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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 22, 2009 2:44:41 GMT -5
Emma laughed at his comment and shrugged, "At least that one didn't break anything."
Utilizing her peripheral vision, she looked out of the corner of her eye to see if he had taken that offensively. She had only meant it as a joke but had remembered after saying it the way he had reacted when they had first met. He seemed so far from that person now. Jeremy was really nice and she wondered from where he had drawn up such an accusatory attitude. the boy was perfectly normal now. Well, not exactly normal. But close enough.
"I think I'll give the backwards shot a try," Emma suggested aloud.
Grabbing the ball from where it had landed after Jeremy's shot, she walked to about the same spot he had shot from earlier. Emma repeated the same procedure he had, figuring that she looked pretty funny lining up the basket upside down. In one smooth motion, she released the ball and got a head rush from coming up so fast. The ball had completely missed it's mark by a good three feet of the basket and went flying back down the court with a few resounding thuds.
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 22, 2009 3:00:48 GMT -5
Jeremy gave a small smile back, not sure if the tease was a friendly one or not. He was starting to hope it was the nice kind of tease, and surprised that he was actually realizing there was a difference. Even so, he was going to be careful around this girl.
"It was a good try," he lied, noting that he had done waaaaaay better at the backwards shots than she had, but deciding that it was probably best not to rub it in too much. He ran after the ball and brought it back to where she was, passing int gently to her so she could try again, evn though he knew it was his turn at shooting.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 22, 2009 3:12:13 GMT -5
Emma had caught the place the ball had hit the wall and knew Jeremy was just being nice. Extremely nice. He had at least came close to sinkng it in the basket. Whereas she had not even come close to brushing the rim of the basket. The shot had not been great at all, but she simply laughed at her self. It wasn't that big of a deal and it was fun to try to shoot it backwards. The head rush was definitely balance missing.
As he tossed her the ball back she held it away from her, looking at it curiously. "You really want to see that awesomeness again huh?" Emma laughed and shook her head.
"Alright, all laughing permitted when this shot fails again," The young girl declared knowing full well that there was no way she could make the shot. However, she lined up since he had tossed her the ball again. Flipping over, Emma tried to figure out where she would have to release the ball in order for it to go in the general direction of the hoop. Giving it a go for the second time, she swung up and let the ball go.
Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as the first time around. Although, it didn't do nearly as well as Jeremy's had. This time it only missed the basket by about a foot. Considering this an accomplishment in itself, Emma jumped up in the air as if she had succeeded. Walking towards Jeremy she held up her hand to high five him and said, "It was closer that time!"
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 22, 2009 3:37:14 GMT -5
Jeremy shrugged back, not exactly sure why he was being so nice to the girl. He knew deep down that he was probably being set up for a major dissing, but a part of him didn't really care. He wondered, just for a moment, if that subtle tint of red in her hair had something to do with it all.
It was pretty cool that she gave him permission to laugh, something he wasn't sure he was ready to allow when it was about something he had done. How cool was that to be so relaxed about what other people thought about you? He smiled again as her shot missed, more over the fact that she seemed so proud of it rather than to make fun of her miss.
"Yeah, it was," he answered, looking at her raised palm blankly before realizing what she was doing. He let his hand meet hers and smiled again before turning away to chase after the ball.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 22, 2009 3:52:57 GMT -5
Emma gladly accepted his high five and had intended to go to get the ball this time but he had beaten her to the punch. He had given her a second chance to shoot so the least she could do was go and fetch the ball for his shot. Yet, he had already taken off to get it before she realized he was gone. She decided that he could be quick when he wanted to be. Even sneaky since she had not registered that he was going to get the ball until he was already halfway gone.
"Not as close as yours, but it was the best I could do." Emma gave him a small curtsy and giggled quietly.
The courtyard seemed to have become very quiet. The two of them had been playing for a while without any disturbances or even a stray person walking through the court. It was weird how she had completely forgotten that they were in such a public forum. Emma had been having fun and listening to Jeremy without even noticing that she was tuning out the rest of the world. She liked it though, establishing the thought as she watched him come back up the court with the ball.
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 23, 2009 1:45:18 GMT -5
Jeremy snorted at the curtsy finding the movement silly, especially in the middle of a basketball game. It was something the girls back home did when they were trying to show off how well bred and proper they were, but for some reason, he thought Emma was just messing around.
"Yours was pretty good too," he told her, setting up another backwards shot. He decided that he was going to do them this way until he actually sunk one. Besides, he seemed to do better by aiming upside-down. He tossed the ball over his head and again it banged on the rim before falling to the side of the basket. He stood up straight once more and shrugged at her. "I figure one time it has to actually go in, right?"
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 25, 2009 23:23:21 GMT -5
Emma laughed at herself after the curtsy and watched as he lined up for another backwards shot. He seemed to be pretty consistent on hitting the rim of the basket and having it not fall in. She was definitely better at standing straight up and facing the basket to shoot. Off the wall shots were not her forte. Yet they were more fun than making fifteen forward shots in a row. She had to agree with Jeremy's logic when he brought up the fact that the ball would eventually have to go in. It seemed likely.
"Yeah, I would think so." Emma smiled as she went after the fallen ball.
Gathering it in her arms, she dribbled it around the court for a bit. Juggling the ball between the ground and her hand was easy and required no real concentration. This allowed her to look up at Jeremy and speak again. "So Jeremy..." Emma began, not really knowing what she was going to ask at first. Just winging it she went with, "Where are you from?"
Her feet continued to move as she danced around the court with the ball. She looked up at him occasionally only to see his clear blue eyes watching her. The young girl spent the time he took to think about his answer to contemplate where exactly she wanted to take her next shot.
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 26, 2009 0:18:30 GMT -5
He smirked again at her agreement. Yeah, the odds were eventually it would go in... if he shot baskets like that for a hundred years. As it was her turn to shoot, she took the ball and moved it around the makeshift court. He thought she was pretty good, but then again, even he could dribble a ball with some sort of success.
He felt awkward having her look at him and he wasn't sure what to do with his hands. He stuck them in his pockets and then crossed them in front of his chest before shoving them back in his pockets, wishing all the while that he at least had the ball back.
"Me? Where?" he echoed, not exactly sure why she wanted to know, not really knowing the right answer, and wondering if she had an ulterior motive for wanting the information. "My family lives in London?" he tried, thinking it was a fairly safe answer. Of course he was pretty sure his accent gave him away. "But... I kind of grew up in Los Angeles."
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 26, 2009 0:41:08 GMT -5
Emma couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at his uncomfortable response to her question. She didn't think it to be that trying of a query, however, he seemed to surprise her with different responses. Jeremy's answer seemed to be formed in a question. He made it seem like she was interrogating him or something. "You're not required to answer or anything. I swear I don't have a alternative agenda. Just curious, that's all." Emma told him happily, with a carefree tone.
Looking away from him, she focused her eyes on the basket standing just off to the right of the middle of the court. With a clean follow-through she shot the ball up into the air and watched it go through the basket. Not taking any moment to celebrate the shot, she jogged after the ball.
"I couldn't exactly tell with your accent." Emma commented as she walked back towards him with the ball. Her own accent was a light English character with rounded vowels and more hushed consonents. Of course, she had been around Americans before but not enough to be able to know the accent every time she spoke with someone from the country. "Los Angeles that's a pretty big city right? The one with movie stars and stuff?"
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 26, 2009 1:15:24 GMT -5
He looked at her suspiciously, not trusting anyone who claimed they didn't have an ulterior motive. After all, someone who did have one would say they didn't, right?
She made her shot and of course, she made it in. He really wasn't sure why he sucked so badly at basketball. Everyone told him that if he kept practicing, he'd get better, but it didn't seem to work.
He shrugged at her answer, knowing that LA was pretty big and yeah, there were lots of famous people, but it wasn't like he knew any of them. "I guess," he told her. "I... I kind of live near Los Angeles, actually, but not too many people know where Brentwood is so I just say Los Angeles because everyone knows where that is." He was pretty sure she'd now get mad at him for lying to her, or for not knowing anyone really famous, or maybe just for being American. There had to be plenty of things to hate him for.
"Um... so... where are you from?" he asked, hoping to put off any mocking or hitting that might be in his near future.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 26, 2009 1:31:53 GMT -5
"That is true," Emma shrugged not having ever heard of any place called Brentwood.
Emma listened to Jeremy explain and understood what he was saying. She often generalized where she lived because not many people recognized that Belfast was in Northern Ireland. Also, not many people understood that it was a part of the United Kingdom even though it was just not on the same land mass. It had bothered her when she was little, having to explain meticulous details to stupid kids that didn't know any better. However, she had realized that if she just went with a nice general answer people went along with it.
Tossing the ball to him for his shot, she told him, "I'm from Northern Ireland. Belfast to be exact, right on the coast of the Irish Sea."
The vision of her old room at the Wickham Estate flooded her mind. For the first time since she had been at Hogwarts she had actually forgotten to think about missing her home. Playing basketball and just talking to someone had completely taken her mind off of her house. Emma smiled brightly, rather happy to have forgotten.
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 28, 2009 23:17:53 GMT -5
Jeremy caught the ball and dribbled it by his side. She hadn't hit him and actually answered his question. What was more, he knew where she was talking about.
"I've heard of Belfast," he told her, unable to stop the slight rolling of his eyes as if it were as commonly known as Paris, London, or New York. He wasn't even sure where he had heard of it, but he had. Maybe on a map he had read? Actually... "Isn't it like the biggest city, or the capital or something?" he asked, pretty sure it was both, but just checking. Slowly, he set himself in front of the basket, back turned towards the hoop just as he had done before and waited for her answer.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 28, 2009 23:39:52 GMT -5
"Wow, I'm impressed." Emma exclaimed happily, "It's both actually. Not many people know that though. Just the fact that Northern Ireland isn't actually Ireland, it's the United Kingdom escapes people. "
She laughed slightly and shrugged at her comment. The recollection of explaining to cousins of hers that just because something shared a landmass didn't mean that it had to be the same country made her want to cringe. Only because she had gotten reprimanded by her mother after she hit one of the boys for contradicting her. She had been yelled at for an hour in spanish for her cousin being dumb.
Jeremy's eye roll only registered with her after she had took the trip down memory lane. It made her angry that he had rolled his eyes, as if she were the stupid one for trying to be nice. It wasn't as if Belfast was this major city that people on the street would be able to identify with if asked to. How rude. For a moment she wanted to hit him, but the fact that he was one of the few people that had taken the time to talk to her flashed through her mind. Restraining her flash of anger, she decided to take the high road.
Emma moved the subject back to him, "From Los Angeles to London was a pretty big jump. Did you move here because of Hogwarts or what?"
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 28, 2009 23:56:54 GMT -5
Duh... Jeremy thought again, knowing there was a difference between Ireland and Northern Ireland, Dublin and Belfast. Wasn't that the whole point of the fighting there around the turn of the century? He was starting to wonder if he just read way too much, but thought that maybe if people read more, they wouldn't have so much fighting in the world.
He lined up his shot and flipped the ball over his head, missing once again, but actually hitting the rim this time. He was wondering if he could have a career in the NBA if he could actually sink a shot like that consistently.
"Yeah, because of Hogwarts," he answered, not really wanting to get into his grade school experiences. It had been four and a half years he'd like to forget. "My cousins went here like my Grandmum and Great-aunt, so my mom and dad thought I should give it a try."
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Post by Emma Wickham on Mar 1, 2009 0:18:16 GMT -5
Emma listened to his explanation and couldn't help but wonder. She had been given the choice to go to Hogwarts. At first it had been such an unimaginable thing, but later had been the best option possible. However, she had always made the decision. It had been on her terms. Of course, it occurred to her that there were kids that weren't given a choice in the matter but the way Jeremy had spoke it was different. Like he hadn't cared either way or maybe had just went along with it because his family had attended.
"Do you like it here?" Emma asked kindly.
It was a simple enough question. She was trying not to pry and had asked politely. He could completely avoid the question and she would not ask again. However, her question was legitamite. He didn't exactly act like Hogwarts was the greatest place on Earth like other kids that she had met so far. Of course, she wasn't exactly in love with Hogwarts either. It was a much safer question than what she had first thought of. He might have jumped down her throat if she had asked something different.
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