Alright, so I've FINALLY gotten to writing chapter fourteen of this story. I know it's been forever and a day since I updated, don't have a better excuse for that except that I'm a high school student: I procrastinate and I'm constantly distracted by my hormonaly driven, angsty teen drama. Just kidding...actually, not really :( I haven't forgotten about this story though, and I plan to finish it before the summer's over. This wave of creativity was inspired by seeing Walden Media's Prince Caspian, which rocked my lame world and reminded me how much I love the Chronicles of Narnia and C.S. Lewis ...Anyway I'm going to stop ranting now.

Chapter Fourteen: The Trouble with Eustace

All was quiet in the Pole household. This was quite normal, since it was nearly twelve o'clock in the morning, and the entire neighborhood was surrounded by a peaceful, silent atmosphere. There was only one lamp on in the Pole's house, and it was located in the living room where Jill was at the moment, patiently sitting on the armrest of their faded, blue sofa. She watched, in slight curiosity, as her mother rummaged around the back of the living room closet. Jill had no idea what her mother was looking for, but according to the woman it was something important and it had something to do with Jill. However, Jill's curiosity and excitement levels were lessened by the fact that she desired to go to bed, as Lily had done about two hours ago. In fact, that had been exactly where she was heading when her mother decided to go salvage the item from the closet. Jill had stopped to talk to her mother on her way to her bedroom, and apparently some part of their conversation had triggered something in Mrs. Pole's memory that reminded her of the object. Mrs. Pole had insisted that she retrieve the item at that very moment, else she might forget later on.

And so, the fourteen-year-old remained waiting, despite her desire to go to bed. After about two minutes, which seemed more like two hours to the drowsy Jill, Mrs. Pole remerged from the closet, dragging out with her an old, large traveling trunk from the back of the living room closet. The piece of luggage had gathered dust from sitting in the back of the Poles' closet, but it was still in rather good condition. Jill guessed that it must have been in that exact position for a good number of years, because she had never seen the trunk in her life. It was made of smooth oak wood, which had a grainy gold-brown color to it. There was a shiny, gold colored lock on the lid with a key hole in the center. There were two clasps, the same gold color of the lock, surrounding the lock for further security.

"It's a trunk." Jill said. She was stating the obvious, but she was too tired to say much else at the moment.

"This is the same trunk I used when I was at boarding school." Mrs. Pole said proudly. "Now that you're going to be boarding, I think this will be very useful to you."

Jill silently noted that it was that time again, a time that was usually dreaded by all schoolchildren: the time when they were forced to come to terms with the fact that their summer holiday had come to an end, and it would soon be time for them to return to school. This usually occurred just when the schoolchildren possessed only a slight amount of time before they would actually have to return to their establishment of higher learning. Jill also noted that she had about a week of summer holiday left. The first five weeks of her holiday had somehow gone by, despite the many days that seemed to drag on and on.

Like most schoolchildren, Jill usually attempted to stay in denial about the fact that she would soon be going back to pouring over textbooks and writing essays. Unfortunately she was unable to stay in her blissful land of denial because, like most parents, Mrs. Pole made sure to constantly remind Jill that she would soon be returning to school. She did this in little ways, such as telling Jill that she needed to come up with a list of necessary supplies that she needed to take to school, or suggesting that Jill start studying more, less she wanted to be rusty and unprepared for when school began. In Mrs. Pole's mind, that one week of summer holiday was nonexistent, except for the purposes of getting things ready for after the holiday.

"I'm afraid it hasn't been put into much use since I finished my schooling." Mrs. Pole said as she studied the old trunk. "The things been sitting there since we moved into the house. But it's still in good shape, and it's yours now."

"Thanks." Jill said. She wearily noted the look that was on her mother's face: that goofy, ecstatic face of a mother who is watching her child grow and reminiscing about how that child was nothing more than an infant who needed to be fed and changed. It was the same look she had on her face when Jill was eleven-years-old and starting Secondary Form at the Experiment House. Jill remembered getting dressed in her uniform for the first time and how her mother had seemed far more awed by the experience than she herself had been. Mrs. Pole had looked at the eleven-year-old Jill in wonder and said, "You're staring Form Two Jill. Can you believe it? You. And in just four years you'll be starting Stage Four. And after that you'll be in Form Six. And before you know it you'll be finished with school and thinking about getting married and having babies."

Jill wondered if she would have to listen to a similar rambling speech that night. She tried to hold back a groan of annoyance. She knew her mother was simply being a mother, and that she was happy with the way Jill was maturing. But Jill just didn't particularly enjoy having her whole life laid out in that manner. As if it were nothing but a summary of some novel, which someone could start and finish reading in the same day. For some reason she couldn't exactly explain, it made her feel rather uncomfortable. It made her feel like things were going too fast and it would all be over before she knew it or before she was ready. It was a disturbing thought, so she tried to keep it out of her head. But when her mother got into one of those moods, there was no stopping the feeling from creeping its way into her heart.

Fortunately Mrs. Pole did not start one of her small, heartfelt monologues. Instead she undid the clasps of the trunk and opened the lid. The inside of the trunk was lined with a soft black fabric, and inside the lid the fabric was slightly loose, forming a small pocket of sorts. Mrs. Pole reached inside the pocket and pulled out a key. It was the same gold color as the lock and the clasps. She ceremoniously handed it to Jill.

Jill smiled as she took the key. Although she was tired, and hating being reminded that the summer holidays were as good as gone, she still had enough mind to appreciate the moment. This time she wasn't simply starting a new grade or a new form. This year she was leaving home, going to a boarding school. Although most girls her age had long since been at boarding school, Jill couldn't help but wonder if she was ready, but another part of her insured her that she was.

"Can you believe it?" Mrs. Pole said with a small smile. "In just a week you'll be starting Stage Four. You."

Jill sighed inwardly. She should have known that it was coming.

"You remember just two or three years ago, you were starting out Form Two at that school of yours."

"Yes mum, I remember." Jill said.

"And now you're leaving home." Mrs. Pole said. "Just what are we going to do without you Jill?"

"Oh mum, it's not as if I'm leaving forever." Jill said, although she couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret at the thought of leaving her mother and sister to go live with a bunch of people she didn't know. But it wasn't as if she chose to. It was what everyone did, what was expected. "I'll come back during all the holidays."

"I know." Mrs. Pole said gently patting her daughter on the shoulder. "Oh," she said in slight alarm as she looked up at the clock, as if finally realizing how late it was. "You should get to bed, honey." She told Jill. "I'll just put this trunk back into the closet, and we'll get it out when we need it."

"Alright," Jill said softly. "Goodnight mum." She said softly before giving her mother a goodnight kiss on the cheek.

As Jill descended the stairs to her bedroom, she couldn't help but think about what she had discussed with her mother. Although she had always known that this time was coming, it was not until that moment that she had finally realized what was happening. She was leaving everything behind, everything and everyone.

Jill woke up the next day with the conversation with her mother still on her mind. It was bright and early when she got out of bed and got dressed. She tried to think of things to do, other things to think of, but it was impossible. She spent most of the day musing over everything, until late in the afternoon when she found herself sitting outside on the porch of their house, doing nothing. Lily was happily playing in the front yard, jumping rope with her bright blue and purple skipping rope.

Jill wished she could be like Lily. It took so little to keep her occupied, to make her happy. And she was almost never down. Jill had to laugh at herself. She thought about how many times that summer she had been down; the time her mother had invited Scott Foreman to dinner, the time she felt as if her mother didn't care about, the problems she'd had with her father. She had heard of the moody teenage years, but she was starting to feel rather ridiculous.

It occurred to her that every time she had been in one of those moods one person had single handedly managed to make her feel better. Eustace Scrubb. She smiled to herself as she realized that all that summer, whenever she was feeling down or confused there he was. He'd appeared every time as if he subconsciously knew that he was needed, and he'd always had something to say which would make her feel better. She didn't know how he did it, but she was thankful.

She silently wished that Eustace would appear right at that moment. She'd ask what he was doing, and then he'd tell her that he just happened to be in the neighborhood. 'Come to think of it,' Jill thought to herself. 'He always just happens to be in the neighborhood.' But then he'd notice that she looked rather miserable. She'd try to blow it off, as if nothing was wrong, but he'd pursue the matter. Not in an annoying, invading way. But in a casual way that Jill almost wouldn't notice. He would start talking bout something else, but somehow he'd make Jill confess everything, her insecurities about going to a school where she knew no one, her sadness about leaving her family. Then he would say…

Well Jill actually had no idea what he would say. She had no clue as to how Eustace's mind worked. But he'd say something…something really profound. Not something that would have come out of the mouth of Plato or Aristotle, but it would be something that was very profound and impressive to her. Something she never would have thought of on her own.

Jill knew there was no chance of that happening, after she had just had an entire daydream of the thing, she was highly doubtful it would actually happen. She had the urge to get up and walk to his house. But on the other hand, she didn't want to bother him with any more of her problems. She was sure that after all the problems she'd laid on him so far he was bound to get tired of it eventually. However, she could never imagine Eustace all of a sudden deciding that he didn't want to be friends with her anymore,

That would be very…Un-Eustace.

And then it hit her. When she left for school, there wouldn't be any Eustace either. She would be going to an old girls boarding school, and Eustace would be going to a single sex school as well, the same school that his cousin Peter had attended, and that Edmund still went to.

It was the first time she'd actually thought about it. Ever since their adventure in Narnia together, Jill had become very used to Eustace's presence in her life; at the Experiment House, and during the summer. But the fact that Eustace and her would be going in different directions had been just as obvious as the fact that she would be leaving home. She'd just…never stopped to think about it.

The urge to walk to his house and find him returned, and this time she gave into it. She stood up and walked across the long.

"Lily," she called out to her sister, who was still skipping rope. Lily stopped mid skip, the rope falling on her head as she turned to look at her sister. "If mum asks, tell her I've stepped out for a bit, alright?" Jill did not want Mrs. Pole to know she was going to Eustace's house. Every time Eustace's name was brought Mrs. Pole just had to tease her daughter about being secretly in love with him. 'It's not as if I have anything to hide' Jill told herself. 'I just hate when she does that. It's so embarrassing.'

"Alright, where are you going?" Lily asked, more interested in Jill's destination than in actually doing what Jill had asked of her.

Jill should have known that it would not be enough for her to ask Lily to do this favor, but that the eight-year-old would need more information than that. Jill didn't mind though. It was one of the things that her little sister was great for. Whenever she needed an accomplice Jill would go to Lily, because Lily got as much excitement out of Jill's secrets as she did herself.

"I'm going to talk to Eustace." Jill told her.

Lily still got great enjoyment out of teasing Jill about Eustace being her "boyfriend". But Jill didn't mind as much when it was Lily. "Ooooh." Lily called out scandalously as Jill made her away across the street and down the sidewalk in the direction of Eustace's house.

The Scrubb's house was very neat looking, at least from the outside. Jill would not call her own home messy or neglected looking, but it was just nowhere as neat as the Scrubb's home. Their house was, in fact, almost so neat that one could claim an excess of neatness. The lawn was trimmed very short and the grass was so green that it was as if someone had taken a green marker and meticulously colored every single blade of grass, careful not to leave the smallest part uncolored. The small bed of the flowers was arranged so that everything was perfectly symmetrical. The house was painted a shade of white that was almost blinding in the bright summer sunshine of that day, and all of the windows were so clean that the sun reflected brilliantly off of each one of them.

Jill had never actually been inside Eustace's house. Or even on the front lawn. Or on the sidewalk that bordered the front lawn. She only had the knowledge of where the house was located and a vague memory of what the house looked like from one time when she and Eustace had walked home from school together. The first week that they had returned from Narnia, which was starting to feel like ages ago to Jill, she would always look forward to the end of the day when she could meet up with Eustace. Then she could proceed to probe him for more information about Narnia. They're adventure had only been days ago and Jill was still positively ecstatic about and amazed by the place. The excitement of the magical world and all its wonders was still in Jill's mind. Eventually, she began to not only enjoy hearing about Narnia, but the company of the person she was hearing about it from. As the days went by it seemed like there was less to know about Narnia, but the two schoolchildren still found other things to talk about. One of the subjects that fascinated Jill the most was Eustace himself. She'd had such a biased opinion on him before. She remembered when he'd been no more than a rude, stuck-up, boy who was constantly trying to earn the favor of Them. But those first days of talking to him had completely changed her view on his character. It was those first few days that she'd actually come to associate words like "brave" and "kind" with Eustace. Those were previously two words she would have never used in the same sentence as the name Eustace Scrubb.

Usually, on the occasions that they walked home together, Eustace insisted on being a gentleman and walking Jill all the way back to her house, even though his own house was closer to the Experiment House. However, one day he had needed to return home right after school and did not have the time to walk Jill home. Jill had jokingly decided that it was her turn to "be a gentleman" and walk Eustace to his house. She had insisted on this partly because she wanted to keep on talking to Eustace, and partly because she was really very curious to see where Eustace lived.

Jill tried to summon to her memory those past conversations of theirs as she nervously walked up the sidewalk and to the front door of the house. She tried to remember everything that Eustace had ever mentioned about his home life. But then she realized that he had never mentioned very much about it at all. All she knew was that he was an only child, and that his parents were very…stiff, was the word she'd used to describe them. At least that's how they had seemed whenever she encountered them. And Eustace called them by their first names, Harold and Alberta. That was very odd. He didn't seem to close to them at all. She remembered when she had been pretty sure that her own mother didn't care about her, but it seemed that she was much closer to her mother than Eustace was to either of his parents. But he didn't appear to think that they didn't care about him.

Jill finally got the courage to knock on the door of the Scrubb's house. She waited for about a minute. Eustace didn't come to the door. 'Maybe he's not here…' she thought to herself. She was about to knock again when the door was suddenly jerked open. She was greeted with the site of a woman about two inches taller than her, and about twenty years older than her. Her eyes were the same color as those of Eustace, but that was pretty much where the similarities ended. She had a look on her face that clearly stated that she was wondering what Jill was doing there. It was Alberta Scrubb.

"May I help you?" Mrs. Scrubb asked. Her tone was quite polite, but somehow it was obvious to Jill that the woman was slightly annoyed at her for interrupting her life and forcing her to answer the door.

"Um, yes," Jill said tentatively. "I'm Jill Pole, I go to school, or I mean, I went to school with your son."

Mrs. Scrubb didn't seem to have anything to say to that, and continued to look at Jill as if she were expecting more of an explanation as to why she was now standing on their doorstep.

"I believe you met me and my mother and sister in the park that one time…" she trailed off when Alberta continued to stare at her in manner that clearly stated what she was thinking-'So?'

"I was wondering if I could…talk to him?" Jill asked cautiously. "Eustace I mean."

Alberta looked as if she wanted to ask exactly what business Jill could possibly have to discuss with her son, but she obviously thought would be something to gauche to inquire.

Obviously Eustace didn't have many visitors come calling at his house.

"Alright." She said, opening the door a bit wider. "Come in, then." She said when Jill continued to stand on front of the door. Jill tentatively entered the house.

"I'll go fetch him." Alberta said before descending upstairs to where, Jill supposed Eustace's house was.

Jill waited next to the front door. She noticed that the Pole's house was just as neat on the inside as it was on the outside. The hardwood floor shined as if it had been polished only minutes ago. Not one thing was out of order or laying around, and the whole place smelled of cleaning chemicals.

A few minutes later Jill heard footsteps and saw Mrs. Scrubb returning with Eustace a few steps behind her. Mrs. Scrubb reached the bottom of the steps, and immediately went into what Jill could see was the kitchen without saying another word to anybody.

Jill watched Eustace walk down the rest of the steps. He hadn't looked up yet. She noticed that looked a bit worn, he seemed to drag his feet and he just did not seem to be as lively as he usually appeared.

He finally looked up and saw Jill. "Jill." Eustace said, looking surprised. Obviously his mother had not told him exactly who his visitor was. "Well, hullo." He greeted, seeming to regain his composure.

"Hello." Jill greeted with a smile.

"This certainly is a surprise." Eustace said.

"I know," Jill said sheepishly. "I hope this isn't too much of a bother-"

"No!" Eustace exclaimed quickly. "No." he repeated in a tone much more suited for the indoors. "I wasn't doing much of anything actually."

"Oh, alright," Jill said. "Maybe if you're not busy we could-" Jill paused for a brief second, not knowing exactly what she had expected when she walked over to his house or what she had come for. "Talk, or something." She finished.

"Alright," Eustace said. He glanced back in the direction of the kitchen. It was then that Jill realized that Mrs. Scrubb must be listening to their conversation. "Do you want to sit outside on the porch?" he asked.

Jill nodded, taking his hint that they wouldn't be overhead outside.

Eustace walked to the front door and held it open for Jill before walking outside himself.

"Thank you." Jill said softly.

Eustace closed the door behind him and then sat down on the step of his porch. Jill followed suit and sat down next to him.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Eustace asked.

Jill couldn't help but notice that he seemed a bit distracted. He was sitting there with her but his mind seemed elsewhere. Even his voice seemed to sound as if it was far off.

"Oh, nothing in particular," Jill said. "I just," She'd just wanted to spend time with him, while he lived a few minutes walk away and before they were millions of miles away at different schools. "I just thought that since you're always coming to pay me a visit, I should return the favor."

"That's very thoughtful of you." Eustace said. It was the type of thing you would say to an acquaintance, the type of person who you constantly, unconsciously remain stiffly polite around, because you don't know how else to act around them, the type of person with whom you had a relationship of quite short standing with. Jill frowned, though this went unnoticed by Eustace. She was expecting him to say something else. Perhaps tease her. Tell her that she just couldn't go too long without seeing his handsome face. Or else make some other kind of remark. She'd never seen him like this, so detached. Even before they were friends, he'd always been the sort of person who had to make his presence known. Back then it was with a high and mighty air, nowadays it was with a more friendly air. But now there was…nothing.

Maybe he was troubled about something, like she had been so many times that summer. Maybe be she could help him feel better, like he'd done for all those time. Finally repay him.

"Eustace?" Jill said cautiously.

"Yes?"

"Is…something wrong?" she asked.

He looked up at her with the more attention then he'd had her whole visit. "No, nothings wrong." He denied immediately. "Why do you ask that?"

"You just seem…well, bothered, I guess." Jill said.

"I'm not." Eustace said. "I suppose I'm just tired."

Jill nodded, even though she was quite sure that he was not tired and something was, indeed, bothering. But how to get him to tell her what it was?

"Really, it's nothing." Eustace told her, noticing the unbelieving expression on Jill's face.

They both jumped when they heard a bang from the side of the house. Jill saw that it was just the sound of one of the windows on the bottom floor being opened.

"Eustace Clarence." Alberta's voice rang out stuffily. "It's time for dinner."

"Well," Eustace said. "I better go."

"Oh, right." Jill said. "I should probably be getting home to." She stood up, and Eustace did too.

Jill knew, when she looked at him, that it was nothing she had done. It was obvious from his expression that he'd rather be sitting outside on the porch with her than having dinner with his parents. She imagined a kitchen, the walls and all the appliances white. There were generic looking slices of meat and other side dishes on the tanle, but the kitchen wouldn't have the appetizing scent of dinner foods, but of antibacterial soap. The Scrubb family would be seated around the table. Alberta and Harold would probably hold a conversation about something that they considered a
proper" subject for the conversation, and Eustace would sit there, occasionally speaking when spoken to, but otherwise silent.

"Well, then, I suppose I'll see you later." Eustace said, snapping Jill out of her vision of dinner with the Scrubb family.

"Right," Jill said. She thought of informing him that later was not a whole lot of time seeing that the summer holiday would be over in a week, but decided not to.

"Goodbye," she said walking of his porch and across the lawn.

"Bye." Eustace said. He watched until she was on the sidewalk and good way down the street before going back into his house. As if he were making sure that nothing happened to her those few minutes she had to walk.

It was still light outside, but judging by the position of the sun, it was almost six o'clock and Jill knew she had to hurry back home for dinner. She walked back still slightly disturbed about her visit with Eustace. She didn't know what was wrong, but she promised herself that she'd try her best to find a way to make him feel better.

And that was chapter fourteen. I hope it didn't dissapoint. Please R&R.

Riley 35