The sequel (or "inbetween-quel," I'm not sure) is here. The story starts off in present; then goes back into a memory which will be the majority of the story. It might be a good idea to read the first one, but this should be simple enough to follow without reading "Kissing Chaos." This is completely RE-EDITED. Which means there are still probably a million little grammatical mistakes, but maybe a bit better in writing?? And maybe more chapters now.
Chapter One: Kaylen
The bed curtains were always closed, mostly because she liked her personal space. It was one of the places she could be alone without anyone questioning her absence. Yet she still caught her roommates talking about the long durations spent behind the curtains. Alexis, usually referred to as Alex, simple believed she was studying.
"She must be," she argued. "With those marks anyone would have to bust their butt to keep them."
Rosalind shook her head, "No. Her mother is Hermione Granger; it comes naturally to her. I think she just hates people and would rather stay isolated." Rosalind thought for a brief moment and added bitterly, "You know, so she doesn't ruin her magnificent mind on us." She had a strong dislike for Destin because Dee always got the attention of everyone in their year; from the boys, from the girls, from the staff. It was completely unfair to those without famous parents.
'Drama, drama, drama,' Destin thought with a smile – her room-mates antics always amused her. Why did it matter what she did with her own time? It was hers, not theirs.
Alex rolled her eyes, "She doesn't think that. She doesn't spent time with other people because she's not very social in general. Do you have a theory Vix?"
Victoria was the most practical of Destin's three room-mates, while Rosalind was the gossip and Alex was gullible and adored Dee's ability to disregard judgements. "Destin would just rather be alone. She studies when it's important and doesn't find herself better than anyone else," Vix reasoned. "She's not even in there half the time, and if she is she's not alone." Rosalind and Alex gasped melodramatically and Vix tried not to hit them in irritation. "She's sixteen with two crazy strict parents. Of course she's going to rebel against them some how, and she's not stupid enough to do it by failing. Oh don't look so shocked you two," she added in disgust, "Neither one of you are innocent."
Destin smiled and rolled over. She thought Cough Drop could do better than that. Though Vix did sound convincing, Rosalind and Alex always believed everything Cough Drop told them. And now Dee had to worry about Rosalind watching her closely to try and catch her with some guy, which was impossible in the girl's dormitory anyway. She put her headphones back on and continued to study. Arithmacy was interesting enough, but she found it rather useless for her real interests. Sometimes she really had to force herself to study enough to keep a strong mark.
Amazingly enough, her favorite class was Potions, even though Snape had continuously tried to ruin the subject for her in the first couple years. It wasn't until she received the highest mark in O.W.L.'s since the Half-blood Prince himself did he finally allow her to do more complicated potions then the rest; taking a personal interest in her. He constantly told her about how much he despised teaching her parents. She just laughed, saying "I don't doubt it, they'd be a infuriating." It was probably the first time he ever awarded Gryffindor House ten points – for her "outstanding potion" of course.
She studied until her c.d. ended. She closed her books loudly, just in case anyone in the dorm was still talking about her. Destin sneaked through the curtains, but was confronted with Alex and Rosalind staring at her quizzically. She shrugged, "Batteries ran low."
Alex nodded, always shy towards her. Then suddenly blurted, "What were you doing in there?"
Destin sighed. "What would I need batteries for?" Rosalind stared at her intensely, wondering about how straight forward Dee would be with them. "I was listening to a c.d. my friend sent, and had to listen to it on a muggle player."
Alex sighed quietly in relief. "See you around Destin," she called to her retreating back.
Without looking back Dee bent her elbow up and half waved. "Sure thing Alexis."
As Destin walked through the hallways and up flights of stairs she thought about how magical and wonderful she used to see this world. Now, the moving pictures and stairs were boring. She'd even go as far as calling it annoyingly pointless. When she was little, all she wanted was to be the Gryffindor Keeper like her father and top of all her classes like her mom. It was ironic how both happened; yet now she depended on Kaylen's weekly packages to bring any type of happiness or fulfillment. Sometimes he sent her lyrics of his favorite songs, or some music he'd written himself, and even some movies he though she'd enjoy. This week he sent a home recorded video.
She paced back and forth in the corridor thinking about Kayle and his most recent gift. She needed to watch it in order to get back to the real world, his world. Destin stopped casually in front of a door, which had just appeared in the empty corridor. She twisted the door handle with her fingertips in relaxed grace. Destin entered the small space with a smile.
Same as always, the room held a dark mysterious presence. She greeted the presence happily, knowing whom it contained. She slouched into an overstuffed black chair, which was a borrowed item rather than her imagination at work. She leaned her head back, instantly she felt a musk fragrance engulf her lungs. With a wave of her hand the candles along the walls were lit, and soft light danced off her face. Destin got up to put the tape into the machine instead of doing it by magic, like everything else she did.
"You're getting real lazy Destin. You know that?" Tayhe had told her earlier. Since then she'd felt guilty whenever she used magic to do simple tasks. She hit the play button and sat back down feeling gratified that she used Tayhe's comment constructively. The screen flickered as a scene came on.
Destin curled her feet underneath her as the screen switched to a picture. She couldn't believe her eyes; it was their camping trip from that summer, when she had just turned sixteen. It was the first time they had seen each other since they had spent a week together in that same place when she was twelve. She'd stopped coming around after, but only because she was too busy adjusting to a new life with her father, and at Hogwarts. But this trip, the one being viewed, was the more important of the two… He'd found out that she was a witch. Heartache and drama.
"Destin, you finally made it!" Kaylen exclaimed excitedly. He had been setting up a four-man tent, but was now staring at the not-so-young-anymore new arrival.
"Tayhe dragged me out for some fun, though I'm not so sure that'll happen," she replied with a raised eyebrow. She laughed, as he couldn't figure out what to do next with the tent. Destin walked over and helped clip a rod into place, then shoved it into the hook.
"And why is that?" he asked seriously, purposely ignoring that she'd finished something he been intentionally putting off until she arrived.
"You're here aren't you?" she teased, knowing the cliché of the comment.
"Har, har. I'm glad you finally found your sarcasm," he bit back. He sat down on a rock, and then added, "You'll have the worst time ever Destin, just wait. You won't be able to wait to come back next summer."
"Get off it Kayle," she laughed. "And just call me Dee like everyone else." Nobody ever used her full name, not even as a sign of anger or annoyance. It made her uncomfortable to have Kaylen call her Destin.
"Never," he taunted, unaware of her dilemma with the name.
"Oh Kayle, she asked you to call her Dee," Tayhe cooed. "She must like you." Tayhe came strutting down the old worn hill that led to the small beach holding a fancy camera. He knew how awkward Dee was feeling because she was picking at her thumb nails with her index finger. She always did that.
"Nice timing Tayhe. You just missed having to help with the tent. I had to do it all by myself," Kaylen scolded.
"Really? All alone?" Dee laughed.
"I have it all on tape," Tayhe added.
She laughed, her curled red hair pulled into a high, loose ponytail. "Good try, but next time you should make sure that an eye-witness and the guy taping you isn't around when you tell the exaggeration," Dee advised, a glint in her eyes.
Kaylen rolled his eyes, "You guys are nuts; Destin you helped with a single part of it. Who do you think did everything before that?"
"The instructions," Tayhe replied.
Kaylen looked annoyed. "Put down that stupid camera would yah?"
Tayhe did, but only because he didn't bring Dee out here to witness a fight. "Anything else needed? If not I have to park the four-wheeler."
"I don't need anything," Kayle said. "Destin probably needs something." His comment was intended to be nonchalant, but sounded more like a jab.
Destin, who had been admiring the waterfall, whipped around with an almost disgusted look on her face. "Think I'm high-maintenance? Thanks, you're so charming." She bared her ivory teeth. "I know how to rough it, don't worry about me."
Tayhe, apprehensive about a forthcoming argument, nodded uncomfortably and left. Destin turned back to the view. There was this ledge; it'd be perfect to sit and relax on. Bigger then the other ledges it'd probably fit all three easily. The light breeze picked up slightly.
"What are yah lookin' at?" Kayle asked from behind her, slowly moving beside her.
She took a deep breath of the fresh air. "That ledge, over there," she pointed. "It'd be perfect to hang out on, eh?"
He laughed at her. "You've said that before. If only you could get there."
"It's right there, all you have to do is climb up."
"It's not that easy!" he argued.
"Why not?"
"I don't know why I'm arguing, you're such an elephant. Go ahead and show me how easy it is Princess!"
"Fine!" She stalked off to where she left her bags.
"Where you headed?"
Dee rolled her eyes at his ignorant question. "I don't know how you do it here in Canada, but I like to wear a bathing suit when I go swimming. Excuse me," she snapped as she pushed by him and into the tent. Zipping the door behind her, she changed quickly and knotted her hair into a bun. She stepped out to both Kaylen and Tayhe laughing.
Destin quickly shoved her stuff into her bag and made her way to the waters edge. She stared down at her feet. At the moment she wished she'd chosen any other colour then red to paint her toes. Red was so bold, and daring – so princess. She was content when the red vanished to reveal her clean, plain – natural – toenails. She raised her head back up and slowly waded into the cold water. The boys were still laughing, which only gave her a stronger will to do it with no problem.
"Don't get your hair wet," Kaylen teased.
She smiled, "No problem." When the water hit her waist she lunged forward, making sure her hair didn't come close to the water. It took her just over five minutes to gracefully swim to the cliff. She stopped for awhile looking up the edge, steep with almost no handgrips for the first couple feet. Dee sunk down slightly, took a mouthful of water through parted lips and slowly spat it out again. The boys had gone silent, just watching her tread water for a couple moments.
Studying the rock in front of her very carefully, Destin planned out her path. However, the first handgrip was a good arm length from her grasp. She stared at the water right by the solid slate; she smiled and rested on the rock that had appeared.
"What are you, scared?" Kaylen yelled.
Without hesitating she screamed, "Kaylen, anyone ever tell you to shove it?"
"No!"
"Well," she pushed off the rock and caught the first grip with her right hand, "Shove it!"
Tayhe stifled a laugh after watching Kaylen's face as he watched her make her way up the edge. "She's actually doing it!" Kaylen exclaimed.
As if irony loved her, she slipped at that moment, losing grip of the wet rock. Her knee hit a ledge as she tumbled horrifyingly fast towards the sparkling water. She instinctively lined her hand up to a grip and clutched to the rock. Her body jolted to a halt, ripping her shoulder into great pain. Biting her lip to not yelp and concentrated on getting up to the ledge. Her fingers were dead raw, she could feel blood dripping down her knee, her shoulder was aching, her stomach was scratched up right side and she felt as if she'd never have soft feet again, but would always have rough, stubbed and bleeding toes.
At last she made it to the final edge, the one in which this was all for.
It was better than she ever could have imagined. The black rock was cooled in shade, yet not that icy cool that would tempt a person to jump off into the gurgling water below. She was right, they would probably be able to fit up here comfortably. Hell, if she could get her books up here she'd spend all her summer reading and doing homework.
She slid to the side of the edge, swinging her feet back and forth. "That's it boys – that easy!" Destin yelled down to them.
"Tayhe, I've been trying to get up on that thing since I was eight," Kaylen said.
"I know, you started because she said you'd never be able to."
He punched Tayhe in the arm. "Shut up Tay."
"Who's a prat now, eh Kaylen? Oh yeah, that would be you!" a voice sang into his ears from a distance.
"It's impossible to reach that first grip. It's an arm length too high! No one can just do that on the first try," he said in a frustrated voice. "Want some company up there?"
Destin thought for a moment. "How deep is it here?"
"Deep enough, why?" he responded.
She smiled and stood. Destin untangled her hair from their restraints. Her hair fell wildly around her face. "It's time to get my hair wet." She decided that for a first jump she'd go feet first, just to be safe. Dee took a couple of steps back before sprinting into the jump. At first her arms were out, fighting the rush of wind, but slowly they reached up to the sky along with her hair. She closed her eyes to enjoy the surge of falling freely. Soon though, too soon, her pointed toes broke the water's uneven surface.
The refreshing water immediately engulfed her. As she plunged deeper the water became increasingly colder before her seeming weightless body started floating back up to air. Destin kicked off towards the shore, now opening her eyes to peer through the greenish liquid. Slowly the light came through to her, giving two silhouettes in a distance. She came to the surface, gasping for air.
It was only when she was about to stand and walk out did she realize her cuts and scrapes were stinging in appalling pleasure. Destin stood and stumbled out, uneasy on the wet rocks with her new injuries.
"Would either of you want to grab a towel for me please?" she pressed for service. Tayhe whisked off to grab one as Kaylen helped her out. He pulled on her arm slightly to hurry her, and she gave a little wince.
"You okay?" he asked, with a surprising note of concern.
"Just a bit sore. Thanks Tayhe." She grabbed the towel to dry off, but Kaylen had noticed too soon.
"Hold on," he insisted and grabbed her hand to stop her from covering up. "Look at your stomach! You ripped that open good didn't you?"
"I'm fine really –"
"No, I think he's right Dee," Tayhe agreed.
"Okay," Dee sighed angrily. She turned to Kaylen. "Let go of me."
"If you're really okay, you'd be able to pull your hand out of my grasp," Kaylen taunted. She was determined, but if it was a serious tear then it'd be physically impossible. She tried but gave up shortly after. He felt real bad for her, but continuing to climb up could have made it much worse. "Dry yourself off with your other arm," he directed, letting go of her. "Don't get dressed yet." He left for his bag, leaving her glaring after him.
She couldn't believe him. Who did he think he was? She knew what to do; she didn't need him to tell her. Destin dried off and sat down on a large rock. She lifted her leg up to inspect her knee. It was ripped up bad; nothing time could heal though. She'd have a scar, but no big deal. Her feet were a horrid sight, looking worse than they felt.
Something cold hit her shoulder and she jumped around, almost falling off the rock if it hadn't been for Kaylen grabbing her around the waist. "Why'd you do that?" she demanded.
"To save you from falling?" She couldn't help but want to smack him. "Well it was the gentlemanly thing to do." When he still got nothing from her he continued. "It's a muscle relax cream, it'll make it feel better." He turned her back around and started to rub in the lather.
It started to heat up, almost to the point when she thought it was burning, and took the pain away gradually. The smell was the strong menthol sent. When he finished he took a look at her side and knee. "If they don't stop bleeding we'll have to clean and bandage them, but the air should do its thing."
"Alright, thanks," she mumbled.
"Don't mention it Princess."
"It's Dee," she emphasized.
"Right." 'Princess,' he thought stubbornly. "Tayhe and I will set up camp, so you can just sit for a while."
"Okay, as long as you don't complain later about 'doing it all yourself.'"
"I'll try."
Destin rested on the rock a bit, enjoying not having to do anything. But as time carried on she grew restless. When the boys were hunting down some firewood she started to move her bags to the tent. Her bikini was still wet but she didn't want to go through the pain of getting out of it so decided to slide on black boy-cut shorts and didn't bother with a shirt. The bleeding on her stomach had slowed, but she didn't want to stain any of her shirts – it'd be hard to explain the magical removal of a stain while camping.
She stumbled out of the tent just in time to see Kaylen holding a plastic tub half his size full of firewood. She watched him maneuver his way around the table; his arms bulging and his face set in concentration. He found the spot he was looking for and carefully set it down.
"Some muscles you got there," she complimented.
He whipped around and stared at her as if she was the first person to ever give him a compliment. "Thanks, it's just from working the farm," Kaylen replied with a dismissive wave.
"Anything I can do?" she asked willingly.
He laughed. "Restless already? You can set up the beds; the sleeping bags and pillows are over there," he pointed.
"And what after the two minute job?"
"Dee you can't use that shoulder too much, let it heal. Why don't you read a book?"
This angered her. Did he think of himself as a doctor? Destin went over and picked up the sleeping bags and pillows then stomped off to the tent. She threw them in with her bad shoulder then followed. It took her less them two minutes to finish, but when she came out Kaylen had again disappeared from sight.
She trekked her way to where the boys were unpacking. After a few minutes she stopped when she heard their voices.
"What happened now Kayle?"
"Nothing really. She's just emotional."
She's what?
"Honestly, first day here and you're scaring her off. You two are too similar, that's the problem."
"She hurt her shoulder Tayhe, badly. That could have a permanent effect."
"Oh don't get in a personal huff, you hate people knowing about it as it is. Besides, she didn't even show it! You forget that she pulled herself three quarters the way up that cliff with that shoulder. Just try to understand her. It'll make it easier for us all."
Destin made a loud entrance. When both boys looked up she scowled slightly. "Tayhe, where's my guitar?"
"You brought your guitar camping Princess?" Kaylen asked skeptically.
"Yes, I find it calming to play and write music, gets rid of all my frustration and anger," she said.
He raised his eyebrows, "How often do you write? By the look of it you must have at least five best selling albums just from today."
Tayhe couldn't take their bickering any longer. "Destin, it's over here. I'll help you grab it." He walked towards a pile of their stuff. Once she was close to him he whispered, "He seems to like you."
Though confused, she just pretended he had informed her that dinner was hot dogs. "Alright thanks. I'm going to find a place – a peaceful place – to write. I'll be back in an hour or two." She walked back through the path leading to the camp and the water edge.