Professor O'Leary
April 24, 2008 9:42 PM
Lesson I: Third through Fifth Years by Professor O'Leary
As the students trickled into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Drake came out of his office carrying a glass tank. He preferred to handle its transportation the muggle way rather than the magical, because he felt it was unnecessary to use magic for everything, especially when it was something handled quite easily without. Hauling it to the desk, he set it down in view of the students and leaned against the edge of his desk. The aquarium appeared to be uninteresting upon first glance. Inside were just a few simple plants, dirt, and rocks.A smirk played on his lips, as he began the lesson for this was one of his favorite dark creatures, “Welcome back to another exciting year of Defense Against the Dark Arts. By now, you should already be aware of my rules, however, for those of you that are denser than most, I will review them. No talking when I am talking and no fooling around. Easy to follow instructions to make sure you don’t get hurt. Now, then, if you turn your attention to the tank beside me. To the naked eye, it appears that nothing is out of the ordinary, however, housed inside is a Pogrebin.”
Seemingly to prove his point, one of the rocks decided to move. Drake smiled. This particular rock was named Larry. “Contrary to popular belief, the Pogrebin is not a dark creature. Dark creatures are defined as creatures, which seek to harm for no other reason than to harm. However, it is a dangerous creature found mostly in Russia. What makes this creature so dangerous is that as it stalks its prey, preferably humans, it produces a feeling of despair so strong that it can bring one to their knees. When this happens, the Pogrebin pounces for their feast.”
He waited for any students that were taking notes to finish, before he continued. “Now, you may ask why I chose this particular creature when it’s not a dark creature and this is Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Simple. The effect that this creature has is quite similar to an effect that another creature has, a dark creature, the Dementor. The Dementor is a rather vial creature that feeds on positive human emotion. It sucks them out every happy feeling from a person, leaving behind only a sense of despair. This can lead to a Dementor’s Kiss, which will not only cause despair, but it is the literal sucking out of the soul and forming another Dementor.”
Another pause. “To defend yourself against the Pogrebin is quite simple for a wizard. A simple Knockback jinx will do nicely. However, the Dementor is not so easy, which brings us to our lesson for today. The Patronus spell. To perform this spell, you must think of an incredibly happy memory, something that brings you utter joy. Once you do this, flick your wand like so,” Drake swished his wand, which did not require anything complex, as it was a simple movement, “and state Expecto Patronum!” A shining, silver bat appeared out of the end of his wand. He had always had an affinity for the misunderstood creatures of the night and it was no wonder that it was the animal he associated with.
He gave a bit of a half smile in affection, before facing the class once more. “I would like everyone to put away their notes and books. We are going to move the desks against the walls.” After the desks were moved, this time easily done by magic in order to give the students more time to work, Drake continued, “I would like everyone to practice the Patronus spell. You should all have plenty of room to work. If you are unable to produce a full patronus, do not get discouraged for it is an incredibly difficult spell and there are many fully grown wizards that are unable to produce the spell. However, in the event that you are able to, I would like you to come up here, where the Pogrebin is. In a real situation, you must fight off despair while attempting to produce your patronus, and the Pogrebin will serve to produce a simulation. You may begin.”
OOC: Please remember that posts should be a minimum of ten sentences. Have fun and be creative!
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Subthreads: There is neither happiness nor misery in the world... by Echo Elms with Elly Eriksson, Elly
*Hums theme to Happy Days* by Irene Liddowe with Irene, Professor O'Leary
Balancing the Mood by Oliver Abbott with Oliver
Memory! All alone in the moonlight. by Eavan Valentine
Oh this is not going well at all by Talitha Cumni with Oliver Abbott, Professor O'Leary, Talitha, Adam Brockert
I am made of happy (so there, Echo!) by Saul Pierce
Patronus? Rock on! by Mateo and Jose Santoro
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Professor O'Leary
Lesson I: Third through Fifth Years
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Professor O'Leary
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Talitha Cumni
April 27, 2008 8:16 PM
Oh this is not going well at all by Talitha Cumni
Talitha always looked forward to DADA. She found the lessons fun and challenging. She also admired Professor O’Leary and never bought the stern, slightly scary persona he liked to don in front of students, especially first years. She had seen him with his daughter last year. Anyone with a daughter as nice a Briony couldn’t be mean twenty-four-seven.Just before class she was busy chatting with her friends glad that the class included third through fifth years. Not only was Irene, Jae, Lutece and Oliver there, Elly and Adam were in attendance also. This was promising to be a really enjoyable day.
Professor O’Leary swept into the room and began his lecture. Talitha began taking notes. As he explained the purpose of a Pogrebin, Talitha gave an unconscious shudder. Again she was glad that the forest her community neighbored was filled with mostly muggle plants and animals. She’d rather face a hungry mountain lion than a hungry rock thing.
The opportunity to try to produce a Patronous was exciting. Talitha jumped into line, thinking hard about her happiest thought. There had been so many recently. Her owl, Owl was definitely her familiar as far as she was concerned, not matter what anybody said. Her date with Adam was just the best. She still got happy butterflies in her stomach every time she thought of it. Her parents and her had been able to do lots of fun things together this summer, still leaving her plenty of time to be with her friends camping and swimming. There were very few things in Talitha’s life at the moment that didn’t make her happy when she thought of them with the exception of that creepy stuck up boy whose family owned property near the community, but she didn’t have to waste her time dwelling on that.
She stood patiently in line, thinking her happy thoughts and watching the students ahead of her try. She glanced over at Adam. She did worry about how he would deal with this assignment. As much as she liked Adam, she was very aware of his self-consciousness and tendency to dwell on the negative. She shook herself away from worrying about him. Professor O’Leary stressed the importance of concentrating on joy.
Some of the students did really well. One could even see real shapes in the silvery vapor. Talitha smiled at the pretty dove- like bird that Irene was able to produce. Echo managed a vapor. Eavan seemed very pleased with her poofy puffs of vapor. Poor Oliver, who usually did amazingly awesome things in DADA, was only able to produce a wisp. Talitha thought about how disappointed her friend must be. She hurt for him. He was rather a perfectionist.
As she drew near to the tank the Pogrebin was contained in, Talitha began to doubt herself. If Oliver couldn’t do better, then what hope had she? She was just wasting space in this class. She might as well just go back to her seat. Again, Talitha mentally forced herself toward happy memories, but they weren’t as clear and overlapped with negative ones.
She thought of dancing with Adam and then remembered Christy’s lecture. She thought about swimming at the lake, and then time the pureblood boy came forcefully to mind. He had rather violently stolen a kiss, his tounge was like a fat snake in her mouth she tried to make it postive be remembering the look on his face when she bit it. Then she remembered his hand roughly grabbing at her…
Stop it. Stop it! Stop it! Talitha chided herself, her eyes drawn toward the tank and its living rock. She would keep happy thoughts. She would keep happy thoughts!
A boy was hanging in a tall tree by his underwear. Talitha didn’t mean to do it. “It” happened. She just wanted to stop him from picking on the little kid. His mother screamed, certain any moment the branch would break and he would tumble down to his death. “What did you do?” She’d cried, shaking an ten year old Talitha violently by the shoulders…
She was being punished. They said it was to help her, but they were sending her away to Sonora, a boarding school. They didn’t want her in the community. Mother and Daddy fought horribly about it, but in the end, Daddy agreed to follow his Healer wife’s instincts and make her go. She was cast out, at least as much as one could cast out a child. She’d caused her parents to fight…
Everyone were dancing around a huge fire. They were celebrating Papo’s birthday. Papo was laughing and enjoying himself. Suddenly her big, energetic grandfather grabbed his chest and fell. Mother was over him in a moment, sobbing and passing her wand over his heart. Ennervate! Ennervate! But Papo didn’t get up…
Talitha didn’t want to try thinking happy thoughts any more. Why bother? It was too much effort when there was such tragedy in the world. Why even do this assignment. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. She just didn’t want to think anymore. A blackness edged around her field of vision. If she welcomed the darkness, she could quit trying and rest. It would be so easy, such a relief to give in. She wouldn’t fight it anymore, she would embrace the void.
Talitha didn’t feel her body crumple. She didn’t remember rolling up in a fetal ball on the floor. All she knew is that it was a relief to feel nothing at all.
\n
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Talitha Cumni
Oh this is not going well at all
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Talitha Cumni
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Oliver Abbott
May 10, 2008 5:16 PM
You think? PROFESSOR! by Oliver Abbott
Oliver didn't know if his magic was letting him down, or his memories, and neiter option cheered him any. This was pathetic - Defense was perhaps his best class, so why was he messing it up so terribly? Lots of other students seemed to be doing okay, and some of them had even had a go with the Pogrebin. Oliver pushed his glasses back up his nose with a frustrated sigh. He would conquer this!As his glanced somewhat jealously at those confident enough in their skills to face the Pogrebin, Oliver noticed Talitha in the queue. He was pleased, and a little proud (not that he'd ever admit that to her - she didn't seem to appreciate him suggesting she was weaker than him in any way), that she'd progressed so far already. He paused from his attempts to watch hers instead. But something wasn't right - Talitha's face had gone almost as pale as Oliver's own. Within moments she was keeling towards the floor. Immediately forgetting his own work, Oliver's fist closed around his wand and he pushed his way to the front of the class. "Professor!" he shouted, as he reached Talitha's side.
"Come on, Talitha, come up over here," he said to his friend, gently tugging her elbow and trying not to sound worried. She would be fine - nothing a quick pepper-up wouldn't fix, he was sure of it. Still, it was natural to panic when one of your friends collapsed in class.
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Oliver Abbott
You think? PROFESSOR!
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Oliver Abbott
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Professor O'Leary
May 18, 2008 5:27 PM
Sorry for the late reply by Professor O'Leary
OOC: Just a quick note, Talitha - for the lesson the students were to practice on their own (relatively) before coming up and practicing with the Pogrebin. :PBIC:
The lesson was going extraordinarily well, given the difficulty of the task. Drake was even pleased to find that a couple of students had managed to produce a patronus. Of course, even for those that hadn’t, there was still hope, as most adult wizards couldn’t even bring about the wisps that some of his young students were able to. Regardless, of the students’ abilities, Drake kept a watchful eye for anyone that went near the Pogrebin. While the creature didn’t directly cause negative memories to be brought forth like Dementors did, it was almost inevitable that they would on their own due to the intense feelings of despair.
Despair and depression were both emotions that Drake was familiar with. Every time he was around the rock animal, he couldn’t help, but recall his worst memories. It was inevitable with the associations. He remembered the smell of her perfume, the way she wore her hair. He remembered how graceful she was on the ice. He remembered the day she agreed to be his wife. And most of all, he remembered the day her life had been claimed and the aftermath. He remembered the daze of talking to Aurors and the funeral. He remembered holding his crying, motherless child. He remembered how helpless and empty he had felt. He remembered feeling that he couldn’t go on, that he wanted to give up. Yes, he knew all of those emotions well, how hard it was to stand up to them.
So, when there was a shout for him from someone near his desk, he wasn’t surprised. Unfortunately, he had been assisting a student on the other side of the room and therefore, it took him a little longer to make it to where a student had collapsed, as he had to dodge items, such as desks, bags, children that were in the way, but for doing all this, he still arrived fairly quickly. Stooping, he immediately checked her pulse, though, it was probably unnecessary, but he did so, merely for the fact that he had been trained to do so. It was steady, maybe a little faster than normal, but nothing to be concerned about and she appeared to be breathing just as normally. The only thing that was wrong was that she wasn’t conscious, but that was easily fixed.
Digging into the deep pockets of his robes, he pulled out some sniffing salts. He held it under Miss Cumni’s nose, waving it slowly back and forth. He assumed that the girl had reacted to the creature; however, it was always best to find out for certain as an appropriate precaution. As he waited for her to wake up, his eyes staying on her, he asked the boy that he had briefly noticed nearby, “Mr. Abbott, did you notice exactly what happened?” If anything more serious had occurred, he would be sending Talitha to the medic. Otherwise, he would just send her to rest for a few minutes at her desk and leave the Pogrebin for another day.
Once Talitha had woken up, Drake further made sure that she was all right. After doing so, he made the suggestion, “Why don’t you go sit at your desk for a bit? Once you feel calmer, you can try again, if you’d like, or you can take the opportunity to do some reading in the textbook.” While it was the professor in him that brought up the lesson, he didn’t actually expect her to. For the most part, she was a good student, who didn’t give him any trouble and she had tried her best on the assignment that he had given them, so he was willing to turn a blind eye to her doing something else, as long as she wasn’t causing a disturbance. Before sending her away, he gave her an awkward pat on the back, as a reassurance and slipped a chocolate bar into her hand. It wasn’t a necessary remedy when dealing with Pogrebins, but chocolate seemed to help with everything, in general.
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Professor O'Leary
Sorry for the late reply
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Professor O'Leary
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Oliver
May 23, 2008 1:31 PM
We forgive you by Oliver
Within a second Professor O'Leary had joined them, and was making good and sure that Talitha was okay. Oliver stepped back a couple of paces, giving them both more room. When asked if he'd seen exactly what had happened, Oliver fumbled for an answer."Um, n-no, not really. She turned white and fell over, but I was practising the spell, so I didn't really see..." he tailed off, having already given the professor probably more information than was strictly necessary.
Talitha came round fairly soon after Professor O'Leary wafted thse smelling salts nder her nose - Oliver wondered vaguely if they were some magical sort, or the same type Muggles used. What an odd thought to have. Anyway, not wanting Talitha to worry, Oliver flashed her a grin when she looked his way. Then he stepped forward to help her up, if she wanted or needed some assistance. The Professor suggested that Talitha should take a moment's rest, so Oliver walked with her to the desks that had been pushed to the side of the room. He was going to make her rest a while because, knowing Talitha, she would almost certainly want to get straight back on the horse. Figuratively speaking.
Once they were out of earshot of the professor, he grinned at her, and said, "You just can't help being an attention seeker, can you?"
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Oliver
We forgive you
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 25, 2008 8:05 AM
Well... by Talitha
Darkness was good. Oblivion was a comfortable place to be. One didn’t feel anything, remember anything. One just floated. A horrible something assaulted her nose and burned her eyes, interrupting the place of peace she had fled to. She shook her head and angrily batted at the offending source of interruption. To her dismay, the source was the professor’s hand. Blinking her eyes against the sudden glare of light, Talitha looked from one concerned face to another and put the pieces of the puzzle together. She had fainted. How embarrassing!Meekly, she allowed herself to be led to a desk, her friend on one side, Professor O’Leary on the other. Talitha bit her lip in an effort to fight back the desire to break down in tears of humiliation and frustration. She managed to control the sobs, but no matter how hard she tried to stop them, silent tears fell down her cheeks unabated. When the professor patted her kindly and gave her chocolate, the copious flow only increased. She hated feeling like a weak, silly girl. It was stupid to let some dumb rock thing get the best of her. She should have been stronger than that. Worse, everyone had seen! Great, just great.
She focused on the chocolates in her hand, not wanting to see if anyone was staring at her. The only way to redeem herself was to get back into line and this time do it right. She was no baby and she wouldn’t act like one. She glanced at the Pogrebin in their glass cage. They were not going to win. Talitha wondered if determination, seasoned heavily with anger would help against their powers. If it did, she’d have no trouble at all this time.
"You just can't help being an attention seeker, can you?"
Talitha glanced up at Oliver. She couldn’t help but laugh weakly, in spite of herself, at his friendly jibe. She brush the tears from her face and offered him one of the chocolates, gracing him for a moment with a mock glare.
“I suppose I should have practiced first, like the instructions said, instead of just diving in.” Talitha admitted meekly. “Go me.”\n
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Talitha
Well...
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 26, 2008 3:10 PM
To err is human by Oliver
Although Talitha did laugh at little at the joke, when she looked up, Oliver was horrified to see that she was crying. Talitha didn't cry! She got back up and tried again, she told failure where to stick it, she made unreasonable bets and jests, but she never cried. Oliver was very confused. He couldn't even understood why she was crying. She obviously wasn't hurt, which meant she was actually being a girl and crying about something other than physical pain. That threw Oliver completely. A crying girl in pain could be taken t the hospital wing, but an emotional crying girl was another puzzle altogether. The fact that this puzzle was Talitha only made it harder to solve.Oliver wanted to comfort her. Usually he did that by insulting her or making jokes, but he sensed that neither would be appropriate, especially seeing as he'd already made one playful jibe. He wasn't convinced it was the right thing to do, but he gave her a quick hug, not even aware that she was trying to offer him some chocolate. It was peculiar - he could rest his chin right on the top of her head. He didn't hold her for very long, not least because they were in a classroom full of people, and still felt as though she might need some comforting. "You weren't the only one who, um, had problems," he told her. "Irene nearly passed out, too. I think she might have gone to the girls' bathroom to vomit."
"But yeah, maybe you should, you know, learn to walk before you swim... or something..." Oliver trailed off, not sure he'd gotten that analogy entirely correct. That wasn't the point. "I can't even do this spell," he said forcefully, partly to make Talitha feel better still, but also partly to vent his own frustration.
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Oliver
To err is human
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Oliver
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Adam Brockert
May 31, 2008 3:43 PM
I must be very human then by Adam Brockert
Today's lesson for Defense did not thrill Adam. Actually, it sort of made him anxious. He wasn't quite sure he could make a patronous. Not that he didn't have a happy memory. He actually did, surprisingly enough. A warm blush crept to his cheeks as he looked over at Talitha. Adam not only had going to the ball with her, but just the fact that she'd said yes in the first place was happy. He just wasn't sure that he could keep that happy memory in his head during such a crowded class. There were so many people there and that naturally made Adam nervous. Plus, what if all the younger kids got it and he couldn't? He'd feel so stupid.Adam went over to the corner. He really wanted to join Talitha but he felt that he should really practice the spell until he got it right. However, he kept glancing in her direction in order to help keep the happy memories in his head. It wasn't working too well, though, as he was painfully aware of everyone else as well.
Before he knew it, Adam glanced over and Talitha was on the ground. His eyes grew round and his mouth fell open. What was wrong? Was she okay? He started over there, his work forgotten. However, before he could make it, both Professor O'Leary and another boy had reached his friend and she was revived. Adam was glad. Still, he wanted to make sure she was okay.
Then he froze. Talitha was still talking to the other boy. Should Adam even go over there? The other boy might not want him around. Worse, maybe even Talitha didn't need him there if she had her other friend.
Cautiously, Adam approached. "Um, Talitha, are you okay?" he asked. He was kind of worried. He could see that she'd been crying too and that made him feel even worse for her.
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Adam Brockert
I must be very human then
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Adam Brockert
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Talitha
June 01, 2008 11:12 PM
Aren't we all. by Talitha
Talitha returned Oliver’s hug, allowing herself the warm comfort. She felt his heartbeat under his robes against her cheek. All too soon it became too awkward and she pulled away just as Oliver did but the warmth of his kindness didn’t wear off. Her friend’s gesture rested like a warm blanket across Talitha’s shoulders , making her feel better, more confident."You weren't the only one who, um, had problems. Irene nearly passed out, too. I think she might have gone to the girls' bathroom to vomit."
“Oh, no!” Talitha’s concern for Irene banished any residual self pity she was feeling. “I hope she’s alright. Those rock things are awful. They make you feel so sad. Then it’s like every bad thing that ever happened to you was happening all over again all at once.”
"But yeah, maybe you should, you know, learn to walk before you swim... or something. I can't even do this spell."
“But you can do it at least you made a vapor. I saw it.” Talitha said. “That’s better than over half the class.”
With a nod, she indicated several pairs and small groups of students. Their faces were screwed up in concentration as they tried to do the spell and then fall in disappointment when nothing happened, not even a whisper of a vapor.
“Irene’s dove thingy was pretty, what do you hope yours will be?”
As Oliver answered, another voice interrupted them. Adam asked if she was alright. His face was full of worry and concern. Talitha smiled up at him, although her eyes began to glisten again. This time the tears were happy ones. She slipped an arm around his waist and gave him a quick, reassuring hug.
“I’m fine, Adam. Really. Just tried to tackle those things before I was ready and got slammed for it. But they won’t win next time.” Talitha vowed. “Do you know Oliver? He’s from our House and one of my first and best friends.”
Talitha knew what her happiest memory would be. It would be today, right now, in DADA. Two of her dearest friends rushing to her side when she needed them most and surrounded by so many others she cared about. She was truly lucky indeed. At that very moment Talitha was quite sure she could produce a patronus with no effort at all, even if it was as big as an Orca.\n
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Talitha
Aren't we all.
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Talitha
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Oliver
June 05, 2008 11:10 AM
Actually, I'm an alien disguised as a human by Oliver
She had seen his vapour? Oliver was mortified; he had hoped to produce something far more excellent than a tiny silvery slither. It was frankly embarrassing that he'd managed nothing more. As to what he hoped it would be, Oliver didn't really care. As long as it wasn't anything stupid like a butterfly or a kitten, right now he'd be happy with just about anything. If he could actually do the spell, he would hardly complain about the results. He started to tell Talitha so, but stopped when they were joined by another student.Oliver knew who Adam was, of course. He's taken Talitha to the ball at the end of last year and he was in their House, just older. Still, he'd never spoken to him, and for some reason it felt odd meeting him for the first time with Talitha there. Oliver felt a peculiar sort of older brother instinct for her, though it wasn't quite what he'd felt when he'd met Charie's boyfriend over the summer. He'd told his own sister she just shouldn't be dating, but he didn't feel the same with Talitha - she could do what she liked, but Oliver did have some odd compulsion to dislike Adam on principle, which was ridiculous, because Talitha was obviously very pleased to have him around.
Ignoring all the bizarre musings, Oliver nodded in greeting to Adam, and grinned a little when Talitha introduced him as as one of her best friends. There was no denying the truth in the statement, but it made Oliver smile nonetheless. She could have just said 'friend', after all.
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Oliver
Actually, I'm an alien disguised as a human
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Oliver
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Adam B.
June 26, 2008 7:51 PM
Don't tell Zack that... by Adam B.
Instant relief filled Adam when Talitha hugged him. She didn't mind having him there. It never seemed that she did mind having him around, but Adam was still kind of worried that she'd change her mind at some point. "I'm glad you're okay." He told her. Adam had been quite worried that his friend wasn't after she'd fainted. At least Talitha was able to try. He wasn't sure he'd be able to.Actually, it had been Oliver whom Adam thought wouldn't want him around. Just because he was friends with Talitha was no guarantee that he would like Adam. And they were best friends? It was perfectly all right that Talitha had other friends of course but what about him? Did Talitha consider Adam a best friend too or did she like Oliver more?
Plus, what was Adam supposed to say to Oliver anyway? "Nice to meet you" or "Pleased to meet you" sounded so stuffy and formal. Other people his age did not talk that way unless they were of the snooty pureblood variety. That was in most circles at Sonora not acceptable. Lots of people just liked "cool" which Adam never could be. He didn't even know what cool people would say. Seeing as Oliver just nodded a greeting, though, he merely nodded back and waited for Talitha to continue the conversation.
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Adam B.
Don't tell Zack that...
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Adam B.
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