An unforseen heart-to-heart [fourth year dorm, tag:Dalila] on Teppenpaw Commons

Lexi Stafford

April 23, 2007 5:50 PM

An unforseen heart-to-heart [fourth year dorm, tag:Dalila] by Lexi Stafford

Throughout the last week of the vacation, and the trip back to school, there was one main thought concerning Lexi Stafford- how she was supposed to inform Jake that she was on indefinite suspension from the quidditch team. Or, rather, that she was supposed to be on suspension.

After intense badgering and more than a few unsubtle, and generally empty, threats about how having one Santoro angry with her could lead to another being angry with him (she highly doubted things would have worked out that way, but it made for good coercion), Ben had agreed to let her borrow his broom during Teppenpaw practices and games. She wasn’t sure what would happen when a conflict came up, but, with any luck, by that time she would have been taken off probation.

Still, despite the fact that it really didn’t affect anything right now, she wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to warn Jake that any day her dad might hear she was still playing, and forbid the arrangement that had escaped his notice. She highly doubted it would happen, and she really didn’t want to go through the awkward ‘Sorry, I’m almost failing half my classes’ conversation if she didn’t have to with someone she really didn’t know all that well.

That reluctance is what finally gave way to the situation she was currently in, waiting in the fourth year dorm for her roommate to show up once more. While they may not have been the greatest of friends, she and Dalila got along fairly well, or at least Lexi liked to think so. After all, after four years of sharing a room, and three of being on the same quidditch team, they almost had to. In addition to that, Dalila knew Jake as well (a relationship Lexi was starting to get curious about, but which was currently beside the point), and could theoretically give her some advice about what to do.

Besides, it really had been a long time since Lexi had had any serious conversation with anyone in her grade. Ben appeared to be making more friends than her, and that was something that couldn’t be borne. So, starting to organize her stuff to make it look like she wasn’t waiting to ambush Dalila (even if she sort of was), Lexi waited for the other girl to walk in. After all, it was the first day back from midterm. It couldn’t take that long.

0 Lexi Stafford An unforseen heart-to-heart [fourth year dorm, tag:Dalila] 0 Lexi Stafford 1 5

Dalila Bastet

April 27, 2007 2:55 AM

Ambushed! by Dalila Bastet

Dalila entered the cheery yellow common room, munching on a piece of toast from Cascade Hall and letting her mind wander. It was such a great past-time: letting your mind think about whatever it feels like. Inevitably, it kept on returning to the same few things: Quidditch, Jake, what the hell she was supposed to do with that Charms essay due Monday, etc...these were what was going through her head as she trotted up the steps and into the room she luckily, only shared with one other person.

She and Lexi had never really hung out, but Dalila considered her a friend. They played Quidditch together, took classes together, shared a room together, and if two people did all those things together, either you were friends or you hated each other's guts. And the latter was definitely not true.

Lexi was sitting in the room rearranging her things when Dalila walked in. Dalila finished her toast and gave her roommate a grin.

"Hey, Lex! How was your break?"

0 Dalila Bastet Ambushed! 60 Dalila Bastet 0 5

Lexi

April 27, 2007 10:54 PM

What can I say? I have mad skills by Lexi

Just as Lexi predicted, it was only a matter of time before Dalila walked into the room, as cheerful as the other girl almost always seemed to be. It had amused Lexi in the past, how her roommate was always happy. Perhaps it was a bit surprising that they generally got along as well as they did, since that much joy could be a bit overbearing at times. But Dalila was also incredibly nice, and happy was far better than some of the alternatives could be, so Lexi saw nothing to complain about.

“Hey,” Lexi replied with a nod, putting down the object she had picked up just before Dalila walked in. “My break was…okay, I suppose. My dad was a bit less than pleased with some of my grades, which made things a bit more difficult than I would have liked, but, for the most part, it went well. So, how about you? Do anything interesting over break?"

Somehow, despite how much she wanted someone’s advice, actually asking was proving much harder than anticipated. That actually shouldn’t have surprised her- Lexi didn’t enjoy asking for help unless there was no alternative and, even then, it grinded just a bit. But that was an immature attitude to take, and she honestly needed another opinion.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you,” Lexi added suddenly, scooting over from where she had been sitting on her bed closer to her roommate. “My dad…part of his thing was that he thought quidditch was what was distracting me, so he said I couldn’t play anymore, and took my broom until my grades get better. I’m not really paying attention to that part, though I’m going to work on the grades, and for the time being I’m just borrowing Ben’s broom, but…” She shrugged.

“I sort of felt like I should mention something about it to Jake, but I really don’t want to, if that makes sense, and, since you know Jake too, I thought you might be able to give an opinion.” She shrugged again, giving Dalila an apologetic smile. “Sorry for unloading all that on you, it’s just rather embarrassing, and Jake was so moody for so much of last term- even if he’s gotten better now that he and the crotalus captain have resolved their…whatever it was, I still don’t want to chance it.”

As she mentioned Jake and his relationship status, she sneaked another glance at Dalila. Horrible as it may sound, she was incredibly curious, and, with any luck, Dalila wouldn’t be very good at concealing emotions, although it was almost impossible she hadn’t heard about that yet.

0 Lexi What can I say? I have mad skills 0 Lexi 0 5

Dalila

April 30, 2007 3:11 AM

You're mad skills impress me by Dalila

Dalila frowned a little. Her roommate hadn't had the best break. That was never good. Usually if a break was fine, you said 'fine', but any elaboration meant either it was amazing or terrible. But she didn't go beyond mentioning bad grades so Dalila decided not to push it. Instead she grinned and answered.

"Oh, I didn't do anything special. Hung out with friends and family. Whatever." Dalila was about to go on about her grandmother deciding to get her a broom for her next birthday, but Lexi suddenly spoke up again. Dalila eyes widened at Lexi's confession. Broom taken away? Can't play Quidditch? Bad, bad, bad...

"Well, I don't know, Lex." Dalila started before considering what she was going to say. "I guess you should tell Jake about it, but that you're still gonna play no matter what. Cause you are, right?" Dalila didn't wait for a response to that. She knew the answer. "He'd be kinda upset about the whole thing, but I bet he'd rather risk your dad getting angry than to lose you. You're such a great player, no one would want to lose you." Dalila stopped to catch her breath. And as they sat in silence for a few seconds, Dalila suddenly remembered something Lexi had said.

"Wait...what's this thing Jake and the Crotalus captain resolved?" It couldn't have been Quidditch related, otherwise Dalila would have known. But what else could it be? Curiosity killed the cat, but Dalila was always willing to risk that chance.

0 Dalila You're mad skills impress me 0 Dalila 0 5

Lexi

May 01, 2007 11:31 PM

Why, thank you by Lexi

Lexi shrugged. “You’re right, I suppose,” she said, although she didn’t really elaborate. While Dalila may have been right, and her opinion was a just one, Lexi still wasn’t sure whether she would just let sleeping dogs lie for the moment. While it would definitely be better in the long run for Jake to know, providing nothing extreme happened, it couldn’t hurt if she kept things quiet for a little longer, could it? It wasn’t like she was going to go out and immediately hurt someone in their first match, or anything.

Looking a bit embarrassed from the praise (she was used to being informed how good she was at being violent, or whatever, but Dalila’s simple statement wasn’t what she generally got), she continued. “And of course I’m going to keep playing. That never was part of the question. My dad’s just being ridiculous. You know how parents are.” She shrugged once more. She’d figure out what she was going to do sooner or later, she supposed. And at least she knew she had a supportive roommate on her side. That was always a plus.

However, whatever pleasant feelings Lexi had had quickly fell to pieces as soon as she registered Dalila’s question. She honestly had never considered that Dalila actually might not have heard about Jake’s girlfriend. After all, she had, and she certainly wasn’t all that focused on it (apart from running into her captain after fights in the gardens, she supposed). Still, she did have a twin brother who was good friends with another of the Santoros, which probably gave her a bit more information than the rest of the population. Either that, or Dalila was just clueless.

Still, if Dalila did have any feelings for Jake, Lexi didn’t want to completely crush them, particularly after her roommate had been so nice. So she had to proceed cautiously. “Eh, well, I actually don’t know all that many details about their fight. I mean, I know they had one, since I ran into Jake right after it, and they didn’t really talk for most of last term, but Bella mentioned to Ben that, whatever the fight was about, it’s pretty much over now.” She paused, not sure how complete her answer should be, and then decided she might as well spill it all. “I think they might be dating now, although I could be wrong.”

0 Lexi Why, thank you 0 Lexi 0 5

Dalila

May 02, 2007 1:01 PM

You're very welcome by Dalila

Dalila grinned. At least they wouldn't have to find a replacement for Lexi. There was no one that could cause as much violence in their favor as the girl sitting in front of her. But something was wrong still. After the initial statement that there was no way Lexi would be leaving the team, she seemed a bit more reserved than normal still. Dalila furrowed her eyebrows. Was something really bad going on with Jake? Since it was her question that had made Lexi act so upset.

Lexi seemed to put off saying it for as long as possible. Dalila was getting worried. What would make Lexi act like this? Dalila pulled her knees up to her chin and stared at Lexi through her rather longer than usual brown hair. ANd then she let it loose.

Dalila froze, her eyes glazing over. Dating? A million thoughts ran through her head, not all of them coherent, but the one that was continuously clear was the fact that Jake had a girlfriend. A girlfriend! And it wasn't her...

After what seemed like an eternity of duped silence, Dalila finally picked up her head and looked at Lexi. Could it be possible that Lexi was lying? Probably not.

She tried to keep her emotions in check, but it wan't working very well. A few tears escaped and trailed down her cheeks.

"Lexi?" Dalila said in a rather strained voice. "Oh, Merlin, Lexi! Why am I acting like this?" She managed to get out before the tears made it too hard to speak.

0 Dalila You're very welcome 0 Dalila 0 5

Lexi

May 02, 2007 10:38 PM

Although apparently they don't extend into social ones by Lexi

Apparently, all of Lexi’s attempts to break the news Dalila seemed to have missed gently were for naught, which made things only a little difficult. The byproduct of having no close female relatives, and no really close female friends, this was not the kind of situation Lexi had experience dealing with. Still, it was pretty much her fault that Dalila was like this, so it was her responsibility to try and help.

She moved over next to her roommate, giving her a quick hug. “Oh, Dalila, I’m so sorry. I thought everyone would have known by now, and…honestly, I had no idea.” It was the truth, even if she had had her suspicions. And that was honestly beside the point now. Though she did feel horribly guilty for bringing up any allusion to Jake’s relationship. She’d just had no idea that Dalila would have reacted like this, even though she should have known better. She just hadn’t thought.

Giving the other girl what she hoped was an encouraging smile, Lexi continued. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay. I mean, I know it may not seem like it now, but things are going to work out sooner or later, I promise. I mean, I understand that it must be an awful feeling to know that the guy you like” she figured she had enough evidence to say that now, even with Dalila’s rhetorical question, “is dating someone else, thing’s are going to be fine. I mean, honestly. If what Ben told me is true, then Jake and his girlfriend spent most of the past term refusing to speak to each other because of one fight. I bet the relationship doesn’t last past the first Teppenpaw versus Crotalus quidditch match.”

Lexi glanced at Dalila once more. She thought she’d pretty much covered the bases, but, given that this was the first time Lexi had ever been in this sort of situation before, that wasn’t saying all that much. “Again, I’m so sorry. Are- are you going to be okay? Do you want to talk about it? I’d understand if not, but it might help. And, if it makes you feel better, you did pick one of the best guys in the school, even if he’s currently attached.” Still feeling guilty, she gave Dalila another quick hug. Somehow, this didn’t look like it was going to be an enjoyable term.

0 Lexi Although apparently they don't extend into social ones 0 Lexi 0 5

Dalila

May 03, 2007 4:45 PM

Well, this a weird social situation anyways by Dalila

Dalila accepted Lexi's hug without moving position. All she wanted right now was to stop crying and stop feeling this awful. But Lexi was right. She should have known. Now that she thought about it, it was so plainly obvious. Jake had been so strange last semester; and Dalila had heard about the fight between him and Jennifer, but she didn't think it was that huge of a fight. And she had had no idea what it was about.

She sat in thought as Lexi tried to comfort her. It was helping, maybe. At least Dalila had stopped crying and had taken to loud sniffles. And at the mention of them breaking up after the Teppenpaw/Crotalus caused a strangled sort of laugh.

The second time Lexi hugged her, Dalila hugged her back. She wiped the leftover tears fro her face with the back of her hand.

"No, I'll be fine, Lex." Dalila finally got up and got a tissue from her bedside table. After wiping her face properly, Dalila gave Lexi a watery smile.

"Thanks. It's probably better to know. I don't know how I didn't realize it before now." Dalila sat down on her bed and sighed.

"I wish I were eleven again. No having to deal with all of this."

0 Dalila Well, this a weird social situation anyways 0 Dalila 0 5