Hello, it's me on Aladren Commons

Josephine Clyde

March 08, 2020 9:08 AM

Hello, it's me by Josephine Clyde

Josie was a first year student. That meant there were six other grades besides hers. That meant there were definitely other Aladrens, older Alarens , that she should probably get to know. Older students would hopefully have some advice on how she should handle Sonora. All she wanted was help really; the problem was she wasn’t sure when to do it. Breakfast seemed a little too scary. Her step-brothers were not morning people. They mumbled and grumbled and one time Samuel had even growled at her when she touched his muffin. No, breakfast was not the place to meet new older people for the first time. Especially not boys. The library wasn’t a place for conversations; it was a place of respect and should be treated that way. Common room it was then. There weren’t any students from other houses, it was homey and comfortable and warm. Plus, if things went south, Professor Wright’s office was close enough to run to.

Flopping into a chair Josie pondered over the stack of books she’d picked off the shelves. She didn’t want to seem like she was just creepily waiting for any older student to waltz through the door, even if that was true. But now the problem was that if she started reading she was definitely not going to notice anyone walk into the room. It needed to be something that wasn’t going to bore her death (math) or make her totally obsessed. History was usually a pretty safe choice. She could definitely tear herself away from a history book if an older student walked in. Even if it was an older boy student. Professor Wright had said their Prefects were boys and Prefects were supposed to be good students, so older boys couldn’t all be like Daniel and Samuel. Though, honestly, she hoped that an older girl student would walk in. Josie dropped a hefty history book into her lap, opened to a random page on American presidents and waited for someone to sink her teeth into to walk in.

44 Josephine Clyde Hello, it's me 1477 1 5

Sophia Priory

March 22, 2020 2:07 AM

Uh, hi by Sophia Priory

Sophia rubbed her eyes as she walked down to the Aladren Common Room on the way to breakfast. She was not especially a morning person and was usually either sort of grumpy or sort of out if it when she woke up. Maybe she should start drinking coffee to wake her up, but that still meant getting up and going down to the Cascade Hall to get it.

Besides, Sophia also woke up hungry and she thought the food at Sonora was pretty good, just as good as home. At home...well, the house elves were decent cooks, nothing else would do for Clifford Brockert's descendants. Of course, her parents were often trying some diet for Lydia, things that were healthy and gluten-free, even though Lydia did not have diseases or allergies that made this necessary. She'd been a preemie, but aside from being small for age and having some typical preemie issues as a baby with underdeveloped lungs and stuff, there was nothing wrong with her. It was ridiculous -and of course, Lydia was a picky eater too. However at least Sophia and Connor-and Bridget when she visited-could eat whatever they wanted within reason.

Speaking of her cousin, Sophia was slightly worried about her.The Teppenpaw seemed really down. Understandable, of course, given her mother's current illness and really not all that different from normal. Still, something seemed...off and the Aladren wasn't sure why she thought that.

Maybe it was a guilty conscience. Sophia had made new friends and sometimes spent time with them without Bridget. She didn't know why she should feel guilty about that though. It wasn't as if she didn't also spend time with the Teppenpaw or that her cousin was mad at her.

She brushed aside these thoughts.It was way too early to feel bad about things she didn't need to feel bad about in the first place. Sophia needed bacon. And eggs. And possibly coffee. She walked through the Aladren common room, past one of the first year girls who was reading a book, on the way to the exit.

OOC-Josie, as your post seems to indicate that you're going to pounce, it's open for you to do so.

11 Sophia Priory Uh, hi 1447 0 5

Josephine Clyde

March 24, 2020 12:51 AM

Hihihihihihihi! Itssonicetomeetyou! by Josephine Clyde

History wasn’t supposed to be interesting. It was supposed to be about the past and be boring. Whoever chose this book of American presidents was probably a genius. The book was fascinating. So many details, big and small, about the presidents, their wives, their children, homes, cars, pets, deaths, illnesses, so many things! Josie hadn’t meant to be get sucked in, honest, but the section about World War I was especially interesting. So interesting that she’d missed someone walk past her. If she hadn’t seen them out of the corner of her eye she would have missed them entirely! What would the point of waiting in the common room have been if she had? Today was an answer hunting adventure and she wasn’t about to let go of the first person who had finally appeared.

It was an older girl. She still seemed a little sleepy, but she was a girl. Girls weren’t as grumpy as boys! Even if this girl was a little bit grumpy Josie would make it work. Daniel and Samuel had prepared her for all teenagers. Plus, no one could be scarier than her father before his morning coffee.
Josie slapped the book closed and raised her voice just a little, “Hi!”

The book found a new home on the chair as Josie abandoned it for the other Aladren. She stopped next to her and…wow. She didn’t seem that much older than her, but this older girl was so pretty! Josie would have complimented her on her eyes, but stopped herself. They were a brilliant blue color, really, but compliments would have to wait. Josie hated hearing things about her eye color now, but she hadn’t always been that way. Offending an older fellow Aladren was probably not the way to go for first impressions.

“I’m Josie, a first year! What’s your name? What year are you? Do you like Sonora? I think it’s nice so far, but I still don’t know a lot of stuff. I’d really like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind. There’s just so much I’m curious about! And I figured an older Aladren would be the perfect person to ask!”

Josie grinned happily at the pretty girl. That was a good first impression! Not too much and not too little. She bit her tongue to keep from asking more questions to give the older girl a chance to answer.

44 Josephine Clyde Hihihihihihihi! Itssonicetomeetyou! 1477 0 5

Sophia Priory

April 03, 2020 11:37 AM

Nice to meet you too by Sophia Priory

Sophia blinked. One minute the first year girl was reading a book, the next she was upon the older girl assaulting her with a barrage of questions. She held up her hands "Whoa, one question at a time. My name is Sophia Priory of the-." The third year cut herself off. Josie had introduced herself simply as Josie so there was no need for the standard pureblood introduction as the first year did not appear to be one and non-purebloods tended to be weirded out by it. They thought people like Sophia were being self-important when it was just a habit. People like that needed to get over themselves and realize that people like Sophia weren't inherently bad people and that when you'd been taught to do something a certain way, it became second nature. Besides, there were definitely non-purebloods that came off as thinking they were better than anyone else. Such as the ones who thought rules did not apply to them.... or ones who would criticize Sophia for introducing herself as she'd been taught.

And true, the third year did not know why the Proper Pureblood Introduction applied to her when it had come about when people had disreputable branches in their families such as the Pierces. People like Caitlin Pierce wanted to make it very clear that they were respectable, but....Sophia's family did not have disreputable branches. She also didn't know why Aunt Lucille's family was so particular about it all either since they all seemed respectable to her.

Another thing was silly to her was that her mother's family was "the Western Brockerts" because it sort of implied there was such a thing as the Eastern Brockerts, which there wasn't. Her mother and Aunt Hope lived east of the Mississippi river, but...Mom was now a Priory and her aunt was now a Whitfield. Besides, the Brockerts were pretty much one family even though they lived in multiple states.

However, purebloods looked down on you and thought you were ill-mannered if you didn't introduce yourself correctly. So basically both sides were kind of obnoxious in their own way.

Josie's second question produced a much less complicated answer. Okay, in theory, her first question also should have been uncomplicated but people made it such. The younger Aladren had not, but others had."I'm a third year and yes, I do like it. I've made friends and I enjoy my classes." Sophia also felt that she had more freedom than at home because she could do what she wanted and not have to cater to her younger sister. She didn't need to burden Josie with the fact that her sister was needy and overly coddled and that she was annoyed by it.

"Oh that would be fine.I'd be glad to help you."Sophia replied. Not doing so would be a jerkish thing to do. The younger Aladren needed to know her way around the school and the magical world. "But I'm really hungry right now, so would you mind asking me over breakfast?"

11 Sophia Priory Nice to meet you too 1447 0 5

Josephine Clyde

April 06, 2020 7:03 AM

Now we're friends! ...right? by Josephine Clyde

Sophia Pri-Priory? Wow, what a pretty name! Sophia had been the name of the main character of another book she read a long time ago. That Sophia had been a normal girl who got lost at the beach during a family vacation and stumbled into Atlantis. It was in the middle of a war with the Seashell people and the StarStar clan. She became the princess of the tides and got married to the Dolphin King, but then the evil Kelp Queen tried to ruin everything by growing lots of kelp to choke the people of Atlantis. That Sophia, and her name meant wisdom Josie had looked it up, used her special powers of telepathy, which was some special brain power as far as she could tell, to trick all the kelp into tying their queen into a big ball. Then they set the ball on fire and lived happily ever after! It had been a really great story and the fact that this pretty girl’s name was Sophia made Josie instantly like her.

When Sophia answered all of Josie’s questions she made up her mind. Teenage girls were way better than teenage boys. She hoped she could be as nice and cool as Sophia was by the time she became a third year.
Josie grinned and bounced in place a little with excitement, “Thank you that would be really, really helpful! I don’t know a lot about magic in general, so I really need all the help I can get. My father kind of kept me away from magic until I got my acceptance letter.”
She could admit that much, besides, they were house-mates! Sophia would end up learning about her history sooner or later. At the mention of breakfast Josie’s stomach reminded her that they hadn’t eaten yet either.

“We can definitely go have breakfast together! Um,” She glanced down at her hands, “Lead the way.”

Josie winced at the hesitation in her voice. Hopefully the third year hadn’t noticed, but Josie couldn’t help the little nervous feeling that bubbled up inside of her at the thought of sitting next to teenage boys. If she was with Sophia then the older boy Aladrens at the breakfast table wouldn’t be as scary. They weren’t scary like Halloween, but they definitely made Josie want to run away and hide. That probably wasn’t very fair of her. Not all teenage boys were like her step-brothers, but if she was with Sophia she would definitely feel braver.

44 Josephine Clyde Now we're friends! ...right? 1477 0 5

Sophia Priory

April 08, 2020 1:30 PM

Sure by Sophia Priory

Sophia frowned as Josie mentioned that her dad had kept her away from magic. Muggleborns couldn't help having a lack of knowledge but half-bloods-which she deduced Josie was by the fact that she had not introduced herself like a pureblood and a completely magical family would not have been able to keep someone away from magic and if she was Muggleborn, her dad wouldn't have magical knowledge to keep her from- should know something .

Never one to shy away from giving her opinion on things, Sophia replied. "That's terrible. I mean, we're not supposed to do magic outside of school, but to keep you in the dark completely is just plain wrong. This is who you are." She assumed the younger Aladren had done accidental magic at some point in her childhood, after all it was more or less a right of passage for magical children. Sophia would not go as far as to say it was abuse-that was not a word she would throw around lightly- but Josie's father had done her a tremendous disservice in not preparing her for the magical world at least somewhat and now the third year was going to have to pick up the slack.

Well, she supposed she didn't have to. Nobody was saying it was her job, that she was the designated person to educate those who lacked knowledge about the magical world. However, Sophia was going to anyway, at least with Josie. The girl seemed so eager, so earnest, so enthusiastic in a non-irritating way-sometimes enthusiastic people were irritating, like when you were faced with something you disliked but someone else was like talking about how great it was.

So, the third year was happy to help her. Sophia could not, in good conscience, let the younger Aladren flounder around not knowing about the magical world when Josie had specifically asked her for help. To be asked for help that one was capable of giving and refuse it was sort of a mean thing to do. Especially help that required no real sacrifice. Nor could she turn down someone with the desire to know more about the magical world that she now resided in, someone eager to adapt to where she belonged.

"Great." Sophia headed towards the exit of the Aladren common room. "What else would you like to know?"

OOC-Go ahead and post on Cascade Hall continuing the thread.

11 Sophia Priory Sure 1447 0 5