The Bittersweet Taste Of Magic

The Station

"So... how was the shopping trip?"

Astre hesitated. He wasn't sure if he wanted to give his honest opinion or lie about it. He had already made such a big deal about going to the school, so he didn't want to disappoint his family more than he already did. He sighed inwardly before plastering with fake smile on his face.

"Oh, I had a great time. We met a lot of Edward's school friends, and they were nice. I didn't talk to them much. Lizzy did most of that," was all he responded with, praying that no more questions would come his way. He was having a hard enough time as it is, and lying wasn't one his specialties.

Unfortunately, this is not what happened. Even if Rachel and Vincent didn't want to know all the gory details, Ciel sure did and that was his worst fear. When answering his questions, he always turned away from him making busy with some useless trinket, hoping that his back would muffle his pained voice. And since Ciel didn't make comment on anything, he presumed that that it worked. Only one more week until he had to leave. And he never dreaded something more. One big year long social gathering to be awkward and alone at.

_

When departure day finally arrived, the Phantomhives rode over to the Midfords' place without a hitch. Astre's luggage took up most of the room in the cart, making it hard to move. But no one seemed to mind and managed to ignore that on the dull ride over. No one said a word for the entirety, and the youngest Phantomhive was grateful to avoid such a paining task.

Not before long, they had landed at the mansion where the Midford family congregated and exited the carriage. They were greeted by a servant by the name of Robert and led into the house. Inside the foyer stood Francis and Alexis, surrounded by mountains of luggage. And both Elizabeth and Edward popped out from behind it.

They were both decked out in their school uniforms, with Edward in a suit, green tie, and slacks and Elizabeth in a skirt and cardigan. Astre immediately felt embarrassed for choosing to not put his on beforehand. He ducked his head down and hoped for for the best.

Aunt Francis had other ideas and scolded him for not coming already dressed. She ordered Lizzy to show him where the bathroom was located. So, he rummaged through a random suitcase and pulled out another uniform. He didn't get a good look at it, and just assumed it would look decent enough.

Now being led by a talkative Elizabeth, they finally arrived at their desired location. And although he was dressed without any problems, he couldn't bring himself to leave the bathroom. He suddenly had the urge to vomit. Though he didn't know why. He had felt fine before, so why now as he was about to board a train to a new school?

After ultimately deciding to wait it out, he heard a soft knock on the door and his mother's voice asking if he was alright. He sighed and plucked himself from his spot by the toilet and opened the door.

He wasn't sure if his mother could sense his dread, but it seemed that she had. Her distressed face transformed into a look of remorse before she bent down to his height. She understood his hesitancy, but realized he would regret not taking an opportunity as big as this in the future.

She placed a kiss on his cheek before giving her most reassuring smile. "I know you're nervous, sweetie, but this will be fun for you. Now come along. We're going to be late."

Astre exhaled. He followed her, shuffling rather sheepishly through the halls of the Midford manor. He held his breath all the way there before standing awkwardly by his big brother, feeling eyes pierce him unrelentlessly.

Ciel turned to him to offer his opinion on his uniform. His blue eyes instantly lit up as soon as he took a good look at him.

"Wow, Astre," he began," you look great! Very professional, I must say!" The eyes were off him now, and he could've sworn he never felt more relieved. He always felt their glances, though, but pretended to ignore them. He knew that they were supposed to be concerned but he couldn't help but feel like they were judging him, picking away his flaws and weaknesses.

What felt like an eternity to him, however, turned out to be around five minutes. Soon it was time for everyone to load up a car and drive to the oh-so-mysterious train station.

The drive wasn't too bad. It surpassed 15 minutes, which is around the time that Ciel always deems excruciatingly boring, but stayed under 25. Astre honestly appreciated longer car rides. He would imagine whole new worlds and put characters in them. Sometimes they would be new and entirely of his own creation, other times they are would be from already existing franchises. He loved it, and found pacing and moving vehicles often moved his daydreams along like a surfer on a wave.

The train station looked the same as any other. People sauntered around and chatted idlely taking no notice to the odd bunch as they made their way to their station. Astre would've helped, but in all of the confusion he had forgotten to ask. Eventually, they came to a large abandoned food stand. And they started to walk into it. They disappeared.

Astre stood at an utter loss for words. He exchanged confused glances with Ciel, before he too walked into the mysterious platform. Now Astre stood with his mother, honestly very afraid of what would happen if he walked into the deserted pretzel stand. But deciding it better to get it over with, he sucked in a breath of air and pushed his trunks into the wall.

He expected to cringe on impact, but was pleasantly to find himself on the other side of a beigewalls, stuck smack dab in the hustle and bustle of another train station. He stood gawking at it, soaking in the endless sea of people gathering about, but found himself shoved to the side, by his mother no less.

"Oh, dear," she exclaimed. She saw her son had tumbled to the ground and had offered him and back up. He gladly accepted and brushed the dirt off of his uniform. She apologized, then told him that he was going to be late, and pointed a pale finger to Vincent, Ciel, and the Midfords already threatening to board the train.

The smiles on Elizabeth and Edward's faces were enormous. They were excited, anyone could tell that much. Astre looked around. It seems everyone was smiling. He sighed. Maybe he could smile like that here someday.