Just hanging out to pass the time. on Cascade Hall

Gia Donovan and Jax Donovan

September 17, 2016 10:17 PM

Just hanging out to pass the time. by Gia Donovan and Jax Donovan

Gia was never much of a fan of the wagon rides. It was nice that there were familiar faces on the trip and that Laila was there too, but it was just so very long and Gia always felt exhausted once they had landed. She used to get so excited about returning to Sonora and she was happy to be back, but the wagon ride was no longer something she really found enjoyable. At least her brother kept himself busy with reading. Gia couldn’t really do that without feeling a little sick.

She stretched as she stepped off the wagon, her flowy crop top riding up slightly as she lifted her arms. To say that her style changed during the summer was an understatement. The newly fifteen year old still had floral pretty dresses and the like, but she was now mixing in crop tops that landed a couple of inches above her belly button and high waist short shorts or miniskirts that just below or at her belly button. Today she was wearing a blue and white striped crop top that was longer in the back that she paired with a highwaisted black miniskirt and black tennis shoes. She had sewn the outfit herself and felt she had done quite a nice job of it too. Her mother and brother didn’t understand the sudden change, but Gia just wanted something different.

“Do you want to meet everyone in the hall or just go to our common rooms?” Gia asked her brother. He looked sour. She knew that he found rooming with John to be a weird experience but he could not go back to his old dorm room and deal with Barnaby either. It was a shame that Barnaby was so attractive when everything else about him was foul. “Okay, the hall it is.” Gia wasn’t sure if everyone else was planning on going to the hall for snacks or going to the common room, but she hoped it would be the former. She had spent some time with Sammy over the summer but hadn’t seen anyone else and she would love to see how they were all doing.

The two Donovans made their way up the path to the school and entered the hall along with some of the other older year students. Gia didn’t see anyone just yet so opted to sit at one of the tables instead. It didn’t take long before someone came and joined her at the table. “Hello!” She greeted merrily, looking up to see who it was.

Jax went to the snack table to grab some food since he was rather ravenous after the long flight. Unlike his sister, his style had not different at all. He was still in jeans and a tee shirt with his father’s old leather jacket. What had changed was his attitude, but only slightly. He was going to at least try not to be so closed off to people this year. It would be difficult as, by nature, Jax was not one to be open, but the summer had been good to him and he had felt so normal. He wanted to keep feeling normal for as long as he was able to. For as long as his secret remained a secret.

He was munching on a celery stick when someone joined him at the table. He nodded to them to show that he had seen them but waited until he could swallow the food before opening his mouth to talk. “Hey.” He greeted casually. “How are you doing?” He asked, attempting to make small talk.

OOC: These break away so that someone can respond to Jax and someone can respond to Gia if they wish.

6 Gia Donovan and Jax Donovan Just hanging out to pass the time. 308 Gia Donovan and Jax Donovan 1 5

Joella Curtis

September 20, 2016 7:43 PM

You could tell by the way she walks in the room. by Joella Curtis

Joella stepped down from the wagon and smiled into the bright desert sun, embracing the familiar scene before her as she released her topknot and allowed her hair to succumb to gravity. She quickly stretched her cooped up limbs and then parted ways with her travelling companions. Striding off for Cascade Hall, she flicked her newly-blonde locks into place so that they bounced along behind her. Her blatant confident manner was one that she didn’t even need to think about summoning anymore. Last summer she’d done a lot of growing up and had returned to Sonora feeling more mature and assertive but the person she had been then still paled in comparison to the way in which she felt now. Now she wore her confidence on her sleeve and it felt good.

She’d been through a lot in the past year, some things she wished never to repeat, but nevertheless she’d survived. Even the pettiest of experiences combined to aid her development as a young women and ultimately left her feeling powerful and in control of herself and her life.

Joella had always wanted to be the kind of empowered female that her sisters represented and she finally felt like she might be well on her way to achieving that goal. It wasn’t that she was looking to share their hoards of adoring fans but the thought of inspiring some of the younger students and being the role model that her prefect status and new captain status encouraged was definitely appealing. It meant a lot to her to have people to look up to so to be able to give back in some way or another would be such an amazing opportunity.

Quidditch was going to be fantastic and last year’s breakthrough did not deter her. The fact that Pecari had finally put an end to Aladren’s winning streak might add the pressure but that was good. Joella had a high standard to live up to and she felt ready, more ready than she thought she’d feel, to step up and take things into her own hands.

Role model or not, a rebellious teenage girl was not going to change the length of her shorts to appease the more conservative members of society so she strode into Cascade Hall with heavily tanned legs poking out of her denim cut-offs. The long fringe of her light jacket extended almost all the way down to the backs of her knees, with her ankles hidden inside a pair of pale brown cowboy boots.

She grabbed herself a drink of water but didn’t stick around any longer to get refreshments because she spotted a certain someone in a leather jacket she knew she’d recognise anywhere. Joella hesitated only a moment to pull herself together and then bounded over to join Jax Donovan at one of the tables. She turned a chair around so she could sit on it backwards and face him on the same side of the table. She wasn’t sure of the reason for this, maybe because it gave him a good view of her toned legs, or maybe because she had to move around a lot to hide her nerves - not that she was nervous, of course! Boys didn’t make Joella Curtis nervous, not anymore at least.

“Terrible,” Joella pouted in response to Jax’s greeting, leaning her chin on the perfectly manicured hands that gripped the back of her chair. She gave up the act rather quickly because she couldn’t help grinning, not that he would have believed her for a second anyway since everything about her just seemed so happy.

“I’ve been here no longer than five seconds and already I’ve been insulted for my hair.” She was clearly joking because anyone who knew Joella was well aware that she never took teasing to heart, especially about something as petty as a physical feature. She ran her fingers through her long bleach-blonde mane before allowing it to fall forward and hang down over her shoulders. “What do you think? I heard that blondes have more fun.” Joella winked jovially, knowing she’d asked Jax a question regarding her physical appearance on purpose but right now she wasn’t actually too fussed if he liked it or not. If she had been trying to catch his eye, she probably should have dyed it jet black but instead she’d done quite the opposite and she liked it.

“Enough about me,” she dismissed the subject she would actually be quite content to continue. It certainly wasn’t that she didn’t care for other people and want hear about them, but she did rather fancy the idea of Jax’s attention being focused on her. “How is my favourite Greek? Summer treat you well?”

She had half a mind to teasingly reach out and touch one of Jax’s biceps, accompanied with a remark on how his boxing had been going, but she refrained. Perhaps that would be taking things a step too far, although she didn’t rule the idea out completely.

8 Joella Curtis You could tell by the way she walks in the room. 295 Joella Curtis 0 5

Jax

September 22, 2016 10:08 PM

Hypnotized by the way she moves by Jax

Jax looked up at Joella for a moment when she answered his question, but he found that she was only teasing because she broke out into a grin shortly after. He didn’t think she would have any reason to be pouty but girls were fickle and he would never claim to understand them even after living with two of them for his entire life. He had met some strange males too, of course, his newish roommate being one of them, but girls’ moods changed dramatically within minutes of one another and Jax had learned to just roll with it.

Jax’s cool blue eyes flicked over Joella, a habit that he did with everyone, but could possibly look at though he was interested in the girl before him. And there was a part of him that would admit to the fact that he was. He had been since she had made it clear what her feelings were on the subject but Jax had shut down. He couldn’t help but think about it. He would be sixteen in just a few short days and like any sixteen year old male, he was consumed by hormones and thoughts of what he wanted to do with certain females. He blamed Shelly for these thoughts because he had never really thought about it as deeply as he did now since they played around.

He paused on her legs, realizing for the first time how long and toned they were but brought his eyes back up when she mentioned her hair. “That’s the rumor.” He commented, his lip turning upward slightly with a smirk. “You’ll have to test the waters and let me know if it’s true.” What waters she would be testing wasn’t one that he could answer, but considering it was Joella, he was sure that she’d be able to figure something out.

Jax thought about how he ought to answer her question. Obviously a lot had happened to Jax during the summer but he wasn’t amount to admit to all of that to Joella. For one, he thought it would be incredibly rude to tell the girl who once had feelings for him that he had a sleeping arrangement of a relationship with a Muggle girl back home. And two, Jax just wasn’t the sort to talk about his private life to begin with. “Oh, it was the usual.” Jax replied casually. “Had my fun, got into trouble, did a little boxing. Nothing too exciting.” He added, watching Joella rather closely for a moment.

“And how was your summer, Joella?” He asked her. “Other than the obvious and… intriguing change.” He would have said something more complimentary about her hair, but that wasn’t really Jax’s style and it would have felt too foreign and possibly fake if he did say it. But he liked her look, but he had liked it last year too, so he supposed it didn’t matter to him what color her hair was. “Did you get up to no good?”

6 Jax Hypnotized by the way she moves 296 Jax 0 5

Joella

September 26, 2016 4:33 PM

So I've got your attention? by Joella

Joella didn’t know what she had been expecting Jax to say or do in response to her potentially flirtatious greeting but she didn’t exactly feel prepared for the one she did get. Admittedly she never knew what to expect when it came to Jax but she had foreseen that a summer apart would have to change things at least a little bit. But already she could feel those changes, perhaps just because of the way she felt different in herself but it seemed to be more than that. Something was different about Jax but she couldn’t entirely figure out what

The truth was, Jax Donovan got to her. He always had. No matter how confident she was feeling or how many other things were going on to distract her, he always seemed to hold some kind of a power over her like he had his own special gravitational pull. And the moment she stopped her chattering was the moment that she forced herself to submit to that desire to actually give him her full attention.

She noticed the way his eyes flicked over her, in a way that she kind of wanted from him but at the same time didn’t because it made her suddenly feel so transparent. It felt like he’d be able to find telltale signs that revealed just how much she was not over him and Joella really didn’t want Jax to know that the feelings she had admitted to having for him last term were still very much in existence. It had been easy to pretend over the summer, especially when Darius had been around to provide her with such a good distraction, but now just seeing the Aladren again reminded her that attractions like this didn’t just disappear overnight, and not even summer.

Her thoughts brightened again at the mere intrigue of Jax’s summer and what the kind of trouble he referenced was. Her mind couldn’t help but conjure up romanticized scenes of him getting into fights, even if that didn’t sound like a very Jax thing to do, and using his insane boxing skills alone to beat the crap out of a gang of thugs - okay, perhaps her imagination was running a bit wild but the idea of it was pretty sexy. He moved swiftly on before she could enquire after it, however, so she just settled for raising her eyebrows pointedly and deciding she would not forget to find out.

He didn’t like her hair. He didn’t like her hair!? Joella didn’t care what others thought about something so trivial, but if that was really the case then why did she feel so bothered by Jax’s insulting the colour of her hair, even if he did phrase it so carefully she wasn’t sure she could accuse him of actually insulting her. The sixth year did subconsciously push her hair back behind her shoulders as Jax spoke, but there was no way she would ever accept the action as having anything to do with his careful choice of words.

And then he dropped his final bombshell after a string of vague and teasing sentences. Oh boy, had Joella got up to no good over the summer, but she didn’t want Jax to know about that. Apparently her natural reaction to the question was to blush and she could only hope the fresh tan on her cheeks helped to cover it up, although that was unlikely.

“Of course,” she tried to grin as easily as she had before, choosing to skim over her own summer as quickly as possible because she suddenly couldn’t recall any of the many innocent moments that she could share. “But it doesn’t sound like I had half as much fun as you. Getting into trouble? Are you sure you're not in the wrong house? Sounds more like a Pecari move than an Aladren one to me.”

She had to tease him because light banter was a good way to recover from the embarrassment of blushing. Arguably she might have been paying a compliment to the Aladrens and dissing her own house but from Joella’s viewpoint that was definitely not the case. By suggesting that the enemy house did not get themselves into trouble, she was actually meaning to imply that they were boring and swotty - which, in her defence, was totally true. Although for someone who took a Quidditch rivalry against the Aladrens so seriously even off the pitch, she did actually seem awfully fond of them...

8 Joella So I've got your attention? 295 Joella 0 5

Jax

October 01, 2016 11:28 PM

I'm sure you have everyone's attention by Jax

Jax inclined his head ever so slightly as Joella answered him about her summer, deflecting and bringing it back upon him. He took that to mean that she had either a really great summer that she couldn’t share or a really terrible summer that she just didn’t want to talk about. Considering her happy demeanor regarding all of it, Jax took her summer to be that of the former thought. It only served to make him even more curious, of course. What could such a good girl like Joella really get up to that was too much for her to share with him? There was much of his summer that he couldn’t talk about that he had shared with a particular Muggle, but that was more because he knew of Joella’s feelings (or past feelings) of him and he felt like saying anything would be rather rude. Plus, he wasn’t one to kiss and tell, so to speak.

Jax shrugged at her question, a smiling playing his lips. “Who says that people cannot have traits of other houses?” He asked casually. He knew she was only joking with her comment, so he really wasn’t looking for an answer. His sister was proof of someone having multiple traits from various houses but being placed in only one. She was definitely one who could adapt and have adventure, but she was also incredibly smart, and on top of all of that, she was rather friendly by nature. He could name three houses that she could easily fit into, but she was picked for Pecari. Jax, however, was perfect for Aladren and only had small characteristics that may have him suited for other houses. He did not think Pecari was one of them.

“Let’s just say that I didn’t agree with how some of the neighborhood idiots were treating one of the girl’s in my neighborhood.” He explained to her. Shelly was not really a classy girl by any means. He knew that she’d likely either drop out of school within the next year or so, become pregnant, or worse before she turned eighteen. She was just heading down in that direction. It was unfortunate but she didn’t have the support system she needed. She was brighter than she allowed herself to believe, but years of being put down by so many people had dwindled much of her self-worth. As Jax got to know her over the summer, he found himself enjoying her company and not because of certain physical aspects of their relationship. Shelly was the type of person that people hoped for even if they knew it was useless. He would still hope for her no matter what and he would always protect her and stop anyone who made her feel like she deserved less.

“Anyway, it was all rather boring for you to hear, I’m sure.” Jax stated. There really wasn’t much of a story or detail for him to give. He got into a physical altercation with two guys on several occasions. People stepped in and put an end to it each time. “Are you sure your summer wasn’t any more exciting than that?”

6 Jax I'm sure you have everyone's attention 296 Jax 0 5