Time for some Fireworks. ;-) on Quidditch Pitch

Headmistress Powell

October 09, 2009 12:46 PM

Bonfire! by Headmistress Powell

While the students had been enjoying their arranged activities, supervised by Sonora’s staff, Sadi had taken visiting faculty on a tour of the school. As she pointed out details such as Tavarius Mims, and took them through the Hall of Plants, the Headmistress couldn’t help but feel proud of the school, and its students. She had never expected to feel any such bond with her place of work, and the sensation took her by surprise; perhaps being Headmistress had affected her more than she’d realised.

As the daylight started to dwindle, Sadi Powell started to collect everyone together on the Quidditch pitch. It had been somewhat transformed since they were all there several hours earlier: Most notably, one entire half of the pitch was covered in tents. Although several were an exact shade of green, matching Sonora’s school uniform robes, there had not been enough to provide shelter for everyone. Therefore some extra tents had been added, in assorted shades and styles, and were dotted in amongst the others. Inside, the tents were all similar in that they were not Muggle tents: each had its own bathroom, and held four comfortable cots. They different in terms of decoration and style, but each would provide suitable accommodation for the night.

Other noticeable differences to the grounds included the huge mound of wood that had been piled up at the opposite end of the pitch to the sleeping area (for obvious fire hazard reasons). Although magic would be used to start and maintain the fire, its immense size would need to be facilitated by real fuel. Then, to allow space for this monstrous bonfire, a stage had been constructed several yards away. This would showcase Simon Tellerman - Sonora’s groundskeeper - and The Nowhere Men, who would be providing musical entertainment for the evening. The final addition was a vast buffet table, laden with a variety of pots and plates, their contents still concealed, for now, under lids and covers.

“Your attention, please!” The Headmistress of Sonora called, her voice once more enchanted to be heard above the students. She and the Headmaster of Rocky Mountain stood on a small podium near the stage, so they could be seen but to not interfere as the band set up. “I hope you have had fun today,” Sadi Powell said. “Soon we will enjoy the main entertainment for the evening. However, first I would like to make an announcement. It is customary at the Midsummer celebrations for me to reveal the results of the votes cast earlier in the year for the positions of Head Boy and Head Girl.” Pausing – equally for dramatic effect as to let the excitement die down a little – Said continued, “It is therefore my pleasure to announce that, next year, your Head Boy will be Jose Santoro of Crotalus, and your Head Girl will be Elly Eriksson of Pecari. Congratulations.”

Having taken another break in her speech to allow the students to settle, Sadi again drew the crowd’s attention. “I now invite Headmaster Guido to light the bonfire.” Sadi moved back a step to allow Alessandro to ignite the kindling and start the festivities. As the first flicker turned into a tongue of flame, Headmistress Powell led the staff and students into a final round of applause. “Enjoy the food, and your evening. I give you the Nowhere Men.”

Subthreads:

Who, me? I mean - FIREWORKS!!! by Elly Eriksson with Saul Pierce, Elly, Supreme Prankstress!

Not having a great time by Hayden Young (RMI 3rd year) with Haven Hart (RMI 1st year), Hayden, Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year)

Making appearances amongst the crowd by Josh and Matt Santoro (Sonora 6th years) with Mia Nealson, Matt and Josh, Helena Layne

Hiya! by Professor Frederick Phale [RMI, CoMC Prof]

Time for some Fireworks. ;-) by Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year] with Charlotte Abbott (Sonora 2nd year), James Anthony (Sonora 2nd year), Kenny

Chooooocolate! (Spongebob reference, anyone?) by Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year] with Alexis Ashwood (Sonora 4th year), Jose Hernandez (Sonora firstie), Simon

It's always the quiet ones by Ivy Tallow [TAG: Lia Harper] with Lia Harper, Ivy

Food raid, anyone? by Megan Macrae (RMI Firstie) with Daniel Nash II (2nd Year Sonoran)

Sick of my Housemates by Alissa Kendrick (RMI) with Jera Valson, Alissa

Get me out of this place! by Tanya Fayes [RMI Second-year]

Bonfire and Music and Fireworks, oh my! [Tag : Thyme] by Jaeven Dimitri with Thyme Barrington

0 Headmistress Powell Bonfire! 0 Headmistress Powell 1 5

Elly Eriksson

October 09, 2009 1:08 PM

Who, me? I mean - FIREWORKS!!! by Elly Eriksson

This had been a fabulous idea – Elly was having just the best day ever. Watching Hose on the obstacle course had been a highlight, and no matter what anyone said, Pecari and Aquilla had kicked arse on the Quidditch pitch. Now there was going to be a bonfire, fabulous food, loads of friends – yep, this was the life. And it was going to get a lot more interesting; Elly had a surprise in each of her jeans pockets, and she couldn’t wait to use them. First, though, she had to listen to Headmistress Powell.

Despite her excited fidgeting, Elly’s attention was held fast by the mention of the Head Boy and Girl votes. She was as interested this year as she had been last year: last year because Saul’s name had been on the ballot, and this year because it was her own year – there was the potential that one of her friends had been selected (actually, that was practically guaranteed, because Elly considered just about everyone in her year to be a friend.) She heard Jose’s name called out, and felt an odd pull of two emotions. She was delighted for Jose, and in her heart she knew he would probably make the better Head Boy, but at the same time she thought it would be more fun if Matt had been given the job – Elly had voted for the Pecari Santoro. Of course these thoughts were wiped clean away in a moment of mental abstraction – she was sure the Headmistress had just said her own name in the place of the Head Girl announcement. A glance to the side let Elly know people were looking at her. Then she must have heard right? No! Not possible! She so couldn’t deal with this right now – she had firework plans! Very much breaking school rules and not setting the good example one might expect from a future Head Girl. There was only one thing for it – Elly pulled her hood right down over her face, ducked and ran for it, dodging the crowd as best she could. She had needed to move, anyway.

Waiting for the Headmistress to finally finish talking, Elly headed for the back of the crowd, sort of central. She hoped Saul would be doing the same on her left, and Irene on her right. They’d spread out, so they couldn’t be so easily identified. The redhead tentatively reached her hand into her pocket, and pulled out a small object concealed in her fist. Then, on that first note of the band, with the flames already swallowing most of the wooden mound, Elly flung that something high up into the sky. It kept rising, with a thin stream of shimmering dust behind it, and then BANG! With an outrageously large explosion, the firework emitted a hundred bright blue sparks, lighting up the entire Quidditch pitch. The sparks gradually fell back towards the crowd, dancing and fluttering, as each one was in the shape of a tiny fairy. The firework fairies glowed and danced for a few seconds more before becoming dust and disappearing among the throng of people.

Grinning, Elly watched as Saul’s and Irene’s went off, too. Then she threw up her second and final firework – even with Simon’s help with funding the operation, Elly had only been able to afford two large, impressive fireworks, and four smaller but still pretty ones, so she, Saul and Irene – all of the Pecari prefects – could set off two each.

When all six were done, Elly pushed her way back through the crowd and met her friends at the front of the stage, where Elly finally put her hood back down. “That was awesome!” she enthused loudly, shouting over the music.

0 Elly Eriksson Who, me? I mean - FIREWORKS!!! 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Saul Pierce

October 09, 2009 3:20 PM

Whoo! Fireworks and Head Girls and Dragons, oh my! by Saul Pierce

Saul started the evening's festivities with two bulging robe pockets where his fireworks were kept in anticipation of the band's start. He took up a position to left of the stage, far enough back that he could see the Nowhere Men sorting out their set list in quiet undertones while the Headmistress spoke.

The group was aware of the coming fireworks, as Simon had given them the distinct impression that it was the school, not a trio of Pecari prankster prefects, that were going to be setting them off. They were consequently starting off with one of their few original songs, Dragon Fire, with a modified intro to give plenty of time for the fireworks to go off before the verses began.

Simon caught Saul's eye as he consulted with their four visiting cousins. Saul gave him a grin, a thumbs up, and a nod to show that everybody was in place. Under ordinary circumstances, the Pecaris wouldn't have involved the school groundskeeper in a prank this big out of respect for his continued employment, but Simon was leaving at the end of the year, same as Saul was. He'd jumped on the chance to help out, offering both financial assistance and to convince the band to accommodate them.

Focused as he was on getting his two fireworks ready for launch, Saul almost missed the Head Girl announcement, but he caught Elly's name with the same guilty startled jerk he would have used to respond to his own name at this juncture. Then he realized why her name was being called out, and he broke into a wide grin and couldn't have held back a loud whoop and cheer, even if he had considered that it gave away his half-hidden position.

Soon enough, though, the bonfire was getting lit, the Nowhere Men and Simon were on stage, and the first notes pealed out. From somewhere behind the crowd, the first of the fireworks went off; Elly's, unless Saul missed his guess.

He waited for Irene's to go next before he sent off his smaller one. He was saving the big dragon for the finale. Saul's first firework sped upward as Irene's burst over their heads with a whizzing buzz and then a bang as it reached its apex. He laughed and cheered, as surprised as any one else when it burst into a shape that his perhaps biased opinion interpreted as a pepperoni pizza. In any event it was a large yellow circle that enclosed a bunch of much smaller red circles before they faded out of sight to be replaced by the next small firework.

Once all four of the small ones had gone off, Saul lit the last one, and it launched skyward with a roar before it thundered and a gleaming glittery dragon burst over the pitch. It spewed two bouts of crackling flame, lighting up the whole area in fiery light before it, too, faded out, and the Nowhere Men picked up the volume on their instruments and Paul and Simon began the first verse in unison.

Ecstatic by the success of their fireworks, Saul whooped and ducked into the crowd, his height and Elly's helping him spot his red-headed co-conspirator over most of the rest of the students. Reaching her, he caught her in a hug and spun them both around. "That was awesome! Congrats, Head Girl, best stunt ever!"

1 Saul Pierce Whoo! Fireworks and Head Girls and Dragons, oh my! 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Hayden Young (RMI 3rd year)

October 12, 2009 3:41 PM

Not having a great time by Hayden Young (RMI 3rd year)

The day had pretty much sucked. Hayden had been stuck in the care of the seventh year Lyra prefect, who was so self-involved she practically ignored Hayden, unless he tried to escape her clutches. Then suddenly she was all attentive. Today, she apparently felt the need to tell Hayden all about the messed up relationship of her Muggle brother and his on-off girlfriend. Hayden didn't care one tiny bit, but he was very good and even made appropriate 'I'm listening' noises when she paused at the end of a sentence.

They walked over to the broom racing event, but Hayden didn't have his broom with him, and didn't know the course the racers would be taking. In short it would have been difficult for him to take part. He wasn't that interested in the potions competition - he quite often skipped out on potions classes - but they went to see what it was all about, anyway. The idea was to guess what a potion was, based primarily on how it looked. Yeah, Hayden didn't fancy taking part in that, either.

By the time they made it to the obstacle course, Hayden was fed up of listening to strangers' dating issues, and annoyed at Cosette and Lia for the good time they'd probably been having. He was in such a bad mood he refused to even consider doing the obstacle course. That had been pretty dumb, because he would have been able to join in with that, and now he was staning on his own near the back of the bonfire crowd, having managed to lose his prefect escort at last, thinking what a lousy day it had been. He was still wearing his uniform robes, but they were hanging open at the front, allowing a glimpse of the black jeans and plain black shirt he was wearing underneath. He was also sporting his newest pair of black plastic sunglasses, as he hair was - as usual - in uneven tufty spikes, held in place with gel. The only difference to normal was that the usually care-free boy was frowning, arms folded across his body, as he listened to the Headmistress talking.

Had he enjoyed his day? No, not really. In fact Hayden couldn't wait for it all to be over. He hadn't been in such a bad mood for ages - which was unfortunate for the person who happened to bump into him right at that moment. "Watch where you're going," Hayden said loudly, and with no hint of politesse.

0 Hayden Young (RMI 3rd year) Not having a great time 0 Hayden Young (RMI 3rd year) 0 5

Haven Hart (RMI 1st year)

October 12, 2009 6:30 PM

Re: Not having a great time by Haven Hart (RMI 1st year)

A pretty blonde girl walked through the crowd quickly, blue eyes looking over her shoulder and finally she let out the breath she had been holding when she didn't see someone following her. All day she'd been stuck with some stuck up girl from Cetus, Haven hadn't even remembered her name because it was one of those names you always hear like Jessica or Megan and much to the other girl's chagrin she had even told her that her name was dull. It's not as if Haven was trying to be mean it was just the fact that this girl would not stop telling her everything from how her foot hurt because she tripped over a rock to telling her about her life story. Apparently she was born on a cold summer morning at six a.m just as the sun began to rise and birds sang joyously as her mother brought her perfectly formed self into the world. Can you see how hours of this would get on her nerves? Yet, this was just a minor annoyance compared to everything else.
According to Cetus girl Haven should really start thinking about her future, that she herself had a had timeline planned out for her life since she was eight and that pranking could be very bad on her record. At that point Haven looked at her and told her where she could shove her timeline, in the bonfire, and walked away. Of course,the girl tried to follow her, scolding her with a wagging finger and all, fortunatley Haven could walk quickly without tripping.
As she walked through the crowd, energy still high from her escape she bumped into someone. Before she could say anything the boy told her to watch where she was going. Haven looked at him, "Why dont you?"

0 Haven Hart (RMI 1st year) Re: Not having a great time 0 Haven Hart (RMI 1st year) 0 5

Josh and Matt Santoro (Sonora 6th years)

October 12, 2009 10:15 PM

Making appearances amongst the crowd by Josh and Matt Santoro (Sonora 6th years)

The twins stood quietly in the midst of the crowd that was surrounding the bonfire and the stage that would soon be filled with music by the Grounds keeper’s family. Josh, who had spent the last few months preparing for the bonfire due to the fact that he had to help with the Academic Competition for the activities, would have rather of been in his own dorm room and away from all the students. He was tired. And he had spent far too much being social these last few days that he was over exhausted by it all.

His brother, Matt, on the other hand, was eating up all the new faces. He hadn’t had any part in the planning of the activities. He had little to worry about for his classes since he wasn’t nearly as freakish about studies as his twin. Frankly, Matt had little to worry about and a lot of time to play or be social. He had been anticipating the arrival of the other school since the moment it had been announced. He didn’t care about the background stuff that had to be done and prepared by both the staff, Head Girl and Boy, or the Prefect. He just wanted to see what was out there beyond the walls of Sonora and the grounds of his family homes. This was all fun and games, after all.

They listened while the Headmistress opened to the crowd. The boys had heard the band perform pretty much every year that the Midsummer Events had occurred, so they might not have been as enthused to hear them play as some of the younger years may have been, but they figured they’d at least act like they were enjoying themselves (well, at least, for Josh to act like he was enjoying himself). Well, until the Headmistress announced who the new Head Girl and Boy would be. Josh’s face immediately lit up when his name had been called. He had doubts that he would win over his brother, only because his brother had a charming way about him and he thought that most of the girls in the school would choose Matt over himself. But, apparently Josh had less faith in himself than he realized. Perhaps the school realized that Josh actually did care about things and worked hard?

“The best of us won that one, Jose.” Matt commented with a grin as he clapped for his twin. Matt hadn’t wanted any part of being Head Boy. He didn’t want or need that sort of responsibility. And he knew his brother would do well with the title. Elly’s name was called just as Matt commented and Josh’s face failed to actually remain elated at his new found status. He liked Elly because she was always so nice and, even with her own clique in tow; she tried to include others in what she did. But, he didn’t think she was a very good role model. How many pranks and she pulled with her friends? He wouldn’t be surprised if they did it at some point tonight. Especially with Saul graduating this year. So, Josh had little faith that Elly would actually be serious as Head Girl.

“Wishing it were Helena, or better yet… Danae?” Matt joked from beside him. Matt had long since joked to Josh about the ‘women’ in his life. Helena was just a friend, but Josh would have liked to see her as Head Girl since she was head strong and reliable. Danae was more than just a friend. At least, more so than they probably gave off to people. Of course, Josh never let on with how he actually felt about her, but that was beside the point.

Just above them, fireworks began to explode in the air. Josh hadn’t heard anything about fireworks and by the way they were set up, he could only assume they weren’t originally apart of the festivities. “Looks like it’s going to be an interesting night.” He commented to his brother with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“Man, I hope so. Let’s go mingle.” Matt stated before pushing his brother further into the crowd.

0 Josh and Matt Santoro (Sonora 6th years) Making appearances amongst the crowd 0 Josh and Matt Santoro (Sonora 6th years) 0 5

Hayden

October 13, 2009 3:29 AM

Someone save me. Please? by Hayden

"Why don't you?" came the reply. Hayden recognised the voice, indicating a student from RMI, but not one he was especially familiar with. It was high - definitely a girl - and the pitch coupled with the diminuitive figure he'd collided with, Hayden presumed a first year. Besides, she wasn't in any of his classes that he could remember, so yeah, first year. He wasn't about to be spoken back to by a pint-sized pest. Hayden's first instinct was to make a retort about how exactly he was supposed to watch where he was going. Luckily, even in his frustrated state he somehow managed to keep his cool. It was true he didn't tend to get wound up very easily. He had to deal with Scott on a regular basis, and share a room with Cameron - he might even be the most patient and tolerant person in the world!

"Run along, little firstie," Hayden made his reply in a bored voice, and made a little running-along hand gesture to accompany it. "Go find some other midget to pester." It was probably just as well he didn't feel the need to make a scene, Hayden considered. His mood right now would only get him into trouble. What was with him, anyway? He didn't usually get like this unless he was hungry... oh.

Deciding not to run the risk of being easily identified and relocated by his babysitter, Hayden left his cane in his pocket, where it had spent the past fifteen minutes. Fireworks started going off overhead as Hayden walked slowly along with his hands in his pockets, elbows thrust outwards, until he inevitably nudged someone else. "Sorry about that," Hayden said this time, as the fault was definitely his - he'd been intentionally trying to walk into someone. "Could you help a starving teenager and take me to the food?"

0 Hayden Someone save me. Please? 0 Hayden 0 5

Mia Nealson

October 13, 2009 8:54 AM

Appearing in said crowd by Mia Nealson

Pushing her auburn hair back in a bored irritation that somehow suited her features, Mia Nealson flicked her grey eyes around the bonfire and quickly decided that there was nowhere to be. She had been at Sonora all day and hadn’t really found anybody she wanted to spend time with. Sure, there were a couple of cute guys her age, but she hadn’t been able to get one of them alone, or even to talk to her. And although the underclassmen at RMI knew Mia could be very dangerous when provoked, she was still fairly good-looking, if she did say so herself. And engagement/betrothal completely aside, Mia still didn’t have a boyfriend. If her grandparents were going to make her marry some ancient man who was probably about as attractive as a broomstick, then she was damn well going to have a cute boyfriend beforehand. And possibly during. Mia held no misconceptions about the concept of fidelity in a pureblood marriage—she wasn’t blind, she knew that the last time her mother had been completely faithful to her father was probably the day they had been married. If that.

Point being, Mia decided, as she looked around the bonfire, that now was her chance to talk to one of the cute guys she’d been eyeing earlier. There was nobody at RMI to date, or even to hook up with. It was depressing. The guys who were remotely good-looking were generally into theatre, and a complete pain aside.

The girl straightened her school robes and moved forward through the crowd. The grey emphasised her eyes quite well, Mia thought, and they were her House colours besides. Not to say that she had an excessive amount of House spirit, but they had done well at Quidditch the previous year, and letting that small amount of spirit show was acceptable. Not to mention, of course, that Mia had her robes custom-made each year. They weren’t the general school-cut, but something just a tad different that accented her figure a bit more. In short, Mia didn’t really mind the school robes because they were really just another type of outfit—more like the dress robes she wore sometimes.

There! There was the guy she’d been looking at sideways all day. He was with another guy she assumed was his brother. Mia grinned and approached them. Guys were much more fun to hang out with than girls. Less catty, that sort of thing. And much more fun.

“Hey,” she addressed them with a grin. “I’m Mia Nealson, sixth year at RMI. Do you mind if I tag along?”

0 Mia Nealson Appearing in said crowd 0 Mia Nealson 0 5

Professor Frederick Phale [RMI, CoMC Prof]

October 15, 2009 7:01 PM

Hiya! by Professor Frederick Phale [RMI, CoMC Prof]

This was all very nice. The whole joining together of two different schools for the sake of comradeship among fellow students was something that Frederick Phale wished RMI and Sonora had done when he was in school. He himself had attended RMI while growing up, and although he'd gotten a great education and everything, he had always been lacking in the social department -- heck, he was still lacking in that area -- and joining up with another school to take part in a bunch of social activities would have been perfect for his struggling young self at the time.

But, even though he wouldn't be able to have the same bonding experience that the students were having, he found this event to be quite helpful for bonding among adults like himself. It was always good to be around more people rather than fewer -- the more the merrier was his philosophy because it meant that he'd get more chances to not ~~phale~~ fail in a social situation. He'd decided that he would have a conversation with someone new tonight, someone he'd never seen before. It was great to just go for it with a complete stranger because there was always a chance that they'd enjoy Freddie's company even though he was a self-declared weirdo; the man talked to bugs on a regular basis. Wait, no -- he'd only done that as a child. Right? He was over that phase...And he definitely didn't still find himself socializing with them on occasion even at thirty-seven years of age. Yeah.

"Well, howdy-doody!" he greeted the nearest faculty member whom he did not recognize. "I'm Frederick, Frederick Phale. I'm the Care of Magical Creatures teacher at RMI. Who are you?" He grinned, not realizing that it would have been much more polite-- much more normal to just ask, "How are you?" in a dignified fashion. He wore an expectant look on his face which resembled that of his pet unicorn, Melinda, whenever he prepared to pour her a bowl of fresh oats; this bizarre behavior was only natural for the professor.

"Oh, and by the bye, just call me Freddie," he added as though he hadn't already come off as incredibly informal. His grin widened happily, and a single hair suddenly jutted upward from the dead center of the top of his head, very noticeable in the bright light of the bonfire. He, of course, was completely oblivious to this.

0 Professor Frederick Phale [RMI, CoMC Prof] Hiya! 0 Professor Frederick Phale [RMI, CoMC Prof] 0 5

Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

October 16, 2009 11:51 PM

Time for some Fireworks. ;-) by Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year]

After the day’s activities had come to an end and the Arizona sky had darkened, Kenny made his way to the Pitch. He’d participated in both the obstacle course and the broom competition but had passed on that boring potions junk, and he was excited for the evening’s festivities. A band was setting up on a big stage and massive amounts of food were within close reach – it all looked pretty awesome.

“Soon we will enjoy the main entertainment for the evening. However, first I would like to make an announcement.”

Jeez, that’s all you ever do!! Kenny lamented. He was sick of this “announcement” crap. What did he care about Sonora’s Head Boy and Head Girl? He didn’t even go to this friggin’ school, for cryin’ out loud, and neither did half the people at this bonfire. In his still oh-so-humble opinion, he thought it was totally stupid to reveal the results of an exclusively Sonoran election during this particular event.

However, these qualms of his were soon forgotten after the Old Headmaster Dude lit the bonfire and the fun finally commenced. Kenny was a halfblood, but since his dumb mother had forced him to grow up in a strictly muggle environment, he’d never had the chance to watch a wizarding band play before. Though he didn’t find The Nowhere Men to be spectacular or anything, they did sound pretty good. The Aquila was shy about singing in public, but he had no problem belting out awesome tunes in the shower when no one could hear him. But no one could ever know about that ever because singing was gay. Yeah. He needed to stop doing that. So, therefore, the Nowhere Men sucked and he wouldn’t be paying attention to them.

Instead, he’d be doing something very un-gay – searching for a hot girl to flirt with. He was hungry, though, so he grabbed a bite to eat first; there were so many options, and he ended up getting a nice big helping of spaghetti and meatballs. Kenny ate a whole lot, but he never really got any fatter because he had a really fast metabolism. It was cool except for the fact that he looked almost too thin – he would make a point to do some heavy weight-lifting this summer so the ladies would be literally falling all over him come next term.

“Ciao, piuttosto ragazza!” he said after spotting a nice-looking chick he’d never seen before on his way to the area in front of the stage. “I’m Kenny, Kenny Watts.” He shifted his plate of spaghetti to his left hand, then took the girl’s hand in his right and kissed it gently. “And what would your name be? Something beautiful, I’m sure!” He winked at her.

Oh, how he loved the Art of Flirtation!

---

OOC:
Ciao, piuttosto ragazza! = Hello, pretty girl!

0 Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year] Time for some Fireworks. ;-) 0 Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year] 0 5

Charlotte Abbott (Sonora 2nd year)

October 17, 2009 7:39 AM

Does your mother know that you're out? by Charlotte Abbott (Sonora 2nd year)

The thing about Sonora was that it wasn't even cold. Sure it was a little cooler in the evening without the sun shining down on them, but nowhere near cold. Plus there would be a bonfire soon, and judging by the size of that heap of wood, the flames would be emitting a fair amount of heat, too. Along with several other like-minded students, Charlie had abandoned her uniform robes in an increaisngly large heap by the side of the stage. She was sure the professors hadn't really expected her to wear them all day, anyway. Besides, Charlie was already wearing washed-out navy denim skinny jeans and a cute pink sweater that came part-way down her thighs - her unifrom robe on top would be far too warm.

As the Headmistress was talking, Charlotte was putting half her efforts into looking for Lita. She wanted to catch up with her best friend, and find two other people to share the tent with (she had automatically assumed she and Adelita wuld be sharing). But with the amount of people gathered round, it would be difficult to spot the other girl. Instead, Charlie lingered near the stage, watching the band set up. She applauded half-heartedly at the announcements headmistress Powell made; she didn't know the sixth years very well and wasn't much fussed about new Head Boy or whatever. She did turn to watch the lighting of the bonfire - she had always loved fireworks and bonfires. Charlie couldn't hold back a smile as there suddenly were fireworks. Nobody had mentioned that! She was so enthralled by the display that she didn't really notice a stranger coming up to her with a plate of spaghetti until he reached for her hand.

Before Charlotte knew what was going on, he'd kissed her hand (she hoped he didn't get bolognese sauce on it) and asked her name. She couldn't resist it. "Charlie," she replied, as forcefully as she could, amusing herself greatly with the irony. Releasing her hand from his grasp, Charlie pushed back a curl of hair behind her ear - most of her dark hair was tied back into two pigtails, but the front bits weren't quite long enough and tended to stray.

0 Charlotte Abbott (Sonora 2nd year) Does your mother know that you're out? 0 Charlotte Abbott (Sonora 2nd year) 0 5

Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

October 17, 2009 11:09 AM

Chooooocolate! (Spongebob reference, anyone?) by Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]

Once the day’s activities were over and it was time for the new round of nighttime entertainment to begin, Simon headed to the Pitch. He was most excited about the food because it was sure to be rich and scrumptious, and he hadn’t had an extravagant dinner in the longest time. It wasn’t that he had an eating disorder or anything like that, but since he’d been pretty fat the year before and now had that under control, he didn’t want to go back to his old, unhealthy habits. Except he kind of did want to— only for one night, though!

As if to tease Simon, all of the food on the gigantic buffet table was covered up. Despite his urge to stare at it continually as though some magical spell would suddenly set all of the lids and covers loose (which it very well may!), his eyes were sucked into the sight of a positively huge pile of wood opposite the tents. This was, of course, the bonfire that would serve as the guiding light during the night’s fun-filled festivities.

“Your attention, please!” The Lyra shifted his attention over to Sonora’s Headmistress as she began her speech. As she talked, he found that all the pots and pans kept drifting into his vision – some subconscious force was making him focus on the food every other moment.

Great. Here he was thinking that everything was a-okay since he’d almost completely eliminated his Chris Crush, and he just had to form a strange new food obsession. This better be a one-time thing or Simon might have to consider seeing Mr. Tennant on a regular basis. No. No, no, no. He wasn’t going crazy. He was fine.

He was just…hungry.

“I give you the Nowhere Men.”

The sound of a band suddenly playing was sufficient to bring Simon back to the present. He hurried over to the buffet table immediately, his mouth watering at the wide variety of delicious foods. He served himself some lasagna, a fruit salad, some veggies with ranch dressing, a couple of crescent rolls with butter, and some weird-but-cool-looking big blob of a blue gelatin concoction. Yeah, it was a lot of food, but none of it seemed like it would be bad for him or anything.

And then he saw it – a tray with an enormous chocolate cake on it, smothered in chocolate sauce and showered with chocolate sprinkles. The cake also had Oreo cookies that had been pushed into it, making a neat (and really tasty-looking) design.

I…I…Oh, whatever!

Simon put down his first plate that was already overflowing with food and cut himself a large slab of cake, placing it on another plate. He then carried all of it over to the area in front of the stage, taking a seat Indian-style and digging in.

Halfway through his meal, Simon noticed that the person sitting next to him seemed to be looking at him funny. Maybe he was getting crumbs all over his face or something? “Is something wrong?” he asked them, forgetting that he still had part of a crescent roll in his mouth. He quickly chewed and swallowed it, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

“Sorry about that…”

0 Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year] Chooooocolate! (Spongebob reference, anyone?) 0 Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year] 0 5

Elly, Supreme Prankstress!

October 17, 2009 12:40 PM

And bonfires and music and everything! by Elly, Supreme Prankstress!

(OOC: Posted after some discussion with Irene's author)

Elly grinned like a Cheshire Cat a whooped loudly was Saul swung them around. "Hell yeah!" she replied, stumbling a little as she detached herself. She gave Irene an awkward side-on hug to cover up almost falling into her, and she looked up at the band playing, with Simon singing, and she came over all emotional. It was bizarre - her chest felt tight and squishy all at the same time. She felt a bit dizzy too, as she waved Irene off, watching her disappear into the crowd so she could go find her cousins. Looking a bit like she'd been hit by a beffudlement charm, Elly turned back to Saul, and said, "Am I really going to be Head Girl? Is that what she said?"

It was exciting, and terrifying at the same time. She was thrilled to be able to represent her school - her home - so throroughly, and there was nothing Elly loved better than planning activities and interacting with the other students. At the same time, it was an awful lot of responsibility to carry, and Elly wasn't convinced she was a responsible person. She had, after all, just broken at least three school rules, and she intended to do some more pranks on the camping area, later. If the staff found out it had been her conducting all this mischeif over the years... would they change their mind? Would they give the title of Head Girl to someone else? Elly had never expected it - she hadn't even expected to be prefect. Surely Danae... the other Pecari was so polite, and probably smarter than Elly, too. Elly hadn't expected to be Assitant Quidditch Captain, either - she had thought the position would go to Irene (and she knew Saul had thought the same thing, even if he never said it exactly). Now she was going to be prefect and Quidditch Captain and Head Girl next year, and all of it without Merry or Echo or even Saul there.

On impulse, she put her arms around Saul's neck and gave him another hug. She was still enojying the evening, but with the excitement of the fireworks and Simon leaving and playing, and Saul leaving, and the scary prospects of next year, and the anticipation of camping later on - it was exhausting! Still clinging to Saul, Elly looked at him, laughing a little. "I'm all confused!" she admitted.

0 Elly, Supreme Prankstress! And bonfires and music and everything! 0 Elly, Supreme Prankstress! 0 5

Ivy Tallow [TAG: Lia Harper]

October 17, 2009 1:11 PM

It's always the quiet ones by Ivy Tallow [TAG: Lia Harper]

(OOC: Yes I know we're supposed to be intermingling and not tagging people from our own school, but this just can't be helped. Forgive me.)

To an extent, Ivy had enjoyed the time away from her self-imposed manic scheduled of nothing but classes and coursework (and the occasional trip up to Pearl Street with Hank). It had been relaxing. She'd strolled, she chatted, she'd taken part in a potions competition, and now she was at a bonfire. Yet she didn't feel at all calm. In fact, Ivy was possibly the most anxious she'd been in a long while. She was distracted. The reason? Simple. There was a small glass bottle in her bag - Ivy had been carrying it round with her all day. It had seemed like such a brillaint plan this morning, but having the thought of its presence weighing on her mind all day had been exhausting. Adding fire into the mix was not a brilliant plan, but she was at a bonfire, so that couldn't be helped. Ivy watched the initial flames dance into life, then the overheard explosion of a firework practically terrfieid her; the sixth year could feel her heart thumping so wildly in her chest it might break her rib cage.

Ivy felt she could scream. She had only done this to herself, and she knew it. Forcing herself to think about nothing but schoolwork had worked like a charm... until there was no schoolwork to be done. All day Ivy had little but ther own thoughts and contemplations to occupy her, and they were driving her insane. As if to protect herself, Ivy threw up the hood on her cloack, even though the weather here was warm. She concealed herself in her garments, crossing her arms around herself in a protective gesture. But then that left the beg free - a hand shot immediately to its clasp to check it was still shut. It was. Her fingers played with the clasp, mischievously prying at it, taunting Ivy that they might open it. Then what? The potion would be sitting there innocently in its bottle. Ivy could use it. She'd thought about using it before - she could profess herself to be Lia Harper, and offend as many people as she could in one day. Belittle their lifestyle and impose her own values on theirs... but Ivy couldn't. There was barely a hurtful bone in her. She'd never sabotage anyone like that. Besides, Lia wasn't all that bad. Ivy had only earlier that day considered her to be a friend, hadn't she?

As if by magic (Ivy didn't think magic could really summon people just by thinking of them), Lia appeared within her line of sight. There were still many people between them, and besides, Ivy was covered in her cloak. She was safe. he was ... suprised, to find her fingers around the cool, smooth vial of polyjuice potion. How had that happened? Ivy's stomach gave another small lurch. It couldn't hurt, could it? To drink some here. Ivy'd hadn't bought it herself - it was a present. And she wasn't drinking it on her school premises.

Ivy would have put the bottle away instantly, disturbed by her own thoughts, if it hadn't been for the curious set of circumstances. The bonfire was casting dancing shadows over everyone; the music was playing and nobody was paying attention to her. She was at another place, one to which she would never return after tomorrow. Most importantly, stood just infront of her was a girl about her build - maybe a bit smaller and not quite so thin - who could easily wear Ivy's current attire. And there was a lose hair on her back. She thought it might be one of the St Martin twins, but Ivy swore to herself she would never try to find out. She struck out, quick as a flash, and whipped the hair from the back of the other girls' cloak. Turning away, her face in the shadows, Ivy slipped the stopped from the vial and dropped the hair inside. The potion fizzed and bubbled in victory, and Ivy didn't hesitate before gulping it down.

Good Merlin, this was a bizarre sensation. Trying not to draw too much attention to herself, Ivy wrapped her arms around her stomach - if she'd thought she felt sick before it was nothing to how she felt right then. Her head felt tight, her bones felt like they didn't belong to her and were trying to get away. Silently gasping for breath, Ivy was relieved when it was over. In that first moment, she felt amazing. Powerful, even. She could be someone else for one short hour. With that unforeseen burst of self worth, Ivy turned on her heel. She strode confidentally over to where she'd seen Lia only two minutes ago, determined to give that girl what she deserved. Ivy wasn't sure if she was going to slap her, or lecture her, or... she would run with the moment.

Reaching her quarry, Ivy stretched out a hand that didn't look like hers, and put it firmly on the younger girls' shoulder. She turned Lia to face her, leant forward in what she hoped would be a threatening manner, and then she kissed her. Wait, what? Was there something in this potion that wasn't supposed to be there? Ivy drew back as if she had been slapped. She looked at Lia, and her stomach did that jumpy thing again. Nobody would know. It said. Then for the first time ever in her life, Ivy gave in to reckless whim. She kissed the girl again.

0 Ivy Tallow [TAG: Lia Harper] It's always the quiet ones 0 Ivy Tallow [TAG: Lia Harper] 0 5

Megan Macrae (RMI Firstie)

October 17, 2009 2:11 PM

Food raid, anyone? by Megan Macrae (RMI Firstie)

The obstacle course had been fun, and Megan felt proud that she’d met new people. Now that she’d been at Sonora for a full day and she had met people, the uncharacteristic shyness that had overtaken her earlier was almost completely gone. It had been replaced, it seemed, with an overwhelming hunger. The girl tugged on one of her white-blonde braids as Headmistress Powell talked about some Sonora stuff—Head Boy and Head Girl, but since neither of the names announced were familiar to Megan they didn’t stick for very long—and then it was finally time to eat. Hungrily, the first year jumped up from her position near the fire and tried to make her way over to the food.

It took longer than she had expected. Hands wrapped in the bit-too-long sleeves of her uniform robes, Megan tried to navigate through the crowd with little success. She was unused to situations with this many people, and to top it all off, the unfamiliar location was getting her head all turned around. The Coloradan had grown up with a fairly keen sense of direction, but it seemed to have all disappeared just as she needed it. In order to regain her bearings, the Draco girl fought her way out of the crowd to the outskirts of the bonfire, between the bonfire and the tents. There were some students from both schools going between the tents and the bonfire, but it was much less crowded here.

Closing her blue eyes, Megan took a deep breath, then opened her eyes again. She could do this! Maybe she would find someone to hang out with here and they could go get food together. Seeing another person standing on the edge of the crowd, the girl walked over the well-kept grass and towards them. Perhaps they were just as hungry as she was!

“Hey,” Megan greeted the other person as she got closer. “I’m Megan! D’you want to try and get some food? I keep getting lost in the crowd.” she grinned at her own silliness, not feeling the least embarrassed. So many things had happened today that she wasn’t quite sure she had the capacity to still feel embarrassed!

0 Megan Macrae (RMI Firstie) Food raid, anyone? 0 Megan Macrae (RMI Firstie) 0 5

James Anthony (Sonora 2nd year)

October 17, 2009 3:44 PM

That hair doesn't look human. by James Anthony (Sonora 2nd year)

Pushing his glasses up his nose, James Anthony carefully removed, folded, and Shrank his robes until they more-or-less fit in the pocket of his jeans. Although the pants weren’t too fitted, they were fitted enough. The boy also wore a sweater with a slight v-neck whose colour brought out the ‘green’ part of his blue-green eyes. That is, assuming one could see past the lenses of his glasses. They were a bit thick, and the dodgy light of the bonfire probably wasn’t helping much. Less than a minute after he took off his robes, James jumped a foot in response to the fireworks going off so close to him. Once he calmed down, the Aladren decided to get food. It had been a long day spent outside, something highly unusual for him, and he was rather hungry.

James hadn’t had any spectacular experiences with any of the new students, and quite frankly he wasn’t interested in them. He was quite positive that there was nobody at RMI his age who could properly match his intellect, or any girls who could match ~~Charlie~~ the girls at Sonora. Besides, he was absolutely disinterested in a long distance relationship. As Melissa and Lutece had informed him many times, there was no point in dating someone you didn’t see at least a few times a week. It defeated the point. Not, of course, that James was interested in dating, he hurriedly reminded himself, heading towards the spaghetti he saw on the long buffet table. He was just recounting the many reasons why associating with RMI had no point.

Ahead of him, he spotted Charlie Abbott. Turning a bit pink at the ears, James self-consciously pushed his glasses up his nose again. Charlie was the best looking of the second years, in James’s personal opinion. Her hair was done up in pigtails at the moment, and she was wearing a very nice pink sweater as well. The tips of his ears and nose turned a bit pinker as he approached Charlie. They hadn’t worked together in class recently, so he had not been given the opportunity to talk with her. Now would be the perfect moment.

Or so he thought, until some kid he didn’t know with the ugliest haircut James had ever had the misfortune to come in contact with practically jumped in front of him to grab Charlie’s hand and mutter something in some weird language! Again, James pushed his glasses up his nose, ready to say something particularly offensive to the ugly and impolite boy, before he decided it would be equally impolite to do that. Instead, he greeted Charlie with a friendly smile as she introduced herself to that one. The Aladren then turned to face the fashionably impaired RMI student.

“I’m James,” the boy said, pushing his glasses up again. He had the tendency to do that when flustered. “Nice to meet you...Kenny,” he said coolly, then turned to Charlie. “Your sweater looks fantastic,” James complimented her. “So much better than the school robes.”

0 James Anthony (Sonora 2nd year) That hair doesn't look human. 0 James Anthony (Sonora 2nd year) 0 5

Alissa Kendrick (RMI)

October 17, 2009 4:41 PM

Sick of my Housemates by Alissa Kendrick (RMI)

Although the obstacle course had been tough and she had eaten hours ago, Alissa Kendrick wasn’t particularly hungry and couldn’t place why. Either way, she figured as she made her way over to the bonfire where the students of both schools were gathering, it’s not like there’s nothing else to do besides eat. And that was true. First of all, there was an entire other school of people to meet. And second of all, the Headmistress of Sonora was currently talking, and Alissa felt like she should listen. It was the usual form of directions and such, but the new Head Boy and Head Girl of Sonora were also named. Although Alissa didn’t actually attend Sonora, she recognised ‘Elly’ as the name of the girl in charge of the obstacle course shouting. The other redhead had seemed nice enough, so Alissa joined in the clapping.

After Headmistress Powell introduced the Nowhere Men and started off the festivities, Alissa wandered around the group somewhat aimlessly. There were kids sitting by themselves, kids sitting in groups, kids getting food, all the usual sort of thing, but Alissa kept wandering instead of stopping. She thought about wandering over to get some food even though she wasn’t hungry, but then decided not to. Absent-mindedly, the girl tied her red hair back in a ponytail, freckled skin seeming all the more pale in the half-dark, half-flickering light of the bonfire.

Maybe she should turn around and go sit with one of the girls who looked her age by the bonfire or something. Maybe go to her tent? Alissa wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do.

Turning around, Alissa passed by a pair of students in the shadows. She was on the Lyra Quidditch team, and knew better than to look in the shadows of anything since it tended to be her brother or one of her other teammates lurking there. Unfortunately, her pointed inattention didn’t stop her from catching a glimpse of Lia’s profile as the girl kissed another girl who Alissa didn’t recognise.

Irritated, the third year turned around again and stalked off towards the bonfire. Why did all the stupid upperclassmen insist on making out with each other all the time? It was like they didn’t think there was anything better to do. And of course, Alissa had to be stuck in the House with the most hormonal group of them. It was so unfair. The dancer kicked a pebble out of her way as she venomously sat down. Teach her to try and be friends with anyone in her House. Muttering to herself, the girl glared at the grass in front of her.

”What?” Alissa heard someone say from above her. Startled, the green-eyed girl twisted her neck and body sideways to try and meet the eyes of whoever had come up behind her.

0 Alissa Kendrick (RMI) Sick of my Housemates 0 Alissa Kendrick (RMI) 0 5

Matt and Josh

October 17, 2009 6:39 PM

Oh, something pretty to look at. by Matt and Josh

The twins didn't have to move very far before they were approached by a female from RMI. Sonora was a small enough school for both twins to know the upper classroom by face, if not by name, and since neither of them recognized the girl in front of them, they immediately ascertained that she was an RMI student. Both of the twins grinned at the girl, but for two very different reasons. It was in Josh's nature to be polite to everyone and in greeting, one must always smile. Matt, however, grinned because she was, well, a she and someone he had yet to get to know. And, because she had opted to introduce herself to them, Matt didn't need to do much searching any longer.

"I'm Jose Santoro and this is my brother, Mateo." Josh said, his Spanish accent returning as it so often did. Matt was better at hiding his, but that may have been purely because he was more social than his brother. The boys never hid their Spanish heritage and their name made sure of it. Being a Santoro meant being well known in Mexico, while being part Chevez from their mother's side meant they were known in Spain. As weird and strange as it was for their parents to have met and married, it was harder for those around them to understand exactly where their money and fame came from as it hadn't been necessarily through normal channels. But the twins cared less about that.

Although they were identical and had the same face, the twins were very different. Even now as 6th years, people could tell them apart. Josh's hair was relaxed and his clothing pressed, while Matt still wore his hair gelled upward for the attention and his clothes remained comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt. Their dark complexion, only matched by their dark brown hair and even darker eyes, had a heavily comparison against their bright smiles.

"We're always happy to have another join us." Matt proclaimed, holding his arm out to indicate that Mia should start walking with them. "So, Mia, how are you finding Sonora so far?" Josh was used to Matt being overly friendly with girls. He had been like that since the moment they discovered girls actually didn't have cooties. So, while Matt made time for playing with Mia, Josh held back a bit to look for either Danae or Helena.

0 Matt and Josh Oh, something pretty to look at. 0 Matt and Josh 0 5

Tanya Fayes [RMI Second-year]

October 17, 2009 8:27 PM

Get me out of this place! by Tanya Fayes [RMI Second-year]

Tanya, so far, had managed to have a sorta fairly decent time, aside from the fact that she had the impending camp-out looming over her head. No, Arizona was not cold. No, she would not be outside. But it was still close enough for discomfort. Now, in the waning evening light, the idea didn't seem as bad as when Tanya had first heard it.

The Aqulia still hadn't found a tent, but she figured she could always gate-crash a tent of firsties, or any with only one other girl. It wasn't the best plan, but it required the least effort. Add to that the food, and a nice bonfire, and things were looking slightly up.

Or at least they were, until the fireworks started.

They started off with a ragged ka-blam! and a shower of light that sent Tanya reeling. No one had said. No one had warned her. It was just like before. Someone was attacking, someone was invading. Someplace she'd never been before was Not Safe. Nowhere was safe. Light, explosions, but people weren't screaming like she wanted to, they were cheering.

It was Aspen all over again. All of a sudden Tanya's wand was in her right hand, and her left arm hurt. She staggered back from the crowd around the food, ran away from the people. She had to get away, had to get safe. A tent. A tent might do. Tanya turned and ran, eyes wide with fright and terror. It was that fateful Quidditch match all over again.

She ran towards the tents, but didn't see them. Tanya hated thunderstorms, but this was worse. Sobbing, she didn't notice the Sonoran right in front of her in time. Tanya, still running from the explosions, barely missed the Sonoran. She tripped instead over a tent cord and fell flat at the person's feet.

0 Tanya Fayes [RMI Second-year] Get me out of this place! 0 Tanya Fayes [RMI Second-year] 0 5

Helena Layne

October 17, 2009 8:51 PM

There's a lot of those here, I think. by Helena Layne

..."next year, your Head Boy will be Jose Santoro of Crotalus, and your Head Girl will be Elly Eriksson of Pecari. Congratulations.”

For a long moment after the announcement, Helena stood still, feeling frozen where she stood. As the clapping started, her expression didn't change at all from the calm, detached look she had forced it into when the Headmistress had started talking.

It was the sound of cursing that snapped her out of it. Geoff had never been good at hiding his true feelings; the only reason he could pass for doing was by really being fairly indifferent to most things. "Geoff," she said firmly, "shut up."

He did so at once, giving her a wary look. He seemed to think she was going to burst into tears, which was easily the thing he was most uncomfortable with women doing. "You okay?" he asked.

She forced a smile. "Yeah," she said. It was, to her mild surprise, almost true. "It's not like I didn't see it coming." A little real amusement crept into her voice. "If you go ahead and congratulate Elly before the shock wears off, she might give you a kiss."

"Don't be an idiot," Geoff said brusquely. Exactly as she'd predicted. "We respect each other as potioneers, that's all."

"Sure it is," Helena said with a smirk. He hated it when she brought up his unfortunate habit of being attracted to girls he saw as rivals. "Now, go be gracious and suck up to people. You never know..."

"...Who anybody might be," he finished, with a grimace for their father's life code. "Knock 'em dead?"

"Knock 'em dead," she replied, raising her hand for a high five. Since Anne had been gone, and Geoff's obsession with her slightly abated, her relationship with her brother had been much friendlier. He gave her shoulder a brief shake, which she understood as an attempt at bolstering her morale, and then vanished into the crowd.

She'd told the truth when she'd said she'd seen losing the Head Girl election coming, which was why she couldn't grasp why she was now a little upset. She'd had a chance - no one was going to argue that Geoff was more popular than Saul or even Geoffrey, and he'd beaten both of them out - but not a very good one. The only thing acting against Elly was that she was rather loud, and since most of their year shared that trait, it really wasn't a surprise that she'd won. It would have been nice, though, to have matched Geoff at something she could take credit for just once...

No point in crying over spilt potion, though. What was done, was done. Her objective now was to be the most gracious loser she could be.

She didn't think she was quite up to congratulating Elly yet, though. Especially not since the girl was no doubt surrounded by her fan club, which might be inconsiderate or just thoughtless enough to gloat a little. That, she wasn't prepared to deal with yet. Luckily, she had another person to congratulate whose election she was genuinely happy about: Josh.

Putting on a polite smile, she wove through the crowd in search of her friend. To her surprise, it didn't take long to find him - and his brother and some RMI girl, which did make things a little complicated. Still, she doubted Matt would even notice her with the more attractive RMI girl in front of him, and RMI girl would have to be pretty dumb to think that the twins didn't know people at their own school. Widening her smile, she went over to join them.

"Hey," she said, putting her arms out for a quick hug before she thought of Geoff freaking out or Danae putting a hit out on her over the summer. "Congratulations!" She gave Matt and the RMI girl a quick smile of acknowledgment. She could hardly complain of Elly's clique being rude if she was. "And sorry, Matt."

16 Helena Layne There's a lot of those here, I think. 88 Helena Layne 0 5

Jaeven Dimitri

October 17, 2009 10:11 PM

Bonfire and Music and Fireworks, oh my! [Tag : Thyme] by Jaeven Dimitri

Jae was feeling more hyper than usual. It was probably a combination of sugar and excitement and all the potential of meeting lots and lots of new people, but whatever it was had left him bouncing and running all over the place. He hadn’t participated in any official competitions, but had generally had a good time being everywhere at the same time, meeting all sorts of new people. It was the green-eyed fifth year’s most ideal situation. There were friendly people all over doing all sorts of interesting things, and all Jae had to do was walk into someone and a new conversation would start. It was great! Jae hadn’t been this excited since Professor K. (who was retiring after this year??? MEGA BOO!) had given them puffskeins wayyyy back when. That was like, years and ages ago. Lots of time.

When the Head Boy and Head Girl were announced, Jae cheered loudly for Elly (who was really nice and kind of pretty, and he’d had a crush on for a little while a few years ago) and Jose (who he kind of didn’t know except that sometimes they’d had classes together and he seemed to be really nice and super responsible, so was probably a really good Head Boy). After the bonfire was lit, Headmistress Powell announced that the Nowhere Men, who were somehow related to Saul in a way that Jae had never been able to figure out were playing, and Jae clapped really quickly with a few other students. And THEN when the fireworks went off, Jae cheered again.

It was pretty much a good night, and Jae was ridiculously hungry, so he went over to the buffet table where it seemed like both schools were congregating at the same time. He bumped into and initiated conversation with three different people, caught a drink that a fourth dropped, and then got himself a large plate full of food and went to sit down under a tree somewhere. Tonight was epic and amazing, and the Pecari had long since removed his robes to reveal the khaki cargo pants and ‘Save the Humans’ t-shirt that he had been wearing underneath his uniform.

He was busy working on his large plateful of food when he heard a noise over to his right and turned to see Thyme Barrington. Jae blinked his green eyes twice, then set his plate down on the ground and greeted his friend with a huge hug (and no shortage of pink-colour around his cheekbones and ears). “Hi Thyme!” the fifth year bubbled happily. “Isn’t this amazing? Have you met any of your old friends?” He knew that Thyme had gone to RMI before she came to Sonora. Maybe if she had met her old friends, they could all hang out together or something. “Or did you make any new ones? Things have been crazy busy, do you want some corn bread?”

0 Jaeven Dimitri Bonfire and Music and Fireworks, oh my! [Tag : Thyme] 104 Jaeven Dimitri 0 5

Alexis Ashwood (Sonora 4th year)

October 18, 2009 12:05 AM

Disgusting. by Alexis Ashwood (Sonora 4th year)

Well, this school visit couldn’t be any worse. Alexis Ashwood had been forced, for quite a bit of the day, to guide some completely horrible girl from Rocky Mountain International around her own school for the majority of the day. And then the blonde demon had made an escape. Not that Alexis was complaining about that one. She had followed her out of duty, though, to the broom races and noticed that the mudblood, Hyana Kamiya, was visiting as well and associating with Josiah. This made her even more furious.

The competitions were so stupid, too. Alexis had searched for Chrysi Silverleaf, her favorite cousin who happened to be Josiah’s fiancée, in order to entertain herself. If Chrysi saw Josiah tainting their future by associating with that mudblood again, the confrontation would be pretty amusing. Alexis couldn’t find Chrysi, either.

After wasting most of her day, Alexis found herself back on the Pitch. The fourth year ran her fingers through her red hair in slight annoyance. The Head Girl was that Elly mudblood. Great. The school was being even more defiled every year. She didn’t really know much about Jose, though. Not that it mattered. The Nowhere Men were playing again. Sonora really needed to work on this thing called ‘variety’.

Alexis’ stomach growled when the food was unveiled. Choosing carrots and celery off of a vegetable plate, Alexis found herself walking around the crowd of students with no real destination. Just to walk was fine. Chrysi was nowhere to be found, and she wasn’t about to look for that blonde demon again. She sighed and finally sat down. Someone soon sat down next to her. Alexis wasn’t going to pay them any mind until she saw the amount of food the kid had on his plate.

It was as if the kids at Rocky Mountain International were starved or something. Alexis couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose in disgust at the boy. Was he planning on gorging himself? The fourteen year old couldn’t even imagine eating that much food. She was very conscious of her figure, which was close to perfect. She had even skipped out on the ranch dressing on her vegetables, knowing those would add unneeded calories. The boy seemed to notice her disgusted look on her face and said something, not that she could understand him through all the food he had in his mouth. Alexis pulled her robes closer to her. There was no way this child could be a pureblood. He obviously lacked something called ‘etiquette’.

“Sorry about that…”

“I would hope so.” She replied coolly. “Are all the students at this school so disgusting, or are you one of a kind?”

0 Alexis Ashwood (Sonora 4th year) Disgusting. 0 Alexis Ashwood (Sonora 4th year) 0 5

Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year)

October 18, 2009 12:39 AM

Well, I was <i>trying</i> to save you... by Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year)

After escaping the red head girl, Cosette’s time at Sonora hadn’t been too horrible. Of course, it had gotten pretty boring after the broom races were over. She wasn’t sure if her ‘escort’ was looking for her, either. Really, RMI was much more interesting than Sonora. There was more to do. When gathered for the bonfire, Cosette rolled her eyes in annoyance. Who cared about Sonora’s Head Boy and Girl? Cosette certainly didn’t.

Alright. Time for some fun. It was time to free Hayden from his babysitter.

Cosette searched through the crowd while The Nowhere Men started playing. They sounded pretty cool. Maybe RMI and Sonora could trade bands for a while. Potions X for The Nowhere Men? The blonde liked the idea. The food at Sonora looked pretty good. Cosette’s stomach growled. The food was definitely tempting, but no. She had a mission! She had to get Hayden out of the clutches of his babysitter for the day.

It was that moment that Hayden chose to run into her.

“Well, this was no fun.” Cosette complained loudly, pretending to ignore Hayden’s request. “I come to free you from your babysitter, and you ditch her before I get there.” Cosette took his elbow and began leading him to the food. It wasn’t like she had accomplished her mission, but she had found Hayden! Good enough in her book. “Really, Hayden, you thought I was gonna leave you with your escort to suffer?” She laughed and placed one of the rolls from the buffet in his hands before buttering her own. “I took you to food. Now you owe me.”

0 Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year) Well, I was <i>trying</i> to save you... 0 Cosette Embers (RMI 3rd Year) 0 5

Lia Harper

October 18, 2009 12:58 AM

Oddly, I seem to attract those by Lia Harper

Between the incredibly fun broom competition and the bonfire, Lia had shed her robes. She was dressed nicely underneath the grey uniform, wearing a flattering scarlet top and form-fitting tan capris. The shirt's sleeves were about elbow-length; when she had packed, Lia had been unsure about the nighttime climate of the Arizona school, though now that they were here she felt that she had made a very good choice in outfit. The visit, Lia thought, was an epic success. That Annabelle girl she was sharing a tent with seemed nice (the sort of pureblood Lia would enjoy spending time with), and the Lyraladrens had fought a good fight in the relay race. She had thought about going to the Obstacle Course afterwards, but all she succeeded in doing was getting lost in the aptly-named Labyrinth Gardens and having to ask some Sonoran to help her get out. But it had been a nice walk, and Lia was feeling very peaceful once she became Not Lost.

This feeling did not last long when the actual bonfire again; the endorphin of the music and the press of the crowd and the thrill of the fire and the pyrotechnics merged and roused Lia's sympathetic nervous system. She was wide-awake and excited, and what was this bonfire except a big party? Lia loved parties. The black-haired girl moved among the crowd, talking to a few people and dancing a little.

After a while, she disentangled herself for her partner and made her way towards the food- or was she headed to the fire? Lia couldn't say for sure. Something about fire had always fascinated her; it was more magical than anything she could do, the way the flames could dance and turn colors if they had the right fuel. Fire was hot and powerful, but it had a tendency to burn itself out. Like me? Fire was the most primitive form of Muggle technology, and yet the most elemental and mystical. She was nowhere near cold, but perhaps she would sit by the bonfire for a while...

This half-formed idea fell apart when a hand came down on Lia's shoulder, stopping the Lyra in her tracks. Whoever it was turned Lia around, bringing the fifteen-year-old face-to-face with a Sonora girl she did not know. Lia was a bit startled, but she wasn't rude to strangers at first meetings. She had to tilt her head up slightly to look at the presumably older girl; at only five feet and three-and-a-half inches, Lia was not the tallest girl around. It came as an incredible shock when the older girl leaned forward and kissed her.

What?

As fast as the kiss had happened, the other girl pulled away. Looking as shocked as the Lyra felt, the other girl stared at Lia as though Lia had walked up and sexually assaulted her. For less than a second, Lia could recognize the expression on the Sonoran's face. She swore she had seen an identical look of shock on someone else- what did that mean? Before her brain could make the connection- before she could think the right name- the other girl kissed her again, and the familiarity was gone.

There was an incredibly feeble protest in her mind, reminding her whose necklace and ring she was wearing, but the opposition overwhelmed it. She and Jimmy were not dating, and kissing someone else was not cheating. And it had been so long- six or seven months- since Lia had kissed someone who wasn't Scott, and now Scott was chasing after Abby. Lia's body reacted automatically, her hands going to the other girl's waist. She deepened the kiss; the fourth-year was rather experienced in the art of kissing, if she said so herself. Lia really didn't mind this random display of affection (or lust)- it was hardly as though she hadn't kissed other girls before- but she was incredibly curious about one thing. It wasn't every day that people she didn't know came up and kissed her. Usually, it was people she knew. And it was one thing for a guy to kiss a female stranger, but it was another thing entirely for a girl to do the same.

When they pulled apart, Lia looked up at the girl for some clue as to her identity, but whatever spark that had stirred her memory was gone. "Do I know you," she breathed, the light from the bonfire reflecting and dancing in her silver eyes, "or does my reputation precede me?" Does she need a reason? Lia thought ironically, which stirred another memory- no, the same memory- but she couldn't quite place it.

Maybe someone had told this girl that Lia Harper was some crazy liberal RMI chick who would make out with anyone. If so, she could understand what was going on. From what Annabelle had said about Crotalus and the other Houses, Sonora was somewhat lacking in the flexibility department. That said, Lia had half a mind to ask if her assailant wanted to retreat to somewhere more private; any proper pureblood, which Sonora seemed to have a surplus of, would not want to be seen getting very friendly with a person of the same gender. However, the Pitch was dark and the crowd was dense, though they were off to the side somewhat. In the shadows, who would recognize them? Lia didn't even recognize the other girl, though she was really hoping for a name at this point.

0 Lia Harper Oddly, I seem to attract those 0 Lia Harper 0 5

Jera Valson

October 18, 2009 10:58 AM

You can share mine by Jera Valson

As Jera watched her Ma talk in front of the two schools, she felt immensely proud. If Jera had been an ambitious person, she would certainly have felt daunted by her parents' success. Luckily, the third year was happy to float along in life and she where she would end up. Yes, she tried her hardest in her schoolwork, and even in Quidditch now, too, but she didn't have any career plans in mind, and she definitely wasn't in competition with her parents to discover who would be most successful.

Essentially Jera was a supporter, or so she liked to think of herself: her purpose in life was to support others and help them to reach their goals. It wasn't a conscious decision but more like a pattern she had noticed over the years. That was fine with her. Jera liked to support people - she had a wide family with whom she was very close, and she would make a very loyal friend.. if she ever made any friends. It wasn't that Jera was unsociable - it was true she valued her own company as much as others' - but it seemed to her like her year at Sonora was the misfit year. It was the smallest yeargroup at Sonora, and full of people who didn't seem to fit it anywhere. That was Jera's perception, anyway. Plus there were just two girls in the tiny yeargroup: her and Amelia Smythe, an especially ambitious girl Jera had difficulty talking to.

So it was that Jera found herself, as usual, wondering the school grounds on her own. Not entirely on her own, seeing as a huge crowd of students had gathered for the bonfire and band, but Jera didn't have any friends with her. She might not have any real friends in the whole school. She liked Grayson a lot, but he was a year older - he wasn't particularly sociable, either, or so it seemed. So on her own, then, Jera took two chcolate cupcakes off the buffet table as the band started playing and some unprecedented fireworks exploded. Her aim was to find someone else on their own and find a tent partner at the very least, if not a new friend.

It wasn't long before Jera came across a girl who looked about her own age, sitting on the floor. The red-headed girl said something, and in her eagerness, Jera didn't say, 'I beg your pardon.' She actualy said, "What?" Then, realising her mistake as the other girl turned to look at her, Jera tried to recover the situation. "I mean, hi," she said, sitting down next to the other girl. "You want a chocolate cake?" Holding out the second cupcake, Jera offered a friendly smile, too.

0 Jera Valson You can share mine 112 Jera Valson 0 5

Ivy

October 18, 2009 11:32 AM

I thought you just attracted everyone? by Ivy

Ivy was hot; so hot she thought she couldn't breathe. She mostly blamed the bonfire, but at the same time the heat only seemed to increase when Ivy took time to remind herself that was kissing Lia, and the younger girls' arms were round her waist. Ivy's brain had gone all fuzzy - she wasn't thinking clearly, and it was probably just as well. She would have been horrified with herself. As it was, the vague, hazy voice in her head was agreeing with the rest of her that this kissing thing was actually quite nice. Ivy had been kissed before: the first ever time by this same fourth year, entirely against her will and in an unpleasant circumstance Ivy had tried her best to forget. Then she and Hank had - well, it wasn't kissing like the other sixth years seemed to be doing, but Ivy and Hank were not the expressive sort. They were both more comfortable with the odd quick peck every so often: making out in public was for show-offs. That was Ivy's current thought as Lia pulled back, and she wondered why it didn't bother her.

"Do I know you?" Lia asked, bringing Ivy's attention back to the present, "or does my reputation preceed me?" That was such a Lia thing to say. The girl had no shame. Truly. Ivy had more than her fair share of shame, and she even felt guilty for letting some poor stranger carry her shame for her in this instant.

"You don't know me," Ivy replied, dismayed to discover her voice still sounded like her own. Now what? Even assuming Lia didn't recognise her voice instantly, Ivy hadn't planned this far. Or at all, really. She was becoming increasingly aware of the other people, and their conversations, and their eyes. She felt lost, and watched, and stupid. Why had this seemed like such a good idea just now? As usual, Ivy discovered she wanted to run and hide. But she wouldn't! She was someone else, and she was going to act like it.

Ivy looked back at Lia, and they were still close, closer than Ivy was used to being to anyone at all. It would take no effort at all to just start kissing her again. Okay, it took some effort - Ivy leant in but found herself avoiding lips, and bringing her mouth closer to Lia's ear, instead. "I want to do something I'm going to regret," she whispered.

0 Ivy I thought you just attracted everyone? 0 Ivy 0 5

Hayden

October 18, 2009 12:40 PM

Thank you thank you. by Hayden

Hayden grinned; Cosette's voice was practically guaranteed to do that. He liked to pretend that he didn't care, but the fact that she was coming to rescue him from his 'babysitter', as she called it, rather than go find some pureblood boy to do unspeakables with in the labyrinth gardens, made him forget he was even hungry. She was undoubtedly the coolest person Hayden knew - and he was stopping that thought right there and then before he turned into a fangirl. "So you're, what? My knight in shining armor?" he teased her, allowing himself to be dragged bodily (or by his elbow at any rate) towards the food.

A bread roll was placed in Hayden's hand as Cosette said, "I took you to food. Now you owe me." Hayden lifted the roll to his mouth and insolently took a bite (as much as anyone can consume food whilst demonstrating insolence).

"Just as well you didn't rescue me, then," he replied round a small mouthful of bread. "I might never have been able to pay you back," Hayden joked. "As it is, I'm sure we can come up with something." His tone implied that 'something' was probably going to involve the broom shed at RMI.. or somewhere equally as suitable at Sonora. "Maybe I could do your potions homework for you," he teased, his tone now portraying something playful. He could't help it - teasing Cosette came as naturally to him as breathing. Though to be fair, the offer of potions homework was probably pretty good: it was one of the few subjects Hayden scraped decent marks, and that was just because he got Zyta to help. "Your call."

Finishing his roll, Hayden decided he had a sweet tooth. He turned his head up and down the buffet table, but scents of fish and spices overpowered much else - he couln't determine whereabouts the desserts were being hidden. "So I want something sweet," Hayden told Cosette. He grinned, and added, "And you know I'm not talking about you. 'Sweet' is not one of your traits and you know it."

0 Hayden Thank you thank you. 0 Hayden 0 5

Alissa

October 18, 2009 7:31 PM

I may take you up on that by Alissa

Luckily for her interrupter, the other student was not from RMI. Alissa gave her a half-hearted grin as the girl quickly corrected her ‘what’ to a ‘hi’ and the offer of a cupcake. Well, a cupcake was fine with Alissa, and since the girl was Sonoran, the company was fine by her too. Not to say that Alissa wasn’t completely irritated—she was—but it was nice to talk to someone who wasn’t involved in all the nonsense that she was. Maybe it was just the redhead’s perception of things, but it seemed to her that every time she turned around, there were Lyras involved in people drama. There was her older brother, Scott, who had probably made out with every single female within two years of him (thankfully he drew the line at girls who were his sister’s age). There was Kaiser and Hank, an on-and-off couple that Alissa had no idea what to make of, and then there was Lia and whoever was her latest conquest.

Frankly, the youngest Kendrick was sick of everyone else getting into relationships and ignoring her. She liked Lia, she really did, and deep down she loved Scott, but really, it was kind of annoying. If you added her older brother (non-magical) coming home with another guy (magical) over Christmas break, things got really confusing. And among all that, there was Alissa, who didn’t have anyone.

Maybe it was just hormones or something.

“Sure,” the fourteen-year-old said, gratefully accepting the cupcake from the other girl. It was chocolate, Alissa’s favourite, but even then she didn’t start eating it. Instead, the third year motioned to the spot on the ground next to her, hoping that the Sonoran would take the invitation to sit down. Craning her neck like this was kind of awkward and the last thing Alissa needed was a sore neck if she was going to be sleeping on the ground anyway.

“I’m Alissa,” the Lyra introduced herself after the other girl had sat down, playing with the wrapper of the cupcake. “I’m a third year. What’s your name?”

0 Alissa I may take you up on that 0 Alissa 0 5

Mia

October 18, 2009 7:55 PM

Don't tell me there's competition.... by Mia

Since both boys smiled when Mia introduced herself, the girl decided she’d made the right choice of companion. Then again, one of the boys was certainly more interested than the other when he smiled at her, and Mia would have needed much different priorities at this point to ignore that part of it. The less-interesting one introduced himself as Jose, and the more-interesting one as Mateo. She had been right in thinking they were siblings (well, it was either that or identical cousins), but it seemed as though their personalities were fairly distinct. They also had an interesting last name. Although Mia’s family was Dutch and tended to stick around the European side of pureblood politics, she had at least a passing familiarity with most of the important pureblood families in the West.

The cute one—Mateo, right, he had a name—held out his arm and let her know that the twins were always happy to have another join them. Jose either didn’t want Mia to join them or felt like giving Mateo time alone with Mia, because he fell back as they resumed walking. Pushing her auburn hair back again, the sixth year took Mateo’s arm.

“Sonora’s lovely,” Mia smiled politely, although the smile didn’t quite reach her grey eyes. “Much more enjoyable now that I’ve someone to enjoy it with,” she added, not-so-subtly flirting with the boy. Subtleties were for balls and official events, in her personal opinion, and this was neither one of those. This was merely two friendly students taking a walk around campus. Or something of that variety, anyway. The smile was much more sincere now.

Another girl appeared seemingly out of nowhere and went directly for Jose, offering Mateo and Mia a brief smile that barely classified as acknowledgement. Fair enough. The Aquila didn’t mind that the other girl was clearly here for Jose, since that meant she didn’t have to compete with another girl (who presumably had something approaching home-Pitch advantage) for Mateo’s attentions. So she smiled politely in return at the girl, who then congratulated Jose. It was then that the names clicked for Mia.

It was one of those moments her grandparents would have blamed on an ‘Improper American Upbringing,’ although many of her formative years had been spent in the Netherlands. Oh well.

“Congratulations, Jose!” Mia said, turning a bit to properly address the boy, who she now realised had been awarded the position of Head Boy at Sonora for the upcoming year. By the new girl’s acknowledgement of Mateo—who she actually referred to as Matt—Mia assumed that he had also won.

“Talented family,” she remarked, turning her full attention back to Matt.

0 Mia Don't tell me there's competition.... 0 Mia 0 5

Daniel Nash II (2nd Year Sonoran)

October 19, 2009 11:15 AM

Sounds doable by Daniel Nash II (2nd Year Sonoran)

Daniel hung out toward the back of the crowd, preferring not to draw much attention to himself. He didn't have much trouble hearing the Headmistress's speech, which was unfortunate because it told him that there were no Aladrens among the Head Boy and Head Girl next year, and that was a first in his experience. Both of the previous years had a Head Boy from his House, and during his first year, they'd both been Aladrens. Granted, the only sixth year Aladren this year had been Paul Tarwater, so maybe that explained it. From what Daniel had seen of him, Paul was possibly more crazy than Holly was.

Still, he didn't like the lack of Aladrens in the two Head positions, so he crossed his arms and frowned through the rest of the Headmistress's speech. The fireworks that stared shortly after were astonishing enough that he lost his pose of irritability, and the promise of food was slightly mollifying anyway. The music wasn't awful either.

It was still really crowded out there, though, so he stayed at the edge of the tented area to wait out the food rush. No sense wading into the thick of it just to stand there and wait forever.

Before long, one of the visiting students noticed him and headed over in his direction. With a sigh, Daniel straightened his posture and wondered what had given him away. She didn't look like the demographic that watched cable cop shows.

But then she spoke and Daniel realized she hadn't recognized him at all. She was just being inter-school friendly like they were supposed to be doing. He smiled, secretly relieved that she'd only given her first name, which meant he could do the same and not risk recognition that way. He was credited in the show as Danny Nash, and his father was credited as Dan Nash, so his full first name was perfectly safe.

"Daniel," he returned. "Food is a great idea. I was just waiting for the line to go down a bit. If we give it another few minutes, we should be able to get right in there without needing to wait."

He checked his watch - an understated Rolex whose workmanship was so good it worked perfectly even in the confines of a magic school - and nodded. Another six minutes and it would have been half an hour since the buffet table had been revealed. Plenty of time for everyone else to have gotten their plates.

"Second year Aladren," he added as a belated part of his introduction, since most people seemed to be giving year and school to everyone they met today, and he needed something to say to pass another six minutes. Daniel didn't see the point of mentioning he was a Sonoran - the House implied it and his green robes stated it outright. Their custom fit and better than average quality in material and tailoring also stated that he was quite wealthy to those that knew what to look for. Likewise for his manicured fingernails.

He wasn't too worried that Megan had approached him specifically for that reason, though. Usually the potential husband chasers gave last names and family branches, since they were as concerned with pedigree as they were with money. That was the one situation where he was more than glad to offer his very muggle last name.

He liked playing the pureblood since it tended to keep people at a distance and make them not associate him at all with muggle things like TV shows - and since he was a professional actor, he could pull it off perfectly - but, unlike his sister, he had no interest in actually being one.

For Megan, he kept most of that appearance intact. He was a genuine spoiled rich kid. A lot of it wasn't even an act. The slightly aloof posture, the upper class diction of his words, and the neat perfection of his hair even after doing a broom relay and an obstacle course were all an honest part of who he was. But he could be friendly. Not all rich kids, pureblooded or not, were complete snobs.

"Are you having a good visit here at Sonora so far? I mean, aside from getting lost in the crowd and not being able to find the food?" he added with the crooked smile that his fan sites seemed to think was one of his most attractive looks.

1 Daniel Nash II (2nd Year Sonoran) Sounds doable 130 Daniel Nash II (2nd Year Sonoran) 0 5

Saul

October 19, 2009 12:53 PM

And excitement and encouragement and stuff! by Saul

"Bye, Irene!" Saul called after their co-conspirator as the youngest Pecari prefect ran off to meet up with her cousins, before turning to grin back at Elly as his favorite girl EE demanded confirmation that she really had been named next year's Head Girl.

"That what the Headmistress said," Saul told her, hugging her back again. It didn't feel like the same congratulatory hugged they shared a moment ago, though, but something somehow sadder, which was confirmed a moment later when she held on and said, "I'm so confused!"

Saul pulled back a little to be able to look her in the eye. "You'll do great!" he promised her encouragingly. "You're friendly and you get along with almost everybody in the school. And if you have any trouble with anything, just let Jose know and I'm sure he'll do his best to help you sort it out." Saul grinned a little wider as he realized the potential confusion there, "Head Boy Jose, I mean, though little Jose would probably help, too, if he could. But Head Boy Jose is kinda like your partner. And I'm sure Irene would love to be your deputy."

An idea struck him and his grin brightened further. "Oh, I totally know what I'm getting you for your birthday next year. Watch for my owl. Oh, and don't ever forget," he poked her playfully on the shoulder, "I'm just an owl away. So write me and tell me everything Sonora's up to. I'll keep you so updated on what I'm doing, it'll be like you're right there."

1 Saul And excitement and encouragement and stuff! 82 Saul 0 5

Jose Hernandez (Sonora firstie)

October 19, 2009 3:24 PM

Saving Simon by Jose Hernandez (Sonora firstie)

The sugar rush had run out shortly after the broom race, and Jose had spent most of the afternoon crashed out behind the obstacle course napping on the grass. Now he was well rested, starving, and looking forward to watching the bonfire blaze and listening to his cousins play in the band and staying up well past midnight telling stories with his tentmates (as yet he wasn't sure who those would be - Andrew could be one of them, maybe? - but he still had plenty of time to figure that out).

First though, there were fireworks, which were awesome, and he cheered and whooped and jumped up and down in ovation as the dragon faded out and the band's volume picked up again. And second, there was food, which Jose loaded onto his plate in great volumes, taking care only to make sure he only selected dishes that a helpful prairie elf identified as vegan. He was sorely tempted by the chocolate cake, but he'd already splurged that morning on candy that probably wasn't vegan, so he reluctantly left that one alone.

Next, he need to find a place to sit so he could dig in properly. He looked around weaving between the other students who were almost all exclusively taller than him. It wasn't so much that he was small - though, he was a tiny bit below average for his age - as it was that he was still only eleven. He'd be twelve soon, but he wasn't quite there yet, and everybody else had a head start on their growth spurts.

Eventually, though, he spotted an unfamiliar RMI guy who wasn't much older than Jose, with some of that coveted chocolate cake, and being talked to by a Sonoran girl that Jose recognized as the Crotalus Seeker. Her name escaped him, but from what Jose caught of the end of their conversation, she was definitely not impressed by the RMI guy.

Deciding an intervention for the visiting student was probably not only welcome but politically necessary for the school's reputation, Jose moved in and plopped down on the RMI guy's other side. "Sure, he's one of a kind," he told the Seeker girl, with a bright grin for the visiting kid, to show Jose was turning the comment into a compliment for him. "We're all snowflakes, each unique and special."

Jose nodded, beaming with pleased satisfaction, as though he were unaware the comment could be taken in any light other than a good one. "My grandmother tells me that all the time," he added in confidential trust to the RMI guy, in a voice that was plenty loud enough for the Seeker girl to hear and use to redirect her ire onto Jose, who at least wasn't an invited visitor to their school.

As table manners seemed to be the source of said ire, Jose used his fingers to grab a piece of sauceless spaghetti and tipped his head back to lower the whole length of it into his open mouth, like a mama bird feeding a worm to her baby chicks. While still chewing that, he added to the RMI guy, "I'm Jose Hernandez. Good to meetcha."

There, now students of both schools had equally bad manners for Seeker Girl to harp on. If only saving Sonora's reputation could always be so fun.

0 Jose Hernandez (Sonora firstie) Saving Simon 0 Jose Hernandez (Sonora firstie) 0 5

Cosette

October 19, 2009 8:20 PM

I know; I'm a saint by Cosette

“Of course I’m your Knight in Shining Armor. That makes you the Princess.” Cosette grinned wickedly. Hayden was the only person she really knew that seemed perfectly comfortable teasing her. Someday, she probably needed to fix that, but it was so much fun! She rolled her eyes at Hayden, taking a bite out of her own roll. She should’ve put something really weird on his.

What he said was definitely true. “But escaping yourself ruined my fun.” She complained. “I got rid of mine pretty easily; I was hoping to use some magic or something on yours!” She smirked at the obvious hint at the word ‘something’. Cosette could guess what that was. “Since when have I cared about my Potions grade?” She laughed. “I think I choose the something.” Cosette took another bite out of her roll.

“You know, we need to figure out what we’re doing this summer.” She announced. “There’s no way I’m going to spend my whole summer stuck at home or my grandparent’s house.” The parties were fun enough, but most of her time was spent in the house. Etiquette lessons? Yeah, those weren’t her thing.

"So I want something sweet.”

Cosette raised an eyebrow. Well, that wasn’t demanding at all, right? “Something sweet, huh?” The blonde glanced around the table before laying her eyes on a mint chocolate pie. A grin spread across her face. Instead of getting a slice of the pie, she just grabbed the whole thing. “Fine, if you’re going to be so demanding.” Cosette shoved the pie in Hayden’s face. “There you go. Something sweet!” Oh, he was so going to kill her. Maybe she should’ve put it in his hair, too. Then he’d really be mad!

0 Cosette I know; I'm a saint 0 Cosette 0 5

Matt and Josh

October 19, 2009 10:34 PM

I think you are safe for the moment. by Matt and Josh

“Life is always more enjoyable when you have someone to play with.” Matt commented. Although he wasn’t necessarily flirting, the way he grinned always seemed to suggest that he had intentions that weren’t always pure. He was told by others that this was his mischievous smile. “You know, to be honest, I’ve never heard of RMI until our Headmistress announced your school visiting ours. What’s your school like? Anyone of interest there?”

Josh rolled his eyes as he walked. Third wheel. Almost as if on cue, Helena joined them as they walked through the crowd. Josh smiled broadly when he spotted her while she made her way over to them. “Hi” Josh returned, having been prepared to give her a hug when she had put her arms out, but frowned slightly when she moved as though she had changed her mind. Josh didn’t mind hugging people. With his family as affectionate as they were, personal space didn’t exist. But, instead of worrying about it, Josh put it off as that Helena and him weren’t close enough friends for her to be comfortable with it. And that was completely okay with him.

“Thanks-“ Josh commented, about to venture more, but was interrupted when Mia suddenly congratulated him too. A look of confusion overcame Matt though, when Mia commented about the talent of their family. He wasn’t really sure where that came from unless she knew about the rest of their siblings, which was entirely possible.

“Yeah, I suppose we can be called talented.” Matt commented in thought. “I mean, Jake is on a pro-quidditch league.”

“And Paco is one of the top lawyers for the Firm.” Josh added.

“Hannah was a Ballerina before she had kids.” Matt continued.

“And Bella is an up and coming musician in The Satyrs.” Josh stated.

“Can’t forget Sofia, the famous fashion model.”

“Or Julia, the Auror.”

“Yeah, I’d say we’re pretty talented.” Matt concluded, looking rather amused. “Anyway, no need to feel bad for me, Helena, I didn’t want the position anyway. Why they even put me on the ballot is a mystery to me. I mean, come on, I’m not made for working.” Matt joked. “Sorry that you didn’t win, Helena. We voted for you.” Matt told her in all seriousness.

“Don’t get us wrong, we like Elly and all, but-“ Josh paused and looked around for a moment before spotting Elly in the arms Saul before continuing, (Matt had followed Josh’s gaze and a muffled mumble slipped through his lips, the only word that was clear was ‘redheads’) “you have your head on straight.” As though realizing he’d forgotten something rather important, Josh changed topics on them. “Oh, Helena, this is Mia.” Josh said by way of introduction.

0 Matt and Josh I think you are safe for the moment. 0 Matt and Josh 0 5

Lia

October 19, 2009 11:06 PM

Yeah; I’m like a magnet. by Lia

When the Sonoran denied that Lia knew her, the Lyra couldn’t help but notice she hadn’t chosen either of the options Lia had offered. The answer, though, was just about synonymous with Lia’s reputation preceding her—unless this girl just spontaneously kissed strangers—so Lia disregarded that because there were more important things to think about, such as the other girl’s voice. Catterjunes, Lia knew this voice. She knew the half-panicked expression, too, as the slightly taller girl looked around at the crowd. But the music was loud and Lia was hot and her brain wasn’t operating correctly; she wasn’t tired, but the Lyra had more of the fuzzy confusion of having just woken up than she would normally have at this time. She must have worn herself out more than she had anticipated on the broom competition.

“I want to do something I’m going to regret,” whispered the girl, and Lia shivered a little despite the heat, forgetting all notions of identifying the girl’s improbably familiar voice. Regret. What a strange word it was. Did Lia herself regret anything? She couldn’t comprehend everything associated with “regret”, so the girl rephrased it. If she could do anything in the past differently, what would it be? Lia had quite a lot to choose from. Celeste, and all the “what if”s and emotional baggage involved. Getting involved with Scott. Kissing Katrina backstage that one time. Getting involved with Ally. Everything to do with Ivy. All three Phippen boys, but especially leading Jimmy on the way she was.

No, you know what? I would do everything exactly the same. Everything will work out eventually. It has to.

Still, it seemed fitting that this girl, even not knowing Lia, had approached the silver-eyed Beater. All Lia ever did was make people have regrets. “You’ve come to the right girl then,” she replied softly, but she didn’t explain herself. This… encounter could only last for this one night; it was unlikely that either of them would meet again after the bonfire, and without knowing the girl’s name or what she looked like in full light, Lia wouldn’t be able to recognize her again. Taking the girl’s words for an invitation, Lia kissed her again, more intensely but with a certain gentleness, if that wasn’t an oxymoron. The girl didn’t seem to require more privacy than the relative anonymity of a crowd, but Lia was accommodating if anything. It was the other girl’s school, so she would presumably know all of the more private locations.

0 Lia Yeah; I’m like a magnet. 0 Lia 0 5

Elly

October 24, 2009 12:57 PM

And yet more excitement and ...food? by Elly

The pep talk turned out to be enough to reassure Elly that change wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She was friendly, and she did like talking to people, and interacting with other students. And of course she and Josh could help each other out; they'd always gotten along okay. Plus the idea of having Irene as a deputy made Elly smile. She was already feeling better when Saul mentioned her birthday next year: another scary prospect, as she would be eighteen and undeniably a grown up. She would deal with that later, bolstered by the knowledge that Saul would be giving her something... whatever that something was. She wasn't going to ask because she liked surprises.

"I'm just an owl away. So write me and tell me everything Sonora's up to. I'll keep you so updated on what I'm doing, it'll be like you're right there." Saul said, and Elly wondered what on earth she's been worried about. It was probably just the excitement of the fireworks and the totally unexpected announcement. This was nothing Elly couldn't handle, and Saul was right - her friends not at Sonora were only an owl away.

"You're right," Elly grinned, and she ruffled Saul's hair in thanks. "It'll all be fine and fabulous." Smiling serenely, Elly did a full spin with her arms out - taking a step away from Saul so she didn't accidentally slap him - and enjoyed being relaxed again. It wasn't like her to stress out about things; why start now?

"Oh," Elly said abruptly, suddenly remembering something. "We've got the rest of the, um, events to complete," she smirked, knowing Saul would understand her elaborate code for the other pranks she had planned for around the camping area. They were simple and fairly harmless, but plentiful; Saul had already agreed to help Elly set them out. She was planning on waiting until a little further into the evening, though - she thought somebody might notice if she slunk off so early (especially as people might be paying attention to her a little more than usual this evening). Looking around, Elly took in the large crowd of students, several of them heading over to where the food was now uncovered. "Ooh, food," she suggested to Saul. Without really waiting for much of a response, she linked arms with him and started marching them towards the buffet table. That could be another reason she'd felt so peculiar just now: Elly ought to know better than to prank on an empty stomach.

0 Elly And yet more excitement and ...food? 0 Elly 0 5

Charlotte

October 24, 2009 1:51 PM

I love being the centre of attention by Charlotte

Even as Charlotte was still being amused by Kenny's comment that her name must be something beautiful, the two of them were joined by James - one of the boys in Charlie's yeargroup. She returned his friendly smile with one of her own, and couldn't help noticing his introduction to Kenny was a little on the offensive side. Wait, was James jealous? Charlotte's smile broadened a little. There was nothing more than she liked being the centre of attention, but flirting came in a close second. It seemed she found herself in the happy situation of having two boys to flirt with at once. Kenny was brash and exciting, or so first impressions would have her believe, and James was practically the polar opposite: smart, sensitive, and steadfast - like any good Aladren should be. Charlotte decided she liked Aladrens, as a rule. For a start there was James, with whom she'd enjoyed plenty of pleasant conversations, including some light flirting. Then there was Daniel, with whom she'd had one date, and she intended to have plenty more in the future. Admittedly Quentin was a bit weird, but Edmond in the year below seemed nice enough.

"Thanks," Charlie replied to James' compliment to her sweater: it was one of her favourites, not least because it was pink. "I just love the color," she told James, lowering her head and peering at him through her eyelashes: a tactic known for its success at turning boys into putty. Turning to smile up at Kenny, who was much taller, Charlie said to him, "Do you like it, Kenny?" This was already so much fun. Charlie wondered how much more fun she could have through the evening. If both boys wanted to hang around, well she could work with that. If one of them decided she wasn't worth it, that was really their loss. If James decided to walk off... well, Charlie really hoped he wouldn't, but she would be sure to make it up to him later.

0 Charlotte I love being the centre of attention 0 Charlotte 0 5

Ivy

October 24, 2009 2:38 PM

A dangerous magnet by Ivy

This was at the same time easier and more difficult than Ivy would have imagined. In the periods when her brain turned itself off and was in that starnge, fuzzy and floaty space, this was all far too easy. She was in someone else's body, doing things she would never normally do, and it was all without effort. Then, the rest of the time, her brain would suddenly kick into action, and berate her on her careflessness, make her feel shame for her actions, and remind Ivy that she was kissing another girl. That's when it was difficult.

Consequently, Ivy had a couple of blissful moments during which she'd indulged in doing nothing but giving in. It didn't matter that it was Lia, it didn't even matter that it was a girl - Ivy had never been kissed like this before. Ever. It was an experience, that was for sure. When her brain wasn't interrupting, Ivy thought she enjoyed the tingling warmth on her lips. She knew she liked being pulled closer by hands and arms, which was surprising, because Ivy had rarely allowed anyone to be close to her. Her emotional coolness had apparently reflected in her physical interactions, too - Ivy had never paid it much heed before, but it was true that even her parents didn't ever hold her close. She'd held hands with Hank and given Katrina the occasional supportive hug, but these occasions were few and far between, and certainly nothing like the experience of being held tight in the relative darkness. Despite the self-disgust, potential danger of social suicide, and hysterical laughter that pervaded her thoughts every alternate micro-sencond, Ivy thought, ironically, she felt safe here. In the dark, by a fire. Kissing Lia. She was obviously going quite insane, and she had feared it for some time now. What was it they said? Acceptance was the first stage to recovery.

Ivy drew back, raising her head a little from where it had been lowered to meet the younger girl's lips. Her heart was still thundering as hard and fast as it had been even before she'd taken the potion. A less healthy person would surely have suffered some sort of cardiac arrest by now. In fact, coupled with the unnatural heat, and with the added consideration of potentially going insane and slightly numb-feeling lips, under normal circumstances Ivy would be sending herself direct to the Hospital Wing. As it was, she was having one of those inner-monologue plagued moments of self-loathing. She couldn't go back to doing that again with Lia. It wasn't fair on the fourth year, nor on the girl Ivy was pretending to be. Ivy had already done enough to regret it: she was now wondering which she'd regret more: continuing on or walking away now. She'd used her only supply of the potion, and she didn't intend to make a habit of using it. This was her one shot to be someone else. Did she really want to spend the entire time in the (albeit pleasurable, but that wasn't the point, especially as she was certifiably insane) company of just one person?

Ivy didn't know what to do. She was way out of her depth. She had been just looking at the other girl now for just too long - she was going to know something was up. Yet Ivy didn't make any further move; she wasn't trained in this. She wasn't prepared for it. She couldn't predict what would happen next and, as usual, that wasn't very comforting.

0 Ivy A dangerous magnet 0 Ivy 0 5

Hayden

October 24, 2009 4:34 PM

Only if Saints can be Evil by Hayden

Unsurprisingly, Cosette turned down the potions help offer in favor of the 'something'. Hayden was pleased; he only wished returning favors could always be so simple and fun. then, out of nowhere, Cosette started talking about summer plans. Sure, she had visited hayden over the sunmmer before, but he didn't anticipate they were going to make a regualr thing of it. Not that he was complaining: his mom liked Cosette and it proved to her that he did have friends at school, even if they were all girls. "Yeah, sure," he replied casually. "We can sort something." He didn't know when he was going to be seeing his dad yet, but he could fit Cosette around that. There's no way he was letting those two meet if he could help it. Hayden's father still believed his son was a straight-up, decent human being, and Hayden wasn't going to disabuse him.

"Fine, if you’re going to be so demanding." Wait, what? There was something about Cosette's tone, and where her voice moved, and the sound of her clothes moving. Instictively, Hayden put his arm up to defend himself. It wasn't quite fast enough; though he succeeded in grabbing Cosette's arm, he didn't halt her movements completely and as a result ended up with a resonable amount of what smelled like mint chocolate pie on her face. He was furious! Though luckily he still had a hold of Cosette, and though she was stronger than most - probably thanks to being a Beater - she was still a girl. Holding the one arm back out of the way, Hayden swung his free arm around the beast's waist and said, "I'm in a sharing mood." Determined to persist against any struggling, Hayden pushed his cheek up against Cosette's, wiping pie over her face, too. Revenge was sweet - almost as sweet as the pie - and it enabled hayden to see the funny side. With a playful smile eveident in his voice, and his lips already close to her ear, he asked, "Would you like me to lick it off?

0 Hayden Only if Saints can be Evil 0 Hayden 0 5

Cosette

October 26, 2009 12:50 PM

I'm just one of a kind. by Cosette

“Hey!” she exclaimed when Hayden caught her arm. How had that happened? Was she becoming too predictable? Cosette certainly didn’t think so. Maybe it was Hayden’s super powered senses. Yup, that had to be it. The pie still got him in the face, which was good enough for her.

Hayden ended up catching her (Cosette blamed his super powered senses for that). One of her arms was still free-ish but not in a convenient position. Yup. The blonde was definitely trapped. During her struggle to break free, Hayden had managed to wipe pie on her face as well. Cosette couldn’t help but laugh. This was definitely the most fun she had had all day.

"Would you like me to lick it off?”

Cosette smirked, noticing that she had led them over to a less noticeable spot than she had first intended to. Wicked. His breath was tickling her ear. Hayden was in control right now, and she just couldn’t have that! Cosette shifted her body enough to be able to face him. Her lips close to his, she smiled and said sweetly, “You know you want to stop being so mean and let me go, right?”

0 Cosette I'm just one of a kind. 0 Cosette 0 5

Helena

October 27, 2009 10:33 PM

I concur...technically by Helena

Helena almost rolled her eyes when RMI girl suddenly threw in her congratulations, but a vivid mental image of how it would go over with Daddy kept the gesture internal. It was a continual mystery to her how Geoff and Lavinia could see their way clear to do whatever they pleased when he wasn't actually around; the idea of somehow letting him down came in a close second to death on her list of Very Undesirable Activities.

She couldn't help being a little impressed by the list of their siblings. It was bad enough having a genius for her brother and a brilliant (though admittedly, though not in the technical sense since they didn't admit to it, Squib) artist for her sister; how, exactly, Josh and Matt didn't completely fold beneath the weight of Never Gonna Live Up To That was beyond her. She made a mental note to be nice to Geoff over the summer, so he didn't decide to become a celebrated violin soloist on top of the president and the guy who invented a cure for end-stage spattergroit or the like.

All of that gave way to a smile, though, when Matt said he and his brother had voted for her. She couldn't help it; a majority of her restraint was tied up in not trying to hug him, and paranoid, hyper-overprotective brothers be damned. She also decided that being told she 'had her head on straight' was a compliment, given the House she shared with the compliment-giver. Crotali liked people with their heads on, unless the Crotali themselves had just cut them off.

Before she could say anything, though, the topic suddenly shifted to RMI girl - Mia, by the sounds of it. Helena gave her a somewhat more thorough once-over this time; she looked about their age and, in something that made her feel vaguely annoyed for some reason, as much prettier than she was as she'd expected. She nodded courteously. "It's nice to meet you, Mia," she said. "I'm Helena Layne."

She looked back at the boys. "But thank you," she said, beaming again. "Both of you. I'm sure Elly will do a very good job, though - and hey, that much more study time for me, right?" She didn't know much about Matt's work ethic, but expected Josh's plans for the next year were fairly similar to hers: pass the RATS or die trying.

OOC: Sorry for the delay; the Internet dislikes me at times

16 Helena I concur...technically 88 Helena 0 5

Thyme Barrington

October 30, 2009 1:47 AM

Better late than never. by Thyme Barrington

The day had been difficult for Thyme. She had not been able to spot any of her old friends among the RMI crowd.(Although, on the plus side, she hadn't seen her mortal enemy, Britta, among them either. If Thyme could have traded that awful girl's life for her twin sister's...) Apparently, they'd had a lot of people transfer in and out. Part of Thyme wished she was still there.

After Professor Powell's speech, she had quickly exited and found a secluded place to get away from everyone. Of course, this had left her without tentmates, but Thyme just couldn't take it. She'd needed to leave, needed a place where nobody would see her perform the shameful act that Thyme so often felt compelled to do. It was the only thing she had to relieve the tension. It was a lot better than letting anyone see her cry.

Eventually, Thyme had to rejoin the crowd. She'd never been a fan of them even before her sister died and now it was just hard. Her eyes scanned the food but she didn't feel like eating, so she went to sit under a tree.

That's when she felt someone hug her. This cheered Thyme slightly, for only one person ever hugged her now and that was Jae. Her parents didn't even now. They didn't pay attention to her anymore. But Jae was usually nice to her.

“Hi Thyme! Isn’t this amazing? Have you met any of your old friends?”

She forced a tiny smile. There was no point in taking her sadness out on Jae and she certainly didn't want him to know the extent of her problems. "Not really. I think a lot of them must have transferred to other schools like I did." Thyme paused,considering his offered corn bread. "Sure, I'll have some." Best to eat, Thyme certainly didn't want to have that become an area of concern. She might have been depressed, she might have been injuring herself but Thyme certainly wasn't anorexic and didn't want anyone to think she was. Besides, she was a little hungry.

"So, are you having a good time?" She asked. It was a bit of a silly question. Jae was the type who seemed to have fun no matter what.

11 Thyme Barrington Better late than never. 101 Thyme Barrington 0 5

Lia

November 02, 2009 1:38 AM

Danger, Will Robinson! by Lia

Whoever this girl was, Lia liked kissing her; not, say, more than Ally, who kissed with insatiable desperation, or more than Celeste, who actually cared about Lia, but certainly a lot more than she liked kissing Katrina. Katrina… Lia had never disliked someone so intensely. She had thought, at first, that they were connected only by Ally; for a short time, they were even friends. And then—and this was the part that surprised Lia the most, because it was so unexpected—Ally had played them both like musical instruments. (The black-haired girl decided, as an aside, that Katrina was an abrasive brass instrument—maybe a trumpet—and Lia was something more unusual, like a hammer dulcimer.) And instead of banding together in their Ally-Ruisi-totally-played-meness, they had become enemies. And, granted, this was fine with Lia. She didn’t particularly like Katrina. Kat was self-righteous and bossy and volatile and ridiculously sheltering to Abby, and Lia could do without having someone like Katrina Embers in her life. But until the night of the Talent Show, Lia had never thought Katrina to be cruel. The Beater couldn’t forget the look on Jimmy’s face as he turned away.

Now, though, she banished thoughts of how much she despised the oldest Embers girl and enjoyed the kissing. The last few people she had kissed came with so many strings attached that the action was like a marionette. But this…this was contextless. They would never meet again. There was no backstory. They probably didn’t know any of the same people. Zero strings. “Heigh-ho, the merry-o… that’s the only way to go.”

This was not a time for Pinocchio. This was a time for getting lost in kissing this very agreeable stranger—which Lia did, with gusto.

It came as a surprise when the older girl pulled away and stood, staring, seeming not quite frightened but confused. “What is it?” Lia breathed, face turned up towards the presumably older girl. They were still standing very close. Was the Sonoran simply regretting this to the extreme, or was there another problem?

0 Lia Danger, Will Robinson! 0 Lia 0 5

Simon

November 02, 2009 10:42 AM

Why, thank you! by Simon

“Are all the students at this school so disgusting, or are you one of a kind?”

Simon frowned. Okay, he had been using some pretty bad manners just now, but…This girl was harsh. The second-year was taken aback by her reaction since he’d found the majority of the Sonorans he’d encountered throughout the day to be nothing but kind and welcoming toward their RMI visitors. She was in keeping with the surprising nature of the Sonorans, though!

Before Simon could justify the Sonoran’s reaction or defend himself or whatever he would end up doing in response to her comment, a younger boy sat down next to him and started speaking.

“We’re all snowflakes, each unique and special.”

Simon smiled back halfheartedly at the boy, not sure if it was the best idea since it would probably just increase the tension between himself and the girl. He was glad that the boy was kind enough to try and help him out, and his optimistic outlook on life was quite admirable. It just wasn’t the best approach to use at the moment...

“Oh, cool,” Simon replied when the boy mentioned that he’d taken inspiration from his grandmother. He continued to smile a nervous and unconvincing smile.

Then, to Simon’s horror, the kid took a piece of spaghetti, tipped his head back, and lowered the whole thing into his mouth right before the girl’s eyes. He then proceeded to talk with his mouth full as he introduced himself.

“Simon…Gallup…,” he said slowly in reply. “And I know I just used some bad manners myself, but…Jose, you shouldn’t eat spaghetti with your hands and talk with your mouth full like that. It’s not polite, y’know?”

He sounded like a bit of a hypocrite, but he was just trying to make amends. “What’s your name?” he asked the girl, further pursuing this goal. He even gave her a smile more genuine than the one he’d given Jose.

Everything would be all right. Tonight was all about friendship and togetherness, so it would all work out – he knew it would all work out.

1 Simon Why, thank you! 14 Simon 0 5

Kenny

November 02, 2009 12:41 PM

Me too! We're definitely the perfect match. by Kenny

Charlie? Hm. Well, it certainly wasn’t a beautiful name by any means, but Kenny wouldn’t hold it against her. She was a 9 on the Hotness Scale, so she would receive the benefit of the doubt in pretty much every possible situation.

He admired the girl’s hair as she pushed a curl behind her ear. Although Kenny typically found pigtails to be a rather childish-looking hairstyle, Charlie was seriously rocking it. It gave her this innocent-but-playful vibe that was really, really hot.

“I’m James.”

“Huh?” said Kenny, turning to face the voice’s source. There was some nerdy kid standing there looking like a huge snob; Kenny totally hadn’t noticed the loser at all until he’d started to speak.

“Y’know, I could say that it’s nice to meet you, but…It isn’t at all, I’m not gonna lie.” He gave James a cruel smirk.

Kenny raised his eyebrows in amused surprise when the Sonoran complimented Charlie’s outfit. Oh, so this kid had a thing for her? That was funny. No – that was hilarious. But for some reason, Charlie was actually flirting back with the super-nerd. For real? Something needed to be done about this junk, and fast!

Fortunately, Charlie turned to Kenny right on cue. “Do you like it, Kenny?”

“Come esso?” he asked, bringing back his Italian flare. “Lo AMO! It’s so hard to keep my eyes open, to stop myself from shielding them from your bellezza incredibile!”

With that, he took Charlie’s hand once again. “Would you like to dance, piuttosto ragazza?” He loved knowing just what he needed to say to make a girl’s heart melt without even knowing any of the basic grammar of the Italian language. It was all about the attractive accent – that was the ticket that would win him his prize.

---

OOC:
Come esso? = Like it?
Lo AMO! = I LOVE it!
bellezza incredibile = incredible beauty
piuttosto ragazza = pretty girl

0 Kenny Me too! We're definitely the perfect match. 0 Kenny 0 5

Ivy

November 06, 2009 5:28 AM

So we retreat by Ivy

Ivy's brain was starting to hurt. Along with the heart-thumping and the incredible heat, she thought she might be starting to get fuzzy vision, too. Maybe she would just pass out and that would solve all her problems for her. Not dealing was what Ivy did best. But she's created these problems, hadn't she? Taking the potion, kissing Lia... yes, Ivy had made her own monster here. Now she didn't know how to tame it, and it was going to get loose and wreak havoc unless she stopped it. Right now. "What is it?" Lia asked.

Lia - the victim in this. Ivy almost laughed out loud. She'd done exactly to Lia what had been done to her: kissed her without warning and probably messed with her head some. It hadn't been intentional, and, barely being capable of cruelty, Ivy felt awful for it. The self disgust came in a far stronger wave this time, almost enough to knock Ivy clean off her feet. She thought she even wobbled on the spot for a moment as she tried to control her breathing. She had to say something - she knew it - but so desperately did not want to be recognised. Then Lia would surely hate her, and that was something Ivy didn't want, for two reasons that she could discern at that time. The first being that Lia didn't seem like the sort of person who would just sit back and take any sort of slight on her person, be it verbal or physical. Secondly, things were awkward enough between the two girls as it was. Ivy had been hoping for some calm equilibrium to be reached sometime soon, and she was positive that affronting the girl in this evening's manner would do nothing to help that.

With something akin to regret (be careful what you wih for), Ivy kissed Lia one last time: gently and briefly. It made her stomach twist and she felt again like she might vomit; kissing girls was really not something she should make a habit of - it really didn't seem to agree with her. "Sorry," Ivy whispered, in an attempt to hide her voice, and she didn't meet Lia's eyes. She did what she did best: turned and scurried away to hide back amongst the crowd and leave Lia to salvage her evening. Ivy seriously contemplated throwing herself into the fire for just a moment, but decided she didn't want to make a spectacle of herself. She headed instead for an empty tent, where she would hide until the effects of the potion wore off. And potentially for the rest of the weekend.

0 Ivy So we retreat 0 Ivy 0 5