Summertime Gossip (Nicoletta and Jordanna) on Crotalus Commons

Catherine Raines

November 16, 2008 10:24 PM

Summertime Gossip (Nicoletta and Jordanna) by Catherine Raines

Standing in front of the mirror, Catherine put her hand up to push her hair back and started at the sight of the ring on her left hand. She had been wearing it for a little bit more than twenty-four hours, but was still surprised every time she saw it. It felt too light to have such a stone in it, producing the equally stupid ideas that it wasn't real and that it might fly away if she moved too quickly.

She tried not to wear the good jewelry around her friends, but she would have to wear the ring. The formal photograph she and Theo had taken at the Gardiner offices had gone to the papers the previous day, and while she might go around the school bare-handed for a day, she wouldn't make it two before people started talking. This engagement was her one chance to make something of herself, and she couldn't do a thing to jeopardize it. Besides, she thought it was better to be honest with her friends from the start.

Now all she had to do was work up the nerve to do that...

Nicoletta, for reasons of her own, had chosen her supposed love over her family. Catherine had never agreed with that perspective, but she had supported her friend anyway. That was what friends did for each other. She twisted the ring, the edges of the diamond cutting into her fingertips. That was was what weaker friends did for stronger, anyway. What Nicoletta, who needed Catherine less than Catherine needed her, would do was completely up in the air, and she felt a little sick thinking about it. She couldn't imagine having a real fight with Nicoletta, but she couldn't start to imagine breaking off her engagement if her friend flat-out refused to support her, either.

She turned away from her reflection - as always, infinitely inferior to theirs - and stared glumly at the white package she had placed on Jordanna's bed, a birthday present. She'd never really worried about Jordanna accepting her agreement to an arranged marriage, but she was worried that the blond girl would resent it. Short of a miracle, Jordanna wouldn't have a marriage like Catherine's. She might not have one at all. Catherine could arrange for Jordanna to be Theo's main mistress - and she wasn't naive enough to imagine he'd stay faithful to her longer than it took her to give him a son - if her friend wanted, but it wouldn't be the same as a real marriage, and they both knew it.

The light caught the diamond, sending off sparks of red and gold and the occasional hint of blue-green. She was really, truly, engaged. She was doing what they had all been raised to do. She should have been expecting them to squeal over her ring with her, sigh over the better details of her courtship with her, laugh and talk about weddings with her. She should not have been worrying that they were both going to hate her forever, but she was, and she really hated Adam Whitney and the government for making it so she had to.

Catherine turned quickly when she heard the door open, her right hand going to her chest, and she smiled widely as it got through to her brain that it wasn't Carey coming in to torment her. Her left hand was half-hidden in the folds of her robes. "Hi," she said, a little breathlessly, and then she laughed. "Sorry; you know I'm dumb sometimes. You look great! Good summer?" She still didn't sound right. If some hope had remained that they wouldn't notice how uneasy she was, it had just flown merrily out the window.

0 Catherine Raines Summertime Gossip (Nicoletta and Jordanna) 66 Catherine Raines 1 5

Nicoletta

November 18, 2008 5:56 PM

No one beats a Hen when it comes to it by Nicoletta

It was hard to believe, but on this exact day six years ago, Nicoletta had entered a dorm room that would lead her to the girls that would become her best friends for all those years. She stood outside the door for a moment with a sense of nostalgia. Today would be the last day that she would ever have a first day of the school year at Sonora. Today, would be the beginning of the last year, she would share a room with her friends. She was not going to do it with less than her best. With a breath and a smile, Nicoletta turned the knob and breezed into the room, as she had done on the very first day and would do on her last.

A moment’s pause occurred immediately upon going into the room for it seemed that she had startled Catherine. At least, that’s what she assumed that she had done until she got closer. Something was off about the way her friend was presenting herself. Catherine had always only been able to hide things from them, as they allowed, which in Nicoletta’s case tended to be, because she was wrapped up in her private affairs and therefore, being a horrid friend. Of course, in fairness, she had never denied being a self-centered person and to some degree, she still was. It was just now she was aware of it to be able to make the effort necessary to try not to be.

With Catherine’s prompt about her summer, Nicoletta was dying to go into the details of the parts of it that had been simply wonderful, a tribute to really why she did look so great. It was because she was radiating happiness, a far cry from what she had been radiating at this time last year in her efforts to fix herself, but that was done and over with just like other parts of her summer, which had been less than perfect. Those details, however, would remain private and for now, so would the good. For now, she would be the not self-centered person and concentrate on her friends’ lives, choosing to share her happiness later.

“Summer was the usual,” she said compliantly, which was more to say it was the usual of being unusual. She added her gift, wrapped simply in blue paper, to Jordanna’s bed next to Catherine’s package, before turning her attention fully on her friend. “How was yours?” She asked, making herself at home on Catherine’s bed. It was clear that while the words were polite, she expected to hear more than she had actually given about her own.

0 Nicoletta No one beats a Hen when it comes to it 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Catherine

November 22, 2008 9:59 PM

We are quite the experts. by Catherine

She could have almost laughed at the word usual when it came from Nicoletta, but the joke was a little too grim. Nicoletta's life had gone up and down so much Catherine, at least, found it impossible to point to anything constant in it except their friendship; since Adam Whitney had intruded on the picture, there had been no two summers alike for her friend that she knew about.

At least she looked happy, now. Catherine had hated almost every minute of their sixth year, when she had always felt there was something wrong and she'd had no idea how to fix it. She'd showered her friends with as many small comforts as they would allow, but she'd suspected Nicoletta had the kind of problem that couldn't be rectified by the price of a new set of robes from the start.

The topic, however, went straight to her. Well, she'd known she was going to be caught out; the girl who could keep any other secret to the death could barely keep her opinions on an ugly necklace from her friends, and she thought that her own mother would have had trouble keeping this quiet. She'd been an heiress and a scandal since the day she was born; a marriage prospect was going to draw attention to her like a candle drew a moth.

"Not exactly how I expected," she said, then took a breath, closed her eyes for a second against a feeling that all her insides were twisting together, and held out her left hand. The faster it was done, the faster she could begin - doing, well, whatever she had to. "I'm getting married next year."

She wanted, very much, to defend herself and tell Nicoletta all about Theo and make the offer she'd worked very hard to get permission to make, but she kept her mouth shut instead and waited to see how her friend would react.

0 Catherine We are quite the experts. 0 Catherine 0 5

Nicoletta

November 25, 2008 4:07 PM

Was there ever any doubt? by Nicoletta

It was a very good thing that Nicoletta was already sitting on her friend’s bed, otherwise, when Catherine told her the news that she was engaged, she would have needed to sit. A myriad of emotions swirled through Nicoletta over the statement and most of them were more than likely displaying on her fair face. Had Catherine even been seeing anyone? No, Nicoletta was quite certain that she hadn’t been. If she had, she would have told them. That left the other possibility, an arranged marriage. Oh, how well, she knew of that. She could still picture Lucien. She could remember all of the details of their courtship, short-lived as it was. She had even kept the locket that he had given her one year for Christmas, though, she had no idea why. Sentimental value, she supposed. The main piece that she wore nowadays was from Adam, also given on Christmas oddly enough, a charm bracelet, the newest addition to which was an ice skate.

Thoughts of Adam left her feeling rather jealous of Catherine. It wasn’t as though Nicoletta wanted an arranged marriage. If she had, she would have stayed with Lucien, but it was jealousy over being able to have a wedding, to be married, and to have a future with the other person. She wanted to be thrilled for Catherine. She wanted to talk about all the details and help her pick out all the little things that would make her day special. She really did, yet, it was hard when they were the things she wanted. She wanted to be able to talk about the plans she and Adam had for the future. She wanted to be able to talk about how they were discussing maybe going to the same college or considering living together once they graduated, but there was none of that. There was only how much closer he was to dying, how much closer she was to losing him. It scared her senseless and was something she really didn’t like to think about.

A flash of anger followed by sadness surged through her. It wasn’t fair. Why did it have to be Adam? Maybe it was selfish, but there were so many people in the world, and out of all those people, why him? And why her? Why was the one person she was in love with have to die? Why did she even have to love someone that was going to die? Guilt entered the scene. She shouldn’t think such things, but it was hard not to when that love had only one end. But if she could take back that day in the library that began it all, would she? No, she wouldn’t, because having love for him offers her more than any day of having everything else. Love was, in her mind, the most powerful thing there was. It was also what made her worry for her friend on multiple levels. She loved Catherine like a sister. She was her best friend and she wanted what was best for her. She wanted her to be happy. She wanted her to have it all. She wanted her to have love, because she wanted Catherine to have the same connection to someone that she did.

Nicoletta supposed it was possible to end up with that connection in an arranged marriage, which she was still operating under the assumption it was. After all, her parents had been part of an arranged marriage and they had been in love, so much so that Nicoletta was sure that when her father went, he would take her mother to the grave with him. Her mother had no idea how to function without the man that she had been married to for over two decades. It was a shame really, but it was better to have been that much in love for that long than to be married to someone that you hated for longer. She wondered how Catherine actually felt about the person and decided that would probably be the best option to go with. “So, who is the mystery man? He is some dark haired intellectual or is he more the blonde debonair?” Nicoletta asked, her tone was light, as though she were joking, but wanted to hear more, which she did. Her face turned serious and she asked the hard question that she had to know, “Do you love him?”

0 Nicoletta Was there ever any doubt? 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Catherine

November 26, 2008 11:29 AM

None at all. by Catherine

For one awful moment, during which her friend's expression almost frightened her, Catherine was sure it was all going to go wrong. Nicoletta wasn't going to understand. A fight would break out. Their friendship would end, or at best be damaged. In her opinion, that wasn't much of a 'best', and she wasn't sure she took a breath between her announcement and Nicoletta's question.

She was almost relieved enough to cry. "Dark," she said, a smile creeping onto her face. "Tall. Blue eyes." A cynical part of her had wondered if her father had taken that into consideration, so they wouldn't have the problem of a baby with blue eyes and a parent with brown again if she turned out more like her mother than had been previously assumed, but then she'd remembered that no one else would have her. Theo Gardiner could have looked like the Potions professor and her father would have still accepted his father's suit for her hand. "Smart, too."

And then it came up: love. The theme of their lives, though she wasn't sure Nicoletta knew just how large a role the misguided passions of Catherine's parents had played in her life. She didn't say much about her family if she could help it. "Well, we haven't really gotten to know each other well enough for that," she said. "Our families are friends, but he's five years older than me and he's been pretty much living in Canada and Italy for ten." She glanced down, then smiled shyly at her friend. "I think I might, though."

She sat down on her bed next to Nicoletta. "He's wonderful, Nicoletta. He makes me laugh and listens to what I'm saying and - oh, I don't know. It's like he always knows the right thing to do. Like this." She waved her hand to indicate the object she was referencing. "He took me out for dinner, got both of our families there, and proposed, like in a story - you know. Like it wasn't arranged and he actually wanted to marry me." She beamed at the memory before another thought, a more practical thought, hit her.

"And I haven't even told you his name," she said, laughing at her own stupidity. "It's Theo. Theodore Gardiner. Their family owns the Daily Oracle family of papers." And a wireless channel and a theater, but she thought that, as she'd grown up in New York, Nicoletta would be more likely to recognize the name of the paper. "Daddy was delighted - it only took him a month to come to terms with them about, you know, my dowry and everything. They were very generous with us; I even keep partial rights to my inheritance."

If any part of the bargain had amazed her more than having a bargain at all, it was that. The Gardiners didn't need a lot of money - her dowry had amounted to only a little bit more than a formality - but they didn't own much property. Her inheritance, the Raines inheritance, would have been a substantial gain for them, and if Theo died before she was out of her childbearing years, she was free to remarry and leave it all to the daughter of a second marriage. It had, on a few occasions, occurred to her to wonder why they had allowed that, but she'd put it from her mind; much smarter wizards had made the match, and if their plans didn't make sense to her, it was because of her stupidity, not theirs.

"I have pictures," she said, gesturing to her trunk, "but I also have, well, a request." Catherine reached over to take Nicoletta's hand between both of hers. "I want you to be my maid of honor."

0 Catherine None at all. 0 Catherine 0 5

Gwen

November 29, 2008 12:05 AM

Gotta have at least one SASUH rep to make it a party. by Gwen

Gwen was on the stairs to her dorm before she realized she was intentionally dawdling, wanting to put off the instant where she entered her dorm room on the first day of a term for the last time. So much had happened since the long-ago first time she'd done that, and while she'd gone for years without really thinking about it, the enormity of what the first day of her seventh year signified was enough to make her freeze from a sort of bitter terror.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, making her light-headed and detached, by the time she got to the door. The faces of people she'd done her best to forget started running across her mind - Asher, Laura, Skyla Howard. They had started out with eight Crotali, eight stupid, ambitious children with no idea what they were getting themselves into or that there were things more important than their little problems and alliances, and now there were only five, and those five prime examples of how not to raise kids or use one's school years. She leaned her head against the wood with her hand on the doorknob, trying to anchor herself again.

The first time she'd walked into this room, she'd been Miss Carey of Bellevue, the eldest child of a powerful man, heir of that powerful man if her four-year-old brother failed to survive growing up Carey. She'd been the prettiest girl the Careys had, the most promising little Crotalus of the many, the unquestioned ruler of the Magnolia Grove nursery. Now - Now, she wasn't. She was somewhere between disowned and the North Carolina Careys, her father was, from all accounts, a drunk being forced to work under orders from the family and his insane ex-wife, her sister was the family favorite, and Nicoletta Dupree had somehow been voted prettiest girl over her head.

It was almost funny to think about that last. She might not have a place in the world, her father was a puppet, his ex-wife - she would not say 'Mother', not even in her mind; it stuck every time she tried - was on the loose, Morgaine was the favorite, and she was worried about the males of Sonora thinking her old rival was prettier than she was.

It was almost worrisome to think about that last.

Gwen straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath. It was bad to think like this. She couldn't think like this. She'd made a life out of pretending things, and she would pretend her way out of this. If she could make up fitting in at her cousin's home, she could convince herself that she'd return to the comfortable, familiar chaos of Sonora next September with her sister and Amber. It wasn't that hard.

She turned the doorknob and walked into the room and in on Nicoletta and Catherine, who were seated on Cate's bed. It made her want to smile, the sight of the two who'd started it all by rejecting her, but she held off. As she moved to her bed, she said, "Talking secrets?" Then she smiled, her lazy, teasing smile. That was an acceptable one, now.

0 Gwen Gotta have at least one SASUH rep to make it a party. 63 Gwen 0 5

Nicoletta

November 29, 2008 8:36 PM

Wouldn't be one without you. by Nicoletta

When Catherine began describing her mystery man, there was no denying the happiness that sprung into her face. She seemed to glow from within. A smile of amusement touched her face over how animated her friend was. It had always been Jordanna and her that had received all of the attention, but now was Catherine’s moment and in her opinion, it was about time. Even when they had attempted not to the centers of attention a couple years ago, Catherine had still managed to stand down. Why? She didn’t know if Catherine, herself, was aware of it, but she seemed to hide herself from the rest of the world when she should have been in the spotlight with them. At least, that was how Nicoletta saw it. And for the first time, remembering Earl’s words, she wondered if part of it was her fault.

A frown briefly marred her pretty features, but it didn’t last long, as Catherine went on about the possibility of being in love. He certainly seemed to be a Prince and as Catherine stated, it was like something out of a story. Jealousy crept in once more and Nicoletta brushed a piece of lint off her shoulder, as though it were the emotion. From the time that she had been a child, she had dreamed of having the fairy tale life. She was going to grow up, become betrothed to a wonderful man that she would fall madly in love with, and they would live happily ever after in his castle. Instead, there had been Lucien, who pretended to be what she wanted and when his mask came off, he wanted more from her than she had been willing to give.

Worry replaced jealousy as she thought about her experience. For Catherine’s sake, she really hoped Theodore Gardiner was a Prince and not a frog in disguise. Lucien had done all the right things too, but she had to remember that her parents had been happy and in love. Otherwise, she listened intently, nodding her head at all the appropriate points, while Catherine explained about the inheritance and such. It seemed so odd to her to be talking about such a thing when she had turned her back on the lifestyle. Maybe she did have a fairy tale ending after all. No one had ever said fairy tales last forever or that they even had a happy ending, but she certainly had her Prince. A soft smile touched her lips. He loved her in a way that no one else ever had and she wasn’t sure ever could.

Nicoletta wasn’t prone to being stunned and had only been so on a few occasions. This was one that she could add to that list. She had been asked not only to be a bridesmaid, but to be the maid of honor. She had thought that Catherine would pick either one of her relatives or Jordanna, but not her. For all that anyone knew, except for like four people, she was still among the socially unacceptable, which made the request all the more significant. She was about to answer when Gwen walked into the room. Blue eyes followed the movements of her roommate, unsure to how she would behave. She and Gwen had an interesting relationship from her first year rejection to her fourth year befriending to whatever it was they were now. She didn’t even know anymore.

“Aren’t we always?” Nicoletta asked in turn with a half grin. “Actually, we were just talking about summer. Catherine has quite the news, but I’ll let her disclose the information at will, which,” she turned back to Catherine, “I would be honored and we’ll need to discuss all the details, like the most important one of dates.” This was in reference to if a date had actually been set or not, but she didn’t want to ruin Catherine’s news. She flicked her eyes back to Gwen. “Did you have a good summer or at least an interesting one?” She paused a moment before adding, “I visited Adam in California and he came to visit me in New York.” It was so subtle, but the simplicity of a location told so much for New York was where her home was.

0 Nicoletta Wouldn't be one without you. 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Gwen

November 30, 2008 10:00 PM

I <i>do</i> liven things up, don't I? by Gwen

OOC: In the interests of keeping the thread going smoothly, Catherine's author and I decided to swap posting order this time. BIC:

Gwen chuckled at Nicoletta's answer. It was too common, in her opinion, for jokes to have a grain of truth in them; a truce might have been sort-of declared, and the lead girls of the dormitory might've been brought lower than even she had at the worst, but secrets probably still made the dorm go round. She was convinced, after her own mess of a life, that a Nundu could paint over its spots, but that it could never really change them.

"Of course," she said, pushing her private thoughts on them all back into their proper little cupboards in her mind. It was bad to think about anything but how what she said would sound to them when they talked. That was what she had to be focused on, unless she wanted to look like a fool.

To her surprise, Nicoletta moved the focus to Catherine. It was strange to see a girl who'd once given every indication that she couldn't care less about her devoted lapdog's true feelings now give up attention for her. Nicoletta's wording worried her, too: had she gotten so caught up in her family drama that she'd missed something major happening in one of the associate families? She was a grown woman, now, she had to keep up with these things.

Before she could demand an explanation - what, exactly, was Catherine doing to honor Nicoletta? - Gwen was asked about her own summer and heard a bit about Nicoletta's before she had to answer.

"A little flirting, more stitching, and misery," she said cheerfully. "All in North Carolina, of course." A wave of emotion followed that, and it took a moment to realize it was homesickness. She had no desire at all to sleep under the same roof as Alasdair and Morgaine, but a part of her still missed coastal Georgia. North Carolina was a lovely place, but the climate, the accents, even the way the air felt when she breathed it were just wrong.

She pushed that thought away, too. She was being a perfect sentimental fool about it all. Georgia wasn't going to get up and move anytime soon, and she'd surely marry some fool she could coax or bully into living there in the next year or so. Her blue eyes snapped back to Catherine. "So, tell. What happened to you?"

0 Gwen I <i>do</i> liven things up, don't I? 63 Gwen 0 5

Catherine

December 04, 2008 3:06 PM

Yes. You do. by Catherine

Before Nicoletta could answer her, the door opened and the absolute last person on the planet Catherine wanted to see came in and spoiled things, as usual.

Her first instinct was to insist that she and Nicoletta had not done anything wrong, but she bit her tongue and let her friend handle it. Denying any wrongdoing would have been as good as asking Carey to twist it around into something that was...improper, and Catherine didn't want to deal with that sort of thing on her first night back.

If they had been alone - she felt another, almost childish, surge of resentment toward Gwen - she would have thrown her arms around Nicoletta when she turned her attention back to her and agreed. As it was, her face lit up with a smile. It had taken more work and direct emotional blackmail than she had expected to get her mother to let her pick her own maid of honor and get Jordanna into the bridesmaids, and she had been dreading going home and pretending she'd been pressing a point by not originally accepting Lila's choice of Theo's sister, Nancy Gardiner. She would have begun laying out the dates as she knew them right then, but Nicoletta and a dash of prudence prevented her.

She looked around sharply when Nicoletta said Adam had come to see her in New York - she'd heard nothing of Nicoletta's returning to her home state, and she was fairly certain she had left it after she was disowned - but Gwen, whose misery she'd completely missed, demanded to know what her big news was, almost as if they were friends, before she could do or say anything about the location.

Catherine made herself meet Gwen's eyes with a smile. As a married woman, she'd have to smile at people who'd be much more important and distasteful than this one, so she might as well get used to it. "I got engaged," she said, showing off her ring once more. "This time next year, I'll be Mrs. Gardiner."

It was only after that admission that she realized she had the upper hand, for once. Gwen, like Jordanna, would never marry. Unless she ran off with her Pecari boy, she'd spend the rest of her life as a single sister who nobody wanted, living off the charity of someone else's husband. Provided that sister of hers either proved charitable or that there were more siblings Catherine wasn't familiar with, anyway. It wasn't kind to enjoy thinking of that, but she felt she had the right, and that the other girl had earned whatever happened to her.

"Nicoletta's going to be my maid of honor," she added, then turned back to her friend. "And Mother's working on all the dates right now - we've got the wedding set, but not all of the gown fittings and rehearsals and all. I'll write to let her know to send a few extra copies of the itinerary for us once she's done with it." As Raines was the richer and more influential family in the arrangement and her father wanted nothing to do with the headache of it all, figuring out who was to do what when and where had fallen to her mother, who was refusing to allow her professional party planners final say in anything. Catherine's wedding was to be the party of the century, and nothing could be allowed to mess it up.

0 Catherine Yes. You do. 0 Catherine 0 5