Young Writers Society

"Yeah, just had an appointment with my mom's friend. I have to tell her everything going on at home every once in a while so that she can send off a letter to Mum and Dad that I'm doing okay. Letters are the only thing used here." Livvie explained. She looked at the clock, glaring. "She was supposed to be here."

Just when she said that, a plump woman with dreadlocks came rushing in, panting. "C'mon into my office. let's get you settled. Ooh, I see you brought friends!"

The woman ushered the trio into a neat office and sat them down on the leather couch.

Luna sat down in one of the chairs, she could see why Livvie was such a bubbly person. She began to wonder if this woman was on her mothers side of her fathers side of the family. Quickly she shook her head, no she shouldn't think of things like that, she needed to get back home!

"Alright. So how are you doing, my love? Also, tea, coffee or juice?" she asked Livvie.

"I'm fine I don't want anything. And also, I've actually been doing pretty well. Jason's been quite a struggle, but I handle him just fine." Livvie explained, eyeing Luna and Levi in case they spilled the beans about Jason going all mad.

"Yes Jason has be rather nice." Luna piped in catching the look Livvie gave her.

Levi could see the need for hiding something like how Jason had been acting, but he also could see the need for sharing. Still, he wanted to keep both Luna and Livvie's trust, so he gave a nod in agreement as he sat down - making sure to push his glasses up again once he was settled.

"That sounds good. Any other things I need to know?" The woman said. "Oh! I haven't introduced myself. I'm Heather. No miss no misses. Just Heather." she said, and gave a warm smile.

"Yeah. Um, I think I may need a higher number for my glasses." Livvie said sheepishly.

Heather glared at Livvie, "You're not wearing them." then she sighed. "I'll let your mother know and as soon as she tells me what to do, I'll prep everything. Sound good?" Livvie nodded.

"When are they coming back again? Sorry... My memory is pretty bad." Livvie tucked her long hair behind her ear. When Heather said in a few more moths, Livvie sighed. "They never have time for me, do they?"

Heather shook her head, "They love you and the trips are to get more money for our comfort, right?" she said softly.

"They barely come home though!" Livvie yelled. Her face was suddenly and dark shade of red. She stomped out of the office and ran to the front of the building, tears in her eyes, and her new friends out of her mind. She stood in front of the building and sobbed.

As Livvie stormed out of the office, he glanced between Heather and Luna.

He knew a thing or two about adulthood - that it was hard, that it wasn't easy balancing happiness and success, and that parents weren't always there for their children. But he had never really gotten into adulthood before, so it was Livvie that he understood more: a child with parents who just weren't there.

He got to his feet.

"I'm going to go find Livvie," he said.

He left the room, not looking back to see if Luna or Heather were following him. It didn't take him long to find Livvie - she was standing outside of the building, unsurprisingly sobbing.

Levi Quinn wasn't supposed to understand.

Levi Quinn's parents were there for their children. Not too much, but not too little, either. They made time for them when their children wanted it, and never left home for long periods of time unless they were both okay with it.

(They were, given that it left more time and freedom for that.)

But once, a long time ago, he had understood what Livvie was going through all too well.

"Hey," he said, a simple yet comforting start.

"What do you want?" Livvie snapped.

Realizing she had been rude, her voice turned soft, "Sorry. Hi." she shifted from her right foot to her left and stated braiding her long hair, bringing it over her shoulder.

Luna watched Livvie run out the room, then saw Levi follow soon afterwords. Slowly she stood up and walked out the room towards the exit to the building.
She new just what Livvie was going through, she didn't have a mother of father when she was young, she was pretty much an orphan at a very young age. The only reason she is the way she is now is because of one person that stuck by her, her entire life. She was going to try and help Livvie through this time in her life.
She watched by the door as Livvie and Levi talked.

"It's alright," he said. He leaned back up against the wall of the building. "I just wanted to talk."

He reached out into his pocket and pulled out a cleaning cloth, methodically cleaning his glasses. It was an excuse not to wear them right now - he hadn't ever really needed them, but they did a good job adding to the image he tried to go for in school. But he didn't need that image right now; he needed to be someone else.

"Mum and Dad never come home. They're always on stupid business trips. I always send letters but never get replies." Livvie sighed, rubbing her temples. "They've never loved me like other parents love their children."

She sat down on the steps and stared at an ant crawling on her shoe.

Luna frowned a little when she heard Livvie say what she did about her parents. "Well that can't be entirely true." She said, she couldn't keep it in, she had to say something. "I'm sure your mom and dad love you very much. Sure you may not see it because their gone, but if you think about it I'm sure they rather spend time with you then having to work, but they have to get the income to give you a better chance at life." Luna said sitting down next to Livvie. "I no what its like being your age with out parents, but at least you no they love you." Luna looked at Levi for help.

He sat down on Livvie's other side.

If he was right on this situation, Livvie, Luna and him would never meet again - or, at the very least, never in a situation where they could meet his parents. It wouldn't hurt to talk about before, especially when he knew it was the only way he could reach out to Livvie.

"My father was always busy when I was little," he said. He looked down at his glasses and kept wiping. "He was...a CEO to a company. The company was everything to us - he had inherited it from his parents, who had inherited it from theirs. It had been in the family for generations."

His grip on the cloth tightened.

"...I didn't understand it, back then," he admitted. "I'm not sure I understand it now. But he was always busy back then - he could never make time for me. I think he tried. I...I'd like to think he tried, anyways."

He looked over at her.

"Even if our situations aren't the same now, they were once," he said. "I understand what you're going through. It's hard being left alone by your own parents, especially when you feel like you have no one you can really turn to."

"Thanks, both of you." Livvie said, wiping her tears.

"We need to think about the situation at hand right now." she said, standing up. "Let's go back to my place and have supper. It's around seven-ish."

He slipped his glasses back on and returned the cloth to his pocket.

"Okay," he said, letting himself fall back into the role of Levi Quinn. If Livvie didn't want to talk more about it right now, he could wait. At the moment, he had to focus on figuring out how to convince Jason that magic was real.

...And he needed to get his hands on one of those leaves.