie it together.

"I'm Maibel." The girl that winked at me said. Her black hair fell to her shoulder blades, and her slim eyes were a medium chocolate brown.

"Karli." Her hair was a muted blue color, and dark at the roots. She had pale grey eyes that complimented her hair well.

"And you already know me, Dakota!"

I smiled. "Well, the real challenge is remembering *whistle, click* who's who. I'm not used to this many people to *click, head twitch* be honest."

"That's okay, we get it. Do you have any siblings?" Junie asked me.

"Um, yeah. I have an older sister na- *click* named Bennett, and two younger brothers, Hudson and TJ." I whistled.

"Oh, cool! How old are your brothers? I have a younger brother who might know one of them! His name is Wren, he's eight." Maibel spoke up.

"TJ is almost eight, his birthday is *click, click* in a few weeks, and Hudson is thirteen."

"Cool! Does TJ go to Piñon Elementary? That's where Wren goes."

"No, he goes to Gold Camp. And Hudson goes to the Junior High."

My head twitched as I finished my food, and Sienna stood up. Everyone immediately placed their trays in the middle of the table; Dakota took mine and added it, then Sienna grabbed the stack and went to throw it away. Weird. But okay.

After Sienna returned, we all continued with nice conversation until the bell rang, and we split up to go to our separate classes.

Two more classes and a study hall, and I can go home. That's it. Easy.