Bella Santoro
May 23, 2006 12:11 AM
Daily Diary Entries by Bella Santoro
Considering it was such a nice day out and Bella was having a great week, she decided to spend most of the afternoon outdoors by the fountain that sat in the center of the maze. She had had to stay indoors most of the previous year because of the weather issue the school had been having. So this year, Bella had taken it upon herself to explore as much as she could before anything more happened that forced her to stay inside like a prisoner.Her black hair was pulled back into a high ponytail to keep it out of her face. She wore a plain t-shirt and a pair of shorts that went along with the sandles she wore on her feet. She was sitting comfortably on the fountain wall, her feet curled beneath her. She was hunched over something in her lap and if anyone were to draw near enough they would have realized it was a book. Her diary to be more precise.
Yes, twelve year old Bella Santoro had a diary. A diary in which she entered her day to day life on a regular basis. It was what kept her sane in mind considering the usual chaos that came with being a teenager growing up in a house with way too many children. This week Bella had a lot to say. First about winning against Jake (though the dork didn't seem all that upset by it and that angered Bella) and then about all the observations she had made. Plus, she was fond of some of the boys, but that was something she was going to keep to herself.
Bella was so involved with filling out the pages of her diary that she hadn't been able to hear the sound of approaching footsteps. She wasn't even aware of another person being near her until their shadow fell acrossed her book. She looked up rather surprised and slammed her book shut out of habit. "Yes?"\n\n
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Bella Santoro
Daily Diary Entries
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Bella Santoro
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Anne Wright
May 25, 2006 2:59 PM
Just passing through... by Anne Wright
Anne didn't go out into the gardens very often. In her first year, doing so had been dangerous as often as not because there was no telling whether one would get caught in a flood or die of a heat stroke, and there was that she didn't like mazes. She'd never gotten the hang of the paper ones Geoffrey did so easily, and couldn't help but think that her luck in finding her way out of a physical maze she got lost in would be no easier than tracing her pencil tip through an ink one. Harder, probably, since it was all too easy to imagine getting lost out here forever and never being found. Add in that she was determined not to let Geoff get up-one on her in the Potions finals, and Anne much preferred to spend her free time in the library.Today, though, she was out in the maze, taking her chances on it. A bit of the recklessness-inducing euphoria of winning the Quidditch match was still lingering, and it caused her to figure that if she did get lost, they'd have to send a search party eventually. The almost giddy feeling arising from her excursion was similar to that of breaking a rule and not getting caught, but without as much nervousness. After all, just because no one caught on to the rule-breaking today didn't mean they wouldn't catch on tomorrow. This, however, was perfectly legit. Sonora hadn't provided her with a Student Handbook to memorize, but coming out into the Labyrinth for a walk wasn't in violation of any spoken or understood rules.
She kept going in as straight of a line as possible, hoping it would prove conductive to finding her way back safely, and eventually found her way to the heart of the maze. She was able to identify it only because of the fountain, supposedly the largest one in the entire maze, that she had seen on a map of the school her Uncle Julian had acquired somewhere and hung in the spare room connected to his laboratory; she had a suspicion that he might have drawn it. She had already gotten a good way into the space when she noticed Bella Santoro sitting there, hunched over something Anne thought might have been a book.
Awkwardness. She didn't know what to do. She and Bella shared a dorm. She didn't have anything against Bella, and she didn't think Bella had anything against her, but...it wasn't like she and Bella were close enough for her to feel comfortable irritating the other girl, which was the likely result of interrupting her. It probably was her fault that they weren't, and it was probably considered out-of-line to interrupt a roommate who was out of the dorm and working on something. She'd just keep going and hope Bella didn't notice her.
Unfortunately, the angle of the sun was just so that her attempt to move threw a shadow over Bella's book. The other girl looked up. Anne feigned surprise when Bella, though she phrased it more politely, basically asked what she was doing there. "Uh - nothing," she said, feeling herself redden a little. "Sorry. I was just walking." She started to resume doing just that, then made herself say it. "You did really well in the game the other day, by the way." Once she had said it, she couldn't figure out why she'd had so much difficulty doing so. \n\n
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Anne Wright
Just passing through...
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Anne Wright
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Bella
May 27, 2006 11:09 PM
Eh... by Bella
It was only Anne. Bella relaxed a bit and looked over at her roommate. "Sorry, didn't mean be snappish, you startled me was all." Bella said as Anne started to walk away. Her compliment about her playing skills was a surprise. Though they were roommates, Bella and Anne didn't have much of a relationship. It wasn't like either of them snubbed one another or anything, it was just that neither of them seemed to be around one another aside from classes and Quidditch. Bella liked the girl, just didn't know anything about her."Thanks Anne." Bella said, giving her a grin that mimicked her brother's perfectly. "You're a good coach." Bella said and meant it. Though, she also thought that Anne could be a bit stand-offish towards some of the other players, but reframed from saying so. Truth was, it wasn't Bella's business and as long as they all got the job done, it really didn't matter in the end. Bella wondered why it seemed so awkward between the two of them. Bella, being raised in the family she had, learned to speak up and speak out or else be ignored. Perhaps Anne was just shy. It was a shame really considering they were roommates.
"Hey Anne..." Bella started, realizing for the first time that the only people she ever spoke to were Jake's female friends. That revelation bothered Bella. "That boy,erm, Geoff whatever, on our team...is he like, your boyfriend?"\n\n
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Bella
Eh...
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Bella
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Anne
May 29, 2006 12:07 AM
<i>Not</i> what I was expecting... by Anne
Anne, having said something she hoped qualified as politically correct, non-needy, and non-arrogant when Bella complimented her captaining skills, found herself staring blankly at her roommate after she finished asking her question, completely dumbfounded. Anne didn't think she spent much time at a loss for words, had never really believed in that expression until now, but she wasn't even entirely sure that she had heard Bella correctly. There was no way Bella had just asked her if Geoffrey was her boyfriend. She had been asking about his surname, and Anne's ears had pulled some kind of trick on her.Geoff's surname was Layne. All she had to do was say that, and they could just ignore her error in hearing. Except, Bella hadn't been asking about that, not at all, and Anne knew it. Bella probably couldn't have cared less what Geoffrey's surname was. She'd been asking - "My - my boyfriend?" Of all the charges she'd answered in her life, this had to be the least expected. "No! Me and Geoffrey - did he say - " She was extremely glad there wasn't a mirror anywhere nearby, and not just because of the chance that she might blow it up.
Okay. Maybe she shouldn't use her newly regained vocal facilities until she was more in control of them. Deep breaths. She was cool. Her roommate had just asked her if she was dating her best friend, which meant that half the school was most likely of the opinion that she was dating her best friend, but that was okay. It was cool. She had to play it cool, or she'd just be adding ammunition to the rumors. Yeah. If she kept her head on straight, she could deal with this. Absolutely.
"Sorry about, uh, that," she said after a moment of slow breathing. "I didn't mean to go off, but... Man, you got me with that one. Never crossed my mind people might think me and Geoff were - you know - close like that." Incidents were replaying in her head, little things that might have made it seem like...Great Merlin. She couldn't fathom liking Geoffrey that way. "I lived right next door to him and his folks from birth till two years ago," she said, feeling it was important to explain this. "I was an only child, and our parents got along really well, so me and Geoff and his sisters could either learn to like each other or spend a whole lot of time miserable. I think about Geoffrey Layne about like I would a brother."
She sat down next to Bella without thinking, still slightly shocked that anyone could think that she and Geoffrey would be an item, when a thought hit her. There was almost no way it could be true, but she had to ask..."Are you interested in him or something?" \n\n
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Anne
<i>Not</i> what I was expecting...
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Anne
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Bella
May 29, 2006 8:12 PM
Well, you got me back by Bella
From the reaction Anne had just given to Bella, it was obvious that Bella's question hit Anne as though she had thrown it from left field. Okay, so perhaps it was a random question, but the fact that Anne had declared Geoff to be her backup Captain in front of everyone, including those who had been on the team long before Anne had been, and the way the two of them were always together, it wasn't hard to assume the two of them were an item. But apparently Anne did not feel the same way.Her stuttering brought out a snicker from Bella. Her hands hid her smile, giving her a look of a five year old girl who had just heard someone say a naughty word. She thought it was a simple question, but it had left Anne without use of her jaw. After a few moments though, Anne was answering her question. Well, at least their relationship made a bit of sense. It wasn't like her brother who just simply liked hanging out with girls. He explained that they amused him. Whatever that meant.
"Are you interested in him or something?"
It was Bella's turn to become tongue-tied. Well that just completely reversed their roles. And after a minute of staring dumbfoundedly at Anne, a laugh erupted from Bella and it took her a moment to catch her breath. "No, I don't even know him and I'm not sure he likes me much at all." Bella said, referring to Quidditch and his lack of communication with her. "I only wanted to know because the two of you were together all the time. I'm nosey like that."\n\n
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Bella
Well, you got me back
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Anne
May 30, 2006 12:02 PM
Yeah, I thought that might do the trick. by Anne
Emotionally, Anne was still shocked that anyone could misinterpret friendship for romantic involvement with her and Geoffrey, but logically, it was beginning to make sense. If she had seen a boy and a girl carrying on the way she and Geoff did - walking to classes together, eating meals together, studying together, et cetera - especially if she knew for a fact that one of the two had been an almost complete lone wolf only the academic year before, she would have thought something had to be going on. And that was even before the second-in-command thing...even Geoffrey had told her that was probably the stupidest move, politically, that he had ever seen her make. Her response had been that Quidditch and politics weren't compatible.Pity it wasn't true.
Still, though, it might be all right. She could just be being paranoid; Bella could be the only person who'd flirted with the conclusion that Anne and Geoff weren't family or simply friends. Next-best case scenario was that other people thought it but didn't say anything. It might be that way. Things might turn out all right. Yeah, sure. They might. Stranger things had happened.
It was her turn to laugh when she recovered enough to get a good look at Bella's face after her question. Admittedly, Bella's expression was probably almost the mirror image of what her own had been just a few minutes earlier, but she still had to press her lips together hard just to keep from laughing out loud, where anyone could hear her do so. There was a part of her brain that still couldn't believe she was having this conversation. She felt a distinct fluttering of relief when Bella denied any interest in Geoffrey. That piece of information, though she had asked for it, would have made her life seem more complicated than it already was.
"'Sokay," she said when Bella finished. "I guess I can see how you might think - you know." She couldn't get past not wanting to actually say the words. "But I think Geoff does like you, though." A good, safe change of topic. "Well, he doesn't dislike you, anyway, because he didn't go all stuck-up on you or try to hit you with a Bludger and make it look like an accident. He can be such a jerk, sometimes." She began combing her fingers through the bottom few inches of her long hair and reminded herself to shorten it a bit over the summer. It would be down to her waist this time next year if she didn't, and it was too hot in South Carolina and at Sonora for that. \n\n
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Anne
Yeah, I thought that might do the trick.
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Anne
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Bella
June 01, 2006 5:20 PM
*Sticks out tongue* by Bella
Bella gave Anne a look that clearly stated she was full of horse manurer at the thought that Geoff might actually see Bella as a human being. "Boys are jerks period." Bella commented. "Trust me, I know. I've got five brothers and a million of male cousins to prove it." Bella said in a completely serious tone. Her cousin, Roberto, was living proof of just how obnoxious a boy could be.A small coy smile formed on Bella's lips as thoughts ran through her mind. If Anne had reacted in such a way, could she really have feelings for her friend? It seemed likely. "My sisters say that the best sort of romances start from just friendship." Bella said in a nonchalant way, as if just making conversation. "Hannah and her husband were childhood friends who met in school their first year. They didn't start dating until their seventh year and now they are married with two little girls." Bella paused and chanced a glance at Anne, seeing how she was reacting to all this.
"All I'm saying is that it's possible. Anything is possible." Bella shot Anne a grin that could rival her brother's any day of the week. "Anyway...do you have any plans for the summer?" She asked, trying to make conversation that didn't revolve around Anne's love-life, merely because she didn't want to make an enemy out of Anne.\n\n
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Bella
*Sticks out tongue*
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Bella
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Anne
June 02, 2006 1:50 PM
I'll think of a good title next time. by Anne
"I'll say," Anne said when Bella claimed five brothers and a swarm of boy-cousins as proof that all boys were jerks. "Guys just - I dunno - they think they're the Lord High Commanders of the Universe or something. And they don't even realize it half the time, I don't think." The truth was that she had always gotten along better with boys than she had with other girls, but it was also true that she didn't think she'd ever met one who didn't have some little superiority trip at some point. Which was, of course, why they needed girls to puncture their balloons and bring them back down to Earth. Women would rule the world if they didn't hate each other, but men would destroy the world if women didn't take it out on them.Even after two years of St.Martindom, it still took Anne a moment to pick up on what Bella was suggesting with her story about her sister, though that could have been partially because of her momentary speculation about just how many siblings Bella had. When she did, however, get it, she smiled tolerantly and resigned herself to putting up with it. She had been too vehement in her denial. Showing an excess of emotion in agreeing or disagreeing was an almost guaranteed way to seem insincere, or as if she was hiding something. Which, in a way, she was: her resolution never to allow herself to go down that road and risk turning out like her family.
"Anything's possible," she agreed, nodding. "Friends and enemies are usually the ones who end up getting hitched in books. Shakespeare was really fond of making enemies fall in love in his plays." She didn't think about whether or not Bella would have ever heard of Old Will. She didn't plan on ending up with anyone, and the only circumstances she could see ending up with Geoff under would be those where she went loopier than the legend of her Aunt Lorena, but, just for a moment, she let herself imagine what it might be like...
She blinked as Bella's question pulled her out of her fantasy. It wasn't often that she enjoyed being pulled out of her thoughts, but that one had gone downhill fast...No, she was never getting married, and she was certainly never going to marry Geoffrey. It would be bad business for everyone involved. "This summer?" She was recovering fast. Good thing, too. "Nah, not really. I'll probably end up spending it all either eavesdropping on my aunts in the garden or studying up in my room. The family might make me attend the Magnolia Ball this year - it's a big party they throw every year to celebrate the end of the family reunion - but I'm hoping they'll be too afraid that I'll crash it." That was the only reason she could think of for why she hadn't been forced to attend the first and second Magnolia Balls since her entrance to the family, anyway. "What about you?"\n\n
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Anne
I'll think of a good title next time.
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Anne
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Bella
June 09, 2006 12:20 AM
Now I don't have one. by Bella
"No, they certainly don't realize it. I think it's in their chromosomes to have that automatic belief that they reign over all else." Bella mused. She gave a small laugh as she said this. Her brothers...all of them...had a habit of believing one was right over the other and even when they find out the true answer, they still never let up about it.Bella could tell she was pushing her limit when it came of talking about Anne and her possible relationship with Geoff. The look on Anne's face was proof enough of that. So, in the end, it was really a good thing that Bella had changed the subject. "Opposites attract and all that." Bella replied to Anne's Shakespeare remark.
She listened quietly as Anne spoke about what her summer would be like. Bella had no idea whom exactly the girl was referring to, but from the way she spoke, it was obvious taht Anne was most likely the blacksheep of the family. "Nothing quite as fancy." Bella replied. "Last summer we spent it in Mexico with that side of the family. This year I think we'll be spending it in Madrid." Bella commented. To her, these places where as special as her backyard.
She had spent her whole life traveling from one place or another that they lost their appeal long ago. "I'm looking forward to seeing mis Abuelos, but they always make us do everything in the first week so that the rest of the summer we have nothing to do but lay around. It's really rather dull." Bella finished with a shrug. Her grandparents were the only good thing about the entire trip. They spoiled them.\n\n
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Bella
Now I don't have one.
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Bella
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