Helena Layne and Anne Wright
June 17, 2006 10:47 PM
A semi-joyous reunion. by Helena Layne and Anne Wright
Helena dithered near the doorway of the Cascade Hall, knowing she had to make up her mind and make it up quick if she wanted to get in any breakfast before her first-ever class at Sonora but still unwilling to do so. On one hand, she'd known Anne for as long as she could remember. Being afraid to talk to her was almost as ridiculous as being afraid to talk to Geoff or Lavinia. On the other hand, it hadn't been almost three years since she'd laid eyes on Geoff or Lavinia, either. She'd hoped the older girl would look up, notice her, and wave her over, but Anne seemed preoccupied with the untouched plate in front of her and hadn't looked around. If they were going to get the initial awkward hey-and-bye done with now, it was going to have to be Helena who initiated it.Once she made up her mind to do something, she found doing it much easier than thinking about it had been. Less than a minute later, she was standing across the table from her oldest friend outside of the family. "Hi, Anne." And with that, the easy part and the hardest part were both done. Anne, who had been scowling at her eggs as if they'd done her a personal wrong, shot Helena a look of pure annoyance for a split second before she recognized her and smiled. Anne's smiles were rare, but they had the ability to alter the whole character of her face when they did come. When she smiled, there was nothing even vaguely intimidating about her.
"Never tell me you're Lena," she drawled, her voice a touch more low-pitched than Helena remembered it being but otherwise as always. "No way she's got as big as you while I wasn't looking." The older girl laughed, but Helena saw her fingers try to twine the ends of her hair around themselves as she pushed it back. It made her feel a little better to know that even if being nervous about this was out of line, at least she wasn't alone in it. "Sit down already! I promise not to bite." Anne actually held up her right hand, but then tucked the left one behind her back. Helena laughed herself and complied. "How you been, Lenny?"
Minus the 'Lenny', that was the exact same question Helena had been wanting to ask Anne. "Not bad," she said, beginning to pick herself out some breakfast items. "Putting up with the sibs, waiting to come here, listening to Mum mutter about how superior Hogwarts is to our rinky-dink little American schools when she thinks Dad isn't listening, that sort of thing. Haven't got to play much Quidditch lately, but I reckon I'll get back into it quick enough. You?"
It was subtle, but Helena caught the moment when the atmosphere shifted. Anne's expression was now a carefully constructed imitation of what it had been a moment earlier, almost believable, and her dark eyes were guarded, faintly speculative. Helena had rarely seen such looks on people's faces in her life, had never seen it on Anne's, but she recognized it. It was the sort of look socialites wore when they were trying to figure out what someone's motive for asking a question or making a remark was, and the look they wore while trying to simultaneously figure out how to react. It didn't suit Anne at all. The dark girl shrugged after a moment and seemed to relax without, Helena noticed, actually doing so. "Same old, same old," she said. "Spent about half the summer with my daddy's family. They're all right, I guess, but I like it better on the east coast. The weather's better." She shrugged again. Shrugging was Anne's defensive gesture. It meant she had something to hide. "Between hurricanes and earthquakes, I'll take the hurricanes. At least they have a season instead of just being random."
Everything seemed normal, but Helena had the distinct impression that she was being lied to, or at least being fed half-truths and stretched truths. She and Geoff were going to have to have a talk later on. A long talk. "That, and we're just used to hurricanes," she said aloud. "I imagine people from California would find the idea of taking the hurricane very strange."
"I can always count on you to see the other guy's viewpoint, can't I? Geoff, he'd just agree with me to make me shut up, but you tell it like it is." Anne smiled again. "I like that." Helena knew it was stupid to feel so pleased by the compliment, but she couldn't help it. The only thing that kept a grin off her face was shoveling a forkful of pancake into her mouth. Not as good as Mum's, she thought loyally. \n\n
16
Helena Layne and Anne Wright
A semi-joyous reunion.
59
Helena Layne and Anne Wright
1
5