Finding familiar ground on Labyrinth Gardens

Elly Eriksson

February 17, 2008 12:37 PM

Finding familiar ground by Elly Eriksson

With a faded green satchel slung over her shoulder, Elly wandered through the maze alone. She was scuffing her well-worn trainers along the ground as she ambled along, her feet guiding her to her destination so her mind could wander elsewhere. Hence Elly arrived at her swing without even remembering how she got there. Finding solace in the familiarity of the clearing she had visited more times than any other in her time at Sonora, Elly sighed as she sank down onto the smooth wooden seat of her swing. It didn’t seem as big now as it had when she and Simon had built it – there was still room for two people on the seat, but they had to sit very close. Elly lightly kicked off, allowing the swing to propel her gently forward, and draw her smoothly back again, as she hung her legs below her, the hems on her jeans trailing in the dirt.

Elly spent a few minutes enjoying the peace before she pulled her bag round to rest on her lap. After a quick glance around the clearing to reaffirm that nobody else was around, Elly opened her satchel and pulled out a couple of glossy magazines. Each was well thumbed and the charms controlling the flashing text on the front had begun to fade, creating the confusing effect of two or more headlines appearing simultaneously, making it almost impossible to read either one. Nevertheless, Elly opened the first magazine and laid it on her lap as she began browsing through. The pictures were all of beautiful young witches with fabulous figures, dressed in stunning robes and with their hair done in the most miraculous styles. Brushing her own messy orange curls back over her shoulder, Elly turned page after page of expensive dresses, not being able to imagine herself wearing a single one of them. Dresses just weren’t her style – she had no figure to speak of, her legs were far too long, and there was no way her hair would ever shine like that. None of these facts had ever presented a problem before, but then Elly had never before been required to attend a Midsummer Ball.

She had already considered going in her smarter jeans, but listening to everyone else talk had soon disillusioned Elly of any further thoughts of dressing down. She knew she would stick out more by not wearing one of these dresses, and whereas usually that would be a bonus, she didn’t want to look like a recluse at Sonora’s first real social event. So she had turned to the magazines she hated, the sort that set out to make every teenage witch feel bad about herself, and was now numb from trying to decipher if she could ever recover from wearing something made of silk. This wasn’t even something Elly felt she could talk about with her usual group of friends. Meredith, she knew, was now getting accustomed to dressing up in fancy clothes, and Danae had been attending fashionable parties for several years; even Caedence had looked pretty in her Christmas frock at the party with her mother. Yet ironically, Elly could use some advice, seeing as she’d never dressed up for anything fancy in her entire life. She wasn’t sure whether she was more irked or relieved when someone unexpectedly appeared in the clearing with her. Knowing it was too late to hide the magazines, and tried her best to ignore them as she flashed her most welcoming smile.

“Lovely day for a swing,” she said cheerfully.

0 Elly Eriksson Finding familiar ground 92 Elly Eriksson 1 5

Brett Hodges

February 18, 2008 12:07 AM

So this is the swing? by Brett Hodges

Brett approached Elly, said, "Or a run," in between gulping breaths, and cautiously lowered himself down on a root and leaned back against the tree. Bad idea, it turned out because the pain in his chest was suddenly multiplied, but he grimaced and it slowly went away.

"I hit 5 miles," he gasped grinning at the sky. The sweat pouring off him and it occurred to him suddenly he had forgotten to do a cool down after his run, and that was why he felt like death itself. It was too late to get up, though. His legs were jello. His water bottle was empty.

And his heart rate slowed on its own anyway. He roused himself to notice Elly's girly magazine.

"Dresses," he breathed, "for the ball?"

"Lemme guess...," he dragged the magazine closer to him and flipped through a couple pages, glancing between Elly and the magazine. She didn't have the look of a girl who knew what she wanted. He made a show of sizing her up and tilting a camera frame made of thumbs and index fingers at her.

"Blue-green," he decided, tentatively, figuring that was sort of standard for red-haired people who didn't want to look like leprechauns. "Ankle length, obviously," he added, because all the girls wanted ankle length gowns. He knew because he'd eavesdropped on enough of these discussions in the last two months.

"Sparkles," he added, playing it up, "it's gotta have sparkles," not that any of the dresses in the magazine didn't, "because sparkles attract the eyes and when the eyes belong to a boy, you get to dance with some sweaty kid who likes shiny things and that, my dear Elly, is the ballroom dream."

"Seriously, though," he said in his own normal tone, and turned the magazine around to show Elly a turquoise dress with the most ethereal whispy sleeves ever, like a Gothic princess. "This one."

He tried to imagine Elly in it, and tossed the book back her way.

"You'd have to try it on," he concluded. He grinned conspiratorially, "And you'd match Echo. Echo's got the mad turquoise going on. He hasn't asked you yet, has he? Typical."

0 Brett Hodges So this is the swing? 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Elly

February 19, 2008 8:57 AM

This is the swing by Elly

"Congratulations," Elly acknowledged Brett's impressive mileage. She glaced between Brett, now slumped against the tree, and the magazines, and decided it wasn't so bad that she'd been discovered; Brett might tease her a little bit, but Elly could cope with that.

"I have no idea what I'm doing," she admitted as Brett reached for the magazine. "Dresses not really my thing, you know?" It wasn't that Elly had never worn a dress - her mother had ensured that was one experiece Elly couldn't deny - but rather that she had rarely worn anything formal; combining the two was unfamiliar and frankly bordering on terrifying.

Still, Elly couldn't help but laugh as Brett began to offer his advice in a lighthearted manner. For some reason it hadn't occured to her to ask a boy for advice about dresses. "Blue green?" Elly repeated. She wasn't going to say so, but she was already against buying any shade of turquoise. Very few people knew it, buy Elly already owned a blue-green dress that would in fact be suitable for the occasion - Josiah had given it to her for Christmas in her second year. Truthfully, Elly had initially envisaged wearing that dress, but had decided against it for two reasons. The first being that it was now too small for her (though she knew that was a weak argument because it could easily be fixed by a couple of charms), and the second reason was that the dress was at her home in London. If she wanted to wear it at Sonora, she would have to get her mother to send it to her, which would necessarily involve informing her mother of its existence. Elly wasn't willing to go down that path if she could avoid it. Besides, Elly's relatives had given her a whole heap of money for Christmas, so she was willing to spend some of it on a gown she'd chosen for herself.

"This one," Brett concluded. Elly looked at the dress he'd indicated as the magazine was passed back to her. It was along the lines of what Brett had described would suit her, but Elly wasn't convinced.

"I don't know," she said, "it's too floaty. I don't like frills or anything like that."

"You'd have to try it on," Brett reasoned. "And you'd match Echo. Echo's got this mad turquoise thing going on."

Elly blinked. She hadn't even been sure Echo was going to the event, what with all the crowds and potential for physical contact. Yet apparently Brett knew better, and even knew what Echo was planning on wearing! Elly felt momentarily deflated. Echo was one of her best friends - why didn't she know he'd definitely be going?

"He hasn't asked you yet, has he? Typical."

"Asked me what?" Elly said, confused. Asked if she knew he was wearing turquoise?

0 Elly This is the swing 0 Elly 0 5

Brett Hodges

February 19, 2008 7:54 PM

It's quite swing-like by Brett Hodges

"Asked me what?" Elly said, clearly confused.

How dense was she? Echo's crush on her was only the second most obvious thing on the entire planet. Everyone knew he was going to ask her. It was inevitable, assuming he got up the nerve. He might not, though because the MOST obvious thing on the planet, the only thing that could possibly be in competition with his crush, was the fact that Elly was completely oblivious to it.

"Echo. Ask you. To the dance," Brett annunciated, nice and clearly. When was she going to figure this out? "You know, big event in the spring... music, dancing, formal wear? Echo is planning to ask you to go with him."

"Oh, come on," he said, laughing at her reaction, "It's true, you know it's true! Who else is he going to ask? He's voted you prettiest girl in school three years running!"

Actually, truth be know, Echo had been voting for Briony, but Brett suspected that was only because he was afraid Elly or Meredith would ask to see his ballot. He so wanted to reveal to her Echo's doting affections for her in as many words, but if he did, Echo'd probably tackle him and add another broken collar bone to his achievements, phobia or no. It would actually be kind of funny... and it might be worth it.

0 Brett Hodges It's quite swing-like 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Elly

February 20, 2008 1:21 PM

That was the plan by Elly

Brett made a show of telling Elly that Echo was planning on asking her to the dance. Though Elly had her reservations about believing him, he did know that Echo was wearing turquoise, so it made sense that he’d know whether Echo was planning on asking anyone to go with him. Elly had assumed that if Echo was going, he would go on his own, and spend the evening with Elly and Caedence who, as far as she knew, was also going alone. Of course they would talk to Mere and Matt, and Brett and Irene, and Saul and Briony, too, so basically it would just be like any other occasion, except with dresses. She hadn’t thought that Echo would go through the formality of actually asking Elly to go with him.

Of course there was one other option – the one where everyone in Pecari has a date except for Elly, and she would end up standing on her own all night looking and feeling like the most unpopular girl in school. This was a scenario that was a real possibility, seeing as practically all of Elly’s friends had found a partner for the ball already – even the second years! Elly had already mentally prepared for the likelihood that she would be going it alone, and it felt far more natural than being asked to go ‘just as friends’. If Echo would be asking anyone, Elly imagined it would be one of the other girls in school. After all, the two of them already spent all their time together anyway.

“I don’t think he’ll ask me,” Elly started. She was going to add ‘because then Caedence would be left out,’ but stopped talking as Brett started laughing at her.

“Oh come on!” he said, “It’s true, you know it’s true! Who else is he going to ask? He’s voted you prettiest girl in the school three years running!”

“He has not!” Elly retorted, laughing herself. She was sure that no-one in their right mind would vote her prettiest anything – not that Elly thought she was at all bad-looking, but she was best friends with Meredith, a.k.a. one of the prettiest girls alive. “Stop stirring things up, Brett Hodges!” Elly reprimanded him with would-be reproachful glare, if it weren’t for the smile.

0 Elly That was the plan 0 Elly 0 5

Brett Hodges

February 22, 2008 10:26 PM

It seems to be working. by Brett Hodges

Brett took Elly's mock reproach with a grin, holding his hands up, and ready to duck in case there were going to be any mock blows to back it up.

"I'm just saying," he claimed, repeating the words of some comedian he'd heard who said that the line could get you out of anything unscathed. He knew he should quit while he was ahead. The topic had been broached and now it was time to let it go. She was a little flattered, maybe, and she might think about it. Might. Maybe. Possibly.

"What, should I tell him not to? You've got some other handsome someone in mind, perhaps? Maybe Adam Brockert? Hmm?" That kid made Echo look almost sane. "Or Paul. I bet it's Paul, isn't it? He's got that tall, quiet, mysterious thing going on," he tried.

Seriously, Brett, his little sister had complained over Christmas break, Ever since you got a girlfriend, you are so gay.

Am not, he'd retorted.

Are too.

Deetoo.

Better, she sniffed. Now, get out of my room!

Brett wasn't worried. The same thing had happened to Zander when he had his first girlfriend. And Tyler, too. It was kinda cool. Having a girlfriend meant he didn't have to prove his manliness anymore and since he and Irene had managed to stay to together so long, now, and it helped that his closest guy friends were Echo, Jae, and Saul... machismo was so last year.

And good riddance. He was enjoying himself immensely.

0 Brett Hodges It seems to be working. 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Elly

February 23, 2008 9:59 AM

Excellent. by Elly

“What, should I tell him not to?” Brett said. “You’ve got some other handsome someone in mind, perhaps?"

“No,” Elly replied truthfully. She had no qualms in going with Echo if he really was to ask her; it wasn’t as if she was planning on going with anyone else. Especially not either of the suggestions Brett had gleefully voiced. “Oh yeah, quiet and mysterious really does it for me,” she said, with a faux air of contemplation. “Add in unprovoked verbal attacks and an unbalanced sister and my knees go weak.” She shook her head, even as she smiled at the base absurdity.

“Besides,” she said brightly, “Adam Brockert’s asked Talitha, so I guess I’ve missed out there. Rotten luck, hey?” Actually, that turn of events had initially concerned Elly; Adam wasn’t exactly renowned for emotional stability, and Talitha was two years younger than him. Still, Elly wasn’t one to judge, but she had resolved to keep an eye out for them during the evening, just in case.

“It’s just, if I do go with Echo, it’ll leave Caedence on her own,” Elly said, being serious for just a moment. “I mean, out of everyone in our year, we’d all have coupled up together – Merry with Matt, Danae with Josh, me and Echo… Saul and Briony, you and Irene… you see where I’m going with this? Caedence has enough troubles as it is, I don’t want to leave her feeling all left out,” Elly said.

0 Elly Excellent. 0 Elly 0 5