The Silent Knight

Kayla loved Jaded Pages. She'd already been there earlier in the day, rushing to get her school supplies, but now she could just relax and find a book she liked. "Hi Mr. Folds," she greeted the shopkeeper. Most people thought he was weird, but he was a kind person who didn't have the most exciting job. "Did you read the new Heroes of King Arthur's Court book?" she asked excitedly. They had wordlessly formed a friendship when Kayla had overheard him recommending the series to a customer, and she'd gathered up the courage to ask him how highly he thought of it. A lot, apparently. Kayla liked to consider herself an expert on Arthurian legend and Heroes of King Arthur's Court was very accurate and entertaining. Not something you came by everyday.

"I haven't finished it yet," Mr. Folds admitted. "It's very mysterious so far. Jarvis turns out to be related to-"

"Don't tell me!" Kayla shrieked, turning heads in the whole book shop. She blushed. "Carry on, everyone," she muttered. This was embarrassing. Usually the book store was a lot emptier and she and Mr. Folds could fangirl in peace. Kayla turned back to Mr. Folds, trying to ignore the sniggering girls in the corner. "So, what happened to Morgan's-"

A large clattering sound rang at the back of the store. "Uh oh," sighed Mr. Folds, grabbing his wand and jogging to the back. In his absence, the two girls started to talk louder. Kayla tried to ignore it, pretending to be looking for a book. Still as they talked her temper boiled.

"..like, oh my god, Jar Jar is related to Sir Lancelot! The Deathly Hallows are upon us!" one girl snorted, imitating Kayla. She pretended not to hear her and turned to the boy next to her. "Hi," she said, grinning through clenched teeth. "Are you going to Beauxbatons?" She hoped she wasn't freaking him out.

"...I knew the shopkeeper was a creep, I didn't know he was a pedophile..."

A gust of wind burst out and slammed the girl in the face. Whoops. Kayla hadn't realized that she'd been holding that Weather-in-a-bottle from the joke shop and had squeezed it too hard in her fury. The cap burst right off and the girl was left sputtering and her hair unkempt. Kayla could barely suppress a laugh before feeling guilt. She thought about apologizing, but that would mean forgiving her rude words. All too soon, Mr. Folds appeared. "What's going on?"

"She launched that freak storm at me," the girl shrieked, pointing at a very pale Kayla. "Didn't she, Natalie?" The girl next to her nodded vigorously. "He saw it too," the girl continued, gesturing at the boy next to Kayla.

Mohamed was a very simple boy. He liked to read and to observe, not to engage people. The minute he opened up a copy of Tom Sawyer he knew that something was about to go wrong. He was tempted to claim he didn't speak English. He had a thick Eastern African accent, and could speak Somali. It was probably easy to fake his ignorance to the language.

Mohamed instantly decided he didn't like the girl picking on a young girl and the more elderly shopkeep. He'd begun to dedicate his life towards pacifism. He believed that all arguments could be settled with compassion and understanding. Mohamed jumped slightly when Kayla said hello through gritted teeth. He jumped slightly. "Yes, I'm going to Beauxbatons. I'm Mohamed, and you are?"

Then there were some choice word and jinxes and he hit the fetal position kind of fast, and then immediately brushed it off once it was over. Then the girl started asking for people to be like 'oh yeah this girl's the bad guy' and he didn't know what to do except what he would want someone to do for him, if he was in Kayla's position. "I didn't see anything, but I did hear you insulting her as well as the shopkeeper's integrity." Mohamed said softly and hurried away to bury his nose in Mark Twain.

"Yes, I am-" Kayla didn't finish when the incident occurred. She drew herself up and was about to defend herself when the boy spoke up. It felt like her anxiety dribbled away and was replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling.  Her mind cleared and she felt like she was ready to fire the girl with arguments. Somewhat unfortunately, she didn't get the chance. It was the girl's turn to become red in the face. "Um, yeah, that's not what happened," she tried to laugh sarcastically, but her gall had left her and she slunk away. Kayla thought she might've heard the word nerds under her breath, but it didn't matter to her. Some day, people like that girl would be working for her and they'd wish they hadn't tossed the nerd label around as a hot potato.

Mr. Folds just sighed tiredly, picking up a book on his desk. "You two stay out of trouble all right?" He seemed to be joking, although she wasn't sure. Kayla glanced at the boy who'd defended her, who was currently reading a book. She wasn't really the best at thank-yous and always felt they were lacking. "I-" Her brain was running fast. Not only was this guy hot but he also seemed intelligent and philosophical. Those were always traits she admired and she liked to think of herself that way too. She cleared her throat. Get a grip of yourself Kayla, you just met the guy. "Thank you. Yes, I'm going to Beauxbatons, I'm Kayla Miller." She waited for any signs of recognition. Maybe this kid's siblings knew of the Millers, she knew her brother and cousins had created quite a name for themselves. "Do you need help finding a book? I know some great wizard classics. Believe it or not, Beedle the Bard wrote some deeper stories later in life. They're quite interesting." That was the only compensation she could give.

Mo looked up and smiled politely at the girl. "It's nice to meet you, Kayla." Mohamed stretched slightly and nodded. "Sure, reading wizard texts sounds interesting. Besides, I've read Huckleberry Finn several times anyways." Mohamed put the book down and put his full attention on the girl. It was probably rude to be reading and talking to a girl at the same time. "I've heard that name before. I think. He wrote the children's tales right? I think I have that lying around the house somewhere." Mohamed tried to recall if it was a sibling or his parents that owned the book, but supposed it didn't really matter that much in the long run. "Do you like music at all?" Mohamed asked with a smiled as the two walked towards one of the couches in the shop.

"Sorry, I don't know that much about Muggle books," Kayla admitted as she sat down on the couch, picking up a book randomly. "I've read Sophie's World and Sherlock Holmes. They're very thought-provoking and intriguing. The themes aren't so different between Muggle and wizard stories." She hadn't noticed that she'd shifted into her extensive conversation posture. Books were one of the few things she could really talk about.

"Yes, Tales of Beedle the Bard. His later books are twisting and obscure, in stark contrast to the kids books. Let's see..." Kayla started shifting through the book spines. "What kind of book are you looking for?"

"Yes, I play viola and piano. I want to play in a band in Beauxbatons, if there's anything like that."