The Red Diamond, Emily Flowers [books to read this summer .txt] 📗

I had come down with the flu and I was thankful for it because it meant I could stay in my room and in bed all day. Troy tried calling a million times and I avoided him. I hadn’t seen him in two days and I was dying inside. Grandpapa was well and back home and that was all that mattered I guessed.

My heart was broken but time would heal it, as they say. And because I broke the wizard code of conduct, I was suspended from using magic for a week, meaning I needed to go through this breakup naturally.

Nicole had been a pain in the ass, playing R&B love songs whenever she was in the room. It was like she purposely rubbed salt on a broken wound. She also kept bringing her budding friends over and they would both shove their faces with junk food and laugh their lungs out like gigantic water hogs. I was definitely moving back to the mansion with Grandpapa in the next semester. I needed my own space.

I’d never cried this much in my life before and I couldn’t control my emotions. The only time I didn’t think of Troy was when I was fast asleep. When I awoke, I felt dead and I wished it so much, death.

After two days of isolation, I decided to go to the library. I wasn’t ready to go back to class and face Troy. The library wasn’t a great idea though because that was where we shared our first kiss. As I searched for books, Troy showed up and my heart almost stopped. He looked furious and I stood there lost for words.

“Where have you been?” he firmly questioned.

“I’ve been sick,” I said with a fluey voice.

“And why haven’t you been answering my calls?” he asked.

“I need to go,” I said, almost walking away and holding back my tears.

Then he held my hand and I was so tempted to hold him.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked and I could see the hurt in his face.

“I’m sorry, but I need to go,” I said, while taking back my hand from his. I left him there feeling hopeless, ran to my room and broke down.

It was time for the summer holidays and I couldn’t wait to be back home and in my room. Troy looked like he was doing fine after the library incident, but as for me I knew I would never be the same again. Grandpapa sent Albert our butler to fetch me and I was so glad to see him. I always felt like he understood me more than anyone.

“Hello dear, it’s been a while,” he said with his prim and proper English accent.

“Good to see you too, Albert,” I said hugging him.

“You’ve lost quite a bit of weight ... is everything alright?” Albert asked while driving me home.

“I’ll be fine, eventually,” I said.

“Ok, then, but if you do wish to talk my ears are wide open,” he said, wiggling his elephant ears up and down to cheer me up, which worked as always.

“Ha ha, Albert, you’re one of a kind!” I said laughing slightly.

“Aha, there’s that smile that I’ve been longing to see!” Albert said. I hadn’t smiled in a while and he managed to sprinkle some light in my depressed life.

When we reached the mansion, Grandpapa was in the kitchen preparing a feast of a meal. He loved cooking and made the most scrumptious meals which I honestly did miss.

“Hey there, my apple!” Grandpapa yelled from the kitchen as I entered.

“Hey ...” I responded back softly and went over to the kitchen and hugged him.

“Good to have you back home,” Grandpapa said, kissing me on the forehead.

“Yeah, I’m glad to be back too,” I said. “I’m going up to my room and will come down when the food is ready.”

Grandpapa could see that I was no longer my usual self.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“I’m ok,” I said and hurried off to my room.

My room did not please me as much as I thought it would. The bright colors aggravated the darkness that occupied me from within. As I placed my backpack down on the floor, a book slipped out, the same book which Troy recommended me to read and a book that opened my heart to him. I picked the book up, looked at myself on my fancy wall mirror and flung the book breaking the mirror. Immediately Grandpapa entered the room shocked by the noise that he heard.

“Iman, what happened?” he questioned. I looked at him in fury and asked him to leave me alone and then I broke down crying. I didn’t want to hurt my grandpapa, but I was torn apart and my soul was so bitter not even magic could fix me now.

When I went downstairs to dine with Grandpapa, he wasn’t himself and I apologized for lashing out at him.

“Iman, I’m sorry that you had to leave the boy you loved,” he said feeling really concerned. “I wish there was something I could do to make all this go away.”

“Maybe a magic spell can help me forget, because I can’t do this on my own,” I cried.

“Iman, even if I used magic to remove the memory of this boy, an empty void would still remain, and once the void enters your heart, you’ll become something you’re not. Evil will prevail and everyone in the universe will be in trouble,” Grandpapa said and looked like he was about to cry. “My dear, please do try to be strong. I hate seeing you so depressed,” he added.

“Ok, I’ll try. What’s for dinner?” I asked, trying to lighten up the evening.

“Roast lamb,” Grandpapa said with a smile.

“Hmm, sounds delicious!” I said.

Albert brought in our meal, laid it on the table and then joined us to eat. It was a divine meal indeed. Grandpapa outdid himself once again.

After dinner I went to the bathroom and looked for some pills that would help me sleep. Since I was in such a monoclonal state, sleep had been a thing of the past. I was lucky to find Grandpapa’s anxiety pills, which he had taken for a long time especially after the death of my parents. I popped three pills even though the bottle said take one and then went straight to bed. I felt my body relax like never before and dozed off within seconds.

Around 13:00h I woke up to find Grandpapa, Albert and our private doctor Rasool standing at my bedside.

“What’s going on?” I asked, rubbing my eyes from a long good sleep.

“It’s one o’clock in the afternoon, Iman,” Grandpapa said with a look of concern.

“Wow, it must have been those anxiety pills!” I said without thinking. “I need to get myself a bottle too.”

Doctor Rasool examined me. “How many of those pills did you take?” the doctor questioned.

“I took like three of them ... I think,” I said.

“Three, but the instruction on the bottle clearly says take one!” Grandpapa exclaimed.

“I know, but I’ve been struggling to sleep for a while now.”

“Well, your blood pressure looks good and you seem fine. I can prescribe some sleeping pills for you, which are much lighter than the anxiety pills. Will that be fine?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, doctor, thank you!” I said.

He gave me my prescription, shook hands with Grandpapa and went off.

“I really hope you’ll be well, dear!” Albert said and exited my room, leaving Grandpapa, who looked devastated.

“This is all my fault,” he said.

“No, Grandpapa! I’m the one who broke the wizard code of conduct and therefore I’m living my punishment,” I said.

“No, no, no, my dear! This is not the way I want you to be. Yes, breaking the rules can cause a lot of havoc for us wizards, but I did something and I now regret it. I’m so sorry, Iman!” he said.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about” I said.

“The heart attack I had ... well ... it wasn’t real,” he said.

At that point I immediately arose from my bed.

“What do you mean it wasn’t real?” I sternly asked.