Enjoying the good life on Labyrinth Gardens

Cecily Smythe

May 25, 2009 2:20 PM

Enjoying the good life by Cecily Smythe

In a sunny patch of the labyrinth, sheltered from all but a very light breeze by the maze hedges, Cecily had laid out two silk blankets - one lilac and one pale blue. Atop the blankets was a delicious assortment of foods, including pumpkin pasties, beautifully iced cupcakes, and real lemonade. Of course Cecily wasn't going to eat all of this herself - she had sent out invitations to those lucky enough to be invited. The invites simply said,

'Join me in the gardens at noon tomorrow for a delightful picnic. I look forward to seeing you there. Love, Cecily.'

This occasion had two main functions. The first, naturally, was to catch up with the Ladies and have a very pleasant afternoon to break them gently back into being at school. The second was to introduce Adelaide Laurent to the group and to see whether or not she could be saved. Firstly they had to convince her never again to play Quidditch, then they would have to do something about her appearance. The girl had potential but she wasn't reaching it.

The only regret that Cecily had about her picnic was that she couldn't invite Laurie. She didn't mix with the Ladies, and spent far too much time with Jenaye. Yet Cecily could also see potential - Joshua Warren, as annoying as he could be, was a respectable pureblood Crotalus, and Laurie had done well to secure his attentions. She didn't play Quidditch and had even started dressing more like a young lady should. In time, perhaps, she could be invited, but there was still work to be done there.

Smoothing a crease out of the lilac blanket, Cecily looked up as her first guest arrived. With a genuine smile, she said, "Welcome! I'm so pleased you could attend."

0 Cecily Smythe Enjoying the good life 122 Cecily Smythe 1 5

Addie Laurent

May 28, 2009 4:57 PM

Envying the good life by Addie Laurent

Surprise of surprises. Cecily Smythe had invited her of all people to a picnic. At first, she had thought it a mistake. Maybe she had gotten something for Anabel instead, but no, her name was definitely on it. She had wondered why in the world Cecily would invite her to anything. Addie was not one of her friends. Addie wasn’t anyone’s friend. Oh, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to be. It was more a matter of not fitting into any group. Cecily and her friends were the popular, beautiful girls. They were the type of glamorous girls that one rarely saw up close. They were the ones that boys normally tripped over themselves to please.

Then, there was Laurie and Renaye, her other roommates. In theory, she might have been able to be friends with them, but Renaye tended to intimidate her. It was like no one was good enough for her, no one but one. Her seeming possessiveness over Laurie is what kept Addie from really trying to talk to her either. So, it left Addie as pretty much a loner wondering what anyone would want of her. She could only assume it would be for the worst possible reasons, but regardless she had decided to go, though her hair nor her makeup were done the way it had been on the first day. It was useless to try and mimic what she wasn’t.

’Welcome! I’m so pleased you could attend.’

At the greeting, Addie offered a nervous smile as she made herself comfortable near Cecily, tucking her legs under her. It was improper to sit any other way when one was wearing a skirt. “Thank you for inviting me,” she said, wondering if anyone else was going to be coming as she glanced around at what she thought was an enormous amount of food. She shifted a bit, unsure of what to do, and rested her hands in her lap as she waited for whatever was to come. She still wasn’t convinced that there wasn’t some ulterior motive. How could there not be? She didn’t even have the saving grace of a pureblood name, which could trump any other fault.

0 Addie Laurent Envying the good life 0 Addie Laurent 0 5

Cecily

June 07, 2009 10:16 AM

You can do it, too by Cecily

Addie did come, and Cecily was pleased. She wasn't sure whether their quiet roommate would accept the invitation. If she hadn't, of course, it would have been a terrible slight on Cecily - the sort that would have been unforgiveable - but it also would have been a great shame for Adelaide to ignore such an elusive invitation.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Addie said, and Cecily scrutinized her for a brief moment. She had made some effort with her appearance, and although she looked nowhere near so glamourous as the other Ladies did on a daily basis, it wasn't a bad start. Her application of basic make-up looked reasonable, and her clothes were pleasant enough, yet not entirely flattering. There was at least something to work with.

"You're very welcome," she told her first guest. Addie had already sat down, so Cecily didn't need to specify that the blankets were to act as seats. Yet seh wasn't really sure how to start a conversation with Adelaide - only very few had occurred between them in the past. At a loss, Cecily decided that the other Ladies wouldn't mind them starting the picnic with some guests still to arrive. Lifting a jug and a fine glass tumbler, Cecily asked, "Would you like a drink?"

0 Cecily You can do it, too 0 Cecily 0 5

Chelsea Brockert

June 10, 2009 6:25 PM

Just stick with us by Chelsea Brockert

Recently, Chelsea had been feeling happier than usual. Not that she'd ever been depressed-after all, why should she, she was pretty, popular, rich and from an important pureblood family-but due to the departure of Old Flatt, there had just been that extra spring in her step lately. Of course, Chelsea wasn't actually literally walking with that spring, because that would not have been dignified.

So when she got the invitation from Cecily, Chelsea was pleased to attend as she was in celebratory mood and it was always good to spend time with her friends. Of course, she didn't show up right on time. One had to be fashionably late or it wouldn't look right. They would look like they had nothing else to do. Besides, though it did not apply in this situation, if you showed up too early, before the party started, and the person throwing it didn't have adequate amounts of house-elves, they might put you to work . On the other hand, to be too late suggested that you didn't place the event as a priority and was rather rude in general, so Chelsea made sure to show up in the appropriate time frame.

She reached the place in the gardens where they were to meet. So far, only Cecily and Addie had arrived. Chelsea didn't mind Addie's presence. She had generally not given people outside her circle and her enemies much thought and Cecily seemed to think it was a good idea to make Addie one of them. Addie had been dressing pretty nicely lately, so there was hope for her.

Today too, Addie looked somewhat like she belonged so after greeting Cecily, Chelsea said turned to the other Crotalus, and said "Hello Addie, you look lovely today." Telling Cecily that she looked nice was unnecessary because it was a given that, like Chelsea, the other Ladies would always look nice, or rather, better than nice.

Addie was different, she had not previously been one of them, so the extra effort put in was appreciated, it showed that she wanted this and knew that the Ladies were people to impress. Besides, complimenting Addie might help them get her on their side rather than Jenaye and Laurie's like Alexis the Traitor.

11 Chelsea Brockert Just stick with us 108 Chelsea Brockert 0 5

Addie

June 19, 2009 9:21 PM

I'll try by Addie

“Yes. That would be great,” Addie said in regards to having something to drink. It would give her mouth something to do rather than accidentally saying something embarrassing. She was here to impress these girls, but how she was going to do that she had no idea. She wished that she had more of her mother’s characteristics than her father’s. She had the unfortunate luck of being tall like her father with none of her mother’s gracefulness. Of course, unlike her mother, she had never had ballet training. Or really any of the privileges that came with an age-old pureblood family line. It wasn’t fair, because if her mother hadn’t left, she would be on par with these girls.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her parents. It was that she didn’t agree with their choices. Well, her mother’s choice at any rate. She didn’t really understand why her mother had left a world where she was treated like a princess for a world where she was subjected to hard labor. All right, she understood a little. The supposed how her mother wouldn’t have been able to marry her father and then she wouldn’t exist, but honestly, as much as she loved her father, she also realized that if things had been different, she wouldn’t have never known the difference and she would have actually had all of the things that she believed should be hers instead of just wishing for it.

She took a sip of her drink just as Chelsea joined them. Lowering her cup, she offered a smile to the other girl. “Thank you.” It seemed to be the phrase of the day, but that was a good thing, wasn’t it? Saying thank you generally indicated that one had just been complimented. The problem was getting beyond that. But how? She could pretend to be like them by trying to dress like them, but to actually be one of them there was something more to it. She just had to try and be the type of person they would like. And of course, there was the old standby that the enemy of one’s enemy was their friend, which gave her a thought.

“I noticed that Quidditch sign-ups were up. Obviously, it’s no surprise that Renaye signed up. Alexis signed up again,” Addie mentioned it all as casually as she could as she pretended to brush an invisible piece of lint off her skirt. Glancing up at the two, she added, “I didn’t though. Trying out that once was enough. It had obviously been a huge mistake on my part.” She had really only tried out at the encouragement of others as it wasn’t something that she had actually wanted to do. She had just been hoping to make friends, but that hadn’t worked out at all since she was still ignored on a daily basis. Though, hopefully that was about to change.

0 Addie I'll try 0 Addie 0 5