Just getting some sun. on Labyrinth Gardens

Jax Donovan

July 10, 2016 3:00 PM

Just getting some sun. by Jax Donovan

Jax slowed his pace down before coming to a complete stop as he rounded a corner of the maze to start his cool down walk after his long afternoon jog in the sun. He unzipped his fleece and pulled it off, showing a white sleeveless tee shirt soaked in sweat that framed his ever growing muscles nicely, not that he was looking for that, but he had originally thought the day was warmer than it was. When he discovered that it was rather cool in the winter sun, Jax had to quickly grab a fleece to wear out for his run. Of course, now that he had run around for an extended period, his body felt like it was on fire, which is why he pulled his fleece off.

Normally, Jax would have preferred to work out in the MARS sports room, but when he had gone to use it, it was already in use by someone else. Since Jax was not a swimmer (really didn’t swim well at all) or a Quidditch player, he opted to go for a run. Running made him feel accomplished just as boxing did. If you did it for long enough, your body screamed in a rather satisfying pain. But he didn’t do running as often as he should. He supposed he was just used to doing his workouts inside and away from the potential run in with another classmate.

The full moon had passed just a couple of days ago, so Jax was finally feeling up to his normal strength again. It always took him out a couple of days before and after, so recovery was a slow process. He was always petrified that people would figure it out. He was honestly surprised that only Barnaby seemed to have and that no one asked him questions as to why he got sick every month. He wasn’t really sure what Gia told their friends though, so they might believe that he had some autoimmune thing that made him sick often. Even so, the fear was ever present.

Gia had been too young to really remember the first year of his changing or the repercussions of it that they had been dealt by their Mitera’s family. He could remember the disgust on his great Aunt’s face when it had come out that he had been bitten. He remembered the look of fear on his Uncle’s. His family had fought for days with his mother on what the right course of action would be. He remembered being shut out from his cousins or the neighborhood kids. Called all sorts of names. Some even brave enough to attack him when the adults weren’t looking.

Jax could remember his mother coming home in tears and throwing what little belongings she could into her bag before apparating them away. They weren’t even allowed to go to their father’s funeral to say goodbye. Their mother dragged them from place to place around Greece trying to find a safe haven for them to stay. Sometimes they could stay some place for several months. Other times they only lasted a couple of days.

Each time, they ended the same. People found out about what he was and the mob mentality formed. He was called monster, mongrel, mutt, Half-breed, revolting, etc. based on the werewolf part of him. He also heard them say terrible things about his mother. That she should kill herself for breeding him (despite the fact that Jax was attacked and not born this way), that they were dirty, worthless, and unwanted. City after City and town after town, this was what life was like for them. Eventually, after years of trying to find help and safety, their mother left her homeland and took them to America. So far, they have lived the longest in Seattle. The only reason they seemed to make it work was because their mother would apparate him to the forest and mountain area outside of the city where he would hunker down in a cabin on his wolfsbane during the full moon. If they had to make him change in the apartment, they were bound to be caught.

He wished that he didn’t have so many prejudice people against him. Or, at the very least, that they didn’t attack his family too. The first few years after the attack and dealing with the amount of hate that he and his family received, Jax sometimes wished that the attack had killed him like it did his father. Then his mother and sister could have grieved but continued their life path without the fear.

Jax shook his head trying to get rid of those thoughts. For the rest of his life, he would have to deal with that, but he didn’t have to think about it right this very second. As long as Barnaby kept quiet, they should be okay. They just had three and a half more years to go. They could get through it. They had to get through it.

He rounded one of the corners and almost walked right into someone. His startled expression gave way to embarrassment before quickly disappearing to return to his usual stoic facial expression, “I apologize.” He said in the awkward ‘I don’t know what else to do or say’ way that he sometimes had. “I-uh-I hope I didn’t frighten you.”

6 Jax Donovan Just getting some sun. 296 Jax Donovan 1 5

Laila Kennedy

July 14, 2016 12:28 PM

Just getting it done. by Laila Kennedy

Laila was stuck. Both physically and metaphorically. On one hand she was in the Labyrinth Gardens and a bit lost. On the other, more important hand she had planned to ask Dustin Newell to the ball since although she had endured numerous crushes on numerous of her fellow students, her crush on Dustin had been there from the moment the had talked to each other during orientation their first year. Granted they had not sustained much of a friendship after that but he had been in her classes and he had been in her challenge group and she still thought he was the cutest boy at school. But then Emmy-Lou had gone and asked him, or at least that’s what the gossip mill said. Being from a small town Laila didn’t always put too much faith in the gossip mill but this was a case where she was willing to believe it. After all it would have been very awkward if she had gone and asked him anyway. And she didn’t really feel like being rejected.

So, she went through who her various options were. A lot of the boys at Sonora kept to themselves which made actually going up to one and asking a bit of a problem. She needed to get herself in a situation in which asking one would be easy. There were many, many cute boys that she would be happy to go with, but she wanted to go with someone that she would have fun with. Her first thought was one of the older Reinhardts as they always made her day. And they were both like really cute. But then she remembered the youngest Reinhardt’s occasional bitter attitude and she didn’t fancy getting into anything with him or starting some sort of family feud. Arne was strangely territorial of his brother and cousin.

She considered herself to be pretty close friends with Jax Donovan and certainly his leather jacket did things to her insides that Laila was not particularly proud of—or was she? But she worried to ruin the dynamic of their friendship group by causing an imbalance. Jax was the only guy and it didn’t seem fair that she occupy herself with him when the others might also want him to keep them company. There were Jax’s two roommates, but though cute one gave her the creeps and the other…well Laila hadn’t really talked to Jack Spencer a lot but she knew that his older sister was dating a Lucan and though she knew that Emrys Lucan’d had a couple halfblood friends in his time at Sonora, the younger Lucan, Caelia, was a picture-perfect lady.

She frowned and pouted a bit. The whole pureblood thing was a real downer, she thought. She found it absolutely unfair. While she had been wandering in her faith recently—going longer between masses and sometimes even forgetting to pray daily, she at least tried to lead a Christian life. It was like some people hadn’t even heard of the Golden Rule! She wished, not for the first time, that pureblood society didn’t exist and that they were in Turner’s Point because if they were then it would be she and her friends who made the rules and who dictated. She wouldn’t feel an awkward coldness every time she walked into her dorm room. A coldness not from Kira being a bad or mean person, but from having lived together for three years without much talking. A natural coldness that had grown and that Laila wanted to do away with but didn’t know how.

And then, just as she was wishing all of this frustrating mess to go away, the sweaty Jax Donovan walked right into her and Laila lost all of her rational sense. “Nope, not frightened at all,” she chirped rather cheerily in that very-Laila manner of hers. “Just a bit sweaty now but it’s not a big deal, I was planning on taking a shower when I figured out how to get out of here. I was just thinking, you know, and then you appeared, and I guess maybe it’s like a sign from God—” Laila didn’t really know why she said that. She didn’t even know if she still believed in signs from God. But it seemed like a good enough opening as it was. “Anyway, you wouldn’t happen to already have a date to the ball, would you?”

Laila thought this would be quite possible—Jax was on the quieter side, but there were so many girls that they hung out with and Laila knew that she wasn’t the only one to have noticed how Jax Donovan was growing up. “Because, if you don’t that is, I thought it might be fun to go together. You know, if you wanted to, that is…” She gave him a cheeky little grin. Though she was attempting to maintain a cool, confident exterior, her insides were shaking with adrenaline

10 Laila Kennedy Just getting it done. 318 Laila Kennedy 0 5

Jax

July 15, 2016 10:21 PM

Am I a 'To Do' list? by Jax

Jax was relieved to find that it was Laila whom he had unintentionally run into. The last time he had really collided (as in, had a run in with someone) with anyone in the gardens had been right after the Satori had outed him (thankfully, no one had seemed to figure it out) and he had come into the gardens to isolate himself, but had ended up with Peizhi. Since they were too complicated to have in her life at the moment as friends, Jax had begun to act cold and indifferent to her. He might have gone a little overboard with ignoring her and acting dismissive towards her, but he felt betrayed and hurt. Since starting at Sonora, he had only begun to feel comfortable at the school once their quaint group of friends had formed. But Peizhi had ruined it and he didn’t know how to handle that rejection. His feelings may have been deeper than what he realized, but like must things, Jax refused to allow himself a moment to reflect on that. He did the opposite and stomped it right out.

“Oh, forgive me.” He said in his deep and quiet voice, making such a strange phrase for a teenager to say sound like the only thing they should say. “I was running. I wouldn’t have worn my fleece if I had thought the weather was going to warm up.” He explained, indicating the fleece in his hand. In all honesty, he probably would still be sweating this hard since he had run for over an hour, but it was better to have an explanation than not. She didn’t seem too concerned about it though since she was chatting away in her usual cheery way. It always amazed him that these girls never seemed to ever be in a foul mood. He didn’t know how they did it.

He listened quietly, still trying to catch his breath from the run, as she rambled on and on about her thoughts, being lost, and it somehow having to do with signs from God. Jax’s mother was religious enough for him to understand the point of God, but Jax himself didn’t care much to believe in such things because if he did, he would have to live his whole life being angry at God for making him this way rather than at a werewolf who bit him and killed his father. He didn’t really try to figure out what she was talking about. He had learned the last couple of years of hanging out with females that their mouths often ran without much cohesive thought behind it. At least, that’s how it felt to him. It could have been a cultural or language barrier making it difficult for him to understand them.

Jax did, however, pick up on her mention of the ball and her request for him to go with her. His expression remained neutral but with a slight hint of perplexity in it. He had been hoping to get out of going to the ball and thought that everyone would have found someone else to go with. He definitely hadn’t thought that Laila would be asking him to go with her. She was quite pretty and outgoing, so he had assumed someone would have asked her already (presumably that Reinhardt kid that was constantly hanging around her and upsetting her). He was conflicted for a moment because he didn’t really want to go, he didn’t really have dress robes, and he didn’t really do much dancing. But he also didn’t want to let Laila down.

Damn these girls.

“I do not have a date.” Jax advised. “Are you sure you would like to go with me?” He asked, giving her a chance to rethink her proposal. “I never really learned to dance.” He advised. “But if you still wish to go with me, I will be your date for the evening.”

6 Jax Am I a 'To Do' list? 296 Jax 0 5

Laila

July 18, 2016 12:25 PM

No, you're a good friend. by Laila

Laila shrugged good-naturedly to Jax’s response. It was so…Jax. Which was comforting on one hand—that Jax would never stop being Jax no matter what the situation, but on the other hand it did nothing to quell the anxiety that was slowly building. And she couldn’t help but wonder if he even wanted to go. Social gatherings didn’t always seem to be his favorite thing. But since the whole group was going, she’d figured that Gia would somehow convince him to come and these sorts of things were always more fun when one had a partner, Laila thought. Which was why she had decided to ask a boy out in the first place and not wait around for the decidedly pureblood heavy male populace of Sonora to deign to ask her out. No, Laila Kennedy was a catch—back in Turner’s Point at least, and she wasn’t about to be someone’s last resort.

“If you don’t mind,” she replied, sounding more unsure of herself than she wanted to. She did want to go with Jax—if they weren’t such friends he’d definitely be her top crush at Sonora (his use of the word ‘date’ definitely sent butterflies to her stomach), but worries over somehow upsetting the balance of their friend group (a balance that had already been disrupted due to Wu’s sudden absence) kept her from liking him more than she otherwise would. With Dustin, there were no qualms. He was completely unattached from any of her regular friends. “I can’t dance either—at least not the way we’re probably expected to dance here. But I know I have fun with you and so…”

Laila shrugged again. She was talkative, she knew that, and she felt certain that Jax tuned some of her chatter out from time to time—her own father liked to say that he’d been tuning Laila out from the moment she was born, but she was comfortable with Jax and she liked how he never said more than what was necessary. Sometimes she wished she was like that—her big mouth had accidentally gotten herself in trouble a few times back home. “Anyway, I promise I won’t drag you around and we can hang out with everyone else and plot to save Nevaeh from Barnaby and—”

Her eyes cast downwards, catching herself from what she wanted to say next. She missed Wu. The quiet witch had held a special place in Laila’s heart and she didn’t like how the Teppenpaw had distanced herself from them, nor did she like the cold feelings that seemed to surround the issue. Part of her hoped that by everyone in the group pairing off Wu would miss them too and wish she had been there to pair off. And that maybe, maybe she would come back. But she didn’t want to share this sentiment with anyone because some of the others seemed really upset with Wu.

“—it doesn’t have to be a date,” she finished rather lamely because she knew that she needed to say something after the ‘and’ because Jax was a sharp boy. “We can just go unofficially, as friends, and if you decide you’d like to ask someone else in that way then I guess that would be okay too.”

Where was that confident Laila who was trying to take charge of her life at Sonora? She scolded herself. The one who didn’t want to be someone’s last resort? She was very quickly talking herself into that position, she lectured, and she needed to stop.

10 Laila No, you're a good friend. 318 Laila 0 5

Jax

July 18, 2016 6:39 PM

Oh, is that all? by Jax

”If you don’t mind”

Did he mind? He wasn’t even sure anymore. He hated social things, but he was never allowed out of them and he assumed it would have been the same for this ball. Gia hated it when he tried to get out of social things. She felt that he was losing out on something even though he assured her that he wasn’t. But she was a force to be reckon with and so was their mother. If Gia couldn’t convince him, she always threatened to get their mother involved. Jax didn’t want to bother their mother with such nonsense, so he always gave in to his sister.

She had mentioned to him that she had suggested to Joella to ask Jax to go to the ball with her since she was a Prefect and would need a date. He had since been bracing himself for her to request that of him each time that he saw her, but she never did. It was probably for the best though because Jax definitely didn’t want to dance in front of the entire school for the first dance. He liked Joella and wouldn’t have minded going with her and she was looking rather grown up these days, but he really hoped for her sake and his sanity that she found someone to go with (or at least dance with).

He watched Laila carefully while she spoke. She seemed to deflate a little as she spoke and he thought it sounded a bit like she was trying to talk herself out of this as a date or him from going with her. He didn’t think that was like her at all. He didn’t know why she seemed so uncertain about it anymore than he didn’t know why no one else thought to ask her. He was honestly happier knowing he would be going with Laila rather than someone who was an unknown to him. He highly doubted a Pureblood female would have ever asked him to the dance (except Joella for obvious reasons), but what if, say, Kelsey Atwater had or Diana Carey? He wasn’t sure if he could have just turned them down, but what would have said to them for the entire evening? It would be a miserable time for everyone.

Jax smirked at Laila, his usual casual one that sometimes made people feel like he knew something that they didn’t. It wasn’t a cold smile, but rather the opposite. It was warm and genuine. He wasn’t sure if he had ever really seen Laila look so doubtful in herself or in a situation before. It gave her a vulnerability that he found attractive even though he wasn’t sure why such a thing appealed to him. She was attractive either way, but it made him wonder if the reason no one had asked her was because her confidence was intimidating to some? IT was a thought anyway.

“Who else would I want to spend my evening with other than you?” Jax asked, looking intently at her as though she would know of any such girl that he would want to go with in that way as she had put it. “Anyway, I don’t mind going as your date-” he stressed the word slightly to tease her about it as he didn’t mind saying date as much as she did. “You know Gia anyway. She would allow any of us to miss it, so at least I will be there with someone I enjoy spending my time with.” He meant what he said, but he also hoped that it quelled any doubt from her mind.

6 Jax Oh, is that all? 296 Jax 0 5

Laila

August 01, 2016 3:17 PM

It'll have to be for now. by Laila

Sonora had really been a confidence blow for Laila who had gone from being the one people wanted to be friends with to having to put forth effort. Luckily she had found herself a nice group of people who, in all reality she was ashamed to admit, she likely wouldn’t have looked at twice back home. But she loved each and every one of them for the little unique quirks that made them, well, them.

When the ball had been announced originally, she had been really excited—especially to be asked by one of the many cute boys the school had to offer. However, as time passed, she quickly had realised that things were different here. Laila had begun to come to terms with this, had settled upon being the one to do the asking (and had even worked up enough confidence and courage to believe that this would be fun, it would be alright, it was a great step for woman-kind!) but after having done the asking, she felt cheated.

At home, with a church social anyway, someone would have already asked her. And she hated that no one here seemed to think her special enough to want to go with. It made her feel like maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t as great as her friends and family at home made her feel. But Jax’s reaction to her doubtful comments and his accompanying smirk caused a small blush to rise in Laila’s cheeks and she looked away as the intensity of his look caused her to feel things she really didn’t want to be feeling at that moment like…at all because she had convinced herself that it was absolutely the worst idea to have a crush on one’s friend. “I-um, thank you,” she muttered.

Jax was quiet, he didn’t talk much unless, Laila thought, there was something he felt needed to be said, but that just made her feel as though his words were all the more genuine. Jax wasn’t fake and he didn’t pretend, he was completely real and he was loyal and he took care of all of them—in his own, quiet way. There was even something about his quietness that was also intriguing—not to mention he had a leather jacket that rivaled Conner Mills’. But he was also Gia’s brother and that made him off limits.

“It’ll be fun,” she continued, deciding to chance a look at him again. After all, she didn’t like it when people looked away from her when she talked. “With everyone, I mean, but it’ll be fun with you too. But I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you were doing…” she moved as though to let him past her when she suddenly realized her current predicament. “Um, but actually, here’s the thing… I may be a bit lost right now so, if you wouldn’t mind…helping me find my way back to the school?”

10 Laila It'll have to be for now. 318 Laila 0 5