Headmaster Brockert
March 14, 2016 6:26 AM
Bonfire! by Headmaster Brockert
One of the best things about the Challenges was that Mortimer didn't have to have anything extra at the bonfire.It could just be fire and food. Between that and the fact that he'd already realized that they might have left the students too busy and tired to cause trouble, he was rather liking these Challenges. Especially since he didn't have to run any of the events.Of course, the next time they might potentially come up was in seven years when the Midsummer event was the Concert and it would likely be difficult to have students doing both. Contrary to what he wanted people to believe, Mortimer was not completely heartless and felt that was just too much to put on the students. His cousin David had already written to him, asking him not to allow his daughter Chaslyn to take any independent studies. Mortimer didn't exactly know the reason for this, but from what he could tell-he remembered which one she was simply because she was the Crotalus prefect for her year-she often looked incredibly tired. Something that was none of his business was might be going on there.
Anyway, he supposed that they could either have each team have an act-which would be an awful lot of acts for him to have to sit through-or have the concert part not be put on by students and hire a popular band instead. He could even leave when the band started playing and not subject himself to terrible music.Some of that crap kids listened to had a way of getting stuck in one's head.
Anyway, Mortimer didn't really have to think about it for the next seven years. Tonight was the bonfire where everyone would camp out on the pitch in tents of four-magical ones of course, the kind that were bigger on the inside and considerably nicer than what he assumed Muggles had as anything magical tended to be-as they had every four years for quite some time now.
And he couldn't care less about how they sorted themselves out in the tents, so long as everyone had a place to sleep.
Now the students were here and it was time to begin. Mortimer cast a quick Sonorus charm on himself the way he did for feasts. "Hello students and welcome to the Bonfire. Before you are let go to eat and socialize, I would like to announce the winners of this year's Challenges. When your team is announced, please come up and get your award.In fifth place, we have Team Six. In fourth place is Team Twelve. Third goes to Team Three and second place is Team Five. And, our first place winner is....Team Two! Congratulations Team Two!" Once everyone but himself was offstage, he continued. "The full results are up on the bulletin board next to the buffet and your yearbooks. Enjoy yourselves." Of course, Mortimer only really cared if they enjoyed themselves in the sense that it made his life easier, he didn't actually care about their feelings or anything.
OOC-The yearbook will be up when Amelle finishes it. Please do not cause any serious incidents with the fire as the staff will be watching to prevent such things. Have fun!
Subthreads: Challenge Final Rankings by Headmaster Brockert
One is the loneliest number by Aiden O'Neil with Kira Spaulding
Making friends? (Tag Chuck and the Misfits) by Gia Donovan with Chuck Fintoc, Sammy Meeks
Tag another second year girl or Sammy by Ingrid Wolseithcrafte with Emilia-Louise Scott
I see your smiling face by Clark Dill with Lena Westley
Dragon fire? by Gabe Valenti with Ben Pierce
Thinking too much - friends? by Jack Spencer
Sitting by the fire. by Nevaeh Reed with Barnaby Pye
Is this over yet? (tag Peizhi, Laila, and anyone who dares) by Jax Donovan with Laila Kennedy
Time with Miss Arbon by Makenzie Newell
Boys will be boys. (tag: Louis Valois) by Arne Reinhardt with Louis Valois
Question (Tag Jemima) by Owen Brockert with Jemima
Failure by Chaslyn Brockert with Tobi Reinhardt
Well, that went better than I expected. by John Umland
Furious (tag: at the very least Joella) by Liliana Bannister with Joella Curtis
Finishing up some business before I go (Nellie) by Tristan Spaulding with Eleanor Vandenberg
11
Headmaster Brockert
Bonfire!
6
Headmaster Brockert
1
5
Headmaster Brockert
March 14, 2016 6:32 AM
Challenge Final Rankings by Headmaster Brockert
1.Team Two2.Team Five
3.Team Three
4.Team Twelve
5.Team Six
6.Team Eleven
Team Thirteen
Team Fifteen
9.Team One
10.Team Eight
11.Team Ten
12.Team Fourteen
13.Team Four
Team Nine
15.Team Seven
11
Headmaster Brockert
Challenge Final Rankings
6
Headmaster Brockert
0
5
Aiden O'Neil
March 15, 2016 9:36 PM
One is the loneliest number by Aiden O'Neil
Aiden sat on the bench on the Quidditch Pitch in the middle of the bonfire. It was not an odd sight for anyone to see as Aiden often enjoyed walks around the Pitch or flying in the air for fun or other such adventures around the school. The odd sight was in the fact that Aiden was alone during the bonfire. Aiden was either with Savannah and sometimes Scarlett, or with Liac and Tobi, and sometimes with Lena, but it was rare to find him completely alone.And yet, here he was.
He had recently come to the realization that Aiden was quite the third party amongst his friends. Savannah, who was his closest friend, had her twin to whom she was closer too (and rightfully so). Liac and Tobi might as well have been twins with how close the two of them were. And Lena had her a twin of her own. They didn’t seem as close this year as they had in previous years, but Aiden felt that was probably a family issue and he didn’t want to intrude in case it was rather personal. The point was, however, that he was the oddball out of his group of various friends. They all had twins or twin-likes and then it was just Aiden. He really wanted to expand his comfort level with people and make more friends. He always thought that maybe he had made one or two through class and the challenges, but then after the lesson or challenge is over, everyone goes back to their true friends and Aiden is left wondering if he hadn’t been nice enough or made a decent enough impression to capture their attention long enough to start a friendship.
Aiden watched as everyone else broke off into groups. The air felt like electricity due to the excitement that filled the air as everyone was buzzing over the team wins and yearbooks. Aiden had been surprised by some of the things he was voted. Like, he brightened the days of enough people to win the category and he received friendliest classmate, so that suggested that people liked him, but just not enough for people aside from his aforementioned friends to spend time with him for an extended period. He thought he had gotten on just fine with some of his classmates, but he must have said something that turned them off to friendship because he never really spoke to them again except for in class.
He knew there were people who would always remain acquaintances but he wanted to know what other people had that had people wanting to be friends with them. Liac had it, he knew that for certain. Everyone wanted to be friends with his roommate and Aiden could understand it because he was also his friend. But what was it? The Quidditch? The looks? The charm? Aiden didn’t know, but sometimes it really bummed him out. His parents said not to worry about it too much and to just enjoy the friends that he had, but he was always reminded that he was going to be the odd one out between them.
Aiden sighed quietly as he looked over the yearbook. He had forgotten about his surroundings and was only reminded of it when he heard a group laughing. He looked up and watched them as they wandered away. A sound of someone beside him, startled him and he whipped around to see who was near him. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were there.” He said feeling his face flush as though he had just been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.
6
Aiden O'Neil
One is the loneliest number
287
Aiden O'Neil
0
5
Gia Donovan
March 16, 2016 7:06 AM
Making friends? (Tag Chuck and the Misfits) by Gia Donovan
OOC: Misfits being Laila, Sammy, Peizhi, and Jax, but others are welcomed BIC:Gia was so happy for her team. They might not have won, but they had done so well that it was hard to not be proud of them. Jax’s team had beaten everyone and even though she knew he would never admit it, he would be happy with the outcome. Jax had gone through the challenges with a ‘I don’t care, this is stupid’ attitude, but each and every time, he had done his best and helped his teammates. His attitude was a front and maybe the others didn’t see it, but Gia knew him well enough to see the truth in it. He would be happy to know that his team had succeeded and that made Gia happy. He had turned the other night and so he was not in the most jovial of moods this evening. He had wanted to stay another night in the infirmary but because of bonfire, he had felt that people would become suspicious of his absence, so he came. Gia felt that her brother needed a pick me up and she thought she might have a solution that would make him even happier. Of course, this was all before she even had a chance to look at the yearbook. If she had known about a particular category that she had somehow won with a person that made her brother’s blood boil, she would have spent the remainder of the evening preventing him from seeing it or anyone else from mentioning it. As it were though, she hadn’t looked at the book yet and didn’t plan to until she was with her friends.
When the Headmaster ended his speech and everyone could disperse, Gia told Jax that she wanted to go find everyone, but it would be better if he stayed there in case someone saw them standing there earlier. Gia loved her group of friends. Sammy, of course, was her bestest friend, being roommates and all. Laila had become her friend because of her association with Jax. And then there was Peizhi. She was quiet, but adorable. They met through their special class. Jax was always weary around Peizhi and he had admitted to Gia that he didn’t want to scare Peizhi, so he never said or did anything around her that could be interpreted as mean or angry. Gia took that to mean that Peizhi meant something to Jax if he went out of his way to keep her happy.
But there was always room for more friends and Gia had one in particular on her mind. He would be a much needed male in the group and his personality being the opposite of her brother would maybe help Jax relax a little and be more open. Plus, Sammy spoke highly of him and Gia saw him around enough to know that he seemed like a fun person. As she maneuvered herself through the crowd, she easily spotted him because of his colored hair. Smiling, Gia made her way over to him. “Hi Chuck!” Gia greeted, still sporting her big smile. “So, I was wondering something that I hope you’ll be interested in.” She began. Gia was a talker. She had no problem going up to a complete stranger and talking with them as though they were old friends.
“I was hoping that maybe you would be interested in sharing a tent with my brother?” Gia asked. “You see, he’s quite shy and he would never ask directly himself. He doesn’t really have any friends except for myself and the girls and I’d much rather him room with someone who can cheer him up. And I’m worried that he’ll end up in a tent with a bunch of rowdy first years.” Gia looked up at Chuck with a hopeful spark in her eye. “Of course, if you’re already rooming with three people, I’ll completely understand.”
6
Gia Donovan
Making friends? (Tag Chuck and the Misfits)
308
Gia Donovan
0
5
Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
March 18, 2016 9:31 AM
Tag another second year girl or Sammy by Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
Ingrid twirled her award as she walked around the bonfire. Fifth place wasn’t bad, especially as the school seemed to deem it prize-worthy. She had, therefore, placed. And she was the highest ranked Wolsiethcrafte, which - as the youngest, and usually over-run by siblings who were not necessarily more talented but benefited from more experience and longer limbs - was worth some serious status to her. She hoped Liliana was happy. If Liliana was happy, she was happy. The one thing that took some of the shine off their place (apart from the obvious fact of it not being first) was that Jamie Smugface Park had managed to worm his way up to third somehow. If there was one person in the entire school who didn’t need his ego inflating, it was that boy. She was pretty pleased to see that his own sister had beaten him though. She couldn’t imagine what he was like to be related to, but didn’t imagine he’d be strutting about his position too much in front of Ji-Eun. Although Ingrid was generally on the side of younger siblings everywhere, she was willing to make an exception to her rule. Louis Valois’ team had also beaten them. Although Leonidas had temporarily turned ally, the fact that Louis was an Aladren players and she was a Pecari one was enough for her to feel a token amount of grumpiness over the fact. Not that it really, really bothered her but she felt that, on principle, it ought to. But Louis was a nice boy from a proper family, so she thought their rivalry shouldn’t become too vicious. In order to balance these many conflicting ideals and emotions, she settled for making a face at Louis, but only when she was ninety percent sure he wasn’t looking anyway. Duty done, she set about enjoying the bonfire.The camp out sounded fun. There was, to some people, what would have seemed like a minor hitch, in that Ingrid didn’t really have many female friends. To be honest, she didn’t have a lot of friends full stop, at least not outside of the Quidditch team. A lot of them probably had friends their own age, although she wasn’t exactly too shy to ask, if it came to it. However, instead of seeing this as a problem, Ingrid embraced it as an opportunity. She was a generally sociable person and wanted a network of people who wouldn’t graduate years ahead of her. A camp out together seemed like one of those unifying experiences that could bring people together pretty quickly. She began to consider her options. There weren’t a lot of proper girls for her to be friends with in her year. There was just Kira and Peizhi, both of whom she had yet to form much opinion of, both seeming quite quiet. They seemed like they’d suit each other as friends but maybe not find much in common with her. Emmy-Lou and Abby both seemed chatty. Laila seemed popular and girly. She wasn’t really sure she was a good fit with any of them (in fact, the person in her year she probably had most in common with was Louis, so she thought they should definitely work on that being a friendly rivalry). The year above was pretty similar, but perhaps even more extreme - there was Sammy, who was “not proper” but she shared a love of Quidditch with, and Caelia and Kelsey who were the girliest of society girls. Then there was Jemima and her friends. As they were a natural threesome, they might take pity on Ingrid. It was sweet, but it was the last thing she wanted. She was sure Lauren and Ginger were nice and all, but they were Jemima’s friends, and she wanted her own. She didn’t want to have to reject Jemima’s misplaced kindness, and so she decided to be proactive about finding tent-mates. With a shortlist of second year girls and Sammy in mind, she began to mingle.
“Hi,” she grinned, as she found one of her targets, “How’s it going?” She didn’t ask about tents right off, not through any kind of self-consciousness but because she wanted at least a few minutes of conversation before she committed to a night of sharing. She thought most of the girls in her year (plus Sammy) seemed OK, but she was basing that off having a lack of negative evidence, rather than having much to back up her theory.
13
Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
Tag another second year girl or Sammy
322
Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
0
5
Clark Dill
March 18, 2016 11:58 AMClark Dill
AlumnusHouse: Aladren
Written by: Nathan
Age in Post: 15
Birthday: Who knows? But he celebrates it in November
I see your smiling face by Clark Dill
Clark had enjoyed the challenges, and he was pleased they had placed top five, and therefore high enough to get acknowledged and a small award. He tried very hard not to feel too disappointed that their fourth place finish hadn't been higher. (He could only assume John had provided enough good to Team Three to balance out Jamie Park and keep them ranked just one spot higher than Clark's team, which he granted was a barely adequate reward for needing to deal with Park all year.)Team Twelve had risen one place in the standings after the third challenge, too, so they had at least ended on a strong note anyway. Overall, they had held pretty consistent on the leaderboard - starting tied for fourth, dropping to a solid fifth then returning to a solid fourth - and that spoke well of their adaptability to each new challenge they'd faced. So Clark was going to be happy with their results and that was that.
When Headmaster Brockert finished his speech, Clark took the time to congratulate each of his teammates and wish them a good summer before going to collect his yearbook.
He flipped through to the Science Club page and smiled at the list of names there before skipping on to the awards section, eager to see how the voting had turned out. He was kind of surprised to see Lena under 'Social Butterfly' but then he remembered her only competition was Chaslyn who just didn't have time for socializing.
His first award was for Quidditch Obsessed, which he supposed was unavoidable when you were the Aladren Assistant Captain and the school's undefeated Seeker.
He might have growled a little in disagreement when he saw Oliver got Class Gentleman. Oliver fit no definition of Gentleman that Clark knew. Following that, though, was Biggest Brain, and Clark's grin came back fully upon finding his picture there along with John's. A few pages further on, he saw John again and made a mental note to tease his friend about causing trouble if given a good opening for it.
He wasn't too surprised to find them both under most involved as well given then number of clubs they were in together. And Bookworm was all but a given for both of them, but he still felt a bit proud about it.
"Whoo, good job, John!" he murmured aloud, spotting his friend under best spell casting as well.
He frowned again seeing Oliver under Most Ambitious, but mostly that was just a natural reaction to seeing Oliver than any particular disagreement with the award. Clark himself had voted for him there, after all.
His good mood bounced back when he saw the fifth year class thought he was a prime example of an Aladren, and he was glad to see John had joined him there again. It was kind of neat having his best friend be a a year younger than him. It meant they could both earn all the best nerd awards.
As the top Seeker in the school, he was unsurprised to find himself under best flier, though he'd kind of expected to see Jamie's face next to his picture again as he had under the Quidditch award, but Lena was there instead which just made him laugh. Not so much at Lena getting it, though he wasn't at all sure what her broom skills were like, but he was pretty sure Jamie must be having a fit about it, and that was kind of funny.
Clark flipped through the seventh year awards with minimal interest, not really knowing any of them, then stopped at Best Looking.
Eleanor, of course, was there, being, as Clark firmly believed, the prettiest girl in the school, but he was taken aback by the row of boys under her. Now Clark understood perfectly well that he had not been in the running for this particular award, but what was wrong with people that Oliver got it?
He looked for himself and John under best friends but wasn't particularly surprised or disappointed when they weren't there. He was a bit taken aback to find himself with an enemy though. Though given his disgust at every award he'd seen Oliver earn up to this point ... Clark conceded it was perhaps accurate and not quite as one sided as he'd thought it was when he'd decided not to vote for himself and his roommate when filling out the yearbook survey. Clearly there was some animosity on Clark's side now, too, after five years of being insulted based on his parentage (which was actually much more half blooded that Oliver imagined it was) and looked down upon and resented for things he'd had little or no say in.
There were only a few awards left and seeing that Professor Carter got the staff award wasn't quite enough to buoy himself back up to his earlier level of cheer after learning he had an enemy and the rest of the school recognized it before he had. Clark believed in friendship and kindness and it bothered him deeply that the guy he lived with nine months of the year was so diametrically opposed to him that they'd earned enemy status. He closed the yearbook and didn't see Oliver anymore and that helped a bit.
He decided the best cure was to find John and/or Lena. Being near a friend ought to restore his normal level of optimism. Or better, he could make a new friend! That would be really awesome. So he smiled warmly back at the first smiling face he encountered and greeted cheerfully, "Hi! Looking forward to summer?"
1
Clark Dill
I see your smiling face
277
Clark Dill
0
5
Chuck Fintoc
March 18, 2016 4:10 PM
I like the sound of that. by Chuck Fintoc
The challenges hadn't really been Chuck’s cup of tea but he didn't regret having participated at all, especially since the third one had turned out to be quite a fun activity. He had found working with such a group as his to be an experience, not an unpleasant one but neither one he would jump at the chance of repeating. Chuck wasn’t particularly concerned with Team Nine’s final ranking but he took the time to glance at the scoreboard all the same. He thought it a shame to see his team placed right near the bottom but he could live with it, knowing that it didn’t really matter so long as they had all got something out of it one way or another.It wasn’t long after the headmaster’s dismissal that Chuck was approached by Gia Donovan, a friendly housemate and one of the numerous people he thought he would like to get to know better. She seemed to get on well with Sammy, who Chuck also really liked.
“Gia,” he smiled openly in response to her greeting, trying to ignore the fact that he’d decided to put her down as ‘best looking’ in the yearbook survey because blushing was not something Chuck ever wanted to start doing. He continued to smile as she went on to propose something, suspicious but amused because the introduction reminded him of something Emmy might say.
Gia’s proposition wasn’t something he had anticipated, not that he’d actually had any idea what she was about say and nor had the chatty girl allowed him the time to form any ideas. “Of course,” Chuck replied easily. He didn’t know Jax Donovan very well so had had no particular plans to share a tent with him but that didn’t mean he was adverse to the idea. In truth, Chuck hadn’t known who he was going to share with. He’d been thinking more along the lines of Owen Brockert and therefore probably Andrew Carey but by the sound of things Jax didn’t come as pre-packaged pair so they could probably still make a four with the aforementioned Teppenpaw boys if they wanted.
Chuck didn’t know that he had the capability of cheering someone like Jax up but he thought he could take a stab at making the shy guy feel a bit more comfortable. “I’ll be happy to share with Jax if he’s game,” he nodded. “Rooming with a bunch of rowdy first years isn’t something I want to end up doing either.” Chuck certainly hadn’t already arranged rooming with three people as Gia politely suggested he might. For starters, he hadn’t had the chance to ask anyone about sharing yet, especially since it hadn’t been a high priority concern of his (until Gia had scared him with thoughts of rowdy firsties), and it wasn’t as though he had a large guy gang to make selections from either. The Pecari wasn’t sure who Jax’s female friends were that Gia referred to as ‘the girls’, only assuming that Sammy was amongst them.
“Have you actually told him about this idea of yours?” Chuck wore a knowing smile upon his face. He was used to Emmy making propositions without the approval of those concerned and he had no reason to think that Jax would specifically want to share a tent with him, particularly since the foreign boy had two roommates he was more familiar with.
8
Chuck Fintoc
I like the sound of that.
309
Chuck Fintoc
0
5
Emilia-Louise Scott
March 18, 2016 5:44 PM
I'm a second year girl! by Emilia-Louise Scott
Emmy-Lou was pleased to see that her team had maintained their spot as third in the rankings and proudly went up to collect her award. At least it meant they’d done reasonably well in the final challenge which she was sure she’d contributed to more than anyone. The challenges didn’t quite seem to add up. Emmy had originally believed that they were created to improve student relations following the troublesome incidents of last term but the fact that Team Three had managed to place third, a most inharmonious group, rather contradicted such a purpose.Despite certain members of her team, however, Emmy-Lou had mostly enjoyed doing the challenges but she was still quite happy to cast the whole thing aside (although she could guarantee Louis wouldn’t be able to resist passing comment about his team beating hers). Emmy’s mind had already moved on and she was far too busy thinking about the bonfire, the yearbooks and the camping to think about much else. What a fantastic end to a fantastic year this would be!
Emmy-Lou had a few particular friends at Sonora who she was closer to than others but she didn’t necessarily regard these as appropriate tent-buddies. Louis, for one, was a boy so that was likely against the rules (considering how strict the dormitories were about gender) and then Joella seemed to have her own friends… On the plus side this tent-sharing business would give her a much desired opportunity to get to know the girls in her year better, especially since she felt she was always at a disadvantage by being the only female Aladren second year and therefore having no roommates.
Ingrid Wolseithcrafte was probably her favourite from what she knew of the girls in her year, although she got on well with Abby De La Garza too. Emmy didn’t really have a problem sharing a tent with any of her most obvious options, as far as she was aware, but set the aforementioned two as her priorities for seeking out when the right time arose that evening.
As it turned out she didn’t have to look very far because Ingrid approached her pretty soon after the headmaster had finished talking. “Great! This is great!” Emmy said in an excited response, brandishing her award gleefully when she noticed Ingrid had also received one (and therefore she knew she wouldn’t be rubbing it in the face of a loser by doing so). “I love bonfires! And having a whole school camp out will be so much fun! Do you want to share a tent?” Emmy-Lou cut straight to the chase, hoping that by getting in so early she wouldn’t be giving Ingrid the chance to run off and find three others first and going with the optimistic assumption that she wouldn’t have made prior arrangements.
8
Emilia-Louise Scott
I'm a second year girl!
313
Emilia-Louise Scott
0
5
Gabe Valenti
March 18, 2016 9:29 PM
Dragon fire? by Gabe Valenti
Gabe sat on the bleachers, cheerfully flipping through the yearbook. All in all, no surprises - he wore the label of Most Quidditch obsessed proudly, and was excited to share it with Nat, his best friend. That he caused the most explosions should be obvious to anyone who shared a class with him, and was something of a bragging point to his siblings back home. And it was nice of his classmates to acknowledge his love of animals; Care of Magical Creatures was his best class.He'd really made it. His very first year of being a wizard was about to be complete. The New Yorker with normal, accountant parents had made wizard friends, learned to fly, come in 4th place for the Challenges, and had successfully passed all of his classes. With any luck, he should be in good academic standing to join the Teppenpaw team when Quidditch returned next year.
And he wouldn't return alone - it turned out that magic ran in the family, well, this generation anyway. It had been officially confirmed that his cousin, Arianna, would be joining him at Sonora next year. In her letters, she seemed super eager to know everything about being a wizard. The cousins who had never been really close wrote nearly every day now. While Gabe didn't really know how to respond to her questions about fashion, he was so excited to teach her to fly this summer. Mattie and Ems would be so jealous.
Satisfied with the yearbook, he adjusted his lucky Mets cap atop his dark curls and walked towards the crowd. The Teppenpaw was not too concerned about finding people to split a tent with at the end of the night. He got along pretty well with his rommate, Joe, and there were plenty of other boys his age he was friendly with as well. People at Sonora were all easy to get along with in general. It wouldn't be hard to find somewhere to crash.
"Do you think they have marshmallows somewhere?" he asked a nearby student eagerly as he approached the fire, "It's not a real bonfire without s'mores." This of course, could be excised if there was a dragon somewhere around here keeping the fire going. Dragons were cool. But, seeing none, Gabe figured dessert was in order.
0
Gabe Valenti
Dragon fire?
330
Gabe Valenti
0
5
Ben Pierce
March 19, 2016 11:45 AM
There totally should be some of that here by Ben Pierce
Ben flipped through his yearbook hoping it might boost his mood after being bummed that his challenge team had remained in second to last (though they had tied for that position for the final ranking). He saw Gabe got Quidditch Obsessed, which Ben had thought he'd had a shot at, but it had only been an outside chance. Gabe's interest in the wizarding sport had been a bit more focused than his own. Ben would be the first to admit he preferred baseball or soccer, but since neither of those were available here, he'd take Quidditch as an acceptable alternative.He did perk up when he found himself under Most Involved, and felt downright pleased over earning Most Representative of His House. He wasn't quite sure how Kyte didn't get best flyer, but he hoped Most Adventurous would take the sting out of that loss. Then he flipped back to the list of first years and tried to memorize the remaining face/name pairs that had eluded him for a whole year. And, honestly, he wasn't sure exactly who was a first year and who was a second year, so those pages helped sort that out, too.
Feeling a little better, he went to find food and tentmates. He kind of imagined he'd probably end up with Kyte, as they had clicked pretty well right from the start, but he shared a room with Kyte every day he was a Sonora and this was his chance to hang out with someone from another house if he so choose.
Running into Gabe, Ben adjusted his own Red Sox cap and eyed up the Mets hat on the other first year. It could have been worse. It could have been Yankees.
And marshmallows were good. "I haven't seen any yet, but I'll help you look." He tapped his Red Sox logo on his hat to indicate a change of subject. "Heard any scores lately? Last I got was that the Red Sox beat the Indians two weeks ago. How are the Mets doing this season so far?"
1
Ben Pierce
There totally should be some of that here
339
Ben Pierce
0
5
Me too! by Gia
Gia beamed when Chuck agreed to room with Jax. She was always nervous that her brother had a reputation for being a sour person. He wasn’t. He wasn’t shy either, but it was a little white lie that she told. He just didn’t see the point of talking and because of his ‘condition’, Jax felt it was safer for everyone is he just didn’t make friends. Gia thought better of it though and decided that the more friends he had, the more comfortable he would be when things came out (and eventually they would). Barnaby knew having followed her brother around or something and he hadn’t said anything. Jax didn’t trust him at all but Gia had spent the year with him on her challenge team and thought maybe he wasn’t too terrible. Gia felt that people weren’t as suspicious as her brother did.“Wonderful!” Gia cheered. Sammy was friends with Chuck and therefore, Chuck had the seal of approval. Of anyone in their year, Chuck was probably someone Jax wouldn’t find threatening. That wasn’t any sort of negative to Chuck, Gia wanted to be his friend because Sammy liked him, but rather a positive if it meant that Jax could be comfortable around him. She was sure Owen and Andrew were probably okay too since they were Teppenpaws and it would go against their nature to not be nice, but Andrew was a Carey and Owen a Brockert and from what Gia was able to understand over the last couple of years was that those families had pull the way her’s did in Europe (or so Jax told her).
Gia thought that she was sure to be rooming with Sammy, Laila, and Peizhi because they were their own special group of friends, but she didn’t want to leave Jax on his own. She thought that maybe Barnaby and Jack would be okay with him but considering Jax’s mood and Barnaby always trying to start something, Gia didn’t want to put Jack in the middle of that. No, it was better if Jax could be with other people and someone who wasn’t a girl.
At Chuck’s question, Gia dropped her head a bit and gave a sheepish smile. “Well, no.” Gia admitted. “But, since he isn’t very close to his roommates and he can’t room with us, so he can’t really say no to this idea anyway.” She explained. Jax might be a little miffed about it when she told him, but he would never take it out on Chuck or anyone else that they might end up in a tent with. More than anything, he would probably just sit quietly. He was on pain potions tonight anyway. The change always did a number on him and he would be in pain for the following couple of days. The potions helped ease it for him, but it subdued him too. “Don’t worry, he’ll appreciate the help.” Gia smiled, her original smile returning.
“Did you get your yearbook yet? Do you want to sign mine?” Gia asked. She didn’t know what a yearbook was until her first year here and it seemed like a tradition for people to sign each others. She held out her yearbook for him to take. “Would you like to hang out with us tonight? Myself, Sammy, and the others?” Gia was under the assumption that everyone knew who her friends were. She often forgot that because Peizhi and Laila were in the Beginners still that people probably didn’t see them together that often.
6
Gia
Me too!
308
Gia
0
5
Jack Spencer
March 21, 2016 1:41 PM
Thinking too much - friends? by Jack Spencer
This year had been entertaining, to say the least. His coursework had been more engaging and challenging this year, and he was looking forward to moving up to the Intermediate level. It was really unfortunate that students weren’t allowed to perform magic off of school grounds. He’d particularly enjoyed attempting to fool his classmates in DADA, but Jemima had caught on quicker than he’d liked. Obviously it would’ve been impossible to fool the girl herself when he didn’t know her nearly as well as her friends. The lack of Quidditch, however, had been disappointing, but the challenges had proved to be exciting in their own way. But he had to accept that his team didn’t have a chance to win the top four spots. Last he’d checked, his room-mate’s team was in the top spot and Jack didn’t think that would change drastically. He wished he’d been placed with a team leader other than his cousin, but it was over now, thank Merlin.The bonfire itself was a bit dull, but there was loads to eat. For the past year or so Jack had been eating voraciously, attempting to fill his insatiable stomach. He was extremely thankful that his vacillating vocal chords had finally decided which tone to stick to for the most part. There were times when his voice cracked without warning, but he wasn’t afraid to speak up like before. His voice was lower than Adam’s now, but Charlotte called it soothing and smooth. At least Jack had his sister’s approval if no one else’s. He was fourteen now and about 1.69 meters tall; he’d shot up like a weed in a short amount of time this year, but Jack was hoping to be at least as tall as his brother. All of these physical changes had at first been terrifying and awful, but now he was eager to be a real wizard, not a ‘young lad’ that people underestimated or ignored. Not to mention facial hair made one look quite dashing.
The roaring bonfire was nice and all, but Jack was more interested in knowing who’d won. He knew it wasn’t going to be his team, but it would be all right if it was a friend who won instead. As the Headmaster announced the winner, Jack cheered on his room-mate. He was only a little bitter that Barnaby had won instead of him, but not enough to hold a grudge against the wizard. If there had been any hard feelings, they were soon forgotten as the Headmaster let them off to roam and sort themselves into tents. What sort of strange school was this that didn’t assign students to tents according to their gender or age?
Jack picked up a yearbook but kept his eyes on the chart, searching for his team. They hadn’t done abhorrently; eleventh place was better than fifteenth, but not by much. He’d find his room-mate later and congratulate him, and he half-hoped Barnaby was hoping to share a tent with him, being room-mates and all. Jack approached one of the bland-looking tents, expecting something much grander inside. He and the wizards in his family had gone camping once during the World Cup, and Jack still remembered the rush of it: sleeping in rooms surrounded by tarp instead of walls, cooking breakfast on their own and sharing it with other campers, cheering on the players when they finally entered the stadium and sat in their amazing seats. That was the first time Jack had watched a Quidditch match up close, at seven-years-old, and from then on he’d decided to be the best player he could possibly be.
But the memories faded back to his current situation now. A tent was a tent and he wasn’t at the World Cup, he was at school. He saw someone approaching the same tent as he was and Jack smiled at them. It would be a lovely opportunity to make new friends. “Do you mind if we share?” he asked politely.
40
Jack Spencer
Thinking too much - friends?
299
Jack Spencer
0
5
Sammy Meeks
March 21, 2016 3:12 PM
*with horrible accent* 'Ello, what's all this then? by Sammy Meeks
Sammy was super pumped for the bonfire. Admittedly, she was super pumped for most things in life, but this was totally different. She was really excited not only for the actual evening but the night that followed. Sammy loved camping, so a tent was a perfect place for her. And while she roomed with Gia everyday at school, an excitement which never got old, for this, she would get to room with all her lady buds. Spending the night with Gia, Laila, and Wu (assuming they were all good to go) was going to be amazing!She didn’t find anybody right away, so she went about solo, listening to the awards and picking up a yearbook. She was eager to see what her friends had won, and maybe she was also a little bit interested into her own, too. Just a little. Okay, maybe a lot. Sammy was just about to crack open that nice new binding when she happened to glance up and see a sight that interested her: Gia and Chuck, seemingly deep in some conversation.
Sammy beamed. And with her yearbook tucked under her arm, she sprinted over to join them. They were all Pecaris, which was fun, but she didn’t think they really talked very much. Chuck didn’t really pal around with them much, but she’d had a great few conversations with him and thought he was pretty great. In fact, she was pretty sure he was the first person she ever met at Sonora. That alone made him really special and awesome.
“Hey!” She half-shouted, enthusiasm overwhelming her as often it did. “What are you guys talking about? Is something cool going on? Because if something cool is going on, I totally want in on it.” The grin she wore was even wider than usual; oh, how she loved to see her friends getting along!
12
Sammy Meeks
*with horrible accent* 'Ello, what's all this then?
310
Sammy Meeks
0
5
Nevaeh Reed
March 21, 2016 5:50 PM
Sitting by the fire. by Nevaeh Reed
The heat of the fire warmed Nevaeh’s skin, particularly heating the leg crossed on top of the other, unsheltered and exposed by her knee-length skirt. With her yearbook balanced on her lap, she slowly ran her dominant hand across the pages. Her copy was special, with raised letters she could feel. It was a bit sad not to see everyone’s surely wonderful pictures, but at least she could discern who won what. And, if nothing else, she would know how everyone’s names were spelled.Her other hand reached down, absentmindedly stroking Scout’s head. His fluffy presence, other than enabling her a more normal and independent life, was always such a comfort. And the first year needed a little bit of his comfort; she was growing more and more nervous as today progressed. While she was pretty excited to share a tent with Raine, she was a bit tentative about the others. Although if they were friends with Raine, she trusted Nat and Tess would be lovely people, but she had never had much of a conversation with either, so she was a bit nervous. She had never had any problems with her own roommates in Aladren, but the idea of starting over--even for a night--was a little unsettling. At least she had her service companion to keep her calm.
Nevaeh watched the swirling fire dance, her blindness not quite complete, leaving her enough vision to see the changing lights. The nature of fire mandated an ever-shifting glow, for which she was grateful. It was nice to see something that felt tangible in its temporariness as opposed to the constant blurs of solid light she typically saw.
She was typically quite good at detecting when someone was approaching, but this time she must have been too preoccupied, because the first indication that someone was coming was the voice that spoke to her. “Oh, hi,” she offered back nervously. “Sorry, I didn’t really catch what you said.”
12
Nevaeh Reed
Sitting by the fire.
325
Nevaeh Reed
0
5
Jax Donovan
March 21, 2016 7:52 PM
Is this over yet? (tag Peizhi, Laila, and anyone who dares) by Jax Donovan
Jax felt like mush. This morning had been absolute hell for him. It always was after a change. To make it worse, they had some bonfire event that night with the whole school. The end of the year Midsummer Finale event that they had every year. At least this one they didn’t actually have to do anything for it. Jax hated having to be part of things under forced manipulation. It was one thing for Gia to make him do things he wouldn’t otherwise do on his own, but it was just different when adults did it to them and made everything mandatory.He had wanted to stay in the infirmary and just sleep the day away. He wanted to forget the night before, forget the pain his body was feeling, just… forget. Tomorrow he would be on the wagon home and back with his mother. But he had to get through his last thing first. He couldn’t very well stay with the Medic. For one, she wasn’t a very nice person. Adequate at her job, but she had long since grown bored of Jax, making her very cold feeling to him. Maybe it was just her personality or his personality or whatever, but he never felt entirely too comfortable there to stay longer than the night. He didn’t really think anyone but the girls would notice his absence at the fire, possibly Barnaby too since he seemed to need to know where Jax was at all time, but he didn’t want to chance anyone asking about him.
Somehow, his team had made it and stayed in first place. They had won. He had been on the winning team with his sister a close second. They had gone up for their awards (Jax hadn’t really wanted to go up in front of everyone, but his sister pushed him) before returning to their previous spot. He wouldn’t say anything to the others because he wasn’t sure how well they did, but Jax was a little happy that his team had done well. He felt like he had done some good with these stupid challenges, even if he hadn’t really added much by way of creativity. But his spell work was decent, so he hoped that was at least a little helpful towards their win.
Just after the speech was over and they received their yearbooks, Gia declared that she was going to go look for everyone and left him alone. Jax did not have his own friends, so he wasn’t really sure what to do with himself. He was rather tired, which probably showed somewhat on his face, should anyone be close enough to see with the light from the fire. Taking the moment to himself, Jax flipped through the yearbook, frowning as he past his own picture, but enjoying some others. The awards typically amused him, but this year, his normal amusement died away when he reached the school wide section.
He was in the ‘Best Looking’ category. Was this a joke? Looking at the others, the majority had dark hair and light eyes, so maybe it was just people picked that combination at random? He hoped so. He didn’t want to be noticed at all. His frown only deepened, however, when he saw that he and Barnaby made worst enemies. Yes Barnaby was not his friend and his greatest worry, but he had thought that it had mostly been played down when they were with others. He must not have done a decent job of hiding his contempt for his roommate. And it only made it worse when he saw Barnaby’s face next to his sister’s under the ‘Best Couple’ category.
Jax snapped the book shut, he wanted to throw it away. He knew that Gia wasn’t dating Barnaby, but the entire school thought that they were and he could just picture that smug little face of his roommate thoroughly enjoying all of this. Not knowing what else to do, Jax shoved his yearbook into his book bag and forced his way through the crowd to the snack table so that he could have a glass of water. He was slurping down the water when he felt a tap on his arm. Jax lowered the cup just enough to give a side glare to whomever it was bothering him, “Yes?”
6
Jax Donovan
Is this over yet? (tag Peizhi, Laila, and anyone who dares)
296
Jax Donovan
0
5
Well, when life gives you magic and marshmallows... by Gabe
Gabe nodded his head in acknowledgement of his yearmate. Though he didn't know very much about Ben Pierce, if he was a Red Sox fan, then he was alright. The only fanbase that could possibly hate the Yankees as much as Mets fans were Sox fans. And of course, there was that one time before Gabe was born that the Mets and Red Sox had played each other in the World Series, and the Mets had won. So that was pretty cool. Being a true Teppenpaw, however, he resolved to keep any Buckner jokes to himself."Our pitchers are all aces," he said proudly, his older siblings were both pitchers, and he used to catch for them, so it was a point of particular pride, "It'd be great if our offense could catch up." Hard to win a Quidditch game if you didn't catch the Snitch - hard to win a baseball game if you didn't score any runs.
Dark eyes searched the tables for supplies. He wondered if wizards even knew about s'mores. During the summers in New York, all ten Valenti cousins, all the aunts and uncles and Nonno and Nonna, would go down to the beach for July 4th. They'd spend the day playing all sorts of games in the sand, and the nights all huddled around the fire. This year would be extra special, what with his cousin Sebastian returning from college, and Gabe from Sonora. And that fall, his cousin Ashley would start college, and Arianna would start Sonora. Everyone was spreading out. Half the family still didn't even know that there appeared to be magic in the Valenti lineage. But there was July 4th coming up, and Sunday dinners, and Alex's bar mitvah (Uncle Scott was Jewish). It was important to have traditions to bring people together. He was glad that the wizard world had that, too.
"Aha!" he exclaimed, finding what he needed and tossing a bag of large marshmallows towards Ben, apparently someone on staff was familiar with normal, non-magical traditions, "Looks like there are supplies down here."
Now all they needed was something to roast the marshmallows on. His alder wand was readily available, but given his experiences this year, that would only lead to exploding marshmallows and...
...Why was that a bad thing?
“Hey - what if I lived up to my title?” he asked, only half-joking, a mischievous glint in his eye, “What d’ya think about exploding marshmallows?” Maybe he couldn’t tell all his cousins, but his siblings would definitely be impressed if Gabe told them he had used magic to make the most epic s’more ever. A giant s'more would be an excellent way to top off his first year as a wizard. And it would be pretty cool if he could use his powers of explosion for good.
0
Gabe
Well, when life gives you magic and marshmallows...
330
Gabe
0
5
Laila Kennedy
March 22, 2016 2:37 AM
Not even a chance. by Laila Kennedy
Laila had been running a little bit late to the bonfire because she had lost half of her favourite pair of earrings and absolutely refused to leave Sonora without them. They were just a simple pair of small gold hoops, so tiny that when she had them in there was barely any space between her ear lobe and the bottom part of the hoop, but they had been a present from her Nonno and so she loved them. By the time she made her way down to the Quidditch Pitch with her sleeping roll, the majority of her classmates were already mingling—either eating food or chatting by the bonfire. She squinted her eyes against the blaze, searching for the tent where Gia had so kindly asked her along with Sammy and Peizhi.It was a fun little group, she had to admit. They were absolutely nothing like her friends back home, but she didn’t mind that. She felt as though she were leading two lives. In one she was the weird girl with equally strange friends, friends who had found each other despite everything and were managing to stay friends. In the other she was different too, but only because of boarding school. In that one she was watched but only because she was a Kennedy and that name held prestige amongst the townies.
She was constantly trying to draw parallels between her two lives. At home, she was the perfect daughter, the abiding Catholic, the model citizen, the perfect candidate for junior cheer camp. Here though she felt distant and unsure. Her friends were nice but they weren’t her very best friends, she didn’t think she’d ever tell Gia or Sammy of, heaven forbid, Jax about her seven minutes in heaven with Oscar Culie because even though they didn’t do anything (despite what they told their friends afterwards because while she’d been game, he’d been nervous and then terrified to lose face in front of the guys) she still didn’t think they’d understand.
But now she had another point of comparison. She’d been camping with her family before—everyone in Turner’s Point camped. It was the Northwest thing to do and everyone knew that when the Kennedys had their family reunions they all packed up and went off to the Olympic Peninsula for two weeks of family fun. But she had never been camping with friends before and had always envied Jillian Chong and Nancy Freedman for their joint-family camping trips. But, a few days ago Gabe (her Gabe, not her new muggleborn friend Gabe) had forwarded her a letter from Melanie Bitter inviting Laila to her thirteenth birthday at her family’s cabin on the Lake and now she was camping out on the school Quidditch Pitch with her friends and so since she was sure the activities would be different, it was one more thing to divide up and put in the two columns.
Laila smiled to herself slightly, despite the discomfort that began to creep into as she realized that comparing her friends was not a very nice thing to do, and continued to make the circle around the bonfire to locate her friends. She passed by the table of yearbooks and collected hers, thanking the person who handed it out to her, but didn’t open it yet, planning on looking over it with her friends since that always what the girls in high school movies did and she thought that looked a lot more fun than pouring over it with Gabe pestering her at every turn like she had done last year.
Before she located Gia and their tent though, she found Jax standing over by the snack table, drinking out of a cup. She made her way over to him, excited that she’d found at least one of her friends in the crowd and was just about to ask him where everyone else was when she realized that he looked rather moody, and she hesitated, her hand still outstretched. Maybe he wanted to be left alone. Gabe always did when he got stroppy. Not that Laila actually paid any mind to the wishes of her brother since what were siblings for if one couldn’t bother them now and again? But Jax wasn’t her brother, and even though he was in their group of friends, Laila wasn’t always sure how to interact with him.
The Lord seemed to have other ideas though, because a member of the jostling crowd, also presumably searching for their friends or a good place to sit pushed her slightly and she lost her balance, tipping forward ever so slightly. The movement didn’t cause her to completely fall—she wasn’t uncoordinated and had years enough experience of Gabe trying to push her over that she righted herself quickly, but not before realizing that in the process she’d used Jax’s arm to lightly push off and stay upright. His snappy ‘yes,’ indicated that she had been right earlier and that he didn’t want to be bothered, but now it was too late.
“Hi?” she said after a moment’s pause, her cheeks slightly pink and her brain at a loss as to what to say. She really hadn’t meant to bother him and now she had and…oops. “Um, just got here,” she said, holding up her sleeping roll, her hand disappearing in the thin, giant sweatshirt she was wearing, the baggy sleeves hanging loosely down. “And…yeah…so, could I bother you to pass me one of those?” She gestured with her head to the cups, while setting down the sleeping roll to prop up against the table slightly so that she had one free hand since the other was still clutching the yearbook. What was she doing? Hadn’t just moments before her instincts told her this was a bad idea? Stupid, stupid Laila, she thought to herself. But despite the angry look in Jax’s eyes, she couldn’t help herself. There was something exciting about doing what she wasn’t supposed to be.
10
Laila Kennedy
Not even a chance.
318
Laila Kennedy
0
5
Makenzie Newell
March 22, 2016 2:47 AM
Time with Miss Arbon by Makenzie Newell
Makenzie stared long and hard at her yearbook. Moments before, she had been carefully going over it, painstakingly checking each and every category. Much to her dismay, she was once again voted Class Lady, as well as the new award of Most Representative of House. Both of those were awards she had wanted for Araceli, who had won Most Serious and, even worse, Most Bashful. Makenzie wanted better for her, wanted her to win things that would be most helpful in demonstrating to Araceli and Delphine’s father that their daughter was flourishing. Even with Delphine’s work, the school still considered Araceli to be bashful. Apparently, their peers were very stuck on first impressions.She was glad to see Araceli’s face under Best Looking, an award that wasn’t altogether very helpful but was nice to see. Makenzie thought the lovely young blonde was definitively deserving, although selfishly she might have liked to see herself there as well. But it was not an issue for her, what she won in this yearbook, as evidenced by her own votes, having given Araceli everything and anything she felt would help her.
But it was at the Best Friends section that Makenzie stopped, paralyzed by the not-quite a surprise she found: Araceli and herself. Her initial reaction was not that--at first, she felt a brief thrill, flattered and happy to see that the bond she had with her best friend was recognized. But then she had a thought, and everything shut down. Araceli Arbon and Makenzie Newell were best friends. Weren’t they?
She thought a lot about Araceli, about where she was and when she would come back to Sonora. In fact, when she first discovered what had happened, she had wanted nothing more than to have her Araceli back. But she realized now that the real Araceli, the one she thought was hers, had only been here for a year. She’d spent three now with Delphine, and while maybe she wasn’t herself, that had to mean something, too, didn’t it? And now that she knew, she felt closer than ever with Delphine, and she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like when the inevitable switch back came.
Garnering all of her strength and forcing it into her fingertips, Makenzie shut her yearbook without looking any farther (although she would have to look eventually, if nothing else than to see if Araceli and Duncan had successfully gotten Best Couple). Her Araceli didn’t really exist, she was slowly realizing, and instead, she had two whole other people: the real Araceli, and the real Delphine, neither of whom she had spent much time with at all. All she knew for certain was that she loved both very dearly, and she wanted to keep both in her life. Every edition of Araceli and every person underneath her mask were Makenzie’s best friends, just in different ways. But she could only seem to have one at a time. When Araceli returned, would she ever see Delphine again? Would she ever speak to her? Surely there would be parties, but that wasn’t enough. The redhead desperately wanted to maintain these friendships. Both sisters were so very special.
In a way, she was currently with both: Araceli’s face and name, and Delphine’s spirit. Makenzie looked at the Arbon girl beside her, but she offered no comment, only a weak smile. Then she rested her head on Araceli’s shoulder, her pale fingers platonically finding her friend’s on the bench between them. For a moment, she only stared into the fire. Then she closed her eyes, enjoying Delphine’s presence. There was a question heavy on her heart, one that she supposed she would be asking annually: who would she see this summer?
12
Makenzie Newell
Time with Miss Arbon
291
Makenzie Newell
0
5
Kira Spaulding
March 22, 2016 3:48 PM
And three's a crowd. by Kira Spaulding
Kira was really glad that this year and the Challenges were over. Sure, she supposed it was better than a rumor spreading monster-and she still didn't know who had broken the Statute of Secrecy-but the whole thing had just enforced in the feeling that she didn't like to compete. Even though she had liked her teammates okay and they hadn't gotten last place, the fact that they really didn't do very well, did not help her self-esteem much.Maybe it would have been better had the one team they'd beaten was Kelsey's instead of Tristan's. That had been pretty much her goal for this whole thing and it hadn't happened. Instead she felt bad about herself, bad for her brother and inferior to Kelsey again. Great.
She took a yearbook, sat down and opened it up, scanning through the awards. There was one Kira cared about above all others and she quickly flipped to it. There she was, Best Spell Caster. A small smile graced her lips.
Then she spotted another picture in the category and grimaced. Kelsey had gotten Spell Caster too! Normally, Kira would have thought getting the same thing as her cousin was a good thing because it meant she was doing something right, but this was her special thing. Not that she felt at all that they needed to make a category that was just her but with her cousin, it was different.
Kira sighed to herself and scanned the rest of the yearbook. She looked at gentleman/lady increduously. She had gotten it but Kelsey hadn't? How was that possible?
Still, it didn't make the second year feel much better. Not when she considered the other girls in her class. Emmy Lou, Abby and Laila weren't from the kind of families that usually got that award-in fact, half the people in the category were related to Kira-and Ingrid Wolseithcrafte....was not very ladylike. And Peizhi was Chinese, so likely was not used to American standards of pureblood behavior. Kira thought the Teppenpaw was probably a lot less awkward in her own country that Kira was here.
And Most Likely To Cause An Explosion didn't thrill her either.
Kira closed her yearbook and sighed again. She knew she'd be sharing a tent with Caelia and Kelsey-whom had gotten Best Friends again, of course Caelia liked Kelsey better than her, most people did-but she really didn't want to go meet up with them. She wasn't all that enthused about sharing a tent with her cousin,even though she wanted to share with her friend.
She shifted in her spot and someone spoke next to her. Her face instantly flushed. "It's okay, I didn't realize you were there either." Kira replied. She noted then that Aiden looked as embarrassed as she felt and relaxed a little.
11
Kira Spaulding
And three's a crowd.
320
Kira Spaulding
0
5
Arne Reinhardt
March 23, 2016 8:22 AM
Boys will be boys. (tag: Louis Valois) by Arne Reinhardt
Liac and Tobi had both offered to let Arne sleep in their tent with them, but Arne really hadn’t been feeling it. Instead, opting to pick a tent at random and take his chances with whoever was already in there. As he approached the field, his sleeping roll casually slung over one shoulder, bending his fingers back in a not uncomfortable way, he scanned the area casually. He didn’t want a tent too close to the fire, but he didn’t want one that was completely isolated either. In the end, he chose one at random and tossed in his sleeping bag before meandering over to the crowd to listen to the Headmaster’s speech. Instead of paying attention fully—he didn’t really care since his team hadn’t really placed anywhere near the top and neither had Tobi or Liac’s, he scanned the crowd for Laila.He’d heard about Melanie Bitter’s birthday party and he needed to know if he could get an invitation because word on the street was that Melanie’s cousin, Regal, from Idaho was coming and if his sources were right, Regal had grown up in the past couple years. After the speech, he snagged his yearbook and a glass of pumpkin juice and went off to his tent to spread out his sleeper and then maybe head back to the bonfire to see if he could find his muggleborn and get around to setting up an “accidental” run-in with Regal.
Arne was just crushing the cup under his foot and getting ready to head back out when someone entered the tent. He looked up to see Louis Valois, the first person he had talked to at Sonora, his Quidditch rival of sorts since he was on the Aladren Quidditch team, and his fellow year mate. Not only that, but Louis was a member of the French Valois family who was known for their textiles and fashion while Arne was a German Reinhardt, a family equally as well known in Europe though for their metal charming and decorative bits.
“Valois,” Arne said, tonelessly with a nod of his head, adapting a neutral attitude towards the fashion heir, his typical attitude with the other boy. It was sort of his default setting, to be surly. He wasn’t unsociable by any means, and anyone who had talked to him for longer than a class period would have realized that underneath his gruff exterior Arne Reinhardt did in fact have a heart, but his aloof, care about nothing attitude was just pressed so forward that he hadn’t really made any fast friends at Sonora to actually realize this.
He ran a hand through his long (but still much shorter than Tobi’s) hair and left the can underneath his scuffed shoes. “How’s it going?” He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to be at the least civil if they were going to share a tent that night. It didn’t mean he had to like nor even enjoy the company of his frilly classmate, but he guessed there were a few things they could talk about…possibly… It was going to be a long bonfire.
10
Arne Reinhardt
Boys will be boys. (tag: Louis Valois)
319
Arne Reinhardt
0
5
Lena Westley
March 26, 2016 3:52 AM
Able to Smile Again by Lena Westley
Lena hadn’t the slightest interest in the challenge rankings, though she supposed she should have tried to at least appear as though she were paying attention to Headmaster Brockert’s speech. The light during dusk was enough for Lena to still see, but soon it would be too dark for her to move about in any sort of graceful way. She wasn’t opposed to not being the lady a pure-blooded witch was expected to be but her shins could do without the bruises that came with bumping into large logs and chairs when she was blind.By the time she had gotten through the line for the buffet and had acquired her yearbook the sun was completely gone, the largest source of light now being the campfire. She found a nice log to sit on- nice in the fact that it was illuminated enough so that she could see the whole thing- and made a bee line towards it, avoiding all dark areas lest they proved to be whole instead of shadow. She opened her book to the fifth year section, skipping all other grades, and flipped the page until she saw two smiling faces. It seemed bizarre that she could have smiled like that when she was so stressed. Now she was more at ease, the situation not having been resolved but circumvented well enough to make it seem as though things were back to normal somedays. She always remembered after a minute or two, but she now found herself often thinking of going up to Olivier like she used to and speaking with him how they always had. Though at first it almost seemed harder when the realization came that that wasn’t the reality of the situation, she had now gotten used to it and was even able to enjoy the imaginary moments shared with him.
Moving on, she flipped the page away from them and looked at the rest of their class. She lost interest in that quickly, looking at people’s faces when she could be looking at the real things themselves didn’t make sense. On to the clubs and awards she flipped and was startled to see her own image on so many pages. She knew to take it with a grain of salt as there was only one other girl in her grade level, but she was happy to see that she won “Best Flyer”, “Affinity for Creatures”, and “Bookworm.” Ones she hadn’t quite expected were “Most Likely to Brighten Your Day” and “Social butterfly.” She won “Most Bashful”, “Most Likely to Cause an Explosion” and “Most Likely to Get Lost in The Gardens”- all of which she was a very, very appropriate candidate for. She was bashful- though she liked to think this year she was less so and more of the “social butterfly” she had also been voted; She had caused many explosions, most likely to her mispronunciation of things; she had definitely gotten lost in the gardens more than once. So those didn’t exactly surprise her, though she also took no pride in having won them. There was one last category she won- “Most Likely to Cause Trouble”.
Lena burst out laughing. She couldn’t help but admit that though no one knew exactly what kind of trouble she wanted to get up to she indeed was becoming more and more the “troublemaker.” Olivier would definitely not approve but Chaslyn was definitely not deserving of the title, so she probably won it by default. Still, it was amusing how apt it actually was.
Speaking of Chaslyn, she should probably go find her. They weren’t close, but as the only two fifth year girls it made sense for them to share a tent. That was if she hadn’t already found friends to share with. Lena, seeing as all her friends were boys, would have a hard time finding tent mates if that was the case. As she stood up she spotted one such friend and approached him. “I suppose, but honestly it’s been a little awkward with Olivier at home when the vacations come around so. . . I guess I’m not as excited as I could be. But what about you? Do you have fun summer plans?” Lena didn’t usually volunteer much about her own life to anyone but Clark was just so. . . effervescent, that it was hard to keep a smile off her face now and let a little of her guard down. Still, Clark was great to hang around because he would do most of the heavy lifting conversation wise.
7
Lena Westley
Able to Smile Again
279
Lena Westley
0
5
Owen Brockert
March 26, 2016 3:25 PMOwen Brockert
AlumnusHouse: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 13
Birthday: March 14
Question (Tag Jemima) by Owen Brockert
Owen had been largely raised to be non-competitive. His parents-his mother in particular-had always taught him to be kind towards others, not to see them as people to beat. In fact, he was pretty sure that even if he didn't have asthma, his mother would have never let him play Quidditch because she was rather against any kind of pitting people against each other. Also, the violence.So he wasn't too disappointed about his team not being in the top five for the Challenges, choosing instead to be happy for Andrew, Lauren and the relatives he had on those teams, as well as Jemima's sister. He was, however, a bit surprised given that the only person on those teams he thought of as artistic was Arnold Manger whereas they had Jemima . He supposed, though, that Lauren did do crafting with her roommates and some of them were in Art Club. Still, Owen thought Jemima was better.
He made his way over to get his yearbook and check to see where exactly they had finished. Just because he wasn't competitive didn't mean he wasn't curious.
Sixth. Tied with Duncan's team and Angelique's. That wasn't too bad. Owen went off to find Jemima. Approaching her, he said. "Even though we only got sixth, you're still my favorite artist."
The Teppenpaw then opened his yearbook and looked over the awards. He noticed that he had gotten Friendliest, Most Creative and Most Likely to Brighten Someone's Day. Owen grinned. Those had been the exact awards he had wanted to get. And Jemima got two of the same ones!
Then he noticed the School Wide awards and his eyes grew big as saucers. He and Jemima got Best Couple! Owen turned bright red and looked up at Jemima."Ummm....so...uhhhh...." He stammered, not quite knowing what to say. Even though he was a writer, that didn't always mean he was eloquent in real life. The nice thing about writing was that he could always go back and re-write something so it sounded better. Real life didn't work the same way.
But this was something he wanted, more than anything. "Do you, uh-want to be a couple? I mean, with me." Owen looked down at his shoes, feeling anxious and hopeful all at the same time. He just hoped he'd be able to keep breathing all right.
11
Owen Brockert
Question (Tag Jemima)
300
Owen Brockert
0
5
Chuck Fintoc
March 27, 2016 11:15 AM
You don't miss a thing. by Chuck Fintoc
Chuck gave Gia a vaguely stern look but it was done in good spirit and he didn’t pass further remark, just hoping that Jax wouldn’t be too displeased by her initiative. The large redhead hadn’t had a great deal of contact with his reserved yearmate so wasn’t quite sure what to expect. However, a mixture of Gia’s persuasive smile and Chuck’s general friendly nature easily encouraged him to think positively of the Aladren.“Sure,” Chuck nodded as he took Gia’s proffered yearbook to sign. “I haven’t got mine yet,” he told her, “do you mind if I have a look at yours?” He would get his own later but right now he was quite happy talking to his housemate so it could wait. “I’d love to,” smiled Chuck, glad of the invitation to join the girls as he liked Sammy very much and thought getting to know Gia could also lead to a good friendship. “Who do you mean by others?” Not that he minded at all who else she was referring to (since they’d no doubt be nice people) but he was just curious to know as somehow it had escaped his attention that the two Pecari girls in his year had others in their main friendship group besides Jax Donovan.
Before he had chance for an immediate reply, however, an enthusiastic holler from none other than Sammy Meeks herself reached their ears and the owner of the voice quickly followed with her contagious energy.
“Gia’s setting her brother up with tentmates,” Chuck explained to Sammy. “Without his knowledge, of course,” he added with a wink in Gia’s direction to show that he found this rather more amusing than problematic.
8
Chuck Fintoc
You don't miss a thing.
309
Chuck Fintoc
0
5
Chaslyn Brockert
March 28, 2016 4:02 PM
Failure by Chaslyn Brockert
Chaslyn was truly afraid of going home this summer. She knew her team had not won the Challenges, that they hadn't done very well at all. Mother was going to have a fit, just as she had when Amity's team hadn't won. Not that she remembered what her sister's team had gotten, just that it hadn't been first and Mother had been angry. She remembered at the time tears dripping down her eyes and feeling the need to hide in her closet,knees drawn to her chest,rocking back and forth and she wasn't even the one in trouble. This time she would be.And it wasn't as if Mother wouldn't find out. She would ask and Chaslyn wouldn't be able to lie to her.
Not to mention CATS scores were coming out this summer. The fifth year felt sick to her stomach just thinking about it. That was a thing most parents cared about, not just Mother which meant obviously Mother cared even more. If hers weren't perfect, she was doomed. Not just all O's either, perfect scores. Chaslyn didn't doubt that Mother could and would use the Brockert name to find out precisely what she had gotten.
However, that was a moot point because the Crotalus didn't think she'd gotten all O's. Chaslyn hadn't even finished a few questions on the theoretical part because she had spent so much time on the earlier ones, making sure they were perfect. Plus, the entire time, she'd been a nervous wreck and that likely affected her practical score. She was sure she'd aced Potions and Transfiguration though, as the potion she'd made was the Draught of Peace, one that Chaslyn had had lots of practice on.
The top five teams were announced but it didn't really matter. She already knew that they'd lost. Chaslyn went to go get her yearbook and checked the final rankings. They had remained in twelveth place and she couldn't help but blame herself for not being able to climb at least one place. She was the one who knew how to sculpt, who'd had lessons in it. Not that it had ever been something she'd been especially gifted in or something she was passionate about, but the fact remained that she had failed herself, her team and Mother. Odds were that her teammates hated her now too if they hadn't in the first place.
She found a place off by herself to sit. Right now, Chaslyn just wanted to avoid almost everyone she normally felt comfortable with except possibly Tristan, whose team hers had beaten after all, but he was likely off with Nellie anyway and Liac whose team had beaten hers, but that was different, Liac was...special.
And that wasn't good either. Chaslyn really shouldn't be thinking of him as such, because he wasn't from the right sort of family, but the thing was, he was her friend, the one person she truly felt close to outside her family. The one person who made her feel...good. Like he liked her for herself and didn't make her feel she needed to be perfect all the time. Not that she didn't try to be anyway, as it was ingrained in her, but it wasn't Liac that made her feel as such.
As for everyone else, the twins in particular, she just didn't want to be around them and their likely buoyant celebratory moods.
She sighed, gazing out. Chaslyn didn't really think she should even be here right now. She felt like she should be doing something productive, not partying around a bonfire. After all, she didn't feel like celebrating and she didn't deserve to. Besides, she'd been raised to feel every moment she wasn't doing something worthwhile was a moment wasted.
11
Chaslyn Brockert
Failure
281
Chaslyn Brockert
0
5
That's too bad. by Jax
It was Laila. Jax relaxed a little. Laila was as chatty as Gia and Sammy tended to be, but she was a safer choice of someone to see than certain others. She was also a Muggleborn. He wasn’t sure if that made a difference or not. But he and Gia just seemed to make friends with them so easily. Peizhi was not Muggleborn, but she was also rather quiet and he was pretty sure she had reluctantly become a part of their ragtag team of misfits. They were all so very different, but some of them fit perfectly together. Like Gia, Sammy, and Laila. They were made to be friends.He was glad that it was Laila though, who caught him off guard and not Peizhi. He would have had to spend the rest of the bonfire making up his rude greeting to the shy second year. Her timidness unnerved him and he didn’t want her to be upset with him just because he had little social skill when it came to other people. His aggression was never meant to be directly related to the person he was interacting with (unless that person was Barnaby) but rather with the fact that he had to interact at all.
Jax picked up a cup of water and passed it to her when asked. He frowned at her. If she had only just gotten there that meant that she had missed the announcements regarding the team wins. That was a little disappointing. The only decent thing about this evening was knowing his year with the challenges had been successful. He had no desire to camp. The last time he had it had led to his father's death and Jax’s unfortunate circumstances with the full moon. He knew he would get no sleep tonight even though his was both physically and mentally exhausted from the change the night before. He would only think about his father and of the werewolf that had taken his life. He didn't care about who he shared a tent with or about enjoying the bonfire. He didn't think anyone would ever possibly understand the pain he endured everyday since that fateful night camping.
“Here.” Jax mumbled, grabbing her sleeping bag from the ground and plopping it on top of his own. It was the gentlemen thing to do or so his mother would have him believe. Jax looked around the campfire to see what everyone else was up to. His sister should have been back by now, but she was often easily distracted so he wouldn’t be surprised if she found someone and forgot to come back.
“Have you ever been camping before?” Jax asked to make conversation. He knew that there were some girls who had never gone. Gia had never really been camping. She and their mom did tent forts in the living room sometimes, but that was the extent of it. Plus, there were the Pureblood families who he figured would never be bothered by something so ‘low’ as camping. But he wasn’t sure how Muggleborns did things despite living in and out of their world for most of his life.
6
Jax
That's too bad.
296
Jax
0
5
Aiden
March 29, 2016 9:32 PM
I thought it was a party? by Aiden
Aiden was not sure who the girl was other than he was pretty sure she was somehow related to Savannah. Like his parents had advised him way back when, the Brockert lineage was vast and confusing and it was best to try not to actually work out how they were all interconnected. So far, Aiden only associated with Savannah and Scarlett (and now Chaslyn because of the challenges), he knew Owen from the house and from classes but he wasn’t like friends with him just as he knew Oliver but definitely wasn’t friends with him either. It was still strange to Aiden that there could be so many of one family at this school. Didn’t their families want other connections too? Aiden didn’t quite understand, but he was not from an overly large family, so he had little understanding to how they all worked. He had cousins, but not many and they were spread out, most of them going overseas.He tried to recall which cousin or distant relative she was to Savannah, but he didn’t remember. That meant he had never been in a class with her, so that made her a beginner. He thought he saw her with Caelia and Kelsey sometimes. He knew them from class. He fought his brain for a name or anything that would help him with it, but he was never good at this sort of thing.
Deciding it best to just pretend like he knew anyway until it was clear what to do, Aiden noticed the yearbook in her hand. Oh yeah it dawned on him that he could just look for her face in the yearbook and get her name. He pulled open his yearbook again and flipped to the awards section (it would have been easier to go to the student section but he thought that would be too obvious). “Did you get any good awards?” Aiden asked to make conversation and to give a reason as to why he was looking at the yearbook with her right there.
He spotted her, Kira Spaulding, in one of the same categories as him. “Oh, you won Class Lady, that’s a pretty good one.” Aiden commented, giving her a grin since he had won the Gentlemen part and he thought that was pretty need. Merlin knew that it could have gone to any male in his class as far as he was concerned. He was glad his classmates thought so well of him even if he felt lonely around them. “I might be biased in that opinion though.” Aiden joked. “But you got Best Spell Caster and that’s pretty amazing!” Aiden exclaimed. “I will never win that category.” He admitted with honesty. “I’m terrible at that stuff.”
6
Aiden
I thought it was a party?
287
Aiden
0
5
Tobi Reinhardt
March 30, 2016 9:14 AM
I wouldn't say so. by Tobi Reinhardt
Tobi gave an uncharacteristic little smirk as he went through the yearbook. He supposed he was the most “bashful” in his class even though he didn’t consider himself “bashful” but rather more “conservative” of his words, but he could see why his classmates might think him bashful. What really amused him though, was Arne’s achievement in the same category. He wondered what his classmates would think of his little brother if they were to see him back home. The townies back in Turner’s Point would surely laugh their heads off at Arne Reinhardt being elected most bashful! Quiet and morose from time to time, sure, but bashful? No one who hung out with the Mills brothers could be considered bashful at all!Nevertheless, he tucked his yearbook under his arm and set off to find his cousin who had disappeared off somewhere, no doubt flirting with some unsuspecting witch since that seemed to be what Liac liked best aside from Quidditch and Tobi. As he made his way around the fire, he noted his other roommate (and, if he took time to think about it, his closest friend at Sonora aside from Liac) Aiden talking with one of the second year girls—a pairing he didn’t think he’d ever seen before, and saw that various others of his schoolmates were talking to people he hadn’t realized were their friends. Somewhere along the line, while he had been busy keeping to himself and his family, his schoolmates had grown closer. And he found that it strangely bothered him.
Tobi had never been a group activity sort of person—from a young age he had always ennjoyed his solitude, but now that he was growing older (indeed he was starting to gain on Liac in terms of height and his voice had dropped in only the way a nearly fifteen year old’s voice could) he realized that he kind of wanted the company of his classmates. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes lit on one particular shining head that always stood apart from the others, but he looked away quickly, a blush staining his perpetually tanned cheeks, in hopes that no one had noticed. That was another thing, along with his height, Tobi’s hormones had started up and he wasn’t quite sure he liked it.
Before, when he had first started to notice girls it had never been this much of a…problem, but now that he was noticing more than just their lovely soft, shiny hair, he was finding hormones to be somewhat of an inconvenience. He cleared his throat despite not really being in the mood to talk to anyone (when was he ever) as an attempt to distract his mind, but in doing so, he looked down and realized that he was standing rather close to someone and that perhaps they might think he was trying to talk to them.
Said person was sitting alone, a little bit away from the others (and it was for this reason that Tobi had chosen that particular spot to stand in, since he figured it would be easier to find Liac from there versus the large crowd). Said person also had blonde hair, was a witch, and one of his cousins’ best friends. It was odd to Tobi that he and Chaslyn Brockert had never really had a thorough conversation (to the best of his knowledge) when they were both so close to Liac. But then again he realized that Liac had always kept his relationship with the witches of the school separate from his relationship with Tobi ever since the Midsummer Ball incident after which Tobi had barely spoken to Liac for at least a month.
“Hey, Chaslyn,” Tobi started in his quiet, contemplative voice. “Mind if I sit down?” She looked a little upset and while Tobi didn’t think she would open up to him anytime soon since they were not any sort of friend, he thought she looked like she might need some company since she looked a little lonely.
10
Tobi Reinhardt
I wouldn't say so.
289
Tobi Reinhardt
0
5
Louis Valois
March 30, 2016 4:35 PM
And some of them more 'frilly' than others by Louis Valois
Camping. Now that was a rather exciting thought, at least to Louis. It hadn't really been anything he’d experienced as a child – the Valois idea of a holiday included luxury accommodation, and the thought of his mother roughing it in a tent brought a brief grin to his face.He listened to the headmaster’s announcement, pleased to hear his team had come second. And Emmy-Lou’s team had only come third, which was definitely something he would be reminding her of. He glanced round to see if he could see her in the large crowd of people, but with no success. Deciding to sort out sleeping arrangements before mingling, Louis walked over to the tents. Opening up the entrance to one of the nearest tents, he saw Arne Reinhardt inside. Hmm. Well, he mused, there were worse people to share a tent with. At least the two boys would have Quidditch in common.
“Arne,” he nodded in response, deciding to contrarily answer in a more friendly way. Entering the tent, he started to spread out his sleeping bag.
“Not bad, I guess,” he replied. “Camping seems like it might be fun.” He paused there, wondering why on earth he’d said that. Camping seemed to be a normal family activity here – Emmy had been teasing him about it earlier – and he didn't want Arne Reinhardt to think that Louis Valois was lacking in normal family activities. Even if that was the truth. “Um…Quidditch should be back on next year, shouldn't it?” he offered weakly, not really sure how to continue the conversation.
Sticking his head back out of the tent door, he was relieved to see Dustin Newell in the distance. Dustin was in both his year and house, and so Louis felt that he knew him well enough to call out and invite the other boy to share the tent. Hopefully the addition of another person would help this awkward attempt at conversation. With a slightly guilty expression, he suddenly turned back to Arne, realising that he’d gate-crashed the boy’s tent and then invited someone else to join them. “You don’t mind?” he asked.
9
Louis Valois
And some of them more 'frilly' than others
314
Louis Valois
0
5
John Umland
March 30, 2016 10:12 PMJohn Umland
AlumnusHouse: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright
Age in Post: 14
Birthday: September 23rd
Well, that went better than I expected. by John Umland
It was over. Finally, at long last, it was over. John made an effort to smile politely as his team was called to the front in honor of their third place finish (a finish which truly, he thought, spoke to the already-evident fact that students who were meant for greatness would inevitably be Sorted into either Aladren or Teppenpaw: they had flourished in spite of Park, and possibly just to spite Park), but he didn’t even feel so much proud as relieved. It was over and now they could get back to business as usual. He had so much work to do over the summer, and next year….If he was right about some of the conclusions he’d drawn since Clark’s geology study, next year was going to be awesome. There were going to be practical applications. First, though, there was going to be research, which was also awesome. First, though, there was tonight.
“It’s been a pleasure,” he assured the teammates he could stand who caught his eye, completely untruthfully. His favorite part of the whole thing had been the parts of the second challenge where he got to hex stuff out of his way, but he couldn’t see the point in being truthful right now. All it could do was cause trouble, which he’d had enough of in the past two years, and his reading made him think that the case for absolute honesty being required under The Rules might not be as clear-cut as his mother and Sunday School teachers had tried at times to tell him it was anyway. How to deal with that issue in the mess that was real life was one of the topics he had devoted considerable extracurricular time to developing arguments around.
The yearbook nominations were a subject he had put less thought into and did not take terribly seriously, but as he took a copy of the book, he remembered being glad that at least it no longer had the Most Likely To Be A Criminal category in it. He opened it, nodding absently as he saw himself and Clark together for Biggest Brain and raising an eyebrow, intrigued, at the sight of Savannah Brockert between them. He did consider Teppenpaw the other House it was a good thing to be in, but he hadn’t really expected to see Savannah under that category for some reason, though he couldn’t say who he’d thought would fit there and couldn’t even remember now who he’d nominated for it. He flipped though the next few pages without any great interest, then saw his own picture again, this time without Clark’s, and glanced up at the heading.
Most Likely To Cause Trouble.
“For goodness’ sake,” he muttered. He glanced toward the stage and wondered just how much trouble he’d get in if he jumped up there and yelled that he had, to put it in American terms, been a literal Boy Scout before he came here and probably would have continued along that life path if he hadn’t been a wizard. Were they all mind readers who knew said part of his pre-school lifestyle had been his mother's idea? Where did they get it from? He’d normally blame society, but they didn’t feel that way about Clark, whose background was even less magical and whose intelligence was quite possibly greater than his. The half-blood issue didn’t apply with his second specimen for comparison, but he also thought that Theodore was grumpier – or, more accurately, just less able to communicate with the average person; John generally found the sixth year’s company perfectly enjoyable, but he didn’t mind directness or see any point to wasting time on niceties with someone he already knew – than he was, too, and he hadn’t gotten it. Instead the sixth years thought Douglas was their class problem, which was honestly kind of funny to John’s way of thinking. The number of Crotali on that page was not going to do much for their House image.
He, Clark, Savannah, and Chaslyn all fit in well together under Most Involved and Class Bookworm, but he was surprised to have all different people with him for Best Spellcasting and grinned when he saw Joe down for the first years in that category. Part of that was no doubt favorable contrast with his classmates (apparently, they were a remarkably explosion-prone group; John would have fit in better with them in his first year than his more careful sibling did) but he was still proud of his brother for securing one of the awards that he thought would carry more than a bit of prestige with it. He went back to scowling, though, when he got to Most Ambitious. He didn’t contest his own nomination, but Oliver’s made him wonder again who came up with this stuff. Arrogant pretty boy, involved in nothing, right sort of last name...as far as John could tell, he had no use for ambition. The only thing he'd probably ever accomplish in life was reproducing, and his parents might even save him the effort of mate selection and participation in courtship rituals. Order was restored, though on the House Representative and Best Flyer awards, and he noted with some pleasure that Joe got the second one, too. So John had not just benefited himself when he’d used Joe for target practice this year. He flipped through the rest of the book without a lot of interest until he got to Worst Enemies. It initially only warranted a chuckle, but it turned into a grin when he saw Park’s face a second time on the page, this time beside a graphic for the dude’s own Quidditch team. Oh, Park was going to love reading that. John almost wished he could see the Pecari’s face when he saw that page, though not enough to go seek him out. Now that they were mercifully free of Team Three, he never planned to speak with Park again. It was, after all, perfectly possible to hit someone with a Bludger without talking to him. The literature even recommended the practice.
He tucked the book under his arm long enough to grab a hamburger, then promptly regretted joining the food group instead of slipping off to the tents to read now and coming back to scrounge something to eat later, when there wasn't a crowd with the same idea present. He hated this kind of event, really, where there was nothing to do or talk about; he liked having topics. When he was younger, he would have just started talking to the next person in line about how fire worked or something in an attempt to make a topic, but he had figured out over the years that this was not a normal social practice and would only rarely have good results. To his relief, he soon saw someone he knew in a range he thought it would be impolite not to acknowledge.
“Evening,” he said. He tried to think of anything at least moderately interesting and immediately obvious to discuss at the moment. Youth camp food wasn’t interesting, though he suspected the chemical composition of the juice-like concoction being served to wash it down with might be. “Happy with your awards?”
16
John Umland
Well, that went better than I expected.
285
John Umland
0
5
She's just nosy. by Gia
“You can look at it with me, if you’d like?” Gia offered. She hadn’t had a chance to look at the book either and it was something she thought would be fun to do with all her friends so that they could laugh at the awards that they had gotten (or console one another if it happened to be a terrible award that they were voted). “I was going to look at it when we found a place to settle in.”She grinned widely when Sammy joined in their foray. Sammy was going to be the next person that she was going to go look for after she had settled things with Chuck (and brought Chuck into the fold of the group), but Sammy beat her to the looking and greeted them with her usual enthusiasm. Sometimes Sammy phrased things in ways that Gia did not quite understand, but it never seemed to prevent them from having fun anyway. She supposed that's why they had become friends so easily. They didn't mind their differences. It was also probably why Jax didn't mind her so much either.
Gia gave an innocent shrug when Chuck admitted to Sammy what Gia had done behind her brother’s back. Jax would understand and probably appreciate her butting into his tent situation so that he didn’t end up having to share with Barnaby. As much as Gia was willing to give the other Aladren a chance, her brother was not. It was going to be a difficult night for her brother and she wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for him. If that meant recruiting Chuck to do so, well… the end result would be worth it.
Otherwise ignoring any chastising that may be coming her way from her friend, Gia returned to the conversation before the interruption, “Our other friends are Laila Kennedy and Peizhi Wu” Gia explained. She wasn't sure if he remembered them from last year classes or not. She liked them both very much. Peizhi was on the quieter side, but she didn’t seem to mind being around them too much and Jax seemed to want to keep an eye on her one way or another.
“When Chuck has finished signing my yearbook,would you like to sign it?” Gia asked her best friend. She didn't think Sammy would say no to it all things considered but it was polite to ask all the same. She was extremely excited to sit down and go over the yearbook with everyone. It was always so fun to see how people perceived her even if it a little bit scary too. Like what if they all thought she or her brother were terrible people? What if they were mean about her friends? None of the categories were outwardly mean, but someone could take them in a negative way.
“How did your team end up doing overall?” Gia asked. She didn't want to upset anyone with her own 2nd place winning but since the challenges were such a big part of the year, it was only natural to discuss them. She looked around to try to see where everyone else was, but with the crowds of people and her short stature, it was much harder for her to really see much of anything. “Are you happy that it’s all over or were you enjoying them?” Most people, she thought, were happy that it was all over, but Gia was enjoying the different structure and she was able to get to know more people, like Scarlett, which was nice.
6
Gia
She's just nosy.
308
Gia
0
5
Barnaby Pye
April 04, 2016 8:45 AM
Being OOC by the fire. by Barnaby Pye
It was the last night of school and in the morning Barnaby would be headed back to England. He felt somewhat ill at ease about this since he felt like he hadn’t really accomplished anything that school year. Alfie had been keeping to himself and they’d not really had any awkward run-ins and besides a typically Dempsey sort of surliness, the first year son of the Pye’s American sometimes ally, sometimes nemesis had not been much of a trouble. Nevertheless, he was still looking forward to going home since home meant his tutor and his books and Tarquin.Barnaby’s best friend had written to him in over a month and Barnaby was starting to worry that he’d done something wrong. It didn’t make any sense to worry, he knew, but he worried nonetheless. Additionally, because of the lack of communication between his friend and himself, Barnaby had needed to ration out his special medicated tea—the one that got rid of those horrid migraines that he got from time to time. The tea really seemed to be the only that worked however he had been making it weaker—saving and reusing the leaves more often than he normally would do. As a result he now constantly had a dull headache which seemed to make everything that everybody else did twice as irritating.
Thankfully his lupin roommate had been locked up in the hospital wing the night previous or he was certain the two of them would have gotten in an argument. Jax was the one person who Barnaby loved best to pick fights with since the werewolf was so easy to ramp up, but he really wasn’t in the mood to pick a fight—for what seemed like the first time since he first butt heads with the Greek. Instead, his eyes scanned the crowd for a place he could sit alone and tune everyone out. His sharp eyes spotted the one person who, for some reason, had always escaped riling him up and he sat down next to her, glad she couldn’t see his hunched shoulders and the way he let his head fall into his hands to cradle it away from the noise and the light of the bonfire, his elbows resting on his bent knees. “It’s a good spot to get away,” he muttered, repeating himself when she asked him to clarify.
Nevaeh Reed was exactly the sort of person who would normally irritate him. Weak and helpless. But she was a decent enough conversation partner and for some reason he just hadn’t been able to shake her since their first talk back at the Orientation Feast.
10
Barnaby Pye
Being OOC by the fire.
298
Barnaby Pye
0
5
Liliana Bannister
April 04, 2016 11:52 AM
Furious (tag: at the very least Joella) by Liliana Bannister
Liliana was expecting the evening to go fairly well. She and Joella were to share a tent and perhaps Serena would join them. Additionally, she was to leave for the South of France in two days time and she’d heard from Isaac that Joseph was planning on asking Portia if she wouldn’t like to join them. Her spirits were raised even further when her team placed in the top five challenge teams. Fifth was not first, to be sure, but it was still better than twelfth which was where Theodore had placed and in the end she was extremely satisfied to have at least beaten him.The yearbook was another source of joy and she happily accepted it, looking forward to flipping through the pages with her loyal assistant captain. For the most part the awards amused her and she was satisfied with those she had received, but when her eyes fell on the award for worst enemies, her blood boiled over. She didn’t even understand why this was an award when the whole fuss about the challenges had been bringing the school together and the “Worst Enemies” award seemed to undo all of that work. But that wasn’t why she was angry. It was the pairing of one Pecari Seeker against the rest of the team that had her in a fit.
“Who thought this would be a good idea?” she demanded of Joella, her finger turning white from being pressed so strongly against the paper. “Do they have any idea how much work this is going to cause me? Team unity, team trust will be broken now! I’ll be lucky if Par-Jamie listens to me ever again!” She blushed, realising how her use of her Seeker’s surname instead of the nickname he preferred might have contributed to the award. She would start fixing this by using Par-Jamie’s real name. She would just have to. “This is some dirty Aladren tactic to throw us off our game for the next year, I’m sure of it! They’re frightened to not have enough players for a team! Well, we’ll show them!”
Liliana slammed her yearbook down beside her and made as if to get off the ground where she was currently sitting, cross-legged. She had been so determined to enjoy the bonfire but now the night seemed ruined. She felt as though she needed to call a team meeting, to do some ridiculous bonding exercise like the sort Teppenpaws might do. Wait a moment… She paused in her movement and frowned to herself. That actually wouldn’t be that bad of an idea and now she knew how she would hold tryouts for the next year. The entire team would be returning, she was sure of it (though she hoped Pa-Jamie wouldn’t leave the team because of that award), and that meant she could conduct tryouts in a slightly different way that usual.
“Joella,” she began with a smile. “I have the best idea for what to do during the first year’s orientation next year and we’re going to spend all summer planning it!”
10
Liliana Bannister
Furious (tag: at the very least Joella)
274
Liliana Bannister
0
5
Answer by Jemima
Jemima wasn’t usually a competitive person but she had been really proud of what her team had done in the final challenge. It had been one that played to their strengths, and she really longed to be recognised as one of the better artists in the school because that was something that mattered a lot to her. She clapped for the other teams, waiting to hear if they would be called. But they weren’t. She went to check the rankings, a little annoyed at herself for caring so much. Sixth. They hadn’t gone up or down. She guessed that was ok… It definitely didn’t mean she was bad at art but she thought she was better than some of the people who’d kept their top spots. Perhaps she was. The points themselves weren’t posted. It could have been a really big gap, and the staff might have loved her team’s sculpture but it still not have been quite enough to move them up. And this mattered more to Ingrid. The winning kind of stuff…. She watched her sister twirling her award and swallowed her pride. Ingrid’s team had just scraped a prize. If her own had done any better, she would have beaten her, and that wouldn’t have felt good either.She picked up a yearbook, meeting up with Owen as she did so, and beaming at his compliment.
“You always know just the right thing to say,” she grinned, giving him a hug, “And I know there wasn’t a writing competition, but you’re still my favourite one of those.”
She made up a plate of their favourite foods whilst Owen flipped through the yearbook, setting the plate down between them, with two forks sticking out of the baked potato, which she had topped with some great looking chilli and lots of cheese.
Owen seemed a little surprised about something in the yearbook, and she leant in to see. They’d got couple! How cute! She had been wondering this year whether they were a couple or not. They’d said they’d get married when they grew up and she did things with Owen, like squeeze his hands when she thought he was worried, that she wouldn’t really do with other boys, and she wasn’t sure whether it was just because he was her best boy-friend or whether it made him her boyfriend
“Of course I do!” she smiled when Owen asked her out. She pondered for a moment, thinking about the hand squeezes and the plate of joint food on the ground between them, wondering whether this actually changed anything except what they called each other. She guessed they could hold hands and kiss now. Carefully leaning over so as not to get chilli on her dress, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
13
Jemima
Answer
304
Jemima
0
5
Hurrah! by Ingrid
Ingrid smiled as Emmy-Lou chatted enthusiastically about the awards and the campfire, trying not to feel annoyed about the other girl placing higher than her. Emmy-Lou didn’t seem to be rubbing it in her face, just commenting, just… happy about it, which definitely helped. Ingrid didn’t like coming places other than first but she’d learnt to be graceful about it over the years at Quidditch camp, so long as the other person wasn’t a gloater.
“Nice job,” she smiled, nodding at Emmy-Lou’s award. “The challenge things were pretty fun, overall, right?”
The other girl cut pretty quickly to the chase about tent-sharing too.
“Sure,” Ingrid grinned. Even though she’d been considering feeling out the situation a bit before asking, she wasn’t going to mess someone around if they asked her directly. Plus being direct probably meant that Emmy-Lou was her kind of person, along with the fact that she was enthusing about camping out instead of saying it was gross or dirty or something.
“Who else were you thinking of asking? I don’t really feel like I know anyone in our year super well - I guess cos I spend a lot of time with the Quidditch team - so I’m pretty much open.
“Have you gone camping before?” she asked
13
Ingrid
Hurrah!
322
Ingrid
0
5
Tristan Spaulding
April 11, 2016 10:50 PM
Finishing up some business before I go (Nellie) by Tristan Spaulding
Once the Challenge winners-himself obviously not among them-were announced, Tristan made his way over to the full list, in hopes that they'd at least gone up one spot. Unfortunately, no such luck. They had gotten last place.This was not okay with him, he'd never gotten last in anything. Spauldings were not losers. He was not a loser.
And to lose to some of these people was downright embarrasing. His little sister. The twins. Teams that were led by nobodies. That cretin Jamie Park. Worst of all, his roommate . Leo, who happened to be the most useless spoiled brat he'd ever met. Okay, yes people probably considered Tristan spoiled too, but he wasn't useless. Honestly, aside from Carrie, he'd never met anyone with such a high of an opinion of themselves for as little reason as Leo did. He could only figure that what little success that team had had was due to Oliver Ferguson, who was unpleasant, but had always struck him as pretty smart, in sort of an evil sneaky underhanded way. The sort who would resort to dirty tricks. Plus, Leo's cousin Jack had to be a pretty good flyer. Just because someone was a worthless waste of space and oxygen, didn't mean every relative of theirs was. He spoke from personal experience.
Still, he was not about to show his disappointment. Although Tristan wasn't accustomed to losing, he had to maintain composure at all costs because showing emotion over something like this where people could see would reflect poorly on him and his family. Besides, showing emotion was for girls and he had to be a man, he was fully grown about to graduate from school. Certainly, Tristan was not about to act like a two year old here in front of the entire student body, even though he wouldn't ever see a good portion of them ever again. Being a gracious winner and loser had been instilled into him, even though he had much more experience with the former.
Besides, as important as winning a competition-any competition-was to him, there were more important things in life. After all his cousin Ryan had gotten second when it had been his turn and while it made Ryan feel good-something the Crotalus alum needed and deserved-it hadn't really overall changed his life. Ryan still would have married Sophie and had their twins. And Tristan did not think-had to not think-it would make a difference in Savannah and Scarlett's chances at betrothals either no matter how good they felt right now. Besides, they wouldn't have done nearly so well in the second challenge if Scarlett hadn't gone over his head and asked his mom for his old brooms. Even though they had the two oldest ones, they were still pretty good brooms, better than anything that they would have borrowed from the school.
And that important thing, that thing that would make him brush aside his loss and not focus on it, was one Miss Eleanor Vandenberg. They would be graduating and leaving Sonora, and before they did, Tristan wanted to make it all a sure thing.
He approached his beautiful housemate, his usual confident smile on his face. No matter what the challenge results had been, he knew he had a lot to offer a woman. "Hello." Tristan greeted Nellie. He pulled out a box from one of the finest jewelers in Denver, that contained an exquisite diamond bracelet. "This is for you."
The seventh year continued. "So, I've been thinking, we'll be leaving here soon and I'd like to continue seeing you-and seriously seeing you. Something official or at least going in that direction."
11
Tristan Spaulding
Finishing up some business before I go (Nellie)
264
Tristan Spaulding
0
5
Eleanor Vandenberg
April 13, 2016 10:40 PM
Took you long enough by Eleanor Vandenberg
Eleanor was pretty ready to be done with Sonora. She was tired of being here and the boys here really weren't that great. It was such a small pool and she couldn't wait to get into the bigger world. She had been accepted to three out of the six universities she had applied to, and she had decided to attend a school in New Zealand. There was nothing really keeping her in England, and America wasn't a great place to be. It would be great to start a new life in New Zealand and make new friends.The whole thing with the challenges had been a joke. By some miracle her team placed sixth; she had managed to beat both Leo and Tristan, but she wouldn't rub it in their faces. She knew they were pretty proud boys, and it wasn't like she was on speaking terms with Leo anyway. Not speaking to Leo made her a little sad. They had grown up together and it was really too bad that their friendship, or whatever kind of parasitic relationship they had, was ending the way it was. But it was for the best. Eleanor knew she would just grit her teeth and bare it no matter how she felt about the whole situation; her pride wouldn't let her budge any other way.
The best part of the end of the year was the yearbook. Before the Headmaster started speaking, she managed to nick one off the pile and sat on a blanket she had brought with her to look through it while he blabbed on with formalities.
Her picture looked pretty darn good this year, but it looked good every year. Eleanor smiled to herself and continued to flip until she reached the yearbook awards. Though she had only won four of them, she was pleased with the awards she'd received. One of them had been with Tristan who seemed to be giving her the runaround with their relationship. That was another thing with young boys, they didn't seem to commit to anything. Nellie sighed. She was seriously looking forward to meeting boys in college if Tristan didn't end up delivering.
She went to the snack table and took back some tasty pastries to enjoy on her blanket. Before she could bite into any of them, however, Tristan approached her unexpectedly. Well, only kind of unexpectedly. Nellie could read people well enough that she could tell he kind of liked her. Though Nellie was a romantic deep inside, she liked Tristan's confidence in himself. She had a tendency to step all over boys who seemed wishy-washy or unsure of themselves, and it was especially frustrating to deal with boys who didn't know what they wanted.
What she hadn't expected, however, was the gift, and when she opened it her hazel eyes went wide with glee. He knew the straight route to her heart. Quickly gathering herself after her initial shock and surprise, she smiled at him. "Thank you." She put it on her wrist and held it out for him to clasp for her. "If you would." It was really hard to keep her smile demure and proper.
His words were less impressive on Eleanor, though his gift made up for it tenfold. "And by something 'official' and 'serious,' what do you mean?" she asked coyly, wanting him to say it. She hoped he would say what she wanted him to say. If he didn't, well, she would be moving to New Zealand in a few months.
19
Eleanor Vandenberg
Took you long enough
266
Eleanor Vandenberg
0
5
Joella Curtis
April 14, 2016 3:22 PM
As any good Captain would be. by Joella Curtis
The challenges had been fun but Joella was oddly unbothered when the final results were announced and her team wasn’t placed. She was still a little disappointed but for a usually competitive girl, she was surprised by her lack of concern. That wasn’t to say she hadn’t tried in the first place, however, as she’d been sure to participate to best of her ability in the challenges - the second one being the only one she probably provided particularly useful input. Unfortunately it clearly hadn’t much of an effect as Team Four had ended up very low on the rankings. Joella was rather more miffed upon realization that they hadn’t just not been placed but they’d also very nearly come last, but there was no point dwelling on it too much. She just hoped her teammates wouldn’t be too upset by their unsuccessful positioning.Joella eagerly picked up a yearbook when Headmaster Brockert had finished speaking, something that she always looked forward to at the end of term. She was keen to see where she was placed in the awards section this year, particularly as some of the categories were new, and also to look for her friends and see which of her votes had counted.
She’d been awarded Social Butterfly which she hadn’t expected, although she wasn’t surprised either since it was the closest to Most Talkative which was an old category she had won in the past. Friendliest Classmate made her just as happy as the former. She was very much a people-person and she was glad that her classmates appreciated her chattiness as friendly.
The Pecari didn’t feel all that friendly, however, when she suddenly realized she’d missed the Most Quidditch Obsessed category as she had just been skimming through and stopping only when she saw her face under an award and so she flicked back to find it. She felt very indignant when she saw that Uzume Shinohara had swiped her award. Joella always won that! Only now she apparently didn’t and it certainly irked her. She was obsessed with Quidditch! It was literally her life. She wasn’t even convinced that Uzume cared a great deal about the sport, despite having played Seeker on the Teppalus team for the past few years. But Joella was an Assistant Quidditch Captain - as if that didn’t say enough. The fourth year knew it wasn’t really Uzume’s fault but she couldn’t help feeling slightly resentful of her Japanese classmate because of it. Last term it had been Scarlett’s well-deserved Class Clown title that Uzume had stolen and now it was Joella’s default Most Quidditch Obsessed title - something fishy was going on, she was sure of it.
Joella was glad that she had won Most Affinity For Creatures, reassured a little that her classmates did sometimes pay attention to her when she spouted about her interests. Her final award put a smile back on her face as she saw her name under Best Flyer which she thought was just as good as her making a rude gesture in Uzume Shinohara’s direction (which she was quite tempted to do if she saw her yearmate), if not better. Even if the rest of the fourth years failed to realize that Joella’s love for Quidditch was greater than Uzume’s, at least they recognized that she was way better at it.
As she turned onto the page for ‘Worst Enemies’, something caught her eye and she was instantly drawn to the space where the Pecari Quidditch team was written… against Jamie Park? Joella chuckled slightly, surprised that enough people would have thought of making such a vote that it actually ended up in the yearbook. Although she hadn’t been one of those people, she did not like the Pecari Seeker at all. She didn’t understand how the team could go from someone as great as Annabelle Pierce to this awful, cocky Jamie Park boy. Perhaps when he saw this he might reconsider the way he acted and try and make an effort to be a teamplayer and a generally likeable person, or he may just quit the team which wouldn’t be a bad thing (unless Pecari couldn’t find a replacement Seeker which would make things rather difficult).
Before she had chance to look back through the yearbook at her friends’ awards, an angry Quidditch Captain appeared, a forceful finger stabbing the section of her own yearbook which Joella had just been looking at with amusement. Liliana’s reaction was certainly very different from hers and she stared at the older girl for a moment, trying to gauge the reason she was so against it. Joella had always thought Liliana shared her opinion of Jamie Park, if not disliking him even more. She then realised that behind the Pecari Captain’s heated words there was actually a good deal of reason. The moment Liliana suggested that it be a “dirty Aladren tactic” she was horrified that she had found it funny. Jamie was part of the team whether she liked it or not and if they didn’t have any sense of team unity, it would be so much easier for Aladren to thrash them next term.
“You really think the Aladrens would stoop to this?” Joella was rather disgusted by such a thought but she didn’t put it past them. She was very often ready to think the worst of the Aladren Quidditch team but perhaps she took the sporting rivalry a little to the extreme sometimes.
As Liliana sat down she seemed to cheer up a bit and she even smiled. Joella looked at her suspiciously, the sudden change in mood a telltale sign that the sixth year was planning something even before she explicitly said that she was. “What is it?” Joella was fairly sure it had something to do with Quidditch considered what they had just been talking about but she couldn’t tell what exactly Liliana was formulating.
8
Joella Curtis
As any good Captain would be.
295
Joella Curtis
0
5
Owen
April 18, 2016 2:33 AM
Yay! by Owen
Owen grinned as Jemima hugged him and he hugged back tightly. After writing, giving good hugs was the third year's greatest talent and of course, Jemima was someone he especially loved hugging. "Thanks." He beamed. " I mean, for your compliment."Being thought a good writer was something that meant a lot to him. Of course, it meant more coming from Jemima than anyone, but apparently, other people knew too. Back in early February, Araceli Arbon-someone Owen had never even spoken to but knew to be friends with Duncan-had actually commissioned him to write a specific story for Duncan's birthday. Of course, it seemed to have a very distinct outline, rather than it being something he'd created all on his own but it meant a lot to know that he had a reputation around Sonora as a really good writer. Plus, he really liked helping people too so he'd been thrilled to write the story for Araceli. He'd even slipped into Duncan's room himself as requested. She'd made it clear that she didn't want Duncan to know it was from her so Owen had complied, even though he hadn't understood why she wanted it that way.
Admittedly, there had been a small hole in the story too. How had the older sister in Araceli's story known who the younger one's true love would be? And wouldn't the prince have known the difference? Of course, Owen supposed, the older one could have known what kind of guy would be good for her sister and what she would have liked. He'd gone with that. And even though Araceli had not specified it, the Teppenpaw had written in a nice ending for the older sister too where she also, because of all the good she had done for her younger sister, found her own true love in the end and all four of them ended up living happily ever after.
He'd also wondered if Duncan would know he had written it based on the fact that Owen didn't know of anyone else who had a reputation as a good writer and obviously his own was enough that Araceli knew it. And if she did, certainly Duncan, someone he kind of looked up to and hung around at times, did.
But Duncan had never said anything to him and Owen went back to concentrating on Jemima and his other stories and Jemima and the Challenges and Jemima and schoolwork and Jemima.
And right now, Jemima was who was his main focus, this was a very big moment. He sat there waiting for her to respond to his question. It really only took a few seconds, but to Owen it was like the biggest moment of his life so far, so it felt like eternity.
“Of course I do!”
And then she kissed him on the cheek and while Owen was struck speechless, his face expressed the purest happiness he'd ever felt in his life.
11
Owen
Yay!
300
Owen
0
5