[Second Year Girls' Dorm] Determined on Pecari Commons

Nina Brockert

April 18, 2010 5:26 PM

[Second Year Girls' Dorm] Determined by Nina Brockert

Last year had been kind of lousy for Nina. Not only had she not been allowed to try out for Quidditch-and the odds of her ever being allowed to looked about as good as the odds that Marshall was going to stop drinking or that Chelsea was going to become a decent human being-but the only person she honestly could say was her friend was Jude.

In Nina's mind, the two were related. She felt completely left out with her roommates because they all had been on the team last year and she had not been. This year, however, Nina was determined that things would be different. (For one thing, she'd noticed that Delilah had not signed up and she was a bit puzzled as to why.)

She was going try her hardest to become friends with them. Nina had already tried a little with Starbuck at the end of last year and truthfully, she'd been a bit concerned about the other girl. Nina wondered how her summer had went and hoped she was okay.

And Delilah seemed pretty nice so Nina didn't think becoming her friend would be too hard. Mel was who she figured would be the hardest considering she seemed the most Quidditch-obsessed and Nina was pretty sure she'd been horrified when Nina had told them why she couldn't play Quidditch at last year's opening feast. Like the idea of not being allowed to do something was beyond her.

Honestly, if there had been any other girls in her year to be friends with, Nina might have just said forget it and gone outside her house. Unfortunately, aside from Alessa, the other girls were stuck-up princesses. Delilah's twin seemed particularly Chelseaish.

The other thing Nina was determined to do was find some other hobby. As much as she liked Quidditch, it couldn't be the be all end all.

Nina sat on her bed cross-legged, waiting for one of her roommates to come back. The door opened and she looked up. "Hey" Nina greeted the person.

11 Nina Brockert [Second Year Girls' Dorm] Determined 156 Nina Brockert 1 5

Starbuck Gregory

April 19, 2010 5:59 PM

Nap time by Starbuck Gregory

Starbuck was tired and she just wanted to nap before this evening’s Quidditch practice. Plus she needed to change from her school robes. There was no way to practice in school robes, trust her she had tried once. She opened up the door to the dorm and heard someone say. “Hey.” Starbuck looked up a bit amazed someone was in there at the time and she was glad to see it was Nina and not Mel. Ever since Mel had been promoted to Assistant Captain, she thought she was hot stuff. In fact, it felt like Mel had purposely left Nina and herself out of the conversation at the Opening Feast and that was just fine with the muggle-born girl.

“Hey Nina.” She said with a smile. “How you doing?” She asked as she flopped down on her bed and smiled at her neighbor. They had slept across from each other since last term and Starbuck thought this would be the best way, Mel was as far away as she could possibly. The redhead girl smiled again and sighed closing her eyes. “Don’t worry I’m still here just got a bit of headache.” That was the truth and it seemed that she had one a lot lately but that was no big deal.

0 Starbuck Gregory Nap time 0 Starbuck Gregory 0 5

Demelza Eagle

April 20, 2010 7:19 AM

...So making it singing time was a bad idea? by Demelza Eagle

After the last class of the day, after Demelza ate to satisfy her thirst, she thought of all the fun things she could do before she had to go to practice. She could ~~do homework~~ (wait that wasn't very fun...), play her guitar, or maybe doodle. Ok so besides playing guitar she hadn't come up with any really fun ideas, and she definetely didn't come up with anything worth while. Although one thing that she absolutely had to do was change her school robes into something less hot and that covered a bit less. It was much hotter in the Arizons Desert than it was in Delaware during this time if the year.

She happily skipped up to her dorm to get her clothes. Maybe when she got up there she could practice the song that Paul sent her. Although she wasn't expecting Starbuck and Nina to already be in there. Idiot, you share the dorm! Demelza reminded herself. Demelza enjoyed her roommates at school much more than her roommates at home most of the time. Kat cried a lot (although Demelza could give her some slack: she was young and got frustrated often) and Luna always yelled at her for making a mess. Demelza's dorm at school wasn't much different when she looked at her bed. Her things were randomly laid across it, seeing that she was too lazy and non-OCD to actually clean it.

Feeling a bit hyper and wanting to do something fun, Drmelza spun in a circle and sung, "The Hills are aliiiiivvvvvveeeee!!" really loudly. It didn't even sound good, but it was fun to do! She felt bad after she did it, though, when she noticed that Starbuck was sleeping or something. Opps. "Sorry Starbuck!" she whispered, hoping that she wouldn't hate her even more than she already did. The brunette hadn't and idea why the red head hated her so much. Demelza was positive that she hadn't been mean to her! Why did she hate her? Demelza tried to put that thought aside, even though it was hard to have a roommate who strongly disliked you. Ah well she had learned to deal with lots of kids who hated her.

"Hey Nina, what's up, wanna beer? How are your kids?" she asked, hoping that she'd realize that she was joking. "And Starbuck I know how you like your wine. How's your third husband?" she asked, giggling to herself. She looked at Starbuck with concern for a few seconds. She looked exhausted, and Demelza had no idea why. "You alright, Starbuck?" she asked. Demelza wished that Delilah would come in soon, because she was very fun. She thought about Jude joining them with a dirty grin. He wasn't allowed in the girls' dorm, but... oh nevermind.

0 Demelza Eagle ...So making it singing time was a bad idea? 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Delilah Kerrigan

April 21, 2010 12:31 PM

I would vote yes. by Delilah Kerrigan

Being early in the school year, Delilah would be able to attend the Quidditch practice that night. Unfortunately, it would be only as an alternate. This way, if necessary, she would be able to skip practice in favor of studying. It was her father’s idea as he insisted she needed to get her grades up since they had been so dismally appalling last term. Oh, it wasn’t that she didn’t try for she did. Until just now, she had been surrounded by books in the library in an effort to get a jumpstart on the year. But everything she read, even previous material, just looked like Greek. She had no idea how she was going to do well this year when she was still struggling from last year and she just had to get her grades up so she could join Quidditch fully next time.

She entered the dorm room intent on changing for practice only to find her roommates already there. Delilah frowned hearing Demelza ask if Starbuck was all right. There had been some tension between the two girls last year and Delilah could only hope this was the beginning to settling all that. Home was a bit of a warzone, because of Veronica and Juri. She was hoping that school would bring some peace, but she had also known it could go the other way. They may have both been sorted into Pecari, but Demelza and Starbuck were two completely different personalities. Or was the problem that they were too much alike? Of course, she had no hard evidence to support either position.

Stepping out into the open, Delilah made her presence known. “Yeah, are you okay, Starbuck?” Genuine concern was in her voice. She didn’t know Starbuck as well as she knew Mel and she supposed that was just the default of her time being dominated by studying, Quidditch, her twin, and late night talks with Mel. Though, she always assumed that Nina and Starbuck would have joined in if they wanted to, but now looking back on it, perhaps, it was one that she shouldn’t have made. She could definitely see why Nina might have felt left out. She wasn’t part of the Quidditch team and she wasn’t actually asked to be a part of their group.

She didn’t understand as much with Starbuck since she was on the Quidditch team. The redhead was even a full-fledged member unlike Delilah so why wouldn’t she feel included? Delilah was confused about this and wondered if something else wasn’t going on, but she couldn’t imagine what. It was hard to understand when people didn’t get along since she generally got along with everyone except sometimes Veronica, but that was different. Veronica was her twin. They were as different as night and day, but in the end, they were there for each other and that’s all that mattered. She thought that House loyalties should be the same. No matter what, they were a family too.

0 Delilah Kerrigan I would vote yes. 158 Delilah Kerrigan 0 5

Nina

April 22, 2010 2:46 PM

Probably not one of your better ones by Nina

Nina was sort of glad when Starbuck was one to come in. Not that she would have minded Delilah but she'd sort of been hoping to talk to the muggleborn. She was just about to respond to Starbuck's question about how she was doing and ask if the other girl was okay (as she mentioned having a headache) and offer her a potion for it. Nina hoped it wasn't one of the headaches like her cousin got. Nothing seemed to help him.

That's when Mel blew in. That was the thing about Demelza, she didn't simply enter and join others, she had a way of making herself the center of attention and distracting others from what they were doing or talking about. When Nina did homework, she did it in the library because it was hard enough to sit still and concentrate on it was without her roommate around.

At the moment, what Mel was doing was singing very loudly and very badly.Fortunately, she stopped quickly and spoke to them. Nina raised her eyebrow, as she was asked if she wanted a beer. Demelza could be very random and strange sometimes. She decided to play along. "Sure, I'll take one. Kids are good. How's the lover, left his wife yet?"

If they wanted actual beer or wine, Nina knew it was just a simple matter of transfiguration. Yet, she wasn't sure she could pull it off. Nor did she really want one at this point in her life, no matter how good Marshall said beer and wine and booze in general and being drunk were.

Then, Delilah arrived. "Hey, Delilah." Nina greeted her. "What's up?" Both of their other roommates had asked if Starbuck was okay, and it would seem a bit redundant if she asked now. Besides, Nina already knew Starbuck had a headache. "I have a potion for headaches if you want." She offered Starbuck.

11 Nina Probably not one of your better ones 156 Nina 0 5

Starbuck

April 22, 2010 11:28 PM

One of your worse in my books by Starbuck

Starbuck couldn’t believe that Demelza came in waltzing like that. Why did she have to be such a brat could she at least try to keep it down? Sure, it was the middle of the day but it was only common courtesy to enter the room quietly to make sure no one was napping. She kept her eyes tightly shut trying to control her anger it came a bit easier when Delilah entered and Nina offered a headache potion.

She forced herself to open her eyes and glared at Mel for a long moment her jaw set in a firm line, and her hands were clenched into fists, before she turned to Nina and forced a smile. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble Nina I’d really like that headache potion.”She said softly. She looked over at the other two girls and sighed.

“Hey Delilah.” She said with a smile. She wasn’t mad at Delilah or Jude about the opening feast they couldn’t control Mel. So she did the next best thing she ignored Mel. If she had to she would ignore Mel for the next six years, she had plenty of practice ignoring people. Since Marc had passed she had ignored her parents just like they ignored her. “I’m alright just have one killer headache and a certain someone can’t control herself and made it all the worse.” Once again, she leveled a glare at Mel before flipping her hair and turning back to Nina.

0 Starbuck One of your worse in my books 0 Starbuck 0 5

Demelza Eagle

May 02, 2010 2:18 PM

Too bad I don't read your books by Demelza Eagle

OOC: sorry this took me forever!

BIC:
Demelza felt a bit of remorse for being loud, but not that much. Starbuck needed to stop being moody. That was the best way Demelza could put it. She grinned at Nina when she was more loose and decided to lagh and play along with her joke. She opened her mouth to jokingly reply back to her, but then Delilah walked in. "He Delilah!" She smiled at her roommate. Good, she would cause less tension. Starbuck was being mean and grumpy, and Demelza just wasnt't as good of friends with Nina. Although, that didn't mean that Demelza didn't like Nina.

Demelza decided that she would reserve herself a little more after she had already done one crazy act. But it was a bit hard for her. The brunette couldn't help that sometimes she did crazy and outragousthings. Ok, so maybe she could take her ADD and ADHD potion, but she realy didn't any of those disorders! Honest! She could have been in denial, which was a likely answer, but she really didn't think that she needed to take the potion everyday, and her parents didn't force her to all summer when they first got it! Demelza was just outgoing. And insane. And hyper. But she didn't have ADHD. She was in denial.

Demelza decided npot to glare back at Starbuck when she made her rudecomment. Honestly, the girl knew nothing. The truth was that Demelza really couldn't control herself sometimes. She didn't focus on being what most people defined as "normal". Urg, then she did a stupid hair flip. It seemed as though anything Starbuck did was starting to annoy her. Demelza, a bit exaggerated and mokingly, copied her hair flip and then walked over to her contents which laid scattered across her bed. She was so insulted by Starbuck, and she wanted Starbuck to feel bad for what she said, so she carefully took out her ADHD potion from her bag, making sure that the label pointed toward Starbuck's face. Yeah, that's right, I have real problems, like you suspected, Demelza thought, sourly. DSemelza was a nice girl, but she was tough. She had seven brothers and wouldn't tolerate such nasty attitude toward her. Taking a shrug, she drank today's portion. She shuddered: the taste wasn't pleasent. After that she threw it back in, and then figured she should grab her change of clothes. But she had so much extra time, and it would be fun to talk with her roommates, even if that included Starbuck, who Demelza was peretty annoyed with at the moment.

"So, school killin' any of you yet?" she said, guessing that Starbuck might say yes because of her headache, but Demelza wasn't sure. "I hate being the oldest students in class, now I can't depend on the older students to help me out," Demelza gave a sigh. This had been bothering her: she liked that she could ask a more experienced students how to do things, because most first years weren't much smarter then her, and she wouldn't want to sound stupid around her peers. Demelza was actually old for a second year, she turned thirteen in late August. Sadly, that didn't mean she was smarter. She was much better at sports then academics.

0 Demelza Eagle Too bad I don't read your books 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Delilah

May 15, 2010 10:08 AM

I tend to like ones with pretty pictures :P by Delilah

Delilah bit back a sigh. While home had turned into all out war, it seemed this would turn into a cold war, complete with hair flips and potions. Ah, well. She wished there was something that she could do about it, but if Starbuck and Mel didn't like each other, there was really nothing she could do. Though, she hoped that some sort of truce would eventually be made among the two since not only did they have to deal with each other in the dorm room, but also on the Quidditch team. That would certainly make for some interesting politics, she was sure. As for her part, she was glad she wasn't caught in the middle since she was going to remain friends with both. Plus, Nina was there too.

She didn't know the girl as well as she knew Mel or even Starbuck, but there was nothing like being in the battle to create bonds. Perhaps, they would become better friends because of it, which was a really weird way at looking on the bright side of the obvious conflict. Though, maybe that's what Starbuck and Mel needed. For things to blow up before they could become friends. She and Veronica had some major fights at times and in the end, their relationship became stronger for it, because they achieved a better understanding of each other. Just maybe that would happen here too. Of course, there may have also been a possibility of a dementer not wanting to suck the soul out of someone.

Pretending that nothing out of the ordinary was going on, Delilah answered Mel's question, "Yeah, me too. I mean, at least, I have Veronica, but I'm still struggling. I was just in the library trying to get that essay done for DADA and let me say, it was not a pretty site. I got about three sentences written and have a load more to do. I haven't even started the Transfiguration homework." If her father was unhappy about her grades last year, she was sure that he was going to be really disappointed this year. She hated it! Absolutely hated it! She didn't understand why the material seemed to make so much sense when the professor was talking about it and then poof it was gone the minute she looked at the book.

She slipped onto Mel's bed. Sure, she could have easily sat on her own bed or Nina's or Starbuck's, but she liked the familiarity provided by sitting on her friend's and, well, she just wasn't close to Nina and she didn't want to make Starbuck's headache worse. She sort of wished that she could talk to Mel right now about what Jude had said at the Opening Feast, but she didn't want to do it in front of anyone else in case it wasn't supposed to be mentioned. She just wasn't sure, so instead, she opted for what Veronica considered an universal topic of conversation, even if she didn't agree. "So, did anyone meet any cute boys over the summer?"

0 Delilah I tend to like ones with pretty pictures :P 0 Delilah 0 5

Nina

May 15, 2010 4:42 PM

Those are nice by Nina

"All right." Nina went to her trunk and took out the potion, which she then gave to Starbuck. She really hoped it would help her headache.

She blinked when Starbuck commented on Mel's rudeness and Mel reacted back. What was that about? Nina had always thought her three roommates were the best of friends and that she was the odd one out. Apparently, there was something going on between the two that Nina didn't know about. She looked over at Delilah and shrugged.

Truthfully, she could sort of see Starbuck's point. It was kind of rude for Mel to just walk in singing loudly (and badly) without consideration for others. When Nina was younger, she'd been sort of like that but she grew out of it, at least enough to be more considerate, especially when others didn't feel good. (Of course, this did not apply where Chelsea was concerned.)

Perhaps Starbuck was mad over Mel leaving them out at the feast? Nina wondered if her roommate even realized that she'd excluded the other two girls.

Still Nina would try to be pleasant and polite to Mel, and maybe they could still get along. "School's a pain." She replied. "I like wand work okay, but the written stuff is just dreadful and Potions, just ugh." It wasn't that Nina was dumb but theory and writing was just so boring and she easily lost interest in doing it. The Pecari didn't care

"You could always ask an Aladren for help. Or Rachel or Theo, they seem smart too." Nina suggested to Mel. She somehow couldn't imagine Veronica or Rachel wanting anything to do with Mel though. She was sure Veronica was helpful to Delilah because they were twins but otherwise she figured the Aladren girl, who was kind of Chelsea-ish, would want nothing to do with the other three. Rachel also seemed kind of princessy and impatient. "Alessa or Theo is probably your better bet." She didn't really want to insult Mel by suggesting she ask one of the firstie Aladrens. Not really.

Nina realized what she just said, and she didn't want to hurt Delilah's feelings by insulting a member of her family. Even though as far as Nina was concerned they could all insult Chelsea to their heart's content, she'd stick up for any of her other relatives though. Except maybe Tawny, who Nina didn't trust for some reason.

She turned to Delilah. "No offense, Delilah, but your sister doesn't seem like she'd...really want to spend time with any of us." And that was all Nina really meant by it. If Mel (who was at least somewhat like Nina) drove Starbuck crazy (as she seemed to be doing) she would certainly drive Veronica (who seemed somewhat like Chelsea) so.

"To answer your question though, nope, no boys." Nina never really got to do much during the summer. "Went to my grandparents' ranch for a bit though. That was fun. They have all sorts of magical creatures, winged horses and whatnot." To her, that was better anyway. Nina wasn't all that interested in guys yet.

She looked back at Starbuck. "What about you?" Nina asked her roommate. She wanted to make sure everyone was included in the conversation.

11 Nina Those are nice 156 Nina 0 5

Starbuck

May 15, 2010 9:17 PM

I <3 picture books by Starbuck

Starbuck was thankful when Nina gave her the potion. She took a quick drink of the potion and instantly starting feeling a bit better. Thank goodness for Nina. “Thank you so much.” The red head said with a genuine smile. She really did appreciate that her roommate had offered the potion in the first place, Starbuck was not used to people being so nice to her. Starbuck shrugged off Mel taking out her potion, maybe if she took it everyday on time she would not have such outbursts.

Starbuck laid back down listening to the three girls talk about school and eventually boys. When Nina spoke about Rachel, or Theo helping Mel out she chuckled. “I don’t think Theo likes Mel after the salamander incident last year.” She said as she sat up remembering how Theo had spoken about her the next Care of Magical Creatures lesson and they had paired up. If Mel was good for one thing it was annoying the smarter kids in class. “I thought when she stuffed the poor thing full of pepper Theo’s head was going to explode.”

“Besides that only Defense and Potions is killing me. I honestly hate potions it’s the most boring subject in the world, plus I had to owl order another new cauldron because I keep melting mine!” She said as she shook her head. Mom and Dad had already bought three new ones last year, and the school year had just started and she had already melted her. “Seriously, I’m hopeless at potions so if anyone is semi good at them please tutor me!”

As for boys Starbuck didn’t know how to answer, Frankie had hung around the farm all summer. Ishmael and Ahab had teased her mercilessly about Frankie liking her but she didn’t have those feelings for him. She had liked spending time with his twin sister Farrah she sighed and shook her head. “Nope no boys.” She said aloud. Just a girl who was exceptionally awesome Starbuck thought.

0 Starbuck I <3 picture books 0 Starbuck 0 5

Demelza

May 16, 2010 8:06 AM

I always skip those words. Too much thinking! by Demelza

Demelza was thankful when Nina gave Starbuck the potion, because the effect was almost immediate! She started laughing when Starbuck mentioned Theo, because she was thinking the exact same thing! "His head practically did explode when I did that! And Nina, for the most part, the smart kids in our class aren't a fan of me... I kinda ruined my reputation," she said, with a shrug. To be honest, Demelza may not have been the most despised second year (she thought that Veronica or Theo would win that, in her opinion anyway) but her outgoing personality wasn't quite that popular among other second years. She didn't care though, because Demelza was the type of person who stuck with what she believed in. Nothing was going to change her, you could only adapt to her. At least she was friendly!

"Sorry Starbuck, but I'm probably the worst at potions among my whole family," she replied to her roommate who was bad at potions. Jamie was very good at potions, but he was off at Australia playing Quidditch. Speaking of Quidditch, was it time for practice? Demelza shrugged that thought away, she was enjoying the new conversation that Delilah started, but when it came her turn to speak, she started blushing slightly. Uuuuuhhhh... she didn't know how to answer that. The truth was that Demelza wasn't all that interested in boys. Yet. Hopefully. And if she was interested in boys, perhaps she had the slightest crush on Jude last year... but ewww, what was she saying?! No, definitely not, and her and Delilah were pretty sure that Jude had some issues of his own. Demelza decided to answer the question avoiding it.

"Um, well I'm not sure, but my cousin brought over this hot girl... I mean this girl who he claimed was hot," she said, quickly. Uh, that was awkward. Plus, she was pretty positive that Paul never said that. How'd that even escape her mouth? She shook that thought out of her head. "She was nice. But I had to see the nastiest thing.. it was soo bleeeeehhhhhkkkkk. They kissed right in front of me," she said, sticking her tongue out. " Never want to see that again. The probably kiss in the hallways at their school or something," she said, shaking her head. Paul was rather nasty. And for one thing, she didn't think that she would ever meet a girl crazy enough to like her cousin. But things like that happened, she supposed.

0 Demelza I always skip those words. Too much thinking! 0 Demelza 0 5

Delilah

May 20, 2010 9:56 AM

Thinking is what school is for. :P by Delilah

"Don't worry," Delilah assured Mel, resting a comforting hand on her arm. "Reputations can be rebuilt. Besides, you can't be doing that badly if you were named Assistant Captain. I'm sure you're earning some fans in Pecari and one of them has to have a brain. They would probably be more than happy to help you. And if not, I could always ask Veronica to help you when she's helping me. We could turn it into a study date. It'll be so much fun it won't even seem like work."

She bit her lip. She wasn't sure that Veronica actually would, but she could ask. The last thing Delilah wanted to do was leave her friend swimming alone in an endless pool of water. Putting it out of her mind, she turned towards Nina who seemed like there was something more she wanted to say. When she did, Delilah blinked in surprise as Nina mirrored her thoughts, but, of course, she would try to stick up for her sister anyway. "Veronica's great. She really is, but she tends to get a little...uh...focused. She wants to please our grandmother so she has all these plans of someday marrying the right sort. It's all very silly if you ask me."

On the subject of boys, it had done its purpose in helping to keep the peace going, but she was glad not to be left out. She didn't have the same interest in boys that Veronica did and she was beginning to wonder if there wasn't something wrong with her. She knew that everyone developed at their own pace, but she didn't want to be left out if everyone else was suddenly growing up. That's how Veronica made it seem. Like one day, boys were completely unnoticed and then suddenly it was like something in your brain went off and there they were making your heart pound and your palms sweaty. It didn't really sound all that pleasant to her, but she trusted her sister to know what she was talking about.

"Well, at least, they don't go here. Then, you would see them kissing all the time and we already have enough of that," Delilah stated. It was true enough. Kissing in the hallways seemed to be something that the older kids did like it was as natural as breathing. She couldn't imagine anyone in her class ever doing that, even her sister. But who would they even do that with? There weren't many boys at the school and Jude, well, he might not even be a possibility. So, who was left? Tobar, Raines, Theo, and Ira. She didn't know any of them very well except that her sister had her eye on Raines, but based on Mel, Theo didn't seem very nice.

Drawing on Nina's summer, she asked more about the ranch rather than talk any more of boys, "Do you ride the horses? I went on one when I was like five at a circus. They had someone that would ride with you as they took you up. I don't remember it all that much aside from it being really fun." A thought occurred to her. "If you do ride horses, how come you don't play Quidditch? Don't you miss the feel of the air when you're here instead of there? I would. I love being up in the air, almost as much as drawing." As if proving the point, she had already been drawing on her shoes. This one was a peace sign with a broken heart inside as a representation towards what was going on in the dorm.

0 Delilah Thinking is what school is for. :P 0 Delilah 0 5

Nina

May 26, 2010 6:58 PM

Which is unfortunate by Nina

Nina shook her head. "Potions is dreadful. I have the worst time paying attention in class." She also had to leave the room to study that subject more than any other but wasn't about to say that in front of Mel, who was a big part of the reason why Nina had to go elsewhere, though, there was also the fact that she would rather speak to her roommates in general than study, so she needed to be more or less isolated to stay completely on task.

"I'd suggest the same thing I told Mel,honestly." Nina told Starbuck. "Ask one of the smarter kids in class or an older kid." But given what both Starbuck and Mel had said about them liking Mel, Nina wasn't entirely sure they would want to help Starbuck either.

Actually, Nina was surprised Mel wasn't more popular. Adam had always-very bitterly-said that people like Mel (who seemed similar to that guy that Adam had hated so much) could get away with anything and people would still worship the ground they walked on, while people like him got treated poorly no matter what.

"But don't feel bad about melting your cauldron." Nina grinned. "My cousin is so terrible at potions he must have gone through twenty or more by the time he was able to drop the subject. He destroyed a couple of his friend's cauldrons too."

Nina really didn't think it was such a big deal if Mel's cousin and some girl were kissing. If she'd seen Kaylie and Ian or Adam and Talitha kiss, she might tease them, but that was just what couples did. Of course, it grossed her out terribly when her parents got all lovey-dovy and Nina would probably throw up if she saw someone kissing Chelsea. Maybe Mel just didn't like her cousin. "How old is your cousin?" She asked.

She also had to wonder about Mel's slip-up about the 'hot girl'. Was Mel a lesbian? If so, Nina was really okay with that. She'd thought for years that her cousin Oliver was gay. Nina was far more likely to be irked by Mel's disregard for others and tendency to exclude others-mostly her and Starbuck. She didn't care about her roommate's sexuality.

"I understand." Nina told Delilah, nodded. She would likely stand up for most of her relatives too, like if someone had thought Adam was weird for being so shy (not that most people she knew also knew her older brother) or if someone picked on or said something about Autumn for the same reason.

Nina nodded again, "Yeah, we ride them all the time." She looked away as Delilah mentioned Quidditch. "My mom won't let my siblings and I play. My oldest sister, Kaylie, used to and she got hit in the back with a bludger and now she's in constant pain." Nina sighed. "Of course I miss being in the air, but it's not the flying my mom objects to, it's just the sport with bludgers and whatnot."

11 Nina Which is unfortunate 156 Nina 0 5