An unlikely visitor on Library

Jordanna Howard

December 03, 2007 10:43 PM

An unlikely visitor by Jordanna Howard

Tilting her head to the right, Jordanna studied herself in the mirror. After a period of frustrated silence and unsatisfactory poses, finally she voiced the pressing question aloud.

“What does one wear to a library?”

Yes, Jordanna Howard was planning a trip to the library in the next five minutes. No, she was not going there of her own volition – as if her situation had ever been that awful. However, there was the matter of the Howler her parents had threatened to send Jordanna’s way if she did not spend anytime in the library before the dreaded CATS. And the teen was not in the mood to test her parents’ tolerance, not after the midterm she’d had. Apparently, her parents had finally taken notice of her studies, and, much to their chagrin, had come to the conclusion that their youngest child’s grades left much to be desired. The Howard station in life was far less advantageous than it once had been. Grades were now to be a priority. And so, Jordanna had spent most of her midterm locked up in her room, studying like she had never studied before. It was disgusting, really.

Deciding that the pink sweats and the white tank top she was already wearing would have to do, Jordanna decided that she didn’t understand why anyone would want to rebel against the old ways of pureblood life. While it was not always pleasing, it was at least predictable. Self-sufficiency was just too… uncertain. Before last year, Jordanna could have been reasonably sure of her fate after Sonora. She would have married some respectable rich pureblood, had lots of respectable pureblood babies, and continued on with the cycle. Now? Well, who knows what would happen to her. It was likely she would have to go to college, earn her own living, and maybe not get married until she was thirty. Merlin – for all she knew, she could end up as some tacky, old kneazle lady.

She took a deep breath before making the plunge. Gray eyes searched desperately for an empty table where no one would notice her. Jordanna meandered between bookcases she had never seen before, until she finally found a place to her liking. Her Transfiguration and Charms textbooks set upon the table, she took her seat. Perusing over the Transfiguration textbook, she allowed the blond hair to fall over her face. She wasn’t exactly interested in advertising to the whole school that she was here. Actually, it might be better if no one outside of her family found out. Ever.

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Oliver Abbott

December 09, 2007 11:59 AM

An unlikely companion by Oliver Abbott

The midterm holiday had proved very confusing for Oliver. While it had been the smoothest return to his family since his coming to Sonora, certain events had bewildered Oliver, ultimately resulting in his current state of disquiet. The first trick shot had been his mother coming to meet him from the wagon, rather than his Uncle Raymond. Uncle Ray was a wizard, and proud of his pureblood heritage, and so it was to him Oliver had always turned when he’d had any questions or concerns. He hadn’t seen or spoken to his uncle over the entire course of the break, which had not only been unusual, but also had deprived Oliver of his usual magical correspondence when not at school. Hence several of the questions he’d acquired since September remained unanswered. On top of that, Oliver now had several new questions he would like to ask. Such as what did one wear to a Midsummer Ball? Oliver had a burning desire to prove himself as a capable and respectable member of the magical society, and couldn’t allow his chances to be forever spoiled by dressing inappropriately at the only social occasion he was ever likely to attend.

There were other issues, though, unrelated to Sonora and magic in general, which Oliver would very much like to discuss with someone who wouldn’t laugh at him. Things like Becca, Julian’s girlfriend. Oliver still couldn’t believe his older brother had a girlfriend. Julian was coarse and bigoted (perhaps Oliver was biased on these points, having, until recently, been perpetually in his older brother’s shadow), and nowhere near mature enough to be interesting to someone like Becca. It didn’t make sense, and Oliver didn’t really know any other boys to see what they thought. Not that he wanted anyone else to discover his own insecurities, but he thought it would be okay to at least talk about girls with other boys his age. The problem was that Oliver didn’t really know any. Brett was okay, he supposed, but he was in Pecari, and anyway he already had a girlfriend, so would probably think anything Oliver said was stupid anyway.

Puzzled and perplexed, Oliver had sought solace in the library, with the secondary aim of perhaps finding out more about how one was supposed to behave at balls. Wandering through the hundreds of shelves searching for anything that sounded like it might be useful, Oliver came across an odd sight. The only occupant at a table nearby seemed to have fallen asleep over her books. No wait – she wasn’t really asleep. It just looked like it because her hair had fallen forwards and – hey wait, that was Jordanna. Maybe she would be able to answer some of his questions? Not the ones about girls, obviously, because she was a girl, and therefore would laugh at him and make him feel about two feet tall. But maybe the other stuff.

Oliver took two small steps towards the table before halting again. He was fairly sure it was Jordanna anyway, despite not being able to see her face. “Um, Jordanna?” he queried, just in case.

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