Wizard Rock (Kevin)

[Piper Goldburg]

Classes were over so and Piper had no homework. It was sunny and warm so she decided to hang outside. She stopped at her dorm to pick up her iPad and speakers before heading out to the courtyard. Piper turned on The Parselmouths and Harry and the Potters. She sang along as she sketched out a drawing of a girl in Slytherin robes. The day was perfect. It was quiet and Piper was surrounded by nature. She could just sit back, relax, and enjoy one of her favorite fandoms. A trip to a Harry Potter tumblr page complimented the scene quite nicely.

As she listened to the lyrics, Piper remembered her days back home. She realized that this was what she did everyday after school. Life at Hammel seemed no different. It was just her. Piper had no friends back home and her parents were always in their studies. The only difference is that Piper had more homework. Earlier in the year, Piper promised herself that she would change. Hammel looked like an opportunity to make friends and switch things up. Though Piper had made friends with Maria, they didn't talk much. She was looking more for someone closer to her age and had more common with her.

Just as she said that, she noticed a young boy standing about a yard away singing along to her Harry Potter tunes.

"Hi. So, you like Harry Potter?"

[Kevin Bailey]

Schooool's oooout, for, summer! Kevin was so excited! He wasn't exactly good at school, so when the last day of class finally rolled around, he was more than happy to retreat into reading his books, and enjoying himself in another world that was totally his own. His parents would be coming to pick him up soon for another family vacation, and everything was bright and sunny. Literally and figuratively.

Kevin decided to go for a walk, the only thing in his backpack new books to read, and found himself in the courtyard. It was so pretty in the summer, with everything in bloom. The caretaker was excellent at her job! Patricia Reed - Kevin liked to make nice with the teachers, even though some of the other kids called him a suck up for his actions.

And then, he heard it. Familiar music that made him smile. He started to sing along as he neared whoever was playing it. He waved enthusiastically at the girl, gesturing at her iPad. "You have an iPad! Wicked! And I don't like Harry Potter, I love Harry Potter. I know pretty much everything about Harry Potter." He smiled, crouching down in front of her and reaching his hand out, a bright smile on his face. "I'm Kevin, who are you?"

[Piper Goldburg]

The boy looked really young. If she didn't know better, she would have guessed he was seven or so years old. His curiosity and forwardness didn't really help his case either. At first, Piper was reluctant to shake his hand and carry on with the conversation. As she thought it over in her mind, Piper came to the conclusion that becoming friends with him would be healthy for her social life and would ultimately lead to her gaining more friends. Her main goal here was to turn a new leaf and actually have a group of friends. Also, Piper guessed that the number of nerds and geeks at Hammel would be limited.

"Yeah. I got the iPad for my Bat Mitzvah from my grandma. It's loaded with a bunch of cool games and all of my nerdy music. It even has a list of all of the spells from Harry Potter!" Piper showed him the app. He seemed to be mesmerized by it. She also showed him some of her other favorite apps and all of the albums she downloaded.

"Hi, I'm Piper. So... is this your first year? What's your power? What do you like other than Harry Potter?" She listened and nodded as he answered the questions.

[Kevin Bailey]

Seven? Aw come on, he doesn't look that young does he? Kevin was so self conscious about how he looked compared to other fifteen year olds, he sort of hoped the people he met wouldn't ask about his age.

"Bat Mitzvah? Sweet! I've never been to one of those," he admitted, not seeing the point in trying to impress someone by lying. Lots of people did that around here. His eyes went wide at the mention of Harry Potter. "I'll definitely have to ask my family for one of those for Christmas," he said quietly, pointing at the iPad. "Mostly I try to memorize the spells," he said, smiling slightly. He loved being a nerd.

"Yup, first year, it's been just about a year actually," he said, finding it strange that he was going on his second year here. He put a hand to his face in disbelief. "My power's underwater breathing and fish communication, I'm pretty much like Aqua Man, it's the best power ever," hes aid proudly. "What's your power or powers?"

"Other than Harry Potter? I don't know, I like getting to know people and making friends and doing stuff. I'm pretty normal other than the meta powers thing," he laughed, "I'm not really good at much though, "he said sheepishly. But apparently I talk a lot, so I hope you don't mind!"

[Piper Goldburg]

"So if you aren't seven, how old are you?" Piper thanked God that Kevin didn't ask what a Bat Mitzvah was. It's like summarizing the dictionary to a preschooler.

"I try to memorize the spells too but this helps me learn the ones I don't already know. If you have the money, it's definitely worth getting." Piper tucked away her iPad back into her backpack because she didn't want the conversation to solely revolve around it. When Kevin mentioned that he was going into his second year, it really sunk in that it had already been a year. The time went by so fast that Piper wondered where all the time went. She was actually kind of sad. Over the span of one school year, Piper made two friends. Now she got to go home for the summer and have no friends.

"Aqua Man is awesome! I think is way under rated. I have hair manipulation so all of the beauty freaks are extremely jealous of me. I like it because I can make my hair do nerdy things like make the Princess Leia side braided buns. I can't really do it yet but I'm working on it." Piper was disappointed that Kevin wasn't interested in other geeky things. But then she had an idea.

"Let's go to the student lounge so I can show you Doctor Who! It's like the best show in the universe." Without waiting for a response, Piper grabbed Kevin's arm and led him towards the dorms.

[Kevin Bailey]

Blinking thoughtfully, Kevin felt color on his cheeks. “I look seven?” He asked quietly, obviously embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head. “I’m fifteen. How old are you?”

Kevin looked up from the ground. “Yeah, money isn’t really a problem for my family. But they don’t want to spoil me either, so maybe if I get good grades they’ll buy one for me.” He smiled brightly at the thought. “I guess I’ll just have to keep memorizing the spells!” Oh well, maybe that would help him remember other things, especially school related things.

Friends were a big part of Kevin’s life. He had met a lot of people, but he didn’t really talk to anyone regularly. He wished he could change that, but most people called him ‘clingy’. He wasn’t being clingy, he was just being a good friend!

“I know right? The older kids keep telling me he’s lame, but I don’t think he is.” And if Aquaman was lame, then that made him lame, and he didn’t want to be lame! Kevin glanced at Piper’s hair, a small smile on his face. “So you’ll never have a bad hair day.” It was the little things he liked to point out that people might otherwise take for granted.

“Okay!” Kevin said, only too happy to be doing something other than reading and watching movies by himself. “That’s a British show, right? What’s it about?” Kevin, forever curious, walked quickly to keep up with the excited girl. Maybe they were friends now?

[Piper Goldburg]

"I'm fourteen going on fifteen. I've been mistaken to be older sometimes though. Once this old lady thought I was eighteen." Piper laughed when she recalled the memory. She told Kevin how awesome it would be if he got an iPad and how she could help him study if he wanted. "It could be like a study date" Piper said jokingly with a bit of flirtyness.

"Don't listen to the other kids. They don't know what they're talking about. The bad superheroes are Batman and Iron Man. What kind of power is being loaded? Also, how could you possibly have a lame power? I mean your really cool so your power must be cool as well." Piper smiled not really knowing what she just said.

Piper realized how grateful she should be about her power. She doesn't need to buy a brush or hair styling tools or hair dye. She can easily try out different looks and see what suits her.

"Yeah it's British. It's like a sci-fi show about a time traveller called the Doctor. Trust me, you'll get addicted." Before they headed to the student lounge, Piper stopped at her dorm to pick up the first season of Doctor Who on DVD. After popping it into the DVD player, she snuggled up close to Kevin on the couch.