Laurie Cider
May 18, 2008 5:26 AM
On the hunt for Water! *Tag Warrens and friends* by Laurie Cider
She balanced precariously on the edge of a conveniently placed bench and mentally reviewed her preparation list: wand in holster- check; tennis shoes- check; baseball cap- check; favorite green t-shirt- check; sandwiches, bottled pumpkin juice, and peaches- check, check, and check; amateur map of labyrinth gardens found in library by accident- check; and finally, and perhaps most importantly, friends and fellow adventurers- Laurie squinted toward the Gardens’ entrance- not quite yet. She admitted to herself that ‘excited’ barely covered as a description for her current mood. Her second year had begun with tremors and quickly developed into full blown seizures, all of which were symptoms of a most serious disease: girl drama. Admittedly though, most of it was really self-inflicted. There was a simple solution to the whole of it; but simple didn’t always mean right or best or happy.She peered up into the sky, her light brown eyes squinting in contentment. This afternoon would have none of that bothering it.
She stretched, relishing the feel of the sun on her arms. The temperature, as always, was just perfect. It was hard to believe that outside of Sonora, the rest of the world was experiencing autumn. Sonora seemed to exist in a perpetual spring; she let her arms fall back to her hips, her skin tingling with the warmth. It was, most definitely, an excellent day for an adventure. The map she had stumbled upon would hopefully aid in the adventure being a productive one. Sure, it was hand-drawn, and the paths were all colored in with green crayon. And true, there was a huge area to the west that was labeled ‘unknown’ rather suspiciously, but Laurie saw that an excellent place to start.
She twisted around from her perch on the bench’s edge and stood up, grinning. Finally, someone had arrived. She pulled her ball cap on a little tighter, donned a quick layer of sunscreen lip balm, and grinned widely.
“Yo!” she called with a wave. “Is this a perfect day or what? I got the sandwiches- and check out this map I found. It’s lacking some details, but I figure it’s a good start, right? Oh. . .I am so geared for this!”
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Laurie Cider
On the hunt for Water! *Tag Warrens and friends*
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Laurie Cider
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Holly Greer
May 22, 2008 5:46 PM
Crashing the party by Holly Greer
OOC: I was going to let the Warrens or friends post first, but I got impatient . . . BIC:Early in the school year, Holly spent more time in the Gardens than with her friends. This was in part because the weather was nice and she wanted to take advantage of it while she still could (weather charms not withstanding, Holly was convinced it was significantly colder in November than it was in September). The other part was that none of her friends outside of Raoul were in her House, and it was just easier for the twelve year old Pecari girl to wander out by herself than to meet up with anyone.
Later, she would settle into routines with Chelsea, Anabel, Cecily, and Alexis, developing usual meeting places and times, but those hadn't formulated yet and she wasn't yet ready to force the issue. She didn't want to seem clingy or desperate for friends. After some of what Cecily told her, Holly was lucky not to have to deal with roommates. Most of the time she really was glad that there were no other Pecari girls in the second year. It meant more space, less drama, more time in the shower, nobody waking her up before she was ready, and any number of other wonderful advantages.
It did, however, occasionally lead to a tiny bit of loneliness and a bit of wistful curiosity about what it would be like to share the tiny living space with a couple of other girls. If it wasn't against the rules to bring in people from other houses, she would have loved to have a sleep-over in her room. Not often. Even just once would be good. But that wasn't possible.
So she stowed away those thoughts and changed into her bathing suit. She applied her suntan lotion and put on her flip flops. Since she'd left her chair out by the pond yesterday (she'd decided theft was unlikely in that remote corner of the Gardens) and the loose fabric was unlikely to get caught on anything and trip her up, she also pulled on her bathing robe and tied the pale pink terrycloth tight around her waist. On a whim, she also put on a wide brimmed sun hat, because she liked the way it looked with the robe.
After collecting a book to read, she headed out of her room and into the common room. She saw neither Raoul or Fynn upon her cursory glance around, so she kept going without stopping to talk or invite anyone along. Pecaris, for the most part, were not generally good companions (not that she actually disliked any of them, but as a group, they weren't a part of her preferred social circle).
Keeping her head down so that she didn't trip over any roots or tangled vegetation, she didn't immediately notice that she wasn't alone until she heard the call, “Yo! Is this a perfect day or what? I got the sandwiches- and check out this map I found. It’s lacking some details, but I figure it’s a good start, right? Oh. . .I am so geared for this!”
Holly looked up, the brim of her hat rising so that both girls could see who they'd encountered. Holly recognized Laurie easily. She knew most of the Crotalus girls by name, sight, and a few key details. If she recalled correctly, Cecily thought she was an all right girl. She . . . was? . . . a pureblood? Maybe? But not one from as distinguished (by which, Holly actually meant 'rich') a line as the Brockerts or McIntoshes or Ashwoods or Smythes or Thistles.
Laurie fell into the next category, along with people like Fynn and Rilla (and maybe Raoul, though Holly was less sure about him - he might be 'the right sort' . . . boys were harder to judge and Raoul's cuteness and wonderful accent were important factors that could be enough to tip the balance regardless of what his family was like; she'd have a better idea after she found out if he was going to get her anything for Valentine's day). Such people were good enough to be casual friends with, though their finances and upbringing meant they probably weren't people she wanted to introduce to her parents.
Holly gave Laurie a tentative smile and kind of wished she'd worn her sandals instead of the flip flops. Flip flops were not a part of the image she wanted to project to the other second year girls. It was fine for Fynn or Raoul, but they were boys and wouldn't care what footwear she had on. (Plus, they were boys and she was in a swimsuit and terry-cloth robe that barely came past her hips. If they were anywhere close to puberty, it wasn't her footwear they'd be looking at anyway. Holly was perfectly well aware that her long, slender legs were quite shapely and beautifully tanned; she worked hard at keeping them that way.)
Also, the robe had Sleeping Beauty on its lapel. As much as she adored all of the Disney Princesses, Holly was less willing to share how much she adored them with others her age. Danny had dismissively called Holly's treasured Cinderella 'a baby movie' over the summer and Danny was only ten. For that matter, the twice cursed flip flops said DisneyLand on them. Hardly elegant at all.
Still, Holly made herself keep smiling and even move closer to Laurie. "Hi. Yes, it is a perfect day." She looked over at the mentioned sandwiches and saw well more than two people could eat. "I take it you're planning a picnic?" she guessed. And then there was the map. "If you need a guide, I'm from Pecari." Holly shrugged with a bit of embarrassment at the admission. It wasn't an affiliation she liked to advertise. "Pecaris live in the Gardens."
Was she allowed to say that? She wasn't giving away the location of their Commons with any amount of detail, but was even that too much? "I mean, figuratively," she added, too quickly to be taken as anything but a lie, "because we're adventurous or something." Not to mention, Holly was the last person anyone would think of in conjunction with the word adventurous.
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Holly Greer
Crashing the party
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Holly Greer
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Josh and Renaye Warren
May 22, 2008 8:09 PM
Re: Crashing the party by Josh and Renaye Warren
OOC: Sorry about that, RL was getting busy, but I got a break today =).BIC:
It was easy to say that the Gardens Expedition was long awaited by the twins. Even though the wait wasn't that long, Renaye and Josh had been waiting to set off in search of their new found pool-like area. How amazing would it be to spend their time there during the year? They could head out there during the warm days and simply bask in the seccluded wonder. Renaye had met her twin down in the Common Room, dressed in her favorite jean shorts and another favorite, her soft burgundy t-shirt and flip-flops looking ready to do abosolutely anything on this day. Josh was feeling it too. He had readied for this by making sure his clothes weren't going to have a role in the heat affecting him. He had thrown on his blue and yellow Quidditch jersey along with some random jeans. He felt like his adrenaline had been peaked due to the fun they had in store. An afternoon with Laurie and Renaye was more than welcome in his book.
Josh let Renaye carry the tote bag (he didn't want to look like a girl). They had tossed some cookies in there along with hats, bathing suits, some towels, their wands, tanning lotion, and SPF 45 for Josh. Renaye sholdered the bag and they made their way to the Gardens, trying their best not to sprint. The devastatingly long walk to the Gardens came to an end. Josh felt the sun already hot on his black hair while Renaye seemed to soak up the warmth as extra energy. She grabbed his arm and finally gave into the urge to run, saying as she pulled him along, "Race you!" Josh grinned and sprinted after her, catching up in no time. They rounded corners on the path and finally came to the bench where they spotted Laurie, chatting with a girl Renaye reccognized as Holly from Potions. The two skidded to a halt in front of the bench. Renaye held her arms up in victory.
"Winner!" She cried. Josh rolled his pale blue eyes. He had won, but the presesnce of the new girl kept him from replying. He smiled warmly at Laurie and raised a hand to the other girl. Josh stood beside Laurie and Raye, not immediately up to trusting the girls in their year. His experience with most of them had been uncomfortably stressed. However, Renaye grinned broadly at each of them. "Hi, Laurie," Renaye began, "This is going to be so great! Hi, Holly! How have you been?" Renaye pulled her now messy long blonde hair back into a neat ponytail, her whispy blonde bangs resisting the conformity and falling into her green eyes. She looked around, feeling ready to get going.
"Ready? I am so psyched right now, you have no idea! Josh is too, he just won't talk too much until he's sure Holly is okay," she gave her a smile to let her know he should be talking soon. Josh threw his sister a mild glare. Renaye messed his hair in response. He hated that. As Josh took the time to fix his messed hair, Renaye said,
"Are we going to wait for Zane or anyone else?"
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Josh and Renaye Warren
Re: Crashing the party
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Josh and Renaye Warren
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Laurie
May 27, 2008 7:48 AM
It's not a party <i>unless</i> it's crashed. by Laurie
OOC- Wow, so this was my first busy weekend since ever! Baseball game, concert, barbeques, bowling; it was full. Sorry about the delay! We're on again!IC-
It was an unfortunate habit of hers, that Laurie tended to speak before her eyes managed to gather their input and then send it along to the brain to the process. As it was, she often found herself in casual address with others who might not have welcomed such an approach- or to whom she might have changed her words and manner. Holly Greer was one of those such people; the fellow second year probably fell neatly into both of those categories, actually. But still, Holly was smiling, and in Laurie's wise and tender twelve years of age, that was generally a good sign.
Somewhat awkwardly, she tried easing her greeting into a more individually applied wording. "A picnic and hopefully an adventure of sorts," she supplied, gesturing with her map. Her eyes warmed excitedly at the offer of a guide. Her map presented it self immediately. "You have no idea how much of a help that would be! You see-"
"I mean, figuratively, because we're adventurous or something."
Laurie's lips twisted, the movement perplexed. "Er, sure. . .Crotalus is supposed to be structured and full of type A's." Those obvious generalizations aside, she moved on. "Anyway, I'm from Florida, land of sun and beach, and it occurred to me- and the Warrens, you know, the twins? Renaye's blond, Josh has black hair- right, well. So I found this map in the library." Said map was jiggled helpfully. "And supposedly there's a pond or stream or something involving water out here. We just need to find it-"
"Winner!"
There was a voice she recognized. Better prepared this time, and assured that her greeting would arrive at the intended source, Laurie threw up a quick 'v' for victory. "Josh, Raye- finally!" Her grin ruined the word's exaggerated irritation. Renaye, it seemed, was on good terms with Holly. Excellent sign indeed; she wasn't one to refuse an addition to the party. Josh seemed a bit put off. . .
She straightened up from the bench, flexing lightly, and threw on her backpack. Hoping to reassure whatever was causing his reticence, she linked her arm through Josh's loosely and tugged. "Holly's offered to be our guide." Renaye's question pulled her attention away briefly. "Um. . .you think we need to? Oh, hang on-"
She pulled free her arm, a moment of convenient brain power striking her. She extended her wand from the holster around her neck and- with a steady move of her wrist and brief utterance from her lips- there existed an exact duplicate of her discovered map. Pleased, she folded over the upper edge of the map and jotted down a quick note for Zane or anyone else who might have overheard their plans detailing their intended direction. The ground supplied her with a convenient rock to hold down the paper. Straightening once again to her full, yet rather unremarkable, height, she faced her group with an air of efficiency.
"I have our lunch and map, and now we have a guide: any thing else before we go?"
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Laurie
It's not a party <i>unless</i> it's crashed.
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Laurie
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Holly
May 28, 2008 11:19 AM
I'm glad my presence makes your party a real party then by Holly
Holly gave Laurie an odd look as she randomly told her some stereotypes about Crotalus, but that strangeness soon passed. Instead, she found herself looking briefly at the map Laurie showed her, mostly because it was put directly in front of her, but she wasn't going to need it. Not if what they were looking for was the very spot she'd already been planning to go to. "Yeah," she started to say after Laurie announced the were looking for the pond, but before she could say she knew exactly where it was, they were interrupted by the arrival of the Warrens.Holly was a little surprise by how friendily Renaye greeted her, since they only ever spoke during potions, they didn't seem to have much of anything in common, and some of Holly's friends didn't exactly speak very highly of Renaye. After a brief moment of not quite knowing how to respond to the pleasantness or Renaye's comment about Josh waiting to see if Holly was 'okay' - whatever that meant - Holly managed to smile back, less certain than Renaye seemed to be that her brother would warm to her. Holly was already starting to doubt whether she really belonged with this group, especially if the Coopers were going to be joining them, too.
But if there was one Pecari trait that Holly exemplified more than any other, it was adaptability, so she watched the exchange between Laurie and Renaye and she beetled her brow in confusion as Laurie pinned down a copy of the map with a rock. She had no idea how that was supposed to help anyone find the pond, since as far as she knew, the pond wasn't even on the map (admittedly, Holly had only gotten a very brief glance at it, so maybe it was there).
Holly shook her head when Laurie asked if they could think of anything else they needed, but did speak up in her capacity of Pecari guide. "Did you guys want to go right to the pond, or did you want to see all the important landmarks, like the swing and the fountain and the statue and the shaped topiary?"
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Holly
I'm glad my presence makes your party a real party then
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Holly
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Warren Twins
May 31, 2008 11:04 AM
Couldn't do it without you by Warren Twins
Josh just wanted to start this thing. Now that he was so close to the adventure he couldn't help but want to go as soon as possible. When Laurie said that Holly offered to be their guide, Josh smiled and nodded. Secretly, he had sort of wishes that no one else would show up, that the three of them might be able to chill like they did over the summer, but all the same, he didn't object to company. Though Holly didn't seem like she was very warm to Raye, but maybe she was a little shy or something. That was one problem he had. Whenever a new person was present, Josh wasn't as willing to speak freely to those that he would normally talk to. That was the thing about meeting new people, it was hard to tell what to link reactions with, personality or attitude towards the person. As Laurie spoke, she slipped an arm through his, strangely making him feel a little more comfortable. The sun was quickly warming his black hair, but not so much to where he was uncomfortable. In fact, it was uplifting. It made him feel even more comforted; the sun, Laurie, and Renaye's consistent bubbly attitude helped hoist his mood even more."Oh okay," Renaye said in response to Holly's appointment of Tour Guide, "Because we don't know where we're going."
Finally, it seemed they were getting ready to go. Though leaving meant the extraction of Laurie's arm, Josh was gearing to get started. They left a map for anyone else that decided to show up (here's hoping they could find them) and Holly spoke up, "Did you guys want to go right to the pond, or did you want to see all the important landmarks, like the swing and the fountain and the statue and the shaped topiary?" Josh's pale blue eyes looked around to the others to see what their opinion was. Renaye had been talking about finding a pond the whole time before, so that was probably what she wanted to do. Sure enough, the blonde girl spoke up,
"I've been dying to get a dip into that pond," she said with a grin, "That's just me, I'll do whatever." Josh nodded and raised a hand as if seconding the notion.
"Same," he said. Though speaknig was unecessary, Josh didn't want Holly to think that he didn't like her or something and therefore refused to speak in her presense. She was just new to him and that was how he was with everyone. Josh was a quiet kid. That was just how it went. Josh turned to Laurie, a smile on his face,
"It's up to you then."
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Warren Twins
Couldn't do it without you
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Warren Twins
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Laurie
May 31, 2008 12:39 PM
I'm blaming the heat. by Laurie
In all honesty, the context clues should have kicked in earlier. Maybe it was because of Laurie's slight penchant for missing the glaringly obvious. Maybe it was because she got tunnel vision when focused on a certain task or project. Maybe it was because she grew up in Florida and for three quarters of the year, everyone wore a bathing suit even when not swimming. Still though. First it took:"Did you guys want to go right to the pond, or did you want to see all the important landmarks, like the swing and the fountain and the statue and the shaped topiary?"
That sparked only the slightest of puzzlement. Laurie's eyes clouded in consideration, more focused on Holly's choice of wording, as if the Pecari girl already knew where their sought after pond was or something. Revelation didn't quite dawn, though, and so it took yet a second voicing:
"I've been dying to get a dip into that pond."
Her light brown eyes went from Holly's attire to Renaye's grin and back again. Josh turned to her, smiling, and then it all clicked. "It's up to you then."
"Oh geez. . ." she said, smacking her forehead. "I am entirely too slow. Holly, you already know where there's a pond, don't you?" She didn't wait for an answer to her somewhat, admittedly, rhetorical question. "And Renaye, Josh, you guys understood that straight away, right? Wow, I completely missed the obvious, didn't I?"
Her lips grinned sheepishly, and she lifted a hand to gesture toward the path ahead. "Hey, lead away Holly of the adventuring Pecari's. Don't mind me and my lack of normal observational skills."
She slipped her arm back through Josh's once it seemed that things were finally underway, her cheeks still tinted with her embarrassment. Honestly, where was her brain of late? This wasn't the first instance of missing the obvious. It happened in class more often than she liked. The professor would give a fairly straightforward instruction, and somehow or the other, she misinterpreted and ended up with a far more complicated than necessary end result. It would serve the assignment, but still. Far more work than actually needed. She tugged on the brim of her ball cap, fixing it snuggly over her forehead.
"I don't get my brain sometimes," she admitted quietly to Josh, her gaze hidden conveniently beneath the shadow of her cap. "Do you know of any other blatantly apparent facts that I've been missing lately?"
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Laurie
I'm blaming the heat.
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Laurie
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Holly
June 16, 2008 1:13 PM
Then it's good we're going swimming by Holly
Holly turned her head toward each of the other second years as each of them gave their opinion on what they should do until Holly and the twins were both looking toward Laurie for a final decision. Holly blinked a little in surprise as Laurie revealed that she had missed the part where Holly knew where the pond was. After a moment's thought, though, Holly realized she'd never said as much due to the Warren twins' arrival. When she'd been introduced as a guide they must have naturally assumed Laurie had already discussed the destination and that Holly could bring them there even though they hadn't actually gotten that far."It's okay," Holly tried to reassure, because Laurie seemed embarrassed by the fact that she'd been unwittingly left out the loop through no fault of her own. "I didn't have a chance to tell you that I was on my way there already before the Warrens arrived." She smiled a little. "I'm from Southern California. The first thing I did last year was find the closest thing Sonora has to a pool. It's this way." She made a come-along gesture and started walking down one of the hedge lined paths.
"I will warn you though, the water is pretty cold, even this early in the year. I think it comes from an underground spring. There's a nice stream, too, and that makes a very peaceful background babble while you're reading." Holly held up her novel to demonstrate what her original plan had been. "There's a perfectly lovely clearing there, though, with a lot of sun, so you can warm up again pretty quickly if you do decide to take a quick dip in the pond."
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Holly
Then it's good we're going swimming
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Holly
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Raye and Josh
June 17, 2008 5:37 AM
Water is God-sent. by Raye and Josh
Both Josh and Renaye grinned at Laurie's realization. Renaye had picked up on the known location, but hadn't really acknowledged it. She thought she had been behind and that Laurie had known. Raye had just pretended she was on the ball. Honestly, she was a little disappointed there was a known location of the pond. The exploration was going to be fun... That was okay though. This was a fail-proof way of finding it. They began their journey, Holly leading the way through the paths. Renaye looked into the bag she had brought along and pulled out a few of the cookies. She turned around to hand them to Laurie and Josh, who were trailing a bit behind her. In her actions, she caught the words,"I don't get my brain sometimes. Do you know of any other blatantly apparent facts that I've been missing lately?" Renaye grinned to herself. Oh, Laur... How many great responses she had to that question... Raye found her ignorance of Josh's crush a little funny, but that also inspired a small sadness for her brother. She'd seen the poor kid send those glances at her for almost a year now. Sometimes she wanted to say something to her, but that really wasn't her place. There were some things she had to let him do for himself, not matter how much she wanted to throw in hints. All she could do was hope Josh would take the dive.
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" He asked with a grin. Irene had told him to hint at some stuff, but it was so nerve racking. He looked forward at the paths to see Renaye send him a cheeky grin. "When you've solved the puzzle give me call, okay?" He knew this was one of those weirdly vague statements, but he was okay with that. There were so many things that he had noticed over their years of friendship that made it so hard not to like her. Even this whole exploration; it had been her idea. The adventerous side of her was exciting. She handled conflicts like it was her job. Her organized manner, but at the same time acting like it was casual fun was simply Laurie. He knew how her eyes held a glint in them not only from the shining sun, but of adventure, curiosity, and laughter. At the same time, sometimes he just couldn't figure her out. Like the way she stood up to Alexis and Renaye after the WAIL incident? It had taken him by surprise when he heard, but couldn't help but think how very Laurie it was-- That was in no way a bad thing.
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Raye and Josh
Water is God-sent.
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Raye and Josh
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Laurie
June 23, 2008 12:59 PM
Got a thunderstorm right now. by Laurie
"A spring?" Her interest was instantly piqued. Laurie loved springs. Florida equalled super hot and excess humidity, which in turn often made the Gulf of Mexico feel like a warm bath. Springs were always the way to go. She had taken the twins with her on a brief camping trip to Rainbow Springs which had probably been the best outing of the holiday. She could only imagine what a spring at a magic school in the middle of the desert would be like. Amazing seemed far too brief of a description.The stream as Holly described it sounded nicely pleasant as well. Perhaps Renaye's idea of having a booth at the fair leading people to the stream might turn out possible after all. She squinted skywards, envisioning briefly, teaching poor inlanders the joy of swimming. Maybe they could even build a temporary dam out of stones and make a swimming hole of sorts. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"
She bent her arm to give Josh a much deserved mock punch, and then stopped mid-motion, suddenly dazed. She became quite aware of Josh's arm on her own, his warm skin touching hers. A buzz that began in her stomach, climbed upwards, and unbidden, her cheeks suddenly blazed. She ducked her head, hiding beneath the brim of her ball cap. She couldn't understand her strange reaction; she had spent the summer having Josh sleep in her room, for goodness's sake- what was there to be so flustered about all of a sudden?
"When you've solved the puzzle give me call, okay?"
"Puzzle, right. . ." she stammered, unlinking her arm, and putting a good ten inches of space between them. She pretended some fascination with the wall of greenery to left, picking at a spare leaf and then discarding it. She sped up while walking, until she fell even with Renaye. A momentary wince of guilt tickled at her for ditching Josh so abruptly, but she couldn't understand her strange reaction, and she didn't want him questioning her behavior. A little unnaturely, she flashed a quick grin to her blond friend, and called over to Holly. "Do a lot of people know about the spring?"
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Laurie
Got a thunderstorm right now.
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Laurie
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Josh and Renaye
July 02, 2008 11:02 PM
Coincidence! Me too! Carrying on with fair weather? by Josh and Renaye
Josh wasn't really sure how he expected Laurie to react. He hadn't put any though to his words really. He just... said it, purely to put it out there. But now what? Apparently, it was due time for a stammered reply and an embarrassed sort of feel in the air, and he wasn't talking about Laurie. Josh felt his cheeks warm as she removed the comforting contact of her arm from him, moving, in reality, not far away, but what seemed like a much greater distance in his panicked regret. As she walked beside Renaye, Josh's mind was racing. What had just happened? Had she thought he was being one of those awkwardly perverted guys? He didn't want to know what was going through her head, but he couldn't stop wondering. Why did I say that? Josh thought as he kept his step behind the three girls. Did he think that she would look at him in surprise, throw her arms around him and exclaim, "I feel the same way!" Yeah, right. That would be so obscenely random, cheesy, and out there, that he would half expect a movie crew to pop in front of him. Obviously, there was a line to be toed, that annoying line between friendship and the more personal side of friendship.Josh heard her speak from the few short miles ahead of him, but all the same, his thoughts were still focused on what may be running through her mind. He was trying to figure out whether another daring move like that would be worth the risk. Merlin, what was that feeling? Rejection. He felt rejected. He had never felt it before, but man did it suck. This weird feeling of regret, guilt, confusion, and lost opportunity flooded over him. He suddenly felt very separate from everything. After returning the grin Laurie had sent her, Renaye looked over her shoulder at him, a curious look on her face. Josh shook his head, hoping to get the thought of coming over to talk to him out of her mind. As Holly replied to Laurie's question, Raye dropped back, denying him of his solitude.
"What's up?" She said. Josh shrugged, his expression saying it was no big deal. Renaye, clever as always, wasn't fooled. She rolled her eyes as him and raised her eyebrows.
"Don't play this game with me, Josh," she said, all playfulness aside. Josh kept his eyes averted and remained silent. "We'll talk later," she said, her voice sympathetic now. She slung a comforting arm around his shoulders and continued, in voice of reasoning, "Please don't be mopey. I want us to have fun today, alright? It's not like she said she would never like you, right? You know her, full of surprises. It's probably something you're not even thinking of." With that, she walked away with a jerk of her head, asking him to follow. She hated seeing him getting worked up over something that probably wasn't a big deal to Laurie, no matter how it appeared to Josh. It was all tragically romantic. Josh had liked her for... a while, and seemed to be waiting for her to show any sign that she might feel the same. He was afraid of messing up and Renaye couldn't really help him with that. For the first time, she felt pretty helpless in her twin's life. The most she could do was be emotional support.
And the day had looked so promising two minutes ago...
Renaye caught up to Laurie, smiling to herself as she spotted Josh fall into step on her other side. Good kid, that Josh. She turned to her friend and made an attempt at picking up the mood again. She hated it when people were so down on such a great day...
"I would be great if no one knew about the spring," Raye said, draping her arms over the two people next to her, a smile on her face. "We could hang out there anytime! It would be like a secret clubhouse, without the actual house." As tempting as the idea had sounded before, Renaye wasn't sure she wanted to show other people anymore... Selfish as it may be, she wanted a place they could call their own, somewhere to escape to. It would be so cool to have their own little secret in the Sonoran Gardens.
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Josh and Renaye
Coincidence! Me too! Carrying on with fair weather?
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Josh and Renaye
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