Laila Kennedy
January 24, 2017 11:59 PM
Please pass the forbidden fruit. [the Girls] by Laila Kennedy
So far Laila thought the semester had been treating her pretty well. Baking club’s valentine’s themed meeting had been a delicious success and Aislinn Nicolls had told her in Transfiguration one day that she’d started reading Blood Moon Rising and loved it! She was also, she felt, completely over that ridiculous crush she’d developed on Jax after he’d told her that going to the ball together wasn’t as friends but as a date. Although his benefit-friendship with Joella had really hurt Laila’s feelings, having sincerely thought that Jax liked her, she had realised that as nice a friend he was, he had probably only seen her in a similar light—nothing serious, and nothing to get worked up over.As her crush on Jax left, she began to notice other boys around the school more. Dustin Newell with his cute freckled face was always someone who was on the forefront of her thoughts, and she also thought the Reinhardt brothers were rather attractive although after the mess with Jax, Laila didn’t think having a crush on a friend was really that good of an idea anymore. There was also Sammy who Laila thought she would enjoy dating if she were that way inclined but she wasn’t, and besides, even if she was Sammy was still a friend which was something Laila had been trying to avoid.
There was Benjamin Pierce who was a year younger than her but whose dark eyes and lovely curls had caught her attention and, of course, shy Olivier Westley and his dimples. Oliver Ferguson, Alistair Johnson and Barnaby Pye were also rather attractive—physically, at least, but as the former was on her list of Nasty People (which was actually kind of short) and the former two were on semi-antagonistic terms with her friends she didn’t think any of them merited crush status.
Which left only one person in the entire school for Laila to foist her affections on. He was kind and sweet and patient. He was her friend, but he was also so much more than that, he was a mentor and he was so knowledgeable about everything. Sure he could be a little gruff sometimes, but Laila thought that Nathan Xavier had just the most absolutely beautiful soul out of everyone in the whole school. Sure he was a bit older than she was, and she supposed he did have kind of a curmudgeon-y look to him. But that was part of his charm. And they were friends, but his allure was just so strong she felt she could over-look that small detail.
She sighed, absent-mindedly twirling her fork through some spaghetti which wasn’t nearly as good as either Mamma’s or Nonna’s. Mr. Xavier had been her best friend at Sonora for so many years and even though she had been so determined not to fall for anymore friends after Jax, she had started to realize that Mr. Xavier was only inevitable. After all, best friends falling in love made the best romance stories. And a forbidden relationship between a teacher and a student only made it that much more exciting! A little hungry, she raised her fork to her mouth without really taking her eyes off the teacher’s table and wound up smashing sauce and noodle into her cheek.
Laila flushed bright red and hastily grabbed a napkin. She hoped he hadn’t seen that! After wiping her mouth clean, Laila ate a few more bites and tentatively brought something up to her friends. “Did you—did you guys ever like someone you knew you shouldn’t?” she flushed red again. “I mean, someone who you know you really, really shouldn’t?” She would never do anything to grab his attention now, Laila fully realized that as a fourteen-year-old girl she would never be woman enough for someone as amazingly wonderful as Mr. Xavier. But maybe…maybe he would wait for her? If she could only remember to call him by his first name, that was.
Nathan, what a beautiful name!
OOC: Takes place the same night Jax ate early to study Astronomy so that it’s girls only lol
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Laila Kennedy
Please pass the forbidden fruit. [the Girls]
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Laila Kennedy
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Gia Donovan
January 26, 2017 9:54 PM
My forbidden Fruit is different than yours. by Gia Donovan
Gia had a lot going on now that the months were suddenly disappearing on her and the dreaded CATS exams were looming ahead of her. Jax kept telling her that she knew the material, she knew the spells, she knew what she was doing, and now she just had to trust herself. But Gia wanted to make sure she got the top grades in all subjects and sections of the CATS so that her mother wouldn’t worry that they were wasting their time at Sonora. If Gia and Jax both did well, se knew that Mana would feel better with having them so far from home.Plus, if she did well, it meant that she could choose whatever subjects that she wanted to continue into Advance and since Gia wasn’t sure exactly what it was that she wanted to do after Sonora, she would need to be able to take all the subjects until she worked out her own future. Gia wasn’t as ambitious as she was sure some of the Aladrens were (she was a Pecari afterall), but her future mattered to her because it mattered to her Mana and to Jax. She wanted to make them as proud as she wanted to make herself.
Despite feeling overwhelmed with everything that she had to do, Gia was not completely lost on what was happening at the table. More importantly, what wasn’t happening. Laila wasn’t talking. Gia and her friends (well, not so much Peizhi) were talkers and could easily talk the night away if they were allowed too, so it was very unusual for Laila to not be chatting. Gia looked up from her plate of noodles to see Laila staring off in the distance. Gia followed her line of sight and saw only the Staff table in that direction.
She said nothing for a moment, Gia just watched her friend for that time in silence as she tried to work out the expression on her face. It was almost like she was daydreaming about something. Gia knew that some of the students thought some of the staff members were attractive (and really, she did too if she was going to be honest about it, but she did not admit to such things because they were adults who commented respect and their looks shouldn’t matter in the long run) so she wondered if her friend had become one of those girls who thought about their teachers like that.
Because she was paying attention to Laila, she did not miss the moment when Laila missed her mouth. Trying to not laugh directly at her friend’s misfortune, Gia lifted her napkin to her mouth to hid the small chuckle that had bubbled up from her throat. At her question, however, Gia took a chance to glance at Sammy. Sammy and Jax were the only two people to know Gia’s secret, but Sammy said that Laila knew that she was into both girls and boys too and had been alright with it. “Yes, I have.” Gia replied, deciding to be as honest as her heart felt she was ready for. “By the look on your face, I feel that you have too. Someone older, perhaps?” Gia teased, giving away the fact that she had seen her friend staring.
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Gia Donovan
My forbidden Fruit is different than yours.
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Gia Donovan
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Wu Peizhi and Sammy Meeks
January 29, 2017 1:48 AM
Semi-relatable by Wu Peizhi and Sammy Meeks
In the moment directly following Laila’s bold inquiry, Wu could only manage to blink in surprise. Her answer was a hard no, but she didn’t immediately volunteer that information as it wouldn’t be productive. The quickness of her mental response, if allowed to vocalize, probably would have only made Laila feel bad about herself and her apparently sticky situation.Honestly, Wu hadn’t really felt much of anything for anyone yet. She hadn’t let herself. It was hard enough to allow herself friendship, she was nowhere near a place to imagine anyone else - although she knew it had to be boys - in any other, even more complicated light. Maybe next year, she thought, she might be ready to feel new ways, but she was nearly fifteen, already a late-bloomer.
Sammy, on the other hand, had far more experience to draw on. “I mean, I liked Joella, and that was a disaster for pretty much everybody involved,” she commented, feeling enough time had passed to make a light joke of the situation. She noted with curiosity that Gia also agreed to the sentiment. That probably also meant a girl, although Sammy was admittedly curious to which one, if she meant somebody here or her summer girlfriend back home.
Gia suggested something about Laila’s issue being an age thing, and with intrigue, Sammy followed the line of sight the two had previously held. The staff table? “Just please tell me it’s not Professor Pye. Like, I love you, and he’s cute and whatever, but I’ll probably throw up.” Alfie Pye was by all definitions a gorgeous man, but the drama of his lineage was so not worth it. He seemed cool externally, but anybody who shared that much DNA with Barnaby “Wreck-Yo-World” Pye had to be secretly crazy. Even in the hypothetical land of teacher crushes, it was so beyond not worth it.
“Professor Pye?” said Wu incredulously, her gaze whipping accusingly at the professors. Then she turned back to her friend. “Laila, is it him?” She certainly hoped not. The Teppenpaw wanted something achievable and happy for her friend, so she very much hoped Sammy and Gia were completely off, and that Laila was simply being dramatic with this entire "someone you shouldn't like" affair.
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Wu Peizhi and Sammy Meeks
Semi-relatable
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Wu Peizhi and Sammy Meeks
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Laila
February 01, 2017 7:03 PM
*sighs* by Laila
Gia’s teasing caused Laila to blush and when Sammy suggested Professor Pye, Laila blushed even deeper, Wu’s innocent questioning about the Defence professor only making her feel worse. She was a little surprised with Gia’s response that she had felt something for someone she wasn’t supposed to because she hadn’t been aware of any of Gia’s crushes but Sammy’s and Wu’s replies were less so. The Joella-incident was still somewhat fresh in Laila’s mind as she remembered the fallout from that fateful dinner. Wu, of course, was probably too sweet and pure to ever do something she wasn’t supposed to.Aside from whatever it was that was causing issues at home, Laila thought hastily. She knew her quiet friend had some troubling times which had caused her to pull away from them, but she trusted Wu to handle herself even if she did worry about the Teppenpaw from time to time. “No, it’s not,” she reassured Wu, looking at her fellow fourth year instead of Sammy who had suggested the name in the first place. She had been almost sure Sammy was only joking, but she didn’t know if Wu had picked up on that.
“It’s, it’s someone else,” she said, looking away quickly, her cheeks flushing again as she thought about how kind
After all, who had been their first suggestion? Professor Pye. It was true, their Defence professor was extremely attractive but he was also really intense and scary. He reminded her of her crushes on the Mills brothers (Professor Pye even had a younger brother but Laila had actually kissed Conner Mills and would never consider kissing Barnaby Pye because of everything he’d done to her friends) and Professor Xavier was so much more than a simple crush. She was in love.
“I—um, what did you do?” she asked Gia and Sammy, turning to the older two for advice. “How did you handle it?”
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Laila
*sighs*
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Laila
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Gia
February 01, 2017 9:22 PM
*Ponders* by Gia
Gia was a bit surprised that Sammy openly admitted to liking Joella since she knew how difficult that had been for her and by the look on Peizhi’s face, it definitely wasn’t something that was completely known just yet. Gia tried not to focus on that though in case Sammy realized her mistake and felt embarrassed over it. They were friends after all and eventually Peizhi would find out the truth about all of them anyway.She tried not to react when Sammy asked if it was Professor Pye to whom Laila was crushing on. He was attractive, but he was also a bit mysterious in the not good way. She assumed it was because of his Auror background, but the truth was that the Pye family scared her a bit and after dealing with Barnaby, she could only imagine how the rest of his family really was like. Plus, the way Sammy addressed Professor Pye indicated that she did not favor them in the least and Gia figured it was likely because of Barnaby, which just made Gia feel even more guilty for having had a crush on the younger Pye for a long time. She was well over it now, but it did make her stomach twist uncomfortably just the same.
Before Gia could really dwell on her emotions, Laila tried to explain herself. She had no idea why she was being mysterious about it if it wasn’t a teacher. Laila didn’t think it could be someone completely inappropriate or a female, but it was hard for her to tell sometimes. She had definitely been looking in the direction of the staff table… But if it was an older guy, did that make it a Seventh year? Gia remembered them from having class and Clark she knew well enough from their clubs and Library duties, but she was never attracted to any of them really. She could say they were cute looking, but that was about it in terms of how she felt physically about them.
At the question, Gia’s brows furrowed. What did she do about the crush? “I did nothing.” She replied. She was referencing both her crush on Barnaby that she once had as well as her crush on Diana. “The one crush would have been terrible for me and the other…” She tried to think of how to explain her crush on Diana and why she knew it was a lost cause. “It was not meant to be. I know where the line is in terms of who is interested and who isn’t. I can dream a little but I see no reason to go beyond that with people who do not look at me the same as I do them.”
OOC: Discussion of Wu’s reaction happened with the Author in chatzy.
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Gia
*Ponders*
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Gia
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Sammy and Wu
February 05, 2017 1:24 AM
*Consider* by Sammy and Wu
Both Wu and Sammy were relieved to hear that Laila’s crush was not on Professor Pye, but the latter took a different approach to this information. Like the curious cat she was, Sammy began to mentally play detective. If age was part of the issue, that meant it had to be a seventh year or maaaaybe a sixth year. She turned through all the boys in the above grades, counting out the boys who had girlfriends because Laila didn’t seem like the type for that (little did Sammy know) and hadn’t mentioned already having a girlfriend as part of the issue.All of the boys in the seventh year were taken, weird, or both (at this rationale, the Pecari suppressed a laugh as she sorted Jamie into the third category, a joke at her own boyfriend’s expense) so she reasoned it had to be a sixth year. In this case, Sammy thought Laila was being horribly dramatic, because a two year age difference was practically nothing. She and Jamie were two years apart, and so were Ginger Pierce and Jake Manger, who came to mind mostly because Sammy couldn’t help but imagine how hilarious it would be if such a famous Teppenpaw couple were to double-date with the infamous Pecari couple she and Jamie had formed.
After running through the short list of sixth year boys (and, admittedly, forgetting about John Umland’s existence for the moment), Sammy decided the most likely answer was Liac Reinhardt. The other Reinhardt boys were from Laila’s hometown, so she knew them better, maybe too well for a crush if they became more like brothers, but Liac wasn’t from Turner’s Point. And Sammy couldn’t deny that Liac was pretty handsome. He also seemed to know it, and confidence was, if her record said anything, something she found attractive. She liked the quieter, shyer kind of people as well, of course,with being sorta-friends with Wu and totally-friends with Kira now as solid examples, but in terms of romance, confidence was key.
Laila asked how she and Gia had handled it, and before she had the chance to interject her answer - it would have been a one word statement: badly - Gia answered instead. But her answer only made Sammy frown. So there were two wrong people crushes in her friend’s history? And neither of them were the girlfriend she’d mentioned, since she claimed to have done nothing.
“Doing nothing isn’t a safe bet either, though,” Sammy added. “Because I waited around and did nothing, and then by the time I was ready to say something, it was too late.” She had fully worked up the courage to ask Joella to the ball, only to be crushed by Joella going with Lionel, and then to be crushed again by the fact that she was playing tonsil hockey with Jax. “Honestly, Laila, I vote do something. Tell them” - she used gender neutral pronouns just in case she was wrong and Laila also liked girls, which would’ve been hilarious and awesome and then they’d just need Wu to come out too and it’d be a full set - “and maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised. But, like, give them the chance, y’know? I think it’s probably better to have somebody break your heart than to sit around moping and break it yourself.”
Wu watched the conversation bounce between the other three girls, as often it did without her complaint, but she couldn’t help but feel guilt that she had nothing to contribute. She had yet to feel any sort of romantic pull, perhaps forcing herself to shut down those impulses as she felt too afraid, barely able to make friends let alone encourage romantic attention, or perhaps she was just a bit of a later bloomer than Laila. But either way, the only contribution she could offer came in the form of a concerned glance of her brown eyes and the small frown of worry she aimed toward the Crotalus.
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Sammy and Wu
*Consider*
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Sammy and Wu
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Laila
February 13, 2017 2:36 PM
*Pray* by Laila
Do nothing, do something, sit in silence. Each of her friends offered a different suggestion for the lonely Crotalus who was beginning to feel as though all her hope for ever being recognized by Mr. Xavier were lost forever. She would never be ready to tell Mr. Xavier how she felt because even though she knew that she liked him more than any guy she’d liked before, she also knew that he was a professional and would neither see her that way nor tell her that he did. He really was a chivalrous, perfect man. “I, um, I…” she frowned as her words failed her. She had come this far, was she going to tell them about Mr. Xavier? Was she going to make up another student to have a crush on instead?Laila’s mind raced as she tried to think of all the possibilities for a crush. Oliver Fergueson was a complete and utter ass and so even though he was handsome she knew her friends would never believe her if she said she liked him. The same went for Jamie Park—and besides there were rumours of him and Sammy furiously making out in public which was something that Laila knew she’d have to have a chat about sometime in the future. The other seventh years included Jake Manger and Clark Dill—both of whom had girlfriends, and Olivier Westley who was a bit too quiet and under the radar for Laila’s taste even if he was friendly enough.
The sixth year class was automatically ruled out—John Umland was a total weiro, Tobi and Liac were, well, Tobi and Liac, and then there was Aiden O’Neil who also had a girlfriend. The fifth year class was out because it had Jax in it and she didn’t really feel like going there again. She was kind of stumped unless…was it very terrible to tell her friends she liked someone with a girlfriend? They certainly wouldn’t encourage her to go tell him then, but did she really want them to think she was the kind of girl who didn’t realize it was bad to tell a guy with a girlfriend she liked him? Was that better or worse than being the kind of girl who had a crush on a teacher?
“Do you really think I should do it?” she asked instead, trying to buy herself more time. Gia had given hesitant advice and Wu hadn’t given any but Laila was sure the quietest of them all would agree with Gia over Sammy in this particular instance, and besides if Gia and Wu agreed against Sammy then it wasn’t like Laila was chickening out. She hadn’t quite thought ahead to what she would do if Sammy’s words had changed Gia’s mind or if Wu was secretly fearless in the romantic department. “Tell him, I mean. I…I don’t know if it’s a good idea but feeling like this isn’t fun either.”
Jesus Christ, Laila though panicking. Lord in Heaven, please help me. Lamb of God, take pity on me. What have I gotten myself into?
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Laila
*Pray*
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Laila
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Gia
February 13, 2017 7:37 PM
*Sigh* by Gia
Gia frowned at Sammy when her friend told Laila to just go for it and that it was better to have her heart broken by her crush than mope. Gia agreed that moping was not the best thing to do either but what purpose would having her heart broken directly from the source be better for her? Even if Sammy had found a moment to tell Joella how she had felt, she likely would have ended up in the same pain, if not worse because it would have been an outright rejection. Joella was straight and Gia had known from Jax and having spoken to her directly that Joella had had feelings for Jax for a long time.Why would a direct rejection have been better than simply realizing the object of affection was interested in someone else without exposing oneself to the rejection?
Gia turned to Laila at her question but her frown deepened because she didn't think their advice was helpful at all. "I do not think you should tell this person unless you are absolutely certain that they would be open to the ideal of your feelings." Gia stated firmly. "I do not see how it is less harmful for her to confess her feelings to someone who is not interested and may not ever be. A heartbreak is a heartbreak but a rejection on top if that and the humiliation that is coupled with that is far more difficult to overcome than simply acknowledging the fact that some relationships were never meant to be." Gia commented. If she could help any heartache her friend may have in her life in the way she wasn't able to with Sammy, then she was going to try.
"Laila, if you feel that this male, female, older student,... adult," Gia made sure to include all possibilities, "may be open or interested in you, than I will support your decision should you decide to confess to them, but if you know that your crush is one sided and likely to continue to be, I truly feel its best to allow it to remain only a crush until you find a new love."
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Gia
*Sigh*
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Gia
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