Common Room Frustrations on Crotalus Commons

Josh Warren [Enter and exit: Renaye]

March 12, 2009 11:29 PM

Common Room Frustrations by Josh Warren [Enter and exit: Renaye]

Ever since winter break. That must have been when it started... Josh stared into the pages of Quidditch Through the Ages not taking in a word. His mind was on a girl whom usually sat in the stands, camera ready for any picture-worthy moment. Everything seemed so weird lately... It definitely wasn't that he didn't want to be "with" her anymore. Definitely not. Josh just didn't know how to fix whatever it was he was doing wrong. Sitting up a little straighter on the couch, the black haired boy adjusted his book. He still flinched at the memory of walking back to Laurie's house to meet her parents' fury. He didn't regret going, just the ending. Spending time with Laurie was great, it was just certain moments that made the transition from friends to... girlfriend and boyfriend (there, he said it) glaringly awkward.

Thinking back, there had been a moment where... No, that was stupid. Josh couldn't help but think that, even if he got the guts to try to kiss her, she would never want to talk to him again. He was sure. She would exclaim something along the lines of, "What are doing?! What kind of girl do you think I am??" Or something equally terrible. Something had to be done. And he was the guy, so he had to be the one to it. Old fashioned? Maybe. But at times like these, Josh liked to stick with the classics. Josh looked up as the equilibrium of the cushions was thrown off to see his sister, pretending not to notice that he hadn't turned a page in almost fifteen minutes.

"So..." Renaye stated casually, examining her nails, "Want to tell me?" Josh's eyes met hers for a moment and he nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "Maybe you can give me some answers..." Renaye pulled her legs up Indian-style and turned towards him, looking positively delighted at being asked for advice. Josh wasn't a spill-your-guts kind of kid, but on occasion... "So, you know the whole Christmas visit and getting caught and... All that bad stuff. Well... I don't... That's just it. I don't know. Since then, Laurie and I have been kinda... Sorta weird around each other. I don't know what to do about that." Josh paused, directing his speech at the the Keeper pictured in Quidditch through the Ages. "I think she doesn't want to be... I don't know. Whatever this is, I guess. And I haven't actually thought about bringing it up until now. I don't want us to be stuck in awkward-phase forever."

Renaye held up a hand, as if asking permission to interject. "Okay, if you're scared about her walking away you have to say something. Because if you don't, then nothing is stopping her anyway. I think..." She tilted her head, contemplating him for a moment. "I think you know what you should do and I'm going to leave it at that." She gave him a smile, a ruffle of the hair, and departed, just as quickly as she came. Josh stared after her, stunned by her lack of helpfulness.

"Seriously?" He called to her, falling back into the couch cushions. Frustration was bubbling in his chest, mingled with fear, anxiousness, and hope. What did she mean? "I think you know what you should do." What kind of advice was that? Josh snapped his book shut, letting out a long breath. He began the mental breakdown: 1) He did not want to lose Laurie's friendship-plus-one. 2) He didn't know what was going on her mind (like he ever did). 3) He had to do something. Pulling the book back towards him, Josh muttered under his breath, "Crazy..." He barely noticed the approaching figure, nor would he have cared much. Chit-chatting wasn't on his list of things to do anymore.

0 Josh Warren [Enter and exit: Renaye] Common Room Frustrations 0 Josh Warren [Enter and exit: Renaye] 1 5

Cecily Smythe

March 14, 2009 12:01 PM

I know you weren't expecting me by Cecily Smythe

Spying on Jenaye was not something that usually occupied her time. However, Cecily was as prone to eavesdropping as the next gossip-loving teenaged girl, and she simply couldn't help but overhear the exchange between the loser twins in their - unfortunately - shared commons. Similarly, in ordinary circumstances, cecily would have passed the overheard words off as unimportant, especially considering who was saying them, but there was an unusual factor present: Laurie. Despite a rocky start (and one which Cecily had often worried about; did she make the right decision in befriending Laurie?), the two girls had been fairly firm friends for over a year now, and they had, of course, discussed - if ever so lightly - Laurie's prospects with Joshua Warren. To hear that they could be ruined by him rather than by her made good social sense, but Cecily felt an unusual stab of pity. She would rather not see Laurie hurt by Jenaye; she hadn't done anything to deserve it (apart from be friends with them both in the first place).

So when Renaye left, which, thankfully didn't take too long (her company was unbearable), Cecily sidled over to Joshua and waited until she'd caught his attention. "Yes, you are," she repeated his adjective with a sardonically raised eyebrow. Without invitation she took up the seat next to him, not looking at all at ease.

"You are quite odd and have been very rude to me, for which I might sometime forgive you," she began, addressing Joshua directly. "However, I don't dislike you so intently as you might presume; I appreciate you do have some worth. I like Laurie a great deal, and I just wanted to check you're not going to do anything especially stupid." She knew she was probably unwelcome, but that didn't perturb Cecily in the slightest.

0 Cecily Smythe I know you weren't expecting me 122 Cecily Smythe 0 5

Josh

March 14, 2009 1:11 PM

Definitely not, but have a seat. by Josh

"Yes, you are." Josh's attention was sharply directed to the source of the voice. To his immense surprise, Cecily had taken Renaye's abandoned seat. Perhaps as a response to Josh's skeptical look, Cecily began to speak. Josh listened as Cecily observed his odd and rude behavior. She was, however, informative by saying that she didn't absolutely despise him. And then she dropped the bomb. She was here about Laurie. Josh let out a silent sigh. He really didn't want to discuss this with Cecily.

"Okay, how much did you hear?" He said. This was a time where he couldn't get anything miscommunicated. The wrong choice of words could make one thing into another and then what if it got back to Laurie? Sitting with Cecily made Josh increasingly aware of everything he was saying, had said, was thinking about saying. Thinking about it though, this whole thing with Renaye and Cecily and anyone else who got caught up had started in... When was it? First year? Second year? They were going to be Fourth years soon. Maybe it was time to break down some barriers.

"Oh and," he paused, giving his words a quick proofread. "I'm um... Sorry about all the stuff from first and second year." He met her eyes for the briefest half a second. "That doesn't mean I like you," he corrected quickly, "I just think that other stuff was kind of stupid." Josh kept his vision directed away. Why was it that everything he did recently was encased in awkward tension?

0 Josh Definitely not, but have a seat. 0 Josh 0 5

Cecily

March 15, 2009 1:13 PM

Why thank you by Cecily

"Okay, how much did you hear?" Joshua asked, and Cecily was pleasantly surprised that he didn't attempt to prevent their conversing.

"Not a great deal," she said, which was quite close to the truth; not a great deal had been said. "Only that you're uncomfortable around Lauire and are considering doing something about it." She hesitated just a moment before adding, "It's normal to feel awkward around each other at the start of a relationship," she said quite bluntly. Not that Cecily had any experience in such matters, but hello, she read magazines and had an excellent ear for gossip.

Then Joshua Warren took her totally by surprise by apologising for his past evils. Well, cecily had practically begun their conversation by saying she would probably forgive him one day. She hadn't expected that day would be so soon, but that glimmer of hope she had for Joshua was shining much more brightly.

"Apology accepted," she said. "I admit I might not have been as cordial as perhaps I could have been," she said, looking pointedly at her knees, "but you didn't make it easy for me." Not quite an apology, but the closest Cecily was going to get to one.

"And you're right," Cecily said, "it was - is - stupid." More to the point, Renaye was stupid. "And I don't expect you to like me. Despite me being an aimiable person in all respects, you love your sister and I hate her. It would be quite tricky for us to get along," she smirked with no small sense of irony.

0 Cecily Why thank you 0 Cecily 0 5

Josh

March 16, 2009 4:07 PM

Not at all by Josh

Josh wasn't so much worried about what Cecily had heard, but rather what conclusions she had drawn from it. From past experience, he knew that something her conclusions lead to no good. So the short and simple, "Only that you're uncomfortable around Lauire and are considering doing something about it," was only somewhat helpful. Every time he saw Laurie, he had been hoping for some sort of change, something to click and everything to sort itself out. He was starting to figure out that it wasn't going to happen on its own. Now that he knew that, the only problem was figuring out how to break down that barrier.

Josh couldn't help but feel somewhat accomplished as Cecily accepted the apology, even admiting to some of her own fault (sort of). He hadn't made it easy for her, but that was mostly because he had never had a resounding want to be friendly. Cecily was... somewhat tolerable. He could share the common room with her, have a bried conversation. She was, after all, a girl (one of the girliest girls he had ever met) and would most likely know what to do. Hopefully she would just tell him the answer, rather than leave up to his decision.

Josh gave a slightly amused smile and nodded. "Well, I don't know. I can have a mutual tolerance, don't you think?" As long as she didn't openly and freely discuss her hatred Raye in front of him, Josh might be okay with sharing air space for a few minutes. "So um..." He paused for a moment. "What do you think... Is Laurie mad at me or something? Stuff has just been weird recently." For moment, Josh had a vision of Cecily telling him that he should know what he did wrong and to go fix it himself! He blinked his blue eyes for a moment before returning his attention to the conversation.

0 Josh Not at all 0 Josh 0 5

Cecily

March 17, 2009 5:12 PM

Check it out - we can be civil by Cecily

Cecily thought she could probably live with a mutual tolerance. They have managed it at the end of their first year; the ball hadn't been a complete catastrophe, though Cecily now suspected Josh had wanted to go with Laurie all along, which inevitably invoked some residual bitterness. Yet Renaye would always be in the way of any sort of friendship; they could both acknowledge that much, at least.

Then all of a sudden, Joshua was asking questions about Laurie. Cecily felt a small thrill of excitement; she'd never been in a conversation like this before - one where someone was asking how someone else felt. It gave a peculiar effect of being popular (which Cecily knew she was, anyway) and she rather enjoyed it. Luckily, she had in fact had such a conversation with Laurie during DADA, not that long ago. Therefore she could answer Joshua's question with some certainty.

"She definitely not made at you," she said, flicking her chestnut colored hair back behind her ear in a motion that signified confidence. "She feels weird because she's not sure what's going on between the two of you," she told him in a way akin to one would instruct a person how to butter toast. "And since that whatever-it-was on the beach at Christmas," (here she paused only for a moment, just for effect so that Joshua would know that she knew what had happened over the holiday), "she's been avoiding you because trying to figure out how to behave is driving her even madder than usual." Cecily smiled.

"All you need to do is decide whether you want her to be your friend or your girlfriend and just tell her so," she said, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't see why you people are making such a big deal out of something so simple."

0 Cecily Check it out - we can be civil 0 Cecily 0 5

Josh

March 17, 2009 9:16 PM

Who would have guessed? by Josh

Cecily was a weird girl. He had no idea how she ticked. He had been expecting her to "tsk" at his question, irritated by being bothered with such a thing. She, however, looked just as thrilled as Raye did at being asked for an opinion. He listened to her go on with confidence about Laurie's stance. Then she said it. "And since that whatever-it-was on the beach at Christmas..." Josh's attention jerked toward's her, trying to look as innocent as possible. So Laurie had noticed? He had thought he would have been crazy for trying to kiss her. Turns out he was right. Unless he was sure, he would have to keep his thoughts to himself.

Josh's expression turned to confusion. Why would Laurie need to figure out how to act around him? Shouldn't she know that he didn't really care how she acted around him? Okay, he hadn't told her but... Hmm. Maybe he should tell her? As these thoughts occurred to him, Cecily said, point blank, exactly what he wanted to hear. This is what you do, now do it or don't. He almost felt weight lift off his shoulders, like finishing a stressful test. He knew the stress would pick up soon, but for now at least he knew what to do. The answer was obvious to him.

"I don't see why you people are making such a big deal out of something so simple."

"Hey, if you were a guy trying to figure out a girl's mind you would understand." He sent her a sideways glance. "And I hope you don't understand that, because that would be a whole different issue." He gave a small smile to let her know he was joking, maybe she would spare his life. "Plus, Laurie's different. My friends usually tend to be girls for some reason," He gave a shrug, "But none were like Laurie. She had these weird awesome quirks. Most girls are all girly and more worried about how they look than what they do or--" He froze, thinking of a change in topic quickly before Cecily realized he was stereotyping most of the Crotalus girls. "I don't know if she wants to be my girlfriend though."

0 Josh Who would have guessed? 0 Josh 0 5

Cecily

March 23, 2009 8:26 AM

I'd have guessed that <i>I</i> could be civil by Cecily

Cecily merely looked at Joshua with one eyebrow rising increasingly towards her hairline as he rambled on about nothing of consequences for a small while. So he did have his faults; he was generally too quiet and then when he started he didn't shut uo. He would need to learn to control that, Cecily thought idely, if he wanted to get anywhere in life.

"I don't know if she wants to be my girlfriend though," Joshua said, and Cecily couldn't help but sigh.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," she said, bordering on exasperation. "Just ask her. I don't see why not - there's nothing wrong with you, hideous sister aside." And the rambling, but Cecily wasn't going to start making lists of other people's short-comings... unless they were Flatt or Alexis or Coach Fox or Renaye... "The worst that can happen is she'll say no and then things will only be as weird as they are now," she said, crossing her legs neatly over each other.

"So do you have any other foolish questions or are we done with hormonal stupidity for the day?" Although her question was serious, Cecily did grace Joshua with a one-sided smile so he knew she wasn't really irritated with him. Well, not that much, anyway.

0 Cecily I'd have guessed that <i>I</i> could be civil 0 Cecily 0 5

Josh

March 23, 2009 7:33 PM

Now now... Let's not get offensive. by Josh

Cecily had a fair point, he had to admit. It wasn't like he could avoid speaking with her. Well, he could but that was not something on his list of options. It wouldn't lead to anywhere good. Plus, he liked Laurie's presence. What was he going to say though? He was not going to ask Cecily a question like that. That was for him to figure out. The idea of spilling his guts any more than he already did with the girl was unsettling. What if she told Laurie what they had talked about? She had to have more class than that... right? Or what if she decided it would be the perfect moment to blackmail him or just ruin his life altogether? Josh eyes Cecily suspiciously for a moment, but thought better of asking. No need to give her ideas.

Josh looked to his hands sheepishly at Cecily's last comment. Her smiled implied she didn't mind, but nevertheless, no one likes to feel judged. He let out a quick breath. "That's about it," he stated. His mind was going over all possibilties for bringing up the high-stress conversation. The gardens, obviously, was the place to go. Not because it was "pretty" or whatever other girly stuff gardens implied, but because of the many good memories made there. What would he say? Josh realized he was getting caught up in his thoughts and turned back to Cecily.

"Anything you feel like saying, since we're here and all?" Cecily was oddly intriguing. He couldn't understand how someone could go their whole childhood pretending to be an adult. Maybe it was a power trip... That made sense. She always wanted to prove that she was right, or just better, when fighting with Renaye. Or maybe she just wanted respect. Ironic how that was the thing that made Josh think less of her. He didn't think she was any better than he was. But he didn't think he was better either. They were both on the same couch, weren't they? There was plenty of time for power trips next year, or even the year after that. Josh, he thought, was lucky to have grown up without having to dress up for parties all the time or greet people with "How do you do, Madame?" High society was simply too structured and boring for his liking.

0 Josh Now now... Let's not get offensive. 0 Josh 0 5

Cecily

April 07, 2009 1:21 PM

I think we're about finished here, anyway by Cecily

From Joshua's expressions, Cecily guessed he was finally starting to piece together all his thoughts into some coherent form. Boys were so slow when it came to emotional dilemmas. Cecily knew that everything, if viewed logically, could be easily solved. Through her generosity, she had helped Joshua to find a solution too. Well, that was her good deed for the day done.

"Anything you feel like saying, since we're here and all?" Joshua asked then, and Cecily greeted him with another amused half-smile. What, did he think she was going to open up to him? Tell him her wildest dreams and lifetime ambitions? Unlikely.

"Funnily enough, no," she replied in a higher-than-thou manner which she knew could only be frustrating. "I'm all shared-out for today," she said, uncrossing her legs and standing back up. She took a moment to smooth her robes, and then reached a hand upwards to tidy her hair before she made to leave the vicinity of the couch. "Though I have enjoyed our little chat," she smiled at Joshua, the closest she had come yet to genuine warmth.

Turning to leave, Cecily said back over her shoulder, "And do grow a backbone some day. It would make you somewhat divine." Then with a chuckle to retreated back to the relative safety of her dormitory, very pleased with what she had accomplished.

0 Cecily I think we're about finished here, anyway 0 Cecily 0 5