Summer Picnics

Maya fidgeted nervously with her backpack. She had gotten up at dawn as she was unable to sleep and had repacked it countless of times. She debated with the idea of waking her brothers up but she didn't want them being narky with her for the rest of the day. Finally when the sun was higher in the sky she heard her mother getting up. She was going to travel over to Aylee and Kynan's house with them and then do some shopping, that was the conditions of being able to travel over to Scotland. Plus here own father was Scottish so he was going to accompany them and visit his family.

They were currently staying in a holiday home in the city of Glasgow. Maya loved it, anything to get away from the boring farmhouse back home. She loved the hustle and bustle that the city life provided, but her father hated it. He had been going around with dark bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep due to being woken up by blaring car horns and noisy people. Maya had spent the first few days of the holiday avoiding her father and seeking out the company of her brothers. It had been great to catch up with them both and fill them in on life at Hogwarts, their eyes gleaming with admiration anytime she mentioned preforming magic.

Maya decided she better shower and get dressed as she was eager to leave as soon as possible. She knew the weather would be nice as they were experiencing a mini heatwave at the moment so she put on her white denim shorts, an over sized t shirt with the sleeves turned up and made sure to grab her sunglasses. She slipped flat pumps onto her feet, making sure they were comfortable to walk in. She quickly ran a brush through her hair, knowing that it would dry quickly with the heat of the sun.

"MAYA!" Maya jumped as she heard her mother calling her and raced down the stairs. She was shocked to see that her two brothers were already dressed, she had clearly taken a while to shower and get ready. She bit her lip nervously, she had wanted to look nice and now wondered if what she was wearing was alright. Her mother obviously picked up on her reservations as she kissed her on her forehead and complimented her. "You look lovely Maya." Maya smiled, but her face faltered when she seen her younger brother making silly faces at her behind her mother's back. Maya immediately stuck her own tongue out at him. "Behave!" Her mother commanded immediately, knowing exactly what was happening. "We better leave now or we'll be late." Her mother said, grabbing her handbag. "Did you pack the stuff I bought?" She questioned, on the way out the door. Maya nodded her head, pointing to her rucksack, not wanting to elaborate on how much time she had actually spent packing.

Her mother hailed a taxi and gave the man the address of Kynan's house. She had written to the mother asking for the address the day before. Maya spent most of the car journey in silence, nervous to be meeting the rest of Kynan's family and her anticipation grew as she hoped that all the siblings got along. When they pulled up outside a modern two storey house Tom, Maya and Wes stumbled out of the car, their mother remained seated and promised she would be back to pick them up later. Maya waved her off and turned to look at the house. Why was she so nervous, she questioned herself. Taking a deep breath and running a had through her hair she approached the threshold and rang the doorbell.

Maya chuckled to herself as Aylee screamed at the top of her voice from the other side of the door. They obviously took their hosts by surprise. "It was today, right?" Maya asked, suddenly worried that they got the day wrong. She forgot about being anxious and self conscious when she spotted Kynan over Aylee's shoulder inviting them in. A smile formed on her face straight away. It had seemed like a while since she had seen his familiar, comforting face and a wave of happiness passed through her. She followed the siblings though their modern house. She spotted Tom gaping at the closest painting hanging on a nearby wall and she pushed him forward. When they arrived in the sitting room she couldn't help but stare in awe herself. The television was humongous! There was a few moments of silence as the Winchester siblings were struck dumb by the bright and shiny furniture. Finally Maya looked up as Aylee asked her a question. "Fine, thanks. You? How has the summer been? You've a beautiful home." She complimented. They weren't normally used to a house as big as this as they lived in a quaint farmhouse themselves, which wasn't as modernly furnished. Out of the corner of her eye Maya seen Kynan approach Tom and confirmed who he was, giving Kynan a friendly smile. Maya sighed in relief as she was glad that Tom acted friendly towards Kynan. She didn't now how Tom would react to another witch or wizard. Maya laughed openly when Ethan and Aylee did their little dance, she knew exactly where Kynan got his goofiness from now. When they were finished Maya felt like it was the perfect opportunity to introduce herself to the one Walter's sibling she hadn't met. "Hey Ethan, I'm Maya and these are my brothers. Tom and Wes." She gestured to them individually when she mentioned their names. "How have you been Kynan?" Maya asked, moving closer to him. She looked up as Tom talked to Ethan and Wes stayed silent. Being the youngest he was probably intimidated. He never was normally this quiet she thought, bemused.

Aylee caught Maya's attention when she entered the room, she didn't realise she had left. "Oh yeah." Maya remembered her own supplies as Aylee made Ethan carry a heavy looking basket. "My mom bought us stuff for the picnic too." She gestured to her backpack, which was nearly bursting. There was probably enough food in there to feed them for a week! Her mother never normally left them alone with other children and she over compensated for it due to her being worried. Maya's heart lifted when Kynan mentioned a football match. "Your on." She said, smirking, her competitive streak immediately surfacing. Wes obviously overheard as he came bounding over. "Can I join too?" He asked. He loved soccer and actually wasn't too bad at it, considering his age and height. Maya just ruffled his hair and he scowled at her.

Maya and the rest of them followed after Aylee as she led them through the house. It seemed quite big she thought she'd probably get lost in it if she was left to herself. Distracted by her thoughts she didn't notice a woman washing dishes. She looked a lot like Aylee and had her kind smile. Maya held out her hand politely in a form of greeting her, just  like the rest of her brothers. "Nice to meet you too Ms. Walters. You have a lovely home." She said, trying to smile politely and make a good impression on the older woman. Maya was glad when Ethan called from the doorway and they were ushered out the door. She wasn't too fond of adults and their supervision. She was nearly twelve and believed she could look after herself now.

Maya enjoyed the sun and the fresh air once more as they left Aylee's house. They walked along a quieter part of Glascow with much less traffic, which was good as the streets were littered with children all milling about the place. When Aylee made her comment about warming up Wes immediately perked up and touched Kynan on the arm. "Tag, your it!" He shouted and ran down the street. Maya gave Kynan an amused expression and shrugged her shoulders, telling him it was his choice if he wanted to play or not. She held out her arms and offered to take the ball off of him.

Kynan smiled. He felt like nothing could ruin the day. As they entered the living room, he watched Maya talk to Aylee. "Oh, I'm good!" Aylee had replied to Maya's question. "I miss Hogwarts, though. But then I'd miss my big brother, wouldn't I?" she looked jokingly at Ethan who said, "No. You won't. I'm worse than Kynan." And the two laughed a bit, leaving Kynan standing there, confused. Aylee had ignored Maya's compliment and Kynan wondered why. But he ignored that, too, as Tom confirmed his name and Kynan returned the friendly smile. He watched Maya laugh at Aylee's and Ethan's dancing. Why, he didn't know. He liked Maya's laugh. Then Maya introduced herself to Ethan. "Nice to meet you, Maya," Ethan said, holding out his hand. "And I like those names. Maya, Tom and Wes. Honestly, imagine being brought up as Ethan, Aylee and Kynan. I want the name Tom!" then he walked up to Tom. "Want to switch names?" he joked. Kynan laughed and realized that Maya had talked to him. "I'm fine, thanks. You?" he replied cheerfully. "D'you want me to carry that for you?" Kynan asked as Maya gestured to her backpack. It looked heavy. But then Aylee sent him in search of the family's football. He went upstairs and found it running around in Ethan's room before he went back downstairs and asked Maya what she thought about a football match. Wes asked if he could join and Kynan said, "Sure, why not? Aylee wants us to play two on two, so who would you like as a teammate? Me or Maya or someone else. But not Aylee. She's bad at soccer."

Aylee then trooped them towards the kitchen where they introduced her to their mum. "Oh, thank you!" their mother replied to Maya's compliment. "But, please, call me Joanne. Mrs.Walters makes me feel old." She grinned and waved at them as they all left the house. They walked along the streets and suddenly Wes wanted to play tag. Kynan shrugged and handed Maya the football before running after Wes. He was smiling to himself, he used to love playing tag with his siblings. Luckily, the little boy was smart enough not to stray into the middle of the street and he caught up with Wes as they reached the park. The others were out of their sight so Kynan shouted to Wes, "Hey, come help me find a spot for the others!"

The park was big. Green everywhere, surrounding a huge pond. There were a few trees here and there. The sun was shining and there were many people- children and adults of all ages- either playing, or laying down in the sun, reading, riding bikes, playing with balls or frisbees. There were a few benches to sit on but most people ignored them, preferring to sit on the grass. Kynan sat down in a random spot and waited until the others came into view and walked towards him.

OOC:

Maya watched as Kynan and Tom tore on after Wes. She hung back with the other Walters siblings. "So what's muggle school like Ethan?" She asked, hoping that she wasn't being too tactless. Her mother had often chided her for bringing up the wrong conversation topics when she talked to people. She twirled her hair between her fingers, slightly nervous at talking to Aylee and Kynan's older brother. He just seemed so old to her, Tom's age, but she was used to him. She felt intimidated by his appearance and didn't know what topics to talk to him about seen as she only wanted to talk about Hogwarts to Aylee and Kynan. She had missed it desperately over the holidays, mentally counting down the days until they returned and she could spend time with her friends once more. She was delighted when this day arrived, as she had been looking forward to it since the day at the lake when Aylee and Kynan had brought it up. She didn't realise how lonely the summer was going to be and was just glad that she was once more back in the company of cherished friends.  

Maya looked up and realised they were at the park. It was really green was the first thing she thought. She looked around, taking in the people doing varieties of activities; walking dogs, rollerblading, picnicking, sunbathing, feeding the ducks, eating ice cream, the list went on and on. She turned to Aylee "Your so lucky to have a park this great so close to you." She once more wished that she didn't live somewhere so cut off from civilization. She presumed with Aylee and Kynan's parents both being muggle born they had no trouble fitting into normal society.

Maya soon picked Kynan out of the large hoard of people and rested her gaze on him, a smile wavering at the sides of her mouth. She was going to be so sad when she had to leave again. Pushing this thought aside she ran over to him and pointed to Wes. "So did you catch him? Of course you did, he's sooo slow!" She teased, poking Wes as she said it. She took out a picnic blanket and stretched it out on the ground, grateful that there was no breeze to blow it away. She looked up at the others first wondering what they wanted to do. She obviously wasn't hungry just yet as it wasn't too long after her breakfast, but maybe they were hungry.

Wes dictated what she did next though, as he went racing over to the pond, fascinated by the ducks. Maya immediately followed, not looking behind to see if anyone had followed her.

Maya chuckled to herself as she watched Aylee interacting with her own siblings, she wondered if she appeared the same way when she was messing with her brothers.

"Oh." Maya faltered at the change of tone in their conversation topic. She felt awkward as she didn't know how to address the situation. "That's awful." Maya commented, actually realsisng what it must be like growing up in a muggle neighbourhood. For the first time she had a grasp on the situation and did begin to broaden her horizon when it came to growing up in an environment surrounded by muggles. She supposed it did look odd if Kynan and Aylee disappeared for most of the year and Ethan stayed behind going to a local school. It must also be hard on Ethan she thought. They still seemed happy together though, at least they had each other, she thought positively.

Maya gladly accepted the bread in Kynan's outstrecthed arm and passed it onto Wes. He had immediately began breaking it into tiny pieces and fed the ducks. He had always loved animals and they had some ducks back home on the farm, but they kept mysteriously dying, which left Wes in tears for days. Her mind still engaged on the previous topic of conversation Maya turned to Kynan and asked "do you get called a weirdo much?" worry lacing her tone. She was glad that she didn't experience much prejudice in Hogwarts.

That question surprised Kynan a bit. "Who said that I got called a weirdo?" he asked, nervously as he really didn't expect Maya to ask that. Then he gave up, "Yeah. But I'm used to it, really, I've been bullied and called names most of my life. So has Aylee." he gestured to his sister who was staring at someone riding their bike and munching on cookies. "The only muggle friends she used to have stabbed her in the back. Ethan was alright, though. He's more of the loud, calm and relaxed kind. I guess Aylee and I got picked on because we were the quiet ones. It's not big deal, really. Don't get worried." For a moment, he stared at the ducks again. "By the way, it is possible that someone might walk up to us and call us weirdos, too." He tried to smile a bit to brighten up the mood and make it sound like it was no big deal.

Aylee, who was still sitting on the picnic cloth by the basket, was still munching on cookies. She was watching her surroundings, thinking about how much Hogwarts was more beautiful when it happened. Three girls about her age walked up to her, wearing what most people called "cool clothes" and what Aylee called "inappropriate clothes". Super short skirts, belly shirts, piercings, strapless shirts, loads of jewellery and too much make-up. Honestly, do they never get cold? It's Scotland, for god's sake! she thought as she stared at the girls who were standing there, looking at her. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Aylee Walters," one of the girls finally said. "Quit weirdo school?" Aylee blinked and replied coolly, "No, it's just summer break. You'd know that if you don't spend half you time ditching school." The girls were instantly taken aback when another one of them said, "Weirdo. Creep. Loser. You don't belong here." Aylee grinned and said, "I already know that. Is there anything else you want?" She and Kynan have gotten used to this and knew how to deal with the bullies- even though they never knew what to expect. "Yes," the first girl said, smiling wickedly. Then she kicked the picnic basket so the entire contents came spilling out. "Loser." Then the girls walked off, laughing those really girly laughs. As quickly as they appeared, they were gone.

"SAME TO YOU!" Aylee yelled at the girls, instantly getting Kynan's and Ethan's attention. She hugged her knees to her chest and put her head on her knees. Ethan ran over to her and immediately began to put the food back in the basket while muttering, "Not again." Aylee was still with her head on her knees when she started saying, "I hate them. I hate them all. Bullies. Idiots. What the hell is wrong with us?" She looked at Ethan and asked, "What the hell is wrong with them?" Ethan replied, "They're idiots. Don't mind them."

"See?" Kynan told Maya, who was watching from afar. Then he walked over to his siblings and sat down next to Aylee. "We never get any peace and quiet because of them. They're evil. Pure evil. I wish they could leave us alone," she was saying, a tear trailing down her cheek. Even though she seemed upset, Kynan noted that Aylee sounded like she was talking about someone else. He made a mental note to ask her about it later and then was about to reach out to wipe the tear of Aylee's face when his sister jumped. "AH! Don't touch me!" she exclaimed, crawling backwards and wiping the tear off herself. "What's wrong?" asked Ethan and Kynan at the same time, confused and concerned. "N-n-nothing," Aylee muttered, standing up. "It's nothing." The two brothers looked at each other before Aylee sat down again and asked, "Any of you hungry?"

Ethan shook his head and said, "Nah. I better go, I left Tom alone." and with that he ran off to continue his conversation with the eldest Winchester sibling. Kynan nodded and said to Aylee, "If you want to talk about anything, just tell me." and then he walked off to re-join Maya. When the two were gone, Aylee muttered to herself, "I won't."

Maya knew that she had taken Kynan by surprise and regretted that she asked the question. It just kept playing on her mind and she blurted it out. She often spoke without thinking and was regretting it now when she saw the look on the boy's face. Maya really hadn't thought about how being bullied might have affected Aylee and Kynan, they both seemed like really happy people to Maya. Although, she presumed growing up in a hostile environment would have to have some effect on them. "Well you have friends now." Maya said, smiling at Kynan, trying to brighten his mood back up. She began watching the ducks too as silence fell upon them. He then mentioned that someone might approach them and throws abuse at them. "Yeah, Aylee mentioned something about that." Maya said, frowning, wondering how people could be so cruel.

Maya continued watching Wes feeding the ducks, glad that he was allowed to keep his innocence and enjoy his childhood as they grew up away from people their own age who could offer abuse. Maya looked up, startled, at the sudden outburst from Aylee. She followed her gaze and watched some girls Aylee's age stalking off. They were smirking to themselves, their head's held high. Parents gaped at them, horrified by their skimpy attire and Maya wondered how their parents could let them leave the house looking like that.

Maya watched as Ethan approached an upset looking Aylee, there was obviously a confrontation. Maya looked at Tom, who hung back awkwardly, not knowing how to react. Maya watched as Kynan went over and joined Ethan in comforting his sister. They didn't seem too successful though and Maya could hear the conversation from her spot by the pond, where she was keeping an eye out of Wes,. He had, thankfully, remained oblivious to what was happening up at the picnic mat.

Kynan returned after unsuccessfully trying to make Aylee feel better. She gave him a sympathetic look, wondering if there was anything she could do. She looked back up at Aylee trying to figure out what else was wrong. It could hardly have been just the girl's as Kynan had said that they were used to it at this stage. There was something else going on and Maya didn't know if she was overstepping boundaries if she inquired any further. Deciding that she should try and get Aylee alone, not that it would probably do any good, Maya wasn't the most compassionate person in the world.

Maya turned back to Wes, who was now attacking the ducks with pieces of bread and attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Quickly running over and grabbing him by the arm, she dragged him away, smiling at the gaping people. Sighing deeply, Maya thought that this day hadn't been so successful thus far. Maybe a change in activity would help or maybe Kynan wanted to talk further, she was undecided thinking both ideas had advantages.