I do enjoy a swim or two. on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Charlie B-F-R

May 28, 2013 2:57 PM

Pool Party!!! by Charlie B-F-R

Charlie had always thought of himself as a cheerful chap but he had learnt that he was a back-to-school blues guy in a big way. It wasn't that school was bad, Sonora was super fun and he loved the people there, but compared to home and doing whatever you wanted well... it wasn't really a contest. He'd felt it badly after Christmas and it had started to hang over him the last few days of the summer holidays. Had he been asked at any other point of the year, he would have said that Christmas was the most awesome time of year and thus nothing would be worse than going back after that. But summer was so much longer – he'd got so much more used to being at home again. Plus it was just bliss. Weeks of sun, swimming and ice cream... It was actually pretty hard to say which was better.

His Dad, noticing he wasn't his usual self, had come up with a great solution. He had to go back with a bang. Besides the fact it would give him something extra to look forward to, not having seen people for months was a great excuse for some kind of party. Within his first day back, Charlie had pinned a notice on the Teppenpaw board and passed copies on to classmates in other houses, declaring that there would be a pool party in the MARS water room on the first Saturday back.

It had worked. He had been so busy looking forward to the party and talking about it and checking with people that they planned to come that he hadn't really had much time to be homesick at all. Now that Saturday was finally here, he was bouncing with something even more than his usual levels of excitement. He scurried through the school wearing his swimming shorts (vertical stripes of varying shades of red) and a plain white t-shirt. The t-shirt was only for modesty's sake as he walked through the school and he imagined dispensing with it as soon as he got to MARS. He had a beautifully even tan from a summer of running around on the beach, and his floppy blond hair was even lighter than usual having been somewhat sun-bleached.

“Wow-ee!” he exclaimed, as he opened the door to the MARS room to find its take on the perfect pool party. There was a huge pool in the room with a number of water slides running into it. There were a couple of smaller pools off to one side with little shelves around their edges below the level of the water, where people could just sit relaxing, or do a little bit of paddling. Along one wall was a bar of juices and snacks, with a little sign cautioning people to wait at least thirty minutes between eating and swimming. In the back corner, out of splash-range of the pool were some seats, stacks of warm fluffy towels and mugs of hot chocolate, as well as a block of changing rooms.

Charlie pulled off his t-shirt, chucking it to one side and jumped in to the large pool at the deep end, swimming a confident couple of lengths just to test it out. The water was just the perfect temperature. He paddled back to the side, ready to call out words of welcome as people came in and to join up with his friends when they arrived.

OOC – Welcome all! For new firsties, as this is a big event, it will work like the feast or classes – i.e. you can break off into lots of little subthreads, and you don't have to reply directly to me any more than you did with the Headmistress at the feast. Enjoy.

Subthreads:

Pool? Party? I'm there! by Wendy Canterbury with Carter Browning, Wendy

Let me relax. by Cepheus Princeton with Alicia Bauer, Cepheus

Let's make some friends! by Virginia Bellrose with Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Ginny Bellrose, Adam & Charlotte Spencer, Adam Spencer (and some Charlotte), Adam (& Charlotte)

A silent observer by Ji-Eun Park with Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III

I do enjoy a swim or two. by Aria Yale with Rupert Princeton, Aria

I LOVE parties! (Charlie) by Darina Porter with Charlie B-F-R, Darina, Rina

Just looking for a good time (tag Lucian) by Clara Aernathy with Lucian D'Alesandro, Lucian, Lucian and Alex D'Alesandro

CANNON BALL! by Chloe and Emery Jareau

Some people are clueless. (Tag: Honey) by Alex D'Alesandro with Alex, Honey Baird

13 Charlie B-F-R Pool Party!!! 252 Charlie B-F-R 1 5

Aria Yale

June 02, 2013 3:16 PM

I do enjoy a swim or two. by Aria Yale

Aria’s summer had been splendid. But then, her time at home always tended to be the best. Being in the fourth year, one would have thought we would have adjusted to life at school, but things weren’t really working out too well for her at Sonora. It had been fun in her second year because she had made a real friend, but then Liam distanced himself from her last year and Aria was left alone again. It might not have been so terrible if it hadn’t been obvious that her roommates excluded her from things because she didn’t fit in. Melanie and Lucille were best friends and Aubrielle was best friends with people outside of their house. That left Aria alone.

Aria had tried to not let those things get the better of her, but after being voted Class Clown, she had been deeply hurt. She couldn’t help being different and, she really didn’t see anything wrong with herself. But apparently she was too weird for everyone else, including the one person who she thought didn’t care. The ball had been okay at first and picked up her spirits a little but then Rupert tried to get her to lie to another student and Aria couldn’t do that. It just wasn’t right. Because of this, Aria had been a little depressed at the start of summer. Her mother had decided to give Aria a makeover. She felt that the best way to express oneself without needing to use words, was by looks. Aria was free to do as she pleased. This meant, her long curly hair was chopped. Curled, it barely reached her shoulder, but straight, it was well passed it. She still had her random braids going through it and it was still as crazy as ever, but it was an easier length to manage. Her mother allowed her to get a piercing. Aria had spent several days playing pretend with various piercing to see which one she liked the best, in the end, she had decided on her nose. So, now she sported a tiny diamond stud in her nose.

Now officially into the makeover, Aria was excited. She had already begun changing her clothes to wearing more pants and t-shirts, so that didn’t bother her. She still maintained some of her more bohemian styles of skirts and blouses, but she liked the harder look of the jeans and graphic shirts. Along with the clothes, she wore makeup. Not a lot, really. She just wore semi-thick liner around her eyes. It was a fun experiment and one she enjoyed testing with her mother.

By the time school arrived, Aria was feeling much happier. It even made it better when a fellow Teppenpaw decided to through a pool party. Aria had never actually been in a pool. She had only ever swum in the lake back home, but she figured it was still safe. Arriving at the party, Aria went over to a chair and set her towel down. She pulled off her t-shirt and jeans and sat down wearing her two piece. Suits were something that were only a second thought to her, so she didn’t really care what it looked like. At home, she could swim with nothing on and feel unashamed by it.

Deciding to hold off on swimming, Aria took a seat instead. She wanted to see what everyone else was doing first before she joined those in the pool. Already, she felt a little bit out of place being older, but Cepheus was there, so she didn’t feel too terrible. She sat there for a while just watching everyone together.

6 Aria Yale I do enjoy a swim or two. 228 Aria Yale 0 5

Rupert Princeton

June 02, 2013 8:37 PM

How about a slide? by Rupert Princeton

Since the new term had begun, Rupert had felt a little guilty for telling Aria too much at the ball last year. He liked being honest with his friends, but he not being honest with Megan had seemingly made Aria uncomfortable and he didn’t like that. Cepheus was already ruining his life and Rupert didn’t want his brother’s lies to affect Rup’s life and his friendships. It had been a bad idea from the beginning to play along, but his older brother could be persuasive if given the chance. Rupert didn’t want to give him any chance again; hence the avoidance.

The talk of a party lifted Rupert’s spirits, however, and on the day of the pool party he dressed in his neon green swimming shorts and made his way to MARS. Charlie had the right idea with throwing a welcoming party for the students. Rupert’s hair had grown longer over the summer and he had refused to cut it until his mother forced him to before the school year. Now it was short and not much fun to shake around. The only positive aspect he could see was that it wouldn’t constantly be in his eyes when it was wet. Sometimes he hated being from such a stuffy pure-blood community.

Rupert entered the MARS water room and was taken aback by the space and activities. There was one main pool and several smaller ones, chairs, a bar – the list went on. He grinned, excited to get swimming. There were even waterslides and Rupert wanted to head to those first. He wanted to take off his shirt and put it on a nearby chair, but he first spotted his older brother and, as he turned away to avoid him, he saw Aria. She was sitting alone and he saw this as the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Instead of heading to the waterslides as he had wanted, he went and sat in the chair next to hers. “Hey Aria. I love your hair,” he said with a friendly smile. She looked different and it was the truth: he did love how crazy her hair was. It looked like she had a piercing on her nose too and Rupert found her even more intriguing. Since he’d met her, he had wanted to befriend her. He thought she was the most interesting person at Sonora. Everyone else was preoccupied with looking and acting a certain way and Rupert liked being himself. If his parents allowed him, he would love to dress up in bright colours and grow out his hair, but he didn’t have the same freedom as Aria did. His attempts at being friends with her always seemed to fail somehow, but he was determined to make it happen.

“Look, I wanted to apologise for the ball last term,” he said, looking sheepish. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” Rupert hadn’t missed Aria’s discomfort and as soon as he had told her, he had regretted it. If she disliked lying as much as he did, he could understand why she was uncomfortable with it. Rupert himself was uncomfortable with the situation his brother kept putting him into. “Anyway, a new term’s a new start, right?” He grinned, hoping she wouldn’t be too angry with or disappointed in him. She had seemed depressed when he’d first found her at the ball and he hoped she was feeling better. “Did you get your nose pierced over the summer? Did it hurt at all?” He wondered briefly what his mother would do if he ever got an ear pierced or, even better, a tattoo. Witches and wizards had to be brave to do that sort of thing, he had surmised. He could hardly stand needles of any kind anywhere near his body.

40 Rupert Princeton How about a slide? 248 Rupert Princeton 0 5

Aria

June 03, 2013 10:38 PM

I've never been on one for water. by Aria

Aria had been watching the people in the pool, but her blue eyes caught sight of someone heading in her direction. It didn’t take her long to see that it was Rupert. She still had some mixed feelings about everything that had happened during the ball. She didn’t blame Rupert for it though. He was just doing something to help his brother. But Aria had not been comfortable with the idea of putting Meghan in that position.

She watched him for a moment. He seemed genuinely apologetic for what had transpired. She hadn’t meant to make him think he needed to apologize to her for what happened. Aria’s way of life was different. Spiritual balance meant a clean life. A clean life meant living with honesty. Even little white lies weighed heavily on her. She could appreciate though, why other people did them. Most especially when they involved people they cared about.

“Oh, thank you.” She responded, touching her mentioned hair self-consciously. She didn’t mind the length or style of her hair, but she had grown to acknowledge the changes about herself. She was becoming more curvy, with a slender waist and wide hips, among other assets. Her mother tried to get her into garments to help with the curves, but Aria wanted no part of it. The changes were gradual, but after a summer away, she had noticed them in her peers, so she was sure they would notice them in her. Not just the more obvious ones like her hair cut.

“You don’t need to apologize. I know you were doing it for your brother.” Aria commented. She really didn’t understand how people like Rupert and his family lived. They forced their children into marriages of business and money, not one of love and trust. They weren’t even adults when all of this was decided either. Or, made them be friends with people they didn’t want to be friends with. But to do it at such ages as they were seemed the most outrageous of it all. People courted in her community, but it was consensual and if they did not enjoy one another company, they moved on. She could never understand the restrictions Rupert’s people placed onto each other for the sack of a name. “I just don’t see why Cepheus cannot be honest with Meghan. Her name is the only thing attached to the agreement, not her heart, I can’t see why it would upset her if he wanted to spent time with someone he actually did like and gave her the same freedom. But, what do I know?”

Rupert moved the conversation on and noticed her new piercing. “Yes, this is new.” Aria commented. “It only hurt for a moment and was sore for a couple of days, but nothing more. Mother and I played a game all summer with our appearances. Clothes, hair, makeup, accessories. The whole lot. It was quite fun.” Aria said with a smile. She loved it when her mother had time outside of her medicine woman duties to play with Aria. “My mom had her belly button pierced.” That might have seemed weird to some people, but not to Aria. Her mother was in her mid-forties, but lived life as though she were much younger. “She said we should draw tattoos for ourselves next summer to have put on us.” Aria stated, looking amused. She wasn’t sure if she would do it, but she liked the idea of designing one.

“How was your summer?”

6 Aria I've never been on one for water. 0 Aria 0 5

Rupert

June 04, 2013 2:00 PM

That changes now! by Rupert

Aria didn’t seem angry with him and Rupert was relieved. She didn’t seem like the sort of witch that would hold secret grudges and later stab him in the back. Rupert hadn’t met anyone like that, really; at least anyone his age. He knew some of his relatives, including his own mum, that had their own sets of rules in dealing with enemies and loads of it contained lies and deception. It was a world Rupert was doing his best to stay far from. He liked the simpler life that Muggles lived. He was excited for the new Muggle Studies class, though he was certain that if his grandfather caught a whiff of it, he would be doing his best to keep Rupert from pursuing any sort of interest in that subject.

Rupert’s potential friend made a valid point about his older brother’s affairs and he shrugged. “It’s how they play the game, I suppose.” That was all he could say, really. Megan was a bit more sensitive than other witches, he had noticed, and Cepheus was completely oblivious to that. Or perhaps he did know which was why he was keeping his current ‘relationship’ a secret. It was too complicated for Rupert’s simple mind and he was glad when Aria started talking about her nose ring.

Playing a game with their appearances? Belly button piercing? Tattoo? What sort of mother agreed to these things? Rupert could only imagine his mother breathing fire down his neck for dying his hair a different colour and drawing a tattoo on himself with ink. Mum didn’t even like it when his hair was too long. He was jealous of Aria’s life. The one time he had been in London as a child, he had gotten lost and was found making conversation with a purple-haired Muggle with multiple piercings on her ears and a nose ring. That outing had sentenced him to house arrest until he started school, but it was too late by then. Rupert had been exposed to another way of life and his interest in it had never stopped growing.

His dark eyes were wide in astonishment and intrigue by the time she was finished. “Merlin, my summer wasn’t half as interesting,” he said. “Didn’t a bellybutton piercing hurt?” He touched his own self-consciously, trying not to imagine any sort of sharp thing going through it. Rupert shivered. “Your mum’s amazing and brave. And you too! If you get a tattoo, you have to show it to me. I’d love to see it.” Rupert was the odd one of most of the pure-bloods at home and at Sonora. But, really, he didn’t care as much as he probably should have.

“I stayed at home all summer and watched awkward exchanges between my brother and his betrothed. A happy pair they are not. But I did get to spend time training Ozzy. He’s my owl. Before summer he could take mail to the right person and bring letters back. Now he can play dead, hoot on command and climb a ladder and ring a bell. His receptive brain makes up for his small size.” Rupert sat up straight and stuck his nose up in the air. “Not to mention I am quite the trainer,” he said in an overly-dramatic, indifferent tone. He flicked some invisible lint off his shoulder in his impersonation of a posh, world-class owl trainer. He broke character and smiled at her. “Do you have any pets?”

0 Rupert That changes now! 0 Rupert 0 5

Aria

June 04, 2013 10:54 PM

I'm not sure about the chemicals. by Aria

Aria really didn’t like how the ‘traditional’ Purebloods lived their lives and the fact that Rupert could just shrug it off as though it were no big deal really didn’t say anything well about it all. People’s happiness and well-beings were at stake. It shouldn’t be something so easily dismissed and people shouldn’t be used as a pawn in someone else’s game. It wasn’t fair. Aria could feel herself getting worked up just over the very idea of it all and she didn’t like it. She was so glad that her parents left that world behind and she would never have to step foot into it.

She mentally shook herself to rid herself of the negative energies that were coming from the conversation and reminded herself to do Tai Chi to calm herself and balance everything out as soon as she could. It was their own right to live their lives as they saw it and they weren’t doing anything illegally (as far as she knew), so really, those who involved themselves could only help themselves overcome it.

Rupert was looking at her incredulously and she wasn’t sure why. She thought for sure everyone was already aware that her parents were different. They were, by most people’s standards, typical ‘hippies’ and that was okay with Aria. They were organic. They were clean. They were balanced. But, most of all, they were happy and they gave Aria a life where she could be happy. “My mother didn’t think it hurt.” Aria said thoughtfully. “But I don’t think a few changes in appearance really makes my summer interesting.” She added. They were just minor things in the summer months that she had done.

Aria smiled at him, amused by his excitement over such little things to her. “I’m not sure if I’ll get a tattoo just yet. My mom has just always wanted another one. She has a mermaid on her hip. I’m not really sure why. She said she was young and thought it was pretty at the time. But that was before she rebelled against her family and found my father. So, I’m sure if she had gotten it later, it would have deeper meaning.” That was her mother though. She always just did what she wanted and worried about everything else after it was said and done. He father adored that spontaneity. “If I do get one, I was thinking maybe a spiritual quote on my rib cage because then it’s covered. You know, unless I’m sitting in a bikini like I am now. Which, by the way, is a new concept for me. We don’t normally wear these when we swim in the lake. I feel constricted.”

Aria listened to Rupert talk about his summer, ignoring the bit about his brother and the betrothed. She wasn’t really sure why he needed to train his owl to do tricks. Owls were very smart creatures who were amazing already with their abilities, making them do tricks seemed to demean them just a little. But Rupert was proud of his accomplishment, so she said nothing about her thoughts to him on the matter. Laughing at his pose and feigned superiority, Aria shook her head at his question. “No, I do not. We have animals at the community, but they are not pets. They are part of the family. We treat them well and in return, they provide us with nourishment or clothing. To receive gifts, we must give them first.”

6 Aria I'm not sure about the chemicals. 0 Aria 0 5

Rupert

June 05, 2013 4:45 PM

Do you prefer lakes? by Rupert

It didn't seem that Aria recognised how different their lives were. If he lived the sort of life she did, he would have been completely overwhelmed with delight. Although, he supposed, that would have been the only life he had known so it wouldn't be nearly as exciting as it seemed now. But Rupert longed for the unrestricted lifestyle and hoped that one day he would be able to achieve it. Any sort of changes in appearance in his father's circles gained loads of attention and compliments whether or not it was actually a good change. A clean and proper face was important to keep up despite one's true feelings.

Aria's mother sounded delightful. She had a bellybutton piercing, a mermaid on her hip and had rebelled against her family. If Rup had thought Aria was the most interesting person at Sonora, he could see now that her mother was the most interesting person in the world. At least of the few people had knew and had heard about.

Rupert knew a bit about Aria's background, but he really didn't know very much about her except that she was different. He had wondered at first if she was a muggle-born, but she didn't seem the type. He blushed a little belatedly at Aria's comment when he finally realised what she meant by feeling 'constricted' and wondered why he and his brothers had never gone into the lake starkers when it was only on their estate. It wasn't like he had any sisters either. That would be something to try if Cepheus wasn't being a complete dunderhead still.

Aria mentioned her community and Rupert jumped on it to ask his question. "What sort of community are you a part of?" he asked curiously. From how she spoke, dressed and looked at things, he knew she was not a part of the typical communities Rupert was familiar with.

0 Rupert Do you prefer lakes? 0 Rupert 0 5

Aria

June 05, 2013 10:19 PM

Yes, Mother created those. by Aria

Aria blinked at him for a moment by his sudden request about her community. She had met him two years ago at the costume party (it was strange to know that it had been two years ago when they had happened), but she supposed they had never really sat down and talked about their lives. Aria felt like she knew a lot of Rupert’s life, but his tended to be a typical Traditional Pureblood family. She didn’t know very much about that sort of life other than what her parents told her. But, she knew she didn’t like it. They just saw the world in black and white. Aria saw it in color.

“It’s a Spiritual Community. We are a colony of people who believe in the Spirit of Mother Nature.” Aria explained. “Spirituality and Nature are meant to live in harmony together, so we live our lives based on this concept. We do meditation exercises and morning yoga together as a group before we start the day. This rejuvenates our bodies and gives us a calm and confident feeling. We grow all of our own food, most of our belongings are hand made by our community members, and we tend to be Vegetarians.” Aria told him.

“I mainly eat soy products, but I do allow myself some dairy. This is okay because we care for our dairy cows and treat them well. We do that with all of our animals. No creature is above another to us. And, if we must do something that we feel may unbalance our Spirituality or upset Mother Nature, we pray and ask for forgiveness and give her gifts in repentant.” These were rare and not something that Aria has ever had to do herself. Most people did it when they were feeling guilty for something. She never asked for what.

“We believe in following our hearts and keeping ourselves open to possibilities. This is why I do not understand your betrothals. We love all and experience it with all. Some people court and eventually marry, but it’s never forced or demanded of them. Many people in the community left your world behind because it was limiting.” Aria commented, looking at him carefully. “My father was one of those types. He came from an uppity Pureblood family that hounded him for success and finding the right connection. He was unhappy, so he left and found the community. My mother was just tired of the hassle of life outside the walls and left to find peace. They both had a spiritual awakening and found each other when they came to find their new life. Our Community is about balance. We respect each other. Our talents become our way of living and everyone is happy.” As far as she knew anyway. The Storyteller didn’t always seem happy, but her mother said that was because he was getting old. Aria didn’t really understand this logic.

“We do what makes us happy. So, when I was feeling down about the yearbook, my mom decided to turn it into a positive by making a game out of our appearances. No one judged us or laughed. Some people even did it with us. We’re a support system. We’re a family.”

6 Aria Yes, Mother created those. 0 Aria 0 5

Rupert
June 07, 2013 6:46 PM

Rupert
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Mother Nature, yes? by Rupert
Aria was from a Spiritual Community and Rupert didn’t think his family had ever heard of such a thing. He had been shielded from the world since he was seven and the complications and delicate balance of his pure-blood community was all he knew. Since coming to Sonora, he had blossomed in both thought and cultural experience and his parents’ fears were beginning to come true. His unnatural interest in different cultures and ways of living made him more susceptible to pursuing ‘Muggle life’ and his parents had always feared he, of all his brothers, would be easily influenced by others. In a sense, they were right.

Her community sounded so pure, untouched by the adulterated pure-blood ideologies. Rupert had never done meditation or yoga, but he knew of those two exercises. Things were to live in harmony, things needed to be in a balance. Spirit and Nature were to live together. She sounded like someone else, someone distant and wise and untouchable and Rupert didn’t know what to think. In a sense, pure-blood life was also a harmony of multiple things that was underneath the layers of façade. The Public Life and the Private Life were two very different worlds that were to co-exist together in life. There needed to be a balance between the two in order to live as a truly respectable pure-blood.

Of course, though Rupert came to this conclusion, he hardly believed in it. Pure-bloods in his family’s community thought they were above other human beings because they were wealthy, were from an old family and held themselves respectably. They were looked up to in society and did their best to keep the harmony between public and private life. Rupert had done his best to separate himself from that world, to keep his own face in the sight of everyone he met, whether it was in private or public. He didn’t care for what the world thought of him, but he did care about his family.

Something in Rupert flared up at first protest, then anger at the unfairness of being thrown together with the pure-blood society his family was a part of. Though he carried the name Princeton, it was obvious from his mannerisms and attitude toward pure-blood traditions that he was an anomaly, that he was different. His betrothals. She sounded as though he had created them and Rupert was angry at that. It wasn’t his fault that pure-bloods believed in arranged marriages. People lived how they wanted. Some ran away like Aria’s parents; others stood their ground and took it, even flourishing under it. It was just a different way of life and Rupert didn’t believe either was wrong. Either party could have ideals which Rupert didn’t agree with, but he didn’t want to conform.

“You were feeling down about the yearbook? Why? Because of the awards?” He didn’t know what award or awards Aria had received. He hardly knew what he had received let alone another person’s. Rup could not understand how one could play a ‘game’ with one’s appearances, but he accepted it as Aria’s way of life. It sounded fun, experimenting with one’s look and playing dress up, but it was a world Rupert could only observe if he wanted to continue to stay close to his family. He knew that. “If everyone simply did what made them happy, the world would be chaos,” he said thoughtfully. That was why Cepheus lived the way he did. That was why Megan had been betrothed in the first place. It was all for a greater purpose, the ideal that pure-bloods strived for. People had to get up in the morning and work not because it made them happy, but for the end result. For a long-term happiness.

Unlike other pure-blood families, Rupet’s family held a strong bond and to even think of getting up and leaving because he was simply tired of that community was unimaginable. There was so much more to his life than what Aria understood as an outsider. And though what made Aria’s colony happy sounded appealing, Rupert knew from experience that there were people in life who thrived on the despair of others. There were pure-bloods far darker than even he could fathom, families like the McLachlans. That was why Aria’s way of life thrived only in her colony and not in the rest of the world. She lived in a place that shielded her and her ‘family’ from the rest of the harsh world and Rupert, while he could envy that sort of life, could never be a part of it just as she would never be a part of his.

0 Rupert Mother Nature, yes? 0 Rupert 0 5

Adam (& Charlotte)
June 07, 2013 6:48 PM

Adam (& Charlotte)
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Written by:

Taken aback by my charm, are you? by Adam (& Charlotte)
Charlotte had hardly any time to reply to Ginny before Adam came back, but perhaps it was for the best. Their conversation picked up quickly and Charlotte felt like a wallflower, a position she enjoyed. She would rather observe her surroundings than be an active part in it, though she did expect she ought to say something. But they were moving subjects so quickly, from their summers to the ball and then to the fair.

“Etiquette lessons, yes,” commented Adam to Francesca’s remark. “I forgot to mention that with the dancing bit.” Tutoring in subjects taught at school was only for the students who really wanted to get ahead in their studies. Adam’s parents, however, were more concerned, as any pure-blood parent, with how their son was behaving as a socialite. Though Adam had been spared the music lessons because of his terrible ear for it, he had art lessons and speech classes and so many other lessons he couldn’t remember them. Many of them, like his speech lessons, had stopped once he entered school, but he knew his younger siblings were going through it now and Adam almost felt bad for them. But it had helped him immensely, though Charlotte not so much.

Ginny mentioned England and both Adam and Charlotte came to attention. “Yes, London especially has everything one could ever want,” he said with a seemingly haughty air. “Did I mention I live there?” Charlotte giggled. “I am glad that you were able to visit England,” he continued, a bit more serious. “Now you know how I feel being here in America.” He grinned. It wasn’t exactly the same since he was here for school, but sometimes things marked him as strange and different in comparison to home.

He raised an eyebrow at Francesca’s slight against his house. “That was what made the hall even prettier, thank you very much. Brown and gold ties up the room, didn’t you know?” He smiled. “Yes, and another opportunity to practise all of our dancing and etiquette once more. Mum was so proud when I told her I didn’t fall down flat on my face and tear down the room in clumsiness. Did I mention she enjoys worrying?” Though Adam loved his mum, there were times when he grew tired of her worrying. Part of that had made her strict with Charlotte, scaring the poor girl to pieces at times if she put a toe out of line. Adam did know, however, that Charlotte was her favourite even if Charlotte herself couldn’t see it.

Neither Francesca nor Ginny had any ideas for a booth, and Adam shook his head. “I couldn’t think of anything either. We’ve still got this term to think of something, though. But Charlotte had an idea for the booth, didn’t you?” He nudged her and Charlotte nodded with a shy smile.

“I was thinking of a Beauty Booth,” she told them. “Or a Painting Booth. I really enjoy painting and we can have people paint their own masterpiece or something. For the Beauty Booth, I was thinking of putting makeup on witches. If they wanted it, that is.” It was an idea that had come to her when she had received her mum’s letter asking if any girls her age wore makeup. These were the subjects that Charlotte could talk all day about. Now that she was getting a bit more comfortable standing here with her brother at her side and two of her brother’s friends, she was willing to be a part of the conversation as long as she found a pause to slip her comments into. Adam always did seem to know when that moment of comfort came.

“I don’t think I could ever look my dad in the eye again after working at a Beauty Booth,” said Adam with a slight grimace. “But if you,” at this he looked at Charlotte, “end up doing a Painting Booth or something of the sort I’ll be more than happy to help.”

0 Adam (& Charlotte) Taken aback by my charm, are you? 0 Adam (& Charlotte) 0 5

Alicia
June 08, 2013 12:33 AM

Alicia
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 15

And then imagine a whole new one. by Alicia
Alicia laughed, pleased with Cepheus for humoring her, rather than looking shocked that she’d even suggest committing grand theft and running away, even in a joke. The whole point of having friends was, of course, that she could be less than unstoppably perfect around them, at least every now and again, but she still worried sometimes. She couldn't help it; she tried, but glimmers of the thought slipped through anyway, every now and then. It wasn't as bad as it had been, though. She took comfort in that, assuming it meant that someday, she would all but stop worrying when it wasn't any reasonably prudent and sane person's place to do so.

“It’s a date, then,” she said, continuing the fabrication a moment longer.

Joke as she would, the thought of going home in a few months was even bleaker than usual at the moment. It wouldn’t, she thought, have been so bad if all she had had to worry about was her mother being angry with her. Alicia thought she could have stood being screamed at, ridiculed that way; she could justify planning her revenge on that, and then executing it with extreme prejudice once she was old and resourceful enough to. The problem was that Momma wouldn’t play it that way, she’d mask her shame and irritation with her least successful child beneath a front of false sympathy and concern and disinterest in titles, and while Alicia would know it was fake, and everyone else around them would know it was fake, she wouldn’t be able to prove it was fake. She would be stuck feeling like some kind of crazy paranoid person, always second-guessing herself, wondering if her mother was, frankly, really that smart, reminding herself one moment of how her mother had successfully climbed the social ladder and the next of how it really, from what she understood, didn’t take that much talent to sleep with one’s boss.

That was going to be the bad part, worse than the actual loss. That, and just being in the room with her siblings, knowing what the girls were thinking and hearing what Isaac had to contribute on the subject.

Still. One more year. She was sixteen in a week, so in a year and a week, she would be seventeen, comfortable in the knowledge that she could walk away any time she wanted. She wouldn’t really be able to, but legally, they wouldn’t be able to stop her, and that would be a comfort just by itself. Just knowing they could do make her do anything, with the full approval of the law as well as with money, at any time was almost the worst part, so things could hardly help getting better once they lost the legal as well as actual authority to do so. She wouldn’t have to go back to Dad’s, either, which would be a real improvement. It was, she now knew, dangerous there as well as poor, so that would be a huge improvement. She relaxed her grip on one arm of the chair, the one further from her friend, as the thoughts soothed her enough to get on with, anyway.

Until Cepheus talked about his summer, anyway. “Thank fortune for small favors,” she said sympathetically. “Sorry it was so rotten, I wish there was….”

Something I can do. She decided not to finish. The statement was, she knew, a cliché. Something most people just said without ever meaning. It wasn’t like that for her, though. She hated the situation he was in all around – because she didn’t like to see him unhappy, because it just solidified her resistance to parents being able to just push everybody around even after they were of age using by financial and social threats, because she knew the whole system could put her in an awkward position at any time, because even if it didn’t happen to her personally, it still could have. Sometimes, from a purely pragmatic, money-based standpoint, it worked out, it achieved its objective of keeping most of the people who were at the top of the social and financial ladders in power and keeping everyone else out, but…it was different when it was her and hers, and then she thought about what it would be like for someone almost like her, but not quite as financially well-off, how frustrating that would be….

She was less than pleased when her friend called her out on her avoiding a question. Cepheus had a habit, a very unfortunate habit, in her opinion, of prying bits and pieces of honesty out of her. Not the biggest one, of course – the one which made her afraid of opening certain doors even a centimeter, in case they promptly got slammed in her face – but enough that it could be uncomfortable. She decided to keep her tone light, not least because they were in public. She smiled, then said, “Well, since you were taken….” She spread her hands and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, still half-smiling, almost getting it right except that she couldn’t quite not blush. Then, relenting, "If we don't, it wasn't my idea, but that's between you and me."

She wished she had found some way to skip puberty, it made her such an idiot sometimes. Or maybe it was just boys in general. She preferred their company, but with Cepheus she had a habit of revealing things about herself the world didn't necessarily need to know and with Thad half the time she was no longer in full command of her faculties. Either way, it was maddening.

She turned the subject on him and raised an eyebrow at the lack of detail she got. Served her right, but still. “I noticed,” she said. "But what's the story, huh? Do you - " she lowered her voice and leaned a bit closer - "still, you know, like her? Does she like you? Does she know about the other thing?"

She was partially motivated by curiosity, but also a little by worry for him; if it had been just a dance, or at least if there had been a clean break, then that might be all right, but if she had found out about Megan over the summer, through the gossip vine....Alicia's mother was from South Carolina. There was a reason every member of the family who had made anything like good had left South Carolina, and why, though no one mentioned it, Alicia had the distinct impression that they were worried about Uncle Geoff aligning himself with the St. Martins, who did not get on with the South Carolina Careys and were only just, from what she understood of the situation, holding themselves together as a family not nearly as trodden under the feet of the Carey colossus as the Laynes always had been so far. The Careys at school seemed, mostly, like more or less sane and pleasant people, but the family as a whole was looked at sideways sometimes for, she assumed, some kind of reason. Besides, even if they were really meek as very reproductively-oriented mice, she felt that the more she knew, the better off everyone was.

Everyone she liked, anyway.

16 Alicia And then imagine a whole new one. 210 Alicia 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte
June 08, 2013 2:55 PM

Francesca Wolseithcrafte
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 12

Is it directed at both of us? by Francesca Wolseithcrafte
“Per-lease,” Francesca grinned at Adam, glad he was playing along. She couldn't imagine such a thing as an up-tight Pecari but people could get all serious and competitive about their houses. “The room is already full of waterfalls. What could be better than accents in another shade of blue?

“I don't know whether it needs a specific talent...” she mused, when Ginny mentioned not having any to offer the fair, “I mean, some people might do specialised things but games or food are probably the staples.” Adam apparently didn't have anything particular in mind but she was surprised when he prompted Charlotte to share her ideas. Even more so when the girl actually did.

“Those are both really good ideas,” she smiled at Charlotte. They really were more creative than the bog standard and vague options she had come up with. “I'm not very good at painting but I'd enjoy doing some, especially if I had someone good at it to guide me.” Make-up had never really been something that interested her a great deal but she still thought it would appeal to a lot of people. “I'm sure either would be really popular.

“Did you know there's a painting room here? One of the other MARS rooms?” she asked Charlotte. Given that she was at the pool party and thus clearly aware of the rooms' existence, and given that she had an older brother, it seemed unlikely that it would have passed her by. But it seemed like it would be something she'd enjoy, and thus worth mentioning. Merlin knew she seemed miserable enough with the rest of school so far.

“I was talking to someone at the feast, and we were wondering about whether they're going to do them on time slots, or just all before the fair or something, so that people who are running them don't miss out on the rest. I'd like to run a booth but I want to be able to go on some rides and things too - I love the bucking broomsticks!”

OOC - I had already decided Charlie was going to run a booth offering make-overs. I'm not sure how likely he and Charlotte are to speak, or for that to come up if they do. I'd thought of having him put up a poster to recruit people so that might be a good way for them to get together on it, if you want to?

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Is it directed at both of us? 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Aria
June 08, 2013 7:54 PM

Aria
Peripheral
Written by: Amelle Nicchi

Of Course. by Aria
Aria stared at him for a moment when Rupert asked about the yearbook. He must have known she had been upset the night of the ball because he had asked her if she had been alright. She hadn’t said anything that night because she didn’t want to voice out loud how hurt she had been by the yearbook, but she felt that it would have been pretty obvious that it had been a terrible end to a roller coaster of a year. Aside from being creative, which Aria would agree to, she had been given the title of Class Clown. Aria found this title to be humiliating.

“Yes, because of the awards.” Aria said. “People think I am a joke. I work hard for my grades, I do the best that I can, and I try to be nice to everyone, even if I do not understand their… customs. I’m open to things and if I do not understand, I ask. Apparently, being different means people laugh at you.” Aria commented, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as her humiliation at the thought of them laughing at her returned. “I know that I am different, but my parents raised me to be proud of my heritage, not ashamed of it. This school, it makes me feel ashamed of it. It’s hard not to feel upset over that.”

Aria frowned at Rupert and his line. “Do not misconstrue my words.” She told him firmly. “Just because my community does things differently and in a way that we find enjoyment in our daily lives, does not mean we live without rules and in chaos.” Aria explained. “We have the Elders. They are given these roles by the people and they work with the people to ensure things are run smoothly and that our community flourishes.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“We work hard to make it work, but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice ourselves for the things that we love. The Elders work with new members to find something that can help the community and still allow that member peace and happiness. If a member finds what they are doing does not make them happy, a new position is found. Some members continue to work outside of the community because they enjoy that work. And, if there happens to be a disagree about something, it is brought before the council and the community figures out a way to solve the dilemma together. As a family should.”

Their way of living might be something people would ‘look down upon’, but she thought it held so much more than theirs did. “I do not know your life, Rupert, or the life of your family; I only know the lives of which my parents left. What I told you was the happier and easier version for my parents to tell when asked. But the truth is darker than that and much sadder for me to bear.” Aria said slowly. There were things she would never really ever understand about this world. Things she wasn’t sure she wanted to understand. “My father’s family disowned him for being different. They disowned him for wanting a life of his own. He refused to follow the life his family demanded of him. He didn’t leave them, they abandoned him. He likes to make it sound romantic. That he stood up and found himself, but I see the pain that he endures. He loves them still and though I have never met them, I pray to the Spirits for their happiness and that they know he has found his.” Aria’s voice, usually full of hopefulness, sounded a little sad. It was always hard for her father to talk about his family.

“My mother was a Healer in this world. A wonderful one. But she saw many evils. She saw terrible things. Mother says they broke her spirit and her heart every day. All those things that she saw. Those things that people could do to another. She left that for a life free from such evil. She still communicates with her family, but they shunned her for leaving a prestigious career to work as a Medicine Woman in our community. I have never met them. They don’t seem to want to know me.” Aria shrugged at this.

“Anyway, this world is the one in chaos, not mine. And my mother reminded me that I should never allow others to make me feel ashamed of my life. If I feel bad again, I can just look in the mirror and remember.”

6 Aria Of Course. 0 Aria 0 5

Ginny
June 08, 2013 8:49 PM

Ginny
Peripheral
Written by: Amelle Nicchi

I am confused now. by Ginny
Ginny was happy to find that at least the boring parts of her summer were the same for Francesca and for Adam. She would feel like an idiot if she were the only one who had to maintain those sorts of lessons outside of Sonora. Although, Ginny didn’t mind them so much. She really did enjoy ballet and she loved to sing. Dancing helped with being graceful, so that was nice. And learning how to sit properly, what fork to use with a salad, and how to speak to others made Ginny feel like a lady. She had lost some of her lady qualities while living in the community, so the lessons made her feel proper again and would hopefully help her behave correctly at future functions.

She tilted her head a bit when Adam joked about London. She knew he was from England due to his accent, but not specifically where. She didn’t respond though, thinking he wasn’t actually asking them and just fooling around. “We went for your family’s ball.” Ginny said, hadn’t he known? “The Princetons are your family, correct?” Ginny could never remember the names of the families and when they had different names, one could forget about her remember who was connected to whom.

Ginny made a face regarding the color scheme. She hadn’t minded Pecaris win, but she didn’t really find brown to be an attractive color. Which was funny considering her hair was brown. Thankfully, she was blessed with green eyes. At least Pecari had gold in there. However, she did not join in by saying her colors would have been the best. As long as she was able to enjoy being a part of it, that was what mattered to her the most. “I believe that’s what all mother’s enjoy doing.” She commented lightly.

Ginny looked quizzically for a moment when Francesca stated that games and food were also options, but shook her head. “I have never cooked anything before in my life and I’m an only child. The only games I really played was hide and seek with the staff. But, I suppose I could learn a game.” She added, feeling rather pathetic that she couldn’t offer more. Even more so when she found out that Charlotte had two ideas. Two!

She wasn’t allowed to wear makeup unless it was for a really special occasion, but that was something her mother always put on her and not something she had been taught to do herself yet. She was surprised that it was something Charlotte was allowed and knew how to do. Even so, she didn’t really think many people would be eager to have their makeup done (unless it was face painting!) by a couple of eleven and twelve year olds. “I can…finger paint?” Ginny offered. “But if all I have to do is give someone a brush and a canvas, than I can help there.”

Ginny thought about Francesca’s question. “I don’t think I’ve ever ridden that ride. But I would think that the student run booths were open at specific times, otherwise, that wouldn’t be fair at all and no one would want to run a booth if it meant they couldn’t participate in the rest of the fair.” Ginny stated, looking miffed at even the idea of such a thing happening.

6 Ginny I am confused now. 0 Ginny 0 5

Rupert
June 09, 2013 2:50 PM

Rupert
Peripheral
Written by:

Now for some fun? by Rupert
Rupert had never asked Aria why exactly she had been upset. His goal had been to get her mind off the source of her crying, not to weasel information out of her. He had thought it was because she had ended up at the dance alone and her friends, particularly Liam, seemed nowhere in sight. Apparently it was because of the yearbooks. The awards had never been a big deal to Rupert, but he could see why it would matter to some people.

"I don't think anyone's ever laughed at you," said Rupert, a bit taken aback. "Do you mean you got Class Clown? I've been Class Clown two years in a row now and I've never seen anyone laugh at me. We're both different in different ways, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. So what if people laugh? You're grounded in something special and that's what matters, really. Not what people think." He had always assumed Aria was above petty teasing, but she was a witch just like others. "I'm sorry you felt upset over that."

She continued to explain herself more and Rupert still didn't know if he could believe it the way she did. It was a large family and Rupert could appreciate that. He simply nodded, however, not knowing what else to say. Her life was different and he was solely interested in that aspect of it.

Aria then went on to tell him her parents' life stories and Rupert hadn't meant for her to tell him that much. There were pure-bloods who walked away from their life at home because they were disowned. He knew that much and had heard enough stories. One of his ancestors had been disowned, but that had been a long time ago. His family was close and cared for each other. They wanted their family members to have a strong sense of propriety, but instead of completely cutting them off because of their differences, they tried to help in the ways they knew how. He was a part of a family with strong traditions and there were many complications to keep that strong. Rupert himself didn't quite understand it all yet, but perhaps he would in the future.

It was difficult, coming from his family, to understand being loved by one's family and being disowned. Rupert knew his family would never disown him unless he himself chose to walk away and pursue a lifestyle that they completely did not agree with. It sounded like Aria's paternal family did not love her father and he felt sad at that. It was unfortunate, but a concept Rupert couldn't completely understand.

"I don't think this world is in chaos," he piped up. "And I don't think yours is either. They're just different. And, pardon me for asking, but why did your parents allow you to come to school here if they didn't want to take part in this type of lifestyle anymore? Don't they have home-schooling or something in your community?" There were families like the Arbons who home-schooled their children, so he had heard, and he didn't doubt that Aria's community, in their own attempt to stay pure, wanted to shield their children from ever experiencing this sort of life.

This talk wasn't helping and Rupert didn't feel lively conversing with her as he had hoped he would. There was a different, serious side to her where she thought she was completely right and everyone else and every other lifestyle was wrong. He didn't think he could be close friends with someone who looked down upon him and how he and his family lived despite the fact that he himself didn't like the choices his family made. There was a difference between he breaking free from his family and when someone criticised him as an extension of his family who were an extension of the pure-blood community.

"Then don't feel ashamed of your life," he said. "I'm not ashamed of mine and, if you couldn't tell, I stand out like a sore thumb from the other pure-bloods who come from families like mine. And if people like Effie Arbon laugh at me and look down on me, I really couldn't spare her a thought." He indicated his swimming shorts as an example. Instead of the solid, 'manly' colours that his male peers would have worn, he had on neon green. It stood out and represented his personality as well as his favourite colour. "First example. Now are we going to sit here and chat while this lovely party's going on or get on those water slides?" He smiled. He hadn't really enjoyed their talk as he had wanted to, but he had learnt a lot about Aria's way of life. He found it fascinating when she wasn't sounding so distant.

0 Rupert Now for some fun? 0 Rupert 0 5

Aria
June 10, 2013 9:56 PM

Aria
Peripheral
Written by: Amelle Nicchi

Let's hope so. by Aria
It was clear by his response to her admittance by the yearbook that he thought her reaction to it was ridiculous. She didn’t think comparing the two of them was the best idea. They were different, this much was true. But Rupert’s personality was different and that’s how he stood out. Aria’s was labeled a clown because of where she came from. They were not nearly even close to being the same. If she were a more lively and eccentric person as Rupert was, being laughed at would probably be something she was hoping for. “It’s over with now. Summer helped move me past it.” She told him.

By Rupert’s next statement, Aria knew for a fact that he wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation and he was twisting everything she said to fit into his own criteria. He himself, stated that people who did whatever they wanted would lead to chaos because she had told him the people in her community did what they wanted and were happy. She explained how they worked and the structure of their community and how this world lacked much of that. He denied her this and said neither world was in chaos. Did he not hear himself and the comments he made? Was he that naïve to this world?

Aria’s world was small, she knew this. But every day her community grew, now there were nearly 3,000 members and other communities like hers here sprouting up all over the country. They lived in peace. They worked in harmony. They thrived. This world had wars. It was filled with hate. There was no peace in the grander scheme of things. But she said none of this because she knew that Rupert would just twist it again to make her out to be a negative person. Aria was not negative. She enjoyed laughing. She enjoyed art. She enjoyed running around with her friends and pretended catching butterflies.

She didn’t understand his question. School had nothing to do with the lifestyles that they were no longer a part of. “School is important to the community. We do have home schooling and those who wish to stay go through that. But our community knows that every day Magic grows. New spells are discovered, new Potions are created, and they need to make sure they are kept up on everything.” Aria stated. “We always have the choice as to whether or not we want to go to school outside of the community. Most make it only a year before returning. Some decide to go to University. Home-schooling doesn’t offer all of the same programs that traditional schools offer. Besides, if I want to become the Medicine Woman of the community, I want to have the same educational background as my mother.”

She didn’t really want to have him lecture her on how to feel. He could shrug off any teasing thrown his way because his last name carried him and he had friends. Aria had neither a last name nor friends. Being laughed at to her hit deeper because of that. A person not in their normal state of mind would be more inclined to be affected negatively than one who feels blissful.

Aria’s eyes shifted from Rupert to the slides at the pools and stayed there for a moment. Having told him so much, she regretted it now. She had only answered the questions he had asked her, but it put a sour taste in her mouth because it was clear that he just didn’t understand and didn’t care to really understand her. She was trying desperately to know this world and to understand the reasoning behind so much . She made mistakes, but she did her best. No one really noticed her trying.

“I have never been on one of those. It looks to be fun.” She commented lightly. “But, before we do that, I want to apologize. I did not mean to say everything that I did, I was just answering your questions. I have a lot to learn about life outside of my community and as much reading as I do, I’m never prepared enough for it.” Aria admitted. “And, whenever someone questions my community, I feel a sense of duty to defend it.” She told him looking sheepish. Standing up, Aria adjusted her two piece to be sure it was in place properly before looking to Rupert. “Alright, explain to me what these are for.” She requested, pointing to the slides.

6 Aria Let's hope so. 0 Aria 0 5

Wendy
June 10, 2013 11:01 PM

Wendy
Peripheral
Written by:

Of course not! by Wendy
Wendy would have been tempted to take Carter's offer on his baby sister if she hadn't known that it was impossible to just give away siblings. She didn't think Waverly had ever tried that one, but apparently it was a popular thing for older siblings to do, especially when they were joking. Still, Wendy wished she could take Carter's baby sister even if he did seem to really like her.

The attack Wendy had successfully executed made her bright with glee and she waited underwater for a little while, watching him. He was blurry up there, but he was splashing a bit. She was close enough to see those splashes and she imagined briefly that she was a mermaid like Ariel watching a human play around in the water. She imagined her legs coming together and forming a fish tail and her hair growing longer and flowing behind her. In her imagination, she was also older, but that was only because she had never seen a child mermaid on TV before. Except for cartoons.

But alas, she was not a mermaid and so her lungs needed air and badly. She pushed her not-so-tail-like feet against the ground and she popped up out of the water and took a big gulp of air. Just as she did so, Carter nearly tackled her and Wendy found herself not as surprised as she could have been. It was only obvious that he was going to try and pull the same stunt. It did, however, catch her a little off-guard and she was glad for that gulp of air when she went under again.

It wasn't enough, though, and she resurfaced quickly. She shook her head at him. "You!" she said, splashing him again. "Of course not! You call that an attack?" She grinned at him and began a relentless splash attack. Using her feet would have been easier on her, but her hands could do a good enough job too. The splashes were getting larger the longer she splashed. It was, however, a little hard to see him clearly, though she could keep track of his silhouette. "Whenever you want to give up just say so!" she said loudly over the splash of the water, giggling to herself.

0 Wendy Of course not! 0 Wendy 0 5

Lucian D'Alesandro
June 10, 2013 11:53 PM

Lucian D'Alesandro
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

Are there people who look for bad times? by Lucian D'Alesandro
Lucian returned to school for his fourth year with a sense of eagerness. His summer had been ridiculous, and he was happy that it was over. Not only had his father left his family to go live in Italy, but he had also been betrothed to Honey Baird. This was quite an unwelcomed surprise. He still had yet to say more than a few words to Heaven’s sister. There was also a bit of awkwardness that had now placed itself between Heaven and him. He found himself caring a little more than he should about her betrothal to Henri.

Lucian had tried to keep in touch with Clara as much as possible over the summer. He wrote to her about everything going on, except he did not include anything about his betrothal. He had decided it was probably a conversation best saved for later, and he knew he would have to talk to her about it soon before someone else found out and blabbed it.

He had been sitting in his room brooding about his summer when he received a note from Clara about the pool party. He would be lying if he said he was excited to go, but he figured a little socialization couldn’t hurt. Clara always managed to get him out of his room and his overwhelming thoughts before he drove himself mad. That was another quality that Lucian liked about her.

Digging through his trunk of clothing, Lucian found his navy blue swim trunks he had packed just in case, and a grey t-shirt. Pool parties were never that much fun for him because he could not swim. It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to learn how, but he just couldn’t seem to keep himself afloat properly or coordinate his legs and arms to move when they were supposed to. He always seemed to have issues at pool parties, which made him a bit nervous now. Nevertheless, he wanted to spend some time with Clara and hopefully get to talk to her about his summer.

Lucian made his way to the MARS room where the party was being held, and walked cautiously inside. There were a lot of people having fun on the slides and generally enjoying themselves. He stood back a little and scanned the room, searching for Clara. He spotted her lying out in the sun and smiled, as he quickly made his way to her. Finally, he would be able to talk to his best friend face to face again. He stood over her until she looked up, and replied to her saying, “It’s only a great party because you are here. You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”

0 Lucian D'Alesandro Are there people who look for bad times? 223 Lucian D'Alesandro 0 5

Carter
June 11, 2013 3:42 PM

Carter
Peripheral
Written by:

I don't suppose we could call a truce...please? by Carter
Carter laughed as he and Wendy came back up for air after he tossed her underwater with him after she blitzed him. Her idea of retaliation was to begin splash attacking him furiously with water. She was flinging so much of it around that he wasn’t certain he could see her anymore let alone her seeing him clearly anymore. When she called out over the barrage of water if he wanted to surrender he almost fell over laughing at her presumptuousness. There was no way Carter Monroe Browning was yielding this fight…at least not yet anyways. “Not a chance!” he yelled back over the water wall. “But I will accept your surrender if you want to yield,” he called back as he continued to pelt her with almost as much water as she was throwing at him. He continued the onslaught as he contemplated his next move of attack. He finally decided to say blast it all and do a frontal assault, hitting her with the biggest wave he could muster. He just hoped that he didn’t hit anyone else with it when he did it.

He braved the water barrage she was still sending his way and closed the gap between them, getting as close to her as he possible could. He wasn’t certain if she would see him coming or not but he was willing to risk it. He pushed both hands through the water at the same time and clapped his hands against the water as hard as he could. He could actually hear the clapping sound resonating through the water. He watched as an extremely large mass of water left the spot where his hands were and rushed its way towards Wendy. He had no idea just how much (if any) of her it would cover, but he was sure it may hit a couple more people close by if only a little bit if they were too close to the pools edge at that point. He’d just have to wait and see. Once he managed to get that first shot off despite the pelting he endured, he began splashing like a madman hoping that the onslaught made Wendy either give up or pause in her assault. Unfortunately his plan began to backfire slightly as his arms began to burn from cramping and exhaustion at such a strenuous activity. He decided that instead of surrendering, a mutual truce could be in order.

He decided to voice his idea to his adversary. “Might I suggest a truce for the time being just until we’ve had a chance to rest and get something to eat? Maybe get the water out of our eyes?” he suggested his eyes half closed to the water being splashed around. He knew that this might be seen as an act of cowardice and surrender on his part, but he wasn’t too concerned with that part right now. The part he was really concerned about was getting the chlorine water out of his red burning eyes.

OOC: Please ignore previous reply. Computer malfunctioned and pasted in the wrong post...sorry.

0 Carter I don't suppose we could call a truce...please? 0 Carter 0 5

Clara Abernathy
June 11, 2013 3:45 PM

Clara Abernathy
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

I wouldn't know...I sure don't ;) by Clara Abernathy
Clara smiled enthusiastically when she discovered that the shadow above her was that of Lucian as she had hoped. She blushed a bit when he commented about the party being better because she was there and that he was really glad to see her. The way he said that last part though made her little ears perk up with slight concern. If she didn’t know any better, she would think that maybe his summer hadn’t gone as well as he had hoped. She had written to him over the summer while she had been away and had enjoyed his letters to her immensely. She had tried filling him in on everything interesting that she had done over the summer, but left out the parade of potential “suitors” that her grandparents had subjected her to. Both her mother’s parents and her father’s parents. It was downright embarrassing and half-way humiliating. She had no idea what to say to any of the poor boys who she had been introduced to. She had tried inviting Lucian to the birthday party that her grandparents had thrown for them all in England, but they had said no. To be fair her cousins were all told the same thing about their friends as well so she hadn’t felt soo bad about their decision.

She let that thought go and focused on the new ones that just popped into her head. Since the ball she had been agonizing over the whole them “kissing” each other thing and still had no idea what it meant for them. For all she knew his mom had probably already chosen a bride for him while they were away for the summer. “That would just be swell” she thought to herself as she glanced up at him. She was also thinking about the other “developments” that took place over the summer that both she and her dad were avoiding to talk about for the time being. She found herself being in quite a foul mood complete with cramping and headaches for a little over a week before the party took place. All three of her aunts recognized the signs and empathized with the 14 year old. It would appear that another aunt had come to visit and this one wasn’t as nice as her other three and left foul presents behind in her wake. Once that issue had been dealt with Clara found herself with another problem. One that fell along her chest area. She had begun blossoming a bit during the last term at school, but had managed to hide it pretty well with her clothing and school robes. Over the summer, however, she had blossomed a bit more and now they were more noticeable than before. She just hoped that eventually she would stop feeling awkward enough about them to be able to talk about it with her dad like they had everything else.

She continued to smile up at Lucian and gestured for him to have a seat on the empty chair beside hers. “Take a load off,” she suggested as she positioned the chair she was in to a more upright position as opposed to reclining. “I am soo glad to see you too. I’m sorry I couldn’t invite you to my birthday party over the summer,” she apologized sincerely. “My grandparents wanted it to be more of a family thing…or so they said,” she added still a tad frustrated about the matter. “Little did I know they were about to turn it into the “Let’s play match maker for EVERYONE” game show. And I do mean EVERYONE…they were even trying to set up my DAD of all people! It was horrifying!” she complained good-naturedly. “When we left they were still trying to talk my dad into getting remarried and they were still debating which boy they wanted to hitch ME to out of the ones they had introduced me to over the summer. I have never been soo embarrassed in my entire life!” She grumbled out loud for a second. She brightened up and smiled big at him. “I am soo glad you got my note and decided to come hang out with me. It makes the summer feel like a horrible dream somebody else had…unless your summer was as rottenly interesting as mine. Judging by how happy you seem to be now that you’re here with me, I’m guessing we both had the same bad dream just about different people,” she joked half-heartedly. “So…tell me all about your bad dream and don’t spare the details,” she suggested, crossing her legs up under her in the chair and resting her chin on her palm with her elbow resting on her left knee. She really hoped his summer hadn’t been all that bad or she had a lot of cheering him up to do and she kinda looked forward to that part. She still really liked Lucian and them kissing each other at the ball last term left her feeling a bit confused as to where they went from there. She would have to ask him about that…that is after he spilled about the summer (if he spilled at all).

0 Clara Abernathy I wouldn't know...I sure don't ;) 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Wendy
June 11, 2013 11:37 PM

Wendy
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Since you asked nicely by Wendy
Wendy had known Carter was going to retaliate, but she hadn't had any idea how. She was surprised to see him come closer and wondered what he was going to do. He splashed her once and Wendy gasped before continuing her attack. Her arms were getting tired, but she kept at it. Maybe she would get some arm muscles too. She had kneaded dough for hours while working in her mom's bakery so this wasn't all that bad. It was just getting tiring. She hoped he would surrender soon or else she would have to sadly concede defeat.

The splashing part was getting a little boring and she tried to imagine a more interesting scene. She couldn't imagine Carter being any sort of bad guy, though, so she just continued splashing. She laughed and tried to keep water from getting into her eyes and blinding her, but it was really hard especially with him so close.

Carter was splashing her the same and as much fun as Wendy was having, she heard him say something and realized a second later that he was asking for a truce. Lucky he said it first! Wendy stopped immediately, not even thinking that this could be a trick. "Totally," she agreed and shook out her arms. "My arms are getting pretty tired and I'm really thirsty." She smiled at him and stuck out her hand. "Nice splashing. Truce!" Once Carter had shaken her hand, she got out of the pool and went to get a towel. She handed one to him and wrapped her towel around her. "It's always colder outside of the pool," she said and shook out her blonde hair. At least it was short and would dry quickly.

0 Wendy Since you asked nicely 0 Wendy 0 5

Lucian
June 11, 2013 11:52 PM

Lucian
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Neither do I, but bad times seem to find me somehow. by Lucian
“Hold on, let me grab a snack. I’m starving!” Lucian said in response to Clara’s suggestion that he have a seat next to her. He walked carefully to the table where the juices and snacks were set up and took a small sandwich and some vegetables. He also grabbed a few extra just in case Clara wanted anything. Ever since he hit puberty, he was always hungry. His mother had complained all summer about him continually eating everything in the house.

After getting everything he wanted, Lucian walked to a chair next to Clara and plopped down. “I got some extra, just in case you wanted anything,” he said with a smile, as he placed the plate on his lap. He began eating the turkey sandwich as he listened to Clara talk about her summer. “It’s okay,” he said after he chewed a bit, “If I had went to your birthday party I would have had to scare away all of those other guys they were trying to set you up with.” He winked at her and laughed a little, and then continued, “It does sound like a really bad game show, or a bad dream. I would say my summer was more of a really bad family sitcom.”

He paused for a moment and really looked at Clara. She had changed a bit over summer, and so did he. His shoulders had broadened, and his muscles were more toned. Over the summer his voice began cracking, which was embarrassing, but luckily it had deepened and mostly leveled out before he returned to school. His hair was a little above his shoulders and wavy, and had lighter tones in it from being outside under the sun. Finally realizing that he was staring at her instead of replying, he set the plate down on the end of her chair and leaned forward towards her. He did this for two reasons: it prevented everyone around them from hearing what he was about to say, and it also allowed him to get closer to her.

He clasped his hands together in front of him and sighed. “Well,” he began, “My summer was…pretty bad. My dad left my family and went back to Italy. He won’t divorce my mother, because well, you know how bad that would look to the stuck up Purebloods, which would eventually hurt the family business. So, basically, I haven’t talked to him since, and my mother is acting as crazy as ever.” He paused briefly to gather his thoughts about the next topic.

“Also,” he began talking again, “I have been betrothed, to Honey Baird, whom I have not spoken to aside from a few words when we walked around her family’s home this summer. You should have seen it. I had a bad feeling when I heard we were going to the Baird’s for dinner. We were all sitting around tables in their fancy home, our parents basically about to tell us whom we were going to marry..and I was expecting her father to offer me a betrothal with Heaven…but then out of nowhere he says Honey! My little sister’s friend! So all I could think to say was “You have got to be kidding me!” You should have seen their faces!” He started laughing, and puffed his chest out a little in pride. “The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. I am not going to marry my little sister’s friend. That’s just weird.” He left out the part about who Heaven ended up being betrothed to, because he was still uncertain as to why he cared.

“I don’t know.” he said after taking a breath, “It is all very complicated and confusing. I am just glad to be back here. And glad to be able to talk to you face to face again.” He smiled at Clara, and placed his hand on her knee as he anxiously awaited her response. He hoped that everything that happened over summer didn’t change things between them, though he wasn’t even sure where things were going between them at the moment.

0 Lucian Neither do I, but bad times seem to find me somehow. 0 Lucian 0 5

Clara Abernathy
June 12, 2013 3:16 AM

Clara Abernathy
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

They follow you around too? by Clara Abernathy
Clara grinned as Lucian disappeared to the snack table before sitting down in the chair next to her holding a plate of food. She blushed again slightly and smiled when he told her that he had brought extra incase she wanted any. She hesitated on taking him up on his offer when hr proceeded to place the plate in his lap. She decided she would wait til he either held it out to her or placed it somewhere else. “That was very sweet of you…thank you,” she told him still smiling. She glanced at him for a second and realized that he looked a little different since they left for the summer. He looked…bigger somehow and more muscled. She tried to keep from staring too long or he might get self conscious about it and wonder why she was doing it. Instead she laughed when he said it was good that he hadn’t come to the party because he would have chased off all her would-be suitors. She nodded in agreement, noticing that he had finally moved the plate from his lap to the end of her chair. She reached over at that point and grabbed one of the carrot sticks off of the plate. She could feel her face go red as he winked at her and she took a bite of the carrot to hide her blushing (or so she hoped). She chewed up the bite before talking again.

“Are you kidding? I would have preferred it if you had been there to chase them away,” she told him sincerely. “They had to be some of the most boring, pretentious boneheads I have ever had the misfortune to meet. They wouldn’t know what fun was if it ran up and slapped them across the face,” she complained slightly. She felt a tad tingly when he moved to sit closer to her and she couldn’t help it. She laughed a bit when he described his summer as a bad family sitcom. She was about to try and assure him that it couldn’t have been that bad, but stopped when he started telling her about it. She knew that her mouth must have dropped open lightly at the mention of his dad leaving the family and she felt an overwhelming urge to hug him. “Oh Lucian…” she said concerned for him. “I’m really sorry to hear that. That royally sucks.” She placed her hand on one of his arm and gave it a re-assuring squeeze. “I can’t really imagine what that must feel like. I know when my mom left us my dad was a mess for a while, but I don’t think our situations are quite the same,” she commented thoughtfully. “Unlike your dad though, my mom didn’t leave us to live in another country. She died. So…” She really didn’t know how to make him feel better about his dad leaving. She was searching for something encouraging to say when he dropped something of a bomb on her.

“Wait…I could swear I had something in my ears just now,” she commented sticking her finger in her ear and pretending to clean out the wax. “Did I just hear you say you’re betrothed to Honey Baird? Seriously?” She stared at him in utter shock. “Wow…I mean…Wow.” She couldn’t find the words to describe how she felt at that precise moment. She knew that eventually his mother would chose someone for him, but Honey? She absently nodded when he said he was expecting them to say Heaven and found that she could understand why he would make that assumption. Her choosing Honey was a curve ball no one saw coming. She liked the younger girl, but couldn’t help feeling slightly jealous of her at that moment. That is until Lucian made his next comment. She still felt a tad jealous, but not as much now. “You have got to be kidding me!” You should have seen their faces!” He started laughing, and puffed his chest out a little in pride. “The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. I am not going to marry my little sister’s friend. That’s just weird.” She had to admit that made her smile. Especially him puffing up his chest in pride.

She nodded in agreement when he said that things were complicated and confusing. You can that again she thought to herself as she searched for what it really was she wanted to say. She completely forgot what it was she might have said when she looked down and found his hand on her bare knee. She felt butterflies as big as dinosaurs fluttering through her belly at that moment, but shrugged it off long enough to drum up the courage to place the hand she had on his arm over the hand of his on her knee. She gave his hand an encouraging squeeze, but didn’t let it go. She sighed, slowly letting the air out before she spoke again. “I’m really sorry that all of that got dumped on you Lucian. That really stinks. And I don’t really know what ’s happening between us or what will happen between us, but I do know one thing…it won’t stop me from being there for you if you need me,” she told him sincerely. “And boy do you ever because you clearly had a WAY worse summer than I did,” she tried teasing him lightly still holding his hand. She stood up from the chair still holding his hand and tugged on it slightly. “So what to do you say we go over to the snack cart and get two of the biggest ice cream sundaes they got and pig out?” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully at him.

0 Clara Abernathy They follow you around too? 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Carter
June 12, 2013 8:42 PM

Carter
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I did..didn't I? by Carter
Carter was extremely grateful when Wendy immediately quit splashing when he suggested they call a truce. He spent about half a second considering the fact that she might be accepting his proposal just to ambush him, but dismissed that thought entirely when she stuck out her hand fro him to shake. “Absolutely,” he agreed., shaking her hand. “Those are some wicked splash skills you’ve got there,” he complimented her as they made their way out of the pool. He took the towel she offered him after she had wrapped one around herself. “Thanks,” he said as he wiped the water out of his hair and face. It felt good being able to see again. He wrapped the towel around his swim trunks and glanced over towards the snack cart. He was practically dying for something cold to drink and knew from Wendy’s comment that she was thirsty as well. He found himself agreeing with her about their arms being sore. His muscles were still burning from all the splashing.

“Hey…I’m going to go get a milkshake or something from the snack cart and maybe a sandwich or two,” he told her. “Would you like me to bring you back something or would you prefer to come with me?” he asked politely. He was kind-of hoping she’d say she wanted to stay so he could surprise her with something awesome. He wasn’t going to be disappointed if she chose to go with him instead. That just meant more time to spend with his friend and Carter liked that idea.

0 Carter I did..didn't I? 0 Carter 0 5

Adam & Charlotte
June 13, 2013 4:50 PM

Adam & Charlotte
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Right...moving on... by Adam & Charlotte
Adam nodded when Ginny mentioned the Princeton's Christmas Ball last year. "Yes, they're my cousins," he replied. "But my family and I went to my dad's family for Christmas so we didn't go." His mum and dad tried their best to avoid gatherings like that at the Princetons'. Adam wasn't exactly sure why, but the Spencers had their own traditions and Adam knew he, as a Spencer, was supposed to go along with that even if he did like the Princeton parties better.

Francesca continued with the teasing and he smirked. "Exactly, too much blue. There had to be some brown and gold to offset it. Too much blue wouldn't be good for the eyes." He grinned. He had brown hair and brown eyes, a perfect look for being in Pecari, but his favourite colour was blue. It was a pity Aladrens had staked their claim on that colour. "Anyway, you always have this year if Pecari doesn't take the trophy again," he teased.

Adam was glad when Charlotte did exactly what he had expected and spoke. He knew she had been having a bit of a rough time here away from everything she knew, but he was glad she didn't have to do it completely alone. At least he was here and her kitten to keep her company. But he hoped she would begin making friends of her own and stop hanging off of him. Otherwise this would be a very difficult few years especially because Adam had friends of his own now.

Charlotte had never worn make-up herself, but she had done it on her dolls plenty of times. Her mum had showed her how to apply it to other people, though Charlotte herself was not allowed to wear it until she was fourteen. It was a fair trade since Charlotte was still learning how to make one's face look best. As interested as she was about it, painting did seem to be the one everyone was leaning towards. Adam himself had even said he would help out with that. Charlotte smiled at Francesca's compliment, thinking they really were good ideas now that someone else thought so.

A painting room? "I didn't, actually," replied Charlotte with a look at Adam. Adam shrugged. "I didn't get around to telling her about the other MARS rooms," he said. "I've hardly had a chance to explore it all myself." He smiled at his younger sister. "But I can show you around afterwards. There's a music room here too." Charlotte brightened at the sound of that and thought briefly of what sort of instruments could be in such a room as Francesca continued on to mention rides and such.

"I would think time slots," said Adam, agreeing with Ginny's point. "Who would participate in the fair if all the students were running booths, then? The professors?" He almost laughed thinking of his professors going around and buying pies and riding rides like the bucking broomsticks. "That would be one sick joke on all of us, turning the fair into a professor's field day." It was entertaining to think about, but if it came to be Adam knew he would be put out by it. "You're brave to ride the bucking broomstick," Adam continued. "I've never had the courage to get up on it yet." He hadn't been to very many fairs himself, but that ride was always the most entertaining to watch.

OOC: Depending on how comfortable Charlotte feels towards the second term, she might be willing to join Charlie's booth.

0 Adam & Charlotte Right...moving on... 0 Adam & Charlotte 0 5

Rup
June 13, 2013 4:51 PM

Rup
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On we go! by Rup
Aria’s mother had a similar occupational background as his uncle. Adam’s father was a healer and Rupert’s family owned two large magical hospitals in England. Being a healer was a lot of work and loads of studying that Rupert found respectable. Healing was not an easy job. He did agree with her there; home-schooling was not the same as traditional schooling and was sometimes limited. Rupert knew if that wasn’t the case, he most likely would have been kept at home. “That’s great,” he said with a smile. “I think you’d make a fantastic healer.”

Rup felt his family name hindered him more than anything. He had money, certainly, and his family had prestige, but he was shackled to the name of Princeton and all the expectations that came with it. He saw Aria’s way of life as freeing and believed it was. She could dye her hair and get tattoos because no one cared what she looked like. He had thought she wouldn’t be so self-conscious, but she was a witch just like any other. It wasn’t a bad thing at all. Rup just hadn’t expected that.

Most of Rupert’s responses had been said off the cuff because he had felt attacked by Aria’s comments. Whether or not he completely believed it had been irrelevant. He did believe that the pure-blood community his family was a part of was corrupt in its own way and he commended Aria’s community for striving to depart from that lifestyle. Perhaps he hadn’t been nearly as clear in emphasising that last bit. She apologised and Rupert felt bad for making her feel like she should.

“Don’t apologise,” he said with a friendly smile. “Experience is the best way to learn. I’ve only just heard about your community and I’m glad you told me about it. You’re the first person I’ve met from a spiritual community. And I feel the same way when someone questions my community as well. Sorry if I came off a bit, well, thick-headed. I hold your community in the highest regard because it’s full of people who are actually striving toward a peaceful, balanced life. Really. The world can be full of dreamers sometimes and you and your communal family are making it a reality. That’s fantastic.”

He hoped she wasn’t angry with him again. Rupert still wanted to be her friend, but he wasn’t doing very well in his pursuit. He smiled at her again when she asked about the slides and he stood as well. “All you’ve got to do,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “is climb up to the top of the slide and ride down into the water. If you ask me why it’s so much fun, I couldn’t really tell you. I've never actually been on it myself, but it looks like fun.” He removed his shirt and threw it down on the chair. “Come on. We can figure it out together."

0 Rup On we go! 0 Rup 0 5

Cepheus
June 13, 2013 5:08 PM

Cepheus
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There should be a magic carpet around here somewhere. by Cepheus
Alicia's sympathy for Cepheus's rotten summer was comforting and he smiled. "Thanks." It was difficult to get sympathy for it since he couldn't exactly tell his family how he felt about this entire situation, though he was certain his mum knew. She always seemed to know everything. Rupert had been angry with him all summer and Leo didn't care to get involved in what was going on, so Cepheus had only himself to mope with. It was refreshing for someone else to sympathise with him. He had finished Alicia's sentence in his head, but he knew there was nothing anyone could do. No one but himself, anyway, and he had yet to find out how he could help himself. It was maddening, all this.

For one breathless moment when Alicia looked up and had a bit of colour come into her cheeks, Cepheus thought she was serious. The blush when she inferred Thad was her second choice next to him seemed too perfect to be a coincidence. But a split second later he convinced himself that she had to be joking and Cepheus laughed a little in relief. He didn't want things to complicate even more. Of all the relationships he had, his friendship with Alicia was one he really kept close to his heart.

Cepheus had proved to be quite a good secret keeper lately and he nodded. He could understand her and Thad's relationship being a bit unclear with the new term. Ceheus hardly knew where he and Theresa stood besides the fact that they did have some sort of relationship. It meant a lot to Cepheus that Alicia could be honest with him when there were so few people he could be completely honest to. It did take a bit of prodding, but Cepheus didn't mind doing it where she was concerned. Alicia was one of those who didn't seem to hide things just for the extra attention. Otherwise he would have left her alone with her secrets. Merlin knew he had enough of his own to keep.

With that thought on his mind, Alicia began pressing his buttons to get his secret out. Cepheus felt his own cheeks colour at the barrage of questions and he ran his hand through his hair. He flattened his hair down, finding it a good momentary distraction. "Well, yes," he admitted. "But we talked about it during the ball, outside you know, and she does know about, you know." He lowered his voice a bit, glancing around to see if anyone was eavesdropping. "She took it better than I expected. And she likes me too," he said, unable to keep the pleased smile off his face. It dropped suddenly as a sobering thought came to mind. "But," he continued, at last making eye-contact with her, "I'm in the same place as you. I haven't spoken to her, really, since we've been back so I don't know where we stand. Mum's the word, yeah?"

Cepheus couldn't wait for the day when he could put all this behind him: all the secrets, the sneaking around, the lying and awkward meetings with his betrothed. He liked being with his friends away from Theresa and Megan, though he was dying to see the former, because he could pretend that his complicated life didn't exist. It was just him and his mates at the pool simply talking about non-existent, though completely real, people and events. He leant back in his chair again, having leant forward when his voice had dropped. "To be honest, I think she's jealous of you," he said with a good-natured wink. He had no idea of how true that was, really, but he had to get back at her somehow for making him feel like an idiot for thinking that Alicia might have fancied him if only for a moment.

0 Cepheus There should be a magic carpet around here somewhere. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Lucian and Alex D'Alesandro
June 13, 2013 11:45 PM

Lucian and Alex D'Alesandro
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Speaking of bad times...here comes one now. by Lucian and Alex D'Alesandro
Lucian listened with a smirk as Clara described her wanna-be suitors as pretentious boneheads. He couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the mental image of her going on a bunch of horribly awkward first dates. “Sounds like a very long string of horrible blind dates,” he said smiling, “Guess they all can’t be as charming and entertaining as me.” He grinned with exaggeration to show her that he was joking.

He became more serious as she talked about her mother dying. “It isn’t the same,” he said with concern, “I couldn’t imagine what it is like to lose a parent for good. I mean, I may not see my dad, but I can get ahold of him if I want to. I am sorry that happened to you.” Hearing about her misfortune caused the anger he carried towards his father to regress a bit.

After seeing her response to the news about his betrothal to Honey, Lucian laughed and exclaimed, “That was probably my reaction when I heard Honey’s name!” After a moment he felt her hand on his, and had a warm feeling. Especially when she told him that no matter what happened between them, she would always be there for him. He needed a good friend that he could count on more than ever, and he was glad that he had her.

“I thought you would never ask,” Lucian said in response to her suggestion of consuming ice cream, “I love ice cream, and I am hungry again.” He rose, still holding onto her hand, and was ready to continue walking towards the food tables when his little sister seemed to appear out of thin air in front of them. Oh great.. he thought to himself.

*************
Alex had decided to go to the pool party after some debate. She didn’t really want to mingle and be social, and she didn’t really want to risk getting her perfectly styled hair wet. However, she did want to stop her brother from ruining everything, and assumed he would be meeting his odd girlfriend at the first major social event since returning to school. She made her way to the MARS room, and quickly walked past everyone, avoiding eye contact. She was there on a mission and did not want to waste any time. Alex quickly spotted a seat near the corner of the room where she was able to see pretty much everything, and sat to begin her spying.

After looking around the room and observing people for some time, she finally saw Clara enter the room, all the while waving at people as she made her way to a lounge chair. ”What a weirdo.” Alex thought to herself. No one could possibly be that pleasant all the time. Plus, there were only certain people who were worth waving to.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Lucian entered the room and walked to where Clara was sitting to join her. “Oh, big brother, you are so predictable,” she said softly out loud as she watched them begin talking. She impatiently observed their conversation, and saw Lucian lean in closer to Clara. When she saw her place her hand on top of Lucian’s, she took that as a cue for her to intervene. Rising from her seat, Alex power walked to the other side of the room, just as Lucian and Clara were getting up out of their seats.

“Did you tell her about your future wife?” Alex asked Lucian, while smiling in a degrading manner at Clara.

“Alex,” Lucian began, as calmly as possible, “Please don’t start anything.” He barely got the sentence out before she continued talking.

“He is going to marry Honey, you know, no matter what he has told you. My mother will see to that. She is not going to let him throw away everything my family has worked hard to achieve for the likes of you.” Alex was standing, glaring at Clara now, with her right hand resting on her hip. “As for you!” she said raising her voice, as she turned more towards her brother, “What in the world are you thinking? You are betrothed to someone, who happens to be one of my closest friends. Did you ever stop to think about how all this makes Honey feel? No! You get back to school and then go parading around with your girlfriend!”

Lucian realized that Alex had a point, but he was also becoming more and more enraged at the way she was talking to Clara. None of this was her fault, and it wasn’t fair to disrespect her. “Alex,” he said, still trying to remain calm, “Please lower your voice..I don’t want everyone at Sonora to know about my betrothal yet. I will talk to you about this later.”

“You mean you don’t want everyone to know about how you are probably embarrassing your future bride and her family, as well as your little sister?” Alex said, now raising her voice to an even louder level. She turned towards Clara once more. “Well, are you just going to stand there? What do you have to say for yourself?” It wasn’t that Alex actually cared what Clara had to say, but she figured the girl couldn’t possibly win an argument against her, and she had her friend’s reputation to defend.

0 Lucian and Alex D'Alesandro Speaking of bad times...here comes one now. 0 Lucian and Alex D'Alesandro 0 5

Clara Abernathy
June 14, 2013 11:09 AM

Clara Abernathy
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

Hello bad time by Clara Abernathy
Clara actually found herself laughing at both the mental image Lucian put into her head and the exaggerated way he had grinned. “You are soo right. It would be like a string of very horrible blind dates,” she readily agreed. “And it is too bad that none of them were as charming or as funny as you. They might have had a snowballs chance then.” She found that she actually believed that comment for a moment. There had only been one boy there who had managed not to bore her to death, but he still was no Lucian. She knew how Lucian said he felt about the whole betrothal thing and while she was certain that he really believed he would or could deny his family for the sake of real love, a very tiny part of her mind had wondered that if put under enough pressure from them; would he really be able to walk away from his family and all he ever knew purely for the sake of love? It was the only question that Clara had not been brave enough to ask. She had up until this point been happy to file it away under “stray random thoughts”. Since she had, like, a dozen of those a day it was easy to treat that one like any of the rest. She shrugged when he apologized about the death of her mother happening to her. “It’s alright. It’s not your fault…besides I was very little when it happened,” she tried to sound more matter-of-fact than she felt. The subject of her mother had always brought out mixed feelings in Clara. As much as she would like to be able to say that she missed her, the real fact was that she hardly remembered her to begin with. Clara had been so young when her mother died that all she saw of her were the photographs on the walls at home and snipets of mental images that danced their way through her head sometimes. She mentally shrugged it off and got up to drag him with her for ice cream. At the moment they both needed something of a pick-me-up considering their current circumstances.

She was delighted to hear that, like herself, Lucian loved ice cream and grinned when she realized that he had been thinking of the exact same thing as her. She chuckled at his comment of being hungry again. They had just turned away from the chairs to go in that direction when the biggest rain cloud she had ever seen suddenly popped up out of nowhere in front of them in the guise of Lucian’s little sister. Clara remembered the girl from last term’s sorting and had thought to herself that it would be nice to eventually meet Lucian’s little sister. Well, she was meeting the girl now and clearly there had been a good reason she had not met her before. Alexandria seemed to have a huge problem with her for some reason. She got that impression by the way the girl stood and by the look she was giving her. The public berating of the pair sort of gave it away as well. Like Lucian Clara tried to remain calm as Alex began to tear into both of them. When asked if he had mentioned Honey to her Clara merely nodded. “As a matter of fact he did,” she replied, sounding somehow calmer than she felt. She returned the look that Alex was giving her at that moment. She wanted to laugh in Alexandria’s face for the public spectacle she was making of herself by berating the two of them, but was uncertain how Lucian would react to her laughing in his sister’s face. It was his little sister after all and that fact alone bought the girl the tiniest amount of regard.

That regard began to fade quickly as Alex continued. “He is going to marry Honey you know, no matter what he has told you. My mother will see to that. She will not let him throw away everything my family has worked hard to achieve for the likes of you”. Clara had never in her life been spoken to in such a manner and was momentarily stunned silent. The sheer audacity of this girl was staggering. Her audacity didn’t stop with Clara. She continued her barrage on Lucian in which she referred to Clara as his “girlfriend”. Clara still could not believe her ears. First of all it was never established that she and Lucian were actually a couple (although the very idea of it made Clara feel warm and fuzzy inside) and second of all whether they were a couple or not was really no business of hers. Clara begrudgingly agreed slightly with the fact that they really hadn’t given much thought as to how the two of them together would make Honey feel if she knew, but then again they really hadn’t had the chance to discuss that part yet thanks to Alex. Despite the growing rage building up inside her over the situation and the way Alex was treating and speaking to her, Clara remained silent until Alex was finished yelling at the two of them. When Alex finally asked what, if anything, she had to say for herself and if she was just going to stand there, before Clara uttered a word she did laugh in Alex’s face at that point. She really couldn’t stop herself at that point. Once she was able to compose herself again was when she spoke.

“Wow…quite the little pistol isn’t she?” Clara asked Lucian with mocking amusement. “I can see now why you’ve kept her all to yourself.” She knew that teasing him at this very moment was probably not the best idea, but it sure beat the alternative. The alternative being the actually beating she really wanted to give Alex at the moment for both the way she was treating Clara and the way she talking to her brother. She pushed that thought aside and fought hard to keep herself calm. “To answer your questions…Alexandria is it?” she asked coldly. “Yes, I have plenty to say for myself and No, I do not plan on just standing here,” she began very slowly and deliberately so as not to be misunderstood. She let go of Lucain’s hand and rested both of her hands lightly on her hips as she faced his little sister. “First of all, it is ABSOLUTELY none of your business whether I am your brother’s girlfriend or not and second, it is beyond rude to assume that you can berate people like this in any way shape or form,” she scolded the girl politely, her voice never leaving an even tone despite the anger she felt. She was about to tell Alex that she was right about them not regarding Honey’s feelings in the matter, but decided against it. The girl didn’t need more of an excuse to be rude and Clara sure wasn’t going to give her one. “I understand where you might be angry for your friend’s sake and I can respect that, but I do not appreciate being treated or spoken to this way.”

She took in a slow breath, trying to remain calm, and let it out slowly. She kept hearing her father’s voice in her head “Kill’em with kindness and if that doesn’t work just walk away”. She knew that her father was right and she fought to keep her composure despite the urge she had at the moment to throw Alex head first into the pool. The thought of that alone was enough to make her smile inside and contain herself (at least for the time being). “Now, the discussion on how Honey feels about all of is this was a discussion your brother and I were about to have until you decided to butt in,” she stated, knowing that she sounded semi rude and not really caring at the moment. “When that discussion takes place, and believe me, it will take place,” she glared at the girl. “It will NOT include you in any way.” She gave Alex her best fake smile and took her time with the rest of what she had to say. “Now, I have done my best at the moment, out of respect for your brother, not to be terribly rude to you, but I can promise you that if you continue speaking to him or me the way you have, that will change very quickly.” She turned deliberately away from Alexandria to face Lucian. “If you would like me to give you a moment to speak with your sister alone I am more than happy to do so,” she leaned a tad closer to him and dropped her voice where only he could hear her, “Or if you would prefer, I could drop her head first into the pool”, she offered quietly, giving him an amused grin. She straightened back up and waited for his decision. She wasn’t about to just storm off and leave him to the mercy of his little sister if he wanted her to stay, but she knew she had been serious about what she told Alex. If Alex continued being rude to either one of them, Clara really would drop her head first into the pool. She just that if it came to that Lucian wouldn’t be too angry with her.

0 Clara Abernathy Hello bad time 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Alicia
June 14, 2013 2:18 PM

Alicia
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 15

Watch out for wonders of the world. by Alicia
Alicia had not known exactly what she expected, but she was pretty sure it had borne no resemblance to what she actually got. Her eyebrows climbed steadily for a moment as Cepheus began describing the fuller details of his situation, in vague terms that made her momentarily think how they sounded like the two least competent new spies ever, and she observed that he did indeed appear to still be alive in spite of what he was telling her.

“Yeah,” she said when he asked for her silence, with only a twinge of regret. Theresa lacked the social skills to be, in Alicia’s opinion, a real threat, but her family name made her someone Alicia would have loved to present to Sonora as a man-stealing little tramp, just as she would have loved to see something similar happen with dour Alex Devereux or particularly Arabella Brockert. It wasn’t rational at all, especially since she didn’t have to worry about Arabella interfering with any of her boys anymore, but if they were all hooking up with each other’s husbands and all that, then morally speaking, they were at the very least no better than she was. But Cepheus was her friend, so she could restrain herself. “Of course.”

She lifted the ends of her own hair. “That’s…that’s some luck,” she could only say in conclusion. Even if the situation hadn’t been so public – and she did wonder what people thought of the two of them whispering so much; hopefully, they thought they were plotting something grand -– she wasn’t sure she would have been able to think of much more to say.

His next statement, though, was much more to her liking. “Me?” she, amused and disbelieving, asked. She could just imagine the look on her grandfather’s face if she revealed that one of the great South Carolina Careys was jealous of her over a boy, one they didn’t even want the same kind of relationship with. It was understandable, she’d had her moments of being jealous of Thad’s cousins, but no less delightful for that. “That’s one I never thought I would see happen.”

Jealous! Of her. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought. All the times she had been jealous of Theresa – her family, her looks, her ability to sail through life without, as far as Alicia could tell, putting in the first bit of work, just because she had those other two things – and now this. Her, an object of envy, rather than just the one doing the envying. It felt good.

“I wish I could return the compliment, but I think Thad’s issues with you are all about Quidditch,” she admitted. He wasn’t, as far as she could tell, very possessive about her, though she tried to construe that as a compliment of sorts. “Which should be spectacularly nasty this year, I guess, with Arnold Carey leaving. How do you feel about that?” Losing his rival, who was also related to the girl he had an interest in, who was not the girl he was supposed to marry someday…it honestly seemed almost funny to her, but she knew it might not look that way to any of them.

16 Alicia Watch out for wonders of the world. 210 Alicia 0 5

Darina
June 14, 2013 2:28 PM

Darina
Peripheral
Written by:

Maybe... but still... by Darina
When Charlie said that he didn’t get her logic, she took in a deep breath and spoke. “Well, some people are naturally outgoing, verbally, you know, like my cousins Clara and Brielle, for example. Then you have people like my cousins Addison and Abigail who can talk your ear off, but only if you are one on one with them, they’re comfortable with you and talking about something they’re passionate about. Then there’s someone like me, who uses her clothes to start conversations when nobody I know is around.” she said, shrugging.

“Besides, I figured that someone would have something to say, be it good or bad, but either way, it still starts the conversation, right?” she asked him. When Charlie said that it was a relief that she knew her basics, she nodded. “Yeah, I know…” she chuckled at him and smiled back to him.

“I’ll swim if you’ll swim with me!” she added with a sly smile. “You’re cool, we should be friends!” she added as she pulled off her shirt and orange board shorts. She set them on a chair by the water, leaving her in her polka dotted bathing suit bottoms and brightly striped suit top. She grinned, guessing what was going through Charlie’s head right then, blushed a little bit and jumped into the water right next to Charlie with a neat little splash.

0 Darina Maybe... but still... 0 Darina 0 5

Thaddeus
June 14, 2013 5:56 PM

Thaddeus
Peripheral
Written by:

Wait for it... by Thaddeus
Thaddeus sat in his little pool of calm beside Ji-Eun and smiled. His first week hadn't been exceptional, but excluding his little mishap on the Quidditch Pitch it had at least been alright. He couldn't wait to start work as a library assistant, for the first time taking charge of his all-consuming crave of books. His classes all seemed slightly sluggish in pace, but what material there was was stimulating. Being the sort of boy who didn't fritter away his time socializing (although sometimes Thaddeus wished he weren't), he was already several chapters ahead in some of his textbooks. He wasn't motivated by grades, or even by academic proficiency. Instead, Thaddeus worked for the pleasure of solving the puzzles which invariably presented themselves to him. Looking up the specs of a botched potion would become a hunt for the genealogy of bezoars, which of course segued in turn into some entirely new field of study. It was fascinating to see how much knowledge there was out in the world that was ignored by other people every day.

Thaddeus didn't quite know how to express this set of feelings to Ji-Eun, so he selected what he considered the salient points and composed them into a sloppy run-on sentence: "Well, I fell off a broom and probably made my friend really mad, but I guess classes are pretty neat, and, uh, I signed up to help out in the library which will probably be helpful with research and whatnot for the, erm, for the aforementioned neat classes. So, uh, I guess that averages out to an okay week." Thaddeus blushed when he realized how long he'd been talking. Normally, he was nowhere near this forthright; in fact, if asked that morning he probably would have denied being able to string two sentences together in the presence of another human being.

Turning to Ji-Eun, he shrugged a wordless apology -- perhaps because he had been running at the mouth or perhaps simply for the clumsy way he strung his words together or perhaps for even daring to sit down next to her in the first place. "How was yours?"

0 Thaddeus Wait for it... 0 Thaddeus 0 5

Lucian and Alex
June 15, 2013 2:19 PM

Lucian and Alex
Peripheral
Written by:

Hello. Can't say it has been a pleasure to meet you. by Lucian and Alex
Looking at her with amusement, Lucian thought that Clara was handling the situation quite well. He never saw her angry really, so when she started telling his sister off it caught him by surprise. “Yes, she is quite the pistol,” he agreed finally, “I don’t try to keep her to myself, if anything I try to avoid her because of situations like this.” He knew it probably sounded a little harsh, but he and his sister did not have the best relationship. They were only a year apart from each other in age, but it seemed like a lot more when she threw tantrums like this. He found it quite embarrassing.

He continued listening as Clara spoke to his sister, and considered what to do next. Clara had suggested giving him some time to speak alone with his sister, or offered to throw Alex into the pool. While the second suggestion would be quite hilarious to watch, he figured it was a bad idea and would just draw more attention to them. However, he also didn’t see how he would talk any sense into Alex at this point. He was the main target of Alex’s anger, not Clara, which gave him an idea.

“Actually,” he said quietly, leaning closer to Clara so only she could hear, “I was thinking that maybe you could try knocking some sense into her. Figuratively speaking of course. If I try talking to her in front of all these people, she is just going to make a bigger spectacle of things. I am going to go wait for you by the ice cream. Escape when you can.”

With that, he shook his head at Alex, who was standing in front of them tapping her foot anxiously on the ground, and walked to the ice cream table. He wasn’t sure how this was going to go, but he figured it couldn’t turn out much worse. He would have stayed if he thought Clara couldn’t handle his sister. Maybe what Alex needed was a firm hand and someone to give her a taste of her own medicine.

*******
After Lucian walked away, Alex channeled all of her disgust and repulsion towards Clara. “First of all,” she began, after listening to the girl scold her as though she were a small child, “My name is Alexandra.” Honestly, if she was going to try to insult her she should at least know how to say her name correctly. “Also, you do not need to speak to me slowly. I am quite capable of understanding you. I probably have a higher IQ than you anyways.” She had lowered her voice a bit now, and had crossed her arms across her chest.

“Now that you have scolded me as though you are my mother, which clearly you are not because my mother has much more class, I will point out the statements you made that are incorrect.” She faked a smile, for she believed that there was no way Clara was possibly going to win an argument against her.

“You are wrong in saying that it is none of my business if my brother chooses to prance around with some strange girl, who has no sense of style, when he is betrothed to someone else. It is most definitely my business. Let me explain this to you, since your family clearly does not uphold proper Pureblood etiquette and practices.” She took a breath, pausing for a moment, and began explaining.

“The actions and choices we make reflect on our family. Someday he is going to be expected to take over our family’s businesses. He cannot possibly do that by running away with some random girl instead of marrying the girl he is betrothed to. You see, everything our parents set up for us is part of a future plan. They select betrothals carefully, for they are in part a business deal. It actually makes our lives easier, but my brother is too stupid to understand that. Instead he thinks he is going to find love or whatever.”

She stopped, allowing Clara some time to digest and process what she just told her. Alex figured she put it in simple enough terms that even Clara could understand it. “You also said that I cannot berate people,” Alex started speaking once more, “but I actually can when they are being inconsiderate of my friend’s feelings, as well as mine. You need to realize that what you are doing is not simply between you and my brother. It affects everyone involved. You also have to decide how you would feel about him losing connections and further embarrassing everyone involved. Perhaps you should think about that before you try to drive a wedge between him and his family. My mother may even see to it that he is transferred to another school.”

Alex was sure she was being a bit dramatic when describing what would happen if her brother continued to flirt and be seen constantly with Clara, but she didn’t care. She thought her last statement was a nice touch. Since Clara was obviously emotionally involved with Lucian, surely she would care about him not getting along with his family, or being sent to another school. Alex was sure that Clara and Lucian would have a lot to talk about later.

She thought for a moment, and decided to add one last statement. “Oh, and keep this in mind. I am like a train. I cannot be stopped, and eventually, we will collide. I always have a way of getting what I want.” Satisfied with herself, Alex turned to leave, not intending on giving Clara a chance to response.

0 Lucian and Alex Hello. Can't say it has been a pleasure to meet you. 0 Lucian and Alex 0 5

Clara
June 16, 2013 1:37 AM

Clara
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

Feeling is mutual by Clara
Clara nodded slightly at Lucian’s comments and watched him walk away from the two of them. She thought about the idea of literally boxing Alex’s ears in, but thought better of it. As good as it would feel to stomp the girl into the ground, despite what Alex may think of her, Clara had a lot more class than that. She waited for him to be out of earshot before she turned back to face Alex. Alex appeared to wait until her brother walked away as well before she bit into Clara more. She first corrected her on the pronunciation of her name. She returned the fake smile Alex gave her at the correction. She mirrored Alex’s move of crossing her arms over her chest. She gave Alex a bored look as she listened to the girl insult her some more. Clara was actually proud of how calm she was being despite the rage she felt. Funny though, as she continued listening to Alex, she also felt sorry for her. In a way she understood how the whole betrothal thing felt since her family was considering the same for her, but there was a distinct difference between why her family chose the betrothals and why Alex’s did. Clara’s family at least believed in compatibility when choosing betrothals. It appeared that Alex’s family believed in them just for the sake of a good business deal. Clara knew that most, if not all, traditional Pureblood families operated the same way and was kind-of glad that her own family didn’t behave that way.

Clara remained stone-faced even through the parts of Alex’s comments that were meant to make her feel bad about liking Lucian. She had to admit that despite Alex’s clear dislike for her that the girl obviously cared about something. The real question was what did Alex really care about? Clara was willing to bet that it wasn’t her brother she cared too much about given the comment she made about him being stupid for wanting to find love or whatever as she put it. She was fairly certain that she cared for her mother given the fact that she felt her mother had class. Clara had no idea how Alex felt about her father given that she hadn’t really mentioned him at all so she was pretty sure she couldn’t use that as a playing card. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She could, but it would have been an extremely low blow on her part and she was trying to be the bigger person here. She had an interesting feeling that Alex didn’t really want Lucian marrying her friend anymore than she wanted to see him with Clara. She got that inkling from the fact that any reference she made to Honey, she only used the girl’s name once. That told Clara that while she may claim Honey as a friend of sorts, she’s not thrilled with the idea of having her as a sister-in-law. Clara could always be wrong about that, but she doubted it. She found herself curiously wondering how exactly Alex was being hurt in any way by any of this.

Clara continued to stare at Alex as she decided how best to reply to Alex’s comments. While Alex made a couple of interesting points, Clara wasn’t going to tell her that. While the idea of driving a wedge between him and his family was not something she really wanted to be responsible for, she couldn’t help wondering if it would really happen as Alex was suggesting. She also wondered if Lucian’s mother really would send him to another school if she knew that he was involved with Clara in any way. She really likes to play dirty doesn’t she? she thought to herself as Alex used her brother as a way to manipulate her. Clara actually smiled a bit when Alex said that she always found a way to get what she wanted. That makes two of us Clara smiled to herself. Clara considered letting Alex just walk away when she was done, but Clara wanted to give Alexandra a few things to think of herself before she did. “Ya know Alexandra,” she began calmly, “I really feel sorry for you. I do. It must really suck deep down to know that you’re basically just a bargaining chip your parents can use to get what they want out of the…what did you call it? Oh right…business deal,” she pointed out using Alex’s own words. “If Lucian is expected to take over your family’s business someday, where does that leave you? It doesn’t sound at all to me like you get anything out of that deal except for in-laws you possibly won’t like. The flip side of that coin is that your own betrothed inherits his stuff thanks to marrying you, but you still don’t really get anything out of that “deal” except for assumed prestige and again more possibly creepy in-laws.”

Clara had considered saying something about the possible embarrassment Lucian was supposedly putting everyone through by being involved with her, but she left that part alone. “Its not wrong of Lucian to want to be with someone who will ACTUALLY make him happy as opposed to someone he’s been told will EVENTUALLY make him happy. There is a difference.” She glanced towards where Lucian waited for her and smiled. “Wouldn’t you want that for yourself someday? Or are you really content with being a bargaining chip and settling for eventually?” she asked seriously, uncrossing her arms. She rested her hands lightly on her hips. “I’m really not sure what you’re angrier about Alexandra. The fact that Lucian isn‘t afraid of going after the things he wants and you are? Or because you’re afraid that if he actually does he’ll leave you behind and never look back?” She knew that might have struck a nerve, but she felt it needed to be said. Whether or not Alexandra continued to walk away at that point Clara could really care less. She said what she meant to and that was that. She turned her back completely on Alexandra and walked over to where Lucian waited at the ice cream stand. “I can see why you choose to avoid her at all costs,” she commented lightly, standing partially close to him. “If she were my little sister I probably would have put myself up for adoption ages ago,” she joked. “Speaking of which, if you’re thinking of using that suggestion as a viable option my family would be happy to adopt you. Anyone in my family would want to adopt you. Just saying.”

As Clara dished herself up some of the mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate syrup topping and colored sprinkles, she couldn’t help thinking about some of what Alex had to say. In a way she had been right about one thing…they did seem to be ignoring how Honey might feel about everything. She couldn’t help wondering if his sister might be right and his mother really would send him away because of her. Somehow she had a feeling that if anyone was jamming a wedge between him and his family it was Alexandra. She decided to do what she usually did in this situation…she told him what was on her mind. She took her bowl of ice cream and sat down at nearby picnic table waiting for him to do the same. Once they were both seated she faced him with her concerns. “Alex seems to think that you and I being seen together is an embarrassment to her and your family,” she told him in between bites of ice cream. “She’s also under the impression that if you don’t marry Honey like you’re supposed to and you leave her for me that it will drive a wedge between you and your family and that will be my fault.” She ate some more of her ice cream and gave him a thoughtful look. She could not begin to convey the amount of utter dislike she had for his sister right at that moment. Alexandra was very lucky that Clara was a VERY tolerant person or someone would have to had to fish her out of the pool. She wanted to tell him that Alex had also mentioned the fact that their mother might pull him out of Sonora because of her and she really didn’t want to lose her best friend over things that were said by his horrible little sister. She decided to tell him about that as well. “She also said that your mother might pull you out of Sonora because of me,” she told him seriously. “I know you don’t think I’m an embarrassment or anything, but your sister made it clear that your family wouldn’t feel the same way.” She finished her ice cream and pushed the bowl aside. She crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her legs, her expression thoughtful. “Besides, I don’t see how being friends with me could be an embarrassment to her or your family,” she said indignantly. “Its not like you’re actually considering the idea of ditching your family for me…that would be presumptuous on my part. Besides, I’m not even your girlfriend so I don’t see what she has to worry about.” She stopped at that point. She uncrossed her arms and leaned towards him sitting at the picnic table, resting her hands folded on the table.

“Am I your girlfriend as Alex claims Lucian? Or was she saying that just to irritate me?” she asked him seriously. “And if I am or you want me to be…what do we tell Honey if anything?” She had had every intention of talking to him about her anyway…might as well be now. She continued to give him a serious look as she waited for him to reply to her questions.

0 Clara Feeling is mutual 232 Clara 0 5

Alex D'Alesandro
June 16, 2013 3:03 PM

Alex D'Alesandro
Peripheral
Written by:

Some people are clueless. (Tag: Honey) by Alex D'Alesandro
“There is something seriously wrong with that girl,” Alex said out loud as she walked across the room after the exchanging of words she had with Clara. The girl was completely incapable of defending herself properly, and had failed to get a rise out of Alex at all. She had at least hoped to have some kind of competition, but clearly arguments were not one of Clara’s strengths. That is, if she had any strengths at all.

Alex laughed to herself at how deluded Clara was. A bargaining chip? Really? She shook her head with amusement. What Clara failed to realize was that Alex was the prize. Whoever she ended up being betrothed to was the lucky one, and she was sure her mother would pick someone suitable. Alex didn’t mind betrothals much at all, even though they weren’t based on love. Love does not provide money to raise children. Love does not always equate to happiness. Love does not always stay. Look at her father, for example. He left even though he claimed to love her mother. If love does stupid things like that, then what is the point? Emotions seem far too messy.

Clara was also wrong in her statement about Alex not liking her in-laws. She was quite fond of Honey and her family, and would not mind having to see them at family functions or events at all. She just did not want Honey to be betrothed to someone who could destroy her future, which is what her brother seemed to be doing. Also, she thought that she could do much better.

Alex laughed further at Clara’s logic about why she was in fact angry with her brother. She did not care what he did at all, as long as it did not affect her, which is what his actions were doing. If he left, she would be perfectly content with her life. Clara failed to hit any weak spot in Alex, because she did not have one. She appeared to not care about anything or anyone for a reason. It spared her from ever getting hurt. Yes, arrangements and betrothals were much easier.

Alex did not have many friends, which worked for her quite well. However, when she considered someone to be a friend, she would do all she could to protect and stand up for him or her, which is why she felt the need to defend Honey as she did. At that thought, she happened to look up and saw Honey approaching her. Alex smiled and waved at her friend, and started to approach her.

“You missed a really good fight,” Alex said, once Honey was close enough to hear, “I really gave that Clara girl a piece of my mind.”

0 Alex D'Alesandro Some people are clueless. (Tag: Honey) 0 Alex D'Alesandro 0 5

Alex
June 16, 2013 3:08 PM

Alex
Peripheral
Written by:

OOC by Alex
I forgot to mention that anything said about Honey was approved by her author.

0 Alex OOC 0 Alex 0 5

Honey Baird
June 17, 2013 7:43 PM

Honey Baird
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 13

You have no idea. by Honey Baird
“What happened?” Honey asked her friend. She couldn’t believe that she had missed all of the action, but convincing Heaven to go had taken more than a little effort. Honestly, she knew that they weren’t the most social of people, but sometimes, her sister was so reclusive that she even let her own life pass her by. If she let her, Heaven would simply go on to marry Henri, raise the kids, and eventually die, but then what would her life had meant? Honey didn’t think Heaven would ever be happy unless she was with someone that she loved. This was just the first step to that plan.

Thankfully, since their mom was such a shopaholic, their wardrobes were not lacking. She had opted for a tankini. She didn’t feel comfortable wearing a full bikini, but she felt that one-pieces were a little outdated. Hers was simple in a solid plum. The bottom was cute with strings at the sides. She hadn’t seen Heaven’s yet since she insisted on covering it up with a huge beach dress. Honestly, she had no idea how she was going to get her sister out there if she insisted on such things. Speaking of her sister, where was she anyhow?

Honey looked around for a moment, but shrugged. Oh, well. She would just have to try something else. Heaven just didn’t know what was good for her. Instead, she turned her attention towards Alex. “So, why were you fighting with Clara? Is it because she hangs around with Lucian? Because I honestly don’t care that she does.” She knew that sounded bad and she knew that it would probably sound especially bad to Alex, but she had to be honest. She didn’t want to marry Lucian ever.

0 Honey Baird You have no idea. 243 Honey Baird 0 5

Alex
June 17, 2013 11:24 PM

Alex
Peripheral
Written by:

Hopefully someday they will figure it out. by Alex
“I pretty much put her in her place,” Alex said quite proudly with a smile, “I don’t know who she thinks she is.” Alex continued rambling on about Clara’s attempt at insulting her. “The girl is completely clueless about how things work in a proper society. Plus she is rude. She goes flaunting her relationship with my brother around like it is nothing, and doesn’t give any regard to whether or not his family approves.” She took a breath, and almost stopped ranting, but then thought of other things about the conversation that irked her.

“Plus,” she continued, “She had the nerve to stand there and try to tell me how I am a bargaining chip for my parents…and hinted about how I am jealous because Lucian is trying to live differently and find love. Psh. So ridiculous. Most betrothals make life simpler.” Alex finally stopped talking for a moment and looked at Honey, who appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. Instead of waving her hands in front of Honey’s face to get her attention as she felt compelled to do, Alex waited a moment for Honey to realize she stopped talking.

Once Honey stated that she didn’t care about Clara and Lucian, Alex shrugged. “I didn’t think you would want to marry him,” she began, “I just think you should have been asked permission before they let things progress further. I found it rude.” Maybe Honey didn’t care what Clara and Lucian did, but Alex still felt as though defending her friend was the right decision. She paused for a moment and sighed. “Let’s face it, our parents royally messed up your betrothal. Heaven and my brother I could have understood, though I wouldn’t wish that for her either, but you and him…that’s just a mistake.” Alex looked around them curiously. “Speaking of Heaven, is she here?”

0 Alex Hopefully someday they will figure it out. 0 Alex 0 5

Honey and Heaven
June 18, 2013 2:39 PM

Honey and Heaven
Peripheral
Written by:

Might be a while. by Honey and Heaven
Honey let Alex continue to rant on about the fight. She did understand that their parents expected certain things of them, so perhaps, it wasn’t the best idea for Clara to test those limits, but she wasn’t that concerned over the situation. If Lucian chose to prance around with someone that was unapproved of, then it would be up to his parents to decide what was best. Honestly, she sort of admired his blatant disregard for the whole system. She made little attempts at such things like putting colored streaks in her hair, but she would never actually do something as rebellious as dating someone that was not within their ranks. But she supposed that some people were willing to do anything for love. Though, looking at them, she wasn’t convinced that he loved her. Liked, certainly. Loved, no.

She agreed with Alex that her betrothal was messed up. It should have been Heaven and Lucian. According to Heaven though, she couldn’t stand him, because he was such a jerk, but Honey thought there was more to the story. Looking around, she tried to spot her sister. “Oh, there she is! Heaven over here!” She waved a bit.

Heaven had gotten distracted at the sight of Lucian and Clara talking and had lost track of Honey. Thankfully, her sister had no qualms about making a scene and thus, was easy to spot. Unfortunately, heading over to her sister meant having to pass the couple. Sighing, she put her chin up in the air and made her way over. She would not let him get the best of her. She would not let him get the best of her. She would just keep repeating that until she made it past them.

Doing her best not to look, she walked to where her sister was standing. “Hey, so this is where the party is.” She looked around at all the kids having fun. She wished that she could be among them, but she had a reputation to protect and Henri wasn’t here so she had to maintain a certain level of appropriateness.

Honey grabbed the hem of the cover up. “What is this supposed to be?” She asked laughing. “Really, Heaven, I don’t think anyone is going to care that you are in a bathing suit at a pool party.” She shook her head at how ridiculous her sister could be at times. “Come on, guys. Let’s go grab some chairs and check out some guys.” She led the way over to some pool chairs. She smoothed her towel out and lay down on the chair. Turning towards Alex, she said, “I rate that guy over there a 7.5. He could have gotten an 8, but his shorts are really ugly.”

Heaven grudgingly admitted that Honey was right. She probably looked ridiculous wearing a beach dress at the party. She would draw less attention without it. Carefully, she took it off as her sister wandered off towards the chairs. Balling it into her arms, she adjusted the bikini. She supposed if she shouldn’t have been wearing it, her mother wouldn’t have snuck it in her bag. It was a nice bikini. It was white with sequins. The sequins started out blue at the top and faded to silver to give the suit some color and interest. Though, how one kept it perfectly in place she didn’t know as she tried to secretly adjust the bottom. Satisfied, she joined the girls who were rating guys.

0 Honey and Heaven Might be a while. 0 Honey and Heaven 0 5

Lucian
June 19, 2013 1:21 AM

Lucian
Peripheral
Written by:

Are all pool parties this eventful? by Lucian
After Clara walked over to the ice cream stand to join him, Lucian began filling a bowl with a few scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, and sprinkles. He nodded as Clara talked about his sister. “I can’t blame Alex too much,” he said after a moment, “I mean, she is only doing what she was raised to do. I should be the same way, but I guess I take after my father more. He was never a fan of betrothals and what the whole Pureblood society is about.”

Though she got under his skin most of the time, Lucian hoped to have a normal relationship with his sister one day that only involved bickering seventy-five percent of the time instead of ninety-nine percent. However, he knew he might be hoping for too much. He laughed at Clara’s suggestion of her family adopting him. “I may have to take you up on that offer if Alex reports back anything else to my mother.”

Lucian followed Clara to a table and sat down to eat his ice cream. He kept eating as she told him what his sister said to her during their confrontation. After she was done voicing her concerns, Lucian paused from eating and rubbed two fingers on the temples of both sides of his head. He had developed a headache, probably from both the ice cream and everything going on, and figured he would try the technique he always saw so many people using. It didn’t work out too well.

Sighing, he pushed the ice cream aside and looked Clara in the eyes. “I don’t think you are an embarrassment, but honestly, my family probably wouldn’t want me to be around you too much. Some uppity Purebloods are pretty nasty with that kind of stuff. They won’t even speak to people they consider, well, lower. I don’t think that at all though. If anything, I think you are above all that nonsense.” He smiled at her then, hoping to reassure her a little.

“As far as Honey and I, yes, if I broke off the betrothal then it would probably cause some drama between my family and I.” He turned his green eyes to the table and began moving his finger around the rim of his ice cream bowl. “That wouldn’t be your fault. I am responsible for my own choices.” He felt a bit saddened then, at the thought of his mother removing him from Sonora. “I am not sure if my mother would transfer me to another school. I hope not, but these days I don’t put anything past her.” Lucian focused his green eyes back on Clara. “I am not going to stop talking to you no matter what though. You’re my best friend. I guess it’s a risk I will have to take.”

Lucian wasn’t surprised when Clara asked him if she was his girlfriend. He had been expecting it since they returned to school. They never really made anything official after the ball before summer. He had put some thought into before returning to school, but suddenly he didn’t seem so confident in his decision. He liked Clara a lot. That wasn’t the problem. There were just a lot of complications that needed to be settled.

“Well,” he began thoughtfully, “I don’t think we ever really made anything official. I mean..I like you. You know that. I just think I should talk to Honey first and see if she would care, and maybe even try to knock some sense into my sister. We don’t want to have to fight her every time we walk out into public together. Plus, I worry that if things don’t work out, we won’t be best friends anymore.” Lucian was not one to make spontaneous decisions, so he wanted to give this situation a lot of thought. He didn’t want things to get messed up to the point where Clara wouldn’t want to talk to him anymore.

Just then he happened to look beyond Clara, and spotted Heaven walking past in some kind of cover up. She appeared to be walking around nervously, as though she were lost. “Ugh. What is she doing here?” he said, nodding towards Heaven as she began walking away from them across the room. “I swear, this pool party just keeps getting better and better. She hates my guts you know, for no reason.” He looked to see where she had walked to, and noticed her talking to his sister and Honey. “And to make things even more interesting,” he continued ranting, “she is now talking to my sister and Honey. Great.”

After a minute he turned once more, hoping that they decided to leave, but instead saw them sitting on lounge chairs. Heaven had ditched the cover up and was now wearing a white bikini. Lucian found himself staring for a moment, for he didn’t notice how attractive she had become when they had dinner together. He felt himself getting angry at the same time, thinking of Henri and how she practically threw herself at him and offered to give him tour. At this thought, Lucian scoffed out loud. Once he realized Clara was probably wondering what he was doing, he tried to calm himself down and turned his attention back to her. “Anyways, what was I saying?”

He couldn’t help but think to himself that girls were going to make him legitimately crazy one day.

0 Lucian Are all pool parties this eventful? 0 Lucian 0 5

Cepheus
June 19, 2013 4:56 PM

Cepheus
Peripheral
Written by:

Maybe dreams can come true. Eventually. by Cepheus
Cepheus had an idea that his story about him and Theresa at the ball wouldn't have been nearly as exciting to Alicia as it was to him, but her comment was a bit disappointing. But what else was she supposed to say, really? He wasn't sure if she completely disliked her or if she was simply indifferent to Theresa, but Cepheus didn't think there was an easy friendship on the horizon. At least, as his friend, he knew she would tolerate her. That he could rely on at the very least.

And it was some luck. After figuring out that Theresa fancied him and realising he fancied her as well, there had been nothing but torment on his side as he tried to deal with his own feelings and his responsibilities. In the end, he had simply disregarded his responsibilities for his emotions, opting instead to worry about what was expected of him for a later date. Such as his wedding date, whenever that was. And that meant complications arose which Cepheus was not looking forward to dealing with. But it would all be well worth it if things worked out. Cepheus wondered why Alicia and Thad didn't seem to be so visibly dramatic as he and Theresa were, but perhaps it was because they were not a dramatic couple in the slightest. Aladrens.

Alicia was pleased that Theresa was jealous of her, though Cepheus still didn't know if it was true or not. He hoped it was so that he wouldn't look like a liar. Not that it mattered. It wasn't as though Alicia was going to spread it around like wildfire. "That's fine," he sighed. He didn't think there would be any reason for Thad to be jealous of him anyway. Cepheus could see Alicia and Thad being closer friends anyhow. After all, they did have feelings for each other. "Thad and I can fight it out on the pitch and be done with it."

It was simple, being a boy instead of an adult. He could fight out his problems with other lads and bury the hatchet. But as he grew older, he realised it wasn't like that any more. He had to tread carefully and attack enemies indirectly and bottle up his problems instead of stamping his foot and throwing tantrums. It was not a pleasant change, but it did make him feel slightly more mature. Some things, however, like his disposition on the pitch, did not change.

"About Arnold Carey leaving? I'm thrilled. Absolutely thrilled. I want to beat him to the ground before he leaves and give him a bad taste in his mouth." His lips curled into a smirk as he thought of Carey's face when Crotalus defeated them. It was going to be nasty, but nasty for the Aladrens, not him. He wanted to be the one creating the mess this time around for the opposing team. There was no way he was going to encourage Theresa to come to any of those matches. He liked her, really, but he loathed her relatives. At least the ones who played Quidditch.

Being involved and beating others to the ground made Cepheus think of Alicia's involvement. "There's no librarian this year, is there? Are you still going to be a library monitor or something? You and Thad?"

0 Cepheus Maybe dreams can come true. Eventually. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Charlie B-F-R
June 20, 2013 12:35 PM

Charlie B-F-R
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 12

Yes? by Charlie B-F-R
“Why would you want someone to say something nasty to you though?” he asked, when Darina tried to explain further, including the fact that she knew people might make negative comments about the way she was dressed. “How is that going to start a good conversation?” If her problem was that she found it harder to talk when people she knew weren't around, he really wasn't sure how being insulted was going to boost her confidence.

He winced a little as she took her shorts and top off (luckily the top was over her head at that point so she couldn't have seen). He still didn't get it. How could someone who liked clothes and who knew the rules do that to themselves? The idea of butchering the thing you were interested in in order to try to attract other enthusiasts was just fundamentally flawed. It was like waving a dead cat around to try to start a conversation with your fellow animal lovers. At least they were going to be in a pool and so hopefully no one would see the details of her mismatched bikini pieces too clearly.

He didn't really know how to react to her declaration that they should be friends, given that he really didn't know enough about her yet to know if they'd get on. So far, the predominant mood of the conversation had been confusion, at least on his end. He decided to treat it as a compliment rather than an actual question or request. He didn't have much time to answer anyway, as she leapt into the pool near him, sending a splash his way.

“Watch out for the tidal wave!” he grinned, as Darina's head popped back up out of the water. He swung his arm along, creating a large swoosh of water to splash back over her before ducking under the surface and swimming away to try to avoid an immediate back-lash. After a few strokes, he popped back up, scouting about for her. After all, she shouldn't have been difficult to spot...

13 Charlie B-F-R Yes? 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Ji-Eun Park
June 20, 2013 12:53 PM

Ji-Eun Park
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 11

I feel like I might be waiting for a while by Ji-Eun Park
Ji-Eun grinned at T.L's explanation of his week. It definitely gave her more of a flavour of how it had been than the generic 'oh, it was ok' kind of answer would have done and she appreciated that. She liked the way he had explained it all. He was kind of funny.

“It probably averaged out too,” she commented, when he asked about her week. She wasn't sure she could be clever and funny about it, like he had been. And the things that had been bad about her week seemed too personal to share. She felt bad for holding back on him but she wasn't sure there was a way that she could make being disappointed with her house placement and scared of not fitting in sound off-hand and amusing.

“I like the classes so far, and I signed up for some neat things like the library, the book club and the baking club, although I've never really done the last one before so I might be really bad at it,” she admitted. It was a little alien to her to express feelings of self-doubt, however much she had them. She was supposed to be perfect at everything and that included believing that she would be. “If it helps, I don't think your friend will be mad at you for falling off your broom, even if you took her out too,” she tried to reassure him, “People make mistakes when they're learning new things.” She thought abut reassuring him that the only reason she had avoided accidents in flying was cos she kept losing her nerve and putting her toes back on the grass but she'd been embarrassed enough that Nellie had seen that. She didn't like people knowing that she wasn't any good at things, and she couldn't bring herself to tell T.L. about it, however nice he seemed.

13 Ji-Eun Park I feel like I might be waiting for a while 268 Ji-Eun Park 0 5

Alicia
June 20, 2013 4:04 PM

Alicia
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 15

If we really want them to, I'm sure they will. by Alicia
“Hm, you two had better not fight too much,” Alicia warned her friend. “You’re both strictly forbidden from coming back in pieces. Unless you like being yelled at and fed really, really bad soup during your convalescence, anyway,” she added, starting to laugh halfway through the last sentence, getting it together at ‘convalescence,’ and finishing with a smile. “I’ve never tried it, but I don’t think I’d make a very good nurse.”

Technically, of course, she would be as good as anyone else – medicinal potions and charms and binding wounds were skills which could be learned just like any others, and she would take special care with her friends, if by some bizarre chance they all ended up in a position where she had to take care of them while they were injured instead of calling in someone who was already a competent professional to do it. Or if she decided she didn’t trust the competent professional and decided to double-check everything herself, which she thought was a little more likely, though still not something she really expected to happen tomorrow. Either way, though, technical skill wouldn’t be her problem, it would, if there was a problem, be something in her nature which caused it. She wasn’t…very…nurturing, she guessed.

Her father was, she thought. Her mother, however hard she tried to seem otherwise, was not. Momma, in the one thing Alicia could genuinely respect her for, had had to fight hard for everything she had, and Alicia supposed that from her perspective, her children all already had enough and anything extra was theirs to get the same way she had gotten hers. Alicia did not fault her for that, since she saw it the same way. The world was hers to lose. If she didn’t want something badly enough to struggle for it, then she didn’t deserve it, and didn’t need it either.

She knew that, on some level, it was wrong because it was her Housemate her friend was speaking of beating into the ground, but Alicia’s dark eyes still sparkled with excitement as Cepheus described what he’d like to do to the Aladren Seeker. Seekers, as a rule, didn’t literally pummel each other, they left that to their attendant Beaters, but still. “Such violent thoughts, Mr. Princeton,” she said lightly. “I'll discreetly cross one set of fingers for you and the other for Thad, since you guys aren't playing the same position.”

She nodded when he asked about the library. “Yep,” she said. “Us and Henny. And Waverly,” she added, after a hair too long a pause, though she didn’t worry about it. With Cepheus, she thought, certain feelings were a bit more acceptable than they would be otherwise. Besides, it wasn’t that she really had anything against Waverly; she even, on one level, admired the girl for having the nerve and skill to rise as far above her natural place in the hierarchy of a year like theirs as she had. Waverly, however, had earned her reward already, and....

It didn't matter, really. She knew that. She could not care less what her parents thought of her, what her sisters thought of her, and least of all what they thought of her right now; there was a whole world out there which was full of people a lot more important than they were, and most people got what was coming to them in the end. If she couldn't succeed here, she could do it somewhere else, somehow else - it was possible, after all, that what she had was all she was ever meant to be, that she was someone who was just more suited to being the power behind another than to openly wielding power herself. Even as she knew she could live with that, if she had to, though, she couldn't help but want to once, just once, stand on her own, to be recognized for what she was instead of being just overlooked, underestimated, lumped in with her surroundings....

“There’s a lot of younger recruits this year, so you might have to listen to me complain about management problems every now and then,” she warned him, before the yearning for what she might never have could draw itself all over her face. “Sorry. But in exchange, I can listen to whatever you want to complain about, and unlike You-Know-Who, I don’t have a lot of relatives around to make things complicated.” She made a face. “At least not this year. My brother's coming next year, so not looking forward to that.” She glanced at him. "Another of yours is here now, right? How's that going?"

16 Alicia If we really want them to, I'm sure they will. 210 Alicia 0 5

Cepheus
June 25, 2013 8:24 PM

Cepheus
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A swim for old time's sake? by Cepheus
The thought of Alicia yelling at him while feeding him soup made him smile, but her laugh sparked his own. “I wouldn’t want to be your first patient at the sound of that,” he said, still grinning. He had broken his wrist in his very first Seeking victory and the medic then had fixed it right up in a snap. It had hurt, but it had made a great story afterwards even though his team hadn’t won the Quidditch Cup in the end. Broken bones and injuries were worth any victory especially if it was over Aladren. Cepheus longed to see Aladren lose to Crotalus for once in his life here.

It was with some relief that Alicia didn’t scold him for his thoughts against Arnold Carey as his mother would have. He smiled. Alicia was one of the most supportive friends he had and he enjoyed having her around. No other pure-blood witch he knew would have stomached his comments as nicely. He had never liked the flighty, helpless witches who would die at any sort of rejection from anybody. That was one reason why he liked Theresa so much and why he enjoyed Alicia’s company so. They were witches who could take their fate in their hands and make it their own. Different sorts of strong-willed witches, of course, but strong-willed nonetheless.

Apparently the Aladren trio, unsurprisingly, were library monitors and he was equally unsurprised to hear that Waverly Canterbury was one as well. He wrinkled his nose at that. He had interacted with the muggle-born before, but not recently. Since he had discovered her blood, he hadn’t been interested in pursuing a friendship with her. She was nice to look at, certainly, and she had an admirable spirit, but she wasn’t like Alicia or Theresa. Not even close.

As much as Cepheus wanted to be Head Boy, his pretence of caring for their well-being and transition into Sonora was getting tiring. He was naturally responsible, organised and had the authority in his mannerisms and his tone of voice. He just hoped that was enough to sway his peers and his professors. Listening to Alicia complain about younger recruits mucking things up in the library would almost be more than he could bear, but he would bear it for a friend. “Be my guest,” he said. “I imagine I’ll be hearing quite a bit about the library this year.”

She reminded him that Leo was back around and he smiled humourlessly. “He’s all right. He joined my house so I’ve been seeing him a lot more than Rupert. But the sign-up sheet’s a bit, well, blank at the moment, so I’ve been getting on his back to join Quidditch. He’s never played before, but he knows the sport like the back of his hand. I’ll be damned if we can’t play because we don’t have enough players.” He chuckled suddenly. “Seems like all things I talk about lead to Quidditch, hm?” His hands went up to grip the towel around his neck as he looked at her outfit. “Too bad you’re not dressed to swim,” he said. “I was thinking about going back into the pool.” He grinned mischievously. “Unless you’re willing for an unceremonious dip anyway.”

0 Cepheus A swim for old time's sake? 0 Cepheus 0 5

Clara
June 27, 2013 3:47 PM

Clara
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

This pool party just got really fun by Clara
Clara already knew that they hadn’t made anything official between them so his pointing that out wasn’t really a surprise to her. She also noticed that he hadn’t seemed incredibly surprised when she had asked him the girlfriend question, almost as though he had already expected it. At least she had made him laugh a bit with the suggestion of her family adopting him. At least in the middle of all this nonsense she could still make him laugh. She felt really bad for Lucian having to deal with someone like Alex everyday. He had it doubly bad because not only did he have to put up with her at home, but he also had to deal with her here at school as well. That had to monstrously suck! She smartly kept her mouth shut on that one though. They were already having enough trouble with his sister, she did not want to instigate her anymore than she had been. It wasn’t because she feared Alexandra…far from that. If Clara were less of a nice person she would have already drop kicked Alex across the pool room. The only thing(s) protecting Alex from said drop kicking was the fact that Clara really didn’t feel like getting herself expelled for fighting and that she didn’t want to disappoint her dad by getting herself in trouble for something so petty on someone who wasn’t worth getting in that kind of trouble for. As far as Clara saw it Alex wasn’t worth that kind of trouble or effort. Let her tell people I’m lame she told herself. I could really care less. Better to be accused of being lame and know you aren’t then to give Alex the satisfaction of stooping to her level and giving in to pettiness.

Clara banished thoughts of Alex even though it was a bit hard to do since she and Honey were apparently across the room from them chit chatting amongst themselves. She had heard Lucian groan and turned to his line of vision to spot Honey and Alex talking across the room from them. Clara almost groaned herself. Here she was hoping Alex had stormed out after having ripped into the two of them, but found her hopes being dashed when he spotted her talking to Honey before Clara did and pointed it out. Clara shook her head slightly as she silently agreed with his assessment that this party just got better and better. Apparently the very best part hadn’t occurred yet. Just as Clara went to nod in awkward agreement over his statement that he wanted to talk to Honey first about them to see if she cared or not he was groaning again. She glanced at him curiously and turned her gaze to where his was. She saw the girl in the pool dress walk past their table and she noticed that the girl appeared to be actively trying to avoid looking at them. She was about to ask him if he knew her when he inadvertently answered her unasked question. “She hates me you know…for no reason”. Clara was about to ask who She was when she saw the girl join Alex and Honey and noticed the slight family resemblance. That must be Heaven she thought to herself. She was about to ask Lucian if she was right about her assessment when she noticed that Heaven had taken off the pool dress to reveal her white bikini. She also noticed that he noticed as well and was staring at her. Clara wasn’t sure if she should be jealous of his interest in Heaven or amused. She smirked at him slightly as she watched him stare, crossing her arms lightly over her chest.

She almost unwisely asked if he liked what he saw and thought better of it. Instead she just shook her and laughed to herself. She covered her face with one hand as she shook her head. When Lucian turned back to her and said, “What were we talking about? she laughed out loud then. She continued to smirk as she replied to his question. “I believe we were discussing how best to broach the subject with Honey on how she felt about our possibly seeing one another…or should I ask Heaven where she got her bikini from instead?” she teased him lightly. She continued to look more amused about it than she felt. The only real question that was on Clara’s mind at the moment was whether or not he actually wanted them to be an official couple. Somehow she had the feeling that he was slightly dodging the issue because he might be worried that if they did date and it didn’t work out that she would ditch him as a friend. Clara knew that whether they became official or not, she was not about to ditch her best friend for any reason. “If you think the best course of action is talking to Honey about her feelings on this than I will support that decision. After all, it would only be fair,” she said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. “I just hope that you know that no matter how this turns out you’ll still be my best friend.” She made sure to add that last part because she had a strange feeling that he needed the reassurance. Heck, she felt better about the whole mess just saying it out loud. She could only imagine really how that made him feel.

0 Clara This pool party just got really fun 232 Clara 0 5

Lucian
June 27, 2013 11:59 PM

Lucian
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I can't wait for the next one :p by Lucian
Lucian blushed slightly when he realized Clara had noticed that he was staring at Heaven. He did, however, find her comment amusing and chuckled a bit. “Nah. You don’t have to ask her where she got it. I would look terrible in that color. White just doesn’t go with my skin tone.” He then winked at Clara and smiled, hoping his joke would make her laugh. It was nice to be able to laugh and release some tension after their battle with his sister.

He nodded at Clara’s next statement about them remaining best friends no matter what happened. “I was worried about it,” he admitted, “Sonora just wouldn’t be the same if we weren’t best friends. I mean, who else is going to tell my sister off when she gets out of line?” He had made a joke to further ease any tension, but he had already felt a bit more relieved. The worry of losing Clara as a friend if things went further and then turned sour had held him back from making a decision.

“I am going to try to meet up with Honey and talk about the whole thing,” Lucian said after a moment, “and then we can discuss this more after that. As for now, why don’t we head to the pool? I think our food is digested. You can watch me flail around during my poor attempts at swimming.”

He stood up from the table and walked around to the other side where Clara was sitting and held out his arm for her to put her arm through.

“Shall we?”

0 Lucian I can't wait for the next one :p 0 Lucian 0 5

Alicia
June 28, 2013 3:27 PM

Alicia
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 15

Afraid it'll have to wait. by Alicia
“Medic Bailey is definitely more qualified in that area at least,” Alicia agreed of her possible nursing skills. She’d put most of the potions she knew how to brew properly beside anyone’s, but bedside manner…Besides Thad, she couldn’t think of occasions when she wasn’t at least partially acting when she was being really nice, and that was different. Cepheus was another case, too; around him, she didn’t really even try to keep up the super-perfect act, which she suspected wasn't one he was overly inclined to respond well to anyway, unless other people were around.

That, she thought, was the most valuable thing about this particular friendship to her. As much as he sometimes tricked her into being too honest, he was also the only person she could really be even as honest as she wanted to be around. She had not been smiling when they met, and so the standard for her behavior when it was just the two of them was lower than the one she held herself to the rest of the time. They were the kind of friends who could admit to their inappropriate attractions, even if she couldn’t tell him that hers was actually far, far worse than his.

All her father’s fault. Her mother was called ambitious, but she was the one who had married beneath herself that first time; it was her father whose tastes, in this one regard, Alicia shared. She knew, in some academic sense, that it was wrong whether it was her or him, but she couldn’t help it; she was, she thought, doomed to misery no matter which way she went. And that was all her father’s fault, too.

She didn’t want to think about that, though, or the potential downsides of Theresa being jealous of her. She just wanted to enjoy her afternoon for once. She supposed Cepheus made her a bit lazy, too, but he couldn’t bring out what wasn’t already there, so she wouldn’t hold it against him. Besides, it was wrong, it was a weakness she couldn’t afford, but sometimes…sometimes, it was something she thought she needed anyway, just a little.

“I’ll try not to whine too much,” she promised when he promised he’d listen to her gripe about the library. “Who knows, maybe they’ll all be unnaturally quick on the uptake and N – the sixth year will remember that old age doesn’t trump experience and everything will be great,” she said, managing to do so with only a trace of sarcasm. “Though, the whole point is to show I can organize something after – “ she glanced around once more, paranoid, to make sure no one was listening in on them – “what I had officially last year, so….” She shrugged.

So, as much as she would have liked to kick Russell for not showing up and therefore making it impossible to use him as a fall guy and was anxious about the stance she and the other fifth year monitors had taken in his absence, Alicia couldn’t deny that there was a chance things would work out well. A chance. If all went well, then she might end up with everything she’d ever wanted; if not…well, being distrusted as a group by authority could be very good for solidifying the bond of her group, but she would rather they grew closer as people who shared power and respect. Though that, too, had its problems; one of her major worries over the summer had been how it might go with Thad if she had become prefect. There were only so many opportunities at school, and she had, in first and second year, permitted herself to make far too many friends. Now, everyone’s ambitions were beginning to clash with their feelings for each other, and she could only hope it worked out for the best. No matter how much she tried to tell herself that school was really, at this point, comparatively unimportant, the fact remained that honors earned now would be influential for the next few years at least and gave them the only chances for practicing at being adults that they were likely to get before they were expected to do the real thing, so she couldn’t just ignore all that.

Alicia winced a bit when Cepheus mentioned his brother being in Crotalus, though he seemed more okay with it than she’d be if it were Isaac in her House. She was reluctant enough to let Isaac in her school next year. “It’s all right,” she said when he accused himself of always coming back ‘round to Quidditch. “There are worse subjects.”

It was with some regret that she shook her head when he brought up the pool. “Another time,” she said with a laugh. “I trust my Transfigurations, but not quite for what I’m wearing yet.” She sighed and looked around the room. Her feet ached a little again just thinking about it. “It’s back to the party for me. See you later.”

16 Alicia Afraid it'll have to wait. 210 Alicia 0 5

Clara
July 03, 2013 11:31 AM

Clara
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

If you're there with me, neither can I by Clara
Clara couldn’t help laughing at Lucian’s assessment of his wearing a bikini like Heaven’s. She had to agree that he would look absolutely awful in the white sparkly bikini. “You’re absolutely right,” she agreed, still giggling. “You would look awful in the white one. We’d need to get you a blue one or something,” she teased, winking back at him. She was glad that despite the headache caused by his sister they were still able to joke and have a good time. She had to admit she liked the idea that he wasn’t opposed to her smacking down his sister whenever she got out of line. She would have liked to actually smack his sister around, but didn’t feel like getting in that kind of trouble just for Alex. Despite the scene his sister caused for them at the party she was still having a good time with him. She found herself nodding when he said that he was definitely going to talk with Honey over the betrothal. She had no idea what it meant for them (if anything), but she was willing to trust that he knew what he was doing and would leave him to it. She laughed when he commented that he didn’t mind her putting his sister in her place. She was glad that he found her doing so amusing and not offensive. As much as she wanted to be nice to people, that girl just made it difficult for Clara to want to be nice to her. It was almost like the girl thrived on making people hate her. While Clara might not care for Alex much, she doesn’t hate the girl. Hating someone just takes up way too much energy that Clara is not willing to waste on Alex.

Clara was a bit surprised to learn that Lucian was worried about their not being friends anymore if something went south with them trying to date (if they tried dating that is). She was glad that he seemed relieved to know that they would still be best friends no matter what happened. She was kind-of hoping that would be the conversation they would be having after he spoke to Honey. She decided not to comment on it though at the present. She smiled when he commented about their food being digested and tried to stifle a giggle when he mentioned them going swimming and was picturing the floundering he claimed to be doing as opposed to swimming. At least she thought she heard him say the word floundering. It was entirely possible that she heard him wrong. She was still trying to stifle her giggle when he got up from his side of the table and walked around to hers, offering her his arm. She smiled up at him and stood up. “I doubt you’ll do any floundering,” she assured him, slipping her arm inside his. “And even if you do, I’ll be there floundering with you. We can flounder together.” She winked teasingly at him. She walked towards the edge of the pool still holding onto Lucian’s arm and stopped at the edge. She slipped her arm out of his and leaned lightly over the side. She straightened back up to ask him if he wanted to try a splashing contest when her foot slipped a bit in a puddle of water near the edge of the pool where she was standing.

Clara lost her footing and before she could make any real noise, she gasped as her she fell backwards into the pool. She was pretty sure she wore a look of surprise all the way into the water. She completely submerged under the water and came up pretty quickly. She spit out any of the water she partially swallowed when she fell in and wiped the water out of her eyes. She glanced up away from the water and started laughing. “Well…I was hoping I’d make an impression,” she joked, looking down at herself still submerged in water. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind though.” She continued laughing at her own klutziness. “Join me,” she gestured, waving him into the pool. “The water feels awesome…well, when you’re not choking yourself on it that is.” She laughed some more at her own bad joke.

0 Clara If you're there with me, neither can I 232 Clara 0 5

Rina
July 03, 2013 11:34 AM

Rina
Peripheral
Written by:

Some help please? by Rina
“It’s not that I want someone to say something nasty. Its really kinda hard to explain.” she started, trying to understand how in the world she could make this make any sense when she began to wonder if it really did herself. “Its kinda a weird conversation starter really till they meet the real me and see that I’m not that badly uncoordinated, I guess…” she said, biting her bottom lip.

She knew what was underneath her shirt and shorts and almost didn’t want to take it off, but when he’d asked if she was going to come swimming she figured it would look better if she was actually in a bathing suit instead of clothes and instantly wished she’d at least matched her bathing suit! Sure she wanted to have something to talk about, but Charlie was right, she didn’t need to go all out like this. It was sure to create something she didn’t want. Why was I so stupid? she asked herself as she removed the shirt and bottoms. When she suggested they should be friends, she hoped that would be a positive thing and not a negative one from all angles. I can’t believe I was this stupid to try to start conversations… Charlie’s right… she sighed to herself as she jumped into the pool and sent a small splash his way.

She came back up to the top of the water and he grinned telling her to watch out for the tidal wave. She giggled and hoped that he took her question as a compliment as the water made its way to her and he swam away. He had gotten her just a little bit, just as she’d gotten him and she laughed, moving some of her dark wet hair out of her eyes. “Nice shot.” she said to him as he resurfaced. “Truce?” she asked, waiting for his answer before looking to him again to speak.

“And I’ve been thinking, you’re right. This was stupid of me. How do I fix this now?” she asked, wondering if maybe he knew something that could at least make her outfit match without having to get out of the pool this way.

0 Rina Some help please? 0 Rina 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

Pool Party!!! by Charlie B-F-R

Wendy Canterbury

Pool? Party? I'm there! by Wendy Canterbury

Carter Browning

Pool Party huh? Sounds like a plan to me by Carter Browning

Wendy

Better than schoolwork any day! by Wendy

Cepheus Princeton

Let me relax. by Cepheus Princeton

Carter Browning

I couldn't agree more! by Carter Browning

Virginia Bellrose

Let's make some friends! by Virginia Bellrose

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

An excellent idea by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

Ji-Eun Park

A silent observer by Ji-Eun Park

Aria Yale

I do enjoy a swim or two. by Aria Yale

Ginny Bellrose

Why, thank you! by Ginny Bellrose

Rupert Princeton

How about a slide? by Rupert Princeton

Adam & Charlotte Spencer

Doesn't this feel familiar? by Adam & Charlotte Spencer

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

I don't remember your little shadow from last time by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

Alicia Bauer

All right, just this once. by Alicia Bauer

Aria

I've never been on one for water. by Aria

Darina Porter

I LOVE parties! (Charlie) by Darina Porter

Rupert

That changes now! by Rupert

Cepheus

Why don't you join me? by Cepheus

Ginny

We have done this before? by Ginny

Clara Aernathy

Just looking for a good time (tag Lucian) by Clara Aernathy

Aria

I'm not sure about the chemicals. by Aria

Charlie B-F-R

I wish I could say the same for your outfit. What happened? by Charlie B-F-R

Alicia Bauer

I...could try, I guess (WotW). by Alicia Bauer

Adam Spencer (and some Charlotte)

In my sweetest dreams. by Adam Spencer (and some Charlotte)

Rupert

Do you prefer lakes? by Rupert

Cepheus

Just close your eyes and forget reality exists. by Cepheus

Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III

Wishing I weren't the same. by Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III

Chloe and Emery Jareau

CANNON BALL! by Chloe and Emery Jareau

Wendy

This is war! by Wendy

Aria

Yes, Mother created those. by Aria

Ji-Eun Park

Well, you seem to be changing that already (wotw) by Ji-Eun Park

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

I'm not sure what to say to that by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

Thaddeus

We'll see how long that lasts (also wotw) by Thaddeus

Carter Browning

Does that mean we get to cheat? ;) by Carter Browning

Ginny

Take it as a compliment! by Ginny

Darina

Rainbow vomit... Great Conversation Starter... by Darina

Ji-Eun Park

Still going... by Ji-Eun Park

Charlie B-F-R

Or staller by Charlie B-F-R

Rupert

Mother Nature, yes? by Rupert