“Ellie!” he says in a hushed voice. “How the hell did you find me here?”
“I was at a gardening class in the park.” I gesture back the way I came. “I thought I saw a Quidditch game and I had to come investigate.”
He looks behind me, clearly frazzled. “Is anyone with you? Did you tell Huan? Or Sage?”
“No. It’s just me.” I gesture to the field. “So what’s all this? You’re playingQuidditch? Have I discovered your deep dark secret?”
“Don’t start with me.”
I hold up my hands. “I’m notstarting. I think this might be thebest thing I’ve ever witnessed. It’s just so”—I nod at his broom and smile again—“unexpected! I never pictured you being into this.”
He shoves his hands into his pockets and stares at the ground. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. To let off steam. When I first read the books, I always thought how cool it would be to play Quidditch. There was a team back in DC, but I couldn’t get to the practices, so when I saw the flyer at the flea market for the local team...”
He’s been keeping this a secret since our first days here? I thought I had him all figured out, but there might be more to Dev than I originally realized.
“You know, Quidditch is a really big deal now,” he adds. “It’s a legitimate sport. There’s even a world cup.”
It’s raining hard enough now that my clothes are painted onto me. “Is there someplace else we can discuss this?”
He squints at me and then up at the sky, like he’s only now noticing the rain. Boys.
“Yeah, come on.”
He backtracks to grab his bag and gestures for me to follow him. We run under the big trees that line the park. I try to wipe the rain off me, which works about as well as trying to wipe my skin off my body.
“Are you pissed I found out?”
He sighs. “No. Though it would help if you’d stop smiling like that.”
I try, but the smile widens. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just, your broomstick and the balls, and—”
He begins to chuckle. “I’m one of the beaters, though thecaptain wants me to be the snitch runner.”
“A snitch runner? What does that mean?”
“It’s almost exactly the same as in the books.” Dev smiles. “Except I’d dress in gold and run around the field with a tennis ball inside a gym sock tied to my waist.”
I burst out laughing and he does the same. He pulls a gym sock out of his bag and starts swinging it around his head. I wipe tears from my eyes and wave him away. I can’t breathe. We laugh until my stomach hurts and Dev is sucking in air.
“Glad I could brighten your evening.” He shoves the sock in his bag and we both laugh again. “It’s honestly not as ridiculous as I make it sound. It’s a rough game.” He points down at his bloody shins. “I think the rain has calmed down. Do you want to get something to eat before we catch the van?”
“Sure. What do you want?”
“SomethingAmerican.”
“Pizza?” I ask.
“Uh, that’s Italian.”
“Not when it comes from Pizza Hut.”
Chapter
14
The Pizza Hut looks... like a Pizza Hut. Probably the biggestdifferences are the prices (ouch) and the fact that we can order wine with our dinner. Luckily Dev and I like the same toppings, so we quickly settle on a sausage and green olive pizza and two cups of fizzy orange Tango.
“So, about those cricket questions...,” I say.
