That's me! I'm new, and a student! on Labyrinth Gardens

Professor Wright

June 21, 2019 2:49 PM

Welcome to Orientation, New Students! by Professor Wright

The older students were possibly slightly surprised to see Professor Grayson Wright outside waiting to direct the first years and remind everyone that the prairie elves would take their baggage up to the dorms, but perhaps less surprised than they might have been two years earlier. He had, after all, done orientation one time before, which was why it had not surprised him that he had been the first choice to do it again when Professor Nathan Xavier was in a position where he could not do so as usual.

To those – the first years and any transfer students – who did not know him, nothing about his appearance was the sort of thing to inspire surprise, or even much notice. He was of average height, with dark hair and eyes, and a face so devoid of distinctive features that it was quite possible the new students might primarily identify him as That Professor With The Glasses for a while, as he required the glasses just to get around the school without bumping into things and thus was not seen without them on occasions when he was conscious.

He also talked with his hands a lot, though this was less apparent than usual because he was busy using his hands to point the first years in the right direction as he separated them out of the students he recognized. Said direction was into one of the clearings in the Labyrinth Gardens, where a running fountain stood in the center and there were three tables off to one side, away from the roped-off entrances to other paths. On the first table was a number of folders, each the same forest green color as the students’ robes. These contained class schedules, school maps, and lists of the major school rules students would be expected to follow. On the next table was a variety of snacks – sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, cupcakes, cookies, and various other finger foods – and small plates to eat these on. On the third were small glasses and a selection of water, fruit juices, and fruit punch.

Once everyone seemed to be in or heading in the right direction, Professor Wright left the wagons in the elves’ capable hands and went to face down possibly the most daunting task he’d had since his first lesson: addressing the first years.

“Hello everyone – gather round, please, I don’t want to shout.” Or amplify his voice magically, as that would have been a bit much in such a small space with so few people to address. “Hello, good afternoon. I’m Professor Wright, and starting tomorrow, I’ll be your Charms teacher. Right now, though, I’m your Orientation leader, so – welcome to Sonora Academy.”

To some, it no doubt sounded like he was speaking slowly. This was because he was making an effort to speak reasonably slowly. Sonora had had quite the influx of students who did not consider English as their first language in recent years – in just the past few years, they had had Quebecois French, Russian, and German, with the Quebecois student also speaking Chinese. Even a name which looked like one thing might correlate to a student with a totally different set of language skills, so it was best not to assume too much.

“Sonora is a seven-year school where you will, if you stay with us all those years, gain a thorough education in magical theory and practice. You’ll start out, for your first year, with seven classes – Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and flying lessons. You can drop flying lessons in your second year, and begin electives in your third year, if you want. In your fifth year, you’ll take your first set of major exams, the Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills, or CATS. After that, you may select classes to focus on, though you’ll need at least two to graduate and three if you want to pursue your education further after you leave Sonora.”

He thought that was enough terrifying exam talk for the limited attention spans of eleven-year-olds for now. “We know that you all come from different educational backgrounds now,” he said, because this was true. Some might have gone to Muggle elementary schools while others might have had specialized tutors for each subject while others might have had…more unorthodox training. Most fell somewhere on a continuum between the extremes of unschooling and specialized tutors for each subject. “Your professors all have office hours when we can give you extra help in our subjects if you need it, and Professor Skies, our Deputy Headmistress and your Transfiguration teacher, runs special sessions for anyone who needs help with reading and writing English more fluently, or with basic maths. You can see times for those in the schedules in your green folders – everyone get one of those if you don’t have one yet.

“Outside of classes, you’ll have some choice in how you spend your time. We have a variety of clubs and sports here, and you’ll see notices about meetings posted around the schools when the students who organize them are ready to start up for the year. Breakfast is from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m, lunch is from 11:00 to one, and supper is five till seven, but you can find snacks and drinks there between those times as well. Curfew is at ten p.m., and at that time, you’ll need to be inside your Houses – which are part of the main building, don’t worry. They’re four groups of rooms, and tonight, at the Welcoming Feast, you’ll be Sorted into one of them by dipping the blank badges you have now into a cauldron. If your badge turns blue, you’re an Aladren – the House that values learning and problem-solving.” He might have sounded a little proud there; he was a former Aladren as well as Head of the House. “If it turns red, you belong in Crotalus, the House for people who like to be well-prepared for everything. Yellow means you’re in Teppenpaw, the House for our diplomats – and a House which has done very well in the House Cup recently,” he added, lest Teppenpaw sound lame to them. “Finally, if your badge turns brown, that means you’re a Pecari, the House for people who always land on their feet and are always willing to take a chance. All the Houses have other traits, though, so don’t worry if you don’t think any of those things sounds exactly like you – there’s a place for everyone here at Sonora.

“Your House will have prefects, who are older students, and a Head, who is a staff member – I’m the Head of Aladren, for instance. They’ll all look after you while you’re here. Your House can earn points based on things you do – excelling in class or in sports, or showing responsibility, or somehow helping the school community and showing leadership. The House with the most points at the end of the year earns the House Cup, and sometimes other privileges – Teppenpaw House has hosted the Cup for a good while now, but last year, Crotalus came within one point, so it's anyone's game and I encourage you all to do your best to help your Houses give the Prairie Dogs some competition.” He decided, regretfully, that it would not be diplomatic to not-entirely-joke about how those of them who were Sorted into Aladren should try extra hard.

“If no-one has any questions about all of that, you can mingle and get to know your classmates for a while and have some snacks until we begin our tour of the mansion. If you do have any questions, feel free to come see me – and welcome again to Sonora.”

OOC (Out of Character) Note:
Welcome first years to Sonora! You can post a reply here to ask staff questions or meet your new classmates. This thread is intended for first year students to have a chance to try out posting and get acclimated to the site before we throw you into the big Opening Feast, which is open to the entire school population and can be a bit overwhelming.

Please remember that anything that happened in the Sandbox was just practice and did not actually occur. (You are welcome, of course, to use any background information you generated about your character during these exercises such as pets, accidental magic, etc, but they have not yet spent any time at Sonora or interacted with any classmates.)

If you enter your email address when you reply, you will be notified when someone responds to your post. This is optional but can be useful for helping you keep track of posts. Please do NOT check the box that says 'show email address,' as this will make it public and may result in spam.

Now, go forth, new first years of Sonora! Post, enjoy, have fun! Everyone here is happy to help out, so if you've got a question, put it on the OOC board or try to catch somebody in the Chatzy and we'll try to get you an answer as quick as we can. Have fun and we’re glad you could join us!

[Credit to Nathan Xavier's author for the content of this OOC notice]

Subthreads:

That's me! I'm new, and a student! by Anya Delachene with Emily Lewis

Call me Freddie. by Friederike Albert Zauberhexen with Ellie Alperton

Hi and stuff. [Tag Dathan] by Jezebel Reed-Fischer with Dathan Fischer

Um, hello by Nicolas DiCaprio

16 Professor Wright Welcome to Orientation, New Students! 113 Professor Wright 1 5

Anya Delachene

June 21, 2019 11:17 PM

That's me! I'm new, and a student! by Anya Delachene

Jasmine had reported that she and Peyton had their own separate beds, normal beds that people flopped down into instead of climbing onto, but this did not stop Anya from writing 'Dear Prairie Elves: Please deliver this bag to a top bunk, please!' on a note attached to her luggage. It was a magic school, and she was sure the elves could turn her bed into a loft even if there weren't actual bunk-beds available. Bunk-beds would be cool though. She'd always wanted a bunk-bed, but the ranch was big enough that she and her siblings could all have their own rooms, and Jasmine did not want to share with her, and mom and dad wouldn't hear of her and Philippe sharing one, which she thought was kind of dumb but Philippe didn't seem too keen on the idea either so no bunk-bed for her at home. Dad did make her a loft though, and she didn't think she'd enjoy being back down at ground level here at school.

Once she checked that the note hadn't come off during the trip, she said good-bye to Jasmine, then checked her ankle to see if it had bruised. There was definitely a red hand-shaped mark on it from where her sister had kept a death grip on her the whole way from California. Anya rubbed it a little, and it hurt some from the pressure. It probably would bruise. She hoped Jasmine wouldn't tattle. Her sister had ensured that Anya hadn't actually been in much danger of falling out of the wagon (or at least triggering the safety charms Anya felt sure must exist, but which Jasmine apparently either didn't believe in or didn't trust), and watching the ground pass under them from that high up was just so awesome, that a little bruise was well worth the experience of hanging half out the back as they crossed over two states.

She took note of the direction Glasses Dude pointed her toward, but instead of following the hedge paths, she instead decided to forge through the hedges themselves and see if that got her there any faster or just got her lost.

It was the later, but she did eventually find where she was supposed to be by climbing a tree to see over the hedge walls and get a better bearing.

Once in the clearing, she collected a folder (it did not match her robes, because she wasn't wearing hers, which Jasmine and their Mom had been very put out about, but Anya didn't like the robes as they got in her way too much; besides her well-worn Rainbow Dash t-shirt and athletic shorts were much more her style than some boring old green uniform, plus she had actually brushed her curly hair into some semblance of order today so that was more than enough conformance to her mother's dictates about her appearance today) and a cookie. After the cookie was gone, she was thirsty and went back for some water.

She sipped at that while Glasses Dude droned on for like forever about stuff anybody with a big sister here already knew. Of course, it was probable that other people did not have this advantage, but that didn't make it any less super tedious for her. Though she did laugh at the part where he categorized Pecaris as those who landed on their feet. That was where she expected to go, and even if she didn't always stick her landings, she still thought it was particularly applicable to her, given how often she fell and how little she got seriously hurt from it.

When he was finally done talking, she grinned at another new student and asked, "Are you super stoked to be here?" Her expression of excited eagerness and the way she was bouncing on the balls of her feet, and just the general happiness surrounding her suggested quite plainly that Anya herself was, indeed, super stoked to be here.

1 Anya Delachene That's me! I'm new, and a student! 1453 Anya Delachene 0 5

Emily Lewis

June 22, 2019 12:18 PM

Oddly enough, I believe I fit that description too by Emily Lewis

“Err...” Emily said, mainly as a placeholder while she gathered her thoughts and refocused them away from the teacher who had been talking and to the student who had just addressed her. And, she now noted with mild interest, had somehow managed to avoid wearing the uniform. She experienced a moment of self-consciousness and smoothed her uniform robes in response. The thought that wearing robes was a bit weird popped into her head.

“Ahh...” she continued, and started to get a little annoyed with herself.

Her hazel eyes narrowed somewhat, and she flicked open her folder, glancing at it to ground herself. She took a deep breath and scrunched her nose to the side.

“I think so,” she said, a waver in her voice giving away her uncertainty. “It's just all a bit... new.”

The talk from Mr Wright, or Professor Wright, or whatever they were supposed to call him - it certainly felt like she was having to completely shift her understanding of how the world worked in even more ways, and this was just another example - had been enlightening. While she'd learnt a little about what to expect, it seemed there was more still to discover. She also hadn’t expected to miss her family so much either. Even Mags. But maybe this was just what happened when you went off on your own for the first time. It would probably be quieter here, she reasoned.

She glanced at the other student again.

“I'm Emily - Emilia, really, but call me Emily. What's your name?” And, before there was even the chance of a response being given the next words tumbled out in an undignified rush. “Do you suppose there's a library?” She was rustling through the pages of her folder seeking the answer at the same time. After all, there was no guarantee this other first year knew anything more than she did. And, as her brain continued to tick over, concluded more quietly to herself, “stupid question, there must be. What kind of school wouldn’t have a library? I just hope it's not boring.” Wrong word. Her brow furrowed. “Not just, you know, school stuff.”

39 Emily Lewis Oddly enough, I believe I fit that description too 1455 Emily Lewis 0 5

Friederike Albert Zauberhexen

June 22, 2019 2:28 PM

Call me Freddie. by Friederike Albert Zauberhexen

The world had opened up for Freddie. It wasn't just Germany anymore. Really, even Germany was big. The world's boundaries had shifted beyond the distance he could run before dinnertime and nothing could've made Freddie happier. He tried his best to pay attention to the professor who was talking to them about Things, but he already knew most of the information. Part of his language development had been to read through Hana's papers from her orientation until he could explain all of it himself in English. He knew she hadn't had the same advantage and didn't take it lightly, but also there was punch.

When the professor finished speaking and people began milling about, Freddie made his way directly toward that gleaming bowl of red juice and poured himself a cup. It was exactly as sweet and wonderful as he had hoped, and he was sure he was going to adjust well to American food.

As interested in the people and all their funny faces as he was by the snacks available to him as well (okay, maybe not quite as interested in the people), Freddie decided his best bet was to linger there until someone else came over. Inevitably, somebody would. He wondered what they'd see.

Built with Hana's lank, despite his onvious height advantage over her, Freddie might've looked gawky trying to balance his cup of juice and plate of food, while also indulging in both. However, there was also a grace about him, and a confidence that came from knowing his own body well. He'd spent his life outdoors, working and playing with his body, and if his sinewy limba didn't demonstrate that, then his ice blue eyes, peering intently from beneath messy blonde bangs, certainly did.

Finally, it happened. A student approached. Or at least, a student was nearby. Freddie wasted no more time than it took to swallow his current bite before introducing himself.

"I'm Freddie," he offered in heavily accented English. "It is nice meeting you." He waved a little with one elbow, not able to shake hands with them both full.

22 Friederike Albert Zauberhexen Call me Freddie. 1452 Friederike Albert Zauberhexen 0 5

Anya Delachene

June 22, 2019 10:04 PM

No way! That's so cool! by Anya Delachene

Anya's very first conclusion about Emily was that she did not have an older sister at the school, or none of this would qualify as 'new' even when qualified as 'just all a bit'. But this was totally fine. Anya was perfectly happy to share her advantages as the little sister with her new friend.

"I'm Anya," she said. "Well, Anastasia," she added, because Emily had offered what her name was short for, too, so it seemed only fair to return the favor. "But my mom's the only one who ever calls me that," she qualified. Usually when she was mad, but Mom was usually mad, at least at Anya, so it wasn't much of a distinction worth mentioning. "I like Anya way better."

Anya's second conclusion about Emily was that she'd get sorted into Aladren, if the library was the first thing she wanted to know about. Though the fact that she was interested in the not-boring, not-class books was promising. "Jasmine says - Jasmine's my sister, she's a fifth year now - the library's pretty big. And my Uncle Daniel - he used to go here a long time ago - said it's got good books about a lot of subjects. But he's an Aladren, so I don't know if he just meant class subjects or not."

"I'm guessing you don't have any relatives who came here before?" she asked. "Aside from my uncle and sister, both my parents were Sonorans, too, so I basically grew up on stories about this place. I'm sooo excited that it's finally my turn to come. I figure I'll be a Pecari like Mom and Dad." Well, like Mom and Dad was probably the wrong way to put it. Raoul Delachene had been quiet and easy going, and the very definition of adaptable. Holly Delachene, formerly Greer, on the other hand . . . well, there was very little Anya and her mother had in common, starting with blood, given that Anya and Jasmine were both adopted. Even for non-hereditary things like life goals and interests, Jasmine took after Mom far more than Anya did, and Jasmine had ended up in Crotalus. Mom did not so much adapt to the world around her, as interpret the world around her the way she wanted it to be.

Unfortunately, Anya was never going to conform to the idea of what Mom wanted her daughter to be like and the disconnect between Reality and What Mom Wanted led to a lot of use of Anya's full name. Anya was not a princess. Anya wanted nothing to do with princesses. She wanted Adventure, and Excitement, and she'd far rather be the capable, scrappy protagonist of her wild story than just some entitled girl who wore pretty dresses, sang songs, and lived happily ever after with some dumb prince.

"What sort of Not School Stuff are you hoping to find?" she asked curiously, jumping back to the previous line of conversation as if they'd never left it.

1 Anya Delachene No way! That's so cool! 1453 Anya Delachene 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

June 22, 2019 10:19 PM

Hi and stuff. [Tag Dathan] by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

The teacher talked slowly, and Jezebel was very glad for that. She was hardly able to focus on anything with her mind still squirming under the realisation that she was probably not crazy and that this was really happening. She wasn't sure whether she felt more excited or guilty about being magical, but there wasn't much to do about that now. She'd either learn to love it through schooling, or she'd learn to control it and stamp it out; it was a win-win and Sonora was going to have to become home if it was going to work out. As such, she'd made it her goal to learn everything she could about the school and become as comfortable here as possible. She thought it was a bit like when older students took off for college or university; find your favorite spot in the library, your favorite shady tree, and your favorite place to get coffee.

In this case, Jezebel instead brought a little bit of home with her. Although she had never been close to her cousin-- related on their dad's side through grandparents they hadn't met-- the entire Fischer clan was pretty close as a whole. Of course, with most of them living in the same area of Kansas, it was hard not to be close. Still, he seemed like her saving grace now.

After grabbing her orientation packet, Jezebel joined her cousin. She still felt a bit like they were wearing hospital gowns or something, but they weren't all that bad. She felt a little better seeing that Dathan didn't look too silly in his, and she probably didn't look too bad in hers then either. She'd pulled out her necklace-- a carved wooden cross on a chain of wooden beads-- so that it hung over her chest on the outside of her robes, and that with her sandals made her feel a little bit more like she was a person and not an emerald green sack of potatoes.

"Hi," she said plainly, her dark eyes searching his face. "How are you doing?"

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer Hi and stuff. [Tag Dathan] 1454 Jezebel Reed-Fischer 0 5

Ellie Alperton

June 24, 2019 2:29 AM

Call me Ellie by Ellie Alperton

Ellie ran her fingers through the ends of her hair, finding comfort in its silky smoothness. She could look at it as well as touch it, glancing at her shoulder out of the corner of her eye to get a glimpse of the reddish blonde strands. Two days before the start of Sonora, her hair had still been distressingly short. She had been trying on her robes and trying hair styles and getting more and more upset. Her goal for the summer had been to grow her hair down to ger shoulders but it had still been a long way off. Before being able to grow her hair out, clothes had been her biggest way of feeling like she was Ellie, and signifying to the few people that she trusted with that fact. Now she was due to start being Ellie full time but her clothes were going to be covered up. It didn't matter that the big green sack was kind of dress-like, and that no boy in her world would wear one, because in the world she was going to, everyone did. Her clothes weren't going to tell everyone she was a girl, which meant that everything else had to work even harder to, and even though she'd got her ears pierced over the summer, it didn't feel like enough, and however many pretty hair clips she put in it, her stupid hair was too short and she could just imagine them all saying that her name couldn't be Ellie because that was a girl's name and she was just a boy with bows on. Her mother had tried to assure her again and again that she looked fine but she didn't believe her. It was supposed to be a big chance at a fresh start, and it was about to all be ruined. Why hadn't she started growing her hair sooner? Why had she kept letting the worries about people at her old school get to her, so that now it might be about to spoil things at her new one? She had cried herself to sleep. And woken up with her hair reaching her shoulders.

The Explainer Lady had said that sort of thing would be happening a lot less now that she had her wand and would be learning to control her magic. A lot of Ellie's early experiences of magic had involved changing her appearance (though usually just temporarily, which made her afraid her new hair wouldn't last) or bringing herself shiny, pretty princess things when she needed them most. For years, she had thought she maybe really did have a fairy godmother, and it was sort of sad to think that it would be a very long time before she could make that sort of thing happen again. Still, as a final act, making her hair grow was a pretty awesome one. She had had a two day crash course in brushing and braiding. Not that these were skills she had never practised, of course. Her dolls were always well groomed, and her mother let her play hairdresser on her too sometimes (brushing and styling, not cutting). Ellie had even done what she called fairy braids - those teeny tiny ones you could work on even fairly short hair - on herself at weekends or after school. Still, it was very different applying all those skills to you own whole head, where your hands had to work all upside-down and behind you and stuff. She had had a lot of fun trying though, and experimenting with different styles, working out what her first day hairdo would be. She had settled on a coronet braid, which left enough of her hair loose that she could run her fingers through it or look at it out of the corner of her eye, which helped remind her how she looked right now. Yes, she had to wear the stupid green smock, but even though her mom had insisted on purchasing one with 'growing room' she had also hemmed it so that Ellie's pink sparkly sneakers were visible, sticking out underneath it. The little pink gemstone studs she'd chosen at the piercing place flashed in her ears. And she had her shoulder length hair in a proper girly style. It would be wrong to say that when she had looked in the mirror, she had hardly recognised herself. It had been the opposite. The right person was finally staring back at her. It was just hard to keep that picture in her mind, not to slip back into assuming she looked the way she always had done. She sort of wished she could look in a mirror the whole way to school to keep reminding herself, but obviously that would look strange and vain. Instead, she kept touching her hair, or looking it at out of the corner of her eyes.

Even after all her practise, she had had to let her mom execute the hairstyle for her. Her fingers still weren't quite nimble enough, and this morning they had been extra shaky, which didn't go well with having a wagon to catch. She was sort of disappointed not to have managed to do her own hair but, as her mom had pointed out, she would have plenty of chances over the coming weeks, and it was a nice mother-daughter activity to share before she left. That had definitely made her not mind about doing her hair by herself, though it had made her sad in a whole other set of ways. She was excited for her fresh start, and to be Ellie all the time, and that magic was real, but she was still not sold on the part where it meant being away from her family, who had always loved and supported her. Her mom had checked out the school very, very thoroughly, and had lots of conversations with teachers to make sure that treating Ellie as herself was not up for discussion, and they were supposed to look out for her and support her, but it was never going to be like having her own parents around.

She still felt nervous when she had to go to the orientation place where she would start meeting her classmates. She listened to the teacher. He spoke slowly, which she liked. The more he talked, the less she had to, and his voice was very soothing.

Once he finished though, it was time to mingle. Ellie sort of wished they'd been thrown straight into doing a class. Admittedly, she would have no idea what she was doing there either, but of the two things she had come here to do - learn magic, and be herself - the former suddenly seemed much less daunting. She plucked at a little woven friendship bracelet on her wrist. It was in pastel pink, pastel blue and white, the colours arranged into little flowers. One of her friends at support group had made it for her. She thought about the person she was able to be when she was with them. It was easier, of course, because they were like her, but she could just tap into that and tell herself she could do this too. It wasn't just that those people were like her which made her strong but it was inside her too - when she was herself, making friends was easier.

That was the theory she was sticking too, anyway, but the first thing she needed was a drink though, because her throat felt super dry with nerves. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, there was already someone at the drinks table, and he didn't seem like he planned on moving. She would rather have hung out with the girls. Maybe he would rather hang out with the boys, and thus wouldn't really talk to her either. Elementary school had been pretty mindlessly tribal like that.

However, as soon as she was in his orbit, he was smiling and saying 'hello.' Juice Boy seemed very cheerful. And was waving with his elbow. Ellie smiled slightly. It was sort of hard to be intimidated by someone who was giving you an elbow-wave. Although the fact that this boy simply radiated being comfortable and confident did a fair bit to balance that out... She pushed back the voice that said she was going to get called out, get asked why she was using a girl's name or wearing girls' things. Because the very clear answer to that was because she was a girl. She ran a finger over her friendship bracelet.

"HiImEllie" came out as one long word. She took a breath. "I'm Ellie," she tried again, "Um, I need juice," she added, edging in closer to the table and managing to pour herself a cup without spilling. "It's nice to meet you too," she added, remembering that the boy had said this, although she looked slightly like she was addressing her cup.

OOC - I will add Ellie's faceclaim to her profile etc later but just to be crystal clear, the fears are all in her head, and no one would see anything except a girl.

13 Ellie Alperton Call me Ellie 1456 Ellie Alperton 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

June 24, 2019 2:48 AM

Will do! by Freddie Zauberhexen

Freddie nodded, understanding wholeheartedly. "It's good juice," he told the girl as he moved out of her way. As he did so, he noticed her sneakers and grinned up at her. She was nervous, clearly, and mumbling a greeting back to him, but he was far too excited to care.

So far, everything was exciting here. He hadn't had high hopes for school to be exciting, other than the fact that it was in another part of the world, but he was being proved wrong by good juice and sparkly shoes so far, which was cool.

"My sister will love your shoeses. She likes a lot pink, too. And the... What do you call that?" He cocked his head, searching for the word. "It is like diamond? Well, she'd like it."

Freddie also liked sparkly things but not as much. Hana was different than he was, and she would be embarrassed that she couldn't get out the right words or get out any words past her accent. She'd told him how she'd met her best friend at orientation, so Freddie did have high hopes that maybe Ellie would be his best friend now too.

"I'm Friederike Albert," he offered in response to her name. "That is all the one name. It all goes in the front." He scrunched up his nose to show what he thought of that. "Now, I like Freddie."

22 Freddie Zauberhexen Will do! 1452 Freddie Zauberhexen 0 5

Ellie

June 24, 2019 9:54 AM

Yay!!! by Ellie

Ellie watched as Freddie grinned at her. Grinned or smirked? He was looking at her sneakers. Was he laughing at them? Or her? Was he going to say something?

His sister would love them. Oh. Right. That was… nice.

"Glitter," she clarified, when he didn’t know the word for the sparkliness, lowering her cup and smiling slightly. She looked down to re-admire her own shoes, turning her toes in and out so that they caught the light. This action reminded her of Dorothy and her ruby slippers, especially as Freddie had compared them to diamonds. Diamond slippers sounded very fairytale princess. She wondered whether, if she clicked her heels together three times, she could be whisked back home if needed. That would have been nice. She was about to ask Freddie if he knew the Wizard of Oz, but then she remembered that wizard was the word for what he and the other boys here were, and that might sound like she was asking if he knew a real person (maybe the Wizard of Oz was a real person) and Explainer Elaine (Explaielaine?) had said that not everyone here would have grown up with the same stories had she had. They had their own. She had spent much of her childhood in the realms of Disney and Narnia, and was curious to find out what escapism looked like when magic was already real.

"Freddie is nice," she agreed, "I, uh... they both are," she added, because she didn't want to insult his full name, which was also perfectly fine. Although she understood what it was like when the name your parents gave you wasn't the right one, and how uncomfortable it could feel to be called that. It didn't mean there was anything wrong with that name, it just didn't fit you as well as they'd thought when they gave it to you. Her parents had never had a problem with switching her name. She supposed it helped that it had happened gradually. It had started almost like a game, for them anyway. She had tried to tell them several times that she was a girl but they had patiently corrected her as if she was merely confusing the words. In their defence, she had been at the stage of referring to every cat as ‘Jojo’ because that was their cat, and also prone to getting the words for ‘table’ and ‘chair’ mixed up. They had also not argued the point very hard when she had asked to be a princess for Hallowe’en. Once the dress was on, it didn’t make sense to call her by a boy name (not that it ever had but they were being slow on that point) and so she had got them to call her Ellie, and they had. And that had become the rule whenever she was wearing her princess dress. And steadily her princess dress had become the only thing she would wear outside of school… “Mine’s just Ellie,” she replied. He had so far not critiqued her name, and that made her feel better, although she had never noticed this potential pitfall with it before. The people who knew her as Ellie were the kind of people who wouldn’t question the thing a person introduced themselves as - what they said was their name just was. It had never really occurred to her before that Ellie sounded more like it was short for something else. Well, it wasn’t in her case. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how she’d arrived at using Ellie, but that was different from it being short for something. So. It just was. She was Ellie, and that was that.

“Is your sister at school here too?” she asked, deciding to pick up the other thread that Freddie had left her.

13 Ellie Yay!!! 1456 Ellie 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

June 24, 2019 3:27 PM

All good things. by Freddie Zauberhexen

"Glitter," Freddie repeated, committing the word to memory. It might be an important one if this girl was going to be his best friend, and everything would be better with more glitter so it was good to know either way. Maybe not everything.... But most things.

Ellie looked like she appreciated the comment, which boded well, and he admired her shoes obediently as she moved them around to catch he light. They really we're quite nice. Pink wasn't so much his color, but it wasn't bad either.

"Yes, sister comes here," he agreed. "We will have the classes together. She is one older year than us." At least, he was pretty sure they'd be in the same classes. That was what the orientation stuff said anyway. "Do you have every siblings?"

He took another drink of juice, emptying his cup and setting it down so he could snack while he waited for Ellie's answer. He felt so comfortable here and he sort of wondered whether Ellie was shy or uncomfortable. He hoped it was the first one because then he could just be nice and help her relax. If she was uncomfortable, that would be harder to fix and much more in Hana's range of abilities.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen All good things. 1452 Freddie Zauberhexen 0 5

Ellie

June 25, 2019 8:48 PM

A few of my favourite things by Ellie

"That will be nice," Ellie smiled, when Freddie said that his sister would be in classes with them. It was sort of exciting to think she already had a connection, even if it was just a slight one, with an older student. One who would appreciate her pink sparkly shoes and might be able to help her a little bit if the magic was really difficult. What did it mean, she wondered, that she had classes together with the grade above? Was magic just so difficult that she was going to achieve nothing this year and just need to repeat it all next year? That sounded depressing.

"Yes," she nodded, when he asked about siblings, "I have a brother. He's great," she smiled fondly. Her brother would come up to her in the playground and whisper 'Hey Ellie' or when he was tying his laces during soccer, he'd pick little flowers and then bring them to her at the end of recess. It had meant that she could take a bit of being Ellie to school with her, which had made the whole thing suck less. The other way she did that was her viola. Mr. Brightly-Smith (who gave her lessons) lived a town over, had a husband, and was perfectly happy to call her by her preferred name and pronouns. He cared a lot more whether she'd been practising her scales than anything else. She took her viola to school sometimes so she could practise at lunchtime and be Ellie instead of having to hang out with other people.

"Do you know much about magic already?" she asked Freddie, coming back to her previous train of thought.

13 Ellie A few of my favourite things 1456 Ellie 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

June 26, 2019 5:18 PM

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes? by Freddie Zauberhexen

"You're just like us then!" Freddie cooed. "You have large sister and small brother and you are friend with each other. I am happy you have each other."

Everything seemed pretty happy here so far, and Freddie was glad of that. It was encouraging to know that people were getting on with their families, particularly since Hana had said that not all of her friends were so lucky.

"Where does your family come from?" he asked, wondering what her life looked like. What did family look like here? He wasn't skilled enough with English to identify her accent and was really just glad he could understand her at all. He'd mostly practiced English with non-native speakers and with patients from all over the world, so he hadn't had consistent exposure to any brand of English yet.

Ellie's question struck Freddie as significant. He was hard pressed to identify which parts of his life were magical and which were not, because there was no separation for him and his family. There were some blurry lines about muggle and magical worlds even, since they were so remote that superstition covered most issues of secrecy.

"I don't know how to do much," he answered honestly. "My parents are healers and they know more, but we mostly do potions and things. The . . . what's the one with the plants? We do that a lot."

22 Freddie Zauberhexen Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes? 1452 Freddie Zauberhexen 0 5

Ellie

June 26, 2019 10:50 PM

Playing viola and not being misgendered by Ellie

Ellie was about to say that no, she had no older sister – it was just her and her brother – when she realised that was what Freddie meant. That in her family there was an older girl and a younger brother.

“Yes,” she grinned, feeling very happy with this description, and with the fact that it gave her something in common with the boy in front of her. She knew it was such a small thing but it made her feel so accepted to hear him say that their families were just the same. She thought boys who had sisters might be nicer on the whole. Her own and Freddie certainly seemed to lend weight to that theory. They knew how to be kind and gentle, and were a little more willing to do that. She was sure that didn’t apply to all boys, of course, but she liked the ones where it did. It was also further reinforcement that Freddie regarded her as a girl. Not, of course, that he had any reason not to but it was just… It was just so comfortable. A lot of the anxiousness with which she’d approached was melting away. Freddie was very easy to smile at.

“My family is from Southern California,” she answered. “How about yours?” she asked. She had definitely been curious about this point, but she hadn’t been sure if it would be polite to ask. Freddie’s accent definitely marked him out as non-American and she didn’t want him to think she was asking in a bad way. Now that he’d asked first though, it seemed natural enough to return the question.

“I don’t know any magic. My family isn’t magical,” she added, looking a little worried again, “The explainer lady they sent us, she said that’s okay and that I wouldn’t be behind everyone else. But she said I won’t be allowed to do it at home either.”

13 Ellie Playing viola and not being misgendered 1456 Ellie 0 5

Emily Lewis

June 27, 2019 7:59 AM

Yeah, about that... by Emily Lewis

“Hmm?” Emily said, as her attention was grabbed back by the other girl. It took a moment before the introduction filtered through and she filed away the name in her mind under ‘things to remember’. “Like the Romanov Grand Duchess? Cool.” That she knew this mainly because of the animated movie which had been a favourite of Abby’s two years ago she didn’t mention. Although when it was revealed that Anya’s sister was named Jasmine she started to seriously wonder if there was some animated movie theme going on here.

Uncle Daniel? Was there an Uncle Daniel in a cartoon? She tried to think back to the old Disney movies she’d watched and failed to find a match. For a moment she wondered about Abby’s morning cartoons before she dismissed them as too recent to have had any influence on someone being called Uncle Daniel.

Although, she noted after a moment, it was probably just Daniel. This led to a new trip down the rabbit hole with a similar lack of results. Her knowledge on the topic just wasn’t thorough enough. Maybe Jack would know: he was a TV fanatic.

Topic to include in first letter home, she mentally noted.

Of course, it might not have been animated. There were plenty of Daniels in books. There was Daniel in the bible. And there was Daniel in Danny the Champion of the World. Iron Fist was a Daniel. Did it count if it was a comic?

It was about this time that she tuned back into the conversation. Something had caught her attention. Some indication that she should say something. There had been something. Something… A tone. A question! A question she should probably answer. Which would be easier if she had been listening.

“Sorry,” she apologised, “I think I was distracted. What did you ask?”

39 Emily Lewis Yeah, about that... 1455 Emily Lewis 0 5

Anya

June 27, 2019 1:31 PM

About what? by Anya

“Exactly,” Anya confirmed when Emily identified the source of her name, and further cemented the impression that she was going to be an Aladren by the lack of mentioning the Dreamworks movie. Of course, Emily might not have access to muggle movies, but that only made the likelihood of her knowing about the Grand Duchess even more remote. She rolled her eyes and added, “My mom has a thing for princesses.”

Anya tilted her head and regarded Emily a little curiously when she was requested to repeat herself. She was kind of used to Jasmine not listening to her - well, that was unfair. Jasmine listened. Jasmine just did not comprehend if Anya ventured too far from the conversational topics of Disney or horses. If she started talking gymnastics or mountain climbing, or, Merlin forbid, geology then Jasmine looked at Anya like she had started talking in French or something. It was the same polite but quizzical look her older sister used when Grand-mère said something privately to Grand-père in their native language.

Emily’s face did not have that expression. It was different. More like she just hadn’t heard instead of not understanding. Anya wondered if she was hard of hearing. Uncle Luke’s dad was like that. Anya didn’t usually make a habit of mumbling, but maybe she had turned too far too the side for lip reading? She had been looking around, taking in the Gardens.

But no, just distracted, Emily said, which was fair. There was plenty to be distracted by here. But just in case, Anya faced her directly and spoke clearly, and a little louder than before. “I wondered if there was anything specific you wanted to find in the library?”

1 Anya About what? 1453 Anya 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

June 27, 2019 4:00 PM

Drinking my juice and making new friends by Freddie Zauberhexen

Ellie seemed so happy now and Freddie grinned, satisfied that he'd done the job well. He may not have had the healer instinct of his family, but he certainly was interested in caring for other people. He had little interest in exploring the world if it meant that people were going to be left in a trail of destruction once he'd gone. No, traveling and exploring almost invariably meant loving, and Freddie was going to start right this moment.

"Southern California," he repeated, a little embarrassed to admit that he didn't know too much about the United States. In all his time looking at maps of the world, he hadn't been terribly concerned about the individual states in his new host country, although he knew a little bit about Arizona. "Is that a separate place? Or some of California?" he clarified. "We live in Deutschl-- ah . . . Germany," he explained.

He wasn't sure who the "explainer lady" was, as no such person had been sent to his house, but he assumed that was part of Ellie's family not being magical. He nodded along, figuring that was probably the case and that that wasn't the most important part of what Ellie had said anyway.

"Lots of people here are the same as you," Freddie promised. "You won't be behind, and I can do help if you want. My sister will help me and you, too. Her English is . . ." he held up a hand and shook it to say it was so-so. "She would want you do help too. You can't do it at home because it's dangerous," he added nonchalantly, considering a piece of chopped fruit before taking a bite. "But sometimes you might do a mistake."

22 Freddie Zauberhexen Drinking my juice and making new friends 1452 Freddie Zauberhexen 0 5

Nicolas DiCaprio

June 27, 2019 4:21 PM

Um, hello by Nicolas DiCaprio

It was really hard saying goodbye to his parents when the covered wagon came to pick him up in Denver. Nico did cry quietly to himself on the way here, but Mikey kicked him to make him stop. It didn't help, of course, but Nico tried to keep it together. He was super nervous about going to a new school by himself. He had gone to a public elementary school back in Denver, and he felt lonely leaving his friends and family behind on this new adventure. He wasn't the greatest at making new friends unless they approached him first, but he really didn't want to be alone for the next seven years either.

"It'll be fine," Mikey reassured him, and Nico tried his best to believe it.

Once the wagon arrived at the school, he was left on his own with an encouraging hug from his brother. Nico swallowed and went to the group of classmates gathered in the gardens. He took a folder and grabbed a glass of fruit punch, feeling too nervous to eat anything. He glanced around at the other kids, feeling out of place and awkward. He didn't really know what to say to them, and most of them seemed to be making friends a lot quicker. One of the kids had a heavy accent, and there were definitely more girls than guys. Nico cleared his throat, wishing he'd practiced saying hi or what questions he could ask people before coming.

The teacher-professor gave them a lot of information, which Nico hoped was in the folder, and he wondered which house he'd be sorted into. It probably wouldn't be the same as his brother, even though he really hoped it would be, because they were super different. Mikey was outgoing and great with people and super athletic, and Nico was just athletic and much quieter. He wished he could be cooler like Mikey, but being that outgoing just didn't come naturally to him. Mom always told him it was fine that he was shy and that he would grow out of it someday. Nico just didn't know what she meant by that.

In this situation, he could imagine his parents pushing him to make some friends, but since they weren't around, he just stood there drinking his fruit punch. It wasn't that he didn't like people or wasn't social, he just felt nervous being in a new place with new people, and he didn't know what to say if he went up to someone. It didn't look like Sonora had a playground or a jungle gym, so it would be hard to make friends while playing. Maybe he could make some friends in his classes. His hair was getting into his eyes, so he flicked his head to send his brown hair back up further on his forehead.

Nico started looking around instead of observing his new classmates. After returning his glass, he went to the hedges to see what it looked like inside the labyrinth. Mikey had told him there were sometimes magical creatures hidden away in there, and Nico wasn't brave enough to see if that was true by himself. Maybe if he stared hard enough, though, he might be able to spot one from out here.

19 Nicolas DiCaprio Um, hello 1458 Nicolas DiCaprio 0 5

Emily Lewis

June 27, 2019 5:44 PM

My point exactly by Emily Lewis

“Oh, stories,” Emily answered both relieved that Anya has just apparently repeated her question without making a fuss and a little perplexed about why the volume had increased. She supposed that perhaps it was because of the gaggle of other students around them, and the noise that seemed to happen whenever you got a few people together was giving Anya trouble, and so matched her in volume. “Poetry, maybe. Do magic people write poetry?”

Gaggle was such an interesting word. And really, it was the perfect word - she had a quick glance around at the rest of her apparent new classmates - yes, definitely the perfect word for a collective of first year witches and wizards. Why should it be confined to geese? Of course, there might even be a word that they used for a group of themselves.

Or ourselves, she mentally corrected. I'm one of those people.

The thought was bemusing and a slight half smile twitched on her lips. It was strange to think of herself as one of the majority. It wasn’t as it she’d had no friends before this. She'd had several back at school and in the neighbourhood. And there was her family too. There were enough of them, for sure. But this seemed slightly different.

Although, she drew herself short, it wouldn’t be all that different if she couldn’t keep focused on one conversation. She wondered if there had been a significant pause, and hoped she hadn’t missed anything this time. After all, it was possible that this might be her first magical - also magical - friend at this new school. Her eyes sharpened as she reigned in her mental musings to pay attention to Anya again.

“Maybe,” she coughed and cleared her throat as she remembered halfway through the word that the volume had increased and she should at least try to maintain that increase unless a there was a reasonable reason to decrease again. ”Sorry, maybe etymology too,” she admitted.

The last one was where she tended to lose people. She'd discovered it just last year when her teacher had taught them some of the basics about word origins and they'd all got to make monsters and accurately name them based on their features. It stood out as a highlight of her education to date. The other kids had just mainly enjoyed playing around with cardboard, scissors, paints and other craft supplies. Emily had lost herself in the creation of the perfect word.

“Do you like stories?” She ventured to ask. It didn’t quite seem right to specifically ask whether Anya liked words yet.

39 Emily Lewis My point exactly 1455 Emily Lewis 0 5

Anya

June 27, 2019 11:33 PM

Who needs points? by Anya

“Stories are good,” Anya admitted. They were, if nothing else, more interesting than most other books in the library. She could rarely sit still long enough to read or watch them, but she liked the concept of stories on the whole.

Etymology, on the other hand, was a little trickier to enthuse about with her new friend. Not least because Anya wasn’t entirely sure if that was the study of words or the study of bugs, and the context of them being a thing to read about in the library didn’t really narrow the options any, and the ideal method about enthusing about words was very different than the ideal method for enthusing about bugs. And just saying, “Yeah, etymology! Woot! Go that!” would make it horribly obvious she didn’t know what they were talking about and she didn’t want to sound dumb. So she didn’t say that either.

Luckily, she was saved from this predicament by being asked if she liked stories. Anya was pretty sure she’d just said she did, but she’d forgotten to talk loudly, so maybe it was a hearing issue. She didn’t want to pry though, so didn’t comment on it and just repeated at the higher volume, “Stories are good!”

She far preferred having her own adventures to reading about someone else’s, so she didn’t actually read a whole lot of fiction. But there were more ways to enjoy stories than just reading about them.

“Me and my brother have been playing an ongoing superhero plot for ages. My superpower is that I can fly, and his is that he can turn into a car. He was on a big transformer kick when we started. And my secret identity is basically Lois Lane, because she’s awesome, but I was seven and thought I was clever and super subtle, so my secret identity name is Lisa Ludwig. And Philippe was five so he wasn’t subtle at all, and his secret identity is Drake Mallard because Darkwing Duck is the the best tv show ever. Do you ever make up your own stories, or do you mostly like reading them?”

1 Anya Who needs points? 1453 Anya 0 5

Dathan Fischer

July 07, 2019 11:05 PM

Hi and stuff. by Dathan Fischer

Dathan's eyes were looking around at the other students more than they were fixed on the speaker. By the looks of it, most of them were looking a bit overwhelmed which made him relax a bit. At least he wasn't the only one. Even though he was speaking clearly and slowly it still felt like a foreign language as the teacher went over their class listings. However, the last thing Dathan felt was sad that he was leaving his old curriculum behind.

When Jezebel joined him after the welcome orientation speech he relaxed some. He really couldn't imagine what his first day would be like if he was here alone trying to figure everything out.

"I'm... okay." He settled on the word after a moment. Definitely appropriate and between good and bad. He looked down his robes at his feet and rocked on his heels some nervously. "This place is..." he trailed off looking around at the building around them and sighed. "Huge." Not at all like the small house that he grew up in and left behind when he came here. He looked back to Jezebel and offered a weak smile. "How about you?"

0 Dathan Fischer Hi and stuff. 1457 Dathan Fischer 0 5

Jezebel Fischer-Reed

July 08, 2019 2:01 AM

I'm glad I'm not alone. by Jezebel Fischer-Reed

Jezebel smiled. Dathan had always been sweet but his small talk was a good reminder that she wasn't the only one scared here. She spent most of her time trying to plan how she was going to get through the next twenty years, become the first female president, take over the world, and save all the iguanas of the world who didn't have homes, but sometimes it was nice to just be a kid. She wasn't sure what that meant for magical kids, though.

"Okay is a good word," she decided, smiling a little at her cousin. "It really is huge. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before."

She tried to think if that was true or not before relaxing that this was the first magical place she'd been. Her own home was technically magical maybe? But that didn't count. This place made magic normal and her friends at school would've been the odd ones here instead of just her. Even just looking around their small group, percentage-wise, she wasn't that off here either.

"But then, I've never been in a castle thing, or in a magical school. So that makes sense. How'd your parents do dropping you off?"

22 Jezebel Fischer-Reed I'm glad I'm not alone. 1454 Jezebel Fischer-Reed 0 5

Dathan Fischer

July 09, 2019 3:58 PM

Re: I'm glad I'm not alone. by Dathan Fischer

Dathan nodded at her response and focused again on her instead of the overwhelming world that was around him. He really did think he would be fine here... eventually. And it said something that he had some first day jitters. His other school never made him feel anything like that. He realized he wanted to be successful here. If possible.

"They got me here," he started and immediately felt bad. That was too harsh and unfair. "Mom was great," he said trying again. "Dad came. He's been. weird with everything. I'm surprised that he even did that. But I'm glad." At eleven years old he never thought he would have to figure out how to repair a relationship with his father. Now when he was so close to him. To both of his parents. His dad had been a bit of a stranger since his acceptance letter. It was impossible to hide the sadness in his eyes as he told Jezebel, "he barely spoke to me today. It was really hard saying goodbye," and if it had been anyone else he wouldn't have offered the information out.

He had decided already that he would give this place a chance. There was no way that he couldn't do that. But if he hated it he wondered if Jez would hate him if he asked to leave. It wasn't that he was homesick. And it wasn't even that his dad looked at him differently. It's that he was barely able to make eye contact with him at all. And he hated himself a little for that.

0 Dathan Fischer Re: I'm glad I'm not alone. 1457 Dathan Fischer 0 5

Jezebel Fischer-Reed

July 09, 2019 4:48 PM

Well, so we are a little alone. by Jezebel Fischer-Reed

Jezebel grimaced, feeling guilty. Her dad and Dathan's were brothers, so it stood to reason that they'd have more similar reactions to what was going on with their children. However, Jezebl's dad was much more accepting, even excited. He had a love and fascination with the unusual or exotic, part of how he'd met Jezebel's mom, and he couldn't be upset or surprised that his first little girl was true to form that way. Her mother was much less excited and had spent a lot of time praying over Jezebel, clutching her rosary with white knuckles, and visiting their priest. She'd done well about keeping the family's secret, so the priest probably thought she was just an insane woman with paranoia problems, but still.

"Yeah, Mom and Dad were... There. Marcus isn't talking to me," she told him, trying not to imagine the expression on her older brother's face when she'd said goodbye. Patience was too young to understand and Augustine was just hoping he'd get to be magical too. Of course, that might not last if their mom had anything to say about it. "I'm glad you're here," she added, a little shy to admit it. "Guess it's you and me now."

22 Jezebel Fischer-Reed Well, so we are a little alone. 1454 Jezebel Fischer-Reed 0 5

Dathan Fischer

July 13, 2019 10:48 PM

We'll be okay. by Dathan Fischer

“Marcus will get over it,” he said with a chuckle trying to lighten the mood. He gave a single nod and put his best brave face on. “It is, Jez... you and me. We’ll be okay,” He promised her making sure to catch her eyes so she knew he was serious. He had said the same thing to his dad before his parents left him. I’ll be okay. His dad had given him a weak smile and tousled his hair some and Dathan had to wonder… would his dad be okay? It would just be him and his mom at home together now. He was an only child. Unlike Jezebel, who had siblings that would fill the house with love and laughter, his would be empty.
He shook his head some trying to get the thought out. “Can you believe the class list? Defense against the dark arts… flying lessons? It’s all so hard to believe, don’t you think?” He flipped through his packet orientation packet noting what was in there as he took a few steps toward the table with the food leaving Jezebel to follow. He picked up an apple and rubbed it on his chest, taking a bite out of it as he glanced over the paper with the school rules.

0 Dathan Fischer We'll be okay. 1457 Dathan Fischer 0 5

Jezebel Fischer-Reed

July 14, 2019 12:57 AM

We will be something. by Jezebel Fischer-Reed

Jezebel nodded, unconvinced on the subject of her brother. She wasn't sure whether it was jealousy or heresy that had stunted their relationship, and she wasn't sure whether she hoped that time apart would be good for them or not. What did it mean if he was better off with her away? If they all were?

"Thanks," she smiled, glad to have someone at least a little more willing to believe that than she was. He'd always been nicer than she was, but she'd never been so lucky to benefit from it like this.

She followed him to the table of food, taking a cup of juice and a small sandwich. She wasn't sure she could stomach more than that and hated apples. "It sounds fake," she agreed. "Like we've stepped into a video game or something. Also, does that mean there are dark arts if we have to defend ourselves? That doesn't sound good."

She grimaced a little and stood up on her tip toes a little to see what he was reading. They were about the same height (Jezebel maybe had a little advantage there) but it felt weird to lean over him. She took a bite of her sandwich.

"We won't be able to go into each other's rooms," she said, pointing out a paragraph about boys and girls, and houses as a whole. "Will you still hang out with me?"

22 Jezebel Fischer-Reed We will be something. 1454 Jezebel Fischer-Reed 0 5