In the Fourth Year Girls' Dormitory on Crotalus Commons

Nicoletta Dupree

April 19, 2007 1:11 AM

In the Fourth Year Girls' Dormitory by Nicoletta Dupree

Sitting in front of the mirror, the image that stared back at her was not her own. The version in the mirror seemed pale and drab. The blue eyes that normally sparkled, regardless of intent, appeared listless. She attempted to turn her mouth up into a smile, failing miserably, as the most that occurred was a slightly upturned corner.

Giving a large sigh, she placed her chin on her hand, resting her elbow on the vanity. She knew exactly why she looked this way. Misery. She had been miserable and feeling guilty since that day on the paths. His words still echoing in her ears, 'I'm sorry I'm not good enough. I hope he's good to you.' It still sent shivers down her spine every time she thought about it.

She knew it was the right thing to do though. They didn't belong together. So, why did being in his arms feel right? Why did she have this ache now? It was because, though she was to stubborn to admit it, she felt a connection to Adam. She hadn't even known it was possible to feel this way about another human being, let alone this soon.

The worst part about it all was that she couldn't talk to anyone about it. Jordanna and Catherine wouldn't understand and would most likely turn on her. Gwen might understand, but she couldn't talk to her for a multitude of other reasons, yet that was a whole other story.

What to do? What to do? Nicoletta drummed the nails of her free hand on the table. She knew what she wanted to do, but did she have the courage to?

0 Nicoletta Dupree In the Fourth Year Girls' Dormitory 64 Nicoletta Dupree 1 5

Gwen Carey

April 20, 2007 8:45 PM

I get the feeling this won't be a happy term... by Gwen Carey

Gwen didn't want to see Amber the first day she returned to Sonora. She didn't really want to see Anne or Connor or any of her Quidditch acquaintances, either. The people Gwen was used to least wanting to see were the other Crotalus fourth years, but this year, even the Hens were badly outranked by one person: her sister. If she saw Morgaine, Gwen knew that she would either flip out and cry or flip out and hurt her, and neither option appealed. She'd gotten Morgaine's letter two days after Christmas.

Logically speaking, the best place to go if you were trying to avoid a Pecari was a non-Pecari common room, and she had access to one of those. The Crotalus common room was a long way from being one of her favorite places, but better there than with her sister. Between Morgaine and Nicoletta, she'd take Nicoletta. They'd both tried to "kill" her, but it was easier to deal with an enemy with that record than with her own sister with it. She hung around the edges of the common room until she began to notice people filtering in, then it was up the stairs to the dorms. Seeing Cate return all glow and smiles from a happy holiday wouldn't do her morale much good, but wrecking the Hens' reunion would.

She'd been too upset since the letter to think about it too much, but it occurred to Gwen to wonder what the talk she'd had with Jordanna might cause. It wasn't every day that the class nut got a chance to manipulate the class queen, after all, and it made her feel a little better to think that she might have had something of the desired effect. Acting like a Carey was the second-best thing to being one, and she had done both over Christmas - sort of. She still found it hard to consider her present state of limbo as one beloning to a member of the family, though limbo was better than flat-out disowned, she supposed. She also supposed that other people supposed there was no difference.

The flash of irritation she felt at finding the fourth year girls' dorm already occupied was quickly followed by a most unpleasant feeling of wanting to come apart, and it made no difference if it was physically or mentally or both. Either seemed better than facing Nicoletta alone. Her mind flashed back to what she'd thought about taking Nicoletta over Mora for the moment, but it wasn't much comfort. Catherine was a hapless idiot, not to mention fun to play with, but this so-called lady had ruined her life. She had spoken to this one even less than to the other two since.

Gwen made herself keep walking normally, unaware that she'd gone rather pale. Giving her least-favorite roommate a look from underneath her eyelashes, she realized that she looked horrible - not a sentence usually uttered about any members of Nicoletta's crowd. They were at the top of the ladder in Sonoran society, and with their position came certain rules and obligations. Beauty was one of them, and they generally did their best to meet expectations, if not exceed them. If Nicoletta Dupree was looking miserable, something was going on.

Maybe Jordanna dropped her, she thought wildly. Such a nice notion. The only thing better than Nicoletta finding out what it was like to lose all of her friends at one blow the way Gwen had would be for it to be Gwen who made it all happen. It was a lovely thought, but she was still rational enough to know that it wasn't very likely. Not yet, anyway. Getting optimistic at all was still a bad idea, at least at this point. "Something the matter, Nicks?" Gwen asked, tone all bright, bubbly sarcasm, keeping a careful distance away from her adversary.

0 Gwen Carey I get the feeling this won't be a happy term... 63 Gwen Carey 0 5

Nicoletta

April 21, 2007 4:14 AM

What was your first clue? by Nicoletta

A half-managed snarl came out in response, before it turned into a sigh. She eyed Gwen warily, as she had no energy to exchange quips with her. Giving a slight shrug, she turned her face back towards the mirror, not so much to view herself, as to avoid Gwen's condescending stare. She was sure the other girl was enjoying seeing her like this, but to be honest, she couldn't care less.

Maybe, she should tell her. It wasn't like anyone would actually believe her. Gwen's word held no stock. Not ever since the first year when she was destroyed. Nicoletta hadn't actually meant for that to happen. She had tried to initially cover for Gwen, even if it had been in order to serve her own purposes later.

Well, maybe she shouldn't. Even if no one would believe Gwen, it would be dangerous to have the idea out there, and no doubt she would try to spread it. But how long could she go without talking about it? Maybe, she could make it hypothetical. Uh, maybe not. Perhaps, a different approach would work.

Now, studying Gwen, Nicoletta asked without malice, "Why did you choose to associate with those beneath you?"

0 Nicoletta What was your first clue? 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Gwen

April 21, 2007 4:26 PM

All the midterms. by Gwen

Gwen had a pretty good idea of what Nicoletta was going to say - something along the lines of 'you're here' - and was already working on her own barb to throw back. It was, she thought, the only logical course this chat could take. The Hens didn't even, from what Gwen had seen, tell each other their secrets, never mind the likes of her. In the fourth-year girls' dorm, one-liners were almost the only accepted form of communication. That was, she supposed, why she was thrown for such a loop when Nicoletta seemed to give up.

She studied her roommate from behind, wondering if there really was something wrong. The girls never showed their weaker sides like this, especially not where anyone like her could see. Maybe Nicoletta really had been dumped by her friends; Gwen could remember how she'd been when she had lost hers. She had all but shut down, going to class only because she had to and usually needing to nap every afternoon after the last bell rang. She had always, if a nice word was to be used, been a little moody, and she'd been dealing with family stuff, too. Could someone else, someone who wasn't so moody, end up like this from it?

It was hard to tell. To kill time while she tried to think of a line, she studied the edge of her reflection she made out from where she was standing, giving it an experimental little half-smile. If she had to look like one of her many relatives in miniature, she was glad it was Eileen. If she had to name one good thing her father had given her, she'd name his mother's looks. She wasn't great and stood little chance of ever being great again, but she could still look great.

She was jerked back to more practical matters by Nicoletta and her strange question. Gwen eyed the other girl with an unusual degree of open caution, trying to see the trap. It was a cold day in Louisiana when Nicoletta spoke to her in a non-insulting or degrading fashion, but she didn't sound mean right now. Startled as she was, Gwen was still struck by the irony of it: she'd often dreamed of just explaining how it had all gone wrong to someone, and now one of those behind it going wrong to begin with wanted to know.

"A misunderstanding," she said finally. "I didn't realize I was making an error at first. Then you and your little crew decided to snub me the next morning. I didn't like that, so I figured I'd show you who was better. Then Father came for the Banquet, and you and Asher and Charley Raines all put a bad word in for me, and I lost my head, and everything went mad and got so complicated..." She gave Nicoletta the ghost of a bitter smile. "Now, well, I haven't got anyone else. I don't do well as a loner, so I take what I can get and make the best of it."

0 Gwen All the midterms. 63 Gwen 0 5

Nicoletta

April 22, 2007 3:39 PM

Should we be worried about summer then? by Nicoletta

Nicoletta's mouth formed a small 'oh.' The thought had never occurred to her before that Gwen had just made a mistake. They had all been new and not everyone was going to be aware of who was acceptable and not. But then, they had only been eleven. The shades of gray were nonexistent at the time.

Studying Gwen, she thought it was really a shame too, because she was rather pretty. With her appearance and family connections, she should have been a part of their group, one of the elite. As it stood, she was at the bottom of the social ladder, but then, it could be...climbed. No, no, she was getting ahead of herself. She wasn't sure she should offer that just yet. Slowly, slowly.

Oddly enough, the idea of Gwen joining made her feel a little better. She gave a little shudder at the thought. What was the world coming to? What was she becoming? But then, the girl might be insane, but Nicoletta had the feeling she would prove more useful than Jordanna was being by sucking up to firsties.

Nicoletta got up from her seat and approached Gwen. Giving her a disarmingly charming smile, she casually touched a strand the fourth year's blonde hair, "This style really suits you."

0 Nicoletta Should we be worried about summer then? 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Gwen

April 22, 2007 8:51 PM

Maybe a little. by Gwen

She watched Nicoletta carefully after her confession, alert and still a little wary. One of the perks of her condition, one these girls knew nothing about, was being able to be as brutally honest as she liked, but she had to be careful not to push her luck too far. Nicoletta was many things, but an idiot wasn't one of them. If anyone - other than Cate, that was, the one who'd given her the idea to play the House nut in the first place - realized she still had it together, it was most likely the girl in front of her. The difference in Cate and Nicoletta was that she had less to use against the latter.

Nicoletta looked...surprised. Gwen didn't know if that was exactly right, but it was the best she could do. She found herself on the receiving end of a study she wasn't sure if she liked. She was in the public eye, of course - with her looks, social condition, and reputation, it was impossible to fade away the way she sometimes wanted to - but she was the sort of person the public shot discreet glances at. It was relatively rare for her to be openly stared at, and it had been so long since someone really had that it made her faintly uncomfortable.

She didn't really react to Nicoletta touching her hair, but it was more from shock than self-control. She tried, but it was impossible for her to recall a single incident of being complimented by any of her royal roommates, except for that bizarre interlude where Nicoletta had, for whatever reason, gone along with Charles Raines' delusion about her being an old bosom buddy to Catherine. There was nothing too special about the way her hair was; she hadn't felt like doing more than brushing it out, and it wasn't like she had anyone she needed to impress. "Thanks," she said finally. What the...?

"It's hard to work with, because it's so thick," she added, figuring that even if it was a trap of some kind, she might get the last laugh by having the conversation overheard. It would make Catherine so paranoid she'd die, and while their other friend was a bit more secure than Catherine, Jordanna wouldn't like hearing all this at all. "So I just give it a brush and call it a day most of the time. It looks good put up, but it takes a while." She laughed a little, mind going into overdrive as she tried to figure out what was going on here. "I grew up wanting hair like yours, actually. I'm the only blonde in my family." Edmond and Lorena were redheads.

0 Gwen Maybe a little. 63 Gwen 0 5

Nicoletta

April 23, 2007 1:20 PM

I'll keep that in mind by Nicoletta

Nicoletta nodded in response. Up styles were always more elegant than ones worn down. It made one appear more mature.

"Funny isn't it?" She gave a little laugh at the irony of it all, "I always wanted to be a blonde. I like the way when the sun reflects off of it and causes it to look like a radiating light surrounding the person."

She touched her own dark locks, running a hand through them. She always thought her hair seemed dull in comparison. While it was manageable, it lacked the same eye catching attention that blonde hair offered. Nearly everyone in her family had dark hair with the exception of Lucie, who was one of those that Nicoletta considered lucky.

"Do you have lunch plans tomorrow?" She asked, as she grasped the other girl by the wrist and pulled her over to the closet. Opening it, she browsed through a couple of outfits before pulling out a light blue top that shimmered slightly. "If not, you should wear this and come sit with me."

0 Nicoletta I'll keep that in mind 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Gwen

April 23, 2007 9:33 PM

You're taking advice from me? Scary... by Gwen

It had been a long time - five years in September - since Gwen had talked about hair or clothes or anything related to them. What was supposed to have been a fight was close to mirroring the kind of meaningless, intimate chats she, Lila, and Clarissa had once been partial to, before their ages and parents split them apart and things went awry in her corner of the universe. She wondered if Lila had kept in touch with Clarissa. She'd always been closer to Rissa than the twins had been just because of age; it was a bit more likely to have been Clarissa she talked to like this than Lila...

She blocked out the notion firmly. Nicoletta was not Rissa. Any time Nicoletta was nice to her, it was bound to be part of a setup. If she was dumb enough to forget that, then she would be the one who wound up looking stupid instead of the one laughing. "Yes," she said, tucking back a piece of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "It is sort of funny." She'd figure out what was going on here soon enough, she was sure of it. Gwen doubted herself about a lot of things - most of them, actually - but rarely about her ability to work stuff out if she put her mind to it.

Then she was being asked about her lunch and pulled along to the wardrobes. This was getting ridiculous. What could Nicoletta possibly be hoping to get out of this? Publicly humiliating her again? She looked at the top her roommate held up automatically, without thinking, and noticed that the color would go well with her eyes in similar fashion. Nicoletta did have nice taste in clothes, Gwen would give her that much. She had a black skirt it might go with...

Focus, you idiot! It had been a long time since she had resorted to blessing herself out in her own head. This was throwing her for a bigger loop than the refusal to get the snipping started. If anyone at Sonora should have been able to see through Nicoletta's charm, it was her. She was familiar with that sort of charm. She'd had it herself, in her former life. She knew she had. She still did, sort of. She could still charm Connor into forgiving her every time she messed up in messing him up, and she could charm Amber into thinking she was a better person than she really was. It was the oldest trick in the book.

Half-bloods and Muggleborns. That was who she charmed, now. She couldn't charm Anne - Anne was too charmless herself to be charmed by many - and the other purebloods she knew were mostly Crotali, which meant they mostly knew her as "Crazy" Gwen Carey, the weirdo loner fourth year who played Beater, occasionally fought with Morgaine Carey, and had been half-disowned.

Such a wonderful legacy.

She wanted to just come out and ask what was going on, but that wasn't acceptable. She still remembered that. Another thing she remembered was Nicoletta offering Catherine such an invitation, over four years previously. Ironic, really, that the things she most wanted to forget were the ones to stick out in her mind the most. It was, with one exception from the Banquet, always that way. Nicoletta had her place in her group, and part of it seemed to be recruitment. She was the one who decided what was what. Gwen smiled at her, going for the 'innocent' look. "I don't have any plans."

She took the top from Nicoletta, the fabric soft against her hands. Pretty. She didn't look away from it when she asked her question, her voice casual. "Do Cate and Danna know about this?"

0 Gwen You're taking advice from me? Scary... 63 Gwen 0 5

Nicoletta

April 25, 2007 11:35 AM

It's a twisted world by Nicoletta

"Wonderful," Nicoletta stated, mirroring Gwen's innocence, such was the game they all played. Then, with further confidence than was actually felt, "Jordanna and Catherine will be there."

She hoped. If they weren't, then this all would have been for nothing. Catherine, she wasn't too worried about, but Jordanna was her target. This past year, the girl had been sucking up to firsties and professors. The first years wouldn't have been so bad, if they hadn't been male. What could they possibly do at the moment with first-year males? They wouldn't be dating them nor would they in turn be carrying the legacy. So, what was the point?

As for the professors, granted it was better to be polite for the sake of one's grade, but one only needed to go so far as the cold, calculated politeness and to do one's work well...was Jordanna's work not up to par? Was that the reason she was kissing up to professors? She couldn't help, but smirk at that thought, as a proper pureblood they were the ones that should maintain the highest caliber.

Nicoletta wanted to send the message loud and clear to the girl - she could be replaced. She was only popular, because Nicoletta ensured it by being supportive, as her right-hand woman. Yet, it could be changed. Jordanna could not just be substituted, but by Gwen Carey, even for as far as she had fallen. Gwen was still a legacy in pureblood lines. For that, there would always be a window open, even if one had to squeeze through. As for Catherine's role, she had already talked to the girl previous and now had no doubt that she could be twisted to Nicoletta's liking.

The worst part of the situation and probably the most amusing was Nicoletta's hypocrisy in the matter. She was born to this and to this she would stay, yet she had her own indiscretion, specifically Adam Whitney. Wanting him would be considered far worse than Jordanna's faux pas, but unlike Jordanna, no one knew of hers and there it would stay.

0 Nicoletta It's a twisted world 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Catherine Raines

April 25, 2007 9:58 PM

The world's turned upside down. by Catherine Raines

Catherine made a real effort at straightening her back and assuming a more typical air before giving Gunter's picture the password and entering the Crotalus Common Room. It was her roommates she was really worried about, but there were no Crotali who she wanted to see how worn out she felt and had been feeling since Christmas and finding out about the baby. She had tried to hide it, and figured the mask would hold up at any reasonable distance. Her roommates would be able to tell that she was wearing her concealer just a bit too dark and had on no blush or lipstick, but the perfect, charmed curls she had set her hair in would deceive most.

Even so, she didn't dawdle in the common room. She made her way to the girls' corridor quickly, not speaking to anyone. If they wanted to call her a snob or think something was in the works, then let them. She slowed down once she got past the entranceway, though, and stopped in her tracks in front of her dorm door. Gwen always stayed for midterm, and there was nothing to gain from being made to feel like a dirt-low idiot. Her friends were often political, and she was out of energy to care about politics, aside from the paranoia that looking so mediocre in front of them was going to start up. Carefully, hoping against hope that no one noticed her, she got close enough to the door to try to hear if anything was in there.

She picked up on girls' voices talking...There was a little laughter...The door muffled their voices too much for there to be any real certainty as to who they were, but the topic was hair. She smiled for what felt like the first time in a very, very long time. None of the girls would talk to Gwen, and hair was hardly a political topic, especially when they were laughing. It was easy to make herself believe that the problems would all work themselves out in the moment. She'd had a horrible midterm, and it showed, but her life was not going to go to pieces because of it.

Her mother's baby, which she had somehow started thinking of as a girl, would never be even half as close to her as Jordanna and Nicoletta, and wouldn't have been if the age interval hadn't been there. They were her friends. Lila's baby was just her probably half-blood half-sibling and fifteen years younger to boot. Jordanna and Nicoletta lived with her, gossiped with her, did everything with her. Here were her real sisters. The thought gave her the nerve to reach out to open the door -

And freeze at a question she heard, though it wasn't even the whole question that stopped her cold. It was one word of the question. The word was Catherine's name, or a form of it. It was a nickname, a nickname she hated. There was only one person who had ever called her that, a girl with more reasons to hate Catherine than Catherine had to hate her. Catherine had nicknamed her first, and had spent too many times to count wishing she hadn't. If she had chosen another way to protect herself than inventing the idea of Crazy Gwen Carey, Gwen might not have, in what could only be one of the sickest jokes in Sonora's history, begun to call her Cate.

One of her friends was talking to Gwen Carey. Gwen Carey was talking to one of her friends. Gwen's reputation was shot, she was known to be nuts, and she could have been, but she was talking to one of Catherine's friends. She'd gotten here too late. If Jordanna or Nicoletta - Jordanna was to be more worried about than Nicoletta, she hadn't been there that day, but still - believed anything that Gwen said, then Catherine was done for. She felt herself break out in a cold sweat, feeling like she was going to throw up. This. Was. Not. Good.

She made herself think in spite of the adrenaline and lack of sleep combining to make everything feel off-kilter. She had the dubious honor of probably being the best gossip at Sonora. If she said something about someone, it had a way, especially among Crotali, of going as she wanted. Jordanna and Nicoletta thought she was an innocent tagalong without enough sense to think to lie to them, which meant that the odds of them really believing Gwen was nuts were higher in the dorm than they were in the rest of the school. This was still under control.

She tried to smooth out the lines of her face before going to open the door again. All her insides felt like they were shaking, but there was nothing she could do about that. She had gotten through events with her insides shaking before without showing it. She could do this. She walked into her dorm, a tired smile on her face. There was no escaping looking tired.

"Nicoletta," she said, smiling at her friend and ignoring Gwen entirely. She was afraid to look at her. "It's so good to see you again. Did you have a good holiday?"

0 Catherine Raines The world's turned upside down. 66 Catherine Raines 0 5

Nicoletta

April 28, 2007 6:00 PM

At least, we didn't fall off by Nicoletta

Did she have a good holiday? Yes and no. When she and Adam were getting along, it had been fun. She had also gotten an assortment of presents, including a locket from Lucien. But then, of course, the other part had been spent avoiding Adam and being miserable.

Instead, she answered, "Simply delightful. How was yours? Gwen and I were just discussing plans for tomorrow. I invited her to come sit with us at lunch."

She paused, knowing that the sentence might cause a little shock to Catherine, before continuing, as though she had said nothing to cause a stir, "Want to see the necklace that Lucien sent me?"

Hidden beneath her robes, Nicoletta pulled it out to show them the delicate silver chain and heart locket that was around her thin throat. Inside was a picture of a dark haired male with a smirk on his aesthetically pleasing face, which she showed to both girls.

0 Nicoletta At least, we didn't fall off 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Catherine

April 28, 2007 11:15 PM

There is always that. by Catherine

Looking mostly at Nicoletta, with only a fleeting glance at Gwen, Catherine felt like a first year again. They had been in this exact position many a time then, but not since; the politics had been swept under the rug after the Alumni came for their Banquet. If Asher Tallow had been there, it would have felt just like old times. As it was, it felt like some reunion for veterans of a war that didn't have a name, with the leaders of both factions among the casualties. She felt an odd kinship with the other two. They hadn't all been for the same side, but they'd all been there for the show.

"I invited her to come sit with us at lunch."

Nicoletta said those words as if there was nothing strange about them. No one brave enough to eavesdrop on the fourth year girls' dorm would have known that Gwen was the enemy, much less that she always had been. No one would have seen those words hit Catherine like a physical blow, or noticed her momentary desire to die before lunch the next day. She could see how this was going to go. It was inevitable. She tried to tell herself she'd had it coming, but it was hard to think about much other than how she would always recall this moment as the one where she lost it all.

"Oh?" She tried to sound surprised, as if she hadn't spent the past three years knowing perfectly well that Gwen was, somehow, going to get back her own someday. "That's..." It was terrible. It was unnatural. It was the death of social order in the year. "Lovely," she finished. She looked Gwen straight in the eye for a moment. She thought of Nicoletta and Jordanna as her sisters, but she was just as linked to Gwen. Welcome to the family, Carey, she thought. It was, she imagined, a heady moment for Gwen. She'd won, for now. She didn't know that victory came with its own set of burdens, yet, but she would soon enough.

Then Nicoletta turned the topic to her beau. Gwen probably wouldn't know who she was talking about, which did offer a little comfort. "Let's see it," she said, making an effort at her old enthusiasm. She observed the pretty locket with a jewelry lover's interest, then leaned in to examine what it held. Her blue eyes widened. "Oh, my," she said, almost jealous for a moment. As far as she was aware, she'd never had anyone interested in her, either personally or as part of a marriage arrangement. She meant to say 'it's', but it came out as, "He's gorgeous."

0 Catherine There is always that. 0 Catherine 0 5

Gwen

April 29, 2007 12:27 AM

Always look for the best in the situation. by Gwen

One corner of Gwen's mouth twitched, a facsimile of a smile almost taking form, when she heard that her lunch date with Nicoletta was also with the rest of the clique. People were going to be falling over in their seats, especially if none of them ended up running out in tears or starting riots. It would be monumentous - maybe as much so as the Banquet. The whole banana would be rattled by this, if everything was as it appeared to be. Gwen wasn't too confident about the odds on that, but if it was...Merlin, that would be funny. She'd get some laughs out of it if she got nothing else.

"Excellent," she said. "It's been too long." She did smile, then. She'd talked to Jordanna over Christmas, and had long since decided that the temporary disfigurement of her voice was worth giving the other blonde something to think about. She talked to Catherine on a regular basis, and was content with the knowledge that she'd driven her rival to the brink of the next thing to insanity a few times. She was sure the other two girls would disagree with her about the time in a big way. Anything else she might have said was precluded by Catherine's entrance.

She wasn't surprised when Cate ignored her. In Catherine's shoes, she would have ignored her, too. Gwen stood back to watch what happened, a little half-smile on her lips. This was Nicoletta's test. If she failed, Gwen would start work on a plan to humiliate her. If she passed, Gwen had nary a clue as to what to do.

In the end, she found herself unable to decide if the other girl passed or failed, which was just as well. The handling was done well, though. Nicoletta clearly knew that Cate was all but incapable of disobeying her, but she wasn't playing it too openly - she allowed Catherine to keep some shred of dignity. She met Catherine's stare without feeling too much of anything. She didn't know if it was all the faking crazy or feeling crazy or something else she hadn't yet been able to think of, but it was surprisingly easy to just break off from feeling. She began to smile slowly after a few seconds for no solid reason, and then it was over.

She sometimes felt like a bad person for what she did to Catherine. She usually got over it pretty fast.

She didn't know who 'Lucien' was, but she nodded just the same when Catherine encouraged Nicoletta to show them his picture and the accompanying locket. Another person, more normal than Gwen, might have felt at least a bit awkward, uncomfortable, and uncertain about just joining in like a long-term member of the alliance, but Gwen wasn't normal, didn't even care anymore unless it was an odd day, and it amused her to think of them secretly flipping out beneath their perfect masks because of how she conducted herself. They had put her into what she called a floating mood, in which she didn't have many standards. She moved in to see right along with Cate.

"Catherine," she said, mock-patiently, to her old enemy's exclamation, "Friends don't steal friends' beaux." It was easy to smile, then, as if she were one of them and had a right to be in this conversation, joking and teasing with the queens of the school. It was amazing, how much just a few minutes could change everything. Her sometimes mildly- odd-seeming-even-to-her perspectives seemed much less odd when she saw things like this afternoon. "I'll admit that you've got a point, though." He looked a little too cocky for her taste, but if that was Nicoletta's type - or, and she thought it much more likely, her parents' - then that was her business.

0 Gwen Always look for the best in the situation. 63 Gwen 0 5

Nicoletta

April 29, 2007 9:19 PM

Best policy by Nicoletta

OOC: Do we want to move onto the big lunch soon? *evil grin*

BIC:

Nicoletta had no doubt that Lucien would take their breaths away. He had taken hers upon their first meeting. He was taller than her, slender, and very sure of himself. Not to mention a wonderful kisser. 'Adam's better,' a nagging voice inside her head whispered. Shaking her dark curls slightly, she turned her attention to the other two girls.

"He's sixteen," she said fondly, knowing it was a big deal that she was not only dating a handsome boy, but an older one. "He'll be seventeen this summer."

Her parents certainly knew how to pick them. Lucien was the type of guy that any proper pureblood girl would love to have. 'But he isn't what you want.' 'Shut up,' she told herself. This wasn't the time or place to be thinking about it. She needed to concentrate on the delicate balance that was occurring at the moment between the three of them.

"Lucien is my betrothed," Nicoletta explained, knowing Gwen wasn't quite in the loop. "He lives in France and goes to a private school."

0 Nicoletta Best policy 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Gwen

May 02, 2007 10:49 PM

Mmm-hmm by Gwen

OOC: Probably should... BIC:

Nicoletta's boyfriend - who else would give a girl a heart-shaped locket with his picture in it? - was sixteen. Unless the other girl had failed a year, been resorted, and sweet-talked every teacher in the school, Nicoletta was fourteen, fifteen at most. Not a bad age difference, especially for a pureblooded couple, and she somehow doubted Nicoletta would dangle a half-blooded or Muggleborn prize in front of Cate. Putting more effort into it than she would have liked, Gwen forced her face into an impressed look.

"I see," she said, inclining her head a little so that it could have been taken for either acknowledgement and mild thanks for confirming that she was right or as her seeing the picture from an angle. Doing ambiguous things of that sort never failed to amuse her, when she was in the right kind of mood to be amused. Drat Catherine; Gwen had begun spacing and feeling odd only after she entered. Catherine had a way of putting her off edge, especially when it was definitely a time to stay on it. "An heir to something?"

It didn't matter - the question was a mere formality, and it would only be proper for Nicoletta to lie if he wasn't an heir, which meant there was no reason to get worked up about the answer. Half of society, Gwen decided, had come from men being ruthless and the other half from groups of women lying to each other. The point of the exchange was, of course, that Nicoletta's future was secure. That meant she was marginally higher on the ladder than Cate or Gwen on their best days. She knew Catherine too well to really believe the other girl would have been able to resist the urge to rub Gwen's nose in it if she'd gotten engaged.

Cate would find someone, of course. Gwen...didn't know. If she was taken back, then she might do all right - some old millionaire who'd drop in a year or two, or a minor cousin she could manipulate into political office. If she wasn't, well, she would still have two options. Gwen found neither marrying Connor nor becoming a schoolteacher too appealing at the moment, but having those to pick between was better than having no prospective options at all.

0 Gwen Mmm-hmm 63 Gwen 0 5

Catherine

May 05, 2007 11:47 PM

Yeah...I think... by Catherine

OOC: Agreed!

BIC:

It took everything Catherine had to keep from hitting Gwen when the other girl leaned in to see Lucien's picture with her. It took even more to keep from screaming when she had to listen to Gwen joshing with her without making a retort in the usual style. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she was being a little melodramatic, but things still felt like they were spinning out of control and that they all sped up whenever she tried to take hold of any of them. Instead of hitting or hollering, she forced a laugh; it sounded hollow even to her ears.

Maybe it passed muster; Nicoletta was explaining who Lucien was to Gwen as if everything were fine. The problem was, of course, that Nicoletta might well act as if everything were fine if a hurricane hit midway through a dinner party she'd been forced to throw together on short notice. Just because things were being conducted normally didn't mean that she'd passed inspection. She thought Jordanna was the one most at risk for dropping - she wasn't here - but Catherine knew it could easily be her. Even now, she thought it had been more luck than anything that got her accepted in the first place and the mess of that year that had kept her where she was.

"Oh, yes," she answered for Nicoletta, desperate to seem as close to her friend as possible and in the seeming show the school nut just how distant she was. "Everything's just too perfect. Nicoletta's got it made with him." She was so used to lying that she almost felt honest, with so much evidence to suggest what she'd said. In the real truth, however, she was having trouble remembering much about her best friend's betrothal. She dismissed it as tiredness.

There was a chance that no one would be tossed out of their group. Gwen could, theoretically, be taken in without major trouble from anyone, assuming this wasn't an elaborate plot by Nicoletta to teach their least-favorite roommate how and where she stood. It wasn't likely, though. Catherine needed Nicoletta more than Nicoletta needed her; Jordanna probably was aware of no such need even if it existed. If all of the friendships established before this held together until the finish, then nothing would ever break them.

0 Catherine Yeah...I think... 0 Catherine 0 5