80 Days of the United States
 

Maria Charday was not having a happy summer. After getting out of Italy for a year, she was dragged across the Atlantic and brought to a small town on the East Coast of the United States.

She missed Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley, and all the quirks of the Wizarding World in Europe.

But most of all, she missed her family. And she was quite certain that they weren't showing up anytime soon.

She had only been in this house for 80 days. 80 days of being in the States was enough to drive her mad.

The house she lived in was small. Two stories, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a normal sized kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and a closed in porch.

The one bedroom upstairs was quiet and well-lit. Maria claimed it as her own the minute she walked in, and spent all her time there, and out on the small balcony extending from the window.

Characters:
Maria Charday
Catarina Charday

Guests:
Alex Hendricks
Mikey Grainger
Adrianna Hendricks
Bradin Westerly
Justin Hendricks

*dances*
 

Maria sighed and blew her orange hair from her face and stared up at her ceiling sadly. She was bored out of her mind! She rolled off the bed and walked downstairs, and the smell of stewing tomatoes hit her nose and she groaned. "MUM! I've told you not to cook tomatoes when I'm in the house!" she complained, already feeling her face start to break out as she flopped onto the sofa with a pillow over her nose.

Catarina Charday raised an eyebrow and poked her head out of the kitchen. "Maria, it's for dinner. You aren't going to eat it. So deal with it!" she snapped, her Italian accent thick and harsh.

Alex sighed glancing over at a rather silent Justin. Was he thinking about something? He was under the impression Justin rather liked the idea of being back in the US again but it didn't seem like it now. He shook his head and nudged his son to try and break the trance he seemed to be in. "Are you getting out of the car or not? We've not got all day y'know!" he said putting his hand on top of the car door waiting for Justin to listen up and get out already.

Justin sat quietly in the car not taking notice of his surroundings or even the fact that they'd arrived at their destination. He was too busy thinking about the past. He had a lot of memories of being in the US and if he was honest, some were memories he wished he could just wipe out of his memory forever. Finally snapping out of his trance, he looked up at his dad and shrugged. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about a few things" he replied and climbed out of the car. His eyes widened when he saw the house they'd arrived at. And this was where Maria was living now? Why couldn't he have lived in a house like this when he was growing up. He shook his head and made his way toward the door and knocked lightly. If he was honest, he was kind of nervous. As far as he knew he'd never met Maria's mother so this was going to be the first time.

Ad sighed and slid out of the car and stood next to Justin and sighed as she heard Maria's mother shout in Italian. "I don't know why Maria still puts up with this woman, honestly...." she mumbled.

Catarina set the ladle down and flipped her short blonde hair from her face as she walked from the door. She opened it and her eyebrow shot up at the group at the door. "What do you want?" she asked lowly.

Maria moaned miserably on the sofa, the pillow still over her face as the smell of stewing tomatoes got stronger. "Mama...who is it....?" she asked with a moan, earning herself a glare and a 'no one'.

Justin folded his arms and tapped his foot on the floor impatiently. He looked over at Ad then realised who she was talking about. Why exactly what she talking in Italian? They were in the US. Unless she didn't want them to know what she was saying. He sighed waiting for her to eventually answer the door. His eyebrows rose at her tone and his eyes narrowed. Was she really taking that tone with guests? Now that was just plain rude. "We're here for Maria. Y'know, after you dragged her all the way here away from the people she knows" he responded, his eyes shooting wide open and his glare sharpening. Last time he checked Maria was allergic to tomatoes so why exactly was she stewing them? "And since when do you give your daughter who's allergic to tomatoes tomatoes? Or stew them where she is?" he responded. He knew he wasn't in a position to be judging her style but it was beside the point.

Alex shot a warning look at Justin the looked at the woman standing in front of them. "Excuse him! He's just a little fact based. But we are taking Maria on a road trip, I trust she told you?" he told the woman. He didn't even know her name but he did know she was Maria's mother and he didn't particularly like her. That was just from her tone alone.

Catarina raised an eyebrow. "I took her away with good reason, I'll have you know" she said curtly, looking behind her. Her daughter was curled in a ball and hiding her nose. She looked back at the group. "It's not my fault. She eats away from everyone else anyway, and I can cook whatever I damn well please in my kitchen!" she snapped.

She shook her head. "No, I wasn't told. And honestly, I don't care. She can go. I wouldn't care if you didn't bring her back either!" she threw her hands in the air. "Go, Maria" she said, muttering in Italian.

Maria looked up in shock, but didn't question it and dashed upstairs to throw some stuff together, and came bounding back downstairs, covering her nose until she was out in open air. "I'm free!" she laughed a little.

Ad chuckled and grabbed the shorter ginger girl in a fierce hug. "I've missed you, Mari" she mumbled into the girl's hair. Maria was her best friend, cousin, step-sister. They'd had their moments but always got over it.

Justin felt his jaw fall. He was shocked. She didn't care about her own daughter? "I beg your pardon? You don't care if we bring her back or not? Some mother you are!" he replied shaking his head. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Looking at Maria he rolled his eyes and then smiled at her. "Looks like we got here just in time" he muttered turning away from the house and making his way toward the car. He'd heard enough.

Alex rolled his eyes at the woman before him and shook his head. "I can guarantee here is the last place we'll be bringing her back to" he responded. Why would he bring Maria back to someone who didn't appear to care whether she went back to England or not? And what did she mean by 'good reason'. "Oh and if that good reason for dragging her away was to make her unhappy, you're doing an amazing job. Now if you'll excuse me, we have the US to explore and a teenager to give happiness to" he said before turning his back on her and looking at Maria. "Ready to go?" he asked with a polite smile.

Catarina rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind her daughter, scowling heavily.

Maria watched Justin walk back to the car and looked down guiltily. She hadn't meant for them to go through so much trouble. She looked up at Alex. "I guess so..." she sighed, realizing the one person she wanted to see most, she didn't see. She half expected Mikey to be right there with them.

Justin's head shot up the minute he heard what Maria was thinking. "Don't worry, Mikey's in the other car with Bradin. They sorta got lost though I don't see how, they were following us" he told her leaning against the car waiting for them to join him.

Alex shook his head at Maria's mother then concentrated on Maria herself. "Let's go. We've got a lot of cities to explore and one very impatient person waiting" he said making his way over to the car.

Maria's face lit up at what Justin said and smiled wide. "Okay" she nodded and slid into the backseat and Ad flopped down beside her. "So, where are we going from here?" she asked curiously, clinging to the the seat in front of her.

Justin climbed in the car and looked over at his dad then at Maria in the rear view mirror. "To get something to eat. I'm starving" he replied.

Maria snorted in laughter and shook her head. "There's a bunch of little cafes and restraunts around here" she nodded. She looked at the people in the car and grinned to herself. "So how's everyone been?" she asked with a smile still plastered to her face.

Ad chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You're always hungry, Justin!" she said, giggling. She looked at Maria and shrugged. "I've been alright. Missing my Mari LOADS" she said, giving Maria another tight squeeze, making Maria squeak.

Justin looked at Maria in the rear view mirror again with an eyebrow raised. "I know, I used to live around these parts" he replied shuddering at the bad memories that continued to float around his brain. He looked at his dad and smiled a little then concentrated on the road ahead. "I don't know about anybody else but I've been great" Looking at Ad, he shook his head. "Not always. Only when I've not had anything to eat for like an hour" he replied. So that was pretty much every two hours then? He forced back the urge to roll his eyes seeing the two girls in the back. "Girls..." he muttered to no-one in particular.

Alex looked at Justin then concentrated on the road again listening as the three of them continued to talk away amongst themselves. He was just concentrating on getting to their destination without anything going wrong.

Maria tilted her head. "Oh..I didn't know that..." she said. She always found different stuff out everyday. She looked behind them in the rear window and sighed. "So, where are Bradin and them, exactly?" she asked softly, biting her lip.

Justin smiled and shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know about me. The states holds a couple bad memories for me but believe it or not the good overpowers the bad" he admitted. He looked at Ad in the rear-view mirror and smiled then concentrated on Maria again. "Well if I know Bradin, he forgot the roads around here and got himself lost on the way to your place. He'll probably be stuck in the middle of town somewhere" he replied.

Ad sighed as she listened to Justin, and rested her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. She returned the smile sweetly.

Maria raised an eyebrow as she watched Justin and Ad. Did they think she didn't see the looks they were exchanging? She sighed heavily and nodded in response to what Justin was saying. Even though she was in a car full of people, she still felt a little lonely.

Justin smiled slightly at Ad again and concentrated on the road ahead. Something told him he'd just made the atmosphere more awkward than it should have been. Looking over at his dad, he sighed biting the inside of his cheek nervously. What could he possibly have to be nervous of? Aside from possibly seeing aunts and uncles he'd not seen in years.

Alex glanced at Justin then glanced at Maria and Ad through the rear-view mirror and raised an eyebrow. "You okay back there?" he asked. It was too quiet in the car and he didn't like it. Maria didn't seem as though she was particularly happy being here, Justin was over-thinking and Ad knew exactly what the poor kid was thinking. The atmosphere was either tense or extremely awkward. He couldn't quite work it out.

Ad squeezed Justin's shoulder again and sighed softly. She didn't like Justin being so quiet. 'I love you' she sighed mentally, trying to cheer him up a little.

[color="green"]Maria looked up. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just, I dunno...I guess it hasn't really registered that I'm not at home still" she lied.

Justin smiled lifting his head up. "I love you too" he smiled.

Alex looked at Justin then at Ad and shook his head. "I do wish you two wouldn't do that" he complained. It was annoying. They could have a conversation without anybody knowing what it was about. He looked back at Maria and raised his eyebrows. "You know I can spot a liar a mile off, right?"

Ad smiled slightly and slung her arm over the seat. She looked over at Alex and raised an eyebrow, then stuck her tongue out at him like a child. 'You should smile more. It looks good on you' she said mentally again.

Maria sighed. She looked out the window. "I just...kind of wish I was in the other car..." she sighed, and it sounded like all one word from saying it so fast.

Justin smiled again taking hold of Ad's hand gently and holding it to his chest. "My smile is the one trait everybody comments on" he responded.

Alex shook his head. "Okay, do what you want!" he muttered. Finally arriving at their destination, Alex parked the car in the first parking bay he came across and turned in his seat after turning the ignition off. "Why?"

Ad smiled sweetly. "Because it's such a brilliant one" she said.

Maria stayed silent, still looking out the window. She knew Justin would pick up on her thoughts, but she felt selfish by wanting to see Mikey so badly.

Justin smiled back. "So we're back to talking openly" he smirked with a slight giggle. Picking up on Maria's thoughts, he slid his phone out of his pocket and phoned Mikey. "Where are you?" he asked when Mikey finally picked up.

Mikey looked at Bradin then concentrated on the phone call. "Umm, somewhere in the middle of town. About five minutes away from the cafe on the corner" he replied. Not that it helped much.

Ad giggled and nodded. "We are" she smiled.

Maria watched as Justin called what seemed to be either Bradin or Mikey. She bit her lip a little anxiously.

Justin raised an eyebrow and listened as Mikey spoke. "It's a good thing I know these parts better than you. We're already at the cafe you're talking about so hurry up. Maria wants to see you" he responded before ending the call before Mikey could start a conversation about her. He looked at Maria and smiled. "They'll be here in a few minutes. They got lost in town" he told her before opening the door and climbing out of the car.