Breakfast and Interrogation (Tag: Jen Z) on Cascade Hall

Lizzie Lavine

October 22, 2006 2:18 PM

Breakfast and Interrogation (Tag: Jen Z) by Lizzie Lavine

Here it was a weekend after midterm holidays, and Lizzie had barely even seen Jen. It was ridiculous- whenever she tried meeting up with her best friend, one of them had a conflict. Whether it was homework, quidditch practice, or something equally time consuming, the two couldn't get together. That was why Liz had slipped a note into Jen's bookbag saying to meet that morning at breakfast. She was expecting a full interrogation on the Christmas holidays as well as demands for explanations. Liz had come prepared.

While waiting for Jen to show up for breakfast, Lizzie got herself a cup of hot oatmeal and honey. The mornings had been cold as of late, and this one was no exception, so the warm breakfast was a welcome one. Lizzie sat quietly, watching others milling about the Hall, greeting each other and whatnot, conversing on various subjects. Older student couples meeting up at the house tables reminded Lizzie just why she was meeting with Jen in the first place: to discuss "The Boy". It would be an interesting morning. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Lizzie Lavine Breakfast and Interrogation (Tag: Jen Z) 0 Lizzie Lavine 1 5

Jennifer

October 24, 2006 7:39 PM

Ooh! Me first! by Jennifer

Jennifer hadn’t been all that surprised to find a note from Liz demanding her presence for a discussion over breakfast. Given the lack of communication over break, this was probably the longest the two of them had gone without an in-depth discussion, and, if the sight she’d seen the previous week was any hint, there was a great deal on which beans needed to be spilled.

So she came down to breakfast early the Saturday after the note had been slipped in her bag, and was greeted by the surprising sight of Liz already sitting there with her food. Obviously, Jennifer was starting to get lazy if the chronically late one was beating her to getting somewhere. Supressing a grin, she situated herself in the seat next to her friend and grabbed some food of her own.

She didn’t say anything for several minutes, too busy eating, but finally finished what had been on her plate and turned to the other girl. “So, how was France? Are your other relatives a great deal like your Aunt Rose? I don’t think you’ve ever really talked about them before.”

She paused, not sure whether now was the right time to bring up the latest guess she had formulated about Liz’s life, then concluded that, if the past week had been any indication, if she didn’t ask now there likely wouldn’t be any time later. “On the subject of your Aunt Rose, does she know about whatever’s going on between you and Ash? There’s no way there’s nothing happening with the way the two of you act.”
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0 Jennifer Ooh! Me first! 0 Jennifer 0 5

Lizzie

October 26, 2006 11:13 PM

If you insist... by Lizzie

Lizzie was swirling her spoon about her cup, lacing the honey through the oatmeal, when Jen seated herself. Liz's casual grin greeted her friend along with a mildly cheerful "Mornin'", her Southern accent gently dropping the final 'g'. The time Jen took to eat gave Liz a few minutes to gather together and review all of her pre-planned questions as well as effective answers.

"So, how was France?"

"France was... interesting." she said, redirecting her attention towards Jen, "I mean, I can't even remember the last time I saw my cousins Michel and Giselle. I used to think she was a spoiled little brat, but we really had a good time together, Giselle and I. Anyway, it was a fun break. What about you?"

Three of the Lavines of Louisiana and the Lavines of France had vacationed together in the South of France for the Christmas holidays, an plan developed by Brett, Javon, and Lizzie's Uncle William and his wife Jacqueline. It had been a vacation Liz had widely spent on the ever-beautiful and sunny wizard beaches of the Mediterranean with her cousin Giselle, her elder by a slight margin. The beaches were filled with boys, but no matter how attractive and chaleureux the Southern French were, Lizzie found that her mind wandered back to the certain dark haired boy back home. It was becoming a habit. And a problem.

The next question then came as a shock to Liz as when it was stated, she was thinking just of that certain boy, Ash. It was a little weird sometimes when Jen did that.

"What?" Liz stalled for a second, then came back with, "I don't know what you're talking about. And besides, I told you, I'm not associating myself with that woman. She's no control over me. Besides, if I was in a relationship with Ash, it wouldn't matter since I don't care what Rose has to say."

With that defiant statement, Lizzie took a definite spoonful of oatmeal. If not to do anything else, the movement prevented any furthering of the answer to the previous quesiton. Why was this so hard for her? She had already told Jen she liked someone, and unless her friend was completely blind, it was obvious that Ash was the only one it could be. Yet saying those words to anyone else was proving to be the hardest thing to do.

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0 Lizzie If you insist... 0 Lizzie 0 5

Jennifer

October 26, 2006 11:40 PM

Believe me, I do by Jennifer

Jennifer nodded slightly as Liz replied merely that her break was interesting. She wasn’t sure just what that could mean, since there were always myriad ways ‘interesting’ could be interpreted, and, knowing Liz, any of them were possible. She momentarily toyed with the idea of pursuing that line of questioning further, but then decided she had bigger fish to fry.

“My vacation was generally pretty uneventful,” she replied in return. “Just me, my mother, and the family. And, of course, parties with all my mother’s closest friends and their conveniently aged sons. Although the parties were rather enjoyable, at least once I had gotten the customary ‘re-meet and greet’ with the mothers over with. Will was there, and it was mostly his friends, so the guys were generally nice to me.”

She studied her friend closely as the final question was answered. And she was met with success. She just knew the boy Liz had been so circumspect about had been Ash. The idea had come to her when she’d spotted the two of them on the pitch together. Granted, she had been quite a distance away, but the idea had been planted, and all the other minor things had occurred to her.

It was obvious, really, once one thought about it. Liz had admitted that she liked someone, and there wasn’t anyone she spent as much time with as Ash, nor anyone who seemed quite as right for her. Now all she had to do was get concrete conformation. She was starting to wish she had a bright flashlight or something, just to enhance the situation.

“Mm-hmm,” Jennifer responded skeptically after an appropriate disbelieving silence. “I wouldn’t let your aunt know you feel that way. From the few times I’ve met her, I doubt she would appreciate it. And, of course, she’s ‘only looking out for your best interests.’”

She paused again, slightly predatory grin on her face, and toyed with her water glass. “And, you know, I don’t remember ever saying “relationship.” I wasn’t thinking anything of the sort. I just wasn’t sure Rose would have approved of you being such close friends with someone of such different…social standing.

“But now that you’ve brought it up, do continue. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Come, now, there’s no shame in liking someone. There is shame in keeping something so major from your best friend, though. Probably a special place in hell for friends like that.”

She had noted Lizzie’s attempt at getting off the subject by starting to eat again. Pity it hadn’t worked, but Jennifer had gotten her teeth into this one now, and she wanted the story. The slight hypocrisy of the situation never crossed her mind with regards to Jake, because, as she kept reminding herself, there was nothing to tell.
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0 Jennifer Believe me, I do 0 Jennifer 0 5

Lizzie

October 28, 2006 9:59 AM

Of course you do by Lizzie

Lizzie nodded as Jenny talked about the events of her break in the holiday society world. Liz had been there before, being showed around like some kind of prized show dog to all of society's eligible boys her age. Well, maybe that was harsh, she knew that she had it better than most- at least her parents weren't around to shove her into all of those social planning sessions all the time. Only when Aunt Rose commanded preformance at her parties did Lizzie even go to those things.

"Yeah," she said noncommittally, but then laughed at the mentioning of Jen's cousin Will, "That blockhead was there? Well, I'm certainly glad I was not."

Being the youngest in a family meant many things, but in this instance, the innate ability of the youngest to sense when they've gotten themselves in trouble took over Lizzie. She had been caught in a moment of particular incongruity by Jen. Six years ago, a 'cutesy' playoff would have dissuaded anyone who should try and get her in trouble, but this was now, and Lizzie was 15. That kind of stuff didn't work for her anymore.

"Jen, I swear, you tell anyone, and I'll kill you," Lizzie turned and looked Jen in the eye, just daring her tell someone else, "I just- just don't say anything, okay?"

Lizzie took a deep breath and continued, "Okay, okay, so I like Ash. Are you happy? Does that satisfy your insatiability on the subject? Besides, it's not like I'm the only one here with a romantic interest, Jen."

Of course Liz knew about Jen liking Jake- even if Jen herself didn't fully comprehend it yet. It was easier to see from an outside perspective that the two of them were a good couple. \n\n

0 Lizzie Of course you do 0 Lizzie 0 5

Jennifer

October 29, 2006 2:14 PM

I suppose you want your turn now, then? by Jennifer

Jennifer ignored Liz’s comments about how glad she was not to have been forced to see Will. Personally, Will was one of her favorite cousins, second only to Gary, since Gary and his endless quest to try and get himself disowned was the biggest source of amusement whenever she was on the other side of the pond. So she just smiled and waited patiently for Liz to get to the point.

Her grin widened at the exact moment she knew she’d caught Liz. Her friend had no way out of this particular situation, and they both knew it. And it was only a bit of gentle teasing. Liz knew that she meant it all fondly.

Except when her friend began to speak again, Jennifer’s smile faded, and she realized that maybe the other girl really didn’t understand that this was all friendly. There was a ridiculous amount of hostility, so much that Jennifer couldn’t speak for a second, couldn’t do anything but stare in shock.

“Why would I do that?” she began slowly, as soon as she believed Liz wasn’t going to bite her head off or something similar of unpleasant nature. “You’re my best friend, remember? Why would I intentionally do something to embarrass you like that? And Ash really is a nice guy.”

She paused for a second, and then what her friend’s final comment sounded like it was saying hit her. But her interpretation couldn’t be right, because then the logic completely feel apart. “I’m not sure where you’ve gotten your information from, but obviously, if you’re implying what I think you’re implying, it’s wrong. Last time I checked, I wasn’t interested in anybody, and I hope I would be aware of that before other people were,” she finished, somewhat lamely.
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0 Jennifer I suppose you want your turn now, then? 0 Jennifer 0 5

Lizzie

November 01, 2006 5:58 PM

Naturally... by Lizzie

Teasing was something Lizzie could handle, on principle alone. The fact that anyone could find something horridly and glaringly wrong about her was a foreign and unimaginable concept. Sure, she had faults, but nothing exceedingly bad enough to warrant insecurity about. Besides, she'd undergone countless years (15, but really, who was counting?) of niggling and teasing on her brothers part, but she always knew it was in good fun. So why was it that she got so defensive and prickly at the mild teases Jen was throwing at her? Liz put the question to the back of her mind, as to prevent any further wonderings for the time being.

The look of almost hurt shock on Jen's face right after Lizzie had finished her little threat instantly set off a pang of guilt. She hadn't meant to be mean to Jen. She was, afterall, Lizzie's best friend, and a really good one at that. Liz regained her usual grin, however, with the resurfacing of the object of Jen's affection.

"Jenny, Jenny, Jenny," she said, putting an arm around Jen's shoulders, "It's cute how you pretend like you don't know what's going on. I know about you and Jake. It's obvious you like him, and besides, there's nothing wrong with the boy."

She laughed slightly with a grin, and then added as an afterthought, "He wouldn't displease Christine in the least, either."
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0 Lizzie Naturally... 0 Lizzie 0 5