Takes place before the Satori was found (Tag: Wu Peizhi) on Cascade Hall

Laila Kennedy and Arne Reinhardt

September 29, 2015 4:17 AM

Takes place before the Satori was found (Tag: Wu Peizhi) by Laila Kennedy and Arne Reinhardt

Laila’d had a particularly long day. She’d received a rather long lecture from the portrait of St. Paschal Baylon the week before because she had skipped church two weeks in a row (the first time she hadn’t been feeling well and the second time the professor who had arranged to take her had not been able to get the free time) and so she had gone to church that morning with a heavy heart and the day’s reading on those who turned their backs to the Lord did nothing to cheer her up. Then, when she’d returned home just in time for lunch, she had decided to atone for her sins by only eating plain bread and drinking water. However Arne had taken to sitting really close to her and loudly eating an enticing piece of lasagna and a large slice of chocolate cake which had made Laila’s mouth water and then when he looked away to answer a question his brother asked him, she had actually reached out to swipe a bit of the frosting!

But, she supposed, other than the trials that Arne had put her through the rest of the afternoon as the two tried to work through their homework together in the library, the day had gone alright. She still missed home, and days like that always served to make Laila long for a glass of her grandmother’s sweet tea, but she stuck through it. Happily Arne had somehow spilled an entire inkwell into his hair just before dinner and so she tossed her school bag on her bed after she accompanied him back to the Crotalus common room before dinner and then ran down to Cascade Hall in order to find a seat away from his family and perhaps get one meal away from his frustrating presence. Not that she didn’t like Liac or Tobi. She rather preferred their company to Arne’s in all actuality and they were truly the main reason she put up with him. Ah, there, she thought to herself.

As she sat down, Laila closed her eyes and said a quick prayer so that St. Paschal couldn’t berate her for skipping grace (even though paintings weren’t supposed to be able to read minds, she felt like somehow his could). “Hey there,” she said with a bright smile, turning to Peizhi, the girl who she had partnered with a few Potions classes ago during the scavenger hunt class. “How’s it going?” She poured herself a cup of tea before offering some to Peizhi. It wasn’t sweet tea, but it would have to do. Besides, she didn’t think the house elves (despite their talents in the kitchen) would be able to quite replicate the perfect taste of her grandmother’s recipe (in later years, on her grandmother’s deathbed, she would find out that the extra special ingredient was just a tad of bourbon) and she couldn’t wait for the term to wind down so she could go home, have her birthday, drink sweet tea, and go to the church social. Now that she was turning twelve she was finally old enough to go with her friends—not old enough for a date, that would be after her thirteenth birthday, but still old enough to arrive without her mother and come home on her own as well.

As Cascade Hall began to fill, there was no sign of Arne and Laila allowed herself a breath of relief. She would finally get a relaxing dinner, perhaps be able to make a girl friend, and there would be no irritating voice to cause her indigestion and best of all there would be no repeat of the Returning Feast when she had (to her mortification) allowed Anger to get the best of her and slapped Arne in front of the whole school. Unfortunately, just as Laila was starting to enjoy herself with Peizhi, a shout from down the table came, ringing, in their direction.

“Yo, Peizhi! Can you pass the peas?” A plate slid up the table towards them (luckily no one was in the way) and Arne Reinhardt came following it rather quickly so that he was seated right in front of the two girls. “Sup,” he offered as greeting, flashing them a too-white smile.

10 Laila Kennedy and Arne Reinhardt Takes place before the Satori was found (Tag: Wu Peizhi) 318 Laila Kennedy and Arne Reinhardt 1 5

Wu Peizhi

October 01, 2015 4:04 AM

A two for one deal, I see. by Wu Peizhi

Peizhi had been working very hard this semester to crawl outside her shell. It was a slow process, hard and even sometimes painful, but being too shy to speak was getting her nowhere. Her father wanted tangible results, not timid observations. She needed to get up close and personal to her peers. It was just unfortunate that “up close and personal” was also basically synonymous for “Peizhi’s personal definition of Hell”.

But she had been good today, had two conversations, so she chose to reward herself with some peace and quiet, selecting an empty area of a table at which to sit. The Teppenpaw kept her meal simple, composed primarily of rice, with a glass of water to wash things down. It wasn’t much, but it kept her well. And for a few minutes, things were actually somewhat quiet.

Laila Kennedy, Crotalus first year, Muggleborn, the girl she worked with in Potions that one time, sat down beside her, although for a moment she did not speak. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed focused on something. Then, as if that hadn’t happened, she turned brightly to Peizhi and spoke. “Hey there. How’s it going?”

The Crotalus girl nonverbally offered some of the beverage she poured, which Peizhi nodded to accept, not because she was particularly interested in it but out of politeness. “Hello, Miss Kennedy,” she returned, momentarily pausing to translate what was said. “It is going well, thank you. And yourself?”

“Yo, Peizhi! Can you pass the peas?” The plate clattering forward combined with its owner’s use of her name made her cringe slightly. In China, her given name was reserved for only those with whom she was close, and to all others she was Wu. It was a norm she had strained to break here, given ignorance or disconcern for her culture (she was beginning to notice that Americans generally considered their own customs the be-all-end-all and all others needed adjustment), and while she had countered the urge to call others by last name through addition of the polite English titles of Mr. or Miss, hearing her name tossed around by people like Arne Reinhardt, Crotalus first year, Pureblood, was still so strange.

Deep brown eyes glanced nervously around the table, trying to recall which dish was called “peas” in this language. Unfortunately, she pushed towards him a bowl filled with what was actually green beans. Meanwhile, Mr. Reinhardt said some word, perhaps a colloquialism that she did not understand. What exactly was “sup”? Blinking in confusion, she timidly glanced to Miss Kennedy beside her in the hopes that she might answer him first and set a precedence of how Peizhi was meant to respond.

12 Wu Peizhi A two for one deal, I see. 316 Wu Peizhi 0 5

Laila & Arne

October 02, 2015 2:42 AM

Those are the best kind! by Laila & Arne

Even though she and Peizhi had barely interacted, she wanted to be the other girl’s friend badly. She hadn’t realized how just how bad this need to be friends with the Teppenpaw was until she had sat down next to her, but the desire was definitely there. “Quite well as well,” Laila replied, smiling at the little rhyme her sentence made. “Have you prepared for your finals yet?” The starts of friendships were always difficult, Laila surmised. There was not much to go off of, especially when one party was more silent than the other party would have liked, but school was always a safe topic—it stressed everyone out in different ways and with finals approaching in a couple weeks, Laila had been spending more time than usual in the library, trying to hammer the harder concepts into her brain.

“I’m not sure which is going to be harder,” she continued conversationally. “Professor Pye is so particular, but at least with him we don’t have to know as much extra stuff like the other classes.” She frowned a bit, the wrinkle creasing her usually perfectly smooth forehead. She had inherited good skin from her mother and was pleased that puberty was not affecting her the same way it was affecting her cousins on her dad’s side. “I honestly think I might have the most issue with Charms.” Charms was an easy class—according to Arne at least, but it was difficult to concentrate on the spells at hand when she kept remembering how nice—and her thought was cut off as a loud clatter and a shout from the last person she wanted to see interrupted them.

Laila looked apologetically at Peizhi and watched as her New Friend passed the wrong dish to him. “Nothing’s up,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “The whole mood kind of took a down actually as soon as you showed up.”

For his part, Arne ignored her. He knew that would only serve to frustrate her further and instead he turned his grin onto Peizhi. “These aren’t peas,” he said as he helped himself to the green beans. “But I like them all the same.” He took a bite of the green beans and made a face. “Soggy,” he said by way of explanation and dumped them onto Laila’s plate. “Let’s talk about you, Peizhi, shall we?” He put his face in his hand and leaned forward, blinking coquettishly. “Tell me all about yourself, what’s Asia like?”

His tone, though slightly mocking in tone (not because he was making fun of Peizhi, more that he was doing a bad imitation of Laila in an attempt to further drive her up a wall), was still curious and it was taking all Laila had in her to not hit him—not because she wasn't curious about Peizhi’s life (she was), but more because she wished she had thought to come up with the question. It was certainly a lot more welcoming and friendly than simply “have you prepared for finals yet?” She gave Arne a Look, one that clearly said “I’m annoyed with you but I’m not going to say anything about it because we’re in public,” to which he made a face and Laila turned to Peizhi.

“If you don’t mind sharing, that is,” she said in a much friendlier tone than Arne. “I’d love to hear about China.”

10 Laila & Arne Those are the best kind! 318 Laila & Arne 0 5