Lyla Holland
January 07, 2023 1:21 AM
Just call me Star Baker [Samara] by Lyla Holland
By the time the feast was over, Lyla wasn't sure she was going to have room for the special dessert awaiting her and her roommate. She'd missed Samara over the summer; it was strange to go from sharing a room and seeing your friend every day, to...well, not. Lyla was excited to be back at school.She'd spent much of her break learning how to bake, with varying degrees of success. Cookies had gone decently. Cakes had not. She'd managed dinner rolls alright, if a person liked them a little on the burn-y side. And she'd accidentally overfilled her cherry pie so that it had bubbled up and over the side of the pan and made a great sticky mess in the bottom of the oven. After a couple of weeks (and scrubbing out the oven), she'd decided just to work on the cookies, which were much more portable, anyway. Mastery of the legendary peanut butter chocolate swirl cookies came a lot faster when she narrowed her focus.
Lyla waited on her bed for Samara to come in, leafing through her new book on the magical properties of toadstools. She groaned and patted her full belly. Maybe she hadn't actually needed that extra scoop of mashed potatoes. The pretty red-and-silver package she'd left earlier still sat poised on Samara's bedspread. Lyla was rather proud of not only her baking, but her wrapping. Her mother had offered her a gift bag, but Lyla had insisted on wrapping the cookies the 'proper' way. With a bow.
She was just reading about Leaping Toadstools when her roommate entered. Lyla jumped up from her bed, grinning from ear to ear.
"Samara! I missed you!"
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Lyla Holland
Just call me Star Baker [Samara]
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Samara Crosby
January 27, 2023 2:13 PM
I'll stick with being called Samara by Samara Crosby
Samara’s first summer vacation after her first year at Sonora had been…surprisingly like every summer that she could remember. Which was a bit of a let down, though she didn’t know what she really expected to be different. Everyone was the same, and so was everything they did. In some ways that was good, but she sort of hoped that since she was away the rest of the year, that they would do something special. Other than going to Lyla’s-Mother had decided that was okay because Gwendolyn was going and if it was good enough for Adam’s daughter, it was good enough for her-there was nothing especially different then it had been before Samara went to school. Same trips to St. Berylla’s, same parents hating everyone and Mother complaining about everyone and everything that she hated.Granted, in a way, that was good. After all, it was a confusing enough concept that not everyone was horrid and unlikable. Mother suddenly thinking so would be like the sky turning green and the grass turning orange. Samara would assume that her mother was not really her mother in that case, but someone who used polyjuice potion to turn themselves into her mother. And, to be honest, the second year was unclear why someone would need or want to do that. She supposed there were people who might want to be someone else but why would they specifically pick Mother? Not that there was anything wrong with being Mother, but Samara just didn’t know why, other than perhaps convenience, she would be picked over anyone else.
Anyway, she supposed the real thing about summer that was supposed to be special was not having to attend classes and do school work and having free time. Which was admittedly quite nice. Samara didn’t hate academics but nor was she especially passionate about them like the Aladrens. Still, it was nice to be able to basically do whatever she wanted within reason such as stay up late and sleep in without having to worry about having to get up at a certain time.
On the other hand, there were definitely things about Sonora that Samara missed. Like hanging out with Lyla and seeing her every day and going to Performing Arts Club. So she was decidedly happy to be back at school. Or at least not unhappy to be back. Of course, she liked seeing her family too but school was much less stressful in terms of drama. Or, at least, Samara hadn’t experienced drama at school. She was sure that others were part of much more dramatic situations here. The closest she’d gotten was Performing Arts Club, which was very much not the same kind at all, and the inherent drama associated with a competition like the Challenges, which really had not been that dramatic for her .
Although…last year had not been normal, really. Everyone was too busy with the Challenges to get involved in the sort of personal dramas that books about boarding school suggested was typical. At least, that had been the case with people her own age. Samara was sure that older kids were already embroiled in such things but so far, she hadn’t experienced such things.
And, taking into consideration what she already put up with in her family, she really didn’t want to have to deal with that kind of thing at school, with mean girls and friendship betrayals and things like that. Of course, Samara wasn’t sure that anyone here fit into those roles. She really did not think Lyla would stab her in the back and did anyone here qualify as a mean girl? Maybe Nausicaa, but was Samara the sort that she’d bully? After all, the Crotalus was a pureblood-for Merlin’s sake, her mother was a Brockert -and mean girls who were purebloods bullied muggleborns, so certainly, unless it was Lyla who was bullied by mean pureblood girls and Samara inevitably sided with her friend, the sort certainly would not come after her . They’d be more likely to want her as a minion. Although, mean girls who weren’t purebloods might pick on her but she could not think of anyone who fit that description either, though there were people who just plain did not like purebloods but did not fit the mean girl label.
Anyway, now she was back at school and the Opening Feast was over. She went up to her room to see Lyla already there. The second year grinned as her friend greeted her. “Hey! I missed you too!” She gave her friend a big hug.
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Samara Crosby
I'll stick with being called Samara
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Lyla Holland
February 11, 2023 12:30 AM
Just don't call me late for dessert! by Lyla Holland
Lyla was happy to see her friend, returning her hug with equal enthusiasm. It had seemed like ages since Samara and Gwendolyn had stayed the weekend for her birthday, but Lyla knew it had only been a few short weeks. She ushered Samara further into the chamber, picking up the gift."This is for you!" she said, handing the package to the other Crotalus, "Just wait 'til you see what's inside!"
As full as Lyla was from the feast, the thought of the cookies inside the box made her mouth water. She waited, bouncing on her toes as her roommate opened the present.
"I made them, all by myself," she explained, her excitement bubbling over as the wrapping paper fell on the floor, forgotten. She wished she had thought to bring some milk upstairs, but supposed that they may end up saving the cookies for another day.
She sat on the edge of her bed as she waited for her roommate to settle in. Her mind whizzed through topics at the speed of light. She wanted to know how Samara's trip to St. Berylla's had been, if she was joining or rejoining any clubs this year, if she was as excited as Lyla not to be the youngest group of students at Sonora-finally!
Lyla's face hurt from smiling so much. She was so glad to be back, so glad to see her friends and practice magic and learn new things.
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Lyla Holland
Just don't call me late for dessert!
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