Sulking [WotW] on Quidditch Pitch

Lutece Anthony

December 15, 2007 3:21 PM

Sulking [WotW] by Lutece Anthony

Lutece was in a sulk. This was not to imply that she was a usually cheerful person, merely that she was more miserable than usual. Plenty of things were going wrong in her life, and she hadn't been able to find Talitha to complain to. Nor had she been inclined to write a long letter to her younger siblings, as that would require using one of those nasty birds and getting writer's cramp. Neither one of which she was in the mood for.

It was, she decided, as though some otherworldly being was deliberately taking interest in her hopes and dreams just for the sake of smiting them as if her life were an overdeveloped Star Wars computer game. This was depressing. Actually, many things were irritating her at the moment and she had no one to talk to. And that was added to her list now too. It was quite a long list, and since the weather wasn't bad (well, Sonora was climate controlled using some complex scientific system) she grabbed her broom and made her way to the Pitch to work off some steam. True, she wasn't exactly dressed for that sort of thing, but Lutece didn't especially care. She was sulking, after all, and couldn't let anything ruin her mood.

First off, she had been trying to figure out how to make her hair look good in a halfback. If she curled it, it was too poufy. If she crimped it, she looked like she had a broom for a head. If she didn't do anything, it was straight and boring (even if it did accent her blonde highlights nicely). Maybe this summer she could get some red highlights too. Their next-door neighbor back home in Maryland had gotten red highlights over the break and they looked very nice on her.

Secondly, Lutece's nice new earrings that she had gotten for Christmas, all green and amber-y, simply did not match any of her clothes. It was too sophisticated for the normal Hollister t-shirt or sweatshirt and wearing dresses during school (there was the absolutely gorgeous tan one she had gotten from her grandmother) was just tacky. Well, not precisely tacky. Just something that the smarmy teacher's pets would wear. Not Lutece's style.

What was her style? The problem of the earrings left that truly vexing quandary for her to deal with. Hollister was well and good in this place, but it made her look normal at home. She needed a new style, a new pizazz. Nobody wanted to hang out with someone who was normal, not even someone who was normal and went (they thought) to a fancy private school in New York. Although that did give Lutece a certain sparkle in social situations as long as she could keep her elaborations and lies straight. After all, what was she supposed to do? Let them know that she really attended some weirdo 'magic' school in the middle of a desert? Um, how about not.

At this point, she was just objecting to the whole 'magic' thing out of principle. Sonora was actually starting to grow on Lutece--she couldn't manage life without Talitha and Quidditch and harassing Oliver any more. Actually, she even was starting to think that Oliver looked pretty cute, even if he did have the glasses problem and almost no social skills whatsoever. He was Talitha's friend, too, which meant she was seeing more and more of him.

That was the very crux of her problem: she had no male friends. Worse, Lutece had nobody she could trust to ask her to the ball. There were plenty of really cute guys around (that sixth year Tepp, the one who was related to Matt Santoro, was amazingly gorgeous), but they all had girlfriends already, or were too old, or just not interested.

So depressing.

About to kick off to circle the goals a few times, Lutece caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye and pretended to need to tie her shoelace so that they could come closer. Not that it needed tying--she was wearing a

0 Lutece Anthony Sulking [WotW] 100 Lutece Anthony 1 5

Oliver Abbott

December 15, 2007 5:57 PM

Oh fabulous. Just what I need. by Oliver Abbott

Something had changed since midterm. Previously, Oliver had worried about his grades, and falling off his broom during a Quidditch game. Both of these worries were easily worked out by studying and flying practise, though. He’d had more menial worries, too, like remembering to cover up when he went outside, or whether his glasses were clean. Both of those, again, could be sorted out fairly easily. Since midterm, though, Oliver had more complicated worries, involving stupid, unanswerable questions. He was bothered by thoughts about how Julian had a girlfriend, and that said girlfriend obviously liked Julian enough and thought he was mature enough to be worthy of boyfriend material. That in itself was puzzling – Julian was an idiot by anyone’s standards. He was good at swimming and football, and his grades were good, too, but what did girls care about stuff like that? From what Oliver had been able to ascertain in his limited experience with couples, girls like older guys, preferably those who were rich and good looking, usually with a big car, or who were famous. Julian didn’t fit any of those categories. Neither did Oliver, for that matter.

In fact, Oliver didn’t even care if he fit into any of those categories. No matter what Julian thought, Oliver didn’t even care about his brother having a girlfriend. It was weird, and incomprehensible, but Oliver didn’t really care either way. Becca had seemed nice, and Oliver thought she was pretty enough, but he didn’t really see the point of her. All they had done was watch films together, and kiss a bit (which Oliver was doing his utmost not to think about), and that was it. If that was all that went on with a girlfriend, then Oliver wasn’t really interested. You couldn’t watch films at Sonora anyway, and, quite frankly, the thought of kissing a girl was mildly terrifying.

Normally, Oliver would have left all this confusion at home, and come to Sonora to interact with the girls there in his usual non-relationship-oriented way. The problem was that the girls at Sonora didn’t seem to be the same people they’d been before midterm. Oliver was sure he wasn’t imagining it, and he was equally sure that not every girl had gone home to find her older sister had a boyfriend. It was bewildering to behold, but all the girls suddenly seemed more… well, it was odd, at any rate.

Having been confused about girls for a short while, Oliver had turned instead to those old, familiar problems, the ones he knew he could fix. He did an hour’s studying, and then took up his broom and headed out to the pitch. It was fairly empty, but there was another person down there. Unfortunately, Oliver had gotten too close to turn around and pretend he’d never been there by the time he realised it was Lutece.

“Um, hi,” he said, loathing the fact that his voice made an odd squeaking sound somewhere between the two words. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses before trying again. “Hi,” he repeated, in what was a thankfully steady voice. What to do next was a mystery – he would rather be stung by a bee than have another argument with Lutece, but there was no escaping the fact that they were both there to practise Quidditch. Perhaps Lutece was just leaving? Oliver mentally crossed his fingers than she was on her way from the pitch, not to it.

0 Oliver Abbott Oh fabulous. Just what I need. 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Lutece

December 17, 2007 3:08 PM

Now that you're here, I'm twice as fabulous as usual! by Lutece

Oh! It was Oliver! Lutece was startled to find herself somewhat pleased at the bespectacled boy's appearance. He obviously hadn't followed the fashion advice she had given him at the end of the year last year, which was a pity. Perhaps he simply didn't care. Or perhaps he was now seeking her out to ask for more advice! Yes, that would make good sense. He obviously wanted to take a girl to the ball and wasn't sure if he was fashionable enough to ask her and not get laughed at. It might be Talitha, or maybe someone else. Lutece tried not to hope it was herself, because that would be too desperate. If it was her, she would have to do a bit of changing, though. Mostly the glasses were annoying her. Didn't he know what contacts were? Everybody wore them....

"Of course I'll help you!" she beamed at him as soon as Oliver managed to get out a 'hi'. He squeaked a little bit the first time he tried, which from the movies Lutece knew meant he was nervous. Poor boy, learning to talk to girls was a vital first step in any relationship. Not tomboyish girls, which Talitha undoubtedly was, despite that she was in Crotalus. More like the older, more glamourous girls. Some of the 'purebloods'. They all thought they were better than everyone around, which annoyed Lutece to no end (since they obviously weren't better than her, just older) but still amazingly pretty and confident.

Leaning her broom carefully against the stands, Lutece approached Oliver until they were close enough to talk comfortably. She didn't feel quite so much like sulking now that there was someone to pay attention to her. Particularly as it was a male someone in her year. A male someone that was actually kind of cute, beneath all the geekiness. The Crotalus was always astonished to see that hidden aura of cuteness when she got close to Oliver. It was so surprising and unexpected! Still, he absolutely had to get rid of those glasses. They were obscuring so much of his face. Not to mention the feel of complete geekiness they added to the situation. It was kind of gross.

"You really should get contacts," Lutece shook her head and sighed in what she thought was a very patently mature and slightly frustrated manner. "Anyway. What exactly was it that you wanted to ask me?" She smiled encouragingly at him, urging him to spit it out and not stutter too much. It could be an adorable trait, but too much was annoying. Really, the boy had quite a lot of promise.

0 Lutece Now that you're here, I'm twice as fabulous as usual! 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver

December 18, 2007 11:02 AM

... was that a compliment? by Oliver

Oliver had thought that maybe Lutece would tell him to go away, or ask him why he was following her around. At the very best, she would have said ‘hi’ back, picked up her broom and headed back to school. What actually happened though, was Lutece didn’t seem disappointed to see Oliver at all, and instead told him, “Of course I’ll help you.”

“Um, what?” Oliver replied. Lutece was smiling – actually genuinely smiling. Now Oliver knew he hadn’t been imagining it: girls had definitely gotten a lot weirder since midterm. Plus Oliver had no idea what she was talking about. Help him with what? He’d certainly never asked Lutece for help, and wouldn’t really consider it in the future, either. She was odd, and didn’t believe in magic (or hadn’t last year anyway. Perhaps she had seen sense by now?), and had ruined his first ever potion, which was an offence Oliver was not likely to ever forget. So it was that Oliver stood dumbfounded while Lutece ditched her broom to come and talk to him, hopefully to clarify what she’d meant.

“You really should get contacts,” she said. Now Oliver was torn between confusion and indignation. What did it matter to Lutece whether he wore contacts or glasses? His glasses were new! Well, new-ish. He was about to tell her so, when she added, “What exactly was it that you wanted to ask me?”

“Nothing,” Oliver replied sharply, both puzzled and agitated. “I didn’t want to ask you anything. I would like to tell you though that I got new glasses in the summer,” he said, pointing to the black, more rectangular frames, “and I don’t want to wear contacts.” He glared at her, partly out of annoyance for her belittling his appearance, and partly because he wasn’t sure what else to do – he didn’t know how to deal with a Lutece who smiled.

0 Oliver ... was that a compliment? 0 Oliver 0 5

Lutece

December 22, 2007 9:46 AM

What else would it be? by Lutece

Ah, so he was too intimidated to finish his question? That was all right. Lutece was feeling benevolent today. She could get it out of Oliver without him ever asking, she was sure. It was something that she was good at. Actually, the Crotalus was enjoying Sonora more and more as the year went on. Now that there was a proper ball planned, it almost seemed as though life were getting back to normal. People were asking her opinions on things, asking for advice, respecting her as they should. Well, not older girls yet, but people her age. Therefore, things were as they should be. Completely disregarding the fact that a) Oliver hadn't actually asked her anything and b) he hadn't actually brought up the ball at all, Lutece's sulk had completely disappeared.

Oliver seemed very off-balance today, the girl's sharp blue-green eyes noted as she delicately placed a wayward piece of hair behind her ear in a very coquettish manner. He was stuttering all over the place and seemed generally unequipped to handle the world at large. From experience, books, and her older half-sister's occasional advice, Lutece knew that it was perfectly normal for boys to feel uncomfortable and out of place in situations like this. They simply weren't built to handle it. Boys got the mechanics, how-things-work side of the brain, but girls got the really useful, socially analytical part. It was just the way things worked, and it was futile to try and make things different. It was also necessary, if you wanted a date or cared about the boy in question, to make them feel comfortable with themselves and the situation before they would ask you the right questions.

As usual, he wasn't pleased with her contacts comment. "Oh, fine then," she said, amused and frustrated. "Everybody wears contacts. Even," she leaned closer to him and spoke softly, as though telling him a secret. Well, it kind of was. "I do." she leaned back to wear she had been before and sighed again. "See, it's not that big of a deal! But if you don't want to take that step quite yet, you could always get glasses with smaller, more round lenses." She took the glasses off his face and examined them a moment. "See? If these were less rectangular...and maybe you could get lighter frames. These just dominate your face! It would look so much more open."

Lutece smiled at her teammate again, handing the glasses back. He probably wouldn't take her advice right away, but when he did, Oliver would know who to thank. Oh, he probably wouldn't actually thank her, but the change in his appearance would be thanks enough. Really, he wasn't that bad! It was just the glasses thing that was such a big problem. If he could just get rid of the glasses, or at least get rid of the big, bulky glasses, things would look so much better. Perhaps if she could find some appropriate pictures in a catalogue it would make him more inclined to listen to her.

0 Lutece What else would it be? 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver

December 29, 2007 1:04 PM

Hard to tell with you by Oliver

“Oh fine then,” Lutece said. It sounded as though she was going to dismiss the conversation, and Oliver couldn’t help feeling pleased. The smile that had almost formed on his face fell again as she continued. She leaned in and told him that she wore contacts. Well, that was a surprise, but Oliver could barely concentrate on the news as Lutece had moved so close to him in order to whisper her information that it was making him feel incredibly nervous. He took a step backwards to regain some semblance of personal space, but it was mere seconds before Lutece stepped forward to meet him again, and took Oliver’s glasses right off his face.

Oliver could do very little but stand still. She kept coming so close – she had always done her very best to maintain a good distance between them in the past, and Oliver couldn’t comprehend why that rule no longer held true. Even weirder than her proximity was Lutece’s renewed interest in his spectacles. She had always teased him about them, but Oliver was far from sensitive to such comments. Now, though, she really seemed to be warring against his wearing them. He wondered why it mattered to her so much. Didn’t she have anyone else’s appearance to mock and life to ruin?

Lutece finally handed Oliver’s glasses back to him; he adjusted them and then frowned at her. He had listened to her comments, and he hoped that she would do him the same courtesy. “I’m not sure quite why you’re so interested in my glasses,” he said, “but there’s not… I mean, these are the only…” He stopped to form a sentence before he started speaking again.

“I have really bad eyesight,” he told her, trying to stress the point. Despite all appearances, Oliver was often sensitive about his condition, his eyesight being included in his insecurities. “There aren’t that many styles that do what I need them to, like these ones darken in the sunlight,” he said, pointing to the frames he’d carefully picked out in the summer. “I don’t think there are contacts that do that, either,” he said, and before she could argue, he added, “and I know I could just wear sunglasses outside, like I used to, but that seems a step backwards, don’t you think?”

He was still as confused as ever, but at least Lutece might leave him alone about his glasses now. It was a slim chance, Oliver knew, but the chance was there. “I appreciate your… concern, or whatever it is, but I actually quite like my glasses.”

0 Oliver Hard to tell with you 0 Oliver 0 5