Mateo and Jose Santoro
May 15, 2008 8:04 PM
Girls, Girls, and... No Girls? by Mateo and Jose Santoro
"No no, that won't work at all." Josh was saying as they left the passageway together heading to Cascade Hall. "Even if we did do it there, we would have to leave class just to set it up when it's not being trampled by everyone. But, if we do that, there's a better chance of us getting caught that way. And, the Professor of whom's class we missed might be on the look out for us. I mean, just because we're twins doesn't mean we get sick at the same exact time too. Especially since we aren't in the same house.""Okay, okay, Jose, it was just an idea." Matt stated, waving off his brother's banter. "Well, what's your idea then?" Matt asked, crossing his arms and giving his twin a 'come on, bring it' look. Josh rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't have one."
"Ha!"
"Aren't we getting a little old for it anyhow?" Josh asked, glancing at Matt as he did so. Seeing the incredulous look in his twin's face, Josh continued, "I mean, Elly does most of that stuff anyway. Just let her keep at it. Everyone likes her so no one complains. It works for her."
"What, and no one likes us? They may not like you, Jose, but I haven't heard anyone complaining."
"You made that girl cry." Josh pointed out, remembering the humiliating confrontation with that first year last year who had asked Matt to the dance. Matt retaliated by punching him in the arm. "Ow! I was just saying, there's at least one girl who doesn't like you."
"Yeah yeah." Matt commented, shaking his head and returning the the subject at hand. "Anyway, what about that map you've been working on? All that alone time with Danae, all that hard work you put into it. Wouldn't it all be for nothing if we didn't keep going on?"
Josh shrugged. Sure he had spent hours upon hours creating the half-finished map that was now hidden in his trunk in which he'll continue to spend hours upon hours to finish, but he didn't mind that so much. It gave him something to do. "I like creating things. Thinking up designs. Drawing the map helps with that. Besides, what do you care? You never wanted me to start it in the first place."
"Oh right, you and your dreams of building stuff." Matt replied, shaking his head. Matt had dreams making it big. Whatever that meant. While Josh dreamed of working hard and creating things that people wanted. These days it was hard to believe that they had shared the exact same DNA. It was probably a sure sign of how the two were maturing as they went through their years at Sonora. Not only mentally, but physically as well. Both boys had grown from their short 5'2 stature to a lovely 5'7. Both looked lanky with the height on them. Matt, however, looked more at ease with himself while Josh sometimes looked awkward with his knew angles. They still had a healthy look to them though, much in thanks to their mother, Lupe, who had been exasperated by their sudden height, had made sure they had eaten more than their fair share of food. Josh was rather surprised that they hadn't gained thirty pounds on top of the height. "Where's Danae? I haven't seen her around lately." Matt commented, quickly changing the subject before Josh decided to take his words offensively.
"Probably with Eavan." Josh answered with truthfulness. Those two had spent time together and Danae had seemed to have had fun, which only cemented the two girls together even more.
"Some girlfriend she is, leaving you all alone to go hang out with her friend. It's a right shame. You should put her in her place. Ow! I was just kidding!" Matt exclaimed, rubbing his arm where Josh punched him.
"Danae is not my girlfriend."
"Oh?" Matt replied in a tone that clearly stated he did not believe his brother in the slightest. The two of them always bickered about girls. Josh glared at him.
"It's hard to date a girl who's already taken."
"Really? You seemed to be doing a good job of it. I mean, with kissing her and all - Ow! Stop hitting me!" Matt complained, hitting Josh right back. "The way you two were owling each other all summer and her's were like novels! And you sent off pictures and even asked Sofia to help. Sounds like a girlfriend to me."
"She had a fun summer and wanted to tell me. There's nothing wrong with that. We're friends. Friends do that sort of thing." Josh explained for the umpteenth time to his twin. "She's never been to Mexico City or to Madrid and wanted to see it. So, I asked Sofia-who actually was really excited about being able to do it-to take some pictures for me cos that's what she's good at. Geez, stop worrying so much about it."
"Can I date her then?"
"She's taken"
"By you. Okay, okay!" Matt said, laughing as Josh threatened to cause him bodily harm again and quickly held up his hands in surrendor. "Can I date Eavan then?" He asked. Josh looked at him for a moment but shrugged.
"I thought you liked blondes? More specifically, Meredith."
"Yeah, but something's up with her this year. She seems... down." Saying that in reference to the blonde Pecari seemed so wrong. Meredith always had a smile. Always went with the flow of things. It was like the world had suddenly started rotating backwards the year.
"Why don't you ask her about it?"
"Because, it's not really my place to ask." Matt answered, actually showing signs of a heart. "I mean, I figure Elly and Echo would be the ones she would talk to about anything. We're friends, but not really close friends. If she wanted to tell me anything, she'll do it on her terms. No point in bothering her about it." Matt's candidness surprised Josh to some degree. Their parents had always taught them to respect other people's wishes and perhaps Matt was mature enough to finally understand that little teaching. Of course...he ruined the moment by opening his mouth again. "So, seriously, can I ask Eavan out?"
"You can do what you want, but just don't toy with her or anything, Mateo." Josh insisted.
"Who, me? I'm a complete Prince Charming. I'd never do such hurtful things." Matt said, giving a mocked hurtful look at his brother before grinning and speeding up to get to Cascade Hall, no doubt to look for Eavan.
"I'm serious Matt!" Josh called out, jogging to keep up and bumping right into someone else in the process. "Oh, hey, lo siento!" Josh quickly apologized to the person. "I wasn't paying any attention. You alright?"
6
Mateo and Jose Santoro
Girls, Girls, and... No Girls?
95
Mateo and Jose Santoro
1
5
Danae Dupree
May 20, 2008 10:24 PM
Well, how about one girl? by Danae Dupree
“Where did this come from?” Danae asked to no one in particular, as she pulled a colorful scarf out of her school bag. Well, she knew where it had come from; she just hadn’t expected to find it in her bag. She thought she had taken everything out, but she guessed not. It wasn’t even her scarf. It belonged to Eavan. It had been one of the ones that they had bought when they had gone shopping in the nearby city. She remembered how much giggling and fun they had, how silly they had been. It was a shame that every day couldn’t have been like that, but she was glad that Eavan didn’t seem put off by the whole party.Danae certainly had been. There really were no words that could accurately describe the mixture of feelings that accompanied getting ready to meet one’s future husband. Upset, angry, nervous, excited were among the emotions at that time. She didn’t want to meet him. She was scared that he would be a jerk or something worse. But a small part of her wanted this, only because it meant that she was growing up and the sooner that she grew up, the sooner she wouldn’t have to put up with her mother’s criticisms or her father’s neglect. Soon, soon, she would be an adult. But there was the fear that her husband would be worse, much worse than her parents. Fortunately, that hadn’t come to pass. If anything, Emeric was an incredibly docile person and she was amazed that he had been the one chosen for her. It was among the things that she had written to Josh in one of her amazingly long letters.
Eavan had teased her about it, but that was also because she knew about the experimental kiss. Of course, Danae had shrugged it off, as not meaning anything. After all, Josh didn’t think of her as anything more than a friend and, though, she might have liked him just a bit more than that, she never made any indication that she thought so. On the note of Eavan, she got up to return the scarf, only to be bumped in the back by someone. Before she could turn around, she heard a familiar voice apologizing and asking if she was all right. Turning around with a grin on her face, Danae didn’t bother answering the original question, but instead exclaimed, “Josh!”
Without thinking, in her excitement, she flung her arms him in a tight hug. Realizing what she had done, she quickly untangled herself and took a step back in embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I just…how was your summer?” She bit her lip. “That was a silly question since we wrote all summer.” She paused for a minute and when she did, she noticed that she was looking up at Josh rather than straight at him. Last year, they had been around the same height, and although, Danae had grown taller, doomed to be tall and thin, Josh had grown more. He now had a good three inches on her. “Wow,” slipped out of her mouth and she blushed a bit. “You’ve gotten taller.”
0
Danae Dupree
Well, how about one girl?
91
Danae Dupree
0
5
Josh
May 21, 2008 8:15 PM
One girl is plenty. by Josh
It took Josh a moment to realize who it was that he had actually run into but only had a moment to register it before Danae was hugging him tightly. Very tightly. Josh lost his breath and only just barely returned the gesture before she was pulling out of it and apologizing for it to begin with. Josh could only smile and chuckle. He was used to her being expressive to him, not so much with gesture like hugs, but with her words. He had especially grown used to it from her letters.At this point, Josh considered Danae the only one in their year that actually knew his family. At least in pictures. Upon request, Josh had sent her photographs and amongst those photographs were pictures taken by various relatives of various relatives. Lupe had wanted those to be sent too so that, possibly next summer, Danae would want to stay with them for a bit. Josh believed that his mother thought more to their relationship than there actually was. No matter how many times Josh told her that they were not a couple, just friends, and that Danae was already promised to someone else (Lupe was quite distraught over hearing such things), nothing seemed to get through. Although, it didn't help that Matt, Bella, and Jake believed otherwise too.
Danae mentioned his height and Josh's hand automatically went to pat down his hair. It was a self-conscious gesture that Josh often caught himself doing when someone either compliments him or makes mention of his physical appearance. "Er, yeah." He managed, his grin wavering somewhat as he figdeted. "Mama's not too happy about it. She had to do a lot of alterations on our clothes and then just gave up and took us shopping." Josh shrugged a bit. Uncertain as to why he was feeling slightly awkward in her presence. They had certainly spent enough time together for Josh to feel comfortable around her, but there were other reasons why he felt awkward with her. Reasons that Josh would not admit to because it would not be recipricated.
"I haven't seen you around much. Having a good year so far?" He asked, uncertain as to what else he should ask considering they both knew about their summers. He supposed he could ask her to go with him to work on the map, but Danae probably hadn't enjoyed last year and only bothered with it to give herself something to do.
0
Josh
One girl is plenty.
0
Josh
0
5
Danae
May 21, 2008 9:43 PM
If one is plenty, what happens if there are two? by Danae
Danae grinned at Josh’s explanation over clothing. She was lucky not to have significant growth spurts, which part of it she supposed she could contribute to being female. Not that there weren’t girls that didn’t have them. It just wasn’t common. The other benefit of being a girl was that she tended towards wearing dresses and skirts (and without growing much in the upper region), not many alterations needed done. More often than not, they just needed to be taken in around the waist, but even so, she still ended up with new clothing every year, just to keep up with status.Though, with being able to pick her clothes this year, it was something of a novelty. One of the favorite articles of clothing that she had chosen was one that she was wearing now since it was the weekend. Her outfit was a bit mugglish in appearance (thanks to shopping with Eavan) and was thankful that her parents hadn’t checked to see what she had purchased for school. It was a lavender shirt with a few top buttons, a couple left undone, with a white collar and sleeves, which matched the white pleated skirt. To top it off, rather than a more dressy appearance, she had opted for a pair of white tennis shoes with glittering lavender laces.
Her hair was left loose, as she was pleased at how quickly it was growing back, and as a habit, like now, she brushed her fingers through it. “It’s been interesting,” she answered Josh on how the year had been thus far. “Things have been different in the dorm.” She didn’t really elaborate on it at the moment since they were in a public setting and would have felt more comfortable discussing the shift in private. She didn’t view it as a huge shift, as she wasn’t horribly close to her roommates, but the small changes in behavior were unsettling to her, having never realized how much of an impact Meredith and Caedence actually had on her every day life. Though, it could be assumed that she had grown used to them over the years and wondered briefly if she had nearly any impact on them. It was odd to think about and she shook her head slightly out of the thoughts.
“Anyhow, I’ve been hanging out with Eavan a lot,” she said, the toe of her shoe absently digging at the hard floor and doing nothing more than scuffing it a bit. She felt little guilty over how much time she had been spending with her best friend, considering how much time she had spent with Josh, as at the time, he had been her closest friend. She still felt really close to him, but it was slightly changed given how much time she had spent with Eavan and given her confusion over the boy standing in front of her. She reminded herself that he was her friend, that was it and that’s all he ever would be. She had to remind herself that Emeric was a good suitor for her. He would be kind to her. “So…”
What else could she say? She mentioned her roommates and she mentioned Eavan. She really didn’t want to say anything about the end of her summer, as that had been a sordid affair with what had happened to her uncle. She supposed that she could mention the party, but it felt strange to do so outside of letters. It was so much easier to tell someone something in writing rather than to his face. Talking about Emeric and the party made her feel strange, like she was doing something wrong, even though she wasn’t. She could talk about those things as much as she wanted with Josh, because it didn’t matter. He was her friend.
If she didn’t talk about it, she reasoned that he might think that she was behaving oddly and then would ask her about it. No, that wouldn’t be good at all. She had to at least acknowledge that her birthday/coming out party had occurred, that Emeric had occurred. An internal sigh sounded from within her. “Thanks for sending me all the pictures. Everyone looked really happy and the sights were amazing. I have some from my party, if you want to see them.” There that satisfied the mentioning and seemed perfectly natural. Yes, perfectly natural.
0
Danae
If one is plenty, what happens if there are two?
0
Danae
0
5
Josh
May 24, 2008 5:45 PM
It's a party? by Josh
Josh nodded at his listened to her, though his eyes were on her hair (she had drawn them there when she was run her fingers though it). "Mateo told me that Meredith has been acting weird lately. He doesn't know why though, but I think he's a bit worried about it. He's started to focus on Eavan as a result, might want to warn her about that too, by the way." Josh gave her an apologetic smile and a shrug. "He doesn't like to think about bad things, so he think about other things in order to avoid them. Anyway, he says that Echo seems happier than usual, so that's good." Josh didn't really know what else to add to that as he only had things second hand from his brother. Crotalus was far less occupied with it only being Helena and himself. There was never any gossip going around about them. At least, not that Josh was aware of.He reached up and pulled on the end of her hair, "You're growing it back out? It's nice." He commented. He would have told her that he was glad that she was since he liked her hair long, but opted not to say that incase she took offense to him believing she had looked bad with short hair. Because he hadn't thought that at all. He just liked her long hair better. His hand dropped from her hair after the tug and instead messed with his own hair. He didn't know why he had touched her's. He supposed it was just his nature with everything.
"Yeah, I figured as much." Josh stated when Danae explained where she had been most of the year. It was only natural for her to want to spend time with her female friends. It must have been extremely dull for her to spend her time with him anyway since they didn't really do anything aside from sketch out hallways, classrooms, and another other part of the school they come across on parchment to add to his desire for a map. Or to just draw and create something useful. He had known from the moment she had sat next to him in that passaageway that she wouldn't continue to do so with him when she had finally grown tired of the musty corridors and working by wand light. It was inevitable.
He couldn't exactly say that he wasn't disappointed because the truth was that Danae had been good company while he was at work. She made it seem more fun and that what he was doing wasn't as stupid as Mateo constantly said it was. But now that was school year back in full swing and his weekends were spent working on the map alone, Josh had grown used to it once more.
"You're welcome. Sorry there were so many. Mama found out why I wanted pictures and insisted on sending a bunch of them. She wants you to visit at some point and hopes that if we look like we're having a good time, you'll be more inclined to agree to come." He shrugged again. His mother had strange way of doing things. "Oh yeah, your party." Josh nodded at that. "I told Mama about how you're going to meet the guy you're promised to over the summer. It upset her. Mama doesn't believe in marriage with no love. No offense." He added hastily. "Jules says it because of something that happened a long time ago with Mama and Papa, but wouldn't say what. Anyway, she wants you to visit moreso now than ever before. Sorry about that as well." He said, looking apologetic again.
0
Josh
It's a party?
0
Josh
0
5
Danae
May 24, 2008 8:12 PM
Could be a crowd. :P by Danae
“I’ll tell her, but I wouldn’t worry. Eavan’s a big girl and she managed to deal with Devian over the summer,” Danae replied with a shrug of her own, though, there was a bit of a frown on her face at the mention of how Matt avoided the negative. Having a positive outlook was a plus, but sometimes, one had to deal with what was presented in front of them, even if it were negative. Of course, that was probably one of the traits that annoyed her endlessly about Lucie, the way she always sought a greener pasture when the one she had began to dry out instead of taking the time to put the work into it. Though, it was that very opposite trait that she admired in Josh, his ability to put so much effort into something, into what he was creating in his map. She wondered briefly if he had begun working on it again and felt slightly disappointed on the notion that he hadn’t asked her to help.Luckily, these thoughts were long to stay for in the next moment, Josh had tugged on the end of her hair. She blinked in surprise, before her smile got a little bit wider. “Thanks. I like it long. Actually, I never really wanted it short,” she admitted. A slight shiver ran down her back at the thought of Marie, but the girl was history now. She wasn’t quite sure of the details, other than something to do with the new leadership of her father. Oh, she could make guesses about it having to do with placing Devian into the position, but it was a dangerous thing to say aloud. Besides, what was she going to do? She was only fourteen years old, not even fourteen and a half. There was no way that she would be able to stand up to her father. She wasn’t strong and she wasn’t brave. All she was doing was trying to survive her family, survive until she was married and some of the control would be broken. It was her fate and one that she accepted readily enough.
If she accepted it, Danae didn’t understand why someone else wouldn’t, her head tilted slightly, as Josh told her that mention of the betrothal had upset his mother. Sure, marriage with love was a wonderful notion, but it wasn’t realistic within the higher up pureblood society. Their children were their highest bargaining tools and as such, they were always willing to essentially sell them to the highest bidder in the form of betrothal. It was the way to make alliances and to keep the lines pure, so to speak. She wasn’t quite sure that she believed in all of that. She wasn’t really sure what she believed anymore. When she had first come to Sonora, all of her parents’ ideals had been in her head. She had naturally believed what they did, but then she had come to realize that one couldn’t tell blood simply by looking at a person and no one could tell another how powerful their magic would be. But she knew these thoughts didn’t matter much. At least, not coming from her. She only wished that she could take a stronger stand, do something daring, yet she knew she never would.
Of course, it didn’t mean she couldn’t be a little daring, right? The idea of visiting Josh over the next summer presented a bit of a thrill for her. This was all contingent, however, on her being allowed to. Her parents might not pay much mind to her, but they would certainly care enough that she was going off to see some friend. Mostly on the basis that they would want to check that he was from a good (pure) family. She was still amazed that she had gotten away with Eavan at their home, but that had been easier. Eavan was female and less questioning had occurred, but with Josh, there were bound to be questions. Without meaning to, she gave a small sigh. “I’d like to visit,” she began slowly. “But do you want me to?” It was a simple enough question, yet one she wanted to know. While it was nice to know that his mother wanted her to come visit, as he had kept saying, and she sounded nice, it wasn’t enough. She didn’t want to put in all the effort that would be required, and there would be a lot of it, just to see someone else’s mother. Hastily, she continued, “If you don’t, that’s fine. I just don’t want to be a bother, because my parents would want to talk to your parents to make sure that your-“ and here, her tone of voice changed to one of a snooty person, “upstanding purebloods.” Her voice switched back to its normal pitch, she continued, “Anyhow, you can tell your mom that I’m okay with the marriage. It could have been worse, and maybe,” she glanced down, unsure of why she didn’t want to look at him when she said the rest, “maybe, in time, I’ll come to love him.” Stranger things had happened.
0
Danae
Could be a crowd. :P
0
Danae
0
5
Josh (and a bit of Matt)
May 24, 2008 9:25 PM
Then four would be even worse, huh? by Josh (and a bit of Matt)
Josh didn't really know how Devian was aside from how Danae had explained things to him. Still, Josh hadn't ever known anyone like that, so he was uncertain really how one interacted with someone like that. But, Devian was nothing like Matt. Matt, well, Josh couldn't explain him, but he knew he was never fake, and though his joking might be annoying, he was always honest with how he saw things. Those traits alone could really take to a person. "Yeah, I'm sure Eavan could handle him." Josh agreed even though his voice betrayed what he really thought.He looked curiously at her when she explained that she hadn't wanted it short. "Then why was it short if you didn't want it to be?" Josh remembered when Bella had her hair cut. Sofia was upset at her for doing it, but Bella chopped off her hair in a weird style. It had grown long again, but girls seemed to be really weird about those kind of things. Why do something if you didn't want to?
"Why wouldn't I want you to?" Josh asked, slightly confused. They were friends, he didn't see why it would be wrong for her to come for a visit. There were plenty of things for her to do and he had his sister and nieces to go shopping with her since Josh wouldn't be any good with that. There were swimming holes and beaches, Magical towns, and muggle ones, restaurants and parties. It was endless fun. Before Josh could remark on anything else though, Matt returned looking somewhat solemn.
"I can't find Eavan anywhere! Hey Danae!" Matt exclaimed when he realized who it was that his brother was talking to. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a friendly squeeze, "How's my sister-in-law doing?" He asked jokingly, easily slipping out of reach from his twin as he did so. "I'm going to go look around the school and see if I can catch her." Matt started to walk away from them before turning around to Danae, this time, plenty far enough away to not have to worry about Josh retaliating and exclaimed, "Oi, Danae, you're a novia mala for leaving all that drawing in dark corners of the school to Josh all by himself. Poor kid gets lonely." Matt grinned at Josh's obvious embarrassment and quickly trotted away.
Brushing a hand around his hair again, Josh tried to keep a blush at bay. "Uh...just ignore what he said. I don't mind working on it alone and you've said it yourself, you've been busy with Eavan." Josh cleared his throat before continuing back to their original conversation. "Anyway, I already told Mama that you didn't seem to mind your-er-fiance, at least, according to your letters. Still, she seemed rather put-out by the whole thing." Josh shrugged. "And, I don't see why you wouldn't or that he wouldn't love you. I mean, if you spend enough time together, it's bound to happen."
0
Josh (and a bit of Matt)
Then four would be even worse, huh?
0
Josh (and a bit of Matt)
0
5
Danae
May 25, 2008 12:27 AM
Well, it depends on who, but sometimes evens out to fun. by Danae
“Oh, um-“ Danae stuttered slightly, as the question caught her slightly off guard. Her hand automatically reached to touch her hair once more. She hadn’t thought he would ask why, but she should have known that Josh would be observant enough to catch her wording. “Well, over that break, I went to France, which I told you about. Anyhow, Marie was there and she got mad at me, so to get even, she chopped off some of my hair. To get it even, it all had to be cut. It was a bit upsetting and maybe it was vain, but I liked my hair.” She didn’t think much about herself. She didn’t view herself as being beautiful like her sister or smart like her brother. But her hair had been one of the things that she had truly loved about herself. It had been long and silky in a chestnut with lighter undertones. She had taken great pains to take care of it and then Marie had taken it all away.There weren’t many times that Danae could say that she thrilled to see Matt, but this was one of those times. It wasn’t that she disliked him or anything like that for she liked him well enough to consider him on her list of friends and was generally happy to see him, yet to say elated to see him was a completely other matter for she had no idea to explain to Josh exactly why she thought he wouldn’t want her to visit and was a bit afraid that if she did, it would be more obvious of exactly what she thought of him. Sure, they were friend, but having a friend hanging around, one that was more specifically a girl, could deter other girls from taking an interest in him. And if she were honest with herself, despite it being selfish, that fact pleased her. She liked Josh in a way that she hadn’t actually admitted to anyone, not even to Eavan. Oh, the other girl had guessed at it, had been promised not to tell anyone else, but she hadn’t actually confirmed it, as much as she wanted to. She was scared to, because dreams like that were for other people.
Of course, the happiness to see Matt quickly faded when he called her his sister-in-law. Her face tinged pink, though, thankfully, barely noticeable on her skin tone and she laughed a bit of an ‘are you insane’ type laugh, unsure of what else to do. It wasn’t the first time that Matt had joked about a relationship between Josh and her, but it never ceased to get some form of reaction. At least, on her part, and usually caused her to feel awkward around Josh right after. It was moreso this time, because she had already started off awkwardly and had just been falling into a more normal state with Josh. Now, she was nearly ready to curse Matt. Well, not really, but she was definitely embarrassed. Then, to add insult to injury, he turned around and called her a bad girlfriend. Her eyes got wide and she was definitely no longer pink, but a red in color. Her head hung down, allowing her hair to cascade over her face, glad that it hid it. She started counting, hoping by the time that she got to ten, fading would occur.
She had gotten to four when Josh said that he didn’t mind working on it alone. Her gaze shifted to his face. Disappointment fleeted briefly over hers. Oh, so he really didn’t care if she was there or not. She listened quietly, as he continued on about her fiancé and to about them loving each other. “I guess so,” she answered in a disbelieving tone. She tilted her shoulder forward in an almost shrug, but not hearted enough to actually create a full one. “It’s fine if he never loves me. I don’t expect him to. I’m just glad that he seems nice. It’s really all that I can ask.” How she was raised was coming forward. How she wasn’t to expect much, how she wasn’t to ask for anything, how it didn’t matter what she wanted, how she was lesser than other people, how she was only worth so much as the person that would have her. But another very small part of her persisted in pointing out what she wanted. Her mouth set itself in a firm line, as her resolved strengthened. Before she could talk herself out of saying anything, the corners of her mouth turned upright into a grin and she touched his arm. “I don’t mind – no, I liked working on the map. I thought it was fun.”
0
Danae
Well, it depends on who, but sometimes evens out to fun.
0
Danae
0
5
Josh
May 25, 2008 10:27 PM
It's probably not so fun now. by Josh
He tilted his head slightly when Danae began to explain what had happened to her hair. It seemed so extreme to be angry enough at someone to chop off their hair. Josh wondered what exactly it was that Danae had done that would make someone angry enough to do that, but decided against asking incase it made Danae upset. "I like your hair too." Josh complimented with a nod. "Marie seems very... short tempered. I remember once when Matt and I played a trick on Sofia and she was so angry that she shrunk all of our stuff in our room." Josh told her, grinning at the memory. "Mama fixed it for us. But, I don't think she would have ever done anything so cruel as Marie did with cutting your hair."Josh looked at her for a long moment. Why would anyone be okay with a life like that? "You shouldn't say things like that, Danae. Everyone should be loved. If you were to have children, don't you think you not loving your husband and vice versa will have an effect on them?" Josh asked. His parents were so in love that it was rather disgusting at times. He really didn't have any such clue as to how different their lives would have been had they're parents merely tolerated one another. He can almost be certain that they would have stopped having kids after Juan. And then where would he be? "Anyway, who wouldn't love you? You're perfect." Josh grinned, not realizing that his words could be taken in a different way than him saying it to make her smile. Well, he meant them just the same and there may be a day when he realized just how much he meant them. For now, he was just being a friend making Danae see that she's worth more than just a 'nice' guy.
He glanced down at her hand touching him and then back up at her. "Oh, well, I just thought you got bored of working on it with me. But, if you still want to, you can usually find me somewhere around the school on the weekends working. I think I might be able to finish the school part this year and be able to start working on the gardens next year. Which, I think will be loads better to do." Josh explained to her, perking up at the idea of continuing working on the map with her. He knew his brother meant well by pointing out to Danae that Josh actually did miss her company, but Josh felt that there were better ways of going about those sort of things. "Sorry that Matt keeps calling you my girlfriend. I keep telling him to stop, but you know how he is. He likes seeing you blush." Josh shrugged and did not add to the fact that he liked it too. "Unfortunately, he's got my whole family thinking we're dating too."
0
Josh
It's probably not so fun now.
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Josh
0
5
Danae
May 26, 2008 12:09 AM
I wouldn't say that. I like the company. by Danae
Josh really had no idea just how short-tempered Marie had been or what she was capable of. The scary thing was just how sweet she could appear when she wanted to be. Thankfully, they were thoughts that she didn’t have to dwell on for long, as a laugh escaped from her lips at the idea of all the shrunken bedroom furniture and of the mental image that she shared. “It’s a good thing that she did fix it. Otherwise, it would have been a tight fit.”She bit her lip at Josh’s words, unsure of how to explain why it was okay to have a life like that, but he was probably right in his statement of the effect on children. It certainly had an effect on her, but her siblings seemed well off and that was two-thirds of her parents’ children, parents that did not love each other. She was about to try when Josh went on to say that she was perfect. It was a statement that left her feeling happy and at the same time not, because she knew it was meant only to cheer her up.
To save face on how she felt, she tried to explain, knowing that he hadn’t grown up the way she had. “My parents don’t love each other.” It was said in a sort of flat tone of truth. “Devian and Lucie seem to be turning out all right, I guess. My brother is really smart and my sister is going to turn heads one day. Anyhow, it’s just the way things are. My parents were in an arranged marriage and theirs before that, and I will be and probably one day my children will be. Emeric might not love me, but I think he’ll be good to me. It’s really a lot better than others get. Like Marie was for my cousin, Chris. That would have been a scary marriage. Or Nicoletta’s was to this guy named Lucien. He never did anything, but he just gave me the creeps.”
There was really no logical reasoning to why she had felt that way, because to meet him, he was the picture of perfect manners. Nicoletta had certainly been taken with him. Of course, something must have happened since she had opted for being disowned later. At first, Danae hadn’t understood why. She certainly hadn’t questioned it. One day, her parents had simply stated that they were to no longer associate with their cousin, because as far as they were concerned, she didn’t exist. However, Lucie had questioned this and gotten a bit more of an explanation, which was merely that Nicoletta had chosen a worthless boy. This was quickly followed by how they shouldn’t dare to make the same mistakes, less they regret it. Sad as it was, she wouldn’t be making that mistake, merely because she had no reason to. Therefore, she was thankful for what she had, someone that liked her.
Her hand moved from his arm, back through her hair in awkward behavior over the entirety of his family thinking that they were dating. “It’s okay.” It wasn’t that she minded the idea, for she certainly didn’t. If she ever was able to date someone, she thought it would be nice to date Josh, or at least, someone as sweet and kind and good-looking and…she had to tell herself to stop. She really shouldn’t be thinking of such things and was just allowing her imagination to get ahead of her. Besides, she didn’t want Josh to get the wrong idea and think that she wanted that, because then he would probably dislike her. “You told them about Emeric, so there isn’t any reason for them to think otherwise. And you could get someone far better than me.” The last part had slipped out and she quickly went on, changing the subject to avoid what she had said. “Anyhow, I’ll probably be utterly useless in the Gardens. I have a bad habit of watching the clouds and looking for the different shapes.”
0
Danae
I wouldn't say that. I like the company.
0
Danae
0
5
Josh
May 29, 2008 8:54 PM
I'm glad to hear that...er...read it. by Josh
Josh grinned, "Yeah, it would have been." They had still been young at the time, so Josh didn't think it would have been quite as hard of a fit as one would think. Sofia had also been younger and her spell work hadn't been as spot on as it was nowadays. Of course, Josh wasn't going to admit that they had most definitely deserved her wraith, Josh and Matt had been far worse back when they weren't in school yet than they were these days. Of course, that could also be because they're older siblings were moving out and getting married. It just wasn't quite as fun anymore. At least, not for Josh.He looked curiously at her while she tried to explain her life. He still didn't get it. He didn't understand why arranged marriages were needed when there were plenty of people who would be just as suitable and willing if given the opportunity. He had picked up on the fact that Danae had left herself out of the equation when she had spoken about how her siblings had turned out. Josh didn't think Devian could be all that well off with some of the things Danae had said about him, but he opted not to bring that up to her. She seemed to be trying to make a point (or talk herself into really believing that this was okay) and Josh didn't want to bring her down since it was her life to live. "Would have?" Josh asked her, picking up on the past tense. Did that mean that Chris had found himself in a new arranged marriage? Did they often change their minds like that? Would Danae have to say farewell to Emeric if her parents decided on someone better?
Josh didn't say anything about Nicoletta at first. From what he understood, she had been disowned from their family because she didn't want to marry this 'Lucien' guy and had actually decided for someone 'less worthy', whatever that meant. He had seen her around though, last year with the guy from his house's Quidditch team and this year with some other guy. She seemed to be doing alright. And might have even been considered happy. "Well, she's happy now though, right? So, not agreeing to marry that guy seemed to be her best decision. It sucks that her choice lost her family, but she has love now. I guess I just don't understand why you have to give up one thing for another."
He ran his hand around his hair again when Danae said it was okay about how his family saw the two of them. She seemed to think that her being engaged would deter his family into stopping from their comments. But, to them, it was merely a challenge. Something of little importance. Especially since his mother was so set against it. They may have had their rules (rules in which Josh didn't quite understand, but hadn't had any reason to question), but they believed in love and they believed in choices. Although, Josh's naivete was okay with him for now, it may come to bite him later on in life.
Shrugging, Josh grinned, "That's fine. You're better company than Mateo anyday."
0
Josh
I'm glad to hear that...er...read it.
0
Josh
0
5
Danae
May 29, 2008 10:02 PM
Are you really? by Danae
“Oh, um, yeah,” Danae answered, realizing that Josh knew nothing about what had happened over the summer in regards to her cousins. Truth be told, she didn’t really know all of the details herself. She shrugged slightly in response. “Well, my uncle’s in a coma, which puts my father in charge and I’m not sure what happened, but he decided that Marie wasn’t suitable.” She wasn’t really sure if suitable was the correct wording, but it was close enough and it didn’t change what was done. Marie was no longer around. There were no words to describe how relived she felt over it, how that girl could no longer torture her. Of course, that didn’t mean that someone else that was worse couldn’t be coming next.Her head tilted, causing her hair to cascade over her other shoulder. Was Nicoletta happy? Was she in love? Had what she done been worth it? Her fingers twisted around the scarf in thought, before she replied unsurely, “She might be happy. I wish I knew, but I can’t ask her. I’m not allowed to talk to her and if I did, Devian would rat me out immediately. Anyway, Nicoletta is lucky. She’ll always find someone to love her, pure or not.” Danae wondered what that was like, to be like cat and always land on their feet, but she wasn’t like that. Besides, it wasn’t as though, she had any choices to make. She didn’t have to decide between love and family. She only had family, and therefore, her choice was simple. She had Emeric.
But how to explain to Josh why when a choice was presented, one had to choose. “I suppose it’s possible not to have to choose. There were probably some arranged marriages that have occurred where the couple loved each other. However, the entire point of arranged marriages is to make connections and to preserve the purity of the blood line.” At this, she made a bit of a face. There were muggleborns who were more powerful with their magic than some of the purebloods. “So, say that I fell in love with someone that was a halfblood and for whatever reason, he loved me too,” she couldn’t help, but snort slightly at her example. It was utterly ridiculous to think of someone having feelings for her. “I would have to choose between him and my family, because he wouldn’t be able to provide an allied connection and any children that we would have would be considered tainted, because they weren’t pure.” It was a mouthful, yet hopefully it made more sense of what she was trying to convey.
She gave a teasing grin over his comment. Joking, she said, “That’s only because I’m quiet and don’t distract you.” It wasn’t true, not really. She did talk. They talked. But they also worked on the map, which could take hours at a time. She wasn’t sure that Matt had the ability to stay still for that long. He seemed to just exude energy, but it made sense. The House that they were in seemed to have a life force all its own and not for the first time, it made her curious as to why she had ended up in the House. Maybe she would learn in time how it had come to be. After all, everything was supposed to have a reason, right? It was only logical to think so. Even arranged marriages had a reason, whether or not others agreed with them.
Looking down at her hands and saw the piece of cloth that was still in them. “Oh, no. I wrinkled Eavan’s scarf, before I could give it back. I should have asked Matt to take it to her. I’m sure it would have helped land him in her good graces.” She looked up with a bit of a grin. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m sure he’ll find one way or another. If not, I could give him something else of hers. Ever since summer, I keep finding this and that of hers mixed with my things. Does that ever happen with you and Matt?” She had Lucie and Devian, but their things never got mixed up. They each had their own room and a devoted house elf to see to their needs, but since sharing a room and depending a little less on the house elf, this is what had occurred, not that it was a big deal. It really wasn’t since she had come to view her best friend like a sister.
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Danae
Are you really?
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Danae
0
5
Josh
May 30, 2008 11:07 PM
Yes I really am. by Josh
Josh had heard about her uncle from Bella over the summer. His sister had walked a whole in the rug where her pacing had been after she had received Chris's letter and had done nothing but worry over it despite their mother's reassurances that the moment Chris asked her to be there with him, Bella would get the first portkey/floo travel available to them. But, he hadn't been aware that Marie had been taken out of the picture. From what he could tell, Marie had been an excellent candidate for marriage. Some things he will never understand."Eh?" Josh had never spoken to Nicoletta a day in his life, but having passed her in the halls, he had just assumed that, if she wasn't happy, she seemed content enough. If nothing else, that was a step in the right direction. But, Danae's comment made it seem as though Danae wouldn't be able to find someone as easily to love her as Nicoletta could. Josh didn't think that was true. She was pretty, smart, and funny. He was sure that if someone didn't steal her heart before her wedding, Emeric would definitely love her. Josh wasn't exactly sure why she always seemed so down on herself. Perhaps she didn't get very many compliments from people? His Mama always made sure she shed lots of compliments onto her children and Papa often followed suit. He supposed he had just assumed all families were like that. Wanting to make their children feel proud of themselves and have confidence in their abilities. But, as he knew, her family was quite different.
He frowned as she tried to explain. She seemed to think that Josh didn't know why arranged marriages existed. Growing up, he had been to plenty of the more socialite parties with families that he had never met before. His parents making appearances within America, old school friends, etc. He had had mother scrutinize his looks, compare him to the other boys, and then make comments to his mother. Some trying to make arrangements to which Lupe always turned down with a light laugh and a wave of her hand. It always seemed to annoy the other women, but most just left it at that. He certainly knew the why, he just didn't see the point.
She snotted during her explanation and his frown deepened. There she went with the self-hating. Josh didn't like hearing it at all as he didn't see why it was necessary. "But they could be Pure, depending on whether your would-be husband's parents were both magical. Technically speaking." Josh said. That was how his parents saw it, from what he understood. Which is why they were able to marry Halfbloods (which seemed to be a good thing as most of his siblings seemed to be attracted to them). "And stop with those remarks." Josh said suddenly. "If Mama heard you being so down on yourself, she'd slap you on your head and tell you you're pretty." He meant it and was firm with it. He didn't want her to be mopey about that stuff. Of course, none of his sisters were, so Josh could merely just be used to strong, confident females and having a girl who wasn't so sure of herself around threw him off a bit.
Josh glanced down at the scarf, raising an eyebrow. Matt did not ever need an excuse to talk to a girl. He never became nervous, never worried about what he said, it was just him being him. In some ways, Josh envied him (though he'd never admit it) for how cool he was while Josh just sort of stood in the background with it. "We don't really have separate things." Josh said slowly. "Well, except for underwear and our wands." He corrected. "But those are easy enough to tell apart." Matt's underwear always had odd patterns on them while Josh's remained solid colors. It was just easier that way.
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Josh
Yes I really am.
0
Josh
0
5
Danae
May 31, 2008 1:36 AM
Excellent. Else, I'd be worried that you were just polite. by Danae
Danae wasn’t sure what had confused Josh over her mention of Nicoletta. Was it the part about Devian or the part about Pure versus not? She frowned slightly in thought, thinking how to clarify her words. “Since Nicoletta was disowned, she’s considered not only not part of the family, but the equivalent of a leper, and we are to stay away. If my brother saw me talking to her, he would tell my parents and I would be in a world of trouble for disobeying orders. As for her always being able to find someone, she would. I’ve seen her with two guys, who seem to like her, but if she had wanted to stay in the family, she would have been able to find someone deemed worthy, who would have loved her. The only thing she would have had to make sure of is that he was from either a similar or better family than the one that was picked for her.”It was a lengthy explanation, but hopefully would get the reasoning across better. Of course, she couldn’t blame anyone for being confused. Half the time, it seemed like there were a million and one rules to remember on what to do, what not do, what could be done, what couldn’t be done. It was a miracle that she hadn’t messed anything major up yet, but she probably would eventually. She was always making her mother irritable during lessons, because she seemed to make so many mistakes. It wasn’t as though she did so on purpose, yet some things seemed rather silly, like how she should only eat certain portions and never take seconds. It wasn’t like she was heavy by any means, but she was still supposed to be concerned over her figure. Not that there was much of one. Oh, how she really wished to have one instead of being so willowy.
The firmness to which Josh told her to stop startled Danae and she couldn’t help, but just stare at him for a moment. She hadn’t thought that she was saying anything that was incorrect or untruthful. She thought she was just being realistic. She wasn’t as good as others and certainly not her siblings. Everything that her parents did, told her as much. She knew that they loved her, but sometimes, it seemed as though they didn’t like her. They always thought that she was wasting some potential or another just because she didn’t do as well in school as Devian or didn’t put forth the charm that Lucie did, but they could never seem to understand that this was her. For them, being her was never good enough, so why should she think anything different?
Of course, there was something to be said for being considered this way. She had been paired with Emeric Bernard, who while from a well-off, Pureblood English family and would provide a connection was not from the more elite socialites. If they had thought her better, then she might have been paired off with someone else, someone like Lucien, then she probably would have wanted to run away screaming, but knew she wouldn’t have. She would have attempted to serve as the proper wife for someone of standard and fail at it miserably. She would have gone from being criticized by her parents to being criticized by her husband. It would have been a miserable existence, one that probably would have left her in tears and possibly considering a poisonous potion, though, it was doubtful she would have actually ever carried it out, merely for the fact that she tended to accept things as they were rather than looking for an escape.
But to be paired with a Halfblood wouldn’t be acceptable, even though she had been deemed less than for the upper crust. “Even if they were Pure, on the basis that my future husband’s parents were magical, it’s still considered unacceptable, because both parents don’t have the backing of years of magical…breeding.” She had hesitated to use the word, but that’s exactly what it was. Breeding, like they were horses or dogs. “The other flaw is that being Pure or Half isn’t even enough. They also have to be from a family with status.” In other words, the family had to be considered respectable and wealthy. “Love just isn’t a factor. If it were, then my family would be completely different. My parents wouldn’t be together and probably none of my cousins’ parents would be together.” It was a small, unintended implication that none of them (cousins, siblings, herself) would be in existence.
At the mention of himself and Matt, underwear, and being able to tell them apart, Danae was torn between raising an eyebrow and blushing. The eyebrow raise, because he felt the need to state that those were separate items and were easy to tell apart, and the blushing, because it lead to the idea of what was under his robes, mindful nothing wholly inappropriate, but there was a bit of a mental image of what those under garments looked like. In the end, the blush won out, merely because it wasn’t as controllable. To avoid the detection, she joked slightly, “Well, that’s good. It would be horrible if you had no clean underwear, because Matt had stolen them all.” Actually, it was probably a good thing, as it would be a little gross to wear someone else’s underwear, even if they were related.
0
Danae
Excellent. Else, I'd be worried that you were just polite.
0
Danae
0
5
Josh
June 01, 2008 2:00 AM
I'm still being polite, but I mean it too. by Josh
"No, I get it." Josh told her, holding up a hand so that she knew she didn't have to explain anymore. "I know what arranged marriages are, and why they occur. I just don't see the point to them. I mean, people are perfectly capable of finding a partner for themselves. I realize that Purebloods like us aren't in abundance as those who are muggleborns or halfbloods, but with all the parties they bring us to and certain schools that privvy only to a specific group of people, finding matches with people we can acutally have a great future with is easier than having to live a life with someone we would parely know." Josh said, hoping that he explained himself in a manner that she understood."We don't speak to our brother either, since he left the family." Josh admitted. "It's not that we can't. I don't really know if we're allowed to or not. We just...don't." Although, if they did, he didn't think any of his siblings would rat him out. In fact, Juan had been at the wedding. Josh could still remember the Christmas when Juan had sent them gifts and how they all had gathered in Jake's room and opened them together. Not one person had told their parents. Even now, it was a memory between the seven of them (Hannah hadn't been there). Perhaps their family was different for that as well. They stuck together. Juan had even been invited to Paco's wedding. And, had Juan not fought with their parents the next day, perhaps they would have been able to go to his wedding too. Wouldn't that have been nice?
Josh's head was spinning from all the talk of marriages. Without thinking, Josh clamped a hand over her mouth. "Okay, that's enough." He declared, looking somewhat exhausted now after talking about things that they shouldn't have had to worry about to begin with. He felt like they were just going in circles. Josh knew his family was different for the very fact that his parents loved one another. Or the fact that his nieces and nephew were being raised in a loving home by Hannah and Adam. One day, Josh could fall in love and marry her and start a family of his own. That was how things were supposed to go. He couldn't imagine living a different life than the one he had. It seemed so empty.
He scratched the back of his head and nodded. "Yeah, that would be gross." Josh said to her jest. He would have killed Matt if he ever caught him trying to wear his underwear. Thankfully, Matt had his own hygene rituals that didn't involve any of Josh's boxers. Thinking about it now, it was a bit odd that they still seemed to share everything. Would it always be like that? They certainly had different personalities, so, one would think that they would like different things. But, thus far, it never seemed to be much of an issue for them. "Lucie doesn't try to take your things? Isn't that what little siblings do?"
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Josh
I'm still being polite, but I mean it too.
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Josh
0
5
Danae
June 02, 2008 9:34 PM
You are very polite. :P by Danae
When Josh held up his hand, she stopped her explanation of arranged marriages. Maybe he was right in a way. Most people were capable of finding their own partner and there were parties and other social events, which helped, but the key point that he didn’t want to hear was that, even if she did all of that, she wouldn’t find a match. If left on her own to find someone, she never would, because on top of not being a great beauty or a great mind, she presented an initial persona of aloofness that was a turn off to the nice guys that she would want to get to know. Instead, it attracted jerks, the ones that thought she was some prize to be won and if they did, they would quickly lose interest. No, she didn’t need that. She was actually fortunate to be in an arranged marriage. Emeric was a nice guy, and yes, she realized that she didn’t quite know him, but that was the entire point of all the summer get-togethers.Danae raised an eyebrow at Josh’s admittance. From everything that she had ever heard about Josh’s family, they sounded like the type of people who loved and supported their children. She wondered what it would be like if her parents were like that. If they were, she probably wouldn’t be looking forward to the day she graduated, the day that she would get married. As such, she couldn’t understand why Josh’s brother would have left the family. And if his family was so different, why couldn’t they speak to him? Granted, Josh had said that he didn’t know if they were allowed or not. Plus, if they were such a close family, wouldn’t Josh want to talk to him? Of course, she supposed that there was a black sheep of sorts in every family. She seemed to be the one in her immediate family, though; Nicoletta had taken the reign for their branch. Now, any potential connections through the female line rested on Lucie, which made Danae feel a little sorry for her, but back to Josh and her question. “Do you want to talk to him? If you do, why not ask if you can?”
She had just continued along the line of marriages when Josh’s hand came over her mouth. A muffled protest tried to work its way out. It only lasted a moment, however, as in the next instant a blush had broken out at the realization of the contact and what he must have thought of her since she had just kept going on and on into rambling. He probably didn’t care to hear any more of about what was in store for her. She was probably boring him. After all, it wasn’t his problem. It was hers and one that wasn’t really a problem, as far as she was concerned. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t like to find someone that she would love and would love her. She was just realistic about it. Fairy tales were for dreamers and she wasn’t a dreamer, at least as far as this was concerned. Once Josh removed his hand, Danae automatically licked her lips from the smashed feeling, but remained quiet on the topic.
“No,” Danae said, shaking her head. “Lucie has plenty of her own things. Anything she wants, she usually gets.” It was true too. Before they had come back to school, Lucie had wanted muggle pens. All it had taken was a simple set of puppy dog eyes and she had gotten them. If Danae had asked for them, she would have gotten some sort of lecture on being proper and how she should be staying away from anything muggle. There may have also been an interrogation on her friends. She had been lucky to get away with having Eavan over. “She used to follow Devian around, but she stopped doing that and has taken to following me around. It might have just been, because Eavan was over. It was someone new. If you ever came over, she would probably be fascinated and follow you around.” Realizing what she said, her face became hot and she tried backtracking. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you would ever come over. I just meant that she seems to want to hang around my friends.” There that worked, she thought. She didn’t want Josh to think that she did or didn’t want him to come over, though, she did and didn’t.
0
Danae
You are very polite. :P
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Danae
0
5
Josh
June 15, 2008 11:11 PM
So are you. by Josh
osh had never been asked before if he wanted to speak with his eldest brother. It was never something he had ever really thought about and now that the question was proposed, Josh had to figure out where he stood on the whole matter. He had been only four when Juan had walked out on the family to find himself and make good with what he believed in. Since then, the only contact Josh had with his brother was a random Christmas gift, the few glances of him at Paco’s wedding, and the rare occasion when Julia would come home with news of what was going on in Juan’s life.Aside from all that, Josh never gave Juan much thought. It was a terrible thing to have to admit to himself because family was always everything to him and his siblings. But Juan had become a ghost to them. A mystery that none of them were willing to solve. The mention of him brought his parents to tears. He had not been a part of Josh’s childhood or his adolescence. He was more than likely not going to be in his life as an adult. Although the admittance of that was somewhat painful if only because Juan was his brother, at the same time, Juan wasn’t someone Josh knew.
Josh opened his mouth to answer and then quickly closed it. He didn’t have an answer to give. Juan was his brother and Josh loved him. It was an emotion that he had no control over. Juan was family, it meant complete love even when they left everyone else in absolute anguish. That love, even ten years later, remained as sure as though he had never left. “Sometimes I do.” He finally did. “Sometimes when Mama is sad because of something good that’s happened with the family but she’s unable to share it with everyone because Juan isn’t there. I want to ask him how he could leave because I don’t understand. I know why he left, but I don’t understand the how.” Josh tried to explain to Danae. “But…sometimes I don’t want to talk to him. Because, if he could turn his back on us, all of us, so easily, why should I bother to get to know him? Why should I give him that opportunity? I just like not having to have to make that choice if I don’t have to.”
His head tilted slightly as she explained her little sister to him. Josh was the youngest of the bunch and his nieces were still too young to really want anything his sisters had available to him, so he couldn’t really empathize with her on that point. However, because he was the youngest, he could understand from the point of view of Lucie. Josh and Matt had constantly tried to ‘borrow’ things from their older brothers, mainly Jake though as he was closest to their age. They had usually ended up getting into trouble though for taking things without asking. Thankfully though, his siblings had taken to going to friends houses instead of bringing them into the Santoro house, so Josh didn’t ever have the indignity of becoming one of those type of siblings.
Josh grinned. “Oh, I’m sure it’d be okay if I visited. I have two nieces. I’m used to being followed around.” Josh joked. His nieces…he loved them to death, but they could be quite the handful. “Anyway, I’m sure that I’ll probably come to visit you. That’s what friends do, right? You stay at my house for a bit and then we switch. It’s only natural for friends to do, right?”
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Josh
So are you.
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Josh
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5
Danae
June 18, 2008 8:54 PM
Which is good, right? by Danae
A frown rested on Danae’s face, as Josh explained his reasoning for wanting and yet not wanting to talk to his brother. He made a valid point. If his brother had caused such heartache, had turned his back so easily, then why should he bother? And she had to agree with Josh about the how. She didn’t understand it either. She never heard anything bad when it came to the Santoro clan. Why would someone leave a family like that? What could be so horrible that they would just go and maintain little contact, if any? It didn’t make any sense to her, so she could only imagine what it felt like for Josh and if he ever did have to make that choice, how hard it would be for him.As horrible as it was to think, in a way, maybe she was lucky to not be so close to her family. If Devian left like Josh’s brother had, she didn’t think she would wonder why or how nor would she really have to make a choice about talking to him. She knew that it was highly doubtful that she would ever talk to him again. In the event that it was she that left, she doubted any of her family would miss her. Truthfully, she would probably be a bit sad to cut ties with Lucie or have Lucie cut ties to her. As annoying as her little sister could be sometimes, she could be really sweet sometimes too. She might not have liked Lucie on occasion, but she always loved her.
At the mention of Josh’s nieces, Danae blinked for a moment. It never failed to take her by surprise when he mentioned them (even though he did so all the time.) Mostly, it was because she didn’t associate someone their age, as being in that role; she always pictured someone older, someone already graduated. Yet, because it was expected, she found it perfectly normal to be betrothed at her age. Was that even right? Of course, it was. It wasn’t as though she was actually engaged. That wouldn’t happen until later along with the wedding. Regardless, of the abnormalities in her thinking, she grinned back. Every time he mentioned them, his face seemed to light up and it was easy to see how proud he was.
No, what shocked her was that Josh said that he was sure that he would probably visit her. Yes, she had indirectly put the invitation out there, but she hadn’t expected that he would actually. She ran her fingers through her hair in nervousness. What would it be like to have Josh visited her? She had warned him about Lucie following him around, but there were also her parents to deal with and Devian. Her parents had acted their normal selves when Eavan was around, which basically meant that they were left alone, but they might do the same thing with Josh there. Even though he was just a friend, he was still male, and there was a chance that they would be a little concerned. After all, they wouldn’t want anything to ruin her chances with Emeric, like Nicoletta had with Lucien.
“Um, right,” she said in agreement, still not fully believing that he would actually come over or vice versa. “Are you serious? You’d have to deal with Devian too, but you could stay in a guest room, so at least you wouldn’t have to share.” It was sad slowly, as she thought about it. Devian and Josh sharing a room, she was sure would be a disaster. They weren’t friends and Devian would probably be incredibly unhappy that his space was being invaded, which in turn would mean that he would make sure that she was incredibly unhappy for the duration of the visit. But her older brother could still be a problem, if he opted to be one and that made her uneasy. Pushing down that feeling, she continued on, “But really, if you are serious, I’d have to ask my parents.”
0
Danae
Which is good, right?
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Danae
0
5