An Alternative for the Refined on Cascade Hall

Effie Arbon

October 13, 2012 6:25 PM

An Alternative for the Refined by Effie Arbon

A whole-school party celebrating a number of festivals, some of which were Muggle and requiring its attendees to humiliate themselves with ridiculous attire did not sound like an occasion which a proper young lady should attend. However, people here had a strangely relaxed attitude to impropriety. There were several people whom she would have considered proper but who seemed to have distressing little habits, such as conversing with Muggleborns. Those people did not seem to have been frozen out, or at the very least whispered about, in the way she would have expected. Therefore she was not confident that boycotting the party was going to be the done thing. Unfortunately, one could not simply come and out and ask whether other people thought it acceptable to go. It implied doubt about one's own position on the matter, as well as suggesting that one was entertaining the possibility of either going or not going, either of which might be enough to draw comment. Therefore, a ruse had been needed. Effie had put it to Isabel that it might be a pleasant thing for a few suitable people to gather for afternoon tea, suggesting the date and time of the party for this occasion. If the party was to be attended by all, then Isabel could politely point out the flaw in Effie's chosen date – clearly a slip of the memory or failure to have yet noticed the invite. If the party was not to be considered, then Isabel could readily agree to taking tea together. She had watched the other girl for any sign of internal debate – there was the possibility that the party was tempting but, when called out on it, one should not wish to go. Whatever had been coursing through Isabel's head though, she had agreed to the date, time and occasion.

They had circulated the word best they could. It was not to be a formal affair as they had not the time, the resources or the social standing within the structure of the school to put such a thing together, besides which it would be an odd thing to hold a party on school grounds. Parties – proper ones, anyway – required painstaking preparation. She and Isabel had passed on, by word of mouth, the fact of their meeting for tea, and of people of a proper social standing being more than welcome to join them. In so much as afternoon tea for the social elite of the school could be such a thing, it was an informal affair. Effie had recalled that, when welcomed, they had been told that they could request favourite foods from the Prairie Elves but been a little unsure about how one procured tea and cake, so she and Isabel had needed to seek out a responsible adult. Their Head of House being absent, deceased or simply not fulfilling these criteria (depending on whose view you took) they had sought out Sara, Isabel's cousin. It transpired that students could make requests ahead of time or on the spot, should they find themselves in the Hall outside of meal times. Effie had sent a message ahead to the kitchens regarding their get together, although she had had to be somewhat unspecific on numbers and was thus glad that unannounced orders were accepted.

On the day of the party, she and Isabel made their way from the commons to the Cascade Hall. Passing several alarmingly dressed people in the corridors, many of whom were showing off a degrading amount of flesh, Effie felt vindicated in her decision that this event was not for those of their background.

“Tea for two,” she instructed her plate when she and Isabel arrived in the hall. As it was an informal event and they had each other for company, they could begin and other people could order their own teas as they arrived. A pot of tea with attendant accessories appeared, along with a small jug of juice. It was a shame that Sonora did not seem to possess two-tiered cake stands but the elves did seem to have put some effort into the presentation of the two plates which appeared. There was one of finger sandwiches which were arranged prettily in a circle and another with two dainty cakes on.

“Tea or juice?” she offered Isabel. Not everybody their age liked tea and so it was quite acceptable to take afternoon tea with juice instead. The beverage was not her favourite although she was practising enjoyment of it and, with an adequate amount of milk and sugar, this skill was being coaxed along.

OOC - written with permission from the Raines' author for those parts which pertain to her characters.

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McKinley Andrews

October 18, 2012 12:50 PM

I hope I'm not late! by McKinley Andrews

McKinley had seen the posters for the party and wasn’t sure if the other Purebloods such as herself would be going to such a thing. She listened around in the circles she’d started to make to see if any would. She wasn’t thrilled about going if they did, but she wouldn’t not if they were. It was only right to attend if they were.

Thankfully, the first year heard better news than that when she’d gotten news that Effie and Isabel were planning a Tea instead. The eleven year old sighed, thankful for that bit of information, and glad that her roommates were planning something much more lady-like. The two of them left their room earlier than Kinley did, she wanted to be sure the pair who’s idea the tea was, left first and arrived first. She still wasn’t completely sure (even though it had also traveled by word of mouth) that she and the others were invited or not, though she hoped she was.

She’d asked her father to send her one of her cocktail dresses from home for the occasion and he had responded in kind. Not only did her father send her a dress, but he sent her a new one. This one was a turquoise blue that made her smile. It was sleeveless, but her father had solved that problem too, but sending her a black shawl with it. The shawl had pretty silver studs on the edges and as she held it up in the mirror in front of her she smiled widely. It’s perfect… She put on her dress, laid the shawl on her shoulders, twisted her hair up into a soft bun at the back of her head and put on her makeup, carefully as she usually did. Kinley always primped herself before she left the room, but this time she primped even more than usual. There was something about a large group of people seeing her that made the pureblood girl want to look good. But there was something even more about a group of pureblood girls that she was meeting up with that made her want to look the best she’d ever looked.

Perfect. she thought as she looked at herself once more. I look perfect, and its perfect. she thought as she turned away from the mirror and left the room. She walked down the corridor and saw all these terrifyingly dressed people walking down towards her and around her. Some didn’t look so bad, but most of them just weren’t proper! There was so much skin shown that it made Kinley’s skin crawl.

Kinley walked into the Hall and glanced around the room for Effie and Isabel. Spotting them, she walked closer, parading off her new dress to them, without doing it rudely, of course. “Hello! I do hope that the word of mouth was true and that I’m also invited to your Tea Party!” she said, looking at the girls, hoping her assumption was accurate.

OOC - I hope its okay that I had Kinley join Effie and Isabel (when she gets there) I was under the impression that it was for the purebloods to join in, but if by chance I was wrong, I’m sorry and you may delete this post!

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Effie Arbon

October 18, 2012 6:08 PM

Pleased to see you by Effie Arbon

Effie was a little taken aback by McKinley's get up for the party. Her own family was very traditional when it came to clothing. One wore dress robes for special occasions but that was usually restricted to evening events and they were not for children – after all, children did not attend such parties. She would have her first set of such robes at her début. Most of her regular robes were nicely tailored items of fine fabrics and so she looked suitably smart whenever out of school uniform. However, she had got used to the fact that McKinley's family seemed to go in for slightly more flashy things. The other girl seemed to be permitted to use cosmetics, for one thing. Therefore Effie did not bat too many eyelids when the other Crotalus girl showed up in rather a grown up looking frock.

“But of course you are!” Effie exclaimed, when McKinley sought clarification of the invite. It was probably just the other girl being polite. She had been one of the first people to whom Effie had mentioned the gathering after clearing it with Isabel. “And I am so very glad you were at liberty to join us,” she smiled.

“If you instruct your plate, it should provide you with refreshments. We ordered tea for two.”

She considered making a remark about the ghastly get ups which she had witnessed on her way to the hall but decided that that would not be a tactful move at this stage. It was currently unknown who would favour the outdoor party. It would not do to make too many negative remarks about the other party until one knew whom one might be inadvertently disparaging.

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Amity Brockert

October 19, 2012 7:48 PM

Arriving by Amity Brockert

When it came right down to it, between the two parties going on, Amity would rather go to the tea that Effie and Isabel were throwing. The other might have over all sounded more fun, at least according to Arabella, but ultimately the Aladren cared more about making friends with the two Crotali. Not just because they were the right people, but because she felt they were the girls she could best identify with and when it came right down to it, friends were more important than anything. She genuinely wanted to be in a group of friends with Effie and Isabel. Maybe Bianca if at all possible. Amity wanted badly to help her roommate who seemed nervous and anxious. She wanted to do for that girl what Sophie did for Ryan, without the potential romantic feelings she saw between her cousin and his friend of course. Amity would be very happy if the two ended up together, she could see that the other sixth year cared very much about the Crotalus.

She had passed the invite on to Bianca as well as Melanie Lennox and of course, Arabella. The first year had not however, passed it on to Carrie. Nothing would ruin a get together faster and spending time with her cousin was not Amity's idea of a party. In fact, she'd told Arabella and Melanie specifically not to tell the Crotalus. The first year wanted to be associated with her as little as possible. If she was at the tea, she'd only embarrass Amity.

The Aladren arrived in the hall and already spotted the little group of girls that was forming, including Isabel, Effie and McKinley Andrews. She didn't know McKinley well, but thought she seemed a little odd, or at least she dressed that way, with her plastic poncho getup in COMC. Amity didn't think any girl she knew of would be willing to be seen in that and she had an aunt who'd worn fuzzy orange slippers to class.

And right now, the girl seemed to be awfully dressed up for an afternoon tea. Her outfit would be more appropriate at a formal evening party and she was all made up. Was it some sort of British thing? Amity had heard that McKinley had moved from there to Arizona. Or maybe she thought that was what American girls did and she was trying hard to fit in. Even though neither Amity nor Effie was dressed that way. The Aladren did wear skirts and dresses at times as well as finely tailored robes but never anything as mature looking as McKinley was wearing. Quite frankly, she didn't feel the need to show off so much, she was a Brockert . They were old money and could trace their line back several generations in America, everyone knew who they were, especially on this side of the country.

The first year took a seat with the others. "Hello." Amity greeted the other three. "Thank you for inviting me." She said to Effie and Isabel. "How are you this afternoon?" The Aladren ordered a glass of juice and turned to McKinley, smiling pleasantly. She might as well be welcoming. "I'm Amity Brockert, of the Colorado Brockerts. You must be McKinley,I don't think we've been formally introduced."

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