If you insist on Aladren Commons

A notice in the commons

June 12, 2010 1:55 AM

<i>Sign up for Soccer!</i> by A notice in the commons

As usual at the start of the second part of term, the students would arrive to find the noticeboard covered in signs, sheets, and notes. Among them was a large notice in bold, black lettering. Any student who looked closer would be able to read the following;

At the end of this term, Sonora Academy will be competing against Rocky Mountain International in a Muggle-style soccer tournament. We are looking for enthusiastic players to represent that school. No experience required. If you would like to try out, please sign your name and year below. If you would like to be considered as team coach, indicate this on your sign-up. If you have any queries, address them to Coach Pierce.

Subthreads:

If you insist by Daniel Nash II

Goooooal! by Brad Hayman

Giving it a go by Samantha Hamilton

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Daniel Nash II

June 14, 2010 12:03 PM

If you insist by Daniel Nash II

Daniel stood in front of the Aladren bulletin board, frowning at a new notice he'd never seen before. Some Pecaris had organized some soccer pick-up games a few years back, but this was different. This was clearly official. Coach Pierce was involved and so was the Rocky Mountain International school.

Still trying to get noticed by the staff as a good Prefect candidate, Daniel was worried that being the Library monitor and a faithful member of the Aladren Quidditch team wasn't enough to put him up over James Anthony. James did better in classes. Daniel was no slouch, and he was pulling Os in almost all of his classes (it was not his fault that animals just didn't like him; though, to be fair, the feeling was entirely mutual in most cases), but if Daniel got a 98% on a homework, James would get a 99% or a full 100%. It was, in all honesty, kind of irritating.

Normally, Daniel was not overly competitive. No, that was a lie. (Daniel was trying to make a concentrated effort to stop lying to himself, if not to other people.) Daniel was very competitive. He liked winning. He liked doing things better than anyone else. He like being acknowledged for his achievements. He did not like playing second place to James Anthony.

It wasn't just classes either. James had moved in on Charlie before Daniel had stepped out of that race, and she'd gone to the dance with James without waiting to see if Daniel was going to ask her. (This was, Daniel could admit, his own fault for not asking sooner, but James was his roommate. It should have been common courtesy to ask if Daniel objected since it had been a widely held belief at the time that Daniel and Charlie were maybe-sort-of-possibly dating. James hadn't shown that consideration.)

Unfortunately, Daniel was equally certain that the staff was probably unaware of this impropriety, and other smaller issues that made Daniel certain he was the superior choice to be Aladren's prefect. He felt quite confident that he was not biased on his conclusion. James' only advantage, so far as Daniel could see, was that he was a hair better at academics (and, of course, decidedly more honest, but Daniel was equally confident that few people realized how habitual a liar he was).

Daniel's many advantages included much stronger social skills, involvement with the Quidditch team (shows teamwork and House spirit!), an excellent academic record (if not quite as perfect as James'), a position of responsibility in the library, and involvement in every school event Sonora had ever sponsored.

Of which, this soccer competition was one. Daniel hated soccer. He'd never been meant to be a jock. He was sorted into the nerd house for a reason. But he wasn't horrible at it. He'd played it at East Hollywood Prep during gym class. He couldn't play forward or midfielder. He just didn't have the endurance for that much running. But fullback or goalie was maybe do-able.

With a sigh, Daniel took out a quill and added his name to the sign-up sheet. Daniel Nash II, fourth year (Goalie or Defender) Willing and able to Coach.

There. More team work. More school spirit. More involvement. Leadership.

He had better get that Prefect position.

He looked over the sheet one more time and guessed he had maybe a week or two to convince himself that he loved soccer. It really wasn't that bad, honestly. . . he'd kind of liked it back at East Hollywood Prep. . .

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Brad Hayman

June 23, 2010 10:48 PM

Goooooal! by Brad Hayman

Brad had Gotham Central #22 in hand as he walked around the Aladren Common Room in a big circle. It was his favorite thing to do because he got to read comics and move around at the same time; the first-year couldn’t stand being still. His doctor had tried to give him Adderall after he’d done an ADHD exam on Brad the month before he’d come to Sonora, but Brad’s parents had refused to let him take it. He remembered his mom saying he didn’t want the doctor to give pointless drugs to her little baby, and that had gotten a rise out of Brad─he wasn’t a baby at all! He was a superhero! But still, he wasn’t interested in the medicine. Medicine was icky, kind of like supervillains.

As he was circling, he noticed a lot of chatter going on, which was unusual. In his experience so far, the Common Room was pretty quiet most of the time. It was nice because he could read his comic books in peace. He got really distracted when it was all loud. Having six brothers back home in Kansas made things really loud, so he usually had to go to the room he shared with Kendall and lock the door so no one bothered him when he wanted to pay close attention to a super-important comic book series like Superman #75. Just thinking about that issue made Brad’s mind explode from the craziness of Superman’s death! Thank God he came back to life later...

He jogged over to the gathered students, curious to find out what was going on. Once he could see the paper on the notice board that everyone was looking at, his eyes widened and a grin formed on his face. Soccer! He loved soccer! He played it with his brothers all the time, and he was actually pretty good at it. He only played goalie, though. All the other positions just seemed so boring compared to goalie. When he was in the goalie box, he got to save the world! Or at least hit and kick and knee away the balls that tried to invade his special zone!

He reached up and signed his name in his large, messy handwriting:

Brad Hayman, First Year

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Samantha Hamilton

June 25, 2010 4:04 AM

Giving it a go by Samantha Hamilton

Samantha stood and read the sign a couple of times. She had already signed up for Quidditch earlier in the year, and had somehow made her way onto the team. She'd always been into sports, mostly because she couldn't have grown up with her brothers and not been into sports. She'd mostly played in goal in their two-on-one games in the back yard and over the park, but she'd had a go at some other positions at Muggle school.

Generally Samantha preferred using her hands to her feet. Basketball, baseball, Quidditch - that was more her style. On the other hand, in couldn't hurt to be more rounded. Plus she usually enjoyed taking part, and it sounded like competing against another school would be fun. It would also be worth the exercise, especially since Aladren had been quickly booted out of the competition for the Quidditch Cup.

After much deliberation, Samantha found a pen, and added her name to the list: Samantha Hamilton, first year. Then, decision made, she thought she'd better see if she could still run. She tied her sneakers again, making sure they were secure, and then set off for the gardens.

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