Just checking in [Araceli] on Crotalus Commons

Makenzie Newell

September 07, 2015 8:31 PM

Just checking in [Araceli] by Makenzie Newell

Makenzie didn’t spend a lot of time in any of the MARS rooms. The only two rooms which were suitable for her skills would have been the dance room or the music room, but she had practiced neither ballet nor her violin in quite some time now. She did miss them sometimes, but she preferred using her time at Sonora for other things.

But she had heard whispers in the hallway about the latest rumor being in the MARS room, and out of curiosity, she went to check it out. Much to her dread, this instance of vandalism felt very…. applicable. As far as Makenzie knew, there were only about three combination of mutual year and House to provide for a room of three girls. One of them was the trio of Uzume Shinohara, Araceli Arbon, and Makenzie Newell.

She knew immediately that it was about them, although she wasn’t sure how the person who did these things knew. But the thirteen year old had her own secret, her own facade, which meant that one (or both? It was incredibly vague) of her roommates also had something going on. She wasn’t sure which one of them was the “odd one out”, given she had always considered both Uzume and Araceli to be her friends, although she supposed that for whatever reason, she had always felt something stronger with Araceli, even when the girl did not speak.

But because of her dramatic verbal change, Makenzie thought Araceli was a more likely candidate to have something dark going on. She had chosen to trust the change when it occurred at the start of their second year since she had no reason not to trust Araceli, but this made her question everything. More importantly, however, Makenzie didn’t care about what “deep, dark” things were hidden (since really, she had no right to), but she wanted to talk to Araceli about it, just to check on her personal well-being.

Makenzie chose an evening Uzume would be out for Quidditch practice so that she could talk to Araceli alone and in a comfortable place, their shared bedroom. Some time had passed that they had been together in the room, presumably going about their own routines, before she began. “Hey, Araceli?” she called, her voice rather meek and unsure. All the planning in the world wasn’t always enough. “I wanted to talk to you about, uh.. Did you see that thing in MARS?”

“It talked about a trio of girls with secrets,” Makenzie elaborated just in case, her speed increasing as she nervously gave in to her babbly nature. “And there’s only a few groups like ours in the school, and I mean, maybe these things aren’t true and somebody’s just making things up to make people question each other, but I just… I wanted to make sure you know you can tell me anything. You know that, right? So, um… I guess what I’m asking is, are you… are you okay?”

12 Makenzie Newell Just checking in [Araceli] 291 Makenzie Newell 1 5

Araceli Arbon

September 07, 2015 11:35 PM

All fine, thanks for asking by Araceli Arbon

In one way, the fact that Effie knew was a weight off her shoulders. Especially as her sister didn’t hold anything she had done against her. But seeing Effie, talking to her frankly, as herself, had been a little taste of what it might be like to get her own life back. It was something she had rarely thought about. Her own life hadn’t exactly been a whirlwind of excitement, home alone for most of the term, and turning precious few heads at the parties she went to. The one thing she had missed throughout this whole charade was Effie’s companionship. She had written letters to her, gone to elaborate lengths with her parents redirecting Effie’s missives back to her at Sonora, mocking up French post marks on the envelopes for the last year… But she had no real news, no life to write about, and the closeness they had had, where she shared every intimate detail of her thoughts with her sister, had felt like it was withering and dying. Talking with her frankly over Midterm had been like breathing fresh air again, and now Sonora felt suffocating. Besides, boring as her life had been, the simple act of being herself seemed now like something to be treasured.

Delphine had done her best to keep a low profile since returning. She had meant to skip the class on Boggarts but thanks to Professor Pye rescheduling things, she had missed only the theory class. Deciding it would look too suspicious to miss both, she had been forced to attend. She had been anxious that the Boggart might turn into her tipping a little bottle of potion down her throat and turning into the person that was standing in class. She lived with the constant anxiety of people finding out. But it was Father who had done this to her, and Father whom she was more afraid of facing if she messed up. She focussed on this as she took her turn, and sure enough it was his form that the Boggart took, though he still held out a little vial to her. She knew he would be unimpressed if he came to learn of this. To the world outside, they were supposed to be a happy family.

But, in spite of the Boggart not revealing her secret, that fear still came to pass. She’d been somewhat concerned about it all year. It was a disquieting feeling knowing that someone was spilling secrets when you had rather a big one. She had, at first, comforted herself with the notion that other people must have confided in friends, have told someone, and this was how it was happening to them. She knew she hadn’t breathed a word to a living soul. But then it carried on. It was too many things to be one fallen-out-with friend, or some sneak who’d overheard a private conversation. The staff had stopped berating the students at every appearance of a new rumour, and started assuring them that they were doing all they could to investigate magical causes. That could mean anything. It meant it could happen to her.

She had gone to practise singing early one morning - one of the few refuges of being herself she still had - but had seen the message, and fled, white and shaking. She had spent most of the day keeping to herself, working on seeming calm and how else she might spin it to keep the suspicion away from her. At least someone else was implicated… Makenzie or Shino was also keeping a secret. From the sounds of it, it was also about their identity. People said that attack was the best form of defence, and if there had only been one party implicated, it would have been safer to sow the seed of doubt in Makenzie’s mind then round on Shino. However, with two out of three of them apparently hiding something, she imagined that everyone keeping their own mouth shut was the best form of defence. You couldn’t form an alliance when it was two out of three.

For a while, she thought she’d got away with it, or that Shino and Makenzie were at least thinking along similar lines to her. But then one night, when Shino was out…

“Yes,” she replied, trying to sound casual when Makenzie asked if she’d seen the latest rumour. She carried on with tidying away her school supplies, trying not to look tense. As interrogations went, it was not exactly intense, and she found herself relaxing a little. Makenzie seemed more concerned about her than anything, which meant that she only needed to feel guilty about the lying, instead of worried about discovery. “I think it’s like you said, I think someone’s just making it all up. They couldn’t possibly know this much about everyone. They just want to make people miserable.

“Of course,” she nodded, when Makenzie told her she could tell her anything. Delphine sat down beside her, placing Araceli’s hands over the other girl’s and giving them a squeeze. “And the same goes for you too. After all, it did imply it was two out of three people who aren’t so happy right now…. “

13 Araceli Arbon All fine, thanks for asking 290 Araceli Arbon 0 5

Makenzie

September 08, 2015 2:14 PM

Are you sure? by Makenzie

Something didn’t feel right. Makenzie had spent her whole life developing the skill of not trusting her instincts, blocking out what her gut said because following it would usually mean trouble, but somehow, this was too strong to properly ignore. The casualness with which Araceli replied, the way she reversed the sentiment and shifted focus, the touch of her hands… Her stomach didn’t seem to believe it.

Makenzie thought back to their first year, to the silent, fragile little girl Araceli had been. How had she managed to change so much in such a short amount of time? She supposed it was a good thing and was progress--after all, now she could speak and truly engage--but in her mind, these Aracelis felt sort of separate, and in a weird sort of way, she rather missed the first one.

“I’m okay,” Makenzie acknowledged briefly, offering a weak, crooked smile. She had probably mentioned the whole Dustin situation before, but even the near-constant jitters he instilled in her paled in comparison to the “deep, dark secrets” alluded to by Sonora’s all-knowing, gossipy vandal. “I just… worry about you. I’m really happy for you for how much you’ve managed to come out of your shell, but I haven’t forgotten how nervous you used to be, you know?”

She returned the squeeze of the hand and fought the urge for more, resisting the temptation to lean her head on Araceli’s shoulder. It was a level of intimacy that she did feel she had with Araceli, who was easily her best friend, but was not necessarily prepared to demonstrate, especially with the uneasiness still shifting her stomach. “I care about you a lot, you know, and I like to know you’re really okay.” Makenzie closed her eyes, and for a moment, she felt as if she might cry, genuinely a bit overwhelmed by her own sincerity in light of all these secrets. But she opened her eyes without tears falling, and for now, she supposed that was good enough.

12 Makenzie Are you sure? 291 Makenzie 0 5

Araceli

September 14, 2015 12:15 AM

Well, if you must know... by Araceli

Araceli’s heart thumped hard in her chest. Makenzie was never going to interrogate her but she quite clearly doubted her. Doubt was an insidious little feeling, that could nibble away at a person bit by bit. It could resurface every time Delphine quieted these feelings, until any words she had weren’t enough to silence it completely.

“I am, I promise,” Delphine reassured Makenzie, stroking her hair in a sisterly fashion. She could remember Effie doing it to her, and both of them doing it to Araceli. It was an intimate and friendly gesture but it also carried the weight of authority somehow. It was only ever done by someone older, someone who knew better.

“I mean…. I know I changed a lot,” she added, returning Araceli’s hands to her lap and turning her eyes down to them. “And that’s…. that’s not something that just happened by magic,” she said quietly, turning Araceli’s eyes up to meet her room-mate’s briefly as she let her into a confidence - the confidence of the official lie on the matter, in case she was ever pushed to talk about it. “I… I had to have help that first summer. But…. but people like us don’t talk about those things. And then, everything was fine, so I felt like I never needed to. And I thought everyone must have just assumed what had gone on… Maybe it did mean me. But I really am alright.” she assured her.

“So, what do you think Shino’s hiding?” she asked, keen to deflect the subject, “Unless you have anything you want to tell me after all,” she added. Maybe now that she’d opened up, Makenzie might be more inclined to share if it was her. Delphine’s money, however, was on their other room-mate. It would be much easier for there to be secrets about Shino, as she came from a different country, and anyone who knew gossip about her was thousands of miles away and spoke a different language. Maybe there was some scandal that was the real reason she came to America. Maybe it was the reason she was always such a hostile cow and so desperate to stick her nose into other people’s business - if everyone was gossiping about other people, or if she had some dirt on them herself, it would be much easier to keep control of her own secrets.

13 Araceli Well, if you must know... 290 Araceli 0 5

Makenzie

September 23, 2015 4:34 PM

I must, I must! by Makenzie

The comfort of having one’s hair stroked was a remarkable thing. Makenzie had no siblings, but as the oldest of her cousins, she was familiar with the physical demonstration of sister-like affection. But never had it been her in this place, the one whose hair was touched so gently just to remind them that they were not alone. She had held Florence when Dustin wouldn’t play with her. She had soothed Anastasia when she scraped her knee. That was Makenzie’s place. And while this was unprecedented for her, being swapped was… nice. Even if she felt a bit bad since the whole point of this conversation was for her to check on Araceli.

“...but people like us don’t talk about those things…” Of all Araceli said, that line seemed to sting the most, to resonate within Makenzie in a way that made her incredibly uncomfortable. Perhaps what was unsettling about it was that it was true. Pureblood ladies didn’t talk about their flaws or needing help in situations like these. Girls from families like theirs had to be innately perfect, and if they weren’t, they had to fake it or figure it out. It broke her heart, really.

As Araceli had let her into a confidence, revealing the necessity of getting help, Makenzie didn’t feel she had the right or conscious to ask any more questions. So she just let her talk, a feat she had clearly worked so hard to accomplish, and soon the conversation shifted. “So what do you think Shino’s hiding? Unless you have something you want to tell me after all.”

“I’m not sure about her,” Makenzie answered, poignantly avoiding the second half of Araceli’s dialogue. “I was planning on having a conversation like this with her later, too,” she admitted. She wanted to make sure both of her roommates were okay, even if she wasn’t altogether too convinced that the secret wasn’t partially about her and her family. But maybe Araceli really was fine. Makenzie definitely wanted to believe it, although it meant that maybe Uzume was not. “Has she said anything to you about the secret since it came out?”

12 Makenzie I must, I must! 291 Makenzie 0 5