Thank Merlin I'm back here! on Crotalus Commons

Ryan O'Malley

November 09, 2010 1:44 PM

Thank Merlin I'm back here! by Ryan O'Malley

Ryan was so glad to be back at school after midterm. His break had been awful and had just reinforced his desire to never go home again. The more Ryan thought about that, the better it would be for everyone, even his dad. The Crotalus couldn't imagine it was much fun to be caught in the middle like that continuously.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it. Ryan felt powerless to change anything about his situation. Truthfully, it was up to his father to see how awful it was for Ryan. How terribly his mother treated him and how it was only getting worse. How the first year needed to get out for good.

Ryan hated to put that on his father though. It seemed like he was blaming his dad, but he wasn't. If it was anyone's fault, it was Ryan's own for not speaking up, but he was afraid to. Nothing good had ever come of Ryan expressing his own opinions. He'd learned that very young.

Thankfully, now he was at school most of the year where he didn't have to deal with his mother or-for the time being-his sister. Oh, how Ryan hoped that his sister would be sorted into a different house. He knew his mother was livid over his own sorting. How dare he be sorted into Crotalus, often considered the most proper house and the one his mother wanted Carrie to be in, while his mother had been sorted into Pecari herself, often considered the least proper. To Ryan, it just seemed wrong that his mother-and Tawny-had been sorted into the same house as Sophie, Neal,Sara and Uncle Seth.

On the other hand, he didn't care what house Carrie was sorted into, just as long as it wasn't Crotalus. Of course, like most of his opinions, Ryan kept this to himself. In fact, he'd learned it was just best not to talk at home, period.

For the time being, however, he didn't have to worry about where his sister would go in four years, though knowing Ryan, he still would. Especially considering how miserable that Carrie had made him over midterm. When he'd come down for presents on Christmas Day, Carrie had thrown a fit that he was there. Then, his mother naturally insisted he go back up to his room and his dad had yelled at Carrie and said that Ryan was staying. That, of course, lead to his parents fighting and Ryan sitting there, too terrified to move.

Then there was,of course, the usual Carrie doing things and blaming them on Ryan. Not to mention lying about things he had done that hadn't even been done at all. Basically the normal stuff that happened when he was home. It never seemed to end.

But for now, Ryan had nothing to worry about. He collapsed on a couch in the empty common room and promptly fell asleep. He awoke several minutes later to find someone standing over him.

11 Ryan O'Malley Thank Merlin I'm back here! 176 Ryan O'Malley 1 5

Jordan Adair

November 10, 2010 10:05 PM

I can't say I agree. by Jordan Adair

Christmas was definitely her second favorite holiday. Valentine’s Day might have come in for second if she had a boyfriend, but without one, it just wasn’t as awesome. Her favorite was what only she considered to be a holiday and that was her birthday, because she was the center of attention on top of getting presents. However, Christmas was still great cause of all the presents. She had lots of new clothes that were waiting to be put away in her closet in addition to jewelry and other items. However, her most adorable present lay in her arms, as she walked down the stairs.

“Okay, Mr. Crispen, this is the Common room. Only Crotali are allowed in this room, so I guess now you’re an official Crotali.” She laughed at the idea that her chocolate rabbit was now sorted into a House. But since he was, she was giving him the grand tour. “This room is used for studying.” That was something she wasn’t very good at. She absolutely hated schoolwork. It was so boring! All that sitting there and having to pay attention when there was so many more interesting things like why Ryan was sleeping on the couch. Had he been there long? Had she missed him when she had gone up to her dorm? That certainly couldn’t be comfortable.

She jumped a little in surprise when he woke up. Now, most people might be embarrassed to have been found staring at someone, but she wasn’t one of those people. Actually, very little embarrassed her. “Why are you sleeping on the couch?” She asked bluntly. Then, without giving him a chance to answer, she went on, “This is my rabbit, Mr. Crispen. I got him for Christmas. He’s really soft.” She touched one of his floppy ears affectionately. “Did you have a good holiday? I hated to see it end. Not that I mind school, I just mind school work.” She made a face at the thought of homework and tests.

0 Jordan Adair I can't say I agree. 173 Jordan Adair 0 5

Ryan

November 12, 2010 2:50 PM

You don't want me here? by Ryan

Ryan blinked as a steady stream of words came out of Jordan's mouth. To be honest, he was feeling a little bewildered at the way she skipped so quickly from one subject to another. Especially since Ryan had just woken up and was feeling a little groggy.

Srill, he was happy to see her. He really did consider the other Crotalus a friend. At least, Ryan hoped she was his friend. "Well, I guess I just fell asleep." He answered. Somehow, Ryan was quite tired from midterm-and not in a good way. He was pretty much emotionally exhausted. Drained.

"Can I pet him?" Ryan asked. Guys weren't supposed to think of animals being cute, which the rabbit was, but that was just how Ryan felt. He'd always really wanted a pet but that was naturally out of the question. His mother thought animals were filthy, Just like she thought Ryan and other young boys were filthy. Perhaps that was why Ryan wanted a pet so much. He could identify with them, just as he did with house elves. The lowest of the low.

Besides, Jordan thought the rabbit was cute and she thought Ryan was cute.

He tried not to cringe when she asked about his midterm. "It was all right." Ryan lied. It had not, of course, been all right at all. It had been torture.Pure emotional torture that had cemented his feelings of never wanting to go back there. "I got several presents." From his grandparents, aunts and uncles, his mom did have seven brothers and sisters. It wasn't anywhere near the stack his sister got even though she didn't get anything from his mom's siblings. Fortunately, his mom didn't know about them getting stuff for Ryan and not Carrie or they'd never have heard the end of it.

Ryan looked down at the floor. He hated lying to her, to one of his friends but he just couldn't tell her the truth about how bad things were at home. How his mother and sister treated him, how his parents fought. How it was all his fault.

11 Ryan You don't want me here? 176 Ryan 0 5

Jordan

December 02, 2010 2:13 PM

No, <i>I</i> don't want to be here. by Jordan

“Sure,” Jordan answered, plopping down on the sofa beside him. She was careful to keep her rabbit close to her so she wouldn’t disturb him too much when she had. Gently, she eased the rabbit towards Ryan. “Just be careful to support his weight.” Her dad had explained to her that rabbits were like babies and when holding them, they had to be supported or else they could get hurt. She didn’t want Mr. Crispen to get hurt in any way. That would be terrible!

She brushed her fingers through her dark hair to fix any strands that were out of place before continuing on, “That’s cool. What did you get? I got mostly clothes.” She had also gotten makeup, but she wasn’t about to tell Ryan that. After all, that would spoil the entirety of supposedly looking natural. Though, she guessed that guys probably knew that girls wore makeup to enhance what nature gave them, but if her mother had found out that she had told such a secret, she wouldn’t be too happy since she would have thought Jordan was being an improper lady.

“It’s horrible being back, isn’t it? I had so much fun over the holiday. There were lots of parties. Did you go to any?” Jordan always loved parties and now that she was getting older, she got to attend more frequently. Though, she still only got to stay until nine. Her parents always said that it was boring after nine anyhow and that she shouldn’t feel better about not getting to stay longer. She suspected that they were probably lying and that everything good happened after.

0 Jordan No, <i>I</i> don't want to be here. 0 Jordan 0 5

Ryan

December 15, 2010 5:33 AM

That's too bad. by Ryan

Carefully, Ryan reached out to pet the rabbit. He could tell Jordan was worried about Mr. Crispin getting hurt and Ryan honestly was too. All his life he'd been yelled at for being too rough just because he was male. His mother and sister had many breakable things that Ryan wasn't allowed near.

Of course, his mother would also turn around and say Ryan was too wimpy and not much of a boy. It was all terribly confusing for the young first year.

"Oh nothing too interesting." Ryan replied. He'd gotten some clothes and some books. Some money so he could just buy what he wanted. He would probably get a chance to spend it over the summer when he was at his grandparents'.

Ryan decided to just answer her second question, and consider the one about it being horrible to be back rhetorical. He was personally glad to be back but he was afraid that Jordan would ask him why since she didn't seem to want to be here. Then he'd have to lie and Ryan wasn't very good at that. "Oh no, no parties." He looked down at the floor again.

Truthfully, Ryan didn't want to talk about his midterm. He absolutely couldn't let Jordan-or anyone-know the truth about what it was like for him. He had no idea what would happen then. It was possible something would be done, that Ryan would finally be able to escape permanently, but it was more likely that it would just cause more trouble and conflict. People might think he was just whiny and that he deserved what his mother dished out. It wasn't like his mom hit him or anything. Maybe Ryan was simply bad.

11 Ryan That's too bad. 176 Ryan 0 5